PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 23rd July, 2020
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Thank you Madam President. My question goes to any Minister who is leading the Senate at this present moment I am not very sure who it is. Hon. Minister, we have seen the arrest of journalist, Mr. Hopewell Chin’ono and the Transform Zimbabwe President, Mr. Jacob Ngarivhume. These people have been critical of the Government for years and they were not arrested for their being critical of Government. Recently, they have spoken openly and fearlessly I must say, against corruption. They were then arrested, detained and have had their bail applications opposed. Can you please explain this coincidence? They have now spoken against corruption and they have been arrested. Married to that question is how serious then is the Government’s fight against the scourge of corruption?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Sen. Mwonzora for asking that question but unfortunately we do not have a Leader of Government Business and we are not allowed to elect or choose any amongst us.
The Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs having walked in.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: For the benefit of the Hon. Minister, I will ask the Hon. Senator to repeat his question.
Hon. Sen. Mwonzora repeated his question.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President. I believe that we have separation of powers. We have the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary. They all have their own roles to play. I believe everyone agrees that each and every arm of Government must be given its own space; having said that, the said individuals, I am not aware that they were arrested for speaking out against corruption. They have allegations that have been leveled against them. It is up to the courts, as an independent arm of the State, to deal with those issues and it will not be proper for me to start commenting in that regard. As to the question regarding the fight of corruption, I know that His Excellency the President has spoken very well about the need to eradicate corruption. At some point he even agonised that I wish I was a prosecutor. So, I am not sure where the assertion that Government does not have appetite to fight corruption is coming from. Even the case in point that he is referring to that he is saying that the so called journalists exposed; the Anti-Corruption Commission was already investigating and the said individuals were arrested. Beyond that, I do not know what he expects the Executive to do. Suffice to say that at this juncture Madam President, I would not want to comment on issues that are before the courts. Let us allow the various arms of the State to do their duty.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think I do agree with what the Hon. Minister has explained and we all agree that we cannot debate on issues which are in the courts. I thank you, can we proceed with questions without notice.
HON. SEN. S. MPOFU: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Hon. Minister, now that we are approaching the 2021 farming season, how prepared is the Ministry in terms of inputs and tractors for tillage? Has the Ministry been in touch with the Ministry of Energy on the availability of fuel for tillage purposes?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): I am happy to inform you that preparations for the new farming season have already started as far back as April 2020. You will note that despite the lockdown which did give us many disturbances we have caught up and we are ready for the new farming season which is approaching us. Right now as we speak, Presidential Input Scheme inputs have almost been completely procured and should start going to the provinces as of late August. Command Agriculture now falls under the financial institutions.
With regards to the Hon. Senator’s question on the tractors for tillage, you will note that we have the John Deere facility which was launched not so long ago and we have the upcoming Belarusian facility next month which will be launched by His Excellency. We are fairly confident that these two programmes will certainly have a great impact on the agricultural sector at large.
On the last question with regards to the Ministry of Energy, I would like to thank them for coming to the table this season, under wheat they have certainly lifted our hopes. You will notice from the season that considerable amount of hectarage is under wheat because we have had guaranteed supply of electricity. With regards to fuel, certainly fuel has been a major issue for everyone including us as parliamentarians. It is an ongoing discussion with the Ministry of Energy but unfortunately as you know fuel is an import and certainly requires foreign currency. Whilst we move forward, we will certainly continue to liaise with our colleagues at the Ministry of Energy to ensure that we do have a ready and steady supply of fuel.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: May you allow me to direct my question to the Acting Minister of Health. Before I ask the question, may I thank the President for the lockdown measures to curb COVID-19. If you look carefully in the rural areas there are a lot of problems that we are facing. There are a lot of people who come to Zimbabwe through border jumping, so it is a time bomb. When we asked the Ministry officials they said they do not have the capacity or resources to take those people to quarantine centres. It means there are a lot of people who slip back into the country in abundance yet it would be difficult to ascertain the danger that they pose to the communities. What measures is the Ministry taking to educate people on the dangers and spread of COVID-19. As I speak, there is a case which happened three days ago whereby a person ran away from Botswana and slipped back into the country.
*THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF MURWIRA): I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chikwaka for the question. Our law with regards to quarantine is very clear, that everyone who comes back into the country must stay in quarantine centres for a specified period of time. The law further says if there is anyone who escapes from quarantine centres and goes back to the communities everyone has the duty to report to the police so that the person can be taken to quarantine centres. If there is a particular case, it is very important that we expose such people so that they may be taken to quarantine centres. In terms of the policy, it is very clear on what we are supposed to do.
There may be shortcomings here and there but our wish is that everyone who comes back into the country must go through quarantine centres. The law is very clear on that although the implementation may have shortcomings but we are trying by all means to prevent the disease. It is incumbent on every citizen in this country that we observe those health regulations and report anyone who may be breaking those regulations because it is the duty of everyone to maintain good health. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My supplementary question is that the person is known and the person comes from Marufu village in Chikwaka. For the past four days, that person has been at the homestead. When I spoke to the District Medical Officer, he said they do not have the means to go to that place but they would find a motorbike to go that place to collect samples from the person in question for testing. That poses a big problem because according to our culture we interact and embrace each other and that may spread the disease. I thank you.
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: It is now very clear. The Hon. Senator was very clear and he specified on the DMO and I believe the DMO is Goromonzi. I heard you and you will get feedback. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. The Chief spoke about the country not having sufficient test kits. I would like to confirm this because last week we were on Parliament Portfolio Committee outreach. Indeed, we heard different Provincial Medical Officers saying blood samples are taken to Harare, hence the results go back very late - which ends up leading to people running away from quarantine centres. It actually shows that these figures that we have at the moment are very minimal, because I believe there are many more cases. What can we do to improve the tests turnaround time for us to get a realistic figure? I thank you.
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the supplementary question. The world over, we do not have enough test kits, but our policy is we must buy a lot of test kits. As we speak, we are currently procuring many test kits but we have to wait or join the queue for the procurement, but we are going to get there.
We also procure PCR machines because we should also take into consideration that the pandemic took everyone by surprise but we are trying by all means to test people. Looking at what measure that can be taken, what we can do as a matter of importance is let us consider anyone as a potentially infected person, including ourselves. Tested people are considered as sample so what it means is that a sample does not include everyone but just a cross section.
Mr. President, what it means is that if you meet someone, talk to them a metre away, even if they claim to be not infected, including yourself. Even if we were to test each other and know whether one is positive or negative, the response remains the same. Stay apart from each other, maintain social distance and sanitise your hands, put on your mask because the disease is incurable. So, we are trying by all means, to the best of our capabilities, but we are not saying we are doing everything, but we are trying hard. In addition, we want to test as many people as possible, but people should take it that everyone is infected so people should sanitise their hands, check temperature whilst we continue testing.
We ordered quite a number of test kits, last week we got 30 000 that were procured from China. We also procured 200 000 so we are expecting them. Whilst we wait for their arrival, let us not sleep and let us know that this disease is airborne, so let us not relax. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: How much would it cost to test all MPs, is it a problem, we are kindly asking to be tested?
Hon. Prof. Murwira having stood up to reply to Hon. Sen. Komichi’s question.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, you have stood up but that is not entirely a supplementary question, that is actually a new question, but I will allow him to get away with it.
*THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Mr. President. I would not know how much will it cost, but I think it is a very good thing, we will talk to the officials so that we look at the implementation plan.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NTABENI: Thank you Mr. President, a friend in need is a friend in indeed. My question is directed to the Hon. Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. I come from the rural area and people are being tested, are they being given documents to show that they have been tested. May they be given documents so that we know who was tested and who was not tested? Every day we meet a lot of people. I will be going to the rural areas today but I will not know who is infected and who is not infected.
* THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Mr. President. If a person was tested, there is a slip that is dispensed by the machine and that slip may be given to that person. I want to emphasise that you may test negative right now but two hours later you may become positive. So, let us know that that disease is real, when interacting just maintain social distance. I thank you.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: My question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. Mr. President, recently we learnt that the Chief Executive Officers of Public institutions like Parirenyatwa, Harare and Chitungwiza were relieved of their duties. At the moment majority of the health staff are complaining because of PPEs. My question is, the health sector has always complained about the operations of the Health Services Board for years and nothing has been done. And now these Chief Executive Officers were recruited recently by the same Health Services Board but within three weeks, they were all sacked. I think it needs explanation as to the justification of it. We are in the middle of a pandemic, the crisis at tertiary institutions is dire and we are working with people who are acting throughout. The last bit, I think the Minister is aware that we have got a lot of health workers who have been infected and are being infected. What is the Ministry doing because right now they are going on a go slow because they are trying to protect themselves and I do not think as a nation, we can take a lackadaisical approach to this important issue. Thank you Mr. President.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. President. I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Mavetera for the question and the concern that we share. Hon. President, the problem of the health sector in this country has been a configuration problem. When we say it is a configuration problem we mean you can have four nice fat oxen, ngavi, but for them to plough, you need a yoke, ...
Hon. Ministers having sat too close to each other.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order. Hon. Ministers, I am really concerned about your social distancing. Yes that is better. Carry on Minister.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. President. I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Mavetera for the question and the concern and I do say the concerns that we all share. When you see problems being persistent from time to time, they cease to be individually driven. They are configuration problems in the way the whole system is arranged. What I am trying to say is that; I was giving an example of cattle. You can have four oxen, fat and fit but for them to plough, you need a yoke or two yokes each one nechitoropo and then you need to drive them in a certain direction in order for ploughing to happen but if one or two of the cows start pushing in different directions, at the end of the day, it is not about the fatness of the oxen. It is about how they are arranged to do a job.
So what we are looking at in the Ministry of Health and Child Care is there has been a lot of toxicity in the Ministry over many years and I am sure that the Hon. Senators and others are aware that this did not start with COVID-19. It has been a long drawn problem. The Ministry of Health and Child Care has got very good experts in this country, talking about fat cattle, very experienced health personnel and very good clinicians. However, they buy everything from what they wear to beds to cleaning material to every medicine that we use in this country. Hatigadziri kana dondoro in this country. We do not make a thing. We buy everything. Why am I saying this? Then it becomes a buying Ministry, then we spend about US$1 billion buying beds, sheets, paracetamol and water which we call drip. It is 5% salt and 95% water - putting it in big planes, bringing water into this country, distilled water.
So, at the end of the day as a country, we really have to look at ourselves and reconfigure ourselves for effectiveness, otherwise we might spend time tichingodyungana so. This is a serious matter. What therefore that means is we are looking at restructuring the Ministry of Health and Child Care so that all the money that we spend importing things could be used for developmental purposes that also include remuneration. So what are we saying? In order to reorganise it, we must have aims - efficiency, effectiveness and integrity so that not every office or everyone goes to the Ministry of Health to try and procure something. Procurement has become a business. When it is a business, it means what we are buying, there are a lot of leakages and it is the leakages that people are after.
We really have to be serious about this. Therefore what does it mean in terms of this? We know the CEOs have been relieved of their duties, five of them by the HSB because it is part of the reorganisation. You know when you have made an error, we cannot pretend stability by saying no let us show that we thought about it by not rectifying it. Let us spend three years being shy from our own mistake. If we made a mistake two minutes ago, it is a strength to change that decision if it does not work. So it is not about individuals. That is what I am trying to say. However, if you are losing or you are having a problem in a war, it is not a problem to change the generals so that you can be able to do things.
What we are trying to say here is we are looking forward to a lot of support from the generality of the Zimbabweans to make sure that we reconfigure our Ministry of Health and Child Care for its effectiveness to serve ourselves. How can we have a Ministry that spends US$1 billion every year importing everything including little caps made of plastic? What I am trying to say Hon. President is, there is need to do brave things and in doing those brave things, we need a lot of support. It is about fixing ourselves and our country to serve ourselves. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Minister but I do not think you answered the second part of his question which was about PPEs if I am not mistaken.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. President. In terms of PPEs, we have been procuring PPEs. Just yesterday, I asked the Permanent Secretary and the pharmaceutical department to look at the levels of PPEs across all our operational units so that we make it available for our workers to the best of our ability because we cannot be protected by people that are not protected in the first place. So it is a priority and it is important that we do so and as I said, whatever we are talking about, excuses should never be a way through which we operate. There can be errors here and there but the intention is to make sure that we are so selfish as Zimbabweans that we want to save ourselves. So, I am saying let us be selfish enough to protect our workers so that they protect us. So the issue is, we are trying in very difficult circumstances to make sure that everything happens the way we want but the Ministry of Health and Child Care has to change in configuration. It cannot be buying water and importing water. Many haulage trucks are coming or a lot of water is being imported and we clear them at the borders – water!
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the Minister for the good answer but I would also want him to extend his bravery because it is the same Health Services Board which has been a permanent structure in the Ministry of Health and Child Care for the past 10 years and they are the very same people who recruited these CEOs and within three months, they sack everyone at the middle of the COVID- 19 pandemic. I am saying that probably as the Legislature, part of our duty is to oversee the performance of the Executive and how they do their work. The problem is, I have been in Health and working for the public sector for the past 27 years...
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Senator, you ask your question and you should not start debating. We know that you have an opinion and you are entitled to that. You can debate when we are at the relevant stage. We are doing Questions Without Notice, so ask your supplementary straight and to the point.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President Sir. Hon. Minister, our problem is the Health Services Board. What is being done to configure the Health Services Board so that we can have smooth sailing of the health delivery system in the country because that is where the problem is and nothing more? Thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. President and I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Mavetera for the question. I just want to answer to him first of all by saying, there is something more to that. It is not only the Health Services Board but it is the whole health delivery system. In the design Hon. President, of a colonial health system which we never disturbed, it is designed in such a way that you remain clinicians but you have to buy all the medicine from the metropole. It is a business model and you have to buy all the equipment from the metropole. All what you have to say is penicillin is finished and the planeload comes and you buy. So, it is a nice economic model for those ones who are driving that economic model but a national health system of an independent State cannot run like that. It means you have to have basic manufacturing capability of your things and that is why I am saying that there is something more than only people.
So no matter what we do, if we do not address the issue of even making drip which is normal saline which is some salt with water and just imagine that you are bringing a planeload of 30 tonnes of water coming from everywhere. The issue at the end of the day as I say, it is not a blame game of pointing fingers but the issue is we are importing it and we must do something about it. That is why I am saying there is more. So in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and integrity and when we are looking at the whole configuration of the whole thing; it means we will also look at the Health Services Board. It means everything but once we are piecemeal and we start picking as if it is people, you will remove people and then you will see that there is still a problem because of the way things are configured.
So, we are looking at everything and we will be happy to have even more information if there is more information and help to make sure that this health system works for us for the protection of this nation founded by ourselves. Thank you.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. Hon. Minister, under the current COVID- 19 lockdown, how can Government facilitate access for ARVs to Zimbabweans living in South Africa since they cannot come for their reviews?
THE TEMPORATY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senator, you are asking about Zimbabweans in South Africa.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Yes, people living with HIV in South Africa.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Hon. President, I wish to thank the Hon. Senator for the Question but, we are sympathetic about any Zimbabwean who lives anywhere. However, the system that we are operating is a system that is within the territory of Zimbabwe. When people are in South Africa, we expect that if they have any problems, they will be able to contact our embassy which is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to seek any specific help that they might need. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. ENG MUDZURI: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Minister, what is your policy to livestock such as piggery and cattle, especially looking at the current drought situation. I personally scaled down my livestock number because we can no longer get stockfeed. Right now Triple C is giving out small piglets because they no longer have feeds. People want food and the livestock also wants food. So, right now we are only keeping livestock for breeding.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESTEELEMENT (HON. KARORO): Thank you Mr. President and I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mudzuri for such a wonderful question. Government policy with regards to livestock is that Government wants people to restock and increase the number of livestock because we know that our livestock was so much affected and depleted due to the drought that he referred to. However, we are aware that drought is going on and that is a hindrance to the success of Government’s restocking programme. You spoke very well that the current grain stock that we have is being competed for between people and livestock. So, it would have been good if people can downsize the livestock that we have so that we preserve the breeds. If we want to increase right now, we will not be able to get stock feeds because as humans we are also struggling to get grain for food. So I think that at the moment, it is wise to downsize our livestock for sustainability but Government is also trying by all means to implement a programme to safeguard the livestock that we have especially looking at water because our livestock needs water.
Those programmes cater for both humans and livestock. Where boreholes are being sunk for human consumption, we are also building water troughs for livestock to be able to access drinking water. As for stock feeds, we are also appealing to people to preserve and stop veld fires so that we get grazing areas for our livestock. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Mr. President. You responded well Hon. Minister but my question is - are there any designated areas such as if it is Triple C that is supposed to preserve stocks for breeding after drought? When you just say, ‘downsize’ yet there will not be any organisation or specific programme for breeding purposes, what sort of programme do you have after destocking and then what will happen? We will not be able to get seed for restocking – that is my question.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, the Hon. Member is asking whether we have any contingent plans so that we save some amount of livestock with a view that when the drought is over we can sufficiently restock from the resources within the country.
*HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. President for that clarification. It is true that Government launched a livestock programme through His Excellency President E. D. Mnangagwa. So there are measures that we have to import livestock breeds but due to the prevailing circumstances, we are going to stop the importation of those livestock. After those circumstances, the imported livestock breeds will be able to come in so that we proceed with the programme. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NGEZI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. What policy do you have in place for the reallocation of land? We understand that there is a programme of downsizing big farms. What criteria is currently in place? Who is supposed to benefit because we understand that there are names that are coming from Harare to the District Land Commission for reallocation of downsized farms? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Sorry Hon. President Sir, we did not catch the question – my apologies.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Alright, Hon. Sen. Chief Ngezi, rephrase or re-introduce your question.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NGEZI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is with regards to the current downsizing of farms. Who chooses beneficiaries for the reallocation of those farms? Who is supposed to benefit from those farms because the problem that we have is that the DLC is being overpowered by higher authorities who impose the names for farm allocations whilst locals are unable to get the farms.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, did you understand the question this time around or I have to rephrase it for you?
*HON. KARORO: I understood the question. Thank you Mr. President, I understood the question very well. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for the question.
With regards to who is supposed to benefit from the current downsizing of farms, the answer is that we have structures in place that look at land administration. He referred to Provincial Land Commissions (PLCs) as well as District Land Committees (DLCs) – all these structures are involved in the recommendation of beneficiaries but they are supposed to get the names from those on the waiting lists. So, I do not think that it is proper for names to come from the top in order to benefit but we will have to look into that. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Sen. Chief Ngezi, if you have got a specific incident which you are aware of by all means, put it down on paper and send it to the Ministry. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Hon. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. Hon. Minister, the Zimbabwean citizens would be happy if they could have a private broadcaster. Zimbabwe is more than 40 years old yet we have one public broadcaster. Does it mean that as a country we are not interested in inviting other public broadcasters to come and run these broadcasting stations? Are there any specific challenges because this has gone on for a long time? My belief is that it is one of the reforms that we want and it would even improve the economy of the country if such a development were to be done in Zimbabwe. We require independent television stations. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): Thank you Mr. President. I would want to thank Hon. Sen. Komichi for his pertinent question. First and foremost, I would want to agree with him that we are among the pioneers of the television stations to be operated in Africa. Be that as it may, we still have a single television broadcasting but during the outset of the Second Republic, we recognise that our children are well educated and this is recognised by UNESCO. As a result of that, we should give them a diverse content; whether it is in terms of sport, education or even cultural issues. It is important that there be that diversity so that people have a wide variety of programmes ranging from sport to culture. This is the main task that my Ministry is seized with. At the outset of the Second Republic, these are some of the objectives that we have.
We have also come up with the required processes, the statutory body that issues licences in the form of Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ). It now has a board and has members in place. It is now fully constituted and they are now looking into the process of issuing the participants. Advertisements have been made, inviting people to come and take tender for these licences. There are about 12 applicants who have submitted their applications. It is work in progress. We are very keen to have diverse content. We are endowed in terms of talent, whether plays, films and other forms of media so that we can be able to tap out talent in all the various areas in Zimbabwe. We are even going further than that to ensure that our people in the communities have licences for community radio stations. All this is being done in fulfillment of the constitutional requirements that give access of information to everyone as a right. So, it is important that we have these television stations. Before the advent of COVID 19, I would have given you the number of licences that were going to be issued but about 15 have applied for commercial television stations. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. For those of us that are in the communal lands with rural constituencies, we have observed that the State President has tried to ensure that the numbers of people that gather and live together is minimized so that infections will not increase. Allow me to say what we are observing.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senator, I do not want to describe what you are seeing. I want you to direct your question to the Minister.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President. In the communal lands, at funerals more than 50 people are gathering. People are not behaving well. What is the Ministry doing to ensure that numbers are maintained at a minimum in line with COVID regulations? We say that the evil that man does always lives after him. Hon. Minister, what measures are you going to take so as to ensure that the numbers in gatherings decrease? Furthermore, in terms of our African culture, once one dies he spends the night lying in state in their home and they are buried the following morning. How best can we deal with this problem? Thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): The Government came up with a law to help us in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Among these laws is that there should not be any gatherings. We should have small gatherings, wear masks, sanitize and wash our hands and so on. Zimbabwean citizens should know that there is no law that the Minister or any police officer can come and cause you to wear a mask. It is difficult. The point is, we shall take measures through information dissemination so that it is engraved in the minds of the people that these laws that have been enacted are there for the good of our own health. Therefore, it would be in our interest as individuals to take care of our own health so that the Government cannot be on a manhunt for the people that are flouting these regulations or laws.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Kazembe is on record as often saying that the police officer should not be there to give directions to how people should act. We would want to reiterate that this open question that has been asked will be answered in an open space to the people who are listening. We cannot go and force you to wear your mask or to cause you to wear your mask. You are not a child. As an individual, you should know that if you do not wear your mask you run the risk of dying. If you do not wash or sanitise your hands, you shall fall sick. So, I believe that such a plea would help us and furthermore say that you should not be involved in public gatherings; you die. We need to reinforce such messages because the traditional leaders or chiefs in their areas need to disseminate the information. It would not be good to have masks covering our faces because we were not born in that manner but it is for our good health.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
INTAKES FOR NURSING SCHOOLS
- HON. SEN. S. MPOFU asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to explain Government’s position regarding decentralization of nursing recruitment in the spirit of devolution of power as enshrined in Section 264 of the Constitution.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. MANGWIRO): E-recruitment is a national programmes and HQ IT Department has the capacity to run the e-recruitment system and provide appropriate servers. There are so many issues to be addressed by IT specialists. Decentralisation has already started and shortlisting which is done on rotational basis at institutions with schools involved and interviews are done at different schools of nursing, the national team is there to co-ordinate the process. Deployment is then done and candidates posted to schools as per location.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
POLICY REGARDING PROVISION OF TUITION FEE SUBSIDIES TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
- HON. SEN. TONGOGARA asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to explain Government policy regarding provision of tuition fee subsidies considering high university dropouts.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Senator for the question. As you may recall, Section 27 of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe states that “The State must take all practical measures to promote access to higher and tertiary education. In this regard, Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development has created safety nets to protect vulnerable students currently pursuing their studies in various education and training institutions through the Government backed Student Loan Facility; and University student vacation part-time employment arrangements and Midlands State University are doing very well in this regard. Hon. Senator, furthermore, the Government has reduced tuition fees of students on industrial attachment and teaching practice by 40% to promote access to inclusive and quality education in line with Vision 2030. The objective of providing the Government backed Student Loan Facility is to ensure that no student is left behind. The loan facility is available and I do not know of any student who has applied and was denied the loan. Therefore, as a Ministry, we are not expecting any dropouts since Government has created a fall back plan through the Government backed student loan facility.
MANAGING OF NURSING APPLICATIONS BY CHINHOYI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
- HON. SEN. TONGOGARA asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to explain why Chinhoyi University of Science and Technology manages the nursing applications platform when there is a Department of Information Technologies in the Ministry of Health and Child Care
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Sen. for the question. Firstly, it is not a fact that Chinhoyi University of Science and Technology (CUT) manages the nursing applications platform on behalf of the Department of Information Technologies in the Ministry of Health and Child Care. The correct position is that the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development through it its Science and Technology Division is mandated to assist public or private institutions in creating technologies and in this regard, ICT technology.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, through CUT assisted in developing the application for managing recruitment of nurses. This application was handed over to the Ministry of Health and Child Care on completion of the development process. CUT is not involved in any way in the day to day management of the said system for managing recruitment of nurses. I thank you.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE DAY
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 to 9 be stood over until Order Number 10 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 11A, 2019]
Tenth Order read: Second Reading: Constitutional Court Amendment Bill.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President. I rise to present my Second reading speech on the Constitutional Court Bill 2019.
Mr. President, the Bill before you, the Constitutional Court Bill is a long overdue piece of legislation whose delay can be explained by the need for extensive consultation with stakeholders, most importantly with the judiciary itself who have expressed themselves to be satisfied with the end product before you.
Additional considerations lend urgency to this Bill as I will explain below. Hon. Senators are aware that the Constitution Amendment No. 20 Act which gave birth to the present Constitution was assented to by the President and promulgated on the 22nd May, 2013. On the same day the Constitutional Court came into being. Under the terms of the Sixth Schedule to the new Constitution, this Court has the same composition as the Supreme Court for a period of seven years ending on the 22nd May, 2020, at which date the Constructional Court and the Supreme Court must become separate courts. As this date has already passed, vacancies in the High Court caused by the elevation of judges to the Supreme Court are being filled on an acting basis in terms of Section 181 of the Constitution as read with paragraph 18 (3) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
Up to this date the Constitutional Court has been able to operate smoothly in its constitutional court capacity and as the Supreme Court. In 2016 separate rules for the Constitutional Court were published in Statutory Instrument 61 of 2016, enacted by virtue of paragraph 18 (4) (a) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. However, with the split of the Supreme Court from the Constitutional Court the need for a separate Constitutional Court Act has become ever more salient and pertinent.
The Memorandum to the Bill helpfully sets forth all the most conspicuous features of the proposed legislation and I will not rehearse them for you, except to draw your attention to two clauses of the Bill in particular; Clause 22 of the Bill carries over into this Bill the provisions of Section 24 subsection (5) and (6) of the previous Constitution, relating to the invalidation of a law. As Hon. Senators will know, only the Constitutional Court may make a final decision whether an Act of Parliament is constitutional and must confirm any order of constitutional invalidity made by another court before that order has any force (see Section 167 (3) of the Constitution). Litigants in the recent past have on several occasions approached the Constitutional Court to invalidate this or that the law as being unconstitutional, without giving the Attorney-General adequate notice of such proceedings. The Attorney-General being responsible, among other things, for the drafting of legislation, is a vitally interested party whenever it is sought to show that a law was improperly or invalidly enacted for any reason. Clause 22 makes it clear that the Attorney-General has an automatic right to be heard by the court on that issue.
The next Clause I want to revert to is Clause 23 of the Bill. This Clause embodies the two important principles of “constitutional avoidance” and of “subsidiarity” recently adopted by our Constitutional Court. These are salutary principles of judicial restraint that the court exercises whenever it determines constitutional applications seeking remedies from it that are also availed by statute. They are salutary because consistently with the doctrine of the separation of powers, they give due respect to Parliament’s statutory remedies for civil wrongs if these are seen to be adequate to the case before the Constitutional Court. Firstly, the principle of avoidance states that “remedies should be found in legislation before resorting to constitutional remedies”; secondly, the principle of subsidiarity states that “norms of greater specificity should be relied on before resorting to norms of greater abstraction” (per Malaba DCJ in Zinyemba versus Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement and Yakub Mohamed CCZ3/2016). The principle of avoidance is in effect a restatement of the following proviso to section 24(4) of the old Constitution:
“The Supreme Court may decline to exercise its powers [of intervention] under this subsection if it is satisfied that adequate means of redress for the contravention alleged are or have been available to the person concerned under other provisions of this Constitution or under any other law.”
In conclusion Mr. President Sir, I urge you, Hon. Senators, to pass this law and in doing so, raise another important milestone in the ongoing process of the alignment of our laws to the Constitution. I thank you Mr. President Sir and I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: Tuesday, 4th August, 2020
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, the Senate adjourned at Four Minutes to Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 4rd August, 2020.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 22nd July, 2020
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: On a point of privilege Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: What is your point of privilege?
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Madam President. My point of privilege is that, I think it is no longer a secret that we have a crisis in the health sector. The COVID pandemic is now here with us. I think we used to see it happening to foreign countries and we thought it was a myth. Now, with the escalating statistics, it needs no brainer to show us that as a country, we need to take urgent steps to mitigate the effects of this pandemic. Madam President, as we speak right now, there is a crisis in the health sector.
Health care workers have got no adequate personal protective equipment and as a result, I happen to actually interface with health care workers, some are actually taking sick leave just to try to protect themselves from the exposure. So, Madam President, I think as a Government, we really need to make sure that we address this. There is no way we can actually mitigate or control the pandemic if we cannot finance and arm our forefront workers.
Madam President, just to emphasise my point, I think recently we do not know the reasons but there has been Chief Executive Officers of public institutions that have been dismissed. We are not talking about the merits, they may have cases to answer but what really baffles the mind Madam President is, I will give an example of a holding company which has got 5 subsidiaries, then in one day, they fire all the managing directors saying they are incompetent. I think there is a problem and the timing is one which is actually disturbing. If you look at the health sector, right now we do not have a Minister, there is an acting Minister, we do not have a permanent secretary, there is an acting one. The people who should actually be responsible when the top strata are being re-arranged are the chief executive officers of the respective public institutions but unfortunately, they have also been asked to leave. So, I am calling, through you Madam President, on the Government to come and explain to the nation what we need to do because I think we cannot sit here and pretend things are normal when the health sector is in intensive care unit. I hope Madam President, with these words, we also need to call upon the Minister of Finance to come and show cause why resources should not be released to mitigate the COVID pandemic and support the health care workers.
I think His Excellency, a long time back, declared COVID as a state of disaster and I understand that declaration on its own means that we need to take action and divert resources to address that urgent issue. I thank you Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Senator. I think you have raised a matter which is very important and we are going to make sure those statements are made by the relevant ministers.
MOTION
RECOMMITTAL OF THE 2020 NINTH EDITION OF SENATE STANDING ORDERS
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I move that the Ninth Edition of the 2020 Standing Orders be recommitted to the Senate in order to reconsider Standing Order No. 79.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7A, 2019]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on the Second Reading of the Marriages Bill [H. B. 7A, 2019].
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHINAKE: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. The Marriages Bill came to the august House and most Senators debated it according to what they know. Considering how we live, I believe that there are things that were not considered and let me add a few issues. When the Marriages Bill started, it was an issue that had been long overdue because it is now 40 years after attaining Independence. My first issue is that if I have raised my daughter who is educated and has a career, for her to just get married without any bride price being paid, it is not right. If there is no bride price paid, it is not right. I am sure the traditional leaders who are in this House were given powers to be marriage officers but they will face challenges because if people meet along the way they can just go to the chief and get married. The issue of the bride price unites parents, their children and also families. It gives value to the institution of marriage. I think it is something that needs to be considered.
Secondly, the issue that also came out was that a woman can be allowed to stay with a man at the age of 16 years but can only marry at the age of 18 years. It is an issue of concern in our communities where we reside. When the child is 16 years, who is the custodian? Tomorrow we will cry foul when all these elderly man have two or three wives. We believe that the age of consent and the marriageable age should be aligned. It should be 18 years. That issue needs to be addressed. Again, we are the leaders of this nation, so let us uphold our cultural values no matter how educated we are, how many degrees we have and the fact that we can speak English and have stayed in western countries should not change our culture because we are educated. This needs to be maintained.
Without our dignity as Africans we are nothing. We need to uphold this. Long ago, our parents did not have money but the bride price was even paid in the form of hoes. This was done to show that they are married. The age limit was there and the aunties made sure that the child had reached marriageable age. With these few words, I implore Members here that we need to safeguard and maintain our culture. Even those in western countries can do all other things but they uphold and maintain their culture. We should do the same. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: I also want to support the motion that was brought in by the Minister. I want to say that I will not be able to pinpoint all the issues but I want to say that today we have certain things that we are implementing that have drawn us back as the people of Zimbabwe and these things are wrong. My request is that for our country to have integrity, the son-in-law should pay the bride price and it also gives value and respect to the daughter-in-law because the bride price would have been paid.
The Bill before us is alien to our culture and my request is that we have our traditional leaders, the chiefs. If the chiefs bring this up, I believe that we will be on the right direction. The chiefs would be alerted if a daughter eloped and that family had to pay a goat or a chicken. This is now being infiltrated by the western culture that we are taking up. What is happening is that the father comes in after two days and the child hires someone else. The person who is hired will tell you that you cannot give me rules and orders in this house because you never paid anything. So we are saying that we need to uphold our culture in Zimbabwe for people to stay together, living as husband and wife without lobola being paid is not a good practice. Honestly for parents who raised their daughter from nine months until she reaches 18 years and then the girl just goes and gets married, I tell you the next thing that girl will go to the Moeketsi family without any bride price. That makes us lose our cultural values. I was thinking that when such Bills come, they should be referred to the Chiefs and the Traditional leaders who should engage their communities and we solicit views of what the communities in the rural areas think. For us to just copy some of these practices and make them laws, that is not good. I thank you Madam President.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTAR AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President. Madam President I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd July, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam President, last week the Minister of Finance and Economic Development delivered his Mid-Term speech in the National Assembly and the Senate was in recess, so the Minister felt that it is appropriate that he gives a statement. I seek leave of the House to have the Minister deliver the statement.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Minister, I think the Senate will be very happy to have that statement from the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
Motion put and agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
SUMMARY OF 2020 MID-TERM BUDGET AND ECONOMIC REVIEW
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam President, Members of the August House, we felt it important that I should give a statement on the economy and on the Mid-Term performance for the first half of the year. We had an opportunity to present this in full to the Lower House last week and you were in recess and felt that we should respect you and I should come here and make a similar statement. It will be compressed - hopefully short, sharp and to the point. I will not read it for one and half hours and send everyone to sleep.
Madam President, from a policy point of view, as Government we want to affirm our commitment to fiscal discipline. That is why we did not request for a presentation before you of a supplementary budget. We do not want to chase inflation, we want to commit to fiscal discipline. This will be the second year that we are doing this in terms of balancing our budget. Secondly, we want to commit to a balance in our balance of payments, which is our external balance. Again, I am happy to report that progress so far is in the right direction. We are committing to that. We also want to commit as policy workers to monetary discipline to accompany fiscal discipline. We are acutely aware that committing to these three things is what is needed that is incentives and that is the fuel to us pursuing a successful objective around raising productivity and growing our economy again.
So focus on productivity does require us to make that commitment and that is what our policy announcement last week tried to convey. We need to create jobs and we also need to make sure that we drive the country’s competitiveness. Also, we want to make sure that we do everything we can from an economic point of view to stabilise our currency which is the root cause of price increases in the shops and which is eroding the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.
As we do this, we also want to make sure Madam President that we stimulate demand so you find that I made proposals, for instance to increase the tax bands and to increase threshold for taxation. Also, we want to stimulate the supply side - not just the demand side but the supply side of the economy. This we are doing through the stimulus package which I announce earlier but then affirmed through the Mid-Term Review. That is our roadmap, that is the direction and we want to make that commitment and show that focus. Let me be more granular, having said those words as a preamble.
It is important that as a House, as Government, we must separate issues around simple economic review, budget review from a request for additional funding through a supplementary budget. That is prudent, it is consistent with global practice of that separation, and in line with the open budget requirements and that is what I did. You would have noticed that we moved up in world rankings in terms of our transparency and execution of the budget. We want to maintain that record and I must thank this august House for the work that you do in preparation for the Budget when we do the retreat, that is a very important process in the budgetary process. So is this process now, in terms of reporting back as to how we are doing on the budget.
So, I want again to just reaffirm that we have not changed course, with or without COVID, our focus is on productivity, growing our economy, job creation, improving competitiveness and we make every effort to drive shared growth so that no one is left behind. I also want to say that we are committed to our target in terms of the budget deficit. We said expenditure is about $63 billion and our revenues we are about $58 billion and then our budget deficit was the order of $5 billion, which is one and half percent of the GDP. That is our target in terms of fiscal discipline.
I must say we have suffered some shocks. I do not know an economy that has gone through a cyclone, not just one but two. I do not know and economy that has been hit by drought, which not only has impacted agriculture, but also impacted the production of electricity causing power outrages. Also like every other economy, we have been hit by the COVID crisis. So we have had four crises within a space of 18 months, but we are still standing. I am hopeful, optimistic and please join me in that optimism - the future is bright. I have no doubt about that.
Now, let me say something about COVID. You see Madam President, COVID impacts our economy through various channels. So, it is through the global supply chain disruption which is impacting our manufacturing sector so we expect industry to show some negative growth this year of 10%. It also impacts our mining sector, although I must say we have been lucky - some minerals are doing very well like for instance what we call the PGMs group, the diamond sector and the coal sector. By the way Madam President, I must say, I encourage all of you to visit Hwange and witness for yourselves the growth of the hydrocarbon sector, the growth of the coal sector in this country, it is a miracle.
So, we have seen growth in that sector in the first half of the year of the order of 16% and it is growing. It is also growing foreign direct investment. So the mining sector remains our largest foreign currency earner. Sixty percent of the earnings are from the mining sector and it is expected to even overtake agriculture as the main contributor to the economy. It is currently at 8%. We think it will grow above that if the space is maintained but some sub-sectors within that have not done as well. Let us take the gold sector for example. The gold price has gone up because that is a refuge point when in times of crisis because of the COVID-19 crisis, but the deliveries at Fidelity have dropped and that has to do with various things like matsotsi who are taking gold out and all manner of things.
We are dealing with them, but we also dealt with the other thing which was a retention issue. We changed retention ratio from 45:55 to 70:30 in favour of the miner. So at least we have done our part as Government. We still have to deal with the elicit side. So when we say gold output has gone down, it is not really correct. Technically, in a sense, it is about official deliveries to Fidelity but the actual gold output out there has gone up. We know that only that pane matsotsi, otsotsi bayakhupha igolide leliyana. That is our problem, but the future is bright with the mining sector, Madam President.
Now if you turn to the sector that has been hit the hardest, in our view it is the tourism sector. Virtually shut down. We had arrivals and room bookings literally drop by as much as 90% and that is a global phenomenon. It is very serious on the whole sector because it is not just hotels and tourism, the distribution sector together. We are expecting a decline of about -7.4% although what is happening is that the retail sector is then buoying the rest of the sector countering that negative decline in tourism and also the airline industry.
Looking at the transportation sector; that again has been impacted because once we have a drop in activity in the other sectors, then there is less to transport. So that also has calmed down, but I must say as I say this, there are other sectors that have benefited, for example the health sector. In any health related supplies into the economy, that has benefited whether looking at chemical sector in terms of the production of sanitisers and face masks. So those sectors have benefited but also the ICT sector has also benefited. We are trying to track the terabytes, as they may call them, that have been used in the last six months. Those have gone up by as much as 3% and continue to go up because clearly, that is how meetings are being held, that is how conversations are being held. It is through virtual ICT platforms and this trend I am describing about our economy is very similar to the trend globally where the same similar sectors are behaving in a similar way.
I must say, Madam President, our projection for GDP growth is -4.5%. If you recall at the beginning of the year or rather end of last year, we said it is +3% but everything has changed. COVID-19 has just changed, it is a new normal now. We do not recognise people anymore, everything is a face mask. That is why I wore something transparent. At least I can be seen but everyone has masks. You cannot tell people apart. So growth is -4.5% for the year but next year we expect it to be brighter. For the rest of the world, Madam President, we are expecting a growth rate of -5% for the whole world, but within that, the developed countries are going to be hit the hardest. Their average rate of growth is going to be -8%. So with -4.5%, we have negative growth, but you can see that we are slightly better off than the developed world, but we all expect recovery in 2021. So our GDP growth looks like that; the sharp drop in 2020, then a sharp recovery again in 2021. So for Zimbabwe, we are expecting a growth rate of +7.4% in 2021. Again we pray for no more. I think they call them black swan events. I think that is the phrase for it - something that hits you out of the blue from nowhere. That is exactly what COVID-19 did to us. So we expect a brighter 2021.
I must say something about agriculture. It is a very important sector. If you look at the winter crop, what we are hearing, what we are being informed by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement is that the yields are not too bad. We should have a decent winter wheat crop. The yields are not too bad at all and the output, at least the yields will be slightly better than the last seasons, so that is encouraging, but I must say looking back at the grain production, we had an increase from last season in terms of grain output. The increase was more notable in the traditional grain sector more than just the maize and the usual sorghum, millet and so forth. That is where the increase was notable. Well over 300% increase in output.
I think if we go to places like Muzarabani, this is visible and we really want to encourage our citizens, especially those in the dry areas to plant more traditional grains as a climate mitigation measure in order to feed themselves. I must say that the Government, through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, has an agriculture recovery plan that we are working on and that would drive our summer programme. For example, for the Presidential Input Scheme, Madam President, we are emphasising this Pfumvudza system which is meant to improve productivity. One sixteenth of a hectare being the target for a family of say five and their carefully planted maize crop - the number of lines counted properly, number of crops counted properly and it is more than enough for a family of five or so to water the field in the absence of rain water. So that is productivity we are focusing on.
Then on the summer command programme again, our partnership with the banks carries on and again, we are targeting 5 000 farms or so who are very productive, who have a track record and typically have access to water. So if they have access to irrigation, that is preferred naturally, but we will not exclude those without that if they have other ways of keeping their crops wet and well irrigated. Again the emphasis is on productivity and climate proofing our agriculture. What we have added this year, Madam President, is the mechanisation side. We have acquired tractors, combine harvesters and other equipment which is administered again through the banks because we want to make sure that everyone honours whatever obligations they have in terms of leasing this equipment and we have requested Agribank to establish a listing division to manage this equipment so that it is well looked after and as I say that obligations are met by the borrowers or the lessor of his equipment. So that is our strategy for agriculture. We are determined that again after four seasons, we should not be importing food again. Let us banish food imports forever.
Madam President, there is a sector that is also important and it is all part of the real economy, it is just energy output. Again, we have seen an improvement in energy output. The water levels in Kariba have been coming up, the catchment areas have seen more water being deposited through the water levels and the Zambezi and then Kariba have gone up and that is encouraging. It means that our hydropower output is set to go up. This is pleasing indeed.
I did mention that looking at the external side, we are determined to banish any balance of payments or current account deficits. I am happy to say that in the first half of the year, the current account position is positive and we expect that by year, end the current account would be US$1.9 billion. This is important. When your current account is positive it means you are exporting or earning forex more than you are importing. When you have a deficit, you are actually exporting jobs, incomes and economic opportunities. We have started doing the opposite. It is actual proof, Madam President, that our currency strategy is working because when you have a domestic currency that is weaker than obviously the foreign currency, you expect it to promote exports and discourage imports. You expect to turn your current account position around and this is what has happened. So, that objective has been achieved through currency reform.
On the Z$18 billion, I talked about the supply side push, the stimulus package, of course it covered agriculture, repositioning the agriculture sector budget of $6.1 billion to be more productivity oriented and we are doing that. We have a working capital facility for industry of $3 billion and the industry is starting to access that and we also want to support the mining sector, especially the gold sector. Some of you live in constituencies that have been targeted for the establishment of gold centres – we want to support those.
We also want to support the SMEs with half a billion dollar facility and people have lost jobs and indeed the tourism sector which is virtually shut and we want it to report. The operators ought to access credit through the facility. We supported the sports people and we have done a lot in the health sector in terms of revamping our health facilities. I have never seen so much focus on the health sector and every Cabinet Minister now is a doctor or have some knowledge of health issues because we have concentrated our minds and energy on this issue and I think that the results are there to see. Of course, it is never enough because COVID- 19 is what it is but we have worked very hard to deal with issues in the health sector.
Then in terms of the cash transfers for the vulnerable, our target has been 1 million people and the registration process is slower but it is coming up. But, we would like citizens to come forward and register because surely, if you are feeling the pressure and deprived, come forward and register with the Department of Social Welfare and the $300 per month is waiting for you. That is what we promised. We have a budget of $2.4 billion for citizens who are vulnerable. So, please come forward and register so that we can support you.
Then coming to the budget outturn itself, I must say that so far, for the first half of the year, we received about Z$34 billion in terms of inflows/revenues and in terms of expenditure, we had spent about $30 billion so far. Do not be fooled. It is not that the difference is $4 billion. There are other outstanding payments of about $3 billion. So, our budget position is a positive or a small surplus of Z$800 million. So, the takeaway Hon. Members is that our budget is balancing - we are living within our means and that is the message that we wanted to send.
Then in terms of expenditure, so far we have only spent 47% of our budget, we have 53% to spend but it varies across Ministries because some have above 50% and some have less than that. I can give you details as to which ones have spent less. But I want to encourage Members that when it comes to devolution, please, we need those projects on the ground. You represent areas, regions, and we need those projects on the ground as Government so that we can support development at the local level. Development is a bottom up process because at the top, we just drive policies. If the project is not coming up at the actual level, we are not going to make progress and please, do that. So far we have spent about Half a billion dollars in terms of the devolution resources which I know you track. Our budget is $2.9 billion, so, we have a long way to go. We need those projects from yourselves as the actors on the ground.
You will recall in 2018 that we put in seed money for about $70 million for the Government Pension Fund for civil servants and I am happy to report that the fund is growing and the resources now under the fund amount to about Z$768 million. That is now how far it has grown from $70 million to $768 million. This also includes contributions of course, over the last year but also it includes growth in the value of the assets that the fund is invested in. It has been invested on the stock market, in the money market here and there. So, it is making progress. There is no change in terms of what we owe others in terms of external debt. It is about US$8 billion and then our domestic debt is about Z$12 billion but I must say that in the external debt, we have been making token payments in the usual way and we are continuing to do that but we need, in a sense, to negotiate for that final debt restructuring agreement that we have been working on in terms of our engagement.
The monetary sector is a critical issue. If you look at the growth in money supply, of course it has been going up because some of it is about US dollars being converted at whatever exchange rate into domestic currency, that has been going on but reserve money which is critical in supporting the exchange rate, that has been steady and in fact it has been declining and has been under control so far.
The banking sector Madam President remains strong in terms of the balance sheet; in terms of non-performing loans, those have been declining. One important issue is the exchange rate which I mentioned earlier. We have introduced in our auction system – it is a Dutch auction system which means that you come in and bid. If you bid too high, we cut you off, if you bid too low, we cut you off but there is a range of bids and we honour those bids and we are able to sell you foreign currency at whatever level you have bid within that range. I am happy to say that it has started off well and we have done five auctions so far and the last one was yesterday which rate was about 72.1 and we sold foreign currency to the tune of about US$14. 5 million or so. For the first time, we saw participation from exporters and that is what we want. It should not be just the Central Bank offloading resources on to the market but we want the market itself to offload its own resources into the market so that the market begins to take over the leadership. But, what the auction has done is to give leadership to the foreign exchange market and we have seen some stability and even convergence. That is what we desire because once we have convergence, we have stability that will deal with the pricing system and inflation, then we expect it to drop. Our expectation is that, year-on-year inflation will drop to about 300% between now and December. But, if you take what we call blended inflation, we have allowed for the use of free funds in the market, so those hard currency transactions combined with the domestic currency transaction, the inflation out of that which we call blended inflation is of the order of about 450%, which is lower than the Zimbabwe dollar inflation which is about 735%. Quite clearly, our strategy the COVID- 19 transition period is helping citizens or the whole country to lower inflation.
Clearly, someone who is using US dollars when they are going to the shops, they are facing a different level of inflation pricing compared to someone who is using the Zimbabwe dollars and that is what we are trying to catch because that is our reality on the ground since we allowed this to happen but we expect inflation to go down and we expect the month-on-month inflation to go down as low as about 5% or so by year end.
Madam President, on structural issues, we always like to give a fuller report. This is the nine economic reforms. I think let me highlight the three important things: - one, we know about the repeal of POSA in replacement by MOPA and that is done and everyone knows what it is all about. Then recently you as Senate repealed AIPPA through the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill a few weeks ago. So there is progress on those two.
Then finally, another structural issue is the environment for doing business. We improved with one of the top 20 performers last year in terms of improvement in the environment for doing business. We want to keep getting better; so as Government we have identified 16 areas for improvement and each Ministry has an area to focus on over the next two years so that we can improve our environment for doing business. His Excellency has continued convening the activities of the POLAD process; building and making sure our political parties come together, discuss issues and the future of the country.
I have two more points before I sit down Madam President. One is on the National Development Strategy - that process has started. We have done a concept note and identified about 11 areas regarding the National Development Strategy which will drive the Budget for 2021 and successive budgets for the next five years. Some of the areas that are emerging from the consultations involve macrostability, focusing on the youth and culture, focusing on governance, focusing on industrialisation and value chains, health and well being; housing issues are important, building human capital; the environment is critical, devolution, protecting the vulnerable – social protection, transportation, infrastructure issues and issues around food security and nutrition. Digital economy is also included. These are some of the issues that are emerging as critical for us to have a successful strategy for the next five years in the form of the National Development Strategy (NDS). It is our aim Madam President, that by end of October the NDS is completed and launched because we need that to drive our thinking for the 2021 Budget.
My final point is on revenue measures which we have already offloaded to say, look we needed to stimulate both the supply and demand sides. On the revenue measures, our request which also come through formerly for approval to Senate, has to do with the tax bands which we have pushed up as well as the tax threshold that used to be ZWL$2 700.00 which is not taxed. We have doubled that threshold to ZWL$5 000.00 now, standard tax bands but also we have made a commitment that health sector workers would not pay VAT on their risk allowance. So we have removed that and we will ask you to endorse that as Senate and the USD$75.00 COVID-19 allowance is also non-taxable. We will also request that permission.
I must say that we will also request you to endorse our proposals for the incentives that we have put in place for the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange which again is one of those things that we will use to drive Foreign Direct Investment into our economy. So again, we will ask you to endorse some of our proposals and approve those to drive that sector. We have a few things to fine-tune on royalties for the mining sector. Anyway, there is a full bouquet of requests that will come to you in the next few weeks and in the fullness of time.
Madam President, let me say the future is bright, I can see the light and growth will be better next year. We are on a winning wicket for those of you who like cricket. I will find the right expression for those who like soccer. I thank you. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Minister, if you may take the front seat at the moment because I think Hon. Senators may need some clarifications since they will not have chance to debate on this issue.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam President. I really want to appreciate the difficulty that the Hon. Minister is going through in terms of crafting the budget. The clarification we are looking at is that the budget looks highly technical in the sense that the Hon. Minister has been talking about the banking system being stable and going to stabilise whilst it is floating the money. My grandmother in the rural areas does not understand what floating of currency is and in actual fact, the biggest challenge is that when you go to the bank you cannot directly use your plastic money to transfer money, which means that if I have just received money from tobacco auctions, from abroad or I am using a Master Card, there is no way you can swipe and directly exchange. Go to Mozambique or South Africa, that is how their money translates. There is no translation of that floating system into the use of plastic cards so that when people come in they can transfer their money.
The other area that I am not clear of is - he mentioned about 11 areas which he is concentrating on in terms of improving the economy in developmental areas. I could not pick up where the Hon. Minister and the Government is concentrating on. Really, this country needs production and areas where there is productivity. Yes, we have got COVID-19 but we need to focus on certain areas where we say we are likely to earn our foreign exchange. I did not pick areas where we are likely to benefit. He spoke of mining but which minerals are likely to get the money which comes into the budget?
Previously when we used to look at the budget, I was still young but Chidzero’s budget would actually show you the figures that this will come from cigarette, liquor, agriculture, et cetera and there is real transfer so that you can tell that the productivity from this sector is likely to bring so much money into the budget and that budget would be sustainable. Now, I am not getting the balance of where the probability of having the money coming in and going out is.
Our chief currency earners could be tobacco or whatever but we have not concentrated on what we are likely to receive. Yes, inflation has come, everything has come and we are not clear to say when I am being asked, ‘VaMudzuri, where is your foreign currency balance of payment coming from?’ I will not be able to explain yet at my level I should be able to speak about this language to say, ‘No, we are likely to do a, b, c and d’, and also what you call Ease of Doing Business. We have been talking about Ease of Doing Business but I do not see it coming out here because; go to most ministries and institutions honestly, it is like we are …
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order! Thank you. Hon. Senators, this was a Statement by the Hon. Minister and what we are asking you to do is to just seek clarifications – short clarifications. A complete Bill is going to come with the Hon. Minister which you can then debate on. This opportunity is just for you to seek some clarifications and not to start debating. You may conclude your clarification.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Hon. President. I may have gone at length but the clarification comes in the sense that I have to speak to this budget when I come out to say, Senator what are you talking about in this area and that area. So, the clarification when he explains I will be clear of what we are looking at in the economy.
However, I do not want to waste a lot of time after being corrected but I want to insist that you have talked also in the area of $1000 for those who have to register their names; some $2,4 billion which you are likely to give those who are socially strained. For those who are socially strained, they have to come to register. I believe that you might need to explain to us who will register. What category is registered because what we see is, a lot of people do not understand who qualifies. I strongly believe that there should be a policy to say, once you are 70 years you qualify because of your strain, not necessarily that you have children. There are a lot of people who are straining. I am just giving as an example. If you say children in this range, then they will come to register. The problem is also that the people who are likely to register as I have experienced in the rural areas especially, are not even in the Social Welfare Department. There is a lot of changing of goal posts, so if we can have the criteria from both the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare well clarified in Parliament so that we will be able to explain to our people on who qualifies. I can also bring names to you and say these have been refused. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Mr. President and thank you Hon. Minister of Finance. I just want to seek clarification. I did not get you clearly. When are the people going to receive their US$75? Secondly, the economy of this country cannot be touched; it is not there because people cannot feel it in their pockets. I know you have presented a very good document but at the end of the day the people themselves do not have any tangible benefit out of what the country can provide in terms of economic delivery. The people of Zimbabwe would want to know why the Zimbabwean economy is not performing to the point where they should be able to benefit. Out of those whys, if you can give us those whys. As Zimbabweans, can we not be able to resolve those whys? Some of the issues that we have heard is that this country must embark on political and economic reforms. Have those reforms that have been done so far paid any dividends to the Zimbabwean economy? I want to allege that the Government is not serious on that. What makes us fail to effect those reforms if they are going to benefit the people of Zimbabwe? Thank you very much.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President. I just want to thank the Minister for his presentation and also for identifying that there is a lot of leakage on the minerals especially gold but from the presentation of the Minister, it did not come out clearly whether there are any strategies to minimise leakages on other minerals. This is because he seems to have concentrated on gold. For example, what I see right now is, if you go to the countryside, there is a lot of earthmoving happening. Sometimes you find out of raw minerals, the ore on its own is being exported. I do not know what the Government strategy and policy is and how far we have reached in terms of beneficiation and value addition because we are losing. I do not think the Chinese are stupid when they can actually take the whole lot of raw chrome, put it on ship and take it to China. It is not the chrome but there are a lot of base metals where some are important for aircraft, which we actually cannot identify. We have been talking about this for quite a long time. By now, if we were really serious, there are certain strategic minerals in the country where whoever should or has got an appetite for investing in that strategic area has to first of all put a smelting or processing plant. At the end of the day, I do not think we are getting much with the lot of mining happening. We are a small nation with a small population and we can actually survive just on minerals. We do not even know how the diamonds are doing.
On the pensions, I heard the Minister saying he did put about $70 million and now it has probably multiplied ten times but it was not clear because it was a mixed bag. What was the contribution from investment from that $70 million? Some of it is our contribution that cannot be explained as performance. I think for us to say we are really performing, we want to see that $70 million which was ceded. How much has it achieved? That is not performance. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr. President. The Hon. Minister of Finance, we want to thank you; you have done well. The issue of gold you mentioned that does not come through Fidelity, we need clarification. You said that you know that there are illicit gold dealings that are taking place, I agree with you that we are losing a lot of gold. In Charumbira area in Wards 7 and 10, when milling is being done, there are a lot of mills that are set up and what is happening is visible to all of us. We know the characters who are engaged in mining and taking the ore to the mill. If the Mining Act is not addressed, it will be a challenge because that is where the real issues are.
What the Act says is that if a person comes to mine in an area without responsibility to the people in the area, there is no oversight of people who are in the community because the powers or authority was issued by the Government. So I think we need to inform the communities of the new miners in their area and give us the mandate to check how much is being acquired or earned from the mining that is taking place. They get a lot of grammes and they sell. They get the money at 5 o’clock and at 6 o’clock they are already drunk. There are people coming from South Africa in Masvingo and they know that if you get a few grammes of gold, you go and sell to certain people. People think ownership is not for us, so let us put people in the communities to oversee mining activities so that they can avail information on the gold that we are losing through illicit gold dealings. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President.
Hon. Sen. Sipani-Hungwe having lowered her mask.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Member, wear your mask properly.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: I would like to seek clarification since the Minister mentioned that we able to trade in USD. When we get into the shop and pay in USD for example I pay US$20, I get a receipt which does not show the currency. For Government to have made strides, the shop owners should pay tax. If the Minister goes to claim tax, does he claim tax on the US$20 or RTGs20 when I have bought using USD?
Furthermore, the employees of the business owners are trading in USD but they are paying salaries in RTGs. I request you Minister since you are responsible for finance in this country, what is really happening?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I would like to thank Hon. Members for their comments as well as questions. Let me start with Hon. Sen. Eng. Mudzuri; he mentioned that we need to be able to use plastic cards and be able to transfer money from one end to another. I agree with him that this is an innovation or service that is required. We will make sure that we push our banking sector in that direction.
On the National Development Strategy (NDS), he said he did not hear any priority areas – all I was highlighting on the NDS was to say that the process has started. I also wanted you to know the eleven areas that have been highlighted in terms of national concentrations but within that, the issue of productivity is key and permeates right across areas of focus that pertain to the real sector. I want to assure him that he mentioned specifically that is exactly what we are doing. He went on to say that perhaps in my presentation I was not too clear as to where taxes where coming from and where we are going, this was not a Budget presentation. It was a compressed statement generally about the key drivers in terms of our revenues and so forth and the growth of the economy.
Quite clearly, if he wishes to know; which of the sectors are best in export performance – it is gold, the PGMs and also tobacco. Those are our best performers in terms of exports. We have this information but of course I have no desire to give the full detail in terms of numbers. I am happy to also give him that information off line.
On welfare, he says that perhaps we need to be more explicit and be public about who qualifies – that is in order and in the fullness of time we can request the Minister of Social Welfare to be explicit about that and maybe issue a statement to make it clear as to who qualifies.
Hon. Sen. Komichi wanted to know when civil servants could start spending their US$75; I must say that the systems are ready now. We had to make sure that the accounts were opened because these are special Foreign Currency Accounts. It looks like that process is complete now and maybe one or two areas or people still need to do this but most people have opened their accounts now. The banks have said they are ready to certainly issue the cards for use in the shops and the shops are now saying they have configured their machines to be able to receive payment through the card system. We would not want individuals to withdraw cash from the bank from this US$75 allowance because we are concerned as Government that it will end up in the parallel market. That would be undesirable. We want individuals to use this in the shops for payment of goods and services where possible.
Hon. Sen. Komichi also said that the economy is not being felt in people’s pockets and so forth – reforms can take a while to be felt but we are certainly going in the right direction and the reforms will be felt. Our focus on productivity and job creation is certainly the right focus. There is nothing you can fill in your pocket better than a new job if you indeed have taken on a new job or higher income. Reforms do not work immediately, there is always a delay in the way they work. I have no doubt that we are in the right direction. I think that this House has been very helpful in helping us craft or approve a Budget that is strategically targeted at those areas that will enable the economy to grow so that it is felt in the pockets of ordinary citizens.
Hon. Sen. Mavetera on strategies for minimising leakages. I think you really focused on beneficiation and so forth, that is Government policy in the mining sector that for every mineral there must be some form of beneficiation but obviously speeds of progress are different for mineral by mineral, for some we have got smelters and for some we do not. That is a thrust and a full engagement with the Minister of Mines and Mining Development will reveal this in terms of our strategy for beneficiation as we try to create the 12 billion dollar industry.
The Hon. Sen. also wanted to know about the pensions in terms of differences between contributions and the performance of the market. That is a very good question indeed and I will give a very precise answer from the presentation – the full review. As of June 2020, the contributions were $423.4 million and then obviously the remainder becomes performance. The difference then between $768 million and $423 million becomes what is explained by performance, including the seed capital that we put in of 70.4 million.
In terms of what the asset allocation – should you wish to know that in terms of where it is invested; 60.3% is invested in the equity market, 9.94% in the money market and 1.15% in some other interest bearing money market instruments. Cash in the bank is 28.7%. If we add that up quickly it adds up to 100%. That is the split and it is in the full statement. I will make sure that every member receives a copy. Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira talked at length about the leakages in the gold sector which we know and we are using a variety of strategies to deal with that. Last year we launched Operation chikorokoza ngachipere - that was one initiative. We also launched Operation rubber shoe, again to deal with these leakages and then we also have a Gold Mobilisation Unit which is multi-departmental ministerial, but largely driven by the Central Bank that is another unit. We have also increased security around our borders so you will find most of our interventions are mainly security oriented, which is a security issue in the main.
We now overlay a pricing issue which is that we have changed the retention ratio from 55, 45 to 70, 30 and that has resulted in an improvement in the gold deliveries at Fidelity. I suspect those who were smuggling gold find it harder to do so with COVID-19, there was no easy movement at the borders; it was not easy to penetrate during the COVID-19 era. There is an upside to COVID - after all on a lighter note but we are doing everything to deal with this gold issue. The one which was the retention issue has been dealt with by the Central Bank. Hon. Sen. Hungwe mentioned a very important point about retailers issuing receipts which do not show what currency was paid and therefore what tax and in what currency was paid. We are dealing with it in the Bill that I am bringing forward. There is a paragraph that pertains to this to compel retailers to show the receipt in the currency of trade and to pay their taxes in the currency of trade. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you very much Hon. Minister, I am advised that the statement which the Minister has made has already been sent to all the Hon. Senators on your platforms. So, you have got the benefit of going through it and then when the Minister brings the Bill in our next sitting, you will be able to debate from an informed position. I thank you Minister once again.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SHIRI): Thank you Mr. President, I move that Orders of the Day, Nos. 3 and 4 on today Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day No. 5 has been disposed off.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd July, 2020.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SHIRI), the Senate adjourned at Four Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday 15th July, 2020
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
PETITION RECEIVED FROM ADVOCACY CORE-TEAM THE HON. SPEAKER: I have the following announcements. I
wish to remind the House that on 14th July, 2020, Parliament received a
petition from the Advocacy Core Team ACT Campus Project requesting Parliament to amend the Public Health Act and other relevant laws to provide for access to reproductive health services by children from the age of 12 years and above. The petition has since been referred to the
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care.
ADHERENCE TO COVID-19 NATIONAL GUIDLINE THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to remind the House that in
line with the Ministry of Health and Child Care national guidelines on COVID-19, all Hon. Members are required to strictly observe the requirements for the temperature checks, wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing when entering into the Parliament Building. Please note that anyone who fails to abide by these requirements will not be allowed entry into the building.
HON. NDEBELE: I rise on a matter of public importance, if you may allow me Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Not today.
HON. NDEBELE: I thought the rule says Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, not on Wednesdays.
HON. NDEBELE: So yesterday we were misled by the Hon.
Deputy Speaker. May I approach the Chair Hon. Speaker?
THE HON. SPEAKER: In fact you should have approached me
much earlier in terms of our Standing Orders.
Hon. Ndebele approached the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You can proceed.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you, I shall speak for a minute on a matter of public importance. Hon. Speaker, I wish to address myself quickly to the Luveve water situation. From as early as May this year, residents of Luveve in Bulawayo have been getting sick from drinking Municipal water. The same has happened in Lobengula, Magwegwe, Mpopoma and elsewhere but without causing death. The Luveve water supply conundrum Hon. Speaker Sir, is not just a Luveve issue, it is a Bulawayo issue and by extension, a Zimbabwean issue.
I have a prayer Hon. Speaker for our Hon. Minister of Local
Government in line with Section 77 of our Constitution, if it pleases you Hon. Minister of Local Government, could you kindly and urgently declare the Bulawayo water situation a state of disaster so that the response thereto becomes global and we get cooperating partners assisting our Government in dealing with Luveve water situation urgently. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Minister of Local Government
I am sure has taken note of that and will respond accordingly.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have the following apologies from the
Hon. Ministers:
The Minister of Industry and Commerce - Hon. Dr. Kanhutu-
Nzenza,
The Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community and Small Medium Enterprises - Hon. Dr. S. D. G. Nyoni,
The Minister of Mines and Mining Development – Hon. Chitando,
The Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs – Hon. O. C. Z.
Muchinguri-Kashiri,
The Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation – Hon. Dr. K
Coventry,
The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare – Hon.
Prof. Mavima,
The Minister of State in Vice President Hon. Mohadi’s Office –
Hon. D. Marapira,
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development – Hon. Prof.
- Ncube,
The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development –
Hon. C. Chiduwa,
The Minister of Foreign Affairs – Hon. Dr. S. B. Moyo and The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Hon. Arch J. B.
Matiza.
Hon. Tsunga having stood to debate
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, no, his delivery was as clear as water, we do not want to dilute it.
HON. TSUNGA: I want to talk about your response.
THE HON. SPEAKER: My response was very clear as water as well. I said the Hon. Minister of Local Government take note and respond at an appropriate time. Thank you.
HON. MUSHORIWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Point of order with regard to what.
HON. MUSHORIWA: It is about the announcement that you have just made.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Which announcement.
HON. MUSHORIWA: About the apologies.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No debate on that.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Hon. Speaker, some of these Ministers always give apologies, they do not come to the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Standing Orders require the Hon.
Ministers to give apologies in terms of our Standing Orders. That is all.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my
question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. In view of limited rates collection due to the lockdown, what is your Ministry’s position in ensuring rehabilitation of high risk substandard food markets in local authorities? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKR: Did you get the question Hon. Minister, can you repeat your question?
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
question is as follows, in view of limited rates collection – THE HON. SPEAKER: You mean refuse or rates?
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: In view of limited rates collection …
THE HON. SPEAKER: You mean refuse or rates?
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Rates. In view of limited rates
collection due to the lockdown, what is your Ministry’s position in ensuring rehabilitation of dilapidated high risk food markets? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Hon.
Speaker, the issue of rates is obviously a worrying one in all the local authorities, urban and rural. Like the rest of the economy, it has been affected by COVID-19. However, when it comes to food outlets, the local authorities obviously need to be capacitated in order to follow up and do inspections. This is a joint work that is done by the local authorities together with the environmental health officers of the Ministry of Health and Child Care. In this lockdown, we have tried to ensure that all the local authorities working with Government at provincial level do not stop inspecting some of the outlets that we are making sure are working.
This is a recent occurrence, in the first lockdown, all restaurants were not allowed to operate, later on only restaurants which are operating in hotels were allowed to operate.
Hon. Chinotimba having passed between an Hon. Member speaking and the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Chinotimba, you cannot
pass; you have to come through the other door.
HON. J. MOYO: I was saying, during the opening that has now taken place where some restaurants have been allowed to operate, the strict instruction has been, let us not open every eating place because we cannot supervise what is happening. So, it is the local authorities supported by the Ministry of Health and environmental health officers who can allow a food outlet to be opened because we are fully aware that if we open willy-nilly, the spread of this disease will continue in many of our places because of the overcrowding that can take place. We are very conscious that local authorities do not have enough money to supervise but let the Government support them through the relevant Ministry that I mentioned.
In addition, the law enforcement agencies in all the local authority areas, again because of the committees which have been set by the
President at national and provincial level led by the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs; and devolution and in the districts where these local authorities are operating led by the District Development Committees, they have to also assist and enforce so that these food outlets do not become breeding places for COVID-19. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I
appreciate the response from the Hon. Minister. However, my focus was primarily more on markets where vegetables and fruits are sold as opposed to hotels.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your supplementary question?
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: My supplementary is that, having
clarified where I was coming from, is it possible Hon. Minister to designate officials from EMA to be permanently located at the markets where these vegetables and fruits are sold?
THE HON. SPEAKER: You have criss-crossed your questions.
The issue of EMA falls under the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
HON. MURAI: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My
question to the Minister is that, it seems you always take ages to approve the council budget. By the time you approve those budgets, the money would be nothing. What measures are you putting in place so that you approve those budgets timeously?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, that is a totally new question
altogether. It is delayed payment of rates.
HON. MURAI: It has to do with rates; the rates come from the budget Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No – [HON. MURAI: You cannot have
the rates without the budget.] – Order. You can ask that as a separate question.
HON. M. M. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is
directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. I am asking on his concrete plans to mitigate the unfolding water crisis especially in the rural constituencies such as Silobela which are currently confronted with critical water shortages for both human beings and livestock. The situation has been exacerbated by a massive number of boreholes which are currently broken down and there are no spares available from the DDF. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD AIR
CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am
preparing a statement to Parliament on the state of water in the country and my intention is to present it before this august House on Wednesday next week. With your indulgence, I would like to request that I be allowed to defer responding so that I can give a detailed response next week Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question borders on Hon. Minister of Local Government and Public Works. You will guide me accordingly. What is the Government policy in relation to rehabilitation and reconstruction of the main sewer line in the local authority purview in our constituencies in terms of timelines?
Reconstruction, rehabilitation or maintenance of the sewer lines Mr.
Speaker Sir. I have got a follow up to that, which is going to unravel the reason why.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC
WORKS (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank Hon. Nduna for that question; it is an important question because of the dilapidation of our sewer systems in the country. The law empowers every local authority, particularly municipalities and town councils to be responsible for sewerage in the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of those sewer lines. It is the responsibility of the local authority. Most local authorities now have dilapidated and unworkable sewer systems and the Government is intending to make sure that we recapitalise those sewer systems. It can no longer just be maintenance because the breakdowns are so frequent and the lack of maintenance by some of the councils have also exacerbated the situation that we are in. We have reached a point whereby in most of our analysis, we send consulting engineers outside the engineers of those local authorities that there is now need for injection of capital expenditure in order to revive those sewer systems especially the main lines. Thereafter, we hope that the rates and sewerage charges that the local authorities will be charging to the beneficiaries will be able to have enough money to give maintenance for those.
However, for now, we think a lot of the local authorities; sewerage and water needs a capital injection. That is why the policy that the President has taken is to assist local authorities in the upgrading of water mains as well as sewerage mains. Therefore, we take this responsibility as a shared responsibility between Government and the local authorities but the maintenance of those, even though the construction is also theirs, has to be done by the local authorities.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, what then occurs during the reconstruction, rehabilitation and maintenance of the same in relationship to the ownership of the safety of the people engaged in the reconstruction of the sewer pipes?
THE HON. SPEAKER: What do you understand by ownership of
safety?
HON. NDUNA: Who does it resides with? Now, that the Hon.
Minister has said the local authority gets to be capacitated for reconstruction, rehabilitation of the sewer pipes where safety is concerned. Who is in charge of the safety of the members that are engaged in the reconstruction of the same?
HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Government
makes sure that the reconstruction is done by the local authority even if Government helps with money. In a lot of cases, local authorities also contracts a contractor, so when it comes to safety, it depends on whether the local authority is undertaking the job itself using its own personnel. If that is the case, then it is directly responsible for the safety of the workers.
Secondly, if it is contracted, it has a contract with a contractor, that contractor has a responsibility and that supervision of the occupational health and safety of those workers, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Works and Labour but the contractor or the local authority as it is undertaking those jobs, is responsible for the safety of the people.
HON. MURAYI: My question goes to the Minister of Local
Government which concerns the budget approvals for councils. It seems you take ages to approve the budgets. Do you have any plan to adjust such that you can approve these budgets timeously?
HON. J. MOYO: I want to thank the Hon. Member. Budgets are prepared during the previous year when that budget is supposed to operate. Local authorities sometimes bring their budgets in January instead of bringing them when time is still there, either in December or earlier. We have said to local authorities, submit budgets while you wait for the national budget to be pronounced so that you can incorporate some of the money that is allocated and appropriated by this Parliament as you all know which is in the blue book. That does not make you wait to prepare the rest of the budget which is your budget; both income and expenditure, then you can incorporate what would have been appropriated by Government through Parliament. When you do that, we still want those budgets to be with us by end of the year, at most by end of January so that we can start preparing for approvals.
I want to say to the Hon. Member that if he knows of a council where we delayed because the municipality had delayed or because of us, he should bring specific examples. We have made sure that all the local authorities that bring their budgets, we sit and try to approve in batches of when they would have come in so that we make sure they implement the budget.
I can also tell you Mr. Speaker Sir, that after our approvals, this year we even had two seminars for all the local authorities in the urban areas before COVID-19 and for all the rural district councils. So there cannot be a question of the Ministry delaying when we were able to hold budget seminars for implementation of those budgets by February this year. I thank you.
HON. NYONI: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. The cost of living keeps going up all the time. The pricing of goods is now in USD. Many shops are rejecting the local currency. Therefore, when will Government policy be changed to allow payment of salaries in USD?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): I think this question is
supposed to be directed to the Minister of Finance who deals with the currencies of the day.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker,
Government has no desire to abandon the Zimbabwean dollar.
HON. MADZIMURE: My supplementary question is the
Minister is fully aware that at all service stations, we are now buying fuel in USD. Actually, the currency that is now trading in Zimbabwe is the USD. Can he explain why he would not want the civil servants to also have the opportunity to use a currency that is acceptable, that works in Zimbabwe because it is official that we are using the USD?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member is aware that when COVID came upon us, the Minister of Finance allowed the use of free funds that are available. There was no pronouncement whatsoever that we must go back to a currency that we do not have control on, that we do not produce and our desire at the moment is to ensure that we stabilise our currency and ensure that it becomes stable so that the earnings of our people are not eroded. So, at no point will we entertain the idea of abandoning our currency in the near future. I thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: My supplementary question arises from the mention of COVID pandemic by the Hon. Minister in his last response. Realising that the COVID pandemic is upon us, the Ministry of Finance announced that it was going to give US$75 allowances to cushion civil servants in this period. When…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. Lady member seated on
the right of the pillar there, can you stop speaking across and making noise.
HON. CHIKWINYA: I was saying the last response by the Hon. Minister mentions the issue of the COVID pandemic upon us. In response to that the Hon. Minister of Finance announced a US$75 COVID allowance to cushion the civil servants during this period which is supposed to last for three months. My question is - we are now post one month, post -30 days after that announcement. When can the civil servants expect to be paid because they are still suffering from the prices pegged on the free funds which he has mentioned, which affects fuel and other basic goods and services. Thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Mr. Speaker, a policy and a position was taken to pay a 50% salary increase and a USD75. That position was taken. Regarding the payment modalities, that is not my job to come here and give technical details as to how the Treasury is going to pay and when. Perhaps if he wants to know the specifics, he can put that in writing and then I can forward to the Minister so that he can explain but what I can explain is there is a policy position that a 50% salary increase be paid and a USD75 cushioning allowance for the next three months.
HON. CHIKWINYA: My point of order is that Parliament makes laws for the good governance of the country. As such, we are expected to be representatives of the people in terms of Section 119 of the Constitution. I am not seeking any technical modalities and the responsible Minister must be able to be responsive to the plight of the people of Zimbabwe. The Government took a policy in response to the pressures which were coming in from the workers and the workers are simply demanding a date upon which they are going to be paid. Is it month end, next year and I am sure Hon. Minister, with all due respect, a date suffices to ease the anxiety with the people in our constituencies. I beg you Hon. Minister that it is not a technicality but purely a response to the anxiety of the people in our constituencies. When are the people going to expect to be paid their USD75 in nostro accounts? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Your point of order is asking for a technical exactitude which the Hon. Leader of Government Business may not provide. My understanding of technicalities is the modalities to translate that policy into action. That is what I understood by the response of the Hon. Minister, not technical in the scientific sense.
Thank You.
HON. BITI: My supplementary is directed to the Minister of
Justice. The original question is, when is Government going to pay civil servants? The Government itself is now levying its charges in USD.
Only last week on Friday, the Minister of Transport enacted Statutory
Instrument 162 of 2020 which now says that all vehicle licences in Zimbabwe must be paid in USD. Over and above that, the RBZ, through its exchange control directive that established the auction floor on the trade of foreign currency, has obliged every shop in Zimbabwe to display prices in USD and in local currencies. When you go on the ground in the shops Mr. Speaker, shops are refusing the local currency. Once the RBZ has made that determination, it means that we are now officially dollarising and if we are dollarizing…
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your question?
HON. BITI: The question is when are you now going to officially
dollarise the salaries of civil servants?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon.
Member for the question. Mr. Speaker, let me repeat my earlier response. The Government has no plans whatsoever, to abandon the use of the Z$. Rather, we are working towards progressively ensuring that it becomes the sole currency of trade in Zimbabwe. Thank you.
HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: My question is directed to Minister of Energy and Power Development. Is it now Government policy that fuel is charged in foreign currency? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir,
I would like to thank the Hon. Member. I have explained that the Minister of Finance allowed the use of free funds. As such, some service stations were also allowed to charge in US dollars – [HON.
MEMBERS: All service stations.] – However, we do not have a policy - like I indicated earlier on, of abandoning the use of our currency. We will continue using it and we will ensure that in future, it becomes our sole currency of trade.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, I had said Hon. Biti’s supplementary is the last one because they were now three – [HON.
MEMBERS: It is a new question.] – Wait a minute. May I persuade Hon. Members that some of these questions can be raised tomorrow when the Hon. Minister of Finance gives his Review?
HON. T. MOYO: Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the
Minister of Local Government and Public Works. May I know Government policy on urban agriculture as it impacts on poverty alleviation and food security? I thank you.
THE MINISTER LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. JULY MOYO): Mr.
Speaker Sir, in the planning of all urban areas, a lot of them encompass areas that are arable before they are built up for either industrial, commercial and residential accommodation. It is the policy of Government to encourage families who are within those urban areas; even though an area has been designated as part of the master plan, as long as the master plan implementation has not reached the areas which are agricultural very viable, we encourage citizens to cultivate and to use this as supplement to their own income. This, as Zimbabweans we have practiced it over many years and we continue to do so. However, a lot of people end up going to wetlands and these are areas that are reserved for our waterways. We do not encourage people to start cultivating along stream banks because that has an effect of producing sand that ends up filling in the dams. While we encourage urban agriculture, we do not want that urban agriculture to end up being done on wetlands and on stream banks but only on areas that we think is not injurious to the ecosystem of the urban land. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MOYO: My supplementary question is to what extent has urban agriculture impacted positively on livelihoods of urbanites and also impacted on economic development of Zimbabwe?
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is not a policy issue because that question invites research and you cannot expect the Hon. Minister to come up with the impact now.
HON. MAPHOSA: Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health. What is Government doing in urgently addressing issues raised by striking nurses in public hospitals in light of the increase of covid-19 confirmed cases?
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. I wish to thank the Hon. Member for the timely important question. Mr. Speaker, as we try to make our national health system recover and become of service to this nation, we have emphasised that it is important to remove the toxic environment within the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Within that context, we have chosen the path of dialogue and teamwork in making sure that we all work together towards the common goal because anybody any day, any time can be sick. It could be a nurse or non-nurse. It could be a doctor or non-doctor.
We have chosen a path of making sure that we have dialogue with the nurses. We have teamwork with the nurses and stop the spirit of throwing things at each other, but rather ideas at each other. To this end, we have been having conversations and the last conversation that we had was a very productive conversation which was on Monday starting from half past eight in the morning ending at half past one, continuously talking and engaging. I believe this conversation and as we continue with that conversation, we are going to bring normalcy, peace and love within members of staff within the Ministry of Health for the effectiveness of the health system as well as containing the spiking cases of the covid-19 pandemic. I thank you.
HON. MAPHOSA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is: I have understood what you are saying but how long is it going to take noting that people have not stopped being sick? They are going to hospital and there is no one to attend to.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I wish to thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question: I have talked about the conversation that occurred on Monday. I also want to emphasise the conversation that happened today. We are saying this thing is going to happen as soon as possible. As soon as possible might mean today in the afternoon or tomorrow in the morning but conversations are taking place. What is very important to us is to know that we are in this country together. It is our country together. It is not someone who should do while others are sitting. It is everybody who should do things. We have sat together and we had one of the most wonderful conversation that we have had based on the fact that nurses, Ministry staff and everybody else has to participate. There is no judge or anyone being judged. There are people that have to sit together and map the way forward based on the availability of resources. So, the answer is very simple which is as soon as possible and it could be now.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir, while I appreciate the response by the Acting Minister of Health, we cannot run away from the fact that the morale is at its lowest in the health sector and the salaries are far from adequate. What possibility is there that a component of salaries for the health sector be paid in US dollars? I think we must continue to hammer that point because this is the reality we are living. We cannot pretend that the US dollar is not a factor.
Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I thought that issue has been covered by the Leader of Government business.
HON. MATEWU: My supplementary question to the Acting
Minister of Health is that in such unpredictable time of COVID-19, is it wise for the Minister to dismiss hospital leadership in such a time of need. I thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to
emphasise and make it clear that health workers are under the Health Services Board (HSB), which hires and fires but if they consult and they have good reason, I have no reason to stop them from carrying out their constitutional duty. I thank you.
*HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. In your first answer Hon. Minister you talked about the path to dialogue and removing toxins in the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Am I correct to say path to dialogue means having nurses arrested by the police and giving the police and soldiers more money than nurses. What is your definition of path to dialogue?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order that is a departure from the original question. We are done with supplementary questions.
HON. MHERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Since the reopening of schools has been deferred until further review what happens to the exam classes which are doing Cambridge syllabus and are supposed to register for the November exams by the 31st July, 2020. Are they allowed to go to their schools to register before the closing date?
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. MATHEMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I
thank the Hon. Member for the question. Yes, the opening of schools has been deferred until further notice. We will communicate with the country as to when, depending on what we see on the ground - all of us by the way not just the Ministry. No school is allowed to open now but the June exams are going on now. Any school that wants to have examinations in November, I have never closed my doors to receive presentations from any authority at all about their situation. However, as to whether the schools will be open in November – nobody knows because nobody created COVID-19, so we will work accordingly and everyone will be informed.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I thought the Hon. Member mentioned something about the November exams. Are November exams going to be written or not? Just clarify on that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order. There is some parliamentary language. You should say would the Hon. Minister clarify. Do not give the Hon. Minister an order.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Ok. Would the Hon. Minister clarify on the sitting of the November examinations with a specific answer?
HON. MATHEMA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. We
had planned and indeed we were moving forward with the President’s directive that the schools should be opened on the 28th of this month.
For those students who will be sitting for Grade 7, ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels examinations but because of what is happening this is what we have now. As to whether we are going to write exams in November or not I do not know, unfortunately I do not know who created COVID-19. I would have phoned him. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Speaker, this House debated the issue
of reopening of schools and we all agreed it was not safe to do so. Did the Minister advise the President that it was not safe to open schools considering that he was vehemently saying he would go ahead and open schools? Was he advising the President accordingly?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Hon. Ndebele at the back. The exercise of wisdom has no timelines.
HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question goes to the Acting Minister of Health. What is Government policy on having isolation centres in areas near the border where COVID-19 people are crossing into Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I wish to thank the Hon. Member for the question on the policy on quarantine centres. Our policy is that we have quarantine centres particularly close to those areas where we have the most traffic of people coming into the country. Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is
directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I did not hear the apology of the Deputy Minister. My question is - since COVID-19 started, all countries did lockdowns. Most of our children in the Diaspora are now destitutes and want to come back home. Is the Government going to help them with transport to come back home? Thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MUSABAYANA): Thank you Mr. Speaker for the question by Hon.
Tekeshe. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a Government department. It is particularly looking at the lives of Zimbabweans outside the country and because of that, when COVID-19 started we help all those who want to come back home. As I speak right now, we have an aeroplane which will be leaving in nine days coming from China because we have about
200 children and even more who will be coming back home. Air Zimbabwe will be bringing these children and all our citizens who want to come back home from other countries are being helped by Government workers, our missions in those countries.
We have children who are coming from Botswana every week. We are getting citizens from South Africa and we are helping them until a time when workers from Foreign Affairs who were affected by COVID19 when they were assisting our citizens to come back home, if you are aware of our citizens who want to come back from any country but are not able to do so and have no assistance, we are ready to assist them to come back home safely. U.S.A has got eight citizens who will be coming back to the country very soon and we are assisting. If you know those who are not getting assistance, please inform us and we will assist them. Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I did not
understand from the Minister’s answer, are they offering free transport for those who are coming back?
HON. MUSABAYANA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for the
supplementary question from Hon. Tekeshe. We also hear that we have citizens of this country who can afford to use their money to come back home but we assist them by preparing documents. We have citizens like students, those who are working and people who visited those countries for other reasons. If the Government has the money it will assist. We are talking with CBZ bank for those who cannot afford to come back home. CBZ bank will assist them through issuing of loans which they will pay back in installments but the Government would have assisted like in China where we sent an aeroplane. As Government we are saying on the engagement and diplomacy where we are negotiating for easy access through the borders, we are using that department to assist people to cross the borders coming home including the issue of getting loans from CBZ. Thank you.
*HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. My
question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. People are having problems in travelling especially from the places of residence to their workplace but before they get into town, they are asked to disembark from the buses whilst they are very far away from town. Is it
Government policy that when people are getting into town they have to leave their cars away from town?
*THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL
HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want
to thank the Hon. Member for his question which I will try to answer in different parts. Firstly, there is no law which says someone has to disembark and finish his journey by walking but we have a law which is explaining how we are supposed to be travelling during COVID-19. It explains how we are supposed to travel during these times and it explains how we are supposed to be seated in the bus. If they are private cars, we do not allow more than two people in the car. We do not want people to be overloaded in buses and disembark once they see a roadblock. We do not encourage that. There is no law which says people have to walk but the law explains how they are supposed to get into town. Hon. Speaker, we should be disturbed by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. It is not only police duty but it is everyone’s responsibility to get worried of the increasing numbers of COVID-19.
We have a responsibility to follow the law to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
HON. TSUNGA: I want to thank the Minister for the answer. I wanted us to go back and tell our constituents how they are supposed to travel. People who are coming from Nyakatsapa, Penhalonga, Old Mutare and so on are made to disembark at Christmas Pass and asked to walk from there into town. That exposes them to accidents as there are a lot of heavy trucks along that road. Some people will be carrying luggage. We are asking the Minister of Home Affairs to talk to the police so that people are assisted; they should allow people to pass.
HON. KAZEMBE: Madam Speaker, Hon. Tsunga is giving us
advice of how we can assist people; I do not think that is a question. When we meet as a Task Force, we will discuss those issues. Thank you.
*HON. MUCHENJE: Hon. Minister, we have noticed that
registered ZUPCO buses are now ferrying many people. Is it a policy that registered ZUPCO buses should carry many people?
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think that question is not
relevant, that is totally a new question that should be directed to the Minister of Local Government.
*HON. MBONDIAH: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like
to find out from the Minister, how many passengers is the ZUPCO bus supposed to carry? I am asking this because when they get close to urban areas police say ZUPCO buses are overloaded hence they ask some of the people to disembark.
*HON. KAZEMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. The law is very
clear; the ZUPCO buses had been instructed to carry 50 people but now they are carrying 25 people because of social distance. There are other laws that need to be followed, for example checking of temperatures and passengers should be wearing face masks. Those are some of the requirements when people use the ZUPCO buses. Yes, we had
increased the number of people to be carried by the ZUPCO buses but there are other conditions that need to be adhered to, such as checking temperature and social distancing. We may argue on how many people the ZUPCO bus can carry but as we move forward, I think we should be looking at tightening these conditions because of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. I thank you.
*HON. CHIKWINYA: Hon. Minister, you explained the
conditions of people who may want to go into urban areas as well as maintain the safety of people. My point of clarity is, since yesterday in towns such as Harare and Mutare, soldiers were moving around telling people to wind up their businesses within ten days. What sort of development is that?
HON. KAZEMBE: Madam Speaker, I think that is a new
question – [Laughter.] –
HON. CHIKWINYA: The question is to do with your concerns around COVID-19 which you have implored us Members of Parliament to be concerned with. Soldiers and police are warning people to vacate the CBD in ten days. What is that new development?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, may you
please respond to that question.
HON. KAZEMBE: I would like to thank the Hon Member. I am
hearing that case right now, so I will go and look into it to find out whether this is really happening.
+HON. S. K. MGUNI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question
is directed to the Minister of Social Welfare. We are affected by issues to do with climate change. There are people given food on monthly basis but I have realised that sometimes they can stay for almost a month without getting food supplies. People from our constituencies ask what has happened to the food supply that they were supposed to have received previously. I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE,
LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): I did not
quite understand the question but I heard as if he said food is no longer reaching some areas. We have maize allocations going to every province, so every month our Ministry takes maize to the people. If there are areas that are not receiving maize allocation, may you please get the information of what area it is so that we correct the anomaly but I believe maize will be delivered at the provincial depots for further redistribution.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs because he is responsible for the security in this country with regards to the Covid-19 pandemic. I would like to know where we are as a country in terms of technology to prevent people so that they may travel around freely. We have tried a lot to control. Right now there is a problem, sometimes you get beaten by police and soildiers even if you may have masks. People are suffering because of such harassment. So we want to know where you are instead of copying what other countries have done. If South Africa does a thing, you copy and any other thing that it does, you also copy from them. Look at what God has done, He has blessed us but where are you regarding the free movement of people with the knowledge that they should abide by the law of wearing their masks? The economy should move forward and people should carry out their businesses freely for them to survive. Our people are hungry.
*THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL
HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I do
not think I understood the question. I will try to answer but if I fail, forgive me, I will ask him to repeat the question. I think I heard him ask where we are, because when people move, he wants them to abide by the laws. I do not know if I heard correctly that people should follow – he first asked how far we have gone in terms of technology but I do not understand the question.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Let us give him an opportunity to
repeat the question.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Madam Speaker. The
Minister did not understand. Which language should I use Hon.
Minister so that you understand? – [Laughter] –
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Use the language that you are
comfortable with.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: Alright, English. I asked where we
are now as Zimbabwean people, very intelligent and educated and up to today, we are still in education and have the intelligence. What new technology is now in place or is expected to be put in place so that people move freely to and from their work places and attend funeral wakes without any harassment from the police and soldiers? I ask this because the police and the soldiers are harassing people when they are coming from work. These people will be wearing their masks. As a country, we should not follow other countries on everything. South
Africa do that, we follow suit, they ban beer, beer is now illegal –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think you have finished asking your question Hon. Matambanadzo.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: Madam Speaker, we want to show
other countries that Zimbabwe has educated people, Ministers and so on.
Thank you.
HON. KAZEMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would
like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The Hon. Member is asking what technology are we thinking of deploying to ensure that people are not harassed when they move around. If that is what I understood, I am not so sure if there is such technology to date, which can monitor people as they move around to ensure that they are complying, in this particular case with Covid regulations. I am not so sure but we stand open to suggestions. I know that Education 5.0 is trying to cure such things to try and ensure that we come up with our own products and services developed in this country. So, if there is need for such technology, I believe and trust, Hon. Prof. Murwira will look into that.
However, I would like to say that the issue of conforming to regulations; like I alluded to earlier on, I am kindly appealing to even us as Members of Parliament to spread the word. You do not need a police officer to tell you how to protect yourself and save your own life. Let us all spread the word, it is a question of attitude amongst our people. We do not expect a police officer to be everywhere to monitor and see if a person is wearing a mask or practicing social distancing. We are simply saying, we are kindly asking this august House to speak to our people out there to try and encourage them to conform to the regulations in the best interest of all Zimbabweans.
Personally, Madam Speaker Ma’am, I would probably not even allow anyone to speak next to me without wearing a mask. I do not need a police officer for me to do that for the simple reason that I need to protect myself. So, I am simply saying, let us all act responsibly out there. It could be the shop-owner or company owner; let us just ensure that we follow the procedures as regulated by the Minister of Health and Child Care and the World Health Organisation, not only in the interest of public health but our own health. I thank you.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: My supplementary to the Minister Madam Speaker is; he said they do not have any new technology, which is very bad as I see it. He should also answer and give us a very good answer because we have had Covid for so many months and we do not want a Minister who relaxes in the office, that is why we end up following what other countries do– [Laughter.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Matambanadzo, ask
your question.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: No, it is a supplementary. You know what Madam Speaker; they know that we have got a very good Minister Prof. Murwira from the University of Zimbabwe. He is trying his best; he is the one who gave us all these sanitisers and masks, if I am not mistaken…
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Matambanadzo, ask
your question.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: Alright. My question is this; you were supposed to sit with the Minister, Hon. Prof. Murwira before hand, in order to solve this issue. The gentleman is very smart and intelligent but the ministers, they are sitting, they are not doing anything…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is not a question Hon.
Matambanadzo.
HON. MAVETERA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker Ma’am. My supplementary question goes to the Hon. Minister to look at issues concerning Covid currently, especially in terms of security concerns. If you look at what is happening currently Madam Speaker, you find that results are coming after a person has died yet people would have been in contact with certain people who would have been in contact with the deceased who would have died of Covid. My question now is, are there any measures that the Government is taking to make sure that results come early or other measures to prevent people from getting in contact with people who are infected with Covid 19 in the current situation? Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is a new question to the
Hon. Acting Minister of Health and Child Care.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for asking a question of such importance. Hon. Speaker, what is very important is that we continue testing and we test to the best of our ability and up our game in testing. However, our first line of defence is basically to assume that everybody whom you see, you assume they are infected and you also assume that you are infected. At the end of the day, it is very important that all the preventive measures that are talked about in our guidelines, that include temperature checks, sanitisation, social distancing and putting on a mask and so forth be observed. However, we are also in the process, to the best our ability, to develop mobile based applications for tracking the affected people and we hope that this helps. Whatever technology can only help when people understand why certain restrictions are being put.
So, it is very important that this education for us becomes so important. At the end of the day, Government can set rules but it is the citizens themselves that have to take them inside in the interest of their own health and the health of their loved ones.
Therefore, it is very important to say we are upping our testing as much as we can and we are in the process of acquiring as many test kits in the shortest possible time. To date, we have tested up to 90 000 people. We want to make sure that we continue testing even up to millions. However, the bucks stops with taking care. I thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: The question from the Hon. Member is
results are coming after people have died. Why not have a mechanism of having results coming before people have been pronounced dead. I think you need to direct your answer to that question.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I would retake but I think I really
answered the question but clarity is important. So, I take that criticism with grace. The issue is that testing has to be increased. We cannot be so theoretical as to say we can test everybody, loopholes happen. It is unfortunate but it happens but it is also very important that a person has been tested when they are already dead but as a country, together as citizens, nobody is living alone. The issue is results take time that they take up to 3 hours or so and we are making sure that to the best of our ability, we are buying more test kits so that people are tested.
However, we cannot be at every corner. We are trying to be at every corner to the best of our ability. That is why I said it is very important that we take the first line of defence which basically is to assume I am infected and I am assuming you are infected. Let us do the best we can to protect each other against this creature.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. In my view,
the question asked was not answered because when the Minister of Health and Child Care made a presentation in this august House, he gave reasons that when swabs are taken, they would want the tray to be filled first so that it goes to the testing machine. So, the question is, why is it that the results are coming late, after the person would have already been buried.
As I am speaking right now, in Warren Park there are two people who are said to have died of Covid-19 and results came after their burial. Now, due to water crises in the area, the neighbors are now locking their wells because they are afraid of contracting Covid-19 from those who attended the funeral. So this is where the challenge is and I am kindly asking the Minister to clarify on that issue. If the Minister does not know, then he can admit that this is not his area of speciality since he is standing in for the Minister of Health and Child Care.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to
thank Hon. Hamauswa for his supplementary question and also to humbly submit that knowledge is based on the fact that we do not know everything, that is how we seek knowledge. So if a person says I know everything, that person is very ignorant but I do what I do and we try to do it with the best of our knowledge.
Therefore, we are ramping up the test, we are going to make sure that we increase the level of testing, the accuracy and our responsiveness has to increase. Of course, I cannot speak on behalf of anybody who previously spoke but I am saying as we move forward, the Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Health and Child Care, is going to up its game in trying to make sure that we protect the lives of Zimbabweans with honesty and integrity, making sure that we do everything in our power together as citizens to protect our people through rapid testing and also responsiveness.
HON. MARONGE: My question is directed to the Minister of
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. What plans does the
Government have to increase the number of people being assisted by the Social Welfare department with regards to Covid-19 and poverty that is in the rural areas?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI: The Minister
responsible for social welfares issues said all those who want help should go and register with the Ministry of Social Welfare so that they can get assistance. I thank you.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: My question is directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. Minister, in view of the announcement by the Minister of Information that the opening of schools will be deferred indefinitely, what is Government policy regarding those tertiary institutions like the University of Zimbabwe, Africa University and other tertiary institutions which have already opened and are conducting lessons as we speak? What policy measures are you going to effect? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): I wish to thank Hon.
Mashakada for a very important question. Hon. Speaker, universities already started opening on June 1 and they are using the regulations to conduct their business. Universities were given guidelines to make sure that everything is done according to the health guidelines. What does it mean, we said the final years are going to be the first on campus, followed by finale years minus one, then final years mines two and final years minus three. This minimises crowds at our universities.
While the final years are on campus, the other years minus one, minus two and final years minus three are doing online learning. We have been privileged to have been supported to doing online learning and we have heard discounts from the telecommunication companies and so forth. We have been very well supported in this. While we are carrying out our studies, we call it blended learning, which is a mixture of face-to-face which is minimised in terms of numbers as well as online.
When it comes to colleges, most of them were being used as quarantine centres. So, colleges already opened this week also using the same logic of final years, then final years minus one and final years minus two - following strictly the COVID-19 guidelines. What was announced by the Hon. Minister of Information was no further relaxation was going to be done. It basically means it is not saying universities should be closed, it is saying any further cannot happen. This is the way we are implementing the policy. Universities and colleges are already in session following the guidelines.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Minister for that response. When you talk of admission of final year minus one, then final year minus two and final year minus three, does that happen alternatively or pari passu? Thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I wish to thank Hon. Mashakada for
his question for me to clarify. When final years are done, they leave campus and what we are trying to do by all means is by taking each year by each year; we try to make sure all students to the best of our ability are on campus so that they are like in quarantine as well. It is final years in and out, then final years minus one in and out, in that order.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: My supplementary question pertains to
transport, since universities are adhering to compulsory guidelines - what measures are being put in place so that there is adequate transport for students. I want the Hon. Minister to explain.
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Hon. Speaker, I am glad that universities were given a facility by ZUPCO of providing buses for all colleges. When you observe the route to the University of Zimbabwe, you will discover that there is a ZUPCO bus which is written University of Zimbabwe. We all know that we cannot be perfect but we are trying our best to make sure that teachers and their students are able to go to learn, taking advantage of the transport provided. However, we said to limit travelling final year students for universities like UZ, CUZ and MSU are supposed to be living on the campus.
For example, we heard that at Chinhoyi University there were a few students left staying at home because they had already paid rent. So the transport issue was addressed when we engaged ZUPCO. The President went to Chinhoyi to officially launch the provision of such buses and also announced that there were some buses that were going to be left in Chinhoyi to provide transportation for both students and lecturers. However, we continue making sure that our higher and tertiary education centres are continually supported. I thank you.
HON. SIKHALA: Hon. Minister, you have told this House that there are two distinctive groups at the university: those who are doing elearning and those doing formal learning. I want to know in terms of your fees structure, because we understand that university students on elearning are paying full fees. Could that be the same fees those in formal learning are paying? Is that commensurate with the way how the fees structure should be structured in a manner where those on e-learning and those on formal should have differences.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Madam
Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Sikhala for that very important question. It enables us to explain for the way education is delivered. When one pays schools fees or tertiary fees, tuition fees and so forth, they are not paying for a particular method of delivery. They are paying for the service of making sure that the university runs. Whether I will do it by video, whether we will do it by internet, whether we do it by standing on a stool and talking, it is the same. So fees do not vary because now we are teaching via the internet, because the content is what is important. It is important to clarify that the method of delivery – even when people are paying fees, I do not know where it is written that the teacher will be standing in front of you. There is nothing like that in our regulations. It is saying we are going to deliver knowledge. It is very important at this moment that this question is taken as a very important question because it enables us to clarify the issue that it is not where the lecturer will be standing. It is not how they will be speaking, it is the delivery of knowledge itself either via internet, via video, via radio and so forth. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
REBUILDING OF MATERNITY WARD AT ST LUKES
- HON. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care so as to inform the House on the Ministry’s plan to rebuild the maternity ward at St Lukes which was gutted by fire.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. MAGWIRO): The affected department of the family health care, the hospital through the church, who are the owners have raised US$18 000 and have since done the quotations for the roof.
Government has also allocated $2 million through the Public Service Investment to augment the construction of the mission hospital. I thank you.
PROGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS OF
THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LAND AUDIT REPORT
- 36. CHIKUNI asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement to inform the House on progress made towards implementing recommendations of the National Land Audit Report since it was tabled in Cabinet.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER
AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD AIR CHIEF
MARSHALL SHIRI): I am pleased to inform you that the
Comprehensive National Agricultural Land Audit Programme Report
Phase I was tabled to Cabinet on 6th July, 2020. Cabinet directed my Ministry to proceed as follows:
- The issuance of tenure documents will be expedited;
- The married beneficiaries are given joint tenure documents to protect spouses on land ownership;
- That the 255 abandoned and 112 land units are re-allocated to deserving applicants.
- That the 24 farms under multiple-ownership are withdrawn and reallocated to deserving applicants.
- That the 71 identified farms exceeding the maximum gazetted sizes are downsized and measures are put in place to safeguard production thereof; and
- That the allocation of land is in line with the gazette policy quotas with respect to War Veterans, Women, Youth and people living with disabilities.
My senior managers in Lands Management Department are already seized with the afore-stated issues. I would like to report that there is no meaningful progress to date, given that it has only been one week from the time of Cabinet approval.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I
would like to thank the Minister for a very satisfactory response to that specific question. The Hon. Minister has indicated that because of the short time since the recommendations by Cabinet were made, not much progress has been made in implementing the recommendations. I just want to establish from the Minister whether there can be an indication as to when the roll-out of implementing these recommendations can begin so that we are able to catch up with the impending agricultural season, so that those who are allocated this year can start farming in earnest. I thank you.
HON. RTD AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI: Thank you
Madam Speaker. The roll-out has already been done. What is needed is to expedite the process so that people will get to the allocated pieces of land on time to prepare for the impending summer season. We are very much alive to that and we will do everything within our power to ensure we do not unnecessarily inconvenience the people allocated the land. I thank you.
RESUMPTION OF RUTI DAM IRRIGATION SCHEME
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
- HON. DR. NYASAHNU asked the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement to inform the House when the Ruti Dam Irrigation Scheme Construction Project will be resumed.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER
AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD AIR CHIEF
MARSHALL SHIRI): Madam Speaker, the contractor for Ruti Dam Irrigation Scheme is on site but the obtaining challenge is that prices for this winning bid are no longer in tandem with escalating prices. The government is currently working towards addressing that challenge so that construction resumes.
STATUS OF THE MUDZINDIKO IRRIGATION SCHEME
- HON. SARUWAKA asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture,
Water and Rural Resettlement to inform the House on:
- the status of the Mudzindiko Irrigation Scheme which was pegged along the Nyadera River in Ward 15 in Mutasa Central Constituency in 2017 and to further clarify whether the Ministry approved the scheme and
- if so, why have there been delays in the commissioning of irrigation equipment, considering that the Scheme offers food security to local communities amongst other benefits.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD AIR CHIEF
MARSHALL SHIRI): My response to that is that the said irrigation scheme was indeed approved and through my department of irrigation development, the project was tendered for and the Ministry is at an advanced stage of concluding the procurement process. As such, commissioning will follow after construction of the same. Thank you.
HON. SARUWAKA: My supplementary to the Minister is; I have heard his answer where he was saying they have approved the project and they are going to work towards establishing it but I wanted to get an indication of time, whether he thinks it is going to be done this year or next year or is it a 2030 project? Is it something that we can likely have it working in the next year?
HON. RTD AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI: Thank you
Madam Speaker. I do not want to commit myself. I have got a whole list of irrigation schemes to be either rehabilitated or developed starting this current year. I can go back and check on the starters of this particular scheme and I will advise the Hon. Member accordingly. Thank you.
PAYMENT OF POLICE OFFICERS DURING PREMIER
LEAGUE MATCHES
- HON. I. NYONI asked the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage why Police Officers are paid for providing security during Premier soccer league matches taking into account that they are conducting normal duties.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL
HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE): Thank you Madam Speaker. Soccer
matches are private functions meant for entertainment and to raise funds for the various stakeholders involved. In short, it is a business venture where the organisers of the matches can even hire private security companies to prove security to protect their interests. It goes without saying that police has an interest in security of such events notwithstanding that it falls outside the purview of normal police duties. At any given time, the number of police officers usually requested by football authorities out-numbers those that are on duty, hence the need to call some who will normally have gone on time off. The size of the crowd determines the number of police officers to be deployed for any given event. Such members who partake in these duties are therefore entitled to a special allowance. May I hasten to point out that it is not only soccer matches where such allowances are paid to police officers.
This includes among others; cricket musical shows and private escorts.
VEHICLE FOR REDCLIFF POLICE STATION
- HON. MUKAPIKO asked the Minister of Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage when Redcliff Police Station will be issued with its own vehicle?
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL
HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE): The Government of Zimbabwe has
been prioritising the issue of resources. Currently, procurement of vehicles is in progress and Redcliff Police Station is one of the many stations that will be considered for allocation. The Commissioner General of Police has made an undertaking to ensure that each police station has at least one operational vehicle. Of course, the timeframe for the arrival of the new vehicle is yet to be confirmed. The Commissioner General of Police has assured me that once the vehicles arrive the situation will be addressed. I thank you.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am
for giving me the opportunity and I want to thank the Hon. Minister for his response. If we look at Redcliff, it is a municipality and in terms of population, it has a large population such that it is tantamount to travesty of justice. The big wigs in the ZRP have more than three vehicles each and for a police station like Redcliff not to have a vehicle allocated, it is not fair to the residents of Redcliff. So, may the Minister pursue this matter as a matter of urgency? I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. I think you are
advising the Minister to pursue the matter.
REHABILITATION OF THE SEWERAGE AND WATER
RETICULATION INFRASTRUCTURE AT BUCHWA POLICE
STATION
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage to explain when Buchwa Police Station will be rehabilitated?
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE): Thank you Madam Speaker. The
issue of sewer and water reticulation is of utmost importance to the Ministry. We are working flat out to rectify the situation although it is not unique to Buchwa only. Resources need to be mobilised but currently due to the financial constraints, we are unable to rehabilitate all needy areas or infrastructure at one go.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE GOWE IRRIGATION SCHEME
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
- HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE asked the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to inform the House as to when the Gowe Irrigation Scheme Construction Project in Ward 3 in Bikita South Constituency will commence.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. RTD AIR
CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): The Gowe Irrigation Scheme
Construction Project in Ward 3, Bikita South Constituency is being planned under the 200 ha per district irrigation development facility. Commencement of the construction project shall be prioritised in either 2021 or 2022. Thank you Madam Speaker.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
INSTALLATION OF A BOOSTER AT MZOLA BH10 LUPANE
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Information
Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to state when a booster that was sited at Mzola BH10 in Lupane will be installed in order to address the challenge of mobile network coverage currently affecting the area.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON.
MUSWERE): Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to thank the Hon. Member for the question. This project is being done by NetOne and it was temporarily put on old before completion because of funding challenges. Net One has however put Mzola Site on its Mobile Broadband (MBB) Project Phase 3 which was approved. This site is among the first projects to be done and by end of the fourth quarter this year 2020, the base station will bring mobile network coverage in the area.
ADJUSTMENT OF STIPENDS FOR APPRENTICE STUDENTS
ON RASM SCHEME
- 18. GOZHO asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to explain when the Ministry will adjust stipends of apprentice students on RASM Scheme in line with inflationary prices being experienced.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon.
Gozho for the question. I would like to reiterate that the Ministry of
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development (MHTEISTD) is a Ministry of students and therefore, issues to do with the welfare of students are a priority to us. Without students, there is no MHTEISTD). The Ministry acknowledges that the stipends of apprenticeship students on RASM scheme have been eroded by inflation and as such need revision. In this regard, the (MHTEISTD) revised the allowances for RASM or special scheme apprentices with effect from 1st June, 2020. It is a virtue of the Ministry not just to react but be pro-active in addressing issues and therefore, going forward the Ministry shall continue to revise the allowances from time to time based on the availability of resources. Siyabonga, Tatenda, I thank you.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON YOUTH, SPORT,
ARTS AND RECREATION ON THE PETITION TO SET UP A
YOUTH COMMISSION
HON. TONGOFA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to move the motion standing in my name on the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation on a petition on the need to set up a Youth Commission in line with Section 20 of Constitution.
HON. TOGAREPI: I second.
HON. MUKUHLANI: Thank you Madam Speaker.
1.INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Section 149 of the Constitution, the Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation received a petition from Mr. Believe Guta of 2141 Nyandoro Street in Kadoma on Government’s compliance with Section 20 and the establishment of a
Youth Commission. The Petitioner’s prayer was that Parliament should compel Government to establish a Youth Commission which will investigate all agencies of State and Government to make sure that they are complying with section 20 of the Constitution.
Section 20 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe places five fundamental obligations on the State and all agencies of the Government which are:
- To ensure that the youths are accorded access to appropriate education and training;
- To ensure that the youths have opportunities to associate and to be represented and participate in political, social, economic and other spheres of life;
To ensure that Youths have opportunities for employment and other avenues to economic empowerment;
- To ensure that the Youths have opportunities for Recreational activities and access to recreational facilities;
- To ensure that youths are protected from harmful cultural practices, exploitation and all forms of abuse.
In the exercise of its oversight role, Parliament was obliged to assess and oversee Government’s compliance with Section 20 of the Constitution.
2.METHODOLOGY
The Committee received oral evidence from the Minister of Youth, Sport and Recreation, Hon Kirsty Coventry, written submissions from Community Youth Development Trust(CYDT) and undertook public hearings in Ngundu , Gweru, Bulawayo , Gwanda , Kadoma , Harare,
Hwedza and Mutare.
3.0 FINDINGS
3.1 The Minister of Youth. Sport, Arts and Recreation
The Committee found out that the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation implements a vocational training and skills development programme throughout the country in accordance with Section 20 (1) (a) of the Constitution. Currently there are 51 vocational training centres (VTCs) with an additional 21 new sites. The target is to have a vocational training centre in each district in order to meet the needs of employment for the youth.
The Ministry, in accordance with Section 20(1)(c) established production and incubation hubs in some VTC’s and other service centers in order to capacitate the youths and give them practical business exposure. These hubs are in the areas of cosmetology, horticulture, dairy and livestock production in Bulawayo, Mashonaland East, Matebeleland North and Matebeleland South provinces. The Ministry had also established the Empowerbank which provides financial support to business projects being undertaken by youths.
The Ministry with respect to Section 20(1) (b) is reviewing the
National Youth Service Training Programme in order to ensure that young people are nurtured to become responsible citizens who are able to contribute meaningfully to national development. The programme saw a total of 1436 youths being trained in 2018, with 990 being males and 446 being females.
On Section 20 (1) (d), the Ministry is establishing multipurpose sporting facilities in every province and refurbishment of existing facilities is also underway in the 10 provinces. The Ministry is in the process of establishing recreational parks at Nemamwa Growth Point in Masvingo, Concession in Mashonaland Central and Jotsholo in Matebeleland South. These projects have received funding and work has already started. The thrust of the initiative is to transform the sports and recreation sector into a viable industry sufficient to absorb the youth as a source of employment.
The National Youth Policy was reviewed in 2007 and it will enable the creation of an enabling environment to ensure the flourishing of arts, culture and heritage sectors for its practitioners. The policy will also help in ensuring that young people are protected from harmful cultural practices, exploitation and abuse as prescribed in Section 29 (1) (e) of the Constitution. The policy underscores the need to safeguard the diverse cultures and enable cohesion, unity and holistic sustainable socio-economic development.
The Ministry has no plans to establish a youth commission but is working towards strengthening the existing Youth Council including amending the Zimbabwe Youth Council Act [Chapter 25:19], as amended in 1997, in order for the Council to fully carry out its mandate. The Zimbabwe Youth Council is a quasi-government institution established through the Zimbabwe Youth Council Act [Chapter 25:19] to enhance youth participation and advocate for youth empowerment with its main functions being: -
- To co-ordinate, supervise and foster the activities of national youth associations and clubs,
- To ensure the proper administration of associations and clubs;
- To participate in national and International youth activities,
- To advise the Government on the needs of youth and
- With the approval of the Minister, to undertake projects designed to create employment for young people, including fundraising, marketing and trading activities.
3.2 The Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC)
The Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC) is an interface between
Government and young people through Youth Associations and clubs.
ZYC therefore, coordinate, supervise, and foster activities of National Youth Associations, while at the same time advising Government on the needs and aspirations of the youth. ZYC has currently no board but the Ministry is working to constitute the board so as to strengthen its efficiency and effectiveness. A substantive director must be appointed to see the day to day running of the Youth Council and strengthening it.
The Zimbabwe Youth Council highlighted that it is trying its best to conform to Section 20 but funding support was required to strength its operations and the Secretariat. The Zimbabwe Youth Council as an interface between Government and young people, organises youth forums where the youth and stakeholder organisations interact to share on potential business opportunities in the country.
It underscored the need to amend the Zimbabwe Youth Council
Act in order to provide the Ministry with operating frameworks for the National Youth Service, Youth Development Fund and other youth development and empowerment programmes. ZYC Act also needed to be amended to provide for the regulation of the activities of youth and youth-serving organisations.
3.3 Community Youth Development Trust(CYDT)
The Community Youth Development Trust (CYDT) together with other youth organisations bemoaned that the Zimbabwe Youth Council was partisan. They were therefore in support of the Youth Commission. They felt that the Commission must also cater for youths with disability as they were being left out of most programmes. They underscored that institutionalisation of youth participation and engagement at all levels was going to be possible with an independent Youth Commission. This would aid full participation and engagement of young people, youths defining their role in social development, political aspirations and economic revitalisation.
3.4. Public Hearings
Members of the public especially the youths were grateful that
Parliament had come out to hear their views on the establishment of the
Youth Commission. However, some members of the public felt that Parliament should improve on its publication of notice for public hearings and communicate through other channels such as social media and also through the District Administrator and the local Member of Parliament. Mr. Morris Johwezha of the Hwedza Residents Youth Trust bemoaned the lack of participation of youth in the public hearings yet the issues were youth related. It was highlighted that the youth constitute about two thirds of the total population in the country and because of the economic challenges, the youth will therefore end up getting married earlier, thereby reducing the gains on reducing child marriages.
Most of the youth felt that the Zimbabwe Youth Council was partisan in nature and that it was not fully helping the participation of youth as it was mainly targeting youth organisations. Youths who are not part of youth organisations would not gain much with the involvement of the Zimbabwe Youth Council. Youth Empowerment
Transformation Trust (YETT) said they felt that the ZYC is partisan. They further outlined that it is more oriented towards youth organisations whose membership to it is voluntary and fits a required criterion which will show its shortcomings.
YETT would envisage the establishment of the Youth Commission but in the interim, would want to see ZYC strengthened while a National Youth Act will be legalised. The National Youth Act would then give the Youth Commission its mandate to ensure that youth are fully represented in company boards of director membership, and state agencies. The Youth Commission would ensure that a certain quota is reserved for youth which will see that youth are properly empowered. The Youth Commission must be properly funded so as to carry out its mandate. The Commissions’ engagement with the youth can be improved if the youth commission is decentralised and have provincial structures in line with devolution.
YETT underscored the need for the Youth Commission to be disability sensitive. It highlighted the need for the Commission to include youth with disability and that the majority should be the youths. This will help on the inclusivity of the Commission as the disabled youth have the same rights to able bodied youths. The youth in Mutare lamented on the partisan nature of the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation and Zimbabwe Youth Council officials to the effect that it was detrimental in pushing the youth agenda. They implored the need for the Youth Commission to be multifaceted. They requested for the commissioners to undergo public interviews to reduce chances of nepotism, and for them to have a minimum educational qualification. They further suggested that they should serve at most a term of five years.
3.5 COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS
The Committee noted that currently there is no legislation to enforce or compel line Ministries to comply with the provisions of Section 20 of the Constitution as well as the provisions of the National Youth Policy.
Members of the Committee felt that Government was doing its best to comply with Section 20 the of Constitution. The Committee noted that in view of the current economic challenges, it is difficult to have an independent Youth Commission, hence the need to strengthen
Zimbabwe Youth Council. It underscored the need for the Zimbabwe Youth Council to be supported financially to improve efficiency and effectiveness. There is need for a financial strategy for Zimbabwe Youth Council to effectively implement its programmes, for example, to establish offices at ward level, recruitment of a substantive director and other members of the secretariat.
The Committee noted with concern that the partisan nature of the
Zimbabwe Youth Council was a drawback in ensuring Government’s compliance with Section 20 as this would exclude other youths with a different political view. For maximum involvement of the youth, the Committee underscored the need for the Zimbabwe Youth Council to be
apolitical.
In the long term, the Committee underscored the need for the Government to set up an independent Youth Commission through enactment of a National Youth Act. The National Youth Act would outline the setting up of the Youth Commission and its duties and also how Government can enforce a youth quota on employment, boards and other programmes to ensure maximum youth participation.
- RECOMMENDATIONS
The Ministry of Youth should endeavor to strengthen the Youth Council by ensuring that the full secretariat headed by an Executive Director is in place by June 2020. In the interim, the Ministry of Youth should come up with a legislation to compel Ministries to comply with the provisions of section 20 of the Constitution by end of June 2020.
- The Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation must provide frameworks for the National Youth Service, Youth Development Fund and other development empowerment programmes by April 2020.
- The Government should safeguard the independence of the ZYC by ensuring that there is a board in place by June 2020 and the board should be constituted by youth representatives appointed through an inclusive process.
- The Zimbabwe Youth Council should be decentralised by April 2020 to ward level and enjoy total independence without Government interference.
- In the long term, The Youth Commission should be included in the Constitution like every other independent Commission as mentioned in Chapter 12 of the Constitution.
- There should be financial strategy to make sure the Zimbabwe
Youth Council is adequately funded by June 2020.
6. CONCLUSION
Currently, there is no enabling legislation to enforce or compel line
Ministries to comply with the provisions of Section 20 of the
Constitution as well as the National Youth Policy provisions. However, it is the Committee’s view that while it appreciates what the Ministry is doing to enforce that compliance, there is need for black and white legislation for compliance with section 20 of the Constitution as this will make it easier to enforce. The mechanisms in place fall short of the compliance required and therefore it is the Committee’s submission that legislation must be enacted immediately. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me honour
and appreciate our Chairperson who presented this report, especially looking at the expectations of young people. The Government should provide for their needs as young people. I was impressed by the report, particularly the area regarding the Empowerbank, which is important to young people and which can assist young people to develop and generate their own income and not just be young people who expect to get a job after completing their education but those who can create their own employment.
However, what we got from young people is that they were saying that the Empowerbank should ensure that the livelihoods of young people should be enhanced. They were saying that what is expected from them, particularly collateral security is something that they do not have. The young people were saying that those who are responsible for the youth bank should consider the livelihoods of young people and their lifestyles; they do not have collateral security. So, I would like to say that what young people desire is that where they perform their jobs and leisure activities, the Government should deliberately ensure that they are empowered for posterity. This means that if they are empowered with skills to work, they will be future leaders.
The other thing that touched me is that young people were saying that they want to be given the opportunity to go to Vocational colleges and these should be found in every district and in schools so that those who complete their ordinary level studies can be taught vocational skills so that they are empowered in their own areas. Not all school leavers can be accommodated at vocational colleges, be it in secondary schools where carpentry is taught, boiler making, agriculture and other vocational skills. This will benefit many children in their own localities.
However, we also noted that young people were appreciating what Government is doing. The expectations were that there could be a vocational college in every province. However, at this moment, we have 51 vocational colleges around the country. This means that their future is assured. They were saying that these things should be done in all areas of the country. They were saying, there is need to identify what can benefit young people in terms of competitive advantage. For example, in Manicaland where there are a lot of guava fruits; if they are being taught vocational skills, they must also be taught skills like juice making so that they can make use of the fruits and produce guava juice.
They were also looking at mining areas where the help would be given according to the natural resources within the area. For example, in Kadoma or Shurugwi where mining is done, young people should be empowered with skills that are relevant to their particular area. This is because empowering them with a skill that is not compatible with the resources found in that area might not benefit them. Even in agriculture, these are things that are expected. What impressed me is that young people expressed the need and interest to make decisions. Some were saying that they were happy that the Government also appointed young people but they were saying that young people should also be appointed to be board members so that young people are trained to lead companies in the future. So, this report to me is important because I believe that it should also emphasize that between Parliament and the Ministry of Youth must be engagements analyzing the practical thing these young people were saying so that it is implemented. This should be done as soon as possible so that our young people can serve our nation.
*HON. MAGO: I would also like to add my voice to this debate of the report on youth. When we were moving around, we discovered that the young people wanted a youth commission because they are not seeing the role of the Youth Council and that it is not necessarily moving around the whole country. Therefore, the youth commission should be there so that it oversees all activities.
These young people spoke about sporting facilities, saying that where they stay there are no recreational facilities. After school and during holidays, they can only engage in discussions, there are no libraries, swimming pools and soccer pitches which result in young people engaging in delinquent behaviour. They recommended that in different boards and in the leadership of the youth council, it is necessary for young people to be incorporated so that they run these organisations. When they visit youth council offices, they noticed that they are short staffed, at one point they only find one person in the office who does not understand their needs.
Young people were saying they are the ones who know what they want so they expect all other young people of their ages who understand them. If we do not treat young people properly, in the near future we might not have adults with good training.
*HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to add
my voice on the report on youths. It is a good report, we are happy about what the young people are doing. however, I would like to encourage them to continue but I have noted that in most rural areas, young people are not getting the opportunity to do what those who are in the urban centres are doing. In particular, we are requesting that information centres should be found in different parts so that they can be at par with technological advancement. Technology does not discriminate whether they are from rural or urban areas. So my request is that our children should be given equal opportunities.
With regards to youth empowerment, the Empowerment Bank is a good initiative and we appreciate the Government for introducing such a bank. So, this should be of benefit to both rural and urban areas. As a representative of a rural constituency, I know that young people are not empowered; they do not have enough knowledge regarding this Bank which is supposed to be assisting young people. As a parent I cannot assist these young people so that they qualify for a bank loan.
Therefore, the requirements should be at par with what they can afford as young people.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MHONA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 16th July, 2020
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON.
MHONA, the House adjourned at Thirteen Minutes past Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday 14th July, 2020.
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
PRESENTATION OF THE 2020 MID-TERM FISCAL REVIEW
STATEMENT
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. I wish
to inform the House that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development will present the 2020 Mid-Term Fiscal Review on Thursday 16th July, 2020.
HON. MUSHORIWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My point of
order arises from your announcement that the Hon. Minister of Finance is due to come on Thursday to present his statement. You recall that several Members of this House have called upon the Hon. Minister of
Finance to come address the House on matters of the economy and the Chair has made a ruling on several times that the Hon. Minister was going to come to this House to answer questions from the Hon. Members of Parliament. You know the procedure when it comes to the mid-term statement that it does not entail the intensity of the questions that the Hon. Members would want to ask given the recent changes in the economy and a number of changes that the Ministry of Finance has been doing. My worry is that the Hon. Minister is disregarding this Parliament and is not respectful to the Chair. I think it is imperative that measures need to be taken to curtail such behaviour from Members of the Executive. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mushoriwa. I
remember two weeks ago, if not three weeks, the Deputy Minister of Finance was here on Wednesday and the Minister also came on that Wednesday to answer questions from Members of Parliament. I think on that day you were not here.
HON. MUSHORIWA: No, I was in the House with the Deputy
Minister when he was failing to answer questions. I was one of the people that was questioning but the Hon. Speaker promised us that the Minister was going to come to this House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mushoriwa.
On that day the Minister will combine the Mid-Term Statement with a general statement on the state of the economy.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you very much
Madam Speaker. I stand on a matter of privilege. Last week we were informed through our phones and through the social media that the coupons from Redan can now be redeemed at a cost of US$10. I think that is a problem in terms of it being unlawful. I think as Parliament since the coupons that we get as Members of Parliament are coupons that also come from Redan, I am calling upon you Madam Speaker to please engage with Redan, not only on behalf of Parliament but on behalf The generality of the populace because we think that Redan is doing something that is illegal. Those coupons were bought at the cost of US$20. So, it is not right and it is day light robbery and I do not think as Parliament, we should condone such behavior. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga. Your point of order is very valid. I am being told by the Chief Whip that he had already engaged the Clerk on that matter and the Clerk promised to look into it. I am sure it is going to be solved.
Some Hon. Members having stood up to raise points of privilege.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, some of the
issues which you are raising can be raised under the One Minute Statement. I am taking the last point of privilege.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, I represent a
Constituency which has many people and quite a number of them are now worried about their health. Madam Speaker, nurses and doctors are going on strike and to make matters worse ….
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Madzimure that
is not a point of privilege. That can come under One Minute Statement.
HON. MADZIMURE: Okay, let me make it A One Minute
Statement.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Okay, may you go ahead.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, I have said that nurses
are on strike, doctors are also on strike and we have got a spike of the pandemic. Madam Speaker, the spike requires aconsented effort by our front line works. Our front line workers must be motivated. The issue is compounded by the fact that we do not have a substantive Minister of Health and Child Care. I do not think at this time with this pandemic, we can move on without a substantive Minister of Health and Child Care. To make matters worse Madam Speaker, we have not been favoured with reasons why the Chief Executives of five major hospitals were fired. Is it because they failed in performing their duties, is it
because …
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is now more than one minute. Some of those issues we can ask them tomorrow …
HON. MADZIMURE: There is no Minister to ask because there
is no substantive Minister.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKR: The Deputy Minister and the
Leader of the House will be here tomorrow, so you can ask all those questions – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order
please.
May I remind Hon. Members that One Minute Statements are provided for in Standing Order Number 60 as follows:
‘A Member who is not a Minister may make a statement from one minute on matter of public importance. One Minute Statement shall be made until Twenty Five Minutes to Three o’clock p.m. on a Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday, and Twenty Five Minutes to Ten o’clock on
Friday’. Hon. Members who want to make their one minute statements have to observe this Standing Order.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Madam Speaker, few days or weeks ago, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development advised
Zimbabweans that for registration of new vehicles one ought to pay in
US dollars. Madam Speaker, I think in a country where the majority of Zimbabweans earn their money in RTGs, it is wrong for a Government that purports to represent the people of this country to allow a Department in the Government to charge in foreign currency for a service. I think that decision needs to be reversed because it is against the general public of Zimbabwe. I thank you Madam Speaker.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, I move that Orders of the
Day, Numbers 1 to 29 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day Number 30 has been disposed of.
HON. MUPONORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LANDS,
AGRICULTURE, WATER AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT ON
THE 2020 ZIMBABWE COTTON MARKETING SEASON
HON. WADYAJENA: I move the motion in my name that this
House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Lands,
Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement on the 2020 Zimbabwe
Cotton Marketing Season: The Farmer’s Experience.
HON. MUPONORA: I second.
HON. WADYAJENA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am, I will
start with the foreword;
Foreword
The fundamental role that agriculture plays in Zimbabwe’s development has long been recognised, with sustainable development of agriculture being viewed as a key source of both industrial growth and structural transformation. Propelling this sector and empowering contributors along its value chains requires strong political commitment; and as officials elected by the people of Zimbabwe to protect the Constitution and to represent them, we are tasked with crafting policies that tend to our current local conditions but that are also forward looking, and consider the global context. This report, therefore, speaks specifically to the goals of our national development blueprint, Vision 2030, which articulates improved agricultural productivity and the movement of Zimbabwe to an upper middle-income economy as key goals. It also considers the emerging functions of agriculture in a globalised world of increasingly integrated value chains, climate change and rapid technological and institutional innovation.
Specifically, this report looks at the current experience of the Zimbabwean cotton farmer, in the face of inability to access funds from cotton sales, dwindling cotton production, and a disintegrating local cotton industry. It hopes to shed light on existing challenges within the sector, and the ways in which policy intervention can shape the current fortunes of the industry itself and the thousands of families that presently operate within it.
Recent reports of growing disaffection and despondency of cotton farmers emerging from the Cotton Producers and Marketers Association of Zimbabwe require a serious and measured but swift response given the value placed on cotton as a national strategic crop in the face of the threat of food insecurity. While a broader and deeper examination of the policy framework is required, short-term interventions are needed to halt further deterioration of the sector as well as any circumstances that materially disadvantage close to half a million Zimbabwean cotton growers.
It must be noted from the outset that this report is by no means an exhaustive examination of the industry; it serves as a stopgap measure to address pressing concerns as expressed by farmers. It goes without saying that with the shocking decline in national output of seed cotton, a cohesive stimulation strategy for the industry is indeed required but can only follow a more comprehensive study, and the participation of the entire stakeholder universe.
Introduction
The Cotton Producers and Marketers Association of Zimbabwe approached the Parliamentary Committee for Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement with two primary concerns.
Current Inability to access Funds on account of Bulk Line
Suspension
In the first instance, between 2009 and 2016, Zimbabwean cotton farmers were always paid their full amount in United States Dollars cash for their produce. This model was changed following the adoption of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy where farmers were coerced to either open bank accounts or electronic wallet accounts. Opposed to this new method, many farmers felt they were either threatened or blackmailed by those in positions of authority, and following a serious mobilisation exercise, they grudgingly opted for electronic wallet accounts because of the long distances to the nearest bank and the lack of Point of Sale (POS) machines in rural shops. This resulted in all farmers, over 400,000 joining the e-wallet platform. Regular fluctuations in the exchange rate, increasing inflation as well as a rampant parallel market for foreign currency meant that the earnings of farmers have been wholly unpredictable at best.
Most recently, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services issued a statement suspending what are called ‘bulk lines’, then followed by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe’s directive leaving over ZWL300 million frozen in The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe Econet merchant lines. This means cotton farmers remain unpaid to date, and many who live hand to mouth are in a desperate situation requiring urgent redress. According to previous submissions by the regulator, Agricultural and Marketing Authority (AMA), The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe enjoys around
90% market share.
Volatility in cotton pricing
Secondly, it is custom for the Minister of Lands, Agriculture,
Water and Rural Resettlement to announce prices before the Cotton buying season, and in most instances cotton is then bought straight away, however this has not been the case with the 2020 season. Consequently, farmers have been left in limbo and without any explanation as to the changes in approach. By their account, they are not receiving any satisfactory responses from the authorities. This is in the context of what is effectively ‘retrospective pricing’ due to inflationary pressures that diminish the value of their earnings in a short period of time.
Overwhelmed by uncertainty and in the absence of any cogent answers from the authorities, the Cotton Producers and Marketers
Association of Zimbabwe sought our intervention, and consequently Members of Parliament embarked on a fact-finding mission to see firsthand the plight of farmers and develop recommendations to break the inertia. This report takes a closer look at these two specific issues that have a major impact on the livelihood and morale or farmers.
Context
The cotton industry in Zimbabwe has a complicated history that has affected both the modus operandi and perceptions of the industry. Ever since the formation of the Cotton Marketing Board (CMB) in 1969, the industry has been dependent on thousands of small-scale communal farmers and a few commercial farmers producing rain-fed dry land cotton. These two groups of farmers produced cotton on one to ten hectares for small scale communal farmers and ten to one hundred hectares for commercial farmers. The above scenario has resulted in the national production reaching a maximum of 350, 000 tonnes of seed cotton over the past 49 years.
The deregulation of the cotton sector as part of the structural adjustment programme of the 90s (ESAP) saw the lifting of the CMB monopoly which attracted a number of entrants to the cotton primary production sector.
In many ways, the industry has gone full circle. With respect to production, from a record high of 353, 000 metric tons produced in
2000, the national cotton crop dwindled to as low as 27,000. On the back of organised input support, national production increased once again exceeding 350,000 in 2012. However, recently the crop has been on a free fall, dropping to its current output of 74,000. This drastic drop has been largely due to low producer prices, side-marketing, inputs diversion and climate. With the volatility of international lint prices, cotton farming has become a more and more challenging enterprise whose viability is under threat in Zimbabwe. It is ever more important, therefore, to ensure that the entire value chain is incentivised to increase productivity, and to act ethically in so doing.
Methodology
A simplified approach was adopted in light of a more significant and wider impending inquiry that will cover the complete spectrum of stakeholders and investigate a broader set of issues. As such, The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance were not directly engaged. It is hoped that this report will in part provide basis of this wider investigation, in which both Ministries will play a significant role.
As such, in undertaking this enquiry, the Committee primarily engaged in interfaces with farmers and cotton companies.
Cotton Farmer Interfaces
2 July 2020
Nemangwe Business Centre, Gokwe South
The Committee had interfaces with cotton farmers at Nemangwe
Business Centre in Gokwe South in the morning of Thursday the 2nd of July. It met various cotton farmers and received oral submissions from them and officials from Cottco, Zimbabwe Cotton Consortium, Southern
Cotton, AMA, Chief’s Representatives and the Executive of Cotton Producers and Marketers Association of Zimbabwe.
2 July 2020
Chitekete Business Centre, Gokwe North
In the afternoon of Thursday the 2nd of July, the Committee proceeded to Chitekete Business Centre in Gokwe North and received oral submissions from cotton farmers and officials from Cottco, Zimbabwe Cotton Consortium, Southern Cotton, AMA and the
Executive of Cotton Producers and Marketers Association of Zimbabwe
Submissions
ChiteketeBusiness Centre Submissions
Mr. Edison Kalungwe, a celebrated and top farmer from Chitekete in Gokwe North managed to produce a whopping 224 bales on his plot. He has five wives and thirty children whom he takes care of and most of whom are still in school. When the price of Cotton was announced he said he was extremely satisfied, and his family celebrated. Government had announced a producer price of ZWL43.9/kg translating into US$1.75/kg. An average bale weighs around 220kgs meaning he was going to rake in over ZWL$2 million or US$85,000.00. In the end, the tears of celebrations were turned into tears of anger and desperation. If he were to be paid on the 2nd of July, the money remains the same in ZWL value but has drastically depreciated in US$ terms which is the currency used to benchmark almost all goods in the country. From
US$85,000.00, he now can only get US$31,000.00 at the 2nd of July’s interbank rate, let alone the day Cottco decides to pay him. He described this as “pure witchcraft.”
We were confronted by Mr. Japheth Ngwenya who said after the producer price announcement, he went to Cottco and they did his calculations, at the day of announcement, his money was sufficient to purchase a 7 tonne Truck, 10 cows, a tractor and pay university fees for the whole year for his daughter and school fees for the year for the other 5 children but as of the 2nd of July 2020, the money was now only sufficient to purchase a third of his previous budget.
- Some farmers then highlighted that it may be more profitable to sell Presidential Inputs and pocket money instead of toiling for almost 6 months with nothing to show for it.
- The farmers are unsure as to the bank charges in the event that they were to open bank accounts and would rather not pursue that option since currently it is impossible to withdraw cash from financial institutions.
Farmers argued that their local rural councils that rely on cotton are on the verge of bankruptcy and would only be resuscitated if cash flows improve from improved levy collection.
- They also noted that rural transporters that had parked their trucks and tractors would be given transportation contracts to move cotton from fields to buying points thereby increasing the network of both local economy and employment opportunities.
Nemangwe Business Centre Submissions
- At Nemangwe Business Centre, farmers indicated that they do not want the e-wallet method of payment (commonly referred to as Ecocash due to the platform’s market dominance). Farmers categorically stated that they prefer cash as the only method of payment. They want cotton payments to be done in hard US$ cash payments and at the very least, the payment must track interbank rate.
- A local farmer, Mr. Goodzi, was outraged by the treatment of farmers, going so far as to accuse committee members and all authorities of having a good life at the expense of farming communities.
Mr. Raymond Tonhorayi, a young farmer, expressed concern that cotton farming is now neither appealing nor lucrative and is a major cause of rural to urban migration as youths search for greener pastures. He also attributed the spiraling of theft cases and other misdemeanors to the idleness of the youth, who are no longer interested in cotton farming.
- Mahachi, a successful cotton farmer, was clear that cotton farmers are only neglected because cotton farming is a venture for poor and marginalized citizens. He was of the opinion that if high ranking members of the society, especially Government Ministers and Senior Government Officials were to farm cotton as they do tobacco, prices would be fair and appealing.
- We met an elderly woman, Mrs. Masukume who narrated how they moved to Gokwe in search of better yields in the 1970s and cotton was a huge venture but now they are the laughing stock among the youths who have now turned to crime. She was adamant that there is a deliberate effort to disempower farmers.
The farmers argued that if prices were correct, cotton companies and other enterprises would employ from their cotton communities and business activities would have been revived in the rural areas with shops that had closed down reopening.
- Food security would be enhanced for the rural communities who in the past have been forced to sell maize to finance their cash flow needs but would be able to finance their day to day needs from cotton proceeds.
Findings
Policy inconsistency amongst different Government departments is the major cause for distrust of the financial sector. There is no clear policy framework from the Government on how to manage the policy consistency.
- Farmers have lost their life savings more than 3 times within a decade and without recourse. As such, the banking system is
distrusted and now viewed as a method of stealing from poor farmers and enriching the crooks.
- Farmers have consistently complained that they are being overcharged by shop-owners and other service providers who demand a punitive premium on their pricing for accepting the use of e-wallet funds.
- The 2020 marketing season has seen the price being announced followed swiftly by the e-wallet merchant lines suspension, just as payment to farmers commenced. This has resulted in a total standstill to the cotton marketing season and cotton farmers are stranded as no cotton companies are disbursing payments given their e-wallet method of payment to farmers have been suspended by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
- Farmers are practically being robbed as the country fails to recognise the impact that our current hyper-inflationary situation has on them. In effect, they are being paid using retrospective prices that would have been gazetted several months prior, resulting in immeasurable losses in value of their income before they have even received any payment. This has brought untold suffering to this marginalised group of members of the society.
- Farmers resort to side market their crop as a desperate measure to recoup expenses and this greatly affects the financiers of the Presidential Input Schemes.
- Cotton farmers are being both neglected and abused.
- While the Reserve Bank may have noted some serious abuse of the e-wallet system and rightfully imposed a suspension, the blanket ban has resulted in grave unintended consequences effectively stalling the process of cotton buying and the ability of farmers to earn an honest income.
Recommendations
- The Committee strongly recommends that The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement in consultation with relevant stakeholders, reviews the price of Cotton in line with
market dynamics since the last price announcement. This process must be accomplished within fourteen (14) days of presenting this report to Parliament and every farmer who had received an advance payment must receive an adjustment according to the new and current price. A workable and permanent framework must be put in place before 2021 buying season to ensure that prices are indexed to the global lint price.
- The Committee directs all cotton companies registered with AMA to approach all interested banks in Zimbabwe and initiate the process of account openings for every farmer on file within 3days of presenting this report to Parliament. This should be done at no cost to the farmer.
- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe must absorb the cost of account openings and ATM/Debit cards issuance for the farmers and must waiver charges for transferring money from farmers accounts into their registered e-wallet accounts.
- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe must within 48hrs of presenting this report to Parliament, unfreeze over ZWL$300million trapped in the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe Econet merchant lines which is meant to pay for farmers’ cotton. RBZ may institute investigations into the past usage of COTCCOs merchant lines and if any abuse is detected, punitive and corrective measures must be taken while at the same time protecting all innocent farmers.
- The Ministry of Finance must with immediate effect; issue a waiver to all cotton buying companies registered with AMA not to deduct 10% Withholding Tax from the payments to the cotton farmers.
- The Committee recommends that disbursement of funds to farmers is initiated and completed within 24hrs of selling of their bales.
Conclusion
This report concludes, with no reservation, that the above interventions need to be made, forthwith, to correct grave policy oversights made in recent days. It is unacceptable that no explanation has been offered to mostly poor and vulnerable farmers who have been stranded without pay on account of the decision to suspend bulk mobile lines.
The shortchanging of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens could not be condemned more categorically by the Committee. Farmers have lost confidence in Treasury’s handling of their payments to the extent that even if Prof. Mthuli Ncube were to employ his famed
‘Sophisticated Algorithm Formula’, the farmers’ appetite for ZWL without attempting to at least benchmark to the recently adopted Reuters Forex Auction Platform would most likely be rejected unless there is an unfair aggressive mobilisation and manipulation.
The observations made on the ground were deeply concerning to all Members of the Committee as we saw first-hand the financial and material hardships faced by farmers as a result of recent policies and decisions. There is a sense that the Executive and the broader government are out of touch, and unconcerned with the suffering of its most vulnerable citizens. The Government would be ill-advised to overlook these sentiments as the prospect of over 400,000 disillusioned and marginalised households throughout the country with an average of 4 adult members per household could have very real consequences in the ballot box.
*HON. MUPONORA: Let me take this opportunity to thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support this important motion. Let me start by giving you a brief background on cotton farming in this country, starting from the year 2012. In 2012, this country recorded the highest figure of 353 000 metric tonnes of cotton and that gave us a lot of money in terms of forex. Because of some challenges, the production of cotton was reduced and this affected us gaining foreign currency and people lost jobs. The decline was caused by low prices of cotton, side marketing and climate change.
After the Government observed the strategic importance of cotton in the country and internationally, they brought in the Presidential Input Support Scheme. This is the programme which gives cotton farmers, especially in rural areas, inputs like chemicals and seed and fertiliser. This made the harvest to increase to 140 000 in the 2017/18 season. This resulted in people from rural areas having better livelihoods and people were getting jobs.
Cotton companies during that time, were able to employ about 5 000 workers and people that were benefiting from cotton rose to above one million. The country managed to get foreign currency well above US$85 000. Farmers were being paid in foreign currency and it was cash. Government through the RBZ directed that everyone has to be paid through the banks. The Government brought what was termed financial inclusion strategy and farmers were asked to open bank accounts but they opted to use mobile money because a lot of farmers are from rural areas and do not have banks nearby and have to board buses into town to get to banks. So they opened e-Wallets and got their monies well such that they were able to send their children to school and their livelihood improved.
Now come 2020 farming season, the price of cotton was announced and it was good pegged at Z$43,94 per kg. I grew up in
Mukumbura in Mt. Darwin where we grew cotton and this price for 2020 seasonwas very good. It was equivalent to US$1.75 per kg which is a lot of money to a cotton farmer because they got inputs from the Government. After celebrating that they were getting better payments, it was said that the bulk payer lines suspended and this affected the payment of farmers. COTTCO is the biggest company which contracted farmers to grow cotton, had money in its agent lines of about Z$300 million and farmers had already delivered cotton to COTTCO. That money was supposed to be used to pay farmers in May, 2020 but this money was locked in those lines. Up to today, cotton farmers are yet to be paid and languishing in abject poverty.
Those people who were in the videos, including the one who had 224 bales of cotton, is going around shops asking for food because he has not yet been paid for his cotton deliveries. He is not able to sustain his family yet his money is locked up somewhere. Cotton farmers are not accessing their money because of that and as I stand here supporting this motion as presented by Hon. Wadyajena, it is my request to Government as we look forward to the 2020/21 season, that progressive measures must be put in place to ensure there is no repeat of this.
Also, looking at the Government policy for 2030 that we are supposed to be a middle income, economy, since our currency is not stable and always changing, compared with other currencies, why can we not peg cotton producer prices in foreign currency? If cotton price was pegged at US$1.75, farmers were not going to complain because their money was not going to lose value. The farmer that was supposed to get ZW$2 million or US$85 000, I do not know today’s rate, getting US$20 000 today. We need to fix that as Government so that cotton farming continue to viable.
We have 400 thousand cotton growers, having households of five to six children each. If we combine these people, you will realise that it is a high number of people surviving on cotton. Now they are experiencing challenges because they are not getting their monies. I also want to encourage the Government, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to remove the policy which has made the money not to be accessible in e-wallets. We understand that there is ZimSwitch and we know there are criminals who through ZimSwitch can tell where one is sending money. I think the policy of blocking money is affecting everyone, including those who are not into criminal activities. We want those that are genuine to be allowed to go ahead and use their money. It is very easy to trace money to see when it is being laundered and when it is being used for proper business. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to support the report.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like take this opportunity to thank Hon. Wadyajena for a well presented report. I have a few comments to make Madam Speaker. Cotton used to be regarded as white gold but it is no longer white gold because of the small amounts being paid to our esteemed farmers. Farmers in Zimbabwe today are not being paid not because cotton companies do not have the money to pay them, but because the Ecocash merchant and Cashout methodologies of payment are no longer effected as they were abused by some economic saboteurs of Zimbabwe. Now, we urgently encourage the RBZ to address the concerns of our farmers expeditiously without much ado. How is this going to be done? I support Hon. Wadyajena that payment has to be done within 48 hours. Cotton farmers must be allowed to open their bank accounts at zero deposit and they should not be taxed for any amount or cash that is going to be deposited into their accounts.
Madam Speaker, I am speaking as an Hon. Member who represent cotton farmers in Zimbabwe, particularly farmers in Gokwe North, Gokwe Chireya whom I represent in this House. I am also speaking as a cotton farmer. The first farmers who surrendered their cotton to the cotton marketing companies, the first consignments were done in March, now we are in July. Four months after the cotton bales were submitted, it is not fair. Farmers should be paid on time. If there is need for a reserve fund so that as soon as somebody surrenders or decides to sell
his or her cotton to the cotton marketing companies, there should be onspot payment so that we do not inconvenience our farmers.
The cotton price that was announced by the Hon. Minister of RTGS$43.94, at that particular time was a lot of money. Farmers accepted and appreciated that at least the Government had recognised that they were going to realise the value of their sweat, but because of inflation and the depreciation of local currency, this money needs to be reviewed. The price was pegged three to four weeks ago but at this particular juncture, it has to be addressed in line with what is obtaining on the market. I am sure every Tuesday there are auctions that are done by the RBZ. Those auctions should determine how much the cotton farmer should be paid. Cotton is an export crop and I will submit that Madam Speaker, since it is an export crop, there is need for farmers to realise substantial amount of their remuneration in form of US dollars, not what they are being paid today, US$10 per bale if the bale weighs
200kgs.
Can you imagine, a farmer who sold his or her bale – I should not say selling because when selling there is an aspect of exchange in terms of money. One who surrendered his or her bale in March weighing 200kgs, but because it was just placed somewhere on the ground and because of the excessive heat in Gokwe, Muzarabani or in Chiredzi that bale no longer weighs 200kgs. It now weighs far less than 200kgs and a farmer gets a raw deal. What he or she gets is $5 if the bale does not weigh 200kgs. What cotton companies are doing is not fair. Farmers are told to go and pick groceries from their point of sale, this is not fair. One should be given his or her money on time and we want to encourage the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement to address this issue urgently. I would like to support the recommendations made by the Committee that disbursement of funds should be done within 48 hours. I so submit Madam Speaker.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am also one person who was affected when we went around the country and saw how farmers are suffering. This country’s economy has been prospering because of farmers. However, as Zimbabweans we are not taking farming seriously. Looking at these farmers, they are living from hand to mouth compared to commercial farmers of the Smith era who had better livelihoods than the who were in formal employment. We also know that this is where they get their payments. If the video had volume you would be really affected by what is happening to farmers, yet we know our country is an agro based economy.
It is unfortunate that farmers go for three months before being paid. Upon payment, the money have been eroded by inflation. If I were to suggest that everyone should produce the money they have in their pockets, you would find that most of us are carrying US dollars and no bond notes. However, our farmers are so poor and most of them are walking, they do not have cars and decent accommodation to be treated as business, yet farming is supposed be. The Deputy Minister said that they must not complain much because they are given subsidised inputs. Please do not give them the subsidised inputs but commercialised everything and pay them in US dollars then you can recover the money for your inputs from their proceeds. Tobacco farmers are complaining but during the Smith era they were not complaining.
My thoughts are that people who are appointed as Ministers, Deputy Ministers and other positions are not knowledgeable because if they were, they would help grow the agriculture sector. Cotton might not pay that much, but in the past it was a lucrative venture. When we talk about sanctions, it is childish because it has nothing to do with farming. People should farm and those engaged in farming should be paid on time. Thereafter farmers will perform well. Most farmers, after independence are no longer doing commercial farming due to lack of support. However, commercial farmers of the Smith era had good livelihoods because they were supported by their government. I thank you.
*HON. ZHEMU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me also add
my voice to the report that was read by the Lands and Rural Resettlement Committee. It is true that government has done a lot to support the production of cotton focusing on the importance of cotton production which is important because it brings foreign currency into the country and it creates employment for a number of people. We can estimate around 500 000 cotton farmers in different parts of the country, in Gokwe, Nembudziya, Muzarabani, Mt Darwin etcetera. Most of these people get jobs through farming. This industry is also crucial in the creation of other jobs like the manufacturing of clothes.
I would like to support what the committee presented. We need to support them so that the sector continues to excel, depending on the satisfaction of the farmers who produce cotton, for example the $43.94 price of cotton was satisfactory to farmers and most of them were happy and were encouraged to continue farming. However, the late payment of those monies affected farmers. Even this season that we are approaching might be a challenge because there will be fewer cotton farmers since in the previous season they were not properly remunerated.
The other challenge we noted as a committee is that cotton companies did not pay on time because their mode of payment through ecocash bulk payer was closed within the payment period. Most cotton companies said around $3 million was locked into such transactions. This reflects that the financial intelligence unit was not supposed to pass such a decision during that time. Being a financial intelligence unit means that they must use intelligence so that they take note of the mistakes that are happening and the crimes being committed. These things should be corrected because companies were facing challenges in terms of disbursement of funds. They ended up paying groceries and other forms of payment.
Farming should be taken as a business. This is the contemporary school of thought. However, when a farmer is not properly remunerated, this affects even the performance of the business. Farmers should be given what they deserve so that they are encouraged to continue producing more. Currently, the biggest challenge is the loss of revenue through inflation. The money that was announced by government $3,94 in June and now we are on July 14th and it has been a month since that price was announced.
Most farmers lost their revenue through inflation because of the exchange rates that are fluctuating. This should be taken so that farmers are encouraged by getting money that is meaningful to them. Taking this into cognizance then I would like to urge that farmers be paid in US dollars so that they do not lose their investments or revenue. At the moment they are being paid using local currency yet all their implements are determined by US dollars. So, I would like to suggest that the price of cotton be pegged using a US dollar rate. This will curb the effects of inflation on our farmers. I believe that the report that was presented is important to us as Members of this august House because we are representatives of people who are not satisfied because of the loss of revenue and also prices of cotton should be pegged at US$. With these few words, I would like to thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: Madam Speaker, let me add my voice to the
report that was presented by Hon. Wadyajena. This is quite a touching issue. In the past just a bale of cotton could buy a cow but now you cannot even buy a goat. As farmers we need to understand what has changed. Since cotton is traded on the world market, the value has depreciated. This is the same cotton which is used to produce oil, clothes and stock feeds. I would like to urge the august House to value farmers so that they continue producing. Looking at different parts of the country which are hot, the crop that can be grown in any part of the country is cotton. So, I would like to urge Government to support cotton farmers so that their produce will be like tobacco and other crops.
I would also like to urge Government that money should be disbursed to different parts of the country so that cotton is procured by cotton companies and this could be done with the protection of ZRP so that farmers benefit. Let me add on saying that we are here in this august House because our parents paid our fees using proceeds from the sales of cotton production. How about our children – will they be able to go to school or come to this august House and be representatives of the people? Not all of them can be gold panners. My plea is that producers of cotton should also be noticed and supported so that their livelihoods would be enhanced. Thank you Madam Speaker.
+HON. P. MASUKU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee for bringing up such an important report. The first thing I would like to say is that growing cotton is very difficult. Around 1982 to 1984 people used to leave their areas to go to places where cotton was being grown because it would earn them money. Quite a number of people developed so much because of cotton. What I am asking for, is Government to have mercy on farmers because these cotton farmers are just growing without anything that they are getting out of it. Right now they have sold their cotton but they have not received their money. They are supposed to look after their families, take them to schools and eat but that money is not enough. They are looking forward to getting better living from cotton but they are not getting anything.
Madam Speaker, something else that is also worrying to cotton farmers is that Government is sending presidential inputs to these farmers which is something that now looks like taking farmers for granted because once they get these inputs, they are not being incentivised properly when it comes to selling cotton just because they are being given these inputs. All they are expected to do is to keep thanking the Government without much that they are getting out of it. Government is supposed to let these farmers get schemes to sustain themselves not to get to a point of receiving incentives from Government.
I would like Government to look into this issue. I am a Member of this Committee and what I saw is that most cotton farmers are saying it is better we just ignore this project of cotton farming because we are not getting anything out of it. Most of them looked so distressed because of the activities that they are taking in this cotton farming yet they are getting nothing out of it. One other thing that I need to really highlight is that they need US$ and nothing else. If only you could have managed to see the videos playing here, you would realise that these farmers all they want is US$ and nothing else. I continue to say if our Government is a listening Government, it should listen to the concerns of these cotton farmers and give those cotton farmers US$ and make sure that these farmers sell their cotton in US$. Thank you.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Madam Speaker. The issue that I
heard here being presented concerning cotton reflects that our
Committee which went around the country to take people’s views and that discovered will be important for Government to intervene and assist cotton farmers. When I was listening, I was just reminded that there was a time when there was not much cotton production because the world market was not competitive because of different reasons which led to the production of clothes which were not necessarily made by cotton. However, because our Government knew the importance of cotton, it introduced a scheme of subsidising cotton farmers by giving them inputs and seeds. It should be noted that farmers do farming as a business, it is an investment so that after harvesting the farmer will get his or her profits. I agree these farmers should be well remunerated so that they are able to look after their families. Hon. Wadyajena’s Committee also noted that Government appreciates the importance of cotton farmers.
That is why Government subsidised inputs.
Madam Speaker, I heard the other Hon. Members saying that the price of cotton was pegged at $43 per kg. Many people rejoiced because they appreciated what Government has done. Government had also taken into consideration the fact that farmers have needs. However, our country is facing a number of challenges including saboteurs who are sabotaging the economy of the country. The economy is under siege. Whatever is planned today, the following day, those who want to sabotage the economy plan and plot to destabilise the economy every day. So, the challenge that led to the depreciation of the value of the money that were being given to cotton farmers cannot be attributed to Government but there are a lot of factors which have led to that. These are some of the factors that are affecting cotton farmers.
Madam Speaker, in our report we were supposed to highlight to the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Finance that a child goes through different stages from birth to walking. When the child walks, that child cannot continue to be assisted to walk. Government subsidised farmers and now some farmers are able to produce 200 bales. This was the objective of the Cotton Support Scheme and at some point these farmers can stand on their own feet.
Madam Speaker, we should continue fighting what is challenges in the economy for example the enemies of Zimbabwe who brought
ZIDERA and sanctions which are sabotaging the Zimbabwe dollar – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - However, at the moment, we need to appreciate that Government did a good thing of empowering cotton farmers by giving them inputs. However, captains of industry particularly those at RBZ should be urged to look at this issue taking into cognisance the fact that the economy is struggling so RBZ should ensure that our cotton farmers are properly remunerated.
Madam Speaker, I request that I debate without being heckled –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Chikwinya.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, the issue we are discussing here, when dealing with challenges that are faced by people we need to look at these challenges holistically. I would like to request that we need to engage the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to come and address the House regarding the challenges faced by farmers include the effects of saboteurs who are in this august House so that our farmers can benefit from their produce. In shona we say kutenda cheguva kutenda auya nacho – [AN HON. MEMBER: Maakuuraya a good report] -I believe that our Government is a listening Government which will find means so that our cotton farmers are given resources to go back to the field.
The value of our money has been eroded, it is because of those who brought sanctions through ZIDERA.
*HON. CHIBAGU: I stand as a Zimbabwean and I support our report. I would like to say that we must not despise our God as Zimbabweans. For me to be a supplier and a consumer, if you look at my profile, I started long back producing cotton and at times producing a thousand bales. What is the way forward. As elders who meet others in summit meetings, they discuss on the way forward. It is not possible for us to continue being consumers and suppliers, producing for those who just take a bath and relax without farming in their own countries – [Laughter] – we want to do our own things here in Zimbabwe as Zimbabweans, there is nothing problematic about that. We produce cotton and if we sell it, we gett our own money which is valuable, we will prosper. If you live in urban areas and oppose what is being said, we will become people with no direction – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – let us be able to know our rights. – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Inaudible interjection.] – let me finish, no need to rush.
They have agreed with us but they should have raised the price to a level which is reasonable so that we know that we are doing this together as one. However, if the prices are pegged for us when we are the producers, is it not helpful? We are the people who do the entire production process; the clothes that we are wearing – they go out there and dye the cloth and when it comes back, it is written, ‘made in so and so country,’ yet the whole production is done by us as Zimbabwean people – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – we do not want that.
HON. WADYAJENA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker. Madam Speaker, I just want to clarify, maybe Hon. Members were not listening carefully. I just need to clarify this, I said; it must be noted from the outset that this report is by no means an exhaustive examination of the industry. It serves as a stopgap measure to address pressing concerns as expressed by farmers. It goes without saying that with the shocking decline in national output of seed cotton, a cohesive stimulation strategy of the industry is indeed required but can only follow a more comprehensive study, and the participation of the entire stakeholder universe. This report must not be distorted – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Madam Chair and a very good
afternoon to you. First and foremost, allow me to thank the Hon. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Wadyajena for bringing such a pertinent report together with his Committee; that goes to the root of economic activities in our country which is supposed to see our livelihoods being improved. Madam Chair, mindful of social distancing, allow me to speak with my mask off because I know that there are no people around me.
Madam Chair, I grew up in Gokwe Mapfungautsi. My current Hon. Member of Parliament in that respect is Hon. Karikoga. I share the same agricultural activities with Hon. Moyo from Gokwe Chireya and other Hon. Members who are in parts of Gokwe South and Gokwe North. That particular region Madam Chair has cotton farming as one of its major economic activities. My aunt, sister to my mother, Mrs.
Mudzamiri grew her cotton in a Constituency now known as GokweSesame in an area known as Huchu. Madam Chair, that lady passed on leaving a house in Mbizo, No. 185, Section 8 in Mbizo. She managed to buy that house through proceeds from cotton farming. I am giving you a live example of a farmer managing to purchase a house which is a property most of us cannot purchase today through formal employment but she managed to purchase that house and extended it to become a four-bedroomed house using cotton farming proceeds. Mrs. Mudzamiri from Huchu, Gokwe-Sesame – (that was in the early 90s) represents the majority of farmers in the Gokwe communal areas. Mrs. Mudzamiri is like the cotton farmer who lives today.
The Chairperson, in his second bite of the cherry, where he says,
‘this report must not be distorted,’ and where he tried to align Hon. Members in their debate to the report so presented, said, I quote, “ this report represents the concerns of the farmers.” The farmers are not showing incapacity of cotton production, they can produce. The farmers are very grateful for the support they are being given by the Government in terms of inputs – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – but what is problematic is the payment model. We are having farmers who were producing 30 bales of cotton in 1990; they still have the capacity and even more because of the support of producing more than 30 bales but the value of cotton has been eroded from the 1990 era to todate. Where a bale of cotton could purchase a beast, now it can only buy you a 2kgs packet of sugar if you are lucky.
Madam Chair, in Gokwe, there is an area called Cotton Marketing Board (CMB), it is basically a depot of cotton where people go with their bales and sell their product and given money. That area developed into a growth point, primarily on the basis of economic activities driven by cotton. However, if you go there now, it is in a sorry state. The Hon. Member for that area I am sure is Hon. Moyo and others surrounding. It is in a sorry state, people are living in poverty but they built huge infrastructure such that had they been given continuous support, that growth point could probably have seen itself becoming a town.
Speaking of Gokwe Centre itself, it was a growth point as the growth point model was being developed in the late 80s and early 90s. Gokwe Centre became a growth point but its success is ridden on the economic activities purely through cotton farming. People would know that at the end of each cotton production period, those of our fathers knew ‘I am going to add a wife,’ now they cannot. They had the capacity to marry another wife – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – it is known, we cannot hide from history, it is true.
People would add a scotch-cart, beasts, add another house or extend what they had and sent children to school. Some are now Members of Parliament in here. It is only that Hon. Karikoga is not in the House, I could have spoken about him in his personal capacity because he has the right to respond. I was going to speak of him in good faith on the basis that he is a practical example of a father who grew up in a cotton farming area and managed to send his kids to school.
HON. MATANGIRA: On a point of order. Madam Speaker Ma’am. The Hon. Member is alluding to a very good economic emancipation to the people of Zimbabwe in Gokwe but when we say every year a man was adding another wife, women are not property. I wish he would withdraw that – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. Hon.
Chikwinya, may you kindly maybe, be able to rephrase it and probably elaborate more on what you were trying to say – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – Order Hon. Members – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Matangira, order.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Let me rephrase my statement. Our
fathers, who are in the Gokwe Communal Area, after a cotton production cycle, have the capacity to add on to another wife. We have a polygamous set up in our communal area and it is accepted – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
Hon. Chair, they had the capacity to marry another wife. Why did they have the capacity to marry which they do not have now? They had the capacity to marry another wife because they had the capacity to go and pay lobola with proceeds out of cotton production. So, my Hon. Members who may be coming from Bindura and Makonde must not twist that statement. Infact the people of Gokwe are proud of their growing families or were proud of their growing families because they have the capacity to feed them. They had the capacity to send their children to school but we have taken that capacity away; that rightful capacity of a farmer in a communal area to be able to contribute to the economic activities of the country, to be able to improve his children’s livelihoods through cotton farming.
Production has remained constant, inputs have been improved but the problem which this report seeks to address is why the livelihood of a cotton farmer is getting down. Why is the livelihood of a cotton farmer being eroded? The people of Gokwe are crying about middle men. There are middle men who are coming from Harare; some of them who do not even know the colour of cotton. They go there and purport to support the farmer in Gokwe by giving them inputs outside Government’s inputs and they buy that cotton at a very low price because they have cash at hand. The weakness by Government which us, as Parliament must address is the late disbursement of funds.
The Government takes time to pay cotton farmers and therefore, cotton farmers are going into some middle men who pay them ready cash which will be lowly priced. Whereas Government could be paying $43 RTGS deposited into an account, the middle man comes with, perhaps $40 in the form of bond notes. These people are forced to deal with the middle man who then sells this cotton at a premium outside the country.
Can we not have a set up as is happening in tobacco whereby we have auction floors that purchase this cotton; we have a system that promotes the farmer and a direct interface with the Government where the farmer is protected in terms of the value of their products? Why are we letting down the cotton farmer?
Gokwe is now a laughing stock as a district throughout the whole country but it has the potential of becoming one of your Chiadzwa gold mining districts in terms of competitiveness in economic activities but we have let down these people. I bet you, the majority of Gokwe Members of Parliament, as they do their feedback meetings, the question they are faced with in each and every meeting is that how are you going to support us as cotton farmers to be self sustained. The solution in my view is that we cannot re-invent the wheel, let us take the tobacco model and put it into cotton farming model. Let us support the cotton farmers in asmuchas we are also supporting the tobacco farmers.
We are exporting cotton, why not pay the cotton farmers in USD? The issue is that why do they want USD, where they buy every other goods and services which are supportive of their cotton industry, they are paying in USD. So, you are forcing this cotton farmer to be paid in RTGS yet he has to go to the black market to get USD for him to get supporting products to his cotton production. We cannot be able to expose our farmers in that manner.
I want to agree with the Chairperson of the Agricultural Committee and their entire Committee that this report must come up with tangible issues as per their recommendations. What we must do going forward; and there is also the issue of price predictability. Every time our farmers are going into a farming season, they are not aware of what will be the price at the end of the season. It must be predictable and it can only be so if it is matched with a USD value which is a stable currency. That is the reason why a farmer can then choose to either put up 10 hectares, 2 hectares or 1 hectare because you can then predict to say if I put 1 hectare and get so much bales, then I can get this much. However, if it
is unpredictable in an inflationary environment, you cannot plan around the RTGS.
As I conclude, let us be responsive to our people who give their issues to Parliamentary Committees. We cannot allow ourselves to continue making Parliamentary Committees talk shows. Every Parliamentary Committee as it goes out to an outreach programme, they must be able to bring up solutions and recommendation to the Executive which are implementable and they must be seem to be implemented so that at least we preserve the integrity of Parliament. We cannot be seen to be only a talk show which does not proffer solutions to the people who gave us the alter ego of representing them in Parliament. I thank you.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Hon. Chair. I want to thank the Chairperson of the Agricultural Portfolio Committee and what he presented in this august House. Secondly, I want to thank the Government for bringing back farming of cotton throughout Zimbabwe by giving free inputs.
I want to cry out aloud that the Government must have an agricultural policy where a pre-planting price is given for any commodity, be it maize, soya bean, and cotton, like we are debating in here today. The pre-seasonal pegging of prices which AMA (the Agricultural Marketing Authority) has to do its research, - cotton unlike most of the crops that we grow in Zimbabwe is marketed in the United Kingdom, the lead market. The lead market is the market that determines the prices of lint cotton worldwide.
Now, we know that we have got a perennial war with the British because of the Land Reform Programme. How could Britain give us a better price for the cotton that we are growing on our ancestors’ land for which the British has colonized us and taken it from us – [Hear, hear.]-
I have grown cotton as a commercial farmer from 1992, yes, cotton had a good price. It had a good price then because everything else was where it was and was a white dominant crop. It had a price that was beneficial to the then colonisers of this country. So, we had to understand why cotton was fetching so much money.
Madam Speaker, we are importing cooking oil, which used to come from oil seed which was soya bean, sunflower and cotton seed and then we would have cotton cake for our stock feed – how nice? The ginneries were using the same electricity from Kariba and Hwange Colliery for mahara. Why, because the bulk was the white men who were growing that crop. When we now look at it, do we know what percentage in weight is seed and how much percentage in lint of our bale which is now being said to be bought at US$10? What we need to do as Parliament in this State of the Republic of Zimbabwe is let us not cry out all the time.
Let us proffer the mitigatory act. The Z$43 that was offered by Government to a crop of cotton per kilogram which was given for free, the input was very good three weeks ago because of the rate of the day. Why can we not put our heads together in Parliament and say Government you announced the price of cotton in June at Z$43. We simply turn around and say what the value of the same cotton was that day when you gave us that price in US$. It was US$1,75 or $1,55. Why do we not revert back to that? Government must ask us how to get to it.
I remember in 1995 I had a cotton crop that yielded 4 500 tonnes per hectare and I had 40 hectares. People had to come and pick that cotton. How much were we paying per kilogram for the pickers? You had to buy the bale, pay for the transport because agriculture is the only fraternity whereby you pay for the transport to markets and of the inputs. It is a vicious circle. Now, we must now come up and urge the Government through the Agricultural Marketing Authority to find out what the price of cotton from the leading market is. We may be chasing our tail’. Brazil used to be the highest producer and also Turkey, what are they selling their cotton at? We are no longer known. We are living in a global village. Yes, our people have to be empowered, but how do we empower our people.
We must also thank our Government because they have done it with the cereals and have come with the industrial 1,2,3. Very few depots have remained at CotCo as we speak now because they have sold most of their depots. We have lost employment and economic analysts, whatever we no longer have and now this. Yes, when we talk about democracy, we only talk of democracy when we are going for elections. Democracy is today. We are representatives of the same people that put this Government in power.
Of course, I am not ashamed to say Madam Speaker that we would like the ruling party to be in power the next time we go for elections. We know it. So, let us cry to our Government to say can you not adjust. We know Government could adjust because Government is the people democratically elected. What are we crying about? We may add another wife or buy scotch carts. No, wait. We will buy aeroplanes if we speak to the Government with the right tone and we will make it.
Lastly Madam Speaker, I will urge Zimbabwe to grow cotton because from cotton Government is going to do us good. This is a hurdle. It is an easy market. Ours should not be just to blame, the blame game is over. It is you and what you are doing about it. I have not gone to see the Minister of Agriculture to ask him how he came to this figure of $10 per bale. Let us bring them here and I wonder why if we are talking about an issue so important, we should actually be having deputy ministers to hear our debates so that before Parliaments sends it wherever it has to be sent, they will have sat with the Secretary and Minister of Agriculture to say how we got to this price of $10 instead of saying Government is not thinking about the people. How about you because the only time people are different is the time before the elections?
After elections, the President of Zimbabwe is President for everybody including the opposition. This is why we are not making it and where we are losing it. Differences, we copied a democracy of a foreign country that we cannot practice. Madam Speaker, having said it cotton is the only crop that can be grown in arid areas. It will sustain drought. So let us go and grow it. We must talk to Government with the right tone and we will be accorded and afforded with what we need. As a matter of fact, I will urge the Chairperson of the farming or agricultural committee to have come with a price from the people that they went out on outreach programmes to say people said if we could have so much per kilogram per bale then it is done. I thank you.
HON. J. SITHOLE: All we are saying in this very important debate is we are trying to motivate a cotton farmer so that the cotton farmer continues to produce cotton because cotton is a hard crop to produce. It is not an easy crop. You can think of a bale coming up but that will be after hard work. It is not anything that you just get overnight.
Also, we have to motivate a farmer who is growing cotton because by growing more cotton we are looking at vision 2030 where you find a cotton farmer is also an element of our economic development. When you think of vision 2030 you will think of people who are in a position where they can also stand on their own and survive on their own, but if the pricing system of cotton is so low that our people cannot manage to sustain or get towards vision 2030, then we will not be doing justice to ourselves.
If we want to motivate our farmers in such a way that those who have gone for land reform, the land that we have called for must be seen producing results. It is a common sight where you find people who have gone to do farming in the new resettlement areas where cotton is grown on a large scale, the majority do not grow maize but grow cotton primarily because it is their cash crop. When they get some good prices out of it they continue to get motivated and hence, they improve their productivity for the good of Zimbabwe, our country where so far in that if cotton is grown on a large scale, it can be a source of labour for some people who will be in need of money. They can also get some money from those who are growing cotton. There is no good cotton farmer that can do a lot of production on his own, that person needs labour. We are talking about employment and we can get employment through people who are working in cotton farms or cotton fields. So that we have our farmers augmenting what the President is saying about employment creation in Zimbabwe.
I also want to end this discussion by saying we need not create a negative attitude to our farmers. Once the farmers develop a negative attitude, we are not going to see productivity taking off the ground. I do understand some of the farmers in my constituency who have come to me from time to time wanting to know where the future of cotton is going in our area. Cotton is their main crop because it is a dry area. Let us continue motivating our farmers for the sake of productivity and also achieving our national goals. I thank you.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I will talk about Gokwe. When I visit that area I realised that a lady cotton farmer in Gokwe would be carrying a number of cotton bales for sale but they are not being paid, the money will not be equivalent to the number bales that they would have delivered. When they are now going to the shops, they will realise that their ecocash accounts where their money would have been deposited in, is not enough. What our Lands Committee Chairperson did is very impressive because we realised from our trip that people are suffering. Farmers are living in poverty. There are old women looking after orphans and they need to be paid their money as soon as they deliver their cotton bales. I thank you.
*HON. MURAI: Thank you Madam Speaker for allowing me to add my voice on the debate, the report on the cotton issue. The main reason why we had to go there was to find out the challenges the cotton farmers were facing. Madam Speaker, what we saw was pitiful. The cotton farmer was now behaving like a slave. It does not show that the farmer is producing such an important and vital crop. The problem of the farmer lies in the manner in which cotton crop is sold. That is where they are getting a raw deal. I would want to believe that it has been mentioned in this august House that we adopt the same system that is prevailing in the tobacco crop and the tobacco growers - should happen to the cotton growers. I also observed that the middlemen between the buyers and sellers of cotton is the biggest challenge and my proposal Madam Speaker is that it is important that the currency used in buying cotton should be the same currency used when selling the cotton. Farmers are short-changed because the buyers get the cotton in RTGS and they sell it in US dollars. The regulatory authority AMA should be a fair regulatory authority and there is need for policy change. Whoever wants to buy cotton should use the same currency that will be used when selling the cotton...
HON. MATANGIRA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. It would be very disappointing to say in this august House there is cotton being bought by the middlemen in RTGS and the same middlemen would sell that same cotton in US dollars. May we know where this is happening?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You wanted clarity from Hon.
Murai?
HON. MATANGIRA: Yes, I want clarity.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Murai, can you clarify
on that.
*HON. MURAI: Thank you Madam Speaker. It comes as a surprise Madam Speaker. I earlier on I said that we visited cotton farmers and we had cotton buyers, the producers and the regulatory authority. Those that buy cotton indicated that they are selling the cotton in US dollars. Cotton is not bought using RTGS dollars. The cotton farmers are aware of this. Those that buy the cotton in RTGS and reselling it in foreign currency said that is what the policy is and there is nothing that stops them from selling the cotton in whatever currency they prefer. I would like to believe that the Hon. Member has been answered. Madam Speaker, I would like to plead with you that we want progress but you should also see if we are still normal. Madam Speaker I am saying it is so easy to solve the challenges that we came across. We need to do as I have indicated and ensure that all cotton sales are done in foreign currency. We can also use the system prevailing in the tobacco industry and how it is marketed as a starting point. If that is the way to be taken, the cotton grower would be much happier. Amongst the cotton growers are war veterans. As they grow this cotton they believe that the liberation war period was better than this time when they are growing cotton. He said he was not going to speak but simply to ask Parliamentarians to compare the texture of our skin with that of the war veteran who was on the ground. We were very ashamed and we observed that our skin textures were from different countries although we were all from Zimbabwe.
* HON. TOGAREPI: On a point of order Hon Speaker, I believe the Hon. Member is insulting a very important component of the people in this country that he has a better skin texture than that of a war veteran. I would want to believe that it would be proper if he were to withdraw his statement.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Murai, may you please
withdraw your statement.
*HON. MURAI: I was going to explain what exactly what it was that I meant. You may ask me to withdraw very good words. I am saying let us help war veterans because they are suffering as they are into agriculture. Should we leave them like that?
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: There is a type of language
that we expect in this august House which does not belittle others. May you please withdraw your words?
*HON. MURAI: It has been understood. I withdraw my statement. All I am saying is that as cotton is being grown we have several types of people. Let us assist all of them so that our cotton farmers can do their farming well. Let us treat the farmers well. Let us have a clear policy in place which clearly spells out the functions of AMA. AMA should not allow buyers of cotton to buy in RTGs and the sellers then sell it in US dollars. Cotton should be priced in US dollars. I thank you.
*HON. SEWERA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would want to thank the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture for going on a fact finding mission regarding the cotton industry and why people were not receiving payment. It is painful and makes one feel pity for the farmers. I am a cotton grower myself and the $3,24 price mentioned is correct. I had 219 bales. I was not there when the Chairman and his Committee visited but I believe that as difficult as this issue maybe people are busy sending messages to me indicating that to date they still have not been paid and that they were receiving groceries. They said the reason why they grew cotton was so that they could buy cattle, scotchcarts, etcetera yet they were now being asked to collect groceries. We understand what this is all about but if possible it is my appeal that old people in places like Chimuchembo which is far away cannot come to Chitekete to open an account. It is quite difficult because there is no transport. It is $250 one way and this is an old lady coming with one or two bales of cotton coming from more than 200kms. She gets to the bank and there is nothing. I was thinking that cotton farmers should be put into a special group just like the tobacco growers. There should also be modalities for payment of their cotton without any hitches because these cotton farmers are contributing immensely to the country’s economy. All the cotton farmers in Gokwe know that their cotton is being exported and being sold in US dollars. If they were to be paid US$43 there and then, they would have benefited but cotton farmers owe cotton growers. We should go back and compensate the growers so that they can be motivated to grow cotton in Gokwe. In the past years, we would go past Kadoma on our way to Bulawayo and pass through David Whitehead and you would see that David Whitehead Factory was closed. If we are not going to support cotton farmers, David Whitehead will remain closed.
Cotton farmers should be supported and employment should be created. In their areas they would refer to us as my son and my young brother and say if I had been paid I would want to buy a bag of cement. They are development focussed. Most of the people that grow cotton would want to develop their residential areas but they cannot because of the payment that they are being given. It is not sufficient. I am in support of the report that has been tabled. The Government did well as well as the Committee that went on the ground to establish what exactly was happening. What we need now is the way forward. We should sit down and see what we can do so that the cotton farmers can realise their benefit after their sweat even in terms of those that grow maize.
The first farmers to deliver their yields to the Grain Marketing Board were not paid up to date. We would want a situation where it is a cash and carry basis of this produce so that and each and every player should earn their money. There are some people that are in Government that are sabotaging the Government. We should be aware of that. A lot of things have been said by my colleagues but I am saying that we were supporting the motion and we should do something quickly about the issue of cotton farmers because we are getting towards the cotton growing season in the not too distant future. I thank you.
HON. WADYEJENA: Madam Speaker, I beg to move that the
debate be now adjourned.
HON. MATANGIRA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday 15th July, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, I move that we revert back to Order of the Day No. 18 on today’s Order Paper.
HON. MATANGIRA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE ON PETITION
RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CARE
LEAVERS NETWORK TRUST ON THE VIOLATION OF
RIGHTS OF YOUNG ADULTS UPON DISCHARGE FROM
RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE FACILITIES
HON. E. NCUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker, rise to move a
motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the First
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare on the Petition received from the National Residential Care Leavers Network Trust on the Violation of Rights of Young Adults upon discharge from Residential Care Facilities.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
HON. E. NCUBE:
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In terms of Section 149 of the Constitution, the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare received a petition from the National Residential Care Leavers Network Trust. The organisation appealed to Parliament to protect the rights of young adults to survive, develop and become contributing members of society upon discharge from residential care facilities.
The petitioners noted several international protocols on children’s rights to which Zimbabwe is a party to, that include, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Children (1989), UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (2009), African Charter on Children’s
Rights (1990) and Africa’s Agenda 2040 for the Children. In addition, the petitioners made reference to Section 30 of the Constitution which stipulates that the State must take all practical measures, within the limits of available resources to provide security and social care to those in need. The petitioners further alluded to the Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06], National Action Plan for Vulnerable Orphans and Children, National Social Protection Policy (2013-2019), National Foster Care Hand Book and National Residential Care Standards, among other domestic instruments which provide for the rights and care of children. Programmes such as the Children in Difficulty Circumstances, Basic Education Assistance Module and Assisted Medical Treatment Orders were also mentioned.
The petitioners lamented that the above mentioned domestic policies, legislative instruments and programmes do not provide for the support of young people who are under the care of the State upon leaving residential care facilities when they reach 18 years of age. Consequently, a majority of these young adults have no option but to live on the streets under conditions of extreme poverty and resort to vices such as crime and drug abuse. In addition, the petitioners noted several challenges encountered by children living in residential care facilities, including; inadequate financial resources to provide for their basic needs, lack of psychosocial care and information, amongst other needs. This forms the background of the inquiry conducted by the
Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare into the petition received from the National Residential Care Leavers
Network Trust.
2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE INQUIRY
The key objective of the inquiry was for the Committee to assess the enrolment, care and discharge processes of children from residential care facilities. In particular, the Committee intended to establish efforts being made to empower and prepare children for independent living outside residential care and where they go upon discharge from these institutions. Furthermore, the Committee aimed to ascertain the support offered by the Government to children living in residential care facilities and whether they continue to receive any form of assistance from the
Government or residential care facility after discharge. Ultimately, the Committee sought to come up with recommendations for improved living conditions for both care leavers and children living in residential care facilities.
3.0 METHODOLOGY
The Committee undertook the following activities as part of the inquiry:
- Received oral evidence from the National Residential Care Leavers
Network Trust and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare;
- Analysed written submissions received from the National
Residential Care Leavers Network Trust and the National
Residential Care Standards (2010); and
- Conducted field visits to residential child care facilities as shown on Table 1 below:
Table 1: Residential Child Care Facilities Visited by the Committee
PROVINCE | RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE FACILITY |
Bulawayo | SOS Children’s Home |
Harare | Matthew Rusike Children’s Home
Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home |
Manicaland | Chirinda Children’s Home
Houtberg Child Care Centre |
Mashonaland Central | SOS Children’s Home
Ponesai Vanhu Children’s Home |
Mashonaland East | All Souls Children’s Home
Marondera Child Care Centre |
Mashonaland West | Kadoma Training Centre
Vimbainesu Children’s Home |
Matebeleland North | Harvest Family Children’s Home
Sunrise Children’s Home |
Matebeleland South | Sacred Heart Children’s Home
Ethandweni Children’s Home |
Masvingo | Chiredzi Christian Children’s Home
Bopoma Children’s Home |
Midlands | St. Mary’s Children’s Home
Blue Hills Rehabilitation Centre |
4.0 COMMITTEE’S FINDINGS
4.1 Oral Evidence from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare.
4.1.1Policy Framework for Enrolment, Care and Discharge of Children from Residential Care Facilities.
The Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06] mandates the Ministry of Public
Service, Labour and Social Welfare to place children in need under institutional care. These include; children who are destitute, orphans or untraceable and do not have a legal guardian, those whose legal guardian or parents do not exercise proper control and care over them or are unfit to do so. However, Mr Masanga, the Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare informed the Committee that Government views institutionalisation of children as an option of last resort after all other avenues such as the nuclear family, community, foster care or adoption have been exhausted.
In terms of Section 14 of the Children’s Act, any Police Officer, Health Officer, Education Officer or Probation Officer may remove a child or young person from any place to a place of safety. It further stipulates that these Officers should notify the Probation Officer of the local area within a period of five days. After conducting an inquiry into the case, the Probation Officer compiles a report which will be presented to a Magistrate of theCourt in terms of Section 20 of the above mentioned Act. The Magistrate issues a Court Order to either commit the child into a residential care institution, foster care or return them to the custody of a parent or guardian. The Court Order is valid for a period of 3 years after which it should be reviewed to assess whether the child’s circumstances have changed for the better or should they continue to stay at the residential care facility.
Furthermore, the Ministry developed the National Residential Child Care Standards (2010) which define dimensions of the quality of care and give minimum standards to be met by residential child care facilities for the provision of services in the protection and care of children placed in those facilities.
4.1.2 Government Support to Children Living in Residential
Care Facilities
The Ministry informed the Committee that although policy requires private children’s homes to be self-sustainable, the Government offers various forms of support to these institutions. This includes a per capita grant for the upkeep of each child admitted at an institution and administrative grant which should contribute towards the payment of salaries for employees at a residential care facility, amongst other purposes. The Committee learnt that these grants had been reviewed from RTGs $15.00 to RTGs $200 and that payments had been backdated to January 2019. Additionally, Ministry officials informed the Committee that Government pays tuition fees for institutionalised children under the Children in Difficulty Circumstances Programme.
Furthermore, the government donates food and clothing to children’s homes.
4.1.3 Government Support to Young Adults upon Discharge from Residential Care Facilities
Mr Masanga, the Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare informed the Committee that according to Government policy, a child in residential care is supposed to be discharged upon reaching 18 years of age. He admitted that the Ministry does not have any tangible programmes to cater for these young adults upon discharge from residential care except paying tuition fees for brilliant children up to university study level or vocational training. In fact, Government relies on family reunification and foster parents to shelter these young adults.
4.2 Field Visits to Children’s Homes
4.2.1 Enrolment of Children into Residential Care Facilities
During the field visits, the Committee found out that all children living in residential care facilities had been enrolled through the Department of Social Welfare and the courts. A majority of these children were vulnerable as they had been abandoned, neglected or abused by their parents or guardians. The Committee learnt that on enrolment of a child at a residential care institution, the Probation Officer brings the following items; a Place of Safety Form, Assisted Medical Treatment
Order (AMTO) and background information of the minor. The Place of Safety form expires within 2 weeks, a period within which the court is expected to have issued an order either committing a child to a residential care facility, foster care or return them to the custody of a parent or guardian. If a child is committed to a residential care facility, the administration of the institution, in collaboration with the Probation Officer, immediately develop a plan for care of the child.
The Committee also discovered that some residential child care facilities catered for children in conflict with the law, namely; Kadoma Training Centre in the Mashonaland West Province and Blue Hills
Rehabilitation Centre in the Midlands Province. These institutions accommodate children who commit various offences, including; murder, rape, unlawful entry, theft, aggravated indecent assault and truancy, among others. Similarly, the children are enrolled through the Courts and with the involvement of Probation Officers.
4.2.2 Care for Children in Residential Care Facilities
In compliance with the National Residential Child Care Standards (2010), most residential child care facilities have shifted from the dormitory accommodation style to the family unit system except for
Chirinda Children’s Home in Manicaland Province and Ponesai Vanhu
Children’s Home in Mashonaland Central Province. Under the family unit system, the residential care facility is organised into family clusters with children of different age groups and parent(s) who are in this case the care-givers. Each cluster is run like a normal family unit in Zimbabwe where parents are the decision-makers and they allocate household chores to minors, children go to school and church and other routine activities in a home.
During the field visits, the Committee established that the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare’s involvement in caring for children included; supervising the running of residential child care institutions, processing administrative and child per capita grants and provision of counselling services to children. The Ministry, through Probation Officers is also responsible for processing variation orders for the transfer of undisciplined children to probation centres and facilitating issuance of birth certificates, tracing parents and relatives, amongst other key roles. In addition, the Committee was informed that the Government, through the Ministry, owned Kadoma Training Institute and paid all expenses relating to the upkeep of children including food, medical treatment and school fees, among others. While other privately owned residential care facilities strived to pay school fees for institutionalised children, the Committee learnt that the Ministry catered for children at Blue Hills Rehabilitation Centre and Harvest Family
Children’s Home which fall under the same category. The Ministry further provided grain and clothes to some institutions, albeit on an irregular basis.
4.2.3 Challenges Encountered by Residential Child Care
Facilities
The Committee noted a myriad of challenges faced by residential child care facilities in their operations including:
a) Children unready for discharge at 18 years of age
Officials of Bopoma Children’s Home informed the Committee that children at the institution lived in constant fear of being discharged upon turning 18 years of age. It was noted that by this age, most institutionalised children were still at secondary school and unable to fend for themselves, which made the prospects of being thrown into the unknown world a child’s worst “nightmare.” Furthermore, officials across the various residential care facilities visited by the Committee noted that it was difficult for them to just release a child from their
“home” to an unidentified destination.
b) Irregular support from Government
The Committee was informed that Probation Officers were in the habit of “dumping” children at institutions without any follow up support, for instance,provision of child per capita and administrative grants. At the time of the visit to Matthew Rusike Children’s Home in Harare, in August 2019, the Committee learnt that child per capita grants had last been received in November 2018. Additionally, officials across the institutions visited lamented that the paltry monthly $15.00 per capita child grants and $0.50 for those in a place of safety was grossly inadequate to cater for children’s basic needs. Institutions such as Sacred
Heart Children’s Home and Ethandweni Children’s Home which catered for children with disability and have other special needs were the worst affected by the inadequacy of child per capita grants. Furthermore, it was acknowledged that other forms of assistance were provided on an irregular basis, for example, the latest form of support to Marondera Child Care Centre as an institution was a 10 kilogrammes bag of maize seeds received in 2018.
Officials at Chirinda Children’s Home highlighted that the institution had not received any child per capita and administrative grants for a period of 5 years. Late disbursement of financial resources was also reported to be a major challenge hampering operations at
Kadoma Training Centre which is solely owned and funded by the
Government. The Committee was informed that a sceptic tank construction project at the institution had to be halted due to the shortage of materials as the Treasury had not released financial resources on time.
c) Dwindling donor support
In most cases, residential child care facilities depend on donations and the goodwill of well-wishers for funding and other basic necessities such as food and clothes. However, the Committee learnt that most benefactors were withdrawing their support due to the harsh economic environment. For instance, local bakeries which used to provide bread free of charge at Matthew Rusike Children’s Home and Ponesai Vanhu
Children’s Home had stopped doing so. In addition, the Committee was informed that Roman Catholic Church parishes in Europe which largely supported Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home were no longer sending donations due to the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries. Consequently, it was increasingly becoming difficult for residential child care facilities to sustain their operations, including; purchasing food, medical drugs for children with chronic illnesses and information communication technology (ICT) equipment, maintaining infrastructure, paying electricity bills and school fees.
d) Delays in the issuance of Court Orders
Officials across the residential child care facilities visited by the Committee bemoaned that delays in the issuance of court orders through which a child is committed to an institution was a constant challenge. The Committee was informed that without the court order, a child could not access child per capita grants which contributed towards their monthly upkeep. At the time of the Committee‘s visit, only 6 out of 19
Children at Chirinda Children’s Home had committal orders. While some officials of the institutions visited by the Committee noted that delays in the processing of court orders were due to work overload on the part of the Probation Officers, others attributed it to their complacency.
e) Delays in the registration of foster parents
Child care-givers at Matthew Rusike Children’s Home highlighted that applications for foster parenting lodged by some prospective parents residing in Gweru Town two years prior to the Committee’s visit were still to be determined by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. This delay prevented these prospective parents from taking on children in need of homes, including those who attained 18 years of age and are supposed to be discharged from residential care facilities as per Government policy.
f) Child indiscipline
Child indiscipline was highlighted as a common challenge experienced at institutions visited by the Committee. However, it seemed to be a serious challenge at Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home and Kadoma Training Centre where children vandalised property, abused drugs, absconded classes and used dangerous weapons, among other misdemeanours. Officials at Kadoma Training Centre indicated that they had no form of protection and were at risk of being attacked by children, a majority of whom had a record of criminal activities. The Committee also observed the lack of a security fence or durawall to control the movement of children and other people in and out of the institution.
Officials at Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home indicated that indiscipline was so rife to the extent that it affected academic studies and future prospects of children. It was noted that cases of indiscipline had spiralled following a training on child rights conducted at the institution by the Department of Social Welfare and the Child Protection Unit.
- g) Difficulties in accessing identity documents The Committee learnt that it was difficult for children living in residential care facilities to access birth certificates, particularly where there were prospects of finding relatives as more time was spend on tracking them down and convincing them to cooperate in this regard. It was also noted that the abridged version (short) birth certificates were issued to children whose parents were unknown. However, officials complained that these short birth certificates prejudiced children from participating in sporting competitions at primary and secondary education levels as the long version birth certificates were a prerequisite.
Furthermore, the Committee was informed that a child at SOS
Children’s Home - Bindura encountered challenges in acquiring a passport to facilitate his travel to the SOS International School in Ghana where he had been awarded a scholarship. Officials highlighted that a visit to the Registrar General’s Office in January 2019 had revealed that the passport would only be accessible in December 2020 while the study programme was scheduled to commence in July 2019.
h) Shortage of land
The Committee learnt that residential child care facilities such as
Ponesai Vanhu Children’s Home, Marondera Child Care Centre and
Bopoma Children’s Home did not have adequate land to conduct livelihood projects. Officials at Bopoma Children’s Home highlighted that 10 hectares rather than the available 2 hectares of land were required for income generating projects in order to facilitate selfsustainability of the institution. Conversely, Sister Mutyambizi decried that although Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home was initially allocated land measuring 400 square metres in 1998, only 257 square metres remained as the Harare City Council had apportioned the other part to churches under unclear circumstances. She noted that this land was required for purposes of constructing more housing blocks, an administration block and crèche.The Committee was informed that Houtberg Child Care Centre had been allocated 50 hectares of land by the Government under the Land Reform Programme in 2004 but a certificate of offer was still to be issued by the time of the Committee’s visit in 2019. The Committee learnt that the delay in issuance of the land offer certificate affected long term planning as the Home’s future was uncertain.
i) Shortage of water
At the time of the Committee’s visit, the drying up of boreholes were reported to be a major challenge affecting gardening, poultry and piggery projects at Matthew Rusike Children’s Home and a banana plantation at Houtberg Child Care Centre. Similar challenges were also noted at Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home, St. Mary’s Children’s
Home, Blue Hills Rehabilitation Centre and Chiredzi Christian
Children’s Home.
j) Lack of business start-up capital
It was highlighted that at 18 years of age and having been raised in a residential child care facility, young adults did not own any property therefore lacked any form of collateral to enable them to access loans. Most residential care facilities were incapacitated to provide these young adults with capital to start income generating projects. Thus, it was difficult for them to start business ventures as a means of survival post residential care.
k) Inadequate livelihood skills training facilities
The Committee noted that Kadoma Training Centre only had primary level education facilities (Grades 1 to 7) which could only cater for younger children. Additionally, the lack of modern machinery and skilled personnel stifled training of children in preparation for life after rehabilitation. It was highlighted that training in courses such as carpentry and agriculture was being hampered by obsolete equipment. Consequently, at the end of the 3 years rehabilitation period, the institution released individuals ill-equipped to survive in the real world. Therefore, they resorted to crime and ended up being admitted at the institution again. Officials at Vimbainesu Children’s Home were also contemplating the establishment of agriculture and other vocational training facilities within the institution as a means of preparing children for discharge at the age of 18 years.
4.2.3 Discharge of Children from Residential Care Facilities
The Committee noted that children were not being automatically discharged from residential facilities upon attaining 18 years as per Government policy. Officials explained that they considered these children as their own and could not just cast them into the unknown as
Government policy did not provide for any other recourse. Additionally, Officials at various institutions admitted that they continued to care for these young adults until opportunities such as foster parents or employment were found. Reunification with family was also reported to be an exit option for children upon reaching 18 years of age. Some institutions such as Marondera Children’s Home, Chiredzi Christian Children’s Village and Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home had separate facilities, namely half way homes where children aged 18 years and above lived. Alternatively, St. Mary’s Children’s Home and SOS Children’s Homes discharged these young adults but continued to provide them with support in the form of school fees, food, accommodation rental and transport allowances.
Comparatively, residential care facilities which cater for children in conflict with the law accommodate them for a period of 3 years. The
Committee was informed that in some rare cases, children were discharged earlier on good behaviour and that the period could also be extended where a child’s place of safety is not guaranteed.
5.0 COMMITTEE’S OBSERVATIONS
5.1 Government policy provides for the discharge of children from residential care upon reaching 18 years, an age at which a majority of young adults are not ready for independent living. Most of them are still in school, lack any meaningful source of income and still heavily dependent on their carers for food, shelter and tuition fees, amongst other basic needs. A majority of these children usually lag behind others of their age in academic studies due to the various difficult circumstances they encounter. It is also pertinent to note that, apart from the mainstream education, these young adults commonly lack any other specialised life skills to deal with the challenges of independent living. Thus, discharge from residential care at 18 years of age is generally too early for these young adults and is tantamount to threatening their survival.
5.2 Contrary to Government policy, a majority of young adults
(those aged 18 and above years) continue to live in residential care facilities until alternatives such as foster care, employment or reunification with family are found. However, if the policy is applied in its “blanket” form, young adults will be discharged from residential care upon attaining 18 years with grave consequences on their lives such as homelessness and disruption of academic studies, amongst others. Thus, their rights to survival, development and become contributing members of society will be jeopardised.
5.3 There is no comprehensive Government policy to ensure the welfare of young adults post residential care, thus safeguarding their right to survive, develop and become contributing members of society. Hence, there is a general lack of Government support for this group in the form of shelter, food or clear funding strategy for their studies, amongst other basic necessities.
5.4 Although not provided for by policy, some residential care facilities have established half-way homes for children aged 18 and above years where they continue to provide them with basic necessities such as food and tuition fees. This seems to be a workable alternative as it facilitates both survival and development of young adults post residential care.
5.5 Bureaucratic bottlenecks such as delays in the issuance of court orders and registration of foster parents are affecting the proper care and welfare of children in residential care facilities and young adults awaiting discharge.
5.6 The abridged version (short) birth certificate unduly limits children’s participation in normal school activities such as sporting, thereby depriving them of an opportunity to explore a potential career avenue. Furthermore, children with abridged version birth certificates experience challenges in acquiring passports as the long version birth certificate is a prerequisite. The abridged version birth certificate, therefore does not only affect a child’s development directly, but may negatively affect their life in the long term.
5.7 Government provides child per capita and administrative grants and other forms of support to residential child care facilities on an irregular basis. Additionally, RTGs $200.00 per capita grant is grossly inadequate to cater for the monthly upkeep of a child in view of the rising cost of living. According to the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (2020) the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month ending April 2020 stood at 953.36 percent (%) compared to 810.40 % in March 2020 and 110.14 % in April 2019. The CPI measures changes in the cost of a basket of goods and services consumed by an average urban household. Consequently, residential care facilities increasingly find it difficult to provide for the basic needs of institutionalised children due to inflationary pressures.
5.8 Child indiscipline is a serious challenge faced by some institutions such as Kadoma Training Centre which derails the rehabilitation process of children and poses a danger to officers at the institution. The same challenge is interfering with the academic studies of children at Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home.
5.9 There was no security fence or durawall at Kadoma Training
Centre in violation of the National Residential Child Care Standards. Standard Four stipulates that each residential child care facility “must have a perimeter fence or wall that is checked at least twice a year.” The unchecked entrance and exit of people from the institution threatens the security of children and Care-givers by harbouring bad influences such as drug trafficking which may interfere with the rehabilitation process, for instance.
5.10. Residential child care facilities face a multitude of challenges in the current unstable economic environment, chief among these are; declining donor support and shortage of land for livelihood projects. This limits their financial capacity to cater for both institutionalised children and extend support to young adults upon discharge from residential care.
5.11 Out of the 400 square metres of the residential land allegedly allocated to Shungu Dzevana Children’s Home in 1998, 143 square metres were reallocated to churches by the Harare City Council. This has derailed plans to expand key facilities for the proper running of the institution and care of children, namely; construction of more housing blocks, an administration block and a crèche.
6.0 COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 The Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare should expeditiously submit a Bill amending the Children’s Act to
Parliament by 31st August 2020. The Bill should clearly define the
age and conditions under which a child in residential care becomes eligible for discharge, amongst other key issues. The Committee recommends an upwards review of the age of discharge from 18 to 22 years. In addition, the Bill should provide for establishment of half-way homes to accommodate these young adults post residential care until they can independently care for themselves.
6.2 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, in collaboration with other relevant Government Ministries such as the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, should formulate a comprehensive policy for the care of young adults raised in residential child care facilities by 31st December 2020.
This policy should be based on extensive stakeholder consultation.
6.3 Considering the precarious circumstances of young adults raised in residential child care facilities, the Government should prioritise their employment in the public sector. The Public Service
Commission, Health Service Board and Police Service
Commission and other public sector employment agencies should introduce a 3 percent quota system for recruitment of qualified persons raised in residential child care facilities by 30th September
6.4 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and Public Service Commission inspectors should closely monitor the work of Probation Officers by 31st July 2020. This will ensure timely determination of foster parenting applications, investigation of child cases and compilation of reports which are required for processing court orders. Additionally, it will facilitate effective supervision of residential child care facilities by Probation Officers and enhance the adequacy of care services received by institutionalised children, among other benefits.
6.5 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development, should review monthly child per capita grants from
RTGs$200.00 to an equivalent of US$30.00 in local currency by January 2021. In addition, the Treasury should prioritise the timely disbursement of administrative and child per capita grants to all residential child care facilities by 31st August 2020.
6.6 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should facilitate provision of funds for the erection of a perimeter fence at Kadoma Training Centre, amongst other security measures by 31st January 2021 in order to protect both the institutionalised children and Care-givers.
6.7 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should ensure that all residential child care facilities benefit from social welfare programmes by 31st August 2020. While access to the Food Deficit Mitigation Programme will considerably alleviate the challenge of food shortages, the Children in Difficulty
Circumstances Programme will cater for the tuition fees needs of all eligible children.
6.8 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should facilitate access to Government student loans by children living in residential care facilities and discharged young adults by 31st
August 2020. These loans should cover both vocational training
and university education costs. Additionally, the prioritisation of children or young adults in the Presidential Scholarship
Programme and other similar initiatives could reduce their tuition fees challenges.
6.9 The Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation should facilitate access to business start-up loans from the Empower Bank by young adults discharged from residential care to facilitate their financial independence by 31st August 2020.
6.10 The Registrar General’s Office should issue the long version birth certificates to all children living in residential child care facilities starting from 1st July 2020.
6.11 The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement should allocate at least five hectares of arable land with certification to each residential child care facility by 31st October 2020.This will enable these institutions to carry-out livelihood projects such as farming in order to achieve selfsustainability.
6.12 The Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities should investigate the reallocation of land initially apportioned to Shungu
Dzevana Children’s Home to churches by the Harare City Council
and report to the Committee by 30th September 2020.
6.13 The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in consultation with other relevant Government ministries and civil society organisations should review child rights training manuals to amplify the responsibility of the child by 31st December 2020 in order to address issues of indiscipline.
7.0 CONCLUSION
Residential care facilities are a vital component of the child care system in Zimbabwe. The Government is called upon to unequivocally provide both material support to these facilities and a conducive policy environment for their operations. It is imperative for the Government to urgently address the glaring policy gaps highlighted in this report, in particular establishing a viable framework for the care of children living in residential care facilities upon attaining 18 years of age.
*HON. MPARIWA: First and foremost, I would want to thank the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Hon. E. Ncube. I would want to state that we had to go on this fact-finding mission after we had received a petition. I am touched by the fact that in this country the majority of the children that we have are 18 years and they are the future leaders Madam Speaker that will sit on that Chair and are the Hon. Mpariwas that will be here. We will not be here forever. Other people will replace us.
The Chair has gone ahead and explained in the report that as we went around we saw a lot of things. We also observed the abuse of the children in that the Constitution was being flouted. Section 30 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe clearly spells out what a child is and their age. I would want to believe that the law is in debt because if you say a child is eighteen years because an eighteen year old is now self supporting, but they do not have any means and ways to look after themselves. Hence, I say that the law is in debt in that the definition of
2013 of a child no longer follows with the definition in the Constitution because our eighteen year olds may not be self supporting and the same would apply to those that are in foster homes. Once they reach eighteen years they are released.
All the foster homes that we went to, we observed the children are not free as soon as they are about to approach the age of eighteen because their future is bleak. They do not have anywhere to go. It is like a person who has boarded a bus, when they are about to reach their destination, they do not know where exactly they will be going to. It is just as good as getting rid of the child once the destination has been reached. Hence, you then find the problems that arise that we have thieves and street kids.
Street kids have parents and have an origin. You heard the Chairperson go blow ,by blow clarifying the position as regards the state of these institutions where these children are looked after but they have not been properly looked after because they do not have sufficient resources. They do not have water, are in hunger as there is no food, no electricity because it has been disconnected for three months as there is no money to pay for the electricity supply.
Such things Madam Speaker are quite disturbing because from the very beginning there is no water or food. If one is being given RTGS$15 in this age, that is a hard act to follow. It is not right. If a child is going to be released upon reaching eighteen years, there is no proper preparation that has been done for that particular child. We are easily getting rid of that child. There were programmes for children in difficult circumstances that were been mentioned and for those that are in childheaded institutions, that where these children are being kept, food was being given and such things.
In the recommendations, you have heard the Chairperson say the Minister of Finance should be sympathetic and look into the amounts that are being disbursed in these foster homes or such institutions so that they be given meaningful amounts that can give them a healthy life. As they leave, they should know what world they will be stepping into.
Once a child reaches eighteen, it should not be the end because there will be others that will want to enter the Ministry. The Ministry officials told us that they have problems in that there is nothing they can do about it because the law says at eighteen years they should be discharged, hence my earlier reference to the law having a deficit, lacuna or gap.
This points to the Committee’s findings that there should not be a disparity in terms of the children are Act and the Constitution. The two should be speaking to each other. We should have a new law that deals with the removal of eighteen years as the age which a child should leave a foster home ,but that the child should become self sustaining before they leave the foster home. In all the districts or provinces that we went round, the projects the Chair made reference to - there was no money to support. Our local authorities or rural district councils should work hand in glove with the Ministry of Labour and ensure that if they want to sell chicken or do garden projects because children have different talents, they should allocate the space in which to do that so that they are self sustaining once they leave the foster home. Releasing a child without skills into the outside world from the foster home is problematic.
The children do not have birth certificates and national registration cards. It is difficult if they do not have such documents for them to leave the foster home. When you get to the ZUPCO bus, they insist on a national identification card and the letter therefore, they are at a disadvantage. Every child wants to know who they are and want to be identified and know where they were born. It is the duty of the Government to assist in ensuring that these children have the official documents before they leave these foster homes. That is the preparation that I was talking about so that they can be able to be self sustaining. Over and above having those skills, they should have proper documentation.
The Government should have prepared this person for life outside the foster home and that they should be fully equipped so that if they want to become cross borders, they should have the necessary documentation. There should be a weaning stage where preparation is made for the future of that child and what they will feed on. We want a
Bill that looks into the children’s rights or the Children’s Act that deals with the rights of the children so as to come up and fill up the lacunas that are within the law so that the law becomes water tight. We know that even if you go to court there is a situation where they will refer to the other hand. We want a Constitution that speaks to the same issues or that is unambiguous as regards the Children’s Act.
Let me conclude by saying that the ministries that deal with the children’s rights and their future in terms of skills are many. There should be a situation where the various ministries work together to come up with a well rounded child who upon leaving this institution should have life surviving skills. Those that are excelling in school should be given sufficient documents. If they excel in ICT because they have various talents, they should be well equipped to become ICT experts and pursue it to its final conclusion. Such children do not want to be referred to as orphans. If a child is paperless and has not been properly looked after, he becomes a burden to the state even when they grow old. So all the children that are institutionalised should be properly looked after and be prepared whether they are boys or girls. So, every department that has to do with the upbringing of these children in foster homes should work hand in glove with the Ministry of Labour and assist this particular ministry so that these children are assisted so that they should not be afraid to face their brighter future tomorrow as they will be having sufficient skills and enough documentation for them to take their place in the world.
Zimbabwe ratified several charters that the Chair referred to amongst them the SADC Protocol and others, so let us walk the talk once we ratify such agreements or conventions. We have delegations that leave this Parliament and they will be happy to say we now have a law that made it easier for us. I do not think it would be a bad thing for people to re-look and address certain laws that are no longer supporting the interest and rights of the children. I thank you.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Because of
the two speakers, I have decided to add my voice. Those that are in the children’s homes, when they leave those places without identification documents and without the means to survive would mean that these children’s homes do not have such skills. We have read in the newspapers such stories, other experts that deal with children and from children that are in such institutions that they live without identification documents and they do not have skills. Are the ministries or the organisations that are taking care of orphans doing that work for their benefit or for the benefit of the children? Are they doing it to enrich themselves? They should do most of their work to prepare children in such institutions so that they have a better life once they leave the institutions.
The Committee has done very well but maybe the Chair skipped part of the report and I urge the Committee to sit down with the ministry so that they come up with issues that are practical. The Ministry of
Social Welfare’s function is to look after orphans or children without parents. That is why the Government came up with a programme to look after such children. Parliament, through the Committee that went out to carry out investigation came up with the findings in these homes where these children are kept, why do we not sit down with the particular ministry in question and give them the report. Petitioners have also come up with challenges in those areas. So all those children that are 16 years of age and above that do not have registration documents will find out as to how many have been issued with such documentation so that none of them will remain existing without these vital documents.
We have land and people are into agriculture. A lot of people are into farming to earn a living. Can we get farms for these children so that they have a landing pad from the home to a farming institution so that they do not go into the streets and become thieves or murderers because they do not have a sense of belonging. Once that sense of belonging is not there, one is not afraid to do bad things. So, why do you not call the ministry and make and addition so that each and every recommendation that you have come up with is given some targets so that these children are issued with birth certificates. I hear that they are issued with small birth certificates that will not allow them anywhere. We should do research in other countries and find out the best practices in other countries and how best we can come up with normal birth certificates and what Government should do for them to have surnames. Let us put into practice what their concerns are because we are not just going to deal with those children that are in the foster homes today but there will be a generation of people who will say yes, we were looked after but we were looked after by a people that did not care about our future.
Your report require us time to look into it and work together with the Ministry of Education on how best these children can be made a success story. Even psychologists that are in the Ministry of Health, what role can they play so as to integrate these children into the Zimbabwean families so they have the same spirit that we are together with the same Zimbabwean people. I heard them say that they become sad once they reach the age of 18 as they think about what their future has in- store for them. Who is responsible for counseling so that we know that these children’s future is being properly laid out from the day they reach the foster until they leave that home. They may not be brilliant in school but what skills do they have. We are the Members of
Parliament who went there and we had a discussion with such children. Government may have its ways but we are the ones that went and talked to them. Let us call them, sit down and discuss with them and maybe call our Minister for Social Welfare. We know that the Minister deals with a lot of issues in terms of the welfare of such children. We may give them everything but if we do not deal with their future we will have problems. I am touched by the fact that water and electricity is not being paid for. Why then are we giving them money if they are not being provided with the water and electricity? In the grant we should just pay for water and electricity because throughout the year they do not have a problem. If you give people money the money may be misused. They first buy a Mercedez Benz. We did not have these institutions to ensure that people buy mercs but we did come up with such homes to look after the disabled and orphans. The workers there will be sitting pretty and having a good life. You then wonder whether the organisation was meant for the children or these that are living well. I thank you.
*HON. CHKUKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I would also
want to add my voice to this report. I have very few remarks in support of the issue that once one leaves the foster home there is a place in Waterfalls, I know someone who was being looked after in that institution. I was not aware that the child had left that institution because if you go to the Waterfalls Shopping Centre you find that child there. That child is always drunk maybe the child is now mentally retarded because once one has been taken to an institution and then later released the problems become difficult and one might wish they might have been dead instead of being looked after in these foster homes. We urge the majority of the Zimbabwean people to look after, complement or assist Government in looking after these children. It may not be within our culture to look after another’s blood because they are not the same totem as us. I am saying that we should also assist Government by helping some of these children.
Furthermore there are those that love people but there are those that are in the streets but there was no one that was born in the streets. I believe that if money could be found and people could go and explain to them. I once had an opportunity to talk with street people. They have different sections. There were some that went there because they were naughty but others went there because both parents are deceased. One came to Harare and life became difficult. They all came under different circumstances so I am in agreement with the people who were saying there is need for them to be counselled. It is not all organisations that are getting the grants that are being made reference to. We believe that counselling and such other things should be urged within our communities, that is myself and others that have such skills. We should be seen to be involved in these foster homes if Government is able to do what needs to be done so that the ordinary people can go and counsel such people. I thank you.
*HON. CHANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. Ncube for the report that she has tabled. There are three things that I would want to add. When we went round on our fact finding mission I was touched by certain things. We went to Mashonaland West where these children are being looked after. It is called Vimbainashe if I am not mistaken. There is a woman who volunteered to look after these children. The type of work that she is doing is great. She explained some things that touched my life. So, if it was possible government or the Ministry would come up with a law that protects children. We were told there was a woman who dumped her child and that the child is a very good gift. They followed up on the woman and found her in Norton prostituting. The child is talented.
There should be a law to ensure that once a mother who dumps here child is found she should be dealt with severely. That law should be deterrent because there are some parents that are going to prophets and traditional leaders, selling their cattle just to have a child of their own but one is granted this gift by God and throw away the child. There should be a law that safeguards the interest of such children. The children that are gifted, when they get to the age of marriage, they are married even if they are from a foster home. Then there are some parents who then come and say we are the parents of this child once these children have become doctors and drivers because they will have made it in life. The parent will now be interested in the welfare of that particular child. That actually hurts Madam Speaker.
Others are wasting money and undergoing treatments that are unheard of in a bid to have children yet someone is blessed with a child and they dump the child. If parents later claim a child that they will have earlier on dumped they should be arrested because that child is being looked after from the time when they will still be spoiling the diapers and the parent who looks after them and gives them all the love but the biological parents want to claim the children once they know they are successful. Madam Speaker, I thought I should add my voice on what I saw during these visits. It is quite pathetic. What we saw was very sad indeed. We went to Kadoma Training Institute (KTI) where delinquent juveniles are kept or incarcerated. They range from five, eight and 15 years and we urge the Ministry to look into the issue of officers that are looking after these delinquent children. These offenders that committed various offences, we found that on one of the beds they sleep on there were some knives and some spears but the people that look after such children do not even have a single fire arm to deal with these children once they rise up against them. They have no weapons to defend themselves against such delinquent children. They will be up in arms when there is no food and they will stab one another. They do this within this particular institution. So, the officers should be properly equipped to protect themselves. The Ministry or Government should look into that.
I know that because of sanctions, I cannot mention this but this does not require any money. The Government should look into the welfare of these particular officers because the delinquent children will be looked after by them. Their parents would have failed to look after them but they have nothing to protect them. They do not even have anything to protect themselves against knife stabs from such delinquent children. We had the video and we would have played it. You would have been touched Madam Speaker and felt pity about the lives of these officers that are in grave danger. I reiterate once again that these officers should be given adequate protection against these delinquent offenders. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to this report that has been given by the Chairperson.
+HON. MAHLANGU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would also
like to add my voice on the report tabled by Hon. Chair of the Committee. What I have realised is that Government needs to expeditiously approve the grant that is being given to children in different institutions. It should be done timeously because the funds that are allocated for those projects lose value time they delay approving.
The other thing that I have also realised is that in allocating children birth certificates, there are certain children that fail to attend to sports activities because they want those long birth certificates. The other aspect is on Government food relief. This activity should be done monthly because each time food relief is delayed, the children tend to suffer from hunger as they end up having sadza and vegetables only.
We also want to make sure that in these institutions, people who are on BEAM should make sure that funds that are allocated under BEAM are disbursed in time and they should be allocated as per time requirements of these institutions. These children who stay in these institutions should also be safeguarded and there is need to make sure that Government’s programme of ‘rein vying’ children which was done by Escorts, which were trained by Social Welfare should continue because other children will end up feeling like they are supposed to be going back home but without any platform to be doing that.
I also look at the issue of the KTI which was spoken by one of my members. They complained that there are certain children who when they misbehave, there is need for a vehicle that is supposed to carry that child who would have been injured to a hospital but there are no vehicles that are there to carry those children to the nearest health institution. The other issue is that there is need to make sure that these hospitals are given enough money to buy enough medication. It is also important to identify a place so that it is used to house these children. There is one issue of probation officers who need help from Government because they are the ones who are looking after these children and they do not have much support that they are getting from Government. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. T. MOYO: On a point of order. My point of order is that I am saddened to observe that Members to your left are not taking parliamentary business very serious. If you were going to count how many of them are in this House at this particular time, they are less than five. They need to be reminded to take parliamentary business very seriously because most of them want to be the ruling party and how can you be a ruling party when you fail to attend Parliament business like this. So, I submit Madam Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA): Thank
you very much Hon. Moyo for noting that. I am sure it is very prudent for us to be speaking to the Acting Chief Whip of the Members from my left to be able to take parliamentary business seriously. If Members from my right are able to observe Parliament business seriously and also be there until this late hours, I think this should be applauded and they should also follow suit. Thank you for that.
+HON. MKANDLA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Chairperson of this Committee Hon. Ncube and her seconder Hon. Mpariwa. Most of the things have been alluded to Madam Speaker regarding these children that are kept in different homes. When a child is kept in these homes, each time they get to 18 years, they are asked to leave those homes. Most of these children that are kept in these homes have got nowhere to go. I will focus mainly on Blue Hills Training Centre. Most of these children who are housed in these homes are taken to court each time they commit crimes but each time they go to these courts, there are so many things that are happening in these courts. Their years are at times reduced whereby may be a child who is 25 years has their years reduced to 15 years. I will ask the Government to look so much into this issue because there are so many of these children in jails who are grown up. We need to make sure that these places are well secured. There is no fence, so we ask the Government to make sure that there is good security on those homes. I would also like to touch on Sacred Heart at Esigodini in Matabeleland South. This home is looking after disabled children. It is good that Government is doing a lot of things in these homes. When we got there, we realised that there are quite a number of things that are needed there. There are no blankets and food. We have always heard that Government is supporting other homes in availing food and blankets but we have other homes that lack these things.
Madam Speaker, goods should be distributed equally. There are certain good things that are being done in those homes. There are some children that are kept in family units who grow up knowing that there is a mother, aunt and they are kept may be in numbers of four with a mother who will be looking after those children.
Madam Speaker, on the issue of birth certificates, it is critical that Government intervenes to make sure that these children get birth certificates. The homes where these children are kept have always been asking for land to do farming activities but are yet to get any. In Binga there is a home that is looking after children and up to now they do not have land so that they do irrigation activities to enable them to get crops which will assist these children.
The other aspect that I also want to highlight on is that it is not that these children are mischievous, some do behave well. We realised that in one of the homes, there are certain children that got to the point of having a wedding. We have other homes whereby a grown up child in one of the homes gets a boyfriend or a girlfriend. There is need for appropriate measures to be followed in paying dowry or lobola. We also want to highlight that there is so much that really needs to be taken care of in these homes. Most of the homes that we visited are the ones that are being monitored by the Salvation Army and some of them are being looked after by Government. Therefore we ask other Zimbabwean organisations to look after those children not necessarily to leave that work to churches only.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! In relation to the point of order raised by Hon. Moyo, the Acting Chief Whip from Members on my left side responded that Hon. Members from the left side have gone to a funeral.
+HON. N. NKOMO: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me
this opportunity to add my voice to this report. Most of the things have been highlighted about what they encountered in these different homes. On the issue of children who would have reached 18, who are then said to leave those homes; we all know that even if a child gets to 18 years, you cannot send them away. Therefore, for these children to be send away is wrong. Where do you expect them to go to? These are the children that are found loitering in our streets. Most of these children get to 18 years when they will be still going to school. Most of them will have completed Form Four. If they are made to leave those homes, where do you expect them to go to because they do not have parents that they have been staying with prior to their coming to these homes? If we continue doing this, then we will not solve this problem of children staying in the streets. We need to know that if these children leave these homes, they have other places that they can go to and stay as they look for jobs. If they get these homes where they can stay whilst looking for jobs, it will assist the nation in getting rid of children who stay in the streets.
Madam Speaker, the policy of making these people leave homes will force them to marry at a young age because they will be looking after each other as children. Government should make sure that there are projects for children who are about to attain 18 years so that they can earn a living.
The funds that are allocated to these homes should be allocated timeously so that it helps them before the money loses value. Right now as I speak, it is said a child is given $15. That $15 cannot even buy a box of matches. Government should review the amounts for the benefit of these children.
Other Hon. Members have indicated that those children are not getting any food and Government is not assisting in anyway but we understand that these people are assisted by the Department of Social Welfare. Social Welfare should make follow ups to check if those children have birth certificates and other things.
*HON. MUCHIMWE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Chairperson of the Committee for coming up with such a detailed report. We observed certain issues that have been tabled in this Report but I have one addition to make. These children should be assisted. A child is happy when they constantly refer to their parents as mother and father. There is only one animal that I know that neglects its offspring, which is a snake. So, what is causing these parents to neglect their children is ignorance. As children are growing up at home, they play house; one is given a title of a mother, the other a father and the other one is also called a dog and a cat.
If it were possible, the Government should ensure that there are lessons to be leant as children grow up about what is a family and what constitutes a family. It is of no use for one to become highly educated at a university and fail to understand and appreciate the love between a parent and a child. A child is very important in everyone’s life. The greatest gift that can ever be given to anyone by God is a child. It is my plea that there be studies that teach people what family is all about, what a parent is and what a child is. A lot of children are born because people are indulging in adultery, so if people are encouraged to know what a child is they would appreciate. There should be a survey that assists the children so that they become good citizens when they grow up and they would love their children. Let us tame them young and teach them whilst they are still in their tender years, which is critical, I thank you.
*HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.
I would like to thank the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee because of their report that they have tabled. The concern is where are these children who are in these foster homes going to when they leave such institutions. The law should be changed. It should no longer be 18 years of age for a child to be released, that is no longer practical. At the SOS in Bulawayo, we heard that some of the children are at Solusi University although they are beyond 18 years of age and they are still looking after them because they want a bright future for such children.
Some of the children are even at Bulawayo Polytechnic. Hence, this has rendered the 18 years age limit ineffective.
Some of these children who would have attained the age of 18 years would still be in Grade 6 and they leave the foster home before writing the Grade 7 examinations. It is of no use, such children should be given care so that they can go to a skills-training education up until they reach a level where they become self-sustaining as they leave the foster homes. In these foster homes, there should also be an inquiry to what life skills they are being taught so that they will be able to sustain themselves once they leave, they could become builders, carpenters and be able to make furniture. As they leave the homes, they should be able to be self sustainable. There is need to investigate what type of curriculum they have.
Children should be taught manners. At Shungudzevana, we came across a situation where people from the Human Rights have visited and told the children that they are entitled to their own rights. We were told that after that visit, the children’s behaviour changed upon knowing that they have certain rights. They were not told what their responsibilities were and the children became problematic and the authorities were no longer able to contain them. If such children were to leave the foster homes upon attaining 18 years of age, if they are immoral, they become difficult to deal with. Some of these children are those who are said to be in conflict with the law, like those who were being referred to in Kadoma. When they leave those places without being taught – even in prisons it is now being referred to as correctional services. There is now a correction on a person for that person to be a moral person. If that person is taught to be moral, it will be helpful so that when they leave those homes they will become good citizens with good moral values.
We want to thank those who came up with the idea of these foster homes because some of us and others who are in top positions whom we know came through these homes – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
so, we do not need to neglect these children, it is part of our nation’s inheritance, Zimbabwe’s inheritance. You will realise that our country is now developing even those who are in prison. Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me begin by thanking the Chairperson of our Committee, Hon. Ncube who made such a moving presentation of the various issues that were raised, that we gathered during our visits. In saying so, I also want to pay tribute to Hon. Mpariwa who seconded the motion. Madam Speaker, Hon. Ncube emphasised right at the beginning, the objectives of the inquiry. She said that the key objective of this inquiry was for the Committee to assess the enrolment, care and discharge processes of children from residential care facilities. In particular, the Committee intended to establish efforts being made to empower and prepare children for independent living outside residential care and where they go upon discharge from these institutions.
This obviously means that we are not encouraging institutionalisation, but this becomes a living reality after our having failed to achieve the intended goals, possibly through nuclear family, community foster care or adoption. We then say, let us proceed in the manner that I have just stated. On the issue of empowerment, honestly, this can only be done if there is a serious collaboration between Government and the industry. We need industry to support social programmes of this nature.
In her report, our Chairperson bemoaned the issue of some bakeries which had stopped delivering bread which they were donating.
Maybe the reason lies in lack of recognition for such philanthropic work. We should therefore call upon the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to extent a helping hand by ensuring that if there are companies that do carry philanthropic work, they enjoyed tax rebates so that they see the value of their support for the disadvantaged.
Madam Speaker, the Chairman was so emphatic on the issue of what has to be done, if you follow the recommendations that were made by the Committee, they are very clear, they have time lines on when, and what should be done.
Now, the difficulty that we face in our day to day life of governance is a failure to implement resolutions made. We now need to follow up with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and make sure that they do take seriously the road map that has been laid out.
There are very clear objectives that need to be made, clear activities that need to be done and most importantly, it is indeed the need for visibility of officials of the Ministry of Social Welfare, they do not seem to exist and we wonder why. Is it lack of supervision, commitment, lack of patriotism, honestly let us take a leaf from people like Jairos Jiri whose work today still continues to live, he produced musicians, mechanics and teachers.
I do hope that this report will be taken seriously and our Committee under the guidance of Hon. Ncube shall leave no stone unturned to ensure that we achieve the goals of our Government. I thank you.
HON. E. NCUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th July, 2020
On the motion of the HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON. KWARAMBA the House adjourned at Nineteen Minutes past Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 9th July, 2020
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
STANDING ORDER NUMBER 60
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May I remind Hon. Members that one minute statements are provided for in Standing Order Number 60 as follows: A Member who is not a Minister may have a statement for one minute on matter of public importance. One minute statements shall be until 1435 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and 0935 on a Friday. Hon. Members who want to make their statements have to observe this Standing Order.
NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that I have received a Non- Adverse report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Constitutional Court Bill, [H. B. 11A, 2019].
Consideration Stage: With leave forthwith.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BILL [H. B. 11A, 2019]
Amendments to Clause 13 put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BILL [H. B. 11A, 2019]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I move that the Constitutional Court Bill [H. B. 11A, 2019 be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
FIRST READING
CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE AMENDMENT (NO. 2) BILL [H. B. 23, 2019].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI) presented the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 2) Bill [H. B. 23, 2019].
Bill read the first time.
Second Reading: With leave, forthwith.
SECOND READING
CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE AMENDMENT (NO. 2) BILL [H.B. 23, 2019].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I want to thank you for the opportunity to present Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 2) Bill. Madam Speaker, I will just go through some of the clauses in the Bill and explain a little bit the purpose of having this amendment.
Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 seek to dispense with the running mates concept of the Vice Presidents. You will realise that these clauses are interrelated because we have to separate the election of the President from that of the Vice President, hence the need to ensure that we deal with all those clauses. It has been said that there are several amendments, but they are interrelated in that you cannot dispense with the running mate clause without amending the subsequent sections that follow.
Section 92 (2) of the Constitution then provides that every candidate for election must nominate two persons to stand for election jointly with him or her as Vice President.
Subsection (3) provides that the President and Vice President are directly elected by registered voters throughout Zimbabwe.
New Clause 6 of the Bill seeks to provide that instead of the Vice President standing elections jointly with the President, they shall be appointed by the President as soon as the President assumes office.
Clause 7 seeks to amend Section 95 of the Constitution and provides that the term of office of the Vice President starts on the day he or she is appointed by the President and sworn in.
Clause 9 seeks to amend Section 101 of the Constitution. The amendment seeks to provide for succession in the event of death, resignation or incapacity of President or Vice President.
Section 109 provides that if a President dies, the First Vice President assumes office until the expiry of the former President’s term. The second Vice President becomes the first Vice President and the President must then appoint a second Vice President.
The new Section seeks to repeal this provision and replace it with one that provides that in the event of death, resignation or incapacity of President or Vice President, the Vice President who was last nominated to act assumes office of the President until the vacancy is filled by a nominee of the political party which the President represented when he or she stood for election. In the event of death or resignation or removal from office, a president who was an independent candidate, the Vice President who was last nominated to assume office assumes office.
As you can see Madam Speaker, all these six clauses are speaking to one issue in order for us to clean up the Constitution and ensure that we remove issues of running mates. It would appear as if we have amended several sections of the Constitution but speaking to one point. I want to Hon. Members to be guided accordingly not to be swayed by those that said there are 27 amendments. It is simply one amendment that comes with consequential amendments to some of the sections that speak to the appointment, resignation, incapacity and removal from office and once we remove this, we need to accordingly deal with those issues.
The other proposals relate to the promotion of sitting judges by the President on the recommendation of JSC as well as their extension of service. We have noticed that within the current context of the Constitution, the JSC is the supervisor of judges. In other words, they have to appraise the judges on a yearly basis or as and when they see fit. We believe that the same JSC cannot then go in public and start to interrogate issues that they were supposed to have interrogated on a yearly basis and then try to embarrass the would be judges who will remain in the high court if they are not promoted to the superior court hence the amendment seeks to cure this anomaly whereby sitting judges are subjected to an interview process. We are saying the JSC, because of their knowledge of the performance of judges – their competencies; they can then recommend to the President those judges that can be promoted to superior courts.
Section 328 provides for the procedure for amendment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 2 seeks to amend 27 provisions of the Constitution and these also include other consequential amendments that arise because of amendment of other provisions. We are trying to cure some of the conflicting provisions that are inherent in the Constitution in the present structure. We agree that this was a very good document and a lot of work was done to come up with this Constitution, but there are certain omissions that we felt must be cured. For instance, we believe that we should simply refer to the Civil Service Commission as Public Service Commission and that is a minor amendment that we are doing.
We also seek to amend provisions to extend the life of the proportional representation in terms of the women’s quota. We believe that the two terms that have we had this provision – women have not been empowered sufficiently for them to stand on their own on an equal footing with their male counterparts. The provision seeks to extend it so that we can ensure that we also capacitate women and buy the end of the two terms, we review to see whether our women are now in a position to compete on an equal footing. We are also saying that women are encouraged to participate in the 210 constituencies that are available on an equal footing with men. I am very happy that we have several women here who participated and won. That is very much applauded.
In the current Constitution, there was no provision that speaks to youth representation. As a start, we decided that we should have ten youths representing youths in the august House on a proportional representation.
The Constitution speaks of the office of the Permanent Secretary but the office of the Chief Secretary was omitted. We decided that this is an issue that we need to tidy up and include the office of the Chief Secretary within the Constitution.
There are also calls that there is need to ensure that we have a stand-alone office that deals with administrative complaints, hence the need to remove the Public Protector’s office from the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and in this constitutional amendment, we cater for that provision.
What has also been contentious is the office of the Prosecutor General where we feel that there is no need for the Prosecutor General to be subjected to an interview process by the JSC. The JSC is an independent arm of Government separate from the Executive and Parliament. We believe the prosecutor prosecutes on behalf of the state and the President must be given the powers to appoint the Prosecutor General on the advice of the JSC.
The amendments in Clauses 20, 21, 22 and 25 seek to alter and align membership of Metropolitan and Provincial Councils in Chapter 14. Again you will notice that we have four clauses that are speaking to the issue of metropolitan and provincial councils. In essence, the amendments to the Constitution that we are doing are less than four out of the 27 because the others are consequential amendments that will arise through the need to clean up the Constitution once you say you have removed the running mate, once you say you now want to clean up the metropolitan council issue then the other amendments become consequential.
What has happened Madam Speaker is, if you go into the Constitution, it speaks about provincial councillors but when you go to metropolitan councils there is no reference to metropolitan councilors. You only get reference to metropolitan council when they are now talking about constituting committees of a metropolitan council. So you will realise that they will refer to something that was not there in the first place. What we are trying to do is to clean up and say, in the rural provinces there is an election of provincial councilors via a proportional representation and these will constitute the committees that are more or less similar to our Portfolio Committees in this august House.
Metropolitan councils – their election was omitted but later on, it speaks about the need to constitute these committees using the metropolitan councilors. Hence we have decided that, why are we worried about separating metropolitan councils and provincial councils? Why not call all of them provincial councilors because we have 10 provinces and we have metropolitan provincial councilors even in Harare that will then constitute the committees equivalent to our Portfolio Committees here in the august House. This is what this amendment is trying to amend and cure so that we do not have that hanging clause in the Constitution.
We then go further and say, why do we have to speak about the Mayor of Harare or Bulawayo being the chairman of the metropolitan council? Let us allow the provincial councilors to elect the chairperson just like what happens in rural provinces. We have the Mayor of Gweru but a provincial chairperson is appointed. We have the Mayor of Mutare, Mayor of Chinhoyi – why must the Mayor of Harare be the chairman of council? So we are saying that the other amendment is speaking to that to say, let us remove this reference to the Mayor of Bulawayo or Harare and say that the councilors appoint just like what happens in rural provinces. So, this is what we are trying to clean up and ensure that our Constitution reads well.
The other amendment Madam Speaker Ma’am, I think I will drop it because I want to thank Hon. Members who have dealt with the issue of the census and we wanted to decouple but felt that let us just amend the Census Act.
The other amendment whereby we wanted to amend and remove reference to foreign organisations, I think we will amend it so that it speaks to what Section 300 of the Constitution says and we will drop that. These are the amendments that we are proposing.
Madam Speaker, the Constitution also speaks about its own amendment and the very same Constitution does not give a timeline of when you can do that. I want Hon. Members, in your debate to appreciate that while people may say, ‘align’, if we pick something that is an anomaly in the Constitution like what we did with provincial and metropolitan councils, we cannot wait because in the minds of a certain section of our society it is too early. The Constitution gives that provision and that is exactly what we are following.
Madam Speaker, I urge the Hon. Members to pass the Bill and I move that the Bill be now read a second time. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. MATARANYIKA:
INTRODUCTION
The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 2) Bill [H.B. 23, 2019] was gazetted on the 17th January 20201. Section 328 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that: “(3) A Constitutional Bill may not be presented in the Senate or National Assembly in terms of section 131 unless the Speaker has given at least ninety days’ notice in The Gazette of the precise terms of the Bill. (4) Immediately after the Speaker has given notice of a Constitutional Bill in terms of subsection (3), Parliament must invite members of the public to express their views on the proposed Bill in public meetings and through written submissions, and must convene meetings and provide facilities to enable the public to do so.” In compliance with this constitutional provision, and as part of public consultations meant to enhance participatory democracy, the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs conducted nationwide public hearings on the Bill. The consultations were held from 14 – 19 June, 2020.
METHODOLOGY
In order to gather views from the public, the Committee conducted physical public hearings in all the ten provinces, virtual public hearings using the Zoom platform and Live Radio programmes.
SPECIFIC SUBMISSIONS ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Clauses 2 –8
The proposed amendments seek to remove the running-mate concept of the Vice-Presidency. Instead, the two Vice-Presidents will be appointed by the President and serve at the President’s pleasure. In terms of the current constitutional framework, with effect from 2023, every candidate who seeks to be elected as President must nominate two persons to stand for an election jointly with him or her and designate one of those persons as his or her candidate for first Vice-President and the other as his or her second Vice-President. In this way, the President and his or her Vice-Presidents will be jointly elected.
The majority of the submissions received pointed towards a desire to maintain the system of running mates. People were of the firm and considered view that the running mates system that the proposed amendments seek to avoid creates certainty in Presidential succession and is desirable to avoid the possibility of a power vacuum or instances of political instability in circumstances where the President leaves office before expiry of his/her term. Other submissions opined that, it promotes democracy as a succeeding President will be deriving their authority from the electorate.
Yet other sentiments, in the minority, noted that the running mates’ system has a danger of creating multiple centres of power since the Vice Presidents can claim a popular mandate from the people as their source of authority. This is different from a situation where the President is the appointing authority. It was submitted that the President’s authority might be challenged by the deputies. They voiced their concern that the system creates incentives for the Vice President(s) to displace the President since they will be automatically assured of taking over by virtue of the succession provisions.
Clause 9
This clause adopts the transitional provisions of succession to the office of the President and seeks to make them permanent. These are provided in terms of paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (given that the proposed amendment seeks to dispense with the position whereby Vice-Presidents are elected at the same time with the President).
While some of the public welcomed the amendment, some were of the view that the adoption of paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution creates uncertainty in succession to the office of the President. They submitted that there is no need to change the current constitutional framework which provides for certainty to a higher degree.
Clause 10
This clause seeks to give the President power to appoint up to 7 (instead of the current 5) additional Ministers from outside Parliament. The current constitutional framework provides that Ministers and Deputy Ministers are appointed from the legislative arm, with an exception of a maximum of five that may be chosen for their professional skills and competence and thus chosen from outside Parliament.
Some were of the view that the status quo is adequate as far as the appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers is concerned. They opined that increase of the number of Ministers from five to seven appears to be only cosmetic and not driven by an inclination towards improving governance in Zimbabwe.
- Other contrary sentiments noted that this would be a welcome development; some duties and functions require expertise which may not be in Parliament. An isolated submission pointed out that the overlapping nature of Cabinet and Parliament should be severed to an extent that no Member of Parliament must be appointed as Minister. Appointing Ministers from Parliament is likely to inhibit the impartial oversight function of Parliament.
- Clause 11
- This clause seeks to extend the provision for the party-list women members of the National Assembly by another two extra Parliaments (from 2 to 4 Parliaments) and makes provision for the addition of a party-list representation of ten youths in the National Assembly.
The majority of members of the public felt that there is need to implement Sections 17, 56 and 80 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe2. It was further argued that the proportional representation system had served to disadvantage women; the women have no constituencies. Other submissions noted that there should be 105 constituencies reserved for women where they compete against themselves.
- A suggestion was proffered for ZEC, through subsidiary legislation, to introduce provisions to compel political parties to ensure that women be given equal opportunities to participate in electoral processes. It was also noted that the disability quota should be included in this legislation.
Section 17 – The State must promote the full participation of women in all spheres of the Zimbabwean society on the basis of equality with men.
Section 56 (2) – Women and men have the right to equal treatment including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.
Section 80 – Every woman has full and equal dignity of the person with men and this includes equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities.
Some members of the public viewed this as a correction of the Constitution, having identified that the period given in the original document is insufficient. Such an extension was presented as a positive step to promote women’s representation in Parliament.
- Some proponents for the youth quota submitted that, while it was a welcome development, the number of youths should be increased to an average of 8 youths per province. This submission was informed by the fact that the majority of people are youths. Those against the youth quota noted that this system disempowers the youth; the youth should be voted for into Parliament.
- It was also submitted that other alternatives to facilitate youth participation in politics can be done by ensuring that party lists on a national level include a significant number of youths. Therefore, the inclusion of youths could easily be achieved by requiring political parties to reserve a certain number of seats for youths.
- Some respondents submitted that war veterans should also be given a quota. A related submission also called for a quota for war collaborators.
- Clause 12
- This clause de-couples ZEC’s delimitation function from the population census held every 10 years. The current constitutional framework provides for delimitation of electoral boundaries once every ten years on a date or within a period that falls soon after population census. The proposed amendment seeks to delink the delimitation of electoral boundaries from the population census process.
Some members of the public recognised the need for a new delimitation exercise as current electoral boundaries are arguably no longer representative of the population. However, to some, the solution does not lie in de-linking the exercise from the population census. They were of the view that the process of ensuring that the timing of the census is conducted in good time for the information and data to be used for delimitation purposes can be achieved through other legislative reforms that is amending section 12 of the Census and Statistics Act [Chapter 10:29] to align it with section 161 of the Constitution.
- The Chief’s Council submitted that as custodians of traditional boundaries, they must be part of the delimitation exercise.
- Clause 13
- This clause will allow the President, acting on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, to appoint sitting Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court to vacancies in the higher courts, without subjecting them to the public interview procedure.
Some members of the public were of the opinion that the manner of appointment of Judges is central to the values of democracy, the idea of separation of powers, checks and balances in a democracy and an efficient and independent judiciary to sustain the separation of powers. They submitted that the proposed amendment to promote Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court to a higher court by the President without subjecting them to public interviews as provided by the current constitutional framework could undermine the independence of the Judiciary. It was submitted that promotion of the Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court in procedures not open to public scrutiny could reverse the gains that were made by the current constitutional framework.
- Some argued that movement of Judges from one court to the other through appointment allows for expert Judges to be appointed. These Judges are already in office and are assessed by the Head of Court, the Chief Justice and the Judicial Service Commission who already know the best performers who are excelling and deserving of promotion. There is a pool of very good Judges but because they do not want to undergo public interviews, they opt to remain in their Courts thus this provision was a welcome development as it caters for that crop of Judges.
- Clause 14
- This clause seeks to allow Judges of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court to extend their tenure after reaching the age of seventy, annually, for up to five years, subject to a favourable medical report as to the mental and physical fitness of the Judge to continue in office. In addition, the extension of such tenure is on a yearly basis, and subject to acceptance by the President.
Some members of the public welcomed the proposed amendment on the basis that having the terms of office set in the Constitution or other legislation creates security of tenure for the Judiciary. It was submitted that it lessens the risks to judicial officers when holding influential individuals and Government bodies to account and insulates Judges from external pressure. Members of the JSC were of the view that instead of reviewing annually, the renewal should be a once off five years.
- Some were of the view that the proposed amendment should be rejected on the basis that, although the President extends the term of office after consultation with the JSC, the President does not appear to be bound by the recommendations of the JSC and this may lead to the corrosion of judicial independence. It was also submitted that Zimbabwe has a large and vibrant legal profession, with many young Lawyers who are fit and willing to serve as judges. Increasing the age of retirement, on a yearly basis from seventy to seventy-five, would deny young lawyers the opportunity to serve as judges. One participant stated that the fact that the judges are to be subjected to a rigorous medical examination, when they seek an extension, after every year shows that there is no longer trust in the physical and mental capacity of the judge in question so why not allow the judge to rest after all. It was further noted that there is no need to further increase the age of retirement bearing in mind that the general age of retirement is 65.
- Clause 15
- This clause seeks to change the title “Civil Service” to “Public Service” and provides that the new “Public Service” is to implement the policies of the Executive and deliver public services.
Members of the public who made submissions on this clause argued that apart from changing of words, the proposed amendment adds nothing new. This is because, under the current constitutional framework, the Civil Service implements the policies of the Executive and is expected to deliver public services.
- Submissions received from the public were against the amendment of Section 199. The public noted that rather than changing the name, there is need to initiate and implement Civil Service reforms that will ameliorate the working conditions of the civil servants.
- Clause 16
- This clause provides for the appointment and role of the Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet (Chief Secretary) and his or her deputies. Permanent Secretaries of Ministries will report to the Chief Secretary on any matter affecting them as a class.
Some members of the public were of the opinion that this clause may need further engagement. From an administrative perspective, its role in execution is not clear hence can be a source of conflict with the Chairman of the Public Service Commission.
- Clauses 17 and 18
- These clauses create the Office of the Public Protector, who will take over certain functions concerning public maladministration. The Office of the Public Protector is not a new phenomenon in Zimbabwe. It was in existence prior to the 2013 Constitution as the Office of the Ombudsman and then it was renamed to Office of the Public Protector. Its mandate was derived from the Public Protector Act [Chapter 10:18] which was later repealed. During its existence, members of the public could approach the body with complaints of maladministration in public institutions for investigation.
Some members of the public welcomed the creation of the Office of the Public Protector as it is important in dealing with issues of cases of administrative injustice. However, they were concerned with the limit in scope of issues the new office will investigate as it will be restricted to those concerned with any Ministry or department, or any member of such Ministry or department; and such other persons or authorities as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
- Some were against the amendment as it allows the Public Protector to encroach on the competency of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and amounts to a duplication of roles between the two independent institutions. Their recommendation was not to create the office at this juncture, given limited resources but to strengthen the already existing Chapter 12 Independent Commissions.
- Clause 19
- This clause seeks to provide for the appointment of the Prosecutor-General by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission and it seeks to remove the requirement of a public interview procedure. It also makes provision for his or her removal, replacing the current framework where the removal of the Prosecutor- General from office is similar to that of the removal of a judge.
Some members of the public welcomed the provision, however others were of the view that the current appointment process promotes accountability and transparency. The process ensures that there is scrutiny, and increases public confidence in the office of the Prosecutor-General who is appointed based on merit. Removal of the public process as contemplated by the amendment was viewed as a threat to Prosecutorial Independence.
- Clauses 20, 21, 22 and 25
- These clauses seek to remove Members of Parliament from the membership of provincial councils, merge the provisions relating to provincial and metropolitan councils by removing the special provisions relating to the metropolitan councils (they will no longer be chaired by mayors, but be elected in terms of section 272 like provincial councils), and provide for the election of 10 of the members of Metropolitan Councils by a system of party-list proportional representation.
Some members of the public welcomed the provision as it appears to be positively bringing devolution into effect. It was submitted that if used well, provincial councils can be good space for grooming future MPs. It might be a good opportunity to have preferential seats for women, youths and the disabled at this level. The minority of the submissions held a contrary opinion, noting that the removal of Members of Parliament from the provincial council would divorce local development from national development. The MP is the conduit between the local and national development agenda.
- The Chief’s Council expressed concern over the removal of Chiefs (by virtue of being Members of Parliament) from Provincial Councils. They argued that Chiefs are an integral part of local development and hence should not be excluded from the Provincial Councils. They proposed that all Chiefs that are not Senators become members of Provincial Councils.
- Clause 23
- This clause proposes to remove the term “foreign organisations or entities” and replace it with “international organisations” in section 327(3) (a). Currently, an agreement which is not a treaty but which has been concluded or executed by the President or under the President’s authority with one or more “foreign organisations or entities” and imposes fiscal obligations on Zimbabwe is not binding, until approved by Parliament. The proposed amendment seeks to limit the scope of the application of this provision to “international organisations” only.
Some members of the public submitted that the removal of the term ‘foreign organisations or entities’ from section 327 of the Constitution seeks to limit the types of agreements or treaties that must be approved by Parliament to become part of Zimbabwean law. The role of Parliament is to play an oversight role over Executive functions and removing agreements with foreign organisations or entities beyond the scrutiny of Parliament, defeats the principle of separation of powers, public accountability and good governance.
- Those who were in support of the amendment argued that by voting the President into power, the public would have shown trust in him and hence should allow him/her to borrow whenever deemed necessary. They argued that in certain circumstances subjecting agreements to Parliament may cause unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
- COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
- The major issue that the public expressed was the need to urgently align laws and full implementation of the Constitution rather than rush to amend the Constitution. The Committee urges the Executive to prioritise the realignment of laws to the Constitution and its full implementation.
- On the running mates debate, the Committee noted that the majority of the people were of the view that we should retain the running mate clause and do away with a system of appointment of Vice Presidents by the President. However, the Committee observed that there were members of Civic Society Organizations who were moving from venue to venue replaying the same points and advancing the same arguments, thereby making it difficult to conclude whether these were general views or influenced views. It was also apparent that the general public was not adequately conscientised on the contents of the Bill.
- There was a divided opinion on the proposed amendments on the devolution provisions. The Committee recommends that the Executive should be clear on the roles and functions of the Provincial Councils and the role of Councillors. This should enable the Committee to make an informed recommendation on the matter.
- While extending the women’s quota in Parliament is a progressive idea, it perpetuates a pretence of promoting women’s participation in politics when the Government should be implementing the principle of 50/50 (equal) representation as required by the Constitution. The Committee recommends continuation with the quota system for another ten years. Meanwhile, Government must take robust measures to ensure that the Constitutional provisions of 50-50 are implemented. The party-list names for proportional representation must accommodate both young and old in a zebra system way.
- Regarding the issue of appointment of Prosecutor General, the Committee recommends that he/she should go through public interviews.
- On the promotion of Judges by the President, the Committee recommends that their promotion may be done without public interviews but must be on the advice of the JSC.
- Section 186 of the current Constitution imposes a mandatory age of retirement for Constitutional Court and Supreme Court Judges at 70. In other jurisdictions, the retirement age of Constitutional Court Judges has also been set at 70 years. This is the case in South Africa, which also provides for the possible extension of the term of office based on an Act of Parliament. Having the terms of office set in the Constitution or other legislation creates security of tenure for the judiciary. It lessens the risks to judicial officers when holding influential individuals and Government bodies to account and insulates Judges from external pressure.
- On the issue of de-linking census from delimitation exercise, the Committee recommends withdrawal of the Clause since the issue has already been addressed by amendments to the Census Act.
- The office of the Chief Secretary exists de facto and not de jure. Its role in execution is not clear hence can be a source of conflict with the Chairman of the Public Service Commission. From an administrative perspective, there is need to have clarity of roles. This area may require further engagement.
- The provision that creates the Office of the Public Protector also empowers the Public Protector to carry out certain functions currently carried out by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), including investigating conduct relating to the violation of human rights and freedoms set out in the Constitution. The Committee does not recommend the creation of the Office of the Public Protector but instead urges the State to strengthen the already existing Chapter 12 Independent Commissions.
- On international conventions, treaties and agreements the current provisions require Parliament approval when the Executive concludes or execute agreements that imposes fiscal obligations on Zimbabwe before the agreement becomes law. Clause 23 of the proposed amendments appears to put beyond parliamentary scrutiny, financing agreements or loans between Zimbabwe and foreign credit banks or other financial entities. The adverse effect of this move is that Zimbabwe would potentially be saddled by a foreign debt that would require repayment from the Consolidated Revenue Fund which payment would still require Parliament approval anyway. The Committee recommends that there is need to maintain and strengthen the system of checks and balances and thus all agreements that impose fiscal obligations on the State must get Parliament approval as a way of enhancing accountability.
CONCLUSION
The Committee noted with concern that the majority of the people who attended the public hearings, including those who contributed in writing, did not comprehend the jurisprudence behind the doctrine of separation of powers, independence of the Judiciary and attendant issues. It is therefore the Committee’s submission that in order to enhance the quality of contributions, there must be a concerted effort by relevant stakeholders to sensitise the public on the content and import of Bills before embarking on public hearings. The public awareness is also likely to counter the manipulation of members of the public by sponsored groups who always rush ahead of the hearings. It is, however, the Committee’s general conclusion that, except for areas highlighted in the recommendations as requiring a re-look, the amendments be adopted as presented.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to support the presentation that was made. May I go to Clause 11 because I would like to leave this House very soon to go on Parliament business?
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I have realised that the women’s quota system is not being addressed properly because we want an extension of another 10 years for the proportional representation. My view as a woman is, looking at what other women are saying, it shows that if we increase years for proportional representation, that is not what many women want. I am glad the many women in this Committee also presented. All the people who went out for the hearing did not hear about women. Many women would say they want a 50/50 in many constituencies.
I support the presentation by that Committee. Women should be given an opportunity in those 210 seats. The advantage of those 210 seats is that it will help our country to save money that will not have another burden on the fiscas. What it means is we will only take 105 seats to be reserved for women and105 would then be reserved for men. So, there will not be anything wrong with that because we will be sharing the country’s cake equitably because that is also there in the Constitution that men and women have equal opportunities, be it in commissions, local authorities and everywhere you can think of.
May I say Madam Speaker, the issue of proportional representation - if we increase that for another 10 years, what are we going to do after those 10 years? Are we going to be amending the Constitution every time? Why should they be extending every time or making amendments? Let us as Government reserve a quota for women. There are many people who do not understand what I am talking about in terms of 50/50. The 50% that we are requesting as women is not that we want it for free. We are saying with all those seats there will be competition and people will contest, but it will be reserved for women from any political party.
Why we are saying that is because the Constitution allows and admits that we have equal opportunities. What it means is at law we are all at par. The male MPs who are here, I want them to understand. What I am saying is if we reserve those 50 or 60 seats, we will be saving Government money. Instead of increasing the burden, why do we not just apply the Constitution of this country as it is? Instead of increasing seats let us just share these seats equitably.
The other thing that I do not agree with on proportional representation is that firstly, we are not showing talent because of proportional representation. Parties only present those PR Members of Parliament and it is going to create a lot of hatred between those in the parties. So what is happening is if we have six seats in any province, the six seats are reserved for the winning party in that constituency. You go to Manicaland, you go to MDC and you check what happened at the MDC-Alliance. Only six people were supposed to be nominated out of over a thousand, so what happened is women had to fight each other. Instead of fighting for 105 seats, you end up contesting for just six seats.
The second thing is - Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, what do you think about women who end up attacking each other. If you look at the presentation made by Women in Politics Support Unit (WIPSU), they released statistics from their survey. They said what they discovered with regards to proportional representation is it involves sexual harassment. Whether men like it or not, it was released in that document. It says favouratism dominates in that party and nepotism - how close are you to the Chief Elections Officer or someone within the party. You end up fighting for a very small seat. So all I would like to say is proportional representation in our party and other parties that I have seen is not giving any benefits but instead is breeding hatred. So I support that Committee that is saying let us go to 50/50. What it means is as a country, we will save money.
Thirdly, as women, we may rejoice to get proportional representation seats but I ask myself who is supposed to benefit from those 60 seats. In my own survey, looking at my own party and other parties, some of the people who are benefiting are those in high political offices within the parties. What about those occupying fewer seats? When are they going to join Parliament through this? Look at what has been happening since 2013 when we started this thing. Those who joined Parliament in 2013 using this seat, in 2018 they said they should come back. If we go to elections in 2023 and 2028 they are going to return to Parliament.
So, where is the affirmative action? Madam Speaker, the 60 seats are benefitting very few people and these people will remain in those seats until they die. Madam Speaker, the issue of 60 seats - like it or not, looking at any woman in this country, if we are to depend on party lists, how are people going to break through into those seats if they will not be favoured by their parties?
Madam Speaker, if people want us to agree that we extend the lifespan of the 60 seats and reject the 50:50 representation, what it means is, those who want 60 seats where you are teased by people as Bacossi people feel that you get those seats freely. Why can we not earn the seats so that it depends on your capabilities? I do not want freebies; I want things that I work for. You will earn respect if you go to a constituency and work well. Right now, if I am to go to another constituency, the sitting MP there will think I am trying to compete with him or her. To eliminate that conflict, give us 50% that we contest for. If we come up as ten candidates, people will choose their favourite.
Madam Speaker, I would like to say to the Hon. Minister, we may not get it our way because the majority will determine since I belong to the minority. When we made this Constitution, the idea was to promote women so that they develop. Therefore, if you join Parliament through proportional representation, let us cap it to a maximum of two terms so that others may also benefit – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - My request Hon. Minister is, if you do not want to get rid of proportional representation, let us put a cap of two terms so that others may also get an opportunity to be empowered. After those two terms, you would have earned money to go and contest for a seat.
Madam Speaker, this is my view. As women, let us be honest to each other. We cannot talk about affirmative action whilst we want to stick to those seats. Let us talk about affirmative action and also give others an opportunity. Someone has been sticking around in those seats for four or five terms. The PR seat should be reserved just for two terms and after those two terms, you go. Madam Speaker, I am one of the beneficiaries of proportional representation and I am saying after those two terms, it is either I leave or I go and contest for a seat. That is why I am debating in support of the 50:50 representation because I have a background to that. We cannot give you freebies for life. Let us put a limit to two terms of proportional representation Members of Parliament. If you look at political parties that I know, for those struggling MPs, they leave their seats and go for PR seats. If they fail to do anything meaningful, they go to the Senate; moving around without doing anything meaningful. I am one of those women who believe in mentoring other women. So, let us agree that you cannot depend on freebies for life. Let us put a maximum of two terms and you go home.
Finally, I also heard something about the youths and I really support that issue. The reason is, let us agree that we gave birth to children who are growing up and they have ideas that may be progressive to this country. We should give them an opportunity to come to Parliament. Madam Speaker, I think we should not keep on increasing people and burdening the economy. From those 60 seats that you are giving us as women quota, why can we not reserve a percentage to young women? We are getting old, whether we like it or not. Some feel that they are entitled because they are senior members of their political parties. We need to give others an opportunity. Hon. Minister, I am saying give us 50%; if you do not agree take my proposals.
*HON. TOGAREPI: I thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to talk about the Constitution Amendment Bill, which is very important. What I would like to say is, according to our Constitution, it is inherent in the Constitution that if there is any reason for us to change or amend the Constitution, we can amend it. It is very important that if as Zimbabweans we feel that there is an amendment that should be made to the Constitution, let us do it.
I also want to contribute to the debate on extending the lifespan of the proportional representation.
I agree that when women got that quota, I do not think many women benefited from that. Looking at our political parties, those who became Members of Parliament (MP) through proportional representation (PR) at that time are still the ones in those positions. This shows that they did not develop enough to go and contest out there.
My view is that women should increase their numbers in Parliament but through a democratic process where they go and contest in elections. Extending the lifespan of the quota system is important because it gives an opportunity. I would also like to agree with the previous speaker who said that when a Member is elected through PR the aim was to develop that person. If that person ceases to be an MP through the quota system, they can stand and contest because they have acquired experience and knowledge and are able to stand in any constituency.
Young women should be given an opportunity in that quota system. Women should show us that they indeed want 50-50. They should demonstrate by making sure that those 60 seats are shared equally; 30 for young women and 30 for older women.
I would like to agree with the observation of the report of the Committee. The youth should be given an opportunity because we will be training them so that they may be like their political leaders. The youths that we would have given an opportunity through PR will learn and acquire experience about Parliament so that they also encourage others who are outside Parliament to join Parliament.
Some women are advocating for 105 seats – they have been given those 60 seats; they may also freely contest in the other seats, let them take advantage of that. If they gain experience from PR, we may end up having more women in Parliament through that way.
I would like to concur with the observation on running mates. To me, the running mates clause creates a lot of power struggles. If I am voted as Vice President, what stops me from obeying the President who appointed me and has been elected by the majority –[HON. SIKHALA: Inaudible interjection.] – I need your protection because these are some of the people who benefit from the Americans. This Hon. Member is the one I saw with the Americans in Chitungwiza. My view is that it is important. We must vote for the President because all the development that comes after the President’s term depends on the President. That President must elect Ministers and Vice Presidents because these people should know that his success and theirs depends on him. At the end of the day, he is accountable for the failures and success of that Government. That running mate clause should be changed. The President should be elected by the people and the President must choose his deputies. I thank you.
*HON. ZEMURA: Thank you Hon Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on this Bill. I want to support what the Committee on Justice said. Our Constitution is talking about equal opportunities. Our Constitution was written very well using equal opportunities. If there are equal opportunities in terms of seats – 105 should be for women and 105 for men. If we talk against the Constitution, it means we are pursuing our own needs which are against that Constitution. Let us respect the Constitution. If we follow our Constitution, we will not run into problems.
The Constitution is very clear. Women can battle on their own and succeed. There will be one woman who wins if they contest on their own. Let us respect our Constitution and let us use it in a non partisan manner. I thank you.
HON. B. DUBE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister of Justice for the two concessions that were made. I think it is honourable and noble for the Executive to also acknowledge certain things as they arise. We applaud the Minister for these and going forward, we continue to concede on issues that are common cause.
I will quickly go on to deal with the first issue which relates to the running mate clause or the election of a Vice President together with the President. There is a motive or justification for having this provision in the Constitution as at 2013 and one of the reason was to be sure and certain on the future leadership of the country taking into account the risk or possibility of risk that may arise from one centre of power which may not be properly checked. We have an experience already as a country in 2017, whereby an Executive President who had appointed Vice Presidents at some point thought or realised that he had done so bad and felt someone else amongst his lieutenants was getting more support and they fired that person. The firing was not even logical but it followed what we want to go to now. Where we are saying a Vice President serves at the mercy of the appointing authority who is the President. We already have an experience and if we are a nation that does not want to learn, then it is unfortunate because we already experienced what this thing can do.
I think that those who were alive to what was happening around 2017, we risked having someone’s wife as a President by virtue of having a powerful person there with the powers to decide who they want. Some other Vice Presidents were already pleading that they were lonely and wanted a quick appointment of their mother to assist them to do the job. So, is this where we want to be? When we are making these amendments, I urge this Parliament to not consider the individual who is there because you may have an individual who may be rational and reasonable and may never wish to have possibly their wife or son as President to succeed them. It may be unfortunate that at some stage, this nation may have an unreasonable one like what we almost had in 2017 and we risk having something that we never want to see – having a person who can act as President when that person does not meet even the minimum requirements of being a leader. So, it is my submission that it is not the smartest thing to do. Inasmuch as we want one centre of power, we are not safe. Let us not look at the individual, possibly the individual we have – you may trust him, if you do, you may trust him that no, he may not do this but there is no guarantee that in his absence, any other person may come and not embarrass this nation by telling you the following day that they are resigning. The processes may end up having a clumsy process of having an appointment of a President.
Why do we need a Vice President who is directly elected? It is also that when they are performing their duty, they are not performing their duty in order to please a certain boss but to please the whole nation. As soon as you become a Vice President, you are now a public official and your duty and obligation is to the whole nation. So we do not want a person who lives every day to check on whether the boss is very happy. We want a Vice President who may be able to tell their boss that this is not right. So the only person who can do so is a person who has direct mandate from the citizenry. I will not over-emphasise on this but I submit that the smartest thing to do is to make sure that any other person who assumes public office has a direct mandate because we do not have guarantees that we will have reasonable Presidents who may be smart and avoid doing the things that we may not expect because politicians have a tendency of shocking you by doing the unexpected.
I will quickly go on to deal with the issue relating to the composition of the House and the issues of Proportional Representation (PR). I think I will leave that one for other Hon. Members to debate on because I realised that there is serious interest from the other gender. I am sure that it would be fair to give them a chance to say out certain things because they are the most affected. At times it is smarter to allow the most affected people to tell us and we listen to their perspective because they may know better. So, I will leave that.
I will quickly run to deal with issues relating to the appointment or promotion of Judges. I would want this nation to be a nation that always records history of what happens. When we started the issue of public interviews for the appointment and promotion of Judges – do we remember that some of the most senior Judges including supervisors of certain courts actually ran away from public interviews? Those who were diligent to search realised that one of those most senior Judges had an outstanding 15 years judgment but that person is already in charge of our High Court but he had an outstanding judgment of 15 years if you did not know. I think the person got wind because I think that the then Chief Justice Chidyausiku had already made some follow ups with him on why he had applied for the post whilst he still had letters for judgments that had not yet come.
Do you realise how important that thing saved us this process of interviews because we would have had that person as a Supreme or Constitutional Court Judge - a person who has no capacity to make a judgment in 15 years. I understand the argument that says that the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) would monitor these people and some are saying they would have already been interviewed – that is not true. Some of the judges whom we appointed in 2013 were appointed before the public interviews and the majority of them did not undergo this process. Hence they may end up in the highest court without having even demonstrated their competence at once.
So, it is my submission that any other judge who wants to be appointed to the Supreme or Constitutional courts must demonstrate their willingness by submitting to the interviews. If they are said to be embarrassed and do not want to be embarrassed, let them stay where they are. To those who have been in industry and have worked, you would know that you always undergo an interview for the next job. If you were a lower grade employee and want to be promoted, then you would undergo promotion interviews. Why should we interview people on the basis of assumptions?
Yes, I know people would say that the JSC would make recommendations or advice but we must remember that in one of the founding values of our Constitution, we have the principle of transparency. What is advised by the JSC is something that is secretive. It is given to the appointing authority and I believe it is flushing or going against the values and principles of transparency. We just want to know you, if you want to be our Supreme or Constitutional Court Judge – be prepared for the embarrassment of an interview. You either fail or pass and if you pass, congratulations and if you fail, tough luck. So, it is my submission that there is no need for that.
Then there is the issue of extension of tenure for Supreme and Constitutional Court Judges on an annual basis for five years. I did not get the rationale because the requirements for someone to be appointed as a judge are not very complicated. Someone must have practiced as a lawyer or must have been a judge somewhere for a period of seven years and there is an age limit that is there. Zimbabwe has so many of these people who are qualified and eligible to be judges. Why should we labour ourselves by causing people not to relax? We say thank you to the judges who would have worked so hard and when they get to 70 years old, we say good bye and new blood comes in. There is no harm unless we are conceding that we did not educate so many people to qualify as judges of which I do not believe. I think that currently we have more than a thousand of qualified and eligible people who can be appointed as judges.
The most dangerous part is that if the renewal is to happen annually, you are now singing for your master because possibly like I alluded before, we are assuming that we will always have a reasonable President and will always have a reasonable JSC that will make correct and proper recommendations. Why should we live on these assumptions? We live in a society where we are human beings with weaknesses including fundamental ones and some of the weaknesses include self interest. So, I do not get the justification on why we should have a judge coming every year and towards the end of that year, they are already worried on whether they will still be a judge in the next year.
What will they do in order to please that other person who must then renew? So if bad comes to the worst, my submission would be that, if we still think that there is need for that extension, then it must be a once off. If the judge undergoes one extension interview, then that must be enough. Embarrassing them by causing them to appear before you annually or to be assessed annually – you may end up with prejudices in the process. What then happens when you come up with a judgment that your superior does not like and they are the person who is supposed to write your recommendation letter?
My submission is that, if we are to do it, then let it be once in those five years – if you are at 70 years old, we assess you but along the way, there is always a provision for disqualifying them, if they get too old and incapacitated, the Constitution already provides that they become ineligible to be a Judge if they are no longer sound. So, we extend them for 5 years and we end there. We do not talk to them again, I think that way we will be safer and smarter.
I will again go to the aspect of the public protector; relating to this, I will actually agree with the report in toto where it says that the most important thing to do is to strengthen the Human Rights Commission as opposed to coming up with another new institution which may conflict in terms of its operations. I insist that we capacitate our Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and make it work to the best that it can as opposed to creating a new office.
Then quickly to the prosecutor general; the functions of the prosecutor general and their qualifications are such that this person must be a person who qualifies to be a Judge and who is the person who qualifies to be a Judge? It is a person with the age requirement, the academic requirements as well as a person who is able to pass an interview. So a Judge in Zimbabwe is a person who is capable of passing an interview. So, this person must also pass an interview. Why do we need people to pass interviews - so that we are guaranteed generally on the competences of the person? I know there are many people who may argue that the prosecutor general needs not be so much independent because they already indicate the Executive and staff. My view is that they are a person who carries a serious obligation and they must be a person we trust and believe that they are competent.
I think if we go even with what the Executive has been saying in the past weeks where there were complaints relating to a lot of corruption cases falling because prosecutors are not able to seriously prosecute complicated matters; it is one of the reasons - if we have people who are not competent or people who have not demonstrated their capacities, we suffer the risk of having people who will have many cases. I think it is not right to have a person whose competency has not been demonstrated publicly to hold this serious office. Let those ones who do not want to come to public interviews leave our public offices. They must just sit where they are and those that are willing to serve Zimbabwe must demonstrate their capacity by coming through public interviews which are also exciting by the way.
It has been a pleasure for me to watch people undergoing public interviews. I think for those who wanted to be prosecutor generals, many of the people that we always respected and thought they were clever in the legal fraternity exposed themselves that they were not able by failing to answer elementary legal issues that were asked. So, I believe that we must stick to that and it will be safer for Zimbabwe. So I submit that there is no need to amend this provision and allow for a person who may pretend to be a prosecutor when they are incapable...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Dube, you are left with 5 minutes.
HON. B. DUBE: I thank you Madam Speaker. I will end by submitting that although, I will leave other provision to other colleagues but I will say although the Constitution provides that it can be amended, we can only amend when we believe that it is just, fair, it is reasonable justifiable in a democratic society and it saves the best interest of the country as opposed to any other consideration. So, I will not agree with a submission that says because the Constitution has provisions to amend, let us just amend.
For now, let us keep what we have except where it is really necessary to make amendments but on certain issues, let us allow them to remain as they are except where it is really necessary and reasonably justifiable in a democratic society. I submit that the majority of the Clauses that I was going through the amendments so intended are not reasonably justifiable. There is no compelling reason really to have an amendment that says we want to put maybe an office of the Chief Secretary. I believe that where he is, he is working well. We cannot make a constitutional amendment for an individual because there is a certain individual who has worked for so long without a constitutional provision for him possibly because he is known to be a senior civil servant. I believe that we can do away with these things. I submit and I thank you for giving me this opportunity and I hope I made sense and it is my hope and belief that on many of the issues, we may agree because there is no need to go too far on these issues. I thank you.
+HON. M. MKANDLA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I would also like to air my views on Clause 11 which talks about proportional representation. Our Zimbabwean Constitution explains clearly that there should be...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. I have an announcement to make. Members of the Women Parliamentary Caucus attending workshop in Kadoma, the bus is leaving at 1600 hours.
+HON. M. MLANDLA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would also like to add my voice on Clause 11 which talks about proportional representation. I have indicated earlier on that the Zimbabwean Constitution allows both males and females to have equal rights. On the issue of proportional representation, it has been there for 10 years and it has been allowing women to also partake in parliamentary activities. We still have these women in Parliament up to today. All I am saying is women should be given an opportunity to contribute in Parliament. As women, we can campaign to get constituencies and we have been taking part in Parliamentary processes. We came here under proportional representation without any favour.
We have made sure that we work hard as women and make sure that we get that opportunity to take part in Parliament. Nothing is impossible for women, we need to sit down and agree that each time there is a female candidate taking part; we must really support them fully so that this 50:50 is achieved. As women, we cannot fail to do things that we really want to do. It is just like with Chieftainship, where I come from, women have opportunities to take part as chiefs but just because women are being looked down upon, they are not allowed to be chiefs. Right now we also want to take part as women and make sure that we complain and get resources just like our male counterparts. We would like to also make sure that we take part in making sure that we contribute a lot into our economy. As women, please give us the opportunity, we know how to do these things and we have been successful. Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Let me join my Chairperson on the report that he presented to the House and to thank him very much for having represented what we found as we did the public hearings.
Let me start by speaking as an introductory part so that at least the House understands what we faced when we went out there and why it is important as we debate this particular amendment Bill to appreciate the sentiments that are out there. Yes Madam Speaker I know that we had a lot of civic society organisations that had mobilised and we were working with people. However, I think it is important to understand that it is in exactly the same spirit that COPAC did the hearings. You will remember that during COPAC, those that had wanted some interesting issues to be included really did mobilise and it was okay. So, I do not want to look at mobilisation in a negative manner, but only to say that it was important that we had the turnout, particularly during the Covid- 19 period in terms of the numbers that we found.
It is important that as we discuss these amendments, we appreciate that the public sentiments, even around those who were not necessarily mobilised was that they wanted Parliament to be seen to be representing the views that they bring in. I say so perhaps to persuade and encourage the Minister as he begins to look at some of these amendments to be able to be politically sensitive so that we are not seen as people who are merely to play around with people without necessarily taking their views seriously. Some of us who had the misfortune of being easily identified at those hearings were actually warned by people that we know that we are saying what we are saying but you go into that House and you say something completely different. I want to thank the Chair because at least we lived true to our word. We said exactly what the generality of the people said.
The second issue that I want to raise concerns the amendments that are being proposed, perhaps more at a personal level because I was one of those that sat during the time of COPAC as part of the negotiators. I bring that conversation to this discussion because I think it is a bit unfair to look at the constitutional process without necessarily understanding the conversations that went with those negotiations at the time that we were negotiating around the constitutional process. Let us be honest, this Constitution is also a result of negotiations. So to pretend that there were no negotiations and no political conversations that took place is not being honest.
I will deal with the issue around the running mate. Madam Speaker, when you look at it in a very simplistic way, the running mate provision looks okay. However, I think it is important for us to be able to appreciate that even the discussions then around the running mate were discussions where political parties were not ready to deal with the running mate. Here I am not only talking about the ruling party, but I am also talking about the opposition. The reason why the running mate then became part of a provision that was in the transitional provisions is an indication that political parties at that time were hesitant around the issue of running mate. Let us be honest, what was the hesitancy – it was that we know and we can speak about it for at least those major political parties that issues of succession are a problem.
Therefore, if we go with that provision without balancing how it creates more problems around issues of succession, we will not have dealt with the running mate provision in the manner that it is supposed to be dealt with. In circumstances where our political parties and political culture are ridden with issues of factionalism, the running mate provision creates more problems. It does not facilitate good succession because what you would have done with a running mate is that you are bringing the problems that are within political parties and placing them within a national discourse, which is unnecessary.
Madam Speaker, I am saying so because I can confidently say that all political parties have issues with succession. So let us not deal with the issues of succession and bring them at a national level. For me, the provision that we may want to consider - I want the Minister to think around this. If we remain with the status quo, how do we ensure that the status quo does not create a space again for political party issues to come into the succession issue? As provided, we still have a situation in which we are allowing a political party to determine what the succession process is.
For example, we are saying the political party that has the President is the one that then has a right to replace. If we have chaos in that political party, we will not know where to start. Why do we not remain with the one person who runs as President but we deal with the succession scenario and there are other options that we can look at. Why can we not allow Parliament, for example, to become the one that does the voting around the replacement? Surely, it does not change much because whatever political party has the majority in the House will then be able to vote for a person who is being seconded, just like we do with Speakers. We know that if the political party that has the majority would want to put a candidate for a Speaker, that Speaker is likely to come in.
The point that I am trying to underline is, let us avoid bringing the chaos that exists in political parties to a national level, because if we do not deal with it, we will have a problem. I know that others were talking about the running mate as if it is a panacea, look at what happened in Malawi when Madam Joyce Banda moved away, she was a running mate – Mutharika then fired her. What then happened is that you still had a Deputy President, but who could not be fired because constitutionally she also had been elected. You can see what happened even when the senior Mutharika passed away, you understand the chaos that existed at that particular point in time. I wish the Malawians well and I hope that President Chakwera right now as he goes in with the same system, is not going to struggle because as long as that provision is there, you are likely to have the same issues that are associated with issues of succession. So my plea to the Minister as he looks at the issues of amendment is to begin to see what happens with the issues that are to do with succession.
The second issue that I wanted to speak to is that around the 50/50 issue that we are raising and I want to agree with my colleagues, particularly my female Members of Parliament that our basic position is that we would like is a 50/50. However, I think the question that we have to grapple with is how do we facilitate for a 50/50, given the current constitutional provision that we have? I do not know. Perhaps we could look at the Electoral Act but I am not sure how we will be able to amend the Electoral Act without going to the Constitution and I am not sure that in terms of the legal process that we have right now, whether it is possible to begin to bring in a completely new provision around the composition of Parliament, but I think the position that we are putting here as female Members of Parliament is that 50/50 is the way to go. I understand that may be a problem. I want like a proper female who always negotiates everyday of my life as a woman, you are always negotiating.
The second point is that if we proceed with this current provision, can we begin to change the way that provision is couched. For example, if you say we are going to have 60 women, the problem is that unless those 60 women – because they are coming on a pro rata – you nominate them post facto, what you do is you have an election first and they do not get nominated at that time, which is why you can then include in this amendment a provision that says within the 60 seats, a particular percentage will represent the young women. I agree with my colleague who spoke to the issues of ensuring that young people are included but it will not be possible for us to do that unless you allow for the election to take place and you then get the nominees coming in.
I agree that process could be well articulated in the Electoral Act - but if we leave it as it, you will not have a chance of ensuring that you include the young people unless the Electoral Act is subsequently changed to be aligned with that provision. Again, for other classes like people with disability in that 60 and in that 10, what would make sense is to allow the election to take place and then ensure that there is a provision in the Electoral Act that then forces the political parties so to speak as they nominate people to come in. That provision that says we should have gender equality on the 10 will not work, even for the youth because as long as the election goes as it is, there is no way you are going to enforce the gender equality. It can only happen if you do it post facto.
You go to an election and then the political parties put in their names and it should not be a problem because, in fact when we put in those nominations, the people are not on the ballot anyway. So it is just a piece of paper that is lodged at the time of nomination. Perhaps people could look at how you can do it in terms of the Electoral Act. I am still trying to think how an amendment to ensure that the Electoral Act is then forced to be aligned to it.
I agree with the issues around judges. My other colleagues have spoken around it. The public sentiment was amazing. People were very clear. We have young people that should be taking these positions. Why are you forcing us to continue with people that are at 75? I think it is something that we really need to think about. If we are going to be seen to be a progressive country, I think let us see how we also facilitate the coming in of young people. So, the extension to 75 is really problematic. It is something that we would like to persuade the House to relook what is going on around that issue.
I struggle to understand why public interviews are a problem. When you look at it the President still has the right – whatever the public interviews have brought in, to nominate the person that he wants. It just gives some confidence to people to say we saw, we could make a decision, we could say this is not right and my personal view would be let us try and keep those public interviews.
The issue around Chief Secretary, I do not even see why we want to bring the Chief Secretary to Public Service. Let learn and I am always saying this thing munhu ngaamhanye nembwa dzake ma comrades. When somebody comes in, allow that person space to be able to pick people that they want to work with. We know that the Chief Secretary works in the President’s Office. We know that the Chief Secretary basically is almost like an assistant who works in the Office of the President. I do not know why we want to drag this person into Civil Service and create problems. When a President comes into power he is unhappy with this particular Chief Secretary and he wants to change, now he has all these complications about negotiating with Public Service and things like that.
This is where I do admire the American system - the fact that when you come in, you come in with your people. When you leave, you go with your people. This thing of adopting other people’s children and wanting to make them yours, really never works. This is one thing that we just need to do. I am not saying anything about the present – I am sorry. I am just indicating that we need to create enough space for an incumbent who is coming in to deal with the people that they need to deal with.
The issue around the Public Protector and I see Hon. Mushayi is here. I have been quite disappointed because she moved a motion at the beginning of the session around Section 210 which, for all intents and purposes, when you read what the Public Protector is supposed to do can be effectively done by Section 210. If we factor in Section 210 and ensure that an independent mechanism that deals with issues around administrative justice, security sector we would have dealt with the need of creating another new body and another new office – that is the Public Protector. Some of those things that are still being done by the Human Rights Commission can continue. Surely, if our issue is that we want something that looks like the old Ombudsman that deals with issues around the administration of justice or the way services around Government are given, let us just come and enact a law around Section 210 and create a structure that then can facilitate all these issues that we are talking about.
I really think these are the comments but I will not leave without saying that our disappointment is that we should have just allowed the whole electoral system to be debated and our reforms put into place, then come in with an omnibus constitutional amendment. As it is right now, given all these things that we are talking about, and given the need for electoral reforms, we are going to be standing here again with amendment number three to bring in some of the electoral reforms that are necessary. We are going to go back again to people and tinonotukwa people are angry out there. Things are not okay. We come back again with constitutional issues and people say magadzira chingwa here instead of coming here and saying this. Even your general people are very angry besides the civic society. It is unfortunate that we have had to do this but we would have hoped that when we do a constitutional amendment let us try and put everything that we need so that we are not seen to be continuously going back to this lovely document that we all voted for and agreed to.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI): I want to give everyone an opportunity to debate whilst they are fresh. So I move that we adjourn the debate to next week where we can continue and exhaust everything that we have. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday 14th July 2020.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the House adjourned at Twenty Six Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 14th July, 2020.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 8th July, 2020
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
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES’ MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that Hon. Mutodi has been assigned to serve in the Public Accounts Committee and the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM HON. MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: The following Ministers have tendered their leave of absence today: Hon. Garwe, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities; Hon. Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Hon. Shiri, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, Hon. July Moyo, Minister of Local Government and Public Works.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Minister of Finance and Economic Development was supposed to make a Ministerial Statement today as requested by this august House on the state of the economy. The Hon. Minister has indicated that because he is going to present a Mid-Term review; he has requested that the Ministerial Statement be not be made today but will form part and parcel of his Mid-Year Term review, next week on 16th July, 2020.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Leader of the House, concerning the enactment of the Patriotic Act. When is Government going to enact this law as a matter of urgency?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the very important question. I concede that it is a very important piece of legislation that we need. Most progressive countries protect their territorial integrity by ensuring that citizens do not go about selling out their country to other nations.
I have requested my officers within the Policy Department to do a background research on it. We have been slowed down by the pandemic as we have a skeletal staff. I can assure the Hon. Member that we are expecting developments before the end of this year. We are very much aware and we want to have that Act. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Energy and Power Development. What is Government policy in relation to uranium enrichment and other minerals in order to produce renewable energy and enhance the availability of renewable energy migrating from fossil fuels?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. ADV. CHASI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for a very timely question. Government is currently engaged in the process of coming up with a national integrated energy resource plant for the first time in this country. This process ensures that we take into account all the resources that we have to make power. It is common cause that we have suffered from climate change with respect to Kariba. It is also common cause that we depend a lot on coal. Government respects its international obligations regarding the Carbon footprint. We are looking at all possible sources that we can have and nuclear is one of them which arises from uranium.
We are now in the process of actively considering this possibility and as we come to the point where we talk about uranium, I can assure the House that a lot of work will have been done, but it is work in progress.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you for the privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. May the Minister indulge me in terms of timelines of the energy policy which he is currently framing - to what extend or at what point can we expect that we have traction in that regard, aware that the European Union has set 20% migration in 2020 as a benchmark for migrating and diverting from fossil fuels. What are we expecting as a nation?
HON. CHASI: I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the follow up question. As I indicated, we are working on a national integrated energy resource plan. We had false start with regards to this process. We are now working with development agencies like the World Bank and African Development Bank who are helping us to come up with this policy.
I am not able at this moment in time to say precisely when this work will be concluded but all those who are involved in this matter understand the urgency of the matter. I am very helpful that by year end, we will have our first draft.
HON. KASHIRI: What is the Ministry’s position in terms of taking biogas, especially to rural areas?
HON. CHASI: It follows up on what I have already said in the previous answer. The country is taking every possible source of power and biogas is critical. We are already beginning to work with people in the provinces to educate people on what this really means and to ensure that in as far as possible, we take advantage of biogas. We have done bio-digesters in some parts of the country and at an opportune moment, I will be able to furnish the House with the details but I want to assure the Hon. Member that biogas is indeed part of our consideration.
+HON. MATHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. I have noticed the children are getting education through the radio and this is assisting but I would like to know when this programme will be accessed in the rural areas, especially in Nkayi, since there are no waves. Ztv and radio is not accessible to school children.?
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): The Constitution of this country has a provision for access to information for all. Section 61 and 62 speaks to that and that is precisely what the Government policy is implementing. We have been going round consulting people at grassroots levels. We will be issuing out community radios. This is another way of making sure that those areas where they are not receiving the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation signal, both radio and television can be able to have their own radios.
We are cognisant of the fact that there are certain areas where our Zimbabwean people instead of receiving signals and getting news from this country from our radio, they have been receiving signals from Zambia, especially those in Binga and Manama. This is why we have been moving in these areas making sure that the community there organise themselves. The definition of community radio is that the owners are the community and as such, the community has to be organised and apply. The deadline for that application still stands at 31st July, 2020.
In terms of making sure that information especially in with this COVID pandemic upon up, we have made it a point that we rope in all traditional leaders. We are using the database which the Ministry of Local Government do have of our local leadership. We have gone out training them about COVID-19 pandemic, preventing and protective measures to make sure that we contain this disease.
During this pandemic – because it is a two way communication between Government and the people, we established a call centre which is a toll free line so that Zimbabweans all over the 10 Provinces of our country can actually call. They do not need to have airtime in their cell phones. They just call 2023 for anything they want to know. We established in mind considering that the COVID-19 lockdown created a lot of anxiety among our people. We have been received quite a lot of calls through that call centre.
I urge Hon. Members of this august House to encourage your people to call the call centre 2023 – we have more than eight desks there. Right now we have four languages. People can call in Tonga, Ndebele, English and Shona. We are trying hard to make sure that we create more desks so that we can actually use all the 16 official languages of this country.
The second republic’s work is to ensure that each and every Zimbabwean has access to information. It is their constitutional right. I hope I have been able to answer your question Hon. Mathe. I thank you.
+HON. MATHE: My supplementary question Hon. Minister is, since you are looking forward to children being able to access information and be informed on forthcoming examinations and the COVID-19, what other measures are currently in place so that those who are not accessing the information can have access so that they can share with those who have? Children in the rural areas have no access to information whatsoever. What is the Ministry’s policy on that so that children can access the requisite information?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mathe, I thought the Hon. Minister was very comprehensive in her response and coverage. It will sound like we are being very redundant if we have to stretch that further than what the Hon. Minister has actually replied. Hon. Minister, what is your Call Centre? – [HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: 2023!] – 2023 will answer your concern Hon. Mathe.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, aware that you were undertaking a transmitter establishment …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Do not address the Hon. Minister, address the Chair. We do not want a dual here.
HON. NDUNA: I am very sorry Mr. Speaker Sir. Aware that Hon. Minister and your department is establishing transmitters in various areas, I would want to know how many of those are now ready. When would we expect the full proto in terms of digitalisation that you hope to achieve by the establishment of these transmitters?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you but that supplementary question does not stand. It is better if it comes as a written question because I do not expect the Hon. Minister to know how many air antennas are there currently constructed. She will need to investigate and come up with a written response accordingly.
HON. DR. LABODE: My question is to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care and in his absentia, it can go to the Leader of the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Acting Minister of what?
HON. DR. LABODE: Health and Child Care.
THE HON. SPEAKER: He is there.
HON. DR. LABODE: We are masked, so we cannot see people.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is Hon. Prof. Murwira.
HON. DR. LABODE: Acting Minister of Health and Child Care
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please address the Chair, address the Chair.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir…
THE HON. SPEAKER: My question is.
HON. DR. LABODE: My question is, there has been a challenge with the issue of age of consent to accessing health services. Please I want to be understood properly. It is not age of consent to sex but age of consent to accessing services. We have been working on it and we were promised by the Ministry of Health and Child Care that they would review or amend the Act to include that in the Health Services Bill which is supposed to be coming to Parliament but has not come. A petition has been brought to Parliament on the issue and nothing has happened. We were hoping that maybe the Public Health Act would be amended for that purpose.
I am asking the Hon. Minister to say, Hon. Minister how far, ngiyakwazi ukuthi awukwazi, but how far with the amendment of the age of consent to health services for the minors? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode, how can you say, ‘Ngiyazi awukwazi?’ and then you want your question to be sustainable? I think you should withdraw that aspect.
HON. DR. LABODE: I withdraw it Mr. Speaker, I am sorry Hon. Minister.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker, that is a very detailed question for a person who is just coming in, but I have got my Deputy Minister because in the meantime we are really looking at everything before we can give substantive answers on some of these things. My Deputy Minister can respond to this one, with your indulgence of course.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. Hon. Deputy Minister, can you assist?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. It is a very good question and a good follow up but I need to go and recheck in order to be able to give her a more detailed report next week because I had not looked at that one. I am going to do it next week – I will definitely give the House an answer that is detailed and straight. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode! – [HON. DR. LABODE: Yebo baba!] – Hayi, angisibo baba nxa ngihlezi lapha! – [Laughter] – Ngingu baba nxa sisekhaya ngale. I am sure that you are happy with the response.
HON. DR. LABODE: Yes I am, but there is a component where a petition has disappeared in this Parliament. The petition was brought in almost three months ago and you have not read it here. So I am assuming there is a problem somehow. Somebody is not happy bringing that issue to the House. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I shall investigate as well and find out what has happened to that but if you have got a copy – you can assist.
HON. DR. LABODE: I will.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much.
+HON. H. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. What measures are in place since we are about to embark on the farming season in terms of tractors, inputs and other farming implements? I observed in the past that these are availed to people when it is already too late. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Member for the question.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am proud and happy to tell you that preparations for the summer season are already at an advanced stage. In fact Hon. Speaker Sir, we started the preparations as early as April of this year. We have two schemes on board. As you know, there is the Presidential Input Scheme which is almost complete in terms of procurement of inputs and then we have the Command Agriculture Scheme. The Command Agriculture Scheme falls under the financial institutions but Hon. Speaker Sir, with regards to the Presidential Scheme we have slightly changed the design of the Presidential Input Scheme to ensure that we add what we call the Pfumvudza concept.
The Pfumvudza concept is climate smarting our agriculture. This is certainly a requirement for us to be sustainable as a nation. The Pfumvudza concept - basically what we are saying to our farmers is that they must ensure that they are ready for the Presidential Input Scheme as it will go to those who have already prepared their mulching, water harvesting and if individuals have not – they will not benefit from the Presidential Input Scheme. So this is a pre-condition for them to benefit.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. We do not have much knowledge regarding this pfumvudza, we are also interested in having extensive knowledge regarding this issue. We just hear it being said but we do not know what it is all about. Can the Minister highlight to us what it is all about?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Kwaramba, you did not switch on your microphone so you were not recorded, kindly repeat your question.
Hon. Kwaramba repeated her question.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. KARORO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for her question. The issue of pfumvudza is aimed at addressing effects of climate change to farmers. In this programme, people must work very hard Mr. Speaker Sir because this is a laborious process. People must be prepared and be able to dig plantation holes. All those who are supposed to benefit must dig these holes...
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you please be more specific where do they dig these holes and what kind of holes are these?
*HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I did not want to go into the technicalities of this but what happens is they will dig planting holes/stations, this is done for moisture conservation. When we say farmers must be prepared, I am saying they must dig these holes and do the necessary preparations to safeguard those holes so that water does not evaporate easily. All the farmers that are going to benefit must be prepared enough. As Ministry of Agriculture, we will be visiting your constituencies. Our Agritex officials are ready to visit all the constituencies. They will be teaching the community on how this programme works. I want to say that if Hon. Members hear that we have visited their constituencies, they must also come so that they will learn together with the communities how this programme works. I hope by the time we distribute inputs, everyone will be aware of this programme and the farmers will be well prepared.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My supplementary is, whilst we may have all the components that we may need the pfumvudza, fertilisers and the seed, has Government and Ministry of Agriculture looked at how our season is going to be like in 2021? Do we have any indication whether we are going to have low, medium or high rainfall this year?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the good question. Traditionally, when we look at weather patterns, we look towards the October/November cycle, so at this stage, we have just come out of two seasons of consecutive droughts. So as a Ministry, we are planning for the worst, therefore that is why we are shifting towards climate smart agriculture because it is a necessary must. We have to plan for the worst and anything that comes that is any better than that is just a bonus to us. We have to certainly plan for the lives of our people and our nation. We have food security at our hands and food and nutrition security at our hands too Hon. Speaker.We cannot play with that and therefore, we are planning for the worst. In terms of the announcement, it is only done towards the end of the year.
HON. NDEBELE: On a point of privilege Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We agreed in this House that no point of privilege will be entertained on Wednesdays.
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, I do not know what to call it but it is a follow up to the Hon. Minister’s answer.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is a point of clarification.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You could have done well if you had asked a supplementary question.
HON. NDEBELE: I just want to request if it is not too much to ask of the Deputy Ministers that they present a statement to this House canvassing the entirety of this pfumvudza programme. It sounds like a comprehensive programme, instead of us learning together with the rest of the citizens about the programme. I would prefer a situation where we get a comprehensive statement and then we seek clarifications; if you may indulge me Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. That is a wonderful suggestion. Hon. Speaker Sir, pfumvudza is at the centre of our agricultural recovery plan; agricultural recovery plan requires all stakeholders, Government, donor agencies, private individuals including our Members of Parliament and our leadership. So, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that Hon. Speaker Sir and we will prepare in accordance. I thank you.
HON. MADIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mine is a follow up to this pfumvudza programme. It is a good programme and we are kindly waiting for the Ministerial Statement. I wanted the Minister to clarify, I heard that people will be digging holes and these are the people who will benefit. We have vulnerable groups and the elderly who might find it difficult to dig these holes. What plans does Government have for the elderly who are no longer energetic to do that...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, the Hon. Deputy Minister was very clear, the statement will be given and once that statement is given, then you can ask questions for clarification including that one.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development. To what extent is the Zimbabwe Higher Performance Computing Project, as Government policy, be regarded as an engine for economic growth and development in Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I wish to thank Hon. Moyo for the question on the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing. I am happy to report that under our innovation, science and technology development programme, we have instituted now the High Performance Computing Centre as a research institute under the manpower Development Act, it is SI 169 of 2020. Under this, Treasury has supported this to 24 posts. So, the High Performance Computing Centre is now a fully fledged research and development institute and we call it Zimbabwe Science Park No. 1.
At Zimbabwe Science Park No. 1, the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing is going to focus on two divisions. The first division is understanding the high performance computer itself, which is a technical division. And, the application division is going to be focusing on key areas that include health and medical research, genomics; it is going to look at space and earth observation sciences, geo-spatial sciences for mineral exploration. It is going to look at drug discovery; it is going to do engineering applications that need very high performance computing power. We believe that the future of this country is through the application of science and technology on its natural resources, understanding our natural resources better for exploitation for the purpose of the development of this country, giving this country enough national capability so that we can be able to meet vision 2030 of becoming an upper middle income economy.
We believe that this is possible when we have the capability because we can talk about Vision 2030. Once the President has said that we really need to develop steps which make sure that we reach that goal and Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing which is at Zimbabwe Science Park 1 is one of the integral applications that we are going to have of science and technology towards the development of this country in terms of all the areas that I have mentioned above. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. How is the high performance computing project going to assist in solving contemporary problems, especially those of our farmers such as climate change issues and also weather forecasting? Thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you very much Hon.
Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Moyo for the supplementary question. One of the main applications of the high performance computing Centre is weather and climate modeling, which is under the geo-spatial and earth sciences division of the High Performance Computing, which we have instituted. Hon. Speaker, coincidentally, I brought the whole concept of the High Performance Computer and we actually had to document everything so that we understand exactly what we want to do with the High Performance Computing Centre. What we want is - we can speak high language but, the long and short of it is that, the High Performance Computer is going to tell us the likelihood of a drought or lack of it. It is not the computer itself but, the people who are working there using that computer. So, we are looking at also an issue whereby it is going to support the Zimbabwe Space Agency because the Zimbabwe Space Agency is correlated with the High Performance Computing Centre. So, all the observations that are going to be made by our satellites which are going to be in space and some of which we are using, the international ones are going to relay the information to the High Performance Computing so that we talk about bread and butter issues on technology, delivering food, delivering weather, delivering soil condition, delivering population statistics, delivering everything that we need. So, we believe that the High Performance Computing Centre through well thought applications, is going to help with agriculture using the method that I have mentioned above. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Hon. Minister has told us that he has brought this and it is in writing. Why do we not adopt a situation whereby we write it as it is than flighting it in the media? Then, when we do that work and there is progress, we then publish in media so that we perform and publicise because the hunger that is being experience in Zimbabwe is not because we are poor farmers but the challenge is on the planning aspect. There is no water and we are ploughing seed 727...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are now going into detail. Is it possible that since we have written it and it is so well written in black and white, can we not do it in practice?
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I have just showed you the book but it does not mean that we will not implement. I want to make a commitment that everything that we talk about in this House happens and has results. Yes, we sometimes have words that we say but at the end of the day, those words are translated into action. I want to say, this year as we speak about what has been raised by the other Hon. Member and Hon. Matangira, because of the hunger that is in this country and also on planting the wrong crops on wrong soils, we have a project under this high performance computer which address agro - ecological regions.
I want to say that we were able to live according to our word. In August we are going to have new ecological regions and I want to promise you that Hon. Matangira we might talk as if this cannot be implemented, but it will happen because sometime ago we had not fully done our research, it did not yield results. What we want to do is to bring in new research so that we do not depend on previous knowledge but current knowledge. I want to give my commitment that we are not only going to talk but we will act. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: My supplementary question is basically on the timelines in particular as it relates to interrogating the high performance computer centre whether it is going to work in terms of adding value to our minerals. When is that going to be in place so that we can derive maximum benefit as alluded to in the mineral sector, particularly on the 60 known minerals that we are endowed with as a nation so that we can start collaboration, coordination and networking and get out of the “BBC” era, the born before computer era.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I wish to thank Hon. Nduna for the supplementary question regarding mineral exploration. One of the main programmes that we are running with the high performance computer centre is mineral exploration techniques. This is a programme that we started funding in 2018 and we believe that any country has to know where its mineral resources are, so that we run away from words such as abundant, endowed and just say how many nuggets do we have and how much in terms of kilogrammes.
The high performance computer will make us be able to talk about our mineral resources the way we talk about a bank account whereby you say out of $1000, I withdrew $300 so I am left with $700. So this research programme about mineral resources is one of the key functions that we are performing at the high performance computing centre. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Unfortunately we agreed that we will stick to three supplementary questions. Having said that Hon Minister, some of the sections of your presentation were highly Greek to the Chair and to some of us seated there – would it not be good perhaps if you have the resources to print that booklet so that it is distributed among the Hon. Members where they can read about it and at some future time if there are issues they want to raise, they can follow a written narrative.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): We can happily make copies available. I am also happy to say this booklet is also on the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science and Technology Development website. If Hon Members want to make immediate access to it, they can access the website but if they really need hard copies like what I have I am happy to say we will avail copies this month. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank your Hon Minister that the content is on website. All Hon Members have got tablets now, you can liaise with the Clerk of Parliament and send the soft copies directly to each Member of Parliament.
*HON. MAVENYENGWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Land, Agriculture and Water Development. What measures does the Government have in place in terms on the distribution of mechanisation equipment from John Deere and to ensure that it is decentralised to district level. Due to the Covid pandemic most people cannot travel to the urban centres to go and apply thus the result is that those who benefited before will still benefit again. What we want is for the provinces to equally benefit from this mechanisation programme?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. KARORO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that he posed which will assist a lot of people in the rural areas. The issue of mechanisation equipment which includes combine harvesters and other agricultural implements – the way it is being distributed is that Government used to give the equipment directly to the farmers but there were challenges of favouratism and people were alleging that inputs were going to people in top leadership. So to curtail that challenge, this programme is now being administered by banks. Government devised this plan so that there will not be farmers who will be disadvantaged. What I can urge Hon. Member here is that if you want a tractor or plough, you need to apply to CBZ, Stanbic and Agribank.
I believe all these banks are present in every province. So, whoever wants anything should apply and specify what one wants. The tractors come in sizes and you need to specify the size. If you go to the bank you will be given an application form where you give those specific details. This was done so that no province or race is disadvantaged because this mechanisation equipment is for farmers. It is not discriminatory and does not look at ones race, religion or party but it looks at your ability as a farmer.
*HON GOZHO: I need clarification from the Minister that if I go to the bank, what are the requirements for me to qualify to apply for that equipment.
*HON. KARORO: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that she posed. No, Mr. Speaker, it does not mean that once you apply you automatically get a tractor. What is happening is that we are in the phase 1 stage of mechanisation, so it is concentrating on A2 farmers who are highly productive and the farmers that are highly productive, especially looking at their submission of grain to the GMB. So, it is mostly targeted towards A2 successful farmers.
There is a phase 2 scheme that is going to focus more on small scale farmers. What they consider the most, Hon. Member who posed the question, like I said you need to be a renowned farmer, a successful farmer. If you take your application to the bank, the bank will send its officers to come and assess whether you are a professional farmer. That is what will be considered for you to get any mechanisation equipment and the bank will determine. A deposit is also needed to ensure that once you get the tractor you will be able to pay. Yes, you will negotiate with the bank for the repayment period, depending on the equipment that you have chosen. Like I said, the tractors have different sizes. You choose the tractor that you want and you pay the deposit. I thank you.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: My supplementary question is, in view of the fact that these very limited tractors are going to be allocated on the basis of performance, is it possible for the Ministry to avail to Parliamentarians a database showing previous records of productivity so that we can play our oversight role. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you Hon. Member. It is very possible Mr. Speaker, to come up with a database. These are records and those records are there. If Parliament wants to have a look at the list, we are prepared to bring the list to Parliament.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. From the way the Minister has explained this does not seem to be an immediate process that after applying to get a tractor. How does the Minister explain the fact that the programme was launched and on the same day it was launched, I met several people driving away their tractors.
HON. KARORO: Mr. Speaker Sir, to the best of my knowledge no tractor was driven that day, unless if the Hon. Member of Parliament is prepared to bring evidence to our Ministry, we will then make investigations. Thank you.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr. Sekai Nzenza. Minister, in recent weeks we have seen the sky rocketing of prices of basic commodities - day in, day out. What policy measures is Government putting in place to stabilise prices of basic commodities and stimulate domestic production so as to contain imported inflation? Thank you
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. NZENZA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for the question. It is certainly true that we have witnessed prices continuously going up to the extent that we had a stakeholder meeting with retailers and in good faith agreed to put on a moratorium of price rises. I would like to admit Mr. Speaker Sir, that it was not as effective as we thought it was going to be.
The major problem, Mr. Speaker Sir, is that we are struggling with the exchange rate. We need to stabilise the economy and that is also impacting on the prices. Secondly, the other problem is yes, we do have some difficult people who are not so sympathetic to the consumer and we are appealing to those who continuously raise prices to be a bit more cognisant and sympathetic to the ordinary citizen.
Thirdly, as a Ministry we are looking at import substitution and in doing so we are working quite closely with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to look at the agriculture recovery plan, manufacturing with a view to increasing the production of raw materials within the country. So what is happening Mr. Speaker Sir is that this requires different line ministries to work together in order to meet the Presidential mandate towards increased employment, import substitution, innovation with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development so that our vision will become true. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Minister for the answer. Can you favour this House with a time line within which the import substitution measures are going to be implemented.
HON. DR. NZENZA: Again Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for the question. We do have a strategy looking at import substitution and within this strategy we are looking at what we are calling the low hanging fruit. These are the key priorities and one of them is looking at the pharmaceutical industry and the second one is looking at the fertilizer industry. So what you will see in this coming season we will be producing fertilizer locally and that is the time line. We are also looking at the leather and cotton industry and again by the end of this year we will show results. That is the time line. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. In view of the rising numbers in the COVID – 19 pandemic and the planned opening of schools later this month, what is Government policy in respect of continued use of education promises as worshipping centres? I thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker it is important to know that the rising cases can be disaggregated. Most of the cases are imported cases, therefore quarantine centres have been very important as places to contain that. We also of course have got local transmission. That mostly is related to the imported cases, which means they are the contacts. So in terms of the policy on quarantine centres, the taskforce already started moving away from schools and colleges. I think in terms of colleges, by this week they would have been cleared and we do disinfection.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. With due respect Mr. Speaker Sir, my question was not related to the use of schools as quarantine centres. My question is the use of schools as worship centres. What is Government policy on the continued use of schools as churches?
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Sorry about misinforming that I thought you had said quarantine centres. I think the guidelines are very clear. We have to be more careful now. The issue is that the schools are schools but they can also be used for certain functions. As long as the function that is there is conforming to the World Health Organisation guidelines as adopted by the guidelines issued by the Government of Zimbabwe through my Ministry, then we do not see a problem. Thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am aware that all schools which were used as quarantine centres were fumigated; they were all fumigated and by allowing worshippers to these schools, are we not bringing about the spreading of COVID 19? Why not allow worshippers to use other premises which are not schools?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Perhaps the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education could chip in.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. MATHEMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for asking this question. In fact, this morning I gave a directive that churches must move out of schools in preparation for the opening of schools at the end of this month. I sent out that directive this morning. I thank you.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am very concerned about students opening end of this month. A case in point is, may his soul rest in peace, Mr. Sibanda. Mr. Sibanda worked in a Government department which is currently closed.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Mr. who?
HON. DR. LABODE: A Mr. Sibanda who died of COVID recently. He worked in a Government institution. He did not present any COVID symptoms. He lived with his children in Norton. He went to a workshop in Chiredzi. The timeframe between him being infected, which we do not know and the time he died without telling us where his contacts are is frightening. Mr. Sibanda’s children, I am sure like a lot of other COVID people will go to school on the 31st. I hope we will not lead ourselves into another lockdown like Madagascar. Thank you.
HON. MATHEMA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for her worries and indeed the whole country needs to be worried. We all need to do the best we can to prevent the spread of this pandemic. Mr. Speaker Sir, we do the best we can at the schools to protect our learners or our children, teachers and all staff members of each school. We have thermometers at each school, sanitisers and masks. So we do the best we can to make sure that nobody is affected by the illness. We will do the best we can all over the country and that is why we need cooperation of everybody; the schools, managers, the administration, parents and the general public to make sure that our children go back to school in an environment that will protect them as much as we can. Thank you.
HON. MASENDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to commend the Government for putting a lot of effort on the agricultural programme, but I would like to enquire whether there is or there will be a policy to adjust the buying price for maize as we see that there is an adjustment on the rate at which the US dollar is exchanging to our Zimbabwe dollar. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CULTURE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Member for a very wise and good question. Hon. Speaker, a few months ago we announced a new producer price and recently, we announced an incentive to our farmers of about 30% if farmers delivered maize in July. Hon. Speaker, I can tell you that certainly we understand that the environment is changing daily and our Ministry has also put a proposal to have a further incentive. However, at this stage Hon. Speaker, nothing has been agreed on although we do understand the need to ensure that something is put in place. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. KASHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is - what are the chances that the cotton price is also going to be reviewed?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker, the cotton price was very recently announced and you will remember Hon. Speaker that it had a component of US dollars of about US$10 per bale. At this stage Hon. Speaker, I think it will be premature for us to stand here and promise the nation anything. At this stage, the cotton price remains, although we do understand there are other problems that are surrounding the cotton industry. However, specifically to answer the Hon. Member’s question, at this stage not. Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Hon. Minister said the cotton prices were revised recently but it was not done in US dollars. It was pegged against the Zimbabwe dollar which is losing its value every day. We visited the area and people told us that
they were expecting to buy tractors or trucks but now the cotton producers will not be able to buy anything. They have not received the payments in Zimbabwean dollar since May. Are the prices going to be reviewed?
HON. HARITATOS: The question is the same as the previous one. I want to point out that cotton farmers receive inputs for free. It is different from other crops like tobacco, maize, wheat and soyabeans. At this stage, it is impractical to stand up and guarantee the nation that something will be reviewed. It is not within our Ministry – we can put recommendations but at the end of the day, it has to be decided from the Ministry of Finance. If the situation changes, we will stand with our farmers and back them.
*HON. KACHEPA: My supplementary question goes to the Minister of Agriculture. Farmers are facing challenges of transporting their maize to GMB because the transporters cannot access fuel. Is there any provision from Government for transport or fuel access?
HON. HARITATOS: With regards to transport, I think it is not only unique to the agricultural sector but to each and every one of us even in here today. What we have done to mitigate this in the short to medium term is to increase the number of buying stations under GMB. We have also tried to assist our farmers with transport from buying stations to the GMB depots. We have asked commercial farmers to also act as centres for us to be able to buy. These are the measures we have taken but certainly transport is a major challenge because the liquid fuel is unavailable.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The following vehicles are obstructing or blocking other vehicles; ADX 8903 a silver land cruiser and ADV 3896 which is a navy blue Mercedes Benz. Please, if you can move your vehicles so that you do not obstruct other vehicles otherwise the two vehicles will be clamped.
*HON. TEKESHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Since the introduction of toll gates, we were promised that we were going to have very good roads in this country but our roads especially in the rural areas are worse off than how they used to be before the introduction of toll gates. Is the revenue from toll gates being used properly or not?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH. MATIZA): We are seeing a lot of development on the roads in this Second Republic. Four road authorities get money from ZINARA for the maintenance of roads but there are challenges that we face in the way we are operating and some of the problems were inherited.
Firstly, it is the management at ZINARA. As you know, there was a lot of chaos and corruption; that is what we had to address first and foremost. We now have a new board and new management. All the executive positions have been replaced now. The management is now moving smoothly.
The money that was collected by ZINARA is now used to cover credits, backlogs and arrears. Some people are now asking us to increase toll-gate fees from RTGS10 to RTGs150 or so. That should happen so that we are able to repair our roads from money generated from toll gates.
The problem goes to management of road authorities. There are some requirements that they are supposed to fulfil before then can get money from ZINARA and these are delayed. This leads to delay in maintenance or repair of roads, thus people will end up blaming Government for that. We have been liaising with them and we have held workshops to educate them on that.
In terms of progress on road maintenance and works; there are a lot of road works that are taking place in this country, especially in relation to what is happening in our country; firstly Cyclone Idai, droughts and now COVID-19. All these things were being covered by revenue from toll-gates but Government persevered. If you look at roads in all the provinces or districts, most of them are being repaired as we speak under these difficult circumstances that we are in.
*HON. TEKESHE: I understand that the money from toll gates is being used for pandemics such as COVID. That money is supposed to be used for road maintenance. Are we supposed to refuse paying the toll gate fees because most of us do not use those roads which are being repaired? When are these roads that we use in the rural areas going to be repaired?
*HON. ARCH. MATIZA: I said all these disasters that happened slowed down road maintenance. This means that there is something that is happening although the progress has slowed down. We actually disbursed funds to several authorities right now but I cannot mention them. What you can simply do is to check in your localities whether they have not received money from ZINARA and find out why they have not received funds from ZINARA. Then I am sure you will be able to even tell me here why but the main aim is what we are looking at now is increasing toll fees so that we are able to maintain and repair our roads so that our roads are usable.
ZINARA’s duty is to collect money, disburse it to road authorities and to ensure accountability of those funds. Those requirements, rules and laws of accountability apply even to local authorities and that is where the problem is. They fail to fulfill the conditions and fail to get the money. What you should do is that when you return to your constituencies, ask your local authorities about what is happening and that will help us all for betterment of development.
*HON. KASHIRI: I would like to thank the Hon. Minister Matiza and also to thank His Excellency the President, E. D. Mnangagwa for organising ZUPCO buses for us. The problem that we have is that in the rural areas, ZUPCO buses are not plying the routes because of poor roads. What plans do you have to repair the roads so that people can access ZUPCO transport in the rural areas?
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Kashiri, your question is the same as what was asked before and the Hon. Minister has already attended to that question. Unless Hon. Minister, if you have something to add to the question that was asked now.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you. I wish that the Hon. Minister could explain this growing trend. When a road has been started, we expect that all the scope of works, budgets, everything has been done and material is acquired and carried to site.
There is now a growing trend that a road is started Mr. Speaker. They start working and two to three months, they disappear for two years and nothing happens then suddenly they reappear. What will be happening? What is the problem? Could the Hon. Minister explain to us because all roads that are started never get completed. At some stage you know the contractor will disappear…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Member, may you get direct to your question.
HON. GABBUZA: I am sure that the Hon. Minister understood it. There is a growing trend that roads are started and hopefully all the equipment will have been put on site but suddenly they disappear for some years then resurface. What is the problem according to the Hon. Minister’s experience? Thank you.
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. What normally happens is that roads are funded and we do that here in terms of budgetary allocations and budget allocations are done annually.
In some instances and which was now becoming a rare issue before the catastrophe of Idai and subsequent catastrophes. So this then leads to certain prioritization. I will give you an example of what is happening right now. We have some roads that have reached priming stage, some roads have just been cleared – now those that have reached priming stage, if they are left like that, then that means we are going to lose that material and the money. So the issue of prioritization then means that we have to leave certain roads and prioritise the roads that are at a certain level. This is a funding issue Hon. Member; it is a funding issue Hon. Speaker which I am very sure the Hon. Member is aware.
Where I can come in is to explain the issue of prioritization when we get to areas where there is budgetary deficit. This is where then we come in and select certain portions of the roads that have gone to certain levels where a lot of expenditure has been done. This is what we are doing now. The issues of the roads in various provinces, I can name the majority of them, we have now reprioritised as we speak. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has released ZWL$250 million as of yesterday to now pay all the contractors who had not been paid so that they can restart on these projects. So, this is how the trend goes.
In some cases, it is not Government’s fault as it could be the contractors themselves. Sometimes they mismanage their funding and they do not go ahead with work and in those cases, we terminate and bring other contractors on board – that takes a bit of time to rearrange. So Hon. Member, I want to assure you that whenever funding is available, whenever the funding that we vote for here is made available the work continues. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Minister, Hon. Speaker, what safeguards has the Ministry put in place so that monies that are contributed through toll gates and other sources are not misused by local authorities especially what we have seen in urban centres; where they receive that money and end up buying big vehicles at the expense of residents?
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the Hon. Member. When money has been allocated to a local authority which has all the functionaries of any authority, we expect them to take care of that money and use it properly. Any other way of using it, misappropriation is deemed as corruption.
However, we have an Audit Section, as I said; we would want, through ZINARA funding, ZINARA will go and make sure that those monies are properly used by way of auditing and reports. Largely, an authority is an authority given their budgets, they sit in their council chambers, they allocate the roads that they want to do and they have engineers there. They also have an Audit Section there to see that these things work. So, to a certain extent, the misappropriation is an issue of misgovernance at that level. Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want to know from the Hon. Minister what plans he has got to increase the charges at the toll gates? Aware that this is where the money for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and maintenance of the road network comes from and also the road access fees; aware that we are the lowest in the region in terms of the amount paid.
Currently, it is about USD$20.00 for foreign vehicles. Does he have plans and when does he intend putting them in place? We are paying ZWL$10.00; it used to be USD$10.00. Does he have plans to put it up to that so that we can have our impeccable infrastructure second to none?
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member on the question that he has just asked. In fact, we are almost at the concluding stage of revising the toll fees.
We are cognisant of the fact that our roads need to be of high standard. We are cognisant of the fact that our roads need to be accident free and also of the fact that they have to be commensurate with the regional road network in terms of quality. So, this is why we have looked at the toll charges and very soon before the end of the month, we will be gazetting them.
HON. S. S. KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. What is Government policy on rehabilitating boreholes that were dug and equipped in the 1940s and 1950s? The boreholes seemingly are now getting out of use, the breakdowns are so numerous that perhaps I think they need complete rehabilitation and overhaul. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and to the Hon. Member for the question. Certainly Hon. Speaker, water is a basic human right and our Ministry understands its mandate. The rehabilitation of boreholes around the country is a top priority of our Ministry. It is actually what we call a low bearing fruit because it does not involve drilling new ones. Our Ministry so far this year alone has rehabilitated in excess of 1 800 boreholes and deep wells. So to answer specifically what the Hon. Member is asking, there are certain boreholes that were drilled almost 7 to 8 decades ago and at some stage, boreholes do certainly pass the best before. So our Ministry in line with rehabilitation of boreholes also has facilities to drill new boreholes and ZINWA under our Ministry is in charge of drilling in two provinces specifically and DDF are in charge of the balance of the provinces. So, it is certainly an ongoing process but given the challenges with the finances and given recently the challenges with liquid fuel, our Ministry has not been able to do to its full optimal level and certainly we hope that in the near future, this becomes a thing of the past.
HON. S. S. KHUMALO: Mr. Speaker Sir, perhaps the Minister is talking about this rehabilitation of 1 700 boreholes from different areas. From where I come from the boreholes are just not being serviced. If I may just make it open; I hail from Tsholotsho North. We have a serious problem of water in that area and it is disheartening that the Minister can answer me and say they have been rehabilitating boreholes yet the boreholes there have outlived their lifespan. I did not want to say that but that is what I realised. I thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Hon. Speaker, we have what we call our WASH programme which is at district level so that the job of rehabilitating and repairing individual boreholes actually falls at district level and so certainly, I have taken note of what the Hon. Members mentioned and I am happy to say that Hon. Members even come to my office to raise these issues. I will make the undertaking rather to ensure that we do prioritise certainly the southern regions of our country which are very dry and need greater amount of support and that is certainly what our Ministry will do. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker Sir, in the life of the 8th Parliament, we were promised by the same Ministry that they will drill 4 boreholes in each constituency. Could I kindly check with the Minister if this is still in the pipeline? He has indicated that the drilling of boreholes is a low hanging fruit, is he able to provide timelines as to when we are going to get those 4 boreholes per constituency?
HON. HARITATOS: Hon. Speaker, I would like to correct the Hon. Member. I said the rehabilitation of boreholes is a low bearing fruit, certainly the drilling of boreholes is a much greater cost and a little more difficult. Hon. Speaker, I am a proud member of the Nineth Parliament, I was not around in the Eighth Parliament. However, I do know from my predecessor in my personal constituency...
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, when I raise issues in the past, I am aware that he is a new member but this is a House of record and the Ministry existed, then so it is for him to read and make sure he is up to speed with what has been happening in the House before he came.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker, unfortunately I was cut off before I could finish my sentence. Hon. Speaker, what I was saying is that I know from my predecessor who did receive the 4 boreholes in is constituency and therefore I do certainly know about this. What I meant to say to the Hon. Member was that I do not know specifically which constituencies were done and which constituencies were not done. It is possible that some constituencies had two boreholes instead of the 4. The undertaking that I was going to say before I was stopped is that certainly, I will look at the 210 constituencies and ensure that we do at least put in line that we do complete this project even though it is not in the Nineth Parliament.
HON. NDEBELE: I just want to add one quick item.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No you cannot add. Is it a point of clarification?
HON. NDEBELE: Yes, I need clarity if one member of this House got 4 boreholes already, what is the criteria of prioritization because I come from the driest part of the country and it will beat any manner of sensible thinking why we were not put up first?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think the Minister was very clear on that point. He said he was going to look into all those 210 constituencies to find out how many of those constituencies got 4 boreholes, how many got two then he will come back with a response. What else would you want him to say?
HON. NDEBELE: I come from the driest part of the country.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: But look at it, he has answered that clearly, why would you want to labour the Minister on that.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is that Minister, it is a proven fact that bush pumps are a lot more expensive to install and repair compared to submersibles. What policy position is there to migrate towards solar driven boreholes?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the fantastic question. I am also an advocate of the same Hon. Speaker. I will tell you and as well as our Ministry. We are certainly trying to move away and go into what we also deem as climate smart methods of dealing with our water and sanitation issues. Certainly, we are shifting towards that but again Hon. Speaker, the major constraint is the finances and as the finances come, we would like to look at these. I know certain boreholes for example anything between 40 to 50 metres can still be used by bush pumps, anything deeper than 50 metres is very difficult. you almost damage the equipment. So, this is very well within our Ministry and certainly in the near future we will prioritise.
*HON. NHARI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. What is Government policy concerning our returnees when they come back to Zimbabwe considering that they will be travelling in the same bus?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. Government and the Ministry or taskforce has what we call guidelines that we use so that people will not affect each other and to minimise the rate of infections.
*THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Our Ministry and the taskforce, we have guidelines that we use so that we minimise chances of spreading the disease. So government, through our Ministry is working hard to ensure that happens. All I can say is that if those guidelines can be adhered to, the ones that are written, everything will go according to plan.
*HON. KACHEPA: My question on those who are travelling, being transported from South Africa to Malawi for example, if those people get a breakdown on the road, those people end up being stranded, live there and they end up spreading the disease as they travel to their country. We came across such a situation where people travelling to Malawi had a breakdown. What is Government policy to assist people in such a scenario?
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, our plan is not about disaster of stopping the spread of disease. Accidents happen on the roads and we know that. When people travel in the country, we try by all means to implement our programme according to the guidelines that we have because that is what helps us in solving such problems if they come up. If our guidelines are adhered to, our programme will work very well. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is, when I go for testing and they discover that I am HIV positive, there are counselors. What happens with Covid- 19, does Government provide counselors if people discover that they are Covid- 19 positive so that they are not in a shock even if they go to quarantine centres so that they recover very well. I thank you.
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Our Government has social workers, also psycho support services and in short, yes. I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. What is the Government doing to make sure that the pensioners concerned get a decent living out of the many years of service and dedication to the country:
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you Hon. Zhou for that beautiful question. The question is too specific and I would request that you write it down, then I can get the specific answers. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. There has been a bit of reference to my question but I want to fine tune it. It is a fact that there has been an increase in cases of locally transmitted Covid- 19 and it is also a fact that there is bound to be a spike as we go through the rest of the winter season. The second republic in its wisdom has declared our response to Covid- 19 as a war. You and I Mr. Speaker lived through the liberation struggle wherein schools were out for more than 10 years. I want to check with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Speaker Sir, if you allow me. What is so painfully difficult for the listening second Republic to come up with a policy that gravitates towards the writing of the rest of this academic year - that is if
writing off the rest of this academic year if our intention is to protect our children from Covid-19.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. E. MOYO): Indeed, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the listening Second Republic are aware of the dangers posed by Covid-19. However, we do not think that it is at the scale at the moment to warrant a cancelling off completely of everything. It is our belief that measures that we are taking currently to protect our learners, teachers and communities are sufficient in our view to give a free and safe environment for our learners.
HON. NDEBELE: Most schools have not received adequate PPEs and schools in Bulawayo in particular have no water. What sufficient measures is the Deputy Minister speaking to and for good measure, teachers’ unions have spoken against the opening of schools. I thank you.
HON. E. MOYO: I think it is common knowledge that even before the writing of the June examinations, a lot of reservations on the preparedness of the Ministry to run the examinations were expressed. However, the reality on the ground turned out that preparations were sufficient and I think at the moment no one has raised any significant complaints regarding those preparations. It is still our view that our preparations are ongoing and it in our anticipation that by the time Grade 7s, Form 4s and Form 6s come back to school, we would have finished those preparations.
In fact our response to Covid19 with regards to reopening of schools has been well measured to allow for social distancing, hence the phased reopening of schools.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare and in his absence I will direct it to the Leader of the House. I want to thank Government for distributing food to the needy. My question is what plans does the Ministry have in giving social assistance grants to Covid-19 victims.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. The question is not very specific. What in particular, those that have been tested positive or what. It is not very clear.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: My question is what plans do you have on giving social assistance grants to vulnerable people faced with Covid-19?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker Sir, during this Covid-19 period Social Welfare requested registration for all the vulnerable so that they can offer some social assistance even in urban areas. In the rural areas we already have a social assistance programme where we give grain and also have some NGOs that are supporting Government programmes by giving food aid. While the question is not very specific as to who is now vulnerable because of COVID that need social assistance, I believe there is a broad based programme to help all those that are vulnerable during this pandemic period. I thank you.
Question without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of standing order Number 64.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF BULAWAYO-NKAYI ROAD
- HON S. K. MGUNI asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the construction of the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road will be completed, considering that the project has been outstanding for more than 35 years.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MATIZA): Bulawayo-Nkayi road is a primary road which links Bulawayo and Nkayi and also provides a direct link between Bulawayo and Gokwe in the Midlands Province. The upgrading has been going on over a long period of time. The upgrade of the road from narrow state to surface standard commenced in 1993 with a feasibility study. The actual construction commenced using donor funding from the Kuwait Fund in 1996. The donor pulled out in the year 2000 after completing the designs for 65km and the construction of one bridge as well as 29 km of road.
The Department of Roads took over the construction of the road in 2001 and did construction up to 44 km peg as well as completed Mbembesi and Ingwingwizi Bridges which are now trafficable. The progress has been slow due to the rate at which funding for the implementation of the project is availed by Treasury. For the 10 km target of 2019 5 km have been primed. Due to the Covid-19 most of the road construction projects were stalled this year as resources were diverted to fight the pandemic. Priority is now on ongoing road projects that were at prime stage as at December 2019. Bulawayo-Nkayi Road falls under the reprioritised list of roads targeted for surfacing in 2020. Materials needed to surface the 5 km primed section for the Bulawayo Nkayi Road are already on site. Since we are in winter and we are experiencing low temperatures which are not ideal for surfacing, track and seal works will resume as temperatures improve. Construction will continue guided by funding availed. Mr. Speaker Sir, I visited this road at the beginning of last month to assess the state of the road and the progress to date. Due to limited resources, the Department of Roads will ensure routine maintenance of the narrow mat to ensure it is trafficable while rehabilitation and construction is ongoing on the other section of the road. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister the road that he alludes to is infested with a lot of mining ventures. Queens Mine is another one and there is Tech Mine and there is another mine. Whose primary mandate is it to extract our resources and leave gaps, if not dams; aware that this resource that I am talking about is finite and we will not have any shoots sprouting from the ground.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, please may you get to your question.
HON. NDUNA: My question therefore is, what is the Minister doing in order to make sure that these miners plough back in terms of infrastructural development? It is happening outside our borders using our minerals, why can it not happen here? What is it that we are doing in order for them to plough back using this finite resource in our country, for our country to use what we have to get what we can?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, your question is completely out of the original question. That sounds like it is a new question unless of course Minister, you have got something to add.
HON. NDUNA: I spoke about the mines in that area.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No.
FINALISATION OF RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE ACROSS PIRIVIRI RIVER
- HON. HOUGHTON asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when -
(a) The Magunje-Siakobvu Road in the Kariba-Nyaminyami District will be upgraded;
(b) The bridge over the Mawena River will be repaired considering that it is the only link between the Negande area to the road network system in the Kariba-Nyaminyami District and the rest of the country.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. The first answer Mr. Speaker Sir, the Magunje-Siakobvu Road is a section of the Karoi-Binga Road that we have been working on since 2019. In essence, the upgrading of that road has already started and to date we have surfaced 10km. We shall continue to lobby the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to continue funding the road so that we can deliver at least 10km a year.
The second question – Mr. Speaker Sir, the bridge in question is on the road that is maintained by DDF and as such, the bridge is also under the purview of DDF. DDF is therefore in a better position to answer the question. I thank you.
HON. HOUGHTON: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That road going to Nyaminyami rural district area is so bad that there has been no bus service for more than a year on that. In the entire Nyaminyami rural district, there is no bus service and I think the Minister needs to put an effort into getting the road usable there so that at least the people can have a bus service. Thank you.
HON. ARCH MATIZA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. As I have alluded to that as long as we get the funding, we will continue to upgrade these roads given the fact that at least we should do 10km a year.
HON. HOUGHTON: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That road is 334km long. Apparently, about 100km have been done which means that there is about 200km still to be done. At 10km a year, it is going to take 20 years to complete that road. It is not good enough Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you.
HON. ARCH MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. What I said is at least the minimum. This is a budgetary issue, it is depending on the funding and we approve the budgets here, but at minimum that is what we are talking about. I thank you.
RESUMPTION OF CONSTRUCTION OF LUPANE HOSPITAL
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House when the construction of the Lupane Provincial Hospital will resume.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Works at the proposed Lupane Provincial Hospital has since resumed. The contractor, Zimbabwe Jingsu International was handed over the site on 26th August last year. The project is being implemented in phases. Phase one comprises of Outpatient Department, administration block, pharmacy, central stores, staff houses and civil works. A pre-purchase of materials worth $9 million RTGs was done late last year and have since been delivered to site. I am sure the work has started and is going on. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
REBUILDING OF THE MATERNITY WARD AT ST LUKE HOSPITAL
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House on the Ministry’s plans to rebuild the maternity ward at St Luke Hospital which was gutted by fire.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO: The affected department is a Family and Child Health Department. The hospital through the church, who are the owners have raised US$18 000 and have since done the quotations for the roof. The Government has also allocated $2 000 000 through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) to augment the contribution of the mission. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
PROTECTION OF PATIENTS FROM WEATHER ELEMENTS
- HON. CHIKUNI asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House measures being taken to protect patients from weather elements as they wait for treatment outside health care centres in compliance with the COVID-19 control measures.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): The Ministry of Health and Child Care is putting in place various measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The Ministry has embarked on expediting the provision of treatment or consultation services at all various levels of care to prevent long queues as well as observing social distancing. Further to that, we have embarked on provision of waiting mothers’ shelters and/or waiting areas at all health facilities. Most of our clinics, rural health hospitals, district/mission, provincial and central hospitals have waiting shelters as part of their structure. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN BIKITA SOUTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. SITHOLE asked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 26 and 29 in Bikita South Constituency will have internet connectivity.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question.
NetOne is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) and has developed a Communications Infrastructure Plan to cover all the provinces and wards through the Mobile Broadband (MMB) phase 3 project. Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 26, 28 and 29 in Bikita South Constituency are expected to be covered before the end of the Fourth Quarter in 2020.
The Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services on the other hand has accelerated the development of the Digital Infrastructure master plan. The master plan will assist in identifying the underserved and unserved areas so that the operators and POTRAZ backup can close the gaps. The Ministry is also working to expedite the Infrastructure Sharing Policy to encourage infrastructure sharing amongst the MNOs. This will result in more coverage by all operators as they will not spend money on construction of towers. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I am supplementing in relation to the issue of infrastructure sharing that the Hon. Minister spoke about. We have not heard this for the first time. Could the Hon. Minister share with this House where the bottlenecks are? Where are the problems because this has been talked about, I think, since time immemorial?
HON. DR. MUSWERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Infrastructure sharing is taking place and so far more than 20 sites have been identified and at least more than 10 have been developed by POTRAZ on an infrastructure sharing basis.
What basically happens is that POTRAZ develops the passive infrastructure and the three MNOs then install their active infrastructure on each and every passive infrastructure base station that would have been identified by POTRAZ. It is an ongoing process, it is taking place and is very successful. Currently, Econet and NetOne are working together on around 49 new sites wherein they will be sharing their infrastructure. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ROAD REHABILITATION IN MABVUKUTAFARA CONSTITUENCY
- HON. CHIDHAKWAasked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development when the Ministry will start road rehabilitation in Mabvuku/Tafara Constituency given that the roads are badly dilapidated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry is cognisant of the poor state of roads in a number of residential areas including Mabvuku/Tafara Constituency. The road networks have outlived their design lives and therefore require rehabilitation. Plans have been put in place for the rehabilitation and reseal of the roads and the implementation has started with the major roads. The rehabilitation will continue to be implemented in a prioritised manner until the entire road network has been attended to. The City of Harare is in charge of these roads and is also in a better position to give concrete plans for road rehabilitation in Harare. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF TYNWALD NORTH AND GOODHOPE ROADS
- HON. MAMOMBE asked Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry will rehabilitate Tynwald North and Goodhope Roads in Harare West Constituency in view of the fact that both roads are dilapidated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Tynwald North and Goodhope roads are important feeder roads in Harare West constituency. The roads are currently in a poor state and indeed require rehabilitation. City of Harare is in a better position to give us its immediate plans for rehabilitation. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF SHAMROCK ROAD IN HURUNGWE NORTH
- HON. GANDAWA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain measures put in place to rehabilitate Shamrock Road in Ward 9 Hurungwe North.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, currently due to budget constraints there is no periodic maintenance being done. We are prioritising routine maintenance as funds are limited. The Department of Roads is cognisant of the fact that the road requires rehabilitation in the medium term and this will be done when commensurate funding is available. I thank you.
TARRING OF ZVOMUKONDE AND NGUNGUMBANE STRETCH IN MBERENGWA
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain the circumstances that led to the skipping of a stretch 27km between Zvomukonde and Ngungumbane and when the stretch in Mberengwa District will be tarred.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the circumstances that led to the skipping of a stretch of 27km between Zvomukonde and Ngungumbane were non availability of the designs of road for that section during construction. The funds for the road project ran out during the time of construction in 2004. As soon as the funding line has been availed to our Ministry, the project will resume. I thank you.
FUNDS RELEASED BY ZINARA TO MBERENGWA RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House how much ZINARA released to Mberengwa Rural District Council for the period 2018 to 2019 and how much was acquitted to date.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, ZINARA disbursed $23 647 on 6th March, 2018 and $130 086 on September, 2018 to Mberengwa Rural District Council. In 2019, a total of $76 866 was disbursed and recently in March 2020, Zinara disbursed $258 486 to Mberengwa Rural District Council. These disbursements were for routine maintenance and it should be noted that Mberengwa Rural District Council is failing to utilise its periodic maintenance funds. Each year ZINARA allocates funds to both urban and rural district councils. Of these funds, 75% should be allocated to periodic maintenance while 25% is for routine maintenance. In this regard, a total of $504 838 was allocated in 2018, $597 767 in 2019 and $1 824 024 in 2020.
To date, there are no records showing any utilisation of these allocated funds for periodic maintenance by Mberengwa Rural District Council. Money for periodic maintenance is usually disbursed after work is done. With regards to acquittals for 2019, the disbursed funds are only for first half of the year and no acquittals were submitted for the last six months. In cases where allocated funds are not enough to cover periodic maintenance, rural district councils and urban councils can pass resolutions to use allocated funds for routine maintenance.
HARARE FLYOVERS
- HON. MAGO asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry of Transport is going to attend to Harare Flyovers that are in need of urgent attention as they risk collapse. These include the Simon Mazorodze, Beatrice Road at the interchange with Rotten Row.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the tender for the inspection of these bridges inclusive of Simon Mazorodze was concluded and awarded. The consultant is due to formalise their engagement through a formal contract and start work in the near future. I thank you.
ZUPCO BUSES FOR MHANGURA FEEDER ROADS
- HON. MASANGOasked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain when ZUPCO buses will be allocated to feeder roads that are mainly dirty dusty roads in Mhangura.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the allocation and operation of ZUPCO buses falls under the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. As such, the question should be directed to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
FREE MEDICAL SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY
- HON. S. CHAMISAasked the Minister of Health and Child Care what the government is doing to facilitate free medical services for the elderly.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): In terms of section 82 (b) of the Constitution, rights of the elderly, people over the age of 70 years have the right to receive health care and medical assistance from the State. Government policy has gone further to include those who are 65 years old and above in providing free medical services at all public health institutions. They are not required to pay for their medical care in public health institutions.
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House whether the government has any plans to construct more clinics in Wards 23, 24 and 29 in Zaka West Constituency considering that some people have to walk for distances as long as 40 kilometres to access treatment at clinics.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): The Ministry in its Infrastructure Development Plan has intention to construct health facilities in the three wards and proposed sites have been identified, that is Ward 23 site is at Choringeno, Ward 24 site is at Charuka and Ward 29 site is at Bepeza. The Ministry has embarked on the construction of health posts and clinics and Charuka is going to be considered under this initiative. However, we urge the Hon. Member of Parliament to also support Central Government by mobilising local communities and businesses to contribute towards such projects.
OPENING OF MASIKATI CLINIC
- HON. MASENDAasked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House when the Masikati Clinic which was constructed two years ago will be officially opened to the public considering that people have to walk some 20 kilometres to access medical services.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Masikati Clinic is a newly proposed facility in Hurungwe District and is owned by Hurungwe Rural District Council. The new facility was formerly a farm house converted into a clinic. The facility will serve a large population that is currently walking long distances to either Tengwe or Kasimure clinics which are very far. However, the Ministry of Health and Child Care is aware of the need to speed up the official opening of the clinic given its catchment service. Inspections were done by both the District Health Executive and the Hurungwe Rural District Council members recently. In that regard, there were few things that needed attention which includes proper waste management facilities, fixing of wall and ceiling cracks, water availability as well as human resources for the clinic and these are at advanced stage. Moreover, as part of social responsibility, I also urge Hon. Member of Parliament to mobilise additional resources for the community through possible donors / partners or under the Community Development Funds (CDF) to complement the efforts being done by the Central Government.
EXPANSION OF THE NETONE MOBILE NETWORK COVERAGE IN ZAKA WEST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when the NetOne mobile network coverage will be expanded to cover Wards 24, 22 and 33 in Zaka West Constituency
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. NetOne is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) and has developed a Communications Infrastructure Plan to cover all the provinces and wards through the Mobile Broadband (MBB) phase 3 project. Ward 24, 22 and 33 in Zaka West Constituency are expected to be covered before the end of the 4th Quarter in 2020.
The Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services on the other hand has accelerated the development of the Digital Infrastructure Masterplan. The masterplan will assist in identifying the underserved and unserved areas so that the operators and PORTRAZ backup can close the gaps. The Ministry is also working to expedite the Infrastructure Sharing Policy to encourage infrastructure sharing amongst the MNOs. This will result in more coverage by all operators as they will not spend money on construction of towers. I thank you.
ASSISTANCE TO DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IN RURAL AREAS
- HON. MASUKU asked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to:
- a) Inform the House on the measures and programmes that have been put in place by the Ministry to assist disadvantaged children in rural areas such as Sipepa and Siganda, who, unlike those in urban centers have no access to the Internet:
- b) Explain to the House how the general public can be protected from uncensored false information which is disseminated to peace loving Zimbabweans with the aim of causing confusion; and
- c) Inform the House what measures have been put in place by the Ministry to sensitise the public to desist from being gullible to misleading information.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): a) The Ministry is doing everything to bridge the digital divide and this will benefit all students and pupils. The Ministry has assigned POTRAZ and Zimpost to set up Community Information Centers (CICs) throughout the country. These CICs are Internet connected with a minimum of 10 laptops depending on the size of the CIC. This means that in communities that already have this facility, students can make use of the Internet for their studies. To communities like Sipepa and Siganda CICs, we are working on it.
The Ministry with its stakeholders is also running with the Schools E-Learning Programme where computes are distributed to schools and Internet being connected to schools. ZARNet is connecting schools whilst POTRAZ and other stakeholders are distributing computers to schools. This however, is an ongoing programme where you will notice that some schools have already benefited both Internet connectivity and computers but, Mr. Speaker Sir, be assured that this programme is intended to reach all our schools especially those in the rural areas and the disadvantaged communities.
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and POTRAZ are also ensuring equitable distribution of network towers for this will again result in connectivity to those who can afford data and advanced gadgets. Let me however say, Mr. Speaker Sir, that the lack of foreign currency and COVID-19 is hindering a lot of these projects as we cannot procure ICT equipment.
- b) The Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill was given a nod by Cabinet and is at the moment with this House. Parliament is doing its diligent job making consultations throughout the country. Once the process is over, we will hear the outcome and it is my hope that the Act from this Bill will address concerns by the Hon. Member.
- c) The Ministry, working with the regulator POTRAZ, is carrying out consumer protection awareness programmes in the form of road shows throughout the country. Emphasis is being put on cyber related issues.
There are a number of communities that were reached and these include Ngundu, Kadoma, Shangani and Madhlambuzi just to mention but a few. The month of October is referred to as the Cyber Security month. The month is thus packed with activities that include road shows, public lectures, conferences, radio and television shows. All these activities are meant to sensitise the public on cyber related threats. Last year, 2019 in October, we carried out Cyber Security Conference/Indaba at the Rainbow Towers in Harare and Bulawayo respectively, public lectures at Africa University and National Defence University, radio and television programmes and road shows were also conducted in a number of areas. I thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT CLASSROOM BLOCKS IN RESETTLEMENT AREAS
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House Government policy on the construction of permanent classroom blocks in resettlement areas since children in these schools learn in temporary structures.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): The Ministry has in place plans for the upgrading of schools in resettlement areas, most of which are satellite schools. For each of these schools, there is a site designated for the construction of permanent structures. Programmes for construction of schools have prioritised resettlement areas. For example, the Ministry working with OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has so far completed construction of 17 new schools (11 primary and 6 secondary) which are awaiting commissioning. The bulk of these schools were constructed in the resettlement areas. The Ministry is working with various partners, NGOs, churches. School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds have been used to construct classrooms in resettlement areas. Devolution funds may also be used. Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) is also used to finance these schools.
STATISTICS OF UNDERAGE SCHOOL GIRLS WHO FELL PREGNANT AND DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL IN 2019 BY PROVINCE
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to apprise the House on the statistics of underage school girls that fell pregnant and dropped out of school in 2019 by province.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): 2019 statistics are captured in February and therefore, on the onset of the lockdown, statistics had not yet been disaggregated. However, the global figure for 2019 is as follows:
Primary | Secondary | Total |
120 | 2 864 | 2 984 |
Through the guidance and counseling programme, the Ministry intends to eliminate the problem of dropping out of school due to pregnancy. Thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN MBERENGWA EAST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when the Ministry will construct a secondary school in Ward 6, Mberengwa East Constituency, in view of the fact that children are walking a long distance from Mututu Primary School and Chiwara Primary to Mbuyanehanda High School.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): It is the Ministry’s mandate, in accordance with P73 of 1991, to ensure that learners at any given place do not walk more than 5km to the nearest school to access education. It is now a matter of public record that the Ministry, through its 2013 Infrastructure Expo has established deficit of 2 056 schools. The number has since increased.
In order to reduce the school infrastructure deficit, the Ministry has already rolled out the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Programme which to date has completed 17 schools now awaiting commissioning. The situation in Ward 6 will be looked at by inspection teams from our district offices who are expected to furnish Head Office on their findings. Furthermore, partners who include church organisations and NGOs are also invited and also working on provision of schools. Thank you.
SCHOOL FURNITURE FOR MPONJANE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MBERENGWA DISTRICT
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when the Ministry will buy school furniture for Mponjane Primary School in Mberengwa District.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Schools like Mponjane that get SIG grants are encouraged to use the grants for the acquisition of school furniture. Thank you.
INSTALLATION OF SHARED BASE STATIONS IN REMOTE AREAS OF HURUNGWE NORTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. GANDAWAasked the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House on the measures being put in place in installing shared base stations in remote areas that are economically marginalised, particularly Hurungwe North Constitutency in the Dete area, Ward 9.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The Ministry has developed modalities with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) to institute several measures to improve coverage in poor marginalised areas of Zimbabwe. Some of the measures taken are:
- Infrastructure Sharing Regulations
The authority has initiated infrastructure sharing. Infrastructure
Sharing Regulations were gazette in 2016 and the authority began mandatory sharing of telecommunications base stations. Infrastructure sharing benefits the public in that MNOs will be able to install equipment on existing towers, thereby increasing coverage. This also reduces the cost of investment thereby reducing the cost of providing the service ad pricing of services. In addition, infrastructure sharing can help reduce energy consumption and radio emissions of networks.
- Installation of Shared Base Stations
The authority has installed 20 shared base stations country-wide.
The completed projects consist of fifteen shared base stations with passive infrastructure and five base stations with active equipment comprising Multi Operator Radio Access Network (MORAN). In the long run, the authority has identified about three hundred and fifty wards with poor or no network coverage in Zimbabwe.
The authority, through the Universal Services Fund (USF) has
initiated several projects to address the network coverage gaps. Some of the projects include:
- a)Construction of 350 Shared Base Stations (Huawei Technologies)
A tender for the construction of 350 base stations was awarded to Huawei Technologies of China. The project was vendor financed and Huawei was required to source the finance. The project could not proceed as Huawei failed to secure the required financing. The tender has not yet been closed.
- b)Construction of 100 Shared Base Stations
The authority has tendered for the construction of 100 shared base stations in marginalised areas. An expression of interest (EOI) was done and five possible bidders have been shortlisted. The authority will proceed to issue the request for proposals (RFP). The project is also vendor financed on a build and transfer (BT) model.
- c)Construction of Shared Base Station Sites by Operators/Relocation of collocated Sites
The aim of this project is for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to construct passive base station infrastructure in assigned remote marginalised areas. The passive base station infrastructure includes 60m or 70m towers, equipment shelters, guard rooms, perimeter fence, commercial power, solar power (Photo Voltaic Modules), diesel engine generators, power back-up batteries and access roads.
After completion of the project, all operators will share the infrastructure. The authority through Universal Services Fund (USF), will reimburse the MNOs who would have constructed the sites.
As part of this initiative, MNOs will also be required to relocate base stations that are co-located, to new sites. Both the new site and the relocated sites will be shared by all MNOs. POTRAZ will be responsible for the cost of the relocation of the base stations.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INFORMATION CENTRE IN MBERENGWA EAST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to explain when the Ministry is going to establish an Information Centre in Mberengwa East Constituency.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. The Ministry working with POTRAZ, is still in the process of deploying Community Information Centres (CICS) throughout the country. In Mberengwa, a CIC was established at Mberengwa Post Office and handed over to ZIMPOST for operationalisation, CICs are not established on the basis of constituencies. The primary basis for distribution of CICs is on per province basis. Using a connectivity matrix, the CIC at Mataga Post Office was set up by my Ministry and is currently operational. A CVIC is in the process of being established at Mnene, but delays have been experienced due to the shortage of foreign currency to procure required gadgets as highlighted above and the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts are being made to ensure that all outstanding CICs are operationalised this year.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. NDUNA: Hon. Speaker Sir, with your indulgence, I move that the rest of the Questions with Notice be stood over until the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Hon. Nyoni gives a Ministerial Statement.
HON. P. MOYO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
RESPONSE TO REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ON THE FACT FINDING VISIT TO DISTRICT OFICES AND WOMEN EMPOWRMENT PROJECTS
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. NYONI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to present a response on the report of the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development on the fact finding visits to selected Ministry, district offices and women’s empowerment projects.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry notes and appreciates the report by the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development following a fact finding visit to selected Ministry, district offices and women’s empowerment projects. The findings and recommendations are quite pertinent as these help the Ministry in refining programming of the various interventions to improve service delivery to the citizenry. However, I would like to point out to the House that the report was written way back in February 2019. The Ministry has since addressed most of the issues raised in the report such as distribution of motor bikes, training of project beneficiaries, support and modern machinery and increasing budgetary support for funded projects.
The Ministry would like to shed light however, on what has been done during this period and the challenges that are being faced. These will be as follows:-
- State of District Offices and General Infrastructure
The status of district offices is a matter of great concern to my
Ministry Mr. Speaker Sir. However, the mandate of providing office accommodation to Government ministries is vested with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Public Works. The Ministry responsible has been approached several times with requests to provide suitable accommodation for our officers. It is our hope that progress will be made soon as a new idea has been mooted and that is the construction of pre-fabricated structures for use by our officers as offices. The Public Works Department has been tasked to work with my Ministry’s Provincial Development offices to achieve the goal.
- Shortage of office computers, printers and lack of Internet connectivity
The challenge has been caused by resource provision especially
on procurement of assets by Treasury. The schedule below shows the overall resource under provision. For example, after realising the need to provide furniture for provinces and districts, a proposal was made under the 2020 budget. Mr. Speaker Sir, you will find that as a whole, there was a variance to what we had requested and what was given. There was a variance of about 57%.
THE BIDS FOR 2020 BUDGET
PROGRAMME | IDEAL $ | ALLOCATED BUDGET | SHORTFALL | VARIANCE |
Policy and
Administration |
116 969 000 | 53 504 000 | 63 465 000 | 54% |
Women | 477 500 | 153 368 | 322 132 | 67% |
Empowerment, Gender & Community Development | 000 | 000 | 000 | |
SMED & Cooperative Development | 478 367 000 | 295 104 000 | 183 263 000 | 38% |
TOTALS | 1 176 836 000 | 503 976 000 | 672 864 000 | 57% |
From the above breakdown and analysis, it is clear that only 43% of the required budget was availed.
- Mobility of officers
The explanation above on furniture and computers is relevant.
Again, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is our hope that with more funds, we could make sure that our officers are mobile. Anyway, I am happy to announce that five vehicles have been bought. Although we had budgeted for 17 vehicles because of inflation, we could not buy all of them. So we have resubmitted for the other 10 vehicles and shortly these we hope will be available for our officers.
The Project Sectors
It is also the concern of the Ministry that micro enterprises in rural areas are largely engaged in extractive industry and other primary production ventures especially those that are agricultural related. Some of the reasons for low entrepreneur skills are also the lack of technical skills and technology is also being attended to; as I will show later that the Ministry is now engaging in training people at this level.
The use of Modern Machinery and Technology.
The observation that the project does not use modern machinery and technology was noted. In 2019, the Ministry supported SMEs and new entrepreneurs where the modern equipment was sourced from India. Such support included incubation of new machines, a function which has now been transferred to another Ministry and it is our hope that we continue to engage the relevant ministries to ensure that SMEs and women have access to appropriate technology.
The Underfunded Cooperatives
Underfunding of project is a result of the limited resources available, the rapid increase in the prices of materials to set up projects has also contributed to the problem. However, I am pleased to say that the Ministry has reviewed the level of funding and we have increased the women’s development fund to start from 150 000 from early this year. We are also going to review the increase of disbursement upwards up to 300 000 per project.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am glad to say that we have the Women’s Bank last year, they disbursed about 40 000 loans and I am going to be tabling the way that was done per province. The bank also will soon be rolling out the 500 million recovery fund that was given to the Ministry by Government. The seventh issue was access to lucrative markets; this concern was raised and I am glad to say the Ministry is engaging SMEs, training them and linking them to markets especially for their handcrafts.
We have a handcraft center in Harare that has managed to link handcrafters with markets in the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, German, Australia and Japan. The handcrafts are going very well and they have a website, if anyone wants to link to the website. The Ministry is promoting access to markets by SMEs through facilitating them to participate in local markets especially the ZITF, Agricultural Shows and also in the SADC region. Whenever there are such activities, the Ministry sends the SMEs there.
To promote an integration among SMEs for inputs and outputs, the Ministry is facilitating the linkage programme and we are linking them in manufacturing in terms of subcontracting and also in agriculture in the agricultural value chains and in textile and in the retail sector. A target of 1360 SMEs participated in the agricultural value chains in the past year and a total of 4645 SMEs were linked to large companies. This was an increase of over 272 per cent increase from what we did in 2018.
The Ministry is in collaboration with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and is building the capacity of SMEs for access to public sector procurement markets. SMEs are also being facilitated to have business linkages with themselves, cooperatives as well as with the corporates.
Monitoring and evaluation of projects
The monitoring of all projects under the Ministry especially key ones in which huge funds would have been committed is of paramount importance to the Ministry. The Ministry now has a fully fledged monitoring and evaluation department and this has resulted in an improvement of the monitoring programme.
Training and Capacity Building for Project Members.
The Ministry values the training and capacity building for both members and our staff. In 2019 a total of 24 731 SMEs were trained whilst the Ministry’s two training centres hosted 1200 women for livelihood skills training programmes. It is important to note that trainers employed by the Ministry have been deployed to various areas to carry out this mandate. They are also identifying if they are any capacity gaps in order for the Ministry to fill these up. The Ministry is training also up to ward level in order to ensure that competencies and efficiencies are cascaded to that level of our operation. Our full fledged programme was supposed to start at the first quarter of 2020 and this was disturbed by the lockdown due to COVID - 19 pandemic.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the members for their vibrant and constructive debates and also to thank the Ministry’s Portfolio Committee and hope that we continue to have constructive engagement to ensure appropriate timeframes. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May I give this opportunity to members to ask questions, raise points of clarification, not making other statements. May I emphasise on that point that you need not to make another statement. The floor is for you to ask pertinent questions relevant to the Ministerial Statement.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Orders of the Day, Nos. 1 to 4 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 5 has been disposed of.
HON. KASHIRI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE THIRD WORLD PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT HELD IN INDONESIA
HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move the motion standing in my name: That this House takes note of the report of the Delegation to the Third World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development, held in Bali, Indonesia, from the 4th to the 5th of September, 2019.
HON. GABBUZA: I second.
HON. P. MOYO:
Introduction
Hon. Chief Mtshane Khumalo, Member of Parliament, led the Parliamentary delegation to attend the Third World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development which was held in Bali, Indonesia from the 4th to the 5th of September, 2019. The forum was attended by 30 countries and 55 organisations. The theme of the forum was, combating inequality through social and financial inclusion. Hon. Sen. Chief Mtshane Khumalo was accompanied by the following Members of Parliament and an officer of Parliament; Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana, MP; Hon. Priscilla Moyo, MP; Hon. Marian Chombo, MP and now Deputy Minister; Hon. Joel Gabbuza, MP; Mrs. Chiwoniso Mataruka, Committee Clerk and Secretary of the delegation.
The report of the Chair of Indonesia House Steering Committee
The Steering Committee held a series of focul group discussions where rising inequalities is a major setback to attaining sustainable development. Economic instability undermines social cohesion. Inequality is a global phenomenon which needs address and 11 years remain to attain sustainable development goals targets. This requires strong leadership of Members of Parliament who are expected to provide enabling legislation noting that Parliament is the cornerstone of democracy to hold the Executive into account. Social and financial inclusion is key to ensure inclusivity. The World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development should be a strong partner on attainment of sustainable development and ensure accountability and oversight of the parliamentarians effort and commitment in attainment and mainstreaming of SDGs.
OPENING REMARKS BY MR. BAMBANG SOESATYA, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
The Speaker of the House of Representatives welcomed the delegates to the forum under the theme “Combating Inequality through Social and Financial Inclusion.” He stressed that with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, combating inequality and applying social protection has become the centre of policy agenda in all countries. Financial inclusion should be at the forefront of Government policies to reduce income inequality. Governments must protect the people and promote more social inclusion by distributing resources more fairly.
He noted that disparities are taking place around the world and require urgent attention. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are meant to attend to global challenges to attain a wealth of justice, prosperity and peace. Despite all progress and efforts, inequality still remains a challenge. There is need for stronger focus in decreasing inequality in income and skills. Poverty has fatal consequences in perpetuating inequality leading to conflict;
There is therefore, need for a deliberate move by Parliaments to capacitate the vulnerable and leave no one behind for the achievement of the 2030 agenda.
SPECIAL REMARKS BY H.E. DR MUHAMMAD JUSUF KALLA, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
His Excellency Kalla noted that since the adoption of SDGs in 2015 ultimately ending in 2030, much progress has been made. Before were the MDGs with their own progress and challenges and the same applies to SDGs, but these require working together or collective efforts. He stressed the following; that nations seem to be lagging behind in many areas and this requires SDG 17 that of partnering of developed and developing nations. SDGs are Inter-connected and interrelated - that is economic development, social development and environmental sustainability.
The 2019 theme encourages nations to think on how to reduce inequality in this world through social and economic growth without discrimination where, “no one should be left behind.” Inclusiveness is the central theme of SDGs. Social development can only be achieved through social and economic growth. Countries are at different levels of development and as such, there is need for a global concerted effort to achieve development. Greater efforts must be made to achieve equality in gender, health, clean energy and addressing climate change. A developed country should have good hygiene and sanitation and these are fundamentals for the status of one’s country.
Planning and budgeting are key to overseeing SDGs in different Governments. Parliament with its authority to legislate and scrutinise budgets is important. Parliamentarians should participate effectively in how industry and infrastructure should create opportunities to do away with inequality and ensure equal opportunities. Tax rates should be discussed so that they benefit citizens of the nations.
His Excellency summed up by emphasising that partnership is key among world countries in the implementation of SDGs. No one country can grow without financial support. Thus there is need for access to financing for livelihoods and communities.
PLENARY SESSION ON “HOW INFRASTRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION CAN FOSTER EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
The session was moderated by Ms Andini Effendi, and the following issues were discussed:
That the topic of combating inequality though social and financial inclusion, and more specifically, on how infrastructure and industrial innovation can foster equal opportunities, bearing in mind that we are experiencing a new industrial revolution is key. Knowledge, interconnectedness and mobility are key and industrial revolution does not mean necessarily neither equity nor fairness. New dynamics go hand in hand with new imbalances. It is the duty of nations to ensure that progress leaves no-one behind.
The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development provides us with guiding principles and targets: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. Infrastructure and industrial innovation impacts on several of the 17 goals and in implementing these goals, countries have to bear in mind that infrastructure is no longer synonymous with physical infrastructure. The lack of access to formal education will prevent us from combating inequalities, from creating new decent jobs and enhance social mobility; and without education the gender gap will persist harming our social and economic progress.
Industrial innovation has the potential of enhancing our means of combating the environmental, economic and social consequences of climate change, however, political willingness is imperative.
That education and awareness on the effects of climate change must be embraced by all stakeholders, including civil society.
PLENARY SESSION ON “ENSURING RURAL ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE”
The session was chaired by Mr Putri Ayuningtyas and the following issues were discussed as solutions to reach the poorest and the marginalised in improving their health, nutrition and productivity;
That 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water services, including 44 million people who are dependent on surface water and 2.0 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines.
The fact that water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) is the subject of dedicated targets within the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG No. 6 is proof to its fundamental role in public health and therefore in the future of sustainable development. Access to safe water and sanitation are human rights, as recognised in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. Below are key issues Parliaments may convince their governments to deliberate on:
That integrated water management can provide important co-benefits for sustainable development, climate change mitigation & adaptation, and disaster risk management especially as countries begin to review and implement their national plans in the context of the Paris Agreement. There is a unique opportunity to improve and enhance water management practices;
That WASH, as part of the achievement of SDG 6 as a whole, be higher on countries’ political agenda, and that it is mainstreamed into national, sub-national, and community-level planning;
That there be predictable and sufficient finance for WASH; and
That there be greater mutual accountability and coordination among the developing countries, development partners, supporting governments, and their citizens on WASH issues.
PLENARY ON “ENHANCING PARTNERSHIP TOWARDS INCLUSIVE FINANCING
Ms Masyitoh Annisa Ramadhani, chaired the session on ways and means of ensuring the creation of accountable, accessible and sustainable financial services for all and the following issues were raised:
That the key issues in financing development projects include: improving the ability of countries to generate permanent and stable tax revenues and improve resource management; focusing aid on sectors to be served by private finance; using aid to leverage and attract more private sector financing to projects that support development (for example, infrastructure) through public-private partnerships and investment risk mitigation;
That domestic resources (public and private) and international/external resources (public and private), as well as blended finance are the key pillars of inclusive financing for development;
That there is a need to address some global public goods and efforts to mobilize diaspora financing for the development and building a more robust private sector by improving access to finance for micro, small, and medium-enterprises;
That countries achieve the goal of universal access, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services for everyone who needs them, provided by sustainable institutions for sustainable projects;
That one important aspect is that, “Leave no one behind” and this means put sustainable development at the core; transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth; build effective peace and open trusted and accountable institutions for all; and forge a new global partnership;
That realising this goal will require a committed alliance between business, government and civil society and will determine needed and sustainable investments. Countries should work on how to mobilize financial services to deliver the needed investments for the opportunities and secure a sustainable economic future and how to leverage technologies that boost production.
CONCLUSION
In the wake of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many countries continue to face significant challenges in an increasingly unequal world, while the most vulnerable groups remain marginalized from social and economic participation. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are still perceived as executives’ domain, but the core Parliamentary functions in law-making, budgeting, oversight and representation of the peoples’ interests, are critical in building people-centred, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous societies, and ending all poverty everywhere in all its dimensions. Therefore, the formulation of a Parliamentary Roadmap on SDGs shall transform our shared perspective into more tangible efforts, under the principles of inclusion, partnership, and participation, where “no one left behind.”
In 2017, the First World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development (WPFSD) adopted the Bali Declaration, which emphasizes the critical involvement of Parliaments in ensuring the effective implementation and timely realization of the SDGs. The Bali Declaration encourages Parliaments to strengthen national ownership by mainstreaming and implementing SDGs into enforceable National Development Plan, ensuring sufficient legal frameworks and budgetary requirements to support national policy on SDGs, scaling up efforts to end violence and sustaining peace, and enhancing climate action.
In 2018, the Second WPFSD adopted the Bali Commitment, which draws attention to the significance of partnership towards sustainable energy for all. The Bali Commitment promotes;
- the big potential of renewable energy resources for producing sustainable energy; and
- the prospect of blue economy, green industry and sustainable development to achieve energy security and diversification. This outcome document endorses Parliaments to establish the necessary mechanism to work closely with the governments and other stakeholders.
Parliamentarians gathered at the Third WPFSD in Bali, Indonesia, on 4-5 September 2019, adopted the Bali Roadmap, which consists of a number of forward-looking recommendations that represent various dimensions in addressing challenges of SDGs implementation. By referring to the Bali Roadmap, we agree to:
- Safeguard efforts towards the achievement of SDGs, particularly on achieving equality in all social and financial aspects, as emphasized in the Resolution 2010/12 adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council on Promoting Social Integration and UN General Assembly Resolution 72/206 on Financial Inclusion;
- Urge our respective governments to formulate national action plan and establish effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions in supporting SDGs implementation;
- Call upon Governments to renew their commitment and give more attention in delivering the SDGs timely through tangible actions and accelerating policy implementations, as asserted in the 2019 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York;
- Advocate the delivery of sustainable social protection measures, resilient infrastructure, and public services for all, including for those living below the poverty line, people in rural and remote areas, the vulnerable, persons with disabilities, children and older persons, and indigenous peoples, particularly through the fulfilment of their fundamental human rights, which consist of no less than the following aspects:
- Quality education;
- Health care;
- Decent and affordable housing; and
- Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
- Urge governments and local governments, as well as national and regional parliaments to mainstreaming and localizing the SDGs, based on the cultures, local languages and conditions, or uniqueness of a respective country;
- Strengthen legal frameworks and promote the development of an enabling environment to diversify financial resources and scale up funding from multiple sources to reduce financing gap in infrastructure, and to achieve an inclusive and sustainable development through innovative SDGs financing, such as blended finance, Green Financing for Financial Institution, Social Impact Fund, religious-based philanthropy for SDGs, and crowd funding through digital philanthropy;
- Underpin multi-stakeholders partnerships in ensuring the creation of inclusive financial services which open up access for the marginalised to fully participating in the economy and benefit from development;
- Strengthen the multilateral system for effective global coordination, responses
- and solutions to address the multifaceted crises and challenges arise from interconnectedness, interdependency and complex global governance;
Invite business sector and other relevant stakeholders to utilize their innovation and promote creative economy to contribute in addressing sustainable development challenges through the implementation of more sustainable consumption for Sustainable Development; Production patterns, and to engage with parliaments as strategic partners in development process.
We extend our appreciation to the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, as the founder of the WPFSD, for its relentless efforts in promoting the achievement of SDGs, while express our gratitude to the IPU President for continuously supporting the WPFSD. We call upon all Parliamentarians to continue to actively engage in substantiating and holding the regular events of the WPFSD.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th July, 2020.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. MAVETERA, the House adjourned at Twenty Six Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
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PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 8th July, 2020
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
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES’ MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that Hon. Mutodi has been assigned to serve in the Public Accounts Committee and the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM HON. MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: The following Ministers have tendered their leave of absence today: Hon. Garwe, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities; Hon. Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Hon. Shiri, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, Hon. July Moyo, Minister of Local Government and Public Works.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Minister of Finance and Economic Development was supposed to make a Ministerial Statement today as requested by this august House on the state of the economy. The Hon. Minister has indicated that because he is going to present a Mid-Term review; he has requested that the Ministerial Statement be not be made today but will form part and parcel of his Mid-Year Term review, next week on 16th July, 2020.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Leader of the House, concerning the enactment of the Patriotic Act. When is Government going to enact this law as a matter of urgency?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the very important question. I concede that it is a very important piece of legislation that we need. Most progressive countries protect their territorial integrity by ensuring that citizens do not go about selling out their country to other nations.
I have requested my officers within the Policy Department to do a background research on it. We have been slowed down by the pandemic as we have a skeletal staff. I can assure the Hon. Member that we are expecting developments before the end of this year. We are very much aware and we want to have that Act. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Energy and Power Development. What is Government policy in relation to uranium enrichment and other minerals in order to produce renewable energy and enhance the availability of renewable energy migrating from fossil fuels?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. ADV. CHASI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for a very timely question. Government is currently engaged in the process of coming up with a national integrated energy resource plant for the first time in this country. This process ensures that we take into account all the resources that we have to make power. It is common cause that we have suffered from climate change with respect to Kariba. It is also common cause that we depend a lot on coal. Government respects its international obligations regarding the Carbon footprint. We are looking at all possible sources that we can have and nuclear is one of them which arises from uranium.
We are now in the process of actively considering this possibility and as we come to the point where we talk about uranium, I can assure the House that a lot of work will have been done, but it is work in progress.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you for the privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. May the Minister indulge me in terms of timelines of the energy policy which he is currently framing - to what extend or at what point can we expect that we have traction in that regard, aware that the European Union has set 20% migration in 2020 as a benchmark for migrating and diverting from fossil fuels. What are we expecting as a nation?
HON. CHASI: I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the follow up question. As I indicated, we are working on a national integrated energy resource plan. We had false start with regards to this process. We are now working with development agencies like the World Bank and African Development Bank who are helping us to come up with this policy.
I am not able at this moment in time to say precisely when this work will be concluded but all those who are involved in this matter understand the urgency of the matter. I am very helpful that by year end, we will have our first draft.
HON. KASHIRI: What is the Ministry’s position in terms of taking biogas, especially to rural areas?
HON. CHASI: It follows up on what I have already said in the previous answer. The country is taking every possible source of power and biogas is critical. We are already beginning to work with people in the provinces to educate people on what this really means and to ensure that in as far as possible, we take advantage of biogas. We have done bio-digesters in some parts of the country and at an opportune moment, I will be able to furnish the House with the details but I want to assure the Hon. Member that biogas is indeed part of our consideration.
+HON. MATHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. I have noticed the children are getting education through the radio and this is assisting but I would like to know when this programme will be accessed in the rural areas, especially in Nkayi, since there are no waves. Ztv and radio is not accessible to school children.?
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): The Constitution of this country has a provision for access to information for all. Section 61 and 62 speaks to that and that is precisely what the Government policy is implementing. We have been going round consulting people at grassroots levels. We will be issuing out community radios. This is another way of making sure that those areas where they are not receiving the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation signal, both radio and television can be able to have their own radios.
We are cognisant of the fact that there are certain areas where our Zimbabwean people instead of receiving signals and getting news from this country from our radio, they have been receiving signals from Zambia, especially those in Binga and Manama. This is why we have been moving in these areas making sure that the community there organise themselves. The definition of community radio is that the owners are the community and as such, the community has to be organised and apply. The deadline for that application still stands at 31st July, 2020.
In terms of making sure that information especially in with this COVID pandemic upon up, we have made it a point that we rope in all traditional leaders. We are using the database which the Ministry of Local Government do have of our local leadership. We have gone out training them about COVID-19 pandemic, preventing and protective measures to make sure that we contain this disease.
During this pandemic – because it is a two way communication between Government and the people, we established a call centre which is a toll free line so that Zimbabweans all over the 10 Provinces of our country can actually call. They do not need to have airtime in their cell phones. They just call 2023 for anything they want to know. We established in mind considering that the COVID-19 lockdown created a lot of anxiety among our people. We have been received quite a lot of calls through that call centre.
I urge Hon. Members of this august House to encourage your people to call the call centre 2023 – we have more than eight desks there. Right now we have four languages. People can call in Tonga, Ndebele, English and Shona. We are trying hard to make sure that we create more desks so that we can actually use all the 16 official languages of this country.
The second republic’s work is to ensure that each and every Zimbabwean has access to information. It is their constitutional right. I hope I have been able to answer your question Hon. Mathe. I thank you.
+HON. MATHE: My supplementary question Hon. Minister is, since you are looking forward to children being able to access information and be informed on forthcoming examinations and the COVID-19, what other measures are currently in place so that those who are not accessing the information can have access so that they can share with those who have? Children in the rural areas have no access to information whatsoever. What is the Ministry’s policy on that so that children can access the requisite information?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mathe, I thought the Hon. Minister was very comprehensive in her response and coverage. It will sound like we are being very redundant if we have to stretch that further than what the Hon. Minister has actually replied. Hon. Minister, what is your Call Centre? – [HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: 2023!] – 2023 will answer your concern Hon. Mathe.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, aware that you were undertaking a transmitter establishment …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Do not address the Hon. Minister, address the Chair. We do not want a dual here.
HON. NDUNA: I am very sorry Mr. Speaker Sir. Aware that Hon. Minister and your department is establishing transmitters in various areas, I would want to know how many of those are now ready. When would we expect the full proto in terms of digitalisation that you hope to achieve by the establishment of these transmitters?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you but that supplementary question does not stand. It is better if it comes as a written question because I do not expect the Hon. Minister to know how many air antennas are there currently constructed. She will need to investigate and come up with a written response accordingly.
HON. DR. LABODE: My question is to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care and in his absentia, it can go to the Leader of the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Acting Minister of what?
HON. DR. LABODE: Health and Child Care.
THE HON. SPEAKER: He is there.
HON. DR. LABODE: We are masked, so we cannot see people.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is Hon. Prof. Murwira.
HON. DR. LABODE: Acting Minister of Health and Child Care
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please address the Chair, address the Chair.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir…
THE HON. SPEAKER: My question is.
HON. DR. LABODE: My question is, there has been a challenge with the issue of age of consent to accessing health services. Please I want to be understood properly. It is not age of consent to sex but age of consent to accessing services. We have been working on it and we were promised by the Ministry of Health and Child Care that they would review or amend the Act to include that in the Health Services Bill which is supposed to be coming to Parliament but has not come. A petition has been brought to Parliament on the issue and nothing has happened. We were hoping that maybe the Public Health Act would be amended for that purpose.
I am asking the Hon. Minister to say, Hon. Minister how far, ngiyakwazi ukuthi awukwazi, but how far with the amendment of the age of consent to health services for the minors? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode, how can you say, ‘Ngiyazi awukwazi?’ and then you want your question to be sustainable? I think you should withdraw that aspect.
HON. DR. LABODE: I withdraw it Mr. Speaker, I am sorry Hon. Minister.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker, that is a very detailed question for a person who is just coming in, but I have got my Deputy Minister because in the meantime we are really looking at everything before we can give substantive answers on some of these things. My Deputy Minister can respond to this one, with your indulgence of course.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. Hon. Deputy Minister, can you assist?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. It is a very good question and a good follow up but I need to go and recheck in order to be able to give her a more detailed report next week because I had not looked at that one. I am going to do it next week – I will definitely give the House an answer that is detailed and straight. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode! – [HON. DR. LABODE: Yebo baba!] – Hayi, angisibo baba nxa ngihlezi lapha! – [Laughter] – Ngingu baba nxa sisekhaya ngale. I am sure that you are happy with the response.
HON. DR. LABODE: Yes I am, but there is a component where a petition has disappeared in this Parliament. The petition was brought in almost three months ago and you have not read it here. So I am assuming there is a problem somehow. Somebody is not happy bringing that issue to the House. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I shall investigate as well and find out what has happened to that but if you have got a copy – you can assist.
HON. DR. LABODE: I will.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much.
+HON. H. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. What measures are in place since we are about to embark on the farming season in terms of tractors, inputs and other farming implements? I observed in the past that these are availed to people when it is already too late. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Member for the question.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am proud and happy to tell you that preparations for the summer season are already at an advanced stage. In fact Hon. Speaker Sir, we started the preparations as early as April of this year. We have two schemes on board. As you know, there is the Presidential Input Scheme which is almost complete in terms of procurement of inputs and then we have the Command Agriculture Scheme. The Command Agriculture Scheme falls under the financial institutions but Hon. Speaker Sir, with regards to the Presidential Scheme we have slightly changed the design of the Presidential Input Scheme to ensure that we add what we call the Pfumvudza concept.
The Pfumvudza concept is climate smarting our agriculture. This is certainly a requirement for us to be sustainable as a nation. The Pfumvudza concept - basically what we are saying to our farmers is that they must ensure that they are ready for the Presidential Input Scheme as it will go to those who have already prepared their mulching, water harvesting and if individuals have not – they will not benefit from the Presidential Input Scheme. So this is a pre-condition for them to benefit.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. We do not have much knowledge regarding this pfumvudza, we are also interested in having extensive knowledge regarding this issue. We just hear it being said but we do not know what it is all about. Can the Minister highlight to us what it is all about?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Kwaramba, you did not switch on your microphone so you were not recorded, kindly repeat your question.
Hon. Kwaramba repeated her question.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. KARORO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for her question. The issue of pfumvudza is aimed at addressing effects of climate change to farmers. In this programme, people must work very hard Mr. Speaker Sir because this is a laborious process. People must be prepared and be able to dig plantation holes. All those who are supposed to benefit must dig these holes...
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you please be more specific where do they dig these holes and what kind of holes are these?
*HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I did not want to go into the technicalities of this but what happens is they will dig planting holes/stations, this is done for moisture conservation. When we say farmers must be prepared, I am saying they must dig these holes and do the necessary preparations to safeguard those holes so that water does not evaporate easily. All the farmers that are going to benefit must be prepared enough. As Ministry of Agriculture, we will be visiting your constituencies. Our Agritex officials are ready to visit all the constituencies. They will be teaching the community on how this programme works. I want to say that if Hon. Members hear that we have visited their constituencies, they must also come so that they will learn together with the communities how this programme works. I hope by the time we distribute inputs, everyone will be aware of this programme and the farmers will be well prepared.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My supplementary is, whilst we may have all the components that we may need the pfumvudza, fertilisers and the seed, has Government and Ministry of Agriculture looked at how our season is going to be like in 2021? Do we have any indication whether we are going to have low, medium or high rainfall this year?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the good question. Traditionally, when we look at weather patterns, we look towards the October/November cycle, so at this stage, we have just come out of two seasons of consecutive droughts. So as a Ministry, we are planning for the worst, therefore that is why we are shifting towards climate smart agriculture because it is a necessary must. We have to plan for the worst and anything that comes that is any better than that is just a bonus to us. We have to certainly plan for the lives of our people and our nation. We have food security at our hands and food and nutrition security at our hands too Hon. Speaker.We cannot play with that and therefore, we are planning for the worst. In terms of the announcement, it is only done towards the end of the year.
HON. NDEBELE: On a point of privilege Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We agreed in this House that no point of privilege will be entertained on Wednesdays.
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, I do not know what to call it but it is a follow up to the Hon. Minister’s answer.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is a point of clarification.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You could have done well if you had asked a supplementary question.
HON. NDEBELE: I just want to request if it is not too much to ask of the Deputy Ministers that they present a statement to this House canvassing the entirety of this pfumvudza programme. It sounds like a comprehensive programme, instead of us learning together with the rest of the citizens about the programme. I would prefer a situation where we get a comprehensive statement and then we seek clarifications; if you may indulge me Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. That is a wonderful suggestion. Hon. Speaker Sir, pfumvudza is at the centre of our agricultural recovery plan; agricultural recovery plan requires all stakeholders, Government, donor agencies, private individuals including our Members of Parliament and our leadership. So, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that Hon. Speaker Sir and we will prepare in accordance. I thank you.
HON. MADIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mine is a follow up to this pfumvudza programme. It is a good programme and we are kindly waiting for the Ministerial Statement. I wanted the Minister to clarify, I heard that people will be digging holes and these are the people who will benefit. We have vulnerable groups and the elderly who might find it difficult to dig these holes. What plans does Government have for the elderly who are no longer energetic to do that...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, the Hon. Deputy Minister was very clear, the statement will be given and once that statement is given, then you can ask questions for clarification including that one.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development. To what extent is the Zimbabwe Higher Performance Computing Project, as Government policy, be regarded as an engine for economic growth and development in Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I wish to thank Hon. Moyo for the question on the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing. I am happy to report that under our innovation, science and technology development programme, we have instituted now the High Performance Computing Centre as a research institute under the manpower Development Act, it is SI 169 of 2020. Under this, Treasury has supported this to 24 posts. So, the High Performance Computing Centre is now a fully fledged research and development institute and we call it Zimbabwe Science Park No. 1.
At Zimbabwe Science Park No. 1, the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing is going to focus on two divisions. The first division is understanding the high performance computer itself, which is a technical division. And, the application division is going to be focusing on key areas that include health and medical research, genomics; it is going to look at space and earth observation sciences, geo-spatial sciences for mineral exploration. It is going to look at drug discovery; it is going to do engineering applications that need very high performance computing power. We believe that the future of this country is through the application of science and technology on its natural resources, understanding our natural resources better for exploitation for the purpose of the development of this country, giving this country enough national capability so that we can be able to meet vision 2030 of becoming an upper middle income economy.
We believe that this is possible when we have the capability because we can talk about Vision 2030. Once the President has said that we really need to develop steps which make sure that we reach that goal and Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing which is at Zimbabwe Science Park 1 is one of the integral applications that we are going to have of science and technology towards the development of this country in terms of all the areas that I have mentioned above. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. How is the high performance computing project going to assist in solving contemporary problems, especially those of our farmers such as climate change issues and also weather forecasting? Thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you very much Hon.
Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Moyo for the supplementary question. One of the main applications of the high performance computing Centre is weather and climate modeling, which is under the geo-spatial and earth sciences division of the High Performance Computing, which we have instituted. Hon. Speaker, coincidentally, I brought the whole concept of the High Performance Computer and we actually had to document everything so that we understand exactly what we want to do with the High Performance Computing Centre. What we want is - we can speak high language but, the long and short of it is that, the High Performance Computer is going to tell us the likelihood of a drought or lack of it. It is not the computer itself but, the people who are working there using that computer. So, we are looking at also an issue whereby it is going to support the Zimbabwe Space Agency because the Zimbabwe Space Agency is correlated with the High Performance Computing Centre. So, all the observations that are going to be made by our satellites which are going to be in space and some of which we are using, the international ones are going to relay the information to the High Performance Computing so that we talk about bread and butter issues on technology, delivering food, delivering weather, delivering soil condition, delivering population statistics, delivering everything that we need. So, we believe that the High Performance Computing Centre through well thought applications, is going to help with agriculture using the method that I have mentioned above. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Hon. Minister has told us that he has brought this and it is in writing. Why do we not adopt a situation whereby we write it as it is than flighting it in the media? Then, when we do that work and there is progress, we then publish in media so that we perform and publicise because the hunger that is being experience in Zimbabwe is not because we are poor farmers but the challenge is on the planning aspect. There is no water and we are ploughing seed 727...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are now going into detail. Is it possible that since we have written it and it is so well written in black and white, can we not do it in practice?
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I have just showed you the book but it does not mean that we will not implement. I want to make a commitment that everything that we talk about in this House happens and has results. Yes, we sometimes have words that we say but at the end of the day, those words are translated into action. I want to say, this year as we speak about what has been raised by the other Hon. Member and Hon. Matangira, because of the hunger that is in this country and also on planting the wrong crops on wrong soils, we have a project under this high performance computer which address agro - ecological regions.
I want to say that we were able to live according to our word. In August we are going to have new ecological regions and I want to promise you that Hon. Matangira we might talk as if this cannot be implemented, but it will happen because sometime ago we had not fully done our research, it did not yield results. What we want to do is to bring in new research so that we do not depend on previous knowledge but current knowledge. I want to give my commitment that we are not only going to talk but we will act. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: My supplementary question is basically on the timelines in particular as it relates to interrogating the high performance computer centre whether it is going to work in terms of adding value to our minerals. When is that going to be in place so that we can derive maximum benefit as alluded to in the mineral sector, particularly on the 60 known minerals that we are endowed with as a nation so that we can start collaboration, coordination and networking and get out of the “BBC” era, the born before computer era.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I wish to thank Hon. Nduna for the supplementary question regarding mineral exploration. One of the main programmes that we are running with the high performance computer centre is mineral exploration techniques. This is a programme that we started funding in 2018 and we believe that any country has to know where its mineral resources are, so that we run away from words such as abundant, endowed and just say how many nuggets do we have and how much in terms of kilogrammes.
The high performance computer will make us be able to talk about our mineral resources the way we talk about a bank account whereby you say out of $1000, I withdrew $300 so I am left with $700. So this research programme about mineral resources is one of the key functions that we are performing at the high performance computing centre. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Unfortunately we agreed that we will stick to three supplementary questions. Having said that Hon Minister, some of the sections of your presentation were highly Greek to the Chair and to some of us seated there – would it not be good perhaps if you have the resources to print that booklet so that it is distributed among the Hon. Members where they can read about it and at some future time if there are issues they want to raise, they can follow a written narrative.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): We can happily make copies available. I am also happy to say this booklet is also on the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science and Technology Development website. If Hon Members want to make immediate access to it, they can access the website but if they really need hard copies like what I have I am happy to say we will avail copies this month. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank your Hon Minister that the content is on website. All Hon Members have got tablets now, you can liaise with the Clerk of Parliament and send the soft copies directly to each Member of Parliament.
*HON. MAVENYENGWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Land, Agriculture and Water Development. What measures does the Government have in place in terms on the distribution of mechanisation equipment from John Deere and to ensure that it is decentralised to district level. Due to the Covid pandemic most people cannot travel to the urban centres to go and apply thus the result is that those who benefited before will still benefit again. What we want is for the provinces to equally benefit from this mechanisation programme?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. KARORO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that he posed which will assist a lot of people in the rural areas. The issue of mechanisation equipment which includes combine harvesters and other agricultural implements – the way it is being distributed is that Government used to give the equipment directly to the farmers but there were challenges of favouratism and people were alleging that inputs were going to people in top leadership. So to curtail that challenge, this programme is now being administered by banks. Government devised this plan so that there will not be farmers who will be disadvantaged. What I can urge Hon. Member here is that if you want a tractor or plough, you need to apply to CBZ, Stanbic and Agribank.
I believe all these banks are present in every province. So, whoever wants anything should apply and specify what one wants. The tractors come in sizes and you need to specify the size. If you go to the bank you will be given an application form where you give those specific details. This was done so that no province or race is disadvantaged because this mechanisation equipment is for farmers. It is not discriminatory and does not look at ones race, religion or party but it looks at your ability as a farmer.
*HON GOZHO: I need clarification from the Minister that if I go to the bank, what are the requirements for me to qualify to apply for that equipment.
*HON. KARORO: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that she posed. No, Mr. Speaker, it does not mean that once you apply you automatically get a tractor. What is happening is that we are in the phase 1 stage of mechanisation, so it is concentrating on A2 farmers who are highly productive and the farmers that are highly productive, especially looking at their submission of grain to the GMB. So, it is mostly targeted towards A2 successful farmers.
There is a phase 2 scheme that is going to focus more on small scale farmers. What they consider the most, Hon. Member who posed the question, like I said you need to be a renowned farmer, a successful farmer. If you take your application to the bank, the bank will send its officers to come and assess whether you are a professional farmer. That is what will be considered for you to get any mechanisation equipment and the bank will determine. A deposit is also needed to ensure that once you get the tractor you will be able to pay. Yes, you will negotiate with the bank for the repayment period, depending on the equipment that you have chosen. Like I said, the tractors have different sizes. You choose the tractor that you want and you pay the deposit. I thank you.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: My supplementary question is, in view of the fact that these very limited tractors are going to be allocated on the basis of performance, is it possible for the Ministry to avail to Parliamentarians a database showing previous records of productivity so that we can play our oversight role. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you Hon. Member. It is very possible Mr. Speaker, to come up with a database. These are records and those records are there. If Parliament wants to have a look at the list, we are prepared to bring the list to Parliament.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. From the way the Minister has explained this does not seem to be an immediate process that after applying to get a tractor. How does the Minister explain the fact that the programme was launched and on the same day it was launched, I met several people driving away their tractors.
HON. KARORO: Mr. Speaker Sir, to the best of my knowledge no tractor was driven that day, unless if the Hon. Member of Parliament is prepared to bring evidence to our Ministry, we will then make investigations. Thank you.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr. Sekai Nzenza. Minister, in recent weeks we have seen the sky rocketing of prices of basic commodities - day in, day out. What policy measures is Government putting in place to stabilise prices of basic commodities and stimulate domestic production so as to contain imported inflation? Thank you
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. NZENZA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for the question. It is certainly true that we have witnessed prices continuously going up to the extent that we had a stakeholder meeting with retailers and in good faith agreed to put on a moratorium of price rises. I would like to admit Mr. Speaker Sir, that it was not as effective as we thought it was going to be.
The major problem, Mr. Speaker Sir, is that we are struggling with the exchange rate. We need to stabilise the economy and that is also impacting on the prices. Secondly, the other problem is yes, we do have some difficult people who are not so sympathetic to the consumer and we are appealing to those who continuously raise prices to be a bit more cognisant and sympathetic to the ordinary citizen.
Thirdly, as a Ministry we are looking at import substitution and in doing so we are working quite closely with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to look at the agriculture recovery plan, manufacturing with a view to increasing the production of raw materials within the country. So what is happening Mr. Speaker Sir is that this requires different line ministries to work together in order to meet the Presidential mandate towards increased employment, import substitution, innovation with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development so that our vision will become true. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Minister for the answer. Can you favour this House with a time line within which the import substitution measures are going to be implemented.
HON. DR. NZENZA: Again Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for the question. We do have a strategy looking at import substitution and within this strategy we are looking at what we are calling the low hanging fruit. These are the key priorities and one of them is looking at the pharmaceutical industry and the second one is looking at the fertilizer industry. So what you will see in this coming season we will be producing fertilizer locally and that is the time line. We are also looking at the leather and cotton industry and again by the end of this year we will show results. That is the time line. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. In view of the rising numbers in the COVID – 19 pandemic and the planned opening of schools later this month, what is Government policy in respect of continued use of education promises as worshipping centres? I thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker it is important to know that the rising cases can be disaggregated. Most of the cases are imported cases, therefore quarantine centres have been very important as places to contain that. We also of course have got local transmission. That mostly is related to the imported cases, which means they are the contacts. So in terms of the policy on quarantine centres, the taskforce already started moving away from schools and colleges. I think in terms of colleges, by this week they would have been cleared and we do disinfection.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. With due respect Mr. Speaker Sir, my question was not related to the use of schools as quarantine centres. My question is the use of schools as worship centres. What is Government policy on the continued use of schools as churches?
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Sorry about misinforming that I thought you had said quarantine centres. I think the guidelines are very clear. We have to be more careful now. The issue is that the schools are schools but they can also be used for certain functions. As long as the function that is there is conforming to the World Health Organisation guidelines as adopted by the guidelines issued by the Government of Zimbabwe through my Ministry, then we do not see a problem. Thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am aware that all schools which were used as quarantine centres were fumigated; they were all fumigated and by allowing worshippers to these schools, are we not bringing about the spreading of COVID 19? Why not allow worshippers to use other premises which are not schools?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Perhaps the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education could chip in.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. MATHEMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for asking this question. In fact, this morning I gave a directive that churches must move out of schools in preparation for the opening of schools at the end of this month. I sent out that directive this morning. I thank you.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am very concerned about students opening end of this month. A case in point is, may his soul rest in peace, Mr. Sibanda. Mr. Sibanda worked in a Government department which is currently closed.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Mr. who?
HON. DR. LABODE: A Mr. Sibanda who died of COVID recently. He worked in a Government institution. He did not present any COVID symptoms. He lived with his children in Norton. He went to a workshop in Chiredzi. The timeframe between him being infected, which we do not know and the time he died without telling us where his contacts are is frightening. Mr. Sibanda’s children, I am sure like a lot of other COVID people will go to school on the 31st. I hope we will not lead ourselves into another lockdown like Madagascar. Thank you.
HON. MATHEMA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for her worries and indeed the whole country needs to be worried. We all need to do the best we can to prevent the spread of this pandemic. Mr. Speaker Sir, we do the best we can at the schools to protect our learners or our children, teachers and all staff members of each school. We have thermometers at each school, sanitisers and masks. So we do the best we can to make sure that nobody is affected by the illness. We will do the best we can all over the country and that is why we need cooperation of everybody; the schools, managers, the administration, parents and the general public to make sure that our children go back to school in an environment that will protect them as much as we can. Thank you.
HON. MASENDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to commend the Government for putting a lot of effort on the agricultural programme, but I would like to enquire whether there is or there will be a policy to adjust the buying price for maize as we see that there is an adjustment on the rate at which the US dollar is exchanging to our Zimbabwe dollar. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CULTURE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Member for a very wise and good question. Hon. Speaker, a few months ago we announced a new producer price and recently, we announced an incentive to our farmers of about 30% if farmers delivered maize in July. Hon. Speaker, I can tell you that certainly we understand that the environment is changing daily and our Ministry has also put a proposal to have a further incentive. However, at this stage Hon. Speaker, nothing has been agreed on although we do understand the need to ensure that something is put in place. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. KASHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is - what are the chances that the cotton price is also going to be reviewed?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker, the cotton price was very recently announced and you will remember Hon. Speaker that it had a component of US dollars of about US$10 per bale. At this stage Hon. Speaker, I think it will be premature for us to stand here and promise the nation anything. At this stage, the cotton price remains, although we do understand there are other problems that are surrounding the cotton industry. However, specifically to answer the Hon. Member’s question, at this stage not. Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Hon. Minister said the cotton prices were revised recently but it was not done in US dollars. It was pegged against the Zimbabwe dollar which is losing its value every day. We visited the area and people told us that
they were expecting to buy tractors or trucks but now the cotton producers will not be able to buy anything. They have not received the payments in Zimbabwean dollar since May. Are the prices going to be reviewed?
HON. HARITATOS: The question is the same as the previous one. I want to point out that cotton farmers receive inputs for free. It is different from other crops like tobacco, maize, wheat and soyabeans. At this stage, it is impractical to stand up and guarantee the nation that something will be reviewed. It is not within our Ministry – we can put recommendations but at the end of the day, it has to be decided from the Ministry of Finance. If the situation changes, we will stand with our farmers and back them.
*HON. KACHEPA: My supplementary question goes to the Minister of Agriculture. Farmers are facing challenges of transporting their maize to GMB because the transporters cannot access fuel. Is there any provision from Government for transport or fuel access?
HON. HARITATOS: With regards to transport, I think it is not only unique to the agricultural sector but to each and every one of us even in here today. What we have done to mitigate this in the short to medium term is to increase the number of buying stations under GMB. We have also tried to assist our farmers with transport from buying stations to the GMB depots. We have asked commercial farmers to also act as centres for us to be able to buy. These are the measures we have taken but certainly transport is a major challenge because the liquid fuel is unavailable.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The following vehicles are obstructing or blocking other vehicles; ADX 8903 a silver land cruiser and ADV 3896 which is a navy blue Mercedes Benz. Please, if you can move your vehicles so that you do not obstruct other vehicles otherwise the two vehicles will be clamped.
*HON. TEKESHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Since the introduction of toll gates, we were promised that we were going to have very good roads in this country but our roads especially in the rural areas are worse off than how they used to be before the introduction of toll gates. Is the revenue from toll gates being used properly or not?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH. MATIZA): We are seeing a lot of development on the roads in this Second Republic. Four road authorities get money from ZINARA for the maintenance of roads but there are challenges that we face in the way we are operating and some of the problems were inherited.
Firstly, it is the management at ZINARA. As you know, there was a lot of chaos and corruption; that is what we had to address first and foremost. We now have a new board and new management. All the executive positions have been replaced now. The management is now moving smoothly.
The money that was collected by ZINARA is now used to cover credits, backlogs and arrears. Some people are now asking us to increase toll-gate fees from RTGS10 to RTGs150 or so. That should happen so that we are able to repair our roads from money generated from toll gates.
The problem goes to management of road authorities. There are some requirements that they are supposed to fulfil before then can get money from ZINARA and these are delayed. This leads to delay in maintenance or repair of roads, thus people will end up blaming Government for that. We have been liaising with them and we have held workshops to educate them on that.
In terms of progress on road maintenance and works; there are a lot of road works that are taking place in this country, especially in relation to what is happening in our country; firstly Cyclone Idai, droughts and now COVID-19. All these things were being covered by revenue from toll-gates but Government persevered. If you look at roads in all the provinces or districts, most of them are being repaired as we speak under these difficult circumstances that we are in.
*HON. TEKESHE: I understand that the money from toll gates is being used for pandemics such as COVID. That money is supposed to be used for road maintenance. Are we supposed to refuse paying the toll gate fees because most of us do not use those roads which are being repaired? When are these roads that we use in the rural areas going to be repaired?
*HON. ARCH. MATIZA: I said all these disasters that happened slowed down road maintenance. This means that there is something that is happening although the progress has slowed down. We actually disbursed funds to several authorities right now but I cannot mention them. What you can simply do is to check in your localities whether they have not received money from ZINARA and find out why they have not received funds from ZINARA. Then I am sure you will be able to even tell me here why but the main aim is what we are looking at now is increasing toll fees so that we are able to maintain and repair our roads so that our roads are usable.
ZINARA’s duty is to collect money, disburse it to road authorities and to ensure accountability of those funds. Those requirements, rules and laws of accountability apply even to local authorities and that is where the problem is. They fail to fulfill the conditions and fail to get the money. What you should do is that when you return to your constituencies, ask your local authorities about what is happening and that will help us all for betterment of development.
*HON. KASHIRI: I would like to thank the Hon. Minister Matiza and also to thank His Excellency the President, E. D. Mnangagwa for organising ZUPCO buses for us. The problem that we have is that in the rural areas, ZUPCO buses are not plying the routes because of poor roads. What plans do you have to repair the roads so that people can access ZUPCO transport in the rural areas?
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Kashiri, your question is the same as what was asked before and the Hon. Minister has already attended to that question. Unless Hon. Minister, if you have something to add to the question that was asked now.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you. I wish that the Hon. Minister could explain this growing trend. When a road has been started, we expect that all the scope of works, budgets, everything has been done and material is acquired and carried to site.
There is now a growing trend that a road is started Mr. Speaker. They start working and two to three months, they disappear for two years and nothing happens then suddenly they reappear. What will be happening? What is the problem? Could the Hon. Minister explain to us because all roads that are started never get completed. At some stage you know the contractor will disappear…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Member, may you get direct to your question.
HON. GABBUZA: I am sure that the Hon. Minister understood it. There is a growing trend that roads are started and hopefully all the equipment will have been put on site but suddenly they disappear for some years then resurface. What is the problem according to the Hon. Minister’s experience? Thank you.
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. What normally happens is that roads are funded and we do that here in terms of budgetary allocations and budget allocations are done annually.
In some instances and which was now becoming a rare issue before the catastrophe of Idai and subsequent catastrophes. So this then leads to certain prioritization. I will give you an example of what is happening right now. We have some roads that have reached priming stage, some roads have just been cleared – now those that have reached priming stage, if they are left like that, then that means we are going to lose that material and the money. So the issue of prioritization then means that we have to leave certain roads and prioritise the roads that are at a certain level. This is a funding issue Hon. Member; it is a funding issue Hon. Speaker which I am very sure the Hon. Member is aware.
Where I can come in is to explain the issue of prioritization when we get to areas where there is budgetary deficit. This is where then we come in and select certain portions of the roads that have gone to certain levels where a lot of expenditure has been done. This is what we are doing now. The issues of the roads in various provinces, I can name the majority of them, we have now reprioritised as we speak. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has released ZWL$250 million as of yesterday to now pay all the contractors who had not been paid so that they can restart on these projects. So, this is how the trend goes.
In some cases, it is not Government’s fault as it could be the contractors themselves. Sometimes they mismanage their funding and they do not go ahead with work and in those cases, we terminate and bring other contractors on board – that takes a bit of time to rearrange. So Hon. Member, I want to assure you that whenever funding is available, whenever the funding that we vote for here is made available the work continues. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Minister, Hon. Speaker, what safeguards has the Ministry put in place so that monies that are contributed through toll gates and other sources are not misused by local authorities especially what we have seen in urban centres; where they receive that money and end up buying big vehicles at the expense of residents?
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the Hon. Member. When money has been allocated to a local authority which has all the functionaries of any authority, we expect them to take care of that money and use it properly. Any other way of using it, misappropriation is deemed as corruption.
However, we have an Audit Section, as I said; we would want, through ZINARA funding, ZINARA will go and make sure that those monies are properly used by way of auditing and reports. Largely, an authority is an authority given their budgets, they sit in their council chambers, they allocate the roads that they want to do and they have engineers there. They also have an Audit Section there to see that these things work. So, to a certain extent, the misappropriation is an issue of misgovernance at that level. Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want to know from the Hon. Minister what plans he has got to increase the charges at the toll gates? Aware that this is where the money for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and maintenance of the road network comes from and also the road access fees; aware that we are the lowest in the region in terms of the amount paid.
Currently, it is about USD$20.00 for foreign vehicles. Does he have plans and when does he intend putting them in place? We are paying ZWL$10.00; it used to be USD$10.00. Does he have plans to put it up to that so that we can have our impeccable infrastructure second to none?
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member on the question that he has just asked. In fact, we are almost at the concluding stage of revising the toll fees.
We are cognisant of the fact that our roads need to be of high standard. We are cognisant of the fact that our roads need to be accident free and also of the fact that they have to be commensurate with the regional road network in terms of quality. So, this is why we have looked at the toll charges and very soon before the end of the month, we will be gazetting them.
HON. S. S. KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. What is Government policy on rehabilitating boreholes that were dug and equipped in the 1940s and 1950s? The boreholes seemingly are now getting out of use, the breakdowns are so numerous that perhaps I think they need complete rehabilitation and overhaul. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and to the Hon. Member for the question. Certainly Hon. Speaker, water is a basic human right and our Ministry understands its mandate. The rehabilitation of boreholes around the country is a top priority of our Ministry. It is actually what we call a low bearing fruit because it does not involve drilling new ones. Our Ministry so far this year alone has rehabilitated in excess of 1 800 boreholes and deep wells. So to answer specifically what the Hon. Member is asking, there are certain boreholes that were drilled almost 7 to 8 decades ago and at some stage, boreholes do certainly pass the best before. So our Ministry in line with rehabilitation of boreholes also has facilities to drill new boreholes and ZINWA under our Ministry is in charge of drilling in two provinces specifically and DDF are in charge of the balance of the provinces. So, it is certainly an ongoing process but given the challenges with the finances and given recently the challenges with liquid fuel, our Ministry has not been able to do to its full optimal level and certainly we hope that in the near future, this becomes a thing of the past.
HON. S. S. KHUMALO: Mr. Speaker Sir, perhaps the Minister is talking about this rehabilitation of 1 700 boreholes from different areas. From where I come from the boreholes are just not being serviced. If I may just make it open; I hail from Tsholotsho North. We have a serious problem of water in that area and it is disheartening that the Minister can answer me and say they have been rehabilitating boreholes yet the boreholes there have outlived their lifespan. I did not want to say that but that is what I realised. I thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Hon. Speaker, we have what we call our WASH programme which is at district level so that the job of rehabilitating and repairing individual boreholes actually falls at district level and so certainly, I have taken note of what the Hon. Members mentioned and I am happy to say that Hon. Members even come to my office to raise these issues. I will make the undertaking rather to ensure that we do prioritise certainly the southern regions of our country which are very dry and need greater amount of support and that is certainly what our Ministry will do. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker Sir, in the life of the 8th Parliament, we were promised by the same Ministry that they will drill 4 boreholes in each constituency. Could I kindly check with the Minister if this is still in the pipeline? He has indicated that the drilling of boreholes is a low hanging fruit, is he able to provide timelines as to when we are going to get those 4 boreholes per constituency?
HON. HARITATOS: Hon. Speaker, I would like to correct the Hon. Member. I said the rehabilitation of boreholes is a low bearing fruit, certainly the drilling of boreholes is a much greater cost and a little more difficult. Hon. Speaker, I am a proud member of the Nineth Parliament, I was not around in the Eighth Parliament. However, I do know from my predecessor in my personal constituency...
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, when I raise issues in the past, I am aware that he is a new member but this is a House of record and the Ministry existed, then so it is for him to read and make sure he is up to speed with what has been happening in the House before he came.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker, unfortunately I was cut off before I could finish my sentence. Hon. Speaker, what I was saying is that I know from my predecessor who did receive the 4 boreholes in is constituency and therefore I do certainly know about this. What I meant to say to the Hon. Member was that I do not know specifically which constituencies were done and which constituencies were not done. It is possible that some constituencies had two boreholes instead of the 4. The undertaking that I was going to say before I was stopped is that certainly, I will look at the 210 constituencies and ensure that we do at least put in line that we do complete this project even though it is not in the Nineth Parliament.
HON. NDEBELE: I just want to add one quick item.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No you cannot add. Is it a point of clarification?
HON. NDEBELE: Yes, I need clarity if one member of this House got 4 boreholes already, what is the criteria of prioritization because I come from the driest part of the country and it will beat any manner of sensible thinking why we were not put up first?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think the Minister was very clear on that point. He said he was going to look into all those 210 constituencies to find out how many of those constituencies got 4 boreholes, how many got two then he will come back with a response. What else would you want him to say?
HON. NDEBELE: I come from the driest part of the country.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: But look at it, he has answered that clearly, why would you want to labour the Minister on that.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is that Minister, it is a proven fact that bush pumps are a lot more expensive to install and repair compared to submersibles. What policy position is there to migrate towards solar driven boreholes?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the fantastic question. I am also an advocate of the same Hon. Speaker. I will tell you and as well as our Ministry. We are certainly trying to move away and go into what we also deem as climate smart methods of dealing with our water and sanitation issues. Certainly, we are shifting towards that but again Hon. Speaker, the major constraint is the finances and as the finances come, we would like to look at these. I know certain boreholes for example anything between 40 to 50 metres can still be used by bush pumps, anything deeper than 50 metres is very difficult. you almost damage the equipment. So, this is very well within our Ministry and certainly in the near future we will prioritise.
*HON. NHARI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. What is Government policy concerning our returnees when they come back to Zimbabwe considering that they will be travelling in the same bus?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. Government and the Ministry or taskforce has what we call guidelines that we use so that people will not affect each other and to minimise the rate of infections.
*THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Our Ministry and the taskforce, we have guidelines that we use so that we minimise chances of spreading the disease. So government, through our Ministry is working hard to ensure that happens. All I can say is that if those guidelines can be adhered to, the ones that are written, everything will go according to plan.
*HON. KACHEPA: My question on those who are travelling, being transported from South Africa to Malawi for example, if those people get a breakdown on the road, those people end up being stranded, live there and they end up spreading the disease as they travel to their country. We came across such a situation where people travelling to Malawi had a breakdown. What is Government policy to assist people in such a scenario?
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, our plan is not about disaster of stopping the spread of disease. Accidents happen on the roads and we know that. When people travel in the country, we try by all means to implement our programme according to the guidelines that we have because that is what helps us in solving such problems if they come up. If our guidelines are adhered to, our programme will work very well. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is, when I go for testing and they discover that I am HIV positive, there are counselors. What happens with Covid- 19, does Government provide counselors if people discover that they are Covid- 19 positive so that they are not in a shock even if they go to quarantine centres so that they recover very well. I thank you.
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Our Government has social workers, also psycho support services and in short, yes. I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. What is the Government doing to make sure that the pensioners concerned get a decent living out of the many years of service and dedication to the country:
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you Hon. Zhou for that beautiful question. The question is too specific and I would request that you write it down, then I can get the specific answers. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. There has been a bit of reference to my question but I want to fine tune it. It is a fact that there has been an increase in cases of locally transmitted Covid- 19 and it is also a fact that there is bound to be a spike as we go through the rest of the winter season. The second republic in its wisdom has declared our response to Covid- 19 as a war. You and I Mr. Speaker lived through the liberation struggle wherein schools were out for more than 10 years. I want to check with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Speaker Sir, if you allow me. What is so painfully difficult for the listening second Republic to come up with a policy that gravitates towards the writing of the rest of this academic year - that is if
writing off the rest of this academic year if our intention is to protect our children from Covid-19.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. E. MOYO): Indeed, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the listening Second Republic are aware of the dangers posed by Covid-19. However, we do not think that it is at the scale at the moment to warrant a cancelling off completely of everything. It is our belief that measures that we are taking currently to protect our learners, teachers and communities are sufficient in our view to give a free and safe environment for our learners.
HON. NDEBELE: Most schools have not received adequate PPEs and schools in Bulawayo in particular have no water. What sufficient measures is the Deputy Minister speaking to and for good measure, teachers’ unions have spoken against the opening of schools. I thank you.
HON. E. MOYO: I think it is common knowledge that even before the writing of the June examinations, a lot of reservations on the preparedness of the Ministry to run the examinations were expressed. However, the reality on the ground turned out that preparations were sufficient and I think at the moment no one has raised any significant complaints regarding those preparations. It is still our view that our preparations are ongoing and it in our anticipation that by the time Grade 7s, Form 4s and Form 6s come back to school, we would have finished those preparations.
In fact our response to Covid19 with regards to reopening of schools has been well measured to allow for social distancing, hence the phased reopening of schools.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare and in his absence I will direct it to the Leader of the House. I want to thank Government for distributing food to the needy. My question is what plans does the Ministry have in giving social assistance grants to Covid-19 victims.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. The question is not very specific. What in particular, those that have been tested positive or what. It is not very clear.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: My question is what plans do you have on giving social assistance grants to vulnerable people faced with Covid-19?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker Sir, during this Covid-19 period Social Welfare requested registration for all the vulnerable so that they can offer some social assistance even in urban areas. In the rural areas we already have a social assistance programme where we give grain and also have some NGOs that are supporting Government programmes by giving food aid. While the question is not very specific as to who is now vulnerable because of COVID that need social assistance, I believe there is a broad based programme to help all those that are vulnerable during this pandemic period. I thank you.
Question without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of standing order Number 64.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF BULAWAYO-NKAYI ROAD
- HON S. K. MGUNI asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the construction of the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road will be completed, considering that the project has been outstanding for more than 35 years.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MATIZA): Bulawayo-Nkayi road is a primary road which links Bulawayo and Nkayi and also provides a direct link between Bulawayo and Gokwe in the Midlands Province. The upgrading has been going on over a long period of time. The upgrade of the road from narrow state to surface standard commenced in 1993 with a feasibility study. The actual construction commenced using donor funding from the Kuwait Fund in 1996. The donor pulled out in the year 2000 after completing the designs for 65km and the construction of one bridge as well as 29 km of road.
The Department of Roads took over the construction of the road in 2001 and did construction up to 44 km peg as well as completed Mbembesi and Ingwingwizi Bridges which are now trafficable. The progress has been slow due to the rate at which funding for the implementation of the project is availed by Treasury. For the 10 km target of 2019 5 km have been primed. Due to the Covid-19 most of the road construction projects were stalled this year as resources were diverted to fight the pandemic. Priority is now on ongoing road projects that were at prime stage as at December 2019. Bulawayo-Nkayi Road falls under the reprioritised list of roads targeted for surfacing in 2020. Materials needed to surface the 5 km primed section for the Bulawayo Nkayi Road are already on site. Since we are in winter and we are experiencing low temperatures which are not ideal for surfacing, track and seal works will resume as temperatures improve. Construction will continue guided by funding availed. Mr. Speaker Sir, I visited this road at the beginning of last month to assess the state of the road and the progress to date. Due to limited resources, the Department of Roads will ensure routine maintenance of the narrow mat to ensure it is trafficable while rehabilitation and construction is ongoing on the other section of the road. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister the road that he alludes to is infested with a lot of mining ventures. Queens Mine is another one and there is Tech Mine and there is another mine. Whose primary mandate is it to extract our resources and leave gaps, if not dams; aware that this resource that I am talking about is finite and we will not have any shoots sprouting from the ground.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, please may you get to your question.
HON. NDUNA: My question therefore is, what is the Minister doing in order to make sure that these miners plough back in terms of infrastructural development? It is happening outside our borders using our minerals, why can it not happen here? What is it that we are doing in order for them to plough back using this finite resource in our country, for our country to use what we have to get what we can?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, your question is completely out of the original question. That sounds like it is a new question unless of course Minister, you have got something to add.
HON. NDUNA: I spoke about the mines in that area.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No.
FINALISATION OF RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE ACROSS PIRIVIRI RIVER
- HON. HOUGHTON asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when -
(a) The Magunje-Siakobvu Road in the Kariba-Nyaminyami District will be upgraded;
(b) The bridge over the Mawena River will be repaired considering that it is the only link between the Negande area to the road network system in the Kariba-Nyaminyami District and the rest of the country.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. The first answer Mr. Speaker Sir, the Magunje-Siakobvu Road is a section of the Karoi-Binga Road that we have been working on since 2019. In essence, the upgrading of that road has already started and to date we have surfaced 10km. We shall continue to lobby the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to continue funding the road so that we can deliver at least 10km a year.
The second question – Mr. Speaker Sir, the bridge in question is on the road that is maintained by DDF and as such, the bridge is also under the purview of DDF. DDF is therefore in a better position to answer the question. I thank you.
HON. HOUGHTON: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That road going to Nyaminyami rural district area is so bad that there has been no bus service for more than a year on that. In the entire Nyaminyami rural district, there is no bus service and I think the Minister needs to put an effort into getting the road usable there so that at least the people can have a bus service. Thank you.
HON. ARCH MATIZA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. As I have alluded to that as long as we get the funding, we will continue to upgrade these roads given the fact that at least we should do 10km a year.
HON. HOUGHTON: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That road is 334km long. Apparently, about 100km have been done which means that there is about 200km still to be done. At 10km a year, it is going to take 20 years to complete that road. It is not good enough Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you.
HON. ARCH MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. What I said is at least the minimum. This is a budgetary issue, it is depending on the funding and we approve the budgets here, but at minimum that is what we are talking about. I thank you.
RESUMPTION OF CONSTRUCTION OF LUPANE HOSPITAL
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House when the construction of the Lupane Provincial Hospital will resume.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Works at the proposed Lupane Provincial Hospital has since resumed. The contractor, Zimbabwe Jingsu International was handed over the site on 26th August last year. The project is being implemented in phases. Phase one comprises of Outpatient Department, administration block, pharmacy, central stores, staff houses and civil works. A pre-purchase of materials worth $9 million RTGs was done late last year and have since been delivered to site. I am sure the work has started and is going on. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
REBUILDING OF THE MATERNITY WARD AT ST LUKE HOSPITAL
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House on the Ministry’s plans to rebuild the maternity ward at St Luke Hospital which was gutted by fire.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO: The affected department is a Family and Child Health Department. The hospital through the church, who are the owners have raised US$18 000 and have since done the quotations for the roof. The Government has also allocated $2 000 000 through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) to augment the contribution of the mission. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
PROTECTION OF PATIENTS FROM WEATHER ELEMENTS
- HON. CHIKUNI asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House measures being taken to protect patients from weather elements as they wait for treatment outside health care centres in compliance with the COVID-19 control measures.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): The Ministry of Health and Child Care is putting in place various measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The Ministry has embarked on expediting the provision of treatment or consultation services at all various levels of care to prevent long queues as well as observing social distancing. Further to that, we have embarked on provision of waiting mothers’ shelters and/or waiting areas at all health facilities. Most of our clinics, rural health hospitals, district/mission, provincial and central hospitals have waiting shelters as part of their structure. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN BIKITA SOUTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. SITHOLE asked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 26 and 29 in Bikita South Constituency will have internet connectivity.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question.
NetOne is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) and has developed a Communications Infrastructure Plan to cover all the provinces and wards through the Mobile Broadband (MMB) phase 3 project. Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 26, 28 and 29 in Bikita South Constituency are expected to be covered before the end of the Fourth Quarter in 2020.
The Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services on the other hand has accelerated the development of the Digital Infrastructure master plan. The master plan will assist in identifying the underserved and unserved areas so that the operators and POTRAZ backup can close the gaps. The Ministry is also working to expedite the Infrastructure Sharing Policy to encourage infrastructure sharing amongst the MNOs. This will result in more coverage by all operators as they will not spend money on construction of towers. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I am supplementing in relation to the issue of infrastructure sharing that the Hon. Minister spoke about. We have not heard this for the first time. Could the Hon. Minister share with this House where the bottlenecks are? Where are the problems because this has been talked about, I think, since time immemorial?
HON. DR. MUSWERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Infrastructure sharing is taking place and so far more than 20 sites have been identified and at least more than 10 have been developed by POTRAZ on an infrastructure sharing basis.
What basically happens is that POTRAZ develops the passive infrastructure and the three MNOs then install their active infrastructure on each and every passive infrastructure base station that would have been identified by POTRAZ. It is an ongoing process, it is taking place and is very successful. Currently, Econet and NetOne are working together on around 49 new sites wherein they will be sharing their infrastructure. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ROAD REHABILITATION IN MABVUKUTAFARA CONSTITUENCY
- HON. CHIDHAKWAasked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development when the Ministry will start road rehabilitation in Mabvuku/Tafara Constituency given that the roads are badly dilapidated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry is cognisant of the poor state of roads in a number of residential areas including Mabvuku/Tafara Constituency. The road networks have outlived their design lives and therefore require rehabilitation. Plans have been put in place for the rehabilitation and reseal of the roads and the implementation has started with the major roads. The rehabilitation will continue to be implemented in a prioritised manner until the entire road network has been attended to. The City of Harare is in charge of these roads and is also in a better position to give concrete plans for road rehabilitation in Harare. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF TYNWALD NORTH AND GOODHOPE ROADS
- HON. MAMOMBE asked Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry will rehabilitate Tynwald North and Goodhope Roads in Harare West Constituency in view of the fact that both roads are dilapidated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Tynwald North and Goodhope roads are important feeder roads in Harare West constituency. The roads are currently in a poor state and indeed require rehabilitation. City of Harare is in a better position to give us its immediate plans for rehabilitation. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF SHAMROCK ROAD IN HURUNGWE NORTH
- HON. GANDAWA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain measures put in place to rehabilitate Shamrock Road in Ward 9 Hurungwe North.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, currently due to budget constraints there is no periodic maintenance being done. We are prioritising routine maintenance as funds are limited. The Department of Roads is cognisant of the fact that the road requires rehabilitation in the medium term and this will be done when commensurate funding is available. I thank you.
TARRING OF ZVOMUKONDE AND NGUNGUMBANE STRETCH IN MBERENGWA
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain the circumstances that led to the skipping of a stretch 27km between Zvomukonde and Ngungumbane and when the stretch in Mberengwa District will be tarred.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the circumstances that led to the skipping of a stretch of 27km between Zvomukonde and Ngungumbane were non availability of the designs of road for that section during construction. The funds for the road project ran out during the time of construction in 2004. As soon as the funding line has been availed to our Ministry, the project will resume. I thank you.
FUNDS RELEASED BY ZINARA TO MBERENGWA RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House how much ZINARA released to Mberengwa Rural District Council for the period 2018 to 2019 and how much was acquitted to date.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, ZINARA disbursed $23 647 on 6th March, 2018 and $130 086 on September, 2018 to Mberengwa Rural District Council. In 2019, a total of $76 866 was disbursed and recently in March 2020, Zinara disbursed $258 486 to Mberengwa Rural District Council. These disbursements were for routine maintenance and it should be noted that Mberengwa Rural District Council is failing to utilise its periodic maintenance funds. Each year ZINARA allocates funds to both urban and rural district councils. Of these funds, 75% should be allocated to periodic maintenance while 25% is for routine maintenance. In this regard, a total of $504 838 was allocated in 2018, $597 767 in 2019 and $1 824 024 in 2020.
To date, there are no records showing any utilisation of these allocated funds for periodic maintenance by Mberengwa Rural District Council. Money for periodic maintenance is usually disbursed after work is done. With regards to acquittals for 2019, the disbursed funds are only for first half of the year and no acquittals were submitted for the last six months. In cases where allocated funds are not enough to cover periodic maintenance, rural district councils and urban councils can pass resolutions to use allocated funds for routine maintenance.
HARARE FLYOVERS
- HON. MAGO asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry of Transport is going to attend to Harare Flyovers that are in need of urgent attention as they risk collapse. These include the Simon Mazorodze, Beatrice Road at the interchange with Rotten Row.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the tender for the inspection of these bridges inclusive of Simon Mazorodze was concluded and awarded. The consultant is due to formalise their engagement through a formal contract and start work in the near future. I thank you.
ZUPCO BUSES FOR MHANGURA FEEDER ROADS
- HON. MASANGOasked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain when ZUPCO buses will be allocated to feeder roads that are mainly dirty dusty roads in Mhangura.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the allocation and operation of ZUPCO buses falls under the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. As such, the question should be directed to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
FREE MEDICAL SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY
- HON. S. CHAMISAasked the Minister of Health and Child Care what the government is doing to facilitate free medical services for the elderly.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): In terms of section 82 (b) of the Constitution, rights of the elderly, people over the age of 70 years have the right to receive health care and medical assistance from the State. Government policy has gone further to include those who are 65 years old and above in providing free medical services at all public health institutions. They are not required to pay for their medical care in public health institutions.
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House whether the government has any plans to construct more clinics in Wards 23, 24 and 29 in Zaka West Constituency considering that some people have to walk for distances as long as 40 kilometres to access treatment at clinics.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): The Ministry in its Infrastructure Development Plan has intention to construct health facilities in the three wards and proposed sites have been identified, that is Ward 23 site is at Choringeno, Ward 24 site is at Charuka and Ward 29 site is at Bepeza. The Ministry has embarked on the construction of health posts and clinics and Charuka is going to be considered under this initiative. However, we urge the Hon. Member of Parliament to also support Central Government by mobilising local communities and businesses to contribute towards such projects.
OPENING OF MASIKATI CLINIC
- HON. MASENDAasked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House when the Masikati Clinic which was constructed two years ago will be officially opened to the public considering that people have to walk some 20 kilometres to access medical services.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Masikati Clinic is a newly proposed facility in Hurungwe District and is owned by Hurungwe Rural District Council. The new facility was formerly a farm house converted into a clinic. The facility will serve a large population that is currently walking long distances to either Tengwe or Kasimure clinics which are very far. However, the Ministry of Health and Child Care is aware of the need to speed up the official opening of the clinic given its catchment service. Inspections were done by both the District Health Executive and the Hurungwe Rural District Council members recently. In that regard, there were few things that needed attention which includes proper waste management facilities, fixing of wall and ceiling cracks, water availability as well as human resources for the clinic and these are at advanced stage. Moreover, as part of social responsibility, I also urge Hon. Member of Parliament to mobilise additional resources for the community through possible donors / partners or under the Community Development Funds (CDF) to complement the efforts being done by the Central Government.
EXPANSION OF THE NETONE MOBILE NETWORK COVERAGE IN ZAKA WEST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when the NetOne mobile network coverage will be expanded to cover Wards 24, 22 and 33 in Zaka West Constituency
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. NetOne is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) and has developed a Communications Infrastructure Plan to cover all the provinces and wards through the Mobile Broadband (MBB) phase 3 project. Ward 24, 22 and 33 in Zaka West Constituency are expected to be covered before the end of the 4th Quarter in 2020.
The Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services on the other hand has accelerated the development of the Digital Infrastructure Masterplan. The masterplan will assist in identifying the underserved and unserved areas so that the operators and PORTRAZ backup can close the gaps. The Ministry is also working to expedite the Infrastructure Sharing Policy to encourage infrastructure sharing amongst the MNOs. This will result in more coverage by all operators as they will not spend money on construction of towers. I thank you.
ASSISTANCE TO DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IN RURAL AREAS
- HON. MASUKU asked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to:
- a) Inform the House on the measures and programmes that have been put in place by the Ministry to assist disadvantaged children in rural areas such as Sipepa and Siganda, who, unlike those in urban centers have no access to the Internet:
- b) Explain to the House how the general public can be protected from uncensored false information which is disseminated to peace loving Zimbabweans with the aim of causing confusion; and
- c) Inform the House what measures have been put in place by the Ministry to sensitise the public to desist from being gullible to misleading information.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): a) The Ministry is doing everything to bridge the digital divide and this will benefit all students and pupils. The Ministry has assigned POTRAZ and Zimpost to set up Community Information Centers (CICs) throughout the country. These CICs are Internet connected with a minimum of 10 laptops depending on the size of the CIC. This means that in communities that already have this facility, students can make use of the Internet for their studies. To communities like Sipepa and Siganda CICs, we are working on it.
The Ministry with its stakeholders is also running with the Schools E-Learning Programme where computes are distributed to schools and Internet being connected to schools. ZARNet is connecting schools whilst POTRAZ and other stakeholders are distributing computers to schools. This however, is an ongoing programme where you will notice that some schools have already benefited both Internet connectivity and computers but, Mr. Speaker Sir, be assured that this programme is intended to reach all our schools especially those in the rural areas and the disadvantaged communities.
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and POTRAZ are also ensuring equitable distribution of network towers for this will again result in connectivity to those who can afford data and advanced gadgets. Let me however say, Mr. Speaker Sir, that the lack of foreign currency and COVID-19 is hindering a lot of these projects as we cannot procure ICT equipment.
- b) The Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill was given a nod by Cabinet and is at the moment with this House. Parliament is doing its diligent job making consultations throughout the country. Once the process is over, we will hear the outcome and it is my hope that the Act from this Bill will address concerns by the Hon. Member.
- c) The Ministry, working with the regulator POTRAZ, is carrying out consumer protection awareness programmes in the form of road shows throughout the country. Emphasis is being put on cyber related issues.
There are a number of communities that were reached and these include Ngundu, Kadoma, Shangani and Madhlambuzi just to mention but a few. The month of October is referred to as the Cyber Security month. The month is thus packed with activities that include road shows, public lectures, conferences, radio and television shows. All these activities are meant to sensitise the public on cyber related threats. Last year, 2019 in October, we carried out Cyber Security Conference/Indaba at the Rainbow Towers in Harare and Bulawayo respectively, public lectures at Africa University and National Defence University, radio and television programmes and road shows were also conducted in a number of areas. I thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT CLASSROOM BLOCKS IN RESETTLEMENT AREAS
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House Government policy on the construction of permanent classroom blocks in resettlement areas since children in these schools learn in temporary structures.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): The Ministry has in place plans for the upgrading of schools in resettlement areas, most of which are satellite schools. For each of these schools, there is a site designated for the construction of permanent structures. Programmes for construction of schools have prioritised resettlement areas. For example, the Ministry working with OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has so far completed construction of 17 new schools (11 primary and 6 secondary) which are awaiting commissioning. The bulk of these schools were constructed in the resettlement areas. The Ministry is working with various partners, NGOs, churches. School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds have been used to construct classrooms in resettlement areas. Devolution funds may also be used. Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) is also used to finance these schools.
STATISTICS OF UNDERAGE SCHOOL GIRLS WHO FELL PREGNANT AND DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL IN 2019 BY PROVINCE
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to apprise the House on the statistics of underage school girls that fell pregnant and dropped out of school in 2019 by province.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): 2019 statistics are captured in February and therefore, on the onset of the lockdown, statistics had not yet been disaggregated. However, the global figure for 2019 is as follows:
Primary | Secondary | Total |
120 | 2 864 | 2 984 |
Through the guidance and counseling programme, the Ministry intends to eliminate the problem of dropping out of school due to pregnancy. Thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN MBERENGWA EAST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when the Ministry will construct a secondary school in Ward 6, Mberengwa East Constituency, in view of the fact that children are walking a long distance from Mututu Primary School and Chiwara Primary to Mbuyanehanda High School.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): It is the Ministry’s mandate, in accordance with P73 of 1991, to ensure that learners at any given place do not walk more than 5km to the nearest school to access education. It is now a matter of public record that the Ministry, through its 2013 Infrastructure Expo has established deficit of 2 056 schools. The number has since increased.
In order to reduce the school infrastructure deficit, the Ministry has already rolled out the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Programme which to date has completed 17 schools now awaiting commissioning. The situation in Ward 6 will be looked at by inspection teams from our district offices who are expected to furnish Head Office on their findings. Furthermore, partners who include church organisations and NGOs are also invited and also working on provision of schools. Thank you.
SCHOOL FURNITURE FOR MPONJANE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MBERENGWA DISTRICT
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when the Ministry will buy school furniture for Mponjane Primary School in Mberengwa District.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Schools like Mponjane that get SIG grants are encouraged to use the grants for the acquisition of school furniture. Thank you.
INSTALLATION OF SHARED BASE STATIONS IN REMOTE AREAS OF HURUNGWE NORTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. GANDAWAasked the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House on the measures being put in place in installing shared base stations in remote areas that are economically marginalised, particularly Hurungwe North Constitutency in the Dete area, Ward 9.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The Ministry has developed modalities with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) to institute several measures to improve coverage in poor marginalised areas of Zimbabwe. Some of the measures taken are:
- Infrastructure Sharing Regulations
The authority has initiated infrastructure sharing. Infrastructure
Sharing Regulations were gazette in 2016 and the authority began mandatory sharing of telecommunications base stations. Infrastructure sharing benefits the public in that MNOs will be able to install equipment on existing towers, thereby increasing coverage. This also reduces the cost of investment thereby reducing the cost of providing the service ad pricing of services. In addition, infrastructure sharing can help reduce energy consumption and radio emissions of networks.
- Installation of Shared Base Stations
The authority has installed 20 shared base stations country-wide.
The completed projects consist of fifteen shared base stations with passive infrastructure and five base stations with active equipment comprising Multi Operator Radio Access Network (MORAN). In the long run, the authority has identified about three hundred and fifty wards with poor or no network coverage in Zimbabwe.
The authority, through the Universal Services Fund (USF) has
initiated several projects to address the network coverage gaps. Some of the projects include:
- a)Construction of 350 Shared Base Stations (Huawei Technologies)
A tender for the construction of 350 base stations was awarded to Huawei Technologies of China. The project was vendor financed and Huawei was required to source the finance. The project could not proceed as Huawei failed to secure the required financing. The tender has not yet been closed.
- b)Construction of 100 Shared Base Stations
The authority has tendered for the construction of 100 shared base stations in marginalised areas. An expression of interest (EOI) was done and five possible bidders have been shortlisted. The authority will proceed to issue the request for proposals (RFP). The project is also vendor financed on a build and transfer (BT) model.
- c)Construction of Shared Base Station Sites by Operators/Relocation of collocated Sites
The aim of this project is for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to construct passive base station infrastructure in assigned remote marginalised areas. The passive base station infrastructure includes 60m or 70m towers, equipment shelters, guard rooms, perimeter fence, commercial power, solar power (Photo Voltaic Modules), diesel engine generators, power back-up batteries and access roads.
After completion of the project, all operators will share the infrastructure. The authority through Universal Services Fund (USF), will reimburse the MNOs who would have constructed the sites.
As part of this initiative, MNOs will also be required to relocate base stations that are co-located, to new sites. Both the new site and the relocated sites will be shared by all MNOs. POTRAZ will be responsible for the cost of the relocation of the base stations.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INFORMATION CENTRE IN MBERENGWA EAST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to explain when the Ministry is going to establish an Information Centre in Mberengwa East Constituency.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. The Ministry working with POTRAZ, is still in the process of deploying Community Information Centres (CICS) throughout the country. In Mberengwa, a CIC was established at Mberengwa Post Office and handed over to ZIMPOST for operationalisation, CICs are not established on the basis of constituencies. The primary basis for distribution of CICs is on per province basis. Using a connectivity matrix, the CIC at Mataga Post Office was set up by my Ministry and is currently operational. A CVIC is in the process of being established at Mnene, but delays have been experienced due to the shortage of foreign currency to procure required gadgets as highlighted above and the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts are being made to ensure that all outstanding CICs are operationalised this year.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. NDUNA: Hon. Speaker Sir, with your indulgence, I move that the rest of the Questions with Notice be stood over until the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Hon. Nyoni gives a Ministerial Statement.
HON. P. MOYO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
RESPONSE TO REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ON THE FACT FINDING VISIT TO DISTRICT OFICES AND WOMEN EMPOWRMENT PROJECTS
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. NYONI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to present a response on the report of the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development on the fact finding visits to selected Ministry, district offices and women’s empowerment projects.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry notes and appreciates the report by the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development following a fact finding visit to selected Ministry, district offices and women’s empowerment projects. The findings and recommendations are quite pertinent as these help the Ministry in refining programming of the various interventions to improve service delivery to the citizenry. However, I would like to point out to the House that the report was written way back in February 2019. The Ministry has since addressed most of the issues raised in the report such as distribution of motor bikes, training of project beneficiaries, support and modern machinery and increasing budgetary support for funded projects.
The Ministry would like to shed light however, on what has been done during this period and the challenges that are being faced. These will be as follows:-
- State of District Offices and General Infrastructure
The status of district offices is a matter of great concern to my
Ministry Mr. Speaker Sir. However, the mandate of providing office accommodation to Government ministries is vested with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Public Works. The Ministry responsible has been approached several times with requests to provide suitable accommodation for our officers. It is our hope that progress will be made soon as a new idea has been mooted and that is the construction of pre-fabricated structures for use by our officers as offices. The Public Works Department has been tasked to work with my Ministry’s Provincial Development offices to achieve the goal.
- Shortage of office computers, printers and lack of Internet connectivity
The challenge has been caused by resource provision especially
on procurement of assets by Treasury. The schedule below shows the overall resource under provision. For example, after realising the need to provide furniture for provinces and districts, a proposal was made under the 2020 budget. Mr. Speaker Sir, you will find that as a whole, there was a variance to what we had requested and what was given. There was a variance of about 57%.
THE BIDS FOR 2020 BUDGET
PROGRAMME | IDEAL $ | ALLOCATED BUDGET | SHORTFALL | VARIANCE |
Policy and
Administration |
116 969 000 | 53 504 000 | 63 465 000 | 54% |
Women | 477 500 | 153 368 | 322 132 | 67% |
Empowerment, Gender & Community Development | 000 | 000 | 000 | |
SMED & Cooperative Development | 478 367 000 | 295 104 000 | 183 263 000 | 38% |
TOTALS | 1 176 836 000 | 503 976 000 | 672 864 000 | 57% |
From the above breakdown and analysis, it is clear that only 43% of the required budget was availed.
- Mobility of officers
The explanation above on furniture and computers is relevant.
Again, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is our hope that with more funds, we could make sure that our officers are mobile. Anyway, I am happy to announce that five vehicles have been bought. Although we had budgeted for 17 vehicles because of inflation, we could not buy all of them. So we have resubmitted for the other 10 vehicles and shortly these we hope will be available for our officers.
The Project Sectors
It is also the concern of the Ministry that micro enterprises in rural areas are largely engaged in extractive industry and other primary production ventures especially those that are agricultural related. Some of the reasons for low entrepreneur skills are also the lack of technical skills and technology is also being attended to; as I will show later that the Ministry is now engaging in training people at this level.
The use of Modern Machinery and Technology.
The observation that the project does not use modern machinery and technology was noted. In 2019, the Ministry supported SMEs and new entrepreneurs where the modern equipment was sourced from India. Such support included incubation of new machines, a function which has now been transferred to another Ministry and it is our hope that we continue to engage the relevant ministries to ensure that SMEs and women have access to appropriate technology.
The Underfunded Cooperatives
Underfunding of project is a result of the limited resources available, the rapid increase in the prices of materials to set up projects has also contributed to the problem. However, I am pleased to say that the Ministry has reviewed the level of funding and we have increased the women’s development fund to start from 150 000 from early this year. We are also going to review the increase of disbursement upwards up to 300 000 per project.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am glad to say that we have the Women’s Bank last year, they disbursed about 40 000 loans and I am going to be tabling the way that was done per province. The bank also will soon be rolling out the 500 million recovery fund that was given to the Ministry by Government. The seventh issue was access to lucrative markets; this concern was raised and I am glad to say the Ministry is engaging SMEs, training them and linking them to markets especially for their handcrafts.
We have a handcraft center in Harare that has managed to link handcrafters with markets in the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, German, Australia and Japan. The handcrafts are going very well and they have a website, if anyone wants to link to the website. The Ministry is promoting access to markets by SMEs through facilitating them to participate in local markets especially the ZITF, Agricultural Shows and also in the SADC region. Whenever there are such activities, the Ministry sends the SMEs there.
To promote an integration among SMEs for inputs and outputs, the Ministry is facilitating the linkage programme and we are linking them in manufacturing in terms of subcontracting and also in agriculture in the agricultural value chains and in textile and in the retail sector. A target of 1360 SMEs participated in the agricultural value chains in the past year and a total of 4645 SMEs were linked to large companies. This was an increase of over 272 per cent increase from what we did in 2018.
The Ministry is in collaboration with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and is building the capacity of SMEs for access to public sector procurement markets. SMEs are also being facilitated to have business linkages with themselves, cooperatives as well as with the corporates.
Monitoring and evaluation of projects
The monitoring of all projects under the Ministry especially key ones in which huge funds would have been committed is of paramount importance to the Ministry. The Ministry now has a fully fledged monitoring and evaluation department and this has resulted in an improvement of the monitoring programme.
Training and Capacity Building for Project Members.
The Ministry values the training and capacity building for both members and our staff. In 2019 a total of 24 731 SMEs were trained whilst the Ministry’s two training centres hosted 1200 women for livelihood skills training programmes. It is important to note that trainers employed by the Ministry have been deployed to various areas to carry out this mandate. They are also identifying if they are any capacity gaps in order for the Ministry to fill these up. The Ministry is training also up to ward level in order to ensure that competencies and efficiencies are cascaded to that level of our operation. Our full fledged programme was supposed to start at the first quarter of 2020 and this was disturbed by the lockdown due to COVID - 19 pandemic.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the members for their vibrant and constructive debates and also to thank the Ministry’s Portfolio Committee and hope that we continue to have constructive engagement to ensure appropriate timeframes. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May I give this opportunity to members to ask questions, raise points of clarification, not making other statements. May I emphasise on that point that you need not to make another statement. The floor is for you to ask pertinent questions relevant to the Ministerial Statement.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Orders of the Day, Nos. 1 to 4 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 5 has been disposed of.
HON. KASHIRI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE THIRD WORLD PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT HELD IN INDONESIA
HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move the motion standing in my name: That this House takes note of the report of the Delegation to the Third World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development, held in Bali, Indonesia, from the 4th to the 5th of September, 2019.
HON. GABBUZA: I second.
HON. P. MOYO:
Introduction
Hon. Chief Mtshane Khumalo, Member of Parliament, led the Parliamentary delegation to attend the Third World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development which was held in Bali, Indonesia from the 4th to the 5th of September, 2019. The forum was attended by 30 countries and 55 organisations. The theme of the forum was, combating inequality through social and financial inclusion. Hon. Sen. Chief Mtshane Khumalo was accompanied by the following Members of Parliament and an officer of Parliament; Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana, MP; Hon. Priscilla Moyo, MP; Hon. Marian Chombo, MP and now Deputy Minister; Hon. Joel Gabbuza, MP; Mrs. Chiwoniso Mataruka, Committee Clerk and Secretary of the delegation.
The report of the Chair of Indonesia House Steering Committee
The Steering Committee held a series of focul group discussions where rising inequalities is a major setback to attaining sustainable development. Economic instability undermines social cohesion. Inequality is a global phenomenon which needs address and 11 years remain to attain sustainable development goals targets. This requires strong leadership of Members of Parliament who are expected to provide enabling legislation noting that Parliament is the cornerstone of democracy to hold the Executive into account. Social and financial inclusion is key to ensure inclusivity. The World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development should be a strong partner on attainment of sustainable development and ensure accountability and oversight of the parliamentarians effort and commitment in attainment and mainstreaming of SDGs.
OPENING REMARKS BY MR. BAMBANG SOESATYA, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
The Speaker of the House of Representatives welcomed the delegates to the forum under the theme “Combating Inequality through Social and Financial Inclusion.” He stressed that with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, combating inequality and applying social protection has become the centre of policy agenda in all countries. Financial inclusion should be at the forefront of Government policies to reduce income inequality. Governments must protect the people and promote more social inclusion by distributing resources more fairly.
He noted that disparities are taking place around the world and require urgent attention. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are meant to attend to global challenges to attain a wealth of justice, prosperity and peace. Despite all progress and efforts, inequality still remains a challenge. There is need for stronger focus in decreasing inequality in income and skills. Poverty has fatal consequences in perpetuating inequality leading to conflict;
There is therefore, need for a deliberate move by Parliaments to capacitate the vulnerable and leave no one behind for the achievement of the 2030 agenda.
SPECIAL REMARKS BY H.E. DR MUHAMMAD JUSUF KALLA, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
His Excellency Kalla noted that since the adoption of SDGs in 2015 ultimately ending in 2030, much progress has been made. Before were the MDGs with their own progress and challenges and the same applies to SDGs, but these require working together or collective efforts. He stressed the following; that nations seem to be lagging behind in many areas and this requires SDG 17 that of partnering of developed and developing nations. SDGs are Inter-connected and interrelated - that is economic development, social development and environmental sustainability.
The 2019 theme encourages nations to think on how to reduce inequality in this world through social and economic growth without discrimination where, “no one should be left behind.” Inclusiveness is the central theme of SDGs. Social development can only be achieved through social and economic growth. Countries are at different levels of development and as such, there is need for a global concerted effort to achieve development. Greater efforts must be made to achieve equality in gender, health, clean energy and addressing climate change. A developed country should have good hygiene and sanitation and these are fundamentals for the status of one’s country.
Planning and budgeting are key to overseeing SDGs in different Governments. Parliament with its authority to legislate and scrutinise budgets is important. Parliamentarians should participate effectively in how industry and infrastructure should create opportunities to do away with inequality and ensure equal opportunities. Tax rates should be discussed so that they benefit citizens of the nations.
His Excellency summed up by emphasising that partnership is key among world countries in the implementation of SDGs. No one country can grow without financial support. Thus there is need for access to financing for livelihoods and communities.
PLENARY SESSION ON “HOW INFRASTRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION CAN FOSTER EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
The session was moderated by Ms Andini Effendi, and the following issues were discussed:
That the topic of combating inequality though social and financial inclusion, and more specifically, on how infrastructure and industrial innovation can foster equal opportunities, bearing in mind that we are experiencing a new industrial revolution is key. Knowledge, interconnectedness and mobility are key and industrial revolution does not mean necessarily neither equity nor fairness. New dynamics go hand in hand with new imbalances. It is the duty of nations to ensure that progress leaves no-one behind.
The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development provides us with guiding principles and targets: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. Infrastructure and industrial innovation impacts on several of the 17 goals and in implementing these goals, countries have to bear in mind that infrastructure is no longer synonymous with physical infrastructure. The lack of access to formal education will prevent us from combating inequalities, from creating new decent jobs and enhance social mobility; and without education the gender gap will persist harming our social and economic progress.
Industrial innovation has the potential of enhancing our means of combating the environmental, economic and social consequences of climate change, however, political willingness is imperative.
That education and awareness on the effects of climate change must be embraced by all stakeholders, including civil society.
PLENARY SESSION ON “ENSURING RURAL ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE”
The session was chaired by Mr Putri Ayuningtyas and the following issues were discussed as solutions to reach the poorest and the marginalised in improving their health, nutrition and productivity;
That 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water services, including 44 million people who are dependent on surface water and 2.0 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines.
The fact that water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) is the subject of dedicated targets within the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG No. 6 is proof to its fundamental role in public health and therefore in the future of sustainable development. Access to safe water and sanitation are human rights, as recognised in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. Below are key issues Parliaments may convince their governments to deliberate on:
That integrated water management can provide important co-benefits for sustainable development, climate change mitigation & adaptation, and disaster risk management especially as countries begin to review and implement their national plans in the context of the Paris Agreement. There is a unique opportunity to improve and enhance water management practices;
That WASH, as part of the achievement of SDG 6 as a whole, be higher on countries’ political agenda, and that it is mainstreamed into national, sub-national, and community-level planning;
That there be predictable and sufficient finance for WASH; and
That there be greater mutual accountability and coordination among the developing countries, development partners, supporting governments, and their citizens on WASH issues.
PLENARY ON “ENHANCING PARTNERSHIP TOWARDS INCLUSIVE FINANCING
Ms Masyitoh Annisa Ramadhani, chaired the session on ways and means of ensuring the creation of accountable, accessible and sustainable financial services for all and the following issues were raised:
That the key issues in financing development projects include: improving the ability of countries to generate permanent and stable tax revenues and improve resource management; focusing aid on sectors to be served by private finance; using aid to leverage and attract more private sector financing to projects that support development (for example, infrastructure) through public-private partnerships and investment risk mitigation;
That domestic resources (public and private) and international/external resources (public and private), as well as blended finance are the key pillars of inclusive financing for development;
That there is a need to address some global public goods and efforts to mobilize diaspora financing for the development and building a more robust private sector by improving access to finance for micro, small, and medium-enterprises;
That countries achieve the goal of universal access, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services for everyone who needs them, provided by sustainable institutions for sustainable projects;
That one important aspect is that, “Leave no one behind” and this means put sustainable development at the core; transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth; build effective peace and open trusted and accountable institutions for all; and forge a new global partnership;
That realising this goal will require a committed alliance between business, government and civil society and will determine needed and sustainable investments. Countries should work on how to mobilize financial services to deliver the needed investments for the opportunities and secure a sustainable economic future and how to leverage technologies that boost production.
CONCLUSION
In the wake of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many countries continue to face significant challenges in an increasingly unequal world, while the most vulnerable groups remain marginalized from social and economic participation. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are still perceived as executives’ domain, but the core Parliamentary functions in law-making, budgeting, oversight and representation of the peoples’ interests, are critical in building people-centred, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous societies, and ending all poverty everywhere in all its dimensions. Therefore, the formulation of a Parliamentary Roadmap on SDGs shall transform our shared perspective into more tangible efforts, under the principles of inclusion, partnership, and participation, where “no one left behind.”
In 2017, the First World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development (WPFSD) adopted the Bali Declaration, which emphasizes the critical involvement of Parliaments in ensuring the effective implementation and timely realization of the SDGs. The Bali Declaration encourages Parliaments to strengthen national ownership by mainstreaming and implementing SDGs into enforceable National Development Plan, ensuring sufficient legal frameworks and budgetary requirements to support national policy on SDGs, scaling up efforts to end violence and sustaining peace, and enhancing climate action.
In 2018, the Second WPFSD adopted the Bali Commitment, which draws attention to the significance of partnership towards sustainable energy for all. The Bali Commitment promotes;
- the big potential of renewable energy resources for producing sustainable energy; and
- the prospect of blue economy, green industry and sustainable development to achieve energy security and diversification. This outcome document endorses Parliaments to establish the necessary mechanism to work closely with the governments and other stakeholders.
Parliamentarians gathered at the Third WPFSD in Bali, Indonesia, on 4-5 September 2019, adopted the Bali Roadmap, which consists of a number of forward-looking recommendations that represent various dimensions in addressing challenges of SDGs implementation. By referring to the Bali Roadmap, we agree to:
- Safeguard efforts towards the achievement of SDGs, particularly on achieving equality in all social and financial aspects, as emphasized in the Resolution 2010/12 adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council on Promoting Social Integration and UN General Assembly Resolution 72/206 on Financial Inclusion;
- Urge our respective governments to formulate national action plan and establish effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions in supporting SDGs implementation;
- Call upon Governments to renew their commitment and give more attention in delivering the SDGs timely through tangible actions and accelerating policy implementations, as asserted in the 2019 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York;
- Advocate the delivery of sustainable social protection measures, resilient infrastructure, and public services for all, including for those living below the poverty line, people in rural and remote areas, the vulnerable, persons with disabilities, children and older persons, and indigenous peoples, particularly through the fulfilment of their fundamental human rights, which consist of no less than the following aspects:
- Quality education;
- Health care;
- Decent and affordable housing; and
- Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
- Urge governments and local governments, as well as national and regional parliaments to mainstreaming and localizing the SDGs, based on the cultures, local languages and conditions, or uniqueness of a respective country;
- Strengthen legal frameworks and promote the development of an enabling environment to diversify financial resources and scale up funding from multiple sources to reduce financing gap in infrastructure, and to achieve an inclusive and sustainable development through innovative SDGs financing, such as blended finance, Green Financing for Financial Institution, Social Impact Fund, religious-based philanthropy for SDGs, and crowd funding through digital philanthropy;
- Underpin multi-stakeholders partnerships in ensuring the creation of inclusive financial services which open up access for the marginalised to fully participating in the economy and benefit from development;
- Strengthen the multilateral system for effective global coordination, responses
- and solutions to address the multifaceted crises and challenges arise from interconnectedness, interdependency and complex global governance;
Invite business sector and other relevant stakeholders to utilize their innovation and promote creative economy to contribute in addressing sustainable development challenges through the implementation of more sustainable consumption for Sustainable Development; Production patterns, and to engage with parliaments as strategic partners in development process.
We extend our appreciation to the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, as the founder of the WPFSD, for its relentless efforts in promoting the achievement of SDGs, while express our gratitude to the IPU President for continuously supporting the WPFSD. We call upon all Parliamentarians to continue to actively engage in substantiating and holding the regular events of the WPFSD.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th July, 2020.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. MAVETERA, the House adjourned at Twenty Six Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 8th July, 2020
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
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES’ MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that Hon. Mutodi has been assigned to serve in the Public Accounts Committee and the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM HON. MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: The following Ministers have tendered their leave of absence today: Hon. Garwe, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities; Hon. Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Hon. Shiri, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, Hon. July Moyo, Minister of Local Government and Public Works.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Minister of Finance and Economic Development was supposed to make a Ministerial Statement today as requested by this august House on the state of the economy. The Hon. Minister has indicated that because he is going to present a Mid-Term review; he has requested that the Ministerial Statement be not be made today but will form part and parcel of his Mid-Year Term review, next week on 16th July, 2020.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Leader of the House, concerning the enactment of the Patriotic Act. When is Government going to enact this law as a matter of urgency?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the very important question. I concede that it is a very important piece of legislation that we need. Most progressive countries protect their territorial integrity by ensuring that citizens do not go about selling out their country to other nations.
I have requested my officers within the Policy Department to do a background research on it. We have been slowed down by the pandemic as we have a skeletal staff. I can assure the Hon. Member that we are expecting developments before the end of this year. We are very much aware and we want to have that Act. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Energy and Power Development. What is Government policy in relation to uranium enrichment and other minerals in order to produce renewable energy and enhance the availability of renewable energy migrating from fossil fuels?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. ADV. CHASI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for a very timely question. Government is currently engaged in the process of coming up with a national integrated energy resource plant for the first time in this country. This process ensures that we take into account all the resources that we have to make power. It is common cause that we have suffered from climate change with respect to Kariba. It is also common cause that we depend a lot on coal. Government respects its international obligations regarding the Carbon footprint. We are looking at all possible sources that we can have and nuclear is one of them which arises from uranium.
We are now in the process of actively considering this possibility and as we come to the point where we talk about uranium, I can assure the House that a lot of work will have been done, but it is work in progress.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you for the privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. May the Minister indulge me in terms of timelines of the energy policy which he is currently framing - to what extend or at what point can we expect that we have traction in that regard, aware that the European Union has set 20% migration in 2020 as a benchmark for migrating and diverting from fossil fuels. What are we expecting as a nation?
HON. CHASI: I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the follow up question. As I indicated, we are working on a national integrated energy resource plan. We had false start with regards to this process. We are now working with development agencies like the World Bank and African Development Bank who are helping us to come up with this policy.
I am not able at this moment in time to say precisely when this work will be concluded but all those who are involved in this matter understand the urgency of the matter. I am very helpful that by year end, we will have our first draft.
HON. KASHIRI: What is the Ministry’s position in terms of taking biogas, especially to rural areas?
HON. CHASI: It follows up on what I have already said in the previous answer. The country is taking every possible source of power and biogas is critical. We are already beginning to work with people in the provinces to educate people on what this really means and to ensure that in as far as possible, we take advantage of biogas. We have done bio-digesters in some parts of the country and at an opportune moment, I will be able to furnish the House with the details but I want to assure the Hon. Member that biogas is indeed part of our consideration.
+HON. MATHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. I have noticed the children are getting education through the radio and this is assisting but I would like to know when this programme will be accessed in the rural areas, especially in Nkayi, since there are no waves. Ztv and radio is not accessible to school children.?
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): The Constitution of this country has a provision for access to information for all. Section 61 and 62 speaks to that and that is precisely what the Government policy is implementing. We have been going round consulting people at grassroots levels. We will be issuing out community radios. This is another way of making sure that those areas where they are not receiving the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation signal, both radio and television can be able to have their own radios.
We are cognisant of the fact that there are certain areas where our Zimbabwean people instead of receiving signals and getting news from this country from our radio, they have been receiving signals from Zambia, especially those in Binga and Manama. This is why we have been moving in these areas making sure that the community there organise themselves. The definition of community radio is that the owners are the community and as such, the community has to be organised and apply. The deadline for that application still stands at 31st July, 2020.
In terms of making sure that information especially in with this COVID pandemic upon up, we have made it a point that we rope in all traditional leaders. We are using the database which the Ministry of Local Government do have of our local leadership. We have gone out training them about COVID-19 pandemic, preventing and protective measures to make sure that we contain this disease.
During this pandemic – because it is a two way communication between Government and the people, we established a call centre which is a toll free line so that Zimbabweans all over the 10 Provinces of our country can actually call. They do not need to have airtime in their cell phones. They just call 2023 for anything they want to know. We established in mind considering that the COVID-19 lockdown created a lot of anxiety among our people. We have been received quite a lot of calls through that call centre.
I urge Hon. Members of this august House to encourage your people to call the call centre 2023 – we have more than eight desks there. Right now we have four languages. People can call in Tonga, Ndebele, English and Shona. We are trying hard to make sure that we create more desks so that we can actually use all the 16 official languages of this country.
The second republic’s work is to ensure that each and every Zimbabwean has access to information. It is their constitutional right. I hope I have been able to answer your question Hon. Mathe. I thank you.
+HON. MATHE: My supplementary question Hon. Minister is, since you are looking forward to children being able to access information and be informed on forthcoming examinations and the COVID-19, what other measures are currently in place so that those who are not accessing the information can have access so that they can share with those who have? Children in the rural areas have no access to information whatsoever. What is the Ministry’s policy on that so that children can access the requisite information?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mathe, I thought the Hon. Minister was very comprehensive in her response and coverage. It will sound like we are being very redundant if we have to stretch that further than what the Hon. Minister has actually replied. Hon. Minister, what is your Call Centre? – [HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: 2023!] – 2023 will answer your concern Hon. Mathe.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, aware that you were undertaking a transmitter establishment …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Do not address the Hon. Minister, address the Chair. We do not want a dual here.
HON. NDUNA: I am very sorry Mr. Speaker Sir. Aware that Hon. Minister and your department is establishing transmitters in various areas, I would want to know how many of those are now ready. When would we expect the full proto in terms of digitalisation that you hope to achieve by the establishment of these transmitters?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you but that supplementary question does not stand. It is better if it comes as a written question because I do not expect the Hon. Minister to know how many air antennas are there currently constructed. She will need to investigate and come up with a written response accordingly.
HON. DR. LABODE: My question is to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care and in his absentia, it can go to the Leader of the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Acting Minister of what?
HON. DR. LABODE: Health and Child Care.
THE HON. SPEAKER: He is there.
HON. DR. LABODE: We are masked, so we cannot see people.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is Hon. Prof. Murwira.
HON. DR. LABODE: Acting Minister of Health and Child Care
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please address the Chair, address the Chair.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir…
THE HON. SPEAKER: My question is.
HON. DR. LABODE: My question is, there has been a challenge with the issue of age of consent to accessing health services. Please I want to be understood properly. It is not age of consent to sex but age of consent to accessing services. We have been working on it and we were promised by the Ministry of Health and Child Care that they would review or amend the Act to include that in the Health Services Bill which is supposed to be coming to Parliament but has not come. A petition has been brought to Parliament on the issue and nothing has happened. We were hoping that maybe the Public Health Act would be amended for that purpose.
I am asking the Hon. Minister to say, Hon. Minister how far, ngiyakwazi ukuthi awukwazi, but how far with the amendment of the age of consent to health services for the minors? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode, how can you say, ‘Ngiyazi awukwazi?’ and then you want your question to be sustainable? I think you should withdraw that aspect.
HON. DR. LABODE: I withdraw it Mr. Speaker, I am sorry Hon. Minister.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker, that is a very detailed question for a person who is just coming in, but I have got my Deputy Minister because in the meantime we are really looking at everything before we can give substantive answers on some of these things. My Deputy Minister can respond to this one, with your indulgence of course.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. Hon. Deputy Minister, can you assist?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. It is a very good question and a good follow up but I need to go and recheck in order to be able to give her a more detailed report next week because I had not looked at that one. I am going to do it next week – I will definitely give the House an answer that is detailed and straight. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode! – [HON. DR. LABODE: Yebo baba!] – Hayi, angisibo baba nxa ngihlezi lapha! – [Laughter] – Ngingu baba nxa sisekhaya ngale. I am sure that you are happy with the response.
HON. DR. LABODE: Yes I am, but there is a component where a petition has disappeared in this Parliament. The petition was brought in almost three months ago and you have not read it here. So I am assuming there is a problem somehow. Somebody is not happy bringing that issue to the House. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I shall investigate as well and find out what has happened to that but if you have got a copy – you can assist.
HON. DR. LABODE: I will.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much.
+HON. H. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. What measures are in place since we are about to embark on the farming season in terms of tractors, inputs and other farming implements? I observed in the past that these are availed to people when it is already too late. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Member for the question.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am proud and happy to tell you that preparations for the summer season are already at an advanced stage. In fact Hon. Speaker Sir, we started the preparations as early as April of this year. We have two schemes on board. As you know, there is the Presidential Input Scheme which is almost complete in terms of procurement of inputs and then we have the Command Agriculture Scheme. The Command Agriculture Scheme falls under the financial institutions but Hon. Speaker Sir, with regards to the Presidential Scheme we have slightly changed the design of the Presidential Input Scheme to ensure that we add what we call the Pfumvudza concept.
The Pfumvudza concept is climate smarting our agriculture. This is certainly a requirement for us to be sustainable as a nation. The Pfumvudza concept - basically what we are saying to our farmers is that they must ensure that they are ready for the Presidential Input Scheme as it will go to those who have already prepared their mulching, water harvesting and if individuals have not – they will not benefit from the Presidential Input Scheme. So this is a pre-condition for them to benefit.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. We do not have much knowledge regarding this pfumvudza, we are also interested in having extensive knowledge regarding this issue. We just hear it being said but we do not know what it is all about. Can the Minister highlight to us what it is all about?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Kwaramba, you did not switch on your microphone so you were not recorded, kindly repeat your question.
Hon. Kwaramba repeated her question.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. KARORO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for her question. The issue of pfumvudza is aimed at addressing effects of climate change to farmers. In this programme, people must work very hard Mr. Speaker Sir because this is a laborious process. People must be prepared and be able to dig plantation holes. All those who are supposed to benefit must dig these holes...
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you please be more specific where do they dig these holes and what kind of holes are these?
*HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I did not want to go into the technicalities of this but what happens is they will dig planting holes/stations, this is done for moisture conservation. When we say farmers must be prepared, I am saying they must dig these holes and do the necessary preparations to safeguard those holes so that water does not evaporate easily. All the farmers that are going to benefit must be prepared enough. As Ministry of Agriculture, we will be visiting your constituencies. Our Agritex officials are ready to visit all the constituencies. They will be teaching the community on how this programme works. I want to say that if Hon. Members hear that we have visited their constituencies, they must also come so that they will learn together with the communities how this programme works. I hope by the time we distribute inputs, everyone will be aware of this programme and the farmers will be well prepared.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My supplementary is, whilst we may have all the components that we may need the pfumvudza, fertilisers and the seed, has Government and Ministry of Agriculture looked at how our season is going to be like in 2021? Do we have any indication whether we are going to have low, medium or high rainfall this year?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the good question. Traditionally, when we look at weather patterns, we look towards the October/November cycle, so at this stage, we have just come out of two seasons of consecutive droughts. So as a Ministry, we are planning for the worst, therefore that is why we are shifting towards climate smart agriculture because it is a necessary must. We have to plan for the worst and anything that comes that is any better than that is just a bonus to us. We have to certainly plan for the lives of our people and our nation. We have food security at our hands and food and nutrition security at our hands too Hon. Speaker.We cannot play with that and therefore, we are planning for the worst. In terms of the announcement, it is only done towards the end of the year.
HON. NDEBELE: On a point of privilege Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We agreed in this House that no point of privilege will be entertained on Wednesdays.
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, I do not know what to call it but it is a follow up to the Hon. Minister’s answer.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is a point of clarification.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You could have done well if you had asked a supplementary question.
HON. NDEBELE: I just want to request if it is not too much to ask of the Deputy Ministers that they present a statement to this House canvassing the entirety of this pfumvudza programme. It sounds like a comprehensive programme, instead of us learning together with the rest of the citizens about the programme. I would prefer a situation where we get a comprehensive statement and then we seek clarifications; if you may indulge me Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. That is a wonderful suggestion. Hon. Speaker Sir, pfumvudza is at the centre of our agricultural recovery plan; agricultural recovery plan requires all stakeholders, Government, donor agencies, private individuals including our Members of Parliament and our leadership. So, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that Hon. Speaker Sir and we will prepare in accordance. I thank you.
HON. MADIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mine is a follow up to this pfumvudza programme. It is a good programme and we are kindly waiting for the Ministerial Statement. I wanted the Minister to clarify, I heard that people will be digging holes and these are the people who will benefit. We have vulnerable groups and the elderly who might find it difficult to dig these holes. What plans does Government have for the elderly who are no longer energetic to do that...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, the Hon. Deputy Minister was very clear, the statement will be given and once that statement is given, then you can ask questions for clarification including that one.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development. To what extent is the Zimbabwe Higher Performance Computing Project, as Government policy, be regarded as an engine for economic growth and development in Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and I wish to thank Hon. Moyo for the question on the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing. I am happy to report that under our innovation, science and technology development programme, we have instituted now the High Performance Computing Centre as a research institute under the manpower Development Act, it is SI 169 of 2020. Under this, Treasury has supported this to 24 posts. So, the High Performance Computing Centre is now a fully fledged research and development institute and we call it Zimbabwe Science Park No. 1.
At Zimbabwe Science Park No. 1, the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing is going to focus on two divisions. The first division is understanding the high performance computer itself, which is a technical division. And, the application division is going to be focusing on key areas that include health and medical research, genomics; it is going to look at space and earth observation sciences, geo-spatial sciences for mineral exploration. It is going to look at drug discovery; it is going to do engineering applications that need very high performance computing power. We believe that the future of this country is through the application of science and technology on its natural resources, understanding our natural resources better for exploitation for the purpose of the development of this country, giving this country enough national capability so that we can be able to meet vision 2030 of becoming an upper middle income economy.
We believe that this is possible when we have the capability because we can talk about Vision 2030. Once the President has said that we really need to develop steps which make sure that we reach that goal and Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing which is at Zimbabwe Science Park 1 is one of the integral applications that we are going to have of science and technology towards the development of this country in terms of all the areas that I have mentioned above. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. How is the high performance computing project going to assist in solving contemporary problems, especially those of our farmers such as climate change issues and also weather forecasting? Thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you very much Hon.
Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Moyo for the supplementary question. One of the main applications of the high performance computing Centre is weather and climate modeling, which is under the geo-spatial and earth sciences division of the High Performance Computing, which we have instituted. Hon. Speaker, coincidentally, I brought the whole concept of the High Performance Computer and we actually had to document everything so that we understand exactly what we want to do with the High Performance Computing Centre. What we want is - we can speak high language but, the long and short of it is that, the High Performance Computer is going to tell us the likelihood of a drought or lack of it. It is not the computer itself but, the people who are working there using that computer. So, we are looking at also an issue whereby it is going to support the Zimbabwe Space Agency because the Zimbabwe Space Agency is correlated with the High Performance Computing Centre. So, all the observations that are going to be made by our satellites which are going to be in space and some of which we are using, the international ones are going to relay the information to the High Performance Computing so that we talk about bread and butter issues on technology, delivering food, delivering weather, delivering soil condition, delivering population statistics, delivering everything that we need. So, we believe that the High Performance Computing Centre through well thought applications, is going to help with agriculture using the method that I have mentioned above. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Hon. Minister has told us that he has brought this and it is in writing. Why do we not adopt a situation whereby we write it as it is than flighting it in the media? Then, when we do that work and there is progress, we then publish in media so that we perform and publicise because the hunger that is being experience in Zimbabwe is not because we are poor farmers but the challenge is on the planning aspect. There is no water and we are ploughing seed 727...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are now going into detail. Is it possible that since we have written it and it is so well written in black and white, can we not do it in practice?
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I have just showed you the book but it does not mean that we will not implement. I want to make a commitment that everything that we talk about in this House happens and has results. Yes, we sometimes have words that we say but at the end of the day, those words are translated into action. I want to say, this year as we speak about what has been raised by the other Hon. Member and Hon. Matangira, because of the hunger that is in this country and also on planting the wrong crops on wrong soils, we have a project under this high performance computer which address agro - ecological regions.
I want to say that we were able to live according to our word. In August we are going to have new ecological regions and I want to promise you that Hon. Matangira we might talk as if this cannot be implemented, but it will happen because sometime ago we had not fully done our research, it did not yield results. What we want to do is to bring in new research so that we do not depend on previous knowledge but current knowledge. I want to give my commitment that we are not only going to talk but we will act. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: My supplementary question is basically on the timelines in particular as it relates to interrogating the high performance computer centre whether it is going to work in terms of adding value to our minerals. When is that going to be in place so that we can derive maximum benefit as alluded to in the mineral sector, particularly on the 60 known minerals that we are endowed with as a nation so that we can start collaboration, coordination and networking and get out of the “BBC” era, the born before computer era.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I wish to thank Hon. Nduna for the supplementary question regarding mineral exploration. One of the main programmes that we are running with the high performance computer centre is mineral exploration techniques. This is a programme that we started funding in 2018 and we believe that any country has to know where its mineral resources are, so that we run away from words such as abundant, endowed and just say how many nuggets do we have and how much in terms of kilogrammes.
The high performance computer will make us be able to talk about our mineral resources the way we talk about a bank account whereby you say out of $1000, I withdrew $300 so I am left with $700. So this research programme about mineral resources is one of the key functions that we are performing at the high performance computing centre. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Unfortunately we agreed that we will stick to three supplementary questions. Having said that Hon Minister, some of the sections of your presentation were highly Greek to the Chair and to some of us seated there – would it not be good perhaps if you have the resources to print that booklet so that it is distributed among the Hon. Members where they can read about it and at some future time if there are issues they want to raise, they can follow a written narrative.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): We can happily make copies available. I am also happy to say this booklet is also on the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science and Technology Development website. If Hon Members want to make immediate access to it, they can access the website but if they really need hard copies like what I have I am happy to say we will avail copies this month. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank your Hon Minister that the content is on website. All Hon Members have got tablets now, you can liaise with the Clerk of Parliament and send the soft copies directly to each Member of Parliament.
*HON. MAVENYENGWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Land, Agriculture and Water Development. What measures does the Government have in place in terms on the distribution of mechanisation equipment from John Deere and to ensure that it is decentralised to district level. Due to the Covid pandemic most people cannot travel to the urban centres to go and apply thus the result is that those who benefited before will still benefit again. What we want is for the provinces to equally benefit from this mechanisation programme?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. KARORO): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that he posed which will assist a lot of people in the rural areas. The issue of mechanisation equipment which includes combine harvesters and other agricultural implements – the way it is being distributed is that Government used to give the equipment directly to the farmers but there were challenges of favouratism and people were alleging that inputs were going to people in top leadership. So to curtail that challenge, this programme is now being administered by banks. Government devised this plan so that there will not be farmers who will be disadvantaged. What I can urge Hon. Member here is that if you want a tractor or plough, you need to apply to CBZ, Stanbic and Agribank.
I believe all these banks are present in every province. So, whoever wants anything should apply and specify what one wants. The tractors come in sizes and you need to specify the size. If you go to the bank you will be given an application form where you give those specific details. This was done so that no province or race is disadvantaged because this mechanisation equipment is for farmers. It is not discriminatory and does not look at ones race, religion or party but it looks at your ability as a farmer.
*HON GOZHO: I need clarification from the Minister that if I go to the bank, what are the requirements for me to qualify to apply for that equipment.
*HON. KARORO: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that she posed. No, Mr. Speaker, it does not mean that once you apply you automatically get a tractor. What is happening is that we are in the phase 1 stage of mechanisation, so it is concentrating on A2 farmers who are highly productive and the farmers that are highly productive, especially looking at their submission of grain to the GMB. So, it is mostly targeted towards A2 successful farmers.
There is a phase 2 scheme that is going to focus more on small scale farmers. What they consider the most, Hon. Member who posed the question, like I said you need to be a renowned farmer, a successful farmer. If you take your application to the bank, the bank will send its officers to come and assess whether you are a professional farmer. That is what will be considered for you to get any mechanisation equipment and the bank will determine. A deposit is also needed to ensure that once you get the tractor you will be able to pay. Yes, you will negotiate with the bank for the repayment period, depending on the equipment that you have chosen. Like I said, the tractors have different sizes. You choose the tractor that you want and you pay the deposit. I thank you.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: My supplementary question is, in view of the fact that these very limited tractors are going to be allocated on the basis of performance, is it possible for the Ministry to avail to Parliamentarians a database showing previous records of productivity so that we can play our oversight role. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. KARORO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you Hon. Member. It is very possible Mr. Speaker, to come up with a database. These are records and those records are there. If Parliament wants to have a look at the list, we are prepared to bring the list to Parliament.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. From the way the Minister has explained this does not seem to be an immediate process that after applying to get a tractor. How does the Minister explain the fact that the programme was launched and on the same day it was launched, I met several people driving away their tractors.
HON. KARORO: Mr. Speaker Sir, to the best of my knowledge no tractor was driven that day, unless if the Hon. Member of Parliament is prepared to bring evidence to our Ministry, we will then make investigations. Thank you.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr. Sekai Nzenza. Minister, in recent weeks we have seen the sky rocketing of prices of basic commodities - day in, day out. What policy measures is Government putting in place to stabilise prices of basic commodities and stimulate domestic production so as to contain imported inflation? Thank you
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. NZENZA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for the question. It is certainly true that we have witnessed prices continuously going up to the extent that we had a stakeholder meeting with retailers and in good faith agreed to put on a moratorium of price rises. I would like to admit Mr. Speaker Sir, that it was not as effective as we thought it was going to be.
The major problem, Mr. Speaker Sir, is that we are struggling with the exchange rate. We need to stabilise the economy and that is also impacting on the prices. Secondly, the other problem is yes, we do have some difficult people who are not so sympathetic to the consumer and we are appealing to those who continuously raise prices to be a bit more cognisant and sympathetic to the ordinary citizen.
Thirdly, as a Ministry we are looking at import substitution and in doing so we are working quite closely with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to look at the agriculture recovery plan, manufacturing with a view to increasing the production of raw materials within the country. So what is happening Mr. Speaker Sir is that this requires different line ministries to work together in order to meet the Presidential mandate towards increased employment, import substitution, innovation with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development so that our vision will become true. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Minister for the answer. Can you favour this House with a time line within which the import substitution measures are going to be implemented.
HON. DR. NZENZA: Again Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon. Member of Parliament for the question. We do have a strategy looking at import substitution and within this strategy we are looking at what we are calling the low hanging fruit. These are the key priorities and one of them is looking at the pharmaceutical industry and the second one is looking at the fertilizer industry. So what you will see in this coming season we will be producing fertilizer locally and that is the time line. We are also looking at the leather and cotton industry and again by the end of this year we will show results. That is the time line. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Acting Minister of Health and Child Care. In view of the rising numbers in the COVID – 19 pandemic and the planned opening of schools later this month, what is Government policy in respect of continued use of education promises as worshipping centres? I thank you.
THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker it is important to know that the rising cases can be disaggregated. Most of the cases are imported cases, therefore quarantine centres have been very important as places to contain that. We also of course have got local transmission. That mostly is related to the imported cases, which means they are the contacts. So in terms of the policy on quarantine centres, the taskforce already started moving away from schools and colleges. I think in terms of colleges, by this week they would have been cleared and we do disinfection.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. With due respect Mr. Speaker Sir, my question was not related to the use of schools as quarantine centres. My question is the use of schools as worship centres. What is Government policy on the continued use of schools as churches?
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Sorry about misinforming that I thought you had said quarantine centres. I think the guidelines are very clear. We have to be more careful now. The issue is that the schools are schools but they can also be used for certain functions. As long as the function that is there is conforming to the World Health Organisation guidelines as adopted by the guidelines issued by the Government of Zimbabwe through my Ministry, then we do not see a problem. Thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am aware that all schools which were used as quarantine centres were fumigated; they were all fumigated and by allowing worshippers to these schools, are we not bringing about the spreading of COVID 19? Why not allow worshippers to use other premises which are not schools?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Perhaps the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education could chip in.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. MATHEMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for asking this question. In fact, this morning I gave a directive that churches must move out of schools in preparation for the opening of schools at the end of this month. I sent out that directive this morning. I thank you.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am very concerned about students opening end of this month. A case in point is, may his soul rest in peace, Mr. Sibanda. Mr. Sibanda worked in a Government department which is currently closed.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Mr. who?
HON. DR. LABODE: A Mr. Sibanda who died of COVID recently. He worked in a Government institution. He did not present any COVID symptoms. He lived with his children in Norton. He went to a workshop in Chiredzi. The timeframe between him being infected, which we do not know and the time he died without telling us where his contacts are is frightening. Mr. Sibanda’s children, I am sure like a lot of other COVID people will go to school on the 31st. I hope we will not lead ourselves into another lockdown like Madagascar. Thank you.
HON. MATHEMA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for her worries and indeed the whole country needs to be worried. We all need to do the best we can to prevent the spread of this pandemic. Mr. Speaker Sir, we do the best we can at the schools to protect our learners or our children, teachers and all staff members of each school. We have thermometers at each school, sanitisers and masks. So we do the best we can to make sure that nobody is affected by the illness. We will do the best we can all over the country and that is why we need cooperation of everybody; the schools, managers, the administration, parents and the general public to make sure that our children go back to school in an environment that will protect them as much as we can. Thank you.
HON. MASENDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to commend the Government for putting a lot of effort on the agricultural programme, but I would like to enquire whether there is or there will be a policy to adjust the buying price for maize as we see that there is an adjustment on the rate at which the US dollar is exchanging to our Zimbabwe dollar. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CULTURE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Member for a very wise and good question. Hon. Speaker, a few months ago we announced a new producer price and recently, we announced an incentive to our farmers of about 30% if farmers delivered maize in July. Hon. Speaker, I can tell you that certainly we understand that the environment is changing daily and our Ministry has also put a proposal to have a further incentive. However, at this stage Hon. Speaker, nothing has been agreed on although we do understand the need to ensure that something is put in place. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. KASHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is - what are the chances that the cotton price is also going to be reviewed?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker, the cotton price was very recently announced and you will remember Hon. Speaker that it had a component of US dollars of about US$10 per bale. At this stage Hon. Speaker, I think it will be premature for us to stand here and promise the nation anything. At this stage, the cotton price remains, although we do understand there are other problems that are surrounding the cotton industry. However, specifically to answer the Hon. Member’s question, at this stage not. Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Hon. Minister said the cotton prices were revised recently but it was not done in US dollars. It was pegged against the Zimbabwe dollar which is losing its value every day. We visited the area and people told us that
they were expecting to buy tractors or trucks but now the cotton producers will not be able to buy anything. They have not received the payments in Zimbabwean dollar since May. Are the prices going to be reviewed?
HON. HARITATOS: The question is the same as the previous one. I want to point out that cotton farmers receive inputs for free. It is different from other crops like tobacco, maize, wheat and soyabeans. At this stage, it is impractical to stand up and guarantee the nation that something will be reviewed. It is not within our Ministry – we can put recommendations but at the end of the day, it has to be decided from the Ministry of Finance. If the situation changes, we will stand with our farmers and back them.
*HON. KACHEPA: My supplementary question goes to the Minister of Agriculture. Farmers are facing challenges of transporting their maize to GMB because the transporters cannot access fuel. Is there any provision from Government for transport or fuel access?
HON. HARITATOS: With regards to transport, I think it is not only unique to the agricultural sector but to each and every one of us even in here today. What we have done to mitigate this in the short to medium term is to increase the number of buying stations under GMB. We have also tried to assist our farmers with transport from buying stations to the GMB depots. We have asked commercial farmers to also act as centres for us to be able to buy. These are the measures we have taken but certainly transport is a major challenge because the liquid fuel is unavailable.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The following vehicles are obstructing or blocking other vehicles; ADX 8903 a silver land cruiser and ADV 3896 which is a navy blue Mercedes Benz. Please, if you can move your vehicles so that you do not obstruct other vehicles otherwise the two vehicles will be clamped.
*HON. TEKESHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Since the introduction of toll gates, we were promised that we were going to have very good roads in this country but our roads especially in the rural areas are worse off than how they used to be before the introduction of toll gates. Is the revenue from toll gates being used properly or not?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH. MATIZA): We are seeing a lot of development on the roads in this Second Republic. Four road authorities get money from ZINARA for the maintenance of roads but there are challenges that we face in the way we are operating and some of the problems were inherited.
Firstly, it is the management at ZINARA. As you know, there was a lot of chaos and corruption; that is what we had to address first and foremost. We now have a new board and new management. All the executive positions have been replaced now. The management is now moving smoothly.
The money that was collected by ZINARA is now used to cover credits, backlogs and arrears. Some people are now asking us to increase toll-gate fees from RTGS10 to RTGs150 or so. That should happen so that we are able to repair our roads from money generated from toll gates.
The problem goes to management of road authorities. There are some requirements that they are supposed to fulfil before then can get money from ZINARA and these are delayed. This leads to delay in maintenance or repair of roads, thus people will end up blaming Government for that. We have been liaising with them and we have held workshops to educate them on that.
In terms of progress on road maintenance and works; there are a lot of road works that are taking place in this country, especially in relation to what is happening in our country; firstly Cyclone Idai, droughts and now COVID-19. All these things were being covered by revenue from toll-gates but Government persevered. If you look at roads in all the provinces or districts, most of them are being repaired as we speak under these difficult circumstances that we are in.
*HON. TEKESHE: I understand that the money from toll gates is being used for pandemics such as COVID. That money is supposed to be used for road maintenance. Are we supposed to refuse paying the toll gate fees because most of us do not use those roads which are being repaired? When are these roads that we use in the rural areas going to be repaired?
*HON. ARCH. MATIZA: I said all these disasters that happened slowed down road maintenance. This means that there is something that is happening although the progress has slowed down. We actually disbursed funds to several authorities right now but I cannot mention them. What you can simply do is to check in your localities whether they have not received money from ZINARA and find out why they have not received funds from ZINARA. Then I am sure you will be able to even tell me here why but the main aim is what we are looking at now is increasing toll fees so that we are able to maintain and repair our roads so that our roads are usable.
ZINARA’s duty is to collect money, disburse it to road authorities and to ensure accountability of those funds. Those requirements, rules and laws of accountability apply even to local authorities and that is where the problem is. They fail to fulfill the conditions and fail to get the money. What you should do is that when you return to your constituencies, ask your local authorities about what is happening and that will help us all for betterment of development.
*HON. KASHIRI: I would like to thank the Hon. Minister Matiza and also to thank His Excellency the President, E. D. Mnangagwa for organising ZUPCO buses for us. The problem that we have is that in the rural areas, ZUPCO buses are not plying the routes because of poor roads. What plans do you have to repair the roads so that people can access ZUPCO transport in the rural areas?
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Kashiri, your question is the same as what was asked before and the Hon. Minister has already attended to that question. Unless Hon. Minister, if you have something to add to the question that was asked now.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you. I wish that the Hon. Minister could explain this growing trend. When a road has been started, we expect that all the scope of works, budgets, everything has been done and material is acquired and carried to site.
There is now a growing trend that a road is started Mr. Speaker. They start working and two to three months, they disappear for two years and nothing happens then suddenly they reappear. What will be happening? What is the problem? Could the Hon. Minister explain to us because all roads that are started never get completed. At some stage you know the contractor will disappear…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Member, may you get direct to your question.
HON. GABBUZA: I am sure that the Hon. Minister understood it. There is a growing trend that roads are started and hopefully all the equipment will have been put on site but suddenly they disappear for some years then resurface. What is the problem according to the Hon. Minister’s experience? Thank you.
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. What normally happens is that roads are funded and we do that here in terms of budgetary allocations and budget allocations are done annually.
In some instances and which was now becoming a rare issue before the catastrophe of Idai and subsequent catastrophes. So this then leads to certain prioritization. I will give you an example of what is happening right now. We have some roads that have reached priming stage, some roads have just been cleared – now those that have reached priming stage, if they are left like that, then that means we are going to lose that material and the money. So the issue of prioritization then means that we have to leave certain roads and prioritise the roads that are at a certain level. This is a funding issue Hon. Member; it is a funding issue Hon. Speaker which I am very sure the Hon. Member is aware.
Where I can come in is to explain the issue of prioritization when we get to areas where there is budgetary deficit. This is where then we come in and select certain portions of the roads that have gone to certain levels where a lot of expenditure has been done. This is what we are doing now. The issues of the roads in various provinces, I can name the majority of them, we have now reprioritised as we speak. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has released ZWL$250 million as of yesterday to now pay all the contractors who had not been paid so that they can restart on these projects. So, this is how the trend goes.
In some cases, it is not Government’s fault as it could be the contractors themselves. Sometimes they mismanage their funding and they do not go ahead with work and in those cases, we terminate and bring other contractors on board – that takes a bit of time to rearrange. So Hon. Member, I want to assure you that whenever funding is available, whenever the funding that we vote for here is made available the work continues. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Minister, Hon. Speaker, what safeguards has the Ministry put in place so that monies that are contributed through toll gates and other sources are not misused by local authorities especially what we have seen in urban centres; where they receive that money and end up buying big vehicles at the expense of residents?
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the Hon. Member. When money has been allocated to a local authority which has all the functionaries of any authority, we expect them to take care of that money and use it properly. Any other way of using it, misappropriation is deemed as corruption.
However, we have an Audit Section, as I said; we would want, through ZINARA funding, ZINARA will go and make sure that those monies are properly used by way of auditing and reports. Largely, an authority is an authority given their budgets, they sit in their council chambers, they allocate the roads that they want to do and they have engineers there. They also have an Audit Section there to see that these things work. So, to a certain extent, the misappropriation is an issue of misgovernance at that level. Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want to know from the Hon. Minister what plans he has got to increase the charges at the toll gates? Aware that this is where the money for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and maintenance of the road network comes from and also the road access fees; aware that we are the lowest in the region in terms of the amount paid.
Currently, it is about USD$20.00 for foreign vehicles. Does he have plans and when does he intend putting them in place? We are paying ZWL$10.00; it used to be USD$10.00. Does he have plans to put it up to that so that we can have our impeccable infrastructure second to none?
HON. ARCH. MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member on the question that he has just asked. In fact, we are almost at the concluding stage of revising the toll fees.
We are cognisant of the fact that our roads need to be of high standard. We are cognisant of the fact that our roads need to be accident free and also of the fact that they have to be commensurate with the regional road network in terms of quality. So, this is why we have looked at the toll charges and very soon before the end of the month, we will be gazetting them.
HON. S. S. KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. What is Government policy on rehabilitating boreholes that were dug and equipped in the 1940s and 1950s? The boreholes seemingly are now getting out of use, the breakdowns are so numerous that perhaps I think they need complete rehabilitation and overhaul. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker and to the Hon. Member for the question. Certainly Hon. Speaker, water is a basic human right and our Ministry understands its mandate. The rehabilitation of boreholes around the country is a top priority of our Ministry. It is actually what we call a low bearing fruit because it does not involve drilling new ones. Our Ministry so far this year alone has rehabilitated in excess of 1 800 boreholes and deep wells. So to answer specifically what the Hon. Member is asking, there are certain boreholes that were drilled almost 7 to 8 decades ago and at some stage, boreholes do certainly pass the best before. So our Ministry in line with rehabilitation of boreholes also has facilities to drill new boreholes and ZINWA under our Ministry is in charge of drilling in two provinces specifically and DDF are in charge of the balance of the provinces. So, it is certainly an ongoing process but given the challenges with the finances and given recently the challenges with liquid fuel, our Ministry has not been able to do to its full optimal level and certainly we hope that in the near future, this becomes a thing of the past.
HON. S. S. KHUMALO: Mr. Speaker Sir, perhaps the Minister is talking about this rehabilitation of 1 700 boreholes from different areas. From where I come from the boreholes are just not being serviced. If I may just make it open; I hail from Tsholotsho North. We have a serious problem of water in that area and it is disheartening that the Minister can answer me and say they have been rehabilitating boreholes yet the boreholes there have outlived their lifespan. I did not want to say that but that is what I realised. I thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Hon. Speaker, we have what we call our WASH programme which is at district level so that the job of rehabilitating and repairing individual boreholes actually falls at district level and so certainly, I have taken note of what the Hon. Members mentioned and I am happy to say that Hon. Members even come to my office to raise these issues. I will make the undertaking rather to ensure that we do prioritise certainly the southern regions of our country which are very dry and need greater amount of support and that is certainly what our Ministry will do. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker Sir, in the life of the 8th Parliament, we were promised by the same Ministry that they will drill 4 boreholes in each constituency. Could I kindly check with the Minister if this is still in the pipeline? He has indicated that the drilling of boreholes is a low hanging fruit, is he able to provide timelines as to when we are going to get those 4 boreholes per constituency?
HON. HARITATOS: Hon. Speaker, I would like to correct the Hon. Member. I said the rehabilitation of boreholes is a low bearing fruit, certainly the drilling of boreholes is a much greater cost and a little more difficult. Hon. Speaker, I am a proud member of the Nineth Parliament, I was not around in the Eighth Parliament. However, I do know from my predecessor in my personal constituency...
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, when I raise issues in the past, I am aware that he is a new member but this is a House of record and the Ministry existed, then so it is for him to read and make sure he is up to speed with what has been happening in the House before he came.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker, unfortunately I was cut off before I could finish my sentence. Hon. Speaker, what I was saying is that I know from my predecessor who did receive the 4 boreholes in is constituency and therefore I do certainly know about this. What I meant to say to the Hon. Member was that I do not know specifically which constituencies were done and which constituencies were not done. It is possible that some constituencies had two boreholes instead of the 4. The undertaking that I was going to say before I was stopped is that certainly, I will look at the 210 constituencies and ensure that we do at least put in line that we do complete this project even though it is not in the Nineth Parliament.
HON. NDEBELE: I just want to add one quick item.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No you cannot add. Is it a point of clarification?
HON. NDEBELE: Yes, I need clarity if one member of this House got 4 boreholes already, what is the criteria of prioritization because I come from the driest part of the country and it will beat any manner of sensible thinking why we were not put up first?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think the Minister was very clear on that point. He said he was going to look into all those 210 constituencies to find out how many of those constituencies got 4 boreholes, how many got two then he will come back with a response. What else would you want him to say?
HON. NDEBELE: I come from the driest part of the country.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: But look at it, he has answered that clearly, why would you want to labour the Minister on that.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is that Minister, it is a proven fact that bush pumps are a lot more expensive to install and repair compared to submersibles. What policy position is there to migrate towards solar driven boreholes?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for the fantastic question. I am also an advocate of the same Hon. Speaker. I will tell you and as well as our Ministry. We are certainly trying to move away and go into what we also deem as climate smart methods of dealing with our water and sanitation issues. Certainly, we are shifting towards that but again Hon. Speaker, the major constraint is the finances and as the finances come, we would like to look at these. I know certain boreholes for example anything between 40 to 50 metres can still be used by bush pumps, anything deeper than 50 metres is very difficult. you almost damage the equipment. So, this is very well within our Ministry and certainly in the near future we will prioritise.
*HON. NHARI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. What is Government policy concerning our returnees when they come back to Zimbabwe considering that they will be travelling in the same bus?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. Government and the Ministry or taskforce has what we call guidelines that we use so that people will not affect each other and to minimise the rate of infections.
*THE ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Our Ministry and the taskforce, we have guidelines that we use so that we minimise chances of spreading the disease. So government, through our Ministry is working hard to ensure that happens. All I can say is that if those guidelines can be adhered to, the ones that are written, everything will go according to plan.
*HON. KACHEPA: My question on those who are travelling, being transported from South Africa to Malawi for example, if those people get a breakdown on the road, those people end up being stranded, live there and they end up spreading the disease as they travel to their country. We came across such a situation where people travelling to Malawi had a breakdown. What is Government policy to assist people in such a scenario?
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, our plan is not about disaster of stopping the spread of disease. Accidents happen on the roads and we know that. When people travel in the country, we try by all means to implement our programme according to the guidelines that we have because that is what helps us in solving such problems if they come up. If our guidelines are adhered to, our programme will work very well. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is, when I go for testing and they discover that I am HIV positive, there are counselors. What happens with Covid- 19, does Government provide counselors if people discover that they are Covid- 19 positive so that they are not in a shock even if they go to quarantine centres so that they recover very well. I thank you.
*HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Our Government has social workers, also psycho support services and in short, yes. I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. What is the Government doing to make sure that the pensioners concerned get a decent living out of the many years of service and dedication to the country:
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you Hon. Zhou for that beautiful question. The question is too specific and I would request that you write it down, then I can get the specific answers. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. There has been a bit of reference to my question but I want to fine tune it. It is a fact that there has been an increase in cases of locally transmitted Covid- 19 and it is also a fact that there is bound to be a spike as we go through the rest of the winter season. The second republic in its wisdom has declared our response to Covid- 19 as a war. You and I Mr. Speaker lived through the liberation struggle wherein schools were out for more than 10 years. I want to check with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Speaker Sir, if you allow me. What is so painfully difficult for the listening second Republic to come up with a policy that gravitates towards the writing of the rest of this academic year - that is if
writing off the rest of this academic year if our intention is to protect our children from Covid-19.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. E. MOYO): Indeed, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the listening Second Republic are aware of the dangers posed by Covid-19. However, we do not think that it is at the scale at the moment to warrant a cancelling off completely of everything. It is our belief that measures that we are taking currently to protect our learners, teachers and communities are sufficient in our view to give a free and safe environment for our learners.
HON. NDEBELE: Most schools have not received adequate PPEs and schools in Bulawayo in particular have no water. What sufficient measures is the Deputy Minister speaking to and for good measure, teachers’ unions have spoken against the opening of schools. I thank you.
HON. E. MOYO: I think it is common knowledge that even before the writing of the June examinations, a lot of reservations on the preparedness of the Ministry to run the examinations were expressed. However, the reality on the ground turned out that preparations were sufficient and I think at the moment no one has raised any significant complaints regarding those preparations. It is still our view that our preparations are ongoing and it in our anticipation that by the time Grade 7s, Form 4s and Form 6s come back to school, we would have finished those preparations.
In fact our response to Covid19 with regards to reopening of schools has been well measured to allow for social distancing, hence the phased reopening of schools.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare and in his absence I will direct it to the Leader of the House. I want to thank Government for distributing food to the needy. My question is what plans does the Ministry have in giving social assistance grants to Covid-19 victims.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. The question is not very specific. What in particular, those that have been tested positive or what. It is not very clear.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: My question is what plans do you have on giving social assistance grants to vulnerable people faced with Covid-19?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker Sir, during this Covid-19 period Social Welfare requested registration for all the vulnerable so that they can offer some social assistance even in urban areas. In the rural areas we already have a social assistance programme where we give grain and also have some NGOs that are supporting Government programmes by giving food aid. While the question is not very specific as to who is now vulnerable because of COVID that need social assistance, I believe there is a broad based programme to help all those that are vulnerable during this pandemic period. I thank you.
Question without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of standing order Number 64.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF BULAWAYO-NKAYI ROAD
- HON S. K. MGUNI asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the construction of the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road will be completed, considering that the project has been outstanding for more than 35 years.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MATIZA): Bulawayo-Nkayi road is a primary road which links Bulawayo and Nkayi and also provides a direct link between Bulawayo and Gokwe in the Midlands Province. The upgrading has been going on over a long period of time. The upgrade of the road from narrow state to surface standard commenced in 1993 with a feasibility study. The actual construction commenced using donor funding from the Kuwait Fund in 1996. The donor pulled out in the year 2000 after completing the designs for 65km and the construction of one bridge as well as 29 km of road.
The Department of Roads took over the construction of the road in 2001 and did construction up to 44 km peg as well as completed Mbembesi and Ingwingwizi Bridges which are now trafficable. The progress has been slow due to the rate at which funding for the implementation of the project is availed by Treasury. For the 10 km target of 2019 5 km have been primed. Due to the Covid-19 most of the road construction projects were stalled this year as resources were diverted to fight the pandemic. Priority is now on ongoing road projects that were at prime stage as at December 2019. Bulawayo-Nkayi Road falls under the reprioritised list of roads targeted for surfacing in 2020. Materials needed to surface the 5 km primed section for the Bulawayo Nkayi Road are already on site. Since we are in winter and we are experiencing low temperatures which are not ideal for surfacing, track and seal works will resume as temperatures improve. Construction will continue guided by funding availed. Mr. Speaker Sir, I visited this road at the beginning of last month to assess the state of the road and the progress to date. Due to limited resources, the Department of Roads will ensure routine maintenance of the narrow mat to ensure it is trafficable while rehabilitation and construction is ongoing on the other section of the road. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister the road that he alludes to is infested with a lot of mining ventures. Queens Mine is another one and there is Tech Mine and there is another mine. Whose primary mandate is it to extract our resources and leave gaps, if not dams; aware that this resource that I am talking about is finite and we will not have any shoots sprouting from the ground.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, please may you get to your question.
HON. NDUNA: My question therefore is, what is the Minister doing in order to make sure that these miners plough back in terms of infrastructural development? It is happening outside our borders using our minerals, why can it not happen here? What is it that we are doing in order for them to plough back using this finite resource in our country, for our country to use what we have to get what we can?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, your question is completely out of the original question. That sounds like it is a new question unless of course Minister, you have got something to add.
HON. NDUNA: I spoke about the mines in that area.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No.
FINALISATION OF RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE ACROSS PIRIVIRI RIVER
- HON. HOUGHTON asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when -
(a) The Magunje-Siakobvu Road in the Kariba-Nyaminyami District will be upgraded;
(b) The bridge over the Mawena River will be repaired considering that it is the only link between the Negande area to the road network system in the Kariba-Nyaminyami District and the rest of the country.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. The first answer Mr. Speaker Sir, the Magunje-Siakobvu Road is a section of the Karoi-Binga Road that we have been working on since 2019. In essence, the upgrading of that road has already started and to date we have surfaced 10km. We shall continue to lobby the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to continue funding the road so that we can deliver at least 10km a year.
The second question – Mr. Speaker Sir, the bridge in question is on the road that is maintained by DDF and as such, the bridge is also under the purview of DDF. DDF is therefore in a better position to answer the question. I thank you.
HON. HOUGHTON: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That road going to Nyaminyami rural district area is so bad that there has been no bus service for more than a year on that. In the entire Nyaminyami rural district, there is no bus service and I think the Minister needs to put an effort into getting the road usable there so that at least the people can have a bus service. Thank you.
HON. ARCH MATIZA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. As I have alluded to that as long as we get the funding, we will continue to upgrade these roads given the fact that at least we should do 10km a year.
HON. HOUGHTON: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That road is 334km long. Apparently, about 100km have been done which means that there is about 200km still to be done. At 10km a year, it is going to take 20 years to complete that road. It is not good enough Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you.
HON. ARCH MATIZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. What I said is at least the minimum. This is a budgetary issue, it is depending on the funding and we approve the budgets here, but at minimum that is what we are talking about. I thank you.
RESUMPTION OF CONSTRUCTION OF LUPANE HOSPITAL
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House when the construction of the Lupane Provincial Hospital will resume.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Works at the proposed Lupane Provincial Hospital has since resumed. The contractor, Zimbabwe Jingsu International was handed over the site on 26th August last year. The project is being implemented in phases. Phase one comprises of Outpatient Department, administration block, pharmacy, central stores, staff houses and civil works. A pre-purchase of materials worth $9 million RTGs was done late last year and have since been delivered to site. I am sure the work has started and is going on. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
REBUILDING OF THE MATERNITY WARD AT ST LUKE HOSPITAL
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House on the Ministry’s plans to rebuild the maternity ward at St Luke Hospital which was gutted by fire.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO: The affected department is a Family and Child Health Department. The hospital through the church, who are the owners have raised US$18 000 and have since done the quotations for the roof. The Government has also allocated $2 000 000 through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) to augment the contribution of the mission. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
PROTECTION OF PATIENTS FROM WEATHER ELEMENTS
- HON. CHIKUNI asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House measures being taken to protect patients from weather elements as they wait for treatment outside health care centres in compliance with the COVID-19 control measures.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): The Ministry of Health and Child Care is putting in place various measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The Ministry has embarked on expediting the provision of treatment or consultation services at all various levels of care to prevent long queues as well as observing social distancing. Further to that, we have embarked on provision of waiting mothers’ shelters and/or waiting areas at all health facilities. Most of our clinics, rural health hospitals, district/mission, provincial and central hospitals have waiting shelters as part of their structure. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN BIKITA SOUTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. SITHOLE asked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 26 and 29 in Bikita South Constituency will have internet connectivity.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question.
NetOne is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) and has developed a Communications Infrastructure Plan to cover all the provinces and wards through the Mobile Broadband (MMB) phase 3 project. Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 26, 28 and 29 in Bikita South Constituency are expected to be covered before the end of the Fourth Quarter in 2020.
The Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services on the other hand has accelerated the development of the Digital Infrastructure master plan. The master plan will assist in identifying the underserved and unserved areas so that the operators and POTRAZ backup can close the gaps. The Ministry is also working to expedite the Infrastructure Sharing Policy to encourage infrastructure sharing amongst the MNOs. This will result in more coverage by all operators as they will not spend money on construction of towers. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I am supplementing in relation to the issue of infrastructure sharing that the Hon. Minister spoke about. We have not heard this for the first time. Could the Hon. Minister share with this House where the bottlenecks are? Where are the problems because this has been talked about, I think, since time immemorial?
HON. DR. MUSWERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Infrastructure sharing is taking place and so far more than 20 sites have been identified and at least more than 10 have been developed by POTRAZ on an infrastructure sharing basis.
What basically happens is that POTRAZ develops the passive infrastructure and the three MNOs then install their active infrastructure on each and every passive infrastructure base station that would have been identified by POTRAZ. It is an ongoing process, it is taking place and is very successful. Currently, Econet and NetOne are working together on around 49 new sites wherein they will be sharing their infrastructure. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ROAD REHABILITATION IN MABVUKUTAFARA CONSTITUENCY
- HON. CHIDHAKWAasked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development when the Ministry will start road rehabilitation in Mabvuku/Tafara Constituency given that the roads are badly dilapidated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry is cognisant of the poor state of roads in a number of residential areas including Mabvuku/Tafara Constituency. The road networks have outlived their design lives and therefore require rehabilitation. Plans have been put in place for the rehabilitation and reseal of the roads and the implementation has started with the major roads. The rehabilitation will continue to be implemented in a prioritised manner until the entire road network has been attended to. The City of Harare is in charge of these roads and is also in a better position to give concrete plans for road rehabilitation in Harare. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF TYNWALD NORTH AND GOODHOPE ROADS
- HON. MAMOMBE asked Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry will rehabilitate Tynwald North and Goodhope Roads in Harare West Constituency in view of the fact that both roads are dilapidated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Tynwald North and Goodhope roads are important feeder roads in Harare West constituency. The roads are currently in a poor state and indeed require rehabilitation. City of Harare is in a better position to give us its immediate plans for rehabilitation. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF SHAMROCK ROAD IN HURUNGWE NORTH
- HON. GANDAWA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain measures put in place to rehabilitate Shamrock Road in Ward 9 Hurungwe North.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, currently due to budget constraints there is no periodic maintenance being done. We are prioritising routine maintenance as funds are limited. The Department of Roads is cognisant of the fact that the road requires rehabilitation in the medium term and this will be done when commensurate funding is available. I thank you.
TARRING OF ZVOMUKONDE AND NGUNGUMBANE STRETCH IN MBERENGWA
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain the circumstances that led to the skipping of a stretch 27km between Zvomukonde and Ngungumbane and when the stretch in Mberengwa District will be tarred.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the circumstances that led to the skipping of a stretch of 27km between Zvomukonde and Ngungumbane were non availability of the designs of road for that section during construction. The funds for the road project ran out during the time of construction in 2004. As soon as the funding line has been availed to our Ministry, the project will resume. I thank you.
FUNDS RELEASED BY ZINARA TO MBERENGWA RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL
- HON. RAIDZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House how much ZINARA released to Mberengwa Rural District Council for the period 2018 to 2019 and how much was acquitted to date.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, ZINARA disbursed $23 647 on 6th March, 2018 and $130 086 on September, 2018 to Mberengwa Rural District Council. In 2019, a total of $76 866 was disbursed and recently in March 2020, Zinara disbursed $258 486 to Mberengwa Rural District Council. These disbursements were for routine maintenance and it should be noted that Mberengwa Rural District Council is failing to utilise its periodic maintenance funds. Each year ZINARA allocates funds to both urban and rural district councils. Of these funds, 75% should be allocated to periodic maintenance while 25% is for routine maintenance. In this regard, a total of $504 838 was allocated in 2018, $597 767 in 2019 and $1 824 024 in 2020.
To date, there are no records showing any utilisation of these allocated funds for periodic maintenance by Mberengwa Rural District Council. Money for periodic maintenance is usually disbursed after work is done. With regards to acquittals for 2019, the disbursed funds are only for first half of the year and no acquittals were submitted for the last six months. In cases where allocated funds are not enough to cover periodic maintenance, rural district councils and urban councils can pass resolutions to use allocated funds for routine maintenance.
HARARE FLYOVERS
- HON. MAGO asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Ministry of Transport is going to attend to Harare Flyovers that are in need of urgent attention as they risk collapse. These include the Simon Mazorodze, Beatrice Road at the interchange with Rotten Row.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the tender for the inspection of these bridges inclusive of Simon Mazorodze was concluded and awarded. The consultant is due to formalise their engagement through a formal contract and start work in the near future. I thank you.
ZUPCO BUSES FOR MHANGURA FEEDER ROADS
- HON. MASANGOasked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain when ZUPCO buses will be allocated to feeder roads that are mainly dirty dusty roads in Mhangura.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ARCH MATIZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the allocation and operation of ZUPCO buses falls under the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. As such, the question should be directed to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
FREE MEDICAL SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY
- HON. S. CHAMISAasked the Minister of Health and Child Care what the government is doing to facilitate free medical services for the elderly.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): In terms of section 82 (b) of the Constitution, rights of the elderly, people over the age of 70 years have the right to receive health care and medical assistance from the State. Government policy has gone further to include those who are 65 years old and above in providing free medical services at all public health institutions. They are not required to pay for their medical care in public health institutions.
- HON. MURAMBIWA asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House whether the government has any plans to construct more clinics in Wards 23, 24 and 29 in Zaka West Constituency considering that some people have to walk for distances as long as 40 kilometres to access treatment at clinics.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): The Ministry in its Infrastructure Development Plan has intention to construct health facilities in the three wards and proposed sites have been identified, that is Ward 23 site is at Choringeno, Ward 24 site is at Charuka and Ward 29 site is at Bepeza. The Ministry has embarked on the construction of health posts and clinics and Charuka is going to be considered under this initiative. However, we urge the Hon. Member of Parliament to also support Central Government by mobilising local communities and businesses to contribute towards such projects.
OPENING OF MASIKATI CLINIC
- HON. MASENDAasked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House when the Masikati Clinic which was constructed two years ago will be officially opened to the public considering that people have to walk some 20 kilometres to access medical services.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Masikati Clinic is a newly proposed facility in Hurungwe District and is owned by Hurungwe Rural District Council. The new facility was formerly a farm house converted into a clinic. The facility will serve a large population that is currently walking long distances to either Tengwe or Kasimure clinics which are very far. However, the Ministry of Health and Child Care is aware of the need to speed up the official opening of the clinic given its catchment service. Inspections were done by both the District Health Executive and the Hurungwe Rural District Council members recently. In that regard, there were few things that needed attention which includes proper waste management facilities, fixing of wall and ceiling cracks, water availability as well as human resources for the clinic and these are at advanced stage. Moreover, as part of social responsibility, I also urge Hon. Member of Parliament to mobilise additional resources for the community through possible donors / partners or under the Community Development Funds (CDF) to complement the efforts being done by the Central Government.
EXPANSION OF THE NETONE MOBILE NETWORK COVERAGE IN ZAKA WEST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. MURAMBIWAasked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House when the NetOne mobile network coverage will be expanded to cover Wards 24, 22 and 33 in Zaka West Constituency
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. NetOne is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) and has developed a Communications Infrastructure Plan to cover all the provinces and wards through the Mobile Broadband (MBB) phase 3 project. Ward 24, 22 and 33 in Zaka West Constituency are expected to be covered before the end of the 4th Quarter in 2020.
The Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services on the other hand has accelerated the development of the Digital Infrastructure Masterplan. The masterplan will assist in identifying the underserved and unserved areas so that the operators and PORTRAZ backup can close the gaps. The Ministry is also working to expedite the Infrastructure Sharing Policy to encourage infrastructure sharing amongst the MNOs. This will result in more coverage by all operators as they will not spend money on construction of towers. I thank you.
ASSISTANCE TO DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IN RURAL AREAS
- HON. MASUKU asked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to:
- a) Inform the House on the measures and programmes that have been put in place by the Ministry to assist disadvantaged children in rural areas such as Sipepa and Siganda, who, unlike those in urban centers have no access to the Internet:
- b) Explain to the House how the general public can be protected from uncensored false information which is disseminated to peace loving Zimbabweans with the aim of causing confusion; and
- c) Inform the House what measures have been put in place by the Ministry to sensitise the public to desist from being gullible to misleading information.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. DR. MUSWERE): a) The Ministry is doing everything to bridge the digital divide and this will benefit all students and pupils. The Ministry has assigned POTRAZ and Zimpost to set up Community Information Centers (CICs) throughout the country. These CICs are Internet connected with a minimum of 10 laptops depending on the size of the CIC. This means that in communities that already have this facility, students can make use of the Internet for their studies. To communities like Sipepa and Siganda CICs, we are working on it.
The Ministry with its stakeholders is also running with the Schools E-Learning Programme where computes are distributed to schools and Internet being connected to schools. ZARNet is connecting schools whilst POTRAZ and other stakeholders are distributing computers to schools. This however, is an ongoing programme where you will notice that some schools have already benefited both Internet connectivity and computers but, Mr. Speaker Sir, be assured that this programme is intended to reach all our schools especially those in the rural areas and the disadvantaged communities.
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and POTRAZ are also ensuring equitable distribution of network towers for this will again result in connectivity to those who can afford data and advanced gadgets. Let me however say, Mr. Speaker Sir, that the lack of foreign currency and COVID-19 is hindering a lot of these projects as we cannot procure ICT equipment.
- b) The Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill was given a nod by Cabinet and is at the moment with this House. Parliament is doing its diligent job making consultations throughout the country. Once the process is over, we will hear the outcome and it is my hope that the Act from this Bill will address concerns by the Hon. Member.
- c) The Ministry, working with the regulator POTRAZ, is carrying out consumer protection awareness programmes in the form of road shows throughout the country. Emphasis is being put on cyber related issues.
There are a number of communities that were reached and these include Ngundu, Kadoma, Shangani and Madhlambuzi just to mention but a few. The month of October is referred to as the Cyber Security month. The month is thus packed with activities that include road shows, public lectures, conferences, radio and television shows. All these activities are meant to sensitise the public on cyber related threats. Last year, 2019 in October, we carried out Cyber Security Conference/Indaba at the Rainbow Towers in Harare and Bulawayo respectively, public lectures at Africa University and National Defence University, radio and television programmes and road shows were also conducted in a number of areas. I thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT CLASSROOM BLOCKS IN RESETTLEMENT AREAS
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House Government policy on the construction of permanent classroom blocks in resettlement areas since children in these schools learn in temporary structures.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): The Ministry has in place plans for the upgrading of schools in resettlement areas, most of which are satellite schools. For each of these schools, there is a site designated for the construction of permanent structures. Programmes for construction of schools have prioritised resettlement areas. For example, the Ministry working with OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has so far completed construction of 17 new schools (11 primary and 6 secondary) which are awaiting commissioning. The bulk of these schools were constructed in the resettlement areas. The Ministry is working with various partners, NGOs, churches. School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds have been used to construct classrooms in resettlement areas. Devolution funds may also be used. Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) is also used to finance these schools.
STATISTICS OF UNDERAGE SCHOOL GIRLS WHO FELL PREGNANT AND DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL IN 2019 BY PROVINCE
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to apprise the House on the statistics of underage school girls that fell pregnant and dropped out of school in 2019 by province.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): 2019 statistics are captured in February and therefore, on the onset of the lockdown, statistics had not yet been disaggregated. However, the global figure for 2019 is as follows:
Primary | Secondary | Total |
120 | 2 864 | 2 984 |
Through the guidance and counseling programme, the Ministry intends to eliminate the problem of dropping out of school due to pregnancy. Thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN MBERENGWA EAST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when the Ministry will construct a secondary school in Ward 6, Mberengwa East Constituency, in view of the fact that children are walking a long distance from Mututu Primary School and Chiwara Primary to Mbuyanehanda High School.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): It is the Ministry’s mandate, in accordance with P73 of 1991, to ensure that learners at any given place do not walk more than 5km to the nearest school to access education. It is now a matter of public record that the Ministry, through its 2013 Infrastructure Expo has established deficit of 2 056 schools. The number has since increased.
In order to reduce the school infrastructure deficit, the Ministry has already rolled out the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Programme which to date has completed 17 schools now awaiting commissioning. The situation in Ward 6 will be looked at by inspection teams from our district offices who are expected to furnish Head Office on their findings. Furthermore, partners who include church organisations and NGOs are also invited and also working on provision of schools. Thank you.
SCHOOL FURNITURE FOR MPONJANE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN MBERENGWA DISTRICT
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House when the Ministry will buy school furniture for Mponjane Primary School in Mberengwa District.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Schools like Mponjane that get SIG grants are encouraged to use the grants for the acquisition of school furniture. Thank you.
INSTALLATION OF SHARED BASE STATIONS IN REMOTE AREAS OF HURUNGWE NORTH CONSTITUENCY
- HON. GANDAWAasked the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services to inform the House on the measures being put in place in installing shared base stations in remote areas that are economically marginalised, particularly Hurungwe North Constitutency in the Dete area, Ward 9.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The Ministry has developed modalities with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) to institute several measures to improve coverage in poor marginalised areas of Zimbabwe. Some of the measures taken are:
- Infrastructure Sharing Regulations
The authority has initiated infrastructure sharing. Infrastructure
Sharing Regulations were gazette in 2016 and the authority began mandatory sharing of telecommunications base stations. Infrastructure sharing benefits the public in that MNOs will be able to install equipment on existing towers, thereby increasing coverage. This also reduces the cost of investment thereby reducing the cost of providing the service ad pricing of services. In addition, infrastructure sharing can help reduce energy consumption and radio emissions of networks.
- Installation of Shared Base Stations
The authority has installed 20 shared base stations country-wide.
The completed projects consist of fifteen shared base stations with passive infrastructure and five base stations with active equipment comprising Multi Operator Radio Access Network (MORAN). In the long run, the authority has identified about three hundred and fifty wards with poor or no network coverage in Zimbabwe.
The authority, through the Universal Services Fund (USF) has
initiated several projects to address the network coverage gaps. Some of the projects include:
- a)Construction of 350 Shared Base Stations (Huawei Technologies)
A tender for the construction of 350 base stations was awarded to Huawei Technologies of China. The project was vendor financed and Huawei was required to source the finance. The project could not proceed as Huawei failed to secure the required financing. The tender has not yet been closed.
- b)Construction of 100 Shared Base Stations
The authority has tendered for the construction of 100 shared base stations in marginalised areas. An expression of interest (EOI) was done and five possible bidders have been shortlisted. The authority will proceed to issue the request for proposals (RFP). The project is also vendor financed on a build and transfer (BT) model.
- c)Construction of Shared Base Station Sites by Operators/Relocation of collocated Sites
The aim of this project is for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to construct passive base station infrastructure in assigned remote marginalised areas. The passive base station infrastructure includes 60m or 70m towers, equipment shelters, guard rooms, perimeter fence, commercial power, solar power (Photo Voltaic Modules), diesel engine generators, power back-up batteries and access roads.
After completion of the project, all operators will share the infrastructure. The authority through Universal Services Fund (USF), will reimburse the MNOs who would have constructed the sites.
As part of this initiative, MNOs will also be required to relocate base stations that are co-located, to new sites. Both the new site and the relocated sites will be shared by all MNOs. POTRAZ will be responsible for the cost of the relocation of the base stations.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INFORMATION CENTRE IN MBERENGWA EAST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. RAIDZAasked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to explain when the Ministry is going to establish an Information Centre in Mberengwa East Constituency.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MUSWERE): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. The Ministry working with POTRAZ, is still in the process of deploying Community Information Centres (CICS) throughout the country. In Mberengwa, a CIC was established at Mberengwa Post Office and handed over to ZIMPOST for operationalisation, CICs are not established on the basis of constituencies. The primary basis for distribution of CICs is on per province basis. Using a connectivity matrix, the CIC at Mataga Post Office was set up by my Ministry and is currently operational. A CVIC is in the process of being established at Mnene, but delays have been experienced due to the shortage of foreign currency to procure required gadgets as highlighted above and the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts are being made to ensure that all outstanding CICs are operationalised this year.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. NDUNA: Hon. Speaker Sir, with your indulgence, I move that the rest of the Questions with Notice be stood over until the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Hon. Nyoni gives a Ministerial Statement.
HON. P. MOYO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
RESPONSE TO REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ON THE FACT FINDING VISIT TO DISTRICT OFICES AND WOMEN EMPOWRMENT PROJECTS
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. NYONI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to present a response on the report of the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development on the fact finding visits to selected Ministry, district offices and women’s empowerment projects.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry notes and appreciates the report by the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development following a fact finding visit to selected Ministry, district offices and women’s empowerment projects. The findings and recommendations are quite pertinent as these help the Ministry in refining programming of the various interventions to improve service delivery to the citizenry. However, I would like to point out to the House that the report was written way back in February 2019. The Ministry has since addressed most of the issues raised in the report such as distribution of motor bikes, training of project beneficiaries, support and modern machinery and increasing budgetary support for funded projects.
The Ministry would like to shed light however, on what has been done during this period and the challenges that are being faced. These will be as follows:-
- State of District Offices and General Infrastructure
The status of district offices is a matter of great concern to my
Ministry Mr. Speaker Sir. However, the mandate of providing office accommodation to Government ministries is vested with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Public Works. The Ministry responsible has been approached several times with requests to provide suitable accommodation for our officers. It is our hope that progress will be made soon as a new idea has been mooted and that is the construction of pre-fabricated structures for use by our officers as offices. The Public Works Department has been tasked to work with my Ministry’s Provincial Development offices to achieve the goal.
- Shortage of office computers, printers and lack of Internet connectivity
The challenge has been caused by resource provision especially
on procurement of assets by Treasury. The schedule below shows the overall resource under provision. For example, after realising the need to provide furniture for provinces and districts, a proposal was made under the 2020 budget. Mr. Speaker Sir, you will find that as a whole, there was a variance to what we had requested and what was given. There was a variance of about 57%.
THE BIDS FOR 2020 BUDGET
PROGRAMME | IDEAL $ | ALLOCATED BUDGET | SHORTFALL | VARIANCE |
Policy and
Administration |
116 969 000 | 53 504 000 | 63 465 000 | 54% |
Women | 477 500 | 153 368 | 322 132 | 67% |
Empowerment, Gender & Community Development | 000 | 000 | 000 | |
SMED & Cooperative Development | 478 367 000 | 295 104 000 | 183 263 000 | 38% |
TOTALS | 1 176 836 000 | 503 976 000 | 672 864 000 | 57% |
From the above breakdown and analysis, it is clear that only 43% of the required budget was availed.
- Mobility of officers
The explanation above on furniture and computers is relevant.
Again, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is our hope that with more funds, we could make sure that our officers are mobile. Anyway, I am happy to announce that five vehicles have been bought. Although we had budgeted for 17 vehicles because of inflation, we could not buy all of them. So we have resubmitted for the other 10 vehicles and shortly these we hope will be available for our officers.
The Project Sectors
It is also the concern of the Ministry that micro enterprises in rural areas are largely engaged in extractive industry and other primary production ventures especially those that are agricultural related. Some of the reasons for low entrepreneur skills are also the lack of technical skills and technology is also being attended to; as I will show later that the Ministry is now engaging in training people at this level.
The use of Modern Machinery and Technology.
The observation that the project does not use modern machinery and technology was noted. In 2019, the Ministry supported SMEs and new entrepreneurs where the modern equipment was sourced from India. Such support included incubation of new machines, a function which has now been transferred to another Ministry and it is our hope that we continue to engage the relevant ministries to ensure that SMEs and women have access to appropriate technology.
The Underfunded Cooperatives
Underfunding of project is a result of the limited resources available, the rapid increase in the prices of materials to set up projects has also contributed to the problem. However, I am pleased to say that the Ministry has reviewed the level of funding and we have increased the women’s development fund to start from 150 000 from early this year. We are also going to review the increase of disbursement upwards up to 300 000 per project.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am glad to say that we have the Women’s Bank last year, they disbursed about 40 000 loans and I am going to be tabling the way that was done per province. The bank also will soon be rolling out the 500 million recovery fund that was given to the Ministry by Government. The seventh issue was access to lucrative markets; this concern was raised and I am glad to say the Ministry is engaging SMEs, training them and linking them to markets especially for their handcrafts.
We have a handcraft center in Harare that has managed to link handcrafters with markets in the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, German, Australia and Japan. The handcrafts are going very well and they have a website, if anyone wants to link to the website. The Ministry is promoting access to markets by SMEs through facilitating them to participate in local markets especially the ZITF, Agricultural Shows and also in the SADC region. Whenever there are such activities, the Ministry sends the SMEs there.
To promote an integration among SMEs for inputs and outputs, the Ministry is facilitating the linkage programme and we are linking them in manufacturing in terms of subcontracting and also in agriculture in the agricultural value chains and in textile and in the retail sector. A target of 1360 SMEs participated in the agricultural value chains in the past year and a total of 4645 SMEs were linked to large companies. This was an increase of over 272 per cent increase from what we did in 2018.
The Ministry is in collaboration with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and is building the capacity of SMEs for access to public sector procurement markets. SMEs are also being facilitated to have business linkages with themselves, cooperatives as well as with the corporates.
Monitoring and evaluation of projects
The monitoring of all projects under the Ministry especially key ones in which huge funds would have been committed is of paramount importance to the Ministry. The Ministry now has a fully fledged monitoring and evaluation department and this has resulted in an improvement of the monitoring programme.
Training and Capacity Building for Project Members.
The Ministry values the training and capacity building for both members and our staff. In 2019 a total of 24 731 SMEs were trained whilst the Ministry’s two training centres hosted 1200 women for livelihood skills training programmes. It is important to note that trainers employed by the Ministry have been deployed to various areas to carry out this mandate. They are also identifying if they are any capacity gaps in order for the Ministry to fill these up. The Ministry is training also up to ward level in order to ensure that competencies and efficiencies are cascaded to that level of our operation. Our full fledged programme was supposed to start at the first quarter of 2020 and this was disturbed by the lockdown due to COVID - 19 pandemic.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the members for their vibrant and constructive debates and also to thank the Ministry’s Portfolio Committee and hope that we continue to have constructive engagement to ensure appropriate timeframes. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May I give this opportunity to members to ask questions, raise points of clarification, not making other statements. May I emphasise on that point that you need not to make another statement. The floor is for you to ask pertinent questions relevant to the Ministerial Statement.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Orders of the Day, Nos. 1 to 4 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 5 has been disposed of.
HON. KASHIRI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE THIRD WORLD PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT HELD IN INDONESIA
HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move the motion standing in my name: That this House takes note of the report of the Delegation to the Third World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development, held in Bali, Indonesia, from the 4th to the 5th of September, 2019.
HON. GABBUZA: I second.
HON. P. MOYO:
Introduction
Hon. Chief Mtshane Khumalo, Member of Parliament, led the Parliamentary delegation to attend the Third World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development which was held in Bali, Indonesia from the 4th to the 5th of September, 2019. The forum was attended by 30 countries and 55 organisations. The theme of the forum was, combating inequality through social and financial inclusion. Hon. Sen. Chief Mtshane Khumalo was accompanied by the following Members of Parliament and an officer of Parliament; Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana, MP; Hon. Priscilla Moyo, MP; Hon. Marian Chombo, MP and now Deputy Minister; Hon. Joel Gabbuza, MP; Mrs. Chiwoniso Mataruka, Committee Clerk and Secretary of the delegation.
The report of the Chair of Indonesia House Steering Committee
The Steering Committee held a series of focul group discussions where rising inequalities is a major setback to attaining sustainable development. Economic instability undermines social cohesion. Inequality is a global phenomenon which needs address and 11 years remain to attain sustainable development goals targets. This requires strong leadership of Members of Parliament who are expected to provide enabling legislation noting that Parliament is the cornerstone of democracy to hold the Executive into account. Social and financial inclusion is key to ensure inclusivity. The World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development should be a strong partner on attainment of sustainable development and ensure accountability and oversight of the parliamentarians effort and commitment in attainment and mainstreaming of SDGs.
OPENING REMARKS BY MR. BAMBANG SOESATYA, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
The Speaker of the House of Representatives welcomed the delegates to the forum under the theme “Combating Inequality through Social and Financial Inclusion.” He stressed that with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, combating inequality and applying social protection has become the centre of policy agenda in all countries. Financial inclusion should be at the forefront of Government policies to reduce income inequality. Governments must protect the people and promote more social inclusion by distributing resources more fairly.
He noted that disparities are taking place around the world and require urgent attention. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are meant to attend to global challenges to attain a wealth of justice, prosperity and peace. Despite all progress and efforts, inequality still remains a challenge. There is need for stronger focus in decreasing inequality in income and skills. Poverty has fatal consequences in perpetuating inequality leading to conflict;
There is therefore, need for a deliberate move by Parliaments to capacitate the vulnerable and leave no one behind for the achievement of the 2030 agenda.
SPECIAL REMARKS BY H.E. DR MUHAMMAD JUSUF KALLA, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
His Excellency Kalla noted that since the adoption of SDGs in 2015 ultimately ending in 2030, much progress has been made. Before were the MDGs with their own progress and challenges and the same applies to SDGs, but these require working together or collective efforts. He stressed the following; that nations seem to be lagging behind in many areas and this requires SDG 17 that of partnering of developed and developing nations. SDGs are Inter-connected and interrelated - that is economic development, social development and environmental sustainability.
The 2019 theme encourages nations to think on how to reduce inequality in this world through social and economic growth without discrimination where, “no one should be left behind.” Inclusiveness is the central theme of SDGs. Social development can only be achieved through social and economic growth. Countries are at different levels of development and as such, there is need for a global concerted effort to achieve development. Greater efforts must be made to achieve equality in gender, health, clean energy and addressing climate change. A developed country should have good hygiene and sanitation and these are fundamentals for the status of one’s country.
Planning and budgeting are key to overseeing SDGs in different Governments. Parliament with its authority to legislate and scrutinise budgets is important. Parliamentarians should participate effectively in how industry and infrastructure should create opportunities to do away with inequality and ensure equal opportunities. Tax rates should be discussed so that they benefit citizens of the nations.
His Excellency summed up by emphasising that partnership is key among world countries in the implementation of SDGs. No one country can grow without financial support. Thus there is need for access to financing for livelihoods and communities.
PLENARY SESSION ON “HOW INFRASTRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION CAN FOSTER EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
The session was moderated by Ms Andini Effendi, and the following issues were discussed:
That the topic of combating inequality though social and financial inclusion, and more specifically, on how infrastructure and industrial innovation can foster equal opportunities, bearing in mind that we are experiencing a new industrial revolution is key. Knowledge, interconnectedness and mobility are key and industrial revolution does not mean necessarily neither equity nor fairness. New dynamics go hand in hand with new imbalances. It is the duty of nations to ensure that progress leaves no-one behind.
The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development provides us with guiding principles and targets: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. Infrastructure and industrial innovation impacts on several of the 17 goals and in implementing these goals, countries have to bear in mind that infrastructure is no longer synonymous with physical infrastructure. The lack of access to formal education will prevent us from combating inequalities, from creating new decent jobs and enhance social mobility; and without education the gender gap will persist harming our social and economic progress.
Industrial innovation has the potential of enhancing our means of combating the environmental, economic and social consequences of climate change, however, political willingness is imperative.
That education and awareness on the effects of climate change must be embraced by all stakeholders, including civil society.
PLENARY SESSION ON “ENSURING RURAL ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE”
The session was chaired by Mr Putri Ayuningtyas and the following issues were discussed as solutions to reach the poorest and the marginalised in improving their health, nutrition and productivity;
That 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water services, including 44 million people who are dependent on surface water and 2.0 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines.
The fact that water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) is the subject of dedicated targets within the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG No. 6 is proof to its fundamental role in public health and therefore in the future of sustainable development. Access to safe water and sanitation are human rights, as recognised in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. Below are key issues Parliaments may convince their governments to deliberate on:
That integrated water management can provide important co-benefits for sustainable development, climate change mitigation & adaptation, and disaster risk management especially as countries begin to review and implement their national plans in the context of the Paris Agreement. There is a unique opportunity to improve and enhance water management practices;
That WASH, as part of the achievement of SDG 6 as a whole, be higher on countries’ political agenda, and that it is mainstreamed into national, sub-national, and community-level planning;
That there be predictable and sufficient finance for WASH; and
That there be greater mutual accountability and coordination among the developing countries, development partners, supporting governments, and their citizens on WASH issues.
PLENARY ON “ENHANCING PARTNERSHIP TOWARDS INCLUSIVE FINANCING
Ms Masyitoh Annisa Ramadhani, chaired the session on ways and means of ensuring the creation of accountable, accessible and sustainable financial services for all and the following issues were raised:
That the key issues in financing development projects include: improving the ability of countries to generate permanent and stable tax revenues and improve resource management; focusing aid on sectors to be served by private finance; using aid to leverage and attract more private sector financing to projects that support development (for example, infrastructure) through public-private partnerships and investment risk mitigation;
That domestic resources (public and private) and international/external resources (public and private), as well as blended finance are the key pillars of inclusive financing for development;
That there is a need to address some global public goods and efforts to mobilize diaspora financing for the development and building a more robust private sector by improving access to finance for micro, small, and medium-enterprises;
That countries achieve the goal of universal access, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services for everyone who needs them, provided by sustainable institutions for sustainable projects;
That one important aspect is that, “Leave no one behind” and this means put sustainable development at the core; transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth; build effective peace and open trusted and accountable institutions for all; and forge a new global partnership;
That realising this goal will require a committed alliance between business, government and civil society and will determine needed and sustainable investments. Countries should work on how to mobilize financial services to deliver the needed investments for the opportunities and secure a sustainable economic future and how to leverage technologies that boost production.
CONCLUSION
In the wake of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many countries continue to face significant challenges in an increasingly unequal world, while the most vulnerable groups remain marginalized from social and economic participation. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are still perceived as executives’ domain, but the core Parliamentary functions in law-making, budgeting, oversight and representation of the peoples’ interests, are critical in building people-centred, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous societies, and ending all poverty everywhere in all its dimensions. Therefore, the formulation of a Parliamentary Roadmap on SDGs shall transform our shared perspective into more tangible efforts, under the principles of inclusion, partnership, and participation, where “no one left behind.”
In 2017, the First World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development (WPFSD) adopted the Bali Declaration, which emphasizes the critical involvement of Parliaments in ensuring the effective implementation and timely realization of the SDGs. The Bali Declaration encourages Parliaments to strengthen national ownership by mainstreaming and implementing SDGs into enforceable National Development Plan, ensuring sufficient legal frameworks and budgetary requirements to support national policy on SDGs, scaling up efforts to end violence and sustaining peace, and enhancing climate action.
In 2018, the Second WPFSD adopted the Bali Commitment, which draws attention to the significance of partnership towards sustainable energy for all. The Bali Commitment promotes;
- the big potential of renewable energy resources for producing sustainable energy; and
- the prospect of blue economy, green industry and sustainable development to achieve energy security and diversification. This outcome document endorses Parliaments to establish the necessary mechanism to work closely with the governments and other stakeholders.
Parliamentarians gathered at the Third WPFSD in Bali, Indonesia, on 4-5 September 2019, adopted the Bali Roadmap, which consists of a number of forward-looking recommendations that represent various dimensions in addressing challenges of SDGs implementation. By referring to the Bali Roadmap, we agree to:
- Safeguard efforts towards the achievement of SDGs, particularly on achieving equality in all social and financial aspects, as emphasized in the Resolution 2010/12 adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council on Promoting Social Integration and UN General Assembly Resolution 72/206 on Financial Inclusion;
- Urge our respective governments to formulate national action plan and establish effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions in supporting SDGs implementation;
- Call upon Governments to renew their commitment and give more attention in delivering the SDGs timely through tangible actions and accelerating policy implementations, as asserted in the 2019 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York;
- Advocate the delivery of sustainable social protection measures, resilient infrastructure, and public services for all, including for those living below the poverty line, people in rural and remote areas, the vulnerable, persons with disabilities, children and older persons, and indigenous peoples, particularly through the fulfilment of their fundamental human rights, which consist of no less than the following aspects:
- Quality education;
- Health care;
- Decent and affordable housing; and
- Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
- Urge governments and local governments, as well as national and regional parliaments to mainstreaming and localizing the SDGs, based on the cultures, local languages and conditions, or uniqueness of a respective country;
- Strengthen legal frameworks and promote the development of an enabling environment to diversify financial resources and scale up funding from multiple sources to reduce financing gap in infrastructure, and to achieve an inclusive and sustainable development through innovative SDGs financing, such as blended finance, Green Financing for Financial Institution, Social Impact Fund, religious-based philanthropy for SDGs, and crowd funding through digital philanthropy;
- Underpin multi-stakeholders partnerships in ensuring the creation of inclusive financial services which open up access for the marginalised to fully participating in the economy and benefit from development;
- Strengthen the multilateral system for effective global coordination, responses
- and solutions to address the multifaceted crises and challenges arise from interconnectedness, interdependency and complex global governance;
Invite business sector and other relevant stakeholders to utilize their innovation and promote creative economy to contribute in addressing sustainable development challenges through the implementation of more sustainable consumption for Sustainable Development; Production patterns, and to engage with parliaments as strategic partners in development process.
We extend our appreciation to the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, as the founder of the WPFSD, for its relentless efforts in promoting the achievement of SDGs, while express our gratitude to the IPU President for continuously supporting the WPFSD. We call upon all Parliamentarians to continue to actively engage in substantiating and holding the regular events of the WPFSD.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th July, 2020.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. MAVETERA, the House adjourned at Twenty Six Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 7th July, 2020
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
VACANCY IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. SPEAKER: On 1st July, 2020, Parliament Was Notified By ZANU (PF) Party that Hon. Killer Zivhu, Member of the National Assembly for Chivi South Constituency had ceased to be a member of Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) Party (ZANU-PF) and therefore, no- longer represents the interest of the Party in Parliament with effect from 1st July, 2020.
Section 129 (I) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that, the seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the Member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or to the President of the Senate as the case may be, has declared that the Member has ceased to belong to it.
Pursuant to the above, I do hereby inform the House that a vacancy has arisen in the National Assembly by the operation of the law. The necessary administrative measures will be taken to inform His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the existence of the vacancy in line with Section 39(I) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], as amended.
PETITION RECIEVED FROM DEAF ZIMBABWE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House on Wednesday, 10th June, Parliament of Zimbabwe received a petition from Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, requesting Parliament to amend the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, Chapter 9:07 in order to protect the deaf as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and to domesticate the United Nations Convention on the rise of people with disability. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
PETITION RECEIVED FROM BUDIRIRO RESIDENTS WATER FOUNDATION
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that on Thursday, 18th June, 2020, Parliament of Zimbabwe received a petition from the Budiriro Residents Water Foundation requesting Parliament to call upon the City of Harare to account for the preservation of wetlands in Budiriro and to compel the Environmental Management Agency to protect wetlands in the area, among other issues raised. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Tourism.
PETITION RECEIVED FROM TAG A LIFE INTERNATIONAL
THE HON. SPEAKER: Further to that, I have to inform the House that on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2020, Parliament of Zimbabwe received a petition from Tag a Life International beseeching Parliament to urgently protect the constitutionally guaranteed rights of every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe, including the economically disadvantaged persons to basic primary and secondary education during Covid-19 pandemic.
The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education.
HON. P. ZHOU: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a point of privilege. I sadly inform this august House that some Members of Parliament (MPs), including me have not received their cars. With this COVID pandemic, how do we move Mr. Speaker Sir? No car, no fuel and sometimes no coupons as well.
Honestly, Mr. Speaker Sir, may you intervene on this urgent matter. Zvatiwomera. Zvavekuvhiringa kushanda kwedu. Hatichakwanise kuenda kumaconstituencies kwedu. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – [HON. SIKHALA: Hausikuziva kuti mari yakabiwa na Obedia Moyo here.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. P. Zhou, you have raised two important matters that affect the Hon. Members in total.
On the question of coupons, I think this happened the last time you were around where you were given half of your allocation – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
Order! I said the Hon. Member raised two issues. I have not finished. You received half of your normal allocation. This was brought to my attention and I asked the administration to explain and the indication was that Treasury had not disbursed sufficient funds for Parliament to pay for the coupons totally. When that was brought to my attention, I engaged Dr. Mangudya, the RBZ Governor and he expeditiously put in place some funding – forty, to get the coupons for the next batch and secondly to ensure that there was sufficient fuel for the Hon. Members. I think the garage that was assigned to do that was the one belonging to Hon. Shamu.
When I followed up the matter, all MPs who needed their fuel both diesel and petrol were given – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - You can ask for clarification. There is no point to shout. That is the information I got because I phoned and followed the matter. I was told that Hon. Members were in queues to collect their fuel.
On the question of vehicles, I have also engaged the RBZ Governor and last week he assured me that he was to put together the necessary foreign currency to back up the letters of credit which were used to ensure that the Hon. Members got their vehicles. That processes is ongoing. Regrettably, I must say the process has been very slow. As the Hon. Member indicated, the Hon. Members here present and all those that are not here require these vehicles so that they are mobile in their constituencies. I
I pledge to push the Governor of the Reserve Bank to squeeze the stone of foreign currency and see if the funds can be found expeditiously so that all members get their vehicles accordingly.
HON. MUSAKWA: On a point of clarification, some of us have constituencies which are very far from Harare – can the allocation from the service station be increased from 80 litres. We are only being given 80 litres. It is not enough for us to go and come back.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can the what?
HON. MUSAKWA: We are being given 80 litres per Member and our constituencies are very far.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Not according to your coupons?
HON. MUSAKWA: No, we are only being given 80 litres per member.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Alright, thank you for that clarification. Clerk! – [HON. WATSON: On a point of clarification Mr. Speaker!] – I deal with one Hon. Member at a time.
Thank you Hon. Musakwa, what you state is quite correct – I have checked with the Clerk. That is the time when you received less than what you normally get and I am assured that this week you should be able to get the full allocation plus what you are owed so that you are able to proceed to your constituencies accordingly.
HON. WATSON: Mr. Speaker Sir, as a matter of housekeeping and clarify; last week, we were allowed to attend committee meetings – one of my committee meetings is on a Monday and the second one is on a Tuesday. The fuel that was made available, however much it was, was only made available on Friday evening, to the best of my understanding.
It would have been extremely remiss of me to sit in a hotel until Friday to get fuel and then put my life at risk travelling at night. I think that when these things are arranged it should be done properly. As Member of Parliament, I am yet to access one litre of that fuel. It would be better if somehow these things were coordinated properly. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much, your observation is correct. There should definitely be better coordination in future. I have informed the staff that they should not wait until there is a crisis. We should be able to know by today and at the latest tomorrow, that all systems are running effectively on that matter. So your point is taken Hon. Watson.
HON. KASHIRI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, my issue was also on the fuel. I think that it has been expeditiously dealt with and we should not waste time. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for your indulgence. – [HON. TSHUMA: On a point of clarification Mr. Speaker Sir!] - On what? The Hon. Member has just sat down and he said that he is satisfied with the clarification. – [HON. TSHUMA: Yes, but I have a contentious one with regards to fuel allocation which I need clarity on.] – I have closed that issue. I cannot move in staccatos – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – If you have any issue, you approach the Chair. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
HON. MARKHAM: Thank you Hon. Speaker. On a point of privilege, I would like to bring up the same point that I brought up at least three times, and that is on the special investigations audit that was done by the City of Harare for land sales, leases and exchanges from October 2004 to December 2009, which we asked the Hon. Minister to present to us for the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. I wrote to you as well Mr. Speaker Sir and we have received nothing.
My concern Mr. Speaker is - I have it here, if the Hon. Minister the City of Harare cannot supply it then someone is hiding something. We would like that report. Thank you
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon. Markham. All forensic audits and other audits are by the Auditor-General and have got to be presented here in the august House in terms of Sections 11 and 12 of the Audit Act.
I had engaged the Hon. Minister and he said that he was looking into the matter. I will give him the last chance to bring that forensic audit to this august House. Thank you for the reminder.
HON. SIKHALA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir!
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hold on, just a minute.
HON. SIKHALA: Mr. Speaker Sir, three weeks ago before the adjournment of this House, there was a question that was raised by Hon. Lynette Karenyi which I later supplemented. You informed this House that you were going to read the statement that was issued by Hon. Kazembe Kazembe concerning those people who had been alleged to be coup plotters in our country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, you promised that you were going to study the statement and after studying it, you were going to bring your ruling to this House. Mr. Speaker Sir, as an astute legal practitioner – when you give yourself a dies induciae – I think you know what it means that you must fulfill it. You promised us two weeks and it is now three weeks; and we are expecting you to deliver your findings if you had given yourself the opportunity to read the statement that was delivered by Hon. Kazembe Kazembe. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member. You use jaw breakers – [Laughter.] – of the legal profession. Your point of order Hon. Sikhala, indicates to me abundantly clear that some of the Hon. Members do not read the Hansard. That statement was made and if you can check with your Hansard, you will see the response accordingly. It was done as promised.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move that Order of the Day, No. 1 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 2 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BILL [H.B. 11, 2019]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on Second Reading of the Constitutional Court Bill [H.B. 11, 2019].
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I wish to respond to the debate on my Second Reading speech of the Constitutional Court Bill and I want to start by thanking the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for their detailed report. Mr. Speaker Sir, now allow me to respond to some of the issues that arose during the debate. I will start by addressing those recommendations from the Committee.
The first was that there should be a sub - clause in the Bill to empower the Deputy Chief Justice to exercise the powers and functions of the Chief Justice in the absence of the later. Hon. Speaker, Section 116 (1) provides for the composition of the Constitutional Court and the same section 166(1) (a) provides that the court consists of “the Chief Justice” and the Deputy Chief Justice are included there. The creation therefore of the office of the Deputy Chief Justice makes it crystal clear that the position is not ceremonial; it is a constitutional position within our Constitution. The Deputy Chief Justice therefore acts on behalf of the principal in his absence. If you look Hon. Speaker at the provisions of Clause 4 of the Bill, it provides that the court’s composition shall be as specified in section 166(1) of the Constitution. This means they shall be a Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and 5 other judges. Of importance are the provisions of section 181(1) of the Constitution which provides that...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, the Hon. Member Hon. Chihururu, can you respect the rules of COVID - 19 and your colleague next door there, you are shouldering each other. I do not know why – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for always reminding us that COVID is still with us. I respect the intervention in that regard. Mr. Speaker, I was speaking about the office of the Deputy Chief Justice, that it is already catered for and I had given a preamble looking into the constitutional provisions and I was going to my next section to say that of importance are the provisions of section 181(1) of the Constitution which provides that if the office of the Chief Justice is vacant or if the office holder is unable to perform the functions of the office, the Deputy Chief Justice acts in his or her place. From this, it is quite clear that as the Deputy Chief Justice, he or she shall have the powers to act in the absence of the Chief Justice. I therefore see no need to add a sub - clause to indicate that they should be given the powers that are already there. However, I want to thank the Committee for taking note of that and their concerns are already addressed in the Constitution and it is catered for.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the second recommendation was that during the hearings, if a judge retires, dies or is absent, where there is a difference in opinion the decision of the court should be suspended until an opinion of a further judge has been obtained. Clause 5 of the Bill provides for almost the same, it provides that if at any stage during the hearing of any matter, any judge dies, retires or is otherwise unable to sit as a member of the court or is absent, the Chief Justice shall, for that period, appoint an Acting Judge to sit in accordance with the provisions of section 166(2) of the Constitution as read with the provisions of section 166 (4) of the Constitution. So I submit Hon. Speaker that their concerns are also well catered for in Clause 5 of the Bill as well as the other constitutional provisions.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the third recommendation was that there should be a clause to allow experts to appear before the court as a friend of the court. Clause 4 which provides for the composition of the court provides that where the leave of the court is required in terms of the rules to appear as amicus curiae of the court, the matter may be heard by a Judge in Chambers or by such number of Judges as the Chief Justice may direct. Clause 17 gives the court the power to appoint if it is in the interest of justice. Any legal practitioner to appear as amiscus curae that is a friend of the court. These two provisions guarantee the appearance of friends of court and therefore, I submit that again their recommendation is also in the Bill as it is.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the other recommendation was that any person acting in his own interest or on behalf of another person who cannot self - act as a member in the interest of a class or a group should be allowed to institute proceedings. Section 69 (3) of the Constitution confers on every person a right of access to courts for the resolution of any dispute. Section 85 (1) of the Constitution which is a provision on enforcement of fundamental human rights and freedoms states that the following people are entitled to approach a court alleging that a fundamental right or freedom has been infringed:
- a) any person acting in their own interest;
- b) any person acting on behalf of another person who cannot act for themselves;
- c) any person acting as a member in the interest of a group or class of persons;
- d) any person acting in the public interest;
- e) any association acting in the interest of its members.
Hon. Speaker Sir, it is as a result thereof that I concede that we can add these categories of persons to Clause 13 of the Bill which provides for right of audience.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is however important to bear in mind that this is only limited to assertion of rights in Chapter 4 of the Constitution. So, we can include it in Clause 13 for clarity so that people know that it is their right.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the last recommendation from the Committee I shall respond to is on the need for the Chief Justice to consult the Rules’ Committee when issuing practice directives for facilitation of proper dispatch and conduct of the business of the court.
I shall now respond on the issues raised by Hon. Members. Hon. Nduna raised that there must be permanent features in terms of Braille for those that are blind and also a permanent friend in terms of sign language. I think it is indeed a noble thing that the highest court in all constitutional matters should be inclusive and accommodative of persons with disability. This however, I am of the view that it is an operational matter which does not need us to enact. The Chief Justice and the Judicial Service Commission can ensure that this is done. It is very much progressive and it can be dealt with at operational level.
Hon. Mavhunga raised that the Chief Justice’s role should be purely administrative as far as the Supreme Court is concerned and only sit in the Constitutional Court. If we go to the Constitution, Sections 166 (1) (a), Section 168 (1) (a) and Section 170 (a) states that the Constitutional Court and the High Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice among others. The composition and the roles of the Chief Justice cannot be limited in this Act without violating the same Constitution that established the Office of the Chief Justice and the Constitutional Court. I therefore submit Hon. Speaker, that we do not need to limit in this Bill the roles of the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court.
Hon. Mavhunga also raised that there should be no need to seek leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court – there should be an appeal as of right. Again Hon. Speaker, my response is that Section 167 (5) (b) of the Constitution provides that rules of the Constitutional Court must allow a person when it is in the interest of justice and with or without leave of the Constitutional Court to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court from any other court. It is important to note two things from the provisions of this Section. The first thing is that it is the rules of the Constitutional Court which should provide for such and not the Bill. So, I think Hon. Members need to separate what has to be in the rules and what we need to put in the Bill. So, I submit that this has to be covered in rules.
The second thing is that direct appeal should be allowed if it is in the interest of justice. To further buttress the first point, it is also of importance that the Constitution in Section 167 (4) enables an Act of Parliament to confer power to make rules of the court. It is clear therefore that the issue of direct appeal as opposed to seeking leave is a procedural issue which should be addressed in the rules and not in this Bill. I would like to further refer to the current rules of the Constitutional Court Hon. Speaker Sir. The rules in Rule 21 provides for matters which do not require leave of court. These are:
- a) disputes concerning an election of the President or Vice President;
- b) disputes relating to whether or not a person is qualified to hold the office of President or Vice President;
- c) referrals from a court of a lesser jurisdiction;
- d) determinations on whether Parliament or the President has failed to fulfill a constitutional obligation;
- e) appeals in terms of Section 175 (3) of the Constitution and an order concerning the Constitutional validity or invalidity of any law.
- f) Again where the liberty of an individual is at stake;
- g) challenges to the validity of a declaration of a state of public emergency or an extension of a state public emergency – those are the provisions in that Section.
Hon. Speaker Sir, I therefore humbly submit that there is no need to make changes in that regard.
Hon. Mavhunga also suggested that there should be right of accused person who is in custody and must be allowed to be present when his or her case is heard in the Constitutional Court, if the accused person can afford the cost. Mr. Speaker Sir, indeed our Constitution in Section 69 (3) confers on every person the right of access to courts for the resolution of any dispute. Again the Constitution in Section 70 (g) confers the right on accused persons to be present when being tried. The provisions of Section 70 (g) are limited to criminal trials and cannot be interpreted to extend to ascertainment of rights before the Constitutional Court. Appeals are usually decided on papers and do not need oral evidence – that is the presence of the accused in terms of appeals is not necessary.
The provisions of Clause 12 of the Bill echoes with the suggestions of the Hon. Member. Sub-clause (3) of the Bill provides that a person who is in custody, whether or not he or she is legally represented, shall not be entitled to be present at the hearing of his or her appeal or any application made by him or her to the court except with the leave of the Judge. The Bill in Subclause (4) goes further to state that the right of a person who is in custody to be present at the hearing of any matter referred to in subsection (3) shall be subject to he/she paying all expenses of and incidental to his or her transfer to and from the place where the court sits.
I therefore, do not necessarily see the need to make changes in this regard. Hon. Mavhunga, Hon. Chinyanganya and Hon Phulu also raised the fact that constitutional cases should not be dismissed on technicalities. Hon. Phulu pointed out the provisions of Section 85 which provides for enforcement of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Section 85 (3) (b) provides that rules of court must ensure that formalities relating to proceedings, including their commencement should be kept to a minimum. Paragraph (c) further provides that rules must ensure that the court, while observing the rules of natural justice is not unreasonably restricted by procedural technicalities. It is important as Hon Phulu noted that Section 85 (3) states that the rules of every court must provide for procedure to be followed in cases and the issues of procedural technicalities and formalities should be addressed in the rules.
Section 26 of the Bill empowers the Chief Justice to make rules of the court. I so submit that the issues that Hon. Members raised shall be addressed in the rules.
Hon. Members who debated also raised that litigants should be allowed to approach the Constitutional Court even if they can get redress anywhere. The Bill in Clause 23 provides that the court may decline to exercise its powers in relation to any claim for redress pounded upon by the contravention of the Constitution if it is satisfied that adequate means of redress for the contravention alleged are or have been available to the person concerned under other provisions of the Constitution or any other law.
The scope of the court authority to hear cases is restricted to constitutional matters and issues connected with decisions on constitutional matters. It is not cast in stone that all cases will be declined where there is a remedy elsewhere. The Bill says the court may decline to exercise its powers; the aim being to urge litigants to exhaust all available remedies first. We do not to clog the Constitutional Court with matters that can be dealt with by other court hence this provision that the court may decline to exercise its powers – if another court exist which can competently deal with the matter then it is prudent to do so. We should note that constitutional litigation is rather costly in terms of time and resources.
There was concern on the use of English as an official language in the Constitutional Court. Let me start by emphasising that there is no language that is inferior to the other, according to our Constitution. The recognition of languages is in Section 6 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe is no small matter. It is a very big improvement. It is a matter of such importance that our Constitution has been translated in all the official languages. We have endevoured to ensure that we translate our Constitution to almost all the languages because we respect the need to recognise all the languages.
It is not a secret that in Zimbabwe, English is the language of record as it seems to be the language that is common among a majority of Zimbabweans. This however does not preclude other languages. Section 6 (2) of the Constitution provides that an Act of Parliament may prescribe other languages as officially recognised languages and may prescribe languages of record. This means that languages of record for any institution or purpose, including the Constitutional Court proceedings, may be prescribed in an Act of Parliament. The use of other languages other than English as official languages has however its complexities that I am sure every one of us can appreciate. This does not in any way prevent the fine tuning of a language policy that is inclusive and that satisfies every citizen in the country. In the absence of specific legislation prescribing any language as language of record which is what we need. We need to have certain languages prescribed like what they do in South Africa – they Afrikaans and English that are prescribed as languages of record.
With that, I believe that I have responded to issues raised by Hon Members. Again, I want to thank them for the robust debate for deep understanding of what we want to do. I move that the Bill be now read a second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave, forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BILL [H.B. 11, 2019]
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 3 put and agreed to.
On Clause 4:
HON. B. DUBE: I have an issue of gender equality in the Constitutional Court composition. I know the provisions of the Constitution are already clear in terms of the aspect of gender balance and gender representation, but the Bill is silent although there is an assurance that something can happen in the Constitution itself in terms of appointment. It is my insistence that there is no harm in this Bill clearly specifying that in the composition of the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, the composition shall be in form of a zebra mechanism.
I know there will always be a debate that it is already covered elsewhere, but I am saying if we repeat it for the second time in this Bill is there any harm? My view is that there is no harm, so it must sound in that fashion. I know that there is always that perception that it is already there somewhere, but my view is that we do not get any prejudice Hon. Minister, if we just address that and make sure that if we have a Chief Justice who is male, the deputy be female zvichingodaro. Thank you.
HON. KWARAMBA: This is seconded Minister.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Hon. Chair, my learned Honourable sekuru is totally misdirecting himself. I will explain why I am saying so. If you go to Clause 4, Composition of the Court, Subsection (1) the court’s composition shall be as specified in Section 166 (1) of the Constitution and if you go there it clearly states that there must be gender balance, so I do not know what he wants which is different from this. When we are legislating we do not unnecessarily repeat things for the sake of repeating. We clearly captured it by indicating - go to Section 166 (1) and it will tell you how exactly it is supposed to be done. I submit.
HON. MADIWA: Thank you Hon. Minister I stand to be corrected. Gender balance is different from zebra, where we are saying number 1 if it is male, the second is female, but when we are saying gender balance, the females can be at the last where we have one, two, three males. So we want the advantage of the zebra which is not specified in the Constitution.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Chair it is totally rejected. What is provided here covers what they want. The Constitution has clearly laid out that in any appointment, gender balance not zebra must be done. So, I do not have to go against the Constitution and introduce a provision that is outside the constitutional provisions. You will recall there were very progressive recommendations that were made, but they would entail that we need to change the Constitution.
I believe this is sufficiently catered for; we need to observe as far as possible gender balance, not zebra. We cannot appoint Constitutional Court justice on the basis of a zebra but on the basis of gender equality, depending of the caliber of people that have applied. We will not go shopping for people just because we want to ensure that there is a zebra at the Constitutional Court I am very glad that if you go and look at the composition of our judges as it is now; we have tried as much as possible to ensure that there is gender balance, but what we will not do is a zebra. A zebra is only provided for when you are appointing the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice where it clearly states that where the Chief Justice is female, the deputy must be a male and that is catered for. As for the other five, we try as much as possible to comply with the constitutional provision. Thank you.
Clause 4 put and agreed to.
Clauses 5 to 12 put and agreed to.
On Clause 13:
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I promised Chair, that I would make reference to that which I will concede. Madam Chair, Clause 13, Right of Audience, says ‘subject to any law’. I propose ‘subject to any law and Section 85 Subsection (1) of the Constitution’ so that it takes care of his concerns. So I want it to read ‘Subject to Section 85, Subsection (1) of the Constitution and any other law.’ I thank you.
Amendments to Clause 13 put and agreed to.
Clause13, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 14 to 27 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 3 to 13 be stood over until Order of the Day Number, 14 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 53RD SESSION OF THE ACP PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY AND THE 37TH SESSION OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
HON. P. MOYO: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Report on the 53rd Session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and the 37th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
HON. PRISCILLA MOYO:
INTRODUCTION
Meetings of the 37th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly were convened in Bucharest, Romania from 18 to 20 March 2019 at the Palace of Parliament.
The following Members, Officer and Officials from the Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe attended:-
Hon. Rtd. General Michael R. Nyambuya, Deputy President of the Senate and Head of Delegation;
Hon. Priscilla Moyo, Member of Parliament;
Hon. Trevor Saruwaka, Member of Parliament;
H.E. Mr. Tedius T. Chifamba, Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Belgium;
Ms. Rudo N. E. Doka, Acting Principal Director – External Relations;
Mrs. Chingono, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official; and
Mr. Obvious Muchenu, Security Aide to the Deputy President of the Senate.
The ACP Assembly and the ACP – EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly considered the resolutions that had been drafted by the three Standing Committees:-
The strategic significance and dimension of the ACP-EU partnership;
- The possibilities of renewable energies in bringing sustainable economic development to ACP countries and particularly to remote areas; and
- Reducing the global number of out-of-school children, adolescents and youth in ACP countries.
OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY
Hon. Joseph Owona Kono, Co-President of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, alluded to the distinct potential by the ACP – EU Assembly to play a decisive role in shaping global governance and decision-making in international fora and that this must be leveraged in a more consistent and institutionalised manner, based on mutual interests and priorities.
He urged the Joint Parliamentary Assembly to reaffirm its commitment to the protection of the planet as was agreed by the Paris Agreement on climate change, which underscores the importance of multi-lateral approaches in addressing such challenges to enhance sustainable development for ACP Countries.
Hon. Louis Michel, Co-President of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, started his speech by sincerely thanking Romania for hosting the 37th Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) and their commitment to development cooperation. He referred to Global Compact on Migration, climate change, environmental crimes, the rule of law in ACP-EU countries, as well as the impact of Brexit on the ACP-EU partnership as some of the topics to be discussed.
Mr. Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, President of the Senate of Romania, welcomed the delegates to Romania and pledged the Romanian Presidency’s commitment to continue the work of its predecessors during the Post-Cotonou negotiations with the ACP.
He emphasised the need for collaboration; to base the future development cooperation framework on the 2030 Development Agenda; the need to reflect and adapt to the new challenges and opportunities of a permanently changing global context; and to leave no one behind. He subsequently declared the 37th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly officially open.
Commissioner Neven Mimica, Member of the Commission responsible for international cooperation and development, alluded to the fact that since the launch of the Post-Cotonou negotiations, important milestones had been reached along the way. She highlighted the new fundamental element of the Post-Cotonou, which makes the partnership more in tune with regional realities. Actions, therefore, need to target different regions and different peoples’ needs so as to achieve more and be more effective.
The JPA was updated on the following strategic priorities that the technical teams are currently drafting:-
- Human and social development;
- Environment and climate;
- Peace, security, governance and human rights;
- Economic development, migration and mobility;
- Trade and investment; and
- Research, innovation and technology.
The Principle of regional protocols was accepted and discussions on the tailored partnerships with Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific are expected to commence soon, thus giving the partnership a new strategic dimension. The African Union (AU) will involve AU mandated experts in the negotiations on the African Regional Protocol.
In her remarks, Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, applauded the JPA for providing a platform to promote dialogue, cooperation and partnership and called on member countries to intensify the collaboration as we continue to address contemporary and emerging challenges.
She highlighted the implications of Brexit insofar as they might affect EU-ACP cooperation with the Commonwealth and pledged to strengthen existing areas of collaboration and explore new ways to help strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to deepen and benefit from their special relationships with the EU and the United Kingdom.
THE STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE AND DIMENSION OF THE ACP-EU PARTNERSHIP
The Committee on Political Affairs noted that the expiry of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement in 2020 was fast approaching and the need to negotiate a new mandate for the future ACP – EU partnership is inevitable.
Whilst the parties agree that the main objective of the ACP-EU cooperation stated in Part 1 of the Cotonou Agreement continues to be relevant and parties want to maintain it, climate change, migration and terrorism are some of the most urgent issues that need to be addressed by the new framework. The need for a new over-arching and legally binding framework that builds on the partnership’s previous achievements and shared values cannot be overemphasised. The parties noted that the partnership had not fully delivered the intended results and it is against this background that the Committee adopted the following resolutions:-
The forthcoming partnership should include clear targets and measure success based on poverty reduction outcomes;
The parties called for greater action to combat tax evasion and avoidance which deprives them of vast amounts of income;
They advocated for a future partnership that will allow for asymmetrical terms of trade, defended at the multilateral level with the World Trade Organisation in order to move away from a donor - recipient relationship;
Financial support will continue with a focus to improve the quality of health and education services and not to finance security and military programmes;
Tackling climate change at the global level should be a key component of the collaboration;
Emphasis will be laid on the digital dimension of the partnership including research, development and innovation;
A strong parliamentary dimension which focuses on greater scrutiny to ensure legitimacy and bring the partnership closer to the populations that it seeks to serve; and to facilitate a more comprehensive and transparent agreement by involving them at all stages of ACP-EU policies and activities, from planning and programming to implementation, monitoring and evaluation will be maintained; and
Political dialogue and the launch of discussions on human rights and democracy will remain a central pillar of the overarching framework.
While priority should be given to the industrialisation of ACP countries, concerns were raised about the political, economic and power imbalance between the EU and ACP Group and the risk of a regional split in the future agreement.
RESOLUTION ON THE POSSIBILITIES OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES IN BRINGING SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO ACP COUNTRIES, PARTICULARLY TO REMOTE AREAS
The ACP-EU agreed to ensure sustainable economic development through supporting improvements in national energy planning and taking into account all technologies, particularly in remote areas;
The EU was encouraged to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors in ACP countries but was urged to reduce dependency on fossil fuel imports and other renewable energy projects which have severe social and environmental consequences on water and food security;
The attainment of SDG 7 on ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable sustainable and modern energy by 2030 and SDG 13 on climate action as well as the Paris Agreement need to be considered as key for the development of renewable energies. Cross cutting concerns such as environmental sustainability, climate change objectives, gender and youth issues need to be mainstreamed; and
The European Investment Bank (EIB) should be encouraged to continue supporting projects that contribute towards the sustainable exploitation of renewable energy, with a view to supplying ACP communities with clean and affordable energy, particularly in remote regions.
REDUCING THE GLOBAL NUMBER OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND YOUTH IN ACP COUNTRIES
The Committee noted that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion and that an administrative identity is a prerequisite for access to education, with 95 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa without civil status and a legal identity. The benefits of education for the prevention of the transmission of poverty between generations in terms of health, equality and economic growth were highlighted.
It was in this regard that Hon. Rtd. General Nyambuya, leader of the Zimbabwean delegation, informed the meeting about Zimbabwe’s high literacy levels which he attributed to education assistance programmes offered by the Government of Zimbabwe.
The resolutions of the committee stressed the need to prioritise investment in education because it is a fundamental right, it is essential for the achievement of other SDGs, for economic development and reducing inequalities, for self-sufficiency, social inclusion, enhancing awareness of environmental protection and the expansion of green industries, the rule of law and conflict prevention. The EU and its member states were, therefore, called on to allocate 10% of their official development assistance (ODA) to education by 2024, and 15% by 2030. International donors need to prioritise aid for education and place it at the centre of development policies.
Education should start from the earliest possible age, address environmental issues and democratic engagement and the teaching of skills that are indispensable to adult life, such as financial management. In this regard, ACP countries were urged to place specific emphasis on educational programmes for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics and participation of all genders.
ACP countries were requested to place equity at the centre of their national education plans and ensure that hard-to-reach children and those excluded on the basis of their religion get the education they need. The report calls for all adolescents and youth to be able to access free and universal access to primary and secondary education and for sufficient public resources to be allocated for education.
Investment is needed in school infrastructure and equipment, especially rural or under populated areas, to ensure equal access to education for all without discrimination.
Training and in-service training of teachers should focus on their pedagogical knowledge and skills as well as their recruitment, remuneration and working conditions, in order to encourage them to stay in their posts and pass on knowledge to future generations.
The participation of families and communities in the development of their children is key to youth education outcomes.
ACP countries were called upon to treat out-of-school youths as a priority area, and aim for coordination among ministries and agencies, with technical assistance to be provided by the European Union if necessary.
ACP countries need to intensify efforts to equip all schools with clean and segregated toilet facilities and provide access to free sanitary products so that girls do not miss school. Age appropriate sex and relationship education on pregnancy, parental responsibility and parenthood for children should be encouraged. Curriculums should be broad-based to include education of sex, political systems and internet safety.
The African Union was applauded for the consistent steps taken to increase access to education and the quality thereof through Agenda 2063.
ISSUES AT STAKE AND CHALLENGES LINKED TO THE RULE OF LAW IN EUROPE AND THE ACP COUNTRIES
The JPA examined the challenges faced by both ACP and EU countries, which include persistent corruption, the media and freedom of expression, growing population and disinformation and unanimously called for joint measures to strengthen the rule of law and to tackle the challenges such as corruption and abuse of power, undue foreign influence on national elections and limitation of judicial independence.
The need to boost the capacities of developing countries and the cooperation between the EU and ACP countries in the fields of good governance, accountability, transparency and promotion of the rule of law, with a particular focus on the judicial, security sector reforms and strengthening of public administration was stressed. Development aid, technical assistance, training and the sharing of best practices were identified as some of the instruments to boost capacity.
In order to enhance investor confidence, a call was made for transparent law-making in the economic sphere, coupled with an independent judiciary, as a major contribution to sustainable economic development. Laws should pay particular attention to property rules, access to information and public accountability mechanisms and strengthen the oversight capacity and role of national ACP-EU Parliaments.
In order to genuinely address corruption and maintain citizens’ trust in state institutions, the need for sustained political will to tackle corruption and impunity was strongly reiterated.
The Joint Parliamentary Assembly recalled that the fundamental role of the legislature is to hold the executive to account and urged international and regional bodies to use their influence, expertise and support to assist national Parliaments in fulfilling this obligation. Cross party parliamentary dialogue to enhance national, regional and international parliamentary diplomacy to strengthen democratic institutions was underscored.
The promotion of inclusive, transparent and democratic elections and cooperation by the EU and ACP Member States to boost cooperation in the field of electoral processes was called for. The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was requested to make better use of the findings and recommendations of regional and international election observation missions and their follow up, which are key instruments to democratic capacity building.
Noting with concern the growing use of misinformation and propaganda on social media, the EU and ACP member states were urged to adopt effective policies to guarantee citizens’ access to reliable and quality information and to ensure that the rule of law and human rights are respected on the internet and in digital media. Enhanced cooperation in the digital governance field to address these challenges was called for.
In order to foster a culture of responsibility, human rights awareness, democracy and the rule of law, it was recommended that citizenship education be included in national education programmes from an early age.
ACP and EU Member States were called upon to strengthen national Parliaments, the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and the Joint Parliamentary Assembly’s role of providing oversight on the safeguarding of good governance, accountability and transparency.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL COMPACT ON MIGRATION
ACP and EU Members acclaimed the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and pleaded for its inclusion in the forthcoming new ACP-EU Partnership agreement as a way of addressing migration related challenges in a spirit of cooperation and mutual interest.
The meeting concurred that migration has always been in existence but a coordinated approach needs to be adopted to avoid human trafficking. Members recognised that migration policies need to be based on facts.
IS OUR ECONOMIC MODEL COMPATIBLE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
This presentation by the former Executive Director of the Convention on Climate Change focused on what politicians can do to implement the Paris Agreement effectively. It was revealed that only 16 out of the 180 countries that have signed the Agreement have designed strategies to achieve the objectives of the Agreement. He suggested that policy makers require systematic sustainability assessments of investments and that donors financially support the upfront investments in technology required to produce renewable energies. A positive revelation was that China and India, formerly reluctant countries, are now making significant strides to become sustainable economies.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES
Following the adoption of a resolution on wildlife crime at its previous session in Cotonou, Benin, the Assembly examined the broader issue of environmental crime, which includes illegal emissions into air or water, illegal dumping of waste on land or at sea and illegal logging and fisheries. The JPA noted that organised criminal networks are attracted to commit these crimes due to the lack of efforts to combat them and the low penalties incurred. There are also strong links between the perpetrators of environmental crimes with corruption, money laundering and trafficking in humans, drugs and weapons.
The ACP, EU, JPA called for the setting up of a strong legal framework on environmental crimes at the national, regional and international levels, and for the building of stronger capacity in ACP countries to fight such crimes, with support from the EU.
WORKSHOPS
The Romanian authorities organised two field trips; one to the Emergency Response Centre in Bucharest which centralises all emergency situations in Romania; the other field trip was to the Research Centre for the Quality Study of Food Products, University of Agronomic Sciences of Bucharest and the Centre for Advanced Research on Materials, Goods and Innovative Products.
YOUTH CONFERENCE
The conference attracted young Romanians who expressed concerns about the future of the planet, noting the inadequacy of actions by Governments against global warming. They cited gaps in areas that have already been implemented, such as recycling, where uptake of products made from re-used plastic is low. Furthermore, they stressed the need to consult the youth in the shaping of framework programmes and strategic planning against climate change.
WOMEN’S FORUM
The session of March 2019 focused on “Combating Women and Girls’ Trafficking in European and ACP countries.” Victims, mostly women, are exposed to sexual and labour exploitation and organ trafficking. Women are targeted primarily because they are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination. Governments’ lack of capacity to prosecute these crimes was discussed. The forum agreed that a global approach and coordinated action will be crucial in the future.
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY THE CO-PRESIDENTS OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY ON CYCLONE “IDAI”
The Co-Presidents expressed great sadness and dismay on the devastating effects of tropical cyclone “Idai” that affected Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, affecting 1.7 million people in Mozambique, over 920 000 in Malawi and over 500 000 people in Zimbabwe.
They alluded to an indefinite number of people who had been injured, hundreds of thousands who lost their homes and maize crops due to floods and the local economies and infrastructure had been virtually destroyed.
It was in this regard that the Co-Presidents and the ACP – EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, expressed profound sympathy and solidarity with the victims of this devastating cyclone and conveyed deep condolences to the relatives of the victims.
The international donor community was called upon to allocate emergency and natural disaster intervention aid funds, and to speed up humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The European Union was applauded for responding to the dire situation. In addition to the EUR 250,000 immediately mobilised in initial humanitarian assistance, an initial emergency aid package was decided on 19 March 2019 on the basis of a needs analysis for a total of EUR 3.5 million (2 million for Mozambique, 1 million for Malawi and 0.5 million for Zimbabwe). Moreover, the Copernicus satellite system had been activated to further identify needs and help humanitarian partners and local authorities.
They also reiterated the strong call for the international community to fight climate change and global warming, which have caused such terrible disasters. Once and for all, legally binding international obligations have to be put in place to limit the emission of carbon gases, which are responsible for this climate disruption that disproportionately affects poor people in developing countries.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity to second the report of the delegation to ACP/EU. I have institutional memory on the ACP/EU operations but I just want to bring the House up to speed as to exactly what this grouping is all about. A lot of Members might not be aware of why this grouping is there and what benefits Zimbabwe and the Africa Caribbean Pacific countries derive from such engagement. The ACP/EU Parliamentary Assembly which is JPA brings together members of the European Parliament and representatives of the Africa/Caribbean and Pacific States that have signed the Cotonou Agreement which is the basis for ACP/EU cooperation, development work. To that end, I hope that Hon. Members who had no knowledge and clue as to exactly what this is all about have grasped the gist of the matter.
Having said that - they confirm that they do now and thank you for allowing me an opportunity to take the Hon. Members on that trajectory in terms of educating them. There is a very important point that is brought about by the report of that Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the 37th JPA in Bucharest, Romania – the issue of renewable energy. My contribution towards that is that, wind energy for argument’s sake and nuclear energy which by the way because of the resources that we have, we could certainly derive a lot of wind and nuclear energy in terms of fatalities, for instance the avion, the birds, there is about 0.2 to 0.3 fatalities per giga watt hour of electricity generated. Whereas, fossil fuels which include energy derive from our coal and other materials that speak to and about the fossil fuel, about 5.2 fatalities per giga watt hour of electricity generated. It is key that we are only seen and had to be migrating from fossil fuels Mr. Speaker Sir because of the emission of greenhouse gasses which by the way deplete the ozone layer and in no time, we are going to be experiencing a lot in terms of global warming because of these fossil fuels. We should not only be seen to be talking about it but we should be walking the talk and who should be walking the talk?
First and foremost Mr. Speaker Sir, it is the developed nations that have a lot of these greenhouse gas emissions coming from these fossil fuels. It is not only my view and fervent hope that is going to help African countries in order to achieve agenda 2063 that they speak to and about but also to make sure that they help African nations in order that we extract our resources that are going to enhance our nuclear power generation and make sure that we divert and migrate from the fossil fuels.
The European countries Mr. Speaker Sir, will by the way have a lot of their infrastructure which is impeccable and derived from beneficiation and value adding our God given resources. They should also be seen to be walking the talk and making sure that they migrate to renewable energy. They should not only be tutoring up Africa in order that we achieve the SDGs 6 and 7 that have been spoken to and about and also our continental agenda that speaks to and about beneficiation and value addition in industrialisation premised on our God given natural resources. They should teach us how they have been beneficiating and value adding our resources. I take an example of Brussels which has impeccable, very clean underground trains. You would have institutional memory Mr. Speaker Sir, having criss-crossed the width and breadth of the European countries - Belgium in particular which beneficiated and value added the diamonds of DRC. By the way DRC is a former colony of Belgium. The streets of Belgium and Antwerp are so impeccable, premised on beneficiation and value adding of those resources Mr. Speaker Sir.
We should be capacitated and not only be tutored. Let them not only tutor us but let them migrate the equipment to African countries, assuming we are talking about the blue economy, let them give us the rods to fish. Let them not only talk about the blue economy as it relates to fossil fuel, let them give us the machinery to beneficiate and value add our resources so that we migrate completely from the fossil fuels and to renewable energy. I also want to say there should be a need and reason to walk the talk because the European Union itself championed by the ACP EU, JPA gathering - has set 20% migration from fossil fuels in 2020 as a benchmark, so that we are seen in that grouping to walk the talk. As we draw closer to the end of 2020, there is need to interrogate if we have reached that mark.
There is an issue that was also brought about in that report, the issue of sanitary wear for our girl child Mr. Speaker Sir. You would want to know that before Independence in Zimbabwe before the one-man one-vote of 1980, women were not treated as human beings. I am quite happy now and elated that at the highest level; the European Union, JPA and ACP finds time to talk about the girl child in Africa. After Independence we saw the advancement of the girl child but that advancement is about to be eroded and thrown into the doldrums and annals of history because there is no enough sanitary wear that is being given to the girl child. I applaud the presenter of the report in relation to the empowerment of the girl child.
If you want to demean somebody’s stature Mr. Speaker Sir, demean their confidence. If you do not provide sanitary wear to our girl child – by the way Mr. Speaker Sir, what men can do, women can do better. We are all born of a woman. I am plucking out of your words, you have always said we are all born of a woman and we should appreciate them in all our endeavours. I am surprised that women parliamentarians are not applauding this statement. Women alone should not have this “Phd” syndrome amongst them, because they formulate the majority of the population. It is my thinking if they held together even voting for another they could outsmart the men.
On the issue of sanitary wear, let us not demean our girl child at school going age by not providing sanitary wear. I am alive to the fact that Hon Misihairabwi-Mushonga once came here and made a clarion call for the Minister of Finance to open floodgates at the borders and bring in sanitary wear en masse, duty free, so that it can be handed over to our girl child. This is like national duty that the girl child undergoes monthly. I have been a man all my life and I have never gone through it what our girl child goes through. If I have not gone through, let us make sure we support our girl children so that in their quest to conduct this national duty, they do so with heads high above their shoulders without demeaning their confidence. They go and march slowly in their business either at school or at universities. By the way I am a He-for-She advocate and I want to champion the gender agenda and call for this sanitary wear to expeditiously immediately be distributed to the girl child without any monetary returns. I say this because we have 6794 girl - child age group in Chegutu West Constituency. I believe in that grouping because 62% are women. I certainly know that half of those are the girl child. I want - as we are empowering the nation through this report, we do not forget Chegutu West Constituency.
I want to thank you for giving me opportunity to vociferously, effectively and eloquently present a secondment to this report. I thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank your Mr. Speaker Sir for recognising me. May l also add my voice to this very important report on the 53rd Session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and 37th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Session. I found this report very informative and educative, particularly on issues concerning climate change. Climate change is a topical issue in the sense that the entire world, as a global village, is under threat because of the effects of climate change. Climate change manifests itself in a number of ways. Some of the manifestations of climate change are the issues of floods and cyclones destructions which cause throughout the world. We experienced floods through Cyclone Idai which was very dangerous. We lost life, property was destroyed and infrastructure was destroyed. So the provisions of this session of the APC Parliamentary Assembly were very important in that member countries, especially African countries, were urged to ensure that we have to make efforts to reduce the effects of climate change. One of the ways is to reduce fossil fuels then we adopt or embrace renewable energy which is very important in particularly reducing the impact on the ozone layer.
Other provisions include issues to do with education, that which is my next port of call. It was argued from the report that education should start from the earliest possible age. In this instance, we are talking of the ECD A and ECD B. It is in line with the provisions of the Dziramasango Commission which was implemented five years ago that early childhood development is very important in that the child will be equipped with skills at a very tender age. There is an adage that says catch them young and in this instance the Zimbabwean Government needs to be commended for introducing ECD A and ECD B and children are able to get reading skills and so forth which would enable them to mature academically.
The report also calls for adolescents and youths to have free and universal access to primary and secondary education. This is enshrined in the Zimbabwe Constitution. Section 75 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe makes it mandatory for the Government to provide free basic education and that is also in line with the provisions of the Education Amendment Act which was assented to last year by His Excellency the President.
The reports also talks about investments in school infrastructure. This is very important and indispensable, Mr. Speaker Sir. It is very important that infrastructure has to be upgraded. When we talk of infrastructure, we are talking of buildings and ICT gadgets which are very important particularly for children. It will help school learners to access and also to research which is very important particularly in the acquiring of education. These gadgets should also be provided in rural areas. It is sad that some of our rural areas do not have good infrastructure, particularly the satellite schools. I am sure the Minister of Finance and Economic Development should make some efforts to assist rural schools to have access to internet. Of late the Government is embracing on-line learning as one of the mitigatory measures against Covid-19, but in rural areas how many children or learners in my constituency Gokwe-Chireya can access e-learning because boosters are also very rare to find. Maybe we may have very few boosters, hence access to internet maybe also a challenge.
The report talks about training and in service training for teachers. Why is it important to involve manpower development? By manpower development we are talking about imparting knowledge to teachers. They need to have pedagogical and anagogical skills so they can deliver information to learners and those learners will have the skills to acquire or to learn on their own with very minimum support given by the teacher. That is also important but however, the report talks about incentives for teachers. I think that is what the Government of Zimbabwe is doing to engage teachers time and again and I need to applaud the Government for introducing the US$75 for civil servants. I am sure efforts should also be done in the near future to raise it to boost the morale of our teachers.
The report talks about reproductive health education. This is a very important aspect, particularly in Zimbabwe where the Education Amendment Act talks about access, teaching students about sexuality. They need to know reproductive health education and it will allow them to mature or to deal with sexually related problems. This health education is important from primary up to university level.
The report castigates corruption. This is one of the cornerstones of His Excellency the President’s clarion call that the people should avoid corrupt tendencies. Our President E. D. Mnangagwa is well known for saying corruption is bad. We have seen people who are in authority being sued or appearing in court for corruption. So we need to applaud our Government for respecting some of these provisions of this session. I think we need to clap hands to that clarion call to do away with corruption.
Finally, Madam Speaker Ma’am, may I thank you for affording me this opportunity to add my voice. Thank you.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank you for allowing me to add my voice to the report which is quite a commendable report from ACPU. It is a good report. As a teacher, I am happy because they spoke about education and other points that were mentioned by the previous speaker who mentioned that Government is doing a good job in taking children to school. The report also mentioned that in three or four years Zimbabwe is taking ECD A and ECD B children to school. The other point was free education through BEAM meaning that the Government of Zimbabwe values our children’s education because this is constitutional. Every child has a right to go to school.
We also heard that teachers should be properly trained and they should be properly remunerated. We also urge our teachers to expedite their duties with fortitude and also discharging their duties in that manner would allow our children to perform well. Children should also be empowered with vocational skills so that we will not see a lot of young people loafing around. The other thing is that projects like poultry and bee keeping and other vocational skills should be given to our children. The other point is that our education 5.0 which is normally vocational and skills based is a good model. We also know there are children who are not intellectually capacitated and some who are barred from going to school because of different reasons. These children should also be empowered with skills.
We also heard that parents should support schools. In other areas we have seen parents doing different projects through SDCs to develop their schools. We encourage this trend to continue in different schools.
We also noted that in other schools, they are making their own masks and engaging in various projects targeted at alleviating COVID-19. These skills should be empowered upon these children.
We also heard about toilets and that it is necessary for every school to have good toilets so that children can observe basic hygiene. Even young girls – Grade 4 to Form 6 should receive sanitary pads and for that, I would like to thank our Government. We also note that early pregnancies are an issue. Young girls should be taught and be empowered with skills so that they concentrate on their education instead of focusing on relationships.
According to the report, Agenda 63 encourages access to quality education. In Zimbabwe, we are blessed because our literacy rate is very high at 94% and this means that Government is doing a good job in empowering children with education. This again is because of different laws that were enacted by Government since we attained independence. I would like to appreciate this good report. I thank you.
HON. B. DUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the wonderful presentation which actually is very informative to this House on key deliverables as a House.
I will quickly move on to the first issue that I identified from the report which relates to the importance of education as well as incentives for the education practitioners or our teachers. I am sure that it is a serious call to this country as we currently experience a lot of disgruntlement in our education sector. It is my belief that the Government is learning and taking serious notes from the recommendations that are coming, where it is being indicated on a serious level that we need to have high incentivised education practitioners for the betterment of the quality of education because a person cannot give more than what they have. I believe that it is very important that at this point in time, the Government prioritises or takes the issue of education to another level by making sure that our teachers are incentivised.
I noted Hon. Moyo indicating that the USD$75.00 was a good start. Yes, I agree that it is a good start but we could do better. We can actually do much better than that in terms of making sure that the welfare of our teachers is made better. Incentives are even better than salaries, for example if you come up with housing or vehicle schemes for teachers. You are incentivising them in a way that is not very costly to you because you are saying, possibly every city must calculate how many teachers they have. Then in their housing programmes, they can come up with a mechanism where we are saying, for every thousand stands that are coming out in every city, a third goes to teachers. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Even if they are to pay in small installments – it is good.
We are saying that Government can come up with such policies without even incurring any cost or even to work with the motor industry and say, for the low income vehicles for teachers who may be willing to have cars, we can come up with a policy that would allow for teachers to have cars at zero deposit. We have seen that and I think in Botswana they do so for all their civil servants and there is not much from Government except issuing a guarantee letter that this person is employed by us. Then every 30 days we are going to deduct a certain amount from their income until the debt is settled. So it is my view that we can learn the aspect of how to incentivise professionals and make sure that from that, with low cost we may be able to have the best that we can from our teachers.
I will quickly move on to deal with the aspect on reproductive health. In this aspect, I will deal with three issues that go hand in hand – the issue of sanitary wear, reproductive health awareness itself as well as aspects relating to age of consent. I will start with the aspect on sanitary wear and quickly go to what Hon. Nduna indicated relating to why we need to make a cost to a woman for purposes of things that we can cushion? For example, the aspect on sanitary wear - do we really need morally as a Government to have import duty and say that we have earned money coming out from sanitary wear being imported if we are not manufacturing them and someone goes to South Africa and brings a consignment? Are we as a nation saying that we are proud to have a portion of tax coming from that? Are there no other assets that we can tax on and still cover this aspect?
It is my belief that if we are seriously genuine about this aspect we can forego the aspect of charging anything. Actually, we must encourage and motivate any organisation or individual bringing such equipment for women – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – to have a rebate even on their other businesses. For example, any business person who brings a consignment of this magnitude to the country will possibly be given a bonus of so much in terms of their taxes for having done national duty because everyone depends on that. We are all here because of these very women and if they are happy and their healthcare is taken care of, all these Hon. Members will be very happy when they come here; all these male Members of Parliament will be very happy. When you are coming from a home where your daughter, wife and everyone is happy – obviously you are also happy here. We have a very angry nation, possibly because we have not taken good care of our women and as a result, we are not being taken good care of and it boils down to these issues. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Then on the issues relating to active sexuality, we have an issue of controversy relating to the age of consent to sex. It is 16 years old and the person who is 16 years old is regarded as a child under parental care. They have already been informed that it is within their right to indulge at that age but they are under your roof. What they have been made aware of is mainly that they have that right but they have not been made aware to much of the negative consequences that are coming from this. So it is my call that there be a serious governmental policy where this aspect of awareness, even for those organisations that are inclining themselves in making sexual and reproductive rights awareness, that there be more emphasis on the issues of educating people on the consequences of indulging more than just telling people about the rights which are actually very dangerous if they are exercised without full knowledge because at the end of the day, the girl child will not be able to complete school since they may get pregnant early. I know for us who grew up in rural areas where schools were relatively far away, at 16 we were in form 2 or 3. That is not a good age to allow somebody to say they are free to exercise any of their rights and nobody can ask them. I know at that age you are not even aware of what can happen to you. You are not even the kind of person who will be able to appreciate the consequences that arise.
I am actually requesting that as a nation we may come up with a positive policy of awareness in terms of sexual and reproductive health in schools, not necessarily explaining the right to indulge in sexual intercourse at 16. What does it mean to say age of consent - it simply means you have a right to indulge in sexual intercourse. I do not think much emphasis must be put on this but much emphasis must be put on a person being made to comprehend and be aware of what they will be getting into and what they may actually live to regret if they do not do their things right. I believe this one is now covered and I will quickly go to the other aspect that I saw from this report.
Thank you Hon. Moyo for indicating the highlight relating to aspects of corruption; corruption is a serious cancer and as a nation we are actually suffering from this. I am happy that at global level, it is also an issue of concern but what it tells us is that although we have been told that this is a global issue, what we must ask ourselves is - what we have done as a nation to actually mitigate or eradicate corruption? My honest view and assessment is that we have done a little but there is a lot that needs to be done including but not limited to making sure that those people that are responsible for monitoring and preventing corruption are taken good care of so that they are also not serious victims of the same cancer.
How do we end corruption - you end it by coming up with a strong and independent Judiciary, a strong and independent prosecutorial process as well as strong and independent police force. Are we sure of the magistrates courts - because the majority of all our cases go to the magistrates courts. The majority of the magistrates that I know are not well positioned to deal with high corruption on the basis that they are not motivated themselves and they run a risk of being victims of corruption on their own through briberies and stuff. I am not alleging that they are but I am saying there is a high risk.
Also from our police officers, there is also again a higher risk. If the salary that they are saying they are earning is true, which is on an average of about USD35 to USD50, if you convert it with the current market which is prevailing, how do you expect a person who in 30 days is expecting USD50, to seriously cater for a nation and prevent billions from being lost through corruption? Is it not easy for that person to be bribed even with USD100 because you would have doubled their income by just one transaction? So instead of then blaming them for being highly corrupt, it is us actually who are making an enemy of ourselves by mocking the people that are supposed to be fighting our cause.
So it is my submission that we need incentives for the Judiciary, incentives for the police officers, and incentives for the Prosecutor General’s office. How do we do so? We can also again go to that same proposal that I made, which is low cost to the Government; make sure that they benefit from some housing schemes in the areas that they live in, they benefit from car schemes and where possible we increase their salaries to decent salaries so that they are motivated to work. A majority of them may not necessarily resort to corruption but they will just relax. They will not work or they will spend much of their time selling the little wares. A majority of them that I know are now into chicken business. So as you go to their offices for assistance, the first thing that they are telling you is that they have broilers for sale. They are concentrating much on the ‘broilers for sale’ as opposed to the issue that you came with to their station. It is my submission that we need to incentives all these people for them to be able to work and work well for our nation. Corruption cannot be dealt with by rhetoric; it needs positive action that incentivises those that are most responsible.
Lastly, I will deal with the issue relating to renewable energy and environmental management. On this one, I will not over emphasize except to say that as a country, we are lagging behind and we are very far away from the goals that we had set ourselves. Actually, I am meant to believe that Zimbabwe is one of the areas that is naturally blessed with sunlight, I do not know if we have managed by now to have any serious solar system for our electricity except for the one that was supposed to be done in Gwanda, which is actually a subject for other discussion that I was talking about, of corruption. How do we fail to just harness solar, we get it in abundance. This is one of the countries where we have free sunshine for more than nine hours in a given day except in cloudy days, that is the only time where we may have limited sunshine. By and large, we have abundance of it. What is it that is required - very little.
In terms of power arising from wind, it is also something that is very simple to come up with. You have areas like the Somabula and Gwanda areas where the terrains are flat and you can come up with mechanisms for that. Where are we now? We are actually over-investing in reverse on the energy that we are supposed to do away with, this aspect of the petrol and this blending thing which is actually more disastrous, but we are investing more on it. We are investing more on things that we should actually be doing away with.
So it is my submission that we need to show that we are serious and we need to do so by making sure that the solar system is actually put in place and I hope Hon. Chasi when he comes, will tell us that Mr. Chivhayo would have started doing what he promised to do and if not, we will have a serious issue.
On the environment lastly, I will just submit that I come from Midlands where I have seen a lot of environmental degradation along the way especially in Shurugwi, Zvishavane and Kwekwe areas. On this aspect of environmental management, I will actually insist that the Ministry of Environment must actually give us a serious response to the issues because as far as we are concerned, we are in danger and I am sure Kwekwe City is reported to be a city that may sink anytime because of this lack of proper environmental management. So it is my submission that when we attend to these forums, like that one that we brought a report for, when we come back we must also seriously implement what we would have learnt there. We need to make sure that all those open casts that we see along the highways are properly managed and rehabilitated.
Finally, I just want to say thank you Madam Speaker, for giving me this opportunity and I also want say thank you to the Member who brought a wonderful report which gives us an opportunity to self introspect.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Moyo for her comprehensive report and I would also want to appreciate the different speakers who contributed positively. Looking at the report, I note that according to what Hon. Moyo said, our Government is doing a lot in different aspects that were mentioned in the report despite the challenges that we are facing as a country.
We know the source of our challenges and we know the challenges that we experience in our environment and those faced by young ladies. However, we need to appreciate what the Government is doing as Hon. Members of Parliament and also as citizens of Zimbabwe. I also note that looking at climate change, our Government is playing a key role in educating people pertaining to climate change in different environments, particularly the challenges that we faced in Chimanimani and the effects of Cyclone Idai what we were supposed to do and also if we are going to build our homes, how we should identify safe areas. This to me reflects that people need to know what they are expected to do, especially when they are educated by the Civil Protection Unit and also what we should do to protect our people from the effects of climate change. I appreciate the report and looking at EMA, which was founded by our Government so that people become aware of the environmental issues; particularly cutting down trees and the punishments given to perpetrators of environmental crimes; this was done by our Government and this augurs well with Hon. Moyo’s report. If we combine the report with what Government is doing, then we will be progressive as a nation.
I noted that Government is doing a lot, particularly in educating people despite the sanctions that we are facing so that teachers have better livelihoods. Government is also trying and right now the value of our local currency is depreciating comparing to other currencies, particularly the US dollar. However, Government intervened so that the civil servants benefit from Government initiatives. If teachers are remunerated well, our children will learn in a conducive environment. I also noted the issue regarding reproductive health, particularly sanitary wear.
Looking at the previous annual budget, the Government allocated a substantial amount towards the provision of sanitary wear and what is needed right now is that the relevant Minister should come and address the issue so that students get sanitary wear. This is a divine occurrence which affects women. I would also urge Government to continue adding more money to the budget on reproductive health, particularly the needs of the girl child and our Zimbabwean women. So, I suggest that as Hon. Members of Parliament, we need to know and understand that Government is doing its part on that issue. If we are capacitated in any way, then we need to continue educating the nation regarding the issue.
Regarding corruption, we know that our Government introduced the Anti-Corruption Commission and the President normally talks about corruption and he says that it is a cancer which destroys the nation. So in fighting corruption, I agree with various speakers who spoke before me. When there is corruption, it leads to other people being affected because some benefit despite not working and some get more money than others despite the fact that they might be doing the same job. This at times disheartens some workers and so I would like to appreciate the Government for introducing the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and I would like to urge the Commission to continue doing the good job that they are doing. We know that the Commission has also been seen prosecuting even senior officials.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the fact that looking at the report, we have noticed that our Government has the task of doing all the aspects that were mentioned in the report but there is nothing that emanated from the report that we are not doing and even starting from the first level to different levels and right now we are doing something. So, my plea is that this august House should work with our Government so that we ensure the safety of our nation particularly our children, our environment and the empowerment of organisations like EMA so that they protect our environment; organisations like the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission so that they continue protecting the nation’s resources. All these things must be continuously done. Even as Parliament, we need to continue supporting what the Head of State desires, particularly the total eradication of corruption. I know that those who normally participate in corruption do not want to do away with corruption. So, I would urge Government to continue prosecuting those who engage in corrupt activities.
Lastly, I would like to say that this report should culminate in the creation of opportunities that will allow Hon. Members to go to different sectors and analyse how those sectors are performing so that our nation can be progressive. I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I would like to thank and appreciate the report that was presented to the House. A lot of issues were mentioned and I will not repeat what has been touched on. I want to touch on human trafficking. It was mentioned that women are vulnerable and they are mostly victims of human trafficking because out of desperation, some look for jobs that are advertised on social media and they end up being enslaved. I would like to thank Government for exposing the Kuwait cartel because the perpetrators of that crime are in jail right now. Government is doing a good job and it has eyes to see such activities. There is need to assist women so that there is alleviation of poverty even during this COVID-19 era. Government and different women’s organisations should ensure that women engage in profit making activities so that they are not taken advantage of.
The other issue that I want to speak about is the issue regarding our environment, particularly renewable energy. Many women in rural areas are cutting down trees which lead to deforestation. Indeed nowadays it is cold and if you do not have electricity, you end up looking for alternative forms of energy like cutting down trees. We see cars carrying firewood and this issue needs to be looked into so that the nation does not use firewood. We need an alternative form of energy. My suggestion is that since we have a lot of waste, be it human or litter, we need to build biogas digesters so that we generate electricity instead of complaining about dumping sites that are overflowing with waste. Different councils should go to dumpsites and council workers are aware of this. They should be capacitated so that waste will begin to generate electricity and income. That is my plea.
Regarding corruption which has been spoken about by various Hon. Members, we know women are people who are law-abiding but I would like to appreciate Government for doing a good job in eradicating corruption. The other point is that during national disasters like this pandemic, there must be a special fund and social safety nets for women so as to eradicate poverty. This may minimise the chances of them committing suicide as a result of abuse and poverty. I would like to request that women and girl children be prioritised and be given a budget so that they are empowered. With these few words, I would like to thank you madam Speaker.
*HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: I would like to thank Hon Moyo for presenting this crucial report. I would like to thank our Government particularly on the education sector for introducing ECD A and B. However, it is important to analyse our education system by looking at school preparedness or readiness. We need to go back to zero - grade 3 category and understand what the mother who is raising the child is eating, how she is living because these are issues that might affect these young girls which might even affect the kindergarten. So, we need to look at the new concept of school readiness so that we analyse how prepared we are when our children go to ECD.
However, we have also noted that research shows that at two years of age, a child begins to reason and as such they need to go to ECD A and B in the right state of mind. The other thing that was done by Government which is a good initiative is BEAM. BEAM is quite crucial because it assists vulnerable children, disabled, orphans and those who are from child headed families. What needs to be corrected is the identification of beneficiaries of BEAM in different schools and communities. In other cases, those who are close to the SDC, teachers and heads seem to be benefiting. If that is corrected, then many children will benefit from that and there will not be any drop outs. There is need to look at the disabled children and afford them a chance to go to school. As Members of Parliament from different constituencies, we know that there are many children who are disabled and who are not going to school, these children must also benefit from such initiatives so that they are able to go to school.
Lastly, I would like to look at the provision of food in schools. After this COVID pandemic, a lot of households are suffering and this might result in other children not going to school. Even when they go to school, they must not just receive mealie-meal without any relish but I would like to urge Government to add upon that which it is giving to primary and secondary schools so that we do not find children staying at home.
HON. I. NYONI: My contribution on the ACP-EU report presented by Hon Moyo touches on the highlights and aspects that are peculiar to our country and I will briefly touch on three things because most of the items have been covered by other Hon. Members. I will touch on the issue of clean energy, corruption and last but not least on the issue of security sector.
On the issue of renewable energy, we were aware that Zimbabwe is blessed with plenty of sunshine which can be used to generate solar energy. You will recall last year during the drought that the Zambezi River which was being relied upon for hydro- electric power was quite low and that gave the country quite a deficit in energy. However, with solar, the sun is always there. So what is important is for the sun to be harnessed to create solar energy. It is also important that incentives and subsidies are put in place to encourage the use of solar energy.
We recall the Minister of Energy and Power Development had highlighted before they were trying to encourage the use of solar energy. However, my observations have been that it is quite expensive to set up the solar power because some of the items need to be important and therefore it is important to encourage the local manufacture of things such as solar panels, solar batteries as well as invertors. At the moment some of these items come in duty free - we are looking at these solar panels and invertors, however batteries still attract some duty. I recall the Minister had indicated that duty would be removed but up to today it is still attracting 20% duty and you also need an import licence to get those batteries in.
So that is an impediment as it is, although I have also highlighted that we need to get some of these things manufactured locally so that it might reduce costs as well. However with a subsidy, if it is put in place so that these items are affordable, it will encourage many people to use solar. In rural areas we all know that they use bush pumps to pump water. Solar powered pumps would also go a long way in alleviating the water problem. Schools in rural areas for lighting and other purposes, the readily availability of solar if it is used, will help quite a long way as well.
I will proceed to corruption. Corruption is a cancer. We all know it is eroding the moral fabric of our society in Zimbabwe as well - corruption is across the board; it is not only within the police. We have corruption at ZIMRA, the Judiciary, parastatals and in the private sector - it is all there. However, I will just give two examples such as the police and ZIMRA. In the case of our police, we all know that they are totally incapacitated. You will find a police station without a vehicle, without fuel and some of the basic necessities that are required. You will find a policeman requesting a lift from a member of the public and when he is asked to go and investigate a case, he will first say where will I get transport. So such issues cause corruption in a big way.
Officers at ZIMRA - if they are not well remunerated, definitely they will collect the revenue for themselves instead of collecting most of it on behalf of our country. So those are some of the important issues that need to be looked into – remuneration and proper tools of trade.
However, I would like to commend the Government for setting up the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission. Although it is there, I believe it is still incapacitated to prosecute some of these corruption cases. It is important that ZACC is capacitated accordingly so that they are able to successfully prosecute these cases. This might also send examples to those would be corrupt people to stop doing so. At the moment, although the cases have been identified, very few cases have been prosecuted successfully, like what my colleague highlighted before -the solar energy issue in Gwanda. That was not well prosecuted and other cases.
Lastly but not least, the security sector. In that report there was a highlight on the human rights aspect. In terms of Section 481 of our Constitution, citizens have a right to life. In my constituency for example we have had fatal shooting of one Paul Munakopa, a young man who had a promising future ahead of him by our police. We also had a case at Cowdray Park where some innocent young ladies were beaten up by police during this Covid-19 period. Recently we had a case in Chitungwiza where a young man was also shot by the police. So it is very important that the training for our security sector, particularly the police - that the human rights aspect of the training, be included in the curriculum for the police.
In terms of Section 219 of our Constitution, it is also quite clear that the setting up of the police/client service charter on which it is based - the duty of the police is to protect citizen’s lives and the lives of our properties. However, if the police then go all the other way round and not protect our lives resulting in the unnecessary loss of lives, that is very unfortunate really. That is why I am highlighting that the human rights aspect training of it be included in their curriculum. Briefly, Madam Chair Ma’am, thank you very much.
HON. WATSON: Thank you Madam Chair, I just want to raise two quick points. I want to agree with Hon. Nyoni and slightly disagree with Hon. Dube. In achieving the goals set out in the report from the ACP, incentives are one issue. However, infrastructure, particularly in education is altogether something different. We have introduced the ECD A and B, but in Government schools no new infrastructure has actually been provided to cater for those pupils.
In 2015 the SADCC goal for pupil to teacher ratios was 30 children to one teacher. In Zimbabwe, it currently averages 60 to 70, if not more per teacher. For teachers to teach adequately; for literacy rates to be maintained, and for levels to be raised - infrastructure is equally important. That applies also, in my opinion, to renewable energy to the environment.
I know my colleagues - and the world is favouring solar energy. In Zimbabwe we currently rely entirely on coal fired power which is water consumptive or hydroelectric power. We have alternatives that provide medium to longer term solutions in the form of coalbed methane gas in Matabeleland North. These are hidden from us and I wanted to tie those things back to corruption. We have to ask ourselves very clearly and carefully as Zimbabweans - are a lot of our problems not related in fact to corruption? We have heard about BEAM, I constantly have complaints from parents and school bodies who say that BEAM is done correctly. We are hindering ourselves as a nation in so many regards and I really feel that we should take the ACP views, extrapolate them and try and build them into our own society. I thank you.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the report that was presented and to the different viewpoints that were expressed by Hon. Members.
I believe that if Government addresses the technology factor in education, for instance, rural students need computers and other forms of technology from ECD to Upper Forms. Talking from the COVID-19 experience, rural students were left behind because they do not have technology in their areas yet those who are based in urban centers continued receiving their education because of technology. Government needs to address the technology aspect and that boosters are installed in different locations in the rural areas.
I also think that we need to look at scholarships. Our Government should continue and also add more scholarships so that our children can continue receiving their education and so that they work hard knowing that Government will provide scholarships. At times some students end up giving up because they do not have funding to proceed with their education.
I also think that there must be more teachers for sign language in different schools. On the same note, I think that sign language should be introduced as a subject that will be taught to students so that they understand and support children with hearing impairment so that they can fit and learn in different mainstream schools. I also think that in order for us to succeed in everything that we do, Government should give incentives to teachers in different seasons. Despite the fact that our economy is suffering from sanctions and inflation, Government should look at the rural teachers and make sure that they have good accommodation and transport so that they can be mobile and be able to commute to different areas. Some teachers do not have resources hence I believe that teachers should be given housing schemes and other incentives so that our children do not suffer. A well incentivized teacher empowers our children. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn
HON. MHONA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th July, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, I move that the rest of the Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 21 has been disposed of.
HON. MHONA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 75TH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND THE 42ND CONFERENCE OF THE AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARY FORUM UNION (APU) HELD IN DJIBOUTI
HON. T. ZHOU: Madam Speaker, I move the motion standing in
my name that this House takes note of the report of the 75th Session of the Executive Committee and the 42nd Conference of the African Parliamentary Forum Union (APU) held from 25th to 29th November, 2019 in Djibouti.
HON. T. MOYO: I second.
HON. T. ZHOU:
Introduction
The 42nd Conference of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) as well as the 75th Session of the Executive Committee of the APU was held in Djibouti from 25 to 29 November 2019. In attendance, were representatives from twenty-four Member Parliaments, namely Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate led a Parliamentary delegation to the APU Meetings comprising the following Members and Officers of Parliament:-
- Hon. Feleni Chauke (Chief Chitanga);
- Hon. Tafanana Zhou;
- Hon. Senator Theresa Makone;
- Hon. Spiwe Mukunyaidze;
- Mr. Califinos Kudakwashe Guvi – Director in the President of the Senate’s Office;
- Ms. Rumbidzai Chisango – Principal External Relations Officer; and
- Mr. Flavian Mutigwa – Security Aide to the President of the Senate.
The 42nd Conference of the APU deliberated on the following themes:
- The importance of the contribution of the youth to the promotion of democracy, peace, security and the rule of law in African countries; and
- Promotion of a diversified economy and local processing of commodities, for the employment of women and the youth.
The Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU considered on the theme
“Role of Parliaments in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Africa”
The meetings were held in the aftermath of the floods which affected the capital city, Djibouti. Delegates commiserated with the people of Djibouti and the victims of this climate change induced disaster.
75th Session of the Executive Committee
The 75th Session of the Executive Committee of the APU was held on 25 and 26 November 2019. The Official Opening Ceremony was chaired by Hon. Tarek Mohamed Abdel HamidRadwan, Member of the House of Representatives of Egypt and Vice Chairperson of the Executive Committee.
In his opening address to delegates, Hon. Mohamed Ali Houmed, Speaker of the National Assembly of Djibouti commiserated with the victims of the floods and called for collective action in the relief efforts. In the wake of increasing climate change induced disasters across the continent, the Hon. Speaker called for the adoption of effective policies to address climate change.
Hon. AliHaumed implored delegates to proffer informed and constructive recommendations whose implementation will address challenges being faced by the continent. Furthermore, he underlined the need for continuous efforts towards regional integration in Africa.
In a statement to delegates, Hon. TarekRadwan extended his appreciation to the host country for extending its legendary hospitality to all delegates of the APU. He made reference to the strides made by the APU towards creating partnerships and synergies with similar institutions. This development required commitment from Member Parliaments to undertake activities that further the interest of the APU. Accordingly, he called on all Member Parliaments to honour their obligations to the APU by paying their annual subscriptions.
Following the Official Opening of the Session, the following key decisions adopted by the Executive Committee:-
Budget for the 2020 Financial Year – The Executive Committee approved the draft budget for the 2020 fiscal year, balanced in income and expenditure at one million one hundred and thirty- eight thousand one hundred and seventy –seven euros. The Executive Committee appointed Mrs Veneranda Nyirahirwa, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda and Mr. Omar Traore, Member of the National Assembly of Mali as Auditors for the 2019 financial year.
Adoption of the Annual Programme of Activities for 2020 – The Executive Committee adopted the Annual Programme for 2020 whose activities include the following:
- Sessions of the APU (76th Session of the Executive Committee, the 77th Session of the Executive Committee and the 43rd Assembly of the APU).
- Relations with the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (Afro-Arab Parliamentary Conference and Annual Meetings of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union).
- Relations with the IPU (142nd Assembly of the IPU, 143rd Assembly of the IPU and African Parliamentary Conference on Migration).
- Relations with the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation ( 15th Conference of the Parliamentary Union of Member States of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation).
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 41ST CONFERENCE OF THE APU HELD IN NIGERIA IN 2018 AND THE 74TH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HELD IN BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICA REPUBLIC IN JUNE 2019: THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL WHICH HIGHLIGHTED THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES:
- Hand-over ceremony between the outgoing President, His Excellency Cipriano Cassama, President of the National People’s Assembly of Guinea Bissau and His Excellency Alhassane BalaSakande, incoming President of the APU and President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso
- The outgoing Secretary General, Mr N’ZiKoffi handed over to the incoming Secretary General, Mr. Idi Gado Boubacar on 03 January 2019.
- Circulation of the Results of the 41st APU Conference to all Member Parliaments to facilitate the implementation of recommendations.
- Participation in Inter-Parliamentary and International activities such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Conference of the Parliamentary Union of OIC.
- The APU had once again made a call to all Member Parliaments to pay their annual subscriptions.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS OF THE APU
The Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU met on the sidelines of the 42nd Conference of Women Parliamentarians of the APU. The Committee was chaired by Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate and Chairperson of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU.
In her opening address to the Committee, Hon. Chinomona presented an overview of the African context on the theme; “Role of Parliaments in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Africa”. While acknowledging that significant strides had been made by some countries in increasing life expectancy and reducing some major causes of infant and maternal mortality, she emphasized that more needs to be done to achieve the target of less than 70 maternal deaths by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3. In this regard, she expressed hope that the health of mothers and children would be a priority of national development policies with emphasis on effective financing of health systems, improved sanitation and hygiene, better access to health and health professionals as well as improved advisory services on how to reduce environmental pollution.
The Right Hon. Sakande, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the APU addressed the Committee, assuring the Women Parliamentarians of his support towards their cause. Accordingly, he called on all decision-making bodies to include women in order to achieve equity.
Delegates from Member Parliaments shared their country experiences which included challenges as well as good practices. Drawing from these contributions, the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU drafted a resolution for adoption by the 42nd Conference of the APU.
In her concluding remarks to the Committee, Hon. Chinomona appealed for a stand-alone budget specifically for the Committee of Women Parliamentarians to enable it to carry out its planned activities. Furthermore, she encouraged Member Parliaments to form Women Parliamentarians Caucuses whose Membership will be drawn from Women Parliamentarians regardless of their political affiliation. The overall objective of such forums is to address issues of common concern to women. Hon Chinomona indicated her readiness to assist interested Parliaments with the establishment of such caucuses.
Hon. Chinomona urged Member Parliaments to implement recommendations emanating from the resolution in order to achieve the desired results.
THE 42ND CONFERENCE OF THE APU
The 42nd Conference of the APU was held on 28 and 29 November 2019. The Official Opening Ceremony was held in the presence of Hon. Excellency Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, Prime Minister of Djibouti.
In his remarks to delegates, Hon. Mohamed Ali Houmed, Speaker of the National Assembly of Djibouti, welcomed the convening of the meetings of the APU as they provided a platform to collectively deliberate on issues affecting the African continent. He emphasized that the peace-building agenda in Africa is paramount as it is a basis for sustainable development. He shared Djibouti’s desire for a place in the Security Council of the United Nations.
In a speech read on her behalf, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) pledged to continue the IPU’s collaboration with Djibouti. In appreciating the apt selection of themes for the meetings, the IPU President emphasized the need to strengthen youth participation which currently stands at 2% globally. She also called for gender parity adopting the stance “No decision about us without us”.
Hon. Hamid Ibnabdellahal Ahmar, the President of the League of Parliamentarians for Al Quds, in his address to delegates, focused on the Palestinian cause highlighting the illegal imprisonment, under deplorable conditions of women and children by Israel. He commended the APU for the selection of themes which foster peace and sustainable development.
His Excellency Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, Speaker of the Shura Council of Qatar, pledged support to help achieve peace and stability in Africa. He called for mutually beneficial economic and social synergies. He recognised Africa’s potential given its vast resources that can be used to foster sustainable development.
In his remarks to the delegates, The Right Hon. Sakande, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the APU called for the consolidation of the APU in the international arena through establishing effective political institutions that are inclusive, creating new partnerships as well as harnessing of resources for sustainable development.
His Excellency Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, the Prime Minister of Djibouti officially opened the conference. In his remarks to delegates, the Prime Minister applauded the APU for the themes of the conference which are relevant to the African continent, particularly issues of inclusivity of the youth in decision making as well as gender parity. He wished delegates fruitful deliberations.
Following the Official Opening of the 42nd Conference, delegates convened the working session which began with presentations from the Chairperson of the APU and the Secretary General before breaking into Committee sittings
Presentation from the Chairperson of the APU
In his report, The Right Hon. Sakande, highlighted the following activities centred on his one-year mandate particularly on strengthening the position of the APU within the international arena, intensifying the participation of youth and gender parity within the APU and formalising the rotation of chairmanship of the Executive Committee according to geographical regions:
- Bilateral Visit to the Peoples’ Republic of China. The Chinese were open to strengthening cooperation between the APU and the Chinese legislature. The establishment of a Parliamentary Forum was discussed and the APU should now formally conceptualise the modalities for this.
- Bilateral Visit to the Shura Council of the State of Qatar which culminated in a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the APU and the Shura Council of the State of Qatar.
- Bilateral Visit to the Shura of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia whose aim was to strengthen relations and cooperation between the APU and the Shura of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The above bilateral visits and others paved the way for future engagements and partnership programmes with various Parliaments and related institutions.
With regards to reforms to strengthen the APU, the Chairperson indicated that he had spearheaded proposed amendments to the statutes of the APU which were first discussed in June 2019 during the 74th Session of the Executive Committee.
Report of the Secretary General
The Secretary General’s report mainly covered statutory meetings convened by the APU and meetings the APU participated in since the 41st Conference held in Abuja, Nigeria in November 2018. These were outlined in the report of the 75th Executive Committee of the IPU. In addition, the Secretary General gave an insight into the state of the APU highlighting the following:
- Membership: The current membership of the APU stands at 41 members. The APU Secretariat continues to lobby other Parliaments to join the APU. Targeted countries include those in the SADC Region given that only Zimbabwe and Angola are the only members this region.
- Finances: While the financial situation complies with financial management rules, this was only attainable after selling three apartments owned by the institution. The status of contributions from Member Parliaments has not improved, with the majority of Parliaments in subscription arrears.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT THE 42ND CONFERENCE OF THE APU
The resolution submitted by the Political Committee on “The importance of the contribution of young people to the promotion of democracy, peace, security and the rule of law in African countries” was unanimously adopted. The resolution recognises the role of the youth in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which aim to promote the development of peaceful and inclusive societies, ensure access to justice for all and establish effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. The resolution notes with concern the high unemployment rates and the presence of young unemployed graduates, both male and female which can be a factor of social unrest and violence. In this regard, the resolution affirms that the implementation of youth friendly policies will ensure political stability, social cohesion and economic development. Accordingly, the resolution calls for:
- Creation of partnerships with youth organisations to increase the impact of parliamentary action;
- Reviewing of government policies related to Agenda 2030, Security Council Resolution 2250 and other relevant processes concerning the youth, peace and security;
- Supports the South to South Parliamentary Cooperation for exchanging ideas and sharing success stories on preventing youth violence, and also for youth peace- building programmes in different regions.
The resolution also calls for collective action to address issues of youth empowerment through government and non-governmental initiatives.
The resolution submitted by the Economic and Sustainable Development Committee on the theme - “Promotion of a diversified economy and local processing of commodities, for the employment of women and the youth” was unanimously adopted by the conference. The resolution recognises Africa as a continent with high unemployment, particularly among the youth and that a diversified economy is the only guarantee for sustainable economic growth and development. This assertion takes into consideration that outside agriculture, most economies in Africa are driven by natural resources. In this context, the resolution implores Africa to optimise their exploitation of its exhaustible natural resources and by so doing, create employment opportunities for women and the youth.
Accordingly, the resolution calls on:
- Parliaments to enact legislation and policies that trigger economic diversification through, among others, the existence of a business friendly environment with a regulatory framework that provides incentives to facilitate trade and reduce costs;
- Parliaments to focus their action on the development of transport infrastructure, information and communication technologies and renewable energy;
- Parliaments to promote health and education strategies to contribute to the development of human capital, women and youth;
- Skills development, entrepreneurship training, joint ventures and training courses for women and youth.
The resolution submitted by the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU on the theme “Role of Parliaments in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Africa” was unanimously adopted by the conference. The resolution recognises the crucial role played by Parliaments in the fight against maternal and neonatal mortality through their legislative, oversight and representation functions. It notes with concern, the poor performance of health systems in some African countries and the low quality of care for mothers and newborns in most health facilities. The resolution therefore, calls for:
- Enacting laws to enhance reproductive health that also seek to punish traditional practices harmful to maternal and child health;
- Ensuring more effective financing of health systems for improved sanitation and hygiene, better access to health professionals and improved advice on how to reduce environmental pollution;
- Raise awareness to African governments on the need to increase funding for community health, infrastructure and equipment as well as training of public health personnel;
- Ensure that delivery takes place in the presence of skilled personnel and provide access to emergency obstetric care to save lives;
- Women Parliamentarians to organise awareness sessions with women’s associations, women’s business associations, school going girls and couples as well as in rural areas.
- African countries to take into account some WHO recommendations including care throughout labour and delivery care during the first phase of labour, the second and third phases and immediate care of the newborn and the mother after delivery.
The declaration on the resolution of the European Parliament on Algeria was adopted by acclamation. The declaration condemns the interference of the European Union in the internal affairs of Algeria. It calls for the African continent’s support of the electoral process underway in Algeria and for the respect of the sovereignty of Algeria. Furthermore, it calls for non-interference in internal affairs by the European Union in all African States.
At the conclusion of the 42nd Conference of the APU, delegates delivered vote of thanks and gratitude to His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti, Mr. Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, Prime Minister of Djoibouti, Hon. Mohamed Ali Houmed, Speaker of the National Assembly of Djibouti for the excellent arrangements put in place for the 75th Executive Committee of the APU and the 42nd Conference of the APU and for the warm hospitality extended to all delegates of the APU.
Recommendations
The need to implement resolutions emanating from Parliament of Zimbabwe’s participation at international fora can- not be over-emphasized. It is only through implementation that our participation can be rendered useful. It should also be noted that follow up action is required on each of the resolutions adopted at the 42nd Conference of the APU. Accordingly, the full resolutions were submitted to relevant Portfolio and Thematic Committees for necessary action. The delegation wishes to proffer the following recommendations for consideration:
ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIME FRAME |
Subscriptions | Partial payment of arrears that have accrued over a period of six years. The total amount due is 134, 628 euros. | Administration of Parliament | By April 2020 |
Propose
amendment to the Statutes of the APU |
The APU is currently considering amendments of its statutes. The Statutes stipulate a one year mandate for the President of the
Executive Committee. The delegation to the APU are of the view that this term should be extended to at least two years to give the |
Proposal to be submitted to the APU by the
Administration of Parliament |
April 2020 |
incumbent sufficient time to plan and execute programme of action within his/her mandate | |||
Role of
Parliamentarians in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Africa |
Oversight function on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG3).
Ensuring an increased budget allocation to the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Awareness campaigns on funding for community health, infrastructure and Equipment and training of personnel. |
Portfolio Committee on Health and
Child Care Thematic Committee on Sustainable Development Goals |
Continuous
November 2020
Continuous |
The importance of the contribution of the Youth to the Promotion of democracy, peace, security and the Rule of
Law in African Countries |
Encourage political parties to adopt youth quotas that ensure the involvement of youth people in politics.
Inclusion of youth in delegations to statutory meetings and ad hoc meetings.
Oversight on the implementation of relevant SDGs, United Nations Council Resolution 2250 and the African Youth Charter of 2006. |
Chief Whips
Presiding Officers of Parliament
Portfolio Committee on Youth Thematic Committee on SDGs Expanded Committee on SDGs
|
Continuous
Continuous |
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th July, 2020
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Six minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday 2nd July, 2020
The Senate met at Half -past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Today is Thursday and in terms of our standing orders it is Questions Without Notice time. I do have here apologies from Hon. Ministers who cannot attend today’s sitting. Hon. O. Moyo the Minister of Health and Child Care; Hon. Garwe, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities; Hon. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. Prof. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development; Hon. Dr. K. Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation; Hon. Prof. Mavima, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education and Hon. Kazembe, Kazembe, Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Courier Services. Those are the apologies which I have.
ORALS ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. CHIEF. NGUNGUMBANE: Thank you Mr. President. I would want to direct my question to the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development. Minister, can you brief this House on the shortage of fuel on the market. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the pertinent question. The shortage of fuel in the country has been ongoing for some time now. The reason behind the shortage is that we need to import fuel from outside the country and we need foreign currency to do that. Although we have got fuel in the country, as usual at our tanks, we cannot however download that fuel and take it to the service stations because we have to make payment upfront. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF. NGUNGUMBANE: Thank you Mr. President. Can the Minister clarify the position of garages that are now selling fuel in foreign currency?
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. President. I am sure during the lockdown period, there was a directive that retailers can sell their products in foreign currency if the people who want to buy the product have the foreign currency to do so. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We have been joined by two more Ministers; Hon. J. B. Matiza, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development and Hon. J. Moyo, the Minister of Local Government and Public Works. We have an apology from Hon. S. B. Moyo who says he may join us later.
HON. SEN. S. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. President. I will direct my question to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Hon. Mangwiro. Hon. Minister, how safe is it for people to use the face shield during this Covid-19 period? Does it serve the same purpose as a face mask and how is it cleaned to make sure that it is not contaminated? Is it advisable to use it as a face mask?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. President. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Face shield – I am sure you are referring to these long translucent or transparent things, glass or plastic like that is placed on the forehead and covers the front of the face. It does not serve the same purpose like this mask. The mask I am putting on properly covers the nose and the mouth. That one is there for splashes; let us say a doctor is doing something or cleaning around. It shields against those splashes that might happen, so it does not play an equal role to this mask. It helps to add on to the protection of health care givers while they are doing procedures where there might be splashes of fluids. There are stages and sessions where they are supposed to be used. Really, we do not encourage that they be used in place of the surgical masks like the one I am putting on. We normally use it when we are doing procedures in hospitals but moving around in the streets with it is not encouraged. There are special cleaning material and methods that we use to clean it. Thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am very much worried about the safety in terms of the pandemic, which is prevailing in this country and the way our Hon. Ministers are sitting, I am sure Hon. Mangwiro agrees with me that it is not very safe. I urge you Hon. Ministers to give yourselves some reasonable distance. The rule of thumb is supposed to be one metre so that you remain safe. Keep your masks tight to your faces; we still need you.
We have also been joined by Hon. Chasi, Minister of Energy and Power Development; Hon. Mathema, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education; Hon. Matemadanda, Deputy Minister of Defence and War Veterans, Hon. Dr. Kanhutu-Nzenza, Minister of Industry and Commerce; Hon. Mavima, Minister of State for Midlands Province; Hon. Gwaradzimba, Minister of State for Manicaland; Hon. Ndlovu, Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry; Hon. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. Chombo, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works and Hon. Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. What steps has the Government taken to secure our borders to restrict border jumpers who may want to come into the country through illegal points? Thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. President. Indeed, we have a problem with people who cross from illegal crossing points because we do not know where they will be heading to and their health status in terms of COVID 19 cannot be ascertained. So, the department that is helping us in terms of securing our borders is Home Affairs so that they may increase their patrols and prevent people from entering the country through illegal crossing points. We kindly request the Home Affairs Ministry to secure our borders. We only screen people who cross through legal crossing points at the borders. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. I am aware that there was an announcement that everyone must put on a mask but we realise that people put on those masks in various ways. Some do not cover their noses but just cover their mouths. Are there plans to educate people on how to put on those masks properly so that they work effectively to protect the citizens?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): May I take this opportunity to explain why we should put on these masks. What happens is, the virus can spread, just like I am talking. It can be airborne through talking or coughing. So the mask is supposed to cover the mouth and the nose; not just covering the chin. What also happens is, if I am COVID 19 positive, I become a carrier of the Coronavirus. So, by putting on this mask, I will not spread the virus as I speak or cough. As I speak right now, I see some noses that are not covered. I think we should start right here to educate people so that they understand. We are going to have programmes through radio and television to educate people. Also, I would like to talk to you Senators to be aware and educate people that the Coronavirus can be airborne. It can be spread by people through the air. I would like to urge everyone to put on those masks properly. As a Ministry, we have radio and television programmes where we educate people. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. Today is a Thursday and Hon. Senators are winding up their work here. We cannot travel back home. What are your plans in terms of fuel? Some of us are actually hitch-hiking yet private transporters are charging foreign currency that we do not have. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHASI): I thank the Hon. Senator for that question but I think that question is multi-dimensional. It touches on paying for private transport, it also talks about foreign currency and fuel for Hon. Senators. In terms of availability of fuel for Senators, that is an issue that is being handled by the Clerk of Parliament. As Government, we said we await to hear what we should do so that we take measures at our service stations namely Genesis and Petrotrade so that we can assist the Senators. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam. President. My supplementary...
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am not Madam I am Mr.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Ndati Madam? Sorry I withdraw. Thank you Mr. President my supplementary question is on the availability of fuel, not necessarily for Members of Parliament but for every other citizen. I see so many queues every day, if you want to fly across in a helicopter you see as many queues as possible. People will not be able to do much work because they will be looking for fuel for hours to no end. I have been looking for fuel myself as a Member of Parliament for more than 3 months; I still have coupons from Parliament which are 3 months. Also we are looking at the public and the business community, how are we planning to service everyone with reasonable supplies of fuel?
HON. CHASI: Thank you very much for the question, I think the nexus between the availability of foreign currency and the availability of fuel in the country is known to all of us. It is also common cause I think that over the number of months foregoing since the commencement of this pandemic, our capacity to generate foreign currency for our own purposes as a country was very much heavily affected. All that being said, Government is working day in day out to ensure that we put facilities in place for the importation of fuel and with the recently introduced foreign currency auction system we think that there will be greater capacity also to acquire foreign currency for purposes of fuel. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr. President, my question goes to the Minister of Health and Child Care. We did capture a person who illegally escaped from South Africa in Masvingo and we wanted him to go and be tested. We dialed 2019 and there was no response - at first they used to respond but now they no longer answer. I once used this number and they came and took the suspected persons twice. This weekend we tried the number and Harare answered and refereed us to Masvingo, we did not get any response from Masvingo. We took the patient to the police station and the police refused to accept that person, they said dzokerai naye, dzokerai naye. We phoned the police for two days they did not come; we then hired a car and to took that person to the hospital where he was admitted. I hired a car, where do I go to claim my money? My question is who do we call for help in situations like this?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. President, I apologize for what you did encounter. I would like to appreciate the action that you took, however, the police denied to help you and you ended up taking the patient to hospital. Yes, there are numbers that you can use but if you fail to get through those numbers, you can take the patient to the nearest hospital. I urge you to report police officers who do such things to their seniors. If it is hospitals that are not cooperating for every district, there are senior doctors and nurses you can go and report. If you are in Masvingo there is Dr. Shamu who is the head of the province and other senior nurses.
What happened is not something that we look forward to. If you are helping to find those boarder jumpers and taking them to police and hospital, you are doing a very good job in reducing the number of infections. I therefore ask you to see me after the Senate has adjourned so that we can investigate the matter fully. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government. We are having problems with illegal settlers and villagers are blaming it on traditional leaders. What is Government policy regarding illegal settlements because people are now migrating from the urban areas to rural areas? They just come and settle without consulting anyone - the council does not help but they say they want to regularize so that the people can stay legally. Can we now say people must just come and stay then we regularise later? Are we not promoting illegal settlement? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Chief who asked such a question. The law regarding resettlement in communal lands is under the purview of the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural resettlement, but if you are talking about people who are illegally settled and are saying this is now a town, that is administered by my Ministry. If people are being settled in terms of my Ministry’s mandate, if it is communal lands, there should be proper planning done by the department of Spatial Planning formal known as Physical Planning. The plans are referred to the Rural District Council or the Urban Council. As they carry out these plans they should involve all the parties especially the Chiefs and inform them that they now want to urbanize certain section so that it becomes a town, so that there will be an excision; they cut out that piece so that it no longer is part of the rural lands but an urban settlement. While they do that, it enables those that want to develop that area to have title deeds to the land that is going to be allocated to them so that they will be in the same position as those that are in towns. That is the legal position.
However, people are even coming without the knowledge of the chief or the rural district council and settle themselves and later on arguments arise. Can we evict them or regularize them? The truth of the matter is that it is illegal. What is illegal is that people should be properly settled in an urban setting or rural setting. Those in rural settings will be on par with those that are in urban centres through the issuing of title deeds. This is the planning that goes into it.
A growth point has boundaries. At times when rural district councils want money, they will encroach into the chiefs’ areas of jurisdiction and resettle people. That is illegal and should not be condoned at all. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr. President. Hon. Minister, you have said the truth. Those who are in the department of physical planning, when they carry out their duties outside Harare, they first publish their notices in the Government Gazette. Unfortunately, the rural folk are never informed about such developments, since gazetting tended to favour the whites who have a culture of reading. It is advisable that proper consultation be carried out before they embark on this exercise. What I have observed in the communal lands most of the time is that the community members are ignorant and are seldomly consulted. How best can we inform those that are in the townships so that they can go and make their own representations? I thank you.
*HON. J. G. MOYO: It is now an issue of how people can be enlightened when such a law is brought into effect. The council is informed so the good thing is that all councillors are made aware of such developments by the Chief Executive Officer so that those in the communal lands would know this is what is going to take place in their area. What is also key, is the relationship between the chief and the councillors in that area so that they can work harmoniously in order to avoid aliens to do as they please.
The law says there should be full consultations so that people can raise objections. As we look at the approval of the plan, we look at the objections and those that are in favour of the approval. It is the same criteria that those technically minded will also use in guiding them to come up with a proper position on whether to approve or not. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: The Minister hit the nail on the head. Can the Minister state what measures he is going to take in ensuring that either his Ministry or that of Agriculture, Lands and Resettlement has allowed that there should be settlements at growth points?
How is the Minister going to ensure that the land use around urban settlements like Harare has been so demarcated? Furthermore, that they are clear about the expansion of the towns and that the Minister of Lands has agreed that this land has been set aside and can be annexed to Harare.
*HON. J. G. MOYO: All towns must have a master plan. A Master Plan is drawn when there is consultation and there will be a boundary on the master plan. When there is local planning and construction, they look at the master plan of Harare for instance. The master plans that we now have are ultra vires the Constitution. The boundaries of our urban areas and so forth will be intact until 2023, even if Harare wants to expand to Caledonia.
Caledonia is still under Goromonzi Rural District Council and people then see settlements coming up in Harare South believe it is still part of Harare but in terms of the Constitution, at the moment we cannot change those places to become part and parcel of Harare. Although it is an urban area which is in Harare and people still assume that it is part of Harare, the correct position is that it is part and parcel of Goromonzi.
So, we believe that when the Delimitation Committee sits to deliminate the land, consultations will take place as to whether Caledonia should remain under Goromonzi or become part and parcel of Harare. The master plans help us in determining these boundaries. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: I accept the responses that have been given by the Hon. Minister. With respect, he did not respond to what we should do because of illegal settlements that are now on the increase. I am the chief for Goromonzi that you are making reference to. In Domboshava, there is haphazard settlement, there is no sewer system, the situation is just as bad as that one in Mbare, there are no areas that have been reserved for schools. The question that begs an answer is what role should traditional leadership play in such circumstances? Should we go and demolish these settlements?
*HON. J. G. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President. His question is pertinent. In the communal lands that he has made reference to that there should be reorganisation and resettlement, I said it is under the purview of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement. However, the Goromonzi Rural District Council in conjunction with the chiefs should be telling people that they settled illegally. The Government will come and help them. So, I am saying, Chief, let us unite with our councils and find ways of resolving illegal settlements, that is the power which was given to Rural District Council and Urban Councils through devolution so that they sort out these issues. They do not act on their own but they work hand-in-glove with the police or at times with the courts or Ministry of Local Government or the Ministry of Lands so that a resolution can be given. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. My question goes to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. Hon. Minister, we have problems pertaining to Covid 19, especially looking at the returnees, those who are coming from foreign countries. We have got a problem, especially us coming from border towns. We have a lot of returnees who come and they are sent to quarantine centres. When they get there, most of them are not Zimbabwean citizens, they will be on transit. If some of them are found to be Covid 19 positive, they go for quarantine, but they give us problems when their days exceed the stipulated time for them to travel to their home countries. You find that some of them end up overstaying at the quarantine centres. What is the Ministry doing pertaining to these people? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. MANGWIRO): As a Ministry, what we encourage is that those who are in transit, once they are quarantined or if isolation days are up, we encourage them to proceed to their respective countries and we engage their embassies if they have any here. We get assistance if we have problems from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. However, there will be difficulties here and there for some of these people who will be on transit. So, we really want to make efforts so that as soon as their days are up, we make them proceed to their respective countries. We do not encourage them to continue staying beyond what is necessary once they are done with it. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Hon. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. My question is that, we know that chain stores like OK procure their goods from South Africa. With what is happening at the borders in mind, is it still possible for them to do that or there are some mechanisms because we are afraid that our shops might run empty as a result of the lockdown due to Covid 19?
*THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. KANHUTU-NZENZA): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the pertinent question. The Statutory Instrument has allowed the essential goods and services to continue operating. So, that has not changed, it is still ongoing. What is going on is that things are going up and we are trying to talk to them and other chain stores not to increase the prices of their goods. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President. We have Members of the army who are moving around in lorries. They charge fines to people who will not be wearing masks and get out of their trucks whilst they will not be wearing their own masks and beat the culprits. Do they not have adequate resources to have the masks in place? I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MATEMADANDA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for her question, which I believe is an isolated case. It requires us to carry out an investigation as to where exactly this took place and who are the alleged culprits where soldiers are moving around in truck loads and assaulting people. There might be an instance which she might have seen; she can report that so that it is investigated. However, the law does not allow people to commit such offences and whoever is the culprit should be arrested because they committed an offence.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. We are aware that Zimbabwe has its own wealth by way of wildlife, ivory; we have a lot of elephants in this country. What is the position of CITES regarding allowing Zimbabwe to sell its own ivory? Secondly, how safe is our wildlife in terms of security? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. M. NDLOVU): Mr. President, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The first question is on the current of CITES in as far as the country sells its ivory stocks.
Mr. President, we were allowed a once off opportunity to sell our ivory. I think around 2009 after which we were given a moratorium of nine years where we were not supposed to request to sell our ivory, which moratorium expired in 2017 and it was our expectation that in COPE 18 which was held last year, we will be given permission to sell our ivory. Ivory stocks have accumulated, I think we now have more than 120 tonnes of ivory but that was not to be the case. It was felt that the issue of disposal of ivory contributes to poaching, so all our proposals were turned down. Since we are a member of CITES, we are bound by the decisions of CITES.
I may add Mr. President that we then as SADC bloc deposited a reservation that allows us, for that particular species, to trade outside CITES but we can only do so with countries that have equally deposited a reservation. Unfortunately, there are only two certified buyers by CITES, of ivory which is Japan and China and they did not submit the reservations. Meaning, much as we have deposited the reservations – there is still no market for that. So, the long and short is that we still cannot legally dispose of our ivory.
Mr. President, I might request that the second question be re-asked because I did not get it quite clearly. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: The essence of the second question was, what are you doing to protect and preserve our wildlife?
HON. M. NDLOVU: I want to believe that it is a projection from poaching which is being referred to. Mr. President, we have Parks and Wildlife who have invested heavily in anti-poaching through training of the rangers but also through partnerships with multi-lateral organisations who continue to support us. Suffice to say that the business of anti-poaching is very expensive. Poachers are investing in more sophisticated equipment and with limited support it is becoming more difficult. More so at a time when we are confronted with climate change, our habit is dwindling at the time also when our wildlife species are increasing. We are facing those challenges.
However, I want to assure the House that we continue to solicit for support including from Treasury, for us to be able to manage the situation. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President. My supplementary question is, ever since I grew up as a young boy in primary school I heard that there is CITES and we remained as members of CITES. What benefit are we deriving from being a member of CITES if we are foremost looking after our elephants and rhinos yet we get notes from people who do not even have a single one of those animals?
We were given immense wealth in terms of wildlife by the good Lord. It is my plea that there are certain things that we are ascribing to without actually making a decision in groupings where we benefit nothing. What are we benefiting from CITES Mr. President? May the Hon. Minister please explain?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senator, that is not really a supplementary because it is a completely a different question to what the Hon. Senator asked. However, I will let you get away with it. – [Laughter.] – Hon. Minister.
HON. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President, I thought you were going to protect me– [Laughter.] – I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. I think that he is saying - why are we still in CITES given that as a people who are living with the elephants mostly and bearing the brunt of the human/wildlife conflict, we are getting notes from people who do not have the species?
Mr. President, part of our arguments in the previous CITES had to do with one; the inclusion of communities living with the wildlife species in the sub-committees so that they also contribute towards decision making. Also and most importantly, that we transform CITES into a scientific based institution in terms of decision making. Currently, CITES relies mostly on voting on critical issues and we feel that voting does not necessarily lead to decisions that are to the betterment of the wildlife species.
We believe CITES is an important institution which is a platform for nations to exchange notes of the conservation of our flora and fauna. There are so many species that are discussed there and yes, we are not satisfied with the way our elephant species are being handled. We believe that we still remain as a source for inspiration to most of these countries on how they can conserve wildlife. Depositing reservation was a clear signal that as a country we are not happy – well, not just as a country but as the whole SADC region, with the way that they are treating Zimbabwe and other countries to do with CITES. We believe that the decision on whether or not to exit CITES is one that will require the Head of State but I do not believe that it would be the best decision Mr. President. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. I have observed that commodity prices are being changed on a weekly basis. A loaf of bread today was selling at ZWL$100.00. I do not know what the prices will be like next week for basic commodities.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think you really want to address that question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Yes, I am sorry; I was a bit confused on that. Thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order! I will ask the Hon. Minister of Industry and Commerce to respond to the pricing part of it.
*THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. KANHUTU-NZENZA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The prices are actually going up and when we ask the retailers they say it is because of the foreign exchange. I ask them how best we can deal with this and so, I ask Hon. Prof. Mthuli to assist me in that regard.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, we need to reach some finality on this because it is very important.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. NCUBE): Hon. Nzenza, I have heard your request. The question is about the prices that are being impacted by the exchange rate and linking that to the auction, how is that working. What is the intention there? As authorities, we took the view that we cannot leave the leadership of the determination of exchange rate to the parallel market to shadowy people selling foreign currency in our streets. Rather, we needed a more orderly system. We introduced this auction system which is just a variation of what we have already introduced, which is willing buyer-willing seller system.
Even in the auction system, there is still a willing buyer willing seller but what happens here is that all the willing buyers place their orders in terms of the amounts that they are bidding for and prices as well. So, someone who bids at 1:100 and someone 1:35, naturally the one who bids at 1:35 will have done some very smart bidding and they will get their forex at a cheaper rate than someone who has bidded at 100. In fact, that is what has been happening in the last two auctions. The intention is to give leadership to the market and then stabilise the market in the process. Once the market is stable, at what level that should translate to the movement in prices where the movement in prices will also be curtailed,that will deal with inflation. That is really the intention of the auction system to give better price discovery.
You find that in terms of allocations, most of the allocations so far they tend to go to the raw materials, equipment and the productive sectors, and that is the intention to support the productive sector through this mechanism. It is our fervent hope that the exchange rate will stabilise now that we have provided leadership to how it ought to be determined.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Hon. President, today we are very happy to see so many Ministers. It has never happened and I think we should give them a pam-pam. Can we have an extension of another fifteen minutes, especially since the Minister of Finance is around just to make sure that we have certain things done?
HON. SEN. M.R. DUBE: I second.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think ten minutes is fair because the Leader of Government Business has some urgent business to conduct.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Hon. Minister for your response on the pricing. My supplementary question is - when are we likely to dollarise because from your explanation, we started on 1:1 and we are at 1:100, and you say when the time comes. There might never be that time because already we are using dollars and local currency, you have already admitted to that. When are we dollarising so that we do not have two market forces on the same floor?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank Hon. Senator Mudzuri for the question. There is one exchange rate between the Z$ and the USD. So it is not that we have two currencies. It is only one exchange rate and our aim is to make sure that there is a unified and stable exchange rate. That is our aim. Why did we allow for the use of free funds because that is what we allowed? We allowed it during this COVID time really for two reasons. First, to give consumers and citizenry flexibility when they go about shopping and paying for goods and services and secondly, as a way to manage money supply growth by allowing into circulation and transaction activity what you already have in your pockets.
We do not have to print the Z$ as a substitute. That helps us manage money supply because we are aware that as we try to stabilise the currency, at the same time we are injecting cash which we have been doing. If we over do it, that will cause further weakness in the currency and cause inflation. It is a mitigatory measure designed to manage inflation and exchange rate volatility and all that. We are very clear that the target is to stabilise the exchange rate and we have got only one exchange rate that we focus on.
*HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: We have heard the Minister. He is saying that they are floating the exchange rate, what measures he is going to put in place to alleviate the plight of civil servants who are being affected by the floating of the exchange rate because the floating of this rate has now become a security risk for the country and there are a lot of strikes. What measures does he have in place to ensure that we live in a secure manner as a result of his policy? What is in store for the civil servants?
HON. PROF. NCUBE: The security risk to the country is the speculators and those who are dealing in the power market, those who are involved in illicit activities. That is the truth and that is my first point.
The second point is for the civil servants more directly which is his question. We are doing various things. Firstly, we have increased by 50% and this is temporary cushion while for normal adjustment, that is taking place as we speak. It is on the table. We have also added an allowance which is the US$75 for all the civil servants and again, that is meant to be an inflation protector during this difficult time. That is what we are doing but Hon., the negotiations on salaries are going on as we speak. This is just a gesture from the employer to the employee to cushion them against vagaries of inflation. To be clear, the saboteurs are the people in the parallel market and not the policies. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. M. R. DUBE: I want to ask the Minister of Energy and Power Development. He talked about Genesis and Petrotrade who are being issued with Puma coupons. In Bulawayo we are not getting fuel and when we get to Sunhill, you spend 40 days; you will not get to Harare. It is inadequate and there is no fuel in Harare. Why should we not get coupons from Petrotrade and Genesis as Government? Others failed to go to Gwanda last week as there was no fuel. Give us a dedicated petrol station. When we ask for diesel, they tell us that you are the Members of Parliament who are coming up with rotten policies. You are not going to get anything Hon. Members, use water. Thank you Mr. President.
*THE HON. DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr. President. The question was earlier on responded to by Hon. Minister Chasi, that we have Genesis and Petrotrade. These are the companies that are under our purview as a Ministry. Puma and other petroleum companies are independent players. We have no control over them and we cannot direct them as to whom they should sell fuel to. Petrotrade and Genesis can be given instructions to behave in a certain manner. The Minister did clearly answer the question by saying that it is an issue between Parliament and the Ministry. If Parliament approaches us and measures are put in place, it can be done. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I will add more clarity on that issue. Hon. Sen. Dube, your question is very valid, and I know it is affecting all Hon. Members of Parliament in that the coupons that they are receiving for Puma – Puma is not having fuel in its service stations. It is a domestic issue which the Clerk of Parliament is handling right now and the Speaker of National Assembly is addressing that issue. We are trying to make some arrangements with the help of the Hon. Minister of Finance and see if we can get a more workable solution which will provide fuel to Hon. Members.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
RE-CALLING OF A MEMBER
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: On 30th June 2020, Parliament was notified by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party that the Hon. Sen. Phyllis Ndhlovu (Matebeleland North Province) among others had ceased to be a Member of the MDC-T party and therefore no longer represented the interests of the party in Parliament with effect from 30th June, 2020.
However, in a letter of the same date, the MDC-T party informed Parliament that due to litigation in the Supreme Court, Hon. Phyllis Ndhlovu had not ceased to be a Member of the party; hence she remains a Senator for the Matebeleland North Province.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I seek leave of the House that we suspend Questions With Notice and move to Order Number 9 and 11 on the Order Paper.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICAN STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE (HON. DR. S. MOYO): I move the motion standing in my name that;
WHEREAS in terms of the Section 327 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that an international treaty which has been concluded or executed by or under the authority of the President does not bind Zimbabwe until it has been approved by Parliament;
AND WHEREAS the Agreement establishing an Economic Partnership Agreement between the Eastern and Southern African States on the one part and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was opened for signature at London on 31st January, 2019 and it will enter into force either on the first day of the first month or on such other date as the United Kingdom and that signatory Eastern and Southern Africa States agree following the deposit of the latter of their respective instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval;
AND WHEREAS the said Agreement establishing the Economic Partnership Agreement between the Eastern and Southern Africa States on the one part and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the other part was signed on the 31st of January, 2019 on behalf of the Republic of Zimbabwe;
AND WHEREAS Article 59 (1) of the Agreement provides for signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession;
NOW THEREFORE, in terms of Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid Agreement be made and is hereby approved.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2020]
Eleventh Order read: Second Reading, Census and Statistics Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2020].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. President, I rise to present my second reading speech on the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill. Mr. President Sir, our democracy is based on the principle of one-person-one vote. This is a principle for which we have fought and paid for very dearly indeed as you all know.
The principle of one-person-one vote has two meanings as well as signifying the entitlement of every citizen to vote at local and national elections. It also bears the meaning that one’s vote is equally as important and carries the same weight as the vote of any other person.
Hon. Senator, the importance of this principle in the latter sense is recognised by the Constitution in Section 161. Subsection (3) of that Section provides that “the boundaries of constituencies must be such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency within Zimbabwe”. Earlier in that section, in subsection (1), it is provided that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must, once every ten years “conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries into which Zimbabwe is to be divided”, with the rider that such delimitation should fall “as soon as possible after a population census”. If, however, the delimitation of electoral boundaries is completed less than six months before polling day in a general election, then it is provided in subsection (2) of Section 161 that “the boundaries so delimited do not apply to that election, and instead the boundaries that existed immediately before the delimitation are applicable”.
Now, seven years into the new Constitution, we are faced with the undesirable prospect of using the same electoral boundaries as were used back in the 2013 general elections, for two reasons. The first is that the next census is only due to be completed in 2022. Even if all the census data for 2022 was availed timeously, that still brings us uncomfortably close to within the range of six months of the next election in 2023. Secondly, ZEC will simply not have the time to do the consultations, produce the reports and lay before Parliament its preliminary and final Delimitation Reports to enable Parliament and the President to properly consider them. Remember too that voter registration is done on a continuous basis by the Commission.
One solution to this dilemma is to de-link the decennial census from the delimitation exercise, which proposal has been mooted in the Constitutional Amendment Bill No, 2. On reflection, this is the least desirable expedient of all. Given that the voters’ roll cannot be closed before the declaration of a general election, ZEC must be able to depend upon reliable up-to-date census data to complete its delimitation exercise in a meaningful way. Furthermore, a Parliament that does not reflect in its composition as closely as possible the principle of the equal representatively of constituencies, is a Parliament that also compromises the principle of one-person-one vote.
Of the other possible solutions, the only achievable one in the short time available to us before the next delimitation is to amend the Census and Statistics Act [Chapter 10:29] so as to align the taking of decennial national censuses in a manner that will enable the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to take into account census data in timeous fashion. This requires us to curtail for the next election only the period within which the census must be taken. Accordingly, Clause 2 of the Bill before you will require a decennial census to be taken and completed by the 1st July, 2021, and thereafter every 10 years from that date. This, we believe will afford ZEC ample time to delimit electoral boundaries in accordance with census data.
In conclusion, I urge you, Hon. Senators to pass this Bill to uphold our democracy and the principle of one-person-one vote. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2020]
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 and 2 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3. 2020]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Thank you Mr. President Sir. I move that the Bill be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the Senate adjourned at Five Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 21st July, 2020.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday 2nd July, 2020
The Senate met at Half -past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Today is
Thursday and in terms of our standing orders it is Questions Without Notice time. I do have here apologies from Hon. Ministers who cannot attend today’s sitting. Hon. O. Moyo the Minister of Health and Child
Care; Hon. Garwe, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities;
Hon. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services; Hon. Prof. Murwira, Minister of Higher and
Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development; Hon. Dr. K.
Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation; Hon. Prof.
Mavima, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education and Hon.
Kazembe, Kazembe, Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Courier Services. Those are the apologies which I have.
ORALS ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE HON. SEN. CHIEF. NGUNGUMBANE: Thank you Mr.
President. I would want to direct my question to the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development. Minister, can you brief this House on the shortage of fuel on the market. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr. President. I
would like to thank the Hon. Member for the pertinent question. The shortage of fuel in the country has been ongoing for some time now. The reason behind the shortage is that we need to import fuel from outside the country and we need foreign currency to do that. Although we have got fuel in the country, as usual at our tanks, we cannot however download that fuel and take it to the service stations because we have to make payment upfront. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF. NGUNGUMBANE: Thank you Mr.
President. Can the Minister clarify the position of garages that are now selling fuel in foreign currency?
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. President. I am sure during
the lockdown period, there was a directive that retailers can sell their products in foreign currency if the people who want to buy the product have the foreign currency to do so. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We have
been joined by two more Ministers; Hon. J. B. Matiza, Minister of
Transport and Infrastructural Development and Hon. J. Moyo, the Minister of Local Government and Public Works. We have an apology from Hon. S. B. Moyo who says he may join us later.
HON. SEN. S. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. President. I will direct my question to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Hon. Mangwiro. Hon. Minister, how safe is it for people to use the face shield during this Covid-19 period? Does it serve the same purpose as a face mask and how is it cleaned to make sure that it is not contaminated?
Is it advisable to use it as a face mask?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. President. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Face shield – I am sure you are referring to these long translucent or transparent things, glass or plastic like that is placed on the forehead and covers the front of the face. It does not serve the same purpose like this mask. The mask I am putting on properly covers the nose and the mouth. That one is there for splashes; let us say a doctor is doing something or cleaning around. It shields against those splashes that might happen, so it does not play an equal role to this mask. It helps to add on to the protection of health care givers while they are doing procedures where there might be splashes of fluids. There are stages and sessions where they are supposed to be used. Really, we do not encourage that they be used in place of the surgical masks like the one I am putting on. We normally use it when we are doing procedures in hospitals but moving around in the streets with it is not encouraged. There are special cleaning material and methods that we use to clean it. Thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am very
much worried about the safety in terms of the pandemic, which is prevailing in this country and the way our Hon. Ministers are sitting, I am sure Hon. Mangwiro agrees with me that it is not very safe. I urge you Hon. Ministers to give yourselves some reasonable distance. The rule of thumb is supposed to be one metre so that you remain safe. Keep your masks tight to your faces; we still need you.
We have also been joined by Hon. Chasi, Minister of Energy and
Power Development; Hon. Mathema, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education; Hon. Matemadanda, Deputy Minister of Defence and War Veterans, Hon. Dr. Kanhutu-Nzenza, Minister of Industry and Commerce; Hon. Mavima, Minister of State for Midlands Province;
Hon. Gwaradzimba, Minister of State for Manicaland; Hon. Ndlovu,
Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality
Industry; Hon. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining
Development; Hon. Chombo, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works and Hon. Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. What steps has the Government taken to secure our borders to restrict border jumpers who may want to come into the country through illegal points? Thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD
CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. President. Indeed, we have a problem with people who cross from illegal crossing points because we do not know where they will be heading to and their health status in terms of COVID 19 cannot be ascertained. So, the department that is helping us in terms of securing our borders is Home Affairs so that they may increase their patrols and prevent people from entering the country through illegal crossing points. We kindly request the Home Affairs Ministry to secure our borders. We only screen people who cross through legal crossing points at the borders. Thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. I am aware that there was an announcement that everyone must put on a mask but we realise that people put on those masks in various ways. Some do not cover their noses but just cover their mouths. Are there plans to educate people on how to put on those masks properly so that they work effectively to protect the citizens?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD
CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): May I take this opportunity to explain why we should put on these masks. What happens is, the virus can spread, just like I am talking. It can be airborne through talking or coughing. So the mask is supposed to cover the mouth and the nose; not just covering the chin. What also happens is, if I am COVID 19 positive, I become a carrier of the Coronavirus. So, by putting on this mask, I will not spread the virus as I speak or cough. As I speak right now, I see some noses that are not covered. I think we should start right here to educate people so that they understand. We are going to have programmes through radio and television to educate people. Also, I would like to talk to you Senators to be aware and educate people that the Coronavirus can be airborne. It can be spread by people through the air. I would like to urge everyone to put on those masks properly. As a Ministry, we have radio and television programmes where we educate people. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development.
Today is a Thursday and Hon. Senators are winding up their work here.
We cannot travel back home. What are your plans in terms of fuel? Some of us are actually hitch-hiking yet private transporters are charging foreign currency that we do not have. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHASI): I thank the Hon. Senator for that
question but I think that question is multi-dimensional. It touches on paying for private transport, it also talks about foreign currency and fuel for Hon. Senators. In terms of availability of fuel for Senators, that is an issue that is being handled by the Clerk of Parliament. As Government, we said we await to hear what we should do so that we take measures at our service stations namely Genesis and Petrotrade so that we can assist the Senators. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam. President.
My supplementary...
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am not
Madam I am Mr.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Ndati Madam? Sorry I withdraw. Thank you Mr. President my supplementary question is on the availability of fuel, not necessarily for Members of Parliament but for every other citizen. I see so many queues every day, if you want to fly across in a helicopter you see as many queues as possible. People will not be able to do much work because they will be looking for fuel for hours to no end. I have been looking for fuel myself as a Member of Parliament for more than 3 months; I still have coupons from Parliament which are 3 months. Also we are looking at the public and the business community, how are we planning to service everyone with reasonable supplies of fuel?
HON. CHASI: Thank you very much for the question, I think the nexus between the availability of foreign currency and the availability of fuel in the country is known to all of us. It is also common cause I think that over the number of months foregoing since the commencement of this pandemic, our capacity to generate foreign currency for our own purposes as a country was very much heavily affected. All that being said, Government is working day in day out to ensure that we put facilities in place for the importation of fuel and with the recently introduced foreign currency auction system we think that there will be greater capacity also to acquire foreign currency for purposes of fuel. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr.
President, my question goes to the Minister of Health and Child Care.
We did capture a person who illegally escaped from South Africa in Masvingo and we wanted him to go and be tested. We dialed 2019 and there was no response - at first they used to respond but now they no longer answer. I once used this number and they came and took the suspected persons twice. This weekend we tried the number and Harare answered and refereed us to Masvingo, we did not get any response from Masvingo. We took the patient to the police station and the police refused to accept that person, they said dzokerai naye, dzokerai naye. We phoned the police for two days they did not come; we then hired a car and to took that person to the hospital where he was admitted. I hired a car, where do I go to claim my money? My question is who do we call for help in situations like this?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD
CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. President, I
apologize for what you did encounter. I would like to appreciate the action that you took, however, the police denied to help you and you ended up taking the patient to hospital. Yes, there are numbers that you can use but if you fail to get through those numbers, you can take the patient to the nearest hospital. I urge you to report police officers who do such things to their seniors. If it is hospitals that are not cooperating for every district, there are senior doctors and nurses you can go and report. If you are in Masvingo there is Dr. Shamu who is the head of the province and other senior nurses.
What happened is not something that we look forward to. If you are helping to find those boarder jumpers and taking them to police and hospital, you are doing a very good job in reducing the number of infections. I therefore ask you to see me after the Senate has adjourned so that we can investigate the matter fully. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President.
My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government. We are having problems with illegal settlers and villagers are blaming it on traditional leaders. What is Government policy regarding illegal settlements because people are now migrating from the urban areas to rural areas? They just come and settle without consulting anyone - the council does not help but they say they want to regularize so that the people can stay legally. Can we now say people must just come and stay then we regularise later? Are we not promoting illegal settlement? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND
PUBLIC WORKS (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Chief who asked such a question. The law regarding resettlement in communal lands is under the purview of the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural resettlement, but if you are talking about people who are illegally settled and are saying this is now a town, that is administered by my Ministry. If people are being settled in terms of my Ministry’s mandate, if it is communal lands, there should be proper planning done by the department of Spatial Planning formal known as Physical Planning. The plans are referred to the Rural District Council or the Urban Council. As they carry out these plans they should involve all the parties especially the Chiefs and inform them that they now want to urbanize certain section so that it becomes a town, so that there will be an excision; they cut out that piece so that it no longer is part of the rural lands but an urban settlement. While they do that, it enables those that want to develop that area to have title deeds to the land that is going to be allocated to them so that they will be in the same position as those that are in towns. That is the legal position.
However, people are even coming without the knowledge of the chief or the rural district council and settle themselves and later on arguments arise. Can we evict them or regularize them? The truth of the matter is that it is illegal. What is illegal is that people should be properly settled in an urban setting or rural setting. Those in rural settings will be on par with those that are in urban centres through the issuing of title deeds. This is the planning that goes into it.
A growth point has boundaries. At times when rural district councils want money, they will encroach into the chiefs’ areas of jurisdiction and resettle people. That is illegal and should not be condoned at all. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr.
President. Hon. Minister, you have said the truth. Those who are in the department of physical planning, when they carry out their duties outside
Harare, they first publish their notices in the Government Gazette. Unfortunately, the rural folk are never informed about such developments, since gazetting tended to favour the whites who have a culture of reading. It is advisable that proper consultation be carried out before they embark on this exercise. What I have observed in the communal lands most of the time is that the community members are ignorant and are seldomly consulted. How best can we inform those that are in the townships so that they can go and make their own representations? I thank you.
*HON. J. G. MOYO: It is now an issue of how people can be enlightened when such a law is brought into effect. The council is informed so the good thing is that all councillors are made aware of such developments by the Chief Executive Officer so that those in the communal lands would know this is what is going to take place in their area. What is also key, is the relationship between the chief and the councillors in that area so that they can work harmoniously in order to avoid aliens to do as they please.
The law says there should be full consultations so that people can raise objections. As we look at the approval of the plan, we look at the objections and those that are in favour of the approval. It is the same criteria that those technically minded will also use in guiding them to come up with a proper position on whether to approve or not. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: The Minister hit the nail on the
head. Can the Minister state what measures he is going to take in ensuring that either his Ministry or that of Agriculture, Lands and Resettlement has allowed that there should be settlements at growth points?
How is the Minister going to ensure that the land use around urban settlements like Harare has been so demarcated? Furthermore, that they are clear about the expansion of the towns and that the Minister of Lands has agreed that this land has been set aside and can be annexed to Harare.
*HON. J. G. MOYO: All towns must have a master plan. A Master Plan is drawn when there is consultation and there will be a boundary on the master plan. When there is local planning and construction, they look at the master plan of Harare for instance. The master plans that we now have are ultra vires the Constitution. The boundaries of our urban areas and so forth will be intact until 2023, even if Harare wants to expand to Caledonia.
Caledonia is still under Goromonzi Rural District Council and people then see settlements coming up in Harare South believe it is still part of Harare but in terms of the Constitution, at the moment we cannot change those places to become part and parcel of Harare. Although it is an urban area which is in Harare and people still assume that it is part of Harare, the correct position is that it is part and parcel of Goromonzi.
So, we believe that when the Delimitation Committee sits to deliminate the land, consultations will take place as to whether Caledonia should remain under Goromonzi or become part and parcel of Harare. The master plans help us in determining these boundaries. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: I accept the responses that
have been given by the Hon. Minister. With respect, he did not respond to what we should do because of illegal settlements that are now on the increase. I am the chief for Goromonzi that you are making reference to. In Domboshava, there is haphazard settlement, there is no sewer system, the situation is just as bad as that one in Mbare, there are no areas that have been reserved for schools. The question that begs an answer is what role should traditional leadership play in such circumstances?
Should we go and demolish these settlements?
*HON. J. G. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President. His question is pertinent. In the communal lands that he has made reference to that there should be reorganisation and resettlement, I said it is under the purview of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement.
However, the Goromonzi Rural District Council in conjunction with the chiefs should be telling people that they settled illegally. The Government will come and help them. So, I am saying, Chief, let us unite with our councils and find ways of resolving illegal settlements, that is the power which was given to Rural District Council and Urban Councils through devolution so that they sort out these issues. They do not act on their own but they work hand-in-glove with the police or at times with the courts or Ministry of Local Government or the Ministry of Lands so that a resolution can be given. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. My question goes to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. Hon. Minister, we have problems pertaining to Covid 19, especially looking at the returnees, those who are coming from foreign countries. We have got a problem, especially us coming from border towns. We have a lot of returnees who come and they are sent to quarantine centres. When they get there, most of them are not Zimbabwean citizens, they will be on transit. If some of them are found to be Covid 19 positive, they go for quarantine, but they give us problems when their days exceed the stipulated time for them to travel to their home countries. You find that some of them end up overstaying at the quarantine centres. What is the Ministry doing pertaining to these people? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. MANGWIRO): As a Ministry, what we encourage is that those who are in transit, once they are quarantined or if isolation days are up, we encourage them to proceed to their respective countries and we engage their embassies if they have any here. We get assistance if we have problems from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. However, there will be difficulties here and there for some of these people who will be on transit. So, we really want to make efforts so that as soon as their days are up, we make them proceed to their respective countries. We do not encourage them to continue staying beyond what is necessary once they are done with it. Thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Hon. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. My question is that, we know that chain stores like OK procure their goods from South Africa. With what is happening at the borders in mind, is it still possible for them to do that or there are some mechanisms because we are afraid that our shops might run empty as a result of the lockdown due to Covid 19?
*THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
- KANHUTU-NZENZA): I would like to thank the Hon. Member
for the pertinent question. The Statutory Instrument has allowed the essential goods and services to continue operating. So, that has not changed, it is still ongoing. What is going on is that things are going up and we are trying to talk to them and other chain stores not to increase the prices of their goods. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President. We have Members of the army who are moving around in lorries. They charge fines to people who will not be wearing masks and get out of their trucks whilst they will not be wearing their own masks and beat the culprits.
Do they not have adequate resources to have the masks in place? I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MATEMADANDA): Thank you Mr. President. I
would like to thank the Hon. Senator for her question, which I believe is an isolated case. It requires us to carry out an investigation as to where exactly this took place and who are the alleged culprits where soldiers are moving around in truck loads and assaulting people. There might be an instance which she might have seen; she can report that so that it is investigated. However, the law does not allow people to commit such offences and whoever is the culprit should be arrested because they committed an offence.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. We are aware that Zimbabwe has its own wealth by way of wildlife, ivory; we have a lot of elephants in this country. What is the position of CITES regarding allowing Zimbabwe to sell its own ivory? Secondly, how safe is our wildlife in terms of security? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE
CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON.
- NDLOVU): Mr. President, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The first question is on the current of CITES in as far as the country sells its ivory stocks.
Mr. President, we were allowed a once off opportunity to sell our ivory. I think around 2009 after which we were given a moratorium of nine years where we were not supposed to request to sell our ivory, which moratorium expired in 2017 and it was our expectation that in COPE 18 which was held last year, we will be given permission to sell our ivory. Ivory stocks have accumulated, I think we now have more than 120 tonnes of ivory but that was not to be the case. It was felt that the issue of disposal of ivory contributes to poaching, so all our proposals were turned down. Since we are a member of CITES, we are bound by the decisions of CITES.
I may add Mr. President that we then as SADC bloc deposited a reservation that allows us, for that particular species, to trade outside CITES but we can only do so with countries that have equally deposited a reservation. Unfortunately, there are only two certified buyers by CITES, of ivory which is Japan and China and they did not submit the reservations. Meaning, much as we have deposited the reservations – there is still no market for that. So, the long and short is that we still cannot legally dispose of our ivory.
Mr. President, I might request that the second question be re-asked because I did not get it quite clearly. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: The essence
of the second question was, what are you doing to protect and preserve our wildlife?
HON. M. NDLOVU: I want to believe that it is a projection from poaching which is being referred to. Mr. President, we have Parks and Wildlife who have invested heavily in anti-poaching through training of the rangers but also through partnerships with multi-lateral organisations who continue to support us. Suffice to say that the business of antipoaching is very expensive. Poachers are investing in more sophisticated equipment and with limited support it is becoming more difficult. More so at a time when we are confronted with climate change, our habit is dwindling at the time also when our wildlife species are increasing. We are facing those challenges.
However, I want to assure the House that we continue to solicit for support including from Treasury, for us to be able to manage the situation. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President. My
supplementary question is, ever since I grew up as a young boy in primary school I heard that there is CITES and we remained as members of CITES. What benefit are we deriving from being a member of CITES if we are foremost looking after our elephants and rhinos yet we get notes from people who do not even have a single one of those animals?
We were given immense wealth in terms of wildlife by the good Lord. It is my plea that there are certain things that we are ascribing to without actually making a decision in groupings where we benefit nothing. What are we benefiting from CITES Mr. President? May the Hon. Minister please explain?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon.
Senator, that is not really a supplementary because it is a completely a different question to what the Hon. Senator asked. However, I will let you get away with it. – [Laughter.] – Hon. Minister.
HON. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President, I thought you were going to protect me– [Laughter.] – I want to thank the Hon.
Senator for the question. I think that he is saying - why are we still in CITES given that as a people who are living with the elephants mostly and bearing the brunt of the human/wildlife conflict, we are getting notes from people who do not have the species?
Mr. President, part of our arguments in the previous CITES had to do with one; the inclusion of communities living with the wildlife species in the sub-committees so that they also contribute towards decision making. Also and most importantly, that we transform CITES into a scientific based institution in terms of decision making. Currently, CITES relies mostly on voting on critical issues and we feel that voting does not necessarily lead to decisions that are to the betterment of the wildlife species.
We believe CITES is an important institution which is a platform for nations to exchange notes of the conservation of our flora and fauna. There are so many species that are discussed there and yes, we are not satisfied with the way our elephant species are being handled. We believe that we still remain as a source for inspiration to most of these countries on how they can conserve wildlife. Depositing reservation was a clear signal that as a country we are not happy – well, not just as a country but as the whole SADC region, with the way that they are treating Zimbabwe and other countries to do with CITES. We believe that the decision on whether or not to exit CITES is one that will require the Head of State but I do not believe that it would be the best decision Mr. President. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. I have observed that commodity prices are being changed on a weekly basis. A loaf of bread today was selling at ZWL$100.00. I do not know what the prices will be like next week for basic commodities.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think you
really want to address that question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Yes, I am sorry; I was a bit confused on that. Thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order,
order! I will ask the Hon. Minister of Industry and Commerce to respond to the pricing part of it.
*THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
- KANHUTU-NZENZA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The prices are actually going up and when we ask the retailers they say it is because of the foreign exchange. I ask them how best we can deal with this and so, I ask Hon.
Prof. Mthuli to assist me in that regard.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon.
Minister, we need to reach some finality on this because it is very important.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. NCUBE): Hon. Nzenza, I have
heard your request. The question is about the prices that are being impacted by the exchange rate and linking that to the auction, how is that working. What is the intention there? As authorities, we took the view that we cannot leave the leadership of the determination of exchange rate to the parallel market to shadowy people selling foreign currency in our streets. Rather, we needed a more orderly system. We introduced this auction system which is just a variation of what we have already introduced, which is willing buyer-willing seller system.
Even in the auction system, there is still a willing buyer willing seller but what happens here is that all the willing buyers place their orders in terms of the amounts that they are bidding for and prices as well. So, someone who bids at 1:100 and someone 1:35, naturally the one who bids at 1:35 will have done some very smart bidding and they will get their forex at a cheaper rate than someone who has bidded at
- In fact, that is what has been happening in the last two auctions. The intention is to give leadership to the market and then stabilise the market in the process. Once the market is stable, at what level that should translate to the movement in prices where the movement in prices will also be curtailed,that will deal with inflation. That is really the intention of the auction system to give better price discovery.
You find that in terms of allocations, most of the allocations so far they tend to go to the raw materials, equipment and the productive sectors, and that is the intention to support the productive sector through this mechanism. It is our fervent hope that the exchange rate will stabilise now that we have provided leadership to how it ought to be determined.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Hon. President, today we are very happy to see so many Ministers. It has never happened and I think we should give them a pam-pam. Can we have an extension of another fifteen minutes, especially since the Minister of Finance is around just to make sure that we have certain things done?
HON. SEN. M.R. DUBE: I second.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think ten
minutes is fair because the Leader of Government Business has some urgent business to conduct.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Hon. Minister for your response on the pricing. My supplementary question is - when are we likely to dollarise because from your explanation, we started on 1:1 and we are at 1:100, and you say when the time comes. There might never be that time because already we are using dollars and local currency, you have already admitted to that. When are we dollarising so that we do not have two market forces on the same floor?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank Hon. Senator Mudzuri for the question. There is one exchange rate between the Z$ and the USD. So it is not that we have two currencies. It is only one exchange rate and our aim is to make sure that there is a unified and stable exchange rate. That is our aim. Why did we allow for the use of free funds because that is what we allowed? We allowed it during this COVID time really for two reasons. First, to give consumers and citizenry flexibility when they go about shopping and paying for goods and services and secondly, as a way to manage money supply growth by allowing into circulation and transaction activity what you already have in your pockets.
We do not have to print the Z$ as a substitute. That helps us manage money supply because we are aware that as we try to stabilise the currency, at the same time we are injecting cash which we have been doing. If we over do it, that will cause further weakness in the currency and cause inflation. It is a mitigatory measure designed to manage inflation and exchange rate volatility and all that. We are very clear that the target is to stabilise the exchange rate and we have got only one exchange rate that we focus on.
*HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: We have heard the Minister. He
is saying that they are floating the exchange rate, what measures he is going to put in place to alleviate the plight of civil servants who are being affected by the floating of the exchange rate because the floating of this rate has now become a security risk for the country and there are a lot of strikes. What measures does he have in place to ensure that we live in a secure manner as a result of his policy? What is in store for the civil servants?
HON. PROF. NCUBE: The security risk to the country is the speculators and those who are dealing in the power market, those who are involved in illicit activities. That is the truth and that is my first point.
The second point is for the civil servants more directly which is his question. We are doing various things. Firstly, we have increased by 50% and this is temporary cushion while for normal adjustment, that is taking place as we speak. It is on the table. We have also added an allowance which is the US$75 for all the civil servants and again, that is meant to be an inflation protector during this difficult time. That is what we are doing but Hon., the negotiations on salaries are going on as we speak. This is just a gesture from the employer to the employee to cushion them against vagaries of inflation. To be clear, the saboteurs are the people in the parallel market and not the policies. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. M. R. DUBE: I want to ask the Minister of Energy and Power Development. He talked about Genesis and Petrotrade who are being issued with Puma coupons. In Bulawayo we are not getting fuel and when we get to Sunhill, you spend 40 days; you will not get to Harare. It is inadequate and there is no fuel in Harare. Why should we not get coupons from Petrotrade and Genesis as Government? Others failed to go to Gwanda last week as there was no fuel. Give us a dedicated petrol station. When we ask for diesel, they tell us that you are the Members of Parliament who are coming up with rotten policies. You are not going to get anything Hon. Members, use water. Thank you Mr.
President.
*THE HON. DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND
POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr.
President. The question was earlier on responded to by Hon. Minister Chasi, that we have Genesis and Petrotrade. These are the companies that are under our purview as a Ministry. Puma and other petroleum companies are independent players. We have no control over them and we cannot direct them as to whom they should sell fuel to. Petrotrade and Genesis can be given instructions to behave in a certain manner. The Minister did clearly answer the question by saying that it is an issue between Parliament and the Ministry. If Parliament approaches us and measures are put in place, it can be done. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I will add
more clarity on that issue. Hon. Sen. Dube, your question is very valid, and I know it is affecting all Hon. Members of Parliament in that the coupons that they are receiving for Puma – Puma is not having fuel in its service stations. It is a domestic issue which the Clerk of Parliament is handling right now and the Speaker of National Assembly is addressing that issue. We are trying to make some arrangements with the help of the Hon. Minister of Finance and see if we can get a more workable solution which will provide fuel to Hon. Members.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT
OF SENATE
RE-CALLING OF A MEMBER
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: On 30th June
2020, Parliament was notified by the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC-T) party that the Hon. Sen. Phyllis Ndhlovu (Matebeleland North
Province) among others had ceased to be a Member of the MDC-T party and therefore no longer represented the interests of the party in
Parliament with effect from 30th June, 2020.
However, in a letter of the same date, the MDC-T party informed
Parliament that due to litigation in the Supreme Court, Hon. Phyllis Ndhlovu had not ceased to be a Member of the party; hence she remains a Senator for the Matebeleland North Province.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I seek leave of
the House that we suspend Questions With Notice and move to Order Number 9 and 11 on the Order Paper.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE
ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICAN STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN
IRELAND
THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
INTERNATIONAL TRADE (HON. DR. S. MOYO): I move the
motion standing in my name that;
WHEREAS in terms of the Section 327 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that an international treaty which has been concluded or executed by or under the authority of the President does not bind Zimbabwe until it has been approved by Parliament;
AND WHEREAS the Agreement establishing an Economic Partnership Agreement between the Eastern and Southern African States on the one part and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was opened for signature at London on 31st January, 2019 and it will enter into force either on the first day of the first month or on such other date as the United Kingdom and that signatory Eastern and Southern Africa States agree following the deposit of the latter of their respective instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval;
AND WHEREAS the said Agreement establishing the Economic Partnership Agreement between the Eastern and Southern Africa States on the one part and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the other part was signed on the 31st of January, 2019 on behalf of the Republic of Zimbabwe;
AND WHEREAS Article 59 (1) of the Agreement provides for signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession;
NOW THEREFORE, in terms of Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid Agreement be made and is hereby approved.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2020]
Eleventh Order read: Second Reading, Census and Statistics
Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2020].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. President, I
rise to present my second reading speech on the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill. Mr. President Sir, our democracy is based on the principle of one-person-one vote. This is a principle for which we have fought and paid for very dearly indeed as you all know.
The principle of one-person-one vote has two meanings as well as signifying the entitlement of every citizen to vote at local and national elections. It also bears the meaning that one’s vote is equally as important and carries the same weight as the vote of any other person.
Hon. Senator, the importance of this principle in the latter sense is recognised by the Constitution in Section 161. Subsection (3) of that
Section provides that “the boundaries of constituencies must be such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency within Zimbabwe”. Earlier in that section, in subsection (1), it is provided that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must, once every ten years “conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries into which Zimbabwe is to be divided”, with the rider that such delimitation should fall “as soon as possible after a population census”. If, however, the delimitation of electoral boundaries is completed less than six months before polling day in a general election, then it is provided in subsection (2) of Section 161 that “the boundaries so delimited do not apply to that election, and instead the boundaries that existed immediately before the delimitation are applicable”.
Now, seven years into the new Constitution, we are faced with the undesirable prospect of using the same electoral boundaries as were used back in the 2013 general elections, for two reasons. The first is that the next census is only due to be completed in 2022. Even if all the census data for 2022 was availed timeously, that still brings us uncomfortably close to within the range of six months of the next election in 2023. Secondly, ZEC will simply not have the time to do the consultations, produce the reports and lay before Parliament its preliminary and final
Delimitation Reports to enable Parliament and the President to properly consider them. Remember too that voter registration is done on a continuous basis by the Commission.
One solution to this dilemma is to de-link the decennial census from the delimitation exercise, which proposal has been mooted in the Constitutional Amendment Bill No, 2. On reflection, this is the least desirable expedient of all. Given that the voters’ roll cannot be closed before the declaration of a general election, ZEC must be able to depend upon reliable up-to-date census data to complete its delimitation exercise in a meaningful way. Furthermore, a Parliament that does not reflect in its composition as closely as possible the principle of the equal representatively of constituencies, is a Parliament that also compromises the principle of one-person-one vote.
Of the other possible solutions, the only achievable one in the short time available to us before the next delimitation is to amend the Census and Statistics Act [Chapter 10:29] so as to align the taking of decennial national censuses in a manner that will enable the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to take into account census data in timeous fashion. This requires us to curtail for the next election only the period within which the census must be taken. Accordingly, Clause 2 of the Bill before you will require a decennial census to be taken and completed by the 1st July, 2021, and thereafter every 10 years from that date. This, we believe will afford ZEC ample time to delimit electoral boundaries in accordance with census data.
In conclusion, I urge you, Hon. Senators to pass this Bill to uphold our democracy and the principle of one-person-one vote. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2020] House in Committee.
Clauses 1 and 2 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3. 2020]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Thank you Mr. President Sir. I move that the Bill be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the Senate adjourned at Five Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 21st July, 2020.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday 1st July, 2020
The Senate met at Half -past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APPOINTMENT AS NEW MDC CHIEF WHIP
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the Senate that Hon. Sen. Dr. Mavetera has been appointed as the new MDC Chief Whip in the Senate.
VACANCIES IN THE SENATE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: On 30th June 2020, Parliament was notified by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party that the following senators had ceased to be Members of the MDC-T party and therefore no longer represent the interests of the party in Parliament with effect from 30 June, 2020.
- Sen. K. Chabuka (Manicaland Province)
- Sen. S. Ncube (Bulawayo Province)
- Sen. P. Ndhlovu (Matebeleland North Province)
- Sen. M. Phuti (Matebeleland South Province)
- Sen. G. Shoko (Bulawayo Province)
- Sen. H. Sinampande (Matebeleland North Province)
- Sen. T. Vunganayi (Mashonaland East Province)
- Sen. H. Zivira (Bulawayo Province)
Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that the seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the Member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a Member when elected to Parliament, and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or to the President of the Senate as the case may be, has declared that the Member has ceased to belong to it. Pursuant to the above, I do hereby inform the Senate that vacancies have arisen in the Provinces stated above by the operation of the law. The necessary administrative measures will be taken to inform His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the existence of the vacancies in line with Section 39 (1) of the Electoral Act Chapter 2(13) as amended.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam President, I move that Order of the Day, Numbers 1 and 2 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 3 has been disposed of. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H.B.15, 2019]
Third Order read: Second Reading: Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill [H.B.15, 2019].
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI) – Madam President, I rise to present to you the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill, which I am pleased is now at the Second Reading stage. The drafting of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill is in line with His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe’s national agenda to align all laws to the Constitution. To satisfy this requirement, we initiated the alignment process by carrying out stakeholder consultations and outcomes from the consultative workshops were used to develop principles which led to the drafting of the Bill. The Bill was approved at Cabinet level, gazetted, presented in Parliament and went through all the necessary procedures to this stage where we are presenting it before the Senate.
I would like to acknowledge and appreciate the deliberations that took place in the National Assembly during the Second Reading stage after the report of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee. Due to the very valid recommendations, as a Ministry we had to amend the term ‘liberation war fighter’ to ‘war veteran’, ‘temporary refugee camps’ to ‘transit camps.’ A consideration was also made on the inclusion of the Commander Defence Forces in the War Veterans Board as the majority of the members were against this provision. The Ministry conceded to the suggestion of the removal of this provision. Hence, it was amended to the effect that the Chairperson of the board has to be a war veteran.
There are other issues that were raised during the debate which are not directly linked to the Bill. I undertook that my Ministry would address them in the appropriate forums and we have since started addressing these issues. Examples of such issues include recognition of those who died during the war lobbying for a day to honour the living veterans and issues to do with re-burials of foreign heroes. It is quite commendable to note the interest and desire by the whole House in this Bill. We all agreed that legal recognition of the Veterans of the liberation struggle is long overdue and that we should expedite this process.
It is also important Hon. Members, that I give a brief background of principles behind the Bill and overally, the purpose of aligning laws relating to the liberation struggle. The purpose of the Bill is to align the existing legislation to the Constitution. The proposed Bill seeks to repeal the War Veterans Act, Chapter 11 (15), the Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Act, Chapter 17 (10) and provide for one consolidated Act called the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Act, which provides for all categories of veterans of the liberation struggle that are provided for in Section 23 of the Constitution as who fought, those who assisted and those who were imprisoned, detained or restricted.
The Bill clearly distinguishes the four categories by defining veterans of the liberation struggle as a war veteran, an ex-political prisoner, detainee or restrictee or a person who assisted the fighters in the war of liberation. That is to say, a war collaborator or a non-combatant cadre. It is important to note at this point that each category has its own definition provided for in the Bill showing that they are not the same. Accordingly and without derogation from Section 86 of the Constitution and Section 21 of the Interpretation Act, Chapter 1 (1) statutory instruments will be provided to cater for the different benefits to be granted or paid to different categories of veterans of the liberation struggle.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe, Amendment Number 20 Act, 2130 clearly provides the basis upon which the Bill was drafted. It explicitly recognises the liberation struggle as an important part of the history of the country which should always have an influence in the way the country is governed. The preamble exalts and extols the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives during the chimurenga, umvukela and national liberation struggle. Section 3 of the Constitution provides for the recognition and respect for the liberation struggle as well as recognition of the rights of the veterans of the liberation struggle as some of the enduring founding values and principles of good governance of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Section 23 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe also obligates the State and all institutions and agencies of Government at every level to accord due respect, honour and recognition to veterans of the liberation struggle. The same section also obligates the State to take reasonable measures, including legislative measures for the welfare and economic empowerment of veterans of the liberation struggle.
Section 84 prescribes as fundamental, entrenched and inalienable rights on the entitlement of veterans of the liberation struggle to due recognition for their contribution to the liberation struggle and to suitable welfare such as pensions and access to basic care through an Act of Parliament. The Bill was therefore drafted to show an explicit link between itself and the Constitution, thus complying with the supreme law. It is not the intention of the Bill to take away any benefit that a war veteran or detainee is currently getting. Rather, it seeks to add other categories that participated in the liberation struggle which were recognised in the current Constitution.
In light of the above, I urge Hon. Members to support and pass this vital law in order to accord the veterans of the liberation struggle due recognition as enshrined in the Constitution. Madam President, I move that the Bill be now read a second time. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Madam President, I do not expect many people to oppose this Bill but if we just keep quiet, it will be as if it just passed through without enough debate. I doubt if there is anyone from whichever side who will be against this Bill. I say so because everyone from all sides applauded the introduction of the Bill as soon as it was mentioned. With this Bill, I believe we will get to where we wanted to go - taking into considering the fate of war veterans and war collaborators who went through difficulties during the liberation struggle.
I do not think the Senate will sit for long today because we cannot keep on repeating what Hon. Senators already know. I am talking about the legacy of this country and not making reference to other countries because I may get lost. Our country has a unique history, other countries have gone through the liberation struggle but this is specifically about Zimbabwe.
Madam President, if you remember what happened to this country, the coming of the colonialists, the opposition and taking over of this country from the traditional leaders and assuming that this had become their country. Imagine even in this Parliament there was no black person but right now we are here so this is all because some people sacrificed a lot for that. At the University of Zimbabwe there were hostels reserved for white students only like Manfred and Swindon, they were no go areas for black students though we were all students and sometimes blacks doing better in class than the whites.
May the Hon. Minister who presented this Bill fast track this Bill. It is not really about just giving people money to say this is the honour that they deserve. We have seen such wording in the law that talks about traditional leaders - I want that section to be highlighted. On allowances, war veterans must earn money that will enable them to live a decent life. A war veteran should be able to be identified and not walk barefooted or with worn out shoes. They should look presentable and not suffer because they suffered a lot during the liberation struggle, the difficulties that they went through are enough. Our President of the Senate is a war veteran, she was in Chimoio and she survived the bombing that took place there. We are proud of her and that is the real history of this country.
Even if our children oppose us, no matter what happened and how learned they are, we must teach them to support and respect war veterans. The other thing that I would like to add in terms of benefits is if civil servants’ salaries are reviewed, their allowances should also be reviewed and they must receive them timeously. Sometimes you see civil servants’ salaries reviewed and it will take a long time and a lot of paper work for the same to be done to war veterans, why can they not get their salaries timeously?
If we pass this Bill, we are going to discover that real war veterans will start emerging. We must have a plan on how these people will be vetted. There are some war veterans in the rural areas but some of them were not vetted and recognised but the clever ones managed to be registered, even fake war veterans. Most of the war veterans who participated in the liberation struggle live in the rural areas and not in urban areas. So all the meetings and vetting processes should be done in the rural areas and the process should be all inclusive and not exclude other people. War veterans know each other some may not be known but in the rural areas they are well known.
The authentic ones must start getting benefits whilst we vet others. We must come up with a plan that will help us to correct our past mistakes. On detainees, they also deserve attention and it should not be by lucky. Some people will fail to be recognised and others are recognised easily, some people like Comrade Kuretu are well known. Some people stay far away in the rural areas and they have to travel all the way to ZANU PF Headquarters in Harare. I am suggesting that the process should be decentralized. If some people stay very far in the rural areas yet they have to travel all the way to ZANU PF Headquarters in Harare, the places should be decentralised. If we correct that, I think that will be very good and after this Bill is passed, there are a lot of expectations. After the new dispensation, the war veterans are now quiet because they believe that the new dispensation will address their concerns. So, if that happens, the results must be seen, the law should ensure that there are corrections that may be seen and it must exclude fake war veterans who only manage to benefit because they are cunning.
We expect that this will bring a lot of joy even as far as land distribution is concerned. There are people seating on hundreds of hectares of land yet real war veterans only have a few hectares where there is no water or non-arable land. This is the time for us to rectify this. All deserving war veterans should be allocated farms and they should be given farm implements instead of just allocating them non-arable lands.
When you allocate those war veterans land, you need also to give them support services from the Ministry of Agriculture and also facilitate Agritex officers and other support services. We see some people boasting because they went to school but these people failed to go to school simply because they chose to go to the Liberation Struggle. Therefore, let us give them due recognition. Let us proceed and may this Bill pass so that we all rejoice in this country.
+HON. SEN. MKWEBU: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to air my views on this War Veterans Bill. Hon. Minister, thank you very much for bringing in this Bill. The whole of Zimbabwe was looking forward to this Bill. They were asking a questions as to when this Bill is going to be passed. Most of the people who contributed in the country’s independence have passed on; it is just a few who are remaining. Most of them have died because of poverty.
Therefore, I am saying I accept this Bill with both hands. Some war veterans got land and some did not get it. Those who did not get land did not get anything to assist them because banks needed collateral. So, these war veterans who do not have anything that they are doing at the present moment do not have any way of bringing in collateral that is required by our banks.
With this Bill, it is now going to be easy for everyone to really look at everyone who contributed in the country’s independence and get help on every other issue that they will be complaining about. I got peace especially on Section 33 of the Bill because it includes the three sections which are war collaborators, detainees and war veterans. There are so many people that are still suffering but with this Bill, it is going to be easy for those people who did not get anything to get something that will assist them in life.
Madam President, there are so many things that we need to count on as issues that are remaining behind that really need to be looked into in the three sections. That is why I am supporting this Bill to say if it is passed in this august House, war veterans will be honoured greatly. We still have other war veterans who have not gone through the vetting process and some are still going through that vetting process.
Therefore we are saying, Members of Parliament, you are not representing us because you are not saying anything about our issues. So, today I am presenting this issue in this august House to say these people from the three sections are crying saying we need help. Therefore, I am grateful that this Bill is being tabled here. I thank you.
HON. SEN. J. HUNGWE: I would like also to support the matter that has been raised by Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira. If it were put in our own vernacular language, I would say, today we have hit the nail on the head. I would say we have achieved what we have been looking for. The respect that we got from the war that we protracted in 1972; I went to Gambia where an education meeting was taking place. The Chairperson wanted to find out if there was anyone from the new Zimbabwe. I was a bit apprehensive and later on I got up.
I was told that the Gambian President would want to see you tomorrow morning. I did not sleep well because I thought I was going to be arrested. I was not aware that the President of that nation would invite me. However, I met him in his office and went into a discussion in English. The Gambian President wanted to know how in our country we were able to fight against whites defeating them. In response, I told him it is true we are able to do that. He was amazed.
So, he said he found it befitting that he would not mis this chance to talk to me and learn from our experience. I explained to him what I knew about the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle. He said that he had not heard anything like that in any African country.
So, our reputation in terms of pursuing our liberation was known the world over. Zimbabweans are not people to play around them, once they have said no to a particular ideology; they will stand by their word.
Some of the war veterans are now deceased and some are still alive, so we should remember most importantly the children of the war veterans. Their welfare should be good enough; they should be well kept as you have been doing all the time. I decided to stand and add my voice that Zimbabwe is not any easy nation, once we have said no; it would be indeed a no and if we say ‘yes,’ we mean that, we are a people of our word. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President. I rise to say this particular Bill was long overdue. As we all know, war veterans did a splendid job, it was a wonderful job as alluded to by Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira. As a result of that protracted struggle, we are here today. However, if today you come across a war veteran, you feel pity and you find your eyes welling with tears because of their pathetic welfare. A lot of things have already been mentioned and I advocate that they be given land and put amongst the high echelons of society because they are the ones who liberated us.
Through you Madam President, Hon. Minister you brought this Bill, the war veterans should be given their proper place in the Zimbabwean society and they should also receive whatever is due to them. They should not be found queuing, they should be given their due respect and whenever anything is being shared, a quota should be reserved for the war veterans. They need not struggle as they were during the liberation struggle.
My question to the Hon. Minister regarding vetting is; we have war veterans who died before being vetted; I want to find out if the vetting provided for in the Bill is for those who are alive and have their witnesses? What considerations are going to be put in place or modalities that are going to be done to deal with those who died before they came in to Zimbabwe? There are war veterans who died during the liberation struggle and some of them left children and others left their parents behind because they have not yet been married because they went there as small children. I want to know what considerations have been put in place for these war veterans or they have just been forgotten. This is because they did a good job but unfortunately died and could not return back to Zimbabwe but it was their wish that they would also witness the birth of a new Zimbabwe and enjoy the wealth and the new life that the new Zimbabwe brought.
During the liberation struggle, we were told that we would enjoy freedom once we reach our homeland Zimbabwe. May the Minister please explain regarding that particular section as it pertains this particular group of war veterans as they conduct this vetting. I thank the Hon. Minister and I believe that the war veterans are going to be joyful as a result of the enactment of this particular Bill and the war veterans are going to be easily distinguished by the benefits which they are going to derive from the State as a result of having liberated us to enjoy the new Zimbabwe. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. RAMBANEPASI: Hon. Minister, as Christine Rambanepasi from Buhera, I want to thank you for brining this Bill In 1976 on the 4th of September, liberation fighters came to our village and we witnessed the war. You may be surprised that we might be talking of the liberation struggle and saw the liberation war as those who are sitting on the left side, it is common. I was a war collaborator and I was a chairperson of those doing the laundry and my liberation war name was Muchaneta Mabhunu. We may be happy but the middle finger that pulled the trigger brought independence to Zimbabwe. There is no one in this august House who may argue. If we have one, I will be surprised as to how they came to Senate because the Smith Regime put up a fight for a country that did not belong to them. People were arrested and detained in Whawha Prison. I know of a woman who was detained and a few years later after her release, she passed on. She died without having received anything.
Hon. Minister, we want to thank you so much. We strongly support this Bill. I am going back to Buhera on Friday and I will gather all the old people who are either war veterans or war collaborators and tell them that the Hon. Minister said that you are going to receive your compensation. You know, Hon. Muchinguri is of the totem Masibanda, she is good. Yes, I am a Member of the opposition but politics is a way of life. If it was a vote, I was going to give you 20 votes out of one. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. FEMAI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to debate on this Bill tabled here by Hon. Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri. Firstly, I would like to say I support this Bill as a Senator but also as a rural settler. This Bill is being brought by my fellow rural neighbour. However, this Bill is long overdue Madam President. Nevertheless, it is better late than never. What it means is that I hope, there will be progress now because it has taken long to come. Some people know me because I participated in soccer and I am also a life president of Dynamos Football Club. Many people know me because they like Dynamos and some of them are war veterans. Imagine such important people who liberated this country and went through all those difficulties during the liberation struggle asking me to allow them to watch soccer matches for free because they could not afford to pay the requisite fees.
My heart would bleed because war veterans would beg me to watch soccer for free. Imagine a person who liberated this country who has to beg to watch international soccer matches now. Today, I am very happy because even if it is late – I think that today is a milestone achievement. My proposal is for all the war veterans to have better packages besides land because most of them can no longer till those pieces of land due to old age I think we should find better packages that can suite them. Imagine giving them untilled virgin land after 40 years of Independence. I propose that each one of them be given good houses so that they can just drink their tea since most of them are old – they are my age mates. How can I go to a farm at this age? I am too old to do that and such activities are for young generations that we liberated. Those farms should be reserved for our future generations so that this country can be self-sustaining in terms of food.
I concur with the point that was raised by a previous speaker that their children should be given jobs or projects to embark on. Whilst I am very active in soccer, most of the people that I knew as sellouts – some of them were in the special branches of the colonial Government. As a carpenter by profession, one day I was hired by a former member of the special branch. After the war, this person was able to buy seven houses from his gratuities, for participating in the liberation struggle, from the Rhodesian Government. I found it very difficult to accept because I suspected that the person must have been one of those people who was responsible for the disappearance of some of our comrades yet war veterans are suffering.
I have grand children in the rural areas and I buy second hand clothes for them or even clothes and shoes that I no longer use. How would you feel if God were to come today, he would say, ‘I gave you authority to liberate yourselves from your oppressors - what are you doing?’ God will tell us today, ‘I gave you this country yet some of you are suffering’. This Bill is very good and I thank you very much because I feel that if I go to the rural areas, I will be very happy. I am going to inform them that this will be the last time that I dole out second hand clothes because now you are going to be given good houses and your welfare will be taken care of.
This is what happened, the Rhodesian Forces were given very good gratuities such as farms and houses and those are the people we chased away from the farms during the Land Reform Programme. This is a very progressive Bill even though it is coming now. I think that you should also endeavour to do a lot of good things for those war veterans who are still alive and take good care of their health. I meet some of them at PSMAS and they would confess that they do not even have transport money to commute back home. The State muar take good care of them by providing medical insurance and giving them preferential treatment when they go to hospitals. They should also have access to specialist services because this is the time. At least they may be able to forget that we forgot them once upon a time.
I would like to thank you very much Hon. Minister through you Madam President. Hon. Minister, I urge you to keep it up and I think God will bless you with many more years so that you take care of war veterans. When you take good care of war veterans, we will also be blessed when war veterans get good things in life. We will also be able to flourish. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. M. NDLOVU: I would like to thank you Madam President and also thank the Hon. Minister of Defence and War Veterans for tabling this Bill.
The time that we were waiting for is here. We would like to express our joy for what Government is doing for the comrades that fought for this country. Even when they get to that time whereby they die, they get burial that does not deserve their honour. If I take for example in Bulawayo, when someone dies they are buried on a hill. Some of them if they get to a point of being given recognition of national hero, they come to be buried at the Heroes Shrine from a lodging place. They do not have places of their own.
We thank you Hon. Minister because you are one of them and you really respect them. This is the time for people to really air out their voices about war veterans for they are the people who fought for this country. Yes, each time issues to do with war veterans are discussed some people always say no, they do not deserve that because they are aged. Yes, we have children who were left by comrades. Some of them who were not vetted, some of those children engage in prostitution because their parents did not get enough compensation to take care of them.
We really want their widows to be looked after because their fallen husbands fought for this country. We have other comrades who got amputated during the war and are finding it difficult to fend for themselves and their families. For those that got amputated, if you look at the crutches that they are using, most of them are deplorable. The people that they fought for are living lavishly and putting on nice clothes, yet the comrades are walloping in poverty.
Thank you Hon. Minister and we would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Hon. President because as one of the war veterans who went to war in countries like Zambia, I really know the difficulties that war veterans faced during the struggle. We really appreciate the job that we did and we fully support the Bill that you have brought.
*HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: Madam President, I would like to thank the Minister of Defence and War Veterans for bringing this Bill. I feel so much touched and disturbed and pray to God that I will be able to finish my speech because I think a million times we have been proposing for this. We were oppressed during the liberation struggle and I am one of those who participated in the liberation struggle.
The liberation struggle was prosecuted by both men and women but before we grow to become men and women, we were also boys and girls. For women, during menstruation period it was very difficult. For some, as soon as they crossed the borders they would no longer menstruate but for those who would menstruate they would use leaves from trees. Our parents who remained behind were very disturbed. We would not be allowed to walk in the First Street and all those areas where today you rejoice and go to. You would be arrested for even owning a television.
The war veterans are suffering especially those in the rural areas and in the border lying areas. Some of them are not able to take their children to school because they cannot afford to take their kids to school. I would like to say after all these 40 years, I am happy finally that Bill has come to Parliament. I knew this Bill would come to this House because the liberation struggle was led by spirit mediums. All the things that were said by our ancestors, I knew that they would be fulfilled.
So I would like to thank those who organised this Bill and the Minister for remembering the comrades today because they are suffering very much. It is by God’s grace that I stand here as an MP today, as a war veteran but fellow comrades are suffering out there. If this Bill comes to their attention, I know that they would be very much happy when they get to know that such a Bill was debated. Madam President, I am very grateful to Hon. Minister Muchinguri for bringing this Bill. This is a very good Bill which will bring relief to the war veterans because they are suffering. They do not have access to tractors or implements. You cannot till a farm using a hoe. I would like to say, may this Bill also include various resources that are used in agriculture because they also want tractors. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: I am very happy for this Bill that has come to this House even if sometimes it is said that nemesis cannot agree on one thing. For us, it was long overdue that these war veterans get a relief because they were suffering a lot and it was also painful to us. We would see them suffering as well as their children. Sometimes some of those who did not go to war were better off than those who went to the liberation struggle.
In 1980, we realised that some of those who were sitting pretty in urban areas run to be accredited as war collaborators yet they did not even go to war. At one point, I attempted to be vetted as a war collaborator but I was chased away. How could I go away yet I was talking about what I knew. I thank the chief for saying that there are some people who would come and masquerade as war collaborators yet they are not genuine. I told someone at some point that I saw them at a base. They were not war veterans but war collaborators yet they got benefits that were supposed to be given to war veterans. It was so painful to me that such a person got what they did not deserve yet we were war collaborators together.
I am grateful that when a second round of vetting took place it was noticed that he was fake and purporting to be a war veteran. He is the only one who was caught yet some are still masquerading as war veterans. Sometimes you realise that those who are clever masquerade and are successful yet those who may be genuine do not get the recognition they deserve because some of the people are fake war veterans. I do not know whether it is possible for a revival in terms of vetting, because some of the people are fake war veterans. If re-vetting could take place, I am sure they will be discovered and weeded out.
I am very grateful that today the war veterans are recognised and acknowledged. It was very difficult. We went through curfews. There were a lot of no go areas but the war veterans liberated us to an extent all those curfews and restrictions were removed. It is because of the war veterans. Today there are a lot of us women in this House. I am not sure what the figures were during the colonial era, but I would like to thank the war veterans. Even if we differ politically on this one, no one can oppose this. We agree totally on this.
If we go to apply for land, sometimes we are chased away – even if I tell them that I was a war collaborator though I joined MDC. They tell me that I am a sellout, but anyway that is all in the past. I am very grateful to the Minister of Defence and War Veterans – thank you very much for bringing this Bill. From today, please ensure the speedy processing of this law so that war veterans are compensated whilst the money still has value. Give them money which they can use and take care of their families. I thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I urge Hon. Sen. to speak to the terms of this Bill. The Bill which the Minister of Defence and Home Affairs brought is specific in terms of the contents.
*HON. SEN. M. R. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Minister of Defence. I am very happy today because this affects everyone who is in this country from Tsholotsho to Mutare.
A war veteran was a laughing stock – if you wanted to tease someone you would tease them using war veterans. They were people who were looked down upon. My husband would pay fees for people who died in the liberation struggle in Zambia. Sometimes I would wonder why he was doing that – I thought he was taking care of children he got out of wedlock. Now I understand the struggles that they went through. I really thank you for taking care of the needs of the war veterans or for recognising them. I think the President has a hand on this because all along these issues were debated yet no action was taken. This time around, something has been done. Thank you Minister but I urge you to also take care of the wives of the war veterans and their children.
May they also get first preference because sometimes they would travel all the way to sort out their things but they would be told that their husband’s details are not in the system. Widows of war veterans should not go through all these difficult processes. They should be assisted expeditiously. For those who are since departed, there is nothing we can do, but for those who are alive, please assist them.
There is a couple that I know that went for vetting in Lupane. The husband was successful but the woman was told to come on another day – that woman became a laughing stock because she was not successful when vetting happened. With those few words, I salute you Minister.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I would like to remind Hon. Sen. to avoid what is termed in our Standing Orders as ‘tedious repetition’.
*HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to also debate on this Bill.
I stand here with a very painful heart because we stand here to today and it is 40 years after independence, yet that is only now that we are debating how those people who liberated us can be taken care of. We owe them an apology.
I would like to applaud the Minister for coming up with this Bill which - like what my fellow Hon. Sen. said was long overdue. For those things that should be done to the war veterans, I think it should be implemented quickly.
Looking at the vetting issue for the board, when the Minister appoints board members I think the Minister should appoint members who understand the liberation struggle because at times people with little or no understanding of the subject are supposed to deal with war veterans matters. The war veterans are our legacy. Other countries like America still honour their war veterans like those that participated in the Vietnam War. That shows that such people must be given honour and respect.
Looking at the definition of the war collaborator in the Bill, I think the war veterans know very well who war collaborators were. The definition leaves out some people. For example, I was a war collaborator at the age of 14. Some people of my age group are mentally disturbed to this day. There was an incident where a sellout was supposed to be executed, that war collaborator was given a bayonet to do the killing. To date that person is still mentally disturbed. So war collaborators are well known but the problem is the sellouts who rushed to be vetted and recognised. So, I feel that definition will leave out some people and some deserving war collaborators will not be incorporated. I remember one Comrade Tongombeya who participated in the war and to date that comrade is mentally disturbed. So, Hon. Minister that definition should include people who were on the ground. The problem is that sometimes when we want a Bill drafted, we ask people who never participated in the war of liberation simply because of their education but it clearly shows that the person did not experience the war but they are mere academics. I am sure the Minister understood that.
The other thing that I would like to point out is the health welfare of those people who participated in the liberation struggle from 1980 to date, some of the comrades are neglected. Some of them are suffering mentally because of their experiences during the liberation struggle. From 1980 to date there was no deliberate efforts to look at the psychological impact of the war on our veterans. Those who know say there is something called post traumatic stress disorder. It can destroy. If you see some behaviour by war veterans people end up saying that is what the war veterans do but you are not aware that it is trauma from experiences from the war which has not been added in the Bill. So when we say to support medical bills that is too general. We are not targeting what happened on the ground because the Bill drafters do not understand what transpired in the war. This Bill is conspicuous by the absence of that deliberate effort to address the trauma which is still being experienced as I speak right now. So it is like we have not done anything. I implore the Minister to review the word medical. We are acting like people who do not know what happened yet we know. Let us state that those who are still suffering from their experiences during the war should be assisted. They are even failing to look after their families because of the trauma they experienced and because we are not knowledgeable we say they are suffering from killing people during the war, what an insult. So if we do not address this I think….
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order. Order, you should stick to one language. If you decide to debate in English debate in English and if you decide to debate in Shona by all means debate in Shona. If you mix the two languages it is a problem for the people who are transcribing what you are saying.
*HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President, it happens when you become emotional. It is because I am talking from experience that I become emotional. I think I have made my point to the Minister that this Bill is empty if it remains written medical. It does not help us in any way because we will have failed to identify and address the problem and we become like people who are not knowledgeable.
With those few words I would like to thank the Minister for having for the first time a Bill considering everything that transpired in the war and unifying everyone who fought for our Independence. We used to have pieces of legislation which brought disunity amongst people. Some would say it was not just firing the gun that brought independence. Everyone took part in the struggle. But this Bill now recognises everyone as war veterans and proper identification of who is who will be done and I think we should thank the Minister for that. We have come to a point where everyone who was involved in our independence will be appreciated and given recognition. I think our Constitution in its preamble tells us to respect all those who took part in liberating us. I want to thank you once again Hon. Minister.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to say a few words towards this War Veterans Bill brought by the Minister. Let me start by thanking the Minister for the Bill. Just for me, Violet, to stand up in this House is because of the war veterans who selflessly went to liberate this country, otherwise I would not be here. This is not an issue where we can debate whether we differ or not. We may differ on other issues but not on this one. Most of the points were mentioned by other Hon. Members and all I would like to say is give the war veterans what they deserve. We do not want to beg but as Senate, we would like to say they must be given what they deserve. There are some people who came in this Senate as good people yet they are very bad people and they are corrupt. They own houses from border to border whilst a war veteran does not have a single house. Mr. President Sir, give them stands to build houses in urban areas, as well as rural areas. If possible, give them houses.
I would like to also go on to say, there are some people who fraudulently acquired recognition as war veterans but if we refer to the chiefs, all the chiefs know the war veterans who went to liberate this country. All the chiefs who are here know the number of people who went out to war. So, this issue of vetting should not be how fluent you are in English but the chiefs should be involved. People who hijacked this process were sitting pretty in the urban areas and did not even go to war; they were able to narrate very well the history of a certain area. There are some people who hijacked the process. There are some people who were maimed and some of them can no longer hear and yet they were not recognised as war veterans.
In Chegutu where I come from, there is a certain war veteran called Mr. Rusike. There was a time when war veterans were given $50 000 gratuities. The sister of that man was married to a certain Mr. Musariri. She took the money and bought her brother a house. She persuade her maid to be married to that man. The young lady got married to the man and gave birth to a baby boy. All of a sudden, the post war traumas came up and the man started harassing his wife. I would like to thank the Minister for coming up with this Bill because some people are sitting pretty who may not be deserving, whilst the war veterans are suffering. Some have vast tracts of land white war veterans do not have anything. Mr. President Sir, may you hand over the vetting process to the chiefs because they know the people who went to join the liberation struggle. The chiefs know all the people who came back and those who died during the liberation struggle. Thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President for the opportunity you have given me to add my voice to this Bill. I may repeat what has been aired already, but the reason is everyone was waiting for this Bill. This means that the wait has been long and God has given us this opportunity to deliberate on it. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister of Defence and War Veterans for bringing this Bill to this august Senate. War veterans were asking us questions now and again as to when this Bill is going to be passed. We accept it as the august Senate saying war veterans are people who are facing a number of difficulties at this moment and time.
We are grateful that this Bill is going to make it a point that war veterans will be looked after. However, I would want to reiterate on the aspect of vetting. When the vetting exercise was carried out, a number of war veterans did not take part as some of them were out of the country and others did not take the exercise seriously. Right now, they are back into the country and they are all aged and you can see that they are wallowing in poverty. Therefore, Mr. President Sir, when this vetting exercise is carried out, we request that people with appropriate expertise are brought into the panel of those carrying out the exercise. Most of these people are now mentally sick. They are part of us; they are going through difficulties because what they encountered during the liberation struggle as highlighted by the previous speaker continue to haunt them. If the vetting exercise is not carried out by people who have appropriate expertise about the war and its repercussions, some war veterans may not get the appropriate help because some of them have lost their minds due to war experiences.
We are grateful for this Bill. Some of the war veterans are dying Mr. President. The Minister should know that war veterans continue to die. If I remember, last week there were about ten war veterans who passed on in Tsholotsho and most of them are dying and get to be buried without the appropriate honour conferred to them. Therefore, it is important for us to know that nowadays they are dying in numbers. The remaining few should be well looked after. War veterans in the communities are facing more challenges such that they are now being given names that describe their poverty yet they are the people who fought for the independence of the country. Even with detainees, we request that there is critical analysis in their vetting exercise. Right now, we have people claiming to be detainees, yet they are 20 years old. How old were they when they were arrested. Therefore, this Bill is going to rectify all these anomalies.
The passing of this Bill will make the late war veterans smile if they were to see us. They would express their happiness with what is included in the Bill. War veterans are people that are being looked down upon by the communities that we come from yet they are people who brought independence that we enjoy today. Thank you so much, we are grateful for this Bill as it is going to make people in the rural area understand war veterans concerns. In the rural areas, female war veterans are wallowing in poverty and some of them died without being given the honour that they deserve. I hope this Bill is going to bring about appropriate statistics of female war veterans in the rural areas so that they get appropriate help that they deserve.
A number of them did not get farms and it is critical for them to get farms even if they are old now, their children will continue to make proper use of those farms. This will bring about peace to our children as they will have something to inherit from their parents instead of continuing to suffer yet their parents are the ones who liberated this country. This Bill clearly shows that there is a mother figure who is the Minister of Defence and War Veterans who fought for this country who encountered all the challenges that the rest of the war veterans encountered. Thank you again for the fact that in this august Senate, there are a number of people that suffered for this country including the Hon. Madam President of the Senate. This makes us happy and comfortable knowing that we have people who will remember some of us. We are grateful for this Bill and it is my wish that it is accepted and passed because it will bring happiness to those that are remaining. In the rural areas, war veterans are really suffering. I do not have much to say; I just wanted to contributed as I could not just sit. I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Thank you Mr. President. I feel very honoured because of the support I am on from this Bill. This Bill comes after all what the Zimbabweans witnessed in 2013 that they were outstanding issues that needed to be addressed in terms of giving honour to the war veterans and that happened in 2013. Nothing was done according to the welfare of war veterans and ex-detainees. We had the 1998 Act that covered all what has been talked here. We have introduced this Bill so that we will correct all the mistakes that have been alluded to in this Senate.
Most of the things that you have mentioned are there in the Bill. I want to thank you Hon. Senators for your contributions. I understand that people are emotional but I want to say to the Hon. Senate that this Bill is in favour of war veterans, ex detainees that their welfare be looked into. We are also looking into the dependents of these people. I would like however to say when we speak of children, we are talking of children below the age of 18 because over 18 years of age, they are no longer children as per our Constitution. We also want to include the muchibhas and those who went to Mozambique for training but were not trained using rea; gunsbut they were trained using sticks and doing everything, those people also sacrificed during the liberation struggle and must be recognised. We did not change anything for the worse but we are changing for the better.
There must be a fund from this Senate that looks into the welfare of the war veterans like medical bills. Now they are being treated in both public and private hospitals. They used to be treated in public hospitals only but now they can be attended to at private hospital. This Bill also looks at those who are mentally unfit, Section 18; Application of the Fund is saying that grants must be extended to physical, mental and social rehabilitation because there are people who are suffering. here is also a fund called the War Victims Compensation Act that addresses all the people who were injured in the liberation struggle. You consult medical doctors to ascertain the level of injuries. I know the pros and cons of all these. We have seen the problems that come up with that because sometimes people bribe doctors to get high percentage of injuries that they claim. So this is meant to address all those who were injured in the liberation struggle, be it war collaborators or war veterans. So we have accommodated all those issues.
Looking at what the Hon. Senators said about this Bill, Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira strongly supported this Bill and I thank him for that. He further raised his concern that we had delayed in addressing the anomalies pertaining to issues of the war veterans and the war collaborators. Be that as it may, I would want you to know that on the land issue, in the other Bill that deals with war veterans, a specific quota was set aside for war veterans, that is 20%.
You were a governor and I was also a governor - the practice was that the quota for the war veterans will be set aside before distribution to any other people. I would want to state that the war veterans are many as they number up to 40 000. As a result, some of these war veterans were allocated land and others were not and the same applies to war collaborators. We are yet to look at the actual statistics that show what land has been allocated to this particular sector to show that Government has assisted them in this regard.
It is envisaged that at the conclusion of the land audit any of the land that will be identified will be allocated to the war veterans and war collaborators and these are going to receive first priority. In truth, these are issues that we sincerely believe should be resolved.
We have fast tracked this Bill because we appreciate the gravity of this matter. Once you pass this Bill, we will come up with a Statutory Instrument. I am going to pre-empt what we have already put in place that is contained in this Bill, that is 20% of the land will be set aside for war veterans. This is now at an advanced stage but I am not going to give the intricacy details at this stage because it is not part and parcel of the Bill. The same applies with the Agriculture Ministry; they are at an advanced stage in setting aside implements and livestock for use by war veterans.
Deeds and not words is the operative word in dealing with these issues. There is also the issue of hunting concessions and a lot of other issues that need to be considered for the benefit of war veterans. Each Ministry is going to look for a quota from its funding which will be set aside for the war veterans so that when this fund is put together it will run into millions of dollars. It is a way to try and improve the lives of war veterans because if we were to look at their budget it will run into several trillions of dollars, which is a serious challenge on the fiscus.
The President is also looking for ways to address that issues. All this is not contained in the Bill but the Bill talks of a board that is going to be put in place and that board requires the involvement of war veterans and war collaborators. I am surprised that people are now lobbying for board members. These things need to be properly arranged and we need to ensure that we do not bring thieves onto the board. There is a system that will be put in place and this is going to be outlined. The Bill simply states that there should be a board and lays down its functions. The Minister is a trustee who works with the board. The vetting will include chiefs and the commanders who operated in various areas during the liberations struggle. Please read your Bill, it clearly spells out all these issues. It also gives the penalties that are going to be meted out to thieves. The thieves will not get away with it because of the stringent law that was passed..
It is correct as rightly pointed out by Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira that there will be an increase in the numbers because there were other people who were left out. There is going to be an office at each district, and these were not in place before. I believe that by August we will be having these offices in place and they will go a long way in assisting those that are within these districts who are unable to come to Harare for vetting. It means that vetting has now been decentralized. Please assist us when we come here pleading for a budget to finance these activities. This will enable the chiefs and the commanders to expedite the vetting exercise. You should know that during the war all children that were under the age of 16 years were not treated as combatants but were instead sent to school, because of the United Nations Conventions that severely criticises the involvement of children in armed conflicts.
Those that were involved in the war, whether ZIPRA or ZANLA were against upon the use of child soldiers. As a result we need to be careful so as not to infringe on the Constitution. If one is unhappy with the way in which vetting has been conducted, they are free to appeal to a board that is going to be set up to specifically deal with appeals emanating from vetting. This is now different from the previous board that was operating in an unscrupulous manner.
A lot of Senators have supported this Bill. Hon. Tongogara has touched on the land issue which I have already addressed. Since 1998, we have been setting aside 20% of all the land that we have allocated to war veterans and war collaborators.
The President has written a letter to all ministries to ensure that the 20% quota for this group of people is set aside for their use. I will now be repeating because most of the issues have already been dealt with. Hon. Sen. Hungwe strongly supported the Bill and that this Bill is a landmark decision that has been made by our Government in correcting the anomalies that pertain to war veterans and that their dependents should be assisted with funding for their education and general welfare. The funds that are being given by Parliament are being used every term for the benefit of the children of the war veterans but you find that there are those war veterans who send their children out of the country for education. We allocate same figures for all the children. I believe at the moment they are being allocated $18 000 but the fees are now high. You find that some of the aged war veterans are still getting married to multiple young wives and having children who are beneficiaries of this fund. If you keep on bearing children, what will be the cut-off time? If their children are above 18, they should be able to take care of themselves. We are saying at my age, my children are now adults, where are we going?
Hon. Sen. Rambanepasi supported the Bill and reiterated that the war veterans made a sacrifice and should be supported. The Hon. Sen. supported his home girl and talked about the poverty of war veterans. What we are saying is; this programme that we are bringing up, should be able to assist war veterans to venture into various projects. Those who may have land should be able to get loans for implements so that the country can progress. People were getting $365 in pension allowances. Can you imagine such an amount - $365 until about two months ago when that figure was revised to $2000. However, we are reviewing that but I cannot tell you that now because we are bringing up a Statutory Instrument. We are looking into that in comparison with those serving in the national army so that if they get increments, the war veterans should also be able to get increments. Some people rush to go to courts as if nothing is happening yet in actual fact, President Mnangagwa’s Government is doing all it can to address this issue.
Hon. Senator also referred to how the women suffered during the liberation struggle and it is true. It is a very good thing that both Members of the National Assembly and the Senate agree that this is a very important Bill. When we leave this House, we should be able to tell our constituents that the Bill is progressing well.
Hon. Sen. Chifamba said that she was a war collaborator; you need to be vetted so that you get what you deserve. However, we should understand that those categories are different and when we come up with Statutory Instruments, we should consider that there are different categories and their percentages also differ. We are also working hand in glove with war collaborators. Hon. Senator Dube said that war veterans are looked down upon but that is about attitude. It means we should talk about the Constitution and people should be educated to respect the war veterans because they are provided for in the Constitution of the country. So, go out and explain to people so that the war veterans may be respected.
Hon. Sen. Moeketsi talked about war veterans being given stands, I referred to that and we are looking at it. You also referred to fraudsters, but I said there will be a penalty for that. The Hon. Senator also talked about people who were outside the country during the vetting process. The vetting process will take place again but it will not remain open. We will announce and all the people who will be involved such as chiefs and those who were present from where they operated from, we should address this once and for all so that people get their benefits.
I would like to thank you very much for your contributions for supporting the Bill so that we address this issue of the four categories of people who participated in the liberation struggle to liberate this country. The people they liberated are sitting pretty whilst they are suffering. I would like to thank you very much for giving an honour to the people who liberated this struggle. I hope that this Bill will be processed quickly so that the people who deserve to get their benefits do so timeously. I now move that the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill [H.B. 15, 2019] be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave, forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H.B. 15, 2019]
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 27 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H. B. 15A, 2019]
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Mr. President Sir, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI), the Senate adjourned at Ten Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday 30th June, 2020
The Senate met at Half -past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE
BILLS RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the House that I have received the following Bills from the National Assembly: Census and Statistics Amendment Bill [H. B. 3. 2020], and the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill [H. B. 16, 2019].
SECOND READING
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7A, 2019]
First Order read: Second Reading: Marriages Bill [H. B. 7A, 2019].
Question again proposed
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Madam President. We are very grateful for the Marriages Bill that was brought to this House for debate amongst Senators. We understand that this Bill is saying a child should not be married before attaining the age of 18 years. Furthermore, says the same child can be sexually active at the age of 16 years. That is very disturbing that a 16 year old is allowed to be sexually active yet can be married at the age of 18 years. All problems start with the girl child sleeping with men and getting pregnant. So why do we not align the age of marriage to that of being sexually active to 18 years so that we do not have the problem of a girl child being sexually active at 16 years and getting pregnant yet legally she is not supposed to be married. It gives us problems as parents and it will also disturb that child more because once the child becomes pregnant whilst at school, she will become a school dropout while the boy child will continue going to school. The one that bears the brand in that regard is the girl child. If the girl has been impregnated by a married man, he will continue looking after his own family but the girl child will suffer. She will become a dropout and maybe even the parents will chase her away from the home. A lot of things do happen once a girl child becomes pregnant. The health of the child is also compromised. At 16 years, she has become pregnant and because she is young, she has birth complications either through a caesarean section or the child will have difficulties in that she is young and the uterus will be disturbed and she cannot carry a child. Why not simply say that a child who has become 18 years is the one that should become sexually active and can get married. There are some families that are wayward that are in the rural areas. You will find in urban settings there are also families that are poor and once they encounter such a problem, it will cause the parents to panic resulting in them causing that child to abort and may even result in death. In other circumstances, she may go to hospital to seek medical attention but a lot of problems are faced when a child becomes pregnant at the age of 16 years. It is my plea that this august House should also amend the same section so that it speaks to the age of majority as 18 years which should apply for the girl child to become sexually active. One said why should we desire things that are unripe. Give them a chance so that they can become mature. Do not take advantage of these innocent children that are sexually inexperienced. Once this happens, you cannot take her to your home and once she becomes pregnant the boy child cannot take her to his own family. If the sexual aspect has happened between people that are mature and above the age of majority, nothing will happen to them. There is a danger that those that will allow those that are under age to be involved in sexual activities run the risk of being arrested once the child is married and they accept payment of lobola.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF. MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President. As chiefs, we are happy that this Bill enables us to conduct marriage ceremonies. It is good to be recognised that as traditional leaders, we will be solemnizing marriages but we have issues that we would want to point out. First and foremost, the Marriages Bill is described just as the Marriages Bill but the solemnization of the marriage that we are doing is customary marriage. So we want to understand what exactly customary marriage is. From our own customary perspective, are we looking down upon our own traditional or cultural marriage? Can we have a clear definition of what exactly customary marriage is. Previously, there was talk in the media as if there is no more payment of lobola. In our culture, we have always maintained our own way of life. Even our colonisers knew that we have our own ways. For one to marry someone’s daughter they must pay lobola. Once you marry and pay lobola, you must be referred to as being married. A token of appreciation has to be paid in line with our African culture and Zimbabwean culture. When laws are being made, they must be made for the people of Zimbabwe and what pertains to the Zimbabwean scenario. We are not saying that lobola that has to be paid should be a price like they are paying for bread. Lobola is one of the tenets in our culture that must be respected in our Constitution.
We should not be in the habit of copying and pasting, thereby importing certain values or cultures that are alien to our own Zimbabwean culture; hence, I want the definition of customary marriage from the Minister concerned. What is it all about? What does it entail? We will have problems as marriage officers. We want to ask - have you paid lobola because that is in line with our African tradition? Thank you very much.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank the Minister for bringing the Marriages Bill. I have a few issues that I want the Minister to take note of, especially on Section 41 of the Bill where it says the Matrimonial Causes Act will be used for property sharing in civil partnership. However, Section 41 (vi) then introduces a new structure to be used for property sharing. We need clarity on the formula to be used in civil partnership as it is confusing. We recommend that the matrimonial causes be used because it caters for everyone.
Section 41 also speaks on the distribution of property that is jointly acquired to be shared between civil partners. Does this imply to joint registration or joint contribution on the purchasing of the said property? We recommend that the Matrimonial Causes Act be applied to distribution of property as is proposed in the beginning of Section 41. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill to this august Senate. I think after all the amendments that were made, we still feel that something should be added on what has been left out. Madam President, first and foremost, I would like the Minister to give us a clear definition of the Marriages Bill because at the moment it is very silent. According to our own thinking, it is a union between a man and a woman who have attained 18 years but it remains open. It does not tally with the Constitution of the country because there is room for homosexuals to get married. It is not mentioned anywhere.
If you go to Section 78 of the Constitution, it clearly states what is supposed to be. If ever we are drafting a Bill, I thought maybe we go in line with the Constitution. Madam President, I do not know whether I can read Section 8 from the Constitution so that everybody is aware of what I am talking about.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You may proceed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Section 78, marriage rights, “every person who has attained the age of 18 years has the right to a sound family. (2) No person may be compelled to enter into a marriage against their will. (3) Persons of the same sex are prohibited from marrying each other.” That is where I am concerned about most. As it stands, subsection (3) was not taken care of in the Bill.
Madam President, I have been reading the press and I have been following what was going on. Meanwhile, we appreciate so much that the chiefs have been given their powers. They can exert their powers now but as the Hon. Chief has already alluded to, their powers are now being exaggerated in the sense that the Minister in his press statement was talking about lobola. He was saying that lobola is no longer compulsory but we are not saying that it must not be there. Madam President, it is verbal. In the Bill itself it is silent. We would very much appreciate if ever the chiefs are given their powers. To carry out marriages, they should be given their traditional powers in black and white, written that lobola should be there. Maybe there can be a clause – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – I am just saying maybe there can be a clause which states that it must not exceed so much. It is up to them but it should be written in black and white.
Madam President, I also have a question on Clause 26 of the Constitution as well. Clause 26 of the Constitution states that the State must take appropriate measures to ensure that no marriage is entered into without free and full consent of the intended spouses. Children are not pledged in the marriage, there is equality of rights of obligation of spouses during marriage and in dissolution. In the event of dissolution of the marriage, whether through death or divorce, provision is made for the necessary protection of any other children and spouses.
Why am I quoting on this one, you will find that this Clause talks about equality, if it is the equality of both spouses, it talks about community ofproperty whereby it should be shared equally to both spouses. If it is shared equally to both spouses, it is silent on what happens after the dissolution of that marriage or after the death of one spouse. I thought may be the Minister should look into those issues. Meanwhile we support his Bill and the amendments, but we thought maybe a few things may be added or some of the things should be clarified so that we agree to something that we believe. With these few words Madam President, I would like to thank you.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very, very important debate. Firstly, I would want to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing in this Bill to the Senate and I would like to say that it was long overdue as it touches on very important aspects of our life which is the marriage which is the basis of the family.
Madam President, there are few things which I want to highlight on this important Bill which needs probably clarification. One of the first things which I want say is: our Constitution recognizes and actually mandates us to respect those aspects of our culture which are not harmful and which actually promote our unity as a family. One of this is marriage, and in our culture, lobola is something which very important. Actually by definition, according to our culture, lobola defines marriage.
Madam President, I do not know where others went but where we went as a Committee during the hearings, it was unanimous that everyone wanted lobola to be there. I do not know if there was any place where people said they do not want lobola. Now the problem I have Madam President is when we came here to Parliament and drafted this; this has not been highlighted. I do not know whose interest we are serving. We are probably being manipulated by people - they may be civil society trying to impose a certain culture which is alien to us and which does not even work.
I think when we make laws, we make laws for our people, let us
not cheat the people. We go for outreach, they say what they want and unanimously say there was no ambiguity such that I would have expected that they should be a Clause to say lobola should be paid, because that is what was resonating from wherever most of the teams went. To say it is mandatory, to be silent when it is actually the basis of what we define as culture. I do not know what is harmful about it, I think people actually stretch it too much to say there is any harmful effect on lobola.
I do not think there is any harm. As a nation I think we are getting into a dangerous territory when we do not respect our culture. If we think anything foreign is good – [HON. SENATORS : Hear, hear.] – in fact, I am sorry to say tave kunge vana vasina mutupo. I would urge the Hon. Minister definitely to respect the will of the people if we are going to take this exercise seriously. On lobola, I will speak from an emotional position, because that is what the people said. I would want to see if we had the opportunity to actually bring back the preliminary to prove my point Madam President? Our reports from the different teams which went - lobola was unanimous. So where is that clause Madam President. I think we are taking ourselves for granted and in fact we are not respecting the people who sent us here to represent them, and more so when it impeaches on our reality, the basis and values that make us Zimbabweans.
Those who want to be like foreigners, who do not want to manage marriages and think it has got some negatives, let them stay there, not here in Zimbabwe. It will be an injustice for this Bill to sail through and become law without taking that into consideration- that will be one of the saddest moments in the history of this august Senate because we will have proved to the world that we actually are not representing the people, but we are actually taking what we think for people to rubber stamp. When they go against it, we come again and try to present it and taking advantage of us being the finally arbiter in this discourse. I think that will be injustice.
I think I have done justice to that because I am emotional. Just two days ago, I have got a daughter, she is 20 years old and I was telling her that inini ndinotoda roora mwanangu, kana pasina roora handiuye, it is mandatory, it is not debatable. This is our culture and there is nothing harmful about us having that, it actually puts us together. Madam President, if we are going to say there will be no lobola, people should not forget the importance of lobola, and it binds the family. When you go through that process, it is not about paying money it is actually about inini as mukuwasha relating to the relatives of my in-laws and for me to make a decision to say handichada mukadzi wangu, it will be very difficult and all those people will stand to be advisors. When we just stay where we are and say we are married, I think this is against the ethos and values of who we are as indigenous Zimbabweans. I think it is high time we promulgate laws which are useful to us as a people, not to for certain sectorial interests which do not even have nothing to do with us.
The next issue Madam President which I want to raise, our Bill does not address issues of those children who will have some marriages being annulled. I think as a State when we take a deliberate position and make it law to annul a marriage which was existing but without actually putting contingency measures to address the interest of those very products of that marriage, we will have done injustice to that. It must be clear as to what will happen because it is the State which is breaking a marriage which existed then.
So, we should make sure that the offspring of that marriage should be looked after by the State. The State cannot say we annulled because it was consummated and it was a child marriage, probably you penalize atezvara for accepting lobola and things like that and it ends there – that is nothing. What is going to happen to the children? We ought to have a deliberate clause which really safeguards the interest of those children who are already there.
Suffice to say banning of child marriages is a progressive law. I do not want to labour on what other Hon. Members have said about the effects of child marriages which we already know. I would like to urge the House to let this Marriage Bill sail through though there are other issues.
The other issue is that we say the age of marriage is 18 years and that is very perfect. However, we are addressing an issue which is unique to society. When we look at the sexual habits or behaviour of our community, children are starting to have sex at a very tender age and some of them will end up having kids. Legally, we still appear to be operating with a law where age of consent for sexual activities is 16, honestly can we legislate 16 and then leave the gap where all these things are happening. Are we also going to harmonise with the termination of pregnancy because if at 16 you cannot marry but can become pregnant since they are indulging into sexual activities? So, the State must offer a service to terminate that pregnancy because we know the effects of a child being a mother.
Are we saying we are failing to change the termination of Pregnancy Act to say any pregnancy for a girl child who is less than 18 years should be terminated lawfully? We are not comprehensive enough. When we put these laws -we have to make sure that it inter-digitates with so many other factors and that is a gap which I think we cannot consider Marriage Bill and fail to put clearly what will happen in terms of age of consent to sex . I do not think we will leave it to have another Bill to address that. I hope the Hon Minister will look into that and ensure that we try to harmonise our laws.
When people are in a marriage which has been prohibited and they had accumulated property, how is the dissolution of that property going to be effected with the current laws because it appears it is silent in the Bill. So, probably the Minister will clarify to us what will happen to those laws which are void yet they were already living a life.
Clause 28 of the Bill requires any marriage officers to confirm the age of the people who want to be engaged in the marriage. At the moment we have adults who do not have birth certificates. Is the State going to ensure that when we pass this law, every Zimbabwean who needs birth certificates will easily obtain them. If someone does not have a birth certificate and they want to get married, they will fail to do so because of that administrative requirement. I hope by the time we pass this into law it will be a thing of the past where we have adults dying without the requisite identifications. So, I am sure we will be able to come up with a much more polished law which will be harmonised with the other laws so that we do not inconvenience our people. With these few words, I would once again want to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill to the august House and hopefully he will consider the interests of the people about lobola. I thank you
HON. SEN. CHIEF SIANSALI: Thank you Madam President for an opportunity to add my voice to this Bill. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the Minister for the effort in bringing together these pieces of legislation that all speak to marriages in the country. Again, I would like to congratulate him adding my excitement on the fact that as a chief when this passes into law I will become a marriage officer.
However, I have got reservations on that because in as much as the Minister had confidence in us that we should be marriage officers but the terms that were used give doubts. When we come to consulate it says ‘shall be marriage officers’ but when it comes to us traditional leaders it is left to the preserve of the Minister, it says ‘may’. Why should it be ‘may’ when we are all chiefs. If there are reservations on some chiefs, that might be incapacitated then is an issue of the requisite training that will follow after which will drop out those that might not meet the requirements. The spelling should come out clear to be ‘shall’.
Again, having lived in a law that to me sounded more Eurocentric, I felt this was going to be an opportunity for us as an independent Zimbabwe led by Africans to give it an African flavour so that it sounds more African than anything imported from somewhere else. When we go through all the sections, it is sounds as if it is an importation of other marriage laws that do not resonate with us as Zimbabweans. Yes, I am aware that issues to do with marriages have some uniformity in a global village but there should be distinct aspect or wordings that then define as to who these are. So, we should have ours as Zimbabweans.
This is the only opportunity noting that laws are not changed every week and every day. So, if you leave out or spell it in the wrong way now, we will reel in the pain for many years to come. We should not shoot our culture, instead, we should revive it to promote ubuntu, hunhu (humanity). This is the chance Madam President.
We listened to the Minister the previous day and we read in the press about the issue of lobola. Madam President, lobola is not negotiable in the Zimbabwean perspective. Lobola is very well intended, it is the unifier of families, it is what we term marriage in the customary perspective. Without lobola, it is mapoto (cohabiting.). Madam President, as such, we would like to bring to the attention of the Minister that, we should have a special clause that points out to the effect that we need lobola to be paid. After all, what is the fuss about lobola? Lobola is not something that we pay like cash and carry goods, you pay in installments, a mngeable figure. Madam President, I bet that even most of us here in this august House have not finished paying lobola – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – However, they are married. Some have not finished paying lobola but they are married, so what is the fuss about it? Yes, we might have other clichés in society that purport to say, women are being commodified, that is not true. It goes with wrong interpretation.
Madam President, if we scrap off the prerequisite of lobola, it means we are detaching our children soon after marriage from their families and parents. No mother or father would want to associate again with a child whose lobola was not paid. This means we are saying, ‘boys and girls, you are above 18, you marry, go away and find your own home but do not even look back to us.’ What are we promoting? I think as a country, we value family unity and extended families in our traditional way.
Madam President, if us as chiefs are going to be marriage officers, how do we picture a Chief standing in front of couples who want to marry, not even talking about lobola, am I still a Chief. If I am to take my definition from the Constitution that, ‘I am the custodian of the customs and culture,’ then am I doing my duties or I am relenting? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – We bring this to the attention of the Minister that, yes, we have got those who are attacking our culture, let the Minister not listen to them. They are attacking our culture by trying to scrap off those nitty gritties that define us but we should not give them an ear. We know they are there because those are the sayings that point out that, ‘this is Tonga culture, this is Shona culture.
In shone, I hear they always say mombe yehumai yakakosha. – (token of a cow for the mother-in-law) Unozoita musha wakaita sei vana vasina kubhadhara mombe yehumai (What kind of a home will it be if one fails to pay the cow for the mother-in-law?) – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – Every culture has got its aspect that it values in marriage. As Africans in Zimbabwe, we value that there is lobola payment. After all, we are not even punishing or infringing on the rights of the woman, not at all. The person who is made to pay is a man and not the woman, so where is the infringement? We are actually valuing the woman by making sure that, for me to stay with you, I should appreciate – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, I was not aware that the age of consent was not looked into. I got a bit disturbed when I got it in the House that the age of consent is still at 16. Then, what are we amending? I thought that was the issue that we were fighting against all these years. We have a law or we still have a law that provides that the age of consent is at 16 whereas the age of maturity is at 18 yet the two were not marrying. It has a two way leeway where children could be mischievous and fall pregnant but are not allowed to marry. We are promoting child mothers and out there we have got vultures and cankers and predators that keep haunting these girls. If the age of consent says 16 and the girl consents and is impregnated, the family fumes to say, ‘no, our girl was raped,’ but the courts will throw it out to say, ‘that is not rape,’ because the child is allowed to consent at 16 – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – then we look like fools, we who enforce as traditional leaders to say, children are not supposed to marry before the age of 18. They will say, ‘but my child was impregnated by Mr. Sibanda’s child, so are you saying I should stay with my child, the pregnancy and then the newly born grandchild for me to look after again?’ You say, that is the law, that is not palatable but we are reeling in pain. So, should we now miss this opportunity to correct it, obviously not?
Madam President, we plead with the Minister to make sure that that is incorporated; it should be brought in tandem. The age of consent should be 18 for as long as the age of marriage is 18. There is no reason why my child should consent, fall pregnant and fail to marry. If we leave the age of consent at 16, that is how we are witnessing a lot of school drop outs on the girl child. Why, because in as much as the law might allow them to go to school when they are pregnant, they do not want to do so because they feel ashamed. This means that one way or the other, we are attacking the girl child and the woman. The graph remains such that more boys will be in school than girls. I do not think that is what we want as a country. We are clamouring for 50:50, it starts from there. We are also clamouring to bring it at equilibrium but it starts from there because if the girl child does not finish school it means all opportunities that come thereafter, she will not be able to grab them because she will have dropped out of school and all confidence is thrown away.
Lastly Madam President, the definition of customary marriage should be in sync with definitions of other pieces of legislation that speaks to the same. For instance, the customary courts and local courts, it defines the customary aspect of it, backdating it to anything that could have been from 1891. As such, it brings in lobola at full throttle. So, whatever definition would be put on this one should be in sync with the already existing pieces of legislation so that they do not keep fighting. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Madam President. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on this debate. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs who crafts laws for law and order. Madam President, I have a problem as has been said earlier on. We want to get a clear definition on the term, ‘customary marriage’. It frustrates us as chiefs, that if we were to go back to 1891 and before the advent of the whites or even after the arrival of the white people, if we look at our fathers and elders of the people who are here, what were the circumstances that surrounded the issue of lobola? Why are we using the wrong words when we talk about culture and our customs? They treat them as evil things – they see nothing good coming out of it.
Where are we getting this mentality from? If the terms matekenya ndebvu and tsvakirai kuno were used and payment was done for such issues that would be used as a way in which a prospective son-in-law would not just get someone’s daughter for free; you would even pay seduction damages if you were to indulge in a sexual relationship with someone’s daughter and impregnant them without the consent of the father or parents – that was meant to be punitive. In our culture, you cannot simply be intimate with our daughter because you had to first approach and we ask you, ‘How did you come to be in such a relationship?’
Ladies, we hear you pride yourselves and bringing some measure of importance to the issue of lobola by indicating that so many herds of cattle were paid as bride price. It is not a chance for other parents that are not placing the proper value of the lobola custom and are charging exorbitant prices as lobola. Some of you who are here, your fathers have not fully paid lobola for your mother and as children you are asked to pay the outstanding balance and it is happening. It is mad that this was not a question of getting rich by a family but a way of uniting families.
Those who are here, let me ask how many times are you being assaulted at your home? If I would juxtapose this with the promotion of this habit of live-in lovers – where are you getting this culture people? Girls who are collecting their own lobola – it is anathema in the African culture. In our African culture, lobola is paid to just cement the relationship. As a chief, if I am about to solemnise a marriage and I do not ask about the lobola issue – are we still Africans? We still have two dishonest children who just come and present themselves before a Marriage Officer and say the chief should just solemnise the marriage because they want to marry each other. Where are those crooked people going to end up?
I can cheat Grace and solemnise a marriage with her and in our own culture I will have two wives. I cannot marry a second wife without the consent of my first wife and my father-in-law having lobola in fulfillment. I have to pay a beast to give to the senior wife or the first wife and say that I want to have more children since I am still young. The wife has to consent to that and not this habit whereby you are now belittling or looking down upon our culture. I am saying that the Hon. Minister should look into this issue because as chiefs, we cannot solemnise marriages where lobola is not asked forbecause lobola is meant to cement our relationships as families.
We would be much happy Madam President if the Hon. Minister was to put this one clearly. It should come out in all the various vernacular languages so that when such clauses are made in English – we may not be very happy with them because we see that these laws are no longer being made for Africans. We are now bringing in foreign cultures and saying that this is good. A country that does not stand by its own values or culture is dead. We have our culture, our way of doing things and in fact in terms of our culture, we follow certain procedures. There is a go - between and children cannot just come – the two of them, and have a marriage or a bon appétit.
Why should we be asking for the sex of a child who is being bathed when you see that the girl is maturing? We will have our own girls being denigrated or looked down upon because of doing bad things. We still praise Nehanda because she stated that her bones shall rise up and order the children to rise against the white settlers. We will be a deserted village and there will be more cases of domestic violence. As parents you are going to be insulted because you talk of girl children who join families without lobola having been paid and they do away with traditional culture.
The future is part of the past and we should always be looking at our culture and maintain it. We were happy when Section 40 was removed from the Marriages Bill, that today the woman is with Chief Chikwaka and tomorrow she becomes Chief Nhema’s wife. We all had to do away with it and agreed to come up with a good law but you now want to bring in certain issues that were meant to cement our children’s’ relationships to long lasting marriages and make it so easy so much that the two of them would just go and have their marriage solemnised.
The Hon. Minister should correct these anomalies and clearly define what customary law is all about because we have heard of such sections and that Section 5 (11) and other such sections were now at par in terms of the Marriage Act. What is customary law if you say that it is no longer a law? We should not colonise everything. What we do in our culture is the law. Why should you not go to the chiefs court instead of going to the Magistrates Court? The chief’s court upholds our culture and tradition until Jesus comes back.
The marriage institution was created by God himself and he said that he is a God who uses a constant today, tomorrow and forever more. He gave us an example of Isaac when he was about to marry Rebecca. A child who was brought from Damascus had to swear an oath on Abraham’s thighs and lobola was paid. She came aboard a camel and was brought into the family. She knelt down when she got off the camel and she was covered in a veil. What culture do you want to promote? It is contrary to what God says. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Madam President for allowing me to debate this motion. This is a hot issue and I have heard of hot blood. I would want to believe that the Minister should define the Customary Marriage Act properly.
On the issue of lobola, when the whites came even if they brought customary marriage, I looked at my mother’s certificate when she got married to my father, they would indicate ‘take consideration of the type of lobola that would have been paid. My mother was a chief’s daughter and you could not marry in the chief’s family when you had no intentions to solemnise the marriage. They would indicate how much you would have paid and what the balance was.
So if we were to allow these marriages where lobola is not paid, are we not being worse than the whites? The whites came and colonised us but they allowed us to live with our own culture and sowe should keep our own culture. We have a Minister and a black Government. We should be putting it clearly so that our customary marriages are solemnised in line with our culture. We should not just follow suit for the sake of doing it. We are black people who have their own cultures and customs. Who is it that is forcing us to run away from our culture and do other things?
[Cellphone ringing]
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Members, as mature people, I do not think we have got to keep on reminding each other about the cell phones. We have to respect this House because if someone is getting into this House forgetting about their phone, whether it is on, on vibration or loud, I think we have got to respect ourselves because the more you look down upon this House seeks exactly what we are doing to ourselves.
*HON. SEN. SHOKO: As we had already said that chiefs are now going to solemnise customary marriages, we should not leave out the issue of lobola. Once we do that we have disrespected our chiefs and the traditional institution, which is not good. If we are to follow that this law can be very progressive we will go a long way. We will have problems in this august House because we are the elders and that is why we should not allow this law to pass without these amendments. It should take on board what the chiefs require. We need to refine this law and the Hon. Minister should do that. If lobola has to be paid and marriages solemnised by the chiefs, it should be done and that should be part and parcel of the law.
There is also the issue that was raised that one should be allowed to be sexually active from age of sixteen and can only consent to marriage at the age of eighteen. While they indulge in sex, they will become pregnant and you cannot then say you have to wait for two years before you get married to her. You can only get married to her after two years; I do not believe this is proper. The two should be in line with each other. If the age of consent is eighteen the same should apply for the majority age and that will be agreeable.
In terms of lobola and if we are going to go to other cultures or countries, there are certain aspects or values that hold dear. In the Marriage Act, I think when you are getting married or having the marriage solemnised, you produce the rings. Maybe I am doing it wrongly but when I got married we were asked to produce rings and the rings were exchanged. Thereafter, you were asked to kiss the bride in line with the Marriage Act. This is a foreign aspect.
In terms of our Customary Marriage, the chief does not say you may kiss the bride. It is unheard of. So, if we are in agreement that there are two types of marriages, we should accord the two types of marriages equal opportunities and we should have the set of procedures that were always there in maintaining our culture, values and morals. We should not be influenced by the colonisers. If we are to do the customary way of getting married, the chiefs should be at liberty to ask questions to ensure that certain requirements have been fulfilled. Once we lose certain aspects of our culture, if we are to come back to this House and then say we made a mistake then let us amend that law.
I was part and parcel of those Committees that went around the country. I went to Binga. The people in Binga said that if had we not gone to an urban settlement and gone to the rural, they were going to shoot us with arrows because we wanted to scrap off lobola. Lobola should be part and parcel of that law, it is very important. If you have paid lobola and want to have your marriage solemnised by the chief, the chief should not solemnise that. You should only have your marriage solemnised because you have paid lobola.
This issue is at the core of our values as Africans. We should not just be copy-cats. If you see Shoko wearing a suit today, do not crave for it. It is different stocks for different folks, we are never the same. Those that want to go the English way should do that and those that want to maintain the traditional way of doing things should also be at liberty to do so and that should be maintained.
With those words Madam President, I believe that you have understood. If we were outside I would say, ‘tell me if you have understood’. I reiterate once again that lobola should be paid. The Act should define clearly what it is all about. The chiefs should solemnise these marriages because a lot of people do not have marriage certificates.
On the issue of property, marriage should be in community of property. Property is acquired by a man and a woman, and we should understand that. It is the husband and wife who amass property. What they have amassed belongs to the wife and husband jointly. Once there is some disagreement, that aspect should also be looked into so as to ensure that an amicable distribution is reached. Minister, once again, look into this issue. I am going to lobby all these Hon. Members to ensure that this Bill is not passed until it incorporates exactly what it is that we require. Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I also thank the Minister for bringing in such a Bill because it was long overdue as others have said.
I will debate on the issue of lobola – Hon. Minister, when you came here two weeks ago, we observed that you were being insulted on social media. We were also equally insulted. People were asking if we were spending the whole day in this august House discussing scraping of lobola. They were saying if our fathers had paid lobola for our mothers, now when you pass this Bill, we would not get lobola for our children. That is unacceptable. That is not acceptable.
I am talking about our African culture – once payment of lobola has been scrapped, then the mother’s beast (mombe yeumai) can no longer be paid. This is what it means from where I come from. Once there is one beast for the father for the kraal (mombe yedanga) it means that if all this is scrapped, mombe yeumai will no longer be there. This cow symbolizes the unity of the marriage between the two. The children that are going to be born out of that union will be prosperous and healthy if only that cow is provided. That is what our forefathers did. We are not coming up with these measures.
A long time ago, it was just a hoe that was paid as lobola but mombe yeumai is important. When the girl child expects her first child, she has to go to the parents (masungiro). Goats will be brought to her parents’ house and some other rituals would be performed. If lobola is scrapped, this will be difficult for us. It means that our morals will be eroded. There will be moral decadence. This is not possible and we will not allow our children to enter into marriages that are solemnized without lobola having been paid. My own daughter Farai cannot be taken away without lobola being paid.
As we speak right now, some of us or the majority here, not all of the lobola has been paid, but it is known that so and so’s son paid lobola for so and so’s daughter and they were given blessings. As mothers, we bless these marriages because we were given our cattle, our winter jackets and suits. We will be proud that our son in law so and so has paid these things as part of the bride price. We should not lose that aspect of our African culture as Africans.
You hear that people are murdering each other – it is because they have lost that aspect of hunhu. Zimbabwe is loved by God. We still uphold our culture and ubuntu. There is Covid-19 but because of our morals and cultures, our numbers are less. It is because of our way of life and our values that we have fewer cases. The Minister should look into this issue seriously. I stand with the Chiefs and say that we want our lobola, mother’s clothes such as customes. Mombe yeumai should be paid so that our children can enjoy their marriage. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank the Minister who has brought in this Bill. I have two girls, Kundai and Tsungai. When the Minister brought in this Bill, I went back home and my girls approached me immediately and asked me if I wanted them to go without lobola being paid. I then asked myself a question – who is going to benefit from this. I thought it was my girls who were aware that lobola is important. I went out and made a survey and no one was in agreement with the scraping of lobola. I observed that women value that lobola should be paid. It is ingrained in our culture and DNA as black people. Even I, I do not want to take a woman without paying lobola. I do not want to take someone’s daughter without thanking the woman who gave birth to that child and took care of her until she is mature that I admired her and proposed love to her.
In our African culture, we are renowned for thanking and clapping our hands – it is not the monitory value that matters. It is very negligible but it is the gesture of payment of lobola and realising that the girl child leaves her own family for an alien family for her entire life. That is a big occasion that as blacks we must respect. Minister, if there is any law that we need to protect or ring fence in Zimbabwe and export such values even to the whites it is the issue of the payment of lobola.
I will talk about the Marriage Act and the Customary Law. You should ensure that you come up with such a good law that we will be able export to America, China etcetera such that they will emulate our example and be envious. The marriages that are going to be solemnised by chiefs should be held in high esteem and we should be used to doing it so as to change other people’s culture in as much as the colonisers were able to do this to us. The payment of lobola is important. The women pride themselves in the payment of lobola for their hand in marriage. It is part and parcel of our culture. Yes, there are others that will bring the argument that they will be commodified and that they will be traded just like commodities. That school of thought is in the minority, the majority of people believe that there is a value in the payment of lobola and that it must be done. Those men who tell women that their wives are their property because they paid lobola, such men should be arrested. You should record such abusive men who use such abusive language. There is modern technology and you have phones. Just record them and go and report to the police so that they can be arrested to ensure we do away with this abusive language.
A woman is a friend, a life partner and you are your wife’s child. She will look after you. If we scrap off the issue of lobola – men are hard hearted at times, do you know that. Women are going to be scolded and they will even start questioning if they are still human beings once you scrap off this payment of lobola. If this marriage becomes free for all where no lobola is paid, our daughters are going to be made to suffer by men. It is very painful and it hurts me because I have daughters. When our daughters are abused and their property is thrown out through the window because there is nothing to unite the two once lobola is not paid, we actually defer or bar the issue of abuse because of payment of lobola.
The issue of early child marriages should be quickly looked into. We could stop the other issues and we should make sure that we align our laws. If you see a mango that is half ripe, should you eat that mango? If your daughter is into puberty it does not mean they are sexually ripe. Exercise the same patience as in the issue of a mango and allow it to grow up. Medical research has shown that there are a lot of problems when the child gives birth whilst still young. Mentally she is not mature and she is not marriage material. Men are cruel, abusive and she will be so young to absorb such pressure. When she is left at home and the husband goes beer drinking, he comes back and assaults her to the point of stress because she is immature and may end up having serious mental problems. So she requires being mature to cope with all the matrix of family management. She will not be able to even look after her mothers-in-law and the family as well as provide food. In Rwanda they observed that 7% is the number of people involved in child marriages while Zimbabwe is sitting on 31%. We need to improve and come up with such a law so that we discourage early child marriages. We have observed that in 24 countries in Africa such laws have been brought up. This includes Mozambique, Malawi and Chad. It shows that as Africans we have observed that it is bad to be involved in early child marriages.
In Zimbabwe we have problems with certain churches of the apostolic faith sect where early child marriages are encouraged through allegations that God has shown them and the holy spirit has said this and that. That is not proper. I am a member of such a church but we need to be enlightened on the problems that will befall the child who has been involved in early child marriage. Men should be told that they should not be greedy and get into such affairs with under age children. They should give them sufficient time to mature and thereafter they will get married to them. They are not going anywhere.
There is also the problem of the child having to stop going to school and they sit idly in communities after grade 7. Thereafter she is proposed to and gets married. We should also encourage the girl child to attain higher levels of education so as to reduce early child marriages. Hon Minister, we should also work to improve our economy so that we have a functional industry and there is work on the farms and our economy becomes better so our children get employment and thereby mature before they get married, hence we will be able to reduce early child marriages.
There is also another issue that others have already mentioned. It is the issue of sexual consent at the age of 16 and that for one to get married it is 18 years. There is a misnomer because the two should read the same with 18 years being the age of sexual consent and marriage. All the old men here go back to your youthful years and tell us what used to happen when you wanted to have a girl at such an age of 16. You would know that there would be a certain bad spirit that will come into you and a lot of pregnancies were observed. You are aware of that. Even in schools, it is the grade 7 children who drop out of school because of pregnancies. We run the risk of having children becoming single mothers. We know that when a law has come into effect the numbers reduce but the naughty ones are always there. There are those that have avenging spirits in their families. We may not completely bar them but there will be a reduction in the number of cases. Let us put the age of consent to sex at18 years and the marriageable age again at 18 years. Once a child who is below the age of consent is impregnated the culprit should be arrested. The two should be aligned. With those few words I would like to believe that the Hon. Minister has understood what the House or Council of Elders has said. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President. I just want to respond on the issue of lobola because I have asked that the debate on the Marriage Bill be adjourned until tomorrow. We want to understand one another. We had a law that used to talk about the lobola that is now being scrapped off. Madam President we used to have two laws that dealt with the issue of marriages. There is the issue of payment of lobola and the solemnisation of a marriage. These are two different issues. In our culture you hear a woman saying I had lobola paid for me and the marriage was solemnised. These are two different things, the payment of lobola and the solemnisation of the marriage. We had a law dealing with Customary Marriages and Civil Marriages Chapter 5.11. At the moment Chapter 5.11 if you were to go before a magistrate or a priest, there is no law that says the magistrate or the priest should ask the whereabouts of your father and aunt and that they should write down the amount that was paid as lobola as a requirement for the solemnisation of the marriage.
As we debate, we should be alive to the fact that such issues are not being asked. If we lost our culture, we lost it in 1982 when we came up with the Legal Age of Majority Act. When that law was enacted, there is one Katekwere who went to court and sued for seduction damages, that their child has been seduced and they wanted damages. In the past, what it meant was as a father, once you have impregnated my daughter, you have reduced the value of the lobola that I was going to get. The judge looked into it and said this tended to let women be looked down upon. He said the person who should sue for damages should be the daughter. At that time, the father would treat her daughter as a minor and said he owned her. Once she gets married, the rights would be transferred to her husband. Chief Justice Dumbuchena removed the issue of damages and said it was no longer a requirement in terms of Chapter 5.11 on solemnisation of marriages. However, he did not remove the issue of the payment of lobola. The person who should consent to the marriage should be the wife. The marriage officer, whether it was a magistrate or a priest would not ask for the payment of lobola.
We asked for an explanation on the customary marriage so that we would encourage women in the communal areas so that their property rights are safeguarded. We then said that they can go and be married without the issue or the asking of lobola. Let us go to the Constitution that we make up with that gives the rights to women. It says the men and the women have equal rights. The issue of the lobola and the issue of the marriage certificate, when the late former President Mugabe was the Prime Minister, he did not answer clearly. He said once my sister gets married, I would want my lobola. Hon. Zvobgo and Hon. Mujuru said they were going to look into the issue. Thirty – eight (38) years down the line, if we were to write in our laws that a woman cannot have a marriage solemnised, the man and the woman are no longer equal. Equality means that each and every person must come up with a decision. If you talk of equal rights, it means that if my daughter wants to get married and I say she cannot get married, it means that she no longer has the same rights as her brother who when he says he wants to go and get married, he could simply go and do that.
I was saying that the issue of culture and I was going to talk about it with the chiefs. Our customary law is not codified. What happens under the chieftainship of Chief Charumbira is different from what happens under the chieftainship of Chief Zvimba. We defined customary marriage as a marriage that is in line with the traditions of the traditional leaders in that jurisdiction. We cannot give a single definition because what happens in Marange, Zimunya, Binga and Zvimba are not the same. Some are saying it is the same but it is not the same. The manner in which lobola is paid is different. When you get married, they say where did you get married because Masvingo is very expensive. We may say it is the same but in reality it is not the same.
What the law is saying is that lobola issues in line with our tradition can be done but when the marriage needs to be solemnized, the two can go and solemnise their marriage. What it means is that since 1982, it is the wife who now tells the husband that he should go and pay lobola. If they did not have, they are going to have the marriage solemnised. We may deny this but a lot of our children are going to get married in terms of Section 5.11. Thereafter, they would inform us that they got married and they solemnized their marriage. They will inform you when they come to pay lobola that they already have a marriage certificate. Personally, I know a lot of people who have done that.
As we debate this issue, we should not say that this law has scrapped off the issue of lobola. This has been in practice since 1982 but what it means is we want the customary law marriage to remain as what it was. We will then state that civil marriage remains what it was. That is what we need to debate.
With customary marriage, we have to record that so much money has been paid as bride price. The other types of marriages have no such requirements. Let me respond and say we will proceed tomorrow but the age of consent and the majority age are two different issues. The age of consent deals with the issue of the capacity to appreciate whether what one is doing is right or wrong. If a girl child is below the age of seven and is sexually molested, it is rape. From seven to twelve years, there is a rebuttable presumption that such child cannot consent to sex and it is also defined as rape. One who is between 12 and 16, they say she has capacity, what it means is that there is classification of the offences that one commits. Our children get driver’s licences, at the age of 16. They are allowed to drive motor vehicles at the age of 16. There are two issues that we should be looking at, we have our culture and our customs that our children should not do. They must not indulge in certain things before the age of 18.
We should not unnecessarily criminalize society by coming up with such laws, so there are competing interests that we need to balance when we talk of the age of majority as 18 years or those who are in productive age would be afraid to then indulge. We are saying that our children should be taught what exactly they must do and that they must refrain from sex in terms of our culture. For someone who is 16 years we will say it is a criminal issue because in other countries they say the age of consent is 14, but they teach their children to refrain from sex until they are at the age of 18. I also urge this august Senate to teach our children to refrain from sexual intercourse before they become 18 years of age. It is difficult for us to change the law of consent from 16 to 18 years, it is a difficult issue and we may fail to actually pass it. I would want to thank the Hon. Senators, and we are going to debate on how we should reach consensus. In our Constitution it does not say that if one wants to have a marriage solemnized we must put the issue of payment of lobola. I thank you.
Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn. I will meet with Chiefs at the request of the President of the Chiefs’ Council to discuss about the Marriages Bill tomorrow and then we will proceed.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 31st June, 2020.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the Senate adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Four o’ clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday 30th June, 2020
The Senate met at Half -past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE
BILLS RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the
House that I have received the following Bills from the National Assembly: Census and Statistics Amendment Bill [H. B. 3. 2020], and the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill [H. B. 16, 2019].
SECOND READING
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7A, 2019] First Order read: Second Reading: Marriages Bill [H. B. 7A, 2019].
Question again proposed
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Madam President. We
are very grateful for the Marriages Bill that was brought to this House for debate amongst Senators. We understand that this Bill is saying a child should not be married before attaining the age of 18 years. Furthermore, says the same child can be sexually active at the age of 16 years. That is very disturbing that a 16 year old is allowed to be sexually active yet can be married at the age of 18 years. All problems start with the girl child sleeping with men and getting pregnant. So why do we not align the age of marriage to that of being sexually active to 18 years so that we do not have the problem of a girl child being sexually active at 16 years and getting pregnant yet legally she is not supposed to be married. It gives us problems as parents and it will also disturb that child more because once the child becomes pregnant whilst at school, she will become a school dropout while the boy child will continue going to school. The one that bears the brand in that regard is the girl child. If the girl has been impregnated by a married man, he will continue looking after his own family but the girl child will suffer. She will become a dropout and maybe even the parents will chase her away from the home. A lot of things do happen once a girl child becomes pregnant. The health of the child is also compromised. At 16 years, she has become pregnant and because she is young, she has birth complications either through a caesarean section or the child will have difficulties in that she is young and the uterus will be disturbed and she cannot carry a child. Why not simply say that a child who has become 18 years is the one that should become sexually active and can get married. There are some families that are wayward that are in the rural areas. You will find in urban settings there are also families that are poor and once they encounter such a problem, it will cause the parents to panic resulting in them causing that child to abort and may even result in death. In other circumstances, she may go to hospital to seek medical attention but a lot of problems are faced when a child becomes pregnant at the age of 16 years. It is my plea that this august House should also amend the same section so that it speaks to the age of majority as 18 years which should apply for the girl child to become sexually active. One said why should we desire things that are unripe. Give them a chance so that they can become mature. Do not take advantage of these innocent children that are sexually inexperienced. Once this happens, you cannot take her to your home and once she becomes pregnant the boy child cannot take her to his own family. If the sexual aspect has happened between people that are mature and above the age of majority, nothing will happen to them. There is a danger that those that will allow those that are under age to be involved in sexual activities run the risk of being arrested once the child is married and they accept payment of lobola.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF. MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam
President. As chiefs, we are happy that this Bill enables us to conduct marriage ceremonies. It is good to be recognised that as traditional leaders, we will be solemnizing marriages but we have issues that we would want to point out. First and foremost, the Marriages Bill is described just as the Marriages Bill but the solemnization of the marriage that we are doing is customary marriage. So we want to understand what exactly customary marriage is. From our own customary perspective, are we looking down upon our own traditional or cultural marriage? Can we have a clear definition of what exactly customary marriage is. Previously, there was talk in the media as if there is no more payment of lobola. In our culture, we have always maintained our own way of life. Even our colonisers knew that we have our own ways. For one to marry someone’s daughter they must pay lobola. Once you marry and pay lobola, you must be referred to as being married. A token of appreciation has to be paid in line with our African culture and Zimbabwean culture. When laws are being made, they must be made for the people of Zimbabwe and what pertains to the Zimbabwean scenario. We are not saying that lobola that has to be paid should be a price like they are paying for bread. Lobola is one of the tenets in our culture that must be respected in our Constitution.
We should not be in the habit of copying and pasting, thereby importing certain values or cultures that are alien to our own
Zimbabwean culture; hence, I want the definition of customary marriage from the Minister concerned. What is it all about? What does it entail? We will have problems as marriage officers. We want to ask - have you paid lobola because that is in line with our African tradition? Thank you very much.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: Thank you Madam President. I also
want to thank the Minister for bringing the Marriages Bill. I have a few issues that I want the Minister to take note of, especially on Section 41 of the Bill where it says the Matrimonial Causes Act will be used for property sharing in civil partnership. However, Section 41 (vi) then introduces a new structure to be used for property sharing. We need clarity on the formula to be used in civil partnership as it is confusing. We recommend that the matrimonial causes be used because it caters for everyone.
Section 41 also speaks on the distribution of property that is jointly acquired to be shared between civil partners. Does this imply to joint registration or joint contribution on the purchasing of the said property? We recommend that the Matrimonial Causes Act be applied to distribution of property as is proposed in the beginning of Section 41. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. First and
foremost, I would like to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill to this august Senate. I think after all the amendments that were made, we still feel that something should be added on what has been left out. Madam President, first and foremost, I would like the Minister to give us a clear definition of the Marriages Bill because at the moment it is very silent. According to our own thinking, it is a union between a man and a woman who have attained 18 years but it remains open. It does not tally with the Constitution of the country because there is room for homosexuals to get married. It is not mentioned anywhere.
If you go to Section 78 of the Constitution, it clearly states what is supposed to be. If ever we are drafting a Bill, I thought maybe we go in line with the Constitution. Madam President, I do not know whether I can read Section 8 from the Constitution so that everybody is aware of what I am talking about.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You may proceed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Section 78, marriage rights, “every
person who has attained the age of 18 years has the right to a sound family. (2) No person may be compelled to enter into a marriage against their will. (3) Persons of the same sex are prohibited from marrying each other.” That is where I am concerned about most. As it stands, subsection (3) was not taken care of in the Bill.
Madam President, I have been reading the press and I have been following what was going on. Meanwhile, we appreciate so much that the chiefs have been given their powers. They can exert their powers now but as the Hon. Chief has already alluded to, their powers are now being exaggerated in the sense that the Minister in his press statement was talking about lobola. He was saying that lobola is no longer compulsory but we are not saying that it must not be there. Madam President, it is verbal. In the Bill itself it is silent. We would very much appreciate if ever the chiefs are given their powers. To carry out marriages, they should be given their traditional powers in black and white, written that lobola should be there. Maybe there can be a clause – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – I am just saying maybe there can be a clause which states that it must not exceed so much. It is up to them but it should be written in black and white.
Madam President, I also have a question on Clause 26 of the
Constitution as well. Clause 26 of the Constitution states that the State must take appropriate measures to ensure that no marriage is entered into without free and full consent of the intended spouses. Children are not pledged in the marriage, there is equality of rights of obligation of spouses during marriage and in dissolution. In the event of dissolution of the marriage, whether through death or divorce, provision is made for the necessary protection of any other children and spouses.
Why am I quoting on this one, you will find that this Clause talks about equality, if it is the equality of both spouses, it talks about community ofproperty whereby it should be shared equally to both spouses. If it is shared equally to both spouses, it is silent on what happens after the dissolution of that marriage or after the death of one spouse. I thought may be the Minister should look into those issues.
Meanwhile we support his Bill and the amendments, but we thought maybe a few things may be added or some of the things should be clarified so that we agree to something that we believe. With these few words Madam President, I would like to thank you.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very, very important debate. Firstly, I would want to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing in this Bill to the Senate and I would like to say that it was long overdue as it touches on very important aspects of our life which is the marriage which is the basis of the family.
Madam President, there are few things which I want to highlight on this important Bill which needs probably clarification. One of the first things which I want say is: our Constitution recognizes and actually mandates us to respect those aspects of our culture which are not harmful and which actually promote our unity as a family. One of this is marriage, and in our culture, lobola is something which very important.
Actually by definition, according to our culture, lobola defines marriage.
Madam President, I do not know where others went but where we went as a Committee during the hearings, it was unanimous that everyone wanted lobola to be there. I do not know if there was any place where people said they do not want lobola. Now the problem I have Madam President is when we came here to Parliament and drafted this; this has not been highlighted. I do not know whose interest we are serving. We are probably being manipulated by people - they may be civil society trying to impose a certain culture which is alien to us and which does not even work.
I think when we make laws, we make laws for our people, let us not cheat the people. We go for outreach, they say what they want and unanimously say there was no ambiguity such that I would have expected that they should be a Clause to say lobola should be paid, because that is what was resonating from wherever most of the teams went. To say it is mandatory, to be silent when it is actually the basis of what we define as culture. I do not know what is harmful about it, I think people actually stretch it too much to say there is any harmful effect on lobola.
I do not think there is any harm. As a nation I think we are getting into a dangerous territory when we do not respect our culture. If we think anything foreign is good – [HON. SENATORS : Hear, hear.] – in fact, I am sorry to say tave kunge vana vasina mutupo. I would urge the Hon. Minister definitely to respect the will of the people if we are going to take this exercise seriously. On lobola, I will speak from an emotional position, because that is what the people said. I would want to see if we had the opportunity to actually bring back the preliminary to prove my point Madam President? Our reports from the different teams which went - lobola was unanimous. So where is that clause Madam President. I think we are taking ourselves for granted and in fact we are not respecting the people who sent us here to represent them, and more so when it impeaches on our reality, the basis and values that make us
Zimbabweans.
Those who want to be like foreigners, who do not want to manage marriages and think it has got some negatives, let them stay there, not here in Zimbabwe. It will be an injustice for this Bill to sail through and become law without taking that into consideration- that will be one of the saddest moments in the history of this august Senate because we will have proved to the world that we actually are not representing the people, but we are actually taking what we think for people to rubber stamp. When they go against it, we come again and try to present it and taking advantage of us being the finally arbiter in this discourse. I think that will be injustice.
I think I have done justice to that because I am emotional. Just two days ago, I have got a daughter, she is 20 years old and I was telling her that inini ndinotoda roora mwanangu, kana pasina roora handiuye, it is mandatory, it is not debatable. This is our culture and there is nothing harmful about us having that, it actually puts us together. Madam President, if we are going to say there will be no lobola, people should not forget the importance of lobola, and it binds the family. When you go through that process, it is not about paying money it is actually about inini as mukuwasha relating to the relatives of my in-laws and for me to make a decision to say handichada mukadzi wangu, it will be very difficult and all those people will stand to be advisors. When we just stay where we are and say we are married, I think this is against the ethos and values of who we are as indigenous Zimbabweans. I think it is high time we promulgate laws which are useful to us as a people, not to for certain sectorial interests which do not even have nothing to do with us.
The next issue Madam President which I want to raise, our Bill does not address issues of those children who will have some marriages being annulled. I think as a State when we take a deliberate position and make it law to annul a marriage which was existing but without actually putting contingency measures to address the interest of those very products of that marriage, we will have done injustice to that. It must be clear as to what will happen because it is the State which is breaking a marriage which existed then.
So, we should make sure that the offspring of that marriage should be looked after by the State. The State cannot say we annulled because it was consummated and it was a child marriage, probably you penalize atezvara for accepting lobola and things like that and it ends there – that is nothing. What is going to happen to the children? We ought to have a deliberate clause which really safeguards the interest of those children who are already there.
Suffice to say banning of child marriages is a progressive law. I do not want to labour on what other Hon. Members have said about the effects of child marriages which we already know. I would like to urge the House to let this Marriage Bill sail through though there are other issues.
The other issue is that we say the age of marriage is 18 years and that is very perfect. However, we are addressing an issue which is unique to society. When we look at the sexual habits or behaviour of our community, children are starting to have sex at a very tender age and some of them will end up having kids. Legally, we still appear to be operating with a law where age of consent for sexual activities is 16, honestly can we legislate 16 and then leave the gap where all these things are happening. Are we also going to harmonise with the termination of pregnancy because if at 16 you cannot marry but can become pregnant since they are indulging into sexual activities? So, the State must offer a service to terminate that pregnancy because we know the effects of a child being a mother.
Are we saying we are failing to change the termination of Pregnancy Act to say any pregnancy for a girl child who is less than 18 years should be terminated lawfully? We are not comprehensive enough. When we put these laws -we have to make sure that it inter-digitates with so many other factors and that is a gap which I think we cannot consider Marriage Bill and fail to put clearly what will happen in terms of age of consent to sex . I do not think we will leave it to have another Bill to address that. I hope the Hon Minister will look into that and ensure that we try to harmonise our laws.
When people are in a marriage which has been prohibited and they had accumulated property, how is the dissolution of that property going to be effected with the current laws because it appears it is silent in the Bill. So, probably the Minister will clarify to us what will happen to those laws which are void yet they were already living a life.
Clause 28 of the Bill requires any marriage officers to confirm the age of the people who want to be engaged in the marriage. At the moment we have adults who do not have birth certificates. Is the State going to ensure that when we pass this law, every Zimbabwean who needs birth certificates will easily obtain them. If someone does not have a birth certificate and they want to get married, they will fail to do so because of that administrative requirement. I hope by the time we pass this into law it will be a thing of the past where we have adults dying without the requisite identifications. So, I am sure we will be able to come up with a much more polished law which will be harmonised with the other laws so that we do not inconvenience our people. With these few words, I would once again want to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill to the august House and hopefully he will consider the interests of the people about lobola. I thank you
HON. SEN. CHIEF SIANSALI: Thank you Madam President
for an opportunity to add my voice to this Bill. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the Minister for the effort in bringing together these pieces of legislation that all speak to marriages in the country. Again, I would like to congratulate him adding my excitement on the fact that as a chief when this passes into law I will become a marriage officer.
However, I have got reservations on that because in as much as the Minister had confidence in us that we should be marriage officers but the terms that were used give doubts. When we come to consulate it says
‘shall be marriage officers’ but when it comes to us traditional leaders it is left to the preserve of the Minister, it says ‘may’. Why should it be
‘may’ when we are all chiefs. If there are reservations on some chiefs, that might be incapacitated then is an issue of the requisite training that will follow after which will drop out those that might not meet the requirements. The spelling should come out clear to be ‘shall’.
Again, having lived in a law that to me sounded more Eurocentric, I felt this was going to be an opportunity for us as an independent Zimbabwe led by Africans to give it an African flavour so that it sounds more African than anything imported from somewhere else. When we go through all the sections, it is sounds as if it is an importation of other marriage laws that do not resonate with us as Zimbabweans. Yes, I am aware that issues to do with marriages have some uniformity in a global village but there should be distinct aspect or wordings that then define as to who these are. So, we should have ours as Zimbabweans.
This is the only opportunity noting that laws are not changed every week and every day. So, if you leave out or spell it in the wrong way now, we will reel in the pain for many years to come. We should not shoot our culture, instead, we should revive it to promote ubuntu, hunhu
(humanity). This is the chance Madam President.
We listened to the Minister the previous day and we read in the press about the issue of lobola. Madam President, lobola is not negotiable in the Zimbabwean perspective. Lobola is very well intended, it is the unifier of families, it is what we term marriage in the customary perspective. Without lobola, it is mapoto (cohabiting.).
Madam President, as such, we would like to bring to the attention of the Minister that, we should have a special clause that points out to the effect that we need lobola to be paid. After all, what is the fuss about lobola? Lobola is not something that we pay like cash and carry goods, you pay in installments, a mngeable figure. Madam President, I bet that even most of us here in this august House have not finished paying lobola – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – However, they are married. Some have not finished paying lobola but they are married, so what is the fuss about it? Yes, we might have other clichés in society that purport to say, women are being commodified, that is not true. It goes with wrong interpretation.
Madam President, if we scrap off the prerequisite of lobola, it means we are detaching our children soon after marriage from their families and parents. No mother or father would want to associate again with a child whose lobola was not paid. This means we are saying,
‘boys and girls, you are above 18, you marry, go away and find your own home but do not even look back to us.’ What are we promoting? I think as a country, we value family unity and extended families in our traditional way.
Madam President, if us as chiefs are going to be marriage officers, how do we picture a Chief standing in front of couples who want to marry, not even talking about lobola, am I still a Chief. If I am to take my definition from the Constitution that, ‘I am the custodian of the customs and culture,’ then am I doing my duties or I am relenting? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – We bring this to the attention of the Minister that, yes, we have got those who are attacking our culture, let the Minister not listen to them. They are attacking our culture by trying to scrap off those nitty gritties that define us but we should not give them an ear. We know they are there because those are the sayings that point out that, ‘this is Tonga culture, this is Shona culture.
In shone, I hear they always say mombe yehumai yakakosha. – (token of a cow for the mother-in-law) Unozoita musha wakaita sei vana vasina kubhadhara mombe yehumai (What kind of a home will it be if one fails to pay the cow for the mother-in-law?) – [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.] – Every culture has got its aspect that it values in marriage. As Africans in Zimbabwe, we value that there is lobola payment. After all, we are not even punishing or infringing on the rights of the woman, not at all. The person who is made to pay is a man and not the woman, so where is the infringement? We are actually valuing the woman by making sure that, for me to stay with you, I should appreciate – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, I was not aware that the age of consent was not looked into. I got a bit disturbed when I got it in the House that the age of consent is still at 16. Then, what are we amending? I thought that was the issue that we were fighting against all these years. We have a law or we still have a law that provides that the age of consent is at 16 whereas the age of maturity is at 18 yet the two were not marrying. It has a two way leeway where children could be mischievous and fall pregnant but are not allowed to marry. We are promoting child mothers and out there we have got vultures and cankers and predators that keep haunting these girls. If the age of consent says 16 and the girl consents and is impregnated, the family fumes to say, ‘no, our girl was raped,’ but the courts will throw it out to say, ‘that is not rape,’ because the child is allowed to consent at 16 – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – then we look like fools, we who enforce as traditional leaders to say, children are not supposed to marry before the age of 18. They will say, ‘but my child was impregnated by Mr. Sibanda’s child, so are you saying I should stay with my child, the pregnancy and then the newly born grandchild for me to look after again?’ You say, that is the law, that is not palatable but we are reeling in pain. So, should we now miss this opportunity to correct it, obviously not?
Madam President, we plead with the Minister to make sure that that is incorporated; it should be brought in tandem. The age of consent should be 18 for as long as the age of marriage is 18. There is no reason why my child should consent, fall pregnant and fail to marry. If we leave the age of consent at 16, that is how we are witnessing a lot of school drop outs on the girl child. Why, because in as much as the law might allow them to go to school when they are pregnant, they do not want to do so because they feel ashamed. This means that one way or the other, we are attacking the girl child and the woman. The graph remains such that more boys will be in school than girls. I do not think that is what we want as a country. We are clamouring for 50:50, it starts from there. We are also clamouring to bring it at equilibrium but it starts from there because if the girl child does not finish school it means all opportunities that come thereafter, she will not be able to grab them because she will have dropped out of school and all confidence is thrown away.
Lastly Madam President, the definition of customary marriage should be in sync with definitions of other pieces of legislation that speaks to the same. For instance, the customary courts and local courts, it defines the customary aspect of it, backdating it to anything that could have been from 1891. As such, it brings in lobola at full throttle. So, whatever definition would be put on this one should be in sync with the already existing pieces of legislation so that they do not keep fighting. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Madam President.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on this debate. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs who crafts laws for law and order. Madam President, I have a problem as has been said earlier on. We want to get a clear definition on the term, ‘customary marriage’. It frustrates us as chiefs, that if we were to go back to 1891 and before the advent of the whites or even after the arrival of the white people, if we look at our fathers and elders of the people who are here, what were the circumstances that surrounded the issue of lobola? Why are we using the wrong words when we talk about culture and our customs? They treat them as evil things – they see nothing good coming out of it.
Where are we getting this mentality from? If the terms matekenya ndebvu and tsvakirai kuno were used and payment was done for such issues that would be used as a way in which a prospective son-in-law would not just get someone’s daughter for free; you would even pay seduction damages if you were to indulge in a sexual relationship with someone’s daughter and impregnant them without the consent of the father or parents – that was meant to be punitive. In our culture, you cannot simply be intimate with our daughter because you had to first approach and we ask you, ‘How did you come to be in such a relationship?’
Ladies, we hear you pride yourselves and bringing some measure of importance to the issue of lobola by indicating that so many herds of cattle were paid as bride price. It is not a chance for other parents that are not placing the proper value of the lobola custom and are charging exorbitant prices as lobola. Some of you who are here, your fathers have not fully paid lobola for your mother and as children you are asked to pay the outstanding balance and it is happening. It is mad that this was not a question of getting rich by a family but a way of uniting families.
Those who are here, let me ask how many times are you being assaulted at your home? If I would juxtapose this with the promotion of this habit of live-in lovers – where are you getting this culture people? Girls who are collecting their own lobola – it is anathema in the African culture. In our African culture, lobola is paid to just cement the relationship. As a chief, if I am about to solemnise a marriage and I do not ask about the lobola issue – are we still Africans? We still have two dishonest children who just come and present themselves before a Marriage Officer and say the chief should just solemnise the marriage because they want to marry each other. Where are those crooked people going to end up?
I can cheat Grace and solemnise a marriage with her and in our own culture I will have two wives. I cannot marry a second wife without the consent of my first wife and my father-in-law having lobola in fulfillment. I have to pay a beast to give to the senior wife or the first wife and say that I want to have more children since I am still young. The wife has to consent to that and not this habit whereby you are now belittling or looking down upon our culture. I am saying that the Hon. Minister should look into this issue because as chiefs, we cannot solemnise marriages where lobola is not asked forbecause lobola is meant to cement our relationships as families.
We would be much happy Madam President if the Hon. Minister
was to put this one clearly. It should come out in all the various vernacular languages so that when such clauses are made in English – we may not be very happy with them because we see that these laws are no longer being made for Africans. We are now bringing in foreign cultures and saying that this is good. A country that does not stand by its own values or culture is dead. We have our culture, our way of doing things and in fact in terms of our culture, we follow certain procedures. There is a go - between and children cannot just come – the two of them, and have a marriage or a bon appétit.
Why should we be asking for the sex of a child who is being bathed when you see that the girl is maturing? We will have our own girls being denigrated or looked down upon because of doing bad things. We still praise Nehanda because she stated that her bones shall rise up and order the children to rise against the white settlers. We will be a deserted village and there will be more cases of domestic violence. As parents you are going to be insulted because you talk of girl children who join families without lobola having been paid and they do away with traditional culture.
The future is part of the past and we should always be looking at our culture and maintain it. We were happy when Section 40 was removed from the Marriages Bill, that today the woman is with Chief
Chikwaka and tomorrow she becomes Chief Nhema’s wife. We all had to do away with it and agreed to come up with a good law but you now want to bring in certain issues that were meant to cement our children’s’ relationships to long lasting marriages and make it so easy so much that the two of them would just go and have their marriage solemnised.
The Hon. Minister should correct these anomalies and clearly define what customary law is all about because we have heard of such sections and that Section 5 (11) and other such sections were now at par in terms of the Marriage Act. What is customary law if you say that it is no longer a law? We should not colonise everything. What we do in our culture is the law. Why should you not go to the chiefs court instead of going to the Magistrates Court? The chief’s court upholds our culture and tradition until Jesus comes back.
The marriage institution was created by God himself and he said that he is a God who uses a constant today, tomorrow and forever more.
He gave us an example of Isaac when he was about to marry Rebecca.
A child who was brought from Damascus had to swear an oath on
Abraham’s thighs and lobola was paid. She came aboard a camel and was brought into the family. She knelt down when she got off the camel and she was covered in a veil. What culture do you want to promote? It is contrary to what God says. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Madam President for allowing
me to debate this motion. This is a hot issue and I have heard of hot blood. I would want to believe that the Minister should define the Customary Marriage Act properly.
On the issue of lobola, when the whites came even if they brought customary marriage, I looked at my mother’s certificate when she got married to my father, they would indicate ‘take consideration of the type of lobola that would have been paid. My mother was a chief’s daughter and you could not marry in the chief’s family when you had no intentions to solemnise the marriage. They would indicate how much you would have paid and what the balance was.
So if we were to allow these marriages where lobola is not paid, are we not being worse than the whites? The whites came and colonised us but they allowed us to live with our own culture and sowe should keep our own culture. We have a Minister and a black Government. We should be putting it clearly so that our customary marriages are solemnised in line with our culture. We should not just follow suit for the sake of doing it. We are black people who have their own cultures and customs. Who is it that is forcing us to run away from our culture and do other things?
[Cellphone ringing]
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon.
Members, as mature people, I do not think we have got to keep on reminding each other about the cell phones. We have to respect this House because if someone is getting into this House forgetting about their phone, whether it is on, on vibration or loud, I think we have got to respect ourselves because the more you look down upon this House seeks exactly what we are doing to ourselves.
*HON. SEN. SHOKO: As we had already said that chiefs are now going to solemnise customary marriages, we should not leave out the issue of lobola. Once we do that we have disrespected our chiefs and the traditional institution, which is not good. If we are to follow that this law can be very progressive we will go a long way. We will have problems in this august House because we are the elders and that is why we should not allow this law to pass without these amendments. It should take on board what the chiefs require. We need to refine this law and the Hon. Minister should do that. If lobola has to be paid and marriages solemnised by the chiefs, it should be done and that should be part and parcel of the law.
There is also the issue that was raised that one should be allowed to be sexually active from age of sixteen and can only consent to marriage at the age of eighteen. While they indulge in sex, they will become pregnant and you cannot then say you have to wait for two years before you get married to her. You can only get married to her after two years; I do not believe this is proper. The two should be in line with each other. If the age of consent is eighteen the same should apply for the majority age and that will be agreeable.
In terms of lobola and if we are going to go to other cultures or countries, there are certain aspects or values that hold dear. In the Marriage Act, I think when you are getting married or having the marriage solemnised, you produce the rings. Maybe I am doing it wrongly but when I got married we were asked to produce rings and the rings were exchanged. Thereafter, you were asked to kiss the bride in line with the Marriage Act. This is a foreign aspect.
In terms of our Customary Marriage, the chief does not say you may kiss the bride. It is unheard of. So, if we are in agreement that there are two types of marriages, we should accord the two types of marriages equal opportunities and we should have the set of procedures that were always there in maintaining our culture, values and morals. We should not be influenced by the colonisers. If we are to do the customary way of getting married, the chiefs should be at liberty to ask questions to ensure that certain requirements have been fulfilled. Once we lose certain aspects of our culture, if we are to come back to this House and then say we made a mistake then let us amend that law.
I was part and parcel of those Committees that went around the country. I went to Binga. The people in Binga said that if had we not gone to an urban settlement and gone to the rural, they were going to shoot us with arrows because we wanted to scrap off lobola. Lobola should be part and parcel of that law, it is very important. If you have paid lobola and want to have your marriage solemnised by the chief, the chief should not solemnise that. You should only have your marriage solemnised because you have paid lobola.
This issue is at the core of our values as Africans. We should not just be copy-cats. If you see Shoko wearing a suit today, do not crave for it. It is different stocks for different folks, we are never the same. Those that want to go the English way should do that and those that want to maintain the traditional way of doing things should also be at liberty to do so and that should be maintained.
With those words Madam President, I believe that you have understood. If we were outside I would say, ‘tell me if you have understood’. I reiterate once again that lobola should be paid. The Act should define clearly what it is all about. The chiefs should solemnise these marriages because a lot of people do not have marriage certificates.
On the issue of property, marriage should be in community of property. Property is acquired by a man and a woman, and we should understand that. It is the husband and wife who amass property. What they have amassed belongs to the wife and husband jointly. Once there is some disagreement, that aspect should also be looked into so as to ensure that an amicable distribution is reached. Minister, once again, look into this issue. I am going to lobby all these Hon. Members to ensure that this Bill is not passed until it incorporates exactly what it is that we require. Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Madam President
for affording me this opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I also thank the Minister for bringing in such a Bill because it was long overdue as others have said.
I will debate on the issue of lobola – Hon. Minister, when you
came here two weeks ago, we observed that you were being insulted on social media. We were also equally insulted. People were asking if we were spending the whole day in this august House discussing scraping of lobola. They were saying if our fathers had paid lobola for our mothers, now when you pass this Bill, we would not get lobola for our children.
That is unacceptable. That is not acceptable.
I am talking about our African culture – once payment of lobola has been scrapped, then the mother’s beast (mombe yeumai) can no longer be paid. This is what it means from where I come from. Once there is one beast for the father for the kraal (mombe yedanga) it means that if all this is scrapped, mombe yeumai will no longer be there. This cow symbolizes the unity of the marriage between the two. The children that are going to be born out of that union will be prosperous and healthy if only that cow is provided. That is what our forefathers did. We are not coming up with these measures.
A long time ago, it was just a hoe that was paid as lobola but mombe yeumai is important. When the girl child expects her first child, she has to go to the parents (masungiro). Goats will be brought to her parents’ house and some other rituals would be performed. If lobola is scrapped, this will be difficult for us. It means that our morals will be eroded. There will be moral decadence. This is not possible and we will not allow our children to enter into marriages that are solemnized without lobola having been paid. My own daughter Farai cannot be taken away without lobola being paid.
As we speak right now, some of us or the majority here, not all of the lobola has been paid, but it is known that so and so’s son paid lobola for so and so’s daughter and they were given blessings. As mothers, we bless these marriages because we were given our cattle, our winter jackets and suits. We will be proud that our son in law so and so has paid these things as part of the bride price. We should not lose that aspect of our African culture as Africans.
You hear that people are murdering each other – it is because they have lost that aspect of hunhu. Zimbabwe is loved by God. We still uphold our culture and ubuntu. There is Covid-19 but because of our morals and cultures, our numbers are less. It is because of our way of life and our values that we have fewer cases. The Minister should look into this issue seriously. I stand with the Chiefs and say that we want our lobola, mother’s clothes such as customes. Mombe yeumai should
be paid so that our children can enjoy their marriage. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. I also
want to thank the Minister who has brought in this Bill. I have two girls, Kundai and Tsungai. When the Minister brought in this Bill, I went back home and my girls approached me immediately and asked me if I wanted them to go without lobola being paid. I then asked myself a question – who is going to benefit from this. I thought it was my girls who were aware that lobola is important. I went out and made a survey and no one was in agreement with the scraping of lobola. I observed that women value that lobola should be paid. It is ingrained in our culture and DNA as black people. Even I, I do not want to take a woman without paying lobola. I do not want to take someone’s daughter without thanking the woman who gave birth to that child and took care
of her until she is mature that I admired her and proposed love to her.
In our African culture, we are renowned for thanking and clapping our hands – it is not the monitory value that matters. It is very negligible but it is the gesture of payment of lobola and realising that the girl child leaves her own family for an alien family for her entire life. That is a big occasion that as blacks we must respect. Minister, if there is any law that we need to protect or ring fence in Zimbabwe and export such values even to the whites it is the issue of the payment of lobola.
I will talk about the Marriage Act and the Customary Law. You should ensure that you come up with such a good law that we will be able export to America, China etcetera such that they will emulate our example and be envious. The marriages that are going to be solemnised by chiefs should be held in high esteem and we should be used to doing it so as to change other people’s culture in as much as the colonisers were able to do this to us. The payment of lobola is important. The women pride themselves in the payment of lobola for their hand in marriage. It is part and parcel of our culture. Yes, there are others that will bring the argument that they will be commodified and that they will be traded just like commodities. That school of thought is in the minority, the majority of people believe that there is a value in the payment of lobola and that it must be done. Those men who tell women that their wives are their property because they paid lobola, such men should be arrested. You should record such abusive men who use such abusive language. There is modern technology and you have phones. Just record them and go and report to the police so that they can be arrested to ensure we do away with this abusive language.
A woman is a friend, a life partner and you are your wife’s child. She will look after you. If we scrap off the issue of lobola – men are hard hearted at times, do you know that. Women are going to be scolded and they will even start questioning if they are still human beings once you scrap off this payment of lobola. If this marriage becomes free for all where no lobola is paid, our daughters are going to be made to suffer by men. It is very painful and it hurts me because I have daughters. When our daughters are abused and their property is thrown out through the window because there is nothing to unite the two once lobola is not paid, we actually defer or bar the issue of abuse because of payment of lobola.
The issue of early child marriages should be quickly looked into. We could stop the other issues and we should make sure that we align our laws. If you see a mango that is half ripe, should you eat that mango? If your daughter is into puberty it does not mean they are sexually ripe. Exercise the same patience as in the issue of a mango and allow it to grow up. Medical research has shown that there are a lot of problems when the child gives birth whilst still young. Mentally she is not mature and she is not marriage material. Men are cruel, abusive and she will be so young to absorb such pressure. When she is left at home and the husband goes beer drinking, he comes back and assaults her to the point of stress because she is immature and may end up having serious mental problems. So she requires being mature to cope with all the matrix of family management. She will not be able to even look after her mothers-in-law and the family as well as provide food. In Rwanda they observed that 7% is the number of people involved in child marriages while Zimbabwe is sitting on 31%. We need to improve and come up with such a law so that we discourage early child marriages. We have observed that in 24 countries in Africa such laws have been brought up. This includes Mozambique, Malawi and Chad. It shows that as Africans we have observed that it is bad to be involved in early child marriages.
In Zimbabwe we have problems with certain churches of the apostolic faith sect where early child marriages are encouraged through allegations that God has shown them and the holy spirit has said this and that. That is not proper. I am a member of such a church but we need to be enlightened on the problems that will befall the child who has been involved in early child marriage. Men should be told that they should not be greedy and get into such affairs with under age children. They should give them sufficient time to mature and thereafter they will get married to them. They are not going anywhere.
There is also the problem of the child having to stop going to school and they sit idly in communities after grade 7. Thereafter she is proposed to and gets married. We should also encourage the girl child to attain higher levels of education so as to reduce early child marriages. Hon Minister, we should also work to improve our economy so that we have a functional industry and there is work on the farms and our economy becomes better so our children get employment and thereby mature before they get married, hence we will be able to reduce early child marriages.
There is also another issue that others have already mentioned. It is the issue of sexual consent at the age of 16 and that for one to get married it is 18 years. There is a misnomer because the two should read the same with 18 years being the age of sexual consent and marriage. All the old men here go back to your youthful years and tell us what used to happen when you wanted to have a girl at such an age of 16. You would know that there would be a certain bad spirit that will come into you and a lot of pregnancies were observed. You are aware of that.
Even in schools, it is the grade 7 children who drop out of school because of pregnancies. We run the risk of having children becoming single mothers. We know that when a law has come into effect the numbers reduce but the naughty ones are always there. There are those that have avenging spirits in their families. We may not completely bar them but there will be a reduction in the number of cases. Let us put the age of consent to sex at18 years and the marriageable age again at 18 years. Once a child who is below the age of consent is impregnated the culprit should be arrested. The two should be aligned. With those few words I would like to believe that the Hon. Minister has understood what the House or Council of Elders has said. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam President. I just want to respond on the issue of lobola because I have asked that the debate on the Marriage Bill be adjourned until tomorrow. We want to understand one another. We had a law that used to talk about the lobola that is now being scrapped off. Madam President we used to have two laws that dealt with the issue of marriages. There is the issue of payment of lobola and the solemnisation of a marriage. These are two different issues. In our culture you hear a woman saying I had lobola paid for me and the marriage was solemnised. These are two different things, the payment of lobola and the solemnisation of the marriage. We had a law dealing with Customary Marriages and Civil Marriages Chapter 5.11. At the moment Chapter 5.11 if you were to go before a magistrate or a priest, there is no law that says the magistrate or the priest should ask the whereabouts of your father and aunt and that they should write down the amount that was paid as lobola as a requirement for the solemnisation of the marriage.
As we debate, we should be alive to the fact that such issues are not being asked. If we lost our culture, we lost it in 1982 when we came up with the Legal Age of Majority Act. When that law was enacted, there is one Katekwere who went to court and sued for seduction damages, that their child has been seduced and they wanted damages. In the past, what it meant was as a father, once you have impregnated my daughter, you have reduced the value of the lobola that I was going to get. The judge looked into it and said this tended to let women be looked down upon. He said the person who should sue for damages should be the daughter. At that time, the father would treat her daughter as a minor and said he owned her. Once she gets married, the rights would be transferred to her husband. Chief Justice Dumbuchena removed the issue of damages and said it was no longer a requirement in terms of Chapter 5.11 on solemnisation of marriages. However, he did not remove the issue of the payment of lobola. The person who should consent to the marriage should be the wife. The marriage officer, whether it was a magistrate or a priest would not ask for the payment of lobola.
We asked for an explanation on the customary marriage so that we would encourage women in the communal areas so that their property rights are safeguarded. We then said that they can go and be married without the issue or the asking of lobola. Let us go to the Constitution that we make up with that gives the rights to women. It says the men and the women have equal rights. The issue of the lobola and the issue of the marriage certificate, when the late former President Mugabe was the Prime Minister, he did not answer clearly. He said once my sister gets married, I would want my lobola. Hon. Zvobgo and Hon. Mujuru said they were going to look into the issue. Thirty – eight (38) years down the line, if we were to write in our laws that a woman cannot have a marriage solemnised, the man and the woman are no longer equal. Equality means that each and every person must come up with a decision. If you talk of equal rights, it means that if my daughter wants to get married and I say she cannot get married, it means that she no longer has the same rights as her brother who when he says he wants to go and get married, he could simply go and do that.
I was saying that the issue of culture and I was going to talk about it with the chiefs. Our customary law is not codified. What happens under the chieftainship of Chief Charumbira is different from what happens under the chieftainship of Chief Zvimba. We defined customary marriage as a marriage that is in line with the traditions of the traditional leaders in that jurisdiction. We cannot give a single definition because what happens in Marange, Zimunya, Binga and Zvimba are not the same. Some are saying it is the same but it is not the same. The manner in which lobola is paid is different. When you get married, they say where did you get married because Masvingo is very expensive. We may say it is the same but in reality it is not the same.
What the law is saying is that lobola issues in line with our tradition can be done but when the marriage needs to be solemnized, the two can go and solemnise their marriage. What it means is that since 1982, it is the wife who now tells the husband that he should go and pay lobola. If they did not have, they are going to have the marriage solemnised. We may deny this but a lot of our children are going to get married in terms of Section 5.11. Thereafter, they would inform us that they got married and they solemnized their marriage. They will inform you when they come to pay lobola that they already have a marriage certificate. Personally, I know a lot of people who have done that.
As we debate this issue, we should not say that this law has scrapped off the issue of lobola. This has been in practice since 1982 but what it means is we want the customary law marriage to remain as what it was. We will then state that civil marriage remains what it was.
That is what we need to debate.
With customary marriage, we have to record that so much money has been paid as bride price. The other types of marriages have no such requirements. Let me respond and say we will proceed tomorrow but the age of consent and the majority age are two different issues. The age of consent deals with the issue of the capacity to appreciate whether what one is doing is right or wrong. If a girl child is below the age of seven and is sexually molested, it is rape. From seven to twelve years, there is a rebuttable presumption that such child cannot consent to sex and it is also defined as rape. One who is between 12 and 16, they say she has capacity, what it means is that there is classification of the offences that one commits. Our children get driver’s licences, at the age of 16. They are allowed to drive motor vehicles at the age of 16. There are two issues that we should be looking at, we have our culture and our customs that our children should not do. They must not indulge in certain things before the age of 18.
We should not unnecessarily criminalize society by coming up with such laws, so there are competing interests that we need to balance when we talk of the age of majority as 18 years or those who are in productive age would be afraid to then indulge. We are saying that our children should be taught what exactly they must do and that they must refrain from sex in terms of our culture. For someone who is 16 years we will say it is a criminal issue because in other countries they say the age of consent is 14, but they teach their children to refrain from sex until they are at the age of 18. I also urge this august Senate to teach our children to refrain from sexual intercourse before they become 18 years of age. It is difficult for us to change the law of consent from 16 to 18 years, it is a difficult issue and we may fail to actually pass it. I would want to thank the Hon. Senators, and we are going to debate on how we should reach consensus. In our Constitution it does not say that if one wants to have a marriage solemnized we must put the issue of payment of lobola. I thank you.
Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn. I will meet with Chiefs at the request of the President of the Chiefs’ Council to discuss about the Marriages Bill tomorrow and then we will proceed.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 31st June, 2020.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the Senate
adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Four o’ clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 25thJune, 2020
The National Assembly met at a Quarterpast Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. MABOYI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a point of privilege to sadly inform the House that on the 20th of June, 2020, Beitbridge West Constituency lost three members of the same family comprising of the father, mother and their daughter. The family is suspected to have succumbed to suffocation from carbon monoxide from a charcoal brazier
(mbaura). The family was discovered on Sunday late afternoon on the 21st of June, 2020...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. I reiterate once more.
Points of privilege must relate to the rights of Members. That incident is unfortunate but unfortunately, it does not relate to the rights of Members. Please be guided accordingly for the future.
*HON. MUSIYIWA: My point of privilege is in line with this pandemic of COVID-19. We want to thank the President for what he has done in conjunction with the Ministry of Education in trying to prevent the spread of the disease. We also want to show our appreciation for certain things that have happened. The City of Harare is now clean…
THE HON. SPEAKER: What has that to do with your rights?
HON. ZHEMU: My point of privilege is of national interest which arises from a question raised by Hon. Chikomba yesterday concerning payment of seed cotton that is being delivered by farmers –
[HON. SIKHALA: Inaudible interjections.] -
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Sikhala, Sisonke.
Kayisibo bantu bami, ngabantu bethu – [Laughter.] -
HON. MUSHORIWA: My point of privilege is as follows; on 30th July 2018 – the people of Dzivaresekwa Constituency elected me as Edwin Mushoriwa (Member of Parliament for Dzivaresekwa) under the ticket of MDC Alliance party. We went to the nomination court and the court stated like that. ZEC then wrote to Parliament. The book that
I came to sign here indicated that I was a member of the MDC Alliance
Party –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – I sympathise with you Hon. Mushoriwa. Take legal advice from Hon. Sikhala. The matter is subjudice and we cannot debate it here in Parliament. It is in court –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – Order, order.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received a non- adverse report on the
Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill, H.B. 16 A, 2019.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H. B. 16,
2019]
Amendments to Clauses 2, 3 and 8 put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H.B. 16,
2019]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR
VETERANS AFFAIRS (HON. MATEMADANDA): Mr. Speaker Sir,
I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Order of the Day, No. 1 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 2 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BILL [H.B. 11, 2019]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second
Reading of the Constitutional Court Bill [H. B. 11, 2019].
Question again proposed.
HON. MATARANYIKA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir for allowing me to present the Justice Committee Report on the Constitutional Court Bill. The Constitutional Court Bill was gazetted on the 13th September 2019 and provides for the manner in which the Constitutional Court may exercise its jurisdiction. The Bill confers additional jurisdiction upon the Constitutional Court and provides for its powers, practice and procedures. It further provides the making of rules and regulations of the Constitutional Court and makes provision for appeals from decisions of inferior courts.
2.0 Methodology
Section 117 of the Constitution states that the legislative authority of Zimbabwe...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. The Hon. Members by the
entrance on my left, can you listen so that you can participate in the debate more intelligently. Thank you.
HON. MATARANYIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Section 117 of the Constitution states that the legislative authority of Zimbabwe is derived from the people; further, section 141 states that Parliament must facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other processes and in the process of its Committees. Parliament must also ensure that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by Parliament. Therefore, in fulfilment of these constitutional provisions, the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs conducted public hearings on the Constitutional Court Bill in Gweru,
Bulawayo, Masvingo, Mutare and Harare to gather people’s views on the Bill.
I now move on to submissions from members of the public.
Clause 1 is the Short Title and there was no issue on that.
Clause 2, there are definitions and there were no issues.
Clause 3, nature of court and seal, there were no comments raised.
Clause 4, composition, members of the public were satisfied with the provision.
Clause 5, decisions of the court.
Clause 5 of the Bill provides for the manner in which decisions are made by the Constitutional Court. Decisions are made by the majority of judges sitting at any particular time. This clause also gives power
to ...
HON. GONESE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. GONESE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I am a member of the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. We have four teams which went out on the public meetings and I was part of one of the teams. Yesterday when we had a meeting, we deliberated and the draft report was supposed to be presented but as far as I am aware ...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Talk to me, the draft report was supposed to be what?
HON. GONESE: Debated but when we were in the meeting, various sentiments were expressed and my recollection was that after deliberating on the issue, we agreed that we were going to meet on
Wednesday next week – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – No, no. I was there in the meeting. I am not aware of the adoption of the report.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, may I respond. He is out of line.
It is not the same report that our Chairman is reading. Mr. Speaker Sir, can you indulge our Chairman to continue. Hon. Gonese is out of line –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Gonese, have you followed the Order Paper?
HON. GONESE: Sorry Mr. Speaker Sir. I thought it was the Constitutional Amendment Bill not the Constitutional Court Bill. My apologies – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. May Hon. Mataranyika be heard
in silence please.
HON. MATARANYIKA: This clause also gives power to the Chief Justice to appoint an acting judge where one of the judges is no longer able to continue sitting as a judge due to death, physical incapacity or retirement.
The public was of the view that the clause should specify a gender balance in the Judges in the ratio 5:4.
3.6 Clause 6: Appeals from the Supreme Court.
The clause provides for an exception to the appeal procedure. It provides that an appeal from the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Court does not suspend the decision being appealed against, unless ordered by the Constitutional Court.
Generally, in civil proceedings, a decision made by an inferior court is suspended until the appeal is finalized. The public was of the view that if one lodges a complaint with the Constitutional Court, the
ruling from lower courts should be suspended.
3.7 Clause 7: Judge not to sit on any matter he/she has previously decided.
The proviso prohibits a judge to sit in a matter where he or she has formally participated in the making of the previous decision concerning the same matter. This is to avoid conflict of interest.
The public was of the view that the Bill does not distinguish which
Judges preside in the Supreme Court and in the Constitutional Court. They suggested that there should be a distinction on who sits
on which court.
3.8 Clause 8: Scope and Execution process.
No issues were raised.
3.9 Clause 9: Certified Copies of Court Records admissible as evidence.
No comments.
3.10 Clause 10: Sittings and vacations.
There were no comments.
3.11 Clause 11: Contempt of Court.
The clause provides that any person who demonstrates dishonorable conduct to the Constitutional Court shall be guilty of contempt of court.
Members of the public were of the view that the clause is vague as it does not clarify what dishonorable conduct entails.
3.12 Clause 12: Right of person to be presented at the hearing of his/her matter.
The clause provides that a person who is not in custody is entitled to be present at hearing of his or her matter. It further provides that a person who is in custody is not entitled to be present at the hearing of his or her appeal, except with leave of a judge.
The public proposed that the Bill should take into consideration the application of leave to the judges especially for inmates who are unable to make applications while incustody. It was further alluded that the provision is a violation of the right to be present in one’s hearing and proposed that the Bill should take note of the difficult
economic conditions in Zimbabwe.
3.13 Clause13: Right of audience.
The clause creates the right of every person to be heard by the
Constitutional Court.
The public welcomed this provision and suggested that the Bill should outline the procedure for bringing a case to the Constitutional
Court.
3.14 Clause 14: Legal Aid.
No comments were received.
3.15 Clause 15: Proceedings in open court and in English.
The clause provides that all proceedings of the Constitutional
Court shall be carried out in open court using English language.
Members of the public were of the view that the use of English only contravenes Section 16 of the Constitution which recognises 16 official languages. They suggested that the clause should incorporate
all the 16 official languages in Constitutional Court proceedings.
3.16 Clause 16: Appointment of Registrar and officers of court.
There were no comments.
3.17 Clause 17: Powers of Court in Appeals and confirmations.
There were no comments.
3.18 Clause 18: Powers of the Court in applications and referrals.
The clause provides for the procedure which the Constitutional
Court may follow in hearing applications or referrals brought before it. The Constitutional Court may refuse the application or grant the order applied for, and may make order as to costs as it thinks fit.
The general feeling of the public was that technicalities are taking away the right to access the Constitutional Court. Members of the public opined that the Bill should include a clause that once a case is lodged at the Constitutional Court it cannot be refused on the basis
of technicalities.
3.19 Clause 19: Review powers.
The clause provides that the Constitutional Court has power to review the proceeding and decisions of the Supreme Court, the High Court and all other subordinate courts, tribunals and administrative authorities.
Members of the public expressed satisfaction with the clause as it
is.
3.20 Clause 20: Inherent powers of the court: There were no comments.
3.21 Clause 21: Statement of case or question of law arising in a matter before the court.
There were no comments.
3.22 Clause 22: Procedure for invalidation of law.
The clause provides for the procedure for invalidation of law, where it is in contravention of the Constitution. The Minister responsible for administration of the law and the Attorney General may be invited to make representations before the matter is heard by the
Constitutional Court.
Members of the public were of the view that this provision is not feasible. They proposed that the Minister responsible for legislation and the Attorney General must always be part of litigation to save time.
3.23 Clause 23: Conflict of constitutional and statutory remedies.
The clause provides that the Constitutional Court can refuse to entertain any matter instituted by any person where there is another remedy available to such person.
Some members of the public were of the view that Clause 23 contradicts Clause 13( Right of audience) and should be removed.
3.24 Clause 24: Correction, variation or rescission of judgements or orders.
There were no comments.
3.25 Clause 25: Regulatory powers to fix fees and allowances.
The clause provides that the Minister may make regulations for fixing the fees and allowances for services by the Registrar’s office.
The public were of the view that the costs of the Constitutional Court are too high, making it difficult for the poor to access it. They bemoaned the prejudice that is caused to marginalised members of the
society due to nature of costs involved.
3.26 Clause 26: Rules of the Court.
There were no comments.
3.27 Clause 27: Practice directions.
The clause provides that the Chief Justice may issue practice directives on any matter. These are equivalent to court practice notes and mainly relate to the procedures to be followed in matters brought before the Constitutional Court. They are meant to facilitate the proper conduct of the Constitutional Court business.
Some members of the public suggested that these powers should be vested with the Judicial Service Commission in order to avoid arbitrary decisions.
4.0 COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS:
4.1 On Clause 4: Relating to Composition of the Court, the
Committee recommends for an additional sub clause which states that in the absence of the Chief Justice, or if the office of the Chief Justice is vacant, the Deputy Chief Justice must exercise the powers or perform the functions of the Chief Justice as Acting Chief Justice.
4.2 On Clause 5 relating to Decisions of the Court, where at any stage during the hearing of any matter, a judge retires or dies or is absent, where there is a difference of opinion on an appeal or application being heard by an even number of the remaining judges of the court, the Committee recommends that the decision of the court should be suspended until opinion of a further judge of the court has been obtained, and there upon the decision of the majority of such judges shall be the decision of the court.
4.3 The Committee recommends for an additional clause that allows a person with expertise in a particular matter which is before the Court to appear as a friend of the court (Friend of Court).
4.4 On Clause 8 on the Scope and Execution of Process, the
Committee recommends insertion of a sub- clause which gives power to Sheriff subject to applicable rules, to execute all sentences, judgements, writs, summons, rules, orders, warrants, commands and processes and must make return of the manner of execution there-of to the court and to the party whose instance they were issued.
4.5 On Clause 10 relating to Sittings and Vacations, the Committee recommends that the Court should have such recess periods as may be determined by the Chief Justice in order to enable judges to do research and to attend to outstanding or prospective judicial functions that may be assigned to them.
4.6 On Clause 13 relating to Right of Audience, the Committee recommends that proceedings before the court be instituted by any person acting in his own interest, any person acting on behalf of another person who cannot act for himself, any person acting as a member, or on the interest of a group or class of persons, any person acting in the public interest and any association acting in the interests of its members.
4.7 On Clause 27 relating to Practice Directions, the Committee recommends that the Chief Justice should consult with the Rules Committee when issuing practice directives for facilitation of proper dispatch and conduct of the business of the court.
5.0 CONCLUSION:
The powers to test the constitutionality of legislation are aimed at ensuring that no legislation that is in conflict with the Constitution is passed. Previously, there was no express provision to this effect, which created the risk that legislation could be passed with a view to limiting rights and freedoms. It is also encouraging to note that the
Constitutional Court has managed to set aside a number of provisions in pieces of legislation that are in direct conflict with the Constitution. The powers conferred upon the Constitutional Court will furthermore ensure that checks and balances are applied on Parliament and the Executive branches of Government. If these powers are exercised by an independent and impartial judiciary, it will bode well for the protection of human rights in the country.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker Sir, I am a member of the Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and applaud the report from our Chairman and just want to add a few issues that arose during our public hearings. This is my new found haven, Mr. Speaker Sir. Having served in the Military for about three years as a defending officer, I think I am nearly getting qualified to be a learned colleague in terms of the legal fraternity.
Mr. Speaker Sir, just for the avoidance of doubt, there are four functions. I am alive to the fact that we are now debating this report after the Constitutional Court has been separated from the Supreme Court judges. There is now an appointment of an independent
Constituional Court from the initial set up that had the inclusion of Supreme Court judges and being also the constitutional bench, Mr.
Speaker Sir.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I will first touch on Clause 15 so that I just cement the issues that came up. There was an outcry that there be a permanent feature in terms of the languages that are so defined in the Constitution, the 16 languages. Mr. Speaker Sir, according to your guidance, it is in Section 6 or Section 7 of the Constitution. There was an outcry that there be a permanent feature in terms of braille for those that are blind and also permanent friend of the court in terms of technical aptitude in terms of the sign language.
I should also go further, Mr. Speaker Sir, and say such misalignment of our Acts gives a lot of burden to the Constitutional Courts or to our courts, but this issue of braille and sign language, if it is engrained and embedded in the Constitutional Court operations, I go further and propose that it also be a permanent feature in the health sector because a lot of our people do not get health services because there is no braille and there is no sign language. So this was an outcry from our public hearing that it should not only arise when there is someone that seeks those services, but should be a permanent section, Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Avoid being on a fine edge where you may appear to be giving your own secondary report. You need to bolster what has been reported, otherwise we get the impression that you are giving a separate report – [AN HON. MEMBER: He was once a
Chairperson.] –
HON. NDUNA: I had to remove my mask so that he sees my facial expression. He said I was once a Chairperson but he left out the vibrancy.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is what I have been looking out for
- vibrancy of the report as read by your Chairman.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Sometimes it helps to have these facial expressions come out, but behind the mask Mr. Speaker Sir. They are inconclusive and you cannot really see. The issue of the full functions of the Constitutional Court, I put this across, it was our observation as read by the Hon. Chair, but I thought that I should amplify that the Constitutional Court is involved in the drafting of the Constitution. The second issue is the judicial review of the legislature and the judicial. ...
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Constitutional Court is involved in drafting the Constitution?
HON. NDUNA: The drafting of the Constitution itself Mr.
Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Is that what your Committee said?
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, as I debate I believe in all honest that I am allowed to have some input in the observations that we had.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are quite right Hon. Member but I cannot allow misleading statements. The Constitutional Court does not draft a Constitution, unless if your Committee said that, then I will be very surprised.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I will go to the second issue of judicial review of the Legislature. The third one will be the jurisdiction over Government officials and agencies. The fourth and the last one is jurisdiction over parties and elections. However, there are administrative or administration courts established according to the Constitutional Court that review such issues. Having said that, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to vociferously, effectively and efficiently put my input on the Constitutional Amendment Bill and the people of Chegutu West send their love.
THE HON. SPEAKER: For the purpose of correct records, I think your first observation must be withdrawn that the Constitutional
Court drafts the Constitution.
HON. NDUNA: It is withdrawn Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. M. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would
like to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill to Parliament and also the Chairman’s report as regards to the observations which were made by Members of the Committee. The Zimbabwean Constitution was enacted in 2013 and this Bill is coming before you in 2020 This brings us back to the issue that he once raised, that of inertia and by now, we should actually have this Constitutional Court Act but thank you to the Minister. He has brought it forward and we are going to have it but we have had a problem because of this delay. We now have a Constitutional Court like Hon. Nduna said before - we even have an Act which governs the Constitutional Court, despite the fact that it is contained in the Constitution that there must be a Constitutional Court.
The Act does not exist yet we already have the Constitutional Court. So, this is a result of inertia, otherwise we should have an Act first before we have the Constitutional Court.
My second observation is that, because of this delay, we already have regulations which were promulgated relating to the operations of the Constitutional Court by the Minister. The Minister was supposed to be empowered by the Act to pass those regulations; but because of inertia, he had to promulgate those regulations, otherwise the
Constitutional court was going to operate without regulation. So really, there was nothing that the Minister could do. I sympathise with him that we now have Constitutional Court rules before we have an Act which empowers the Minister to do so. I notice that in the proposed
Bill that it is retrospectively trying to empower the Minister to do that.
Mr. Speaker Sir, my other contribution relates to the office of the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice is the head of the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice is the head of the Constitutional Court. The Chief
Justice can decide to sit in the Supreme Court and he can decide to sit in the Constitutional Court. If the Chief Justice sits in the Supreme Court, he can no longer sit in the Constitutional Court in the event that there is an appeal from the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Court.
My point is that, the Chief Justice is the one who appoints judges who sit on a Constitutional Court matter. So, if he sits in a lower court like the Supreme Court, and then decides who sits in the Constitutional Court, he may have granted an order in the Supreme Court, but he is the very same person who is going to decide who will then hear the appeal in the Constitutional Court. There is a gap there Mr. Speaker Sir. I was proposing that the Chief Justice’s role should be purely administrative as far as the Supreme Court is concerned. The Chief Justice should simply sit in the Constitutional Court so that any decisions that he makes will actually be final and binding. If he sits in the Supreme Court, those decisions can be appealed to the
Constitutional Court and he is the one who appoints the judges for the Constitutional Court - never mind that he is not going to be part of that team. So, my proposal is that the administrative role of the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court cannot be taken away, it will be left like that but, in the Constitutional Court, he can sit as a judge.
My other contribution Mr. Speaker Sir, relates to the issue where one has lost a case in the Supreme Court and now wants to approach the Constitutional Court. The Bill proposes that you do not have a right of audience directly to the Constitutional Court. What you need to do if you have lost in the Supreme Court, you will seek leave or permission from the very same judge who has dismissed your case for you to be granted leave to approach the Constitutional Court.
My first observation on that is that, there should be no need for one to seek leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court, given that we will be dealing with fundamental constitutional issues. There should be an automatic right to the Constitutional Court. The second point which is also coming out of that is that the very same judge who has dismissed my case has to grant me leave for me to go to the Constitutional Court. In other words, he is saying I might be wrong in my decision. In most cases, we have seen applications for leave to appeal to a higher court being dismissed on the basis that the judge who would have presided over that matter is of the view that you do not have any merits in regard to the matter that you then want to take to a superior court.
My proposal Mr. Speaker Sir is that there should be no leave to be granted for one to note an appeal. It should be an automatic appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Mr. Speaker Sir, my other contribution relates to the rights of accused persons in as far as approaching the Constitutional Court is concerned. The Bill proposes that there is no right for an accused person to be present when a Constitutional issue is being heard in the Constitutional Court. The correct position should be that if you can afford the cost, because I understand the issue in regard to the cost – who would then foot the cost for you as an individual who is not legally represented to come to the Constitutional Court. If one can afford to approach the Constitutional Court at his own cost, why not allow such a person to have audience or when his matter is being heard in the
Constitutional Court than to assert in the Bill that you do not really
need to be there. If you have to be there in terms of the Bill, you will have to seek leave again from the court. In other words you apply to the court for you to be given permission to be present and it should be the other way round and not for me to apply to be given permission. If there is a reason that I should not be there, then there should be leave by the court for me not to be there. This court Mr. Speaker Sir, protects fundamental human rights. So really, the presence of an accused person or a complainant for that matter at the hearing of their matters is critical. The Bill proposes that if you want to approach the Constitutional Court, you must not have relief in any other court. In other words, if relief that you seek can be obtained from any other court, then you cannot approach the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court will simply tell you that go back to the Magistrates Court because the Magistrates Court can provide such a relief.
It is my submission that once one has approached the
Constitutional Court, that issue must be determined by the
Constitutional Court without referring this person to any other court. Of late we have heard cases where because of that technicality that the relief is available elsewhere you cannot approach the Constitutional Court. This is the point that I make Mr. Speaker Sir that if the relief can be available in any other court, the Magistrate Court, High Court and Supreme Court, if one has approached the Constitutional Court, it must not be so technical to say that your relief is available elsewhere, you cannot come to this court. This is a court which deals with issues to do with the Constitution. Once a litigant is before the Constitutional Court, let him be heard rather than refer him to another court.
Finally, my contribution goes on to the issue of official language. More often than not, we have English language as the official language but like Hon Nduna has said, I think there is need to broaden that in respect of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court like the Chairman of the Committee has said, must not be so technical when dealing with constitutional issues, especially human rights issues. They must approach the cases with an open door and dismiss any technicalities that may be raised which may try to hinder the passing of the judgments by the Constitutional Court. Those were my observations in regard to the Constitutional Court Bill. I thank you.
HON. PHULU: I will commence my debate by commending the Chairperson of the Justice Committee for giving a lucid, clear and honest report of the views that were given by the people as the
Committee went around. By the way I am a member of that
Committee. Having said that I do not think I need to buttress anything that he said because it is clear. I will go ahead to congratulate the Minister as well for bringing this important Bill before the House.
Section 324 makes it very important for all constitutional obligations to be implemented without delay. The previous Hon Member has already indicated that it is quite a good thing that this Bill is before the House, given the importance of the Constitutional Court and the importance of the functions that it discharges. Certainly all
Zimbabweans should applaud that we now have this court. It takes away the embarrassment on the part of the Minister in as far as regulations and many other things and actually guides the judges as they exercise their mandate will have somewhere to draw from.
I have a few observations to make which I hope will add value even as we go into Committee. The first one that I will comment about in brief relates to the use of the English language. Of course, the English language is the language of record for the courts and certainly in as far as the pleadings -because there is reference to pleadings in that particular Section being in English. English being as far as possible – they have tried to couch it to be permissive but we would like to submit that given our history, and the importance of the language issue which has been included in our Constitution for the first time, we should go further in the way that we try to couch it to show that as far as possible, these other languages which have been recognised as official languages may be used under certain directions, I suppose because we have to consider that the courts would have the capacity to deal with those languages.
As a legal practitioner I have appeared in a number of cases and I remember in one case before the High Court, I said to the judge ukubona kanye ukubona kabili and this was in mitigation. The judge said to me what does that mean in English. I was quite stumped as to how I could put it. An interpreter came to my aid, but the judge I knew understood what I meant because he understood the language. Even in those circumstances, I wish to say that a judge cannot take judicial knowledge of his understanding of a particular language to apply it. It would take ingenuity between the Minister and ourselves to find how we can approach that section in Committee and couch it. The point of the matter is that we must show that we want to take Section 6 in terms of our languages a step further in terms of how we couch this.
In other countries like South Africa, we know that in their courts they do use Afrikaans, even in judgments and so forth. I do not know whether we are in a position to take that leap, given the number of the languages all of them being accorded equal importance. It would be interesting to see what we can do with that clause.
The next point that I would like to comment upon relates to Clause 12, the Rights of Persons, particularly those who are incarcerated to be able to appear when their constitutional matters are being decided. The State in this case should not take the issue of costs into consideration in as far as people who are incarcerated are concerned. Whenever somebody wants to approach the Constitutional Court, they have a burning issue which impinges on their rights or other people’s rights and certainly because we have incarcerated them and we are taking care of them as a State, I think facilities should be provided for them where they desire to be able to appear in court one way or the other. Certainly we must not require them to pay the costs because this would put them in very difficult position because they are after all incarcerated.
The last point that I would like to touch upon is the issue that has been raised to do with other statutory remedies. Again if you go to
Section 23, it says the court may decline and it says that if it is satisfied that there have been or there are other adequate means of redress, it appears reasonable, except to say that if you go to Section 85 (2) (b) of the Constitution- particularly where human rights issues are concerned, it says that we must ensure that technicalities or formalities are kept to a minimum. I would say that perhaps we need to look at that in as far as where the Declaration of Rights is concerned, to take the approach which they have taken to interpret that Section 85 to try and make it – I know this can be done in the rules and the Constitution does say this can be done in the rules. The act itself must put in place simple procedures that you would find in a communication for example before the African Commission where a simple person can write a simple letter, and as long as they satisfy certain preliminary issues to do with language couching in as much as the manner in which we bring petitions before the Speaker. I am saying that simple letters, as long as the court can identify the issue even if it means creating a procedure where the matters go to Chambers for admissibility hearing, the first.
This will allow elderly people, simple people who have issues to be able to write letters to our highest court in the land and those matters being able to be admitted if there is a real issue. I think this is one issue that we might need to consider.
Mr. Speaker Sir, on the whole, I would like to say that the Act is an Act that the people of Zimbabwe have welcomed. It is not any Act against which anybody has any guiles whatsoever. We look forward to this Act going through Committee and being enacted, enhancing the level and the quality of the justice that is dispensed at the end of the day. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: Thank you so much Mr. Speaker Sir,
for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I also want to thank my Chairperson Hon. Mataranyika, for presenting the report. I do not have many issues to touch on except to buttress the issue of seeking leave to appeal from the judge who would have presided over the matter. Mr. Speaker Sir, this provision to me does not make much sense because in most cases the judge who would have presided over the case will still be belittled if the decision is going to be appealed against.
It is my view that this provision should be removed from the Bill.
Also, I want to touch on the issue of dismissing cases on the issue of technicalities. In most cases, cases are dismissed on technicalities without touching the merits. We are talking about constitutional matters which are relevant. I am of the view that this provision really removes the tenets of justice. So matters in Constitutional Court should not be dismissed on a technicality but the Constitutional Court should deal with the merits of the case. Those are my submissions Mr.
Speaker Sir.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Chairperson of the Committee for a very good report and the Hon. Members that have contributed to the debate. I want to do justice to the contributions from the Committee and from the Hon. Members. Therefore, I will make a detailed response when we sit next.
Mr. Speaker, I now move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 7th July, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Hon. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 3 to 9 be stood over until Order Number 10 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS ON ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS
SUPPORT NETWORK’S PETITION TO
PARLIAMENT ON ELECTORAL REFORMS
HON. MATARANYIKA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio
Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on Zimbabwe
Elections Support Network’s Petition to Parliament on Electoral Reforms.
HON. TOGAREPI: I second.
HON. MATARANYIKA:
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) lodged a petition with the Parliament of Zimbabwe (POZ). On the 2nd of March
2019, the petition was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (herein after referred to as the Justice
Committee) for consideration and reporting.
1.2 The petition raised a number of issues that ZESN considered of critical importance if electoral issues were to be addressed before the advent of the next set of polls in 2023.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
2.1 In order to get a better understanding of the petition, the
Committee invited and heard oral submissions from ZESN on 21st
March 2019. The engagement not only helped the Committee to hear from the petitioners on the substance of the issues that they raised in the petition, but also enabled the Committee to decide on the way forward.
2.2 From 4th - 5th June 2019, the Committee attended a workshop in Kariba at which ZESN sought to amplify through technical and expert submissions, the issues that it had raised in the petition. The Committee is grateful to Hon Adv. J. F. Mudenda for gracing the Kariba workshop.
The Speaker’s interventions were profound.
2.3 Between 26th and 29th July 2019, an all-stakeholders conference on the petition was facilitated by the Southern African
Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) at the Kadoma Hotel and Conference Centre. The Committee is grateful for this support.
2.4 The Kadoma conference was attended by the Committee, representatives of Government including the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC), the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), the Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP), the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and civil society organisations
(CSOs). The Hon. Speaker and the Clerk of Parliament led the Administration of Parliament at the conference. The Committee is indebted to the Speaker for his presence and contributions throughout the conference.
2.5 The Kadoma conference resolved inter alia that ZESN and its network craft some of their recommendations and submissions into the format of legal provisions for consideration by the Committee in the form of a Model Law (see attached, the Model Electoral Law).
2.6 What follows below is a summary of the Committee’s findings, observations and recommendations with respect to the issues raised in the petition.
3.0 COMMITTEE’S KEY FINDINGS
3.1 The Legal Framework:
3.1.1 ZESN implored Parliament, in its legislative functions, to review the legal framework on elections with a view to bringing them into conformity with the letter and spirit of the 2013 Constitution. It highlighted the need to enhance the independence of the ZEC, and to give meaning to aspects of the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance that Zimbabwe signed in February 2018, a few months into the new dispensation. In terms of section 327 of the Constitution,
Parliament approved for ratification of the Charter on 27th March 2019. The ratification of the Charter would pave way for the domestication of the same in terms of section 34 of the Constitution.
3.1.2 ZESN acknowledges that the independence of ZEC is guaranteed under section 235 of the Constitution. The issue is whether some provisions of the Electoral Act under subsidiary legislation made thereunder detract from this independence.
3.2 The Political Environment:
3.2.1 The petitioners submitted that the political environment in
Zimbabwe was reinforced by such statutes as the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which they stated have coloured the political environment in ways that do not speak to the spirit of a more democratic constitutional framework ushered in by the 2013 Constitution. To that end, they implored Parliament to repeal such statutes that erode citizens’ rights.
3.2.2 The Committee notes submissions by the Minister of Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to the effect that Government was working flat out to reform the legal framework in line with the spirit of the Second Republic. It further notes the enactment of the
Maintenance of Peace and Order Act which repealed POSA. The Committee encourages the Executive to keep the political reform thrust alive to ensure that Zimbabwe abides by the spirit of its own Constitution.
3.2.3 The petitioners also implored Parliament to create a legal framework that punishes vote buying and irregular electoral practices.
The Committee finds this consonant with the spirit of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
3.2.4 The Committee is indebted to the President of the Chiefs’
Council, Chief Charumbira, whose candid comments were very helpful. He pointed out some of the deficiencies with a legal framework that starts from the premise: “must not”, without specifying what traditional leaders could in fact do. This was in reference to section 281 (2) of the Constitution, which provides for principles to be observed by traditional leaders.
3.3 Voter Registration and the Voters Roll:
3.3.1 Amongst the issues highlighted by the petitioners were the following:
- the need for ZEC to advise registrants that are removed from the voters’ roll as well as those on the exclusion list. Deduplication ought to be transparent; ii. guaranteed access to the voters roll for all contestants within prescribed time-frames. This includes availing the roll to election agents on election day; iii. a registration framework that is facilitative and makes it easy for citizens to register as voters, especially in urban areas,
and iv. procurement of equipment that can be used for multiple
purposes.
3.3.2 The Committee sought the views of the Electoral
Management Body, ZEC on these issues. ZEC advised that all the issues raised by the petitioners were in fact none-issues as they were already addressed by the current framework.
3.4 The Provision of Voter Education:
3.4.1 The petitioners contended that voter education should be linked to the secrecy of the vote. They also submitted that the provision of voter education should permeate the electoral cycle, and be opened to a wider range of players beyond the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
3.4.2 The Committee was advised by the Commission that there was nothing untoward about the current framework that accords the
Commission a more prominent role in the provision of voter education.
3.4.3 The Committee is alive to the challenges with respect to the funding of public institutions in Zimbabwe, and the impact that this has to the provision of voter education throughout the electoral cycle. Often times, voter education by the Commission is carried out very close to the polls, indeed after proclamation.
3.5 The Right to Vote and Inclusivity:
3.5.1 The petitioners contend that, to the extent that the Constitution confers the right to vote to all citizens of Zimbabwe, it is incumbent upon the institution of Parliament that all impediments are cleared that disenfranchise some citizens. This, they contend, accords with the right to universal adult suffrage recognised by the Constitution1but is also in keeping with international benchmarks to which Zimbabwe is party, including the African Charter on Elections, Democracy and Governance (ACDEG). In this regard, the petitioners argue that the exclusion of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora amounts to disenfranchisement and exclusion, particularly as Zimbabwe only conducts Diaspora voting for those in the service of the State.
3.5.2 The Committee is alive to submissions by the Honourable Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, as well as those by the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ZEC, that the
Fourth Schedule excludes citizens in the Diaspora on private missions.
1
3.5.3 The Committee is guided by the following factors:
- The approach of the Constitutional Court in the 2015 marriages judgment where-in it took the approach that where Zimbabwe has signed or acceded to an international legal instrument, it must be guided accordingly;
- International best practice, including the approach of several countries in the region which appears inclined towards inclusivity; and
- The ethos of the Second Republic, leaning heavily as it does towards greater freedoms and inclusivity.
3.6 Election Observation:
3.6.1 The petitioners contended that the Accreditation Committee that is involved in the invitation of electoral observer missions to Zimbabwean polls is dominated by members of the Executive. This is because of the numbers of representatives that come from institutions of the Executive. The Commission itself, in submissions made to the
Committee, supported in that regard by the Honourable Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs contended that the process is in fact Electoral Management Body-led.
3.7 Delimitation of Constituencies:
- The petitioners pointed out that since 2008, Zimbabwe had conducted three sets of elections on the basis of the 2008 delimitation.
- This, they argued, is against the principle of the equality of votes. Some constituencies have become very large, while others have remained shrunk.
3.8 Election Administration:
- The petitioners submitted that Zimbabwean polls are riddled with conflict and perceptions that need addressing by the ZEC through administrative practice. The ZEC on its part submitted that it is guided by the legal framework, and that if there are any shortcomings, these should be addressed through the law.
- The Committee notes that most of the issues around elections are spelt out by the law. It also acknowledges that ZEC is a creature of statute and as such, it must be guided by statute. This however does not preclude ZEC from development and perfection of a culture of processes that address trust issues.
3.9 Political Parties:
- The petitioners argued before the Committee that political parties in Zimbabwe remained largely unregulated. They believed that there is need to review this position as one way of addressing some problems in the electoral process, including electoral malpractice which include vote buying, failure to account for campaign finance and electoral violence, gender equality and inclusivity, amongst others.
- Submissions by ZEC and the Executive tended to support a certain level of regulation of political parties.
3.10 Women:
- The petitioners made reference to the historical disadvantages that women have been subjected to in terms of representation in the electoral process, amongst others. They also referred to the attempts by the 2013 Constitution to address the gender disparity, and the shortcomings of that framework.
- The Committee engaged the Zimbabwe Gender
Commission and several representatives of civil society on the matter. The Zimbabwe Gender Commission is working on a formula to address gender parity issues around elections that the Committee requests the relevant authorities to consider.
3.11 Youth:
3.11.1 The petitioners argued that the current framework does not fully embrace youth participation, and urged its review.
3.12 Persons with Disability:
- The petitioners bemoaned the failure by the current framework to fully embrace disability.
- Submissions were made with respect to all aspects of the electoral process from the pre-election, the election and the post-election phases, and how these tended to paper over or ignore issues of disability.
Zimbabwe is party to international legal instruments on disability.
3.13 Election Day and Results Management:
- The petitioners argued that the Election Day results management framework can be the source of poll disputes, and needed review in order to address issues of conflict.
- In this regard, they contended that the election results transmission system for presidential elections needed perfection to avoid suspicions of manipulation.
- On its part, ZEC saw no issues with regard to this matter.
The Executive was content with the current framework.
- The Committee is alive to the conflicts around the election results management system and process, which have been features at previous polls.
3.14 Election Dispute Resolution:
3.14.1 Cognisant of the fact that the judicial mechanisms for the resolution of electoral disputes may not be sufficient in themselves, the petitioners argued that there was need to strengthen other mechanisms, including the role of other institutions that contribute to this process, for instance the National Peace and Reconciliation
Commission, the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, among others.
3.15 Media and Elections:
- The petitioners argued inter alia that while ZEC has in place the 2008 Regulations on the media, these were ineffective as had been proved at all elections since their inception.
- Indeed, the Committee is alive to a recent judgment on the discharge of electoral reportage by public media institutions.
- Submissions by the Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe
Media Commission also confirmed the media polarity in Zimbabwe.
- COMMITTEE’S OBSERVATIONS
Based on submissions from various stakeholders, the Committee observed the need for a comprehensive review of Zimbabwe’s electoral framework with the view of addressing gaps and inadequacies in the administration of elections. For democratic overhaul of the electoral law, the Committee notes the need to take into account the following issues:
- Enhancing the independence of ZEC and other Independent
Commissions connected to the electoral cycle.
- Enhancing the participation of women, the youth and persons with disability in the process, as voters and candidates.
- Reviewing the legal provisions around voter registration and voters roll.
- Reviewing the provisions on political party regulation.
- Tightening the provisions on the role of traditional leaders vis-a-vis the electoral process.
- Addressing deficiencies with respect to voter education provisions.
- Tightening provisions on results management to enhance transparency and reduce suspicion and results contestation.
- Streamlining the election dispute mechanisms.
- Reviewing the provisions regulating the media reportage of electoral processes.
- Enhancing electoral administration through clearer legal provisions and electoral practice, and
- Domesticating regional and international instruments to which Zimbabwe is party of.
- COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS
In light of the above submissions and observations, the
Committee makes the following recommendations.
- The Government should urgently review all the relevant pieces of legislation relating to elections with a view to bringing them in line with the spirit of the Constitution. The new electoral Bill should be gazetted by June 2020. The provisions that offend the independence of ZEC must be reviewed. The Committee further recommends that measures be taken towards the domestication of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. The signature and ratification of the document was an indication of an intention to be bound by its terms.
Accordingly, its provisions ought to find expression in the
Zimbabwean framework.
- Access to the final voters roll must be guaranteed for all contestants as provided by law, and within a specific timeframe. ZEC must not arrogate unto itself discretion that is not provided for by law vis-a-vis access to the roll. Furthermore, the legal framework should facilitate for more permanent registration centres established even in remote areas and open throughout the electoral cycle. ZEC must also focus on continuous voter registration and cleaning of the voters roll.
- The electoral law must provide for continuous voter education by a broad range of actors that include the ZEC and civic society organisations. The voter education and the materials must be accessible to people with disabilities including those visually impaired.
- The Constitution grants every Zimbabwean the right to vote. In keeping with the thrust of the new dispensation to include citizens in the Diaspora in national development, the selective exclusion of
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and those in places of confinement such as prisons and hospitals must be reviewed. This includes hospital staff, nurses and doctors who will be on duty on election day. The expansion of special voting must be considered to cater for these groups.
- Political neutrality on the part of traditional leaders is a constitutional imperative that must be enforced.
- Zimbabwe has conducted three sets of elections on the basis of one set of delimitation: 2008, 2013 and 2018 elections. As the year for the next set of harmonised elections is known, there is no reason why delimitation for the 2023 elections cannot be timeously conducted. There is need to rationalise constituencies that are too big and those that are too small. Clear regulations for delimitation must be put in place.
- Special voting amenable to transparent electoral principles and observation must be reinstated to guarantee the right to vote to those unable to vote on election day.
- Political parties play a critical role in the determination of the political environment among other issues. Their regulation therefore determines the extent to which the electoral process accords with democratic tenets. The legal framework must also provide for political parties financing and audits.
- The Committee recommends that the current legal framework be reviewed with a view to giving life to the principles of gender equality and parity in the Constitution. In this regard, it must also be necessary to compel political parties to recognise and implement the gender equality principles.
- In view of the statistics of the last voter registration process which reflected a youthful population, the legal framework must provide for youth participation as voters, candidates and as decision makers.
- ZEC must ensure mechanisms are put in place to facilitate voting by people with disabilities that guarantee the secrecy of the vote. Polling stations must be accessible to persons living with disabilities.
- ZEC must invest in a real time results transmission system. Furthermore, the Commission must pursue an open data policy that includes the prompt display of election result forms at polling stations for each polling station, disaggregated by demographic variables and post those forms on its website.
- The Committee recommends the strengthening of all dispute resolution mechanisms with a view to ensure the peaceful resolution of election related disputes throughout the electoral cycle. Independent
Commissions should be strengthened, especially the National Peace and
Reconciliation Commission, and the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission to effectively execute their respective roles in the electoral matters. The electoral law must reflect all these principles. Electoral petitions must be time-framed in the electoral law.
- ZEC media monitoring must be timely and effective. It must put in place effective mechanisms to ensure compliance. There must be mechanisms against hate speech and fake news on social media throughout the electoral cycle. The legal framework must also embrace media diversity and inclusion. Public media must be accessible to all parties.
6.0 CONCLUSION
The Committee implores the Executive, to urgently review the electoral law in compliance not only with the government’s national and international undertakings, but also with the provisions of the Constitution. The Committee sincerely hope that the suggested recommendations and the attached Electoral Model Bill will be seriously considered in crafting of the new electoral law as this will certainly improve future electoral processes. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I stand to second the report on the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network Petition on election reforms. I want to touch on a few issues to bolster the report presented by Hon. Chair, Hon. Mataranyika. Mr. Speaker Sir, a lot of issues that arise in this report, not because of the time that it was presented have been overtaken by events from the Executive which is applaudable.
Cognisant of the fact that the Executive, ably championed by the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs who also happens to be my Chairman in the province, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, has gone ahead and conducted electoral reforms and aligned those issues with the Constitution. My issue Mr. Speaker Sir, speaks to and about the issues that are in this report; delinking the census and delimitation. The Hon. Minister has even gone ahead - it is just yesterday that we were debating the Census and Statistics Bill so that we can conduct our census in 2021, way before the elections in 2023, which is very applaudable.
The history of this Mr. Speaker Sir, we were always on point and on time. It should not frighten anyone that we should be seeking an amendment to get to align ourselves with the yester years; modus operandi where we were conducting our census every other 10 years and we were conducting our elections every other time after the effective and efficient census of that election. Mr. Speaker Sir, my point exactly is when we conducted elections in 2008, we were supposed to have had elections in 2010 but because of the GNU and the back and forth, the rigorous issues of political machinations, we found ourself having had elections in 2013. It then removed our alignment to 2010.
Mr. Speaker Sir, if we had our elections in 2010, we would have had elections in 2015. We would have elections in 2020, we would have had elections in 2025 and in which case we would have had to use the census and the delimitation process in 2022 after the initial 2012 run.
Having seen that and the wisdom of the Executive which is proactive,
Mr. Speaker Sir, this is the Second Republic, championed by His Excellency, the President E. D Mnangagwa. They have sought, because we are all creatures of an electoral process; we come to this august
House only on the back of a non-flawed electoral process. They saw it coming that in 2023, we might want to use archaic, moribund, rudimentary and antiquated piece of document that was last initiated in 2012 Mr. Speaker Sir. They have sought to rejuvenate and re-invigorate it in 2021. So I applaud them Mr. Speaker Sir. Having said that, I am coupling it with point number 6 of our recommendation; which speaks to and about 2008, 2013 and 2018 elections using the census and the boundaries of 2012.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to again talk on the issue of women empowerment. There should not be anything for women without women. The issue of their term coming to an end in 2023, the Executive has already brought in Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 2 that speaks to and about the extension of that period. We are all born of a woman and the gender agenda Mr. Speaker Sir – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – Protect me Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member.
HON. NDUNA: It is the same women that I need to champion for. Yours truly is a He-for-She advocate. There is no amount of intimidation and pulling back that is going to also have me apply the PHD (pull her down) syndrome. I will always want to champion the issues of women empowerment. Mr. Speaker Sir, aware that in Zimbabwe, we have a 30% representation of women in Parliament and the continental average is on 20%, I am applauding the extension of the same to go forward. My point exactly resides in the proactiveness of the
Executive. I applaud them, they have gone further. Here, Mr. Speaker Sir, the observation of the Committee speaks about a youthful population and the Executive has also proposed in their Bill a youth quota about one youth in each province. A new proposal Mr. Speaker Sir. We need in this day and age to move with the times. On issues to do with youthful population and enhance their innovation and abilities to deal with the technology and all that. We need to collaborate, coordinate, network and remove the collusion, corruption and nepotism using that youthful age in our youth quota or the ten positions that have been proposed. My proposal is that we need to support this proposal and we need to see the youth in this Parliament, come 2023 from a youth quota to coupled with the gender agenda because the two give us 62% quantum of the population. What men can do, women can do better.
As I conclude, where ZEC is supposed to have an Electoral Act that speaks to the issue of the Electoral Court that subsists so that there are sanctions if that court is in session all the time until the next election, because we need to cater for by-elections after an election and the disputes that arise during a by-election should also be taken care of within that same life of Parliament before another election.
However, my point is that having coming through a rigorous electoral process myself, Chegutu West Constituency which was quite contested by one person who did not have the requisite V11, to substantiate their claim. Anyone who comes to the courts without the requisite evidence to substantiate their claim should be banned from taking part in any future elections, may be two further terms, next ten years before they can come back after recuperating and after coming to their senses.
One shudders to think what would happen to our electoral process if we continued to have such people with a mindset which diverts from our electoral process. It is very clear what it is that you need to bring before the courts if you are to challenge any win or any result arising from a credible constitutional democracy and election. We are perceived, guided, and respected by the way we respect our own Constitution. The Electoral Act is very clear. If you have any challenges, you need to go according to its expected end. If you divert from it somehow and you think you can come fulcrum, pith, core and whatever, as though you want to disturb of the Chief Justice, you need to face the consequences.
The Electoral Act provides for anybody who wants any review of any results to do it within the 48 hours, otherwise bring the V11s and respect the courts without just sitting and standing there and waxing lyrical and diverting from the core-business of the election. There should be sanctions for anybody that denigrates the electoral process. We need to follow the Constitution to the letter and core. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to eloquently ventilate the issues of Chegutu West constituents who have reposed their trust in me to come and represent them here. I thank you.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I heard a lot of men commenting. This is evidence that they know that women talk about personal experiences. Let me thank the Chairman for the report that he presented. This is the report that came after ZESN lodged their concerns regarding elections and electoral reforms. Let me continue saying that I heard someone saying that the Executive had deliberated on that issue proposing electoral reforms. Let me talk about a contentious issue particularly regarding the announcement of presidential results.
It is my desire and we know that as Zimbabwe, we have a history and we know that the presidential vote is not pleasing to the majority of Zimbabwe. It is my desire that these issues should be looked into and they should be considered in these reforms. My belief is that since the Minister of Justice is in the House, that issue should be looked into particularly the current stage that we are at as Zimbabwe is that there are a lot of contentions regarding elections. Easy time elections are held, people expect to get their results the following day after the election day.
Other countries do not have 24 hours before announcing the results.
These reforms should be looked into.
Let me talk about disability, Mr. Speaker Sir. Some people who go to elections, you will discover that election points are not convenient to those who use wheel chairs, those who are blind and those who need to be assisted. These issues should be covered in the electoral reforms. Let me remind you Mr. Speaker Sir and I am saying this as an individual that concerning reforms, there is an issue that has been raised concerning assisted voters. My desire is that this should be reviewed.
I remember when I was an MP for Chimanimani in 2008, the people who were being assisted to vote were less than 100. However, at the moment the pattern indicates that in the last election there were more than 1 500 assisted voters in Chimanimani. This shows that the electoral reform is not a good law which says that a person should bring another person who will assist them to vote. This makes them vulnerable and also exposes this system to abuse by different political parties, because some people end up being voted for by headmen and other people. We need laws which stipulate that people who are assisted belong to a certain or a particular age group. At times we say
25 year olds being assisted. So Mr. Speaker this means that we have laws that are not good - which end up forcing people to be voted for or
voted on behalf of.
In 2008 during the run off we ended up facing different challenges which culminated in the GNU which was mentioned by Hon. Nduna. This is because some people were being forced to vote for particular parties. My plea is that when these reforms are being done let us look at the blind, the disabled who cannot use their hands and the elderly. This should guide us in electoral reforms.
Instead of also including some people who might be intimidated, let me continue saying that, Mr. Speaker - ZESN examined this issue and considered that because of affirmative action, women were being left behind. This is my viewpoint. The Executive has managed to extend the PR issue by another two terms. As Hon. Karenyi I cannot say what I expect someone to say, but I can say what I feel as a woman. I want this to be on record. The Constitution clearly says that women are more than men. They are around 52% of the total population of Zimbabwe which means women decide who they want to vote for in the country. So Mr. Speaker Sir, without us - without the women, it means Zimbabwe might be facing destruction. My point is that the Constitution is very clear that there is gender balance in governance and in any other issue. We are saying Mr. Speaker, the 50/50 which is constitutional is what we are talking about.
We need to align the Constitution. Why do we give children sweets when we know they can just swallow? Other countries talk about the women’s quota then there are reserved seats and what have you. Mr. Speaker, my thoughts are that as we align reforms with the Constitution, we do not want to be given two terms but we expect 50/50. Out of 210 constituencies in Zimbabwe, we expect 105 being given to women. Why are men afraid to give 105 seats to women? We are equal in Zimbabwe. It is only at home where there is a demarcation between the mother and the father, the father being the head of the household. However in governance issues, in councils it is 50%, in commissions it should be 50%, in Parliament there should 50% representation and in the Cabinet there should be 50% representation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as women, if we are women who want Zimbabwe to be progressive, reforms that were requested by ZESN, I believe it is high time that as Zimbabwe, we look at the Constitution which clearly stipulates that women should get a 50% share of resources in the country. Let me quote you in saying that most men in this House who have seats that we are talking about, most of them are more corrupt than women - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - They are so corrupt, Mr. Speaker, when you look at them, even looking at the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and other issues, you will discover that women use the CDF properly, but men are not straight. Mr. Speaker, I am saying that in these forthcoming reforms, it is high time we aligned the Constitution with these electoral reforms. This will be our national pride, knowing that Zimbabwe is following the
Constitution. I am saying to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs who is in this House and is listening, why are we being given small pieces? Why not extend 60 seats for the rest of our lives until the next generation and another generation then we can also contest in the rest of the seats. Mr. Speaker Sir that is affirmative action.
Mr. Speaker, my desire is that in ZANU PF, MDC and other political parties women should not be given a smaller portion, a portion that expires. Right now Mr. Speaker, as an individual I have heard people saying that the PR people are Barcossi. Mr. Speaker, I want to work.
Everyone needs to work. What brings us down as women is that we are given as charity cases, as second class citizens. We are the women of Zimbabwe. We gave birth to men so it is our right that we be given enough resources.
As I sit down, Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, please take this word to the Cabinet that Zimbabwean women are saying that enough is enough. We no longer want charity cases. We were ill treated in 2010 when people were working on the Constitution. We were just told that we were going to be given this small portion. We thought as women, it was good but towards the end it was transpiring in all political parties that it was not good. Mr. Speaker, have you noticed that in political parties, in the first parts, there are no arguments but in proportional representation, you will discover that women compete – in ZANU PF there are some who will be interested and it is the same in
MDC also. It is high time Mr. Speaker that we were given 50/50 in the 210 seats, there must be 105 seats for women and 105 for men and women who are interested.
Mr. Speaker Sir let me address the youths I am running a mentorship exercise because I know that out of 105, we will give some to our young girls because we are growing old and Parliament cannot be for old people. We need young girls who will bring wisdom to the House. As I sit down, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, may you take this word to the Cabinet that concerning reforms, we expect 50/50 in the Constitution. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
*HON. TOGAREPI: I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker and I would like to thank those who presented the report. This emanated from the ZESN issue. Let me start by saying that our Government has shown expertise and wisdom and that they know that there are people’s aspirations. This petition was submitted when Government was far ahead on addressing the needs of Zimbabwean people, particularly regarding electoral reforms.
Let me say that this august House should appreciate what the Government is doing because it is doing a good job. When people go for elections, as we compete during elections, there are some people who believe that when they lose elections they should just challenge the results by going to courts and doing such things but when they win, they do not say anything. I think that as we go for elections, these laws should also target people who want to tarnish the image of the country. When elections are held and when you lose, it means that you have lost and you must accept it.
I would also want to thank our Government which has been there since 1980. We have always held elections in due season given the opportunity. You will discover that Zimbabwe is one of the African countries which respect the need for women to be given positions as MPs and Ministers. We are a Government which is doing a good job particularly concerning the issue of gender balance.
In doing that good job since 1980, as we work on electoral reforms that were petitioned by ZESN, let us not just be like some people who believe that our election process should be coming from other people. It is good to copy what other countries are doing but we do not want people who just focus on what they believe such that when they bring that into the august House, if that thing is alien to Africa, they look at people who sponsor and fund, just like the ZESN petition, I would like to point out that ZESN is a Zimbabwean organisation. Advice that comes from them should not be focused at regime change.
The other issue that I heard is that people who are old cannot vote on their own. Everyone who is a Zimbabwean has a right to vote. So, I must be able to choose if I want someone to vote for me because some of the things that we talk about here should have evidence like the V 11because we remember what happened when the V 11 could not be produced.
Let me observe and appreciate the good work which is evident in that young people and women are given opportunities to get into Parliament. For someone to walk from this place to Chitungwiza, you take a step at a time, just like taking women and giving them positions through proportional representation. This is an opportunity to women so that they are also part of this august House. Even young people are also being given such opportunities. This means that even in future, as legislators here in Parliament, we should continue urging different political parties that this should be done. We need to appreciate that we have a good Government which respects the aspirations of the people of
Zimbabwe.
Let me conclude by saying that women, yes and I have noticed that there are young people in this august House. We need to appreciate and honour that which has been given to us that even as we go to the next election, women should be found in proportional representation. I have no problem Mr. Speaker Sir that women continue in proportional representation but as legislators, we are going to be working on the promulgation of such laws.
If there is need for gender equality or 50/50 in Parliament, if there is such equality, why is it that there are only a few women who are winning seats? If there is no equality, we need to look at these issues and have proportional representation. If we do not look at these issues and Hon. Members fail to help women, they will continue being left behind. Women should educate young girls, that after being given opportunities they must also mentor and teach others. I thank you. *HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir for
giving me the opportunity to debate. I would like to talk about the presidential elections–[AN HON. MEMBER: In Malawi]-. We are tired of hearing people saying that the elections were rigged.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Who said Malawi? Can you withdraw that Hon. Member? This is not Malawi.
HON. C. MOYO: I withdraw the statement that the opposition has won in Malawi.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Do not try and play games. You mentioned that just like in Malawi. This is what you are supposed to withdraw Hon. Member.
HON. C. MOYO: I withdraw.
*HON. KWARAMBA: I would like to speak about presidential elections. We are tired of hearing people complaining that the elections were rigged every time there is an election and this results in a lot of confusion. I would say that we need to adopt the South African model which allows elected Members of Parliament to vote for the President of their choice –[HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – so that there will not be any noise and any allegations of rigging. I am suggesting that we must vote for our Member of Parliament and the party which will have the majority of MPs would have won. We do not have problems with councillors and Members of Parliament and I suggest that when the reforms are done this should happen.
As the Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus, I would like to appreciate the fact that Government facilitated the addition of more women in Parliament by 34%. We have been trained on how to raise motions and ask questions and effectively contribute in Parliament. We appreciate that because if it was not for that women would be fewer than they are in Parliament. If you look at the results of first-past-the-post, there were 28 women with constituencies but now that we have been taught, women should win in order to have constituencies. People talk about the cliché “bacossi,” we do not want to be labeled as such. When the PR system was introduced, it did not educate women on how they should discharge their duties.
When you go to a constituency of an elected Member without his knowledge, you are accused of wanting to grab his constituency. We want these reforms to recognise our existence and give us more power. Sections 17, 56 and 80 in the Constitution talk about gender balance and as women, we respect men but give us also the opportunity to demonstrate that we can do it. We have a female Minister of Defence Hon Muchinguri-Kashiri and Hon Sen. Mutsvangwa who is the Minister of Information; they are doing a good job. I am saying that women can also do a good job. We need more women to participate. As women, we must shun this idea of wanting to be given everything on a silver platter.
Let us work hard in order to prove that we can do it too. I thank you. +HON. MAHLANGU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like diaspora votes to appear in these reforms because we have our children in different places. We would like them to come and vote and elect the person they want. On the same note, pertaining to issues that we copy from other countries as we heard from previous speaker, during the same time we go for elections we want counting of votes to be done there and then so that no one will come out saying my vote has been stolen.
As women, we encourage each other to take up opportunities of getting into PR if that opportunity arises. Right now, we have women who are crying just because they want CDF money. They have not been allocated that money because they do not have constituencies. How are women going to develop when they do not have money like that which is given to those Members with constituencies? The male counterparts who are given that money will be developing and doing wonders when their counterparts who are women do not have that opportunity.
We want the 50/50 representation so that we get places that are for women. We want certain areas to be allocated to women whereby we say we have a certain constituency which is supposed to be represented by an MDC woman, a ZANU PF woman or an Independent woman – not to get to a point whereby you say I failed just because I am woman. This will help us not get to that point whereby we realise that we have so many women who are being abused. We sometimes get to a point whereby we are insulted when we get to such places like this august
House just because we were chosen through the PR system. I thank you. HON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I stand to add to this debate and I would like to thank the Committee for the report. It was quite a good report but in it being good, I would like to add a few areas that I feel have been spoken to by other female Members of
Parliament. For example, our Constitution clearly states 50/50 and you find in most Commissions you have 50/50. I know in the Standing Rules and Orders the Chair makes sure that we have got 50/50.
When you look at parliamentary elections, you have 35% of women, in local government we have got 16%. So, if we make sure that women got 50% , this is what constitutional. Also in the public hearings that have been done by the Gender Committee, women have clearly stated that they what the 50:50. We should not, as women be given piecemeal and it should not be seen as a favour. It is our right as women to get the 50:50. So, as much as we initially got the women’s quota, where we have got 60 seats in the country; it was a stepping
stone towards realising the 50:50 in allocation.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to add a few points on the diaspora vote. It is very important that we make sure we get the diaspora vote. Why do I say so Mr. Speaker Sir? I am sure we have seen as a Government and as a people of Zimbabwe, in the current situation that we are in the Covid-19. We have had so many donations coming in from the diaspora. They have been helping us. Why are we prepared to take the donations and yet we do not want them to vote? We want them to invest in the country. So if we want the diaspora to invest in the country, let them also have the decision of who to vote for and who is to run the country. That is what I would like to air. Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I also wish to contribute a few issues on the report presented. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is unfortunate that the outcome of our elections have always been disputed each time the results are announced. The reasons have been very simple that the elections were not credible, transparent, free and fair. Those are the key terms that our elections have failed to meet those dimensions.
So, Mr. Speaker Sir, one item that is very key to the outcome of elections is the process of delimitation because it has an effect on the distribution of the vote nationally. Our constituencies Mr. Speaker Sir are of varying sizes in terms of geographical spread and also in terms of number of voters. So, it is important that as we look at reforms, we must be also addressing the issue of delimitation in terms of sizes regarding the geography and also the demographics that is the numbers that are going to be voting.
In that light Mr. Speaker Sir, I would argue for delimitation to take place after the national census. There is a thinking by some that our delimitation should happen before the national census, before we have figures in terms of how our population is spread across the country. So, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is important that all delimitation should happen after the national census has been carried out.
Mr. Speaker Sir, dispute resolution after elections is also key and I think we must have universally acceptable system of dispute resolution after elections. As we speak Mr. Speaker Sir, there are a number of electoral petitions in the past that up to this day have not been addressed. So, it is important that as we look at electoral reforms, the aspect of dispute resolution should also be addressed so that there is prompt timeous resolution of disputes regarding electoral outcomes.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we all understand that in the current Parliament, there are some MPs who are in Parliament whose presence here continues to be contested because certain things have not happened in terms of resolving electoral disputes. Mr. Speaker Sir, as we discuss, we also noticed that in this very august House, there are issues relating to recall of MPs. Whereas at election the Members of Parliament who were duly elected and who took oath were representing certain political parties and institutions, there is need to also look at those dimensions so that we refine, we must be able to refine ….
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! Order! You are out of order
Hon. Member.
*HON. TOGAREPI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. Hon.
Speaker, Members should respect the Chair’s ruling.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very Hon. Speaker. I appreciate what the Hon. Chief Whip is talking about. This was only trying to exemplify a problem that we are experiencing today, that we must be able to address going forward because if we do not give examples, we lose sight of what we are trying to …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Tsunga, I have made a ruling. There is no need for you to continue talking about
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you Hon. Speaker and I hear you well. Having said that, it is important that as a country, we follow to the letter and spirit of the SADC guidelines. We want to follow the SADC guidelines on the conduct of free, fair, credible elections so that we are able to meet the minimum requirements of such elections. We want, at the end of it all Mr. Speaker Sir, that the taste of credibility, transparency, freeness and fairness of elections is passed and that the outcome of the election is not disputed where the loser freely, willingly congratulates the winner and they are able to shake hands. If we can get to that by simply adhering to the generally agreed guidelines on free, fair, transparency and credible elections, then as a country I think our democracy will be at another level.
+HON. MABOYI: I would like to add on to what has been highlighted by my colleagues who have aired out their voices regarding women representation. As women, we feel left out by men. We ask you to include us because even when we went to war, we worked with you. We did not choose to say women should be trained this way in a way that is different from how men were trained. We trained the same way with you. Therefore, we want to get the same enjoyment with you as men. Even with regards to knowledge, we may not be well educated or informed but we ask you to help us by giving us that critical knowledge to continue to lead.
If we are included as women, you will realise that corruption will be less. For you to be in here as men and occupy more seats, it is all because of us women who gave birth to you and we will want you to understand that we respect you, love and want you to also give us a fraction and make sure that we have a part that we play in Parliament. In the few seats that we have been given, you realise that women are doing well. In everything that is being done by women, there is progress. In a Ministry that is being headed by a woman, there is progress but look at most of those that are being headed by men; things are not done in the appropriatly way. As men, we ask you to give women additional percentage in representation so that Zimbabwe progresses.
We know how to work and therefore, we want you to include us and not leave us behind. That 60 is not enough. We want you to increase and make sure that it is 50( but we know that you are not going to allow us to get to that level. One thing that I assure you is that if you give us that 50% representation, there will be less corruption . I ask you to look into this issue but I am not sure if the Minister is here to take note of this but we really ask you to make sure that you involve women and give us more seats. If you can give more seats, there will be progress in this country of ours. We want you to look into this issue and help us as women.
*HON. MUTAMBISI: I would like to add my voice on the issue regarding the ZESN petition. Let me just mention two issues concerning electoral reforms. The Diaspora vote, I do not agree with it because I believe that as a nation, we are not ready for that because we are using polling station based elections. For us to set up polling stations in different countries, I do not believe it is feasible.
Secondly, the ground is not level because our country is under sanctions. Some of our people cannot go and campaign in other countries freely because of sanctions. So when such elections are held, obviously there will be contentions because we do not know how many people are in those countries. I am saying that as a country we are not ready for the Diaspora vote. If such people are interested in voting, they should come back home and vote.
Regarding the 50( representation, yes we accept that we be given the 60 seats. However, apart from the 60 seats, it is important that we have the 105 seats.
HON. PHULU: I just want to summaries the debate that has been quite vigourous by Members on this very important report. Madam Speaker, I would like to support that the House notes this very important report which was eloquently put forward by the Chairperson of the
Justice Committee of which I am a member.
Madam Speaker, the report I think is important in that it also had attached to it a model law. This model law, we have not had an opportunity to scrutinise it but from the summary that we got from the Chairperson, we think it is a document that is worthwhile and we would like to urge the Minister to take it into account as they bring forward a suggestion in terms of the Bill. One of the recommendations by the Committee was that a new law should come forward, which seeks to review that gap.
Certain gaps have been identified and those are the gaps which members are speaking to. It is quite amazing that when it comes to this issue, particularly the female Members of Parliament are all speaking with one purpose and they are speaking really to issues that are talking to building the nation. They are talking across political party lines. We the men are the ones who tend to speak in a way that widens the party lines. If you analyse the debate, we would like to really commend them for rising above that kind of thing. In fact, it may be quite telling that if you had more women in this House, perhaps we would rise above the issues of partisanship more and more because women are really speaking to the real issues that are in the report.
Madam Speaker, I would like to simply emphasise two things. The issue is that issues of elections are very important. Our future and our national vision as Zimbabwe are hinged on how we conduct elections and the report has been quite adept in pointing out some of those issues. For example, we have issues to do with people living with disabilities. Those are quite clear issues that we need to fix so that we ensure that all of our population in Zimbabwe is participating equally in elections. We have issues to do with participation of youth. We need to ensure that all sectors in our country are able to freely participate and be able to take up any important positions in the country. These are some of the gaps that the report has been able to identify.
There are issues to do with the election itself, Madam Speaker.
We need to start to treat it as a cycle. This was noted again in the report. We need to move away from an election as an event. We need to bring our legislation to accept that there are pre-election issues. So our Electoral Act should be able to deal with the pre-electoral steps and we should still be able to measure those steps to ensure they equate with a free and fair election. We need to steal the event itself.
When elections happens, we need men and women of Zimbabwe to act with decorum and shy away from issues of violence, vote buying, cheating, gender imbalance, disparaging the women and insults. We need to be able to treat our opponents with respect. This is how the world will measure us and this is how after an election we can have the credibility that is due to us as a nation. We can have the trust that other people can repose in us. These are the things that spill over to our economy. Certainly, I hear the House to be unanimous in saying that we must accept this report. Once this report is put forward, we must ensure that something happens. It must not simply be one of those reports that is tabled and that is the end. We must ensure that all of us in unison as members – I know we are not in agreement on a number of issues, but certainly we must be in unison in terms of pushing and ensuring that these reforms are done - in terms of ensuring that the Minister takes an approach which is consultative.
I will conclude by summarizing that we need to build an inclusive nation – let us fight as different sides of the House about other issues. Let us not fight about issues of elections for three years. Three years have gone by with us debating issues of elections. The people of Nkulumane and I long for a Zimbabwe where after elections, those who have been elected to run with issues come to the podium and run with those issues. There are many other issues that we need to cover and they certainly go back to how we are elected. We would like to move and say to the Chairperson of the Committee that we must have a review of how this report has gone down the line and follow up with the Minister of Justice to ensure that all these issues that people and MPs have been raising – even issues that speak to gender equality, proportional representation; we know that that Amendment Number 2 is coming – again, we will debate these issues but certainly we would like to say that
Members of the House have treated this issue of elections with respect.
It is amazing to see how many members have come forward to passionately debate this report. I would like to underline that this is an important report and that we should carry it forward. I would like to thank you Hon. Speaker, the Chairperson and Hon. Members of Parliament for debating vigorously on issues of this report and all of you for supporting that certainly the issue of reforms that has been alluded to should be carried forward.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MHONA: I second
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 7th July, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the rest of the Orders be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 42 has been disposed of.
HON. MHONA: I second
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT
AND TOURISM ON WETLAND MANAGEMENT
Forty Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism on wetland management.
Question again proposed.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: When this debate was adjourned, we had already thanked the Hon. Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Management for the timeous response that he brought to this House in the form of a Ministerial Statement. Having done that Madam Speaker, may I also thank all the Hon. Members of this House who took their time to debate on the report on the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism on wetland management.
I now move that this House adopts the motion that this House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Environment and
Tourism on Wetland Management.
Motion put and agreed to.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. TOFFA, the House adjourned at Thirteen Minutes past Five o’clock
p.m. until Tuesday, 7th July, 2020.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 24th June, 2020
The National Assembly met at a Quarterpast Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. SPEAKER’S RULING
ALLEGED FAVOURITISM TOWARDS HON. T. MLISWA
THE HON. SPEAKER: This is the Speaker’s ruling on allegations of favouritism towards Hon. Mliswa and the alleged misconduct by Hon.
Mliswa.
Background; this ruling seeks to address the events that occurred in the House during the sitting on the 4th June, 2020 at the commencement of business when Hon. Kashambe rose on a point of privilege. On Tuesday, 4th June, 2020 Hon. Kashambe rose on a point of privilege. He alleged that there was unequal treatment afforded to Hon. Members of the National Assembly during debate on motions and cited Hon. Mliswa as an example of one of the Members “who is allowed to say what he wants, when he wants to speak and at whatever time”.
Whilst Hon. Kashambe was still on the floor, Hon. Mliswa stood up on a point of order and the Hon. Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly ordered Hon. Mliswa to take his seat until Hon. Kashambe had finished his speech. Hon. Mliswa did not take his seat and there were murmurs from several Members who were not happy with Hon.
Mliswa’s refusal to take his seat.
In this regard, Hon. Mliswa’s conduct contravenes Standing Order Number 110 (1) which provides that “any Member who disregards the authority of the Chair or persistently and wilfully disrupts the Business of the House commits an offence for which he/she may be suspended from the service of the House”. At that point, Hon. Mliswa alleged that Hon. Chanda had insulted him. In the ensuing commotion, Hon. Mliswa charged towards Hon. Chanda who was seated at the back of the
Chamber shouting at him. When he got to where Hon. Chanda was, Hon. Mliswa grabbed and pulled him by the tie before he was restrained by other Hon. Members.
In this instance, Hon. Mliswa’s conduct was grossly disorderly as envisaged in Standing Order Number 108 (1) which provides as follows; “the Chair must order a Member whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the premises of Parliament for the remainder of that day’s sitting”.
The Hon. Deputy Speaker ordered Hon. Mliswa to leave the House and he was escorted out of the House through the eastern exit door. Immediately after exiting the House, Hon. Mliswa re-entered the House using the southern door and addressed himself to the Hon. Deputy Speaker accusing her of “killing Parliament and not protecting him when he had been insulted”. He then again left the House.
By reentering the House in defiance of the Chair’s order, Hon.
Mliswa breached Standing Order Number 112 which provides that “any
Member who wilfully disobeys any lawful order of the House shall be guilty of contempt”. Both Hon. Kashambe and Hon. Kwaramba appealed to the Chair to rule on the matter.
The Chair indicated that a ruling would be made on the matter and my ruling is as follows;
On the point of order raised by Hon. Kashambe, I would like to assure this House that as Presiding Officers, we have no intention to give preferential treatment to any members of the House and we will continue to give each and every member an opportunity to speak on any motion or subject when they rise to be recognised by the Chair. We have even relied on the list of names submitted to us by the whips, especially on Wednesdays during question time. We will continue to be guided by Standing Rules and Orders in discharging our duties impartially.
As an example and in particular reference to Hon. Mliswa whom Hon. Kashambe cited, both myself and the Hon. Deputy Speaker have on a number of occasions ruled Hon. Mliswa out of order and have even asked him to leave the House, depending on the circumstances. For example Hon. Mliswa was ordered to leave the House for disorderly
behaviour on the 13th February, 25th September, 23rd October and 13th November 2019.
Further, on the allegations that Hon. Mliswa made unfounded allegations, again the Hon. Chair would like to confirm to the august House that Hon. Mliswa indeed made unsubstantiated allegations that maligned the Chair. However, after being confronted on the matter to substantiate his allegation, Hon. Mliswa duly apologised to the Chair and to this august House. Consequently, the matter was closed.
2) I now proceed to the reaction of Hon. Mliswa – the record indicates that Hon. Mliswa left his seat and went to where Hon. Chanda was seated and used unprintable language that is recorded as unparliamentary in terms of Standing Order 93, (1d) which provides that
“no member shall use derogatory, disrespectful, offensive or unbecoming words against the President, Parliament or its members, the
Speaker;”
This was indeed also confirmed by some of those who were present in the House. The proper response was for Hon. Mliswa to wait for his turn and raise his point of order when duly recognised by the Hon. Deputy Speaker. Indeed, Hon. Mliswa’s reaction serves to bolster some of the allegations raised against him by Hon. Kashambe.
In that respect, I rule that the conduct by Hon. Mliswa was outrageously unbecoming in terms of Standing Order Number 112 which provides that “any member who wilfully or vexatiously interrupts the orderly conduct of business in the House shall be guilt of contempt”. He used language that is unparliamentary and he was generally disorderly.
Further, he disrespected the Chair by not abiding by lawful instructions from the Chair, thus violating Standing Order Number 110
(1) which provides that “any member who disregards the authority of the Chair or persistently and wilfully disrupts the business of the House commits an offence for which he or she may be suspended from the service of the House”.
The Chair’s decision is final, even if one may not agree with it, as provided for in Standing Order Number 206 which states that “in any matter for which these Standing Orders do not provide or which are not provided for by a Sessional or other Order. The decision of the Chair must be final”.
3) The Chair rules that the Hon. Member withdraws his unparliamentary language and apologises to the House for that language and his threatening disorderly behaviour. I must warn Hon. Mliswa that stiffer and heavier penalties await him if this kind of behaviour is repeated. At the same time, I would like to urge all members to assist the
Presiding Officers by not indulging in acts that provoke other members.
Hon. Members must behave in a way that does not bring the august House and dignity of Hon. Members of Parliament into disrepute.
Mutual respect must be the hallmark of the dignified decorum in the
House, as guided by our Standing Orders and Rules, especially the
Standing Orders sited in this ruling. Hon. Mliswa, as per my ruling, you are requested to make an unreserved apology for the unparliamentary language.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir for your ruling which in itself compels me to not to challenge it at all. I will not dare challenge it because the ruling tells me that there are more stiffer charges ahead – [Laughter.] – As such, I will abide by the ruling and will not challenge it in any other way. I withdraw all my remarks and agree with the ruling that others must not provoke other people. It is important that as a House, we also are bound by that ruling at the end of the day. I would like at this point in time to apologise, first of all to the ladies in this House for my utterances and secondly to Hon. Chanda with whom I thought we would have a coffee outside so that we could resolve our case. My intention was never to manhandle him. My training does not allow me to man handle anyone at all, but it was for me to go and talk to him outside since I had been told to go outside so that we could resolve the issue, but it was not seen in that light.
I would like to sincerely apologise to the Chair Hon. Tsitsi Gezi at the time – not that I undermine her being in Chair, but circumstances were totally beyond my control. I would like to profusely apologise for the events on that day. I would want them to forgive me for one does make mistakes and certainly such conduct will not at all happen.
Let me also say that the Clerk had sent me a note to say that the Hon. Chair was going to give me an opportunity to speak, but unfortunately I got it when I was just outside. So she did through the Clerk write a note that I was going to be given an opportunity but I had not read the note at the time. Thank you very much Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: On behalf of the House, I want to believe that the unreserved apology is accepted and the promise to act with the greatest degree of decorum shall subsist accordingly.
According to our Notes, there is supposed to be an invitation from the Chair for Hon. Members to make their one minute statements. I rule that this be suspended until we put the guidelines in place so that there is no confusion. Today, we shall not entertain those.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
+HON. S. MATHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. My question regards the bond notes that are being rejected by many shops. There was a Press Statement which was saying bond notes are legal in our country. Bond notes continue to be rejected by people in the business sector, why? I want to know why this is happening yet there is need for greater awareness to the business people to show that
Government is serious to that bond notes are a legal tender in Zimbabwe.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Minister, why is there continued rejection of local currencies? What is Government doing about it?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker. This
is a question that we addressed last week. What is happening; is first of all, it is illegal to refuse the legal tender for Zimbabwe. We have got bank notes, bond notes and bond coins. In terms of what we have done as intervention to make sure that people accept the bond notes and the bank notes as legal tender, we have issued a statement advising all stakeholders and the businesses informing them that the bond notes, bank notes and bond coins are still legal tender and it is illegal to refuse such in all our trading. For all those who have gone to shops where coins and notes have been rejected, they should report to the nearest police. That is number one in terms of the illegalities – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. If you have got an issue, wait for a supplementary question. I will not entertain any shouting.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The second point is, for those who are closer to the commercial banks they can go to the banks and exchange the notes to those that are acceptable. I would say this is what we have done so far. I thank you.
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Why is television and radio quiet about this issue if this tender is supposed to be accepted? There is need for more awareness regarding this issue so that the populace is informed of the need to accept the local currency...
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The campaign on the usage of our local currency as tender started yesterday. This statement was issued by the RBZ and we will continue to do so.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary
question is - what sanctions will befall the transgressors for refusal of accepting these bond notes?
HON. CHIDUWA: At the moment, there are only civil sanctions not criminal. I think I would need to provide a statement on that issue but not now.
*HON. MAKONYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. There are people in the rural areas who have money which shops are rejecting and the
Ministry is saying they should take the rejected money to the banks. They need transport to go to the banks. I am requesting the Minister and the RBZ to go to the communities to collect the rejected money in exchange for original money. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Deputy Minister, any efforts for intensive publication through the media on making the populace aware and to accept the local currency?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. The
campaign on the usage of our local currency as tender was started yesterday. This statement was issued by the RBZ and we will continue to do so.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary is on the sanctions that might befall the transgressor. What sort of sanctions will befall the transgressors of this law of refusal of getting these bond notes?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker, at
the moment, they are only civil sanctions not criminals. I think on that I would need to provide a statement on it not now.
*HON. MAKONYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. There are people in the rural areas whose bond notes are being rejected. The Minister is saying they should take that money to go to the bank and they need transport to go there. I am saying Minister, as RBZ, can you not go to the community and collect the money that is being rejected and give them the ideal money. Thank you
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would need to consult with RBZ but I think there is a possibility.
HON. SIKHALA: There is a very important question that was asked by Hon. Nduna. What form of sanctions should the people of Zimbabwe resort to in the currency where the money is being refused as tender by retailers? That question was not adequately answered and that is what people outside there are waiting to hear. What is the Ministry encouraging the citizens of Zimbabwe to get the remedy in as far as sanctions on those who are refusing that money to buy? Can the Hon.
Minister give us the answer on a very important question that was asked? That is my point of order?
HON. CHIDUWA: What I would have wanted to say is that it is a comprehensive statement on that but on another note, in terms of the sanctions that have been given especially to big wholesalers and retailers, in the event that they refuse the legal tender for Zimbabwe, under Ministry of Industry and Commerce, we have got a section where we withdraw licences. Thank you.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. We thank Government for putting prices for cotton but after putting that price, cotton is not being bought up to now. People are suffering.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, please do not make statements, ask your question.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: My question is when is Government going
to buy cotton from people in the rural areas? They grew a lot of cotton and middlemen are now taking that cotton instead of it going to COTTCO.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, before the Hon. Minister responses, you are not observing social distancing especially Members on my left. Can you organise yourselves?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
In terms of the buying of cotton, the problem that we were having was that of pricing. I would say for the past two or three weeks, we have been working on a pricing model that was taking into account the submissions by the farmers and the stakeholders. The final price was only approved last week. In terms of whether the buyers have gone on the ground to start the buying, we would need to check but the actual price which was approved is now in place. So, I think as of this week going forward, they should have started buying from the farmers.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: I asked my question in Shona so that my people understand but the Minister answered in English. I did not hear him. I want him to explain in Shona. Thank you.
*HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. What was stopping
the buying of cotton soon after harvesting up to now was that the price was not yet gazetted. In the past two weeks until last week, that is when we were trying to come up with a price looking at the inputs brought by the farmers. The price of cotton was agreed on last week. We are looking forward that this week the buyers will start to buy the cotton from farmers. Thank you.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: Hon. Speaker, the issue is the cotton is being taken away by thieves. Instead of people taking cotton to
COTTCO, they are now going to COTTCO to withdraw their cotton and now we are not getting the price of the cotton. I asked for the price of cotton.
HON. CHIDUWA: After doing the calculations, it is $43.94, but the way we are going to pay, for each bale there is US$10 then the remaining balance 80% will be paid in cash then 20% of the balance will be paid in RTGS.
HON. CHIKOMBA: Supplementary question, Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Chikomba, you cannot ask more than one supplementary.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: He is not stating the price.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order!
*HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. When the price of cotton was being discussed, our currency was 1:25 against the
United States dollar which means that a person who was taking cotton to the market was getting more than US$1 and other cents but now because our rate is…
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Honourable Member, please ask your question.
*HON. MADZIMURE: My question is now that the rate has changed and it is 1:55 when you gave $43 when the rate was 1:25, the farmer was not able to go back and grow cotton. What are you going to do to fix that price before farmers lose their cotton?
*HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The question which has been asked by the Hon. Member on the prices we are putting, what we want is that the farmers can go back and grow, not only in cotton but in every product such as tobacco, maize and other crops. What we have said because now we have the foreign exchange auction system, the auction system means that every Tuesday when they will be doing the auction, our exchange rate might change but the change which will be happening to the exchange rate, we would want this to apply to prices we would be paying for our products.
We calculate the prices of the crops and we put them in United
States dollar. We would be paying according to the prevailing rate.
That will help our farmers to go back into farming. Thank you. HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of clarity.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Minister is quite clear. The prevailing rate shall be used. That is the answer. We cannot belabour that.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. If the
Minister can bring a statement on the auction system because we do not understand how it works. He spoke about it and I do not know how many understand it so that we are able to comprehend and disseminate the right information to the people. How does the auction system work? If we can have a statement on that so that we are all enlightened about it, it would actually help us a lot.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is an appropriate point of order. I have discussed the matter with the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development and he would include that in his ministerial statement.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Perhaps the Leader of Government Business may want to assist me. I have a question for the Minister of Health and Child Care but I saw a communication that the one who was there is currently suspended. Can he advise us on who the acting Minister is so that we can direct our question to him?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I think the Hon.
Member is misdirecting himself. Every time Hon. Ministers are not here, the questions are directed to the Leader of Government Business. It is not his business to constitute the Cabinet. His business is to ask whoever is there and if that person is not there, we ask the Leader of
Government Business – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! The long and short of it is we are not yet advised as to who is acting but any other questions will be dealt with by the Leader of Government Business.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of procedure Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Speaker, Standing Order 47 (1) talks about any Member who will be absent writes to you that they will be absent from this. Did you get any written notices from the Members of Cabinet who are supposed to be here?
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have not received as yet. I have a general blanket apology for Members that have gone with His Excellency. I think they are launching something. Am I right? Clerk, do you have any apologies received so far?
The Clerk having indicated that no apologies have been received. THE HON. SPEAKER: Not as yet. Some of these apologies come late during the proceedings here, but I know the Minister of
Finance and Economic Development, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, I cannot remember.
HON. T. MLISWA: But Mr. Speaker, with due respect you make rulings. Today – [Hon. Members: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I indicated that the Leader of
Government Business must take charge of that issue.
HON. T. MLISWA: My point is that you are empowered according to the Standing Rules just the same way you also ruled on me according to the Standing Rules to also do the same to the Ministers. It has gone on and on and my appeal to you Sir, Standing Rules are very clear in terms of Ministers who fail to do that and it is important that you also make a ruling on that pertaining to their behavior, whether they will apologise or be suspended. The Standing Rules guide us and that is the document that helps us run this Parliament and this is the reason why I am bringing it up.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, thank you very much. The Standing
Orders also allow Members to bring a motion about the same issue.
So, until we get to know who exactly is absent, check with your Order
Paper for tomorrow then you can move a motion accordingly –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - Hon. Mliswa, Hon.
Mliswa...
HON. T. MLISWA: Sir, they are provoking me. My dad taught that if I am beaten up at school, I must also hit back. They must be restrained, they are old people. I respect them and there are some ladies who are doing that and who are old enough to be my mother.
Can they behave like mothers and not be involved in the fight of kids.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Can you sit down please
Hon. Member? Hon. Mliswa, what you were told by your father is inapplicable because at that time you were not a Member of Parliament.
Allow the Chair to control the House. Thank you.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir and a very good afternoon to you. Last week, we had some public consultations on the Amendment Bill and I was surprised to see ...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, ask the question, you are making a statement. What is your question?
HON. MUNETSI: My question is, what is the Government’s policy with regard to Non- Governmental Organisations who pay some monies to youths and women when we are doing public consultations and giving them talking points. – [AN HON. MEMBER: Did you see them?] - I saw them, I saw them.
HON. SIKHALA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Sikhala, can we be procedural?
HON. SIKHALA: If these people continue to provoke like this Mr. Speaker and you protect them – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – [HON. T. MLISWA: I am ready to be suspended. I am better off in my Constituency than a bunch of empty heads like these ...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Mliswa, order. – [HON. T. MLISWA: Why are you not reprimanding them. Order, I will answer you. Hon. Mliswa, can you withdraw your language again?
HON. T. MLISWA: I cannot be told to withdraw all the time when others are not told to withdraw. It never works like that. The law is for both sides. Therefore, I withdraw but may they be reprimanded when it is their time. We are also human. Our self esteem is important when we come here. We were elected by people. They have the manifesto which they cannot follow and the economy is dying, why do they not work on that and call Government. The Ministers do not come.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order Hon. Mliswa. The
Standing Order says and this will apply to Hon. Sikhala. If there is a Member who is making certain a pronouncement, bring this to the attention of the Chair.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker, I brought it up. On Hon. Chanda, I brought it up. It was well heard. I pleaded that I am being attacked, I kept on being attacked I said I can attack back. Over my dead father’s body, people heard me say that, please rescue me. I was being attacked but in your ruling you did not even reprimand him. The truth must be said and I am prepared to be suspended for the truth. My Constituency is more important than being in this House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, you are removed from the House for the next six sittings. – [HON. T. MLISWA: Even for good, I do not like being here. It is a useless House Mr. Speaker, it must be fair. Not partisan. My Constituency is more important.] – Hon. T. Mliswa left the House.
Thank you. Proceed.
I was saying Hon. Sikhala, when you recognise a Member that is disorderly, please take a seat and then bring it to the attention of the
Chair and the Chair will take some action.
HON. SIKHALA: Mr. Speaker, how would I recognise a Member who makes noise from the back there? It is you Mr. Speaker who is on the Chair for you to be able to observe who are disrupting
Parliamentary proceedings and you are asking me whilst I am seated here in the front for me to identify who is making noise there whilst the Chair is the one who is on top for him to be able to visualise what is happening at the back. You saw people making noise.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, you have made your point.
HON. PHULU: Mr. Speaker Sir, on a point of order Mr. Speaker.
That question goes to matters that are before a Committee, and a Committee in which I am a Member has powers to deal with those matters. Once we invite the Executive to deal with those matters, we are breaching separation of powers.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for that Hon. Phulu.
Hon. Minister, I am sure you will agree, let the Committee make a report and advise this Hon. House.
HON. MUNETSI: I have a point to make Mr. Speaker – [HON. SIKHALA: You cannot challenge Mr. Speaker’s ruling. Sit down as
well.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Munetsi, leave the
House.
Hon. Munetsi left the House.
HON. SIKHALA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. I am very happy that he later arrived because I was really burning with this question.
Mr. Speaker Sir, our Constitution has created five Commissions to promote democracy in terms of Chapter 12 of our Constitution. These commissions have been given a constitutional mandate to prosecute and execute their duties and mandate in terms of the Constitution. One of the most important Commissions, the Human Rights Commission is not currently properly constituted because it does not have a quorum. When Hon. Minister are we going to have one of the most important
Commissions in our country being properly constituted to fill up the gap of those members who have retired because of the end of their office and also those who have retired because of age. When are we going to have a properly constituted Human Rights Commission?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): It is the Hon
Speaker’s question and so I refer it to the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, I have got the answer. Hon Sikhala, your question is very pertinent and the observations are very pertinent. If you have been following our public and private media, you should have noticed that advertisements have already been made by Parliament to fill up those vacancies. The public have applied individually and those who have applied have been shortlisted and the interviews will take place on 3 July 2020, that is, next week so that we fill up the gaps. The process is on.
*HON. TOGAREPI: My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. Since the Covid 19 disease was detected in the country may we know what Government is doing for the people in the rural areas so that they know how to live and also if they have questions on how they can protect themselves from Covid, where can they go? What is Government’s policy intervention on that.
*THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY, AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): I
want to thank Hon. Togarepi for the question which he has asked so that all the people who are following the events may know what is happening. From the time when the President, Cde E. D. Mnangagwa declared the disease a national disaster, the WHO recognised it as a world pandemic, in Zimbabwe we took a lot of precautions.
On 17 March 2020 the President put in place an Inter Ministerial
Task Force on Covid-19 which is being headed by the Vice President Hon K. Mohadi. The purpose of the task force is to see what we could do as a country so that when this disease takes its toll, as a country we know what to do in terms of protecting ourselves. Information is very important because with lack of information we can have death. There are several sub committees that are in the task force. One of them is on information and risk communication. We found out that it was very important that I chair that subcommittee. I think you have seen the good work that we are doing which is aired on our traditional media and social media about the dramas and skits which show how we can protect ourselves from this pandemic, because this disease does not have any cure. What is important is to follow the instructions from
WHO.
As a country we are not the first ones to be affected but we look at other countries where a lot of lives were lost and we look at the countries which were first hit and what they did. As a task force on information, our duty is to inform the citizens to stay at home and go out when there is something very essential that they need to do. That is why we had lockdown and all of us stayed at home as we studied this disease.
As information providers we found it necessary to air the information on radio or television but there are places where we do not have air waves. There are people who do not have radio or televisions, so we roped in our traditional leaders in this risk communication subcommittee. We trained the village heads so that they would inform the people on how to keep themselves safe by washing their hands with soap or even with ash to remove the virus. It is also important to wear our masks properly. We are educating people not to leave their noses outside of masks and that the masks are worn properly.
The President closed our borders to travellers but instructed that these should remain open to all returning citizens. Up to now we are still receiving returnees even from hot spot areas and we are teaching them that when they come, they should be quarantined so that they would be looked after before they meet their families. You will find that some were running away and some were getting in illegally so when we engaged the traditional leaders we educated them that should anyone abscond from the quarantine centres, the community should
apprehend them. We also educated them that they should practice social distancing.
We saw that many people lost their livelihood as a result of this disease and as a result we are engaging people with information that the Minister of Public Service is there to assist them. We also launched
a
2023 Call Centre for non clinical issues and there is a desk for English, Shona, Ndebele and Tonga. We want to add more languages so that anyone who has any query on where to find mealie meal can phone.
There is a 2019 Call Centre where people call if they have anyone who is not feeling well so that they are told where to find assistance. The issue of preaching the gospel on Covid for the safety of our people is at the core of our hearts.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order in the House. I allowed the Minister to give more information because the matter pertains to national importance.
*HON. KARENYI: I am happy because the Minister was given time to unfold her programme. What touched my heart is that they have a Call Centre for inquiries especially for those who do not have food but they are not able to get it. Mr. Speaker, my question is - who are those people who are calling and are given food because people are dying in their homes without anything to eat. It seems this centre is only for publicity because in my constituency has not happened.
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: I want to thank Hon. Karenyi for her question. I do not know where she comes from but I thought she comes from Chimanimani where I come from. What I want to say is, the Call Centre is toll free and people phone with different queries and we take all the queries. If they have challenges in food, we channel them to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. If it is gender based violence, we channel them to the police. We are receiving about
3 500 calls from all over the country. So the issue of
Call Centre has improved the two way communication between Government and citizens.
*HON. MURAI: I want to thank you Hon. Minister for that information. We brought information of people who are facing challenges, people living with disability and people suffering from hunger but we do not know when food will be coming.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can we leave that to Hon. Prof.
Mavima.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Hon.
Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the important question. He has referred to a number of segments of our society including people living with disability and those affected due to the lockdown.
Hon. Speaker, let me give statistics. Of those that were affected by COVID-19, we have now registered 197 000 households and as of this week, those who have been paid their May and June allowances – the May allowances were $180 per household and the June allowance has gone up to $300 per household. So, 197 000 were catered under that programme. For those living with disabilities Hon. Speaker, we have a separate programme that runs always as they are supposed to register with the Department of Social Welfare.
Mr. Speaker, this is a programme that runs always; it is not COVID but is just a programme that assists vulnerable people. If they are in the rural areas they get cereals; 50 kilogrammes typically of maize but sometimes also traditional grains to take them for a month. If they are in urban areas, they receive cash for cereal which is now similar to the one that we are giving to COVID-19 affected households. Such households would receive $300 per month and we are working on making sure that we get additional allocation from Treasury in order to improve these allocations.
So Hon. Speaker, these are the programmes that we are running and they are helping a lot of our citizens. On the COVID-19 one, we are still registering people and we hope that it will get to a million people but we have to make sure that the people that we are giving are the deserving people. We are taking our time just to vet and make sure that these are bonafide vulnerable people. Thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary is that in some constituencies like where I come from in Warren Park, no one has received the money the Minister is talking about. We are in trouble because people are calling us and we are now afraid of moving around in our constituencies because people are asking where the money is. So my question is; we want the Minister to explain to us that in Harare constituencies that have received these monies are a, b, and c, so that they tell us when the constituencies in Harare will receive the money when it is available.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. The Hon. Member said in his constituency, there is no one who has received the benefits that I am talking about. I do not think that can be true and he cannot verify that no one in his constituency has received these benefits. Let me say the 197 000 are all from urban areas. In addition to that, we have 40 000 again from urban areas who are receiving the cash for cereal. So I do not think the Hon. Member can confirm that there is no one in these constituencies, given the number of people in his constituency, he would not have reached all the people to know that there is no one who has benefited.
Hon. Speaker, if he also wants the detailed distribution, that can be provided by the Department of Social Welfare as to how many people in the various urban areas are receiving food. I know that 12 000 households in Harare alone are receiving the cash for cereal programme but I cannot give the specific statistics for Harare on the
197 000 - how much of that constitute people in Harare. Definitely, the Member cannot say with certainty that his constituency has not received at all.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, Hon. Minister you are quite correct that there is no empirical evidence. In future, if there are disadvantaged people who have applied and have not received those should be directed directly to the Ministry concerned.
*HON. MUSHORIWA: My question to the Minister of Energy Hon. Chasi is, can he explain to us how the prices of fuel are gazetted considering that our petrol is blended here but the price is not in tandem with the prices in other countries, especially in USD? How are you coming up with that?
*THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHASI): Thank you Hon. Member for such
a pertinent question. I believe that it is a question which is affecting a lot of people in the country. Let me say that the price of fuel is not about ethanol only but it has got a lot of components which get into that for cost build up. Let me take this opportunity to explain to this House about things which are blended in the fuel. Firstly, we have customs duty when importing the fuel but before we get there we have FOB, the ZINARA road levy, carbon tax, fuel marking, debt redemption and the strategic reserve levy.
What we are saying, is we want to collect all the fuel that we hold as Government in anticipation of shortages. There are also administrative costs which include the handling of fuel and also storage. All those have their own charges. When fuel is being imported there are clearing agents who need to be paid for it to be sold to the citizens of Zimbabwe. The Hon. has asked a pertinent question about ethanol. There are blending costs which are there and there is also the charge for buying the ethanol. All those are incorporated into the final price.
After all that has been done, the fuel has to be transported to various places in Zimbabwe. There is in-land bridging cost. These are distribution costs, which means that a person in Silobela; those who sell fuel want to paid transport costs for them to take that fuel to Silobela or Victoria Falls. In fact, there are other margins like oil company margins and dealer margins which are also incorporated in there till we get to the final pumping price.
*HON. MUSHORIWA: My supplementary comes from the Minister’s answer. The Minister said there are a lot of levies such as customs, fuel debt and all those he talked about. Even the hardship which we are faced with as a country, do we not think as a Government that these taxes should be reduced so that people are able to afford because the situation we currently have is not good. The price of fuel now is more than 50% going towards taxes. Are you not able as Government to reduce these taxes to assist civil servants to be able to buy this fuel?
*HON. CHASI: Mr. Speaker, I have taken note of the point which has been raised by the Hon. Member. From the energy and development sector, I am not the one who is able to reduce these taxes. However, I will speak with other Cabinet Ministers especially the Minister of Finance that we have a request from Parliament. What I am supposed to be using at law is what I talked about here. I will also look at the issue of the exchange rate because it also affects the price of fuel. All this falls under the Minister of Finance and I will take up the request to the
Minister of Finance.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Hon. Minister, the price of ethanol which is one of the components you have listed on the cost build up structure is currently approximately three times the price of petrol FOB. So before petrol lends into Zimbabwe, it is a third of the price of ethanol in Zimbabwe. Why then do we have a mandatory blending? Why are we not giving consumers a choice whether to have blended petrol and then I consume at your structure or I do not have blended petrol and I remove the cost of ethanol which is currently three times the price of petrol as it is outside our borders?
*HON. CHASI: I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question but I had not yet calculated how much ethanol costs more than petrol. We are doing blending as a strategy on import substitution, which means that we are trying to blend petrol and ethanol so that the money that we are using to buy petrol from outside is lower. Because of that, if we allow everyone to do as they pleases it will be very difficult for us. We collect all our fuel at Msasa. We would already have done the blending there. Giving people choices will be difficult since we are using one depot for receiving fuel.
*HON. CHIKWINYA: I think we are not helping the country Hon. Minister if you say that the price of petrol is cheaper outside and when it comes here it is increased because of what you are terming import substitute because the ethanol is three times more than the price of fuel. It makes sense to just import petrol as it is unless if you are having a deal with the people who are supplying ethanol. Why are we forcing people to incur three times the price of ethanol which is more compared to the petrol when we are importing it?
HON. CHASI: As I indicated in my earlier response, the purpose or the idea behind blending with ethanol is to reduce the amount of foreign currency that we expend as a country importing fuel. I have also made it clear that the blending takes place in one place. It is not as if we have service stations that procure petrol separately from the system that comes all the way from Beira into this country. As a result, it is not separable. The crux of the matter is that the country is making every effort to reduce the amount of foreign currency that is being used to import fuel.
I think our challenge is on the area of foreign currency shortages which are known to all of us and they do not need any further elaboration from myself. It is not possible to give the choice that the Hon. Member is asking for. Infact, one would say if ethanol on its own would run our vehicles as locally produced, that would be a better option and so I do not buy the idea by the Hon. Member that we should have a separation or people should choose. We do not have that luxury at the moment in this country. We need to reduce the amount of money that we are using for import. Import substitution is a key factor in this respect.
HON. TSUNGA: Having listened to all that has been said with regards to the pricing model of our fuel, the ultimate question is; will that result in the commodity being available on a daily basis to motorists at our service stations because ultimately, what we need is the availability of the commodity. If all that has been said is not resulting in readily available fuel, it is a worthless exercise. Can the Minister assure this House that with all that he has done, we are now able to find fuel at service stations as and when we require it?
HON. CHASI: The Hon. Member speaks as if blending commenced today. It has been there. All I can say is that the result of blending makes us have more fuel than we would otherwise have if we were relying only on petrol that we bring into the country.
HON. NDIWENI: My question is directed to the Minister of Energy but it will now come as a supplementary because it has got similarities to the question that was asked prior.
When petrol lands in this country, it costs 0.38 cents and ethanol according to the advertisement that was put by ZERA costs $1.10 cents per litre. So where is the rationale because we want the price to come down? Let this House know that if fuel has to come down in price, why do we not remove the blending?
HON. CHASI: I think I have answered this question already. I do not think it needs further answering.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA): Hon. Ndiweni, do you feel that the response that the Hon. Minister gave before is inadequate? Do you have any other issues that you think are still pending?
HON. NDIWENI: I am sorry I did not get you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I said the Hon. Minister
responded to your question earlier, though you asked it in a different way. Are there any other issues that you still feel that you need clarity from the Hon. Minister concerning that issue?
HON. NDIWENI: Madam Speaker, I am left as confused as I was when I started asking the question.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, for the purpose of the Hon. Member, may you kindly respond maybe specific to what he has said because he is saying he has not yet got the answer.
HON. CHASI: Madam Speaker, we blend as a result of the strategy taken up by this country for import substitution. The country is not awash with foreign currency. As a result, in various sectors, efforts are being made to localise products that we would otherwise import. This applies equally to fuel. This is what we are doing at the moment. I have indicated that I cannot say that as of today, every service station will have fuel and that everyone will be able to purchase the fuel.
I can only say that as a result of blending, more people have got access to the fuel even within the context of a shortage.
HON. NDIWENI: On a point of clarity, why are we hinging on the price of ethanol since it has gone up in price? When we started blending, the price was lower than it is today.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I am sure that was previously responded to.
HON. CHIMBAIRA: My question is directed to the Minister of Defence. There are allegations of military officers at border posts including those manning road blocks and doing patrols. How has the Ministry been detecting the criminal activities perpetrated?
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Thank you Madam Speaker. I
want to thank the Hon. Member for raising very important matters of discipline which he alleges our defence forces deployed on duty at various border posts are involved in. This is a very serious allegation which requires that we undertake some serious investigations. Our forces are very professional and disciplined. If there are such cases, we will be more than happy to investigate. I am hoping and I am appealing to the Hon. Member to bring forward or report such individuals if he knows them or if some of his informers have information, they are free to come forward to our offices. We will definitely investigate. I thank.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The Minister in her response said that the forces are disciplined, they are professionals. She goes on to say that the Hon. Member has to bring information. My question is therefore to say, what mechanism do you have as a Ministry to ensure that such activities do not occur? Do you have a mechanism or a way to keep track of your details in terms of their behaviour so that they avoid things of that nature?
HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI: Thank you Madam Speaker.
I want to thank the Hon. Member for the follow up question that he raises concerning my response which he was not very amused with, considering the fact that we may not have the mechanisms to be able to undertake the exercise which I alluded to. Let me remind the Hon. Member that when it comes to disciplinary issues, the army is home to marshal courts where we do thorough investigations and we do not leave any stone unturned. There is high discipline when you consider our responsibility and duty to protect the people of Zimbabwe and also to protect the Zimbabwean assets. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of clarity Madam Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of clarity?
HON. CHIKWINYA: My point of clarity arises from the initial response by the Hon. Minister of Defence. I want to seek leave of the House to remind the Hon. Minister that last week I raised a point of public importance with regards to deployment of soldiers in terms of Section 213 of the Constitution. The same Constitution in Section 214 compels the President to come and report to Parliament as to the nature of the deployment and how the operations are going to be carried out. These deployments were done in terms of the regulations of COVID. May the Hon. Minister advise the House when the President is going to make that report because the stipulated time has lapsed to which the
President is supposed to come and report. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: That communication is going
to be made by the Speaker. You asked it from the Speaker and the Speaker is going to give a response to that. It is not the Hon. Minister who is supposed to tell us when the President is going to be coming through. We are going to respond and tell you when the President is going to be coming. That is if that is procedural.
HON. PHULU: Supplementary Madam Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your supplementary question?
HON. PHULU: Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister whether it is possible for members of the public to effectively bring complaints of that nature in the absence of the implementation of
Section 210, the independent complaints mechanism? I thank you.
HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am quite aware of the important need for us to come up with a claims mechanism where members of the public can feel free to go and make complaints before that entity. Apparently, it is not yet in place. I know the Minister of Justice is currently working on it. The second question is whether the public at the present moment can raise any complaints against the defence forces. I want to share with Hon. Members that
the Minister has been dragged before the courts on many occasions because there is that leeway where the general public can raise issues against our defence forces and the courts have done justice to the issues. I equally want to appeal to the Hon. Members to advise the general public that there is that window where the general public are free to raise issues. I thank you.
*HON. SODA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. What is Government policy regarding the prisoners who are being released from the jail? Some of them are now skilled so that they can take care of themselves but they do not have money to start projects. Because of that they are committing crimes and they return to prison again.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL
WELFARE (HON. PROF. P. MAVIMA): Thank you
Madam Speaker. We have a department of employment services which is responsible for assisting any Zimbabwean who is looking for employment and can ensure that they have certain skills. This is a service that is available to every Zimbabwean, not just to those who are coming out of prison. They should go and register, indicate what skills they have and the officers will make appropriate vacancies that may be available that suit the skills that the individual has. –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- Can I be protected so that I can give a comprehensive answer please?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA): May the Hon. Minister be heard in silence Hon. Chikwinya.
HON. PROF. P. MAVIMA: In addition to that, the ex-inmates want assistance to start businesses, that is not my Ministry’s responsibility, but I know for sure that there are schemes under the
Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and also under the Ministry of Youth if they qualify as youth. There are banks that have been set up for that purpose and there are agencies of Government that are responsible for providing resources for those who want to start their own businesses. As far as labour is concerned, what we help with is to match the skills that individuals have with employment opportunities that may be available. Thank you.
*HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, the question which has been asked by Hon. Soda has to do with people who were ten years in jail and they do not know what is happening outside. I thought that this question was directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs since he is the one responsible for the rehabilitation of people in prison and planning for them when they are outside prison. The issue of youth banks is not known to these inmates.
The Minister of Justice was the right person to answer this question. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA): The Hon. Minister of Justice, can you kindly respond on some of the issues that the Hon. Minister left out.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to thank the one who asked the question which has been answered by the Minister of Public Service. Let me answer by saying if a person is arrested, he is taken to our Ministry or our department which is now Prisons and Correctional Services under the new Constitution. The department takes people who would have been convicted and receives them in their jails. There are two things which can be done which is to take care of them and teach them to live a life which is lawful. So we rehabilitate them and take them back to society.
When they are being corrected, they are taught life skills in prisons and some are taught to be mechanics and some sewing.
They are taught that when they get back to society they will survive. Now we are applying that if we get money when they finish their terms in prisons, they have to meet people who will be teaching them practically about their line of trade. When they are out, we are not there to help them but we just work with them when they are in prison, teaching them various lines of trades that they can help themselves when they are outside the prison. It is like somebody who would have decided to go to South Africa. When he comes back, the Ministry of Higher Education does not look for a job for the person but what we simple, do is to offer the skills and the person is able to survive on his own when he is out of the prison. I thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs or the Deputy Minister, but I do not see any of them. My question is we have witnessed a lot of police officers that have been transferred throughout the country at this particular time when there is an outbreak of COVID-19. I am saying is it the particular timing to transfer people so that they are subjected to the risk of COVID. Remember police officers do not have vehicles and they are supposed to visit their stations. The question is what is Government policy when they are transferring police officers? Do they consider issues of calamities and outbreak of epidemics?
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you madam Speaker. An epidemic is a security matter and so it is within the purview of the commanders of the police force to rearrange as and when they see fit to ensure that they mitigate the disease in their area of control. I thank you.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Madam Speaker for the opportunity you have given me to ask this question. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. May the Minister tell us the rising of price from RTGs$28 to RTGs$78. Is he aware what caused this because this thing happened suddenly? Everyone in the country was surprised. May the Minister explain to us what triggered this increase that petrol raged to that price?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHASI): Thank you Madam Speaker. In the previous weeks there was a discussion that bread was costing more than diesel and petrol. There was an auction which was done. There is a new system of auctioning foreign currency. Was the Hon. Member present when I was explaining the cost build up of fuel? The exchange rate affects the pricing of fuel. In short, I can say the exchange rate has affected the prices of fuel. Thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY
SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA) in terms of
Standing Order No. 64.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
POLICY REGARDING PENSION FOR HEALTH WORKERS
- HON. SVUURE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to explain what the Government’s policy is regarding pensions for health workers, especially nurses working for Government and those working for missionary hospitals, considering the disparity that seems to exist despite the fact that the training that they received was similar.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL
WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): A position to
address the plight of nurses working in mission hospitals in regards to their pension on retirement was taken as follows:
- All new appointments from January 2020 under mission hospitals are now contributing to the Government Pension Scheme.
- All those transferring from Government hospitals to mission hospitals will continue to contribute to the Government
Pension Scheme.
SUPERVISION OF NGOs IN RURAL AREAS
- HON. MADHUKU asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House measures that the
Ministry has put in place in the supervision of Non-Governmental
Organisations in rural areas to ensure they stick to their mandate.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has a decentralised administration system and has offices in each administrative district.
The District Social Welfare Officers monitor and supervise the operations of Private Voluntary Organisations in their areas of jurisdiction. Private Voluntary Organisations submit monthly activity reports through the district social welfare officers. In addition, registration certificates for Private Voluntary Organisations are explicit in what they are registered to do. The PVOs present copies of their registration certificates to local authorities who in turn allocate them the areas they opt to operate in. In some instances they are required to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the local authorities they will be operating in. These MOUs are checks and balances to ensure that they operate within the law and ensure compliance with the terms of their registrations.
The Private Voluntary Organisation Act [Chapter 17:05] makes it mandatory for Private Voluntary Organisations to submit annual audited financial statements and activity reports to the registrar within three months of the organisation’s financial year. The Hon. Member may wish to note that the difference between Private Voluntary Organisations registered in terms of the Private Voluntary Organisation
Act and Trust. Trusts are not under the supervision of the Ministry of
Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare but they are supervised by the Ministry of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs where they are registered.
Thank you Hon. Speaker.
PAYMENT OF OUTSTANDING SALARY FOR MR. MAROZVA
ZHOU
- RAIDZA asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House when Mr. Marozva Zhou , E.C. Number 0962545T, Department 3530/5150, who was employed as a teacher from 1st September, 2007 to 31st January, 2009 will be paid his salary which has been outstanding for some time.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): According to the Salary Services Bureau records, no documentation in respect of the employment of Mr. Marozva Zhou E.C. Number 0962545T for the period 1st September, 2007 to 31st January, 2009 was received to enable the processing of payments for that period.
POLICY REGARDING TRANSFER OF CIVIL SERVANTS
- MASANGO asked the Minister of Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House what Government
Policy is regarding the transfer of civil servants to curb possibilities of corrupt practices emanating from overstaying at certain areas.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): In terms of Section 15 (d) of the Public Service Act, Chapter 16:04 the transfer of members of the Public Service from one Ministry, department or other division of the Public Service to another such Ministry, department or division shall be effected by the Commission in consultation with the heads of Ministries concerned.
Depending on the nature of the job, a member may at any time without his consent be transferred by the Commission or a delegated authority from the post which they occupy to any other post in the Public Service whether the post is inside or outside Zimbabwe. This is done to minimise the possibility of corrupt practices emanating from overstaying at certain areas. However, the Commission implements such transfers in consultation with the heads of the Ministry who in most of the cases are the Permanent Secretaries. Thank you Hon.
Speaker.
ADEQUACY OF CASH SUPPLY IN THE COUNTRY
- HON. T. MNANGAGWA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House on the adequacy of cash supply in the country to ensure that there will be no queues in future.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Madam Speaker
Ma’am. The response that I have is for questions 29 and 30 which are similar, asking the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House on the adequacy of cash supply in the country to ensure that there will be no queues in future, and also to inform the House whether there is adequate cash in the banks to alleviate the cash crisis and to elaborate whether it will come in batches and to state if there are any stipulated withdrawal limits.
Let me say that those two questions are related and they all refer to the prevailing challenge of cash shortages that we are having in the economy. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor in the
Monetary Policy Statement of February 2020, indicated that
Government took a decision to increase the quantity of bank notes and coins in the local market to try and reduce the premium being incurred on cash and to give the public more access to their cash balances with financial institutions. Following that decision, the bank imported additional bank notes and coins to the tune of $400 million and the currency in circulation has increased to $1.04 billion over the year up to April 2020. However, the ratio of currency in circulation to broad money remains below the desirable level at 2%. In view of this low level currency in circulation, the Reserve Bank will continue to gradually increase the notes and coins to the desired optimal proportion of bank notes and coins in circulation up to 10% of deposits to meet the cash demands. Moreover, the bank has already started introducing notes in larger denominations to improve on efficiency and convenience.
In terms of management of cash withdrawals by banks, the cash limit was reviewed from $300 to $1 000 per week and will continue to be reviewed in line with inflation trends and improvement in the cash situation in the country. The above measures are meant to alleviate cash shortages not for a particular group but the general public inclusive of civil servants, pensioners and other workers. Thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Minister, in view of the auction system related interbank rate which has caused prices to rise and therefore the demand for cash, when are we going to have a review of the withdrawal limits as concerned in question 30 which you have combined with question 29?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Hon. Chair. In terms of the dates,
I may not be able to come up with a specific date but I am not sure if we have already seen a general increase in the price because of the auction rates. The change in the price of fuel is not a general price in all the commodities and even if we check the auction rate which landed at 57.3, it is far much below the speculative prices that were being applied in the market and some of them which were above 100. I am not sure if the existing black market rate which was being used at 1is to 80 caused less changes in the price as compared to the auction of 1 is to 56? But, I do not think that at the moment we are seeing a general increase in the prices.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. This cash shortage has been there for more than three years now. We are not talking of foreign currency but this is our local currency. Is the Minister telling us that they have completely failed to solve these cash shortage problems? If they have any ideas, when are they likely to solve it because there does not seem to be any end in sight of this cash shortage? HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you so much Hon. Chair. It is not difficult to print money and as we have said in the previous statements, the cash requirement for any economy in terms of the international benchmarks is between 10% and 15% of the notes and coins that are in circulation. At the moment as I have alluded to earlier, the cash that we have is 2% but the expected is supposed to be 10% to 15%. The balancing act that we are playing here is, the moment we print cash, it is going to be misconstrued as an increase in money supply and if you increase money supply, it has a bearing on prices. So it is a matter of us balancing what is happening in the market and then we continue to increase the cash in drips as we said in our earlier statement. Thank you.
ACCESSING OF CASH FROM BANKS BY CIVIL SERVANTS,
PENSIONERS AND OTHER WORKERS
- HON. MGUNI asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to apprise the House on the measures being taken to ensure that civil servants, pensioners and other workers access cash from their respective banks during pay days in view of the cash shortages which are fueling the multi-pricing system of goods and services.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Hon. Speaker, when we
prepared the response for this question we had put it together with the two previous questions by Hon. Mnangagwa. So I am not sure if the
Hon. Member is satisfied with the response that I have provided already.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order. Question 31 refers to a specific group of people and when the Hon Minister was answering Questions 29 and 30, he actually alluded in his statement that we are not targeting any specific group but the general public. However,
Question 31 is referring to pensioners and civil servants. I am sure Question 31 draws precedence from the fact that members of the military on their paydays are given cash at their barracks. So, can he also respond to pensioners and civil servants in terms of accessing cash on their paydays as you do to members of the military?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: That one of members of the
military, I do not see it within the question but I am sure for you to respond to this specific question you need to be talking about the civil servants and pensioners and also to be looking at the cash shortages in view of the multi pricing system of goods and services. If you can respond to that I am sure you would have answered and responded to the question precisely.
HON. CHIDUWA: With regards to civil servants, pensioners and other workers, for these groups we do not have a specific policy that is targeted to the said groups. In terms of access to cash it is the same as everyone else. I thank you.
POLICY REGARDING ROLLER MEAL SUBSIDY
- HON. GOZHO asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain Government’s policy regarding rollermeal subsidy considering that there are still shortages of the commodity?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Government introduced the roller meal subsidy in December 2019 and this followed the removal of the grain subsidy to millers through GMB. The motivation of this roller meal subsidy was to remove the subsidy on grain to millers which was judged to be inefficient and ineffective since the targeted beneficiaries were not benefiting from this subsidy. Thus, in the 2020 National Budget, Government indicated that it was going to introduce a new targeted subsidy for roller meal.
The subsidy was targeted at 40000 metric tonnes of maize which was used for milling 32000 metric tonnes of roller meal maize at an extraction rate of 80%. In December 2019 when the subsidy was introduced, it was envisaged that the Government was going to make savings of $70m per month or $844m per year from paying subsidies through roller meal instead of grain. The roller meal which is costing
$103 per 10kg resulted in Government paying a subsidy of $53 per 10kg and the consumers were paying the other $50. Currently, the price of 10 kg roller meal is $286. Government is paying a subsidy of $216 and the consumer pays the balance of $70. The subsidy is based on the GMB maize selling price of $16 028.64 per metric tonne to millers.
Treasury has availed resources amounting to $813 110 525 towards the implementation of the new roller meal subsidy. However, given the administrative burden associated with implementing the maize roller meal subsidy, Government is introducing a targeted cash transfer system to vulnerable households. This system will result in the phasing out of the roller meal subsidy as beneficiaries will be given cash to purchase the roller meal on their own.
Government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development; Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare partnering with Netone are currently in the process of registering vulnerable groups in all urban areas in order to disburse cash transfers to vulnerable households. Once registration is complete then the proposal is to cease roller meal subsidy through millers as the vulnerable households will be receiving cash transfer that will enable them to buy roller meal and other basics from the market.
As of shortages of roller meal, this is partly driven by the shortage of grain owing to two consecutive rain season of 2018/19 and 2019/20 characterised by drought. There are also other factors which include malpractices by players within the value chain system and these can be best explained by the relevant Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
HON. MADZIMURE: Supplementary question. The Minister in his response touched on two issues which are very important. Firstly, the issue of targeted cash transfers and also the shortage of roller meal. On the amount that is being transferred, if the subsidy is going to be removed, the amount that those vulnerable people are getting cannot even buy a 10kg of roller meal.
Secondly, regarding the shortages, how come refined mealie meal is found on the shelves and is very expensive yet roller meal is not found. Does it mean that we have maize specifically grown for super refined mealie meal and then roller meal has its own maize or it is a process of simply cleaning the maize to get refined mealie meal? Is it a deliberate ploy that the millers would want to mill super refined that is more expensive since it does not add up when you say roller meal is in short supply because there is no maize when super refined is always on the shelves?
HON. CHIDUWA: It is true what the Hon. Member has just said that the cash transfers looking at the price of roller meal in the market at the moment is not enough. This is why we have been continuously looking at the amount that we are disbursing such that starting this month we willincrease the cash transfers from $180 to $300. We are not saying this is enough but we are also taking cognisance of our budgetary constraints – what we have in our coffers. We will continue to look at the figure to see to what extent we can continue to adjust it upwards in line with inflationary trends.
With regards to why refined roller meal is found in the market and not the ordinary roller meal – what we have seen in the market is that for one to be able to supply roller meal at the subsidised price, they should source their maize from GMB. Sometimes we also have got foreign currency problems. We are not in a position to supply the maize and there are also some millers who feel that the subsidy that we offer is not up to the expected price for the roller meal. So, because of that, you see that most of the millers are shunning the milling of roller meal opting for the refined meal. So, I think it is a question of choice by the business person. It is a business decision which we cannot force the millers.
HON. KARENYI: The follow up question to the Deputy Minister is what are they doing as a Ministry to avoid the issue of illegal market because most of the roller meal is found on illegal market but is not found in the shops. What are they doing about the issue of payment? The grapevine is saying some of the millers are complaining that the Government wants them to subsidise but they are not paying them in time. So, they cannot afford to do the milling and put it in the shops becuse they are not getting the money from the Government. How true is it, are they paying them in time or else they just want them to do the milling without giving them money in time?
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. KANHUTU-NZENZA): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Regarding the subsidy, the President offered the subsidy at the end of December, 2019 to assist the community in accessing roller meal at a subsidised price. Since then, the subsidy has been operating. However, there have been challenges. One of the challenges was to do with profiteering from people who were hording. The second problem was quite often there was not enough grain. However, we have heard some successes and we can list places and districts where subsidised roller meal has been available.
Now, regarding payment to the millers, there is a process that requires the millers to bring the paper work for verification purposes. Admittedly, there were some challenges in the process. However, we have since reviewed the manner in which we verify the paper work and reimburse the millers. We do have a whole list of millers who are ready to be paid and some were paid two weeks ago but it is up to the owners of the milling companies to give us the paper work on time and it has to be correct. Thank you.
COMPLIANCE WITH TAX REGULATIONS BY SMALL AND
MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
- HON. I. NYONI asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain measures being put in place to encourage
Small and Medium Enterprises to comply with tax regulations.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Madam Chair. Hon. Members should recall that Government introduced the presumptive taxes on selected sectors of the economy which include restaurants, bottle stores, hair salons and commuter omnibus operators in order to broaden the tax base. However, despite measures instituted to take income from informal sectors, revenue contribution to the fiscus remains insignificant due to low compliance levels. It is important to note that the informal sector largely views taxes as an additional cost to business despite the expectation that Government should provide quality social services.
In order to encourage compliance with tax legislation,
Government in January, 17 reviewed downwards presumptive tax rates and the payment period from quarterly to monthly basis, thus ensuring affordability. Furthermore, in recognition of inadequate working capital for SMEs, Government ringfenced revenue generated from presumptive taxes towards capitalisation of the Small and Medium Enterprise development Corporation for own lending to SMEs.
Madam Speaker, Government will however continue to explore potential compliance enhancing measures with a view to increase the contribution of the informal sector to the fiscus.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Minister, I would want to ask a question concerning remittance of taxes. Does it mean that we do not have adequate legislation which stipulates that everyone who generates income should pay tax. I have noticed that a lot of businesses in the informal sector are making monies. As Government, does it mean that we do not have ways of taxing the informal sector or any business activity? If these laws are not there, these laws should be brought to
Parliament so that we pass them. Thank you.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. The Hon. Member asked a pertinent question. You would remember that when we put legislation regarding money transfers; it was because of this particular issue having noted that our economy is highly informalised. Because of that, we said that since people are paying each other using mobile transfers, let us introduce tax mobile transfers. This has resulted in that when people trade, Government is able to tax them.
However, as Government, we continue reviewing such laws so that we can adequately tax the informal sector. Because of that, such laws will be revised continuously. So, because of that these are the presumptive taxes I was talking about, the two percent and the tax for mobile transfers. Thank you.
*HON. MADZIMURE: The Hon. Minister spoke about the money that was ringfenced, which is money that is collected from people who engage in different business activities. Currently we are in the COVID era which means that a lot of business activities are not happening. So, what is Government planning to do since these people are not working at the moment? However, when they start working, how is Government going to address that? What is Government planning to do since these people are not working at the moment? However, when they start working how is Government going to address that? Secondly, the money that was ring-fenced, how is that money going to be disbursed and when will that money be disbursed and how are you going to identify that this particular business entity was paying?
*HON. CHIDUWA: I believe that when we announced the $18 billion Covid budget. That $18 billion was supposed to assist different people. We said that we were going to target one million. The one million which comprises of some people who do these cash transfers and other businesses. So this question was going to be properly addressed if the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and also the Ministry of Industry and Commerce were there because these are the ministries who are supposed to register such business entities. The other question that was asked concerning presumptive tax which stipulates that if you were working, then you are supposed to pay - we discussed with ZIMRA and informed them that people are not working. However, when they come back and begin engaging in business activities, then they would start paying.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: My question to the Deputy Minister alludes to the explanation that he gave. He said they introduced the 2% transaction tax but if you look at the majority of the informal sector, they refuse money transfers, Ecocash and swipe and work on cash basis. A lot of revenue is lost to Government through these transactions because they do not bank the cash that they receive. What is Government doing to ensure that there are no leakages when it comes to the informal sector?
HON. CHIDUWA: It is true that if we go in some of the areas, our SMEs are not accepting Ecocash payments but I think in terms of whether this is countrywide and negatively affecting our revenue collections, then it has to be evidence based. If I look at our revenue collections from Janaury to March, they were actually above target – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inflation] – Yes, they could be inflationary figures but in terms of our target, we were above the projected target. I think what is needed is for us to see that whatever allegation that we give on this one has to be evidence based but at the moment, I do not have the empirical evidence to say because of the shunning of the mobile money transfers, then it is negatively affecting our revenue collections.
MEASURES TO MAKE METHODS AND PAYMENT OF TAXES
EASY FOR THE ORDINARY PEOPLE
- HON. NYONI asked the Minister of Finance and ECONOMIC Development to explain measures being put in place to make payment of taxes and methods of payment easy for the ordinary people.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): I wish to advise the House that currently, all payments relating to taxes are paid to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority through the following methods, with a view to ensure taxes are paid in a formal and secure environment. The first method of payment is deposits in any of our local banks and second is the internet based banking platforms which is the online banking. I also wish to advise the House that ZIMRA is continuously engaging with mobile money service providers with a view to bring convenience to all taxpayers. Thank you.
CLEARANCE OF ZISCO DEBT
- HON. MUKAPIKO asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House when Government is going to clear ZISCO’s debt in compliance with the Debt Assumption Bill.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): The total
ZISCO debt per the ZISCO Debt Assumption Act amounts to US$494 817 324.00 broken down as follows :
Summary of ZISCO’s Debt as at 31st October, 2016
Amount (US$) | |
External loans | 211 912 400.00 |
External suppliers | 6 095 620.00 |
Domestic loans | 57 696 085.00 |
Domestic suppliers, utilities and statutory obligations | 219 113 219.00 |
Total | 494 817 324.00 |
Treasury reconciled and validated salary for employees amounting to ZW$80 804 911.26, which have been paid up as - Treasury ZW$27 210 858.79 and the Reserve Bank ZW$ 53 594 052.47.
Breakdown of salary arrears paid up by Treasury
Company | No. of employees | Amount paid by RBZ up to February
2019 (ZW$) |
Amount paid by Treasury in 2019 ( ZW$ ) |
ZISCO Main | 2 614 | 39 229 231.01 | 19 735 384.19 |
BIMCO | 447 | 5 428 741.30 | 2 301 892.09 |
Lancashire Steel | 628 | 6 533 595.64 | 4 201 493.46 |
ZISCO Distribution
Centres |
165 | 2 402 484.52 | 972 089.05 |
Total | 3 854 | 53 594 052.47 | 27 210 858.79 |
In addition, the Municipality of Redcliff was paid a total ZW$11
099 138.00.
Reconciliation and validation of other creditors who are on the ZISCO Debt Assumption Act is still work in progress and payments will be made as funds become available.
PAYMENT OF CUSTOMS DUTIES BY FOREIGNERS AND LOCAL
PEOPLE CROSSING BORDER POSTS
- HON. TSUURA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House on Government’s policy regarding the payment of customs duties by foreigners and local people when crossing border posts and to explain why exorbitant taxes are being imposed on local people.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform the House that customs duties and other taxes payable on the importation of goods are levied on Ad Valorem (percentage of value) or specific bases in relation to value or quantity of the goods. As such, taxes are not based on the nationality of the importer.
With regards to the level of duties or taxes levies, I wish to advise that customs duties are generally levied on a cascading principle where duty is lower on inputs into production and higher on finished products.
Other factors that are considered are the socio-economic nature of the goods as well as the need to promote the growth of the local industry. Furthermore, value added tax is levied at a rate of 14.5 % which is in line with rates in the region.
POLICY ON TAXATION OF INFORMAL TRADERS
- HON. TSUURA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development to inform the House
- Government policy on taxation of informal traders, including how taxes are collected and accounted for and
- Measures being taken to enforce tax payments compliance.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): As has
already been highlighted in my response to Hon. I. Nyoni’s question, Government has introduced presumptive taxes on selected sectors of the economy. These include restaurants, bottle stores, the cottage industry, Hair Salons and Commuter Omnibus Operators with a view to capture income earned by small scale operators some of which are unregistered.
I wish to advise that all taxes are collected through the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority or through appointed economic agents. All revenue is deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, in line with Section 302 of the Constitution.
CONSTRUCTION OF A TEACHER’S COLLEGE IN
MATABELELAND NORTH PROVINCE
- HON. M. NKOMO asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to inform the House the measures that the Ministry has put in place to construct a teachers college in Matabeleland North Province in view of the fact that there are many vacant teaching posts in the Province.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(PROF. MURWIRA): Mr. Speaker Sir, in
response to the question raised by Hon. Nkomo, I would like to begin by acknowledging the concern shown by the Hon. Member of Parliament towards the need to promote equity in the citing of teachers colleges in the country, particularly in provinces which do not have any teachers’ college or polytechnic.
I am grateful to note that Hon. Nkomo realises that there are no teachers training colleges in some provinces despite many vacant teachers’ posts throughout these provinces. I would like to add to this realisation that in Zimbabwe, we have only four teachers colleges that train secondary teachers. Besides Hillside Teachers College that is in
Bulawayo, there is Mutare Teachers College in Manicaland, Belvedere
Technical Teachers College in Harare and Gweru Polytechnic in the
Midlands. There are no such teachers colleges for Matabeleland South,
Matabeleland North, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central,
Mashonaland West and Masvingo provinces.
These colleges are national colleges with no provincial boundaries as regards catchment areas for recruiting student teachers. They are also specialist colleges, hence they recruit according to their niches. For example, Belvedere Technical Teachers College and Gweru
Polytechnic train Technical and Vocational Secondary School teachers, Mutare and Hillside train teachers for languages and sciences. So it is more of what the prospective teacher wants to train in that determines the college to enroll with that the location of the college.
We also have twelve primary school teachers colleges in
Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Manicaland, Harare, Bulawayo, Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, Masvingo and Midlands.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in 2005, the Ministry pronounced the policy of establishing at least a polytechnic, a teachers’ college, a university and at least two industrial training centres in each Province.
The Matabeleland North Teachers College herein referred to as
Hwange Teachers College opened its doors to the public on 27 May 2019 at Thomas Coulter Annex in Hwange town. It is currently operating as a satellite college of the United College of Education (UCE). The staff manning the college is from UCE and we now have got positions for lecturers at that place. We are happy to announce that we now have a college for the first time in History in this Province.
In February 2020, the Hwange Town Board offered the Ministry of
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development land totaling 9.5 ha for the construction of the college at the new site. This will go a long way in the increase in absorption of more ordinary and advanced level graduates, particularly in the Province. The college has a national focus and currently enrolled 150 students and most of them (75%) are from Matabeleland North. Although our main target is to promote indigenous languages in education as promulgated by our Constitution you will realise that the majority of students will largely be from the Province. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA) speaking ... and about 75% of them are from Matabeleland North because you find out that we do not have facilities of accommodation and so forth. Apparently, most of the students come from that province. Although our main target is to promote indigenous languages in education as promulgated by our Constitution, you will realise that the majority of the students are largely from that province. I thank you.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the comprehensive explanation which he gave. He highlighted that they have made a policy as a Ministry that there is supposed to be at least three kinds of colleges in each province. When is the Ministry going to start implementing this policy, for example in Mashonaland West there is no college whatsoever to talk about and Mashonaland Central as well? When is Government going to start rolling out this programme of making sure that there are colleges in each and every province? I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I wish to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Mr. Speaker. I think I have just given evidence that we have started implementing this policy. Hwange Teachers’ College was not there in the history of this country; it started last year. We are moving on and we are going to establish an industrial training college which we are already working on in Plumtree for the first time in the history of this country. We are at the same time going to establish another industrial training college in Chipinge, one in
Beitbridge and another in Chivi.
In Mashonaland West, Chinhoyi University of Technology, of course we made a decision as a Government, as a people of Zimbabwe, that we turn Chinhoyi Technical College into Chinhoyi University of
Technology. It is already a decision that we made but we destroyed a college through that process. You might want to know that we have promoted Mupfure Vocational Training into an industrial training college and that the staff at Mupfure is staff of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education. So we are promoting that but at the same time, we are also prospecting for areas where we can put colleges. We have said to Hon. Members, if there is a place and there is land and we want to establish colleges, we will. We will move to Binga, to Muzarabani and to Mukumbura. We want education to be accessible to the people of Zimbabwe. Correct education; when we say correct education, we mean that education which if we spent cows on a person, they will be able to work on their own rather than look for a job. We are in the process. We have to be humble and patient but we are on the move. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: I appreciate the answer given by the Minister but I think the question is not about extending United College to
Hwange as a satellite. The question specifically says -what measures has the Ministry put to construct? Hwange has given them land, what measures have they done to construct a teachers’ college not to extend what is happening at United College? I thank you.
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Gabbuza for asking for the clarification. When we are establishing a college or a university, we normally do that through fostering relationship. When we started NUST, it started as a college of the University of Zimbabwe. When we started Midlands, it started as a college of the University of Zimbabwe. When we started Chinhoyi, it started as a college of NUST. When we started Bindura, it started as a college of the University of Zimbabwe. When we started Manicaland, it started as a college of Midlands State University. When we started Marondera, it started as a college of the University of Zimbabwe.
When we started Great Zimbabwe, it started as a college of Midlands. When we started Gwanda, it started as a college of National University
of
Science and Technology. This is how institutions are born.
When we are starting a college, we also start it with a foster parent in order for us to be fast in starting a college. When we started Hwange, we started it as a foster child of UCE but we went on – it is not like Hwange offered us land because they said come here. We were already there. When we were there, we negotiated with them and said we can offer you land. So we have the budget to start constructing the physical college. It was just caught by COVID; we could have started. This time we are using a model of building it on our own using our own technicians. So we are going to do it. I am happy that when we went to Hwange, we did it as a matter of policy not as a matter of pressure and we are going to also construct it as a matter of policy not as a matter of pressure. This is exactly how we will do it across the whole nation. We will not do it because there is an outcry. We will do it because we need to do it. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONT QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE POLICY REGARDING
INVITATION OF HONOURABLE
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT TO ATTEND GRADUATION
CEREMONIES AT UNIVERSITIES IN THEIR PROVINCES
- HON. B. DUBE asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to inform the House the Government policy regarding invitation of Hon.
Members of Parliament to attend graduation ceremonies at universities located in their provinces considering that some Member from the Midlands Province have never been invited to attend any graduation ceremonies held at Midlands State University.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT (PROF. MURWIRA): The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science and Technology Development has a standing policy on good community engagement. All State Universities normally invite their local Member of Parliament, Minister of State,
Local Chief and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education Innovation Science and Technology Development at graduation ceremonies as VIP Guests. In this regard, the Hon. Member was actually invited by Midlands State University.
Questions With Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Order of the Day,
No. 1 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 2 has been disposed of.
HON. MUTAMBISI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BUDGET,
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON THE
FAMILIARISATION TOUR TO ZIMBABWE’S BORDER POSTS
HON. MHONA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on
Budget, Finance and Economic Development on the Familiarisation Tour to Zimbabwe’s Border Posts from the 3rd to 6th June, 2019 and 7th
to
11th July, 2019.
HON. MADZIMURE: I second.
HON. MHONA: Introduction
The Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development undertook to visit six 6) of the country’s border posts to familiarise with the operations of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA). The familiarisation tours were undertaken in two phases which follows; Kariba, Chirundu and Forbes from 3-6 June 2019 and
Beitbridge, Plumtree and Kazungula from 7-11 July 2019.
ZIMRA Board Chairperson, Mr. Callisto Jokonya and the Commissioner General, Ms. Faith Mazani and other officials accompanied the Committee throughout the tours.
The Committee also interacted with various border agencies, station managers and the border users, in order to get a clearer picture of the operations at border posts and this forms part of this report.
Objectives of the Familiarisation Tour
To appreciate the revenue mobilisation/collection measures and efforts by ZIMRA;
To acquaint Members of Parliament with initiatives put in place to facilitate trade and travel;
To appreciate initiatives put in place to clog leakages at all the ports of entry;
To monitor compliance with policies, procedures and legislation guiding the operation of ZIMRA; and
To inspect the general infrastructure and facilities at border posts.
Mandate of ZIMRA
ZIMRA was established in 2001 as a successor to the then Department of Customs and Excise. ZIMRA derives its mandate from the Revenue Authority Act [Chapter 23:11] and other subsidiary legislation. It is the sole institution responsible for collecting revenue on behalf of the Government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. In addition to that, ZIMRA is responsible for the facilitation of trade and travel between Zimbabwe and the outside world, advise Government on fiscal and economic matters and protect civil society from the importation and exportation of restricted and prohibited goods such as pornography, subversive material, dangerous weapons and hazardous substances.
ZIMRA’s mission is to mobilise revenue and facilitate sustainable compliance with fiscal and customs laws for the economic development of Zimbabwe. In order to achieve this, ZIMRA has decentralised and has tax collection points established around the country with the aim of increasing revenue inflows as offices become more accessible to taxpayers. Decentralisation of ZIMRA placed it in better position to effectively monitor tax revenue collection points. This is also in line with the principle of convenience, where tax collection should be to the convenience of both the tax payer and tax authorities.
Revenue Performance
Since its establishment in 2001, ZIMRA has established an unbroken record of ‘surpassing revenue targets’ (Budget Statements,
2010, 2011 and 2012).
Revenue collections in 2018 surpassed target with the authority collecting a gross of US$5.36 billion or 21.80% of GDP, which was
24.71% above the target of US$4.30 billion. Revenue performance for the first quarter of 2019 surpassed the set target with gross collections amounting to $2.059 billion, which was 41.50% above the set target of $1.455 billion. Gross collections grew by 85.13% from $1.112 billion collected in the first quarter. The 2019 budget tasked the authority to collect USD$9 billion in 2019.
However, this revenue performance record may not reflect the whole story given that the Zimbabwe borders are known to be porous as witnessed by the numerous allegations of revenue leakages through acts of smuggling, bribery, under-invoicing and under-declarations at its border posts.
COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS AND KEY FINDINGS
Staff Accommodation
The Committee observed an acute shortage of accommodation at all the border posts visited, with Beitbridge and Kazungula being the most affected. This has resulted in ZIMRA failing to recruit more staff at most of the borders and consequently, leading to the available personnel being forced to endure long working hours. For example, Beitbridge officials operate with three shifts instead of four shifts per day since it operates 24 hours, while officers at Kazungula endure 12 to 14 hours of work a day.
The Committee was told that, to ameliorate the accommodation challenges, ZIMRA was renting additional space from private individuals and hotels in the vicinity leading to an annual housing budget of $1.9m, which is not sustainable. ZIMRA officials noted that about 36 officers were currently accommodated in hotels at Beitbridge and the situation worsens during the festive season when relief staff is required to assist, due to increased volumes at the border.
The worst accommodation arrangement was observed at the Blue residents in Beitbridge where three families were sharing a 2 bedroomed flat, which was not ideal. In cases like that, the Committee noted with concern that employees may become vulnerable to corruption, especially those renting from residential areas.
Scanners (Mobile and Relocatable)
The Committee observed a significant shortage of scanners at most of the border post; in particular, Beitbridge, which experiences a high traffic volume. The shortages of scanners often result in restricted and prohibited goods finding their way into the country, since it would be difficult to conduct 100% searches to all travellers and commercial trucks. The Committee observed that the absence of scanners at some of the ports of entry results in smuggling of high value but small items that can be concealed inside pockets, such as gold and cocaine. It was established that most of the scanners had gone beyond their lifespan, resulting in high maintenance costs, for example, the mobile scanner at Plumtree. However, despite these challenges the available scanners have been able to assist in detecting contraband and or undeclared goods
Bill of Entry
The Committee observed that most of the bills of entry are processed at inland processing centres (Bulawayo, Masvingo and Harare) as ways to eliminate human interaction. It was established that those who use the pre-clearance facilities wait for shorter periods up to a maximum of three hours before they are cleared as compared to those who do not use the facility and thus, spend more than two days at the ports of entry. This has resulted in the reduction of the turnaround time spent by travellers and truckers clearing their goods at the ports of entry. Border Infrastructure
The Committee observed that the available infrastructure at most of the borders was constructed some years ago and is no longer able to match the volume of traffic experienced on a daily basis. It was noted that a Border Upgrade Plan was approved for Beitbridge but was progressing at a snail pace. It was also noted that Cabinet had endorsed an upgrade of the Kazungula Border Post in line with the proposed One Stop Border posts between and among the 4 countries. It was established that the upgrade must be completed within 12 months for Zimbabwe to be integrated into the quadripartite arrangement. It was further observed that Kariba Border Post was constrained in terms of expansion which was causing congestion and collusion, which is bad for the country’s image. Therefore, failure to upgrade most of the border infrastructure may result in most travellers and truckers shunning Zimbabwe borders in favour of other borders with better infrastructure.
The Committee observed that all border posts lacked support services such as banks, bureau de changes, duty free shops, restaurants or service centre. Other facilities such as ablutions were inadequate and not properly maintained, except for Plumtree. Staff canteens were nonexistent, hence exposing officers and stakeholders to food processed in questionable environments - thus posing a health hazard, especially at Beitbridge Border Post. The Committee also observed that lack of separate of terminals for commercial and passenger traffic was leading to unnecessary delays to travellers and truckers.
Border Line Security and Physical Barriers
The Committee noted with concern that all border posts visited lacked the adequate security at the border itself and along the borderlines, for example, Beitbridge, Chirundu, Plumtree and Forbes. It established that there was no perimeter fences and where it exists/ available, the perimeter fence is now old and some sections of the fence is dilapidated and now compromising the security situation at the border.
At the border, there were no physical barriers such as boom gates to control movement of traffic and people. The Committee was told that smugglers were causing havoc at the borders as they were in the habit of vandalizing restrictive barriers and nothing was being done to hold offenders accountable. Where the border post is situated in national parks, such as Kazungula, barriers were constantly being destroyed by elephants. Thus, the Committee was worried by the loss of revenue due to porousness of the border and the compromise in security for officials and stakeholders manning the border.
Electronic Systems and Cameras
The Committee noted the lack of adequate and appropriate information technology equipment at the border posts, for instance, computers, detecting machines and surveillance cameras. It was established that most of the computers at most of the border posts have outlived their lifespan due to overuse, especially at Beitbridge which operates 24hours. Due to resource limitations, there were no back up computers, which is a security risk. The Committee also noted with concern cases of under-invoicing by importers, criminal activities due to lack of surveillance cameras and rampant corruption as a result of human interference. It was also noted that ZIMRA and other border agents (e.g. ZINARA) systems were not integrated leading to unnecessary delays. It was established that the single window concept was yet to be fully rolled out, which will reduce border delays experienced on a daily basis.
Canine Unit
The Committee noted that the services of a canine unit were not at all ports of entry due to inadequate funding. It was established that only
Beitbridge had a canine unit, while all the other borders had none.
Border Warehousing
The Committee observed an acute shortage of warehousing for both imported and confiscated goods. Where warehouses were available, it was noted that quite a significant number did not have shelves to ensure safe storage of goods pending their release. The slow progress on warehouse partitioning worsened due to lack of foreign currency to purchase the necessary equipment. Thus, the Committee was greatly concerned by inadequate warehousing and poor partitioning as it would result in some goods being misplacement or being mixed with unpalatable or flammable goods. This was against the background of numerous reports of fire outbreaks at most borders due to the use of one warehouse as storage of all kinds of goods.
Office Spaces
The Committee observed that in terms of office space at most border posts, ZIMRA and Immigration staff had better offices as compared to other stakeholders such as security agents and port health officers who are usually housed in small cubicles or temporary structures. The temporary office space available was not partitioned and lacked confidentiality as travellers are subjected to examination and interrogation. It was pointed out in particular, at Forbes Border Posts that delays were mainly due to shuttling of agents between Mutare and the Border. Trucks were cleared in-land and clearing agents will be shuttling up and down from the border post to the holding bay in-land due to inadequate office space.
Station Vehicles
The Committee noted that most borders were operating with very few vehicles or none at all thereby impacting negatively on the performance of the Authority and its stakeholders. It was observed that the lack of or inadequate vehicles was impacting heavily on the smooth running of the stations, in particular, strengthening border patrols. It was established that smugglers were freely using undesignated routes to enter and exit the country, hence exposing the citizens to harmful and prohibited goods. This also was resulting in revenue losses due to undeclared goods.
Limited Parking Space and Search Area
The Committee observed that parking space for travellers and truckers as well as other border agents was inadequate, especially at Forbes and Kazungula border posts. It was noted that parking space and search area for haulage trucks was limited, causing chaos and confusion at the borders and in turn creating room for collusion between officials, stakeholders and customers as they seek to speed up the clearance process. The Committee observed that the overcrowded parking lots created an unconducive environment and unpleasant sight for the image of the country.
Other General Committee Observation
The Committee noted the urgent need for the Government to make a business and economic decision to urgently dualise BeitbridgeChirundu highway, given that Zimbabwe has a competitive advantage in the region as countries from the north would prefer to use Zimbabwe which is a shorter route as compared to South Africa via
Botswana and
Zambia.
Chirundu Border Post is one of the region’s gateway to both Southern and Northern parts of Africa via Beitbridge Border Post, hence the need to synchronise opening hours. It was observed that the Border closes at 2200 hours despite being a busy border servicing traffic released from Beitbridge which operates 24 hours.
Forbes and Machipanda Border Posts are the region’s gateway to the Mozambican Sea Port of Beira and has been receiving an increased volume of commercial trucks compared to Durban since the route is shorter. However, the Border Posts are characterized with heavy congestion and shortage of staff, thereby impacting significantly on border efficiency. Smuggling is rampant at Forbes Border Post as smugglers follow animal tracks in the landmine fields, which has also compromised security at Forbes Border Post.
That border coordination was lacking at most ports of entry, leading to delays in clearing traffic and travellers. It was noted that the police and ZNA at some border posts were duplicating efforts by repeating searches that could be undertaken together under one roof and enhance border efficiency. The Committee welcomed the Plumtree model whereby the border agencies work closely together, thereby smoothening the movement of goods and services. This has been witnessed by the collaboration between the security and customs that are operating under one roof to do their checks and clearance which has reduced connivance among officials and truckers/travellers and enhanced efficiency within the border.
The Committee noted with concern that the plan for upgrading the
Beitbridge Border Post by ZimBorders was approved by Government in 2009 and ground breaking ceremony done in February 2019, but progress has stalled due to issues pertaining to financial closure between the government and the contractor. It was also noted that ZIMRA was not part of the negotiating team, which complicated issues since they are not in a position to represent their interests.
The Committee observed the urgent need to address and increase ZIMRA’s staff establishment as part of measures to increase compliance levels at all the ports of entry. One of the most affected border posts is Beitbridge which is operating with about 300 officers instead of a full complement of about 500 officers. The Committee noted with concern that the Compliance Section at Beitbridge which clears between 80 to
100 buses and cars per day is only manned by 5 officers per shift while Vehicle Valuation Section at Manica is manned by 12 officers and clears over 90 vehicles per day. The Committee noted with concern that the current staff in post is 2 733, while the vacant posts are 240. In its 2019 – 2023 Strategic Plan, ZIMRA seeks to increase its staff from the current approved posts of 2 973 to 3 226.
The Committee also noted the need for all Border Posts to have solar and/or generator power back up services to enable the border posts to provide services during load shedding. Where solar units have been installed, for example, Plumtree, there were challenges of batteries that have outlived their life span and new ones were required. The challenge of foreign currency was the biggest constrain affecting the purchase of batteries and as a result leaving the Borders with no alternative source of power.
The Committee observed that Kazungula Border Post was strategic as it facilitates trade between Zimbabwe and the outside world, in particular, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia and the region and was targeted for a One Stop Border Post supporting the three countries, hence the urgent need for its upgrade within the next 12 months. It was noted that most goods being imported into Zimbabwe are from the UK via Walvis Bay. It was established that Botswana and Zambia were at an advanced stage since the Kasane Bridge would be completed by midyear 2020. This would impact significantly on the country’s revenues. The Committee noted that there was urgent need for the Government to move swiftly to develop the port of entry so that it matches the development already being undertaken by Botswana and Zambia.
The Committee noted with concern that ZIMRA is basically, under-resourced and virtually incapacitated, making it difficult to perform its mandate.
Committee Recommendations
There is urgent need to construct staff accommodation at critical border post, in particular, Beitbridge and Kazungula to reduce costs on hotel bills and other private renting arrangements by December 2020.
As measures to enhance operational efficiency by ZIMRA and other stakeholders at the borders, it is imperative that they be adequately equipped with the proper tools of trade (such as computers, scanners, drones, surveillance cameras and vehicles) by December 2020.
Border infrastructure development, in particular, Beitbridge,
Chirundu and Kazungula be prioritised during the year 2020.
There is urgent need for the Government to engage Zambia to synchronise opening hours at Chirundu Border Post, which receives traffic from Beitbridge Border Post operating 24 hours.
Resource allocation towards the Kazungula project to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes part of the new one stop border arrangement and benefit from the Kasane Bridge which is almost complete should be done immediately.
Going forward, ZIMRA as a key stakeholder and end user of the infrastructure must be involved in the contract negotiation process for all border infrastructure development.
There is need for ZIMRA to reorganize some of its operations beginning 2020 in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness, drawing lessons from the model port of entry implemented at Plumtree
Border Post.
ZIMRA must be allowed to retain a certain percentage of the revenue for its operations beginning 2020.
Government must speed up the rehabilitation of the
BeitbridgeHarare-Chirundu highway by 2022 as measures to enhance trade
facilitation.
Conclusion
The Committee strongly believes that ZIMRA as the sole government agent mandated to collect revenue on behalf of Government must be adequately funded. Zimbabwe as a country, is losing a lot of revenue due to challenges that can be easily addressed if there is political will and commitment. The Committee believes that it is better to invest more in ZIMRA and in turn harvest more returns than to let the status quo remain, or even deteriorate, thereby losing revenue through illicit means. Thus, the Committee tables this report with the hope that the 2020 budget will address the major concerns raised therein. I thank you.
V t535545 24/06/2020
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank our Chair for presenting such a good report. I will only add a few things and in some cases just to emphasise some of the issues. Mr. Speaker, a border post is just like an airport. The same treatment that we give to our airports where we receive visitors and they depart from is the same respect that we must also give to our borders because it is also our opportunity to show case our hospitality, our seriousness and effectiveness as a country in handling issues because whenever someone travels into Zimbabwe by road, the first point of call is a border. So it is important that we look after our borders very well and make sure that we meet and compete in terms of standards with other borders.
Starting with the performance of ZIMRA Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that ZIMRA has been meeting its targets despite the problems that we have at border posts. So the question is - how much more can we collect if we can make the necessary improvements at our border posts? It means we can collect much more. The onus is on the Government to make sure that all that needs to be done at the border post is done.
The issue of staff accommodation - Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious issue because we expect a person to wake up in the morning refreshed making sure that the family is well accommodated and then the person proceeds to go and do his or her work in the comfort of the fact that all is well at home, but this is not the situation Mr. Speaker. We have seen two or three families being accommodated in a four roomed house, meaning only the lounge is used as a common room and this in not proper. We have families who need their own privacy and it is important to make sure that we correct the issue of accommodation.
The issue of scanners is very important. Just imagine at Forbes Border Post, because of the kind of space that is there you do not have scanners at the border post itself which allows someone to bring in or take out something that is very important and precious without being detected because we do not have the facilities at the actual border post. This is another area that is very important. As far as Forbes Border Post is concerned, I think a proper border where we can accommodate our scanners and even a parking area is needed. It has become one of the busiest borders apart from Beitbridge, but the facilities at Forbes Border Post are so small and so squashed that you cannot actually perform very well.
The other issue that I would want to talk about Mr. Speaker, is the surveillance cameras. In this modern world where we now have technology, a camera works as a deterrent, enables a supervisor to supervise the whole border in the comfort of an office and the moment the officers know that their supervisor can actually monitor their activities and movements it deters them. It does not need a supervisor to move around. Simply sitting there with a monitor is enough to deter officers and also to alert the supervisor to hot spots. So it is important that such technology is used.
The security and physical barriers as far as borders are concerned, this is where we now have a lot of even other security agencies being involved and sometimes doing what they are not supposed to do because we have got a lot of areas where people can just access Zimbabwe or get out of Zimbabwe through those areas. It is important that the physical barriers that are necessary are found to be there. The booms which are simple things, sometimes at other borders you do not see them. We need that to be corrected Mr. Speaker. This is where we need things like drones to also help monitor the movements along our border lines.
These things are now not expensive anymore. When drones were introduced, it appeared as though they are very expensive technology equipment but prices are going down and ZIMRA must be allowed to have in their possession such equipment. Funding of ZIMRA is very important. Whenever there is a plan that is approved and money allocated to that plan to develop our borders, what is important is to make sure that the disbursements are done on time and the necessary development is done. Whenever you develop, the plan is normally produced in a manner that will suit the needs at that particular time. If you delay, you may find out that by the time you implement the plan, it does not suit what will be happening at that particular time. So, it is important to timeously disburse the funds.
Lastly Mr. Speaker, I will talk about the issue of making sure that we match what is happening in other countries as far as the development of our infrastructure is concerned. We now have a danger or a problem where people prefer to go to Zambia through Botswana through the Kazungula Bridge and we will lose a lot of revenue. So as Zimbabwe, we must make sure that the dualisation of the Harare-Beitbridge road is done on time. Secondly, we must make sure that our one-stop border posts are made in a way that improves the way of clearing the cargo and also dealing with the visitors who will be coming into Zimbabwe or going through Zimbabwe.
Lastly, the issue of the involvement of the Zimbabwe National
Army at border posts, especially at the Forbes Border Post, the duplication of duties, I do not think it is necessary because once I am cleared by Customs, then there should not be any other people along the way who would be allowed to stop people other than the ZIMRA people. I think it is important for our security forces to concentrate on the border line but not exactly at the border because their responsibility is to deal with security in terms of those people who will be trying to avoid the border and smuggling things at the border. I think we would rather equip ZIMRA to equip our Customs Officers to deal with those issues. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I would want to talk about what this Committee did which I think was very important for us to be able to appreciate what is happening with our tax collector, which is the major source of our revenue. But, the whole country or any other person who is in business or who has used borders will tell you that, together maybe including the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, we are losing a lot of revenue through unscrupulous behaviour that is seen in many of our ports of entry which I believe could be dealt with effectively. If what Members have talked about in their report could be implemented and followed up, especially remunerating these people and ensuring that corruption which is rampant at border posts is curbed, then
Zimbabwe will realise a lot of revenue.
One of these days there was a social media clip that was making rounds where you would see young people, women and so on carrying boxes of cooking oil and other stuff. Unless we develop serious strategies to curb leakages at border posts, we are losing a lot of income as a country and we are losing potential revenue even to fund those people ZIMRA officials. So, I would implore that we allow this Committee to deal with the issues.
Many vehicles that we see in Zimbabwe today, many of them have come into this country through unscrupulous means and people have not paid tax. So, the major drawback to our potential as a country in terms of the revenue side of our fiscus is because we are not collecting enough as we are allowing people to come into our country, use our resources and not paying anything. We are allowing people to bring wares from all over the region or from overseas and they are paying nothing. I think that the issue of us coming up with serious technology will assist ZIMRA to perform effectively. So, it is my plea that this Committee goes deeper into the goings on at ZIMRA. We have read a lot of things that have been happening from the top of the institution. They may be doing a lot and of course I sympathise with them in that they do not have good accommodation and so on but we have ZIMRA officials who appear to live in poverty but there are some who are part of the richest people south of the Sahara. You ask yourself where they get this money, it is from corruption.
We have seen them on the roads there following buses and making those buses park at secret places or dark corners and then get some money. That must be followed up and we rid ZIMRA of bad apples. So, I think the best way is that the Minister and the Committee must help ZIMRA to be an effective institution because they are the source of the lifeblood of our economy in terms of funding Government activities. If we do not fund it adequately by giving them enough resources and also monitoring them so that they are not involved in dirty transactions, then we are not going to get as much as we can get. So, ZIMRA at border posts, if your ask me, I tell you that it is totally rotten and we need to take action both as Parliament and Government so that we get as much as we can get as a country and we close all the loopholes in terms of people hanzi vano jampa neparwizi in Beitbridge. They come through the river infested with crocodiles but they cross and I am told that some people help them to cross.
When you go to the Beitbridge vehicles’ yard, there are thousands of vehicles. Those people who then buy those cars that come through our borders, how did they buy those vehicles? Do we really make a follow up because it might be money laundering going on. Or, it might be criminal activities like money going through to buy vehicles outside the country through illicit ways which we do not benefit from as a country.
All these things, if you go to warehouses, you will see stacks of different commodities. How did they get there, where was ZIMRA, how do we interact with other state institutions to protect the country from that hemorrhage because we are losing a lot of money?
It is my plea that the Chairman and his Committee, including the
Deputy Minister who is here present, all participate in cleaning ZIMRA. If they can clean it and we get as much as we can, we may not even lament the issues of paying them handsomely and maybe having enough for Government to do its activities in terms of expenditure. I thank you.
HON. SACCO: I would like to thank Hon. Mhona as the Chairman of this Committee and for the report. I would like to contribute that as we all know, Zimbabwe is open for business as espoused by the mantra of His Excellency, our President Cde E. D.
Mnangagwa.
I would like to touch on the issue of the congestion at Forbes
Border Post. We have another option which is a solution to this problem.
At Cashel Valley we have a border post that is not open for commercial traffic. The border post is in existence, immigration officials are in place but what we need is deployment of ZIMRA officials to this border post. I think we need to upgrade the road from the Cashel Valley police to the border which is about 7km only. If this road could be upgraded as well as provision of a transformer, the Cashel Valley border post could be opened for commercial traffic. This will go a long way in decongesting the Forbes as well as the Machipanda Border Posts.
I would like to appeal to your Committee and to you the Deputy Minister to look into this issue on a serious note. ZIMRA officials paid a site visit to Cashel Border Post. I know Ms Mazani, when I talked to her, she sent a team to Cashel Valley. There is not much required to open the Cahsel Valley Border Post for commercial traffic which would go a long way in decongesting the Forbes Border Post. There is need to recapacitate the Cashel Valley irrigation scheme and the Cairns factory that did value addition to agricultural produce. This could also tie in to Zimbabwe being open for business where we could get an export processing zone status. If we could manage to turn around the Cashel Valley factory and the irrigation scheme – then therefore opening the border post would link in very well to opening that area up for commercial traffic.
I would appeal to you the Deputy Minister and the Chairperson for a fiscal allocation from the budget for the upgrading of this border post and also the irrigation scheme that is being done but also looking at the resuscitation of the Cashel Valley factory to do value addition. I would like to make this appeal to you to look into this. I thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: May I thank the Chairperson for a well presented report. I have a few points to elaborate on. The first one concerns the mandate of ZIMRA. ZIMRA is well known for collecting and meeting their targets in terms of collection of revenue. We need to commend
ZIMRA for always meeting their target and that is very commendable.
When we visited Chirundu Border Post, we noticed that they have a one-stop-shop there which means all traffic and goods from Zambia are cleared in Zimbabwe and the traffic moving to Zambia, they would do the clearance on the Zambian side and that brings efficiency. That is very important and it also reduces congestion. That should be emulated by other border posts and in particular Beitbridge and Forbes. When we visited Forbes Border Post, there was a very long queue of truckers. Some of them were complaining that they had spent three days before clearance was done. If other border posts could emulate the one-stopshop, I think that will bring a lot of good service to clients and customers.
At Forbes Border Post, we noticed that there are some serious challenges because the border is porous. People avoid the normal channel and they would go via the illegal routes. The security forces are deployed at Forbes Border Posts but they cannot efficiently patrol for fear of landmines. There are still landmines in the vicinity of the border. There is need for capacitation of ZIMRA to give them some funds or to engage a private company that can participate in demining so that the security forces can effectively patrol the border.
On accommodation, we noticed that it is a major challenge. Some of the ZIMRA workers rent rooms in flats and there is congestion in terms of accommodation. They do not have their own houses or flats. At Kazungula, we visited a site where houses are being constructed for the workers but their major challenge was that they do not have adequate funds to complete those projects. There is need for the Ministry of Finance to capacitate ZIMRA by giving them funds so that they can complete accommodation for their workers and that will bring job satisfaction.
The issue of bribes is a cause for concern. Some officials are still embarking on those things and I do not want to repeat what the Chief Whip said in his presentation but on our recommendation as a Committee, there is need for new vehicles to be bought because some workers were complaining that the vehicles are now old. There is need for new vehicles so that they may also use them to track those people who may want to evade the normal channels. The issue of small aircrafts and drones is also important particularly to get rid of illegal trade on our borders. I thank you.
HON. MUSAKWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Committee for a well documented report. The first thing I want to add my voice on is the remuneration system at ZIMRA which I believe is also adding to the inefficiencies of ZIMRA. Their salaries have to be approved by the parent Ministry as opposed to other nations. In other nations they are given a percentage of the revenue that they have collected as a way of being in constant touch with the reality of their efforts. I think that this is something that has to be considered.
The other point hinges on accommodation at the border posts which is quite dire. We have got a lot of the ZIMRA officials cramped in below standard living conditions which needs to be looked at and this also aids to their inefficiencies. The other thing which I noticed is that Bureau Veritas, which is mandated with inspections before shipments come to Zimbabwe as a means for quality control, adding a lot of costs in that importers have to fork out real money to pay to the French company which conducts the inspections worldwide which adds to the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country. I think it has to be simplified if Bureau Veritas has to do it. They have to simplify their process so that not each time a commodity is imported, it is inspected. I think if they import and it is coming from the same source, one time inspection would help and increase efficiencies at our border posts.
The other challenge which ZIMRA faces is system failures. The ASYCUDA system they are using fails a lot. I think it goes again to the way they are given revenue after collections. If they are allowed a certain portion of the foreign exchange that they collect to use it for their own systems maintenance and systems upgrade, that should go a long way in improving their efficiencies and reducing the systems failures. I submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MUTAMBISI: I second. Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th June, 2020.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. K.
PARADZA, the House adjourned at Ten Minutes past Six o’clock p. m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 23rd June, 2020
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER’S RULING
MATTER RAISED BY HON. SIKHALA REGARDING THE
RUMOURED COUP
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Speaker’s ruling on a matter raised
by Hon. Sikhala in relationship to the statement by the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage regarding the rumoured coup on Wednesday, 18th June, 2020. Hon. Karenyi in directing her question to the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage sought to find out the policy on which the Hon. Minister had made the statement on the rumoured coup. The Hon. Member argued that the coup represented the high form of constitutional infraction and questioned why these plotters were not arrested.
The Hon. Minister Kazembe informed the House that he had made the statement on behalf of the National Security Council. He indicated that the issues were sensitive in nature and what he announced to the nation was adequate. He also indicated that he could not give the finer details as it would jeopardise national security and interests. Hon. Sikhala also expressed concern that he was specifically mentioned in the statement and he retorted that it had devastating results at his life.
I indicated that I would have a look at the full statement and make a ruling within two weeks. As I preliminary ruled on Wednesday, 18th June, 2020 when the matter was raised by Hon. Karenyi, my ruling still stands and I repeat that the matter concerns issues of national security and as such, no further details can be made beyond the statement made by the Hon. Minister. Hon. Sikhala as a lawyer, I am sure you fully understand these issues which can be dealt with outside the purview of Parliament. I so rule.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VACANCIES IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. SPEAKER: On 23rd June, 2020 which is today,
Parliament was notified by the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirayi (MDC-T) Party that the following Members of Parliament had ceased to be the members of the MDC-T Party and therefore no longer represent the interests of the party in Parliament, with effect from 23rd June, 2020. The Hon. Members affected are as follows:
- Hon Amos Chibaya – Mkoba Constituency
- Hon Happymore Chidziva – Highfield West Constituency
- Hon Bacilia Majaya- PR Mashonaland Central Province
- Hon Mucharairwa Mugidho – PR Masvingo Province
- Hon Virginia Z Muradzikwa – PR Harare Province
- Annah Muyambo – PR Harare Province
- Hon Francisca Ncube – PR Matabeleland North
- Hon Nomathemba Ndlovu - PR Matabeleland South
- Hon Murisi Zwizwai – Harare Central Constituency
Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that,
“the seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or to the President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the member has ceased to belong to it;”
Pursuant to the above, I do hereby inform the august House that vacancies have arisen in the constituencies stated above by the operation of the law. The necessary administrative measures will be taken to inform his Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the existence of the vacancies in line with Section 39 (1) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 213] as amended – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Order, order, order! Can you maintain order please? Hon.
Members, order, order!
*HON. MATHE: I would like to thank you Mr Speaker for granting me this time to raise a point of privilege. I would also want to show gratitude on the debate that happened last week in this House towards the issue of bond notes. We thank the Reserve Bank of Zimbsmbe for the quick issuing of the press statement to this effect which made the community to know that bond notes are still valid because the notes are no longer accepted. People are suffering because even after the press statement shops still do not accept bond notes.
Everyone who is vending in Victoria Falls or Binga or anywhere in Zimbabwe should be notified through the radio or television that these notes are still usable and this should be done during this week as a manner of urgency. Police should also arrest shop owners and people who are refusing to accept bond notes in both rural and urban areas.
+THE HON. SPEAKER: The Chief Police Officer is not allowed to speak in Parliament. Let us wait to hear from the Minister of Finance and Economic Development concerning the issue.
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs having moved notices of motion
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, you have in the past demanded such reports. I hope you will read them so that we can engage on some robust debate on the same.
COMMITTEE STAGE
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H. B. 16,
2019]
First Order read: Committee: Veterans of the Liberation Struggle
Bill [H. B. 16, 2019].
House in Committee.
Clause 1, put and agreed to.
On Clause 2:
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
(HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Mr. Chairman, I put before the House an amendment of Clause 2, change of the term liberation war fighter to war veteran for the sake of consistence and taking note of the representation made by the war veterans constituency during the stakeholder consultations held by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee countrywide. The term liberation war fighter is being amended as substituted with war veteran.
The second one is the change of the term temporary refugee camps to transit camps. All the associations during the consultations were not comfortable with the use of such terms as refugee camps on the section dealing with interpretation of terms. The affected groups argued that the term was foreign to them and did not give a true reflection of the activities that took place in these camps. I appreciated the concerns raised by the associations and agree on the need to change the term temporary refugee camps is hereby substituted with transit camps. I thank you.
Amendment to Clause 2 put and agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, put and agreed to.
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Chairman, I stood up to debate this particular section and you gave the opportunity to the Minister to move for the amendment but this is not the substance of the whole section.
What you have moved for the adoption is the amendment but not the debate of this section.
THE CHAIRPERSON: No.
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Chairman, so why would you then
allow the Minister to come in before I could have debated.
THE CHAIRPERSON: But I did put the question for debate.
HON. MADZIMURE: No. I did stand up and you called the
Minister.
THE CHAIRPERSON: After the Minister has responded and made some proposals to amend, I asked for any further debate.
HON. MADZIMURE: No, you asked for the adoption of the amendments. That is what you did.
THE CHAIRPERSON: No, that is when I asked for the debate.
How can I ask for the adoption?
HON. MADZIMURE: Okay, we have not adopted it, I have a debate.
THE CHAIRPERSON: No, we cannot go back because we have
already adopted it.
HON. MADZIMURE: No, we have not.
THE CHAIRPERSON: We have already adopted it, I cannot reverse. I am sorry. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- Order in the House Hon. Members, Order! I have already made a ruling and there is no need for you to continue making noise.
On Clause 3:
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
(HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Mr. Chairman Sir, I put the amendment of Clause 3 on the removal of the word the Commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces or his/her alternate and substitute it with a representative from the war veterans who shall be the Chairperson of the Board. There were concerns during the stakeholder consultations and debate stage over the inclusion of the Commander Defence Forces as the Chairperson of the Board. The provision is being amended as recommended. The words the Commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces or his/her alternate shall be replaced with a war veteran appointed by the
Minister after consultation with the President who shall be the Chairperson of the Board.
The second one is the term liberation war fighter to war veterans for the sake of consistency and taking note of the representations made by the war veteran’s consistency during the stakeholder consultations held by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee countrywide. The term liberation war fighter in Clause 3 is being amended and substituted with war veterans. I thank you.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Mr. Chairman, I have got two issues with
the amendment that is being proposed by the Hon. Minister of Defence. Whilst I agree with the Hon. Minister that it is not right for the Commander of the Defence Forces to be Chair of the Board. I have reservations and I want the Hon. Minister to explain. The Chairperson of the Board should not be somebody that is picked by the Minister in consultation with the President. I want to believe that it will be proper and prudent because the war veterans is a small component which is dwindling as we go by and it is only fair that the appointment of the Chairperson should have an input of the component members of the war veterans. I think this question of having the Minister and the President privately choosing a person - they may choose a chairperson who may not be in the liking of the general membership of the war veterans.
The second issue which I have a challenge with is this amendment of removing liberation war fighter to war veterans. My understanding and why I want the Hon. Minister to explain is that for some of us that have brothers that went to war and perished during the struggle for this country, we believe that they were freedom fighters. They went to fight for the liberation of this country. The phrase ‘liberation war fighter’ is a better phrase than the word ‘war veteran’ because the phrase ‘war veteran’ twenty years from now, a person that fought in the DRC war or Mozambique can also claim to be a war veteran. This is because that person will have fought in a number of wars. What we need is this question of the liberation war fighter so that there is a distinction. This is the reason why we pointed out at the second reading stage – I would be happier to say that Hon. Oppah Kashiri is a freedom fighter. It is more befitting than saying she is a war veteran and to that extent Chair, I ask the Hon. Minister to probably educate me further.
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Chair. Twenty years from now
and it is a fact, we will not have a person who will have fought in the liberation struggle. That means this law that we have before us is a law that we have a time limit and it must be really distinct as to who we are trying to take care of. Twenty years from now, we will not have a person who will have fought in the liberation struggle of this country for us to get the independence. These are the people that we are talking about. So, it must be distinct that we are dealing with the freedom fighters.
Secondly, on the issue of the leadership of the liberation struggle
Board, if we look at how we have redefined the fighters of the liberation struggle, we have now neutralised the element of the fighter. You look at the number of people, the sectors that must form part of the Board, the vote that will come from those people who were not combatants, who did not participate in the real war is now greater than the people who fought in the liberation struggle. This poses a danger of us ending up with the voice of the real fighters being drowned by people who did not fight in the liberation struggle.
It is a fact that a fighter who was trained and given a gun to shoot, again allowing himself to be shot as well is not the same as myself who during the struggle, had some time where I also carried some material for the fighters. Even though I could have done it consistently for six months, that does not make me a fighter of the liberation struggle. So, I implore the Minister to seriously consider the fact that we may dilute the importance of a fighter during the liberation struggle. Let us stick to the fact that we fought a war. We had our fighters who fought the war and all what we are doing here is to compensate for the period where these people could not be seen anywhere. Mujibha and Chimbwido could move around and do their normal business but a liberation war fighter did not have that opportunity to do so, had no latitude to do so. So I strongly feel that let us not dilute the role that was played by the fighters during the liberation struggle. We can take off all these other groups, Chair. We can take care of these other groups specifically taking care of them in their own right but we cannot now try to smuggle in a lot of people to ride on the back of those who really fought for this country.
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Thank you Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the two Honourable Members. Hon. Madzimure and Hon. Mushoriwa, for raising very fundamental concerns, concerns which I want to stress that what we are dealing with today is a situation which is not starting from today. There was a War Veterans Act which was already in place and in operation. Very clear and explicit and the war veterans themselves were very clear in as far as the term or interpretation is concerned. So this is not a new Act at all.
The other issue which they raise is that you are bringing in other categories which may have a bearing on those that participated in the liberation struggle, in the actual fighting. It does not. The Bill recognises all the categories of veterans of the liberation struggle as provided for in Section 84 of our Constitution which really defines them as those who fought the war of liberation, those who assisted the fighters during the war of liberation and those who were imprisoned, detained or restricted for political reasons during the liberation struggle. The Bill also made a very clear distinction of all the four categories in Section 2 where it defines each category separately.
Furthermore, Section 12 (6) gives the Minister power to come up with various Statutory Instruments for categories of veterans of the liberation struggle showing that these categories are not treated the same and hence their benefits differ. Let me also emphasise that the issue of a war veteran presiding over the board came from the war veterans themselves and they will have latitude to recommend a possible candidate into the board. So over and above the Minister making recommendation to the President and appointing the chair of the board, it is very clear that this will be a process which will allow consultations.
The fear is that maybe the Minister will impose someone of her liking.
but when it involves war veterans, it will clearly be a consultative process. I thank you.
Amendment to Clause 3 put and agreed to.
Clause 3, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 4 to 7 put and agreed to.
On Clause 8:
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
(HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Mr. Chairman, I put the amendment to Clause 8 on powers of vetting officers. The term
‘liberation war fighter’ is being amended to ‘war veteran’ in line 24 of Clause 8. This is in line with the representations made by the war veterans constituency during the stakeholders consultations held by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee country wide which called for the amendment of that term. I thank you.
Amendment to Clause 8 put and agreed to.
Clause 8, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 9 to 27 put and agreed to.
Schedule put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Committee.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam
Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 2 to 7 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 8 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2020].
Eighth Order read: Second Reading: Census and Statistics Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2020].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam Speaker. I rise to give my second reading speech on the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2020].
Madam Speaker, our democracy is based on the principle of one- person-one vote. This is the principle whose absence in colonial times caused our forbearers to be disadvantaged, disposed and ignored, and it is the principle for which we have fought and paid for very dearly indeed, as you all very well know.
Primarily Madam Speaker, the principle of one-person-one vote means the entitlement of every citizen to vote at local and national elections, but it also bears the meaning that one’s vote is equally as important and carries the same weight as the vote of any other person.
The importance of this principle in the latter sense is recognised by the Constitution in Section 161. Subsection (3) of that section provides that the ‘boundaries of constituencies must be such that - so far as possible at the time of delimitation, equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency within Zimbabwe’. Earlier, that section in subsection (1), it is provided that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must once every ten years conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries into which
Zimbabwe is to be divided’, with the rider that such a delimitation should fall as soon as possible after a population census.
If however the delimitation of electoral boundaries is completed less than six months before polling day in a general election, then it is provided in subsection (2) of section 161 that ‘the boundaries so delimited do not apply to that election, and instead the boundaries that existed immediately before the delimitation are applicable’.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, now seven years into the new Constitution, we are faced with the undesirable prospect of using the same electoral boundaries as were used back in the 2013 general election for two reasons. The first is that the next census is only due to be completed in 2022. Even if all the data for 2022 was availed timeously, that still brings us uncomfortably close within the range of six months of the next election in 2023. Secondly, ZEC will simply not have the time to do the consultation, produce the report and lay before Parliament its preliminary and final delimitation reports to enable Parliament and the President to properly consider them. Remember also Madam Speaker that voter registration is done on a continuous basis by the Commission.
One solution to this dilemma is to delink the decennial census from the delimitation exercise, which proposal has been mooted by me in the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 2. On reflection, this is the least desirable expedient of all. Given that the voters’ roll cannot be closed before the declaration of a general election, ZEC must be able to depend upon reliable up-to-date census data to complete its delimitation exercise in a meaningful way.
Furthermore, a Parliament that does not reflect in its composition as closely as possible the principle of the equal representativeness of constituencies is a Parliament that also compromises the principle of one-person-one vote.
Of the other possible solutions, the only achievable one in the short time available to us before the next delimitation, is to amend the Census and Statistics Act [Chapter 10:29] so as to align the taking of decennial national census in a manner that will enable the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) to take into account census data in timeous fashion. This requires us to curtail for the next election only the period within which the census must be taken. Accordingly, Clause 2 of the Bill before you will require a decennial census to be taken and completed by 1st July, 2021 and thereafter, every 10 years from that date. This, we believe will afford ZEC ample time to delimit electoral boundaries in accordance with census data.
In conclusion, I urge you Hon. Members to pass this Bill to uphold our democracy and the principle of one-person-one vote. I thank you.
HON. MHONA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The Committee is
quite pleased - your Committee Hon. Madam Speaker supports this very noble Bill before us. We concur with the Hon. Minister that this is a very important tool of this august House. The Committee managed to sit yesterday, trying to go through the Bill and truly speaking this is an amendment that is very important.
I will go through what the Committee resolved to do pertaining to this Bill. Madam Speaker the Census and Statistics Bill which was gazetted on 12 June, 2020 seeks to amend the principle Act, the Census and Statistics Act 10:29. The aim of the amendment is to facilitate for the alignment of the decennial national census in a manner that will enable the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to take into account census data when delimitating election boundaries every 10 years, as required by Section 161 (1) of our supreme Constitution. The decennial national census in Zimbabwe took place in 2012 and the next one is due in 2022. The harmonised elections in Zimbabwe are also due to take place in 2023, in line with Section 239, read together with Section 161 of the supreme Constitution.
There is need to align the two events to occur in a manner that is systematic. The new provision will afford ZEC to make use of the most current census data and give them ample time to delimit electoral boundaries in accordance with census data. ZEC is mandated under Section 239 (f) to delimit constituencies, wards and other electoral boundaries. Delimitation is supposed to be conducted once every 10 years, after a population census as provided for in the Constitution.
Section 161 (1) of our supreme Constitution which says that “Once every 10 years, on a date or within a period fixed by the Commission so as to fall as soon as possible after a population census, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) must conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries into which Zimbabwe is to be divided”.
Madam Speaker, the Constitution further stipulates that the delimitation process must be completed six months before a general election takes place. If the delimitation process is completed less than six months before the general elections, then the proposed boundaries will not apply in that election. Instead, boundaries that existed before the delimitation will be applicable. Noting that the decennial national census is due to take place in 2022 and that census results may take considerable time before they are released with the general elections due in 2023, there are high chances that the two processes may continue to be detached from each other and this will continue to be problematic. It is also important to know that last delimitation process carried out for 2018 harmonised elections were conducted in terms of the old
Constitution and based on the voters’ roll without any linkage to the
census data.
This can have implications on the electoral process. Also population changes over time, people die, others are born into the world, while others migrate to different places. Population dynamics in the country has been significantly affected by migration both intra, that is rural –urban, urban- rural and abroad in search of better economic prospects. This has resulted in significant difference in the sizes of constituencies and wards, necessitating the need for rationalisation of constituencies and wards.
Madam Speaker, the analysis of Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend Section 12 of the principal Act by inserting an additional clause which reads as follows “Notwithstanding that the 10 year period from the census of 2012 has not yet expired, the next census shall be taken so as to be completed by 1st July, 2021 and thereafter a census shall be taken every 10 years from that date”. This new clause seeks to ensure that the decennial national census which was due to take place in 2022 will be moved forward to be done and completed by 1st July, 2021 as a measure to facilitate the delimitation process by ZEC. The delimitation process is a critical component to the electoral process, hence the urgent need to pass the legislation.
The Committee noted that the Bill is a good law as it seeks to facilitate and shaping new constituencies and wards while being enforced by the most current census data. It was observed that the current delimitation process which created the current constituencies and wards has not been linked to the census, hence becomes problematic. The Committee also noted that the new provision will also ease budgetary constraint on the fiscus given that the two processes would now be done at least two years apart. The two national programmes usually require huge monetary resources for them to be undertaken. Currently the national census is aligned up for 2022 while the general elections for 2023. Your Committee also recommends that the Bill be approved as it is in the national interest.
In conclusion, the Committee deliberated on the amendment Bill and unanimously agreed that the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill was an important piece of legislation that seeks to advance the electoral process, hence supports passage of this Bill.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker. First and foremost I
applaud the Minister for bringing up this Bill, for the very reason that we are creatures of an election as an august House; and impeding upon that process, or not carrying out that process infringes upon this Constitutional provision that seeks to get the electorate have a choice of their Members of Parliament and bring them to the august House so that they can carry out their mandate according to Section 117 up to Section 119 that speaks to and about the issue of representation and lastly the issue of law making. Madam Speaker Ma’am these three very key issues and very fundamental tenets of the august House cannot be carried out except if Members of Parliament are chosen by the electorate and come into this House.
The Hon. Minister has made it very crystal clear that as long as we encroach into the six month period before election, we might have to use a fictitious data of census that was carried out in 2012. Then in 2013, it was quite able to interrogate the number of voters and the population demographics of 2012. However, ten years down the line, I shudder to think what it is that census could do Madam Speaker. I come from a constituency which is the epicenter of cholera and typhoid. This has been caused by the deficiency of water and sewer reticulation issues.
This is because the infrastructure is now moribund, rudimental, archaic and antiquated. It does not match the population that is currently there Madam Speaker Ma’am.
Let me give you an example, the current infrastructure was made for four thousand people whereas if we have the census with the right numbers we certainly can have the right infrastructure, quantum taking care of the right numbers of the electorate. Madam Speaker Ma’am, the current situation has a deficit of infrastructure of more than 25 000 to 50 000 households. I speak so because it is not only for election purposes but it also speaks about infrastructure development. If no one else seeks to align themselves to the ethos, dictates and the proposal of the Minister, we, the people of Chegutu West stand here today and cry that there be delink from the delimitation and the census. It is not only after ten years that the census can be carried out but we want the census to be carried out expeditiously as he proposes in 2021 so that we can have an alignment of the infrastructure, election and the census which is effective, efficient, robust, resilient and speaks about today’s issues.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, the people of Chegutu West have stood here today through me to bring up this proposal and I applaud the Hon. Minister for bringing this up. I thank you.
HON. MADZIMURE: I want to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill to this House. It is a Bill that many people having being waiting for since we were going to have the Census in 2022 which is a year before the national elections. People were concerned about the budgetary effect of the Census. Madam Speaker, we were going to have a Census in 2022 and then national elections in 2023, this was going to have a negative impact on the fiscus. It was going to be very difficult for us to adjust and be able to take care of the two national events in two subsequent years. So, I think this is very important.
The other alternative was just to do the delimitation using previous results of the census but that was not going to make a lot of sense because of late we have seen a lot of movements, some have gone out of the country, some have relocated so we have a lot of displacements.
Because of that, we need to have statistics that speaks to what is on the ground. I think this is quite a noble Bill which we must support so that we speak to the Constitution where even the right to be represented should relate to the statistics for example how many people should be represented. I think this is very important. It is very clear that thereafter, we will then go back to our ten years, so it makes a lot of sense. I want to thank the Minister for bringing the amendment to the House. Thank you Madam Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam
Speaker, I am humbled by the support, firstly from the Chairperson of the Committee and his Committee, Hon. Mhona, Hon. Nduna for his contribution representing the people of Chegutu and Hon. Madzimure for his contribution actually highlighting some of the concerns that we also had. I must say this is simply an alignment process where we are shifting dates of Census and I take note that there is not much debate surrounding this amendment. With those remarks I now move that the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2020] be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave, forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3,
2020]
House in Committee.
Clause 1 and 2, put and agreed to.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2020] THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam.
Speaker, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam.
Speaker, I now move that Orders of the Day Numbers 9 to 16 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day Number 17 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT ON THE RE-ENGAGEMENT VISIT TO THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF SWEDEN
HON. K. PARADZA: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House takes note of the Report on the Re-engagement visit to the United Kingdom of Sweden by a Parliamentary Delegation led by the Hon. Advocate J. F. Mudenda from 9th to 10th September, 2019.
HON. MADIWA: I second.
HON. K. PARADZA: 1.0 Introduction
1.1 Within the context of the current re-engagement process spearheaded by H.E. the President, Cde. Emmerson Dambudzo
Mnangagwa, and in pursuit of Parliamentary diplomacy as approved by
Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda, Speaker of the National Assembly led a Parliamentary Delegation on a re-engagement visit to Stockholm, Sweden on 9 and 10 September 2019.
1.2 The delegation comprised the following Members and
Officers of Parliament:
- Kindness Paradza, Member of Parliament and
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and
International Trade;
- Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Member of
Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Primary and
Secondary Education;
- Joshua Sacco, Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce;
- Sen. Douglas Mwonzora, Member of Parliament;
- Rumbidzai Chisango, Principal External Relations
Officer;
- Shepherd Manhivi, Committee Clerk and Secretary to the Delegation; and
- Clive Mukushwa, Security Aide to the Hon. Speaker.
- From the onset, the delegation wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to H.E. Alice Mashingaidze, the Republic of Zimbabwe’s
Ambassador to Sweden together with her able staff and Mrs. Sofia
Margareta Andrietta Calltorp, former Swedish Ambassador to
Zimbabwe who completed her tour of duty in August 2019, for their sterling work in ensuring that the Parliamentary diplomacy visit to Stockholm was successful.
- It should be noted that Stockholm is only one of the four capitals the delegation initially intended to engage. Due to circumstances beyond the delegation’s control, visits to Washington, London and Brussels had to be postponed to mutually agreeable dates in the first quarter of 2020.
2.0 Purpose of the Visit
2.1 The re-engagement visit sought to complement the efforts of the Executive by articulating the major political and economic reforms being instituted by the Second Republic through parliamentary legal processes. Furthermore, the interface sought to strengthen bilateral relations between the Parliament of Zimbabwe and the Swedish Riksdag in areas of common interest.
2.2 To that end, the delegation held several meetings with the following stakeholders:-
- Dr. Andreas Norlen, Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag and his delegation;
- Irina Schoulgin Nyoni, Head of Africa Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and her delegation in place of the Swedish Foreign Minister who had resigned when the delegation arrived;
- Olle Thorell, Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs and his Delegation;
- Mrs Asa Jarskog, President of the Swedish-Southern Africa
Chamber of Commerce;
- Anna Sundstrom, Secretary General of the Olof Palme
International Centre for Democracy and her delegation; and
- Mr Leif Isaksson, International Secretary of the Swedish
Trade Union Confederation and his delegation.
3.0 The Delegation’s Message to Stakeholders in Sweden
3.1 Of paramount importance, the delegation emphasised the opening up of democratic space in Zimbabwe under President Mnangagwa’s leadership whose mantra is that “Zimbabwe Is Open For
Business” and should attain an upper middle income economy by 2030. The delegation informed their hosts that the New Dispensation under the leadership of President Mnangagwa had opened up the political democratic space. That is why 133 political parties emerged to contest the 2018 Harmonised Elections while 23 candidates registered to contest the presidential race. The electoral environment before, during and after was extremely conducive except for the regrettable violence in August 2018 and January 2019.
3.2 The stakeholders were informed that Parliament, through its constitutional mandate, is seized with instituting political and economic reforms. The reforms are anchored on the recommendations by
International Election Observer Missions during the 2018 Harmonised Elections, civil society petitions and the Montlanthe Commission recommendations.
3.3 With regards to electoral reforms, the delegation informed the Swedish stakeholders that POSA and AIPPA had been repealed while measures will be taken to strengthen the independence of the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the enforcement of the Electoral Code of Conduct through Multi Party Liaison Committees, among other measures.
3.4 Furthermore, the stakeholders were informed about the economic reforms being undertaken by Parliament to create a conducive environment for the ease of doing business. Accordingly, Parliament is currently considering the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) Bill which is now at Committee Stage. Once promulgated into law, it will create a One Stop Investment Centre and will harmonise Special Economic Zones and Joint Venture economic enterprises in order to attract domestic and foreign direct investors in Zimbabwe.
3.5 Additionally, the delegation advised the stakeholders that the indigenisation legislation had been repealed by Parliament through the Finance Act of 2018 because it negated foreign direct investment.
Foreign investors can now hold 100% shareholding if they so wish.
3.6 The delegation explained the ongoing political dialogue process comprising 19 political parties except the MDC-Alliance.
Overtures are underway to ensure that the main opposition party, the MDC Alliance, becomes part and parcel of the political dialogue so that the political dialogue becomes inclusive.
3.7 The delegation appealed to Sweden to assist Zimbabwe achieve a positive international image as it embarks on the highlighted reforms. In this context, the delegation called on the removal of the illegal sanctions which are hurting the Zimbabwean economy and the ordinary citizens.
4.0 Meeting with the Head of Africa Department- Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
4.1 The Parliamentary delegation diplomatic overtures led to the resignation of the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Maggot Wallstrom, who strongly contended that failure to dialogue with
Zimbabwe was a “bad policy” more so that the former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe was no more on Zimbabwe’s political arena. On the delegation’s arrival, she opined that,
“The other insight is that countries should not be isolated.
It’s such a bad policy. Now that Mugabe has died, look back at
Zimbabwe’s history and what happened when the country became isolated. How has it helped North Korea, how is it helping Iran? At the moment when countries are isolated, they join. They look inward and stop developing. To think that you should not meet them because you dislike their politics is the worst-it only gives more power to the reactionary forces and those who do not want democracy or democratic development. Then civilization itself goes backwards”.
Her resignation demonstrated the impact of the delegation’s visit, wittingly or unwittingly. As a result of her resignation, the delegation met with officials from the Africa Desk led by Mrs. Irina SchoulginNyoni who is the Head of the Department for Central, Eastern and
Southern Africa.
4.2 The delegation explained the electoral and economic reforms being championed by Parliament, specifically making reference to the repeal of POSA, AIPPA and the Indigenisation Act. POSA will be replaced by MOPA which is to be accented to and signed into law by the President. AIPPA is being substituted by the Freedom of Information
Bill, Protection of Personal Information Bill and the Media Commission Bill in order to address freedom of assembly and expression as championed by the Constitution.
4.3 While the officials made a commitment to advocate for
Zimbabwe’s re-engagement, they noted the following areas for action by
Zimbabwe:-
- Called for the need for dialogue between H.E. the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, and Leader of the main opposition Mr. Nelson Chamisa.
- Called on Zimbabwe to address currency volatility issues which create negative perceptions for investors.
- Called for specific programs to advance gender issues including gender budgeting.
- Called for programs to strengthen citizen’s involvement in political processes.
- Called for the expeditious adoption of key political and economic reforms through the Parliamentary legislative processes.
5.0 Meeting with the Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag
(Parliament)
5.1 The Meeting with the Hon Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag was held at the Riksdag Buildings. In attendance during this meeting were Ms. Sara Heikkinen Breitholtz, a Member of Parliament representing the Social Democratic Party and Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mats Nordberg, Member of Parliament representing the Sweden Democrats and a substitute Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Ms Yasmine Posio, Member of
Parliament representing the Left Party and Substitute Member of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Ms. Teres Lindberg, Member of
Parliament representing the Social Democratic Party and Vice
Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Ms. Anna Karin Hedstrom, Head of the International Department of the Riksdag and Mr. Ralph Hermansson, International Parliamentary Advisor.
5.2 In his opening remarks, Hon. Dr. Andreas Norlen, Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag gave a historical background and the current composition of the Riksdag highlighting that the Riksdag was bicameral until 1971 when it became unicameral. The Riksdag comprises of 139 Members from 8 political parties who are elected after every four years.
The Riksdag has 15 Standing Committees.
5.3 The host Hon. Speaker outlined his role as Speaker, specifically that he chairs the Riksdag Board, represents Parliament and Sweden both within and outside Sweden and he also leads the process of forming a government.
5.4 Hon. Advocate Mudenda extended his appreciation to the host Speaker’s gesture to meet the delegation at the Parliament
Buildings. Furthermore, he extended his appreciation to the Swedish
IPU delegation for proposing an Emergency Item during the 140th
Assembly of the IPU held in March 2019 calling for humanitarian aid in support of victims of Cyclone Idai which ravaged parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Subsequently, Zimbabwe received humanitarian amounting to over 600 million United States dollars for the reconstruction efforts.
5.5 The Zimbabwe delegation elaborated on efforts being undertaken by the Parliament to effect political and economic reforms as well as alignment of laws to the country’s Constitution. It affirmed that the Parliament of Zimbabwe is committed to the upholding of the tenets of the Bill of Rights as enshrined in the country’s Constitution.
5.6 The Swedish delegation welcomed the positive initiatives aimed at promoting democracy and democratic institutions through the political and economic reforms. In this regard, they called on the
Parliamentary delegation to:
- Ensure the expeditious implementation of the highlighted political and economic reforms.
- Ensure an inclusive political national dialogue that should foster public trust, ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights as well as paying attention to gender based violence.
5.7 In response to some of the concerns raised by the Swedish Speaker of Parliament, the Hon. Speaker indicated that the political and economic reforms are matters of legislative processes that occur in time through Parliamentary due diligence. The Hon. Speaker further explained that the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and the Gender Commission speak to the political dialogue matrix and gender based violence respectively. Additionally, the Swedish funded Institutions such as the Zimbabwe Institute have been assisting in the political party inclusive dialogue efforts. In further response, the Zimbabwe delegation advised their Swedish counterparts that democracy is an evolving phenomenon. It has taken, for example, 584 years since 1475 for Sweden to evolve its democracy to what it is now.
Thus, Zimbabwe’s democracy must be given chance to nurture its young democracy.
6.0 Meeting with the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
6.1 Hon. Olle Thorell, who is a Member of Parliament representing Social Democratic Party made reference to the long standing relations between Zimbabwe and Sweden which date back to the days of the Zimbabwe liberation struggle. Accordingly, he was keen to learn of new developments taking place in Zimbabwe and to explore possible areas of cooperation.
6.2 The delegation briefed the meeting on current developments highlighting the electoral and economic reforms, political dialogue and the re-engagement processes which seek to not only open Zimbabwe to the world but to enrich democratic processes as well. It made it clear that
Zimbabwe has a Government formed in line with the results of the 2018 Harmonized elections.
6.3 Hon. Mwonzora briefed the Meeting on the position of the MDC Alliance highlighting that the party is advocating for mediated dialogue that is essential but that it must be genuine, unconditional and predicated on national issues.
6.4 With regards to possible areas of cooperation, the delegation appealed for funding to capacitate key institutions such as Independent Commissions to effectively discharge their mandate. In addition, there is need to increase funding to Parliament which is being channeled through the Zimbabwe Institute as well as the scope for capacity building programmes.
6.5 The delegation appealed for the removal of sanctions and ending Zimbabwe’s isolation which has had a negative impact on the ordinary citizen.
6.6 Hon. Olle Thorell encouraged Zimbabwe to learn from the Swedish experience where all political parties had put aside their differences, formed alliances and a Government based on national interest. Accordingly, all political parties in Zimbabwe should engage in dialogue for the good of the country.
7.0 Meeting with the President of the Swedish Southern
Africa Chamber of Commerce (SSACC)
7.1 The Swedish Southern Africa Chamber of Commerce is an independent, non- profit making organisation that promotes trade and investment between Sweden and Sub-Saharan Africa.
7.2 The President of the SSACC has a keen interest in Zimbabwe and as such is willing to market Zimbabwe to her membership as part of re-engagement through Business interface. However, she emphasised that Swedish businesses are averse to risk and corruption preferring to invest in countries where there is policy consistency and the legislative framework governing various sectors of the economy.
7.2 The Zimbabwe delegation informed the Chamber President that the Indigenisation Act has been repealed and the investments will now be driven under the ZIDA Act whose Bill is currently before Parliament. It will address the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe. The delegation assured the Swedish Chamber that foreign investors would be able to repatriate their profits back to their country.
7.3 The Chamber President welcomed the developments with regards to the progress on the ZIDA bill. In this regard, she proposed convening a dialogue where representatives from the Zimbabwe business community would interface with her Chamber Members. In this regard, the Swedish Southern Africa Chamber of Commerce is willing to facilitate this engagement.
8.0 Meeting with the Olof Palme International Centre
8.1 The Olof Palme International Center is currently supporting political party dialogue in Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Institute. In addition, the Zimbabwe Institute has supported Parliament in its capacity building programmes for both Members and Officers of Parliament. The Centre works closely with the Social Democratic Party in Sweden as well as the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.
8.2 The delegation, briefed the Secretary General of the Olof Palme Centre on current developments in Zimbabwe focusing primarily on electoral and economic reforms as well as the political dialogue efforts taking place in Zimbabwe.
8.3 The Secretary General of the Centre welcomed the positive developments taking place in Zimbabwe and expressed a keen interest in maintaining programmes under its funding. In the spirit of encouraging an all-inclusive dialogue, the Centre sponsors joint youth programs across the political divide through the Zimbabwe Institute. The Centre was keen in advancing political and economic reforms being undertaken by Zimbabwe and, therefore, there was need for sustainable interface with the Centre.
9.0 Meeting with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
9.1 The Swedish Trade Union Confederation is one of the largest Trade Union Centres in the world. It has a long history of financially and morally supporting Trade Unions in Zimbabwe.
9.2 The delegation and the Trade Unionist exchanged best practices on labour rights for all workers, including the civil service and the right to collective bargaining. Of particular interest to the delegation was the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (NTF) which Zimbabwe has crafted into law so that recommendations arising from NTF are legally binding to all parties to the negotiations.
9.3 Of note is that Members of the Swedish Trade Union
Confederation have the right to support a political party of their choice although such a practice can create unnecessary political imperatives where there is change of government.
10.0 Conclusion and Recommendations
10.1 The role of Parliament in the re-engagement process through Parliamentary diplomacy cannot be over emphasised. The visit to
Sweden has strengthened the resolve to complement the Executive’s efforts in re-engaging the International Community and affirming the mantra that Zimbabwe Is Open for Business. Accordingly, efforts must be made to ensure that the delegation proceeds to Washington, London, and Brussels on the re-engagement trail through Parliamentary diplomacy. The visits will also help address the apparent negative perceptions about Zimbabwe.
10.2 While all stakeholders welcomed the positive developments as articulated by the delegation, it was clear that the international community expects Zimbabwe to focus on the implementation of political and economic reforms as well as the protection of human rights as enshrined in the country’s Constitution. Accordingly, Parliament of Zimbabwe will expedite the realisation of political and economic reforms as well as complete the aligning of all outstanding 60 laws to the country’s Constitution. This requires the concerted support of the
Executive because it is the Executive that generally originates the Bills.
10.3 The Zimbabwe Embassy in Stockholm needs to continuously engage the Swedish Southern Africa Chambers of Commerce with the view of jointly convening the proposed Business Conference. In addition to the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the
Parliament of Zimbabwe can delegate representatives from the Portfolio
Committees on Foreign Affairs and International Trade as well as
Industry and Commerce to attend the Conference in order to unpack the ZIDA Bill once it is promulgated into law so as to foster business reengagement.
10.4 From the delegation’s interaction with the Olof Palmer International Centre, there is a possibility of broadening the scope activities funded through the Zimbabwe Institute. Accordingly, there is need to engage the Zimbabwe Institute on possible areas of cooperation, especially in the quest for inclusive national political dialogue through national consensus building. Parliament should encourage the Zimbabwe Institute to carry on with the multi-party dialogue with the view of persuading political parties to embrace gender parity in their Party
Constitutions in line with the national Constitution.
10.5 Parliament may wish to immediately appoint a Constitution Committee to oversee the implementation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. In addition, this Committee would oversee the alignment of legislation with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
10.6 Corruption remains a major economic challenge and a major disincentive to local and foreign direct investment. Parliament should ensure that all institutions fighting corruption are adequately resourced through the National Budget so as to augment the President’s crusade against corruption. I thank you.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to
thank the delegation that represented our country. It is very important that we re-engage as Zimbabwe. We are not at war with anyone. We want to live in peace with other countries. Therefore, I want to thank the Committee which was led by the Speaker that they did a good thing by going to put it in black and white that in Zimbabwe we are in good books with each other. There are a few who propagate disharmony but as Zimbabweans and political parties in POLAD, which is led by those people who were called by the President that they should come together and build our nation; we live in peace woth each other.
I am gratiful for the opportunity that we were given that our people should know their representatives. We take this opportunity to engage other nations. What has caused strife in our country are sanctions which were imposed on us. It is not what is happening in Zimbabwe, it is being caused by sanctions and not the people of Zimbabwe. Hon.
Chairman, you did a good job. It is very important for us as Hon. Members that wherever we go, we should speak well of our country so that we remain united. We do not want people who tarnish the image of our country. As we are re-engaging, we want to work together but in our midst there are some who are against that, who are busy misrepresenting our country. Our democracy – since 1980, we have been holding elections and we do everything in terms of democracy. When it comes to rule of law, as a country, our courts do their work. Those who want to approach the courts go there and will get judgement according to their issues. There is nothing that can be said we are not doing in Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker, I think there should be more re-engagement processes. We know that because of the Covid-19 pandemic which is hampering our travels, we could have gone out and engage the UN, SADC and I know SADC will really understand us. We can go to America and other European countries who do not understand why we are under sanctions. Some of the people who caused the sanctions are no longer there. So we want to explain to them. I want to respect this Committee and that resources should be availed and they should travel to all the other countries so that our voice as Zimbabweans is heard. We are not at war with anyone. We want to remain united with all the other nations but enemies in our midst are the ones who are denigrating our country and portraying it as a bad country. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to applaud the delegation led by Hon. Speaker, Adv. Jacob Mudenda, Hon. Paradza and the seconder Hon. Chief Whip. Madam Speaker, there are just five issues that I want to bring to the fore that we can take a cue from in terms of our engagement and re-engagement with the Swedish community. Madam Speaker, what I want to bring to the fore is that we can take a cue from in terms of our engagement and reengagement with the Swedish Community. The first thing that Sweden is renowned for is the ease of doing business. We got a law that speaks to and about the
Special Economic Zones. The Second Republic’s mantra is: 2030 upper middle income economy led by His Excellency, President E. D. Mnangagwa and could fit in very well by the ease of doing business, coupled with the issue of the Special Economic Zones. Kugara nhaka kuona dzevamwe and if you want to see far, you need to stand on the shoulders of giants. Here is a giant and the people of Zimbabwe and indeed those of Chegutu West want to excel in the ease of doing business.
Our economy is skewed towards the informal sector and a lot of that is in my constituency. However, for us to have a vibrant and robust Government, we need to pay our taxes, formalise the informal sector and make sure that we pay our dividends so that we can use what we have to get what we want. So, the ease of doing business and this country we are talking about is Sweden and the biggest economy in the world who is the U.S.A. is ranked number 23 in terms of the ease of doing business in that index. Whereas, globally Sweden is number one according to the ranking of 2017.
In 2010 where I ask for you to take a cue from, they were number 17 but come 2017 they are already on top of the world and the biggest economy is number 23. We need to take a cue from their ease of doing business. They also have global competitiveness – they rank number one after having occupied the sixth place for a very long time. This delegation was not misdirected. It directed its efforts very well. Hatina kupedzera tsvimbo kumakunguwo idzo hanga dziripo. We went for the jagular not and it was well directed.
We always speak about the gender parity and gender equality. Zimbabwe Parliament because of our 60 proportional representation for women, we rank average 30% in terms of women representation whereas continentally, the average is 20%. I speak about the closing of the gender parity in Sweden from 81% that was the gender gap that was there but now there is parity. There is 50/50 in Sweden. The issue of gender equality is the gender agenda in the Sweden legislative community.
I say this because they were ranked by the world economic forum global gender gap index, the fourth world economic forum global gap index. They ranked Sweden. I speak about this so that we do not put our efforts and direct them aimlessly in other jurisdictions. Let us get what we can and take what we get from the Swedish Community. Let us learn from them.
The fourth issue is that it has low levels of corruption. The Second Republic is all about reduction, eradication, removal and annihilation of corruption. Here is a country where we sent a whole delegation to go and take a cue from the best. If you want to go far, you go with someone and we want to go with Sweden. We do not want to walk this path alone, we want to remove this corruption. They are number four out of 186 countries globally in terms of the perception of corruption - the way they are perceived, in which case we as a country only dream to get to number one. So, here is a country which is four places from number one which has pledged to be our friend.
The fifth and last issue that I want to talk about in terms of Sweden is that they are highly innovative. We are currently grappled with education 5.0 where we do not only want to churn out graduates that are full, waxing lyrical and devoid of practical ability in terms of production and production. Here is an opportunity to move with the best in terms of innovation. As a country we are endowed with ubiquitous amount of mineral wealth and the better if we utilised them, beneficiated, value added and enhanced our innovation.
I went to Europe once and I saw the roads and the infrastructure of transport in Belgium and somebody whispered into my ear to say this country that you call Belgium has not even one mineral but it has become what it is, robust, resilient and efficient infrastructure in terms of transportation because of beneficiating and value adding the resources of DRC, because DRC was a former colony of the Belgian community. However, we have only excavated about twenty of our more than sixty minerals. We need to enhance our innovation. Let us ask - inyathi ibuzwa kwabapambili - Sweden how they have done it so that we also do it with our minerals in terms of innovation.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I want to applaud the delegation that went and came back. They saw and they conquered and now they are here to report back like the dove in the days of Noah. The people of Chegutu West Constituency send their love and they sent me to applaud this report that has been presented by the Speaker’s delegation. I thank you.
HON. MUTAMBISI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. K. PARADZA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 24th June, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MUTAMBISI: I move that House revert to Order No. 10.
HON. PARADZA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WOMEN
AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
DEVELOPMENT ON FACT FINDING VISITS TO SELECTED
MINISTRY DISTRICT OFFICES AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
PROJECTS
HON. MADIWA: I move the motion standing in my name:
That this House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio
Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development on Fact Finding Visits to Selected Ministry
District Offices and Women Empowerment Projects in Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland South.
HON. K. PARADZA: I second.
HON. MADIWA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, the Ministry of
Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises
Development faces challenges in the execution of its mandate, especially at district level. The challenges, among others, are inadequate office space and insufficient project funding. This was highlighted by the
Ministry officials during the Committee’s induction seminar held from 8 to 11 February, 2019 at Montclaire, in Nyanga. To familiarize itself with these challenges, the Portfolio Committee toured selected district offices and projects in Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo and Matebeleland South.
The Committee toured the following projects:
- Nyamukovera Garden at Nyaguwe River and Kuwirirana Knitting
Cooperative at Nyamashato Primary School in Mashonaland East
- Biriri Women's Craft and Genstar Honey Processing Plant in
Manicaland;
- Mhiti Gardening Cooperative and Great Zimbabwe Craft Center in
Masvingo; and
- Rovona Raita Mopane Caterpillars Processing Center in
Matebeleland South.
The Committee also visited Ministry district offices in Murehwa,
Chimanimani, Masvingo, Chivi and Beitbridge.
FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE
1. State of District Offices and General Infrastructure
The major concern that the Committee was confronted with at the district offices visited was the deplorable state of offices and furniture that officers were using. To begin with, most if not all Ministry offices at the districts were rented. At Murewa Center, the Committee found that the Ministry was accommodated at Chimedza Complex at $220 per month; in Manichanland it was housed in the Agribank Building at $150 per office per month; in Chivi District they are accommodated in Chivi Rural District Council offices; while in Beitbridge it occupied an old building which used to be a Police camp.
The Committee noted with concern that some offices were hardly suitable for use as public offices. They lacked basic requirements such as sufficient ventilation, were crowded, and in some cases too small. Ablution facilities at some district offices, such as Murewa Center, were not functioning. In Chivi and Beitbridge district offices were overcrowded as four officers were sharing one office. At Chimanimani District office, the Committee was informed that at least six (6) officers were using one (1) office. This greatly compromises the performance of officers. Privacy and confidentiality of clients seeking services related to gender based violence and other forms of abuse could not be guaranteed. Lack of privacy was highlighted as the main reason restraining potential clients from bringing up cases with the Ministry.
The Committee therefore expressed concern on the general outlook of almost all offices visited. Their immediate premises were unkempt and needed face lifting in order to project the good image of the Ministry
in districts.
The Committee further noted that all district offices visited had no adequate furniture and even basic items such as chairs and desks. The furniture which was being used was old and damaged. This was either obtained from or shared with other Ministries. At Murewa Center, the Committee was informed that the three chairs used by the Ministry of
Women Affairs belonged to the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, and whenever that Ministry was having meetings, the chairs would be moved from the office.
- Shortage of Office Computers, Printers and Lack of
Internet Connectivity
To be efficient, public offices are now expected to use computers and Internet facilities in the collection, processing, storing, distribution and exchange of documents and information with other administrative bodies and citizens. However, the Committee observed with deep concern that most district offices had no computers and were not connected to the internet. At Chimanimani District, there were only two computers shared among 24 officers without internet connection.
The Committee was further informed that there was no functioning printer, since the only one printer available broke down in 2017. The situation was similar at other district offices. For instance, the Committee noted that at Chivi District 3 officers were sharing one computer. At Beitbridge office, four (4) officers were sharing an office.
They were sharing one laptop donated by the International Labour
Organisation to documents and process the work of the entire district. The officers indicated that there was no internet connection for a month due to payment arrears.
3. Mobility of Officers
The Committee was also deeply concerned that all the district offices that were visited had no transport. The Committee was informed that district heads had no vehicles. There were also no motor bikes for officers who are expected to monitor SMEs and cooperatives projects in their wards. The Committee received disturbing reports that motor bikes, purchased four (4) years ago, which by now should have been distributed to all districts, were still parked at the Head Office in Harare, awaiting distribution. The reasons given to the Committee for the long delay in distributing these motor bikes were not convincing. The Committee was informed that training of riders and provisions of riders' safety kits were the main reasons the Ministry has failed to distribute the motor bikes. The Committee was told that ideally, District Development Officers should be based at the office two (2) days while three (3) days should be spent in the field. However, without reliable means of transport, District Development Officers overseeing 32 wards, in the case of Chivi District, were not visiting projects as frequently as they should.
The Committee was informed in all the districts visited, that Ministry Officials were failing to meet the requirements for cooperative projects to be visited at least once every month by junior development officers and once quarterly by the district head. The Committee was further informed that consistent adherence to projects monitoring schedule was not possible as officers were relying on transports services by partners and Non- Governmental Organisations operating in their area.
4.Projects Sectors
Pertaining to cooperative projects coordinated by the Ministry, the Committee observed with concern that with few exceptions, most projects were predominately engaged in the primary sector of the economy. This is a sector that is involves the extraction of raw materials. These projects range from market gardening projects, crafts making centers, to chicken rearing enterprises into which women mainly venture. It is the view of the Committee that by concentrating on extractive activities, the Ministry projects are losing a lot of value and money to players down the value chain which process and add value to products that they produce.
5.Use of Modern Machinery and Technology
The Committee noted with concern that projects do not use modern machinery and technology. As a result, some projects, for example Mhiti Garden in Chivi and Nyamukowera Garden in Murewa tended to be at peak during the rainy season when water is available. The two projects were found to be operating at low ebb due to minimum use of irrigation technology during the hot dry season. The cooperative projects also tended to be at small-scale and subsistence oriented, producing small quantities of products such as fruits, vegetables, tomatoes and chickens that are sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is the view of the Committee that without full adoption of modern technology and scaling up operations into value addition and beneficiation, SMEs and cooperative projects in districts will not be able to develop and transform into commercial scale.
The Committee also noted with concern that at Biriri Women's Craft Center, Chimanimani, members were still making and processing their products manually. The Committee's view is that the adoption of modern technology in processing raw materials will go a long way in improving the quality and volume of products produced. However, the
Committee was pleased to note that there are already initiatives towards value addition and beneficiation in some districts. For instance, Nyamukowera Garden in Murehwa uses modern solar powered vegetable drier and packaging. Genstar Honey Processing Plant in Chimanimani, through ILO constructed the plant and acquired modern filters and settling tanks, at a cost of US$100 000. In Beitbridge, Rovona Raita Project, funded through ILO and Africa Development Bank, is finalizing amacimbi/madora processing plant using modern boilers, driers and packaging equipment. These are positive developments towards value addition and beneficiation.
- Underfunded Cooperative Projects.
The other issue submitted to the Committee at all the projects toured was the challenge of inadequate capital investment. Reports received indicated that apart from funding provided through ILO, UN Women and African Development Bank, the Ministry of Women
Affairs, Community, SMEs Development was not doing enough in terms of providing additional funding to propel projects into full scale operations.
At Nyamukowera Garden, the Committee was informed that 3 hectares were not enough for a 30 membership project for it to operate at commercial scale and that 5 additional hectares were required. Other requirements were a 15 horse power pump; that additional two 1000 liter tanks; and high-efficiency solar panels in order to pump enough water for the project. The Committee was of the view that the Ministry should as a matter of urgency, support Nyamukowera project through provision of additional capital investment, otherwise the project is now at the brink of collapse, yet all the basic equipment are in place. The same scenario applies to Genstar Honey Processing Plant in Chimanimani, where the plant was constructed and equipment was purchased in 2016, courtesy of funding from development partners, yet three (3) years now, the plant is not operating. The explanation given by Ministry officials that the members of the cooperative were not united was found to be unsatisfactory by the Committee.
The Committee however, was pleased to receive reports that the
Ministry had engaged a partner, Africa Fruit, to assess the project, provide more equipment, and inject seed capital required to acquire initial volumes of honey to begin processing. The partner after two years will hand over the project to the members.
The Committee was further informed that there were a considerable number of funding vehicles at the disposal of the Ministry, which include: Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank (ZWMB);
Women Development Fund (WDF); Community Development Fund
(CDF); Micro Enterprise Development Fund; and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (SMEDCO). The multiplicity of funding facilities was described as chaotic by Ministry officials as it is difficult for the Ministry to coordinate and monitor.
7. Access to Lucrative Markets
All the projects toured informed the Committee that they were severely hindered by limited access to lucrative markets for the various projects produce. In fact, projects located in outlying areas such as Nyamukowera Garden project in Murehwa endure access roads that are in a bad state. Projects such as Biriri Women's Craft and Great Zimbabwe Craft Center, informed the Committee that they needed to be linked to tourists’ markets at domestic, regional and international level
for them to sell their handcraft products.
8.Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects
The Committee was informed that Genstar Honey Processing Plant in Chimanimani, Great Zimbabwe Craft Center in Masvingo, and
Rovona Raita Project were constructed at a cost of US $100 000, US$50 000, and US$256 000, respectively. The construction of these project facilities was a combined effort of respective rural district councils, Public Works Department, Forest Commission, EMA, DDF, and development partners that included International Labour Organisation and Africa Development Bank. Considering that huge amounts of financial resources are at stake, and also in the interest of transparency and accountability, it is the view of the Committee that frequent audits of these constructions and funds disbursement be carried out to ensure value for money.
9. Training and Capacity Building of Project Members
One of the key functions of the Ministry is to provide, coordinate and facilitate technical and entrepreneurship skills and management training that support the development of women, communities, cooperatives, and SMEs. In this regard, the Committee was grateful to note that all the districts and projects visited reported that they had been trained and empowered in various business acumen skills. However, the Committee was told that the Ministry has a challenge in terms of the key competences such as marketing skills as most of its officers were social scientists.
COMMITTEE'S OBSERVATIONS
From the submissions made to the Committee during the tour the following observation were made.
- That although the Ministry has effectively decentralised critical services to the grass roots level, setting up standard offices, furniture provision and general infrastructure remain a key challenge.
- That at districts, electronic collection, processing, storing, distribution and exchange of documents and information among administrative bodies and between administrative bodies and citizens, may be constrained due to critical shortage of computers and weak or absence of internet connectivity.
- That due to shortage of transport, at all districts visited, Junior Community Development Officers and District Heads, were not able to visit and monitor projects as per the requirements of the Ministry, yet they are on the payroll collecting monthly salaries. The Committee noted that officers are in offices most days of the week, yet the requirement is that they should be visiting projects in their wards at least three days of the week.
- That most cooperative projects remain predominately extracting primary products and generally at household level. The majority of projects have not fully and or are in the process of adopting of modern technology, value addition and beneficiation. This scenario severely retards SMEs to do mass production of quality products for marketing at national, regional and international level.
- That despite the existence of a multiplicity of funding vehicles at the disposal of the Ministry, the Committee observed that development partners, ILO, UN Women and Africa Development Bank, were more visible on the ground in terms of the funding of most cooperative projects. The Ministry is apparently failing to provide capital support for most projects to enable them to embark on full scale operations in their various ventures.
- That most cooperative projects are not well linked to lucrative markets at domestic, regional and international level. The Committee further noted that without vibrant marketing strategy, the projects face the risk of continuing to operate at subsistence scale without developing into commercial scale.
- That District Officers were not mobile as they have no vehicles to monitor projects with whilst a fund has allocation for project vehicles.
- That the Ministry has no evidence based information systems.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Given that SMEs and cooperative projects at community level are the main source of employment and are major contributors to value creation in emerging economies, the Committee made the following recommendations.
- The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, and SMEs Development, through the Public Works Department, should progressively put in place state of the art buildings, offices with ablution facilities, at all districts, in order to provide adequate office space for all its officers beginning December 2019.
- The Ministry should with immediate effect release vehicles secured for projects that are at Head Office in Harare and motor bikes purchased four years ago to enable officers to monitor projects.
- The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, and SMEs
Development, in line with Government’s e-Government programme and public sector reforms should urgently procure modern computers, laptops and connect all its district offices to Internet by April 2020.
- The Ministry should have one funding mechanism for its projects which should be well managed and coordinated like all funding coming under the Women’s Micro-Finance Bank by January 2020.
- The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, and SMEs Development should facilitate SMEs and cooperative projects to market their products through trade exhibitions and other forms of linkages to lucrative markets at domestic level, regionally, and internationally. The Committee strongly recommends adoption of modern technology so that these small businesses can interact with customers, both in terms of providing the services or products and engaging them afterwards. Through ICT adoption and use, in partnerships with rural district councils, the cooperative projects has potential to open a lot more avenues and opportunities for opening up online markets and so they can offer 24/7 customer services by December 2019.
- The Ministry should urgently facilitate capacity building for its officials on the technical aspects of women issues and community development principles which seems to lack on the ground, by the end of 2019.
- The Ministry should conduct project feasibility studies, impact assessments and ensure ownership of projects by communities. On the same note, projects economic zones should be established and ensure they are established in areas of their highest potential. The Committee expects a plan of action before the Ministry’s 2020 budget presentation to the Committee.
- The Ministry should sensitise communities in madora harvesting business especially Rovona Raita project marketing to do away with side road selling. This should be done before the next madora harvesting season around October 2019.
CONCLUSION
The main conclusion made by the Committee was that though the
Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development has decentralised, a lot remains to be done to ensure quality service to the people. A majority of Zimbabwean women and girls especially those in the grassroots are still yet to benefit from the
Government’s women economic empowerment initiatives as funds are thin on the ground.
*HON. CHIPATO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to add my voice to the report that was presented in this august House. What we noticed is that there is problem with office space. You know as women, people come with different issues, for example, abuse. These issues of abuse do not necessarily affect women only, there are men who are victims of domestic violence and to report such cases sometimes is a bit of a challenge if there are other people in the office. So, I would like to ask that there should be shelters for such victims. We know that they deserve their privacy.
The other thing is that there is need for computers because it is important to keep records; just writing small pieces of paper is not a good way of keeping records. My request is that the Ministry should receive computers, vehicles and motorcycles. If such things are bought and hidden at head office, we end up not knowing whether they were bought for the rural people or those who are keeping them.
We know sometimes women try their best to engage in income generating projects but my request is that these women should get modern technology. Some make handicrafts and other things, I know that if Government assists women their livelihood will be enhanced. In other countries we have noted that there are women who are engaged in similar programmes. It is important to introduce exchange programmes with women who are even beyond our borders. This will help our women so that they identify virtual markets even outside the country, for example, we know that sometimes women go to Trade Fairs. As a Committee we request that this should be broadened nationwide and not only continue to send the same people year-in, year-out. Also my request is that Programme Officers should be empowered with equipment that they can use.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to support the presentation by the Committee on Women’s Affairs. We know that as women, we are the bedrock of our families and we are the pillars that people depend on. When we looked at the annual budget we discovered that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has the smallest chunk. However, there is a big task ahead of them. They are supposed to go around the country; they have a number of projects throughout the country but they do not have enough resources to tour such projects because they do not have vehicles or motorcycles. There are some motorcycles that were bought which have not been distributed to women and because of that such projects do not perform well.
Of course there are some donors who donate money but donations alone without monitoring and evaluating do not auger well with the projects. We also heard that there are shortages of chairs in offices.
This is not good for offices where many people visit. We want District Development Officers to be empowered. We know that they are not moving around but this result in loss of revenue. We also heard that these officers who move around touring projects do not have necessary expertise to understand gender issues. We heard that there are some people who move around who have their own gender based violence issues so people with knowledge and expertise should be deployed.
The Committee heard that there is a cooperative which is not performing well because its members are not united. This is as a result of lack of expertise on the side of the leaders. So, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs should engage qualified people who can counsel and make people understand that if you are not united you will not go anywhere. We heard that there is not enough land, just 2 hectares is too small for that Ministry and as a result our request is that they should be allocated land so that they can expedite their duties and also till the land commercially. At the moment they cannot engage in commercial farming because they do not have the necessary expertise. Government should prepare people so that they can work on their projects and identify markets. For them to identify markets it is important to have a good road network. The other thing is that the Women’s Affairs Ministry should empower people with irrigation knowledge because we have noticed that most people wait for the rain season to start farming.
There is also need for them to be given modern machinery instead of waiting for one season so that they can be productive. This will not only benefit women but both men and women. I thank you.
*HON. NYERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I stood up to support what the Chairperson of our Committee said during her presentation. We met a number of challenges when we were moving around. We went to Nyamukowera in Murehwa, which is an agro-based area which does not have a ready market. A lot of women were complaining that they do not have a ready market and there is no good road network. They normally go to Shamva and they were saying that at times they would use small boats to cross a river in that province.
The other problem that we faced is that women are not empowered, they are not free. They do not have enough time to engage in various projects. They also encounter problems of shortages for example bikes that were bought but were not distributed to these women. The Ministry should resolve the issue and it does not make sense that the bikes have not been distributed for four years.
Madam Speaker, the Chairperson mentioned a number of things so
I decided to debate in support of women. There is a certain area in Beitbridge where women are selling mopane worms. This may be a project yet the resources are not there. If a project is identified, surely all the necessary amenities should be there. With these few words, I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me thank the
Chairperson of the Women’s Affairs Committee. I appreciate the report that was presented. For sure, we moved around the country and I would like to support what was presented. A lot of things have been said but let me identify some issues that were not mentioned.
Madam Speaker, the Ministry is for Women’s Affairs and Small to Medium Enterprises. So, we met a lot of people who were not satisfied with the aspect of small to medium enterprises coming under this
Ministry of Women’s Affairs although it includes men, women and youth. So, they wanted clarity on that, particularly concerning gender which is not only about women but about both women and men. So, some thought women’s issues should be about women’s issues only because SMEs cover more than 60% on its own.
The SMEs should be a standalone entity according to the people. So, that should be looked into. Secondly, the projects that we saw are very small. In other meetings, I remember the President Hon. Mnangagwa mentioning that women should identify and engage in big projects. The money that women are given is a paltry sum which results in them engaging in small income generating projects. So, my request is that if it is a garden, there should be value addition empowered with solar so that they can produce and export dried vegetables. This might result in big projects. We need sanitary pads in this country. Sanitary pads fall under the Women’s Affairs Ministry. So if the Ministry concentrates on women’s issues, then there is need for a women owned factory which would be responsible for manufacturing sanitary pads instead of the current situation where women continue complaining. We can do these masks which came as a result of Covid-19. These should be produced by the Ministry because women mostly engage in sewing.
The other issue is transport. My request is that all Ward cordinators under the Ministry of Women’s Affairs should be given motorbikes and other forms of transportation and every district should be given a car because it is difficult to move around without vehicles. The other point again is that every project should have monitoring and evaluation policy so that people understand how much money the project was given, what was done and what was not done. Then we can sit down and evaluate these activities. I believe this will assist the Ministry particularly in the evaluation of such projects so that good things can be replicated.
Looking at offices, most offices are in urban areas. Let me give an example of the Women’s Affairs office in Kwekwe, it is not in the CBD. When you get into town, you have to travel for three to five kilometers to get to the office despite the fact that someone will be coming from the rural areas. They get into town and then they have to commute again. These offices should be located in the CBD. With those few words, I thank you.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: I rise to support the gender issues. Women are very important people. These are people who are honoured nationwide. Yes, we want women to be given money for projects and to engage in various activities but these projects should be done district by district and constituency by constituency. However, we have noted that when these monies are disbursed, at times they are given to prominent people who are known by the Ministry or related to Ministry officials.
This does not reflect the freedom of women.
Madam Speaker, in other areas, they are just told that a Women’s Bank was opened, their names are written down. However, they end up coming to us as their Members of Parliament seeking our assistance. Some end up saying that they wasted their monies going to such centres seeking for these monies. So, my point is that there should be transparency in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs; it is not good to pilfer or to steal to give your relative.
Madam Speaker, we are sick and tired of hearing complaints by women who did not benefit. Women’s Bank should benefit people constituency by constituency. There must be a database of beneficiaries in every constituency and every district of women who are engaging in various business activities. At times women complain that they are not being given money. We have a problem with the Women’s Affairs Ministry. The Bank which targets women is not found in different localities. This Bank should be decentralised instead of expecting women to move around towns, going to big cities like Harare and
Masvingo. So, I would like to support the issue of the Women’s Ministry.
There should be transparency so that Members of Parliament know the databases and even when women are given their pads, there should be a database. For me as a man to be given pads for distribution will not be correct. We need to see young girls running around and these things should be clear to everyone.
At times it seems as if there are shady activities so there must be transparency and clarity in the Women Affairs Ministry. A mother is a mother and a grandmother remains a grandmother so even if my wife or daughter benefit; yes it is a good thing because they will be assisted by the Ministry but my point is that the money that is being referred to is not evident on the ground. We have not seen it so I am saying that the money should not be concentrated in town centres but should benefit rural areas and growth points like Murambinda, Chipinge and
Checheche. There are a lot of banks in these areas, for example in
Checheche there is CBZ and POSB. The Women’s Bank should also rent in post offices because if we expect this bank to be based in town centres, our mother and women will not be able to commute to town centres. So, we expect the Women’s Bank to rent its space in different localities in post offices so that women benefit throughout the country.
I stood up to support women’s issues. Gender issues also involve us as men. Yes, it was mentioned that men are being beaten up and they do not speak up. It is true, it happens. At times you speak about it, but you need to be a courageous man. We are in trouble Mr. Speaker Sir. Men are in trouble. Some are being abused by women. This is the case the world over and not only in Zimbabwe but internationally. When a man is beaten up, no one speaks about it. I would like to request that women should not engage in domestic violence and men should look after their wives instead of perpetuating violence. I thank you.
*HON. PRISCILLA MOYO: I would like to support this report which was presented by the Women’s Portfolio Committees. Looking at what has been said by different speakers, I am very glad because women are analyzing what is happening in different localities. As women, we feel pained that we have our own Ministry which is supposed to represent us. Yes, gender is also involved in the Ministry but since it is the Women Affairs Ministry, we expect that women’s issues will be looked at. We request that areas like Mwenezi where there are Mopani worms which are a natural resource, women be able to utilise them. Unfortunately, we cannot sell them at a profit. We notice that they are sold at a cheap price but resold at large profits in towns.
My plea is that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs should look at the issue. There should be beneficiation in every locality looking at the processing of different produce and concentrating on how the community can benefit or get value from the produce. There are a lot of issues that we are looking at in the Ministry such as the point that officers in different areas should be women. I am not saying that men should not be employed but women’s issues need women who understand such issues. For example, if I have been physically abused, there are some words that I cannot speak or talk about when communicating with a man. My request is that the Ministry should look at the issue and engage more female officers.
The other things are to do with transportation. Yes, there are a few projects but to expect women to travel for 50 km so that they submit their project proposals or apply for funding is difficult. They end up using a lot of money for printing and other requirements yet they do not have that kind of money. Even though they want to start their own business, they might not have the requisite documentation. These are the few points that I wanted to add. Thank you.
*HON. SHIRICHENA: I stand to add my voice on this motion on women’s issues. I believe that women are 52% of the total population of Zimbabwe. The success of a woman is the success of a man and children but looking at the Women’s Affairs Ministry which is supposed to help us as women, I believe that things are not in order. For a woman to have a good livelihood, Government should look at workers who are there to enhance the livelihood of women. According to my knowledge, you discover that in ten wards, there is one coordinator who might not necessarily be able to service the whole ward. My request is that we have a ward coordinator in every ward.
I would also like to say that as women, we are told that we have a
Women’s Bank which gives us loans. I would like to say that the money that is in the Women’s Bank is peanuts as it is not enough to fund women’s projects so that we have sustainable projects. I stood up to say that Government should add more Ward Coordinators throughout the country and also when the annual Budget is being presented, the
Ministry of Women’s Affairs should be given more money instead of being given change from other ministries. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. *HON. CHIKUNI: Let me conclude by thanking the Chairperson of our Committee. For sure, we toured the projects observing what is hampering our Ministry from growing. I observed that from each and every District, the offices that we saw do not qualify to be offices of the Ministry which is 40 years now.
In each and every District, there are people who are mining gold or diamond but the councils which are there should speak to those miners so that they erect infrastructure for those ministries. You cannot say it is a Ministry office without furniture. They can only accommodate two people at a time. I was thinking that this new dispensation would rectify that.
The other thing is that our Ministry employs people who are not competent. There is a lot of nepotism and that is hampering progress in the Ministry. Officers in the wards are not competent and you know that most women are not educated. They only went up to Grade 7 but they can work skillfully. They want people who uplift their lives – people who monitor them from time to time. The officers who are there do not know much about the Ministry. They are not educated.
In some of the wards, you go to District level and it is much better but if you get to the Province, there are men who just say this is women business. They do not know that there is gender and SMEs. I am urging the Ministry that it should be investigated because it has a lot of work to do. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MUTAMBISI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MHONA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 24th June, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MUTAMBISI: I move that the rest of the Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day Number 18 has been disposed
HON. TOGAREPI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 63RD COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF
WOMEN ON SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS, ACCESS TO
PUBLIC SERVICES AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN
AND GIRLS HELD IN NEW YORK
HON. KWARAMBA: I move the motion that this House takes note of the Report of the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women on Social Protection Systems, Access to Public Services and Sustainable
Infrastructure for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and
Girls.
HON. MKARATIGWA: I second.
HON. KWARAMBA:
1.0 Introduction
The 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63) was held from 11- 23 March 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States of America. The Parliamentary delegation was headed by the President of the Senate Hon. Mabel Chinomona and comprised of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe
Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) Hon. Goodlucky Kwaramba
and Hon. Sibusisiwe Budha respectively, Director in Madam President of the Senate’s office Mr. Kudakwashe Guvi, Aide to Madam President of the Senate’s Office, Mr. Simeon Chifamba and Mrs. Farai Chidongo secretariat and technical advisor to the delegation. This year’s conference was held under the theme,” Social Protection Systems, Access to Public Services and Sustainable Infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”
This report will focus on key issues from remarks made at the official opening by the UN, AU, SADC and the Zimbabwe ministerial statement. Key issues from the IPU session will also be covered. Zimbabwe held two side events. The report will, in conclusion, give lessons learnt and recommendations that Zimbabwe can take up in addressing social protection, infrastructure and use and access to public services from a gender perspective.
2.0 Official Opening ceremony of CSW63
2.1.0 Remarks by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres
In his remarks the “Secretary General” stated that the Commission could easily be called the Commission on the Status of Power whilst quoting Professor Beard who said “If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of Power, surely it is power we need to define and not women.” A call was made to member states to acknowledge the power of women and to address the imbalance in power relations. He acknowledged that having women at the table enhances sustainable peace. Furthermore, he noted that parity is about our effectiveness in securing peace, advancing human rights and achieving the SDGs.
2.1.1 Remarks by the UN Women Executive Director,
Phumuzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Key highlights in her remarks included women's ability to access public services, especially in acquisition of relevant identity documents whilst also noting that most women are found in the informal sector and hence need social protection. Concern was expressed over water and firewood collection which compromises their security hence the need to provide clean accessible household water. Emphasis was also made on the need for women and girls to be active participants in infrastructural development than just recipients. On access to safer public spaces, the director bemoaned the lack of security due to poor lighting and harassment, especially at transport terminals. She noted that public services can create a positive image on gender equality.
2.1.2 Statement by the Chairperson of the CEDAW reporting committee
Of key importance was that CEDAW is the only human rights instrument that acknowledges gender social protection systems.
Emphasis was however on the structure of social protection. Article 13 of CEDAW calls for social protection such as healthcare, pension and maternity protection. The issue of social protection for migrant worker as some do not even have documents.
2.1.3 African Union Statement to CSW 63
The African position was hinged on the family. The chairperson highlighted how gender inequality and social protection affects the stability of the family and hence social protection can be used to address the imbalances which affect women and girls. The issue of home based care work was emphasised which undermines women’s productivity.
2.2.0 Zimbabwe Statement to CSW63 presented by the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community Small and Medium Enterprises.
2.2.1 The ministerial statement noted how Zimbabwe had mainstreamed the SDGs into its national development policies and programmes to underline its commitment towards the provision of social protection, public services and gender equality as highlighted in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP). The work NSSA is doing in terms of social protection was emphasised as well as the progressive constitutional provisions and legislation such as the Social Welfare
Assistance Act, the Refugees Act, Disabled Persons Act, Older Persons
Act to address social protection
2.2.2 Other issues highlighted in the report included education especially with ECD having been introduced and Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) for the vulnerable- STEM was cited as well as ZIMDEF for having contributed towards development of human capital for industrial growth and expansion. The statement also noted the 145 vocational training support. The minister however bemoaned the brain drain as its professionals in strategic areas have left for greener pastures.
2.2.3 Other social protection systems noted included the HIV/AIDS levy, provision of healthcare, provision of water and sanitation infrastructure, energy, power and rural electrification supply which has reduced care work though a lot still needs to be done. However, challenges noted included Gender Based Violence and child marriages.
3.0 Zimbabwe Side Events
Zimbabwe held two side events - one by The Ministry of Women
Affairs, Community and SME development and another by the Office of
Her Excellency The First Lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa on the Angel of Hope Foundation.
3.1 Community based initiatives for building resilience and social security for women: Ministry of Women Affairs, Community
Small and Medium Enterprises
This side event focused on what the Government of Zimbabwe is doing in terms of safety nets for women. Key issues outlined included the internal lending system through SACCOS. After women are trained and certificated, loans are then availed to start businesses in groups. The group’s performance is monitored by government. Such projects include aquaculture, horticulture, market gardening and poultry to name but a few. Ministers of state also gave contributions highlighting the success of these interventions in their various provinces. An issue on protection of migrant women was raised during plenary. Contributions from plenary included how empowerment should not only end with small projects but should also be extended to professional empowerment such as education and increase the number of women professionals.
3.2 Side event by Angel of Hope Foundation: Office of Her Excellency the First Lady of the Second Republic of Zimbabwe
This was held by the office of Her Excellency The First Lady of Zimbabwe Mrs. Auxillia Mnangagwa. Key issues highlighted included the work of the foundation, assisting the disadvantaged or vulnerable in acquiring identity documents, access to sexual reproductive services - capacitating them for sustainable livelihoods through income generating projects, building homes for them and mostly the painful case of the Doma people. The Doma case attracted a lot of attention and could attract partners for the foundation.
4.0 The Inter Parliamentary Union session: Investing in Gender equality parliaments ensuring social protection, public services and infrastructure deliver for women and girls
The delegation attended the IPU session held under the theme highlighted above. On the session on Sexism, harassment and violence against women MPs with the hash tag #NotinMyParliament#, a call was made to Parliamentarians to push for a code of conduct and establish internal disciplinary measures to fight sexual harassment. It was noted that this was real in all Parliaments and would guarantee social protection of all women MPs who are targets of their counter parts. The absence of such measures has made these cases go unreported.
MPs were also urged to be more aggressive to ensure Gender Responsive Budgeting is done and that key ministries dealing with social protection systems, public services and infrastructure receive adequate budgets in order to deliver to the people. Decision making on budget allocations, taxation and income distribution are crucial to redress existing imbalances in society. Consideration of taxation policies that enhance women’s economic empowerment was also key.
The issue of unpaid care work was raised with emphasis on the need for the state to ensure that it is accounted for and social protection measures are in place. MPs were also challenged to ensure that all infrastructural development programmes are engendered and that monitoring mechanisms are in place. Emphasis was on people with disabilities and elderly who are not always catered for in infrastructural development. These should not be left behind hence the need for ramps, sign language, Braille etc. Infrastructural development should enhance gender equality.
The IPU also held side events outside their key session entitled.
“Women in Politics: Getting to equal”, where major gains made in terms of representation in Parliaments in 2018 especially for countries who have adopted quotas were highlighted. The setbacks, barriers and opportunities for improvements were discussed.
5.0 NHANGA-BINTI Session by Rozaria memorial Trust
Rozaria Memorial Trust is a Zimbabwean NGO founded by a goodwill ambassador to the UN and Human rights lawyer advocating for women and girls’ empowerment, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda. The concept was developed from the traditional Nhanga system. This is a place where girls would meet and discuss various issues. The Nhanga is basically a safe space for women to dialogue. Members of Parliament shared their experiences in the struggle for leadership, the rough terrains traveled and challenged the young women and girls to fight for their space.
Discussions around the women’s quota issues were held through an intergenerational dialogue. The two young Nhanga ambassadors based in America donated sports kits to a few schools in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central which were handed over to the Ministers of state for the respective provinces.
6.0 Briefs from CSW 63 Side Events
6.1 The delegation attended a number of side events hosted by various UN member States. Most of those attended were from the region where the delegation felt best practices would be obtained because of the common regional backgrounds and challenges. However, a few from Western countries were also attended especially Britain, Sweden, Netherlands, Canada and Hungary who have made strides in achieving gender equality. Agenda 2030 emphasises on leaving no one behind hence the need for social protection for all. Issues on social protection public services and infrastructural development will be covered in themes, mainly infrastructure which will cover water, energy, transport, housing and public amenities and information communication and technology, public services such as Education, Health delivery systems, access to identity documentation and social protection as in child care, paid care work, safer cities, pensions and insurance.
6.2 Access to water
Eighty percent of households are without water and these rely on collection by women and girls. Key issues from side events on water included ensuring that social protection and infrastructural development is prioritised so that no woman or girl spends back breaking hours’ every day in collection of water and fuel. Over 2 billion people still do not
have water services. Women and girls’ security is compromised as they travel long unsafe distances in search of water. Lightweight borehole pumps that are easier to pump for women and within accessible distance were recommended. This has resulted in women having more time for productive work which empowers them. Social protection through water infrastructural development will restore the dignity of women. Social protection is not a charity case but a right.
6.3 Access to Energy
It was reported that only a third of national energy plans refer to women specific concerns. Search for energy duties force the women and girls to sacrifice their time, health, safety and hopes for work and education. Best practices learnt from Zanzibar reveal that the government has rolled out a solar project where illiterate women in rural areas are trained in installation and repair of their solar systems. Some have even become engineers in their own right something which the government Zimbabwe can understudy and empower our rural women.
6.4 Access to Public Services
In terms of access to Public services what was most interesting was the
Kenya system known as HUDUMA. This is where decentralisation of Public services has been done to the lowest level of government structures. Women are able access government services of up to 8 departments under one roof especially identity documents such as birth certificates, national identity cards and passports. Women no longer have to incur expenses of selling the little that they own for transport to the city to access these documents since it is now accessible. Huduma Mashinani is a one stop shop. HUDUMA has transformed accessibility and quality of service. HUDUMA has many other services such as the mobile app and has various affordable social protection initiatives such as HUDUMA life insurance, health, the HUDUMA card which gives access to credit. This could also be possible in Zimbabwe through public private partnership (PPP) with mobile networks like, Netone, Econet and Telecel. For such programmes to be successful PPPs were encouraged.
Sanitary wear in Kenya is also accessible to girls from poor backgrounds and have access to skills development programmes and recreational facilities such as the Tutuzela play centres. Interventions by the delegation sought to find out the social protection measures for PWD and domestic workers. This was not adequately addressed which reflected the challenge is common to all countries.
6.5 Safer Cities
The issue of safer cities as a social protection issue was key especially considering that our economies are highly informalised and the majority of women fall under this category. Issues included women being the early birds heading for the market as early as 4pm using un roadworthy vehicles and cities with poor lighting hence compromising their security. As informal sector, they work till late and have to manoeuvre the unsafe jungle and in the dark going home. This makes them susceptible to sexual harassment, violence and rape even at transport terminals. Best practices were obtained from South Africa which has designed a
MeMeza Community Safety system. This has brought communities together working in partnership with Community Policing Forums and South African Police (SAP).
MeMeza offers a wide range of personal safety tools such as personal safety alarms, loud lightweight crime deterrent and lipstick pepper sprays. It is affordable and every woman can carry the safety alarm. In event of danger they sound the alarm button which will alert the SAP, giving the location, who will rush to protect the individual. Considering the fact that South Africa has a high crime rate and robbers mostly target widows, elderly women and female headed households, the MeMeza has become handy. A video was shown where women gave testimonies of the success of this community policing alarm. This is something that Zimbabwe can invest enhance public service delivery and social protection of women and girls.
6.6 Social protection for single women parents
This issue is one that has never been considered by many countries but through CSW 63 and it became apparent that social protection systems need to address the challenges of single parents or female headed households. A side event by Hungary showed that the state prioritised childcare for single parents to enable them to engage in productive work. The need for legislative amendments to make the life of single parents bearable is necessary. Single parents face social exclusion yet there are many reasons behind single hood. It is important to assist with employment and community programmes for parental support and activities for children. Legal support as a social protection was raised as key issue as this group faces serious legal issues.
Psychosocial support is also key in the form of counselling services. Hungary has created a single parents centre which provides such services.
6.7 Social protection in terms of pensions and insurance.
Most side events on social protection covered issues to do with pension schemes and insurance especially for vulnerable groups. Developed countries and some in Sub Saharan Africa such as Namibia and South Africa pay out monthly grants to disadvantaged groups such as the elderly, people with disability and orphans. Developed countries such as Canada, Britain, Sweden to name but a few have the unemployment benefit as a social security measure. It is the responsibility of the state to provide social protection to its people. The delegation raised issues to do with migrant workers, domestic workers and those in the informal sector and how other countries are providing social protection.
6.7.1 Access to health care and health insurance was emphasised. In South Africa they are only covered in terms of health. Women and girls need to access sexual reproductive health care in terms of cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening and access to family planning services. Of major concern was the fact that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer and has become the number one killer cancer in women, China was cited as having the highest rate because of its one child policy which forces many women to undergo abortion. A healthy woman means a healthy nation, hence the need to invest in healthcare and guaranteed health protection for all.
7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE DELEGATION
7.1 The delegation recommends that the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus and Parliament should;
Item | Action | Responsible Portfolio Committee | Timeline |
1.Call for adequate resources to be availed towards ministries dealing with social protection issues ;
Labour and social Welfare, Education, Health and child care, Lands Agriculture and Water, Local Government, Energy and Power Development and Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage
|
Exercise its role in the budget making process ZWPC Advocacy on adequate budget
allocations in line with the Abuja Declaration
|
Labour and Social
Welfare
Primary and Secondary Education
Health and Child Care
Lands, Agriculture, Climate. Water and rural resettlement
Local Government Public Works and National Housing
Energy and Power Development
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage |
Workplans to be determined by
Committees
Pre- budget Seminar 2020 |
2. Taking Public
Services to the people |
Exercising its oversight function on taking
services to the people
Lobby through position papers the government to roll out public services to the people |
Defence, Home
Affairs and Security Services
Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus |
Workplan to be determined by the portfolio
Committee
28 February 2020 |
3.Increased investment in renewable sources of energy | Exercising its oversight function Parliament must call on the Ministry to invest in renewable sources of Energy
Lobby the Ministry |
Energy and Power
Development
Women Caucus |
Workplan to be determined by the portfolio committee
December 2020 |
4.Urgent call for Smart cities through improved security in cities, safe reliable and affordable transport system in both rural and urban areas | Exercising its oversight function and representative role
ZWPC to advocate for safer cities and affordable transport system |
Defence , Home Affairs
and security services
Transport and Infrastructural Development |
Workplan to be determined by the committees
July 2020 |
5.Empowerment of single mothers through provision of
child care services and employment
|
Exercising oversight function on women economic empowerment and child care services Advocacy on women empowerment | Women Affairs,
Community Small and Medium Enterprises Development
Health and child care
Labour and Social Services
Women’s Caucus
|
Workplans to be determined by relevant portfolio
committees
March 2020 |
6.Call on government to ratify outstanding ILO conventions relevant to labour standards and amend labour laws to cover domestic workers | Exercising oversight function in line with
Section 34 of the Constitution
ZWPC to lobby the relevant Ministry |
Labour and social services
Women’s Caucus |
Workplans to be determined by portfolio
committees
December 2019 |
7.Establishment of internal
mechanisms to deal with sexism, sexual harassment and violence |
Parliament to set up an institutional mechanisms to deal with issues of sexism and violence against MPs | CRSO
Administration of Parliament |
December 2020 |
ZWPC members serve in committees of Parliament and members in relevant Portfolio Committees will spearhead these advocacy issues in the various committees they serve
8.0 Conclusion
In conclusion the delegation acknowledges the work and hospitable nature of the Zimbabwe Mission to the UN who assisted during the two-week session. The Women’s Caucus was able to meet with other women caucuses from different countries in the side events and exchanged notes on the theme where advocacy issues were drawn. A monitoring plan will be drafted for implementation of the CSW63 Agreed Conclusions noted in the above recommendations. CSW63 was a success and it is only through enhancing social protection, public services and engendered infrastructural development that Agenda 2030 and a middle income economy by 2030 can be achieved as no one will indeed be left behind. I thank you.
HON. MASARA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this
opportunity. I am the seconder of this motion. I was one of the delegates to the UNCSW Conference held from the 11th to the 22nd of March, 2019. I am not going to dwell on the various issues that the Chairperson has already touched on. We borrowed a leaf from other countries on issues such as social protection system for single mothers. When we look at our own situation back here in Zimbabwe, there are issues that we feel we could borrow and use them here.
The issues that have never been considered by many countries but became apparent at CSW 63 were the challenges of single mothers and female headed families. Other Governments that have similar issues like in Africa, those people are catered for by the Government. They get some hand outs in terms of pensions, health insurances and families are catered for in terms of school fees. When we go to the child headed families, we also notice that as Zimbabwe we are not the only ones who have the vast number of families that are headed by the children or aged. In Zimbabwe, we are far much better in terms of looking after those families that are headed by the children.
On social protection systems and pensions in America and other western countries, they have their own systems but they also acknowledged that Zimbabwe is one of the developing countries that has done something that is commendable. In Zimbabwe, we are still able to pay our pensioners and they also applauded us. On access to energy, we still need to have a delegation that should also go to countries like Zanzibar where we can learn from experiences because we heard that the women there are the ones who are in charge of companies that produce energy.
The women go to colleges and in Zanzibar, the women are engineers on their own. We feel we should have a delegation from the women representatives in Parliament that should go to Zanzibar and get an experience so that when we come back home, we are also able to say as per our provinces, we do the same things that they do so that we try to mitigate the shortage of energy that is affecting us as Zimbabwe.
I also want to touch on the last issue which is safer cities. Of course, we are the second best from South Africa but in South Africa they have modalities that we can also use as Zimbabwe. Most of our economy is informal and if we look at our women, most of them are in informal trading. If we look at what time our women go to order their goods and whatever, we see that the mode of transport that is affordable is not there when they wake up around 4 a.m.
As a country, we can also adjust and allow our ZUPCO buses that are affordable to start around 4 a.m. so that when we talk of empowering women, we will be walking to the talk. Those ZUPCO buses should at least start around that time so that our women are not raped and robbed of their hard earned money. We should also work hand in hand with our Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises such that the Ministry must also ensure that countrywide, women are catered for, they get transport and they are safe.
Some Hon. Members having been making noise
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon.
Members at the back please lower your voices.
HON. MASARA: Most of our urban centres in terms of energy
we are still far much better even though we also felt the heat of the Covid-19 but we can still afford to have our cities running. That is something that we feel as Zimbabwe we can still copy and assist our women so that when we say women empowerment, we mean it and we are walking the talk.
Finally, on the side events that we attended as Zimbabwe especially the IPU, they also touched on the issue of sexual abuse for female parliamentarians. It is something that as a country we can deal with such that our women when they come to Parliament, they do not feel out of place because of sexual abuse. It is an issue that was debated so much by all countries including us as Zimbabwe on the IPU. I feel that there is still room for change and improvement as a country.
The Chairperson touched on the Nhanga issue where an NGO us run by one of us. We felt that she should come and do those things here such that our young girls also get something because the majority of the girls, do not know the purpose of an aunt. We felt as a Caucus we should work with them here so that we train our girls and give them opportunities. Even those who are orphaned can also get lectures for them to improve. We will also prepare them for other future generations. I rest my case.
*HON. MADIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am happy with the report that was presented by the Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus. It is with pride that our nation is a nation which works with other countries. Looking at international treaties and protocols our Government commits a lot of resources. This reflects that as a nation we are doing a number of things towards the empowerment of women and gender equality. CSW is a United Nations Commission which is the main organ which looks at women’s issues particularly gender equality and the empowerment of women which makes me to appreciate our nation which has ratified a number of protocols including the Beijing
Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and others which reflects that Zimbabwe does not exist in isolation but we follow what other nations do and we do not do this in hiding but we do this in public. We exchange notes with other countries like the report mentioned.
What I would also like to say is that Mr. Speaker Sir, we normally talk about these issues. I know that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development normally goes to the United Nations in New York to report on all resolutions and agreed conclusions that were agreed on the previous year during the CSW and then they present evidence of what the country would have done. So, I would like to say on that note, the Ministry should work hard so that when such conclusions are presented they are done in a satisfactory manner.
As Parliament we also need to exercise our oversight role. We know that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and
Medium Enterprises Development looks at such issues. We heard the Chairperson talking about energy, education and health. These are critical areas which we see on the Beijing Platform for Action. There are 12 critical areas that we touch upon. When we talk about such issues, for example regarding energy, we look at whether the Ministry of Energy and Power Development is doing its job of coordinating other Ministries in issues to do with energy aimed mainly at women as they play the role of cooking for their families and if there are interventions in place that make such tasks easier for them. So, we need to look at what the energy sector is doing.
We also need to look at what the education sector is doing in order to encourage the education of women. We need educated people, women found in high positions. Yes, women should be educated. We need educated women taking up such positions even on sexual reproductive health. Women who die during child birth - these are some of the issues we need to look at. I am happy that these are some of the interventions that are happening in the health sector.
However there are other sectors that we need to consider also when going to the CSW. We need to show case what we are doing as a nation, so that we see that women are being economically empowered. I am happy that as Zimbabwe we do not live in isolation but we are demonstrating that we are in concurrence with what is happening throughout the world. We need to continue show casing what we are doing as a nation. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. MUTAMBISI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to add my voice and thank what was done by Hon. Kwaramba and her team for representing us and presenting what we are doing in Zimbabwe. She spoke about children who do not have documents. These are issues which touched me. We need everyone to be documented so that there is evidence that these are Zimbabweans.
They also spoke about people who live with disabilities. As women we face a lot of challenges when we give birth to disabled children. At times the husband might leave the family. So, I am happy that these issues were captured in their report so that Government assists such people, not forgetting the marginalised communities. I stood up to thank the First Lady who went to visit the Doma community and this mainstreaming of the Doma community will help them to alleviate the different challenges they are facing.
The Committee spoke of challenges of water in different areas. They mentioned that women spend many hours queuing for water. So I would like to request that a lot of water sources be erected in different areas so that women do not queue for hours.
Then going to the energy sector, solar energy which was mentioned is a natural resource which is not bought but is a God given resource. Instead of using fire wood and cutting down trees I believe that we should go that way. Thank you for the presentation, thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MHONA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 24th June, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MUTAMBISI: I move that the rest of the Orders of the
Day be stood over until Order Number 19 on today’s Order Paper has
been disposed of.
HON. MHONA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT ON THE 74TH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE OF THE AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARY UNION
(APU) HELD IN BANGUI
HON. T. ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I move the motion standing in my name:
That this House takes note of the Report on the 74th Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) held from the 13th – 14th June, 2019, in Bangui, Central African Republic.
HON. MUKUNYAIDZE: I second.
HON. T. ZHOU: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. The 74TH Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union APU was held in Bangui, Central Africa Republic on the 13th and 14th of June, 2019. Delegations from 22 Member Parliaments participated in the meeting, namely, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon,
Gambia, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria,
Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal and
Zimbabwe. Hon. Mabel, Memory Chinomona, President of the
Senate and Chairperson of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians for the APU, led a Parliamentary delegation comprising the following Members and Officers of Parliament to the 74th Session of the APU:
- Theresa Makone from the Senate
- Spiwe Mukunyaidze from the National Assembly
- Tafanana Zhou;
- Califinos K. Guvi, Director in the President of the Senate’s
Office;
- Rumbidzai P. Chisango, Principal External Relations
Officer; and
- Simeon Chifamba, Security Aide to the President of the Senate.
It should be noted that the Hon. Members are elected Members of the Executive Committee of the APU.
Opening Session
The opening session was held on 13th June, 2019, with Hon.
Herbert Djono Ahaba, the Minister for Development, Energy and Water
Resources and personal representative of the Prime Minister of the
Central African Republic in attendance. In his opening remarks, Hon.
Laurent Ngon-Baba, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Central African Assembly of the Central African Republic, applauded the decision to hold the meeting in the Central African Republic in line with the APU’s principle of geographic rotation of venues of the meetings.
Hon. Ngon-Baba briefed the meeting on the socio-economic and political situation in the Central African Republic, highlighting that the country has restored constitutional democracy through the adoption of a new constitution, election of new President and Members of Parliament and the establishment of new government institutions. In this regard, he extended his gratitude to the international community specifically the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of Central African States, the European Union and the United Nations for their central role in the signing of the peace agreement on 6th February, 2019. Within the context of fostering regional peace and integration, the Hon. Speaker called on Member Parliaments to play a leading role in advocating peace and promote integration among the people of Africa.
In his address during the official opening ceremony, Hon. Alassane
Bala Sekande, Speaker of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso and
Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the IPU, echoed the same sentiments on the need for Parliaments to collectively work toward achieving democracy, peace and freedom throughout the African continent. In this context, he commended the newly elected leadership of the Central African Republic for their commitment to promoting peace and national unity in the country.
Turning to the work of the APU, Hon. Sekande reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the APU implements necessary reforms to strengthen its role and solidify its position globally. In this regard, the APU had fruitful discussions with the State of Qatar on possible areas of cooperation. Accordingly, the APU and the State of Qatar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in March 2019, which covered upgrade of the APU website, renovations to the APU headquarters and establishment of a department in charge of partnership building and institutional development. The Chairperson also indicated that he had undertaken bilateral visits to the People’s Republic of China and the Shura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He underscored the importance of effective participation of all Member Parliament in activities of the APU and timeous payments of subscriptions in order for the APU to effectively execute its mandate. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MUKUNYAIDZE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I will speak on admissions and re-admissions. The APU had not received any new applications since the last Executive Committee meeting. Lobbying missions had been undertaken to Cape Verde and Mozambique. The two countries are still to officially express their interest to join the APU. It was noted that there is need to encourage other African countries, particularly from Southern Africa to join the APU. In this context, it was hoped that the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the APU would encourage other African countries to join the APU. Particular reference was made to the close of the rotation of the Chairpersonship on a regional basis.
Implementation of decisions and recommendations of the
Conference:
In his report to the Executive Committee, the Secretary General outline activities he had participated in since the 73rd Executive Committee meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria. He highlighted the following activities:
- International Workshop on experiences of national reconciliation held on 17th and 18th January, I Rabat, Morocco;
- 29th Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union held on
3 and 4 March 2019 in Amman, Jordan;
- 14th Session of the Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States held from 11 to 14 March 2019 in
Rabat, Morocco;
- 140th Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and related meetings held from 6 to 10 April, 2019 in Doha, Qatar;
- 10th Conference of Speakers’ of Parliament of the parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie held from 25 to 27 April, 2019 in Burkinga Faso;
- 1st General Parliamentary Assembly of the G-5 Sahel interParliamentary Committee held on 12 and 13 May, 2019, Ougadougou, Burkina Faso.
The Secretary General’s participation was within the context promoting cooperation between the APU and other regional and international Inter-Parliamentary organisations. Accordingly,
Parliamentarians called for their inclusion is such missions in future.
The Chairperson of the APU called on all Member Parliaments to implement resolutions adopted during the 73rd Session of the Executive Committee and the 41st Conference of the APU held in November, 2019, namely on the following:
- The Role of Parliaments in the fight against terrorism, armed gangs and organised crimes in Africa;
- The promotion of private investment as a major factor in economic development in Africa;
- Promoting girls’ education as an effective means of combating early marriages in Africa;
- The motion to support the G5 Sahel countries and other African countries who are victims of terrorism;
- The recommendation on the establishment of a special court in
Africa to judge cases of terrorism;
- The recommendation on the creation of an African Solidarity Fund for victims of terrorism.
It should be noted that these resolutions were submitted to the relevant Committee at Parliament for action. The delegation to the Executive Committee submitted the status of implementation for some of the resolutions to the Secretariat of the APU for their information.
Consideration of the audited management account for the 2018 financial year
The Executive Committee noted with concern that several countries had not honoured their obligation to pay subscription to the APU, thereby hampering the implementation of planned activities. Members called on the APU to enforce the provisions of Article 26 of the Statutes of the APU which states that “A National Group which fails to pay its annual contributions for two financial years shall have its rights suspended.”
Parliament of Zimbabwe falls into this category as we owe 107 969 Euros accumulated over the period 2015 to date. The delegation was embarrassed during the heated discussion on outstanding subscriptions, particularly given that the President of Senate is the
Chairperson of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU. In this regard, the delegation calls upon Parliament to facilitate the urgent processing of the subscriptions to enable the delegation to effectively participate in future meetings of the APU.
Proposed Amendments to the APU Statutes
The Executive Committee considered the proposed amendments to the APU Statutes and Rules of Procedure submitted by the National
Group of Burkina Faso. Principally, the proposed amendments address issues of inclusion of women and young Parliamentarians in national delegations to the APU, formalisation of the rotation of the
Chairmanship of the Executive Committee among the sub-regions of the continent, opening of the observer status within the APU to non-African Parliaments and Parliamentary institutions in order to expand the partnership network of the APU.
Following a lengthy discussion, the amendments were adopted by the Executive Committee and will be dully submitted to the 42nd Conference for adoption in November 2019. The Zimbabwe delegation fully supported the progressive amendments.
Topics for deliberation during the 42nd Conference of the APU
The Executive Committee deliberated on the Draft Agenda for the 42nd Conference scheduled for November, 2019. The following topics were agreed upon:-
The importance of young people’s contribution to the promotion of democracy, peace, security and the rule of law in African countries
(Political Committee)
Promoting a diversified economy and the local processing of basic commodities to create employment for women and young people
(Economic and Sustainable Development Committee)
Date and Venue of the 75th Session of the Executive Committee
The 75th Session of the Executive Committee will be held in Djibouti in November, 2019.
Statements endorsed by the Executive Committee
The Executive Committee endorsed the following statements at the conclusion of the meeting.
Statement and Support to the Central African Process
Within the context of the Peace Agreement signed on 6th February, 2019, between the Government and 14 armed groups resulting in the creation of an inclusive Government. The Executive Committee extended its full support to the peace process and encouraged the parties to the agreement to continue to fully implement the agreement. The Statement calls on the United Nations Security Councils to lift the embargo on arms imposed on the Government. Furthermore, the
Statement calls on international financial institutions to provide financial support as part of the ongoing peace process;
Vote of thanks to the authorities and the People of the Central
African Republic
The Executive Committee extended their gratitude to the President of the Central African Republic for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements that contributed to the successful hosting of the 74th Executive Committee of the APU.
Recommendations
The delegation notes with concern that Southern Africa is under represented in the APU. Notably, Angola. Mozambique and Zimbabwe are the only representatives from the region. Accordingly, the delegation recommends that Parliament informally engages other
Parliaments within the SADC region on the possibility of joining the APU. The Presiding Officers can spearhead this process when they interact with their counterparts at regional and international for a.
The delegation strongly recommends that the Administration of Parliament makes an undertaking to clear the outstanding subscription arrears to enable the delegation to effectively participate in future meetings of the APU.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. K. PARADZA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 24th June, 2020.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. K. PARADZA, the House adjourned at Three Minutes Past Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 18th June 2020
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: On a point of order Mr.
Speaker Sir.
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): What is
your point of order? We have not debated anything
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker, my request pertains to the Hansard that I am holding. The Hansard should record the debate in the mother tongue used by the Hon. Member when debating. The electorate want to understand the requests that are forwarded by Hon. Members of Parliament. May the Hansard be written in all the indigenous languages spoken in this country? I thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you very much; Hon. Members are conferring with the Hon. Speaker on that. Thank you very much indeed.
HON. BITI: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to make a statement on a matter of public national interest in terms of the new Standing Orders of this august House. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are gravely concerned about the continuous shifting of our Monetary Policy. We are concerned particularly about the constant changes to our Monetary Policy. In 2009, we introduced the basket of multiple currencies. The basket of multiple currencies lasted until 2016, when in November 2016, the Bond Note was introduced through amendments that were made to the Reserve Bank Act. In 2017, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of
Finance spent the bulk of the year convincing Zimbabweans that the Bond Note was on par with the US dollar. They ran an expensive campaign called Operation gedye gedye, persuading the people of
Zimbabwe to accept that the bond note was equal to the US dollar. We were shocked Mr. Speaker Sir when on the 1st of October 2018 banks were suddenly advised by the Reserve Bank in an exchange control directive that they had to separate people’s accounts into nostro FCAs and nostro RTGS. We were further shocked when on the 20th of February 2019, Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019 was introduced which said we now have a new currency called the RTGS, which initially was at 1:1 then 1:2.5 and then was floated.
In June of 2019, Mr. Speaker Sir, we were advised by the esteemed Minister of Finance that the country had dedolarised; that the regime of multiple currencies were no longer legal tender in Zimbabwe; that the Zimbabwean dollar had been restored as the sole currency in this country. Mr. Speaker Sir, some people protested and made the point that the country was not ready to introduce its own currency. We made the point that conditions did not exist for the introduction of our own currency. We were further confused yesterday when the Minister of Finance...
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. When this window was created, it was announced that you are supposed to take only a minute but it would appear that you are debating. It is more than a minute.
HON. BITI: I am now winding up Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Minister of Finance effectively dedollarised by the introduction of a US$75 allowance to civil servants and US$30 to war veterans. It is our contention Mr. Speaker that the Minister of Finance owes Zimbabweans an apology that he should not introduce dollarisation through the back door; that he should repeal Statutory Instrument 33 and Statutory Instrument 142 and the Finance Act. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Minister of Finance has failed in absolute terms and must resign.
I thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. On a point of public emergency, after realising that the Corona virus pandemic had hit Zimbabwe, the Executive responded accordingly and declared that it be a public emergency situation. To that extent, soldiers were deployed in our communities and soldiers are deployed only in terms of Section 213 of our Constitution. Section 214 then requires that the President must cause Parliament to be given the details of deployment. I therefore call you Hon. Chair to rule that we respect the provisions of Section 214 that Parliament be informed of the details and the manner under which the soldiers are being found in our constituencies. This arises from the fact that there are now reports that there are activities being done by the men of the military which we want to interrogate either the representative of the President or the Minister of Defence. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr Speaker Sir, I want to bring to your attention that the coupons which Members of Parliament get are in RTGs. The going accepted price is in US dollars so the coupons that we have are as good as useless. Parliament had said that there would be dedicated service stations for Members of Parliament. To date nothing has happened and yet these coupons that you give us mean nothing. Is it possible for Parliament to give us coupons in US dollars, because that is what is on the market?
We cannot continue lying to ourselves as people who represent people when we come to this House we are told one thing and are now wondering who is really supposed to have oversight because us who are supposed to have oversight also do not know what is happening. So, I implore your good office to stick to what you say to
Members of Parliament that fuel will be in these centres and we would like to get a response from you today before Members of Parliament leave. Are you going to facilitate service stations for them to get fuel so that moving forward we know clearly what is happening? Members of Parliament are not free to debate when they do not know how they are going to get home. So it is important that the matter be resolved today and we get the way forward from you.
The other issue is on the allowances and salaries given to Members of Parliament. I brought this issue up the last time and I said it was as good as US$50 per person. We are not at all immune from what happens. We equally are citizens of this country and pay whatever price of commodities on the market. The amount of money that we are being paid is not helping at all. I even said how you do you feel as our leaders going to bed knowing that your Members of Parliament are getting US$50 per month. With Covid-19 which is there right now they are not able to travel, there are no allowances oversees and it is even harder for us. You will soon be reading stories of Members of Parliament pick pocketing, stealing things in supermarkets and so forth and then the next thing you will be blaming us saying that we are not setting a good example.
Do not tempt us to do the wrong things when this Government and this institution can protect us by giving us a fair salary at the end of the day. Ministers are given coupons, they go to CMED and everything is fine for them but we are not doing well. I think the leader of Government Business Hon. Ziyambi must feel for us and I think must do something in terms of our packages at the end of day. Surely US$50 for a Member of Parliament! How many times have we gone to Kenya for benchmarking but when we come back the benchmarking does not mean anything. They are paid US$10 000 to
$15 000 per month, ten personnel in the office, a 4x4 and a Mercedes Benz. We only get one car after five years. Even the things that we are getting right now are actually minimal at the end of the day so the welfare of Members of Parliament must be taken seriously.
Others have died and they never got their cars. Even the vehicles which they are supposed to get, some of them have not gotten the vehicles but the Ministers have gotten two cars each. So how do we move as a nation when the very same arm that you expect to have oversight is compromised at the end of the day. We are spending time in Ministers offices begging for coupons instead of us coming here. How do we then ask them questions when they are giving us coupons and they are looking after us? We can no longer be compromised, we are not children,. We came here to serve the nation. Give us the tools to serve the nation. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. The welfare of all civil servants and Members of Parliament is being looked at and the first step was yesterday when the Minister of Finance and Economic Development decided that as an interim measure he gave a 50% increase and a US$75 amount to everyone and then we look at it holistically so that we get a lasting solution. So, it is a matter that is receiving urgent attention and Hon.
Members will be advised soon. I thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Leader of the House can you
please shed light on the fuel coupons issue.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr Speaker Sir. The fuel issue really is for Parliament administration to approach Treasury with an alternative scheme. I cannot comment on that. It is entirely up to Parliament administration to deal with. I thank you.
HON. MARKHAM: Thank you Mr. speaker Sir. Is this whole
issue to be decided by the Executive or to be decided by Parliament? Thank you. I repeat my question Mr. Speaker. Is the issue of benefits and salaries for MPs to be decided by this House or to be decided simply by the Executive at their whim?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. Parliament decides but we must also be aware that all the funds that Government gets, go into one account and that is the reason why you will always find that there is always need for Treasury concurrence. Parliament does not generate any funds. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Ziyambi being the Leader of Government Business says that Parliament does not generate any income. So, does Government generate income? Government is the one which is busy stealing. Ministers are the ones stealing because their parastatals generate income which does not come into the Treasury and no wonder why we are poor. There has been a lot of looting with these Ministers and he says Parliament does not generate income. We never came to run projects here. We get money from the fiscus but it is the plundering which the Government is doing and which is making us suffer and the people of Zimbabwe. We must understand that and how can he say Parliament does not generate an income. Did we come here to run chicken projects so that we generate an income? We came here to represent people and he must withdraw that. We do not generate any income but it is the Government that generates an income through the resources that we have which go into the fiscus and we are paid but because they are stealing, nothing is coming to us.
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Order in the
House. We have an Hon. Minister who would want to give a Ministerial Statement.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
REOPENING OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR DURING THE
COVID- 19 PANDEMIC
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS,
COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
DEVELOPMENT (HON. S. NYONI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I would like to give my Ministerial Statement on status of the informal sector. My Ministry would like to appreciate the support that His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Hon. E.
- Mnangagwa continued effort to extend towards the development of the SME sector. Last week’s pronouncement for the informal sector to reopen through the SI 136 of 2020 has given hope to a lot of people who earn a livelihood in this sector. In order to ensure that previous disorder does not come back, the Ministry working with sector associations and other key stakeholders have come up with a strategy to facilitate the reopening of the sector. The proposed strategy involves opening the informal sector market hubs in a case by case basis after ensuring that all Covid- 19 public health and safety requirements are met.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the informal sector contributes more than 60% of the total employment and has become the safety net and source of livelihood for those who cannot go to formal employment. Continued closure of the sector means that hunger and most of the households in the cities and towns. It also implies that more people who would need food and the complexes are more acute in the urban areas. It will also strain the already burdened fiscus.
The sector also plays a critical role in augmenting the formal supply chains. It is also involved in manufacturing of food items, clothing, furniture, chemicals, equipment, machinery and other goods as well as services. The sector supplies various finished products in a number of retail shops and having the sector come back into operation, would ease the shortage of some of the products including sofas, beds, kitchen units, chairs, window and door frames.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me now go into the strategy that the Ministry has put in place. The strategy being proposed for the reopening of the informal sector helps to formalise the sector and ensure sustainability even post Covid- 19 era.
The fenced approach basis of micro market hubs are focused and fenced approach on a case by case basis will be employed to reopen major market hubs taking into account all the precautions and respect what the health guidelines are saying, Markets such as Emtonjeni Flea Market, Fort Flea Market, Unity Village Flea Market in Bulawayo, Avondale Flea Market, Mupedzanhamo, Chinhoyi
Street Flea Market, Kwame Nkrumah Mall in Harare, Chinhoyi Street
Flea Market, Chicken Inn Flea Market in Gweru, Paddy Golf Flea
Market in Bindura and Durawall Flea Market in Marondera and
Village Flea Market in Mutare have been identified for reopening. Each individual market will be required to satisfy the Covid- 19 public health guidelines which include temperature checking at entry points, sanitisation, wearing of masks, social distancing in markets and other measures unique to the respective informal sector or hub.
In cases where there are workplace constraints, a rotation system would be employed where operators alternate based on their own agreement on who comes to trade and on which day.
The markets will be capacitated to have adequate water for hand washing and ablution facilities. If the local authorities cannot immediately make the facilities available, a public private partnership will be employed where operators can contribute to ensure that the facilities are made available as soon as possible and they will offset their contributions with future rentals till they recover their contributions. Alternatively, mobile toilets would be made available.
Association leaders or management Committees will be given
the responsibility of self-regulation, ensuring that all the regulations are followed. The informal sector players will be called upon to exercise high levels of discipline in observing laws and regulations.
Failure to comply will result in the respective market being closed.
Stakeholders with assistance from the Zimbabwe Republic Police will work together to eliminate space barons in order to facilitate revenue collection by local authorities.
Informal sector traders operating from designated workspaces owned by local authorities and those requiring to be allocated working space are therefore being encouraged to approach their respective local authorities to regularise their operations to resume trading.
For informal traders operating from privately owned workspaces, the call is for them to formalise their tenancy with their lessors and obtain proof that they have notified the lessor of the type of trade or operation they are engaged in.
Decongestion of Markets
The agricultural produce markets such as Mbare Musika are being decongested through setting up other decentralised agricultural markets. The plans are already underway and the local authorities need to expedite the setting up of these markets and provide the requisite infrastructure especially water and sanitation facilities. In Harare, four new sites have been identified in Hatcliffee, Mabvuku, Budiriro and Kuwadzana.
The Ministry, through its 2020 budget provision has started working with local authorities to put up new workspaces with proper sanitation facilities such as water and ablution blocks.
Formalisation
Operators will be facilitated to get shop licences or other licences from a local authority and operate the business in question from a specified premise. In order to incentivise the operators, the local authorities are called upon to revise and differentiate their tariffs according to the size of the enterprises. Of concern is the recent astronomic rise in the shop licence fees by local authorities which prompts traders to evade the payment of such fees. The application process should also be easy and straight forward especially for the informal sector and micro enterprises.
The informal sector operators will be registered for taxation by ZIMRA for suitable income tax heads. The operators will be facilitated to register their enterprises with the Registrar of Companies where possible.
Only registered micro enterprises will be facilitated to access the $500 million SMEs support fund put forward by Government to aid the recovery of the sector.
Comprehensive Database of MSME and Informal
Workspaces and Beneficiaries.
The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and
Medium Enterprises Development in collaboration with Ministry of
Information Communication Technology and Courier Services,
Government Consultants and respective local authorities, MSME Associations and informal sector associations will develop an up-todate inventory of the informal sector members according to sector and location to inform future evidence based planning and programming.
Institutional Framework.
An institutional framework to deal with immediate issues to bring the sector back into operation will be put in place through a
National Steering Committee comprising of the following institutions.
- Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium
Enterprises Development (Chairing)
- Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities
- Ministry of Local Government and Public Works
- Ministry of Health and Child Care
- Zimbabwe Republic Police
- ZIMRA
- Registrar of Companies
- Associations of Urban and Rural Local Authorities
- Development Partners and
- Informal Sector Associations.
The composition of this Steering Committee would be replicated and devolved to provinces and districts and include the offices of the Minister of State for the respect province and the relevant local authorities.
Ministry
Organisation |
Roles and Responsibilities | |
Ministry of Local
Government and Public Works |
• Monitoring and supervision of local authorities to ensure what is planned is implemented
• Spearhead the planning process to ensure clustering of MSMEs • Facilitate the provision of additional land for workspace development • Work with the Zimbabwe Republic Police to remove space barons from all workspaces around the country |
|
Ministry of Health and Child Care | • Advising on COVID-19 public health regulations
• Certification of sites that meet COVID-19 public health requirements |
|
Ministry of National
Housing and Social Amenities |
• Construction of MSME physical infrastructure
• Maintenance and renovation of MSME physical infrastructure • Mobilisation of investment capacities for construction of MSME physical infrastructure |
|
Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, | Development of database for MSMEs and informal sector players | |
Small and Medium
Enterprises Development |
|
Organisation, clustering and training of MSMEs
Coordination of all stakeholders to ensure the objectives are achieved. |
| Mobilisation of investment capacities for construction of MSME physical infrastructure. | |
Ministry of Youth,
Sports, Arts and Recreation |
| Mainstreaming youth empowerment in infrastructure provision
|
Ministry of Information
Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services |
| Provide information communication technologies |
Offices of Ministers of State for all the respective provinces | | Provincial coordination and supervision to ensure that the decisions are implemented in line with central government initiatives. |
Local Authorities | | Construction of suitable access roads to and from the sites |
ZIMRA and Registrar of Companies |
|
Facilitate the registration of informal sector businesses. Register informal sector players for tax |
Sector Associations | | Organize MSMEs and Informal sector players by sector and location and providing of databases of membership |
| Contribute towards infrastructure development | |
| Ensure discipline in the sector | |
Private Sector and
Development Partners |
|
Financing the development of MSME workspace Construction of MSME physical infrastructure |
| Technical assistance to transition the informal to formality | |
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe | | Promote financial inclusion in the informal sector
|
Zimbabwe Republic
Police |
| Assist in maintaining law and order at the markets |
Media Houses | | Information dissemination to educate the informal sector and policy makers. |
Conclusion
For this strategy to succeed, it is imperative that the various
Government departments and local authorities work closely together. Discipline among sector players would ensure that the plan achieves the expected results, thereby allowing members in the sector to resume operations and earn livelihoods.
*HON. MURAI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for her Ministerial Statement as a Minister who has been with the ministry for 20 years, I am convinced she is experienced enough. I want you Minister to take this opportunity to find solutions because sanity must prevail now. There are a lot of leakages in the informal sector. The Minister alluded that the informal sector contributes 60% of our revenue, it is true and it is even more than that. She listed a lot of informal sectors, I did not hear her mention Machipisa, it is critical and very big. There is a section called Mukambo, everything is in order, they have everything to comply with the Covid-19 prevention methods, they have clean toilets and what is left is for them to be given a directive to open so that our revenue increases. I also want you to note...
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Murai,
you must seek clarification or explanation not to debate.
*HON. MURAI: I am not debating but I wanted to ask. There are some people who want to use this opportunity. Can the Minister hear me?
*THE ACTING SPEAKER: Go on, after all you are addressing me.
*HON. MURAI: I was saying in some areas, there are some people who are trying to go in because there are some people who were at work places but because of the lockdown, some people cease to use those work places and now some people want to take advantage of that and use other people’s workplaces. So what measures are you going to take to protect people so that they may resume work from places they were using before the lockdown because those people who were operating in those areas are also not getting revenue? People were also getting services from the informal sector and now we no longer get services such as maintenance, for example plumbing equipment because the suppliers are now closed. How long will it take? May the issue be resolved immediately so that the informal sector may also start getting income so that people may also get services. I also wanted to ask about certificates. Can people get certificates to operate in a very short period of time?
+HON. M. M. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister whether there will be some money that will be available to help people in the informal sector, also, those who were affected by the demolitions, whether they will be helped. I thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would
like to thank the Hon. Minister for delivering such a statement. It was long overdue because we were also failing to give answers to those in the informal sector who were affected. May the Hon. Minister clarify to us; there are some places that attract people such as tourism activities including places such as Mereki where there is an open barbeque facility. I wanted to find clarity on when such people will start operating? Of course I understand they will be looked at place by place. What about places like those along highways and roads places like Headlands on the highway market, what is Government going to do to provide ablution facilities for such places as well as ensuring safety so that people may not be run over by motor vehicles as they try to sell along the road.
There is also no place or involvement of the local Member of
Parliament in terms of addressing these issues. Where you talk about Government and local authorities, involve Members of Parliament as well in that taskforce because they are the people that deal with people and hear the suggestions from various stakeholders. So I am asking what will be the role of the Member of Parliament in all that the Minister said?
There was also the issue of associations in the informal sector.
In my constituency in Warren Park, such associations do not exist. When the illegal structures were destroyed, I discovered that there were no informal sector associations, so I kindly ask that you work with them even if they may not have registered associations. While they try to process the registration, may you work with them and assist them to regularise such associations.
Finally, may the Minister clarify; we were told that there would be money disbursed to those in the informal sector on radio. People need clarity on the beneficiaries and also how do you apply for such money to assist those in the informal sector. They want to know how to process that. We would like to go and explain to our electorate.
There were illegal structures that were destroyed. I believe in each constituency they were destroyed. So, you need to be transparent on where areas allocated for home industries are so that people may know because some people may end up going back to those undesignated places to operate from, but as Members of Parliament, we need to know which areas they may operate from or which areas are illegal and if such places are designated, they should not be taken away from the people. I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for delivering such a speech. It shows that Government is organised but I wanted to understand if there were complaints from people who were working in markets. Some of them were saying they used to work within a wider space but right now after the lockdown, those spaces were reduced. What does it mean in terms of social distancing because the spaces have been reduced? *HON. NYABANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to understand on the opening of the informal sector. The informal sector has been on lockdown for the past two to three months but I understand that if they want to resume work, they must have tax clearance. So Minister, could you explain to us whether it is true that they need tax clearance in order to resume operations because these informal businesses may not have the resources to meet such demands. Does it mean that those informal traders operating in rural areas may not be able to resume operations because they will not be having tax clearance? I thank you.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Most of the issues have been mentioned but what I need clarity from the Hon. Minister is, I know that there is Covid-19 and some of the industries that have been opened and sectors that have been opened really cover male dominated work places but my request is, may you please open more flea markets because those cater for women. If you look at areas like Mutare, it is only village yet in the residential areas they have not started working.
Finally, there is a speaker who said what should be done in order for people to get capital in order to resume work for those who lost their structures that were destroyed during the lockdown, how will they resume work because they need capital to resume work. For those who lost their structures which were destroyed during the lockdown, does the Government have any plan to ensure that they rebuild structures or they are being given capital to resume their businesses only.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS,
COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. NYONI): Thank you very much Mr.
Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Members for the very pertinent questions that they have asked. I think most of them are similar and I may just bundle them together and give an answer. The first one was about the associations – how it will work and how long it will take. We want to start immediately. The associations will give a list – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – You said how will we know who is registered. We have been working Mr. Speaker Sir, we did not stop during Covid to work with the…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members.
HON. DR. NYONI: We opened a chat with all the informal sector leaders so we kept in touch with them and their leadership. We exchanged ideas so that when we start, we are also starting with them. Some of them are giving us very good advice. So, the list is coming from the Association leaders but also the Ministry and local authorities for those who are not in the association. The local authorities also have a register that we are going to use.
Let me assure Hon. Members that we will make sure that it is done in an orderly manner – those who are registered and given a number to operate on a specific site by the local authority, we will start with those. I would like the Hon. Members to be aware that, the land barons or space barons as what the Hon. Member was talking about who will then come and try to occupy space that is not theirs, we are going to be very careful about that to make sure that those who were there will be given the first preference. The SME’s operators know each other and they know who a legitimate space occupier is and those just came to occupy the space.
The demolishing of spaces; Hon. Members, I think the structures which were demolished were those which were not designated by the local authority, those which were designated were left as they are. The aim of the Ministry is not to let people go back to that untidy squalor, but we are working closely with the informal sector. We want to reconstruct so that they go back to dignified spaces.
There was also a question on places like Mereki and other areas which are tourist attractions; I did not mention all but if they are organised and follow the guidelines of the Public Health, we will facilitate their opening. Let me assure Hon. Members that case by case also means those that are ready. We will make sure they are facilitated. Involving Members of Parliament in the stakeholder framework; yes, they are part of the team and I am sure they are also working very closely with Ministers of State. For instance in my Ministry, when we went to Mupendzanhamo, the Hon. Member was there, giving his ideas, the councilors were also there. So this inclusive approach is very useful. We would like you Hon. Members to also participate, especially when it comes to speaking to people so that they are patient. The idea of the Ministry is to build proper structures for them rather than them putting up those pole and plastic infrastructure. I think that is an eyesore. I want Hon. Members to be assured that the Ministry, wherever we are going, we will ensure that our Portfolio Committee Members are also informed so that they advise us and they come with us.
The spaces that were demolished, will the people go back there? If they were not designated, they will not be allowed to go back but if they were designated, they will go back. The Ministry has lobbied banks, development partners and the Ministry of Housing and Amenities to come and work with the Ministry so that we can construct proper structures. One Hon. Member brought an issue that people needed to bring certificates; I think that is not true. As long as you have your registration, you will be able to go back to work. The informal sector has been closed for a long time and they need clearance tax certificates; I think let me state categorically that the tax clearance certificate is not needed, let them come back to work.
I think there were about two or three questions asking about financing; how will these people be financed, will the demolished structures be reimbursed? Those who were in designated places will have joy in that instead of them putting the illegal structures again, we will now construct proper infrastructures for them. The different stakeholders are coming together including women in construction – I am glad to say that, who will have a woman’s touch in some of the infrastructures that we will provide.
I want to agree with the Hon. Member who said that most of the women are in flea markets. If you go to most of the cities where enclosed flea markets are, you will find that those were led by women. I can give examples of Bulawayo and Marondera and there are some women who are in flea markets who need to move from there and build their own shops because they have done very well
there.
Let me now talk about capital injection, the question which ran right through. The Government has put $500 million for the SMEs, we have divided this money into three structures. The first one is the Green Field; there are some of the informal sector people who have lost everything, who may want to start afresh – we will have funds for that to help, train and relocate them.
Then the informal sector that still has a bit then we will fund them accordingly and make sure that they are growth oriented and are supported to grow. Then the SMEs that partially closed and have designated areas – there will be a specific fund for them.
Let me end Hon. Speaker by saying my Ministry – I am sure as
Minister, I am going to be very unpopular as we look into the revised Indigenization Act (2018). There are certain sectors that are reserved for Zimbabweans but where you find a lot of foreigners occupying those sectors, a case in point is retail – if you go into greater Harare and this is where I will also need the support of other ministers, all stakeholders and even maybe the local Members of Parliament. You will find that a lot of these places are occupied by foreigners who are into retail and wholesaling. The sector is reserved for locals while
Zimbabweans are selling outside in the streets – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] –
The ministry is saying, ‘Let us unite for the local authorities and those that are giving permits to foreigners to trade. Please, let us try to persuade to leave’, because they came into this country to invest.
They do not invest but instead they replace the SMEs and take the space of SMEs instead of going into green fields and construct their own structures. They are taking over where our people should be.
Lastly Mr. Speaker Sir, these are the people who are siphoning out our foreign currency. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – It is not the local SMEs and therefore, I will need a lot of support as we try to regularize and ensure that our people in the informal sector are given the dignity that they deserve. I thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: You omitted the question on the highway markets!
HON. DR. NYONI: I am sorry Mr. Speaker Sir, yes the highway markets are …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! My apologies Hon.
Members for the interruption - we just wanted to make a small handover. Hon. Minister Dr. Nyoni, please take the floor.
HON. DR. NYONI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, there was a question on the highway. I think if the highway vendors were on designated areas – they would go back. We have a lot of interest to make sure that they now have proper vending areas or market space where they also have ablution blocks and water. So that it is something that gives them the dignity of a workspace – we are looking at that, if their space was designated, we will make sure they go back.
We are now following all the designated areas and make sure that they are provided for with the amenities that will make them do business in a friendly way. I thank you.
+HON. MATHE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank Hon. Dr. Nyoni for her speech and also to thank the Hon. President of the country for the great job that he has done in allowing the informal sector to open their markets. In allowing them to open up their markets, I have realised that the same ministry has advertised – I do not know how I can put it across in IsiNdebele. They have advertised in newspapers and on television and put announcements to say,
‘There are certain people who are supposed to be looking after the development of those who are supposed to open.
I am realizing that there are differences in other districts where there are about four names that have come up in one constituency yet the four are supposed to have been coming from four districts. The district in reference is Nkayi whereby four names came from Nkayi North yet Nkayi South does not have a single name from it.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, when a Ministerial
Statement has been given, you rise to ask for clarification. You do not make statements… – [HON. SIKHALA: Not contribution!] – Hon. Member, do not interrupt me. Hon. Mathe, can you then zero in on your point of clarification for the Hon. Minister.
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker, my point of
clarification Hon. Minister is why is it that the advertisement of those who are supposed to open up their small businesses has been taken from only one constituency, yet the other constituencies do not have people who have been selected? I just want to find out if this the practice nationwide? I thank you.
*HON. KUREVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. KUREVA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. There are those who sell their wares coming from their homes into town. Where do they get letters to travel? For example, my constituency Epworth, there are no registered structures. All the structures they were using were illegal and were demolished. What is the Minister going to do to fix this problem? People survive on informal sector in this area. I want clarification on those who operate commuter omnibuses but they are not registered. What are you going to do about this issue since Zupco is failing to ferry people? Thank you.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: I am very happy Hon. Minister
that you are working very hard and your sector is contributing 60% to the economy. Because of Covid 19, people heeded the call to stay at home and they are still at home but their vending sites have been demolished. Are you still going to achieve that 60%? The sites they were using were distanced by one metre and were marked by the local authority. I think if they can return to work wearing these masks we are wearing here, they will be able to operate. They are struggling whilst at home. How long will this take before they start operating? Who gave the order for those vending sites to be demolished? Is it your Ministry or not? Are you failing to protect your sector in Cabinet? For example, Britain has allowed its informal sector to operate. China which has over a billion people, the informal sector is operating in the streets. My question is, is she failing to protect her sector? I think those who are demolishing places where small businesses are operating from are doing something that is wrong. In
India where there are over 1.1 billion people are selling in streets. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Hon. Speaker. The Minister
said that in Harare and other urban areas, foreigners are the ones who are dealing in retail whilst our citizens are selling their wares along verandas and flea markets. When they came, were they coming as investors? How come they are now retailers? Do we have a law to prevent foreigners from taking sectors meant for citizens of this country? Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The Hon.
Minister agreed that vendors are the ones who are driving this economy. Are you putting offices in various districts that the small scale business people can register and stop being harassed?
*HON. GOZHO: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would want to understand about second hand clothes. People were not affording clothes from retail shops and now that we have Covid 19, how are the people who were selling second hand clothes going to survive? What plan do you have as a Ministry to prevent the disease from spreading through second hand clothes?
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Noting of course that there have not been adequate safety nets from Government to cushion the citizens from the lockdown regulations that have prevented them from going about their business in terms of livelihood activities, I think the case for opening up the informal sector is plausible in my view. However I have a few questions arising from what the Hon. Minister has just said. Firstly, I just want to understand why there is so much appetite for demolitions before finding alternative operating spaces for vendors? It may be important to demolish because the sites are not designated but why is there that appetite over the years to demolish before finding alternative places? Secondly Mr. Speaker Sir, the $500 million support scheme that the Hon. Minister has just alluded to, I just want to understand from the Hon. Minister what safeguards are there against corrupt practices potentially in the selection of beneficiaries? Are there any safeguards in that regard because we have previous negative experiences of Government facilities that have been looted or funds that have been siphoned, resulting in intended beneficiaries not getting what is due to them.
Another issue Hon. Speaker Sir relates to the allocation of work spaces; whether this is going to be left entirely to local authorities as per their mandate in terms of the local government regulations or laws because why I am asking is that we have read in the papers that elsewhere in this country there are some individuals who have nothing to do with local authorities or the administration of by-laws who have been co-opted into some committees for the purpose of allocating work spaces. So, do they have that mandate at law or it is supposed to be the responsibility of local authorities given that they are in those offices for that purpose. Mr. Speaker Sir, lastly, I just want to understand from the Hon. Minister whether there is any deliberate consideration for rural and peri-urban areas in terms of construction and reconstruction of vending stalls, factory shells or work spaces. Many a time you find rural and peri-urban areas are an afterthought in government processes. I thank you very much Mr.
Speaker Sir.
HON. DR. S. NYONI: Again I want to thank the Hon. Members for their questions. I will start with the Hon. Member that asked about the employment of officers at district level. I would like to thank the Member for her observation and advise her that she should direct that to the Public Service because it is the Public Service Commission that employs. The Public Commission will look at a whole district and then they will see where the allocations are needed and then they will give HR in the Ministry the allocation according to their staffing demography. I am sure they will help and I will also follow it up to find out what actually happens and I will give her feedback.
The next question was about Epworth where people will get letters to get back to trade. In each district there are officers of the Ministry. If they are approached they will be able to give those letters. We will produce amass from the Headquarters and make sure there is a template that is given to districts and wards for people to then be given to fill so that they can go back to work. In Epworth, I want to agree with the Hon. Member, we really do not have a lot of designated areas. I think the taskforce that has been put in place – we need to discuss with the local authorities. The role of local authorities is to designate areas, to plan the cities and make sure that there are designations for operations where people will live.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, the Hon. ‘threesome’
there, you ask for a Ministerial Statement and you are busy talking. If you do not want to listen then leave the Chamber. Sorry Hon.
Minister.
HON. DR. S. NYONI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I was saying that the role of the local authorities is really to plan cities and to ensure that designated areas are made available for different sectors of the population to live in or to operate from. You will notice that local authorities will designate areas for large industry but very rarely do they designate areas for SMEs or the informal sector. This is what we are dialoguing with them to make sure that they do but I have
good news for the Hon. Member that my Ministry working together with UN Women asked the local authority in Epworth to give us a piece of land and we are building there a market that is going to be an example of what we are talking about. It will have all the components that will give dignity to the vendors as they work. That is the ablution blocks and water. I am sure the Hon. Member will be proud of what will come out of there. He also asked about the transport. My Ministry is following what the President pronounced in S.I 136 as transport was excluded but once it is pronounced we will also see how we can work with the small scale transporters together with the Minister of Transport.
The other Member agreed with me that the SMEs are producing 60% of our revenue and why can we not protect them and learn from China so we can copy from China. Let me assure the Hon. Member that in this new dispensation we want to do things differently and my Ministry is taking Covid-19 not just as a curse but also as an opportunity. Like I said before, we are working with the informal sector and also the local authority so that what was happening before does not happen again. This is a tall order but we hope that we will be able to get somewhere. We want to assure the Hon. Member that all will be done to accommodate and rehabilitate and to make sure that the informal sector is respected.
I want to agree with the Hon. Member who asked the question whether the foreigners who come here to do trade come here to invest. Indeed when they enter Zimbabwe they are entering as investors but some of them I am sure sneak in and trade. The stand that my Ministry will take and we hope that I will be supported by the House and other Ministries is that when people come to Zimbabwe to invest they must be given what to invest in but never be allowed to enter the sectors that are prohibited for international investors. It is our hope that this will come to an end.
There was also a question that is there a place where people register so that they are not harassed by police. Yes, people register through the associations and sometimes directly to the Ministry but the local authorities have been registering the people. What worries Hon. Members also worries the Ministry and this is why we now want to bring order so that we do not have vendors being chased by the police all the time. We hope that this will succeed. There was also a question on the old clothes that a lot of people were really surviving on. On the second hand clothes, I want to agree with the Hon.
Member but if we all are united and we all campaigned for dressZimbabwe, let me assure the Hon. Member that we have a lot of women that are excellent designers. All we need to do is to import reasonable fabric and set up people in Zimbabwe to make the fashions for us. For your own information Mr. Speaker Sir, there are people in
Mupedzanhamo who are marketing especially children’s clothes that they make at home in the evening and they come during the day to sell them, there is no difference. It is just as good and I think instead of us investing in second hand clothes; let us invest in our people producing the clothes for themselves and for the market.
On why there is so much demolition before people find alternatives – I also want to agree with the Hon. Member that we want to stop people just trading anywhere and everywhere as that does not give dignity to our cities and it does not also give dignity to our people. This is why we now want to have a new approach to say, let us make sure that people are registered properly. People are clustered according to your cluster so that when you are doing leather and leather products, you all know that there is a designated place and that place must be well built and well catered for them to operate properly.
The other Member was asking about the funds – how we will safeguard corruption. I think it is a concern for most Zimbabweans that corruption erodes the economy and the poor suffer more and the informal sector suffers more from corruption than those that have got the connections maybe. My plea to Hon. Members is that, the 500 million is going to be disbursed through the SMEDCO and the
Women’s Bank. These two institutions fall under my Ministry and if any Member of this House finds any corrupt practices, please bring it to our attention and I want to assure this House that we will deal with it accordingly. We will not sit and bury corruption because it is an ill, it is a cancer and it is making the poorest of the poor suffer and it is making the constituency that is being run by this Ministry suffer. Let us work together to curb it.
On the allocation of space and that there are some people who are not qualified or who have no responsibility but they find themselves there; let me say that we will do everything possible and we have set this Committee so that there is transparency. The institutional framework that I read here is to curb this shadow allocation of spaces but also to curb corruption, to foster transparency and as you said, we need also to involve the Members of Parliament and I want to appreciate your support. Wherever I have been, a lot of you have been there with us.
The last one was about the construction of workspace in rural areas and peri-urban. If you look at our policy that we are going to launch very soon, we want to focus on rural industrialisation and we are saying, rural industrialistion will not take place without SMEs. We need the infrastructure to move together with the small businesses. So, let me assure Hon. Members that together, we will make Zimbabwe great through rural industrialisation because that is where resources are and that is where our people are but all they lack is workspace and infrastructure; which means enablers like water, electricity, roads and anything that enables them to operate. Let me assure Hon. Members that as we do rural industrialisation, peri-urban centres will also be considered. I thank you.
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I just want to appreciate the responses from the Minister. Normally we rise complaining when we are not satisfied by the responses.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is a point of privilege and not point
of order.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. But, today I
really want to appreciate that we got good responses from the Minister as she was really responding to the issues that are happening on the ground. I would just want to say well done to the Minister and it is my hope that what the Minister said will really be implemented. I
also want to encourage other Ministers to emulate what the Minister is really doing and this will make Zimbabwe great. Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are just coming
from outside and you have not heard anything. Please do not spoil the soup.
HON. MATHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I wanted to say to
the Minister, I am quite aware that the Public Service recruits but it only recruits after it has been given a demand by a particular Ministry.
In this case, I believe that for those that are being recruited in Nkayi North, it is because the Ministry has requested for such in that particular Constituency hence I saw the advert and it covers all the provinces and in each district, there are four members who are being requested by the Minister and her staff. So, I am really worried why in Nkayi they wanted only those 4 names and they are from one constituency and Nkayi South was not mentioned. Thank you very much.
HON. DR. S. NYONI: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I think I did
say to the Hon. Member that I will look into it and I even said I will come back to her. The truth of the matter is I never preoccupy myself with tasks that are assigned to other ministries or departments. I keep to my lane and my lane is to deal with the mandate of the Ministry. Since the Hon. Member has concerns, I ask her to go and consult with the Public Service but I will also look into it. My suspicion is that maybe when the Public Service looked into this, there were more workers at ward level in Nkayi South than in Nkayi North.
If this is not the case, let us look into it and then let us send the word back to the Public Service. I want to maintain my stance, I keep on my lane and that is the prerogative of the Public Service not my Ministry.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon.
Mathe’s question is a matter that can also be directed to the Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare so that we approach the problem from these three fronts and I am sure we will come with a solution expeditiously.
An Hon. Member having walked in wearing a scurf with colours of a Zimbabwean flag.
HON. MURAI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MURAI: We have an Hon. Member who has just walked
in wearing prohibited colours in this House. You actually gave a ruling that these colours are not allowed in this House – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] -
The Hon. Member having took off his scurf.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, the Hon. Member has quietly
complied so I do not think there is any issue anymore. I thank you.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
WETLAND MANAGEMENT
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE
CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON.
- NDLOVU): Thank you so much Mr. Speaker Sir, for the opportunity. May I, with your indulgence take off my mask?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes.
HON. M. NDLOVU: Mr. Speaker Sir, my Ministerial
Statement is in response to a report by the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism on wetland Management which was submitted in this august House in February 2020. Unfortunately, it is no longer on the Order Paper so I requested to present it as a
Ministerial Statement. I am saying this because in some of the areas, I might be referring to the Committee the response was crafted in that response.
My Ministry received the report on issue relating to wetlands management and greatly appreciates the findings and recommendations thereof. It is indeed critical for the country to find a lasting solution to current environmental problems of wetlands degradation as a result of various developments and agricultural activities being done on wetlands. Furthermore, a strengthened legislative framework ensures effective and efficiency in the coordination system of the wise use of our important wetlands landscapes.
Update on Portfolio Committee Recommendations
My Ministry takes note of the eleven important recommendations proposed by the Portfolio Committee for consideration by the Executive. The recommendations are critical for strengthening of the legislative framework for management of the wetlands in the country. My Ministry is pleased to provide to you an update report on progress towards implementation of the recommendations. I turn to the recommendations that were submitted and the progress that we are making as a Ministry.
Recommendations.
Establishment of Environmental Commission
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is my considered view that the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism in itself is a measure put in place to ensure that the environment sector is managed in a manner which shows accountability. Therefore, the proposed establishment of an environment Commission in my view may perpetuate duplication of roles. The Environmental Management Act (CAP 20:27) also has a provision for the Environment Council which is meant to provide policy direction and ensure that all other sectors implement policies that are environmentally conscious. Perhaps the key limitation on activation of the Environmental Council was its membership; an issue I am currently addressing after which I believe will see a lot more traction.
On this one, it is therefore my considered view subject to your further consideration that the existing structures of the Portfolio Committee and National Environment Council continue with their oversight role and influencing mainstreaming of environmental issues in all sector ministries and the private sector.
Recommendation 6.2 and 6.3: Review of National Environmental Plan and Development of Local Environment
Action Plans.
The environment planning process in Zimbabwe was initiated at a local authority level since 2003. The majority of rural and urban local authorities have been trained to develop local environment plans.
Technical and financial support for implementation of these plans by local authorities was provided over the years by the
Environmental Management Agency.
My Ministry did an evaluation of this planning process in 2019 and we are now at the stage of consolidating the National Environment Action Plan based on experiences learnt in implementation of Local Environment Action plans by Local
Authorities.
In compliance to this recommendation, my Ministry targets to produce the National Environment Action Plan by December 2020. Further, to ensure that local authorities produce their local plans, a directive in consultation with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works will be issued for local authorities to comply with this legal provision by December 2020.
Recommendation 6.4: Establishment of the Environment
Tribunal.
This recommendation is welcome. An environmental tribunal works hand in hand with our current proposal in the medium to long term to establish environmental courts in the country to deal with environmental crime. However, I fully aknowledge that establishment of specialised courts is an expensive exercise which also has to be considered with a national perspective. In the meantime however, my Ministry will put emphasis on enforcement using the current legislation.
My Ministry has put up this proposal in the amendments of the Environmental Management Act (CAP 20:27) which I hope will get your Members support when the Bill is tabled in Parliament.
Recommendation 6.5: Amendment of the Environment
Management Act (CAP 20:27)
My Ministry is already working on the amendments which cater for most of the amendments proposed by the Committee.
I would like also to add that the provision of the Environment
Management Act as they stand especially regarding Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) provide in section 98 for the issuance of an order to stop any development which does not have certification and in the alternative where it has shown that the project paused irreparable damage to the environment to have the works destroyed, albeit through a court’s decision.
My appeal to the Committee and by extension to this House, Mr. Speaker Sir, is on increasing awareness to the citizenry to avoid illegal settling on ecologically sensitive areas and support by this Committee on the implementation of such court orders when they arise in the future.
Recommendation 6.6: Carrying out of private land ownership audit in wetlands
My Ministry takes note of this recommendation to step up environmental audits in privately owned land.
Currently there are two processes. One is that of the gazetting of the ecologically sensitive areas and the other one is that of developing ecologically sensitive areas management guidelines which are being done for the Harare Metropolitan province which will also assist on this issue.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker Sir, the audit will be coordinated by my
Ministry with close consultations with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and we hope to have started this process by July 2020.
Recommendation 6.7: Domestication of the provisions of the
Ramsar Convention by Local Authorities
This, Mr. Speaker Sir, is a welcome suggestion and it is part of the raft of the current amendments to the EMA Act to be submitted to Parliament once the requisite stages are fulfilled.
Furthermore work has been done through the development of
Environment Management Model By-laws for implementation by local authorities as provided for under the Environmental
Management Act.
Recommendation 6.8: Review of EIA certificate inspection fees
The recommendation, Mr. Speaker Sir, is welcome. I would like to inform the Committee that the Ministry has already initiated the process and the proposal is awaiting gazetting.
Recommendation 6.9: Complying with requirements of submitting reports on activities on the Environmental
Management Agency
The statutory requirement is noted and will be complied with.
On this one Mr. Speaker Sir, I might add that the agency’s annual report covering its activities up to 2018 has been published and the fourth state of environment and outlook report is ready for tabling before Parliament which I will do before the end of July 2020.
Recommendation 6.10: Suspension of ongoing and proposed developments on Harare wetlands
I wish to inform the House, Mr. Speaker Sir, that I will engage the office of the Attorney General and other arms of the Executive and proceed as guided within the confines of the law. There are various rights which need to be considered, especially property rights particularly when people have title, hence the need to get legal advice and proceed within the confines of the law, but I aknowledge the importance of the matter.
Recommendation 6.11: Review of development permits with
Harare City.
This recommendation is an ongoing exercise which my Ministry through EMA has been focused on for years.
Strides have been made to harmonise the two entities actions with regards to wetland management and we hope that this endeavour of working together will continue and improve in the future.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to say that my Ministry is grateful to the support the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism continues to offer on updating of the environmental law framework of the country. May they continue to guide my Ministry as we thrive to protect the environment which supports the majority of resources critical for attaining vision 2030 as pronounced by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde. E. D.
Mnangagwa. I thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. PARADZA: I move that all Orders of the Day be stood over until Order Number 38 on today’s Order Paper has been
disposed of.
HON. CHIDAKWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM ON ELEPHANT
MANAGEMENT IN HWANGE AND GONAREZHOU
NATIONAL PARKS
Thirty-eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism on
Elephant Management in Hwange and Gonarezhou National Parks.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE
CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON.
- M NDLOVU): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I wish to table a response before this House on the report which was submitted by the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism on Elephant management in Hwange and Gonarezhou National Parks. Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to thank the Committee for a well articulated report and very clear and instructive recommendations they made.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to go through some of the issues raised to offer more clarity but I will dwell more on the recommendations they made. On the submissions from wildlife producers and Hwange RDC Councilor, there were two issues which were raised by the wildlife producers; the first one is on the security of tenure that did not persuade them to make long-term investment decisions. Mr. Speaker Sir, my Ministry has given appropriate authority to private wildlife producers and 58 rural district councils under the Parks and Wildlife Act.
Conferring of appropriate authority gives the land owner the custodianship of wildlife and user rights over wildlife in their farms.
So, neither the Ministry nor the Zimbabwe National Parks are responsible for the administration of agricultural land or land outside the Parks and Wildlife except where the area of communal land not under a rural district council has not been appointed appropriate authority according to the Parks and Wildlife Act. Wildlife producers are urged to approach the Ministry of Lands for the appropriate land tenure issues.
The second issue they raised was on the compensation of wildlife victims. This matter, I will cover substantively under Section 4.4 later on in this report. I wish to now turn to the issues that were raised by Chief Nekatambe. Items (a), which is the lack of community benefits from wildlife and CAMPFIRE proceeds not benefitting communities at all; on this Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to advise the Committee that in an effort to ensure that communities benefit from wildlife and other natural resources, the then Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management instituted the CAMPFIRE.
This Community based natural resource management programme has the following objectives which are still applicable, I will just mention a few; the first one is of the enhancement of rural livelihoods and strengthened economic prospects of the community by involving local people in economic benefits and management of wildlife. The other one is to give control of wildlife management to rural communities so that they would invest in wildlife and habited conservation and in turn receive dividends which is the devolution of management of wildlife and benefits from wildlife and other natural resources to local communities. It also helps to develop positive attitudes surrounding animal conservation in order to ensure the longterm sustainability of the wildlife resource and its habitat and reduce human-wildlife conflict and illegal hunting.
The cornerstone of CAMPFIRE is the devolution of rights to manage, use, dispose of and benefit from wildlife resources to communities. In general, the CAMPFIRE initiative has managed to score some notable achievements and these include;
- The devolution of wildlife management outside protected areas;
- The direct benefits in the form of household incomes which have been realised in most CAMPFIRE areas, including
Hwange unlike during the pre-CAMPFIRE era;
- From the initial phase of CAMPFIRE, we witnessed reduced human-wildlife conflict incidences and poaching;
- Wild animal population such as elephants and buffalos increase outside protected areas.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to highlight just a few challenges on the
CAMPFIRE Project. There have been challenges faced by
CAMPFIRE leading to reduced household benefits and these include the following;
- For the last few years, unprecedented poaching of elephants and other wildlife through use of poison in and around Hwange
National Park, which is an indication of failure on the part of
CAMPFIRE to satisfy communities;
- We have also observed increasing human population which now averages at least 16 people per square kilometer in some key wildlife areas which hampers wildlife conservation, hence affecting CAMPFIRE income;
The other issue that I wish to clarify Mr. Speaker Sir is on the human and wildlife conflict, which is a very important issue. This issue is an unavoidable cost of living in communities living in proximity with wildlife, which is difficult to eradicate and is a common phenomenon throughout the country. I will just highlight a few statistics Mr. Speaker Sir, which are ranging from 2016 to 2019;
People killed by elephants in 2016 were 26, in 2017, they were 40, in 2018 they were 20, in 2019 they were 42. For these four years, they give us a total of 128 people. Injured by elephants, they total 98. The livestock killed by wildlife; cattle in total for four years is 462, for donkeys it is 94 and for goats it is 544. The Hwange District forms one of Zimbabwe’s four main wildlife regions and hence a focal point of human-wildlife conflict.
There is a table which highlights the situation in Hwange from January to February, 2020. We have already lost two lives, lost 10 catttle, one donkey and 14 goats. I will touch on a few drivers on human-wildlife conflicts, particularly in Hwange District. The first one, there is high elephant population beyond the ecological carrying capacity and human population encroaching into the elephant habitat and movement corridors. Climate change has also seen increased frequency of droughts – elephants mostly move outside the park estates in search for water and foliage since they are water dependent and require large amounts of feed, thereby intensifying humanwildlife conflict. There is also incompatible land-use planning which is a key issue as encroachment into wildlife habitat and movement corridors continue, thereby reducing land for wildlife. The conflict arises when the community enter the park or move around the park. For example, looking for their domestic animals. There is also lack of a buffer zone which means that wildlife in the park have easy and direct access to communal areas adjoining the parks.
There was an issue Mr. Speaker Sir which was raised on the non-employment of locals. The local people are employed as either contract workers, rangers, lodge attendants, guides and are notified of vacant permanent posts that they may be qualified to apply for. Of all the five new rangers who were employed in Hwange in 2019, 100% of them came from the local communities.
In 2018 Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimparks recruited 22 rangers from Matabeleland North and South provinces which was 22% of the national total countrywide intake. There was also the issue raised where Zimparks is not contributing to the development of the local community infrastructure. Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to highlight that the development of infrastructure is the specific mandate of CAMPFIRE where RDCs are a part of. However, I wish to highlight also that there are a number of community projects that have been facilitated through national parks. I will just name a few but they are quite many. They include the construction of the classroom block in Nekatambe School; the restocking of the Sidinda Conservancy with wildlife from Zambezi National Park and the construction of the Mabale Community Centre which is in progress from KAZA facilitated funds among others.
There is the issue of lack of compensation Mr. Speaker Sir. It is true that Zimparks does not offer direct compensation for loses suffered as a result of human wildlife conflict as this is not enshrined in the country’s statutes nor in the national parks policies. The issue of compensation is further complicated by the fact that in Zimbabwe, communities are the custodians of the wildlife in their areas, who are empowered to benefit from the wildlife as a result of the fact that RDCs enjoys appropriate authority status to manage the wildlife in the communal areas for the communities benefit to ameliorate losses suffered by the communities.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I now want to shed more light on the issue raised concerning the research in human and wildlife conflict in Hwange. Research into human wildlife conflict in Hwange and other areas in Zimbabwe, both by Zimparks and other local and international researchers facilitated by Zimparks is ongoing. The human wildlife conflict is one of the most comprehensively researched areas as far as wildlife management in Zimbabwe is concerned. Some of the studies have been published while others have not. Work mostly focused on human elephant conflict but considerable work has also been done on other conflict species and on human wildlife conflict in general. The bulk of the work focused on mitigation measures for human wildlife conflict and there is also some research on the dynamics of human wildlife conflict in the area and reporting systems.
I now turn to the recommendations that were made by the
Committee. The first one is on elephant sale and export, Zimbabwe’s elephant population together with those of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa are on CITES Appendix II while for the rest of Africa they are in Appendix 1. Appendix I listed species are threatened with extinction and may not be traded internationally for commercial purposes. Appendix II listed species may be subjected to controlled international trade. There are trade restrictions, however and these are as follows: -
The first one is the CITES stricter domestic measures. Zimbabwe is aware that international cooperation is fundamental to achieving the objectives of the convention. Zimbabwe is concerned that stricter domestic measures taken pursuant to Article XIV, paragraph 1 of the Convention have an adverse impact on the conservation status of its wildlife species. Trophy hunting generates income that is ploughed into wildlife conservation and used for rural community development programmes and projects. Zimbabwe has always challenged the appropriateness of such stricter domestic measures by importing countries and expressed its position against such measures and has justified its position on scientific basis.
The other challenge is on CITES quotas, the utilisation of elephants, crocodiles, cheetahs and leopards through trophy tourism or hunting is controlled through CITES approved quotas. The maximum quota limit for trophy hunting are 500 individual animals which gives us a thousand tusks for elephants; 200 individuals for crocodiles; 50 for cheetahs and 500 for leopards.
The other challenge is that of placing species on CITES
Appendix I, wildlife species such as rhinos are listed on CITES Appendix I. The listing of species means that the wildlife concerned may not be internationally traded on commercial basis. The listing on CITES Appendix I means that Zimbabwe may not be able to get the full value of its wildlife particularly the rhino.
I turn to the definition of the acceptable and appropriate destinations under the conference of parties of CITES. An addition to our Appendix II listing was introduced and this referred to the new definition of acceptable and appropriate destinations as referenced to the external trade in live elephant and rhinos. The effect of this amendment is that African elephants can only be sold to another African country a position which we opposed as SADC - unfortunately unsuccessfully so.
Elephant ivory and rhino horn stock piles, currently Zimbabwe has 130 tonnes of elephant ivory stock piles and about five tonnes of rhino horns in its vault which it cannot trade because of CITES trade restrictions. The last CITES approved elephant ivory sale was done in China and Japan in 2008. The ivory and rhino horns stocks continue to accumulate in the stores. There are many costs associated with the management of the stock piles including the provision of manpower to provide a 24 hour security. Also there is limited physical storage space, the monitoring infrastructure and equipment, record keeping and other administrative tasks. The stocks are worth over USD$600 million. We continue to explore options for legal trade in these assets despite the heavy restrictions imposed by CITES.
The other challenge is on the impacts of trade restrictions. The impact of ban on importation will adversely affect communities who have invested land and service to conservation of wildlife for decades. There will be huge negative, social and economic impacts in
Zimbabwe particularly on local communities. For example, 65% of
Zimbabwe’s annual elephant export quota is utilised outside the State protected areas i.e. the private and communal lands. The potential losses in revenue will result in loss of confidence in community based natural resource management programmes such as CAMPFIRE and will reverse the gains that had been achieved in conservation.
Mr. Speaker Sir on this one, I think there is an omission of a critical statement that there are major source countries for our imports which is the United States of America and Britain who are currently having legislative processes to ban the importation of trophies.
Recommendation two is on co-management of wildlife, my ministry, through the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Plan (2018-2023) recognises the need for co-management of wildlife in Zimbabwe. Co-management is a relatively new concept with long term binding arrangements and therefore needs to be approached with caution.
Recommendation three is on devolution of the management of wildlife. Zimparks through their Act has a national mandate to manage wildlife in the country. However, we recognise the importance of communities as custodians of wildlife resources in communal areas. The review of the CAMPFIRE policy seeks to further extend devolution right down to the ward and households, as opposed to district level which is the current status quo. Devolution of wildlife management to the lowest levels, that is communities, has always been a principle the authority has upheld as evidenced by the critical role which it placed in the formation and support of CAMPFIRE. It needs to be taken into account however that 100% devolution has to be taken with caution. This is because some level of oversight is necessary to curb elite capture of community programmes. CAMPFIRE while seen as a form of devolution nationally, may be regarded as a centralised system by local communities, who wish for greater decision making at their local levels. It is one of the reasons that the CAMPFIRE review was undertaken.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the next recommendation is on whistle blowers. There is no provision for whistle blowing in the current Parks legislation. However, Section 129 (5) provides for a reward for surrendering prescribed trophies which are found. The legislative review process being done under GEF6 presents a window of opportunity to include whistle blowing issues. It is an issue I believe is worth considering when the current Act is reviewed.
There is also the Reward system which was raised. Currently, in terms of Section 129 (5) of the Parks and Wildlife Act, the Minister can make regulations which provide for a reward for surrendering prescribed trophies (e.g elephants products, rhino, pangolins, et cetera) found by people lying around. My Ministry is considering a Statutory Instrument which expands the provision to make it comprehensive and consistent with current issues such as whistle blowing on poisoning, pollution, setting of traps, among others.
On the issue of the deterrent custodian sentence e.g for illegal possession of cyanide, this will be taken into consideration as my Ministry moves to review the current Act.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the last recommendation refers to the prioritisation of law enforcement in the elephant policy and elephant management plan. Zimbabwe has an elephant management plan for each of the four major elephant range areas, which include the
Zambezi Valley, Sebungwe, South East Lowveld and North West Matabeleland. The Elephant Management Plan (EMP) recognises mechanisms in place for enhanced law enforcement within the country and also the fact that Parks and Wildlife Act establishes it as the lead agency in elephant management, that is, protection, research and monitoring establishes it as the lead agency in law enforcement.
The EMP advocate for deployment of highly trained rapid response anti-poaching units in high threat areas and also prioritises the following:
- Enhanced informer system;
- Enhance community involvement;
- Reduced illegal settlements;
- Enhanced international and transboundary co-operation. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORT FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY
LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: Before I call for points of
clarification to these two important presentations by the Hon.
Minister, I have to announce that there is a non-adverse report on the
Census and Statistics Amendment Bill, [H.B. 3, 2020]. The
Committee is of the opinion that the Bill is not in contravention of the declaration of rights or any other provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Thank you.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir for
giving us the room to do both reports. I will start with the first report of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Tourism on Wetland Management. May I ask from the Hon. Minister if the Minister has considered the logic in the issuance of EIAs that the inspectorate is paid by those that are being inspected? Does it not lead to rampant corruption? When you need to be cleared of your land to go and develop, you need an EIA Inspector and that person is to be paid by the one who needs to be inspected. Could that not lead to corruption? Is there an inter-ministerial platform where Local Government and Environment Ministries share notes in order to enforce production of local authorities plans to avoid the friction of allocating of land for development on wetlands and designated
Ramsar sites as we see in the Monavale and Borrowdale vleis.
On development permits Hon. Minister, how are stakeholders going to have a say on the dilapidation and degradation of wetlands as they are on the receiving and affected with the are subsequent loss of water when rivers run dry – [HON. M. NDLOVU: May you repeat the last question?] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Minister, you should be
up standing and ask for clarification of the question. You cannot do it on the bench.
HON. N. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the
correction. I was requesting that the Chairperson repeat the third question, I have missed it.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: How are stakeholders, which are
the communities going to have a say on the dilapidation and degradation of wetlands as they are on the receiving end and affected with the subsequent loss of water when rivers run dry as we are developing on the wetlands?
On the report of the Portfolio Committee on Environment,
Climate and Tourism on Elephant Management in Hwange and
Gonarezhou National Parks, may I put it to the Minister that has the Hon. Minister considered the relocation to other less congested areas of our elephants within the nation to avoid the congestion in the Hwange and Gonarezhou National Parks. How much can we translocate to international by authorised sites? Can that not help us a little bit in the crisis that we have with our herd of elephant? I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. K. PARADZA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I have one question to the Minister pertaining to his second presentation. The Minister said we have 130 tonnes of elephant tasks and rhino horns valued at about $600 million. Year in, year out, we are mourning that we have these. Can we not as a country value add these tasks and try to make some necklaces and bracelets for export.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I seek clarity on the first presentation by the Hon. Minister. Firstly, let me thank him for his comprehensive presentations. The first issue concerns the international convention on wetlands, the RAMSA Convention of 1971. To what extent is the Ministry respecting the provisions of the convention and how important is the convention in wetlands management?
Turning to the second ministerial statement, I will start with the numbers game. In 1980, we had a total elephant population of 20000. Zimbabwe has a carrying capacity of 55000. Now the elephant population is 85000. That creates a crisis for Zimbabwe. Human wild life conflict becomes imminent. What is the Ministry doing to ensure that the excess animals are not endangered given the two years drought that we have experienced? What is the Ministry doing.
Areas like Tsholotsho never experienced rainfall and it is close to the National Park? In terms of availability of water, what is Government doing and in terms of feeding, what is the Ministry doing?
Then the issue of CITES; why should we continue to respect provisions of CITIES when we have some challenges economically?
Why not pull out of CITES then we sell the stockpile which is a lot?
We have 85000 elephants and we can sell the excess elephants.
Then there is the issue of compensation – it is sad that people who are killed by elephants, their families are not compensated and destruction of crops is not compensated. What is the Ministry doing to ensure that these people are given compensation? Then turning to the issue of enforcement; small aircrafts – drones, do we have them to ensure that would be poachers will not be given the opportunity to poach? I think in the interest of time, I will end there. I thank you.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Good afternoon Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the two ministerial statements. The issue of wetlands is associated with vegetable production in communal lands and it is my plea that a strategy must be worked out where we introduce high yielding varieties to farmers utilising wetlands so that there is a better yield and a better benefit and then they understand the value of the wetlands.
Allow me to comment on the issue of the EIAs in Zimbabwe. A certain percentage of the cost of a project goes to EMA before the project starts and this percentage paid to EMA does not find its way back to the communities affected. EMA has no laid down procedure of corporate social responsibility. They take and go. The other time they took 1.5% of the value of the project. That was it - nothing goes back to the community. Then the EMA document, when it is produced is only available – the consultation takes place with everybody but the final document is only available at EMA offices. The council, MP and Chiefs do not have this EIA, so there is no collective management on any project and there is a need to review this. Also there is a need to review the structure of EMA on the basis of the old one which was called Natural Resources Board where there was a committee at local level and provincial level but now we do not have a committee at local and provincial levels. We just have the national and then EMA offices and officers.
Allow me to comment on the issue of EIAs and stream bank mining in our constituencies, especially Uzumba, Maramba- Pfungwe. There is massive stream bank mining by foreign companies. If you go there Mr. Speaker Sir, you will be shocked with the massive destruction. EIAs have been produced in Harare, the local people and Chiefs have not been consulted. We chased away our indigenous people who were doing gold panning which we inherited from the Munhumutapa kingdom. What are we doing in as far as allowing our people to participate in these activities other than just giving everything to foreigners? Even construction of certain things, we just give to foreigners yet we also need money. Money has not gone out of fashion. We have tasted the value of money, we know what it does to our life so that is the element of the first report.
On the second report, the elephant population in Zimbabwe has gone up by over 50 000. Hon. Minister, I appeal to you to open butcheries where at least one day we will taste elephant meat. Our people hardly get the meat yet this is our inheritance from God. This is our God given resource. If the population is in excess – an elephant weighs more than a tonne and that is more than 1 000 kgs. In Zimbabwe and in Harare, if you look for game meat, you will never get it. Even in Victoria Falls, you will never get it but if you go to countries that do not even have elephants, game meat is available and coming from Zimbabwe because there are these guys who come in as trophy hunters, they get the trophy and the meat.
You must say, you want to come here as a trophy hunter, get the trophy but the meat goes to the indigenous people then they will have value. Then, there is this fulfillment of our traditional systems where we say, hukama igasva hunozadziswa nekudya zvinonaka, not zvisinganake. So, that element where we deny our people basic right - because to get meat from the game is a basic right. We have allowed foreigners to come, they do their trophy hunting but they must get the trophy and the meat belongs to the people.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are now debating.
HON. MUDARIKWA: I am sorry Mr. Speaker. Then lastly, Mr. Speaker Sir, as Zimbabweans, we moved too much into these international conventions. We have accepted every convention that is there on this planet and CITES is managed by people who have destroyed all their wild animals. They used to have all these animals and there are no animals in Japan because they wiped them out and now they put a condition for us to say if you want to trade in your elephants, you must do this and that. How can you teach me to look after my children when you have killed your children? Zimbabwe must pull out of CITES on whatever the cost is and CITES is also associated with sanctions. Countries that are threatening us on CITES are the same countries that have given us sanctions. You are giving with this hand and you are producing a knife with the other hand. So, as Zimbabweans we must realise that we have a country to protect.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you have made your
point that you want the meat.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, lastly, one day, I do
not invite you to look back because there is an elephant tusk at the back of your Chair but I do not think that here when we had a catering company we had an opportunity to taste game meat at this Parliament but there is a lot of wildlife in Zimbabwe. But where you are seated, you are shadowed by elephant tusks.
HON. TSUNGA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. I appreciate his passion for Zimbabwe to excuse itself from CITES and such other organisations but certainly, not at whatever cost because I think that is a bit on the extreme side. Because whatever cost might also mean cost to our own lives and the future of our children and their children. I would rather he withdraws that particular aspect and say, at some cost that is within a tolerance range rather than ‘whatever cost’. That is too much. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You sound like you are in Rivonia Trial of Nelson Mandela. Please conclude Hon. Mudarikwa.
HON. MUDARIKWA: I am concluding Mr. Speaker Sir but,
just as a passing comment, when I went to school, I never did English Literature but I concentrated on science subjects. So, whatever he is saying, I do appreciate.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are forgiven.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you very much. But also, there
are other areas where we went in Matabeleland North where there is no drinking water for people and given that scenario, there is also no drinking water for wild animals but we need to invest even in bowsers to say we know how many elephants we have and how much we require. Why do we not buy bowsers to move water to those areas where there is wildlife? If there are so many elephants, we know how much water they require then we move the water but now when the elephants have no water, they go to the villages for water and there is conflict there. In Mbire District, the same things are happening but the Zambezi River is full of water. Let us organise National Parks that this year and next year we must have tankers that move water. Zambians move diesel from Beira to Zambia and we move diesel from Beira to DRC. So, why can we not move water for all our wild animals in that area? There is a drought and there is no underground water. Our planning is like that maybe God will do this for us yet some of us do not even go to church on Sunday. We have no social contract with God and so, we must provide the water to all the wildlife. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. KARENYI: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I
just want clarification from the Hon. Minister about the issue of EMA. I know very well that they want to do the evaluation and monitoring assistance. I understand that as a Ministry, at one point I think that the Committee reported that EMA is not fully funded and I just want to find out from the Minister that, is EMA now fully funded? Are they now doing their monitoring and evaluation because at one point, I know very well that they had no vehicles to do their monitoring and I think that the issues of staff was also a problem and also a challenge. How far have they gone? Thank you.
*HON. P. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question to
the Minister is that, when the animals cannot find water, they go to the villages to destroy homes and they also kill people. What are you doing or what plans do you have so that the National Parks officers can come to shoot these animals and help the villagers? I have seen in many areas that the National Parks officers would not be having even a single bullet. I thank you.
HON. I. NYONI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Minister
clearly highlighted the issue of human and wildlife conflict in detail. My question is, has the Ministry been looking into a legislation to include or take care of compensation for those who lost their livestock, or relatives who have lost their lives?
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I wanted to
ask the Minister on river bank mining. What is the Ministry doing about this because in Mazowe companies are mining near rivers? If we phone EMA, nothing happens. As a Ministry what are you doing?
People are killed by elephants and the elephants are eating people’s crops. Does your ministry have people at heart or you only protect the elephants? If we phone your Ministry, they will say they do not have fuel and vehicles to travel.
HON. MADHUKU: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.
My first questions is to do with the first presentation which he has made where he alluded to the fact that when a question was asked whether they cannot be suspension of development on wetlands and I seem to have heard the answer that sometimes it is difficult because of property rights. Now may I get clarification from the Hon. Minister whether legislation on the protection of wetlands does not supersede those property rights? To me it appears that if somebody has some property rights, then the legislation is made useless.
My second question is on the second presentation on humanwild life conflict, where the issue of compensation is very critical. I want to say that we leant some lessons from other countries like Malawi and Namibia where there is some compensation which is done for the loss of life, crops and loss of domestic animals. I am asking this because we are aware that sometimes even when there is this kind of conflict when the National Parks rangers are called, another Hon. Minister said that sometimes we tend to believe that animals are more important than human life...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member not Minister.
HON. MADHUKU: Yes, Hon. Member Mr. Speaker. The wild
parks rangers come and sometimes they say that they are now allowed to kill, but to scare away the wild animals and this creates a big problem with people who lose their livelihoods from these wild animals. May also the Hon. Minister explain sometimes we have these problems because they are private operators who do not repair or mend their fence so we end up having some of these problems? In the Save Conversancy, the fence has fallen down, they do not repair the fence and we have also been made to understand that at one time there was some grant from the EU and they wanted to come and mend the fence, but nothing has happened. In the same vein these private operators do not offer anything to the local communities in form of social corporate responsibilities and this creates problems.
Lastly, you talked about the Campfire programme which I is not operational in certain national parks like Sabi Conservancy, there is no Campfire. So, may the Hon. Minister explain why this principle is practiced in certain areas and not in other areas? I thank you.
+HON. MKANDLA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I will ask the
Hon. Minister to explain on his second presentation. We heard about
Hwange claims regarding especially what came through from the
Committee’s recommendations which was highlighted by Chief Nekatambe. Minister, in Hwange National Park they are children that are circled around Hwange National Parks who were born and bred and went to school in Hwange, especially in Dete under Chief
Nekatambe. Children are not being employed yet they are learned.
They know their area, how it is run but they are said to be the ones that are killing these wild animals. As Government, please help us in making sure that these children get employment. Minister, can you also explain to us about this Campfire that you are referring to because this Campfire has built community halls, especially in
Hwange. However, there are other places where Campfire money is not reaching those places. May you please find out from RDC where this money is going to, because it is benefiting some wards, yet it is not reaching other wards. I am also not getting it from my area.
Minister, I also want to say I do not know if you heard that yesterday an elephant killed a person in Victoria Falls. Hon. Speaker the elephants that I am referring to are encroaching into our areas looking for bananas, mangoes and different fruits. In my yard, an elephant came to look for mangoes. When we were growing up elephants used to be killed quarterly in order to reduce their population, then have the meat was distributed to the community or sold the meat to local butcheries. Our plea to the Minister Mr. Speaker Sir is to reduce the number of elephants. This person who died in Victoria Falls was mentally disturbed and no one knows who he is or where he comes from. So who is going to bury this person? Our plea Mr. Speaker, we are asking you to help us so that our children get employment because they are suffering, yet the people that are offered jobs in this area are people from elsewhere.
HON. P. CHIDAKWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker
for giving me this opportunity. I direct question to the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Is it still worth our while to remain in CITIES when we cannot benefit from our resources? The US$600 million is lying idle yet our country is reeling under foreign currency shortages. Thank you.
*HON. KARIMAZONDO: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would like to commend the Hon. Minister with his good presentation. My question to the Hon. Minister is who monitors the registered consultants because some of them mislead the people, some of them mislead when they present programme proposals. When they apply for EIAs they apply differently and yet implement a different project all - together. They do not compensate people when they encroach or disturb the irrigations. Some of them are operating where there are schools.
At Dindingwe School they have built their projects 20m away from where there is a school. If you look at it, the certificate that they got, they did not deserve to get it because it pollutes the water that the people use. So how do they compensate people? In fact, they are supposed to compensate people before they start operating but it is now the other way around. Thank you.
SPEAKER’S RULING
POINT OF PRIVILEGE RAISED BY HON. T. MLISWA
THE HON. SPEAKER: Before the Hon. Minister responds, there was a point of privilege raised by Hon. Mliswa, is he here? How did you know I was going to respond? The point of privilege raised by Hon. Mliswa touched on several issues. One of them is the question of the value of coupons. I did not quite appreciate and when I checked the value of coupons, if it says 20 litres you get your 20 litres. Whether it is petrol or diesel you have to get your 20 litres, so there is no depreciation in terms of the value of coupons unless there are issues that have arisen, which issues should have been brought immediately to my attention through the Clerk of Parliament. Those are administrative issues that need urgent attention.
If this is true, but I have checked with the Principal Director of
Finance and he says when you have got a coupon reading 20 litres for diesel, you get that 20 litres of diesel – [HON. MEMBERS: Where? We are then forced to sell them.] – Order, order. Who said I had finished my response. Do not cross over.
Then related to that is the question of the availability of fuel itself. Again, a very pertinent point of privilege currently starting last week there has been a shortage of fuel - the whole country. Now, my understanding is that the fuel is within the tanks somewhere at Msasa. What is required immediately is foreign currency to pay for the fuel so that the suppliers can supply us with the fuel.
Coming specifically to Members of Parliament, a letter was written on 4th March, 2020 that Treasury must increase its allocation of foreign currency to Petrotrade, CMED and as agreed last time, I think it was Hon. Shamu’s service station as well as Puma. That letter was written on 4th March and my administration has been chasing after that. Reminders have been written to Treasury and as of late this afternoon, there has not been any response. So what I have instructed is that we have to engage the Governor of the Reserve Bank directly so that some foreign currency is released so that the stations where
you get your fuel from can have fuel for you to top up your vehicles and be able to go back.
Relatedly was Hon. Mliswa’s issue of salaries that have lost tremendous value in terms of inflation. This is a national issue and has partly been addressed by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development for civil servants. Hon. Mliswa, you were not there yesterday when I made the directive that the Hon. Minister must come to address this august House on the economy of this country and all pertinent issues that affect the Members of Parliament will be raised during that interface with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, but more importantly, it is my expectation that because of the high inflation that has hit us and covid-19 where the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is requiring some money.
As I addressed the Committee on Liaison and Coordination of Chairpersons, I indicated that Treasury would be coming soon to Parliament to present a supplementary budget. It is during that supplementary budget that you must watch out to what extent the issue of the conditions of service for the Hon. Members have been captured. Having said that, a letter was written last week by the Hon. Minister of Finance where he said he was going to do everything in his power to find money to respond to the areas of concern including constituency funding and other related matters. That letter was addressed to me and it is there. We also have to appreciate the difficulties that the country is going through.
However, I think the most important thing is to get the Minister to appear before us here to give the Ministerial Statement on the economy in general and on issues that affect us as Hon. Members so that we get some timelines as to the fulfillment of the promises that he must make to the Hon. Members accordingly. So, Hon. Mliswa your point of privilege is pertinent and we will pursue it to its logical conclusion.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, as you can see – [showing off coupons] – I have got some coupons. I have had these coupons for a good three weeks – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The issue which your Members suffer from is not the absence of coupons; it is the unavailability of fuel. For that reason, they have no choice but to use the borrowed forex to get to the next point, the foreign currency that they have, if they have it. There are those who do not have, God is surely with us because I do not even know how they manage to get here. You have ruled that it will be certain and it is a humble appeal, can there be service stations sincerely allocated to Members of Parliament. We are seen carrying drums because if you go home you will not come if you do not get the fuel, you carry drums to pay back the fuel you would have borrowed amongst other farmers because you fear that you will not get here.
In between all that the Minister is saying, how do we get the fuel? I left the House because I was trying to get fuel, that is the truth and that is why I am back and I left the driver in a fuel queue for foreign currency and not for coupons. So, even with the forex, there is a queue. The issue of mitigating these issues while he is coming up with an answer; the truth of the matter is that we are not children, we must be told the truth. If the Minister of Finance knows things are difficult, which we all do, the money that we get, the rate as of today is 1:115 as we speak. That is the rate at which we now change some money and I must be honest, which is not honourable for a Member of Parliament. I need to get the fuel.
So, the Minister of Finance, for a very long time, comes and he gives money to other ministries without coming to Parliament. However, when it is Parliament issues, he wants to do a supplementary budget. The truth is known, how many times has he allocated money without coming to Parliament? Why is it that in this situation we are in, being a very important institution, he cannot give what we require then come to Parliament to seek condonation, which is allowed? He has done that several times, giving money where it is not needed. The Health Board of this country, the board members are given brand new range rovers recently and yet we do not have what it takes. So, we are not children and I think it is important for him to respect us and tell us the truth. We are with him together and we have never failed to come for duty – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – We have never failed to come for duty because we respect you in the Chair, we have an obligation and a mandate from the people, we keep coming. I will conclude by saying, it is like George Floyd who was killed when he was pleading for mercy. This is where we are until we die, is that what we want?
THE HON. SPEAKER: I share the empathy that has been laid bare before me as head of Parliament. Hon. Members, I want to state to you now, do not allow the situation to reach such scales without letting me know – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The example he has given that he has had coupons, I am sure all of you have had coupons – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order. My office is open. I am telling you today, if there are issues that seem to be stuck in the bureaucracy of our administration, do not hesitate to choose one to three Members of Parliament and bring the issues straight to my office – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – as indicated by Hon. Mliswa, it is unbecoming to have Hon. Members engaged in borrowing fuel there and there and borrowing foreign currency here and there, in the end, you are compromised. So, can we take it today that I have heard it from the horse’s mouth; the first thing tomorrow, I will have to hunt for the Governor and ensure that you have your fuel and agree that those three suppliers be given priority so that you can carry out your responsibilities exceptionally well in terms of the Constitution. I must applaud you for the sacrifice that you have done – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I wish the electorate out there, knew what you are going through in order to carry out your three roles of representation, oversight and legislation. I wish they would know and I hope from today, they will know the sacrifices that you are going through. I will definitely not make a phone call, I will walk across to the Reserve Bank tomorrow – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for your response, it is indeed very comforting for us as Members to hear you say that. I know that you are a man of your word; you take it to task like a headmaster leading his teachers to assembly. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, I want to apologise to you for keeping you waiting. I thought the Hon. Members were very anxious about the issues that were raised under Privilege and if you can bear with us and go through your responses. You can see Hon. Members are waiting to hear your response. In fact, Hon. Members, I was on Skype, contributing to the International Parliamentary Union.
When I heard the signal that Hon. Mliswa was raising a very critical question and I decided to excuse myself from that skyping to come back here – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Hon. Minister, please you may take the floor.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE,
TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. N. M.
NDLOVU): Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank you for this opportunity to respond to a number of issues that require me to clarify. I also wish to thank the Hon. Members for the questions that they raised and they are quite many Mr. Speaker Sir. What I will do, with your indulgence, is to try and summarise these responses with the hope that I will be able to cover all the areas of concern raised. I may not respond question by question – some of them are quite related so I will try to elaborate where possible so that I cover what other Hon.
Members may have raised.
The first issue had to do with the logic where the EIA – the process involves what I would call an investor going to a consultant to get them to do the EIA and paying them. Whether there are no instances of possible corruption and maybe moral hazard.
Mr. Speaker Sir, my understanding and belief is that we are dealing with professionals who are approached to conduct a professional assignment on environmental impact assessment. Which assessment is then verified and approved by EMA. I want to believe there is a considerable separation of duty in the process of approving the EIA and EMA generally before it approves, makes sure that there is conformity to specific environmental protection guidelines. I want to believe that unless there are specific issues, the process ordinarily works well.
I want to thank the Hon. Member for highlight the possibility of sharing notes on the production of local plans. This is an area we are exploring because often times we find ourselves having to deal with plans that would not have fully considered the impact of the environment particularly on wetlands. So, it is an area that I want to thank the Hon. Member for raising and we are considering that.
There is in fact, some work being done although we want to upscale
it.
There is an important question also on the stakeholder involvement as they watch the wetlands getting dilapidated. I will give two scenarios to this, the first one is that the process that we are currently seized with of coming up with wetlands guidelines but also coming up with a map particularly in Harare because Harare is pretty much a wetland city. We will give clarity to which specific areas are wetlands but also guidelines on what can be done in those wetlands. So, we also believe that EMA has that duty to protect communities but beyond that whatever activities will be permissible will be subject to approved EIAs which EIAs involve community involvement. So, we will of course be looking closely as to whether communities are fully empowered in this process but we believe there are provisions to that effect.
There was a question on whether we are considering the relocation of our elephants from overcrowded areas. This process is currently ongoing but unfortunately we are currently victims of our good conservation methods over time. There was an Hon. Member who gave statistics of how our population has increased. We are running short of areas that can accommodate elephants because of these numbers. We have established trans-frontier conservation areas that are allowing the movement of wildlife, mostly elephants across borders.
We believe that through this natural process, for most of the countries, in the KAZA region and also within SADC. We are seeing movement once in a while from one country to another without deliberate human intervention. We want to believe that this is much better approach but we are also trying to explore options of translocating some our elephants to those countries who have one or two elephants but are very vocal in CITES. We want them to have a real experience of taking care of wildlife Mr. Speaker Sir. So, it is something that we will duly consider.
There was also the issue of value adding our tusks for purposes of export. This is happening but within limits and mostly because there are also significant constraints in unlocking the markets for these and still CITES overreaches there and it imposes certain restrictions. Also the size of the stock that we have would require a fully fledged industry to value add and export which would require a market of the same size but it is an important point worth noting Mr.
Speaker Sir.
There was a question of whether we respect the Ramsar Convention. We are both signatories and we have ratified to the convention – we commemorate it annually. Currently, our guidelines on wetlands are precisely based on the provisions of the Ramsar Convention so there is no question on whether we respect the Ramsar Convention.
There was a question again from Hon. Moyo where he was highlighting the populations of our elephants and that what are we doing to make sure that there is adequate water in the national parks? I know that Hon. Members in this House fully understand the effects of climate change. We are in a second successive year of drought and this is impacting negatively on both our wildlife as well as human life.
Within that are the constraints that national parks is facing where currently, they do not have a specific allocation from Treasury. They therefore, rely mostly on their revenue generated and also from donations – mostly for conservation. Within those constraints, Zimparks have sunk boreholes in our national parks. They have also changed from generator driven – most of these boreholes are now solar powered, also trying to mitigate or reduce our contributions to climate change or to emissions. This will be an ongoing exercise due to resources constraints but I can assure Members that we are as concerned as they are about the situation of water within our Parks and Wildlife. Beyond that, I want the Members to extend this concern to areas where communities are the ones managing wildlife because we are seeing higher human to wildlife conflict in these areas and CAMPFIRE has not fully mitigated this crisis. So, it is a crisis that we are fully aware of and we are taking measures to address though it is a mammoth task.
There is a question which I know I once attended to in this
House when I made a Ministerial Statement after I had attended CITES last year. Mr. Speaker Sir, there is a question on whether or not we should continue respecting the provisions of CITES which restrict us from selling our tusks. Related to that were other questions on whether or not we should continue being a member of CITES, why not pull out and be able to sell our tusks. Mr. Speaker Sir, it must be emphasised to this House that our markets for our tusks are members of CITES. You can only sell to a member of CITES subject to the provisions of CITES. Should we pull out of CITES, it means we cannot sell to those who are members of CITES. We are therefore taking ourselves out of the market for our tusks. Major markets are Japan and China. They are not willing to pull out of CITES. If they were willing, we would have pulled out together with them, then we are able to trade outside the provisions of CITES. So, it is an important consideration that we have made.
However, CITES has a provision within its regulations that should there be a change in any of the regulations within a specified period, a member country can place a reservation, which reservation will allow the country to trade with that particular species or product outside the provisions of CITES. We lodged our displeasure at
CITES during the conference and after conference we agreed as
SADC that we are lodging a reservation with regards to elephants and we duly submitted that to CITES. Having done so Mr. Speaker Sir, we remain constrained by the fact that our markets are members of CITES and they have not lodged reservations to the same. So yes, we have fully demonstrated our displeasure but we have not unlocked the markets for our tusks. That is the dilemma or crisis that we are facing with this.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to address the issue of compensation. It is an issue which we have debated. I have asked for presentations from the technical team within my Ministry. It is an issue which is not easy to address. I have noted that Members, most of them are of the view that we come up with statutes or legal provisions that will compel compensation for losses. Firstly Mr. Speaker Sir, it is very difficult to come up with a formula to compensate for loss of life. It might be easier to compensate for losses in wildlife in our domestic animals and crops but we can never compensate for the loss of lives. It will be weird to compensate for these other losses but there is nothing going towards the loss of life.
The other dilemma we face Mr. Speaker is who compensates. As I have highlighted in my statement, wildlife by and large belongs to the same communities who are benefiting mostly through CAMPFIRE. Will they be willing to come up with a compensation fund? I may not Mr. Speaker Sir, regrettably so, provide a full response to this issue because it is an issue that I believe requires wider consultations and debate so that it is a position taken by Zimbabwe and not necessarily by the Ministry. However, there are issues that are critical which have to be considered as I am highlighting. I hope we will find a way of getting the nation debating on this issue. We are a wildlife based tourism country and wildlife is very important to us. I think it is important that this issue is resolved.
There was an issue also raised on enforcement whether ZIMPARKS is adequately equipped. I want to state Mr. Speaker that definitely not. They have challenges that they are facing, particularly aircraft. I do not think they have any running currently. Also, we have been receiving, I must admit, from other organisations, certain donations which include mostly drones and other equipment which our rangers are using. We can do with more support with this regard, particularly now where there are increased cases of poaching which we are experiencing.
There was a suggestion, I think it was Hon. Mudarikwa that we promote the growing of high yield crops in wetlands so that communities can value the importance of wetlands. I want to thank the Hon. Member for this. It is a very important strategy. In fact, we are doing this in some areas. Two or three months back, I visited a community in Masvingo. I think it is in Jobo community where a wetland eco-system has been developed and because of those efforts, there is a dam nearby which now is able to store water throughout the year and we have planted fish there. The communities there are seeing the benefits of conserving and preserving wetlands. We are in a programme of intensifying this so that nationally, all communities where there are wetlands, we come up with similar projects.
There was the issue that there is a percentage of EIA payments which go to EMA but EMA has no social responsibility. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to correct the Hon. Member and highlight that we have numerous projects EMA is running with communities. The one I have just described is an EMA project. However, EMA also relies mostly on these fees. There was another question. I might as well also respond to it which says is EMA adequately funded. They are not Mr. Speaker Sir. The Act provides for EMA to benefit from the carbon tax. We are in discussion with Treasury that these funds be transmitted to EMA because over time, they have not been and we believe that this will go a long way in making sure that EMA is adequately funded.
We will address the issue of EIA documents not being availed to other critical stakeholders like local authorities. I really was not aware this was happening Mr. Speaker. I commit to look into this. The Hon. Member also highlighted that there is no Committee on Environment at local level. I know I might not quote the exact section in the Rural District Councils Act but it should be Section 61 which provides for the establishment of committees and there is a specific committee on natural resources and environment. In that committee, there are sub-committees. I know at local level, EMA is also present, so I know there are committees at local level Mr.
Speaker Sir to this effect. I really can confirm this. There is the issue which was raised and is very critical, that of the stream bank mining and it was citing a specific area in Uzumba where there is massive destruction. I want to highlight to the Members here Mr. Speaker, that tomorrow morning, I am going there with the Minister of Mines and Mining Development and the Minister of State to see for ourselves. We have received this report and we are very worried.
There was also the question why we are not including locals in stream bank mining. I think Mr. Speaker, this question I am not suited to address. I do EIAs for those who would have applied unless the question is whether through the EIA process there is an observed pattern that penalises locals.
There was also the suggestion that because of the population, we should open butcheries for wild life and game meat but from what I have seen and as a matter of policy Mr. Speaker Sir, trophy hunters only carry trophies. In most cases, the meat is left to the communities and this I know is happening. I do not know, there could be isolated cases but in most instances, the meat is left for communities. There was also this brilliant suggestion that we should use bowsers to ferry water for areas where there are acute shortages. I think this is welcome. However, I would go for the idea of maybe diverting the water flowing especially within Zambezi into some reservoirs. I can imagine one bowser - an elephant can easily take it down. It might be a mammoth task but what I take from this contribution is the concern that our elephants and other wild animals are struggling to get adequate water. We are intensifying efforts, National Parks are sinking boreholes but they are nowhere near enough Mr. Speaker Sir.
I have addressed the issue of the funding for EMA that we pray that the carbon tax be paid to EMA so that they can have more resources at their disposal. Then there was the issue that Parks do not respond to distress calls where there are instances of human - wild life conflict. I want to urge Members also to feel free to advise my office should there be such instances but I know for a fact that I get reports regularly on the response Parks will be making to areas where there will be wild animals encroaching upon human settlements and I have also reports on television where Parks will be present. The policy also is that – particularly for these predators, should they attack domestic animals, they are killed because once they develop this habit of killing domestic animals, they become lazy to hunt but more importantly the frequency of attacking domestic animals increases.
So, the policy is that those are usually gunned down together with other animals that kill humans. Should an elephant kill a human being, it is gunned down, that is policy. I heard an Hon. Member highlighting that Parks sometimes refuse to do this. I appeal that they advise me and I will be able to provide guidance on the matter. On this, I also want to urge Members as they lead communities to fully conscientise them that human wild life conflict is not only about wild life encroaching our settlements but it is also the other way. As we perpetuate this, there are some animals that have good memories, so we need to create this harmonious relationship continuously.
I want to attend to a critical question on mining in protected areas which in this instance refers to Parks as well as forestry land. We have lost more than 65000 ha to illegal mining, why? It is because pre-independence is when these areas were gazetted protected areas and most of them were rich in minerals. I think this country is rich in minerals by and large. Post independence, we saw mostly the rangers were the first but communities caught up in this illegal mining syndrome.
Now, 65000 ha is just about 1.31% of the total area which we are managing under Parks which is 5 million ha. It might sound insignificant but the damage it is doing both in terms of reducing the habitat for our wild life and also in tourism losses; it is an eyesore to watch where people have done illegal mining and left. Parks started the process of formalising mining in those areas where there is illegal mining for purposes of compelling those people to rehabilitate that area. We are putting strict guidelines in terms of Section 119 of the Parks Act which will compel first that mining is restricted to those places where there has been illegal mining but also for a defined period which will not be more than five years. After which that area should be fully rehabilitated and returned to National Parks. The idea is to ensure that in five years time we want that 65000 ha back and habitable by wild animals.
There was the issue of development in wetland areas and property rights. Mr. Speaker Sir, EMA can only stop development following a high court order. They cannot stop any development directly to the people developing. That is why in my response. I highlighted that we have to liaise with the Attorney General so that we get legal opinions on these matters. I say so because previously we have had cases which have been lost on the basis that we are stopping development in areas where people are holding title.
We therefore want to be very careful how we approach this which is why we are coming up with a wetlands map and guidelines on what should be done in these wetlands which would have been indentified so that it becomes easy for anyone who wants to do any development within a wetland to comply with the guidelines. By and large brick and mortar will not be allowed.
I think the issue that compensation in other countries is being done, let us study further the challenges that they are facing with this. Some of these countries and as we were discussing, we had to review this. They are struggling to deal with the claims that are coming through. What their fiscus had put aside has been wiped in the first three months. So they have created a system which is now giving them more problems and that is why it is important to carefully consider what course of action we believe is most appropriate in this regard.
There is the issue of Save Conservancy which is a bit more specific but the Hon. Member was highlighting that there is no maintenance of the fencing. What I can share with the Members about the Save Valley Conservancy is that there were settlements – illegal and some legal and in those settlements, we had people taking down the boundary fences. Now the question is who should replace that fence. Yes, we had a facility which we had hoped was going to help in that regard the EU facility but that facility has since been withdrawn as of January 2020 I think, but we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Water, Climate and Rural
Resettlement first on the issue of regularisation of settlements there but also in trying to come up with ways where we create corridors because most of these settlements are in animal corridors and animals will always remember that this is the path they take in a particular season. So, we are working closely with the Minister of Agriculture,
Lands, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to address this issue.
The issue of employment of children in areas near parks, I highlighted in my statement first that last year, the five people who were employed from that area to work in Hwange National Park, all of them came from Hwange. Yes, we may have had challenges previously on this issue but, it is an issue that we are serious about and it is an issue that Parks have been advised to take seriously and they are already implementing that. I also highlighted in my report that nationally, last year 22% of the people who were employed by
National Parks came from Matabeleland North and Matabeleland
South in areas where we received most complaints of marginalisation. I want to believe Mr. Speaker Sir that there is good progress made there and more can still be done. We also know that in terms of antipoaching, it is not the best strategy to deploy children to the areas where they grew up. It is very difficult for them to apprehend people who are their relatives and whom they know. So, there is this strategy also to rotate that once you have recruited, you rotate them so that there is effective anti-poaching that is done.
I want Mr. Speaker Sir to acknowledge that I heard of the loss of this life in this House yesterday in Victoria Falls, and it is with
sadness that I heard this. I had not yet been apprised of that and we grieve with the family. It is an issue that I really had no idea happened.
Maybe it was the last question which was to the effect where the Hon. Member was asking whether communities are compensated before or after mining takes place. Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not want to run the risk of misinforming this House. It is an area that I would want to go and research on, but I know that the EIA mandates that whoever will be making any development compensates the communities. They come up with an agreement of compensation and by and large, I want to believe that this compensation will be over, because of the operations but I might want to come up with a definitive response to this issue.
I realised that I was skipping one or two questions which I thought was related to what I had already answered and I hope I have done justice to the questions. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: If you will allow Mr. Speaker
Sir, may I move for the adoption of one of the reports.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Let us exhaust the process first.
There are three critical questions which I recorded. One was that with these stockpiles of ivory, why do you not do value addition and get some trinkets out of that and export these, rather than keep those mountains of ivory there. I thought that was a very important question that needed your response so that the House is properly apprised, otherwise these mountains of ivory will continue to grow.
The second one was that why do we not do the culling to create a balance between nature and the habitat that cannot carry the population of elephants. Then the other one, you indicated that there are committees, but I think if you recall the Natural Resources Board had committees established at provincial level and these committees were not connected to local authorities while the Rural District Councils Act indeed allows for the establishment of environmental committees within council but there is no link at law between EMA and those committees. I think there is need for clarity there.
Finally, your hesitating question which should not detract from your good responses, the Chair is speaking here traditionally where a life was lost either through conflict between human and human. There was kuripa in Shona and X number of cattle were to be given to the family that had lost a life as a result of the conflict between two people or some groups of people in the vicinity. Ukuhlangula ngeSindebele. Why should the concept not be found generally admitting that life is priceless? You cannot say someone who has lost life is worth US$200 000 or 200 000 pounds. Life is priceless but a token of some measure, I think it is a matter that can be considered following our African culture.
These are some of the areas for food for thought if you may conclude.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you very much. Hon. Minister, you are aware of the Chinese factory in Norton. 1) it is on wetland and there was no way it was supposed to be there. Secondly, they failed to comply with everything. There was a group of Ministers that visited the factory – yourself as Minister of Industry and Commerce, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Hon. Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of Justice, Legal and parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, but there was no Minister or Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. There was a report by the department at province and at district level which was totally negative. You then came and gave the picture that everything was okay until I wrote to the President to say your Ministers lied to you, and for sure he called me to his office and said I was correct. I equally asked the President, is there any big heavyweight in this factory because it has destroyed the entire environmental degradation including Makonde where Hon. Paradza is Member of Parliament. I would implore you to tell me why as EMA you have not closed that factory. It is not even bringing foreign currency; the foreign currency that they are generating is not going to ZIMRA. Who is really behind it, why should our environment suffer at the expense of Chinese who do not respect our laws and EMA is still weak to do that?
Lastly, may I invite you after you have been to Hon. Mudarikwa to come and see the mountains behind Norton, the degradation, there are videos I have done on that. There is no reason why that operation should continue. Why you can we not move it to another place which industry can happen that is not on wetland. I thank you.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. Mine is on elephants. The SPCA Zimbabwe has sensationally claimed that Zimbabwe is selling baby elephants to the Far East. I just want the Minister to confirm or decline this assertion that it is capturing baby elephants and selling them to the Far East – [HON. MEMBERS:
Vhara muromo.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: You do not take my position; I have allowed one or two members to speak without their masks on because they have health problems. Do not speak when you are not the Chair, wait for your time to rule will come.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE
CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON.
- NDLOVU): Thank you Mr. Speaker for raising the issues which I may have not addressed fully. The issue of value addition, I did attend to it Mr. Speaker Sir, to say there are still constraints with trading in these products within CITES. The reason for stopping the trade in ivory and its products if because they claim, and unscientifically so, that it contributes to poaching - which is why our argument has always been that we want a scientific conclusion to this. We stopped the trade of rhino horns, it is even in Appendix One but poaching of rhino horns is on the rise.
The other issue which I had raised is that for a stockpile of the nature we have, we will need a massive market for those products and generally we have challenges accessing such markets. We have small scale industries which are doing this processing but we know there is a constraint in markets because CITES over reaches to the processed products as well. They are still products of wild life. The issue of culling is an issue which I believe is open for discussion; we last did culling some years ago. We had over the years been doing hunting which has been sustainable utilization of our resources and that has been to some extend working because communities and parks were benefiting from this. Our main concern now is the trend where the main sources of people who are buying or where hunters are coming from there is an emergency of legislation which is banning the importation of trophies. In the US it is still the state of California but we know that once one state passes such legislation, it will just easily extend to others.
We have made representations, I have also written to the Senators there with our submissions in terms of our concerns about the move they are about to take. We believe it is not also well informed and not scientifically based. The issue of local communities, it is an issue that I will take on board but I know that
EMA are invited to be part of the committees at local authority level. However, we are still to be represented in every district which still creates a gap so it is natural resources at local district level that Committee which I was talking about and also I will pray that the provincial councils should there be sub-Committees they create a specific sub-Committee which looks at natural resources.
The issue of compensation, you will recall in my presentation that I said it requires robust discussion. Your example is also clear that there will be a problem in compensation in wild life because we will fail to identify who should compensate. Who is the owner of the wild life that would have attacked and killed a human being? That question is not easy to answer, communities are custodians and I was told by the technical team that technically no one owns wild life in Zimbabwe, which is why it can move to another country and we cannot claim losses or compensation but we are custodians. These are some of the technical issues that will have to be considered when we are looking at this. I agree with members that lives cannot be lost and nothing is done. May be we might look at - I had a term in mind which is an alternative to compensation fund where grieved families can draw maybe for purpose of meeting certain costs which will be established at national level, but properly maybe guided and supervised by Parliament.
The danger is to put the burden on National Parks for a number of reason - they are a national institution but most importantly they are only in charge of 12 ½ percent of the areas that are under wild life. Communities also have 5 million hectares which they are controlling, including private ownership. So, we might create a situation where we are unable to manage the expectations that will be coming from communities. Nonetheless, from the applauses that came from the House, I want to believe that maybe there is room to discuss this further. I want to thank Hon. Mliswa for the issue that he has raised. Interestingly, we remember that when I went there I was still Minister of Industry. Maybe in terms of the environment they are a bit conflicted because I was seeing industries grow. I must admit I have not received a specific environmental report on this issue, but there is a letter which you are talking about which I forwarded to EMA and I will make a follow up on that. I thank you for raising this issue. EMA has full powers to stop operations where they have reasonable evidence that there is violation of the provisions of the EIA agreement. So, I want to believe that they have the power to look into that. It is a matter that I will look into but also I welcome the invitation. You know how you invite me. Today you invited me through this process but whenever there is time I will visit and we see these mountains, but I was not sure whether you were saying the mountains are coming from the factory or it is a different land degradation issue. That was not clear.
HON. T. MLISWA: I would like to clarify – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: It will be clear when you meet.
HON. T. MLISWA: Can I please clarify – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Why is it that you do this every time? Who are you? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, do not be drawn to
attacking. Let the Chair do the attacking on your behalf. That is the procedure. Secondly, the Hon. Minister has graciously agreed to your invitations so the nitty gritties of where the mountains are, it is a matter of discussion on site.
HON. T. MLISWA: I withdraw. I remain behind it, it is in order.
HON. N. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I will be brief. There was the issue on selling of baby elephants which was raised. I want to guide this House to the fact that whatever sale of live species we did as a country, we fully obliged and complied with the statutes of the provisions of CITIES.
Following the amendment on the acceptable and the appropriate destinations we can only now sell our live species to range areas, to areas that are of the same climatic conditions as Zimbabwe, that process has since been discontinued. Most of our markets for that really were China, Singapore areas and because they are no longer under the acceptable and appropriate destinations, that has since been stopped. You cannot sell any animal outside the certification of CITIES. It went through all that robust process and we were quite happy as a country that we obliged to that up to the time when the provisions have changed and we have since obliged to it. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. My point of order is to really appreciate the Minister, his responses.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is a point of privilege.
HON. T. MLISWA: Okay it is a point of privilege. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, you know I am known for criticising Ministers when they do not perform, but equally I must be honourable enough when a Minster has done good to say we are proud of such work. It was refreshing to hear a young, vibrant, patriotic Minister responding to issues like that. It is a beauty and yes, it is good to invest in such young people and I see the party has got young vibrant people. May it continue to give them a chance. Excellent work.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I want to say thank you for your complimentary point of privilege. The Hon. Minister is relatively young.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir for
awarding me this opportunity. Unfortunately, I also wanted to compliment the Minister, but the words have been taken out of my mouth. I can also add on to thank the Hon. Minister for his timeous response to our reports. Thank you so much Hon. Minister. Could I also thank all the Members who have helped in debating and putting up points of clarity. Thank you so much, you have made our report come to a conclusion. So, Hon. Speaker Sir, I move that the motion be adopted.
That this House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Tourism on Elephant Management in Hwange and Gonarezhou National Parks.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I want to indicate that while I was chairing I sent our Deputy Chairman of Committees on the Speaker’s Panel, Hon. Mutomba, to look for the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development as well as the Governor so that we can have that urgent meeting tomorrow. Both of them were not answering their phones. I will try tonight to look for them and if they are not there we will make sure that we get to their deputies. Should there be a delay in getting the fuel on time it has been requested through the Acting Chief Whip of the Governing Party that Members who will be in that predicament and fail to travel, can they be allowed to stay in the hotels and my answer is yes, they can stay, but we will report back – I think you have got some group chat. We should come back to you before 11:00 a.m. tomorrow so that you are advised accordingly.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY (HON. N. M. NDLOVU), the House adjourned at
Twenty Six Minutes to Seven o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 23rd June, 2020.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 17th June 2020
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
NON- ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received a Non-Adverse
Report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on all Statutory
Instruments published in the Gazette during the month of May, 2020.
STANDING ORDER NUMBER 60 (1)
THE HON. SPEAKER: Following the adoption of the 2020 edition of the Standing Orders, I wish to advise the House that there is a new Standing Order No. 60 (1) which provides for one minute statements on a matter of public importance up to twenty-five minutes to three o’clock p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and up to twenty-five minutes to ten o’clock a.m. on Fridays. Members who wish to give minute statements should submit their names to the Chief Whips before the sitting.
The Hon. Speaker having asked for points of privileges to Hon.
Members.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
You did advise us that there are no points of privileges on a Wednesday so we have not submitted our names to our Chief Whips.
That is your own ruling. I thank you.
HON. KABOZO: Thank you Mr Speaker Sir, My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. What is government policy regarding the mutilated Zim dollar notes. Most of the Zim dollar notes in circulation at the moment are now tattered and torn and most wholesalers and retailers are rejecting them. To make matters worse most banks are also....
THE HON. SPEAKER: Do not preface your questions, ask the question accordingly, straight to the Hon. Minister.
HON. KABOZO: Thank you Mr Speaker Sir for correcting me. What is the government policy measure in place regarding the mutilated Zim dollar notes? Most of the Zim dollar notes in circulation at the moment are now tattered and torn and most wholesalers and retailers are rejecting them. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you
Hon. Speaker. The policy with regards to tattered and torn bank notes - ordinarily these are supposed to be exchanged by the respective commercial banks and they are supposed to exchange these with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
HON. CHIKWINYA: My supplementary question arises from the answer given by the Deputy Minister. The same answer was given at the end of our last session before we closed but then my question is, what tools does the public have in terms of enforcement because we have a policy but the banks continue to deny and expose the public to the concerns raised by the Hon. Member. So what recourse does the public have when banks and businesses reject these tattered notes?
HON. CHIDUWA: In terms of recourse, what is important is for the public to get in touch with the RBZ in cases where we have got businesses that are rejecting notes.
HON. K. PARADZA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. We have
been receiving these reports that the retailers are refusing especially the ZW$2 notes. So a person in Makonde, how can he report that to the RBZ here in Harare? Thank you.
HON. CHIDUWA: As I said in terms of getting in touch with the RBZ it does not necessarily require one to be physical. I think what is needed is we have got hotlines where the public can make calls. The other issue that is there is with regards to some of the notes. The report that we are getting is that the wholesalers and shops are saying they would want the denominations from ZW$5 going upwards. So it may not be a question of being torn, so I think our public hotlines is what the public can use to call the RBZ.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr Speaker Sir. Thank you very much. Mr Speaker Sir you recall you had ruled that this issue of the economy needs to be addressed extensively when Hon. Nyabani had spoken about it. The economy is the real cornerstone of any country. The Bills do not mean anything unless the economy is intact. I was therefore imploring your good office to at least adjourn every debate until we talk about the economy of the country from pricing, the currency itself - because that is what keeps us going. We do not eat Bills but the economy is what sustains us as a nation. I wish we could have a day – three weeks of talking about the economy so that at least we get the full answers. I am imploring your good office to be able to make a ruling on the state of the economy where each Minister is equally asked questions pertaining to how they are managing to deal with the economy. The Cabinet we have must be able to tell us their way forward and it is our role of oversight to do that. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I think the issue of addressing the economy rests primarily – Hon. Minister Kazembe, we do not point fingers at people when we are inside here. I was saying the issue of the economy first and foremost rests with the Minister of Finance and we may have to ask the Hon. Minister to come and make a Ministerial Statement on the economy and then we will debate accordingly.
*HON. CHITURA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health. What plans do you have pertaining to women in jail who have children in terms of social distancing?
Thank you.
*THE HON. MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir and I would like to thank the Hon. Member for such a good question. It really helps us to clarify these things so that people may understand well. What is being referred to about social distancing does not apply to people who stay in the same household who know each other. When we started the lockdown, the whole idea was that each family should stay in the household and if you stay for three weeks, it is now easier to tell because if anyone is infected, then that disease comes out so that we may not be able to ascertain where those infections maybe coming from. For those who are in prison, if there is no virus or infection, there is no need for social distancing unless it is coming out from somewhere. We are not talking about social distancing with reference to people in one household – we did not say children or family members should stay meters apart but all what it means is, when you leave your household, regard any person as a potential infector so that you avoid spreading the disease. This is meant to prevent the spread of the disease. The other thing is, the mask is not meant to protect me and that is what I am trying to explain to you Mr. Speaker Sir - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - May I please speak Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank you Mr.
Speaker.
HON. KARENYI: My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. Mr. Speaker, a coup represents the highest form of constitutional infraction against the Constitution of the country. On what policy basis did the Minister make the press statement of last week and surely, if you had any real substance Mr. Speaker, why were the planners not arrested and why are you planting chaos and disharmony in Zimbabwe? – [HON. SIKHALA: Inaudible
interjections] –
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL
HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I
would like to thank the Hon. Member for such a pertinent question. Mr. Speaker Sir, I stand guided by your Hon. Office whether I could speak on issues of national security - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Minister can you
approach the Chair.
The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage approached the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Minister, can you respond.
HON. KAZEMBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. When I gave the statement, I was giving it on behalf of the working committee of the National Security Council. These issues are of a sensitive nature and what I gave to the nation was enough and finer details cannot be disclosed because they will compromise the national security. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. What the Hon. Minister has indicated is that deed he made a statement without giving any details and in terms of State Security, certain details cannot be revealed in this forum. Thank you. – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Inaudible interjections] –
Hon. Member, we are not in a circus here. Members of Parliament are Members of Parliament and they are national. And I do not want to hear about this Bingaism.
*HON. KARENYI: I need clarification. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. What I was talking about is that, in this country, once we hear about rumours that there is a coup being planned, people become unsettled and if the Minister feels that what I was referring to there is no evidence to that, it means that he was not going to worry about it. That is the reason why I stood up. Was there any truth in that or they were just mere rumours?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. I said very clearly that the import of the question for the Hon. Minister to go into detail and that cannot be done at this forum. I thank you.
HON. SIKHALA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. SIKHALA: Parliament, in terms of the Constitution, has a right to uphold the Executive in terms of how they discharge their duties. The Hon. Minister made a public statement which like the questioner said, caused alarm and despondence in the country. Not only that Mr. Speaker Sir, the same Hon. Minister mentioned other people’s names including my name in his allegations – [HON.
MEMBERS: Ngaarohwe.] – Mr. Speaker, the insinuations made by Hon. Kazembe Kazembe have got very devastating consequences as far as individuals whose names were mentioned in his statement. I now feel that my security is at risk because when you are alleged to be a plotter of a coup that is a very serious allegation. So, what we want to hear from the Minister is his evidence that led him to allege some of the members of this honourable House. Had it been that I am an ordinary member, it could have been understood. The allegation
Mr. Speaker Sir, was made against one of your Members of
Parliament.
I have got my own right to be heard. So we want the Minister to produce that evidence which he linked one of your own Members of Parliament to the Commission of a coup in our country. It is a serious allegation and I abhor the protection of this Parliament and beg the
Minister to state over the statement which he said – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order the gentlemen facing me there,
do not force me to take you out. I did not follow the statement. I need to have a conversation with the Minister. I need to have the full statement as given publicly and from there I will make a ruling. I thank you.
HON. SIKHALA: How long are you going to take – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Mr. Speaker, can you give me the timeframe; how long will you take to study the statement and give us your reply?
An Hon. Member having stood up.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, who is that Hon. Member
there? When I call you to order, you must listen, you were talking across there, please take your seat, be quiet and allow me to respond – [AN HON. MEMBER: My apologies Mr. Speaker Sir.] – Order Hon. Sikhala. I address you as a learned friend, normally they say as soon as possible but not later than two weeks.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Your point of order follows what
debate?
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: My point of order follows the answer that has been given by the Hon. Minister where he has…
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are out of order because I have ruled already, sorry – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, you cannot debate in reverse gear, I have made a ruling already.
+HON. MKANDLA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, good
afternoon. My question is directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. If he is not in, I direct it to the Leader of the
House. I hear the deputy Minister is in. What is Government policy on returnees coming from the diaspora? Why are they not tested in the diaspora before coming home?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE (HON. MUSABAYANA): Thank
you Mr. Speaker Sir. I heard as if the Hon. Member is asking what is Government policy with regards to returning citizens in terms of being tested for Covid-19 while they are still in the countries where they will be residing.
Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. That is a very pertinent question. As a country and as a Ministry, we prioritise the welfare of our citizens in the countries where they will be residing. So when they come back, we expect to receive them in the state they will be in. In terms of testing and quarantining them, that will be done here. We have no policy to force other countries to test these people because if they do not do that, it means the people whom we make life difficult for are the Zimbabweans, so what we do is we would rather test them when they return.
*HON. M. M. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity to ask a question to the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development. Is it true what we are hearing that people’s
salaries are being reduced? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, the question is, is it true that the salaries of public servants have been reduced.
HON. BITI: He said the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. It is Public Service.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Thank you very much
for the question. The salary still stands but the only problem is last time when people were given salary back dates, there was an amount which was supposed to be paid in phases and I think back dating to January. So that additional portion was given on monthly basis for about four months and now that back pay has been paid off and people are now going to revert back to their original salary scales.
Thank you.
HON MUSHORIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
supplementary question to the Hon. Minister’s answer is to say, given the fact that inflation has continued to go up in the past few months and then all of a sudden a civil servant who has been getting an X amount of dollars for the past few months, all of a sudden receives X dollars minus $1 000; how do you assume the civil servant will sustain his life?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. That is a new question all together. It does not arise from the original question.
HON. MPARIWA: Supplementary question, Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is the supplementary question?
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My
supplementary to the Hon. Minister is that given that there has to be interface or dialogue between the workers and the employer, was any message or anything done in terms of engaging the workers so that they get to know and get prepared for the predicament of the deductions. Was it relayed to the workers? Were they aware that there were going to be deductions? Thank you.
HON. MATUKE: I think there is continuous engagement with the Tripartite Negotiating Forum. So the issue to do with salaries is communicated through worker’s unions and I think it is their duty to communicate to their colleagues about the adjustments.
HON. J. CHIDAKWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question goes to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. The normal procedure is that the procurement of any goods in Government has to go through a tender. Why were the Covid-19 tenders done without going to tender such as in the case of Drax Company?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFIARS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I want to
thank the Hon. Member for the question. Indeed under normal circumstances, that is the procedure but if you have an emergency, that is not the procedure according to the very Act that he is quoting.
I thank you.
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Speaker, considering the science around Covid-19, from the start of the pandemic in Zimbabwe up to today, we have only lost four people. That makes our situation not that bad that we can buy material and medicine at that exorbitant price. Can the Minister justify the reason why we rush to buy the medicines when the signs do not point to the fact that we are buying the medicine that we are using on the people who are dying or who are even hospitalised when we do not even have 100 people hospitalised up to today?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member is not an epidemiologist and he has no knowledge of how disease patterns emerge or end. Our Government set up committees that advise Government on the best route to follow and the route that we are following is according to WHO standards, it is according to our experts. Mr. Speaker, you are aware that if we had followed what he is saying given the upsurge of cases from returnees, he was going to be one of those that were going to say why did you stop doing 1, 2, 3, 4. We believe that the course that we are following is best for the country and we will continue along that route until we are satisfied that the generality of Zimbabweans are safe, I thank you.
HON. MARKAM: Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you very much. Can the Minister confirm that he is totally comfortable with what was asked in the original question that he sees nothing wrong with the procurement, the mark-up and what was done with that Drax deal?
Thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My original response…
Hon. Sikhala having been seated close to another Hon. Member.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Sikhala, observe the social
distance.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The original question pertained to procurement regulations and my response was in relation to procurement regulation under normal or abnormal circumstances. I indicated that the original question was correct in as far as references to normal procurements but when we have an emergency, it does not apply. Pertaining to specific issues, then the Hon. Member will now have to put that in writing as I do not walk around with quotations from companies in my head. I thank you –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. We have had enough supplementary questions. Hon. Chikwinya can you put your question in writing so that the Hon. Minister can answer in detail.
HON. BUSHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. I would like to know if he can give us an indication of when the Zimbabwean dollar is going to stabilise against major trading currencies – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – What level do you think it will stabilise at and what is the Government doing to achieve the same?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. In terms of the stability of our currency, we can only achieve stability when we are generating foreign currency and it is generated when we produce. So, we are producing but our production levels are not enough. As to when our currency is going to stabilise, we need to produce. The policies that we have put in place in terms of the Transitional Stabilisation Programme and the intervention that we have done through the Economic Recovery Programme which is Covid linked; we have budgeted about $10.4 billion, which is targeted towards the productive sector and all that is Government effort in order to boost production.
HON. MASHAKADA: Hon. Speaker Sir, my supplementary
question is that productivity is only one of the macro-economic fundamentals that are required to stabilise the currency and it will take medium to long term to achieve that. In the meantime, what should be done to stabilise the macro-economic environment which is being ravaged by an unstable currency? That is the question.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Hon. Member. The issue of the
stability of the foreign currency; as I said, it is not something that we can achieve in the short run without production…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Sorry, Hon. Deputy Minister, it is our local currency and not foreign currency.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The issue of the stability of our local currency is not something that can be achieved in the short term without production. There are no two ways, what is needed is for us to produce. When we produce, then we can stabilise our currency.
HON. BITI: Hon. Speaker Sir, I thank you for this opportunity. My question to the esteemed Deputy Minister of Finance is: is it not the real issue that we introduced the Zimbabwean dollar prematurely when conditions for the introduction of our own currency did not exist and we are therefore paying a price. Today, as I talk to you right now Hon. Speaker, the rate is now at a rate of 1:92 when it started at 1:1. Therefore, the stability that Hon. Bushu asked can never be achieved because the currency is depreciating by the day because we made the mistake of introducing Statutory Instrument (SI) 33 and SI 142 of 2019 prematurely. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you so much Hon. Speaker. As has been alluded to by Hon. Mashakada, there are so many factors that are looked at when we look at stability and one of the factors is the issue of confidence. I would want to point out to this august House that some of the Hon. Members whom we have here are the ones who are undermining the confidence of this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I think – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order.
HON. CHIDUWA: I think there is need for us to tell each other the truth. Confidence is one important factor and some of the Hon. Members are the ones who are undermining the economic confidence of this country. I thank you.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy, I do not seem to see
him…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Can you control your voices at the back there and help me not to name you.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power
Development and in his absence, I notice that the Deputy is here.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I just want to establish whether it is now Government policy for a Government Minister to interfere with due processes against accused persons? Mr. Speaker Sir, I make reference to the Hon. Minister’s letter to the ZESA Board reinstating one
Wicknell Chivayo’s, Intratek contract and asking same to drop charges against him – that is the specific question Mr. Speaker Sir. –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: This is directed to the Minister of
Energy and Power Development, is he there – [HON. TSUNGA: The Deputy is here Mr. Speaker Sir!] – No, it is on. You switched it off but it is on now.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker
Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question concerning the long standing issue between Mr. Chivhayo and ZPC
…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please raise your voice Hon.
Minister.
HON. MUDYIWA: I think it is because of these things –
[Laughter.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: You can remove it if there is a problem.
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the question from the Hon. Member concerning the long-standing Chivayo and ZPC issue which is within the courts.
The question is specific that is it Government policy? It is not
Government policy, there is no Government policy that states the
Hon. Minister should interfere – it is not interference per se. The
Hon. Minister was not interfering about the process but the Hon. Minister had to act on consideration of the fact that the issue had been outstanding for a long time. The country is going through difficulties, we do not have enough electricity and there was a court ruling. I think the last judgment stated that the judge directed that ZPC should do certain issues or should meet somewhere with Chivayo and discuss about certain issues concerning the implementation of that project. So this is where the Hon. Minister had to come in and advise ZPC to act as per the court direction. I think that is all I can say about the issue. I thank you.
HON. TSUNGA: My supplementary question is, I just want to establish whether the Hon. Minister is aware that interfering with due process is illegal at law and is actually an obstruction of justice? I put it to the Hon. Minister that he is obstructing the course of justice in this case and that corrective action has to be taken. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, unfortunately you do
not have the Order here – do you? You do not have it. Now, it will be very difficult for me to rule in terms of due diligence until we see what the courts have said on the way forward. Then from there, we can take it up next when we meet.
I would ask the Hon. Minister to get to the actual order and that becomes our point of departure and advice the House accordingly. – [HON. BITI: Ku Chikurubi kuno tonhora!] – Kunotonhora chii? – [HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker!] – I have ruled so do not argue with the Chair. – [HON. CHIKWINYA: I thought it was a ruling on him.] - No, no, we have to be clear on what we are talking about.
*HON. NHARI: My question is directed to the Minister of
Health and Child Care and in his absence will be directed to the Leader of Government Business. When people are taken to quarantine centers, what is Government policy with regards to expectant mothers or breastfeeding mothers?
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for such a pertinent question with regards to pregnant women who are taken to quarantine centers or breastfeeding mothers.
My response is that the aim of quarantining people is to assess whether they are free of infection or they are infected. So, they are not just taken to hospital but if they get sick, regardless of whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding then experts will look into that. The aim of quarantining is just for observation only. If you are disease free, then nothing happens – but if you are infected, then that will be taken up. I thank you.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: My supplementary question is, we
understand that the highest number of infections is coming from quarantine centers. Does this not mean that children who are going into these quarantine centers are exposed to infections? What measures are being taken so that pregnant women or children may be prevented from contracting the infections whilst in quarantine centers?
*THE HON. SPEAKER: I do not know whether you are
talking about born babies or pre-born babies? Was the question not about women?
*HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. The Hon. Member who just spoke did not understand very well or it looks like he did not read very well on what is happening.
There are no people who are contracting infections or being infected in the quarantine centers. People who are returning from outside are testing positive as soon as they are tested – it is not that there is transmission within quarantine centers. When people get to quarantine centers, they are taught on safety measures so that they do not spread or contract infections. So far, there are no reports of infections within quarantine centers. I thank you.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is
directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care but in his absence I will put it to the Leader of the House. Mr. Speaker Sir, in view of the opaqueness around Covid 19 donations and of course the public concerns towards the accountability, when are you going to direct the Auditor General to conduct a forensic report into all the Covid 19 donations and procurement? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Firstly, I
want to correct that there is no opaqueness in covid 19 donations. If you have been following in the media, the Ministry of Information has been publishing all the covid 19 donations. So, I am not aware of where the assertion that it is opaque is coming from. At this stage, we have procedures that are followed. Surely, we cannot concentrate on audits when we are concentrating on fighting the corona virus – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I insist that we are seized with fighting corona virus. We are publishing the donations that we have received. We have been very transparent in that regard and we do not have an appetite of following things that are not procedural at the moment. I thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Madam Chair. My point of
order arises from the answer by the Hon. Minister in that the
Government cannot be seized with audits at the time of the pandemic.
Madam Chair, Parliament remains the centre of accountability of
Government resources in terms of Section 119 of the Constitution. For the Hon. Minister to state before the House that they cannot be seized to be accountable despite the levels of the pandemic, I think it becomes misleading to the nation. I, therefore request that the Hon. Minister either withdraws that or he actually states which statutes provide that they should not be audited or should not be transparent and accountable.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I indicated that we are receiving donations and all the donations we have made them public. We are in the midst of fighting the pandemic and at the end of it all, we can do an audit but we cannot say at this juncture there is necessity of a forensic audit. We have done everything that is required of us. We are seized with and we are extremely happy with what is happening. We do not have any reason whatsoever to be worried about doing an audit when we are satisfied with what is happening. I thank you.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you Madam Speaker. While I
appreciate the Minister’s answer that we are at the epicenter of this pandemic, my question really was when are you going to direct the Auditor General to actually carry out the forensic audit. Whilst I appreciate that you are currently receiving donations and fighting the pandemic. At what stage are you going to direct the Minister to do so?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think the Minister has
already responded. He said at the end of the pandemic.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. You have said
exactly what I said and you can check with the Hansard. I said that at the end of it, we will do.
*HON. MLAMBO: On a point of order Madam Speaker, we
were affected by Cyclone Idai in Chipinge but we did not receive any money. There was no information on what happened to the donations. Will they be able to inform the nation about donations on corona virus?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your point of order is
overruled Hon. Member.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, there is a possibility
that the vaccine or the treatment of Covid 19 is going to take quite a long time. Meanwhile, our provisions provide for the Government –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members,
order.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, people are struggling
to find the vaccine or the treatment for covid. That might mean that it is going to take quite a long time before a solution is found. Meanwhile, we have got statutes that provide for the Government to report to Parliament on whatever will have been used. Does the Minister imply that we are going to wait even if it is going to take three years before a solution is found for the Government to come and report to Parliament?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam Speaker. There are statutory requirements of audits that we cannot do away with. Those will continue. The original question was about a specific audit, that is a forensic audit. At the end of each period as prescribed by our laws, we can have general audits. I think he must relax. We will still be accountable to Parliament and if the pandemic continues and the usual audit is due, it will be carried out and the reports will be tabled in Parliament. I thank you.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Madam Speaker for
giving me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. You have been appointed for some time now. What is the backbone of the economy of this country? Even if we have several minerals such as chrome, diamonds, et cetera, there is one important mineral. If you tamper with that mineral, this country will be destroyed totally. For example,
Zambia’s economy is based on copper and Botswana is diamonds, whilst South Africa is platinum. What is the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): The
backbone of the economy of this country is agriculture. In that sector the main product is tobacco and after agriculture we go to mining and platinum and gold are the major minerals.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: My supplementary question is
coming because I saw the Minister struggling to answer the question about the backbone of the economy. I am a grade 2 but I can respond better and tell you it is gold. Since time immemorial the economy of this country is based on gold. I want to demonstrate to the Minister that gold is the backbone of this country because it is very clear that the Minister does not know that the economy of this country is based on gold. Fidelity – the company that buys gold was buying at US$45/$46 and they were competing with the black market. There was a very small difference between the black market and Fidelity rates but right now CBZ has been given a licence to buy gold. CBZ is buying at $48 whilst Fidelity is buying at $45. The black market is competing and it is a dangerous animal in this country. Today the black market is buying at $50/$52 per gram. How can the country then stabilise. You are not going to get gold. Tobacco is sold seasonally but gold earns money every second. I do not know why the Minister does not seem to know or understand this.
*HON. CHIDUWA: The importance of those sectors he is talking about depends on what we will be talking about. If we are talking about our exports we will be mentioning the most important sector and if it is an issue of employment we can mention the sector which is important. So, the question of which sector is important depends on what we will be focusing on. It is true that our gold is important and has to have a good price. If we export gold we get money which will make our currency strong. I have heard your concerns and they are very important. Your point is very valid.
Thank you.
HON. MUSHORIWA: My supplementary question relates to the answer that the Hon. Minister gave. The Minister said that the agricultural sector is the backbone of this economy. My question is whether the current Government policy – and I say this given the fact that in the past 3 or 4 years the Government has spent almost US$7.2 billion on command agriculture and yet there is nothing to support non productivity. Given that agriculture is the cornerstone of the economy what is it that the Government is failing to do seeing there is no food in the market and yet we are pouring in huge amounts of money year in and year out?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. In terms of what we are doing, the interventions that we have done in agriculture to make sure that agriculture is going to provide for our food security, I can give you an example of the fiscal intervention that we have done in the economic recovery and stimulus package. We have allocated
ZW$6.8 billion which is strictly for agriculture. Within that amount there is ZW$3.9 billion which is a guarantee to make sure that we produce enough wheat under the winter wheat programme. We also have ZW$2.9 billion which we have put aside for the summer crop. So these are the interventions which we are putting in place to ensure that we are self sufficient in food production. We also have other incentives that we have given to ensure that we produce. Thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Madam Chair. During Hon.
Matambanadzo’s question, on the second part, he put it across to the Minister that CBZ is buying at US$48 and Government through
Fidelity which is housed under ZB bank is buying at $45 and the Minister did not dispute that. My question now is, is that correct, if so under what circumstances did CBZ get the licence and why are all other banks excluded from participating on the gold market.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Chair. What I can say is that in terms of the new gold framework the small producer is being paid a fixed price of US$45 while the bigger producers are being paid at the market price. So whether they are being paid by the bank that has been mentioned that one I cannot confirm.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Now that Hon. Mthuli Ncube is around let me repeat my question so he can give me an answer. The question before the House is – it has been put before the House that CBZ managed to get a licence to pay at US$48 whilst Fidelity is paying US$45 to the small scale miners. If that has been established to be true why only CBZ and not allow every other bank to participate on the gold market so that there is competition and then we put out the black market.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for that very good question. I am not aware of the full facts in terms of the award of the licence to the Bank that he mentioned which is CBZ. I am not aware of the full facts but I will endeavour to investigate and then I will be able to answer the question once I have the facts. I thank you.
HON. MUSHORIWA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker.
Madam Speaker, in the absence of the Hon. Minister, the Deputy
Minister of Finance and Economic Development confirmed and then the Hon. Minister, who is supposed to be the boss to the Deputy
Minister, stands in this august House and says he is not aware. Hon.
Speaker, I think that the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development is taking this House for granted and we would want you to ask him to apologise to the august House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think the Hon. Minister is
going to investigate about the issue of CBZ buying gold. So, we may move to a new question.
*HON. B. DUBE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. My point of order is, was the Deputy Minister lying when he was answering this question? If he was lying, he must apologise because it is not possible that a Deputy Minister who does not even sit in Cabinet can give answers which he says are precise over issues that the Cabinet substantive Minister himself does not know about?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your point of order is
overruled.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question goes to the Minister responsible for water. Madam Speaker Ma’am, what is Government policy with regards to the provision of water as a basic necessity during the Covid- 19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, LANDS, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON.
HARITATOS): Thank you Madam Speaker and thank you to the Hon. Member for the very important question. Madam Speaker, it is every human being’s right to have access to clean portable water and our Ministry has been working flat out throughout the Covid- 19 pandemic since the announcement of the lockdown.
Madam Speaker, just to give you an example, at the beginning of this year, our Ministry had a target of resuscitating 900 boreholes and as of today, we have resuscitated in excess of 1 200 boreholes and we endeavour to continue until we complete as many as possible by the end of the year. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. In my
question, I have asked about water – In Bulawayo, Luveve
Constituency Ward 15 has deaths that are more than those of the Covid- 19. Ward 15 has had seven deaths and it is all due to waterborne diseases. Members of that community have died from running tummies. Madam Speaker Ma’am, last week I raised the point with regards to Bulawayo’s request for it to be declared a national disaster and the Minister said they were looking into it. How long does it take for the Ministry to look into such a situation and I think we would have been able to avoid these nine deaths. As I speak
Madam Speaker Ma’am, Bulawayo Luveve Constituency is a hive of activities with ambulances and members of families lying unable to even walk and go to hospitals and clinics.
I am actually speaking on behalf of the Member of Parliament
Hon. Stella Ndlovu who is actually dealing with the situation in Luveve. I would also like to know when Government is going to implement devolution because devolution has been implemented and
activated.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is another question to
a different Minister Hon. Toffa.
HON. TOFFA: This is important Madam Speaker because seven lives have been lost.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is important but you are now mixing issues.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker and thank you to the Hon. Member for the question. The Hon. Member mentioned quite a few things but her question was particular about Bulawayo and I can advise the Hon. Member that we were considering some form of declaration – however, I am very happy to note that a declaration was unnecessary. As of last week, we were able to increase the supply of raw water to Bulawayo fivefold to approximately 10 mega litres. Therefore, there is no need to declare because the water is certainly available and what is lacking is that the council is unable to perform their duties. We are within our rights and we do supply enough raw water to council but again, it seems Councils are unable to perform their own duties. Thank you Madam
Speaker.
HON. WATSON: Thank you Madam Speaker. Prior to the lockdown, I asked this very question and actually the Speaker had said the Minister would bring a Ministerial Statement which is yet to come to this House on the very issue. Whilst you are saying you have increased the water tenfold or five fold, 10 mega litres is not enough, it is insufficient. The water situation in Bulawayo remains dire and as you can try to blame the City Council; actually it is ZINWA’s responsibility to provide raw water to the Council for distribution. The Council distributes what water they have – it is insufficient. How many boreholes were rehabilitated and why has the situation actually not improved. If you want to blame the Council, you must explain to this House where the Council has failed. Thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker and thank
you to the Hon. Member although she is a little bit emotional - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members.
Hon. Biti, order!
HON. HARITATOS: Madam Speaker, as I mentioned before, the responsibility of our Ministry through ZINWA is to provide raw water and I can advise you Madam Speaker that we are indeed supplying enough raw water and again, I bring up the issue with regards to the Council of being incompetent – how I see it. They should supply clean drinking water to the population of Bulawayo. We are supplying enough raw water and they must do the job to supply to households. Thank you Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No more supplementary
questions Hon. Hamauswa.
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order, you remember we
requested a ministerial statement on water. We want your ruling because we requested more than 8 times for a Ministerial Statement on water before we experienced the crisis we are experiencing now.
We started calling for a Ministerial Statement on 28th July 2019.
Right now we are actually reaching another July without that
Ministerial Statement delivered in this House. Our plea was that we were going to face normal to below normal rainfall. So what was the plan by the Government to deal with the challenge of water?
When is the Ministerial Statement coming to this House so that as Hon. Members, we are aware of what the Government is doing not only in Bulawayo but also in Harare, Mutare and Guruve where cattle are dying because of lack of water.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE,
WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON.
HARITATOS): Thank you Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: When do we expect the
Ministerial Statement Hon. Minister?
HON. HARITATOS: Madam Speaker, I can tell you first hand
that I have been in this honourable House several times discussing and answering questions with regards to water. So, if a Ministerial Statement is required Hon. Speaker to show how incompetent some of our councils are, that is what we are doing thank you very much.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question goes to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development concerning the RTGS $2 and $5 notes that are written bond notes. The Reserve Bank has introduced $10 and $20 new notes that are not written bond notes. What is the Government doing to make sure that the 2 and 5 dollar notes that are written bond notes are not rejected?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Madam
Speaker for the question. This question was asked to my Deputy. However, I will answer it. What we are going to do is that the notes that have got the bond note wording on them are slowly being replaced by those without the wording. So, it is a slow process. We will replace and at the same time managing the growth of money supply and those are being swapped on a one to one basis. The same way that we are swapping over time RTGs balances for cash balances but in a way that is responsible where we are able to manage the growth of money supply. I thank you.
*HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you very much. I have brought the money for easy of reference. In my constituency in Zhombe at
Empress, Hove and Chidhakeni Shopping centres, parents are having a difficult time because retailers are refusing to accept notes, written bond notes, they want new notes only. Does the Minister know this?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I am requesting all of those who have had these experiences where their bond notes have been rejected to approach banks and surrender those notes in return for the newly issued notes which have got the word bond note removed from those notes so that we just do a swap. I urge the Hon. Member to ask people in her constituency to do that. We have got an orderly substitution process I thank you – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Tikakusechai munemabond here imi.] –
*HON. P. ZHOU: Madam Speaker, his face mask makes it
difficult for us to hear him.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let
me remove my mask for a minute or may be not more than a minute. I thank the Hon. Member again for the comments and questions. What should happen is that people should be able to approach the Reserve Bank and then have those bank notes replaced with fresh notes with the word bank note removed. Just bring them over and we swap those – [HON. MEMBERS: Vachibva kuZhombe here kuuya kuHarare?] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. Did
you get what the Minister is saying – [HON. MEMBERS: Ngaataure neShona.] – Minister vati vanhu ngavauye nemari dzavo kuReserve Bank vodzichinja nedzisina kunzi bond note.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I want clarity. Who must take that money to the Reserve Bank because now people cannot move freely due to this covid pandemic. A person who is in Dhakeni, the nearest bank is in Kwekwe. As a Government, you must come up with policies that will prohibit retailers from refusing these notes. They are the ones who are supposed to accumulate these notes and take them to Reserve Bank. That is hard earned money and yet they are told to go to the bank again to swap those notes. People do not have money for transport. What policy does Government have in place to solve this problem? My other comment is that the banks must issue adequate cash to the people. I thank you.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank the Hon. Member for
insisting that this issue be sorted out and I appreciate that. What we will do is that we will issue a press statement making it clear that the bond note is still legal tender. We will do that but as we receive this bond note, we will substitute it with the fresh currency, with the full Zimbabwean dollar. I thank you.
HON. KASHAMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Can the Minister explain to the House, we hear schools are opening next month, the level of preparedness in terms of face masks, sanitisers, running water, transport for pupils to school and compliance assessments before the schools open. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND
SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON E. MOYO): Thank you very
much Madam Speaker. The issue of preparedness is an ongoing exercise. Let me preface my response by saying that Government has directed that examinations be written, schools be opened in a phased manner and our responsibility is to ensure that by the time school children get to school, they are ready. There are a number of things that we are doing. First of all the training of school headmasters has started and teachers are being trained on how to handle covid-19 issues. We have issued circulars to school heads on what they have to do in terms of preparation for reopening of schools. We have already launched the making of masks, sanitisers and so forth by different schools, and I can cite that Mashonaland West which is currently producing an average of 53 000 masks per week. Those are some of the efforts towards the reopening of schools.
In the case of water we know that sanitisers are expensive to produce and to procure, therefore we are encouraging our schools to use soap wherever they are. You might also want to know that most schools have got water within their premises. However, there are others that have water outside the school premises and water has to be carted into the school for the purpose of that. All that we are doing, we are working together with the Ministry of Health and Child Care on the protocols to be followed. This morning we had a meeting with independent schools and they were telling us they are very ready - I am sure this evening they will be issuing a statement.
Then our Government schools which are headed by the National Association of Secondary Heads (NASH) and the National Association of Primary Heads (NAPH) have also written to us that they are almost ready. All that we are waiting for is that Treasury complements those efforts so that the procurements of outstanding preparedness issues is addressed. Thank you.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: My supplementary question goes
to the Hon. Minister that yes, it is complementary that you are getting prepared and ready where the covid-19 is concerned. What about the examinations that you are proposing for all children to write say in September/November when those in the rural areas are not using any e-learning. What rationale have you that they are all ready for the same examination that they sit? Are you not disadvantaging the rural child? I thank you.
HON. E. MOYO: The issue of the June/July examination what people should understand is that those are supplementary examination. They are written by candidates who attempted examinations last year in November and they did not make it and they are supplementing.
Now when you come to the conventional examinations that come at the end of the year, they normally come in
November/December and that time table, in terms of when these are going to be written, is still going to be issued. I cannot at the moment indicate that they will be written on this date or that date. However, in terms of the candidate preparedness the June/July examinations are supplementary examinations and those are private candidates who do most of their work at home. Thank you.
+HON. MPOFU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister that the students who are supposed to be writing their examinations on the second term, is it true because they have not done enough lessons during the term?
HON. E. MOYO: When we are talking about the definition of a term it is something that can still be reworked on. When schools open we will call that second time, which ever time that is going to be because the first time you will understand ended prematurely late in March and therefore if we are opening in July, that is going to mark the beginning of the second term and then we will work forward in that manner.
HON. TSUNGA: Virtually all stakeholders in education have said no to resumption of schools. This includes virtually all teachers’ associations or unions, including our very own Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education led by Hon. Misiharambwi.
Also there are credible fears that there will be a surge in infections at a time we are talking about the need to level the infection curve. So why is the Ministry so defiant and inconsiderate to the extent of condemning our children and teachers and the entire population? These children come from families, why condemn them to the real risk of covid-19 infection at this time if we are serious about flattening the curve? Thank you very much.
HON. E. MOYO: Our role as the Ministry is to advance the mandate of educating the nation and Government has taken a position to say examinations must be written, schools must be reopened in a phased manner and our role is to fulfil that which Government has pronounced and we want to do that in the best interest of learners, teachers and everybody. Granted, people have expressed reservations about this and that – however, there are others who have also expressed anxiety to say how long are our children going to stay at home. If we are going to live with this virus for the next 50 years, are they going to grow grey hair while still seated in the kitchen?
These children live in communities and they are interacting with their peers everyday in the communities. They are interacting with them playing; they are interacting with them in the shops, buses and everywhere. So we are saying that the school environment should provide a better relief and controlled environment in the sense that as children come to school, we are going to ensure that they are wearing masks and they are going to be sanitised. We will ensure social distancing, they are going to be so much in a controlled environment and they are going to be also tested in terms of their temperatures and things like that. So we are saying that in our view, we find a school environment even safer than the environment outside school. Thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
SEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
N t415425 17 June, 2020
HON. HAMAUSWA: I move that the time be extended by 20 minutes.
HON. NOMATHEMBA. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. NOMATHEMBA NDLOVU: Thank you Madam
Speaker Ma’am. My question is directed to the Minister of Home
Affairs, and in his absence I refer my question to the Leader of the House. In view of increased cases and reports of abductions and assaults on citizens by the police and other security agents, for instance, the disappearance of Itai Dzamara, a vendor Hilton Tamangane who was shot and Paul Munakupa who was shot recently in Bulawayo, when are you going to order a judicial commission of inquiry into those issues to avoid the current situation where the State security agents end up investigating themselves? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam Speaker. I want to start by making a correction. The security services are not abducting anyone and I also want to state that the people that have been mentioned - there is no evidence of involvement of security sector institutions in whatever is being alleged. Therefore, what the Hon. Member is requesting cannot be executed. I thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: I rise on a point of order Madam
Speaker in terms of Order Number 59 read together with Order Number 60 (c) of our Standing Rules and Orders with regards to matters of public importance. I rise simply taking advantage of the fact that the Minister of Finance is in the House. We are receiving information to the effect that civil servants have been awarded salaries US$75 per month. May confirm if the information is true and if he may want to address Parliament to that effect, and if he may want to dismiss the same. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam Speaker
Ma’am, I thank the Hon. Member for the question. The information is correct, I confirm that the civil servants salaries have been increased by 50% and that each civil servants and all of them will be paid US$75 in addition to that for three months. I thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Hon. Minister, at least for clarifying the same; if I may refer you to point number two of your statement, if it qualifies to Parliament. If I may refer to point number two, if it affects Parliament.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I would like it to affect Parliament but as you know, the salaries and allowances for Parliament are not determined by Central Government, so we will have a conversation with Parliament. It would be good I think if they were covered by a similar provision. I think the Hon. Member will be very happy if that were the case but we will have that engagement and I thank him for
raising it.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Can I know
from the Minister what the rationale is for continuing to pay civil servants in Zim dollar when all shops are virtually rejecting it? Is there no appetite to move away from the ZW$’s because shops are not accepting the amount? Why, even if you increase 100% does that work if shops are refusing the money?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker
Ma’am. I thank the Hon. Member for that question. It is incorrect that shops are refusing ZW$’s, they are not. The issue is just an exchange rate, they are not rejecting it. I know for sure that currently the Hon. Member is using ZW$’s, I am sure they also use US$’s but I know for sure they are using ZW$’s through the Ecocash platform and other platforms. I thank you.
*HON. PARADZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Hon.
Minister, I have just received calls from my Constituency and from Mhangura that the two dollar note is being rejected by shops. So they want to know what the Government is doing to correct that. I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Madam
Speaker Ma’am. The two dollar note is legal tender and should be used. Those are the facts, I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, we are all aware of what is happening around the world regarding selective application of the law. We have the George Floyd issue in America which Zimbabwe actually wanted to demonstrate against. However, we have our own people here in Zimbabwe, the case in point of a man who was shot in Bulawayo. Our Government is not prepared or interested in commissioning an investigation. We have the abductions which the Government would want to say, ‘the so called.’ It is the responsibility of a Government under the Constitution of Zimbabwe to protect every Zimbabwean and make any effort. Do opposition lives not matter in Zimbabwe? If it matters, why can the Minister not allow the due process to be carried out – to carry out proper investigations into these matters, or else we are going to a situation where we will have the white supremacist era where white people’s lives matter and that of blacks do not matter. In Zimbabwe opposition lives do not matter; even the arrests that Members of Parliament go through where the Covid regulations are applying only to Members of MDC where four people are arrested for violating Covid rules when ZANU PF holds rallies on a daily basis.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam Speaker, as a people …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon.
Members!
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am, as a
people we have now developed a culture of lying, propagating rumours without verifying …
HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of order Madam Speaker!
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, Hon. Madzimure, let the Hon. Minister finish … - [HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, he is calling me a liar!] – No, take your seat. Let the Hon. Minister finish. You may proceed Hon. Minister.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker, I have indicated that as a people we are now a people who do not request or look for the correct information. We rely on rumours and we propagate rumours and do not want to deal with factual facts.
I say so because as an august House, the Hon. Member is very much aware that we passed a law here to ensure that we deal with unnatural deaths and we passed a Coroner’s Act. All the issues of unnatural deaths will be dealt with by the Coroner once the Act comes into play. So, some of the issues that the Hon. Members are saying… and that is why I said that we are now a people who do not want to read. We just pick a few things and propagate them without interrogating facts.
Secondly, if there was a death that happened in Bulawayo, we still have laws that have to deal with inquests and that has not been repealed. We should follow that route and ensure that it is investigated and we get to the bottom of what exactly transpired.
Thirdly, I indicated that as a people, we should deal with facts. Surely Madam Speaker, it is very irresponsible for law abiding citizens among them a legislature to embark on a demonstration at a time when you know very well that it would endanger a lot of people
– [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – That was irresponsible and Hon. Members were supposed to be aware of that. Beyond that, I will not comment on that case because it is sub judice. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Madam Speaker, this Chamber is extremely cold. We are reliably informed that Covid-19 is most infectious in cold weather. Is it possible for room temperature to be increased to above 230C? I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, please
may we observe social distancing – Hon. Ministers.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, I was very clear that Hon. Karenyi, Hon. Biti and three others were arrested when there were six people around – that is one.
The issue of the Bulawayo accident Madam Speaker, we are all crying because this happened in broad daylight and for anyone or an Hon. Minister to tell me that the Coroner’s Act will then come in later. People are demonstrating all around the world because there is selection application of the law in the United States of America. Blacks are regarded as blacks and can be killed. In Zimbabwe, we now also have the same situation where the opposition members can be arrested in broad daylight along Nelson Mandela Avenue, whilst
ZANU PF holds rallies on daily basis putting on party regalia… -
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Shurugwi South had a rally over the weekend. It is the persistent selection application of the law that we now have - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
–
We see on television ZANU PF members in their full regalia having rallies on daily basis but no one has ever been arrested from ZANU PF for flaunting the Covid-19 regulations. Why is that no one from ZANU PF who has ever been arrested? So, are you saying that opposition lives do not matter? - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker … - [HON.
CHIKWINYA: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chikwinya Order,
order! - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon.
Members, Order, order. You may go ahead Hon. Minister.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I will
not comment on the case of Hon. Karenyi, Biti and others because it is before the courts. I will comment on the selective application of the law.
Madam Speaker, I indicated earlier that we are now a people of rumours. The police have details of people who have been arrested for breaking Covid-19 rules and the police can avail details of people who have been arrested. What the Hon. Member said is far from the truth, if I may not use the word liar as it is unparliamentary. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, I have a brother who was arrested for breaking Covid-19 rules and he is a full Chairman of ZANU PF - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] – So, I want to indicate to the Hon. Member that let us be factual, let us not try to manipulate facts to suit our own situations and let us allow cases that are before the courts to be dealt with by the courts and we will comment after the verdicts of the courts. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members, our twenty minutes extension to Questions Without Notice has expired. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS: Madam Speaker, with the
indulgence of Hon. Members, I move that we suspend Questions With Notices and we have presentations of Bills on the Order Paper. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
FIRST READING
CYBER SECURITY AND DATA PROTECTION BILL [H.B.18,
2019.]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI) presented the
Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill, (H.B. 18, 2019).
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
LEAVE TO MOVE SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS NO.
134 (1) AND 139
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam Speaker. I seek leave of the House to move that the provisions of Standing Orders Number 134 (1) and 139 regarding the introduction of Bills at least 14 days after being published by the Government Gazette be suspended in respect of the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill (H.B. 3, 2020) and stages of bills respectively. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS NO. 134 (1) AND 139
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam
Speaker, I move that the provisions of Standing Orders No. 134 (1) and 139 regarding the introduction of Bills at least 14 days after being published in the Government Gazette be suspended in respect of the Census and Statistics Amendment Bill (H.B. 3, 2020) and stages of bills respectively. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
FIRST READING
CENSUS AND STATISTICS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 3, 2020.] THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI) presented the
Census and Statistics Amendment Bill (H.B. 3, 2020).
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. ZIYAMBI), the
House adjourned at Seventeen Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 16th June 2020
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. I have written to you on a matter that I think needs to be addressed. I am bound by the Constitution of this country and the oath that I took and on several times, you told us about self respect which is important. Again, the position of Chair is never for abuse but the respect too is earned …
THE HON. SPEAKER: May I interrupt you Hon. Member.
I have seen your letter and I am going to reply to it in detail after I have done some research. This will include the decision which the
Hon. Deputy Speaker ruled on. I am also putting that together so that there is a comprehensive response to your letter. I am seized with the matter.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Sir. I will not touch on the aspects of that letter. I will talk about self respect amongst us as Members.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That will be included as well.
HON. T. MLISWA: I say so because it cannot continue. If it does continue, it is also incumbent upon you the Chair to ensure…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mliswa. That will be
included as well.
*HON. MAKONYA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: You recall the ruling that we have made before.
*HON. MAKONYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My point of privilege is on the event that took place yesterday when we were praying for God’s protection from coronavirus as well as praying for the wellbeing of the whole nation. It was a combined fasting because our country is under attack from coronavirus as well as economic difficulties and living conditions in this country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, yesterday in the middle of fasting and praying for God’s intervention on coronavirus, we were travelling but we were not told by the President that we have to fast whilst we are at home or that it becomes a public holiday. We were only told that we were supposed to fast and pray.
In the midst of that; yesterday I and my friends were very much disturbed by what we saw. We were disturbed by law enforcement officers and the army. Mr. Speaker Sir, we were coming to work because Parliament sits today and some people were coming to attend Committees. Mr. Speaker, we tried to explain to them that we were going to Parliament but all our vehicles were searched at roadblocks. That put us off the spirit of prayer and fasting and I am saying during the time of prayer, you cease to maintain the praying spirit. As a result, some people ended up losing focus on fasting and praying yesterday, including today some people are unable to travel because of the police and the army. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. I am very sorry about what happened. I know that Hon. Members of this House had committees, it is true. What happened is this: as Parliament we were not yet allowed to work during lockdown. The law to ensure we are allowed to work was only released on Friday night. That is when it was gazetted as S.I. 136 of 2020. Is that so Hon. Leader of Government business? Yes – thank you. So that has been sorted out and I believe that law enforcement agents will consider that law that allows us to work. Secondly, as Members of Parliament we are not supposed to be stuck in queues. We are supposed to come to
Parliament and work. So the law was gazetted that supports work of Parliament starting last Friday night. I am sure the law enforcement agents had not yet seen the law. Thank you.
*HON. MLAMBO: What happened is the Hon. Member who
just spoke said what I wanted to say.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. According to
Standing Order 106, we are not allowed to repeat what was said. So you were only supposed to stand and say, ‘what I wanted to say has already been talked about by the Hon. Member’. End of story, please take your seat.
+HON. MAHLANGU: I thank you Mr speaker for giving me
this opportunity to speak. I had a time to leave my constituency in
Pumula to go and look for a goat. Unfortunately, I found out that a goat now costs more than US$100. Therefore, looking at matters here in Zimbabwe a man is a man by his assets. That means we are going to be unable to rear domestic animals under these circumstances. I am therefore requesting that you look at the matters of salaries for people here at Parliament. I want us to look at salaries of us here at Parliament and all civil servants.
+THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. Order! order. That is a matter which does not concern Members of Parliament. That is something that should be introduced tomorrow as a question. I thank you.
Before we proceed, will all Hon. Members please observe social distancing? You are too close to each other for comfort. Can you exercise your own spirit before I say one, two and three go out. I am waiting. Members on my left you are too crowded here in front. Please do not force me to say one, two, three go out. Use your discretion. Do you want me to uplift you or uplift yourselves? On my right you are fine here but there is some crowding on the front bench. Hon. Mahlangu can you go up to the Speaker’s gallery.
The Hon. Speaker encouraged Hon. Members to maintain social distancing – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order. This is serious business. You made an oath that you are going to respect the laws of Zimbabwe. If the Speaker’s Gallery is full, you can go to the Government Caucus and you can follow on your IPad.
Please do not argue with the Chair.
Hon. Members, we have taken 15 minutes trying to organise ourselves and it is time wasted. So, can you regulate yourselves so that we save time?
HON. KARENYI: Mr. Speaker, I think there is need put distancing marks like they do at the shops as they put stickers to mark the distancing.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for that advice. The
Administration of Parliament will make sure that the seats are properly disaggregated.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, for as long as there is no
Leader of Government Business and Chief Whip on this side, there will always be problems in terms of the sitting arrangements because by nature, it is the Chief Whips who whip them.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is why I say sometimes as
human beings, we need extra assistance. Your point is taken.
SECOND READING
ZIMBABWE MEDIA COMMISSION BILL [H.B. 8, 2019].
First Order Read: Adjourned debate on Second Reading of the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill [H. B. 8, 2019].
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. This is one of the Bills that is repealing AIPPA and it is part of our media reform Bills and I want to thank also the Portfolio Committee that went around to gather information pertaining to the views of the people and some of the inputs which we agreed to include in the Bill. Having said that Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE BILL [H.B.
16, 2019]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on Second Reading of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill [H.B. 16, 2019].
Question again proposed.
*HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also
want to add my voice to this debate. The issue that we are debating about today is an issue that was supposed to have been solved a long time ago, not years after the liberation struggle. We seem to have forgotten about the liberation struggle. A lot of freedom fighters died after independence. We now have fake people who are claiming to be war veterans. This Bill is not helping us in commemorating the true heroes and heroines. The genuine people are suffering and they did not get anything.
I do not see the delay in implementing laws that will make lives of the war collaborators better. It is now 40 years after independence and we are still talking of this issue. I was watching television this other day and there was this woman, a former liberation fighter who was narrating her story of being given food measured in cups by people. She was saying in this corona era, I do not know the health of those people handling these cups. I am suffering but I am a war veteran.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I witnessed the liberation struggle and when I speak of the liberation war fighters, I am not speaking of the helpers; neither am I speaking of those who were in detention. I am speaking of people who really participated in the liberation struggle, who were holding guns and slept with their shoes on. They did not have time to remove their shoe. These are the people that I am talking about.
I feel very troubled because those who were helpers are the ones that are alive today and they are the ones who are enjoying now. Some died and those who were injured in the struggle, after independence; a lot did not survive because of the injuries they sustained during the liberations struggle. Some had bullets in their bodies and are now dead. No one even remembers their families. If you look at scholarship programmes that are offered by Government, if we are to look at how many war veterans’ children benefited from that programme, you will find there is none. On War Victims’ Compensation Fund of 1997, no genuine liberation war fighters benefited. Now we are still saying that war veterans need to be vetted, those who trained died a long time ago. Who do you want to vet now? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] - Some are now mentally ill. We did not give them time to be rehabilitated into the society after coming back from the liberation struggle. If you are to meet a freedom fighter right now, they act as if they are still in the liberation struggle because they were not rehabilitated but those who were clever enough, who never fully participated in the struggle are the ones that are benefiting now. I have a relative who participated in the liberation struggle. During election times, they send people to take him so that he can show people his wounds and injured fingers but when he falls ill, I am the one who takes him to hospital.
They do not even get treatment, medical aid, nothing of that sort. That did not need any other Bill or Act besides all the Acts or Bills that went through this Parliament. Up to date, they are still suffering. Some of them still have the skin grafting that they got after bombings. I know some of them because they were kept at Bindura. My brother was part of that crew. So from there, they were being taken to Harare Hospital from Ruwa. I used to see what was happening. I helped most of them in their burial.
So, Mr. Speaker, when we talk about real war veterans, we are talking about people who sacrificed their lives so that we get to where we are today. We are talking about some who may be alive today, but while we are busy debating right now; there is nothing we are doing for them.
Right now we are going to increase the number of people. The list will be full of people claiming to be war veterans, including those who did not hold any guns. So that blows up the budget and it becomes difficult for them to be allocated money. Why? Because there are many other people who are simply claiming. Some of them maybe 42 years old and they claim to be war veterans, if you were to go through that list, if we were to ask the Minister of Defence and War Veterans to bring a roll call here so that we also see what happens; you will understand what I am talking aobut.
If we still have 40 000 war veterans right now, it is a lie. Real veterans today are not more than 20 000. Therefore, it is a manageable figure – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Mr. Speaker Sir, the issue that I am talking about, if there is anyone who knows that they are a war veteran, do not be disturbed because I am including you in that number of 20 000. If you find yourself being disturbed by that, it is because you are only claiming. You are not real war veterans. So why are you booing, what did you hear?
Hon. Matangira, if he does not have that respect, if he has nothing to say, there are some war veterans who need a place to sit.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Madzimure, do not assume my seat please. I will talk to the Hon. Member. Just go on expressing yourself. Forget about any other things.
*HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It is because we know each other. So Mr. Speaker, my point is our records should be credible so that when resources are being allocated to the deserving people, it may be done properly.
The other thing Mr. Speaker Sir is, there is a time when we get to a point where war veterans are harassed or provoked emotionally. I have seen war veterans being sprayed with water cannons by policemen when they try to express themselves. That is an issue that really disturbed me because if those people start recalling what they went through during the liberation struggle, it is very disturbing.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Some Hon. Members
in the Speaker’s Gallery are busy pointing. Please look at your i-pad so that you may see what is being said here. Please look at you ipads.
*HON. MADZIMURE: They expect that what the war
veterans should get must not just by way of lip service but should be genuine because there will not be a second liberation struggle. The other struggles will just be to polish up. They fought the war and that was it. If you were to ask them during that time, they would tell you that they were fighting to liberate everyone. Therefore we will not have other war veterans to fight for the liberation or the independence of this country.
The first Act referred to them as those who participated during the liberation struggle from 1962 to 1968. So that opportunity must be stopped. Let us stop on those people who were vetted already. They should not be another second chance for other people who want to be vetted now who were there all along. That will give a cost burden to the fiscas if we were to set up another board to vet the war veterans. So a board that understands the plight of the war veterans should be set up, not necessarily a board of people who only worry about their allowances. Those people will start crying over allowances. War veterans are a people known for fighting to liberate the rights of everyone.
I remember people like Andy Mhlanga who started fighting for the plight of war veterans. During those times, it was a very difficult time because they were labeled to be rebelling against the ruling party. So such people have a history of war veterans. Those people can speak better about the plight of their fellow comrades because they know better.
Today I may also be vetted as a war collaborator but the truth is that I cannot be called a war veteran and cannot be equal to people who were trained and held guns during the Liberation struggle. Even if they may not have participated in the front, it is different from some of us who remained back home. The differences should be made very clear and should not be made light because there are people who sacrificed their lives and deserve compensation. So far, there is nothing we have done for them. If we are making these laws to compensate them, that is a welcome move.
We have seen a lot about the vetting process where some people claimed to be 99% disabled and took the money which was never retained and some of the people who did that have since passed on. It is important that we vet these people and at least compensate them so that we appease their spirits. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker for giving me
this opportunity so that I can also participate on this Bill on war veterans. The previous speaker spoke very well that it is surprising that we are only debating about this issue 40 years later.
*HON. MADZIMURE: I do not know Mr. Speaker whether we can check records because I am told Hon. Matangira once debated on this issue.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, you can proceed Hon.
Matangira.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. What I wanted to say Mr. Speaker Sir is; the previous speaker spoke very well but in English they say, ‘it is better late than never.’ Mr. Speaker Sir, this Bill on the war veterans is silent because what we know is that a crab can only give birth to similar species. Any tree produces fruits which are known to be produced by that fruit tree. All those who participated in the liberation struggle, including those who may have lost their lives during the liberation struggle – I thought this Bill should ensure that they are handled equally according to the law.
I do not know whether this Bill will only assist those who are still alive or should include those who have passed on but left their widows and children. Are they not also entitled to the benefits? Most importantly, the world over, even in the United States of America, they are pioneers and they respect their veterans, the same with Japan and Germany. I think even if we delayed, the truth be spoken, let us now address that issue. As Parliament, let us ensure that the process is expedited so that if we feel that those who were gun bearers during the liberation struggle should get their benefits first, so be it. However, let us not forget that war veterans lived amongst people, it was like fish living in water. They were not going to be able to operate well, if there was no civilians and collaborators, they should be categorized. Their benefits should be different according to their ranks. It is now difficult because the law says we should not be charged a lot of money for a bride price.
However, I suggest that they be categorised and get their benefits according to those categories. We are continuously talking about that, yet they are dying gradually like what has been alluded to by the previous speaker. Some of them have conditions and side effects as a result of the war. Mr. Speaker Sir, if that could be addressed expeditiously. The previous speaker talked about expensive goats as a reference, how about the war veterans out there, how are they living if we as Hon. Members are earning little money and complain about the prices.
I remember when I was still a garden boy, my hands touched dog dung, I tried to wash it off with one hand and the smell persisted until I used both hands to wash off the dirt. What it means is that those who helped the war veterans should also get compensation. Let us just say the combatant who was holding the gun and the one who was helping him should all be rewarded well. I thank you Hon.
Speaker Sir.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: May I request Hon. Sikhala, just sit down for a while…
*HON. SIKHALA: I was actually on my way downstairs to come and debate Mr. Speaker Sir.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Sikhala may you kindly
resume your seat for a while.
I want to request Hon. Members who intend to speak, to connect to their tablets and speak into their tablets. It allows those who are in the Senate Chamber and Government Caucus to follow the proceedings - if I can persuade you accordingly.
May I also request Hon. Members seated in the last row, in the
Speaker’s Gallery on my right, may you please keep social distance.
There is plenty space on your left.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir!
There is no network on the tablets.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Are you connected,
because you have to be connected? Switch on your tablet.
HON. CHIKWINYA: May the IT Officer come over and
assist us?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Chikwinya, someone is coming
to assist. Hon. Masango, yes, yes take to the podium. I want to believe that you are feeling better now?
HON. MATAMBANADZO: Sure.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, praise the Lord.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for
giving me this opportunity and health wise, I feel much better. I stood up just to add onto this War Veterans Bill and I believe that if I am to add these words – it will improve our image as a country.
Indeed, a lot of war veterans have since died and left widows. Some of them left behind very young widows because they married young girls after the liberation struggle. When they died, we would then neglect the young widows. I say this because in terms of their benefits from Government, some of them would lose those benefits such as farms that they had benefited – I am referring to the widows of war veterans. As soon as their spouses passed on, they would lose their farms. These farms were not only given to war veterans who fought in the liberation struggle, but even during the Second World War some of the fighters got those benefits as farms. Some of them still have those farms because they have title deeds.
What is the difference between those war veterans and the current war veterans? How come the first beneficiaries got title deeds whilst those who participated in the Second Chimurenga struggle tend to lose their benefits? It is very painful because the children of fallen heroes/war veterans end up with no benefits. The country should compensate the families but after coming back, they got farms and as soon as they died, their families would lose those farms – this is what I want to refer to.
I understand that there is a proposal that war veterans should be vetted. There are some war veterans like in my home area in Hurungwe who came back mentally disturbed and were not accepted or regarded as war veterans. It is very painful because such people never got their benefits even when some people witnessed on their behalf because there was no proper advertising for the vetting of war veterans – if only similar campaigns like what is happening with
COVID-19 had been made, maybe they would have participated. Some would be requested to narrate how they joined the liberation struggle and because of loss of memory, they would say contradicting statements. So they ended up losing out in terms of benefits.
I also want to refer to some who died during the war. Their remains were picked for some time but the programme was stopped by Sibanda from Bulawayo when he became Chairman of the war veterans. I do not know why the programme was stopped. Madam Speaker, let us move away from that tradition and formulate a law that ensures whoever got a position even if they would have been ministers, they get their benefits after that. In Zimbabwe, whenever someone loses their position, they also lose out on their benefits. I do not think that is good and I think that is the reason why we have Bills every time because everyone who comes up - brings on a new Bill. I thank you.
*HON. SHAVA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I stand in support
of the Bill on War Veterans. I would like to suggest that this Bill goes through quickly so that the beneficiaries get their intended benefits on time because some of them are in a deplorable state and others do not have inputs or equipment in terms of agriculture. So if this Bill were to be expedited, it would go a long way in alleviating the plight of such people - because as you see us here in Parliament, there are the people who made sure that we as Africans can now participate in Parliament. Unlike in the past when it was only the preserve of whites unlike in the past when it was only reserved for whites. They are the people who fought the war and played a role that is very important. These people should get their benefits quickly so that our ancestoral spirits can also be appeased because they went through a lot of difficulties. They were protected by the ancestral spirits of this country. This is my view Madam Speaker Ma’am. May this Bill be expedited so that these people may get a better life and I think that would also help this country to move forward. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. GABBUZA: Madam Speaker, thank you for the
opportunity to debate. In my debate I will try to mention names so that those responsible will make a follow up. I have looked at the Bill Madam Speaker. There are some categories of war veterans that are being overlooked. We have those war veterans that went to war and came back but because of the stresses of the liberation struggle, the activities that were taking place in the battle field disturbed their minds. Those war veterans were not able to explain their
whereabouts during the initial vetting process that took place and qualified their comrades.
I have a good example of a war veteran who on a good day you can use him and you can send him to do any errands. We call him Jack; he stays in Kamativi. That man on a bad day, he will be imitating all that was happening at the war front; taking cover, shooting, et cetera. Everyone knows that this man is a war veteran but he is getting nothing. Nobody is looking after him. He has not been vetted and he has a family. We know he is a war veteran. I hope the Bill should find some sections to address such issues because on his own he cannot go to the vetting committee to explain these processes because his mind is no longer very coordinated.
Madam Speaker, you remember vetting did not take place soon after the assembly points. It took place years later. Before the vetting took place, we have several war veterans that we know participated in the liberation struggle who died before the initial vetting and they left families. Nobody is looking after these families. I have a good example of a Mr. Simatara from Kariyangwe, a relative of Chief Siansali. He was operating on the surveillance front, checking the crossing points before the guerillas crossed into Zimbabwe. He operated along the Zambezi. We knew him. He had a shrapnel all over his body and I remember on one of his eyes, he had a sharp nail that they could not remove at the hospital. He died a war veteran but he had not yet been vetted. He has a family and his children are not getting a thing.
We have war veterans who died towards assembly points. I remember in 1979 towards 1980, several buses were bombed by the regime when they were moving towards Bubi to the Gwayi River assembly points. A Bonface Siansali who was a commander in the ZIPRA Forces was killed there immediately. We know he left children but his family is getting nothing. I hope those crafting the Bill must look at such cases. We have a Mr. Barnabas Mwembe from within my constituency, he has children some of whom I had to assist because he was my mukwasha, he married one of our relatives. We all know he was a war veteran. He went to war, was very active in the struggle but he died before vetting and his family is getting nothing.
The other issue that the Bill must address is the selective burial of war veterans. We have seen on television some war veterans being given 21 gun salute assistance at the funeral. Unfortunately, in my rural area I have seen very little of such when war veterans die. Recently, I buried a Mr. Stephen Chalu from Tinde. He was a commander in the ZIPRA Forces. When he died, the District War Veterans Chairperson only came at the end of the burial. We had to look around and put together monies to try and get him buried decently. The structures of the War Veterans Association were nowhere to be seen. He is not the only one. There is also a Mr. Mudenda from Cross Dete who died and there was no assistance. To me it looks like some of the services available to the war veterans can only be accessed by those who are closer to the structures of the war veterans or those who are in urban areas. When a war veteran dies in the rural areas, we see very little of such assistance.
Just two months ago, a Mr. Mudimba from Siansali again who was a chairperson of the War Veterans Association and worked at the hospital, it was the hospital that looked after all his burial arrangements. The War Veterans Association and Government only came towards the end. All the time when he was sick, he never got any assistance. I hope the war veterans structures will look into this. This is very important Madam Speaker because when we say war veterans – I am glad Hon. Matangira mentioned it. It looks like we are concentrating on those that are surviving but we forget that for somebody to survive, either he was not at the war front or he was so lucky to have been missed by bullets. Those that died, it is evident enough that they were practically and actively involved and we forget about them.
What are we saying about the people that we know went to war and died in Zambia? Are they no longer war veterans? Cannot we do something to their families? It looks like the war veteran is only the one who was lucky to come back from the war and was not killed. However, in my strongest belief I really think the war veteran is the one who died for this country. That should be the war veteran number one. The second one should be the one who survived. Some could have survived because they were still training when the war was active or they survived because they were so lucky that they were deployed in areas where there was no active war. Madam Speaker, I think all these areas must be looked at.
Lastly, the issue of history is important. This is where the whites always beat us; record keeping. During the Inclusive Government, I used to joke with Hon. Shamu. I said, President Mugabe has not written a single book about his involvement in the war. If he dies, anybody can say something about his history and involvement because he will be no longer there to speak for himself which I think is one weakness. That is why many times when a war veteran dies, there become so much debate to determine whether he should be conferred heroes status or should be conferred provincial or national hero status. It is because our records are so poor. Why do we not slot in the Bill a section which forces the compulsory compilation of information about war veterans before they die so that when they die a record is already there on where they operated, with who and under which commander etcetera. This will reduce a tendency of some crooks who take advantage of the dead. You remember Madame Speaker, there was a debate – we all believed and it is read about
Hon. Joyce Mujuru having shot down a helicopter but when she was no longer a favourite of some powers she was no longer a war veteran. We have had debates and questions about some Members in this House who claim to be war veterans but other people deny it but when they are in good standing we know they are war veterans and when in bad standing a lot of things are said about them. We have heard someone never went to war but he was a taxi driver or he was this and that. We do not want that kind of debate. There must be evidence written down of war veterans. Let people talk while they are still alive and give us a narrative of their war credentials and other people should collaborate that information while the war veteran is still alive. When they die we have no debate because the records will be correctly filed. Mandela has written a book about himself, president Tsvangirai wrote a book about himself and it becomes easy to know these people. President Mugabe has not written a book about himself and he died without that biography. Now the people that will write about him will add some information which might not be very correct and this is what we are trying to avoid.
The war veterans institution must be respected and for it to be respected it must not be polluted by people who never went to war but are claiming to be war veterans. So, this is my plea and I wish the Minister in the crafting of this Bill if that is missing will find some space and push it in so that we have a compulsory compilation of information which is properly collaborated. I know that ZIPRA tried to do it under the Mahlera Trust but again those who were doing it never got support. We have a lot of historians who could be commissioned to interview every war veteran and we archived this information. There is a mausoleum museum in America with history about some people in Zimbabwe which we do not have here. If you google Thomas Mapfumo there will be a lot written about him but if you go to our own museum there is nothing written about Thomas Mapfumo. I think let us get proper records which will assist us and those who want to write the history of Zimbabwe will refer to all that compiled information verbatim as given by those involved and collaborated by those who were watching from the sidelines. Thank you very much.
*HON. CHIKUKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to
support this Bill. I am supporting everything which has been said here. However there is the issue of war collaborators and detainees.
People were saying we need to have categories. The war collaborators did not have guns and I should say they were more vulnerable than those with guns because they could not protect themselves as they were attacked and killed. Those who were 12 or 13 years were just there to carry food but they could not defend themselves. It is good that those people should be looked at. In other countries it is not only about money. If government has money it can give them but it is up to this law. They can be given farms or other things which can take care of them. They need something which will take care of them in life. We were talking about writing the history which is important because people will know what happened. Today we are talking about Rhodes and not about our war veterans and collaborators. There are people who were detained before the war but we do not have that history and some of them died in prisons. This Bill should mention those who died before the war because they also were activists before the war. I thank you.
+HON. R. MPOFU: I also want to add my views on the war veterans Bill. Madam Speaker, we can continue to speak but time is moving. If we go back and look at what war veterans contributed to this country you may at the end of it all cry. Even though I did not see some of those but in spirit I realise how those people faced difficulties during that time. These issues need to be addressed and have this Bill passed on time so that these people get something to enable the survival of their families. Right now there are some people that cannot manage to get basic things for their families because of stress. If you do not get what you are supposed to be getting as a bread winner you realise that you lose that respect from your family. For example – bread winners especially fathers in families who do not get enough money cannot get their families going. The war veterans contributed immensely to our freedom. If we did not have war veterans’ contributions we would not be in this House. I would like to thank all Members in both Houses because I have never heard any one of them disagreeing with each other on this issue because we all understand and agree as to the contributions that these war veterans made for this country. Right now if a war veteran passes on, their widow instead of getting the contribution that the late war veteran was getting that amount is reduced. Most of those people are aged and when they die, normally we say that money should be given to the remaining widow or the surviving children who are below 18years. However if we look at how many of those people have children below the age of 18 we realise that most of those people no longer have those children that are below 18. If maybe both the wife and husband are late and there is a child who is above 18, it means that the heroship is dead. Why do we not sit down and look at this issue as
Government and help each other so that the words ‘War Veterans’ continue instead of dying so that whoever is remaining from the War Veterans family gets something, be it a farm or anything that is supposed to benefit this family. I can say a lot but Madam Speaker, all I can say is my wish is to have this Bill passed early.
Right now, there are other people that are saying that there are some people who are called War Veterans who did not even fight. All I can say is that in this country, no one was going to be fighting alone but people had to unite in order to win this fight. Those people who were out there fighting were working hand in glove with the other people who had remained in their homes. Those are the people that were helping these war veterans by cooking for them, sewing clothes for them and other things. Therefore, we need to know that these people worked hand in glove with those who had remained.
I would like to mention some of the issues that were said by the previous speakers who were saying we need to respect these people especially those who died outside the country where we do not even know where they were buried. We need to make sure that we look after their families and make sure that we contribute to the upbringing of their remaining families and make sure that those that we know where they were buried but were not well properly, we need to make sure that we rebury them Madam Speaker Ma’am. I cannot continue with my contribution because most of the things have been aired earlier on. All I am asking for is to have this Bill passed on time.
I would also want to add my point on the issue of putting a female to lead the Ministry of Defence because this country was not only fought for by men only but by women as well. Therefore, in putting a female figure up there, we feel honoured as women. Thank you Hon. Members for showing that all of us are in agreement with this Bill. Madam Speaker Ma’am, the contributions that they are getting are not enough and that is their salaries. We need to make sure that we look into this issue because our economy is not performing well as we speak and what they are getting is not enough to fend for their families.
Right now, we are faced with this Covid- 19 pandemic and we need to make sure that we work together as Hon. Members to make sure that this Bill is passed on time so that our fellow members get something to fend for their families. Thank you very much.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Thank you Hon. Speaker for
giving me the time to add my voice to this important Bill. Unfortunately, I will not speak for long because all the points that have been itching in my heart to say something about have been highlighted by the previous speakers. Save to say that, if the Hon. Minister could take note of the glaring gap of the post humous gratuity to the fallen liberation war veterans – those sons and daughters of the struggle who never made it back home. It is highly commendable that we are now taking cognisance of what the War
Veterans did in order to liberate us as a country and looking into their welfare – those that are surviving. But Hon. Speaker, there is an issue of those that never came back home. If we may at least have recognition for them by maybe having a roll of honour at a central place in the nation or a War Veterans Museum where we will have all the names of those on the roll of honour for those who went to the war just listed. It will be very valuable to their families by just knowing that we are recognised; that our farther, our mother, our aunt served Zimbabwe in such a special honour – if we can simply list them. In the villages, they are known because every village or every family knows of their son or daughter who went to Mozambique or Zambia but never came back but their hearts are bleeding because nobody is saying anything about them like they do not matter. If we can look into that, we need to also give them their due respect. Thank you.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker for
giving me this opportunity to debate on this War Veterans Bill. Let me say, in our country Zimbabwe and some of us Hon. Members of Parliament are saying that a war veteran is not recognised. Let me tell you that a war veteran is recognised. When the War Veteran went to war, they did not go there from nowhere but went there coming from
a home where there are kraal heads. If you go to all kraal heads in rural areas, they will tell you that we have two children who went to war and they know them. If you go to kraal heads, they will tell you that we have children who did not come back from the war, those who were buried were two and three are not known where they are. So, looking for war veterans is not difficult, you can get them.
Hon. Speaker, a person called a War Veteran and I want this to be included in our Bill and we look at it very closely that everyone who left his home, leaving his parents to go to the war and fought in the war is a war veteran. They held the gun and in the war we had division of labour. Some came back home as fighters and some were fighting outside and others were looking for food for the comrades. So, everyone who participated is a war veteran. We say that everyone who participated is a war veteran, those who were receiving war veterans and doing all sorts of things to help are war veterans because we were not going to win the war without war collaborators. Let me say they are people who were arrested for political activism and they are known. These people are war veterans, they fought for this country, let us recognise them. We have people who died in the war; this must be included in the Bill. Let us look at the origin of that person to see if left parents who are still grieving. Those parents need assistance that will make the parent grateful that his child participated in the war.
Let me say among the war veterans, when a war veteran dies, the history is forgotten. I want the Bill to recognise war veterans and write their history and people will read about their lives. People must have knowledge that these people fought for the country and that now we are free because of them. We are seeing other people commenting saying that our country has no money. They are saying the country has no money but we see a lot of corruption taking place; people building glass houses using public funds. The funds are being taken by a few but now if we want to assist war veterans; it is said there is no money.
We must correct that in our Bill. Let us make sure that the war collaborators and war veterans are given appropriate benefits. We are saying that war veterans are old and I am one of the war veterans. I went to war and I was a nurse and I trained under a tree. We came back here to assist our parents with the knowledge that we gained in the liberation struggle. People say a lot of things about war veterans, they do not respect them. War veterans need respect as they fought the war of liberation and they brought something that made the whole country happy.
We sacrificed our lives, we had a lot of lice in our heads, and it was not easy. As war veterans, we are happy to see people living peacefully. War veterans are also benefiting from farms and mining but those who did not go to war, if they receive these things, they forget to give a portion to war veterans. People do not want to give a share to war veterans in mining. In this Bill, we must assist war veterans by giving them the means of production because they fought for this country. Children of war veterans can carry on the history of war veterans. Some of the children are in this Parliament. War veterans must be supported in terms of education and be given jobs. They also need to be empowered. I was thinking that this provision be made but because of sanctions, we do not have money, we are being punished for reclaiming our land. I am saying that in this Bill, we must include war veterans who are poor, we have to uplift the building of houses for them, we need to provide them with shelter, and they cannot keep on staying in bushes like what they were doing in the war.
War veterans should be respected. We said this during COPAC that we need medals that can identify war veterans. We want this to be included in the Bill so that is easy to identify war veterans through their medals. These medals will be showing that they fought in the liberation struggle. I thank you.
HON. MUSANHI: I thought it very important that I add my voice to this very important Bill. Madam Speaker, in order for us to be free and to be where we are in this Parliament, it was because of the very important people who actually went out to fight for the country to remove the discrimination that was there and the oppression that was taking place that time. Madam Speaker, in order for people to qualify to vote, there was sort of vetting that used to take place. That vetting could only qualify to some very few people. The way that vetting was done, it was being done in a way that discriminates the poor people which were the blacks. So, the process of going to war actually rescued us and gave us a lot of our freedom that we enjoy today. Madam Speaker, if it were not for the freedom fighters who sacrificed to go to war so that as Zimbabweans could unite as black people and be able to vote to conquer the white man. The White man was discriminating the black man because of the wealthy that was there. The white man used to say you cannot vote when we do not know your balance sheet. If your balance sheet is poor, you are not allowed to vote because you have got nothing to vote for.
All that was removed because of the war veterans that went to war. Madam Speaker, when I was a small boy - there is a toilet that is in Baker Avenue; the name of the road that time (now Jason Moyo), the underground toilet. I actually went there not knowing that this toilet is for whites only. I went in there and when I was about to get out I was beaten at the door by some white radicals. Discrimination was the order of the day but all that was alleviated by our brothers and sisters who went to fight for this country.
Madam Speaker, a lot of facts have been mentioned here but I would like to emphasise on one point that I think someone mentioned. That point must be noted. I feel the blood of our brothers that perished in Mozambique and Zambia must be appreciated and I think that must be recognised not to say because they did not come back home then we realise that those who are here are the most important than those who perished in the bush.
I must also say to war veterans this does not need us to be selfish at all. We also want to be able to quantify. Those of our brothers who perished outside, I think some of us know and we have got history and we know the whole list of people who perished outside and I think it does not need us to be a bit selfish at all. We need to assist and be able to help those families with deceased people who went to war. I think on that Madam Speaker Ma’am, I thank you because a lot of things have been said and I cannot keep on repeating something that has been said before.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Madam Speaker. People have
been feeding themselves, forgetting others. I am looking at the issue where you are just giving money. Why are you not giving property because money can be finished but if you build a house or you give one a farm where he can do irrigation, that person would be better off. Those who fought in World War I and World War II were given assets - but money because of inflation is not useful. If you give one $1 000 today, tomorrow it will be useless.
Those who fought in the liberation struggle should get specialised treatment if they are sick. Taking them outside the country for treatment like what is done to the top officials. People are being treated like at Murambinda Hospital. Why are you not taking them outside where there is medicine? These people fought for rights but we see them being tear gassed. They were demonstrating peacefully. This is what they fought for. They wanted to be allowed to demonstrate, but now they are being tear gassed for exercising what they fought for. Those who beat up war veterans or tear gas war veterans should be charged because you are abusing someone who fought that you can wear your suits and sit here and now you are tear gassing them. That is very bad.
Let war veterans not belong to political parties. They should be national people that even if governments change they keep on being respected. However, if you say that they have to belong to ZANU PF, if the government changes are they going to be respected? We should not use our war veterans as weapons, they should be treated as national figures.
*HON. NHARI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to add my voice on this debate on war veterans. War veterans went through a very difficult time during the war and when they came back, they continued to suffer more than what they went through during the war.
Some found their families disintegrated and they had nowhere to go. Some of the war veterans are in streets. They are now like mad people and some people are mocking them that they killed people during the war but that is not the case. These people, when they came back they were stressed and ended up being mad.
War veterans need to be respected. They should get what they fought for. Most of them had their families killed. If a parent was known to have a child who had gone to war, the parent was killed. In this Bill we should recognise war veterans. We are very sorry for our people who always say that the country should be colonized again and we free it. Those words are painful to war veterans. You are happy today in this House because war veterans liberated this country.
People who say such kinds of things are sell outs. Thank you.
*HON. J. SITHOLE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Things we are talking about here - we have war veterans in this House, whenever we talk about this issue people start to think about what they went through during the war. This means up to today the work which the war veterans did is still relevant among our people.
In my constituency we lost two children who were hit by land mines left during the liberation struggle. Those kinds of things remind people of the war. It is so painful because the war veterans did a very important job. In this country if someone works, if he does not get a bonus they think of demonstrating, but there are some people who up to today were not given anything, but these are the people who made sure that people get bonuses.
We have had four groups of war liberators, there is one called the non-combatant cadre and some do not really understand what that means. During the war, we did not just go and obtain a gun but the leadership determined and gave everyone their responsibilities. This is what we did until the war ended. Some were teachers, nurses, builders and so on. Some went to war as professional people who have already obtained a qualification but when they came back they were not given anything. Those people do not cause any problem because they were taught to be disciplined.
During the war we said we were fighting a war on two fronts and when you were outside you were fighting a war and within the country it was also a fight for the liberation of the country. During that time, there was no difference, everyone was a comrade and we did not recognise someone by their tribe or origin to say they come from Bulawayo or Harare. We treated each other equally. The people who went to war and failed to come back; it is a very big issue which needs to be addressed. Those people have to be known; for example last week on Wednesday a certain woman came to me and grieved saying; ‘we were seven in our family and I am the only one left as the other went to war and never came back.’ She was crying kneeling before me. People feel the pain of war veterans who went to war and perished there and never came back. Thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I
also want to add my voice on this Bill being debated. I also heard from our parents who fought in the liberation struggle who were sometimes sidelined because they chose to support the opposition party. My request is that a clause be provided for on that Bill to protect war veterans who should be given respect or honour because they participated in the liberation struggle. It will not be good if that person is refused the honour of being a war veteran or regarded in future as a sell-out simply because they have a different opinion. The Bill should protect the honour of war veterans because they earn the honour for participating in the liberation struggle. They should get the right to voice their view against the Government in case the
Government errs.
If we were to look at what happened in the past, there was a time when war veterans went on to demonstrate at the Minister of
Finance and Economic Development’s office complaining about the allowances they were being given. If war veterans intend to demonstrate against corruption or any ills in this country, they should be given protection by the law instead of them worrying about that honour if they think of joining any political party such as the MDC Alliance.
The other thing is, I would like to support the view that the Bill should have a provision where the Government should keep records. I request that since the Minister is still here, there should be museums all over the country and not only in Harare, where people can learn about the liberation struggle within their localities, in their districts and not only to wait to travel to Harare. This should include Rushinga District where Hon. Nyabani comes from, they should be able to get that information instead of limiting people in the rural areas who have to travel long distances to acquire that knowledge.
Looking at the use of technology these days, information should also be accessed through the use of technology such as the internet.
This should be accessed even by those who might have been born in
Britain. This is my view; may this Bill address such issues Madam Speaker. I thank you.
An Hon. Member having stood up to debate.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you will get your chance at the Committee Stage.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR
VETERANS (HON. MATEMADANDA): Thank you Madam
Speaker. Hon. Members have been speaking in many languages, I will also try to respond in those languages. Firstly, they wanted to know how a war veteran is known or identified - I happen to have a chance to work close to the administration of both ZIPRA and ZANLA. The first thing that happened when someone went to war was the write-up to what was known as three check-ups. I think the comrades in this House know what it means to say three check-ups – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections.] – I have a lot of things that I should respond to and I will not be patient to waste time. The question of whether one is a war veteran or not is an interest of those who did not contribute but are seeking relevance where it is not called for. I think it is a waste of time kuti mwana anogona kumuka pamba oti, ‘Ava havasi baba vangu’, iwe wonetsana nemwana kuti ndiri baba vako chete! So, mawar veterans whether munhu asangana naye anoda kumuti war veteran kana kuti haadi – hazvichinje status.
So, that is a non event and non issue kuti vanhu vanoti zvakati –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
The vetting process Madam Speaker is that war veterans are not vetted in the streets or by just anyone who thinks they want to know. A commission is sworn according to the laws of this land to carryout vetting. Once that is done – it becomes legal but we know people who do not want to be bound by law. I do not think we have to debate that but it is on record that there are some people who think that if any judgment goes against them – they will not accept.
On medals Madam Speaker, the process of giving medals to war veterans has been on since 1980 but unfortunately, it needs people to be identified and certified that they are war veterans, their category and then they are awarded medals but the process is on-going - it is there.
They also spoke about people being said to be war veterans today and when they are out of a certain political party, they are said not to be war veterans. Here we have got to deal with the definition of a war veteran. There is a requirement at law in defining a war veteran. There is a question of consistence and persistence. I am talking about what the law provides, I am not amending a
Constitution here of definition of a war veteran. So the question of consistence and persistence is what deals with the status conferred on a war veteran and this comes from a Constitution that we crafted together as Zimbabweans. It did not come from the Lancaster House Constitution where many people did not participate.
There is also a contribution about …
HON. TSUNGA: On a point of order Madam Speaker!
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Minister.
What is your point of order Hon. Member?
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. It is
just for the Hon. Minister to clarify whether or not there is a distinction between a liberation war hero and war veteran. I think there is some king of confusion here between a war veteran and a liberation war hero in terms of how we define the two – for purposes of burial, you have a hero and for purposes of this Bill, I think we are talking about a veteran of the liberation war or struggle. So, can there be that distinction so that we are clear at the outset. I thank you.
HON. MATEMADANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The
classification of a hero is a process. Every war veteran you see here has a hero status already. So, it is that hero status that demands someone to be consistent and persistent. Well, if there is anyone complaining about the law maybe they can talk to the Leader of the House so that, that section is amended but I just thought that Hon. Members should know that when there are queries about declaration – people will be looking at the question of persistence and consistence.
The question of war veterans who died before being vetted – unfortunately, this can be a bit controversial because it is only the former ZAPU and former ZANU that can vouch for a person who died before Independence - I do not want to be misquoted here. So, I do not know who if not ZAPU or ZANU (PF) can vouch for a liberation war veteran who died before being vetted, kana musina kunzwa mozondibvunza nechiShona ndokuudzai. So, nyaya inoitika
Madam Speaker ndeye kuti …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon.
Minister, please may you use one language so that it is easier for those who are recording.
HON. MATEMADANDA: Thank you but I thought I had
…okay.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. MATEMADANDA: I know the comrade that Hon.
Gabbuza was talking about. I visited him and he does a lot of fishing in the Kamativi Dam. I know him and have visited him.
War veterans on the land issue – that is very true. Most have been removed from farms by people who work in offices and who we perceive do not support the liberation process.
Selective burial on war veterans – that is just a question of information. I come from Gokwe, if I decide to go and be away from other war veterans – they may not know that I am sick. It is good when Hon. Members see that war veterans are sick and they report to the correct structure so that assistance is rendered because without communication surely, there is no way that they can be helped but a law is there to support the burial of veterans of the liberation struggle.
Hon. Gabbuza also spoke about a war veteran who died at Cross Dete. I went there but it was late, it was the same problem on information. There is a question of those who died outside the country – I think that this is up to Hon. Members or maybe the Leader of the House can guide us because I think that during the outreach and the debates that were done – this was not covered. We have been speaking about it it and if it is not late, we can be guided. Mujibha /chimbwido, exdetainee, non- combatant cadre are all war veterans but in different categories. This is why we refer to them all as veterans of the liberation struggle but in four categories. However, it must be very clear that they are all veterans of the liberation struggle.
It is true that what has been said by the Hon. Member that she went to war and got trained as a nurse and contributed. It is unfortunate that people want to understand war veterans or the definition of war veteran in their own liking. For example, if you look at the Ministry of Defence today, you will see that every government department you see has got some mirror in the Ministry of Defence or in the army because when soldiers go to war, they need clothing, food, laundry, et cetera. These special duties are not done by people who are not part of the force. It is unfortunate that people think that when they want to talk about a war veteran, they want to talk about a person they saw in Chendambuya. Also, people that were in the liberation struggle were over 100 000 and I do not know a person with a scientific mind more than a computer who can memorise a face that they saw. This war was fought and won on different fronts. Some war veterans became ambassadors, for example Cde. Kasikayi Patiripakashata, who formed his own party.
He was an ambassador somewhere. A lot of comrades participated in those ways. You cannot say I did not see them. Some people pretend to know a lot of things, “comrade anofanira kuziva assembly point.” Assembly point was the last station to get home, which anyone could have entered “achitobva anywhere.” An assembly point cannot be a defining point for a war veteran.
Finally, many people have spoken about comrades having records. I think they are referring to auto-biography. There is no war veteran without that; we are not inventing a wheel here. From the point a comrade joined the liberation struggle, a history of the liberation started and it is documented – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – “Ndati 3 check ups.” Madam Speaker, there is history of the liberation struggle that belongs to the people of the liberation, which cannot be given to people without anything to do with the liberation. The records that were kept during the time of war may not have interest with people that were opposing the war. I thank you.
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of
order?
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My point
of order is that there are some genuine requests that we put across to the Minister so that those records may be availed for posterity purposes so that future generations may be able to read and know the records of those who participated in the liberation struggle. However, it looks like the Minister is suggesting that it is not important because the children did not participate in the liberation struggle. We are saying those records should be availed for posterity purposes. That is our request. The Minister should stop acting as if this debate is about arguing and pulling in opposite direction. That should be made to refine the history of the liberation struggle in this country so that even someone who comes from outside the country may be able to follow that history. If he thinks it is against those who participated in the liberation struggle, he is mistaken. Thank you.
*HON. MATEMADANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The
Hon. Member has mixed up issues. The issue that I said cannot be brought into this House is the issue of the 3 check ups. I said, the history of the liberation struggle from the day a person joins the liberation struggle is on record. Every commander had the records of the cadres so that if a commander loses a cadre, they were able to report where that cadre came from. The other thing is, not everyone is gifted about writing books on the liberation struggle. Anyone who wants to write on the liberation struggle is welcome, regardless of which political party they belong to. That is exactly the kind of thinking that we want. Some Hon. Members here said some war veterans were not able to go to school because of the war. Everyone who feels like writing the liberation struggle history is welcome and can approach any of the war veterans for information. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI): I move that the
Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: Thursday, 18th June, 2020.
On the Motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI) the House adjourned
at Thirteen Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 9th June, 2020
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
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the
Senate that I have received the Marriages Bill [H. B. 7A, 2019] from the National Assembly.
VIRTUAL MEETING PLATFORM
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senators who take
the floor are advised to join the Zoom Virtual Meeting Platform in order to enable Senators in breakaway rooms to follow proceedings of the
Senate from their tablets.
MOTION
ADOPTION OF THE 2020 EDITION OF THE STANDING ORDERS
OF THE SENATE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam President. I would like to move the motion that:
WHEREAS section 139 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment (No. 20) Act provides that the proceedings of the Senate and the National Assembly are regulated by rules known as Standing Orders, which are made by the Houses individually or jointly, on the recommendation of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.
NOW, THEREFORE, in terms of the Constitution, this House resolves that the 2020 Edition of the Standing Orders of the Senate be adopted.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. We want
to thank the Minister for bringing that motion but the amendment to the Standing Rules that was submitted is difficult. It will affect the Senate and this place will become more like a prison because freedom of Members of Parliament is grossly curtailed.
There are clauses in terms of the amendments that prohibit Members from expressing their feelings when the President is coming to this building. If we remember the past few years, the President used to come to this House and people used to sing just to show their emotions. It does not mean that by singing it is lack of respect - it does not mean that at all. Singing is a form of speech and it sends a message to the leadership and that is why you find whether even when workers are demonstrating, you tend to wonder that they are engaged in demonstrations or not and you ask yourself whether they are serious. Some will be dancing and playing drums but they will be communicating a message to the owners or the heads of the company. I do not think that will be different when the President comes here.
So, people will be expressing their feelings through singing and as long as they do not use vulgar words and derogatory terms, singing is good for the soul and it expresses one’s emotions. Mostly, when people have finished demonstrating, they come together and unit ensues. If the laws are stringent, people become more like prisoners in their own home. That amendment that restricts the Members from expressing themselves shows that dictatorship is not right. We want to move from there to practices whereby as the Head of State you should not be disappointed by what your juniors are saying. There is need for tolerance as the Head of State to hear why they are doing that and why they are saying that.
So I realise the amendments are very rigid especially considering that it is 40 years after the liberation struggle. We should have some democracy. We expected such kind of amendments soon after independence because the war veterans were angry but now with the time that has elapsed we expect better democracy. We do not want our country to be taken as a rogue State by those who want to intervene. Let us shame those external forces who see us a rogue State but show that we can tolerate each other’s differences.
We have survived all these years without such rigid laws. The President used to come and Hon Members on either side would sing and we enjoyed that. Now, we are going to walk into this august House and everyone will be quiet. People will not be able to express their emotions. The amendments that are there were put without considering the people. Suppose leadership changes, those on my left are in power; I am sure the other side will not appreciate that because you will also want to express yourself for the leader who will have been chosen by the people as you want to express your feelings.
My request is that for the development of this nation, let us come up with laws that give us some freedom. I am sure that you are aware of the fact that our country is under the spotlight for human rights violations. Human rights violations have caused our nation to be isolated and to have targeted sanctions. I think we need to work collectively and assist each other on how we can improve our standing in terms of international or global wealth. We need to engage in business freely with other countries. We cannot say that as Zimbabweans we are daft to the extent that we are failing to address such challenges. Collectively, we can get an answer to our challenges.
What we are doing in here is contributing to the economic challenges. If we look at what is happening, the prices are skyrocketing and the exchange rate has gone up. We do not know where we are going but I think Zimbabweans are intelligent enough. We can sit down and talk about how we can improve our state. The amendments on the Standing Rules and Orders are not right. We are people who can govern each other. Like here in the Senate, I do not think I have ever witnessed a day whereby Madam President was in tears presiding over this House. She has managed to control us. Even when we got angry, she used to control us before the rules were changed. So they are not necessary in this Senate. I can see that there are elderly women here. We do not have children in this House. We do not want such rigid laws in this House because it restricts our freedom.
If you look at our ages and you see us singing, ask yourself why we are singing. Allow us to sing because there is a reason. The amendments that were made are not for us as a Senate. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. J. HUNGWE: Thank you Madam President. I would like to say a few words pertaining to what Senator Komichi said. I would like to speak in my mother tongue, that singing by its nature differs. Singing and despising someone is different. What we do not want here is singing because you despise someone. At times you say that you are being restricted here and you are given a lot of warnings but you continue behaving in the same manner and those in power will end up flexing their muscles to demonstrate that they are on top of the situation.
Hon Sen. Komichi, we must not hide these things from each other. I am your uncle and I was expecting that as the new Chairman of MDC, you demonstrate that you have embraced change but you remain in the same old ways. We do not expect you to teach us democracy. You are not respecting and honouring us but you are despising us. You need to raise points which resonate with the people. Hon. Komichi you are still lost; you are also a Member of these committees which come up with Standing Orders and Rules. We are not part of such committees and we do not know much about these issues but when we see that your behaviour, for example singing to denigrate a leader, then you will be given strong laws to restrict you so that you understand that not everyone likes such errant behaviour.
I would like to say that we do not have to despise each other when the President enters the august House, we need to observe and respect his presence. When other Hon. Senators stand to honour His Excellency the President, and you remain seated - it means that you despise his office. This type of behaviour is not condoned by our Government.
Yes, Madam President, we need to agree that in every entity there are leaders, so do not expect to just take over and lead everywhere alluding to democracy. Hon. Komichi, you said that human rights take precedence but I want you to take note that when we went to war this was a human rights issue. We left our homes and some of us were arrested and detained in prisons unlike some young men here like Hon.
Perence Shiri. We were suffering in prison, our rights were being violated, and some even died. This led to many young people leaving the country so that they could wage the liberation struggle. This was done because we wanted to repossess our land which was taken by imperialists, yet you talk about human rights- [HON. SENATORS.:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senator Hungwe,
may you address the Chair?
HON. SEN. J. HUNGWE: Indeed Madam President, God is not happy when we talk about such things. The Greeks were asked whether they understood what they were talking about - these were real democrats. They failed to understand what they were talking about. People were told by God that I gave you this land so when the land is taken away from you, you need to repossess it; you need to fight for your land. This chapter of the Bible tells us that the issues of land did not start with us but it originated even during Bible times.
When the children of Israel lost the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of the Lord was taken away by enemies just like we lost our land to enemies. God then decided to send David who was given the task of finding out what the people were complaining about. We are told that when David arrived, he discovered that most of the people were going through difficult times, some were thin and some were suffering and He asked why it was like that. The people responded and said “Lord, how can you ask such a question, are you not aware that the Ark of the Covenant has been taken away, we have just become mere people without anything”. David said, “tomorrow I would like to see 30 000 soldiers” and the people did what they were told. He commanded them to go and repossess the Ark of the Lord.
Just like in our case, we had to go and repossess our land which had been taken away from us, we did not just concentrate on human rights and democracy. Suppose you had your child taken away from you, would you just concentrate on raising human rights issues and democracy instead of fighting to get your child back? So, I am saying that let us not just apply these issues where they do not fit. The democracy issue does not arise here but the issue is that you need to observe and respect the laws which brought you to this august House, whether the National Assembly or the Senate.
You might be a chairman but you cannot be a chairman in every entity, different Government arms have leaders. When we come to this august House we need to observe and respect these leaders because they have the responsibility of executing their duties with fortitude. So, let us do our duty and allow them to do theirs without overlapping into their responsibilities.
I am saying to Hon. Sen. Komichi, let us allow them to discharge their duties until such a time you are also given that responsibility. In the meantime you need to adhere to the law. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. I want to
add my voice in this august House. I would like to thank the Minister for bringing these amendments to this House. I think these amendments were long overdue because people have been misbehaving for quite a long time and there was nothing to do as the Standing Rules and Orders were not there to prohibit people from doing whatever they want.
We agree 100% that there should be freedom and democracy. Democracy does not mean to say that we should do everything that we want to do in this august House. We ought to behave like adults, we must not be seen operating like children. I think we have got our parties whereby we can go and sing and dance the way we like. Here we need guided democracy where we have got limits to not just democracy of doing whatever you feel like. When you feel like mocking the President, you do so, when one feels like singing they just do so and some when they feel like insulting they just do so. We are Senators and we should behave. Madam President, if we have a House which does not have laws and we say that that is democracy, we have not started because we should have laws that guide us in whatever we do. The laws that we have should be respected. We must not be out of hand thinking that democracy means to say that you can behave the way you like, not recognising the laws of the country and the laws of this Parliament.
With these few words, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President. I
would like to add my voice to the debate by thanking the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. I would like to say that I
support the amendments. As Hon. Members of this august House, it is true that we need Standing Orders which guide us. This is not unique to us but it is universal to all parliaments the world over. At one point, I went to Ivory Coast and discovered that Members of Parliament have a dress code which guides them. This is unique to Ivory Coast. I appreciated that because being in Parliament as an elected Hon. Member, we sometimes go to outreach programmes as Committees. The public sometimes express concern saying that Members of Parliament are not discharging their duties properly.
At times they complain that why do parliamentarians insult each other instead of dealing with issues. They expect us to represent them in a dignified manner because they have observed that we do not exhibit dignity. I believe this will change because we have Standing Orders and
Rules. The world over, in different countries the Head of State addresses
Parliament and every Parliament has a Head of State. When the Head of State enters the august House, Hon. Members rise. They stand to honour the President. We want democracy and this is what sent us to go and wage a war of liberation. We need to observe our laws.
We have noted that in other countries when people commit crimes for example, someone was shot in a different country – this was not condemned but when it is about human rights, people just point at
Zimbabwe. Why was the action of shooting that man not condemned? We thank you Hon. Minister for the amendments that you made. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. S. O. HUNGWE: Thank you Madam President. I
stand up to add my voice by appreciating the amendments that were brought to the House by the Hon. Minister because as Hon. Members, we want to demonstrate that we were trusted by the electorate by voting for us. I would like to support the previous speaker who just sat down.
At times you hear people saying that when you go to Parliament, why is it that you change your behaviour you end up behaving like children. At times when the Head of State comes into the House, some insult him, some do not stand up and some leave the House prematurely.
I would like to say thank you very much Hon. Minister for the amendments. We are going to support the amendments because today we have a leader. In future, your child might be the next leader. So we want to show that this august House is for people who were voted for, dignified and who do not just despise and critise others.
On human rights issues – Zimbabwe is a country which acknowledges that there are people. I would like to emphasise that there is a man who was killed by being strangled and he expressed what he was feeling when he was being strangled but no one raised a point talking about his human rights. So, we are saying that this House must be guided by Standing Orders and Rules and they are long overdue.
Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Madam President for
affording me this opportunity to debate on this issue. I would like to remind each other that when approaching such Bills, we need to appreciate the Hon. Minister. He did not just amend but he first observed what was obtaining in this House. We know that in different homes, we have a father and a mother who looks at how business is conducted in the House. The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs was in both Houses observing that Standing Orders and Rules are being adhered to.
I would like to go back a little bit when the Rhodesia Front was here. We fought against the Rhodesia Front for us to attain independence in 1980. The current position is that we have been observing and if you remember very well, I normally say that when we discuss issues in our House, we need to respect each other as adults. At the National
Assembly, it is different. Our children behave differently. However, the President of the Senate does not have a problem with us because we correct each other as adults.
So, our human rights and such issues are addressed, we talk and correct each other and we have discovered that when you leave this
House and when you join together with Members of the National
Assembly, there are forms of behaviour which are not understandable. At times we say that we have been with these Hon. Members; how come they are behaving like this. So, we need to talk about adhering to Standing Orders and Rules. We did not just come here to sit on these benches but we were elected, we came from somewhere. We pledged that we are a going to adhere to rules and regulations. Madam President even under the leadership of President Mnangagwa, you discover that there are some people who also want to lead, they end up embarrassing themselves. The amendments which were brought to the House will go to the Executive and will pass.
Madam President, we need to understand that we were sent by the people to represent them here. We were voted by the electorate. So, we need to talk to each other and agree on what to do. Hon. Minister, I would repeat that every nation has its one laws. Every Parliament must be guided by laws. These are good words, we thank you and we appreciate your efforts Hon. Minister.
Madam President, we are going to support the amendments that were made to the Standing Orders so that the National Assembly and the Senate are guided by these rules. Thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you President of the Senate for
giving me this platform to air out my views on this issue. I also want to thank the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for bringing up this motion which is indicating how we are supposed to behave in this House. I have a feeling that this has been overdue. However, I am grateful for the amendments. In churches, there are rules that govern the way people are supposed to operate. In this august House, we were chosen by the people to come and represent them; we should continue to behave properly. People are supposed to behave well because people who elected us to this House no longer trust us because they always see us fighting, especially whenever there is television coverage and people end up disrespecting us.
Madam President, each time we get to our rural areas, we always want to be respected but the way we behave does not give us that respect from the people we represent. We support this motion because as Senators, we are respectable people, therefore we should show this in the august House.
Madam President, in America there was a black person who was killed recently but nothing is being said about that. So, this issue of brining up amendments to the Standing Orders is welcome. Coming here to dance is something that is not acceptable. We should come here to debate positive issues, respecting each other and not insulting each other like what we continue to see happening. We should represent people that have voted us to this House. With these few words, thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. GUMPO: Thank you Madam President. There is a section where it stipulates that on our current Order Paper, an item remains for 20 days and it elapses but if we look on our questions….
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Senator.
We are debating on the first Order that has been introduced by the Minister. I think you are a bit out of order.
HON. SEN. GUMPO: Madam President, I thought we are debating the Standing Rules and Orders.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Okay, but we are
debating whether we can adopt everything or we can adjust somehow.
HON. SEN. GUMPO: We have just discovered some differences on the procedures. Take for example on Questions With Notice presented on the 28th of February, 2020, the questions have not been responded to by any Minister and it is now about four months. The Orders of the day stipulates that if it does remain there for 20 days, it elapses. How long will my question remain on the Order Paper?
HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: This is why I have said you
are a bit out of order. If you wanted to contribute on the adjustments of the standing orders, you should have contributed before not to start to bring the issue today.
HON. SEN. GUMPO: Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. MBOHWA: Thank you Madam President for giving
me the opportunity to debate on this issue. I want to thank the Hon.
Minister for the aamendments brought here, these were long overdue. Madam President, we always say that we are Christians, which means all that we do, we follow the Creator. We always look upon him after seeing that out country is in a bad shape. After creating the universe and seeing that his children can misbehave, he came up with Ten
Commandments which means they were going to guide the country to be in order. I am requesting that when we are looking at these adjustments let them not be partisan because they will be good for someone who will lead tomorrow and good for the one leading now. The adjustment will not be removed because leadership has changed. It must be good for everyone.
As ZANU PF, sometimes we even shout here. It is good that even ZANU PF members are controlled by this law. This is a very good law which is good for all political parties. Madam President, if a house does not have rules ceases to function well. Even a whatsapp group needs rules just as in our homes. If they say you have arrived at Mrs.
Mbohwa’s home, it is because of the rules and laws which are being followed at that home. If we get to a chief’s home and there are no rules, the dignity of the chief would be eroded.
These amendments are good; you did a very good job Minister. You have done it for all political parties. From today onwards, we are going to see if we will succeed because people will see us from outside. They will see that we have a good Parliament through what we will be saying and through our behaviour in this House. That is democracy. Democracy does not encourage insults but allows me to stand up and explain myself. If I am opposing the SONA, I just debate highlighting issues which I disagree with.
I support these amendments and I support the Minister. You have made this House to be honourable because we were always shouting. This august House was the most disorganised. I want to thank you. I cannot applaud by hand clapping but I want to thank you for these amendments. They are good for this House and for the whole country. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MAKONE: Thank you Madam President for giving
me this opportunity to contribute to this debate. I also want to thank the
Minister for the Bill before us. I just wanted to point out Madam President, that this Parliament has been there for as long as I can remember. We have had rules from the SROC for the last 40 years. Are we saying that this Parliament has been running without rules? The rules have been there and I dare say they are not too different from any rules that would run in Parliaments that are associated with the
Commonwealth because we used to be a member of the Commonwealth.
Our rules were not any laxer than any of those rules.
Indeed, Members of Parliament are being called to appear before a Committee that is investigating what happened in February, which means that there are rules. When those rules are broken and you are found guilty, there are steps that are taken in line with what you would have done.
I remember that some years ago right at the beginning of independence, there was fighting here in Parliament and a Member of the House was arrested and he spent more than six months in a prison somewhere in Bindura. So the rules are there. All we have to do is to enforce the rules. When you start tightening rules then you are actually attracting the attention of people as to the kind of person that you are. You are actually telling people that; I am a dictator and I do not want my people to enjoy any rules and any laws which are better than any other? You can actually do whatever you want with the rules that are there. If a person was able to go to jail, unless you are telling me that this time you are actually going to kill people and start hanging people, if we are not going to be hung and we are still going to go to jail, I dare say those rules were quite adequate.
If you are the father of a homestead, you do not need to remind your children every day that you are the father. They know it and if they misbehave they know the consequences too of that misbehaviour. You do not need to fetch any more new rules. The rules are there and they
are adequate and as far as we are concerned on this side of the House, any more additions are things that should be done by dictatorship.
Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. FEMAI: Thank you Madam President. I would like to add a few words before the law is passed. The world- over, there are laws but I have a few requests. I want to start by giving an example of the Creator who is high above – God. He created fire that burns but soon maybe after creating that fire and a few people were burnt, he created water that can douse that fire. This fire that you have started, if you could give us water to douse it so that you tell us - if you do not want to stand up, do this and that so that we add it to the Standing Rules and Orders instead of just creating rules that have no remedy. If we are told to remain seated and not stand up and you are told to keep quiet that does not mean anything to us. Give us the water that douses the flames.
I would like to give an example of what happened in 1959. I was doing Sub A. What I realised whilst I was in that grade is, all the children would just stand up and go to the toilet, even those who wanted to go and gossip would just stand up and go. When the headmaster realised what was happening, he called all the students to a workshop and taught them to excuse themselves and ask for permission if they wanted to leave the classroom. Everyone did that and there was peace. No one would just leave willy-nilly because the headmaster had taught people how to behave if they wanted to go outside. So I am hereby asking whether we are supposed to ask for permission to leave this room? We need to know so that we include that in the Standing Rules and Orders because rules need to be known by everyone.
If we were to compare with God, the Ten Commandments were not just given without some remedies. I can give you an example of committing adultery. It says do not commit adultery and the remedy is marry. Instead of committing adultery, marry. You have put these laws. This law Madam President has come and we cannot refuse it but what is the remedy?
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Let us debate here as
Hon. Members who read the Standing Rules and Orders. I have realised that this debate is about responding to each other, yet the person you are talking about is not aware of which Standing Order you are debating on. The people who are listening want to understand. If you say you are supposed to keep quiet, which Standing Order is that. Be clear when you are referring to Standing Orders. Refer to them so that we are all on the same page and we understand which Standing Rules and Orders you
are referring to.
*HON. SEN. FEMAI: Thank you Madam President, I was about
to finish. I would like to finish by saying, as I am here I just received a letter. I hope that law is not about the new rules that are in there because I have just received a letter. I do not know whether my judgement will be based on the new rules that have been set.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity to just add a few points on what my fellow Hon. Senators have contributed to these Standing Orders. Madam President, I want to start by thanking the Hon. Minister for bringing in these amendments and additions to our Standing Orders. I think it is important. I have sat down here and listened to the contributions from my fellow members and it was like you rightly put it Madam President but there was no clarity on what had been wrong. I think what the Hon. Minister has done is to try and ensure that our Standing Orders are still a living document in our era. Senator Makone said these rules have been there for 40 years or so but I think we were not amending them and they were getting to be obsolete because culture changes. What was normal 40 years ago might not be normal today but I must thank the Minister because I think it is actually dereliction of duty for us. We should have amended these long before.
Madam President, if the question of legality says a person should not be charged for a crime which was not a law at the time the crime was committed, I think this is actually what has brought this. I understand there are certain Members here who have already been castigated for behaving in a manner which probably was not agreeable to certain sections but it was not a crime according to the laws which were obtaining at that time. So I think from now onwards, these amendments will bring in order because they say everyone should have fair warning as to what constitutes a crime and what does not constitute a crime, rather than to be told of a crime when you were not given fair warning. I think this is a good step in the positive direction.
Madam President, I would also want to draw the attention of the Hon. Minister to Clause 11 (2) where it relates to behaviour or conduct of Hon. Members during important occasions like address by foreign dignitaries or the Head of State. What I would probably want to highlight on that one, I think laws should be clear and not vague and live to whoever is going to interpret or enforce to decide what they mean.
When they say ‘attempts to or causes disorder of whatever nature’, I think that expression is very broad and is subject to abuse. We need to be given fair warning. Who is going to decide that? If there was a vacuum or mischief which we needed to cure by these additions, it should be clear. So I submit Madam President, that this clause is not a very good clause and has got potential of abuse. We cannot leave or give discretionary powers to people to decide on the fate of people, some of the decisions which may have far reaching consequences or even end up infringing the basic fundamental rights of individuals. I hope the Minister will draw attention to that and clarify it. Try to make it clearer rather than to leave it as vague as it is from my point of view where it will be a subject for and as such, it is the duty for us to protect our State. Yes, today there maybe someone who is rational but tomorrow there may be someone who is in charge who is irrational and then use discretionary powers which may attract unnecessary attention to our country.
Madam President with those few words let me end again by thanking the Minister for bringing in those amendments. I do not see anything which is very peculiar or which is very unusual or out of order with those amendments, suffice to say that they need to be clear. I think from now onwards, people would say we have been given fair warning, unlike what is happening at the moment where people are asked or may be brought to answer charges which were not even defined as offences.
I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. M. R. DUBE: Thank you Madam President and I
am very grateful for the opportunity to also add on to what my colleagues just said. This is an honourable House and if there is something that needs to be rectified, it should be done outside – be it in our political parties and when we come here, let us deal with national issues. The dancing and all that noise does not rectify anything because whatever we dance to here does not change and those things will remain like that. We failed to go to committee meetings because some decided to dance and disturb such meetings. Such things must never happen in such an Hon. House.
If there is a law that says people should stand up when the Head of State enters this House, do so. If there is something that needs to be rectified, do it on another day. There are a lot of things that are not progressing in this Parliament because of dancing and demonstrating. Imagine if you were to continue doing that in three weeks, what will you do as Parliament – nothing will progress. I would like to bring to your attention the issue of elections that we stick to in our minds, it is the problem. My party lost during elections and if your party loses during elections, forget about it and support the winner.
I once left this country and went to another country – we are not going anywhere. Someone asked me out there whether I am from Zimbabwe and I was asked why we make so much noise in Parliament and why we behave like that if you are paid by Government and not NGOs. If we have differences in our parties, let us tell our Presidents and discuss over those things outside but if we come here, let us discuss issues as Zimbabweans. Zimbabweans are suffering and they need our help. Where ever you go, Zimbabweans need our House. People out there need our help and this House should be honourable, let us respect it. Thank you Madam President. I wish we should leave that mentality of partisanship. Let us leave our parties outside that door and once we come into this House, let us remember that this is a national House and forget about partisan interests. If you go outside and start dancing, that does not help. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam President Ma’am. I want to thank all the Hon. Senators for a robust debate on our Standing Rules and Orders. I think this is very important and shows that Senators are concerned about what happens in the House and I think that it is well received and appreciated.
As a way of background Madam President, the reason why rules are put is to ensure that as much as possible within the confines of the freedoms that are allowed for Hon. Members within the House, debate must take place in an environment of respect where there is decorum and where it shows that it is an august House composed of Hon. Members. As such, every time we have to look at our rules to ensure that they speak to what we are supposed to do. In that regard, the Legal
Committee of the Standing Rules and Orders looked at our Standing Rules and came up with some of the amendments that we are proposing so that we adopt our Standing Rules.
We have known that once an election has been done, the President is supposed to deliver his speech as defined in the Constitution, there is a certain decorum that is required from both Hon. Members when a
President enters the Chamber or a visiting Head of State enters the Chamber. As such, we notice that certain Members were now not recognising that the moment he enters this august House, he is the Head of State and not head of a political party. As such, he should be given that respect as the Head of State when he is in this august House addressing the nation. That is why there was a proposal and recommendation that we should afford the necessary respect when the President walks in, we must all rise. It is a sign of respect and I do not see why people would then argue that it is a fundamental human right not to respect a sitting President and I think that it is an abuse.
In our Shona culture, when adults arrive, the children would leave the adults alone to do whatever they want to do. I do not think that we should move away from our culture and say it is taking away their human rights. I believe that this Clause that says that we should afford our President and visiting dignitaries by showing respect by rising is a very progressive order in our Standing Rules. As such, I appeal to both sides that we accept it as it is, which is the amended Order No. 87. Madam President, I want to refer Members to Order No. 111 which was discussed at length by others in terms of disorderly conduct to say that it does not define what it means. With due respect, I think it is very broad to give the President of Senate the chance to control the House. You do not want the person of the Chair to be too restricted in deliberating or conducting the business of the House. As such, it has been put in a definition of disorderly conduct that allows the President of Senate of have powers to control the House. If you read it, it is very clear and liberal in that it gives the Senate President powers to control. If you go beyond what the Senate President can take, then we invoke this Standing Rule. It is very progressive. It allows for the freedoms that you want to be exhibited - but to a certain level, whereby you have to show decorum and respect for others and as such I think it is a progressive order. I want to concede that if you look at this Clause 111 and the one that was complained about in terms of singing. I do not have any problem in removing it but leaving Order No. 111 as it is because Order No. 111 if you are singing in an disorderly manner, the Senate President must be able to reign you in. The reason why I am saying so is that pachivanhu chedu kana tikange tafara tinoimba but if we sing for example, when the President has given his speech – when he finishes we sing in appreciation. That should be allowed and as such I think Order 111 on disorderly conduct will capture the mischief that we want to deal with in saying that we should not sing because some of the singing was disorderly. That is the mischief that we want to deal with.
I move that we delete this Clause 79 (d) that prohibits singing and allow Clause 111 that gives the President powers to control, that outlaws disorderly conduct, including singing disorderly because in our culture when we are happy we clap hands. In our culture when we are happy we sing and we cannot then take away all of that when we are in this august House. This is the House where freedoms are exhibited more than any other place and as such I can concede and with your indulgence expunge that Order No. 79 (d) and allow the one on disorderly conduct to stay as it is because Order No. 111 it also has sanction. I heard those that were saying if you bring in fire you must bring in water. The water is there. You can actually be suspended for a certain number of sittings if you behave in a manner that is not befitting. Both the fire and water are there. Do not worry about the water, it is already provided for. With that amendment I move that we adopt the Standing Rules and Orders. I thank you.
Motion with leave adopted.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the Senate
adjourned at Five Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 4th June, 2020.
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: Order Hon. Members, I am
reminding you to maintain the 1 metre social distance from each other.
*HON. SEWERA: On a point of privilege Madam Speaker. We have noted that many Hon. Members are not feeling well and some of them are not even coming to work because their medical aid is no longer functional. Is it not possible to work out something so that they can go outside the country to get treated as Hon. Members? I thank you Madam Speaker.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Sewera. If
you are saying the medical aid is disfunctional here, can it then be functional outside the country? Nevertheless, all borders are closed so where is it that you want to go for treatment?
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I stand here representing Kambuzuma Constituency. It has been almost a month since GMB last milled roller meal which has a subsidised price. They say it is because they are waiting for a price increase but it has now been a month and people who are suffering especially in the rural areas are too many. They are not getting anything in terms of money to enable them to purchase the expensive mealie-mea going for $200 and $300. I am requesting the Minister of Industry and Commerce who is responsible for the supply of goods in the country to come and give us a ministerial statement on why we are not getting the subsidised mealiemea and when we should anticipate getting that mealie-mea. People are not even getting the money that Government promised to give to the vulnerable in this COVID-19 era.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon.
Madzimure. We will ask the Government Chief Whip to relay the message to the Minister of Industry and Commerce to come and give us a ministerial statement on the availability of roller meal as you have requested.
*HON. KASHAMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My point of privilege is to do with the unequal treatment of Members of Parliament when they want to debate especially from that Chair. We have a Member of Parliament such as Hon. Temba Mliswa who is allowed to say whatever he wants, when he wants to speak and at whatever time. He even goes as far as criticising our Ministers or Leader of the House without being recognised. He even accused the Speaker of being corrupt but nothing was done.
Hon. T. Mliswa remained standing waiting to be recognised for a point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, please take
your seat.
HON. KASHAMBE: Exactly what I am talking about. That is what I am talking about. Some of us are now not sure when to stand up or not, when to speak and not to speak. Even some of our ministers – I am not surprised if some are even scared to come to Parliament because there is no reprimand even if he does not speak accordingly.
Hon. T. Mliswa having stood up.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mliswa, take
your seat.
HON. KASHAMBE: You can see what I am talking about. Even if we take the Hansard, it will show what I am talking about.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Kashambe, please may you come forward. May you come forward Hon. Kashambe.
Hon. Mliswa, please take your seat. Hon Mliswa, you know the procedure.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections] –
Commotion in the House with Hon. Mliswa accusing an Hon. Member of having insulted. In response, Hon. Mliswa attacked the said
Member using some unparliamentary words.
TH HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER asked the Sergeant-at-Arms to
escort Hon. Mliswa out of the House.
Hon. Mliswa was duly escorted out of the House ‘I cannot be insulted and not be protected by the Chair’ and re-entered using the
other door.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, leave this
House! – [HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, you have killed this
Parliament. You did not protect me at all. You are being partisan in this Parliament. I was being insulted, you never even protected me. You did not protect me. Okay, you are here to protect. I am going out but I must tell you the bottom truth. You are certainly destroying this institution.
We come here to be respected, not for me to be insulted...]-
Hon. Mliswa was again duly escorted out of the Chamber by the
Serjeant-at-Arms.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members!
Hon. Members, I think it is important that if we are chosen by people we should show a mature behaviour and that we are heads of families in our homes. We should not behave like street kids, it is not good.
*HON. KASHAMBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My point of
privilege pertains to what has just transpired and it is exactly what I was trying to say. Here in Parliament, we have Members of Parliament like
Hon. Temba Mliswa who do not respect our Standing Orders rule book.
He stands up on any occasion and says whatever he wants, even to the
Vice President, other Members of Parliament and the Leader of the House. This is affecting other members such that they no longer have confidence to stand up and debate because your Chair cannot discipline or bring him to order. Also, other Ministers are failing to come to
Parliament which is hampering the business of this House to go ahead – [MDC HON. MEMBERS: Aah!] – because there is no one who reprimands him. If we look into our Hansard, the other time he said you were corrupt and nothing happened to him. So, as parliamentarians we see that you are not treating us equally. That is my point of privilege. *THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Kashambe.
I have heard your complaint. I think we will sit down as Presiding Officers and the administration of Parliament. We will tackle the issue, investigate and come out with a position. Thank you.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Kwaramba, since
yesterday, the Speaker said that we will only have three points of privileges.
*HON. KWARAMBA: It is a point of order Hon. Speaker. As women Hon. Members Madam Speaker, we are not happy with what we have observed in Parliament. The way he insulted really touched us as women and we are not happy. So I am pleading with you to do something about the behaviour that we have witnessed here in Parliament. Thank you.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have heard you, thank you.
As I said when Hon. Kashambe stood up concerning these issues, we
will sit down as Presiding officers and come up with a position after having deliberated on the issue. Thank you.
Hon. Members having been seated close to each other.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, please may
we observe social distancing, one metre apart from each other. We must lead by example, one metre apart from each other. Hon. Members from my left side, let us observe one metre apart from each other.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7A, 2019]
First Order read: Consideration Stage: Marriages Bill [H. B. 7A, 2019].
Amendments to Clauses 9, 10, 11 and 40 put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7A, 2019]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I move that the Bill be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
SECOND READING
ZIMBABWE MEDIA COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 8, 2019]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Reading of the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill [H. B. 8, 2019].
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I move that the
debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 9th June, 2020.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam Speaker
Ma’am, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 3 to 10 be stood over
until Order of the Day, Number 11 has been disposed of. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PRIMARY AND
SECONDARY EDUCATION ON SCHOOLS OPENING IN LIGHT
OF COVID 19 PANDEMIC
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you very much
Madam Speaker. Let me thank the Leader of the House for giving me an opportunity to present my report on behalf of the Committee and to take over Government business. Madam Speaker, as I make this presentation, let me just start by expressing my disappointment on behalf of my Committee. The presentation we are going to make today was meant to deal with the crisis that we do have in this country which is the crisis around COVID 19 and in particular in the way it relates to the opening up of schools.
We have been doing a lot of work in trying to bring consensus to stakeholders and I think we were doing fairly well until two days ago when we heard an announcement from ZIMSEC that they were going to reopen schools for purposes of examinations. I believe that if we are going to have the Executive wanting us to move forward, we should always facilitate consensus building so that we do not have circumstances where stakeholders are speaking across each other like what we now have in this instance.
Let me present the second report of the Portfolio Committee and in this report we are specifically focusing on the schools opening in light of the COVID 19 disease. I want to tell Hon. Members that the first slide that will be put up is a slide of our young people because we believe that most of the time we do speak on their behalf and we do not hear their voices. We did get audio because they could not come.
Audio having failed to play.
I do not know what happened with I.T. The children could not come to our Committee given the problems that are associated with travelling. We tried to do virtual communication. In short we basically tried to find out from our people how they felt about the opening up of schools. I think we sit here and we say it is best for them, we do not know what it means psychologically for them. We do not know whether they are ready because it is another thing to take them to school but if they are not ready to be back at school because of this disease, then we have not done much.
Those are just pictures to show you the little people that we are talking about. Next slide and can I have the audios.
Audio having failed to play.
It is a pity. Anyway, we had audios of them speaking and it would have been very nice for you to hear because we got them right from ECD to A level. Generally, the message was the same. The message was we have not done enough to be able to settle their fears. Many of them were just scared, ‘kune corona’, so they were speaking in their own mother language so it would have been nice if you heard it in Shona, Ndebele and I hope we were going to get some of the Tonga ones but unfortunately we did not get those in time for us to be able to put them here. As you can see, technology has failed us.
The long and short of it is our kids are not ready, not ready not because of the physical but not ready because of the messages and just the fear that is around corona. I think we have underestimated the psychological effect that the COVID 19 has had on our little people.
You will find that it is ‘nothing for us without us’. I think what we have seen in all these consultations is no one has bothered to at least have a conversation with our little people and hear what they have in their minds.
Having said that, let me just explain to you what we were doing in terms of trying to do this enquiry. First we wanted to find out whether indeed Government was ready because we were coming from the point in which His Excellency, the President had made the announcement that they will be an opening of schools particularly in a phased manner where we were going to start with examination classes then move to other classes that are not necessarily examination classes.
We decided as a Committee that we needed to call the various stakeholders and have this conversation with them. The first stakeholder that we had a conversation with was ZIMSEC. We were supposed to start with the Ministry but they were busy so we brought in ZIMSEC. Basically, the long and short of it is that ZIMSEC said we are ready and we have examination papers, we are ready to go. We are waiting in this instance to get the go ahead from the Ministry of Education; which is why at the beginning I said we were very disappointed because on oath, they actually refused to give us the dates and said they believe that it is the prerogative of the Ministry to be able to issue the statement and to be able to give them an instruction on when it was ready. We were actually shocked when they were on television making the announcement. ZIMSEC said they were ready in terms of the paper work and the preparation but they also indicated to us that one of the problems that they were facing was that because of COVID 19, a lot of parents had not been to work kukiya kiya and therefore could not even pay for the school fees. So, a number of kids had not been able to pay for the examination fees, in particular, the examination fees for November.
We put that to them that we probably needed to think around like we did with rentals, to think around coming up with a Statutory
Instrument perhaps to ensure that we cover those parents that are not in a position to be able to pay for school fees. Then we had conversations with the Ministry. The Ministry indicated to us that they wanted the schools to open but they were also very clear to us that there are budgetary implications around the opening of schools. When we asked them to give us a figure of what this meant; the figure that they gave us for them to be able to do from phase 1 to phase 4, they would need 21 billion. You know Madam Speaker that this is something we cannot even begin to think about because it cannot be found. So in conversations with them, we then said let us think outside the box. What is it that you think we can do right now. They again, like ZIMSEC, said we need to move first with the examination classes, which is exactly what His Excellency, the President had also said. Even in that conversation, we were not sure how far they had gone other than seeing what the needs around it are. They were very clear about what the needs were that there were issues around water, sanitation, the PPEs for both teachers and for the school children.
You will find that in the report that we have put in our pigeon holes - we do not put reports anymore in pigeon holes, I hope it has been send to you digitally, I pray. We have tried to attach the budget that was given to us and the requirements that they indicated they needed.
However, they were still convinced that given about 3 to 4 weeks at the time that we met them which is about two weeks ago, they would have been prepared enough to move for the opening of the schools and that also included them training the teachers around how they will be managing the kids. As you know, COVID has brought us into the sphere where we not only teach but we also need to be kind of health workers to some extent. We had that long discussion with them, so to a large extend, they wanted to open, and they thought it was possible but they insisted that without extra money and they indicated that they needed about 3 billion at least for just the opening of the phase 1 of schools.
We called in the Teachers’ Union and in this instance let me say this again, this is why I am saying I am a bit disappointed by ZIMSEC. Usually our unions come to us complaining about their own issues, salaries; yet they did not raise those issues but we saw unions very united in this instance. They were very clear that they wanted the schools to open but very clear that they did not want those schools to open if it was going to put themselves and the children at risk.
One of the things that they said is that they actually have the numbers. They did not give us the numbers although later on they indicated that most of their teachers have co-morbidity issues and that putting them out there would actually be putting them at risk. So generally they were like, “we are very happy to do this but we have issues around our health”. In fact what you find me putting on right now is what they asked of us to say; ‘For us it is not just the masks, it is something that will allow for a child –when they are looking at me, to look at my facial expressions because some of our children have disabilities and can only understand us by looking at the facial expressions.’ So something like this shield would be the best for teachers but clearly that also had budgetary implications.
So for them, they were like saying, “we cannot proceed until we know that there are minimum standards that have been met’. By minimum standards, they were not asking for things that are outside this world – basic things. Let us make sure that there is running water, PPEs and thermometers for screening. In fact, they did not even raise issues of testing, they were raising issues that are at a very basic level for screening. When we looked at it, those things were not there and clearly we were not ready to proceed with that issue.
We raised with them though, that there are different categories of these schools. There are your private schools which are your more affluent schools; there are your Trust schools which are your boarding schools; there are your P1s, P2s and P3s. This is critical Madam Speaker because sometimes when we talk about opening of schools, we do not realise that schools are operating in very different circumstances. For example, if you see opening schools for St. Dominics Chishawasha – schools have not changed because the students are still sleeping in one dormitory and we know what it means around infectivity when people are sleeping in one big room.
When you talk of opening schools, do not always think about day schools where people are going in and where you are thinking we will do social distancing. It is a whole complicated process and we thought that in these discussions, no one was looking at the various contexts that people were coming from. Therefore, it was important not to deal with it each issue by issue but to deal with the context that we are dealing with because if you deal with the context, then you will have to deal with the fundamental question of, can you open schools for others and not open schools for the other? Can you say private schools because they are okay should continue and those that are in the rural areas and that are in the boarding schools cannot open? Clearly, there would be issues of injustice in that issue.
So we need to be very careful about what we are saying when we are saying, ‘Opening schools’, it is not generic. We need to be clear about what is going on. Those are the issues that we raised with issues around teachers’ unions. Like I said, I really want to thank the teachers’ unions in this instance because they were not selfish but were raising fundamental and key issues. I think it is important that we take that on.
Then to move quickly to the issues around our observations – the observations from the Committee’s point of view were that, whilst the teachers’ unions were very clear and the teachers’ unions please understand that teachers’ unions in particular, if you are talking about ZIMTA, it includes the headmasters and the Parents Associations. So you are including the stakeholders in general. We were very clear that we are not ready to open schools – that was the clear position that we had. We had a position that was coming from the Ministry that was saying, ‘we want to open’, but even the Ministry itself was not convinced that they were ready to open schools. So to some extent, we had divergent views but we almost had a middle of the road that was saying, ‘we are not ready’.
The Ministry indicated that they wanted to proceed with what is usually called the ‘June examinations’, and they were giving us reasons to say, well, because these children have been operating on a particular curriculum which curriculum is not the one that we are using now. so we need to get them to write those examinations. The unions were very clear Madam Speaker, that we should not be held to ransom by a curriculum. We cannot open schools because we are saying, it is an issue around the curriculum.
Like we said, we were very clear, having seen the budget and that the budget had not been given to the Ministry that even with Phase 1 in terms of the $3 billion – there was no response that says, it is going to be available. I understand from the Permanent Secretary that they were going to have a conversation today with Treasury and I am not sure how well that is going to go. The truth of the matter is that the money is not yet there.
Then down to our Committee recommendations; the first one is we are recommending that the dates that have been given for examination by ZIMSEC are not practical. So our position is, we are not ready as a country to proceed with examinations on the dates that have been set by ZIMSEC. In particular because of the things that we are talking about. Hon. Members in the Committee were even saying that it is not just rural areas but even urban areas themselves – there is no running water. We know that our young children are trying to sew and do masks - which is a fantastic idea in terms of the training but we also need to understand whether the standards have been checked. This is why we have the Standards Association of Zimbabwe –really, for us, any mask that somebody is going to wear has to be a mask that conforms with the WHO standards and conforms with the Standards Association of Zimbabwe which sets the standards of what is happening.
It is a good thing to train our children but surely, I do not think that we can rely on what our children are producing to be the ones where we say, ‘This is what we are going to use in schools’. It is supplementary and it trains them but it cannot be the PPEs that we are using for purposes of fighting COVID-19.
We also felt as a recommendation that I think it is important like the unions indicated to setup a proper task force that involves the teachers’ unions, perhaps Members of Parliament, Ministry of Health and Child Care to look at what we are talking about when we are doing the opening of schools. Like I said to you Madam Speaker, we are being too general and too simplistic with our conversations and we did not find that there was a fence that this is what we were going to be able to do. Then we said to ourselves, perhaps we are trying to bite too much at one time. The sheer numbers that we are talking about if we are going to get our children to school are too many.
We have legacy issues just like we had legacy issues around health where we had to take a long time to spruce up our hospitals and we are still trying to do so. We have legacy issues that we have around schools – so we are going to have a lot of things to do. Social distancing cannot work where you have a teacher to pupil ratio of 1:70 or 1:80 in a small room. It cannot work; it is not going to work. You would have to have an extra 10 000 teachers coming into the place for you to do proper social distancing.
So we said to ourselves, the option of not doing anything does not work either. We all cannot sit here and say because there is no A, B, C and D, therefore nothing is going to happen. We then said that in our opinion, our phased approach should be premised on what we are able to do. We think that it is possible for us to set aside the better part of the year 2020 as our year for dealing with issues of examinations and in that instance, you will find that we came up with an acronym that is interesting Madam Speaker. Can we rush to the other slide because you are not following me?
We have an acronym that we called S. I. T and S. I. T is an acronym that is basically saying we just cannot sit but it is an acronym that can also give us a particular strategy that we can use to deal with this opening up of schools. It basically means that schools in transit (S.I.T). What we are dealing with right now is that we have to come up with a transitional process. Something that says, what is in the short term? What is in the medium term? What is in the long term? So in the short term, we focus on examination classes only. Meaning that we proceed with what has always been known as the ‘June examinations’ but we do not do it during winter.
We know scientifically they are also saying the more people have colds, the more they have a chance of infecting others. Let us not do it in June but let us move them where it is a bit warmer, even if it means it is September for the June examinations. Let us use that as our pilot study to see how we are going to do the usually known November exams which we may still do in November, perhaps in December - it does not matter. Like His Excellency said at one time, the economy can be revived but bodies and people that have died cannot be revived. We can revive the schools, we have time to revive the schools. We cannot revive our little children when they are gone. So we cannot afford to do experiments.
Having said that Madam Speaker, there are countries that had tried to do this; South Africa tried to do this, they have stopped. South Korea tried to do this, they stopped. Children are not experiment tubes, let us understand that. Let us do it at a time that makes it sense. When it is warmer, we can go with our examination classes. Let us adopt the ZEC framework in running examinations. That may sound ridiculous but let me explain to you. When we do elections in this country, we literally have 10 958 polling stations. We have the tents and everything that goes with the institutional support. When we do these examinations, let us tell ourselves it is like almost like running an election. Let us look at our numbers. Let us do our examination centres polling station specific, because it is nearer for our children to go to a polling station and write their examinations. We can go and sit literally with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and they can give us the framework on what they do. For goodness sake, they are able to send ballot papers from Siyasothi or Tsholotsho and it has worked. In this instance it should not be a problem if we use that particular framework to run our examinations.
The institutional framework is there. The physical framework is there and we need to use that for purposes of running our examinations. All we need to do is to designate all polling stations as examination centres and we are done. That is what we are proposing for our examinations. We do the June examinations in September. The numbers are small, they are not big. Then we do the ones for November later on in November or December, depending on what our June examinations were supposed to have had.
SIT also, because we are dealing with issues of E-learning, Madam Speaker, COVID has taught us that we need to adopt a new normal. We cannot continue to do what we are doing. It may be COVID today; tomorrow it could be another pandemic. There are things we need to do differently and we need to start embracing E-learning. I know that a lot of us, the moment we hear e-learning we start having problems to say but where are the gadgets and where is the connectivity? Firstly, we said in terms of connectivity, if we do these polling stations centred where the tents are there, we can use them as our hot spots. A child can move from their house and go into that field and easily download and be able to get something because it is a hotspot. It is only 10 958 if we go with the ZEC polling stations. Surely, we should as country be able to create quick hotspots around those 10 958 so that there is no child that has no access to e-learning.
Right now, those that are at St Georges’ are continuing with Elearning. They are already far ahead but those that are in the rural areas have not been able to get it. Let us quickly do it. Our NetOne and POTRAZ should go on the ground and create the hotspots. Of course there are things that are to do with gadgets. Again, I think we tend to think in the normal. The gadgets should not be like phones. The children are not wanting these gadgets so that they can phone. Let us develop a gadget that just allows them to connect so that they are able to download whatever needs to be downloaded. Let us talk to friends of ours, the Chinese friends that are very good with technology. We should be talking around basic gadgets that we can use even those second hand phones they no longer use in those countries. We could use them to make sure that our children have access to the gadgets. First and foremost, let us ensure that connectivity is there because I know when connectivity is there, parents are able to connect to those issues.
Around the e-learning, one thing that we have been dealing with as far as the committee is concerned has been for example, Trust Schools, they have already organised themselves. They have gotten people that can provide platforms for e-learning. All they need is to apply to the Ministry so that it is seen that it is good stuff but also let us learn to charge those that have resources. For those that are giving e-learning at
St Georges’ and they are charging parents US$1 600 per term for elearning. For goodness sake, they can come and apply to the Ministry and we can license then and get some money from their applications.
That is the money that we use for those that do not have the resources.
I must say this, we have been saying this for the past month, but up to now there are people that have been trying to apply to the Ministry and it is not moving. Some of the things that we suffer in this country and with our Government is the lack of zeal, just inertia. Why should it be problematic to just set up a system where you do an application, just like we do for health? You cannot open a surgery without going to
Ministry of Health so that you are licensed to see whether you can do it. Why are we not doing it for e-learning and make a little bit of money around it?
Madam Speaker, in terms of your Committee that is what we came up with and in summary, no our children are not experiment centres. We cannot open schools right now. We are not ready. There are opportunities of doing it differently. We have given you the suggestions to do it. Let us move with that, even if we are to lose 2020, it is okay. No one child should be lost because we are trying to push them to read a, b, c, d. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. MADHUKU: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me
this opportunity to second this motion. What our Chairperson said is correct. Looking at the COVID 19 pandemic the world over, you will discover that when this pandemic started in Zimbabwe, the prevalence rate was low but now it has risen to 200 cases. We have also noticed that a lot of people are escaping from quarantine centres. A lot of people are crossing the borders illegally and they are getting into communities and these are carriers of the virus. People are normally encouraged to report such activities to the police. There is an upsurge in the transmission of new cases.
A lot of developed countries who encountered this pandemic before us, despite the fact that they are developed, school children are being infected. As one of the third world countries, we do not have enough resources. This might be a challenge for us in terms of controlling children and the transmission of the virus. The teacher pupil ratio is very high (1 teacher: 60 pupils in a class). This makes it difficult to maintain social distance. This means we should have at least three classes. For example four classes will give us 12 classes. We might not have enough space and teachers to accommodate and mann the classes. Examination classes may not be accommodated because of the subjects that are being taught at schools.
Opening our schools will put our children in a vulnerable situation. For example in boarding schools, some use bunk beds. For example a room which is supposed to accommodate two pupils accommodates four children and there will not be social distance. We need to look at this situation and determine what should be done.
Primary school children may end up exchanging masks in schools.
For us to rush and open schools might cause danger to our children. ZIMSEC is saying that they are ready – ready to what level? They changed recently saying that examination centres are ready but we have noticed that even schools that were not centres will be used as centres. At times children walk for 20 kilometres going to such centres. We are saying our children should go and write exams before solving such challenges on how they are going to write. For example in satellite schools which are not examination centres, children are supposed to walk for ten kilometres or more. This is an issue that needs to be looked at. It is not about writing examinations so that ZIMSEC generates revenue. This is not a business venture. We need to consider our children’s health.
This is a challenge – we understand that when children go to school every day, it is not necessary for them to have passes. Conditions might be relaxed because they will be putting on uniforms. Such issues have not been looked at; even the transport that is going to be used must also be considered especially in high density areas. This must be clear so that when children go to write their examinations, for example when they start at 0900 hours; they must be collected by buses and be at the examination centres on time.
We are not resisting the opening of schools but we need to consider all these factors. We know that a lot of schools have been teaching their children how to make their own masks in primary and secondary schoolS. Even in laboratories, there are teachers who have been using their scientific knowledge to prepare sanitisers for their children, but we need to consider the fact that most schools do not have money because tuition fees are not being paid. This means that schools do not have money to buy disinfectants. Where most Hon. Members come from, boreholes are not functioning. There is not enough water to supply to schools. We know that we experienced different diseases like SARS and what have you before, so for COVID 19 just like any other diseases like HIV and AIDS, we do not know where this pandemic is coming from. Maybe God wants us to see and experience his power. We are not saying grade ones, form fives and other classes are not supposed to be recruited next year come, but we need to be prepared so that when schools open, we are able to accommodate children.
We need to learn to live with COVID 19. When schools open, they must open when they are ready for our children. I thank you.
*HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to
thank this Committee for their report which is very good. What I see is, it is futile that we can open schools now for our children to write exams because there are a number of reasons. Some of them have been articulated by the Hon. Chair and Hon. Madhuku. The issue at stake here is that there are children who were supposed to write but they were not able to register because of the disturbances by COVID-19. So we need to think of what is best for those children who were not able to register for exams. It is not only about registering for exams but it should be investigated whether the parents are able to pay the exam fees.
Secondly, families were unsettled with some parents running away from the cities for failure to feed their families. I heard about this from the Covid-19 team in Glenview and Mufakose where I was invited.
There is also the challenge of teachers who have relocated because of Covid-19. For students to write exams they should be prepared. Exam preparations were not done because of the regulations that we have. So for students and teachers to travel it became difficult. Therefore, it is most likely that we will not get good results if we force our children to write without adequate preparation. We need enough money for preparation just like we did for industry and what we are planning to do for our economy. We also need to come up with a budget for education which will look at all the children, especially those in remote areas who are not getting what children in the urban areas are getting.
Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga talked about erecting tents when we hold elections, so I think we can also do the same for the children. If we look at children in Mutawatawa, what should we do for them to prepare for exams? When I engaged education officials they were talking about education clusters. Those can be funded and provided with all the necessities needed.
Looking at donations, we should have a wish list which we give to those willing to donate so that we get exactly what we want. That is a challenge we have because we have children whose fathers do not have smart phones and they cannot use them for e-learning. So what are they expected to do then? In a certain area, those families can come together and they are put into clusters and given the necessary equipment such as the screens to enable them to observe social distance. Those with parents who can afford should be engaged and have an outreach programme to sensitise them on how we can help our children. We should not think that all children come from families that can afford to assist their children. Now parents have to monitor their children and assist them even if they are coming from work. They should find time to find out how their children are doing and help with their homework. All this has a timeframe. It is not simple for parents to help their children. Some parents are not even familiar with homework, so we should look at ways of helping them.
Some teachers are able to prepare material which can help children in a cluster. They should look for teachers knowledgeable in a certain area but in all this, the Ministry should also be involved while Government pours in money. We can say a lot of things but without money nothing will materialise.
The other thing we can do is to encourage innovation so our children can come up with simple ways of learning on the internet. The Ministry should encourage developers of such systems because we do not know how long this virus will be with us, so we should think ahead instead of being reactionary.
Then there is the issue of when our children should open schools.
We need a lot of money. The teacher who is speaking to each and every child is at risk; the nurse’s risk is not as great as that of a teacher. Our children will be in contact with the teacher and many other children coming from various homes, which means we should first of all test the teachers and even the guards. These PPEs should be enough at each and every school. At schools in the high density areas there is no water, so how do they maintain hygiene? All these things should be looked at before schools open.
Disinfecting schools should take place before schools open. It will be difficult for schools to maintain their places during this time. Schools are dilapidated, workers who are supposed to see to the maintenance of the school premises are not being paid because no one is paying them since fees are not being paid. So schools do not have money for maintenance. It is easy to destroy a school than to build, so we should look after our schools despite what is happening. Money should be channelled to schools for maintenance even though nothing is taking place because if we leave them like that after COVID-19 when we want to go back to schools, some will be totally damaged. We should maintain the facilities that we have. The workers who are supposed to be at schools should be there. Government should take this seriously.
They should view this as a challenge and so Treasury should allocate them money.
I have heard the Chair referring to the budget that is there. Luckily the Minister of Finance is here although he came late. Even if they are not approached by the Minister, I think from this report the Minister of Finance and Economic Development should take this issue seriously. He should know that the future of Zimbabwe can be destroyed during this period. When he is receiving donations he should also tell people that in education these are the things that we want so that our children keep on getting educated. We are being forced to go the technological way. Our children should research and this can only be done when we have put money into education.
I would want to thank you for this report because it is very good.
This is not a problem for tomorrow but today’s problem. If we are saying that we cannot open schools, it means that we are not prepared. We are not prepared because we do not have the money. We sit in this other Committee of African Parliamentarians Network against
Corruption where we hear these other trivial stories but we should reserve that money for our children’s education so that they have a good
future. Thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. ZEMURA: Thank you Madam Speaker. We appreciate
the report that was presented by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Education. We support the report that was presented. We also say that COVID-19 is a war. During the liberation struggle, our children did not go to school then because people feared for their lives. Right now, we fear for our lives and the lives of our children and so we do not expect our children to go to school. When we feel that the situation has improved, then we will determine and make a decision on whether children should go back to school. Because of the prevalence rate of the transmission of the Coronavirus, and noting that this is a war which needs to be fought, we cannot send our children to school because we will be embarrassed in future when we reflect on what will have transpired after our children die of COVID-19.
What the Committee has written and their observations, particularly even fearing for the lives of the teachers and our children, we do not expect them to write the exams. During the war, children did not go to school but eventually they went back to school after the war. I would suggest that we wait and when there is a decline in the prevalence of COVID-19 then children can go back to school. We are being told here in Parliament that we should observe social distancing. School going children do not know that and might lose their masks. We need to sit down and engage each other noting that deaths due to COVID-19 are serious; we do not to tempt fate and test each other. Thank you Hon.
Speaker.
*HON. MUTAMBISI: I would like to add my voice to the report that was presented by Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga. My view point is that we need to wait a little bit. We cannot send children to school at the moment. Children use books when writing assignments and at the end pile their books together. This is risky. Let us also look at e-learning. Yes, it is a good initiative but it is not every parent who can afford to facilitate e-learning for their children. We know that some teachers might give assignments using on-line platforms but it is not every parent or child who can do that homework and send it back to their teachers for marking because of data charges. Parents are facing a lot of challenges.
It is difficult for many parents.
We also need to consider that other schools have feeding programmes and because of water shortages, this pandemic needs hygienic services. Government must have enough resources beefed in schools.
Let us look at the issue of masks. A student might have one mask but because of water shortages, if they reuse a mask without washing it or when playing, it becomes a risk. So I would like to propose that we wait. Instead of opening schools, let us look at such factors. We were told that during the liberation struggle schools were closed. The war that we are fighting right now is a challenge. If we allow our children to go back to school we might lose a lot of children to COVID-19.
Reflecting back, you discover that there are some people who graduated attaining degrees at the age of 70. Let us wait until such a time when we know that the prevalence of COVID-19 has gone down. Thank you.
*HON. NYATHI: I would like to appreciate the report that was presented by the Education Committee chaired by Hon. MisihairabwiMushonga. I noted the different contributions and noted that after a person has passed on, that person cannot come back to life. The challenge that I have noted which is of concern to Hon. Members is that a person only lives once. We might have vaccines and medication but it is expensive. If we allow our children to go back to school, they might face different challenges. We know that we have a lot of schools in our country and if one student is COVID 19 positive, this might expose other children, more than 600 to 1000 children at a particular school. They might also transmit that virus back to their homes and the community at large.
So, the idea that schools be opened early should be reversed or should not be implemented. We need to consider factors that might assist us when schools open. We are not yet ready to support as a nation, medical bills for those who are positive. Even centres which are attending to those who are positive also need to be resourced. So, we need to reflect on such issues because we might give a burden to our national fiscus from where monies are disbursed to different ministries.
Someone alluded to the idea that, if examination classes are allowed to sit for exams, we can copy what ZEC does during the elections; which means that our schools and the classes are not enough to conduct these examinations in time. So it is important that before approving this idea, the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education should come to this august House and give a Ministerial Statement on the preparedness of his Ministry instead of taking what would have been discussed in other fora and implementing it. The legislators should be satisfied first.
There are a number of things that we are required to observe when dealing with COVID 19 like washing hands every 20 minutes; is it possible for school going children to do that? We should not greet each other through handshakes because it is one way through which the virus is transmitted, we are also required to wear face masks; are our children able to do that? Looking at this august House, you will find that there are some Hon. Members who are putting on their masks but the masks are pulled down to their necks. So, are our children able to wear their masks properly because we are facing a pandemic which needs to be minimised. We will be increasing the spreading of a disease which we intend to reduce.
In other developed countries which have state of the art health care facilities, they are also facing this challenge and failing to contain this pandemic. So, I would like to offer the same recommendation that was proferred by the Chairperson of the Primary and Secondary Education
Portfolio Committee that schools must not open until we are ready. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
*HON. MUCHENJE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I
believe that this issue affects every parent because this is a universal issue which affects every parent. I would like to thank Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, for presenting their report and the decision that was taken by their
Committee. Truthfully, the prevailing environment in Zimbabwe does not allow the opening of schools when adults are failing to go to work. If legislators are failing to exercise social distancing, what will happen to school children? Looking at boarding schools, our children will be expected to live in hostels sharing maybe one dormitory which accommodates 10 children. Will it be possible to observe social distancing? For primary school children, if you do not force them to wash their hands before eating their food, they just go ahead and eat. What about those in boarding schools? There is not enough water in homes.
In different homes, it is not every child who has been trained to use phones and some do not have internet data, not all parents are working. I would also like to add my voice to say that we are not ready to open schools. Most urban students travel to school in public transport and there is no public transport to ferry parents to work. What will be the situation like when schools open? The other point is that; right now there is not enough money circulating and this means that when children go back to school, parents might face challenges. They might not have enough resources during examination times.
In boarding schools, the facilities are not enough. Our own
Members’ dining is not working at the moment to prevent the spread of the disease, how about school going children.
So, we continue saying that schools cannot open at the moment because even adults are not going to work, they cannot get into town. How then can we sacrifice our children? How can we allow them to go to school? We only live once, we need to value our children’s lives as much as we also value their education. Even if we allow them to go and write their examinations, some will pass yes, but there are no jobs. I think it is better for them to wait until the situation becomes conducive.
They should wait and sit for examinations when the time is right.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I just
have a few questions that I want to ask to those people who are saying they want to open schools. If they are able to answer these questions, then they can go ahead and open schools. Do they have enough classes to execute the teacher to pupil ratio so that they can maintain social distancing? Are the teachers ready to go and mix and mingle with pupils coming from everywhere? Have the schools been sanitized? How safe are our kids and the teachers? How about some schools which are being used by returnees and some returnees there are found to be positive with COVID, how safe are those schools for us to send our kids there? Is it good to experiment with one’s kids? Why is there a rush in opening schools when some areas or some industries where workers there are fewer than pupils at a school are still closed? Which syllabus do they want kids to be examined on, where was it done, which teachers taught, were the syllabuses completed? What do they want to examine them on?
Do you think a kid can spend the whole day putting on a mask when we cannot here, is it possible? If those who want to open schools can answer these questions then they can go ahead, I thank you.
*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to
debate on this motion that has been brought by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education. Schools must not open because of COVID-19. I am concerned about food. A lot of parents are in the informal sector. Now they are home, nothing is happened because of COVID. They do not have money to buy food for their kids. When kids are going to school, they need a lot of food and fees have to be paid. If pupils go to school in an empty stomach, they cannot concentrate on their studies. Given these reasons, I say we are not ready as a nation. Suggestions about e-learning are coming up but I still maintain the stance that we are not yet ready. Our Government does not have enough money for our kids to go back to school.
I was reading a newspaper where South Korea opened schools and after two days, the schools were closed again because the cases went up. If we rush to open our schools, we will face the same situation. I heard another Hon. Member talking about the liberation war. I was one of the people that participated in the liberation struggle. We stopped going to school that time but after the war, we went back to school up to degree level. So, I am saying there is no need to rush, let us be patient until the time is opportune. If people die, we cannot resurrect them for them to go back to school because school is attended by the living. Let us not rush to make decisions that kill people. I thank you.
+HON. MKANDLA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to
thank you for affording me the chance to add my voice and also to thank the Chairperson of this Committee, Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga and the seconder Hon. Madhuku. I am also a member of that Committee. In short Hon. Speaker, I also concur with others that we should stop opening schools for now. Firstly, is Government prepared for the opening of schools? Does Government budget allow for opening of schools? For example looking at the rural areas where I come from, there are very few classrooms. One classroom accommodates 60 pupils. In such a classroom, how can social distancing be maintained? I understand Government will employ more teachers; will those teachers take their classes under trees since there are few classrooms?
In addition, there is no furniture in those classrooms. Three pupils share one desk in rural areas. Furthermore, in rural areas, there is no water. They use blair toilets which in some cases are already full and students resort to bushes. Like what my colleague also alluded to, for young children, even if you give them face masks to use, do you think they will maintain them from home all the way to school? Even in this august House, I see some Hon. Members with their masks hanging below their chins. In rural areas, we are not able to resort to e-learning because most of the pupils in rural areas cannot afford those facilities because their guardians cannot afford the bundles needed.
I also understand that this coronavirus is very active when it is cold. Some pupils move long distances, barefooted without jerseys and they live with their old grandmothers. If they catch that virus from school, they will transmit it back at home to their grandmothers who are old, frail and may be diabetic. In short Hon. Speaker, lives of children, parents and teachers are more important. We need to ensure that first of all, we have adequate resources that include face masks, sanitizers and water. I thank you.
HON. MUSHAYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am going to
start by thanking the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga and her team.
Thank you very much for the report.
Allow me Madam Speaker to just share with you one of the conversations that I had with one of the persons from my Constituency. This is a Form 4 learner who is supposed to be sitting for her examinations in the June examinations. The questions that she asked me are, ‘Honourable, my school is a quarantine center and from my school there are returnees who have tested positive. I am supposed to be travelling from Kuwadzana to my school. What is going to happen in between now and then to convince me that I will be safe to go back to school?
Secondly, the girl said to me, ‘I am not even psychologically ready to go and write my examinations – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – So Honourable, why are they dragging me to go to school? To do what because I am not ready.’ I did not have the answers and we still do not have the answers. I would then ask that the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education should come to the House and tell us and the nation – the protocols that are going to be followed in terms of how schools operate because one of the other challenges is that boarding schools for example, also have day scholars. Even if the children go into school and they are tested, what do you do about the children who are travelling in and out of school every day? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – How are you going to ensure that they are tested, make sure that they are going into a non sterile environment to sit for an examination and they are COVID-19 free?
I have a sister who is a teacher and I am going to be personal because these are the conversations that I have with my sister. She is diabetic and therefore she has an underlying condition. The first question that she asked me was, ‘Miriam, how do I go to school and remain safe when I am a Hostel superintendant and I am supposed to be keeping these children and when I am a hostel superintendant and I am supposed to be supervising? I have not been informed who is going to provide me with PPEs. I have not been informed how safe I am going to be. We have not been informed whether or not my school has enough thermometers. We have not been informed how schools are going to make sure that they check every other child and every ancillary member of staff and every member of staff …-[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
–
She then gave me an example of her school – it is a school in
Harare actually. She said, ‘Imagine the girls..’ – it is a girl’s school, ‘the girls are queuing like this and we have only one thermometer and the thermometer collapses – it is not working. What do we do?’ Do we then say, ‘No, you cannot come in because we have not tested you?’ or we just take the risk and we let them in? She is a hostel superintendant, are we then giving her the responsibility of checking and making sure that the children exercise social distancing? She is the one who is going to do thermometers. What protection does she have? What guarantee does she have? What guarantee do the parents whose children are going into these schools have?
We are taking so much risk with children’s lives. Parents will be at home and the children will also have to travel either by ZUPCO, kombi or whatever to get to school. How are we going to guarantee the safety of the children who are boarding public transport, the drivers and everybody else who takes these children to school? I think as a nation we are not ready to be opening schools right now. We have to admit here and now and say that COVID-19 is our new normal. What are the things that we are going to do to make sure that we protect the safety of our children and ourselves because I am a parent and my child is going to go to school?
How risky is it for me to be able to ferry my daughter to school and make sure she comes back and does not bring the disease into the home since I do not have anything to test her with. I do not know whether this child who is coming from school is safe or not. Also at home we have old people who are more vulnerable – the moment we are having this heavy movement of people in and out, we are exposing everyone else around them to catching COVID-19.
Lastly, we have a problem of water nationally and one of the conditions is that you have to wash your hands under running water. In
Harare, for example, we have no running water in most of these schools. So if we are saying that they will be exercising sanitization, how when there is no water. This then affects the ablution services for boarders and this then affects where they are going to live in terms of hostels.
Ladies and gentlemen, Madam Chair, we are not ready to be opening schools at the moment. We have not put in place measures to make sure that we protect the lives of our children and the lives of the people who will be working i.e. the members of staff and ancillary staff. Can we come up with a plan first before we even think of opening schools. I thank you.
*HON. CHIKUKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I
would like to add my voice to the report that was tabled. I want to say that I spoke to a student who is going to be writing her ‘A’ Level examinations this year who said that if we were to be engaged, I would propose that we open schools in September during summer because if we are affected by this pandemic, this will not only affect us as students but it will also affect our teachers.
So I believe that we need to engage and agree. We know that teachers may want to contribute to this subject. They may want that we follow a particular syllabus – this syllabus was created by people and it should be tailor made according to what parents are proposing. I thank you.
*HON. SVUURE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would
like to reiterate the same position pertaining to the opening of schools. A lot of things have been said. This pandemic is a new pandemic that we do not have much information about and we do not know when it is going to end. We cannot use our children as guinea pigs so that we test what exactly is happening.
We have noted that COVID-19 positive cases are escalating. A number of speakers have stated the same point that we cannot experiment with our children’s lives because a life lost cannot be revived. So for those who make decisions regarding the opening of schools – it is important that we take note of what Hon. Members are saying. I am saying this because I know that we are going to be blamed or history will judge us because we do not know what will happen if we allow our children to go to school.
For example, if this pandemic affects children at school, it will spread from the school to their homes. I am supporting what other Members have said. We cannot experiment with our children because we do not know what the outcome will be. I thank you.
HON. MUTAMBISI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. S. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 16th June, 2020.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
COVID-19 PANDEMIC, PRICE INCREASES AND AVAILABILITY
OF CASH
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam Speaker,
thank you very much for the opportunity to address the august House on an issue which was raised by Hon. Nyabani of Rushinga Constituency regarding how we are responding from an economic point of view in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how we are dealing with the rampant price increases and how we are attempting to make more cash available. Madam Speaker, I think it is fair to say that the world - as Zimbabwe and all nations face an existential crisis in the sense of trying to save lives, but in the sense of trying to save economies and livelihoods. Both of those issues are facing an existential crisis and we are doing our best to deal with it.
Our approach as you know is a two pronged strategy in the main, has been to save lives in the sense of focusing on prevention and we have spent our budget on that. Secondly is to save livelihoods, to stimulate our economies so that we can carry on our path of supporting productivity. We had agreed on that roadmap during the 2020 Budget. We said year 2020 is a year of productivity, job creation and trying to improve competitiveness and investment that comes with it, but all that has suffered from the COVID-19 shock.
Madam Speaker, that was not the first shock. The first shock was the climate change shock of Cyclone Idai and the drought. We thought we had seen enough and there was the effect on electricity and now comes the COVID-19 crisis. We have had quite a battering as an economy, unlike most economies. What you will see as the case globally is a decline in economic growth in 2020, lower than the expected 3% that were projected.
The channels of transmission of this slow down Madam Speaker are various. First of all, it is through the tourism sector. Members of the august House will agree with me that the sector has suffered the most. There are no tourists. Planes are not flying, the industry is virtually shut down. So there is need to support it. Secondly, it is the manufacturing sector, in the sense of the impact on global supply chain because China is the factory to the world - even the drugs that purportedly come from India actually originate from China and India puts them together. It is the factory to the world.
When the pandemic started, that immediately caused the global supply chain to slow down significantly. Also the global economy including China and others are the destination for our exports, especially hard commodities in the mining sector. Those also will be impacted and we have seen a slowdown in demand and a fall in prices. That again will impact our mining sector and other related sectors, but I must say that there is a bit of a silver lining on the tobacco sector. We have seen firmer prices averaging just over $2 a kilogramme compared to about $1. 75 same time last year and better deliveries but we have to also weigh the impact of a more decentralised tobacco buying system that we have put in place this year. May be that is a silver lining from COVID.
So there is an upside there, but equally there is another upside or silver lining from global oil prices which have been declining much due to fall in demand and also the unavailability of storage capacity. There was a moment when producers of oil will pay you to take the oil away. It is a very interesting situation. I have never seen negative prices in my life. In my previous life, I used to teach these things on derivatives and oil futures, but I have never seen negative oil futures. Only COVID-19 can bring us such, but there we are.
Net oil importers or petrol importers such as Zimbabwe obviously benefit from this kind of situation. Madam Speaker, were it not for the low global oil prices we would have seen higher domestic fuel prices in domestic currency due to the weaknesses in the currency, but this has not been the case. This has not been as rampant. The SME sector – our informal sector has been affected Madam Speaker. Naturally we have to do something about that. Equally the agriculture sector is linked to other sectors but I am pleased that those who are involved in the winter wheat programme have been forging ahead. It is pleasing to see that they are planting as fast as they can, and that farmers are signing up to the programme. It is not surprising therefore that our stimulus package of $18 billion is focusing on these various channels of transmission of the crisis such as the $3. 2 billion we have set aside for the winter wheat programme and about $2. 9 billion set aside for the summer Presidential
Input Scheme Programme, both of which will now be more productivity oriented in terms of what we are trying to do to raise productivity and push the economy so that it recovers. The programmes such as the pfumvunza system in terms of the small scale farmers are being promoted and equally for those who are commercially oriented, they need to pursue agricultural methods that are climate-proofed. We need to see some irrigation schemes supporting that productivity before we extend any loans to those type of farmers.
Turning to the mining sector, we have set aside a billion dollar facility that will support the sector, especially the gold sector which is export oriented. Here we are looking at raising resources from abroad so that we can extend them in US dollar terms because we know that this is a US dollar export industry. For the SME sector, we have set aside ZW$500 million again in the form of facility to support this sector. For the tourism sector, we have set aside another ZW$500 million to support the sector. For industry in general, we have above ZW$2 billion to support the sector.
I must say that those kinds of facilities are in the form of guarantees, not a direct facility from Government but a guarantee to banks. Banks are more comfortable to extend working capital to the companies in the various sectors because that is what companies will be having trouble in terms of accessing working capital. We stand ready to support them. We have made good progress in agreeing on the terms with the Bankers’ Association as late as yesterday, we met them to finalise and fine tune the amounts before the guarantee is finalised.
However, I must hasten to say on the agricultural sector support there has been movement already. We know that about $1.8 billion has already been extended to farmers who have signed up to the winter wheat programme. Again focusing on saving livelihoods is focusing on cash transfers, our target to the one million households who need support. So far our data base has taken us to about 200 000 households and the Ministry of Social Welfare would build this data base because they have to verify that whoever is in that database really qualifies as being vulnerable. So that process of verification takes a bit of time but we will get there. We are determined that every one of those individuals receive their $300 per month that we have promised and there is a budget set aside for this. We know that there is a sizeable portion of beneficiaries who are real SMEs and not just merely heads of households. In brief, that is our stimulus package as we respond to COVID 19 – it amounts to about 9% of the gross domestic product and we are determined to make sure that it works.
We have not forgotten that we needed to also improve access to certain key imported goods – we have relaxed import duties on these. Corporates have been generous in making donations to the Government task force. We are making sure that they get tax rebates. I know ZIMRA has already given rebates in the last couple of months to the tune of half a billion dollars to such corporates.
I mentioned earlier on about the facilities that banks are accessing from the central bank on the back of a guarantee from Treasury then for on lending to farmers and other businesses. We are making sure that this facility has an affordable interest rate. The lending rate should not be more than 20% and this is commendable that we have been able to reduce the cost of capital.
I am sure you are wondering how some of these resources are being sourced. Of course, we are reprioritising budgets and making sure that we speak to our partners who have been very generous. So far they have pledged almost US$150 million equivalent which is coming into the economy. They have been very helpful - all the bilateral and multilateral have come on board; World Bank, African Development Bank and other global funds. Bilateral partners include EU, US, UK, Japan, Sweden, China and these have been generous. We are very pleased with this support.
We are also aware that local authorities have been having challenges in collecting their dues because businesses were closed or there was economic slowdown. We stand ready to support them. One area that we have focussed on is one of water provision – whether it is water treatment resources; we have been able to extend those through
IDC to Chemplex for them to clean our water in the capital city – Harare and Bulawayo being the big cities. In Bulawayo, we have invested a lot in boreholes. We have good value for money in Bulawayo. For the
$10.6 million that we extended for borehole drilling in the Nyamandlovu Aquifer, we have managed to raise raw water output from three million mega litres per day to 10 million and this is remarkable. The efficiency is just amazing. We will also drill more boreholes on both sides of the aquifer because they are lucrative for water outputs.
We have very smart engineers there. They are really impressive. Initially I knew that there was a very big bill for the Minister of Finance to meet in terms of getting water out of Insiza Dam but they came along and said let us just fix a few valves. I know that alone will more than double the water output from that dam because it is just in terms of fixing valves and not investing the sort of money we thought was needed.
Finally on this package, we also want to give an impetus on foreign direct investment and so we are launching this Victoria Falls stock/securities exchange. The idea is that this exchange will sit below the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange as a subsidiary and companies operating under this exchange will be able to bring in their foreign currency and invest in our economy. We are targeting foreign companies so that we re-drive the mantra that ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’. We are just finalising the rules and those should be published shortly.
I now turn to the issue of inflation specifically because Hon. Nyabani was very specific about prices and inflation. I would like to zoom in on that. Inflation has been very high. What happened is that just before COVID 19, businesses went to typical speculative mode which is, if you expect demand to fall and you are a retailer in business; you are expecting a lock down and it is announced – the first thing that you do is to raise prices because you know that for a while you will not be selling much and that is what unfortunately happened. We had that COVID impact on prices which has not been helpful at all.
Secondly at the same moment, the parallel market started moving up and again as usual. There is that high correlation between the parallel market and our pricing system in the retail sector which kicked in and prices again shot up. It was because of these two reasons that you saw a sharp increase in inflation. As a mitigatory measure, we spoke to industry and we asked for a price moratorium. We had a handshake but they have not been able to follow through. Perhaps they have got their own pressures. I still urge that if we could have another handshake, it would be helpful and assist Zimbabweans to have this price moratorium while we go through this difficult time.
On the currency front, I think it is fair to say that part of the reason for the movement in the parallel market which is linked to pricing is through to the regulatory environment. I really commend the central bank for what they have been doing in trying to deal with the illicit behaviour that you see in the financial sector especially in the usage of mobile money platforms, or rather the abuse of mobile money platforms. They have been very tough and I think that has been very helpful indeed working with the financial intelligence unit.
It is important that there should be regulation of mobile money platforms. Our regulation environment like elsewhere in the world was never geared up to manage mobile banking platforms. We were very good at managing banking institutions and the moment you have a banking platform led by an NMO or network operator, what tends to happen is that central banks are kind of left in a limbo. They do not know how to regulate because they only know how to regulate banks. They end up creating a trust account to manage that gap between the network operator and the banking sector and that is when you are able to keep your tabs on them.
We have got that kind of situation in Zimbabwe and Kenya where the telecoms companies are the leaders. In our case it is Telecel, NetOne and Econet. In other countries such as Nigeria and South Africa, the mobile banking systems are bank led, which means that the central bank has a better handle on the regulations. Here in Zimbabwe, we have to play catch up in our regulatory environment. We hope that at some point we will bring in some new rules to fine-tune the regulatory environment so that we can bring sanity to the use of our mobile banking platform which has been very helpful in this cash shortage situation. We have this challenge that the regulation is unable to keep tabs of what is going on in the face of a currency volatility situation.
I can assure you that we are committed to fiscal discipline. One thing that we do not want is what happened in the past where physical indiscipline was leading to inflation. High budget deficit which has been accumulating over years then end up resulting in issuance of excessive treasury bills which are then monetised in the financial sector and then that leads to growth in money supply and puts pressure on the exchange rate and inflation. So that is a thing of the past. We want to make sure that we keep our budget deficit under control and also as you know we have also made sure that we stop using the RBZ window. The whole of 2019, we have not used the RBZ overdraft window. We are staying far away from it and we want to live within our means and do some borrowings where we can but even the borrowings are well managed. I can assure you of that; so we are making sure that on the physical front we are not the problem.
On the monetary front, we have noted the drop in the growth of what we call high powered money or M-zero in the first quarter of the year and that is positive. It means that growth in money supply can be managed successfully. We want to make sure that stays like that and it does not add to the volatility in the weakness in the parallel market, in the exchange rate which then feeds to inflation which is the subject of our discussion. I think it is always worth emphasising that in the medium to long term it is always productivity and import substitution so that we can put less pressure on the currency by producing more and exporting more and raising our productivity so that we can grow our economy. You will find that our stimulus package is focusing on that and dovetails with what we pronounced in the budget for 2020.
Then specifically on cash shortages, what we have done is to continue to supply more cash into the economy. Recently, we introduced the ZW$10 note and then we will soon introduce the ZW$20 note. The target pronounced by the RBZ is ZW$600 million worth of cash into the system. The way we are doing it is responsible. Basically, banks are buying this cash. We are swapping RTGs balances for cash so that we do not increase the amount of money supply in the economy because increasing that money supply due to the cash injection will certainly lead to inflation and we do not want that. We want to ensure we keep managing this cash injection programme. The one thing that we know continuous to be a pain is the issue of the cash-in cash-out premiums that ordinary citizens continue to face but that obviously has to do with cash shortage. I will say the entrepreneurship of those agents who are involved in this business, the level of entrepreneurship which has not been helpful and supportive of our ordinary citizens, we want to increase the quality of regulation as well around these agents and the central bank has been doing that. So we are doing our best to make sure we get back on the path of productivity.
We grow the economy again but also make sure that we take advantage of other opportunities that the COVID-19 crisis has unleashed. I have never seen this kind of focus on the health sector and health sector facilities. It is just amazing. We have all become miniministers of health, the entire Cabinet. I am joking I hope my colleagues will understand. We are all onto some health something. I go and tour Wilkins Hospital, Ekusileni, Mpilo and even went into a testing laboratory. Ordinarily, I would not have gone there but it is only because of that crisis that you see what needs to be done such as upgrading of these facilities and we are all making sure that we are upgrading them. That is positive; you can imagine the companies that are involved in upgrading these facilities. Suddenly they have more business, so there is an opportunity that we should see and explore as we deal with the pandemic.
Just look at what the universities have done – they are now making sanitisers and masks. I have seen them myself. Today I just forgot to put it on, the blue one made from the University of Zimbabwe and it is amazing that we have all this potential. The schools are also included. I was listening carefully earlier on whether schools are opening or not, our high schools are making sanitisers and masks. This is remarkable because the Fashion and Fabrics Department suddenly saw an opportunity and got everyone into a mind of productivity, and that is very positive for the country. On that note, I thank you Madam Speaker
Ma’am and thank you colleagues for listening.
HON. RAIDZA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I have
few clarifications from the Minister. The first one is with regards to the assistance that the Central Government is giving to our local authorities. We had a debate here in the House on one of the reports that we presented for local authorities but we are finding out that many of the quotations that the local government is bringing to central government for funding are always huge but when central government goes on the ground with independent engineers they find that the work that needs to be done actually requires far less money than what they would have requested. What is your Ministry doing to make sure that there is no potential financial prejudice regarding this issue?
Secondly, the limits that were put in place by RBZ on the Zipit, the one of $2000 and $100000 - are these limits not going to create another arbitrage opportunity again on the demand of cash especially from some of these unscrupulous companies that always ensure that if you block their way in this way they will come up with another opportunity? For example this $100k, with the inflation that we are having we realise that it is a small amount but are they not going to punish again the consumers by demanding cash instead of other forms of payments? Why are these people not being arrested so that as a nation we can see the criminals bringing this suffering to our people are dealt with. Why are they not arrested but instead you try to come up with some interventions to curb their illegal activities? Is it that we do not have a law that supports you to do that or as Parliament we need to enact a law that supports the arrest and dealing of these kinds of criminals? By introducing the new money that we saw in the market, why are we not seeing reduction in queues in our banks? They seem to be getting longer than they were. Why are they not becoming shorter since the introduction of more cash in the market? Thank you very much madam Speaker.
HON. MASENDA: I would like to ask the Minister about the tobacco farmers. Do you have a viability policy meant to cushion tobacco farmers from the severe loss they are incurring by exchanging their US$ to the fixed rate of ZW$25 whereas on the parallel market it is 1:70/75? I am a tobacco farmer myself and I went to buy in preparation to sow seed because the 1st June is sowing time for tobacco. Tobacco seed is priced at US$25 at the research station. I did not have the US$25 and so they converted the US$25 to RTGs and I paid for a packet of 5 grams RTGS$1 750, which gives me the rate of US$1 to RTG$70. The farmer walks out of the bank short-changed given 1:25. How much more do I need to pay for the tobacco?
It is a painful situation and I would like the Minister to explain whether there is a way that a cushion can be provided. In the past, tobacco farmers used to be paid what they called export incentives. Is this anything that you have in mind to encourage tobacco farmers because what I see happening is that tobacco farmers are going to give up growing tobacco as cotton growers did in the past. It is not viable to exchange your dollar for US$25 yet out there all the parts, inputs such as chemicals and fertilizers are being priced at a parallel market rate of US$1:RTG$70 or even $75. I would like the Minister to seriously consider giving at least a relief on the tobacco growers because it is indeed discouraging to do that kind of thing.
As a result of this, what is happening where we come from, there are illegal tobacco merchants that are coming to buy giving a rate of say US$1 to RTG$50. The farmer will say it is better off, even if I make a loss, to sell off my tobacco for RTG$50. Therefore the Government is going to start losing from the tobacco that is being side marketed. It is indeed a very painful situation. Hon. Minister, if you could perhaps give us a guideline on what is happening.
*HON. NYABANI: I want to start by saying that we have Bureau de`Changes in the country that are supposed to change money but you find money changers in the streets and they are not even afraid. Minister, can you not put a Statutory Instrument so that those people are prosecuted because they are the ones who are making the rate go up. Can you not put a law so that these people are prosecuted and we are left with legal exchange houses? Our monies have become useless now. If it is not possible, then we should come up with ways in this House.
HON. P. MOYO: The Minister is trying his level best under the circumstances to arrest runaway inflation. Let me draw the Hon.
Minister back to 2007/08/09 and so on. Inflation was in quintillion. Even a country which was in war never experienced such inflation. Today we are slowly going back to 2008. You may put a Statutory Instrument and so on, and try to arrest the people that are selling money in the streets, that will not work.
I am requesting the Hon. Minister to sit down carefully with his colleagues in Cabinet and adopt the multi-currency system. This country Madam Speaker, is in serious problem. People who are earning say
RTG$6 000 or 7 000, it is US$30 nowadays. So I humbly request the Minister to seriously consider this country to use the multi-currency system. That is the only ‘messiah’ for our situation. We may try to do whatever trick but there is no trick that you can do even if you print a $100 bond, it will not solve the problem. The problem will persist.
I do not have many words to say as I can see he is also in serious trouble to try and arrest this kind of inflation. It is not his fault but they have to sit down and consider using the multicurrency. We love this country. This is the only country that we have and if we run it down with our hands, honestly we are leaving a very bad legacy and we will be a laughing stock tomorrow. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NDUNA: The first point that I need clarity on is the issue of the millers versus GMB and Government on issues to do with subsidy on roller meal. It is rumoured that there is a catch-22 where they have to sign new contracts with you, Government and them in order to access the grain from GMB in order that we continue to have mealie-meal at $70 or a little bit more but according to the dictates of the new agreement. However, it is rumoured that you have not sanctioned the new agreement.
The second issue; I want to applaud you for the disbursement of the devolution funds which devolutions funds have seen the rejuvenation, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the health institutions, as per the Abuja Declaration. Our budget is supposed to see to it that about 15% goes to the health institution but the monies for devolution that you have apportioned to the local authorities have seen a lot of the rehabilitation of the health institutions. I am quite alive to you applauding that as well.
Be that as it may, I ask that the amounts because of the inflationary pressures be expeditiously given to those local authorities, and if there is means and ways of you monitoring through us on the amounts utilization. We are on the ground especially yours truly, is certainly on the ground trying to see that money is put to good use. I want to go further and applaud you to say for 25 years, we have never filled a 3 mega litre in Chegutu West Constituency. We have always had 3 mega litres where we are treating 10 mega litres because of perforated, disused pipes and dilapidated infrastructure. Because of this money, we have managed to put in new pumps, mend our tank and we are now realising some inflows and outflows from that three mega litre tank into the community which we have never had for the past 25 years. So I want to applaud you for that.
The third issue Hon. Minister, I want to applaud you for sidestepping the middle men in terms of the gold incentives which you are now giving to the producers. What you have been doing earlier was to give to the middle man or the buyer of the gold as opposed to the producer. I come from a place that has ubiquitous amounts of mineral wealth and they have seen the benefit of this incentive. I am sure if you look at Chegutu and Kadoma deliveries to Fidelity, you are certainly going to smile all the way to Fidelity because there is an upsurge of deliveries to Fidelity because of your recognition to the gold producer as opposed to the gold buyer.
Hon. Minister, there is the issue of the Food for Work Programme. We have youths out there and a population in my Constituency, 6 724 aged between 15 and 35, they have no need to get food for nothing, they are on a list of the Food For Work Programme but that programme has been stalled because the money is not coming or the food for that work is not coming. It is my clarion call, hope and fervent view that you expeditiously disperse the monies for such programmes so that our people get what they want using what we have.
The last one, I would have wanted to debate on the education sector, but you have come in with a gold finger mentality. You have added another avenue to the debate that was ensuing before you came in. I make a clarion call Hon. Minister to you; aware that gold is the only tradable commodity as we speak. Five percent…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, may you please
raise points of clarity.
HON. NDUNA: These are points of clarity Hon. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No Hon. Nduna. If you look at
what you are raising, you are raising issues to do with gold which are not in line with what the Minister presented. The Minister presented issues to do with availability of cash, COVID -19 response and I am sure that is what you need to be in line with. Let us ask questions of clarity pertaining to what the Minister presented.
HON. NDUNA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, the difference with me
is that I propose solutions, I am not a ‘cry baby.’ I am asking Hon.
Minister if you can get the issue of – get 5% of the gold deliveries to Fidelity and direct that to the education sector in particular for e-learning purposes aware of the COVID 19 pandemic so that our children in our rural sector can go to school…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, you are now out
of context. Thank you very much. Order, you can now take your seat.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you so much Hon. Minister for getting these solutions, now you can go ahead…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much for your
contribution.
HON. GANDAWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Thank
you Hon. Minister for the address you have given us. I appreciate the efforts that the Minister has come up with, particularly in conjunction with the Reserve Bank, the slowdown in the velocity of cash movements both in terms of value and transaction numbers.
However, Hon. Minister, what I need to understand is; what other interventions have you come up with in terms of mopping up excess liquidity from the market. I also noticed that equally pushing up is the parallel market exchange rates which is equally affecting the value of our local currency. Secondly, I want to understand on our price moratorium, how receptive is the industry to this idea? I understand you once had a meeting with them, how receptive are they to that call? Lastly, I was not too sure if there is a leeway to improve the retention for our tobacco farmers from the current 50:50? Thank you.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you for the questions from the Hon. Members. I really thank them for their contributions, questions and requests for clarification. Basically, looking at the first intervention regarding the assistance to local authorities, where there is a feeling that from time to time we see big bills and large invoices, quotations and requests for budgets; what are we doing to make sure that we do not end up falling into the trap of paying for exorbitant services and demands? Actually, we do check these demands and requests to make sure that we do the right value for money audits and make sure that there is sufficient competitive bidding process to make sure that we get value for money.
We become even more thorough now, having realised that this is quite rampant and we try to make sure that it does not happen. I gave examples of certain quotations for budgets on infrastructure development and we had to request further services with the engineer who was able to help us bring down the bills which would otherwise have been paid had we not sought these services. So, we remain vigilant, I can assure you Mr. Speaker Sir and Hon. Members.
On the Zimswitch Instant Payment Interchange Technology (ZIPIT), here we are putting new limits and trying to curb the abuse of these large limits in the past, we have made them smaller to curb the abuse and their use in the parallel market. These smart people will not circumvent these new rules and still carry on with their activities. While we remain vigilant, we will try our best to make sure that it does not happen. You can imagine that someone could have different accounts under different names, small ones indeed but when we add them up, they come to something larger.
So, again we have to look out for this and make sure that we minimise this kind of abuse. Of course, the Hon. Member was very strong that, we should arrest these people, I agree with that. Let us make sure that the law and the enforcement is tougher. We will make sure that this is the case. This is also the simple point raised by Hon. Nyabani that the law must take its course. I agree with this enforcement, it is very critical to make sure that there is discipline in the market.
Why do we still have queues with new money pouring into the economy? It is still not enough. At the moment, our cash in circulation is about 4% of Gross Domestic Product. In other economies and in the region, it is about 10%, or even below half. So, it will take us a while to get up there. You know with Zimbabwe, the moment you announce that I am going to bring in a lot of cash and do this, the rates start misbehaving and people take positions. So, sometimes we have to send a kind of mute message in terms of what we are trying to do just to manage expectations about excess liquidity getting into circulation and into the economy. We will get there, our target is still the 10% of cash in circulation as the percentage of GDP but it needs to be gradual and we need to do it prudently using this swap method between RTGS liquidity and cash.
Let me turn to the issue of tobacco farmers, which has been eloquently articulated by two Hon. Members who feel that tobacco farmers are being prejudiced. They are at the moment on this 50:50 rule, 50% foreign currency and 50% local currency. The exchange rate on the foreign currency is 25and it is fixed, they are feeling that they are being prejudiced and the request that we move and make sure that there is some kind of incentive to make sure that these farmers feel it is worthwhile to go back into tobacco farming.
All I can say is that I have listened and as Government we are listening but that is the rule at the moment, we have a fixed exchange rate of 25 and it is a 50:50 rule, but we have listened to this plea, we are not deaf at all. If I may remind you on what happened last year, the Members of the House said Minister there is a problem on Tabacco floors, when where you last there. So I said I am going to go, they said the two percent tax is hurting farmers. So the following day I went there and I confirmed that and we instantly removed the 2 percent tax for the tobacco farmers. Again,1 I have listened to this and I will make the necessary engagements with the Central bank and within Government consultations and see where anything can be done. I want to refer to
Hon. Nyabani’s question on arresting these illegal traders which I agree
with.
There is a very clear proposal from one Hon. Moyo who is urging the adoption of the multi-currency system. I just want to say it is a proposal and proposals are what they are, they are proposals but let me remind you - in the past, I think we thought we had a multi currency system which excluded domestic currency; that is not true. The truth is from 2009, we had a domestic currency called RTGs, what happened back then is we were able to sell confidence. We all agreed that RTGS balances are in exchange rate of 1:1 to the US dollars. So we had always had a domestic currency since 2009. Now, we have it as well, I hope with that proposal he is not suggesting that the Zimbabwean dollar need to exit, it cannot. You cannot afford to have hard currency only and no domestic currency. No economy can develop without a domestic currency, you need that.
Through you Hon. Speaker but I have to address my colleague just for a meeting. Hon. Moyo if you will allow me to deviate from the rules. You cannot have a situation where your macro-economic walks on one leg, on fiscal policy only and there is monetary policy. The moment you go back to hard currency, you have to scrap monetary policy. Your Central Bank is not run from Harare it is run from elsewhere, by those whose currency you are using and you have no control over the value of that currency. Suddenly you lose competitiveness and we lost so much competitiveness during the use of the US dollar in the main although we had RTGs balances that we were also using to a point where I recall that we had to introduce import duties so that we do not get too many goods, especially from South Africa and we were de-industrialising. We had to do that to protect our industry, why, because our currency was not competitive. The reference currency was not competitive.
What has happened Mr. Speaker Sir, in the last 12 months, I challenge you, I challenge all Hon. Members, it is not even a challenge, I encourage Hon. Members through you Mr. Speaker Sir, just go to any one shop and ask the manager, how many new products are on the shelves which all have come in, in the last 12 months. I did that, I counted 40 new products. So we are doing import substitution and that is the impact of the domestic currency. When you have a weak domestic currency, what it does is it encourages import substitution because it makes imports more expensive; that is a positive thing.
For those companies that are exporting, they get more in domestic currency and that is what redefines competitiveness. So you find that export growth is more positive, you just can increase in export growth and then also companies can also import substitute. I just want to say to my colleague Hon. Moyo that you need a domestic currency which is weaker than the US dollar, but it must be stable. So our debate really is about currency stability and not about whether it should be there or not. It is there, we should keep it, we have always had it, but we did not recognise it. I can go into that history since 2009 and explain at some point in the future, so keep the Zimbabwe dollar but let us stabilize it and that is what we are doing as Government.
Hon. Nduna asked about the roller meal subsidy. I am quite aware of the challenges that the subsidy has presented that we need to improve targeting. We are aware of that as Government, some of the beneficiaries should not be benefiting. I am also aware that some of the roller meal is finding its way across the borders and it is leaking, they are enough smart Zimbabweans who find ways to make money from this subsidized roller meal. He refers specifically to a contract with GMAZ - we are in discussions; contracts get negotiated and renegotiated, and we are doing exactly that. We work very well with the suppliers of maize and we are working on that, we will get there.
Of course the availability of roller meal has also been impacted by the availability of maize in the first place and that is also a challenge, we have been importing. We cannot import fast enough, COVID made it harder. We also noticed that the prices in South Africa started falling, which is where most of the maize was coming from. If you look at the futures markets on the South Africa Futures Exchange prices started declining. Initially we were averaging $350 per metric tonne and noticed that in the market in South Africa, prices are dropping to below $300 per metric tonne. Naturally you have to renegotiate and that process takes time, you lose supply of maize. So that is what has been partly bedeviling the availability of roller meal, we will get there. We are pleased that the local purchases are increasing and local farmers are beginning to deliver at GMB and they have received this early delivery incentive of 30% and we hear that there is some joy. We hope that they can do it faster.
Hon. Nduna also referred to the issue of devolution funds which are being spent on health institutions. I agree with him and thank you for applauding us, we have determined that we really upgrade our health institutions and try to meet that Abuja target but we will also expedite the release of these funds. He also talked about the use of these funds for upgrading water infrastructure, pipes ignition in Chegutu. Again, that is an area of focus for us. We have said that these devolution funds this year, we should target water infrastructure and health infrastructure and agree with him that it is making a difference. Let us all make a difference. There was reference to gold incentive and the formula which now has been changed from 55/45 to 70/30, so 70% hard currency and this I agree, will stimulate the gold deliveries to the producers even further rather than supporting the middlemen, it is usually men so I will stick to middlemen.
On food for work, this is an urgent matter that I know Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare is ceased with to make sure that that programme begins to work and work properly. Young men need to exercise, better still if they are doing it for free food building the roads or whatever they have to do in their communities, this is a good thing and I will pass the message on, but also make sure that there is robust debate on how to accelerate this food for work programme.
The idea of setting aside 5% of gold receipts to finance education and e-learning, all those are interesting ideas, of ringfencing resources to target a specific issue. I think it is fair to say that we now have a digital divide caused by COVID-19 as far as the education sector is concerned. The private schools can afford e-learning facilities and so forth and those in the poorer schools, mainly Government or other schools cannot. So we have that digital divide now and that needs to be closed – we recognise that closing that is key. I listened very keenly to the debate about opening of schools and I will not make a contribution – I am here to listen from the Government side.
We are trying and as you know, we have now launched radio programmes. Those of you who are my age or older – we grew up on radio lessons which I enjoyed thoroughly. I remember we even did a book on King Solomon’s Mines and when I think about it, I even hear the voice – it was so soothing. It was done by an expert and the theatrics in terms of sounds in the background were most amusing and captivating. I remember everything about those radio lessons much more than I did from the ordinary books at that age. So, we are trying our best but we know that the digital divide is an issue that we need to deal with.
Then from Hon. Gandawa who spoke about why are we not
mopping up excess liquidity. I agree with him that the Central Bank is working on a corporate bond issuance programme so that they can target those with excess liquidity and issue bonds that are attractive. I think often the issue is, are the yields attractive enough for those with excess liquidity and that is what needs to be cracked. I know that they are working on it – these targeted corporate bonds are key to mopping up that liquidity that is how it is done. I think that we will succeed. I will stop here and thank you Mr. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Thank
you very much Hon. Minister for your articulation – well articulated.
May I have another round of questions raising areas of concern?
+HON. S. NDLOVU: The question I would like to ask is, what is Government or the Hon. Minister doing in connection with the madness of high prices of commodities? This is especially with reference to the high prices for cooking oil, mealie meal and bread and things are very expensive. People would want to know what Government is saying
about all this.
We are lucky today that the Hon. Minister is here to answer these questions because people want to know what is going on. There is no stable price as it is each dealer has his own price. Today, I am told that the price of bread is now ZWL$40.00 from ZWL$30.00 and the price of sugar has gone up. Hon. Minister, everything has gone up, how are people going to survive? People are going to die. I thank you.
HON. K. PARADZA: Hon. Minister, we need clarity in terms of who is funding Command Agriculture. Is it Government or private money?
Why am I saying that? I am saying that because right now all those farmers who had delivered their maize to the GMB have been garnished. The figures that they are using to recover the money are just outrageous. So farmers who harvested something this year and sent it to the GMB have no money to talk about and it is because we do not know what the bank is doing in terms of pricing of the inputs that we have. So we need that clarity Hon. Minister. I thank you.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir and thank you to the Hon. Minister. I just have a few issues for clarification.
The first one is that you came to this House, I think just before we went off on COVID-19 break, to speak to us around what you were calling a floating rate, but it then did not become a floating rate because you maintained a fixed rate. I remember at that time I raised a question on what you were going to do with the issue of the fuel cost. Clearly when you look at your fixed rate of 25 and how much the value of the dollar - not even on the parallel market but realistically – it really is running around 1:40. How do we sustain this. because all we see is the arbitrage that is happening with it?
For example, I know that there are people who deliver fuel at my house when I call for it and they are selling it at USD$1.00 per liter. Clearly, they are not importing it from outside. They must be getting it from the fuel pump so that it then makes the extra, because in real terms you are probably selling your fuel at about Twenty cents. Is it sustainable to maintain that?
The second one is really clarification on why Government is not using certain processes to be able to get hard currency because we do not have hard currency. I will just give you an example. Your medical aid insurance has an option of charging in foreign currency at a reasonable cost but they tell us that they have not been allowed to do so except for corporates. So if I am an individual trying to get insurance in forex I cannot not get it and yet that is money that you could immediately get.
Your insurance for cars is exactly the same, they are still going on the Z$ and we know that it is not sustainable.
In terms of inflation it does not matter how much you pay now, if your car is involved in an accident, you will not be able to repair it at the cost of the ZWL$. Why are we not approving this so that at least we can start mopping out some of the foreign currency that is there? This is also the same with funeral policies. Why are we holding back? We now have a Statutory Instrument that talks to multi-currency but we are not using that multi-currency so that we can mop up the money that is there.
Testing for COVID-19 at private hospitals – again this is very concerning. We have CIMAS and other private hospitals that are testing. Rapid tests are going for USD$25.00 or USD$30.00 and PCR USD$75.00 – we do not know the agents where they are getting, whether they got them from you or they are theirs but surely if I am going to test at USD$75.00 why is Government not charging VAT on these? If this person charges me USD$70.00 at least USD$5.00 in hard cash could be coming to Government.
On procurement, what are you doing since you have now kind of suspended with your new regulations? You have suspended PRAZ in terms of issues of procurement. What is the alternative regulation that you have put in place? I see you are shaking your head. What used to happen with any form of procurement was it would go to PRAZ. What we understand in the last Statutory Instrument that you put in is you indicated that because we are going through a pandemic, we cannot follow the same regulations that we used to follow as defined in the Procurement Act and in the regulation. The question is, what are the alternative regulations that we are now using for purposes of procurement? I think that without an alternative regulation, then we have a problem.
On e-learning, we could be getting money from e-learning because private people are charging USD$1 600.00 per parent per semester, that is at St. Georges. These people are just doing it and not giving a penny to Government. We are getting no cent from it. Why are we not pushing for the licensing so that we can get money from this thing?
Lastly, again Econet is milking it every minute. Now they are selling airtime in USD$, you choose that you can get it in US dollar. Our own NetOne is not creating that facility. Private sector makes money,
our own companies cannot use the same system that is there. The summary of this issue is, why is Government hesitant to use the systems that are there to be able to get forex that we need because we have so many opportunities of making money in hard currency that we are not, which is why the private sector then comes in and we complain that they are taking money from us yet we are just not thinking outside the box.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving
me this opportunity to debate on what the Hon. Minister said in order for the country to go forward. I wanted to look at bank centres for gold.
Since we were born and even after independence Fidelity Printers and Refinery has been there. It is a Government company and has operated since the Smith regime through to Mugabe and now is in His Excellency
President Mnangagwa’s period. I have not heard of any wrong that they have done. You have said they have to buy gold for $45 and it has to be fixed at that amount. You then gave another company licence to buy gold which has not even started buying it. You gave another private company an exporting licence to compete with Fidelity at $45, thereby competing with a Government company. There was another company which was given a licence to buy and export gold and they have exported gold which has not been recovered by the country. It just went away. Are you not creating a war as a Minister with the way you pegged the Fidelity buying price at $45? That has affected Fidelity. You asked them to give people incentives and now you have removed them a day before yesterday. We are looking up to this company. It is a company which has a printing machine. They put features on our money and it has a very strong hold which is well equipped but the company which you have given a licence does not even have a vault.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the price of $48 versus $45, is it not going to cause inflation and price hikes in shops? People will increase prices of commodities such as mealie-meal and bread will go up because you are now misusing foreign currency. As a Minister, do you think these measures are adequate enough? Are we going to succeed, I only want to understand from you Minister.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I have a few points of clarity. Hon. Minister spoke about setting aside $2 billion dollars for the winter wheat farming. How much of it has been disbursed? My second point of clarity to the Minister is to do with water in Bulawayo. The Minister spoke on water in Insiza and also drilling boreholes on either side of the aquifer. I noticed the last time when the Minister came down to Bulawayo, they said there was no water crisis in Bulawayo yet as a matter of fact, there is a water crisis in Bulawayo. Residents are going without water for as long as up to a week. To compound this issue, right now we are in the COVID era and in Bulawayo, we are having outbreaks of diarrhoea. The Hon. Member of Luveve Constituency had a number of cases of diarrhoea and there are other constituencies in Bulawayo that are suffering from the same problem. Without water we are heading for a disaster in Bulawayo. Mr. Speaker Sir, would it not be wise for the Government to declare Bulawayo water crisis a national disaster seeing that the Minister of Finance is having problems with raising foreign currency to assist the local authority? I think that it would be a good idea that Bulawayo water crisis is declared a national disaster. In that way we can try and get foreign and local funding. I was reading somewhere where it was being spoken to the fact that if we declare Bulawayo water crisis as a national disaster it will deter investors, but I put it that if we declare Bulawayo water crisis investors that want to invest in Bulawayo will see that we want to do something about Bulawayo. That way it will bring in investment and you will get foreign funding coming in to help Bulawayo resuscitated. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity to talk. I would like to thank the Minister of Finance for his Ministerial Statement. I have noted something from his Statement. Last year we had a budget and a workshop. After that, we came and debated the issue but now looking at COVID and all the plans that we had, is the Minister now aware that some of us come from Region 5 in Bubi District in Matabeleland North? Region 5 is a dry area and we have boreholes that have dried up. Dams are also drying up and all our people are going to be wiped out. I was thinking that looking at the period that we are in, the period of COVID and also looking at climate change, for life to carry on after COVID when we look at all the programmes that were there, looking at the infrastructure like dams and roads – all those things have stopped. We are going to face more deaths now due to the effects of climate change especially in Region 5. I have also noticed that we spoke about COVID, prices and other issues, I want to differ from what others spoke about. If we continue to use the US$, we are not going to succeed. It was alright whilst we were using multicurrency. If we look at other countries like Zambia, their economy is doing well. We should not allow people to use the multi-currency system because people are trying to drive us to use the multi-currency system. We are not exporting. We are actually importing more than we are exporting, so if we allow people to use the US$ we are going to have a sky rocketing inflation every day.
Lastly, I would like to talk about people’s current salaries. The money that we are earning currently as Hon. Members here is not enough to buy fuel to go to constituencies and come back. Fuel is being sold in US$ and if you convert your salary to US$, you find that your money is nothing. The Minister should remember that we have projects that we have to complete. People are suffering and we will end up being assaulted by people in our constituencies. A lot of people are not working and some of them are not even working at all. Some do not have grain to eat. The Minister should not forget that we have a budget and we also want those items that were in the budget to be fulfilled. I thank you.
HON. MADHUKU: I just want to find out from the Hon. Minister whether the use of foreign currency in transactions is not giving any loopholes. How do you effectively monitor and control the use and circulation of those foreign currency transactions that are done especially at filling stations? We have noticed that fuel is always available when it is sold in forex but when we use the RTGs it is not available. I have also noticed that in certain big shops there is a queue at the till when buying in RTGs and a separate one for US$ but the till slips they receive from there is for RTGs. I think there are some
unscrupulous deals that are being done there. Why are they allowing such a situation? This means that the money is not banked. How do we account for that because as Government we need that foreign currency? As far as I am concerned, there is no accountability.
*HON. P. ZHOU: I would like to thank the Minister for coming and giving us this Ministerial Statement. I would like to notify the Minister that we want him to be present every Wednesday for question time. We have serious issues to discuss with you especially relating to our economy, food in particular. People are dying of hunger. This hunger is now prevalent because our money is now worthless. Whenever a new currency is introduced, people are happy but when the new notes were introduced, people were not happy because they knew that the money was going to be worthless within a short time. When that new $10 note was introduced, we just saw it on the streets. When you get into the banks they tell you that they do not have money and they are waiting for the $20 notes.
Things are now difficult. There is hunger in the rural areas. The prices of commodities are too high and people cannot afford. Can we not implement price controls - $1 000 cannot buy anything. You cannot budget with it. My child went to university in Mberengwa to do research – he used $700. It was not enough for him to return. We had to send him more money on his way back home. Where can we get all that money? I am a farmer and have got workers that I have to pay. I have to pay 35 permanent workers and I have to pay $1 700 and 75 casual workers. I do not know how to pay them. If you reduce the numbers, you cannot manage the farm.
After harvesting you find that the money will be worthless. We are not even making profits from farming. If I want to repair my tractors, the bearing costs US$10-50. When I want to buy something, it is charged in US$ but I am being paid in RTGS; US$10 is $700. If I get my salary of $7 000 here and divide it with 700, I get US$100.
Sometimes it will not be US$100. If we are affected as Members of Parliament, what about those people in rural areas? Life is difficult Hon.
Minister.
The black market which is affecting us is now even at OK and TM shops. Why are we allowing them to do that? We are legislators, where are we failing? How can we fix this Minister? You are the one who sit in the Cabinet, how can we fix this? Please help us Minister. You are the one who sits in Cabinet, so bring the law to us so we can look at it. Minister, my plea or my wish is, I do not know how I can express it but in the rural areas, the people are saying we are not working or doing anything for them. The moment they saw me in my constituency and I told them I was going to work, they said go and tell them we are dying of hunger. To survive Covid-19, people should be well fed. We are not doing any meaningful work to get money but just working around our households but life has become so tough. Minister, people are dying of hunger. Everything has become burdensome. Transport is very expensive and unaffordable.
I was very happy about winter wheat because they did very well. Inputs came in time and CBZ told us how much fuel each person would get but it is just a figure. Minister, we just got a bit of fuel and we are unable to plough and plant. As I speak, my tractor is parked. I want to beat the deadline but there is no fuel. Things are not well in terms of hunger. People are hungry. I will stop here but let me just reiterate that people are hungry and people are crying. This applies to everyone, those who work and those who do not work. Things are very expensive.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this chance to speak. The other time Government bought a drilling machine which was said could drill up to 1000m. I have not seen it yet. Do we have it in the country? The second thing is you never spoke about how you are going to control corruption. There is a lot of corruption. Why is money in the street? It is corruption. The reason why all these people are complaining is because if you go to Mozambique, you cannot go into a shop and bring out a US$. They will tell you to go to a Bureau-deChange and get meticais. Why can we not do it here in Zimbabwe?
Where is the problem Hon. Minister?
HON. MUSAKWA: My question to the Minister is that under this Covid-19 era, a number of countries had stimulus support from the IMF where they got money at very competitive rates. We were excluded because of the arrears that we have with the World Bank and Africa Development Bank. If I recall, one of your major tasks when you assumed office was to work on arrears clearance strategy. How far have we gone and what is militating against this because if we access these concessionary funds, that will go a long way in boosting our current account reserves and mitigating some of these forex challenges that we are facing. I need a comment from the Minister.
HON. NYONI: Thank you Mr Speaker Sir. I will be very brief. The first thing is on the currency stabilisation. Nothing has been mentioned about cash. We see these money changers carrying cash around but nothing will be done to them. My suggestion was that perhaps the Minister, since the RBZ is under his control, if there could be some legislation that only allows somebody to carry say up to $20000 and anything more than that should be forfeited because all the money that is supposed to be in the bank is in the streets. Secondly, the Old Mutual Implied Rate. We know that the rate of exchange is fixed. Interbank is 1:25. However, most of the trading is done on the informal market and then the OMIR – this Zimbabwe exchange rate – so called Old Mutual, is by comparison of the price of shares of insurer Old Mutual on the London and Harare Stock Exchange. However, there was one time that the stock market banned Old Mutual from trading but then you will realise that this OMIR, when these shops do their pricing, they just google on the internet and peg the prices against this rate. I thank you.
HON. PRO. M. NCUBE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I also thank the Hon. Members for the comments and questions. I think it is good that I needed to be patient because they are raising very good questions and I appreciate that I held back a bit. Thank you for stopping me as well. I wanted to jump at it.
Firstly, I would like to address the Hon Member who spoke about the sky rocketing prices. This madness that we are seeing in the price increases on a daily basis and also the parallel market going up; what I would like to say is that we are trying to arrest these price increases and we are also trying to investigate those who are doing that. Furthermore, we are seeing to it that the money changers are arrested and those using mobile platforms are arrested and made to pay fines. That is what the RBZ is doing. We are really trying but it is not easy because if people are used to doing something, it is not easy to stop them. We are however really trying. I am sure you have also noticed that every time we arrest people and we close their accounts, the rate goes down and that shows that there is something not right that they are doing. That is what we are trying to investigate.
Another Hon. Member enquired about who is funding command agriculture and we are noticing that the price of inputs has gone up and farmers have been shocked by the high input prices which are squeezing their profit margins. This is the second time that I have heard that farmers are not happy about this. I must admit that personally, I was not quite aware as you know the agriculture programme is run as a project among several departments and Finance tries to ensure finances are available, then agriculture and now we have the banks.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, maybe if I
could add one other point that maybe you left out. It is the issue of interest being charged by the banks on the money that will have been borrowed.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Hon Speaker for adding
that. On interest we had agreed with the banks that the interest should be kept. There is actually a rule that we put in place. I shall certainly follow up on that with the Central Bank just to make sure that the rule is enforced. I do not know what is going on there but I think on the cost of inputs, generally this should have been revealed upfront to farmers. One can understand of course we are in an inflationary environment. Maybe it is not easy to reveal all the costs and declare them upfront contractually but it then comes as a surprise later and then the margins are squeezed when you compare the producer price, the buying price compared to the price of these inputs. This is something that we need to fix. I will engage my colleague the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Shiri, the Central Bank and the banks that are involved to see what can be done to assist the farmers. We do not want to be importing maize. The maize is here and if we do not solve this problem, farmers will be forced to side market and we will not get maize into GMB. It will then impact our strategic reserves building ability and that is not a desirable situation. We do not want that so I really appreciate the Hon. Member for raising that issue.
Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga raised the issue around the rate that we announced a managed float but because of Covid-19, we then fixed a rate. This is causing a lot of arbitrage especially in the fuel sector and some of the fuel is found in the parallel market. There is a parallel market for fuel as opposed to the other currency. We are aware of this arbitrage. The issue of the fixed rate is a transitory issue as we try to deal with Covid-19 and its impact on the country’s liabilities. We will deal with it in the fullest of time once we feel we are out of the Covid-19 red zone.
The Hon. Member also talked about why not even introduce the medical insurance and hard currency and companies allowed, why not do so for individuals including car insurance. You see, we have to be careful about how we balance the use of this hard currency as well. It is very important that we should promote domestic currency. The reason is that 80% of Zimbabweans do not really have direct access to foreign currency in USD, it is only about 20%. Yes, some of that 80% receive remittances from abroad in hard currency but this is survivalist receipts just to keep them above water but really in principle 80% of Zimbabweans do not have hard currency. We always need a domestic currency which has to be promoted. So we have to strike a balance every time to make sure we do not undermine the domestic currency as well.
She also raised a very interesting idea which I was salivating on as a tax collector. It does not mean I will do something about it but I was salivating nonetheless, which is that we should be charging VAT on this exorbitant testing cost and expenses cost like $75 for a PCR test. It is very high and maybe we should be collecting taxes from it but look, it is a proposal, it does not mean I will rush and do it but I was salivating indeed.
Then she also mentioned that we seem to have suspended PRAZ, no we have not. We still have PRAZ. We said that because of the need to procure urgently, quickly and so forth, we needed an expedited process. Really this is about having an expedited process because we want to procure quickly. We have not suspended PRAZ at all. It is there and in force, and it is supposed to do its job to make sure that we curb corruption.
She also talked about other opportunities for raising resources from the e-learning activities from private schools that are charging US$1 600 per semester. I am listening carefully to all these opportunities and that some mobile companies are now even selling mobile airtime and fuel in USD. All these are opportunities for raising revenue. Again, I am listening very carefully to those suggestions and I will evaluate that.
I move on to Hon. Matambanadzo who asked about the licencing of other gold buyers other than Fidelity who may even be offering higher prices per ounce of gold than Fidelity and therefore, might actually squeeze out Fidelity which is our own Government entity. I will look into this issue. The way you articulated it also got me thinking and I will certainly look into it and see if indeed there is a danger but you could find that some of these entities are actually licenced by Fidelity in the first place so they ought to deliver to Fidelity because Fidelity is basically the sole buyer of gold. I am not so sure how then this pricing is determined but I will investigate and find out to make sure that Fidelity is supported and we maximise gold deliveries for the generation of foreign currency which is much needed.
Another Hon. Member raised questions on the winter wheat programme. They were very specific and said how much has been disbursed so far. We have disbursed Z$1,8 million and we have another Z$1,2 million or so to go but that is what we have so far done. We are also aware that there is a limited time-bound programme for winter wheat. If you go beyond that, then you are too late. It is important to disburse faster and also to make sure that the farmers register faster as well to access resources.
On Bulawayo, where the Hon. Toffa mentioned that we made a comment when we visited Bulawayo, I did say or one of us did say that Bulawayo has no water crisis. No, we never made such a comment. We said that Bulawayo’s water crisis can be solved if we apply our minds and employ good strategies. In fact, that kind of thinking was what made us believe that we do not necessarily have to declare water disaster but for us to just get on with the job of fixing Bulawayo water crisis and we are doing it. I have said that the water production has gone up from 3 million to 10 million mega litres in one shot, just out of the 15 or so boreholes that we have drilled and we are going to drill some more.
I also mentioned the raw supply of water that has increased from the Insiza Dam just by fixing a valve. It is those engineering mechanical things that we need to do and you find that in Bulawayo, if we do everything that is possible to do very quickly, in the next few months Bulawayo will have a water supply for the next one year without trouble at all. So, we felt that declaring a water disaster might be a bit premature. We know there is a crisis but let us get on and do it than to cry foul. That is the spirit about that.
Another Hon. Member asked about whether the Covid-19 prevention and response mechanism is not derailing the programmes that we set about doing in the budget. Is there no risk of abandoning our projects? I would say yes indeed, the Covid-19 crisis put pressure on our roadmap as enunciated in the budget but we are determined to get back and also determined that whatever we are doing for Covid-19 does not just address Covid-19 but problems in general. If we think about what we are doing in the health sector which is really that we have accelerated the health sector intervention and gotten our hospitals to scratch to deal with the Covid-19 crisis, but we were going to deal with it anyway but at a slower pace. That is what it has done shifting resources in that way in terms of speed but we are determined to get back to our programme. We do not wish to abandon some of these infrastructure programmes, be
they for dams or roads. We will make sure that we will try to get focused on those.
The Hon. Member also did argue very eloquently that we must always be very careful about yearning wanton use of the hard currency of the USD all the time because it kills competitiveness and we should be learning from our neighbours Zambia and Mozambique where their currencies are coveted and are loved by the users. If you have got USD and you want to use domestic currency, you go to a Bureau-de-change and change. It should be like that here and that is what we would like to do but I guess it takes time for people to appreciate their own currency. We are alive to that and we will keep on promoting and supporting our currency but also making sure that it is stable. It is easier to love something like that when it is stable and can preserve value. So we are working on it. We are aware that 80% of Zimbabweans do not have access to US dollars, so we need a domestic currency and we are determined to stabilise it. The Hon. Member mentioned the issue of salaries that have been eroded by inflation, it is an issue we are aware of.
Again, we know that we are getting into that time of the year when most employers need to do something about cushioning employees, we know that we will get into that season to try to ameliorate the erosion of salaries by inflation.
One Hon. Member mentioned that the use of free funds may be causing some of the problems we are facing. When you go into the shops and pay in US dollars, you do not get your till-slip in US dollars, it is in RTGS and then you wonder if the US dollars are being banked. I also wonder too, I have become alive to that problem. I went shopping and I thought the same thing happened to me, so I am going to deal with it to make sure that we close that hole. I agree with him that we need to close those loopholes.
However, I must say this, when we allowed for the use of free funds, it was to deal with a problem that we could see arising due to COVID in order to give citizens flexibility to use their free funds knowing that we do not have enough cash in circulation. What it does is help us manage money supply growth because you can shove in more Zimbabwean dollars and then we have this perception that they are printing money again and then money supply is going when in fact it is not. If you allow people to use what they already have in their pockets, under their pillows and in their bank accounts, in US dollars, it manages money supply because already that money is in circulation. That is what we have been trying to balance and manage when we allowed for the use of free funds. However, it also creates other challenges and we need to close the loopholes.
The question from Hon. Zhou was not a real question, it was a well-articulated speech. I thank you for your words; you said I should come to Parliament more often; ndicharamba ndichingouya, ndigouya – [Laughter.] – I will come more and more often. However, your words were on point. You mentioned that we have all these economic challenges; we recognise that and that is what we are talking about, it is about those challenges. We will do our best to help our people and our economy. You mentioned inflation and the issue of salaries which have been eroded because prices have gone up, we will continue working for our people and keep discussing about lasting solution for dealing with the economic challenges. I thank you Hon. Member.
The other Hon. Member asked about drilling machines and so on. Yes, there is a programme for acquiring drilling machines that will go one kilometer for ZINWA. You asked me specifically but I will have to consult my colleagues in the right ministry on this one in terms of the stock of their machines. However, I can tell you that I think our work speaks for us, we are working very hard to make sure that we can drill as many boreholes as possible right across the country. In rural areas and in cities, we are capacitating ZINWA as well as DDF to do exactly that.
In terms of the number, I would like to check and then come back to the Hon. Member.
Another Hon. Member asked about the support from the IMF, what is happening to the arrears clearance programme, where are we? That is an ongoing conversation with the international financial institutions. We are pushing hard to make sure that at least during this troubling time of Covid, we are able to make progress in terms of arrears clearance. We have two options as I have explained previously in the past. One option is to talk to the creditors themselves about debt forgiveness and even giving us bridge loans and facilities to clear the arrears and then move on to the second phase and restructure the bilateral debt with the bilateral partners. That is one approach and we are looking at that.
We are also considering Plan ‘B’ which is that, we seek a facility from a friendly lender and we just borrow basically in order to meet the gap for what we owe to the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the World Bank. It is a lot of money but I think we have to bite the bullet at some point to borrow that money so that we can bridge that gap and be able to clear the arrears for the AFDB and the World Bank who are the preferred creditors; I am using some technical language here. However, if we do not clear them, it is not easy to borrow money, for any bank to borrow money so we need to clear these preferred creditors first.
You know what, this is a year we have just been reeling in drought and we are now in COVID, imagine if your Minister of Finance told you that ‘I have just borrowed $500 million and I am going to use it for a bridge loan to clear the loan of bank from which we borrowed so many billion dollars. Borrowing money to pay off when people are hungry, they need medicine and when COVID is upon us. Those are the choices, so you will find that on Plan ‘B’, I have held back and pushed Plan ‘A’ a lot more because I know that the messaging will not work. It would not be the right thing to do, to borrow money to pay off people instead of feeding people Hon. Speaker Sir.
Another Hon. Member asked about, I think it was the last one on the list, he asked about the money changers and doing something about it. I guess this is a question which is very vibrant in the House, it has been asked in different ways. We are dealing with it; the other day I was very pleased when I saw that the Central Bank had acted on this young man who was flashing his new Zimbabwean dollars and he was brought to book to make sure that this kind of thing does not happen. It is not encouraged that this should happen and also what they are doing in clamping down on other errant behaviour, we need more of it. The Financial Intelligent Units have become more active of late and that is pleasing in terms of dealing with this kind of behaviour.
On the Old Mutual implied rate, the Hon. Member read out what this means; what happens with that rate is – basically you compare the price at which Old Mutual is trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange with the way it is trading in London for example and use some fancy models, finance and economics. Then those two prices somehow are meant to reflect the rate at which a currency ought to move in either direction, up or down - in our case it has been down. They also try to use that to predict where inflation should be in the future of our country.
I am fully aware of that methodology.
Let me say two points about it; first as a former academic, the methodology is flawed, severely flawed. However, if people believe it, then they act on it, they do not have to know that it is flawed, they just have to believe it. It is called herd behaviour, they all herd to what they say and say ‘it must be alright.’ However, the methodology is actually flawed because the way a currency moves; I am sorry I have to do one second of this so that you understand where I am coming from – the way a currency moves in the short term is what we call the interest parity theorem, which says that the movement of currency will be determined by the differences in the interest rates in one country compared to another country. So, they have taken that and extended it and applied it to shares. The methodology is completely flawed. So, that is one thing but if people believe it, they believe it, but it is not right.
Then there is the issue of fungibility, where again we are aware that it is not only at Old Mutual that certain investors were using these shares that are fungible for illicit behaviour. I should not say more on that because there is an investigation going on from the regulator and when we decided to suspend the shares, it was really in line with that investigation. Let me not say too much about it but you can see what I am saying. When a suspension happens, it does not mean that you then kill these so called implied rates because this is just a calculator calculation. There is a formula, a spreadsheet and it gives you a rate, so you can just do that regardless of whether anyone is trading on the back of it or not and transferring shares from one register to another, which is what fungibility means. So there it is, it is flawed and it is unfortunate that people believe in flawed methodology, there should not be. If they please, I ask them to take my advice and desist from following a methodology which is flawed but it is a hurtful for our economy. On that note thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, appreciate all the questions and comments.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Before you leave the floor
Hon. Minister there was a question that was raised by Hon. Paradza regarding the issue of whether the Government is actually financing Command Agriculture. Who is financing Command Agriculture?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Mr. Speaker Sir you were listening.
Actually, I had written it down then I switched to the cost of input. It is a good question. The financing of Command Agriculture is a partnership between Government, the Central Bank and the bank. What we do as a first step is to offer a guarantee as Treasury, as Government to banks for them to on-lend to farmers. What we are doing there is to making sure that banks then do not worry about defaults from farmers by seeking collateral from farmers, they ignore that and just rely on a Government guarantee that is to facility Command Agriculture.
You then get to a point where having disbursed the liquidity earmarked for agriculture in a bank, they need more liquidity because there is more demand. We are then able as Government to also extend liquidity for on lending to farmers. So far this has not happened, what has happened is that banks have been able to us their own liquidity on the back of our guarantee through the Central Bank to extend liquidity to farmers; this is a good thing.
In the long run you want commercial agriculture to be funded by your private sector institutions and this is a transitional process towards that. There are banks though, in answering to Hon. Paradza’s question that does not require a Government guarantee. Let me be specific because these are agreements but there is one bank that does not require the Government guarantee they just wanted to be part of the ecosystem of Command Agriculture, they have been allowed to do that and they are lending money at commercial rates. The borrowers are very happy to borrow at those rates and they do not need a guarantee, they feel the high interest rates are able to cushion them against the fall, besides they have got rigorous processes for screening borrowers and they lower their credit risk from these borrowers by choosing the right quality of borrowers. I thank you very much.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much indeed
for the way you have actually responded to the issues that were raised by Hon. Members. I think you might have noted your presence in the
House is highly appreciated. May you move for the adjournment of the House – [HON. MEMBERS: Mota, mota, mota] – He will respond to that next week, procedurally, maybe if he has one or two words I will give him the floor.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: We are working on it Hon.
Colleagues, I must say colleagues when I speak about cars. We are working on it and frankly to be honest - what has been a challenge for us is multifold. If you recall we had agreed in Victoria that we are going to put in place some letters of credit in order to access the cars. We did a first round, maybe half of a second round and did not even complete. We then ran into the demand of forex for importation of grain so we were squeezed. Now that we are seeing some deliveries from local farmers I think things will improve.
Now we are stuck in COVID and we need to import PPEs, medicines and so forth. We have been unlucky in the sense that we have had these two competing needs for forex and certainly citizens when they see us in shiny cars when they are looking for medicines and food - I think our priorities should be clearer than that. You can be sure we are working on it and I think the situation will improve, I see the tobacco sales are also improving. All that helps, when we see more forex coming in - we will reinstate the facility again and import more cars. We are working on it, please bear with us. We just have these demands then we have to prioritize and see what should come first.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE), the House adjourned at Twenty One Minutes past Six o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 16th June, 2020.