PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
HEALTH, MENTAL AND WELLNESS PROGRAMME
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Good afternoon Hon. Senators. I would like to remind the Senate that Parliament’s Health Services Department, in conjunction with the Public Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS), is conducting a Health, Mental and Wellness Programme that started from Tuesday, 12th March, 2024 and will end on Thursday, 14th March 2024. Each day begins with a presentation from 0900 hours to 1030 hours in the Special Committee Room Number 2 on the ground floor. Thereafter, the screening programme for blood pressure, diabetes, breast, prostate and cervical cancers will be held in the clinic area, Rooms 113, 116, 117 and 137 on the First Floor.
Hon. Members and staff are urged to attend the screening process which will take place throughout the whole day on those days.
CLIMATE CHANGE SENSITISATION WORKSHOP
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Secondly, I would also like to inform the Senate that the Sensitisation Workshop for all Parliament scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday this weekend which was announced yesterday is now scheduled to start with lunch at 1200 hours on Friday 15 March, 2024 instead of 0800 hours in the morning and on Saturday 16 March, 2024, it will start at 0800 hours in the morning.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Mr. President, I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day on today’s Order Paper have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MALULEKE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS.
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 harmonised elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th March, 2024.
MOTION
ENACTMENT OF STRINGENT LAWS TO ADDRESS
THE PLIGHT OF WIDOWS
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: Thank you Mr. President. I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
CONCERNED with the plight of the Zimbabwean widows who are routinely evicted from their homes by relatives whenever their husbands die;
APPALLED by the cultural practices by some unscrupulous relatives who deprive widows of their human rights, dignity and freedom after the loss of their spouses and in some cases even going to the extent of blaming them for their deaths;
FURTHER DISTURBED that the loss of their husbands is accompanied by the wanton grabbing of their properties such as land, cars, among others under the guise of inheritance;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon Government to enact stringent laws to address the plight of widows and thus, protect them from being relegated to poverty after they lose their loved ones.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity…
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order. We cannot hear you because you have not switched on your microphone.
HON. TSOMONDO: Sorry Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President, for giving me the liberty to raise my concerns pertaining to the plight of widows in Zimbabwe. While there are no specific recent statistics available on the exact number of widows in Zimbabwe, it is estimated that a significant portion of the female population are widows.
Widows are from diverse backgrounds. Some are in the rural areas, some in the urban areas and others are widows of war veterans of the liberation struggle. They face various challenges and vulnerabilities due to cultural norms, stereotypes, legal issues and economic factors. The situation of the widows in Zimbabwe is often compounded by issues such as property, inheritance rights, social stigma, poverty, economic hardships and lack of access to support services such as counselling and legal aid.
Mr. President, inheritance disputes often arise due to cultural norms, traditional practices, lack of legal awareness and sometimes greed or manipulation by family members. Widows face challenges in securing their rightful inheritance after the death of their spouses, leading to prolonged legal battles and emotional distress.
The economic hardships faced by widows have a devastating impact on their lives as they pose a quantum of insecurities including finance, housing, food and school fees which affect their well-being and hinder their ability to cope with grief and loss, eventually forcing most of them into risky relationships exposing them to abuse and HIV/AIDS.
These economic and other complex arrays of challenges cascade down to their children whose suffering vary with age, location, socio-economic background and cultural practices. This culminates to child marriage, prostitution and drug and substance abuse.
Sections 81 and 82 of the Constitution address the rights of women on equitable treatment within the family and society, protection of property rights and the right of social security without specific mention to widows.
Section 120 (b) and 124 of the Constitution specifies the women quota representation in the Senate and National Assembly, but do not make any particular reference to widows’ representation.
Despite the challenges that widows face, there has been numerous progress through various programmes and initiatives by the Government and its development partners, Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) provides legal aid services to widows. Various Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) and Government agencies in Zimbabwe, conduct awareness campaigns and educational programmes to educate widows about their rights and empower them to assert those rights. Some organisations implement livelihood support programmes, specifically targeting widows to help them become economically self-sufficient. These programmes may include entrepreneurship development and other forms of support aimed at improving the economic well-being of widows.
The National Development Strategy 1 in one of its pillars, identifies strengthening social protection as one of its key priorities. This includes expanding access to social security programmes, such as pensions, disability benefits and unemployment insurance. Its aim is to provide a safety net for vulnerable populations including widows.
It is imperative that our country also takes a leaf from our regional and international counterparts and domesticate African Union Protocol to the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa also known as the Maputo Protocol. The protocol specifically addresses the rights of widows, including their inheritance, rights and protection from violence.
Allow me to also recognise the frantic efforts by the First Lady, Dr. Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa who has launched several economic empowerment programmes aimed at helping widows become self-reliant. Her various initiatives include training in several vocational skills such as farming, poultry production and craft-making. The First Lady has also donated sewing machines and other equipment to help widows start their own businesses. She has also donated school supplies and uniforms to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds access education.
Despite all these efforts, it is glaring evidence that much still needs to be done to mitigate the challenges faced by widows. I therefore, call upon the House to amend the Constitution and enact laws that specifically elaborate issues of widows, in particular with specific reference to Section 80 and 124 of the Constitution.
I also call upon Government through the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to come up with policies to strengthen legal protection for widows to safeguard their rights. Also, the Government through the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development through the Women’s Development Fund, to provide widows with access to finance, training and monitoring programmes to empower them to become economically self-sufficient. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for
giving me this opportunity to add a view words in support of this very important motion which has been moved by Hon. Sen. Tsomondo. Whenever we talk about widows, we feel the sorrowfulness of how these people are living because that is the time when women who would have been left by their spouses live in darkness. Some of them do not even know where to go. They do not even know where to start because of the problems that they would be facing. That is the time when the husbands’ relatives neglect them. On this issue, I can talk until tomorrow about the problems that are faced by widows, they are endless.
Most widows are left in poverty. As soon as the husband dies, the relatives come and take everything from them – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Sometimes, this is the time when they are forced to re-marry the uncles so that their property cannot be taken. That widow ends up being married to someone whom she does not even love just because she wants to protect her property, and to secure a place for the children.
Most of the time, people tend to forget that this woman would have been left not only with property, but also with a duty to look after the children. Due to the problems that they face, these widows end up failing to send their children to school because she would have no money to send them to school. If those children become dropouts, what else if we are looking at today’s living standards? That is the time when these children will now get involved into drug abuse. They would be stressed to an extent of wishing they were dead because of the situation that is prevailing at their home. As Parliamentarians, I think we have seen it, we have gone through it, and we have met these widows everywhere we go. Apart from meeting them, they have made so many plights to us as Hon. Members to assist them here and there, but I do not think that is the solution. The solution is upon us as legislators to enact enabling laws that can protect our widows. Even if we are not widows today, one of the good days we are going to be widows and we would need that support. Without proper policy or proper law that safeguards these widows, nothing will ever happen because we can cry and do whatever we can. I also urge the non-governmental organisations and any other interested people to educate these widows as they remain without their spouses so that they can have a way forward in their lives. As they are in the dark corner, some as I have alluded to before, do not even know the law that protects them which they can take regarding their plight.
I think there is need for awareness meetings that should be carried out in the communities so that these widows know what to do. Apart from that, I also think that another solution is their traditional leaders who are next to them whenever they need assistance. There is a cultural law, I do not know what it is called in English or in Shona, but I know they say udzule wathaka Chivenda. This practice must be totally abolished. It does not assist because when you are given someone’s husband, you do not even know whether that man is HIV positive or not. As such, you will end up getting diseases and you will end dying living your children. Mr. President, I think without much ado, I rest my case, I support this motion.
+HON. SEN. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to add my words to the motion moved by Hon. Sen. Tsomondo. When the father dies, it becomes very difficult for the family to survive and finally the mother leaves the family, goes and looks for a job so that she is able to look after her children. The children will end up failing to go to school because the mother will not be earning enough money, it will be enough to buy food only. Widows should be looked after because some people die whilst their children are still very young. Life becomes difficult and the children suffer. We want to thank the First Lady for her programme of conscientising the widows and widowers, helping them with whatever she has.
As leaders, we suggest that there must be a law enacted so that the widows can be looked after by Government and that at the end of the month, they get something that will enable the family to move on with their lives. Children must go to school Hon. President. With those few words, I would like to thank you.
+HON. SEN. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. I would like to also debate on this motion that has been moved by Hon. Sen. Tsomondo. This motion touches on the lives of widows. When a woman is left by her spouse through death, particularly married couples, it becomes so difficult because the relatives of the spouse will want to take over the assets. Most women do not know that when they lose their spouses, they should approach the High Court so that they can be protected by the law. It is difficult to be a widow because you do not know what to do, particularly when it comes to dealing with the relatives of your late spouse. It is difficult and painful for widows of ex-combatants because most of their spouses did not accrue anything. When they returned from the liberation struggle, they just remained as ordinary citizens. They did not manage to access the little that was being accessed by others. Some were not vetted, they did not own any house and it is painful Hon. President, to find an ex-combatant, someone who sacrificed for the independence of the country living like a pauper. Widows must be looked after and we appreciate what the First Lady is doing to the widows, but she cannot assist all of them. We therefore, request as Senators, that there should be a law in place to cover and assist the war veterans and their spouses –. We are talking about all widows that have been left by their spouses. These are my few words with regards to this motion. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Hon. President for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion today. This motion is very emotional because it is about widows. When we were growing up, we knew that widows were mature people of 60 years and above. By then, children would have grown up. This time around, things are so different because we are talking about young widows who would have married early because of the difficulties in our country. When I look closely in Matabeleland South which is my area, we have widows with children who are married. You find a 30-year-old widow with five children. Most of these widows are from our relatives who would have gone out of the country and passed on there either through gunshot wounds or through being affected by diseases. As I speak right now, I have two whom I know who passed on last week. Their wives are at home and they are now widows. Their men die in the diaspora. During the times of Wenera, most of the women were made widows. I would also like to bring in another dimension to bring in ex-combatants’ widows. We have our comrades who died in the war and they left children and women in 1980, when they were told that they were going to be looked after. We request therefore that these ex-combatants’ children get something, like what they do in some other countries. For instance, in South Africa, it is happening. They get about R2500 per month. Here in Zimbabwe, when people are in dire straits, why can we not do the same? I was asking myself when I heard some of our Members discussing. They said we can have a plan. A widower is better because he will go out and look for a job. We do not talk of widows in the rural areas only, even here in town, we see widows who are going into prostitution in order to feed their families.
My request therefore is that the Government should look into this matter. I have heard that the First Lady is trying her level best, and I was surprised by this because we have not noticed this in Matabeleland South. We request that she should also visit Matabeleland South because we have a lot of these widows and there are a lot of women without spouses. We have got 60% of women without spouses. Thank you.
+HON. SEN. MLILO: Thank you for giving me this opportunity. This motion which has been raised here is pertinent indeed. We should debate it closely and thoroughly because we are talking of widows whom I know have been left by a spouse who was a bread winner. Therefore, my request is that the Government should look after these widows. When they go to reregister their wills, it is a problem for them to transfer the assets or the houses after the spouse has died because of high fees, and they are failing to pay those fees.
I therefore request that the Government should also look into the matter of stipends given to widows when their spouses have passed on. When they go to the bank, they find that the money would have been siphoned by inflation. The woman will be looking after her children on her own without a job. At the end of the month, that money is not even enough to pay for her rentals, buy food for the children or even to pay fees for the children. We therefore request the Government to look into those matters. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. C. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity. I also second this motion which is pertinent which has been moved by the Hon. Senator. Widows should be looked after properly. It is not only that these people are being harassed by the relatives of their spouses, they are also being harassed by Government officers when they approach these offices trying to get some help. There are assets which would have been left by the deceased, and when these assets are supposed to go to the surviving spouse, there is a certain percentage which should be paid in cash so as to facilitate the necessary documentation in order to help the widow.
As the august Senate, we request that this matter be thoroughly looked into. When a widow has the necessary document proving that she is a widow, where can a widow get the necessary fees to pay for the transfer of assets into her name? Others end up dying and the mother will remain behind having not yet registered the house in her name. The relatives come in and take over the assets and property of the deceased. I therefore request that this motion be looked into thoroughly. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMME ON CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the effects of Climate Change.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you, Mr. President, for according me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion which was tabled by the Hon. Sen. Mohadi on climate change. The world-over, we hear the issue of disasters or climate change. It has been there since time immemorial, around the 70s before I was even born. I heard that in Bangladesh, there was a disaster in Bhola District and 300 000 people perished. In Zimbabwe, we experienced Cyclone Eline and people perished, fields and animals were destroyed. In Chingwizi, 20 000 people did not have anywhere to put their cattle and all this was due to climate change.
As a nation, we realise that this climatic change is also affecting our wealth. Looking at this country, 52% are women. Many women survive on subsistence farming, doing small businesses like chicken rearing projects and farming fruits. Now, if we happen to experience this climate change and drought, farming will not be viable and there will be poverty, hunger and diseases will also manifest as climatic change affects us as Zimbabweans.
I was just looking at how this climatic change can affect our education sector. I have noticed that children cannot attend school when there is too much sun, in the cases of heat waves; when the winter is severe, children will also not be able to attend school. Those who suffer from albinism are affected by too much sun as most of them end up suffering from skin cancer. This climate change affects the whole citizenry of Zimbabwe. It is extremely difficult for any individual to walk more than 5km during a heat wave to the nearest clinic or hospital. So, most people die in their homes because of climate change.
Climate change also affects our health sector. As Zimbabwe, we have a law, the Civil Protection Act, that we want to amend. I want to thank the President for putting across Bills, during the Official Opening of Parliament, to be tabled in this House. I noticed that there is one, the Disaster Risk Management Bill. The Bill will look at ways of curbing climate change. By looking at the early warning sign, we should be alerted and also be able to warn others on the weather. We heard this on the radio or read it from the newspapers that there will be drought this year and people were aware of it and were adequately prepared.
As it is, information dissemination is lacking in some areas especially looking at the disabled people. When people are being forewarned, the language used during the warnings may not adequately relay the message that there will either be drought or too much rain. This is especially problematic to the deaf and dumb. Our television news bulletins provide sign language for the benefit of everyone. Unfortunately, there is no sign language when it comes to the weather report and forecast. This means that they are left behind because of lack of knowledge. As a nation, we should make sure that no place and no person is left behind when it comes to development.
We had disasters in this country when we had Cyclone Idai which affected Chimanimani. It was a disaster. Lives were lost, homes and properties were destroyed. Looking very closely, I saw images of people on television who were being rescued by helicopters, but I did not come across disabled persons being evacuated also. So does it mean that the Chimanimani area does not have disabled people or they were swept away by the floods because they could not get any help?
I would like to urge the Senate that as this Bill comes to the House, we should look at it closely to see whether it is inclusive of the disabled. As Senators, do we know where our disabled are in the country so that when disasters strike, we know where to go and rescue them? We have a job to do so that we do not leave anyone behind, everyone should be protected from such disasters that come because of climatic change.
The other issue is that there are people who are being given residential stands in wetlands which has affected the rain patterns because wetlands have a part to play when it comes to our rain patterns. Zimbabwe as a country, is seized with these challenges and we have seen that climatic change is real. We thought it would only affect countries in the Far East, but now it is at our doorstep.
When people face these disasters, the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) prepares the evacuation processes, so we have noted that some of those places are inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. No mechanisms were put in place to ensure the disabled are catered for in times of natural disasters. It is my humble plea that preparation for natural disasters should be inclusive of the disabled. I did my investigations during the Cyclone Idai, so I went and inspected the places where people were being taken to and urged the authorities to cater for the disabled.
Now, speaking as a farmer, climate change has affected the farming sector. We should adapt to change and use solar energy which caters for smart agriculture in our fields. We witnessed our crops withering and dying. So I urge the Government to invest in helping farmers, including women so that they will be able to continue farming despite climatic changes.
Mr. President, I want to say that our laws should be strict and firm. The Disaster Risk Reduction Management Bill should be expedited. So as Hon. Senators, let us work together to pass this Bill. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ZINDI: Thank you Mr. President for allowing me to also add my views in as far as this motion is concerned. Firstly, let me thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi who brought this very important motion. I hope the Government or Ministers responsible for policy redesign to mitigate against the effects of climate change will take this motion seriously because we have one world, one earth and we need to protect it.
In my contribution Mr. President, I shall talk about deforestation, uncontrolled mining, and also climate change, and women including young girls and youth regarding their sexual reproductive health. I shall be citing research that was carried out in Bikita and Chimanimani into the endangered impact of climate change. I will also put suggestions to mitigate against climate change in as far as the issues that are mentioned in terms of afforestation and reforestation, and alternative sources of energy as a means to mitigate against the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and also the Mines and Minerals Ministry, particularly in terms of uncontrolled mining activities which are taking place in our country to redesign the mining policy to take into consideration the environment before and after the mining project as a solution.
On deforestation, Mr. President, according to Jerry Melillo accessed online 13324 Climate Portal and updated on October 2021, he is a senior scientist at the Ecosystem Centre Marine Biological Laboratory. He states that forests cover 30% of the earth's land surface. As forests grow, their trees take in carbon dioxide from the air and store it in wood, plant matter and under the soil. If not for forests, much of this carbon would remain in the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide which is CO2, the most important greenhouse gas driving climate change.
He further states that each year since the year 2000, forests are estimated to have removed an average of two billion metric tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. This carbon sink function of forests is slowing climate change by reducing the rate at which carbon dioxide mainly from fossil fuel burning, builds up in the atmosphere. Therefore, from this argument Mr. President, you can see the importance of afforestation and reforestation and the importance and key role that our forests play in terms of mitigating against emissions of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Hence, it is very important for us to take the exercise of tree planting as a very important exercise to reforest our forests and afforestation.
In regards to use of alternative sources of energy, I am of the opinion that to slow down against this emission of CO2 gases, a solution Mr. President, is to switch to use of renewable energy such as solar, hydropower, wind and electric motor transportation. We are now talking of massive mining of lithium, which lithium when processed, finds itself into batteries when manufactured which electrify motor vehicles and that transportation system should switch also on to renewable energy.
The effects, for example of ZESA power disruptions, we have seen a lot of people ending up cutting down trees as an alternative source of power including tobacco farmers when they want to cure their tobacco. That is reducing the forests that we have mentioned earlier on to say they contribute a lot in terms of removing the bad emissions from our atmosphere. I can give an example. Where I come from, Manicaland, Christmas Pass Mr. President, used to be a very beautiful forestry area but drive there today, Christmas Pass is bare. There are no more trees. You can actually count the trees remaining when you drive, meandering through Christmas Pass.
The same applies with Boterekwa. Boterekwa used to be a very beautiful forest area in Shurugwi but due to mining of chrome, it is gone and it will never come back. Therefore, Mr. President, we need to take this climate change subject seriously and take corrective measures in order to preserve our environment and also to mitigate against climate change.
In my recommendations, particularly to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, is to say, it is high time they should redesign mining policies. How? I mean to say they need a new approach that takes into consideration the issue to do with the environment. This is before the project is implemented and after the project, perhaps to the end of the project. The policy should take into consideration those two stages, at the beginning and the end. If the project collapses, it should also take into consideration the environment where that project was.
For example, we have old time big mines which closed. Mhangura is one of them, if I am to mention. There are quite a number them like ZIMASCO, to do with chrome. When they closed, they never rehabilitated the environment and that alone is contributing to climate change. So, I am advocating for the policy redesign to take into consideration those facts and also to switch to renewable energy use rather than resorting to using diesel, gasoline and all these fossil fuels which contribute to CO2 gases into our atmosphere.
In terms of reforestation and afforestation, I should commend Government for the tree planting exercise. Of course, I do not remember exactly when it was introduced, but I think it has been on the cards for quite a number of years now as it is being fronted by His Excellency the President. We should continue with this tree planting exercise for purposes of mitigating against climate change and it should not be just for officials from His Excellency, Ministers and Government officials, but it should be for each and every Zimbabwean to participate and make sure that he or she would have planted a tree on the official day of tree planting and any other day.
For example, we are 16 million in terms of population and if each and every one of us would take this seriously, we would plant 16 million trees each year and that would assist and help in mitigating against climate change Mr. President.
On the uncontrolled mining I have mentioned Boterekwa and I also want to quote Mr. Kins, also accessed online, 26th October 2022, in which he states that, “mining sector is responsible for up to 7% of greenhouse gas emissions globally”. Hence mining is a contributor to climate change. Thus, Mining sector should also switch to renewable energy use instead of continuing to use the fossils, fuels such as gasoline or diesel as I said earlier on.
In addition, mining should now consider to have a positive social impact in the regions or areas where they operate. This is also emphasised by Higham Gulfs, cited in the intelligent miner who states that, “this means re-thinking, investment decisions on the regional scale versus just your project”. It has to carry the whole scenario in terms of the environment as I have said earlier on. This takes me to the last part of my contribution to this motion, which is climate change and its effect on women, girls and youths.
According to UK Aid, lasting change through volunteering accessed on online, www.vso.international, states that climate change impacts sexual and reproductive health and the ability to realise the fundamental human rights...
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: Order, Hon. Senator. You have five minutes left. You can proceed.
HON. SEN. PHULU: I move that her time be extended.
HON. SEN. MLOTSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. SEN. ZINDI: Thank you Mr. President. I was talking about climate change, how it impacts on sexual reproductive health and the ability to realise fundamental human rights by women and girls, which fundamentally contributes to gender inequalities. This is actually based on a research which was carried out in Bikita and Chimanimani. The intention of the research was to make an informed decision in terms of how they could respond to climate change and how it impacts on sexual reproductive health on women and girls. For example, the research came up with results which states that climate change, if it is at 1℃ increase, in a week before delivery, a pregnant woman who intends to deliver, corresponds to 6% greater likelihood of still birth. That is how serious it is.
Increased poverty and food insecurity driven by climate related loss of livelihood is also impacting maternal health as decreased yields impact nutrients input of the poor, through a decrease in availability and supply of nutrition. The other area of that research, in terms of what it found - the key findings of it in regards to climate change, it contributes to low levels of awareness and access to sexual reproductive needs that is among farmers, women and girls. It also contributes to climate shocks, which present resource constraints on health facilities. For example, as mentioned by Hon. Sen. Shiri, when she cited the Cyclone Idai; it had a disruption on the whole health system, and also shocks exacerbate causes and effects of child marriage. Girls end up getting married as a result, perhaps to find and get comfort, being looked after by a husband. The girl will get pregnant when she is too young to give birth, leading to death. Climate change contributes to mental health issues, child bearing related complications and death.
In conclusion, investing in health systems can reduce impacts on climate change in women and girls, in regards to their sexual reproductive health and rights. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI): For the benefit of the House, if a Member feels that a Member’s time needs to be extended, after the announcement that the Member has five minutes left, you wait for the five minutes to lapse and then propose additional time. Then we would give the additional time. In this case, no additional time has been given because she was just spot on the time.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. NYATHI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th March, 2024.
MOTION
STRATEGIES TO MOBILISE RESOURCES FOR THE NATIONAL CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the National Clean-Up Campaign.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Mr. President for the opportunity you have given me to contribute to this very important motion that was brought to this Senate by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa. I notice he is not present today. It would have been my biggest pleasure to debate this motion in his presence but nonetheless, I am sure he will see my contributions in the records of Parliament.
Mr. President, I would like to express my gratitude, particularly to the Hon. Senator for moving this motion and to a few Hon. Senators that contributed to this motion in a manner that clearly shows that people are intent on making sure that Parliament contributes progressively to the development of this nation.
Hon. Sen. Mupfumira, I think was a star on this, from my own view, for she focused on what should be done to save the beauty of our nation and to make sure that refuse is discarded to the right place. She stated clearly the apparent issues of seeking political opportunity, political rent-seeking that was very clear in some of the people who contributed to this motion.
I think as long as we keep ourselves in the paddock of seeking political rent, we are not doing this nation a favour. We are not doing the people who voted us a favour. I think Hon. Sen. Rita Ndlovu did very well as well to steer the debate in the right direction as did Hon. Sen. Phulu. Clearly, then the debate got back into progressive developmental discourse rather than political rent-seeking that I saw from some of our colleagues’ contributions.
The elections are far off, elections are in 2028…
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. A. DUBE): Hon. Senator, order, I think you are debating and now you are talking about what happened yesterday. Can you please stick to your debate?
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you Madam President, this was just the few appetisers that I wanted to put on the table leading to the substantive issues of my debate. I will still want to emphasise that cheap political point scoring is not good for policy redesigning and policy development.
Madam President, emphasis was laid on failure of urban local authorities to keep the damsel that is called Zimbabwe, beautiful and smart. The truth of the matter is that if you walk throughout the country, if you go to Bikita Rural District Council, the sad situation of litter all over the place is evident. If you go to Harare, it is evident, if you go to Makokoba, it is there and it is a problem that we must face as a nation. We must begin to say, what is the root cause? As long as we do not find a root cause, as long as we find easy targets, as long as we live in the lane of blame shifting and blame gaming, we are not finding solutions to the real problems that we face.
It is a reality that Mbare is very dirty and it is a reality that Makokoba Renkini is dirty. It is a reality that Makaranga in Gweru is dirty. It is a fact that Nyika Growth Point is an eyesore, so what can we do? Mention is made of the failure of our urban local authorities and interest is placed on this issue as from year 2000, which is a year incidentally when real opposition came around. The question is, is it because of opposition or are there other factors? In my opinion, successive Local Government Ministers have worked very hard since year 2000 to enfeeble, to weaken the institutions called local authorities. We had executive mayors like Ndabeni Ncube, Chayamiti, Mudzuri and yours truly who did their very best because we had the power. The laws gave us the powers to effectively manage these institutions but since then, local authorities have been enfeebled leading to declining performance.
There are other issues as well that I will raise. If you look at the revenue streams of local authorities, vehicle licence fees have been taken away. The EMA penalties are not used to correct the difficulties that local authorities are facing. Consequently, the efficiency of our local authorities in discharging their duties, in dealing with the competences are reposed on their shoulders by the law and it becomes more and more difficult.
Let me just give you an example. One mayor, Manyenyeni, diagnosed that Harare was in a difficult spot because of incapacity to do financial engineering and he employed an esteemed banker, one by the name Mushore. He knew the weakness was around resource mobilisation. Mushore is a top-notch banker, a guy who is very strong or was very strong on financial engineering and certainly, if he had been allowed to take this post, there would have been an impact on the performance of Harare. Behold, what did Minister Kasukuwere say? ‘Mushore, you will never be the Town Clerk of Harare because you do not belong to us’. This is the truth and as a result, Harare ended up taking up a Town Clerk who was less qualified for purpose than Mushore. These sorts of activities do not help the situation at all in terms of capacity and efficiency to perform, dealing with the issues that must be dealt with.
That is that on the local authorities, but I would also like to talk about the relationship between poverty and consciousness around cleanliness. If you go to Borrowdale today, and look at the streets and neighbourhood of Borrowdale and compare the neighbourhood of Borrowdale to the neighbourhood of Mbare, you will clearly see that Borrowdale is very clean and Mbare is dirty. It does not just remain there. If you go to Masvingo, you go to the top-notch suburb in Masvingo, it is sparkling clean. When you go to Mucheke, the story is different. You go to Harare, Bulawayo, you go to Matshamhlophe, it is clean, it is habitable, it is very beautiful, but go to Iminyela, it is different. What is the difference? Look at the social strata, look at the social differences between people that live in Borrowdale and those that live in Mbare. Look at their social status, their wealth, you will certainly see that there is a relationship between consciousness around cleanliness and poverty. So, what is the root cause? The root cause therefore, is what we call at micro-level, we call that hygiene security. Do you have hygiene security if you cannot buy a deodorant, if you cannot buy toothpaste, if you cannot buy soap, if you must use mushangura to kwesha your teeth, if you must use your sipo to wash your clothes? That certainly reduces your consciousness on cleanliness. What happens at micro-level, the summation of the micro-level is the macro-level. If people at macro-level are not consciously working on cleanliness, then the summation at macro-level is what you see on the streets of the poor neighbourhood.
I pose it therefore, that for as long as you have got hygiene poverty and hygiene insecurity,
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI (speaking)…as long as you have got hygiene poverty and hygiene insecurity, the total sum is that Harare City, the sunshine City, will never be the same as Windhoek, and it will never be the same as Kigali because that cry, that hygiene insecurity, hygiene poverty permeates the real world of the macro-levels of cleanliness. As long as we are not dealing with the ease of poverty, we can spend as much time as we want blaming each other. We can raise our voices loudly, they will not be changed. As long as there is poverty, you will have dirty neighbourhoods.
I did a look and a bit of regression analysis of certain factors. You look at the income level which is related to where the affluent and where the poor go, and the relationship of that incapacity to just deal with rubbish. In Harare, Bulawayo and all these cities, we have got imported residents, the transient population that come from Mrehwa etcetera. For your own information, in this country, we have got a 36% open defecation rate across the board.
If a person goes round the bush to defecate, forget about that person picking up rubbish when they see it. These are realities of our life that we need to deal with to make sure that Zimbabwe becomes the Zimbabwe that we all want and the neighbourhood becomes the neighbourhood that we all want. Sources of water are the same and the availability of the disposal of refuse, like I said, the open defecation, all those if you put that on a regression analysis curve, you will see the relationship between poverty and unconscientiousness around cleanliness. What are the answers?
We should not just keep on shouting. We must propose solutions. With respect to local authorities, the panacea to the challenge that we face is a belief and living the provisions of devolution. Allow the people to manage themselves and allow people to be responsible citizens. Give them the latitude to explore the best out of themselves. The next thing is to strengthen local authorities, allow them to function and capacitate them. Do not stop them from working and do not celebrate failure in the hope that you will get more votes because that does not happen. It is a failed strategy.
Since 2000, the ministers have been doing that, and they have been killing local authorities hoping that votes will shift, but they have not shifted. It is foolish to keep the same strategy hoping that you will get different results the next day. So hind back they attract revenue streams, give the local authorities back their electricity, give them back their licences, give them certain proportions of tax so that they have got resources available to them. Help them manage inflation. When they budgeted in December, the rate was 1:5, but today it is 1:20, and they do not have the flexibility to change the budgets so that they can deal with the challenge that they face. The budgets have shrunk four times and they are expected to deliver based on budgets that have been eroded because of inflation. This is not their choice.
Madam President, I would have talked about the irresponsibility around EMA. They punish people for polluting the land and they use the money to buy fancy vehicles and the same sewage that they were penalising the city for spilling over is still there. The attitude of the law and the provisions around EMA is that if you punish, use this…
HON. SEN. MAKAMBA: Madam President, may I interject. I think the Hon. Member is out of script. The word foolishness is unparliamentary language. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON. SEN. A. DUBE): Hon. Member, can you withdraw your statement?
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Madam President. I do not remember calling anybody foolish, but for the benefit of my debate….
[Time Limit]
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I was saying for the benefit of my debate and for the friendliness that I have with the Hon. Member, I withdraw. There are no foolish people in the country. Thank you.
+HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Madam President. I thank you for bringing up this motion on dirtiness. I have a few words to bring before the House, having heard from Hon. Zvidzai as someone who has been a Mayor. He said the truth that if all of us were the same, our country would be quite clean. Firstly, I observed that our towns, whenever you drive into them, you find that hygiene is not practiced and it is now uniform throughout Zimbabwe. There is no one taking steps to rectify the issue of hygiene in our towns.
I will also raise matters of some of us here who are business people in the rural areas. I observed that when we talk of cleanliness, they are talking of being unhygienic even at their business premises. Are these persons clean as well? I say charity begins at home. We should have an eye and have the mind to be able to attend to these problems. I go to many provinces and I observed that most of our places are unhygienic. If you drive from Bulawayo, Mbalabala, before you even reach Zvishavane, there is a turn from Mberengwa and what is obtaining there is something that is a disgrace. There are a lot of plastics and bottles strewn around. We have tourists who drive through there. What do they say about the litter? We see it and we do not discuss about it. Most of us who stay in the rural areas in Matebeleland South, our beasts are dying after eating plastics that are being thrown around by people because we have no laws. If you go to Singapore today, you will see that the place is clean and hygienic. The nationals are proud of their country; if there is any dirt, there are people to attend to it.
In the rural areas, there is a Food for Work Programme. What kind of jobs are on offer? People attend to these matters but after that, we find the places dirty because these people were not paid. When we are here talking about our country, we should come up with suggestions to policymakers so that they approach people to get their views. There are a lot of unemployed people. There is a beer called Njengu, you cannot travel for 500 metres, especially in rural areas before seeing bottles strewn all over. When some people are driving, they litter with bottles and all sorts of rubbish all over. At road blocks, you will find empty bottles of beer and all sorts of empty bottles. Then you ask yourself, what sort of a country goes without a law?
In conclusion Madam President, let us try to clean up our place. Let us conscientise our people. When we enter our ports of entry at either Plumtree or Maitengwe, it is so unhygienic and an embarrassment. What is the money that is being generated there being used on? That money should be used to ensure that the place is kept clean. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAKAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday,14th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. MAKAMBA, the Senate adjourned at Sixteen Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 13th March, 2024
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. MATEWU: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. M. NCUBE): What is your point of order?
HON. MATEWU: Madam Speaker, we come here week in, week out and always complain about the absence of Ministers. You must note Madam Speaker, that today, apart from the Leader of Government Business, we only have one Cabinet Minister out of a total of 23. Our role is well defined in Section 119 of the Constitution. We implore your Office to approach the Office of the President to report that as Parliament, we are not happy to not have Cabinet Ministers attending Parliament and executing their roles and being accountable to Parliament as they should be. Thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Matewu for raising that. We take note of that …
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Let me quote from Section 107…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. Hon. Matewu, I said we are taking note of that and we will convey the message to the Speaker. Thank you.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Can I continue Madam Speaker?
THE ACTING SPEAKER: You can go ahead, what is your point of order?
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: My point of order Madam Speaker is, this institution of Parliament is not being taken seriously and I suggest …
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. We have already agreed that we have taken note of that. We cannot continue discussing the same issue. The point has already been made – [HON. MEMBERS: It is a different issue.] – The Hon. Member sitting next to you Honourable, you are not the one who raised the point of order. So, please be quiet. Go ahead Hon. Member.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Let me quote from Section 107 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe…..
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member! Hon. Matewu, we have taken note of that and we will convey the message to the Speaker.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: My point of order Madam Speaker, is that this institution of Parliament is not being taken seriously and I suggest ……
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Member, we have already agreed that we have taken note of that. We cannot continue discussing the same issue.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: It is a different version Madam Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: The point has already been made and we have taken note of it. You can go ahead Hon. Member.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: The dimension I am taking is that I am moving a motion that we suspend Parliament business pending the coming on board of our Ministers so that we can ask all questions in respect of the people we represent. We have a Minister and a Deputy Minister in each portfolio ….
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order! – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – We have a Leader of Government Business. If Ministers are not here, he is there to answer your questions.
Hon. Members, he did not move a motion, he raised a point of order. Do you know the difference between a motion and a point of order? Go to your standing rules and read. Hon. Members on my left, it is very unfortunate for you because you missed a very important workshop where you were supposed to learn – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – May the Chief Whip from my left please approach the Chair.
Hon. N. Ndlovu having approached the Chair.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: What is your point of order Hon. Mutseyami and according to which standing order?
HON. MUTSEYAMI: My point of order is to do with the absence of Ministers and they have not put apologies…..
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami, order and please be seated.
Hon. Hamauswa having approached the Chair.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: May you please go back to your seat and bow down when approaching this Chair. Order Hon. Members.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING SPEAKER
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I have got a list of apologies from Hon. K. Coventry, Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Hon. Mupamhanga Junior, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Centres; Hon. E. Jesaya, Deputy Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture; Hon. Dr. A. J. Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon. D. Phuti, Deputy of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services; Hon. Z. Soda, Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. D. Kabikira, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works; Hon. Prof. M. Ncube, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion; Hon. Dr. S. N. Nyoni, Minister of Industry and Commerce; Hon. Prof. A. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. V. Haritatos, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon. D. Marapira, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and Hon. S. T. Kwidini, Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. CHINODAKUFA: My question is directed to the Minister of Youth, Empowerment and Vocational Training Centres. We have youths with disabilities who also need vocational training but most of the Vocational Training Centres are not disability friendly. What are the Ministry’s plans in this regard so that youths with disabilities can access training in their respective provinces?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. What the Ministry of Youth, Empowerment and Vocational Trainng Centre is doing is to do a needs assessment of all the VTCs. They are in the process of revamping and upgrading some of them and ensuring that where they are not there, they are available. Definitely, because of the inclusion of those that are disabled, they are going to factor that into consideration with a view of ensuring also that they are not left out in terms of the programmes that they would be offering. That is work in progress and the Ministry is taking care of that.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Talking about infrastructure that can be accessed by people with disabilities, not only Vocational Training Centres but even if they are trained and they want to approach the workplace, there is no infrastructure that is easily accessible by people with disabilities at every Government building. The issue needs to be looked at.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: I want to thank Hon. Nyamupinga for that intervention. Indeed, it is correct. Currently, what is happening is that all the new buildings that are being built are taking care of members of our society with disabilities. Those that do not have, we are working towards ensuring that they comply with that requirement. It is correct that initially the buildings that were built did not cater for members of the society with disabilities but now all Government buildings that are being put up, we make sure that they are catered for. Those that are not, we are now renovating them to make sure they take care of members of society with disabilities.
HON. MAKUMIRE: My supplementary question is, what is Government doing to ensure that these youths which we are advocating for can also not be discriminated on employment opportunities especially to those who are qualified, but cannot be employed by different employers on the pretext that the employers cannot meet the cost of their aides?
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The discrimination against people with disabilities is taken care of in two pieces of legislation. The first one is in the Labour Act which makes sure that people should not be discriminated on the basis of disability. The second one is the Disability Act itself where the board is required to monitor those people who are being discriminated against on the basis of disability. Both Acts require that inspections be done at places of work and to make sure that people with disability are not discriminated against. So, we have been taking a whole Government approach and inspections are now done, not only by the Department of Labour but by those in Occupational Health and Safety and in other ministries. If we are talking about the Ministry of Mines, they are involved and if we are going for inspections in the Ministry of Agriculture, those in agriculture are now involved.
We urge Members of Parliament or anybody in society who has something to report on those who are discriminating against people with disability, to come forward so that we can take remedial action. I thank you.
HON. GANYIWA: What is Government’s position regarding the establishment or decentralisation of Vocational Training Centres to the administrative districts, taking into consideration that we have so many students that are school leavers who fail to access these Vocational Training Centres because some of these centres are at provincial level?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Madam Speaker, I think Hon. Ganyiwa was not there when the original question was asked where I indicated that the Ministry of Youth and Empowerment is doing an assessment of all the vocational training centres. The thrust is to ensure that those that we have are operational to the maximum level and they also assess areas where there is a need but again, we also have to appreciate that this is subject to availability of resources. So if you go around the country, most of the VTCs are not being used to their maximum capacity and that is the thrust that the Ministry is doing.
Once they identify what is required, the first step is to ensure that those are capacitated because we already have infrastructure and everything. So we need to ensure that those are operational up to the maximum capacity then we can then look and say, can we decentralise to districts when we know that at that particular level, in fact, the majority of our VTCs are not at provincial level per se, but are in specific areas?
For example, we have a VTC at Murombedzi Growth Point, and the thrust is to ensure that it is operating at its maximum capacity, then we can decentralise to other areas. That is the work in progress that the Ministry is doing with a view of ensuring that we absorb a lot of our O’Level learners who would have finished, but could not get an opportunity to proceed with their academic education. I thank you.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE ACTING SPEAKER
VISITOR IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I wish to recognise the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery, of Ms. Kate Akello, the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Transport Logistics from Parliament of Uganda. May we all welcome her – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
CLIMATE CHANGE SENSITISATION WORKSHOP
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that the Climate Change Sensitisation Workshop scheduled for Friday, 15th and Saturday 16th, March, 2024 in the Multi-Purpose Hall at the New Parliament Building will now start with lunch at 1200 hours on Friday, 15th March, 2024.
COLLECTION OF CALENDARS
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Furthermore, I wish to inform the House that Hon. Members are advised to collect their calendars from the Public Relations Department in office No. 230, Second Floor.
I am seeing we now have more Ministers in the House. We now have Hon. Rwodzi and also Hon, Mavhunga, the Minister of War Veterans. Congratulations Hon. Minister on your new appointment – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
HON. CHIGUMBU: On a point of order Madam Speaker…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: What is your point of order and according to which Standing Rule?
HON. CHIGUMBU: No. 65 – [AN HON. MEMBER: This is not fair.] -
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Can you read what is on No. 65 and if it is not fair, I am talking to the Hon. Member who is standing. Can you read that Standing Rule please?
HON. CHIGUMBU: It says a Member who is of the opinion that the rules of procedure have been breached by another Member may raise a point of order.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Who has breached a rule here? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. CHIGUMBU: That is why I have raised a point of order.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, please be seated. I want to see the Hon. Member who said you have breached the order. Hon. Member stand up, apologise and withdraw your statement before I chase you out of this House. Stand up! Can the third Hon. Member in line number four stand up.
HON. G. SITHOLE: What is your issue Madam Speaker?
THE ACTING SPEAKER: My issue?
HON. G. SITHOLE: Yes.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, please leave the House. I am the Chair here, leave the House.
HON. G. SITHOLE: Chair, what have I done?
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Leave the House Hon. Member.
HON. G. SITHOLE: You cannot just say I should leave the House. I have 19 000 voters …
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Serjeant-at-Arms, may you please help us.
HON. G. SITHOLE: Which section Madam Chair.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, leave the House! – [HON. G. SITHOLE: We cannot operate like an animal farm] – what did you say. Is this an animal farm? Leave the House Honourable.
HON. G. SITHOLE: I asked for a section. Which section are you quoting from?
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Leave the House Hon. Member please.
Hon. G. Sithole was duly escorted out of the House
HON. CHIGUMBU: Hon. Speaker, you told me to sit down and I thought you were going to consider me now.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. Hon. Member, you can raise your point of order now.
HON. CHIGUMBU: The point of order that I want to raise pertains to calendars. We are shocked that the entire calendar is full of Members from the other party whilst we are not on those calendars. I think this has to be addressed. It is not fair. Even if you check the social media sites for this Parliament, you only see the Members from the other party. This Parliament is for everyone, it is a national institution and this has to be corrected. Thank you, Madam Speaker Ma’am – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member. Let me defer that one to next week. You will get a full answer next week [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Members, the Ministers are here. You need to ask questions. If you keep on talking and not listening, I do not know what you really want them to do. They will leave without answering questions. Please, let us be quiet.
HON. MURAMBIWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. We passed the 2024 National Budget last year in December when the official exchange rate was around US$1:ZW5700. The various ministries and departments set their targets basing on that official exchange rate. Now, the rate has gone up so badly. What is the Minister going to do to ensure that the various ministries and departments are going to achieve the set targets?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. K. D. MNANGAGWA): Hon. Madam Speaker, I am starting to sound like a broken record. I continue to reference the same issue. Once we have adjusted our exchange rate management system, there will be a re-calibration. This will mean that the figures that are there will be aligned to the new system that is coming up. The exchange rate management system which will be outlined in the upcoming Monetary Policy Statement – again Madam Speaker, without sounding like a broken record, I would plead that until this document comes, we allow debate and any oversight on any other issues to then come in on that.
HON. SAGANDIRA: On that same note Madam Speaker, the concern is on the civil servant whose salary, the Zimbabwean dollar component, was pegged at 333 000 at that same period that the Hon. Member was talking about. It was equivalent to US$60 at that time but today as we speak, it has reduced to US$5. What plans have you put in place to make sure that the civil servants are covered?
HON. K. D. MNANGAGWA: We do take note of the civil servants’ plight, especially the salaries to be of great importance. You will find that there are two issues; one is the component of the salary that has been eroded by the exchange rate volatility and inflation and the other issue might have to do with a general adjustment. Again, these are discussions that are under talks with the TNF. Without pre-empting that, you will see an indexing to avoid that erosion. All these safeguards are measures that keep on revolving around the same issue that I keep on describing to be affecting almost every aspect of our governance which we are currently mapping out.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: My supplementary question to the Minister is that – this subject is an elephant in the living room. We have been raising this question since January week in, week out. Before, it was Monetary Policy and next week is, you are consulting. We need assurance from the Minister because this is a matter of national importance. When are we going to have this corrected? Today, you are saying there is going to be a new currency management system; when is that coming because this is a matter of urgency? We expect answers from the Minister, not to say can you be patient with me over and over again – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I think the Minister has answered that one – [HON. MEMBERS: When?]- Now. He said it is work in progress and it is under discussion.
HON. TSVANGIRAI: We understand that the Minister says that we are going to have the Monetary Policy in the next few weeks. What is the Minister doing on the fiscal side of things to cushion those who are affected by the high inflation rate or high cost of living?
HON. K. D. MNANGAGWA: I think the Hon. Member wants us to deliver half-baked solutions to the prevailing situation. The Fiscal Policy will seek to align with the up-coming monetary policy, only then will those measures be in place.
HON. MUGWADI: My supplementary question to the Minister is in respect of local currency. It appears there is serious growing tendencies from business community and other institutions such as schools who have suddenly ceased to respect the Zimbabwean dollar as a currency and legal tender. What is the Minister doing to ensure that at least we must see unconditional acceptance of the local currency as has been directed by the powers that be?
HON. K. D. MNANGAGWA: As you have rightly pointed out, the Zimbabwean dollar is legal tender and anyone failing to accept the Zimbabwean dollar is operating outside the law. If there are instances where one is operating in an illegality, we do have institutions like the Financial Intelligence Unit, which we can send a note to investigate why they are continuing with this process. I would like Hon. Members to focus on the bigger picture which we keep on churning in, in the next few weeks and in the fullness of time, I believe we will have a more robust solution to these shenanigans.
*HON. MURERI: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me the opportunity to ask my question. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. What is Government thinking about pensioners in light of the deteriorating levels of the Zimbabwean dollar? I thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. The Minister is not your friend. Withdraw your statement, ‘answer shamwari’. We do not have friends in this House. He is an Hon. Minister. Please withdraw your statement.
Hon. Hlatshwayo, the person who said answer shamwari, you know who he is. Please withdraw Hon. Member, we want to move on. We do not have friends in here, but Hon. Members and Hon. Ministers.
HON. SAGANDIRA: On behalf of the Hon. Member…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Not on behalf, Hon. Member please be seated. Hon Member withdraw your statement or you leave the House. Chief Whip, please ask your Member to withdraw his statement. It is that one, he is Hon. Ropa? Withdraw your statement. That is the Minister of Finance not shamwari. Withdraw your statement Hon. Member. We want to move on. Please do not defend each other when you are doing wrong things. Ropa!
HON. MAKUMIRE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I think we need to conduct ourselves in an honourable manner when we are doing business in this House.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Yes, especially yourself.
HON. MAKUMIRE: I am just getting into the House and you tell me that I said shamwari to the Hon. Minister. Also, I am Hon. Makumire Ropafadzo and not Ropa. When we are here, we are not your children. We are Hon. Members of Parliament. We are not your children, but Hon. Members of Parliament representing constituencies out there.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, Order Hon. Member.
HON. MAKUMIRE: May you please withdraw that I said shamwari.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: You said so, withdraw that statement Hon. Member.
HON. MAKUMIRE: I never said that Madam Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, do you want me to chuck you out of the House?
HON. MAKUMIRE: No, I will not go out and I will not withdraw what I have not said. I am just coming into the House and you are saying I said shamwari to the Minister? I am not leaving the House.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member leave the House.
HON. MAKUMIRE: Let us go to the camera, let us go to the VAR.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I said leave the House Hon. Member. Leave the House.
HON. MAKUMIRE: Ndi Mr. Mudenda.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: What did you say?
HON. HAMAUSWA: Why are you so angry with our Members?
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Hamauswa, please take your seat.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I believe issues to do with pensioners is under the purview of Hon. Minister July Moyo who is the relevant Minister.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Madam Speaker. The issue of protection of those in the post labour market generally known as people who are on pension is very critical. Those in the public sector which includes all of us here have what we call a defined benefit scheme. This guarantees that you will be paid something that is defined at law and that it will not be reduced until you die. When you die, it is also defined how your spouse will benefit and the calculations are there in the law. If you have children under the age of 18 years, it is also defined how they will access that pension. There is a difference however, for those who are in managed schemes, be it self-managed or managed by other organisations such as Old Mutual. Most of them have the defined contribution scheme. Both the worker and employer contribute, and that money is invested. It is out of the contributions and the investment that we hope, at the end of the day, you will get a fair pension payout. However, you know the vagaries of investment and those hap are impacted on by the macro economy such that at the end of the day, you might not get what you originally expected to get. Government is looking into these two schemes that are coming either from the private sector or any scheme that is a defined contribution scheme to ensure that we can support and have people getting their pensions that are reasonable. That is the situation that we find ourselves in. Those in the public sector in defined benefits, those will not get eroded except by inflation, but those in the private sector can be eroded because either the investment has not done well or the contribution or the pension scheme itself has been eroded by inflation. I thank you.
*HON. MUROMBEDZI: Thank you Madam Speaker. The pensioners are being tossed from one Ministry to the other. This question was asked on 13th February. The pension for pensioners needs to be looked into but the Minister said they were going to look into it. It is now a month down the line and nothing has been done to correct the anomaly. We have pensioners who require medication on daily basis but they have not received any concrete response from the relevant ministries. They are living in poverty because the pensions that they are getting are meagre and insufficient. Ministers should tell us tangible things so that the money that they are getting as pensioners will be able to sustain them and buy drugs for them – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members on my right. Hon. Member, ask your question.
*HON. MUROMBEDZI: My question is that Ministers should come up with concrete responses in terms of what is being done about the plight of the pensioners who are suffering…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, ask your question!
*HON. MUROMBEDZI: Ministers should give us concrete statements…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, ask your question, then the Minister will respond.
*HON. MUROMBEDZI: What tangible measures has the Ministers done in order to alleviate the plight of our pensioners so that they can buy drugs and live better livelihoods? I thank you.
*HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member. A tangible response requires a tangible question. I had been asked what Government policy is and that was the tangible response that I have given. If you have got a tangible question so that I can give a concrete statement, I will be happy if you do that.
*HON. MATSUNGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would want to direct my supplementary question to the Minister of Public Service. How far has Government gone in reviewing and disbursing funds that are given to pensioners? Pensioners travel from different corners of the country to the capital city to collect the pension which is not enough.
*HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. The response to the question on Government’s plan would be, for the civil servants and those in public institutions from the President to different Government officials and different civil servants, when they are no longer working and are pensioners, there is a clear policy regarding the monies that they are paid. For example, if you were a permanent secretary, the retired pensioner is given one third of their pension, which is commutation. That is a lumpsum of one third.
The difference is that if we were at the same level, earning the same amount, the commutation that you get as a woman is more than what I am getting. This is because they consider that you are going to live longer than me. This was done by those who do actuarial science that retired women normally live for 11 and 7 months, whilst as a man, I live for 10 and 2 months. So, I get lesser commutation than a woman. After taking that lumpsum, the residual pension which comes is less than the salary that is being given to a serving permanent secretary or serving officer.
Because I took my one third, then I will get the remainder of my pension bit by bit. It will not be exactly the same with the one who is at work. Inflation is adjusted for both those who are serving and those who are pensioners. However, those who are still at work in the private sector for example, the Railway Pension Fund or the Mining Pension Fund, is the one that I said is a defined contribution. Their money is channeled to a pool fund which is managed by trustees, either of the Railways or the Pension Fund. That money can be used to build houses, offices or be put on bonds so that it gives them dividends. This interest is the one which is going to be given as dividends to the pensioners.
However, some of the monies will be affected by inflation. When you are given the balance, the value will be eroded by inflation. That is why you find people sometimes suffering. What ends up happening is when we change our currency to dollarisation, you will discover that pensions which were pulled by different companies were affected by the migration from one currency to the other. Therefore, we need to deliberate as Government so that we cushion our people in order for them to have money for day to day living expenses. If you have specific names and the monies that they are getting, I will suggest that you put it in writing so that I go and research and come back with enough information. I thank you.
HON. MAONEKE: My supplementary question is, what is the Ministry doing to improve financial literacy, especially among pensioners considering its importance during this hyperinflationary environment?
* HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, I believe that it is a difficult question regarding what could be done in educating people in financial literacy particularly pensioners. If it pertains to educating people regarding their pensions and issues relating to their pensions, it is a difficult question. Financial literacy is a big question for me, I cannot respond to the question.
*HON. MATINENGA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My question is directed to the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small to Medium Enterprises Development. What is Government plan regarding the enhancement of the knowledge of women in information technology so that they are able to move with the technological trends that are prevailing? Technology is quite important especially during the women’s month which I believe is quite pertinent in bettering their lives.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. We have a whole of Government approach. ICT issues, despite the fact that the Minister of Women’s Affairs is responsible for women, all ICT issues are channeled to the Minister of ICT. The Minister of ICT is responsible for that even in terms of policy formulation and the implementation of such policies regarding the betterment of women. May you please allow the Minister of ICT to respond? I thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: The Hon. Minister of ICT, you may respond.
*THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MAVETERA): Let me thank the Hon. Member for that pertinent question. I believe that we have a programme which is meant to bring gender balance and the mainstreaming of gender, particularly during the women’s month. The International Telecommunication Union has a programme called Girls in ICT. As I am speaking, this programme is actually going to be running even this coming month. In this country it is meant to empower women.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I also want to congratulate girls from Tynwald and Milestone who came back today from Italy. These young girls are studying robotics which teaches literacy to young women, even young girls are also empowered with computer skills. We are teaching women digital skills which I believe even this august House has been doing this and we applaud this good job, particularly in the past two weeks. What is disheartening is that Members of this august House did not attend this programme as we expected.
Madam Speaker, what we are saying is that when people are taught digital skills, then they should also go and enhance coding and robotics. These digital skills are meant to benefit our women. When they are empowered with general knowledge, then they can specialise in robotics and coding and other specialised fields.
Let me continue saying that this programme that we are referring to, for instance, where our young girls went to Italy, is a programme which is targeted at young girls and women. The desire of the Ministry is that if most women would participate in such programmes, even the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should also consider including in their curriculum, coding and robotics. We have a whole Government approach and we are going to complement what other Ministries are doing. This also will help everyone to have computer skills, I thank you.
*HON. KARENYI: My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is, I would like to know the plans her Ministry has in improving women’s lives, particularly those who are in rural areas who do not have smart phones which allow them to surf the internet and browse Facebook, X and YouTube sites. How is the Ministry going to assist such women so that they have phones which can assist the virtual market? I thank you.
*HON. DR. MAVETERA: Let me thank Hon. Karenyi for her question. Indeed, the issue regarding smart phones is a programme that we are seized with because as Zimbabweans, we want to digitalise our communications and smart devices are needed. What we are doing is that firstly as a nation, I want to appreciate that we have such programme which is going to be run by a company called ZITCO where they will be assembling phones and computers. If they get enough funding, they will start manufacturing phones for our market.
We also intend to engage manufacturing companies in other countries. The purpose of this programme is to create partnerships with other countries. We have been in talks with Huawei which promised to avail cheaper devices. We are engaging other companies besides Huawei and this is the plan that we have, of partnering with other companies so that we will be able to tap into the different information technology they are running. This is quite important. We need to make our devices affordable. We have three things which I believe are going to benefit everyone in terms of digitisation. The first thing is having good infrastructure, the second one is devices and the third one is the issue of data. These are very important three components which are needed in terms of bettering women’s lives through technology. I want to thank His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa who also initiated the issue of cheaper and affordable devices.
HON. J. TSHUMA: I want to thank the Minister for her clear response towards the emancipation of women. My follow up question is on data. Coming from places where there are poor people, data is very expensive. What is the Ministry’s position in making sure that before we go and train these women, data is affordable and training can be accessed easily especially in our locations?
HON. DR. MAVETERA: Let me thank Hon. Tshuma for that question. Indeed, it is imperative for us as a Ministry to see what we can do towards us making sure that we have affordable data. What we have tried to do is for us to engage the telecommunication companies so that we really come up with knowing what the cost drivers of data are. That, we have already done. What we are also going to do is for us to engage in line with the whole Government approach where we need to engage the Ministry of Finance and see what we need to do in terms of us making sure that we can work towards the cost of data.
However, we are also looking at other ways and possibilities that we can have for us to make sure that we just do not look at fibre connections, but we also look at accessing satellite networks in order for us to have reliable and affordable data.
*HON. JONGA: I want to direct my question to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Our education standards are deteriorating, particularly in the rural areas and this is evident in the pass rate which is going down for Grade 7s and Form 4s. What steps is Government taking in terms of correcting the deteriorating pass rate? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T. MOYO): Indeed, it is true. In the past, BEAM funds were delaying but in 2024, the African Union declared that 2024 was a year for the African child. I went to Ethiopia with his Excellency the President to the summit and when we went there, the President said that he was going to make sure that our children learn in a conducive environment. As I speak, BEAM funds have been released and some have started trickling in to schools. They are clearing the debts that were there for last year.
Through His Excellency’s wisdom, the fees were gazetted in US$ but payable at interbank rate so that the school fees have value - P3 schools might be charging US$5, P2 schools might be charging US$10 and P1 schools might be charging US$200, which means that when BEAM is paid, it is paid at interbank rate of that particular day. This is wisdom which seeks to preserve the value of school fees so that they are not left behind through inflation.
HON. KAITANO: We applaud all what Government is doing through the BEAM programme. Given what has happened this year, I would want to hear the Government policy regarding the other learners that are not on BEAM because in rural Zimbabwe, many parents are not going to harvest anything. We know that they send their kids to school using money from their produce and there is high probability that parents will not be able to pay for fees from second to third terms. Has Government taken cognisance of this possibility and if it has done so, what probably has been put in place to ensure that school fees is paid and the schools are able to be operational?
HON. T. MOYO: Hon. Speaker, may I take this opportunity to thank Hon. Kaitano for the question. The Government is seized with the prevailing conditions happening in Zimbabwe as a result of the El Nino phenomenon which has seen many families having shortages of food on their table. The Government will not stand aloof witnessing learners failing to access education which is their fundamental right as enshrined in Section 75 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
In addition to BEAM, the Government is also providing what we call Grant-in-Aid of tuition where Government has identified all the most impoverished districts in Zimbabwe and learners, especially in primary schools. In those marginalised and impoverished districts, we have free basic State funded education and I want to applaud the Government for that innovation and initiative.
Again, the committees that are involved in selecting prospective beneficiaries of BEAM – it is a continuous process Madam Speaker, where those families that are affected by the hardships as a result of the El Nino phenomenon, if they fail to pay, it means communities in those rural set ups will also meet and increase the number of beneficiaries of BEAM. I will also allow my brother, Hon. J. Moyo because he is the Minister responsible for social safety nets also to add to what I have said if you allow me Hon. Speaker.
HON. J. MOYO: I can only add to the fact that yes, it is true there is a devastation in terms of climate induced drought this year which has seen many families becoming food insecure, but that food insecurity also means a number of social insecurities that they are going to face. As regards education as the Minister has said, we operate the BEAM system and that BEAM system is not fixed in terms of the number of children who can access that BEAM. We have the Zimbabwe Livelihood Assessment Programme which looks in every year, the number of children who must access BEAM.
So we have not done so yet and this coming year, I am sure ZimLAC assessment will show that there are more children. Last year we were assisting up to 30% of children in primary and secondary schools. When BEAM was originally conceived, it was supposed to look after 26% of the children in primary and secondary schools, but in some years, because of the pressures, we have gone up to 35%.
So that is informed by a scientifically determined assessment which is led by the food and nutritional council which is housed in the President’s Office. That is why when we are referring to all these interventions, these are presidential interventions that will have been undertaken, not just by the Food and Nutrition Council, but by whole of Government approach. It also includes civil society and UN agencies, and in some cases, particular governments that also want to give us their technical assistance, both in terms of financial and technical input so that what we produce is something that is closest to reality of those who need assistance. That is what we will be undertaking for this year. Thank you.
HON. I. NDUDZO: My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is a follow up on the question earlier on raised by Hon. Jonga in relation to the need to improve on the pass rates. My question is, apart from the payment of fees, what are the other policy measures and interventions being implemented by the Ministry to make sure that we improve on the Grade 7 and Ordinary Level pass rates, particularly for our rural schools?
HON. T. MOYO: It is not true that pass rates are going down. The point is every year we have seen an increase in pass rate from Grade 7 up to A’ Level. At Grade 7, the pass rate rose from slightly above 40% to more than 50%, and we cannot say that is poor performance. It is an increase in performance of our learners. At A’Level, the pass rate rose from 91% to 95% and that is the national pass rate at A ‘Level. At O’Level, the pass rate rose from roughly 25% to 29%. That is not pleasing and in the majority of cases, rural schools do not perform well compared to urban schools because of the differences in disparities.
As a Ministry, we have already reviewed the curriculum and embarked on the Heritage Based Education where we are emphasising issues of connectivity and rolling out information communication technology from ECD. What the Hon. Minister of Information, Communication and Technology was referring to on coding, robotics as well as artificial intelligence, because of this new curriculum, we are going to roll out all those new strategies of ensuring that even a student at ECD is able to access a tablet or laptop like I said two weeks ago.
We have already engaged development partners and patriotic Zimbabweans who are in America and New Zealand who are going to roll out this programme to ensure that we provide laptops and gadgets, starting from Chipinge, Beitbridge, and Chivi until the whole country is covered. If we do all that, obviously, that will lead and culminate into an increase in pass rates. As a Ministry, we are seized with the issue and we will make sure we work very hard and tirelessly.
Let me take this opportunity to thank our teachers who are dedicated to duty and hardworking. We are continuously motivating them to ensure that they produce excellent results come end of this year. I thank you.
HON. BAJILA: I want to ask a supplementary question which takes us back to Hon. Jonga’s original question on BEAM and the pass rates. There are some learners who are unable to get their results for Grade 7 or Form 4 simply because there are BEAM arrears. Over the years that the Minister mentioned that we are trying to clear the backlog, what is Government’s policy on schools withholding end of year results to learners on the basis of BEAM arrears?
HON. T. MOYO: Government policy is very clear. Withholding of results at either Grade 7, Form 4 or A’ Level is illegal. It is a violation of rights to education. As soon as results are out, schools are forced by law to release the results regardless of whether they owe the school or not. The question should not be restricted to BEAM. It may also apply to trust schools. We have seen some learners suing schools – those schools for the elite and those that have violated the law, the law will apply. No one will be spared.
HON. NKANI: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. In his absence, I will direct it to the Leader of the House. What is Government’s position on the resuscitation of Government owned mining companies which are not operational?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Just a point of clarity, is the Hon. Member referring to Government owned mines that the Government is using or private mines that are not under use?
HON. NKANI: I am referring to Government owned mines, for example those under ZMDC.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The question is extremely broad. A mine is closed for a specific reason. You cannot have a ‘one size fit all’ why mine A is not operating and mine B is not operating. You need to focus on that specific mine. If the Hon. Member is worried about a specific mine that is not operating or specific mines, perhaps if he can put it in writing and the responsible Minister will be able to articulate that this particular mine was closed because of one/two/three/four and Government is undertaking the following steps to ensure that the particular mine is resuscitated.
HON. M. SIBANDA: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. In the past weeks, we have seen the law enforcers ruthlessly dealing with illegally settled villagers. What is Government’s position in dealing with the land barons who are the real perpetrators of illegal settlements?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Before I respond to the main question, I just want to make a clarification that the police never ruthlessly went for villagers. The police are there to ensure that law and order is maintained. Where an individual decides to go and occupy State land without authority, it is the duty of the police to ensure that, that particular individual does not occupy that particular place.
Coming to the main body of the question, it is very correct that we have a menace of land barons, land barons who are deliberately misleading innocent citizens, allocating and fleecing them of their hard-earned money, allocating them land which does not belong to them. Government is now going to undertake an exercise where we will involve everyone; the community, the lands officers, our chiefs and be able to go area by area addressing the issues and identifying the culprits. Those culprits will then be arrested and dealt with. What Government requires is that all those who want land must follow the lawful procedures of acquiring land. People must desist from being swindled by these land barons that you refer to.
We believe that undertaking a peace-meal approach to this, we may not realise the desired result. We are going to have a whole of Government approach or whole of society approach where we say if we are dealing with Harare, we are going to Caledonia and we want everyone involved to be in that particular area. We then ask the real issues, who has been doing what? Among the people who are there, we then separate the innocent from the culprits and we deal with the culprits. We look at the situation and say, how can this situation be remedied and we get a full solution to it. That is an exercise that is going to come very soon and we are prepared as Government to deal with this issue once and for all.
HON. M. SIBANDA: My supplementary question is, in each election cycle, we always see people being settled illegally and after elections, we realise that these people are evicted. This has been recurring, immediately after elections people are evicted from spaces …
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Ask your question Hon. Member.
HON. M. SIBANDA: The Minister has said we will try and deal with this, but we are saying this has been recurring in each election cycle.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: You did not ask a question Hon. Sibanda. I do not know whether it was a comment.
HON. M. SIBANDA: It was a comment.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Alright.
HON. SAKUPWANYA: Section 295 of the Constitution recognises that we compensate illegal white farmers who were not the owners of the premises where improvements were made to the places within which they settled but did not belong to them. My supplementary question is, are we considering a compensation tool for some of these people deemed to be illegal settlers considering that some of them have stayed for 10 to 20 years? As the saying goes, what is good for the goose should be good for the gander. We are in this sense, the gander.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Madam Speaker Ma’am, in my earlier response, I indicated that we are going to look at each area and analyse the situation that is obtaining there. Once we do that, we then look at the feasible options. The President is for people to have adequate accommodation where they have proper housing. The President is not for demolishing people’s houses. In fact, on the contrary, the President is saying even those in urban areas who do not have title deeds, despite having stayed in the same house for several years, and all they know is a card at the Municipal offices, let us ensure that they have title deeds. It is true that if somebody has been occupying a land for over 20 years, technically we cannot go there without violating that particular individual’s rights and say we are demolishing. The law does not allow us to do that. What we are saying is that we will go area by area with all the stakeholders involved and interrogate whether it is feasible to do that or not. We have already started doing that. We were taken to court by some commercial farmers under the bi-lateral arrangement whereby we were not supposed to take their land. Our solution was that if the farm is still vacant, we can return it to that particular farmer, but it is impossible because of the settlers that are already there. The best solution is to look for an alternative farm so that we satisfy our legal requirements. That is what we are going to do even to our settlers. We do not have an appetite of making our own people homeless. That is not the policy of our President. His policy is to ensure that everyone has got a house that they call home and this is the Vision 2030 that the President is talking about. By the time we get to 2030, we will have housing for all. That is the reason why you saw under His Excellency’s leadership, a whole Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities to tackle those issues. So it is not correct to say that Government is going to evict villagers that have stayed on their land or on the land that they occupied for over 20 years without compensation. We are not going to do that, but we will analyse if it is feasible for them to continue in that particular area. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. JAMES: Thank you Madam Speaker. Will Government take into account the Justice Uchena Report that was presented in 2019 that deals with these issues in peri-urban and urban areas? I believe the report has not been made public. Will it be made public?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. In fact, the Hon. Member was not listening to what I said. I said this will be a whole of society, so anything that will assist us to ensure that we resolve the issues area by area, we are prepared to do that. What we are reluctant to do is to do a piece-meal approach to it. We want a final solution to this issue, whether we deal ruthlessly with land barons, but we will secure the interests of ordinary citizens. So we will go to a particular area and the Ministry of Housing, Local Government, Lands and their officials, our chiefs, the villagers and every stakeholder will be there. We know each other in our villages. The villagers will be able to tell us who was there and who was not there.
HON. MBIRIPIRI: On a point of order. I think the Minister did not get the question properly. The question is not about what they are doing. The question from the Hon. Member….
THE ACTING SPEAKER: But you are not the one who asked the question.
HON. MBIRIPIRI: I heard the question, I am just trying to help because he is going at a tangent.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member order. Let the Minister finish responding.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Madam Speaker, the Commission of Enquiry Report gives a recommendation. It does not prescribe what we should do. If I am recommended to go with him and I do not want, I will not go with him. I am saying that we are taking an approach that will be inclusive of what was recommended by Uchena if it helps us have the final solution. So I do not see any tangent in that. In a nutshell, what I am saying is that Government is prepared to ensure that we have order and we deal decisively with land barons. That is why I was very grateful to the originator of the question who asked specifically what we are doing about land barons. Those are the culprits. The ordinary citizens are victims and we want to protect the victims by ensuring that when we go to a specific village, which I said kumusha tozivana kuti akauya gore rakati uyu akanga asipo. They will tell us and we will be able to give those people an opportunity to tell us why they are there when they do not have papers.
We will have a solution whereby the Minister of Lands will be there because we do not want to throw our people out there in the cold. He should be able to find land for them. So this will be the Government approach which will even include the Minister of Social Welfare because we need the welfare of those individuals to be taken care of. So all I am saying is that it is work in progress. We have a working party that is looking at this and once it is finalised, we will make it public so that whoever wants to attend will do so and contribute, then we deal decisively with the issue of land barons. I thank you.
HON. CHIDUWA: What is government policy regarding the importation and consumption of GMOs in general, and grain in particular?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): I want to thank Hon Chiduwa for the question. I just want to make a correction. We are faced with a drought, but we are not yet food deficient. We have pockets that did not perform well the previous season. Every year we harvest towards April/May, so the season that we are facing is the one that we are food deficient, but currently we have pockets whereby we have food insufficiency and the Ministry of Social Welfare is dealing with that. So we are in the middle of assessing the extent of the ravages of El-Nino and we are coming up with a package to ensure that as a nation, we will be food self-sufficient. So it is not scientifically and technically correct, to say that we should import either GMOs or maize. We are not yet there. We are waiting for the statistics of what we can expect given the ravages of El Nino. What we have in stock, be it private sector or the GMB and we assess what we require later on. We do not want the nation to panic that we are not food self-sufficient right now. It is not correct but we are doing the assessment so that at the end of the day, we will come up with a plan of action that will ensure that Zimbabweans do not starve. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. CHIDUWA: I think the Hon. Minister did not get my question well. I said, what is Government policy regarding the importation and consumption of GMOs, in general, and grain in particular? The follow up question that I want is the Government position on the likely health side effects of consuming GMOS. Maybe for this one, we can get assistance from the Minister of Health and Child Care. I submit.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I got distracted when he was posing his supplementary. Can he repeat so that I can capture correctly and respond accordingly?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. What is Government policy regarding the importation and consumption of GMOs, in general, and grain in particular?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. The short response is, we do not allow GMOs. My earlier response which the Hon. Member said I did not get his question was, when the time comes, we will look at options that would need GMOS if need be. Currently, Madam Speaker, we do not have a policy of allowing importation of GMO grain because we do not want to contaminate our fields with GMO grain. However, when the time comes, if need be, we will have a look at it and the nation will be advised. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE ACTING SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Allow me to thank the Hon. Ministers who managed to answer your questions. Thank you, Hon. Minister., Once again, I am appealing to Hon. Ministers who have questions to answer to remain in the House.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY WELL-BEING OF HURUNGWE CONSTITUENCIES
- HON. KANGAUSARU asked the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to inform the House the Ministry’s plans to enhance infrastructure development and the overall well-being of the community considering Hurungwe Constituencies contribute immensely to foreign exchange earnings compared to other provinces that produce tobacco.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I thank Hon. Kangausaru for the question. Hon. Members must recall that our National Development Strategy 1 gives priority to infrastructure development across the country’s provinces and districts taking into account needs assessment and priorities from grassroot level whilst top-down approach also gives direction to needs of communities. The Development Plan envisages restoration of basic infrastructural services including, expansion in critical areas mainly targeting the key sectors of energy, transport, water and sanitation, housing, health, education and information and communication technology.
Madam Speaker, putting policy into practice, Government normally relies on the bottom-up approach towards infrastructure delivery, using the existing structures at village, ward, district and provincial levels. Additionally, the development agenda provides further impetus for development of our communities, especially the marginalized and the requisite structures at all levels that should support Government’s thrust towards infrastructure development which has an important bearing on sustainable long-term economic growth. The advent of the Second Republic and in line with His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa of leaving no place and no one behind, our Annual Infrastructure Investment Programme Investment Programme involves an extensive consultative process that starts at grassroot level.
Madam Speaker, under the auspices of the 2024 National Budget and specifically for Hurungwe, a number of projects have been included for implementation during the year which include the following among others: - Construction of Hurungwe modern prison, including staff houses, Karoi-Binga Road, Siakobvu Turnoff to Karoi Road, Mana Pools National Park Roads and Construction and upgrading of schools and clinics through devolution.
Furthermore, the implementation towards the widening and upgrading of the 352km Harare-Chirundu Road which is a critical artery along the North-South corridor will definitely stimulate economic activity in the district. Noteworthy, is that the ongoing project covers over 200km of road works in Hurungwe that should see employment of the locals during construction as well as reduction of traffic accidents upon completion.
Madam Speaker, over and above the normal budgetary allocations on specific Votes, the Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfer Support to lower tiers of Government continues to be a key strategic conduit of ensuring enhanced implementation of critical social infrastructure in line with our thrust of empowering and emancipating our rural communities. Notably, in the district, is improved roads rehabilitation by the local authority through the use of procured pieces of equipment utilising devolution funding.
Madam Speaker, Treasury reaffirms its commitment towards financing and implementation of critical infrastructure projects in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the execution and achievement of sector outcomes. At the same time, Government is also reviewing the payment framework of tobacco farmers to ensure that the beneficiary farmers are fully empowered in terms of proceeds.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Thank you very much Deputy Minister for your response. We have seen tremendous improvement in Hurungwe but yet we still need more. In ploughing back, we need to have an agricultural college in Hurungwe in order for us to increase the production of tobacco - that would be very handy and also to improve on the schools that you are embarking on so that even our pass rate and the life of the people in Hurungwe can be improved. Please could it be possible for us to have an agricultural college that will teach us to do farming and vocational training colleges? Yes, we thank your Ministry for the schools, we still need more schools. If you look at Magunje, it is only vocational, it is not empowered in terms of training people with the skills that are needed. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I think that intervention is well noted. I thank you.
HON. CHIDUWA: Supplementary question Madam Speaker….
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can you allow us to have only one supplementary question so that we cover a lot of questions considering the Ministers have stayed in today? I will allow supplementary questions from the originator of the question. Thank you.
COMPENSATION FOR FORMER COMMERCIAL FARMERS
- HON. JAMES asked the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to explain to the House the following; (a) Whether the total National Debt of US$18 billion includes the money for compensating former commercial farmers who had title deeds; (b) To further explain with whom the Compensation Agreement has been signed; and (c) Whether the Ministry received a fully reconciled Valuation Consortium (Valcon) database.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam Speaker and I also want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament, Hon. James. In his first question, my response is the National Debt of USD18 billion includes compensation of former farm owners of USD3.5 billion. Kindly take note this was tabled in Parliament in the Public Debt Report on 30 November 2023.
The Hon. Member’s second question, the answer is, the Global Compensation Deed of USD3.5 billion was signed between the Government of Zimbabwe and representatives of the former farm owners which was the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe represented by Mr. Andrew Jon Pascoe, the Southern African Commercial Farmers Alliance Zimbabwe which was represented by Mr. Cedric Robert Wilde and the Valuation Consortium Private Limited represented by Mr. Anthony Nield Purkis.
On the last question, the Global Compensation Deed contains a schedule of all names of former farm owners. However, the database is kept at the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement.
HON. JAMES: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My supplementary question is, there appears to be another group that is involved. Are you aware that both the CFU and the Southern Africa Commercial Farmers Alliance from the Southern region have distanced themselves from PROFCARE? Would the Minister be receptive to further consultations with a larger group of title deed holders who are not compromised by conflict of interest? To me, it was updated as a course. The reason why I ask is that properties are still being acquired and valuations to those properties need to be done, they are not on the Valcon database. Also, there are some 615 indigenous black farmers who were removed from their farms, they are no longer on the database. Further consultation is needed.
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. As to whether the CFU or the Southern African Commercial Farmers Alliance of Zimbabwe has distanced themselves from the process, this will be news to us. As I mentioned, there were signatories to this Global Compensation Deed.
As to whether the Minister would be open or receptive as to new entrance of new discussions, I believe this process is a multi-stakeholder process through some of these unions, through the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion and the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. I believe those affected know the appropriate channels and the Government does have an open-door approach. With that, I would like to say those affected know the appropriate channels and should do so accordingly. Thank you..
IMPORTATION OF CARS THAT ARE MORE THAN 10
YEARS FROM THE DATE OF MANUFACTURING
- HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to explain to the House the rationale behind banning the importation of cars that are more than ten years old from the date of manufacture considering that the country no longer has a vehicle manufacturing plant.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Madam Speaker, the Government has prioritised the motor vehicle assembly industry as sub-sector that is key toward the industrialisation drive. Pursuant to that policy thrust, the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1, further underscores the importance of revamping the existing idle capacity within the motor vehicle assembly industry, in particular, the bus and trucks sub-sector.
In addition, Hon. Members, a strategy has been adopted to also enhance the local assembly of passenger motor vehicles, thus maximising on the potential for job creation and reduction of the unsustainable import bill.
The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion through the 2021 National Budget, proposed to restrict the importation of second-hand motor vehicles aged ten or more years from the date of manufacture. The proposal was based on the then existing policy framework, which included the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy and Motor Industry Development Policy which focus on promoting the local assembly of motor vehicles.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce concurred with this proposal and subsequently promulgated Statutory Instrument 89 of 2021 which gives effect to the pronouncement. This is in view of the fact that the Minister of Industry and Commerce is in charge of administering the Control of Goods Act [Chapter 14:05].
The restriction of importation of second-hand vehicles which are above ten years …..
Hon. Mutseyami having passed between the Chair and the Hon. Member speaking.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Minister. Hon. Mutseyami, you know that you are not allowed to cross between the Chair and the Hon. Member speaking. Go back and use the proper entrances. Go back and go round, you know how you are supposed to do it. Do not delay, go back and do it properly.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I am not allowed to cross before the Member speaking.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I will allow you to cross as of now. Hon. Mutseyami, let us be reasonable. Let us do things the right way.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I agree Madam Speaker. What I am saying is the Standing Order does not allow me to cross in between the Chair and the Member speaking.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: You are not allowed to cross.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: There is no such an Order, you need to get advice from the Clerk.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami. I want you to respect the Chair.
Hon. Mutseyami left the Chamber.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Can you proceed Hon. Minister?
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The restriction of importation of second-hand vehicles which are above 10 years from the date of manufacture is also aimed at minimising the importation of unroadworthy vehicles which do not meet quality, environmental and safety standards. Currently, there is no ban on importation of second hand vehicles. However, the Minister of Industry and Commerce may consider extending a ban depending on the merits of pursuing that avenue. I thank you
EFFECTIVENESS OF PENALTIES ON DRUG PEDDLERS
- HON. GUMEDE asked Minister of Home Affairs to inform the House the measures in place to apprehend drug traffickers in the Bulawayo Central Business (CBD) District and to elaborate on the effectiveness of penalties imposed, particularly for those found selling drugs to teenagers.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. SANYATWE): I would like to start by thanking the Hon. Member for the important question. I remain alive to the fact that the issue of illegal drugs has become a major hazard, not only to Bulawayo youth but it is threatening our future and national security. To that end, the Zimbabwe Republic Police is engaging in a number of strategies and operations which include but not limited to the following;
Riding on the strength of collaborative efforts. All stakeholder approach is very key in managing drug and substance abuse cases. It is however saddening that while the youth are abusing these drugs which are being manufactured, trafficked and traded in our communities, it will be under everyone’s watch. In my view, it is high time we put our heads together for the common good of our society. Surely, the cost of doing nothing about a problem far exceeds the cost of doing something. As such, let us be responsible citizens taking an urgent and collective stand and report drug peddlers, drug manufacturers and drug abusers to responsible authorities.
In an endevour to cut the supply chain, the Zimbabwe Republic Police deployed sniffer dogs at ports of entry and exit to detect contraband as they get into the country from external sources.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police continues to maximise on intelligence network.
Intensifying awareness campaigns and educating members of the public on the dangers associated with drug abuse. Policing rides on societal cohesion.
As Government, we continue to capacitate the Zimbabwe Republic Police with the requisite tools of trade. Towards that end, allow me Madam Speaker, to inform the House that my Ministry recently received a shot in the arm from the People’s Republic of China, of anti-narcotics analysis equipment worth US$136 998.00 to be used in the Zimbabwe Republic Police Forensic Laboratories to enhance their operational efficacy in the war against drugs. It is beyond any shadow of doubt that such equipment makes a huge difference and helps the country rebuild the social fabric that has been devastated by drugs.
The Government of Zimbabwe, under the astute leadership of His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, is also adding a fit to the fight against drug and substance abuse by constituting a National Committee on Drugs and Substance Abuse. The committee’s mandate is centred on supply reduction, demand reduction, harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation, psycho-social support and community reintegration.
Madam Speaker, I have no doubt in the commitment of our police officers to eliminate the scourge of drugs. Their efforts are yielding positive results. I am pleased to inform the House that police in Bulawayo, from February 2023 to February this year, have carried out a number of operations such as “Operation No to drugs and substance abuse” and managed to arrest 1 460 accused persons. Saddening enough, of the aforesaid number, 1 267 are the youths under the age of 35 and also 58 were suppliers of these illicit drugs. Total value recovered was Z$62 321 150.00.
To evaluate on the effectiveness of penalties imposed, in particular to those found selling drugs to teenagers, the onus lies with all of us in this House. As lawmakers, the Police Command is engaging the Judiciary, urging them to impose stiffer penalties as prescribed by the law, which are deterrent on perpetrators of violent crimes such as these. I thank you.
HON. GUMEDE: My supplementary question is; are the current drug trafficking offences punitive enough to deter offenders? I am saying this because in my constituency, we have got a severe problem of drug abuse amongst youths. Upon community investigations, we are finding that there are so many complaints coming from our residents which indicate that drug traffickers can be taken today by the police when the community reports, but the following day, they will be in the same corner selling drugs again to our youths.
Secondly, we also hear reports from people who engage in these practices who confess that if you want to catch …
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Gumede, I want you to go straight to your question.
HON. GUMEDE: My question is; are the current drug trafficking offences punitive enough to deter offenders?
HON. SANYATWE: I will advise that we will continue to review and amend. I thank you.
MEASURES TO CURB THEFT OF COPPER CABLES, HOUSE BREAKINGS AND ROBBERIES
- HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Home Affairs to inform
the House the measures put in place to curb theft of copper cables, house
breakings, and armed robberies.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. SANYATWE): I wish to appreciate the Hon. Member for the second question and acknowledge that vandalism of critical public utilities infrastructure such as copper cables among other violent crimes attracts a glut of measures.
May I take this opportunity to inform the Hon. Member that my Ministry, through the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, has a specialised section called the Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit which deals with mineral related crimes. I am happy to mention that through such specialisation, the ZRP working with the related stakeholders, has been able to detect and arrest several organised criminal syndicates and individuals vandalising public infrastructure and stealing copper across the country.
Furthermore, a number of strategies aimed at curbing such illicit activities continue to be adopted. I wish to advise the Hon. Member that some of the strategies put in place include the setting up of a multi-stakeholder taskforce comprising ZRP, ZESA, NRZ and Tel-One, to look into the issuance of Copper Dealer’s Licences as well as dealing in scrap metal.
In addition, we continue to appeal that deterrent sentences be passed to all criminals convicted for vandalism and theft of public utilities infrastructure. This will go a long way in sending a strong message to all such criminal elements not to vandalise or tamper with our public utilities’ infrastructure.
As a Ministry, we are as well concerned with robbery cases. You will agree with me that one robbery is a robbery too many. According to the briefings availed to me by the Commissioner General of Police, the police continues to intensify their operations throughout the country to curb robberies and house breakings. Police have put in place various strategies and initiatives which include, but not limited to the following;
- Intensifying foot, cycle and motorised patrols in crime prone areas.
The Commissioner General has directed all officers commanding
Provinces, to deploy Support Unit, Criminal Investigations
Department, Duty Uniform Branch and Police Intelligence in hot
spots to curtail robbery cases;
- Mounting of security roadblocks, intensifying stop and searches;
- Heightening awareness campaigns encouraging members of the
public to desist from the habit of using paths that pass through
secluded and unlit areas at night, and strongly discouraging the
keeping of large sums of money at home or business premises or
even moving around with it;
- Promotion of public participation in policing through joining the
popular Neighbourhood Watch Committees to patrol respective
neighbourhoods;
- Engagement of various stakeholders with a view to enhancing inter-
agency cooperation in the fight against crime;
- Police have also established that some of the armed robbery cases
being recorded across the country are as a result of the influx of
unlicenced firearms. Some of these firearms were illegally brought
into the country by criminal syndicates through the country’s porous
borders. Furthermore, some licenced firearm owners are also
securing their weapons and in the process, end up losing them to
criminals who then use them to commit robbery cases. Accordingly, the police are appealing to firearm licence holders to adhere to the provisions of the Firearms Act which demands the safe storage of firearms at all times; and
- Lastly, at a national level, the Police Command is engaging the
Judiciary urging them to impose stiffer penalties on perpetrators of
violent crimes which include armed robberies for deterrence.
In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to say it here and say it loudly, that the police will never, under its watch, let some misguided elements continue to reign terror among the society. I thus, wish to send a very strong warning to all drug traffickers, copper cable thieves, house breakers and armed robbers that their net is closing in. We are appealing for information from members of the public to assist in our efforts to account for these dangerous criminals. I enjoin every responsible citizen to be a whistleblower as we collectively work to save our nation. I thank you.
HON. GUMEDE: I really appreciate the fact that there are multi-stakeholder task forces which is all well and noble. We really appreciate also the intensification of patrols and deployment of the Support Unit. My supplementary question is, as crime is rampant, are there plans to increase police bases in these hotspot areas?
HON. SANYATWE: Yes, there are plans and there is a budget for that.
POSITIONING OF ZIMBABWE AS THE BEST TOURIST DESTINATION IN AFRICA
- HON. MUWOMBI asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality to explain to the House the strategic measures being taken by the Ministry to position Zimbabwe as the best tourist destination in Africa.
THE MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY (HON. RWODZI): To start with, we have reconfigured the structure of the Ministry as a strategy to align with the mandate that we are directed by the Tourism Act. The Tourism Act is dissected into two; domestic tourism and international tourism. Our mandate is to promote the destination Zimbabwe and to develop tourism facilities, infrastructure and its operations. I would want to assume that this question is directed more to international tourism as it reads - ‘strategic measures being taken by the Ministry to position Zimbabwe as the best destination in Africa’. It speaks more to international tourism.
The first strategy is, we have assigned tourism attachés in eleven countries since October 2023. Nine of them have already been deployed to their destinations. Two are awaiting confirmations from the countries - USA and India. We are awaiting their confirmation and anytime they will go. The tourism attachés are there to market the country and to attend various marketing platforms that they can sell the destination Zimbabwe to.
Secondly, we promote the destination through ZTA and the development of our tourism facilities and infrastructure is done through ZTF. In essence, ZTA is the marketing company for tourism in Zimbabwe. Various marketing strategies are there that include also attending international conferences where we get opportunities and platforms for pitching our destination and what we offer as Zimbabwe destination.
We are also strengthening our relations with UN Tourism which was popularly known as UNTWO and now called UN Tourism for the past one month and all its members for us to also take advantage of its platform to market Zimbabwe as a destination. One of the examples that I can give to show that strengthening the relationships is advantageous to us is that in July from 26-28 this year, 2024, we will host the first ever Africa Gastronomy Tourism Forum that will be held in our capital city of tourism – Victoria Falls.
We also have digital marketing that we are currently working on thoroughly so that we can market our destination robustly outside and internationally. We want to be on all digital platforms and we want to be known as a destination as well as getting on international television channels, for example to be marketing ourselves on CNN and Bloomberg – those popular channels.
We are also going to physical printing of magazines that we will be distributing on all airlines that come to the country so that people can know whilst they are flying or people who are in their destinations or areas can read about destination Zimbabwe.
We have a division in ZTA that is for International Convention Bureau and their mandate is to bid for mice business or what we call conferencing or workshops that are international. With the new Bill that is coming to Parliament, you shall see that we are asking that division to now become a business unit so that they can only focus on biding this conference so that the mice business can come more to our country. It is also another platform that can market Zimbabwe destination to be the best in Africa as well as many other strategies that we are coming up with, that include domestic tourism and many for international tourism
DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD BY SOCIAL WELFARE TO THE ELDERLY AND VULNERABLE
- HON BONDA asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House on the following:
- a) Why the distribution of food by the Social Welfare to the elderly and vulnerable was discontinued thereby violating Section 77 (b) of the Constitution which provides that every person has a right to food; and
- b) What plans are in place to give financial support to the elderly as provided for under section 82 (c) of the Constitution which provides that the elderly are to receive financial support by way of social security and welfare.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): The Hon. Member might be informed that there are two distinct strategies that the Ministry administers to ensure compliance with Section 77 (b) of the same Constitution of Zimbabwe; Vulnerable Groups Feeding which is under the Food Mitigation Strategy and is informed by the Zimbabwe Livelihood Assessment Committee Assessment Report which comes every year. This was formerly called the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC). We also have the Contingency Feeding where the Ministry always has a contingency quantity set aside to enable it to respond to distress calls as and when they arise and sometimes to respond to emergencies. The Hon. Member may be informed that my Ministry has a mandate to ensure provision of improved access to inclusive rights based social protection to vulnerable people. Thus, this guides the targeting, selection and registration of beneficiaries under the food deficit mitigation strategy. Clearly, those who are targeted are the elderly, persons with disabilities, the chronically ill and the child headed households who are food insecure. Everybody else who might be able bodied and in that particular year does not have food is considered after these categories. Food distribution is guided by a manual which indicates the phases of food distribution in Zimbabwe and when we have insufficient food, we distribute from October to December as a category. Then January to March, which we consider as a peak hunger period in any year where we have food deficit, outside this period, assessments are undertaken such as the ZIMVAC and the Crop and Livestock Assessment, which are evidence based and informs programming. However, during this period the Ministry continued to respond to distress calls received from across the country to ensure that no one dies of hunger and we have insisted that these distress calls should be channeled from your DDCs or from your Chiefs to the District Development Coordinators and to the Ministers of State so that we know any area which is in distress.
As we speak, food distribution has gained momentum under the Food Deficit Mitigation Strategy and we have managed to go and witness some of the distributions to vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Our target, which was coming out of that assessment, is 2.7 million people. This is the peak hunger period from January to March, but because we thought that by April, people would be getting their food from their harvest, this will definitely change because of El Nino.
However, late disbursement of funds might have affected and delayed the commencement, but let me assure you that the programme continues to be guided by the mantra of the President which says; leaving no one and no place behind in terms of food distribution. It is comprehensive in all the areas that I visited in the last week, be it in Bubi, Mangwe and in Zvishavane. That food distribution which is targeted for the immensely food insecure people from last year’s cropping is going very well. Let me advise the Hon. Members also that the current response is informed by the 2022/2023 ZIMVAC Assessment. We have not assessed the El Nino induced food deficit which we are looking at, but are still looking at the 2023/2024 assessment. Assessment is to be done, and we will also be informed by what we are looking at right now after the Ministry of Agriculture has given us their final crop assessment which we hope will be end of this month. We will then be comprehensive in looking into the future. The food distribution will continue until June, so instead of ending in March because we now know there is nothing in the fields based on last year’s assessment, we will continue until June and a new programme will start. That is the response to the first question.
The second question was on plans in place to give financial support to the elderly as provided for under Section 82(2) of the Constitution which provides that the elderly are to receive financial support by way of social security and welfare.
This august House should be aware that the Ministry has a mandate to ensure the provision of improved access to inclusive rights based in services to vulnerable groups which include access to financial support. Under Section 82 (c) it states that: to receive financial support by way of a social security and welfare and the State must take reasonable legislative and other measures within the limits of the resources available to it to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights. This august House gave me the resources that I am going to use this year to undertake what is required by the Constitution. Therefore, the elderly, under the Ministry’s mandate and guided by policies and it acts within the confines of available resources that the ministry has for the elderly. Currently, we are giving the elderly who are in homes US$20 every month for their upkeep and the welfare within these homes. Monthly Maintenance Allowance is a programme that is designed to strengthen the household socio-economic sphere within the community. It is a remedial as it provides support throughout the year and payments are done every month. It is a flat figure no matter how many people are in that household.
Thirdly, Harmonised Social Cash Transfers similar to Monthly Maintenance Allowances. The programme provides bi-monthly allowances. Beneficiaries under this programme are paid according to the size of the household with a one member household receiving US$20 up to US$65, depending on the number for a four member household, payable at the prevailing inter-bank rate. So it is paid in Zim dollars, but because it is linked to the US$65 at a particular time, the prevailing interbank rate is what we end up using. So there might be challenges as I have indicated and the challenges normally relate to late payment by Treasury or lack of tools or administrative working tools. Policies are not in alignment, for example, for the age of elderly persons under the Older Persons Act is 65, while in the Constitution it is talking about 70. So to curb these challenges, we will make sure that we align what the Constitution says and we increase the age from 65 to 70. Right now we are paying from 65. I want to thank you Madam Speaker and thank the Hon. Member again.
HON. BONDA: Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for the clarification although I will look for him for some more information because I still need to know which offices the elderly should approach to benefit the US$20. My supplementary question however is, since this year we are facing this ravaging drought, how vulnerable is vulnerable considering the people who are stuck in the villages in the rural areas who do not have any jobs or source of livelihood? Are they also going to be considered this year on the criteria of selection in the sense that they are stuck and disabled in the village? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): I must admit if I miss exactly what you said, please repeat, but if I understood what you implied, yes this year our assessment is that it is a very difficult year, but we have had difficult years in the past and what we now need to do is to be comprehensive. The assessment that we are going to be undertaking, again a scientific one, is not only to look at what has come out from the fields. We are looking at the number of cattle that anybody might have, livestock, but we are also looking at the strategies of mitigation but at the same time, strategies of resilience. We must combine mitigation with resilience and what the Government is wanting to do while we are looking at mitigation and making sure that there is food distribution throughout the country which is massive, and we also are looking at what resilience strategy we can put.
These gardens that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is doing and we saw some where families can actually end up having supplementation from their own food growing because there is water that is available to them either as small dams or these boreholes that are now driven by solar. So, we are looking at all strategies to make sure the household food security is enhanced and where there are no other resilience programmes, food distribution becomes our only measure of making sure that food insecurity at the household is undertaken.
Secondly, we also know that there is food that is being distributed at Primary and Secondary Schools and we are looking to make sure that we enhance that distribution also so that children do not get out of school because of food or lack of food. So, we are going to be working very well as a wall of Government approaching working sometimes directly with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, but because of the zero to five years, we are also going to be working very closely with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Malnutrition of children is a concern because we can end up having stunted children. So, this food mitigation is across the board. We look at those who must have good nutrition, especially the young people, the children zero to five years and then we look at those who are in school and lastly, we look at the household as a whole.
The elderly, I must emphasise, the elderly are our priority, the disabled, the people living with disabilities, those child-headed families, they are our major targets in order to make sure that we come out of this drought with dignity.
We emphasise to all our frontline people to say in a year like this one, it does not challenge the dignity of our people. They must come out of this with dignity. That is the only way we can move from drought to resilience and Zimbabweans have demonstrated that even the deepest droughts, as long as rain comes, they come out of that drought very quickly because they are not dehumanised by this food distribution. All the partners that we are working with, we allow this to happen. How comprehensive it is going to be, how the communities are going to select, we are now working with the villages, the headmen and the chiefs so that we give neutrality because a village head, chief, headman must look after everybody in Zimbabwe to again fulfil the mantra that the President wants. No person, homestead, place, region and ward should be left behind.
I want to thank the Hon. Member again. Thank you very much.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ELECTRIFICATION OF SCHOOLS IN EPWORTH NORTH
- HON. MHETU asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to explain to the House; a) Why schools in Epworth North such as Chinamano Primary, Mabvazuva Council Secondary and Muguta Council Secondary have gone for more than twenty years without being electrified; b) What steps the Ministry has taken to ensure these schools are electrified; and c) When these schools are expected to be electrified.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. E. MOYO):
a) Muguta Council Secondary and Mabvazuva Council Secondary Schools applied for connection and were given quotations in March 2018. Chinamano Primary School submitted their application in March 2023. All the quotations were not paid hence the connections could not be made. Unfortunately, ZETDCs quotations expire after 7 days and are not printable once they expire.
b) As a Ministry, we have since requested ZETDC to reproduce new quotations in case the schools are in a position to pay (the quotations for the respective schools are attached herewith).
c) ZETDC will need time to mobilize and procure materials especially those they do not have in their stores. Chinamano and Muguta will need a little more time but Mabvazuva will be connected within a month from the time they pay for their quotation.
UPGRADING OF CHIREDZI’S WATER AND SEWER
RETICULATION PLANT
- HON. MAKUMIRE asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House the Ministry’s plans regarding the upgrading of Chiredzi Town’s off-site water and sewer reticulation treatment plant as proposed by Zimbabwe National Human Settlements Policy wherein section 40 provides that off-site infrastructure provision is the responsibility of Government.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): Government is working with all local authorities in terms of the Blueprint to entail sufficient provision of water specifically to Chiredzi. Chiredzi Town Council has undertaken significant efforts to secure the necessary funding for the upgrade of the Chiredzi Water Treatment Plant and Makondo Sewage Treatment Plant. The council has budgeted US$800,000 for this purpose and has sought borrowing powers from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to obtain a loan from BancABC Bank. This demonstrates the council’s dedication to improving the infrastructure and services for the residents of Chiredzi.
In addition to the borrowing option, the council has explored and the Ministry is assisting with the possibility of resuscitation of the partnership established in 2017 with the Zimbabwe Infrastructure Development Bank (IDBZ). This partnership is aimed to upgrade the Chiredzi Waterworks and Makondo Sewage Treatment Plant, with the loan to be repaid through user charges over a ten-year period.
To date, engineering designs for the project have been completed by Brian Colquhoun, Hugh O’Donnell Consulting Engineers (BCHOD). The proposed upgrades include the construction of four clarifiers, four filtration tanks, and 7600m3 water reservoirs at Chagarapasi Hill. Furthermore, considering that Makondo suburb was constructed downstream of the existing Tshovani Sewage ponds, the construction of a new Sewage Treatment Plant is necessary. The designs for these projects are being finalised after which funding options will be secured. The sewer reticulation of 32km is also under consideration in this exercise.
SALE OF UNSERVICED STANDS BY CHIREDZI TOWN
COUNCIL AND CHIREDZI RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL
- HON. MAKUMIRE asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House the Ministry’s position on the sale of unserviced stands on the 750 hectare housing development project jointly administered by Chiredzi Town Council and Chiredzi Rural District Council.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): In accordance with Government directive, councils are prohibited from selling unserviced stands. Cases of illicit sales if ever they are happening, need to be looked into and reported to law enforcement agencies. In support of Government policy, the councils made a public press statement in November 2023 condemning any such underhand dealings happening behind its back by either its partners or whosoever in the housing development project.
This joint venture housing development project which will yield 6162 properties, is being carried out on State land in the Buffalo Range that was acquired for urban growth. A private developer by the name Full Life Open Arms Africa Housing Trust is implementing the development on behalf of both councils.
Numerous project components have seen notable advancements to date. To evaluate the viability of the housing development, an extensive feasibility study was carried out. In order to assess and reduce any possible environmental risks connected to the project, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was also completed. In addition, a Title Survey and land use planning were finished, and the ensuing paperwork was properly filed with the Deeds Office for the entire 750 hectare project.
In addition, 41 kilometres of roads have successfully seen the completion of bush clearance as part of the project’s 350 hectare servicing portion. At this time, the subgrade and sub-base pavements are being prepared through road formation. Apart from that, the water treatment plant’s appropriate location has been found, and the water reticulation system is currently being set out.
Upon the project’s conclusion and the hand-over of stands to both councils, the allocation of stands to beneficiaries on the council’s waiting lists will be conducted. It is important to note that the stands will be distributed in equal proportional between the two councils, ensuring a fair and equitable approach to the allocation process.
OWNERSHIP STATUS FOR HOUSES IN TSANZAGURU
AREA OF RUSAPE
- HON. SAGANDIRA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to explain to the House:
Why residents of Tsanzaguru area in Rusape, who fully paid for ownership of their houses have been requested to pay for rentals as stated in a letter by the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works on 5 February 2024; what the current ownership status of these houses is, and when the occupants will be offered title deeds.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): We have since written to the City of Rusape to send a written confirmation and clarity over this issue and if we could be allowed to give detail once this is availed.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN MAHENYE WARD 29 IN
CHIPINGE
- HON. HLATSHWAYO asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House why Chipinge Rural Council has not undertaken any developmental projects in Mahenye area under Ward 29 in Chipinge despite collecting proceeds from hunting and levies under the Campfire programme.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): Mr. Speaker, allow me to inform this august House that human-wildlife conflict is prevalent in Mahenye area. It is important to note that;
Mahenye Ward 29 is prone to human-wildlife conflict as it is adjacent to Gonarezhou and Mozambique. Elephants, lions, wild dogs, buffalos among others, mostly invade crop fields and attack both humans and livestock. Council spend much of its budget (26% from hunting proceeds and bed night levies) mitigating human and wildlife conflict.
On share of proceeds and activities being done, council adopted a model that was developed by National Parks when it introduced the Campfire programme in the early 80s. The model gives the producer communities to benefit more than the local authorities in terms of revenue share.
Out of any proceeds from hunting or bed night levies, the community gets 55% which they have independent use; they can do projects of their own choice.
From the 55%, they have managed to undertake a variety of
- Casual payments and builder’s payments
- Workers allowance for Campfire staff and scouts
- Sitting allowance for the Campfire Committee members and traditional leaders.
- Food and refreshment for the staff
- Tractor, motorbike and grinding mills services.
- Chiefs, clinic, schools and individuals’ assistance
- Assistance to problem animal control victims
- Council waived payment of communal levy
- Council constructed Jamanda Bridge connecting Mahenye and Jack Quinton on DDF (RIDA) Road.
- Council established a plus 7000 ha conservancy.
- Council facilitated a heifer pass on project that is ongoing.
- Continuous training and awareness programmes on human wildlife conflict.
- Council assists in maintaining Jack Quinton Mahenye Road.
PRIVATISATION AND COMMERCIALISATION OF TOILETS IN PUBLIC PLAC
- HON. P. ZHOU asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to explain to the House the following;
The Government policy regarding privatisation of toilets in public places as a strategy to increase number of toilets as well as curb the spread of Cholera. What are the plans being put in place to strengthen the Water, Sanitisation and Hygiene (WASH) programme to ensure there is provision of clean, safe and potable water as well as clean toilets in public places?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): Government, as party to the second Blueprint, will be outlining measures to encourage and facilitate privatisation and commercialisation of toilets in public places to increase convenience to the public.
LEGAL AID SERVICES TO CHILDREN AND WOMEN
- HON. MUTANDI asked the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to inform the House the plans being put in place by the Ministry to ensure legal aid services are available to women and children at district level as recommended under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Madam Speaker, the Hon. Member’s question is pertinent. The Government of Zimbabwe welcomes and takes seriously the recommendations by the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women Committee on the creation of Legal Aid Offices at district level to strengthen the standards of service delivery at all levels. This is in line with Section 31 of the Constitution which recognises the importance of legal aid in ensuring access to justice and enjoins the State to ensure that legal representation is provided in both civil and criminal matters for the indigent.
Madam Speaker, the Legal Aid Directorate is a department in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs which provides legal aid to the indigent and special groups of persons that are more vulnerable such as children and women.
In addition, it works closely with civil society actor in facilitating the provision of legal services through a system of referrals. The Ministry has made strides in ensuring access to justice by decentralising the Legal Aid at district level. The Legal Aid offices and services are now present in four districts with full operational offices and staff namely Gokwe, Chiredzi, Chipinge and Chivhu. Moreover, the Ministry is also in the process of setting up offices in Beitbridge, Plumtree and Binga and the Public Service Commission has already employed staff for the mentioned offices. The Ministry is committed to opening at least three district offices on a yearly basis with a target of reaching at least thirty new district centres by the year 2030.
The decentralisation efforts will enhance access to justice by women and children who disproportionately experience a myriad of barriers in securing legal recourse.
Madam Speaker, regarding children and their access to justice, the Ministry has been offering legal representation to all children under the age of 18 years as well as to those who have recently become majors. They are represented from the commencement of their cases until their matter is concluded. This was from the realisation and acceptance that children cannot stand trial alone.
All these progressive efforts in enhancing access to justice for all as per the CEDAW recommendations. I thank you.
ACCESS TO RADIO, TELEVISION AND PHONE NETWORK
COVERAGE FOR AREAS ALONG THE ZIMBABWE/MOZAMBIQUE BORDERS
- HON. HLATYWAYO asked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House the Ministry’s plans to ensure that areas along the Zimbabwe/ Mozambique Border in Chipinge South have access to both local radio, television and phone network coverage, particularly in areas such as Mabee, Chinyamukwakwa, Garahwa, Mashubi, Maparadze which rely on the network from Mozambique.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MAVETERA): Let me begin by outlining that I will restrict my response to the area of phone network coverage which our Ministry oversees. Television and radio network coverage fall under the purview of the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.
- Mobile network coverage (NetOne and Econet)
Maparadze – covered by existing base station Mutandahwe - 2G/3G and Makose 2G/ 3G/ 4G.
Mabee and Garahwa – Site survey completed at Rusongo Beacon, awaiting development, planned 2025.
Chinyamukwakwa – Covered by existing base station Greenfuels 2G/ 3G/ 4G, additional coverage to be provided by planned new base station Rusongo Beacon.
Mashubi – is partly covered by existing base stations Greenfuels 2G/ 3G/ 4G, Mutandahwe 2G/ 3G and Makose 2G/ 3G/ 4G.
- Fixed network coverage
TelOne currently provides internet and data services to over 250 clients in Chipangayi, Checheche and Chibuwe located within parts of Chipinge South. TelOne offers VSAT connectivity covering the entire Chipinge South area with service available upon demand. Presently, 17 VSAT terminals are deployed within the district facilitating internet access for various institutions including Mabee Clinic, Chinyamukwakwa Clinic, Maparadze Clinic, Rimai School and Chisuma School among others that have been established.
Furthermore, TelOne successfully completed fibre planning for the Musikavanhu, Chibuwe and Tongogara areas. However, the implementation of connectivity is, these underserved areas has been delayed due to funding constraints. Despite these challenges, TelOne remains committed to expanding services and bridging the digital divide in these communities.
In conclusion, it is important to note that operators have plans to connect the underserved areas nationwide. However, the implementation of these plans has been constrained by funding limitations. The Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services continues to lobby Hon. Members of Parliament to advocate for funding to be availed to the Ministry and to State owned entities for these areas to be covered. There is also need to review our policies to ensure that we improve the operating environment for all telecommunications operators both private and State owned.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE ACTING SPEAKER, in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI), the House adjourned at Twenty-two Minutes past Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 12th March, 2024.
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
HEALTH, MENTAL AND WELLNESS PROGRAMME
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Good afternoon Hon. Senators. I have the honour to inform the Senate that Parliament’s Health Services Department, in conjunction with the Public Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS), will be conducting a Health, Mental and Wellness Programme from Tuesday, 12th to Thursday, 14th March 2024. Each day will begin with a presentation from 0900 hours to 1030 hours in Special Committee Room Number 2 on the ground floor. Thereafter, the screening programme for blood pressure, diabetes, breast, prostrate and cervical cancers will be held in the clinic area, Rooms 113, 116, 117 and 137 on the First Floor.
Hon. Members and staff are urged to attend the screening process which will take place throughout the whole day on those days. Cancer is a silent killer and Hon. Members are urged to take this announcement very seriously.
CLIMATE CHANGE SENSITISATION WORKSHOP
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also have to inform the Senate that Parliament, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, will be conducting a Climate Change Sensitisation Workshop for all Parliamentarians on Friday, 15th and Saturday, 16th March, 2024 in the Multi-Purpose Hall at Parliament Building starting from 0800 hours each day.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Mr. President, I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day on today’s Order Paper have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS.
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 harmonised elections.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion, a motion that speaks about how the elections were conducted last year.
Mr. President, I am just following the footsteps of other Hon. Members who debated this motion. We seem to be agreeing that there seems to be a lot of things that were done by ZEC that are contrary to the expectations of the majority in order for the elections to meet the qualification of having been conducted properly.
Firstly, the delimitation issue was very controversial according to me. It was not conducted properly since it left out some people who then were unable to exercise their rights to vote because they were unable to find their names on the voters’ roll. This shows that ZEC did not conduct the election properly. They were supposed to ensure that everyone, during the delimitation process, was afforded the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. Some found their names outside their wards or their constituencies, hence people were unable to vote for their choice because their names were not on the voters’ roll.
I want to proceed and say preparations for elections were not conducted properly, according to my view, as parties were campaigning because ZEC was unable to give support to political parties accordingly.
There is the issue of media, our media did not conduct itself properly. In some areas, political parties were not allowed to conduct their rallies freely. Hence, that is one of the reasons why we say ZEC did not conduct the elections accordingly. Our expectation is that ZEC is an independent body that is supposed to conduct elections as well as preparations in this country. They were supposed to go, probably in the residential areas because sometimes people do not gather. They were supposed to conduct door to door voter education because some might have been voting since 1980, yet there were also some first-time voters. In all truth, ZEC was unable to conduct door to door election voter education and inform the public what election is all about and the advantage of voting. Some people do not even know that it is their right because when it comes to election time, people are told where to vote.
It is true – why do I say so? Voting is not conducted at a gathering, but people are invited to a gathering and they are told where to vote. If ZEC had conducted door to door voter education, I do not think we would be having problems. Yes, we say elections were conducted peacefully, but peace only takes place when there is no one provoked. There are a lot of places where we saw chaos, where we come from, but there were no subsequent arrests for that violence. That is a blame that I put on ZEC. When they prepare for elections in future, they must be independent according to their mandate.
Now I want to talk about what happened on election day. When you travel during election day, or if you once travelled around and saw what was happening, you would say this was a free and fair election, but that was not the case. I would like to analyse one organisation which I do not know where it belongs. Does it belong to the Government or ZEC? An organisation called FAZ; we used to find them at polling stations where they would put their table, yet they had political parties’ regalia although they claimed to be apolitical. I wish ZEC would explain what FAZ is all about so that people will understand as we go for elections in future, so that people will understand whether it is a ZEC organisation or a Government organisation. Many people were left without knowledge of that organization. People were left in fear because they were supposed to first of all go to that table and register their names. After voting, they were supposed to pass through that table. That is tantamount to intimidation. So I think ZEC did not conduct their job properly.
Inside the polling station, where I come from, there was no problem with the delay of ballot papers. They were there, but there were a lot of mistakes. The candidate’s names had mistakes. You would see on the ballot paper, for example at one Ward, Masasa in Chikomba, the name was of a council candidate in Chivhu, although the picture was of a candidate who was supposed to be voted for at Masasa. When we asked, we were told that people know the person whom they want to vote for. That started in the morning and continued like that until election ended. Such things must be corrected so that we may not blame ZEC of being biased towards a certain party. ZEC must be independent and conduct elections in this country clearly and transparently. They must be able to explain to anyone that violence is not good and people are entitled to voting because that is what the liberation struggle was all about. We fought for two things, our land as well as our voting rights. So if a person is no longer able to vote freely, we have a problem.
People continue complaining and that breeds voter apathy. People were told not to go and vote before passing through certain individuals. It did not matter who had told that person to come and vote through. In this august House, we can only say that must stop because that affects the Zimbabwean citizens. This leads to perpetual disputed elections because people will have a lot of complaints. We want to build this country through elections. If we cannot build our country through elections, we must come together and reason together. If we have ZEC and nothing is done to ensure that it becomes independent, I believe that we must do away with them so that we bring a totally independent body that will not be biased in conducting elections. I thank you.
^HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for awarding me this opportunity to add my voice on the issue of ZEC report concerning the elections which were held last year. ZEC did their job perfectly. They started with the delimitation process. The process is done after a certain number of years and they notified everyone. Every Zimbabwean citizen was aware of the process; nothing was done in private.
Each province, district and even in rural areas and the traditional leadership were notified. They were also told the places where they were supposed to go and look for their names and register their names for those who were not registered. Everyone was aware of the process, no one can say they were not aware of the process. They told us if the delimitation did reach a certain number, they joined such areas with other people and that is what exactly happened. The process was done rigorously and perfectly. ZEC people are God-fearing people who worked tirelessly and made sure the process was easily accessible to everyone. Everyone was notified to go and look for their names in the voters’ roll. Those who did not participate in the process ignored the call by ZEC. For all of us to be here as Members of Parliament, it is because of ZEC who did their job diligently.
Right now, we are here as Hon. Members of Parliament, so let us stop blaming ZEC because it did their job diligently. What exactly did we expect from ZEC? We were told that for councils, there was need for a certain number and the same applied to Members of Parliament. Each place from ward level, district level and province, everyone was notified about the elections and all the processes were done. We are aware that after 10 years, there is a process which is supposed to be done by ZEC and after five years, an election is supposed to be conducted.
Elections are done each and every five years. ZEC did their job properly. I do not understand those who are condemning ZEC, I do not know if they wanted ZEC to carry them on their backs to go to registration centres and participate in all processes that were held. Let us not lie, ZEC did a very good job. Let us unite and focus on the development of the country and the future. ZEC did a very good job, even the voting process was done smoothly unless people were expecting ZEC to knock on each and everyone’s door to tell them to go and vote.
Mr. President, I want to thank the Government of Zimbabwe and ZEC because everything was done properly and according to the Constitution. Our registration was done and even the period for registration was extended. What exactly did you expect ZEC to do because some people ignored the call by ZEC to go to designated centres and register yet they want to blame ZEC?
ZEC did a very good job. If you as an individual are failing to manage your affairs and doing your part, what exactly do you expect ZEC to do because as far as I am concerned, ZEC did a very brilliant job throughout the country, rugare – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Hon. President, I want to thank ZEC because at our area, everything from registration up to the voting was done smoothly hence ZEC executed their job perfectly. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMME ON CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move the motion standing in my name that:
AWARE that Zimbabwe is party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement that commits to mitigating challenges of climate change;
WORRIED that climate change continues to be a global concern with detrimental effects on human, health, food and environmental security as well as economic development;
FURTHER WORRIED that there are poor social protection measures for victims of climate disasters such as drought, cyclones, floods and global warming;
CONCERNED that the country lacks effective climate change adaptation strategies;
NOW, THEREFORE, resolves that-
- Parliament expeditiously enacts legislation to augment existing policies to combat the impact of climate change;
- Adequate resources be allocated towards supporting climate mitigation efforts such as research, development of technology, investment into infrastructure and capacity building of communities on climate change adaptation strategies;
- The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife should access international climate financing such as the Green Climate Fund and secure private sector investment for climate friendly large-scale projects;
- The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife should invest in Early Warning Systems (EWS) that aide in timely preparations for extreme weather conditions, e.g. droughts and cyclones; and
- The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife should roll-out a programme on climate smart agriculture to provide technical support to farmers to comprehensively assist them to transition to drought resistant crops, water efficient irrigation schemes and improved soil management techniques.
HON. SEN. MALULEKE: I second.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to move a motion in my name on the effects of climate change in Zimbabwe. Mr. President, climate change is not a stagnant issue but rather, it is a constantly evolving process taking place world-wide, affecting everything from our day to day experiences.
Mr. President, some of the main objectives are as follows: Seeking opportunities to inform the community in decision making on potential climate change; promote collaborations to raise awareness about climate change; promote attention to climate change issues and lastly, to build community resilience.
Mr. President, in order to effectively combat the impact of climate change, it is critical that you take swift and decisive action to reduce our carbon emissions. This can be achieved through the implementation of a comprehensive climate which would establish ambitious targets for emissions reduction and outlying clear strategies for national mitigation efforts.
Furthermore, strengthening existing environmental regulations, particularly in regards to deforestation, land use, waste management and industrial emissions is essential, decreasing overall contribution of green-house gases. Additionally, promoting renewable energy through the implementation of policies and incentives can attract the much-needed investment and accelerate the transition to the inner and more sustainable sources of energy such as solar, wind and hydro-power. These measures combined with a dedicated and focused effort towards tackling climate change, can help create a more resilient and sustainable future for generations to come.
Mr. President, let us come together to promote sustainable funding practices. This includes implementation methods like conservation agriculture, crop diversification and utilising climate resilient crop varieties. These innovative measures can significantly lower emissions from the agricultural industry to effectively combat climate change. We must also allocate ample resources to support climate mitigation efforts which include dedicating funds towards extensive research, developing new technologies and investing in critical infrastructure projects.
Furthermore, we must not limit ourselves to domestic funding sources only. Accessing international climate finance mechanisms such as green climate fund and securing private sector investment can help finance larger scale projects with global collaboration and financial backing and that way, we can make meaningful strides towards a more sustainable future.
Also enhancing capabilities in Early Warning Systems (EWS), is a crucial and effective nip preparing for extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and cyclones by investing in a stronger EWS. We can mitigate potential damage by enabling timely preparations. In tandem with this, it is vital to promote climate smart agriculture, providing support to farmers as the transition for resilient practices which include implementing drought resistant crops, water efficient for irrigation methods and improved soil management techniques. Together, these adaptations will help us combat the challenges of changing climate.
We should take action to safeguard our communities through social protection measures by implementing programmes such as social safety nets for those impacted by climate shocks and insurance schemes for farmers facing crop losses. We should provide safety nets for those most vulnerable. Moreover, it is essential to invest in the development of climate resilience infrastructure by building dams, roads and bridges that can withstand extreme weather events. It is also crucial to invest the capacity building of Government officials, community leaders and farmers by providing training on climate change, adaptation strategies and empowering them to implement local solutions.
We should foster resilience within our communities and promote sustainable practices for the future together by taking comprehensive approach to addressing climate change. We should protect our community in building a more sustainable future for all. Climate change impacts in Zimbabwe are significant and they relate among other things, to water supply and food security. Droughts have become more recurrent over the past two decades. The geographical location of the country in the tropics makes it vulnerable to shifting rainfall patterns due to El nino and osculation. This cyclone climate phenomenal significantly impacts rainfall across Southern Africa including Zimbabwe.
El nino years often bring drought while la nina years can lead to increased rainfall and flooding. The Indian Ocean Dipole IOD, this osculation in the Indian Ocean temperatures also influences rainfall patterns in Zimbabwe. Positive IOD events are associated with the drier conditions while negative IOD events can bring more rain. Furthermore, Zimbabweans become more vulnerable to climate driven health impacts for diseases such as Malaria worsened.
Members of this august House are aware that the survivors of Cyclon Idai that struck four provinces of Manicaland, particularly Chimanimani and Chipinge, Masvingo, Midlands and Mashonaland East in March, 2019, continue to require humanitarian assistance, particularly internally displaced persons in temporary camps and living with most families. The impact of the storm was devastating with over 220 000 individuals affected and a staggering death toll of 341 people. The destruction left was widely spread with 17 608 households left without a home, and 12 health facilities in need of repair and vital water, sanitation, hygiene and infrastructure damaged.
As a result, 139 000 schools were affected with 33 primary schools and secondary schools being forced to temporarily shut their doors, disrupting the education of 9 084 learners. Agriculture also suffered greatly with more than half of the land dedicated to maize, bananas and tuber grass destroyed. Additionally, 18 irrigation schemes were damaged and the loss of 362 cattle, 514 goats and sheep as well as 17 000 chickens further compounded the devastation. Even the road infrastructure was not spared with over 90% of roads in Chimanimani and Chipinge damaged, and a total of 584 kilometers of roads affected for a landslide.
The demand for shelter remains at a critical level, particularly in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts. This underscores the need for more intervention to address this pressing issue. The assessments conducted revealed that many of the damaged houses were constructed with substandard materials such as poles and mud in this district. Therefore, there is a crucial need to prioritise building household resilience in cyclone prone areas to mitigate the effects of these shocks. It is imperative to swiftly escalate emergency assistance in efforts to support affected houses.
Mr. President, the school-age population is faced with various challenges when it comes to accessing education such as financial limitations, difficult terrains, lack of necessary learning materials, and competing family obligations. To address this situation, it is crucial to implement interventions that provide financial support for tuition fees as well as raise awareness among the target age groups of 13 to 17 years old. Similarly, when it comes to accessing social infrastructure, most villages rely on their local leadership to report security incidents due to the absence of police stations.
Due to El Nino, Zimbabwe and several other Southern African countries are expected to suffer drought conditions in the annual rain season from October 2023 to April 2024 which coincides with the regional summer cropping season.
El Nino refers to a cycle of warming and cooling events that happen along the equator in the Pacific Ocean leading to the increase in sea surface temperatures across the Pacific. During this agricultural season, the El Nino poses a threat to the agricultural livelihoods of millions of people globally, including Southern Africa and Zimbabwe across the sectors affecting the most vulnerable communities. Mr. President, let me hasten to remind the House that Zimbabwe’s contribution to global emissions of burning house gases is very small.
Mr. President, global climate change is revealed as a serious issue by the Government of Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNSCCC0 in 1992 at the Real Earth Summit and ratified it in November of the same year.
Zimbabwe ratified the Paris Agreement in 2017 which requires parties to report to their National Determined Contribution (NDC). I would like their commitment to mitigate climate change and limit global temperature increases to well below two degrees Celsius.
Mr. President, the driving forces behind this concern stem not so much from problems of reducing Zimbabwe’s emission of greenhouse gases but rather, the potential serious impacts that global climate change might have on the country. By including climate change issues in the 1996 review of environmental legislation, Zimbabwe intends to incorporate climate change policies in its national development plans. Zimbabwe, like the rest of Africa, is constrained in its inability to put appropriate measures in place to respond to climate change requirements because of a lack of human institutional and financial resources.
Mr. President, Zimbabwe is vulnerable to climate change with substantial impacts on crop production forecasted with two-thirds of employment in agriculture. In recent years, farmers in sub-east Zimbabwe have been getting a good harvest once in five to six years. Vulnerability drivers identified include heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources, poverty, increasing frequency of drought, population pressure, poor climate risk management services from the local authority’s policy support.
Mr. President, Zimbabwe is a signatory to the following multilateral environment agreements among others, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and its Cartagena on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In addition to the UNFCCC and its key Kyoto Protocol, the national climate policy was put in place to create a pathway towards a climate resilient and low-carbon development economy in which the people have enough adaptive capacity and continue to develop in harmony with the environment. To achieve this, the National Climate Policy is supported by the National Climate Change Response Strategy, Draft National Adaption Plan, the low Emission Development Strategy, National Environmental Management Policy and Strategic Document as well as other policies aimed at achieving sustainable development.
Mr. President, the policy and legal framework drives from international treaties and agreements, international resolutions provide a forum for dialogue and coordination, fostering partnerships and facilitating the exchange of ideas and financial resources by working together, countries can achieve more significant and lasting results.
Mr. President, in addition to mitigating the effects of climate change, international agreements also prioritise the development of effective adaptation strategies. For instance, the Warsaw International mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impact aims to understand, action and assist in areas such as early warning systems, disaster readiness, and risk insurance facilities in developing countries.
Furthermore, international agreements advocate for the integration of adaptation measures in development planning to promote long-term sustainability and resilience. These solutions stress the significance of integrating adaptation strategies into development agendas, urging countries to give priority to resilience-building measures in areas like agriculture, water resources management, infrastructure development, and urban planning, not only to mitigate emissions but also to boost resilience and capacity.
They acknowledge that effectively addressing climate change calls for a comprehensive approach that integrates both mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Mr. President, Zimbabwe is committed to reducing the vulnerability of rural communities by developing plans and guidance documents for local governance for mainstreaming and planning the climate change adaptation. Mainstreaming climate change means incorporating climate risks into all development decisions and development planning. When climate risk is explicitly considered and incorporated into policies, plans and practices, development efforts are more resilient to climate uncertainty and more likely to reach their objective.
As Parliamentarians, we should focus on the following three areas. Firstly, increased access to water for agriculture through climate resilient irrigation systems and water source management. Secondly, scale up climate-resilient agricultural production and diversification through increased access to climate-resilient inputs, practices and markets and lastly, improve access to weather, climate and hydrological information for climate-resilient agriculture. We can, together, achieve these key objectives through Parliamentarians working with communities and local leadership to address the following current environmental problems which include deforestation, soil erosion, land degradation as well as air and water pollution.
Poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution, especially in the more arid parts of the country. The growth of the urban populations has also led to the pollution of water sources. As populations continue to expand, the strain on our water resources intensifies and results in a dangerous tendency to overuse our rivers, dams and aquifers. As a consequence, these sources become depleted causing a reduction in natural pollutant dilution. In response to the growing demand for water, treatment facilities are forced to work at full capacity or even beyond it. This can lead to overloaded systems that struggle to effectively eliminate all harmful substances, ultimately putting our water quality at risk.
Mr. President, Zimbabwe has 20 million mega litres of total annual renewable fresh water available. The water is largely replenished through rainfall and then runoff into rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs, aquifers and freshwater aquatic systems such as wetlands. The country relies on surface water resources for 90% of its requirements while groundwater supplies the remaining 10%. The estimated groundwater resources available to exploitation in Zimbabwe are 8 million mega litres. There are several water catchments in the country namely Manyame, Mazowe, Gwayi, Runde, Sanyati, Limpopo, Save and Umzingwane.
Additionally, the construction of 12 high impact dams in Zimbabwe is making good progress. As of the end of 2022, Gwayi-Shangani was 68% complete. The project involves constructing the dam and laying the 252km pipeline to Bulawayo. With a maximum height of 72 metres, the dam’s current height is 31 metres. One hundred and forty kilometres of the pipeline’s course, on the other hand, has been cleared and 9km excavated. Pipeline trenching is ongoing. Zimunya Dam in Nkayi is 8% complete. For this, the Government of Zimbabwe should be applauded.
Mr. President, with this information that I have presented we all have to brace up for climate change because it is clearly with us and we have to find means and ways to reduce this climate change which has caused havoc in our country. With these words, Mr. President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHITSAMBA: Mr. President Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion on climate change raised in this august House.
This climate change has caused a lot of problems, especially for women. It has led to unpaid for care work, it has led to dry dams, no more firewood and crops are not growing well. Therefore, Government should increase social welfare food and must sink deeper boreholes. Government must also provide solar powered boreholes and give women opportunities to work.
There must be a policy on protection of trees and Government must come up with a policy of giving alternative sources of energy for cooking, such as LP or biogas. There is too much heat now that leads to a lot of diseases. Women must be taught on the effects of heat wave. If you teach a woman, you have taught or assisted the whole community. If you assist a family, you have assisted the whole village. If you assist the whole village, you have assisted the whole country. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator who came up with this motion. This is a very important motion. It must be placed on the top priority list of motions because climate change has caused a lot of problems to us. It is also affecting food production and many other things. This issue must not only be debated and end here. Senator Mohadi, before this motion is closed, may you please assist us, do not just come and agree that this motion has been debated enough and close it yet there is no food out there. We must come up with a way forward as well as recommendations. It must assist us to move forward. We are now at UN COP 28, which recently ended in Dubai. It was because of this. All the countries gathered in Dubai and spent three weeks, after meeting in Cairo COP 27. People spent three weeks or so there but recently, I read that the temperatures are increasing. We are going further up. So, these are not motions that we can only say it is over, when the problem is still live and affecting us.
Hon. Sen. Mohadi, you have given us this opportunity to debate deeply. If it means having another opportunity outside Parliament where we can invite experts, we meet and proceed because the people that are at grassroots are the ones who are being affected by this issue. Most of them have not been given an opportunity to speak on climate change. We come across these issues in workshops and conferences. It is rarely spoken about in the wards or villages. People out there are seeing all these things, yet we have not come to that stage where we involve the villagers as well as the village heads where these discussions are made to come up with the resolutions can be done.
The heat we are experiencing right now, we have not felt it before. We have not experienced such heat before. What does this mean? If this type of temperature keeps on increasing, we will end up hearing that someone has died here and there. I think that is where we are heading to. However, let us not get to that extent, that is why I am saying Hon. Sen. Mohadi, this motion should not just close without proffering solutions. Right now, my fellow Hon. Sen. Chief Nyangazonke who has just left this august House is complaining about livestock that has been affected. Usually we start facing problems of water and food around July/August and we say may be two/three months, we may be able to persevere until the rain comes. Here, we are in March and we can only expect rains in November. It means we have a big problem here.
With regards to food, Mashonaland Central, some of them were saying they are expecting something like 30% yield. Mashonaland West, it is very bad. Mashonaland East as well as Masvingo where those are traditionally drought prone regions and the fields, even those crops that are supposed to take them to the shortest winter season, but now the maize is not even available to purchase.
Right now, a bucket of maize is going for $9 in March. By the time we get to November, I am sure it will rise to $20 or so this year. In this Senate, we are the elected few so that as some remain in the villages and our homes - Madam President, I am sorry, such respected posts means whenever there is a problem in this country, people look up to us. That is why they put us up there. I am glad this issue has been brought into this august House, but I am sure people out there will be happy that we are debating about how drought relief can go about.
I am glad that His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa said no one is going to starve. We are going to get enough food. Even if we expect to receive drought relief from the President, what are you doing? Ask yourself wherever you are, what are you doing on your part despite the solutions coming from His Excellency the President. Wherever you go to the village head, chief, councillor, Member of Parliament or Senator, if we all come up with solutions to assist His Excellency the President, I am sure we may be able to bring relief to some of these problems.
Hon. Senators, from today on, should say yes, there are a lot of motions that have come into this House but there is one outstanding. Even if we go out for weekends, we must be able to ensure that we proffer solutions before we rest. If we do not find solutions, it means domestic violence will increase between husbands and wives. I am sure even street kids will increase because there will be no food in the homesteads. Indeed, we need to robustly debate although we cannot solve it today but I am sure we can be able to get a solution. Let us not expect developed countries to proffer solutions yet they are the ones who cause these problems because of the gas emissions from their factories. We see that in many conferences, we only see debates about things that may be international. Even the language has been internationalised so much that you cannot find the rightful words to interpret it to local context. The problem is, we do not have the solutions. So as Members of Parliament and Hon. Senators, let us work hard because we need to come up with solutions to the drought facing us. It is also affecting livestock. Even if we talk about climate change, you can also feel it from the heat, let us unite as Senate so that this motion cannot just go by without proffering solutions to climate change.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Madam President. I would also like to add on to this motion that is being debated by Hon. Senators. Firstly, climate change is real, we must live in acceptance that indeed this is a reality. On the other hand, I would like to start off by saying as I debate this motion, we are also the source of problems because we no longer observe our culture, especially the Chiefs. May we stand up strong in our areas and ensure that sacred areas remain reserved. You may look down upon that, but this will cause perennial droughts.
There are a lot of areas that were believed to be sources of rituals for rainfall, we need to preserve those areas. Let us not go into sacred pools and rivers and start baptising people. Indeed, we do not forbid praying or good things because traditionally, we know there is the most-high, who is God as the Creator, the one who will provide rainfall the very day of the rain making ceremony. Indeed, climate change may cause us a lot of problems in our families, including the Gender-Based Violence that the Hon. Sen. Chief was trying to allude to. If there is no food in households, even here in Senate, if we are not paid as Senators for two months, there will be chaos in this Senate. It is when we know that people are knowledgeable that our finances as a country do not permit, there will not be any peace. Even in debates, the contributions will go down.
So what should we do as a country because this problem is not only affecting us, but are saying we have our traditional practices that bring peace and rain in our country? So what should we do? Let us preserve our culture, let us preserve our areas. This will assist us in future for the better of our country. We want to venture into agriculture for this country. We enjoy looking at the land that we cannot fully utilise in this country. There are a lot of water bodies, if you tell people from other countries that we are starving here, they will laugh at us because we have a lot of rivers and dams that can sustain us for the whole year without facing starvation.
Madam President, agriculture needs unity and proffering solutions as a united front, so that those who have power can ensure that the land is being utilised adequately. Let us also know that if we bought land or a farm, we did not do it to only produce food for a household. Commercial land must be considered as intentions for venturing into business, farming is business. Our agriculture is not all about utilising land along the highway so that people may see that you have tobacco. We are talking of production that is supposed to benefit the nation.
Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa, I want to come and procure maize because you have a farm… - [Power outage] -
Power having been restored
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Madam President, as I proceed debating on climate change, I would like to say let us consider that the most important thing that can lead to a war in a country is sadza which is our staple food. Our farmers must be able to proceed and work viably and productively. Madam President, we also affect the environment around us, be it in the urban areas or the rural areas because of unhygienic practices. Climate change goes hand-in-hand with hygiene. Our industries are emitting a lot of gasses that affect rain conditions. We need to adapt and move along with times so that we do not lag behind. If you look at countries that are affected by lack of rain, they are not so many, but let us consider the livelihoods of those countries affected.
There is a lot of garbage that is disposed and being burnt, some of the garbage is disposed of in water bodies to the extent that the water bodies can no longer hold water to the next season. Right now, as we live in our countries, let us be careful of such things and let us have enough power to control the environment and preserve the environment as well as empowering people to enforce that. I believe those are the few words that I wanted to add onto this debate, as I emphasise that let us go back to our traditions. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Madam President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
MOTION
STRATEGIES TO MOBILISE RESOURCES FOR THE NATIONAL CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the National Clean-Up Campaign.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. KATUMBA: Thank you Madam President. I would like to say it is good that our urban areas be kept clean as well as our surroundings. Looking at the urban areas and the environment especially with regards to litter, I think if it were possible, refuse bins are very important and they must be availed in households. When the cities or towns were made, the population was still low. I think we have retrogressed instead of increasing the facilities. Garbage trucks must be able to collect twice or so per week and I think that will lead to a difference.
Sometimes in a week, you do not even see them and there are no litter bins. One may use a plastic bag and when it is full, they just throw it anywhere. Let us also consider the problem of sewage. When these systems were put in place, the residential areas were still small and the pipes have not been replaced. The pipes are now old. If we look at road networks, we see that there is rehabilitation taking place and I believe the sewer system must also be revamped to ensure that we get bigger pipes in accordance with the increase in population.
I think this would lead to cleaner environments in our surroundings. Looking at the local authorities, they are policy makers and implementers. I believe that the policy makers are doing their job but the problem is implementation. It is important that our Minister must look at the implementation part and find out what the problem is. If it is lack of resources, they must be able to increase them so that our environment is clean. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. HUNGWE: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to add a few words on this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa. It is a very important motion since it emphasises the importance of hygiene and it gives us a bigger lifespan, but if there is lack of hygiene, we face a lot of problems such as diseases that we are encountering these days. I am a Senator representing an urban area and I do not know anything about RDC’s because I am an urban person.
Since 1980 when we got independence until 2000, the town was very clean. There were blacks ruling but from 2000 to 2001 up to now, it does not mean that in the past there were no people. People were always there. We knew that when you go to council offices to pay rentals, you would be given a litter bin, but now there is nothing like that.
As a country and in this august House, we agreed that we must conduct harmonised elections. The President, Members of Parliament, and Councillors must be voted for on the same appointed date although they have distinct roles. Local authorities have budgets, here at Parliament we also have budgets, which means local authorities are an important body because they have their budgets.
Urban dwellers pay rates and pay for their houses, if you read that receipt, it tells you that you pay for sewer and garbage collection, and you also pay for street lights and roads. As I said earlier on that I am an urban dweller, still I do not know where the collected revenue goes. I once worked in the City of Harare, and all these things that I am referring to are things that I know. Our city fathers that we have these days, I do not think that they ever consider what their responsibility is, which is the day-to-day welfare of people to ensure it is clean everywhere. I think our councillors need to be taught because there is nothing that we can do without litter bins. If you go around residential areas, you find litter everywhere.
I would like to thank the Government because they have availed garbage collection trucks. However, they are supposed to be provided by local authorities. When you see the Central Government coming in, it means there is a big problem, and they will be trying to avert the spread of Cholera and other diseases. So we need to look into the local authorities and check whether they are working or if they are aware of what they are supposed to be doing. As it is, it means they do not know their job.
Right now, all these roads that are being rehabilitated do not belong to the Central Government, they belong to local authorities. The Government only comes in after realising that there is a serious problem.
Madam President, I have stood up to add these few words to say let us go and look into our local authorities because they have a mandate that they were given by the people who elected them into office as they were voted for on the 23rd of August, 2023. They were empowered to collect revenue and fix our areas, that is why they were voted for, but to be honest, they do not care about the people who voted for them.
I would like to say Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa, you did well with that motion that is why the President has also set aside the first Friday of every month to dedicate to cleaning. His Excellency was demonstrating to us that we need first of all, to ensure that our household is clean. We hear other people talking about other countries, I went to Kigali last year and they practice the same. They also have a day dedicated to cleaning and they do not do any other thing until 1000 hours in the morning. The President is also making a point that we must be clean. We need to bath; it is very important. As we grew up, you would not start cooking without bathing and you would not leave the yard without cleaning the house. I used to win the smartness competition because I was very smart. We used to compete a lot. In Harare, everywhere there is litter and it is not the people’s fault because there are no litter bins refuse trucks.
It was a custom that every week, where you stay, you would just place your litter bin outside, and the refuse truck would come and collect it. If the litter bin was tattered, they would take it and leave you a new one. So with these few words, let us go and tell our local authorities to work accordingly and not just to go to the townhouse to make tea or just go for workshops spending ratepayers' monies. They must consider the environment of the residents as a priority.
+HON. SEN. R. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President. I would like to add my voice regarding litter that we find in our towns. I would like to debate on a few issues that have been highlighted by the previous Senators.
Madam President, I am from Bulawayo and there is so much litter in Bulawayo. Most of this litter is there because councils are unable to do their duty. In Bulawayo, every street has some vendors operating from it. If you go to the main markets, there are people that do not reside in Bulawayo who operate from there. They are now staying there with their children and their husbands. They are found to be selling their wares from there throughout the day and these people do not reside in Bulawayo.
Most of the litter found in the streets is litter that is being created deliberately. Most of the people are operating illegally from the streets. We have markets that have been allocated legally but people choose to move out of the legal places to operate from outside the markets in an illegal way and each time council comes to these places, it ensures the people are moved from the illegal places, but most of them say that they are protected, so they do not need to be chased away from those places. I am referring to things that are happening on the ground.
Right now, I am in Harare and pavements have illegal operators there. As leaders, if we want things to be done the proper way, we need to say the truth but if we do not come out in the open to say the truth, then we are not going anywhere. We need to tell the truth as it is. As residents mainly here in Harare, I see what is happening and it is almost similar to what is happening in Bulawayo. Local government should be empowered to ensure that they remove these illegal vendors from the streets.
If I want a vote as a Member of Parliament, I will entice those people to remain there so that I get my vote. Right now, even if there are places that are demarcated for the vendors to operate from, they do not want to operate from those places but want to operate from their demarcated places.
One Hon. Member indicated that we pay rates to the City Council. We have houses in towns, we do not pay to councils. The reason why we do not pay to councils is that we are told that we are not allowed to be chased away from where we operate from even if we do not pay. Previously, we knew that each time you do not pay, you would be chased away from where you operate from unless and until you pay but right now, people even get to the point of tampering with water meters when they have been closed and nothing is done to them.
How much is Government owing City Council? As residents, how much are we owing City Council? We need to come out in the open and indicate that we owe City Council, which is why it is failing to do its duties accordingly. Right now, there is the Devolution Fund. May this fund come through so that councils and municipalities can do their duties accordingly.
As the Upper House, we need to support them, ensure they get their funds on time and have their work done diligently. As Hon. Members, we need to agree to our short comings. We agree that most of the vendors are operating there because there are no jobs but this does not allow them to continue to litter our towns and streets.
They are crowding our streets. Each time we tackle issues like these, we need to say the truth so that we get an appropriate resolution to issues concerning us and our constituencies. Thank you, Madam President.
HON. SEN. PHULU: Thank you Madam President for affording me the opportunity to add my voice to the motion that has been brought to this House. Certainly, I would like to appreciate all the initiatives which have been done. For instance, the initiative by the President of this country to ensure that there is a remembrance of this issue, one Friday every month so that it remains a topic which is alive for debate. I am sure if there is one motion where we should all be able to agree, it is this one. If we fail to agree on this motion, I think we should shut down Parliament and go back home.
Our cities need to be clean. Our streets need to be clean; our villages need to be clean; our homes need to be clean. Everyone who is raising this motion wants to move forward. I have listened to the debate from across the aisle, and I can see that they want a solution and a way forward to take the country forward to ensure that at least, there is cleanliness. We might be starving; we might be fighting, whatever you name it, but when visitors come, surely, they should find that we are observing the principles of cleanliness. It is more so with the recent diseases that we are seeing, Cholera and so forth. All those are indicators that cleanliness is lacking. Cleanliness takes resources. People who are starving are the ones who become so desperate that they no longer observe the best tendency of cleanliness. So there is something to be said to ensure that we address some of the fundamentals that will ensure that the society is healthy and able to take care of some of the day to day things.
I will give you an example, the number of people that were selling in the streets between 1980 and maybe1990, was far less than the number of people who are selling produce in the streets today. That is certainly going to be one of the issues that is going to contribute to the increase in the refuse that we see. I can certainly say that the capacity of the cities to take care of the plastics that were there at the time has diminished by the time we are here in 2024. Therefore, we need to increase the capacity of our local authorities and some of our Government agencies which are also concerned with these things so that our country is able to take control of the large amounts of refuse that we get. This has been recognised by Central Government itself. They showed their interventions at Pomona, where they brought forward innovative ways to try and increase the capacity of the city; to creatively find ways to deal with refuse.
We saw the contribution of the vehicles which the Hon. Senator was speaking about; interventions from Central Government, but we must take into account that these interventions have been done in conjunction with the relevant local authorities. It brings me to the issue of cooperation. Without cooperation on this issue, we will go nowhere. Our debate on this issue should reflect that we are willing to cooperate because when local authorities make initiatives to deal with this matter, they are going to need a budget. Their budgets are approved and disbursed by Central Government. We urge the Central Government to expeditiously approve these budgets.
We need to see increased meetings between local authorities and Central Government on this issue. We need to see less debate and stumbling blocks when these issues are discussed. The debate around the Pomona issue became so toxic at one stage, and yet, we were talking about a matter relating to progress. The Hon. Sen. Ndlovu just raised some critical issues that there is need for political will on both sides and the need to work on an issue to find a solution to ensure that we achieve this cleanliness that we crave for. The cleanliness that we crave for is connected to our economy. We would wish to see more people becoming employed. We would wish to see people on the streets being capacitated to actually come up with their bins. A lot of the refuse, and I saw it this morning, is coming from people who are selling wares, who are actually doing small businesses.
In as much as the local authorities can provide bins which are very scarce, I must admit, those who are running businesses can surely buy bins. These are some of the policies that we should see being pushed, and certainly we should begin to have legislation that says if you are selling tomatoes at a market, you should be able to come together and buy five bins. You should be able to ensure that as you wake up every morning, you clean. I have seen examples of citizens who do that where they enforce their own the rules of cleanliness.
In closing, I would like to say that the approach where the Members across the aisle begin to blame each other over such a simple thing of sweeping, it is symptomatic of a very deep problem which we need to resolve. I am sure that when this motion ends and is concluded, it is going to end with everyone unanimously clapping and unanimously agreeing on a way forward which would see our cities and our villages becoming clean. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
MOTION
ROAD SAFETY DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the successive road accidents and consecutive days which claim scores of lives on the month of November, 2023.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. PHULU: Thank you Madam President. I rise to support the motion presented by Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa, on the critical issue of road accidents prevention during the festive season. This period should be a time of joy and celebrations, and yet for many families, it is sadly not so. It becomes a time for loss of loved ones and a time for much mourning. The statistics presented by Hon. Sen. Zvidzai previously when he supported this motion are sobering. These numbers are not just statistics, they represent fathers, mothers, children and friends whose absence leaves a deep void in our communities.
To address this, we must take a multi-faceted approach as suggested by the motion that includes education and awareness. To increase the comprehensive education and awareness campaigns to foster the road safety that we so need as a society, these campaigns should target all road users, including drivers, pedestrians, children and users of cellphones and social media. As the motion clearly points, perhaps we need to sensitise people on what it means to see a picture of your loved one, suddenly on WhatsApp, as you sit somewhere eating lunch. Or as you sit in school trying to do homework, you suddenly see a picture of your loved one; a grim announcement and a sudden one to say that they are no more. I think education from a very young age, on courtesy and good manners and responsibility in using our gadgets is important.
May be as time goes on, we might even consider trying to legislate a way to encourage users of social media, cameras and all these electronic gadgets to respect an accident scene. Certainly, ubuntu demands that it must be so. Is this an indication that along the lines as we embrace some of these technological innovations, we are allowing our ubuntu to slide away and we are losing grip on ourselves. Law enforcement; I think this argument has been made over and over again, perhaps we need to see more enforcement of traffic rules. We need to see more and more crackdown of corrupt practices that perhaps allow people to get away with bad behaviour on the roads. Some of the behaviour on the roads is really shocking. You can see that people have no concern at all about the welfare of other people and the sanctity of life in general.
The improvement of infrastructure is another key point that we need to look at. It would be certainly a great day when a person involved in an accident in Kwekwe, could be quickly be rushed to a hospital that would take care of all their needs there in Kwekwe. Certainly, we should have a minimum distance to which a person should reach a hospital in all our highways around the country and in all our villages around the country. We should have competent hospitals that can take care of road emergency cases that arise. I know that we are still far from that. A lot of issues arise, issues to do with how much we are investing in health, how much we are investing to the Ministry dealing with roads and how those funds being used, to ensure that they are used effectively to create this infrastructure and to create this health system that can take care of people during these holiday periods when they are involved in these accidents.
Certainly, when people are involved in accidents, we should have a way of ensuring that they can afford to go into a good hospital because at time people die because they cannot find money at that particular time, during that period of emergency to access a good hospital. Also issues to do with insurance, which has been raised in the motion are issues we ought to look into as a House, debate and come up with strong resolutions to ensure that our Government is guided by such resolutions and motivated by these strong resolutions to try and deal with some of these issues which arise. Hopefully, during the next festive season, or in the next five festive seasons, we witness a reduction in these road traffic accidents but certainly, we witness an increased capacity to deal with those injuries, to deal with the cultural issues that arise in the sense of social media being used responsibly for that purpose.
So, the issue of developing a robust emergency response system to provide immediate assistance to victims, potentially saving their lives and reducing the severity of injuries is something that we must try to attain.
Legislative measures, considering the operationalisation of the Road Accident Fund to finance a viable road crush emergency framework system is also a point that we must underscore and underline.
In conclusion, I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa for bringing forward this motion and I would like to thank all those Hon. Senators who have fervently supported this motion. We must, as a Senate and Parliament, urge all stakeholders through the urgency of the relevant oversight mechanisms available to Parliament. Parliament should interface seriously with all these stakeholders who include relevant Government ministries, civil society and the private sector to collaborate in implementing the above measures that have been proposed by Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa and the Hon. Senators who have spoken in support of this motion.
Madam President, together we can work towards a safer Zimbabwe where the holiday season is remembered for its festivities and not for the loss of life on our roads, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: Thank you Hon. President of the Senate for affording me this opportunity to also add my voice on this motion which was presented to this Senate by Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa on persistent issues of road accidents during holidays in our country Zimbabwe. Every year, Madam President, as families gather and travel to celebrate their cherished moments, our nation has been marred by a surge in avoidable road accidents which cause death to our beloved ones. Last year was no different, hence it is important for us to pull up our sleeves and try as hard as possible so that we can lower the rate of accidents in our country especially during holiday periods.
Madam President, the recent holidays which are Christmas time and New Year witnessed a horrifying escalation in accidents leaving countless families devasted and communities heartbroken due to deaths which were being caused by road traffic accidents. We cannot become numb to these statistics. These are not just numbers, they represent mothers, fathers, children and friends lost in preventable tragedies.
Madam President, the causes of this holiday surge are multifaceted bad road infrastructure, lack of proper signage on our roads, in the highways as well as fatigue due to long distance travelled by drivers also contribute among other causes. However, we cannot overlook the human factor like reckless driving, speeding and disregard for traffic regulations become amplified during the holiday rush. In addition, in our country, a troubling trend of corruptly issued drivers’ licences causes a significant threat on the roads. Individuals lacking proper training and knowledge of traffic laws can obtain licences through bribes, putting themselves and others at risk.
This undermines the general licence system placing unqualified drivers behind the wheel who may be more prone to making dangerous maneuvers, ultimately contributing to the country’s already high rate of road accidents, especially the holidays where roads are crowded by endless travelling alongside many tourists.
The holidays need people who are skilled in driving hence those who get licences corruptly fail to this skill. Furthermore, some officers who also engage themselves in corrupt practices in the law enforcement agencies weaken road surface efforts. Police officers tasked with upholding traffic laws are reported to be accepting bribes from drivers without roadworthy vehicles or those lacking licences. These unscrupulous officers turn a blind eye to safety hazards allowing potentially dangerous vehicles onto the roads. Instead of issuing fines or impounding unsafe cars, they collect unofficial fees lining their pockets at the expense of the public safety. This systematic corruption forensic fosters a disregard for regulations, creating a dangerous situation on our roads.
Madam President, therefore, I propose a multi-prolonged approach to address this crisis. Firstly, I urge the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development to prioritise the urgent rehabilitation of our national roads like they are doing on the Harare/Beitbridge Road, Harare/Chirundu Road, Bulawayo/Victoria Falls Road, thumbs up to our Government for such a wonderful job of rehabilitating our roads.
Potholes, uneven surfaces and inadequate shoulders create dangerous driving conditions. So, they need to be attended to. Secondly, Zimbabwe Republic Police must be adequately resourced to conduct heightened enforcement during holidays. Increased patrols particularly on known accidents black spots coupled with zero tolerance for drunken driving and speeding will send a strong message of deterrence to drivers. Equipping Zimbabwean law enforcement with proper resources can be a powerful tool in combating corruption and improving road safety. This includes providing officers with modern speed detection equipment. Ensuring a fleet of well-maintained patrol vehicles and motor cycles for mobility, offering competitive salaries and allowances by addressing financial constraints, officers are less susceptible to bribes. Furthermore, increase visibility through well equipped patrols deters motorists from attempting to circumvent the law. This multifaceted approach can strengthen enforcement, promote adherence to traffic regulations and ultimately reduce road accidents on our roads.
Thirdly, I call upon the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services to launch a comprehensive public awareness campaign. We have the traffic safety bought for that, but however, for effectiveness, the Ministry of Information should also take a leading role in launching campaigns that educate citizens on safe driving practices, highlight the dangers of speeding and fatigue and emphasise the importance of adhering to traffic laws. Let us not under-estimate the power of media in our country, and also engage with transport operators. We must address the pressure that their drivers face to meet unrealistic targets which often incentivises reckless driver behaviour, thus fatal road accidents occur.
Finally, we must foster a culture of road safety in our nation. This requires collaboration between government agencies, civil society organisations and traditional leaders. Together we can build a national consciousness that prioritises responsible driving and sanctity of human life.
In conclusion, the loss of even a single life on our roads is a tragedy. Let us act now with urgency and resolve to turn the tide on this holiday nightmare and let us ensure that our journeys of celebration are not marred by preventable loss. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. ZHOU: Thank you Madam President for according me this opportunity to add my voice on this motion which was raised by Hon. Mlotshwa. It is a very important motion on road traffic accidents on the roads. Accidents happen when people are not prepared and they lose lives. At times they are maimed. I want to stress that these accidents do not just result in the losses of lives, but also people become disabled when they were not disabled as they were growing up. In our organisation, we always say that you should not be proud that you are driving a car because when you go out driving your car, you might come back disabled because of road traffic accidents.
So we are saying that these accidents are causing hardships in lives besides just bringing death. The other thing that we wanted to talk about is to look at our lives as black people – what is it that we are supposed to do and what is it that we used to do? We want to look at the religious people and the chiefs. Suppose there is a bus which has been involved in an accident, and twenty or thirty people lose their lives, the police will come with their coffins and ferry the bodies. The injured are taken to hospital, but as black people, we should go there with our chiefs so that we do our rituals there so that we do not end up having black spots.
This means if we end up with black spots, there is something that we are supposed to do, a ritual that we should do to appease the blood of those people as black people so that it does not attract accidents. If you look closely, you find that these accidents happen at certain places. Like the accident that happened at the seven kilometer peg. A lot of accidents happen at that place. The experience that I have with that place is that my car once had a breakdown, but it did not seem like a break down. I asked the driver because the car was brand new. A lady came walking, but the driver said that he was not seeing anything, although I could hear her footsteps at that area where the accident happened.
So religious people and our leaders should follow these issues. Going forward, this is not the issue of the Minsitry of Transport alone, but it is an issue that should be handled by the law as well, but the way the law is being handled, we see that there is a lax because there are ways of curbing drunkenness. When people become drunk when the police is there, they will know that someone gets to a road block whilst drunk that they cannot even show their licence, but you find them passing through that road block.
Our laws should be followed and it helps us to curb accidents which are so rampant these days. The other thing that I wanted to talk about is that every car in Zimbabwe should have an insurance cover. It can be third party or comprehensive, but you find that most of the time these insurance companies just take money and if an accident occurs, we do not see those insurance companies. We just see the government chipping in or some relatives and some go about borrowing money so that they will be able to cope with the burials, but we do not see the insurance companies.
When it comes to collecting money, each time that you renew, the insurance will be there and you pay for the insurance. It can be full, third party or comprehensive. So we should also look at those issues as well. This issue should not jeopardise the lives of people. When people are looking for insurances, they need help so that they get assistance when they get involved in these accidents. I think we should also see that we avoid being disabled on the roads. Some divorces come up as well because if someone is maimed, either wife or husband, they may divorce because of disability. That is what I wanted to say. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drug and substance abuse by youths.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
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. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA the Senate adjourned at Four Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 12th March, 2024.
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members to my right side, please take your seats!
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
HEALTH, MENTAL AND WELLNESS PROGRAMME
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that Parliament’s Health Service Department, in conjunction with the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS), will be conducting a Health, Mental and Wellness Programme from Tuesday, 12th March to Thursday, 14th March 2024. Each day will begin with a presentation from 0900 to 1030 a.m. in the Special Committee Room No. 2 on the ground floor. Thereafter, there is screening for blood pressure, diabetes, breast, prostate and cervical cancers will be held in the clinic area, Rooms 113, 116, 117 and 137 on the First Floor. Hon. Members and staff are urged to attend. The screening process will take place the whole day on the days mentioned.
CLIMATE CHANGE SENSITISATION WORKSHOP FOR ALL PARLIAMENTARIANS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that Parliament, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, shall be holding a Climate Change Sensitisation Workshop for all parliamentarians on Friday, 15th and Saturday, 16th March in the Multi-Purpose Hall at Parliament Building from 0800 hours. The workshop will cover the courses: Impacts and Solutions of Climate Change as well as the Role of Parliament in Addressing the Global Challenge.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. KAMBUZUMA: Madam Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 7 and 9 to 12 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 8 has been disposed of.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE TO IMPROVE THE PLIGHT OF COUNCILLORS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to address the conditions of service for Councillors.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Madam Speaker, I had switched my microphone on a point of privilege. I wanted to be given an opportunity to say something.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am very sorry Hon. Nyamupinga. We have already passed that stage. I will give you the chance on Thursday.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Madam Speaker, it is important that I say something. I had actually spoken to the Deputy Chief Whip and I thought it was in order. That is why I had remained quiet.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Due to our procedures, we cannot go back to what we have already passed. I am sorry.
*HON. CHAIMVURA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to add my contribution to the motion regarding councillors who are very important in that they are leaders. The issue that I want to highlight is how they clothe themselves, they do not wear clothes which are honourable. You find some councillors walking long distances in order to meet people whom they lead in their communities and sometimes they fail to meet stipulated meeting times. You find councillors requesting for transport from the people they serve. This does not auger well with the people. Rural councils are in a dire state, where you find people who do not have accommodation representing people as councillors. They look after a lot of people in their homesteads. Some entertain ten or more people who are in need of food, some who have sick relatives and some who are bereaved.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, councillors should be given transport like motorbikes. Their welfare should be looked into, including the monies that they earn so that they are able to serve diligently with adequate tools. Thank you.
*HON. JONGA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am and good afternoon. Let me start by explaining what is expected from councillors and let me explain how they are despised in my own understanding. They are marginalised and looked down upon. They are despised and viewed as people who are not important. This means that they are not heard in their communities, even in discharging their duties. Looking at councils, I believe that this august House agrees with me that councillors are quite important, especially looking at rural areas where people get assistance from councillors.
Madam Speaker, let me continue saying that the way they are despised came about as a result of white minority rule during the colonial era, especially looking at black people who were denied education and wealth. Now that we have independence, especially in the Second Republic, it is my desire that councillors should be helped in how they operate. They should be assisted on how they do their duties, particularly councillors in rural areas who cover large areas and who walk long distances in order to serve people. I will give an example, I have a ward in my constituency. It is Ward 30 in Mount Darwin West which has four districts. It is not possible for a councillor to cover the whole Ward in one day. They might need a day or two to cover the Wards.
Madam Speaker, you would find that sometimes they cover 30 to 60 kilometers and this is quite difficult for our councillors. Most people who are represented by councillors in rural areas are marginalised in terms of resources. They have a lot of issues which need to be addressed. This highlights the plight of the people who are represented by councillors in rural areas.
Madam President, the burden which is carried by councillors, looking at sitting allowances, is quite huge and this means that they cannot lead people with dignity. It is important to enhance the lives of councillors. The first thing that is needed for councillors are cars which they will use in order to reach different corners or areas – [HON.MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Either one car per Ward or a car in three or four Wards. This will be quite handy because it will allow them to reach all corners. His Excellency the President, through Vision 2030, says that there is no one who will be left behind and there will be no place which will be left behind. So, councillors should not be left behind. They must have their sitting allowances reviewed so that they have decent remuneration. They must have projects which would augment the lives of their people in their homesteads and their Wards.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, you would find that councillors do not have money to improve the outlook of their homesteads and when they pass on, you would find that their families are left suffering. If we enhance the way we view councillors and their resources, then this is going to uplift their livelihoods as councillors. I thank you.
*HON. NKANI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am for giving me this opportunity to debate. I want to add a few words on this quite pertinent motion which was raised by Hon. Jere, seconded by Hon. Nyamupinga regarding our councils. Firstly, let me start by looking at the importance of a councillor so that we understand how important they are and what they deserve. A councillor is a shepherd or a herdsman who looks after livestock whilst it is raining and does not have raincoat; imagine heading livestock when you do not have shoes and thorns are pricking your feet.
A councillor is a person who lives among the people like what some Hon. Members said that when a challenge comes, it comes via the councillor. Those who need food or inputs are directed at the councillor. Those who are bereaved go to their councillors. Those who need transport for inputs go to their councillors and yet the councillor does not have anything. The answer that the councillor gives the people might not be there because the councillor wants to hear from the District Administrator and Member of Parliament who also do not have answers. The councillor lives in the community with the people. Everyday the people go to the councillor’s homestead talking about their preparations for Pfumvudza/Intwasa and asking what can be done.
I believe that a councillor is very important. A councillor is responsible for promulgation of by-laws which run councils. A councillor supervises all the works that are done by different Government departments in the ward. At the end of the day, a councillor dies of stress because he is burdened by these responsibilities. In my view, a councillor must not get less than US$160 per month. A councillor should be given a grant, which is money which will assist him with income generating projects. For instance, you find that a Minister is given a loan which is quite substantial. Members of Parliament are given a better salary and a loan around US$40 000 – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Hon. Member did not err but he said that Members of Parliament are getting better salaries than councillors. Please understand what he said. He said that the salaries are a bit better compared to the salary of a councillor.
*HON. NKANI: I want new Hon. Members to understand that this is my second term. I was given a loan of US$40 000 by His Excellency the President. I was given that loan and I bought a stand. So, I am saying that councillors should be given enough money so that they have sustainable livelihoods. An MP has a car but a councillor does not even have a motorbike. I am saying that a councillor should be given what he or she deserves. They must be viewed in a respectable manner just like Members of Parliament and Ministers. They must be given travelling allowances which can sustain them during meetings so that they can fend for their families. I thank you.
HON. MAKOMBE: I want to add my voice to this very important matter that is being debated. People must understand that local authorities are a creation of the statutes. It is a fact that Zimbabwe is a unitary democratic sovereign republic of which local authorities are a tier of local government. It is also a fact that local authorities operate within the Constitution of Zimbabwe as well as delegated powers from the Ministry of Local Government. These powers at local level are carried by councillors who are elected.
The Government of Zimbabwe established local authorities for a number of reasons, such as to bring Government closer to the people by giving them access to their leaders to enhance provision of service delivery such as roads, water, waste management, education and health; to facilitate community participation in decision making and resource allocation and to facilitate the allocation of national resources. That is why the local government system is provided for in the Constitution of Zimbabwe under Chapter 14.
To effectively discharge his or her duties, a councillor must have the following attributes which are very important: They must be honest, they must have integrity, impartial, they must be committed, they must be accountable and above all, they must be humble. These attributes make the councillor’s work very difficult but at the same time, very important hence the need to also provide a conducive environment for them to discharge their duties diligently. The current environment does not motivate our councillors to discharge their mandate effectively. At times they are regarded as volunteers and no need to give special attention to their welfare and yet they are expected to discharge their duties given by the Constitution and Government through the Ministry of Local Government.
Local authorities are autonomous but not independent. They can make rules and decisions but they also have to explain what they are doing to Central Government. This clearly shows that they are interpreting or implementing the Government’s vision and programmes of development. The functions of a councillor are key to the development of our country. Councillors make far reaching decisions that affect people on their daily lives. They give direction and control in council affairs. They provide broad supervision to council officials to ensure that work is done within the policy framework seeing to it that corruption is minimised and ratepayers get value for their money. They are spokespersons and watchdogs for the community. They make policy for council and see to it that services such as refuse collection which I mentioned above is provided. These are critical and very important functions that need to be rewarded.
When these functions are not performed properly, that is when we see the outbreak of diseases such as Cholera and other related water borne diseases. More often when councillors fail to provide quality services, the residents, Government and all stakeholders will always blame the councillor. It is because they understand that the work of a councillor is very important. This understanding must also go further to look at their welfare. I want to appreciate the efforts done by the Minister of Local Government in reviewing the allowances of our councillors. However, I feel that councillors deserve a monthly salary which is commensurate with their duties, which I want to believe that all of us here as parliamentarians, appreciate that they do a lot.
Allowances should be paid as an extra incentive for attending committee and full council meetings and also for their mobility so that they can cover much ground in their wards. A pension scheme must also be made available for them plus medical aid as well as funeral policies so that at least our councillors can be motivated. Very little is done in this aspect. It is also important to make sure that our councillors are motivated.
If the conditions of service for our councillors are improved, we are most likely to see improvement in service delivery in local authorities for the benefit of our residents. It will also enable councillors to travel to all corners of their Wards where they have to perform their representative roles. It will also make the office of the councillor attractive and competitive locally and comparable intentionally so as to attract capable people to contest for elections and serve the community with distinction. It will also ensure that council business, most of the time, is not disrupted by people who will be talking about allowances.
I want to conclude by saying that most of our local authorities do not have the capacity to pay or cater for all these things that I have spoken about. We also do not want to labour our citizens by financing the welfare of councillors through payments of rates. I therefore propose that the salaries and allowances of councillors be covered by Treasury since they are doing Government-centred work. So I urge the Minister of Local Government to put up the necessary framework so that the welfare of councillors will be taken care of by Treasury. Thank you.
HON. ZIKI: I rise to contribute on the motion moved by Hon. Jere on the marginalisation of councillors. Councillors are an important and integral part of local government, but are hardly recognised. They are an important pillar of support for every successful Hon. Member here present. We have heard speakers who have come before who have spoken about the deplorable allowances for councillors and the work that they do. I am going to dwell on what I think they should get.
Firstly, I am advocating for an increase in their allowances and I would like to concur with the previous speaker that it will be better if they were paid by Treasury. I am also advocating for free duty vehicles for councillors. We have heard the plight of our councillors in terms of transport. I am sure they are also entitled to benefit from free duty since most civil servants are benefitting from it.
Then there is another issue here and this is probably known by people who have gone through councillorship, that the Mayors and chairpersons do not have offices at council offices. They have to be in the corridors, town secretary or the Mayor’s office to do their business. When we benchmark with councillors within our borders, you find that councillors have offices and a complete secretariat that does the typing and everything that is required by councillors. Also, they are catering for all council meetings outside of council. They drive brand new vehicles, Mercedes Benz, but it will be a pipe dream for us to hope for that. I do not think it will be too much to ask if Treasury would meet the cost of allowances.
I also have an issue here which seems to have evaded everybody. This is the issue of T/S and accommodation allowances. The disparity between these two allowances between an allowance given to a councillor and that given to staff; town secretaries and council employees is very huge. You find sometimes a driver might actually buy the Mayor a drink because the Mayor might be broke. The allowances given to Mayors are so deplorable such that at one time, they made headlines in Bulawayo, I think it was during Trade Fair.
There were some Mayors who were found sleeping somewhere in the suburbs on bunk-beds, one on top of the other like school children and it came out in the newspaper, but they will be trying to save the little allowance that they will have been given. So the issue of uniform T/S and accommodation rates for council staff as well as councillors would be a welcome development.
On the issue of all these benefits that we would want to see, I think this should be anchored on service delivery. We have seen service delivery going down under our watch. In most of our local authorities, we now have sewer bursts everywhere, non-collection of garbage, some of these councils do not even collect garbage until they are threatened by EMA, then you see movement. If they are given all these benefits, we would want to see service delivery of which non-compliant councils should be disbanded and commissions put to run such institutions. We cannot just carry on watching whilst things are going down.
I think that is my last contribution. I can tell you I am so grateful to be part of this discussion because I have been a member of UCAZ and tried to get through some of the issues that we have brought here, but to no avail. I am so grateful to Hon. Jere for bringing this to the attention of the House. Thank you.
HON. MUKOMBERI: Thank you Madam Speaker for this opportunity for me to add my voice on the debate on the marginalisation of councillors. First and foremost, I want to give a contextual meaning of the word marginalisation in the context under debate. In this case we are talking about a councillor being rendered insignificant, treating somebody as not important. I think that is enough to define marginalisation.
A Ward councillor is one of the most significant actors in the governance and administration of local authorities, both in urban and rural local authorities. It is pertinent to note that local authorities are the third tier in the three tiers of Government in Zimbabwe. So local authorities being the third tier, are there to provide a service to the citizens. It is important to note that councillors are the foot soldiers in direct link with the citizens in the service provision journey by local authorities. It is very important for the local authorities or Government to motivate councillors through paying them rewards commensurate with the effort they exert in the service delivery journey. Frederick W. Taylor, a scientist in his wisdom, postulated that a worker is an economic man – once you give him financial incentives, you have motivated him.
What can be extrapolated from this statement is that councillors are viewed as workers because they do day-to-day service provision in their areas of jurisdiction. They are machines that are fuelled by financial incentives – that is still according to Taylor. In carrying out their mandate, councillors are too tied with ward developmental work to an extent that they remain with limited, if not, no time to undertake other activities for the generation of income to sustain their families. They are tied with a number of functions which include inter-alia, giving direction and controlling council affairs; making key decisions to guide council operations, providing broader supervision of officers to ensure that work is done in line with policy; monitoring council progress – seeing to it that corruption is minimised and ratepayers get value for their money; investigating complaints from members of the community; making policy for the council – this is done through attending and participating in council committees as directed by the council; and interacting with staff through the CEO or Town Clerk so as to discuss various issues pertaining to council operations.
Given this array of a number of functions that councillors are mandated to undertake, the remuneration or allowances that councillors in most local authorities are currently getting are not in tandem with the effort that they exert. At the end of the day, you will see to it that this may result in corrupt activities by such councillors in trying to compensate themselves through hook and crook. Some of them may be involved in land scandals or they may give themselves a lion’s share even if inputs are sent to the citizens and they are to distribute them; they end up giving themselves a lion’s share so as to compensate themselves.
In all fairness, one cannot expect a family man or woman working the whole month to earn an allowance less than 80 dollars. How can one sustain personal and family needs or the needs of those under their stewardship as ward councillors? Some councillors may be impoverished to an extent that they become beggars or depend too much on their Hon. MPs in their respective constituencies for the sake of sustaining their families in times of hardships. To maintain fairness, I propose that councillors should be paid a standard salary per month throughout the country, not given relative to the discretion by a specific local authority but it should be a standard salary they should be paid throughout the country. Also, they should be given motor bikes. Concurring to the previous speaker, they should be given duty free certificates to import their vehicles as is the case with all other civil servants.
This might fight corruption in local authorities as councillors may connive with the Executive at local authority to do some fraudulent activity for their benefit. John Stacey Adams, a behavioural psychologist, at one point postulated for the equity theory in the remuneration of workers. In this case, we are also considering that councillors are workers. He said, “equity is based on fairness”. The effort that one exerts at work should be rewarded by a salary that is commensurate with that effort. What can be deduced from that statement is that in their perception, councillors my perceive what they are earning as allowances as not fair. At the end of the day, they try to maintain fairness in their own means and that will accelerate the rate of corruption. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. KASHAMBE: Good afternoon Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to add my voice to the motion which was moved by Hon. Jere, the issue regarding our councillors. The responsibilities of our councillors since the second dispensation are quite huge and everyone is expected to discharge their duties with due diligence. Because of that, we note that councillors are people and the head is His Excellency, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa. The body is the parliamentarians and the foot soldiers are our councillors. In the past, councillors were looked down upon and considered part time employees. They were not doing their duties on a full-time basis.
In rural areas, councillors are always on call. They work wherever they are. They work with leadership and represent people at VIDCO level. They are also there in the disbursement of inputs. They are required to stamp letters for those who are in need of letters for their school going children or for those who need to be treated in public hospitals. Councillors board two or three cars to reach their destination. Some come from Marondera to Chikomba where the council office is. Looking at the money they are getting, the allowance is not enough. It cannot cover their needs. This is one thing that might culminate in councillors engaging in corrupt activities so that they augment their earnings. We know that there might be a challenge in terms of getting money but like what every Hon. Member has said, councillors should have a monthly salary. They should also be given other non- monetary incentives like stands and duty-free cars as they have huge responsibilities. As Government, we know that councillors are sometimes responsible for funds which should be distributed in communities, but they leave such meetings without receiving anything and we do not think this is easy for them. On the same note, our councillors, in line with the President’s vision of leaving no one and no place behind, are now doing full time jobs because they are responsible for communicating with the rural populace in village and budget consultations. I think it is important to review their remuneration so that they are able to send their children to school also.
HON. LINYANE: I would like to debate on the motion on marginalisation of councillors. Some constituencies are too big that MPs cannot visit all the Wards in his or her constituency and in such circumstances, they rely on councillors who always have interface with the people in the communities. They get their concerns on development on a daily basis. As such, the MPs get information on development needs from the councillors finger tips. Councillors and MPS work together to achieve development goals. However, councillors are the closest link between Government and the people.
According to the delimitation process, this is troubling. The merging of two Wards into one without providing additional resources creates an extremely difficult situation for the councillors who do not have vehicles. It will be very difficult for the councillors to effectively serve the entire Ward, especially if it is large and spread out. This can have a negative impact on the quality of representation of the constituents in the Ward. It also raises questions about the delimitation process.
Madam Speaker, local authorities rely on rate payers to fund their operations and this includes the allowances of councillors. However, many argue that the current system does not provide enough funding for the councillors to do their jobs effectively. This is especially true in areas where poverty is high and many people are unable to pay their rates. In addition, responsibilities of councillors have increased in recent years and they are often expected to do more with less. This puts a strain on the system and can lead to frustration and burnout. Councillors often do a lot of important work, but they are often not paid .They only receive a small stipend. This can be frustrating for those who are trying to make a difference in their communities. The lack of equality is often seen as unfair, but it is important to know that MPs also have responsibilities, but one that needs to be addressed is to ensure that everyone involved in politics is fairly compensated for their work. I thank you.
AN HON. MEMBER: I am rising on a point of order Madam Speaker. I have been following debates in this Parliament and I have noticed one anomaly. Usually it is three that side and one this side, and mathematically that is very wrong. It is supposed to be two that side and one this side.
THE HON DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your concern has been noted, but I am deferring the ruling to next week Hon. Member.
AN HON. MEMBER: Thank you very much Madam Speaker.
HON. S. SITHOLE: Good afternoon Hon. Speaker Ma’am. I rise to debate the motion raised by Hon. Jere, seconded by Hon. Nyamupinga on the marginalisation of councillors. Madam Speaker, we could be busy debating about the councillors’ welfare, but I do not know if they are doing the same in their chambers or we are debating while they are quiet about it. What I want to say is that the local government should review the Bill for the local authorities. I will also include workers of local authorities as I debate on this issue. There is no development at the district because from the moment they get employed, they stay in one local authority and they are never transferred. That is why they lack the spirit to develop because they do not care, hence the Minister must review the Bill and pave way for people to be transferred to other local authorities. He must revisit and check around the Bill. I agree with some Hon. Members who already spoke before me, but sometimes I think they are the ones who marginalise themselves. They have some beerhalls in the rural areas and all the Wards in towns, but they do not control or make a follow up with management to see where the revenue is going. Some have farms that are being benefitted from, camp fires, but the councillors are not making follow up on how those revenues are being utilized. Madam Speaker, I will just differ from some Hon. Members who debated because I want to say, when they are debating well, you can say that is good. When they have done wrong, you can say, here it is not proper. Madam Speaker, I agree with all who debated here. Councillors are supposed to get pensionable terms because some can stay for five terms. We can either say, let us pass for the five term to get a pension because some can stay for 15 years as a councillor but the benefit is to be an Alderman – just goes with the word Alderman.
I think when we come with those solutions to bring it in, either a five term or three terms and they go for pension than for them to benefit for a name called Alderman. I do not think Madam Speaker, it is a good thing. We must also encourage the councillors – the Hon. Speaker, Adv. J. F. Mudenda, once said inertia, even to ask Members of Parliament to debate about our welfare. I call upon all councillors to wake up and debate about their welfare. I want to thank His Excellency, the listening President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa. I think some months back, he met the councillors at the Rainbow Towers. He promised them that they are going to engage in a good salary payroll. I rest my case Madam Speaker. I thank you.
HON. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me this opportunity to debate on the marginalisation of councillors. It is an honor to participate. Allow me to thank Hon. Jere for putting this motion through to the House. It shows that Hon. Members are true servant leaders who do not forget where they come from and who they work with in their respective constituencies. Madam Speaker, councillors are dedicated individuals who serve as the bedrock of local representation, tirelessly working for the betterment of our communities. They advocate for residents’ needs, navigate complex decisions and foster strong community bonds. However, ensuring their dedication is met with adequate support is crucial. I believe a thorough examination is essential to ensure fair and sustainable practices in local governance.
Madam Speaker, allow my debate to examine the critical role played by councillors, examine the current system of compensation, propose possible remuneration in line with the best international practices. Section 265 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe sets out the general …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. TSITSI ZHOU): Order Hon. Mavhunga. Hon. Members on my left, can you please allow the Hon. Member to debate in silence. Thank you.
HON. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Section 265 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe sets out the general principles of Provincial and Local Government, including the obligation of councillors to ensure good governance by being effective, transparent, accountable and institutionally coherent, assume only functions conferred by the Constitution on Act of Parliament, exercise their functions without encroaching on the due restriction of other Government tiers, cooperate with one another for improved service delivery, secure the public welfare and ensure fair representation within their due restriction.
The District Councils Act and the Urban Councils Act further provide specific details regarding the composition, functions and powers of councillors as delegated by the Constitution, Section 276. These elected officials carry a significant responsibility representing the needs and interests of their constituents while actively contributing to the development and well-being of their local area. At the core of their duties lies representation. Councillors are the voice of the community, elected by the residents to champion their concerns and issues. They act as advocates, bringing local matters to the attention of the council and relevant authorities through various means like holding meetings, conducting surveys and participating in community events. They actively engage with residents to understand their needs and priorities. This ensures that their decisions made within council reflects the true concerns and aspirations of the community they serve.
Beyond representation, councillors play a pivotal role in policy and decision making. They actively participate in setting goals, formulating policies and making crucial decisions impacting their local area. Matters related to service delivery, infrastructure, development, budgeting and local regulations fall within their purview. This necessitates a deep understanding of local needs and the ability to make informed choices that promote the development and well-being of our communities. Additionally, councillors hold the council accountable for its performance ensuring efficient and transparent use of public resources.
Madam Speaker, this important role that councillors have deserves to be conjunctional with a competitive remuneration so as to increase efficiency, improve accountability and productivity of these councils. Looking deeply, Madam Speaker, into their remuneration, the salary and wages of councillors are determined by the Minister responsible for Local Government. Their compensation comes in the form of allowances which are very low, to say the least, determined by variety of factors and ultimately approved by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
Madam Speaker, the absence of fixed salaries creates a situation where the level of allowances varies based on several factors. These include the type of council a councillor serves in, ranging from metropolitan cities to local boards and the specific position held with Mayors, Deputies and Committee Chairpersons receiving different amounts compared to the ordinary councillor. Additionally, geographic location may play a role with adjustments made to account for varying cost of living across different regions.
However, the current system faces challenges and concerns. The lack of transparency surrounding the specific allowance amounts coupled with the process for their determination, raises questions about fairness and accountability. This lack of clarity fuels about fairness, fuels concerns about potential inconsistences and create difficulty in verifying information readily available. Madam Speaker, recent developments highlight the ongoing debate surrounding councillor remunerations. Associations like the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe and the Association of Rural District Councils of Zimbabwe, have advocated for a shift towards monthly salaries for councillors similar to other elected officials like MPs, Ministers and so forth. This proposition urges that such a change would improve the living conditions of councillors and attract more qualified individuals to serve in these positions.
Madam Speaker, we can take a leaf from our neighbours legislative pages particularly in neighbouring South Africa, governed by our sister Revolutionary Party, African National Congress (ANC). Councillors have a fixed monthly salary depending on whether they are permanent or temporary. For example, a Mayor in South Africa can take home about R300 thousand annually, depending on the grade. They have housing allowances, travelling allowances, cellphone allowances, health insurance, pension options and so forth. They have enough benefits to effectively execute their duties so much that contesting as a councillor in Mzansi has become very dangerous with some candidates being murdered in cold blood during campaigns.
Members of Parliament are left with no choice but to support our councillors with our own resources to help them deliver in their Wards and ultimately in the constituencies that we represent. A personal example, my father is a councillor in one of the rural district councils. They did not get enough resources to effectively and efficiently do their work. Currently, Hon. Speaker, councillors are expected to develop a master plan for their wards. The work required for a Ward master plan is very intensive and time consuming to undertake this work under a strict deadline. A council is only armed with cell airtime allowance up to ZWL115 000. No transport, no fuel, no food, no student attachés to their disposal. It becomes a mammoth task and very strenuous on their personal resources. While the previous section explores the interests of councillor remuneration in Zimbabwe, a critical issue remains; the potential for this system to contribute to corruption. While not implying that all councillors engage in such practices, it is important to understand how the current structure creates vulnerabilities, and increases corruption. It is also important to note that though not much research is available out there to make factual conclusions if there is any relationship between compensation and levels of corruption, we need to encourage our research institution to do more research concerning this.
Madam Speaker, to drive the point home, one primary concern lies in the absence of fixed salaries. Councillors rely on variable allowances living them financially insecure. This vulnerability can make them susceptible to seeking alternative income source, potentially leading them down unethical paths. Additionally, the pack nature of the allowance system with lack of transparency surrounding specific amounts and the decision-making process creates fertile ground for potential abuse. The lack of clarity fuels concerns about favouritism, misappropriation of funds and difficulty in holding officials accountable.
Furthermore, the inadequate oversight mechanisms exacerbate the situation. Without robust public scrutiny and clear accountability structures, potential misconduct can go unchecked. This lack of oversight incentivises individuals to prioritise personal gain over the well-being of the community they represent, potentially resorting to practices like accepting bribes or engaging in rent seeking activities. Moreover, the current system can create scenarios where conflicts of interest arise. Councillors’ decision making power can be influenced by financial consideration, blowing the line between their responsibility to the community and their personal financial interests. This creates a breeding ground for unethical conduct and undermines public trust in local governance.
Madam Speaker, it is important to reiterate that these are potential risks, not all councillors succumb to such pressures and many serve with integrity and dedication. However, addressing the vulnerabilities within the system is crucial to minimise these risks and foster ethical conduct. As I conclude Madam Speaker, I would like to share my opinion on how councillors can be appreciated to enhance their effectiveness in service distribution and fairly representing the people in their respective wards.
Firstly, transitioning to a transparent and consistent salary structure for councillors could alleviate financial insecurity and disincentivise unethical behaviour. Secondly, establishing an independent board to monitor and audit the remuneration process and overall financial management of the council is crucial. Lastly, providing logistical support for councillors to improve efficiency in form of vehicles or motorbikes.
In conclusion, implementing these strategies may pave the way for a more sustainable and ethical local governance system in Zimbabwe by securing the well-being of councillors through improved transparency, development opportunities and public engagement. The nation can empower its local leaders to serve their communities with dedication and integrity. This in turn can lead to a more prosperous and well governed future for all citizens. Thank you Madam Speaker.
+HON. M. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice. Good afternoon Hon. Speaker. I was once a councillor for 15 years, from 2008 to August, 2023. I know this path. Allow me to add my voice on what I once came across during my years of serving as a councillor. During elections, the councillor is the one who campaigns for the President and the Member of Parliament. The councillor is the foot soldier. After the elections, the councillor is thrown away and others get more resources forgetting the councillor. This is so disturbing. However, let me say after the councillor has done the job and after the elections, he is only given an allowance not a salary. The amount was 115 000 RTGs. There was also what was called phone allowance. The phone allowance was even lower than this amount.
The councillor is someone who is asked to roast the meat and he only enjoys the scent of the meat, but will not enjoy the meat. This then leads councillors to be corrupt because they will be teased with nice things. For the councillor not to be corrupt, the councillors are supposed to be remunerated such that they do not engage into corrupt activities. The money is not enough to pay schools fees for the kids and to cover other expenses. For example, if the councillor is given a little opportunity, he or she will end up being corrupt because of not being catered for. We are putting our councillors in a precarious position that they end up being in temptation. If the councillor is being accused of corruption, it is because the Government will have put him in that position. We are not considering these councillors. My plea is that the councillor should be given enough money to send his children to school and take care of his family. Councillors need transport to ferry them to and from their places of work. There are no sitting allowances in the councils. The money that is given to the councillor is only that he gets transport to attend meetings at councils and goes back to his home after the meeting. Councillors are burdened with a lot of work. I pray that may the councillors be given a salary and not an allowance.
+HON. R. MPOFU: I will just add a few words to this motion because I have a sore throat and therefore, not feeling well today. Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the mover of this motion who is Hon. Jere, seconded by Hon. Nyamupinga. The issue of councillors is very painful. When the other Hon. Members were seconding this motion, I felt excited a lot even though I cannot see. The issue of councillors has spent years and years, but I think Government has taken note that even these people must be recognised.
As Members of Parliament, we are representatives of the people who play an oversight role on the Ministers especially on utilisation of resources. I support the motion that our councillors are supposed to get a salary which can sustain their families as they are hard workers. They live with the people in the wards. Some of the wards are very big and at times councillors traverse these wards on foot. I do not want to differentiate councillors by their political parties, but I just want a councillor to be considered as a councillor. I really wish that Government looks at this issue of councillors. Even the councillors selected under the women’s quota must be assisted because they are councillors too. They need to get something that is at par with other councillors. Some of the councillors have many children at home who need food. For us women, we know that when a husband leaves home, he will come back carrying some food for the children. As for them, they go from morning to evening without anything because that is what their job demands. I wish that we could even get motorbikes or better still, those that can ride bicycles can……
Proceedings were interrupted due to a technical fault.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. TSITSI ZHOU): I hope that all of you can hear me. We have a technical fault and therefore, we cannot proceed with debates.
HON. KAMBUZUMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. KAMBUZUMA seconded by HON. HAMAUSWA, the House adjourned at Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair.)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
ERROR ON THE ORDER PAPER
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to draw the attention of the House to an error on the Order Paper, which has been inadvertently reflected as Tuesday, 12 March, instead of Thursday 7th March.
HON. TOGAREPI: A point of national interest Madam Speaker. I would like to stand at this juncture to raise a point of national interest. Many people in Zimbabwe today or from all walks of life, are raising serious concerns concerning one low ranked American individual. I do know he is a chargé d'affaires person who had a press statement disparaging our institutions, insulting the leadership of this country in the name of lifting the illegal sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe. He took an opportunity in a hotel to stand and insult our institutions.
I would like to say, we are concerned. The United Nations regard all countries as equal despite their size in terms of land, despite their size in terms of population and despite their size in terms of military power. We are a sovereign country. We do not need anybody from anywhere on this planet or beyond, to come and lecture to us how we should run the affairs of this country. So, we are very concerned and it is my considered view that this small person be asked to explain himself or if it is possible, he goes back to America- [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - We do not need a person like that in our midst. He is abusing the diplomatic hospitality that we are giving the Embassy of the United States. We do not interfere with the politics of America. We do not intend to interfere with any other country. We also respect their sovereignty and we expect them to do the same.
We cannot expect an ambassador or a person who represents a country to come to us and lecture or talk to us as if we are some small portion of their country. So, it is my request that this be addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to talk to this gentleman. I do not know whether he is really a diplomat or he is somebody who came here to distort our relationship with the Americans. I really want the Minister of Foreign Affairs to call this gentleman to order. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Government Chief Whip. I have heard your concerns, but I will defer the ruling on that matter to next week Tuesday.
HON. S. NDEBELE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on a point of national interest to bring to the attention of the House the commemoration of the International Women’s Day, which falls on 8th March every year. My point of national interest is to plead with the Government to invest in women and accelerate progress. We recognise what the Government of Zimbabwe is doing to increase women participation in various spheres, in particular, the Constitution provisions which calls for gender balance, equality and non-discrimination, the extension of the women’s quota in the National Assembly, the introduction of the women’s quota at the local level, the Zebra formation in the Senate and the introduction of the youth quota among others; a legislative provision that we applaud.
While we appreciate the progress we have made in empowering women and increasing their participation in various political, economical and social spheres of the economy, we are still far from attaining the 50/50 target. This is a cause of concern and I would like to urge this august House and the Government at large, to work towards the attainment of 50/50 target, particularly when we go to the 2028 Harmonised Elections. Women’s economic empowerment is also crucial to achieve gender equality and sustainable development.
However, we note with concern that the majority of women in Zimbabwe still…
An Hon. Member having called for point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, please take your seat. May you proceed.
HON. S. NDEBELE: Thank you Madam Speaker. We note with concern that the majority of women in Zimbabwe still do not have equal access to economic resources, opportunities and benefits. As such, we are calling upon the Government to address the barriers and challenges that hinder women’s full participation in the economy by putting in place empowerment strategies aimed at creating equal opportunities for all women and girls in Zimbabwe. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. S. Ndebele. I would like to say to all women of Zimbabwe Happy Women’s month – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. HADEBE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. In the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to visit so many rural provinces and what I discovered is that thousands and thousands of our farmers have lost their crops and millions of our people will face starvation. I would like to implore the Government, especially the Executive to declare this farming season a national disaster. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I advise you Hon. Member to put that in writing as a question to the responsible Hon. Minister so that he will make some investigations and make some considerations. I thank you.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY THE YOUTHS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on Motion to curb drug and substance abuse by youths nationwide.
Question again proposed.
HON. NYELELE: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to also add my voice. Madam Speaker Ma’am, drug abuse is a global pandemic and Zimbabwe is not spared from the problem according to the UN office on drugs and crime. World Drug report said in 2022, around 284 million people 15 to 64 years, use drugs worldwide. In 2022; almost 26 percent increased over the previous decade. Madam Speaker, the challenge that we have is that some of the drugs are new and are not on the list of prohibited substances and drugs. For example, food now is being experimented with to produce drugs. Substances that we take, for example, instant porridge is being mixed with Mazowe Orange Crush.
The definition of drugs worries me a lot. Also, insufficient research and data collection on drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe makes it difficult to develop targeted and effective intervention in adequate prevention programme, although prevention programmes are there in Zimbabwe. They may not be comprehensive or well implemented leading to limited impact on reducing substance and drug abuse.
Madam Speaker, we have poor access, rehabilitation and treatment due to limited resources and infrastructure, and access to treatment and rehabilitation for those struggling with drugs and substance. It is also limited, especially in remote areas like Binga where people are marginalised. This can result in individuals not receiving the help that they may need to overcome their addiction.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, Zimbabwe has however, implemented various policies and strategies to reduce drug and substance abuse within the country, which include National Drug Control Master Plan 2020 to 2025. This plan outlines the Government’s approach of addressing drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe. It focuses on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation as well as law enforcement and international cooperation.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I am happy that His Excellency the President Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, toured the General Headquarters, Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science of the Dubai Police and was delighted to see the artificial intelligence system that assigns policy patrol across Dubai without human intervention. In line with the President’s mantra, ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo’, combined with Vision 2030, Zimbabwe has to adopt Dubai’s artificial intelligent system in order to curb the drug and substance abuse in our motherland.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe has enacted laws to stop drug and substance abuse such as the Dangerous Act, Chapter 15:2 and Liquor Act 13:2. These laws aim to minimise the production, distribution and consumption of drugs and alcohol.
In conclusion, despite these challenges we are facing on drugs and substance abuse, the suggested solution is that it requires a multi-fasted approach, some call it a ‘funeral’ approach. For effective intervention, the alarming drug and substance abuse statistics in Zimbabwe highlight the urgent need for comprehensive action to address this growing issue. Combining efforts from sector of society including the Government, civil society organisation and individuals is important for controlling and managing this crisis.
Furthermore, we need to raise awareness campaigns, increase access to treatment, support and implement severe policies. By addressing drugs and substance abuse, Zimbabwe will be able to mitigate the burden on its healthcare system and improve the overall well being of the population. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. THOMPSON: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on drug and substance abuse. Hon. Speaker, drug abuse is destroying this country. Future leaders are being destroyed in regards to health. No one will be able to work in the farming lands because they will be under the influence of drugs, and this will impact on the agricultural sector. Drug and substance abuse will lead to increase in rape cases, casual unprotected sex where the kids will do this akasticker. The youth have also gone to the extent of abusing money or any resources at home. They end up stealing in order to satisfy their drug needs. There are some elderly people who abuse these drugs with young people, thereby causing a lot of indignity in the society. Some use skin lightening substances that are either in the form of injectables or skin creams. Sometimes that leads to them being unable to get surgical procedures in cases of emergency. The Government must intensify the arrest of those who sell and trade in drugs. I thank you.
*HON. SHONGEDZA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion raised by Hon. Mapiki with regards to drug and substance abuse. Drug and substance abuse have caused a lot of harm to our youth, be it in schools or at their work places. One day as I was walking, I saw them drinking the so called tumbwa. I took it from them, lit a match and it all went up in flames. I explained to them that this burning that is happening here is also happening inside their lungs and that they will die at a very young age.
We need to unite as a country so that we make an operation and remove these illicit alcohol beverages. Some of these youths are taking young ladies as wives. If they consume this stuff, they spend a week in a numb state, which means there is no reproduction that is going to take place. That is disastrous for a country. We need to unite in this House and we must get rid of all those drug substances, including mbanje, to ensure that they are eradicated totally. I thank you.
+HON. D. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I noticed that the increase of drug abuse is because of poverty in this country as well as lack of employment. This is leading to a lot of other illegal acts. This is also causing an increase in murder cases as well as any other crimes, including road accidents. In Bulawayo, we have Mpilo as well as UBH Hospital. They are trying by all means to rehabilitate drug addicts but those hospitals were not meant or designed to take care of such.
For example, two weeks ago, where I come from in Nkulumane Constituency, we buried one person who died at Ingutsheni Hospital. That person was killed by one of the patients. The person was murdered at night and was found dead in the morning. This is all because those hospitals were not designed for drug addicts, but mental cases. So, Government should construct specified rehabilitation centres so as to ensure that the private sector is allowed to contribute to that. The Government should also promote artists to increase awareness in the drug and substance abuse.
The laws should also ensure that they are deterrent enough especially to drug addicts so that we protect the future. As Government, there are a lot of things that we failed to do, but I hope we will win on this fight against drugs. Gwai/Nkayi Road was not successful as many other promises were not fulfilled, but we must be able to fulfill and win this one at least. Thank you.
HON. MAUNGANISO: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank Hon. Mapiki for raising this important motion. I have listened through a lot of debates that were being raised by fellow Hon. Members and I have heard problems emanating from drug abuse being characterised. I believe what we must be seized with is proffering solutions in the pursuit of 1 Peter 1 vs 13. It says, “therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober...” We exist in a social world that is complicated whilst constantly changing. What works today may not work in the future.
A writer, a social scientist, Taylor, Walton and Young sought to underscore that we do not live in a world of free social meaning. Robert Merton, writing in 1968 on Deviance said, “Deviance does not come from…”, but I would like to rephrase it and say Deviance does not only come from pathological personalities, but from the structure and culture of society. The pursuit of value consensus cannot be attained when individuals differ in terms of class and are exposed to varying opportunities and experiences.
Jack Young, in 1997as cited in Haralambos and Holborn on page 390, argued that for maintained social order, societies must be tough not only in trying to combat crime and criminals, but also in trying to change social factors that have a long-term impact on crime rates and deviance. Howard Becker would also argue that society has a problem of labeling. That a deviance label can lead to further deviance, and it changes self-concept that one, for the first time, sees himself as a deviant. He further argues that society, by making rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying such rules to particular people, society creates deviance.
Madam Speaker, what we are grappling with can be found in the writings of Carter G. Woodson (1933), in his book, ‘The Mis-education of the Negro’. Why I say so Madam Speaker Ma’am? As I listened, I heard a lot of fellow Hon. Members proffering solutions to curing or to dealing with what I would term symptoms. I believe we should attack the real disease as Mutukudzi would say, Chikonzero chaita musoro uteme.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, a lot of our youths in both the rural and urban areas are idle, much of whom are to be found in streets or at the corners of every street and bridges. The problem Madam Speaker Ma’am is unemployment, but why unemployment? I believe our education system until recently, was designed in a manner that would create job seekers rather than creating job creators.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I would therefore, believe that it is prudent for Government to vocationalise our secondary education as opposed to constructing a lot of vocational training centers because from secondary school, the majority of our youths are coming out already addicted. Why so Madam Speaker Ma’am? It is because if you check well when students or pupils write their Grade Seven (7) examinations, not more than 30% attain good grades. It would appear as if our education mainstreams academics only, ignoring technical students and rare talent.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I believe therefore, that we will vocationalise our secondary education and do practicals. A student coming from completing his/her Form Four (4) can actually go and establish a garage. Therefore, curing the problem of idleness and actually creating employment.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, rare talent I believe is the one that pays most. If we look at Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo today, I do not believe they have impressive Grade Seven (7) result slips to show whether or not they have five ‘O’ levels. What they earn, Madam Speaker Ma’am, is huge. If we happen to have multi-purpose academies probably for every province, we would have mainstreamed rare talent and empowered our students to attain what they deserve, instead of focusing more on making certain that they have all passed Form Four (4).
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I am impressed with what I discovered on the Lomagundi College Facebook page. It reads as follows:- “Graham Davison, one of our past pupils, 2022, got in touch with us recently to let us know that he is studying aeronautical engineering at Cardiff University in Wales. He is turning out to be the best trainee because of his vast technical grooming at Lomagundi College through the City and Guilds programmes we offer. Graham studied a Level (Two) City and Guilds Diploma in welding and fabrication, passed with distinctions; a Level (Two) City and Guilds Diploma in Principles of Engineering technology, passed with distinctions and HEXCO Machine Shop Engineering (NFC Level), passed with a merit here at Lomagundi College. This was part of his message to head of our Technical Department, Mr. Chirimuuta. I was by far better equipped than any of the other students in my year, most have no idea of what a spanner or socket is, nor had any idea on where to start when removing a wheel off the plane. I was leading my group and changed the brake pads, removed the drums and changed the tyre in under two hours including brakes. I could have done it in forty minutes if I was alone and not having to work and teach others what to do. We wish Graham all the best in his degree programme”.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, if we cross the Limpopo into South Africa, there was what was called Bantu education whose main purpose was to produce labour force for the tormenters. Madam Speaker Ma’am, I believe our education system must be revolutionalised to create students like Graham, not only so he can be a best student abroad, but so we can arrive at creativity and innovation in the country. We do not need to look further because we have already had examples here at home.
It is not only Lomagundi College, but if you go to Peter House or Watershed, I was reading about Watershed the other time after they had sold their tobacco and realised around USD900 000.00. What is happening in our Government institutions? Madam Speaker Ma’am, I believe and it is time we revolutionised our education to mainstream vocationalisation and rare talent. A student at Kutama Day High Secondary School who is gifted in terms of athletics, if you compare his/her sporting age with his/her counterpart in Europe at the completion of ‘A’ level, the sporting age of our students at Kutama Day High School would probably be five months whilst his counterpart would be around 17 years because we are majoring the minor. We must look at everything that pays with equal seriousness and arrive at a place of nurturing rare talent and ensuring that those who are technically gifted are natured in secondary school. I so submit Madam Speaker.
HON. MAUNGANIDZE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), drug abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psycho active substances including alcohol, illicit drugs that can lead to dependence syndrome, significant impairment and health problems. Drugs and drug abuse is a multi-dimensional complex subject including constant demand and supply chain, litigation and regulation. It requires all hands on the deck to address it. Besides gainful youth unemployment, drugs and drug abuse are the top crisis our nation faces.
Our country faces a precarious future which should be brought under total control. This honourable House has a direct responsibility to address this public policy. We cannot sweep it under the carpet, it will destroy our country just as an unattended fire consumes a forest. As a youth representative, I rise to contribute to this debate on a matter that directly impacts my constituents. Youths are the most threatened group and for purposes of this debate, I will refer to a drug as a harmful substance that one takes into a body with dire consequences. In Zimbabwe, we are all familiar with traditional drugs such as beer, clear opaque, and mbanje. These substances have been consumed by our elders from time immemorial. I stress elders because youths have not been allowed to consume such potent substances until they have reached a certain age. After all, our people have always known the serious impact these substances have.
The elders knew exactly how much to consume and when to stop. This is why in every country, there are strict laws governing the youths of controlled substances under which drugs are classified. Some drugs occur naturally like dagga, heroine, cocaine, etcetera. Some may have read about how the opium walls destroyed Chinese society leading to its colonisation and domination by the Western powers.
More recently, druglords have been raging in Afghanistan and South America and the list goes on. Over the last century, chemists and pharmacists have experimented with many substances resulting in the development of thousands of substances that can make one high. Some have been developed accidentally while others were deliberately manufactured because beer is potent and in demand. This development has unfortunately led to many dire consequences. To date, it has been made easy to manufacture legal drugs under very primitive laboratory conditions.
In our own country, every day we read about youths including school children engaging in drug abuse at unsupervised parties and even sometimes in full glare of adults. Apart from alcohol and dagga, the common drugs include cheap medical therapies that one is supposed to take for a cold or flu. We live for the people, we come from the people and we know that drug abuse has already become a very serious public health matter in our society.
If we are to build a prosperous future as our President, His Excellency, E.D. Mnangagwa always reminds us, we need to confront this menace ruthlessly. If our generation falls, this will be judged as the generation that destroyed our people and their values.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I call upon this esteemed House to recognise the necessity of comprehensive legal reforms to strengthen the framework for addressing drug and substance abuse. Our laws should be robust yet flexible enough to adapt to the evolving challenges and trends in substance abuse. Law enforcement should not target only the consumers but should devise ways to target the distributors. Jail terms and measures should be tighter, especially for the druglords. They do not deserve to be given any bail.
In addition, in so many situations, not all drugs carry the same potential or risk. This is an important consideration to make when addressing this important subject, thus in crafting laws, it is important to come up with a clear classification of drugs and align justice to the severity of the drugs. This is our first line of defence as Parliamentarians, this is our duty. To be able to do this; we need to understand the ecosystem of the drug environment in our country. What drugs are being consumed, who are the consumers, where are they coming from, and how is the trade happening. We need to be very clear about these questions, to craft laws that will stem the flood and consumption. We know that many countries failed because they did not take a comprehensive approach, they either focused on the demand or supply side which does not work. We need a holistic approach.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, we also need to learn how others have successfully addressed this menace in their countries. What lessons are relevant to our situation in Zimbabwe? Fortunately, there is readily available information because many other countries are confronting similar problems. What remedies have worked and under what circumstances? We all know that knowledge is global and application must always take place in context for us to succeed.
In addressing the drug crisis, I call it a crisis because that is what it has become. We need to be holistic. We cannot just focus on suppliers of drugs and consumers as some other countries like the United States have done to their regrets. We have to tackle both ends and this must be done holistically. We need to act on complete knowledge about what is going on. We have to apply a whole nation approach to solve this problem, which means the home, the school, and the whole of society must speak the same language. We need to go back to the time when, if you were a child in a village and you misbehaved, any elder who saw you would ask urimwana wekwani, urimwana wekwanhingi urikuda kutisvibisa. We need to go back there where we lost the campus of our values. Everybody must be a custodian of our values or we will perish.
Madam Speaker, leadership both at the national and community level plays a vital role in combating drug and substance abuse. We must foster an environment of accountability and responsibility where leaders advocate for the well-being of their constituency and actively work to eradicate the scourge of substance abuse from our communities. This can be achieved through partnerships with civic organisations, religious institutions, and other stakeholders who share our commitment to promoting a drug-free society. As you can see, I am speaking with a lot of emotion because I feel at a personal level that drugs are about to steal my future, that of my children, and that of my grandchildren. I am not prepared to leave such a horrible legacy behind. I want it to be a beautiful Zimbabwe that our forefathers left for us.
Furthermore, let us not buy the nonsense from those who say the problem is exaggerated. What are you going to say to a parent whose child died today from the drugs? Where is your conscience? What is your role as a Member of Parliament in addressing matters that affect our nation, especially the custodians of our future? Our youths, this must be a wake-up call for all of us, and especially for the lawmakers.
There is a need for cultural sensitisation and education initiatives that raise awareness about the risks and consequences of drug and substance abuse. We must engage communities and other institutions in promoting a culture of prevention where individuals are equipped with the knowledge to resist the lure of harmful substances. This requires coordinated efforts and resources to develop comprehensive education programmes that resonate with diverse segments of our population. Just as our gallant fighters’ slogan, ‘we are our liberators’. Let us also say, only we can save our country from the destruction through drug abuse.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, before I take my seat, I urge each one of us to consider the profound impact that our decision initiatives can have on the life of our fellow citizens. Let us stand together for solidarity with strife to create a Zimbabwe where every individual can fight free from the grip of drug and substance abuse.
HON. CHAKAKURA: Thank you Madam Speaker ma’am. Drug and substance abuse have not only affected the youth but people of all ages. I want to thank you for allowing me to add my voice to this ongoing crucial debate. People of today are using excuses such as stress relief, peer pressure, curiosity, self-medication, infertility, low libido, enlargement of their private parts which in future stop working, escapism, and an escape from reality and celebration, only to mention a few, to avoid taking responsibility of their actions and indulge in drug and substance abuse.
Madam Speaker, the intersection between HIV and drug abuse has become undeniable. Adolescence is often a vulnerable stage susceptible to risk behaviours influenced by drug abuse leading to unprotected sex and the sharing of unsterilised needles to inject drugs in their blood.
Moreover, we cannot overlook the link between drug and substance abuse and the surge in gender-based violence. Drug and substance abuse has been identified as a significant factor contributing to the escalation of violent behaviour in people. How then can the country move forward with youths who are not ready to take responsibility for their actions? Our fathers are worried that one day, instead of taking charge of the land they fought for, we will end up selling our land for a 100 mm bottle of ethanol mixed with water.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, children are failing to recognise their parents because they get home high on drugs. I am sure the Hon. Members are familiar with the ‘Wakanaka mhamha vako’ video and audio that circulated on the media.
Globalisation has again made it possible for people to make drugs on their own. By using the internet, people are learning how to make drugs by themselves. Madam Speaker, I am crying to my fellow Hon. Members so that we join hands together, not only to report, but to fight these twin brothers, drugs and substance, by creating a supportive and safe environment where the youth can talk openly about their feelings without the fear of being judged through getting engaged as a community.
Vocational centres are open to everyone. Let us encourage youths to join them and keep themselves busy by using their hands. Let us also provide evidence based programmes in schools where teens can see, learn and build life skills and foster resilience by promoting healthy behaviours in them.
In conclusion Madam Speaker, His Excellency the President of Zimbabwe Dr. E. D. Mnangawa on Youth Day said that we are solid masters of our destiny, we are solid masters of our future and we are solid masters of our vision. In this debate, I believe it means let us work together to fight for a drug abuse free Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. L. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. We have noted the problems and challenges resulting from drug abuse among our youth, be it rural or urban. The main base of this substance abuse being unemployment which has rocked our communities in recent years. In order to address these issues as Government, we should be able, as a matter of urgency, to create employment or skills training centres for our youth.
Madam Speaker, as a result of this substance abuse, we are now faced with an increase of crime rate which has compromised the safety of our communities. Madam Speaker, in Tsholotsho where I come from, we have a problem with one whisky like alcohol called Ranger or commonly known as injengo. It has claimed many lives of our youths and elderly. It is important for Government to turn the production and distribution of such substances, otherwise we would be shooting ourselves in the foot killing our communities.
It is also important to have district-based abuse counselling and rehabilitation institutions so as to re-orientate those who have found themselves victims of drug abuse. I so submit Madam Speaker.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Good afternoon and greetings from Hurungwe. Allow me this chance to debate on this precarious motion on drugs and substance abuse by our youths.
Madam Speaker, drugs and substance abuse is an issue that can be seen negatively affecting the economy though increased health care cost, reduced productivity and associate crime rates. It is no doubt…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Kangausaru, please may you raise your voice a bit.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker drug and substance abuse is an issue that can be seen to be negatively affecting the economy through increased healthcare costs, reduced productivity and associated crime rates. It is with no doubt, Madam Speaker, that the economic impact of substance abuse further underscores the need for attention to this issue in Zimbabwe. As a nation, we have witnessed how drug and alcohol misuse can reduce productivity in the workforce and anywhere that needs productivity and progress really due to absenteeism, impaired performance as well as accidents. Moreover, the expenses associated with treating substance related health conditions place a significant financial burden on the healthcare system.
The reason why I am strongly against substance abuse by the youths is that instead of addressing substance abuse through prevention, treatment and rehabilitation efforts, our beloved Zimbabwe can promote more productive workforce and allocate resources more efficiently towards other developmental priorities.
Madam Speaker, allow me to elaborate on how the abuse of substance and drugs can lead to family breakdown, crime and overall decline of community. Personally, I have known of a family that has suffered through the consequence of these illicit drugs like guka and tumbwa. The young father has gone mad and the mother now because of that, has become a prostitute while the children are just loitering in the streets living a lifestyle that is not good.
Madam Speaker, drug abuse is showing that it has far reaching social implications that necessitate attention in our country. The misuse of drugs and alcohol is distabilising families while straining social relationships and contributing to domestic violence. Additionally, I agree with Hon. Mavhunga when he said heavy penalty will help us to combat drugs and substance abuse to those that are committing and trafficking drugs to our young people. This is because substance and drug abuse is often associated with the criminal activities such as theft, drug trafficking and violence which undermines community safety and cohesion.
As I conclude on this Madam Speaker, it is important to note that if Government and the public as a whole address and find a solution to this wholesome movement of drugs abused by our youths, Zimbabwe will work towards creating a more coercive and harmonious society where individuals are empowered to live healthy and productive lives. Time is not on our side. The need to find a solution to this chaos is imminent.
Madam Speaker, allow me to also speak from a pastor’s desk because basically what happens there is that we have run away from our original stead. If we are in our original stead, we are allowing the rule of God to be with us. It will help us so much because the real cause, like was said by one individual chakonzera musoro kutema chii is because we have run away from our original rule of God. If we can implement the rule of God in our society, we will not face some of the problems that we are facing now. We will reduce them.
If you even read from the Bible, if I was going to read Romans chapter 1, the whole of it talks about a people that has run away from the rulership of God and from their original mandate. Therefore, because of their desire to do whatever they want, God has given them over to their desires and said I am surrendering you, do as you please. That is why we find we now have children that are doing drugs, doing wrong things whereas ourselves, we have not spared the rod. The Bible says, “if you spare the rod, you spoil a child”. It is now right time for us to implement the word of God, to teach our children when they are still in infant stages, to say to the children, when you are doing wrong, let us use the whip but we are now using the whip when the children are grown up. When they are grown up, they fight us back. As a result, we are having a society that is broken. I remember when I was young, my teacher who was teaching me in the infant stage, he said, “do as I say not as I do”. He was smoking, drinking, he was doing all sorts of things but he said he would not want his child to do what he is doing because he wants a future for his children.
I think all of us need to come back now, even if we do not implement the rule of God, we force our children to go back to scripture unions; to go back and identify ourselves and have our identity as a people, ubuntu, where we are all parents to every child that we see, but these days if a parent tries to correct another child, the other parent would say, do not touch my child. If we can implement our ubuntu where our children can be taught the ways of God, we need not run away from where we just overlook and now say ‘no to drugs’. We need to start to have ruthless confrontation with the problem that we are facing. It is a cancer that we are facing which we need to stand up and say, what do we do now. We do drastic measures so that we can be able to overcome this problem and also to activate vocational training centres that will be able to help our children to stay out of the streets so that they can be able to be productive in their life.
It is time now to wake up and restore our dignity as African people. Some of the things that we are doing now is, we are importing cultures that are not ours. As a result, we are an African people, let alone Zimbabweans who do not know our identity and do not know where we are going. It is time for us to go back to the roots; to go back to the Bible, to go back to the word of God so that we can put the foundation correction. The foundation must be put correct so that we might be able to have a future; our tomorrow. After when we are all gone, we need these children to speak for us.
Many of us, I have told my other friend the other day, my friend told me ‘you know what, I am a pastor, I am shocked, I saw my child going to school’ – a pastor’s child was drunk; was taking drugs and he went mad because he was just asked by a friend to taste. When he tasted, there was a lot of concoctions of all sorts of drugs that made him to be mad. The pastor was crying and I said to him, it is not that you must say if only my child was well, I do not care about what happened. It is a collective effort that we must put that they are our children; we are Zimbabweans. The future of our children lies in our hands. Each one of us when we go, even if we do not like the word of God, we say ‘do as I say not as I do’. In the olden days, people who were old would drink their beer, they would not allow any child to drink with them. The adults would drink their beer but now we see adults drinking beer with the young people. They are allowing them to drink beer with them and all sorts of drugs, instead of them to stand as examples.
The bottle stores in the olden days were never opened until midnight. The bottle stores were opened at stipulated times so that we cannot be able to see children – like in Mbare, we see little children drinking beer. Where did they get it? It is us adults that have sold the beer to the children. It is time for us now to rise up and apply the word of God and enforce the rule of God, to say this is not what the word of God says. Do it, even if ourselves cannot apply it, we can be able to say to our people in our constituencies, let us do the right things. Let us do the vocational, let us do the scripture unions and promote good culture, we promote good morals and we promote a good Zimbabwe; a Zimbabwe of peace; a Zimbabwe where we are free from drugs. I thank you.
*HON. JONGA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to add my voice to this debate on the problem that we are facing in this country. It has affected all ages; chiefs as well as religious groups, including all other leaders like us in this august House. We are talking about drug and substance abuse. They are coming in various forms. Some of them are smoked while some you have to drink. The biggest age group is between 22 to 40 years, affecting the youth.
What I think should be considered for solution is, the Ministry of Youth should bring back the National Youth Service. I think this programme will be able to teach the youth on their future as well as patriotism. In addition, vocational training centres, where they can be able to learn trades like building, metal fabrication where they can make scotch carts, poultry, among other projects. It is also important that Government and other development partners work together to make a strong foundation to promote employment creation so that at least the youth will not have time to roam around the streets because they will be occupied productively. The banks should also contribute to financial creation or entrepreneurship.
We grow a lot of tobacco in Mount Darwin West but those projects should contribute to the development of the local areas. According to our research in the rural areas, some of the youth take drugs out of peer pressure and these end up leading them to several other criminal activities. In saying all this, I am trying to illustrate that it is an important task that we need to take seriously and there must be serious apprehension of drug dealers and other elicit deals. I would like to take this opportunity to advise the youth, other elderly people and the society, to stop trading in illicit deals including drugs because it destroys the future of the country. I thank you.
HON. J. TSHUMA: I would like to add my voice on this very pertinent issue. The issue of drugs and substance abuse have reached a crisis and alarming level, not only in Zimbabwe but world-over. I have heard some people want to attribute this thing to only probably lack of employment and economical problems. I must point out to the House that we have this problem, even in the United States of America. We have this problem in most of the developed countries. So, it should not be confined to our situation here only, but I think there are issues that we need to look at in order to address this problem. We need to go back to factory setting, to the fundamentals.
Our elders used to drink. They used to use mbanje and everything but there was control of how these things were done and this control is no longer there. In my province in Matabeleland, we used to have thothotho. There was even a famous musician Ndux Malax who sang a song ligcwele emajele alizwa ngethothotho. Literally translation, it means that you are now in jail because of thothotho. It was there, but controls were there. We no longer have controls today; we have let society to run on freely. We have adopted a culture that we probably do not even understand.
I was so glad one day when we were in Bulawayo with His Excellency, the President when he actually hinted on us going back to corporal punishment, especially for today’s generation. We are here today in this Parliament, you Madam Speaker seated there because of the systems that brought you up when you were growing up. You became a good woman, you got married properly and you raised your family properly. Our children today are failing to do these things because there is no control whatsoever. So I think the Bible was right when it says that ‘spare the rod and you will spoil the child’. I would love a situation whereby our Government will look at instances whereby we go back to issues of corporal punishment.
We need that thing because it moulds us, when we were growing up, we knew that 6 p.m is 6 p.m and you are supposed to be inside the gate of your parents’ house. Today my heart bleeds when I drive around town and around the locations in Pelandaba or Tshabalala or wherever, you will find young girls, as young as 13 years, 14 years, standing in street corners at 10p.m. You then ask yourselves, what is going to come out of this person with this kind of attitude and behaviour and loss of control?
We need to understand that the issue of drugs and substance abuse must begin at home. We must first start as parents to actually discipline our children to remember that it takes a village to actually raise a child. Today’s society is so polarised so much that if I try and rebuke someone else’s child, the parent will come back to fight with me why I am doing that if I am not the parent.
These are the things that we have let loose that have contributed to this bad behaviour that we are talking about today. So we can speak and speak or we can try to find solutions, but the biggest solution lies amongst ourselves to say let us not adopt cultures that are not ours. We have got our own culture, let us go back to that culture. That culture will determine and tell you that a child was never allowed to come near adults, a child was never allowed to be drinking with adults. Today Hon. Speaker, you will find children mingling with adults, drinking and sharing everything with adults. Those are the kind of things that will make this thing to be uncontrollable.
So it can never be about economics, it is about our culture, let us go back to that culture that we know. Hunhu hwedu, ubuntu bethu. Those are the things that will make us be able to curb this serious scourge that has threatened even our future as a country. I was so glad when I saw most of the youthful Members of Parliament actually partaking in this debate. They have been concerned about this issue because yes, the future, definitely, is very much oblique because we are not seeing anything. People are now ‘sticking’ like one of our Member of Parliament once said. People are losing direction, so we need to solve this together. Whatever we do, we need to make sure Hon. Speaker that we go back to our culture and go back to our roots. When we do that, we are going to sort the issue of drugs.
In conclusion, I want to quote a verse in the Bible which says that, ‘if my people that are called by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face and turn away from wicked ways, I Jehovah, shall listen to them and heal their land’. It is time definitely for us also if we are Christians to remember that most of these things are because of what we are doing. We have turned away from God and we have done so much evil and therefore, as we do that God has turned away from us and so these are the results of God turning his back on us. Let us come back and seek the presence of the Lord and the Lord shall heal our land. I thank you.
HON. HADEBE: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I rise to give a few knock-out punches on the motion. Alcohol and drug abuse is a serious problem in our country and as a Member of Parliament, I have seen firsthand, the devastating impact that substance abuse can have on individuals, families, communities, workplaces and even Parliamentarians like Hon. Nyabani, Hon. Sithole and Hon. Mugwadi…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): Please can you come again.
HON. HADEBE: I was asking whether Hon. Nyabani, Hon. Sithole and Hon. Mugwadi are around. It was just a question. Let me carry on Hon. Speaker. Alcohol and drug abuse can lead to crime, unemployment, poor health and social break-down. It is therefore…
HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Speaker, the insinuation by the Hon. Member appears to say, he is talking about drugs and he calls names of other Hon. Members. If that is not corrected, it is like he is saying these Hon. Members are drug addicts or something. I think that must be corrected because what he has said is going to be kept as a record. He is saying that to another Hon. Member, I think he must withdraw and never to say that again.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member if you insinuated anything please withdraw.
HON. HADEBE: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker, I mentioned their names because they are advocates against drug abuse.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Can you say it because it is being recorded in the Hansard, can you say clearly what you meant by calling out their names.
HON. HADEBE: I was asking whether they are in the House today because they are serious advocates against drug abuse.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Can you proceed with your debate, but do not call out other people’s names.
HON. KAITANO: Before the Hon. Member mentioned the names of the three Hon. Members, he said he wants to knock some few punches on the debate, so that statement alone and then he continues to mention the names of the Hon. Members suggests that he is being mischievous, I think he needs to withdraw.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member can you please withdraw calling other Hon. Members’ names.
HON. HADEBE: Hon. Speaker Sir, I am not so sure whether I have to withdraw the local punches or the names of the Hon. Members.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I said can you please withdraw the calling out of other Hon. Members names.
HON. HADEBE: I withdraw that they are the advocates against drug abuse.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I am chairing, I am asking you to withdraw the naming of other Hon. Member’s names.
HON. HADEBE: I withdraw Hon. Speaker. Firstly, they must strengthen and regulations regarding the sale and consumption of alcohol and drugs. We need to ensure that businesses that are selling alcoholic stuff are properly licenced and regulated. In addition to strengthening our laws and regulations, we must also invest in prevention and treatment programmes. There is need to fund and expand existing programmes that educate our people about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse and also provide support to those struggling with addiction.
We must improve access to treatment facilities especially in rural areas. I will quote some senior politicians. One is from the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill who was also a drug addict. He said, “I came to realise that it is not enough to conquer addictions, one must conquer the fear of returning to it”. I would also like to quote Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela the late, who was the President of the Republic of South Africa who said, “we must understand that even when we have convinced young people and the generality of our people of the dangers of abusing alcohol and drug abuse, we have only won half the battle”. The other half is to work with those who have become addicted to these substances. Let us wedge a war against the cause of addiction not against those who are victims.
I would also like to quote another politician here from Zimbabwe by the nickname Trabablas Dzokerai Mabhunu who said; “The growing scourge of drug and substance abuse is a great threat to national security and development as it leads to waste of talent, destruction of family values and increases crime in our society”. It is a collective responsibility for us to end this social vice. This was Emmerson Mnangagwa and in his own voice he said, “Mapurisa kana mukabata munhu adhakwa nemadrugs, mudirei mvura”.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker Sir, we have a President in this country and when you call the name of the President in Parliament, you must punctuate it correctly. You must say it openly that the President of Zimbabwe, not like you are calling someone or your friend. If it is drugs that is in your head, please can you serve yourself from them?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, make the right amends.
HON. HADEBE: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I was saying that speech was said by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Thank you Government Chief Whip for that guidance. Finally, we must address the root causes of substance abuse such as poverty, unemployment and mental health issues affecting our people. Thank you.
+HON. MASUKU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to add my voice on the motion by Hon. Mapiki regarding drug abuse. Drug abuse is problematic not only in Zimbabwe but the world-over. We continue to hear and see in different places and different borders that we have drugs that are crossing borders from South Africa and Botswana into Zimbabwe. This shows that Zimbabwe is not the only country affected by drugs but the world-over.
In the past, when youngsters would come across elderly people, they would be reprimanded but as we speak, there is no parent that can reprimand one’s child because these drugs and substances abuse are making them disobey us as parents. We even fail to reprimand one’s child because you are afraid of being bitten up by these children. In most places, you hear stories relating to murders of parents by their children, all because of drug and substance abuse.
My submission to this House is that Government should put in place laws that should make it a point that those that are engaged in drugs and substance abuse, the druglords and those that are using them, are stopped from doing so through prohibitive laws. My plea is that our country’s President should put in place a Committee that focusses on the menace that is caused by drug and substance abuse. I also implore this august House with us Hon. Members from the different areas of our country, that we need to ensure that we closely look at the dangers that are brought about by substance and drug abuse.
It is my plea that we unite against these challenges. As MPs from different areas, we do not need to attack this issue on partisan lines, but we need to unite against drugs and substance abuse. I also implore Government to put in place centres like what happened during COVID-19 to have those centres from different areas and constituencies turned into vocational training centres so that our children can find work to do from these vocational training centres. With these few words, I thank you.
*HON. NATISO: Thank you Hon. Speaker and good afternoon.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
*HON. NATISO: Mr. Speaker Sir, drugs are mainly used in boarding schools and I am shocked. They are competing on experimenting with these drugs depending on what you can mix. They are now mixing Cerevita, brown sugar and orange crush. At one of our local schools called Mushana, one of the students put the concoction in a ball-point barrel and there was yeast in the mixture so that it ferments quickly. So there is need for thorough search as students enter the school premises to ensure yeast is not smuggled inside.
We are aware that our boarders do not allow the importation of drugs. How then will they be allowed to be displayed on shop shelves? I am saying, if we go into some of the tuckshops and shops, be it in rural or urban areas, there are tonnes and tonnes of illegal substances that cannot be legally imported. They seem to become legal once they are displayed on shop shelves. These substances can be bought in cartons from some shops, but one can be arrested once outside the shop. The police never arrest the substance peddlers despite showing them the substance suppliers.
Licenced bottle stores and night clubs can be penalised for buying those substances from the illegal shops, but vendors are left unscathed. So the President ordered for all drug peddlers to be arrested. Whoever is caught should show their source to the police. In addition, some people are now making alcohol substances like ethanol. An Hon. Member mentioned an illegal brew called Ranger. It can be found in tonnes. There are now bar codes to show that they are legal. Lack of bar codes shows that it is illegal and has not been inspected by Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) and Ministry of Industry and Commerce departments. If we were to go out to towns and growth points, we will find tonnes of illegal substances. Some are delivered door to door by trucks. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MURAMBIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 12th March, 2024.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I move that all other Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day Number 8 has been disposed of.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE TO IMPROVE PLIGHT OF COUNCILLORS
Eighth Order read: Adjourn debate on motion on the need to address the conditions of service for Councillors.
Question again proposed.
+HON. M. NKOMO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am delighted to get this opportunity to air my voice on this motion moved by Hon. Jere. Councillors are chosen by people in various wards and have a great job to do in our constituencies. They get very little allowances and they do not have transport to run around doing their work.
Some female councillors encounter challenges in their line of duty due to lack of vehicles. I implore the Government to assist councillors in ensuring that they get everything that they need in their line of duty. I thank you.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for granting me an opportunity to add my voice to this debate on the marginalisation of councillors. I stand before this esteemed House today to add my two cents on the critical issue concerning the marginalisation of councillors in our local government structures. These elected officials who are the closest representatives to the people at the grassroots level are facing significant challenges that hinder their ability to effectively serve their communities.
Firstly, councillors often lack the financial resources and logistical support necessary to carry out their duties. These include limited access to office space, and no access at all to transportation, communication tools, and tools of trade which significantly impede the ability to engage its constituency, conduct oversight functions, and deliver essential services.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the decision-making authority of councillors is often undermined by centralised control of authority. This lack of autonomy restricts their ability to address local needs and implement solutions tailor-made to their community-specific context.
Last but not least, councillors ought to be given a remuneration that sustains them on day-to-day living expenses. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is not a secret that the currency market is shaking, every day there is a new rate on the Stock Exchange market and this is greatly affecting our councillors. We do acknowledge their sitting allowances but it is not enough. To avoid the temptation of corruption when executing their duties, salary, and remuneration needs to be reasonable enough to cater to their living expenses.
In conclusion, therefore, I advocate that this House acknowledges the critical role that our councillors play in local governance and development. Secondly, this House calls upon the Government to take concrete steps to address the marginalisation of our councillors including allocating adequate resources to support their work and also even non-monetary incentives, strictly decision-making authority and autonomy, ensuring the safety and security of our councillors regardless of their political affiliation or background. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. G. HLATYWAYO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 12th March, 2024.
MOTION
LEAVE TO MOVE SUSPENSION OF PROVISIONS OF STANDING ORDER NUMBER 142 (1)
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): I seek leave of the House to move that the provisions of Standing Order, Number 142 (1) which states that every Bill other than a constitutional Bill must be published in the Gazette 14 days before it is introduced in the National Assembly in respect of the following Bills:- Private Voluntary Organisation Bill, Administration of Estates Amendment Bill and Criminal Laws, that is Protection of Children and Young Persons Bill. I so move.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, may I ask you to give reasons.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. There are about two or three reasons why I am seeking leave to have the House suspend this provision so that we can bring the Bills. The first one, the Private Voluntary Organisation Bill was before the august House and there are minor amendments. So, I am seeking that it comes because it was before the House before the expiration of the last Parliament.
The Administration of the Estates Amendment Bill deals with the office of the Master. There are a lot of issues that are urgent and we need this House to consider that Bill as well as the Criminal Laws Amendment. There is a gap in using the Presidential powers.
However, over and above that Mr. Speaker Sir, we do not have Bills that the House is dealing with and we believe that if we cut on that time and introduce the Bill, the Committees can then start doing their work, the public hearings and we can then have a lot of activities within the House. That will enable us to meet the targets as per the legislative agenda that was brought to Parliament by His Excellency. So, I am moving that we reduce the days the Bills have been gazetted, we bring them for First Reading and then Parliament can start interrogating the Bills. I so submit.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. While I appreciate the concerns and reasons submitted to this House by the Hon. Minister, I would like to differ with the request to suspend the provisions of Standing Orders for the reason that we are now witnessing the coming in of a new Bill. It is like a new Bill is coming. It has to go through that process.
This Parliament is constituted by Hon. Members who were not here in the last Parliament and if we suspend the Bill, there are also issues which were contained in that Bill which I think this Parliament should give adequate time as provided for by the law for the Parliament to give adequate attention to this Bill. This Bill has raised a lot of concerns not only in Zimbabwe, but it has the potential to affect even our international relations with other countries.
I know that beyond the political connotations of the civil society, the civil society plays an important role in terms of supporting the developmental issues affecting our country, provision of water and sanitation. So there is need for ample time to apply our minds, to apply the wisdom that is necessary to make sure that if there were some human errors that are affecting maybe the outcome of the Bill, then the Bill will be considered adequately. This is my submission Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to raise a constitutional point of view. This book that I am holding Mr. Speaker, regulates the conduct of business in the National Assembly as well as in the Senate. So to vary or to seek leave, the dictates of Standing Order 142 is tantamount to violation of the Constitution itself because this document is derived from Section 139 of the Constitution which says Parliament business is going to be regulated by the Standing Rules and Orders. So I do not think it will be sustainable Mr. Speaker, to get that leave that violates our own Constitution. I so submit.
HON. MAMBIRIPIRI: I just want to comment on the relevant Section 142 as it applies to the debate before the House today. I say that particular provision was put in the Standing Rules and Orders in order to curtail or to stop political expediency when it comes to dealing with important Bills of this House. What the Minister seeks us to do at this moment is exactly what the Standing Rules and Orders are trying to stop.
This Bill is very important, not only to Parliamentarians, but to civil society and the nation at large. Therefore, we really need it gazetted, have ample time which is 14 days as stipulated by the Constitution and then after that, we can gather and debate. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Members who are finding it difficult to accept the request by the Minister, I really feel Hon. Members like Hon. Hamauswa would be able to help their Members that the issue of seeking leave means people are recognising that there is that provision, but because of the circumstances raised by the Minister, he would want and it is up to this House to then approve. So it is not a matter of debate. It is either an individual is saying no or yes, we decide and the issue of deciding is democratic.
We cannot start to invent the wheel. There are many times that Ministers have come here to seek leave on issues that are in the Constitution, in the Standing Rules and Orders so that if they are permitted, if they just wanted to do that, he could have just done so, but he has already recognised that there is this provision and he cannot proceed without recognising and seeking the indulgence of the House and that is what he has done. If an individual has a problem with that, then let us go to the next stage.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Members, Hon. Hamauswa, Hon. Madzivanyika and Hon. Mambiripiri. Hon. Hamauswa was actually going into the details of the Bill which means he is very familiar with it and his objections were just grand standing Mr. Speaker, if I am to put it that way. I am saying so because…
HON. G. K. HLATWAYO: Point of order Mr. Speaker. I think it is not right for the Minister to respond to Hon. Hamauswa’s contribution and say it is grand standing. I think he needs to take it back because some of us were not in the last Parliament, and it is a fact that we do not have the details of this Bill and need adequate time to look at it. So for him to say he is grand standing, I think it is not proper. I think he needs to take it back. I thank you.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: I was responding to what Hon. Hamauswa said, not to what others did not know and my response is that I actually alluded to the fact that there is no Business in this House. We can decide to adjourn for two weeks and then come back and I will introduce the Bill, but I said Parliament needs to work and the 14 days, if you look at it when we gazette the Bill, Parliament will not be doing anything.
It is for the purpose of the public to know the Bill. Once it is introduced the actual business of Parliament starts. So even if I am to agree, Mr. Speaker Sir, to say let us wait for 14 days, there is absolutely nothing that the Hon. Members will be doing. You will start working when the first reading has been done and then it is taken to the Parliamentary Legal Committee. They look at it and then we start the public hearings, but I am saying the Bills are in the public domain. It is up to Parliamentarians whether you want to work or not and the provision that I am saying that it is allowed within the provisions of Standing Rules and Orders to seek leave. That is the reason why when we are doing the budgets, we suspend the automatic adjournments times and the procedures, and we do it until the time that we decide to adjourn and at times we even finish early in the morning.
So it is not something that I am inventing today for those that were not in the last Parliament, but I am saying as Parliamentarians, you would like to work. You want your Committees to start working. You want to start doing things, but if you are not interested in work I acknowledge that the Bills have been slow to come because we have shortages of drafters but these Bills are straight forward. If Hon. Members want to work, they are now accessible. You can have a look at them. Some of them are very small like the Criminal Laws Amendment Bill and then Parliament will then start working. This is perfectly constitutional. I heard Hon. Members saying it is unconstitutional. It is allowed, that is why I had to come and do this procedure because it is provided for. I so submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
The Hon. Minister approached the Chair.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker, I really believe that there is no need to vote. We need to agree. It has to be unanimous, all of us must agree. If we agree that we do not want to work, then I am prepared to adjourn the House. I put it that let us find consensus. Do we accept the leave that I am seeking or we do not, then we adjourn?
HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me another opportunity to also air my views. I want to highlight to the Minister of Justice that we really appreciate that he wants us to work and we are here to work. If possible, we would want to work 24/7 or 365 and a quarter days. Due to constraints beyond our control, we are not able to do that. The essence we are objecting is that we want a persuasive argument from the Minister not a threatening way of approach; something that amounts to some kind of draconian reaction to say, I am going to close it. In Shona, we would say ndava kuzvidira jecha. That kind of approach then does not persuade us towards a common understanding or the consensus.
We would want to know because we were worried, according to the Constitution, legislative power is derived from the people. The Minister correctly said, the gazetting for 14 days is meant for the public. Then by granting the leave being sought by the Minister, it means that we are depriving the public of that allowance of 14 days to look into the Bill. It is not true that when the Bill is gazetted, we will not be working. We will actually be using the gazetted Bill to consult the stakeholders. There is this time for the civil society groups, churches, farmers, everyone to then look into the gazetted Bill, have time to consult. So, what the Minister is saying; he should persuade us to a point whereby we will agree that granting the leave will not affect the provisions in the Constitution that legislative power is derived from the people. The primary reason why it was done before, the drafters of the Constitution, why they said the Bill must be gazetted for 14 days; if the Minister can persuade us to say the primary purpose will not be affected, then we are ready to agree. For the Minister to say, he will single-handedly close this out, I do not think it will work. We will then go into silent acquiescence, whereby we passively agree on something that we were not supposed to agree…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Hamauswa. Whilst you are putting across your argument, the Member at the back there sitting next to Hon. Hlatywayo, she is busy saying some things, how are you going to listen to what he is saying?
HON. HAMAUSWA: In conclusion, I am saying that consensus is something that we also believe in. We also believe that in everything, in our mother country, we need to go along with the way of consensus but arriving at that consensus, let us not threaten each other. Let us bring in the persuasive arguments, which when we walk out of this House, we will say I have seen the point being raised by the Hon. Minister. As long as the legislative agenda is not going to be affected, then we will be able to agree. I so submit that we really need to be persuaded and not to be threatened. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker, I am seeking consensus and I did not mean to offend anyone. My position was, I actually thought I was doing something to motivate Hon. Members that they will start doing something. To be very honest, ever since this Parliament started, there is no Bill that has come through Parliament. The majority of new Parliamentarians do not even know what is to go out for public hearings. The actual procedural processes of the Bill will not be affected. All we are saying is, we do the First Reading, the Parliamentary processes that are not controlled by the Executive will then kick in and we interrogate it. We bring it, debate and that is vibrant. I want to agree with Hon. Hamauswa that I am persuading you to agree with the view that let us start working as a Parliament and start doing the work that we are here for. I submit Hon. Speaker.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: On a point of order Hon. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MUROMBEDZI: My point of order is to firstly ask through you, whether the Parliamentary Committee which deals with this Bill has been inducted? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to say that is your question, but let me answer by saying that the Committees have indeed been inducted. There are several Committees, in fact the first one, the main Committee is the Parliamentary Legal Committee, it is already doing its work. Once the Bills are read for the first time, they stand referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee to look at the constitutionality of the Bill to look at other issues and then bring a report to Parliament. Thereafter, the relevant Committees will then start working on the Bill preparing for public hearings, preparing to produce a report that will be the Committee report, to be debated here in Parliament. So all those Committees have been inducted, there was a workshop in Bulawayo in which various Committee Chairpersons attended. The Committees, I think are now up to speed with what is required. Over and above that, all these Committees also have a Committee Clerk that is there to guide the work of the Committees. So that is in place Hon. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I take it that there is consensus and we agreed.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, there is no need for rushed consensus. The issues we have said were not addressed to say what the primary purpose of setting 14 days was. Are we also not depriving the same public, so why should we rush for consensus? Is there any problem today where we are saying maybe we need to be satisfied? So I do not think we need to have a rushed consensus.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Hamauswa, I hope you are not changing goal posts now.
HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Speaker, can we have your permission to allow us to talk to the Chief Whips. What we are doing now, we are seeking consensus not because we want to vote, but we want to work as a team. We have been agreeing on these issues without this type of arguments. Let us not argue for the purpose of just arguing. So I think allow us two minutes to discuss on this Hon. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Yes, I grant the two minutes Hon. Member.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): While you grant the two minutes Hon. Speaker, let me explain what Hon. Hamauswa was saying was being harsh. As Hon. Members, we must also be responsible. We cannot come here, spend a week, and spend tax payers’ money not doing anything. So we must have business on the Order Paper that justifies why we are here. Once we do not have business that is on the Order Paper, that is the reason why I said I can then say if we are not prepared to do this, let us adjourn for two weeks and then come after. There is no business that justifies us being here and we say we are representing people when all we are doing is just to come and do not have any business. That is what he felt was offensive, but I was trying to explain that I am trying to have Parliament working and when Parliament is working in Committees doing something, that is Parliament work. I had withdrawn my hope in the hope that is reasonable, but I want to reinstate them Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank you.
Business of the House temporarily suspended to allow for discussions.
House resumed.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. Hon. Hamauswa, do you need another two minutes?
HON. HAMAUSWA: Yes, just a feedback. The Ministry has managed to persuade us that indeed there would be no prejudice to our legislative process. We will be given ample time to go through the normal process. Once the blue is red, there is no disadvantage to the normal procedure which is as outlined in the Constitution of the law-making process. So, we are persuaded to agree with the Minister, but I will also give the Minister to respond.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think we have reached a consensus that we do some work and will the request be granted? I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Minister and we thank you Hon. Hamauswa and Government Chief Whip for wisely requesting that two minutes be granted and that miracles and wonders would come out of it.
HON. KARENYI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I also want to put it on record that may be people will quote us as if we are here for the coupons or some other benefits. I think when the Minister was also explaining to us, he was saying it is either we close business for the next two weeks as if we think if we can close for two weeks, then there is no business. So, I really want the Minister to put it correctly so that we are not viewed out there as if we are here for benefits because we are not here for benefits. We are here for Parliament business and also to make sure that we represent our constituents. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: There is nothing to respond Hon. Minister. I take it that there is consensus in the House and that the request by the Minister is agreed to. So, the provisions of Standing Order 142 (1) is suspended.
FIRST READING
CRIMINAL LAWS AMENDMENT (PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS) BILL [H. B. 4, 2024.]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI) presented the Criminal Law Amendment Protection of Children and Young Persons Bill [H. B. 4, 2024].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
FIRST READING
ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES AMENDMENT BILL [H.B.3, 2024]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI) presented the Administration of Estates Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2024].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
FIRST READING
PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS AMENDMENTS BILL [H. B. 2, 2024]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI) presented the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendments Bill [H. B. 2, 2024].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI), the House adjourned at Nine Minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 12th March, 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 7th March, 2024
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
PARLIAMENT IDENTITY CARDS
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to inform Hon. Members that Hon. Members without Parliament identity cards should submit their details to the Security Department or contact Mr. Edward on 0772932413.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: Madam President, I rise on a point of national interest to bring to the attention of this House the commemorations of International Women’s Day, which falls on the 8th of March every year. My point of national interest is to plead with the Government to invest in women and accelerate progress in line with the theme of International Women’s Day, which is to “Invest in Women: Accelerate progress”. We recognise what the Government of Zimbabwe is doing to increase women’s participation in various spheres, in particular the Constitutional provisions which call for gender balance, equality and non-discrimination, the extension of the women’s quota in the National Assembly, the introduction of the women’s quota at the local authority level, the Zebra formation in the Senate and the introduction of the youth quota, among others; are legislative provisions that we applaud.
Madam President, whereas we appreciate the progress we have made in empowering women and increasing their participation in the various political, economic and social spheres of the economy, we are still far from attaining the 50/50 target. This is a cause for concern and I would like to urge this august House and the Government at large, to work towards the attainment of the 50/50 target, particularly when we go to the 2028 Harmonised Elections.
Madam President, women’s economic empowerment is also crucial for achieving gender equality and sustainable development. However, we note with concern that the majority of women in Zimbabwe still do not have equal access to economic resources, opportunities and benefits. As such, we are calling upon the Government to address the barriers and challenges that hinder women’s full participation in the economy by putting in place empowerment strategies aimed at creating equal opportunities for all women and girls in Zimbabwe. Thank you.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have got a list of apologies from Hon. Ministers and Deputy Ministers who sent their apologies; I have a whole page. Hon. M. N. Ndlovu, Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife; Hon. T. Machakaire, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training; Hon. Mupamhanga Junior, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training; Hon. E. Jesaya, Deputy Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture; Hon. B. Rwodzi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry; Hon. T. Mnangagwa, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Hon. O. C. Z Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence. Hon. Brigadier General Retired L. Mayihlome, Deputy Minister of Defence, Hon. Sen. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development; Hon. J. Mhlanga, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development; Hon. W. Chitando, Minister of Local Government and Public Works; Hon. B. Kabikira, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works. Hon. F. Shava, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. S. Chikomo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. K. Kazembe, Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage; Hon. C. Sanyatwe, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage; Hon. O. Mazungunye, Deputy Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Hon. O. Marupi, Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. T. A Mavetera, Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services; Hon. D. Phuti, Deputy Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services. Hon. Prof. Dr. A. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. S. Sibanda, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. J. Sacco, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. Due to the El Nino induced impending drought which our country is already facing, I want to find out from the Minister how prepared Government is to purchase grain if need be, for the country to avert this drought which the country seems to have already faced?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Senator for bringing this question of national importance to the fore. Just to give some background. Going back to December when we prepared the budget speech where El Nino was a recurrent thing, it is something that Treasury had been anticipating that we would have a tough season. In terms of preparation, I reiterate the words that the President has given reassurance to the nation that no one will starve.
The process that is currently underway is the constitution of grain mobilisation committee. We are doing a reconciliation of what we have in our reserves, what we have within the country to ascertain how much we need to import if need be and that way we will come up with a quantum. In as far as preparedness, Treasury stands ready. Everybody should have comfort that Government is ready to tackle El Nino.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NGEZI: Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I want to direct my question to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development regarding the law which applies to mines which are under ZMDC. Such mines are given to people on a first come first served basis, but under ZMDC, you find that some people are given these mines regardless of who comes first. I want to understand Government policy regarding that.
*THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): I want to thank Senator Chief Ngezi who asked regarding the mines under ZMDC. ZMDC is a parastatal of Government which holds some mining assets in anticipation of finding an investor to work with. The new thrust of Government is that of becoming a shareholder in our mining investment as opposed to previously when the benefit was through social corporate responsibility, job creation and taxes. There are two ways I wish the community can be consulted when an investor comes. If a mining location is a communal land, consultation will be done through local authority, which is made up of councillors. Individual farmers whose land size exceeds 100 hectares are not consulted for pegging of a mine as long as the mine does not occupy more than 50% of the farm. For farms that are below 100 hectares, the farmers consent is a pre-requisite for pegging and registration of a mine. Investors are mandated to obtain an ESIA from the Ministry of Environment before they embark on their mining activities. This provides another opportunity for the community to express their expectation from the mining activities to be done in their areas.
I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Let me say that what you said is very good, but if there are reservations and when Government decides to allocate - my question is that, do local authorities and traditional leadership have that information? As the leadership, are they aware of such developments so that they understand and know what will be happening because people who are in rural areas do not have access to this literature? Is this published in the Government Gazette or is there a way of disseminating information so that the information reaches communities? Sometimes you hear that a Korean company has been given a mine, whilst people are not aware of that information.
HON. SODA: I want to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira for that pertinent question on the dissemination of information when there are developments regarding reserved mines which might have been at a stage where they can be used. The law applies and we look at whether it is a communal area or not. When there is a miner who wants to work in such an area, then that miner is given consent. The local authority is informed. The local authority is made up of councillors who come from different wards and the committees they sit in is where they come up with a council resolution regarding the allocation of that mine to a particular investor. The council gives the permission after due diligence is done on behalf of the people. I believe that people are represented by their councillors who come from different wards.
You also asked the question that if an area is no longer reserved, but it is open to the public. Let me say that indeed, we have reservations, but they are not for public usage. As I speak, these are areas which we anticipate to develop partnerships between Government and investors so that Government will benefit from such partnerships and investments. For example, the building of schools and other infrastructure, but let me say that such mines are still under Government. So, we look at issues like whether it is someone’s field. If it is more than 100 ha, there is a policy which says that we do not seek the consent of the farmer. It can only be 50% because there is no deprivation to the farmer but if it is more than 100 ha then the farmer should be consulted so that there is a way of reaching an agreement and that mining is done whilst the farmer can work on his farm.
When investors come, an Environmental Impact Assessment is done to look at the demographics and how people are settled in that area. Questions of whether they are able to work together are asked. The other question that is asked is what the community expects to benefit. This is done by the Ministry of Environment; they do not just look at environmental issues but also social aspects and how mining is going to affect the community. So, the communities are allowed to contribute towards how their area is going to be used.
*HON. SEN. ZINDI: My supplementary question to the question that was asked by Hon. Sen. Ngezi looking at the issue of the 2024 National Budget that was passed last year, we spoke about the need for a template so that it becomes easy for me. A template which specifies that a prospective miner who comes to mine from whichever area, particularly those who are coming from outside the country because most of them who are mining in Zimbabwe are not benefitting the communities. For example, diamond companies in Marange, gold miners in different parts of the country, granite miners in Mutoko and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe who started mining long back and as representatives of the people, we requested for a template which should be used as a framework. For example, it will be taken and used like rates that are paid. Is there anything that is being done to make sure they benefit communities where they are extracting their minerals because of the prevailing laws if such laws are enacted? Is there something that is happening so that such laws are put in place to enable us to monitor the extraction of minerals? For instance, in Manicaland, you discover that in Beira, lorries exceeding 100 are carrying ore.
*HON. SODA: Indeed, it is true what has been raised by Hon. Sen. Zindi that this was indicated in the annual budget that corporate social responsibility is mandatory and this should benefit communities. For instance, in Mutoko, there are programmes that are being run like the sinking of boreholes and other projects. We now have a policy that says those who mine in communities should pay rates. The question that was asked was, is this happening? I believe that all rates and I believe that every Senator here agrees with me that rates are remitted to the Ministry of Finance, whether these are proceeds from mining or different ministries. So, the question is, has this started happening and is it being implemented, the money which is being paid, for instance, in areas where miners are extracting minerals? So, I would request that the Ministry of Finance responds to the question.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You are now taking my responsibility. This is no longer a supplementary but a different question altogether, if I understand all this.
HON. SEN. PHULU: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. My question hinges on the successful holding of the 56th Session of the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development that was held in the resort town of Victoria Falls recently. We would like to congratulate you for that. The question that arises is, what key development opportunities and take-aways can the Minister outline for us that arose from that session so that we can take back to our constituencies?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I would have loved that question to be put in writing so that the Minister gives the whole House an extensive answer for us to understand because for him to go through what transpired during the whole conference, I do not think it is possible. Put it in written form.
HON. SEN. PHULU: Thank you.
*HON. SEN. GOTORA: My question regarding minerals is, what law is he referring to? Why is it that the Mines and Minerals Act is not solving these issues? It comes to Parliament and disappears. So, what law are we talking about which is going to correct things? Where I come from, we have granite, we do not want hand-outs but we want to be the owners of the minerals which are being extracted from our area. You find people destroying mountains. What law is being referred to? Is it the Mines and Minerals Act or the Finance Act or what?
*THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): We have been referring to the Budget – when it was announced, it alluded to the corporate responsibility activities.…..
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, this is a new question which has been asked by Hon. Sen. Gotora.
HON. SODA: This is what I was responding to Madam President.
The question is which law are we alluding to? We were alluding to the annual budget. When it was announced, it spoke about the obligation towards miners who are expected to pay taxes that will develop communities where they operate from. Then the Mines and Minerals Act which he asked about, if you remember the official opening of this session; His Excellency the President Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa giving the State of the Nation Address, the legislative agenda which was given to this august House – the Bill which was on top was the Mines and Minerals Bill which …
*HON. SEN. ZINDI: On a point of order – the question that was asked is, what law is being applied by the Ministry of Mines which makes it mandatory for miners to pay taxes to benefit communities? As representatives, we need to go back to the people and give them the appropriate feedback with regards to this particular law.
*HON. SODA: It is the Finance Act.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Oh, it is in the Finance Act? Is that the Act?
*HON. MAKAMBA: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. Neighboring countries like Namibia and Mozambique have vibrant economies because they have discovered oil and gas. May the Hon. Ministers tell us – we hear this from the television that there are discoveries of oil and gas in our country. We want to know the current position.
*THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): On Monday we informed the nation and the world at large that Zimbabwe had discovered light oil, helium, hydrogen and condescend. After informing the nation, we also announced the Gill Associate Company which is responsible for prospecting such minerals in Muzarabani, Mbire and other areas. They informed us that they are going to commercialise the gas and oil production so that these benefit the nation instead of the continual exploration to discover the numbers that are there. What has been discovered should be mined so that it benefits the nation.
Indeed, their programmes are in tandem with Government programmes. We cannot continue about industry, mining and other sectors which need electricity. The discovery of light oil and gas is going to benefit the nation so that we have electricity to support different Government sectors.
*HON. SEN. NGWENA: My question is directed to the Minister of Youth Empowerment and VTCs. What is Government policy with regards to the VTCs which are no longer operating yet they used to benefit school drop outs or school leavers who are not able to go to universities?
*THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. MATUKE): This question is important because it looks at the empowerment of our children who would not have performed well academically, but need vocational skills. We have a lot of training centres in our country and in our current Budget, it was indicated that there is a fund towards these vocational training centres, for example, Mushagashe and other training centres across the country. Our young people are being trained vocational skills so that they can have self-employment skills and run income generating projects instead of seeking employment. So this is Government policy and our desire is that such vocational training centres become useful to our young people.
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. What is Government policy on funding of mission hospitals? Currently, the situation in these hospitals is dire and they need to be funded urgently.
*HON. SEN. MATUKE: Thank you for that pertinent question which alludes to mission hospitals run by churches. They are saying they are not seeing the assistance which they are supposed to be getting. Let me respond by saying that the hospitals we see, particularly mission hospitals, get their medicines from NATPHARM and most medication comes from Government through NATPHARM, which is responsible for disbursing medicines to hospitals. If there is any hospital that you know which does not have enough medicines, can I request the Hon. Senator to put it in writing specifying the names of the hospitals not receiving support. This will enable us to follow up and give you feedback. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Madam President of the Senate. My question is directed to the Leader of the House. What is Government policy regarding Provincial Heroes’ acres in all the provinces. These places are not being maintained and there is long grass in the heroes’ acres. The maintenance of such places is very important and we should not forget the great work these heroes did by bringing us independence.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. MATUKE): Thank you for that important question regarding our heroes who brought independence and we are here today because of them. Let me say the heroes’ acres are sacred places and, in every province and district, there are committees which are responsible for the maintenance of such burial places so that our heroes rest in places that are well maintained. The subsequent digging of new graves is an important issue and I would want to know if there are particular areas which are in disrepair so that I can give the information to the Minister of Home Affairs to enable him to restore the dignity of such places.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My supplementary question is that the situation is in most Provincial Heroes’ acres. The places are so ordinary and not different from other burial places. They should be maintained and seen to be special burial places where our heroes have been laid to rest.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We are also at the beginning of the financial year and I believe resources are going to be allocated to the relevant Ministry so that the graves and the heroes’ acres are properly maintained to restore the dignity which our heroes deserve.
+HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. I have realised that throughout the country, we have a lot of mines that are operational and the roads which lead to these mining towns are in a sorry state. What is the Government policy on attending to such areas?
THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): Thank you Mr. President. If I got the question correctly, the Hon. Member wants to know the policy of Government with regards to roads that lead to mines that are in a sorry state and the extent to which Government is compelling those miners to attend to the roads. Mr. President, we expect the miners themselves to have social responsibility to repair their roads knowing that the roads are a benefit to them even when they are negotiating contracts for movement of their goods including their minerals. The condition of the road is also taken into consideration in those negotiations. So we expect the miners themselves to be responsible to ensure that the roads are repaired.
Over and above that, I think earlier on, we discussed about an obligation which was imposed through the announcement of the budget where it is now mandatory that there has to be a contribution by each and every miner towards social responsibilities. There is an obligation which is imposed through the Finance Act as I have indicated earlier on. Those are some of the measures by which Government will ensure that resources are collected that will be utilised for the purposes of rehabilitation of our roads, especially contributions that are made directly from the miners themselves. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Mr. President, I would like to thank the Minister for the brilliant responses that he is delivering this afternoon. However, we have numerous examples of mines that have existed, some for almost a century, but which have never bothered to at least construct good roads that lead to their mines. We find Government struggling to raise revenue and construct roads that lead to the same mines. We find it a bit contradictory. I would not want to mention, but when we leave, Minister- I will whisper to you one, two or three mines that do not construct their roads. I thank you.
HON. SODA: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question. You might be aware that last year in May, His Excellency launched a responsible mining initiative. That initiative in itself was a call for us to begin to be responsible, including the miners themselves. What we then did as Ministry was to conduct an audit to ascertain the state of affairs of our mining facilities. Of course, we did not go to all of them, but we had a very good representative sample which we targeted. That state of affairs was obtained through the audit.
Most of what we are referring to is lack of enforcement. We have rules, by-laws, including local authorities themselves. You might be aware that our local authorities collect some royalties and it is an expectation from the local authorities to also make a contribution through enforcement and also for them to be part of the rehabilitation exercise of our roads and many other amenities. Through the Responsible Mining Initiative which was launched, we found out that people have become relaxed. There is no enforcement. We have rules and laws, all we need to do is to begin to enforce those laws so that the investors that are coming into Zimbabwe to do their investment or work with us, know that we are a country that has laws. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you very much Mr. President Sir. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. What steps are being taken to manage inflation and stabilise the Zimbabwean Dollar? I thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Sen. Tongogara for making an example of asking a straight question.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Mr. President and thank you Hon. Sen. Tongogara for that question. On the first point on what Treasury is doing to manage inflation, it is going to fit in my second response. The inflation phenomena in Zimbabwe is coupled with exchange rate volatility which means that inflation moves in direct correlation with our exchange rate movement. What will be happening over the next few weeks or the fullness of time is, Government, through the Monetary Authority, the Reserve Bank, will be releasing a Monetary Policy Statement. In this Statement, we will have some reforms towards the currency, towards the exchange rate management system and some corrective measures to ensure that we have stability on the currency front. Without preempting the Monetary Policy Statement, Mr. President Sir, I will say, in the fullness of time, when this document and these measures come out, those measures will be clear as to what Government’s position is. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. What other supporting strategies does the Government has in trying to combat GBV considering that despite existing laws, GBV cases continue to rise?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the Senator for that very important question. I want to start by saying that the laws that we have are very adequate. What might be lacking might be enforcement of the laws and awareness programmes. To close that gap, we now have annually, 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence where the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, come up with aggressive programmes on awareness and educating our people on the ills of Gender-Based Violence. Also, within the Ministry of Justice, we have programmes again to deal with those issues.
I also need to commend the First Lady in her programmes when she goes around the country, each time you see that there is a slot that is reserved to deal with issues of Gender-Based Violence, educating our communities, our mothers, our sisters and young boys on the dangers of Gender-Based Violence. Basically, what we need is for the whole community to approach it in the same manner. We educate our young boys and girls right from primary school up to university level. We educate people to respect the rights of the other gender, to ensure that we live in harmony, which is the thrust that the Government has at this particular juncture. I thank you Mr. President.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that time for questions without notice be extended.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Time for Questions Without Notice is extended by 15 minutes.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Mr. President. I want to direct my question to the Leader of the House. My question pertains to the diseases like black leg and anthrax which is killing our livestock. How prepared is our Government in fighting the death of livestock? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. MATUKE): Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the Hon. Member for that question regarding preserving our cattle, sheep and other livestock. The question is; how prepared is Government in preventing the death of livestock. Before I respond to your question, let me start by saying that the other diseases which we anticipate is due to drought. We might not have enough water for our livestock. Let me inform this august House that Government is looking at the issue, particularly of boreholes which are over 57 000 and some which have been in operation since the 1980s. Some of these are going to benefit the nation by November. Government would have sunk a number of solar boreholes which are estimated to be around 10 000. There is a 1 000 target right now and these boreholes are going to be put in areas where livestock get their water. The boreholes are expected to be used for irrigating our crops. Government plan includes the distribution of vaccines and injections which are taken to our dip tanks throughout the country to protect our livestock through dipping and vaccination of our livestock. I believe that Government is committed to protecting our livestock by provision of water and vaccines. I want to assure the Hon. Senator who raised this question that Government is committed to protecting livestock.
I also want to urge the nation not only to rely on Government, but as farmers, if you have ten cattle, it is important that we also complement Government efforts. We need to take the initiative instead of waiting for Government only whilst Government is doing its part. Let us also play our part as farmers. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. GWATURE: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Leader of the House. We have liberation fighters from ZIPRA and ZANLA. There are some who died during the war who were not repatriated back home. We also have war collaborators when they were coming from Mozambique and other neighbouring countries, some were assisted in different areas by chimbwidos and mujibhas. My little knowledge says that there are some benefits that are being given to war veterans, but war collaborators are not getting anything as promised by our Government that they will get something. Is there anything that is being done to benefit our war collaborators, particularly those who lost their relatives during the war? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON SEN. MATUKE): I want to thank the Hon. Senator for that pertinent question regarding our war liberation fighters like the chimbwidos. Let me say that His Excellency the President, created a Ministry responsible for war veterans and war collaborators so that the Ministry looks at their welfare and the welfare of those who assisted those who participated in the war. This is how His Excellency values the contribution of war veterans and war collaborators. There was a process which culminated in the vetting of war collaborators and this was done. The names are in the database and they are known like what you mentioned that Government promised.
Secondly, for those who participated in the war and were not assisted, this is the reason why we have that Ministry which was given the mandate to look into the welfare and the plight of war veterans so that such issues are brought to the attention of this august House. Government is committed and it will continue doing its best to assist our war veterans and collaborators. In the last heroes’ celebrations, some war collaborators received medals for outstanding service to the nation. All provinces were part of the process. It does not mean that the medals are all they got, but Government values the welfare of our war veterans and war collaborators. I thank you
*HON. SEN. CHAKABUDA: I want to thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to raise my question. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. In the different areas we come from, we have small scale and artisanal miners who mine and when they complete the process of mining, they leave open pits which become a hazard. When it rains, these pits are a danger to our livestock. Hon. Minister, what can be done to make sure artisanal and small-scale miners cover such pits so that they do not become a hazard to our livestock? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): I want to thank the Hon. Senator for raising that pertinent question regarding what could be done to protect our livestock from hazardous pits which are left unattended by artisinal miners. Firstly, all mining which is done should be legal. There is illegal mining and once we indicate that it is illegal mining, it means that whatever they are doing is illegal and it is not governed by law. If they mine without permission, then it is difficult to force them to cover those pits after mining because they are doing so illegally without declaring their interest and without the relevant documentation to do mining.
However, we are not going to leave them and allow them to do that, but let me say that illegal mining is not allowed. Anyone who wants to mine should do so legally. They should go to provincial offices and get the permission to mine. Every province has an office and our office does inspections, looking at how mining is done, whether it is in line with the laws of the land and whether whatever they are mining is being remitted to Government. We have a Committee which involves the Ministry of Home Affairs, EMA and other departments working together to look at ways of eradicating such problems of open pits which are left by miners.
We are looking at ways of creating funding for covering such pits, particularly in areas where concerns have been raised. We believe that those who mine have a responsibility through the law to cover such pits before moving to the next area. For illegal miners, it is difficult to monitor and force them. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: I believe that the issue of such pits is quite important because there is need for carrying out an audit of what is happening. We find these pits in all areas. The mining Committee should have people who are on the ground so that they get all the information which will assist in the management of mining because you find that those who dig pits sometimes just leave them unattended and they just disappear.
An Hon. Senator having passed between the Chair and the Hon. Senator speaking.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Senator.
HON. SODA: Thank you Mr. President for the contribution which was given by Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira. I believe this will complement the plans that we have regarding the eradication of this problem. We are working on a strategy for artisanal miners which is going to help communities in their operations. We will take on board the issues that you have raised in your contribution. I thank you.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
MEASURES TO BREAK THE MONOPOLY IN THE SUGAR
MILLING INDUSTRY
- HON. SEN. TONGOGARA asked the Minister of Industry and Commerce to inform the House on the measures that the Ministry has put in place to break the monopoly in the sugar milling industry to ensure quality, fair practice and competition.
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. NYONI): The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is responsible for the implementation of the Sugar Production and Control Act and this Act is being amended to address current dynamics in the sugar industry.
Just to inform the House that the sugar industry has been prioritised as one of the 10 value chains to drive the industrilisation agenda in line with NDS 1 objectives. The other nine (9) value chains are; dairy, cotton, leather, soya, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, bus and truck, iron and steel and plastic waste. The sugar value chain plays a pivotal role in driving the Zimbabwean economy through contributing about 1% of the country’s GDP.
The industry currently employs around 23 000 people (Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe employs 15 000 people at peak) and has potential to increase up to 25 000 people after the completion of Kilimanjaro Sugar Project, where to date 1 000 hectares out of 4 000 hectares of land have been cleared for production of sugarcane.
My Ministry is currently in the process of developing a comprehensive Zimbabwe Sugar Sector Strategy, which will give direction to the entire industry through addressing issues affecting the value chain. The key highlights of the strategy are retooling or upgrading of the two sugar mills, increasing yield per hectare and increasing the total sugar production.
My Ministry chairs the Technical Working Group (WG) on sugar, which is holistically addressing the issues involving monopoly in the sugar industry. The National Competitiveness Commission (NCC) carried out a sugar value chain analysis, with findings that Zimbabwe is one of the few countries that have two sugar mills and owned by one entity. The NCC recommended setting up a sugar milling plant in Mkwasine area.
I am pleased to say that through the whole of Government approach, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has declared sugarcane as a strategic crop. This will ensure that the farming of sugarcane is monitored by the Government.
In line with the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra, in September 2023, my Ministry solicited for new investments in the sugar sector. So far, three (3) investors have responded, expressing interest in investing in the sector. Two of the investors have already visited the Lowveld and both parties, the investors and the farmers expressed interest in working together in setting up the sugar milling plant. It is important to note that the setting up of a sugar milling plant in the Lowveld will address the following key strategic issues:
- Reduce transport costs for farmers, especially in the Mkwasine area, who have to travel 50 kilometres to the nearest sugar mill.
- Ensure that the sugar cane cut from the fields is delivered to the mill within 24 hours to avoid loss of quality of cane, and
- Bring competition to the monopoly of Tongaat Hullet, the sole miller/producer of sugar in the country.
The Ministry has since referred the three (3) investors to the
Zimbabwe Investment and Development Authority (ZIDA) for consideration. We believe the setting up of a new sugar milling plant, especially in the Mkwasine area will successfully break the monopoly in the sugar sector and allow competition in the industry.
This will eventually bring about quality products as well as the price of sugar will be reduced to the benefit of our consumers. The companies will compete for employees with attractive payment packages and employment benefits to attract promising talent. This will benefit the economy in the end.
*HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: The Hon. Minister mentioned that sugar is now a strategic crop and I believe that this has been deliberated on for quite some time. I want to know whether the assistance which is given to cotton, maize and tobacco farmers will be extended to sugar farmers because since this was declared, we have not seen that in the Lowveld. I want to request that sugar farmers be also involved in committees because Tongaat Hullet, which has two milling plants can stay for quite some time without …
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You are now making an intervention Hon. Senator and the Minister may not answer that question because that is the preserve of the Minister of Agriculture. She is responsible for the commerce and trade part of it. The question which you have posed here is actually the preserve of the Minister of Agriculture in terms of you asking what interventions are being done to promote this issue of the strategic nature of the crop.
STABILISATION OF THE LOCAL CURRENCY
- HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA asked the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to inform the House the measures put in place by the Ministry to stabilise our local currency.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Mr. President, I seek your guidance. I answered the same question during questions without notice. Shall I reiterate the same?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You can simply state that you have already made reference to the question. It is a coincidence really. Just make a statement for the record of Hansard that the question has already been answered.
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: I thank you for your guidance Hon. President of Senate. To the Hon. Senator, I have already made reference to the same question earlier on with regards to a pending monetary policy statement that will address currency stabilisation, inflation as well as exchange rate management system reform.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. MATUKE): I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 4 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 5 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 54TH PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM HELD IN MAURITIUS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 54th Plenary Assembly of the SADC-Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I would like extend my sincere appreciation to all Hon. Members who contributed to the rich and enlightening debate during this session. Your insights and dedication are instrumental in advancing our shared goals. Thank you once again for your unwavering commitment to tackling the challenges of climate change. Together let us strive to make our planet earth a safer and more resilient home for all its inhabitants. In conclusion I move that the motion be adopted.
Motion that this House takes note of the Report of the Delegation to the 54th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC-Parliamentary Forum held from 22nd to 27th November, 2023 in Port Louis, Mauritius, put and agreed to.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. MATUKE), the House adjourned at Nine Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 12th March, 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 6th March, 2024
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Sen. Tshabangu, you have to go and put on a jacket.
Hon. Tshabangu left the Chamber.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
I have to inform the Senate that on Tuesday, 4th March, 2024, Parliament was notified by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in terms of Section 39 (7) (a) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], that with effect from 1st March, 2024, Hon. Sen. Mdhluri Maxwell for Manicaland Province was duly appointed as Member of the Senate to
fill in the vacant in the Senate that occurred following the recall of the incumbent Member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Party.
Section 128 (1) of the Constitution provides that, before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the oath of a Member of Parliament as set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament. I, therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the Oath of a Member of Parliament.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. SEN. MDHLURI MAXWELL subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the law and took his seat. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have received Non-Adverse Reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on Statutory Instruments Nos. 240, 245, 246, 247, 248 and 249 of 2023 and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 10 (a) of 2024.
CORRECTION OF HANSARD SPEECHES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE. I have to remind Hon. Senators that the onus is on them to correct their speeches before they are printed in the Hansard. Copies of these speeches are brought to the Senate by orderlies and should be corrected and returned to Hansard within 15 minutes. In the event that the Senate adjourns before an Hon. Senator has been favoured with a copy of his or her speech, Hon. Senators are required to go to the Hansard office, room number 112 and correct their speeches.
Furthermore, Hon. Senators are reminded that corrections are restricted to grammar and spelling mistakes only. Hon. Senators should not attempt to refine their speeches by adding new material that they did not raise during the debate or to remove issues raised during debate. If there are distortions in their speeches, they should approach the Director-Hansard, Ms. Kanyume in office number 108.
APPOINTMENT TO INTER-PARLIAMENTRY UNION
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also want to inform the Senate that Hon. Sen. Chief Chitanga has been appointed as a Member of the delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He replaces the late Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ON THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. R. NDLOVU: I would like also to debate a bit on the electoral report. All of us are aware that an election has three major things which happen before an election date. There is what is called pre-election which is preparation for an election, there is election day and post-election period.
I will first of all look at the preparation of an election. All of us in this august House are aware that before an election, there are a lot of activities like campaigns that take place. In the past elections, there are a lot of things that happened. There are people who were assaulted before an election. In the ZEC report that is not mentioned. We have Hon. Members who were assaulted and their vehicles were damaged, but that did not appear in the ZEC report.
On the actual election day, some polling stations had no ballot papers. Some polling stations were opened at 1400 hours in the afternoon. That affected other people such that they did not manage to vote. In rural areas, people did not vote because it was dark and it was difficult for them to access the polling stations. That is what happened. There were no ballot papers and some polling stations did not open at the stipulated time frame. It was very unusual that the voting process took two days. Normally, the whole process should take place in one day. In the past election, there was a delay in the process of tabulating the votes. That was a mistake on the part of ZEC. That being the case, people were skeptical that there could be something happening in those two days.
After the counting of the votes, there was a surprise in the manner in which the votes were counted and the way they were announced. In the past, results were counted and an announcement was made about those Members of Parliament and councillors who would have made it. Again, an announcement on Proportional Representation Members would be made, but in the recent past election it was something different. First there was an announcement of the results of the President of Zimbabwe. That was not the normal way in which things were done. We were used to a scenario where results for Presidential election were announced according to provinces. That did not happen in the August 2023 election. We just got information on the grand total for the Presidential election. We were not used to such a scenario and we were surprised. We took our time to find out how the people had voted in the provinces. These are the issues that we are saying ZEC did not conduct the election properly.
In the post-election period after the announcement of the results, I did not see people in jubilation that there was an election. That was indicative to me that the election had not been properly conducted. Again, that was indicative to me that people were not happy with the way in which things had been done. We are requesting ZEC to be impartial to all the parties involved. ZEC should handle all the contesting parties in the same manner. We also trust that ZEC should do proper justice to its mandate. Furthermore, we are requesting that in future, they should write a report of things that would have happened so that it reflects credibility and the people will know that ZEC does its job properly. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Unfortunately, the Department of ICT is letting this House down. It is very unfortunate and this is the second time that it is happening. I have said it before that it is important and it is a priority that the interpretation system is fixed. It has got to be done. I am sure we have people who know this technology. As it is, am not the only one who has not followed up that debate. I am sure there are many other Senators. Clerk of Parliament, please pull up your socks.
+HON. SEN. E. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President. We thank ZEC for the work they have done with regard to the recently concluded elections. Before the elections, we had the delimitation process where we encountered some problems. People were being transferred from one ward to another. When you go to the voter education, we are grateful to ZEC for the work that they have done. People were educated and also registered. They came again for voter verification. When it came to election time, elections were conducted properly. We would like to thank the President for the manner in which he emphasised that there should not be any violence.
Where I come from in Insiza, Matebeleland South, there was no violence during the elections. People were running around campaigning and talking to each other. Normally, elections are a problem because everyone expects to win. The truth is, we are grateful to ZEC for a job well done. In Insiza, ballot papers arrived on time such that by 7 am, polling stations had been opened and people voted. After counting the votes, the results were displayed outside the polling station and the councillor, M.P and President were announced as having won. We are grateful as Insiza, we have nothing to complain about. We are grateful to ZEC that the elections were peaceful and no one went to court. For us, we would like to thank ZEC for a job well done.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
STRATEGIES TO MOBILISE RESOURCES FOR THE
NATIONAL CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
WHEREAS on 5th December, 2018, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr E. D. Mnangagwa, declared every first Friday of each month as a National Clean-Up Day;
APPALLED by individuals and organisations who fail to partake in the campaign as declared by His Excellency the President;
GRAVELY CONCERNED that local authorities are negating the National Clean Up Day Campaign by not doing justice in cleaning the cities resulting in rampant littering;
NOTING that funding and resource mobilisation for cleaning our country is inadequate:
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon —
(a) the local authorities to strictly enforce the by-laws on the cleaning of cities by ensuring that offenders are punished;
(b) the Government to set aside adequate funding towards National Clean-Up Campaigns and come up with strategies to mobilise more resources for such activities; and
(c) encourage all Zimbabweans and organisations to take part in Clean-Up Campaigns.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I rise today to introduce a motion on a matter of critical importance to our nation, the ongoing challenge of waste management and the vital need for a cleaner and healthier Zimbabwe. I want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to you, Madam President, for allowing me to present this motion.
The state of cleanliness in our country is a dire issue that demands immediate attention. From overflowing landfills in urban centres to polluted rivers and mountains in rural areas, the impact of improper waste disposal is felt across every corner of Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, tackling waste management and fostering a culture of cleanliness has surpassed political affiliation. His Excellency, Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa's ‘National Clean-Up Day’ initiative launched in 2018, outdoes political boundaries and calls upon all citizens, regardless of background or belief, to contribute to a cleaner and healthier nation. This monthly campaign encourages individuals from all walks of life to dedicate two hours on the first Friday of each month to cleaning their communities, parks, and public spaces. The President himself regularly participates, setting a powerful example of unity and shared responsibility. While political figures often champion such initiatives, the true heart of this campaign lies in the collective action of ordinary citizens, demonstrating the power of community spirit and individual commitment in paving the way for a cleaner and more beautiful Zimbabwe.
For sure, every first Friday, streets bustle with activity as neighbours join hands to pick up litter, businesses organise clean-up drives, and even school children put on gloves to tackle overflowing bins. The air thrums with a shared purpose, a sense of community rising above individual differences. From bustling cityscapes to rural villages, the ‘National Clean-Up Day’ has become a monthly ritual, a chance for everyday Zimbabweans to contribute their two hours and witness the collective impact of their efforts. While challenges remain, the enthusiasm and commitment are undeniable, painting a hopeful picture of a nation united in its pursuit of cleanliness.
Just yesterday, our very own Her Excellency, Dr. A. Mnangagwa was shown on the news engaging different individuals from different political backgrounds cleaning the town of Harare. That, my fellow Senators, is a perfect gesture of leading by example, of a tremendous leader. I want to take this opportunity to thank the First Lady for the splendid job she has been doing for our country. Indeed, she has been very busy since the year started and for that we are grateful. If the First Lady takes the Clean Up seriously, what more a mere citizen!!!
A web of legislation aims to control littering and promote responsible waste management. The Environmental Management Act (EMA) serves as the cornerstone, outlining general waste disposal prohibitions and empowering local authorities to designate waste collection sites. Notably, section 83 (1) explicitly forbids littering, carrying significant fines or imprisonment for violators. Additionally, the EMA's Hazardous Waste Management Regulations impose stricter controls on specific waste types, requiring licences and designated disposal facilities. Further regulations address effluent and solid waste disposal, outlining procedures for waste treatment and disposal depending on its classification. However, enforcing these regulations remains a challenge. Limited resources strain local authorities, and public awareness campaigns are crucial to encourage behaviour change and deter littering. While the legal framework exists, its effectiveness hinges on consistent enforcement, robust infrastructure development, and fostering a culture of environmental responsibility among citizens and organisations.
While all striving for cleanliness, a direct comparison between Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and UAE reveals both shared aspirations and contrasting realities. On one hand, all three nations have prioritised National Clean-Up campaigns, demonstrating a collective commitment to a healthier environment. Rwanda's Umuganda, UAE's National Clean-Up Day, and Zimbabwe's National Clean-Up Day share features like community participation and government leadership.
However, significant differences emerge in infrastructure and enforcement. Both Rwanda and UAE boast robust waste management systems with widespread waste collection, recycling facilities, and efficient disposal methods. I visited both countries and they were very clean. One would not even see any litter in the streets. In contrast, Zimbabwe faces infrastructure gaps, hindering consistent waste collection and leaving many areas reliant on individual initiatives. Additionally, stricter enforcement in Rwanda and UAE deters littering and illegal dumping, contributing to their visibly cleaner landscapes. While Zimbabwe has similar regulations, enforcement remains a challenge, leading to persistent waste issues in some areas.
The fight for a cleaner Zimbabwe cannot be won on willpower alone. While the dedication of communities and individuals participating in Clean-Up campaigns is commendable, it is time to acknowledge the stark reality: mobilising resources is paramount to securing lasting change. We need increased investment in waste collection infrastructure, from expanding our fleet of garbage trucks to establishing efficient recycling plants. Strengthening enforcement mechanisms for littering and illegal dumping is crucial, coupled with educational campaigns that foster environmental awareness and behavioural change. This necessitates not just individual contributions but also collaborative efforts between the government, private sector, NGOs, and communities.
Our President's call for a cleaner Zimbabwe is not just a directive, it is a challenge and a beacon of hope. It is a call to arms for each and every one of us to wield not weapons, but brooms, trash bags, and a renewed sense of responsibility. Let u answer this call not out of obligation, but out of respect for ourselves, our communities, and the breath-taking land we share.
Additionally, Zimbabwe is a country known for its exquisite sites suitable for tourism. What would the tourists as well as delegation visitors think when they are welcomed with dirty streets and parks? Madam President, I believe the City Councils along with an individual Zimbabwean, can create a clean Zimbabwe. In the same line of thought, the Zimbabwe is open for business mantra means we have investors coming from different parts of the world at any time any day. Thus, it is imperative to always be ready and that means having a clean country. As a nation, it is trite to stand ready for anyone.
Remember, the laws against littering and improper waste disposal exist not to restrict us, but to protect us. Every plastic bottle tossed carelessly, every overflowing bin ignored, becomes a threat to our health, our environment, and our future. Let us not wait for enforcement; let us embrace these regulations as guiding principles for building a cleaner, healthier nation. Today, let us pledge to not just participate in clean-up drives, but to make every day a clean-up day. Let us answer the President's call, not just with words, but with action, and together, write a new chapter in Zimbabwe's story – a chapter marked by pride, responsibility, and a shared commitment to a clean and sustainable future.
There are a limited number of litter bins in the CBD areas of towns. Buses and kombis do not have litter bins for passengers to use which eventually enables them to throw litter everywhere and anywhere. I believe in starting small, thus if we try as much as we can to make sure there is sufficient litter bins in every corner of the city and in all things that are for public use, we will attain a clean Zimbabwe.
I believe this motion reflects the concerns of my constituency and the wider public. It is time for us to act decisively and work together to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes a nation we can all be proud of, a nation where clean streets, unspoiled landscapes, and a healthy environment are not just aspirations, but a reality. Remember cleanliness is next to Godliness. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to debate this very important motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa. This issue is very pertinent and it requires us as Zimbabweans to uphold ubuntu. When we were growing up, we could wake up early in the morning and clean the yard and put all the trash in the rubbish pit. Those who are tenants know that it is pertinent to clean where you stay and everyone knows that. The problem is, we have no designated places to deposit our garbage unless we dig pits to deposit the litter in our yards. Wherever you go, you see huge piles of garbage. Those who are responsible for the disposal of the garbage disposed by people are not doing their work at all. In the past, people staying in towns knew when the bins would be collected by council. The garbage bins were put outside and council would collect and deposit the garbage at designated places. There is nothing like that anymore. Council is no longer practicing this type of hygiene. Even the bins are no longer being distributed amongst the households. We are accusing people for not exercising cleanliness but the problem lies with council which is not collecting the garbage. Council should work to ensure that the garbage is deposited at designated places.
I also want to thank Government for the Pomona project. People said a lot of things when this project started but the Government continued to make sure the dumpsite issue was resolved. We recently read in the papers that there is recycling going on at Pomona and there is production of electricity into the national grid. However, when this project started, many people were against it and they were saying people wanted to misuse the money, but currently Pomona is doing very well. So, I am requesting that we have more dumpsites like Pomona where recycling and production of electricity is done so that the country benefits. It is very important that we use the garbage for the benefit of the country just like what is happening at Pomona. Right now, we are here representing different constituencies and the key thing which should be encouraged is to teach people from our different constituencies cleanliness and hygiene. If we achieve this, we will have somewhere to start from. We give people enough knowledge that disposing garbage in undesignated areas is not a good thing. It will act as a reminder because most people are aware of this issue, so it is very important for MPs to go out and remind the people especially in towns. The problem is rife in towns because of different people with different cultures and practices emanating from where they come from. Their way of handling the environment is also different, so it is important to teach them how to manage garbage. This should however start with the city fathers because they are the ones who are letting us down in terms of garbage management. This will help alleviate diseases like Cholera. You see that when there is a Cholera outbreak, people blame the Ministry of Health and the Government, but it is important to look at the root cause of the problem. We blame those who are supposed to provide services like medicines but those who are supposed to prevent the occurrence or the spread of these diseases are not being blamed. Therefore, it is very important to find ways to address the problem.
Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa also raised the issue of garbage bins. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) sometimes does put bins but they are so small that by 10am, they will be full as people bring litter from their homes and throw it in those little bins. If it was possible, let us go back to our traditional way of doing things. People used to put their bins outside and council would take away the garbage for disposal. People could be fined for improper disposal because the bins were there. Currently, people deposit garbage at the wrong places and if you want people to pay a fine, they will ask you where the bins are. Let us address the issue of bins and make sure that we have enough bins in the country which are big enough and can serve the whole population in towns.
I also want to thank His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa and his wife Dr. A. Mnangagwa, for working hard towards the National Clean-Up campaign and ensuring that we stay in a clean environment. They leave their jobs behind and go and lead Clean-Up campaigns to ensure Zimbabweans stay in a clean environment and our tourists can emulate the good behaviour and the proper practices happening in the country. I am encouraging Hon. Members in this august House to follow the rightful way that is being led by the first family, of upholding ubuntu and doing things right so that our country can be emulated by other countries. Let us follow suit wherever we are. Right now, most of us travel from one place to another in our cars and we should also have small bins where you put all the litter. Even those you give transport will see the bin and will put their litter in the bin. So, teach everyone you are with the proper way of disposing garbage.
Even when you are in a bus, Mr. President, it is important to spread the education of proper disposition of garbage. Even those in buses, they must be told that they must have bins in their cars for people to dispose their waste after eating their bananas or other fruits. This will help us as a country. I remember one day Mr. President Sir, I was travelling the same direction with a bus and someone just threw out an empty bottle and almost hit my windscreen. I only thanked God that I did not face the incident of the windscreen being crashed by the bottle. If the education of proper disposal…
– [Time Limit.] –
Thank you Mr. President. If these bus drivers and passengers were educated about the issue of proper disposal of waste, we would not have situations like that. I was saying let us teach all the public transport providers that it is important to have dust bins in their vehicles. Let it begin with us as legislators to have bins in our cars. This will help to uphold the beauty of the country. We were once a country which was emulated by other countries. Thank you Mr. President Sir for awarding me this opportunity.
^HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for giving this opportunity to contribute towards the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa on the issue of hygiene and having a clean environment. We thank His Excellency for introducing this clean-up campaign programme on 5th December 2018, that on every first Friday of the week, we must clean our environment so that we have a clean environment. We want people who are known by cleanliness be it a father, mother, girl or boy. In the past Mr. President, each and every household would have a pit to dispose of their waste and garbage. Even the younger ones were taught that.
During the marriage ceremonies, when the wife was being handed over to the husband’s family, the first thing they did was to make sure they reach the in-laws’ family early in the morning and sweep the yard. We have got a problem Mr. President because most of the untidiness originates from the towns. That is why there are high cases of Cholera and Diarrhea and the spread of the same starts from towns. Right now in Bulawayo, there is a high spread of Diarrhea. Councils must make sure that waste is collected and disposed of on proper areas. These councils are the ones collecting levies from people because people are paying for the services. Therefore, the service must be delivered.
Councils must make sure that the bins are placed at all bus tops and in all public places. There is no one going to work and make sure that our environment is clean. We are the ones who should make sure that we are staying in a proper and clean environment. Let us unite and work together to ensure that our environments are clean. Right now some of the waste that is found in most areas is not garbage as such, it is money. For example, empty bottles of water, plastic bags and tins are needed for recycling purposes. We need to learn to separate our garbage as a country and sell those that can be recycled.
Mr. President, it is important to focus on teaching people that there is recycling needed to be done so that we can get money and women can be uplifted, especially in rural areas and even in towns. There is spread of a lot of diseases because of the garbage and dirt. Right now Chiredzi and many other areas were affected by Cholera. When the environment is not clean, there is quick spreading of different of diseases. Hence, there is need for us to unite and make sure that our environments are clean. For example, in an area where there are flies, diseases spread quickly. We must work together in our communities and clean our environments. We must not blame other people for our environments when they are not clean, but we must work as a country and united as Zimbabweans to make sure that our environments are clean.
I also encourage councils to have designated dump sites. Right now there are no proper dump sites. People are selling their goods everywhere, but there are no proper garbage disposal sites. Mr. President, I remember an incident where a woman was carrying a baby walking on top of garbage, and she, together with that baby, fell down. They were both injured. Hence, it is important to make sure that as communities, councils, as Members of Parliament and as citizens, we use proper garbage disposal ways. I also thank Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa for bringing this pertinent motion. Let us work together from our rural areas and towns in cleaning our areas. The First Family, His Excellency, Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, His Wife, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa began an important programme. They put aside their work to go and clean the environment. If His Excellency and the First Family take time to clean during the cleanup campaign, who are we? As Zimbabweans, we must emulate and follow the example of His Excellency to ensure the environment is clean. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. RUNGANI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to support the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa on the issue of cleanliness in our country so that we can live well without any challenges from diseases. The issues of garbage have increased. In the past, Harare City was referred to as the Sunshine City. Garbage was being disposed at the designated areas. Right now it is no longer the same. Garbage is being disposed everywhere, but it is supposed to be carried by the responsible people. Residents deposit their garbage in bins, but are not being collected. It ends up a culture that garbage is not being collected. It was supposed to be collected by the responsible authorities and disposed at the designated areas. Who is responsible for carrying garbage and disposing it? We have got different Government departments, but councils were given the mandate to make sure that garbage is disposed at the rightful places. Even as a mother at home, I must make sure that the garbage is deposited at the rightful place. As people, if we are given jobs to do, we must execute them properly. Long back, we used to go to Mbare, it was a clean place. The place used to be very smart but right now in Mbare, there are huge piles of garbage. You find that people are cooking food at those dirty places. People are buying food from those places. Hence you see that those who are responsible of carrying garbage and disposing it at the rightful places are not doing that. We must make sure that they are executing their duties properly. They started by not collecting bins and bins ended up spilling.
If they are given the task to collect bins, they must collect bins. Those people who are into buying and selling, they are selling at dirty places. This has resulted in the spread of diseases. I visited my relative in Chitungwiza, sewer was spilling, sewage was everywhere and some people were selling food near the sewer which had busted. How do we expect people not to contract diseases when we have such places? The President allocated people different tasks concerning the environment, but those people are not executing them properly. Hence, he put aside one day, which is the first Friday of every month to make sure that as Zimbabweans, we go around picking all the dirt and depositing them at the rightful places to prevent the spread of diseases.
Right now, both rural and urban councils are not executing their duties properly. Where we come from, people are throwing pampers everywhere. When we grew up, it was a taboo to see a pamper which is not properly disposed. People are now throwing pampers everywhere after putting it in a plastic.
Mr. President, as leaders of the people, I think that it is very important to teach people not to throw garbage at undesignated places. I see that those who are in councils are not executing their duties properly. Our towns used to be the cleanest towns in this continent. Right now, in towns, you find that all the open spaces are now filled with garbage. Mr. President, let us get united as a country, as communities, and make sure that garbage is being deposited at designated places. I feel that councils from rural to urban are no longer doing their duties properly. Rural councils are no longer carrying garbage and disposing the garbage properly. People must dispose pampers and all other types of garbage properly. Thank you, Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. GOTORA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to the motion. Let me take this opportunity to explain where the problem is emanating from. The issue of debt in the country or uncleanliness; if you go back to culture, as a son of a Chief, I know one of the duties of Chief Chinhamora is to make sure that his place is properly preserved. There were places where we call durunhuru or dump sites to make sure that our area of Chinhamora stays clean. There were places again in these rural areas called zambarota where we put ashes after removing them from a fireplace. It means that people grew up knowing that these places are designated for those who are going to properly deposit the dirt. During the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, there was the African Development Fund which we now call RIDA, some of us know it as DDF. There were people who had the responsibility of making sure that different areas are kept clean. We used to call these people environmentalists, people who make sure that the environments are clean. If people saw that you were not properly depositing the garbage, it was an offence. During the Government of Smith, there were 32 laws for the environment management and preservation of wet areas. We noticed that the laws were many and we consolidated them to come up with one law. That is where the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) comes from. EMA is a combination of 32 laws.
EMA has powers through the Ministry of Environment, to make sure that the environment is clean. But the problem emanates from the structure of EMA. From each and every district, you find that there is one officer and an office orderly; they are only two. They cannot manage the whole district to make sure it is clean. I am referring to rural areas and towns. A district is a district no matter it is in town or rural area. Most of the EMA officers spend their time at head offices and we do not know what they are doing there. I do not want to dwell much on this issue. The power to make sure that our country stays clean is there in different laws, but there are no law enforcement agencies for these laws. For example, the Rural District Council Act has 65 powers and six of them have something to do with the environment, but there is nothing that is happening. The Urban Council Act has 45 powers and out of these, six of them there is something to do with cleanliness and the environment. So where is the problem? The problem is that we are giving people jobs which they cannot deliver because we have ministries who are supposed to supervise these things at national, provincial and district level. My question is that what are these people doing in offices? We are allocating them a budget every year for them to go and do what?
For example, the Minister of Environment, his Permanent Secretary, Chief Director and Director pass through different roads seeing garbage and litter everyday, but they do not say anything to council in terms of executing their duties. The laws are there. Again, the Minister of Local Government passes through where houses are being built at undesignated areas, but he does nothing to stop the construction of these houses. We are giving them money to do what because they are not executing their duties? Are we giving them money to go for workshops in Victoria Falls but at the grassroots level, not executing their duties properly?
Senator Maluleke spoke in her own language, but she was talking about the powers of chiefs and all traditional leaders to make sure that we stay in a clean environment. She also spoke about the powers of local authorities whether rural or urban to make sure that the country is clean. Right now, we have given the President the job to go around the city picking litter, yet the President gave us the laws to make sure that we administer those laws. We have given the task to the First Lady to go and clean right in front of the Town House where there is a Mayor, Town Clerk and Director of Health, yet there is an Act which empowers these people about the seven areas which they are expected to execute. What are those people doing? Why are we keeping them at these jobs? That is the question which I have.
Let us make sure that all the laws to do with the environment and cleanliness in the country are followed to the latter. The EMA Act and the Environment Act discourage the use of plastics like those being given at OK or TM supermarkets. In other countries, they have copied our laws and they are no longer giving plastic bags. They are giving people khaki carrier bags. The laws which countries like Rwanda are using are the same as ours, but the problem we have here is enforcement. Those who were given the jobs to execute on the issue of environment are not doing their jobs properly. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa, seconded by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. Most of the issues have been raised. I want to say that we need to help each other as leaders to find a better solution to address this issue without pointing fingers at each other.
I want to look at the issue of litter first. There is litter which decomposes like vegetables and leaves and then we have the other types of garbage which do not decay and here I am talking about metal cans and plastic bottles. A long time ago in our villages, we used to have garbage, but the issue of handling it was different. We used to sweep our yards everyday, but not all the litter was thrown away. Materials which decompose were used to make compost. Litter is something that we stay with in our everyday lives. What is important is how we dispose litter. Materials such as food leftovers and leaves can help us to make our own composts. Even in town at my place of residence, I do have a compost. Everything which decays, I make sure that I deposit it at my compost and the litter which does not decompose like plastics and tins are recycled.
The problem that I see nowadays is that we do not have proper knowledge that plastics are not meant to be deposited in the dustbins. Plastics can be recycled to make things like buckets or bags and this can empower our people. What is needed is to educate people on the proper methods of waste management. There are industries which are taking plastics and other empty containers for recycling. Right now if you throw away litter in the bins, there are people who are going about searching the bins for these materials for sale. We must teach each other to separate the recyclable materials from the litter which cannot be recycled. We must teach our people on how we can benefit from the plastics. For example, at this moment in time, we expect our country to reach a point where we do not allow plastic to be thrown away. For plastic to decompose, it takes over 40 years for plastics to decompose.
If you have an opportunity to go to Lake Chivero and see what is in Lake Chivero, people in households and even those in industrial areas go there to deposit their dirty and we end up not wanting to eat fish from Lake Chivero. When we talk of Clean Up, we are talking about even the industrial deposits or waste being deposited in Mukuvisi and other water sources, but knowledge is needed to teach people about separating the garbage which decay and that which does not decay. We cannot be able to fight this issue of separation of dirty if we do not include the students.
If you farm using manure from the compost, you will find that those crops are defined under organic which fetches more money in the market. Let us learn that our places are being cleaned and the dirty is being separated. A bus can come from South Africa with its dirt on the bus but the moment people cross the border, they open the windows and begin to through away rubbish. We are the ones who are opening the windows and throwing out the garbage, not the Government. So, why is it that the moment people cross the border and enter Zimbabwe, the start to open windows depositing their dirt outside?
Let us teach our children from early childhood to make sure that they know the proper way of depositing the garbage. If you attend a function, you see young children going around picking the empty bottles and putting them in plastic bags. As elders, we just throw away our litter everywhere. Right now, even here in Parliament, we do not have bins and even in our cars but we have got a lot of food stuffs in the cars. We must have bins even in our cars. We used to have clubs in the past in rural areas and even here in towns, where people were taught on how to dispose of their garbage properly.
Right now, we are now pointing fingers at each other. What are you thinking as an individual about the garbage that you have left at home? Let us teach our children from a young age so that they know how dirt is deposited. Our curriculum in schools must include the issue of proper garbage disposal and environmental issues. As people’s representatives in different areas, let us take the initiative to start activities like clubs for both women and men and how we can teach each other the recycling of garbage for income generation. Let us create gardening competitions for those who are using organic manure.
We tend to have good composts from the dirty which we generate from our houses. It is very important even for those in public transport and kombis, there is need to engage them on proper garbage disposal. If you look at SDG 8, it talks of safe working environments. Whether it is local government or the Government itself, it must make sure that those people who are selling their goods and services are given safe and good working environments. We must make sure that we provide decency and that those women who sometimes clash with council, running away from council police officers, are given proper designated areas where they can sell their wares with proper disposal bins. We can make sure they pay taxes because they are working from proper places.
Let us make sure that we craft laws which create good working environments. We see that it is easy if we go and see the Pomona area. People used to complain about Pomona, but those who started that programme saw it as important to have such a programme where garbage can be used to produce something profitable. The council now knows that if you go to Pomona and deposit your dump, you will be paid. There is a place in Victoria Falls and even at Victoria Falls Hotel where they have a programme which they use the garbage to come up with different things which they sell. Hence, we need this knowledge to cascade to all other people so that we can benefit as a country.
I am not going to repeat what other Hon. Members have said, but there is need for enforcement so that those who are seen depositing their garbage unprocedurally are dealt with and fined. You find that those who are in the business of collecting garbage such as plastics come back to you selling wares like handbags. Let us teach the youth and all age groups. Let us be united as Zimbabweans that we teach people about the positives which can come out from the garbage. Yes, the Local Government in the past said they were going to give three plastic bins for households to deposits their rubbish; one for decomposing material, one for plastics and the other for bottles.
Let us make sure that we sit down with the councils and make sure that these things are done properly. There are people who are collecting garbage and benefitting from it. Hence, we are pleading that information on how to separate garbage and how people can benefit from it must be cascaded to schools, churches and so on to make sure people know. In Mashonaland West, people were saying they are the ones who do a lot of organising in terms of rallies and other stuff and hence, it is very important to make sure that as individuals, we come up with ideas for proper disposal of garbage.
The Ministry of Agriculture must help us to use the disposed litter in order to come up with composts which can be used as fertiliser in our farms and not rely on chemicals. These crops which are grown using composts fetch high prices in other countries. Let us educate each other, and let us work together to make sure that as Parliamentarians, we do not dispose garbage at undesignated places.
We can set an example that at Parliament, we are not allowed to dispose garbage at undesignated places. Yes, it is very important to know that the garbage which we throw away is very important. Let us learn to separate the garbage which decomposes from that which is recyclable and make sure that as a country, we develop. Let us unite as a country and make sure that we stay in clean environments.
∞HON. SEN. KABONDO: Thank you Mr. President. My words are few because others have already contributed. I do not know if I will repeat what has been said because we use different languages, therefore I may have failed to understand the other language. As I listened, I heard Hon. Senators talking about what they would have seen happening. My contribution will be different because I do not stay in the city, but will mainly focus on where I stay and what happens on hygiene. My words are very few, but very important because they hinge on people’s lives. I stay in a national park where we have beautiful trees that can encourage you to stay outside and enjoy the fresh air, but we cannot do that because of dirt around us, the sewer system. We stay indoors because of the bad smell from the sewer. Before I say a lot, I would want to say that smelling, that bad air from the sewer does not bring good health. Therefore, we are appealing that as we come up with ways of improving hygiene, let us always think of what the people will breathe in as fresh air. Thank you so much.
HON. SEN. C. NDLOVU: I would also want to debate the motion about waste management. I understand that every first Friday of the month, all cities or people should clean their areas of work or residence because there will be a lot of trash.
This matter of waste management is a deliberate matter because these cities have got responsible authorities – these authorities go to work and the question is why do we continue to see waste at undesignated places? At every province, there is a Resident Minister who stays in that province, in the city there is a Mayor and Town Clerk as well who are in charge of that city. Now, we hear the President of a country saying please attend to waste management when we have such authorities in place. What causes that waste to be there? These people who are mandated to do the job – why are they failing to carry out their mandate? Is it possible that they have failed to supply them with relevant vehicles to ferry the waste? We should examine that matter as to what is the root cause of that.
It is common cause that there should be waste which should be moved. Now it is our duty to attend to this every first Friday of the month. Where are the responsible authorities who are supposed to do that? This is why I stood up to say this before you. There is something wrong that needs to be examined here. What is the root cause of this matter? We always talk about waste which is at undesignated places – what causes that?
It is not the President’s responsibility to look into such matters when there are authorities mandated to do that. This is why I am raising this Mr. President Sir.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMME ON CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Programme on Climate Smart Agriculture.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
ROAD SAFETY DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the successive road accidents on consecutive days which claimed the scores of lives in the month of November 2023.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY THE YOUTHS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Programmes to curb drug and substance abuse by the Youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 54TH PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM HELD IN MAURITIUS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 53th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: Mr. President Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. HUNGWE, seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA, the House adjourned at Twenty-Three Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 6th March, 2024.
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
CORRECTION OF HANSARD SPEECHES
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to remind Hon. Members that the onus is on them to correct their speeches before they are printed in the Hansard. Copies of the speeches are brought to the House by Office Orderlies and should be corrected and returned to Hansard within 15 minutes.
In the event that the House adjourns before a Member has been favoured with a copy of his or her speech, Members are required to go to the Hansard Office, room 112 and correct their speeches. Furthermore, Members are reminded that corrections are restricted to grammar and spelling mistakes only. Members should not attempt to refine their speeches by adding new material that they did not raise during the debate or to remove issues raised during debate. If there are distortions in the speech, they should approach the Director Hansard, Ms. Kanyume in Office 108.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have got a list of apologies from Hon. Ministers and Deputy Ministers who are not able to come to the House today; Hon, Prof. Ncube, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion; Hon. T. Machakaire, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training; Hon. Mupamhanga Junior, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training; Hon. E. Jesaya, Deputy Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture; Hon. B. Rwodzi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry; Hon. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development; Hon. J. Mhlanga, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development; Hon. W. Chitando. Minister of Local Government and Public Works; Hon. F. Shava, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. Z. Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Hon. O. Mazungunye, Deputy Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Hon. J. Muswere, Minster of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. T. A Mavetera, Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services; Hon. Z. Soda, Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. Prof. A. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. E. Moyo, Minister of Energy and Power Development; Hon. V. Haritatos, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon. D. Marapira, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and Hon. F. Mhona, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.
<HON. HLATYWAYO: On a point of order. It is my belief that we all know that Wednesday is a day where Parliamentarians will be asking questions to Ministers and Deputy Ministers. From the list you read just now, it seems like almost all Ministers are absent. We only have very few present. As representatives of the people, we think that our Ministers do not respect this House. They forget that it is their duty to answer these questions. It is in their job description to come and respond to questions we would have asked in this House. We complain every time about the Ministers’ behaviour and attitude, this should come to an end. They should respect this august House by coming to respond to questions from the public. This is my appeal to you Madam Speaker.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member. I agree with you that today is an important day and Hon. Ministers and Hon. Deputy Ministers are supposed to attend Parliament sittings so that they respond to questions raised by Hon. Members with regards to what is taking place especially the development that is going on in the country. Standing Rules and Orders; standing Rule No. 67 (2) says if they send an apology, it is supposed to be accepted by this august House. Today, I have too many apologies and this disturbs our work. So, we will make sure they are talked to so that they prioritise today’s work so that it progresses well.
<HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
<HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Madam Speaker, you have read out names of people who are absent and those who are present but you have not told us who the Leader of the House today is.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is why I have the Deputy Chief Whip so that she can advise.
<HON. MUTSEYAMI: I did not know you are working on that, please go ahead – [Laughter.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would like to inform Members of Parliament of the list of Hon Ministers and Hon. Deputy Ministers who are present in the House. Hon. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines, Hon. N. M. Ndlovu, Minister of Environment, Hon. T. Moyo, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. K. Mnangagwa, Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Mavima, Skills Audit Ministry, Hon. Dr. Coventry, Ministry of Sports, Hon. Sanyatwe, Deputy Minister Home Affairs, Hon Phuti, Deputy Ministers ICT, Hon. S. Sibanda, Deputy Minister, Higher Education, Hon. Gata, Deputy Minister Primary and Secondary Education. Hon. Prof. Mavima is the Acting Leader of Government Business.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. MASVISVI: Thank you Madam Speaker, a very good afternoon. My question is directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology. In his absence, I redirect my question to the Leader of Government Business, Hon. Prof. Mavima. What is government policy in regards to polytechnical and tertiary students who fail to get work practice for attachment?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TEARTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. S. SIBANDA,): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The Government policy with regards to attachment of students from Polytechnic and other colleges is that students, firstly they are supposed to look for attachment from industries that are relevant to their training. Under very few circumstances where they fail to get attachment on their own, the colleges are there to assist in terms of engaging the relevant industries to get attachment.
We have not heard some instances when students fail to get attachment – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
HON. MASVISVI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Why is it not possible for the Ministry to secure places of attachment on behalf of the students just like the sister Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education do to their teachers’ training practice?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. S. SIBANDA): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. The response is that it is the duty of the colleges not the Ministry, to look for attachment for the students. I would encourage the Hon. Member to verify that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is the one that places the students on attachment, but it is the colleges that do that for coordination purposes. Thank you.
HON. MATEWU: My supplementary question is, what is Government doing in order to capacitate the local industry so that they can be able to uptake these students who are looking for attachment? It is not good for the Government to just say they will leave it to the industry, whereas these industries are closing. What are you doing to ensure that our industry is capacitated so that they uptake the students who are looking for attachment?
HON. S. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The duty of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development is that it aims at training of students and then the issue of growing the industry falls under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. So, that question can be directed to that Ministry. Thank you.
*HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary is that for the students who are graduating at Teachers’ colleges, but are not being taken to go and teach in schools, we have a number of learners who are contacting Members of Parliament asking to be employed in schools.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is a new question, but I will allow it to be answered by the Hon. Deputy Minister.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. S. SIBANDA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I think that question should be answered by the Public Service Commission.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. The recruitment of teachers is a process that is coordinated between the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, the Public Service Commission and Treasury. It will please this august House to know that just recently, a recruitment of 2000 teachers was done and we continue to schedule recruitments. Everything will depend not just on the vacancy level in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, but also on the capacity of Treasury to absorb the teachers. So, it is a process that takes place at intervals and you will realise that most of the recruitment that is taking place now is probably for teachers that completed their training in 2021 or 2022, which means those who just completed will have to waif for their turn. I thank you.
HON. NJANJI: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. What is Government policy on strategic national grain reserve, operations and management in relation to food security?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. This nation maintains a strategic grain reserve which is important for purposes of making sure that this nation does not go hungry in situations where we encounter droughts and other climate change disasters. So, we have a strategic grain reserve. This is the basis upon which, recently His Excellency the President assured the nation to say even though this season is almost a disaster in terms of the expected yield from our fields, no one is going to go hungry. That is because there is grain in our strategic grain reserve which will be used for purposes of ensuring that our people get food through the Food Deficit Mitigation Programme which has just started to be implemented throughout the country.
* HON. MUTOKONYI: I would like to ask the Hon. Minister that to preserve and ensure that we get enough food, what is the Government’s policy with regards to ensuring that small irrigation schemes are capacitated to grow enough crops to feed the nation?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET FOR SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): The issue of irrigation development is an issue that the Government is seized with, partly prompted by the fact that we are experiencing drought. We realise that we have a considerable number of water bodies throughout the country. The figure that the Government has been told about is 10 600 water bodies, some of them very big and others small, to even little weirs that can serve communities throughout the country.
As a Government, we need to undertake a very rigorous programme for irrigation development and every one of those water bodies should be utilised for irrigation purposes so that we avert disaster in situations where we have droughts which have become almost like a perennial issue that we either get droughts or we get other disasters that are related to climate change. When we develop irrigation around these water bodies, then we can climate-proof our agriculture and the Government has been discussing this. Very soon, there will be a conference that will focus on the development of irrigation. We will try as much as possible to bring investors to invest in oirrigation across the country.
We know that places like Tokwe-Mukorsi for example, the new dams that have been constructed, Muchekeranwa, Marovanyati, and Gwayi-Shangani and Thuli-Manyange that are going to come into existence should then be developed so that this country can be at optimal levels of irrigation. Then we can assure ourselves of food security. I thank you.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is a follow-up to the issue of the availability of grain reserves in this country in light of the pending drought that we are facing. Just last week or two weeks ago, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development had a meeting with the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe indicating that they have enough grain reserves. A week later, the Portfolio Committee traveled across the country in particular to Norton and Banket, but then we realised that there were no grain reserves in those areas…
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: On a point of order! The Member is now pre-empting the work of the Committee. The Committee will present the report here in Parliament.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will allow the Hon. Member to ask his question. Please proceed.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker for the protection. So, this work was beamed live on social media, specifically on Open Parliament, and that is where I took this information that I am talking about. So, when this Portfolio Committee visited our grain reserve, they realised that there was no grain reserve. Can the Leader of Government Business reconcile what was found physically versus the submission that he made that we have enough grain reserve in Zimbabwe? I thank you.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, the Hon. Member premised his question with an indication that GMAS, which is an association of private millers indicated that they had grain and that is the information that the Government has that the private millers are holding grain for their purposes. It will also interest this House to know that the Government has allowed private millers, in anticipation of the drought that we are faced with right now, to continue to import for their purposes. So, there is a difference between what private millers hold and what is in the strategic grain reserve.
The other aspect is that this Hon. Member is referring to anecdotal data that is coming from two silos, one of them being Banket. On the basis of whatever they found there, and he then said there is no grain in the Strategic Grain Reserve of this nation. A person cannot conclude after visiting two storage facilities and then conclude for the whole country does not have grain. The Hon. Member has to be logical in making his conclusion. The truth of the matter is, we are currently…
HON. HADEBE: The Hon. Minister is misleading the House. He should tell us which silos have got grain.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are out of order.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: My question is that we are currently distributing grains coming out of that strategic grain reserve. There are lots of areas this past week that received grain for those that are facing food deficit in this country. So, there is grain in the National Strategic Grain Reserve.
HON. J. TSHUMA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. While appreciating the Government’s position on the security of our grain, my question to the Leader of Government Business today is; what is the Government’s policy and position on the same grain getting to the urban areas because we are very much affected by this drought?
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Madam Speaker, we have started distributing in the rural areas because a process of ascertaining the levels of food insecurity in the rural areas was completed. We have just received information to the effect that the urban assessment has also been completed but the report is still to be finalised and brought before Cabinet. It is upon this basis which interventions in the urban areas will be undertaken. The programme is not leaving anyone behind among the urban households that are food insecure. I thank you.
*HON. MHURI: Thank you Madam Speaker and good afternoon.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
*HON. MHURI: My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. What is Government policy with regards to reviving and empowering local communities in terms of working with police to arrest all criminals? I am talking about resuscitating the Neighborhood Watch Committees programme. I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. SANYATWE): Thank you Madam Speaker for that question. The police services have an ongoing programme of recruiting Neighbourhood Watch members and the leader of the police actually considers the size of the area to ensure that they put bases that will serve to arrest would-be offenders.
HON. TSVANGIRAI: Thank you, Hon. Speaker and good afternoon.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. TSVANGIRAI: My question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. What is the Government doing to reduce the high cost of living and sky-rocketing inflation?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam Speaker and thank you Hon. Member for that question of national interest. Madam Speaker, the issue of inflation in Zimbabwe is tied to exchange rate volatility. You will find that the rising components of the prices is usually tied in to the Zimbabwe dollar component. As mentioned, I think a few weeks ago, Government is going to be going through some currency reforms, some reforms of our exchange rate management systems. This will be coming through the Monetary Policy Statement in the next few weeks.
So, we would like for our Parliamentarians to be patient and wait for that Monetary Policy Statement that will have some reforms that will speak to the rising inflation and exchange rate volatility. I thank you.
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My supplementary question to the Deputy Minister pertains to other Government departments that are charging services in foreign currency such as the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR). You can only have vehicle registration in USD and you cannot do so using local currency. I thank you. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members, please may we have order in the House.
*HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, Ma’am. According to our multi-currency regime, the policy is, anyone trading would be able to charge in any currency they want but when you receive, you are supposed to receive any other currency, be it the Zimbabwe dollar or forex. So, if there are other Government departments or parastatals that are only charging in forex, they are operating outside the law.
Let me hasten to say, at the moment in our country, with regards to our currency - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, your protection please. Like I said earlier, the exchange rate is what is problematic at the moment. This is why you will discover that some Government departments will be operating as if they are digressing from Government policy. This is something that is happening at the moment as we seek to address the problem through the Monetary Policy Statement. By the time we issue the statement, there will be collective measures that will include any policies that may not be followed at the moment. I thank you.
*HON. TSVANGIRAI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I realise that the Hon. Deputy Minister is not telling the truth. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order please may we have order in the House. Hon. Tsvangirai, you cannot put words in the Hon. Deputy Minister’s mouth for him to respond according to your expectations. It is wrong of you to say that the Hon. Deputy Minister is not telling the truth. Please withdraw that statement!
*HON. TSVANGIRAI: Thank you Madam Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order, may we have order in the House. Hon. Tsvangirai, you should first start by withdrawing your statement.
*HON. TSVANGIRAI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I withdraw Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.
*HON. TSVANGIRAI: My supplementary question is, when are we getting the Monetary Policy Statement because people can not afford to put food on the table, they cannot afford…
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order, may you please stick to one language and stop code switching.
*HON. TSVANGIRAI: My question is when are we going to receive the monetary policy because where we come from, people cannot afford to put food on the table? They cannot afford healthcare – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker can I be protected please?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Tsvangirai, we want order in the House. If you want to quarrel you can go outside.
HON. HLATWAYO: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable, please take your seat – [HON. MEMBERS: He is the Leader of the Opposition.] – Yes, I know very well he is the Leader of the Opposition. By being the Leader of the Opposition, he is supposed to keep the Hon. Member in check so that there is order.
HON. HAMAUSWA: There is noise from the other side of the House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please, may we have order – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Members, may we have order in the House. Hon. Hlatwayo and Hon. Hamauswa, I expect good behaviour from you as leaders.
HON. KARENYI: Supplementary question Madam Speaker.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The supplementary question has not yet been responded to. You are a seasoned Member of Parliament and therefore you should know the rules.
HON. KARENYI: I thought you had asked him to sit down because you were saying he is mixing languages. I thought maybe you did not give him the opportunity. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please, take your seat.
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam Speaker and thank you to the Hon. Member who I can assure our oath of office does not permit us to come and lie in this august House. As Government, we come and we articulate the facts as they are.
To his question in my previous statement, I had mentioned that in the next few weeks, I think the Minister, prior mentioned in the fullness of time that the reason why there has not been a very clear time line is because we are going through a reform process which involves consultations, engagements and in all earnest, Government is committed to coming up with a regime that is probably the last time that we see rising inflation and exchange rate volatility. This process needs to be done right. I would plead that we have patience as this is going to be a pivotal piece within our economy. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MATEWU: Point of order Madam Speaker. Thank you Madam Speaker. About four weeks ago, this question rose and the same Minister came here and said in a very few weeks they are going to come with the monetary policy.
Madam Speaker we come here to Parliament to question the Executive. The Executive must be sincere with us. We are Members of Parliament. We are not some pub. If we ask questions to the Executive, we expect to get answers. We want the Hon. Minister to be able to tell us when that monetary policy is coming. It is not good enough to come every week, after every one month and we are told that – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – We want answers Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Matewu, your point of order is over ruled.
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, if I can have your indulgence, I just want to raise an issue of concern in terms of the foul language that is being used by the other side of the House. I think we cannot tolerate that. We are patient, but I think they are provoking Hon. Members to react to their statements. I think we are in an honourable House. Let us use language that seeks to get information that we want from the Executive, not insulting questions – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. S. ZIYAMBI: Supplementary question Madam Speaker. Thank you Madam Speaker. We have noted with concern that there are people in this country who are hoarding large sums of cash in safes in their houses and these people are not putting that money in circulation. What is the Government’s position with regards to people who hoard cash?
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Government policy is that we are in a multicurrency regime. What this entails is that one can choose to hold value in United States dollars. Such United States dollars can either be in cash or can be in their nostro. This strategy that we have where people are keeping cash in boxes in their houses or in safes might speak to the confidence in the banking system which are also issues that are being addressed. We will not endeavour to compel people to remove money from their safe keeping places. I am sure my fellow Minister of Home Affairs would advise against that, but as Treasury and as the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, we will not be looking as to where and in what form one is keeping their personal finances. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. MUNEMO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for social welfare. My issue is, there was a programme that was talked about of distributing food in rural areas, but the data base that was used was for the 2022/2023 delimitation or census report. So there is a disparity in terms of the enumerated people. Some people maybe in an old ward according to the previous delimitation. What is Government policy in terms of rectifying that to ensure that no one is left behind because of that disparity?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DINHA): Thank you Madam Speaker. We had a meeting with Ministers of State, with Provincial Secretaries of State as well as chiefs concerning this delimitation issue to ensure that we have a new database. Where this food is being distributed right now, they are starting with a new registration whereby chiefs as well as village heads are consulted so that registration will ensure that beneficiaries are the people who are registered currently, which ensures that there is rectification of any people who may have gone to another place in the ward according to the previous delimitation.
*HON. MUNEMO: I would like to find out – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
*HON. MUNEMO: My supplementary question is, the officers who are currently registering people coming with a premeditated figure are saying this was the number of people who have been in the previous registration. So, they are trying to make sure that those people be equal to the previously registered number of people, whereby some people may be left behind and are supposed to be included in another ward. Now, that becomes problematic. What is Government going to do to rectify that?
*HON. DINHA: Madam Speaker, as I said before, there is no one who is receiving food without registration. Considering current residents of a ward, and the registration is being led by a village head because those are the people who know their subjects. What is happening right now, people are considering the current status according to the delimitation. There is no ward that is going to receive food without registration. Registration goes first, then people receive food. I thank you.
*HON. KARENYI: I would like to find out from the Hon. Minister, what is the policy to ensure that people who are conducting the registration process are not going to use political party lines? What we know is that although the law says the village heads are supposed to be apolitical, I know that people who may be linked to the party that I belong to will not be registered. What is the policy with regards to ensuring that the registration is not politicised?
*HON. DINHA: I think where the Social Welfare distribute food, we do not consider the political affiliation of a recipient. We distribute food to everyone. Even where there are Members of Parliament belonging to other parties, food is going to those areas because the President, Hon. Mnangagwa is saying no one is supposed to starve. It means everyone, not ZANU PF Members only. So, when we are distributing, we are giving everyone. We are leaving no one. It is going to go to all corners of the country. Even sometimes when we get distress calls, when distribution will not be taking place, we realise some of those people may be desperately in need of food, so we will take the food to those people because we want everyone to receive food. Councillors are also supposed to assist in the distribution of food, but it is mostly the village heads and chiefs to lead that process. I thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: I am very happy that grain is being distributed by the Social Welfare. It is common sense that everyone cannot receive grain. Indeed, there is grain being distributed where we come from in the rural constituencies. Some may have many wards up to 20 or 22 wards. The problem is transporting that grain to the people. What is Government policy in terms of distributing grain to the recipients at their doorsteps?
*HON. DINHA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. This grain distribution programme should have started a long time ago but we were waiting for funding from Treasury to transport the grain to silos that are closer to the people. Right now, we have been given an allocation of $3.7 billion to ensure that we cover registration as well as transporting the grain. With regards to transportation, we have not received all the money. By the time we receive all the money, the process will proceed smoothly. From the figure we were allocated, we received about $8 billion in February and yesterday we received $3.5 billion. We have not received all the funds and that is the reason why we have those delays. We have employed people who have to ensure that registration takes place but we owe them about $4.4 billion. So, if we receive funds quickly, the programme will proceed quickly as well. The grain is there, the only problem is transportation to take it to the nearest GMB depots so that people may receive grain closer to their doorsteps.
An Hon. Member having wanted to ask a supplementary question.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Supplementary questions are enough. We now want a new question.
HON. MAVHUNGA: My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. What is the Ministry’s policy on Government procurement when it comes to the youth of this country?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mavhunga, you are directing your question to which Ministry?
HON. MAVHUNGA: I directed it to the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Investment Promotion.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can you reconstruct your question?
HON. MAVHUNGA: I direct it to the Minister of Youth.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister responsible for the youth, did you get the question?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING (HON. MUPAMHANGA): I did not get it
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mavhunga, I will give you time to reconstruct your question.
HON. MANGONDO: Thank you Madam Speaker, good afternoon. I would have wanted to direct my question to the Hon. Minister of Transport, but perhaps the Leader of Government Business may respond to my question. My question relates to the emergency road rehabilitation programme. We noticed that there has been a lot of work that has been done on that programme. Of late, we have seen slowing down particularly in the rural areas. So what is Government doing to ensure that the emergency road rehabilitation programme is expedited in the rural areas especially after the rains which have left most of the roads in very bad conditions? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET FOR SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (THE HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Madam Speaker, the emergency road rehabilitation programme is an ongoing programme and if there is any slowdown, it is most probably a result of two factors. The first one is the rains that the Hon. Minister referred to. Typically, during the rainy season, road construction slows down and picks up again in the dryer season. The second aspect could be the fact that contractors may not have been compensated adequately for them to continue and typically at the beginning of the year when Treasury is still sorting out issues related to the budget. That slowdown is almost inevitable and as soon as our revenues pick up, contractors will be back on the projects. That is likely to coincide also with the end of the rainy season so that construction can continue uninterrupted. I thank you.
HON. MANGONDO: Thank you Madam Speaker. There is a lot of confusion with regards to road authorities, particularly in the rural areas where the Ministry of Transport is responsible for certain roads, DDF for certain roads and the Rural District Councils for certain roads. It becomes very difficult to place responsibility, especially after the rains because the rural roads are in a very bad state. What is Government doing to harmonise these responsibilities so that each road authority does not just pass the burden to the other road authority?
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker, the determination as to who is responsible is very easy, especially in the rural constituencies. Hon. Members can easily know who is there, the road authority for the specific road by visiting the office of the District Development Coordinator. They will clearly indicated who is responsible. Typically, in the rural communities, it is either the former DDF which is now called RIDA, the Rural Infrastructure Development Authority or the local authority itself and in a very few instances, the Ministry of Roads, the Department of Roads will be responsible for some of those roads.
So, it is easy to determine and also for purposes of knowing the schedules, it is also easy to go to the District Development Coordinator and you will be informed what will be happening in the various communities. I thank you.
HON. V. MOYO: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is on the policy that the Ministry uses; the criteria to determine which road to qualify for the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme. I bring this up because there are roads that are so strategic like the Victoria Falls-Bulawayo Road which is in a very bad state. There is also the Nkayi-Bulawayo Road that has been on the cards for so many years. I thank you.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. You will realise that the recent activity around our roads follows after a long period where they have been serious deterioration, almost across the country. Therefore, in situations where there are always limited resources, not every road can be done at the same time. We are happy to know that most of our major roads now have takers in terms of companies that want to come in, and some coming in with their own financing to start work on those roads. One of the roads that he has referred to which is the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls Road, has sections that have already started to be constructed. The prioritisation as to other roads authorities depend on what is discussed at that local level. It may be at the Rural District Council level, it may be urban councils’ level. Everything will have to be prioritised to the Ministry from the specific local authority or road authority that is responsible. So, the Ministry gets submissions, and on the basis of those submissions, they have also prioritised based on resources that will be available at the particular point in time. I thank you.
HON. MHETU: I want to ask with regards to Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme No. 2. It has been four years since service providers have not been given their outstanding balances. Is there a said deadline for the Government to complete these payments?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, that question must be put in writing so that the responsible Hon. Minister will go and make some investigations and come to this august House with the correct answer. I thank you.
*HON. W. CHIKOMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister Sanyatwe since we do not have the Minister responsible in the House…
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, just ask your question. What you are saying that we do not have the responsible Hon. Minister here in the House is not necessary.
*HON. W. CHIKOMBO: I want to find out what are Government plans or policy with regards to the issue that should our country experience an attack or disaster like what happened in Mosi-oa-Tunya, that planes had to abort landing because there was a suspected bomb? Are we safe as a country seeing that we are now close to host SADC in the next coming days?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. SANYATWE): Thank you Madam Speaker. That question raised by the Hon. Member, we are very safe in this country. What happened in the past is being looked into right now about what really happened and where it did come from. If the investigation is complete, we will inform this House. At the moment, I would like to assure you that we are well protected.
*HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Environment. What is Government policy – we read in the Sunday Mail that Government is going to be fining people USD5 000 for littering everywhere. What is the policy on two fronts? Firstly, the litter bins, sometimes you travel from here to Westgate and you do not find litter bins on the road. What is their programme with regards to the availability of litter bins in rural areas as well as urban areas so that when we are going to be fined, we will know that indeed, it was because we did not make use of the bins?
The second thing is, these diapers that are used by infants, what is Government policy with regards to their disposal? Everywhere you travel, I do not know in the urban areas but in the rural areas, you find them thrown all over. Where I conducted meetings, some were suggesting that they must be banned but I think the biggest problem is how can they be disposed safely and protecting the environment at the same time? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: But the diapers do not have a Shona name. They are only called diapers. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- Hon. Members, we are not playing here. Proceed Hon. Minister.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE AND WILDLIFE (HON. N. M. NDLOVU): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to thank the Hon. Member for your very important question with regards the state of litter in the country. I want to start by imploring the House that we all have a responsibility of keeping our country clean. As a matter of fact, we are the ones responsible for the deplorable state we find our country in. The President and Head of State, President E. D. Mnangagwa, in 2018, launched the National Clean UP Campaign after realising the deteriorating state of our environment that every first Friday of the month, we are all expected to be cleaning where we are staying. Clearly, the situation is not improving and we are saying particularly in urban local authorities, the situation has gone out of hand. The Hon. Member will recall that last year, Government declared the State of Emergency in Harare in particular because of the state in which we find our waste management in.
I want to just make it clear that the responsibility of cleaning our areas lies squarely on our local authorities. As a Government, we believe in what we call the ‘polluter pays principle’ and the polluter pays to the local authorities. Our main concern is what happens to the money that we are collecting for waste collection and for waste disposal? I am happy to also highlight that we have engaged both the Ministry of Local Government and some local authorities – recently, Harare City Council on the measures that they ought to implement in order to address the situation. The meeting that we had with the Mayor came with the conclusion that first, they will be penalising the shops in the CBD that do not have bins outside their shops.
Secondly, that they will be training their city parking officials to be also environmental protection officers so that whoever is throwing litter in the streets will be apprehended the same way they are doing to those who do not have parking certificates.
Thirdly, Harare City which is the epicentre in terms of the waste situation, although other local authorities that are also in the same bracket have received from Government 52 tractors and they told us that each ward will have a tractor that will be collecting waste on a regular basis. The fines that the Hon. Member was talking about are administered again by local authorities through their by-laws and each local authority has now by-laws to do with environmental management. You would find that most of them will be differing from local authority to local authority, but we have implored them to make them as deterrent enough as possible. We will be moving quite strongly on public transporters to make sure that each public transporter, as per law, has got a dust bin.
Turning to the issue of diapers which was highlighted, we have a challenge of diapers because they do not only pose an environmental problem, but also a health problem. The position we have which we are in discussion with local authorities is that they form partnership with health centres, clinics or rural health service centres so that these diapers can be collected and at least be incinerated because leaving them in the environment exposes people to health hazards. There was talk, of course, of having them banned or increasing the duties so that such increase can then be utilised for management of the waste – that however, is still under consideration. This august House will be appraised when a decision on that is arrived at. I thank you.
*HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary to the Hon. Minister is, are there any environmental enforcement agents who will ensure the implementation of litter disposal? In the rural areas, you can travel long distances with no bins is sight. Are they going to employ agents in the local areas because the problem is, we may end up having imposters who will be charging people for the illegal disposal of litter? It must be clear; people must know that they are legally enforcing that policy.
HON. N. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Once again, I want to thank the Hon. Member for her follow up question. At the centre of this question is the character and attitude that we have become as people to the extent that we are now thinking of having people to scrutinise our attitude and behaviour. This Madam Speaker, is unfortunately the reality that we are as a people, failing to be good custodians of our environment.
To respond to her question, our expectation as we are engaging local authorities, I highlighted that this is primarily the responsibility of local authorities. Ours as the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife or through the Environmental Agency, is to policy the local authorities. Madam Speaker, I may not have the statistics here, but I know that in 2023, we penalised not less than 40 local authorities on issues of litter. We took to court not less than 15 local authorities to make sure that they implement these environmental laws.
Our approach is multi-pronged as we have been engaging the local authorities. We have a statutory instrument that is awaiting gazetting and is still within the Attorney-General’s office. First, is making our clean-up compulsory for ministries, Government departments and agencies including all local authorities and making the accounting authorities, and in the case of local authorities, the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), the Town Clerks or responsible persons. Where we find that within their jurisdictions, no clean-up is being done or there is litter that is not being collected, they are held personally or collectively responsible.
So it is now up to the local authorities to put in measures that will deter people, be it in commuters or locals from throwing litter while at the same time putting measures to make sure that litter is collected at properly designated places.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. M. NCUBE): Thank you Hon. Minister for a well detailed response.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is, what is Government policy on informing the public about litter that can be lucrative to them? How can they collect and sell the litter for financial benefit?
HON. N. M. NDLOVU: Thank you so much Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for again, a very important question. Madam Speaker, it is possible to turn most of what we call litter or trash into cash.
We have been preaching this gospel for quite some time. I am happy to say that there are quite a number of organisations, particularly young people led organisations that we have trained in recycling to make sure that there is uptake of such litter for recycling purposes. We are particularly encouraging households, businesses and corporates that they separate litter at source. It becomes a lot easier when litter is separated at source because you will be able to determine what is recyclable. When you do so and are able to collect that in good quantities, you can sell that to people who are recycling. There are quite a number of companies that are into recycling in the private sector.
I am open Madam Speaker, to also avail such contacts per province because they are available in all our provinces, should Hon. Members want to disseminate such information to their constituencies. I thank you.
HON. SAGANDIRA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is, what plans are there from the Ministry to safeguard the payment of these fines considering that the USD500.00 fine is on the high side and beyond the reach of many? What plans are there to make sure that people will pay? I thank you.
HON. N. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam Speaker, to assist the Hon. Member, in my first statement response, I indicated that these are primarily administered by local authorities through their by-laws. There is no fixed amount, this will vary from local authority to local authority.
We are, however, happy with USD500.00 because it should be deterrent enough. I am sure if one can not afford to pay the USD500.00, there is further recourse. The important question in my view, ought to be, what are local authorities doing with what they are collecting for litter or waste management? This is the bigger challenge as we speak. We have agreed with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works that they will be ordering local authorities to have separate accounts where the proportion paid by rate payers for waste management will be ring-fenced so that as the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, we are able to audit the utilisation of such funds.
I believe that our focus is not to collect from funds, but to deter people from littering. We will be working with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and our local authorities to make sure that there is transparency in the administration of funds collected from waste management. I thank you.
HON. MAVHUNGA: On a point of privilege!
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: At the moment, we are not doing points of privilege.
HON. MAVHUNGA: I was asked to rephrase my question by the previous Chair and I am ready to ask the question.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You may proceed. Leader of the Opposition, please behave yourself.
HON. MAVHUNGA: How does the Government's current procurement policy specifically facilitate enforcing youth participation in entrepreneurship? What measures are being taken to ensure that young people have equitable access to procurement opportunities and resources for sustainable economic engagement?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET, SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you, Madam Speaker. What I can ascertain is that there are youth desks in every Government Ministry that are aimed at making sure that youth-related matters are mainstreamed. I am sure that the issue of procurement is also one of the matters that these youth desks deal with. Otherwise the procurement policy of the Government is open and as much as possible looks at the best bidder in terms of quality as well as in terms of the pricing of the services or goods that are being procured.
The only way in which much more youth participation can be achieved is through advocacy as well as training especially for youth business so that they are well prepared to bid for the services and goods that are being procured within Government.
HON. S. SAKUPWANYA: My supplementary question to the question asked by the Hon. Member is about the implementation of the youth desk which is supposed to be in every Ministry. In this case when talking to procurement, the implementation of the youth desk in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, has that been established? You can then adequately use the office to ensure that a quota is reserved under the Procurement Act for the youth to do business. I thank you.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Madam Speaker, the details of the extent to which the youth desks have been established, but in situations where they have not been established, they should be established just like the disability desks as well as all other important stakeholders whose issues should be mainstreamed, including women, should be established so that we are moving along with the mainstreaming that we need to do. However, I am not sure about the specific Ministry that was referred to, and whether a youth desk has already been established. I thank you.
HON. D. TSHUMA: Thank you, Madam Speaker. What is the Government policy in ascertaining the protection of the upcoming young business people because they cannot compete with big companies if it comes to a playing field? So, what is the policy to make sure that these people are protected if ever some things are supposed to be waivered, they should be waivered. What is the Government policy to try and protect the youth to come and play along with these big players that are already in the market? I thank you.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The importance that the Government attaches to the issues that the Hon. Member has referred to is manifest in the recent creation of a Ministry that is dedicated to the issues of the youth, including the empowerment of the youth. You know that this Ministry has now been separated from the Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture and that His Excellency is attaching a lot of importance to the issue of protecting and empowering the youth. So, I am sure that within the context of the creation of this Ministry, matters such as the one that the Hon. Member has talked about can be addressed especially with the engagement of that particular Ministry. I thank you.
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. I want to hear what is the Government policy and position with regard to rural development in driving rural industrialisation.
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. NYONI): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for a very pertinent question. The thrust of my Ministry is to make sure that this economy becomes a truly Zimbabwean economy and we cannot do that without industrialising rural areas.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, order! Hon. Members on my left, we are not in a taxi rank here. What is a ‘nxaa’. Can you withdraw that language please? Hon. Member sitting next to Hon. Tobaiwa, withdraw what you said, ‘nxaa’. Please withdraw that statement.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Sorry Hon. Speaker I did not say ‘nxaa’.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You said ‘nxaa’. Withdraw that statement.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Maybe it came from somewhere, but I withdraw. I really did not say that. Maybe it came from the other side.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I said withdraw that statement because I was looking at you.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Really? Madam Speaker, I withdraw if you saw me do that.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much. You may now sit down.
HON. DR. NYONI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I will repeat that because it is very important. The aim of the Ministry is to make this economy a truly Zimbabwean economy run by Zimbabweans and we cannot do that without doing rural industrialisation, and secondly, we want to create jobs. That is why this question is really pertinent.
Hon. Member, we are doing everything possible to make sure that anyone in the rural areas that has got a business that needs investment should be in touch with my Ministry. We will link them to the investors, but apart from that, we are developing a programme in which we will go growth point by growth point and make sure that whoever is there and is establishing businesses, is supported and linked to big businesses so that the linkage programme will also make rural areas grow. The other strategy is that we are exporting raw materials and the raw materials come from rural areas. So, the strategy now is to generate value addition where those resources are being generated. Through that, we are going then to encourage rural industrialisation by value adding what rural people are producing.
I am sure that the Hon. Members are aware of what the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has done. For instance, in Mwenezi with the Mapfura, that is exactly what we want to encourage. As a Ministry, we then want to go and grow that and any initiative that has been done by our people, we will be there to support it so that rural industrialisation expands and grows. Thank you.
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Thank you very much Hon. Minister for quite a positive response. I would like to ask if there could be any incentives, particularly on investors who would have opted to invest in the rural communities. Is there any package that could actually lure the investors to get into the rural communities for the investment? Thank you.
HON. DR. NYONI: The incentives are very important because they then encourage people to invest, but then we would have to work hand-in-glove with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion because they are responsible for the investment wing. I think they would really welcome that when we discuss with them that incentives for rural investment is very key and I am sure they will be amicable to that. They will look into that. We will work hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you Madam Speaker. In her first response, the Hon. Minister said that the industry must be Zimbabwean owned, to which I agree. She then further on went on to say if you come to the Ministry, we will link you up with an investor so that we can do industrialisation. I am really struggling to find a word to describe that. If we have investors already who are willing to industrialise our rural areas, why do we have to wait for someone to come so that you can link them to an investor? Would it not be prudent for your Ministry to actually court the investors to ensure that they put those resources that they have into rural industrialisation.
You went further on to say you want to value add because we have other players who have mines and so forth – [AN HON. MEMBER: What is the question?] – The question is, what it is that value addition, does that subscribe to rural industrialisation?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Matewu, the question, what is it? Ask the question.
HON. MATEWU: I think I have asked if you were listening Madam Speaker. I said those investors, why is it so difficult for them to just go and invest with the Minister actually driving that instead of waiting for me to come and say link me up with an investor? Is it so difficult to get those investors to go to the rural areas now and invest that money? Thank you.
HON. DR. NYONI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I am sure the Hon. Member will agree with me that I may even ask the question back and say if it was that easy, why has it not happened?
HON. MATEWU: I am not the Minister.
HON. DR. NYONI: So, we are here to facilitate. We are here to make things happen.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member.
HON. MATEWU: She is asking me and yet she is the Minister.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Matewu, order!
HON. DR. NYONI: Hon. Speaker, our role is to facilitate. The fact that it has not happened means that facilitation is needed and that is what we will do. I thank you.
+HON. BAJILA: Madam Speaker, I have realised that now it is 4.00 o’clock yet some Hon. Ministers have left. There are some Hon. Ministers who were supposed to respond to these questions now they have left. When we started this session, there was an issue raised about not respecting this august House. This is one of such issues. When they have questions on the Order Paper they are supposed to respond to them, yet they are walking away.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The Leader of Government Business is here, he will respond to your questions.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: My supplementary question is, we keep on hearing this rhetoric about beneficiation and value addition. With regards to the question that was asked by the previous Hon. Member, we keep on seeing raw materials being exported. Recently, a train derailed in Mutare, enroute to Mozambique. What exactly is the timeframe that the nation can expect beneficiation and value addition of chrome, so that we do not keep on exporting these minerals in their raw form?
HON. DR. NYONI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Business begins with individuals. I want to challenge the Hon. Member to go back to her constituency and trigger people to start value addition and the Ministry will be there to assist.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Madam Speaker, the Minister is dodging the question. The question is a national one. Beneficiation is done at a national level supervised by the responsible Ministry. So, we would want to hear the response from the Minister, when value addition and beneficiation will start because our minerals keep on going out of the country in their raw form. Our areas are underdeveloped because of that. So, the Minister should face the question. The nation would like to hear when beneficiation and value addition of minerals like chrome will start? Thank you.
HON. DR. NYONI: I think I was very clear. The Government does not do business. Government facilitates business. Therefore, I want to challenge again the Hon. Member to go back to her constituency and encourage people to start businesses and see if Government would not support those initiatives of value addition and beneficiation. We want a private sector driven economy, not a Government driven economy. So, the challenge goes back to her again.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order Number 68.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTONS WITH NOTICE
INSTALLATION OF INTERNET AT MTAWATAWA GROWTH
POINT
- HON. KARUMAZONDO asked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when telephone and internet connectivity will be installed at Mtawatawa Growth.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): First of all, I would like to thank Hon. Karumazondo for the question that relates to issues on my Ministry, concerning his constituency, in particular the growth point of Mtawatawa. Mtawatawa as a growth point, NetOne has got coverage of 2G, 3G and 4G which has been long in place. NetOne and Econet have base stations covering the growth point and surrounding areas. There is a shared Universal Service Fund base station at Karimbika. TelOne commissioned 100 megabytes per second internet note, at Mtawatawa growth point around 2020. The note can support both internet and data services. Currently, the following major customers are connected, that is Government complex, the hospital, the Rural District Council offices, ZUPCO offices and Madziva Teachers’ college. TelOne also hase a VSAT coverage of Mtawatawa District and the services are readily available on demand. Subject to the availability of funding, TelOne is planning to deploy a voice note in year 2025. I thank you.
*HON. KARUMAZONDO: I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for that response. The request by the UMP community, as alluded to by the Hon. Minister, Mtawatawa houses the Government offices. What happens at Mtawatawa is that when there is no electricity, NetOne and Econet services would not be available. So, there would not be internet services. UMP is the only district that needs TelOne line, 2025 is too far. May the services be availed earlier so that Government workers may get access to services that are being enjoyed by other Government workers.
The Hon. Deputy Minister of ICT having responded in Ndebele.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Karumazondo, do you understand what the Minister is saying?
HON. KARUMAZONDO: I do not understand, I need a translator.
+HON. PHUTI: First of all, I thank him for clearly explaining what is required according to the written question. It revealed a lot of other things that were not implied in the initial question yet those issues are supposed to be addressed. He spoke about electricity, but I would hasten to say that does not fall under our purview. However, we have a contingency plan to ensure that people continue receiving the signal in the event that there is no power. I can assure him that by the time we leave this House, we can further discuss and ensure that it becomes successful so that other base stations in Mtawatawa can get solar system installed. The Hon. Member also said 2025 is a bit far away for the implementation of these programmes. I take it that this is a request and we will liaise with other Government departments to ensure that those services are availed at the shortest possible time so that people of UMP are assisted as soon as possible. I thank you.
NETWORK CONNECTIVITY FOR ZAKA NORTH
CONSTITUENCY
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Information Communication and Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House on the Ministry’s plans regarding network connectivity in areas without network coverage in Zaka North such as wards 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12 and 33.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLODGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): Once again thank you for the opportunity and I thank Hon. Murambiwa for the question. In Zaka, sometime ago, NetOne surveyed three locations which include Rhonde Bosch, Dendedza and Ruchecheni, but failed to develop on account of costs. The base stations will be developed, constructed and switched on as soon as resources permit.
On the other hand, TelOne has provided backhaul fibre to Zaka…
Hon. N. Ndlovu having passed between the Chair and the Member speaking.
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, you can use this other side when you want to go out.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMUNICATION TECHNOLODGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): Thank you Madam Speaker. Tel One has provided backhaul Fibre to Zaka providing internet and data services to some of the clients at Zaka. This fibre is available and installed within the district providing internet services to some schools and clinics. The plan for Zaka is to deploy VSAT services to those customers that require services and that will be done as immediate as demand calls.
Hon. Speaker, I have brought in the issue of broadband despite the fact the Hon. Member had particularised on the issue of base stations that provide mobile network. This was to give a holistic answer to the issue of general connectivity. I thank you.
HON. MURAMBIWA: Thank Hon. Speaker. My supplementary question Hon. Speaker, there is a base station at Jichidza Mission which your Ministry erected last year, but the base station is not yet switched on. What is delaying you Hon. Minister? I thank you.
HON. PHUTI: Thank you Hon. Murambiwa for that incite. I hope the base station referred to is with reference to places that you mentioned. Hon. Speaker, that explains the determination to deploy base stations at every place where there is need and would like to applaud the mobile network operator that erected the said base station.
I would like to take this commitment in this august House that forthwith, I will make a follow up on the issue of how and why the base station has not been switched, but also take it upon this Ministry to make sure that such will be done as fast as possibly can. I thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: I once heard the Hon. Minister mentioned about the Universal Service Fund. How many base stations are erected using the Universal Service Fund per year? What is their priority in erecting these base stations? We know these funds are to be used, especially in rural areas where there is no network. I would like to know how many base stations are erected per year and what is your priority in choosing the places? I thank you.
HON. PHUTI: Thank you madam Speaker and I thank Hon. Nyabani for his supplementary question that relates to issues around the Universal Service Fund. The fund is set aside to service the under-served and unserved areas of this country in terms of network connectivity. It targets places that mobile network operators, because of their business nature, would generally shun for various reasons. Be it the scarcity in population, and possibly from their analysis, the fact that they may not see business potential.
Because of the nature of the Universal Service Fund as the name suggests, it is there to make sure that there is universal access to connectivity by people regardless of stratifications. I therefore, would like to further expand on the question to say it targets those places mostly in rural areas and those at the border line of the country so that our people will not be found wanting to the extent of using foreign networks for basic communication. I have satisfied the expectations of the questioner. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET, SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Hon. Speaker, I am standing in for the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, but I have responses to one question. I refer for your indulgence to defer the other question and I will respond to question No. 7.
DECONGESTATION AND DEPOPULATION OF
INGUTSHENI REHABILITATION
- HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to explain to the House what the Ministry is doing to decongest and depopulate Ingutsheni rehabilitation which of late has been flooded by teenagers who are victims of drug abuse and related mental health issues.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET SKILLS AUDIT AND DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Hon. Speaker, I want to thank Hon. Gumede for the question. Hon. Speaker, the drug and substance are both a medical and a social problem. A multifaceted strategy has been deployed to decongest Ingutsheni Hospital which is inter-ministerial, multi-sectorial, community based and institutional care approach. As a Ministry, we are offering treatment and rehabilitation of those who are already addicted and are presented with physical and mental complications of drug and substance abuse. We have put measures to capacitate our staff through training on the World Health Organisation Quality Rights, World Health Organisation, Mental Health Gap Action programme for Ingutsheni Hospital.
We are now cascading to primary care clinics where the patients will get support after discharge. We are striving to improve supply of medication which further ensures that the patients recover early and are discharged timeously so that other strategies that we are implementing, including the following can take effect:
- Strengthening primary prevention through conducting open days for scholars to visit and gain knowledge of interventions for managing substance use disorders.
- Secondary preventive measures through screening for harmful use of alcohol and substances and offering a multi-layered referral network as treatment options.
- Early referral for people with substance use disorders who are suffering from complication of drug abuse to other tertiary care facilities.
- Reintegration of patients into the community coupled with a review and follow-up programmes.
- Reducing demand of drugs by providing community based recreational and vocational training centres.
- Strengthening of supply reduction measures through holding inter-ministerial meetings at all levels of Government so as to capacitate the police in making arrests of the drug peddlers and closing of porous borders.
- Broader demand reduction awareness programmes are being conducted in collaboration with the ministries responsible for education.
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services has implemented a vigorous campaign using print, radio, television and social media. The primary concern is to reach out to all citizens on how to prevent and manage drug abuse.
- Engagement of religious leaders, traditional leaders, parents and guardians to disseminate messages as the first line of defence.
In the medium to long-term timeframe, all the aforementioned interventions will significantly reduce the health care burden on Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. GUMEDE: Thank you so much for the response. It is welcome. I have noted the holistic approach that is being proposed to decongest Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital from the youths that are currently there due to drug and substance abuse problems. I would like to reiterate to you Madam Speaker that all these measures are well and good, but the main problem which is at the institution is the fact that there are no drugs and there is no food. I think that as much as the Minister can look into all these other issues, the awareness campaigns and also to bring forward the police to assist us in the drug and substance abuse fight, we must also look at the fact that these people are already having psychiatric issues pertaining to the abuse of the drugs.
When they get to that institution, we must look more at what we can do for them in terms of how to decongest the institution given drugs and then put them out there when they are healthy. At the moment, it is congested because they are biting up nurses and doctors because there are no drugs totally and there is no food. That should be the starting point before we go to the external solutions. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: That was not a question, but it was a comment. Thank you.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Hon. Speaker Ma’am, I agree with you and commend Hon. Gumede for good suggestions that should be taken into account especially by those who are managing the institution and also just to assure that support from the Ministry of Health and Child Care will be rendered to Ingutsheni in view of the specific problems that Hon. Gumede has indicated. Thank you.
COMMISSIONING OF VEZA REGISTRY OFFICE IN ZAKA NORTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage to inform the House on the Ministry’s plans regarding the commissioning of the Veza Registry Office in Zaka North Constituency which was completed in 2022.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. SANYATWE): Madam Speaker Ma’am, Honorable Members of Parliament herein present, the idea to convert the council bottle-store into a sub-office was initiated in 2015 by Mr. Vincent Mawere, the former Member of Parliament for Zaka West Constituency. In 2019, the current Member of Parliament Hon. Ophias Murambiwa of Zaka North Constituency (name of Constituency changed after the delimitation exercise) pursued the same project with the community to refurbish the structures.
According to a report from the District Registrar, the Provincial Registrar made several visits to monitor progress and each time she visited this site, she would meet Hon. Murambiwa, local leadership, community members and other relevant stakeholders.
The idea of converting the council property was an initiative from the community that is meant to remove the problem of travelling long distances to access civil registry documents. The office situated at a catchment area that covers nine wards that are part of Zaka North, Zaka Central and Zaka West. As the Minister responsible for administering the issuance of civil documents, I therefore supported this initiative as it is in line with the Government devolution and decentralisation agenda ensuring that no place and no one is left behind.
I am informed that the renovations of the office are currently at 95%. The office has two rooms attached to it where one is used as a filing or storeroom and the other as a dark room. All structures are tubed and connected to ZESA power. The structure is well fenced, securing accommodation and offices.
Currently, the Civil Registry Department is in the process of recruiting staff, procuring ICT equipment and office furniture. Veza Sub-office is expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2024.
*HON. MURAMBIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister, so that when people ask me upon my return to the constituency after I tell them second quarter, they will not understand. May the Hon. Minister explain exactly what the second quarter is so that I can explain better to my constituents?
*HON. SANYATWE: Thank you Hon. Member for the supplementary question. I promise that we will not reach October of the second quarter without opening.
*HON. MURAMBIWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker Ma’am. My point of order is, when the House started sitting this afternoon, there were a lot of Ministers. They knew that the Order Paper has questions dating back as far as two months. We are not getting responses in time. People will say we asked questions and there have not been any responses for the past two months. What will our rural constituents say?
We beseech you Hon. Speaker, to make sure that ministers respond to our questions.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Murambiwa, sorry I was following. I think the Hon. Deputy Speaker explained about this issue after announcing their apologies. The Government Chief Whip is present, he is going to engage the Leader of Government Business so that ministers can come and respond to your questions in time. Thank you Hon. Murambiwa.
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, would I call that a point of clarity or what? I think what the Hon. Member raised has been continuously repeated in this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I think with the authority vested in you as our Speaker, you can write a letter to these ministers. It is understandable when a case has come within a week or two, but if it has gone for six months, it is too much.
On many occasions when we check with the Permanent Secretaries, they tell us they have already done the responses for the ministers. So it is time that Parliament wields its authority by inviting these ministers to come and answer those questions. I can talk to them just as I have been talking to them. We have a group where we hold discussions. Like Hon. Murambiwa’s observation, some were holding the Order Paper with their questions, but they chose to walk away.
I think it is now up to the Clerk of Parliament and the Speaker’s office to write to these ministers demanding that they come to clean up our Order Paper – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I think we are doing a fantastic job, but they are letting us down.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you Chief Whip. I hope the Clerk has noted that down. We need Ministers to come to the House and answer some of these questions.
HON. BAJILA: You assured us that they would be here. I asked the question when they were walking out…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Bajila, please sit down.
HON. BAJILA: But you asked me a question…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Bajila, why are you shouting? We have explained, the Chief Whip has explained, the Deputy Speaker explained. We are going to write that letter to the Ministers. You do not throw your hands like that; we are in the House not in a Shabeen.
Hon. Members, I have been advised that we go through all the questions, maybe some other Ministers have been given the responses to the questions.
PAYMENT OF ALLOWANCES TO CIVIL SERVANTS WHO
CONTRACTED COVID-19
- HON. BAJILA asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare to update the House on the progress made regarding the payment of COVID-19 allowances to civil servants who contracted COVID-19 as provided for in the Public Service Commission, Circular No. 1 of 2022.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR, AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DINHA): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to thank Hon. Bajila for the question which relates to my Ministry. In the health sector, there were 3000 who were paid the COVID-19 allowance. Concerning the rest of the Public Service, they were being paid the COVID-19 allowances from different sources. That is, they were supposed to be paid from their respective ministries. So, at this stage, a detailed response as to how many were paid is being compiled and will be availed next week. I thank you.
BEAM ARREARS AND PAYMENT PLAN
- HON. BAJILA asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare to present to the House the breakdown of BEAM arrears owed to schools, province by province, and the plans that have been put in place to offset the arrears.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR, AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DINHA): Thank you once again for the question which relates to my Ministry. An amount totaling ZWL19 233 085 029.00 has been paid to settle 2023 arrears for primary schools across the country. The total arrears for primary schools are ZWL425 215 440 000.00. For secondary schools, the total arrears are ZWL142 496 265 000.00 and the total is ZWL567 711 705 000.00.
The Ministry has engaged the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to clear the aforementioned arrears and ZWL50 billion was allocated for the first quarter of 2024. The actual release is ZWL30 billion which is being processed.
For the primary schools, I am going to say the figures province by province. For Bulawayo, we have 49 schools and the amount per term is USD703 490 and the total for the three terms is USD2 110 470. For Harare Province we have 58 schools that are under BEAM and the total, all in all for Harare for Primary schools is USD1 8050688. In Mashonaland Central, we have 314 schools that are under BEAM and the total which is being owed is USD3 794 226 In Mashonaland East, we have 12 primary schools that are under BEAM and the total owed is USD158 955. In Mashonaland West, we have 107 schools that are under BEAM and the total amount in arears is USD1 885 410, Matabeleland North, we have 262 schools that are under BEAM and the total is USD2 036 364. In Matabeleland South, we have 233 schools and the total arrears is USD2 388 150. In Manicaland, we have 669 schools under BEAM and the total in arrears is USD7 350897. In Masvingo, we have 606 schools that are under BEAM and the arrears are USD6 628 986. So, all in all for the provinces the total is USD28 159 146.
There are also schools that provide their statements in Rands. There is Matabeleland North and the number of schools is five, then it is R2 870. Matabeleland South, for 28 schools, the arrears is R1 422 140. In Masvingo, we have 39 schools and the arrears are R1 959 590. So, all in all in total the arrears in Rands is R3 582 600.
For secondary schools, I am going to start with those with statements in United State dollars. In Bulawayo, we have 21 schools and the amount in arrears in USD458 897. In Harare, for 16 schools, the arrears are USD 200 656. In Mashonaland Central, for 147 schools, it is USD1 380 890. Mashonaland East for eight schools it is USD61 363. Mashonaland West for 111it is USD719 601. Matabeleland North, for 59 schools, it is 481 774. Matabeleland South for 112 schools it is USD550 374. Manicaland for 486 schools it is USD3 237 276. Midlands, for two schools, it is USD12 780 and finally for Masvingo, for 222 schools, it is USD2 381433. The grand total all in all for secondary schools is USD9 423 044.
There are also secondary schools that give their statements in Rands. We have Matabeleland, for 1 school there is R18 900. Matabeleland South, for 23 schools, there is R1 438 550. So, all in all for secondary schools the grand total in Rands is R1 457 450. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. BAJILA: I would like to find out if there is anything that the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare is doing in conversation with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to ensure that these monies get to the schools at the earliest possible time. These monies are very critical in supporting our education system and in supporting the welfare of our communities. I thank you.
HON. DINHA: Thank you Hon. Bajila for such a relevant question. Thank you Hon. Speaker. For the BEAM programme to be a success, I think we have to work hand-in-glove with the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion.
We are being given money for BEAM, but the money is not being released as cash. So that is the problem. I think I have read the arrears that are there and we were promised 50 billion, and for the 50 billion that we were promised, only 30 billion was availed as cash. That is the amount that we are processing right now. So, I think that is the question for the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion because that is the one that is not releasing the funds for BEAM. Thank you.
CRITERIA USED TO PAY PENSIONERS
- HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to explain to the House the criteria used to pay pensioners as some pensioners are getting meagre payouts which are always eroded by exorbitant bank charges.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DINHA): Payment of pension is premised on the fraction of the last grade and salary of the member before they retire. It is noted that pensioners, effective January 2024, are now benefiting from the conversion of the COVID – 19 and cushioning allowances into pensionable emoluments.
This position of meagre commutation of pensions applied before the policy of having the United States dollar allowances as part of the pensionable emoluments. An example is that a retired teacher who would have served about 35 years used to receive an equivalent of around USD2 000 before the policy changed, but with the policy change they are now receiving around USD12 000, in terms of commutation of pension. So, with regards to the monthly pensions that are in United States dollars, it is now applying and the member would be getting an average of about USD140 a month. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. GUMEDE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I need clarity on the USD140 component for pensioners. This year there was an introduction of US dollar pensionable salary. I am speaking about pensioners who are already earning ZWL50 000. That is the question that I was addressing to you Madam Speaker. Surely, ZWL50 000 for someone who has given service to the nation is too little. When they get their ZWL50 000, there are also bank charges that are factored in. You find that of the ZWL50 000, after deductions they are getting ZWL42 000. I understand the fact that there are differences in terms of how the pensions are quantified. We also need to look at the reality on the ground that they are getting paltry amounts and they cannot look after themselves or look after their families and that is unacceptable – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. DINHA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am. As I said earlier, pensions are premised on the fraction of the last grade and the last salary of the member before retirement. Before January, 2024, the pensions were contributed in Zimbabwean dollar. That is why they are getting their pension in Zimbabwean dollar. With effect from January, 2024, pensions are now being calculated in US dollars because there is now a US dollar component. When I gave an example of USD140 per month, I gave an example of a teacher who has retired after working for 35 years, that now with the change of policy, she would receive about USD12 000 and then USD140 per month.
I was giving that as an example, I am not saying everybody would receive US$12 000 and US$140. I gave an example of a teacher. Pension varies, looking at the grades and the salaries of individuals before retirement. For those who are earning pensions in ZWL, I think it is going to remain like that. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: What Members are raising is related to what they are earning. I know there has been development towards Public Service Pension Fund. What we are going to be paying now is through the generosity of Government, not what we can call an entitlement or reasonable expectation of the Members. I think it is important that Government expedites the development of a Public Service Pension Fund in order to create value for those who are going to retire. It will be very unfortunate to see an Hon. Member, a teacher, a policeman who retires into poverty when, during the period he or she was at work, he could have created wealth to look after that person at retirement. I think let us speed up the issue of the Public Service Pension Fund.
HON. DINHA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am and I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I also understand that through the generosity of Government, before January 2024, there was a US dollar component that was being paid for pensions and also for installments, but it was not much but there was a US dollar component before. The Pensions Act is being amended, so I think after the whole process is finalised, there is going to be improvements in the pensions. I thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am.
SECURITY GRANTS OR PAY-OUTS TO THE VULNERABLE
34. HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to explain to the House the Government policy on social security grants or pay-outs to the vulnerable people, especially the elderly who are custodians for orphans.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DINHA): Thank you Madam Speaker and I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The elderly people who are taking care of orphans are being cushioned under the Ministry’s Social Protection programmes which include the Zimbabwe Harmonised Social Cash Transfer and the monthly maintenance allowances. The Zimbabwe Harmonised Social Cash Transfers programme targets vulnerable households which are poor and labour constrained. The labour constrained criteria encompasses the following households;
Those households that are headed by the elderly;
The households that has a member of the disabled in it;
Households with chronically ill member and also the child-headed households.
The monthly maintenance allowance programme also cushions the elderly who seek assistance from our District Social Development officers around the country. These programme is self-targeting and a cash entitlement of USD20 equivalence in local currency is given per month to that individual after means testing is conducted.
The implementation of the cash transfer programme is done by the Department of Social Development (DSD) under the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Implementation is guided by the National Social Protection Policy Framework which is in line with the Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 30, which states that the State must take all practical measures within the limits of the resources available to it to provide social security and social care to those who are in need, including the elderly. According to the National Social Protection Policy Framework, social transfers including cash transfers are a key component of the policy measures and access to social assistance is a basic human right enshrined in the international human rights instruments. The elderly persons and the orphans are also included.
Above all, the Harmonised Social Cash Transfers and the monthly maintenance allowances programmes are also governed by the NDS1 which focuses on the quality and affordable social protection for all and the desired outcome is improved access to inclusive social protection. NDS1 targets to reduce the number of people below the food poverty line which is one of the eligibility criteria of the Harmonised Social Cash Transfers. Households comprising of the elderly and children are labour constrained and this renders such households to be food poor and fall below the food poverty line. Therefore, such households qualify to benefit from cash transfers and other social protection programmes.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. M. NCUBE) in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the time for Question with Notice be extended by a further 15 minutes.
HON. NYABANI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. DINHA: The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare gives special attention to the elderly and children as it embraces the mantra, “living no place and no one behind”.
The Harmonised Social Cash Transfers programme has a thrust on child protection, cushioning orphans and other vulnerable children, bringing out a child sensitive social protection. This programme cushions households headed by the elderly, orphans and other vulnerable children. This is aimed at strengthening the household economy for households with orphans and other vulnerable children under the custody of the elderly.
The households headed by the elderly might have children in most cases orphans. These meet the eligibility criteria of the Harmonised Social Cash Transfers programme. The value of transfers per month are as follows:
- US$20 – 1 household member
- US$30 – 2 household members
- US$50 – 3 household members
- US$65 – 4 household members
The capping is at four members informed by the National Census that has it that an average household in Zimbabwe is at 4.1 members. The cash transfers are gazetted in USD, but are paid in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate.
HON. GUMEDE: My supplementary question is based on the fact that there are cash transfers still available for these beneficiaries. Secondly, I wanted to highlight that as much as we appreciate the efforts by Government, can these current benefits not be reviewed upwards in line with the economic situation in the country?
HON. M. DINHA: Thank you Hon. Gumede for the supplementary question. For a long time, we have not been giving hand-outs of the funds but the policy is there as you have asked us to explain to the House the Government policy on social security grants or payments to the vulnerable people, but we are resuming the payments in the next months. Also, the other problem that we are having as a Ministry is, we had a manual and most of the things in the manual were outdated. So, we are also in the process of reviewing the manual so that we can start again the programme of cash transfers.
As for raising the value of the transfers from $20, $30 or $50 upwards, I do not think we will be able to raise those amounts given our budget, maybe next time we can review the amounts but right now when we start, those will be the amounts that we will be giving to the households. I thank you.
MITIGATION OF DROUGHT INDUCED STARVATION IN
CHIPINGE SOUTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. C. HLATWAYO asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House the measure the Ministry has put in place to mitigate challenges of imminent starvation in the Chipinge South Constituency in anticipation of food shortages owing to drought.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DINHA): The year 2022/23 saw a bumper harvest in Zimbabwe of 2,7 million tonnes of cereals. However, in 2023 ZIMVAC report, there were pockets in the country which experienced food insecurity including Chipinge where it was projected that there is 30% food insecurity between January and March, 2024. However, going forward, April to June 2024, there will still be need for food assistance. My Ministry acknowledges the effects of the El Nino, not only in Chipinge, but across the country. Currently, my Ministry is responding to the projections made in 2023. However, going forward, we have budgeted for the drought mitigation going up to June 2024.
<HON. C. HLATYWAYO: Because of the heat, they did not get bumper harvest and are always experiencing hunger, unlike others. Despite the El Nino being experienced this year, they have always experienced drought. A lot of people do not have farms, they were repossessed to pave way for the ethanol project. So, that is why we are asking what measures have been taken to assist people in that situation as I have just explained.
*HON. DINHA: Hon. Speaker, when I was responding, I spoke about distress calls. When we find there is drought and even though they are not being issued food, we will issue the food ourselves. I would like to say to Hon. Hlatwayo that if they do not come to the Ministry and tell us that Chipinge South is suffering from hunger, we will not know about it. We want you to write us a letter telling us that in Chipinge South, we are experiencing a drought and we are not having a bumper harvest. In those areas or constituencies, we give distress calls in those regions. Right now, the maize is being given from January to March but because there is drought, we will continue giving maize till June because we are noticing that it is not only Chipinge South that is suffering from drought but most constituencies. We can also say the whole country. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I hope Hon. Hlatwayo you have heard what the Minister said. She has opened doors for you. You can go anytime and tell her your problems.
PRACTICALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND THE STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO
- HON. MATARA asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to explain to the House the following:
a) Measures taken by the Ministry to ensure the practicality and effectiveness of the inclusive education; and
b) Plans to address the student-teacher ratio in classrooms.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has implemented several measures to provide inclusive education. Teachers have been trained at Zimbabwe Sign Language (ZMSL), which is now being offered as a subject in schools since January 9, 2024. This intervention has greatly benefited learners who are hard of hearing. The Ministry has also developed a draft Inclusive Education Policy which is currently in the final approval stages. Additionally, an Inclusive Education handbook for Primary and Secondary Schools has been created with physical copies distributed to schools without internet access and digital copies available for download from the Ministry’s online platforms such as e-learning, dzidzo paden, WhatsApp and so on.
Furthermore, the Ministry has issued implementation circulars with guidelines on mainstreaming gender, disability, Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) and other aspects of inclusive access and participation in primary and secondary education. Satellite schools have been established to reduce the long travel distances for pupils. The Ministry has partnered with stakeholders to upgrade these satellite schools, providing annual grants for school infrastructure improvement and the purchase of teaching and learning materials with the aim of transforming them into fully-fledged registered schools.
b) The recruitment of teachers is determined by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare through the fiscal space of the Public Service Commission. The Ministry continues to advocate for increased teacher recruitment from other Government entities to reduce the teacher-pupil ratio.
HON. MATARA: I would like to applaud the Minister for such an initiative, but my concern is on the recruitment of teachers who specialised in special needs education. Do you have any measures to increase the number of teachers who specialise in special needs education in the schools in order to increase the pass rate?
HON. GATA: As I have indicated in the first part of the answer, recruitment of teachers is done through the Ministry of Public Service. We do recommend them. However, we do recommend to them the kind of teachers that we want.
Yes, we are working on that and we are looking at that using the holistic Government approach.
SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS AND CRITERIA FOR DEPLOYMENT
- HON. KARENYI asked Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House the following:
a) Why there are reports of shortages of teachers in schools considering that there are many unemployed trained teachers in the country; and
b) What criteria is used when deploying teachers considering that those who have been on waiting lists for a long time have not been employed whilst those who recently graduated have been engaged.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): a) The number of teachers recruited is determined by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare through the fiscal space of the Public Service Commission. The Ministry continues to advocate for increased teacher recruitment from other Government entities to address the shortage of teachers. You might have found out that recently, we employed about 2000 teachers.
b) The deployment of teachers follows a first come first serve basis except for STEM subjects such as Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology where there is still a shortage of teachers. The Ministry urges teacher training colleges to enrol more students in STEM subjects.
HON. KARENYI: My follow up question to the Minister is – what is the Government policy especially when they recruit teachers; a teacher is trained in Manicaland Province and when it comes to deployment, she or he may be deployed to Mashonaland Central? Is there any other criteria which can also manage them so that they are deployed in their region?
HON. GATA: As a Ministry, we are looking at it because we discovered that having teachers going closer to home, cuts costs. Secondly, the mother language – muNdawu akaenda kumandau ofundisa vana ve ECD, vanoyayeya.
INVOLVEMENT OF PARENTS IN THE ADMINISTRATION
AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS
- HON. M NKOMO asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to provide an update on the following:
a. What is the Government’s policy regarding the involvement of parents in the administration and development of Government and non-government schools?
b. What is the role of school administration in matters relating to the suspension of School Development Committees (SDCs), considering recent incidents at Francis of Assisi High School in Chivhu and Fatima High School in Lupane where the respective SDCs were removed before the end of their tenures?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): The Education Act mandates all schools to involve the Parents Assembly in the administration and development of schools. I can give you Section 36 of the Education Act, Chapter 25:04 as amended, provides that schools Parents Assembly and School Development Committees:
- Parents or Guidance with children at any school shall constitute a School Parents Assembly.
- The responsible authority of any registered school shall cause the school Parent Assembly to establish a School Development Committee.
- Section 13 (b), the composition, functions, duties, procedures and powers of the School Development Committee shall be as contained in the Constitution of the School Parents Assembly.
Provided that where the School Parents Assembly has not made a constitution satisfactory to the Minister, the composition, functions, duties, procedures and powers of the School Development Committee, shall be as prescribed. Then on question (b), SDCs are guided by the constitution that outlines issues such as the tenure of office. However, the Ministry can confirm that none of the SDCs mentioned by the Hon. Member were removed as alleged. I so submit.
WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
SUSPENSION OF STUDENTS FOR NON-PAYMENT OF FEES
42 HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to explain the measures the Ministry is taking regarding schools that turn away students for non-payment of fees or suspend them from class, which violates the Government policy that no student should be sent away.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): Any school head found guilty of sending away pupils for non-payment of fees will be held accountable according to the Public Service Regulations.
MITIGATION OF CHALLENGES POSED BY EXTRA
LESSONS
- HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to explain the Ministry’s plans to address the challenges posed by extra lessons, where teachers give more attention to students who can afford them.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): Our laws do not recognise this arrangement and anyone involved in providing extra lessons while also receiving a salary from the Government is violating the laws of the land. The Ministry will continue to enforce regulations and ensure compliance.
CONSTRUCTION OF MAHATSHULA SECONDARY SCHOOL
- HON. GUMEDE asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when construction will begin for Mahatshula Secondary School.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): The building materials for Mahatshula Secondary School are now available and construction will commence once the Ministry has finalised its arrangement with contractors.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON. N. NDLOVU, the House adjourned at Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 6th March, 2024
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Sen. Tshabangu, you have to go and put on a jacket.
Hon. Tshabangu left the Chamber.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
I have to inform the Senate that on Tuesday, 4th March, 2024, Parliament was notified by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in terms of Section 39 (7) (a) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], that with effect from 1st March, 2024, Hon. Sen. Mdhluri Maxwell for Manicaland Province was duly appointed as Member of the Senate to
fill in the vacant in the Senate that occurred following the recall of the incumbent Member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Party.
Section 128 (1) of the Constitution provides that, before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the oath of a Member of Parliament as set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament. I, therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the Oath of a Member of Parliament.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. SEN. MDHLURI MAXWELL subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the law and took his seat. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have received Non-Adverse Reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on Statutory Instruments Nos. 240, 245, 246, 247, 248 and 249 of 2023 and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 10 (a) of 2024.
CORRECTION OF HANSARD SPEECHES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE. I have to remind Hon. Senators that the onus is on them to correct their speeches before they are printed in the Hansard. Copies of these speeches are brought to the Senate by orderlies and should be corrected and returned to Hansard within 15 minutes. In the event that the Senate adjourns before an Hon. Senator has been favoured with a copy of his or her speech, Hon. Senators are required to go to the Hansard office, room number 112 and correct their speeches.
Furthermore, Hon. Senators are reminded that corrections are restricted to grammar and spelling mistakes only. Hon. Senators should not attempt to refine their speeches by adding new material that they did not raise during the debate or to remove issues raised during debate. If there are distortions in their speeches, they should approach the Director-Hansard, Ms. Kanyume in office number 108.
APPOINTMENT TO INTER-PARLIAMENTRY UNION
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also want to inform the Senate that Hon. Sen. Chief Chitanga has been appointed as a Member of the delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He replaces the late Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ON THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. R. NDLOVU: I would like also to debate a bit on the electoral report. All of us are aware that an election has three major things which happen before an election date. There is what is called pre-election which is preparation for an election, there is election day and post-election period.
I will first of all look at the preparation of an election. All of us in this august House are aware that before an election, there are a lot of activities like campaigns that take place. In the past elections, there are a lot of things that happened. There are people who were assaulted before an election. In the ZEC report that is not mentioned. We have Hon. Members who were assaulted and their vehicles were damaged, but that did not appear in the ZEC report.
On the actual election day, some polling stations had no ballot papers. Some polling stations were opened at 1400 hours in the afternoon. That affected other people such that they did not manage to vote. In rural areas, people did not vote because it was dark and it was difficult for them to access the polling stations. That is what happened. There were no ballot papers and some polling stations did not open at the stipulated time frame. It was very unusual that the voting process took two days. Normally, the whole process should take place in one day. In the past election, there was a delay in the process of tabulating the votes. That was a mistake on the part of ZEC. That being the case, people were skeptical that there could be something happening in those two days.
After the counting of the votes, there was a surprise in the manner in which the votes were counted and the way they were announced. In the past, results were counted and an announcement was made about those Members of Parliament and councillors who would have made it. Again, an announcement on Proportional Representation Members would be made, but in the recent past election it was something different. First there was an announcement of the results of the President of Zimbabwe. That was not the normal way in which things were done. We were used to a scenario where results for Presidential election were announced according to provinces. That did not happen in the August 2023 election. We just got information on the grand total for the Presidential election. We were not used to such a scenario and we were surprised. We took our time to find out how the people had voted in the provinces. These are the issues that we are saying ZEC did not conduct the election properly.
In the post-election period after the announcement of the results, I did not see people in jubilation that there was an election. That was indicative to me that the election had not been properly conducted. Again, that was indicative to me that people were not happy with the way in which things had been done. We are requesting ZEC to be impartial to all the parties involved. ZEC should handle all the contesting parties in the same manner. We also trust that ZEC should do proper justice to its mandate. Furthermore, we are requesting that in future, they should write a report of things that would have happened so that it reflects credibility and the people will know that ZEC does its job properly. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Unfortunately, the Department of ICT is letting this House down. It is very unfortunate and this is the second time that it is happening. I have said it before that it is important and it is a priority that the interpretation system is fixed. It has got to be done. I am sure we have people who know this technology. As it is, am not the only one who has not followed up that debate. I am sure there are many other Senators. Clerk of Parliament, please pull up your socks.
+HON. SEN. E. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President. We thank ZEC for the work they have done with regard to the recently concluded elections. Before the elections, we had the delimitation process where we encountered some problems. People were being transferred from one ward to another. When you go to the voter education, we are grateful to ZEC for the work that they have done. People were educated and also registered. They came again for voter verification. When it came to election time, elections were conducted properly. We would like to thank the President for the manner in which he emphasised that there should not be any violence.
Where I come from in Insiza, Matebeleland South, there was no violence during the elections. People were running around campaigning and talking to each other. Normally, elections are a problem because everyone expects to win. The truth is, we are grateful to ZEC for a job well done. In Insiza, ballot papers arrived on time such that by 7 am, polling stations had been opened and people voted. After counting the votes, the results were displayed outside the polling station and the councillor, M.P and President were announced as having won. We are grateful as Insiza, we have nothing to complain about. We are grateful to ZEC that the elections were peaceful and no one went to court. For us, we would like to thank ZEC for a job well done.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
STRATEGIES TO MOBILISE RESOURCES FOR THE
NATIONAL CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
WHEREAS on 5th December, 2018, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr E. D. Mnangagwa, declared every first Friday of each month as a National Clean-Up Day;
APPALLED by individuals and organisations who fail to partake in the campaign as declared by His Excellency the President;
GRAVELY CONCERNED that local authorities are negating the National Clean Up Day Campaign by not doing justice in cleaning the cities resulting in rampant littering;
NOTING that funding and resource mobilisation for cleaning our country is inadequate:
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon —
(a) the local authorities to strictly enforce the by-laws on the cleaning of cities by ensuring that offenders are punished;
(b) the Government to set aside adequate funding towards National Clean-Up Campaigns and come up with strategies to mobilise more resources for such activities; and
(c) encourage all Zimbabweans and organisations to take part in Clean-Up Campaigns.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I rise today to introduce a motion on a matter of critical importance to our nation, the ongoing challenge of waste management and the vital need for a cleaner and healthier Zimbabwe. I want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to you, Madam President, for allowing me to present this motion.
The state of cleanliness in our country is a dire issue that demands immediate attention. From overflowing landfills in urban centres to polluted rivers and mountains in rural areas, the impact of improper waste disposal is felt across every corner of Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, tackling waste management and fostering a culture of cleanliness has surpassed political affiliation. His Excellency, Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa's ‘National Clean-Up Day’ initiative launched in 2018, outdoes political boundaries and calls upon all citizens, regardless of background or belief, to contribute to a cleaner and healthier nation. This monthly campaign encourages individuals from all walks of life to dedicate two hours on the first Friday of each month to cleaning their communities, parks, and public spaces. The President himself regularly participates, setting a powerful example of unity and shared responsibility. While political figures often champion such initiatives, the true heart of this campaign lies in the collective action of ordinary citizens, demonstrating the power of community spirit and individual commitment in paving the way for a cleaner and more beautiful Zimbabwe.
For sure, every first Friday, streets bustle with activity as neighbours join hands to pick up litter, businesses organise clean-up drives, and even school children put on gloves to tackle overflowing bins. The air thrums with a shared purpose, a sense of community rising above individual differences. From bustling cityscapes to rural villages, the ‘National Clean-Up Day’ has become a monthly ritual, a chance for everyday Zimbabweans to contribute their two hours and witness the collective impact of their efforts. While challenges remain, the enthusiasm and commitment are undeniable, painting a hopeful picture of a nation united in its pursuit of cleanliness.
Just yesterday, our very own Her Excellency, Dr. A. Mnangagwa was shown on the news engaging different individuals from different political backgrounds cleaning the town of Harare. That, my fellow Senators, is a perfect gesture of leading by example, of a tremendous leader. I want to take this opportunity to thank the First Lady for the splendid job she has been doing for our country. Indeed, she has been very busy since the year started and for that we are grateful. If the First Lady takes the Clean Up seriously, what more a mere citizen!!!
A web of legislation aims to control littering and promote responsible waste management. The Environmental Management Act (EMA) serves as the cornerstone, outlining general waste disposal prohibitions and empowering local authorities to designate waste collection sites. Notably, section 83 (1) explicitly forbids littering, carrying significant fines or imprisonment for violators. Additionally, the EMA's Hazardous Waste Management Regulations impose stricter controls on specific waste types, requiring licences and designated disposal facilities. Further regulations address effluent and solid waste disposal, outlining procedures for waste treatment and disposal depending on its classification. However, enforcing these regulations remains a challenge. Limited resources strain local authorities, and public awareness campaigns are crucial to encourage behaviour change and deter littering. While the legal framework exists, its effectiveness hinges on consistent enforcement, robust infrastructure development, and fostering a culture of environmental responsibility among citizens and organisations.
While all striving for cleanliness, a direct comparison between Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and UAE reveals both shared aspirations and contrasting realities. On one hand, all three nations have prioritised National Clean-Up campaigns, demonstrating a collective commitment to a healthier environment. Rwanda's Umuganda, UAE's National Clean-Up Day, and Zimbabwe's National Clean-Up Day share features like community participation and government leadership.
However, significant differences emerge in infrastructure and enforcement. Both Rwanda and UAE boast robust waste management systems with widespread waste collection, recycling facilities, and efficient disposal methods. I visited both countries and they were very clean. One would not even see any litter in the streets. In contrast, Zimbabwe faces infrastructure gaps, hindering consistent waste collection and leaving many areas reliant on individual initiatives. Additionally, stricter enforcement in Rwanda and UAE deters littering and illegal dumping, contributing to their visibly cleaner landscapes. While Zimbabwe has similar regulations, enforcement remains a challenge, leading to persistent waste issues in some areas.
The fight for a cleaner Zimbabwe cannot be won on willpower alone. While the dedication of communities and individuals participating in Clean-Up campaigns is commendable, it is time to acknowledge the stark reality: mobilising resources is paramount to securing lasting change. We need increased investment in waste collection infrastructure, from expanding our fleet of garbage trucks to establishing efficient recycling plants. Strengthening enforcement mechanisms for littering and illegal dumping is crucial, coupled with educational campaigns that foster environmental awareness and behavioural change. This necessitates not just individual contributions but also collaborative efforts between the government, private sector, NGOs, and communities.
Our President's call for a cleaner Zimbabwe is not just a directive, it is a challenge and a beacon of hope. It is a call to arms for each and every one of us to wield not weapons, but brooms, trash bags, and a renewed sense of responsibility. Let u answer this call not out of obligation, but out of respect for ourselves, our communities, and the breath-taking land we share.
Additionally, Zimbabwe is a country known for its exquisite sites suitable for tourism. What would the tourists as well as delegation visitors think when they are welcomed with dirty streets and parks? Madam President, I believe the City Councils along with an individual Zimbabwean, can create a clean Zimbabwe. In the same line of thought, the Zimbabwe is open for business mantra means we have investors coming from different parts of the world at any time any day. Thus, it is imperative to always be ready and that means having a clean country. As a nation, it is trite to stand ready for anyone.
Remember, the laws against littering and improper waste disposal exist not to restrict us, but to protect us. Every plastic bottle tossed carelessly, every overflowing bin ignored, becomes a threat to our health, our environment, and our future. Let us not wait for enforcement; let us embrace these regulations as guiding principles for building a cleaner, healthier nation. Today, let us pledge to not just participate in clean-up drives, but to make every day a clean-up day. Let us answer the President's call, not just with words, but with action, and together, write a new chapter in Zimbabwe's story – a chapter marked by pride, responsibility, and a shared commitment to a clean and sustainable future.
There are a limited number of litter bins in the CBD areas of towns. Buses and kombis do not have litter bins for passengers to use which eventually enables them to throw litter everywhere and anywhere. I believe in starting small, thus if we try as much as we can to make sure there is sufficient litter bins in every corner of the city and in all things that are for public use, we will attain a clean Zimbabwe.
I believe this motion reflects the concerns of my constituency and the wider public. It is time for us to act decisively and work together to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes a nation we can all be proud of, a nation where clean streets, unspoiled landscapes, and a healthy environment are not just aspirations, but a reality. Remember cleanliness is next to Godliness. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to debate this very important motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa. This issue is very pertinent and it requires us as Zimbabweans to uphold ubuntu. When we were growing up, we could wake up early in the morning and clean the yard and put all the trash in the rubbish pit. Those who are tenants know that it is pertinent to clean where you stay and everyone knows that. The problem is, we have no designated places to deposit our garbage unless we dig pits to deposit the litter in our yards. Wherever you go, you see huge piles of garbage. Those who are responsible for the disposal of the garbage disposed by people are not doing their work at all. In the past, people staying in towns knew when the bins would be collected by council. The garbage bins were put outside and council would collect and deposit the garbage at designated places. There is nothing like that anymore. Council is no longer practicing this type of hygiene. Even the bins are no longer being distributed amongst the households. We are accusing people for not exercising cleanliness but the problem lies with council which is not collecting the garbage. Council should work to ensure that the garbage is deposited at designated places.
I also want to thank Government for the Pomona project. People said a lot of things when this project started but the Government continued to make sure the dumpsite issue was resolved. We recently read in the papers that there is recycling going on at Pomona and there is production of electricity into the national grid. However, when this project started, many people were against it and they were saying people wanted to misuse the money, but currently Pomona is doing very well. So, I am requesting that we have more dumpsites like Pomona where recycling and production of electricity is done so that the country benefits. It is very important that we use the garbage for the benefit of the country just like what is happening at Pomona. Right now, we are here representing different constituencies and the key thing which should be encouraged is to teach people from our different constituencies cleanliness and hygiene. If we achieve this, we will have somewhere to start from. We give people enough knowledge that disposing garbage in undesignated areas is not a good thing. It will act as a reminder because most people are aware of this issue, so it is very important for MPs to go out and remind the people especially in towns. The problem is rife in towns because of different people with different cultures and practices emanating from where they come from. Their way of handling the environment is also different, so it is important to teach them how to manage garbage. This should however start with the city fathers because they are the ones who are letting us down in terms of garbage management. This will help alleviate diseases like Cholera. You see that when there is a Cholera outbreak, people blame the Ministry of Health and the Government, but it is important to look at the root cause of the problem. We blame those who are supposed to provide services like medicines but those who are supposed to prevent the occurrence or the spread of these diseases are not being blamed. Therefore, it is very important to find ways to address the problem.
Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa also raised the issue of garbage bins. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) sometimes does put bins but they are so small that by 10am, they will be full as people bring litter from their homes and throw it in those little bins. If it was possible, let us go back to our traditional way of doing things. People used to put their bins outside and council would take away the garbage for disposal. People could be fined for improper disposal because the bins were there. Currently, people deposit garbage at the wrong places and if you want people to pay a fine, they will ask you where the bins are. Let us address the issue of bins and make sure that we have enough bins in the country which are big enough and can serve the whole population in towns.
I also want to thank His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa and his wife Dr. A. Mnangagwa, for working hard towards the National Clean-Up campaign and ensuring that we stay in a clean environment. They leave their jobs behind and go and lead Clean-Up campaigns to ensure Zimbabweans stay in a clean environment and our tourists can emulate the good behaviour and the proper practices happening in the country. I am encouraging Hon. Members in this august House to follow the rightful way that is being led by the first family, of upholding ubuntu and doing things right so that our country can be emulated by other countries. Let us follow suit wherever we are. Right now, most of us travel from one place to another in our cars and we should also have small bins where you put all the litter. Even those you give transport will see the bin and will put their litter in the bin. So, teach everyone you are with the proper way of disposing garbage.
Even when you are in a bus, Mr. President, it is important to spread the education of proper disposition of garbage. Even those in buses, they must be told that they must have bins in their cars for people to dispose their waste after eating their bananas or other fruits. This will help us as a country. I remember one day Mr. President Sir, I was travelling the same direction with a bus and someone just threw out an empty bottle and almost hit my windscreen. I only thanked God that I did not face the incident of the windscreen being crashed by the bottle. If the education of proper disposal…
– [Time Limit.] –
Thank you Mr. President. If these bus drivers and passengers were educated about the issue of proper disposal of waste, we would not have situations like that. I was saying let us teach all the public transport providers that it is important to have dust bins in their vehicles. Let it begin with us as legislators to have bins in our cars. This will help to uphold the beauty of the country. We were once a country which was emulated by other countries. Thank you Mr. President Sir for awarding me this opportunity.
^HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for giving this opportunity to contribute towards the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa on the issue of hygiene and having a clean environment. We thank His Excellency for introducing this clean-up campaign programme on 5th December 2018, that on every first Friday of the week, we must clean our environment so that we have a clean environment. We want people who are known by cleanliness be it a father, mother, girl or boy. In the past Mr. President, each and every household would have a pit to dispose of their waste and garbage. Even the younger ones were taught that.
During the marriage ceremonies, when the wife was being handed over to the husband’s family, the first thing they did was to make sure they reach the in-laws’ family early in the morning and sweep the yard. We have got a problem Mr. President because most of the untidiness originates from the towns. That is why there are high cases of Cholera and Diarrhea and the spread of the same starts from towns. Right now in Bulawayo, there is a high spread of Diarrhea. Councils must make sure that waste is collected and disposed of on proper areas. These councils are the ones collecting levies from people because people are paying for the services. Therefore, the service must be delivered.
Councils must make sure that the bins are placed at all bus tops and in all public places. There is no one going to work and make sure that our environment is clean. We are the ones who should make sure that we are staying in a proper and clean environment. Let us unite and work together to ensure that our environments are clean. Right now some of the waste that is found in most areas is not garbage as such, it is money. For example, empty bottles of water, plastic bags and tins are needed for recycling purposes. We need to learn to separate our garbage as a country and sell those that can be recycled.
Mr. President, it is important to focus on teaching people that there is recycling needed to be done so that we can get money and women can be uplifted, especially in rural areas and even in towns. There is spread of a lot of diseases because of the garbage and dirt. Right now Chiredzi and many other areas were affected by Cholera. When the environment is not clean, there is quick spreading of different of diseases. Hence, there is need for us to unite and make sure that our environments are clean. For example, in an area where there are flies, diseases spread quickly. We must work together in our communities and clean our environments. We must not blame other people for our environments when they are not clean, but we must work as a country and united as Zimbabweans to make sure that our environments are clean.
I also encourage councils to have designated dump sites. Right now there are no proper dump sites. People are selling their goods everywhere, but there are no proper garbage disposal sites. Mr. President, I remember an incident where a woman was carrying a baby walking on top of garbage, and she, together with that baby, fell down. They were both injured. Hence, it is important to make sure that as communities, councils, as Members of Parliament and as citizens, we use proper garbage disposal ways. I also thank Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa for bringing this pertinent motion. Let us work together from our rural areas and towns in cleaning our areas. The First Family, His Excellency, Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, His Wife, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa began an important programme. They put aside their work to go and clean the environment. If His Excellency and the First Family take time to clean during the cleanup campaign, who are we? As Zimbabweans, we must emulate and follow the example of His Excellency to ensure the environment is clean. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. RUNGANI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to support the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa on the issue of cleanliness in our country so that we can live well without any challenges from diseases. The issues of garbage have increased. In the past, Harare City was referred to as the Sunshine City. Garbage was being disposed at the designated areas. Right now it is no longer the same. Garbage is being disposed everywhere, but it is supposed to be carried by the responsible people. Residents deposit their garbage in bins, but are not being collected. It ends up a culture that garbage is not being collected. It was supposed to be collected by the responsible authorities and disposed at the designated areas. Who is responsible for carrying garbage and disposing it? We have got different Government departments, but councils were given the mandate to make sure that garbage is disposed at the rightful places. Even as a mother at home, I must make sure that the garbage is deposited at the rightful place. As people, if we are given jobs to do, we must execute them properly. Long back, we used to go to Mbare, it was a clean place. The place used to be very smart but right now in Mbare, there are huge piles of garbage. You find that people are cooking food at those dirty places. People are buying food from those places. Hence you see that those who are responsible of carrying garbage and disposing it at the rightful places are not doing that. We must make sure that they are executing their duties properly. They started by not collecting bins and bins ended up spilling.
If they are given the task to collect bins, they must collect bins. Those people who are into buying and selling, they are selling at dirty places. This has resulted in the spread of diseases. I visited my relative in Chitungwiza, sewer was spilling, sewage was everywhere and some people were selling food near the sewer which had busted. How do we expect people not to contract diseases when we have such places? The President allocated people different tasks concerning the environment, but those people are not executing them properly. Hence, he put aside one day, which is the first Friday of every month to make sure that as Zimbabweans, we go around picking all the dirt and depositing them at the rightful places to prevent the spread of diseases.
Right now, both rural and urban councils are not executing their duties properly. Where we come from, people are throwing pampers everywhere. When we grew up, it was a taboo to see a pamper which is not properly disposed. People are now throwing pampers everywhere after putting it in a plastic.
Mr. President, as leaders of the people, I think that it is very important to teach people not to throw garbage at undesignated places. I see that those who are in councils are not executing their duties properly. Our towns used to be the cleanest towns in this continent. Right now, in towns, you find that all the open spaces are now filled with garbage. Mr. President, let us get united as a country, as communities, and make sure that garbage is being deposited at designated places. I feel that councils from rural to urban are no longer doing their duties properly. Rural councils are no longer carrying garbage and disposing the garbage properly. People must dispose pampers and all other types of garbage properly. Thank you, Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. GOTORA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to the motion. Let me take this opportunity to explain where the problem is emanating from. The issue of debt in the country or uncleanliness; if you go back to culture, as a son of a Chief, I know one of the duties of Chief Chinhamora is to make sure that his place is properly preserved. There were places where we call durunhuru or dump sites to make sure that our area of Chinhamora stays clean. There were places again in these rural areas called zambarota where we put ashes after removing them from a fireplace. It means that people grew up knowing that these places are designated for those who are going to properly deposit the dirt. During the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, there was the African Development Fund which we now call RIDA, some of us know it as DDF. There were people who had the responsibility of making sure that different areas are kept clean. We used to call these people environmentalists, people who make sure that the environments are clean. If people saw that you were not properly depositing the garbage, it was an offence. During the Government of Smith, there were 32 laws for the environment management and preservation of wet areas. We noticed that the laws were many and we consolidated them to come up with one law. That is where the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) comes from. EMA is a combination of 32 laws.
EMA has powers through the Ministry of Environment, to make sure that the environment is clean. But the problem emanates from the structure of EMA. From each and every district, you find that there is one officer and an office orderly; they are only two. They cannot manage the whole district to make sure it is clean. I am referring to rural areas and towns. A district is a district no matter it is in town or rural area. Most of the EMA officers spend their time at head offices and we do not know what they are doing there. I do not want to dwell much on this issue. The power to make sure that our country stays clean is there in different laws, but there are no law enforcement agencies for these laws. For example, the Rural District Council Act has 65 powers and six of them have something to do with the environment, but there is nothing that is happening. The Urban Council Act has 45 powers and out of these, six of them there is something to do with cleanliness and the environment. So where is the problem? The problem is that we are giving people jobs which they cannot deliver because we have ministries who are supposed to supervise these things at national, provincial and district level. My question is that what are these people doing in offices? We are allocating them a budget every year for them to go and do what?
For example, the Minister of Environment, his Permanent Secretary, Chief Director and Director pass through different roads seeing garbage and litter everyday, but they do not say anything to council in terms of executing their duties. The laws are there. Again, the Minister of Local Government passes through where houses are being built at undesignated areas, but he does nothing to stop the construction of these houses. We are giving them money to do what because they are not executing their duties? Are we giving them money to go for workshops in Victoria Falls but at the grassroots level, not executing their duties properly?
Senator Maluleke spoke in her own language, but she was talking about the powers of chiefs and all traditional leaders to make sure that we stay in a clean environment. She also spoke about the powers of local authorities whether rural or urban to make sure that the country is clean. Right now, we have given the President the job to go around the city picking litter, yet the President gave us the laws to make sure that we administer those laws. We have given the task to the First Lady to go and clean right in front of the Town House where there is a Mayor, Town Clerk and Director of Health, yet there is an Act which empowers these people about the seven areas which they are expected to execute. What are those people doing? Why are we keeping them at these jobs? That is the question which I have.
Let us make sure that all the laws to do with the environment and cleanliness in the country are followed to the latter. The EMA Act and the Environment Act discourage the use of plastics like those being given at OK or TM supermarkets. In other countries, they have copied our laws and they are no longer giving plastic bags. They are giving people khaki carrier bags. The laws which countries like Rwanda are using are the same as ours, but the problem we have here is enforcement. Those who were given the jobs to execute on the issue of environment are not doing their jobs properly. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa, seconded by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. Most of the issues have been raised. I want to say that we need to help each other as leaders to find a better solution to address this issue without pointing fingers at each other.
I want to look at the issue of litter first. There is litter which decomposes like vegetables and leaves and then we have the other types of garbage which do not decay and here I am talking about metal cans and plastic bottles. A long time ago in our villages, we used to have garbage, but the issue of handling it was different. We used to sweep our yards everyday, but not all the litter was thrown away. Materials which decompose were used to make compost. Litter is something that we stay with in our everyday lives. What is important is how we dispose litter. Materials such as food leftovers and leaves can help us to make our own composts. Even in town at my place of residence, I do have a compost. Everything which decays, I make sure that I deposit it at my compost and the litter which does not decompose like plastics and tins are recycled.
The problem that I see nowadays is that we do not have proper knowledge that plastics are not meant to be deposited in the dustbins. Plastics can be recycled to make things like buckets or bags and this can empower our people. What is needed is to educate people on the proper methods of waste management. There are industries which are taking plastics and other empty containers for recycling. Right now if you throw away litter in the bins, there are people who are going about searching the bins for these materials for sale. We must teach each other to separate the recyclable materials from the litter which cannot be recycled. We must teach our people on how we can benefit from the plastics. For example, at this moment in time, we expect our country to reach a point where we do not allow plastic to be thrown away. For plastic to decompose, it takes over 40 years for plastics to decompose.
If you have an opportunity to go to Lake Chivero and see what is in Lake Chivero, people in households and even those in industrial areas go there to deposit their dirty and we end up not wanting to eat fish from Lake Chivero. When we talk of Clean Up, we are talking about even the industrial deposits or waste being deposited in Mukuvisi and other water sources, but knowledge is needed to teach people about separating the garbage which decay and that which does not decay. We cannot be able to fight this issue of separation of dirty if we do not include the students.
If you farm using manure from the compost, you will find that those crops are defined under organic which fetches more money in the market. Let us learn that our places are being cleaned and the dirty is being separated. A bus can come from South Africa with its dirt on the bus but the moment people cross the border, they open the windows and begin to through away rubbish. We are the ones who are opening the windows and throwing out the garbage, not the Government. So, why is it that the moment people cross the border and enter Zimbabwe, the start to open windows depositing their dirt outside?
Let us teach our children from early childhood to make sure that they know the proper way of depositing the garbage. If you attend a function, you see young children going around picking the empty bottles and putting them in plastic bags. As elders, we just throw away our litter everywhere. Right now, even here in Parliament, we do not have bins and even in our cars but we have got a lot of food stuffs in the cars. We must have bins even in our cars. We used to have clubs in the past in rural areas and even here in towns, where people were taught on how to dispose of their garbage properly.
Right now, we are now pointing fingers at each other. What are you thinking as an individual about the garbage that you have left at home? Let us teach our children from a young age so that they know how dirt is deposited. Our curriculum in schools must include the issue of proper garbage disposal and environmental issues. As people’s representatives in different areas, let us take the initiative to start activities like clubs for both women and men and how we can teach each other the recycling of garbage for income generation. Let us create gardening competitions for those who are using organic manure.
We tend to have good composts from the dirty which we generate from our houses. It is very important even for those in public transport and kombis, there is need to engage them on proper garbage disposal. If you look at SDG 8, it talks of safe working environments. Whether it is local government or the Government itself, it must make sure that those people who are selling their goods and services are given safe and good working environments. We must make sure that we provide decency and that those women who sometimes clash with council, running away from council police officers, are given proper designated areas where they can sell their wares with proper disposal bins. We can make sure they pay taxes because they are working from proper places.
Let us make sure that we craft laws which create good working environments. We see that it is easy if we go and see the Pomona area. People used to complain about Pomona, but those who started that programme saw it as important to have such a programme where garbage can be used to produce something profitable. The council now knows that if you go to Pomona and deposit your dump, you will be paid. There is a place in Victoria Falls and even at Victoria Falls Hotel where they have a programme which they use the garbage to come up with different things which they sell. Hence, we need this knowledge to cascade to all other people so that we can benefit as a country.
I am not going to repeat what other Hon. Members have said, but there is need for enforcement so that those who are seen depositing their garbage unprocedurally are dealt with and fined. You find that those who are in the business of collecting garbage such as plastics come back to you selling wares like handbags. Let us teach the youth and all age groups. Let us be united as Zimbabweans that we teach people about the positives which can come out from the garbage. Yes, the Local Government in the past said they were going to give three plastic bins for households to deposits their rubbish; one for decomposing material, one for plastics and the other for bottles.
Let us make sure that we sit down with the councils and make sure that these things are done properly. There are people who are collecting garbage and benefitting from it. Hence, we are pleading that information on how to separate garbage and how people can benefit from it must be cascaded to schools, churches and so on to make sure people know. In Mashonaland West, people were saying they are the ones who do a lot of organising in terms of rallies and other stuff and hence, it is very important to make sure that as individuals, we come up with ideas for proper disposal of garbage.
The Ministry of Agriculture must help us to use the disposed litter in order to come up with composts which can be used as fertiliser in our farms and not rely on chemicals. These crops which are grown using composts fetch high prices in other countries. Let us educate each other, and let us work together to make sure that as Parliamentarians, we do not dispose garbage at undesignated places.
We can set an example that at Parliament, we are not allowed to dispose garbage at undesignated places. Yes, it is very important to know that the garbage which we throw away is very important. Let us learn to separate the garbage which decomposes from that which is recyclable and make sure that as a country, we develop. Let us unite as a country and make sure that we stay in clean environments.
∞HON. SEN. KABONDO: Thank you Mr. President. My words are few because others have already contributed. I do not know if I will repeat what has been said because we use different languages, therefore I may have failed to understand the other language. As I listened, I heard Hon. Senators talking about what they would have seen happening. My contribution will be different because I do not stay in the city, but will mainly focus on where I stay and what happens on hygiene. My words are very few, but very important because they hinge on people’s lives. I stay in a national park where we have beautiful trees that can encourage you to stay outside and enjoy the fresh air, but we cannot do that because of dirt around us, the sewer system. We stay indoors because of the bad smell from the sewer. Before I say a lot, I would want to say that smelling, that bad air from the sewer does not bring good health. Therefore, we are appealing that as we come up with ways of improving hygiene, let us always think of what the people will breathe in as fresh air. Thank you so much.
HON. SEN. C. NDLOVU: I would also want to debate the motion about waste management. I understand that every first Friday of the month, all cities or people should clean their areas of work or residence because there will be a lot of trash.
This matter of waste management is a deliberate matter because these cities have got responsible authorities – these authorities go to work and the question is why do we continue to see waste at undesignated places? At every province, there is a Resident Minister who stays in that province, in the city there is a Mayor and Town Clerk as well who are in charge of that city. Now, we hear the President of a country saying please attend to waste management when we have such authorities in place. What causes that waste to be there? These people who are mandated to do the job – why are they failing to carry out their mandate? Is it possible that they have failed to supply them with relevant vehicles to ferry the waste? We should examine that matter as to what is the root cause of that.
It is common cause that there should be waste which should be moved. Now it is our duty to attend to this every first Friday of the month. Where are the responsible authorities who are supposed to do that? This is why I stood up to say this before you. There is something wrong that needs to be examined here. What is the root cause of this matter? We always talk about waste which is at undesignated places – what causes that?
It is not the President’s responsibility to look into such matters when there are authorities mandated to do that. This is why I am raising this Mr. President Sir.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMME ON CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Programme on Climate Smart Agriculture.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
ROAD SAFETY DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the successive road accidents on consecutive days which claimed the scores of lives in the month of November 2023.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY THE YOUTHS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Programmes to curb drug and substance abuse by the Youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 54TH PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM HELD IN MAURITIUS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 53th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. HUNGWE: Mr. President Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. HUNGWE, seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA, the House adjourned at Twenty-Three Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 5th March, 2024
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
SWEARING IN OF NEW MEMBERS
I have to inform the Senate that on Tuesday 4th March, 2024, Parliament was notified by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in Terms of Section 39 (7) (a) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], that with effect from 1st March, 2024, the following Members were duly appointed as Members of the Senate for the specified constituencies.
The Members have been appointed to fill in the vacancies in the Senate that occurred following the recall of the incumbent Members of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Party and these are: Hon. Sen. Mlilo Lilian for Bulawayo Province; Hon. Sen. Phulu Kucaca Ivumile for Bulawayo Province; Hon. Sen. Sibanda Linda for Bulawayo Province; Hon. Sen. Ndhlovu Collet for Bulawayo Province; Hon. Sen. Mdhluri Maxwell for Manicaland Province; Hon. Sen. Chapfudza Sam for Masvingo Province; Hon. Sen. Kabondo Teresa for Matabeleland North Province; Hon. Sen. Tshabangu Sengezo for Matabeleland North Province and Hon. Sen. Mumpande Grace for Matabeleland North Province.
Section 128 (1) of the Constitution provides that, before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the oath of a Member of Parliament as set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament. I, therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the Oath of a Member of Parliament.
NEW MEMBERS SWORN
HON. SEN. MLILO LILIAN; HON. SEN. PHULU KUCACA; HON. SEN. SIBANDA LINDA; HON. SEN. NDHLOVU COLLET; HON. SEN. MDHLURI MAXWELL; HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA SAM; HON. SEN. KABONDO TERESA; HON. SEN. TSHABANGU SENGEZO and MUMPANDE GRACE subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the law and took their seats.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Members, we congratulate and baptise you.
ESTABLISHMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATIONS
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also wish to inform the Senate that following the establishment of Parliamentary Friendship Associations with sister Parliaments in Turkey, Russia, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, India and Egypt, the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade is calling for Members who wish to join the associations. The associations will be named as Zim-Turkey, Zim-Russia, et cetera. Membership is open to all Members of Parliament and is on a first come first served basis. Each association has a maximum of fifteen Members. For registration, send a message to Mr. A. Mapetere on 0713 313 170 indicating the name of the association.
TRAINING ON DIGITAL LITERACY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to remind Hon. Senators that the digital literacy training commenced today, 5th March 2024. The training is being conducted from 0900 hours to 1300 hours. Hon. Senators who have not registered for the training are requested to do so in Office No. 126, First Floor. Kindly note that the training will be conducted during sitting days only in groups of 40 participants per day.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that Order of the Day, Number1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ON THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 harmonised elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. M. NCUBE: Madam President, I am pleased to add my voice to the report presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is a creature of the Constitution. All of us here are a product of the ZEC, every one of us, including those we saw today.
Empowered by the Constitution to prepare and conduct elections strictly in terms of Section 234 to 241 and Section 241 is the one which actually necessitated the tabling of the report in Parliament. Fulfilling all the obligations in terms of the elections, right from the Presidential all the way down to councillors. I think they did a fantastic job – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – As a product of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, we cannot then stand up here in Parliament and denigrate the institution which ensured us to be here in all fairness, which made sure that our electoral process was not only credible but transparent in every way – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear].
The ZEC is supposed to ensure that it has the confidence of the citizens of this country because they are mandated to conduct the electoral process. There are certain areas which I think we can interrogate as Members of Parliament. Voter registration for example, Madam President, I think there are areas which need to be strengthened in terms of voter registration because when you analyse the voters’ roll, you will see that in some places, there is a small house which has got over 100 people registered as sitting tenants for that house, which is not possible. It is not the fault of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission but we can sit down and see how we can actually assist so that those people who are breaking the law can be brought to book.
When we have got Zimbabweans, let us say the opposition in some cases which has got to be given instructions by various authorities like non-governmental organisations and some governments outside the country, it brings confusion to the whole electoral process because you cannot stand as a candidate and then you want to declare yourself as a winner. It is not possible. Only ZEC can actually declare a certain individual as the presidential winner. A certain individual as a winner in the parliamentary seat but you want to usurp those powers yourself so that you declare yourself as a winner outside the constitutional mandate of ZEC. It means you want to bring confusion to the country. There should be very strong regulations and together we can actually come up with those to ensure that those individuals who want to bring anarchy into the country or operate outside the Constitution or law are brought to book.
I recall even in 2018, some individuals standing up and saying if I am not the winner, it means there has been some rigging. I once lost an election in 2008 in the parliamentary elections to the opposition, fair and square. This is what happens and then you sit down and strategise how to win next time. In 2013, I won; I beat the other person. Our institutions are supposed to have our support. I get worried when someone denigrates our own institutions. We will be giving the wrong impression to people outside. In this case, the report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in terms of who won the Presidential, Parliamentary or Provincial councils is there for everybody to see. It is not a secret. That is why this is published so that you see whether you won or lost. In cases where we differ, let us differ constructively.
For Voter Education to be effective, there is need for traditional leaders to be involved. ZEC should also try and see how they, the traditional leaders in terms of their structures can also be brought in so that everybody who is eligible to register to vote is captured. There are also cases where the ZEC has got challenges in terms of accessing remote areas, particularly in rural areas. We have got to make sure that as Government, particularly during the rainy season, that the roads are trafficable and passable so that they can do their work properly. They can move the ballot boxes and ballot papers so that they are availed on time in terms of the designated date for the electoral process. We remember last time there were some areas which actually accessed voter material late. It was fundamentally because of the disputes which were in the courts.
The Commission was ready to print the ballot papers or the right materials, but because the court processes took time, they just did not have enough time to actually print those ballot papers. Now we stand up and shout and say they were trying to rig, it is not the case.
May I conclude by welcoming those who were sworn in today Madam President? They are also a product of ZEC. It does not matter which route they came through. If we want to strengthen and make sure that the recall process is properly streamlined – that is another debate for another day, but once the process is in place, it is supposed to be concluded and the conclusion is what we saw happening today. I thank you Madam President.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2024
MOTION
ROAD SAFETY DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the successive road accidents on consecutive days which claimed scores of lives in the month of November 2023 countrywide.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you very much Madam President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa who brought this motion for debate.
I would like to take the House back to the fatal killing of 22 fellow brothers and sisters at Esigodini on the 14th of November 2023, at the 27-kilometre peg along Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road. Death has no friends and this could happen to any of us. However, I want us to ask difficult and fundamental questions. Yes, statements were made, but everyone knows that talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. To what extent were the state assisted funerals carried out?
Allow me to put context to the matter – why you wonder – let me begin. The accident occurred between a truck going to Bulawayo and a quantum termed “Omalayitsha’ en route to South Africa. There were 22 victims – 22 victims, 15 men, 7 women and two children. The adults were aged between 31 and 48, with the youngest being only two years old.
To this House, I pose this question – how would you have felt if these were your relatives? My heart grieves not only because we lost breadwinners from Matabeleland South who were just trying to make ends meet, but as Zimbabwe as a whole.
The issue I would like to bring to your attention is the state of the roads and the health sector. To these respective Ministers, I ask why the deceased did not receive proper services. To the Minister of Health, you failed us the people of Matabeleland South. After the accident occurred, there was no ambulance services, let alone any road accident services to carry the victims differently from the immoral way the bodies were transported. In an inhumane and insensitive way, the bodies were just thrown into an open lorry with no regard or respect for the dead. Where is your sense of Ubuntu/Hunhu?
The Government continues to fail us. Where are the Budget allocations? What is the money being used for? Where are the monies going, to the extent that the Matabeleland Provincial operations and relevant bodies did not even have body bags and necessary tools? They still do not have. What happened to, “I am because you are – therefore we are”, the spirit of Ubuntu. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. To the Minister of Transport, you failed us. Even the blind know that the roads are bad but you do nothing to fix them. The Beitbridge –Gwanda-Esigodini or Victoria Falls - Nkayi Roads are bad. Potholes are the order of the day and bad roads continue to be the leading cause of many road accidents. Where were the arms of whoever has the responsibility to ensure the safety of the roads?
Corruption is the order of the day. Where was the ZRP Esigodini traffic control? What is the use of roadblocks? Firstly, the driver of the truck was under the influence of alcohol. How and why was he allowed to continue driving? Is it because ukhiphe imali yedrink? For your own information, empty bottles of alcohol and some bottles with left over contents were found in his truck. The Government continues to fail us. Due to the continued corruption, it is safe to say we are disappointed because they are not using the means and power available to them to reduce and put an end to this carnage.
Secondly, the Quantum is certified to carry 25 passengers, but in this case, it had an overload of seven passengers. In total, the Quantum was carrying 32 passengers instead of 25. Why was the Quantum allowed to continue its journey despite the overload? The road culture continues to be bad because of bad governance and people not being held accountable. Officials are full of corruption and mismanage funds allocated, which end up affecting service delivery. This results in little to no responsibility and safety measures where overloading bribes are paid and we end up with no law-abiding drivers.
To the House, inasmuch as this accident occurred, our major concern as the people of Matabelelamd South is that no national disaster status was declared. To make matters worse, it leaves the people asking difficult questions like; why is it that if this accident had occurred in Mashonaland, it would have been declared a national disaster but in Matabeleland, it is just an accident? The overloaded Quantum is a clear indicator that the economy is bad. The people in Zimbabwe are suffering and there are no jobs. These 20 bread winners were flocking to the diaspora to find better opportunities to enable them to support their families. Did anyone of you ask yourself what happened to the families they left behind? If the Government continues to fail us, it does not come as a shock to me anymore. How can we trust that the assisted national burial was carried out and not just announced on social media? Who can answer? Can you? What about you? Who can answer the people of Matabeleland South and Zimbabwe? What about the victims’ families? What else was done? Was the emergency fund used to assist these generations of families affected?
Now, if the Government fails to fix the roads and fails to instil discipline for road safety and relevant bodies involved fail to use funds properly so we have adequate ambulances and health services, fail to improve the economy and create jobs so we do not have 22 people flocking to the diaspora, how can we trust that practical considerations were made and have been made by this Government from the emergency fund for those victims who were financially and practically dependent on the persons that died? What compensations, not just financial but cultural were made to meet the financial burden of losses and expenses. What was done culturally to apologise for the inhumane and insensitive way their bodies were disrespected.
I repeat my question; how would you have felt if it were your relative; your mother, father, brother, sister or daughter? The Minister of Technology and Media failed the people of Matabeleland South. The Ministry did nothing at all to have the pictures removed on social media. Did you ever ask yourself how the families still feel or felt seeing their loved ones disrespected and all over social media for the world to see? Where was the National Complaints Desk and relevant ministries when complaints were being made? I leave you with these questions. All the people of Zimbabwe want our freedom, be it mental, physical, emotional or financial freedom for their children to have better opportunities than they did; for women and men to provide for their families within the comfort of their country and for mothers to love and a nation to grow. You cannot kill the will of the people. The blood of the dead and our tears as the people of Zimbabwe will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. We serve the people for the people. Tell my people that I love them. We will continue to fight for the people of Zimbabwe. Amandla ngawethu; Aluta continua.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I want to start by thanking you Hon. President of the Senate for affording me the opportunity to contribute to this very important motion that was brought to the House by the esteemed Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa. I wish to contribute to this debate by first looking at the accident picture in the country. The prevalence of accidents, the economic impact, the socio-economic impact of the same and hazards; to make a few suggestions as to how we can develop national policy to reduce the prevalence of accidents on our roads. Statistically Mr. President Sir, this country faces up to 50000 accidents every year and out of that, fatalities range between three and 6000 people that die out of those accidents. When I look at the general cost and I am talking about the economic cost, these accidents cost up to about $460 million to the fiscus and the nation. I am sure that if we could find a way to put together effective policy to reduce the prevalence of accidents and save this money, it would go a long way in funding social service delivery infrastructure, etcetera. But what are the causes of these accidents. The key thing we must look at is our road infrastructure Mr. President. Whether we improve it every time to fit the volume of traffic that ply the roads or the size of vehicles that ply our roads. That is very important. Most times when you travel on the Bulawayo-Harare Road, you see these huge, extra-large vehicles with mining equipment going up north and you can generally see that our roads are not fit for that sort of width of these huge vehicles. Perhaps, this is the time now for Government to begin to widen the roads so that the current exigencies are taken care of by the sort of road infrastructure that we then have.
Also, you will find that our economy is basically dependent on the road. You will get a lot of magonyeti, these heavy trucks on the roads. It will be important for the Ministry of Transport, Government and for the nation to begin to shift the wheels of the economy from the roads to railway lines so that the roads can be safer. The Ministry of Transport has to make sure that they put in a lot of effort so that more and more heavy loads are transported through rail, thus freeing our roads to the smaller vehicles. That certainly will ensure that the roads are a bit safer. My colleague has just spoken about corruption as well. We have got the vehicle inspectorate department; we have got roadblocks and we have got the police on the roads to make sure that there is compliance and to make sure that vehicles that are plying the roads are in a good state. However, you wonder when you see some clearly unroadworthy vehicles plying the roads, clearly overloaded vehicles on the roads and yet just a few kilometers down the road, there would be a vehicle inspectorate department there.
What is informing is that clearly, people are turning a blind eye in exchange for a few dirty coins at the expense of the nation and at the expense of lives. I think these institutions should begin to understand those bits of oversights that they do are costing lives and costing the nation a lot of money. They need to make sure that they do their jobs properly. Mr. President, the Zimbabwe statistical offices, the ZimStat know from their analysis and from the statistics which they collect annually, that there are what tend to be called black spots. This refers to the frequency of accidents happening in certain places and at certain times of the year. This information should be used to help with disaster risk mitigation budgeting so that if it is about infrastructure, then budgets are crafted to make sure that our roads are dealt with to make sure that the railways are functional again. We need to make sure that we push for disaster risk budgeting informed by the statistics that we get from the appropriate statistical offices.
Mr. President, I would also like to talk about one very special asset that we have as a nation that could mitigate the incidences of accidents, and this is the intangible heritage called ubuntu. It is costless and it is something that we have inherited from our past which can be used to make sure that we reduce accidents on the road. People with ubuntu will clearly not sacrifice lives for a few dollars. This is where our traditional and cultural knowledge systems can work to make sure that we influence the behaviour of communities, the forthrightness that is required so that we can make our roads safe again.
Mr. President, it is very sad and I think this motion has to be taken very seriously so that institutions that are relevant to reduction of these accidents do understand that reduction of accidents releases resources to more meaningful use. With this contribution Mr. President, I wish to again express my gratitude to Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa for cleverly crafting a motion that looks right across our social and economic fabric. I am confident that, should these contributions be taken on board, we will have a happier nation and have more resources released for more meaningful contributions. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to contribute towards the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa which is quite important and critical for the benefit of every Zimbabwean as parents and citizens of the country. This issue emanated from the point that, as we speak, when people die, they are not honoured in the way that was done when we were growing up. In the past, children were not allowed to attend funerals. It was only for adults and we did not understand why and how this was done, but as we can see, what is happening presently, Mr. President Sir, you find young people attending funerals. Some of these young people do not understand what a funeral is.
We also notice many reasons why people do not honour the dead, there are many taboos taking place. People are abusing drugs and even when there are accidents, some are rushing to accident scenes whilst they are intoxicated. Some take videos and pictures for social media. You find people circulating graphic videos of dead people and you wonder whether the person that took such videos is sane or not. This shows high disregard for the dead. Mr. President, I want us to look at the prevalence of accidents in our roads and the causes of such accidents. You find people going on with their daily business even when people are dead. What causes most accidents in the country comparing to the past is that where people acquire their drivers’ licences, they just take their drivers’ licences corruptly using money. When you go without money, you will not get the licence but with money, you can get it, whether you deserve it or not. There is need for investigations to determine why young people are driving public cars. They do not know the rules of the road because they acquire their licences for they have money.
Let me start by investigating what is happening at the VID Mr. President Sir. I believe in the past when the New Dispensation came, a lot of officers were transferred and the rot was contained at that particular moment. I believe that there is need for looking at what is happening at the VID, which is the responsible authority which gives people drivers’ licences so that drivers who deserve to be on the road should be on the road instead of those who acquire licences through corruption.
Mr. President, I also want to say that our police officers who are supposed to assist us by monitoring and investigating what transpired and what led to a particular accident to happen - we do not want to criticise police but what is needed is that those who are responsible for the law should be empowered with training instead of just physical training and someone graduates as a police officer. That person should be empowered with what is expected of them as police officers. We need to help each other. We need to work together Mr. President. Instead of criticising our police officers, let us train them, let us educate them and show them what is expected, and what they should do as police officers. This will enable them to be empowered with knowledge because how we think is what determines our behaviour.
Mr. President Sir, as I am speaking, there are a lot of cars in our country. There are illegal cars which are pirating without a clear route and without clear strategies on how they should operate. You would find that when there is an operation, such illegal pirate taxis disappear for a while but you would find that those who are responsible for removing such pirate taxis are the owners of those pirate taxis. It is important to assist each other so that these things are corrected and that we eradicate the accidents which are prevalent in our country. Government is trying its best so that our roads are rehabilitated to allow the free movement of our cars. Indeed, roads are being fixed but because Government empowered our civil servants and allowed civil servants to buy cars without duty - but the roads are not big enough to contain all the cars. Those who have cars are many but the roads cannot accommodate all the cars. There is need for us to make sure that there is public transportation, buses which are adequate to cater for all the routes.
Mr. President, there is need for specific routes and specific times for public buses. You would find that with the volume of traffic which is being operated by illegal drivers, some who do not have valid drivers’ licences, it is going to be reduced and this is going to eventually reduce road accidents. I want to end by thanking you for giving me the opportunity and I thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa for moving such a good motion. I want to congratulate the Senators who were sworn in today. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the Hon. Senator who moved this motion. I want to add a few words to this motion regarding road accidents especially the festive season and other public holidays. We are trying to determine the causes of these accidents. There are quite a number of causes and this is going to help us to find solutions. I want to say that things which are difficult to determine their source are quite pertinent. Firstly, let me say that we have a Ministry which is responsible for transportation and the Ministry has a responsible and able Minister, Hon. Mhona. Today is Tuesday, and I know that the Hon. Minister is attending Cabinet. Mr. President, I would like to suggest that after debating like this, the motion should not just lapse because of the number of days it has been debated. The rules of Parliament say that the responsible Minister should come to the august House and respond to the debate concerning the motion, after reading through the debates but the responsible Minister will be having officials from the Ministry in this august House. The Hansard also has the records. The Minister would then respond to what was raised during the debate. We want motions which are results oriented and I want to debate on issues which after they are debated, there should be implementation of recommendations. Before this motion lapses, I propose that the Hon. Minister should bring a Ministerial Statement to address the debate.
I agree, indeed with those who said that drivers are the major causes of accidents. During holidays, you find that the owner of the vehicle would set targets that if you raise such an amount, I will give you a bonus. You find that drivers will be under pressure to meet the set targets so that they get bonuses. This is because they are trying to chase profits as transport operators. As Parliament, we need to engage transport operators regarding this issue. We have Portfolio and Thematic Committees, let us task such Committees to engage transport operators.
The second point pertains to unroadworthy cars like those with poor brakes or unserviced cars. The roadworthiness of cars is quite important. We have VID officers along the main roads, but for us to be satisfied that they are doing their duties, there is need for them to continue manning our main roads so that they test the fitness of vehicles. If the cars are not road worthy, then they cannot continue plying our routes. There is another point which was raised by another Senator that there are unlicenced drivers and those who acquire their drivers’ licences using unorthodox means because they have money. There are some who even acquire drivers’ licences before driving – after paying then they undertake the required lessons. This is the corruption which we are talking about which is prevalent and needs to be addressed.
At one point I wanted to get a drivers’ licence for my nephew and I told my nephew to do the required 30 lessons. After completion of the lessons, I was told that the instructors wanted an additional US$100 and I asked why, he then said you have to give them US$100, and I said but you did 30 lessons. I refused and I said I am not going to bribe the officials until you pass. If you fail then you rewrite. Later on, he acquired his driver’s license without corrupt means. There is need for Government to intervene and correct that situation where you find people acquiring licences even when they do not deserve. At one point in Masvingo at Morgenster College, a Toyota Noah had an accident and the driver did not have a licence. He was plying the Morgenster-Masvingo route and people discovered that he did not have a licence, but was driving every day. Why was he not being arrested? These are serious issues which need to be looked into.
There are some accidents which happen at night. You find cars without rear or front lights and you wonder why this is happening. It is important that there should be ways of stopping such cars without lights from plying our routes. There are some haulage trucks which break down along highways without any reflectors. When the vehicle has broken down, it should be removed off the road. We need to empower the police and other relevant authorities so that they can tow vehicles which break down along highways and other major roads so that they do not become a hazard to other drivers.
I also want to say that people nowadays do not respect the dead. There are some people who are in a habit of ransacking bags and vehicles of those who have had accidents. Imagine people searching the dead. No matter how broke you are, I do not think you sleep peacefully after searching a dead body or an injured person at an accident. In the past, our traditional leaders used to urge people to respect our ethos as Africans. These days you find young children aged 14 years taking pictures and videos of dead people lying in coffins. In the past, people were not allowed to do body viewing, but now you find young people doing body viewing of their relatives. When these young children grow up, they will not respect the dead because they will be used to body viewing. These are cultural issues that we need to talk about. The way we mourn the dead these days results in young people failing to respect the dead. With these few words I thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GWATURE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY THE YOUTHS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drug and substance abuse by the youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Mr. President, thank you for giving me the opportunity to debate on the motion by Hon. Sen. A. Dube. Today, I stand before you not just to add my voice, but to amplify the cries of our suffering youth and families impacted by the rising tide of drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe. This issue casts a long shadow over our nation, threatening the well-being of our future generations and shattering the fabric of our communities.
The Youth Advocates Zimbabwe in their 2023 Study Report revealed disturbing patterns directly attributable to drug and substance abuse within the 15 – 22 age cohort: 70% of gang violence is among school children; 15% of intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender based violence (GBV) cases involve adolescents and young people; 40% of suicide attempts are linked to drug and substance abuse; and an increase in school drop-outs with 60% having dropped out of school after being expelled for drug and substance abuse.
We must acknowledge the harsh reality: drug and substance abuse are not isolated incidents, but a complex epidemic interwoven with the very threads of our society. Its roots lie not only in broken homes and domestic violence, but also in poverty, unemployment and the despair they breed. Young people, disillusioned and lacking opportunity, turn to substances as a misguided escape, a numb relief from their harsh realities.
Globalisation has brought a double-edged sword for our country. While opening doors to knowledge and innovation, it has also introduced foreign influences, some harmful. Exposure to certain Western cultures through media has normalised substance use, particularly amongst our youth. We must navigate this influence with a discerning eye, protecting our cultural values while critically evaluating external trends.
One of the primary reasons why substance and drug abuse require attention in Zimbabwe is its profound impact on public health. Substance abuse contributes to a range of health problems, including addiction, mental health disorders, and physical ailments overwhelming our health systems. In Zimbabwe, the misuse of substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs has been linked to an increase in chronic diseases, mental health conditions, and infectious illnesses and most of these are very expensive to cure.
The Government’s efforts, with initiatives like the National DRUG Master Plan 2020 – 2025, Prevention and Control of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act (Chapter 15:04) as well as the proposed Drug Elimination Agency, are commendable. Increased law enforcement, border control, and public awareness campaigns are positive steps. Yet, the challenge demands more.
Rehabilitation facilities remain limited, with Sally Mugabe Central and Parirenyatwa hospitals struggling to serve a vast population and these drug rehabilitation centres are full, and unable to cope with rising demand to accommodate new patients. The centres are estimated to be holding or treating about 5 000 people at any time, with tens of thousands others either not coming forward for, or getting any assistance. Therefore, we need accessible rehabilitation centres in every district, equipped with trained professionals and offering affordable treatment. Public-private partnerships and NGO collaborations can accelerate funding of the construction of these institutions.
Rehabilitation alone is not enough. We must combat the stigma surrounding addiction, which silences suffering individuals and prevents them from seeking help. Let us remember that addiction is a disease, not a moral failing. We need compassionate communities, open conversations and counselling programmes readily available to guide individuals towards recovery.
This fight requires a collective effort. Parents must strengthen family bonds, teachers must offer guidance and support, community leaders must foster positive environments, religious institutions must provide spiritual solace and Parliamentarians like us must advocate for policies that address the root causes and offer sustainable solutions.
Empowering our youth is critical. Investment in agricultural initiatives, innovation hubs and apprenticeship programmes can unlock economic opportunities for the youth to discourage them from being idle.
Furthermore, providing Government subsidies and microfinance loans and promoting entrepreneurship can equip them with the tools to build brighter futures. Let us divert them from the dangerous path of substance abuse towards the fulfilling pursuit of their dreams.
This is not just a fight against drugs and substances, but a fight for the very soul of our nation. Let us unite, bridge the divides and work tirelessly to create a brighter future for our youth, free from the clutches of addiction. Let us build a Zimbabwe where hope flourishes and opportunities about and communities stand united in support and compassionate with the President Mnangagwa’s mantra of leaving no one and no place behind. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KADUNGURE: Thank you Mr. President. I rise to support the motion on drug and substance abuse.
There is a global rise in drug and substance abuse that is 26% amongst the 15 to 64 age group according to United Nations office on Drugs and Crime 2022 and Zimbabwe is not an exception. A review of statistics from the year 2023 revealed that 60 % of psychiatric admissions were due to drug and substance abuse and of those admissions, over 80% were in the 16 to 40-year age group. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on mental health among young people in the African region notes that Zimbabwe has the highest number of 15 to 19-year olds who engage in heavy episodic drinking. The problem has gone beyond imported drugs. Reports indicate some young people take local concoctions, others even dip diapers and bleach products in boiling water and then inhale the vapours as intoxicants.
Left untreated, drug abuse triggers substantial costs to society, mainly in terms of lost productivity, increased health care expenditures, crimes and deaths. According to WHO data published in 2020, drug use deaths in Zimbabwe reached 0.20% of total death. The age adjusted death rate is 2.31 per 100 000 of population ranking number 38 in the world. More so, illicit drug use among adolescents is also associated with violence and unsafe sexual behaviour as well as increased risks of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS which according to UN AIDS 2019 – almost 12% of the population is HIV positive. According to a research by the National AIDS Council and ZLDN2022, drug use is also linked to sex work and (other forms of) transactional sex, unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners. Drug abuse leads to anti-retroviral therapy as well as inability to maintain relations, work, studies and quality of life. Consequently, the effort to eradicate HIV and AIDS by 2050 will be derailed if substance abuse persists.
There is need to have more rehabilitation centres as the country is already grappling with the number of drug addicts in need of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation centres for drug addicts are quite a few in our country and the private sector can also play a significant role in establishing such centres. It is difficult for an addict to suddenly stop drug abuse; hence the need for rehabilitation at secluded places.
Parliament should also consider prioritising the review and strengthening of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Chapter 15:02) and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23) in line with international standards. This should include more recent drugs such as methamptomine (guka/mutoriro or dombo). The ambiguity arising from schedule II of the Dangerous Drug Act with regards to the scientific debate on what constitutes methamphetamine and methylenedioxyphenol (MDCA) and the interpretation that the former is not a listed dangerous drug as it is distinct from the latter, should be addressed to expressly include crystal meth (mutoriro) and remove the undesired technical leeway that offenders take advantage of to be freed during apprehension and prosecution conducted by officers of the law. According to Accountability Lab, drug peddlers are released on minor technicalities because existing laws do not name new types of drugs on the market.
As I conclude, allow me to mention that the alarming substance and drug abuse statistics in Zimbabwe highlights the urgent need for collective efforts to address this growing issue. Combining efforts of society, Government, civil society organisations and individuals is vital for curbing this crisis. By raising awareness, increasing access to treatment and updating our legislation, we will tackle this multifaceted problem, ensuring a healthier, more productive and progressive nation for its citizens. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 53RD
PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM HELD IN MAURITIUS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Report of the Delegation to the 53rd Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2024.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Mr. President of the Senate, allow me to start by congratulating the President of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for the sterling State of the Nation Address which had invaluable insights, motivation and a lot of ambitions as we began the 10th Parliament journey on the 3rd October 2023. Reflecting on the address, I was firmly convinced that Zimbabwe is on its path to achieve Vision 2030 of an Upper Middle-Income Economy.
In his State of the Nation Address, the President mentioned milestones that have been achieved towards food self-sufficiency. Food Security and Nutrition is one of the key pillars of National Development Strategy 1, with a broad goal to retain the country’s regional bread-basket status. Initially, the country had a vision of increasing food self sufficiency from 45% in 2020 to 100% by 2025. A welcome development was noted in 2023 when the country recorded wheat self-sufficiency. The goal now is to reach maize self-sufficiency, which is the staple food of Zimbabwe. As you are aware, natural farming regions 4 and 5 in Zimbabwe are too dry for successful crop production without irrigation and this covers above 50% of Zimbabwe. Most Zimbabwean farmers in these regions still rely on rain-fed agriculture. It is sad because most farmers cannot afford to employ specialised farming approaches such as greenhouse farming, vertical farming and the like. Thus, as mentioned by the President, irrigation development becomes key to counter climate change effects to realise national food security.
Zimbabwe is blessed with vast amounts of water bodies and potential places where dams can be constructed. Large dams in region 5 such as Tokwe-Mkorsi remain underutilised in terms of supporting agriculture. Areas including southern parts of Mwenezi, Chiredzi, Matibi and Ngundu must turn into green belts through irrigation. Droughts in these areas should be a thing of the past. This does not apply to Tokwe-Mukorsi only but to all dams, particularly in Region 4 and 5, which include Lake Mutirikwi, Bangala, Bindangome, Mpophoma, Tuli-Manyange, Palawan and Zhovhe Dams among others, that should benefit local communities through irrigation activities for food security. Improving agriculture and enhancing productivity through small holder irrigation is one of the key strategies for alleviating poverty and improving the livelihoods of rural communities. The Second Republic is committed to ensuring food security in Zimbabwe. As for December 2023, Masvingo Province had completed six against 12 small dams whilst Matabeleland had completed their targeted four small dams for community gardens and horticulture.
The Pfumvudza programme introduced by the Second Republic has played a critical role in facilitating food security in Zimbabwe. The mandatory allocation of sorghum and millet in farming regions four and five is a positive development to counter climate change. The programme must not be a one size fits all and must carefully look at the type of soils and ecological region. However, for rural development, there is need for vertical linkages with private sector given a chance to partner Government effort in such areas. Companies in brewing must also complement Government efforts by supporting such farmers who in turn support them with inputs for brewing particularly, maheu and traditional beers. The NDS1 targeted strengthening the use of Public-Private Partnerships as well as reviewing the contract farming and agricultural marketing frameworks which will go a long way in boosting incomes of farmers in these regions as we target an upper middle-income society by 2030.
Mr. President, smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe generally engage in subsistence mixed farming with livestock farming having high chances of success in semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe. Livestock provides animal draught for tillage, transport, manure, milk, meat, some cash income and a stock of wealth. It is sad to note that many cattle herds perished due to theileriosis disease, also known as January disease. First, I would want to commend Government efforts for intensifying the dipping programme blitz and tick-grease application to prevent and control entry and outbreaks of the disease.
As we know, the NDS1 prioritised animal health and production through strengthening farmer knowledge, skills in livestock production and health so as to enhance productivity. This implies that the Government is walking the talk and on the right track in achieving set goals in NDS1. Going further, Government must support farmers with trained livestock extension officers.
Mr. President, the importance of access to water in countering poverty inline with Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG1) of zero hunger cannot be overemphasised. Boreholes play a critical role in supplying clean water to rural population and is a key indicator of rural development. To be specific, areas in parts of Mwenezi South as well as Beitbridge West travel long distance to access water, which is above the ZINWA standardised 5 000 metres distance from a water point. Resettlement areas are the mostly affected particularly schools and health facilities.
The NDS1 targeted drilling of 35 thousand boreholes for rural community water supply as part of strategies for rural economy activation. As part of the initiatives, 80 rigs were purchased to facilitate the drilling of boreholes in each village. Areas such as Chivi North and Beitbridge West have already received the footprint of the borehole drilling blitz. Such efforts must reach every village to show the commitment of the Second Republic for rural development.
Mr. President, fish farming is an innovative and economic strategy for promoting food security and dietary diversities among vulnerable households in drought risk areas of Zimbabwe. In Beitbridge, Government has supplied farmers with more than 300 thousand fingerlings in the Zhowe Dam as seed for farmers who want to do fish farming. The declining climate conditions and lack of economic opportunities in Mwenezi district of Zimbabwe attracted the attention of some Non-Governmental Organisations who are implementing fish farming as an innovative mechanism to stimulate food security and generate employment in the district. This is evident that fish farming was well embraced by local communities and has led to improvements in food security and household income. The NDS1 targeted 20 thousand tonnes of farmed fish by 2025, which requires Government efforts to achieve the target. Our country is blessed with resources and we can do all forms of farming and achieve food security without limitations.
In conclusion Mr. President, access to quality nutritious food is fundamental to human existence and necessary for human happiness. We are a blessed country with vast amount of resources which we only need to harness in order to achieve food security and eliminate all forms of hunger. We have land, we have water bodies and we have human capital. What can stop us from achieving food security? Definitely, nothing. To the people of Zimbabwe, we need to complement Government efforts in eliminating all forms of poverty, let us utilise our land, let us use our minds and work hard for the development of our country. Together good security is possible. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Mr. President Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. GOTORA the House adjourned at Half past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
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
SWEARING IN OF NEW MEMBERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that on Friday, 1st March, 2024, Parliament was notified by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in terms of Section 39: 7 of the Electoral Act, Chapter 2:13, that with effect from 1st March, 2024, Members of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) were duly appointed as Members of the National Assembly for the specified constituencies.
Section 128 (1) of the Constitution provides that before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the oath of a Member of Parliament as set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution. Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament. I therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the oath of a Member of Parliament.
I call the following Members to subscribe to the oath of loyalty:
Hon. Sikhuphukile Dube representing Bulawayo; Hon. Sibongile Maphosa representing Matabeleland South; Hon. Nomvula Mguni representing Bulawayo; Hon. Lungile Ncube representing Bulawayo and Hon. Otilia Sibanda representing Bulawayo.
NEW MEMBERS SWORN
HON. DUBE SIKHUPHUKILE, HON. MAPHOSA SIBONGILE, HON. MGUNI NOMVULA, HON. NCUBE LUNGILE and HON. SIBANDA OTILIA subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the law and took their seats – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May we have order! Order in the House please.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEES
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Edgar Ncube to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Industry and Commerce and Higher Education, Science and Technology Development, Hon. Kudakwashe Mananzwa to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. Tobias Kashamba to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Transport and Infrastructural Development and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. Hon. Washington Zhanda; Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology Development and Health and Child Care. Hon. Joseph Chuma; Portfolio Committees on Sports, Recreation, Art and Culture and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. Hon. Shakemore Chimburwa; Portfolio Committees on Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training and Information Communication Technology.
ESTABLISHMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATIONS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I further have to inform the House that following the establishment of Parliamentary Friendship Associations with sister Parliaments in Turkey, Russia, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, India and Egypt, the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade is calling for members who wish to join the associations. The associations will be named as ZIM-Turkey, ZIM-Russia et cetera.
Membership is open to all Members of Parliament and is on a first come first served basis. Each association has a maximum of 15 Members. For registration send a message to Mr. A. Mapetere on 0713313170.
HON. KANGAUSARU: On a point of national interest Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of national interest?
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on a point of national interest in relation to the recent development on the removal of CALA and replacing it with a school-based projects as has been reported in the press. I would like to ask the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education or the Leader of Government Business what this change entails. Our children and also our parents have not yet understood what CALA was all about neither have they assessed its pros versus its cons. Now, a new thing is now being introduced to replace something we barely understood.
Is this change not going to affect our current sitting children for 2024 Grade 7, O’ Level and A’ Level’s examination since they have spent two years doing CALA and have been assessed under the impression that it is going….
HON. MATEWU: On a point of Order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please let him finish. You will come after him, I will recognise you, please take your seat.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Is this change not going to affect our students sitting for 2024, Grade 7, O’ level and A’ level examination since they spent two years doing CALA and having been assessed under the impression that it is going to contribute to their final ZIMSEC mark? I submit.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Kangausaru. Hon. Member, I advise you to ask that to the responsible Minister tomorrow, on a Wednesday.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you.
HON. BAJILA: On a point of privilege.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of privilege?
HON. BAJILA: I have been reading the Hansard a lot Madam Speaker. On the 15th of November, I addressed this House in Xhosa, the translation to English was wrong. Madam Speaker, on the 14th of February, Hon. Gwangwaba spoke in this House in Tonga, the translation was so wrong and actually offensive. His named appeared in the Hansard as Hon. Mwapona because he greeted the Speaker and said mwapona biyeni and the Hansard actually wrote his name as Hon. Mwapona, his name is Hon. Gwangwaba.
Madam Speaker, this is a point of privilege that I would like to raise in the sense that while I am here and capable of speaking in English, there are certain things that I cannot express properly unless I revert to the mother tongue. It the systems for automatic translation are not in place, it affects my ability to represent my community, and it affects my ability to present myself freely and to the best of my abilities. I therefore request that through you Madam and in line with the dictates of Section 6 of the Constitution, we move quickly to automatic translation. If it is possible, we can find the people who can assist with the proper translation each and every time. It might go even worse as we go to the Upper House because we also read the Hansard that side, the problem is the same. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member for that. I am sorry for that and I am sure the administration has taken note of that.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. KAMBUZUMA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I move that we stand over Order of the Day, Number 1 until Orders of the Day Numbers 2 and 8 have been disposed of.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ON THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I am going to add my voice onto the ZEC Report. ZEC glorified itself and came up with a report that pretends to give an impression of a free and fair election that it was not. I note five things that point to dishonesty and half-truth in this report…
An Hon. Member having crossed between the Chair and the Hon. Member debating.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mahlangu, you are crossing between me and the person debating. May you please proceed?
HON. MUROMBEDZI: I note five things that point to dishonesty and half-truth in the ZEC Report. The first one is the printing of ballots. According to ZEC, the printing of ballots was delayed by litigation…
HON. TAFANANA NDLOVU: On a point of order Madam Speaker Ma’am.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Murombedzi. What is your point of order Hon. Zhou?
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member is reading and I do not know who wrote the speech. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Zhou, can we have order in the House please. It is allowed to read.
HON. DR. MUTODI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. My point of order emanates from the Standing Rules and Orders that when Hon. Members are debating, they are not allowed to lie between her teeth. The Hon Member who is debating is a Member of this Parliament by process of ZEC and she cannot stand before this Parliament and purport to say that the process that ZEC did is invalid. The Hon. Member is out of order and must be reprimanded. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Murombedzi, may you proceed but please, I ask you to debate the report.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: According to ZEC, the printing of ballots was delayed by litigation and they had to consider constituencies from Harare first, but we did not see the list of litigation…
HON. S. SITHOLE: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: We want order in the House please. What is your point of order Hon. Sithole?
HON. S. SITHOLE: She must first withdraw and then she goes ahead to lie in Parliament that ZEC does not conduct elections properly. She must conclude.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Murombedzi, may you please continue.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker Ma’am. According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the printing of ballots was delayed by litigation and they had to consider constituencies that were far from Harare. We did not see the litigation list and neither were the litigations communicated to stakeholders, but Madam Speaker, l am curious if there were delays and they were supposed to affect areas; were the litigations not a wholesale case that we saw on the 23rd August, 2023?
- ZEC claimed that the electoral officers used postal ballots and then said slightly above five thousand one hundred applied and were granted in the report more than 130 000 electoral officers were engaged, and most of them were not deployed where they vote.
Madam Speaker, this way dishonestly and deliberately desensitised civil servants who were probably suspected to vote in a certain way. This facility on postal votes should apply to all civil servants and deployment should be done in advance to allow such.
- Observer mission reports were noted in the reports, but in the recommendations section, before conclusion, it appears ZEC did not take any recommendations from the observer missions. Recommendations should reflect willingness and acknowledgement to correct mistakes unless if the mistakes were deliberate.
- ZEC in its report, clearly did not mention threats that were issued to the SADC Electoral Observer Mission. This is dangerous and unprecedented. ZEC must callout on all forms of malpractice, especially to the election observers they would have invited to come and observe our processes.
The report Madam Speaker, generally lacks self-introspection and presents itself as defence rather than a fair and true assessment of how the election was run.
- The transmission of election results was a black-market channel. It must be in the clear Madam Speaker, to date the presidential election results per polling station are still unpublished. Our voter registration, if we remember well, it is polling station based. Voting itself is polling station based. Therefore, credibility and transparency to check ZEC results, especially for the presidential candidate must be published as per each polling station for the interest of the nation and all interested parties.
HON. MUGWADI: On a point of order Madam Speaker Ma’am, by electoral rules, all results from local authorities, Parliamentarians, Presidential results are plastered or laminated at all polling stations, especially at the entrance under V11 forms. So if someone then says the results were not published when they were displayed at the polling station, are we not allowing a dangerous culture of being disassociated with the truth in the august House?
Remember Madam Speaker, the public is watching and certain untruths and desperate lies cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mugwadi. I think the best thing for you to do is to debate the report and put the facts right.
HON. MUGWADI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I do not want to overburden Parliament. I have already debated on this motion and am allowed to debate on a motion once. Thank you. – [HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! May we please behave like Honourable Members! May we behave like adults!
HON. NYABANI: On a point of order Madam Speaker Ma’am. May the Hon Member kindly withdraw ati, get away!
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can you recognise the Hon. Member? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – order, may we have order in the House please!
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Lastly, in its report, ZEC speaks about impartiality as one of its values. On 23rd August, we saw exhibition tables belonging to a shadowy organisation placed outside several polling stations within the vicinity of several polling stations bearing political party insignia. This potentially casts doubt in the ability of the electoral management body to be impartial, therefore rendered the election fraudulent. I so submit Madam Speaker, thank you very much.
HON. MATEWU: On a point of order Madam Speaker. My point of order is in relation to what the Hon. Speaker said last week. He said, and I quote, ‘The decorum of a Member of a Parliament, in terms of their dressing. When you are dressed and do not have a tie, you must have a full attire” It is my submission Madam Speaker Ma’am that Hon. Mugwadi is inappropriately dressed in this Parliament. I thank you. – [HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members! May we have order in the House. Hon. Mugwadi, may you please approach the Chair? – [HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - There is nothing wrong with Hon. Mugwadi’s attire.
HON. MATEMA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I rise to add my voice to the ZEC Report concerning the 2023 Harmonised Elections. Let me start by celebrating the wonderful work which was done under very difficult circumstances. As a creation of Chapter 12, which speaks to Commissions that run affairs in the Republic of Zimbabwe, the ZEC has three roles that they are supposed to play broadly which are - to prepare, conduct, and supervise elections. So, concerning the processes relating to voter registration, voter inspection, delimitation of wards, and proclamation of election dates, ZEC did very well under the circumstances.
I shall be very brief because most of the issues relating to this report have been discussed by other Hon. Members. Let me add my voice by saying that the mere fact that post the announcement of the 2023 Harmonised Election, there was no contestation, it is on record we do not have any contestation. It speaks volumes to the fact that the process was free and fair. The process before, during, and after the election…
HON. BAJILA: On a point of order! The Hon. Member is delving into untruths. The election in Bulilima Constituency was challenged in court.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you will have your time to debate.
HON. MATEMA: That was the long and short of my submission to this report. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order! It is an appreciation of how the Hon. Members from your left side have respected the decorum of this House when Hon. Matema was debating. I want to implore the other Hon. Members to follow the same when others are debating. When Hon. Matema was debating, we did not see unnecessary interruption and noise in this House. So, if we debate like that, even though he had issues…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: But he was interrupted by that Hon. Member.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, it is not like I am debating with you but my point is, if you noticed there was calmness on this side even though we did not agree with some of the points he raised but the Members from this side did not interrupt. This is also what we expect to be happening as we move forward. I thank you.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Allow me also to give my voice on this debate on the 2023 Harmonised Election Report presented to this august House by the Leader of Government Business.
Let me start by congratulating ZEC for a well-done job for conducting free, fair, transparent, and credible elections. There was peace before, during, and after the elections. We thank God for that. Elections in Zimbabwe are guided by our Constitution and the Electoral Act. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which was established in terms of Section 238 of our Constitution has the mandate to prepare, conduct, and supervise elections. It also has the mandate to register voters, compile the Voters Roll, delimit constituencies, and accredit observers among other functions.
Madam Speaker, I would want to acknowledge the work once again, of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission throughout the whole process of the 2023 Harmonised Elections. Before the 2023 harmonised elections, the Commission conducted a delimitation exercise in line with Section 239 (f) of our Constitution. The delimitation was presented to Parliament and Parliament made recommendations which was a transparent exercise. Madam Speaker, the Commission conducted voter registration during the electoral cycle, and every citizen above the age of 18 years was allowed to register to vote as stipulated in Section 673(a) of our Constitution. The practice was done in a fair, transparent way.
I want to further applaud the Commission for establishing the short code (*265#) which was used by citizens to check their names on the Voters' Roll and their polling stations on their mobile phones which was a very good thing. Such efforts show the commitment of the Commission to do its process fairly and transparently. Following the proclamation done by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, the Commission prepared for the 2023 elections, voter education was conducted, nomination courts set as well, and accreditation of election observers was done.
I want to further applaud ZEC for accrediting as many election observers as possible according to the laid down regulations both for local and foreign journalists. This shows that as a country, we remain transparent, democratic, and committed to achieving our national vision, Vision 2030.
Madam Speaker, I want also to applaud His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe for extending the voting process to areas that were being affected by logistical challenges. Such a democratic effort cannot be unrecognised. I want further to applaud the Commission for creating a conducive and peaceful environment during the election period. All political parties were allowed to put their agents which is a sign of democracy that our country enjoys. The Commission created a fair playing ground, promoting democracy and transparency in all its processes. Well done ZEC for a job well done. I thank you.
HON. M. C. SIBANDA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member is mentioning the point of fairness. I think maybe the election was managed by an impartial and…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member! You will have your time to debate. Please take your seat.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on the issue of the ZEC report. Firstly Madam Speaker, what I want to say is that there are a lot of complaints about the election from many Zimbabweans. This caused observer missions that were there during the elections to complain about what took place during the elections.
Madam Speaker, let me move over to Chapter 8 which talks on the procurement of election material. Firstly, it shows that ZEC did not have enough time to prepare for the elections. ZEC had five years to prepare for the 23rd August general elections and therefore, it should have gone to the elections well prepared and there should not have been a shortage of election material. On the procurement of election material, there was supposed to be a voters’ roll that was up to date and comprehensive. We ended up going to the elections without a voters’ roll. This showed that ZEC did not have enough time to prepare for the elections.
Madam Speaker, as Members of Parliament and councillors, we were supposed to have had access to the voters’ roll before the elections. It took ZEC a long time to give us the voters’ roll. We were presented with a voters’ roll that was in the form of a disc which we could not print. We could not access information from this voters’ roll. This shows that the ZEC was not ready for the elections.
On the ZEC report, section 4.1 speaks on voter education. They held road shows and advertisements on television among the various voter education initiatives. If ZEC wanted the elections to take place smoothly, political parties were supposed to be allowed to carryout voter education with the assistance of NGOs and civic society. Madam Speaker, this shows that voter education was not effective enough for people to be educated on how to vote.
Let me move on to 5.3 on the inspection of the voters’ roll. Madam Speaker, the report shows that people had a right to go and inspect the voters’ roll to check if their names appeared on the voters’ roll. There was a facility through cellphones where a person could dial *265#. If a person who was a registered voter was given their polling station through this facility and they went to that stated polling station, they would not find their name there. From this, we can see that ZEC did not do justice to the people of Zimbabwe on inspection of the voters’ roll for their names.
Also on voters’ roll inspection, you could find that a husband and wife who voted in previous elections and their names were present on the voters’ roll, when they went to vote, sometimes the husband’s name would be found and the wife’s name would not be there. This shows that some people were removed from the voters’ roll and some were added. How can we have a situation where one’s name is on the voters’ roll, but on the day of elections, the name would not be found? ZEC should sit down and look into the issue of voters’ roll inspection. To add on to that, on the day of voting most people…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. We are not allowed to record debates with our cellphones in this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - May we have order please.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. On the issue of the voters’ roll on 5.3, inspection a person was supposed to check for their name while outside the polling station and then get inside and vote. Madam Speaker, it is my thinking that this was a way of making sure that some people did not get the opportunity to vote. Why I am saying this is because most people would not find their names on the voters’ roll on Polling Station A, Polling Station B and on the next polling station, and would give up in the end then go home. An example of what happened is that if someone did not find their name on the voters’ roll displayed outside, he or she would lie that their name was there, and upon getting inside the polling station, find his or her name there…
*HON. NYABANI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Hon. Molokela-Tsiye resigned, but I can see he is present in this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. It shows that there are some people who did not manage to vote because they had to check their names outside and also inside the polling station. ZEC should look into this matter and this practice should be discontinued.
Madam Speaker on 8.4 on the issue of ballot papers, we could debate on this issue all day, but the truth is that ZEC did not do a good job. ZEC knew fully well that we were going to elections, but it printed an insufficient amount of ballot papers.
HON. CHIGUMBU: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I would like Hon. Nyabani to withdraw what he said. If an Hon. Member resigns it is announced by the Hon. Speaker and yourself. So he is not telling the truth while he is seated in the most respected house in the country. Can he withdraw what he said? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me say to Hon. Matangira, you are free to do what is right for your own party – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Karenyi, please withdraw that statement.
*HON. KARENYI: I withdraw Madam Speaker. My point is, ZEC should look into this matter so that in the next elections we do not face the same problem of inadequate ballot papers.
I now move to 9.2 assisted voter; let me quote the Electoral Act, where it talks about assisted voters. Please allow me to read it in English. “In terms of Section 59 of the Electoral Act, illiterate and physically handicapped voters who were not able to vote without assistance, either brought persons of their choice to assist or were assisted by a presiding officer” I continue to feel that ZEC has to look into this matter closely because we now see that assisted voters can end up being abused. There are other people who now take advantage and abuse people whom they know belong to certain parties. These people might end up being abused by headmen being told to pretend to be illiterate and given someone to assist them in the voting process. We noticed that even people as young as 20 years were being assisted to vote. This proved to us that, that was abuse at its best. It caused people to vote for someone they do not want.
It is my appeal that this law should be amended and assisted voters should be people who cannot write or read, not that someone who graduated from university is assisted to vote.
*HON. GANYIWA: On a point of Order Madam Speaker. I do not think the Hon. Member is being truthful in her debate because it is a choice of the assisted voter to choose someone to assist them to vote. You are not forced. She has to withdraw that statement.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think you need to have your chance to debate and say what was good about the electoral process.
*HON. MUGWADI: My point of order is very simple; it is about the time allocation. In our Standing Rules, the Hon. Member should be allocated 20 minutes but the Hon. Member on the floor started at fifteen minutes to three and now we are at…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mugwadi, please take your seat. Hon. Karenyi, may you proceed but you are left with five minutes.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. MAPIKI: My point of order is that the Hon. Member is continuously referring to my President, Adv. Chamisa, yet Chamisa is no longer the President of CCC.
*HON. KARENYI: In conclusion, let me talk about postal voters. ZEC should scrutinise the postal voters because we have our people, the civil servants who also go out to help in executing the elections. It is my thinking that when we call out that people should come to vote, no political parties should be there. Civil servants who will be on duty should be placed where they are registered to vote. I remember in Bulawayo where I had a lot of problems, it is my clarity that let there be …
HON. KUDHLANDE: On a point of order. The Hon. Member first debated in English then she went to Shona. She was mixing the languages.
HON. TOBAIWA: I move that Hon. Karenyi’s time be extended.
HON. MAHLANGU: I second – [AN HON. MEMBER: I object.]
Motion put and negatived.
HON. KAMBUZUMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2024.
MOTION
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE TO IMPROVE THE PLIGHT OF COUNCILLORS
HON. JERE: Good afternoon Madam Speaker Ma’am. I move the motion standing in my name that this House:-
CONCERNED with the marginalisation which our society exhibits towards our Councillors whereby some sections of our population perceive them as volunteers despite the unwavering patriotism and devotion to their national duties;
FULLY APPRECIATING AND ACKNOWLEDGING that Councillors are the real foot soldiers in the constituencies as they are the engines that drive all our developmental programmes and projects for the benefit of the people to whom we are accountable as Members of Parliament;
APPLAUDING the highest levels of responsibility, custodianship, unflinching loyalty and dedication of our Councillors who are also the caretakers of multi-million dollar assets and yet they still remain as the unsung heroes in our quest to develop the nation;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon the Ministry of Local Government and National Housing to come up with competitive conditions of service in order to improve the plight of our Councillors so that their livelihoods can be sustained with dignity which is commensurate with their dedication to duties and responsibilities to the nation.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: I second.
HON. JERE: Let me start by bringing to the House a quote by one of the renowned motivational writers called Fredrick Herzberg. Herzberk spoke about motivation in his factor theory. He was very clear that remuneration is classified as hygiene factor. He went on to say the absence of a good remuneration is a de-motivator. What he was speaking to is that in an environment where remuneration is not adequate, the issue of remuneration becomes a de-motivator. People become so demotivated if they are not getting very good remuneration.
Madam Speaker, Section 276 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 20, provides for the designation of local authority such as Rural District Councils and Urban Councils. Section 276 and 279 outlines the objectives, structure, composition and roles of local governance, Clause 2 under section 276 states that local authority must have the capacity to make decisions on local governance issues on behalf of their communities in accordance with the law; our Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013.
Madam Speaker, my submission today is a research which was also made in consultation with the Association of Rural District Councilors that should be taken note of. The Rural District Council Act Chapter 29:13, also outlines the role of power and procedures governing Rural District Councils. Section 19, specifically states that councillors must be paid such allowances as may be fixed by the council with the approval of the Hon. Minister, Rural District Council Act 2002.
Furthermore, Madam Speaker, Section 264 of the Constitution stipulates that legislative powers on local governance issues are shared between Parliament, provincial and metropolitan councils. The Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Rural District Council Act fully appreciates and acknowledge that councillors are the real foot soldiers in the constituencies as they are the engines that drive all our development programmes and projects for the benefit of the people whom we are accountable for as Members of Parliament.
The two, also provide the legal basis of central governance to develop national legislation and policy regulating councillors remuneration. This will empower councillors by providing guidelines and parameters for determining appropriate compensation…
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point order?
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: My point of order is that I am seeing Members of Parliament from our left who are just roaming around without bowing to the Chair. They are supposed to bow their heads when they are going outside the House. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I thank you for reminding them.
HON. JERE: Thank you Madam Speaker, this will empower councillors by providing guidelines and parameters for determining appropriate compensation. National standards promote fairness, transparency and good governance.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe has been pursuing a devolution agenda aimed at empowering provincial and metropolitan councils as well as local authorities through the transfer and decentralisation of Government responsibilities and powers. In this regard, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde. Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa launched a devolution and decentralisation policy in 2020. The policy aims to operationalise the devolving of power to sub-national structures of a re-configured Zimbabwe state to enable a faster, efficient and effective response to challenges of the delivery of public service, development, democracy as well as the imperative of sustaining national unity and peace.
Madam Speaker, councillors play a critical role in decentralised Government. Given their responsibility in overseeing service delivery, planning, budgeting, revenue management and representing constituency needs within their wards, for devolution to be effective, local governance requires competent and motivated leaders. I spoke about the Herzberg two factor theory, if people are not motivated through a very good salary, they are demotivated and their performance …
HON. SAGANDIRA: On a point of Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. SAGANDIRA: I think the motion that is being moved has been overtaken by events as the Hon. Minister has already addressed to issues concerning councillors, in his letter dated 27th February, 2024 where he stated that the allowances have actually been reviewed. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, it is not only allowances, I think it is the conditions of service. It is not overtaken by events – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –Hon. Members on my left side, you are required to bow your heads to the Chair whenever you are - [HON. MATEWU: Who is the Chair?.] – Who said that? So it is you Hon. Matewu. Hon. Matewu, please leave the House.
Hon. Matewu walked out of the House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members it is our Standing Rules requirement, it is not anybody’s requirement, it is not my requirement, it is our Standing Rules requirement so we have to abide by our Standing Rules and Orders. You have to bow your heads to the Chair.
HON. JERE: Thank you so much Hon. Speaker. Let me remind the leaders of the people in this House that great leaders are great listeners and listening on its own is a virtue. I thank you so much. For devolution to be effective, local governance requires competent and motivated leaders’ compensation, I am talking about inadequacy. I know that this item has been sitting on the Order Paper for a long time and it might seem as if it might have been overtaken by events, but still the current compensation, we feel it is not enough, it is inadequate. The inadequate compensation hinders councils’ ability to full execute their responsibilities. The current allowance for councillors is inadequate and this hinders motivation, accountability and capacity to perform their duties effectively. For devolution to succeed, it is imperative that councillors are properly incentivised and compensated through a remuneration framework that adequately reflects their responsibility and contributions as we march towards achieving Vision 2030 agenda.
Madam Speaker, in some of the small councils where we come from, especially the rural councils, their remuneration before the current endeavour by the Ministry to increase to 1300 for councillors which we are quite aware of. We want to acknowledge and say thank you to them. The councillors were getting 150RTGS as an allowance and they were not even getting it. As I am standing here presenting this motion, they have not been getting it for the past 3 to 4 months. Adequate remuneration that reflects their contribution will strengthen oversight, representation, planning and accountability. It will also attract skilled candidates to stand for office. Ultimately, it empowers the councillors to make devolution successful, productive by unlocking local governance capabilities, resources and actions. Councillors compensation should align to international best practices on local governance and government remuneration aimed at facilitating good governances. This outlines that local elected officials should received salaries.
What has bene approved Madam Speaker, is an allowance. We are proposing that these councillors should be entitled to a basic salary plus those allowances as part of the presentation. Allowances should cover expenses incurred during officials’ duties, enable professional development account for constituency sizes. Remuneration packages should be regularly reviewed by independent bodies to match evolving roles and maintain public confidence. The current situation on the ground has been overtaken by events, where councillors were earning something like 115 which was equivalent to US$9 per sitting at the current official rate of exchange. At today’s current rate, my proposal to achieve the Vision 2030 by His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, is to bring Zimbabwe’s councillors compensation in line with international standards. There is need for a Statutory Instrument to mandate appropriate compensation parameters linked to responsibilities and constituency sizes. This would enhance compliance with international standards.
It is my proposal that national legislation outlines basic salary, allowances and a performance-based bonus framework for our councillors. It is very sad to let this House know that the welfare of the councillors as we speak now, it is the responsibilities of the Hon. Members. They are funding their operations as they are regarded as the foot soldiers of our constituencies. Even during our campaign, it was broken down into three pieces where they were saying the head was the President and the stomach was representing the Hon. Member of Parliament and the councillors were referred to as the foot soldiers of the constituencies.
The proposed remuneration will aim to cover basic expenses, opportunity costs and productive cost incurred by councillors in fulfilling their demanding official duty across potential vast wards. In summary, the proposed remuneration will empower oversight accountability, representation, monitoring and planning by councillors as envisaged under the Constitution and required for successful devolution. Remuneration should match councillors time, commitments and living costs. I so submit Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am and good afternoon. I thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Jere for drawing our attention to one critical structure paramount to an effective delivery to achieve Vision 2030. When it comes to our Ward Councillors throughout...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): It is now the Hon. Speaker in the Chair.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Mr. Speaker, may you excuse me. I had not noticed that there had been change of hands.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are excused.
HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Mr. Speaker, when it comes to our ward councillors throughout the country, urban and rural, there is a glaring disconnect between their mandates. The developmental responsibility and their capacitation and empowerment for effective delivery and successful implementation of their responsibilities – what we have and how we are treating our councillors is very sad and unfortunate. This is because it is like asking a starving person to carry food to feed others but not to eat it.
I stand here to add my voice that Government must immediately address the welfare requirements of councillors to capacitate them to fulfill their devolved development duties. As pointed out by the mover of the motion, our councillors are the development foot soldiers. They are the channels to and from the people, seeing to the mobilisation of people, to support, participate and facilitate Government and community programmes. They travel long distances especially in my constituency, worse now after delimitation which produced bigger wards with some distances of about 20 kilometers in one ward. They cover the length and breadth of these wards on meagre resources with no transport.
Mr. Speaker Sir, institutions and organisations are driven by structure. Councillors are a key component of Local Government structure. Their proper resourcing reflects on our Government attitude and seriousness to implement strategy and achieve Vision 2030. Section 277 of our Constitution states that councillors have responsibilities for financial oversight, formulating by-laws, approving budgets, plans and service deliver targets. They also oversee administrators and establish development priorities that puts them at a centre of devolution success and development.
The motivation to carry out the mammoth responsibility is found in their conditions of service. The welfare issues of our councillors remind me of mussel hierarchy of needs. Let us address the fundamental needs to allow the councillors to focus on the critical development issues. You cannot talk about clothes to a starving person. The Government recently reviewed their remuneration but when you look at it, and when you look at the figures, it is nothing to talk about. It is actually a mockery, giving a councillor an amount that is below USD80 equivalent, given the magnitude of the work that they do.
The current sitting allowance which I think is actually a transport allowance as it is calculated according to the distances that these councillors travel, it is also a mockery considering the important work they do and also the distances that they cover. Councillors are also given loans to buy motor-bikes. Why give them loans for a motor-bike to carry out council work? In some cases, the loan deductions would leave some councillors with nothing. The question is, why is it a loan when it is for council work? I understand in some councils, there is a residential stand for which they pay 40%, but that is not happening across all councils. The councillors are the people who drive development when they cannot sustain their livelihoods. I really applaud the councillors, they are indeed unsung heroes. They work every day 24/7, driving million-dollar projects caring for the well-being of communities where they need some help to sustain themselves. They work every day 24/7, driving million-dollar projects, caring for the well-being of communities when they themselves need so much help to sustain themselves. They have no ward offices. So they wake up to people at their houses with issues ranging from food, school fees to health challenges. Very few people will go to the village heads when they are hungry or when they need school fees for their children or any type of help that they may need within the community – they will all go to the Councillors. They will end up feeding these people because they will have come to their houses. They need council offices.
The issue of data is very essential Mr. Speaker Sir as councillors use their phones more than anyone else. 24/7 they will be communicating with their wards. Government should provide data for councillors so that they discharge their duties diligently.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I recommend that the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works improves the welfare of our councillors. Let us review their salaries to be competitive regionally, their sitting allowances, assist them to procure vehicles or maybe provide them with certificates to import what they can afford, or allocate council transport and access to descent housing, medical aid and funeral policy. Sometimes, it is a sorry sight Mr. Speaker, when the councillors die in the ward; if the Member of Parliament does not stand up to the occasion, it will be something else.
They need to lead by example and demonstrate what a decent life is during and after service through a decent pension scheme. If we are serious about development and empowerment to an upper middle-income society by 2030, we need to pay attention to the fundamental structures; the local authority structure that will enable us to deliver the results. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): Thank you Hon. Member. I just want to get some clarity from you. I think I heard you saying let us review their salaries. Do councillors have a salary? – [HON.MEMBERS: No, they have allowances.] -
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I stand in support of the motion that was tabled by Hon. Jere. I applaud the motion because it has given us all a wake-up call-in terms of the welfare of our hardworking rural councillors. All their duties are enshrined within our Parliamentary regulations and also includes local and urban authorities.
So the ball is now back in our court for us to make sure we have adequate tools of trade in the diligent performance of their duties. We tasked them with the mandate of looking after the welfare of our people in both rural and urban areas in our absence. Lack of adequate tools of trade puts our councillors between a rock and a hard place, and at times promotes corruption.
I therefore, stand in support of Hon. Jere’s motion. Hon. Speaker Sir, our councillors should be awarded salaries as was alluded to by other Hon. Members. Some councillors end up engaging in corruption due to poor remuneration when they end up illegally selling stands and acquiring secret individual stands in their various wards. For instance, in Mberengwa, there used to be a councillor who used to unscrupulously sell and allocate stands. It is my humble plea Hon. Speaker, that over and above the proposed funeral policy, Parliament and Government should set aside budgets for councils that are struggling financially. An Hon. Member alluded to the fact that some councillors have not been paid for up to four or five months.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I was deeply touched at the passing of Councillor Mapadza, may his soul rest in peace, a councillor in my constituency. There was no evidence of his long service after having served the Mberengwa Council for 15 years. He could neither afford to have a funeral policy or a decent coffin. I therefore request the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to urgently look into this matter…
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order. Who is shouting behind my back? – [AN HON. MEMBER: NdiHamauswa!] -Hon. Members, may we all listen to the Hon. Member on the floor. You may proceed Hon. Zhou.
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am not sure why Hon. Hamauswa is disgruntled. Does Hon. Hamauswa not have councillors in his constituency? This is a very important debate that we should all be focusing on…
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order. May you proceed with your debate Hon. Zhou?
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: I wanted it to be reflected in the Hansard that he has no interest in the welfare of councillors…
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order! I did not say I do not want councillors but it is known that the people who do not want councillors…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. Member who is debating is giving their views on the welfare of councillors in local authorities – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] – Hon. Member, I will throw you out of the House. Hon. Tobaiwa, get out of this House now.
Hon. Tobaiwa left the House
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. What we ask for as the Parliament is that we make things fast so that our councillors get salaries in order to have peace whilst working for the nation. Those councillors in Rural Districts Councils are the ones doing registers, so every day councillors are working. So, if someone is working every day, they need a salary at the end of the month to sustain on.
^^HON. S. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Most of the issues have been addressed regarding the welfare of councillors. The lifestyle of councillors is a sorry one yet they are the ones who are doing most of the running around for the development of the areas that we lead.
Firstly, our councillors should get duty free cars for their day-to-day running. If ever there is a funeral, they need to assist the bereaved family but with the allowances that they are getting, they cannot do that. When people from their wards need assistance, they will look forward to the councillors' help but with the meager allowances that they get, it is impossible.
As a Member of Parliament, my plea is for the Government to see to it that councillors get housing allowances, some of our councils when they resume duty in local authorities, they will not have appropriate accommodation, hence the need to give them housing loans. Yes, I agree they get residential stands but they will not have enough money to develop those stands.
Local authorities need to craft policies to curb a lot of bureaucracy found in local governance. This bureaucracy impedes development in most areas. I thank you.
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to support the motion moved by Hon. Jere regarding the marginalisation of the councillors. It is a fact that the councillors play a very key role in the development of our communities, both rural and urban development. As such, they are the foot soldiers who drive development in our communities. Driven by our trajectories as a nation, Vision 2030, these councillors have got a huge task to ensure that the National Development policy is made to be accounted for by ensuring the implementation of such. It is very important Mr. Speaker that this implementation is done by these foot soldiers in our communities.
So, it is very important to ensure that their welfare is well taken care of to ensure the best result. I understand Hon. Jere highlighted the issues of motivation when he referred to one scholar, there are indeed various motivation strategies both intrinsic and extrinsic. The extrinsic motivation relates to allowances and salaries for these councillors.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at our rural communities, particularly in my community, I come from a farming community where the councillors have to manage the entire ward which stretches for up to 30km and the same councillors will not have bicycles, neither will they be having motor bikes nor vehicles. So, for the various Government programmes, it becomes very difficult.
It is very also important to note that as they implement this, we start to see or hear the issues of corruption and some such are because of non-availability of basic resources which ensures they deliver their mandate. So in an effort to avoid such, I do concur and buttress the motion that has been raised by Hon. Jere to ensure that their salaries or allowances should be looked into.
Right now, I understand that local authorities were given a target to ensure they avail the master plans by April, if I am not mistaken. This is quite a lot of work that involves these councillors to ensure that when they meet with their communities, they discuss the future plans of these wards. That involves a lot of engagement and requires mobility. It also requires some kind of financial support. So it is very important that the councillors are actually the key people turning and implementing the Government programmes.
Mr. Speaker, I will just quote from some research here which was done by Transparency International, where it says it was looking at the framework in line with the international standards. It says Zimbabwe’s council allowances fall far short of international guidelines and best practices. For instance, a survey by Transparency International Zimbabwe in 2017 found that over 80% of councillors felt their remuneration was inadequate to sustainably cover ward activities, travel costs, communications and professional development. The Zimbabwe Local Government Association from their study also highlighted that huge variances in council budgets had capacities to pay meaningful allowances and this underscored the need for the national standards.
It is very important Mr. Speaker that we need to look into this and particularly, our Portfolio Committees responsible for the local authority or local Government. They need to discuss this key issue and probably come up with various proposals that could motivate our councillors for the future and betterment of our country. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Firstly, I would like to say I support the issue of allowances for councillors. Councillors are doing a very important job in the different parts of the country; so they should be given some allowances to assist them such as what Members of Parliament get. This will help them as they will have a source of livelihood.
Some of you may ask where the funds to give councillors will come from. Previously, most councillors had running projects that they were engaged in so that councils could carry out their mandate. Some would have campfires, tourism and agricultural activities. These would help in the funding of councils to assist them to assist councillors, but nowadays councils are surviving through charging rates and selling stands. In developed countries, we see councils providing their own funding. Therefore, councils should not wait for devolution funds in order to run, but should have income generating projects. This should be looked into so that each council engages in activities where they can get funding from.
If you look at the current situation, councils have failed to run their bottle stores or other projects that give them income. The welfare of CEOs or engineers in councils must be the concern of the Government and not wait for council resolutions because for the past two years, most councils have failed to bring in funds from projects, but wait for devolution funds.
So this is where the issue raised by Hon. Jere sticks. As Members of Parliament, if we put laws that CEOs should be rotated just like what happens in the police sector, this is what should happen. Government should give advice to local authorities so that they also function and be able to pay their workers. We have seen that now they are involved in land issues and those issues involving land barons.
We should be clear that local authorities should function without expecting money from the fiscus because they may not get funds. The local authorities have committees as far as I have seen according to their documents, but those committees are only meant for taking money, yet our councillors are supposed to be running around doing ground work and they should be able to get remuneration.
Hon. Speaker Sir, I support this motion that the law should ensure that local authorities should carry out money making projects, but nowadays, it seems the local authorities are only focusing on devolution funds. They are supposed to ensure that they make money and they should ensure that 70% of the revenue they collect or generate should be put into service delivery and 30% to be on expenditure, especially remuneration. That is why sitting allowances are very meagre. Right now, they are earning $7 to $9 as sitting allowances. That money is useless. Councillors are as good as directors, yet they earn much less than their workers. That is why they end up being controlled by their workers because the workers earn more. In the end, they end up being dragged into corruption.
So I would like to support the motion raised by Hon. Jere, but Government should look into this issue. I have realised that there are already some acts that only lack implementation. That is why they are only looking at revenue collection and not generating any funds themselves. I thank you very much.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to add my voice and speak briefly on this debate raised by Hon. Jere seconded by Hon. Nyamupinga. Looking at local authorities, especially how the councillors are lagging behind, if you look at what the councillors do, they do a lot of work. They work much more than how the council employees do because some of the work they do comes from the portfolios or committees that the councillors go through. So, they spend a lot of time at work. They attend meetings at council and they attend development meetings at wards. If there are constructions, they attend to that. Councillors rarely stay home. Most of the times they are going around in wards because they are the ones responsible for the development in the wards, yet at the end of the month when they cannot do any other work, where they can earn a living, they cannot even afford to go to their fields and they earn ZW1 300 which is converted to USD 80. They have yet a lot of other responsibilities. They need to buy clothes and take care of their families, including sending children to school. That USD80 is very little. That is why you end up reading about the arrest of councillors because they end up parceling out land or stealing inputs like fertilizers or sometimes end up diverting revenue. This is because they are struggling.
The other thing is when they travel like where I come from in Rushinga, the wards are very big. A constituency in Harare is the size of a ward in Rushinga, yet they are not even given bicycles. This is a request that a councillor, as soon they are elected into office, must be given motorbikes just like Members of Parliament are given vehicles. Sometimes we end up seeing councillors being given motorbikes because local authorities owe them their allowances. These must be two separate issues. A motorbike must be a separate package altogether.
The other issue is accommodation. Councillors use very dilapidated accommodation. They risk being injured as they try to go into the huts, yet they are responsible for all the development, distribution of all donations from donor community or inputs yet their homesteads will be very poor because USD80 cannot be used to construct a house. Government should really consider that. A councillor’s work is very important in terms of development. At least they must be able to construct better houses and even if a councillor were to die, they should not leave a legacy of dilapidated huts. They must be given stands as part of their package. Sometimes in Rushinga, you see councillors being given stands because council cannot award them their remuneration. They should be given stands just like what Members of Parliament get in terms of package. As soon as they are elected, they must be given those packages.
The most significant thing about this whole debate is that the councillor is responsible for all the development in an area. Without a councillor, there is no development. A councillor is responsible for accessing donor funding and coordinates Pfumvudza or inputs as well as revenue. If they are not taken care of, all those things will be looted. They end up thinking of looting because they do not have lucrative allowances or better remuneration. Councillors must be held in high esteem and dignity. They must be respected. A councillor is as good as a foot soldier. They are supposed to be dressed accordingly so that they are protected from temptations. A councillor must stay at a good place, use better transport facilities and their families must eat good food. Kwashiorkor should not affect a councillor’s children. I hope that by the end of this debate – by the time the Minister comes to address this, councillors’ issues would have been rectified. With those few words, I thank you.
HON. V. MOYO: Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I also rise to add my voice on the motion by Hon. Jere. I believe a lot has been said. It is true that councillors are at the lowest tiers of Government, specifically Local Government. I work closely with the communities who have unimaginable expectations. Councillors are expected to assist on funerals. They are expected to assist on school fees payment. They are expected to even assist on medical bills. They have massive responsibilities of running councils, some with budgets of over hundreds of millions of dollars. They are even called to preside over tenders running into millions, yet recently they have only been paid an allowance just about $135 000 per month. This leaves them very vulnerable to corruption, especially from bidders because of poor remuneration and motivation of their conditions of service.
The normal practice of determining one’s dues in most organisations is their level of influence in the decision-making body. I believe councillors are at the apex in most of their local authorities. Hence their remuneration should also be up to standard. These councillors manage and supervise managers who are handsomely paid. This is why you get in most councils; most managers end up capturing these councillors because our councillors are poor, hence their oversight roles within these local authorities are very much compromised.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in closing I also want bring up this issue, councillors are equivalent to board members in any organisation. The only difference is that their appointment is through an election. So it is my strong conviction that their welfare and their conditions of service should also be reviewed. I know back in the days; the ministry would allow local authorities to determine what should be paid to councillors depending on their capacities.
So I think it is also prudent for the ministry to also explore ways. We know that not all authorities have the same capacity. I believe we should also explore this route so that we try and make sure that these foot soldiers are also taken care of. I submit.
HON. KAMBUZUMA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th March, 2023.
On the motion of HON. KAMBUZUMA, seconded by HON. N. NDLOVU the House adjourned at Twenty-Eight Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 15th February, 2024
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER: All the Hon Members who are coming in now, can you go back. Go back Hon. Members. Clerks, please take their names.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VACANCIES IN PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: On the 29th and 31st of January 2024, Parliament received letters from Ms. Fadzayi Mahere and Mr. Allan Markham respectively, advising of their resignation from Parliament with immediate effect, in accordance with Section 129 (1) (b) of the Constitution.
Section 129 (1) (b) states as follows: “… a seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant upon the Member resigning his or her seat by written notice to the President of the Senate or to the Speaker, as the case may be…”. Ms. Mahere was a Member of Parliament for Mount Pleasant Constituency and Mr. Markham was a Member of Parliament for Harare East Constituency. Consequently, vacancies exist in the membership of Parliament, in respect of the two constituencies, and in terms of Section 39 (1) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], His Excellency the President and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, shall duly be notified in writing of these vacancies.
NEW APPOINTMENTS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House of the following new appointments:
- Tsitsi Zhou is now a member of the Speaker’s Panel;
- Chinjai Kambuzuma is the Deputy Government Chief Whip;
- Sen. Sessel Zvidzai is the Chief Whip for the CCC Party in the Senate
- N. Ndlovu is the Chief Whip for CCC Party;
- Dr. S. Hamauswa is the Deputy Chief Whip for CCC Party;
- W. Chikombo and Hon. T. Mawodzera are members of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders;
- S. Ndebele is the Deputy Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;
- C. Chinanzvavana is the Secretary for the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;
- Sen. M. G. Gwature, is the Organiser for the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;
- M. Mureri is a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee;
- P. Mutseyami is a member of the IPU delegation;
- G. Hlatywayo is a member of the ACP-EU delegation;
- M. Chakabuda is a member of the ASSECAA delegation; and
- M. N. Gumede is the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development. Congratulations to all of them – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Three Members of Parliament having walked in:
The Hon. Members who are coming in now, out of the House. You are sitting down, but I am saying out of the House. You have to be here at 1405 hours – [AN HON. MEMBER: But we do not have transport and we were waiting for the bus.] – I announced yesterday that you have to be here at 1405 hours everybody and you are losing today’s sitting allowance.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): I move that Order of the Day, Numbers 1 to 10 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 11 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. GARWE): Allow me Mr. Speaker to present responses to the issues raised by Hon. Members, relative to His Excellency’s Address on the First Session of the 10th Parliament of Zimbabwe.
On the 13th December, 2023, Hon. Chiduwa raised an issue and he wanted to inquire whether the Ministry of National Housing and Ministry of Finance are exploring any alternative housing funding models. Our response is that the Ministry is working with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion together with the Infrastructural Bank of Zimbabwe to access international lines of credit. Currently, we are crafting project proposals as the basis upon which we are going to draw down the $25 million which has been presented to Government by Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African Bank based in Kenya.
Furthermore, we are exploring Public-Private-Partnership models with international and domestic investors to provide social housing to Zimbabweans. Currently, project proposals have been prepared and some have been submitted to Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) and others are at different levels of conclusion. The Ministry has also sent requests for proposals where we are advertising to the market to attract local developers to partner Government on housing delivery on an engineering, procurement, construction and financial basis.
The Zimbabwe National Human Settlement Policy has liberalised the housing delivery which allowed private sector participation among other players such as banks, financial institutions, civil societies, pension funds and individuals.
On the 29th of November, 2023, Hon. Guyo raised an issue to understand how the Ministry of National Housing would respond to issues to do with shelter after a natural disaster. Shelter after a natural disaster is responded to in the following phases;
- Emergency shelter; the Ministry of Local Government and
Public Works, through the Department of Civil Protection Unit, provides stands as temporary shelter to affected families.
- Replacement and relocation shelter; the Government through
the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities then provides permanent structures for the affected families. For example, the Ministry is currently constructing flats in Dzivaresekwa and houses in Binga for families affected by floods.
- Long term shelter; the Ministry, in liaison with the Ministry of
Local Government and Public Works, the Environmental Management Agency and other MDA’s envisage to conduct a disaster risk mapping at the planning stage of every new settlement with the attendant mitigatory measures.
On 9th November, 2023, Hon. T. Gezi wanted to understand what the Ministry is doing in terms of aligning the Water Act, Environmental Management Act and the Regional Town Planning Act and Urban Councils Act with Section 77 of the Constitution on the right to water. The Ministry does not administer any of these Acts, but as an interested party, we participate when called to as this requires a whole Government approach.
On the 18th October, 2023, Hon. Kanupula wanted to understand how Harare South namely; Hopley, Alston, Eyecourt and Stoneridge should be issued with title deeds as what is being done to Epworth. The Government, through the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities, is currently seized with the matter of title deeds programme nationwide. There is an Inter-Ministerial Committee in place that is working on the issue of title deeds. Epworth was a pilot project and the process is being phased until all areas are covered. I submit Mr. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING (HON. MACHAKAIRE): I would like to thank the Hon. Members for fruitful deliberations on His Excellency the President’s Speech.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I followed the debate on the motion in reply to the President’s address and my Ministry responds as follows:
Drafting of the Youth Bill
The Youth Bill is very important to provide for mechanisms to facilitate mainstreaming of the youth in social, economic and political spaces. The Youth Bill was drafted and submitted to the Attorney-General on the 15th of August 2022. Follow ups were made over the period and the instructions were re-submitted on the 1st of February 2024. The Ministry is confident that the Bill will be sent to Cabinet Committee on Legislation and to Cabinet for consideration by the end of February 2024.
On the increase in drug and substance abuse amongst the youth, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry has put in place the following programmes:
- National Youth Service Training
Youth orientation for life skills and self-sustenance and also participation in the Youth Build Zimbabwe Programme. Under the programme, youth are encouraged to participate in the development of their communities through construction and rehabilitation of schools, clinics and other infrastructure. The programme keeps youth engaged and away from drug and substance abuse.
Further, challenges emanating from drug and substance abuse which includes vandalism, indiscipline and other youth delinquencies will be addressed through intensive education. The Ministry is looking at starting training of the National Youth Service and to this end, is developing a national orientation manual to be used in all provinces to keep the youth away from drug and substance abuse.
- The Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC)
Through the ZYC, education and awareness campaigns against drug and substance abuse are provided to the youth through the youth associations that the ZYC regulates.
Additionally, there is mainstreaming of youth programming by regulating National Youth Associations with the ZYC for engagement in youth programmes.
- Vocational Training Centres
The youth are idle, hence focusing their energy on drug and substance abuse. The Vocational Training Centres provide competence-based training to youth people which integrates entrepreneurship and business.
To date, more than 75 000 young people have been empowered by the skills training initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry and the decentralisation drive will ensure that all young people and communities have skills that are underpinned with the entrepreneurial drive.
- Youth Empowerment
The Micro Bank provides funding for youth projects which aid in keeping the youth busy and off the streets. The Ministry, through the Youth Fund, offers project loans to the youth as individuals and in groups for youth empowerment. I thank you.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 27th February, 2024.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that we revert to Orders of the Day, Numbers 2, 6, 7, 8 and 10 in that order.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR HARMONISED ELECTIONS FOR THE YEAR 2023
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Since the harmonised elections up to now, it is a continuous process of elections, yet many are winding up. Six by-elections were recently held, but we realise that there are some who are also winding up and so, ZEC is continuously conducting elections. I would like to applaud ZEC for a job well done in terms of conducting elections. The first thing I would like to highlight is the cleaning of the voters’ roll. The deceased were removed and only those who are progressive-minded remained.
The other difficult thing was the delimitation of constituencies. There was need for education on delimitation and that means a lot of funds were supposed to be availed so that people would understand the whole process of looking for their names since it is a polling station-based voters’ roll. The changing of constituencies consumed a lot of money for ZEC to continue educating people on the new boundaries, but ZEC succeeded on that. ZEC also faced problems with regards to registering voters because it seems there was not enough public education and that spilled into the issue of delimitation. We then realised that some of the constituencies had very few people, but by the time voter education was conducted, many people had not received the education. So people were not sure which place they belonged to. I think ZEC and the Ministry of Home Affairs must always work together because there is no need for someone in need of an identity card to take long to get it before they can register to vote. I think there is need to rectify that.
With regards to education on the actual polling, ZEC tried very hard, but if you look at the number of spoiled papers, there were so many of them, which implies that voter education was insufficient because in a ward with about 3000 people who are supposed to vote, if we see 800 spoilt papers, it means there is need for correction and financial resources for voter education. Everyone needs to participate in the election of their Government. I also want to applaud ZEC on how they conducted themselves with regards to campaigning or advertising. They gave everyone the opportunity to advertise. I realise that they gave equal opportunities even to small parties like Madhuku and it means ZEC did a very good job in conscientising the public.
When it came to registration, some parties did not have money to register their candidates, but they were given an opportunity after the deadline to register. So ZEC also did well. Even some people who wanted to contest as presidents were allowed to participate in the election. Even if they lost, they understood there was democracy in the country. So I am applauding ZEC for that as well.
I would also like to highlight that before, during and after the elections, it was very peaceful in Zimbabwe and there was no violence. This shows that Zimbabwe has grown in terms of politics. In the past, a lot of violence was witnessed. In life, we have a political life and a social life. In Zimbabwe, people prioritise social life and during the liberation struggle, we were told that political parties are like overalls that you can put on today and discard tomorrow for another one. This means you can join any party that may be called CCC, MDC-T or MDC-N or whatever name. However, that is not something that you have to chase every time because those phases come and pass.
*HON. MAKUMIRE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. May the Hon. Member stick to debating the report.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mapiki, can you please debate what is in the report.
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker. When a report comes, we should be allowed to expand our creativity instead of acting like robots that are programmed. At the end, we will become limited in terms of achieving our goals. I was saying ZEC is supposed to be applauded for what they did in terms of allowing various candidates to participate. I realise that ZEC was supposed to follow a lot of laws in terms of announcing election results, even if some people tried to put their broadcasting centres in Harare. I would like to applaud the security in this country for quickly nipping that in the bud before it happened because ZEC is the one supposed to announce election results.
Although there were challenges because ZEC invited everyone to come and observe elections, some of them had premeditated agendas when they came. We also had some who were observing, but we realised that they started telling us issues that were contrary to the Constitution of this country. Observers are supposed to stick to the laws of the country. The EU, who were part of the observers ended up giving their opinions and suggestions and they spread that to other observers such as SADC. Nevers Mumba from Zambia was given words to utter, but at the end, he was not able to achieve their set goals. In Zimbabwe, we say if you are supposed to go to Nineveh, go there and not go to Tarshish because there are some people who behave like Jonah who was swallowed by a fish. I was so much disturbed by what happened in Shamva because of the actions of Nevers Mumba as the leader of SADC. That also happened in 2008, people are given words to speak by organisations like European Union. We realise that right now in Senegal, they have postponed their elections because there is interference. They realised that they should get rid of interference before they can conduct elections. In this country, we have also institutions that influence institutions like ECOWAS. There are several foundations that are being conducted to train the youths to go against the Government, organisations such as the Mandela Foundation. The foundations are led by former Nigerian President Obasanjo. Those organisations disturb what happens. There are a lot of other institutions and some youths who are influenced by such foundations such as Bobi Wine in Uganda. Even in this country, there are a lot of youths who try to distabilise the country. If you go to Kenya, you realise that there are leaders like Raila Odinga…
HON. MUROMBEDZI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member is deviating from the ZEC report. May he please stick to the ZEC report? Thank you very much.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. Hon. Mapiki, please may you stick to the ZEC report.
HON. MUGWADI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I stand guided. When we are debating a report, are we supposed to stick to it like mathematicians who are counting one to ten such that you should not refer to 20? What I understand is, it appears as though to me that there is the side that is infuriated in the typical Shona proverb, anyumwa bere nderake. Hon. Mapiki is giving a contemporary reflection and circumstances around where these elections took place and this report was generated. I therefore, feel that we are not being fair to the Hon. Member, especially when he is giving contemporary examples to what is existing. Vanenge vanyumwa bere nderavo Madam Speaker, ngavatakure bere ravo asi hazvifaniri kuti rirege kutakurwa. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mugwadi, the procedure is that we must speak about the contents which are in the report. We must not bring any other issues.
HON. MUGWADI: Thank you Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mapiki, please may you proceed, but may you stick to the ZEC report.
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to proceed and say, ZEC did a commendable job although I am afraid that I am old and now have grey hair. If we leave this country, when we discuss domestic issues, we find a lot of deviances, but that is very worrisome. I really want to applaud the job well done by ZEC. The challenges that came up and what we saw, I think ZEC needs adequate funding, especially with regards to voter education. When we also get to delimitation after 10 years, there is supposed to be a lot of voter education to ensure that people participate in the election. After five years, we expect that most of these parties must be organised so that they do not continue giving ZEC a job of continuously conducting elections. We have spent a lot of time on elections, even seasons change, even a cow is supposed to be given time to ensure that its milk has regained. Right now, we see some people are resigning and we do not know what is happening. Where are we going when we are continuously on elections? We are under sanctions and the economy is difficult. I thank you Madam Speaker.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
LEADER OF OPPOSITION
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would like to inform the House that Hon. Hlatywayo is now the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly.
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank you for allowing me to debate on this very important ZEC report. The ZEC is one of Independent Commissions provided for in Chapter 12, Section 232 of our Constitution. It has the following mandate: “To support and entrench human rights and democracy; to protect the sovereignty and interests of the people of Zimbabwe and to promote constitutionalism among other objectives”. Currently, the Chairperson of ZEC is Madam PriscIlla Chigumba. I would like to congratulate her on her reappointment for a second six-year term. In its 2023 report tabled before this august House, the Chairperson of the Commission said that elections are a hallmark of any democratic process because they afford citizens of any country an opportunity to choose leaders to govern them and provide legitimacy to those entrusted with the mandate to rule or govern. The function of the ZEC is very clear - “to prepare for, conduct and supervise elections to the Office of President and Parliament, councils and chiefs as well. To preside over elections of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of Parliament in an efficient manner and in accordance with the law.
The broader responsibility Madam Speaker, includes to register voters, compile a voters’ roll, carry out delimitations, voter education, accredit observers and receive complaints from members of the public, a process that results in an efficient, free, fair, prosperous and transparent election. It is this mandate that ZEC successfully carried out and that I would like to congratulate the ZEC for a job well done. It is in this process that due to this process that we have a President, His Excellency, President E. D. Mnangagwa and all of us here as Members of Parliament. We have all come from this very important exercise which was carried out by ZEC.
Madam Speaker, in its report, ZEC indicated that it carried out a delimitation exercise in which there were significant changes in the distribution of constituencies, the provinces as well as reconfiguration of existing constituencies. The final Delimitation Report was gazetted by the President on the 28th February, 2023. There were some people who were complaining of course, be they candidates or members of the public that the delimitation process was unfair. As we saw Madam Speaker, this process affected everyone in this House. There was no discrimination as to who was impacted by this Delimitation Report.
The report also noted the provision of adequate and timeous funding of the electoral processes indicating the commitment of the Government of President E. D. Mnangagwa to the principle of holding peaceful, democratic elections every five years as provided for by the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The Commission further noted the peaceful environment before, during and after the election period, which again is testimony to the Zimbabwe Government’s mature democracy.
I will go on to tackle the topical issue on the composition of the Commission. There were again some complaints from members of the public in which they said that the ZEC was improperly constituted and such allegations were in the media. Madam Speaker, I would like to remind every concerned citizen that the process to choose Commissioners to ZEC is through advertisement of the position, invitation to the public to make nominations, conduct public interviews and preparation of a shortlist as well as submission of that list to the President for his selection of those who sit on the Commission.
Madam. Speaker, it is my opinion that ZEC is properly constituted and any attempt to discredit the membership of ZEC is actually nefarious, mischievous and an attempt to discredit the credibility of our elections. On the Constitution Amendment which ZEC undertook, which were actually carried out by our Constitution, the Constitutional Amendment of 2013, it is actually clear Madam Speaker that certain Constitutional Amendments were made which ZEC mentioned in its report and these include the repeal of a running mate clause, the introduction of a youth quota, and the introduction of proportional representation, metropolitan councils among other reforms. The involvement of our youth through the youth quota system guarantees that this country will be able to maintain a smooth succession process as we are in the process of guiding and grooming our youth to be leaders of tomorrow. To be leaders who are going to take up leadership positions in our country, this has been guaranteed by the youth quota system. I want to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for making this milestone constitutional amendment which ZEC also mentioned in its report.
On the nomination of candidates Madam Speaker, according to Section 91 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the qualifications for election of any person to the position of President are as follows:
Be a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth or descent;
Be 40 years of age or above;
Be ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe and be a registered voter;
Madam Speaker Ma’am, ZEC follows these principles religiously as they carried out the 2023 Harmonised Elections. This resulted in 11 persons vying for the position of President, among them His Excellency the President, E. D. Mnangagwa who got in excess of 2.3 million votes to assume the Presidency – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Madam Speaker, I wish to urge this House to make further qualifications which will ensure that our elections are not marred by persistent disputes every time they are held. I wish to urge this House to add an amendment to the effect that Presidential candidates in the past elections who make unfounded allegations of electoral fraud be barred from nomination as candidates in future elections.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, where an individual makes false allegations of electoral fraud, they essentially give room to hostile countries to discredit the election and create chances of anarchy in the country. I wish to categorically state that Mr. Nelson Chamisa has, over the past electoral periods, proven to be ignorant to the electoral processes leading to the democratic elections as he has maintained that he would only …
HON. MUROMBEDZI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member is debating on people who are not Members of this House. Can he retract his statement? He cannot speak ill of somebody who is not a Member of this House. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: On Mutodi, in Parliament, we are not allowed to mention names of those people who are not in here or who cannot come here to defend themselves.
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Madam Speaker, I withdraw but I understand that the said people have representatives in this august House who can speak on his behalf. I wish to categorically state that such presidential candidates who have persistently made false allegation of electoral fraud be barred from being nominated as presidential candidates in future elections.
Madam Speaker, the will of the people must never be disrespected by any individual for his or her personal interest. A law must be therefore be brought before this august House by the end of 2024 to bar such individuals who in past have unreasonable or without evidence discredited the credibility of elections. The law which must operate must also include individuals who have in the past directly or indirectly campaign or pass statements in support of sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on the Republic of Zimbabwe. Such individuals must therefore be barred from being nominated either as Presidential or National Assembly Members. The qualifications for the Office of President must therefore include a citizen of Zimbabwe, be a registered voter, be 40 years or old, be nominated by at least 10 persons in each province, pay a US20 000 nomination fee. The person should have passed the vetting by ZEC for persons deemed to be a threat to democracy by means of having discredited the national elections in the past or directly or indirectly called for sanctions. ZEC therefore must maintain a list of such unpatriotic persons such that they know in advance ineligibility to be nominated for such public office. On the election observer reports Madam Speaker, a total of 10 597 local observers were accredited, 894 foreign observers, 970 local journalists and 51 foreign journalists were accredited making a total of over 12 000 election observers. The following observer missions were noted in the ZEC report namely SADC, the SEOM which had 68 representatives, the AU-COMESA which had 82 and the EU which had 152.
The ZEC report notes that the elections were held in a peaceful, calm and transparent environment. They also noted that elections were held within constitutional and legal frameworks guiding the conduct of elections in the country. There were also some challenges that were reported such as the late distribution of ballot papers in some cases.
HON. MUSHORIWA: The Hon. Member is actually reading a statement instead of debating.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mushoriwa, you are out of order. Hon. Mutodi please proceed.
HON. DR. MUTODI: It is apparent that every Zimbabwean who wanted to vote was given an opportunity to do so as the election period was extended by another day from 23rd to 24th August. There is no reason why there should be complaints as to the late delivery of ballot papers in some polling stations. I take great exception to the behaviour demonstrated by the Head of the SADC Election Observer Mission, Dr. Nevers Mumba who came into Zimbabwe expecting only an opposition victory for the party led by one of the candidates.
The head of the SEOM demonstrated ignorance of the law as he questioned the constitutional provisions which guide elections in Zimbabwe while seeming to suggest his own way, how the elections must be conducted in Zimbabwe. Further, the allegations that the SEOM report was informed by the views of the EU and leave us to suggest that Dr. Mumba is a regime change agent who was not supposed to, in the first place, be involved in the business of the SADC Election Observer Mission given his criminal record. It is therefore my suggestion that the Electoral Act be revised to allow ZEC to sanitise…
HON. NYATHI: On a point of odder. I think you once corrected Hon. Mutodi not to mention names of people who are not here. May he kindly retract the name Nevers Mumba. He is not in this House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Why are you protecting Nevers Mumba?
HON. NYATHI: Because he is not in this House. That is why I am protecting him – [HON. KARENYI: Kana tavekuzoisa mazita musazotirambidze]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Karenyi, ndakunzwayi muchiti kana tavekuzotaurawo vanhu musazo complainer. Saka imimi munga complainer munhu weku Zambia. Hukama hwenyu naye hwauya papi?
HON. DR. MUTODI: Dr. Mumba was not supposed to be involved in the business of the SEOM given his criminal record. It is therefore vital that the Electoral Act be revised to allow ZEC to scrutinise the personal profiles of individuals seconded by SADC to observe elections in order to determine their suitability. The law must state that ZEC may reject any individuals seconded to participate in any mission based on specified or unspecified reasons, making the admission of observers reserved.
I also want to thank ZEC for a job well done in all electoral processes that it did, that is voter registration, voter education, polling, compilation of votes and announcements of results, a process described as exemplary by the SADC Chairperson, His Excellency, Joao Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola.
As I am speaking, an Independent Electoral Commission of Botswana is in Zimbabwe on a benchmarking mission following the successful holding of elections in Zimbabwe by ZEC. There are some who continue to hallucinate saying that SADC was going to direct fresh elections to be held in Zimbabwe, elections which we will not involve ZEC. Let me take this opportunity to categorically state that there will be no elections except those which are scheduled for 2028. There will also be no elections which ZEC will not preside over. ZEC is a constitutional body and as an Independent Commission, it will continue to carry out its mandate as provided for by the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Let me also explain the role of SADC with regards to the governance system. SADC is an inter-governmental body whose membership include SADC countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC and Zimbabwe among others. These countries are in SADC independently and voluntarily. Each State retains its sovereignty and will never be subservient or be an appendage of any other State. Each State is unique and it comes into the SADC with its own uniqueness and interest. International examples to the SADC system include the EU which also carries out an inter-governmental system. The EU include powerful countries such as France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Denmark among others. These independent states maintain their independence and sovereignty. The EU Commission is a non-State actor and it does not interfere with the electoral processes of member countries.
It is our African citizens who continue to look down upon themselves upon the institutions of their own countries and this is deplorable. This must stop. I thank you.
*HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on this motion. I would like to start by congratulating His Excellency, President E.D Mnangagwa for winning the August, 2023 elections. I also would like to applaud ZEC for a job well done. It was a very important task which contributes to the peace that this country is enjoying.
I also would like to congratulate Justice Chigumba for being appointed as the Chairperson of ZEC. It was realised that she has all the virtues that go with that post. I would like to also applaud the nation for maintaining peace after the elections, but hasten to say that the 24th August was an additional day because ballot papers were not distributed on time on the 23rd. I would like to applaud the President who realised that there was need for an extension after those hiccups.
On delimitation, as a representative of Mwenezi, I appreciate the delimitation process because we were given additional constituencies. All along we used to vote in numbers, but we had only two constituencies, yet we now have three constituencies. That was due to the delimitation process which realised that some of the constituencies were too big and in addition, that gave an opportunity to have everyone vote. Some constituencies had very few people although they were regarded as such, but now the population is equitable and that was a result of delimitation.
I would also want to thank ZEC for the voter education process. In my constituency, it went on well as ZEC officers went around conducting voter education and explaining to the voters in detail. The only problem was that people were so used at voting at any place, but now it was strictly polling station-based voting. It was a very good thing that it happened although some people did not get information on time on where exactly their polling station would be and were not able to locate their names.
We managed to inspect the voters’ roll and that went well. I commend such a splendid job. I am also glad that the youth were given an opportunity to join Parliament and the councils. We hear their participation and it shows that they are conscious of politics and I am happy to realise that by the time we leave, we will leave this place under capable hands.
Going to the issue of election observers or analysts, it shows that as a country, we are now mature and sovereign, but there are some people who tried to spread unfavourable news that might have disturbed the country’s peace, but overally, I think good reports outweighed the few negative ones. In future, I think there is need for scrutinising anyone coming to observe elections. The previous speaker referred to Mr. Mumba who gave a negative report, yet as residents of this country, we noticed that people freely elected their leaders peacefully.
Even after elections, there was peace and I really applaud Zimbabweans for being peaceful and not listening to any words that would lead to violence. Zimbabweans are peace-loving people and we expect that you put forward your opinion instead of engaging in violence. I would like to thank you Zimbabweans as well as you Hon. Members in this House because you participated in the election. This shows that you encouraged people to be peaceful, so I would like to thank you very much.
However, I also would like to suggest that when we elect leaders in our respective political parties, after the elections, let us rally behind the elected leader. It is good to see us here as Zimbabweans sitting together although we have divergent views. So I believe our elections went very well. I would also like to commend this House for choosing correctly although there are some challenges when we have some people quitting from their parties thinking there is something they can do. A leader can only be an elected leader. If you were not elected, you cannot be the President of the country. So, I want to give you that opinion – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. HAMAUSWA: The ZEC debate was going on well and was very progressive so much that as a country ZEC would perform well, but I do not know what is happening now. People are going astray and talking about people that are outside ZEC and mentioning of names of people who are not here. If someone quits their party, it is in the Constitution and it is allowed. It is not in this report, but through your indulgence and as we debate, may everyone debate freely contributing to the progress of this country instead of talking about things that are not in this report, especially talking about people that are not in this House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Was any name mentioned? I did not hear that.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: In this country, it is well known. We cannot guess who quit their post from a political party and what happened is not fair. We have a leader who has his own reasons for quitting. It provokes us and makes us not to debate properly in this august House. That issue is not in the report and that is why I kindly beg you to allow us to continue debating on ZEC which was a very good debate and can lead to progress in this country instead of provoking other people who may be very irritable.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, let us debate what is in the report and maintain that.
*HON. P. MOYO: As I proceed debating on the ZEC report, we want our country to progress. I feel that I need to express myself freely without offending anyone. ZEC did a splendid job just like any other country where elections were conducted. I applaud them for a job well-done. I also would like to thank everyone who participated in this process. Thank you.
*HON. CHIGUMBU: Thank you Hon. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on the ZEC report. It is a very big report, but I will not talk about all of it, except Chapters 8, 9 and 11.
The elections were not conducted properly in this country.
HON. MAUNGANISO: On a point of order, we cannot mix languages. The Hon. Member is speaking in two languages – Shona and English. He must choose a language and stick to it.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, please use one language.
*HON. CHIGUMBU: I will use my mother language. As I have already said, elections in this country did not go well. The aspect that I want to point out has to do with the delivery of voting material, it is so disturbing. When I looked at the report, I realised that there is only one sentence put on Chapter 9, Part 2 under the title ‘Polling day’. ZEC only said voting material was delivered late to other areas. I will give you the example of a soccer match and say five people died and two cars were burnt, yet the headline comes out saying that two cars were burnt. Issues that were supposed to be prioritised under polling was about the delivering of voting material.
The youth say if there is no sugar, then it is not tea – if it is an election with no polling papers then that is not an election. On that voting day, there were a lot of areas where ZEC did not deliver polling papers. That is why ZEC had reasons to write in its report….
*HON. TSITSI ZHOU: The Hon. Member on the floor took an oath in this House to be truthful. He must be truthful. When he says there are many places that did not get voting material, it is not truthful. That is why there was an extension of voting days – [HON. MEMBERS: Report iyi nderekunyepa.]-
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Did you write another report that you believe is correct? We are debating on what is in this report. Do not talk about things that are not in this report.
*HON. CHIGUMBU: This report is very big. Maybe the Hon. Member missed that part. I will give the figures. I cannot argue because I know that some people are lazy to read. According to the ZEC report, it states two reasons for late delivery of polling papers; - the first one is logistical problems yet it is on the part of ZEC. The second reason is that there were a lot of issues to do with ZEC being taken to court.
After looking at this report and data, it shows that ZEC did not give us accurate information.
*HON. MANGONDO: On a point of order. In this august House, we come to state facts instead of telling lies. This is not a place to talk about wishful stories. We do not want to hear folk-tales, those belong to playgrounds. If somebody is confident of what they are saying in this House, they are supposed to bring that evidence here; of who was unable to vote. I thank you.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chigumbu, it is true that we are supposed to state facts only in this august House. The truth that was supposed to be spoken about is what we find in these reports. In addition, do not give us what you suspect or what you get from the social media. Do not bring that in this august House, this is not a playground. It is a very serious House. That is why it is called an honourable House. We should speak things that show that we represent people.
*HON. CHIGUMBU: If you heard what I said – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I referred to Chapters – if there is anyone who wants to refer to the report, please refer to the chapters that I have mentioned. Go and check on what I have quoted and see what I am talking about. Anyone who wants to debate, I think you will get an opportunity to do so. ZEC says they delayed to deliver voting papers because they had a lot of court issues and refer us to Annex 6 that refers to court cases. My problem is, there are a lot of places in Harare that did not get papers on the 23rd and according to their statistics, only 23% got voting material on time. This means 18 out of 77 polling stations got polling materials by 7am. That is in this report on the voting date. If you go to Bulawayo, it says only 25% of polling stations got voting papers by 7am on voting day.
HON. KARIKOGA: On a point of order. Madam Speaker, if he is referring to statistics, where are those statistics coming from because he said he has a factual report and a report that we are debating?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, the statistics that you are supposed to talk about are those which are in the report tabled in this House. If you say that what I am talking about is in the report that we are looking at, then it is fine, but if you use a press statement which was done by someone else, it is not permissible in this House.
HON. S. SITHOLE: On a point of order Madam Speaker:
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: There are now too many points of order. It is like after every two sentences we have a point of order.
*HON. S. SITHOLE: Madam Speaker, I have heard that he is new and my point of order is that if you have not given him a chance to speak, he should not speak, but wait for you to give him the chance to speak.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chigumbu, I am the one who should give you permission to speak. You can now continue with your debate.
*HON. CHIGUMBU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Hon. Members are interjecting and now my debate is not flowing, but let me say that the real issue is that if you go to Annex 6 in the report, ZEC is referring to court cases which resulted in them taking time to deliver ballot papers to voting stations. ZEC is saying that we delayed the printing of papers because of these court cases – that is clear. However, what is not clear is that if you go to the Annex where there were court cases, it shows that there were issues to do with Members of Parliament. The issue which was at stake was of those who wanted to be President. There were few referring to councillors, but of all the places that I referred to as having gotten their papers late, were those of councillors. So if the issue was of court cases, why then was ZEC able to print ballot papers for MPs and for the President, took time and delayed printing ballot papers for councillors?
When coming to mitigations – ZEC is not giving us a full report on when these cases were finalised and it is also not giving us the capacity that they had of printing ballot papers. Suppose the cases were finalised today, was it possible that ZEC could not have papers the following day because if they could print all the papers in 24 hours, that is the capacity I am asking for? After the court cases were resolved, did ZEC have the capacity? If you go to Chapter 8 (1) (4), ZEC says that it faced litigation problems, so the places which were close to the offices like Harare had to delay delivering ballot papers so that they could start with faraway places such as Mashonaland, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North. The justification in the report said they had to serve those far from Harare and if that was the case, why then were there delays in Bulawayo? Looking at all these issues, you see that there is a pattern that ZEC had particular places where they delayed delivery of ballot papers intentionally. There is also a constituency like Warren Park which is on the way to Matabeleland which did not get papers before Matabeleland. Going back to my constituency, I have one ward that got papers late and voting started at 8pm though we did not have any court cases or double candidates. This means when ZEC is saying they could not get ballot papers to certain places because of court cases, they are not being truthful.
In conclusion, I have recommendations to give to this House.
- We want a Commission of Inquiry to be set up which will tell us why ZEC could not print and take papers in time to the constituencies. This Commission of Inquiry should tell us the discretion ZEC used when they were printing the ballot papers.
- We want to know the capacity of the machines. Were the machines able to print papers?
- ZEC should compensate all the candidates that were around the places where papers were delayed because the candidates incurred some extra cost when they were supposed to have a one-day budget but it ended up being two days. This was a disadvantage because they burdened the candidates who were running in those 2023 elections. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. KAITANO: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I rise to add my voice with regards to the ZEC report. Firstly, I would want to congratulate the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe which is led by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, Cde. Mnangagwa for adequately funding the elections. Madam Speaker, I think it is critical for us when we do the analysis of the report, to consider that every Zimbabwean citizen was given ample time. Nobody was disadvantaged when it comes to time available.
We may talk a lot about ballot papers not reaching some polling stations on time on 23rd, but Madam Speaker, we had the rest of the 23rd as well as the 24th of August to do the elections. In my view Madam Speaker, the issue of late delivery of ballot papers falls away because we had the whole of 24th to exercise our rights as Zimbabwean citizens. For me, that argument is hollow, it does not hold water. The argument that says there were delays 23%, 56% does not matter, they were superseded by the 24th of August. Everything else fell away.
Madam Speaker, when we analyse the ZEC report and the elections that took place in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe is never a cocoon. It is never an island. It is among many nations of this world. There are no elections that are done under the sun which do not have minor glitches. There are no such elections the world-over. The United States of America, which considers itself the Godfather or the champion of democracy, has experienced election glitches. They have even experienced election contestations, which contestations never happened on the harmonised elections of 2023 here in Zimbabwe.
As we debate or critically analyse this report, such factors should be considered if we are doing it at a certain level expected of this Parliament, unless we are just talking like bar talk. If we look at this as Parliamentarians representing the truth that you have mentioned, Madam Speaker, I think we need to be very honest and sincere in our debate. No election has never experienced glitches, but these glitches should be minor glitches. I am underlining the word ‘minor’ and I will come to that.
I would want to congratulate ZEC for ably and continuously improving in the manner they have conducted elections. If we go down into history, analysing the past elections, we have seen a continuous improvement on the ZEC in the manner they are conducting elections, particularly with the start of the Second Republic. There has been some commendable improvement in the way things are done. Some few days ago, Madam Speaker, allow me to refer to a number of statistics that were shared in this House by Hon. Chiduwa. He mentioned statistics with regards to the number of election observers that came in here as well as the number of polling stations these observers visited.
From the analysis that has been done, we have realised that the sample sizes which were being used – for a report to be scientific and admissible at any professional level, it has to be scientific. One cannot come when two or three people complain about few things and then they major on such complaints. It is not statistically significant. We have heard of some observers pouring water on the success of our elections. The statistics came out clearly that most of the polling stations they visited, were barely 2% of the total polling stations. You cannot survey 2% of the population and run around the world-over with such a report. At a professional level, that is grossly incompetent.
Professionally, you do not take a 2% sample size and you run around with that kind of report and say because I have had this from 2% of the polling station, therefore it is right – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May we have order in the House. May the Hon. Member be heard in silence?
HON. KAITANO: Every study, every research which is done, Madam Speaker, it has to pass what is called a 95% confidence interval and any research which is done, there is an allowance of plus or minus 3% for margin of error. This 2% that was sampled by some election observers even falls within the plus or minus 3% of the margin of error. Therefore, those that are enemies of this country have no argument. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members, if you continue with that behaviour, I am going to send you out – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]–
HON. G. K. HLATSHWAYO: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I think the Hon. Member must take back his words. You cannot refer to election observers as enemies of the State. It is a fact that these election observer missions were actually invited by this country…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are out of order, please take your seat. Hon. Kaitano, please proceed.
HON. KAITANO: Madam Speaker Ma’am, if I was allowed to respond, I would have responded, but I will not waste my time on that. As I conclude, Madam Speaker Ma’am, we therefore want to thank Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for successfully running the elections with the integrity and dignity that they have exuded in this kind of work. To those that are our detractors, we say to them, Zimbabwe is a country that governs itself and, on these elections, it has conducted them far much better that those countries that call themselves champions of democracy. Madam Speaker, after the elections, there were no disputes lodged by the courts and the report that these enemies of the State of Zimbabwe were running around parading the world-over is not statistically significant. Therefore, fails the test of being a scientific robot and we do not accept anything that is not scientifically proven. I therefore submit. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Justice Chigumba who was in charge of ZEC. Let me also congratulate President E. D. Mnangagwa and also congratulate Rushinga Constituency for allowing me to be here. I also want to congratulate all the Hon. Members including the Opposition Members.
Madam Speaker, we want to thank ZEC for a job well done. From voter registration, education, for bringing us together with opposition members. ZEC was able to provide toll free cellphone numbers. People should call them if they face any challenges. These were Econet. Telecel and NetOne lines. ZEC did a good job. ZEC also made us sign papers that we should not fight, we should campaign peacefully and we did that until voting day.
Still on that Madam Speaker, there were observers during pre-elections, during elections and after elections. If I look at what happened, there are people complaining that Harare and Bulawayo received their papers late. What surprises me is that if you look at Bulawayo, at those places you find that the opposition got those seats. Madam Speaker, the opposition got the seats and they did not complain.
Madam Speaker, if we look at the ZEC report, people are referring to social media, they should refer to the map which was printed, it is in yellow and green. If you know what I am talking about, you will see that the opposition got just a few places in the rural areas, but the ruling party was able to clinch a lot of places in the rural areas because a lot of people support the party. Going further, if you look at what SADC observers say, they say that statistics were not given, which means that the polling stations that they visited were not recorded. In their report, they did not tell us how many polling stations they visited, probably they wrote the report whilst in a hotel.
If you look at our local observers who know the areas very well, when they finished observing the elections, pre-election, during and after, they said elections were peacefully calm and transparent, despite minor logistical challenges, which means elections where peaceful, calm and transparent. That is what they said.
I will go further and say that yes, you are saying it was not like that and you are saying the chalice was poisoned and you took part. Why did you take part - it is because ZEC does a good job? It said if you are not satisfied you go to court, but you did not go to court, which means ZEC did a good job. Thank you.
HON. MUKOMBERI: Allow me at this juncture, to first of all congratulate the winners and send a message to the losers that - keep trying, next time it will be yours if you keep on trying. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as an independent entity established in terms of Section 238 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, discharged its mandate independently, peacefully and fairly during the August 2023 elections. The duly electoral process was undertaken judiciously by ZEC as a Commission which include voter registration, voter inspection exercise, proclamation of the date of election by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, nomination court sittings, pre-election campaigns as well as the actual conduct of the poll.
It is therefore, commendable that ZEC undertook all these electoral processes peacefully and fairly following all legal protocols. As if this is not enough, ZEC undertook proper the delimitation exercise prior to the August 2023 elections. Although the process was requiring ZEC’s technical team under the stewardship of the Chairperson, Justice Priscilla Chigumba, it exhibited maximum level of expertise and determination to the discharge of their mandate.
I want to applaud Treasury for availing requisite financial resources to facilitate all these processes with the quest to enable operationalisation of the right to vote in Zimbabwe. It is clear in the ZEC report that the Commission was so grateful to the Government of Zimbabwe for funding the election programme throughout the electoral cycle, moving in tandem with the legal framework of the country.
During the election period, ZEC discharged its mandate efficiently, freely, transparently and in accordance with the law as is clearly stated in the Electoral Act, Section 239, where the functions of ZEC as a Commission are outlined. Efficiency in the electoral process by ZEC in the discharge of its mandate is measured in terms of cost effectiveness in the manner in which elections were run. They were limited, if not, no wasteful expenditures during the process by the Commission given the budget allocated to it by Treasury under tight circumstances that the economy is in.
Freedom was evidenced by the fact that all citizens meeting the legal age to vote and those meeting the minimum requirements to contest as candidates did so at will. No person or candidate was under duress and restriction to contest, hence elections were free as clearly stated in the report. The fairness question was clearly answered by the extension of election period up to the 24th August as to cater for those centres which did not receive ballot papers in time on 23rd August, hence this was a signal of a greater degree of fairness exhibited beyond any reasonable doubt.
Transparency was exhibited by the Commission through allowing every voter to undertake the process of voter inspection as well as the timeous election result announcements from polling stations to the National Command Centre. There was transparency in relation to the fact that observer missions were invited to undertake their independent observations of the electoral process. This alone is a signal of transparency. However, the independence of some observer missions was compromised as evident by their reports which sounded baseless.
ZEC as a Commission is worth an applause by all reasonable and progressive Zimbabweans as it passed the litmus test of all expectations. However, always and everywhere when we are in a competition, we approach the competition arena with two dimensional thoughts that I will win and the rival shall lose. This is the only reason why some of us still believe that the terrain was not gentle though this is actually against reality.
Allow me at this juncture, to give my fellow Hon. Members a free lesson to apply in the next election. Let us approach an election date with a three-dimensional thought. The self-aware question is to understand your abilities, am l going to win given the circumstances such that you will not be affected as the results become not in your way. The other way, also considering your rival that - is he not stronger than myself in the competition? Then God’s way, God teaches us to also commend other people’s efforts and say in Shona uyu anondikundawo pakugona. This is only the way to go if we are to accept election results and also believe that our Independent Commission discharges its mandate independently without any bias.
To conclude, allow me to invite the House to help me clap hands in appreciation for a job well done by ZEC, of conducting elections with consideration of its values of transparency, independence, teamwork, impartiality, integrity and inclusivity. I thank you.
*HON MUWODZERI: I want to thank the previous speaker that there were less points of order during his speech. I might be on the opposite side, but what he debated is very good because I was listening.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Let me point out very categorically clear that an election is not an event, it is a process. It is the totality or the summation of all those processes that we must investigate to make a conclusion that the election is free, fair or credible. We should not put ourselves or limit ourselves to the voting day alone because this is a process.
There is a pre-election period and this includes voter registration. Was the process correct, were the people free to get identity documents and were people free to register? On voter inspection, were the people allowed to inspect their names, did they find their names? We then move on to the issue of proclamation of the election date. There are many factors like the election day itself as well as the post-election period. For us to make a determination on whether the election was free, fair and credible, we must look at a holistic piece of it than an individual part of it.
Let me start by looking at those principles that make us to determine whether the election was free, fair or credible. When you talk of freeness, we are saying, were the fundamentals, human rights and freedoms respected during the whole process from registration to the point where results are declared and those fundamentals include the right to campaign freely, the right to freedom of assembly and association, freedom of making political choices. We are saying, were these fundamentals and freedoms respected in the process?
When we talk about the issue of fairness, when we look at fairness as a principle, we are saying, was the process conducted in a manner that follows the rules and regulations? Was the process conducted by an integrous institution or electoral management body? When we say an election is credible, we are looking at it that it must gain considerable confidence amongst the citizens as well as international observer missions. At the end of the day, to make it complete, we say an election is credible if the result is agreeable to both parties and multiple parties.
Let me highlight an issue and compare it to the freeness, fairness as well as credibility. The first issue, the voters’ roll. One of the fundamental documents that enables an election to progress in a beautiful way is the voters’ roll. Let me be honest with you. We managed to get the voters’ roll on the 12th August. The voters’ roll must be given in a searchable and analysable manner according to Section 21 of the Electoral Act but the voters’ roll which I got was not in a searchable and analysable manner.
Why is this important? This is important because it allows us to do simple audit techniques on the voters’ roll. I can check the multiplicity of names, I.D numbers, addresses and so forth so that I can confirm with certainty that this document is indeed credible. That did not happen and to me, the voters’ roll plays an integral part of every election system. Once this has not been addressed, to me, this defeats the purpose of an open, credible and fair election.
The voters’ roll…
HON. GANYIWA: The Hon. Member is not telling the House the truth. I am sure we cannot expect the results of an announcement of winners to a lotto when they did not play the lotto. The voters’ roll inspection, before it was officially given to the public as hard copy documents, it was given to the public and they were checking electronically. So he is not telling the truth.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, please may you stick to the report and may you avoid misleading this House.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: With due respect Madam Speaker, the report talks of the voters’ roll and this is exactly what I am talking about.
So you realise that the voters’ roll informs the campaign strategy. Gone are the days where we just take people who do not vote and school kids to address them at a political rally. It does not give technical results or it is not a scientific way of campaigning. Some of us believe in a way that we need to get the voters’ roll and identify where the real voter is and target that voter. So whenever you fail to get the voters’ roll on time, like in my case, I got the voters’ roll two weeks before the elections. My campaign strategy was put into disarray and as such, I cannot convincingly say the election was credible.
The issue of fairness depends on the integrity of the Election Management Board. With due respect, the Chairperson of the ZEC, Madam Chigumba, we also have the daughter to the Deputy Vice President who is Abigail Millicent Mohadi, Kudzai Shava who is alleged to be related to the Minister of…–
+HON. R. MPOFU: The Hon. Member said we are not supposed to use the names of the people who are not present in this august House and he has evidence that the elections were not free and fair. If these elections were not free and fair, why is he in this House? He was supposed to challenge the election results the very day the results were presented before him. It is very painful using other people’s names. We fought for this country and we do not want this House to be turned into a playground. We are supposed to respect this House. If there is a woman chairing, people start making noise. We do not want to play in this House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is true that if the elections were not free, credible and fair, the losing candidate should have gone to the courts to contest. That is true. Hon. Member, I urge you to debate the report.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: On record, if you look on the second page of the report, it lists the incumbents who are in charge of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission from the Chairperson to the Secretariat. So I am referring directly from the report Madam Speaker. I do not know if what I am saying is not proper.
The controversy surrounding this situation that these people that I have mentioned are closely related to people who participate in political activities is a cause of concern. Let me say this, they are allowed at law to participate or work as long as they are relatives, but this is a vital issue which causes a lot of controversy. So the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should be seen to be carrying out justice and as such, there is a saying that ‘blood is thicker than water’. There is no way that my son who is a referee in a game to which a team which I own will support the opposite.
So, to avoid those controversies in the future, we are raising these issues for the next elections. Let us try by all means to put our leaders at ZEC who would not create that controversy…
*HON. P. MOYO: My point of order is that if a person is at work and is a professional, they should not leave their work because I am involved.
Hon. Hlatywayo having stood up on a point of order –
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Hlatywayo, we recently had an induction workshop where you were taught that you cannot stand up on another point of order – [HON. HLATYWAYO: Madam Speaker, this is not a point of order. We must not allow this pattern…] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order! May we have order in the House? The Hon. Member on the floor, I am being advised that you mentioned a name (Mohadi). That is not allowed in this House. It is not allowed to attack someone in this House. You once raised a point of order when someone attacked Chamisa and I asked him to withdraw that.
An Hon. Member having risen to raise a point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member in white dress, please take your seat. You cannot rise on a point of order whilst I am still making a ruling.
AN HON. MEMBER: The Hon. Member who whispered into your ears may have misquoted. I seek to redirect the conversation.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are out of order. Take your seat. The Hon. Member who was debating, I said may you withdraw that statement where you mentioned someone by the name Mohadi.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I need to ask a question Hon. Speaker…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no, no.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I never accused her of anything. I just mentioned that she is a Commissioner. Is it an offence to mention that Millicent Mohadi is a Commissioner? We can refer to the Hansard.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please withdraw.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I withdraw Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You can proceed.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you. Let me then transition to the issue of nomination fees. The ZEC report talks about nomination fees. With due respect, the increase of nomination fees for Members of Parliament from the previous US$50 to US$1000…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are left with five minutes.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Alright Madam Speaker. The increase in the nomination fees from US$50 to US$1000 for Members of Parliament and US$1000 to US$20 000 for the President is a staggering 1900 %. In all fairness, this increase in nomination fees violated the political rights of other people in Zimbabwe. We have got people who failed to raise that money to contest as presidential candidates, hence their members failed to choose their candidates.
To add more impetus to this debate, you will realise that only 70 women out of the 636 participants for the National Assembly managed to lodge with the nomination court – that is on page 32 of the report. This shows a mere 9%. It testifies that women are more vulnerable in terms of access to economic income. They were actually segregated by this process.
Let me transition to the issue of freedom of assembly – we are looking at the freeness of the election. I am a member of the Citizens Coalition for Change – we applied to have rallies across the country. With all due respect, 384 of our rallies were punched by the police whilst they were referring to Section 7 of Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPA). This means that if it is an election period and 384 proposed rallies are banned, it means we have been restricted access to the voters. How can you then come and say the election was free when the opposition was not allowed access to its voters? The principal of MOPA did not stop that right to freedom of assembly.
On the issue of postal voting, the majority of our people were not allowed to exercise this right.
On voter intimidation and cohesion, let me be clear that what happened in the rural community was not sustainable.
HON. MANGONDO: On a point of order Madam Speaker. We are debating the ZEC report here; the functions of ZEC as provided for in the Constitution, whether ZEC decides its mandate in terms of the Constitution and not whether the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) – [HON. MEMBERS: What is your point of order.]-
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are you the Speaker now, you are now asking him what the point of order is?
HON. MANGONDO: We are not debating the ZRP report here. We are debating the ZEC report. The Hon. Member is not debating objectively. It seems like he is just complaining…
HON. HAMAUSWA: Madam Speaker, this should not be allowed.
HON. MANGONDO: You cannot raise a point of order on a point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mangondo. Please take your seat.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I wish to advise that some of my time was taken because of these points of order. Kindly take that into consideration Madam Speaker.
Let me proceed to the issue of the freeness of an election – the peacefulness of an election.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are left with two minutes.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: In the rural areas, I witnessed serious cohesion of our people. There is a Chairman, representation…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is that in the ZEC report?
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Yes, it is there. Let me bring the page.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Bring the page.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: It talks about traditional leaders…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I said bring the page.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: The Hon. Member is looking for it on my behalf. I will move to the other point since I am still within my time.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your time is up.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I have my two minutes Madam Speaker and I have one point left. With your indulgence…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your time is up Hon. Member.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Madam Speaker, I propose that you increase his time by five minutes.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I object.
Motion put and negatived.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 5th March 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 53TH PLENARY
SESSION OF THE SADC-PF HELD IN MAURITIUS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 53th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC-PF.
Question again proposed.
HON. MUGUMO: Good afternoon Madam Speaker Ma-am. Thank you for affording me the opportunity to speak in front of this august House. I rise to second this very important report of the SADC-PF which was tabled yesterday by Hon. Karenyi.
Madam Speaker and Hon. Members, the 54th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum took place in Port Louis, Mauritius, from November 22nd to 27th, 2023. The theme was “The Role of Parliaments in Promoting Coordination for enhanced Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Planning in the SADC Region”. The delegation from Zimbabwe was led by Hon. Adv Jacob, Francis, Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe who participated in the event. This was our inaugural meeting and we were very pleased to get an opportunity to represent Zimbabwe. During the official opening ceremony, various speakers including the SADC-PF Secretary General, the Speaker of the Parliament of Seychelles, the Chair of the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus and the Prime Minister of Mauritius emphasised the importance of parliamentary co-operation in addressing disaster risk reduction and recovery planning.
The symposium focused on insights from experts in disaster risk reduction and management, meteorology, environment and climate change. The Speaker, Hon. Mudenda highlighted Zimbabwe’s efforts in disaster risk management, legal frameworks and policies related to climate change. He called for regional coordination, early warning systems enhancement and sound national contributions to reduce greenhouse emissions. The symposium acknowledged the impact of extreme weather events on the region, particularly citing cyclones Idai, Batsirai and Freddy. Recommendations included meeting financial needs for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), promoting climate justice and enacting laws for disaster resilience. Hon. Members, I am sure you remember the devastating effects of cyclones Idai, Batsirai and Freddy which caused extensive damage resulting in numerous human casualties and led to a significant number of internally displaced persons. All this is evidence of the devastating nature of extreme weather patterns. Every one of us is touched by these weather patterns.
The report by Hon. Adv. Mudenda on the implementation of the resolutions from the 53rd Plenary Assembly covered Zimbabwe’s achievements in Food Security, Debt Management, Climate Change Policies and the establishment of a Thematic Committee on Climate Change.
The Plenary Assembly adopted resolutions on diverse issues including virtual pre-election missions, digital skills training for rural women and the need for Member Parliaments to engage in election observation missions. It also acknowledged a new co-operation agreement on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and HIV/AIDS related services. The Assembly approved the blueprint for the organisation’s Strategic Plan for 2024 to 2028 and renewed the contract of the SADC-PF Secretary General for a second term. The Assembly resolved to continue lobbying for the transformation of the SADC-PF into a Regional Parliament and encouraged Member States to sign the agreement amending the SADC Treaty. Let me report that we were the first ones to sign the agreement and our Executive should be applauded for that.
Let me conclude by saying that the Assembly commended Mauritius for its proactive measures in disaster risk management and urged Member States to share best practices. The Parliament of Zimbabwe committed to implementing the resolutions and preparing for the 55th Plenary Session in Angola. I thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to add a few words on the motion on our journey to Mauritius. We had journey mercies to Mauritius. We were headed by our Speaker, Hon. Advocate Jacob Mudenda. The SADC Plenary Assembly meets twice a year in SADC countries. When we meet, we talk about the challenges that we are facing as SADC countries because our challenges are the same across the region. We look at ways of uplifting our people in the SADC. As Parliament, we must come up with ways of helping each other as SADC countries. We also meet and talk about good things that others are doing in their countries which will help us. There are a lot of things that were talked about that touch our lives as Zimbabweans. These include hunger, drought; there are no rains because there are a lot of things that we are doing that are affecting our rain pattern. As we talk, there is a surge of attacks on Mauritius.
A country is built by its people. Building a country is looking at challenges that we are faced with and we can come up with ways to desist from forestation, desist from being drunkards and desist from calling for sanctions. If we call upon sanctions, our countries would not live well. We should come together as SADC countries and as Zimbabweans, we should also come together and work together. To build a country is to wake up each and every morning and do something in your surrounding areas, encouraging children not to take drugs.
As your leaders, organisations like SADC, we address these challenges that affect us. We should work together and find things that will help us in these reports so that our country is uplifted. Hon. Members in this House, if we run with Pfumvudza and encourage people not to cut down trees and get drunk as well as reminding people that this is our country, there should not be a call for sanctions; they should engage in beneficiation so that we create jobs in our country.
If we engage in that, I think we will go a long way as a country. Mr. Speaker Sir, there are five-year plans in the SADC and the representatives of the SADC Parliament are taken from all the SADC countries. They get together and look at challenges that they face. For example, if it is hunger, they put their heads together and come up with ways to end hunger. When it comes to women, they look at how they can uplift the lives of women so that they can be empowered politically and economically. Like in this country, how can we help our women to get the same recognition as men? His Excellency, our President, is very aware of that because he recognises women in all his appointments. This is what SADC is looking at.
When we went to SADC, there are some countries where they do not have women MPs. Their composition is only comprised of men, but Zimbabwe has got women and youth quota representations from each and every province. In SADC, we also look at those issues of gender equality. We also look at the abuse of women at the workplace as well as the education of the girl child.
As leaders in this Parliament, we should go to our constituencies and tell them that people who went to SADC, when we are in Parliament, we are not in Zambia. When we are in this Parliament, we are not in Britain, neither are we in America. We are in Zimbabwe and we should talk about Zimbabwe for the development of our country. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Members on my left, when somebody is debating, please given him a chance to debate. When you are debating, you also want that chance to come your way. Thank you Hon. Nyabani.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
On the motion of HON. TSITSI ZHOU, seconded by HON. HAMAUSWA, the House adjourned at Four Minutes past Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 15th February, 2024
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. KAMBIZI): Hon. Members, today is Thursday and we have questions without notice. I have got a list of apologies that I have received and the list is as follows. Hon. Sen. M. Mavhunga, Deputy Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle; Hon. J. Mupamhanga, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training; Hon. O. C. Z. Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence; Hon. Sen. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development; Hon. J. Mhlanga, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development; Hon. F. Shava, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. S. Chikomo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. K. Kazembe, Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage; Hon. C. Sanyatwe, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage; Hon. J. Muswere, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. O. Marupi, Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. T. A. Mavetera, Minister of Information Communication Technology; Hon. Prof. A. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. E. Moyo, Minister of Energy and Power Development, Hon. V. Haritatos, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon. D. Marapira, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
In the House, I have Hon. B. Rwodzi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality; Gen. Rtd. Brig. Mayihlome, Deputy Minister of Defence. We have only two, a number that is very disappointing but we will have to make forth with the two that we have. I am quite sure some of the Ministers will be coming in as we proceed. We have also been joined by two other Ministers of course, the most familiar one Hon. F. Mhona, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development and the Deputy Minister of Mines; Deputy Minister of War Veterans Affairs, Hon. M. Mavhunga and Mining Development, Hon. Kambamura. So we now have five Ministers in the House and in the meantime, I invite questions directed to the five Ministers that we have in the House right now.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Tourism and Hospitality. What is your Ministry doing in promoting accessible and inclusive tourism in Zimbabwe?
THE MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY (HON. RWODZI): Thank you Mr. President and thank you very much to Hon. Sen. Shiri for the question that speaks to what the Ministry is doing for the accessibility of tourism facilities to the people living with disabilities. We have a huge understanding that 15% of the world population world-over lives with disabilities. It is an issue that has not been addressed in the Tourism Bill in our country and in the Act as well. We are working on our Bill and repealing some of the law in the Bill and adding more issues that speak to various spectrums of tourism and accessibility of tourism facilities to the people living with disabilities is also inculcated in the new Bill that we are working on.
As we all understand that there are some complications sometimes within accessing places for the people living with disabilities, hence it has to be enshrined in the law in case something happens. However, in 2022, our Ministry started to make some inroads towards that without the law. I am sure reference could be known about what His Excellency, the President of the country has done to provide the braille facilities as well as the Victoria Falls for the blind. So it is within what we are working on to ensure that within our population in society, those who live with disabilities will be able to access every tourism facility. I thank you.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Minister. May I inform the House that we have also been joined by other Ministers. We have Hon. J. Muswere, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. Ziyambi, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Hon. Garwe, the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. Commercial farmers across the country are crying foul over power cuts by the ZESA power utility. What is the Government doing as a measure to ensure food security as we are heavily affected by the current El Nino which the Meteorological Department is predicting to be 20 – 25 in terms of its escalation?
We are grateful for the 41% payments on wheat so far. What is Government doing in terms of inflation that is currently affecting our payments and non-payments that still exist with the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)? What is Government doing in order to assist farmers so that they can also service the loans that they took in the past winter season? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Sen. Chief for the question. Mr. President, the issue of payment to farmers has been outstanding, admittedly, but the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion has released funds to ensure that all wheat farmers are paid. As of Friday, the understanding that we got from Treasury was that some funds were released to ensure that farmers are paid.
Government paid farmers the Zim dollar component first so that we cushion the farmers against the inflationary pressures that they may bear on the Zimbabwe dollar component. Treasury is now working on ensuring that all the farmers are paid as soon as possible and they clear their outstanding amount.
Regarding the power shortages, the commitment from ZESA was that farmers were not going to be switched off, but here and there Mr. President, faults happen. The message to farmers is, as soon as you realise that there is a fault, it is prudent to immediately contact the ZESA offices to ensure that they rectify that. The Hon. Chief is correct, this year’s weather pattern is very bad. We have the El Nino, Government has ensured that we increase the hectarage that is under irrigation and hence, ARDA was asked to come on board to ensure that they also assist those farmers with irrigation capabilities so that we increase the hectarage and ensure that we have food self-sufficiency.
So, a lot is being done, but here and there, things may not go the way that is planned. If farmers encounter power outages, report to your nearest ZESA offices and if you do not get any joy, I think the ZESA management are committed to ensure that they handle those queries so that our farmers may continue irrigating and we manage to get the harvest that we are targeting. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My supplementary question on that one Mr. President. What measures is Government going to put in place to alleviate power shortages to farmers so that we can tame the drought? Would it not be better for them to give loans to farmers to buy diesel powered generators for use when there are power outages?
*HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. President of Senate. I thank the Hon. Sen. Chief for his suggestion that we give our farmers loans in order to buy generators. My response Mr. Speaker is that, from the research conducted by our agricultural experts, the profits that the farmers realise are nominal. If we then allow them to get generators that require a lot of diesel, they will end up not rejoicing at the end of the day when they realise that they no longer have any profits.
Mr. President, what we are doing is quite good. His Excellency the President is making sure that we are able to come up with power generating plants in a lot of places. He is busy looking for independent power producers so that they can feed their power into the grid. Through the Ministry, we are also busy ensuring that private players and households have solar panels and generate their own power and also feed excess power into the grid. This will ensure that ZESA also comes up with supply lines to ensure that our farmers have an uninterrupted power supply. When we look at the cost benefit analysis of giving generators to farmers, we realised that the farmers will not benefit anything. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ZINDI: My supplementary question has to do with power. I appreciate the response by the Hon. Minister, but in my view, I would want to propose or suggest to him. I wonder what could be his response in terms of having a facility where farmers could have access to importing solar power just like the facility farmers have had before importing agricultural equipment duty-free because buying locally becomes costly. I am suggesting this with the view that most dairy farmers are losing milk every day. We have an experience where farmers have continuously, day in and day out, no power at all, which is not sustainable for them. They are losing milk every day. That is my appeal, I thank you.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I realise that is a suggestion and I am not too sure whether the Minister has anything to say about that suggestion.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. President Sir. It is a suggestion that I am willing to take up and convey to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development as well as the Minister of Energy and Power Development so that the two Ministers can work closely together to ensure that the farmers that belong to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, the Minister of Energy and Power Development who is in charge of energy, as well as the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, can coordinate and see if it is feasible to ensure that what she is suggesting can be done.
HON. SEN. RITTA NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President. I am directing my question to the Leader of Government Business. Of late, we have seen evictions of families in various resettlement areas in almost all provinces and no alternative accommodation being offered despite offer letters having been issued. What is the Government policy on resettlement of families? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question which is a very important question. The Government policy has always been consistent in that we have a resettlement policy where the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development is in charge of that process of ensuring that we have an orderly process of resettling our people. One of the contentious issues why the liberation struggle was waged was the question of land. When the Land Reform started, we started it without a formula, but we then came up with a formula for how we want to resettle our people. We came up with models, A1, and A2 and the Minister is the one tasked with doing that.
However, we have noticed that some of our people took it upon themselves to become landlords and they started passing out State land to others in return for some money. So what the Ministry of Lands is saying is that we want those who benefited from certain pieces of land to enjoy their benefits unhindered. We do not want a scenario where if an A1 farmer was given 12 hectares, eventually she would end up with a hectare. The Agrarian process will be thrown asunder.
We are going to embark on a process whereby we want to educate our people that if they have not been given the correct legal paper to be on a certain piece of land, you must desist from occupying that land. However, we have a policy where we want all our people to be resettled, we do not want people to be homeless, but at the same time, we are constrained, we cannot allow people to just mushroom everywhere. Where we are saying we are food self-sufficient, we will end up unable to feed ourselves.
So the programme is to ensure that we have orderly settlements. The programme is to ensure that we deal decisively with land barons. Where there is excess in the manner that the process is being carried out, we have had a conversation with the Police Command. We have had conversations with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, and the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities and they are on hand to help ensure that the process is done lawfully. We are going to sit down and come up with a strategy where we will reach out to communities and educate them ensuring that an orderly process is conducted. Over and above this, the Government is committed and remains very much committed to ensuring that all our people are resettled in an orderly fashion and that no one is left homeless. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: I would like to thank the Hon. Z. Ziyambi for explaining well about the issues of land resettlement. However, how long does it take for the Government to evict someone who has illegally resettled?
*HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The moment we catch you, even after a day, we will throw you away and even after two years we will still evict you. So whenever you are caught, you will be fired.
HON. ZVIDZAI: In connection with the same subject, I would like to understand whether the Leader of Government Business is confirming that it is Government policy to push people who have already been victimised by crooks further into the abyss?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Hon. President, I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. Mr. President Sir, in fact on the contrary, the exercise is aimed at protecting settlers. The target is not the individuals that have been abused by land barons, but the target is to ensure that we sniff out the land barons and we deal with them.
The programme is to ensure that we identify those that are victims, and once we identify the victims, then we should be able to relocate them. The whole idea Mr. President is, we want productivity within our A1 and A2 settlement areas to remain as it was originally planned. We do not want to degrade it into a semi urban settlement when it is purely agricultural land. So, the programme is really targeted and getting to the bottom of it. So actually, we are protecting those individuals because at the end of the day, we will find a place to put them because they are victims and it is the duty of Government to ensure that they have shelter and to ensure that we give them a place which they can co-habitat. I thank you Hon. President.
HON. SEN. PHUTI: Thank you Hon. President. my question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Tourism and Hospitality. Mr. President Sir, what is Government plan on making sure our local citizens are aware of tourist attraction areas in their communities other than on television and radio? The reason is that some of the communities in the rural areas where we have these new tourist attraction areas do not have television and radios. What incentive does Government offer to our locals to encourage domestic tourism? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY (HON. RWODZI): Thank you Hon. Senator. The Government’s policy on the activities that we have for tourism is, to start with, we have ZTA that is in place and according to our Act, Chapter 14:20, ZTA’s mandate is to promote and market every tourism destination that we have, every tourism facility that we have in the country and every tourism activity that we have in the country. How it then gets to everybody is the question. For those who do not have access to televisions or radio and other digital platforms, we are printing information that has to go. Sometimes it will be good to give it to Members of Parliament to distribute into their constituencies or to give other institutions like local Government, Rural District Councils and also to the City Councils to share and disseminate written information, particularly in our own language which is Shona, Ndebele and Tonga or other languages so that everybody can read, to those who can read.
To those who cannot read, we have provincial officers and at the moment, we are talking to the Local Government Minister that we have a workshop that we are planning to have district officers that can go in every corner of the country within the districts to have workshops. I am sure you have seen us going around with campaigns to awaken everyone in the country in every corner that we are here and what can be found where they stay because on the other side, the communities or the society does not realise that they have tourism destinations in their places. So it is about what they have as a product and where they can go to enjoy themselves within their settings if they cannot drive or if they cannot afford to go outside their places. So that is going to be accessed through the workshops that we are going to engage with RDCs and City Councils.
The other question was on incentives that could be given to domestic tourists if I am not wrong, who will be accessing. Our take is, Government is the biggest employer of our society. We are having discussions through the banks and the Government that our civil servants must be able to access tourism facilities or activities through accessing loans that they can pay throughout the year at an amount that is affordable by the civil servants. That is our first port of call before we go to anyone else.
HON. SEN. GUMPO: Thank you Hon. President, my question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Mr. President of Senate, I would like to thank you for giving me a chance to raise a few questions to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development on the current economic challenges of the tourist town of Kariba. Hon. Minister Mhona, I would like to congratulate you for launching the Harare/Chirundu Highway which everyone in the Mashonaland West and the whole nation has been looking forward to. We also would like to congratulate the President for keeping his promise to undertake this very important project not only for Zimbabwe, but a project for the region as it stands to benefit all the neighbours to the north by improving accessibility to facilitate in the region.
Mr. President, the mantra of nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo. Mr. President, I am one of those that was present at that inauguration which was quite interesting. It started in Mapinga and ended in Makuti. It was unbelievable to witness the amount of equipment, all the different contractors ready to start this massive project. The work has already started and the contractors seem to be very excited.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Senator, with all due respect, I thought you were going to ask a question to the Minister, but it appears as if you are now debating. May you ask your question to the Minister?
HON. SEN. GUMPO: Mr. President, my question is on Kariba which is facing economic challenges that need assistance. During the Minister’s programme of the highway, the feeder road from Makuti to Kariba would need to be upgraded in order to facilitate the tourist access into Kariba. The matter of Kariba has not been given enough attention and Kariba needs a lot of assistance from Government. I thank you.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Unfortunately, I did not get the question. It appears that question is a particular question talking about Kariba Road which may have been put in writing, however, if the Minister is able to answer that question, I will allow him to answer it.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Mr. President Sir. Let me thank and commend Hon. Sen. Gumpo. I was actually enjoying and following. If I was in your Chair, I was going to give him more minutes because he articulated what the Second Republic is doing exactly and I am grateful for that.
It is true Mr. President Sir, that it was a problematic road, Chirundu, is also an economic enabler in terms of activities since it connects us with countries. We are talking of Zambia, DRC, Malawi, and Tanzania. We are very happy the Hon. Senator has posed a question pertaining to the feeder roads and in particular, the one that is starting from Makuti to Kariba, close to 70km. I want to also say and appraise the august House that we are also seized with that matter. As we are going to be rehabilitating the Harare-Chirundu Road, we are also going to be resealing the Makuti-Kariba Road. So it is also good news to the people of Kariba.
Not only that Mr. President Sir, we are also going to be rehabilitating Kariba Airport. To also buttress and support the tourism sector, we are also going to be flying small bodied planes into Kariba Airport and my colleague Minister seated here would also see the increase in number of tourists visiting Kariba. We want to thank the Second Republic Mr. President Sir, so that we are connected and we are strategically positioned as a country, which is something that we must give glory to the Almighty. Therefore, we are saying Zimbabwe must be a hub when it comes to the movement of people, whether they are coming for business, social activities or tourists.
So this is what we are running with as a Ministry and I am happy that the project that the Hon. Senator talked about is also going to support the creation of local employment and people along the trunk road are very excited because they are now having their employment within their communities. In terms of adding value to the economy, my colleague Minister seated on my left is also excited through the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. So this is something that the Hon. Member has raised. Once again, I want to thank Hon. Sen. Gumpo for that very pertinent question. Thank you so much.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. Considering the high rate of deaths in the small-scale mining sector, much of the mines collapse with miners trapped under. What is the Government doing to protect these miners as their mines do not meet the safety requirements in establishing their mines? What is Government doing to mitigate on the conflicts between those who own PPOs and those given prospecting licences to mine in the same area? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): Thank you Mr. President Sir. On the first part of the question, the Ministry is going around on safety awareness campaigns to educate our miners on safer mining standards and safer mining methods. We are also going to be enforcing the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act and the Mining Safety and Management Regulations so that people adhere to safe standards of mining. The challenge that we are currently having is on people who are mining on unregistered mining locations. We had a meeting with law enforcement agents so that we work as a team together with the Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife and that we also check on environmental compliance and on compliance to the expectation of the legislation which governs the mines and minerals. Also, those who will be found on the wrong side of the law, we will not hesitate to put punitive or deterrent fines so that such acts will not continue to be repeated.
On the issue of PPOs, the Ministry is currently working on clearing all PPO applications. If ever there are people who have prospectus licences given, they are not allowed to prospect inside a PPO. A prospecting licence is given to search for minerals in the province in which that prospectus licence is issued, not on Government reserved areas or in PPOs. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi. Section 662 (a) of our Constitution gives people the right to move around freely in Zimbabwe. Because of the budget that we had last year, the toll gate fees are now expensive. For one to travel from Plumtree to Harare and back, you now require US$60 for toll gates only if you have a Honda Fit. In other countries they have toll free roads that one can use if one does not have the money.
There is only one route from Plumtree to Harare. Is that not infringing on the rights of the people as is enshrined in section 662 (a) of our Constitution for them to have free movement in the country? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President Sir. His question does not pertain to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. The Ministry deals with people’s rights. The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development is responsible for transport and infrastructural development. Those that are in finance have entered the House and I respectfully ask that he pin-points the relevant Minister to answer the said question so that the responsible Minister can clarify. I thank you.
HON. ZVIDZAI: Thank you Mr. President. I saw as if it is a question that could be answered by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. If the Minister has refused to answer, then I shall not repeat the question. I thank you.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Let me clarify by saying that I did not refuse to answer the question. I said all Government Ministers are seized - Hon. Garwe is in the housing sector. The right to shelter is bestowed in his Ministry. Free movement of people is seized with the Ministry of Transport. Ours as the Justice Ministry is to ensure that all the people’s rights are holistically maintained. That is why I had asked him to pose a question to a specific Minister. Maybe he wants to find out when the feeder roads are going to be made, or is he complaining about the toll fees? I did not appreciate what exactly out of the two he was complaining about. If it was the issue of toll-free roads, he asks Hon. Mhona. If it is taxation, he would ask the experts who are in that field. In his absence, I would have answered the question, but in his presence, I would prefer to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Hence my request is that the two Ministers are best positioned to answer the question, whether it is the road issue or exorbitant taxes. Thank you.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: He said he wanted you to respond and he was not going to ask anyone else. As President of Senate, I will proceed.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NECHOMBO: Thank you very much President of Senate. My question was directed to the Minster of Health. In his absence, I will direct it to the Leader of Government Business. What does our law say in this country on the issue of diverse religions, which religions do not allow children to go to clinics? Especially this time when we have the outbreak of Cholera. If a child suffers from Cholera now, there are certain religions that bar children from receiving medical attention from the medical centres. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President. I thank Hon. Sen. Chief for his pertinent question on the issue of children whose parents would bar them from seeking medical attention, in violation of the rights of those children. Our law in this country, from the Constitution, categorically states and safeguards the best interests of the children. That is our theme. Whatever is good for the children is what we should do holistically, from the Government to parents and communities. Our law does not allow parents to decide not to take the child to the hospital because the parent belongs to a certain religion. The Government says, the parent should take the child to the clinic, but the parent should continue practicing their own religion. Failure to do so, he is not respecting the rights of the child. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KATUMBA: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. My question is health related and in the absence of the Minister of Health, I will direct it to the Leader of the House. We have a right to health as enshrined in the Constitution of this country. What is Government doing or what is the Ministry of Health doing in terms of lack of tools of trade for hospital staff? Even drugs like pain killers are not available in hospitals. What is Government going to do to alleviate that problem so that we can enjoy our right to health? Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you President of the Senate. I thank the Hon. Member for the question that we no longer have any drugs in the hospitals. This is news to me. Our Minister of Health recently was celebrating about the vaccines that they had brought into the country that were worth a million of dollars and how people who were suffering from Cholera were being treated, but I am now told that there is nothing in our hospitals.
I urge the Hon. Member to put the question in writing relating to a specific medical institution that has a shortage of drugs. A short while ago, we were seized with the budget and I am certain that a considerable amount was set aside for the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Also, the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion mentioned on television that we now have cancer machines that are at Mpilo Hospital. A lot of things are being done, so I may not want to argue with the Hon. Member. May be there is something that she knows which is different from what we know and see from time to time on our televisions.
The Minister of Finance said that he had given a substantial amount of money to the Ministry of Health and the Minister of Health confirmed that. It is Government’s wish to ensure that there be adequate drugs and medical supplies in all the hospitals, but not even a single country the world-over is capable of ensuring that they meet all the expenses as regards drugs and medical equipment supplies. So the Minister of Finance may not be having adequate funding on a day to day basis to service all the ministries at the same time. My understanding is that we have drugs and equipment, but it may not be adequate. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. I thank the Minister for an elaborate response. I have a question as regards the vaccines. What is the Government policy as regards the COVID vaccines that people were given? They are now developing full-blown Aids? In the meantime, you are urging people to be vaccinated against Cholera, may the Minister allay our fears? Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you President of the Senate for the Hon. Senator’s question. His question is based on social media? There is no empirical evidence conducted by scientists, not even in a single country the world-over. COVID vaccines which we had in this country accounted among the safest vaccines in the world. There are some people who may react from time to time from such vaccines, but if one was on anti-retroviral medication and the people allege that they are now reacting to COVID, the two drugs are different. One is influenza and the others are anti-retrovirals. The two do not serve the same purpose, unless someone showed him where it is happening in this county. In our country, it is news to us and we are yet to receive a single report on such occurrences. I thank you.
Questions without notice were interrupted by THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
HON. ZINDI: Thank you Mr. President. May I propose the extension of Question Time with 30 minutes?
HON. SEN. R. M. NDLOVU: I second.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I will not extend by 30 minutes. The regulations allow for 15 minutes and so, I will allow 15 minutes.
HON. ZINDI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. I am noticing the mushrooming of these cyanidation tanks where gold is processed. This is happening on farms indiscriminately being set up in the farming communities. The conflict now is that the farmers and the miners who are setting up these cyanidation tanks are witnessing deaths of livestock from cyanide. In other words, livestock are dying having drunk water contaminated with cyanide. What exactly is the policy in terms of setting up these cyanidation tanks in the farming community as they are mushrooming? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): Thank you Hon. Senator for the question. Government policy is that any processing plant or cyanidation plant should be registered with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. Our inspectorate team needs to go on site before any operations and approve that site. There are provisions which are there with regard to setting up of cyanidation plants which include fencing off the cyanidation plant so that animals will not be exposed to cyanide water and also the damping pattern of the polluted sands.
So if ever there are any areas where people are not following the law, I would like to ask the Hon. Member to bring such names to us so that we can do some investigations and make sure what is supposed to be done is done. Offenders of the law will not be let loose, but the Ministry will put punitive measures on such so that we have proper mining standards being followed. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NHEMA: What is the Government policy with regards people that are drawing underground water? I believe there are some policies of some boreholes that they use. My issue is that in the past, when such a policy was put in place, when the board was set up, people were allowed to just drill for 40 metres, but the amounts remain the same. The drilling rigs can now drill up to 120 metres, but in the villages, they charge us up to 40 metres and from 40 metres, we are charged exorbitant fees. In the past, our water table was very close at 40 metres, but now there is no more water at 40 metres. The surveyor will come and say we can get the water and that one is different from the one who will do the drilling. Our water table should be around 120 metres now. It means that at 40 metres, there is no water. We ask that this policy be changed so that those that come to drill can only drill up to 40 metres and we are charged money. Thereafter, we are unable to pay for the exorbitant fees that are paid per metre. Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): His question is not very clear. My understanding is that this has to do with contracting someone as a private contractor for borehole drilling services. The contractor will charge a set fee for the first 40 meters. The Hon. Sen. Chief’s question has nothing to do with Government policy as this is a contractual agreement between a customer and a borehole drilling contractor.
The contractor is free to charge the standard fees and per meter until they reach the water table. It is a deal between the contractor and the other party. Whether or not the customer pays if the contractor manages to reach the water table and secure water, is an agreement between the two. The Hon. Sen. Chief is aggrieved because the contractors are now charging extra per meter after the initial 40 meters even after failing to reach the water table.
My opinion is that the question is not very clear. This is an agreement between the two that if they reach 40 metres before they reach the water table, the contractor wants to charge extra per metre. What I know is, wherever boreholes are drilled, ZINWA also wants a portion because water in terms of the ZINWA Act belongs to the President. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister was a plea for him to assist me on whether there is a board or policy. I am saying this because throughout the whole country, borehole drilling contractors charge for 40 meters. We are saying this is not feasible in the absence of a board of policy that speaks to that. This has been the norm since time immemorial. I was of the opinion that there would be either a board or policy in place since our water table has changed.
*HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. President. I understand his question that in the past when they used to drill 40 meters, the assumption was that the water table used to be at 40 meters. The Hon. Sen. Chief is saying the water table is no longer at 40 meters, but now exceeds up to 100 meters.
I will request the relevant Minister to see if something can be done so that the new standard is set at 60 meters. This is what I understood. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport, and Infrastructural Development. When I look at the Beitbridge to Victoria Falls Road, we are all aware that there used to be a contractor working on the road rehabilitation. We were surprised to note that the contractor is no longer working on the road, what could be the problem? We have also realised that there are so many potholes along the road…
+THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (SEN. A. DUBE): Order, order, Hon. Sen. Can we have one question please?
+HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you, I was not through with the first question. Hon. Minister, do you have time to drive along that road to see how badly potholed the road is? I thank you.
+THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order, I think you should make a written submission since your question is very specific. I do not know, maybe the Hon. Minister would like to respond.
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT, AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Mr. President. Thank you, Hon. Sen. Moyo for your question concerning the Beitbridge to Victoria Falls Road. Indeed, there was a contractor there but he has since temporarily stopped work on rehabilitating the road.
I want to inform the House that the way we rehabilitate our roads is different from other countries because road rehabilitation requires a lot of money. In other countries, they get their money from different financial institutions at a lower interest rate. I also want to applaud His Excellency E. D Mnangagwa’s leadership for acknowledging that we cannot wait and cry that we are under sanctions, he gave us a leeway to use One Wallet from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Since it is One Wallet where we get money, if you hear about pandemics or outbreaks like Cholera and other issues, this means that all these issues that need to be addressed urgently, all the money from Reserve bank of Zimbabwe will now be channeled towards the pandemic or disease, the country prioritises resources towards those pandemics.
In this year’s budget allocation, we managed to allocate funds for the rehabilitation of different roads. I am glad to inform the House that the Ministry is forging ahead with its work even though our budget allocation is not enough. I am also glad to inform you Hon. Senator that my Ministry will be in Matebeleland North to see how best we can rehabilitate the road. We started with the rehabilitation of 20kms before proceeding to the next phase of 40kms. You will also note that we will be rehabilitating the whole road from Beitbridge, Bulawayo, Hwange through to Victoria Falls.
So in response to your question on when rehabilitation is going to be resumed, my response is that we are going to resume work within the next two weeks. All the redundant materials that were lying alongside the roads will be used next year. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Madam President, my supplementary question to Hon. Minister is that, a lot of buses are being procured by Government and individuals, but they are not favourable to people living with disabilities. What is Government policy to ensure that those living with disabilities are able to board these buses? What stage are you at in terms of assisting those living with disabilities with the non-payment of tollgates? Thank you.
*HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. President. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Shiri for raising a pertinent question on the rights of those living with disabilities, especially when it comes to boarding public transport. Yes, we know that we have a listening President.
We are currently encouraging those who are procuring buses to include buses that are favourable to those living with disabilities. This will enable them to board and sit comfortably on the buses without any difficulties. Right now, we are working towards making sure that all the buses that are going to be bought in future are favourable to these conditions. In the past, effort was made to facilitate vehicle importation to cater for the disabled. Unfortunately, the facility was being grossly abused as they started buying cars for other people and selling the cars. We are now going to work towards ensuring that they access roads without paying tollgate fees. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
NEW APPOINTMENTS
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to announce the following new appointments: -
- Sen. C. Zvidzai is now the Chief Whip for the Citizens and Coalition for Change (CCC) in the Senate;
- W. Chikombo and I. Maodzera are Members of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders;
- S. Ndebele is now the Deputy Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;
- C. Chinanzvavana is the Secretary for the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;
- Sen. N.G. Gwature is the Organiser for the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;
- P. Mutseyami is a Member of the IPU;
- Hlatshwayo is a Member of the ACP-EU and;
- M. Chakabuda is a Member of the ASSECA.
MOTION
ROAD SAFETY DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House –
SADDENED by successive road accidents on consecutive days which claimed scores of lives in November 2023 countrywide;
CONCERNED that it has become a norm that each time the festive season approaches horrific road traffic accidents increase leading to loss of lives;
DISMAYED that some of our citizens have become so accustomed to road carnages to the extent that they become insensitive and seem to have lost respect for the deceased as evidenced by photographs of ghastly accident scenes that they post and circulate on social media each time road carnages occur;
DISTURBED that remains of the deceased are at times left uncovered in the open for long periods as if to confirm a lack of sanctity and respect for the dead, a practice which is quite exogenous to our culture;
NOW, THEREFORE, implores that: - a) the Zimbabwe Republic Police increase patrols along the country`s highways before and after the festive season in order to curb the high rate of accidents on our roads;
b) the Police ensure that body bags are timeously availed whenever fatal accidents occur so that dead bodies are not exposed to the public and in particular the children;
c) the Vehicle Inspectorate Department goes out in full force and impounds all unroadworthy vehicles that ply the country`s roads causing horrific accidents and loss of human lives;
d) the Civil Protection Unit be always on standby and ready to deal with accidents that may befall travelers during the festive season; and
e) all drivers should act responsibly and observe the rules of the road to minimise the risks of road carnage during this festive season and at all times.
HON. SEN. PHUTI: I second.
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Before I begin my debate, I want to honour all the families that lost their relatives through accidents that happened in November and these happened one after the other. On behalf of the people, I would like to ask that we join hands in honouring the families that lost their family members in road accidents.
Madam President, as a country, our police are not fully prepared when we come across accidents, especially during festive seasons. I realised this when our members of the community were involved in an accident, the police used an open truck to ferry all those who were injured to the hospital, which is degrading. As a nation I wish we could improve on that and be fully prepared for such events. We should have a department for exam pathology apart from ZRP that looks at issues to do with accidents. Let us have proper vehicles that will transport the bodies of the deceased; a department that will honour the late and the bodies put in a body bag while they are being ferried to mortuaries.
My second point is that as a Senate, we should have a re-look at what causes us as a nation to appear as if we do not have any conscience. People are busy taking pictures and videos when an accident happens and these pictures are circulated on social media platforms. The families of the deceased might not even be aware that their family member has been involved in an accident. It is high time Madam President, for us as a nation to re-look at our culture. Why do we post pictures of the deceased on our social media? We need to come up with a law that protects the deceased. We do not need to take pictures of one who is deceased and circulate them on social media.
Long back, when one was involved in an accident and the person was deceased, we used to see a policeman coming to inform the family of the incident. It is scary and disheartening to be informed of the death of your relative through social media. It is high time we assist each other on how best we can improve on this. Whilst still on the issue to do with accidents, Mr. President Sir, I realise that after the deceased people who were involved in different accidents, yes the Government tried to assist, we want to implore the Government for doing such and we want to encourage them that they continue doing the same thing.
Mr. President Sir, I realise that after the Government had indicated that they will assist on all the financial needs to lay to rest all the deceased, I do not know what is it with us as Africans. Once the Government says that, different relatives will then come up and it is not clear who is supposed to receive that. Certain funerals that I attended; family members will then say we are no longer assisting because the State is now taking over. We need to have a way of informing the members of the public to say if someone is deceased, who exactly is supposed to receive the help that the State will be giving. With these few words that I have contributed in this Senate, I wish we could debate this and agree on what it is that our law enforcing officers are doing. What is it that they can do to avoid certain challenges that we face? If we have a way of increasing our policemen and also on transport, they should be out on full force, especially on or during our festive season. They should impound all vehicles that are not roadworthy to avoid such accidents. Thank you, Madam President.
+HON. SEN. PHUTI: Thank you for giving me this opportunity Madam President Ma’am. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa who has tabled such an important debate concerning the accidents that occur in our roads especially during our festive season. I lost my family member, my brother during one of the festive seasons through an accident. We are requesting that the Government have a re-look, especially the road from Beitbridge to Bulawayo, most of our relatives are in South Africa and there are many haulage trucks that use that road. I will also want to contribute on the way the police conduct themselves, especially when an accident occurs. One who would have been involved in an accident misses their money or clothes most of the times. If you arrive at the accident scene as one of the relatives, you will not get anything.
My question therefore is, where are the police because most of the times when an accident happens, it is the police who arrive first? It is an indicator that there is a gap that is there when accidents happen, especially the way the police conduct themselves. Looking at those who are deceased through road accidents, there was an accident involving six school children that happened last year. As a parent, when you lose your child, it is very painful because you will be looking at the future of that child.
When you then lose your child through road accidents, Madam President, it is so sad. I also want to ask the Government to tighten their laws, because most of the accidents that occur are because of human error. Sometimes it is all about the road signs that are not clear. We are therefore encouraging the Government to even put systems that are used in other countries such as South Africa, where they use breathalysers and they can detect the amount of alcohol that one has consumed. We really need those breathalysers because most of the times, accidents are a result of human error.
Madam President, when so many people pass on due to road accidents, we want to thank the Government on the assistance that they normally render. When we lose our relatives, many a times the Government has been assisting. I want to thank the Government for the assistance that they gave to one of the musicians by the name Maellie, he is my biological brother. I want to thank the Minister of Transport on behalf of Government for rendering services. I want to ask Government that they should continue doing such a good thing.
I also want to ask the Minister of Transport to even put cameras. Of the 22 who were deceased through road accidents, one survivor out of the 22 is my young brother’s wife. She says she lost about 22 000 and she says the last time she remembers she had money was just before the police came. If there is a way to put cameras, let us have them so that at least we can curb such issues. We also need to have a way of putting speed limits. We have lost so many people due to human error such as speeding. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa who tabled this motion and this motion is very important. It is so sad when you get to know of your relative who has passed on through social media.
When you open these social media pages as a mother and realise that it is your child, it is so painful and it is sad Madam President. We should come up with an Act that restricts people or that is actually a punishment to those who post pictures of the deceased on social media. Someone can get into a river and when facing certain challenges in crossing, you will find that instead of people assisting them, they are busy taking pictures. Madam President, I think there is a way of tracing who was the first person to post such pictures and we should really punish such people.
The Government must come up with ways of working together with the Minister of Finance to find a way of tracing and have someone that can be used as an example. Why should you take a picture of a deceased person and post on social media? I want to thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa again to say, the debate that you tabled before the Senate is very important.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I thank you Hon. Sen. Phuti for your contribution.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. PHUTI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY YOUTH
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drug and substance abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 20th February, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 53RD PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 53rd Plenary Assembly of the SADC-Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 20th February, 2024.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING (HON. MACHAKAIRE): Thank you very much Madam President. I would like to thank the Hon. Members of the Senate for their fruitful deliberations on the Presidential Speech.
Madam President, I followed the debate on motion in reply to the Presidential address and my Ministry’s respond is as follows:
1.1Strengthening of Relevant Institutions
The Ministry, in order to strengthen its institutions will focus on the following:
Empowerbank Limited
The bank, in order to fully capitalise its functions requires;
- Extension of deadline for the regulatory minimum capital requirements;
- Stable currency exchange rates;
- Allocation of funding for all youth empowerment projects and youth quota for all national projects such as the agriculture mechanisation tractors under the John Deere and Belarus farm mechanisation programme as part of the capitalisation to strengthen its trading books; and
- Balance sheet shield from inflation through allocation of buildings and land by Government as part of capitalisation.
The Microbank will then unlock value by structuring youth projects around immovable property to empower youth in line with its mandate.
The National Youth Service
- Re-branding of the National Youth Service;
- Establishment of a National Youth Service Centre in every province;
- Establishment of production units at each centre for sustainability of the centre;
- Enactment of the National Youth Service Bill;
- Refurbishment and re-tooling of facilities.
Vocational Training Centres
- Establishment of Vocational Training Centres in each district of the country;
- Establishment of production hubs at every centre for income generation;
- Human capital development;
- Curriculum development;
- Acquiring modern tools and equipment in VTCs; and
- Rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
Zimbabwe Youth Council
- Reviewing the Zimbabwe Youth Council Act;
- Setting up of national, provincial and district youth associations for co-ordination of the youth.
1.2 Sustenance of Vocational Training Centres
The establishment of Public-Private-Partnerships and Joint Ventures for youth empowerment and full utilisation of allocated farms and lands. Currently, cooperation is undergoing with Jairos Jiri, Zion Christian Church, Young Africa, CARE Zimbabwe, only to mention a few. I want to submit Madam President.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 20th February, 2024.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam President, I move that Order of the Day, Number 5 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the day on today’s Order Paper have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Questions again proposed.
HON. SEN. I. ZHOU: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to debate the report which was brought in this House by the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the Harmonised Elections in August, 2023. First and foremost, I really want to commend ZEC for the good work which they did and for producing a peaceful, credible, free and fair elections.
I will talk about the special needs of persons with disabilities in particular. I recognised a lot of preparations that were put in place by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Also, to note that in 2022, Parliament of Zimbabwe shortlisted some candidates for appointment to the Commission and I think there were about 15 or so shortlisted candidates. Among the 15 candidates, one person with a disability was also appointed by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. So, we really want to thank His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for being inclusive in such high-profile appointments by appointing somebody with a disability. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - That really assisted ZEC in its strategic plan to always remember the participation of persons with disabilities in electoral processes as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities, Article 29.
From that level, I also want to recognise that the preparation for accessibility of polling stations, I am informed that there were over 12 000 polling stations. I am happy to report that most of those polling stations were through ZEC’s stakeholder network. They were accessible to persons using wheelchairs and those that are visually impaired. I also want to point out that in the harmonised elections in 2023, those that required assistance, what we call assisted voters, mainly those that are blind like myself, had the opportunity to participate freely by either coming with their own trusted member of society from their own household or making use of the presiding officers, using the elections agents, which was to me very open. I really want to thank ZEC for opening up those spaces.
I also want to say that on 26th August, 2023, persons with disabilities constituency had their electoral college which went smoothly, which is another way of involving those that are disabled in the electoral processes. The college was able to elect two Senators, a male and a female. That is Hon. A. Shiri and myself. We look forward to your cooperation and cooperation of all the Members of the Senate in championing disability issues.
Let me also say that among the civil servants that were managing the elections as supervisors and presiding officers, there was a great percentage of those that are working in the civil services who have disabilities, including blind people. In this country, we have so many people who are employed as teachers by Government and all those were also considered to run the elections. I must also confirm that some of the engagements that we had, I met the EU observer mission who said that they wanted to learn the best practice of Zimbabwe by having two Senators for persons with disabilities, under Section 120 (1) (d). They said they want to follow up on that. Also, they want to follow up on the accessibility on the polling stations by making sure that the ballot boxes were at a level that even a wheelchair user is able to cast their ballots without the assistance of anybody and making the vote to remain secret. Above all, as I said, I think that ZEC should be commended for giving us free, fair and credible elections. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President for affording me the opportunity to add my voice to this motion that was tabled by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on behalf of ZEC. The majority of the points were raised yesterday. Be that as it may, I would like to thank our President, His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa. The elections start from campaigns. The President, throughout his campaign was preaching peace, urging Zimbabweans to carry out the election in a peaceful manner. He encouraged us that everything ought to be done peacefully. I would also like to thank the majority of Zimbabweans for heeding the President’s call for peace. After the President had called for peace and people heeded the call, elections were held in peace. The observer missions gave their reports and endorsed elections as having been conducted in a free and fair atmosphere.
Madam President, we are lucky to have the Minister of Finance in the House because he is the enabler of all these processes. ZEC came across a lot of problems, including ballot papers, I do not know if there was a delay in printing them but they did not reach certain stations in time. This was caused by the economic sanctions that Zimbabwe is under because as a country, we cannot get cheap financing. The Hon. Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion who is in this House will bear witness to the fact that as Zimbabweans, we will continue fighting hard to ensure that our work is done. I am happy with your presence Hon. Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. Those that have placed our country on economic sanctions do not want the sanctions to be removed because they do not want us to retain our land. I know that as long as you are occupying that office, you will successfully fund ZEC so that it discharges its mandate.
All I am saying is supported by the election results. Once the election results were announced, it was clear that everyone was satisfied with the outcome of the results because we know beforehand that if the people are not satisfied with the elections, they will appeal to the courts, but no such a scenario occurred this time around. This bears credence to the fact that our elections were clean and as white as snow. Those are the elements that I would want to add and to place on record as you have given me this opportunity to debate. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. PHUTHI: Thank you Madam President for the opportunity that you have afforded me to also add my voice to the report that was tabled by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. We saw everything that happened and what was happening will be judged on who you are. Firstly, I will say that when ZEC started registration in Matabeleland, we had challenges that most people did not have national identity cards. When the national identity programme came and all those who had registered their names were not appearing in the voters’ roll, it was one of the major problems.
They had said that they would have a relook into the problem and correct it, but when they came with the results, the names were not appearing on the voters’ roll especially in Mangwe District. Most of the youths were not able to register and those who had paper national identity cards were asked to change them into plastic. Their plastic identity cards were not dispatched in time and they were not able to vote. We have our relatives whose cars were used by ZEC on contract, but up to now, they have not been paid. This is an indicator that ZEC did not have enough money.
In rural areas, ballot papers were not delivered in time although in some areas, they were delivered in time. You realise that the rights of the people were violated because they were scared. As I speak, there is one grandmother who asked me to assist her in voting. She said her reasons for preferring to be assisted were that there was someone who told her that if she voted for a certain person, there will be a war.
This was further evidenced by a desk that was set up outside the polling station which had a white table cloth and had a certain political party which I will not name. Some voters were told that there are cameras which record which party you have voted for. I also want to reiterate on the same aspect that the elections were not free and fair. I am saying so because some ballot boxes were printed and delivered on the very day of voting. Closer to the polling stations, there were branded cars parked just outside.
In Mangwe District, you will have those cars with people who were seated inside and they would ask all the voters whom they had voted for. Another thing is that after we had voted, results for councillors and MPs were announced properly, but presidential results were not announced in time. It took so long for them to announce and I do not know whether there is a reason behind it.
ZEC took so long to prepare for harmonised elections that take five years, but you realise that by-elections that were conducted in two weeks and were caused by Tshabangu were done in time. Ballot papers were printed in time, but up to now, if you check on the things that were used for harmonised elections such as cars, they have not been paid. When we compare with the by-elections that were caused by Tshabangu, everything was in order and everything was prepared.
I used to think that ZEC is an independent body, but I am realising that they have a specific party that they support. In 2023, ZEC asked that all political parties were supposed to submit their materials that they were supposed to use for elections. There is one party, CCC that I feel was not treated fairly. We realise that there were certain Members of Parliament who were contesting that were removed in the ballot box. Why would we have lawyers sitting down at 12 midnight working on that? We had cases whereby at 7.00 a.m, certain ballot papers had certain names removed.
I remember Mwonzora withdrew his contestation and ZEC refused and said we have printed the papers and he was not removed from the ballot box. Tshabangu went to ZEC at 12.00 midnight and I do not know whether the ballot box is now controlled by Tshabangu or ZEC…
+THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think as Hon. Members of the Senate whom we consider to be in the Upper House, let us debate in a way that shows maturity. We do not need to debate with emotions.
+HON. SEN. PHUTHI: My apologies, I thought by-elections were part of the elections not knowing whether there is another report that will come specifically for the by-elections. Another thing Madam President Ma’am is that yes, everyone is saying elections were free and fair, but according to me, they were not free and fair. In Mabvuku, we lost one of our candidates because of violence.
Another thing that I realised Madam President, is that most of the time we hide behind sanctions. Do sanctions force us to go and kill someone? Do sanctions force us to go and burn down someone’s homestead? Do sanctions force us to scare and intimidate people or we are self-imposing? With these few words, I thank you.
∞HON. SEN. FANUEL: Good afternoon, Madam President. Thank you, I will speak in Tonga about ZEC. What ZEC did is a wonderful job by administering elections right round the country, including in my home place in Binga. I want to congratulate the Chairperson of ZEC for her reappointment of the second term of six years. I also want to thank the President, E. D Mnangagwa who appointed and reappointed the ZEC Chairperson. I also want to thank the President for considering women to lead hence we should celebrate as women for this appointment.
Secondly, there is voter education in line with what the President said that there is no place to be left behind, meaning that every person was reached in terms of election information, especially in Binga. The voter education was done in all wards with the inclusion of all parties. In Binga, there were two candidates from one party and ZEC considered them all. They also considered the use of indigenous languages during the voter education, enhancing the President’s vision of giving equal opportunities to all indigenous languages in Zimbabwe. We had fliers of voter education which were written in Tonga, enabling everyone to access the information needed from ZEC. There was also use of radio station like Twasumpuka FM which was used to cascade election information. No one was left behind.
The voter registration was led by the Registry Office which had to do more than one exercise to enable citizens to register to vote. Anyone who was left behind was by his or her choice. This enabled everyone to exercise his or her right to vote. What I want to also speak is a concern that some people just speak from an uninformed point of view. We are all here in this House as Senators coming from the list of our names that we submitted to ZEC…
Hon. Ndlovu having passed between the Chair and the Member speaking.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order, Hon. Sen. Ndlovu, you are not allowed to pass between the Chair and the Hon. Member on the floor.
∞HON. SEN. FANUEL: We went to nomination court through ZEC. Being here is a right for every Senator hence ZEC should be commended for the good job done. If ZEC was biased, we would have found some of us not in this august House. Thank you.
HON. SEN. ZINDI: Thank you Madam President. I also rise to add my contribution to the report that was submitted by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on ZEC. However, I am not going to say much because much has already been said by the other Hon. Senators who have contributed before me. I only have one area that I am going to talk about, which is the delimitation of constituencies – that delimitation affected the wards as well.
My observation is on that delimitation of constituencies or rather, boundaries of constituencies and wards that affected all political parties. We were all affected by that, but be that as it was, we had a constitutional obligation to ensure that elections were held. So to go back and revisit the issue to do with constituency boundaries would have taken longer than anticipated and possibly, we would have run out of time to meet our constitutional obligations. So we had to deal with what was available and we did perform through ZEC having drawn the boundaries.
So basically, what I am saying is, we are all not perfect, but we had to make do with what was available. Therefore, the debate that we are undertaking in the House, to me, we are taking it as an evaluation. The idea of conducting an evaluation is to take corrective measures. I want to believe that next time around, ZEC will ensure to take corrective measures and not repeat the same mistakes. Therefore, this is my observation in as far as this debate is concerned, to have realised that mistakes are made in whatever we do. What is important is to take corrective measures. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. R. N. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to also add my voice to those who have spoken before me on the motion.
The motion was presented to this august House by the Minister of Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs in the 2023 Harmonised Elections. Madam President, let me hasten to say that elections in Zimbabwe are guided by the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Electoral Act of Zimbabwe since 1980.
Zimbabwe has been conducting peaceful elections guided by our domestic laws and regulations. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which was established in terms of Section 238 of the Constitution has the mandate to prepare, conduct and supervise elections. Further, they have the mandate to register voters, compile voters roll, submit, delimit constituencies and accredit observers among other functions.
Madam President, firstly, I want to congratulate the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the job well done. Setting the tone for the 2023 Harmonised Elections, the Commission conducted delimitation constituencies in line with Section 239 (f) of the Constitution. The delimitation was presented to Parliament and the Parliament recommendations was a transparency cause exercise.
The aggrieved parties went to court and as a country, we respected the judgment of the court which clearly stated that the Commission conducted the exercise as laid out in Section 161 of our Constitution without favouring any part. Where there could be some individual observation, it is allowed.
Madam President, the Commission conducted voter registration years back just after the 2018 Harmonised Elections, and every citizen above the age of 18 was allowed to register to vote as stipulated in Section 673 (a) of the Constitution. The practice was done fairly and transparently. I want to further applaud the Commission for establishing the short code which was used by citizens to check their names on the voter’s roll and their polling station on a mobile phone. Such a transparent effort shows the will and commitment of the Commission to do its process fairly and transparently.
I would want to condemn the report which indicated that the voter’s roll was inaccessible. Such a report lacks information on the process which was available to the electorate. Following the proclamation date by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Commission prepared 23 August elections, voter education was conducted, nomination court as well as accreditation of election observers. I can attest that ZEC officials reached my province in Matabeleland South sensitising the electorate to the importance of participating in electoral activities.
Various methods were used including toll-free lines which initiatives enhanced the demographic participation of people in decision-making in Zimbabwe which is in line with the NDS 1. Every political party with interest had to mobilise its voters to go and vote for their parties – that was free to all, no intimidation whatsoever.
Madam President, the conducted nomination courts saw some political parties registering double candidates in Parliament, local authorities, some political parties started blaming the Commission for accepting double candidates at nomination courts. Honestly speaking, such a blame cannot be put on the Commission in any way as it falls away from the Commission's mandate.
I want further to applaud the Commission for accrediting as many election observers as possible. According to the laid regulations, a total of 12 512 observers were accredited, 894 foreigners and 51 foreign journalists.
Madam President, that was a signal that the country remains on the drive to drive democracy and spearhead development to achieve our National Vision of 2030. It shows that democracy is being practiced in Zimbabwe. As highlighted on page 45 of the report, the elections took place on the 12 474 polling stations. To note, I want to applaud His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe for extending the voting process in areas that were affected by logistical challenges by 12 hours. Such a democratic effort cannot be over-recognised. It shows that democracy is being practiced in Zimbabwe, just like every other democratic country.
I want also to applaud the Commission for creating a conducive and peaceful environment during the election period. Page 45 of the report indicates that each polling station had a presiding officer and eight polling officers. All political parties were allowed to have their agents, which is a sign of democracy that Zimbabwe enjoys.
Madam President, allow me to further congratulate the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation for covering all political parties on our national television. ZBC covered all rallies without being skewed to any party as reported by some political parties who wanted to tarnish the image of the national broadcaster. Such a fair playground created by the Second Republic is a welcome development and shows commitment to democracy, which is a key pillar of development.
It was disheartening that despite all these efforts to conduct elections in a free, fair, and credible manner, some observer missions chose to close their eyes and report according to their minds. Particularly, the SADC observer mission reported outside their mandate without respect for Zimbabwe as a sovereign State, without respect of our laws and institutions. The negative reports attracted the attention of some political parties who blamed the Commission for their loss. Other observer missions, particularly the European Union failed to recognise the level playing ground created by the Commission. Such ignorance to tarnish the image of our country is regrettable. Going forward, observer missions should stick to their mandate and avoid interference with the internal affairs of our country. Zimbabwe is a sovereign State.
The Commission created a fair playing ground, promoting democracy and transparency in all its process.
In conclusion, as a citizen and representative of Matabeleland South, I am happy with the way the August 2023 Harmonised Elections were conducted. The Commission did a wonderful job which every Zimbabwean must applaud. Thank you, Madam President, for the opportunity to add my voice on the report.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTAND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2022
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for the year 2022.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE), the Senate adjourned at Five Minutes past Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 5th March, 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 14th February, 2024
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER: I am waiting for the late comers. The officials are now instructed that anyone who comes after prayers, their names are written as they come in and appropriate action will be taken.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
SWEARING IN OF NEW MEMBERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that on Tuesday, 8th February 2024, Parliament was notified by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in terms of Section 67 (3) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], that with effect from 4th February, 2024, the following Members were duly elected as Members of the National Assembly for the specified constituencies:
- a) Timburwa Shakemore Wellington of ZANU PF Party, as Member of the National Assembly for Chegutu West;
- b) Zhanda Washington of ZANU PF Party, as Member of the National Assembly for Goromonzi South;
- c) Ncube Edgar of ZANU PF Party, as Member of the National Assembly for Mkoba North;
- d) Kashambe Munyaradzi Tobias of ZANU PF Party, as Member of the National Assembly for Seke;
- e) Tshuma Joseph of ZANU PF Party, as Member of the National Assembly for Pelandaba-Tshabalala; and
- f) Mananzva Kudakwashe of ZANU PF Party, as Member of the National Assembly for Zvimba East.
Section 128 (1) of the Constitution provides that, before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the Oath of a Member of Parliament as set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution. Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament.
I, therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the oath of a Member of Parliament.
NEW MEMBERS SWORN
HON. KASHAMBE MUNYARADZI TOBIAS; HON MANANZVA KUDAKWASHE; HON. NCUBE EDGAR; HON. TSHUMA JOSEPH; HON. TIMBURWA SHAKEMORE WELLINGTON; and HON. ZHANDA WASHINGTON subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the Law and took their seats – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
REGISTER OF ATTENDANCE BY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Staff, you need to open a register
where all Members attending sign in and the business of moving around should stop. It is the last time today.
PARLIAMENTARY DRESS CODE
THE HON. SPEAKER: The other announcement relates to the dress code. For the avoidance of doubt, suitable shall be construed to mean formal dressing for both male and female Members. The attire for male Members shall include the following: suits, jacket and tie; safari suit with long sleeves, I have noticed other Members coming in the national shirt without corresponding trousers and that is unacceptable. That is not a suit – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The attire for female Members shall include the following: suits, African wear, full dresses, trousers or skirts and blouses. The following shall be excluded: no jeans, t-shirts and sleeveless outfits. Please, be so guided. I am going to excuse you only for today, tomorrow we will follow the Standing Orders.
PETITION RECEIVED FROM SAM PARIRENYATWA
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that on Wednesday, 8th January, 2024, Parliament received a petition from Sam Parirenyatwa beseeching Parliament to exercise its legislative and oversight roles in ensuring the repatriation and reburial of the gallant sons and daughters who perished during the war of liberation and buried in Mozambique and Zambia, as well as ensuring Government improves the state of district and provincial heroes acres. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and War Veterans Affairs.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. GANYIWA: My question is, I want to understand the Government position on policy regarding degradation which is caused by brick moulding companies that are operating in and around cities, towns and peri-urban areas. The cause of concern is that they are leaving those deep pits uncovered resulting in children drowning in those pits. So we want to know the position of Government on whether these companies are not supposed to reclaim or refill the pits.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Mr. Speaker, with your full indulgence, you have not spoken to the House of Hon. Cabinet Ministers who have not presented themselves to the House. Secondly, most of the Ministers as I am looking unto the tables with the chairs where we are supposed to have our Ministers, they are not there. So probably you will have an explanation.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mutseyami. The following are the Ministers who have tendered their apologies;
Hon. Mpamhanga, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training;
Hon. O.C.Z Muchinguri, Minister of Defence;
Hon. Brig Gen. (Rtd) L. Mayihlome, Deputy Minister of Defence;
Hon. J. Mhlanga, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community and Small to Medium Enterprises Development;
Hon. W. Chitando, Minister of Local Government and Public Works;
Hon. F. Shava, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
Hon. S. Chikomo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
Hon. K. Kazembe, Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage;
Hon. Sanyatwe, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage;
Hon. J. Muswere, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services;
Hon. T. Mavetera, Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services;
Hon. Prof. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development;
Hon. T. Moyo, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education;
Hon. A. Gata, Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education;
Hon. J. G. Moyo, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare;
Hon. Dinha, Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare;
Hon. E. Moyo, Minister of Energy and Power Development;
Hon. V. Haritatos, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; and
Hon. D. Mharapira, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
I have seen Hon. Mutseyami, a sizeable number of Ministers and Deputy Ministers are here as well as Ministers of State. May I address myself to the Hon. Ministers; you do not go to Cabinet and arrive there at 0910 hours. You are there before 0900 hours. You are expected here by five past two o’clock. You are in Cabinet first and foremost because you are Members of Parliament. You were selected from here. Makazvarirwa pano. Zivai kwamakabva.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): The Hon. Member just highlighted a problem that we have with compliance and enforcement. We have a whole agent – Environmental Management Agency (EMA) that has to look into those issues where miners are mining and where those brick moulders are building, that they take care of the environment. Basically, it is an issue of enforcement and compliance that is lacking, but the general policy on what is supposed to be done is in place. I urge the Hon. Member to report to the relevant authorities so that effective action may be taken. I thank you.
HON. HAMAUSWA: My supplementary question is that since the Hon. Minister has highlighted that the laws are in place, but implementation is a problem – this problem is affecting the whole country. Can the Hon. Minister inform the House what other measures are in place rather than continuing to report to an agent that is not implementing what is supposed to be implemented? We are now having a crisis.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: What is needed is to ensure that those that are supposed to do the work do it accordingly. When we have the necessary laws, we have to ensure that those laws are obeyed. This is the thrust that we should do to ensure that if indeed there is a problem and it is nationwide like what he alleges, the relevant Ministry must look into it and ensure that the laws are obeyed to the book and corrective action is done. I will have a conversation with Minister Ndlovu to find out where the problems are so that effective action can be taken.
HON. P. ZHOU: My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government and Public Works. Given the recurrent outbreaks of water borne diseases in Zimbabwe, what measures have been put by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works in collaboration with its local authorities, to fast track and prioritise the rehabilitation of water and sanitation infrastructure in Zimbabwe to effectively mitigate the Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): The Deputy Minister is a few days in the Ministry …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Where is the Deputy?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: I am not sure – [HON. MEMBERS: Chombo, Chombo, Chombo!] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Is the Hon. Deputy Minister of Local Government here? No.
Please proceed Leader of Government business.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Minister was sworn in last week. He is still very new. Even if he was here, it would not be fair to make him answer this question – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Just a second Hon. Minister. Currently, the Hon. Chombo is no longer the Deputy Minister of Local Government – [HON. MEMBERS: Ndivo vatinoda.] – So, move with the times.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: We have had a problem of water reticulation in most of our urban areas due to the fact that the local authorities did not take particular attention to ensuring that they renew the system. As a result, we now have a very old system in the majority of our local authorities. What has happened over the last twenty years due to lack of planning is, we have had an expansion of our local authorities, if you look at the capacity or population of Harare – the way it has expanded and we have the same water reticulation system.
Government is trying to ensure that the system is revamped and that we have a new one assisting the local authority. As a short-term measure, we have tried to ensure that we provide borehole water and try to mitigate against Cholera. We have ensured that we try and administer two doses that would last for six months while we try to solve the issues to preserve life. We are also carrying out clean up exercises – Operation Chenesa Harare. This is an operation being done to ensure that we mitigate against the Cholera pandemic. At the same time, we provide safe potable water. The long-term solution is to ensure that we ring-fence and protect Lake Chivero from effluent being poured into there because of the breakdown of the sewer reticulation system that we have due to neglect by those that were tasked to ensure that it is preserved. There is a cocktail of measures that Government is doing to ensure that we mitigate against all this and have clean potable water available for our urban population across the country.
We are doing the same thing in Bulawayo. We have drilled boreholes in Nyamadhlovu Aquifer to ensure that Bulawayo also gets a lot of water that is clean and we mitigate against the old system that is still there. We are also going to ensure that the system is revamped and we have a new system that will last long. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I want to thank Government for the work it is doing, such as the Chenesa Harare which it has embarked on. However, I want to urge Government to increase toilets in both rural and urban areas. This is because people in the urban areas cannot find toilets to use so they end up just relieving themselves everywhere. If we have more toilets, we will be able to curb the Cholera pandemic.
*HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The Hon. Member raised a very pertinent issue. There are many people in the urban areas and in growth points in the rural areas. Like I have alluded to earlier on, Government has put measures in place such as the Chenesa in urban areas. The Ministry of Local Government was tasked to work together with our councils to ensure our urban areas are clean. The issue of toilets was also raised in our Cabinet meeting and because our councils seem to be burdened with all the issues being raised, we are trying to see if we can even let the youths work at providing clean toilets at a minimal fee so that our towns remain clean and people will not relieve themselves everywhere. Long back, we used to know that at every bus terminus, there were public toilets that were functional, but currently they are all closed. So, research is still ongoing to see how the toilet issue can be resolved, I thank you.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. In light of the fact that the Water Act squarely puts the responsibility of bulk water on the Ministry of Local Government, which is Central Government and the fact that the funding that comes from rate payers can only, in practical terms, help in operations payment, what is Government’s policy in terms of providing funding or grants to necessitate the upgrade and refurbishment of water works? I thank you.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what I said, that Central Government is working with local authorities. Over the years, the water treatment chemicals were being paid by Central Government and what we have been doing lately is that we took over the Refuse Collection. It is not City of Harare in particular that has been doing it. We are actually in the process of working together with local authorities to identify their refuse collection vehicles that have broken down and see whether they can be repaired by CMED, so they can be put back on the road. However, it is not particularly correct that if you collect money from rate payers as refuse collection surcharge, you then go on to use that particular fund for operational costs. It should strictly be ring-fenced for that particular purpose. So I just want to correct the Engineer and let him know that it is not good practice to collect money and then you divert it for another purpose. Government is working very closely with local authorities to ensure that local authorities are capacitated. We also have devolution funds that are being released to local authorities to ensure that their operations are also carried out.
HON. MAKUMIRE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Zimbabwe National Human Settlement Policy, Sections 41 to 43 are very clear that Central Government shall be responsible for the upgrading and establishment of infrastructure for both water and sewer. When do we expect Government to start upgrading and establishing new water works?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The Human Settlement Policy falls under the Minister of Housing. If the Hon. Member was listening, I said we have a problem particularly in large urban settlements. We have short and long term measures and I indicated that in the short term, we need to provide boreholes and ensure that our people have safe water and we clean up the cities. In the long term, we need to ensure that we increase the capacity, rehabilitate and in most cases, come up with completely new lines so that we pump water and serve water into the city.
Mr. Speaker Sir, if you look at the pipes that are there, they are now very old. Their lifespan is almost gone and they have been neglected for a long time. That is a long-term solution. Government is carrying out that. As we speak, at Morton Jeffrey Water Works, a lot is being done there. The Hon. Member can check with his own local authority, they are in charge of Harare, they will speak to what Government is doing in collaboration with the local authority. A lot is being done. This is not something that can be done overnight, given the state our water reticulation system was in. It is work in progress. It is not a policy question to say that I should give dates because I would now need to look at the actual plan that has been undertaken by the relevant Ministry on the activities that are going to be done.
Generally, as a policy measure, the agreement in Government and Cabinet is that we assist local authorities to ensure that our cities and urban settlements are safe, we mitigate against Cholera and ensure that our population gets safe and potable water. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The issue of Cholera is frightening us. The Minister mentioned that when it comes to toilets, they want to come up with pay-toilets. Mr. Speaker, I want to represent the poor who come from the rural areas. When they come to Harare with money to pay in order to get access to the toilets, what is Government planning, looking at the majority of the people when it comes to non-paying toilet facilities?
*HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Public toilets which are not being paid for are there. We were facing challenges with public toilets because our councils are facing challenges to maintain these toilets. Some of them have been closed. So we are saying, instead of having no toilets when you want to relieve yourself, you can find someone who can give you 20 cents so that you use the facility whilst we are waiting for the councils which are being led by our colleagues, to increase the toilet facilities.
HON. CHIWANZA: Good afternoon Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. CHIWANZA: May I start by wishing all our female colleagues a happy Valentine’s Day. My question Mr. Speaker Sir, goes to …
THE HON. SPEAKER: What did you say? You started by wishing who?
HON. CHIWANZA: I will repeat for the benefit of you Mr. Speaker. May I start by wishing all the female Members of Parliament a happy Valentine’s Day?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Valentine’s Day works both ways.
HON. CHIWANZA: Mr. Speaker, the party that I represent does not allow me to observe men as Valentines.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Haaaa, ndeyekupi iyoyo? Please proceed.
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HON. CHIWANZA: Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we have noted with great and grave concern displacement and sometimes evictions of supposedly communal or commercial, or otherwise farmers by the Ministry of Lands. This question was asked again yesterday and I want to put it on good record. I want to know from the Minister of Lands that as Government, we are here to govern the people, even here, we are legislating the people who elected us. In the laws and implementing them, there is no sympathy at all that it is rainy season…
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are debating. Ask the question.
HON. CHIWANZA: The question is, in implementing of the law, there is no sensitivity around this. Is there any sensitivity to the current prevailing situation that the people who are having the law being forced upon them are facing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. While I acknowledge the concerns of Hon. Chiwanza, we now have a problem where people believe that they can do whatever they want. There is no regard for laws by certain individuals. Government took a position that people must go back where they were, follow the necessary procedures to ensure that they are allocated land and this is the process that is happening. We are also acknowledging that there may be incidences here and there where the manner in which that is being done may not be correct.
We undertake to ensure that the situation is corrected and I can assure you Mr. Speaker, the Minister responsible for Lands is seized with the issue. He will come up with a statement that will clear everything and ensure that the sensitivities that the Hon. Member is talking about are observed while regard to ensuring that lawlessness does not continue happening. A statement is going to be issued by the relevant Minister. I urge Hon. Members to defer this issue and allow the Minister to do what he has promised to do. I thank you.
HON. CUMANZALA: Twalumba vaSpeaker. Mapona vuthi.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Tibapona.
HON. CUMANZALA: Mr. Speaker Sir, Section 6 of our Constitution clearly stipulates the languages that are recognised as official. These include, Kalanga, Nambya and Shangani. What is the Ministry of Education and Government doing in order to ensure that these languages are developed and advanced as the constitutional requirements? I thank you Mr. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Indeed, the Hon. Member is correct. What the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is doing for a start, is to ensure that our learners at pre-school level learn using their mother tongue anywhere in the country and going forward. You must also realise that this is a provision in the Constitution that requires funding. It is a provision or a right that progressively we must realise. Progressively, that is what is happening at all our teachers’ training schools. This is to ensure that our teachers are trained in most of the languages so that when they are deployed to a particular area, no teacher will not be able to teach in that particular language so that we have all our languages being examinable languages. We want all our learners to learn in their particular language and as far as possible, ensuring that the majority of our population are conversant with the majority of the languages. I thank you.
HON. CUMANZALA: I would like to find out if there are efforts being taken by the Ministry to ensure that the recruitment process recognises the local teachers or people who speak those indigenous languages. It is one thing to learn a language at a college and it is another thing to teach it effectively to children who speak that mother language.
Secondly, I would like to find out if there is any facility to assist in the production of teaching materials, particularly those languages that I mentioned. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the follow-up question. Indeed Mr. Speaker, recruitment has been decentralised. It is now up to those areas where they are recruiting, to have regard to the sensitivities that there is need to recruit teachers who will ensure that learners are taught in the language that they know better while they are being taught other languages like English and so forth.
In terms of facilities to ensure that material is produced in local languages, we actually have that system in place. Midlands State University actually has a Language Centre that is dedicated to ensuring that we translate most of learning material into local languages. We have used that Language Centre to translate the Constitution into several languages and I believe that we are building that capability and all the universities are free also to join in. We want to thank the Midlands State University that has taken the lead in that regard. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. What is Government policy on rehabilitation of ZESA transmission lines and transformers, particularly in rural areas? Of late, the transformers and lines there were always breaking down. What is the position regarding the servicing of those lines? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Mr. Speaker, I will respond while I believe that this is typically an operational issue where if you have a transmission line that is not functioning, the ZESA technicians, if told, should respond to that and ensure that it is repaired. This has been the norm, that is the policy that where transmission lines are not working, if a report is made, they must be repaired and if they are not repaired, then there is something that is not okay and the relevant authorities need to be alerted to ensure that it is done.
In terms of transformers, there was a period Mr. Speaker, where we had shortages of transformers. Lately, we got a consignment of transformers. Again, it is operational. If you do not have a transformer, you inform your next ZESA office, they should, within reasonable time, be able to replace that transformer. We are glad that the situation is generally improving to ensure that the majority of the people stay connected and they can do whatever chores that they are doing. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question to the Minister are the challenges that ZESA was facing. Government once said that they are now allowing people to buy transformers then they will be paid with electricity. We want to find out if this programme can also be extended to rural areas that people can buy transformers to augment ZESA which is failing?
THE HON. SPEAKER: That question is very specific – [AN HON. MEMBER: No.] – Order. What I suggest Hon. Member, it is a good question. Perhaps, you can put it in writing for next week so that you get detailed response from the Hon. Minister of Energy.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Let me respond to the question Hon. Speaker. I just want to support what you have said. New transformers are property of ZESA. There is no rule that says if it is a specific question, you cannot answer. I simply want to indicate to the Hon. Member that there is no need even to put it in writing because all transformers belong to ZESA. Even if you are to buy that transformer, you still need to go to ZESA. As Government, we have imported transformers, they are there. There is no need to put the question in writing because ZESA will tell you that they have the transformers, so why do you want to buy your own transformers? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for your clarification Hon. Minister. My understanding of the question was that if there are instances where people have got transformers, can they proceed to get those transformers fixed accordingly? That is more specific than anything else.
^^HON. GWANGWABA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am Member of Parliament for Kariba. I want to find out from the Minister if they have any timeframe that they will install electricity in rural areas of Kariba because right now, we are the providers of electricity, but unfortunately, we do not have electricity. I am requesting the Minister to give us an indication as to when the people of Kariba can get the electricity.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I think there is need for automatic translation. I think we should install that so that there is automatic translation. The import of the question, Leader of Government Business is that there are people in the hinterland near the source of electricity generation. They see these electricity poles and lines passing across, but they are not benefiting from the power generation which is within the vicinity. Why are they being discriminated?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Firstly, there is no discrimination. Secondly, I agree that those who live within the vicinity of a specific economic enterprise that benefit the whole country must benefit also. I believe it is a thing that can be taken up to ensure that those that are generating electricity as a measure of social corporate responsibility, must also extend and ensure that they provide the infrastructure to ensure that they benefit so that they can enjoy and ululate that they are providing power to the country, but they are also benefiting. It is something that is worth following up.
HON. KADEMAUNGA: My supplementary question is on the issue of modernisation of our electricity transmission network because we see that where they are replacing stolen cables, it is always with the old cables which can still be stolen. What is the Ministry doing to expedite its policy thrust as espoused in the National Electricity Policy where they say that they want to ensure universal access to portfolios of modern energies services like modernising, securing the cables and also the transmitters?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. When you have a cable that has been vandalised and you want to replace it, you replace it with a like one. What is needed is to construct new ones that are different from those that she is alluding to, then you have modernised. If you have an existing infrastructure and you want to ensure that there is access to electricity using that particular system, you repair using the same system. I agree that we need to modernise and come up with new systems that will be less susceptible to vandalism. I thank you.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: The world over, when cables are stolen, they take newer technologies like the quella cable which is a replacement of copper or aluminum as a replacement. There are measures that are taken for security, things like alarms or antelopes which make it more difficult for people to steal. What is Government policy in securing cables so that people do not continue incurring the cost over and over again?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The Hon. Member is very well versed with this and I wonder why he is not going to speak to his fellow engineers to advise them accordingly.
HON. MHETU: My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. What is Government policy on electrification of public institutions such as school and clinics in peri urban areas?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI). I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. A lot is being done. In fact, the majority of our schools would not function normally if we cannot electrify them either using solar or connecting them to the national grid because of the nature of the teaching methodologies. It may actually be resource constraints that may delay the electrification, but the policy, if it was followed strictly to the book, we would have all our schools electrified in one way or the other to ensure that no learner lags behind.
HON. MHETU: There are some schools in urban areas like Epworth which have not had electricity for a period of more than 10 years. This has negatively affected the fulfillment of Education 5.0 and NDS1. What measures can be put in place to ensure that there is electrification of such schools in developing areas?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: The Hon. Member has not indicated who is responsible for that school, whether it is a Government school, local authority school or a private school. It is very difficult to answer, but if the Hon. Member was listening, I said the policy of Government, resources permitting, would be to ensure that even a school in rural Zvimba, should have electricity. That is the policy. The thrust is either it is electrified using solar or connecting to the ZESA grid because the teaching methods that are there now dictate that one way or the other, learners would need some form of power to ensure that either the material that they use are printed. There is this programme of CALA which needs a lot of research.
The long and short of it is that resources permitting, all schools should be connected to the grid or to some form of solar electricity so that learning becomes easier.
*HON. MURAMBIWA: My supplementary question is, since Government is doing such a wonderful job of electrifying schools and hospitals, we also discover that some schools fail to use the electricity that they are connected to simply because they cannot tube or localise the electricity. What is Government policy to ensure that such institutions can use the electricity?
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Minister has indicated that Government policy is to make electricity available to such Government or non-Government facilities, both in urban and rural areas.
*HON. MATANGIRA: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines. This year, we did not receive much rains in our farming areas and we expect mining to bring relief through minerals, but we realise that the major mines face a huge problem with regards to mineral pricing. Electricity supply should be made a special case to those institutions or mines. Can we not get a special facility for those mines to operate and pay in special ways so that they get unlimited electricity for the progress of the country?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): I would like to thank Hon. Matangira for his question. The way I understood the question, it is about mines that owe power suppliers money so that they may resume operations. From that understanding, debts that have to do with power are under the Ministry of Energy. So I hereby request the Hon. Member to redirect that question to the Ministry of Energy and Power Development.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I am sure Hon. Matangira, you stand guided. *The debt is owed to the Ministry of Energy, is it?
*HON. MATANGIRA: With your permission, I am saying the mines where power was cut-off include Trojan under my constituency and the Ministry of Mines is aware that the miners are now expected to go underground using mechanical methods. There is no water, yet we have a Cholera outbreak. It is under his task to ensure that when such mines and mining towns face such problems, they should come up with a policy or request to ensure that the mine can be allowed to operate under certain conditions. Yes, I am aware that the debt belongs to the Ministry of Energy, but I hereby request that the Ministry of Mines requests on behalf of the mines.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Is it because of huge debts?
*HON. MATANGIRA: Mr. Speaker, the debt cannot be huge because the country is the world-over. The Ministry of Mines should be aware what the problem is. The debt is not very big, but the power was cut-off and it has not been switched on. There is no money because they are not working.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: What you are saying Hon. Matangira is that Government policy should be that mines must not be cut-off from power. So that question in anyway, is supposed to go to the Ministry of Energy. Hon. Leader of Government Business please assist us.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Hon. Matangira’s question is like being a cry baby. When business people use electricity and energy, they are the ones we expect to start paying instead of domestic users. Here they are telling us that they mine gold and sell, forgetting that they are supposed to pay for energy.
ZESA switches them off so that they may negotiate and come up with a debt plan. The Hon. Member should direct the management to come up with a plan and negotiate on how they will pay electricity. We wish them to work, but they must pay for what they use. I thank you.
An Hon. Member having risen to raise a point of order.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: There is no point of order there. I am sure you understood what the Minister said.
HON. JERE: My question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. Yaah, Mr. Speaker Sir I want to…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Why do you say yaah instead of yes?
HON. JERE: Yes Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to find out from the Minister of Finance if there is a move to review the level at which the value for money audit is being applied. I have got a feeling that it is being applied at the tail end of the value chain. Is there a policy for the value of money audit to then be applied at another level which is not at the tail end of the value chain?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. NCUBE): The value for money process is applied at the end of process because we want to check whether the winner of the contract and also the process that has been applied to get that adjudication has resulted in a value for money principles being followed.
If we were to apply ourselves along the entire process, that will be too cumbersome. It is much efficient to apply the process at the end of the process and then we can do further refinement at that stage. We always want to improve processes. We will relook into it, but for now the policy stands.
HON. JERE: Hon. Minister, you are quite aware that for a business to get an order, it goes …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Address the Chair!
HON. JERE: Mr. Speaker Sir, it goes through a rigorous tendering process whereby you are then awarded an order by the State Procurement Board. The issue is, at the tail end of the process, it will be more like we are repeating what has been done during the adjudication period…
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is the question?
HON. JERE: Why can we not put it at adjudication stage so that it also gives confidence to the banking system? Bankers have got an issue whereby if it is no longer giving them confidence that this must be paid if it is put at the tail end, it is affecting the confidence in the financial sector.
HON. PROF. NCUBE: The Hon. Member is making a proposal. As I said earlier, we are open to suggestions if it will improve the efficiency of the process, but we do not want to be involved in the cumbersome procurement process. We just want to check financial issues that are very clear in terms of value for money by comparing whatever the value of the contract is; whatever is available out there in the Budget so that they can check for competitive pricing as well as deal with any possibilities of corruption. I hear you well and we will look into that. I think your proposal is good.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: My supplementary question is – the issue of value for money is a big elephant in the room. The Minister of Finance must confront this issue as a matter of urgency. The loss of value for money in contracts and everywhere else is as a result of the continued depreciation of the local currency. What is the Minister’s position with the continued deterioration of the local currency which costs loss of value through inflation?
HON. PROF. NCUBE: The Hon. Member is confusing two things. There is the issue of value for money which is regarded even when the currency is constant. It has got to do with whether Government is getting a fair deal or not in terms of the goods and services which are being supplied whereby they are supplying in terms of that contract regardless of the currency, type or volatility.
That is what the original question was – the question from Hon. Jere. This is a different question and not a supplementary one. It is a different question about the value of the currency and what we are doing about that. Now that he has asked that, we are looking into this issue. Government is also concerned about the depreciation. We are dealing with this manner. We will make an announcement in the fullness of time when we have completed our evaluation processes and design of an exchange rate system that will ensure stability and stop the movement of prices upwards.
HON. SAGANDIRA: My supplementary question is on the availability of RTGs or Bond which is not available on the market and has caused a lot of problems in change. People are being short-changed when they are using USD – [AN HON. MEMBER: That is a new question.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Do not take my job. Order! As the Hon. Minister has indicated, we must ask supplementary questions which relate to the original question. That is a new question altogether.
*HON. MUDZINGWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. I am asking on behalf of my constituency Goromonzi South. I am asking on behalf of the majority there.
HON. MATEWU: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. She is asking a specific question and not policy issues.
THE HON SPEAKER: Hon Member, order, order! Do you want to take my job? Hon. Mudzingwa, the question should be about Government policy at national level not specific to a constituency. If you want to ask a specific question about your constituency, you can put your question in writing so that you can get a detailed response from the respective Minister in terms of issues from the constituency. Here, we are dealing with national policies that cover the whole of Zimbabwe.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Mr. Speaker Sir, during the first year of NDS1, the Government of Zimbabwe emphasised the enhancement of quality of life for the citizens of Zimbabwe. My question to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare is, what is Government policy with regards to the welfare of pensioners taking into consideration that most are taking home very little and they are living below the poverty datum line? The exchange rate keeps going up and down and it seems nothing is there to cushion them against the erosion of their pay-outs.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBAI): Mr. Speaker, the review of salaries and what pensioners are given is ongoing. It is a process that is being undertaken right now and I cannot give a definitive answer because that is the process that is underway to ensure that the salaries and pensions are reviewed. I thank you.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: My supplementary question is, we would like to know the exact timeframe when this will be fixed because most of our pensioners are living with chronic diseases and they need medication daily. So when exactly will this be fixed so that they can have their welfare taken care of? I thank you.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. When negotiations are taking place and you are asked to fix a date, it is something that is very difficult to do. What I can say is, once the negotiations for the salaries are concluded, it is a process that is tied to the review of the pensioners pay-outs, then an announcement will be made accordingly. I thank you.
HON. CHIGUMBU: My supplementary question is that the Minister is not being asked to give us a specific date, but can he at least give us a timeframe because in as much as he is saying that there are some negotiations which are happening, every negotiation should happen within a certain timeframe. Can the Minister be clear in terms of the timeframe which these negotiations will be concluded so that the pensioners can expect changes in their pension pay-outs?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I notice that the Hon. Member wants a specific timeframe. I cannot give a specific timeframe because I do not have that information. I thank you.
HON. MATEWU: On a point of order Madam Speaker. We come here on Wednesdays to ask Ministers questions without notice and we cannot come here and be told that every policy does not have a timeframe. Otherwise we are wasting our time here. We are asking the Minister to give us timeframes when government is going to implement...
THE HON DEPUTY SPEAKER: May we have order in the House. Order Hon. Matewu! Hon. Murombedzi, can you please put your question in writing so that the Minister can go and investigate then bring the answer to this House.
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Madam Speaker, my colleague, Minister of Finance would like to…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have already made a ruling
HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. What is the Government policy regarding the implementation of small industries at all rural growth points in order to create employment for the rural people?
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. NYONI): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the pertinent question. My Ministry’s thrust is to create employment, but we cannot create employment by remaining in town and also by remaining with the large industries. We are now going to be focusing on rural industrialisation as well as the pull factor. I want the Hon. Member to know that the Small and Medium Enterprises in this country have created more jobs than the big companies. Therefore, it is important to recognise the work they have done. They are our people who have been committed to working in this country, contributing to the fiscus and contributing to the economy. Therefore, it is important for us to recognise them and help them to grow.
In the rural areas, we have been exporting raw materials to the cities. My Ministry is determined that we need to develop typically Zimbabwe’s economy and we cannot do that by not value adding and by exporting raw materials outside the country, not value adding where people are. Hon. Member, be rest assured that we will come to any rural area and the aim of the Ministry is to do rural industrialisation, not only to create jobs, but also to grow an authentically Zimbabwean economy. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. CHIDUWA: Madam Speaker, we had an Industrialisation Policy that was running in 2019 up to 2023. Currently, I am not sure if there is any, given that the Hon. Minister said the thrust is for us to go rural. Do we have any policy at the moment or we have got a vacuum as we speak?
HON. NYONI: Thank you Madam Speaker. We do not have a vacuum; we are now revising the Industrial Policy. I am glad to say that it is close to finalisation. We have gone out of the country to verify and consult. We have run workshops, both in Harare, Bulawayo and also at provincial level. We still continue to invite anyone who really has issues and want to contribute towards that policy before it goes to be finalised in Cabinet. We will still receive ideas. The Industrial Policy is being revised Hon. Member, and we want it to be as inclusive and as comprehensive as possible. Thank you very much.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. The Minister said that she is revising the policy after the expiration of the older Industrial Policy. Can she tell us what was the success rate of the Industrial Policy that was there before because clearly, we see non-industrialisation at the growth points? Thank you.
HON. NYONI: Thank you Madam Speaker. There were some successes with the old Industrial Policy, but we are not dwelling with the old policy. That is why we are revising it. There are certain areas which need to be improved and rural industrialisation is one of those areas. So, there were some achievements, but we want it to achieve more. That is why we are relooking at it.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: On a point of order. The question by Hon. Matewu Madam Speaker was, what were the successes of the old Industrial Policy and the response, if I heard correctly, was that there were some successes? In my opinion Madam Speaker, the question was not answered. I seek with your indulgence Madam Speaker, that the question be answered appropriately. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Why do you not ask a follow up question?
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I thought by asking on a point of order, I was asking the question to you Madam Speaker because the question has been asked to you right away.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, the question has not been asked to me. It has been posed to the Minister.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: I can repeat the question.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes please. Repeat the question.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. What successes were recorded from the Industrial Policy which was set from 2019 to date before the new Industrial Policy which is being reviewed? I submit.
HON. NYONI: Thank you Madam Speaker. There were successes. Some of them are these: - we have some of the companies that are growing through that policy. Take for example, the National Foods, ZNCC did a study on the manufacturing companies in Zimbabwe and so did SIRDC. Those studies showed that Zimbabwean companies continue to diversify in their manufacturing. That study also shows that 65% of the manufacturers are from the typical Zimbabwean companies, the SMEs. When you look at the shelves, you cannot have products on the shelves where there is no industry. When you look at the shelves, the success of those companies was that 80% of the products on the shelves are Zimbabwean products. That was part of the success.
*HON. CHOKURURAMA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. What is Government policy with regards to ensuring that farmers get their monies from the crops they deliver to GMB? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. PROF. NCUBE): Yes, we have a programme where we have been paying farmers for what they have delivered if I understood the question well about the US dollar component and the Zimbabwe dollar component. In fact, last Friday, we paid something like 15 billion on the Zimbabwe dollar component towards farmers who had delivered their crop to GMB. We will continue to do so until whatever is owed is cleared.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. What is the Government doing to manage the inflation rate vis-à-vis the fact that when the farmers were informed of the prices then, they were promised the RTGs component and the US component? The RTGs component is in reference to the time when they supplied their products to GMB. With the inflation we are experiencing, it has affected the value of the RTGs component. Are you going to compensate the farmers so that they do not incur losses?
HON. PROF. NCUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. First of all, if I can just correct my learned friend, there is no currency called RTGs, it is called Zimbabwe dollar. RTGs is the system, but it is not the currency. Hopefully, the Hon. Member stands guided. Coming to the payment, he is correct, I said we are paying in Zimbabwe dollar in one portion and another portion in US dollars. He asked what we are doing to cushion farmers for the inflation erosion occurring on the Zimbabwe dollar component. The idea here is to pay as quickly as we can. We have been trying very hard to pay as quickly as we can before the Zimbabwe dollar component loses value. That is our strategy. We have not been paying interest or compensation at all. I have not been doing any of that. Those are the facts, but we endevour to pay as quickly as possible before the situation gets worse. Madam Speaker Ma’am, we are dealing with the inflation issue and current volatility and weakness.
As I answered to a question earlier, we will be making announcement in this regard where we believe will be a last blow to increases in prices and generally inflation. Thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I am glad that the Hon. Minister said they sent payments a few weeks ago. I would like to say, now that we are in the summer crop, we are now receiving payments for winter wheat. Are you aware that the farmer may fail to produce because payments are overdue? May they be paid on time so that they plan and operate according to the system?
*HON. PROF. NCUBE: My Shona is good Madam Speaker Ma’am, but I did not understand the question. May the Hon. Member repeat slowly so that I understand and I will be able to answer?
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Zhou, may you please ask the question again.
HON. P. ZHOU: I said I thank the Government for paying those farmers. My worry is, a farmer who grew winter wheat the last season is not yet paid. They are now in their summer crop and they need fertilisers, pesticides and so forth. Farmers are not yet paid their winter crop, so they are really struggling to survive. Is there an effort to craft a policy to make sure that farmers get paid for the previous crop before the next season? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
HON. PROF. NCUBE: I want to thank the Hon. Member for being very patient with me. I thank her for that question. Yes, indeed she is correct, we now have a new policy that all arrears should be cleared before the next cycle. That is exactly what we are going to do going forward to clear all arrears for the next season so that we can encourage the farmer to go back to the land, otherwise they will get discouraged and then see our agriculture going down as a result. Going forward, we will make sure that all these arrears are cleared before the next season resumes.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Hon. Minister, we have got the ZIMEX which I think can assist us in the price discovery of agricultural commodities. Is there any policy position to allow the prices of all agricultural commodities to be determined through ZIMEX?
HON. PROF. NCUBE: I thank Hon. Chiduwa for the question. The process of introducing the ZIMEX has taken quite a while, but we are pleased that we make very good progress. Those who do not know what the ZIMEX stands for, it is the commodity exchange, just like we have other exchanges, for example Stock Exchange and so forth. It is beginning to work. What we do at the beginning of each season is something very simple. We always announce a planning price so that the farmer can plan and see whether the price that Government is signaling is the right one and they want to take the risk and go on to the land and farm. That is why we announce the price, but that is not the final price. The final price can be determined through the market such as the ZIMEX, and all the time, we expect this commodity exchange to take over the price discovery process at the marketing of such commodities. We will expand the commodities not just for agriculture, but also for the mining sector. We have been approached by the private sector players working with ZIMEX to also market commodities such as chrome for example, in addition to maize, wheat, sorghum and other commodities. We will see the commodity exchange begin to broaden its activities across a variety of commodities, both agricultural and mineral.
HON. MAONEKE: Good afternoon Madam Speaker. There is a telecommunication organization called Starlink which was recently registered and licenced to operate in Zambia. However, its usage and accessibility are spilling into Zimbabwe and that is what we call a cyber invasion. Now, my question to you Minister is that, are you aware of the effects this has on the interest of Zimbabwe, and if so, what is that you are doing to protect the interest of Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question and indicate that the necessary processes and procedures are being done by the relevant departments that is POTRAZ and our security to ensure that the usage of Starlink is regularised. I thank you.
HON. MAONEKE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Do we now have the technical competencies to decipher their signals lest we ignore a serious problem that may affect the interest of the whole nation or on a positive note, we may have to leverage on it to improve the vision of our local business?
HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My earlier response was critical, but complete. All that the Hon. Member is asking will be answered when the relevant authorities have finalised their report.
Secondly, we cannot move away from technology, so we cannot protect an industry for the sake of protecting an industry, but an industry must move with technology. However, in a nutshell, the relevant authorities are looking into this to ensure that technology is used legally in Zimbabwe.
Question Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
PROVISION OF WORK SPACES FOR SMES BY THE CITY
OF HARARE
- HON. HAMAUSWA asked the Minister of Women Affairs, Small to Medium Enterprises Development to update the House on the progress made by the City of Harare Council towards the provision of work spaces to small to medium enterprises.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT: Thank you, Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to thank Hon. Hamauswa for raising such a pertinent question and I shall respond as follows: - limited access to affordable and appropriate workspace in Harare remains one of the major impediments affecting the development of the micro, small and medium enterprise sector.
The micro-enterprises and the majority of the informal businesses are in conflict with the regulatory authorities because they will be operating from undesignated and unregulated places. To address this challenge, the Ministry initiated multi-stakeholder engagements with Government departments, local authorities and the private sector to include MSEs in their work plans.
In 2022, the Ministry held a workspace provision conference where various stakeholders convened and deliberated on workspace development issues with each stakeholder presenting their work plans and challenges they are facing in as far as workspace development is concerned.
The Ministry is also working in collaboration with local authorities, the private sector and development partners to renovate existing or put up new modern workspaces for micro and small enterprises with designs, taking into account the type of business or trades to be housed.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, an Inter-Ministerial Committee has been established in Harare to work on workspace provision with various institutions and partners such as Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Office of the Minister of Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province and City of Harare, with a view to reorganise the sector and modernise the MSME workspace facilities.
The construction of Smart Vegetable Market was completed in Epworth and the Coca Cola SME workspace is almost complete after Government provided funds to City of Harare. The Inter-Ministerial Committee has identified Shawasha grounds, Hatcliff, Kuwadzana and Glenview as new workspaces for the sector. However, lack of funds has hindered progress on those sites.
To address funding challenges, the Ministry has made engagements with the pension funds institutions and private companies, to partner with Government on provision of modern workspaces for the MSMEs sector. I am glad to report that some of these institutions have expressed willingness to partner with us, renovating existing or put up new modern workspaces for the sector in Harare and other areas.
My Ministry and City of Harare’s collaboration has allowed private players to convert some of the CBD buildings into smaller retail shops. This has assisted to accommodate most SMEs who are into retail trade. We are also facilitating our parastatal SMEDCO, to work on putting up more workspaces for SMEs. SMEDCO has also embarked on a drive to construct workspaces and has acquired land in Bindura, Lupane, Gwanda and Chipinge. Construction works on Bindura and Lupane sites are expected to begin in 2024.
My Ministry is also working in collaboration with various stakeholders such as local authorities, development partners and private players in constructing decent workspaces such as factory shells, SME hubs and vendor marts in Bulawayo, Bindura, Mberengwa (Private sector initiative resulted in the construction of a shopping mall), Gweru-Mtapa SME factory Shell, Gwanda, Chiredzi and Chikomba SME hub. This year Gwanda SME vendor marts, Chiredzi SME centre, Gweru Mtapa workspaces and Masvingo Safe Market have all been completed. I thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: I want to thank the Hon. Minister for his reply. My supplementary question is with regards to the workspace conference. According to our research, from that conference, we interviewed artisans like welders and those who make furniture, but they did not have information about that conference. I want to appeal to the Hon. Minister if he can hold another conference that can be advertised through the radios or media and inform Members of Parliament from Harare so that we pass on the information that Members of Parliament can participate as well as their representatives. This is to enable us to also give our views because this is what brings food to the table in this country.
*HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I will pass on the message to the Hon. Minister responsible for SMEs. That is what we want. We want to get information from all the stakeholders in order to improve our economy. I thank you.
HON. SPARE SITHOLE: On a point of order Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. SPARE SITHOLE: I am sincerely concerned Madam Speaker by this situation of deferring all questions. The majority of the Ministers were around here, I do not know why they have left this building before answering these questions?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: We are all concerned Hon. Member, I think we are going to try by all means to advise Hon. Ministers or Deputy Ministers that they must come to this House to respond to the questions. We are all concerned.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: My point of order is that those who never asked questions this week must be placed on top for next week. The issue of starting with those who have asked questions this week, next week they will be the ones to be picked first. That must be taken into consideration.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I hear you Hon. Sithole and I advise you to talk to your Chief Whips.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 2 on today’s Order Paper has been disposed of.
HON. BAJILA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT ON THE 147TH ASSEMBLY OF IPU AND RELATED MEETINGS HELD IN ANGOLA
HON. KARIKOGA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Report of the Delegation to the 147th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Related Meetings held from 23 to 27 October 2023 in Luanda, Angola.
HON. TOBAIWA: I second.
HON. KARIKOGA: Thank you Madam Speaker.
- INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Parliament of Angola hosted the 147th Assembly of the IPU and Related Meetings which convened from 23rd to 27th October, 2023 under the overarching theme “Parliamentary action for peace, justice and strong institutions”. The 147th Assembly was attended by about 1500 participants drawn from 130 countries.
1.2 Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of Parliament and Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate, ably represented the Parliament of Zimbabwe at the meetings.
1.3 The Hon. Speaker Mudenda attended the Executive Committee meetings which preceded the 147th Assembly and Related Meetings on 21 and 22 October 2023.
2.0 MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE IPU AND ITS OUTCOMES:
2.1 Hon. Pacheco, President of the IPU, who was presiding over his last Executive Committee Meeting, presented his activity report anchored on three deliverables, namely, Reinforcing IPU’s visibility, Supporting the Implementation of the IPU Strategy and Consolidation of the IPU Good Governance.
2.2 The Executive Committee commended the IPU President for the extensive activity report. In the same vein, members of the Executive Committee extolled the sterling work undertaken by the IPU President, in particular Speaker Mudenda commended Hon. Pacheco’s work ethic and vigorous energy in reinforcing the visibility of the IPU globally.
2.3 In the spirit of inclusivity with special accent on the role of women and youth in Parliamentary processes as reported on by Hon Pacheco, Speaker Mudenda highlighted that Zimbabwe had made significant strides as demonstrated by the incorporation of the constitutional provisions that guarantee 10 seats for the youth in the National Assembly. It was also encouraging that 40% of recently elected MPs in Zimbabwe have an average age of 40 years and below. This speaks volumes of the commitment by the Government of Zimbabwe to uplift the formerly marginalised demographic groups in tandem with IPU resolutions regarding youth inclusion in political participation in Parliamentary processes.
2.4 Hon. Speaker Mudenda, whose four year tenure as a member of the Executive Committee came to an end at the conclusion of the 147th Assembly of the IPU and related meetings, was commended for his tremendous contribution to the work of the Executive Committee, in particular, his clarity of thought and solid legal insight which have enabled the Executive Committee to make sound decisions guided by the IPU Statutes and Rules.
2.5 Speaker Mudenda was subsequently awarded a certificate of recognition by the IPU President, Honourable Duarte Pacheco. The citation on the certificate reads as follows: “CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION CONFERRED UPON MR. JACOB FRANCIS NZWIDAMILIMO MUDENDA (ZIMBABWE) FOR HIS OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORK AND MISSION OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION AS A MEMBER OF ITS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2019-2023”. Hon. Mudenda accepted the certificate on behalf of the Zimbabwe Parliament which gave him the opportunity to serve humanity at that international level.
2.6 The Executive Committee took note of the report of the Secretary General which highlighted the following positive developments which speak to the IPU Strategic Plan for the period 2022 to 2026:
- Successfully organised 47 global and regional events held in person and hybrid format as well as virtually;
- Arranged 42 national events and activities in 12 countries;
- Produced eight publications for use as tools and resources by member Parliaments.
2.7 The Executive Committee endorsed the historic Anti-Harassment Policy whose implementation will set the tone for a culture of protection of women, not only in Parliaments, but also within communities. The policy addresses issues of prevention, awareness campaigns through the media, support and assistance for victims.
2.8 With regards to requests for Permanent Membership and Observer status, the Executive Committee resolved as follows:
- The Executive Committee approved the request for membership by the Bahamas. This brings the membership of the IPU to 180 Parliaments;
The Executive Committee resolved to maintain observer status for Mercosur Parliament, Organisation of American States, NORDIC Council, Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (PAECO), Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (AP-CPLP) and Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (COPA). 2.9 The Executive Committee approved the Financial Statements for 2022. The External Auditors noted that the IPU accounts are kept in accordance with international standards and that the finances are being prudentially managed.
2.10 The Executive Committee approved the 2024 Budget which is anchored on the IPU Strategic Plan.
2.11 With regards to Regional Offices, the Executive Committee took stock of the progress to date. Of particular note, was the official opening of the Regional Office in Uruguay in September 2023 on the sidelines of the Global Summit of the Committees of the Future.
2.12 In the same vein, the IPU and Egypt are engaged in positive discussions over the contents of the Agreements to be signed between the IPU and the Government of Egypt as the host country towards the establishment of a second IPU Regional Office there.
2.13 The Executive Committee took note of the report submitted by the Chairperson of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) articulating on joint activities undertaken between the Assemblies. The fruitful collaboration between the ASGP and the IPU has yielded positive impact in as far as developing tools that strengthen parliamentary administrative processes.
2.14 With regards to the proposed review of the IPU Statutes, the Executive Committee approved the establishment of a Drafting Committee comprising Executive Committee Members drawn from all Geopolitical Groups. Accordingly, Parliaments were encouraged to submit their proposals to the IPU Secretariat before the end of November 2024.
2.15 The Executive Committee took note of the report of the Task Force on the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine. While the Committee did not manage to bring the two parties to the negotiating table, it did make progress in the maintenance of separate engagements with the conflicting parties.
2.16 The Executive Committee endorsed the following as venues:
- Geneva, Switzerland, 148th Assembly of the IPU Assembly in March 2024
- Uzbekistan, 150th Assembly of the IPU Assembly in 2025.
The IPU is still to secure a venue for the 149th Assembly scheduled for October 2024.
2.17 The Executive Committee endorsed the establishment of the Preparatory Committee of the 6th Conference of Speakers of Parliament which will comprise 20 Speakers of Parliament. Africa will be requested to nominate five Speakers of Parliament to the Preparatory Committee taking into consideration gender balance.
- OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 147TH ASSEMBLY OF THE IPU AND RELATED MEETINGS
3.1 The official opening ceremony of the 147th Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Related meetings held on 23 October 2023, was indeed a momentous occasion as the IPU was meeting for the first time in a Portuguese speaking African country since 1962 after being hosted in Brazil. The ceremony was graced by His Excellency, Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola, as Guest of Honor, various Speakers of Parliament and Members of Parliament from 130 countries making up a total of 1500 delegates.
3.2 It was a historic moment when the IPU national anthem was sung and played for the first time at an IPU Assembly, having been approved by the IPU Governing Council in March 2023 on the occasion of the 146th Assembly of the IPU held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. The anthem is an expression of the IPU hopes and aspirations in a world grappling with global challenges. The Kaposoka Symphony Orchestra, an Angolan Orchestra outfit made up of teenagers extrapolated from vulnerable families, led the singing of the IPU anthem, much to the credit of the outgoing IPU President Pacheco who mooted the idea of the anthem.
3.3 In her welcome remarks, Rt. Hon Carolina Cerqueira, Speaker of the National Assembly of Angola, implored Parliaments to unequivocally pronounce themselves on the need to respond positively to global challenges by proffering solutions anchored on guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, peace, justice and amicable resolutions of conflicts for the good of humanity. Furthermore, she called for the expeditious implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their entirety. The Hon. Speaker of Angola shared the inspiring case of Angola which was under civil strife for over 30 years and yet with a sustained resolve for peace, stability and unity, the country has risen from the civil strife like the proverbial phoenix, resulting in socio-economic development in an environment of peace and harmony.
3.4 As a follow up delivery, Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the IPU, commended Angola for its resilience as evidenced by its resolve to rise from the civil conflict to championing peace and inclusion not only in Angola, but in the Africa subregion. He made reference to current global conflicts, particularly in African countries where the population has experienced its fair share of conflict, inequality and the scourge of poverty. In this context, the theme of the Assembly resonates well with the current global situation which calls for Parliamentary action in pursuit of peace, justice and strong institutions. The Secretary General underscored the role of Parliaments as the hallmark for democracy and legitimacy. Accordingly, he called on Parliaments to be inclusive and restore public trust from the people they represent.
3.5 Speaking on behalf of the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga appreciated the existing mutually beneficial relationship between the UN and the IPU which has continued to grow from strength to strength. Additionally, he commended the IPU’s relentless efforts to promote its core values through multilateralism. The Secretary General welcomed the apt theme of the Assembly which seeks to address conflicts which have had a devastating impact on affected societies and other global challenges inflicting suffering on the vulnerable members of our societies.
3.6 In his opening remarks, Mr. Duarte Pacheco, President of the IPU, underscored the essentiality of peace as a fundamental tenet undergirding socio-economic development. He strongly condemned current global conflicts as witnessed in different geographical areas such as terrorism in the Sahel, the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the Palestinian-Israel conflict, among others. He called for the speedy peaceful resolution of these conflicts through Parliamentary diplomacy, multilateralism and the respect of international law. The IPU President paid homage to the Task Force established for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine for their unwavering efforts to bring about peace to the waring countries.
3.7 Finally, His Excellency, Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola, delivered an inspiring message of hope for humanity as he officially opened the IPU Assembly. He shared Angola’s road to peace and stability and the shared vision of sustainable development anchored on inclusion, equity and democracy. In this vein, the President opined that the Republic of Angola continues its Parliamentary diplomacy in its quest for peace and stability in the Great Lakes region. Commenting on global conflict situations, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Angola, called on the implementation of several UN resolutions on the Palestinian question, in particular, the creation of the two-state policy as per the Rome Declaration. Parliaments, he posited, should proffer unwavering attention to global challenges in order to alleviate pain and suffering of the vulnerable victims of war conflicts. His Excellency, the President of Angola, echoed many African voices in calling for the reform of the United Nations and international financial institutions in order to achieve inclusion and sustainable development on the basis of the equality of the sovereignty of all United Nations member States.
4.0 EMERGENCY ITEM FOR INCLUSION ON THE AGENDA OF THE IPU ASSEMBLY
4.1 In line with Assembly Rule 11 of the IPU Statutes, the Assembly considered three (3) requests for inclusion as an Emergency Item on the Agenda of the IPU 147th Assembly. However, none of the three requests garnered the two thirds majority vote. Consequently, there was no Emergency Item for debate.
5.0 MEETINGS OF THE SADC GROUP AND AFRICA GEOPOLITICAL GROUP AT THE IPU
5.1 As has become standard practice, the SADC Group and Africa Geopolitical Group convened prior to the convening of the Assembly to caucus and reach consensus on issues under consideration during the Assembly and establishing a position on the Emergency Item as well as filling of vacancies during the Assembly.
5.2 Hon. Advocate Mudenda, who is one of Africa’s representatives in the Executive Committee, presented a summary report of the Executive Committee meetings. After delivering his ultimate report, Speaker Mudenda received further approbations from Hon. Members of the SADC and Africa Geopolitical Groups for his diligence and attention to detail in the current Report and previous ones. On that score, Hon Elibariki Emmanuel Kingu from Tanzanian Parliament, moved a motion that the Geopolitical Groups should formally recognise Speaker Mudenda’s contributions to the IPU by formally acknowledging them through a letter of appreciation. The motion was unanimously approved after being seconded by the Rt. Honourable Professor Peter Katjavivi, the Namibian Speaker of Parliament.
5.3 Both the SADC Group and the Africa Geopolitical Group resolved to support an Emergency Item entitled, ‘Stopping the war and violations of human rights in Gaza’. South Africa co-sponsored the Emergency Item with the delegations from Algeria and Kuwait on behalf of the Arab Group, Indonesia and Iran.
5.4 The Africa Geopolitical Group elected Hon. Monder Bouden, Deputy Speaker of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria and representing North Africa as its Chairperson for the period 2023 to 2024.
5.5 Rt. Hon. Nelly BK Mutti, Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia, was elected into the Executive Committee representing the Africa Geopolitical Group.
6.0 FORUM OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS
6.1 The Forum of Women Parliamentarians contributed to the deliberations of the 147th Assembly from a gender perspective, particularly in respect of the Resolution of the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights entitled, ‘Orphanage trafficking: the role of Parliaments in reducing harm” as well as the panel discussion on “Women in Politics: to stay or not to stay’.
6.2 The discussions analysed the root causes of trafficking and its gender related aspects. In this context, the Forum highlighted the need for robust laws to combat child trafficking in orphanages as well as for the police forces, justice and immigration departments to be adequately equipped to handle such issues.
6.3 The panel discussion examined the challenges faced by women when taking up political decision-making positions. Parliaments were urged to ensure a conducive working environment by adopting policies that decry women’s harassment including sexual harassment.
6.4 Hon. Chinomona, President of the Senate contributed to the work of the Forum. In a well-received address to the Forum, the President of the Senate called for a collective and coordinated approach in tackling orphanage trafficking which she described as modern-day slavery. Furthermore, Hon. Chinomona underscored Zimbabwe’s commitment to combatting human trafficking through enacting appropriate legislation such as the Trafficking in Persons Act of 2014. In this context, she called on Parliaments to enact laws that protect the vulnerable groups especially girls.
7.0 FORUM OF YOUNG PARLIAMENTARIANS
7.1 The Forum of Young Parliamentarians took stock of recent developments in Parliamentary youth participation, including recent elections where higher numbers of young Members of Parliament took office, elevation of young Parliamentarians to leadership positions at international conferences such as the upcoming COP 28.
7.2 The Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians reiterated its call to amend the Statutes and Rules of the IPU to lower the age limit to be considered a young Parliamentarian to 40 years old from the current 45 years.
8.0 GENERAL DEBATE ON THE THEME OF THE ASSEMBLY
8.1 In their interventions on the theme of the Assembly entitled ‘Parliamentary action for peace, justice and strong institutions’, Presiding Officers and Parliamentarians reflected on how to address governance issues as they relate to Sustainable Development Goal 16, in particular strengthening trust between people and public institutions, creating effective institutions through capacity building and broad based representation, consistently upholding the rule of law and protecting fundamental freedoms.
8.2 The theme of the Assembly was indeed relevant, given the escalating global conflicts that threaten access to justice, widen inequalities and underrepresentation of marginalised groups. Accordingly, it was noted that Parliaments, as representatives of the people, ought to collectively pronounce themselves in condemning all forms of warfare and proffer solutions that stimulate strong and effective institutions for sustainable development.
8.3 The Chairperson of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians and the Chairperson of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians who also addressed participants during the high-level side meeting, called for equal participation and inclusion of women and young people through enacting appropriate legislation.
8.4 At the conclusion of the General Debate, the Assembly adopted the Luanda Declaration.
9.0 THE IPU COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS
9.1 The Committee examined several cases of alleged human rights violations against Members of Parliaments in nine countries.
9.2 Additionally, the Committee held hearings with complainants and the relevant Parliamentary authorities including the Hon. Speaker Mudenda on the sidelines of the 147th Assembly. Hon. Speaker Mudenda appeared before the Committee to discuss cases involving Mr. Job Sikhala, former Member of Parliament and the case of 23 recalled Members of the Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC) party. The Hon. Speaker provided detailed written update information on the status of Mr. Sikhala’s case that is before the courts. Additionally, the Hon. Speaker responded to questions from the Committee regarding the alleged human rights violations of the concerned Members of Parliament. The Hon. Speaker’s responses were anchored on the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe, specifically that Section 73 (6) and Section 50 (1) (c) and provisions of the Prisons Correctional Services Act which ensure that Mr. Sikhala is guaranteed access to health facilities.
9.3 With regards to the recalls of the CCC Members of Parliament, the Hon. Speaker emphasized that the Presiding Officers of Parliament acted in accordance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, specifically Section 129 (1) (k).
9.4 The Committee reiterated its request to undertake a mission to Zimbabwe. The Hon. Speaker directed the Committee to formally send a request which details the proposed programme and clear terms of reference for the Mission for consideration by the relevant authorities Kwete zvainyeperwa pasocial media izvi - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please may you withdraw your statement. The statement which you said kwete zvekunyeperana pasocial media because you are reading a report.
HON. KARIKOGA: I withdraw.
10.0 OUTCOMES OF THE 147TH ASSEMBLY OF THE IPU AND RELATED MEETINGS
10.1 The Governing Council of the IPU elected Hon. Dr. Tulia Ackson, Speaker of the United Republic of Tanzania, as the 31st President of the IPU for the period 2023 to 2026. The Africa Geopolitical Group extended its heartfelt congratulations to Rt. Hon. Dr Ackson and wished her a fruitful and successful term in office.
10.2 Finally, the 147th Assembly adopted the Luanda Declaration on ‘Parliamentary Action for peace, justice and strong institutions’…
HON. MUROMBEDZI: On a point of order Madam Speaker, the Hon. Member quoted the Constitution Section 129 – tenure of seat of Member of Parliament and he said Section 129 (a), I do not think it relates to the subject. This section speaks about the dissolution of Parliament.
An Hon. Member having stood up to raise a point of order
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You cannot stand on a point of order whilst I am yet to rule on another point of order – [AN HON. MEMBER: On a point of clarity.] – [HON. MEMBERS: Haaa]- [HON. MUROMBEDZI: You can debate.] – No, Hon. Karikoga you are not supposed to be responding.
Hon. Murombedzi, Hon. Karikoga is reading a report which was prepared. It is not his debate. If the report is misleading, we can refer the report to the Clerks who prepared the report.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker because he quoted the wrong thing in the Constitution.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Karikoga, you may proceed.
HON. KARIKOGA: The Declaration recognises that through their legislative, representation and oversight roles, Parliaments ought to promote universal human rights, inclusion, enhancing transparency and accountability to earn the people’s trust. Accordingly, the Declaration pledges to support measures that strengthen strong institutions
10.3 The 147th Assembly of the IPU and Related Meetings adopted by consensus the resolution submitted by the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights entitled, ‘Orphanage trafficking: The role of Parliaments in reducing harm’. The resolution recognises the need to address orphanage trafficking in its multi-dimensional and complex form which involve the recruitment, transportation, transfer and habouring children for purposes of exploitation. Furthermore, the resolution acknowledges the absence of appropriate regulatory framework and child protection legal framework resulting in severe harm to orphans’ physical, emotional and psychological well-being.
10.3.1 The resolution, therefore, condemns all forms of orphanage trafficking, orphanage tourism and orphanage volunteering.
10.3.2 Accordingly, the resolution calls on Parliaments to cooperate and coordinate with their respective Governments to introduce legal measures aimed at combating orphanage trafficking at the national level.
10.3.3 Additionally, the resolution calls for multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral and international cooperation strategies to combat orphanage trafficking and ensuring the safe repatriation and rehabilitation of trafficked children.
10.4 The 2023 Cremer-Passy Prize was awarded to Rt. Hon. Samuelu Penitala Teo, Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu for his outstanding work on climate action, having raised awareness of the climate vulnerability of his country throughout his political career.
10.5 The IPU launched a publication on ‘Human Rights: A Self-Assessment Tool Kit’ which is tailor-made for Parliaments to capacitate them to integrate human rights into their work and empower Parliamentarians as champions of human rights in their constituencies.
10.6 Additionally, the IPU also launched the report on ‘Youth Participation in National Parliaments: 2023’ which is a compilation of data on youth participation in politics. It serves as a reference point for young people in Parliament. It also proffers recommendations on how to achieve greater participation of youth through policies such as Parliamentary youth quotas in Parliament. This report comes on the heels of the launch of the ‘I say Yes to Youth in Parliament IPU campaign’.
10.7 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol: Handbook for Parliamentarians was also launched during the 147th Assembly of the IPU and Related Meetings. The Handbook is a second addition which taps into the guidance developed by the Committee on translating CEDAW into concrete action that addresses all forms of Gender-Based Violence against women and girls. It stresses the relevance of the Convention to all dimensions of the work of Parliaments, from law making, budget allocation and parliamentary oversight on gender mainstreaming.
10.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 The Administration of Parliament should endeavour to ensure that international and regional subscriptions are paid timeously to avoid censure by the regional and international bodies to which Parliament is a member.
10.2 Parliament of Zimbabwe should continue collaborating with the IPU Secretariat in capacitating Parliamentary Committees as the IPU has available resources to assist in this regard.
10.3 Additionally, Parliament of Zimbabwe should make use of tools of the trade as provided by the numerous publications and reports launched by the IPU.
10.4 The Youth Caucus should spearhead the launch of the I SAY YES TO YOUTH IN PARLIAMENT CAMPAIGN. This movement has gained traction in IPU Member Parliaments where it has been successfully launched.
10.5 In tandem with the Presidential mantra of leaving no one and no place behind, the Expanded Sustainable Development Goals Committee should monitor the implementation by the Executive of the Sustainable Development Goals until 2030. This Committee should produce evaluative annual reports on the same. Particular focus should be given to the Sustainable Development Goal 16 whose implementation will undoubtedly address the recommendation of the Luanda Declaration on strengthening institutions that promote democracy.
10.5 Issues of climate change remain relevant and requiring urgent action. To this an extent, a Parliamentary Meeting co-organised by the IPU and the Federation Council of the United Arab Emirates will be convened on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in December 2023. Accordingly, arrangements should be made for some Members of Parliament to attend this crucial Meeting with the relevant Minister of Environment and the Honourable Speaker.
10.6 The SDG 16, more than any other SDG, relates to Parliament as the key institution of governance in every country. Parliaments enact laws, adopt budgets and oversee the Executive hence they are uniquely positioned to make Governments work better at all levels. Additionally, Parliaments may put in place conditions for peaceful co-existence that support sustainable development and democracy in all their dimensions. In this context, Parliament of Zimbabwe is urged to enhance public engagement through public hearings. The setting up of Parliamentary Constituency Information Centres should be expedited to enhance Parliament’s visibility at Constituency levels as well as to enhance public participation in Parliamentary processes.
11.0 CONCLUSION
11.1 The delegation joins colleagues Executive Committee of the IPU, Speakers and Parliamentarians from the SADC and the Africa Geopolitical Groups in extending a hearty congratulations to the Hon. Speaker for his sterling contribution to the work of the IPU during his four-year tenure as a member of the Executive Committee of the IPU.
11.2 The Delegation extends its profound gratitude to the Government of Zimbabwe and to Parliament for affording it the opportunity to represent Zimbabwe at such high-profile statutory meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. I thank you.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 54TH PLENARY
SESSION OF THE SADC-PF HELD IN MAURITIUS
HON. KARENYI: I move the motion in my name that this House takes note of the Report of the delegation to the 54th Plenary Session of the SADC-PF held in Mauritius.
HON. NYABANI: I second.
HON. KARENYI:
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The 54th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) was graciously hosted by the Parliament of Mauritius from the 22nd to 27th November 2023 under the theme: “The Role of Parliaments in Promoting Coordination for Enhanced Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Planning in the SADC Region”.
1.2 The Zimbabwe delegation was led by Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe and it comprised the following Members of Parliament: -
- Maybe Mbohwa, Member of the Standing Committee on Gender Equality, Women Advancement and Youth Development and Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC);
- Chinhenza Chigwadzara (Chief Matsiwo), Member of the Standing Committee on Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Infrastructure;
- Tendai Nyabani, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Democratization, Governance and Human Rights;
- Mercy Mugomo, Member of the Standing Committee on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment; and,
- Lynette Karenyi, Member of the Standing Committee on Human and Social Development and Special Programmes.
Figure i. ZIMBABWEAN DELEGATION LED BY HON SPEAKER J.F.N. MUDENDA
2.0 OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY
2.1
Figure ii. SADC PF SECRETARY GENERAL. MS. B. SEGKOMA |
In her welcome remarks, the Secretary General (SG) of the SADC PF, Ms. Boemo Segkoma, expressed gratitude to the host country for the meticulous hosting arrangements made for the 54th Plenary Assembly meeting. Ms. Sekgoma highlighted the importance of the Assembly in concluding a productive year which coincided with the end of the Forum’s 2019 to 2023 Strategic Plan.
The Secretary General stated that the SADC PF’s Strategic plan had been successfully implemented with the full support and active engagement of Member Parliaments and stakeholders whose planned efforts had achieved a commendable feat. To conclude her statement, she extolled Mauritius for its unparalleled social protection programmes which include socio-economic safety nets which consequently guarantee the well-being of its citizens.
2.2
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In addition to expressing his gratitude for the warm reception and the impeccable preparations that had been put in place by the host country, Mauritius, Hon. Roger Macienne, the Speaker of the Parliament of Seychelles and President of the SADC PF, paid tribute to Mauritius’ exemplary leadership since the inception of the Forum, punctuated by the tenure of former Speaker, Honourable Abdool Razack PEEROO who, as President of the SADC PF from 2012 to 2014, passionately advocated for the transformation of SADC PF into a regional Parliament, especially during the 35th Plenary Assembly held in June 2014. In addition, Hon PEEROO also championed the institutionalisation of the SADC PF Rules of Procedure in a document aptly titled “Operating like a Parliament.” This document paved the way towards a more practical and substantive SADC PF transformation into a fully-fledged regional Parliament.
2.3
Figure iv. CHAIR OF THE REGIONAL WOMEN’S PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS (RWPC), HON. REGINA ESPARON, |
The Chair of the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC), Hon. Regina Esparon, emphasised the tangible social and economic benefits of investing in girls' education and training. She asserted that the theme of the 54th Plenary Assembly was timely coming after the SADC adopted the Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan and Plan of Action (2020-2030). Hon. Esparon stressed the importance of recognising that climate change disproportionately affects women and girls due to existing gender inequalities, resulting in an increased burden to this vulnerable group during climate crises.
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2.4 Hon. Sooroojdev Phokeer, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Mauritius, warmly welcomed delegates and underscored the 54th Plenary Assembly theme’s unique opportunity for fostering inter-parliamentary democracy and regional cooperation in addressing transboundary disasters and climate change challenges. In this regard, he made a clarion call to Parliamentarians to deliberate and exchange views in order to come up with standardized regional and international mitigatory efforts to combat climate change catastrophes.
2.5 In delivering the keynote address, the Guest of Honour, His Excellency, Prime Minister Hon Pravind Kumar Jugnauth underscored the need for Parliamentary cooperation and diplomacy in addressing global challenges
Figure vi. HIS EXCELLENCY, PRIME MINISTER HON PRAVIND KUMAR JUGNAUTH |
that impact the livelihoods in the region. With a focus on the Assembly's theme and the region's ongoing challenges, he emphasised the interconnectedness of SADC countries, advocating for enhanced regional cooperation to effectively tackle pressing issues and ensure stability and prosperity in the region.
2.5.1 The Prime Minister reiterated the need for Parliaments to remain the sole custodians of democracy, entrusted with the solemn duty to not only enact laws and shape public policies, but also to allocate resources judiciously to ensure that their respective countries have the necessary legal and policy frameworks to mitigate risks, respond to disasters effectively and facilitate recovery and reconstruction.
2.6 The Prime Minister concluded by encouraging SADC PF States to take a cue from Mauritius’ response strategy wherein the Government of Mauritius enacted the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act in 2016, which established a Statutory Council, a Strategic Framework to deal with mitigating the risks of disasters and to prepare for recovery plans and actions.
2.7 Hon. Carolina Cerqueira, Speaker of the National Assembly of Angola, expressed gratitude for the exquisite preparations made for the 54th Plenary Assembly and pledged Angola’s readiness to welcome delegates to the 55th Plenary Assembly Meeting to be held in July 2024.
3.0 ZIMBABWE’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE THEME AND THE KEY DELIVERABLES DURING THE SYMPOSIUM
3.1 The Symposium, held on 22nd November 2023, focused on the 54th Plenary Assembly theme “Role of Parliaments in Promoting Coordination for Enhanced Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Planning in the SADC Region”. The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government and Disaster Risk Management of the Republic of Mauritius, Hon. Dr Mohammad Anwar Husnoo, chaired the meeting.
3.1.1 The symposium drew insights from Resource Persons and experts drawn from various sectors of the Mauritius Government in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Meteorological Services, Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change.
3.2 Hon. Speaker Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, emphasised the need for a regional approach to address the impact of natural disasters that have affected several SADC countries, including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He highlighted the strides made by Zimbabwe in risk reduction, augmented by public awareness and adaptation to climate change. Speaker Mudenda called for the enhancement of early warning systems and the capacitation of meteorological sectors to mount a formidable Disaster Risk Reduction Mechanism.
3.3 Hon. Mudenda reported that, Zimbabwe had developed a legal framework for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) governed mainly by the Civil Protection Act, Chapter 10:06 and Section 56 of the Zimbabwe Constitution which provides for equal protection and benefit of the law. He also highlighted that the Parliament of Zimbabwe was in the process of reviewing the Civil Protection Act given that it was enacted in 1989 and is no longer responsive enough to the obtaining climate induced disasters. Equally, he informed that the Government had drafted the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Management Bill now before Parliament.
3.4 Hon. Mudenda further stated that Zimbabwe has developed several policies and strategies to deal with climate change-induced disasters such as the National Climate Policy of 2018, the National Climate Change Strategy and the draft National Adaptation Plan. Furthermore, he asserted that one of the key priorities of the 10th Parliament of Zimbabwe was to ensure that adequate funds were provided for the implementation of these disaster management policies as well as ensuring the finalisation of the Climate Change National Adaptation Plan. Hon Mudenda referred to the 2023 State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, that prescribed several Bills related to adaptation and resilience, such as the Climate Change Bill, Water Act, Chapter 20:24 (2003) Amendment Bill and the Plant Breeders Rights Act which will deal comprehensively with adaptation and resilience in handing climate-induced natural disasters
3.5 In his concluding remarks which were received with approbation from fellow delegates, Hon. Mudenda called upon Member States to successfully coordinate and harmonize Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery planning approaches and address challenges such as under-funded and uncoordinated institutional frameworks, lack of comprehensive risk assessments including addressing the problems associated with the prevalence of weak information systems. The Hon. Speaker also encouraged member countries to come up with sound National Determined Contributions in order for the world to reduce greenhouse emissions so that temperatures do not rise above the Paris Climate Change Agreement barometer of not above 1.5 degrees Celsius. This will mark the treatment of the fundamental cause of the disease rather than its pervasive symptoms.
3.6 The Symposium noted the devastating impact of extreme weather events on physical infrastructure and socio-economic life. The SADC region has been ravaged by several destructive cyclones, including Cyclones Idai, Batsirai and Freddy, which caused extensive damage and resulted in numerous human casualties and led to a significant number of internally displaced persons.
3.7 A clarion call was made to mitigate the damage caused by extreme weather events in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which demands multi-sectoral approaches whereby public and private stakeholders collaborate to save infrastructure and lives. It is crucial to widely sensitise regional citizens on disaster preparedness through regular awareness campaigns. The Sendai Framework works in synergy with other 2030 Agenda agreements, including The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the New Urban Agenda and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals.
3.8 The Framework was endorsed by the UN General Assembly following the 2015 Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), and advocates for: The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries”. Whilst it recognises that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk, it enjoins a shared responsibility among stakeholders including local Government, the private sector and other stakeholders.
3.9 The Symposium acknowledged that during and in the aftermath of climate disasters, losing shelter, clothing, food or even basic amenities. This necessitates the immediate response and assistance of the concerned authorities. In this context, Member Parliaments were urged to enact laws, adopt budgets, exercise oversight and represent communities to address climate resilience in a way that mainstreams gender and ensures that the voices of women are heard in decision-making processes on disaster preparedness.
3.10 The Symposium commended the Republic of Mauritius, host of the 54th Plenary Assembly, for developing a National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Framework (2020-2030) as well as an Action Plan for the same period to consolidate climate resilience, in addition to enacting targeted legislation such as the Land Drainage Authority Act and the Climate Change Act.
3.11 Furthermore, the Symposium encouraged countries to meet the total financial needs for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), estimated at USD 6.5 billion, including USD 4.5 billion for adaptation and USD 2 billion for mitigation. Such early investments will save the world from future damage in multi-fold figures. This proposal is in sync with Zimbabwe’s call for countries to meet their National Determined Contributions towards supporting efforts to mitigate against climate change impacts.
- REPORT BY HON. ADVOCATE JACOB FRANCIS NZWIDAMILIMO MUDENDA ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE 53RD PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC PF HELD IN ARUSHA, TANZANIA, 02 TO 08 JULY 2023
- Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe responded to the resolutions adopted during the 53rd Plenary Assembly of the SADC PF based on Section 119 of the Constitution which “empowers Parliament to protect the Constitution by exercising oversight over all Government institutions and agencies at all levels”.
- Speaker reported that Zimbabwe is now food secure with a surplus maize harvest of 3, 5 million tonnes and 475 993 tonnes of wheat harvested in 2023. This is due to the implementation of the climate proofed agriculture programme commonly known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, which supports over 1.6 million vulnerable households in maize, sunflower, small grains and soya beans production.
Figure ix. PFUMVUDZA/ INTWASA
4.3 Hon Speaker informed the Plenary that, in 2010, Zimbabwe established the Debt Management Office under the Ministry of Finance and Investment Promotion for the purpose of effective debt management in order to comply with SADC debt-to-GDP ratio of no greater than 60% for all Member States. The Public Debt Management Act [Chapter 22.21] (Act 4 of 2015) is the legal framework of the debt management policy. Debt management in Zimbabwe is undergirded by Parliament. The Zimbabwe Anti–Corruption Commission and the Auditor- General’s Office also bolster the effectiveness of public debt management strategies by thoroughly scrutinising the national Budget expenditure regime.
4.3.1 Furthermore, to bolster the implementation of the provisions of the Public Debt Office, Parliament is amending the Public Finance Management Act to incorporate the provisions of the Model Law on Public Financial Management thereby strengthening the effectiveness of the Debt Management Office.
4.4 To strengthen a “Rights Based Approach to the Conduct of Business within the Natural Resources Sector in the SADC region”, Zimbabwe has adopted the policy on value addition and beneficiation of its mineral and agricultural resources, resulting in downstream mining and agro-industries. The 2024 Pre-Budget Seminar hosted by the Parliament of Zimbabwe implored the Government to accelerate the implementation of value-addition and beneficiation policies in the mining and agricultural sectors.
4.5 The report unveiled that the Parliament of Zimbabwe has a new Thematic Committee on Climate Change to specifically conduct oversight on Government policies, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and programmes being undertaken by the Government, among other areas. Parliament will soon consider the Climate Change Bill, which seeks to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate low-carbon development technologies, including strengthening appropriate institutions and funding mechanisms by working together with the Select Committee on Climate Change. These two Committees are advocating for the enactment of the Climate Change Bill into law as supported by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (ZELA) in the same endeavour.
4.6 Hon. Speaker reported that he led a delegation to the Second World Summit of the Committees of the Future which was held under the overarching theme- “Bringing the Future to The Present: The Democracy of the Future, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Parliaments”. Participating Parliamentarians recognised the fundamental importance of incorporating the application of Artificial Intelligence in Parliamentary processes vis-à-vis e-governance which is now prevalent in several developed States. Accordingly, the Parliament of Zimbabwe will establish a “Committee of the Future” to ensure the application of Artificial Intelligence in e-governance whilst at the same time curtailing the negative effects of Artificial Intelligence application through the enactment of a sound legal framework.
4.7 The report concluded by indicating the plans to provide Members of Parliament in the current 10th Parliament with iPads so that they are ICT compliant. In that regard, all MPs will receive some induction on how to use the tablets in their Parliamentary work, in chat groups amongst themselves and stakeholders in their Constituencies.
4.7.1 However, more fundamentally, the H.E Dr. E.D. Mnangangwa President of the Republic of Zimbabwe has established a fully-
fledged Ministry of Information Communication Technology,
Postal and Courier Services in order to drive the Fourth Industrial
Revolution that is anchored on ICT technologies for the whole
country against the background of leveraging the application of
Artificial Intelligence. This Ministry is headed by a young,
vibrant female Minister, Dr. Tatenda Mavetera.
- ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND THE TREASURER’S REPORT
5.1 The Plenary Assembly deliberated and made resolutions on various policy, administrative and financial matters, including the transformation of the SADC PF into a Regional Parliament. In this regard, the Plenary Assembly acknowledged the progress made towards signing the Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty to establish the SADC Parliament, as reported during the 43rd SADC
Summit of Heads of States and Government which took place from the 17th to 18th August 2023 in Luanda, Angola.
5.2 The Plenary Assembly took note that 9 out of 16 Member States had signed the Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty. In this regard, the Plenary Assembly resolved to engage in further lobbying efforts with Heads of State and Government, along with other stakeholders, to expedite the achievement of the required quorum of 12 Member States for signing the Agreement.
5.3 The Plenary Assembly commended SADC citizens and stakeholders for their enthusiastic participation in virtual public hearings conducted by SADC PF Standing Committees. The Plenary Assembly also encouraged them to continue actively engaging in future public hearings, which will be held annually.
5.4 The Plenary Assembly took note that the current SADC PF Strategic Plan (2019-2023) was coming to an end and therefore, discussed the framework for the successor Strategic Plan for 2024-2028. Member Parliaments were encouraged to submit their inputs to the SADC PF Secretariat to ensure timely completion of the document.
6.0 MOTIONS ADOPTED DURING THE 54th PLENARY ASSEMBLY MEETINGS
6.1 The Plenary Assembly deliberated and resolved on various issues arising from Reports submitted by the SADC PF’s Organs including Standing Committees, Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC) and Regional Parliamentary Model Law Oversight Committee and Members’ Motions.
6.2 Report of the Standing Committee on Democratisation, Governance and Human Rights
The adopted motion encouraged Member States to to consider the feasibility of conducting pre-election missions virtually to mitigate financial challenges faced by National Parliaments in funding Election Observation Missions (EOMs), thereby reducing costs and ensuring continued engagement of electoral stakeholders across the region to promote democratic elections and advocate for the domestication of the SADC Model Law on Elections.
6.2.2 The report called for further engagement of National Parliaments to consider allocating resources for Election Observation Missions (EOMs) in their operational budgets to ensure the ongoing deployment of parliamentary EOMs, recognising their vital role in promoting democratic elections and monitoring the implementation of the SADC Model Law on Elections.
6.3 Report of the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC)
The Plenary Assembly adopted a motion to encourage Governments to develop and implement digital skills training programs specifically targeted at rural women, providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively use digital technologies for education, income generation, and community development. Furthermore, Parliament should provide oversight to ensure that rural women have access to affordable digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, or computers, enabling them to access online resources and services.
6.3.1 Resources should be made available to organise digital skills training programmes specifically for rural women to enable them to effectively use digital technologies.
6.4 It is trite to note that a full dossier of resolutions arising from the deliberations of the 54th Plenary Assembly shall be provided to National Parliaments to craft a report to be presented at the 55th Plenary Assembly meeting in Luanda, Angola, in July 2024.
7.0 RESOLUTIONS AND WAY FORWARD
7.1 The Plenary Assembly adopted a resolution to mitigate damage caused by extreme weather events in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. There is a need for a multi-sectoral approach whereby public and private stakeholders collaborate to save infrastructure and lives, and ensure that citizens are widely sensitised on disaster preparedness through regular awareness campaigns.
7.1.1 Having noted the extreme weather events damage physical infrastructure and impact socio-economic life and recognising that
the SADC region has been affected by several destructive cyclones including Cyclones Idai, Batsirai and Freddy recently which caused extensive damage and caused hundreds of human casualties, as well as internally displaced persons, Plenary Assembly resolved as follows:
- That countries should meet total financial needs for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), estimated at USD 6.5 billion, including USD 4.5 billion for adaptation and USD 2 billion for mitigation, since such early investments will save the world from damage in multi-fold figures in the future.
- Member Parliaments to develop the synergies with policy makers, academia, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), traditional and faith leaders, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), youth
Representatives and other stakeholders to promote climate justice by reducing the carbon footprint through measures in line with the Paris Agreement regularly reported to the COP.
- Member Parliaments to enact laws, adopt budgets, exercise
Oversight and represent communities to address climate resilience in a way which mainstreams gender and ensures that the voices of women are heard in decision-making processes on disaster preparedness.
- There is need for regional cooperation in disaster risk reduction
and preparedness since countries of the same geographical region witness similar weather patterns and are affected by similar climate events.
7.2 The Plenary Assembly resolved ensure that Member Parliaments, including the Forum embrace the efficient waste management, promote renewable energy sources and take measures to further reduce the carbon footprint in their jurisdictions. In this regard, Parliament is called upon to include climate justice governance in its strategic blueprint to promote green initiatives within the organisation and encourage both Members and Staff of Parliament to proactively be champions in environmental protection actions.
7.3 Noting that there are countries that are yet to sign the Agreement to Amend the SADC Treaty, Plenary Assembly resolved to continue lobbying on the countries that have not yet signed in view of obtaining enough signatures needed for the Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty to take effect. Once again, Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe will spearhead the process as the Chair of the Strategic Lobby Team for the Transformation of the SADC PF into a regional Parliament.
7.4 Plenary Assembly noted with concern the poor response registered from the Member Parliaments, on the call for the Forum to deploy Election Observation Missions to the various Member States which held elections in 2023. In this regard, a resolution was adopted calling upon Member Parliaments to revive their interests in Election Observation Missions since they are fundamental to democracy, peace, and security in Southern Africa. The region is denying Members of Parliament an opportunity to observe elections in peer countries thus eroding the basic tenets of democracy and inter-parliamentary solidarity.
7.5 The Plenary Assembly Plenary Assembly positively noted that a new cooperation Agreement of SEK 52,000,000 (5 million USD) between SIDA and the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) to strengthen the capacity of parliaments on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and HIV/AIDS-related services in the SADC region became operational on 1st November 2023. Parliament of Zimbabwe will thus make the first step into project incorporation by signing the Project Implementation Agreement with the Forum.
7.6 Plenary Assembly, having noted that the Secretary General had performed her duties with utmost diligence, commitment, hard work and dedication during the tenure of her current contract and consequently, adopted to renew her contract for a second five-year term. The Parliament of Zimbabwe to congratulate the Secretary General once a formal communication has been made in that regard.
7.7 The Plenary Assembly approved the Blueprint for the organisation’s Strategic Plan 2024-2028, which encapsulates the Forum’s policy with respect to its Vision and Mission Statement upon which other operational parts of the Strategy will be anchored by the Secretariat.
7.8 As indicated in 6.4, the full dossier of the Plenary Assembly resolutions will be availed by the SADC Parliamentary Forum in due course for consideration by Portfolio and Thematic Committees of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, including consultative processes with Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
8.0 CONCLUSION
8.1 The Plenary Assembly concluded by acknowledging the progress made by the Republic of Mauritius whereby governance on the climate-induced exigencies matter has shifted from ‘managing disasters’ to ‘managing disaster risks’ which includes proactive measures such as the setting up of Early Warning Systems, training of personnel in fire safety, first aid, water rescue activities and other emergency skills, as well as simulation exercises for oil spills and tsunamis. In this regard, Member States were encouraged to share best practices, technology, contemporaneous weather data and lessons to promote disaster preparedness and risk reduction.
8.2 The Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Adv. Mudenda called for the creation of a standby “Disaster and Risk Reduction Brigade” to deal with this calamitous situation. There is a need for the SADC PF to compile deliberations of the Symposium in booklet form.
8.3 Parliament of Zimbabwe continues to play a highly effective leading role in the Transformation Agenda as the holder of the Chairpersonship of the Strategic Lobby Team of Hon. Speakers on the Transformation of the Forum into a SADC Regional Parliament. There is a need to continue lobbying Heads of State and Governments on the Transformation Agenda and in particular the Amendment of the Treaty to officially recognise the SADC Parliament as an organ of SADC.
8.4 Parliament of Zimbabwe commits itself to the full implementation of the resolutions of the Plenary Assembly which shall be shared among all Members of Parliament to facilitate action by different Portfolio and Thematic Committees.
8.5 Finally and notably, the Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, presented well-rehearsed infographic treatises on the brief speech during the Symposium and the responses to the resolutions of the 53rd Plenary Assembly.
8.6 The 55th Plenary Assembly of the SADC PF will be hosted by the Republic of Angola, who have pledged to choreograph a memorable hosting having just successfully hosted the 147th Plenary Assembly Meeting of the IPU.
HON. TSITSI. ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
PARLIAMENTARY MEETING AT THE 28TH SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF PARTIES (COP28) HELD IN DUBAI,
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
HON. MAMOMBE: Mr. Speaker, I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes of the Report of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Parliamentary meeting at the 28th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) held on 6th December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
HON. ZIKI: I second.
HON. MAMOMBE: 1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of Parliament attended the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Parliamentary Meeting on the occasion of Twenty Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) held on 6th December 2023 as a guest of honour at the invitation of his counterpart, His Excellency Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council. He was accompanied by the following Members of Parliament who were also part of the National delegation to COP28:
- Priscah Mupfumira, Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Thematic Committee on Climate Change,
- Joanah Mamombe, Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate, Wildlife, Tourism and Hospitality Industry; and
- Richard Ziki, Member of Parliament.
1.2 The Parliamentary Meeting at COP28, jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Federal National Council (FNC) brought together over 500 Parliamentarians, including Speakers from 60 countries.
1.3 The IPU has brought together Members of Parliament at the UN climate meetings since the Copenhagen COP in 2009 with the aim of encouraging global coordination, the exchange of experiences and best practices as well as providing an overall parliamentary perspective to the Climate Change Conference. This particular gathering was significant and historic in that it was for the first time the IPU Parliamentary Assembly was held within the Green Zone, on the actual site of the COP28 Conference during the heart of the negotiations process. This is a milestone as it resonates with the IPU’s clarion call for Parliaments to be mainstreamed into UN climate processes, underlining their critical role in tackling climate change through effective legislation, green budgeting and oversight of governmental commitments towards mitigation and adaptation to climate change impacts.
1.4 It is important that the Parliamentary Meeting was held within the context of the first Global Stocktake of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an inventory of progress or lack thereof towards reducing global temperatures by cutting down of greenhouse gas emissions. The Global Stocktake results are presented to the COP at the end of every five years. This undergirds the adopted IPU mantra: PARLIAMENTS FOR THE PLANET.
1.5 In line with one of the overall COP28 objectives of being as inclusive as possible, the IPU and the Federal National Council (FNC) (National Assembly) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also organised a session on the role of women and young Parliamentarians in climate governance. The event which brought together Parliamentarians and civil societies representing the youth, women and marginalised groups underlined the centrality of multiple voices in climate change decisions.
2.0 OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE IPU PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE
2.1 In his welcome address, His Excellency, Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the FNC welcomed participants to the United Arab Emirates, the home of coexistence, tolerance and peace. He underscored the UAE’s commitment to protecting the planet and ensuring sustainability through enacting appropriate legislation that promotes the use of clean and renewable energy in our socio-economic development. The Speaker of the FNC further opined that the progress of humanity should not come at the expense of the vagaries of nature, but rather through a determined maintenance of a clean environment inherited from our ancestors. Additionally, he applauded the tangible outcomes of COP28, including the operationalisation of the Global Fund on Loss and Damage.
2.2 During the same Conference, Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the IPU, called for urgent and robust Parliamentary action on climate change and environmental action. He referred to recent climate induced disasters being experienced globally which compel Parliaments and governments to act now. In this context, the Secretary General commended the UAE for its efforts in implementing the Paris Agreement. He highlighted the work of the IPU in climate change, in particular, the campaign entitled Parliaments for the Green Planet which encourages Parliamentarians and staff to lead by example in reducing carbon footprints by taking concrete measures in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the campaign for a clean environment is designed to urge Parliaments to effectively carry out their oversight role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement nationally and globally through their affirmative legislative agenda on climate change challenges. As part of the IPU’s efforts on climate change, the Secretary General extolled Hon. Samuelu Penitala Teo, Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu who won the 2023 Cremer Passy Prize for his outstanding programmes on climate action in his country.
2.3 Equally, in his special address to the IPU Conference, His Excellency, Ambassador Majid Suwaidi, Director General and Special Representative of COP28, welcomed the inclusion of Parliamentarians during the COP meetings as this fostered inclusive representation on issues of climate change. He opined that climate change requires collective cooperation in order to translate the various agreements into national outcomes. In the same vein, he alluded to the results of the first Global Stocktake which sadly fell short in reaching the target of reducing the global greenhouse emissions to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal. Accordingly, he called on Parliaments’ cooperation to accelerate the implementation of Paris Agreement and other recommendations emanating from COP meetings by aligning national legislation to international protocols and agreements that underscore the need to ameliorate climate change impact on humanity.
2.4 Next to the address was Ms. Christine Adam, Director for Legal Affairs Division of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) who pointed out that climate change was the biggest existential threat to humanity. Accordingly, she called for immediate bold and decisive action on the climate change phenomenon as she made reference to the obligations of the existing International Agreements on Climate change including the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. Within the context of the first Global Stocktake, Ms Adam called on Parliaments to take the opportunity to accelerate efforts to implement the Paris Agreement through their legislative, oversight and budgetary roles. Furthermore, she encouraged countries to increase their Nationally Determined Contributions to meet the global climate change mitigatory targets.
3.0 HIGH LEVEL SEGMENT
3.1 In the high-level segment, Speakers of Parliament shared lessons learnt on the Global Stocktake their national efforts towards the implementation of Paris Agreement.
3.2 Accordingly, Speaker Mudenda shared Zimbabwe’s perspective and experiences in his summary address as follows:
“On behalf of the Zimbabwean delegation and my own behalf, please accept our profound gratitude for the invitation to attend this crucial assembly taking place at this opportune time which coincides with the inaugural Global Stock take (GST) of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement’s imperative to collectively assess the limitation of the rise of global temperature to 1.5 degrees celsius, building resilience and aligning financial flows with low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient ecosystem. This Global Stock take is anchored on Mitigation Action, Adaptation and Means of Implementation at country levels guided by their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Accordingly, the Zimbabwean Parliament has embraced the implementation of the Zimbabwe Nationally Determined Contributions in collaboration with the Executive through the oversight role of its Environment Portfolio Committee and its Thematic Committee on Climate Change housed in the Senate which continually ensure that there is compliance in the reporting, monitoring and reviewing of the Paris Agreement obligations. Thus, in 2015, Zimbabwe committed itself to reducing its energy sector greenhouse gas emissions by 33% per capita by 2030. In 2021 Zimbabwe revised upwards its NDCs ambition to 40% per capita by 2030.
Zimbabwe ratified and domesticated climate change and ozone layer depleting international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer and its Montreal Protocol as well as the Kigali Amendment on substances that deplete the ozone layer in an effort to demonstrate Zimbabwe’s commitment to containing climate change catastrophic impacts.
Furthermore, Parliament working collaboratively with the Executive, is implementing critical environmentally related policies such as the country`s Vision 2030, National Climate Policy, National Climate Change Response Strategy, National Climate Change Learning Strategy, the Climate Change Communication Strategy, the Renewable Energy Policy and the Bio Fuels Policy. The implementation of these policies has canvassed a stout national Budget for effective execution. Soon, Parliament will enact a robust Climate Change Act in order to legally synchronise all the climate change policies in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe acknowledges the excellent hospitality tendered by the Speaker of the Federal National Council as we wish COP28 UAE positive outcomes. Climate change should not conquer humanity. Humanity must conquer climate change decisively”
3.3 Thereafter, participants shared experiences and best practices on the following topics:
- Bridging the Gap: Advancing climate action and adaptation for vulnerable communities;
- Climate action spotlight Leadership of Women Parliamentarians and Young Parliamentarians;
- Beyond Mitigation and Adaptation: Operationalising loss and damage; and
- Parliamentary oversight of the Paris Agreement implementation post COP28.
3.4 At the conclusion of the rich and vibrant deliberations, Parliamentarians reaffirmed and adopted by consensus, the Outcome Document which was a result of an inclusive, democratic and consultative process initiated in October 2023. The Outcome Document calls for immediate and bold action to address climate change. It recognises the need for collective international cooperation to achieve positive results on climate change. Additionally, the Outcome Document speaks to critical role of Parliaments in achieving climate change targets. The full text of the Outcome Document is as given below:
We, parliamentarians, gathered at the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
Recalling the principles and objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, and the outcomes of previous United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COPs), which underlined the urgent need for action and international cooperation to address the challenges of climate change,
Recognising that the global community, despite the collective progress it has made, is not on track to meet the long-term goal set out in the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to less than 2°C by 2100, and that urgent action and support are needed to address the adverse impacts of climate change,
Guided by the Nusa Dua Declaration on Getting to zero: Mobilising Parliaments to act on climate change, adopted at the 144th IPU Assembly in 2022, and other relevant IPU resolutions, including Addressing climate change (141st IPU Assembly, Belgrade, 2019),
Acknowledging the significance of COP28 as the summit hosting the first global stocktake to assess collective progress towards achieving the purpose and long-term goals of the Paris Agreement, including on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience to climate impacts, and securing finance and support to address the climate crisis, as well as the opportunity that COP28 presents to inform countries about potential areas for enhancing their action and support and to enhance international cooperation on climate action,
Recognising that, to address climate change, countries will need to focus on transforming to low carbon economies and on investment in renewable energy, as well as on setting targets for reaching net zero emissions by 2050, which will require spending up to $300 billion a year by 2030 and $500 billion a year by 2050, estimates which are five to ten times greater than current funding levels,
Reaffirming the outcome document of the Parliamentary Meeting at the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP27) held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022 and emphasizing the need to build on the recommendations therein to shape the role of parliamentarians with regard to climate-related issues;
Recognising the multiplier effects of climate change and other social and economic challenges, such as poverty, inequality, displacement and insecurity, and understanding that climate policy legislation and action are directly connected to a wide range of environmental concerns, including biodiversity loss and pollution;
Highlighting that climate change impacts individuals and communities differently, with women, youth, indigenous groups and communities in vulnerable situations often bearing the brunt of its consequences, and calling for coordinated efforts to ensure that actions to address these challenges reflect a comprehensive and equitable approach to climate action, including through the promotion of just transitions,
Emphasising the importance of parliamentary engagement in addressing climate change, and of exploring innovative legislative and policy approaches to strengthen the alignment of national policies with international climate goals,
- Call on Parliaments – through their legislative and oversight roles – to encourage their governments to implement the outcomes of the first global stocktake by updating and enhancing countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), reflecting their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and the associated measures to achieve them, and to support the effective implementation of: mitigation and emission reduction strategies, adaptation measures through the promotion of green economy initiatives, clean technology practices and sustainable practices;
- Also call on Parliaments to encourage their governments to combat climate change through international cooperation, with a focus on technology transfer, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing among nations, particularly between developed and developing countries;
- Emphasise the significance of parliamentary oversight and budgeting in ensuring the alignment of national climate policies with international commitments, while taking into consideration the respective capabilities of each country;
- Urge Parliaments to play an active role in promoting innovative financing mechanisms for climate projects, including the integration of green budgeting practices and the promotion of sustainable investment and resource allocation;
- Call for inclusive and equitable climate strategies that recognise the needs of different populations, including by advocating for leadership roles for women and youth in climate action;
- Also call for a parliamentary role in ensuring support for developing countries in their adaptation and mitigation efforts, as well as in addressing loss and damage associated with climate change impacts and ensuring these efforts consider the specific vulnerabilities of women, youth and communities in vulnerable situations;
- Encourage Parliaments to address the climate finance gap by advocating for the allocation of sufficient funds, urging developed nations to fulfil their financial commitments and supporting the reform of global financial institutions to enhance the accessibility of climate finance especially for developing countries;
- Call for stronger international cooperation on climate funding, including by ensuring parliaments in developing countries are well positioned to accept funding received from developed countries and are able to effectively invest and monitor budgeting and spending accordingly;
- Highlight the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration within national governments and between Parliaments and other governmental bodies to ensure a holistic approach to climate action, integrating environmental, social and economic considerations;
- Underline the crucial role of public participation and consultation in climate action and of supporting education and awareness activities to inform the public about the impacts of climate change, the importance of sustainable lifestyles and the role that individuals can play in driving positive change, while highlighting the important role of women, youth and civil society organisations in mitigating the impact of climate change;
- Encourage Parliaments to promote international cooperation for protective legislation connecting climate, biodiversity loss and pollution, including the recognition of ecocide as an environmental crime;
- Also encourage Parliaments to establish mechanisms for continuous, forward-looking and evidence-informed monitoring and reporting on the progress of climate-related legislation and policies, ensuring transparency and accountability in the implementation of climate commitments;
- Underscore the important role of the IPU in strengthening relations between Members of Parliament through sharing best practices in climate legislation and policy implementation, in the framework of its various related conferences and meetings;
- Call for the active engagement of IPU committees in fostering informed debates and discussions that will provide diverse perspectives when sharing experiences, legislation and policies related to climate change;
- Promote practical action and global parliamentary partnerships for climate resilience through the promotion of green economy initiatives, including collaboration with the private sector;
- Highlight the importance of implementing IPU climate change tools such as the 10 actions for greener parliaments;
- Encourage Parliaments to lead by example in the reduction of their carbon footprints, by urging parliamentarians to implement sustainable practices in their operations, facilities and supply chains, in line with the IPU Parliaments for the Planet campaign;
- Support the collaboration between the IPU, the Secretariat of the UNFCCC and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as specified in the respective Memorandums of Understanding, to enhance the capacities of national parliaments to address climate change, to sustain partnership and cooperation frameworks, and to ensure the presence of parliamentarians in high-level forums on climate change;
- Encourage the IPU to explore opportunities to enhance the role of Parliaments in climate governance, strengthen international cooperation and contribute to a more comprehensive and effective global response to the climate crisis through various mechanisms, which should guarantee parliamentarians access to the Blue Zone in future COPs and the organisation of conferences, summits or other collaborative initiatives in conjunction with future parliamentary meetings on COP;
- Commit to review the recommendations of the parliamentary meeting on COP28 during the next parliamentary meeting at COP29 in 2024. The delegations participating in the Parliamentary Meeting on the occasion of COP28 would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the United Arab Emirates and the Federal National Council for hosting this global parliamentary meeting, which comes at a time when we all realise how important it is to mobilise global efforts at all levels to confront the phenomenon of climate change and its negative repercussions
4.0 CLOSING REMARKS
4.1 In his closing remarks, Mr. Martin Chungong, the IPU Secretary General, applauded Parliamentarians for adopting an action-oriented Outcome Document which will serve as a binding roadmap on Parliamentary action on climate change. Accordingly, he called on Parliaments to implement recommendations in the Outcome Document. In the same vein, the Secretary General reiterated the IPU’s commitment to providing tools of the trade and platforms to exchange experiences and best practices in the spirit of Parliamentary partnerships. In hailing the operationalisation of the Global Fund, Mr. Chungong called for the accelerated implementation and oversight of the Paris Agreement through robust Parliamentary interventions which should include appropriate legislation on climate change.
5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Recognising that climate change is a cross-cutting issue, the delegation encourages sustained collaborative engagement between Parliament and relevant ministries in order to effectively implement the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the relevant Parliamentary Committees should take a heightened role in climate change issues in order to improve oversight on climate change.
5.2 Reinforce effective participation of Parliament delegation in COP meetings by establishing effective coordination and communication between the Ministry of Environment and Parliament. It is further recommended that a lead time of at least two months be provided for this seamless collaboration.
5.3 Parliament, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment, should convene a three (3) day Capacity Building Workshop for all Members of Parliament. Tentatively, the Workshop should be held in February 2024.
5.4 The Parliamentary delegation to COP should always be accompanied by relevant staff who will assist with COP briefings, on the ground logistics and the production of the COP report by the Delegation.
5.5 Parliament should utilise IPU resources such as 10 Actions for Greener Parliaments and the Parliament for the Planet campaign to promote sustainable practices within Parliament and to advocate for similar practices within Government institutions.
5.6 Advocate for robust Climate Change Act which sets out clear emission reduction targets, establish legal framework for adaptation measures and define enforcement mechanisms.
6.0 CONCLUSION
6.1 The delegation extends its profound gratitude to the Government of Zimbabwe and to Parliament for affording it the opportunity to represent Zimbabwe at such high-profile IPU Parliamentary Meeting at COP28. I thank you.
HON. KARIKOGA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
On the motion of HON. KARIKOGA seconded by HON. N. NDLOVU, the House adjourned at Twenty-One, Minutes past Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 14th February, 2024
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: Thank you very much Mr. President for allowing me to stand up and support the ZEC Report which was presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Ziyambi. First and foremost…
An Hon. Member having passed between the Chair and the Hon. Member speaking.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, you may not cross the line between me and the Hon. Sen who is presenting. Proceed Hon. Senator.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: First and foremost, personally, I regard the election as free and fair. ZEC made sure voter education was done without leaving any household unattended and for some of the households who were not present during voter education, officers would make sure they revisited the households to make sure everyone was well attended to, got education and understood. No reports of violence were made and everyone had the freedom of campaigning as long as rallies were properly booked. No party was denied to gather and air their views without fear or favour. Perpetrators of violence were dealt with accordingly despite which party they were from.
ZEC presiding officers made sure that everyone who voted was in the voters’ roll and had a valid national I. D. card or passport regarded as Zimbabwean. Under normal circumstances, voting commenced unanimously nationwide. During voting, the elderly, handicapped, breastfeeding mothers and in fact all those with different disabilities were highly prioritised and the system was fast and easy to understand.
ZEC made sure that agents from all parties were present in every polling station to ensure the absence of rigging. Some agents were inside the polling stations and others were outside to make sure that no campaigning was done at polling stations. The Zimbabwe Republic Police was geared up and vigilantly on the watch for any barbaric behaviours. The Commission made sure that all proceedings were aired on the national radio to safeguard security and transparency. In other words, the polling stations were conducive for voting.
Local and foreign observers also took part in the 2023 harmonised elections. The observers were allowed access to polling stations, they were also allowed to pose random questions to party agents and polling officers. The voting process was conducted by qualified teams of civil servants equipped with the requisite knowledge after being trained by ZEC officials.
ZEC made sure that V11 forms were posted outside every polling station. These forms are displayed to inform the actual outcomes of the poll results at every polling station. Also among observers, there was the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) body. They produced a report after elections reflecting that the elections were conducted freely and fairly. This body consists of various members from different countries. This shows that transparency was inevitable and elections were free, hence the landslide victory for His Excellency the President, E.D. Mnangagwa. We congratulate you President E.D. Mnangagwa for a vibrant and sound victory.
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you very much President of the Senate. I will take this opportunity to add my views as a concerned Zimbabwean about the report that was done by Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. I will start by addressing the white elephant in the room where we all know that the elections were rigged. SADC and the African Union (AU) were witnesses in these shambled elections.
Mr. President, I stand here with a heart full of disappointment after witnessing other Hon. Senators praising the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for their irresponsibility. Yesterday we needed to ask honest fundamental questions on what accountability and responsibility is.
We all recall the pre-election problems which we encountered and ZEC refused to put necessary political and constitutional electoral reforms in place. Errors and manipulation were the order of the day. These stemmed from the crazy nomination fee challenges, sponsoring of fake double candidates and the unfair disqualification of members.
Everyone is aware of the harassments that we were subjected to before, during and after elections. We cannot sit here like we did yesterday and lie to each other saying ZEC did a good job. We all witnessed the shameful events that occurred on the days of voting despite ZEC having been given five years to prepare. ZEC failed to deliver voting ballots and materials on time.
Mr. President, can anyone tell me what Government position Forever Associate Zimbabwe (FAZ) holds? We saw the involvement of FAZ throughout the country in their attempt to discourage and slow down the voting process. They used propaganda papers on voting days by setting up illegal tables to intimidate the people of Zimbabwe.
We all noticed and witnessed the balanced and fair observer reports from our SADC and AU brothers and sisters who condemned the outcome of the electoral process by declaring it as a non-event. They proceeded to declare themselves winners and formed an illegitimate and disputed Government. So do not come here and waste our time and tell us …
HON. SEN. NCUBE: On a point of order Mr. President Sir!
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order, Hon. Sen. Moyo, please sit down. I warned Hon. Sen. Chabuka yesterday about using unparliamentary language. You will withdraw what you said just now. Are you saying that I am wasting my time sitting here?
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: I withdraw Mr. President of Senate.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am not warning you again.
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Yes, protect me from the Hon. Senators.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order. Speak, I gave you the permission to speak.
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President Sir. ZEC was useless and did not uphold their mission to serve as an independent body. They allowed… - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order! – [HON. SEN. S. MOYO: I said ZEC!] – Order! Sit down, order. We will listen to the Hon. Senator in silence. He has got the floor, let us listen to him.
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President for protecting me. They allowed voter intimidation, suppression, manipulation and allowed command voting where traditional leaders were forced to influence their respective villagers. Even a blind man is aware that the people of Bulawayo and Harare were not afforded their right to vote. Ballot papers were either not delivered timeously or not delivered at all, which led to midnight printing of ballot papers and voting. There were also errors in the printing of the Presidential ballot paper lay-out to trick voters and voter displacement, resulting in names being mixed up in different polling stations. The absence of the voters’ roll and the use of untested ink at polling stations, is another grievance cited by contesting parties and stakeholders. I stand here to defend my people’s commitment, what they did on the 23rd of August made history. Your fellow brothers, sisters and children made a huge sacrifice, they voted for change. The people of Zimbabwe won, they braved the harsh weather conditions, travelled from outside and used their resources in the spirit of Ubuntu to be the change they wanted to see. I promise you all that their efforts were not in vain. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MBOHWA: Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to add my voice to the report that was tabled by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that relates to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for the report that he tabled. The report was full of challenges that ZEC is facing, which requires the Government’s intervention. ZEC is just like any other company or organisation who are facing challenges in getting tools of the trade to enable them to carry out their work properly which was caused by the illegal imposition of sanctions. I would also like to say that because of the challenges that we have, we now say that ZEC did not perform 100%, yet it had its challenges and limitations which were caused by inadequacies of funds.
Mr. President, I would like, at this moment, to thank ZEC as a Commission for being able to carry out an election of high standards despite challenges. ZEC delivered an election where no one contested the outcome. It is important to note that after an election, no one will litigate against you because they would have lost. There was peace and tranquility in the country after the elections, people accepted the outcome. It is unheard of, that once there is a contest, the one who loses will always say grapes are sour. Even in football, that is found, it hurts a lot of people that after the election, there was peace and tranquility like people were at a church conference. People wanted war to erupt and the burning of villages, but this did not happen. This is indicative of an election that was well done, everything was as cool as ice.
ZEC started with the delimitation process; I was among those who were very vocal in our communal areas when certain wards were beyond the mountains and became part of another constituency. I was then asked a question when ZEC was doing the delimitation process, it was conducted in the presence of chiefs and there were village heads and also Senators were representing the Government. So why did you not solve your problems there and then? When the delimitation exercise took place, the majority did not take a keen interest, we were bystanders. No one contested until the report was tabled in this august House. We were supposed to have nipped the problem in the bud, this is the problem of the people’s representatives and we can never fault ZEC on that one.
Going forward, I will come to the issue of the preparations for the elections. It started with people who were issuing out the certificates and the registration exercise for voters and those who wanted to transfer from one constituency to the next. We were also given a chance to correct any anomalies, no place was left behind in doing its preparations and ZEC did very well.
Furthermore, we are grateful that they sent people who conducted voter education. I would like to thank the civil servants who went door to door urging people to register to vote so that they could exercise their right to vote. ZEC made proper preparations.
I will now deal with the issue of nomination courts. There was sufficient time, but others did not have money because 1000 USD was required. It was difficult to come up with such a huge amount of money. Once you want to become a people’s representative, you should also use your resources that you are capable of representing them. If you want to be a president, you should also prove that by using your resources.
I support ZEC 100% for the fees that they set for the nomination of a candidate. ZEC extended the time because people were having problems. People spent the whole night trying to register, with those who had no money trying to raise the money. No one was turned away, but those that came after the deadline; Zimbabwean law then said they were able to stand and that they should be allowed to contest, that is how good the courts are.
I would want to go back to the issue of the delimitation exercise. That exercise was a huge challenge and ZEC did very well. If you go to the rural areas and they have farms, the distance that would have been covered would have been equal to three towns. If you were to equate them, the people are a scattered population and as a result, they would cover a lot of distance, which is why ZEC ended up coming up with areas where they would join peripheries in rural areas, hence the reason why there was plus or minus 25%. Just like in Budiriro, 36 000 will be gathered within a very short distance.
The Constituency Development Funds that the rural Member of Parliament gets is equivalent to the one that is in the urban area. I applaud ZEC for doing their best in trying to ensure that the issue of the numbers between rural and urban constituencies was attended to and that was not within the 20% plus and 25% minus.
I would like to commend ZEC for the manner in which they ran the elections. When a football match is being played between two opposing teams, when you go for half time, you are given tactics. One should concentrate on their team and not what the other team is doing. ZEC has got nothing to do with the teams that were contesting in a football match. Political parties were given equal chances to play. There was no party that was not given an equal opportunity as the agents representing each party were there in the polling station and no one was sent out. All parties were present in the counting of votes and all parties participated equally until the ballot boxes reached the Command Centre. I would like to commend ZEC for a job well done and they did that at a higher standard.
What I am thinking is that the Government should give ZEC sufficient funding in order to enable them to print ballot papers timeously. They must have sufficient motor vehicles and fuel in order to curtail such activities. Such challenges occurred in both rural and urban centres, but no constituency was discriminated against. ZEC attended to constituencies that failed to get voters’ roll in time and I want to commend them for that. The election was run over for two days because of these challenges. The hours for voting were extended to ensure that everyone had a chance to vote. I thank you for the time that you have given me. I feel very proud about the work that ZEC did. ZEC is one electoral board that does its work well, it was done in peace and was uncontested.
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you President of the Senate. I want to add my voice on the ZEC report that has been presented or tabled in this Senate. I want to first indicate that we had pre-election that is done before the actual voting, which is preparation for the voting process. Mr. President Sir, I recognise that in our pre-election process, there are some issues that we are saying were not done properly. Firstly, people were not given their right to say their views. I am witness to that because I was denied an opportunity to exercise my right.
Secondly, Mr. President Sir, ZEC came with the delimitation process, or rather introduced the delimitation process. I will give an example of my constituency where I come from. My constituency is made up of three constituencies, which are Gwanda South and what we used to call Matopo South and cross the boundary to what is called Likweporo in Kalanga. My councillor also visited Matopo Rural District Council, they have one Member of Parliament who represents them. As Members from that constituency, we feel it was not right, how can you combine three constituencies to form one constituency?
We feel it is not a proper process as I speak on behalf of the voters. Before the voting day, the voters’ roll was not delivered in time. You also realise that in our constituencies where we come from, the voters’ roll was sent to us through our mobile phones, but most of the councillors failed to open the document. We also found deceased members also appearing in the voters’ roll whilst those who are still alive failed to find their names in the voters’ roll.
Some people were moved to other wards and it was very far from where they were previously allocated to be their place of voting. Members from our constituency were not allowed to open any restaurants. ZBC was supposed to cover everyone from the opposition party, we were not covered, which is an indicator that the election was not free and fair. The fourth thing is that even the nomination fee was very high. People are saying when you want to contest as a Member of Parliament, you are supposed to be rich. It is not good; we cannot say all our Members of Parliament are supposed to be rich so that they will be able to afford the nomination fee. I propose that they must revise the figure.
Now talking about the voting day, I am disheartened, some people have said that ballot papers were delivered very late, for example in Bulawayo, the councillors had already left when the ballot papers were delivered. Another problem is that in the ballot papers, there was a mistake on the names of the party. It is not the first time for Zimbabwe to hold elections, hence there is no need to have such mistakes which are so glaring.
In the rural areas, there were too many assisted voters even for someone who is not visually impaired, they were given someone to assist them with their voting. When we say your vote is your secret and when you are then being assisted, that removes the part of the secrecy. Europe and SADC observers are saying that the voting was not fair. In some days, voting was extended into late hours of the night. Another thing that was a problem Mr. President, FAZ was a very troublesome organisation during the voting process. FAZ was stationed outside the voting places with a logo for our ruling party and they were instructing all the voters to say after voting, you should pass through their sheds.
Now, I will talk about the post-election period Mr. President Sir. Most of our polling agents were being called to come and sign again which we think is intimidation and it is not a fair practice. Also, there was much harassment. After the post-election period, some people were taken, for example Wumbirai Hombe who was taken and injected some chemicals. We therefore say that ZEC failed to carry out the election process, hence the need to have an independent body. For example, you realise that most of the ZEC Commissioners are daughters or sons of certain politicians.
I therefore, urge that as an august House, we should have a relook and check on the reasons why we are failing to have free and fair elections. ZEC should improve on the way they conduct elections. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa. Unfortunately, I did not hear what you were saying and it is not your fault. The fault is with the administration of Parliament. So I am directing that this problem of interpretation be fixed today because I am sure I am not the only one who did not hear what you were saying. Similarly, there could be some people who do not understand Shona. So we need translation into all languages which are being used in this Chamber – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] -What did you say? You have got to be mature. This is the Senate. It is not a place for jokes and heckling. When the Presiding Officer is talking, you must listen carefully.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to add a few words as regards the report that was tabled by the Minster of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on ZEC.
I would like to thank ZEC for a job well done. Furthermore, I would like this august House to know that ZEC Commissioners are elected by Parliament and not by a political party. I would also want to put it on record that according to the delimitation exercise in this country, we have 210 constituencies. If you want the number of constituencies to be increased again, it is Parliament that gives ZEC the nod to increase the constituencies.
ZEC did its delimitation to the best of its ability because we are reproducing and we are giving birth to children in this country. I have my children. My children will produce their own children. ZEC was not allowed the leeway to do as they please. It did its delimitation well. That there were problems here and there is not any of ZEC’s problem. In Harare, the delimitation exercise is still the same. There are many of us in Harare that we ended up having an additional constituency. We used to have 29 constituencies, but we now have 30. So there is no way that you can fault ZEC, all those workers are experts.
I will not belabour or point on issues that have already been put on record. On the day of voting, I observed people voting. This is the only election that has ever been very peaceful. We know that at times we used to fight as political parties, but in our political party, we were told to turn the other cheek if one assaults you. Our leader was on record as saying he would not want any violence at all because after elections, as brothers and sisters, we need to still relate to each other.
We are in this august House. When we leave this august House, we talk to each other and even here we give each other water. An election is just a process to choose a candidate whom the Zimbabwean people like and the Zimbabwean people expressed their vote. It chose His Excellency President Cde Mnangagwa as the President. He came here, we also came for the State of the Nation Address and we all follow what he would have said. We may have challenges here and there, but Hon. President of Senate, the elections were very peaceful. I had never seen that.
I am a person who would want to flex my muscles and that if anyone were to provoke me, I would hit them, but I was told if I were to do that, I would be incarcerated. Let us thank other people’s children when they have done a magnificent job. We should not oppose just for the sake of it. We must appreciate the good work that has been done and accept that this is the election result that came out and after five years we listen, we go back to choose another leader.
The elections are done once every five years. As political parties, let us go and market our political party to the people. What hurts us most is that people are just going to one by-election after another, wasting the tax payers’ money which is supposed to have been put to other good use. We are saying well done ZEC. Keep it up because you did a splendid job.
As I said, other issues have already been touched on. Hon. Sen. Mbohwa gave a much more detailed explanation. I will not belabour the point. Thank you, Mr. President Sir.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MUNZVERENGWI): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
PARLIAMENTARY DRESS CODE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have an announcement to make in relation to dressing. We all know Hon. Senators, that dressing in this Chamber is supposed to be formal. We have noticed for a very long time that the male Senators in this Chamber, some of them are now dressing casually in the name of safari suit. So if you are going to dress with an open top, it must be a suit, like a safari suit. I am sorry to use you as an example, Hon. Sen. Moyo, but what you are putting on right now is not formal and it is not admissible in this Chamber. So take note of that. You must dress formally. A suit or jacket and tie or a safari suit. If you want to wear a safari suit do so, but it must be a suit. Thank you.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2022
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for the year 2022.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MUNZVERENGWI): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drugs and substance abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to add my voice on this important motion which was raised by Hon. Alice Dube on drug and substance abuse. Drug and substance abuse is a problem, not only to individuals, but to the nation at large. Substance abuse affects the social and economic well-being of a country. More importantly, it affects our healthcare system. We know that because of substance abuse, crime rate goes up, teen pregnancies are prevalent, school drop-outs also increase. We have seen that young children of school going age in places like Bulawayo, have been gathering in some affluent suburb houses, conducting what are called vuzu parties. In those vuzu parties, alcohol flows freely and there is also free sex for the young boys and girls there.
Children who are 13 to 18 years old; that indicates that the family fabric has actually raptured. It has fallen apart and the important places or the important areas we have got to look at to interrogate, particularly when it comes to substance abuse are schools and homes. Those are the reservoirs, the major sources which are exploited by drug barons. At the end of the day, we also have to interrogate the main causes of drug and substance abuse. Like I have indicated, some of the causes might be social, biological, psychological and environmental.
I will talk later about strategies of dealing with drug and substance abuse, but what are the causes? Why is drug abuse so prevalent in Zimbabwe of late? I understand the people who are inclined, may be mental or because of their genetical composition. The chemistry of their brain tends to lean towards drug and substance abuse, that will be a defect within a person. There are also psychological factors like stress. We have even seen it in some cases where people abuse alcohol because they are under stress, wafirwa. Lack of parenting at home, a person who has also been abused or a young boy who has been sodomised, they also drift towards drug abuse. There should be a coping mechanism to deal with that. Those are psychological factors.
There are also environmental factors which are physical factors’ exposure. Most of us who went to boarding schools, if you go to a boarding school, particularly a boys’ boarding school, sometimes you join a certain group which exposes you to certain things. You take up drinking and you take up smoking and indeed, you take up smoking marijuana due to peer pressure, depending on where you are. Those are environmental factors. How do we tackle drug abuse? That has got to be done in a multi-faceted way because it has got different levels.
The mover of the motion made some suggestions in terms of strong policing like putting people in jail. That is an option as well as availing rehabilitation centres, education programmes and community support is also required. Most importantly, I think where we are, every school must identify, even the Ministry of Education, must appoint teachers, specifically to deal with psychological issues which are related to drug and substance abuse within schools, not only secondary schools, but even universities. That should be taken up.
The Government should also do its part. The unknown barons or peddlers of drugs are arrested today and released tomorrow, yet they are killing the young generation. Let us have strong laws to deal with those. Yesterday I saw a video clip of a white lady at O. R. Tambo Airport in South Africa. She took some drugs and took off all her clothes. I did not see much I must say, but you lose your mental faculties. Churches should also have strong programmes which lean towards prevention and education so that we can nip this cancer in the bud. It is now a cancer in the society of Zimbabwe. I thank Hon. Dube for moving this important motion. Hopefully, strong resolutions will come out and we can deal with it thoroughly once and for all.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI): Audio system has been attended to and interpretation is now possible. So, Hon. Members may now use the language of their choice. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MUNZVERENGWI): Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
MOTION
GBV AWARENESS PROGRAMME TO PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: Thank you Mr. President. In closing debate on this motion, allow me to acknowledge and appreciate all Hon. Senators who debated the motion and put their input. Their contribution to this motion is invaluable.
Let me also acknowledge the response by the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Hon. Sen. Mutsvangwa. Her unwavering support for this motion is greatly appreciated. Indeed, the debate before this august House pointed to the urgent need to have accessible and survivor-centred support services for those affected by GBV and for the Government to prioritise resources to eliminate GBV in totality. As the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus, we look forward to the implementation of some of the proposals raised by the Hon. Minister in her response, especially the establishment of safe houses in every administrative district.
Let me conclude by acknowledging the support rendered to the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus by the Parliament of Zimbabwe. The commemorations of the 16 days of Activism were brought to light by a Sensitisation Workshop of GBV which was held on 17 November, 2023 here at the Parliament Building in the Multi-Purpose Hall. The workshop aimed at equipping the Hon. Members with information to debate in Parliament and for them to also raise awareness in their constituencies.
The Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus also participated in at least four radio programmes at (i) Radio Zimbabwe (ii) Star FM (iii) National FM and (iv) Capitalk FM whereby the Hon. Members raised awareness of the negative effects of GBV. The programmes received a wide range of support and participants who attended acknowledged that the programme was insightful. This shows that as a nation, we are moving in a positive direction. Mr. President Sir, I therefore call upon this august House to adopt this motion. Thank you.
Motion that:
NOTING with appreciation that the 2023 commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign will run under the theme “Invest to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls” and will commence from 25 November to 10 December 2023;
CONCERNED that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is pervasive across economic, cultural, religion, age, sexual and ethnic orientation spaces;
NOTING that GBV manifests itself in various derivatives which mainly constitute harmful traditional practices, physical violence, psychological violence, economic violence, sexual violence and emotional abuse;
WORRIED that victims of GBV endure physically, psychologically, and socially resulting in both short and long-term effects which include mental health challenges, rampant drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies;
ACKNOWLEDGING the various positive policy initiatives instituted by the Government of Zimbabwe in curbing the perpetration and perpetuation of GBV in the society;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon Government to;
- a) Initiate the enactment of laws that deter Gender-Based Violence perpetrators and provide for stiffer penalties;
- b) Embark on GBV awareness programmes to all districts of the country; and
- c) Initiate Gender-Based Violence programmes that promote positive social and cultural change as a way of eradicating this scourge, put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 53RD PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM HELD IN MAURITIUS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 53rd Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MUNZVERENGWI): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th February, 2024.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MUNZVERENGWI), the Senate adjourned at Thirteen Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 13th February, 2024
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
PETITIONS RECEIVED FROM ACTIVISTA ZIMBABWE AND WOMEN FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that on Tuesday, 5th December 2023, Parliament received a petition from Activista Zimbabwe beseeching Parliament, among other things, to direct the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and the Attorney General, to report on the progress made in drafting the Disaster Risk and Civil Protection Bill. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works, National Housing and Social Amenities.
I also have to inform the House that on Thursday, 11th January, 2024, Parliament received a petition from the Women for Economic and Social Empowerment beseeching Parliament, among other things, to urgently consider enacting a law that comprehensively addresses the void created by the declaration of Sections 70, 76, 83 and 86 of the Criminal Law, Codification and Reform Act as unconstitutional. The petition was deemed inadmissible as the petitioners did not meet the statutory requirements and the petitioners were advised accordingly.
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: Furthermore, I have to inform the House of the changes to Committees’ membership whereby Hon. T. Nyati has been nominated to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Mines and Mining Development and Energy and Power Development.
ICT TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that there will be an Information Communication Technology (ICT) literacy training programme to be conducted by the ICT Department, from 27th February 2024 to 21st March 2024. The training will be conducted during sitting days only and in groups of 40 participants per day. Hon. Members are required to register the day they wish to attend the training with Mrs. A. Kondo on mobile telephone 0772 772 565. Staff from the ICT Department will also be stationed in Special Committee Room 1 from today 13th February 2024 for registration.
INVITATION TO JOIN THE ZIMBABWE PARLIAMENTARY SPORTS CLUB (ZPSC)
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that the Zimbabwe Parliament Sports Club (ZPSC) - “the Patriots,” is inviting all Hon. Members of Parliament who are interested in sport to join the club. The key objective of the club is to promote fitness and wellness of Members of Parliament and staff. To register, please contact Mr. A. Nyamuramba, Public Relations Officer on extension 1135 or on mobile numbers 0717 460 345/0775309 209 or Ms. C. G. Charewa, Hansard Officer, on extension 1211 or mobile numbers 0772 874 565/0714 647 395.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SERVICE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that they will be a Catholic Church Ash Wednesday Service, tomorrow 14th February, 2024 at 1215 hours in Special Committee Room No. 1. All members, including non-Catholic members are invited.
Hon. Mhuri having presented a notice of motion.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Who approved that motion?
HON. MHURI: I was given by Mr. Daniel.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I do not recall approving that motion.
HON. MHURI: I stand guided Mr. Speaker. I got information from Mr. Daniel that it had been approved.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Stand down that motion because it should have come through my office and titivates towards an administrative measure to be taken, which the Hon. Minister during budget time, indicated that he will make sure that there is only one cadastral system. You do not need a motion for that. At best, you ask a question to the Hon. Minister, how far the Minister concerned has gone in terms of harmonising the request of one cadastral system.
HON. MHURI: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I stand guided.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I rise to raise a point of national interest that since 2004 and before, we have been witnessing illegal allocation of land without following the proper allocation channels. The Government had taken a position to first identify land to allocate the illegal settlers in communal, resettlement and urban areas. We need to appreciate the population growth and Government should treat illegal settlers the same way, whether they are in urban or communal areas. Of course, with empathy to achieve the desired results. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: So, what is the matter of national interest.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: There are evictions that are going on around the country. People are being arrested and taken to courts because they are settled illegally in resettlement and communal areas.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Executive is administering the law. What is the problem?
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: It is the manner in which the process is being done.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are condemning the manner in which the eviction is taking place?
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I would like to believe that people have got a right to shelter. There is population growth since the Land Reform Programme and rural to urban migration. Whilst we appreciate this, people are being resettled illegally. They are allocating land to each other through the village heads, councillors and all.
Government had taken a position to say we need to look for land to re-allocate properly using the proper allocation channels before people are evicted.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Well, that may be a matter of national interest. I think you need to ask a question tomorrow. That will suggest what you are observing. There is no way you can stop the Executive from evicting people who have illegally settled themselves.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. GANYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker and good afternoon.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. GANYIWA: I rise on a point of interest regarding the brick moulding companies that are operating in and around towns, cities and peri-urban areas that are leaving dangerous deep pits and gullies exposing innocent children to drown in those pits. It seems these companies are not following the procedures as far as the impact assessment reports or recommendations when they get permissions to carry out their business of brick moulding hence leaving the land unhabitable when they leave. For instance, as we speak, today there are children who drowned in Rainham Park because of these pits.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Why do you not ask the relevant question tomorrow so that action is required of the Executive to act accordingly?
HON. GANYIWA: I will do so.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. C. MOYO: Thank you Hon. Speaker and good afternoon.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. C. MOYO: We have been watching AFCON tournament being beamed live on our ZBC from January 13th to 11th February 2024. I therefore want to applaud the Second Republic and ZBC in particular. - [HON. MEMBER: Hear, hear.] - We enjoyed very much. Chakanaka chakanaka, you always say Hon. Speaker - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
However, Hon. Speaker, 2026 World Cup qualifiers will resume any time this year; Premier Soccer League and CAF anytime soon. I therefore request that the Hon. Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture brings a Ministerial Statement on the status quo, maintenance or upgrading of those stadiums so that we will not watch our games from only the ZBC but also live here in Zimbabwe – in our motherland. We will not go to Rwanda as our home ground like what happened previously. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We have been looking at the Standing Orders this last weekend. This calling of Ministerial Statements is out of order. It is only the Chair who can suggest, should the Chair feel that a detailed response from the Minister is required. However, you may ask an oral question tomorrow on Wednesday. I am sure the Hon. Minister will be able to respond. If the response is inadequate in the opinion of the Chair, then a Ministerial statement can be asked from the Chair.
HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Now, it is the right time for me to speak. I stand on a matter of national interest. The Committee on Health and Child Care is concerned with the current occurrence of Cholera outbreaks. Whilst Government is doing a sterling job in fighting Cholera and whilst Cholera is a preventable disease, both rural and urban local authorities have been found wanting in providing affordable, clean pay toilets.
The Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care is encouraging the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and the Ministry of Health and Child Care to facilitate crafting of by-laws that establish affordable and clean pay toilets and more free public toilets. In addition, authorising commercialisation of toilets by private players. Our cursory observation across the country is that these pay toilets are cleaner and well maintained. This model can be adopted across the country to curtail the spread of Cholera.
May I also challenge the Hon. MPs to educate their constituents on safe hygiene practices. This will go a long way in addressing the spread of Cholera in Zimbabwe. I rest my case Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. It is a good observation, but I thought you would emphasise the work that is being done by the Executive, especially in cleaning up Harare and also a Statutory Instrument that has been issued by His Excellency to ensure that all local authorities adhere to hygienic standards in order to ensure that we forestall the spread of Cholera. I thought in addition to what you have said, you can also acknowledge that in your statement.
HON. P. ZHOU: Mr. Speaker Sir, we will add that when we discuss further in the Committee. Thank you.
HON. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my point of national interest was going to ride on what the Hon. Member said in respect to the mass evictions that are taking place. I was coming from an angle where the enforcement is not really the issue by the timing of the enforcement. It is during the rainy season and people have nowhere to go. Secondly, we are in a pandemic where there is Cholera and people are being displaced in this particular time. Lastly, we have people on farms who are being evicted when they had planted their crops and they are told to leave within seven days. [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- It is my submission that this issue is one that has to be looked into without necessarily hindering the Executive from enforcing the law. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: I do not know why you are clapping. You see, when you raise such an issue you want action. Do not presume that your statement will invoke action. What invokes action is a question put forward to the Hon. Minister responsible. Mere statements like that will be heard all over the world through our website and then what? Raise that issue tomorrow with your colleague from my right. We would want action and not mere statements. You can only solicit action by asking a direct question to the Hon. Minister and you listen carefully to the response and there will be supplementary questions thereafter to clarify issues. Then you will have some traction in your observation.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, 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.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, you were not at the retreat and we missed you. We discussed these issues of standing over and I am asking the Clerk and the Government Chief Whip to advise you on the procedures that we are going to follow from now on so that we avoid the standing of orders over some other orders. It will be neater that way. So, I hope they will favour you with the information that we agreed on.
MOTION
GBV AWARENESS PROGRAMMES TO PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the 2023 Commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Campaign.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SME (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and fellow Hon. Members here present. I feel honoured to stand before you today to respond to the GBV motion raised in this august House on 28th November 2023 by Hon. S. Ndebele and seconded by our Portfolio Chairperson, Hon. Getrude Mutandi. Mr. Speaker Sir, there was a spirited debate which was conducted by my fellow Hon. Members during the commemoration of the 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. That was very encouraging and greatly appreciated as this gives great impetus to the work we do at the Ministry. Mr. Speaker Sir, it cannot go without mentioning that Gender-Based Violence is truly pervasive across all economic factors, cultural, religious and traditional. Indeed, as a Ministry, we must acknowledge and as a nation, we must acknowledge the seriousness of this issue and work together as a whole stakeholders’ approach, a whole Government approach together with everyone to make sure that we put a stop to this. Allow me therefore, Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon. Members, to provide a detailed response to the issues which were raised in this august House.
Concerning the recommendation that the Government initiates the enactment of laws that deter Gender-Based Violence, especially the Gender-Based Violence perpetrators and provide for stiffer penalties. On that note Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises applaud the passing of mandatory sentencing for rape, which I hope will provide sufficient deterrence to would-be offenders. However, we note with concern that there are no guidelines for sentencing GBV perpetrators. Guidelines for sentencing GBV perpetrators need to be statutory so that it ensures that they are implemented.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is need for clear articulation of the definition of consent in the Criminal Law Code and ensure that the victim is involved in the sentencing process by making use of victim impact statements in considering these crimes and the sentences. This will help inform courts on the extent of harm which the victims suffered for purposes of imposing appropriate sentence.
The Act should also increase jurisdiction or special jurisdiction for regional magistrates in respect of sexual offences. Special and separate courts for sexual offences should be created to provide for the protection of victims by having in-camera court sessions and dedicated sexual offensive courts to expedite the sentencing of cases. My Ministry Mr. Speaker Sir, will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in ensuring that our laws continue to be reviewed, amended and developed to ensure that deterrent sentencing is exercised in our courts. I will also continue to engage the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs regarding specialised courts that handle sexual offences to be in places at all levels. The Ministry wishes to take this opportunity to applaud SI 2 of 2024 Presidential Powers, Temporary Measures on the protection of children and young persons which harmonises the age of 18 as the age of sexual consent in marriage.
Mr. Speaker Sir, concerning the recommendation that GBV should also be included in the educational curriculum from ECD so that our children as they grow up refrain from GBV, indeed, it is important to have GBV as part of the curriculum so that we make everyone aware of the evils of GBV. By introducing it at that lower level, we are raising awareness among our children as a tool for mindset change. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is about our mind. So, it is critical that it is introduced at that lower level among our young people that GBV is evil. It is detrimental to economic development.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is mainstreaming gender-based issues in the current curriculum. However, they would be better placed to avail those finer details on what areas they are covering and as a Ministry, we will be working with them.
With respect to the recommendation that Government create Government funded GBV systems to systematically gather disaggregated data on the prevalence of femicides based on the type of GBV and identify the relationship between the victim and the perpetrators, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry in partnership with UNFPA and UNICEF, initiated the process of developing the GBV information management system (GBVIMS). The system, when fully functional, will assist in collecting GBV data and this data will include data on femicide. The system is yet to be functional as it is facing resource constraints for its full implementation and roll-out.
Hon. Members, there is need for funding to enable procurement of hardware equipment for the system and to provide for the running cost of the system. I however, wish to acknowledge the Zimbabwe Republic Police who are currently collecting data on all the major forms of GBV and we shall engage them to include data on femicide. ZimStat also will continue supporting the operationalisation of the GBVIMS.
With regards to the recommendation that the Government put in place safe houses in every ward and constituency, the Ministry notes that it is ideal that the Government establishes safe houses in every ward, all constituencies as highlighted. We all appreciate the fact that we cannot be talking of those Gender-Based Violence to move out of an oppressive home, to move out of Gender-Based Violence without a place to go with their children. The issue of safe houses is very critical. We want our women and children, when they are abused, to be able to know that they can move out. You cannot expect them to just go to police and they go back to the perpetrators. The issue of safe houses is critical.
We have already done a lot in that area but much more needs to be done. In an effort to ensure that those services are availed to those in need, the Ministry has partnered with civil society organisations and other development partners to establish shelters. To date, 23 safe shelters have been set up in places like Muzarabani, Mbire, Murewa, Buhera, Bocha, Mutare, Mutasa, Hurungwe, Masvingo, Bikita, Gutu, Mwenezi, Mazowe, Gweru, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Tsholotsho, Hwange, Gokwe, Harare, Chivhu, Umzingwane and Bubi.
The other issue Hon. Speaker, it is therefore crucial that the Government dedicates resources to the running of these shelters and support their operations from the fiscus to ensure the continuity of services in the event that the support by partners is no longer available. We need more resources in this area. For those Service Centres which are already there. I invite Hon. Members in these particular areas to visit the centres. These are areas where we have a market so that victims of Gender-Based Violence can actually sell their wares. We are almost aware that mothers will not be able to sell their wares when they are concerned about the safety of their children. So we are also establishing a creche in that area which is nicely fenced, safe for the children. There is also a One-Stop centre.
Mr. Speaker, we realised that the Gender-Based Violence victims require the services of police, legal person and counsellor and health. We will be having a one-stop centre with all these services in all our districts. In all our districts, we will be dealing effectively in ending Gender-Based Violence. Hon. Speaker, there is another concern which was raised of the GBV council so that it can launch a taskforce to assess institutional responses to Gender-Based Violence Act. Allow me to first clarify that there is no legal framework that provides for the establishment of the GBV council, but instead there is the Domestic Violence Act which provides for the establishment of the anti-domestic violence council. The Domestic Violence Act is administered by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. My Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and SME Development will be engaging the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to map a way forward with regards to constituting and operationalisation of the council so that it carries out its statutory mandate.
Mr. Speaker Sir, with regards to the other recommendation which came out of this august House, the Government should strengthen measures to prevent GBV, to protect women and prosecute cases. The Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry, developed high level political compact on ending Gender-Based Violence and harmful practices. This compact was signed by His Excellency, the President Dr. Mnangagwa together with other stakeholders who include UN agencies, donors, independent commissions, civil society organiasations, traditional leaders and religious leaders. The compact presents commitment from the highest office towards ending Gender-Based Violence and harmful practices.
In addition, my Ministry has reviewed the National Strategy for Gender-Based Violence. This document gives strategic guidance and enhances the coordination of programmes on GBV. The Ministry is running prevention and response programmes to Gender-Based Violence. Some of the prevention programmes include awareness campaigns on GBVs and child marriage, conducting dialogue with traditional and religious leaders, promoting economic empowerment of women, girls and male engagements sessions. We are prioritising male engagement sessions. The issue about women empowerment is not just a human rights issue, it is an economic issue. We have been talking as women without involving everybody. Our Ministry is prioritising male engagement because we want to completely stop GBV and child marriages.
The establishment of One-Stop centres and safe shelters to provide protection services to Gender-Based Violence survivors. The Safe Shelters provide that temporary accommodation to survivors, especially those at risk of secondary abuse after reporting the cases.
Women’s economic empowerment is key in the prevention of GBV and child marriage. To this effect, my Ministry continues to assist women through the Women’s Development Fund as well as training in various income-generating projects to support their livelihoods. At this stage, I want to thank the Hon. Members in this House for their debate in support of the Ministry. Yes, we did not get enough allocation to deal with all the problems we have, but we are happy that the Hon. Members in this House did a lot in the pre-budget debate. It was a vibrant debate and I want to thank you sincerely for that. We got an increase on our initial budget – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
The other issue raised in the House was concerning the recommendation that the Government coordinates efforts across different sectors to end GBV and improve oversight of the police and security personnel to prevent abuse of power by providing gender-responsive training. Mr. Speaker Sir, you may be aware that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprise Development is the Government arm mandated to coordinate gender mainstreaming and women empowerment as well as other stakeholders outside of State institutions in the implementation of gender in women empowerment programmes, frameworks and action plans.
The Ministry is decentralised to ward level and we are grateful that Hon. Members, as I speak, in your ward, there is an officer of Women Affairs, Community and SME, please make use of them. They are there to coordinate our work. The objective of the coordination meetings is to make sure the programmes are well coordinated. Also, the Ministry is in the process of revitalising the National Gender Machinery which was created many years ago. We feel that this is the key mechanism in coordinating all gender related programmes in the country.
Mr. Speaker, with regards to the recommendation on the need to increase interventions that ensure that men can comfortably report cases of GBV without facing stigma; (of course, the biggest number of GBV victims are women and girls) but we must also be aware that there are men who are being victimised. To that effect, I just want you to know that as the Minister in charge of Women Affairs, I have also had an opportunity to meet men padare to understand the issues and see how we can instill confidence in them to also report and look for access to services when they are being abused.
The Victim Friendly Unit have been capacitated to support both female and male survivours of GBV. For those men out there who think we only stand for women, we stand for Gender-Based Violence victims, it could be female or male. You men and boys are engaged through the Gota programme initiated by the First Lady. This programme enforces positive masculinity and encourages them to speak out, should they fall victim to any form of abuse. When we speak of women empowerment, we are not asking the men on the table to get off the table, we are saying we want women on the table. When we speak about women empowerment issues, I said it earlier on that it is an economic issue.
These are the issues which were raised and they show the importance which was given to this motion by this august House. With regards to the august House’s concern that the Sexual Harassment Policy remains ineffective until enacted into an Act of Parliament, Hon. Members, please be informed that processes are underway towards enacting a comprehensive sexual harassment gender equality legislation. This also emanated as a recommendation from the six cycle of the CEDAW Committee which we are a member of. The recommendation was in 2020 that the country promulgates such legislative measures. The Ministry, in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, drafted principles which are being worked on for consideration. Currently, it may be noted that indeed we have all of these covered in several statutes such as the Criminal Code and others which might need to be harmonised to clearly address the gaps being highlighted.
Mr. Speaker Sir and Hon. Members, the issue of sexual harassment, whether it is at workplace or at a farm, are issues which are of concern to my Ministry and soon, we will be carrying out workshops to deal with this issue. We need to put a spotlight because this cannot go unchallenged. We will be coming back to you with those issues.
With regards to the recommendation that Government finalises the alignment of GBV related laws with the Constitution, especially child marriages laws, particularly harmonisation of the age of consent and legal age of marriage including the introduction of punitive and deterrent sentences to perpetrators of all forms of Gender-Based Violence, as you are aware, His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa through Statutory Instrument 2 of 2024 has ensured that our laws were harmonised on the issue of age of consent and the legal age of marriage in an effort to protect young women and men from those who might try to sexually exploit them. I think we are aware of that.
I am grateful for this positive step we have made as a country and I think tinofanirwa kuzvitenda izvozvo – [HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- This statutory instrument has also increased more punitive measures in an effort to deter and eradicate child marriages, GBV and sexual exploitation of minors. A number of issues were raised and the mover and seconder of this motion should be very proud that there was so much debate on it.
With regards to the recommendation that Government adopts and implements the SADC Model Law on eradicating child marriage and protecting children already in marriage as a blueprint for managing child marriages as well as the recommendation from this august House, that we broaden the scope and definition of GBV to include relationships that are not defined by the Marriages Act. Please be informed that the SADC Model Law on GBV and other regional and international instrument on gender and women empowerment has been very instrumental in shaping the development of the National Action Plan on ending child marriages and the recently revised National Strategy for Prevention and Addressing GBV. As we seek to review the National Acting Plan and the Communication Strategy on ending child marriages, our interventions would be guided by this SADC Model Law.
There was concern raised concerning the recommendation that Government reviews the labour laws so that sexual harassment is legally recognised and criminal sanctions and compensation provided for through the enactment of the Sexual Harassment Act. The Labour Act No. 11 of 2023 expands the provision of sexual harassment to include a clear definition of what constitutes Sexual Harassment, providing Gender Based Violence and harassment. This means violence and harassment directed at persons because of their sex or gender or affecting persons of a particular sex or gender disproportionately and includes sexual harassment in the context of Section 63 (3) (8), should go further to outline that Sexual Hsrassment refers to a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence of a repeated occurrence that aim at, result in or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm and includes Gender Based Violence and harassment. Through this amendment Mr. Speaker Sir, the perpetrators of sexual harassment may face civil law suits and criminal charges depending on the severity of the harassment. It is important to note that the specific legal consequences may vary depending on the nature and circumstances of the harassment.
My Ministry continues to engage key line ministries and stakeholders to ensure that sexual harassment is dealt – it does not matter where – it can be in private, public sector, or at the mines, we will work together to make sure that we deal with it.
With regards to recommendation that Treasury adequately funds the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community Small and Medium Enterprises so that it can perform its mandate effectively. I cannot say more than thank you Hon. Members. I want to thank our Portfolio Committee Chair, Hon Mutandi, Hon Ndebele, Hon Shiri and Hon Mbohwa, the Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus. We greatly appreciate you for lobbying on our behalf for an increase in my Ministry’s 2024 budget, your efforts will not go in vain. My Ministry intends to increase our drive towards increasing safe spaces, addressing and increasing GBV awareness and empowering and uplifting women and communities.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am about to get to the conclusion and this is the last concern which was raised in the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Minister, why are you apologetic?
HON. SEN. M. MUTSVANGWA: I am hoping you can be as free in terms of giving me more time.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes.
HON. SEN. M. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I know you are a champion of women empowerment – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – I had an opportunity of working with you during the SADC Model Law and your input in that SADC Model Law in avoiding child marriages was of great impact to the whole of SADC. I know when we introduced that campaign of HeForShe, you were one of the first Speakers in the region to actually sign it. So you are a champion and we are very grateful.
Mr. Speaker, as I conclude, I go to the last concern. This is concerning the recommendation that there is need to address human trafficking as a form of GBV as women and girls are being exploited and subjected to all types of GBV because of the push and pull factors which are present in the economy through internal or external trafficking. The strategy to prevent and address GBV 2023–2030 identifies human trafficking as an emerging form of GBV, which is also complex in nature and requires the Government to employ effective strategies through a multi-sectorial approach.
The department of Immigration has gone a step ahead in setting up GBV tollfree lines to assist victims of human trafficking and this can be accessed by Zimbabwean citizens who may find themselves in such a predicament. Our embassies out there have also been instrumental in supporting victims to find their way back home as seen in 2021 when at least 100 victims of trafficking were repatriated back home, and I know that this Parliament or august House worked a lot to make sure those victims were repatriated back home - empowerment – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
In conclusion, it is evident that effective and comprehensive measures are essential in addressing GBV and as a Ministry, we are committed to working in collaboration with you Hon. Members and other stakeholders to ensure the enactment of laws, provision of services and implementation of awareness programmes to combat GBV and achieve positive social and partial change is done. I thank you and so submit.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Members on my left, you are so quiet – [HON. MEMBERS: We are following and listening attentively. We are not quiet Hon. Speaker] – I am sure you understand my observation – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for a very comprehensive response. It is my wish that colleagues from the Executive will take you through the Leader of Government Business that it is incumbent upon Vice Presidents, Ministers and Deputy Ministers that they adhere to the demands of the Constitution in Section 107 (2) that they have to attend to the work of the Committees. That is an excellent example by Hon. Minister Mutsvangwa – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – that the responses to the debate which encompass debate from both sides of the House has, I think been given due respect in terms of addressing the issues that were raised.
The other observation that I make is that this response before the winding up by Hon. Ndebele has been done within the 12 days, instead of waiting for 21 days or so. I would like to commend also the mover accordingly, in ensuring that the response has been given by the Hon. Minister before she does the winding up of the motion.
On that score, there is a motion on adjourned debate in reply to the Presidential Speech. I would encourage the Government Chief Whip to please get the Ministers to respond before you wind up. It is now 25 sitting days. This is too long, otherwise we lose the freshness of the SONA. This applies also to - adjourned debate on the motion on the report on the Second Summit on Committees of the Future that needs to be wound up as well so that in future, we have a lean Order Paper and that way, we save money and time accordingly.
HON. S. NDEBELE: I am honoured to have been awarded this opportunity to speak for the second time as I wind up the motion tabled in my name on 28th November, 2023 and seconded by Hon. Mutandi. Allow me to acknowledge and appreciate the following Hon. Members for their input in this debate; Hon. Mutandi, Hon. Karimatsenga-Nyamupinga, Hon. Matsunga, Hon. Nyelele, Hon. Matangira, Hon. Tobaiwa, Hon. Ndudzo, Hon. Masuku, Hon. Mahlangu, Hon. Dr. Mutodi, Hon. Chakukura, Hon. S. Chikomo, Hon. Mudzingwa, Hon. Samambwa, Hon. Murwira, Hon. Kangausaru, Hon. T. Zhou, Hon. Mapiki, Hon. Machingura, Hon. P. Zhou, Hon. Munemo, Hon. Bajila, Hon. Maunganidze and Hon. Jaravaza. I hope that I did not omit any Hon. Member. If I did, please pardon me, it is not intentional. Your contributions are invaluable.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the theme for the 2023 commemorations was “UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls”. This is a call for the national Government to prioritise and invest resources to fight this scourge. Just as highlighted in my introductory motion and also by the supporters of the motion, the cases of GBV have been on the increase. The situation has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen the rise of GBV in the country. The overall picture and statistics on GBV are worrisome. As highlighted by some of the speakers, the main causes of GBV include, among others, gender inequality, economic dependence, harmful cultural and religious practices, and inadequate enforcement of laws protecting women’s rights. Vulnerable groups at high risk include women and girls, particularly those in rural areas and farming communities, sex workers, economically disadvantaged, marginalised groups and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGBT) community.
The debate that was before this august House pointed to the urgent need for accessible and survivor centred support services for those affected by GBV. This includes shelters, counselling services, medical care, legal aid, and helplines. Advocates stress the importance of adequate funding and resources to ensure the provision of these services. As a country, we must focus on prevention strategies which include promoting gender equality, challenging harmful cultural practices, educating communities, engaging men and boys as allies and fostering respectful relationships through comprehensive sex education.
It is important to note that the GBV debate in Zimbabwe is dynamic and various stakeholders continue to engage in discussions, advocacy and actions to address the critical issue. The aim is to create a society free from violence where women and girls can live their lives with dignity, equality and safety. Therefore, engaging men and boys in the GBV debate would go a long way in curbing the scourge. Having discussions with our male counterparts here in Parliament helps promote positive masculinity, challenge harmful gender norms and involve men as allies in addressing GBV. Let me hasten to mention that there have been some positive developments nationwide namely…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Member, when you moved the motion, you went into the details regarding that motion. When you had to wind up, you started very well acknowledging the input from Hon. Members. I believe also the detailed response by the Hon. Minister. Your task now is to move for the adoption of the motion.
HON. S. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also acknowledge the response by the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Hon. Sen. M. Mutsvangwa to this motion. We greatly appreciate that. As the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus, we look forward to the implementation of some of the proposals therein, especially the establishment of safe houses in every administrative district.
Yes, we acknowledge the costs associated with the establishing and running safe houses for GBV victims, but I believe that the Government must continue to prioritise the shelters by availing adequate resources to ensure sustainability when donor support becomes limited or is no longer available.
I therefore call upon the Government to initiate additional laws that …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Member, I thought you had summarised well. Now you are spoiling the soup. Your task now is to move for the adoption of the motion.
HON. S. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I now move that the House…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Before you do that, is there a section of your contribution where you mentioned some lesbians?
HON. S. NDEBELE: Yes.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What exactly did you say?
HON. S. NDEBELE: Vulnerable groups at high risk include women and girls, particularly those in rural areas and farming communities, sex workers, economically disadvantaged, marginalised groups and members of the lesbian gay and bi-sexual community.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Alright. That aspect can be misleading because the Constitution is very clear. You may not suggest that Gender-Based Violence has been meted out to lesbians. I think you should withdraw that aspect – only that aspect and then you may move for the adoption of the motion.
HON. S. NDEBELE: Noted Mr. Speaker. May I repeat the sentence.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You do not have to repeat the sentence. You just withdraw.
HON. S. NDEBELE: I withdraw the aspect of lesbian, gay and bisexual.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes. Thank you.
HON. S. NDEBELE: I now move that this House adopts the motion that:
NOTING with appreciation that the 2023 commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence Campaign will run under the theme “Invest to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls” and will commence from 25 November to 10 December 2023;
CONCERNED that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is pervasive across economic, cultural, religion, age, sexual and ethnic orientation spaces;
NOTING that GBV manifests itself in various derivatives which mainly constitute harmful traditional practices, physical violence, psychological violence, economic violence, sexual violence and emotional abuse;
WORRIED that victims of GBV endure physically, psychologically, and socially resulting in both short and long-term effects which include mental health challenges, rampant drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies;
ACKNOWLEDGING the various positive policy initiatives instituted by the Government of Zimbabwe in curbing the perpetration and perpetuation of GBV in the society;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon Government to;
- a) Initiate the enactment of laws that deter Gender-Based Violence perpetrators and provide for stiffer penalties;
- b) Embark on GBV awareness programmes to all districts of the country; and
- c) Initiate Gender-Based Violence programmes that promote positive social and cultural change as a way of eradicating this scourge. Motion with leave, adopted.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): I move that we revert to Order of the Day, Number 13.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR
HARMONISED ELECTIONS FOR THE YEAR 2023
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. MUGWADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker for affording me this special opportunity to open the debate on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on harmonised elections that were held on 23rd and 24th August 2023. It is imperative that I congratulate the ZEC on holding successful, peaceful, transparent, fair and above all, non-violent elections – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- on 23rd and 24th 2023. Looking back, I am sure you will agree with me and everyone in this House who is very clear about the history of this nation regarding elections that for the first time in 2023, we had very fair, peaceful and transparent elections that even those who have always been possessed with a desire to contest electoral outcomes could not do it this time because they were also satisfied. For that reason, Mr. Speaker, the 2023 general elections stand out as elections whose outcome was never contested or put to a legal test because everyone that participated was satisfied. I want to congratulate our esteemed Members from the opposite bench and their leadership for appreciating the result. No wonder why those elections were not contested.
Madam Speaker, you will agree with me that of course having not contested the outcome of elections, our democracy and freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe, requires that our colleagues have freedom to engage on bus stop argumentation about the electoral outcomes as we see on social media. The fact that elections were not contested is indeed a major testament of the capacity of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and we should commend them. May I hasten to point out that everyone in this House is a product of that election and the ZEC did a fantastic job. The report of the ZEC indicated very clearly that the funding regime of the elections and the activities and programmes of the ZEC were sorely indigenous, courtesy of our good government. For that, we must commend ourselves and be proud of being Zimbabweans because we are now capable and a mature democracy that can fund its own electoral processes.
This is unlike in other countries where elections are funded from other quarters of the world and in the process they have those fundamental national processes being arm twisted towards a pre-organised outcome. The ZEC’s report is very clear that the elections were sorely funded by the Government of Zimbabwe and I will want to applaud ZEC’s gesture because it shows the seriousness of our people and our Government to enjoy the fruits of our sovereignty and the right to self-determination as a measure.
Madam Speaker, I want to commend the ZEC for taking the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency President E. D Mnangagwa’s mantra “leaving no one and no place behind” to another level by making sure that having held elections scheduled for the 23rd August, 2023, there were some areas where because of logistical challenges elections could not take place on the 23rd and the ZEC extended the voting period to the 24th , courtesy of a proclamation by the President to allow those that had been affected to vote. At the end of the day, this enabled a product of an election that reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe and I am so happy and everyone here is happy that it happened that way.
May I now go to a very fundamental aspect regarding this election which probably is my last point. It is a question of observer missions and observers’ reports which is clearly and well explained in the ZEC report. Madam Speaker, election observation is a very important process during elections and therefore, as part of my suggestion to the report from ZEC; as a nation, it might be now the very right time to reflect on where we are coming from, especially when it comes to these observer missions. When an observer mission comes to observe an election, they are expected to be completely impartial, not biased and to be neutral by all standards. However, some observer missions’ reports and recommendations that we saw after the general election as a nation, we are called upon to be very careful because some of those observer missions had the capacity to torch and start fires in the Republic. The civil wars that we see in other parts of Africa and the Caribbean are arising out of some of these observers who come with predetermined views and well-choreographed outcomes and conclusions about our fundamental national processes such as elections. In the process, if we are not careful as a nation, we might face the challenge in future, of having serious challenges regarding our peace as a nation if we are not very clear about those coming to observe our elections. I agree with the President of the Republic, His Excellency, Cde E D Mnangagwa that indeed we allow everyone from everywhere to come and observe elections because we do not have anything to hide.
HON. BAJILA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Can I request Hon. Mugwadi to furnish the House with an example of an observer mission report that led to a civil war?
THE HON DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can you come again Hon Member.
HON. BAJILA: Hon. Mugwadi mentioned that some of the civil wars we have seen in parts of Africa result from observer mission reports. We would like him to give us an example of an observer mission report that led to a civil war so that the House gets guided.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I will not ask Hon. Mugwadi to give us that information. Hon. Mugwadi is free to debate on the ZEC report. I would also like to urge Hon. Mugwadi to please stick to the report. Do not bring other issues which are not in the report.
HON. MUGWADI: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is very unfortunate that as a Parliament, on this critical debate, I have got to turn to be a reminder or a good history teacher that I have been for a long time. Of course, Madam Speaker, you have removed the burden on me to give an example, but may you allow me to just…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mugwadi, I am in the Chair and I am the one who must tell you what to do and what not to do. Hon. Mugwadi, please may you proceed, but stick to the ZEC report.
HON. MUGWADI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I was talking about observers because the ZEC’s report is very clear that Zimbabwe takes the position that we allow everyone to come and observe our elections. That is why the statistics given from the report indicate that almost everyone who submitted their request to observe elections in Zimbabwe are allowed. That is why the number was very big compared to the past. That is a good gesture Madam Speaker. My concern with regards the report, like I indicated earlier, is that some of these observer missions come with predetermined and well-choreographed conclusions about a fundamental national process that involves serious emotions in the Republic if we are not careful in future in terms of the manner in which we accredit our observer missions.
Madam Speaker, we may have the challenge that a good example of Kenya had in 2008 when Raila Odinga was contesting with former President Mwai Kibaki. Everyone knows what happened in Kenya, that is why I was saying I do not want to go in detail into that because I am not a history teacher.
With regards to recommendations, yes, Madam Speaker, the report is very clear about recommendations that were given by various observer missions in terms of what we may need to do in order to improve further above the improvements that are there in terms of transparency.
Madam Speaker, I want to raise an important point going forward as I conclude my debate. For far too long, we have had several recommendations coming from all quotas and we have tended to accept and consider them and look at them as well as to debate about them. I am of the opinion that there is a saying in English that, ‘he is a fool, he who does not take advice from anyone but he is a thousand times foolish, he who takes advice from everyone’, and the people of Zimbabwe and our leadership are not fools. We are very clear about that. This Parliament is not a Parliament of fools. I am sure everyone agrees with me.
Therefore, when it comes to recommendations and conclusions about our elections by some of these observer missions, this Parliament as a sovereign august House, must have the power to say no, we do not like your observations. We just do not feel we like and we will not legislate about them. It is our sovereign right. The statements and aspersions that are cast out after our elections by people who pretend and behave as if they are self-appointed God’s deputies on our elections should be completely dismissed by this House because the elections that we had, given the report of the ZEC of 2023, were clear, peaceful, transparent, free and fair. That is why our colleagues are here. congratulations to everyone who is here.
HON. BAJILA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. On a point of correction, let me say – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of correction! What is that? What is that you want to correct?
HON. BAJILA: Hon. Mugwadi highlighted that ZEC….
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No! you are not supposed to do that. Take your seat. If you want to debate, you will have a chance to debate. You are not here to correct other Members. Please take your seat.
HON. BAJILA: It is a point of clarity Madam Speaker. Should I go ahead?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, I said take your seat.
HON. I. NDUDZO: Good afternoon Madam Speaker. I am indebted for the opportunity you have afforded me to share my observations on the tabled report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission concerning the 2023 Harmonised Elections. Madam Speaker, you will note that our elections which are supervised by the ZEC emanate from the exercise of two very important fundamental constitutionally guaranteed rights which are enshrined in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution, Section 67.
Firstly, these are the rights for any person above the age of 18 to participate as a voter in any election when it has been called by the authorities. Secondly and equally importantly, the right that every citizen of this country of the requisite age enjoys to stand as a candidate in those elections. In terms of Section 239 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, you will note that ZEC is mandated to bring into effect the realisation of those rights by ensuring that when we conduct our elections, they must at all times be conducted in a manner that is efficient, free, transparent and that ensures that the will of the people at the end of the day prevails.
Madam Speaker, I wish to congratulate the ZEC for the sterling working in ensuring that in 1 970 wards in this country, there was timeous delivery of election material. In every corner of this country, in every village, every compound, every suburb, high, low or medium, citizens of this country were afforded the right to speak on who should govern them through the power of the ballot.
Madam Speaker, you will note that whilst the ZEC report on page 19…
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. HAMAUSWA: Madam Speaker, whilst, according to rules, we are not supposed to debate what other Hon. Members are saying, but where there is something that is glaringly untrue, we should also be able to raise it. It is known even in the report that some, in most areas, ballot papers were not delivered on time. We cannot say it to the world that all areas received ballot papers on time. In my constituency, ballot papers came eight hours later and some were delivered at 7 p.m. So, no Hon. Member should be allowed – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Members, may we have order in the House? Hon. Hamauswa, your time will come. You will also debate.
HON. I. NDUDZO: Madam Speaker, in terms of the Electoral Act, it is common fact that our elections were conducted on the 23rd and on the 24th August 2023. We do not have in the ZEC report, anywhere where it was reported that people in any part of this country were deprived of their right to participate in the election on the 23rd and on the 24th August 2023. Madam Speaker, you will note from page 19 of the ZEC report that there was extensive voter education which was conducted which enabled those who were participating in the election as voters, to appreciate the choices that they had in coming up with their candidate of choice in the councillor ward elections, constituency Member of Parliament and ultimately, candidate for the President of the Republic.
One thing Madam Speaker that you will note which is conspicuously lacking from the ZEC report which is why sometimes we have needless quarrels in respect of our outcomes in the elections, is that there was also no similar training of candidates so that they have an appreciation of how our electoral system operates. Madam Speaker, in life, the worst and most dangerous thing is absolute ignorance, but one thing that is more dangerous than absolute is little knowledge. Madam Speaker, citizens of this country are allowed to participate in the election as candidates as enshrined in terms of Section 67 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act. You actually end up having a ludicrous situation which can needlessly batter the image of our country because someone has gotten into an election without a correct understanding of how the electoral system operates.
Madam Speaker, to illustrate my point, you will notice from the ZEC Report that in every ward we had polling stations. It was at exactly the same polling station that a voter would exercise the right to vote, number one for their councillor and number two for their Member of Parliament and number three for their Presidential candidate. In terms of the report, it is very clear that every polling station will have exactly the same presiding officers and other ancillary officers who would assist to make sure that the outcomes of all these three elections were in accordance with the provisions of the law. There is therefore, absolutely no basis for any well informed candidate who would have participated in the election as a councillor and emerge as a victor who would have participated in the election as a candidate for being a Member of Parliament and emerges as a victor, purely on the basis of the very same voters roll, same voters, same presiding officer, same polling station for that person to then accept the outcomes of one or two of the elections and reject the other – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
The quarrels and the arguments we sometimes pick which are not premised on any provision of the law are purely as a result of the lack of training of the candidates that participate in the election. It is therefore my earnest recommendation that in future elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, apart from voter education, must similarly also conduct education for those who seek to stand as candidates – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – In the same vein, training and education must also be extended to those who will come into the election as observers so that they have an understanding of the parameters within which they must operate and the applicable laws of Zimbabwe that govern how elections are conducted.
Lastly Madam Speaker, I wish to commend not just the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, but also the Zimbabwe Judiciary for the role they played in making sure that in the course of the election at all material times, there were speed and efficient dispute resolution forums whenever electoral disputes arose. We are aware that in the run-up to the elections, there were different contentions relating to the nomination process. We know some who had issues with the rejection of their paperwork during the nomination process. They successfully had the courts make determinations in their favour which allowed them to participate in the election as candidates and we want to commend that.
However, it is important for everyone who participates in the election to also understand that they exist as provided in terms of the report. For all the other elections, I think the report makes it very clear that one has to approach the Electoral Court and for the Presidential Election, one has to approach the Constitutional Court if they have any issues with the outcome of the election. There is no provision in terms of our law for anyone to approach any regional body such as SADC, United Nations or African Union.
It is therefore very clear Madam Speaker, that the election we had in Zimbabwe in 2023, on the basis of the response that came out with citizens of this country coming out to exercise their rights, is an election that by all accounts or by all standards and measures, brought an outcome which is not only incontrovertible, but by no means cannot be contested as evidenced by the absence of any complaint that arose, particularly in the context of the Presidential election. I think the people of Zimbabwe deserve a pat on the back, ZEC deserves a pat on the back. Candidates such as my colleagues on the right who accepted the outcome of the election equally deserve a pat on the back. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NGULUVHE: Good afternoon Madam Speaker. Thank you very much for allowing me just to add some few remarks. I have read the report and I am sure a lot of issues have been raised by my colleagues. I just want to state that Section 238 of our Constitution details the establishment and composition of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) whereas Section 239 spells out the functions of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which I will not list. Madam Speaker, if you again look at Section 323, it states that Commissions like ZEC are required by law to submit their reports through their Minister to this august House, therefore the ZEC report which we all read is according to the law. We should appreciate that ZEC is actually following the Constitution.
This report which was brought by ZEC to this august House is about the elections which were held in the country on 24 August, 2023. If you look at Section 401 of the Electoral Act, it provides for the accreditation of Election Observers and ZEC actually established an Observer Accreditation Committee. These elections were carried before a delimitation was carried out as per the Constitution. If you look at the ZEC report, there were some Constitutional Reforms. We would want to thank His Excellency, the President and the ruling party for spearheading the extension of the provision for party list women members of the National Assembly for two more years. I would also like to appreciate that this Parliament also witnessed the introduction of a youth quota in the National Assembly. Hopefully, it is my prayer and wish that one day we will have a war veterans’ quota in this august House. In terms of voter education, ZEC carried voter education as per the Constitution, but I want to impress on them that because there was the issue of delimitations, not everyone was reached by ZEC officials in order to know their boundaries in terms of the delimitation. We want to encourage them to do so if ever there are any delimitations.
I would also want to commend our security, especially the Zimbabwe Republic Police for providing security to the 1 274 polling stations, 1 970 wards, 210 constituencies, 68 districts, 10 provinces, the National Command Centre and escort duties. The ZRP did well on that one. Coming to the polling day, there was the issue that there were delays. In the report it indicates that elections were extended to 24th August. This election did not change the results nor the mode of how the elections were carried out. Even in America, we have polling days being extended because of certain circumstances. The Constitution is very clear as to who does the announcement and transmission of results. The transmission and announcement of results were done within the stipulated period which is allowed by law. However, I would want to take this opportunity to thank our security which thwarted some moves by some people who wanted to announce the results parallel to those announced by ZEC.
In conclusion, despite the reports which were written by other observers, I want this House to congratulate ZEC for carrying an election which we all agree that it was free and fair. I thank you.
An Hon. Member having shouted ichooo.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, how can you say icho to an Hon. Member. Let us behave honourably in this House.
HON. SHIRIYEDENGA: Let me start by thanking ZEC for tabling the report and also taking into cognisance that the report has been submitted within the stipulated six months allowable period by our electoral laws. I would like to appreciate that the report speaks to the basic tenets as highlighted in our electoral cycle which I think ZEC did speak to. In terms of my debate, I would want to focus with respect to the mandate of ZEC as espoused in Section 239 of our Constitution and also in looking at Section 156 (a) which requires that any electoral system should adhere to the basic principles which are simplicity, accuracy, verifiability, security and transparency.
In that regard, starting off with ZEC’s Chairperson, she highlighted that the elections were conducted in an environment informed by the 2018 election review changes in the legal environment. Indeed, we had a cocktail of recommendations in 2018 on electoral reforms. Actually, we had 223 of them and these reforms bordered around political, legislative and administrative reforms. However, of concern is the fact that only just a minimum, not even a third of those reforms were implemented. First and foremost, we are looking at the constitutional reforms that we adopted during this electoral period, particularly Constitutional Amendment No. 2 which mainly focused in terms of increasing representation of women, youth and also the repealing of the running mate clause. Of course, we do appreciate the increase in the number of youth and women in Parliament. However, if you get to explore the mandate of ZEC as espoused in Section 239 and Section 156 (a), you will realise that those constitutional reforms do not have an impact in terms of ensuring the freeness, fairness and credibility of the election and also the five tenets which I spoke to earlier on. Yes, we can celebrate the reforms but those reforms were inadequate.
Further, we have the Electoral Amendment Bill which was presented before this House. Unfortunately, given what our Constitution says, any amendment to the electoral law cannot be effected after the proclamation. The challenge thereof is that that the election proclamation was made whilst the Electoral Amendment Bill was been debated. Clearly, this resulted in a situation where there were no electoral amendments to our electoral law and that presented challenges.
Also, going back to those Election Observer Mission recommendations, yes, we might say that we do not care about them, but as a country, we have regional and international commitments that we are accented to. For example, we speak of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Domestic Elections, we are a signatory to that. This is why even this report, it would have been prudent for ZEC to attach the Election Observer Report as addendums to this report – [HON.MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
In terms of our interactions with ZEC, ZEC has always said that it does not have powers to effect any changes to the law, but going by Section 192 of our Constitution, we realise that ZEC has the powers to effect administrative amendments to the law. It used that example when it increased the nomination fees and also the prices for the voters’ roll. That was the administrative power which ZEC executed, but we did not see ZEC exercising that power in terms of ensuring the freeness, peacefulness and credibility of the election.
I say that for example, ZEC has the capacity to foster changes to the Electoral Code of Conduct to ensure that elections are conducted in a peaceful environment which adheres to the requirements of our Constitution, but that was not done, even the issue of consulting stakeholders on pertinent issues. It is part of the administrative power which ZEC has, but that was not done and is also not even included in the report which has been tabled before us. So really, it is my feeling that ZEC did not exercise its administrative powers as enshrined in the Constitution.
The other issue which I noted, this report is mainly qualitative and lacks the quantitative aspect which relates to the verifiability and accuracy of this election. I say so looking at the statistical data which has been presented. In the previous electoral circles, ZEC would give us a report which will indicate results even down to the polling station. We were able to identify and say at this particular ward, how many people voted for this presidential or parliamentary or local authority candidate, but this time around nothing of that sort is in this report. What we note is the fact that ZEC only lists the names of the winning candidates and that is not helpful in terms of ascertaining the verifiability of any election.
Going on to the issue of voter registration, yes, we had voter registration period and also people were given the opportunity to register, which was good. ZEC was exercising its mandate as highlighted in the report, but looking at the basic principle of universal suffrage as enshrined in Section 67 of our Constitution and also Section 155 where ZEC is obliged to adopt all appropriate measures including legislative to ensure that every eligible citizen utilises that right, we are seeing a situation whereby we have disfranchised members of our community that were accorded the opportunity to register as voter, or more-so to even vote on election day.
In that respect, I speak to the diaspora community. We have over three million Zimbabweans out there. You look at Section 67 for example, it is clear to say that every citizen of Zimbabwe above the age of 18 has the right to vote, but we see disfranchisement of that community. More-so, we have other communities that were also left out. Speaking of prisoners for example, we have a very huge population of prisoners. There were no any initiatives you know, even any discussions to accord those persons their right to vote.
We have persons with disabilities. What measures were put in place to ensure that all persons with various aspects of disabilities were given their right to register as voters and vote on election day? We have a critical constituent which has been neglected, the civil servants that will be on duty on election day. No measures were put for them to vote on election day. So these are some of the issues that ZEC should have addressed. My debate focuses mainly on the electoral circle. The processes that culminated to election day.
Also, on the voters roll like I indicated earlier; this report is devoid of the critical statistical data. ZEC had no detail of the people that were removed or added on the voters’ roll – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members! Who is saying dofo?
HON. SHIRIYEDENGA: Also tied to the statistical deficiencies, we look at the voters’ roll data and also the list of polling stations that were gazetted. In the previous election circles, what ZEC would do is, they would give us polling station data, the breakdown at each and every polling station in terms of gender, but this time we do not have that data. You can check in the report, nothing of that sort has been given. So, it becomes problematic in terms of verifying, for example, the voter turnout on election day vis-a-vis the voter population data that would have been brought before us by ZEC. I strongly feel that ZEC should have availed more detailed information in that respect.
Also, on the issue of the voters’ roll, ZEC did adhere to its statutory requirements by giving candidates the voters’ roll, but it is the timing of making sure the voters’ roll was available. I know of one presidential candidate for the CCC Party. He got his voters’ roll on the 10th July which was just over a month away from the election. Further to that, the formatting of the voters’ roll did not respect the Electoral Act requirements. The Electoral Act is very clear to say that the voters’ roll should be given to any candidate or stakeholder. It should be in a format which is verifiable and searchable.
If you are to look at the voters’ rolls that were given to candidates, they were in a PDF format which was highly encrypted. We all know that PDF is for read only purposes. How do you analyse or search a PDF file of which I felt ZEC did not adhere to the prescriptions of the Electoral Act in that regard? Of note also, if you can recall Madam Speaker, in this electoral circle, we had the delimitation exercise. The delimitation report was gazetted on the 23rd February, 2023. The delimitation report did not specifically name the polling stations. Instead, it used polling station codes of which stakeholders had problems in terms of identifying the specific polling station. The irony of the voters’ roll which was given to candidates is that the polling station codes were then removed.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members on my left side, why are you up standing? May you please take your seats? You may continue Hon. Member.
HON. SHIRIYEDENGA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. If you look at polling station codes, the irony is that the final voters’ roll that was given to candidates did not have those polling station codes. At the end of the day, it becomes difficult to actually compare what was encompassed in the delimitation report vis-à-vis the voters’ roll that was given to candidates. With regards to that, there is a problem.
On the issue of assisted voters, the Presiding Officer is obliged to name every voter in terms of the law and the reason why that person has been assisted. But to date, we do not have the statistics as to how many voters were assisted. We have a case for example, where in one polling station we had over 200 assisted voters. A country like Zimbabwe which has a highly educated population, that in itself leaves a lot of scrutiny.
In terms of recommendations, I think it is prudent that ZEC adopts the recommendations from election observer missions and we start debating on those recommendations as stakeholders; looking at ZEC in terms of Section 239 and review on the process issues as to how it fared with respect to its mandate vis-à-vis the reality on the ground – at the end of the day, an election which is devoid of those free, fair and credible principles becomes an election which has doubts.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to debate the ZEC report. Let me start by congratulating Zimbabwe, ZEC and ourselves for holding free, fair, peaceful and credible elections that ushered in His Excellency Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa as the winner and President of the Republic of Zimbabwe – [ HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
The 2023 Harmonised Elections were part of our democratic process and electoral agenda where the elections were done in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe. I would want to ride on the provisions given by Hon. Mugwadi to say when it comes to elections in Zimbabwe, what is critical are the laws of Zimbabwe. Any such other law which is subsidiary – we can only domesticate. What is critical is, when it comes to analysing what transpired is, where elections done in accordance with our laws? I would want to say that elections were done in accordance with our laws – [ HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]–
I transition to voter education. I would want to applaud ZEC. They engaged political parties and stakeholders. Voter education was done via print and social media, radio and television. I would also want to commend ZEC for being visible even in our districts and villages– [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
On the accreditation of observers, 46 countries were invited, 17 continental and regional bodies were invited, 51 embassies were invited, 17 consulates were invited and several political parties from the region. I am mentioning these numbers because the previous speaker mentioned the lack of statistics. I think with statistics, one can easily generate them from the information that is provided, be it qualitative or quantitative. Accredited observers were made up of local and international observers, local and international journalists and we had a total of 12 512 observers that were accredited against 12 374 polling stations. This makes it an average of one observer per polling station if there was an equal spread. I am mentioning these statistics so that I bring to the attention of the Hon. Members to the reports, especially the SADC Election Observer Mission reports and the EU election observer reports.
When it comes to these statistics, the SADC election observer Mission had 68 observers. This constituted 0.4% of the accredited observers. They were even less than one percent. The EU observer mission had 150 observers, constituting 1.2% of the accredited observers. The SADC Election Observer Mission visited 172 polling stations, constituting 1.4% of the polling stations. Remember, I mentioned we had 12 374 polling stations. The EU Election Observer Mission visited 508 polling stations out of 12 374, constituting 4.1 % of the polling station.
Credible reports and extrapolations are based on credible stochastic samples. Surely, we cannot say the SADC Election Observer report and EU reports were seriously credible when they are made up of 1% of the population. These are partial reports which are based on low statistical samples. The EU Election Observer Chief, Fabio Massimo Costaldo, in the final report presentation said, ‘while the election day was largely calm, it was accessed as disorderly’. Calm and disorderly.
The process curtailed fundamental rights overally and lacked a level playing field which was accompanied by intimidation. This is what came from the EU Election Observer Mission Chief Observer. Surely, how can you have a peaceful and calm election that is disorderly? Unfortunately, Hon. Members, this is the main finding of the report and it has implications on our development agenda as well. These are the reports that are made up of a statistical representation of value sets. A report which is made up of a non-stochastic representation of 4%. The findings of the EU Election Observer Mission have been used to renew sanctions against Zimbabwe by the EU bloc citing that the elections were not free and fair and it is based on 1%. The findings have been used as a litmus test, as a failure on our international engagement preparedness which is then used. I am sure Hon. Members; you are following the high-level dialogue on arrears which is ongoing between Zimbabwe and its creditors. But already, the United States government has pulled out of the dialogue citing that elections were not free and fair and the conclusion is based on a sample of 1%. Surely, I think we can do better. These findings are biased and are not based on facts but probably they are based on Twitter reports which people were sending whilst enjoying our hospitality in our hotels.
Another area of statistical data is on the recruitment of persons with disabilities. This is something that was done by ZEC. Recruitment of persons with disabilities to be part of the management process. Five hundred and fifteen (515) people with disabilities were recruited with 303 being male and 212 being female. I feel we can do better to achieve parity between sexes. Near parity was achieved in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces. Too much variance was in Mashonaland East with four females and 12 males, Mashonaland West two females and 12 males and Bulawayo with five females and 11 males. We should have parity. We have talked about gender balance here and I think we could have done better. I think in future elections, we will call upon ZEC to ensure that there is parity when it comes to the hiring of persons living with disability in the management of elections.
Recommendations
There is need for ZEC to start to prepare for 2028 elections. How can this be done? The Hon. Member who spoke before me spoke about electoral reforms which is a process and is something that should start now as we prepare for 2028 elections. Then on the funding of elections, Hon. Mugwadi mentioned that we wholly funded our elections but there is a small component where we got funding from UNDP. The majority funding was from our own resources, but there is a small component that came from the EU. What I am saying is that when it comes to our elections, we need to advocate and make sure that 100% of the funding comes from our Treasury.
Then on capacity building, I think it is one area where we need to advocate to prepare those who aspire to offices to ensure that they are aware there is a probability that they will lose elections. What we have seen are people who do not accept that they have lost an election. Therefore, ZEC should have a component for capacity building to train political parties on the capability to absorb shock when they lose elections.
In terms of our reports, we need to ensure that we improve our systems and not compromise on the sovereignty of Zimbabwe. We have heard that elections did not conform to international best practices – no. elections should conform to the Zimbabwean law. I think this is very critical when it comes to our sovereignty as a country. As a way forward, we need to ensure that at all material times, we should stick to the laws of Zimbabwe and any subsidiary laws can be domesticated to become part of our laws.
In conclusion, I would want to applaud ZEC for a well written and balanced report that effectively communicates to stakeholders. I also want to commend ZEC for holding free, fair, peaceful and credible elections that gave ZANU-PF the mandate to govern. Lastly but not least, I want to commend the Chairperson of ZEC Justice Priscilla Chigumba for being steadfast, unshakeable, strong and a woman of steel in the discharge of her duties. To all the Hon. Members, let us accept that the whole electoral process was done in a transparent and peaceful manner. I thank you.
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to debate on the ZEC report. The issues that are very key on this report are that the report has clearly stated all the processes that they went through from delimitation, women’s quota and youth quota. We have all that in the report. What is actually important is the fact that this election was held with the bulk of the funds funded locally. Why do I want to look at that? Some of the other challenges that have cropped up could have emanated particularly from various processes I see in the report. Madam Speaker, the report stated that under recommendations on the issue of the electoral time and time limits on the pre-election applications filed at the High Court. This is actually very important for the Commission to get the recommendation through the electoral laws to ensure the smooth process of the election. A lot of other issues should be attended to on time to ensure that the election body gets enough time to prepare for the election. They should ensure that the printing of ballot papers is done well in time as this will then lead to a successful election, particularly on timing. The report noted that there were some other elections which had to go on to the 24th August. It is due to various hiccups on the processes.
Madam Speaker, I also read through the SADC Observer Mission Report where they also looked on the issues of transparency, fairness, peaceful, credible in terms of the indicators. I observed that the election did fit the test in terms of the fairness, credibility, peaceful and transparency. As such, the SADC report on their conclusion said, ‘the SADC Election Observer Mission commend the people of Zimbabwe for conducting themselves peacefully, orderly and in an exemplary manner during the pre-election phase, voting and after the election’. This is the report that was written on conclusion part of their report.
The report also Madam Speaker, is in concurrence to the report of our election report. It is …
HON. BONDA: On a point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mutokonyi. What is your point of order?
HON. BONDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The House rules state that you are not allowed to use an electrical gadget when you are debating.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Who told you that?
HON. BONDA: It is in the House rules.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Which rule number is that?
HON. BONDA: You can read the House rules.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are out of order Honourable. Please, may you proceed – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] – Hon. Zhou!
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is important that the report reflects that ZEC and Zimbabwe as a nation were in the guiding principles of the democratic elections in as far as the SADC Protocol principles of election are concerned. Madam Speaker, the African Union Charter on Democracy and Elections and Governance also confirmed that Zimbabwe also did observe the signed protocols in as far as the guiding principles of holding a free, transparency, credible and peaceful elections is concerned. As such, Madam Speaker, I would want to applaud the election board, ZEC and also advice particularly in terms of the continuous improvement because it is a process of holding elections. The board should also look much in terms of training. I understand the agencies were also trained but the participating election members, the MPs and also the councillors needed training. It is important for us to get them understand how the processes go. It is at that moment where they are able to deduce and disseminate the information to the electorate in as far as the election is concerned.
Madam Speaker, without wasting much time, I would want to conclude by saying congratulations to ZANU PF for winning in the election that was free and fair. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. GANYIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me this opportunity to debate on the motion that is before the House. I would like to commend the good job that was done by ZEC. I also would like to congratulate all those who were served through this noble job. People like us representing various constituencies on this side and the other side of the House, let us all appreciate the good job that was done.
Let me, in short, go through the wonderful job that was well done. No one can complete a task without anything negative arising. Looking at this work that was done, we see that this job was well done better than any other country, especially overseas and the Western countries. There are a lot of disputes over there and a lot of tug of war more than what happens on this side of the world. Madam Speaker, let me say, as I look at the reports after elections on how the elections were conducted. Indeed, we look at those reports and we accept them. Let me also say every place has its own rules, every town has its on rules such as by-laws and every country has its own regulations, rules and laws. There are also other rules that we may share in common, such as what happens in SADC or the African Union, United Nations and any other organisations.
Let me come to the laws that we use in this country. They clearly state that we are a sovereign country that makes its own laws in line with how they want to use them and where they want to apply them. Indeed, Zimbabwe is one of the countries that has its laws that guide elections and indeed those are the laws that we followed to the letter and I would like to applaud that.
Like what I pointed out earlier on, we are a sign that a job was well done as we tried to see and make recommendations on how best ZEC can do. We can also add our opinions that can be used in future, that can be relevant to the constituencies that we lead. If only ZEC would not have done a good job in line with the laws that we set up in this august House – I think that in future, we would amend or make laws that pertain to recommendations with regards to delimitation, but otherwise when it comes to conducting elections, I feel that they are good enough to teach other countries. Madam Speaker, there is a challenge in terms of delimitation of constituents. I think this august House should enforce them to make delimitation basing on the population of registered voters.
Madam Speaker, I think that is what we must recommend as an amendment. Delimitation must be based on population regardless of whether they are registered voters of not because those people are supposed to be represented in Parliament, whether old, young, whether voted or not. That means that in the rural areas, the constituencies grow bigger. The responsibilities on those constituencies also grow. If I give an example, in Glen Norah, in one day you can meet all the people that chose you, but if you were to go to Gokwe-Kana, you may need a whole week or days. I suggest that more constituencies must be found in the rural areas as opposed to urban areas, which means the representation becomes equitable.
Madam Speaker, let me hasten to say that ZEC led by Justice P. Chigumba did a very good job in line with electoral laws that were made in this august House. I commend them, let me give others an opportunity hoping that they will applaud that organisation. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
*HON. ZVAIPA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me also join the debate on the ZEC report. Let me say all of us here according to my opinion, we are like children born out of a rape case. Why do I say so? Elections were not conducted well.
HON. GANYIWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member must withdraw because we were not born out of rape. It is an insult and a provocation indeed, he must withdraw.
HON. MATANGIRA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Matangira, what is your point of order?
*HON. MATANGIRA: My point of order is, in this august House where we have people who talk about democracy, who actually invite others to watch soccer matches, if you lose, you call it a rape case, these people must be sent outside.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Zvaipa, may you withdraw that statement. You said all of us, we are not part of that!
HON. ZVAIPA: I withdraw to those who are not.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You said all of us, withdraw please.
HON. ZVAIPA: I withdraw, but from CCC…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please sit down and switch off your mic. I am requesting you as the Chair to withdraw what you said. You said all of us. We are not part of what you are saying. Withdraw that statement please.
*HON. ZVAIPA: I withdraw. I do not agree that ZEC did a good job like what the previous Hon. Member said. Why do I say so…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please, do not refer to any other Hon. Member who has debated.
*HON. ZVAIPA: The election held on the 23rd and 24th August, that was the first time in the history of this country that elections were held in two days. After the President realised a very shoddy job was done, if it was good, President Mnangagwa was not going to say we have extended by another day.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please, sit down and switch off your mic. Do not use the name of the Head of State please. Express your opinion without mentioning any name. Go ahead.
HON. NYATHI: Madam Speaker, I am kindly asking you to be fair with us. Before you came here, these “guys” were referring to the President and nobody said anything…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please, may you sit down. There is no these “guys” in this House. They are Hon. Members. I also want to correct you. The Hon. Member did not refer to His Excellency, he said E. D. Mnangagwa.
*HON. KARIKOGA: The Hon. Member is now code switching. He was debating in English and now, he is debating in Shona. May he debate in one language.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Karikoga. May the Hon Member please proceed.
*HON MATSUNGA: I wanted to say the Hon. Member who raised the point of order was asleep because Hon Zvaipa was debating in Shona.
*HON. ZVAIPA: I was saying if you look at how ZEC conducted themselves, if we all say in this august House that ZEC did a good job we will be lying to ourselves. For us at CCC on this side, we agree…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: If you want to go ahead with your debate, please listen to what I am saying.
*HON. ZVAIPA: On behalf of my constituency that I represent, the ballot boxes arrived at 11am whilst the election was supposed to start at 7am. So, that is very bad and that mistake was done by ZEC. I have Ward 12 where there is Zengeza Primary School, they received a ballot book written Epworth whilst we were in Zengeza. It was only raised by a voter who said that the candidates are not ours. I do not think that ZEC did a good job.
In my own opinion, the election was supposed to be redone in order for it to be corrected. The law says the voters roll is supposed to be pasted outside the polling station two days before but at our polling station, it was posted on the night before the election. People went to vote whilst they did not know whether they were supposed to vote. ZEC did a very bad job and it was so embarrassing. That is why you saw the whole world saying the election that was conducted in Zimbabwe was not an election. The election was not conducted well. What I would like to say is that this ZEC report is bad.
The most painful thing is that some players are playing with their boots on whilst others are not, yet ZEC is allowing that. I say so because urban voters are the ones who got their ballot papers late yet those in the urban areas like in Warren Park got their ballot papers around 12 midday. Madam President, do you not think that ZEC did a shoddy job there? I thank you.
*HON. S. SITHOLE: I have a follow up.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Sithole, raise a point of order, not a follow up.
*HON. S. SITHOLE: My point of order is that the Hon. Member said his own constituency needs elections to be re-run because elections did not go well in that constituency. So that must be put on record that he said it on his own that his constituency must have a by-election.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Sithole, there is no point of order there.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I would like to applaud Zimbabwe for the election conducted on the 23rd August, 2023 as well as the victory to those who won and prevailed because that is true and there is no falsification. It is because the V11s that were at every polling station were said to be all correct and nobody produced contrary V11s. So I would like to commend ZEC for a job well done.
With regard to delays, indeed they were there, but they were responded to quickly. His Excellency, President Mnangagwa realised that there were delays and decided that there should be rectifications and he did that very well. So we must commend him.
If we also look at the ZEC Chairperson, we all know she is a lady. There were a lot of negative things that were said about her, but we know that she persevered and did a very good job. We would like to thank her for such a job well done.
There were a lot of issues that were said, but we would like to commend the peace that prevailed. In the past years, we could have violence in some places, but we did not experience any violence during that election and would really like to commend the country Zimbabwe for such a job well done, but when you read in the news, there are a lot of countries that you may know by name although I do not want to mention any that experience violence after an election. Sometimes after elections, you go even up to 10 days without a conclusive election, but here elections were conducted very well. Those who won prevailed. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 14th February, 2024.
On the motion of HON. TSITSI ZHOU seconded by HON. N. NDLOVU, the House adjourned at Twenty-Seven Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 13th February, 2024
The Senate met at Half -past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
ICT LITERACY TRAINING PROGRAMME
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Good afternoon Hon. Senators. I have some announcements. I wish to inform the Senate that there will be an Information Communication Technology literacy training programme to be conducted by the ICT Department from Tuesday, 27th February, 2024 to the 21st March, 2024. The training will be conducted during sitting days only and in groups of 40 participants per day. Hon. Senators are required to register the day they wish to attend the training with Ms. A. Kondo on 0772772565. Staff from the ICT Department will also be stationed in special Committee Room No. 1, from today, 13th February, 2024 for registration.
INVITATION TO JOIN PARLIAMENT SPORTS CLUB
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also with to inform the Senate that the Zimbabwe Parliament Sports Club is inviting all Hon. Members of Parliament who are interested in sports to join the club. The key objective of the club is to promote fitness and wellness of Members of Parliament and staff. To register, please contact Mr. A. Nyamuramba on Ext. 1135 or on his mobile Nos. 0717460435/0775409209 or Ms. Charewa on Ext. 1211 or mobile Nos. 0772874565/0724647395.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SERVICE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to inform the Senate that there will be a Catholic Church Service that is Ash Wednesday tomorrow, the 14th February, 2024 at 1215 hours, in the Special Committee Room No. 1. All Hon. Members are invited and non-Catholic Members are welcome.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE PROVINCE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): Thank you Mr. President. I move that Order of the Day. Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: On a point or order Mr. President Sir. In terms of Section 61 of the Standing Orders of this Senate, a Senator who is not a Minister can give a one-minute statement on a matter of public importance provided that is done before 1440 Hours.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: So, why is this a point of order? Did you request from me and I refused?
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I am requesting from you Mr. President Sir.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Because a point of order is pointing to something which has gone amiss or something like that.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I realise that you did not provide for that in the order of events.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Does it have to be put on the Order Paper?
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Well, I mean it is a provision and it is provided in the Standing Orders that a Senator who is not a Minister can give a one-minute statement and it is your pleasure Mr. President to refer to that Standing Order.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: What I am saying Hon. Sen. Zvidzai is that it is not a point of order. You can simply stand up and say I have a point of national interest or whatever it is and then I will recognise you, but you did not do that. You are choosing to make a point of order which is not a point of order.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you Mr. President Sir. On a point of privilege, in terms of Section 61 of the Standing Orders of the Senate, a Senator who is not a Minister can give a one-minute statement on a matter of public importance.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Yes, you should have stood up and say I have a point of national interest. You can go ahead Hon. Sen. Zvidzai.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you Mr. President. I wish to make a one-minute statement in connection with Section 129 (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. This is to do with the recall clause. A clause which used to be called the “Tekere Provision’ after the recall of Cde. Edgar Tekere in 1989 following his opposition to one party in this country. Mr. President Sir, even in recent time and particularly during the course of this Parliament, we have seen numerous recalls of parliamentarians, senators mayors and councillors from Parliament, according to Section 129 (k) of the Constitution. These recent events have impacted very negatively on the fiscus and there was a by-election that followed - these have been very costly.
It is my suggestion Mr. President Sir, that the House and as a nation, we sit down to agree on developing regulations on the application of Section 129 (k) of the Constitution so that people are not recalled on the whims of individuals to the detriment of the fiscus of the nation, the stability of Parliament and indeed, the harmony and happiness of the nation. Indeed, these unregulated recalls are a serious diminution of the august House of Parliament as well as of Senate. I thank you Mr. President Sir. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Sen. Zvidzai. I have heard what you have said. I will study it and make a ruling at the appropriate time.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: Thank you Hon. President of the Senate. Good afternoon, Sir.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Good afternoon to you.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion which was presented to this House by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the recent elections that were held in 2023.
Mr. President Sir, Zimbabwe enjoys peace and harmony as a result of the way we conduct our elections. The country has held elections since 1980 whenever elections are due and has never suspended any elections – which is a good move by the country. We used to hold elections for Members of Parliament and local authorities separately from the Presidential elections. These were harmonised in 2008, a move that was good for the country as it would save money.
Mr. President Sir, besides the elected 210 Members of Parliament, the country also has 80 Senators who are elected on proportional representation, 60 women’s quota, 10 youths and also 30% in the local authority. This has shown that the President and our country are very sensitive to the all-inclusive approach as women and youths who find it difficult to contest against men are allocated their quotas so that they will also have more representation in Parliament, especially in the Lower House so that their voices are heard. This is because if we wait for them to make the 210, very few women and youths will make it to Parliament. We applaud the President, Dr. E.D Mnangagwa and his Government for extending the women’s quota by a further two–five year terms for this election. The first two-year terms had expired in the Ninth Parliament but now, we have seen that Government has extended another two-year term, introduced the youth quota and the 30% women’s quota for councillors.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should also be applauded for accepting all political parties and individuals who wanted to contest in the 23rd and 24th August, 2023 elections. It shows that democracy is being practiced in Zimbabwe just like in every other democratic country. I would like to applaud ZEC for holding free and fair elections that were commended by SADC, the international community and some individuals – save for few individuals and organisations with sinister agendas who discredited our elections. Very few organisations and individuals tried to discredit the good work by ZEC. Due to logistical challenges, the electorate in some areas of Harare, were given a chance to exercise their voting rights and choose their leaders. Elections were extended from the 23rd to the 24th in the affected areas and this was a good deed by ZEC. The extension showed that ZEC is very sensitive to the rights of Zimbabwean citizens.
I also want to applaud ZEC and the Zimbabwe Government for creating a conducive and peaceful environment during the election period. Every voter was free to go to their designated polling stations to exercise their right without any fear. Page 46 of the report, ZEC indicates that voters went to their respective polling stations as early as 0700hrs. ZEC also allowed political parties and individuals to second their polling agents to represent them as indicated on page 45 of their report. This shows that ZEC wanted every candidate to have representation at polling stations. It was up to individual candidates to field polling agents or not, though some were unable to fund their polling agents. However, it was not ZEC’s problem because the Commission had allowed contestants to have their agents at polling stations.
The President and Government of Zimbabwe should also be applauded for mobilising financial resources for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to be able to conduct the elections. The elections were well funded and all those who were deployed received their remuneration. We did not receive any challenges or problems from ZEC on the payment of their recruited officials. ZEC also managed to have adequate presiding and polling officers to conduct the elections. I am happy that the recruitment included women, youths and the disabled – which is also part of best practices. Women, youths and the disabled were given equal opportunity to form part of the team conducting elections. An inclusive way in the running of our elections. The country also accepted the ZEC accreditation of foreign and local observers to monitor our elections. They freely moved around the country before, during and after the elections monitoring and observing what was happening there.
However, I would also want to condemn some individuals who accepted to be used by our country’s detractors and some political organisations who overstepped their mandate by trying to involve themselves in the domestic issues or running of our country instead of observing elections. They were now looking into some issues that had nothing to do with the observation of elections. We have one Dr. Mumba from Zambia who made a report here purporting that it was a report representing the SADC organ, yet it seemed it was only a report of his perceptions, not an organisation’s perception. So I condemn such action from observer missions or people who are invited and allowed to monitor elections in our country. This shows that we still have puppets of the West who are being used to reverse the gains of independence in Southern Africa. Our countries in Southern Africa got independence through armed struggles and now some are still being used by those people to promote neo-colonialism.
As a citizen and representative of the people, I am happy with the way the August 2023 harmonised elections were conducted by ZEC. They did a wonderful job which should be applauded by every Zimbabwean citizen.
I would also want to congratulate the President, E.D Mnangagwa, for winning the Presidential elections during the 2023 election and also the Members of Parliament, Senators, and Councillors who also made it during this election. ZEC also coordinated elections of chiefs into the Senate on the 24th of August 2023 and the process went on very well. It was so smooth, with no challenges and hiccups. This followed the election of chiefs into the National Council of Chiefs and the election of the President and Deputy President of the Chief’s Council on 30th August 2023 and 10th August 2023 respectively.
On the 26th day of August 2023, ZEC also conducted elections for two Senators representing persons with disabilities, whose electorate comprised of representatives from associations and institutions for persons with disabilities. ZEC also supervised the election of presiding officers of the Lower and Upper House of Parliament on the 8th of September 2023. The election was smooth and I would like to congratulate the winners who are our President of the Senate, Hon. M. Chinomona and her deputy, Hon. Gen. Rtd Nyambuya. In the Upper House also, Advocate. J. F. Mudenda as Speaker of the Lower House and his deputy Hon. Tsitsi Gezi – congratulations to our Presiding Officers.
ZEC and the Government of Zimbabwe should keep up the good work they did in future elections and continue to exhibit the professionalism they showed in the 2023 harmonised elections. All political organisations and individuals who advocate for instability before, during and after elections should be banished and prosecuted also. Observer missions should stick to guidelines laid down on the observation of elections and do not have to interfere with the internal affairs of the country when they will be observing elections. Thank you Mr. President, for the opportunity that you have given me to add my voice to the motion by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important motion that was tabled before this august House by the Minister of Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs.
Mr. President, the history of elections all over the world and in this country is very important. For the black Zimbabweans to get the ability to vote, a grueling war was fought and the driving call was universal adult suffrage. This is the clarion call that was made by Cde Ndabaningi Sithole, Umdala wethu Nkomo. This was the clarion call that was made by all the children of Zimbabwe who decided to take up arms to fight for that particular right, the right to vote. That suffrage is so important. The right to freely make your choice as to who will lead the nation and the right to happily decide as to how the nation can be moved forth through the electoral process.
Mr. President, our electoral process started with the delimitation exercise which, in my opinion, produced a very flawed report, an unconstitutional report. In terms of the Constitution and the electoral laws, no constituency in this country should be bigger than another by more than 20%. I think it is very clear that we had to shrink the gap between constituencies to not beyond 20%.
Alas, Mr. President, if you look at the delimitation report, you will see that in Harare, the average constituency size is 31 000 people and if you look elsewhere in Masvingo, Mashonaland East perhaps, you will find there are constituencies that are made up of just about 20 000 to 21 000 people. If you see the difference between 21 000 and 31 000, it is more than 20% that is required. So we went to an election using a completely unlawful document or an unconstitutional document. In this respect, ZEC needs to be condemned to the worst level because they nearly put this country into a constitutional crisis. Indeed, we remain stuck in a very bad place because we went to the election using a document which in my opinion was unlawful and completely unconstitutional.
Mr. President, let me move to voter registration. This country has got a voter population of close to 10 million people. I am talking of voter population, people that are 18 years and above. The voters’ roll has got 6.6. million people, which means that the voter registration process left nearly 3.4. million people. Clearly, it means that ZEC is not doing a good job. There was that departure there, beyond the natural Pareto principle of 20% unordinary circumstances. The 3.4. million out of 10 million is a staggering 34% of people who were denied their right to vote because of the incapability of our institution called ZEC.
So Mr. President, this is disturbing. It puts to question the credibility of our elections, it puts to question kunaka kana kushata kwama elections and I think ZEC could do a better job to make sure that there is harmony in this country and to make sure that people exercise a right that was not given for free, a right that was died for. That right should be respected by every single institution in this country and it must be respected by every single individual in this country. No one should be able to deny any single person a right to vote. The right to vote is sacrosanct, the right to vote was paid for by the precious blood of sons and daughters of this country.
Mr. President, let me talk about the Nomination Court. Our Nomination Court has gone fairly smoothly, but the huge problem is around nomination fees designed to deny people a right to be voted for, denied to discriminate based on economic circumstance of a person. So, in my opinion, that also puts to question the credibility and good standing of the overall elections. If I do not have 20 000, if I do not have 1000 dollars and many people do not have, then I cannot stand for elections. There are people out there and peasants who might want to actually step forward to be elected into office, could not do so on account, not of incapability in terms of capacity to represent people, but incapability based on financial circumstances.
Mr. President, I would like to talk about our national institutions and the bearing of these institutions on the conduct of elections. Where I belong, we got denied more than 40 rallies where we would have gone out there and campaigned. We were denied smooth door to door campaigns and we had to tortuously go and apply to the police to do these processes, and yet I know I am very clear that compared to the brother across, no requirements of that matter were required. So, our national institutions should act impartially. Our national institutions should promote the peaceful handling of national elections.
Mr. President, I would like to talk about the election day logistics, we must all bow our heads in shame that people of Zimbabwe, particularly women, were denied the opportunity to vote on the voting day. In Harare, ballot papers did not arrive on time, in some cases they arrived the next day. In many cases, the papers arrived in nocturnal hours of the day while people stood patiently in the queues, but we all know the circumstances of women. Most women who might have had children at home, had to leave the queues to go home and take care of children, some of them were afraid of potential abuses in the night and Mr. President, I am very definite that a lot of women were denied their suffrage in the past election because of inadequate logistical arrangements. Ballot papers arrived late and we all know what happened. Many people argued that it affected the people in the same manner and that sort of pronouncement can only be made by people who do not understand statistics. If you understand statistics, you will know that the ballot papers did not arrive in time in Harare, Bulawayo, Manicaland and obviously, there are some science in that disorder. The ballot papers did not only arrive in time in areas which were perceived to be the strongholds of the opposition thus suppressing opposition votes. Ballot papers arrived in time in areas like Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe where the roads are distant, but did not arrive in Mufakose where the polling stations were within walking distances. There is clear…
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: On a point of order Hon. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: What is your point of order?
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I think we are not analysing elections; we are debating on the report which was forwarded by the Hon. Minister Hon. Ziyambi. I think it seems we are debating out of topic if we are anaysing elections. I thank you.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: Thank you Hon. President, I wanted to say what the Hon. Senators have said, but in addition, when we speak in here, we need correct statistical facts. I come from Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe where ballot papers arrived in three wards the following morning on the 24th and I am the most senior politician in that area. We tried to pursue ZEC to give us ballot papers on time, the fact that the logistical things were not in place in Harare did not mean it was only Harare. I am also an Hon. Senator of Mudzi, another very big stronghold of ZANU PF and in that district called Mudzi, ballot papers arrived the following day in four wards of that administrative district. So to allude to say it was only Harare and Bulawayo that were affected is totally not correct. In Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, we lost close to 35% of votes that we were supposed to have for the President and ZANU PF because of these logistical things.
So, I am saying it is not factual to say it was only Harare and Bulawayo and perhaps Gweru that were affected. My district which is known as the biggest and the largest voter for ZANU PF in this country also was disadvantaged, but we are not crying; all we are saying is we know what is in the country. We know how the economy is performing, we know that we have sanctions in this country and therefore, we cannot blame ZEC for that because ZEC is operating in an uneven playing field. Thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Zvidzai, I think you have heard the other side. Avoid generalising, be factual and discuss the report which was presented in the House.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Mr. President. I am fully aware that in the very same ward in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe that he is talking about, is where we have got our strongest support. So there is absolutely no material in what he said.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order. Avoid having a slinging match against yourselves – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Those were points of order and you are just speaking without seeking my permission. Avoid slinging matches between yourselves as Senators. We are supposed to be mature in here and debate. I am moderating and advising the Hon. Senator to be factual. I did not ask the Hon. Senator to respond. If you want to make a point of order, make your point of order. I will give you the opportunity. Let us be mature and debate facts on the report.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Mr. President, dzahwa moto. Election day logistics – the fact that Mr. President, we all agreed in this House that the logistical issues around ZEC; the distribution of ballot papers was questionable, is at least a convergence across the aisle and across the political divide. We are all agreeing that ZEC did not do a good job. So this is the fact and Mr. President, I would like to say in terms of voter suppression, leading from the failure to avail ballot papers on time was very major. It actually, to a very good extent, influenced the divide of the results.
I think it is very important and we must take this seriously. Elections are important issues and there is no reason why we should begin to protect an incompetent institution of this State. ZEC should do their job well. They must provide the logistics well. They told the whole country and the region that they were ready with all the logistics a few days before the elections, yet they knew very well that they did not have enough ballot papers, particularly for Harare and Bulawayo which are the strongholds of the opposition.
Mr. President, I would like to talk about something that my colleague Hon. Sen. Mavenyegwa talked about regarding the inclusion of women in important institutions of State. Chapter 17 of the Constitution demands equality that women and men should be posted to institutions equally. It does not talk about 20% or 10%. It talks about 50/50 and reductionists will applaud an improvement of 10%. What is stopping us from satisfying the requirements of the supreme law of the land which demands that women and men must be equal in Senate, Parliament and councils? What is stopping that? Why are we celebrating minimums instead of celebrating the whole?
I simply cannot understand. The Constitution is clear. Why are we not pushing for equality and pushing for qualified processes?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order. Hon. Sen. Zvidzai, avoid being petty and picking fights. You have now moved away from what you were saying and you are attacking what your fellow Senator said. Your fellow Senator celebrated the fact that the quotas for the youth and women are extended. There is nothing which stops you, Hon. Zvidzai, from advocating for a 50/50. You are very free. You have got the floor. Stand up and shout as much as you want about the need to have 50% of women. I would support you myself. Avoid picking fights and debate the report which was presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Mr. President. I am sorry to think completely differently from others who celebrate minimums. I celebrate maximums. I celebrate the best. I want the best for this country, not the best minimum and the best for this country is that we must have equal numbers of women in Parliament, equal to the men. I would like to see in all our councils 50/50 provision with equality of gender representation in councils, mayors and permanent secretaries. This is the desire of the people of Zimbabwe Mr. President,
when we sat down as a nation in 2013 and we all agreed. 97 % percent of the people of Zimbabwe voted for this Constitution and it must be respected. Mr. President, it is always better, it is always good for people to join the dance floor with others properly dressed, kempt and with properly brushed teeth so that you do not stink.
Mr. President, as a nation, there is no possibility of us surviving in isolation. We need our brothers in the region. We need our brothers in the whole of Africa and we need to respect the institutions that we built ourselves, the institutions that we contributed to build, like SADC. SADC was very clear that it is unheard of in Zimbabwe that an election can be such a shamble. For the first time, SADC was courageous enough to say, brother today you did not brush your teeth and we know very well how our institutions work. It is unfortunate for us to begin to cast aspersions on institutions such as SADC that we must respect. So we should respect the AU and other institutions so that we are a good citizens of the global world. It is good for us. It is good for the country.
Indeed Mr. President, for the first time, our election was condemned by our own brother. Yes, in the past it could have been the imperialists, it could have been Tony Blair, but this time it was SADC, our own brother that told us to dress properly for the good of this nation and if we are people of good reason, we must listen and make sure that we produce elections that are not contested because an election that is not contested is the panacea to economic development and harmony. An election that is not contested at all enables us as brothers to shake hands and say congratulations brother, move forward. This did not happen at the last election. Thank you, Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion. This is an august House and we need to be honest so that we can be well developed. I rise to speak on the harshness and bad things that were done by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Sen. Chabuka. That is unparliamentary and unacceptable language to use. Please withdraw your statement.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: I withdraw Mr. President. Let me remind you that Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa was insulting SADC, but you did not call him to order. Be that as it may, I withdraw. ZEC performed something unheard of. Mr. President, we come from the same province. You are aware of the time that the ballot papers arrived. It was a first of its kind that we voted for two days. The elderly were patiently waiting to vote. I was a whisker away from them, I was drawn there in a wheelbarrow because I was seriously ill. I spent the whole night waiting for the ballot papers and they only came in the afternoon the following day. I was a candidate, but when I called ZEC, they would say we are following instructions. I do not know who was instructing them. There was an animal called FAZ that was disrupting people from voting and ZEC was aware of it.
Headmasters and teachers would stand in queues alongside FAZ members, I do not know where it came from. I do not want to lie that any political party was behind it. They would say we want to tell you how to vote and the teacher or headmaster would be accompanied by a FAZ member into the ballot box. They would vote with a cloth wrapped around their waist. Elections were not conducted properly. As the opposition party, we were not even given the voters’ roll. We were denied to access the voters’ roll by ZEC, not any political party.
How come we come here as leaders and lie, misleading this House that these elections were free and fair? They were not at all. How can someone come here and lie when you are an Hon. Senator? I plead with you Mr. President that when we are in this august House, as leaders, we would want our country to be developed, we should not mislead the people and lie that everything was well. For two days, people were waiting to vote. Elderly people had to come around 0200 a.m. to vote and we mislead this august House that the elections were free and fair. We had a resounding victory, which resounding?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Sen. Chabuka, stick to one language. You know how we debate in this House. Please take your seat.
HON. SEN. KATUMBA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me the opportunity to add my voice. Some of my submissions have already been made by previous speakers. Be that as it may, that the elections did not go very well, as a country we are still going ahead conducting elections. We hope that in future, ZEC will put its house in order and get its act in order so that we do not face the problems that we are speaking of now that the elderly had blankets and food being brought to polling stations. They had to put up at polling stations. It would be a good thing in future that when elections are being prepared for, the Ministry that is responsible for funding should give ZEC adequate funding so that the materials are made up in time so that we do not meet these challenges that we are talking about in this august House. In truth, things did not go well. As a country, we say that things should be done the right way. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE PROVINCE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 14th February, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2022
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity. I am happy that you have said I am very quiet and ordinarily I am a very quiet person. Compliments of the season Mr. President. We hope that during this year, we will move better and that you lead us to prosperity as a country. I am going to start by coming up with a few items on the issue of corruption. I thank those that tabled the report and I will now have an opportunity to debate about things that our country has suffered from corruption.
Corruption is a cancer, it is a disease and if it is not nipped in the bud, it can kill the entire country and we will be left without anything meaningful or good to say. I would like to say that this cancerous disease called corruption is found especially in the urban areas, it is not found predominantly in the rural set up, but it is found in our government offices. It is found in private companies that are meant to uplift the image of this country, especially in this Government, we should encourage one another to eradicate corruption.
My elders once told me that when a fish rots, it starts rotting from the head, but today we would want the fish to start rotting from the tail so that the head can see that the fish is now rotting because if the fish rots from the head, it will not see the decay of the entire body up to the tail which will cause us problems. We will forever be poor and a few would be enjoying. We may like it and defend one another and accuse each other of why pointing out one’s problems, but the most important thing is not between us as friends. Our aim is to ensure that Zimbabwe develops.
Mr. President, corruption is not good for me, it is not good for you and it is not good for everyone else in this country. We may turn a blind eye or keep quiet about it because at times I may see that it may not be proper for me to speak evil or to name and shame my brother, but if my brother nicodemously does his eating of the food in the night, it will cause disharmony amongst the family. Corruption does not start from the bottom, but it starts from the top where we are. These are the people that are in control of the national pace. Some talk about State capture, and being captured is that you are being controlled by money…
*HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: On a point of order Hon. President. May I plead with the speaker on the floor that corruption does not start from us. We are not corrupt. His statement should actually accuse people that are involved in corruption because we have not been arrested because of corruption. So it would be unfair for him to say corruption starts from here. I thank you.
*HON. MUZODA: Our elderly say that the guilty are always afraid…
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI): I am of the view that we are losing track. We are debating the report that was submitted in this august House. It is that report that we need to interrogate and speak about it only. Once we do that, we will be able to achieve our objective. The moment we leave what is contained in that report, then we will go astray. Please proceed.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: In truth, whenever we speak, we should speak as Parliamentarians. We have come here to debate on the issue of corruption. This issue of corruption is not the first time that we are debating it. I cannot come here and accuse anyone. Here, I did not point at anyone. I still have the floor and you shall allow me to talk about issues that have to do with corruption…
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Sen. please confine yourself to the debate.
HON. MUZODA: Hon. President, some of us are diabetic and we tend to quickly forget. We are talking about the problems that the economy faces as a result of corrupt activities, which corrupt activities are being conducted in our country. It is our plea mostly to ZACC, to carry out their work diligently. We have observed that people are being arrested. It is now five or six years down the line after a person has been accused of corrupt activities or tendencies, but we hear the last of it.
Initially, they would appear in court, but at the end of the day, the issue of the matter dies a natural death. We do not know what will have become the end of it because no sentence or judgement will have been pronounced as the majority of the Zimbabwean people about allegations that a certain individual was facing. Corruption includes the manner in which we are living in our urban settlements and rural homes. We have people who are corruptly selling State land that does not involve traditional leadership in the form of chiefs, headmen and village heads. Such acts are causing problems to our people, our people are having problems in having a place that they call their own. They stay here for two years, they are chased away and their money is stolen through deceitful methods.
Sorry Mr. President, it has been said that we should not speak to the issue of lying, but in our language, we speak of liars because of the behaviour of a particular person. Mr. President, I believe that for us to end corruption, we should have all hands on the deck and everyone should be policing their neighbour from the village head to the top. Mr. President, I am talking about the topical issue these days that talks about people aged between 27 and 28 years residing at certain settlements and no longer have anywhere to go. They find themselves in such circumstances due to corrupt activities and there are people who sell land without the knowledge of the chiefs, to desperate people who are looking for places to live.
I felt pity on a farmer with three hectares of tomatoes who was given 48 hours to vacate the premises. Corruption should be dealt with from the bottom to the top and if we look at the manner in which our people live in the villages under our chiefs, it will help us as we move upwards. Around the risk of being evicted as 40 or so groups after residing at a single place, they had not been resettled free of charge, but had paid money and built homesteads, some had already been buried. Issues of corruption should be taken seriously Mr. President.
I wish we could revert to our golden days of our culture where we used to respect our chiefs. I do not want to call them Chiefs because a Chief is only but a Chief Secretary to someone – these are kings, they must be given the respect that they deserve. They are the custodians of our culture. Once they nip corruption in the bud in communal lands, it will be easier to control corruption in the urban centers. Today, you find the chief being taken to court, but he has his own land, an area of jurisdiction and a piece of land has been sold by someone who is in that area. He is the one who alleges and causes the chief to appear before the courts. These are corrupt activities; you cannot take someone’s property because of certain things that you might have - that is corruption.
Mr. President, corruption can start from our homesteads, if you see a father leaving his house, he is being corrupt and if you see a father being involved in adultery, this is corruption. – [HON. SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.]- You have heard what I said. I am proud of my mother tongue. Certain cultures speak in their mother tongue, not meaning that they cannot speak English, but will speak in the mother tongue so that those that have sent him will be able to understand…
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI): Order, order, let us confine ourselves to the report on corruption, that you are now enlightening others, you are losing the track.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: They asked me here, so I will be trying to get into detail.
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Be that as it may, you are left with five minutes.
*HON. SEN. MUZODA: Thank you Mr. President. I believe I will not belabour the point, but the point is, within the remaining few minutes from abinitio, our fish should not rot from the head, but should rot from the tail so that the head is able to see the corrupt activities that surrounds it. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ZHOU: Thank you very much Mr. President Sir for giving me the opportunity to say a few words. Let me appreciate the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for bringing this motion to Parliament and also allow me to thank the Chairperson of ZAAC, the team of Commissioners, staff and their stakeholder network for bringing this detailed report. The report has a lot of milestones and successes, of course, with some challenges like all other systems…
HON. SEN. MUZODA: On a point of order Mr. President. I think we are now debating on corruption. I hear the Hon. Senator is talking about ZEC.
HON. SEN. ZHOU: Zimbabwe Anticorruption Commission (ZACC). I am talking about ZACC – Z-A-C-C not ZEC – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Let me explain that the name implies that the body is mandated by law and by our Constitution to fight corruption or graft. I am saying the body is doing exactly that from the tables and outcomes that are in the report. I testify that I am happy that for the past four to five years, ZACC has been doing a good job.
When I looked at the report, it is defaced by a report that was prepared when the country was just coming out of the COVID era. The report acknowledges that this had not been a very easy period. Let me also say that since the coming of the Second Republic, we have seen a consented effort of eradicating corruption. This is a testimony of the report that we are discussing before us. Mr. President, I will not talk much about the other mundane details that are in the report, but simply to say that it is true that the report also was premised around the adage of ‘prevention is better than cure’ and also the fact that corruption should be a multi-faceted approach to all stakeholders and individuals including all our social structures in Parliament. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] –
The message that I get from reading the report is that we are all desirous to deal with this animal called corruption. The Second Republic has really demonstrated its commitment to fighting corruption because in the report, I have also seen some VVIP including Ministers who have been arraigned before the courts. To me, this is fair and just and I think this is a fair way of fighting corruption. I commend ZACC for bringing all these very important people who had messed around and tried to promote graft to book.
So Mr. President, I will say that we still need to work around our mindsets to make sure that we report, as indicated in the report, ZACC will require all our support as individuals and as entities. I also want to say that we have not seen any corruption being reported on private companies. I still think that our Government is very open and has allowed us to discuss this topic from 13th October when the Hon. Minister tabled this motion last year.
I think that as we go forward in 2024, if we can be able to address certain issues to deal with staff retention, capacity strengthening, also finding ways of rejecting whistleblowers and witnesses – I am sure we can go a long way. It is the duty of all of us as Zimbabweans to fight graft. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. GOTORA: Thank you Mr. President. Let me take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and also the leaders of ZACC who tabled a comprehensive report about their activities the previous year.
First and foremost, I would like to thank them for indicating that they conducted training with other countries that we believe have better standards than ourselves in terms of terminating corruption. We are aware that in the report, they also talked of the training that they conducted within the countries in different areas.
It was also indicated in the report that they were going around the country setting up integrity committees. Integrity meetings are meant to uplift the morality of the people. We should accept that because they are making an effort to remedy the situation. They also showed in the report where corruption is mostly taking place, which shows where the majority of these cases are occurring. We should be putting a lot of effort into eradicating corruption. However, they did not indicate whether corruption is most rife in the public sector or the NGO sector. They gave specific areas where corruption has been found, in such places, there are people that are in different sectors.
The report also states that they have problems with having to retain their workers because their remuneration is low. I urge the Government to ensure that they are properly remunerated and that Independent Commissions such as ZACC carry out their duties properly. Furthermore, they would also want their offices to be devolved out of Harare or decentralisation of their offices country-wide. I would like to thank ZACC and the responsible Minister for their vision because it will be difficult for someone coming from Mt. Darwin to come to Harare to make a report on corruption. If their offices are in that district, it would be easier for people to report to ZACC on corrupt activities that will be occurring in their area.
Their definition of corruption is too wide; if I ask for payment for a service, you will say that is corruption. If you only say that corruption is only found in this august House whereas in the places where we believe things are not so sophisticated like ourselves, people are paying chickens for services. Chickens are being demanded so that one could get a service, this is also corruption. I urge this august House to support ZACC to be properly resourced so that they will be able to carry out their work.
Personally, if I had the power to end corruption, I would end it tomorrow. Certain things could be done that would ensure that all of us will be afraid, but we should know that no one is said to be guilty unless they go through a competent court of law. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
Secondly, in our Constitution, prisoners have rights and freedoms as enshrined in our 2013 Constitution. Some of us contributed to the making of that particular Constitution. No one can be incarcerated before they have been tried by a competent court and found guilty. So, if we allege that Gotora is corrupt and put it in social media, we will be committing an offence because it is only the judge and magistrate who will pronounce judgment on one’s innocence or the lack of it.
This particular report is urging us in this august House to assist them in eradicating corruption and reporting it stating the facts so that when ZACC conducts their investigations, they cannot spend years trying to look into the area when we do not clearly state the matters. We should state that so and so on such and such a date committed this particular act which is an act of corruption and they need to be arrested. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to say a few words on this report that was tabled by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
I thank ZACC for a job well done. I would also want to thank the Government for setting up that board because the Government is not tolerant of corruption. This particular Commission was created through an Act of Parliament, it does not belong to the Government, it is a Commission that was created by Parliament. We interviewed the Commissioners as Parliament. What is pleasing is that I was part and parcel of those who were conducting the interviews. What I would want to say is to thank them for a job well done. I will not repeat what the previous speakers have already said.
I rise to stress the point that ZACC should be well supported by Parliament when we are dealing with the National Budget, they should be well resourced. They must have adequate funding, the responsible Minister should ensure that ZACC is well funded so that they can do their work properly. Some Hon. Senators were saying that some people are arrested, but at the end of the day, nothing ever comes out of it. I am urging ZACC to ensure that their investigators who would have arrested culprits on or before the arrest of an individual should thoroughly carry out their investigations to see if an accused person, for instance Hon. Sen. Sipani-Hungwe, is expected to have committed an offence, the process is that everything should go through the court. ZACC arrests culprits, but it has no power to try the matter.
It is the courts that then try the cases. At times culprits are arrested and at the end of the day, they are acquitted. I am saying that ZACC should be capacitated, they should not arrest in order to investigate; they should first investigate, but you then see that persons that are arrested are acquitted thereafter. It is not Government that does that and even His Excellency the President will not be aware of the happenings. As an august Senate and as leaders, regardless of your political affiliation, wherever you are in this august Senate, you are a leader. We should also see to it that even if I am a Member of the ruling party or opposition party, am I saying the right thing. I cannot just be opposing for the sake of it.
We are saying that ZACC should be funded so as to carry out its mandate. In the communal lands, offences are committed. If you ask someone to do something in return for something, that is corruption like saying give me a goat so that I will not talk about the offence that you have committed. All of us are important, we should be treated the same. Commissioners do not belong to any political party, be it ruling or opposition, they belong to us as Parliamentarians because it is Parliament that interviews the Commissioners. The panel that interviews is made up of all political parties. We help each other to select the suitable candidates. Commissioners do not belong to a political party or to an individual person. I wanted to set the record straight that we should support them. We will support ZACC, but I must make sure that it has done its investigations thoroughly before arresting people. We have several people that are arrested and before the end of the day, they will have been acquitted. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (HON. SEN. M. MUTSVANGWA): Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th February, 2023.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE SENATE
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (HON. SEN. M. MUTSVANGWA): Mr. President, I move that Order of the Day, Number 4 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 5 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed.
MOTION
GBV AWARENESS PROGRAMME TO PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism against-Gender-Based Violence.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity. I also want thank Hon. Sen. Mbohwa who moved this motion. One Hon. Senator spoke saying that we should set aside 16 days every year to debate this motion. Some of the things that cause Gender-Based Violence is the abuse of drugs. That is the main cause of Gender-Based Violence. The father of the house will come home intoxicated with drugs. He will then arrive home and see the wife having prepared sadza and vegetables. He will beat the wife notwithstanding the fact that he did not buy any meat for the family and this will be as a result of the abuse of drugs. This is a problem that affects women mostly. There are men’s pressure groups, they must sit down and discuss as men about the issues that they do when they reach home and discourage Gender-Based Violence. This does not completely solve the problem because even if these men are told that Gender-Based Violence is wrong, but once they take drugs, they will do it because they will be under the influence of drugs.
Some men are lazy. His Excellency the President has reiterated that Zimbabwe is open for business. It is not a month which refers to those who are outside the country, but it also touches those who are in this country that we must find something to do. We must not wait to get employed, but we must engage in business. You must also use your mind and hands to get employed.
In most cases, women stay at home and some of them go to work in other people’s fields to get money while the man is enjoying at beerhalls. There are also other women who are engaged in drug abuse. Sometimes the man has left the house and the woman stays at home and begins to take drugs. When the husband is back home, he finds out that there is nothing at home and the woman has not prepared something for the children. All these things need us as leaders to sit down and put our heads together to find a solution to end these problems.
If you see someone beating up another person, it seems that this person is no longer thinking properly. He has now run out of ideas to solve the problems. We are saying that the issue of Gender-Based Violence must not end with 60 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence, but it must be a whole year from January to December where women and men and as Zimbabwe, we continue to encourage each other to desist from Gender-Based Violence because as a country, we are facing a lot of problems because of these abuses.
This other day I met a child whose parents are not staying together. The child was no longer performing well at school. When investigations were done, they later found out that the father had left the family. They did not know where the father had gone and hence, it ended up affecting the performance of the child at school. You as the other women whose husband has left for a small house, must sit down and encourage him to take care of family because this issue of separation is affecting children. The children are no longer participating in class or performing well at school. Zimbabwe is a nation which is known for being properly organised, but it is now being affected by the issue of drug and substance abuse. Hence, we are saying let us go and sit down and educate each other on the issue of drug abuse.
Let me say a lot of things have been said by others and I also encourage people in their households to desist from fighting each other. I also encourage the nation to avail enough resources to go around the country and educate people against Gender-Based Violence throughout the year from January to December. Thank you, Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice. It means that all people are equal and they are very important, be it men or women. The only difference which is there is on the issue of dressing, that this dressing is for men and this dress is for women. Even the toilets are labelled for men and women, but when we die, we are buried at the same graves, meaning that we are all equal. All of us were created by the image of God and we also have the rights which need to be protected, but if we look at our way of living in our societies, we see that women and the girl children are facing a lot abuse in their lives.
Sometimes people tend to abuse women and girls and they hide under the cultural beliefs. Even in our culture, there is a law which rebuked the abuse of women when the person was told if you beat your mother, you are going to face some consequences.
If we look at the issue of Gender-Based Violence concerning women who are disabled, we find that if those that are able-bodied are facing a lot of Gender-Based Violence, what about those who are disabled, especially women face a lot of problems in their health? Yes, God created us differently so that his name would be praised. Those who are deaf and those who are dumb, you will see that most of the times they are being beaten, they are being abused, but they fail to express themselves because their language is not respected and a lot of people do not understand them.
There is also the issue of looking down upon one another. It ends up with those that are being looked down upon by others failing to think properly. Hence as a country, we are not going to prosper. As leaders, we are there to protect those who are disabled and our other role is to end Gender-Based Violence and encourage people in the communities and constituencies. We must encourage each other and give opportunity to women and the girl child.
If women are given the opportunity, they are going to incorporate everyone and help each and every person. They understand that there are kids and the elderly who need to be taken care of. There is also the issue of the opportunity of going to school. In the past, women and the girl children were not given enough opportunity to go to school, but those who got the opportunity excelled very well in school. Still in schools, we see that there is an element of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on girl children, hence there is need to protect them so that they perform better in school.
Girl children also face GBV in schools, especially when they are living in poverty and lack some essentials. Sometimes they are regarded as useless if they do not perform well in school compared to their male counterparts. Even from their families, they are not valued and their voice is regarded as nothing. In families, those who are disabled are facing a lot of discrimination. Even in marriage, if a disabled man marries a girl who is able-bodied, the family does not accept that son-in-law. The same applies to the girl child, if she marries someone who is able-bodied, they are not well accepted.
We are all people, let us treat each other equally. I want to say let us end GBV so that we can protect the girl child and the mothers. There are many types of GBVs. Sometimes men are the ones who perform manual labour at home, so when it comes to ownership, most of the things are owned by the men. Most properties or all of them are in the name of men even though the women are the ones who are working harder. This is another form of GBV. As leaders, let us give equal opportunities to all children despite their gender. If we look at this country, 52% of the population is women, showing that they are the ones who have more power, but when we look at the powerful positions, we see that there is no equality. Let us unite and end GBV and give opportunity to women to stand for themselves and be able to represent themselves.
Let us also include those who are disabled. We must not address them by their conditions. If someone addresses me with a language which demoralises me or looks down upon me, for example saying someone is mentally ill or is disabled. It is not something that motivates anyone in that condition. Like a father who is suffering from mental illness, let us address each other properly so that everyone will feel respected. GBV causes a lot of disturbances in the country, hence there is no development.
Those who are affected by GBV will end up not performing to their best. Hon. Minister, I am saying opportunities must be equal. Let us use affirmative action to make sure that women are empowered, women are treated equally despite their physical or mental conditions. Let us make sure that women are given equal opportunities for high posts in terms of finances and politics of the country. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHINYANGA: Thank you Mr. President for according me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion on 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), which ran from 25th November to 10th December, 2023. I seek to focus on the following areas: Interventions made by the civil society and Non-Governmental Organisations to alleviate the incidences of GBV; the imposition of stiffer penalties to the perpetrators of GBV and the need for improvement in the accessibility of psycho-social support, health and justice. These are some of the pertinent points as we make submissions on this topic.
Allow me to bring to the attention of the House, the interventions that are being implemented by the Government, Civil Societies and Non-Governmental Organisations in combating the scourge of GBV. Initiatives by organisations such as Shamwari yeMwanasikana and Padare have made it possible for our country to make great strides towards achieving a society that is violence free. These initiatives have promoted dialogue and peaceful resolutions of conflicts between men and women. The Government, through the chiefs, also has been able to influence the community to have their conflicts solved amicably by the local leaders, thus reducing conflicts. Government continues to hold meetings with the people of Zimbabwe, conscientising them on the need to stop perpetrating GBV, especially in the rural areas.
Moreover, we have seen the First Lady, Amai Dr. Auxillia Mnangagwa travelling across the country meeting with people from all walks of life talking about GBV. Through her Angel of Hope Foundation, Dr. Amai Mnangagwa has been able to interact with people at grassroots level and encourage them to solve problems amicably. This is quite a commendable effort that is progressive towards realising a society that is peaceful and free of GBV.
Coming to the second issue alluded to in the introduction, over the years, we have seen imposition of stiffer penalties to perpetrators of GBV. This has significantly helped reduce the incidences of GBV in our communities as those who are found guilty are given stiffer penalties warning others to refrain from such acts. Sexual abuse cases have significantly declined, a positive impact complementing the great efforts to eradicate GBV within our society. The Judiciary has made itself a fortress in delivery of effective corrective sentences in order to warn malcontents of the society against such delinquency, rogue and obsolete skirmishes. The imposition of mandatory sentences for crimes such as rape, physical assault being implemented serve as stern measures in putting an end to GBV, have helped in establishing safe community for all.
As I articulate my final point, I call upon all stakeholders to actively participate in the fight against GBV. I strongly advocate for measures to be put in place so that everyone can access social, health and psycho-social support services for integration into society. Victims of GBV must be provided with quick and easy access to the justice system and services such as legal aid to the disadvantaged, protection order and we call for the expeditious handling of cases to do with GBV through establishment of dedicated specialised courts. I implore all the citizens to be vigilant in guarding against GBV in our communities. Post traumatic counselling and support services should be decentralised so that they can be accessed by people in the rural areas. I put it to the House that we facilitate more community outreach programmes, the creation of support groups and increase economic emancipation of our people so that they develop themselves more. There is need for delivery of immediate medical attention and sexual and reproductive health services as well as referral and follow-up care for victims of GBV in communities. I thank you.
ooHON. SEN. FANUEL: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity and I will speak in Tonga. I am talking about GBV, the man and his woman having violence in the house. This violence is mainly found against women. Men are abusing women and when women get to the police station, they change statements because the men would have intimidated them. Women have no power, but they have a lot of challenges in the house. Women have a right to education, a right to educate their children, a right to proper clothing and a right to marry.
When men see other women, they end up not liking their wives. In my tradition in Binga, a man can marry as many as four wives, but the time when you find out that there is violence is when the wife does not get sexual satisfaction. I will give an example; if they are having a big farm, you find that the harvest is mainly given to the second wife. Women should be taught projects so that they can empower themselves. Women are being abused in the homes because they are not empowered. So because of women abuse, you find that children are not sent to school because a lot of money is taken for beer drinking and also to other women or buying drugs.
Women have a lot of challenges, especially when they are pregnant and when they go for testing at the hospital because the Government has a policy that when a woman is pregnant, they should go with their spouses for testing, but you find the men are refusing to go for testing together with their wives. The violence is found even with children because they are not attending school. The husband is fighting in front of children instead of showing love to the wife. The man should show love to the wife so that the community can develop. The government is helping a lot in giving out food through social welfare. Therefore, with those words, I thank you Mr. President.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (HON. SEN. M. MUTSVANGWA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank Hon. Senators in this august House for this very vibrant debate. It is truly an honour for me to stand here as the Minister in charge of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises to respond to a number of issues which were raised by a number of Hon. Senators in this House, including the four Senators who have contributed to the debate today. Hon. Members, the spirited debate in this House which was conducted after Hon. Sen. Mbohwa raised this motion, just shows that my fellow Hon. Members, you are very much concerned about the issues of women empowerment.
Issues of women empowerment are not just about human rights issues. These are economic issues. I have heard clearly from those who have debated that if we empower the mother from grassroots level, they will be able to bring up empowered children. If we bring up our children in a violence free home, those children will definitely succeed in their future lives. The issues which you were talking about cut across. I am glad that in this august House, Hon. Senators did actually debate with that spirit that we need to prevent GBV. We need to make sure that we deal with child marriages because those are things which will not make us achieve Vision 2030 which our President is always talking about.
The issues which I would like to respond to are many because they were raised and there were a number of issues which were raised, but just talking about the Commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, I would like you to know that our Ministry and as a country, the issues about GBV, the issues about making sure we deal with child marriages is not a one day event or during the day of 16 days. It is an everyday issue. We are looking at the 16 Days of Activism. It is like spotlighting on GBV during that time.
So I want to say Hon. Senators, through you Mr. President, that the debate really gives us a greater impetus as a Ministry because all what was said in this House means a lot to us as we carry out the mandate of empowering women of this country, as we carry out other mandates which we do have in the Ministry, of supporting the Small and Medium Enterprises as we carry out the other mandate of the Ministry which is community development. So I want to thank all of you in this House for that spirited debate.
I also want to say indeed, we must acknowledge the seriousness of this issue. This is for each and everyone to think deep and when we think deep, clearly, we should take all that has been debated in this House and all the efforts that the Government is making to ensure that we all work as a multi-sectoral approach towards solutions – and it can be done.
Allow me therefore, to provide detailed responses to the issues that were raised in this House concerning the recommendation that the Government initiates enactment of laws that will deter Gender-Based Violence to perpetrators and also provide for stiffer penalties. My Ministry applauds the passing of a mandatory sentence for rape, that I hope will provide sufficient deterrents to would-be offenders.
However, we note with concern that there are no guidelines for sentencing GBV perpetrators. Guidelines for sentencing GBV perpetrators need to be statutory. When they are statutory then they can ensure that they are implemented. There is need for clear articulation of the definition of consent in the Criminal Law Code and ensure that the victim is involved in the sentencing process by making use of victim impact statements in considering sentences. This will then help to inform courts on the extent of harm suffered by purposes of imposing an appropriate sentence. The Act should also increase jurisdiction or special jurisdiction for regional magistrates in respect of sexual offences. Special and separate courts for sexual offences should be created to provide for the protection of victims by having in-camera courts sessions and dedicated sexual offences court to expedite the sentencing of cases.
My Ministry will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in ensuring that our laws to continue to be reviewed. They have to continue to be amended and developed to ensure that deterrent sentencing is exercised in the courts. I will also continue to engage the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs regarding specialised courts that handle sexual offences to be in place at all levels.
We heard Hon. Shiri talking about no one being left behind, even people with disabilities. The Ministry wishes to take this opportunity to applaud Statutory 2 of 2024 Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) on the protection of children and young persons that harmonises the age of 18 as the age of sexual consent and marriage.
Concerning the other recommendation that came out of this debate in this august House, is that GBV should also be included in the Educational Curriculum from ECD so that our children as they grow up refrain from GBV. Indeed, it is important to have GBV as part of the curriculum to ensure that awareness is raised among our children and as a tool for mindset change. It is important when we talk about issues like these, it is a mindset change. This curriculum starting from that early stage will help a lot.
We are also working with mothers as they bring up their children to make sure that a boy child, a girl child are all children with talents, born with them and if we nurture those talents, that will help the development of this country. So, we are working hard to make sure that is done.
Another concern that was raised in this august House concerns the recommendation that GBV should also be included. We will definitely be working with you Hon. Members to make sure that the empowerment of women, when it comes to grassroots level, we will do it together and this is what we applaud the Government of the Second Republic that has managed to actually equip and make sure that we have engaged ward coordinators who will report to our Ministry. In your wards, we have the Ward Coordinators and the District Development Coordinators in all the 10 provinces. Provincial Coordinators are waiting to work with you as leaders in those areas so that we eliminate Gender-Based Violence.
With respect to the recommendation that Government creates Government funded GBV systems to systematically gather the segregated data on the prevalence of femicides based on the types of GBV and identify the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, the Ministry, in partnership with development partners, and in this particular case UNFPA and UNICEF, have initiated the process of developing the GBV Information Management System. The system, when fully functional, will assist in collecting GBV data and this data will include data on femicide. The system is yet to be functional as it is facing resource constraints for its full implementation and roll-out. There is need for funding to enable procurement of hardware equipment for the system and to provide for the running costs of the system.
I however, wish to acknowledge the Zimbabwe Republic Police who are currently collecting data on all the major forms of GBV and we shall engage them to include data on femicides. ZIMSTAT will also support the operationalisation of this GBV Information Management System.
With regards to the recommendation that the Government puts in place safe houses in every ward or constituency, I would like to let this august House know that the Ministry notes that this is ideal. It is ideal that the Government establishes safe houses in every ward or constituency as highlighted by Hon. Members. However, running these shelters is very costly and requires a strong budget to sustain them in an effort to ensure that services are availed to those in need. The Ministry, in partnership with development partners, civil society organisations to establish shelters – a lot of work has been done.
Talking about safe shelters, this is a very key call-in preventing Gender-Based Violence. We cannot continuously talk to the women and say you should stay in a home where you are being oppressed, where you are being hit every day, where Gender-Based Violence happens, where your children are being abused, where your children are actually sent for marriage at a tender age without providing a place for that woman to go. It is not enough for that woman to say go and report to the police because obviously if the police have no safe shelter, that person will have to go back to the perpetrator and you know what that means. So, the issue of safe shelters is critical because we want the Gender-Based Violence victims and survivors to be able to go somewhere where they will be looked after, where they know their children are safe, where they know they can work and if they want to sell their wares there is a market. We have already started working on that.
To date, we have established 23 safe shelters in this country through the Government of the Second Republic. Hon. Members in your areas, you can visit these safe shelters, we have one in Muzarabani, Mbire, Murehwa, Buhera, Bocha, Mutare, Mutasa, Hurungwe, Masvingo, Bikita, Gutu, Mwenezi, Mazowe, Gweru, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Tsholotsho, Hwange, Gokwe, Chivhu, Umzingwane and Bubi. Our target Hon. Senators, is to have that shelter in each of the administrative districts of our country. So we are working hard, we have 61 districts and the Ministry is working hard to make sure that our district officers are well equipped in terms of being mobile so that at least where they hear a cry of a woman being abused, a child who is being abused can go there and help. So these are the works which your Ministry is doing.
I agree with you Hon. Senators, it is therefore crucial that the Government dedicates resources to the running of safe shelters and supports these operations from the fiscus to ensure sustainability and continuity of service if support from partners is no longer available. Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, so we need that sustainability.
Whilst I am at this stage, please allow me to thank the Hon. Senators for the vibrant debate at the pre-budget workshop where we saw Members of Parliament talking with passion about increasing the budget of the Ministry in charge of the people, the Ministry in charge of SMEs and Community Development. I want to thank you for that.
Mr. President, the other concern that was raised in this House is the recommendation that the Government strengthen the GBV council so that it can launch a task force to assess institutional responses, Gender-Based Violence, and key gaps. Hon. Members, allow me first to clarify that there is no legal framework that provides for the establishment of the GBV council but instead, the Domestic Violence Act provides for the establishment of the anti-domestic violence council. The Domestic Violence Act is administered by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. My Ministry will be engaging the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to map a way forward about constituting and operationalising the council to ensure that it carries its statutory mandate.
Another issue was raised in this august House and I am going to respond to all. About the recommendations that the Government strengthen measures to prevent GBV, protect women and prosecute cases, the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry, developed a High-level Political Compact on ending GBV and harmful practices. This Compact was signed by our President Dr. E.D Mnangagwa together with other stakeholders including UN agencies, donors, independent commissions, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, and religious leaders. The Compact presents commitment from the highest office towards ending Gender-Based Violence and harmful practices.
In addition, the Ministry has reviewed the national strategy for Gender-Based Violence. This document gives strategic guidance and enhances the coordination of programmes on GBV. The Ministry is running prevention and response programmes to Gender-Based Violence. Some of the prevention programmes include awareness campaigns on GBV and child marriages, conducting dialogues with traditional and some religious leaders, promoting the economic empowerment of women and girls and male engagement sessions.
Hon. Senators, it is critical to empower the women and this is our mandate. Our mandate is to make sure we empower women from the grassroots level. Yes, through many interventions, we do that through funding but before you even avail, whether it is a loan to a woman, you need to give them skills and business entrepreneurship skills and this is what the Ministry is doing. We are happy you all know that after that debate during the debate sessions, a little more was put into the Women Micro Finance Bank. This is critical because when you empower a woman; I listened carefully to Hon. Sen. Fanuel, although I could not hear the whole debate because there was a technical problem here. I think what was critical in her contribution was to say let us empower women. When we empower women, we know that whatever cent a woman gets, will go into the family upbringing, family development, making sure the children have eaten and making sure the children have gone to school. All this is an economic debate, it is not about women's rights only.
As a Ministry, when we look at Gender-Based Violence, we are aware that there are also males who are also confronted with Gender-Based Violence but in terms of numbers, we know that most of the Gender-Based Violence victims are women and girls. We are saying we are going to increase male engagement sessions; it is important and I feel that as a country, together with Members of Parliament, should all be going out there to make sure that we engage everyone and all stakeholders to end GBV.
The boy child must know that as they are growing up in a family, her sister is capable and can do a lot of things. It is critical to avail the same kind of time for them to do studies so that they can compete fairly as they go to school. So these are the issues that we will be discussing as we continue to engage with women.
The establishment of one-stop centers and safe shelters to provide protection services to GBV survivors, I cannot over-emphasise that. We want a place where if a woman is being victimised, like Hon. Fanuel was saying, these men get money and go to the bar, take drugs and come home with no money for food or school. As Government, we are looking into all those issues and I will talk about that.
However, what is important is that Gender-Based Violence survivors need a safe house to go to. When they go to report, they should be able to talk to the police, they should be able to talk to a legal officer or a counselor. When somebody gets violated, it does not mean they have stopped loving that person, so one needs to go through counselling, and report to police to see that justice has prevailed. They also need to know if their children are safe and have food and shelter. So a safe place which we are creating as a Ministry, there will be a market, a safe market so that the Gender-Based Violence victims can sell their wares, there is a creche which is well secured so that the children are well taken care of whilst they are looking for money to provide for their children.
There is also a one-stop center where there is a counsellor, we work with a lot of CSOs, Musasa Project and many others where there is also a health person. We know all these issues issues are critical in dealing with Gender-based Violence survivors. So women’s economic empowerment is key in the prevention of GBV and child marriages. My Ministry will continue to assist women through the Women Development Fund as a way to train our women and also various income generating projects to support their livelihoods. It is a revolving fund; it requires you as Hon. Members in your areas to help organise women in your areas so that they come together and come up with a business project proposal. We are not given enough in terms of resources that we all know, but this is important to make sure that at least in your areas, women of the same level should come together as a consortium.
There are different levels in business. One who is looking for money to feed children and one who is looking for an investment to get a return on it cannot be joined. They form a consortium and go to the district officer or ward officer to make sure that they at least access this revolving Women Development Fund. They need training in those income generating projects so that at least they support their livelihoods.
Mr. President, concerning the recommendation that Government coordinate efforts across different sectors to end GBV and improve oversight of the police and security personnel to prevent abuse of power by providing gender responsive training, this is very critical. Hon. Members, you may be aware that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community SME Development is the Government’s arm mandated to coordinate gender mainstreaming and women empowerment as well as GBV programming across all Government ministries as well as other stakeholders outside of State institutions in the implementation of gender equality and women empowerment programmes frameworks and action plans.
The Ministry is decentralised and as I said before, we are very grateful because we have officers all the way to the ward level. There are ward coordinators in your wards. We have got district coordinators in all the 10 provinces, make use of them. The objectives of coordinating the meetings is to ensure that programmes are well coordinated. In addition, the Ministry is in the process of revitalising the national gender mainstreaming, the gender machinery which is a key mechanism in coordinating all gender related programmes in the country.
Mr. President, another issue of importance was raised in this Senate and I will respond to it. With regard to the recommendation on the need to increase interventions that ensure that men can comfortably report cases of GBV without facing stigma, it is important when we speak about GBV, the damage it causes to human beings whether male or what, a person living with disability, it damages a human being. We as a Ministry, as I said, are actually upping our engagement with males Padare. We want to understand.
Truly speaking, when you look at the statistics today, we have more women and girls as victims of Gender-Based Violence, but we know there are men who are also being abused and we are looking at that and helping on that note. So there are these male engagement programmes which are in place that seek to promote men and champions for ending Gender-Based Violence. These engagements create platform for men to share their ideas. The Ministry acknowledges that there are fewer men that are reporting cases of GBV and maybe this is emanating from some societal beliefs regarding gender violence to address these challenges, the Ministry has initiated the process of developing a male engagement strategy and this strategy will look into issues of access to services by male GBV survivors also.
Talking about the Victim Friendly Unit, the VFU has been capacitated to support both female and male survivors of GBV in a supportive way, young men and boys are engaged through the Gota programme which was initiated by our First Lady. This progamme enforces positive masculinity and the word is positive masculinity. It encourages them to speak out should they fall victims to any form of abuse.
I agree these are opportunities where boys and men share their views and we now want to come on board even the women to talk about the evils of Gender-Based Violence, how it is detrimental to a development of a country. A lot of people think that when we are talking about women empowerment issues, it is derogatory and it is for women. No, it is an economic issue, if we are going to achieve vision 2030, we need to take seriously these evils of Gender-Based Violence, child marriages and all the empowerment we need to do.
There is another issue Hon. President, with regards to the august Senate’s concern that the Sexual Harassment Policy remains effective until enacted into an Act of Parliament. Hon. Members, please be informed that processes are under way towards enacting a comprehensive sexual harassment and gender equality legislation. This also emanated as a recommendation from the sixth cycle of the CEDAW Committee in which we as a country are a member. We have to do it, it is important.
The Ministry, in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, have drafted the principles which are being worked out at the Attorney General’s Office for consideration. Currently, it may be noted that indeed we have all these covered in several statutes such as the Criminal Code and others which might need to be harmonised to clearly address these gaps which are being highlighted.
Mr. President, my Hon. Senators, with regards to the recommendations that the Government finalises the alignment of Gender- Based Violence related laws with the Constitution, especially child marriage laws, particularly harmonisation of the age of consent and legal age, marriage including the introduction of punitive and deterrent sentences to perpetrators of all forms of Gender-Based Violence, a very important issue indeed which was raised in this august Senate.
Hon. Members, as you are aware, His Excellency, President Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, through Statutory Instrument 2 of 2024, has ensured that our laws are harmonised on the issue of age of consent and the legal age of marriage in an effort to protect young women and men from those who may try to sexually exploit them. I am grateful for these positive steps we have made as a country. As people of this country, we should applaud this Statutory Instrument that our President has put in place. This Statutory Instrument has also increased more punitive measures in an effort to deter and eradicate child marriages, Gender-Based Violence and the sexual exploitation of minors.
Mr. President, there was another issue that was raised in the Senate. I would like to respond to it. With regard to the recommendations that Government adopts and implements the SADC Model Law on preventing and addressing Gender-Based Violence. Further, as we seek to review the National Action Plan and Communication Strategy on ending child marriages, our interventions will be guided by the SADC Model Law. We are a member of SADC and it was developed by SADC.
I move on to issues that were raised in the House which I am responding to Mr. President. Concerning the recommendation that the Government reviews the labour laws so that sexual harassment is legally recognised and criminal sanctions and compensation provided for through the enactment of the Sexual Harassment Act; issues of Sexual Harassment Act, especially at work places, we are seized with those at the Ministry and we will be starting to carry out a number of workshops in workplaces in the public service, private sector, farms and rural areas because it is important that we stop that harassment. It makes a woman lose her dignity. We need to highlight and talk about it and be able to create a place where women who are sexually harassed at work report too.
We are looking at creating a toll-free line. Maybe it can be managed by the Gender Commission because we are seeing sexual harassment at work places. When you report to the boss at that place, maybe that will be one of the perpetrators and so nothing will happen to him or her. We really need to work on that one.
Let me also say the Labour Act Amendment No. 11 of 2023 expands the provision of sexual harassment to include a clear definition of what constitutes sexual harassment. Some people think Gender-Based Violence is just about physical violence. Sexual harassment is Gender-Based Violence. It is violence and when it is directed to a person, it needs to be dealt with. So, in the context of section C of 3 and section 8 which goes further to outline that sexual harassment refers to a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices, I think this goes to what Hon. Shiri was talking about, even using derogatory language is harassment. Threats are harassment, whether they are a single occurrence or occur many times. These are harassments, so we need to look at all that.
What is the result of these harassments? What is the result of this Gender-Based Violence? Physically, psychologically, sexual or economic harm includes Gender-Based Violence and harassment, so we take sexual harassment as part of Gender-Based Violence.
Through this amendment, the perpetrator of sexual harassment may face civil law suits and criminal charges depending on the severity of the harassment. It is important to note that the specific legal consequences may vary depending on the nature and circumstances of the harassment. My Ministry continues to engage key line ministries, you Members of Parliament and other stakeholders, to ensure that sexual harassment is dealt with.
Mr. President, with regards to the issue that the Treasury adequately fund the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Small to Medium Enterprises Development so that it can perform its mandate effectively, we are so very grateful once again. I really have to say this, I saw a very spirited debate. It was robust and I think the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion listened very well to the debate which was carried here by a lot of Hon. Members.
Hon. Senators, we did not get enough to carry out this mandate we are talking about, but we got something and of course for that, we thank you. Hon. Senators, particularly at this point, I want to thank our Committee especially the Hon. Chair. I also want to thank Hon. Shiri who raised the debate to a certain level for the need for the Ministry to be empowered. I want to thank specifically Hon. Sen. Mbohwa as the Caucus Chair for the work you did and the passion which you have been really getting out within the House and outside. That is appreciated.
Let me assure you Hon. Members, all those who debated before and today, your efforts will not go in vain. As your Ministry, we will increase our drive towards increasing safe spaces, addressing an increasing Gender-Based Violence awareness and empowering and uplifting women and communities and we are talking here of both women and men and not leaving, in particular women and people living with disabilities.
Mr. President, another concern was raised in this House. The concern was the recommendation that there is need to address human trafficking as a form of Gender-Based Violence as women and girls are being exploited and subjected to all types of Gender-Based Violence because of the push and pull factors which are present in our societies. This is happening through internal trafficking or external trafficking.
Hon. Senators, the strategy to prevent and address Gender-Based Violence which I talked about, 2023 up to 2030, identifies human trafficking as an emerging form of GBV which is also very complex in nature and requires the Government to employ effective strategies through a multi-sectoral approach. The department of Immigration has gone a step ahead in setting up a GBV toll-free line to assist victims of human trafficking and this can be accessed by Zimbabwean citizens who might find themselves in such a predicament. As leaders, we need to trickle down this information.
Our embassies abroad and regionally, have also been instrumental in supporting victims to find their way back. Our Parliament has been very instrumental in bringing back our people as seen in 2021 when at least 100 trafficked victims were repatriated home. So the work you do has actually found these results, bringing 100 people who had been trafficked. That is a lot of work which our Parliament and our stakeholders have been doing.
Before I conclude, I think it is proper for me just to mention, I know I have responded to a lot of the issues which were raised by the four who debated the motion today. Hon. Hungwe, on the the drug issue. True is it exacerbating Gender-Based Violence and this is why the Government is not taking it lightly. That is why an Inter-Ministerial Task Force was formed and is being led at a very high level by the Minister of Defence. That task force brings in stakeholders like religious leaders, that is the church and the traditional leaders, our revered chiefs. They come and we are talking to say, how do we stop this? We can see a whole generation being destroyed. How do we safeguard our borders which have become so porous? How do we teach our children in the home? How do we deal with child-headed families where there is no one to give them the right direction? These are issues which the Government is dealing with through that Inter-Ministerial Task Force.
Hon. Shiri, I think you emphasised that every human being is the same. We have all our rights enshrined in the Constitution, which is the supreme law of this country. It is only fair to make sure that those rights are upheld and when they are trampled upon, action should be taken. We have a very good Constitution which enshrines a lot of good provisions about women, but I think it is about time that we work hard for implementation of each and every section in that Constitution.
It is important to come up with Braille so that those who are not able to hear what is going on, they can be able to read. All these are issues we are all working together. Empowerment issues are all for women, I talked about that. Women should benefit from affirmative action. You cannot run away from it. The fact is, women were doubled or trebled oppression before independence, oppressed in their homes, oppressed in the community, oppressed by the colonialists. What we are happy about are the policies of the Revolutionary Party that after attaining independence of this country, we educate the girl child. We have to make sure that, that effort and those policies, we actually receive the benefits from them. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
We have seen zvipo hazvinzi ndezve vakomana kana ndezve vasikana. Every child, boy or girl is born with some talents and as mothers, we continue to teach them, please harness those talents, help them to come out. They will change this country. We need each and everyone to bring this country to Vision 2030 of Upper Middle-Income Economy. I think Hon. Fanuel, I have answered to what you were talking about, the issue of pregnant mothers who are suffering. The issue of refusing to go with them and the violence around that. I want to say, as I conclude, it is evident, truly effective and comprehensive measures are essential in addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV). As a Ministry, we are committed to work in collaboration with all other stakeholders. Specifically, with you Members of Parliament, to ensure the enactment of laws, provision of services and implementation of awareness programmes to combat GBV and achieve positive social and cultural change.
I want to end by thanking Hon. Sen. Mbohwa for raising such an important motion in this august House. I also want to thank all Senators who have actually debated this important issue. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you very much Hon. Minister. This is exactly what we expect. We expect the relevant Ministers to come and respond to debates related to their ministries. It gives all of us encouragement to continue bringing up motions because we know we will have responses. In this instance, thank you once again Hon. Minister Mutsvangwa. You did not only do what is expected of you as a Minister, but you really showed that you have some passion over such type of motion that was brought in here. I want to make a clarion call to all other Ministers, whose ministries are related to motions that are being discussed here to follow suit.
HON. SEN. MBOHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 14th February, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drug and substance abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to support the motion on drug and substance abuse. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Dube for bringing this very important motion which has caused havoc in our country. Over the past 20 years, there has been a 40% increase in drug and substance abuse worldwide. According to statistics by Accountability Laboratory, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to experience an additional 40% increase by 2024.
However, it is worrisome to note that Zimbabwe has the highest number of 15 to19 year olds in Sub-Saharan Africa who engage in episodic drinking, which is about 70% among men and 55% among women according to the research. Patients in mental health institutions admitted for drug and substance abuse reported in Zimbabwe were about 60% of the total patients in 2023. Madam President, allow me to appreciate His Excellency the President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa, who instigated the development of the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan on Treatment and Rehabilitation Guidelines of Alcohol and Substance Disorder in Zimbabwe, through an Inter-Ministerial Committee.
The Master Plan provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to tackle substance abuse in the country. The plan establishes a coordinated, inclusive, holistic response to drug abuse and pursues three broad objectives to:
- Reduce demand
- Reduce harm and
- Reduce supply
The treatment and rehabilitation guidelines focus on infrastructure development, support groups and patient care.
However, while we have talked the talk on addressing drug and substance abuse through policies, some of the key challenges that have the potential to undermine Government efforts include limited public access to information on the nature and extent of substance use in the country and the slow implementation of the Master Plan and the Treatment and Rehabilitation Guidelines. The slow implementation of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Guidelines has left two significant problems unaddressed which are;
- Limited specialist treatment facilities
Public health treatment specialists which results in high patient-staff ratio.
The state of mental health professionals in Zimbabwe is as follows:
Registered mental health nurses |
Psychiatrists |
Clinical psychologists |
Clinical social workers |
Occupational therapists |
917 |
17 |
6 |
13 |
10 |
Source: Accountability Laboratory
Madam President, it is against this background that the Government should:
Develop and adopt a national monitoring system
This monitoring system should provide accurate and timely information on progress toward realising the goals set in the Master Plan and implementing related policy statements. The creation of a National Monitoring System is also in line with the broad objective of the National Strategic Plan for Mental Health Services in Zimbabwe, which advances the need for the formation of a mental health research database compiling all research done on mental health issues nationally and coordination of relevant national studies on pertinent mental health issues.
Improve public access to information on progress in implementing the Master Plan.
Systematic and speedy implementation of the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan (ZNSMP) as well as increasing public awareness on this instrument and all other existing plans and programmes designed underway to curb drug and substance abuse.
- A shift in response from a heavily legalistic approach towards public health accountability and human centered approach that increased the uptake of treatment services and promotes healthy living, especially among the youths. This entails a dial-down on the criminalisation of some elements of drug and substance abuse in the country’s various laws to ease the challenges and increase the chances of young people seeking help when they suffer from substance use disorders.
Parliament should also consider prioritising the review and straightening of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Chapter 15:02) and the Criminal law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23) in line with international standards. This should include more recent drugs such as methamphetamine (guka/mutoriro or dombo). The ambiguity arising from Schedule II of the Dangerous Drug Act with regards to the scientific debate on what constitutes methamphetamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and the Interpretation that the former is not a listed dangerous drug as it is distinct from the latter, should be addressed to expressly include crystal meth (mutoriro) and remove the undesired technical leeway that offenders take advantage of to be freed drug during appreciation and prosecution conducted by officers of the law. According to Accountability Lab, drug peddlers are released on minor technicalities because existing laws do not name new types of drugs on the market.
As I conclude, allow me to mention that drug abuse is a growing public health and security problem not only in Zimbabwe but regionally and all over the world. There is therefore, urgent need for a holistic approach to protect our youths from the drug abuse pandemic, in particular declaring it a national state of disaster.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SME (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 14th February, 2024.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA), the Senate adjourned at Twenty-Two Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 8th February, 2024
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
LATE ATTENDANCE TO THE BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I observed that on my left, five Members came in after prayers and on my right, eight members came in after prayers. You have to be here and we start prayers together.
An Hon. Member having walked in from the right side.
THE HON. SPEAKER: And that makes it 14 on my right.
HON. ZEMURA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir!
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is the point of privilege Hon. Member?
HON. ZEMURA: My point of privilege Hon. Speaker Sir, is that in 2019 during the Nineth Parliament, we were allotted stand numbers here in Harare. We paid for the stands but to date, we have not been shown the stands. Is it Government policy to say, you are an Hon. Member but you are not given your dues? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The manner you crafted your question, was a question meant for yesterday – that was not a statement or a point of privilege. You directed to the Executive. Have you all paid? – [HON MEMBERS: Yes, we paid!] – Hon. Zhou, please take the floor.
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. The stands were for the Eighth Parliament, we paid and have the requisite documentation.
THE HON. SPEAKER: So, what is outstanding?
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: The servicing and we were supposed to be shown the stands.
* THE HON. SPEAKER: Aaah, ko imimi maibhadharira sei chinhu chamusina kuona?– [Laughter.] – When you buy a loaf of bread and you do not touch it, that is very abnormal. So, the first thing is, I think we need to get the stands serviced as soon as possible. Thereafter, they will be pegged accordingly. I think the Clerk of Parliament will work on that immediately. Do you want to clarify something?
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Yes, Mr. Speaker Sir. The assurance that was there was, we were given the stand numbers and lease agreements.
THE HON. SPEAKER: But you did not see them?
HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: We did not see them. They said that they wanted them to be serviced first. I think your Office is seized with the matter.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You know, had you been in court, you would be a redundant witness. Let me be advised by the Clerk of Parliament before I respond. Thank you very much. Administrative issues are directed to the office of the Clerk of Parliament. If you do not get any joy from the Clerk, you can approach my office, and these matters are handled by the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. Having said that, let me follow up on the issues and see how we can, first and foremost, make some arrangements with the Ministry of Local Government so that you have sight of the stands next week.
We also find out how far the Ministry has gone in terms of getting the necessary funding to do the services for utilities, that is electricity, water and sewerage reticulation. So that should be done next week and we will be able to come back to you and report. Ordinarily, these issues are very administrate, if you had said you went to the Clerk’s Office and you did not get any joy and also came to my office and found my office closed for the whole two weeks, then I would understand, but we will deal with the situation by next week. Thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker Sir. While I appreciate and agree with what you have given us as advice, we are talking of 2013, this is eleven years to date, and we have heard, I think so many meetings. I have sat down with the Clerks so many times. We have raised this thing; this is the Eighth Parliament; the Ninth Parliament received a stand even in this Tenth Parliament, we are supposed to receive because it is part of our benefits. So I think it is a matter that needs the Hon. Speaker to escalate it not for us to sit down with the people from the Local Government, they will not even listen to us. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I hear your plea. I think indirectly you have whipped me and I am so whipped accordingly. Let us see things happening next week. On the same note, Hon. Members, we are liaising with Mazowe Rural District Council and the Ministry of Local Government in terms of the new plans for the Smart City so that the stands that belong to Mazowe Rural District Council are disaggregated accordingly and then the rest of the stands which comprise low density, high density and medium density are within the vicinity of Mt. Hampden. There will not be any harm in getting stands here and we get rid of whatever you have got on the other side. This applies also to the staff, the staff of Parliament at the moment, have to travel 55 km one way especially those from Chitungwiza and Norton, Norton is about 65 km away. I think the ideal situation is that we have our stands around the Parliament Building. Who knows, God willing, we might also negotiate for a hotel for Members of Parliament around here in Mt Hampden so that you do not have to stay out there far away from Parliament? You ought to pray for good things - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – you do not want a Hotel? This will be a hotel dedicated to yourselves like what they have in Zambia. It is very ideal. Thank you Hon. Zemura for that point of privilege.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Sometime last year before Christmas, I raised a point of national importance in this House with regards to the provincial councils which went through an election and were declared as winners, but up to date, they have not been sworn in, nor have they started their duties.
That office has a clear reference in our Constitution, but there is no instrument or Act to enable them to start doing their duties. With your indulgence, Hon. Speaker Sir, you referred this issue to be taken up by the Government Chief Whip whereby you advised that the Ministry of Local Government, in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs, have to come up with an enabling Act so that this Committee will start work, but up to date, no work. I would not know probably something had come up whilst I was serving my suspension, but that is my prayer.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I do not know why you have to underline the serving of your suspension. I have your sympathies. I think if you recall, the first thing was to amend the Constitution because the previous provisions indicated that Members of Parliament would sit at the provincial councils’ level.
We thought that was very unwieldy and the Constitution has been amended accordingly to remove Members of Parliament from the provincial councils so that they could exercise oversight accordingly. What remains now is to have the Bill as you rightly say Hon. Mutseyami, before Parliament here, so that the Act is enacted and the provincial councils begin to work.
Let me follow up on that one with the Minister of Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs in liaison with the Minister of Local Government as well as the Attorney-General. We need that Bill so that the provincial councils are operational. If you can indulge, we follow that process accordingly. A very important point of privilege indeed. Thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 14 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Orders of the Day Numbers 15 and 16 have been disposed of.
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
COMMITTEE STAGE
ADVERSE REPORT BY THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE ON THE DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION BILL [H. B. 5, 2023]
Fifteenth Order read: Consideration of an adverse report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill.
House in Committee.
HON. NDUDZO: I am indebted Mr. Chairperson. Good afternoon to you. I rise on Standing Order No. 36 to present the report of the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill. If it pleases you Hon. Chair, I will read the report.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON (HON. MACHINGURA): Yes proceed.
HON. NDUDZO: In pursuit of its Constitutional mandate as provided for in Section 152 of the Constitution, the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the 23rd of January, 2023, met to consider the Death Penalty Abolition Bill. After deliberations, it was unanimously resolved that an adverse report be issued in respect of the Bill due to the following considerations;
Section 48 subsection (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe stipulates that, “A law may permit the death penalty to be imposed only on a person convicted of murder committed in aggravating circumstances”. The way section 48 (2) is couched allows a law permitting the death penalty to be enacted. Section 2 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that the Constitution is the supreme law of Zimbabwe and any law, practice, custom and conduct inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of the inconsistence.
The enactment of the Death Penalty Abolition Bill contravenes Section (2) and Section 48 (2) of the Constitution in that it seeks to abolish what has been permitted by the Constitution. It is inconsistent with the spirit and purpose of Section 48 (2) which is permissive to a death penalty law being enacted. Section 328 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe defines a Constitutional Bill as a Bill that seeks to amend the Constitution. Subsection (2) further states that an Act of Parliament that amends the Constitution must do so in express terms. The import of the Death Penalty Abolition Bill infact, seeks to amend the provisions of the Constitution, in particular Section 48 (2) of the Constitution. The Bill is not a Constitutional Bill as it does not expressly state that it seeks to amend the Constitution.
Therefore, the proposed Bill takes away the permissive intention of the Constitution to have a death penalty and in any case, if any amendment is to be proposed on the death penalty, it is our considered opinion that it has to be introduced as a Constitutional Amendment Bill. Mr. Chairperson, that is the report of the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Let me start by saying I have looked into the report submitted by the Parliamentary Legal Committee. Mr. Chairman, it is my submission that I respectively disagree with the finding and opinion that has been submitted to this august House. Mr. Chairman, I have taken opinion and also before we introduced this Bill to this august House from legal personnel, retired judges and also fundis in this issue.
Mr. Chairman, I am going to state the following, first and foremost, Section 48 of the Constitution which is the Right to Life, our Constitution. Our Constitution protects the right to life. That is the first and fundamental issue that I want to submit. The second issue is that if you read Section 48 (2), it says a law may permit the death penalty to be imposed only on a person convicted of murder committed in aggravating circumstances. The key word there is ‘may’. It is not saying a law must.
What has happened, Hon. Chair, is that the death penalty is not a creation of the Constitution, but what has happened is that the framers of the 2013 Constitution gave that power to the people of Zimbabwe and to their Parliament to either make a law or not to make a law that introduces a death penalty. This is the reason, Hon. Chair, I believe that the point of departure which I believe the Committee erred is not to remove or to temper with the provision. What basically it does and I am going to give you the historical background, we crafted this Constitution in 2013 and from 2013, there was no law that approved the death penalty. Unfortunately, the High Court judges were actually coming up with the death penalty sentence until the Supreme Court made a ruling to simply say in the Constitution, there is no law that provides for the death penalty. What then transpired Hon. Chair is that the then Parliament in 2016 brought an amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act that introduced the death penalty.
The issue, Hon. Chair, is that the import of this Bill is specific. If you go through the provisions that are there in the Bill, Clauses 3, 4, 5 which are the operative clauses of this Bill, they tend to do one thing. They tend to amend the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act. That is what it seeks to do. What does this say Hon. Chair? The power of the Constitution is not being taken away. In fact, what this means is that this Parliament should and I am glad that two days ago, the Cabinet of Zimbabwe led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, approved the principles of this Bill having gone through the various technical support in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the other arms of Government.
Why Hon. Chair? The reason is simple. Parliament has got the right to amend an Act of Parliament. You can introduce an Act of Parliament and Parliament also has the power to amend an Act of Parliament. For the Committee to then present to say this Parliament cannot amend an Act of Parliament, I think legally it is not correct. The same thing if you read the Constitution. Our Constitution talks on, for instance, the President has got the power to appoint certain key personnel. The President is allowed to appoint Ministers, the Attorney-General, but where there is a provision where it says the President can appoint, it does not remove the fact that the President can actually remove the person that he has appointed.
What basically we are saying, Hon. Chair, is that the decision taken by the PLC is fundamentally flawed and I know where the problem is. It is coming from that misunderstanding. What they need to understand is that let us assume this Parliament, because the Government has also taken it on board, we remove the death penalty from our statutes. Another Parliament comes; they can use Section 48 (2) of the Constitution, introduce another Bill to reintroduce the death penalty. So, what you can actually tell, Hon. Chair, is that what we are doing is, we are basically looking into the amendments of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
I have had the chance to discuss this issue with the Chairperson of the PLC showing the various opinions that have come in respect to the adverse report that they had issued. Hon. Chairman, I had also suggested because if for instance, the PLC, if you read the Bill in the manner that it is, one of the ways that we could basically try to come to a sort of a compromise, is then to seek an amendment to Clause 1 and Clause 2 of the Bill so that instead of saying Death Abolishment Bill, we basically say that it is an amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
So, we amend that Clause 1 then we also amend Clause 2 of the Bill which basically would then mean we are now removing any reference which is mentioned in Clause 2 on the abolishment of the death penalty. If we do that, Hon. Chair, what it means is that if you go through Clauses 3, 4, 5, it then talks specifically to the amendment of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act and that Hon. Chair, there is no problem of variation because it does not touch on any aspect that can actually be defined as a constitutional matter.
Hon. Chair, before I sit down, I just want to state that this Parliament and the people of Zimbabwe have got the power to make laws and once you make a law and you feel that this law is not meeting the intended intention, you know Parliament has also the power to amend the laws. This is the reason why, Hon. Chair, you find that we have actually come into this august House with quite a number of laws – the Finance Bills which pass the Finance Act. We then realise that after they come into operation, they have created problems. We come back here, and we can then amend. What we are basically doing, Hon. Chair, is that this Bill therefore amends a statute that we actually passed as a Parliament.
To that extent, Hon. Chair, I would want to urge this august House to say that we will bring the amendment to Clause 1 so that at least we change the title of the Bill. Instead of saying the Death Penalty Abolishment Bill, it becomes an amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act. So that would be the first amendment. We also then make sure that we amend Clause 2 so that at least there is no confusion in respect to the question of the death penalty.
The concession, Hon. Chair, of ensuring that we do that is to seek progress so that where the Executive and Legislature are actually seeing things from the same angle. We could actually move without the need of having a problem where there are some areas of disagreements. I have shared with the Chair of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, the sort of amendments that we seek to then do when this Bill comes to the Committee Stage in the debate. I believe that this Bill is the right Bill at the right moment, as it meets the feelings of the public of this country.
To just also add, many people would be aware that for every 100 people in Zimbabwe, 52% of those people are women. They are exempted, they are not sentenced to death. You also need to know that everybody who is under 21 years, cannot be sentenced to death. Anyone who is above 70 years cannot be sentenced to death. What that means is that only 28% of the people in this country can be sentenced to death, 72% of the population cannot be sentenced to death. We believe that the removal of the death sentence in our courts will go a long way in making sure that we build a just society. I thank you.
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Hon. Chair for affording me this opportunity to debate on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill. The Hon. Member who moved the motion obviously is not a legal practitioner or a lawyer and may not understand what the law means. Law is a profession. It is not a business for everyone. Firstly Hon. Chair, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and any Act of Parliament or Statutory Instrument that goes against the Constitution is ultra vires and should be disregarded to the extent of its inconsistence.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order. I think Hon. Mutodi, we need to respect each other because we are Honourable Members of this august House. It does not matter whether you are a lawyer, doctor or what. May the Hon. Member withdraw that statement? It is important to honour Hon. Mushoriwa and as Parliamentarians, Hon. Mutodi is a Rhumba Artiste, we do not talk about that. We cannot despise him because he is a guitar man. I request him to withdraw his statement.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: Hon. Mutodi, may you continue, but please do not continue in the same trajectory.
HON. DR. MUTODI: I was saying the Constitution is the supreme law of Zimbabwe. Any Statutory Instrument or Act of Parliament that goes against the Constitution of the country is inconsistent. It is ultra vires to the extent of its inconsistency. Section 48 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe is very clear that the death penalty may, and in the place of may, if I am doing a Statutory Instrument interpretation, I can also say, can be given for murder committed in aggravating circumstances. We must look at the intention of the legislature when they made this provision in the Constitution.
First of all, the ‘may’ specifically refers or tries to classify murders committed. One, as a culpable homicide, for instance on murder that is committed with mens rea or with intention. You intent to kill someone. You know that they enjoy or they do their entertainment at this kind of bar, you take a knife or a pistol into your pocket and you go and target that person and kill them. That is murder under aggravated circumstances. You have intended to do it. This is why the law was trying to separate these murders. It cannot be all the murders that are supposed to get a death penalty. Some murders are not intentional and some are intentional. So the intention of the legislature was to make a differentiation between murders committed intentionally and those committed unintentionally.
Hon. Chair, a Private Member’s Bill, by its nature, cannot purport to amend or seek to amend that which has been given by the Constitution. The Constitution has provided a death penalty to be given and any Private Member’s Bill has no locus standi, has no standing whatsoever to amend the Constitution. The Constitution can therefore, only be amended through a Constitutional Amendment Bill, which of course has certain requirements, two-thirds majority for us to pass it or maybe, if you want to take to a Referendum.
My emphasis is on the Statutory Instrument as the Member was chronicling his explanation as to why the death penalty could be permitted. He missed it on the Statutory Instrument that phraseology clearly states that the death penalty will be given and the Constitution has actually provided for that. It is now also, according to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, the judges have expressed their discretion. They have imposed their discretion of course when dealing with murder cases. You will find that some murder cases have received life imprisonment while others have received a death penalty. There has been argument whereby people have said we do not have a hangman, so we have not hanged people. We have not implemented the death penalty for the past 20-30 years…
An Hon. Member having been grumbling while Hon. Mutodi was debating.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: Order Hon Mutodi. Hon. Member, if you talk whilst the Hon. Member is on the floor and you are not listening, how will you hear what he is saying?
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Mr. Chairman. I was emphasising that as we stand, our courts have passed the death penalty based on the Constitutional provision. So it is wrong for the Hon. Member to say the Constitution did not provide for the death penalty. I have also said our judges have expressed their discretion depending on the nature of the murder, whether it was international or unintentional and have passed in some spaces, they have actually sentenced some people to life imprisonment, some murder cases have also received a death penalty. There has been an argument whereby people have said we do not have a hangman. So we have not hanged people and we have not implemented the death penalty for the past 20-30 years.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: Order Hon. Member. If you talk whilst the Hon. Member who is on the floor is debating, how can you debate when you are not listening to what he is saying?
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Mr. Chairman. I was emphasising that as we stand, our courts have passed the death penalty based on the constitutional provision. So, it is wrong for the Member to say the Constitution did not provide for the death penalty. I have also said that our judges have expressed their discretion depending on the nature of the murder, whether it was through intention or unintentional. In some cases, they have sentenced people to life imprisonment and in other cases they have imposed the death penalty.
The issue that has been a talk point by some people who have been supporting the death penalty removal, is the fact that there has not been implementation or execution for murderers or those convicted of murder over the past 20 to 30 years because there was no hangman. I am saying if the issue is about the hangman, other methods of executing the death penalty can be implemented. So that can be cured through an injection or other methods. Some defenders have been saying that we do not want to execute the death penalty on people who may be innocent. I am sure the law provides that the prosecution be thorough and the conviction be beyond any reasonable doubt for cases such as murder.
So I am of the view that the death penalty must remain as a deterrent measure in our Constitution and if we are to make some piecemeal amendments, maybe it would exonerate people with 70 years and above and things like that. Otherwise as it is, the death penalty is supposed to remain because of course, we have seen some ritual murders. Recently in Mberengwa, there was someone who was skinned. They removed the whole skin on the head and everything for ritual purposes.
If you look at Tapiwa Makore’s case, people killed a young man who was supposed to have a start in his life if he was given a chance to live, but they took his life for ritual purposes. For us to keep those people in our society, give them good accommodation but admitting them to parole is a sin against our Creator. I thank you Mr. Chairman.
HON. NDUDZO: Thank you Mr. Speaker for recognising me. I thank you for this opportunity. I want to clarify three very important points and perhaps accommodate the suggestions that have been made by the Hon. Member who has moved for this…
HON. M. MAVHUNGA: On a point of order Mr. Chairman Sir. The Hon. Member is the Chairman of the Parliamentary Legal Committee. What is supposed to be happening is that Members of Parliament are supposed to debate his adverse report at the end of the discussion, then he will be given an opportunity after hearing all submissions from all Members of Parliament to respond to those. It would not be proper that he responds piecemeal to what each and every Hon. Member is going to submit. So, I suggest that we debate until all Hon. Members are finished then he can respond at once.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON. Order, thank you Hon. Member, maybe I will ask you to respond. Let me take two or three people to debate.
HON. GUMBO: Thank you Mr. Chairman. I will commence my debate by correcting certain mistruths debated by Hon. Mutodi. There is no murder without intention. The moment you remove intention, it ceases to be murder. If it occurs that someone died, that is what we call culpable homicide. The intent or import of Section 48 of the Constitution is the protection of the right to life. What subsection (2) of Section 48 of the Constitution does is that it creates room or it provides room for an exception to be created by Parliament through an Act of Parliament.
The Bill which was presented to this House does not carry with it the import of a constitutional amendment. What it does is not take away the permissive power or the permissive provision that is subsection (2) of Section 48 of the Constitution. It addresses that which can be done by Parliament which is permitted by the Constitution. Now, it is very important. I am a Member of the PLC, but unfortunately my wisdom was not in the meeting that gave the Adverse Report. What is important to consider is whether the Constitution says ‘must’ or it says ‘may’. Whenever one seeks to embark on ultra vires debate, one must consider whether the Constitution has said this must be done which is peremptory. What that which is peremptory means is that we have no choice. It just must be done as a matter of constitutional law.
When the Constitution says that this may be done, what it does is that it leaves Parliament at large. It gives Parliament room to maneuver. It gives the people of Zimbabwe an opportunity to decide whether they want to follow the right or left path. So the Bill which was brought to this House, what it has sought to do is to go and reverse that which Parliament itself enacted. It is not seeking to reverse that which the Constitution provides for. The permissible authority or the permission provision remains, but the punitive provision in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act is that which is sought to be amended and that with respect Hon. Chair, cannot be said to be an Act ultra vires the Constitution. Section 152 of the Constitution provides for the establishment of the Parliamentary Legal Committee. What does the Parliamentary Legal Committee do and what obligation is it expected to fulfill? It says that the report must consider whether a provision in the Bill, Statutory Instrument contravenes. The key word there is ‘contravene’, violates and goes against.
So the Bill which has been brought before this House, with respect Mr. Chairman, does not contravene Section 2 of Section 48. It does not address it even. What is addressed is the Act of Parliament which amended and provided for the death sentence. With that said, it is my respective view that the Parliamentary Legal Committee misreads its mandate. Number 2, also misread the amendment which is sought to be made by the Bill brought in the Death Abolition Bill. Those are my remarks.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Chairman, the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC), are the fundis of our law-making process. They must give us direction when we are faced with law that we, as representatives of the people of Zimbabwe, would want to push forward.
I have listened to my fellow colleagues and the mover of the motion. In my view, from what the mover of the motion said, the amendment in terms of terminology or texts of one and two sections, is the issue that created this disharmony between the mover and the PLC. So Mr. Chairman, I think, when we debated, the House seemed to converge on the issue of abolition. I was listening to the fundis and when we use the word ‘abolition’, it is like you are amending the Constitution, but if we are amending the Act, it is allowed to do so using the powers invested in this House.
So, I think it would be prudent that we allow the mover of the motion and the PLC to find common ground. As you are aware, the principles of this Bill were approved by Cabinet, meaning that Cabinet also in their wisdom, together with the law officers, and the Attorney-General, seem to think that we are moving in the right direction if we were to enact this law. In my view Mr. Chairman, I think we need some interaction between the PLC and the mover of the motion and maybe through this debate, we allow them a different time to look at it. We cannot move away from this law because it looks like that is what the people of Zimbabwe want – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Our Cabinet, Chaired by His Excellency, has already given a nod to the principles. So, I think that is why you saw the Chairperson of the PLC wanting to contribute before the Hon. Members requested to debate first. We were talking about it earlier and said, it looks like the mover of the motion is not disagreeing with you. The areas that you are concerned about are the same areas. Why do you not move towards each other and agree on those changes? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: It appears the House is unanimously agreeing with the Chief Whip. So, I will be addressing you shortly.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MAZUNGUNYE): Thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the debate that has been ongoing. I also appreciate the quality of conversion on which the House stands to agree on. In light of that Mr. Chairperson, I move that you report progress and seek leave to sit again so that we can do further debate. I submit Mr. Chairman.
House resumed.
Progress reported.
Committee Stage to resume: Tuesday 13th February, 2024
COMMITTEE STAGE
ADVERSE REPORT BY THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE ON THE STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 153 OF 2023
Sixteenth Order read: Committee Stage: Consideration of an adverse report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023 Published in the Gazette on 25 August 2023
House in Committee.
HON. NDUDZO: Thank you Hon. Chairperson. With your permission, I will proceed with the Adverse Report of the Parliamentary Legal Committee. Hon. Chairperson, in pursuit of its constitutional mandate as provided for in Section 152 (3) of the Constitution, the Parliamentary Legal Committee must examine, in particular, paragraph (c). Every statutory instrument published in the Gazette and must report to Parliament or the Vice President, Minister or Authority as the case may be whether it considers any provision in the Bill, Statutory Instrument or Draft, contravenes or if enacted, would violate any provision of the Constitution.
The Committee met on the 23rd of November 2023 and its agenda was the analysis of Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023. The High Court Amendment rules 2023 Number 1, gazetted on the 25th of August 2023. After deliberations, it was unanimously resolved to issue an adverse report concerning the Statutory Instrument due to the following considerations: -
The integrated case management platform as defined in Section 2 of Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023 is the electronic platform operated by the Judicial Service Commission to enable litigants in the High Court to file and serve processes electronically, pay fees electronically, track their cases electronically and participate virtually in the proceedings of the court—Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023 amends Statutory Instrument 202 of 2021, the High Court rules of 2021. The amendment makes provision for the integrated electronic case management system IECMS an online platform designed to digitalise the litigation process as adopted by the Judicial Service Commission in February 2022. This transformation of judicial operations from analog to digital was done to expedite justice delivery and keep up with global trends. The Committee is concerned that the successful adoption of IECMS must be preceded by investments in technology to ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity by litigants and their representatives. The Committee noted the following: -
Firstly, Section 4 of Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023 amends rule 15 of the principal rules by changing the name from service of process to service e-filing and related matters. This amendment also states that initial summons may be done physically still all subsequent pleading, notices of self-defence, and court orders shall be done electronically on the IECMS platform. It does mention that in exceptional cases, a judge may authorise the sheriff to effect service upon application.
It is the Committee’s view that this development did not fully consider the technological development in Zimbabwe's ease of access to the internet or our socio-economic environment, bearing in mind that most of our population live in the country’s rural areas.
The Committee opines that the amendment rule 15 violates Sections 68 and 69 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which is the right to administrative justice and fair hearing.
In particular and secondly, the Committee also noted that the Public Access aspect of the hearing is being taken away. The public part of attending to the matter is eroded with the cases being heard online. There is no participation by the public in the proceedings which affects the democratic nature of fair hearings. It cannot be disputed that not everyone in Zimbabwe has access to or owns an electronic gadget that permits them to file and process electronically. Not forgetting that internet access is strongest in cities. The challenges are culminated by poor internet connections in most parts of Zimbabwe which are not yet within the ease of reach and convenience of the ordinary citizens.
Further, it also infringes on the right to a fair hearing as the language of instruction on the IECMS is English affecting those who do not speak English. This affects the respect of Section 6 of the Constitution which requires that the State and all Government agencies ensure that all officially recognised languages are treated equally.
Thirdly, about self-actors, bail applications become virtually non-existent as they do not have gadgets that permit them to file documents electronically. Having noted this, the Committee was of the view that this was a direct violation of Section 49 of the Constitution which enunciates the right to liberty. Further, Section 50 (6) of the Constitution stipulates that any person who is detained pending trial for an alleged offence and is not tried within a reasonable time, must be released from detention, either unconditionally or on reasonable conditions. That Section seems also to be violated.
Further because under this law, bail applications are filed virtually and served on the state physically, the Registrar sets down the matters of bail prematurely before proof of service is filed creating a challenge in the judicial process.
Number four, if a pro deo lawyer is assigned a case, there is no guarantee that he or she will receive the assignment. This is due to the fact that it is very easy to ignore assignments online.
Section 5 of Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023, inserts two new Rules in the principal Rules, Rules 15A and 15B, which makes it compulsory for litigants to have ICEMS accounts as it guides litigants and representatives in the creation of IECMS accounts for filing appeals, reviews and other civil processes. The arguments given earlier still hold water here as the administration of the right to a fair hearing and access to justice remains limited.
Section 12 of the Regulations inserts a new Rule 110 to the principal Regulations, which reads:
“Deadline for complete migration to paperless proceedings 110.
1) Six months after the promulgation of the High Court (Amendment) Rules, 2023 (No. 1), the court shall become an entirely paperless court, save in exceptional circumstances authorised by a judge of the court.
2) Pending any amendment of these rules that may be required to give effect to sub rule (1), the Chief Justice, after consultation with the Judge President, may issue to the court, any written directions necessary or expedient to give effect to that sub rule, which directions shall be binding and have effect notwithstanding anything contained in these rules for a period of six months unless the direction concerned is earlier embodied by an amendment of these rules.”
It is the Committee’s view that this directly violates Section 47 (2) of the enabling Act, which requires parties to consent to their proceedings being conducted virtually. The statutory instrument gives limited discretion as it insists that six months after going digital, thus ultra vires the enabling Act.
With regard to the expedition of justice delivery, this has generally not been the case as since the commencement of IECMS, it has been noted that virtual hearings take longer than physical hearings due to lack of/or poor internet connectivity and availability of electricity. Moreover, ICEMS has not been introduced in the Magistrates Court; they are bound to superior courts, further addition to the failure to deliver an efficient justice system. In addition, the costs of internet services are prohibitive and requesting every litigant to file on the IECMs is unconstitutional as it excludes most litigants since they cannot afford internet services.
The regulations seek to clothe the Registrar with a lot of power as he can now decide whether the papers filled are proper or not. The powers given to the Registrar, who now regulates every step-in filing and managing cases on the system, are obtrusive as they intrude on Judges’ functions. The legislature did not envisage this as shown by the High Court Act. The system thus becomes unreliable as the automation still requires human input.
Nothing on these reservations, the Committee unanimously issued an adverse report on the Statutory Instrument and in terms of Order 36 (I), I hereby tender a copy of the Adverse Report and of the minutes of the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the 23rd January 2024.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL
AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MAZUNGUNYE): Thank you Hon. Chairperson, we have taken note of the Adverse Report that has been tabled before this House by the Parliamentary Legal Committee and we also noted the concerns being raised which we also believe are pertinent and as the Ministry of Justice, together with JSC, we will sit down and come up with any necessary amendments or changes in that regard if there are any. So, we appreciate the concerns thereof and, on that note, we concur we are not objecting to the report being tabled by the Parliamentary Legal Committee. I submit in that regard.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: In the circumstances Hon. Chair, the report was unanimously arrived at by the Parliamentary Legal Committee. The Statutory Instrument had been gazetted by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliament Affairs on account of confirmation and acceptance of the contents of the report. In my respectful view, I move for the adoption of the report by the House as there appears to be no objections to the contents of the report.
House resumed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MAZUNGUNYE): Thank you Madam Speaker. I now, with leave, move that this House having given consideration to the report of the Parliamentary Legal Committee on Statutory Instrument 153 of 2023 published in the Government Gazette on 25th August, 2023, resolves that the Statutory Instrument would, if enacted, be in contravention of the declaration of rights and some provisions of the Constitution. I submit.
Motion with leave, adopted.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that all other Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day Number 9 has been disposed of.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
UNCONDITIONAL REPEAL OF ZIDERA BY THE US GOVERNMENT AND LIFTING OF UNWARRANTED AND ILLEGAL SANCTIONS ON ZIMBABWE
Nineth Order Read: Adjourned debate on motion on the illegal sanctions unilaterally imposed on the Government of Zimbabwe by the United States of America.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MAZUNGUNYE): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to give a response to the debate on the illegal sanctions unilaterally imposed on Zimbabwe by the Government of the United States of America. I wish to thank the Hon. Members of this august House for the very enlightening and lively debate on unconditional repeal of Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) by United States of America Government and lifting of unwarranted and illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. There is consensus that the illegal sanctions negatively affect everyone and these punitive measures have effectively hampered the Government’s effort to implement its developmental agenda.
As the leader of Government Business in the House and representing the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, I am extremely delighted and grateful to the Honourable Speaker and Members to respond to some of the issues that arose during the debate. The Honourable Members’ immense contributions to the debate revolve around the House Resolution:
-A delegation from Zimbabwean Parliament be sent to the United States of America to present a briefing paper to the President of the United States of America and Congress requesting their administration to expeditiously and unconditionally repeal ZIDERA which caused so much suffering to the ordinary citizens of our country;
-The delegation engages the United States of America Congress to lift the unwarranted and illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe;
-Zimbabwe presents its case to the United Nations by the end of December, 2024, so that these illegal sanctions imposed on our country are unconditionally lifted once and for all; and
-The United States of America Government to engage with the Zimbabwe Government on terms that promote mutual benefit through economic and political cooperation.
Consequently, I shall not individually or specifically respond to the aforementioned, but will concentrate on the subject matter arising from the various contributions made by the Hon. Members. The Second Republic is very clear that it seeks to shed off its pariah status by actively re-engaging the international community on political, social and economic fronts. Among the strategies, Government will craft and adopt domestic policy priorities that translate into foreign policy goal to facilitate re-engagement with the international community, United Nations and Western countries. The resolution by the National Assembly is a positive development which will complement strategies already implemented by the Executive.
The Second Republic had already hit the ground running on the re-engagement drive with spirited missions of Presidential Special Envoys engaging several key countries for removal of sanctions and normalisation of economic and political relations and will continue doing that. The Government is alive to the notion that improvement of relations with the international community will be leveraged in respect of the country’s quest to attract investment, promote economic growth and national wealth creation within the context of global economy.
Notably, countries increasingly depend on good image, diplomacy and international standing in the competition for inward investments, tourist arrivals, favourable international trade relations and increased export to support job creation and better living standards for the citizens as envisaged in Vision 2023. Government will craft and adopt domestic policy priorities that translate into foreign policy goals to facilitate re-engagement with the international community, United Nations and Western countries.
Zimbabwe’s international goodwill was damaged following successful implementation of the Land Reform Programme and the backlash from the United States of America and European Union was immediate through the imposition of illegal sanctions and unfavourable international media coverage. United States of America enacted Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Act (ZIDERA) that impose restrictions on multilateral financing. Other bans include the sale and transfer of arms, financial flow and asset freezes on listed individuals and Government Officials. The illegal sanctions are making it difficult for the Government to provide essential needs for the ordinary person in Zimbabwe. The general populace is now failing to access essential basic rights that include healthcare, food, water, sanitation and education among others provided in the Bill of Rights in Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Let me categorically state that the Land Reform is irreversible – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -The motive was to redress land ownership imbalances and we achieved that. The Second Republic took the decision to compensate all former farmers affected by the Land Reform Programme in accordance with the country’s Constitution and Zimbabwe’s obligation under bi-lateral agreements. Cognisant of the reality that a large number of farmers need to be compensated, given the limited budget capacity. Vision 2030 envisages engagement of bilateral partners over assistance to mobilise the requisite resources in order to finalise compensation process. This is one of the domestic policy priorities that translate into foreign policy goals which facilitate re-engagement with the international community and Western countries.
Far from the claim that sanctions are ring-fenced and targeted on a few individuals. The reality on the ground is the tight grip of the declared and undeclared sanctions being felt throughout the whole economy and its general populace. A good example is the agricultural sector. Agriculture is the backbone of our economy which used to provide employment and income to over 60 percent of the population, supplying 60 percent of raw materials required by the manufacturing sector and contributing 40 percent of the total export earnings. Illegal sanctions made it extremely difficult to access agriculture lines of credit and attract investment.
I want to associate myself with the contribution of Hon. Munemo during the debate that if it was not for the able leadership of His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa who came up with sustainable surviving strategies, the nation was going to be in a pitiful, shameless and sorrowful state. The Government is prioritising irrigation rehabilitation and expansion, promotion and adopting of research that improves productivity of seed and animal varieties, upscaling of climate smart agriculture practices such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa and capacitation of extension services. The trust of agriculture, under Vision 2030, is to create a self-sufficient and food surplus economy that will see the re-emergency of Zimbabwe as the “Bread Basket” of Southern Africa.
The unilateral coercive measures against Zimbabwe are illegal and unjustified because they violate Article 41 of the United Nations Charter which states that sanctions can only be decided on by the UN Security Council. The use of unilateral coercive measures is a foul to international law and assaults the sovereign competences of states towards its citizens.
In September 2014, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on human rights and unilateral coercive measures. The resolution stressed that unilateral coercive measures are contrary to the United Nations Charter, international law, international humanitarian law and the norms and principles governing peaceful relations among States. It highlighted that these measures result in social-economic problems in the targeted States. In this regard, the Council decided to create the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.
It is against this background that the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, made a visit to Zimbabwe in 2020 and reported that these measures have had a negative impact on Zimbabwe and on fundamental human rights of ordinary citizens and must be lifted unconditionally.
SADC leaders declared and adopted 25th October as the Anti-Sanctions Day in solidarity to the plight of the people of Zimbabwe. The illegal economic embargo imposed by United States of America and its Western allies impact is being felt across the region. The region is calling for unconditional removal of the illegal and unjustified sanctions.
I am humbled by the motion moved by Hon. Mutodi and totally agree and am in support of the resolution of this House that:
- A delegation from Zimbabwe Parliament be sent to the United States of America to present a briefing paper to the President of the United States of America and Congress requesting their administration to expeditiously and unconditionally repeal ZIZERA which caused so much suffering to ordinary citizens of our country,
- The delegation engages the United States of America Congress to lift the unwarranted and illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe,
- Zimbabwe presents its case to the United Nations so that these illegal sanctions imposed on our country are unconditionally lifted once and for all, and
- The United States of America Government to engage with the Zimbabwean Government on terms that promote mutual benefit through economic and political cooperation.
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am impressed by the debate which took place in this House with regards to the motion which is seeking to ask the United States Government to unconditionally repeal ZIDERA. It is clear in the debate that the land Reform Programme precipitates the sanctions by the United States and its allies. The sanctions are imposed in two forms:
- Targeted sanctions where almost every Government official has been put on the list through some have been removed.
Some of the government officials who have been on the list or still remain on the list include President E. D. Mnangagwa, Minister Owen Ncube, Mr. Godwin Matanga and Mr. Mutamba, Mr. Isaac Moyo, Mr. Anselem Sanyatwe, Mr. Constantine Guveya Chiwenga, Mr. Robert Mugabe and Madam Grace Mugabe, among others. There have also been business persons and companies namely, Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa Jnr, Mr. Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Sakunda Holdings and the Zimbabwe Defence Industry.
Madam Speaker, on the economic sanctions, the sanctions have had the effect to block access to credit lines by asking US Directors to resist any loan or debt restructuring with regards to Zimbabwe and this has seen the IMF and World Bank failing to extend any loans to Zimbabwe. The effect of the sanctions has been devastating to Zimbabwe in the following forms:
A volatile economic situation has arisen mainly characterised by hyper-inflation, exchange rate volatility, unstable financial and money markets, increased political risk, high interest rates and the increased cost of capital, de-industrialisation as companies have left the country, high unemployment levels as skills flight and breakdown of the family unit due to immigration into the diaspora, increased pressure on receiving regions or countries such as South Africa, where more than three million economic migrants from Zimbabwe have sought refuge, under-development as the World Bank has not been providing any loans, entrenchment of poverty and collapse of the health care system, an unfair electoral environment as urbanites who bear the full brand of unemployment, poor urban facilities and poor services have tended to blame the ruling government.
Madam Speaker, sanctions are inhuman and they constitute collective punishment of all Zimbabweans irrespective of their political affiliation, gender and race. It is the responsibility of Parliament to come up with a lasting solution to the sanctions problem and to develop viable mechanisms to confront ZIDERA. During the debate, several Hon. Members set out their opinion. Hon. W. Shamu, who seconded this motion emphasised that action was necessary to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe do not continue to suffer as a result of the impact of sanctions. Hon. Chiduwa emphasised that the economic impact of the sanctions needed to be confronted; Hon. Ndudzo called for cover measures; Hon. Malinganiso said we could not compromise our land whilst Hon. Munemo said we could not sell our inheritance from our forefathers and Hon. Togarepi, who is the Government Chief Whip, said that the United States of America was seeking to impose a puppet Government in Zimbabwe through the cohesive measures although he did not claim any inch from their land. He emphasised that Parliament needed to confront Congress, the very legal body which authored and passed Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA).
In view of the above, I would like to ask this House to adopt the motion on the unconditional repeal of ZIDERA. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - At this point Madam Speaker Ma’am, I would like to emphasise that an action plan be set in motion that a delegation from the Zimbabwe Parliament be sent to the United States of America to present a Briefing Paper to the President of the United States of America and Congress, requesting their administration to expeditiously and unconditionally repeal ZIDERA that has caused so much suffering to ordinary Zimbabweans.
I would like to urge the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, the Administrators of this Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and above all, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe to take necessary measures to support Parliament and the Hon. Members, to reach out to Congress as soon as possible with the Briefing Paper as proposed.
I have no doubt that the presence of the high-powered delegation from the Parliament of Zimbabwe will be of great impact as it will allow the inauguration or commencement of effective engagement between the Parliament of Zimbabwe and Congress. I, therefore, leave the task to act, follow up and operationalise the spirit of this motion in the hands of the Government Chief Whip, the Speaker of Parliament, the Clerk of Parliament, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. I hope the selection of delegates to the United States of America will be done expeditiously and that those selected will have the passion and the capacity to persuade the United States of America Congress to help the people of Zimbabwe by unconditionally removing the cohesive and restrictive measures spelt out in ZIDERA. I thank you.
I move that the motion be adopted.
Motion that this House;
DESIROUS to have the heinous and illegal sanctions, unilaterally imposed on Zimbabwe by the Government of United States of America after the enactment of the draconian Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) by the George Bush Administration, unconditionally removed to pave way for a prosperous sovereign State;
COGNISANT that the United States of America Government has not forgiven Zimbabwe for rightfully possessing the land that people won after a hard fought and protracted war;
DISMAYED that these evil sanctions have caused gross human suffering to ordinary Zimbabweans as they are not just targeted to individuals who are banned from visiting and operating businesses or bank accounts in the United States, but indiscriminately affect ordinary citizens who have to contend with severe economic hardships such as hyperinflation, exchange rate volatility and high levels of unemployment;
MINDFUL that the imposition of these illegal sanctions has led to massive skills flight resulting in our people migrating to seek employment and other opportunities elsewhere;
FURTHER COGNISANT that the Land Reform Programme is irreversible and will always be sustained;
RE-AFFIRMING ENGAGEMENT AND RE-ENGAGEMENT will always be sustained;
NOW, therefore, resolves that;
- a) A delegation from Zimbabwe Parliament be sent to the United States of America to present a briefing paper to the President of the United States of America and Congress requesting their administration to expeditiously and unconditionally repeal ZIDERA which has caused so much suffering to ordinary citizens of our country;
- b) The delegation engages the United States of America Congress to lift the unwarranted and illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe;
- c) Zimbabwe presents its case to the United Nations by the end of December, 2023 so that these illegal sanctions imposed on our country are unconditionally lifted once and for all; and
- d) The United States of America Government to engage with the Zimbabwean government on terms that promote mutual benefit through economic and political cooperation, put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, I move that all other Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 7 has been disposed of.
HON. KARIKOGA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY THE YOUTHS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drug and substance abuse by youths nationwide.
Question again proposed.
HON. S. SITHOLE: Thank you Madam. Speaker Ma’am. Good afternoon.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. S. SITHOLE: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate on this dangerous motion on drug and substance abuse by our youths. I am saying it is dangerous Madam Speaker because it is destroying the future generation of our youths.
Madam Speaker, I wish to say that as Members of Parliament, we can debate and debate daily but I want to say to the august House that we must put some action, measures and harsh laws on this issue of drug abuse. I hope and believe that people elected us to stand for them here and not to destroy them. Someone may query as to why I am saying so. People are saying we are not imposing harsh laws on the issue of drug abuse because some of us are into the business of drug abuse. So, I want to encourage Members of Parliament that the issue of drug abuse is now destroying the future of our youths. In my view Madam Speaker, in an effort to hit three birds with one stone. I will run like I am debating on sanctions because I am familiar with them.
In my view Madam Speaker, this is why I am calling it dangerous. Those who are supplying drugs, musombodhiya and whatsoever, are like murderers and traitors who commit treason. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – When I am saying murderers, someone is busy asking why? The motion was tabled by Hon. Mapiki’ seconded by Hon. Karimatsenga-Nyamupinga, where they emphasised on sticking and sleeping. The youths are always sticking. You will find that some are dying before becoming parents and others are making babies through masturbation in their dreams – that is murderous.
Treason is a threat to security Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to inform Hon. Members as to why I am calling it treasonous. Do you know that white people are very clever? With your indulgence, allow me Madam Speaker, to show other Hon. Members. These white people are very clever, they tried a way of bringing in family planning and failed. Now they are trying to bring in this musombodhiya so that we do not have kids because people will be intoxicated every day.
What they do Madam Speaker is that they kill a cow, take the skin, soften it and then they undo it. They then make a rope to tie another cow and they make a short rope to tie by the neck and then take another one to make a whip. They are so clever Madam Speaker, they use others and deal with us using money.
So when we are here, we are supposed to teach each other that the agenda of the Americans comes with all shenanigans. I want to emphasise that they are not sleeping, who have seen the doll of a black person, yet all the dolls always resemble the white people so that our kids will know that white people are more superior.
So, I want to thank His Excellency for supporting the end of drug and substance abuse by setting up a Committee. As leaders, when we set up committees like these, it shows that there is progress. As Members of Parliament, we must make laws for life in prison, without a court or a lawyer to defend. Madam Speaker, this is the agenda that is why I said this is a threat to security.
We have realised in Libya, Syria or wherever, do you think those people are not drunk? Do you think they get into war sober just like that? No, they will be drunk, it started there. No person will move with a gun in public to shoot all those people are being used and drugged. So that is why I am saying it is a threat in the country, they are starting with these small things. So let us make harsh laws without thinking that sometimes these laws will catch up with you. Let us defend our country.
I will thank His Excellency for setting up a Committee, the Committee is supposed to get views from us on how we as Members of Parliament can put a law and then craft it. I think that some Hon. Members talking about corruption through drug and substance abuse are correct. What is stopping our law enforcement from catching someone with a heap of tablets and whatever musombodia is because they share? Otherwise they go through courts, it is just only this small bottle and the rest will go. They make a lot of money. Some are saying they are not getting paid much, it is because of these sanctions which we are talking about. Like I said, some are being used, they are the ones who are being used that is why they are defending.
So my wish Madam Speaker is now that we constitute the majority, we can make it. Even if they do not like it, we can make it in this Parliament. Even if the opposition complains, we can make it. We have done good because if there is no development, every burden goes to ZANU PF. So we must stand for it and defend and make laws which will make this country move. Our leadership which we were given by God, Madam Speaker is kind hearted, these Americans should come to Zimbabwe and see all these developments we have achieved with our resources, for example, this Parliament and everything here, the development happening is because God is here…
HON. MUWODZERI: On a point of order! Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think Hon. Sithole is just waffling, otherwise he has diverted from the issue of drugs. He is now talking about ZANU PF, this is an august House whereby we should respect the sanctity of this august House, that is how I feel. He is diverting his issues from the motion that he has raised. The motion was okay, but he diverted his story and now talking about ZANU PF. This is an august House whereby we must respect its sanctity. I thank you.
HON. J. SITHOLE: Thank you Hon. Speaker, these ones are supposed to be taught. If you say at my age I am waffling Hon. Member, it is not your problem let us go ahead as I have been given the floor…
HON. MUWODZERI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please, can we have order in the House Hon. Member, please can you take your seat. We cannot spend the whole of this afternoon standing for points of order. You will debate when you want to debate or you can rise and have a chance to debate.
HON. J. SITHOLE: They want me to forget what I want to say. They are just interjecting to make me forget what I wanted to say, but they will not succeed. Madam Speaker, my prayer is, as Members of Parliament, let us assist our country and the people who elected us. With these murderers who are bringing in drugs in this country, some are saying law enforcement people in borders are also involved in drugs. My opinion is that we must amend some of our laws because we can say the police is not doing its job, when they go to court sometimes the police will not have done thorough investigations and the court will say there is not enough evidence for them to prosecute and at the end of the day, people will go scot-free. We must revisit some of the laws so that perpetrators will not go unpunished.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. J. Sithole, you are left with five minutes.
HON. J. SITHOLE: Someone must extend for me. I was saying we must revisit some of our laws to allow police to investigate thoroughly before we take perpetrators to court. Why am I saying this? If the police is not given enough time, they go to court without enough evidence because a suspect is only allowed to be in cells for a maximum of 48 hours. Sometimes small fines are charged. Let us bring some laws that are deterrent like 40 years in jail, we want to stop corruption and abuse of drugs. I want to say to some of us who are saying ZANU PF politics, I say politics is a good thing because it is bringing development. You must know that politics is good and some say politics is a dirty game; that is dogmatise and dogmatism. You will know politics when you know dogmatise and dogmatism…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. J. Sithole, Hon. J. Sithole!
HON. HADEBE: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. HADEBE: I think Hon. J. Sithole is on the influence of drugs and he must abstain from these dangerous and illicit drugs. He is diverting from the whole presentation…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Member, I do not think it is honourable for you to say another Hon. Member is on drugs. That is very wrong and you must withdraw that statement.
HON. HADEBE: I withdraw.
HON. MAKOPE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the motion moved by Hon. Mapiki on the unabated drug and substance abuse that has done harm to our beloved nation of Zimbabwe. Thank you for affording me this opportunity to add my opinion on this very important issue in discussion. I am disappointed by unprecedent increase of cases related to drug abuse substance in our beloved nation. The fact that we are not yet declared a national disaster is probably due to the fact that we might not have enough knowledge of the depth at which this menace has already crippled into our communities.
The number of drug users in Sub-Saharan African is expected to increase by nearly 150% by the year 2050, according to the new research by ENACT programme, an institute for security studies in partnership with Frederick Pardee Centre for International Future. So, this escalating increase of such cases, it means the issue is of great concern. This is just a 5% increase in the proportion of its population experimenting with the illicit substance relative to today, but the projected population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa means the continent will experience the largest growth in the number of absolute users of the drugs in the region.
Drugs and substance abuse, Madam Speaker, has seen an increase in admission of psychiatric institutions and the rise in murder, robberies, bullying, sexual abuse and rape in our communities. Currently, Home Affairs have been in an operation arresting drug peddlers as well as the drug users and the numbers are so alarming in our courts. Even if you look at some of the murder cases which we are experiencing these days, the majority of the cases seem to be under the influence of these drugs.
Madam Speaker, let me take you through our statistical demography as a country. According to the latest Zimstats, women comprise of 52% and men constitute about 48% of our population. However, my contribution is embedded in showing that 61% of the population in Zimbabwe is our youth that are under the age of 25. These statistics are showing us that we are being infected as a nation to the seed. When looking at our youths, I am looking at them as the seed of the nation, as the seed which shall grow and we expect a very good harvest in the near future, but if our seed is corrupted, if our seed is affected as farmers, I do not think we can expect a better harvest.
So, most of our youths especially those who are still going to school, it might be high school or the institution of higher learning, they are the most targeted. Therefore, our future is being threatened. To me, this is a security threat as a nation that we should actually focus on measures to mitigate most of these challenges.
Statistics from the year 2021 reveals that 60% of the psychiatric admissions were due to drug and substance abuse. Of those admissions, over 80% were in the age of 16 to 40 years. Further research revealed that the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse was estimated at 57% amongst the youth. Drugs in circulation in Zimbabwe include crystal meth, commonly known as mutoriro, guka, bronco, solvents such as maragado, marijuana, cocaine to mention but a few, which are mostly abused or traded under the streets by most of our youngsters. There is estimated to be no more than 18 psychiatrists, 13 psychologists and 30 social workers in Zimbabwe to support a population of 40 million people, which means most of our employees who are mainly focusing on that particular area are very few. So, our ground force is very thin.
Most mental health services are supported by Zimbabwe’s 917 psychiatric nurses. It is from this background that it is important to note that reports indicate escalating prevalence with over half of mental health patients suffering from substance induced disorders. The country has a total of 18 facilities that provide counselling and rehabilitation services. Among these is Ruwa Beatrice Rehabilitation Centre. In addition, there are four public psychiatric institutions that offer help in the fight against abuse including Sally Mugabe Psychiatric Unit and Ingutsheni in Bulawayo.
Madam Speaker, we have mentioned the challenges associated with the drug and substance abuse and the recommendations brought forward have been so limited. We have been implementing some measures in the past, which include campaigns but I think this is the time we should now move a step ahead and try to think outside the box as a nation on some measures to curb this menace. We can suggest the establishment of these rehabilitation centres for easy access. Of course, they might be very expensive to some of these drug users but it is one way to go. Again, that measure needs a lot of commitment by our Executive to avail some funds to the Ministry concerned for them to construct or to establish such institutions.
The success of any of the ideas being discussed can only be met if the workforce of these areas or institutions are trained. I have been suggesting, Madam Speaker, the establishment again of counselling centres in our schools and colleges where the personnel that we already have, like teachers can be trained and also focus in trying to curb this problem amongst our children at high school as well as at tertiary level. This idea has been done by some nations such as America because it has been noted that teachers spend most of the time with the learners, therefore the signs and symptoms of drug abuse can easily or quickly be detected by the teacher while it is at the initial stage.
Again, I think the State, through the legislative arm as well as the judiciary, should come up with laws which also catch the drug peddlers who are benefitting from this scheme. I believe there are a number of beneficiaries because most of these drugs are not manufactured locally and the idea seems to have been initiated from somewhere. On this point, I even want to blame the Global North, where some of these drug peddlers have been procuring such dangerous and illicit drugs to developing countries like Zimbabwe. I think if we find the sources, if we track down to the sources of these challenges, we can easily curb this. Yes, the arrest of the drug users is very noble, but it is not enough if we do not arrest the drug lords who are selling drugs to our youngsters in the streets. Such ideas, I think it is another way to go.
There is also a very good suggestion which also needs financial commitment where some projects can be initiated in our communities, probably to engage most of our youths. Self-help jobs can be used and they can occupy our youngsters. However, teaching is one of the fundamental options at the moment. If we start to teach our youths from primary level up to tertiary level, I think they can appreciate the dangers of taking drugs. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Makope for a well-researched debate with statistics and facts. Well done.
+HON. MAHLANGU: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. May I also add my voice on the motion moved by Hon. Mapiki. I would consider drug abuse as a killer disease that has come to destroy our young generation. It started when our kids were doing some vuzu parties not knowing that our children are being initiated into drugs during these parties. We went around to curb these drugs, but in the streets there was mutoriro and other drugs given numerous names. I remember one day, Hon. Nyabani coming in the House with a sample of the bottle of drugs which was mainly taken by our youngsters.
As a nation, we have not come up with proper ways of curbing this problem. We have not had someone who have been convicted because of selling these drugs, but these drugs have been in the streets in the open. These drugs have become part of the meal of the youngsters because you find the youths trembling if they have not taken these drugs. I am taking these drugs as a killer disease like HIV, even though we managed to stablise HIV because we got drugs to suppress the virus. With this scourge of drugs, we are failing to get the source of these drugs, but it is found almost everywhere. I want to thank the previous speaker very much because he gave statistics indicating how many kids in each area are affected. My question now is, as a country, why are we failing to arrest even a single person to be an example that he has been found selling these drugs?
Even right now, I can show you in the street who is selling those drugs, but if that person is arrested, you will find that person out of the prison in no time. We have not heard of anyone who was sentenced because of selling drugs. Again, what I have taken note of is that children are lying idle because our economy is not conducive, especially to the youths. Is it not proper that we go back to the youth centres where in each ward, we have youth centres where our youths can spend time doing something that is productive? Those who are good in crafting can be doing that, spending their time so that they are kept busy doing productive things instead of them loitering.
Right now, we have a kid who lost his life because of taking drugs. What I think is that these drugs contaminate our intestines. I also request that let there be a law that those who are arrested, should lead the police to where they would have bought those drugs. We want the trader of these drugs to be the ones being sent behind bars. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
HON. ZIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important topic. I am not going to go into how this has ravaged the nation. As I stand here, I also have a family which is suffering from this scourge and I am not going to waste time on what a disaster this is bringing into our nation. I am coming in trying to give solutions. What are we going to do about this? I just have a few questions that I would want to ask.
There is a lot that we can do, but I think some of the work that we need to do rests on people who should be doing that work. Public drinking is still a crime and it is on the statutes. Unlicenced liquor outlets are still outlawed under the law and that comes with confiscation for the loot of whatever will be sold. Selling liquor to under 18 is still a crime and driving under the influence of alcohol is a crime. Bottle stores operating outside of ours is still a crime. Today we have bottle stores that are operating like bars. They are actually putting speakers outside, but they are not bottle stores. They are operating during the night.
There is a particular one in town. They had speakers outside the bottle store, they took away the speakers and now they are opening just one door and open until 10.00 p.m. Shebeens are still outlawed in this country, but they are there. In some areas where we come from, drug dealers and their places of operation are actually known to the police and everybody, but some of them get warned of impending raids. What I was going to recommend and this is my opinion, I think there is a lot to be done with what we have got.
I do not know if our police are overwhelmed, in which case I am not sure as to how many policemen we can have per capita of our population for effective policing. I do not know whether we still have a unit. I was going to suggest a stand-alone unit, a police crack unit that deals with this scourge. That unit must be well incentivised with good perks and remuneration. I was also going to propose that we take this issue serious. We need to dissent on this with drastic action and change things. Zimbabwe must be a no-go area for drugs. If our police are effective, we can get to that stage.
On the issue of alcohol, we are not the only nation that has been afflicted by this scourge. For instance, the U. K. around the 1990s, they shortened the opening hours of liquor outlets and they got results. Crimes went down. Hospitalisation through alcohol crimes also went down and people even reported on drinking less and so forth. That had advantages and this is what I was going to suggest that those hours of operation be shortened. We need to make sure that everyone who sells alcohol is properly licenced.
Madam Speaker, the issue of rehabilitation centres should come into it. They take away the crime load from the criminal system. If someone can just walk into a rehab centre and be assisted without being judged, we will also improve on that. I am suggesting that in the short period coming, we must come up with a motion. I know it is a difficult issue because a lot of people are benefiting from the sale of alcohol and now it is becoming like a survival thing in the country because you find alcohol in the streets, but if we do not take radical action, we are not going anywhere. So, I will be moving a motion on the shortening of operation hours. Thank you.
HON. MAVUNGA: Thank you Hon. Speaker for affording me this opportunity to take debate for the first time since being sworn in. With that in mind, may I implore you Hon. Speaker and Hon. Members to be gentle when it comes to point of order for I am but just a virgin in the House of the 10th Parliament, so help me God. I understand that I am allowed to talk for an hour since it is my first time – I am just kidding.
As I jump into my debate, let me also thank His Excellency, President E. D. Mnangagwa for delivering such a beautiful magnificent august House right here in Mt. Hampden in Harare. Kusinika intshukutsha yokusebenza gadalala njenge Nhlonitshwa ze10th Parliament. Allow me to thank also the residents of Nketa Constituency koNthuthu ziyathunqa for giving me the mandate to fully represent them in this august House and not boycotting Parliament.
We are all in agreement that drug and substance abuse is now a scourge to society. The patriotic side of this House is in agreement to this fact. Surprisingly, the puppet side of the House is also in agreement and I believe the Hon. Speaker agrees that it is now a thorn in the flesh to society and is quickly escalating to being a pandemic in our beloved Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker, according to the 2024 National Budget as presented by Minister Prof. M. Ncube to this 10th Parliament, on page 153, paragraph 461, I quote “the issue has already been declared a national disaster and a taskforce has been set up to address the issue holistically”. It is also important to note that as young people, we realise the serious threat posed by this scourge to the attainment of Vision 2030 as highlighted on page 151, paragraph 460 of the National Budget presentation. With that in mind, allow me to focus my debate on solutions rather than problems, answers rather than questions and possible steps towards legislation landmarks rather than procrastination hallmarks in combating drug and substance abuse.
Allow me to propose possible solutions to consider as we debate the motion that was placed before the House. There are a number of solutions I can propose, most of which I received from the residents of Nketa through our constituency WhatsApp platforms. However, for the sake of time, I will indulge on the following: hefty penalties and vicious laws, communication strategy for transformational awareness and jobs, empowerment and skills development.
Hon. Speaker, hefty penalties will help us combat drug and substance abuse by deterring the drug lords and their foot soldiers from trafficking these dangerous drugs and substances to our communities and discourage youths from indulging in these practices. I am elated to learn that Government is already taking steps to review legislation in line with drug offenders. Allow me to propose a deterrent solution in our legislative posture to discourage the possession and trafficking of drugs and dangerous substances.
May Government take a journey to some Asian countries and interrogate their policies and penalties on drug trafficking and possession. Let us take a flight to Beijing for example and not admire the walls of China, nor the rich culture of the global power but explore its stance on drug and substance abuse. According to DrugAbuse.com, a blog written by Addiction Centres Editorial, “In China, if you are caught with drugs, you could be forced to attend drug rehab in a facility run by the Government. Execution is the penalty for some drug crimes.”
Let us take another flight to Singapore and not admire its clean streets and elegant buildings but explore its stance on drug traffickers. According to the Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau website https://www.cnb.gov.sg/drug-information/drugs-and-inhalants,
penalties for drug related offences range from one year to the death penalty and can include fines of up to US$20 000. For example, if you are caught with more than 250 grams of methamphetamine or meth or ice or mutoriro as commonly known in our country or dombo, you may face the death penalty. Of course, Parliament has a Bill on the abolishment of the death penalty, however other options can be explored.
For example, let us take the last flight to Thailand and not admire the flavour of their cultural dishes and fancy hotels but explore their stance on drug trafficking and drug traffickers. According to JusLaws.com, an international law firm in Thailand, the production and exportation or importation of illegal substances can result in life imprisonment though I think Parliament should extend the death penalty to not just murders but to drug trafficking until the abolishment of death penalty is passed.
In my observation Mr. Speaker, all these countries have something in common. Their youths are not struggling with drugs and substance abuse, communities are not struggling with drug related crimes and violence and they are not faced with budgetary headaches to combat drug abuse but prioritise their money to development and economic growth. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research has shown that there is a serious benefit to society by jailing offenders. However, in the case of drug offenders, the authors find that the cost-benefit calculations might be more favourable, because incarceration not only lowers crime, but also drug consumption.
Hon. Speaker, let us take a leaf from our Asian legislators and take a firm stance on the offenders of our drug laws. If our laws are too lenient, let us revisit them in this 10th Parliament and put the fear of God in those that think they can become the Pablo’s and Escobar’s of Zimbabwe. On the brighter side, hardcore drugs like cocaine and heroine have not fully penetrated our market and we have a window period to put our House in order and completely put a lid on the potential dangers that come with hardcore drugs – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
According to a research brief by UNICEF of 2023 on Understanding Drug Use and Substance Abuse by Zimbabwean Adolescents and Young People, The Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network reports that alcohol, drugs and other substances abuse in order of consumption is cannabis at 67%, cough syrup 47%, crystal meth 36%, illegal alcohol 31%, pharmaceuticals 13%, crack 3%, cocaine powder 3% and heroine 2%. My proposal is that we consider long prison sentences or life in prison for drug lords and their runners.
As I conclude on this appeal Hon. Speaker, it is important to note that hefty laws or strict policies or legislation without effective and efficient law enforcement is like boarding a yellow bus with no wheels and expect to reach your destination. According to the Muthengo Development Solution Study, dealers’ homes or place of operations see the highest level of consumption at 46%, with 32% using a friend’s house. Nine percent of the study participants claim that sellers are widely known in communities and sell indiscriminately to all ages.
May we consider bonuses for law enforcement players to encourage arrests of drug dealers and discourage taking of bribes – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- Raids and operations should be frequent and monitored through usage of technology and whistle-blowers. In other cases, you find police officers with body cams or webcams on their uniforms. If our police officers can be equipped with those, it will be easy to record and monitor their activities and also follow on the arrests of drug offenders.
My second proposal to combat this problem is to improve our communication strategy by engaging youth on all media platforms, including social media through creative messaging and adverts, promote and encourage messaging in all 14 languages across relevant ministries in awareness campaigns. Make it mandatory for schools to intentionally and consistently advocate against abuse of drugs in print, digital and out-door media on their campuses and curricula. I take note that $30 billion has been set aside to fight drug and substance abuse and part of that money will support awareness campaigns and for that, we are grateful.
Hon. Speaker, may I propose that the communication strategy be thoroughly crafted in order to make these campaigns effective and achieve their intended goals. May the Ministry of Youth Empowerment collaborate with the Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services and have a joint taskforce to come up with a satisfactory plan to communicate effectively to the youths of this country. Let our communication be transformational and not transactional.
My last proposal Hon. Speaker, which I think is very critical in combating drug abuse is jobs, empowerment and skills. As the English saying goes “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. The unemployment rate is highest amongst young people in this country and this gives them ample time to engage in scandalous activities. Creation of jobs and provision of empowerment opportunities and training will go a long way in helping prevent the spread of drug abuse in our constituencies.
We applaud His Excellency, President E.D. Mnangagwa for the establishment of various empowerment financial institutions like Empower Bank and Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank. According to the 2024 Budget, 23.1 billion has been allocated to these two banks and 26.6 billion has been allocated to the other institutions for the purposes of recapitalisation. I would like to implore the mother ministries of these institutions to avail more locations for these banks; employ more agents and not personalise the funding provided to their coffers.
May the retooling and refurbishing of vocational training centres be sped up because time is not on our side. May some of these vocational training centres also house innovation hubs. As we drive towards a digital economy, let us provide more options for young people to learn and participate in the relevant skills through these vocational training centres.
In conclusion, Bulawayo has nine vocational training centres. Three are under the Ministry and six are under city council. In my Constituency which is home to 18000 households and approximately 80 000, we have no vocational training centre nor recreational sports complexes. We have since written to the Minister of Youth Empowerment and the Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture requesting support and funding for the establishment of these facilities and I would like to believe we will get a favorable response.
We have a serious drug and substance abuse in Nketa Constituency. In the last two months, we have had to bury three young people due to drug and substance abuse related issues so much that I have had to turn a section of my office into a rehabilitation centre. Currently, Hon. Speaker we have five young people living at the facility and our hope is to have a rehabilitation centre in each Constituency in Bulawayo. What breaks my heart is that two of these young people got hooked to drugs while at university and were forced to drop out of school. One was doing HR at MSU; one was doing Architecture in China and the other one was forced to drop out of high school because of their addiction to drugs. When you see a parent shed a tear for their child begging for help, you will understand that the country is on the verge of an all-out war of drug and substance abuse and it is a serious threat to the attainment of vision 2030.
Let us put hefty laws to discourage drug trafficking, sales and their consumption by our youths. Let us have a solid communication strategy that is transformational in awareness campaigns across all media. Let us create jobs, empowerment and skills training as a matter of urgency. Sanctions should go as soon as yesterday. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Let me take this opportunity to thank the mover of the motion which will help in healing that has caused our youths to become drug addicts. I will say a few words in trying to highlight that the majority of our children in our communities where we come from, especially in Chikanga where I come from are drug and substance abusers.
As a parent, one would agree that when a child is not in the house – you make investigations and find out that the child is peddling drugs. The majority of our children are taking cheap liquors called imbwa and kuzoda. Some are using bulbs and even children’s diapers in order to get intoxicated.
In my research, I gathered the causes of drug addiction. I observed that there is peer pressure. This causes the youths to get into drug abuse. Stress is another factor that is causing drug abuse. Stress is prevalent because people have nothing to do. Some children fail to perform at school, hence they turn to drug abuse as an option. Dysfunctional families in the form of divorces and separations leave children on their own. As a result, there will not be any food in the home and children are forced into drug abuse.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): Hon. Member, may you please stick to one language.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Divorce has caused a lot of children to be hooked into drug abuse. I tried to look at all these things and then say as a country, how can we be talking much about such issues? It is because there is rampant drug use in the communities where we come from. There is a lot of burglary. Some parents no longer have properties because the children who are hooked on drugs are now stealing from their parents. Some parents have been killed by their own children. It is not normal for a child to kill their parent. They do that under the influence of drugs.
There is the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network report which shows that the percentage of people using drugs are on syrups.
Hon. Karenyi having said syrups whilst debating in Shona.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are now using English.
*HON. KARENYI: I am sorry Mr. Speaker Sir. May you assist me with the Shona word for syrup?
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please continue debating.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Cough syrup is now being abused by our children. There is what is called Broncho, a cough syrup which is smuggled into this country and being abused by our children. 47% of our children are abusing this syrup.
Cannabis is being abused by 67% of our children. The previous speaker spoke about cocaine saying that it is no longer heavily used in Zimbabwe. Only 3% is abusing cocaine. As a country, we should come up with stringent laws that deter drug abuse. Our borders should not be porous to an extent that dangerous drugs are highly smuggled into the country.
Whilst researching, I also observed that children between 15-19 years are the majority who are being affected mentally because of drug abuse. 60% are under psychiatric treatment. Zimbabwe as a country has 60% of those drug abusers who are now suffering from drug abuse. It means that it should raise some alarm or red flags and we should come up with mitigatory measures as a country. I am quite pained by the findings that women produced their report that showed that the majority of people being arrested for selling these illicit drugs are women. It means that these parents have now lost the plot. They are the ones that are killing the young generation. They are the ones killing your aunt’s daughter or your brother’s son. So we should not love money to an extent that we kill the future of our Zimbabwean children through drug abuse whilst peddling them.
There are a lot of things that we may come up with as Zimbabweans to mitigate drug abuse. I was hoping that the majority of the people that have been talking mentioned rehabilitation centres, but there is more that I would like to bring to light. This is the fact that Government is supposed to come up with these rehabilitation centres so that the majority of those that are abusing drugs can afford the treatment. The majority of these children are from universities because they have now gone into drug abuse as a result of being dejected after not having found any work. Can there be people who can come and partner the Government so that when they come up with drug rehabilitation centres, they become affordable?
I would like to remind you that as a resident of Manicaland, if you go into Fern Valley in Mutare, there is a rehabilitation centre which costs not less than US$60 per day. This is beyond the means of the ordinary parent, but we are grateful that such centres are available to assist the drug abusers. They are way above the affordability of the parents and that is not easy. Maybe we need people that can come into counselling of both children and parents so that the families can be assisted. Once the parents find out that their children are abusing drugs, the easiest way out is to disinherit the children. The parents need to be educated that once a child is a problematic drug abuser, they should not expel them from the family because if they do so we are adding petrol to the fire.
Experts should teach the parents how best to mitigate the issue of drug abuse in the family. It was my considered view that in Zimbabwe, from the various researches conducted, out of 180 countries that are on the Corruption Perception Index, Zimbabwe is now on number 157. This means that our borders are now corrupt and because of the porousness, our children are now going to abuse drugs in the community. It is my wish that we have laws that are very stringent and do not create loopholes, but they will eradicate drug abuse. My plea is that we have the CDF and we carry out research on the requirements of constituencies. It is my considered view that CDF should come up with meaningful assistance to the community to ensure that we also lessen drug abuse. Recreational centres can be constructed using CDF to ensure our youths are occupied with arts, drama or ICT. We may see a reduction in the number of drug abusers.
Can our budget also look into the issue of projects for the youths and a provision being made in the National Budget so that they can become self-sustaining?
Lastly, we have girls that are now abusers of drugs. Eventually, they end up being sexually active at a very young age and they will end up having unwanted pregnancies and the children will end up being mothers. So there is need to curb this scourge of young mothers who are below the age of majority. Let me end by thanking the mover of this motion and also say that NGOs and popular churches with a lot of youths and adults should make time to teach the congregants on the dangers of drug abuse and the importance of abstaining from drugs. I thank you.
HON. KANUPULA: Hon Members, I also want to add my voice to the motion on drug and substance abuse. Over the years, the world at large has experienced people from all walks of life falling due to problems associated with substance and drug abuse in the global village and these are poor parentage as I said. Easy accessibility of drugs, peer pressure, influence of social media. Accordingly, Government and civil society should ensure that the following interventions are taken: - Creation of employment, both formal and informal. I am greatly pleased with the Government’s initiatives to set aside land for the youths. Establishment of rehabilitation centres to deal with drug addicts. I am aware, the State has taken serious measures through the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to address concerns of drug addicts.
We also have to take awareness campaigns in the Zimbabwean context. We must acknowledge the role being played by civil society to educate the nation of the harm posed by drug consumption. Crackdown on offenders, the Zimbabwe Republic Police must be capacitated to eliminate drug lords in the cities and towns. Their effort is acknowledged and more resources must be availed to them to fight further.
Accordingly, drug abuse leads to the following issues in a city and towns. High rate of crime - indeed, crime rates related to drugs are on the increase. Stabbing of people, fighting, assaults are all on the increase in night clubs across the country. HIV prevalence, injecting drugs on one another using the same injections are causing a lot of transmission of diseases from one person to another. Unprotected intercourse when under influence of drugs cannot be ruled out in young people.
Family disintegration – once an addict and failing to be rehabilitated, one risks losing his or her life or possibly being chased away from home, resulting in being a street kid. Loss of future generation – a generation that is drunk has no future. Imparting skills in a drunk generation is difficult. Accordingly, drug and substance abuse is not good for this nation. More effort therefore needs to be put to eliminate and minimise the impact of substance and drug in this country. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity.
*HON. GANYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity so that I can put forward my debate with suggestions in relation to the challenge we are faced with. I am speaking as Member of Parliament and also as a parent. Mothers normally say that giving birth is so painful. Let me also say, as a man, giving birth is so painful. If we discuss the issue without historical background, we will not achieve what we want. We are supposed to look back and analyse where we are coming from. There have been debate of other issues that people are using pampers as drugs. Have we ever done research that some of the things which are being kept can be drugs tomorrow?
In my research about this issue, I have realised that children should be disciplined. Who removed the authority that we had to discipline? I am looking at parents that are on both sides of the House. Has anyone died as a result of discipline by their parents? We are here as Hon. Members who represent constituencies because we were disciplined and censored. Who has done this? Why is a man without a wife trying to wipe the mucus of an unmarried woman’s daughter? Who gives us these international treaties that we sign before they are scrutinised by our researchers and experts about people who are bent on ensuring that things do not go well for us? We now have this monster amongst us.
I am happy to be in this august House. When we started we had a prayer based on the same Bible where we are equal. We are equal in our country. The 90% of Zimbabwean people are Christians. In Revelations, they say, he who loves their child should not spare the rod. Is this not the same Bible that we swear when we take our oath? Is it not the first thing you start making reference to before we start our work? Why are we not following some of these things if we are Christians?
The same Bible says that the mother and father of a mad fool son are not happy. We no longer have any happiness. Where is this coming from? A few weeks before the motion was moved, which brings into play the need to conserve our lands and avoid illegal settlements, but I hear that there are people that are in those areas who have been asked to be evicted from those areas. The country is being destroyed under our watch.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am a parent and to think that my boys in future, will strike my cheek with open hands, it hurts me. The parents will look after the children as they grow and the children will have to look after the parents as they lose their teeth. Where are we going? Proverbs 22 v 6 says that instruct your children in the manner that you would want them to so that when they grow up, they will not deviate from that practice. What are we teaching them? These are the people who disadvantaged us and they got better land and resettled us in rocky areas. Now they are saying we are bringing our children in the wrong manner. Are you sure about it?
Is this what we were sent to say when we gathered them at the dip tank or that sandy area? Did they say that we must spare the rod and spoil the child? Who was given that mandate, that when you come to Parliament come up with laws that children should not be disciplined by their parents and as a result, I will not assault my own child? I am speaking as a parent who is being hurt and as a representative of the people who have sent me to Parliament.
If one were to look at our scenario today, we now have in place an image that would give us a script that would give us an example. Where did this template come from? Have we interrogated this template? What will our children be doing at these recreational facilities and who will have paid this money? We put a lot of money into things that are not developmental to our country by people that have misdirected themselves in taking crystal meth. This is just like modern trends that we must follow the global trends the world over for recreational facilities. Where were these recreational facilities put in place?
This is warfare against Zimbabwean and African children. If you look at the statistics, you cannot separate the length and breadth of the economy when compared with a country with very few people. That is why Nigeria is rated amongst the best economies in Africa. Their population is huge. The Bible says reproduce, multiply and fill the earth like the sand. If they are not going to be involved in drug abuse, they are going to be too many of these people and our economy is going to grow. India is a big country and you cannot remove the number of people that are there. The same applies to China, you cannot disaggregate with the people that are there.
All these people that come in like the NGOs, the majority of them have bad intentions. They come to the dog with a whip at the back. They are the ones who led our children to know about these things. As we were growing up before a certain age, you would not talk about reproduction and sex. We were then told that, that was being wayward. There is no person who copies things that they would not want to practice. When I learnt to drive a motor vehicle, I would steal my grandfather’s vehicle because I had been taught how to drive a car. We went a step further to say, if she becomes pregnant, she must be allowed to have an abortion as in the United States. It is good to do it, but when the repercussion of such actions stares in the face, it becomes painful.
From the various researches that were done when HIV/ADIS came, the assistance that we only got was in the form of being given condoms. It then became easy for people to indulge in sex and those condoms were readily available. What exactly was the benefit? Why were they so magnanimous in assisting us? That is why I am saying that we need to sit down and introspect. This can give you the evidence of the war that was brought to bear upon us. We need time to introspect or bring forth the evidence and you are going to be frightened. I do not deny that an idle mind is the devils’ workshop and that those hooked on drug abuse, is because of being idle. I used to believe that those who are coming from poor homes are the ones who are in involved in drug abuse, but when I conducted the research, I found out that the majority of the people who are into drug abuse are those from well to do families. Then I asked if they did not have anything to do. They are the ones in the majority. Some of them inherited very reasonable inheritances such that their parents are turning in their graves. Do they not have anything to do?
We should interrogate this issue like the other motion who was debated to deal with either the removal or non-removal of the death sentence. It should be put in abeyance so that we will come and discuss it as Hon. Members and show each other the truth.
[Time limit]
HON. KARIKOGA: I move that the Hon Member’s time be increased by two minutes.
HON. NYABANI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
*HON. GANYIWA: Mr. Speaker, all I am saying is that the issue at hand is a very important one. We cannot separate it like we were discussing, when we said we do not want certain pronouncements or judgments because the destruction of our children’s future is akin to being killed. So we will debate on issues such as the removal of sentences on those who are intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol. Tuckshops in constituencies are now also selling alcohol. They should simply go there on a plea so that justice is not delayed because they are killing our children.
I expect my child to be in a position to look after me in my old age. Why are you giving them crystal meth? This is where the death penalty should apply. They were saying that there is no hangman in this country. They promised to advertise the post in other countries so that the prospective candidate is issued with a work permit to work here. In Saudi Arabia and Dubai, if you are caught with drugs, the death sentence applies.
In conclusion, allow me to vent my anger on this motion. I am now appealing to our listening President and hope that he is equally disturbed and will hear our pleas. We should not wait to come up with a law. There must be Presidential Powers coming into effect such that anyone who is found in possession of dagga or any other drugs is imprisoned. A lot of our children are suffering whilst we are waiting for the enactment of a Bill. I thank you.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Ganyiwa. I realised that the entire House was listening to you because the motion was disturbing you. Hon. Members, is this not the time when we say those with ears have heard?
HON. BAJILA: Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Let me start by thanking Hon. Mapiki for bringing this motion before the House. Drug and substance abuse is a critical challenge facing our nation today. My presentation will be short Mr. Speaker. I will speak to some of the known effects of drug and substance abuse in our communities. I will also speak to some of the issues that lead to consumption and even the manufacturing of these drugs in our homes without our knowledge. I will also speak to solutions as I see them as part of the solutions that this House needs to invest its mind on as we seek to combat drug and substance abuse. I will then make brief comments on the presentation by Hon. S. Sithole and then I will be done.
Drug and substance abuse has caused a lot of mental health problems in our society as has been alluded to by previous speakers. We are now having a lot of reports and also observing a lot of circumstances and situations where we find people being numb with drugs alone, developing violent behaviour and so forth because of drug and substance abuse. Naturally, this is related to the issue of addiction and when we have someone being addicted to drugs, it means that they cannot do normal life without the consumption or abuse of drugs. This gives us more problems as a society if we are going to have young people who cannot perform normal functions of human beings without taking drugs.
Mr. Speaker, addiction to drugs leads to criminal behaviour because in order for someone to get access to drugs, they may need to commit robbery so that they get money for drugs or they may need to commit one form of crime or another. Also, after taking drugs, they then also develop these harmful and criminal behaviours. Mr. Speaker, we have spoken so much about drugs and substance abuse as things that are far away from our places. Those who are Members of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care will attest to the fact that before the suspensions late last year, we had opportunity to interact as a Committee with recovered drug addicts.
They narrated to us the kind of things that led to them to being addicted to drugs. I see a lot of parents here, some of whom have children at boarding schools. We were informed that some children at boarding schools are mixing Movite with Mazoe and injecting it into the blood stream in order to get high. These are things we have in our homes and things that children are using to get high. It is a matter of us becoming more and more alert around these issues because we live in an era of inquisitiveness. People are just experimenting and as they experiment, they produce these harmful substances that lead to them becoming addicted.
Mr. Speaker, I will go to some of the solutions that I think this august House needs to invest its mind on. The first one being that we need to deal with our points of entry into the country. Most of these drugs are imported into our country, they are manufactured elsewhere. When they come into our country, our borders are porous. The porousness of our borders is as a result of the poverty in the country. It is as a result of the corruption in the country. The corruption in the country is such that it is possible for somebody to get at our border post, enter the country after having bribed those who are supposed to intercept the entry of drugs and harmful substances.
Mr. Speaker, I implore this House to introduce sniffer dogs at our borders because no one will bribe a dog. I implore this House to look into means by which the Ministry of Home Affairs and our border control authorities to introduce sniffer dogs that can sniff drugs on buses, luggage and everywhere at our ports of entry including our airports. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – If need be Mr. Speaker, we need to go further and introduce artificial intelligence into these things because we must stop drugs from coming into our country. We must be serious about this and must not find ourselves grand-standing about it.
Secondly Mr, Speaker, we need to empower citizens to be able to conduct citizens arrests within our communities. Drug dealers are people who live amongst us and our people know that the drugs are sold at that house. They also know that a police report is not going to help. We need to get our legislation to be able to empower our citizens to conduct citizens’ arrests on drug dealers within our communities.
Mr. Speaker, thirdly I propose that we need to develop a system by which recovered drug addicts are appreciated by our communities and even supported by the State to be goodwill ambassadors in the fight against drug and substance abuse. These are people who have consumed drugs, and people who have been addicted to drugs. These are people who have come forth and said they want to live a drug-free life. I propose that this House supports these people so that they speak to their peers more and do lived experiences of life after drug addiction. We have these people in our communities and the State must take proactive means to support them and to make them goodwill ambassadors in the fight against drugs.
Most importantly, these recovered drug addicts could be useful if we were to set up a fund for the revival of youth centres in urban areas where most of the drug consumption is happening. We can have these recovered drug addicts getting jobs at those kind of places. In addition to getting jobs in those kind of places, having roles of educating other young people who come to do various things that must happen at youth centres in these urban areas.
Mr. Speaker, I also propose that we include clauses of assets forfeiture for those convicted of drug dealing. We need to forfeit their assets and their assets must be sold. When they are sold more youth centres must be built using proceeds from the forfeiture of assets of drug dealers. That should be in addition to long imprisonment including life imprisonment for drug dealing. We need life imprisonment for these.
Most importantly, we need to deal with the issue of jobs. As long as we do not answer the question of employment of young people, they will fall into harm or another and we need to quickly as a nation, come together and push the issue of employment creation.
Lastly, I wish to thank Hon. Sithole for his comments which I wish I would have understood if they had been presented in understandable language. Unfortunately, he spoke in a language somehow similar to English. I thank you.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 13th February, 2024.
On the motion of HON. TSITSI ZHOU seconded by HON. MUROMBEDZI, the House adjourned at Twenty-One Minutes past Six o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 13th February 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 8th February, 2024
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI): I have a long list of apologies from Ministers and Deputy Ministers as follows:
The Vice President, Hon. Gen. Rtd. Dr. Constantino, G.D.N. Chiwenga;
The Vice President, Hon. Col. Rtd. Kembo D. C. Mohadi;
The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Hon. Prof. Mthuli Ncube;
The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Hon. Barbra Rwodzi;
The Minister of Defence, Hon. Oppah C. Z. Muchinguri;
The Deputy Minister of Defence, Hon. Brig. Gen. Rtd. Levy Mayihlome;
The Minister of Women Affairs, Community and SME, Hon. Monica Mutsvangwa;
The Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Community and SME, Hon. J. Mhlanga;
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Hon. Amb. Dr. Frederick Shava;
The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Hon. Kazembe;
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Ziyambi;
The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Hon. Jenfan Muswere;
The Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Hon. O. Marupi;
The Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. Zhemu Soda;
The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Hon. Prof. Dr. Amon Murwira;
The Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Hon. S. Sibanda;
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Torerai Moyo;
The Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. A. Gata;
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Hon. Felix Mhona;
The Deputy Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Hon. D. Phuti;
The Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. Dinha;
The Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Hon. R. Modi;
The Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Hon. V. Haritatos; and
The Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Hon. Marapira
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. CHIEF NGUNGUMBANE: I want to direct my question to the Deputy Minister of Sport. What is Government policy regarding the status of football stadiums and what stage have you gone in ensuring that ZIFA complies with FIFA and CAF standards with regards to compliance?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT, RECREATION, ARTS AND CULTURE (HON. JESAYA): As the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, our mandate is to provide a conducive environment for our sports to strife. One of the key fundamentals is to ensure that we provide sporting facilities that are adequate and that meet the standards. As far as the National Sports Stadium is concerned, our Ministry is fully aware of all the renovations that need to be done and things that need to be done for CAF to approve. We have already entered into public and private partnerships. A lot of work is being done as we speak and I am sure in due course, the Minister is going to make a statement as to the progress but we want to assure the nation that we will do everything in our power to make sure that the next home match will be done in Zimbabwe.
HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me an opportunity to ask my question. This question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. I would like to start by congratulating and thanking the Ministry for finally ground breaking of the Great North Road or A1 which goes through Mashonaland West. We are indeed excited.
The Great North Road or A1 has a lot of transport going into the SADC region – Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. All these go through Chirundu. Whilst we are expanding and rebuilding our roads, we used to have a railway line which is still there up to Zave in Makonde (Mashonaland West). Are there any plans of extending the railway line into Zambia which would make transportation of goods less expensive and save our roads from the damage which is caused by the excessive transportation which goes through the Province?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Thank you Hon. Sen. Mupfumira for your question. It is correct that recently, our Hon. Minister Mhona conducted a ground breaking ceremony on the Harare-Chirundu Highway and work is commencing as we speak. We are currently working on connecting Lion’s Den to Kafue in Zambia. That is the proposal that we have as a Ministry. Last week we had a meeting with NRZ and some potential investors who are about to undertake a feasibility study. We have had a feasibility study which was funded from the European Union, but these investors also want to check on the feasibility of taking the railway line through Chirundu. This is work in progress and we have very serious investors who are willing to put their money into constructing a railway line from Lion’s Den to Kafue.
This will help us decongest the road and this railway line will continue rehabilitation from Lion’s Den all the way through Harare to Forbes Border post to link up with Machipanda so that all the freight that is coming in from Zambia and DRC can now be moved on the railway line. I believe that in the very near future, we will be announcing progress on this particular project. I thank you.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. We commend you for the work you are doing in the road sector.
We live in Harare and we have seen the chaotic state of our transport system in Harare. What is Government doing in terms of plans and policies to sort out the traffic jungle in Harare?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Thank you very much Hon. Senator for your very important question. Harare, unfortunately, has been allowed to get to the stage where we are because the responsibility for repairing these roads has been in the hands of the city councils. It is not only Harare, but other cities as well. Through the wisdom of His Excellency the President, Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa, when the Emergency Road Repair Programme (ERRP) was launched; the responsibility for repairing of these roads including roads that are under councils has been given to the Ministry of Transport.
The good news for you Hon. Senator is that under the new Republic, we are now honoured to be hosting a SADC Summit in August here in Harare, which will see the upgrade of many roads including the dualisation of the road from Westgate to Parliament and many other roads will be repaired and upgraded. This will come as a blessing for us as a country that in preparation for the SADC Summit, there is going to be a comprehensive upgrade of most of the major roads in Harare.
Notwithstanding that going forward, even roads not covered by this programme will also be repaired under the ERRP which is currently running. I so submit.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me the time to pose my question.
My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. In the past, things were good for us because the railway lines were functional. I know that people used to commute from Dzivarasekwa as well as Warren Park because the railway line was functional. That used to alleviate the transport sector because people would not need to drive to town. What is your plan as Government to ensure that those railway lines are repaired so that transport reverts back to the use of railway lines for the transportation of goods and passengers because all those road repairs and works that you are doing are easily eroded simply because of the overuse of these roads? I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): My understanding is that in the past, there were functional railway lines as well as passenger trains in the local areas such as Dzivarasekwa, Mufakose and Warren Park. That used to reduce the amount of traffic on the roads. Right now, we have done a combined programme with the Ministry of Finance and Infrastructural Development. A technical Committee has been set up to look at how the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) can be developed from where it is right now. There are a lot of things that need to be solved at the NRZ.
Before we put back the train on the railway line, we must be sure that it is safe because we need to ensure that the train moves with good speed and carries passengers that need to be protected from any danger. We also need to repair concrete slippers to ensure that the railway line is in a good state. We are also looking at assisting NRZ to secure locomotives and wagons as well as passenger carriages as a way of upgrading. We know that without railway system, the transport system does not function properly. We are researching on that and we are looking for investors that may want to come up with locomotives that may want to ply the CBD as well as residential area routes to decongest.
We also want to work on the Hwange Chikwalakwala corridor that goes all the way to Maputo. We also want to work on the line from Lion’s Den to Kafue as well as Forbes Border post. We are working flat out to ensure that we resolve that as we look for partners to assist us develop this system. The NRZ should also look into local resources to resolve this issue immediately.
When His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa went to Mozambique recently, he saw a railway line being constructed. He gave an instruction to the Minister that the passenger railway system be revamped so that all the passenger railway systems, including the Bulawayo one, resume. That is what we are working on. I thank you.
*HON. SEN CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Firstly, I would like to thank the Deputy Minister for explaining clearly in fluent vernacular. My supplementary question is, what is Government doing with regards to ensuring that we have good railway lines? In the past, they were electrified and the signals were good. What is Government doing to ensure that the systems in place are upgraded to move away from diesel and ensure use of green energy such as solar? I thank you.
*HON. SACCO: Thank you Hon. Sen Chief for that question. We are also looking into green energy as we look at revamping the railway system. We are looking at repairing the portions as well as purchasing new locomotives. We also need to repair the signal systems as some of them have been vandalised while others need to be replaced. The other thing is, we need electric lines along the railway lines to ensure that the railways start working. With regards to passenger trains, there is also use of new technology where batteries are used. Those hydrogen or lithium batteries can be used. Those are some of the things we are considering since they are environmentally friendly. Those trains can use batteries when they travel short distances. My response in short to the Sen. Chief is, indeed the infrastructure on the electric railway system must be revamped and put in place, but in the short term with regards to goods train, I think we will continue using coal powered locomotives whilst we look at revamping those systems. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. I would also want to thank the Hon. Minister for explaining and according to his explanation, they are searching for stakeholders who can assist them with the provision of railway slippers. If that happens, then the trains can resume operation. My question is, right now the New Dispensation brought Education 5.0, and so what are your plans to ensure that you partner with higher institutions of learning to come up with innovations that can solve the railway slipper issue?
*HON. SEN. SACCO: I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for her question. The railway concrete slippers used to be purchased locally, but right now we think it is better for us to procure the machines that make them instead of buying the railway slippers. The technology is not very complicated, but the machine is already there. So we are looking into that. With regards to working with higher institutions, we are co-operating with them on other issues such as signals so that we tap into the creativity of students. They can come up with systems that we can use for our railway transportation system. Those ideas are there and I think that is where we need to liaise with the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, but with regards to concrete railway slippers, we only need the machine so the railways can resume functioning. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: My question will be directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. My real concern is that we understand the Second Republic has Vision 2030 that says no one must be left behind, ensuring that we are an upper middle-income economy. Whilst on that, we feel as Matebeleland that we are left behind a lot. There are a lot of dilapidated roads such as Matopos, Mapisa to Gwanda Road and Matopos to Gwanda Road. We also have Mahalumbe Road which is not developed. Where is Government and how much commitment is there to ensure that those roads are developed? Those roads are key for the development of our economic sector because the informal transporters use those roads. Gwanda to Mapisa is only 50kms, but the road is unnavigable. We appeal to Government to look into those roads. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Thank you Mr. President Sir. Yes, it is very correct that it is the policy of the New Dispensation. Zimbabwe is a unitary State and no one shall be left behind. I can talk without much detail because part of the question is specific. It would be easier if you put it in writing and we can give you more detailed response on the specific roads like Matopos, Maphisa to Gwanda, the status quo. I would like to bring to your attention that no place is being left behind.
Work is commencing within the next few weeks on the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls Road and the ground breaking will be done in the near future. We also have a contractor called ZWANE who is working on the old Gwanda Road. We are finishing off the documentation on the relevant feasibility study so that, the work can commence. There are various initiatives around the Nkayi Road. I think the Hon. Deputy Minister from Higher and Tertiary Education can also bear that the road going towards his constituency, the first two kilometers have just been commissioned and more work is being done.
Hon. Senator, may you please put the other part of the question in writing so that we give you more details. Some of them are touched on the written questions that I am going to respond to later after this session of Questions Without Notice. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. PHUTHI: Thank you Mr. President Sir for giving me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. I would like to applaud him for the success achieved in most secondary and higher schools. What are the efforts and plans at the moment, with regards to the schools that have recorded 0% pass rates? What plans are in place to ensure that all students who are going to sit for examinations will also pass, succeed and progress together with the students who passed already? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. SIBANDA): Mr. President Sir, I am sure that question is not directed to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education but to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Phuthi. There is obviously concern about schools that are recording 0% pass rate in their ‘O’ level examinations. This has been articulated by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Most of those schools that are recording 0% pass rates are satellite schools where they do not even have Headmasters. The policy of Government is to lift the level such that those schools can start having their own Headmasters, so that supervision can be more thorough than what it is right now. It is acknowledged that some of the schools which are in the former commercial farming areas and resettlement areas are recording these zero pass rates as well as in the remote areas of Zimbabwe. Government, being aware of it, wants to reverse this order so that we do not leave any school and any place behind. We do not believe that there are areas where parents can all give birth to children who cannot pass. There are extenuating circumstances which we have to deal with. Some of these extenuating circumstances have to do with the parents themselves. If they have not built proper schools, if the schools are dilapidated and there are no permanent structures for teachers so that they can live in situ, we find this situation will make students not have proper education. The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is taking care of this and we hope that in due course, it will be corrected. I want to thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. PHUTHI: Mr. President, I feel bad when the Minister says, Zimbabwe still has places where there are no teachers’ residences in this century. Again, the Minister is saying there are some schools without Headmasters. It hurts and I hope Minister, we will be over that very soon.
HON. SEN. R. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. My question is also directed to the Minister of Transport. Some two, three years ago, the President commissioned the locomotives in Bulawayo. Everybody got excited that the railway lines will be resuscitated as quickly as possible. We are using some huge trucks to carry coal from Hwange. This results in roads becoming so dilapidated. When are they going to resuscitate the railway line so that the coals could be transported by railways and we stop the big trucks coming all over? The repairs of the roads will always be consistent.
There is a passenger train from Bulawayo, Plumtree, Botswana to South Africa. That is a cheap way for travellers but it has since stopped some years back. When are they resuscitating those passenger trains in those areas? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): I would like to thank Hon. Ndlovu for his very passionate question. Every time he meets me, he asks about the railways. As I mentioned earlier, for the recapitalisation of NRZ, we are looking at a number of issues. To start with, we need to sort out our infrastructure where we need to repair what are called cautions on the railway lines and we are working towards capacity so that we can make the railway slippers ourselves which will reduce the cost of repair by a great percentage.
Secondly, we are also looking now at capacitating NRZ to purchase locomotives, wagons, passenger coaches and do the signaling that is required on the railway lines as well as reconstruct the electricity network that is required to run electricity powered locomotives. As I mentioned earlier, the passenger trains into Harare as well as the passenger train between Bulawayo and Harare was instructed by His Excellency, the President Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa to get up and going.
Allow me Hon. Senator to do more research on the Bulawayo-Botswana-South Africa service which I was not aware of, but I am sure we can look into that. It will be a bilateral issue between Zimbabwe and Botswana and we will also bring South Africa on board to find out what needs to be done to reintroduce this passenger train service. I would like not to commit myself to when we will have the trains running, but I would like to assure you Hon. Senator, that it is of utmost importance for us as the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development to get the NRZ up and going to move the cargo from the roads onto the railway lines so that we can save the roads that we are constructing.
We are in talks with a number of potential investors like Rights from India, we are also in talks with our good brothers from Belarus who have also expressed willingness to work with Zimbabwe in the recapitalisation of the railway network. Due to the steel plant coming on board at Manhize where millions of tonnes of coking coal, limestone and the finished product which needs to be carried from Hwange to Manhize and Manhize to Beira, there is urgency to get the NRZ up and going again.
Dinson itself is a potential partner as well as others who might be coming on board to fund construction of railways lines that need to be done. In brief, these are the initiatives that we are undertaking at the moment and we assure you Hon. Senator, that we are working on this as we need the railways up and going in the nearest future. I thank you.
+HON. NYATI: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. You can see the season which we are in where people ploughed their land, but we do not have enough grain. What has Government put in place so that people can be able to survive under the circumstances?
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. JULY MOYO): We are aware that this past season, 2022-23 we had a good rainy season and from all the statistics, there was a bumper harvest. However, in every year where we have a bumper harvest, there are pockets in Zimbabwe that have food deficit and these areas are mapped through our vulnerability assessment programmes that is led by our Food and Nutrition Council. This encompasses many ministries, NGOs and the UN system to come up with areas that we think even in a bumper harvest, those areas have a deficit. The height of these areas in terms of population, we found out that there were 2.3 million Zimbabweans who needed to be fed during this period from January to March even when we had a bumper harvest last year coming into this year.
The Department of Social Protection is making sure that deliveries would be made and we were supposed to start delivering these food items in January to vulnerable groups, but because we were not given money for transportation, it has started a little late. The food is stationed at GMBs throughout the country, but I am aware that because in November and December, the rains were sporadic and people started feeling the effects of El Nino and people started thinking what will happen in this current season 2023- 24, it will impact on the food deficit in the country when harvesting started. Government is not only looking at what we are doing in order to get food for those who are food deficient, but also start looking at what will happen during the season. The planning for this season starts in May or June going forward because those who have had food sufficiency in the old season are still holding some of their food and that is why we are only feeding 2.3 million people. We know that because of what we anticipate as the failure if the El Nino effects continue to devastate us. We know that we will have much more increased food deficit.
There are studies which are already going on by the Ministry of Land and Agriculture to see the crop situation and they inform us every week about the situation, whether we are improving. Of course, at the end of December, most of us were becoming happy because the rains were now there and we started scaling down about the number of people who will have food deficit. However, we see another patch where there is no rain, we might be scaling up the number of people who need food. This will be informed by the assessments which are done by the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the food vulnerability assessment that is going to be taking place so that when we programme who we have to give food starting in May because of the failure of this season, we will have the correct numbers. So Government is seized with the matter and all of you know what is happening in your own constituencies and we just urge that all of us should encourage people to do whatever they can do in the present circumstances.
Those who have done their Pfumvudza, we encourage that maybe they might have better yield than those who have not done Pfumvudza. That is why in our food distribution even this season, we have said it is not proper for Government to continue giving somebody who already is fit and is able to dig the holes that have been earmarked for Pfumvudza inputs. We will give food to those who are able bodied, but who have shown a desire to say I can do food security for my own family by doing Pfumvudza requirements.
Those who are able bodied and are not willing to do so, we are saying as a Zimbabwean culture, we should not encourage people who are able bodied not to do the work that they need to do to feed their families. We also ask through a communication that we have done to our chiefs, headmen and village heads to say for those who are unable - the disabled and child headed families, please let us do our community work and help them with this Pfumvudza. Why are we saying Pfumvudza is a food security measure that the President has embarked? It is because if we have food security at the village and household level, then those who need to be fed through the scheme will become less and that is the thrust that we want to have to increase food security in the country. I thank you.
HON. SEN. R. M. NDLOVU: Mr. President, I come from
Bulilima where we have got the San community which does not plough. The First Lady, Dr. A. Mnangagwa, has done her best to try and assist those people, but I want to find out from the Government side what the Government, through the Ministry of Public Service, is doing for those people. They overlap to Tsholotsho. Is there any programme for them to be assisted because they do not plough and if you give them ploughs or hoes, they will sell the following day? Theirs is to eat. They used to hunt the elephants, but because of the wildlife system that we now have, they have closed them out. So, we want to find out from the Minister, what are the plans in place to feed those communities?
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: While that question is very specific and was supposed to be put in writing, I will give you benefit of doubt and allow the Minister to respond.
HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Hon. Senator for raising the issue about the San people and I know that they do not want to be called the San people, but because their language is Tshwao, they would rather be called Tshwa people. The Government, through the urging of the President and the First Lady, has come up with programmes that are earmarked to the Tshwa people as well as other communities like in Mbire, where we think they have been left behind over the years. The food situation among the Tshwa people is one that requires Government to have concerted efforts to assist them.
The President has also said, to assist them, we must understand their culture of hunting which is an age-old culture which must be maintained, but they can no longer hunt with bows and arrows. The President has said to all our security organs; the police, prisons and others, incorporate them to become trained as operatives in the army, police and other activities so that we can devise programmes for them to go and hunt using the modern hunting instruments that we have at our disposal. That is the President’s programme, but when it comes to actual food, even though we have said we were planning for this January to March season, anytime there was a distress call from the Tshwa or Doma people in Mashonaland Central, we have had to respond very quickly because we know their situation.
So, I want to assure Sen. Ndlovu that the Government has a programme and in fact, it has over 20 deliverables which the President monitors himself to make sure that we deliver among those people in that area, one of which was, let us register them and all of us are beneficiaries of that registration exercise because the President wanted them to be registered. He said, do not care about their names as long as they have a face and are Zimbabweans, register them so that we know who these people are, how many they are, their conditions in terms of schooling and other livelihoods and food security as one of the key livelihoods.
There has been an attempt also to make sure that we put dams and irrigations in their areas so that they can also start to cultivate. I know that requires a lot of education and persuasion and this persuasion must start from those of us who are here, Senators and MPs from that area as well as the chieftainships. They now have a chief of their own for those who live in Tsholotsho and because of that, going through that chieftainship, we think we can change some of the practices that they were doing, but food security currently is necessary for them to have. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: My supplementary question to the Minister of Public Service is that, before, we used to have food for work whereby able-bodied people would work and get food aid at the end of the month so that the vulnerable like the old aged, orphans and disabled would get free hand-outs. Do we still have that programme or is Government planning to have that programme because it was assisting people while developing their communities than just getting food for free when they are able to work?
HON. J. MOYO: Yes, the policy of Government is still that we need to have public works or food for work for those able-bodied. It is easier said than being done right now. The details about how to organise such that the communities can benefit is what needs to be done. We held a workshop with all Ministers of State in Masvingo at the beginning of this year in order to launch this year’s January to March programme. The issue of food for work was raised, but it needs total organisation from the village level to the ward and to district level. These projects benefit the communities and so, if there is organisation in an area to say for our people to be given food, they must make these small dams or weirs and repair these roads, we are supportive of it as Government. It is a policy of Government, but the organisation has to be at the local level. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: Since the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is not present, I now direct my question to the Leader of Government Business in the House.
What is the Government’s plan on paying farmers who delivered their crops to GMB last year? We find that some farmers have not yet received their payments.
Questions without Notice were interrupted by THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Mr. President Sir, I move that time for questions without notice be extended by fifteen minutes.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (HON. MATUKE): The issue of payment of farmers is a finance issue. Normally, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development would respond to the payment which comes from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. In the last meeting that we had, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion assured us that almost all farmers are going to be paid before end of February.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development if he is still available. What are the Government’s plans on electricity at rural areas where there were some poles and only one line of electricity? Since then, the poles have fallen and that line of electricity is also lying on the ground. What is Government’s plan to rehabilitate such areas?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. E. MOYO): My understanding of the question speaks to the programme of Government to address rehabilitation where infrastructure has dilapidated. Historically, we have been operating under a non-cost reflective tariff where it was difficult in terms of resource availability to address rehabilitation of lines that have collapsed. However, through our regulatory framework, Government has allowed a cost reflective tariff and therefore, a programme has already started where refurbishment is already in progress. I may not know the areas that the Hon. Senator is referring to but from our statistics, they have prioritised areas that are worst affected and going on as resources become available.
There is indeed a programme to rehabilitate and hitherto, this was affected by resource constraints as a result of a non-cost reflective tariff. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My question is directed to the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities. We have a problem of people who are selling land illegally. Some of these people are in the law enforcement sector and local authorities. The local authority people are allowing people to build in prohibited areas. In the end, they regularise the illegal structures. They are creating their own cash cows. What is Government’s policy with regard to working with traditional leaders to end this problem because this is giving us challenges?
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. GARWE): I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Chikwaka for asking his question which is in two parts. The first part is, what is Government’s plan so that we can fight the problem of people who are selling land illegally and those who are selling council land illegally. Government does not allow anyone to sell State land. If these people are reported to the law enforcement agents, they should be prosecuted and jailed. The problem that we are facing is that people are not reporting such cases, even to chiefs. Some of the people who are selling the land are our headmen who are under chieftainship.
We have a number of places where we do not know whether it is still under the chieftainship land or now State land because of the land barons. The Government does not allow that. We should encourage people in the rural areas not to sell land. Even if they sell their land at pittance, you should report them to the police. We have a lot of places where people are in jail because of that.
The second question is – what is Government’s plan for civil servants who are caught in-between or involved in buying the land because it is cheap; we have plans for all civil servants, be it the Army, Airforce – they should get accommodation because our President said that we are leaving no place and no one behind. We have started building residential flats in rural areas and we have started this programme in Mutawatawa. This is ongoing. Building is different from farming because if you seed maize today, after three days, you will see it sprouting but when it comes to building houses, you first go and do a feasibility study. Papers should be put in place with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works – master plans. If the master plans are out, then we can come up with plans following what is allowed by the law. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. NGWENA: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. We now have a challenge in our primary schools pertaining to extra lessons. Teachers are no longer concentrating on their work, but on extra lessons. We implore you Minister to look into that so that teachers teach in classes instead of concentrating more on extra lessons. It is a challenge to people who do not have money because the teachers will concentrate on teaching those children with parents who can afford extra lessons.
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T MOYO): Mr. President, allow me to thank the Hon. Sen for the pertinent question. Government policy does not allow teachers to engage in extra lessons in school. It was realised that if they do extra lessons at school, the teachers will put more effort on those who pay and leave behind those who do not pay. We now have a law in place which bans extra lessons. If there are schools which are engaging in extra lessons, you can forward those names so as to enable us to investigate their operations. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHITSAMBA: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Transport. The Nyanga-Binya Road is indicated as being tarred on the map, but there is no tar. This is a very busy road which also leads to schools such as Marist Brothers and St Mary’s Magdelene, but the road is very dilapidated and prone to more accidents. I implore the Minister to help us so that the road is rehabilitated to the requisite standard. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you Hon. Senator. You have put your plea which is not a question. The Minister has taken note of your plea.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by the Temporary President of Senate in terms of Standing Order Number 67.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
PROGRESS MADE IN PRODUCING AFFORDABLE AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS
1 HON. SEN. TONGOGARA asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to explain to the House the progress which the Ministry has made in producing affordable agricultural chemicals for the ordinary farmer since the introduction of the Education 5.0 philosophy.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION (HON. SIBANDA): Thank you very much Mr. President. Through our Transformed Heritage Based Education 5.0 Design, exciting developments are happening at Zimbabwe State Universities and the country at large. With an emphasis and reorientation of research programmes towards production of goods and services, universities have come up in the forefront to fulfill the National Vision through Research and Innovation Programmes that are resulting in the production of goods and services that satisfy the needs of our people. Through Heritage Based Education 5.0, our approach is to focus on our heritage to produce goods and services that our people want.
In the agricultural sector, besides the artificial insemination programme, medicinal feed production, dairy programme and many other programmes, we are also continuing to do local research and development of agricultural chemicals that our people need. Three of our universities namely: University of Zimbabwe, Midlands State University and Bindura University of Science and Education are currently working on programmes to locally produce agricultural chemicals using what we have. That is the heritage of Zimbabwe. For example, University of Zimbabwe innovators are currently innovating to produce agricultural chemicals to reduce importation of pesticides and all agricultural ingredients. Currently three of these innovations are poised for mass production representing a notable advancement in the pursuit of efficiency in agricultural chemicals for Zimbabwe. There are three products that are being produced by the UZ. The first one is the YUZIT bio-pesticides - The University of Zimbabwe has purchased bioreactors to mass produce this product. The Bio-pesticide can be used to control pests such as fall armyworm, cotton bollworm and diamond black moth.
The second one is used YUZit Fungicide. UZ has produced the YUZit fungicide which is effective against fungal infections in vegetables, food and plantation crops and we are now at the stage for mass production.
The third one is the Non-Chemical Solution. UZ has also taken a bold step in agricultural innovations by establishing VN Seeds (Pvt) Ltd, a registered company dedicated to the production of groundbreaking maize seed variety resistant to the fall armyworm.
Then we have got the Midlands State University. Though the MSU Enterprises is set to start producing an innovative foliar fertilizer tailored for cotton and sesame farming in Zimbabwe, we are now ready to start mass production of this fertilizer.
The Bindura University of Science Education is working on producing novel bio-pesticide effective against fall armyworm. This bio-pesticide is derived from indigenous Zimbabwean plants. This research is nearing completion and shall also contribute to the many initiatives following Heritage Based Education 5.0 being carried out by our universities towards solving the problems of agricultural chemicals in our country.
These initiatives and many others demonstrate the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development’s commitment to addressing critical challenges in agriculture and contribution to sustainable food security in our country and the region. I thank you.
SURFACING OF PLUMTREE-TSHOLOTSHO-LUPANE ROAD
- HON. SEN. R. M. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House why the surfacing of the Plumtree-Tsholotsho-Lupane Road has taken such a long time to be done, yet it is the shortest to Victoria Falls, a major tourist destination.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Mr. President Sir, I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Ndlovu for raising a pertinent question about the surfacing of Plumtree-Tsholotsho-Lupane Road in Matabeleland Province, which is the shortest route to Victoria Falls. As you are aware, projects that have been implemented in Matabeleland South Province are in line with the province’s priority list which is derived through consultations with the Provincial Development Committee, the Minster of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution’s Office, the Provincial Economic Development Plan and with respect, to set budgets by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion.
According to the Matabeleland South Economic Development Plan, under the Transport Infrastructure and Utilities Cluster, the priority roads considered for construction with the available funding were Guyu-Manama-Mlambapeli Border Post Road and Gwanda-Maphisa-Mphoengs Border Post Road. Mr. President Sir, Plumtree Tsholotsho Road is very strategic. Hence, consideration was made to carry out works on Gwanda-Maphisa Road and Guyu-Manama Road. The Ministry is currently seized with the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 where concentration is largely on the rehabilitation of existing road infrastructure which is in a deplorable state. However, we will soon resume the Road Development Programme which falls under ERRP 2 where our focus is to undertake works on 10 km in every district each year. Plumtree-Tsholotsho Road has always been part of the Road Development Programme and when the programme gets funding, the road construction project for the said road will be implemented. I so submit Mr. President Sir.
INCOMPLETE CONSTRUCTION PHASES OF THE PLUMTREE TO TSHITSHI STRETCH
- HON. SEN. R. M. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House the logic behind the incomplete construction phases of the Plumtree-Mphoengs Road which initially commenced with the construction of the Plumtree to Tshitshi Stretch before being abandoned to construct the Gwanda-Maphisa Stretch of the same road.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Madam President, the Ministry is cognisant of the fact that between Bulima and Mangwe Districts, there are three border posts, thus Plumtree-Mphoengs Road that leads to the border which is very critical. We are also aware of the economic growth opportunities and potential that can be unlocked through trade with Botswana and the construction of this road up to surfacing. We will continue to engage Treasury for funding of all roads that have a socio-economic benefit to the province of Matabeleland South.
To demonstrate our commitment to the construction of Plumtree-Mphoengs Road, the Provincial Road Engineer has already initiated the design process of the road and to date, surveys have been completed. When funds are availed, the Department of Roads will quickly execute the project.
Madam President, the construction of Guyu-Manama-Mlambapeli Border Post Road and Gwanda-Maphisa-Mphoengs Border Post Road was not neglected. The Department of Roads, through the ERRP 2 programme, carried out maintenance grading on Plumtree-Mphoengs Road, Mphoengs Border Post Road and Plumtree-Tsholotsho Road which is roughly 44km from Plumtree. Our response Madam Speaker is, once funds have been availed to the Ministry by Treasury, this is definitely one of the priority roads that we will be looking into. I so submit. I thank you.
Questions With Notice were interrupted by the ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE, in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
MOTION
PROGRAMMES TO CURB DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY YOUTHS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on drug and substance abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 13th February, 2024.
MOTION
GBV AWARENESS PROGRAMME TO PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 13th February, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 53RD PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC-PARLIAMENTARY FORUM HELD IN MAURITIUS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 53rd Plenary Assembly of the SADC-Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 13th February, 2024.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA), the Senate adjourned at Four Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 13th February 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 7th February, 2024
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
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received the following list of members of the Executive apologising for their absence: Hon. Gen. (Rtd.) Dr. C. G. D. N. Chiwenga, Vice President; Hon. S. G. Nyoni, Minister of Industry and Commerce; Hon. Dr. A. J. Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon. D. Marapira, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon. Prof. M. Ncube, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion; Hon. Z. Soda, Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. J. Muswere, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. Prof. A. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. O.C.Z. Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence; Hon. Brig. Gen. Rtd. L. Mayihlome, Deputy Minister of Defence; Hon. F. Mhona, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development; and Hon. Dr. D. T. Mombeshora, Minister of Health and Child Care.
Hon. Government Chief Whip, this list is by far too long and I am not aware of any national event taking place that will call upon the services or presence of the Hon. Members. So, Hon. Chief Whip, in liaison with the Leader of Government Business, can you make sure that the list is truncated.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. Since the announcement of the 2023-2024 National Budget, we have witnessed the rapid depreciation of the ZWL against the USD and other hard currencies and a general rise on the basic commodities. What policies is the Ministry putting in place to ensure that there is stability of the Zimbabwean dollar and the general prices?
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Deputy Minister is here. Now, I do not want to pre-empt your response, Deputy Minister. I thought yesterday during news time, His Excellency the President indicated that there will be a public announcement on the issue. So, Hon. Deputy Minister, do you want to be pre-emptive or you will guide the House accordingly?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and thank you Hon. Chiduwa for that question of national importance. I would not want to pre-empt a Monetary Policy Statement as well as fiscal policy announcements that will be coming, but would acknowledge that the increase in the exchange rates and inflation figures are something that we are fully aware of. There are actions that are being taken in as far as crafting something that can be a permanent solution. So, I would like to leave it at this juncture without putting the cart before the horse Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. I think the House will wait for that statement and the question remains valid.
HON. MUKOMBERI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, with regards to some players in the commodity market who are exclusively charging some commodities in USD thereby rejecting the ZWL as a medium of exchange. What is the Government’s policy in tandem with that?
THE HON. DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and Hon. Member for that question. Government policy and the law in this multi-currency regime is that shops, retailers and industry can display the prices and the currencies of their choice, whether USD or ZWL, but the customer is then able to pay in the currency that they hold that is either the USD or ZWL. So in that regard, if there is any rejection, it would be counted to the law, but you would find that this phenomenon is occurring probably in the informal sector. In more formalised shops, you have both the USD and ZWL pricing, but Hon. Speaker, it then comes back to the initial affliction that we have which is the inflation and exchange rate disparities that are creating some of these issues. So, again I would like to say that the cocktail of measures that will be coming out will address most, if not all, of these issues. I thank you.
*HON. J. SITHOLE: My question to the Deputy Minister is, we note that a lot of service stations only take USD. They do not accept local currency. We have several people who earn local currency like civil servants. So, the question is, what is Government policy regarding fuel procurement using RTGS or local currency? I thank you.
*HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Let me repeat that the multi-currency regime draws us back to the fact that we need to compare our currency to other currencies and this is going to come out during the presentations that are going to be done soon in the Monetary Policy which is under the purview of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. So, may you give us time so that the RBZ and the responsible authorities can draw up the Monetary Policy. However, what I can tell you is that this is being sorted out I thank you.
HON. MUTOKONYI: If they could also see on that Monetary Policy that they are going to come up with; we have seen that the retails are technically not accepting by making sure that the point of sale machines are not working. I have been to three or four different retail businesses; they tell you that if you want to pay with a swipe the machine is not working. So, technically they will not say they do not want. So, as the Hon. Minister is going to look into that, may he ensure that these retailers are accounted for, particularly on coming up with that technical delay of not accepting the local funds.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you have made a statement. What is your supplementary question?
*HON. MUTOKONYI: What should the Government do to ensure that the retailers are not playing up by saying we do not have the point of sale machine or the point of sale machine is not working, yet it is there? How should we get to know if it is not working or not? That is the question? I thank you.
HON. D. K. MNANNGAGWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, what the Hon. Member is speaking to is a behavior that has been occurring in the market somewhat as a hedge against what was perceived or what was weakening the currency. The raft of measures would deal with fundamental issues which is the preservation of value. The reason why you would have disconnected the point of sales was probably the retailer did not want the local currency. This is something that is noted, acknowledged and that is within the spirit of trying to come up with a cocktail of measures that ensures the preservation of value in our currency and that it is desirable for us to have our currency measured against the USD. I thank you.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you very much. My supplementary question to the Minister is that one of the fundamental features and characteristics of money is that it must be a medium of exchange as well as that it must be acceptable to the users. As it stands, the ZWL is being rejected by the people of Zimbabwe, it is rejected by the business community and almost everyone. If you search all our Hon. Members here, no one has a 1,000 bond note in his pocket. People prefer the USD. May we not dollarise to remove all these distortions in the market?
*HON. MUGWADI: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Hon. Member who has posed the supplementary question is being dishonest and not of course associated with the truth on the ground. It is completely erroneous to say the ZWL is being rejected by the people of Zimbabwe. I am probably and certainly not aware of what the definition of the people of Zimbabwe is to the extent that Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member is not the people of Zimbabwe, he is just an Hon. Member.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We seem to be looking at the same sides of the coin. The questions asked so far as well as supplementary questions still debate the urgent need to have a statement that combines monetary and fiscal policies. Hon. Deputy Minister, I think you have heard for yourself the statement is required as of yesterday. I thank you.
HON. M. NKOMO: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. On the 22nd of January, 2024 ZIMSEC released the 2023 ‘O’ Level results. I want to congratulate the Hon. Minister for releasing the results at the earliest time and the pass rate increased by 4.31%. My question is, what is Government policy on schools that continue to score 0% every examination year?
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T. MOYO): Good afternoon Hon. Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Nkomo, firstly for the remarks that for the first time, we managed to release ‘O’ level results in January. It is a reflection of the hard work that is happening in the Ministry of Education and also Hon. Speaker, that in 2023, we never had any leakages at ZIMSEC, that is also a reflection of hard work on our part.
Now turning to the question Hon. Speaker, what we are doing as a Ministry to look at those schools that continually have a zero percent pass rate. We have a raft of measures Hon. Speaker; we want to carry out research studies to establish the causes of zero percent pass rates, whether it is a culmination of shortages of teaching/learning materials in those schools. We have seen Hon. Speaker, that zero percent pass rate is usually scored by schools in the rural areas as there is serious disparities between urban and rural schools. Rural schools are disadvantaged very largely as compared to urban schools and we are going to pursue measures of embracing ICT in our schools for online learning to happen in the rural areas. We are going to embrace a server which will be accessible even in rural areas without the use of internet or Wi-Fi. That server will be deployed to the Administration block and any learner within the radius of 100 to 200 metres, will have access to that server where teachers can upload learning materials on the server and learners will have access to that server, even notes can be uploaded to that. Assignments can also be uploaded to that server.
So, this is one of the ways of ensuring that we reduce the failure rate, especially in schools that are getting zero percent pass rate. Basically Hon. Speaker, we want to ensure that we carry out a study to establish what could be the causes of zero percent pass rate. I thank you.
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My supplementary question is, what is Government doing in regards to our satellite schools so that they can have centres to enable them to sit for exams?
THE HON. SPEAKER: How does that relate to the zero-pass rate?
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Some of the things that cause low pass rates in our schools is that our schools do not have their own centres and heavily rely on big schools for writing examinations. So, if they have their own centres to enable them to write exams, this will help in the pass rate of the school.
* HON. T. MOYO: I want to thank the Hon. Member for his question. It is true that our satellite schools are some of the schools where there is zero percent pass rate. They write their examinations in other schools. So, what the Government is doing for these schools to get registration certificates is that we have a list of 259 schools and we are looking forward that these schools are now close to being registered. We are giving out 5 000 USD and before the end of this term, we are expecting that these schools will get this money and complete the necessary infrastructure so that the examination rooms will be secure. We must put in place doors that are secure and it is a condition before we give them registration certificates. This will help students so that they do not have to travel long distances to go and write examinations. This is what we are doing so that our schools can be registered. We are looking forward that by April this year, those 259 schools will have been registered and not considered as satellite schools.
*HON. MAJAYA: My supplementary question is that in rural areas, people are living below the poverty datum line. So, my question to the Hon. Minister is that Hon. Minister, will you be able to buy the rural children cellphones so that they will be able to attend online lessons?
* HON. T. MOYO: We have organisations that we are working with which will be giving children in the rural areas some gadgets that they will be using and they are the ones that will supply us with the servers. We are in the process of signing the Memorandum of Understanding so that immediately, we finish signing the MOUs, all those things will be bought by our development partners.
HON. KANGAUSARU: My question is, what are the incentives that are given to teachers in the rural areas and that are working from remote areas, monetary and non-monetary, in order for us to increase the pass rate from zero to somewhere because the majority of these rural schools will have zero percent?
HON. T. MOYO: I wish to thank Hon. Kangausaru for the question. We have a number of incentives Hon. Speaker, to motivate teachers, not only based in the rural areas, but in both rural and urban areas. As the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, with the support of the Public Service Commission under the leadership of our esteemed Minister Hon. J. G. Moyo, we are putting in place ways of creating urban land for residential resettlement of our teachers. It is something that we are planning to do. I am sure my counterpart may also add because I thought that question falls under the purview of his Ministry, but we have a number of non-monetary incentives in the form of residential stands. Those who teach in the rural areas may also be allocated stands at growth points. Those who are teaching in urban areas will also be allocated land in towns so that they can construct their residential houses.
We also have institutional accommodation. It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education with the support of the Public Service Commission, to ensure that we provide institutional accommodation, accommodation that is conducive to fulfilment of their teachers’ mandate that they should be able to provide service, they should be able to be motivated through institutional accommodation. Those are some of the ways that we have in place to ensure that we raise the moral of our teachers.
Finally, Hon. Speaker, the issue of teachers’ professional council and standards, we are going to come up with a Bill where we want to establish a teachers’ professional council as a way of ensuring that we raise and boost the morale of our teachers. I think that is a global trend that nurses, doctors, lawyers have their own council but teachers do not. So as a way of boosting morale of our teachers, we are going to establish the teachers’ professional council and standards. It is a Bill that we are going to put in Parliament this year. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.
- HON. MEMBER: Supplementary question.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We have had three supplementary questions already, so we have reached our maximum.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is to the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion and in his absence, the Deputy Minister.
Mr. Speaker Sir, our debt is reaching a ceiling of US$18 billion. In the view that both the United States and the European Union have all pulled out of the re-engagement talks on Zimbabwe’s debt, what is Government’s plan B on dealing with the debt question given that most of this debt is actually to the Bretton Woods institutions. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Just to clarify a few points for the Hon. Member; the EU has not pulled out of the platform. We actually had the inaugural meeting for this year three weeks ago. It is the US that has taken a pause as they wait for the interim assessment, but I would like to separate the discussion of debt clearance and the dialogue platform that is there. The US$18 billion consists of debt to the Paris Club which I think is about US$3 billion. We have got some internal debt with various other people.
So, when it comes to the EU and the US, I would say it is actually a smaller chunk of our debt. To answer the Hon. Member, the plan with the debt is to eventually pay it back as we build capacity. The structured dialogue platform is an all-encompassing process that is supposed to include a reform process, re-engagement and other new nuances but really, it does not reduce the debt in any way. There will be no debt forgiveness, there will be no interest forgiveness. This is a re-engagement process that we are currently engaging in. So, the pulling out of the US or the perception that the EU might have pulled out does not change the course of action when it comes to our debt. As a sovereign country, we will always make do on our arrears and on our debts and the plan is there. Hon. Speaker, I will refer the Hon. Member of Parliament to our public debt prospectus which I will share with him. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I do not think I need to read the debt prospectus. We need to look at the facts here Mr. Speaker Sir.
When the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion took over in 2018, our national debt was 7.8 billion. Now it is reaching 18 billion. How long are we going to keep on talking about re-engagement and plans that your Ministry has when the debts of this country have actually doubled?
In 2018, you introduced the TSP which was an austerity measure to curtail the debt, but the debt has actually doubled. Can you give us pure timelines on what you are doing to cut off the debt because the debt is the one that is making sure that we do not get any money into this country via any other institution? Thank you.
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. It is not the debt that precludes us from getting money from institutions, it is sanctions. If you look at Zimbabwe’s debt profile, we are nowhere near distress. Our debt is manageable. You will find that while there has been an increase, Treasury also sealed the debt by the Reserve Bank which was in excess of three billion which would have grown on the national balance sheet, but I will say the plan for the debt is to pay it back. I am not sure which other measures the Hon. Member wants the country to deal with the debt apart from paying it back. As the nation grows, as we borrow, we assume more debt and we continue to pay back. We are making good on our loans. The re-engagement process is a very deliberate move by the nation of Zimbabwe to join the other nations in the global village but we are paying back our debt, it is there in the budget Hon. Speaker. I thank you.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question at hand Hon. Deputy Minister is, what is it that you are doing now to extinguish the high debt burden that this country is suffering from? The question has not been answered because if you are paid, the end game of every debt is to pay, why is the debt still going up and up again? If there is any payment, I would like to believe that when there are principle payments and interest payments, we should see our debt at least being reduced to surmountable levels. To say that Zimbabwe is not in distress, I think it is an understatement. The level of debt distress is compared to the size of the economy.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Supplementary question please.
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: The supplementary question is, what is that which has been paid if the debt is still increasing? Thank you.
HON. D. K. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Hon. Minister. I will get the specific figures of what is being paid back but as to why the debt is increasing, as we pay back, we keep borrowing. That is how a country does.
I would like to clarify, Hon. Speaker, that we are not a static nation. We are a growing nation. As we pay back some of the loans that we have taken, we take on more loans and pay those back. We are growing. I will provide the actual specific figures.
An Hon. Member having asked for a supplementary question after the Speaker had called for order in the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! I think we should not be over excited about this issue. If you follow the American financial situation, there are times when the American Government had failed to pay and had to approach congress for money to pay its workers and they had to be allowed to borrow. This is public knowledge which the Hon. Members must know so that you contextualise your questions accordingly – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank you for bringing out that the American Government actually is the one which is highly indebted in the world, with a debt of USD34 trillion. My supplementary question is, I know you have been making payments for the past four or five years. I wanted to find out in the 2024 budget, do you have provision for token payments – the token payments are small payments that they make towards the extinction of the national debt.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is what the Hon. Minister has explained, if I understood him very well. Hon. Minister is it not what you have been explaining before?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENTS PROMOTION (HON. D. K. MNANGANGWA) : It is, Hon. Speaker, we have been servicing our debts, even token payments, including having made provisions for internal debt by way of Treasury Bills that will be maturing this year, as well as the token of payment for Paris Club. So, we are making payments, they make a certain percentage of our monthly pay-outs. I will get those exact figures Hon. Speaker. Thank you.
HON. JAMES: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My supplementary question to the Deputy Minister of Finance is that, the declared debt that you have mentioned, does it include the full and fair compensation for former commercial title deed holders? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! When the Chair is speaking, the Standing Orders say, you must rest your case. Hon. Member, I think that could be a separate question and you may have the pleasure of putting it in writing because it requires some details and have it responded to next week as a written question. Thank you.
HON. MUWOMBI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of ICT. I want to understand Government’s policy or strategies towards promoting internet access in rural communities and digital literacy so as to bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban dwellers? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (HON. DR. MAVETERA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Let me thank the Hon. Member for that question. He mentioned the issue of digital literacy and also accessibility, especially in the rural population. Indeed, we are very much overwhelmed as a Ministry in coming up with programmes that would make sure to enhance digital literacy. What we have done is we have realised that when it comes to digital literacy, you will realise that it was a bit confined to certain areas since we were doing it through our ICT laboratories that we were also instituting in schools. At the same time, you will realise that at ZIMPOST as well, we have got ICT laboratories that were also put in place there.
What we are going to do is that we are going to be doing a mobile digital literacy, where you are going to see us going on to the last person making sure that we communicate and at the same time, we are able to also teach every other person, in terms of digital literacy. What we have also done is that we are going to be having what we call digital ambassadors. It is a programme that we are starting, which will be launched beginning of March, where you are going to see us as Ministry of ICT together with our partners. We are also going to every other person to also teach digital skills.
Then on us speaking about the rural population for internet connectivity, it is true that we are also working towards making sure that we have an audit to also look at the base stations that we have currently. You will realise that with our current base stations, we even communicate with our telecoms operators updating us on which base stations are operating and which are not so that at least we can then be able to see how many are being able to access connectivity. In that line, we have also tried to make sure that we have got a plan this year for us to be constructing 300 base stations across the country at the same time, especially for rural population, at schools. We are using LISAT technology which is a satellite that we are also instituting. However, it is something that we are also working towards so that at least, we can bridge the digital divide, and that at least every other person can also be able to access it. It is something that we are working towards with the requisite budget, which I believe that as Parliament and together with us as a Ministry, we are going to have adequate budget to also make sure that we work towards making sure that everyone can access the internet. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, you must address the Chair.
HON. KAPOIKILU: Thank you Mr. Speaker. ZARNET, used to wire most of the remote schools, but it got incapacitated because the Ministry was owing about USD850 000. Is the Ministry doing anything about it?
HON. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would also like to thank the Hon. Member for that pertinent question. What we have managed to do is to be able to make sure that we settle this through our USA funds, since POTRAZ has got a contract as well together with YAHCLICK, which was the service provider, which is owed….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, address the Chair, otherwise you will start fighting here.
HON. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I was saying that we have done something towards that debt and we are hoping that before the end of March, we would have managed to settle that debt and at the same time, besides that debt as well, we are also hoping that we have got a plan to make sure that at least we are going to connect more than 3 000 schools in this coming year together with that same company which is YAHCLICK. Indeed, we are settling on that. Thank you.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, you mentioned that you are going to build base stations. Please clarify if the Ministry is the one that is going to build the base stations, operate them and maintain them or it is the commercial companies that are going to do it?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, in terms if procedure, please address the Chair. You say Hon. Speaker, would the Minister do this and that, et cetera.
HON. KAPOIKILU: Thank you Hon. Speaker, may the Minister confirm if the building of the substations, the maintenance and operation would either be done by the Ministry or through the cellphone operators or the ICT operators?
HON. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Let me thank the Hon. Member for that follow-up question. What I wanted to say is that we have got what we call a shared infrastructure policy that we have put in place in the Ministry, where you will see that when we are constructing our base station, which is his question, we then come up with all the telecommunication operators being housed in the same base station, who then is in charge of also building this. As a Ministry, it is within our policy to make sure that we are also assisting in us making sure that we have got the requisite infrastructure when it comes to us capacitating especially the telecommunication industry.
However, when we do not have the resources, that is when we also call for all the telecommunication operators and also all the industry players to assist us in the pursuit. Currently, most of the companies that were assisting us are the telecommunication operators together with POTRAZ, which is the regulator in the telecommunication industry through the Universal Services Fund. It is also there to make sure that at least, they are also building these base stations. It is POTRAZ which is also building this together with the telecommunication operators which are also in charge of building this.
As a Ministry, where we come in is more on the policy to find out what is it that we can do. For example, we are saying that we cannot reinvent the wheel where you will see TELONE building a base station and NETONE, ECONET or any other of the telecommunication operators. What we have said is that they are gong to build one base station and all of them will come with their receivers and that will assist us so much that at least that resource that they would have, would be able to go on and invest into another base station.
Our thrust is to make sure that we do not leave any one behind and at the same time, it will also push towards us connecting Zimbabwe. We have a policy that we are working towards whereby we are saying we need to digitalise Zimbabwe by 2030, and we are also working flat out so that as a Ministry, we are also going to make sure that we create a conducive environment which will make sure that we connect everyone in Zimbabwe. I thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to pose my question. I wanted to ask whether the Minister is aware that in urban areas, there is a big challenge, particularly regarding information centres which fall under the Post Office. The internet connectivity there does not have enough bandwidth for our children to use. There is need for the Hon. Minister to look at urban areas.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you did not ask your supplementary question. May you please ask your question?
HON. HAMAUSWA: My question is that she is focusing in rural areas as if everything is okay in urban areas, but there is a challenge. The information centres do not have enough bandwidth and speed…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are going on and on and that is enough. The Minister is going to respond.
*HON. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also want to thank the Hon. Hamauswa for that pertinent question. Indeed, that is a challenge that we have noted and we see it. So, we need clarity of policy and I want to promise the Hon. Member that we are working with different companies, the service providers like ECONET, TELONE, NETONE and others which provide such services. We are going to engage them. What I can say is that we are carrying out researches throughout the country so that we determine the areas without connectivity and then we will come up with a programme to address all the areas. We will keep on updating and engaging the public regarding the availability of internet so that everyone gets connected. Indeed, I am going to promise the Hon. Member that in the next month or two, if there is no change, please come back to this august House and ask me. Thank you.
*HON. SAMAMBWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to direct my question to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. If the Minister is not there, I will ask the Leader of the House. What is Government doing regarding the mutilation of people and the killings which are associated with rituals?
THE HON. SPEAKER: I want to ask the Government Chief Whip as to who is the Acting Leader of the House?
HON. TOGAREPI: It is Hon. Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. July Moyo.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MAZUNGUNYE): I want to thank the Hon. Member for that question. My response is that this question should be directed to the Ministry of Home Affairs, but because we have laws which govern the different crimes and we are aware that if someone is arrested, that person is taken through the court system and they will be prosecuted according to the laws of the land. I thank you.
*HON. SAMAMBWA: I want to thank the Hon. Minister for that response. However, for ritualists, you find that some might not be caught. For example, where I come from, we have a teacher who was killed in the past two weeks and that teacher had his parts mutilated. There is another boy who was mutilated and the perpetrators have not been caught. People are now afraid to come to Zhombe because their fear is that people are killed…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. You just explained a situation, but you did not pose any question. Do you want to ask a supplementary question Hon. Member? Maybe you should say that you are satisfied with the answer.
*HON. SAMAMBWA: Sorry Mr. Speaker, I was thinking and now I have thought of the question that I want to pose. I heard his explanation, but my question is, what steps are going to be taken and are there any timeframes where such culprits will be caught?
*THE HON. SPEAKER: If you ask that way, then it is not a policy question regarding Government policy. In English, you need to ask the Executive on Government policy not instances. Instances can be asked in written questions so that the Hon. Minister concerned can then research and come back to the House and answer the written questions with more details.
*HON. TSHUMA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question regarding the issue that was raised by Hon. Samambwa is, what steps is the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage taking in order to use modern technology that will be used in investigations of ritualist murders? For example, the taking of fingerprints and the use of forensic science in investigations. I thank you.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, your question is digressing from the original one. You are now posing a question to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. The original question was, is there a law which can be applied to ritual murders?
Thank you, if you want to ask regarding fingerprints and the use of forensic science and investigations, may you please put it in writing.
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is, given the prevalence of the ritual murders, does the Ministry still support the removal of the death penalty?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you repeat your question, I am not following?
HON. DR. MUTODI: I am saying given the prevalence of ritual murders, does the Government or the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs still support the removal of the death penalty from the Constitution? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I did not get your question?
HON. DR. MUTODI: I am saying given the prevalence of the ritual murders, does Government still support the removal of the death penalty from our Constitution? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I was going to say that is a contradiction of the worst order, but I am not saying it. Government policy has stated its position on the issue of the death penalty. Why do you not await the proposed amendment of the Bill and then debate accordingly on those issues when the Bill is before the House? - [HON. DR. MUTODI: On a point of order!] – Order, order! Please sit down Hon. Member – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Mutodi, you need to withdraw.
HON. DR. MUTODI: I withdraw Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you, because I was going to mete out some penalties. Anyway, you were ahead of me and have withdrawn, you may sit down.
HON. DR. MUTODI: But on a point of privilege Hon. Speaker, I wanted the response from the responsible Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, why, because Cabinet has adopted a memorandum of a Private Member’s Bill to have the death penalty removed from the Constitution, yet we have court days on ritual murders taking place throughout the country. So, I really needed a response from the responsible Minister to confirm whether his Ministry is in the affirmative to remove the death penalty from the Constitution. Your response Hon. Speaker, I accept but I took it as some kind of defensive statement of which there could be more proper review if we got it from the horse’s mouth. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you, sometimes the Chair has to defend the logic. When I see that there is some element of illogical presentation, I have to say it. In any case, the death penalty legislation is currently before Parliament. Once it is tabled, you will be given all the opportunity to bring that aspect that you had raised in detail. So, why do you not be patient until the material time then you can raise the issue accordingly? Hon. Shumba, where are you?
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, you have forgotten me!
THE HON. SPEAKER: Where are you?
HON. SHUMBA: I am here Mr. Speaker Sir. Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. You had mentioned my name before Hon. Shumba.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, I had skipped him in terms of my list. You will follow him after that. So, point of correction, I agree with you, I said I made a mistake.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Noted.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. You note while standing my friend. - [Laughter] -
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Noted Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You see today you are lucky because I am in sort of a good mood, I will not tell you why.
*HON. SHUMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. What is Government policy in terms of easier acquisition of legal mining documentation? Initially, one gets a prospecting licence and registration certificate and the letter followed by site of works. Each of these three processes takes a year and you would have borrowed money from the bank. What measures has Government put in place to ensure that this process becomes smooth within a reasonable time so that people can be able to repay their loans without any scuffles? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): I would also like to thank the Hon. Member for his question. The Government is busy going around all the provinces to look at the applications that have been outstanding for a long time to end this backlog that runs into years back. At the moment, we are now at an advanced stage in clearing the backlog.
In the same vein, I would also want to correct the Hon. Member by clarifying that a prospectors’ licence is given to enable one to prospect an area they believe is rich in minerals. Once they have established that they have found this mineral, they can make an application to the Ministry of Mines, but because of the backlog that we had, the programme was taking much longer. The backlog had run into several years whilst we were also in the process of coming up with a cadastre system which makes our mining management system much easier for our miners and will enable them to apply for mining in line with modern technology.
We would want to assure the Hon. Member that the Ministry is busy clearing backlogs that have been there for some time. I thank you.
*HON. ZHOU: The Government is in the process of devolution, but I have seen that they have taken the powers of licencing at the provincial level. This is now being done nationally instead of being done at a provincial level. This has become an impediment to mining functions that is detrimental to the economy. May the Hon. Minister clarify this issue?
THE HON. SPEAKER: The question is not supplementary. You have not properly asked your question; may you repeat your question?
*HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Provincial officers used to process mining ownership and it is now taking a long time because all the documentation is now being done in Harare and there will be a backlog. What was the reason behind that change?
*HON. KAMBAMURA: The Hon. Member did not come out clear. What powers exactly have been removed from the provincial offices because we currently have provincial offices that are led by a provincial mining director? They are the ones that are issuing licencing in such provinces. There is a head office in Harare, we only want to know the number of licences that they have processed so that we are aware of what is happening in these provinces. They still have their powers; it is the information that they would have processed that they will then have to give to the head office. Some licencing processes start at the provincial level and they are later approved by the Minister and they end up in the hands of the President depending on the constitutional requirements. What we are doing is in line with the Mines and Mining Act.
*HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: There are certain places where our youths are going and pegging and we are told that these are reserved areas. What measures is the Government going to put in place to allow these areas not to be reserved, but to be mined by the youth? I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear].
THE HON. SPEAKER: You may be applauding her, but this is not a supplementary question. It is not in line with the delay in processing. This is a new question altogether.
*HON. TSHUMA: My question is in line with the delays with the processing of mining licences. Hon. Speaker, there are documents dating back to 2016 that have not been processed. The problem that comes is that someone who had pegged later than yourself would have licences because of the delay in this processing. For example, the area might be mined, all the gold will be mined and when you are granted the lawful use, all the gold would have run out. What measures are they putting in place to ensure that they process these documents quickly?
In the Mines and Mineral Act, they should have processed this documentation in time…
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are now explaining instead of asking a question. If you have such people who applied in 2016, but have not yet been licenced, write the question down next week, the responsible Minister will research and come up with a response.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: On the same issue of the length of time people can wait for their licence. Is there a stipulated time frame such that one would know for how long they can wait before receiving their licence? On top of that, say in case of an officer in their provincial offices has been arrested or been disfranchised in any way, is it the Ministry’s policy that we wait for the clearance of the case on the officer while our applications are on his or her table. I thank you.
HON. KAMBAMURA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, and I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Currently, there is no stipulated time in which applicants can wait before they can receive their certificates and we are going to consider that in the new Bill.
On the second part of the question, I am not quite sure if that has happened before, but the Ministry’s policy is that if ever there are issues to do with the PMD or has been arrested or anything has happened to the PMD or he is sick, usually we second another PMD to that province or the Deputy Mining Director will act on behalf of that PMD.
However, if ever there is any particular case which the Hon. Member is aware of, she is free to bring that forward so that we can investigate the matter. I thank you.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I am Engineer Mhangwa from Chinhoyi. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Local Government. If he is not here, then to the Leader of Government Business. What is Government policy with respect to providing grants or infrastructure finance…?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, your nomenclature was given to me without Engineer, when you put Engineer, you are suggesting that I ignored your title.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: I suspected that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You must correct your Chief Whip and not the Chair, I thank you.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Noted Hon. Speaker Sir. What is Government policy with respect to providing grants or infrastructure finance to local authorities to guarantee safe reliable adequate bulk treated water in light of the recurring Cholera pandemic?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. W. CHITANDO): Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Mr. Speaker Sir, in terms of the blueprint which was launched on the 1st of November last year by His Excellency the President, all local authorities were requested to come up with the position as to the adequacy or otherwise of the provision of such facilities, being water and including sanitation. We again, in terms of that blueprint that was launched, His Excellency directed that there should be a very thorough review of all budgets for local authorities.
Since that time, there has been serious engagements with all local authorities with respect to their budget which include not only the running costs, but includes capital expenditure where there is inadequacy or where there is need to upgrade infrastructure which includes water, sewer and other infrastructure. There are instances where local authorities indicate the need for the upgrading of sewer facilities or water facilities, engagements are taking place, that is why it has taken a little bit of delay in finalising the 2024 budget. There are engagements which are taking place and we intend that in the next two or so weeks, such cases will be over and we will finalise the 2024 budget.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I note what the Hon. Minister has said, but it does not address the funding issue. Most if not all municipalities, the monies they get from the rate payers…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Eng. Mhangwa, you do not debate, you simply ask a question which will clarify what you need to be answered.
HON. ENG. MHANGWA: Noted. Considering that most of what they collect goes to operational expenditure, the hole that is there for capital expenditure, how is it funded according to Government policy?
HON. CHITANDO: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. The funding arrangements vary according to the nature and size of the local authority. Admittedly, Hon. Speaker Sir, one of the problems where we have had a delay in the approval of the budget is that most of the local authorities are not up to date with audited financial statements. Some have no audited financial statements for the last five or so years, so that becomes very difficult. So, we are working with them to ensure the same multiplicity of measures, but Government will be involved to ensure that there is adequate water provision for all local water authorities. One of the handicaps, you will find that a lot of the local authorities are not up to date with their financial statements. Some of them do not have financial statements for the last 12 months. Some have had financial statements last audited in 2018. How do you get a grant, how do you get a loan in such circumstances?
You have some of the local authorities whereby 70% of the revenue is going towards salaries. This part of the implementation of the blueprint and once we finish this audit exercise, there will be an announcement which will be made on the result in view of the 2024 budget. I thank you.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think the Hon. Minister is being a bit disingenuous here, the issue of…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, you do not comment on the Minister’s response. You ask a question that is rhetorical to correct what you think is wrong in the response by the Hon. Minister. Ask your rhetorical question.
HON. MATEWU: Mr. Speaker Sir, the question that was asked by the Hon. Member talks of infrastructure, most of the water purification plants in this country were built in the 1970s. I will give an example of Marondera…
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your question?
HON. MATEWU: When the Minister said two weeks…
AN HON. MEMBER: On a point of order Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The point of order is not accepted when one Member is still standing.
AN HON. MEMBER: Noted.
HON. MATEWU: My question is, is the Hon. Minister going to fund the expansion of the water works which are in most of our municipalities which have not been touched since the 1970s? Is he going to fund them, is it the two weeks that the Hon. Minister is talking of that is going to address the issue of infrastructure?
HON. CHITANDO: Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question, but probably he did not get me right. What is said Hon. Speaker Sir, is that the 2024 budget, following the launch of the blueprint, had clear instructions for each local authority to put in a statement, whether they have adequacy of the provision of sewer water and other infrastructure. In the event that they did not have adequacy of that, the budget should provide how much is required for that to be rectified, the budget also is not just about capital expenditure. It is also about the income and the expenses and compliance with a whole other loss of regulatory matters.
Ordinarily, the budget should be approved by the beginning of January but because of the focus which was given in the blueprint, there is very detailed analysis, Madam Speaker, of each and every local authority and in two weeks, that is when the budgets will be finalised and a statement will be issued with some budgets approved and some budgets not approved.
Madam Speaker, there are some local authorities and I would not want to mention some who have actually come up with provisions to say this is the solution we need for water and Government is working with them to ensure that the solution is provided. So that is my response Madam Speaker.
HON. PINDUKAI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. The effort by the Government of Zimbabwe towards combating Cholera is appreciated and yielding results, comparing Zimbabwe to other countries in the region. Madam Speaker, this is witnessed by declining statistics of new Cholera cases as advised by the post Cabinet briefing and my question now is, what is the Government position and policy towards cascading the administration of oral Cholera vaccines to most rural communities which are still being affected by the same pandemic? I submit.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Madam Speaker and I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for questioning on Cholera outbreak. There is a Government position which requires a lot of inputs on vaccines and Government has received vaccines. The epi-centre had moved from Buhera, Manicaland to Harare. The vaccination has started in Harare but the Government’s position is that it must soon be cascaded to all the provinces and to hotspot districts.
As we receive more vaccines, we want to cover the whole country in order to eliminate this scourge. It is supplemented obviously by what happens with our water sewerage interventions as well as what the population itself is able to do in terms of using clean water and washing hands at all times. So it is a multi-faceted programme that requires education of our people, that requires interventions with vaccines, but also that requires us, Members of Parliament, to go and mobilise our people to educate them on the dangers of Cholera which has devastated not just our county, but countries in the region. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. GUYO: Supplementary question Madam Speaker. What measures are being put in place by Government to deal with patients that are in hospitals, especially in Buhera?
*HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. Yes, there are some interventions that are non-health interventions. The issue of food is important. As Government, we put a task force. The Civil Protection and other task forces are also involved and food from the Social Welfare will be distributed and the hospitals will be assisting the patients, but we do not know where exactly food aid is required, but the Members of Parliament, the District Administrators, DDCs and Provincial Ministers will give such evidence so that the relevant ministries can assist.
*HON. MUGWADI: Supplementary question. Thank you, Madam Speaker. We would like to express our gratitude. When we had problems in Buhera because of Cholera, we were given drilling units by Government and boreholes were drilled because we were drinking dirty water. The boreholes are yet to be fitted so that they become operational.
I wanted to find out from the relevant Government Ministry what it is going to do to ensure that the boreholes become functional before they are destroyed. At the moment, we just have open wales and we are not receiving any water and some of these are actually being damaged because of the rain.
*HON. J. MOYO: This one is not a question that requires any written form. It is a question that cuts across the length and breadth of this country. On this particular question, may I be allowed to ensure that the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development who is here answers on the part of the water only. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The question was very specific to Buhera but in our Ministry, we are prioritising hotspots around the country.
Through you Madam Speaker, may I be given time so that I can consult our department ZINWA as to how long it is going to take us to finish the boreholes in Buhera.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, he may have made reference to Buhera, but this is a problem that is nationwide that boreholes were sunk but they are still incomplete and they are non-functional. Hence that is why I allowed the question to be asked.
HON. MUROMBEDZI: Madam Speaker, in light of the recent Cholera outbreak and knowing very well it is the responsibility of the Government to make sure that its citizens are safe from any disease, what is the Government doing with regards to the immediate steps in each province to raise awareness among the public about the prevention and management of Cholera at household level? Thank you very much.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I just said, when you have a disaster like this one, it is the collective responsibility of Government, which includes all Government Ministries, including this august House Members to go and sensitise the population that we are faced with a disaster. It is up to us as citizens of this country to take care in order to prevent Cholera. So, I call upon this august House Members to go all out and say Government is coming up with vaccines. Government is coming up with installation of boreholes and other programmes including food security for those who have been affected by Cholera. It is us who must go and sensitise the population so that they respond to the Government’s interventions for knowledge that will have come from all of us.
When we say the whole of Government approach, we mean society…
HON. MADZIVANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The reason why we call upon Cabinet Minsters is for them to answer in their executive mandate. So, I was of the opinion that the Minister must just answer the question right away with his academic mandate and to say it is the role of everyone like Parliament and so forth…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Minister is answering, you are out of order. Please take your seat. Hon. Minister, may you proceed?
HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. When we have a situation like that, there are responsibilities of Government and responsibilities that are cascaded to Government Ministries, whole of society and this society includes us here in Parliament and the structures that end at households. In some cases, the village heads, the headsmen and the chiefs have better access than all of us in Central Government. So, when we have a situation like this and this is what is happening, that is why a disaster is managed in the manner that we are talking about. If we confine it only to Government interventions, we will not be able to eradicate this scourge of Cholera. I thank you.
*HON. TAZIKANI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. I want to find out what Government is doing about the inadequacy of teaching staff in rural schools. A school with an enrolment of about 200 students has got a headmaster and a deputy only. What measures have they put in place to ensure that schools are properly staffed? Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T. MOYO): Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Government is aware that in schools, there is shortage of teachers. At the moment, we recruited 2 000 teachers, but they are yet to be deployed. The figure of 2 000 is the number of school teachers that were supposed to have been deployed during the third term. This year we are going to recruit 5 000 teachers, which translates to 7 000 teachers recruited. We believe that once we have done that recruitment exercise, schools with inadequate staffing will have the requisite numbers.
I would like to inform Members of this august House that what we were talking about in 2023, that teachers are going to be employed from their districts and provinces is now being implemented, which means that His Excellency the President, Hon. Dr. Emmerson Mnangagwa is spot on, in serving his people. Teachers are now going to be employed in the provinces where they come from and they will not ask for transfers. I thank you.
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is, what is Government policy in terms of satellite schools being manned by headmasters that are not substantive? When is this going to be remedied?
*HON. T. MOYO: Hon. Speaker, this is a new question. Be it, as it may, let me respond. Government has plans to come up with a circular calling upon the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare - because in all satellite schools, we have Acting Headmasters, so this has a tendency of lowering standards in these particular schools. So, we are going to correct this one by writing a circular to the Public Service Commission to appoint substantive heads at these satellite schools.
HON. BAJILA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is that, is it continuing to be Government policy that Government is only taking transfers from outside urban areas to urban areas teachers, even for those scarce disciplines such as STEM and textile designs. We have a lot of teachers that are qualified to do that, but Government seems to be saying we want to transfer rural teachers to urban area schools. Is that Government policy going to continue to exist?
HON. T. MOYO: Madam Speaker Ma’am, when teachers want to transfer, it does not matter whether the person is transferring from the rural area to an urban area or vice versa? What we consider is the availability of a vacant post of that particular discipline. Let me hasten to inform the House that for STEM subjects and technical subjects, we have a critical shortage of teachers. I am wondering why those teachers with unique skills find difficulties in transferring because there are vacancies.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. What measures are they going to put in place to come up with a survey as to how many trained teachers are still unemployed because a lot of teachers require to be employed and you are saying there are no teachers in schools? Why should there be this problem? Can nothing not be done and are there no issues of corruption as regards recruitment and employment or there are some other issues? Thank you.
*HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Karenyi for such a pertinent question. May I ask her to put the question in writing so that next week we will give her a detailed response? Off head, I cannot tell how many trained teachers are there and how many require to be employed. I am also unable to tackle the issue of corrupt activities because we have centralised provinces and districts. May she also put that in writing if there are such reports so that we can report them to the police? Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Minister. It is true that when quantities, facts and figures are now required, you would require to carry out an investigation so that you can come up with a substantive answer. I urge Hon. Karenyi to write down her question.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: What measures is the Government taking in looking into the issue of extra lessons when they say the new curriculum is very difficult? Parents are having difficulties because teachers are asking for USD20-30 per child. Parents are now struggling because their reason for such demands is that the curriculum is difficult. Has the Government looked into such issues as regards the issue of extra lessons?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mashonganyika, but this is now a different question. I do not see the relevance with that question. May you ask that one as a separate question?
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T. MOYO): Hon. Speaker, may I give a response to her.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Minister. Very well, but ordinarily we do not allow you to request to answer the question.
HON. DR. MUTODI: The ruling of the Chair is final. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mutodi. You have said the truth. Hon. Minister, she will ask you the question and you will respond the question at another time. Thank you.
*HON. MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. What measures has the Government taken as regards to the youth that are being arrested all over Zimbabwe? Some were resettled in 2008 in communal lands when the village head would allocate pieces of land. A lot of youths are appearing before the courts. What is Government doing to assist such land occupiers who have been there for 20 years or more? It is difficult to just be displaced without sufficient warning.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. You did not properly ask your question. Why are these youths being arrested? Are they illegally settled there or what?
*HON. MAKUMBE: They were allocated legally, but there is no documentation. They are being arrested and they are being given seven days in which to vacate that place. There are a lot of such places countrywide. Thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Madam Speaker. I thank the Hon. Member for the question. What the Hon. Member is talking about is difficult to deal with. As Government, we implement the law and we want our people to follow the law. If I were to stand before you and say that they should be there, it would mean that I am not following the law. If one is occupying a place where one has no offer letter, they should vacate the land. If there are individual cases that may have spent 20 years, they are not members of the youth. If you have spent 20 years at a place, such cases can be considered and it should be dealt with on a case by case basis. So, my plea is that let us utilise the structures that we have, the district and lands to handle such matters so that they are dealt with at that level, but not to the headquarters.
Lastly, if we are talking about the youth and lands, we have a Youth Quota which is entitled to 20%. It means that once the 20% of the youths are given offer letters, they get the offer letters from our Ministry. If they are on the schedule, we will look at the schedule and also consider the Youth Quota. I urge the youth to apply and not lose heart and that they should not buckle to pressure because they want land. We do not want land barons. Land barons are detrimental to the development of our country. They are not abiding by the laws. I thank you.
*HON NYABANI: A person might have left that piece of land 10 years ago and the village head might have resettled someone. You find that with the Ministry of Local Government, they regularise such issues. Can you not go to the ground and see that those with 10 years or older, you regularise the occupation of that land like other ministries? I thank you.
*HON. HARITATOS: I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. We deal with these matters on a case by case basis. If there are such cases where one has been in occupation for 10 or 20 years, there will be reasonable cause. I am aware that people were resettled at a place for 23 years and it will be unreasonable to remove them from such land. That is why I am saying let us utilise our structures in the Ministry so that we can intervene in the best manner possible. We cannot help those that were in occupation last year. We want our people to live peacefully. We do not want people waking up every day thinking that they might be evicted. We want regularisation but this can be done on a case by case basis depending on the severity and merit of the case.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
REGULARISATION OF SETTLEMENTS UNDER COOPERATIVES BY THE CITY OF HARARE
- HON. HAMAUSWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House the measures being implemented to ensure that the City of Harare regularises settlements under cooperatives.
THE MINISTER LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): I would like to inform the august House that the City of Harare is in the process of regularising settlements. It is of importance to note that the City of Harare passed a resolution to regularise all settlements in Harare that meet town planning standards. It should be noted that City of Harare is not regularising illegal invasions on council schools, clinic sites and recreational sites
The City of Harare established a Regularisation Steering Committee and Task Force to assess suitability of settlements for regularisation and to undertake the regularisation process.
The city developed a standard checklist to consider for regularisation as well as developed regularisation of Standard Operating Procedure.
The city has a target to regularise a total 16 900 units by the end of the first quarter of 2024. The Ministry is working closely with the City of Harare in approving all the layout plans submitted to the Ministry by City of Harare for approval.
STRATEGIES TO RESOLVE LAND CONFLICT AT CORNER
HIGH GLEN ROAD AND HEANY ROAD
- HON. HAMAUSWA: asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House whether the Ministry has any strategies to resolve the perennial conflict over the land at the corner of High Glen Road and Heany Road?
THE MINISTER LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): Let me inform the House that invasion of land is criminal conduct covered under the Criminal Code under Section 136. The definition of fraud under 135 covers the crime of land invasion. We have laws on disputes resolution and illegal invasion of land will be dealt with and culprits will be brought before the law. The High Glen and Heany Road land issue is as a result of land invasion. However, the matter is before the courts and involves various cooperatives that invaded council land which had already been duly allocated to other people. The matter is before the courts. I submit.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: My supplementary question is that as we look into the problem of land invasion, what measures is Government going to put in place to safeguard public spaces so that the land barons cannot continue invading the land to avoid problems that will lead to regularisation? Can Government not come up with other measures to deter such land invasions once they occur?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Hon Minister said the issue is sub judice. So, if the matter is before the courts, it cannot be entertained in this august House.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: He had given an introduction that land invasions are illegal. I was not referring to a specific case but that is a tip of the iceberg as it involves village heads as what The Herald is reporting. We do not want the courts to be inundated with such cases. What measures are they going to put in place as Government to ensure that parks, schools and such other areas are safeguarded? I thank you.
HON. CHITANDO: A few weeks ago, the Minister of Lands issued a statement that was in newspapers talking about people that are illegally settled. He further stated that Government will be taking measures to deal with those that are illegally resettled and that they would be arrested in line with what the Minister of Lands has said. This is what Government is going to do? I thank you.
TITLE DEEDS FOR WARREN PARK RESIDENTS
- HON. HAMAUSWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House: (a) when the residents of Warren Park Constituency would receive their title deeds as was promised in 1981; and (b) on the challenges being faced by the Ministry in issuing the title deeds.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHITANDO): Government has accelerated and expanded programme of issuance of title deeds under the Presidential Title Deeds Programme to include existing houses in established suburbs without title deeds such as Warren Park, Glen Norah and others in Harare.
A phased approach has been adopted. Government is rolling out the programme in four pilot areas and the City of Harare is amongst the first four Local Authorities that are under such a programme. To this extent, to specifically answer the question, the City of Harare has identified 25 settlements which include Warren Park, that are ready for the issuance of title deeds under this programme. The settlements have about 40 000 properties to be issued with title deeds. I submit Madam Speaker.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Madam Speaker and thank you Hon. Minister for your response. My supplementary question is, when they are doing their work going to different areas where they want to offer title deeds, are they working with the Residents Committees? Residents Committees and Residents Associations are supposed to notify the people of the areas so that they fulfil the mantra of saying, leaving no one behind.
*HON. CHITANDO: Thank you. Madam Speaker for the pertinent question asked. We do have different Government departments that are doing the work of offering title deeds in each and every area they will be working in. They work with councils and different leadership for that certain area when they are carrying out their duty. Thank you.
HON. C. MOYO: Thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am and good afternoon.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. C. MOYO: For the last five years here in the 9th Parliament Madam Speaker, I was raising the issue of title deeds for the Mabutweni residents and the whole five years, it was only theory. I want to find out from the Hon. Minister whether there is any plan in the pipeline pertaining to title deeds for the Mabutweni residents? Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Title deeds for who?
HON. C. MOYO: Mabutweni residents.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is a specific question. The Hon. Minister will need to go and make some investigations so that he brings the answer. Please may you put that question in writing?
HON. C. MOYO: I will do that, thank you for your guidance, Madam Speaker Maám, though it was about title deeds. Thank you.
*HON. BONDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to ask on the issue of assistance that is being offered to those who are issued with title deeds. What form of assistance are they offering? Are you providing legal advice and financial assistance for the people to get the legal assistance? I thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. The assistance that is being offered by different Government departments working with councils of that specific area is, they go and identify properties without title deeds and help the owners of these properties to get their title deeds without them moving from one office to another. You just go to one place and apply your title deeds. Thank you.
SUPPLY OF POTABLE WATER TO MTAWATAWA GROWTH POINT
- HON. KARUMAZONDO asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development to inform the House when ZINWA will constantly supply potable water to Mtawatawa Growth Point to avert Cholera outbreak.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you. Hon. Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, FISHERIES AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for a very good question. Hon. Member you may wish to know that Mutawatawa Growth Point is supplied from Chikono Dam and the situation is that the water levels have since improved and reached various status at the end of November of last year.
Hon. Speaker Ma’am, our national storage levels are now at 84.8%, inflows were received in the dam which could last for five months for supply, and the centre is currently being supplied from the dam. Augmentation plan of the two boreholes which were drilled to alleviate water shortages at the Mtawatawa Growth point is still in place and ZINWA is working on electrifying these boreholes and equipping them to improve water suppliers. These boreholes will remain as augmentation for dam water supply from the Chikono dam. Thank you.
*HON. KARUMAZONDO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for the response he has given to this august House. My supplementary question is, I wanted to notify the Hon. Minister that Chikono Dam no longer has the capacity to supply water to Mtawatawa because Mtawatawa is now too big. The boreholes which have been mentioned are urgently needed. Sometimes the residents of Mtawatawa spend two to three weeks without water and currently, there is a Cholera outbreak.
In 2022, I asked a question concerning this issue and was given the response that they are going to look for an alternative to supply water from Mazowe River to Mtawatawa - to date, nothing has been done. In October, we held a meeting with ZINWA Officials from Mtawatawa and they promised us that in January, water will be available, but as I have already alluded, there is no water for the past two weeks. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
*HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for raising this pertinent supplementary question. Madam Speaker Ma’am, I will personally look into the issue so that we find a long-lasting solution. Two boreholes were drilled, but if the Hon. Member is saying the water is not enough, then let us …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, may you please use one language?
*HON. HARITATOS: Thank you, my apologies Hon. Madam Speaker Ma’am. I did not learn Shona at school. I only learnt the language through socialising with other people, hence I speak Shongrish.
The Hon. Member raised pertinent points. I will speak to the ZINWA officials and also invite the Hon. Member to my office to further discuss the issue and find a lasting solution.
*HON. KARUMAZONDO: I would like to thank the Minister for his explanation. We have heard of the capacity of the dam and the use that the water is going to be put to. The said dam has been outstanding for a long time. When is this Nyatana Dam going to be completed?
We have talked of funding, in 2018 there were tenders for this particular dam together with other dams, but other dams were given preference instead of this one. It was our plea Hon. Minister that the Government also prioritises the same dam to ensure that UMP district which is region four and five suffers from scarcity of rain. So, I urge you to come up with funding to ensure that UMP has irrigation. I thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In 2018, we had 19 dams that were supposed to be constructed. I would want Hon. Speaker to know that even in my constituency, there is Kudu Dam which was among those dams to be constructed, but because of a shortage of funding, we reduced the numbers from 19 to three. As long as the dam is on the original list, we are going to ensure that in the upcoming years, we are going to be given funding for these activities. Parliament decides our budgets for the ministries, it is my plea that we look at such projects and prioritise them as Members of Parliament and we lobby the Treasury to ensure that funding is provided for such dams to be constructed. I thank you.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you, Madam Speaker. There is also a dam, Runde-Tende as well as the one that you have spoken about which requires a lot of funding. What other means do you have for private partnership so that we can be able to construct such dams? I thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. What the Hon. Member is suggesting is Public-Private-Partnership. Government, through our agent ZINWA, we want private players to come on board to build such dams and will accept this, but we will have to measure and see if this is plausible. I thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: As regards Nyatana Dam, it covers three provinces, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central and Harare. So, it is like killing three birds with one stone. What do you prioritise when you give funding? This one has a lot of hectarage under irrigation…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are now explaining. Ask the question.
*HON. NYABANI: What is the criterion that you use for funding among the top three that you prioritise? Nyatana from your explanation could have been the first one, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, and Harare have water shortages.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you, Madam Speaker Ma’am. Hon. Speaker Ma’am, there is quite a big criterion when looking at dams; there is the aspect of affordability, the impact that it makes on society. When we look at a dam like Nyatana, it is 100 000 hectares which is massive, and it is probably the biggest in this country. So, there is no doubt in my mind that it would be a priority project, but I also believe that there is no doubt in my mind that it will also be the largest and most expensive dam since independence, so there is a lot of give and take.
Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, what dictates is the finances. So whilst we put all the finances towards one dam, it may be a challenge to convince the Treasury to allow us to put all that substantial amount of resources in one dam that possibly could surpass even one full year of allocation of our budget.
The criterion we look is quite extensive, but I reassure the Member of Parliament as well as other Members including ourselves because every one of us lives in Harare currently. So, we will benefit from this and I assure you that when we say that it is being put in the books, we will prioritise so that it is done. I will go back to what I said previously that as Members of Parliament, if we can help our Ministry prioritise this project, that 100 000 hectares, you can imagine the impact it will do on our country because we will probably mimic what we are doing in Gwayi-Shangani. In Gwayi-Shangani, we are drawing water 278 km and we are making the entire pipeline a green belt. So, with this project, even bigger than that, there is no doubt in my mind that we will uplift the livelihoods of thousands of people and we will guarantee that every one of us has water running in our taps which is a basic human right to have access to water.
HON. BONDA: There are some new projects that you have just brought up, there is the Zambezi Water Project that is supposed to draw water as you are saying from the Zambezi into Gwayi-Shangani. When are you going to complete one project and start speaking about one project before you talk about another one? As we speak, Gwayi-Shangani Dam's work stopped almost a year ago coming through to the dam project. So, I want to know as you have touched it, what percentage has gone with the dam? When is the dam going to be completed so that it can supply at least the dry area of Bulawayo City?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon Speaker Ma’am. This was exactly the challenge in 2018. We had 19 dams on our books and in English we say, it was like a short gun effect where instead of refurbishing one or two dams and moving to the next, we were trying to focus too large and resources have already been finite. We are touching on a little bit on each dam, so when we talk of Gwayi-Shangani, specifically we are currently at 78% completion of Gwayi-Shangani. I can assure you that there has been a significant amount of work in Gwayi-Shangani. We stopped work because of the rains, the companies that won the tender to build the Gwayi-Shangani went off-site in December and they will come back soon so that they can continue with the dam. I visited the dam several times Hon. Speaker, it is a massive project and it is going to have a massive impact on the population, not only nearby, but in the entire Greenbelt. It will ensure that we have 10 000 hectares of irrigation along the pipeline and it also comes with a 10 mega-watt supply of energy which is hydropower. So many benefits will come.
Moving on to the specific question with regards to the Zambezi project, this is what I am saying that we need to complete the current dams so that we can continue to prioritise. At the same time, we cannot sit here and only dream about the three dams that we are currently building. We need to have a master plan and that is what we currently have. We have a master plan so that we know exactly how we will ensure that every city in Zimbabwe has sufficient raw water for the councils to purify and be able to supply individual households with water.
We also know through our irrigation development, how many hectares we want to utilise and currently, we have 350 000-hectare boreholes. We cannot do that unless we have a substantial amount or resource of water within our dams. So, the building of dams has to work concurrently with irrigation and development. So, these are our priorities so that we ensure that our country is food, fibre, and oil self-sufficient going forward and for years to come. I thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I am happy with what the Hon. Minister has said that he wants Parliament to increase the Ministry’s budget. We are pained as Members of Parliament that we do our parliamentary business in such a State of the Art building but there are very important projects like water that we have not finished doing. Like what the Hon. Minister alluded to, people who are coming to partner with us in building dams, when will this take place so that we can give feedback to our constituencies?
*HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker. As I speak right now, ZINWA has got the prospectus that shows all the projects; those that are currently being built and those that are yet to be completed. I think instead of taking this as a question, I am taking this as a suggestion, we will talk to ZINWA so that they will not keep the prospectus because the prospectus is of 2018 where we went to tender. Some of the tenders were won. We are under Ministry of Finance’s purview because when a person comes, he will say I want to build a dam in such a place but he will have his expectations. He will say I want a Government guarantee or a sovereign guarantee or something depending on the investor. We must not keep the prospectus, we will put the prospectus in public so that we attract people in Zimbabwe that are wiling to help us to build dams.
CRITERION ON DISTRIBUTION OF PFUMVUDZA INPUTS
- HON. S. ZIYAMBI asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to explain the criteria used to ensure equitable distribution of Pfumvudza inputs taking into account the boundaries that were drawn up during the 2022 delimitation exercise
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the question regarding Pfumvudza inputs using the 2022 delimitation exercise. The Ministry is using the newly established boundaries that were drawn up during the 2022 delimitation exercise. Furthermore, when inputs are distributed to provinces, they are distributed according to the number of households in that province.
The inputs then are distributed to the various GMB depots within the respective provinces. Once delivered, GMB then notifies the District Input Committee through Agritex. The Committee then determines the distribution channel of inputs to the intended beneficiaries.
RURAL BOREHOLE SCHEME FOR GOKWE- MAPFUNGAUTSI CONSTITUENCY
- HON. KARIKOGA asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to inform the House when Gokwe-Mapfungautsi Constituency will benefit from the Rural Borehole Scheme.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for a very good question regarding rural borehole schemes in the Gokwe Constituency. Hon. Member in Midlands Province, the Ministry through ZINWA, has drilled a total of 304 boreholes to date and there are two rigs in the province working in the City of Gweru attending to Cholera hotspots and the other one in Gokwe South, Zhombe Clinic and Chitekete. Furthermore, Government has drilled 100 boreholes in Gokwe constituencies broken down as follows:-
Firstly, Sengwa 15 boreholes, Nembudziya 60 boreholes, Kabuyuni 10 boreholes, Chireya 15 boreholes. ZINWA is targeting region 4 and 5 villages in Gokwe and it expects to be drilling in Gokwe, Mapfungautsi early this year. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
*HON. CHIDUWA: I thank you Hon. Speaker. I have a problem Hon. Speaker, of all these boreholes that you have alluded to, most of them are just incomplete boreholes which are not fully installed. What is Government policy now to see that these boreholes are completed so that the people will start to benefit?
*HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I thank you for the question. When drilling boreholes, we must install the necessary mechanisms so that the borehole will start to function. I know that we drilled a lot of boreholes but we are yet to finish them. Our challenge is on finances because our funding comes from the Ministry of Finance. The money is disbursed but it comes in batches. We cannot finish all the boreholes at the same time but in our Ministry, we have agreed that we want to prioritise the boreholes that have already been sunken so that people will start to access clean water.
HON. SITHOLE: My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is that where I come from, region 5 in Matabeleland, all boreholes that are sunk are just sunk boreholes which have no water because they are going up to 40 metres, but the water is around 100 metres going down. So, my advice to the Minister for him to know that Matabeleland South…
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ask your question Honourable.
HON. SITHOLE: My question is, what are we going to do as you know that in all those 40 metre boreholes, there is no water. What action are we going to take?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. We bought 40 borehole rigs that have come and been given to ZINWA and we have more that we anticipate to buy. Some of these rigs are what we call super rigs. The original rigs that came were not super rigs, so these are standard rigs. Probably they can drill up to 90 metres if not 100 metres, but nothing deeper than that.
Knowing the area he is talking about, I have been there and it is a very dry area, it surprises me and alarmingly so why there are only 40 metre borehole depths. I will take it personally to the CEO of ZINWA to explain himself because we know those regions’ minimum, we should be drilling to full capacity of that borehole.
Having said that, we have some that are super rigs and these rigs can drill as deep as 500 metres down and those are the reasons why we procured these specific borehole rigs so that we can ensure that we get even to the deepest depth to ensure that these are not dry holes and that they are wet so that they can obviously perform well.
Madam Speaker, traditionally our mechanism is bush pumps. When we go and we surpass about 60 metres depth, it now becomes quite a large task on the bush pump itself. The mechanism is not designed to go deeper than 60 metres so that at that stage, we as the Ministry, also takes it upon ourselves to fully mechanise. So mechanisation can come in the form of an electric borehole pump or it can be a solar pump.
So, it is just for us as Hon. Members of Parliament to understand that for you to expect that the design of that bush pump can take deeper than 60 metres, it is outside of its design spec. Also, if we look at our elderly it becomes a major task, even our young kids will try to use these bush pumps. At those depths, it becomes very painful on the arms. So, we do not want that. We want our people to access water easily. We do not want them to be sitting 10 minutes or 20 minutes trying to fill a bucket. The idea is we want this to happen.
Madam Speaker, I am sure you know very well we have a problem to drill 50 000 boreholes in 35 000 villages in our country and we also want to drill 10 000 additional boreholes in the 10 000 schools that exist in our country. So, there is no place in Zimbabwe that we are not going to touch. Some places will be your standard 40 metres, some places can go up to 100 metres and some places will have to be deeper. If I can ask the Hon. Member through you Madam Speaker, to give me specifically those boreholes so that I can summon the CEO to my office to truly understand what happened because this should not have happened.
Furthermore, Madam Speaker, we also have reticulation exercises. In some places, I will give you an example of my constituency, we have places very close to the river where you would think are full and have abundant water. You drill and you will not get any water. What we are doing is we are actually piping water from these dams, but we also have a system of purification. So even if a borehole cannot be sunk Madam Speaker, where there is a will there is a way. We will find water so that we ensure that every village in Zimbabwe has adequate water supply for its population. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I have heard that there are two rigs in the Midlands. When is a rig going to be provided for a borehole drilling in Harare? Thank you.
*HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. That is a pertinent question Hon. Member. In Gweru, we have two rigs. In Harare we have more than three rigs, Harare is a hot spot. It has more rigs than Gweru. I am not sure of the number, but the drilling programme in Harare is causing delays in the other provinces including Mashonaland West where I come from. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I thank the Minister for the response. The borehole drilling exercise is good for our villages. He said he is going to add more and that he is going to be moving around the country. Are there any plans to deal with those that are in small scale farming areas and not villages so that at a central point, these small-scale farmers can also draw clean water? The majority of them are drinking water from the river or the stream. The wales are not adequate. Could there be boreholes drilled in the areas so that they can also be involved in horticulture or irrigation in line with the mantra leave no one behind?
*HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker in the districts we have district WASH committees. They are the ones that look into the quality of the water and whether the water is potable. These committees are the ones that look into such places. We do not want our people to draw or to drink water from the running streams. They should be able to access potable clean water.
We are looking at bringing on board 35 village gardens for the 35 villages throughout the country and we will have additions for small holders, it is not budgeted for. We may have challenges, but we have programmes that are related to irrigation development. We have Maka 2000 which deals with A1farmers, Maka 8 000 deals with A2s and Pet Stores. They also deal with those irrigation developments.
I think it is better if there are specifics that we urge Hon. Members to go to Maka or to Pet Store or to even come to our department of water. We are not saying you must come to Harare, we have decentralised. You can go to your provinces or your districts. So, deal with those that are in the irrigation department and give them ideas that you believe are meaningful and helpful to those that are residents in A1 farms as the Hon. Member has alluded to, but at the moment, we do not have drilling programmes targeting specifically A1 farmers. Thank you.
*HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is in line with what the Hon. Minister has said that the majority of the boreholes were sunk, but they are not producing water. What measures does he have in place since they do not have adequate funding at the moment to ensure that those boreholes can produce water? What measures has he put in place to ensure that those opening holes that are not producing water can now produce water?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. When we do our budgets, for funds to drill a borehole, we budget the funds for physical drilling. We budget funds for the mechanisation which enables the water to be drawn, but if we have inadequate funds, we only use the inadequate funds for the few boreholes that we have and that depends on the release of the funding. Our top priority is to complete those boreholes that have been drilled so that they become functional. The majority of them have now been mechanised. I do not have the figures, but need be, I will bring the figures so that the House may be enlightened. All is dictated by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion in terms of releasing of funds. If there is adequate funding, there is nothing that stops us from completing these ones. I thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS AT MARAMBA BUSINESS CENTRE
- HON. KARUMAZONDO asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when Government will construct primary and secondary schools at Maramba Business Centre to decongest the large numbers at existing schools.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T. MOYO): Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank Hon. Karumazondo for such an important question which addresses the critical aspect of access to education. The Government has already acknowledged the huge deficit that exists in the country in as far as the provision of schools is concerned. As a Ministry, we are constructing schools in some areas and this is a continuous programme. We are also working with the partners to ensure schools are constructed in needy areas. We are urging citizens who might have funds to establish schools to do so and we are working to ensure the registration process will be expedited. It is my wish that these programmes will also cover your constituency to alleviate the problem.
HON. KARUMAZONDO: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My question to the Hon. Minister is, as you have explained, Mutawatawa Growth Point, there was an approved application for a school to be built in that area. Can Maramba-Pfungwe Constituency have a Government school so that our pass rate improves? Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Karumazondo, I think your question requires time so that the Minister can go and find facts with regard to that particular application.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My response is the application that was made, I am unaware of it. I need time to research. Thank you.
ACCESS TO EDUCATION FOR HURUNGWE CONSTITUENCIES
- HON. KANGAUSARU asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House the Ministry’s plans to improve access to education in Hurungwe constituencies and to improve the overall education system in the country.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. T. MOYO): Thank you Hon. Kangausaru for such an important question. Our mandate is to ensure access to education for all children in the country whereby every child accesses education. There is a huge deficit in schools and we have several programmes in place to alleviate the problem. Through budgetary support from Treasury, we are constructing some schools. We are also working with partners to construct new schools. Our registration process for new schools has been enhanced to ensure citizens wishing to establish schools find it easier. Our education system is one of the best in the region with neighbouring countries working to replace our curriculum and assessment models in their jurisdictions. We are however, always working to improve in areas we feel we may be lagging behind. I thank you.
COMPLETION OF MREWA-MADICHECHE ROAD
- HON. KARUMAZONDO asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when Government will complete the construction of Murewa–Madicheche Road in Mashonaland East Province.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Allow me to respond to the question raised by Hon. Karumazondo. As you may be aware, under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2, which is being implemented through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and whose mandate is to restore the navigability of roads; works are under way on the Murewa-Madicheche Road and progress is as follows;
Installation of one-barrel shelvet and backfilling has been completed. The priming of 600 metres approaches has also been completed and is ready for surfacing. The contractor has mobilised surfacing equipment and surfacing is scheduled to be done in the near future. The installation of four barrel-shelvet is now complete and backfilling is at 36%. I would like to also say that the scope of construction for this road is 55.8 km long. Thus, it is classified as a capital-intensive project and our construction plans will be done in phases. The projection is to complete the outstanding scope in the long run, doing it phase by phase. Thank you.
COMPLETION OF MUREWA-MADICHECHE ROAD
- HON. KARUMAZONDO asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when Government will complete the construction of Murewa–Madicheche Road in Mashonaland East Province.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCUTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Madam Speaker Ma’am, allow me to respond to the question by Hon. Karumazondo. Under Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2 (ERRP), being implemented through my Ministry and whose mandate is to restore the navigability of roads, works are underway on the Murewa-Madacheche Road and progress is as follows:
- Installation of one-barrel shelvert and backfilling has been completed.
- Priming of 600m approaches has also been completed and is ready for surfacing. The contractors mobilised servicing equipment and servicing is scheduled to be done in the near future.
- Installation of four-barrel shelverts is now complete and backfilling is at 36%.
- The scope of construction of this road is 55.8 km, thus classified as a capital-intensive project. Our construction plans will be done in phases and projections are to complete the outstanding scope in the long run doing it phase by phase. I submit.
*HON. KARUMAZONDO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for his explanation to the august House. My question to the Hon. Minister is, since 2018 to present, the Madicheche Road contractors have been given tenders but as I explained that it is 55 km to date, not even 500 km has been tarred. Several contractors are coming on site and leaving the works. Can you assure this House as to when this road is going to be completed because for years, no meaningful work is being done on this road? Can you allay our fears that the road is going to reach completion in terms of construction? About 1.2 kms is still under construction and so is 8.8kms that were awarded to other contractors are no longer on site. Are they going to come back on site because there is CMED on 12 kms and 8.8 kms, there is no one who is dealing with that?
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER, in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I move that time for Questions with Notice be extended with 15 minutes.
HON. KARUMAZONDO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: We have extended Questions with Notices by 15 minutes. Can the Hon. Deputy Minister respond to Hon. Karumazondo’s question?
HON. SACCO: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank Hon. Karumazondo for his supplementary question. I understand the frustration that he has as the Hon. Member of Parliament due to late or the time being taken to repair the road in question. I would like to give him assurance that as the Ministry of Transport, we are also currently working on improving our monitoring and evaluation capacity to make sure that as the Government, we receive value for money and that contractors who are given work, do the work as prescribed in their contracts and they give the required value for money. I would like to give commitment that as the Ministry of Transport, we will be dealing with this road as a matter of urgency just like as we all know His Excellency the President is very clear that no one and no place shall be left be behind. So, whilst we are working on funding from the fiscus, as soon as we receive funds, we will resume our net road because it is a road of importance. I submit.
REHABILITATION OF ROADS IN ZAKA NORTH
15 HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House what plans the Ministry has to rehabilitate roads such as Jerera-Govo, Ndanga-Jichidza, Jichidza-Veza, Gumbo-Bvukururu and Chipinda-Padare in Zaka North.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Allow me to respond to the question raised by Hon. Murambiwa as follows: The above-mentioned roads are all gravel roads which require re-gravelling and on some sections, just grading. The said roads like within Zaka District fall under Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA). The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development will engage RIDA to make sure that they are included on the maintenance programme for 2024.
IMPROVEMENT OF ROADS IN HURUNGWE CONSTITUENCIES
17 HON. KANGAUSARU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House what plans the Ministry has to improve the road infrastructure within the Hurungwe constituencies which is currently in a bad state thereby adversely affecting transportation of vital agricultural produce such as tobacco and maize.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Thank you Madam Speaker. The road being referred to by Hon. Kangausaru, I agree that a good road network is a key economic driver, thus ease of transportation of agricultural produce is of paramount importance. As you are aware, ERRP 2 is ongoing and is meant to address issues of trafficability on all public roads. Accordingly, my Ministry will ensure that problematic roads in the Hurungwe constituencies as highlighted will be attended to. I submit.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question to the Hon. Minister is that since we have seen that there is a highway that has been constructed Harare/Chirundu Road, is it not prudent that during this time when you have contracted five contractors to do the road construction that we also simultaneously also appoint or take some few graders that concurrently while you are constructing the highway, we can be able to do those feeder roads immediately because the roads are in a dire state? that is my question. Thank you.
HON. SACCO: Hon. Kangausaru, you are raising a very important point. I would just like to say that funding for the Harare – Chirundu highway is ring-fenced in a particular manner because that project is costly on its own as a major national development. However, I would like to support your proposal that graders are availed to work on the other roads in Hurungwe. What we are doing as Ministry of Transport is that we have engaged ZINARA to fund what we call periodic maintenance, whereby our local councils will have fuel availed to them so that the graders and tippers that are available in the districts can be fuelled for gravelling so that we capacitate each and every district level, the maintenance of roads through ZINARA periodic maintenance.
We are also working as a Ministry to recapacitate the maintenance units that we had in all the districts of the country. This will allow us as the Ministry to have the capacity to do pothole filling, verge clearance, gravelling and grading across the country in all our districts.
The support from this House will go a long way as we lobby for funding to buy trucks and graders as well for the maintenance units in our districts. I do take the contribution very seriously that we should look at ways of capacitating graders in the districts to work on the roads in Hurungwe as the Harare-Chirundu highway is under construction.
*HON. MURAMBIWA: Madam Speaker, as I sit here, I am worried because when I posed the question to the Minister which has been responded to, he said those roads are not under the Ministry of Transport. So, according to my understanding, I thought roads could be separated, but all the roads still remain under the Ministry of Transport. If they are not under the Ministry of Transport, the roads which fall under RIDA will be under OPC. So, who is the Minister who is supposed to come and respond to questions pertaining to these roads? Right now, we are facing a lot of problems because of these roads. I want to refer to a mission called Chitsa in Masvingo Province and that mission once it rains –
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You were clear and had asked your question properly, but now you are being specific.
*HON. MURAMBIWA: I was trying to explain so that the Minister can respond properly.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Let him respond to the first part of your question.
*HON. SACCO: I want to thank the Hon. Member for this pertinent question. It is true that RIDA which was called DDF falls under OPC and that is where they report to and they have their own budget which does not fall under the Ministry of Transport. What we do as a Ministry is to request and highlight to them, the roads which need rehabilitation, and when they are rehabilitating the roads, we provide technical assistance to make sure that everything is done properly. If this House says RIDA must fall under Ministry of Transport, this is a proposal which can come from the House and we will be happy to supervise them, but for now, we can only ask for their assistance to do road maintenance on certain roads and provide technical support.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
PAYMENT TO CHIPINGE FARMERS FOR DELIVERY OF MAIZE TO GMB
- HON. C. HLATSHWAYO asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to inform the House when Government will facilitate payment to farmers in Chipinge South who delivered maize to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) dating way back as 2019 but are yet to be paid, and to confirm the payment will take into consideration the inflation variances.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker. According to GMB records, I can confirm that there is no outstanding payment for maize deliveries for 2019 intake or intakes other than the current outstanding payments. For now, I humbly request Hon. Hlatywayo to share such detail of alleged non-payment for the previous years
REHABILITATION OF CHINYAMUKWAKA ROAD
- HON. HLATSHWAYO asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry will rehabilitate Chinyamukwaka Road which stretches from the Mozambican Border with Zimbabwe to Chiredzi South, given the importance of the road as it is the only route to health and education facilities in the area.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): Hon. Speaker, allow me to respond to the question raised by Hon. Hlatshwayo as follows: The road being referred to by Hon. Hlatshwayo is called Chisumbanje-Garahwa Road and is 35 km long. It is a gravel road that is currently characterised by corrugations, and some sections are difficult to pass during the rainy season. The Ministry is aware that drainage structures need to be improved urgently and in general, the road requires gravelling and grading. This specific road falls under the purview of the Rural Development Agency (RIDA) and we have engaged them to include the road in their period maintenance plans for 2024 under the ERRP 2 Programme.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that we stand over Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 8 until Order of the Day, Number 9 has been disposed of.
HON. MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
GBV AWARENESS PROGRAMMES TO PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL AND CULTURALCHANGE
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the 2023 commemorations to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Campaign.
Question again proposed.
HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important topic. It is my humble request that I debate whilst sitting down.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You can go ahead Hon. Zhou.
HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you very much Madam Speaker Ma’am. GBV is a topical issue and I want to call it a pandemic as well. It is very proper that we are discussing it here in this august House. A lot has been said on GBV. Previous speakers have defined GBV, the different forms of GBV, statistics on GBV and the impacts of GBV. I will try to discuss what I feel has not been said already to avoid repetition as this topic has been thoroughly debated.
I will base my presentation on the information I got from reading GBV reports published by Musasa Project and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) on the 16 days of activism. Musasa Project is a non-governmental organisation that was set up in 1988 to deal with issues of violence against women and girls. ZGC’s specific mandate is to monitor issues concerning gender equality and to ensure gender equality as provided for in the Constitution as derived from Section 246.
Sixteen days of activism was started by Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991. In 2023, the campaign theme was, ‘Invest to prevent violence against women and girls. These 16 days of global activism against GBV is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November to 10 December every year. It is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
ZGC is very concerned that despite the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act and despite having Sections 51, 52 and 53 of the Constitution – providing for the right to dignity, personal security and freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment; cases of GBV continue to escalate, they are on the rise. It says GBV remains prevalent and widely under reported as many survivors decide to suffer in silence. We have men who say they are shy – they do not want to report abuse by their wives, hence they suffer in silence rather than suffer the stigmatisation or it is due to lack of punitive or deterrent sentences. For example, we see a lot of child marriages, but the perpetrators are there. They are not in jail and it goes on and on. It becomes infectious in the villages, farms and even in urban areas. You see 14 -16-year olds with children, but you do not know who married them and no one is arrested.
Musasa Project provides shelter to the survivors. It also provides legal and counselling services to the women and girls. It also creates awareness about domestic violence and its effects on the social and economic development of Zimbabwe. If you notice, a lot of activities were done by these two groups. Even Women’s Affairs joined in doing activities to create awareness so that people know the impact of GBV and what it is all about. So, the 16 days of GBV are there to really show how bad GBV is to everyone.
These two suggest that there is need for a multi-sectorial approach if we have to reduce GBV in Zimbabwe. The stakeholders include Ministry of Women Affairs, NGOs in Zimbabwe, civil society, traditional leaders and others towards increasing availability and visibility in the struggle to reduce or end GBV.
ZGC calls for some actions to be done in an effort to reduce GBV in Zimbabwe. Some of the efforts are; survivors and the community at large have to report all cases; the judiciary should give more punitive and deterrent jail sentences to perpetrators of all forms of GBV; training of teachers in child rights and psychological support so that the teachers can respond to GBV related issues in schools and be able to identify the indicators of GBV at home because sometimes a child by other actions or certain words will tell you that at home there is GBV. They should set up interventions at grassroot levels to address the root causes of GBV – even some harmful cultural practices. We have somethings that have to be abandoned in our culture. We do not have to do those things like kuzvarira vana. Traditional leaders have got to move on with the law which is there.
There is also need to avail programmes to empower women and girls, both economically and socially plus education. Education is the best empowerment so that they can be able to stand alone; put in place a strong referral support system and shelters for victims whom we call survivors. They also identified strategies or approaches which Members of Parliament can assist with in their constituencies to make their people aware of what GBV is. Just like the way we campaign when we want to go for elections, they say we should campaign door to door, we should campaign at church or almost everywhere. There should be organised campaigns which should involve almost everybody in the community, media should also be used.
Women groups need to find effective ways of using the media and provide information to everybody in the community. This can be done on television, radios, through drama, fliers and so forth just to make sure that people know and are informed about the impacts of GBV and what GBV is. Some people commit GBV without knowing that they are actually on the wrong.
Another strategy is community mobilisation. This seeks to engage and mobilise the local community to challenge violence against women and girls. There should also be local activism. This is one strong approach to build the whole community which is responsible for protecting its women and girls. Just yesterday, there was a video that was trending, whereby a certain young woman fell in love with a husband of a certain young woman as well. She was thoroughly beaten by four or five women. According to the WhatsApp video clip, she collapsed and died. We do not know the true facts, but just using that one, she was almost saved by the men – they are the ones who tried to rescue her from the crowd of women. This shows us that we have to work with men to understand our problems.
HeForShe programmes – when men join, understand and accept women leadership, then there is need for advocacy; that is convincing the Government and other stakeholders of the need for sustained prevention efforts against violence on women and girls across all sectors.
We also need training and capacity building directed at survivors so that they can stand alone. Training should also be given to the civil society to enhance their capacity to prevent violence against women and girls.
In conclusion, there is need for long term commitment to prevent violence against women and girls. It is a huge challenge, but can be done. Already in Zimbabwe, we have the legal framework – the Domestic Violence Act and those sections in the Constitutions. What is needed is the implementation and oversight to it. I would like to thank our First Lady, Dr. A. Mnangagwa for being in the front fighting GBV throughout Zimbabwe. May God bless her with more energy and resources so that she can help the women and girls of Zimbabwe to survive. I so submit Hon. Speaker Ma’am.
HON. MUNEMO: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me this opportunity to add my voice on GBV. Let me start by giving the definition of GBV as defined by the European Commission. It includes domestic violence against women, men or children living in the same domestic unit. I also want to define violence before I get too much into it. Violence is also a behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage or kill someone or something. I am much saddened by the word ‘someone’. It is not even pointing at any of the genders. In gender we have men and women but if you see most of the intervention groups, civic society groups are all much into defending the girl child and discriminating the boy child.
Let me give a quote by Peter Ferdinand Drucker in his book “Managing in turbulent times”. He defined management as doing things right and leadership as doing the right thing. So, to curb the gender violence, I think as leaders, we need to do things right.
I will now turn to the causes of violence so that we can analyse and see if they are aligned to the feminine or masculine or whether they affect both genders. On the causes, we have alcoholism, child abuse, delinquent peers, fear and inferiority complex, mental illness, anger, jealous, personality disorder, education, history of violent victimisation, etcetera. We have so many causes of gender violence.
Then coming onto the gender roles, we have gender roles that are mostly stereotyped in a society. Women are expected to dress in a feminine manner and then be polite, accommodating and nurturing. On the other hand, the men are expected to be generally strong, aggressive and bold. But these beliefs or ideology in the society is not accurate. I say so because besides the girl child, the boy child is being neglected. Let me comment on civic organisations. They are mostly prioritising the girl child at the expense of the boy child when drafting intervention strategies. Most intervention strategies tend to exclude the boy child and place much focus on the girl child.
Forms of abuse include sexual, physical, emotional neglect, etcetera and this has increased male vulnerability. Whilst the girl child has been vulnerable over the years, the boy child has been totally excluded such that they have become equally vulnerable if not more. There has been a lot of emphasis on issues affecting girls and women at the expense of boys and men. Yes, it is true that for many years, women were disadvantaged but there is need to come up with interventions that address issues faced by boys. We totally understand the background and context of how the girl child used to be disadvantaged. But if we become extremely biased, we start creating another problem in the society.
Boys have become vulnerable and even when they are abused, they are not given as much attention as that given to girls who is a victim of GBV. Equity is now being abused as girls are now getting more at the expense of the boy child. Personally, I would prefer equality and equity. Let us start afresh and distribute opportunities equally between both genders. Abused boys, just like girls, tend to suffer from psychological, emotional instability, post trauma, traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, having suicidal thoughts, sexual disfunction and substance abuse, among others. They often end up hurting or harming others later in life. According to world statistics, 5% to 10% of boys worldwide are abused every year and one in six boys is sexually abused during childhood. However, there might be more cases that go unreported because of several barriers. You will find that in terms of intervention strategies, when it comes to girls and women engagement, we are very clear about what we want to achieve but when it comes to boys and men our strategies tend to be very weak Madam Speaker. Being one-sided will create problems for us. Ten years down the line, we will start realising the gap, then we will spend another decade undoing the damage that could have been avoided. I urge the civil society organisations to have balance between the boy and the girl child. Child abuse and maltreatment has a bearing on it in the child’s life as an adult. They may end up perpetrating the same behaviour.
The issue of sexual abuse against boys is rarely talked about in the news or other platforms. It is more common that we may think stories of boys who become victims of sexual abuse go unsaid and undiscussed. Protecting the boy child is often seen as unnecessary because of patriarchy which glorifies masculinity that breeds stereotype such as, boys are tough, sexually dominant and they must not cry or show any emotions. However, just like girls, boys can be forced into sexual act where they do not willingly consent, maybe because of underage or other factors.
This is often called sex, but in reality, it is sexual assault. It is also important to note that it is not only girls’ bodies that are sensitive, but boys’ as well. When a boy is touched inappropriately, we need to act as fast as we do when girls are in the same predicament. If we are ever going to achieve a society with gender equality, then we have to start believing that boys can feel pain just like girls. At the same time, acknowledging that the problem of violence against girls and women can be solved without addressing violence against men and boys, or else, we will continue to raise monsters disguised as strong men.
I urge all the Hon. Members here in present, to raise their voices to have a balance when coming up with intervention strategies to solve gender issues, whether on the left or on the right. Dr. Martin Luther once said, “we may have all come on different ships, but we are all in the same boat now”. I therefore lament to all Hon. Members that it is high time we should also seek a balance between the boys and the girls, not neglecting the boys. I so submit. Thank you.
HON. BAJILA: Thank you so much Madam Speaker and good afternoon. I would like to add my voice to this debate on Gender-Based Violence by just raising three points. Madam Speaker, two days ago, in Emakhandeni-Luveve Constituency, Nothabo Ncube, a pregnant young woman was murdered by her boyfriend, Obvious Velani Sibanda over a dispute around the responsibility of the pregnancy. We are hearing the story now as obvious, appears before police, Nothabo is no longer there to defend herself or to say whether the alleged reasons of her murder are true or false. This is a matter of Gender-Based Violence that lives in our communities as we see it every day.
Madam Speaker, I implore this House to think of women such as Nothabo who find themselves in such a predicament of being murdered by their lovers. When they are murdered by their lovers, the rest of us remain to hear the stories and they are nowhere to defend themselves. Madam Speaker, I call for justice for Nothabo at this point.
Furthermore, as we follow through social media, we are learning of a man called Mike Sikhulumo Mathe who has been changing his name now and again over a period of 15 years. He has been involved in trafficking of women from Zimbabwe to South Africa, promising them jobs. This man is a Zimbabwean. This man is trafficking, raping and infecting Zimbabwean women with sexually transmitted infections. Madam Speaker, over a period of 15 years, this is too long a time and the law must now take its course.
I am of the belief that the number of women who have come forth and spoke through social media around the abuse that they have gone through in the hands of Mike Sikhulumo Mathe could be underestimated. There might be some women out there, some who are still under his captivity who have not stood up to speak. Madam Speaker, some could also be dead by now. There are some people who are still looking for their relatives and they could have been killed by this man. I reiterate that this is a clear case of Gender-Based Violence because these people are targeted for abuse because they are women. We have not heard of any man who has been a victim of this Mike Sikhulumo Mathe. I implore this House to look into means by which the State can join the search for Mike Sikulumo Mathe. He must be found and he must have his day before the law.
If we do not do this, news is spreading. Other Mike Sikhulumo Mathes are learning and they might gain courage and might have more people abusing our young women and others in our society. The very fact that this has happened at least for a recorded period of 15 years and the State has been unable to get wind of it, calls upon us to look into means by which we can make systems by which reporting these kinds of abuses are simple and easy. We can make systems by which we can attend to our cultural and traditional challenges that make it difficult for people to report abuse.
This man has been abusing people for far too long. It took just one family to say, our daughter left this country with a man called Mike Sikhulumo Mathe. We have been unable to find her ever since she left. The people whom she said she is going to be with in South Africa are saying she never arrived, but this Mike Sikhulumo Mathe keeps giving us stories. Now we are going to social media to get help to find our daughter. Then we have a lot of people now coming and saying, we had our daughters going through this man, but the Government has not been able to sniff this matter over such a period. It could be because of the systems that exist and of the tradition and cultures that exist in terms of dictating these issues.
To close my contribution to this matter Madam Speaker, I implore this House to work with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, in fact to push the Ministry to increase the presence of social workers in our communities. We need more social workers so that they can be able to detect and monitor issues of Gender-Based Violence and possibilities of abuse of women and girls in our communities. Madam Speaker, with this contribution. I rest my case.
HON. MAUNGANIDZE: I rise today to bring attention to a pressing issue that demands our collective action and unwavering commitment. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to address this issue that affects our society to its core.
Recent reports on Gender-Based Violence in our country are very concerning. By Gender-Based Violence, we are not only referring to violence of men against women. It can be women against men although the former is more common in our country. Or for that matter, violence against children. All forms of violence are bad because they represent a behaviour that is alien to our culture.
Unhu or ubuntu embodies our African culture which states that I am because you are. This value system places the human being at the centre of all creation. Gender-Based Violence detracts from our culture, in significant ways and is often founded on a wrong understanding of our customs. Take for example lobola. Many misguided people take the custom as a commercial trade in which the groom’s family buys a bride. This is a complete abuse of our honoured tradition in which roora/lobola was a cementing of the relationship between two families. It was never meant to be a transactional trade.
However, this noble custom of uniting two families has been bastardised by greedy people who see roora/lobola as nothing but a trade or an exchange of goods. Nowadays, it is common for the groom's family to be charged ridiculous prices like $10 000 or even $20 000 for roora. Very often this is justified by such false assumptions as, “We educated our daughter and she will now enrich your family”. Parents do not educate their girl children so that they can extract a huge price at lobola, it is the children’s right to education. This is one of the geneses of Gender-Based Violence because it gives the impression that a woman is a commodity to be exchanged just as you exchange any goods. Women are not goods. The abuse of roora has to be looked at as one of the things that leads to Gender-Based Violence. We need to go back to what the basic purpose lobola/roora was supposed to serve.
The other sad part of lobola is that it gives the impression that a woman is less equal to a man. This notion is of course complete nonsense. Women are different from men, but they are equal. We know that women can do almost anything that men can do. In addition, we cannot ignore the cultural and traditional norms that perpetuate Gender-Based Violence. It is imperative that we lead constructive dialogues within our communities and advocate for more sensitisation programmes that challenge harmful practices and promote gender equality. Only through collective cultural transformation can we address the root causes of this violence.
Another cause of Gender-Based Violence is that when boys grow up in a family where the father beats up the mother, the boys start believing that when they get married, they are also entitled to beat their wives. In short, they learn this horrible custom from their fathers. So, fathers please stop miseducating your children that women are sandbags to be hit every time you are angry. Kana una mangoromera, there are better ways of using such energy productively.
Beating up a woman or for that matter anybody, is very degrading for both the perpetrator of the practice as well as the victim. Let us be clear, a wife basher degrades themselves each time they beat their spouse. Therefore, every time a spouse beats their partner, they degrade themselves. Do wife beaters know that whenever they raise their hands, they are degrading themselves?
There is need for us to prioritise legal reform to strengthen the protection of survivors and hold perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence accountable. I advocate for the review and amendment of existing laws, as well as the introduction of new legislative measures that uphold the rights of survivors and provide them with the necessary legal protection.
Furthermore, we must ensure that support services are readily accessible to survivors of Gender-Based Violence. This includes the establishment of shelters, counselling services and the provision of holistic support to those in need. It is our duty to secure the necessary funding and infrastructure to fulfill this obligation.
Very often, men are the breadwinners, though these days women provide for the family too. The woman becomes the homemaker or home engineer. Just because the wife looks at the home does not mean that she is not contributing to family wealth. In many respects, she is contributing much more than her husband.
If you were to take a census and ask successful men whom they owe their success to, more than three-quarters will, without a thought, say their mother. Mothers play a crucial role in the family’s success. How can they be perceived as less equal to their husbands?
Even the good book, the Bible, says a woman shall leave her home and join that of her husband and the two shall be one. Where does the Bible say one will be more important than the other? Where does it say the man is allowed to beat his wife? It says honour your wife. How can you beat someone that you honour?
Part of the reason why wife bashers get away with murder is that the victim suffers in silence. If we are to abolish this horrible vice in our society, it is very important that every woman who gets beaten by her husband and vice versa must report this. We must get rid of the norm of reporting the matter within the family, but report the abuse to law authorities or police. We cannot prosper while this backward custom goes unchallenged.
Education and awareness are foundational pillars in our battle against Gender-Based Violence. I urge the allocation of resources towards comprehensive educational programmes in schools and public awareness campaigns that foster a society that rejects violence and embraces respect and equality.
The bottom line is that men who beat their wives have a serious deficiency. They lack the ability to talk things over without having to enforce their position by using fists. These men are not strong, but weak men who resort to violence because they have little else to offer.
By using violence, men or women are degrading themselves just as much as they are degrading their victim.
*HON. JARAVAZA: Good evening Madam Speaker and compliments of the season. Many children are falling victims to the issue of gender violence. It starts as rape but as you go on, it becomes consensual – this is according to my personal view. The elderly women, especially our maids with whom we live with, form the majority of rape perpetrators on minors. It is very difficult for parents to know that their child has been sexually abused and only get to know after the child has contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
Madam Speaker, some women are leaving their matrimonial homes because they are not being sexually satisfied. These women end up looking for Ben-10s. Some elderly women are possessed by sex demons so much that when they are not sexually satisfied, they will not let you go. I think it is Gender-Based Violence. Some men are deserting their homes not because they want to be promiscuous but they want to rest their bodies. Madam Speaker, sexual pleasure is not a crime, they should be concerned about their spouses well-being.
Drugs are being prohibited by health officials but a lot of men have now resorted to using drugs as sexual enhancers. The drugs will enable men to satisfy their women’s wild sexual desires – that is Gender-Based Violence. Women should have mercy on us and be content with our performances. I cannot engage sexually more than three times a day and there is bound to be violence at home. Women should remember that they have a larger percentage compared to men. I think they should be supportive of polygamous unions so that we curb violence.
+HON. N. NDLOVU: On a point of order Madam Speaker Ma’am. I think the Hon. Member is even abusing women by encouraging women to agree to polygamous unions.
+THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUSA): I think the Hon. Member is expressing his personal views in explaining what they face as men. You will also get an opportunity to express yourself. When women encourage men to keep going, they will actually be abusing them and GBV will not end if we continue doing that. Remember, we need to come together and fight this.
*HON. JARAVAZA: Thank you, Madam Speaker for protecting me. I am coming to an end, and going further, I want to support Hon. Mapiki’s submission in terms of how men function. It is very true that in order for men to be healthy, they should be intimate more than 21 times a month and this helps them to curb prostate cancer. Hon. Mapiki also stated that women can afford to be intimate three times a month and still be healthy. This clearly shows that polygamous marriages are the way to go. The country’s national statistics shows that women should embrace polygamous unions so that they can all have husbands – if they disagree with the ratio of four to one, there will be violence in the country.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My plea is that wayward people like those should be prosecuted and the law should take its course if there are people like these people to get stiff penalties and collect bribes from these murders. I think you should clap your hands for that. Men were known for cheating and causing violence, but these days our women have surpassed men in terms of cheating, especially those married ones. Women should have heart and as men, we have now gotten to a point of accepting that they are well ahead of us in terms of cheating when it comes to the issues of cheating.
I encourage women that they should be hygienic all the time, most of them are being left out because of dirtiness. This also contributes to Gender-Based Violence in the home, at times you can get into the house smelling…
HON. MUROMBEDZI: On a point of order! The Hon. Member is now degrading women in our society in general, he must desist from degrading women and continue with a clean debate on Gender-Based Violence without degrading women. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member you can go ahead. I think he heard you.
*HON. JARAVAZA: Madam Speaker, I am looking at both sides, men should also learn to bath and clean their teeth before going to bed. I feel pity because most women live with hard-hearted men, so, you find that women only stay in those marriages for the sake of children. With these few words. I thank you.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. P. MOYO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th February, 2024.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: Madam Speaker, let me just make this correction so that people get to understand the way things are supposed to be done in this august House. When we adjourn the debate and both parties are in the House, I move and the people on the left side second. So, people from the right side should wait until people from the left side second. I thank you
On the motion of HON. TSITSI ZHOU seconded by HON. N. NDLOVU, the House adjourned at Twenty-Seven Minutes to Seven o’clock p.m.