PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 22nd November, 2018
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
PRESENTATION OF PRESIDING OFFICERS TO HIS
EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to inform the
House that following my election as President of Senate and Hon. Rtd. Gen. Nyambuya as Deputy President of Senate on 11th September, 2018; in terms of Standing Order Number 11, we will present ourselves to His Excellency the President E. D. Mnangagwa at the State House on Monday, 26th November, 2018 at 0900 hours. We will be accompanied by our proposers and seconders and some other Members who have already received invitations to the event.
PRESENTATION OF THE 2019 BUDGET STATEMENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the
Senate that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development will present the National Budget to the National Assembly today at 1445 hours. Senators will follow proceedings from the monitors in this Chamber.
POST-BUDGET TRAINING WORKSHOP
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also wish to inform
the House that there will be a post-budget training workshop for all Committee Chairpersons to the held tomorrow Friday, 23rd November, 2018 at Rainbow Towers Hotel starting at 0800 hours.
POST-BUDGET SEMINAR
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Furthermore, I wish to
advise the House that all Members of Parliament are invited to a postbudget seminar to be held on Monday, 26th November, 2018 at Rainbow Towers Hotel starting at 0830 hours. Buses will leave Parliament at 0730 hours.
The seminar will be followed by post-budget consultations by
Portfolio Committees starting from Tuesday 27th to Thursday 29th November 2018. Hon. Senators are free to attend any Committee they wish to. A sitting schedule will be circulated to all Members through the pigeon holes.
LETTERS OF ENROLMENT INTO LOCAL UNIVERSITIES
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to advise all
Members who require to be assisted with letters to facilitate their enrolment with local universities, for their academic advancement, to see Mr. Chingoma, the Director Human Resources in office number 406, fourth floor, Parliament Building.
LIGHTING CEREMONY IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 16
DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to remind the
House that all Members of Parliament are invited to a Lighting
Ceremony in Commemoration of the 16 days of activism against Gender
Based Violence on Monday, 26th November, 2018 at 1830 hours, at Parliament Building along Nelson Mandela Avenue. The event is being organised by Parliament in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy and is held annually, from 25 November to 10 December.
GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also wish to remind
the House that there will be a Ground Breaking and laying of the Foundation Stone Ceremony for the New Parliament Building at the site in Mt. Hampden on 30th November, 2018 at 1000 hours. All Members are invited to attend.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. SEN. MATHEMA), the Senate
adjourned at Twenty-two Minutes to Three o’clock p.m. until Tuesday,
18th December, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 21st November, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
SENATE
LIGHTING CEREMONY IN COMMEMORATION OF 16 DAYS OF
ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to
inform the Senate that all Senators are invited to a lighting ceremony in commemoration of 16 days of activism against gender based violence on Monday, 26 November, 2018 at 1830 hours at Parliament Building along Nelson Mandela Avenue. The event is being organised by Parliament in partnership with Netherlands Embassy and is held annually from 25 November to 10 December.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate be adjourned.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 22nd November, 2018.
MOTION
PROTECTION OF CATTLE AGAINST TICK-BORNE DISEASES
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call to control tick-borne diseases affecting livestock in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. Firstly, I would like to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for the motion which deals with tick-borne diseases which have almost wiped out our livestock in this country. This is because of ignorance on how best to eradicate such diseases. In the olden days, people were forced to take their cattle for dipping. That is why we had a lot of livestock to such an extent that pastures were no longer enough. As a result, measures were put in place to ensure that the herds were controlled.
Today with the advent of the land reform, we are now taught that farming is not only in crops but we are also enlightened that we can go into cattle ranching. Cattle ranching can be very profitable to an extent that one can eke out a living and be able to sustain a family. There is a serious problem for people that were resettled in that they were no diptanks that were constructed in those areas. Some people are now spraying their cattle with dipping chemicals using knapsacks so as to protect them from tick-borne diseases. We plead with the Government through the veterinary officers to ensure that dip-tanks are constructed in all resettlement areas. The areas are properly demarcated in terms of the fields and pastures. We appreciate that the resettled people have their livestock. I again reiterate that the resettlement officers and officials from the Ministry should go into the resettled areas and see how best they can come up with solutions to ensure that livestock can be dipped to protect them from tick-borne diseases.
Livestock such as cattle are a source of wealth. One can sell a beast to pay school fees for children as well as to provide for their basic needs. It is my plea that the resettled farmers be assisted through construction of dip tanks and furthermore, they be enlightened as to why it is imperative for livestock to be dipped. If they are ignorant, they will lose a lot of livestock. With such education, diseases that are killing cattle can be eradicated. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: I thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi and her seconder. This motion is very important indeed, particularly for us who are from Matabeleland region which falls under region 5. In region 5, there is no water. The dip-tanks are there but there is no water to pour into these dip-tanks and cattle diseases are plenty there. We wish we could dip our beasts weekly but, we fail because of lack of water in some of our regions.
We are therefore requesting Government for borehole drilling vehicles. In each and every dip-tank, we should pour that water so that our beasts are always in good state without diseases, particularly the tick borne diseases because of lack of dipping. All over the country, we expect that water but as the rains have delayed in coming, the majority of people are worried and are digging for water to pour into their dip tanks. We are therefore requesting that DDF which has such machinery for drilling boreholes should help the people in the rural areas, in small farming areas and in some homesteads water is a problem.
Mr. President Sir, I support this motion because of Hon. Sen.
Chimbudzi’s vision. It is not only in Matabeleland but there are many places that are going without water where there is need for dip-tanks there. In these new resettlement areas, we do not have dip-tanks; we survive by using hand spraying methods for dipping our beasts and it is not enough to cover the burley and the hooves of the beasts.
These tick-borne diseases are a problem, particularly in region 5 because we cannot spray the medicine in-between the hooves. Mr. President, it is only easy when all regions can have dip-tanks so that beasts can be dipped and get the water all over their bodies. Therefore, we request that Government should look into all regions without diptanks. As representatives for these communities, we request particularly in the rural constituencies that there be a number of dip-tanks so as to reduce the diseases that affect our beasts.
There is the lump skin disease as well that affects beasts. We used to buy some medication for ourselves because it is a problem disease in our districts. Those who are selling the drugs now require us to buy them in foreign currency. We therefore request that Government should ensure that we buy the drugs for our beasts using bond notes. It is clear now that rural people are having difficulties in buying these drugs because they cannot access the foreign currency. Those who sell the drugs refuse to sell to us using bond notes. We request that people be allowed to use bond notes, that is the rural people, shop keepers and all those who sell veterinary drugs. It should be legalised that people buy using bond notes. We have failed to fight against some of these diseases because of the challenges of foreign currency in rural areas for we do not have the money to buy the drugs. With those few words Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank
Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi who moved this motion and her seconder Hon.
Sen. Chief Ngungubane. I just want to add my voice to this motion and I have a few things to talk about. You will find that it is a very good motion which is talking about livestock.
Most of our people live on livestock. Some people live on crops, that is those who have sufficient rainfall but for those who are in regions 4 and 5, they really find it difficult to live without livestock, especially when we are talking about cattle. Mr. President, if we look at the issue of cattle especially looking at the current year and time, you will find that we have a lot of problems and we are moving towards the rain season whereby we are supposed to be having all necessary chemicals for dipping. This is the time whereby ticks are at their highest level. So, there is need for chemicals to dip these cattle and if not so, they will die.
Mr. President, you will find that spraying beasts is very effective and they effectively kill the ticks but they tend to be very expensive. Our farmers do not have sufficient resources and they end up limiting those chemicals when they spray their cattle. As a result, these cattle do not get sufficient chemicals and the animals die because if instructions are not well followed, most of the cattle do not really survive.
Another problem that we have Mr. President, is that the number of dip-tanks that we have per area are so limited. Taking into account that now we have drought, our cattle are not supposed to travel long distances – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – It becomes a problem again for those cattle to be taken to dip-tanks because of distance. When they get there, if we are talking about the plunge dip tanks, these cattle are very thin and for them to get into those plunge dip tanks. Some of them get in and are unable to get out such that someone has to be present to wait for those which will have failed to swim across to pull them out of those plunge dip tanks. So, these are the problems that are being faced by our farmers Mr. President and they need help.
Mr. President, looking at this drought situation, our cattle, as thin as they are, need supplementary feeding. If we do not provide supplementary feeding, because of the blood being sucked by ticks, the survival of the cattle becomes very slim. So, there is need for farmers to be trained on mitigation measures such as growing fodder crops in order to provide supplementary feeds for their cattle. The cost of a 50kg supplementary feed for pan feeding costs $25 per bag and very few farmers can afford to buy this manufactured feeds. So, there is need for farmers to be trained to produce fodder crops such as lucerne, banner grass and many more. However, the problem comes because, as we are debating, the water table has gone too low and the boreholes are getting dry which makes it difficult for farmers to grow fodder crops because they do not have sufficient water. As long as there are problems in terms of feeding, there will also be problems of ticks.
Mr. President, our farmers have got a problem, even if we talk about these livestock as their main source of wealth, market prices are very low and there is no way they can sell these animals, they just watch them. We are talking of the bond notes that we have and farmers sell their cattle at a lowest rate of the bond notes and they will not be able to buy supplementary feeds for their cattle.
Without much ado, there is also need to provide funding so that farmers can buy chemicals for dip-tanks. These chemicals are very expensive and I am speaking out of experience. An ordinary farmer cannot afford and there is need for the Government to intervene and assist these farmers to get sufficient chemicals for dip-tanks. With those few words Mr. President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to air my views. I thank the mover, Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for such a good motion and the seconder. We are grateful that you came up with a motion that is useful to us as Senators. In particular, these tick borne diseases are prevalent in the communal lands during this dry season. Our observation is that as we leave our constituencies as men and men, we are concerned on the relish that our children will have as a result of the state of our livestock.
Our livestock should be properly looked after. Donkeys are important for their draft power. Cattle, goats and sheep are equally important are equally important if we look after them properly. You did very well Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi. Mr. President, in my Constituency in the Lowveld, we are in the red zone. It is our plea that a lot of these tick borne diseases arise from these red zone areas because of the hot temperatures that we experience. These tick borne diseases cause cattle to succumb to heart water. Mr. President, ordinary people cannot afford to pay for the chemicals because they are told to pay in foreign currency denominations, which they do not have.
It is our further plea to those who are in the veterinary section to intervene and ensure that chemicals that are required to treat our cattle become affordable. When we were growing up, there was cattle selling at the market place and a lot of villagers would thrive on that. Gone are those days because the Government no longer comes with such good laws to ensure that our cattle are not sold for a song, for example, $10. Our Government urges that cattle should be sold at a good price, but because of the drought and the prevailing climatic conditions and that we are in the red zone, our cattle are not being sold at profitable prices.
We urge the Government to intervene and ensure that the ordinary people in the communal lands have chemicals at affordable prices. We are grateful that the Government gave us livestock through Command Livestock but they urge that if this Command Livestock projects are coming to the communal lands, the Veterinary Department should give us good prices. However, when we go there, we buy chemicals at exorbitant prices. There are also others that are private players who sell these chemicals at exorbitant prices.
Although the Government urges people to ensure that their cattle are dipped, the distances which they travel are too long and are not sustainable. We urge that a lot of dip tanks be constructed so that the ordinary people have ready access within short distances for their cattle to be dipped. We are into cattle ranching more than crop farming because crops are readily affected by drought. At the moment we do not have sufficient pastures because of erratic rains.
We further appeal to Government to ensure that affordable food is also given to the people in the communal lands. We are in the red zone. I know that we have got the buffer and the green zone. Those that are in the buffer and green zone are better, unlike us because they have got sufficient rains. Their cattle and goats have sufficient pasture. We have embarked on command project. We urge those that are involved in such activities to take into account diseases that affect cattle. Calves are not having sufficient milk from their mothers. As a result, they have stunted growth.
We should be able to produce carcasses that are acceptable internationally. The responsible Minister should come here and hear our plea in Parliament. He should understand our plight as members of public that are in the constituencies.
Spray dipping chemicals on livestock does not get rid of tick borne diseases. It is difficult for ticks to be eliminated. Dipping can be the solution as the animal is completely immersed into the chemicals. This habit of spraying chemicals does not get rid of tick borne disease. The tick borne disease will eventually cause heart water disease and a lot of cattle are succumbing to that.
We should have chemicals that are affordable so that the communal farmer can benefit. We know that some of these chemicals are imported. We urge those that are importing these chemicals to sell them at affordable prices so that we are able to maintain and look after our livestock properly.
The 1993 Act concerning this issue should be repealed because it is an archaic law since we are in a new dispensation. I mentioned that there are some people that have been referred and these people buy communal farmers’ beasts. They remove the head, fats and other things. After that they weigh the carcass and then pay – either $5 or $30 and they also deduct some money after slaughtering the beast. We urge that there be level ground to ensure that the livestock farmers do not get a raw deal from such unscrupulous players. Thank you Mr. President for affording me this time.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the motion do now adjourn.
HON. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 22nd November, 2018.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 139TH ASSEMBLY OF THE INTER-
PARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the 139th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva, Switzerland
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. I just want to thank Hon. Sen. Muzenda and her seconder Hon. Chief Mtshane for presenting this report. I also want to add my voice to this motion. I will just choose a few items that I will take care of.
During her presentation, Hon. Sen. Muzenda talked a lot about the sidelining of women and youth. As a country, we have to think about these vulnerable groups who are mostly oppressed. You find that there are so many declarations on the rights of women and youths and they are enshrined in our Constitution but when things happen, those rights are forgotten. People end up not recognising that women and youths have got their rights.
We have an issue which is pending on the declaration of women rights which talked about 50-50 representation in all decision making processes. It is not happening. You find that women and youths act on decisions that they do not pass. Those decisions are made somewhere where they cannot reach. They are then just given instructions to follow. It is so worrying because they end up not doing what they are supposed to do.
She went on to talk about the youth – their migration. You find that our youths migrate trying to find greener pastures or trying to get employment elsewhere but they do not get it. At the end of the day, we have what they call human trafficking whereby our youths are taken as slaves and they work in other countries without getting a salary, which is also a worrying issue. Mr. President, if you can imagine your child or a woman being lured to a foreign country and her passport taken away, it is really miserable. Our youths as you can recall Mr. President, one of our Senators talked about drug abuse. These youths, because of idleness, end up engaging in drug abuse and prostitution for them to get a living. There is need for our youths to be trained so that maybe we get employment for them. Projects are maybe the best cure for these youths so that they do not just migrate to wherever they think and they get abused by other people. So, there is need for them to be taken to vocational training centres for training on different skills so that they can sustain themselves.
Also she talked about climate change. It is real and we are living with it. Climate change involves a lot of issues. As we talk, you find that these droughts which we were just talking about here are also caused by climate change. The season where we think we have rains just like what we are facing at the moment – there is no rain and there is no grass or pastures for our animals. As a result, our cattle are dying now. Also, sometimes due to climate change, when it starts raining, it becomes more than what is needed at a particular time and we end up having floods which wash away the good soils to the rivers and the seas. We then remain with degraded areas whereby nothing grows. If you go to most areas that are not protected, the soil is so degraded in such a way that it needs a lot of fertilisers if we are to grow proper crops that will sustain our people. This is all because of climate change. Without much-ado there is need for us as Parliamentarians to go for workshops where we can learn more about climate change so that this information goes down to our constituencies. We have work to do Mr. President, to educate our communities on how climate change affects our people.
With these few words Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GWESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to Resume: Thursday, 22nd November 2018.
MOTION
NATIONAL POLICY ON PERSONS LIVING WITH DISABILITY
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to formulate a comprehensive National Disability Policy and review the Disabled Persons Act.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. RAMBANEPASI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 22nd November, 2018.
MOTION
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for devolution
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAKONE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 22nd November, 2018.
MOTION
CASH SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
Sixth order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call to solve the cash crisis in the country.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHINAKE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 22nd November, 2018.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE, the House adjourned at Twenty Two Minutes
past Three o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 20th November, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
SENATE
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Section 128
(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that before a Member takes his or her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the oath of a
Member of Parliament in the form set out in the Third Schedule. Section
128 (2) states that, the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament.
I, therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the oath of a Member of Parliament to Hon. Sen. Ndabazekhaya Cain G.
Mathema.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. SEN. NDABAZEKHAYA CAIN G. MATHEMA
subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the law and took her seat – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
VERIFICATION OF BIO-DATA INFORMATION THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to
advise all Senators who submitted their bio-data forms to the Public Relations Department to kindly visit the Public Relations Officers who will be stationed at the Members’ Dining Hall from 1400 hours to 1630 hours during sitting days and verify the information before it is uploaded on the Parliament website.
MOTION
PROTECTION OF CATTLE AGAINST TICK-BORNE DISEASES HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move the motion standing in my
name that the House: -
AWARE that 70% of the diseases affecting cattle in Zimbabwe such as babesiosis, anaplasmosis and theileriosis are caused by ticks; ALSO AWARE that tick-borne diseases cause weight loss and consequently impact negatively on livestock production;
FURTHER AWARE that the animal Health Act [Chapter 19:01] and Statutory Instrument No. 250 of 1993 provide for dipping of livestock, especially cattle, to protect them against tick-borne diseases;
NOW THEREFORE; calls upon the Ministry of Lands,
Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Settlement to
- ensure proper maintenance of dip tanks and increase the number of dip tanks in areas mostly affected by tick-borne diseases;
- enforce registration of calves within the stipulated period of two weeks;
- monitor and control movement of livestock; and
- encourage farmers to regularly dip their livestock in order to prevent tick-borne diseases.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NGUNGUBANE: I second.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I am asking your permission Mr. President to read my notes because there are figures that I will not be able to articulate off-hand.
The live stock in Zimbabwe: Historical background The major livestock in Zimbabwe are; cattle, poultry, pigs, goats and sheep. In rural areas, 50 to 60% of rural households own cattle, 70 to 90% own goats and over 80% own chickens. Small scale farmers own most of the cattle (90%), goats (98%) and pigs (80%) as important sources of animal protein, draught power, income and social safety net during emergencies, especially drought.
Mr. President, livestock is very important in reducing poverty and food security. Since 2002, Zimbabwe has experienced general decrease in livestock population. Between 2002 and 2005, cattle population on large scale farms declined from about 25% of the national herd to less than 13% of the national heard(Anseeuw et al; 2011) and to less than 21 689 (less than 1%) in 2009. Dairy herd also declined from 104 483 in 1994 to 43 159 in 2004 and to 22 000 in 2009, leading to decline in milk production. By 2009, the livestock population of Zimbabwe consisted of 5.1 million cattle, 21 689 dairy, 397 800 sheep, 3.2 million goats and
202 234 pigs.
The major constraints facing the livestock subsector are;
- low calving rate 45%;
- high mortality of 4.4% as compared to the desired rate of 3% pe annum;
- degradation of grazing pastures due to overstocking and recurrent droughts;
- limited access to markets due to restrictions of movement of animals;
- unavailability of breeding stock and experienced breeders;
- high incidence of disease;
- lack of access to inputs and services;
- lack of farmer skills;
- inefficient weight gain or prolonged phase to market weights; and
- lack of suitable finance to expand production.
Animal Health: with reference top cattle
Mr. President, Zimbabwe lost 3430 cattle due to tick-borne diseases between November 2017 and May 2018 with Mashonaland East recording the highest deaths. According to the Veterinary Services Department, farmers are losing cattle to theileriosis popularly known as january disease, babesiosis, heart water, anaplasmosis and sweating sickness. The january disease is the major killer, theileriosis has killed 1751 cattle, babesiosis 235, heart water 816, anaplasmosis 596 and sweating sickness 32 countrywide.
Mashonaland East has the highest cases of tick borne diseases recorded. The Department of Veterinary Services said that there were 2 698 cases with 1 441 deaths recorded. Chikomba areas has been severely affected with 1 249 cases and 761 deaths reported.
Mr. President, on the importance of dip tanks in Zimbabwe; it is recorded that 70% of the diseases affecting cattle is due to tick borne diseases such as babeosis, anaplasmosis and theileriosis hence; it is important to control ticks by dipping. Tick infection and tick borne diseases are important conditions which affect livestock health and productivity in Zimbabwe. This means that increased availability of dip tanks increases health and productivity in animal and suppress livestock deaths.
Mr. President, challenges faced by farmers in controlling animal diseases:
- There have been prohibitive charges, costs of veterinary products, dipping fees and ancillary charges which hampered farmers from dipping their cattle.
- Lack of water, broken down infrastructure, broken water pumps and general lack of supervised veterinary services in the rural areas;
- Because of the shortage of dip chemicals during the 2017 to 2018 rain season, the farmers had to go for erratic dipping which could only cater for a few individualised beasts;
- Low turnout at dip tanks which leaves other beasts at risk as some farmers are not willing to take their cattle for dipping at the communal dip tank as they prefer conducting the operation themselves and may do it in the wrong way and this is not effective in controlling ticks;
- The veterinary officers on the ground realised that there are fake chemicals on the market and some farmers cannot tell the difference as the packaging is the same;
- Unable to offer the weekly recommended dipping due to lack of resources.
Mr. President, policies put in place by the Government towards reducing the spread of animal diseases:
- Statutory Instrument 280 of 1984 prohibits movement of sick animals. This is intended to reduce the spread of animal diseases from one region to another, even among our neighbouring countries.
- Public Health Act Statutory Instrument 50 of 1995, governing slaughter and human consumption. This is designed to ensure that the health of consumers is protected.
Mr. President, on the importance of livestock to the Zimbabwean society:
- It is an important source of income for some households;
- Livestock provides meat and milk while poultry eggs readily available in small amounts that can meet the demands of households;
- Central to major social support systems and ceremonies meaning that in many African societies, livestock are the basis for traditional social systems, for example paying dowry;
- Livestock provides a variety of benefits including hides and skins which can be used by different companies like Bata, hence fulfilling the dependent circle between multiple interdependence sectors of production;
- Mainly in communal areas, cattle are an important resource which is highly used in food production especially for ploughing and tilling the land towards grain production.
I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NGUNGUBANE: Thank you Mr. President
for affording me this opportunity to support the motion raised by Hon.
Sen. Chimbudzi. As she had earlier on alluded to, one way or the other, Members of this House are owners of livestock, whether in a particular sector or inclusive. Livestock Mr. President is a business. Some farmers have made a living out of farming and livestock rearing animal husbandry. I remember very well that there was an auction held here in
Harare of a farmer from Esigodini who had his bull auctioned for US$24 000. This is a clear testimony that farming is indeed a business. The majority of people out there take farming to be a hobby, especially keeping of livestock, mainly cattle. You ask them why do you keep cattle and the answer is, it is because this is what I was taught by my parents. Some indeed have quite a number of livestock that you would envy that if only these cattle could be mine but the owner of the farm or the cattle has no shoes – he is walking barefooted. I think it is important that education is raised. I will not dwell much on that Mr. President.
Tick borne diseases like any other diseases have desire consequences to cattle. As she has earlier on alluded to that, this year along, Zimbabwe has lost more than 3 000 cattle to tick-borne diseases and the number is too high and one beast lost is one too many. As farmers and as legislators, we should come up with mechanisms that would help reduce this number. As I have earlier alluded to, the issue is about education. Most of the farmers do not dip their cattle for various reasons, one way or the other. The people in the livestock industry recommend that cattle should be dipped every two weeks during the dry season. This is from about May to about this time of the year and once a week during the wet season. However, this is not the case on the ground. As you can see, when you move in the villages and in the farms, the ticks that are on the animals bear testimony that these animals are not being taken to the dip tanks. As a result, we are losing a lot of cattle.
Mr. President, the dipping chemicals are very expensive. Most of the farmers with the spate of price increases cannot afford to purchase.
As I was preparing this motion Mr. President, I went to the veterinary shops today to find out how much basic dipping chemicals cost. The one litre was ranging from anything between $80 to $100. The smaller one $40 to $50 and I am not mentioning the other ancillary chemicals that you would need and how many of these farmers can afford these expensive chemicals. My plea to this House and to Government is to say, please, Government must subsidise. It is a business and
Government stands to benefit. We are warming up as a nation to the EU. We had the EU Observer Mission coming to observe and it is a step in the right direction. However, you know that the EU has a market for our cattle. If we are to maintain that quota Mr. President, we should ensure that we produce quality cattle with the best breed.
I am very disappointed to note that when these prices went up, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce through SI 122 of 2018, produced a list of goods that travelers could bring in under the duty rebate and it is disappointing to note that out of the 71 items, the issue of dipping chemicals is not on the list and it is a great cause for concern. You are allowing farmers to be at the mercy of business people who are charging prices willy-nilly and in certain instances they demand that certain services should be paid for in United States Dollars. So, I appeal to the relevant Ministry to enable that dip-tank chemicals and any other auxiliary chemicals used in the treatment of livestock be put on the list of goods that one can bring duty-free to enable farmers to address the issue of tick-bone diseases.
Mr. President, the other point is that the infrastructure out there is fast becoming dilapidated. We do not know when these dip-tanks were last built. We have farmers who have moved into farms, the A1 and A2, but the challenge is that there is a serious shortage of dip-tanks. I know that Government cannot do it alone. Government, in partnership with farmers should ensure that these dip tanks are built to enable the cattle to have dipping chemicals regularly.
For those in rural areas, you would find that some of these diptanks are cracked and no longer user-friendly for the movement of cattle. So it is important that as community leaders, Members of Parliament, we conscientise people to repair those dip-tanks. It is for our own good and our own assistance. I would also like to challenge the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development through the RBZ to allocate more foreign currency to this sector. I know that the Governor of the Reserve Bank has allocated foreign currency to fuel to ensure a consistent and affordable supply on the market. I know that foreign currency is very scarce but we are talking of an industry which has the capacity to generate millions, if not billions in revenue. So, I challenge them to say, this is a worthy investment where it will reap good returns.
An Hon. Senator talked about the Public Health Act – Mr. President, it is important that there is regulation on the dipping chemicals or other chemicals that come into the country. Some chemicals are smuggled across our porous borders, which are an avenue for smuggling. The porous border has been used as a conduit by people who bring in these chemicals and they are not regulated whilst some of the chemicals are counterfeit. So, there is need for serious monitoring of our country’s borders.
We also need to reduce the distance through which the livestock are driven from the cattle pens to the dip-tanks. Most of the animals are driven for long distances and in this dry season, you find that some of them will fall and fail to reach the destination where they are supposed to access these services. So it is important that Government, through all stakeholders, construct dip-tanks that are easily accessible to our animals. Last but not least Mr. President, as a country, we should offer incentives to the farmers who are into animal husbandry to make sure that the industry grows and becomes sustainable. I also think that Veterinary Officers should be mobile. You find most of these in rural areas and they are not mobile. If there is disease outbreak, it takes time for them to respond unless you provide transport.
So, let us make their work easier as they help us to produce better cattle. I propose that the Government should provide at least motor cycles as a starting point for easy mobility. People should have their registration books updated if there is any animal that would have died or sold, when a cow is born and so on.
As a country we should find out how many cattle we have and how many we are producing, at what rate are we losing these cattle to tickbone diseases and other diseases that come. Finally, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is presenting his budget sometime soon in this House. I appeal that the Ministry allocates more than adequate, not adequate allocation towards agriculture. This is because agriculture is the backbone of this country. In particular, on the field of animal husbandry, one way or the other, some of us were sent to school, and fees being paid were derived from cattle sales. Mr. President, I would like to thank you for affording me this chance to debate this motion in support of the mover. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 139TH ASSEMBLY OF THE INTER-
PARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move the motion standing in my name:
That this House takes note of the Report of the 139th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva, Switzerland: 14 to 18 October, 2018.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: I second.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. President.
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The 139th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 14 to 18 October 2018 under the overarching theme “Parliamentary Leadership in Promoting Peace and
Development in the Age of Innovation and Technological Change”.
Hon. Advocate Jacob F. Mudenda, Speaker of the National
Assembly, led a Parliamentary delegation comprising the following Members and Officers of Parliament to the 139th Assembly of the IPU and Related Meetings:-
Hon. Chief Mtshane Khumalo;
Hon. William Mutomba;
Hon. Tsitsi Muzenda;
Hon. Robson Mavenyengwa;
Hon. Amos Chibaya;
Hon. Tinoda Machakarika;
Mr. Kennedy Chokuda, (Clerk of Parliament);
Mr. Ndamuka Marimo, (Director in the Clerk’s Office);
Ms. Martha Mushandinga, (Principal Executive Assistant to the
Hon. Speaker);
Ms. Rumbidzai P. Chisango, (Principal External Relations
Officer); and
Mr. Robert Sibanda, (Aide to the Hon. Speaker.)
1.2 Hon. Advocate Mudenda was elected President of the Africa Geopolitical Group while Hon. Tsitsi Muzenda was elected President of the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade, taking over from Hon. Jenifer Mhlanga who was appointed into the Executive. We extend our warm congratulations to them and wish them success in their new roles.
2.0 Emergency Item
The proposal put forward by the delegations of Seychelles, Fiji, Tonga, Samao and the Federated States of Micronesia regarding climate change entitled “Climate Change-let us not cross the line” was adopted and added to the Assembly’s Agenda.
3.0 General Debate
3.1 The General Debate on the theme “Parliamentary
Leadership in Promoting Peace and Development in the age of
Innovation and Technological Change” provided an opportunity for Member Parliaments to exchange views on both the negative and positive impact of technological change and recommendations for parliamentary action to promote peace and development through science and innovative technology.
3.2 Hon. Advocate Mudenda, Speaker of the National Assembly, joined the distinguished delegates in contributing to the general debate on the theme.
3.2.1 The Hon Speaker underscored the critical role played by Parliaments in ensuring the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms as well as the rule of law in constitutional democracies as a way of ensuring socio-economic development through the application of science and technology. In this regard, he called on Parliaments to jealously and religiously promote, protect and advance the respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms which must anchor the socioeconomic development agenda.
3.2.2 With regards to technological advancement, the Hon.
Speaker urged Parliaments to encompass a robust legislative agenda which is cognizant of the ever emerging innovative technology in our societies. Accordingly, Parliaments must lead to the application of modern information and communication technologies that enhance parliamentary e-governance. Furthermore, Parliaments must craft laws that respond to demands of a digital technological world economy.
4.0 The Forum of Women Parliamentarians
4.1 The Forum of Women Parliamentarians contributed to the draft resolution before the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights entitled “Strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation on migration and migration governance in view of the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular
Migration”
4.2 In addition, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians held a panel discussion on “Gender Equality in Science and Technology”. In acknowledging that innovations transform societies by providing possibilities to improve individual empowerment and well-being,
Parliamentarians noted the under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The need for women to have access to digital tools and to funding for training and undertaking as well as engaging in scientific careers in these fields was emphasized.
5.0 The Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU
5.1 The Forum of Young Parliamentarians took stock of national efforts to enhance youth participation in human endeavors including lowering the age of requirement to run for Presidential office through constitutional reform. Participants emphasized the importance of political parties and their youth wings as stepping stones for youth participation in formal politics. The young Parliamentarians proposed initiatives such as capacitation sessions, limitations on political financing, parliamentary awareness raising activities and support for youth wings of political parties in order to increase youth participation.
6.0 The work of other Standing Committees of the IPU
6.1 The Standing Committee on Peace and International
Security held panel discussions on the following topics:
- Comprehensive Disarmament and non-proliferation: The Committee noted that the International Community is currently addressing the use of conventional weapons through conventions such as the Arms Trade Treaty(ATT). Parliamentarians were called upon to hold governments to account in their efforts to implement the Treaty.
- Combating Sexual Violence in UN peacekeeping operations and beyond: The Committee noted that sexual violence is now considered an international crime, hence the United Nations has put in place mechanisms where victims’ rights and dignity are prioritized. Accordingly, delegates called for a zero tolerance approach and Parliamentary action that may include regular briefings on peace operations and regular assessments of existing national legislation to determine its applicability to sex crimes committed by its citizens while in the service of UN peace keeping Missions; and
3. Non-admissibility of using mercenaries which
undermine peace and violate human rights: The Committee underscored the need for better legislation in order to prohibit the use of mercenaries and foreign fighters as well as to regulate the work of private companies. Legislation should address mercenaries’ impunity and promote respect and ethics among mercenary soldiers.
6.2 The Standing Committee on Sustainable Development,
Finance and Trade deliberated on the following topics:-
- Parliamentary Meeting on the Occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference: The Committee deliberated on the draft outcome document to be presented at the Parliamentary Meeting on the occasion of the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled for 9 December 2018 in Poland;
- The Role of Fair and Free Trade and Investment in achieving SDGs, especially regarding Economic Equality,
Sustainable Infrastructure, Industrialisation and Innovation: The Committee noted the nexus between trade and investment and that both are crucial to the achievement of SDGs. Trade is often neither free nor equitable and export-import relations are sometimes imbalanced. Parliamentarians were, therefore, called upon to prevent the spreading of systems that exacerbate inequalities and to promote a process that can help develop fair and free trade;
3. Taking forward the IPU resolution entitled “Engaging the
Private Sector in Implementing the SDGs Especially Renewable Energy”: The Committee noted the benefits renewable energy could produce at environmental, social and economic levels. In this regard, regulations, enabling frameworks and comprehensive policies are crucial in order to effectively achieve a sustainable energy transition.
6.3 The Standing Committee on the United Nations Affairs deliberated on the following topics:
- Would a UN Intergovernmental tax body help resolve outstanding issues of corporate tax evasion?: Noting problems with the current international tax regime such as the proliferation of tax havens, most delegates expressed support for the creation of an intergovernmental body at the UN that would work to establish a global tax standard on corporate taxation;
2. What scope for cooperation between Parliaments and
WHO as the leading United Nations Agency for Global Health: The Committee noted the essential role of the WHO in helping countries implement SDG 3 on health. Parliaments play a critical role in legislation and budget oversight to expand the provision of health services to all people, particularly among the most vulnerable and those in the hinterland.
7.0 Resolutions Adopted at the 139th IPU Assembly
The resolution on the Emergency Item on “Climate Change – Let us not cross the line” was unanimously adopted.
- The resolution primarily notes major concerns raised in the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 % above pre-industrial levels and related greenhouse gas emission pathways.
- The resolution calls on Parliamentary action to:-
- Recognize and decisively act on the IPCC Special Report on
Global Warming of 1.5%;
- Support and lead the development of the Rule Book and Guidelines for implementing the Paris Agreement, including resource mobilization and simplifying procedures for accessing climate change funding in order to build on the Talanoa
Dialogue at the upcoming COP24;
- Take a leadership role in combating climate change and strengthening partnerships with all countries so as to meet targets set out in nationally determined contributions;
- Encourage governments to achieve 100% renewable energy targets; and
- Strengthen oversight of national and international commitments, including government implementation of national legislation in order to enhance transparency, accountability and periodic reporting on climate change.
The outcome document on the theme of the General Debate “Parliamentary Leadership in Promoting Peace and Development in the age of innovation and technological change” was endorsed by the IPU Assembly.
- The outcome document recognizes the positive elements of technological developments that include improvements in connectivity and communication, creative innovative solutions to global challenges such as early warning signs to prevent disasters. It also recognizes the ethical and societal challenges associated
with technological advancements such as cyber-crime, and the abuse of artificial intelligence.
- The outcome document accented the critical role Parliaments should play in fostering an environment where science, technology and innovation make a positive contribution to peace, development and human well-being while at the same time limiting the associated risks as well as protecting the environment. It, therefore, calls on Parliaments to:-
- Strengthen legal frameworks favourable to technological and scientific innovation for peace and development through, among others, strengthening education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), promoting universal digital literacy and guaranteeing respect for international human rights framework as a beacon that guides decisions on how to address difficult ethical issues.
- Make Parliaments drivers of technological innovation in favour of transparency and inclusion through use of modern information and communication technologies such as video live streaming of Parliamentary session and improved online information access and appropriately funding Parliamentary research services;
- Establish strong connections with the scientific community through supporting mechanisms and budgetary measures that guarantee science based policy making to ensure the sustainable well-being of future generations.
- Supporting international scientific cooperation in favour of peace and development as scientific methods can be used to build bridges and to bring countries in conflict resolution together. Parliaments can include scientific knowledge in Parliamentary oversight of the 2030 Agenda and implementation process.
The resolution submitted by the Standing Committee on
Democracy and Human Rights on “Strengthening InterParliamentary Cooperation on Migration and Migration Governance in View of the Adoption of the Global Compact for
Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” was adopted by consensus.
- The resolution recognizes that migration has been a feature of human civilization from time immemorial and that governed humanely and fairly, migration contributes to inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development in both origin and destination countries as it strengthens the bonds of human solidarity. The resolution notes that people on the move, irrespective of their legal status, are entitled to the full enjoyment of human rights set out in the relevant international treaties and conventions. Accordingly, the Resolution welcomes the imminent adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
- The resolution calls on Parliaments to:-
- Ratify relevant international human rights laws, key ILO conventions and other relevant international and regional instruments protecting the rights of migrants, women, children and persons in vulnerable situations;
- Expand legal pathways for migration to facilitate labour mobility and skills training, family reunification and migration for reasons such as armed conflict, gender based violence, natural disasters and climate change.
- Require government to report periodically on progress on the implementation of national migration policies and to ensure parliamentary tools such as questions to Ministers, public hearings and Committee enquiries to hold government to account for the results achieved..
- Actively participate in and support regional integration processes and transnational efforts to coordinate migration policy and to domesticate relevant regional instruments in National legislation. 5. Actively engage in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a means to optimize migration, particularly extreme poverty, climate change and natural disasters, and urges Parliaments to promote measures aimed at raising awareness of and maximizing the development benefits of safe, orderly and regular migration.
- Participate in the Parliamentary Meeting on the occasion of the Inter-govermental Conference to adopt a Global Compact for Safe,
Orderly and Regular Migration in December 2018 in Marrakesh, Morocco.
- Actively follow up on the implementation of the Global compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
8.0 Endorsement by the Assembly of the Declaration on the
70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- The year 2018 marks the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a historic instrument drafted in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War. The fundamental rights in the declaration uphold the inherent dignity of all human beings and their attendant fundamental human rights which contribute to peace, security and prosperity of all Nations.
- Against the backdrop of growing authoritarianism, internal conflict, war, poverty and large scale migration, Parliamentarians reaffirmed their commitment to the Declaration and its underlying principles in the following way:
- Guaranteeing that domestic legal framework complies with international and national human rights obligations and creates an enabling environment for inclusive participatory politics, a vibrant civil society and the rule of law.
- Ensuring Parliamentary discourse, proceedings and outreach are rooted in and promote equality, liberty and justice.
- Raise greater awareness of the Declaration among the people and help them access their rights thereunder.
- Acting in solidarity with Parliamentarians worldwide whose fundamental rights are being violated by raising their cases at appropriate fora and supporting the work of the IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.
9.0 Endorsement by the Assembly of the Presidential
Statement on recent developments on the Korean Peninsular
The Presidential Statement welcomed the recent positive political developments on the Korean Peninsula, notably the Inter-Korean Summit in April 2018 leading to the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, the U.S
– DPRK Summit in Singapore in June 2018 and President Moon
Jae-in’s visit to Pyongyang in September 2018.
10.0 OBSERVATIONS
- The General Debate, Committee Reports and Resolutions covered topical issues that require Parliamentary action through exercising its representative, legislative and oversight roles.
- It is, therefore, imperative for Parliament, through respective Committees to introspect on the resolutions and where possible, come up with action plans to ensure that resolutions agreed upon at international fora are implemented. There is need for follow up action to make our participation at international fora more meaningful.
11.0 Recommendations
ITEM | ACTION | RESPONSIBILITY | TIMELINE | |
1. | Climate Change | 1. Enact appropriate Legislation on Climate Change. ( The delegation has taken note that
Parliamentarians have attended the Annual Climate Change Conferences as part of the National delegation) |
- Thematic Committee on SDGs, Portfolio
Committee on Environment -Expanded SDGs Committee of all |
-Work plan to be determined
by the Portfolio Committees by February 2019. |
Chairpersons | ||||
2 | Increasing youth representation in
Parliament |
2. Parliament must lobby political parties for youth quotas. 3. Parliament must continue to include youth representation to delegations to International
Meetings |
- Chief Whips
-Presiding Officers |
-Ongoing
-Ongoing |
3
|
Migration and Refugees | 4. Parliament through its oversight function to ensure that
Government adheres to International Agreements regarding the rights of migrants and refugees. 5. Parliament must ensure sufficient budget allocation towards migrants and refugees that is consistent with international commitments. |
-Committee on Foreign
Affairs, Industry and Commerce
-Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services |
-The relevant
Portfolio Committees to come up with a work plan by February 2019
In the 2019 Budget |
HON. SEN. CHIEF KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. President for
according me the opportunity to second Hon. Sen. Muzenda on a motion to the 139th IPU Assembly, which was held last month in Geneva. I will go straight to the resolutions on the emergency items on climate change which was “let us not cross the line” and was unanimously adopted.
The resolution primarily notes major concerns raised in the report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impacts of global warming of 1.5% above pre-industrial levels and related greenhouse gas emission pathways.
The resolution calls on Parliamentary action to recognise and decisively act on the IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5%, support and lead the development of the rule book and guidelines for implementing the Paris Agreement, including resource mobilisation and simplifying procedures for accessing climate change funding in order to build on the Talanoa Dialogue at the upcoming COP24. It also recommended taking a leadership role in combating climate change and strengthening partnerships with all countries so as to meet set out targets in nationally determined contributions. Governments were also encouraged to achieve 100% renewable energy targets as well as to strengthen the oversight of national and international commitments including government implementation of national legislation in order to enhance transparency, accountability and periodic reporting on climate change.
The outcome document on the theme of the general debate which was Parliamentary Leadership in Promoting Peace and Development in the age of innovation and technological change was endorsed by the IPU Assembly. The document also recognises the positive elements of technological developments that include improvements in connectivity and communication, creative innovative solutions to global challenges such as early warning signs to prevent disasters. It also recognises the ethical and societal challenges associated with technological advancements such as cyber-crime and the abuse of artificial intelligence. The outcome document also accented the critical role Parliaments should play in fostering an environment where science, technology and innovation make a positive contribution to peace, development and human well-being while at the same time limiting the associated risks as well as protecting the environment. It, therefore, calls on Parliaments to: - strengthen legal frameworks favourable to technological and scientific innovation for peace and development through among others, strengthening education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It also seeks to make Parliament, drivers of technological innovation in favour of transparency and inclusion through use of modern information and communication technologies such as video live streaming of Parliamentary sessions and improved online information access and appropriately funding parliamentary research services; establish strong connections with the scientific community through supporting mechanisms and budgetary measures that guarantee science based policy making to ensure the sustainable well-being of future generations; supporting international scientific corporations in favour of peace and development as scientific methods can be used to build bridges and to bring countries in conflict resolutions together. Parliaments can include scientific knowledge in
Parliamentary oversight of the 2030 agenda and implementation process.
There was also the endorsement of the Assembly of the declaration of the 70th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. The year 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights, a historic instrument drafted in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War. The fundamental rights in the declaration uphold inherent dignity of all human beings and their attendant fundamental human rights which contribute to peace, security and prosperity of all nations. This is against the backdrop of growing authoritarianism, internal conflict, war, poverty and large scale migration. Parliamentarians reaffirm their commitment to the declaration and its underlying principles in the following way;
- Guaranteeing back the domestic legal frameworks;
- Compliance with national and international human rights obligations and;
- Creating an enabling environment for inclusive participatory politics;
- A vibrant civil society and the rule of law;
- Ensuring parliamentary discourse, proceedings and outreaches are rooted in and promote equality, liberty and justice.
- Raise greater awareness of the declaration among the people and hear them access their rights here under.
- Acting in solidarity with Parliaments worldwide, whose fundamental rights are being violated, by raising their cases at appropriate fora and;
- Supporting work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.
Mr. President Sir, with those few words, I do not know whether they are few or many but with those few words, I would want once again to thank you for giving me the opportunity to support the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Muzenda. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Mr. President Sir, I move for the
adjournment of the debate.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
SENATE
GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY OF NEW PARLIAMENT
BUILDING
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: There will be a
ground breaking and laying of the foundation stone at the new Parliament Building in Mount Hampden on the 30th of November, at 1000hrs. All Members of Parliament are invited.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. President. Mr. President Sir and Hon. Members of this august House, I am honoured to present my speech as Senator for Bubi Umguza Constituency. I wish to commence by acknowledging and appreciating the political leadership for our country under His Excellency, the President E. D. Mnangagwa. I want to start by acknowledging and appreciating the political leadership for our country under His Excellency, the President E. D. Mnangagwa for creating an enabling environment for peace, free and fair, credible and democratic elections.
While it has only been a few months now since our recent elections, as Zimbabweans, we need to collectively take stock of what we did write and wrong so that we can identify the need for improvement going forward. Of course as the President mentioned in
His State of the Nation Address (SONA), the events of the 1st August, 2018 in which six (6) people lost their lives is deeply regrettable and should never be allowed to happen ever again. All human life is sacred and three months down the line, we are still mourning and praying for the families of all those who needlessly lost their lives on that day.
We are grateful of course for the appointment of an independent Commission led by the former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe which is conducting hearings and probing on what transpired on that fateful and unforgettable day. We hope that all those who will be implicated in the violent disturbances and needless loss of life will face the full wrath of the law.
I need to reiterate that not a single one of us in this House is worth the precious life of our fellow citizens. Beyond our party politics, all of us need to put the life and welfare of our people first. As the preamble of our Constitution amply provides, we must be united in our diversity, entrench democracy, good transparent and accountable governance as well as rule of law. I therefore implore all of us to put party politics behind us and prioritise the lives of our people first as well as the socioeconomic development of our nation at large.
Still on the subject of elections gone by, while there are of course areas that still need improvement; we also however need to appreciate the much improved electoral environment of 2018 in which all parties campaigned freely without any restrictions. It is an open secret that there is a lot that needs to be done in order to improve the lives of our people and our country in general.
In my view and echoing His Excellency the President’s vision, the top most priority for us is our economy. We need to work on reviving and improving our economy. Industries are opening and many more need to be resuscitated. We are without a doubt far from where we should ideally be as a country but I am glad to see the steps that are being taken by the Government to address the socio-economic challenges that our people face. We need to create an enabling environment where our people are going to realise their full potential.
Our people need jobs and they need to access their money from the banks. They need good quality modern infrastructure, a good quality health care system and all of us must collectively get together to create an environment in which our people can live good quality lives and the basis upon which all this can be achieved is a good vibrant economy.
As the President has consistently said, time for politicking and playing blame game is over. We should all let bygones be bygones and focus on the development of our economy so that we can create an enabling environment that prospers our people. This is the only country that we have as Zimbabweans and we have to work tirelessly to develop and make it the best place for our people to live in. Zimbabweans are looking forward to us as their elected representatives to get down working and addressing the challenges that beset us as a nation across the political divide. We all need to hold hands and work together as Zimbabweans to deliver on the various election promises and commitments that we made to our people.
Mr. President, the world’s greatest icon, the late former President of the Republic of South Africa, Cde. Nelson Mandela once remarked - the subject of constitutionalism, “the Constitution of any country is a living document. The way citizens understand its requirements will and of course must adapt over time. However, the fundamental principles must be unchanging. Full understanding of how and why those principles were adopted will help leaders to ensure that they remain true to the solemn undertakings which they have made and to all those who are being led”. I implore all of us Honourable Senators to commit to give full effect to the operation of our Constitution. This leads me to the subject of devolution.
Our Constitution provides for devolution. His Excellency the President has also consistently made calls for us to give effect to devolution. Mr. President Sir and Hon. Senators, we can no longer delay. Of course, we will remain one people and one nation but devolution will enable us to achieve fair and balanced development spearheaded by provincial councils which must initiate economic programmes for their respective provinces. Of course, this is in sync with Section (2) of the country’s Constitution under which central Government should allow provincial councils to set local development priorities. This puts the economy ahead of politics.
Mr. President and Hon. Senators, we must therefore all discard any selfish interests and stand guided by the pressing basic needs of our people who have afforded us the privilege of leading them. Our loyalty must be unflinching to our people first. As we swore by the
Constitution, we need to entrench democracy, good, transparent and accountable governance and the rule of law. We also need to perpetually, reaffirm our commitment to upholding and defending our people’s fundamental human rights and their freedoms. I need to reiterate that we must put the needs of our people first and put aside all politics when it comes to delivering services to them. That is the least that our people deserve.
Mr. President and Hon. Senators, I want to reiterate my appreciation to all citizens of our beautiful nation and people of BubiUmguza, in particular for putting their faith in all of us and especially ZANU PF in particular, to lead them in Government for the next five years. We never and certainly do not take this mandate lightly and I, in particular promise to do my absolute best to contribute meaningfully to the President’s vision for a better and prosperous Zimbabwe and BubiUmguza Constituency in particular.
As His Excellency, President Mnangagwa implored us during his SONA, we in ZANU PF will work as servant leaders to tirelessly address the challenges that beset our country generally and all our people in particular. There are obvious specific tasks which all of us as leaders must urgently address. We need to provide all our people with basic services that include access to clean water and sanitation. I implore on all local municipal Government authorities to work hard to provide clean water and sanitation to our people. It is unforgivable that after so many years of democratic governance, our people are still affected by primitive diseases such as cholera and typhoid. We must self-introspect as leaders and re-commit ourselves to doing our best to provide clean water and sanitation to our people. It is also embarrassing and certainly unacceptable that so many years since we attained our democracy, many of our people in the rural areas still use the bush to relieve themselves. This is unacceptable and I am sure all my fellow Honourable Senators who represent rural constituencies agree that something needs to be done. We need to speed up the process of modernising our rural economies and infrastructure to improve our people’s basic daily lives.
When it comes to education, we all know that this is a sacrosanct right that everybody is born with, which is firmly entrenched in Section 19 (2) (d) of our Constitution. We, as Zimbabweans, are generally known for our high literacy and education levels. It is an open secret that some of the most developed countries of the 21st Century have some of the world’s best education infrastructure. Education is a very important denominator for any country. It is indispensable to the advancement of development and technologies. As we try to address the under development that we are experiencing as a country, we need to reprioritise the place of education in our country so that we should not only produce educated citizens but also employable citizens who are able to respond to and address the needs of our country and our economy in particular.
If we are to prioritise economic development as a strategic response to the pressing need to leapfrog our economic development in line with our national aspirations as well as regional, continental and international trajectory as expressed by His Excellency the President in his SONA, we need to revisit and acknowledge the importance of education. It is not enough to have an education system that only produces people who are looking to be employed. Our educated citizens should also be people who are able to create employment and all of us leaders must collectively get together to bring about such a vision to fruition.
We also need to address challenges that have to do with high student numbers for very few teachers. The average teacher to pupil ratio should be addressed to that of recommended levels which of course depends on a variety of factors. Schooling infrastructure needs to be appreciated and our top performing pupils need to be acknowledged. The morale in our education system needs to be boosted and that is our role as leaders.
Mr. President, as our Constitution provides and as the President emphasised in his SONA, we as lawmakers must “adopt and implement policies and legislation to develop efficiency, competence, accountability, transparency, personal integrity and financial probity in all institutions and agencies of Government at every level and in every public…..
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon.
Member, your time is almost up. You may proceed but you have four minutes left.
HON. SEN. MPOFU: All public appointments must be made primarily on the basis of merit. We must also measure to expose, combat and eradicate all forms of corruption and abuse of power by those holding political and public offices. To this effect, I want to acknowledge and appreciate all the work that is done by His Excellency to deal with the scourge of corruption that is eroding our moral fabric and has inexplicable and abhorrent negative consequences on our performance as Government. All manner and forms of corruption must be rooted out.
As the results of our elections demonstrated, we are sadly and unfortunately a polarised society and I want to thank the President for his consistent and persistent calls for unity. I urge all of us as Members of the Senate to join in these calls for unity. We are one nation, one Zimbabwe and as the preamble to the Constitution provides, we must be united in diversity. I therefore implore all of us to promote national unity, peace and stability as expressed in our Constitution.
Moving on from sweeping generalisations, I now want to very specifically outline my constituency development initiatives in the context of the President’s SONA and vision for our country. I will of course naturally work in tandem with my fellow MP colleagues from Bubi-Umguza to address challenges relating to the improvement of food security, education, agriculture and health.
My particular thrust is in promoting the socio-economic upliftment of women, encouraging and improving education amongst our people especially those of school going age, the improvement of road and transport infrastructure as well as supporting agriculture since my constituency is an agriculture based economy.
As we all know, Bubi-Umguza Constituency does not receive a lot of rainfall. The outlook is even bleaker for this coming rainfall season as meteorologists have duly advised us that we might not have much rainfall this coming season. We are of course grateful to the
Government’s Command Agriculture supported by a good rainfall season last year which resulted in us having a bumper harvest season. We recorded surpluses in food crops and this will of course cushion us from the potentially disastrous effects of the impending drought. Despite the envisaged drought, the surpluses that were recorded in the past agricultural season, we need to actively find innovative and creative ways of cultivating our land which include tapping from underground water sources to irrigate crops and water our animals.
In line with the President’s call during the SONA, we will work closely with local farmers to come up with innovative ways of enabling irrigation of crops to alleviate the perennial challenges of reduced crop yields and poor access to good nutritious food. We also want to appreciate the commitment of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Culture and Rural Resettlement to assist households to adapt to the uncertainties and effects of climate change on rainfall cycles in order to enable households to farm wisely in the context of changing rainfall patterns.
As we approach the festive season, I call upon all road users to exercise extra care, caution and patience on our roads. We appreciate the Government’s efforts to resuscitate our road infrastructure. Our hearts go out to the families of people who lost their lives in the tragedy that occurred in Rusape on 8th November, as well as those who also lost their lives on 16th November in Gwanda. As I said before, all human life is sacrosanct and the loss of any life in avoidable circumstances cannot be tolerated. I implore all our traffic police officers to deal with all delinquent and errant drivers and remove them from our roads. I wish all Zimbabweans a happy and peaceful festive season. I thank you.
HON. SEN. S. K. MOYO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
MOTION
NATIONAL POLICY ON PERSONS LIVING WITH DISABILITY Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to formulate a comprehensive National Disability Policy and review the Disabled Persons Act.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SINAMPANDE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
MOTION
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for devolution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
MOTION
CASH SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call to solve the cash crisis in the country.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. PHUTI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
MOTION
NATIONAL DRUG POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on National Drug Policy and legislative framework to effectively regulate drug use.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. RWAMBIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
MOTION
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF VENDING
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on finding solutions to challenges associated with vending.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHABUKA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. RAMBANEPASI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 21st November, 2018.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON.
SEN. MOHADI, the Senate adjourned at Six Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 28th November, 2017
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
REPORT OF THE SEVENTH RETREAT OF THE ASSOCIATION
OF SENATES, SHOORA AND EQUIVALENT COUNCILS IN
AFRICA AND THE ARAB WORLD (ASSECAA)
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House takes note of the Report of the Seventh Retreat of the Association of Senates, Shoora and equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World (ASSECAA), held from 26th to 27th November, 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
HON. SEN. BUKA: I second.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Madam President. The
Seventh Retreat of ASSECAA of Senators, Shoora, equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World met in Addis Ababa at the kind invitation of the House of Federation of Ethiopia from 26th to 27th November,
- The Retreat’s theme was ‘the role of Parliamentarians in combating climate change in Africa and the Arab World.
The President of the Senate, Hon. Madzongwe headed the
Parliamentary delegation of the Senate which comprised of Hon. Sen. Chief Chiduku, Hon. Sen. Bhebe and Hon. Sen. Makore. Also participants from the following member countries attended the Retreat:
The House of Federation of the Democratic Federal Republic of Ethiopia, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Shoora
Council of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Senate of the Republic of Burundi, the House of Dignitaries of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Council of Nation of the Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Senate of the Republic of Cameroon, Counselors of Morocco, the Shoora
Council of Qatar. The Senate of the Republic of Congo Brazzaville, The Shoora Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Council of States of the Republic of Sudan, the Senate of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Also in attendance was the Yemeni Ambassador in Addis Ababa, representing the Shoora council of Yemen.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, since there
is no Cabinet, Hon. Senators can sit anywhere in the House.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Opening Ceremonies
The Retreat was held in the International Hotel in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia and fully organised by the General Secretary of the
Association. The opening occasion was officiated by His Excellency,
Dr. Gimechu, Dale, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change of the Federal Republic of Democratic Republic of Ethiopia who was also the guest of honour. The occasion was also graced by the
Resident Member of the Diplomatic Corps in Africa and represented
Regional Organisations.
In the opening ceremony, the Secretary General of ASSECAA, Mr.
Abdulwasie Yusuf Ali welcomed all delegates. He added that the theme of the Retreat was chosen carefully, as climate change pause a challenge in both our regions, threatens social and economic development and has had a negative impact on peace and security in our countries in particular and the world at large. Therefore, it is incumbent upon our African and Arab countries to engage in such global efforts to curb these challenges.
The current chairman of ASSECAA and Speaker of the Council of State of Sudan H.E. Dr. Omar Suliman Adam delivered a speech in which he expressed immense gratitude to both the House of Federation of Ethiopia represented by Speaker AtoYalew Abate, who exerted substantive efforts to organise the august meeting. He thanked the Ethiopian people and Government for the warm reception and generous hospitality accorded to all delegates. He pointed out that these
ASSECAA Retreats have gained importance in serving as important fora for sharing expertise and experiences among member states. These would bring cooperation among member states in a way that fosters socio-economic integration. He further added that these Retreats usually involve valuable proposals from scholars, statesmen and policy analysts on the various modalities of improving the Association’s role and its contribution to the achievement of sustainable Parliamentary development in Africa and the Arab world.
He indicated that the theme ‘Climate Change’ is contemporary in addition to being inextricably linked to Arab and African regions’ prospects due to the fact that climate change poses a threat to our nations, our economies as well as our security. Several studies indicate that the two regions of African-Arab world will be hit hardest by the vagaries of climate change that will lead to water scarcity, rising temperatures, droughts, desertification, floods, rising sea levels in addition to arable and land degradation as well as crop failure which might result in inextricable conflicts over resources in Africa and Arab nations.
He urged parliamentarians to seriously assume the responsibility of raising awareness amongst their constituencies and communities about the significance and risk of such a phenomenon as well as taking precautions to address these challenges through effective legislation and strict oversight of the Executive. He further urged Africa and Arab states to seriously engage in global efforts that curb the vagaries of climate change through the effective implementation, adaptation and legislation of mitigation policies and programmes. The Guest of Honour, H. E. Dr.Gemechu Dale, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Climate of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, delivered a speech in which he expressed pleasure at Addis Ababa’s hosting of such an important retreat to shed light on an issue that is related to the failure of the countries and generations. He highlighted that climate change has had multiple negative effects that include floods, hurricanes, rising temperatures, drought, food shortages, displacement of populations leading to conflicts over scarce resources.
He informed the delegates that holding the meeting in Addis
Ababa at a time when Ethiopia has been elected the chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum may have its own significance. This reflects the effective role played by Ethiopia in handling climate crises. He hoped that this retreat would cope up with historic accomplishment and recommendations and that Arab and African countries should engage in the global efforts aiming at tackling the problems of climate change. He emphasised the importance of all countries to make the most use of expertise and information provided by the international community to countries affected by climate change.
The working paper presented for debate – the meeting received three working papers for debate under the theme of the retreat.
The role of parliamentarians in combating climate change in
Africa and the Arab world region
The first paper presented by Prof. Charles Ukeje from the Institute of Peace and Secuerity Studies at Addis Ababa University was on the impact of climate change on peace and security imperatives in Africa and the Middle East. This presentation which was based on available scientific evidence elaborated on the threats posed by climate change on peace and security of countries. It informed the delegates that climate change poses the most formidable challenges faced by Africa and the Middle East in the 21st century as 2016 will likely be the first full year to exact the mark of 1.2 degrees celcius above pre-industrial levels which make it perilously closer to the 1.5 degrees centigrade – target set in the Paris Climate Pact. This resulted in rising temperatures, depletion of hot water bodies such as rivers, marshlands and lakes causing floods in different regions and massive population displacement as the livelihood of all populations are threatened on a daily basis, in addition to growing poverty and intensified competition for resources.
According to figures from the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM), a study indicated that most of the world’s 200 million predicted climate change migrants will be from Africa. Further, grim reality projects that 70 to 250 million people in Africa will be exposed to increased water stress by 2020 and that by 2050, sub-Saharan Africa will be afflicted by a 29% increase in water shortage while river flow in the Nile region will decrease by 75% by 2100.
Furthermore, the study showed that water scarcity would directly induce food shortages as agriculture is still the mainstay of the Africa economy, one in which more than two-thirds of the content’s population still relies for subsistence. It also exposed a looming disaster for Africa which estimates that one-quarter of Africa’s population living within
100 km of the coast in most large cities are prone to flooding from Lagos to Mombasa.
The paper reviewed many studies and scientific reports from different sources, among which was the report of the Max Plank Institute for Chemistry which recently argued that if mankind continues to release carbon dioxide as it does now, people living in the Middle East and North America will have to expect about 200 unusually hot days in a year.
The study further argued that there is a positive relationship between climate change and armed conflicts such that many regions in
Africa would witness conflicts induced and increased by climate change. Accordingly, the study called upon African and Arab States to engage in global efforts aimed at reducing the impact of climate change.
The second working paper was presented by Mr. Admed AlMukhtar, Senior Political Officer at the Continental Early Warning
System (CEWS) at the African Union Commission’s Peace and Security
Department. He presented a working paper entitled, “Terrorism and Climate Change in Africa and Arab world. His paper defined terrorism as an unlawful act of violence that lacks internal and international legitimacy. He highlighted that Africa and the Arab world have suffered from terrorism over the past debate. This saw such a phenomenon involving forms and intensity and assuming greater proportions as evidenced by the terrorist acts committed by the Muslim youths movement – Boko Haram and ISIL.
He touched upon the efforts exerted at the continental level to combat terrorism affirming that Africa has exerted great efforts to fight terrorism since 1992 when the African Union adopted a resolution on the strengthening of corporation and coordination amongst countries in terms of combating the menacing dangerous phenomenon of extremism and terrorism. Such efforts culminated in the establishment of African Union member states of the African Centre for Study and Research on
Terrorism which is based in the people’s democratic republic of Algeria, with an aim to serve as a forum for effective cooperation between member countries and regional mechanisms and to play a significant role in bolstering counter-terrorism efforts through studies and research, sharing information, establishing a database on terrorism and enhancing the early warning system.
The African Union has created the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) for the purpose of working closely with member countries to fight terrorism. The paper gave an illustration of terrorist attacks that have been launched against a number of Arab and African countries since early 2001, which is indicative of the dangers the scourge of terrorism poses to Arab and African communities and the world at large.
With regard to the reason and motives for terrorism, the paper highlighted that these include rising unemployment, growing poverty levels, the spread of crime networks active among youths, institutional weaknesses of governance, rampant corruption and lack of oversight of the executive, factors that he said create fertile ground for terror groups.
On the relationship between terrorism and climate change, he pointed out that climate change causes environmental degradation, ecosystem deterioration, deforestation, drought, floods and famine resulting in food shortages. He explained that mass migrations triggered by climate change tipped the social balance, sparked conflicts over food, housing and other social services, giving rise to security disorders that have ultimately resulted in terrorism growing in such a manner that it now poses a menace to the whole world.
Evidently, climate change results in the displacement of 20 to 30 million people annually. For example, the depletion of Lake Chad has left serious repercussions on the local economy and caused misery and destitution, which encouraged Boko Haram terrorist groups to recruit large numbers of youths into its ranks.
This paper urged countries to work with the international community in a coordinated and compatible manner so as to keep terrorism in check.
The third working paper titled, “The impact of climate change on economic development in Africa and the Arab world” was presented by Mr. Yusuf Ahmed, the former vice president of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and now the Presidential Advisor. His paper complemented the conclusions from the previous papers on the fact that global warming resulting from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions poses a most serious threat to the planet. It elaborated the impact of climate change on economic development, pointing out the injustices and inequalities surrounding such an issue in that developing countries bear the brunt of the negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), despite the fact that they emit not more than 8% of average global emissions.
It explained that African and Arab nations are located in the hot regions close to the Equator, an indication that climate change takes a heavy toll on them by disrupting development and destroying major economic sectors, mainly tourism and agriculture.
Mr. Yusuf Ahmed’s paper reminded delegates that global debates on climate change led to the signing of the 2016 Paris Agreement on Climate Change which stipulates, among other things that rich countries should offer an estimated $100 billion in aid to developing countries in order to help them adapt to climate change effects, build low-carbon economies and reinforce resilience to combat such effects. This represents recognition of the great harms inflicted upon developing countries on the part of wealthy industrial nations.
As a matter of fact, climate change effects on the two regions’ economies include water scarcity due to erratic precipitation patterns and low rainfall coupled with a growing need for water, in addition to water and food shortages and protracted droughts that kill livestock and eliminate flora and fauna. Furthermore, climate change leads to coastal erosion due to rising sea levels. This in turn leads to the deterioration of economic activities, including agriculture, tourism, industries and services, which ultimately reflect negatively on the socio-political stability of affected countries.
It has been posited that an average rise in temperatures by 1 degree celsius results in a 2-3% drop in economic growth in the Arab world, in addition to extinction of 20-30% of species. The study further indicated that a 1.5% increase in average temperatures may lead to the loss of
1.7% of Africa’s GDP which is indicative of the enormous negative effects of climate change on Africa and the Arab world.
The study recommended that Arab and African governments take a set of precautions to tackle this phenomenon, precautions that include adopting climate friendly policies in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developing clean energy technology, such as solar energy, hydraulic energy and wind energy, introducing smart agriculture techniques such as changing agricultural production patters and developing new crops, mainly temperature resistant ones and high yielding varieties. It further recommended that African and Arab governments adopt sophisticated techniques for rationalizing water use and management and integrate anti-climate change polices, the green economy and investment in modern and clean technology into state plans and programmes.
Following the presentations, participants deliberated upon the issues raised in the working papers and their debates reviewed their country experiences and the efforts and contributions made by their respective governments in order to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on national peace and security threats of terrorism and the effects on economic development. In their debates, delegates were of the view that countries should effectively get involved in the programmes designed to fight climate change and take pre-emptive measures to prevent catastrophies that can be caused by climate change.
Recommendations
- It is important for us as Parliamentarians to enact national legislation based on available data and debates on climate change as well as the recommendations for the enactment of laws on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and replacing bio and fossil fuels with environmentally-friendly materials.
- Parliamentarians ought to urge our government to intensify environmental awareness among influential elites and sociopolitical bodies, especially as indicators show that large grassroots sections of our communities are unaware of the risks posed by climate change, which implies that fighting this challenge represents a matter of saving lives of entire human communities.
- We call upon our Government to prioritise the inclusion of climate change issues in our national plans and policies and to present these issues to international fora in order to get the best of compensations provided for in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. BHEBE: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity to add my voice and also second the report that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Makore on the Retreat of the
Association of Senates, Shoora and equivalent Councils in Africa
and the Arab World that was held from 26th to 27th November 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was one of the members.
Hon. Sen. Makore has tabled the report on what happened in Addis Ababa. I want to thank the opportunity that we was afforded to travel and meet there. We were being led by the President of Senate. What has been highlighted covers almost everything that took place but I would want to add my voice on a few things that I understood. I want to dwell much on the climate change issues which was one of the themes. When they touched on the issues to do with climate change in African countries and the Arab countries, it was noted that this was giving problems to almost all of the mentioned countries. We discussed a lot on this, for it was covering social and economic issues in those countries.
They also indicated that there are certain things that are being done in a country that will cause climate change. You realise that way back we never had such incidences of climate but now it is happening because there are certain things that we do as a country, for example, failure to dispose certain things that may cause pollution or veld fires that are not done properly which may cause climate change. It was also highlighted that climate change affects even the way people are supposed to live, especially in the countries that I mentioned, African and Arab countries. When we have climate change, most of the times you might be expecting rains and because of that climate change, you might not receive the rains and it affects even the way people live, especially when it comes to farming.
Climate change can cause drought in a nation, affects even the rain seasons and can cause floods. It can also cause soil erosion and this will eventually lead to drought. Climate change can also affect the agriculture seasons and this can lead to drought in the nation. Climate change also affects even the economy of the country in a way that most of the industries will not be functioning. There are so many things that were highlighted that can be effects
of climate change, which was what Hon. Sen. Makore highlighted
If you also take note that way back, especially when you look at the traditional leaders, there were certain cultures that were done before the rainy season so that when the rainy season comes or during the rainy season, for example, if it rains today and is windy, the following day people will not go to work on the fields. That was the culture that was there and it was honoured. We never experienced such issues to do with climate change. Nowadays, you realise that even from any sea you can have overspill of waters that can cause floods and people might argue because of certain issues that might have affected the political side, all these are causes of climate change.
There are also issues to do with terrorists that can contribute on climate change. These are some of the issues that were highlighted in that retreat that we attended. The Committee that Hon. Sen. Highlighted on emphasised that they were putting priority on men. Madam President indicated that in future there is need for the Committee to include women. In this retreat, there was only one woman representative. What I realised is that some of the countries have not reached the point of giving an equal opportunity to women to participate in politics. These are the few words that I have. I just wanted to add my voice and second the motion. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President. I
rise to support the debate which is going on in this House. I want to thank the delegation which went to Addis Ababa. Climate change is a topical issue which is cutting across all nations; it is not only in Africa or Zimbabwe. It is everywhere. These are facts which are coming from all over the world and how we must harness the climate change so that it does not devastate or threaten peace and security. It so happens that I am the Chairperson of the Peace and Security Thematic Committee in this House. It touches very well on the things which we cover there. If there is climate change negatively, it impacts very much on agriculture, scarcity of water, as what Hon. Sen. Makore has already alluded to. These are things which we must think seriously about the whole world over. It is not to be left to the Government of the day only but it is the duty of everyone. We are seeing it in the rural or farming areas where we are settled, people are cutting trees, depleting forests and doing all sorts of mining. The mining here in Zimbabwe which is done by the makorokozas has to be organised mining. If it goes on the way it is now – Zimbabwe is a beautiful country but one day we will leave this country as a desert to our future generation. So, this is a welcome meeting which the delegation held in Ethiopia but we must bring these issues closer home so that when we go to our constituencies we also try to do our part and protect the environment and harness the devastating effects of climate change which are going on. The facts and figures which have been given are frightening considering the rate at which climate change is affecting the environment which is around us. People who are displaced by this; 20 – 30 million is a joke, it is a very big number and we cannot leave it like that. The only thing which I want to urge national governments the world over is serious research. We must fund that research backed by facts and figures to come up with methods which we can share with the world over to try and harness some of the devastating effects which are being brought by climate change.
We happen to be taking the right action as a Parliament of
Zimbabwe. I think now we have the Sustainable Development
Thematic Committee which is chaired by Hon. Sen. Chief
Mtshane. This is in our effort to try to rectify the effects of climate change. We all have to put our heads as committees and that Committee must be empowered so that it coordinates all the work which we do as parliamentarians. This was specifically aimed at parliamentarians on how they can impact on reducing climate change in the world. So, what Hon. Sen. Makore has already said is just the beginning and we must take it seriously at our national level as I said before that research must be supported and Government must be serious to put a lot of funding, and move forward to see what can be done.
It is a serious issue which we must debate with objective minds and then come up with solutions. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. SHOKO: Madam President, I am very happy with Hon. Sen. Makore for bringing this important issue of climate change because if you travel outside Harare, you will notice vast lands of deforestation. These forests are the ones which are causing climatic change and also plastics which are thrown everywhere affect the ecology. The report makes us as Senators to appreciate the need to educate people that we meet about climatic change. Many a times when we talk about climatic change, many people wonder what it is because they do not have the knowledge or education about it.
In our schools, we talk about soil erosion but if you were to come to our homes, you can see women engaging in activities that cause soil erosion. They sweep even in the roads removing all the soil and a river will be left to form but the City Council had come up with ridges. They are not aware that they are causing soil erosion which makes our rivers silt. So, we should go forward as Senators educating people whom we come across about climate change telling them not to burn forests because these forests are the ones that bring rainfall and guard against soil erosion.
Pollution also causes climate change. From the research that has been done, there are about three big polluters namely; South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, but when they engage in pollution, they affect us as well. This means that they will be damaging the ozone layer and the sun will affect us. As it affects us, it will also affect everything that is on earth. The water in our rivers will evaporate at a higher rate which means the organisation that we have like EMA should be supported so that they are able to go out on awareness campaigns on the effect of climate change. God gave us this earth so that we look after it, which means when we are polluting it, we are committing a sin.
Climate change is an issue that us as Senators and communities including the chiefs and village heads should really understand. We should know what it means when we talk of climate change. So, as Government, we should train all these people so that they can educate others. Some people when they get hold of an axe, what they quickly think of is just cutting down trees. If you go to the rural areas like Mwenezi where I come from, when I see my uncle holding an axe, I know that he is going to cut down trees. Those uncles and grandfathers should be educated that an axe is not for cutting down trees. It is not allowed to cut down trees because those trees are the ones which provide us with firewood and water. They give us a lot of things and if you cut down a tree, you must plant another one as a replacement.
This issue of climate change, we can take it as child play but it is a very pertinent issue which we should understand. This report which has been given by Hon. Sen. Makore is very educative. I once attended a conference similar to that and you find that the issues that are articulated in there are the same. All of them refer to the same thing that we should look after our environment. If you walk through the streets of Harare, the plastics that you see in the lands and even the rivers you will find these empty plastic bottles. They are the ones that are causing climate change because where water was supposed to flow through, it cannot. Animals are also being killed because of those plastics because of rubbish that is being dumped in rivers. Even the fertilisers and the chemicals that we use, they cause climate change. When the climate has changed, what it means is that things will no longer be the same.
Now we are saying seasons have changed. They have changed because of the animals and insects that were there, like ants and were killed by those chemicals. So this issue, Madam President is a very important issue. We should put in place laws that people should follow, especially the people that we have resettled. They cut down trees in the forest to the extent that in 25 years time, there will be a lot of deserts on our high ways because grass will not be growing. So, I think with this good report, laws should be enacted so that we move forward. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAKONE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th November, 2017.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE DELEGATION
TO THE EIGHTH RETREAT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SENATES,
SHOORA AND EQUIVALENT COUNCILS IN AFRICA AND THE
ARAB WORLD
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: I move the motion standing
in my name:
That this House takes note of the Report of the Parliament of
Zimbabwe Delegation to the Eighth Retreat of the Association of
Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab
World, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 20th to 21st May 2017.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: I second.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Thank you Madam President.
Before I go into my motion, I would like to thank the people of this country, especially the war veterans, for what they did for us.
At the kind invitation of the House of Federation of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the General
Secretariat of the Association of Senates, Shoora and Equivalent
Councils in Africa and the Arab World (ASSECCAA),
ASSECAA’s eighth Retreat was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from May 20-21, 2017.
The Senate of the Republic of Zimbabwe was represented by
the delegation led by the President of the Senate Hon. Edna Madzongwe which comprised of:
Hon. Senator Chief Musarurwa
Hon. Senator Judith Mawire
Hon. Senator Herbert Sinampande
PARTICIPATION
The under-listed member Shoora, Senates and equivalent council in Africa and the Arab world attended the retreat.
- Council of the Nation of the People’s Democratic
Republic of Algeria,
- House of Counselors of Morocco
- Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
- Shoora Council of the State of Qatar
- Shoora Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain
- House of the Senate of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Council of States of the Republic of Sudan
- Senate of the Republic of Burundi
- House of Federation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
- Senate of the Republic of Zimbabwe
The Senate of the Kingdom of Swaziland was represented by the officials from the Swaziland Embassy in Addis Ababa, with
Yemen’s Shoora Council represented by the officials from its Addis Ababa based embassy.
The retreat commenced with open speeches by His Excellency Dr. Omar Suleiman Adam Wanees, Chairman of
ASSECAA and Speaker of the Council States of Sudan and Mr.
Abdulwaise Yusuf Ali, ASSECCA’s Secretary General. Both emphasised the importance of the topics raised for debate in the committees at this meeting and that member councils should take up the responsibility of ensuring that conference outcomes are reflected in their legislative and oversight functions.
The meeting expressed gratitude to ASSECAA’s leadership
for selecting highly significant topics characteristic of the present day world, dominated by a plethora of trends and notions that should utilise the experiences of member parliaments.
The meeting deliberated upon the following three key topics:
- Good governance: Concepts, features and models, a working paper by Dr. Habib Makhtoum, Chairman of the Committee on Peace and Foreign Communication Council of States of Sudan.
- Responsibilities of the present generations in ensuring peace and security of future generations: Reflections on the leadership role of the legislature, a paper presented by
Ambassador Ibrahim Idris Ibrahim, Executive Manager of
IW Research and Consultancy (Pvt) (Ltd.) Centre for International Relations.
- Parliamentarians in Africa and the Arab regions: what should they do to enhance sustainable development in the two regions, work-paper by Negussie Zewdie (MSc) Agricultural expert, from Pace, Development and Democracy Forum (Think-tank).
On recommendations, participants engaged in extensive debate on the aforementioned topics which led to the following recommendations:
- Parliaments should prioritise good governance in a way that spares their countries of internal conflicts and help attain, maintain development and progress.
- Parliaments should take their role of exercising oversight of the Executive seriously.
- Parliamentarians affirmed the importance of effectively implementing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the responsibilities of present generations towards future generations as issued by UNESCO in 1997.
- ASSECAA should consider the idea of establishing a specialised Committee within the association to be called “the Committee on Science and Technology”, which will be tasked with conducting scientific research on the most up to date methods of promoting economic development and introducing relevant scientific and industrial aspects into university and secondary school curricula.
- Further, the above-mentioned Committee will be tasked with debating on and recommending the best research methods and means of exploiting the natural resources and cultural components abounding in Africa and the
Arab World so as to achieve economic development in the two regions.
- The Parliamentarians stressed that the socio-political stability of each and every country is a precondition for development of our two regions, therefore ensuring stability in member nations will allow for harnessing the potential of Afro-Arab nations for attaining sustainable development.
- Parliamentarians stressed the necessity of supporting Afro-Arab cohesiveness and integration to promote good governance through ASSECAA and other institutions. I thank you Mr. President. –[HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
I thought that Hon. Sen. Chief Musarurwa was going to second
this.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Mr.
President Sir, I will debate it tomorrow.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Before I move the
adjournment of the debate, I would like to correct Mr. President that I am not Sinamapande. I am Sinampande.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I
got it.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Now you got it. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday 29th November, 2017.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT ON ACCESS TO SAFE AND CLEAN WATER IN RURAL AREAS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on Access to Safe and Clean Water in Rural Areas.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. BUKA: Thank you Mr. President. I rise to support the report given by Hon. Sen. Makore who talked in detail about what happened. In my speech supporting this motion, I am grateful to the Parliament of Zimbabwe for giving us the opportunity of moving around looking at the water situation in rural areas where people are accessing clean water. We visited the following areas: Gutu/Mupandawana, Gokwe/Nembudziya,
Guruve, Mberengwa, Zimunya in Mutare and Shamva/Madziva.
In all the places which we visited, we were inspecting the water supply in growth points, looking at how this water was treated and whether it was adequate to meet their needs. We also wanted to get their feelings towards the water supply. We looked at the water supply in rural areas. What we were mainly interested in was the distance travelled by the women folk in fetching water. We were also interested in the hygienic situation of the water and wanted to check whether there was no water borne diseases in the water which they were using.
When we were travelling around these places carrying out our research, we realised that many people had access to water but in most cases, some of these people had unhygienic water. I will take an example of these growth points. The water supply system in these areas is archaic and when the growth points were constructed, they were meant to be areas which were to be habited by a small population. The population has now ballooned and the water supply is no longer able to cater for the needs of the huge population.
When we look at the machinery which is used in the purification of the water or water assessment such as the water wells, dams and rivers, they do not have adequate water for use by the population in these growth points. We also realised that the machinery which was being used especially in these boreholes were very old and could not meet the demand of the huge population. These machines are strained and they consistently break down hence water problems. In the growth points, besides facing water shortages, there is a tug of war in the supply of water between ZINWA and the Rural District Councils (RDCs) because each of the two institutions want to collect water levies. This needs to be worked out to see to how this problem can be solved. What should be done in these growth points is to come up with new ways and systems of supplying water to those areas because at the moment people are in problems. They are accessing unhygienic water from unsafe sources.
The other aspect we looked at in these growth points is that those people who own dams do not buy water treatment chemicals on their own. The system is not decentralised. They can only access these chemicals from Harare which has a company that supplies the chemicals; hence people continue to take unhygienic water because chemicals are not readily available. Even in rural areas, most people get water from boreholes. Some of them are very old; they were sunk before independence and others immediately after independence. As a result, most of them have broken down.
We have realised that the District Development Fund which is the organ responsible for maintaining the boreholes in rural areas is allocated a little amount by the State. Even the councils which benefit from the fiscus are given inadequate amount for maintenance of these water points. As a result, there is poor access to clean water. We used to have Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which were financially supporting the water supply systems but they have since withdrawn their services. We have been told by the residents in the rural areas that the health personnel are now under pressure because people are constantly affected by waterborne diseases. They said that the mostly affected are children under the age of five.
We were also told that in Gokwe North, there were very few boreholes. It was noted during the cholera epidemic that most of the people who died were from Gokwe North. In the rural areas, there is nobody responsible for maintaining those machines or even aware of what is needed. Consequently, although people are able to access water, the water is unhygienic. It is a danger to health. We are calling for the Government to look at ways and means of making the people in rural areas access clean water.
According to developmental plans, we need to supply people in rural area with piped water. There are a few people who are using piped water. We also noticed that some people are digging wells along river beds. When they get that water, it appears to be clean but it would not have been purified. It will cause a lot of diseases on the populace. We were informed that the World Bank is in the process of assisting the rural councils to access clean water. Unfortunately, there were no detailed plans on how this system was going to reach the people. No timeline was set for this assistance to come and that a budget is put in place so that people can access safe water.
In all the places where we traveled to, we saw that the councillors were prepared to give us detailed information on the water systems in their areas. We look forward to our Government to allocate more funds to the responsible authorities so that people in rural areas can access clean water. As we know, most of the people in Zimbabwe live in rural areas. We feel that people in rural areas are marginalised because they face a lot of other problems such as poor road infrastructure and poor access to many facilities. It is even stated in our Constitution that access to clean water is a right of every citizen in Zimbabwe. We are looking forward to the ministries responsible for water to look for ways and means of making people access clean water so that people do not suffer from water borne diseases.
In this day and age, people should be accessing water from piped water pumped through electricity or solar power. Some of them can even use diesel engines and others can access purifying chemicals easily.
With those few words, I am grateful to the Chairperson, Hon.
Sen. Makore who is an able leader. I am also grateful to the Hon. Senators who participated in this outreach programme because we made a thorough investigation. If our recommendations are taken, they can lead to good sanitation in rural areas. I thank
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this report. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Sen. Makore and his colleagues. The report is thoroughly thought through, clearly presented and really informative. I thank you Hon. Sen. Makore.
The issue of both rural and urban councils; I think this is where the issue is. It is utter chaos. The issue of money, I do not agree, it is not money- it is total incompetence, deliberate may be in most cases. The type of councilors elected in most of them, in most cases can hardly read and write. They are driven by the Chief Executive of the council, he does everything, they have no knowledge most of them what to do. I will give you an example of my own council in Mhondoro-Ngezi, ward five. There is a council chairman who is hardly literate but he is so much revered, all the councilors gather around him but the Chief Executive acts like he is the boss in distributing money. This is a serious issue. It is sad really for me to say this because for the past 10 years or so, the Ministers also running those Ministries for some reasons or the other, I do not know whether they did not see this problem.
I appeal that I think that there should be a criteria for electing councilors. Whether it is rural or urban, Harare is probably the worst one in terms of the – [HON. SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] – Yes, Mr. President please protect me. I think people have the right to say….
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
(HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Order, Hon. Sen.
Sinampande.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Mr. President. We should be able to point out where the problems are and talk about them. Imagine Mr. President the amount of money that is being poured. The agencies responsible for water in both rural and urban – I have here environment, and they are also dealing with boreholes. DDF are also dealing with boreholes, rural councils are also dealing with boreholes and United Nations agencies like UNICEF are also dealing with boreholes. Then World Bank, there is so much money there and it is a question of management and organising but the whole thing is chaotically organised including the actual issue that has been mentioned by Hon. Sen. Buka, that of cleanliness.
The location of a toilet and a borehole – if you go to any township and in most of these growth points, it is chaotic. You will find a toilet is here and a small butchery is here. It is not planned and it is just unhygienic. These are the issues that actually whoever is coming in the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and National Housing should be a bit more knowledgeable and must be sensitised that these problems should be looked after. Boreholes in some rural areas have become a campaign tool - you will find that in one village, there are five boreholes and then in the next village there is none. How does this happen? You will hear that UNICEF drilled the borehole here and another organisation wants to drill in the same locality, whereas there should be sufficient distribution of enough boreholes for everybody if the whole thing is scientifically done.
Mr. President, this is an important issue and this report got to the heart of my interests in terms of rural development and cleanliness. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th November, 2017.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON
INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT ON THE
CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE NON-
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMUNITY SHARE
OWNERSHIP TRUSTS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment on the Circumstances surrounding the non-establishment of community share ownership trusts in Mudzi and Mutoko.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. KOMICH: I second.
Motion put and agreed to
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th November, 2017.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS ON SDG NO. 3
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Sustainable Development Goals on SDG No. 3.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th November, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th November, 2017.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON PEACE AND SECURITY ON THE PREPAREDNESS OF THE GRAIN
MARKETING BOARD TO HANDLE THE 2016/2017 CROP
DELIVERIES AND THE SUCCESS OF THE COMMAND
AGRICULTURE PROGARAMME
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security on the preparedness of the Grain Marketing Board to handle the
2016/2017 crop deliveries and success of the Command Agriculture Programme.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th November 2017.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROMOTING
STAKEHOLDER AND PARLIAMENTARY DIALOGUE ON THE
ARMS TRADE TREATY (ATT)
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on Report of the Zimbabwe Delegation to the International Conference on Promoting
Stakeholder and Parliamentary Dialogue on the Arms Trade Treaty.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday 29th November 2017.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU seconded by HON. SEN. MAKORE, the House adjourned at One Minute past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 1st November, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam President. I am excited that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is around today because we have been asking for him to come. I would like the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to clarify the currency which we are using today vis-a-vis the application of the bond, RTGS and movement of money through phones. I will have a follow up question on that.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Madam
Speaker. First of all, let me say that I will be very happy to give a full statement on the state of the economy. I hope I will be afforded an opportunity to do that during the course of this afternoon. I was asked to prepare and yesterday I gave a Statement to Members of Parliament in the National Assembly and I am happy to present it again here today. I will now proceed if it is okay…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Maybe we have to
agree in this House that since the Minister is going to give a Statement like he is saying, can we start by asking other Ministers then we have that Statement. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- I think you agree with me that we give a chance to those who are answering short questions and the Minister will come up with his statement.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Madam President, I thought he is
talking of the state of the economy, I only asked about the currency.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think the Minister is
saying he will take time since he was asked yesterday to bring in a statement so that we understand fully what is happening. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
Hon. Member you asked to know which Ministers are in the
House. We have:-
- The Minister of Informantion, Publicity, Media and Broadcasting Services.
- The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education
- The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
- The Deputy Minister of Informantion, Media and Broadcasting Services.
- The Minister of Finance and Economic Development
- The Minister of Agriculture.
- The Deputy Minister of Defence
- The Deputy Minister of Agriculture; and
- The Deputy Miniter of Mines
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President. I am going to reserve my question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. I have burning issues and I am hoping that after he has finished giving his Statement, we are going to be allowed to ask him questions.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. What programmes do you have in place to encourage women and children that are in higher and tertiary education to pursue journalism as an area of study? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA): I
would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for the pertinent question which is very important. One of the mandates of the Ministry of Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services is to ensure that what is contained in the Constitution of Zimbabwe that talks about gender equity is important. We want to see a situation where women become the majority in terms of journalists, editors and media house owners, so we are constantly encouraging each other to adhere with the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe and that clearly came out during our discussions on how best we can come up with a fund to incentivise women so that they can take up journalism and that there is a balance between males and females in the media. I thank you Madam President
HON. SEN ENG. KHUPE: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Defence and War Veterans. When is the Ministry going to complete the verification of collaborators who participated in the war of liberation so that at the end of the day we know the data base, how many are they? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR
VETERANS (HON. MATEMADANDA): Thank you Madam
President. I also want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. We are waiting for the finalisation of alignment of laws that will facilitate the vetting. In fact, anything to do with war collaborators has to conform to the laws of the land. So, it depends on how long the alignment will take, but we are trying to have it as soon as possible.
Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHUNDU: My question is directed to the
Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. What plans are there to ensure that our rivers remain full with water and that they are not affected by siltation because siltation has affected our livestock and game?
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD.
CHIEF AIR MARSHAL SHIRI): The issue of the conservation of
rivers is important. A lot of our rivers are now silted because of the soil that is being washed away during the rainy season. This is caused by human activities which result in soil erosion and as a result, the soil is washed into the rivers. This is also caused by lack of cultivating effective soil conservation in fields and the soil ends up in the rivers.
So, the issue of conservation is very important in particular the avoidance of stream bank cultivation so that there is no soil erosion and by the end of the day our rivers and dams are not silted. We work in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism so that we ensure that our rivers and dams are not silted because water is life, without it we shall all perish. We have an awareness programme which we are vigorously pursuing so that people know about the importance of soil conservation and the pitfalls of stream bank cultivation. I thank you.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: My question is directed to the Minister of Pubic Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Minister, what is
Government policy on maternity leave?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DR. NZENZA): The policy on
maternity leave is that it does not really matter when a woman starts work. As soon as she starts work and she gets pregnant, she is allowed to take maternity leave. We have also put into place that she has hours to go home and breast feed as opposed to the last policy which only allowed a woman to take maternity leave when she has been on the job for 12 months. That has changed. Thank you.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: Minister, are you aware that there are
some…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Address the Chair
Hon. Member.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: Madam President, is the Minister aware that there are some people who are chased out of work because of going for maternity. I thank you.
HON. DR. NZENZA: Thank you once again. I am not aware but at the same time I am not surprised. I would very much want to have those kinds of situations written down and sent to my office and we will investigate.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Madam President. May
the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services inform us as to why Zimbabwe as a country that became independent in 1980, has a single television station. Why do we not have a multiplicity of television players? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND
BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA):
Thank you Madam President. I believe if she once read she might have observed that as the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, in the next 100 days our mandate is to issue out licences to private television operators or players. We are looking forward to about 6 more television stations coming on board so that we give our viewers variety and that there is competition in that industry which will culminate in quality viewing and content that helps our people in learning a lot of things. It is an issue that we are seriously looking at in the second republic so that we open up our airwaves. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Are these television operators going to be independent and not be under ZBC, that they will be free to air their own programming.
*HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: I would like to tell Hon. Chifamba that at present our Ministry is not interfering with what is occurring at ZBC. We only give policy which guides them. There are editors who ensure that the type of news that comes through ZBC is in line with the policy. It is not the duty of Government to force television stations to broadcast what Government wants, but to broadcast what the people of Zimbabwe want. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: My question is going to the Ministry of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: The Leader of
Government Business Hon. Ziyambi is not in, but I think we are going to look into that Hon. Member.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: You announced that the Leader of Government Business is the Minister of Agriculture. Why does it take you a lot of time to announce the presidential results? Furthermore why do ZEC employees wear political regalia? Why were they employed when they are political players? When are the election reforms going to be made? I want to find out what happened to the 2.6 million votes that the child garnered. What became of them? Give the child his things.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Let us ask policy
questions Hon. Member so that the Minister will be able to answer the question.
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL SETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD.
CHIEF AIR MARSHAL SHIRI): Madam President, I would like to
thank the Senator for her question. As to why it takes a long time to have the presidential election results announced – the Constitution is very clear on that issue. It gives a clear timeline within which election results should be announced. If the election results are announced within the stipulated time they will not have been delayed. On the issue of ZEC officials wearing party regalia – I urge you to give us sufficient evidence on where they were seen wearing which political party regalia. This will enable us to answer the question properly. Also what exactly are you referring to by regalia, is it the t/shirt, cap or what?
The last question was on reforms, let me state that there is a procedure which is followed for reforms to be done. So, if there are those that believe there should be amendments, they should come up in the form of motions and once they are adopted the people’s resolve will be done.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: My question is directed to the
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. I understand that in Zimbabwe we have three higher learning institutions which are training legal practitioners namely: University of Zimbabwe (UZ), Great
Zimbabwe University (GZU), Midlands State University (MSU) and Ezekiel Guti University (EGU). The question is; in some of these institutions when the students qualify, they cannot be registered as lawyers to practice in Zimbabwe. What is the policy regarding that because in my industry when a medical school is registered, it is also approved by the Medical Council, which is the Board which authorises someone to practice as a doctor when they are trained. But we do not see that happening in law because as far as the information that I have is concerned, GZU and EGU are not registered by the Law Society or the Board responsible to enable them to automatically practice after qualifying like the ones who train at UZ and MSU.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon Senator
for that question. All law degrees in the country conform to the dictates as laid out in the minimum bodies of knowledge of law through the ZIMCHAIR Act as well as governed by the dictates of the syllabi that is followed. If there is any particular case where students are not automatic practitioners, then that will be an issue that we will be very happy to look into in particular. However, what we have done with our higher and tertiary education system is to make sure that we have what we call minimum bodies of knowledge, not only for law but for medicine and now any other degree has to have a minimum body of knowledge so that when a degree is offered at MSU and it is called law, it should be the same in terms of content, 70%-80% overlap with the one offered at X.Y and Z.
So, now through Statutory Instrument 132 of 2018 which was enacted on 20 July 2018, which we call the Zimbabwe National
Qualification Framework we are putting away all those disparities in terms of qualification for all degrees. It might be in law but law was actually much better than all the other degrees. If you do crop science for instance at Chinhoyi and Lupane or Solusi universities, the crop sciences were different and our question was, so what is a degree in crop science. So, through this Statutory Instrument, we are putting
Zimbabwe’s education system at a level where it is transparent within itself so that it can be trusted from outside and we can say study in Zimbabwe from outside.
+HON. SEN. P. NDHLOVU: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. When we were campaigning you were giving seed maize on partisan lines. People are fighting over the inputs that were given because others were not given.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD.
CHIEF AIR MARSHAL SHIRI): Thank you Madam President.
Government policy is that whenever ...
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: On a point of order Madam President.
The Hon. Sen. asked in Ndebele so he should respond in Ndebele.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Every Hon Member is
allowed to debate in any language he or she feels like.
HON. TIMVEOS: Madam President, she cannot hear that is why she asked in Ndebele and you always do that even in the last Parliament.
THE PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Member we cannot do
that. Hon Member, you can proceed in the language you feel you want to use.
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD.
CHIEF AIR MARSHAL SHIRI): Madam President, I would like to explain to the Hon Member that Government policy is when it gives inputs to the people they are not given on partisan lines or any other discriminatory basis. The Ministry does not discriminate on the basis of religious or political affiliation. I do not discount the fact that there could be one or two bad eggs doing that but if that does happen, we have district administrators, Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs as well as my Ministry officials, that once that anomaly is brought to their attention they quickly intervene and correct the anomaly. It is not
Government policy and there are several areas where people have been given inputs without any issue of political bias being raised. As the responsible Ministry, it is difficult to tell one’s political persuasion and more-so it is our policy that all Zimbabweans should benefit, regardless of their political affiliation. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MAKONE: Thank you Madam President. The
response by the Minister of Agriculture is well understood. He has admitted that there could be a few bad eggs in the basket and once that person is known and the necessary procedures are taken - yet nothing happens. Is there anything else that he can tell us on how best we can handle it in case there is no solution at district or provincial levels, because such people going against the grain may be known.
*HON. SEN. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI: I said
once those people are found, they will be dealt with and the point is they have not been found and they have not been dealt with. If that was done yesterday and the person is known, we have those law enforcement agents and it is important that the laws of the country are upheld so that we live harmoniously as Zimbabweans. Once some people have committed a crime, they must be dealt with. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: The Minister has said the Councilors
are the ones that do the correct things in distributing inputs yet it is the Councilors who are busy campaigning using these inputs. May the Minister come up with a mechanism to ensure that your Councilors do not use distribute these inputs on partisan lines. In fact a different structure should be introduced.
*HON. SEN. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI: Madam
President the modus operandi is that Councilors, District Administrators and other civil servants are also involved in the process of distributing farming inputs. It is also worth noting that these Councilors in the rural areas belong to one political party, so we are saying it is inherent in all of them to be biased against people who do not belong to their parties? I would want to hear a party in this House that does not have Councillors in the communal areas. All Councillors are involved in the distribution of these inputs and if there are some Councillors failing to distribute the inputs equitably, please inform us so that as leaders, we correct that and ensure the system works. If someone has gone astray, let that be immediately corrected so that our country moves forward in unity.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Madam
President. My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government. What is Government policy regarding rural development because we found that Chiefs are not involved in Rural District Councils yet the Traditional Leaders Act stipulates that Chiefs should be involved in rural development programmes. Therefore, what the Government Policy regarding exclusion of Chiefs among other institutions dealing with rural development in the country? I thank you.
*THE HON. DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING
(HON. MHLANGA): Thank you Madam President and may I thank you Hon. Sen. Chief Chikwaka for his question. My response is that the
Traditional Leaders’ institution is very important regarding local government. In a short while we are going to have a Traditional Leaders Bill that will be before this August House so that we can work hand glove and so that they become strong players in developmental issues. I thank you Madam President.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I believe the Hon.
Chiefs have heard it.
*HON. SEN. CHIKWAKA: My question is directed to the
Minister of Agriculture. What steps are you taking to come up with the producer price for wheat, maize and other small grains for the 2019 season?
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL SETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Madam President as of now, we have not yet come up with the producer prices for wheat and maize because we have not yet produced hence we do not know yet what the cost of inputs is going to be. Once we know and that is towards the end of the season, we can come up with the producer price, taking into consideration the costs that the farmers will have incurred to produce a particular product. It is still a bit too early for us to come up with the producer prices for maize, wheat and other small grains. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Madam President my
question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care and in his absence may the Hon. Leader of the House respond to that question. Madam President in this country we are talking about health promotion and improvement. Has the Minister taken any steps as regards the drug that was illegally brought into this country by Prophet Magaya? I am asking because the corrupt people may see the drug being distributed in a bid to raise money. What steps have been taken so that people continue to use the approved drugs from the Ministry of Health? Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL SETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD. AIR
CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Madam President, I know that the
question regards a controversial issue. Some people are for this information whilst some are against it therefore it is important that the Minister of Health comes here to elucidate. I do not want to go astray. I thank you.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I believe you are
going to tell him that, so that this can be done.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHITANGA: Thank you Hon. President.
My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. How far has Government gone in terms of the areas of jurisdiction? I am talking of the new areas pertaining the gazette of boundaries in resettlement areas.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
MHLANGA): Thank you Madam President. I would want to thank the Hon. Senator for his question. May you put that question in writing? I thank you.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You are being asked
to put the question in writing so that they can go and research. It is allowed. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. We have our young men who are in the communal lands whom we refer to as artisanal miners and are now being referred to as small miners. When these young men are busy mining, we hear that at times they run into problems and that the mine has collapsed and they have been trapped underground. Do you have modern machinery or ways that will enable them to safely conduct mining?
My second question Madam President is that, commercial mining entities had tributes and they are not using these tributes but, the youth cannot take these tributes. Can you not adopt the use it or lose it policy?
I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): Thank you Madam
President and thank you Hon. Senator for your question that some miners are being trapped in the mines. As a Ministry, we are conducting some awareness campaigns where we are moving around mining areas.
We are gathering the miners and teaching them on the best methods of mining as well as encouraging them to cover up the pits that they would have excavated. We are working together with the tourism Ministry and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) so that those that are doing stream bank mining are allowed and some people are also into excavating in the river beds and they are collapsing and dying in there.
So, we are doing some campaigns. There is the Zimbabwe
Miners’ Federation, its leadership such as women and mining and youth and mining, we have discussed with them over such issues and we encourage them to conduct safe mining so that we have sustainable mining which is safe.
On the issue of claims or tributes that are not being used, last week we informed all our provincial mining directors to give us a list of claims that are not being utilised. A claim might have been taken 20 years ago but without any returns. So, we are saying such types of claims – we need information so that we can allocate it to the youth and war veterans who are eager to do mining and we have other various groups that are also interested in mining.
This is what we are doing as a Ministry. Even claims for large mining corporations which have not been doing anything for the past years, we would want to have that information because others are merely paying their fees without utilising it. We are still to decide as to whether we can allocate these mines or tributaries to the youth, women or war veterans or any other stakeholders. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Madam President, how long does
it take after you have a claim to get a licence because, you will want to go and mine. How long does it take to get a licence issued?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Is it originating from
the first one.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Of course because people are mining in a different way. When you now get a real licence, how long does it take?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: It is only because you
are asking that question to the same Minister, that I can agree to let the Minister answer but that is a separate question from the original one.
HON. KAMBAMURA: Thank you Madam President. Previously
it used to take long for one to get a mining title. We had a strategic meeting three weeks ago in Kariba as a Ministry and all stakeholders and we agreed that at least, one should get a mining title within two weeks because there are a lot of issues to be done. We have to go to the ground for surveys and verifications so as to avoid disputes. Thank you very much.
+HON. SEN. P. NDLOVU: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. Children fall into these mines and some people live from faraway places to Gwanda and they fall and get injured beyond recognition. How do you help such people and communities that would have sent the children to go and fetch ore at the mines and they have no money to bury these children? I thank you.
HON. KAMBAMURA: Sorry Madam President. I do not understand and can I have the question to be interpreted.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think what we can do
is just to have it written so that the Minister will answer her.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: My supplementary question
is on the issue of mines and children being trapped in these mines and some of these causes are argumentative when they go and over peg and others come. Is it correct that one can be issued with a claim that includes other people’s claims within that radius, for instance 20 km radius and in that 20 km radius; there are other people’s claims. When they go onto the ground to mine, they fight over it in terms of operations and then some other people are trapped in these mines. I thank you.
HON. KAMBAMURA: Thank you Madam President. I know
that the issue of people disputing the claims is because the mines will not have been properly pegged, we did not have the GPS and people would use a beacon of physical things for the pegs. At the moment the modus operandi is that a surveyor is sent with GPS so that they peg the area properly.
It does not matter whether someone’s claim is within another miner’s claim. If the areas are properly pegged, there should not be any problems. If there are people who had their mines pegged using trees – from this particular tree to the other, they must go to the Ministry of Mines and ensure that their mines are repegged because we are having a lot of disputes which has caused others to lose limps or even die because they are fighting over the pegs of these mines. If there are such areas, please come forward so that our team can come to the ground and resolve such issues. I thank you Madam President.
+HON. SEN. NYATHI: My question is directed to the Minister of
Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Hon Minister, are you aware that there is no electricity at Kamativi Mine due to vandalism and theft? What is Government doing to ensure that the people at the mine have electricity? Secondly, are you going to bring to book the people who vandalised the lines because this problem has been there for a long time.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD.
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SHIRI): Electricity is a key driver of economic growth in our country and as such those who vandalise and steal electricity infrastructure should be prosecuted. I have no doubt in my mind that the police together with ZESA loss control department are out in full force looking for the culprits. On the issue of whether the infrastructure will be repaired, I believe that ZESA as the power utility will repair what was vandalised.
*HON. SEN. RWAMBIWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement.
Is the Minister aware of the high cost of agricultural inputs out there? Since a lot of our people derive their livelihood from agriculture, how are they going to survive if they do not embark on agricultural activities this season?
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SHIRI): Madam President, I am quite aware
that the prices of agricultural inputs had skyrocketed to levels beyond the reach of many of our farmers. Be that as it may, His Excellency, the President Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa called for a meeting at State House this Monday and the meeting drew Cabinet Ministers and captains of industry and commerce. The meeting was very progressive in that soon after the meeting, the prices of most seeds came down by almost 50%.
The President went further to call for another meeting between Government and the producers of seed and fertilizer. The purpose of the meeting was to review downwards the prices of inputs. I must say that talks are still ongoing between Government and captains of industry with a view to stabilise the prices. I must point out that Government is not controlling the prices at the moment and will not dictate what prices should producers charge for their products.
There is nothing that prevents us as Zimbabweans from taking corrective action when we see that prices of goods and services are going out of hand. I am glad that there is a healthy dialogue between the captains of industry and commerce on one hand and Government on the other. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. ENG MUDZURI: I want to applaud the Government for engaging the producers with a view to stabilise the prices of basic commodities. Is there a contingent plan in place to make sure that there will be no shortage of seed and fertilizers on the market?
*HON. SEN RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SHIRI: First of all,
I would like to say that during our preparations for the 2018/19 farming season, we were assured by the seed houses that there is enough seed in the country. What was an issue of concern was the pricing structure of this product. Fertilizer is being delivered into the country as I speak now and most of it is in bonded warehouses. If our farmers cannot afford this fertilizer, let us not forget that there is Statutory Instrument 122 which allows importation of seed and fertilizers from outside the country.
Those with foreign currency can also augment their stocks by importing from outside if not impressed with the price within the country, you can go and purchase from outside the country. Those are the programmes in place Madam President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NGEZI: Thank you Madam President. I am directing my question to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. What is the policy in place in relation to the programme of the land audit? Is the programme going to be completed or there are some challenges they are facing?
*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD.
AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Thank you Madam President.
The issue of the resizing of the farms to the recommended standards will be pursued in earnest. Also, bear in mind that the Land Commission is currently on the ground carrying out land audits where they want to establish the occupants, production levels as well as eliminate multiple farm ownership. In a bid not to step on each other’s toes, our Ministry officials are not currently pursuing the resizing of the farms up and until the completion of the land audit.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by the HON.
PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: On a point of order Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: What is your point of
order?
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Madam President, when we started, we said we want to ask questions without notice to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. He said, he was going to give a Statement.
I believe that we needed to extend time so that he could deliver that
Statement and we ask him questions. I thank you Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Usually, the Statement
is not part of the questions. He was still going to give his Statement to the benefit of the House but today is question day. Now, we have those Ministers that are supposed to answer their questions and they are here with their questions. We also have to give them time to give their answers but still we wait for the Minister’s Statement.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Madam President, my question is - when he gives that Statement, how do we ask him? We ask him under which regulation because what we are doing is, we are doing these questions under Questions Without Notice. Let me understand Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Member.
It is not the first time we have a Statement from a Minister. Usually, after the Minister gives his Statement, you will have a chance to ask for any clarifications. So you will have time to question.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: That is what I wanted to understand
Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: No, no. The way you
asked, you kept on saying, I am telling you that once the Minister gives his Statement, it is obvious Members are allowed to seek clarifications.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES OF THE BEIJING PLATFORM OF 1995
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to explain the national achievements and failures of the Beijing Platform of 1995.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON.
NYONI): Thank you Madam President. I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for raising the question on the national achievements and failures on the Beijing Platform of 1995. Madam President, Zimbabwe participated in the historic Beijing Conference of 1995 which came out with Beijing declaration and platform for action that outlined 12 critical areas of concern to be addressed by member States in order to uphold women’s rights and enhance women’s empowerment. The 12 critical areas of concern highlighted in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were as follows:
Women and Poverty; Education and Training of Women; Women
and Health; Violence Against Women; Women and Armed Conflict;
Women and the Economy; Women Empowerment and Decision Making;
Institutional Mechanisms for Advancement of Women; Human Rights of
Women; Women and the Media; Women and Environment and the Girl Child.
Mr. President, the Beijing declaration and Platform for Action has contributed immensely to the shaping of the Gender Equity and Women Empowerment Discourse in Zimbabwe. Since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action, Zimbabwe has made remarkable progress in the areas of Gender Equity and Women Empowerment. The Government has adopted several legislative policy and administrative measures to facilitate the implementation of the 12 critical areas of the Declaration.
Key achievements of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action are as follows: The Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013) which enshrines progressive provisions on the rights of women, for example the Constitution contains a quarter provision for women representation in Parliament. Women now have an equal citizenship and rights as men.
Age of marriage set at minimum age of 18 years for both boys and girls. Women now have guardianship rights over children born out of wedlock. All appointed public positions to have an equal number of men and women and the Gender Commission was established as an independent constitutional body.
- Enhancement of various pieces of legislation for the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment which include the following:
- Administration of Estates Amendment Act (1997) –
providing for the rights of wives and daughters to inherit from deceased husbands and fathers.
- The Maintenance Act (1999) – creating the rights of women to claim maintenance or children born out of wedlock.
- The Domestic Violence Act (2006) – which criminalises domestic violence and establishes the Anti- Domestic Council which is mandated to monitor the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. The Electoral Act (1990) – the Electoral Act provides for participation by women in elections as candidates or voters and makes specific provision against gender discrimination.
- Administration of Estates Amendment Act (1997) – this Act changed the customary law positions that prohibited women and girls from inheriting from estates of deceased husbands and fathers to allow women and girls to inherit.
- The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (2004) –
which criminalises sexual offences, willful transmission of HIV.
These laws uphold and promote the human rights of women and
provide for equality of access, opportunities and resources to women equally with men.
We commend His Excellency the President for directing that among other Bills, the Marriage Bill and Mandatory sentencing for rape be prioritised for finalisation during the 9th Parliament.
Mr. President, the establishment of National Gender Machinery comprising the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and
Media Enterprise Development, Parliament of Zimbabwe and Gender Focal Persons to advance issues of women empowerment and gender equality.
The Government has adopted a National Gender Policy to facilitate gender mainstreaming efforts across all sectors. In order to address poverty particularly the feminisation of poverty, the following initiatives have been put in place:
- Establishment of the Zimbabwe Women’s Macro-finance Bank to facilitate access to credit and financial services to women.
- Establishment of a Women’s Development Fund which has seen a total of $3 229 107 being disbursed to 1 894 women’s groups to fund their income generating projects.
- In 2016, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe developed the Financial Inclusion Strategy and has put in place the following facilities targeted at improving women’s access to capital, means of production and employment opportunities:-
- $15 million Women Empowerment Fund;
- $10 million Horticulture Facility; iii.$40 million Gold Mobilisation Facility; iv. $10 million Business Linkage Facility and
- $15 million Cross Border Facility.
A quota of all the above highlighted facilities is reserved for rural women while the $15 million Women Empowerment Fund is solely for women.
Mr. President, since the adoption of Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action, we have witnessed a reduction in the prevalence of
HIV and AIDS down from about 24.6% in 2003 to 15% as of 2014 and 14% in 2017. Given the feminised nature of HV infection, the reduction in infection levels means that there are less women being infected and therefore less women dying from AIDS.
Mr. Speaker, while significant strides have been made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action, there are still several challenges to full implementation of gender equality and women empowerment in Zimbabwe.
Some of the challenges are as follows:-
- Inadequate budgetary allocations for the promotion of gender
equality and women. Despite the provisions of the Beijing Platform for Action stating that adequate resources for the national machinery are a critical component for achieving gender equality, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development has consistently received a low budget allocation of less than 1% of the total national budget for the past five years. This has constrained full implementation of the Ministry’s programmes.
- Inadequate implementation of the law and policies in place to
advance gender equality.
- Under-representation of women in decision making levels.
- High levels of Gender Based Violence and child marriages.
- Slow pace in the realignment of laws relating to gender.
Mr. President, the Government of Zimbabwe remains committed to the advancement of women through the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and other regional and international instruments on advancing women’s rights and gender equality that Zimbabwe is party to. I thank you.
POLICY REGARDING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AFFECTED BY VELD FIRES
- SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to advise on Government policy regarding small and medium enterprises that have been affected by veld fires.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY,
SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON.
NYONI): We note that veld fires affect SMEs involved mainly in animal husbandry, timber and crop production. However, the issue of veld fires falls under the mandate of the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry who promote public participation in various programmes of environment management.
Mr. President, my Ministry encourages SMEs to take insurance policies to protect their businesses wherever they would be. I thank you.
MEASURES TO ADDRESS GENDER IMBALANCES
- SEN. TIMVEOS asked the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to –
- inform the Senate of measures being taken by the Ministry to ensure equal representation of gender in all institutions of Government, including membership in independent commissions and other elective and appointed bodies,
- state steps taken to redress gender imbalances resulting from past malpractices.
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY,
SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON.
NYONI): I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Timveos for raising critical questions on the measures my Ministry is undertaking to ensure equal representation of both genders in all institutions of Government, including membership in independent commissions and other elective and appointed bodies.
Mr. President, Section 17 of the Constitution requires the State and all other agencies of Government to promote full participation of women in all spheres of development and ensure that men and women are equally represented in all institutions and agencies of Government at all levels. The Constitution further requires that women constitute at least half of the membership of all commissions and other elective and appointed bodies.
Mr. President, in line with the Constitution, my Ministry working with the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has developed Memorandum of Principles on 50/50 representation in all elective and non-elective boards and all Government institutions. These principles are part of the General Laws (Statutory Boards) Amendment
Bill.
- The principles set out the manner of appointment of members
of boards with specific inclusion of section 17 of the Constitution which promotes gender balance and amending such language barriers that give reference to one gender occupying a certain position, for example the use of words “chairman, deputy chairman”.
- The amendment of provisions on the establishment of boards
will ensure that women have equal access to participation, representation and resources in all spheres of Zimbabwean society.
- Each Act that establishes any board will then be required to adhere to the General Laws (Statutory Boards) Amendment Act.
Mr. President, the Ministry also runs women in politics and decision making programmes which aims to increase women participation and representation in all levels of decision making in line with the constitutional provisions that promote gender equality. Ministry officials sensitise communities on the 50/50 principle and advocate for women to take up decision making positions and political positions to ensure that women’s concerns are included in decision making process at all levels. The programme also empowers women with knowledge of their political rights.
Mr. President, the Ministry is in the process of developing a Strategy on Women in Decision Making that is in both the public and private sphere and also in politics. The main objective of the strategy is to promote full participation and representation of women at all levels of decision making across all spheres of development. In addition, my Ministry is developing an outline database for professional women which will be used by public and private sector companies that are seeking candidates for appointments to boards and as an advocacy tool for increasing women’s visibility.
Mr. President, let me also highlight some of the steps taken by my
Ministry to redress gender imbalances resulting from past malpractices. The National Gender Policy provides a guiding framework for mainstreaming gender in all sectors of the economy. The policy provides for concrete measures and strategies to mainstream gender in the following thematic areas:
Constitutional and legal rights, economic empowerment, politics and decision making, health, education and training, gender based violence, environment and climate change, media information communication and technology, disability and culture and religion. The strategies contained in the policy do not only unlock the potential of women but take deliberate efforts to address the gender disparities across all sectors.
Mr. President, not also forgetting the many strides that we have achieved as a nation in addressing past imbalances which include:
- Review of discriminatory laws, policies and practices, for example through the enactment of the Legal Age of Majority Act, the repeal of the previous Constitution which allowed discrimination against women in matters relating to personal law.
- Introduction of affirmative action measures in the education
sector.
- Legal Age of Majority Act (1982).
- Labour Relations Act (1984) Chapter (28:01) prohibits employers from discrimination against employees on grounds of sex.
- Maintenance Amendment Act (1989) requires a negligent
non-custodian parent to contribute regularly to children in the custody of the other parent.
- The Electoral Act (1990) allows women to participate in
general and by elections for the Presidency or in Parliamentary and local elections as voters or candidates without any discrimination.
- The Administration of Estates Amendment Act (1997) (Chapter 6:01) protects the inheritance rights of surviving spouses and children.
- Criminal Law (Codification and Reforms) Act – The Sexual Offences Act (2001) (Chapter 9:23) protects women from sexual abuse and criminalises marital rape and willful transmission of HIV and AIDS. The Act also prohibits trafficking of persons for purposes of prostitution and imposes stiffer penalties for violations.
- The Interpretation Act (2004) (Chapter 1:01), the
Government came to realise that the use of the language that denotes the masculine gender in legislative instruments perpetuates discrimination against women. The Act therefore has been amended to use language that denotes feminize concurrency with that of masculine gender.
- General Laws Amendment Act (Section 12 Chapter 8:07)
states that women in Zimbabwe are legally entitled to take up political and public offices such as those political and public offices that can be held by men.
- Domestic Violence Act (2007) (Chapter 5:16) and its Regulations (2008) provides for protection of survivors of domestic violence and criminalise such acts as abuse derived from any cultural or customary rites or practices that discriminated or degrade women.
- Anti-Domestic Violence Council: launched (2009) to spearhead the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act.
- SADC Protocol on Gender and Development: ratified on 22nd October, 2009 which among other things advocates for gender parity (50/50) in politics and other decision making bodies.
STRATEGIES TO ECONOMICALLY EMPOWER WOMEN
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development to inform the Senate whether there are strategies in place to economically empower women who constitute the majority of the population.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I would like to
answer this in four parts. First of all, in terms of access to capital which is very critical, where women - it has been proven in Zimbabwe and the world over that they are disadvantaged. There are several schemes that have been put in place. The first one is the Zimbabwe Women’s Empowerment Bank which is capitalised to the tune of $15 million and targets female borrowers or female entrepreneurs. But even then one is still concerned about the cost of borrowing.
Indeed, even some of the collateral requirements but there are certain measures that we want to take to make sure that there is full access to finance from this bank. Also $15 million is not enough frankly. The bank should grow its capital so that it goes up and this is something that we are looking into. Secondly, the women’s empowerment fund likewise targets women or female entrepreneurs in terms of access to capital in addition to the 25% set aside in most facilities provided by the Reserve bank of Zimbabwe. That is the first point.
The second point pertains to board representation that in terms of just standard corporate governance rules and requirements, there should be gender equity if not gender parity. It has been proven that the companies that have a higher female composition level at board level tend to perform better. This has been proven in Zimbabwe and proven global to the tune of 30% of those that are male dominated. So, there is a benefit to making sure more women are represented at board level. Also it turns out that companies that are performing better is because more board members being on board also tend to take less risk because it is understood that gender balance provides an internal risk regulation mechanism.
The other point pertains to entrepreneurship training and risk taking. What is happening is that EMPRETEC, one of the organisations that government supports or partners is going to be training four thousand youths in Zimbabwe over the next three years, being supported and financed by one of our partners. Within that, there is a very clear programme to train female entrepreneurs so they can become more risk takers. What has been found in the training in the past is that female entrepreneurs outdo their male counterparts in all categories except the category of risk taking. So they want to make sure that this category is dealt with and we can empower our female entrepreneurs and business people. I thank you Mr. President.
DECENTRALISATION OF THE WOMEN’S BANK
- HON. SEN. MALULEKE asked the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to state measures being taken to decentralise the Women’s Bank throughout the country
THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY,
SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON.
NYONI): Thank you Mr. President. The women’s bank is already decentralised and I want the Hon House to be aware that we are now using mobile transfers more than physical banking. So what my Ministry has done is we have moved to all provinces, training at least
100 women to be agents of this bank. So already we have decentralised. Therefore, any province where we have not been, be assured that we are coming. These 100 women per province will then take the forms to the women in every ward and make sure that the women participate. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Hon. Minister, why is it that the
Women’s Bank conditions are now more complicated than any other bank. Even the requirements are now more complicated and it is actually now more expensive than any other bank to open an account.
HON. SEN. NYONI: I was not aware of the complication. If the Hon Member could spell out the complications I will make follow up and make sure they are corrected.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I am actually coming from a budget
workshop where we were told that the requirements include collateral. I was in the last Parliament and we actually opened the Women’s Bank to make it easy for the poor women to get money but if now you need collateral, witnesses and even assets - that complicates everything and you really need to look into it.
HON. SEN. NYONI: I will look into it and then bring a response to the House.
REDUCTION OF BANK CHARGES
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to state measures being taken to reduce bank charges for the banking public
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I must say for
the record Mr. President that we continue to be concerned about the high banking charges by the banks. The moment you try to control interest rates to narrow the margins – the banks as they are in the business of making money, naturally, try to switch to other ways to maintain their margins and bank charges become the issue. We continue to monitor the issue to make sure that these bank charges come down so that the banks do not collude, but they should compete and that competition should lower such bank charges. Thank you Mr. President.
PARLIAMENT BUDGET FOR 2019
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development whether the Ministry could consider allocating adequate budget to Parliament during the 2019 National Budget to ensure achievement of institutional goals and objectives.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): For the record Mr.
President through you, we will provide adequate budget for such reforms in terms of institutional goals. One of the pillars in the Vision 2030 Statement that the President has launched which seeks to take Zimbabwe to Upper Middle Income level is Governance and Institutional Reforms. That pertains to political reforms in terms of the APEX institution, but also micro institutions in terms of environment of doing business, whether to make it easier for companies to set up for the regulatory mechanisms to be more flexible and allow businesses to do what they do best which is doing business. All of this is being looked into so that we really become a country that is open for business but also a country that respects the rule of law as we have always done. We will ensure that there is adequate budget for these institutional reforms and goals. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Hon. Minister, is it a shared vision with all your workmates in Government that political reforms are a necessity for the growth of this economy?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank Hon. Sen. Komichi for that
question. Absolutely, it is a shared vision. This vision is enshrined in Vision 2030 but also it is enshrined in the implementation document which is a Transitional Stabilization Programme. So, I urge my Hon. Senator to take a look at that document as well. We are very clear, we will undertake these institutional reforms which includes political reforms. After all, you cannot be an upper middle income country of note by the year 2030 if there is no progress made on those institutional reforms that you are referring to. Thank you Hon. Senator.
PAYMENT OF ROYALTIES BY THE CHINESE
- HON. SEN. TIMVEOS asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to state whether Chinese businesses operating in the mining sector are paying any royalties to Government and if so, to advise on the total amount paid in 2017.
*THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Royalties are paid by
every operator in the mining sector so I can confirm that they are paying the royalties and we do not have exemptions for Chinese operators and targeting them only will not be the correct way to create a level playing field. Everyone should pay their royalties and we have some principles around how royalties are paid that is usually in relation to gross price of the final product. Of course companies do approach us from time to time and we have got one case in question where they tried to negotiate on the net price rather than the gross price because they have to export the commodity to some other country or even the mother ship for refinery and the refinery charges a certain percentage that they should pay royalty on the back of the net price.
Of course we said no, we need an equitable treatment of all miners and you will pay royalties on the back of the gross price. Now as to how much the Chinese investors paid, I do not have that figure at hand with me but I am happy to provide that figure Mr. President once I have it and to present it to yourself, to the House and to the Hon. Senator. Thank you.
VERIFICATION OF BILLS FOR CHROME ORE EXPORTS
- SEN. TIMVEOS asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to advise whether way bills for all chrome ore exports are verified before the consignments leave the country’s exit points?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): We make every effort
to verify these consignments absolutely. That is not to say that there are certain irregularities that could happen from time to time. There will always be deviants or malcontents trying to take shortcuts and we will try to deal with those, but every effort is made to make sure that the inspections and verifications are done according to the rules and according to the law. Thank you Mr. President.
CONSTITUTION OF A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON
PAYMENT MODALITIES OF INSURANCE LOSSES DURING 2005
– 2008
- SEN. SHOKO asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development when the other Commission of Inquiry that looks at the payment modalities for persons and insurance losses incurred during the economic meltdown of 2005-2008 period will be constituted as recommended by the first commission of inquiry report.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Mr. President, I thank
Hon. Sen. Shoko for the question. Absolutely we are seized with this matter and I am desirous that in the budget we make a pronouncement. However, it is going to be a process and I have been telling everyone who comes to see us. Mr. President, every day we receive an average of five (5) desperate pensioners coming to the Ministry to find out if progress is being made and so, this is an issue that we are dealing with.
We have been interacting with Ipack and also the (Life) insurance companies to make sure that we can resolve, first of all the valuations in terms of the loses and then the role of Government in it as a contributor in terms of resources but also an interlocutor between the pensioners and the companies but also, the role of the companies themselves because one thing is still unclear as to how the assets were treated during this period - whether companies co-mingled all their assets within their balance sheets with the assets of the customers. That co-mingling is something that we need to unravel and there will be a negotiation process. We will get to a resolution and try to make sure that this issue is resolved, it is urgent Mr. President and I agree with Senator Shoko that it is an issue to be dealt with.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Mr. President. When are we
going to have this committee in particular, because the problem that we have is we are not being given timelines. Can we get those timelines from the Minister; thank you Mr. President.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Within the next six (6) months and bit
also requires us to ascertain legislation which will allow us to carry out the work and implement the solutions that we are thinking about. We are working on that within the next six (6) months and we will set up the necessary structures to resolve this matter; thank you Mr. President and thank you Sen. Shoko.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you President. My
supplementary question is on you giving a statement. Can you assure this House you will give a statement or pronouncement on the steps you are going to take so that people do not come to knock at your door since they will exactly know the steps and timelines you are going to take? That is important because pensioners in our constituencies are asking us to come here and ask you the Minister to give us a proper outlay of the path you are going to take towards resolving this. If your committee is coming in six (6) months, can you do a communication to that effect?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President, let me thank the Hon. Sen. Eng. Mudzuri for that supplementary question. Actually I agree with him that we should issue a communication or statement and we will do so that we can keep our pensioners calm. We have been telling them individually but also we are aware that this is not enough and we need to know the steps and we will start to make sure that this communication is made clear.
FUNDING FOR THE REHABILITATION OF THE HARARE
CITY COUNCIL SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE
- HON. SEN. TIMVEOS asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to state whether government would provide funding for rehabilitation of the dilapidated Harare City Council sewer infrastructure since the City is owed huge arrears in outstanding rate payments by government.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
MHLANGA): Mr. President let me start by thanking the Hon. Member for asking the question. Let me however inform this August House that the Ministry acknowledges that some government departments from time to time owe local authorities - Harare City included, considerable amounts of money in respect of related charges. On the other hand, local authorities too do owe government departments and agencies such as ZIMRA, NSSA and ZIMDEF significant amounts of money. To redress this scenario it has been a custom that there has been a debt settlement arrangement within the council and government departments facilitated by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. I thank you.
ACCESS TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS BY PHYSICALLY
CHALLENGED PERSONS
- HON. SEN. HUNGWE asked the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing to explain measures being taken to facilitate access to public buildings by physically challenged persons.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
MHLANGA): Thank you Mr. President. The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is facilitating access to public buildings by physically challenged persons through the following:
All new building designs should have a ramp of appropriate breadth to facilitate vertical movement. Curbs are being installed at entrances and there is continuous routine maintenance and installation of new lifts and escalators in order to facilitate vertical movement. The public buildings also have toilets that are specially designed for physically challenged people. The Ministry of Local Government, public works and National Housing is the regulator of model building by-laws. It means therefore that privately constructed buildings must also adhere to it. I thank you.
SUPPLEMENTARY LIVESTOCK FEEDING FOR FARMERS IN
MATABELELAND SOUTH PROVINCE
19 HON. SEN. MOHADI asked the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlements to advise whether there are plans to assist farmers in Matabeleland South Province with supplementary livestock feeding.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENTS (HON. SEN. RTD.
AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Thank you Mr. President. The
Hon. Member sought to have me advise whether there are plans to assist farmers in Matabeleland South Province with supplementary livestock feeding.
Mr. President, for the predicted El Nino weather for the coming season, the Ministry is making an inventory of hay baling equipment, both in public and private institutions, to assess its state of repair so as to mobilise and send them for cutting and baling hay in provinces that will have received reasonable rains in the 2018/2019 summer season.
Furthermore, extension officers have already started giving mitigation awareness messages to farmers to adequately respond to possible crisis. Messages include early destocking, health management and relief grazing. It must be noted that Matabeleland South livestock farmers have always been better prepared for responding to drought situations compared to other provinces due to capacity building programmes carried out by extension services during previous drought years. I thank you Mr. President.
COMPLETION OF INSTALLATION OF CENTRE PIVOTS
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS BY FARMERS IN MATABELELAND
PROVINCE
- HON. SEN. MOHADI asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlements to explain measures being taken to assist farmers in Matabeleland Province to complete the installation of centre pivots irrigation systems.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENTS (HON. SEN. RTD.
AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Thank you Mr. President. I thank the Hon. Member for the question posed.
Mr. President, out of eighty (80) centre pivots which were supplied by Government, only eight (8) are not functional due to various individual farmer specific problems. Efforts are being done to make the eight functional before the onset of the farming season. I thank you Mr.
President.
DESERTIFICATION BY TOBACCO FARMERS IN RESETTLEMENT
AREAS
21 HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement measures being taken to stop desertification by tobacco growers particularly in the resettlement areas.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER,
CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHALL SHIRI): Thank you Mr. President and I thank the Hon. Member for the question posed.
Mr. President Sir, Government introduced the tobacco levy in 2015 for the specific purpose of addressing issues of deforestation in tobacco growing areas. The total amount collected to date into the Afforestation Fund is $22 211 335.71. This total amount remains untouched because the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is still to have the constitution of the Afforestation Fund presented to and registered with
Parliament as per the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19].
In addition to this national initiative, in 2015, tobacco buying companies introduced a non-statutory 1.5% levy on their tobacco purchases to establish the Sustainable Afforestation Association (SAA). SAA has been planting woodlots on land leased from rural district councils, mines, schools, churches and farms. I thank you Mr. President.
EDUCATION TO CITIZENS ON THE NATIONAL HEALTH
INSURANCE SCHEME
- HON. SEN. HUNGWE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to state mechanisms currently in place to educate citizens on the proposed National Health Insurance Scheme.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. DR. NZENZA): Thank you Mr.
President. The Government of Zimbabwe started looking into the possibility of introducing a national health insurance scheme in the early 1990s when the health care system showed signs of deterioration. In 1991 and 1995, the Government commissioned studies on the relevance and feasibility of this scheme. After establishing the need for this scheme, the Government through the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, mandated the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) to work with the Ministry of Health and Child Care at the same time with the support of the International Labour Organisation.
However, in 2008, due to the economic crisis, this matter of developing the national health insurance scheme was shelved. In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Child Care tookover once again the development of the national health scheme. This was taken away from NSSA and to date, the Ministry of Health and Child Care is working together with an EU based company called SOSIX to develop a national health insurance scheme. I would therefore like to conclude that, the matter of developing this health insurance scheme is now in the hands of the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Thank you Hon. President.
PROCUREMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES BY MIMOSA
MINING COMPANY
- HON. SEN. TIMVEOS asked the Minister of Mines and
Mining Development to explain whether the Ministry is aware that 90% of goods and services procured by Mimosa Mining Company are being supplied by companies owned by its Management and if so, to state measures being taken to curb such malpractices.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): Thank you Mr.
President. The Ministry is not aware of what is happening at Mimosa Mine. We have currently sent the question to the management there so that they can revert back to us and we will be able to update the Hon. Senator on what is happening on the ground.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: We
will treat that question as deferred. So, we will ask the Minister to go and find out and come back and report to the Senate and answer that question.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Mr. President, I heard the Minister saying that he has sent the question to the management. The management are the ones who are actually doing this, so I do not think he will get a good answer.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you for the tip. I am sure now that he is well armed with that information, he is going to use all means necessary to extract information from that mine. Thank you.
Order, Questions with notice have now been exhausted and in terms of what we have on today’s order paper, we have the Minister of Finance who is going to give a statement.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
STATE OF THE ECONOMY
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr.
President and thank you Members of the Senate for this occasion to present to you a report on the state of the economy. This is a short report because I will have other opportunities to present a much longer report during the budget statement but also in my interactions with you and Members of the Lower House in Bulawayo next week. This statement is a statement about the state of the economy rather than policy pronouncements about what I will be doing going forward. I have reserved those for the Budget but as I speak, I will signal the policy direction as well.
In order to put the state of the economy into context, I want to share with you the state of the global economy and this is important. We are seeing strong growth of the order of 3.7% this year and the same figure next year. This is being driven by mainly strong growth in North America, mainly United States after the cutting of taxes by the Executive in that country and strong growth that we have seen in what we refer to as emerging markets which really referred to the large developing countries which is China and India – with China showing growth of the order of 6.5% this year and slightly lower at 6.2% in 2019 and India growing faster with projection growth levels above 7.3% this year and similar figure next year.
I am happy to leave a document behind so that all these numbers are clear. I have got a table showing that. This recovery in growth and you will see where I am going with this when I come to Zimbabwe. Globally, it is stopping commodity prices from collapsing. Basically strong growth from China and India are good for commodity prices and Zimbabwe is exposed to those commodity prices. I must say that when it comes to oil, it is not so good because with the oil price averaging $75 per barrel, that is not good for us because we are a net oil importer but it is good for other African countries that are net oil exporters.
Within Africa and the region itself, we see growth in Zimbabwe hovering around 6.3%. We have revised it upward from 4.5% which we thought would be the growth this time last year but we have revised it upwards because we see more robust factors impacting the economy positively. It is not surprising therefore to see the interest in foreign investors coming through to Zimbabwe Investment Authority which will become a one-stop-shop soon. With 165 applications worth US$15.8bn in the first half of 2018, we noticed that in terms of foreign direct investment, US$1.8bn has been confirmed this far, 2018 and we are desirous that this figure moves up to US$2bn in 2019. This interest shows that foreign investors see dynamism in this economy and certainly our growth prospects augur well for the returns of the investors who are showing this interest.
Where is this growth coming from? It is being driven by the mining sector growing at about 26% currently. I am still concerned though about some of the developments in that sector where we are seeing the currency shortages beginning to impact the sector in this last quarter of the year. I still expect very strong growth from the sector. The other driver is the construction sector which is growing at about 14% and as you are well aware, the RBZ has a construction sector fund that seeks to support this sector going forward.
Finally, the third strong growth sector is agriculture growing at 12.4% and we know quite a bit - some of you here are beneficiaries of strong agricultural sector programme which seeks to drive food security in Zimbabwe but also earn much needed foreign currency within the country.
I must say because of this robust activity in the Zimbabwe economy – the economy is actually bigger than we think. We have been saying that the economy is $18bn in size in terms of GDP. That is just a figure. The real figure is that the economy is actually $25bn in size. It is
40% bigger. I made this announcement about two weeks ago just before I went off to Bali to begin the interaction negotiation with partners whom we owe money globally. The dynamism is coming from the expansion in the informal, services and financial sectors. The services sector has grown and it is driving this growth in the size of the economy.
This phenomenon is not unique to Zimbabwe. All other African countries are experiencing this where the services sector has grown.
There is a rule that every five years, the economy has to be rebased.
What I am explaining in terms of the change in the size of the GDP, that was a rebasing exercise. In another five years, we are going to rebase and again the economy will move upwards accordingly.
In the agricultural sector, what is driving growth is obviously productivity in tobacco, cotton, sugar cane and soya beans. In the mining sector it is gold, coal and chrome being the main drivers. Again I have got a table in my written note that explains where this growth is coming from sector by sector. I have included all the sectors that you may think of in Zimbabwe.
I now want to turn to inflation which is the internal value of money. The rising money supply occasioned by the budget deficit financing coupled with foreign currency shortages has seen a surge in inflationary pressures during the first half of 2018 but also in this third quarter of the year, already the evidence is pointing in that direction. Annual inflation stood at 5.4% in September 2018 with signs of resurgence as I have said compared to the first six months where it was relatively stable. I have got a chart below that shows the movement in this inflation upwards in terms of the visual presentation of this upward trend.
The main drivers of inflation during this period have been the parallel market exchange rates driven by foreign currency shortages giving rise to speculative demand as well as induced demand of US dollar as an asset of store of value. The eventual pass through effect of this exchange rate premiums has filtered into a sudden price increase particularly on goods as you can imagine. This was worsened by the firming oil prices that I referred to and the depreciation of the South African Rand against the US dollar which also has an impact because that is our largest trading partner. Anything that happens to the randdollar exchange rate is transmitted into Zimbabwe as well.
Switching to public finances, with cumulative revenues of
US$3.8bn and expenditures of US$6.2bn between January and September this year, the resultant budget deficit of US$2.4bn is unsustainable in the light of constrained capacity to close the gap. We have had an unsustainable budget deficit. This year that budget deficit will come out at a double digit above 10%. I am determined that within the next two years it comes down to single digit. I have a target over a three year period to bring it to just below 4%. That target is contained in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme. I urge you all to go to that section that pertains to fiscal consolidation. Fiscal consolidation is what I will be focusing on quite a bit in terms of macro agenda.
It is therefore not surprising that we have issued so many Treasury Bills in value in order to finance this budget deficit in Government. The way these Treasury Bills have been financed also in my view has not been according to best practice so far. Best practice dictates that there should be an auction, it should be subjected to market mechanisms that would have actually made sure that the interest rate we are paying now would have been lower by as much as 3% because on the private placement, that was being implemented before we were paying interest rates of about 10 percent. We know that if we had gone to the market, we would have paid 7% interest saving 3%. Now, we have to continue servicing that extra interest. Therefore, I have decided that the auction system should start and we will probably be doing a small auction before the year-end just to test market to see if it works. It is not a desire to raise funding frankly; there are other ways to do that but it is to test the system to make sure the auction system works.
Mr. President, the overdraft facility between the Central Government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is huge. It is way above the limit of 20% of the previous year’s expenditure. It should be about $700 million, but right now we are sitting at over $2 billion in terms of that exposure. However, there is a little bit of good news which is that, we have not received as much as $3.3 billion from corporates that have not remitted the taxes that they have collected to ZIMRA on VAT. We are moving quite aggressive to collect that. We can see that we will be able to cover that Reserve Bank hole using the unremitted taxes that have been collected from individuals by the corporates.
Uncollected taxes, if I can break it down, it is about $2.3 billion being the principal, $1 billion being the interest because I have had to borrow to finance that hole. So I have to charge interest on unremitted taxes and penalties for late remittance which is another billion. In total, it comes to $4.5 billion. I am prepared to wave or to reduce the penalty portion so that it is manageable by the corporates. Twenty percent of those unremitted taxes are due to parastatals, our own institutions that we will cajole over time to pay. That is the overdraft facility.
Turning to the financial sector, Mr. President, the money supply stock stood at $9.14 billion in June this year translating to a year on year growth of 40.81%, a huge surge in domestic money supply from a figure of $6.49 billion in June the previous year 2017. It is projected that money supply will grow by 38.2% in 2018 compared to an initial projection of only 20.14%, a huge surge in money supply. Why is this growth coming through in terms of money supply growth? It is due to Government expenditure. Again, it is back to the deficit. The impact Mr. President, is that the deficit I referred to earlier is causing growth in money supply. That growth in money supply is also fuelling inflation. That is not good. It is important to contain the budget deficit in the way that I explained. Let me turn to ....
[Cellphone rings.]
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order.
Hon. Members, I do not have to keep reminding you that when you bring cellphones into this House, you must switch them off or put them on silence. I hope this will not happen again.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you once again Mr. President. For emphasis, if you look at Government borrowing compared to borrowing by the private sector Government is borrowing about 62% of the entire credit available in the financial sector. Government is crowding out the private sector, yet we know that... [Cellphone rings.]
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order.
Minister!
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I am sorry Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I am
sorry Hon. Minister , you may proceed.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. Government is borrowing 62% of the credit available in our financial system and only the remainder is available for private sector and quasi Government institutions. Clearly, the Central Government is crowding out the private sector and yet we want the private sector to receive the bulk of the credit so that they can develop projects, employ more people and create jobs. This is an uncomfortable situation that I am determined to turn around.
I now want to take this opportunity Mr. President, to explain the rationale behind the 2% tax on financial transactions. In order to tackle the budget deficit that is huge, I need two approaches. The first approach is to expand revenue. The second approach is to contain spending. Going back to expanding revenue, the 2% tax was introduced in order to expand the revenue, to expand the tax base. The economy has grown as I have explained, it is bigger than we think but also the economy has become more informalised. In that process, it has become more electronic in terms of means of transactions. Therefore, it became very useful for us to think of ways of introducing a tax that will speak to informality, that will also spread the tax base in the way that I have tried to explain. This electronic transaction tax was the way we thought about this. I am sure there are other ways and options but we think that this is the best.
If you observe globally, I do not know whether you read the news about what happened in the UK yesterday, where the Minister of Finance in the UK is thinking of a similar 2% tax on electronic transactions; they call it a digital tax. It is very similar. Do not be surprised if this Zimbabwe tax that we started here is going to be copied all over the world, especially in developed countries – [HON.
SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order.
You will have an opportunity to interact with the Minister. He is delivering his Statement, there is no need to interrupt him.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. In the rest of Africa, you also have other countries that have a similar tax or a variation of it such as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Senegal. These taxes are far more widespread than we realise. This tax is dealing with the revenue side of dealing with the problem. On the cost containment side Mr. President, during the Budget Speech, I will outline measures for dealing with Government waste and cost containment. For a start, we have not yet authorised the purchase and issuance of our vehicles for the Legislature and for the Executive. I know that only the chiefs got some vehicles but not everyone else. Again, we need to signal to the Zimbabwe people that we are serious about cost containment. We will deal with the issues such as travel, wage bill, enforcing retirement policy and so forth. The list is long in terms of cost containment and I will outline this in the Budget. I believe there is political will to see this through and certainly, the President, the Head of State has shown his commitment in following through on this cost containment.
Let me now switch Mr. President to the external sector. If you look at exports of goods and services, these are projected to close of year at about $5 billion, largely driven by mineral and tobacco exports whilst overall imports of goods and services are projected to be at about $7.3 billion for the same period. You can already see that we do have a current account, a deficit in our balance of payments where our exports are lower than our imports and there lies a problem. We have as a country what we call a twin deficit problem. We have a current account deficit and we have a fiscal deficit. These two are linked and they are a problem. We need to deal with both of them.
So, you will find that for instance, on the current account deficit, I am going to take measures to make sure that we discourage excessive imports of luxury goods. There are some who have even suggested that we should even start charging in United States dollars in terms of import duties on cars. All these are ideas and suggestions and we are processing them to arrive at the right way to deal with excessive spending in terms of imports.
Also, the lifting of SI 122 which is designed to increase the supply of goods into Zimbabwe; given the hike in prices and then also curtail supply is all trying to target this current account deficit to make sure that again we bring down prices as well as improve supply in this sector. Again, I have got a table that shows exactly what the standing is in terms of this external sector balance.
I want to conclude by mentioning two issues. One is the issue of external engagement. This is a very important issue. We need to engage externally and we need to clear our arrears with what we call the preferred institutions – the African Development Bank on one hand and the World Bank on the other, but they must be cleared simultaneously. It is called the pari-passu principle. That is how it works in terms of being debtors to those institutions. So, we owe both of them close to $2 billion and we are determined that in the next 12 months we will clear those, we will pay them off and then we will move then to the second stage which is re-negotiating what we call the Paris Club creditors.
This is the individual countries - France, UK, USA whom we owe again monies individually, but they also happen to be the shareholders of the first two institutions that I mentioned. So, you are dealing with the same group of creditors or partners to Zimbabwe. I have started engaging them very seriously, building on previous work. When I was
in Bali, they asked me to present the Transitional Stabilisation
Programme (TSP). I did that to all of them. It was well received. Their view is that it is a credible programme and they are saying you must now walk the talk. They said Minister, we like the TSP, but please you and your colleagues in Government walk the talk and implement these measures that you want to implement and then we can work together and help you clear your arrears. That is what they are telling us and I am determined that we walk the talk at least in terms of my part sitting in Treasury.
Now, in terms of the ultimate resolution, in terms of Paris Club negotiations, there are many options on the table, several options. The options, by the way, are determined by the creditors. We do not choose how our debt should be resolved, but we can only ask. So, it could be HIPIC or HIPIC like, it could be customised, it could be ad-hoc. There are so many technical terms that are used but by the end of the day, all we want is for our debt to be resolved, that we have less of it and that is all we are looking for so that we can grow our economy.
Then finally as the last point Mr. President, is the Transitional Stabilisation Programme. Notice that what I have done in presenting on the state of the economy, I have just focused on the broader macro. There are very critical issues and drivers of this economy which is in micro part such as agriculture. What we are going to be doing in terms of agriculture is all in the TSP – how to enhance Command Agriculture, making sure that more finances are available from the banking sector. We have been speaking to them- how to resolve the payment to the farmers which is still unresolved as per the Constitution. Again, all of that is in the TSP. Our support for the mining sector in terms of beneficiation, in terms of coming up with a simple but credible and effective fiscal regime for the mining sector, reflecting on the retention ratios for instance when it comes to foreign currency, all of that is in there.
We focus on the construction sector. All the sectors are included such as the tourism sector which is a low hanging fruit. The multiply effect in the tourism sector is three times. You bring one tourist here, for every dollar they spend, the multiply effect is three times within the economy. So, this is low hanging fruit and we are determined to support that sector as well. The list is long, but of course, we have not forgotten the environment of doing business, the institutional reforms that we spoke about earlier when I was answering questions – all of this is in the TSP.
Mr. President, at the back of the document, we have a table as to the projects and programmes that we will undertake during the first two years up to year 2020 and then building on to the next five year plan and then the last five year plan to take us to 2030. We have a schedule, we have a time table, we have the actors and these will be monitored using the results measuring framework that we have all signed up to as
Ministers.
To conclude and take my seat, I will give a further presentation on the state of the economy next week when we discuss the road map for the budget in Bulawayo, but also when I give the budget on 22nd
November. Thank you, Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you very much Minister for that comprehensive statement. I would like to remind the Hon. Senators that next week we are going to have two days which we will interact with the Minister when we do the PreBudget Seminar.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order, Mr. President. I asked a question which he has not answered in his statement. I said I wanted to ask a follow up question and then he said he was going to give a statement and that question has not been answered in that statement.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Alright, you can ask the question again.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: It is here, I can repeat it because if you answer this, I will be able to discuss what you have said. Before I seek clarification, I wanted the Minister to tell me what currency he is budgeting on, what currency we are using in the country because when he was giving his statement, he is also saying people might be asked to pay for their taxes in United States dollars.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Just
ask your question.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: My question is simply that when he tells me what currency we are using now, then I will clarify on his statement.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Hon. Mudzuri for that question. We have a multi currency regime. We have pronounced that this is here to stay. That is the currency regime we are using now and the reference accounting currency in terms of our budget is in United
States dollars and we have guaranteed a 1:1 conversion in terms of
United States dollars and other forms of payment. We announced that. The reason why we are doing that is because we are concerned about loss of value. That is our first order of business because we know that the crisis of 2008/2009 has left scars on people.
Earlier we were discussing about the loss of pension funds and so forth and we are determined that that value is preserved, but also it creates a sense of order as far as we are concerned so that we can really introduce gradually currency reforms that we think that in the end
Zimbabwe ought to have.
If you go back to the Monetary Policy Statement on 1st October, we announced the separating of FC accounts to deal with commingling because we understood that United States dollars were by-passing the banking system. You have what we call a typical disintermediation which is a technical word, just by-passing the banking system. Our determination was that look, if we allowed for the separation of FC accounts people would then start banking in the banks, but also we are now beginning to see bond notes as well being banked.
There were other measures in terms of monetary policy reforms such as introducing a Monetary Policy Committee so that monetary affairs are better governed and also, we introduced a 5% reserve requirement to mop up liquidity and sterilise liquidity from the system so that it does not cause inflation and threaten again the value of the currency,
So Mr. President, we have a comprehensive road map, the way forward on the currency. I thank Hon. Sen Mudzuri. Thank you Mr.
President.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: Minister, I do not think what you are
saying is true.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
ask your supplementary question.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: There is no multi-currency in this country because we are using bond notes. Can the Minister tell us which currency we are using? I last got US dollars last year in July. I thank you.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. For the
record once again, we are in a multi-currency regime. The reference accounting currency has been the US dollar. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: We
are not in the normal question time which we normally have on Thursdays. We are seeking clarifications from the Minister. So, there is no supplementary question once somebody has asked their question. If you want to ask another question you just stand up. I had recognised
Hon Members in order so allow me to finish the people I have on my list then I will come back to fresh ones. In the interest of being fair, I started with Hon Sen. Mudzuri now it is Hon. Sen. Makoni.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order. I think you are being unfair to us. We were stopped from asking questions and were told to seek clarification. Asking and seeking clarification is the same. Mr. President, we were waiting for the Minister of Finance and Economic Development for more than three weeks. As the Leader of the Opposition, I think you must allow us to seek clarification because we went out failing to ask questions. I asked Madam President why the Minister was not answering the currency issue. The whole budget and his speech are based on the currency we are using. If we forget that the currency we are using today – we were doing budget yesterday and we were wondering what currency we were using both you and me. The Minister has admitted...
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Senator Mudzuri, we have got rules which we follow. We have a statement which the Minister has made and now I am giving you the opportunity in terms of our Standing Rules and Orders to seek clarification from the Minister and I have given the order of the people who are going to seek clarifications.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Mr. President, it does not help to
give an order. I asked a question and I am following up after he answered the question.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: He
has answered the question.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: No, people do not understanding
his answer. He has not answered the question properly in the sense that there is RTGs, Nostro US$, bond and all these things are happening in the market. As we are doing a budget today and going for the budget, we wanted clarification on the currency we are budgeting on and also what should be used outside. If we do not have that I can laugh at this whole statement and say Hon. Ncube we might be headed for a disaster because you have not looked at your terrain. If you do not first answer the question on the meaning of RTGs US$ account or Nostro account. If you go to the bank tomorrow that is what you are told.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Sen. Mudzuri, I have to stop you at that stage. The Minister has answered for your benefit. I will ask the Hon. Minister to answer your question again. Minister would you like to answer that question again.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I have already answered the question Mr. President. Let me thank again Hon. Se. Mudzuri for that question. We are in a multi-currency regime. That is the official position. We have guaranteed a one to one equivalent and I urge you to use the US dollar as your accounting currency. Accounting currency I repeat. We have always done that so, please let us maintain that. I thank you Mr.
President.
HON. SEN. MAKONI: I want to find out from the Minister, when he set out to impose the 2% tax on transactions, was there any consultation done because the ill feeling that we have in the society today is that this is money being taken from the poor to finance Government expenditure, which is not authorised as exemplified by the money that was forgiven to farmers who took equipment for agricultural purposes. They still have their equipment but the loan has been assumed by Government and everybody else is being made to pay for it.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: It is not very often that when
Government enacts policy it calls a referendum and consults everyone in society. In terms of relevant consultation, that was done within Government and the private sector but also in recognition of the developments in our economy which I explained earlier, a bigger and more informalised economy. This was within the strategy for the containment of the budget deficit. I already said that the first step was revenue expansion and that we have already done. I am already thinking whether I should consider other incentives within the budget using the tax for the creation of jobs. That is what I was actually seized with this morning when I was consulting industry. To conclude Mr. President, in the budget I will outline the cost containment measures, expenditure cutting measures to complement the revenue expansion measures so that Government itself can meet the people of Zimbabwe half way. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. B MPOFU: Mine is a slightly technical question. It is based on what the Minister said on the one-to-one facility. When the facility started in 2016, it was backed by US$200 million facility from
AFREXIM bank. By August this year that currency’s value was about 390 and money supply was average in terms of its velocity was around 25 million. Now if you look at that and you look at the facility that we have and the facility that you negotiated and the velocity that is there, what measures do we have to ensure that the facility remains one-to-one because it will not, given what the value of that particular currency in August the velocity in terms of money supply that has been taking place since then.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: The facility we have in place in terms of guarantee or line of credit from AFREXIM bank is adequate. We have made that assessment and we are quite comfortable with the size and it is US$500 million. If you look at the bond notes value issued is 431 million so it is adequate. I did also mention that we have negotiated additional facilities to deal with RTGs balances as well to make sure those are secured. The way it works is you never have a one-to-one guarantee. Let me take you back – if you have a normal exchange rate regime, the size of your reserves is always smaller than the size of imports. It is always like that, that is why we always talk in terms of import cover because in economics we are worried about the flow and not the stock. So that is why we never have a one-to-one guarantee in terms of value but always have a mismatch but that mismatch is still enough to guarantee value. So we have done that analysis. I thank you Mr President.
*SEN. TIMVEOS: I want to thank you Mr. President and through you Mr. President, the way the Finance Minister has spoken is like he was already addressing us on the 2030 budget which is the future life. Is that correct? I am a Senator from the people and I want to know what is obtaining at the moment. Minister, we always hear that sanctions are impeding our development programmes and considering all that you have said here, I did not hear you talking about corruption in terms of how you are going to manage it so that your work as the Minister will be lighter for you. Out there Minister, people are talking about Queen Bee and King Bee who are said to be walking into the Reserve Bank and take a US$1 million and then go outside the country and come back into the country to give the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe bond notes yet they would have been supplied with United States dollars. If you go to the streets right now Minister, you will find out that the exchange rate is not
US$1: 1 bond note. This is our money Minister …
*THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Senator Timveos, let us assist each other here. We want to get clarifications from the Minister and we cannot start to make a statement.
Just ask a question that my question is directed to this issue and then the Minister answers, thank you.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President. The Minister of Finance is the custodian of the finances in the country and he has the responsibility to know where the money goes. The money under custodianship of his Ministry comes from salaries, taxes and some other different revenue streams. Therefore if the Minister is giving his statement, he should mention what is trending now and state how he will resolve the matters. How can you be trusted Minister and the most important issue at the moment is to give confidence to the people. Otherwise if the people are not happy the economy will never improve and so, tell us the truth. Minister the gap between the rich and the poor is now too wide …
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
apparently you do not have a question and you only want to make a statement. Can I ask the next Senator to seek his clarification; Senator Shoko. I said I have ruled.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Of course you have ruled Hon. President, but let people explain themselves. You are bulling us and we cannot get answers when you are not allowing us to deal with the Minister. Honestly we are here to make sure the Minister answers questions which are on the ground and now you are telling us that we want to go to the next question. We need people to talk to the Minister
…
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Senator Mudzuri..
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Hon. Mr. President we must
agree that …
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Senator Mudzuri..
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: You can rule but rule me out on
the basis that we must be able to get the answers. She is just seeking clarification and let her seek clarification.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Senator Mudzuri…
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: It is not question and answer, it is
clarification.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Yes
and it is not a statement and answer. It is clarification. In other words you ask a question to get clarification.
HON. SEN. MUDZURI: Alright let her finish. Allow her to talk.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Sen. Mudzuri I am in the Chair and do not force me to do any action which is not good for an Upper House. I am in the Chair here. I am in the Chair and I am chairing this meeting. Senator Timveos are you going to ask a question?
*SEN. TIMVEOS: Mr. President I do not believe you do not want the Minister to answer the questions I have asked him. I have asked what he is going to do with the corruption and what he is going to do with the Queen Bee; we are losing a lot of funds through this. If you say he should not answer, I do not have a problem and if you want us to leave this Chamber we can still leave because you do not want the Minister of Finance to answer the questions we are asking. I was asking but you said
I am not asking yet I was asking.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: No.
Senator Timveos, no…
*SEN. TIMVEOS: If you do not want we can just leave…
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Senator Timveos I said ask or seek your clarification and do not make a statement and Minister, do you want to comment on that?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Hon. President let me thank the Hon.
Senator for the statement and implied questions in that statement around I think the issue of corruption and what I am doing about it. As you know my job is it to be the custodian of the finances of the country and whenever I have information on any form of corruption, I am always ready to hand that over to the institutions of the law; security agents who can then deal with those using the arm of the law. As you know there are other departments that deal with those issues and I am always ready to do that.
The issues of corruption that the Hon. Senator has referred to have not yet been proven and they are out there, she is right about that they are out there. I have also read about them as much as she has and all of us have but there is a process already underway to get to the bottom of that. We are aware that at least where it pertains to specific individuals at the Central Bank, they have been suspended and investigations are underway. An announcement was made by the Governor very clearly and so quite clearly, an investigation and inquiries are underway and I suspect those findings will be made public. I am just saying if there are any allegations, anyone is free to approach arms of the law to make sure that those are investigated.
She used words such as how can I be trusted; you should trust me. I have a good plan – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - I am very sincere and everyone who has ever worked with me in their lives know that I am very sincere, very honest, very transparent and I am determined to do my best as I contribute to building this country. I thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Thank you Minister.
+HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to talk to the Minister of Finance Hon. Prof. Ncube. We did not understand him and we want to understand because we are saying when you want to go and buy some medical drugs from pharmacies, they say if you are transferring your money through ecocash, the price is high and unless you are buying with the United States dollar, the price is low. If you are using bond note, the price is also high. May you explain this matter please? When I am done, please use English so that they understand. I have said that so that the Hon. President does not stop me. I want us to understand each other. I want you to kill this matter which is obtaining at the moment. We want to talk about 2019 and I want you to explain properly and I end by saying that if we go to the pharmacy together now, for bond note it is $80, for ecocash it is US$120 and that is where we have a problem. That is what we want to hear. What is happening and how are you going to attend to that? Once that is addressed, we will be happy and what is making us not to trust you is that you were in charge of Barbican Bank …
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Senator Shoko ask your question. Alright, Minister.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. Thank you Hon. Sen. Shoko. He is asking me to answer regarding his experience what pharmacies are doing in terms of prices. I have urged all pharmacies to stop selling drugs in hard United States dollars. It is hurting those who do not have access to the United States dollars and also you know this multi-pricing, there is a Statutory Instrument which says actually it is acting outside the law. We announced this last week and we re-emphasised this week it is outside the law.
Of course, we are using moral persuasion means to make sure that they bring their prices down and we are also aware there has been a price hike. In fact one of the manufacturers of drugs came to see me this morning. He said I have got an idea about how we can deal with this pricing and I liked the idea but I am not yet ready to talk about it but I liked the idea. If that works, you will see those prices come down. I am concentrating on making sure that prices come down. I am not in control of the exchange rate in the parallel market because that is another market. We have an official position, but at the same time I am acutely aware that there is transmission in terms of inflation and we are trying to deal with inflation. We have lifted SI 122 which also allows people to import drugs and so forth so they can supplement supplies and all that will go a long way in reducing prices and improving accessibility. I want to correct you Hon. Shoko. He said that my statement was about tomorrow; - it is about the state of the economy today. What will be about tomorrow and about next year is the budget statement which we will discuss together with Hon. Shoko next week in Bulawayo and I am looking forward to his contribution so that tomorrow for 2019, we can improve the economy and his aspirations are realised. I thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. I will also take a cue from Hon. Shoko. Minister, I want to know as to how many people outside the country are taking the money since you are saying that the bond note is one to one with the US dollar?. They were taking their monies without a problem but those children who are at the universities have been blocked. They no longer have access to the money because the cards have been blocked and they cannot have access to money for food. Accommodation is out and what is important is the daily life of a child.
What measures are you taking Minister because when I approach the bank, there are some other people with children who are at school out of the country? We were requested to go and buy money and deposit it. With these hardships and the money that we are realizing, is that feasible to buy and deposit. I would like to have an answer to that.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Sen. Ncube for the
question. The gist of the question is that, our Zimbabwean children studying outside the country, the parents have no access to forex to support them for accommodation, food and so forth.
Mr. President, I really sympathies with Hon. Ncube on this and with all Zimbabweans but that is why we introduced these FCA accounts to allow those with free funds to deposit in the banks and the trading will start eventually so that there is more access to US dollars in the system. That is the intention. So, I am hopeful that the situation will improve and there is no silver bullet or indeed a magic wand. It will take time but I hope things will get well. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Mr. President. I feel sorry for the Minister of Finance and Economic Development because he does not yet have the solution to the economic problems of our country. The majority of the work should be done so that we get an answer. The question that you have not responded to Hon. Minister has been asked and it will come back. The commodities are being charged used a three tier system. If I were to buy water and I pay for it in RGTS, it has its own price, if I pay in US hard currency, it has its own price and the same applies for bond note.
What we are experiencing in terms of pricing Minister is that if you do not have a bond note, you cannot buy water. If you want to buy using the RTGS system and the same applies to medication or drugs.
The rates for each of those three tier systems are different. For a tablet for flu, you are charged US$7 – what type of a rate is that if you are using simple calculations?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Again, like what happened in 2008,
did you not lose your pension? We are very worried. I want you to understand where we are coming from. On the multiple pricing of commodities using prices, it should not be like that. That is why when I answered Hon Shoko’s question about the drug manufacturers that they must stop this kind of multi-pricing of forcing people to use US dollars. There are some practices out there that are not in line with Government policy. I do not know whether you are now asking us to enforce it vigorously. Certainly, that has not been the approach in the new dispensation. Our approach is much more focused on moral suasion.
Hon. Sen. Shiri earlier on answered a question regarding how we dealt with the issue of seed and fertilizers. He said Government is engaging the producers and make them understand that it is not in their interest to push these prices up. Who can afford 10kg of seed at $110?
They then lowered their prices. That happened in one day to really force them to lower their prices. It must be because they realised that this is unsustainable. Our approach is moral suasion. We do not want to vigorously enforce the law and things like that.
I have answered this question. I know that he wants us to be here until 7 p.m. I am sure he will be hungry like all of us soon. On a more serious note, I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I want to thank the Minister of
Finance for the explanation that he has given us. He alluded to the fact that Government borrowing is at 62% and private sector quasi activities is at 38% and my question is, what happens if things do not go according to plan? Will there be moral suasion?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I am determined and the Government
is determined to contain the budget deficit. You are right that as I stated it Government borrowing of 62% is crowding out the private sector and is excessive. It should be contained. You will notice that since I took office, I have not issued any Treasury Bills. In fact I have refused to issue TBs so that we do not go back there. I will just do a little bit just to test the new auction system and I will see whether it is working so that we can lower the interest rate on Treasury Bills. I am determined that we contain this budget deficit. It will happen and we will not fail.
I think in the next three years, we will actually balance the budget. If we do not do that together nyika inoparara. We will have a difficult future. In my view, we have such a wonderful future ahead of us under the new dispensation. Let us work together and put our hands on deck. I, as the steward of Treasury am prepared to do my part but I expect all of us to do our part including all the Hon. Members in this Upper House.
You are all Zimbabweans I thank you.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: I have got a number of
clarifications to the Hon. Minister. Just before I go in, I need to remind the Minister that he is minister or custodian of the finances of the people of Zimbabwe. That includes the parallel market. So he cannot dissociate himself because right now he has introduced 2% tax which is for the informal. Let us be correct so that people will trust you and trust is earned.
My first question is, we know where all our problems started from. The RBZ is still practicing the way it used to be. It is taking the function of financial institutions and not doing its primary role. We want to hear from the Minister what he has put in place so that we trust him.
My second question is, we represent the people and you are a product of the people. You might not have a constituency but you were chosen by the President and the President has a bigger constituency than our constituencies. So, you represent people. We do not want to sit here as a nation to have an Hon. Minister to “lie” to the nation. We opened
FCA accounts and there is no person in Zimbabwe who ever opened an RTGS/bond account. These are a figment of your imagination. We cannot tolerate this as a nation. You need to face the truth so that we can trust you. He has to clarify on the issue of bond/RTGS accounts.
The other question is on the issue of 2% to finance corruption. We know we are financing debts of people who are still living. We would be happy even with a 10% tax if it is going for capital development and improving what we have and not to pay a legacy debt whose owners we are still seeing moving around. I think it is unfair. He has to tell us why he has done that.
My last question is on the control of the current account deficit. It is a difficult thing to do. We pray for you but without political will – one of our problems is political. Even when you meet people, they say please clean your politics. We want to hear what exactly is in place so that we move with you and support you. This is the Zimbabwe we all want.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank the Hon Senator for that
question. First of all let me clarify, he did mention that the parallel market is one of our policies. It is not. I repeat, it is not.
On the role of the central bank which is crowding out the private sector – what is happening is that the central bank has been facing what we call a missing market. The missing market is like this, our own banks because of the credit standing of the country, capital base and sanctions are unable to access credit lines on their off shore. This has to be done through the Central Bank and sometimes I have to give a guarantee as
Minister of Finance to make that happen. That is what is happening. So the Central Bank is filling a very critical gap that the private sector is unable to play but ought to play under normal circumstances. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: Thank you Mr. President. You do your things without consulting Parliament and we read about it in the Press. The money that you take from the people, where did you put it? You take it and you returned it to them. The money that you borrow from other countries, where exactly are you taking it? We have other resources like gold, coal and you borrow money but we do not see it coming into Zimbabwe. There are figures only. The money that you took from G40, where is it, how did you finalise that matter? You said you arrested many people, you had a lot of money, where did you put those monies? The United States dollar was not in the banks.
+THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr.
President. Thank you Sen. Zivira for the question. You asked about what we have done with the money that we take from Treasury. I am not so sure what has happened with those monies because clearly, I was not the enforcer. We have the law agents that were the enforcers. I would have to inquire and come back to you on that. The same applies to the issue you call G40 which by the way, I do not know what it is. I am not aware. I actually do not know. I am not aware as to what happened to the monies that they were involved with, I have no idea. Maybe it is because I have been away for too long, that is my problem and has not kept up with some of the subtle developments locally. I stand to be educated by people like yourselves who have been closer observers on these issues.
You asked a very important question about our borrowed loans abroad. I have the information and I am happy to submit a written statement on how much we have borrowed abroad, from home, from Afrexim Bank. You can add China and everyone, we have all the information and we will continue to borrow by the way, but prudently, strategically to make sure that we do not upset the debt ceiling. There is a debt ceiling that is governed by the Public Debt Act. In Treasury, we have a whole Debt Management Department whose job is to manage debt. There are very good people, they work very well and they work closely with the World Bank, the IMF and everyone. In fact, we are even doing an audit of more debt including the debt owed by the parastatals so that we understand the debt both direct and indirect that Government is faced with. Mr. President, I thank her for that question.
I thank you.
+HON. SEN. P. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. My question goes back to Hon. Ncube. We see the currency dealers holding crispy bond notes, crispy US dollars, crispy Rand, where exactly do they get their money from? Who is supplying them with this money from the bank when we are in problems like this, we want to know. Go to the black market and just request to change R100. You will find people with piles and piles of Rand, Bond notes and US dollars when we do not have the money. Who is supplying them with the money? Can you explain, we want to understand? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr.
President and I thank Sen. Ndlovu. Her question pertains to the new notes of all forms and varieties that she says are on the streets under the custodianship of the money changers. She is urging me to test this out by trying to change money there but I am not going to do that. I am not going to change my money in the street, I am the Minister of Finance but she is making a very important point which is that we need to find out where these monies are coming from. I do not know for sure but certainly, this is something that we will endeavour to find out if these individuals have brand new notes, where are they getting them from? I really, do not know. We need to find out. I thank her for that question.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Mr. President. I
appreciate the difficulties the Minister has. I will clarify and punctuate. Minister of Finance, welcome to Zimbabwe first and when you come to Zimbabwe, go to the streets. When you go to the streets, you know what is happening. The street is our stage, all these politicians and the streetlight is our sunlight. We live there when you see those things happening. You have just fired four people from the Reserve Bank and you are answering someone to say, I do not want to go to the street and you do not know about money changing. You are refusing to be practical. We want to help you. We are not fighting you, we respect you but when you come here be practical. We want to end up with a Budget, something that works.
When I was asking you about currency, your first answer you have failed. If it was an exam, honestly Minister you will have failed. You might not accept it but you would have failed. What you have said about this money, you have just answered a question saying the Reserve Bank is managing collection of foreign currency so that it is helping these banks because of sanctions. Do you know that two years ago, those who were in Parliament, the Bankers’ Association met the
Parliamentarians during a Budget and said, we are now asking the Reserve Bank to ask your accounts from banks, no one will be able to get their money without going through the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank is the one which had more United States dollars and we can particularly single out Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank. The Reserve Bank was going to do the sharing.
I think I am not happy with the way you say ‘I’ because you are
Government. You say, we as Government. It is better to say ‘we’ because when you go away, someone will come in. We are talking about Government, so your answers must be about a full understanding of Government, of what we are doing. We are the third leg of
Government, so when we are talking to you, we are not…
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Senator Eng.
Mudzuri, you are not his employer. Do not start telling him how to answer questions and so on. He came here to make a statement. He made a statement and now we are in the process of seeking clarifications from him.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: This is the clarification.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You are giving a
statement. This is a statement which you are making. You are debating.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: No, I am not debating. There are
several points. I have talked about the banking sector, I initially talked about the cash crisis, now I am on the foreign currency, on the amount of money – you said around $5 billion which you have collected through minerals, through other areas, but you intend to collect maybe $7 billion in the near future using agriculture and the rest.
I am asking you, pleading with you to say, can you not take $2 billion of this money and allow people to trade in United States dollars and you will find the United States dollar coming into the market because without bringing the dollar into the market, the method you are using, in two years or three years time if I am still in this Parliament and you are still the Minister, we would have failed because we need to find a way together of how to manage this market. If you have some money that is coming in, the common man, the civil servant, you have forgotten about them, they have earned their money in United States terms.
The agreement with Government is it is United States dollar, which you have refused to answer to say, how do you relate to the bond note, how do you relate to the market. So, everything winds around that.
If you cannot answer these questions, if you cannot bring money which will be able to allow people to bring their dollar into circulation, forget about it. The Hon. Senator who asked you the question about sending money to students abroad, when I work for money I am working for my children and I have been told that I have earned United States dollar up to today.
I can tell you, if you want go into the history of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, we have argued this with the present President about the dollar and the bond to say this will happen and it has happened. So, we want you to understand that these Senators who have been here know that this path we are going, we are going to fail. Go back and re-administer this. Allow your companies to get some forex so that there is some activity in the market and that we can get coke in the street. Where have you seen a country where you cannot get beer; after you shocked the world - you said you do not want to shock us, but you have shocked us. There is nothing that you can get in the market. There was shortage of water.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Senator Eng.
Mudzuri.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: I am clarifying.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Sen. Eng.
Mudzuri, will you seek clarification or I am going to ask you to sit down.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you. On the budget
deficit and your trial of TPs, you have already said you are going to try, but do not try like what happened with the bond note because it was tried and somebody said he was going to resign, instead he was fired yesterday, he refused to resign – [AN HON. MEMBER: He was not
fired.]-
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: He was not fired, then he should
resign.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order. This is the
last time I am calling you to order Sen. Eng. Mudzuri. Do not let me ask you to leave the House.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Mr. President, but this is Parliament. Sometimes we joke and we laugh. We must enjoy this place. Honestly, I respect you Mr. President, but sometimes we cannot speak what you think.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: No, but ask your
question.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: It is not about questions, it is
clarification.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We are going to
have two full days in Bulawayo with the Hon. Minister there. We will have from morning up to evening and we can discuss.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: This has become a prison with your guidance, Mr. President. We are only talking. That is what he was saying. Honestly, we want to enjoy this discussion. In other Parliaments people talk, you speak what you want. I am addressing a number of points here.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Seek clarifications.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: I rest my case.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President and I thank Sen. Eng. Mudzuri for making that long statement. Certainly, it was a statement which touched on a lot of issues and in some of his remarks, he was even making suggestions as to some of the things we should consider. I will certainly consider them as we think about the budget going forward.
That is okay, I have no difficulty with that but I want to correct him on something. He said that we are going to try this thing called auctioning. It is not trying. You see when you have got a Treasury Bill market you have to use the market, you have to use the auction system. That is normal. What was abnormal before is the private placement which was not then giving us the right pricing. In fact, we were over paying. That is what we are trying to correct. That is all. If it does not work, we will be the first to know. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. RWAMBIWA: My question is that when President Mugabe was dismissed from office, there were allegations that millions and billions and trillions of United States dollars had been externalised and we were told that money was going to be recouped so that it would be banked and we will grow the economy of Zimbabwe. We never heard or say where that money was used.
No worker was ever paid in United States dollars, they were still getting $20 per day in bond notes from the bank. Hon. Minister, where did that money go to? If we do not become transparent our economy will never grow. I thank you
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President and thank you Senator for that question which really makes reference to illicit outflows in terms of monies out of Zimbabwe. I recall that I was not back in the country fully. That was an amnesty to say those who had taken out money illegally should bring it back. The last time I checked and I have not checked as of today or yesterday how much is actually coming in, but I remember a figure of the order of US$800 million. I cannot remember because I also read that in papers, but I will endeavour to check how much actually has been remitted back in terms of those illicit flows. I have no idea as to how much is out there and all the allegations. I really do not, but at least I think once I check I will have an idea as to what has come in and then I can always put that.
I hasten to say that illicit outflows are not very good. Throughout the whole of Africa money is going out unaccounted for and that is problematic. It certainly is problematic for Zimbabwe. I thank you Mr.
President.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: That marks the end
to the statement from the Minister and subsequent interaction. I would like to thank you. I think we have learnt a lot and I am looking forward to the three days we are going to spend together in Bulawayo so that Hon. Senators will have more time with you, not necessarily formal but informal as well so that we can clear outstanding airs.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF LANDS,
AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL
RESETTLEMENT (HON. SEN. RTD. AIR CHIEF MARSHALL
SHIRI), the Senate adjourned at Nine Minutes to Six O’clock p.m until Tuesday, 13th November, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 15th November, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
*HON. TEKESHE: On a point of privilege Mr. speaker sir. The point of privilege relates to Standing Order Number 68 (d). An accident occurred in my constituency and 50 people lost their lives. I heard you make a ruling that the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development should come and give a ministerial statement as a result of road carnages. We are wondering what type of people are going to be accessing this type of support. A lot of people in my constituency are worried and posing questions to me as to the criteria that is being used for people to access that. Up-to-date, the Hon. Minister has not come to give a ministerial statement to this House. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member. I want to
believe that the ministerial statement will address some of those issues if not all of them. Furthermore, I am advised by the Leader of Government Business in Parliament Hon. Ziyambi that there is a Bill that is coming to this august House that will be able to encapsulate some of the issues that you have raised. Thank you.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Good afternoon Mr. Speaker Sir. I need to put to the attention of the House my sincere apologies to a situation which happened on Tuesday. As a result of having heard a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament. I hereby put it forward to you. Thank you. –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! I do confirm what Hon. Mutseyami has stated and I must thank him for that statement and accordingly my ruling that I made yesterday concerning the matter raised by Hon. Nyathi is accordingly suspended. I thank you. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. MATHE: On a point of order – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – The Chair during that time on Tuesday had asked the Hon. Member to withdraw and not to apologise – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Mathe, Hon. Sikhala
please hold the fire.
Hon. Mathe having stood up.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mathe, please take your seat. An
apology has been tendered so the matter is not open for debate. Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order Read: Adjourned debate in reply to the Presidential
Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would
like to take this opportunity that you have granted me as a representative of Chiredzi West Constituency, to respond to the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba and supported by Hon. Musabayana, in response to the State of the Nation Address delivered by His Excellency, President
Mnangagwa on 18th September, 2018 at the Official Opening of the First
Session of the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe in the Second Republic.
Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me on the onset, to congratulate His Excellency, President Mnangagwa for winning the Presidential elections that were held on 30 July, 2018 – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – after creating an enabling environment for Zimbabwe to engage in the most peaceful harmonised campaign process in our post independence
history.
I also wish to extend my congratulations to you Mr. Speaker Sir and your Deputy, Hon. Gezi on being elected to lead this august House. Mr. Speaker Sir, I applaud President Mnangagwa for walking the talk on his ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ mantra as demonstrated by the legislative agenda that he put before this august House through 27 Bills that seek to address the social economic and political challenges facing our Second Republic. The legislative task before us as the Ninth
Parliament is to give impetus to this noble agenda that President
Mnangagwa outlined for us. President Mnangagwa presented important Bills that we have the collective responsibility to urgently translate into law.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I represent an agro-industrial constituency with a population of 97 000, which is 31% of the 310 500 people who reside in Chiredzi District. Chiredzi West Constituency is a fairly complex Constituency with a third of the population being urban; another third of the population is in the agro-industry where sugar is produced. The final third of the population is in the resettlement area where the population is evenly split between Tongaat Hulett employees and people who benefited from the Resettlement Programme, which areas were formerly Tongaat Hulett livestock paddocks.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Constituency had 38 779 registered voters in the June 2018 biometric voter register. Of these, 33 387 voted in the
Harmonised Elections held on 30 July, 2018 giving an 86.1% turnout.
Chiredzi Town, which is the capital of Chiredzi District is within Chiredzi West Constituency and it is where the referral hospital for the whole district is located. All the Government departments which provide services to Chiredzi District are located in Chiredzi Town. The eight largest banks in Zimbabwe are also located in Chiredzi Town which gives indication of the economic importance of Chiredzi West Constituency.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Chiredzi Constituency’s economy is centred on the 45 245 hectare sugar industry, with an annual revenue generating capacity in excess of US$0.5 billion. In addition to sugarcane, cotton, livestock and tourism are also key contributors to the Constituency’s economy. Support economic activities in Chiredzi West include light industry operations whose primary focus is on maintenance of trucks and tractors. The supply of farm inputs including protective clothing, agrochemicals is another key support economic activity. The informal Small to Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), including vendors have in recent years become a major source of employment and economic sustenance across the Constituency.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is scope for Chiredzi West Constituency to venture into fisheries and horticulture. Growth opportunities also exist through value added manufacturing industries, including increased white sugar refining, ethanol production and electricity generation at the sugar mills. Garment fabrication and oil expression at the two cotton ginneries, processing of specialised meat products and hides from the livestock industry, fish and fruit canning are other economic potential activities in Chiredzi West.
The message from His Excellency, President Mnangagwa, that agriculture remains a key sector in the resuscitation and growth of our economy and that modernisation and mechanisation of the sector is imperative, talks to the potential that Chiredzi West has, to consolidate its position as the economic hub for Masvingo Province. Mr. Speaker
Sir, the single largest economic driver in Chiredzi West Constituency is Tongaat Hulett, a South African agriculture and agro-processing business. The company farms on 55% of the 45 205 hectares currently developed for irrigated sugarcane growing for sugar production in the South Eastern Lowveld of Zimbabwe.
Tongaat Hulett operates the only two sugar mills in the country with a combined installed sugar milling capacity of 600 000 tones which is processed from 4.8 million tones of sugarcane. The total refined sugar capacity is 60 000 tones and the Triangle Ethanol Plant has an installed capacity of 41 million litres over a 48-week production season. The two sugar mills generate electricity from biogas during the sugarcane crushing season, which normally runs from April to November. Tongaat
Hulett is also the largest beef cattle producer in Masvingo Province. Mr.
Speaker Sir, it is by virtue of this economic dominance that Tongaat Hulett features prominently in the social economic development plans for Chiredzi West Constituency in line with the vision of His Excellency, President Mnangagwa for Zimbabwe to become an upper middle income economy with an average per capita earning of $3 500 by 2030. Mr. Speaker Sir, there is an urgent need for Tongaat Hulett to match best practice in conditions of employment for the 18 thousand employees at the company’s Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle Sugar Operations. The call by President Mnangagwa in his SONA address to strike a balance between labour productivity and workplace harmony through greater collaboration between all social partners speaks directly to the need for Tongaat Hulett to upgrade the wilfully inadequate wages, accommodation, ablution, educational and recreational facilities that the company is currently availing to its employees.
Mr. Speaker Sir, improving the viability of farmers who supply 45 percent of the sugarcane – [HON. NDEBELE: You are allowed to look at the Speaker.] – [Laughter.] – Mr. Speaker Sir, improving the viability of farmers who supply percent of the sugarcane to the two Tongaat mills at Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle sugar operations is an integral part of the call by President Mnangagwa for an improvement in the ease and cost of doing business.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the monopoly enjoyed by Tongaat Hulett gives that company unfettered powers to deny the 2000 sugarcane out growers a fair social economic return for their investment in this lucrative crop. The vision pronounced by His Excellency, President Mnangagwa for equity in the business environment presents the Ninth Parliament with an opportunity to repeal the 1964 Sugar Control Act so as to create a level playing field for sugarcane growers and the miller. Mr. Speaker Sir, despite being a key foreign currency earner, sugar is not considered to be a strategic crop by Government. Strategic crop status accords the farmer special operating provisions such as foreign currency allocation for recapitalisation and importation of key inputs such as agro chemicals. Scope exist for the Ninth Parliament through its Portfolio Committees to combat this glaring anomaly.
Madam Speaker, in the new dispensation, as envisaged by President Mnangagwa in his SONA Address, all urban dwellers are entitled to adequate service delivery by corruption-free councils. There is urgent need Madam Speaker, for improving transparency and accountability in the collection and disbursement of rates by Chiredzi Town Council. This is vital for residents to gain confidence in the rate payment system. The Central Government will be engaged to rehabilitate and upgrade road network, water and sewer reticulation infrastructure, health institutions, refuse handling and recreational facilities in Chiredzi town.
Madam Speaker, the setting up of vending markets and public transport ranks that meet with minimum Government public health sector standards is a necessity for Chiredzi town to avert the potential recurring outbreak of diseases such as cholera.
As I get to my conclusion, infrastructure development in the resettlement areas across the whole country is seriously lagging behind. Wards 27 and 28 in Chiredzi West Constituency with a combination of 2150 villages is no exception. There is a need for serious upgrading of access roads, drilling of boreholes, building of clinics, schools, cell phone booster towers, service centres and electricity provision to service centres. There is a call for Tongaat Hulett to partner Government in this work through its corporate social investment programme given that significant numbers of the company’s employees have established homes in this resettlement areas.
May I conclude Madam Speaker, by saying that the turnaround of our national economy will be a process and not an event as outlined...
Hon. Mataruse having passed between the Member on the floor and the Chair.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mataruse.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Madam Speaker, in his SONA
Address, the message that we got from President Mnangagwa is that, I will use a metaphor here, a rabbit’s pregnancy takes 30 days and within 30 days of giving birth, a rabbit is ready to mate again. An elephant takes 24 months to carry its pregnancy and that pregnancy is fraught with morning sickness and everything. That is exactly what we are dealing with as Zimbabwe. It is not going to be an event, it is a process. The President elucidated that clearly in the SONA Address. May I end by saying, the transitional stabilisation programme and very fruitful
Parliamentary Pre-Budget Seminar held in Bulawayo from 7th to 10th November 2018, clearly bore testimony to the fact that we are dealing with a process that requires that we all have patience, we put partisan issues aside and we operate as Zimbabweans first and foremost. We require this House Madam Speaker, to operate with a sense of urgency and maturity because we are all in this together.
May I conclude by stating my firm conviction that I am in total agreement with His Excellency, President Mnangagwa’s SONA Address that Zimbabwe is on a trajectory for recovery by 2030 notwithstanding what detractors may say to the contrary. May God bless Zimbabwe.
Thank you.
HON. NGULUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me the opportunity to deliver my maiden speech in contribution to the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba and seconded by Hon. Musabayane.
Madam Speaker, let me start by congratulating His Excellency, E. D. Mnangagwa on his resounding victory in the elections which where were peaceful, free, fair and democratic. Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate the Speaker and yourself for being elected to lead this august House. In our language, I would say, rivhatamela mashudu mavhuya takwatandabala. To all the Members of Parliament, congratulations for the mandate we have been given by the people of
Zimbabwe to represent them in the Ninth Parliament. To the people of Beitbridge East Constituency, for braving the weather and spending hours in the queues to cast your vote for me, thank you. Mwana wanu undonishumela ndimurunwa wanu. I am your loyal and faithful servant and will serve you wholeheartedly.
Madam Speaker, in his maiden speech, the President called upon all of us to be servants who listen and work hard to advance the welfare of our people, that is the purpose which is the drive that should keep us on our feet towards a better Zimbabwe. I therefore, urge all of us to heed to this call. The people of Zimbabwe are expecting to see a change in their livelihood. We all have a part to play.
Madam Speaker Maam, in his address, the President spoke of his commitment to economic development as a strategic response to the pressing need to leapfrog our economy to a middle income status by 2030. He also spoke on the job creation and bringing an end to corruption. On issues of improving our social services and in the provision of requisite infrastructure, Beitbridge East Constituency appreciates the upgrading of the border post where the ground breaking was done by His Excellency, the President. We look forward to this project creating jobs for our local people. The Beitbridge to Masvingo highway is an urgent infrastructural development project that requires urgent attention which I feel will go a long way in the quest to improve the livelihood of our people.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, on the issue of water and sanitation, Beitbridge town has a serious shortage of water besides the Government having commissioned the water works recently. Due to the dilapidated water pipeline system, the municipality continually faces burst pipes. The current holding sewer ponds cannot cope with the ballooning population of the town. These problems continue to exist regardless of the new water works because there are not enough water holding reservoirs. I, therefore urge and call upon the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to come in and assist in this regard.
The ownership of the water treatment plant is another cause for concern. Currently, the plant is owned by ZINWA, whilst the municipality does the distribution of water. Efforts to take over the plant have been made but the municipality is still waiting for the outcome from the Commission of Inquiry which came to investigate the issue in 2017.
The Tshikwalakwala Irrigation Scheme is defunct; its resuscitation would create employment and enhance food security. I am in a constituency falling under agricultural region 5 where droughts are frequent. With the presence of springs that produce a lot of water being available, these can be harnessed for irrigation of vast pieces of land to reduce poverty. Boreholes can also be drilled to facilitate small scale farming. My constituency can turn into a green belt if given the financial support it deserves.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, the President raised a concern on economic order, growth and improving social services. In Beitbridge East Constituency, human trafficking especially of learners after Grade 7 is rife. Secondary schools in Beitbridge do not have science laboratories to equip learning with productive skills. In the interest of Government STEM Programme, the issue should be looked into as a matter of urgency. There are no colleges for students completing Ordinary or Advanced level examinations, further worsening the social challenges faced in the constituency.
On the issue of healthcare which was mentioned by His
Excellency, the situation in Beitbridge is pathetic with Beitbridge Hospital being the only referral hospital in the whole district. The facility caters for a high volume transit population passing through the border post, the busiest border post on SADC region connecting South Africa with the rest of the countries up north. Beitbridge Hospital caters for 18 health facilities with the total resident population standing at 130 000 and transit population of 14500 people, about 1000 heavy vehicles and 1700 light vehicles passing through the post daily.
Having recently visited the hospital, I discovered that besides its endeavour to offer quality health services, Beitbridge District Hospital is confronted with several challenges. The facility has insufficient health personnel across the board; posts left vacant have not been filled. The hospital has an aged fleet of cars characterised by frequent breakdowns and high maintenance costs. There are also challenges in servicing the vehicles as they are taken to Bulawayo which is 320km away as compared to Musina in South Africa which is 18km from the hospital.
The hospital does not have a waiting mother’s home. Currently, the facility makes use of a room in the Family and Child Health Care (FCH) Department to provide accommodation for the waiting mothers. These expecting mothers also come from surrounding districts like Mwenezi and Gwanda.
On the day of my visit, there were 18 mothers sharing one room such that other expecting mothers slept outside in the open. In addition, the hospital has ancient equipment experiencing recurrent breakdowns and high maintenance costs leading to disrupted service provision. This is at odds with the quest for effective service delivery.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, Beitbridge as a district faces increasing levels of disaster risks and over the years, it has faced a wide range of water hazards, including disease outbreaks, drought, cyclones and severe temperatures that trigger hardship and starvation. In addition to these natural human induced threats and regardless of ongoing efforts to extend essential services to poor urban and rural communities, many people are vulnerable. Soaring temperatures have forced Beitbridge Hospital to stop blood tests after 10a.m. because there are no air conditioners.
Members of the House may wonder why I am mentioning all these things; the hospital services everyone who pass through the border town going to South Africa. I want the House to know that here are no private hospitals in Beitbridge. I am therefore urging that this particular hospital be fully equipped to take care of any eventualities. It might be you or your relative falling sick or involved in an accident to and from South Africa. Solutions ought to be found and urgently.
In my constituency, some villagers walk for 15 to 20km to access the nearest road. Transport system is inconsistent because of the poor roads. The Beitbridge to Masvingo highway has caused many deaths over the years. It is my plea to this House to make it a priority to this road as part of the ongoing infrastructure development drive.
The President also mentioned the issue of ending corruption.
Corruption is a serious ill, is harmful and unacceptable. It is one of the major obstacles to sustainable economic growth and development.
Corruption has a negative effect on every sphere of our economy.
Zimbabwe is amongst the world’s top 25 most corrupt countries. It is ranked number 154 out of 175 countries in terms of the Corruption Perception Index. As we debate on how to fight and end corruption, I think it is prudent for the Hon. Members to engage in some self introspection and start the fight within ourselves. True leadership demands personal leadership and walking the talk ahead of anything else. This is the way to go in the fight against corruption. Some of us might be involved in corruption without knowing that we are involved in corruption and therefore ignorance has no defence.
Let me conclude by quoting the words of one of the great sons of
Africa, Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanzania who said, “The key to a
Government’s effectiveness and its ability to lead the nation lies in a combination of three elements. First, its closeness to its people and its responsiveness to its needs and demands. In other words, democracy. Secondly, its ability to coordinate and bring into a democratic balance the many functional and often competing sectional institutions which groups of people have created to serve their particular interest and thirdly, the efficiency of the institutions (official and unofficial) by means of which its decisions are made known and implemented throughout the country”.
With these words, I humbly submit to the House. I thank you.
HON. MASENDA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am for giving
me the opportunity to contribute to the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba and seconded by Hon. Musabayana. Allow me to congratulate His Excellency the President Hon. E. D. Mnagagwa for organising and winning the July 30 harmonised elections which were the most peaceful in the history of independent Zimbabwe. Madam Speaker, also allow me to congratulate you.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Musikavanhu.
HON. MASENDA: Madam Speaker, allow me to also
congratulate also your and the Speaker for being elected to lead this august House in the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe. His Excellency the President opened up the political spectrum and allowed all other participants to take part in the harmonised elections. The President encouraged everyone who wanted to form their political parties to do so and they were thoroughly threshed during the harmonised elections. Indeed those parties, I repeat, were thoroughly threshed in both the Presidential and the Parliamentary elections. The harmonised elections were free, fair, democratic and credible.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I now implore my fellow colleagues Hon.
Members of this august House to rally behind His Excellency the
President’s vision to promote economic development during the new dispensation and the reign of the Ninth Parliamentary Session. Madam
Speaker Ma’am, let us all share and champion ED’s vision of creating a middle income economy by 2030. Madam Speaker Ma’am, in order to grow the economy in line with ED’s vision, we must work hard to remove the illegal sanctions imposed on our economy over the past decade or so.
Madam Speaker, sanctions inhibit economic growth. Sanctions close the doors to the inflow of the much needed foreign direct investment. Sanctions cut off lines of credit and starve the economy of the much needed foreign currency. Sanctions closed the doors to our exports. Sanctions shut out the inflow of new technologies which is needed for our mining and agricultural production; which are key elements to the growth of our economy.
Sanctions also inhibit the inflow of tourists which should bring in the much needed foreign currency. I therefore urge this august House to unite and join hands in getting the sanctions removed. Let us rise above party political affiliation and put national demands above everything else.
Madam Speaker, I am aware that some of us in this august House were party to the imposition of sanctions against Zimbabwe. This is in no way a condemnation of each other but let us strengthen each other in coming up with strategies to get rid of the sanctions in-order to achieve objectives of the mantra ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’.
Madam Speaker, economic growth eradicates poverty in the constituencies we represent. Let us therefore all rise above partisan politics in order to increase the per capita GDP to US$3 500 by 2030 as envisioned by the visionary leader Hon. E. D. Mnagagwa.
His Excellency the President urges us all to fight corruption as it also destroys the fabric of economic growth. Corruption is evil. It is a cancer. It is a demon which must be exorcised as it retards economic development.
His Excellency continued the use of the multi-currency economy while efforts are being made to bring about currency reforms. I should hasten to say that there is existence of bad money in the economy so the
President’s vision of continued use of multi-currencies is indeed a very
noble idea.
The President put agriculture as one of the key sectors which champions economic growth. Command Agriculture was introduced to help eradicate hunger and poverty in Zimbabwe. In my constituency Hurungwe East, Command Agriculture is suffering from bureaucratic red-tape. Beneficiaries are finding it hard to access Command
Agriculture yet Mashonaland West is the bread basket of the country. Of the one million tonnes of maize already delivered to Grain Marketing Board (GMB) this season, 400 thousand tonnes of that is from
Mashonaland West. This is as per the GMB publication of October 2018. I therefore urge the Ministry of Agriculture to intervene so that beneficiaries access Command Agriculture before the onset of the rain season.
His Excellency the President guaranteed that there must be ease of doing business and so be it, let us walk the talk. In Hurungwe East there are sizeable gold deposits which have to be exploited. I urge all stakeholders to assist small scale miners with modern and efficient equipment to help them in their mining business. I also urge the Ministry of Mines to issue licences to these small scale miners so that they can officially sell their gold without fear of being arrested.
In line with economic development as enunciated by His Excellency Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa, roads in Hurungwe East needs to be upgraded. This will enable the easy transportation of tobacco, maize and cotton grown from my constituency to the market.
His Excellency E. D. Mnangagwa highlighted the need to introduce Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in our endeavour to grow the economy. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) cuts across the whole economic spectrum of the country.
An Hon. Member having passed between the Chair and the
Member speaking.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. You may
continue Hon. Member.
HON. MASENDA: The President highlighted the need to introduce ICTs in our endeavour to grow the economy. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) cut across the whole economic spectrum of the country and indeed the whole world. In line with what I have just said, if sanctions are not removed, the inflow of ICTs will also be inhibited and thereby delay the economic growth of our country. Madam Speaker, His Excellency the President further emphasised the need to include small SMEs, women and youths in our endeavour to grow the economy. These groups if properly organised and assisted will increase job creation and innovation which will go a long way in growing the economy.
The creation of the Zimbabwe Women’s Micro Finance Bank and the Empower Bank targeted at women and youths respectively is a positive development which will help accelerate development of the economy by these groups. Madam Speaker, the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for the devolution of power to the Provinces which will enable the Provinces to be masters of their own destiny. Provinces should therefore take advantage of the devolution of power and champion development in their own respective areas. Provinces should be held accountable for whatever they do in dealing with public funds in a transparent and progressive manner.
No one and I stress, no one is above the law. Anyone found wanting should be dealt with. I want to use this word, harshly. His
Excellency has laid on the table the legislative agenda for the 9th Parliament in the second republic which is meant to accelerate economic growth. The agenda seeks to review several statutes which include among others the Companies and Other Business Entities Bill and the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency Bill which aims at creating one stop investment. This Bill will strengthen the ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ mantra. Madam Speaker, this Bill will shorten the period of establishing business in Zimbabwe.
The creation of Cyber Crime and Cyber Security Bills is a welcome development as it protects not only individuals, but the State and the private corporations from falling victims of criminal activities related to the use of ICT.
Madam Speaker, I would also propose the promulgation of a Bill which deals specifically with political corruption or for lack of a better term, political delinquency. Some pronouncements from some individuals or political concerns border on treason. As such, a law to deal with political hooliganism would go a long way in enhancing the peace and stability of this great nation Zimbabwe.
God bless this august House, God bless our President, E. D.
Mnangagwa, God Bless Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. S. SITHOLE: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. S. SITHOLE: Madam Speaker, according to Standing Order number 44 (1) it stresses that the State of the Nation Debate should not exceed a maximum of 35 hours. So, I was begging you to cumulatively check the number of hours that we have debated on this motion so that I can propose that the motion be now put to rest. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, it has only been eight hours and 25 minutes – [AN HON. MEMBER: On a point of order, Madam Speaker. It is my first time to be in this august House. This is my first term. I want to ask, what are you doing with Hon. Members who are just coming for sittings, register to get allowances, coupons
then they leave the House. Madam Speaker, what are the Parliament laws. I thank you.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are out of order Hon.
Member.
HON. KWARAMBA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 20th November, 2018.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MGUNI: Hon. Speaker, I move that Order of the Day
Number 2 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 3 on today’s Order Paper has been dealt with.
HON KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. CHIKWINYA: Madam Speaker, the mover of the motion and the seconder are members of the Mines and Minerals Committee. The mover and the seconder are preempting the work of the Committee and Hon. Mudenda, sitting in your Chair, ruled that the Hon. Members of a particular Committee cannot enjoy the privileges of preempting Committee work. This is exactly Committee work which they are bringing out. This is why when this motion was tabled, the Speaker ruled that he has to consider it first. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. The
fact that the motion is on the order paper means it has been approved by the Speaker. So, the Hon. Member can continue.
MOTION
AFRICA MINING VISION ON MINERAL RESOURCES
HON. MATANGIRA: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House:
COGNISANT of the Africa Mining Vision which outlines a road map to a transparent, equitable, optimal exploitation of mineral resources underpinned by broad-bases sustainable growth and socioeconomic development in Africa.
CONCERNED that the artisanal and small scale mining sector in Zimbabwe dominated mainly by indigenous people, particularly in the gold sector, continues to be marginalised and suffer a myriad of challenges such as lack of skills, modern equipment and financial support, despite deliveries to the formal market having increased over the recent years.
ALSO CONCERNED that the colonial mining legal framework which was enacted to promote the large scale mining sector and suppress the informal small scale mining sector through prohibitive licensing fees and requirements has remained in force 38 years after independence. NOW THEREFORE, calls upon Government to:
- Urgently review the Gold Act of 1940, the Mines and Minerals
Act of 1961 and the Rural District Councils’ Act in order to legally formalise the small scale mining sector and create an enabling environment for its growth;
- establish affordable financing, skills development and technical support services to ensure increased output by the sector; and
- provide incentives to the small scale mining sector which encourage deliveries to the formal markets.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
HON. MATANGIRA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, when there was
the scramble for Africa in Berlin, the Europeans were fighting over the resources of Africa. They demarcated areas amongst themselves to plunder and enrich their own countries. This motion seeks to say, as Africa, we are endowed with a lot of mineral resources which have to benefit Africa. The whites came to Africa and did geological surveys and they know which minerals are there but the information was not released to the relevant countries from which these minerals are.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, we now say, we need that information to be handed over to Africa, in particular, we speak about Zimbabwe. We have had a lot of exploring companies from Australia, Canada, Germany as well as Britain which was the coloniser. They have this information but it has not been divulged to the Government of Zimbabwe. Why? This is because of their oppressive act; the divide and rule technique that they use amongst brothers so that they hate one another for their benefit.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, you know that in any African country, the opposition is funded by the same people who came and colonised it in the name of democracy when they themselves do not follow or practice
it.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, we are concerned about artisanal miners. The artisanal miners are people who work so hard. They do not use machinery but for the purpose of this House to acknowledge the deliveries they have made from 2016 – 13 tonnes, 2017- over 24 tonnes. They have superseded production to the fiscus more than the big mines we have in Zimbabwe.
However, not many people acknowledge that because of the knowledge they are using. They are very much marginalised. They do not have equipment, skills except for a few who have worked in mines and because of retrenchments as a result of sanctions, they are now forced to go and work as artisanal miners. However, they are productive and they need to be funded by the Government. They need machinery from the Government to produce for the country.
I want to say, once upon a time, I also worked as an artisanal miner and I know what it means. It is eking out one’s life but it is a big employer. You can imagine how many artisanal miners we have in Zimbabwe to produce 24 tonnes; it is a lot of them. People cry foul that there is no employment. Yes, there will be no employment if you want to be fed by a spoon, especially if you put holes on the bottom of the same pot you intend to cook your sadza. How will you be able to cook the sadza? You cannot.
The sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe are the ones that have killed the economy. When the economy is killed, no industry will be functional. That being the case, we are saying, the artisanal miners are faced with a lot of challenges. They have to dig the ore out, they do not have trucks to ferry the ore to a milling site. When they go to the milling site, they are charged for the milling and the gold is bought by the milling operators and they lose because they will only be recovering…
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. This
was always going to be a very difficult motion because the Hon. Member fully knows the Ministerial interventions being currently done by the Minister under which the Minister came to this House and outlined the interventions which the Ministry is doing to support the small scale miners. This is why in this year, we recorded 29 tones. We cannot allow the Hon. Member to continuously lie when we are Members of the Committee who are equipped with the data which we can present to you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, the Hon. Minister came here and talked about gold milling centres which the Hon. Member knows very well, which is a support initiative by the Ministry of Mines. This is why we are getting 29 tones – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – He is misrepresenting the House and as a Member of the Committee I cannot sit. This motion has misplaced – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of order overruled.
HON. MATANGIRA: The problem with a people who go to a
race and always want to win is that when they do not win, nobody else is right. Madam Speaker Ma’am, thank you very much. We are saying, the artisanal miners are faced with a lot of difficulties which have to be alleviated by the Government and the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development – [AN HON. MEMBER: You are pre-empting...] – THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, order.
HON. MATANGIRA: When they lose the gold to the sands after
milling, the sands will still be carrying money because the recovery rate is38% of what would have been brought in to the milling plant. We now seek from the Government, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development that they ensure that any ore that goes to a milling plant is taken an assay of and found the head grade, after milling the recovered gold, the lost gold that goes to the sands must be recovered through, either elution and synidation or carbon in pulp and the artisanal miner has to be given a percentage. Madam Speaker Maam, we are also saying, the artisanal miners never mind, they are very much like chicken miners. They do not have machinery to develop a mine. They do not have the money to put the infrastructure - headgears, hoists and the like. What they are mining mostly is ...
HON. TSUNGA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. A lie is defined as a deliberate attempt to mislead. As alluded to by another
Hon. Member that the Member speaking is undermining the work of a Committee of Parliament. Having said that Madam Speaker, I think the mover must be stopped in his tracks.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of order overruled.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Madam Speaker Maam.
Maybe what is irking our fellow Hon. Members here in Parliament is, I decided to debate in English and with all indulgence, if I would want to revert to Shona that they know me debating all the time. *Thank you Madam Speaker, ....
HON. NDEBELE: Madam Speaker, on a point of order. He cannot change languages in the middle of debate. We are in contempt of procedure. Also, Madam Speaker, let me point out that I think this motion escaped the attention of the Speaker. This is motion in anticipation. He is pre-empting the work of the Mines Committee. Can you stop these proceedings Madam Speaker, to check with presiding officers and make a ruling later. He is pre-empting our work and the matters that he is raising are before our Committee.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of order overruled. I have already ruled. May the Hon. Member continue. Hon. Ndebele sit down.
HON. NDEBELE: Madam Speaker, I am not contesting your ruling, could you furnish us with reasons why you are overruling that point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sit down Hon. Ndebele.
HON. NDEBELE: If you continue with that motion, we will make the situation ungovernable here. Tototanga kuimba panapa, tichiimbira iwewe.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sit down Hon. Ndebele. If
you continue with that disruptive behaviour, I will send you out.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Madam Speaker Maam. I am
very happy that at least, I am allowed by this House to talk about what befalls the artisanal miner. If the sands would be treated and artisanal miners would be given the remainder of their toils, it would be fair. Madam Speaker Maam, we are saying these people are contributing a lot to the fiscus, at the same time those will be the pros. The con is we have a situation where environment is destroyed. This is why we are saying, if the Minister of Mines would not have people sitting in the offices, rather than have them with the artisanal miners, show them the right way of mining. The environmentalists from the Ministry of Environment must be with them showing them that deforestation is not right. We have to leave something to the young and oncoming generation. We now, call upon Government to say, they have to repeal the Acts of the past that favoured the colonisers, because any African who was found in possession of gold would be arrested. Those laws have to be repealed so that we come up with new laws that will allow all.
To the big mines who have plenty of ground in terms of claims or mines, we are saying the Ministry of Mines and Government have to team up together and have them see beauty to the artisanal miner. The tribute formal is 5% to the owner of the claim. Whoever would be working those claims, feels ownership, legitimacy as well as being found wanting to deliver to the fiscus. However, the present situation we now have is 70% or 60% will be paid in forex to the artisanal miner and the other percentage would be paid in RTGs or in bond.
We are now calling for the Minister of Finance, having said nostro accounts have to be opened by those who would be wanting to do mining. Madam Speaker Maam, yes the cash that they receive from Fidelity or from Reserve Bank may be found on the streets doing money exchanging. Government would say, if nostro accounts provided, that allows the money to be controlled by the bank of New York so that there will be no abuse of the same money if we have it in our banks. The
CBZ does not have a direct link with the bank of America. Some of our banks do not have that. They would now have to work through those banks that have other branches and banks in the outside the world.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, we ask Government to afford financing to the artisanal miners. If you give an artisanal miner a compressor and he does not have a jackhammer, he cannot use that compressor. If he has got financing for working capital and has got a mill on site where he is working, he is still losing money because he has to ferry the ore to a milling plant where he is not treated well and fairly. If miners would get together with artisanal miners, they form groups and it is empowerment to them. They are working for the country and affording the country to access foreign currency that is so much needed. We are saying, if this could be done for the artisanal miners, it would enhance more production and meaningful yields from the mines in Zimbabwe. Having said that Madam Speaker Ma’am, I would have liked to say Government has to acknowledge what these people have done for this country. They have superseded the production of big mines and we have got to have them normalised and formalised. Formalisation in the sense that if we have got artisanal miners mining in an area that is pegged by another company, they have now to be given a right to be working there in agreement with the claim or mine holder. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am for according
me this opportunity to second the motion moved by Hon. Matangira on artisanal mining and small scale miners. I will preface my secondment with the words that, it is a fact that small scale miners and artisanal miners have extracted effectively and efficiently the gold ore, in particular in Zimbabwe and have delivered it to Government much more than what has been done by the large scale miners.
Having said that, what it means is that Government does not produce money but it gives an environment that gives the business people the latitude to extract in the extractive industry, to mine in the mining industry and to do business effectively and efficiently. The monies that we earn here as parliamentarians, 210 constituency based
Members plus 60 proportional representatives Members, come from the royalties whose gold has been delivered to Fidelity and Ministry of Finance and by extension given to Hon. Members. So, when we debate about artisanal miners, it is incumbent upon Members of Parliament to know what it is that they earn here being royalties arising from the deliveries of gold by artisanal miners to Fidelity.
I want therefore to be given an opportunity as to how the conditions of these artisanal miners can be enhanced in terms of quality so that it can be known going forward that if there is any impediment upon the extractive sector by these artisanal miners, there will not be any remuneration coming to Members of Parliament.
Artisanal miners give a percentage quantum delivered to Fidelity; they are charged 1.5% and large scale miners are charged 3%. What it is that arises from these deliveries as royalties is what it is that we earn. I want any of the Members of Parliament that contest that they are earning from artisanal miners, vakatosengwa sezvizvi sema saga nema artisanal miners, in terms of remuneration, I want them to rise up and say where it is that their monies for salaries are coming from. The National Assembly is not an exporting industry. We are not here to do any business save to legislate, represent and to play oversight. There are people out there who are working for us in order that we carry out our three roles effectively and efficiently.
Having said that, I therefore call on Government first and foremost who are the custodians of ZMDC claims and all the mines around the country to cede some of those claims, EPOs and grants that they are holding for the future to artisanal miners so that these people can have some title that is attributed to them. If they have no title they continue to practice unsafe mining methods. They continue to dig holes everywhere and leave the land in a deplorable, dilapidated and disused state.
It is now time that we empower these people. We have the
Agrarian Reform Act of 2000…
HON. P. MOYO: On a point of order. Madam Speaker Ma’am we
no longer constitute a quorum.
[Bells rung.]
[Quorum formed.]
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, order. We still have 75 Members in the House, so the Hon. Member may continue.
HON. NDUNA: Madam Speaker, I was on ZMDC and on ceding
of claims and not only to cede claims but to cede them to artisanal miners. It is my clarion call that ZMDC is Government and let us lead by example in ceding some of those claims. Then Madam Speaker, I also make a clarion call, in the same vein, for all that are holding claims for speculative purposes to cede those claims; aware Mr. Speaker that when the Pioneer Column invaded this nation, there was nothing to do with the issue of agrarian ethics and agrarian ethical conduct. Those people’s eyes and sight were set on the ubiquitous amount of mineral
wealth that resides in Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia.
It is time therefore that we have mining reforms that speaks to and about the issue of empowering our formally marginalised black majority using the ubiquitous amount of mineral wealth that we have. We have had an agrarian reform programme Madam Speaker, and it is time that we have a mining reform programme. This is one way out of many that I am suggesting, through which we can empower our people by this mining reform programme that should lead to ceding some of those claims that are held for speculative purposes.
Madam Speaker, there was a company called ACR which used to sit and patch in Marange diamond area. That company has mutated into Vast Resources, Brake Ridge or any other name but ACR. It is now patched in the largest gold reserve in Africa in Pickstone Peerless in my constituency in Ward 25. Madam Speaker, my point exactly is that for a very long time, these places that they bought from Rio Tinto which is now Rio Zim had been left and held on in a speculative mode.
The company that I am talking about is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is further listed on the Australian Stock Exchange using the wealth and weight of our gold reserve which is at Pickstone Peerless. I am saying there are a lot of companies that are listed on global stock exchanges premised in terms of their quality and weight on the amount that they derive from the mineral wealth that we have got yet we have not quantified as a nation.
I make a clarion call therefore that lest we fall into the doldrums of economic dependency Madam Speaker, we immediately empower our artisanal miners by giving them those claims that are held to disempower us and for speculative purposes by those mining houses I am talking about. I shudder to think what would happen if we continue to have the largest gold reserve in the whole of Africa residing in Chegutu West Constituency in Ward 25 in Tiverton District and not being extracted to the fullest but being held by the erstwhile colonisers for speculative purposes. They continue to have the power that you always knew they had pre-independence during colonisation. Madam Speaker, we need to get that power and give it to the owners of that power. That power belongs to the people of Zimbabwe. That power resides with the people of Zimbabwe.
If we do not empower our people, it means all the reforms that we have got and have had are going to come to nought. Madam Speaker, I will tell you how the agrarian reform programme or the Land Act of 2000 can be reversed just by a piece of a prospective licence or a piece of a licence that is attributing ownership to a claim. During this empowerment programme that we speak to, we need to also align our laws. The Mines and Minerals Act has power over any other Act in Zimbabwe. It has power over the Land Act Madam Speaker.
We have the Land Act of 2000 but how can we reverse the Act? If you go Madam Speaker, to a land owner or somebody who has got an offer letter and you say my mine is here on your land, it has the power to reverse the gains of our independence; the gains of our agrarian land reform programme. I am saying therefore Madam Speaker, there should be no Act that supersedes the other or that has power over the other. I ask therefore through this debate that the clarion call or the prayer is granted as has been asked or prayed by Hon. Matangira.
Further to that at that point, the alignment of our Acts should take root and in particular, the Land Act should be aligned to the Mines and
Minerals Act so that there is no Act which has got power over the other.
How can you reverse the Land Act? You do it by just producing your prospectus or producing your mining licence and immediately Madam Speaker, he who has the A1offer letter can immediately vacate that land yet it is the formally marginalised black majority who are going to vacate that land accosted if they are approached with a prospectus or with a mining licence. I ask therefore that we protect our formally marginalised majority and that we protect the artisanal miners.
I will now go into the point that if we protect our artisanal miners what is it that we are doing? Madam Speaker, there are more than 500 thousand artisanal miners that are criss-crossing the width and breadth of Zimbabwe and their only purpose is to empower Zimbabwe economically. It has been said that the small scale miners and artisanal miners have contributed more than 18 tonnes already that has been delivered to Fidelity Printers out of the 24 tonnes. Madam Speaker, I came here and said these people are the ones that have to go 40 metres down into the tunnel and into the shaft and extract, mill it and we are then paid as Parliamentarians. I repeat again that we get paid through royalties of 1.5% and 3% respectively.
Madam Speaker, if we empower the artisanal miner, it means we are going to have regularisation of the informal sector; we are going to formalise the informal sector. We are going to register our people that have no registration and birth certificates. A lot of our artisanal miners do not have birth certificates and this is why there is now proliferation of crime all over Zimbabwe. That is because somebody commits a crime fully knowledgeable that you will never go after them because you cannot find them since they are not registered anywhere and they have never produced their fingers for registration Madam Speaker.
It therefore means we have a lost generation. We are losing a generation and generations to come because kana baba vasina chitupa and the mother does not have a birth certificate, the child cannot have a birth certificate. It therefore means, Madam Speaker, by supporting artisanal miners, you are supporting the regularisation of citizens of Zimbabwe. By supporting artisanal miners, you are empowering a woman. If you empower a woman, you are empowering a nation. What men can do, women can do better.
Madam Speaker, I see there are people clapping for women. I want to tell you where the word ‘men’ arises from. The word ‘men’ means we men and women are numerous men, so we should not belittle women.
The issue of empowering artisanal miners is going to result in the drop in criminal activities. If you are 40 metres down in the shaft and in the tunnel, you cannot rape, indulge in sexual harassment, you cannot indulge in cyber crime as what happened when Chivayo and that other man took my money using cyber crime. Madam Speaker, you cannot indulge in wife beating if you are 40 metres down there because there is
no…
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Nduna. What is
your point of order?
HON. CHIKWINYA: The point of order is, it is unparliamentary to mention any other member of a society who has got no right to reply.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, withdraw that
statement.
HON. NDUNA: I withdraw, Madam Speaker. What I want to end by saying is, if we do not empower the artisanal miner, it means even our census and our population, we cannot therefore say we have 15 million people while some of them are not registered - we are using a source that does not include the artisanal miners, that does not include a lost generation, that does not include those people that are residents of our nation but are not well documented.
Madam Speaker, what it means by empowering the artisanal miners is that we have our minerals and our monies going to the right coffers and we reduce illicit outflows, we reduce and we cartel revenue leakages and we make sure we give impetus to formalisation of the informal sector. Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to support the artisanal miners in an effective, efficient and vociferous manner.
Going forward, I ask that this motion makes sure that we align our laws for the good order and governance of the people of Zimbabwe, In particular, we repeal the draconian Act of the Gold Act, Section 3 that speaks to and about the incarceration of artisanal miners without the option of a fine if found in possession of gold and we also repeal section 368 of the Mines and Minerals Act which is archaic, moribund, rudimental and antiquated to the effect that no one should be arrested for prospecting without a licence. I want to thank you.
HON. MATANGIRA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 20th November, 2018.
- [AN HON. MEMBER: This is Committee business, why do you want to debate Committee business.] -
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Madam Speaker, we are being misled that this is Committee business. It is not Committee business. I am in the
Committee of Mines. This is not Committee business.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR
MASVINGO PROVINCE (HON. RUVAI), the House adjourned at
Four Minutes past Four O’clock p.m. until Tuesday 20th November, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 13th November, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMEMTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House of the following changes to the Membership of Committees, which I want to say should be the last;
- Karenyi to serve on the Portfolio Committee on
Transport and Infrastructural Development;
- T. Saruwaka to serve on the Portfolio Committee on
Youth Sports and Recreation;
- Mushayi to serve on the Portfolio Committee on
Public Service Labour and Social Welfare;
- Murayi to serve on the Portfolio Committee on
Mines and Mining Development;
- Chimbaira moves from the Portfolio Committee on Youth Sports and Recreation to the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services;
- F. Ncube moves from the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare; and
- Sikhala moves from the Portfolio Committee Youth Sports and Recreation to the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services.
SPORTING ACTIVITIES
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to advise the House that all Hon.
Members interested in sporting activities are invited to a meeting tomorrow, Wednesday 14th November 2018 at 1200 hours in the
National Assembly.
INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE JOINT BUSINESS OF THE
HOUSES COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the inaugural meeting of the Joint Business of the Houses Committee will be held on Thursday 15th November, 2018 at 0900 hours in the Senate Chamber.
INVITATION TO A CATHOLIC CHURCH SERVICE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that there will be a Roman Catholic Church service tomorrow, Wednesday, 15th November, 2018 at 1215 hours in the Senate Chamber. All Catholic and non-catholic members are invited.
INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE ZIMBABWE WOMEN’S
PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to remind all female Members of
Parliament that the inaugural meeting of the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) will be held on Wednesday, 14th November, 2018 at 0830 hours in the Senate Chamber.
HON. SIKHALA: On a point of order, in terms of Standing
Order Number 68 (d)….
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have already passed that stage. Why were you not up standing until I called upon the Clerk to say something then you stand? Is that procedural?
HON. SIKHALA: My apologies Mr. Speaker Sir. But on a point of order, in terms of Standing Order Number 68 (d) as read with
Standing Order Number 69, I stand here on behalf of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services to give an expression that the way our Chairman and the Committee were treated during the Pre-Budget Conference in Bulawayo raised a lot of disenchantment among the group members. When all ….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Please switch off your microphone. That matter should have been raised at the material time in Bulawayo and there was an open debate to that effect. The matter should have been raised accordingly.
Secondly, Hon. Sikhala has no standi because he was not a member then, according to the announcement we have made –
[Laughter.] –
MOTION
REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FOR THE
YEAR 2017
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for the year 2017.
HON. BITI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a point of order. The report was not put in our pigeon holes. We are not able to debate but we are dying to debate. We kindly ask the leadership of Parliament and the Ministry to put the report in our pigeon holes.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Let me confer with the Clerk before I respond. Hon. Biti is correct. Hon. Members needed to have sight of that report and should have read it so that they can debate meaningfully.
As a matter of interest, who chairs the Committee on Justice? Hon.
Mataranyika, is it? Have you received the report?
HON. MATARANYIKA: No, I have not received the report.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Has your Committee debated that
report?
HON. MATARANYIKA: No, Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. BITI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 14th November, 2018.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, would the scribers who are
writing the registers please do so quietly.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ADDRESS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. NYATHI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I stand to support the motion by
Hon. Kwaramba and seconded by Hon. Musabayana on the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is my first time to come to the Parliament of Zimbabwe. I just want you to understand the feeling I had the first time I moved to this august House.
I felt that this building is intimidating; it reeks of an establishment and of power. Its systems are confusing, some may say archaic. Later, I realised that it can be a place that elevates equality, facilitates the power of people, esteems and properly funds a rich network of public services so that nobody is left in the indignity of poverty.
For too long, we have had politicians too willing to just go along with things. However, let me hasten to say in this new dispensation, all are called to give our best in order to lift the economy of our beloved country Zimbabwe. After all, this is the only country we call ours, our
God-given Zimbabwe – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, God in his wisdom, has made us Zimbabweans
because we are the ones with the zeal, the stamina, the fibre and all it takes to make Zimbabwe the best country under the sun.
Hon. Sibanda having been greeting other Hon. Members.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Sibanda, this is not
time for the ritual of greetings. You do it outside the House. Thank you.
HON. NYATHI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am conscious that I am unworthy of the task which is imposed upon me, but following the faith and trust bestowed upon me by the people from my constituency, I will,
God willing, do my best. The task falls on me and those in this august House set to work for the people. Therefore, I must claim the indulgence of this House while I serve my constituency and my country, that the atmosphere be conducive to a working and not a jeering team.
Mr. Speaker Sir, at times I sit and observe with amazement the behaviour exhibited in this House. I wonder if our wives, husbands, children and even our constituents behaved the same, would Zimbabwe be governable? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Our ordination into our various offices is God-given and hence, there is need for us to individually look inside us and say, ‘am I fulfilling the dictates of my calling?’
I will not go to any length into the growth and history of the feeling in favour of the State of the Nation Address, it is well set out in a very able speech by His Excellency, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa during the official opening of the First Session of the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe on the 18th of September, 2018. I cannot expect to add anything to the very clear, lucid statements of my President, both in another place and in his speech to the country and Parliamentarians.
However, it may be said that this is no new desire on the part of the people of Zimbabwe, whether they have left this country or not, dreamt of better legislators who are not politically minded but people oriented and bear the solutions to our difficulties. Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to say to my dear Hon. Members, may I draw your attention on why the
State of the Nation Address by His Excellency was very important to the people of my constituency, Shurugwi North. He talked about the constitutionally enshrined provisions of devolution of Government powers and his double emphasis on the new dispensation and the mantra, Zimbabwe is open for business – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, Shurugwi is at the centre of the Great Dyke and boasts of several minerals ranging from gold, platinum, chrome and many more discovered and undiscovered. For a long time, this small town helped to develop and grow countries like Germany, France and Britain as they siphoned our riches to their own countries whilst our town remained a lay-by of lights with no meaningful development, no employment and no faith in the offering of the future. I therefore would like to submit to this House that Shurugwi has embraced the President’s vision 2030 by opening industrial stands, opening resources and making it possible for all investors to come in Shurugwi. Shurugwi is rich in agriculture with its agro valued chains ranging from fruits, farming, farming products, fishing, cattle ranging, to name a few. We have taken advantage of command farming as introduced by His Excellency Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa. Our GMBs, Mr. Speaker Sir, records in the year 2014-2015, 800 tonnes of maize. In the year 2015-2016, we had 50 tonnes of maize. Year 2016-2017, after the introduction of command farming, we had two thousand tonnes of maize. Currently, Mr. Speaker Sir, year 2017-2018, we are now at a record of five thousand tonnes and more grain is still coming in. We say thanks for a great vision of our President Hon. Mnangagwa.
I therefore call upon all within the reach of my voice to come and invest in Shurugwi. We have already placed in tune systems that will help you do ease of business. Our road network, even in the rural areas have greatly improved. Already under the new dispensation, we should start to tar some of our rural roads. Mr. Speaker Sir, the President once said, I will hit the ground running but in Shurugwi we say, if the President is hitting the ground running, what must we do? We must hit the ground flying. This is the speed with which we are moving in order to meet our rapid result initiatives while working within the dictates of corporate governance. In this case, the impetus comes from this Parliament itself to do due diligence on the cross section of 27 Bills that were tabled for debate and enactment in order to expediently align our laws to the Constitution of the land.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we are all called to work when it is day time for the night cometh. One of the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon said in one of his verses, Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 Verse 10, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going’, and Paul says, in 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 4, ‘For even when we were with you, we commanded you that if a man does not want to work, he should not eat’. Therefore, Mr. Speaker Sir, I am confident, all of us in whatever quarter of the House we sit, equally deplore the disruptive actions which only stop this House from fully functioning. I cannot forbear to quote. May I say Mr. Speaker Sir, to my dear honourables, let us be honourable and truthful in the way we talk and the way we conduct ourselves. Let us have the deportment that benefits our office. I am looking forward to a great day where we as Zimbabwean Parliamentarians, will teach the great and the small nations of the world how to run the Parliament business in harmony though with diverse backgrounds, with varied opinions and from different political backgrounds.
Our focus is not on anything else except our beautiful God-given Zimbabwe. Remember, we owe the future of this country not to ourselves but to our children and the generations to come. Therefore, our loyal team must show by everything we say, how true we intend to deliver our pledges and promises. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have no intention, we have no desire that our colleagues in the opposition should break with all their old traditions. We desire that they should preserve all the best characteristics of their Zimbabweaness by being constructive in the best interest of the nation. We hope they shall shake hands with us and contribute for the development of the country that will bury the animosity that has existed and that they will cooperate with us in securing prosperity for Zimbabweans under one flag and one National Anthem which, whatever maybe said of us has at all events, protected differences of race, differences of religion, differences of language and which will secure for all of those who are under it, the peaceful enjoyment of the industry and the blessing of ever handed justice. Mr.
Speaker Sir, therefore, I call upon all Zimbabweans, I mean true
Zimbabweans to rally behind the vision of our President Hon.
Mnangagwa in rebuilding our country.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, we say in fact, we are one people under one President, Hon. Mnangagwa. Let us have one word coming from one Parliament and if as we may hope and believe, this House accepts the working of one purpose. A story is told Mr. Speaker Sir, in Binga. A foreigner visited a school, he had a basket of sweets and placed it 100m away from a group of school children. He then said, if I blow my whistle, anyone who gets to the basket first gets all the sweets to oneself. When the whistle was blown, the children looked at each other, held one another’s hands, ran to the sweets, got there and shared the sweets equally. Stunned and amazed, the foreigner asked why they had done so. They replied, it is called Ubuntu. NgesiShona we say hunhu, izunu, which means, how can one be happy – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Okay, it is called hunhu which means how can one be happy when others are sad. Ubuntu in the language means, I am because we are. Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to say to my dear Honourables, we are our brothers and our sisters’ keepers. Let us revisit our norms, our values, our beliefs and our artefacts. Let us be honest, kind and gentle with each other. Let us have the spirit of team work for the good of our country. Remember – how can one be happy when others are sad? I am because we are. May God bless the
Parliament of Zimbabwe, May God bless the President of Zimbabwe Hon. Emmerson, Dambudzo Mnangagwa, may God bless all the decision makers that make important decisions about moving this country forward and may God bless Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. MAYIHLOME: I rise to support the motion raised by hon. Kwaramba and supported by Hon. Musabayana. I would like to start by congratulating His Excellency the President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe and the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa for the emphatic victory in the 2018 harmonised elections and his SONA speech which was as comprehensive as it was visionary. It was comprehensive because it covered all the critical aspects of our beloved country. From peace, social justice, democratic space, work culture and above all, it gave the markers and guidelines for the key sectors to drive the economic transformation. Peace, love and harmony are often times taken for granted and only appreciated when lost. As we celebrate peace, love and harmony, let us never forget the plight of those who brought about this freedom and glory, the veterans of the liberation struggle, some of whom are still living in abject poverty, earning very low pensions whilst lacking basic needs let alone the land for which so much sacrifice was made. Some are still to be vetted, 39 years after independence. Mr. Speaker Sir, the SONA speech was also visionary in that His Excellency, the President, clearly defined where this country is going and how fast as well as the role each and every one of its citizens has to play. He asked us all to embrace these shared goals in common unison across the board and across the political divide. A real statesman and in return, we are all expected to be patriotic to our father land.
May I also express deep gratitude to the people of Zimbabwe in general and those of Umzingwane in particular for voting peacefully and wisely during the 2018 harmonised elections, which afforded me the chance to represent their hopes, aspirations and dreams in this august House. This is a responsibility which I shall take very seriously and I hope so will all Honourable Members.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the SONA speech gave us so much hope for the control of local resources. Umzingwane Constituency, in Matebeleland South Province falls under ecological region 4 and 5. Umzingwane is nevertheless the main source of water for Bulawayo. This constituency is rich in human resources and has well established schools and colleges, which have produced some of the best leaders and academics in this country. Umzingwane also hosts part of the UNESCO renowned Heritage and Historical sites, the Matopo Hills. We have gold deposits and other minerals like quarry stone. We have potential for wildlife, fisheries, horticulture, flower and fruit production as well as livestock and poultry. Most of the beef commercial farmers in Umzingwane used to trade their livestock at the Bulawayo showgrounds sale pens, but this has remained closed since 2015 even after the reasons for their initial closure are no longer valid. This has had a negative impact on prices for cattle and consequently, the livelihoods of many livestock farmers in Umzingwane and other constituencies that depend so much on the sale
of their cattle.
We also hope that as they consider the resuscitation of CSC, the Hon. Minister of Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement will address this matter and also consider offering shareholding of CSC shares to livestock farmers in the region. While the Ministry is applauded for the strides made in assisting various commodity producers with command inputs and ensuring that they mechanise, mechanisation of the livestock sector has not taken off. Livestock farmers who are predominant in Umzingwane and the region require water infrastructure and pasture management equipment to maximise productivity and quality of their produce.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Command Agriculture Programme and Presidential Input schemes have benefited all Zimbabweans across the political divide or region, which has seen production levels increase phenomenally. Umzingwane has tremendous potential to increase...
HON. J. SIBANDA: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker Sir, I can see there are Members of ZANU-PF who are walking out whilst a fellow member of ZANU-PF is talking about their President.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Chief Whip, there is an observation that members from my right are walking out and not listening to the debate. I am sure the Hon. Chief Whip has noted your concern.
HON. MAYIHLOME: Umzingwane has tremendous potential to
increase production in horticulture, cereals, fruits, livestock and dairy all under irrigation, if only irrigation infrastructure and value adding technology for export oriented produce could be addressed. Another challenge is the lack of well trained and experienced technical experts who lack exposure to modern agricultural technology which the agricultural college does not have. It is proposed that the Agricultural Colleges, especially the one at Esigodini be transformed and modernised into an Agricultural university specialising in organic horticulture and Livestock, especially small stock. We also propose that there be affirmative or quota system to afford locals to study and benefit from the institution.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we applaud the continuation of the Command
Agriculture schemes and the Hon. Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement for his unparalleled zeal and energy to drive agricultural transformation. So far, even the region 5 Umzingwane farmers have delivered around 560 tonnes of maize to GMB. Our concern though is the suitability of one size fits all varieties offered and lack of in-built accountability to ensure that all those given such inputs actually deliver and are not perpetual food beneficiaries as well. In the Presidential Inputs Schemes, the packs could solely be for A1 and communal farmers, with commercial farmers being assisted through Government sponsored agricultural finance loans, which have an in-built mechanism for efficiency and accountability. Arex staff could be empowered to enforce such accountability.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we applaud measures taken by His Excellency over the last 11 months to provide clean water for all communities, especially the drilling of boreholes in rural communities, clinics and schools. We hope these measures will include piped water and modern sanitation services in all rural communities to replace hand-pumps and blair toilets which are less dignified. We nevertheless note that the present Water Act and associated Statutory Instruments deprived the local authorities and regions of tangible benefits from their water resources. For instance, in the case of Umzingwane, the control of the water infrastructure in Umzingwane had been under a 50 year BOT agreement with the City of Bulawayo and just before this lapsed, the New Water Act handed over everything to ZINWA. Admittedly,
ZINWA has opened up some water access points along the Mtshabezi and the Ncema pipelines for irrigation and other uses but ZINWA charges these establishments commercial rates, thereby putting water way beyond the reach of institutions like schools and irrigation schemes. Curiously, water rates in Bulawayo are cheaper than in Umzingwane.
This is not only depriving the people in Umzingwane the benefit from its
God-given resource but goes against the President’s pronounced policy that resources should benefit locals. We hope that the said Act and Statutory Instruments shall be reviewed to allow local community users especially households and schools to be charged as primary users.
In this new economic order, it is proposed that parastatals with regulatory authority should not be players especially where they do not add value and examples are many. They cannot be the referees and players at the same time. It is also hoped that the outstanding debts so unjustly earned to such parastatals be cancelled.
I want to applaud SONA as well for highlighting the need to repair and upgrade road infrastructure as well as the Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructural Development for attending to two major roads in Umzingwane Constituency vis-a-vis Bulawayo - Old Gwanda Road and Esigodini-Falcon turn off as well as some internal roads within the district. We are highly encouraged that in the new order, road infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation gets top priority. However, more needs to be done especially on feeder roads and those connecting newly resettled farms. As we go forward, we also hope that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development will look at the issue of spreading the toll fees to urban motorists. While the current user-paysprinciple seems fair and just, it fails to recognise that the majority of motorists who rarely pay toll fees, benefit from the same, if not disproportionately.
HON. SIKHALA: On a pint of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I think we must give respect to this House. This House is not a bedroom. Anybody who thinks that he or she wants to sleep must go out of the House and sleep at home. The Hon. Member seated there who is saying ah-h was asleep all the time when the debate was taking place.
The period and time to use this House as a bedroom is over. Those who want to sleep, please advise them to go home and sleep and come here when the sleep is gone. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Members, yes, we will ask the media to focus on those who are sleeping – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] -
HON. MAYIHLOME: Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to argue that the
urban motorists must share the burden of paying toll fees too if they are to continue benefiting from ZINARA funding for road rehabilitation and construction of bypass roads to ease congestion in urban centres. The multiplicity or entities responsible for roads in rural constituencies affect accountability, leading to possible duplication of efforts and finger pointing. When motorists travel from one point to another within the district, they care not about whether they are traversing a DDF road, urban authority road, rural council road or a ZINARA road. After all, the licencing office is just one, hence the need to streamline this area.
Perhaps ZINARA should just buy equipment and let agencies like
DDF and rural council to do the road maintenance. With the newly introduced Integrated Vehicle Management System, perhaps it may also no longer be necessary to replace licence plates each time vehicle ownership changes, thus conserving citizens’ hard earned income. We hope that the Integrated Vehicle Management System will also encompass vehicle road usage to curb and deter reckless breach of traffic rules and stop road carnage, where precious lives and limbs have been tragically lost.
Mr. Speaker Sir, top among priorities as outlined in the SONA is job creation for our young people. We wish to thank His Excellency, the President for this realisation and outlining what needs to be done in the various economic sectors about job creation. As a way of opening up opportunities to all Zimbabweans across all economic sectors, we urge the Ministries of Finance and Economic Development, Industry and Commerce and that of Higher and Tertiary Education to work hard to craft the country’s industrialisation policy. We need to be clear as to which direction industrialisation is taking because in my view, trying to revive the old industries may be a waste of time, instead it may be wiser to identify and vigorously pursue those sectors which can provide competitive advantages, like ICT and organic agro-tech-based processing. In that regard, incentives of free land and up to 10 year rates holidays and free innovation is the hub of new centres of higher learning as was the case in the Silicon Valley and Bangalore. These need to be considered for innovative industrialisation in conformity with the new policy.
His Excellency, the President has emphasised e-learning at our schools and youth empowerment centres and this cannot be achieved without networks, meaning that our people will always lag behind. We urge responsible ministries to speed up network installation and improvement in Umzingwane. Our school systems still produce job seekers instead of people who are ready to take on the world. We need graduates who know how things are done or done differently, not graduates who will only learn how things are used. Small wonder our graduates and school leavers find themselves selling airtime instead of inventing tools and gadgets for use in those sectors where the country has a comparative advantage.
I propose that we also start sending the selected young people on exchange programmes to countries like Germany, Brazil, India and
Israel to sharpen their innovative skills. If, as a country we need our own
Silicon Valley’s by 2030, then we need to start taking entrepreneurship and innovation more seriously instead of merely talking about it.
We applaud the creation of NSSA which provides pension cover to workers who had none at all. Given the current infrastructural funding challenges in the country, I opine that NSSA Act be reviewed to cushion the unemployed and ease the burden on the fiscus. The law could also be amended to allow the employed to save and join sectoral pension funds. In addition, the NSSA Act could be reviewed to provide for the authority to invest in long term public infrastructural development like roads, water works, railways and power stations. Real estate funding could then be left to sectoral pension funds.
I wish to applaud measures being undertaken by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development in trying to find other ways of funding public infrastructure, for example infrastructural bonds payable in US$ just like in countries like Republic of Korea and Ethiopia.
Nevertheless, better strategies are required to widen the tax base, for instance higher presumptive taxation for luxurious accommodation not financed through mortgage finance but at the same time giving incentives to those who transact through the banking sector. However, banks need to be called to order to start earning their incomes from interest and not bank charges as per international standard practice and remove unjustly bank charges.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to conclude by applauding the President for recognising the diversity of product range in the tourism market. However, we want to emphasise that this drive to increase product diversity and ranges, should be accompanied by appropriate training and skilling in tourism. It is common knowledge that it takes a long time for tourist markets and destinations to be developed. Therefore, I propose that more incentives to this sector be given and that Government assists in training tourism marketers, especially in languages and cultures other than English.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in our case, the roads also need to be attended to.
It is noted that artisanal miners contribute so much to the GDP.
However, we note that there is lack of harmony with other sectors of our economy. As a way of concluding, I want to say, God bless Zimbabwe and God bless the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. God bless the Parliament of Zimbabwe, God Bless Umzingwane. I thank you.
+HON. R. MPOFU: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Firstly
I would like to support Hon. Kwaramba’s motion which was seconded by Hon. Musabayana. I would like to congratulate President E. D. Mnangagwa for winning resoundingly in the elections. I would also like to congratulate you together with the Speaker for being nominated to lead us in this House. I am a lady who was elected by other ladies and in my condition, they did not discriminate me. I would also like to thank my party, ZANU PF which did not mind that I am disabled.
Looking at agriculture, you know that Matabeleland is a region that does not get rains. I am happy now because we got Command Agriculture in the form of cattle. Even disabled people were given cattle, although the cattle were not given to me directly, but they were given to other disabled ladies as well.
I am happy about that. In Command Agriculture, in Ematojeni, there is a place which is called ARDA Irrigation Scheme but there was drought there for so many years. The President, before he was elected to be President and when he was Vice President, introduced Command Agriculture in Matabeleland.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I am here standing in front of you and I would like to thank all the Hon. Members who are here. You are here because of other people that we left in the bush and some of them are still alive. The President was speaking of war veterans of this country and some of them fought for this country were it not for them, some of us would not have been here, but we should remember those people and we should improve their welfare Madam Speaker.
I know we are here and some of us are educated and some are not but we were elected by Zimbabweans. However, when we are seated in here, we must all represent our people, those who voted us in. We want development for our people and we want unity.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, there are certain things that are happening in hospitals. When we talk of health, there is a hospital that is called Old Antelope, that is where I was born. We ask that if the Government could send someone to this hospital to see how women are being treated there. Women are suffering it has been said that everyone with cancer should be treated freely – where else can we get a leader like E. D. Mnangagwa. I like E. D. Mnangagwa because he does not discriminate against anyone. He does not look at which political party you come from but he unites us because if we discriminate each other against political parties, people will laugh at us.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, the President also spoke about disabled people. He said they should be treated like any other normal person because anything can happen to anyone; just like what happened to me Sister Rosy, and also that women should be given equal opportunities with men.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, every woman should know that she was elected to this Parliament and she is representing everyone and she should not be discriminated against on party lines. We were sent here to work and not to play. I get very hurt Madam Speaker when people come here to play. I say so because some are debating and some are laughing – when are things going to be fixed for this Parliament? No one is going to fix it but we will have to fix it on our own. Today someone has been here for only 11 months but a lot of things have happened but for 38 years, there are some who were in Government, we would like to know what they did. Why should you seek to remove a plank from someone’s eyes and yet you cannot remove it from your own eye? This time around we want to fix things and we do not want people who are not interested in fixing things.
We are here because we want to create employment. Madam Speaker, we should create employment – people from Britain should come and create employment here. Our children should work - what else then would I want. I think that is enough for now. I have only one wish that we should start asking ourselves why we were elected into this
Parliament – no one was elected to come and insult someone, but we are all children of Zimbabwe and I say long live to Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa, long live ED and you must also lead the thick headed people Hon. E. D. Madam Speaker, when I speak like this I feel something. Some of us are educated and we treat it as if it is something to go by. Some of the people who fought for this country are Grade Zeros but they have brought us freedom in this country.
Many people died during the war but some people came here to play Madam Speaker and I say no, no, no. I just want us to unite and rally behind the leader that was elected by the people, because there are no two bulls in the kraal. If there are two bulls in one kraal, they will start to attack each other. In this kraal there is only one bull. If the bull that was elected is still there, we should just follow it. Madam Speaker we want unity and peace and I say long live Hon. Mnangagwa, long live my President. Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order in terms of Section 68(d) read together with Section 69. Madam Speaker, Hon. Rossy Mpofu is in Parliament for a second term. She sits exactly at the same point where she is and I raise the point of order on the basis of what happened when she was coming to debate. I do not think Parliament has no capacity to instill mechanisms that can assist people that live with her condition so that she can debate from where she is – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Any member who is sitting here can fall into that condition at any time, it must then not take away your ability to debate. I want to move that Parliament intervenes by putting in mechanisms that allow members who have that condition to be assisted to debate from wherever they are. It became a safety hazard to the Hon. Member that almost got tripped when Parliament has got an Information Communication and
Technology (ICT) Department that can put in place enough mechanisms that will make people with such a condition to debate in comfort. Thank you – [AN HON. MEMBER: I second.]-.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member, your
concern is noted.
HON: KWARAMBA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: I do second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 14 November, 2018.
HON. NDUNA: Sorry Madam Speaker, before he comes in I have got a point of order. Madam Speaker my point of order arises from my point of privilege after the debate by Hon. Rossy Mpofu Hon. Speaker
Ma’m. I just want to second Hon. Chikwinya but in this way Hon.
Speaker Ma’m. I have often said if you point a figure at one, you have got four others pointing right back at you. My point exactly is that as a House that makes rules and laws for the good governance and order of the people of Zimbabwe, it is us who are supposed first and foremost to make laws that also deal with housekeeping issues in the National Assembly.
Why do I say so Madam Speaker is that we are going to be debating the 2019 National Budget in a few days to come and as we do so Madam Speaker, I ahead of time make a clarion call that all materials that are used by those that are differently abled be imported duty free
Madam Speaker, aware that this country has got more than 1, 5 million who constitute 10% of our population. I ask ahead of time that it be taken note that, we have with us materials that are supposed to be used by those that are differently abled like Hon. Mpofu and that as it might be Hon. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -. I seek you protection Hon. Speaker.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Nduna, order. I have already said his concern is noted and what you are now doing is debating and that is no longer a point of order; please may you sit down.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker and I have already said may those materials come in duty free Madam Speaker.
MOTION
ABUSE OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF VENDORS
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House:
CONCERNED about the absence of holistic solutions addressing the issues of vendors, urban poverty and illegal urban settlements in
Zimbabwe;
ALSO CONCERNED with the total disrespect and abuse of the constitutional rights of vendors and other neglected groups eking out a living in Zimbabwe demonstrated by heavy handedness and the violence unleashed against vendors in recent weeks by State authorities:
NOW, THEREFORE:
(a). condemns the wanton attack and lawlessness unleashed to vendors by State Authorities;
(b). demands the provision of alternative sustainable income generating infrastructure for vendors; and
(c). calls upon government to craft and implement a national employment policy.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: I second.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Madam Speaker, as I will be debating this motion - at most times I did my research, I will be dwelling much on putting reference to my notes. In our country, Madam Speaker, we became independent in 1980 and at that time we had stables for vendors where they would sell their wares mostly in the urban dwellings.
As we progressed with our independence, we had an increase of our population and by then, we had an awash of industry in most cities across the country – Mutare, Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru. As we speak, our country is estimated to be having a population of about 14 million people, but as we have progressed to today, we have lost almost 80% of the formal industries that we had during the time then. Against that situation, the country has experienced a higher population. With this population, mostly we look at the urban dwellers in terms of their upkeep as opposed to the rural dwellers.
Urban dwellers, mostly in whatever they are expected to have, they survive on cash and the situation we have today, about 92% of our population in this country is not formerly employed. There is a high rate of unemployment and people by virtue of us being human beings; we have to look for other alternatives in order for us to survive. You would find that poverty is one of the most serious challenges that we experience almost throughout the whole world. The UNDP report in 2013 was speaking to a situation of having 30% of the world’s population who are living in poverty and amongst that, as we look at that estimate of the percentage, we have as well people in our country.
In our country Zimbabwe, ZIMSTATS indicates that 38% of our urban households are living in poverty and most of these people who are living in poverty are classified as poor and they have to eke out a living. Now, when we look at the aspect that these people need to survive, what is it that they are doing in order to survive? People are engaging in the informal sector industry, they are into vending, they are vendors.
Most of these vendors, their targets of potential buyers are found in the CBD, be it in Harare, Bulawayo or Mutare. To make matters worse, we have had a situation whereby Government was promising all these people 2.2 million jobs during the last election and it never happened. Now, we go into this new election which has been disputed left right and centre in this country and of those who have disputed that election, it is us, the Commonwealth and the European Union. They have disputed that election and they have put recommendations of what is best which will give best results for this country not to have a disputed result. If
you go to the website everything is there and clear. You can read it through and through.
You would find that we have a population of people who are so much into what is going on in this country. Take for instance the MDC party. Its president had more than two million votes while the ZANU PF party had more than a million votes and of those millions, all these people are above 18 years of age and they are the people who are meant to eke out a living. They are first time voters, they have a potential in most cases to do the best on their own, but they cannot access employment.
Madam Speaker, my appeal is that this country must put in place markets, stable wares in the urban areas so that we manage.
HON. TOGAREPI: On a point of order, Madam President.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order? - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Order Hon. Members,
order.
HON. TOGAREPI: The mover of the motion is deliberately misrepresenting. He is saying the MDC candidate got two million and ZANU PF got one million. I think that is a misrepresentation which should not be allowed - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami, I think on
that one you must withdraw and put the record straight - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Madam Speaker, I have said it very clearly, the MDC party candidate got more than two million votes and the ZANU PF candidate got more than one million. I have not said anything - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami, you must
withdraw that. That is not true, you must withdraw that. Put the record straight Hon. Mutseyami
HON. O. MGUNI: On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I think the mover of the motion must respect and oblige to what the Speaker ruled. I thank you Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami, I told you
to withdraw that statement.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: The results are very clear Madam
Speaker. I will have to - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Let me re-phrase it - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - The ZANU PF presidential candidate….
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mutseyami. I
told you to withdraw that statement and put the record straight - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Madam Speaker, you are disturbing my motion. You are disturbing my motion - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I told you to withdraw that statement and put the record straight - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Madam Speaker, it is very clear. I said the ZANU PF presidential candidate had more than one million votes - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Yes. Two, four million -
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
HON. KWARAMBA: On a point of order - [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] -
MDC Hon. Members sang a song – Chamisa mai mwana.
ZANU PF Hon. Members chanted slogan – ED pfee, ED pfee.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, order!
Hon. Members having continuously behaved disorderly, the Hon. Deputy Speaker abruptly adjourned the House at Eight Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 1st November, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
ERRORS ON THE ORDER PAPER
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, please take your seats. I wish to draw your attention to the first error on today’s Order Paper whereby the notice of presentation of the Companies and other Business Entities Bill [H. B. 8, 2018] by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs was inadvertently omitted and accordingly the item should be inserted above the heading ‘Orders of the Day and Notices of Motions. Please insert it there.
The other error is on numbering of items, whereby notices of motion by Hon. Biti and Hon. Mutseyami were both reflected as No. 2.
HON. MLISWA: On a point of privilege! I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of other Hon. Members to congratulate Hon. Charumbira for being elected the Vice President of Pan African
Parliament; and to equally extend congratulations to you Mr. Speaker
Sir, for a Masters’ of Law Degree. We are very much inspired by that and certainly we wish you all the best in that. Thank you.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order! I am very grateful
to what the Ministry of Home Affairs has done. I asked for a vehicle to be used by Zimbabwe Republic Police in Buhera and my plea was fulfilled. The police in Buhera were given a vehicle to do the patrols and attend to the scene of accidents.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NON ADVERSE CERTIFICATE FOR STATUTORY
INSTRUMENTS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received certificates for Statutory
Instruments gazetted during the month of June, 2018.
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform you that the Parliamentary Legal Committee met on the 31st October, 2018 and considered all the Statutory Instruments that were gazetted during the month of June, 2018. The Committee is of the opinion that the Statutory Instruments gazetted in the month of June are not in contravention of the declaration of rights or any other provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
FIRST READING
COMPANIES AND OTHR BUSINESS ENTITIES BILL [H. B. 3,
2018]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI presented the
Companies and Other Business Entities Bill [H.B. 3, 2018].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FOR THE
YEAR 2017
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir,
I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Report of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for the year 2017, presented to this House of Parliament in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which states that every Commission must submit to Parliament, through the appropriate Minister, an annual report on its operations by no later than the end of March in the year following the year to which the report relates.
Mr. Speaker, I move that debate do now adjourn. I think the Hon.
Members have not had opportunity to go through the report.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 6th November, 2018.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF GENDER BALANCE AND EQUAL RIGHTS
OF MEN AND WOMEN
HON. BITI: Mr. Speaker, I move the motion standing in my name that this House:-
NOTING that Sections 17 (1), 56 and 80 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for the promotion of gender balance and equal rights of men and women in all spheres of life;
ALSO NOTING that Section 17 (1) of the Constitution requires the State to take all measures including legislative measures needed to ensure that:-
- both genders are equally represented in all institutions and agencies of Government at every level;
- that women constitute at least half of the membership of all Commissions and other elective and appointed governmental bodies established by or under the Constitution or any Act of
Parliament; and
- the State and all institutions and agencies of Government at every level must take practical measures to ensure that women have access to resources including land on the basis of equality with men;
CONCERNED that notwithstanding the progressive and revolutionary provisions of the Constitution, women continue to be under-represented in Parliament, Cabinet, Government and other institutions and agencies of Government at every level;
NOW, THEREFORE, resolves that Government urgently comply with the gender equality provisions in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
HON. SARUWAKA: I second.
HON. BITI: I thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker Sir, women constitute 52% of the population of Zimbabwe but notwithstanding this figure, notwithstanding the fact that women are the majority of citizens in our country – the majority of our women continue to survive on the periphery of human existence. Women continue to wallow in poverty. You will find them in communities selling tomatoes and vending all other wares. You will find them in rickety chicken buses traversing the length and breadth of the southern African region to places like Lusaka, Gaborone, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Maputo and Chimoio selling wares and ekeing out a living of the 79% of
Zimbabweans who live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than
US$0.35 cents a day - what is commonly known as ‘tsaona’ in the townships. You will find that by far, the majority of those people who are surviving on tsaona are in fact women.
So Mr. Speaker, it is my contention that the nonchalance, in other words, the failure by the Executive to comply with Section 17 does not start with marginalisation at the top. The majority of women are actually being marginalised at the bottom in communities, churches and schools as I will demonstrate in this motion.
Hon. Speaker, Section 17 is very clear but you do not start with
Section 17, you start with the Founding Principles of our Constitution. In the Founding Principles of our Constitution in Section (3), Zimbabwe is found in respect of the following values and principles. One of them is supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, fundamental human rights and (g) gender equality. So gender equality Hon. Speaker, is one of the foundation stones of this Constitution and you know Hon. Speaker that a lot of pain went through the crafting of the Constitution.
This Constitution was voted in a Referendum on the 20th March, 2013 and over 93% of the people of Zimbabwe voted in the Referendum to accept this Constitution. So Hon. Speaker, Section 17 is not an aspiratory provision, it is not the aspiration of the State to ensure that there is gender equality and that women are equally represented in public spheres. It is not an aspiration but an obligatory provision with positive obligations on the State requiring immediate compliance with the same now, namhla, nhasi, kachana.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the rights of women are not only just found in the Founding Principles in Section (2) but they are also found in the antidiscrimination provision of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which is Section 56 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Section 56 reads as follows, all persons are equal before the law and have the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. The framers of the Constitution added another paragraph which was not necessary because women are covered in the sentence, ‘all persons are equal before the law’ but the drafters of the Constitution did this out of an abundance of caution and out of the need to emphasize the idea of gender equality.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Subsection 2 reads as follows, women and men have the right to equal treatment including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. I submit Mr. Speaker Sir, that this provision was not necessary but the framers of the Constitution put it to underscore the state of deficit when it comes to women’s empowerment, social activities, upbringing and women’s capacity to control the processes and products of their own labour. Women are objects and not controllers.
Apart from Section 56 Hon. Speaker Sir, we have Section 80.
Section 80 is also very clear and unambiguous. It reads as follows,
‘every woman has full and equal dignity of the person’. Hon. Speaker Sir, if you compare the similar provisions in the South African Constitution, it does not use the word dignity. There is a deliberate reason why the framers of this Constitution use the word dignity. This is because dignity imports the totality of an individual, “hunhu, ubuntu.”
So, the Constitution reads as follows, ‘every woman has full and equal dignity of the person with men and this includes equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities’. It goes on, ‘women have the same rights as men regarding the custody and guardianship of children but an act of Parliament must regulate how these rights are to be exercised’.
There is Subsection 3, which is very critical in the context of Zimbabwe and the majority of Zimbabwean men who hide behind culture and historical practices to perpetrate gender inequality practices against women. So Subsection 3 reads as follows, ‘all laws, customs, traditions and cultural practices that infringe the rights of women conferred by this Constitution are void to the extent of the infringement’. These provisions are key Hon. Speaker Sir. They were not put there for normative purposes and window dressing purposes. After all, according to Section 2 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and any law, practice or custom that is inconsistent with the same is invalid to the extent of that inconsistence.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to come to the sad position in our country when it comes to compliance or non-compliance with Section 17 of the Constitution. It is regrettable that in the present Cabinet, out of 20 members, only six are women. That means that only 30% of the members of Cabinet are women in breach of the provision of Section 17
(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
In the 2018 harmonised election that was held on 30th July 2018, only 17% of the candidates stood as women in the election of National Assembly seats. National Assembly seats are 210, so in the contestation of those 210 seats, only 17% of women stood as candidates and here I am excluding women that are elected on the ticket of proportional representation. At council level Hon. Speaker Sir, the country has 1950 local authority seats and only 15% of the candidates in the just ended local authority election of 30th July 2018 were women. When we come to the actual results, notwithstanding that there were very few women, the voting population reduced this number again so that the result we have now is that excluding women elected on proportional representative, women constitute 12.4% of this august House. The numbers only improved slightly, if I might submit by the PR Hon. Members. Otherwise the true number of women in this august House is a mere 12.4%.
It is not an African thing Hon. Speaker Sir. In Rwanda, in the 2004 election, 30% of the members of the National Assembly were women. In the next election conducted two years ago, the Members of Parliament who are women in the Rwandese Parliament is 64%. Other countries are making good progress. South Africa is making good progress, even a patriarchic society like Swaziland actually has more than 12.4% representatives as women.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the private sector too has to be ashamed. Out of the 482 directors of private companies in the private sector who are all members of the Institute of Directors, only 50 are women and this comes to a percentage of 10.3%. The regrettable state is that Government is actually doing better than the private sector. There are 10% female directors and at least there are 30% Cabinet Ministers. It is not a shortage of women Hon. Speaker Sir because with the 12.4% and with the 60 women who are elected on the basis of proportional representation, the country could still have 20 women elected from this august House. The numbers, even though they are paltry compared to the national level, they were still enough to fill 20 or 30; so we could actually have a Cabinet that consists of 100% women. The question that arises Hon. Speaker Sir, is what drives the marginalisation of women in Zimbabwe and across the continent? What drives the mindset of decision makers in companies, political parties, churches and civic society? What drives the mindset of decision makers and electors that we marginalise women?
I want to unpack those factors Mr. Speaker Sir and the point I seek to drive here is that it is not enough to simply say that we have appointed women that are 50% of the Cabinet and 50% of all the Commissions without actually unpacking the reason and tracing why women are so marginalised right from the bottom to the top. So, you can deal with the problem at the top and have this House full with 50% women but that would be an artificial solution; that will be papering over the cracks unless you deal with the substantive structural causers and status core of inequality at the bottom. This is what I propose and seek to do in this motion.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we have certain factors that are objective that affect the marginalisation of women. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have a number of factors that are objective to the extent that they are neutral. You will find them in Zambia, Malawi, West Africa, Senegal, Guinea, the Gambia and East Africa. These things have to do with, for instance, colonialism. The colonial state marginalised the African citizen, but between the native man and the native woman, it actually marginalised the native woman much more than it did the native man. That is why if you go to suburbs with great respect, suburbs like Mbare, Matute Block
C, Shasha blocks, Makokoba in Bulawayo, the early residences of Zimbabwe, Makokoba was constructed in 1921.
Women were not allowed in those settlements. They were settlements for bachelors, native African bachelors because the native colonial state did not recognise a woman. It objectified a woman. At least it could tolerate the native man because they had no choice about the question of labour. If they had their choice, they would say they do not want to see black people, but because they realised they needed labour, they said the woman stays in the Tribal Trust Lands and the man would be allowed to come and stay in places like Makokoba and Mbare Musika.
The accumulation model as well marginalised women. Our accumulation model is much skewed with an accumulation model based on extraction. We dig gold, platinum and chrome and we export it immediately. That accumulation model also marginalises the native woman more than it marginalises the native man. The colonial laws as well were responsible for the marginalisation of the native African woman. The native African woman had no legal capacity as Mr. Speaker Sir, you understand as a legal practitioner.
So, the native African woman could not sign a contract because she did not have legal capacity. She could not buy a house because she did not have capacity, but only her father or her husband had capacity. The legal capacity of an African native woman was changed like a ping pong between a husband and the father. If she married different husbands, they will keep on shifting her capacity in different hands. If she married three husbands at a certain time in her life, three men will have her legal capacity. Thanks to the Legal Age of Majority Act and in 1980, that was changed, but not withstanding that decision, I will refer to this later.
You have decisions such as the 1997 decision in Magaya versus Magaya which kind of reverses the Legal Age of Majority Act in holding that a girl child or a woman cannot inherit from the state of his father. I will speak about that a little bit later on. The developments in the International Community Globalisation per se also marginalised the African woman and I can speak about this. The one thing that marginalises the African woman particularly her participation in politics, particularly here in Zimbabwe is violent. Violence treats women unequal to men. It becomes a basis of gender inequality.
So, in this country Hon. Speaker Sir, we have had instances of violence lacerating our body politic that has had a fundamental effect on the capacity of women to participate in politics. It takes a great deal of courage for a woman, particularly a young woman to stand up and offer herself to public office. These violent incidents include Gukurahundi between 1982 and 1987. These violent incidences...-[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - This violent history includes the violence associated particularly with the run off to the 2008 General Elections.
Mr. Speaker, in the process of researching for this motion, I went to the Law Reports. The Law Reports are a shocking mirror of the violence that has been carried out against women, particularly in the field of politics. These are reported judgements and I am going to cite a few reported decisions from the law reports of Zimbabwe that capture this violence against women which has been codified in our law.
So, I want to refer to the case that is now known as the Mberengwa
West By-Election Petition. The citation is 2002, Volume (1) Zimbabwe Law Report, page 233. That election at the High Court level was set aside among other things because someone known as Biggie Chitore heavily assaulted a woman, a member of the MDC known as Josephine Ngwena. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - Another case that I wish to refer to and Mr. Speaker Sir, these are reported judgements.
The second case is of Rose Chauke versus Mare. This was an election petition for Chiredzi North and the citation of this judgement is SC147/2007. Again in an election petition, one Rose Chauke the plaintiff or applicant was badly assaulted in a case of political violence by a man known as Boniface Mutemachani. The third case is the case of Eugenia Kateera versus Minister of Defence, and the citation is High
Court, Harare 21 of 2007. Mrs. Teera was assaulted by members of the
Zimbabwe National Army on the 4th of June, 2003 in Glen View 1, Harare. –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- The High Court Mr. Speaker Sir...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order.
HON. BITI: The High Court in Harare awarded her damages to the sum of US$4 000.00. The fourth judgement which is the most famous of the judgements is the famous case of Jestina Mukoko versus the Attorney General and the citation Hon. Speaker is SC11/2012. Now this judgment is particularly important because it was written by the current Chief Justice, Hon. Luke Malaba. That judgment granted a permanent stay of prosecution against Jestina Mukoko after the highest court in this land found that she had been tortured for a period in excess of 3 months by members of the Central Intelligence Organisation and this judgment has become an international authority for the definition of torture as defined in Section 53 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Without going into the facts, I want to just cite other cases. I am not going into their facts for the sake of time. I want to refer to the case of Lilian Chinyerere versus Minister of Home Affairs and the citation is HC11969/2016. I want to refer to the case of Vina Ndlovu and five others versus officer Mazarura and two others, Chipinge Magistrates Courts and the judgment number is GL46742. I want to refer to the case of Ellen Muteiwa versus Officer in Charge Masvingo and the citation is GL208/15, it is a case from Masvingo. Lastly, I want to refer to the case of Constance Tshuma versus Muponesi Mpofu and 3 others, these women were assaulted in Plumtree and the citation is High Court Bulawayo 15/2015. I cite these cases to show empirically the existence of violence in our society, to show empirically that violence is responsible for the disproportionate number of women in this august House to men.
The second issue which is responsible for that is patriarch; it is an ideological framework in respect of which decisions are made and made purely from the point of view of a man – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- Patriarchy is a situation where society, political leaders and church leaders put on spectacles that see one thing and one thing alone, men. So, patriarchy has extended from time immemorial from the time even before Jesus Christ was born, patriarchy has always existed. Hon. Speaker Sir, there are various theories of patriarchy. Radical feminist view patriarchy as man’s control over the woman’s body and the woman’s reproductive capacity – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- So to men, the woman’s body is an object that is objectified. It is an instrument of pleasure and that is a source of patriarchy. To men as well, men control women’s reproductive health and reproductive
capacity.
It is men who decide whether you can abort or you cannot abort, it is men who decide how many children you can have or cannot have. So, the men’s monopoly over sex and the reproductive capacity of the woman explains, particularly in a society like Zimbabwe where polygamy is legal. We have situations where some men are married to 29 women – [HON. MEMBERS: Madzibaba] - [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjects.] – Hon. Speaker Sir, what do you do with 29 wives other than just to control them?
The second point and this comes from feminist psychoanalyst, feminist of this tradition argue that the source of patriarchy is the way we raise children – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- So, firstly, children are raised by fathers and they are also women there, I call them
‘she-he’, these are called aunts matete, these tetes play the role of engendering gender inequality. In some societies including in this country, these tetes on behalf of their brothers the male oligarchy actually conduct on these young children virginity tests and all kinds of things to ensure that the woman is objectified – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.]-
The way we raise our children is also a source of patriarch as I have submitted. The boy child in the rural area is allowed to go and head cattle in the bush. In the urban area, the boy child is allowed to play a play station xbox whilst the young girl child is in the kitchen learning recipes, learning how to saw and how to knit. So, the feminization of the girl child begins when she is young as little 3 or 4 years old.
The fourth source of patriarchy is the work place. At the work place, sex is weaponised. In the industrial sites in the workplace, many women are paid lower than men for the same job. Not only that but the capacity of the woman to climb the ladder, the ability of the woman to be promoted depends on whether she is prepared to have a carpet interview with those that control the workplace – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] - [AN HON. MEMBER: Even matools eParliament wotowirirana naChief Whipka.] –
The home too Hon. Speaker endangers gender inequality, in the home, it is the mother who is expected to cook, it is the mother who is expected to fetch children from school, it is the mother who is expected to clean clothes for the husband and the family. So, the home itself becomes a home ground for gender inequality and for patriarchy – [AN
HON. MEMBER: Iwe Chinotimba sha urikuita noise.]- So Mr. Speaker, I locate six places of gender inequality based on patriarchy. Number one is the mode of production; the workplace. Number two is paid work, number three is the State itself, number four is male violence, number five is sexuality, number six is…
*HON. E. MASUKU: On a point of order, 20 minutes dzakwana
– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you repeat what you
just said, I did not get you?
*HON. E. MASUKU: I think his time was extended by 20 minutes and now it has already lapsed. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Member, this is why I reminded all the Hon. Members that you must read your Standing Rules and Orders. The mover of a motion has no time limit to 20 minutes.
Thank you.
HON. BITI: Mr. Speaker Sir, apart from violence, there are certain other structural factors that contribute to gender inequality in our society. One of those is the missing women; the unnecessary disproportionate number of women that actually die in our society. The World Bank produces annually, a World Development Report and each year this report focuses on a different topic.
So in 2012, the World Development Report focused on gender and
what this report did was it calculated certain indexes, like the life expectancy of women, maternal mortality rates and women who die through violence. Most of these traps are found in the Third World. It then compared the number of women who die in the Third World with the number of women who die in the developed world. It found that everything being equal, the developing countries as opposed to the developed countries annually they lose 3 million women; so these are the missing women globally and I submit Mr. Speaker Sir that we also have missing women.
I am going to give a few statistics; the first one is the maternal mortality rate. The figures I am giving here – there are two national reports that are critical that I urge all Members to read and to have in their possession. The first one is the 2011 Demographic Health Survey, produced by ZIMSTATS with the assistance of organisations such as the
World Bank, UN, UNICEF and others. The second one is the 2015 Demographic Health Survey, which is the last one.
So I will give figures, in the meltdown years of 2006 to 2008, the adult mortality rates in Zimbabwe were as follows; 34 for women, in other words, on average by the age of 34, a woman would have died but for men same period, the figure was 42. So women are dying younger than men. In 2011, there was some improvement, for women 12.7 deaths per 1 000 compared to 7.6 deaths per 1 000 for men.
I come to maternal mortality rates. The maternal mortality rates are frightening Mr. Speaker Sir. The 2015 maternal mortality rate is 651 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births. That means that out of 100 000 women who are giving birth, 651 are dying in Zimbabwe. To put it in other way, out of a 1 000 women who are giving birth, seven are dying but the figure is worse for women who are pregnant, 1 in 37 of every woman who is pregnant in Zimbabwe will die and that is frightening.
Other countries the figure is now negligible.
So when you compare now the figure for Zimbabwe and other African countries and the developing country, you will see that our women are dying unnecessarily, so we have missing women. I submit Mr. Speaker Sir that perhaps the percentage population number of Zimbabwe women should be 52% but a huge chunk is actually missing; missing as a result of avoidable manmade self induced issue which is domestic violence.
Men use domestic violence as a weapon of controlling women. This violence is physical violence; it is emotional violence. Sometimes married women will say anotombo kurova ari better than anongokuitira emotional violence, akangokwindima kunge chikwambo – [Laughter. ]
So I want to give statistics from the 2011 and 2015 Demographic Health
Survey, 35% of women aged between 15 and 49…
HON. MUCHIMWE: On a point of order. Hon. Matambanadzo
is on the phone.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you come again.
HON. MUCHIMWE: I said my point of order is that Hon.
Matambanadzo is on the phone – [HON. MEMBERS: Hon. who?] – Matambanadzo – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – [HON.
ZWIZWAI: Inaudible interjections.].
THE HON. SPEAKER: Okay. Order, order. Order, Hon. Zwizwai. We are not allowed to take cell phone conversations during the proceedings. If there is an urgent call you are expecting you can quickly rush out, attend to it and then come back. Thank you.
HON. BITI: Hon. Speaker, I am referring to domestic violence. Thirty five percent (35%) of women between the ages of 15 – 49 have experienced domestic violence since the age of 15. Fourteen percent (14%) of women between the ages of 15 – 49 have experienced sexual violence at least once in their lifetime, and this is according to the 2015 Demographic Health Survey (DHS). Thirty-two percent (32%) of married women have experience spousal violence in Zimbabwe and this figure I need to say Hon. Speaker, that it differs from province to province. If you read this DHS it actually lists the number one province on domestic violence, number two, three and so on but I am not going to name the provinces, but there are certain provinces that are notorious.
The biggest causes of violence are the following - and some of them are very whimsy Hon. Speaker;
- Burning the food – many women are being beaten up by their husbands for burning the food.
- Arguing with him – if you argue with him anokuchaya, and this is scientific Hon. Speaker.
- Going out without telling him – (HON. MEMBERS:
Yees!] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - iv. Neglecting the children – (HON. MEMBERS:
Yes!] –
- This one Hon. Speaker madzimai ari kurohwa for refusing sexual intercourse – (HON. MEMBERS: Yes!] – [HON. T. KHUMALO: That is true.] – [AN HON. MEMBER: Unoenda, ko unenge wakavingei.] –
Madam Speaker, Hon. Samukange is smiling - but a new one which is fast exceeding all this is denying her husband or partner access to a mobile phone – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] -. It is now a major source of domestic violence.
I want to move to another area Madam Speaker that engenders gender equality in Zimbabwe which is the area of water, energy and sanitation. Only 24% of households in Zimbabwe have water piped into the dwelling. So the majority of women, particularly in the rural areas only 20% of homesteads have access to water that is on the premises. Eighty percent of rural households obtain water from a source not on the premises; kutsime - kuborehole riri kushopping centre and so on. What is frightening Madam Speaker is that 30% of women in the rural areas report that they have to walk for a period of one hour to and from the source where she is finding water. That means one hour per day is actually lost for 30% of our women in the rural areas just looking for water.
I now want to come to ablution facilities Madam Speaker. Forty eighty percent (48%) of our people in the rural areas do not have access to covered toilet and that is a big number Madam Speaker. My rural home is in Murehwa and I used to wonder why there where guavas all over. There are guavas all over in the bush - until I realised that maguava aya ndiNyamuzihwa akambotonona. It is because we do not have access to covered toilets.
Now, I want to turn to electricity and only 34% of households use electricity as a source of energy in rural areas and 60% of households in Zimbabwe use wood as a source of energy. I stated that in respect of water, 30% of women walk for at least an hour for a round trip. In respect of firewood, 40% of women (a bigger number) walk for two hours to looks for firewood, that is now receding and receding.
For a woman in the rural area, before patriarchy, violence or any of these things I was talking about, the woman is already oppressed by two things; water and firewood and you cannot expect that woman then to say I am going to campaign now for a council seat and compete with Nyamuzihwa or Mwendamberi. There is no competition at all, over and above the challenge of raising children and cooking for her husband. So, these are things that engender inequality and that explain the meager number of women in this House.
Another area of disquiet is the husband’s control over the income of a woman – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – these statistics are so important and I refer to the 2015 Demographic Health Survey at page 297. It says Madam Speaker that only 32% of the women have absolute control over their incomes. Vamwe vese baba vanoti chiendai munotenga magwere, chiendai munotenga bhasikoro, chiendai munotenga huku and so forth - women do not have control over their income. However, the shocking thing is that for middle class women with education…
HON. KASHIRI: on a point of order! May the Hon. Member of
Parliament divulge source of his statistics?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You may proceed Hon.
Member!
HON. BITI: Madam Speaker, I have already said that there are two reports that I urge every member to read, it is the 2011
Demographic Health Survey and the 2015 Demographic Health Survey. They are all produced by ZIMSTAT and they are available freely. So, the source of my statistics, is actually the Demographic Health Survey. I have also urged Members to read the 2012 World Development Report on Gender. It is an amazing document in unpacking some of these issues.
I was saying that only 32% of women have got an absolute say and monopoly over their own resources but the shocking thing now is that the women that are less educated, the women in the rural areas, have greater control over their own resources; that is 35% than women who are in urban areas that are educated and the figure is 24%. So, those who are educated like the doctors, lawyers, accountants vanenge vachinzi nevarume vavo mari ndeyangu unoishandisa so and so.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Member, may
you use one language?
HON. BITI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. So, it is a contradiction in terms OF that those that are supposed to be educated actually have less control over their own resources, particularly middle class women.
On the issue of assets – it is shocking Madam Speaker, that only 23% of urban women own houses that are registered in their names. that means that 70% of the properties you find in urban areas are registered in the name of a man. The provinces with the worst figures, provinces where women own the least amount of immovable property is actually Harare and Bulawayo. The survey says 46% of women in rural areas own a house but what is called a house in rural areas is normally a hut. So sometimes a woman would have just built a small little thing and then call it a house. You cannot really call that a property. So, women do own no property and without assets, it means that women continue to suffer gender inequality and discrimination.
Another area of structural inequality is the law. Madam Speaker, the law as it presently stands operates in an oppressive manner against women in private law and in the spheres of divorces, in the spheres of custody and guardianship of children, in the spheres of inheritance and in the spheres of division of matrimonial movable property. I have already referred to the case of Magaya versus Magaya whose citation is SC210 of 1998 which confirmed that a woman cannot inherit from her father’s estate, which does not make sense in view of the fact that there is now equality and there has always been equality in the old Constitution, which was Section 23.
Madam Speaker, we also have the instance in the law of child marriages and notwithstanding that the Constitutional Court in the famous judgment of Mudzuri and another versus Minister of Justice, abolished child marriages in January of 2017. The Government has not moved to amend the law so that child marriages are proscribed in Zimbabwe. So, as I am talking to you right now, child marriages are on the increase instead of being on the decrease.
Madam Speaker, when a husband dies and dies without a will , he is creating problems for the wife. The Government amended the
Deceased Persons Act through the Deceased Persons Amendment Act in 2007, but I would like to submit that the Act actually created more problems for women. The Act says that when a man dies and he does not have a will and they were not married in terms of Chapter 5.11, of the Marriages Act and by the way, the majority of women in Zimbabwe are not married, they are in what the law calls unregistered customary law unions. It is not a marriage, it is an unregistered customary union and this is a situation when a man goes and pays lobola. So, in respect of those, the law now says, the woman who was staying in a house takes that house. So, she gets the residence but the problem now is that the law now recognises polygamy. So, if the man had many other wives, for example 29, each one of those is entitled to a child’s share in this estate. So, I am not sure now whether it is a law that is benefiting women because it is now malseating the status of marriage.
Another area of the law where women are being affected is our women who are married in rural areas in these unregistered customary law unions. When you divorce and you are married in terms of the Marriages Act 5.11, Section 7 of the Matrimonial Causes Act has got indicators of how property is shared. They look at the duration of the marriage, they look at the contribution. These factors, the High Court and the Supreme Court have now interpreted to mean that wherever you are married and you are married in church in terms of 5.11, it is now basically 50/50. Lawyers do not even argue, they sign consent papers.
However, the challenge arises in the women who are the majority who are in unregistered customary unions because the Matrimonial Causes Act does not apply to them; it only applies to the Marriages Act or to marriages in terms of the African Marriages Act. So, lawyers now have to come up with fancy things like tacit universal partnership and women lose out. Women in the rural areas lose out more on divorce because when you get married, you leave your rural home in Mutare, Binga and you and stay with your husband in Dotito or Chiendambuya, in Nkayi. When you get divorced, ‘they just chase you like a dog and you move with a cow or two if you had children that were married and you leave with nothing.’
In Zambia and Malawi, there has been legal progress. At least they allow that house which you built in your husband’s rural home to be evaluated and you get compensation from the husband.
Another area of the law which is problematic for women is to do with beneficiaries of land from the Land Reform Programme. So, people got land from 2000 onwards, husband and wife you get a big farm from the Land Reform Programme. So people got land from 2000 onwards, husband and wife you get a big farm and you get a lease.
On divorce now can you share that farm? So we have got a judgment in the matter of Constantine Guvheya Chiwenga versus Jocelyn Chiwenga (Judgment Number S. C. 2/2014) which has said that the lease that you get from the Land Reform Programme is not divisible. The land belongs to the State, therefore as a woman, you do not get a share of the farm – even though a lease gives you rights. The good news Madam Speaker is that in the case of Marian Chombo versus Ignatius Chombo – [Laughter.] – (Judgment Number S. C. 41/2018.) The parties agreed on every other property except a huge farm in Mashonaland
West. The High Court judgment said, just like the Chiwenga versus Chiwenga judgment, Mrs. Chombo you cannot inherit, the farm belongs to the husband.
Fortunately the Supreme Court, in a judgment that has just come out written by Justice Uchena, the Supreme Court has ruled that a lease confers real rights and real rights are divisible. So the Supreme Court has directed that the matter be referred back to the High Court so that there is division over that farm. But you now have two judgments now of the same court (i) in Chiwenga versus Chiwenga, which says farmland cannot be divided and another one, Chombo versus Chombo which says land can be divided. The person who is suffering in all these processes is the woman.
So, given all these things, what is the way forward Madam Speaker? I submit Madam Speaker that we need to focus on five key issues:-
- The policy makers must focus on reducing excess female mortality, in other words, the provision of health so that women do not die and the closing of education gaps. Let us educate the girl child, let the girl child have PhDs and Masters Degrees because when you educate the female, you educate the entire tribe, you educate the entire village;
- Let us improve access to economic opportunities for women;
- Let us increase women’s voice and urgency in the household
in schools. By women’s urgency Madam Speaker, I am referring to the capacity of women themselves to fight and asset their own rights and issues – nothing about us without us. Then we need a brand new law that is called, the Women’s Act that deals with all these issues of women that I have been talking about, the personal issues of inheritance, the reversal of Magaya versus Magaya and the revisiting of the divorce regime particularly in unregistered Customary Law unions.
- The issue of guardianship on minors – 38 years after
Independence, you still have Section 3 of the Guardianship of Minors Act which says, upon separation the husband gets guardianship of the child. So if you want a birth certificate or passport you will have to go and look for the husband. Sometimes this husband is just a sperm donor, he ran away so you would have to go and look for him. I do not think that is fair – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Next Hon. Madam Speaker, this law must ensure that there are mechanisms for ensuring that women occupy those public bodies in
Commissions, Cabinets and parastatals as is required in terms of Section
- I submit Madam Speaker that there must be penalties against public bodies that do not comply with Section 17 of the Constitution – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The issue must also apply to political parties. Political parties must ensure that within their leadership there must be equality between men and women.
(v) We need to amend Section 124 (i) (b) of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe which restricts the duration of Proportional Representatives to 2023 – we need to repeal that. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
So in conclusion, Madam Speaker, I submit that the ultimate answer to gender inequality is to breakdown the dura walls of patriarchy that exist in our society in respect of which women are seen as objects and commodities and in respect of which women have no control over the processes and products of their own labour. I so submit Madam Speaker ma’am.
Madam Speaker, I now move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. T. KHUMALO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 13th November, 2018.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON.
NDUNA, the House adjourned at One Minute to Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday 13th November, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 30th October, 2018
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
APPOINTMENT TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have several announcements to make,
please kindly be attentive. I wish to inform the House that the
Committee on Standing Rules and Orders has nominated Hon. Matambanadzo to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Mines and Mining Development and Industry and Commerce.
PRE-BUDGET BRIEFING SEMINAR
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that there will be a Pre-Budget Briefing Seminar on Friday, 2nd November, 2018 at Sango Cresta Lodge, along Mutare Road from 0830 hours. Buses will leave Parliament building at 0730 hours.
INVITATION TO A WORKSHOP TO FORMULATE THE
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC
PLAN
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that all
Members of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, all Chairpersons of Committees, Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee and Deputy Whips are invited to a workshop on the formulation of the Parliament of Zimbabwe Institutional Strategic Plan
(2018-2023) from 2nd to 5th November, 2018 at Rainbow Hotel, Bulawayo.
INDUCTION WORKSHOP FOR CHAIRPERSONS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that the
Induction Workshop for Chairpersons which was previously postponed is now scheduled for 6th and 7th November, 2018 at Holiday Inn Hotel, Bulawayo.
INVITATION TO THE 2018 PRE-BUDGET SEMINAR
THE HON. SPEAKER: I further wish to inform the House that all Members of Parliament are invited to the 2018 Annual Pre-Budget Seminar to be held from 7th to 11th November, 2018 at Holiday Inn, Bulawayo. All Members are requested to confirm their attendance, travel and accommodation arrangements with Public Relations Officers at the Members Dining Hall during sittings. This Pre-Budget Seminar is compulsory, you can only be absent with the leave of the Presiding Officers on very sound grounds.
INVITATION TO THE ZIMBABWE WOMEN’S PARLIAMENTARY
CAUCUS INAUGURAL MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: All Women Parliamentarians are invited to the inaugural meeting of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) scheduled for Wednesday, 14th November, 2018 at
0900 hours in the Senate Chamber.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: On a point of order!
THE HON. SPEAKR: We want to discourage the habit of points
of order.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: In terms of Standing
Order Number 68D; it is a matter on privilege, Mr. Speaker Sir. As you may know Section 22 (3C) of our Constitution, speaks to the issue around disabilities. In particular that State institutions should facilitate and ensure that those people that have disabilities can be represented in the manner that they should be.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am raising this issue on privilege because last Tuesday, we had stakeholders coming to our Committee to make representations on the Budget. I was saddened and embarrassed, because as we asked one of the stakeholders to take oath, I realised that the person had problems with their sight, so they could not read the oath. The oath is so small; we should be able to put it into Braille. Therefore,
I am raising this that as Parliament and as people who are supposed to be the ones that ensure that the Constitution is implemented in its letter and spirit, surely, we should make sure that that oath is in Braille.
The second issue around people with disabilities is the issue on sign language. I say so because we are just about to go into our Budget Presentation, we do not have somebody who can do sign language. Therefore, those people in our population who are deaf and dump really cannot participate in some of these national issues that are there.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I was going to offer that if we cannot do the translation in Braille of that oath, I am personally prepared to pay for the translation to Braille. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I thought that is a very important observation and you would move a motion on the issue, particularly the 16 officially recognised languages. However, I want to assure you that the Constitution is being translated into braille by a team of scholars led by Professor Magwa and they are almost complete in that regard.
Secondly, the Clerk of Parliament and the Public Relations
Department have already embarked on the training of some of our staff members in sign language so that as we proceed with our business, there would be someone at a strategic position to do sign language. Work is in progress and I hope that in the next few months we shall report to this House what has actually transpired. Thank you very much for that observation.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I request through your high office that Day of the Day, Number 1, on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. CHIBAYA: I Second.
THE HON. SPEAKER: May I encourage the Chief Whips that before we come to the House, make sure that your house is in order. You should have liaised with Hon. Biti about that motion and advise in time; perhaps he has forgotten that he was supposed to move that motion. It is the responsibility of Whips to make sure that the Order Paper is adhered to religiously.
MOTION
REPORT ON THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE
RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL
WEAPONS CONVENTION (BWC) AND IMPLEMENTATION OF
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1540
(2004)
HON. PARADZA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the report on the Regional Workshop to promote ratification and implementation of the Biological Weapons
Convention (BWC) and implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004, held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on 17-18 September, 2018.
HON. MISIHARABWI-MUSHONGA: I second.
HON. PARADZA: 1.0 Introduction:
Members of Parliament from 24 African countries gathered in Dares-Salaam, Tanzania, from September 17-18, 2018 for a workshop to review progress by Member States on the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 of 2004 calling for the total ban, in warfare, of all forms of Weapons of Mass Destruction including
Biological and Chemical weapons.
This Regional Parliamentary workshop, whose focus was to promote universality and implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) through the United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1540, was organised by the New York-based Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) of which Zimbabwe is a member. Tanzania’s Defence and National Service Minister, Hon Hussein Mwinyi, officially opened the workshop which was fullyfunded by the Canadian Government and hosted by the PGA national group within the Parliament of Tanzania.
The workshop was attended by Members of Parliament from
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoros, Djibouti, eSwathini (Swaziland), the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe was represented by Hon. Kindness Paradza, who is the Secretary-General of the PGA national chapter.PGA, which has a membership of 1 300 MPs from 140 countries, is on a world-wide campaign to promote the banning of the manufacture or use of biological and chemical weapons by enforcing, at national level, the UNSC resolution 1540, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory.
Adopted in 1972 and enforced in 1975, the BWC was the first international treaty to outlaw an entire arsenal or category of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Currently, there are 181 State parties to the BWC - Zimbabwe included – with only 17 countries yet to ratify this convention.
Zimbabwe ratified the BWC on 5thNovember, 1990. In December
2017, the Government submitted its periodic national report to the
UNSC Resolution 1540 Committee. However, the implementation of the BWC remains uneven throughout the world. This Resolution (UNSC 1540) imposes obligations on all UN member states to take steps towards preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to non-State actors, including terrorists and terrorist organisations. Of late, however, available intelligence data shows that these non-State actors in some parts of Africa and beyond are making moves to acquire, not only illegal conventional arms, but also WMD, including an assortment of biological and chemical weapons.
2.0 Background
2.1 UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004)
The United Nation Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), acknowledges that proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The resolution supports the multilateral treaties whose aim is to eliminate or prevent the proliferation of nuclear, and chemical or biological weapons.
The Resolution further acknowledges that prevention of proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons should not hamper international cooperation in materials, equipment and technology for peaceful purposes.
The Resolution also urges State Parties to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery. State Parties, Zimbabwe included, are urged by the Resolution through national instruments to adopt and enforce appropriate effective laws which prohibit any nonState actor to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes, as well as attempts to engage in any of the foregoing activities, participate in them as an accomplice, assist or finance them.
2.2 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC).
The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the development, production and stockpiling of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, was opened for signature on 10 April 1972. The BWC entered into force on
26 March 1975. The Second Review Conference (1986) agreed that the States Parties were to implement a number of confidence-building measures (CBM) in order to prevent or reduce the occurrence of ambiguities, doubts and suspicions and in order to improve international co-operation in the field of peaceful biological activities. The CBMs were expanded by the Third Review Conference (1991).
Under these agreements, the States Parties undertook to provide annual reports, using agreed forms, on specific activities related to the BWC including: data on research centres and laboratories; information on vaccine production facilities; information on national biological defence research and development programmes; declaration of past activities in offensive and/or defensive biological research and development programmes; information on outbreaks of infectious diseases (in our case anthrax, cholera and typhoid) and similar occurrences caused by toxins; publication of results and promotion of use of knowledge and contacts; information on legislation, regulations and other measures.
3.0 Opening Remarks by Hon Minister Hussein Mwinyi
In his opening address to the workshop, the Minister called on universal co-operation among all UN member states in order to rid the world of these horrifying weapons, citing the human catastrophe caused by the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima, Japan and the recent toxin chemical attacks on civilians earlier this year in Syria.
Hon. Mwinyi observed that for these international treaties to work, all countries must sign, ratify, implement and enforce these UN treaties and conventions related to weapons of mass destruction as well as biological and chemical weapons. In Africa, he said, there was alarming evidence to the effect that the likes of Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and
ISIS, were now actively seeking to develop or acquire such weapons.
Tanzania, which is a state party to the primary weapons of mass destruction disarmament conventions, signed the BWC in August 1972 and would soon ratify the convention before domesticating it without further delays.
Minister Mwinyi encouraged participating Members of Parliament to initiate the domestication of the BWC by enacting relevant legislation so that the treaty can be enforced at national level.
4.0 Address by Hon. Job Yustino Ndugai, Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania.
Hon. Ndugai told the workshop that Tanzania was committed to implementing the UNSC Resolution 1540 and called on all Parliaments across the globe to advocate for the enactment of national laws that support the Security Council stance on banning biological and chemical weapons. He also urged Parliamentarians from around the world to take collective, coordinated and cohesive actions on global problems by ratifying and domesticating these UN conventions.
5.0 Address by Professor Hamisi Masanja Malebo, Principal Research Scientist: National Institute for Medical Research,
Tanzania.
Professor Malebo spoke on the progress on the ratification of BWC in Tanzania and also explained that biological and toxin chemical weapons were capable of destroying human beings, animals as well as plants including crops. In Africa, he said, they were 59 biological agents composed of 23 viruses, 21 bacteria and 15 toxins, which are all harmful to humans and animals.
Prof. Malebo emphasized that acts of bioterrorism were not limited to humans only but that also the impact of agro-terrorism which has a devastating effects on crops and livestock.
6.0 Address to the Workshop by other Stakeholders
Other stakeholders who also presented their views at the workshop include Permanent Secretary in the Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and International Co-operation, Professor Adolf Mkenda, United
Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Ms Sarah Cook, representatives of the Canadian and United States Governments, and the
1540 UNSC Committee chair, H.E Sergio LlorentiSoliz, Bolivia’s
Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.
In addition, delegates from the 24 participating countries were also given slots to talk about their national programmes and their experiences with regards to the implementation of resolution 1540.
7.0 Implementation of BWC and UN Security Council 1540
(2004): The Zimbabwe Case
Zimbabwe is no stranger to the indiscriminate usage of these biological and toxin chemical weapons, judging by its history of struggle.
The cornerstone of the international biological weapons (BW) control regime, the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition and retention of BW. Of the 54 states in Africa, Zimbabwe included,
60%, or 32 states, have joined the BTWC.
These states are required by Article IV to adopt appropriate national measures to prevent the range of treaty-prohibited activity specified in Article I throughout their territory. This typically requires the adoption of criminal law that establishes penal sanctions. In practice, states will likely need to have additional legislation and other ancillary measures in place to enable them to fulfill obligations arising from the other articles – and therefore to comply with them – even though the adoption of these measures is not specifically mandated by the treaty.
In my submission to the workshop, I made it clear that Zimbabwe does not possess nuclear weapons and neither does it aspire to produce, stockpile or use these biological and toxin chemical weapons. Unlike other countries which did not experience war, Zimbabwe suffered the horrific bane of chemical and biological weapons particularly towards the end of the liberation struggle in the mid and late 1970s when the Ian Smith-led Rhodesian forces used both chemical weapons and biological weapons such as anthrax and cholera bacteria against freedom fighters. As the war intensified, the Rhodesian Security Forces initiated a CBW (Chemical and Biological Weapons) programme to liquidate guerrillas both inside Rhodesia and in external camps in Zambia and Mozambique.
The CBW effort took on the guerrilla threat from three fronts.
First, the effort aimed to eliminate guerrillas operating inside Rhodesia through contaminated supplies either provided by contact persons, recovered from hidden caches or stolen from rural stores. Then secondly, the effort worked to contaminate with cholera bacteria water supplies along guerrilla infiltration routes into Rhodesia, forcing the guerrillas either to travel through arid regions carrying more water and less ammunition or travel through areas infested with land mines or patrolled by the security forces. The Rhodesians sought to hit the guerrillas in their camps in Mozambique by poisoning food, beverages, and medicines. The chemicals most used in the Rhodesian programme were parathion and thallium, vibrio cholerae (causative agent of cholera) and possibly Bacillus anthracis (causative agent of anthrax), and
Salmonella typhi (causative agent of typhoid fever).
I told the workshop that it was from this horrific experience that Zimbabwe adheres to international law on armed conflict and honors all international treaties to which it is party and meet all its obligations arising there-from. I also explained that Zimbabwe is committed to the international goals of arms control and disarmament and makes its contribution to strengthen international and regional efforts to contain and prevent the proliferation of small arms, mines, conventional armaments and weapons of mass destruction, ban all production and use of biological and chemical weapons and the destruction of all such weapons and their production facilities.
As already mentioned, Zimbabwe does not possess nuclear weapons.
It signed and ratified the Biological Weapons Convention in November 1990 and last year submitted a report to the UN Security Council in line with Resolution 1540. The country is a State party to the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1991, and is recognised as a NonNuclear Weapon State (NNWS). Zimbabwe has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). It is also a State party to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) and is a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Currently, the regulation and control of the biotechnology is being done by the Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe in close liaison with the military and health agencies. Established through National Biotechnology Authority Act, [Chap.14.31] of 2006, its mandate includes the following:
- To ensure safe application of biotech in specific priority areas of agriculture, medicine, energy and environment.
- To support the development of biosafety and biotech research and development.
- To ensure biosafety and biosecurity in deployment of biotechnology, through adhering with the provisions of National
Biotechnology Act (2006), as also guided by the United Nations Security Council Resolution, 1540, (2004).
- To promote public understanding and participation in biosafety and biotechnology and its responsible use.
The application of the Act, among other things, is on the following areas:
- all activities aimed at research into and the development, importation, exportation and use of biotechnological processes;
- the import, export, contained use, release or placing on the market of any product of biotechnology that is likely to have adverse effect on human health, the environment, the economy, national security or social norms and values;
- any activity involving biological and molecular engineering technologies such as metabolic engineering, proteomics, metabolomics, nanotechnology, genetic modifications, cloning, DNA-chip technology, bioinformatics and such other technologies as may be declared by the authority to constitute potentially harmful research or undertakings;
- all measures aimed at minimising the impact of biotechnological processes on national security, human health, animals, plants and the environment.
Zimbabwe has registered the following in its compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004). First, there is legal biosafety framework and supporting guidelines are in place. Second, public awareness, education and training is in progress. Third,
Zimbabwe passed the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act (Chapter
11:18) to domesticate and to give effect within Zimbabwe to the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production,
Stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction.
The Act in its preamble reaffirms principles and objectives of and obligations assumed under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, and the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, 1972. Section 4 of the Act provides that the
Convention shall have the force of law in Zimbabwe. Section 6 of the
Act stipulates that any person who:-
(a) develops, produces, acquires, stockpiles, or retains another person; or
- uses a chemical weapon; or
- engages in any military preparations to use a chemical weapon; or (e) in any way assists, encourages or induces any person to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under the Convention; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding $100 000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years .
To comply with the UN Security Council Resolution 1540,
Zimbabwe has since drafted the Biological and Toxin Weapons Control Bill (2014) which among other sanctions, seeks to criminalise and prohibit the use of harmful chemicals and toxins in warfare. This Bill is likely to be presented in this House during this session of the 9th Parliament. Other ancillary legislation passed so far in a bid to close all loopholes include the Public Order and Security Act of 2002, which prohibits, among other things, supporting banditry and terrorism, supplying or possessing of dangerous weapons. In addition, Zimbabwe has also enacted the Geneva Conventions Act (1981, 1997, 2001).
8.0 Conclusion
To conclude, I would like to note that the attraction of bio-weapons in war, and for use in terroristic attacks is attributed to easy access to a wide range of disease-producing biological agents, to their low production costs, to their non-detection by routine security systems, and to their easy transportation from one place to another. In addition, novel and accessible technologies give rise to proliferation of such weapons that have implications for regional and global security. In order to counter such threats, and in securing the culture and defence of peace, there is need by this Government to devise preventive and protective strategies through adherence to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention reinforced by the continuous monitoring and domestication of these protocols that seek to eliminate the threats of biological warfare and bioterrorism.
Zimbabwe should remain focused and proceed with the enactment of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Control Bill into a fully-fledged law.
During this process, funding is also required to enable the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services to undertake countrywide public hearings especially along the border areas which are populated by surviving victims who experienced these heinous crimes committed by the Rhodesian military.
Attached is the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration by the workshop participants.
PGA REGIONAL AFRICA WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE
RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTIONAND
IMPLEMENTATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY
COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1540 (2004)
DRAFT DAR-ES-SALAAM DECLARATION
EXTENDING our sincere appreciation to the PGA National Group of Tanzania for their hospitality in hosting this important workshop which seeks to create a safer, more secure and more peaceful Africa for us all;
EXPRESSING appreciation to all other participants in this workshop, whether from International Organisations, governments, or other stakeholders, for providing their insights, expertise and guidance;
MINDFUL of the grave dangers posed to our respective countries and peoples by the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, including Biological and Toxin Weapons;
ALARMED at the growing evidence in the past few years that certain Non-State Groups including terrorist organisations operating in
Africa, may be seeking to acquire, develop, use or manufacture
Weapons of Mass Destruction, including Biological Weapons;
RECOGNISING the importance of achieving universality and national implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention in our respective countries as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1540
(2004), and UN Security Council Resolution 2325 (2016); DETERMINED, as lawmakers and advocates, to take steps that are necessary to promote improved, as appropriate, universality and national implementation of the BWC in our respective countries as well as improved national implementation of UN Security Council Resolution
1540 (2004);
We, Members of Parliament from Cameroon, Central-African
Republic, Chad, Djibouti, eSwatini, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya,
Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia, hereby undertake to:
- Encourage our respective governments, as appropriate, to ratify and robustly implement the Biological Weapons Convention;
- Encourage our respective governments to fully implement UN
Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), and UN Security Council
Resolution 2325 (2016);
- Encourage our respective governments to meet their reporting requirements under both frameworks, as appropriate;
- Raise the matter in relevant Parliamentary Committee Meetings, Plenary Sessions and in communications with relevant Government
Ministries, and/or prepare and introduce Parliamentary Resolutions, Motions, Orders and/or Bills that promote the objectives of this workshop, as appropriate;
- Explore the possibility of drafting and introducing new legislation to facilitate improved implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention and UNSCR 1540 (2004) in consultation with PGA, as appropriate;
- Express our intention to keep PGA informed within a year from the end of this workshop of what steps we have been able to take, pursuant to this Plan of Action.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you very much
Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you to Hon. Paradza for the take note motion, but also for attending on behalf of many of us who are members of the
Parliamentary Global Action but also on behalf of this particular
Parliament. I think Hon. Paradza has done justice...
Hon. Chibaya having passed between the Hon. Member speaking and the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSONGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker
Sir. I had just said that Hon. Paradza has done a good job in giving us the entire report and the issues that came out of the meeting, serve to say if you allow me Mr. Speaker Sir, let me use this opportunity to encourage Members in this House to be part of the Parliamentary Global Action because it provides for us an opportunity to engage on some of the issues that the Executive engages on without the Legislature. This is a typical example of some of the things that our own Government proceed to sign to and do not necessarily come back to us as a House so that we can speak to those issues and we can proceed to ratify, and to also begin to see in how these particular issues also relate to the issues that we are dealing with.
The second issue that I thought I could raise in the context of this report is that it also raises issues around our oversight role pertaining to many of these protocols. What we have noticed particularly many of us that have been sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee is that we have a lot of protocols that have been signed to but that have not necessarily been ratified. I think that is a problem because without ratification, we cannot even proceed to begin to work on issues around domestication.
Mr. Speaker, let me use this opportunity, like I said, to invite our other Hon. Members to please be part of the Parliamentary Global Action. It is across parties and it is an interesting one to come to. I am currently the Deputy Secretary General and I am hoping we are going to go to an AGM so that I can become the Chairperson. At the moment, I am Deputy Secretary General. So, let other Members be invited to join us. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would also want
to thank Hon. Paradza for attending the meeting on our behalf. My worry is that as Zimbabwe, we are so quick at signing some of these conventions but the issue of ratification is a serious problem. If you look at the time that has lapsed between the time when the Executive signed and where we are today, it tells a story about ourselves. We have never been so good at attending to details as far as these issues are concerned. What also happens with the issues of ratification is that it goes with commitments. There are certain things that we have to do once you ratify. The process of ratification brings the Members of Parliament into attention of what is going on around them.
To a certain extent, I sometimes suspect that the Executive would not want us to carry out our role which is the role of oversight. I say so because as Zimbabwe, the issue of using chemical weapons, to a certain extent, we are guilty of doing so. If you look at the tanks that are waiting outside there, they have got a chemical component that is in there. When you are hit with that water, you start feeling itchy. So, it means there is a chemical within that water. It was very evident when War Veterans wanted to hold their meeting out there - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Carry on.
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Speaker Sir, a lot of them came out complaining that the itching that they felt resembled some of the chemicals that they came across during the war. I suppose an investigation should have been carried out, and up to today, I think as Parliament of Zimbabwe, we must know exactly the components of the chemicals in that water that the police use to disburse people. If we are serious to be part of the global community and we are open for business, we must also be prepared to have peer review of some of the activities that we carry out.
There is also another issue that I want to raise, that is the use of small weapons. On a number of occasions, we have seen people being shot on our streets and the last one was only two weeks ago when an innocent guy was shot in the CBD. We must start controlling the use of fire arms as Zimbabwe. We even have Hon. Members sitting in this House who have been charged for possessing and firing small fire arms in public. Again, that is an issue that we must take seriously. I have just decided to remind Hon. Members - [HON. NDUNA: Inaudible interjection.] - Mr. Speaker, can you protect me from Hon. Nduna. I do not know whether he is the culprit or not. So, I encourage Zimbabwe to ratify the convention and for us to domesticate our laws. Thank you Mr.
Speaker.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank you for giving me an opportunity to add my voice. When you point a finger at another person, there is needed for one to be reminded that three other fingers or four of them are pointing right back at you. I speak like this because I need the powers that be globally to self introspect before they want to impose on smaller nations like Zimbabwe, the ethos and values of what they want to obtain in the global community. United States for argument’s sake has imposed unilateral sanctions on Zimbabwe and there is an impediment factor in terms of adhering to some of these protocols and conventions. That speaks to and about the proliferation of weapons both of mass destruction and small weapons as has been alluded to by the former speaker.
If we have to adhere to the values of these protocols and make sure that to the dot, we also ratify these conventions and protocols, there is also need for the global powers, those that are in the first world in particular, the sponsors of acrimony and opposition in the form of the United States who sponsor with impunity, opposition in this House and in this country, that they remove immediately the debilitating sanctions – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – in this country. Also, in that regard Mr. Speaker Sir…
HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir?
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the motion before this
House is a motion which has been presented by Hon. Paradza that has to do with the UN Convention. It has nothing to do with America and it has nothing to do with the opposition but he is imploring the Government of Zimbabwe to ratify the convention. So, the Hon. Member is debating something completely different, he does not even understand what we are talking about – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Nduna having stood up to continue debating.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. You cannot stand up before I have made a ruling on the point of order. Can the Hon. Member please stick to the motion – [HON. SIKHALA: Ndozvinoita kuti uuye kuParliament nekubirira.] – Please stick to the issues of ratification.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker, I need your protection. I think I will be coming to this House tomorrow or any other day to speak on something that was recorded on the day of your nomination as the Speaker of Parliament. It was recorded that I need to be removed from this National Assembly and the man that said this is none other than Hon. Sikhala. I will be coming to this House on a point of privilege to put across my point.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Can you stick to the motion
please?
HON. NDUNA: I am asking you to protect me against the words coming from the Hon. Member Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are protected.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I will continue Mr. Speaker Sir. Lest we forget Mr. Speaker Sir; the United Nations is run at some point and in some parts by the elephant in the living room who is the United States. Sometimes I forget who the United Nations is and I tend to be inclined to believe that some of the decisions made there are more to do with instigation of the Unites States of America. However, Mr. Speaker Sir, that it has been seen and noted that unilateral sanctions are imposed on innocent, unsuspecting small nations such as Zimbabwe by big power houses who themselves are endowed with ubiquitous amounts of chemical weapons and other dangerous chemicals of mass destruction.
I therefore, call upon the powers of this nation and Parliament of Zimbabwe to ratify a motion that says anybody who calls upon any nation to impose sanctions on this country, so – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - so that we are unable or impeded in our quest to ratify some of these very genuine protocols that are going to make sure there is complete eradication of weapons of both mass destruction and dangerous chemical weapons, anybody that calls on unilateral or otherwise sanctions who is a citizen of Zimbabwe calls on sanctions on Zimbabwe. I call as we speak about the removal of death sentence, that person should be sentenced to death by a firing squad – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, I say again no to small weapons fire, automatic machine gun fire from MAG and above in terms of caliber. I ask however that it is the knowledge of some of these weapons that we as a country hunger for. As long as we have sanctions that speak about the imposition of weapons and military weaponry purchase into this country, we will never get to know what weapons it is that we are supposed to ban in this country. The proliferation of the same is coming in the dead of night Mr. Speaker and we have a death in that department of knowledge of the weapons that Hon. Paradza speaks to and about Mr. Speaker Sir. Therefore, I still call upon those countries that have imposed weaponry, military and unilateral sanctions on Zimbabwe that are of an economic nature. Also to repeal and to remove them so that we can conduct our business in an unimpeded manner, in an effective and efficient manner that is going to see us adhere, to the values of the motion before us. I say in the absence of all this, the ratification can certainly be stopped in its tracks because we are throwing our arrows into the dark and we do not know what it is that we are stopping. I saw the issue of hydrogen cyanide amongst the group of chemicals that are needed to be completely eradicated in this motion Mr. Speaker Sir.
Mr. Speaker Sir cyanide is used in the small scale mining sector and as long as we do not get the knowledge that we so require in order to eradicate and also maybe to get substitutes of such chemicals because of the sanctions that are bestowed upon us as a nation, it becomes very impossible for us to be inclined to ratify such protocols. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to completely ventilate the issues that are currently handicapping us in terms of ratifying such protocol. However, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is not too late for these countries that are acting like a bull in China shop to remove those sanctions. It is also not too late for the opposition to be inclined to see light in terms of not calling – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - for sanctions for this nation. I thank you.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I note also with appreciation the report by Hon. Paradza and amplified by Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga in regard to the promotion, ratification and implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention. Of course, it is worrying that some Hon. Members speak to issues unrelated to the subject under discussion.
Nonetheless, it is their right to speak and we defend that right to speak but I think it is also important that we take serious matters seriously as serious people, because really if we start talking about issues unrelated to the subject under discussion, sometimes it may be construed as political delinquency. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Having said that Madam Speaker Maám, I think as a country we may have become notorious for signing Treaties or Conventions and not proceeding to ratify…
HON. MUDARIKWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The
term notorious is unparliamentary, you cannot call …. [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your point of order is noted.
Hon. Member may you withdraw the word notorious.
HON. TSUNGA: Notorious defined to mean mischievous but anyway I withdraw Madam Speaker. Thank you very much, we have a good many treaties that Zimbabwe has signed and has not proceeded to domesticate after ratification. I will give one example, the Kampala
Convention – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Members.
HON. MATANGIRA: On a point of order. Madam Speaker,
your order to withdraw has not been done.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May the Hon. Member
continue.
HON. TSUNGA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. It is
unfortunate that some Members are listening with their eyes closed and ears – [Laughter] – Anyway; I was giving an example of the Kampala Declaration as being one that Zimbabwe is a signatory to and that it has ratified but has not domesticated. So, we are slow in ratifying and domesticating those conventions that are good for this country.
An Hon. Member as already spoken about chemicals being a part of the water cannons that are used to disperse crowds in this country and it is important that we take that very seriously and ensure that the ratification and domestication is promptly attended to and done. Otherwise I believe that this is a very good report that Hon. Paradza has presented and this House must proceed to endorse as it is. Thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Point of privilege, I rise in terms of Order number 69 (d), it is a point of privilege. Madam Speaker I seek that this House respects you, especially Members from your party. When the
Speaker, Advocate Mudenda is in the Chair, your Members behave - but when he is out and you are in Chair, they do not behave to the extent of disrupting this House.
Madam Speaker, I want to be honest with you, I did not vote for you, but I am bound by your presence in the Chair, and I must respect you because it is your privilege to be in that Chair.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, there is
no point of order.
HON. SIKHALA: Thank you Madam Speaker Maám. I would
like to associate myself with the motion moved by Hon. Paradza, seconded by Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga for this Parliament to support the ratification of the Convention against the use of biological weapons. I rise to contribute on the grounds, understanding that world peace and tranquility took a new order after the 1945 Nagasaki and Hiroshima massacres after the first use of the atomic bomb and nuclear weapon.
Since then, the world started to move through the United Nations to have many conventions to make sure that peace – and war in the world is going to be fought on the basis of civilisation. The use of the biological weapons, though it is not very fashionable in the Southern African region, is very profound in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
However, as a country we are not so much affected by the use of biological weapons because we do not have terrorists in our country. We are not in an armed conflict. However, this is a convention that was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2004. Like what has been alluded to by Hon. Tsunga, there are many conventions which Zimbabwe signed but did not ratify, and it is one of those most important conventions which I want to support Hon. Paradza that as Parliament in terms of Section 327 (2) of our Constitution, an International Convention only becomes a domestic law after its ratification by this House. This House plays a very important role in terms of how international conventions and treaties can become part and parcel of our domestic law. They can only become part and parcel of our domestic law if this Parliament ratifies them.
When the President signs an international treaty, he needs the support of this House for that convention to become part and parcel of our domestic law. We support this convention Madam Speaker that this House plays its role for the protection of international peace and tranquility.
These conventions are governed in terms of International Law. Zimbabwe is part and parcel of the global world. We are a member state of the United Nations and we have got international obligations that we are looked upon by the world for us to play as a country, which is the one confronting this House today. In both Houses, Madam Speaker, I do not think there will be anyone who will oppose the ratification of this Convention by this House.
However, when I am supporting the ratification by this House there are also other treaties which our country has signed but they have not been ratified by this House. There is one important treaty called the Convention against Torture (CAT). CAT has been signed, acceded to and ratified by 189 member states of the United Nations. The United Nations has a total of 194 member states in the world. We are the only outpost of nations in the world which did not ratify that very important convention. That important convention Madam Speaker, is also part and parcel of the United Nations Convention which I would urge this House and Hon. Paradza who is the parliamentary Portfolio Chairperson of that Committee for him also to bring that Convention to this House so that we ratify it and then the President signs it so that it becomes part and parcel of our domestic law.
Madam Speaker, there is also a very important protocol in one of the international conventions called the Convention on Political and Civil Rights. Zimbabwe acceded to it in 1991 however, this Parliament has not yet ratified it. It has a number of fundamental human rights provisions in that Convention which this country will benefit from. This is 21st Century and we must be able to live in a civilised society as we are part and parcel of the global village. We cannot remain behind when other countries are moving forward. We want Hon. Paradza and his
Committee to be very active during this parliamentary session to make sure that all the outstanding international conventions that are very important for our country are brought before this House and we ratify them as per our responsibility to make sure that Zimbabwe becomes part and parcel of the global world.
With your motion Hon. Paradza, we support you. Let us ratify this convention Madam Speaker. It is very important for us also to be viewed in the global world. I think recently we also heard rumours of people who have been trying to accuse our country of contributing towards the proliferation of biological weapons when Zimbabwe was alleged to have given the right to Iran to extract uranium from our country for its nuclear development project. When you sign these kinds of conventions and treaties Madam Speaker, it gives us a buffer and protection against those people who accuse our country of being an intransigent state that we want to contribute towards the development of new nuclear weapons by Iran. If we sign these conventions, we will not be able to be associated with those intransigent behaviours.
Also, I would wish Madam Speaker, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines to also look and investigate the veracity of allegations against our country that we have given Iran the uranium mining concessions in our country because definitely the world no longer tolerates States that are promoting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Recently, you heard Madam Speaker what happened in Syria where kids were killed in one of the suburbs in Damascus through the use of biological and chemical weapons. We as a responsible state of Zimbabwe should not be seen to be associated with that kind of behaviour. We must remain civilised and we must be able to protect our country from being accused of issues that we will not be able to defend tomorrow. This is my small contribution. We support, let us ratify the treaty and let the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs bring more international conventions that this House must ratify. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. PARADZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to move
for the adoption of the report but before I do that I must thank my colleagues; Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga for seconding this motion and Hon. Madzimure, Hon. Nduna, Hon. Tsunga and Hon. Sikhala - you did very well and I can assure you, with your support we will be able to ratify this. I therefore move for the ratification of this convention.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I move that motion number 3, 4, 5 and 6 be stood over.
HON. MGUNI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. MISIHARABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you very much
Madam Speaker. Let me join the debate on the State of the Nation
Address that was presented by the President in this particular House. However, since this is one of my first formal presentations, allow me to crawl a little bit. I need to crow because I stand here as one of the first woman in the National Assembly that is coming to the House on a women’s ticket over a political party that is led by a woman who trounced 17 other men in that election. I am glad that I do have that honour of doing so.
Madam Speaker, let me start by raising what I would term hygiene issues. I raise this with all due respect because myself, my political party and my principle were one of those political parties that attended the inauguration. Others attended the November inauguration; we did not. We attended the August inauguration; as you know traditionally, others attend where mwana atiza mukumbo and others attend when somebody has had a proper white wedding. So we decided to attend the other one but others went for the November which is okay and we respect positions that people have taken.
The reason why I am raising this particular point is because our attendance was to say, as a people we are going to put our hands on the wheel, participate and work with the people of Zimbabwe in order to push this country forward. Having said so, as we begin to assist; I hope that the current Government will also allow us to do a critics when things are going wrong. It is only in beginning to speak truth to power that we can change issues.
So, I have three issues that I believe are hygiene issues that I also think this particular Government needs to deal with as a matter of urgency. Like I have said Madam Speaker, those who wanted to congratulate President Mnangagwa attended the inauguration and that was the end of the story. Can we stop the congratulatory messages that we are seeing on television and newspapers every other day; they do not work. What we want now is for people to go back, put their hands on the wheel and begin to work. We are in this situation because there was a lot of bootlicking of leadership in the last dispensation. Let us not turn this particular President into the same thing. If you want to congratulate President Mnangagwa, congratulate him by delivering. So ZESA, ZINWA and ZINARA -produce electricity for us, do the roads for us, stop the congratulatory messages; they do not work. We want people who work not people who congratulate.
The second hygiene issue - I was excited that this Cabinet had new faces, but I am getting a bit disappointed because our Ministers are spending too much time doing press conferences. Can people stop doing press conferences, can they do work. Let their press officers do the press conferences and not themselves. So, I am actually appealing to Governor Mangudya and to Minister Mthuli, that it is enough, we want you to do work not to press issues.
The third hygiene issue that I want to raise is the one to do with our First Lady. We have a wonderful First Lady, very humble but the press wants to turn her into something that she is not. The First Lady decided that she is going to do charity work and let her do that work in silence. Stop putting her in the press every other day. There is a book that talks about laws of power. If you see people too much and you talk to people; you can generate a bad image around yourself. She is not a poster girl for Econet, neither is she for ministries. Leave the woman to do the work that she wants to do quietly. I have worked with her; I know the kind of person that she is. What the media is trying to do is just totally unacceptable.
Madam Speaker, those are the hygiene issues that I wanted to raise. Let me now deal with the issues that I think are crucial and important. We have an economic crisis and the President has got a mantra that we are open for business. However, let us be clear about how we do this. I am not an economist, I am not an accountant, I am just a basic woman but there are things that I understand and I am concerned where the confusion is.
On the issue of fuel crisis – I do not want to go into the rumours around corruption, it is not my business. Let those that know how to deal with such, do so. I want to deal with the issues around the availability of fuel. Madam Speaker, somebody needs to explain to me why if we want to continue with the fiction of 1:1; we are not allowing some of those providers of fuel to proceed and to provide fuel using foreign currency. That way you would release the pressure from the fuel which you are basically subsidising because the reality of the situation right now is that we are subsidising fuel as a Government. Our fuel is probably the cheapest in the region. If you look at the actual exchange rate, our fuel must be selling at 30 cents. It is not sustainable to continue doing this.
So, my proposal is that - do your two tier, have a situation where you silence some of the fuel dealers to sell in forex and the subsidised fuel, you then leave it for your public transport and Government operations. Make sure you do not mix the two because those that are getting the subsidised fuel will sell it on the market using forex.
Madam Speaker, it is a no brainer. When we went into 2008/9, we liberalised the fuel industry. What we are doing right now is that we have gone back into controlling the fuel industry and it has never worked in any country. We need to make sure that - like we say in shona zvinonaka zvinodhura, those that have cars have access to some kind of forex, those that do not have, use public transport. So let us subsidise the poor to be able to move. For those who want to go into private cars; if I go to the United Kingdom right now, I can buy a car for 100 pounds but the reason why everybody in the UK does not drive a car is that it is expensive to run a car. So you are then forced to go to public transport. I think we need to start dealing with both the ideological issues that say who are we supporting right now?
At the moment, if we allow everybody to get their jerry cans, drums to the fuel pumps, we are basically supporting the rich by taxing the poor which is why the 2% is not so popular. People are saying, why am I paying 2% so that I can facilitate the people that have 5 to 6 cars that are guzzlers. We can do it tomorrow and if we do it, we are able to deal with the issue around fuel.
The second issue that I wanted to raise is to also deal with the other commodities. We have just said we have removed Statutory Instrument 122 but the ridiculousness of that decision is that we are still allowing people to bring in those imports and they are paying in the bond which has a fiction of 1:1. We should, at this particular point in time, have been able to get a lot of forex within this particular week where we removed S. I. 122 if we started saying anyone who is importing anything pays in foreign currency because when you import whether it is a car or food stuffs, it means you have foreign currency on you.
So why are we having a situation where we subsidise the person who has gone out, used foreign currency and when they get to the border they do not pay using foreign currency? It is a no brainer to me and if we do that, by today or tomorrow, we would be having a lot of money in terms of forex - which forex we can then use in terms of the subsidies that we are trying to do.
Madam Speaker, we cannot continue using foreign currency to import things like dyes. Many of us who are sitting here should be grey haired but our hair is looking dark – not because we are young but we are dying our hair. Somebody is using our special forex to go and buy dye and at this rate we may end up having to import sex toys. I suppose sex toys are alright because our males are struggling with the stress around that hence women may actually want sex toys. – [Laughter.] - What I am trying to get back to you Madam Speaker, is that let us have a situation where if you want expensive things – pay for them.
We woke up one morning and Dr. Mangundya said, ‘Everybody who has DSTV should pay for it in foreign currency.’ People complained but guess what? We are still watching DSTV and paying for it in forex, meaning there is a particular class in this country that can afford to pay in foreign currency. Let those who want the special luxurious things be asked to pay in foreign currency and those who we need to subsidise then be subsidised.
The third issue that I wanted to raise which I think is crucial, because one of the things that we are failing to do in terms of this economy is to realise that the initial process is a process of stabilisation.
Even for a patient, thankfully I was married to a surgeon for 15 years, so
I know a little bit of medicine – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] – Yes, by association my dear. You are assuming that I was having very little sex but I probably was having a lot of it…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order address the Chair Hon. Member.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I am sorry Madam
Speaker, it is just that I hate males who think they can be abusive even in the National Assembly. – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections.] – Go to the social media where we cannot see you.
What I am trying to say Madam Speaker, is that if you have an unwell patient, you do not necessarily introduce an aggressive treatment. So in terms of our economy, let us move it by ensuring that we are doing stabilisation. The stabilisation process is what we are failing to do Madam Speaker. I think in stabilisation, I understand that for any transition, we have to go through pain but that pain has to be fair. What we did in 2008-2009 as we went into the Inclusive Government was one radical thing and I am proposing we do the same because one of the things that we struggle with right now is the issue around the wage bill.
What happened as we went into the Inclusive Government, as we gave time for Hon. Biti to breathe before moving forward is, we actually made a decision and said, it does not matter whether you are a President, Minister or a sweeper. We generally are saying everybody earns US$100.00 a month. Madam Speaker, if we are going to deal with the wage bill, we may have to do something as radical as that so that we allow Treasury to only deal with a particular sum of money for a period of six to seven months as they begin to stabilise. The issue that we have right now around the wage bill that we have and the salaries that we have in the parastatals is unsustainable. We cannot continue doing that thing and if this budget does not come back with something around how we are dealing with the wage bill, we will continue to be in the state that we are in.
We are not saying let us make the decisions about who we are, cutting out but let us make sure that the wage bill and salaries are basically normalised to a situation of US$100.00 – that is what most economies do when they hit a particular crisis.
Then Madam Speaker, the issue around taxation…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I am about to finish
Madam Speaker, if you could just give me two minutes. The issue around taxation, I do agree with a lot of people who have a problem with the 2% tax. I am saying the alternative ways of taxing - we are not taxing where we need to be taxing. We need to make sure that we stop people from hoarding.
So if you have four or five cars, we make sure that any extra car that you have is taxed. We may even introduce a swimming pool tax instead of taking tax from those who are 2% so that we begin to deal with the issue of the rich being facilitated by the poor. We have done it in other situations - let those who want to live well in luxury do it. We have done it with schools – those who can do well will take their children to St. Georges and those who cannot afford will take them to Government schools. Those who think they can do well will go to
Avenues Clinic for treatment and those who cannot afford will go to Parirenyatwa Hospital but at the end of the day, let us not burden the poor to make sure that we are facilitating the rich.
Lastly Madam Speaker, if we are going to do international engagements - it cannot be a one political party issue, it has to be across political parties. In the Inclusive Government, we all went; i.e. Hon.
Chinamasa, Hon. Mangoma and myself met with all the other capitals. We met the presidents of those capitals and were clear about what we were asking for – remove the sanctions and facilitate investment. This did not mean that we did not agree that we had our own internal problems. We said we had problems but the heart of it, is to ensure that Zimbabweans survive. I for one am prepared to be part of that process where we engage to make lives of the Zimbabwean people better. I do not buy into the issue that people have to suffer in order for us to change Government. I buy into the issue that let people fill their tummies so that they can then begin to make an informed decision about who runs this particular country. I thank you.
HON. NGWENYA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me this opportunity to add my voice on the State of the Nation Address speech (SONA) by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate His Excellency the President of Zimbabwe and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa for resoundingly winning the 2018 Presidential elections – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Those elections were held in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful manner – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Madam Speaker ma’am, I would also like to congratulate all Hon. Members of Parliament who made it into this Ninth Parliament – congratulations Hon. Members – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - I would also like to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe in general for having participated in these honourable, free and fair elections peacefully as enunciated by our President, Cde. Emmerson Dambudzo
Mnangagwa. Special mention will go to the people of Gokwe-Gumunyu Constituency who exercised their democratic right by electing me as the substantive Member of Parliament of the Ninth Parliament. Thank you very much for your support. I would like to express my loyalty to Zimbabwe and beg to offer my respectful thanks for the SONA speech presented by His Excellency, the President, Hon. Emmerson
Mnangagwa. His Excellency rightly indicated that politics is now gone and it is time to prioritise economic development.
The people of Zimbabwe, in particular my constituency, Gokwe-
Gumunyu who I represent are happy that the President indicated that
Command Agriculture and the Presidential inputs scheme will continue. Also this would hopefully lead to the opening of agro-based industries, in particular in rural communities.
HON. BANDA: On a point of order, Hon. Misihairabwi crossed the floor whilst the Hon. Member was speaking – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible Interjections.] – She has to be recalled. She did not pay obeisance to the Chair. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. M. KHUMALO):
Thank you Hon. Member. I did not see her. May the Hon. Member continue.
HON. NGWENYA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. The President further called for the re-tabling of the Mines and the Minerals Amendment Bill which comes at the right time for Zimbabweans.
HON. BANDA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon.
Member is scolding me and is using abusive language – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Why is he doing that? That is very unparliamentary. He should stand up and withdraw what he is saying to me. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you. There is no point of order. May the Hon. Member continue.
HON. NGWENYA: I was just saying the President further called for the re-tabling of the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill which comes at the right time for Zimbabweans, especially Gokwe – Gumunyu where there are mines. This will lead to ease of doing business, that is, online registration and mining rights. This will be beneficial to the generality of the mines and those in my constituency.
Also of interest, will be the tabling of the Consumer Protection Bill to protect our consumers from unfair trade practices and abuse by suppliers. This will go a long way in protecting the interests of our communities. Mr. Speaker Sir, as enunciated by our President that Zimbabwe is projected to be an upper – middle income country by 2030, this effectively places us on our pedestal for robust economic growth, development and prosperity, as well as, social cohesion. Mr. Speaker
Sir, Zimbabwe is open for business. His Excellency, Hon. E.D. Mnangagwa is leading the way and as the Gokwe – Gumunyu representative, I am also taking a lead in my constituency in this endeavor.
My speech will not be complete if I do not mention challenges being faced in my constituency, especially roads. The roads are in a bad state and I have noticed with great appreciation that some of the roads are being serviced through the wise leadership of our President, Hon.
Emmerson Mnangagwa. I have noted with great appreciation that work has started on the Nembudziya – Choda Road. However, I call upon more effort to be put on the maintenance of other roads in my constituency. These include Musadzi – Mashame Road, Tsungayi – Nyahurungwe Road, to just mention a few. Also there are bridges such as Ronga, Dekete, Tafara and Chaminuka. I have also noted with happiness and pride the efforts being made by my President as I have seen that re-construction of Mashame Bridge is already under way.
As for water, sanitation and hygiene, the only sources of clean water such as boreholes are now ageing and dysfunctional, forcing people in my constituency to use unprotected sources of drinking water. I have noted again with pride and happiness on behalf of Gokwe – Gumunyu people that our President took a position to purchase more machines for the drilling of boreholes in addition to those that have been purchased. We thank you President for the effort. Still on that matter
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to call upon the President to further lead in the construction of dams in my constituency which is naturally dry. This will help our communities and domestic animals to have access to water.
All I have presented to this august House this day, I have done with full knowledge of Section 117 (1) of the Constitution that says, legislative authority is derived from the people and hence we are people’s servants. In particular, I am a servant of Gokwe – Gumunyu people whom I represent. I thank you.
HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. O. MGUNI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday 31st October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. O. MGUNI seconded by HON.
KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Five Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 18th October, 2016
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
ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY
LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that I have received an adverse report on Statutory Instrument, Number 86 on the Plumtree Town Council Clamping and Tow-Away By-Laws, 2016 published in the Government Gazette in August, 2016.
INVITATION TO THE 2016 PRE-BUDGET SEMINAR
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that all
Hon. Members are invited to the 2016 Pre-budget Seminar to be held at the
ZITF grounds in Bulawayo from 2nd November, 2016 to 6th November,
- All Members are requested to confirm their participation at the seminar with the Public Relations officers who will be stationed in the court yard from 1400 hours during sittings or at Pax House during any other times. Confirmation of attendance should be done by Monday, 24th October, 2016.
Please note that Hon. Members from Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo and Midlands provinces are expected to drive to Bulawayo while those from Harare, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West provinces will fly to Bulawayo from Harare.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir … THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MUTSEYAMI: My point of order Mr. Speaker Sir is for the sake of clarity to the House and to the country so that we move on the same wave length. The fact that we are now doing our pre-budget seminar at ZITF grounds in Bulawayo when traditionally we have been doing such seminars in Victoria Falls in Matabeleland North. Is this position as a result of development in terms of how we are progressing as Parliament or it is an under-development as a result of the economic hardships that we are suffering as a country?
What is causing this shift for us to move from Victoria Falls to conduct our seminar at show grounds? What is happening Mr. Speaker
Sir? I thank you and just for the record, the agricultural show grounds in
Bulawayo. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order I was going to rule the Hon. Member out of order because what you raise has nothing to do with priviledge, it was a point of clarification and not a point of order but I will indulge you nonetheless.
The issue is that for some good reasons, I think, the hotels in Victoria Falls are fully booked during the period anticipated by Parliament and for that reason the only convenient venue is Bulawayo. You are not going to be in the open arena for the official opening but will be in an enclosure, one of the huge halls within the grounds and everything will be put in order so that you are as comfortable as possible. Let me assure you also that the hotels in Bulawayo will be more than willing to host the Hon.
Members of Parliament. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Hon. Eng. Mudzuri having sought The Hon. Speaker’s permission to speak.
I was going to say Hon. Vice President, how may I help you? –
[Laughter.] -
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I seek your assistance to help this House to respond to Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga’s request pertaining the supplementary Mid-Term Budget, which was a bit confused by the statement from Hon. Minister Mushohwe to say which budget are we looking at? We request you to give a ruling or if not, when are you giving us a ruling?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for that question. I thought – [HON. D. SIBANDA: Inaudible interjections.] – Order Deputy Whip, you are the last person to be put to order.
I was saying it is a good question but also it shows me that while we distributed the Standing Orders, you have not fully studied them. The Standing Orders state that at the close of a session, all motions that were before the House fall off and all those who might have put forward those motions will have to reinstate the motions. Just as Hon. Muderedzwa has done, so as soon as the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development reinstates that motion, a ruling shall be made accordingly.
You see, it shows that you have not read your Standing Orders at all.
FIRST READING
NATIONAL COMPETITETIVES COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 6,
2016.]
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA) on behalf of THE
MINISTER INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. BIMHA)
presented the National Competitiveness Commission Bill (H. B. 6. 2016).
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
RECOMMITAL TO COMMITTEE STAGE
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL [H. B. 15A, 2015.]
First Order read: Recommittal – Committee: Special Economic
Zones Bill, (H. B. 15A, 2015).
House in Committee.
*HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Mr. Chairman. We would
like to see a copy of the Bill please.
Mr. Chairman, I just want to raise a point of order that I am not so sure if other members have copies of the Bill – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Do you have a copy of the Bill, the Special Economic Zones Bill?
I just wanted to raise a point of order because I did not get my Bill in the pigeonhole, save to say Hon. Speaker that I am very grateful that this Bill has come back to this House. Judging from the reason why the Bill is back in this House, I am so delighted that the President read what we contributed in the Hansard and took on board our vehement opposition to the Minister’s line of thinking, which we felt was in violation of the Constitution and the Labour Act. We are so excited that finally, wisdom has visited the Minister and he has brought this very important and progressive Bill with the necessary amendments.
I just wanted to make that point, having taken note of the fact that we cannot suspend our own laws and Constitution in certain zones simply because we want to make money. I think we are taking too far,
capitalistic tendencies. We should go back to basics and respect our people, labour and the liberation struggle, which was all about the dignity of the working people. I am very glad that this has been acknowledged as this is going to be a very progressive dimension going forward. Thank you very much Hon. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Hon. Chair, I just want to acknowledge the comments by Hon. Chamisa and say that right from the outset, there was never any disrespect for labour rights. This is just one way of respecting labour rights. The previous provisions were not quite understood but they all served the same purpose. What is now happening is that we are probably speaking in the language that most workers understand. I am very grateful to him. On that note, I move the amendment standing in my name on Section 56 (1) as follows:-
- Deletion of the phrase “Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] and the” in
Section 56 subsection (1) of the Bill; and
- The insertion of a new paragraph after Section 5 subsection
(i) Paragraph (d) of the Bill to read as follows:
(e) One shall be appointed from the Ministry responsible for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
Amendment to Section 56 (1) put and agreed to.
Section 56 (1), as amended, put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendment.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI MUSHONGA: I would like to start by
thanking the President for the speech that he delivered in this House. In the same light with Hon. Chamisa, I will not speak to the Acts that the President brought in but I will speak to what I think were some of the expectations that we as Members of Parliament and the general public had in terms of where we are going right now. I think the tragedy or sad thing about what happens when the President comes in and makes a speech is the inability of having the President sit and listen to some of the responses that come from the House. I think it would make a huge difference if he was able to sit and listen to what Members of Parliament will be saying. I say so because I think when some things are said and then interpreted in the media, they look somewhat different from the intention of those Members that will have spoken. I will speak but I am a bit hesitant because I know that what generally happens is that words become misconstrued and not understood as spoken. I will however take the risk of speaking to those things in the hope that perhaps there are times when His Excellency does have an opportunity to look at the Hansard and be able to read verbatim, some of the things that we say in this House.
Mr. Speaker, when a President comes to the House, it is usually for him to speak within a particular context. I think we need to ask ourselves what the current socio-economic and political context is in Zimbabwe. What was sad for me on the day that the President came to address us is that usually when he comes and gives a speech, it does not matter whether you agree or disagree with him. There is a certain level of excitement and passion that comes along with his visit but I did not see that. I remember that somebody stood up and raised a point of order that the entire front bench was sleeping. The response from the Speaker was that it was disrespectful. I however think it could have been more because I do not think those Hon. Members were being disrespectful but what it meant was that there was a total disconnect between what the President was presenting as priority issues to the actual day to day issues that are affecting the people of Zimbabwe right now.
Mr. Speaker, I want to speak on two issues that I found a bit challenging about the speech. The first major issue is that this country has become a divided nation. Zimbabwe has never been such a divided nation to the level that we are this time. We are divided in a number of things. We are divided even at Cabinet itself. For the first in this country, we have a Cabinet that is at war with itself. We have a Cabinet that is divided. You hear a Cabinet Minister who comes and say this today and another one comes and says that tomorrow. It is not giving a sense that says these people are united.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when you look at The Herald, every other day you can be rest assured that The Herald is speaking to a particular war of Cabinet against each other. I do not care what it is about but you can read whether it is the columnist - I do not know whether others have read the columns that are in The Herald. For the first time that I have known and sat in this House, I have never had a time in which a State newspaper is taking on one of its own in the manner that is being done. I am not taking sides but what I am basically saying Mr. Speaker is that at the end of the day, it just says the centre is not holding, whatever the issue but the centre is not holding. The second one that shows us to be a divided nation is that for the first time, we have never had a time in which the history of this country has been so distorted and so contested.
I sit here Mr. Speaker; I did not participate in the liberation struggle. I knew that there were certain people who were said to have participated in the liberation struggle. These are the people that did a, b, c, d yet on a day to day basis, that whole issue is being contested to an extent that some of us are now wondering whether the war of liberation actually did take place. Was there a Chimurenga that took place because every day you hear so and so did not go to war, so and so was a prostitute and so and so was busy sending people to the front. So, what happened to the liberation struggle? The whole basis of a foundation of what we have always known and understood to be a foundation of this country is being contested and has basically collapsed. You therefore cannot build a nation on the basis in which the foundation is being destroyed on a day to day basis.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon.
Members, less noise in the House.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: So, you cannot build a
nation on the basis of a foundation that you are destroying on a day to day basis. Today I am not sure who is a proper war veteran. No one can tell me where a proper war veteran is because you are challenging every person that has been in the struggle - so and so was not at war. First, we were told Hon. Mnangagwa did not really run the group of five, then the next thing we were told that the former Vice President, Mai Mujuru was not in the struggle; she did not shoot down an aeroplane, Mr. Mutsvangwa was stealing women underwear. So, at the end of the day, who exactly participated in the war of liberation? I raise this because until and unless we go back to the fundamentals, we go back to a foundation of what this country is all about, you cannot achieve anything.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I say so and I say we now have a clear division, a divided war veterans, war veterans that cannot speak on the issues around where the history of this country comes from. Mr. Speaker, we are divided on the basis of gender. I have not been in this country and seen the level of abuse that I have seen women being subjected to until I came to this particular period of time.
I want to go back; you cannot have a person who was a Vice President of this country for more than twenty years and write in a State newspaper that the way that woman sits is a way that prostitute sits and you write in a proper newspaper. This is being written by somebody who was a civil servant or who is a civil servant. So, are you telling me that all those times that you used to go and brief the Acting President, you were busy looking between her legs and wondering why she is sitting in a particular manner? That is what we are now finding in this particular country. I am raising this issue because unless we deal with these fundamental issues, it does not matter what the President will come and speak because we have a country that is messed up, a country that has a distorted history.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to go to two things that I found problematic and thought they should naturally have been part of what we are going to deal with in this particular session. Mr. Speaker, there is the issue around devolution. Many times we have heard Members of Parliament here stand up and raise issues around devolution. Devolution is not just a principle. It is a way of life.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. Hon. Speaker, if you may allow us to listen to this very important contribution. Hon. Haritatos and the other Hon. Member who is my brother, I will not mention his name, if they may just spare us the noise that is coming from those quarters so that we listen to this debate. This is nation building, it is very important for our country. Those who want to do whispers, I am sure the bar is open; if they may be excused to go there and do what they know best. Thank you very much Hon. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon.
Chamisa. Less noise in the House Hon. Members. Those who would want to go and discuss, please have the privilege of moving out and go to do your discussions outside. Hon. Haritatos, I am talking to you. Hon.
Member, you may continue.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Like I said at the beginning of my presentation, I said I am hoping that the President will be able to sit and read through some of this. I think some of the attitude is an attitude that we have had over time where we do not listen to each other.
Let me go back to the issue of devolution. Mr. Speaker, devolution is just not a principle, it is a way of life. You cannot come here and want people to be part of a developmental process if people feel that they are alienated from those that are at the centre and making decisions. We hear this day in and day out; people outside Harare have problems with the fact that all decisions are basically made from Harare. It has created a sense of alienation. I come from the southern region; we are actually beginning to have situations where there is violence against particular ethnic groups because people are continuously saying if these people are not going to listen to us, we are going to physically deal with them so that they can listen to us. Right now if we do not see that as a sign of some of the problems that are going to be happening, we have a problem. We have situations because we are not dealing with issues of devolution where you are going into particular restaurants and shops, and people are beginning to organise themselves to boycott certain shops and restaurants because they are walking in and are being spoken to in a language that is not their particular language.
That speaks to the issues of devolution and issues that we will not be able to address the things that we put in the Constitution. This is because the structure that we had put up to deliver what we had put in is not being put into place. It is very sad Mr. Speaker that the President came in here and did not address the issue of devolution. The next point that I find problematic is the issue that we are not going back to be Bill on NPRC, the Bill on Peace and Reconciliation. The issue is that if anything happens and you do not address it, it will continue to fester. People had seen the NPRC as a way of beginning to address the past wounds, issues that are associated with Gukurahundi.
We come back to a new session and that issue has not been raised.
Unfortunately, the NPRC is the only Commission that has a sunset clause. It was given ten years. We already have gone through the past two/three years. So, it would mean that we are down to seven years, yet it has the fundamental issues that we need to discuss to move forward. So many times people in this House people have brought motions to discuss issues of peace and reconciliation. Sometimes, Members have walked out but walking out does not address the problem. The wound continues to fester. We need to put a close to it and finish it. Otherwise Mr. Speaker, it will be used for political purposes.
We need to say to ourselves, what is it that happened in the past that we want to close it. On that point, I want to point out that one of the biggest disappointments that happened is the fact that the person who was chairing that particular Committee... I can see the light, I am about to finish. When he passed a way, we also did not consider the sensitivity of that. I do not understand why we would not have made Cyril Ndebele a national hero. This is because that would have dealt with some of the fundamental issues that are in this place.
To close this up, I think we need to get the President to address all these issues to deal with the issue around succession. Succession has become a cancer in this country. No one works because everybody is waiting to see when Robert Mugabe is going to die and when he is going to get sick. We need to address - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Yes, I am not saying I want him to die. I am saying the very fact that as a nation, we are now bound to waking up in the morning and people wanting somebody to die, is an indication that we have a problem.
The President should just come here and say 2018, it is not about us, and it is about that side Mr. Speaker. That is the side that bothers about succession. These are the people that are holding us to ransom. We do not care whether President Mugabe stays or not. We have an election to go and get rid of him. These are the people that we want to get rid of him in his party. Let him address it. We are sick and tired as a nation of being held to ransom over ZANU PF politics of not being able to choose a person that they want. The President should address that, close it so that this country can begin to work again. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that
the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th October, 2016.
MOTON
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. WADYAJENA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Order of the Day Number 3, be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I second.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY POLITICAL
PARTIES
HON. MANDIPAKA: I move the motion standing in my name That
this House-
AWARE that Zimbabwe is a peace loving nation;
DISTURBED by recent acts of violence and terror on innocent people by opposition political parties;
WORRIED by vicious attacks on police officers and security agents;
CONCERNED by the looting and destruction of property and infrastructure in Greater Harare;
NOW THEREFORE calls upon Parliament to resolve to:
- Strongly condemn political parties perpetrating acts of violence on our nation;
- Calls upon the Government and the Zimbabwe Republic Police to arrest all those rowdy youths involved in acts of violence and to facilitate their prosecution;
- Asks the Minister of Home Affairs to make a statement on the state of affairs with regards to recent political violence and to assure the nation of its safety and security.
HON. MUDEREDZWA: I second.
HON. MANDIPAKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Allow me on my own behalf and on behalf of other Hon. Members in this august House to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Msipa family and the nation of Zimbabwe following the death of Cde. Cephas Msipa of the Midlands Province. That having been said Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to present a motion that is simply calling for peace in the nation.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. CHAMISA: I have a point of order on two aspects with respect to the query and observation we made Hon. Mr. Speaker Sir. To say that there was apparent violation of our Standing Orders and Rules, and I think it had dawned on the Speaker then – Madam Speaker Hon. Chinomona, that there was need to have due regard and consideration of the wording, in line with the Standing Orders. That determination is not made. It is our humble submission Hon. Speaker, that that determination be made first, to say that certain elements within that motion be expunged on account of violent language, particularly violating one of the political parties, because we are indeed an opposition political party. Certain allegations and averments were made unduly and also without the backing of the due process and that is the first point.
The second point is that we have motions, if you remember Hon.
Speaker Sir, I may have to hold on and wait while you make consultations.
Shall I proceed Hon. Speaker Sir?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, can you take your seat.
HON. CHAMISA: I did not finish my point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Gara hako. I am advised that
since there has not been any amendment to the way the motion has been set out, it cannot be debated at the moment.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon Speaker Sir. I hope that Hon. Mandipaka is going to respect your ruling. – [HON. MEMBER: Hear,
hear.] -
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Do you have a point of order Hon. Mandipaka?
HON. MANDIPAKA: Hon. Speaker, it is unfortunate …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mandipaka, can you
approach the Chair?
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. D. SIBANDA: I move that Order of the Day Number 5 be
stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. CHAMISA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. MANDIPAKA: On a point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of Order?
HON. MANDIPAKA: Hon. Speaker, I respect the ruling that you have given in respect of issues that were raised by Hon. Chamisa. May it be put on record that the Speaker who handled that point of order did not say that she was going to make amendments? They only said they were going to look at the motion. That was corrected, they did not say they were going to make amendments.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon Chinotimba. Order in the House Hon. Members.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HIGHER
AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT ON HARNESSING BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development on Biotechnology.
Question again proposed.
HON. CHAKONA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. First of all, I just want to remind the House in terms of the central part of our debate with regards to Biotechnology. Basically, “Biotechnology refers to any technological process which uses living organisms or derivatives thereof to make or modify new products or to improve existing ones”. Biotechnology techniques that are applied include tissues, culture, vaccines, productions, genetic modification and fermentation.
Biotechnology involves industrial Biotechnology, medical Biotechnology, agricultural technology, bio-pharmaceutical and environmental biotechnology.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate that bio-technology empowers people. It is one of emerging technologies that improves and dwells much on socio-economic fundamentals. In that regard, I would like to say, if bio-technology is used properly, it actually guarantees nutrition and food security in line with the ZIM ASSET Blueprint. It is imperative that Zimbabwe improves on its productivity, especially in agriculture, where I would want to dwell my contribution on.
Agriculture at the moment is highly underperforming and one of the major reasons is something to do with the usage of technological means to improve on productivity. I would give an example of the South African agricultural sector; from 2008, they have been producing an average of 12 to about 14 million tonnes of maize from only 3.5 million hectares. This translates to a production rate of about 4.15 metric tonnes per tonne. If you look at the Zimbabwean average of maize production, we are actually producing 0.67 metric tonnes per hectare. This is 80 tonnes less than what
South Africa is producing. So, the national average for South Africa is 4.15 metric tonnes per hectare, whereas here in Zimbabwe we are producing less than a tonne per hectare.
In that regard, South Africa in early 2000, adopted bio-technology in the agricultural sector and their production has shot more than 10 times to what we are producing in Zimbabwe. Therefore, I would like to encourage that we heavily look at bio-technology as a means of improving on our productivity as well as adhering to the ZIM ASSET Blueprint on nutrition and food security.
Another advantage of bio-technology is bio-medicines. Bio- medicines have become very important in our nation and also the world over. The continuous research in bio-technology has produced a number of vaccines that have eradicated a number of diseases, for example influenza in the early 1900 was cured after enough research into the correct vaccines to cure such a disease. Of late, there is also the issue of Ebola virus, which has also been to a greater extent reduced or eradicated as a result of bio-technology. This proves that bio-technology plays an important role in bio-medicines. As we speak right now, there are also clinical trials regarding HIV/AIDS treatment. That is why we encourage bio-technology researches in Zimbabwe.
Other countries have adopted Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). In Zimbabwe, we are not at all considering any research related to GMOs. I therefore, encourage that we take advantage of bio-technology to continue researching into GMOs.
Another issue is to do with the socio-economic development which relates to obviously agriculture, health, energy, environment, industrial development, employment and increase in export receipts. My submission is that, if we seriously consider bio-technology we will obviously improve on a number of areas, especially to do with our environment. There is a lot of environmental degradation that is taking place in this nation at this stage, relating to cutting down of trees and wild fires. If we are to adopt bio-technology, some of these will obviously be reduced and we can see an improvement on our ecosystem.
Bio-technology plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the nation. The National Bio-technology Authority of Zimbabwe (NBA) was formed in early 2008. The major role of the NBA was to look at issues to do with bio-safety and bio-security. Bio-safety basically means the NBA will be focusing on how the bio-technologically produced products are safe to our people, the nation and safe for consumption.
On bio-security, it is imperative that as we research more on GMOs or bio-technologically produced products, we also look at the security of our people and look at how secure any other product that is being produced is secure to the people of Zimbabwe.
In that regard, the NBA superintends over all these researches and findings. The findings of the NBA have not been seriously considered for adoption by our Government. Some of the research findings that we have discovered as a nation through the NBA have a very positive impact on the country’s economy and sustainable development, especially to do with food security. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development has not seriously considered these findings to ensure that there is an improvement in the production of food in this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Order in
the House Hon. Members, less noise please.
HON. CHAKONA: My recommendations are that, the Government of Zimbabwe is supposed to resource the NBA so that it further researches into food security and how we can improve productivity in our agricultural sector.
The other thing is that as a nation, as much as we want to by-pass GMOs, we are consuming GMOs on a daily basis in our country. It is therefore, imperative that we consider seriously the findings of the NBA in so far as adopting the technology is concerned.
Another recommendation is that the NBA is simply an authority. With the adoption of STEM in high schools, we also think that researches relating to bio-technology be disseminated to institutes of higher learning like universities, so that they can research into the type of crops that can be grown in our nation and which can actually ensure food security in our country. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to our report. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that
the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 19th October, 2016.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): I have to
inform the House that I have received a Non-Adverse Report from the
Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Special Economic Zones Bill [H.B.
15B, 2015]
Consideration Stage: With leave, forthwith.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL [H.B. 15B, 2015]
HON. CHAMISA: Sorry Hon. Speaker, no objection but just to say, a very important development has just taken place. Our Vice President, our opposite number Hon. Mphoko is in the House and we must make special acknowledgement of his presence; but also to take the opportunity to remind him that it will be good to also grace us tomorrow for the Question and Answer Session. Hon. Mphoko, we are waiting for you. You are our President and we want to raise these fundamental questions and we just hope that you will come. Thank you very much.
Section 56 (1), put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL [H.B. 15B, 2015]
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHAMISA): I move that the Special
Economic Zones Bill be now read for the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of the MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, the House adjourned at Half-past
Three o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 3rd October, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
INVITATION TO THE COMMEMORATION OF THE WORLD DAY
AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the House that the Ministry of Home Affairs is inviting all Hon. Members from Matebeleland South Province and other provinces to a belated commemoration of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons to be held on Saturday, 6th October, 2018, at Dulivadzimu Stadium in
Beitbridge. The guest of honour will be Honourable Vice President K.
- D. Mohadi. The event will be preceded by a march within the streets of Beitbridge to the stadium. However, due to resource constraints, the
Ministry is not able to meet the costs of attendance by Hon. Members
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity. Firstly, I want to applaud the President for his resounding success and wining the 2018 elections. I also want to congratulate you Madam President for being elected President of the Senate as well as your Deputy Hon. Nyambuya. I want to debate the speech that was presented by the President in this House.
Madam President, we are happy and appreciate the issues that were tabled by the President of the nation. If we look at some of the issues he mentioned, a lot of issues are biased towards the development of the nation. We want to thank him for that.
I want to say a little about the Mines and Minerals Act. That Act is important and we are happy that it will lead to peace in this country.
Different areas in this country are being mined for precious minerals. We are hoping that the environmental challenges that we are facing will be addressed by this Act because people were mining everywhere and that was causing danger to people and animals in those areas. We hope that that Act will bring some sanity into the mining sector. I am also happy because we have women in this country who are into mining but could not venture fully into mining because of so many challenges. Women want to fend for themselves and most of them source livelihood from mining but they were facing challenges that they could mine in a lawful manner and were literally artisanal miners. There are so many women who are looking after orphans and when they engaged in mining, it was declared illegal and could not fend for these orphans. This Act will address some of these challenges.
I am also happy about what the President said in this House. He introduced the Women’s Bank. We are seeing results. Women are getting loans from the Women’s Bank and are borrowing in groups. They can also get the loan as miners and mine in groups. This will assist them in sourcing some earnings to look after their children. I believe the women are very happy about it and to them it is a welcome development.
Lastly, I want to say that my hope is that as the upper House, we be united and pass laws that will lead to the development of the nation. I want to say that we will do our work for the development of the country.
With these few words, I want to thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Madam President. Let me
start by congratulating His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for winning the July 30 harmonised elections. I also want to congratulate you Madam President and your deputy for being elected to lead this august House. I also want to congratulate my fellow Senators for making it to this House.
Madam President, may I take this opportunity to express my views on the Presidential Speech. The President touched on a number of issues which, if fully implemented, would make the Zimbabwe we all want. Madam President, I will touch on a few. You will all agree with me that agriculture is the mainstay of our economy in Zimbabwe. Therefore, it is important that our farmers need to be empowered and capacitated.
I would like to thank the President for coming up with the programme on Command Agriculture that has made a big difference throughout the country. Madam President, I would like to comment on Command Livestock; when this programme was introduced, we thought it was meant to assist those in our communities without livestock, but one requirement that, in order to benefit one must have a stock-record card has dampened the spirit of our people. Can the responsible department of Government revisit the requirements issue in order for those communities without the requirement to benefit as well.
Madam President, on the devolution of power, this is the best way to empower communities in all our provinces as this would see the total participation of these communities in various aspects of development, budget formulation, decision making and reduction of poverty. Madam President, I would like to conclude my maiden speech by encouraging my fellow Senators in this august House to be united in order to make a better Zimbabwe.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 4th October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON.
SEN. MOHADI, the Senate adjourned at a Quarter to Three o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 10th October, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
ORAL CHOLERA VACCINATION EXERCISE THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the Senate that the Oral Cholera Vaccination Exercise which started today, will continue tomorrow Thursday, 11th October, 2018 in the
National Assembly commencing with a presentation at 0900 hours.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Madam President, I move that Order of the Day Number 1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First order read: Adjourn debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. SHUMBA: Thank you Madam President. Let me
start by congratulating you for being elected the President of the Senate. I also want to congratulate His Excellency E. D. Mnangagwa for the resounding victory in the last Harmonised Elections. When he delivered the inaugural speech, he encouraged unity and peace in the country. This brought great joy to the nation and international observers and this was great. We thank His Excellency for such encouraging words and constructive speeches. We hope to continue living in peace and harmony so that there is progress.
I also want to congratulate fellow Senators for being elevated to this status. It was my ambition that one day in my life time, I should be a Member of Parliament especially in this august House. At the twilight of my age, the Lord has granted me this wish.
I am very glad for the speech given by His Excellency. He touched on a lot of things in his speech. One of the things he talked about was the creation of employment because at the moment there is high unemployment rate in the country. He has this mantra; ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’, which is a way of inviting foreign investors. There is the adage; Rome was not built in a day. We believe that with all these plans which he has put in place and his mantra, Zimbabwe is open for business, many investors are going to come.
He came to our province Masvingo and he opened a cooperative for slaughtering of beasts. He also went to Zvishavane and Mashava Mines, calling for reopening and resituating of these mines so that there is employment creation. I know, I have given examples of what he has done to Masvingo province but he is a generous man. He has done a lot in other parts of the country, opening up new businesses aimed at creating employment.
His Excellency spoke at length about corruption; he said there is no room for corruption. In the past, people used to be corrupt in such a way that whenever you wanted to be served, you had to pay something through corrupt means. Madam President, even the police officers manning roadblocks were letting some unroadworthy cars pass because of corruption. I am urging fellow Members of Parliament that we should emulate our President and speak against corruption in our constituencies.
Let us emulate our President.
I am also grateful to the President for talking about health issues. He admitted that there is this cholera scourge and because he put so much emphasis on it, we can see that the scourge is on the decrease. We now have vaccinations being carried out and the number of infected people has decreased. This shows that his speech is already bearing fruits. One of the days, when I was thinking about this cholera menace, I was saying in Harare, we are buying water to drink and yet we should be getting clean water from the tape. I am saying, as people of Zimbabwe, we should buy water so that we avoid cholera. Do we not have other places where we can get clean water because at the moment we cannot drink our water? It comes from Lake Chivero which is highly contaminated of the sewage which gets in there. Why can we not get our water from places like Kariba where we have fish like Kapenta in there because Kapenta is highly hygienic and will not survive in dirty water?
Using technology, can we not find a way to harness water from Kariba to our cities such as Harare? When we have done that, we will only need very few chemicals to treat this water and it will not have any odour. The water from Lake Chivero has a bad odour and needs a lot of chemicals for it to be fit for human consumption. I always ask myself if it is a possible venture that we harness water from Kariba to Harare. The reply I got was that as a country, we do not have oil wells. It comes from the Middle East and North Africa and we are bringing it into Zimbabwe.
So, why can we not do the same for our water?
We also know that pipeline is not only going to be used for water consumption but also for agriculture. Let us work hard on this idea of taking water from Kariba to Harare. It means the people of Harare will be drinking clean, pure water and along the water way we will have people in those areas benefitting because they can use water for drinking or irrigation. The President also emphasised that Zimbabwe has an agrobased economy. Zimbabwe is an agricultural country and therefore, let us invest in the harnessing of water from Kariba to Harare and everybody along the way benefits.
Still talking about water, I will look at the dams. When we harness water from the dams we go into irrigation programmes. In the case of Masvingo, we have a lot of dams which when properly used we can have progress in agriculture. We have dams like the Manyuchi Dam. The water is hardly used but that can be used for agriculture. If that water is used and taken to places like Mwenezi, a lot of people will benefit along the way through irrigation. One thing I like about
Mwenezi, it is land that is naturally fertile. When you are doing agriculture in Mwenezi, you do not need any fertilisers or chemicals because the land is fertile. Mwenezi is in region 4 and 5, and there is a myth that in such a region you only need to grow small grain, but I am saying if we harness the water we will have bumper harvests.
Still on water, we now talk of bread shortage where we have wheat being imported from other countries. It pains me because if we could utilise the water bodies in our country we can have wheat which can grow twice a year. There is no need for us to waste our precious foreign currency importing wheat. We can only use our water ways by taking advantage of the water bodies which we have. I know that because of the current situation and knowledge, we are concentrating on small grains but let us think of wheat so that we will not have bread shortages.
Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy and Zimbabwe’s
development is based on agriculture. The President also talked of
Command Agriculture and when he talked about it, I said to myself in Mwenezi we do not have Command Agriculture. So, I asked for the reason why we do not have it and was told that there are no irrigation facilities, but I am saying we need to do agriculture. We have a lot of water bodies in our country in Mwenezi or Masvingo.
The Government is now dealing with Command Agriculture in terms of livestock. Places like Mwenezi and Masvingo have that sweet grass which is good for animal husbandry and the Minister of Agriculture should pass through our areas and observe the kinds of pastures which we have. He will definitely launch a programme of animal husbandry for both cattle and goats as a matter of urgency. Definitely, we would reopen the Cold Storage Commission because we will have the best beef or animals because of the pasture which we have.
I am also grateful for what the President said. Listening to the news last night Tuesday evening, the President showed us that there were countries which were coming to look for investment opportunities in Zimbabwe. Amongst the countries that have shown interest in coming to Zimbabwe is Israel, a well-known country in its irrigation facilities and intensive agricultural programmes.
Let me turn to the other part which made me feel very proud of my President during his speech. He talked about the elevation of the status of women and a very good example is that the President of the Senate is a lady, Hon. Mabel Chinomona. Even amongst his Ministers, he has women and not only that; he launched a Women’s Bank which has an inclination towards the viability of women’s projects and the ease access to that bank. I am urging fellow women to utilise this facility that has been given to us.
We have people who are always talking against the President saying the President is not creating jobs or doing enough for the country to create wealth. But I am saying we also need to be creative and not be cry babies. We should create jobs, wealth and development on our own. Be an employer and do not have that inclination of being an employee and I believe the Lord is with us and will guide us through our progress. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – If everyone can use their brains and be creative, we will progress in the country –
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order! Do not listen to anybody. Address the Chair and ignore everybody. I appeal to you once again Hon. Senators, let us allow each other to debate.
HON. SEN. SHUMBA: Thank you. They could be making noise but despite that noise they are also getting something from what I am saying and I am grateful. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. S. K. MOYO: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 11th October, 2018.
MOTION
NATIONAL DRUG POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on National Drug
Policy and legislative framework to effectively regulate drug use.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President, I want to thank Hon. Sen. Timveos for the motion that she brought to this Senate which dealt much on medication. The motion is a very important for it covers almost everywhere; it is a crosscutting motion. There is no one on this earth who says I have never taken tablets or medication. Medication is used in different areas for example like healing ailing people and some is used on animals. We have some tables that can kill people. I think the main issue on this motion was issues to do with drugs that are dangerous and the motion dealt much on our country not legalizing all drugs to come into this country. When the drugs come, there are so many things that there are used for - for example some people may die if they take certain medication.
As a nation we have a way of checking visitors to our country, especially when they come with illegal drugs. Drug trafficking is a way of trying to get money. Medications like tablets are manufactured in different companies and they are like anything else that can be used to bring money into a country. Allow me to use examples of the 10 countries that do not allow importation of drugs. I take example of South Arabia and Islamic States. In South Arabia if you are caught in possession of drugs, you are tortured or they will kill you, or they will give you a sentence that you will regret for the rest of your life. The other nations are Iran, Indonesia, North Korea, Dubai, Singapore, China, Vietnam and Japan. It is indicated that Japan has stiffer penalties and we have read in newspapers that when someone has been caught in possession of drugs, they are given life sentence in jail. People try in different ways Mr. President to leave the country in possession of drugs.
They are some countries where medication is sold in streets and those who buy those medications will use them in their own way. You realise that the person who will take such medication, some of them will get sicknesses like dropping off of fingers or their facial features are disoriented.
Mr. President, I also want to indicate on pills that are very dangerous, there is a pill known as a spice, once you take that pill the person will appear as if he or she is epileptic, at the end of the day you will not even be able to tell who you are. Another pill is known as cathedine, it is said that taking two doses of that pill, you can actually die. The other one is known as krokodil, it will burn your skin. The other drug is one that when one takes it he/she will become more of an autistic person who will jump even a 3 metre fence and will be very energetic. Another pill is known as U-47700 and I understand that that pill was never tested medically to show whether there are any implications in taking it. All those tables that I have mentioned are very dangerous. As a nation Mr. President, do we have a way of checking if people coming to this country are not in possession of such drugs? My question is from the drugs that I have mentioned, do not we have people who are coming into the country in possession of those people.
There is another pill that is known as street value which can change the lips of a person into blue. Another one is known as prestisidi pills that pill once you take it and when you look at it, it looks like concrete and just one dose is enough to kill you. Another one is known as Gray death and it is said that just a single dose can cause someone to die.
Mr. President, I love this motion, my expectations are that as a parent and someone who is living in this area; as a nation if we do not have a way of checking what kind of stuff is coming into the country – whilst we are talking about children in universities, some of them do not have jobs and most of the issues of drugs emanate from universities. As parents we realise that most parents have succumbed to different illnesses and they end up failing to take their children to universities to further their education and some of these children will come back without any pass; others join bad company and they end up in drug abuse. They will even sell what they have in order to get money to buy the drugs.
These drugs are not very expensive. Some of them go for $4 or $6 and children whenever they get such amount of money, the first thing that they think of is to buy drugs because they will be craving them.
Like I said, there are some areas where those drugs are being sold in the streets. Our request is that such stuff should not be allowed to enter our borders and it is a harassment to parents especially when your child- I think using the name drug sounds a bit strong but if we say pills one would think of paracet or a minor tablets but these tablets cause them to be violent, that is why we say drugs. Some will run naked and most of them become so autistic and they want for example, if they see a soldier or a police officer they will want to hit them. Some of them will even destroy cars.
My plea is that our country should be protected from such issues, therefore we should have a national drug policy so that it can stop importing illegal drugs into the country. When we are coming from other countries, you will notice that you cannot just get into the country. There is thorough search at their borders and ports of entry. It is surprising to notice that at our airports we do not have sniffing dogs and this is why people can enter into the country with anything. I think most of these drugs do not exist in our country.
Most of our children no longer respect their elders. Way back when we were growing up, we knew that even if an elderly person is not your biological parent you have to respect them. Today as an elderly person, you cannot discipline someone’s child because you would not be aware of what that child has taken as food or drugs, you will be ashamed. When you go outside the country that is when you will realise that our children are now gangsters. Even murder cases that are happening, most of them are due to drugs. There are so many things that are happening due to intake of drugs. My request is for the Government to protect its country and we should not have a nation where people do whatever they want. We know it is a way of making money and many people are making a living out of selling drugs but in other countries no one can get into their country in possession of harmful drugs.
I once saw someone on television, a lady who had a very long dreadlock and she had smuggled drugs in her dreadlocks. When she was about to exit, a sniff dog was already on her because it had sniffed the drug. Why can we not do that so that we protect our families? I loved the paragraph that is in the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Timveos, that women should be uplifted in the teaching industry or in any other industry for you realise that at the end of the day all those drugs that are imported - is because there is no empowerment and people do not have anything to do.
These drugs are not taken only by children; there are older people who also take those drugs because they would have failed academically.
Some end up selling their houses and they will be living a miserable life. I want to thank the mover of this motion and with this few words I want to emphasise that our nation should be given the respect that it deserves. We know that police officers have their sniffer dogs and they use them where it is necessary to use, why can we not have them at our borders so that we can catch those who are importing these drugs into the country. This will be a way of protecting our country and our children. I thank you.
+HON. SEN NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to add my voice on what was said on this motion. I want to thank Hon. Sen.
Timveos and the seconder of the motion. I want to contribute on the issue to do with the policy that is talked about. I think we got our independence in 1980 and I know this policy was there that the drugs that are being mentioned were not there. Why is the policy not being implemented now. We talked about this over and over again but nothing is being done about implementing this policy.
Secondly, these drugs, in my view, I doubt if most of them are there in Zimbabwe but these are drugs that are imported from other countries just like what the previous speaker said. In the borders we realise that there are people who are working there who are supposed to check thoroughly that such things do not enter our borders but you notice that these are the same people who let people pass without being searched. There are certain things that are not important and people struggle to cross borders with such things but things like drugs you will realise that they let them pass through freely. These drugs are not something that if one takes them she/he will remain normal. If as a country we have security and this is happening so what is the purpose of this security? Why are they not searching for such things which are dangerous to life? If someone is under drugs, you will realise that the person will be violent and can even commit murder because of the influence of these drugs. Drugs such as musombodhiya, Mr. President, we have never heard that those people who are taking the drugs when they walk down the streets those who take drugs, most of them are young children. They take any drug that they can. Even if they are supposed to take some of the drugs, the way they take them is illegal. Most of the times when they take them, you realise that at the end of the day they will be doing anything. They will not be in a position to respect our elderly people especially mothers, because they can call them using vulgar language.
We got our independence and we should be proud of our culture as Africans. We know that there are certain things that are not allowed to be done as Africans. Hon. President Sir, my wish is that if only Parliament belonged to the Senate, we are united and things we contribute in this House are true and we should fix these things. Even when you talk to a young child and you keep on saying one day I will beat you up, at the end of the day, the child will get confused and will not be in a position to know what you are saying. But, once you beat up that child, they will know what to do and what not to do.
Concerning the issue of drugs, most of those drugs are there in this country and they have been imported. Most of the things are caused by lack of employment. Most of the industries are closed. We should open the industries so that most of our children get occupied.. If we open industries, most of our children will be occupied and they will not have the time to take drugs and we will not be able to see all these people that are running around in the streets because of taking the drugs. You will realise that once you create employment, at the end of the day, we will not see anyone in the streets for everyone will be busy at work and in the evening they would want to go and rest.
What is happening now is that everyone will be in the streets being chased up and down by police. Most of them are degreed people and we did not send our children to school or to universities so that when they get their degrees they will sell airtime or universal codes. Why we took them to universities is because we wanted them to create a better future and be able to work. When things are not going on well, we should look at the root cause of that problem and solve it.
I will give an example that a train cannot move without the main head. We should look at the root cause of every problem that we have. In my own view, I think we should walk the talk and talk the walk and implement what we are saying. Let us not write down all the policies that we are talking about and fail to implement them. With these few words, I thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: Thank you Mr. President Sir. Today I was
watching television and I saw children graduating at the University of Zimbabwe. I believe that they did not graduate so that they become thieves, drug dealers, being chased by the police or graduating so that at the end of the day, they do not respect their parents. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 11th October, 2018.
MOTION
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF VENDING
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on finding solutions to challenges associated with vending.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Thank you Mr. President for
affording me this opportunity to debate on this motion which was introduced by Hon. Sen. Chabuka. Mr. President, could I kindly read my notes instead of debating. I am asking for permission so that you allow me to do that because all these languages which are being used here seem to be foreign to me.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You
can proceed.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Thank you Mr. President but before
I proceed, are you in the near future going to allow us to debate in our mother languages or you still do not have that time to do that for us, because by so doing, you are depriving us of our rights.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Sen., you are raising an issue which has been raised before and that issue has been responded to. Please proceed and debate.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Thank you Mr. President. There is
nothing much that I can say about vendors. I am sincerely asking the current Government to prepare a suitable place for them to do their business without being disturbed by the police. I am saying this because these people live on vending and there is no other source of income. It will be good for the vendors if the Government will be in a position to create jobs for the population of this country. People cannot live on vending only and I believe the responsible authorities will be in a position to solve this problem amicably. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me
the opportunity to make my contribution on the motion raised by Hon. Chasbuka. Let me start by congratulating you for the elevation to that status. You were the Chairman in my Committee and you used to carry out your job without any partisan inclinations. Let me start by talking about the vendors. When we talk about vending on the Order Paper, I will start from where the MP started from. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution. I also congratulate you for being elected to this position. People get into vending because of problems they face in their daily lives. I know you may trivialize this motion but it is an emotional motion.
I am very grateful to you Hon. Sen. Chabuka for this motion. When you arrive from Mutare to this place, if you move around and observe the cat and mouse game which happens between the Police and the vendors, it brings quite a shame to this country. I observed a scene where the police were chasing the vendors. The vendors turned around and picked up stones and started attacking the police and the police retreated. It is a big shame to the country. I am saying let us look at the causes of some of these things. There is a reason why people turn to vending. When we grew up, we did not have this kind of living; there was no vending. I have also observed the police in running battles with the taxi operators and are even prepared to break the windows of these cars.
In conclusion, responsible authorities should engage in dialogue with vendors and their association in an effort to find a lasting solution to the problems of vending. I am looking at the main reason why these vendors are engaged in battles a war with the police. It is quite a shame; it is a disgrace to the country. I am saying we are the people’s representatives and we should look for solutions to this vending problem. I will render my solution. We noticed that vendors were operating from the cities because they know that is where money is.
We know of people who migrated to Britain. Some of them went to Britain because their parents were vending in suburbs but the vendors have now invaded the cities. Most of these vendors were operating from the industrial sites because there were people who were operating in those areas, the workers. My husband was one of them, he was a driver for the ZUPCO bus company. He would ferry a lot of people to those areas. The vendors were selling food such as bread. They did not come into town.
In Harare, we had vendors in the Msasa Industrial sites. That is where the vendors were operating from and not the city centre. We also had buses which were moving from suburbs to Msasa and other industrial areas. However, we have noticed that we have kombis that are now plying those routes and we are fighting with them. What is happening with these wars with vendors? It is showing that there is no peace in the country. The solution to the vending problem is that we should open up industrial areas and create jobs so that people do not resort to vending.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution. I am so glad for your elevation to your present status because you were my chairperson in the Human Rights Thematic Committee and you were doing your job well. I will dwell on the motion on vending raised by Hon. Sen. Chabuka. It is very emotional. I feel like crying because when I look at these people, they are living a miserable life in the country of their birth. They are Zimbabweans and they should live in peace.
Last year, there is a police officer who fell off a moving vehicle when they were fighting vendors. I hoped that the Minister of Home Affairs would learn a lesson after the death of that officer who died fighting the vendors. I thought he would be getting ideas to fight vendor menace. We also have a Member of this august House who has urged Members to use their ways for creating jobs. People are failing to get one decent meal per day and that is why we have the escalation of vendors in the cities because there is no other way of earning a living.
These youngsters cannot afford a soft drink. It is a pity that they cannot afford such luxury.
There is also a recent phenomenon on the increase in prices of goods and services. When we are looking at this issue of vending, let us look at both cases of the poor and the rich. There was a year whereby there was a penalty fee of $500 for losing a passport. There is a young man who lost his passport. When he was going to collect the other passport, he lost it in an accident. That young man was told to pay the $500 penalty fee and yet he had a receipt for the passport he had just collected and destroyed in a fire. The officials at the Registrar’s Office said he needs to pay for a new passport. The man went to a relative who was in the Registrar’s Office. He talked to the officials and explained that the young man had lost his passport in an accident and therefore needed a new passport. A letter was written by the officials that the young man should benefit because he had lost his passport in a fire. I am saying because of corruption, those who do not know anybody in high places suffer.
Hon. Sen. Muronzi has said let us not fight the symptoms but the real causes of the problem. It is the case with us in our culture, when your children move houses, you need to supply them with utensils, otherwise they will live a poor life. Since we are suffering from high unemployment rate, these youngsters are now resorting to vending. Some of them are so daring that when they see you talking on your phone, they will approach you in broad day light and say after concluding your talk on your phone please give me that cellphone. Some even approach ladies and say mum, I am your son, you have in your bag some money, please give me that money. They are so daring and I am saying, we need to have the Ministers moving into the streets and observe the youngsters who will be suffering in those areas. I am urging Ministers to move into town and observe the cat and mouse game which is taking place I am sure that one of these days, some of the Members of Parliament will be attacked...
*THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Sen, may you please address the Chair and not members of the Cabinet. *HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: I am pleading with the Ministers that they should not be driving round town but should walk around so that they come across the cat and mouse game between the vendors and the police. When you get into that situation, you will really feel like crying.
It is emotional.
As Zimbabweans, let us look for ways and means of these youngsters eking out a living. We now have women with loose morals targeting to earn a living. Young men are now approaching old ladies saying, give me your handbag or cellphone. Let us create wealth, jobs and investments. If we do not do that, as a parent what should I do?
Should I take my children back into my womb, that is not possible. These are our children, we gave birth to them and whenever we are creating laws, let us look at both sides of the poor and the rich because there are some of us who create laws thinking that it will not affect you but then chaos reigns when your child is affected.
This morning in the city centre of Harare, a vendor was shot dead.
What pained me was that the vendor was only indulging in car wash and he was shot. Young people are suffering because of unemployment. Who is chasing these youngsters? It is us, their parents yet we know that there are no jobs in the country. I am pleading with the powers that be that since you have not yet created employment or new vending sites, let them vend in areas which are safe where they can eke out a living because the unemployment rate is high. I thank you.
Hon. Sen. Zivira having stood up to debateg before being recognised by the Hon. Deputy President of the Senate.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Take
your seat. Read Standing Rules and Orders of the Senate.
*HON. SEN. FEMAI: I would like start by congratulating you for being elected into the Deputy President of the Senate’s Chair. I would also like to congratulate members of your party who elected you to that position because they saw it fit for you to be in that position; even us the Opposition, feel that you are the right person for that job. I am very grateful for mother Chabuka.
*THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: We
do not have mothers in the Senate. We have Hon. Senators. May you proceed?
*HON. SEN. FEMAI: My apologies Mr. President. It was a slip of the tongue. I am very grateful to Hon. Sen. Chabuka for introducing this motion which is very pertinent. She is an elderly mother who is aware of the problems faced by children, that is why she brought up this pertinent motion.
These happenings are being revealed now and yet it started a long time ago. These youngsters were loitering around especially in the rural areas and they had not thought of coming to seek employment in town. The problems were faced by the chiefs when these youngsters stole milk, chickens and goats. They have just migrated from the rural areas to the urban areas. There is a reason why there is this multiplicity of these vending youngsters. When we are at a particular place and there is rotten beef and there are maggots and flies around; we should not be surprised of the smell. It is because of the rotten beef. It would be out of sync for us to go and buy some insecticide and spray these flies. That will not be solving the problem because rotten meat will still be there.
This problem can be solved by creating employment for these youngsters. Just like when we are in the home, we take an insecticide for example baygon if there are flies. If we create employment, we will never see vendors on the streets. We have observed that these vendors are not elderly people like me. They are youngsters who are degreed or have diplomas but because of the unemployment rate, they are turning to vending.
We know that in the country there is the prevalence of the HIVAIDS menace. Everyone knows that there is this destructive disease. Most of the people who are affected are the 36 year olds. It is a pity because some of these youngsters leave behind orphaned children of three to four months and widows. Those who are left behind are unemployed. The widows with two or three children will then turn to vending so that she can take care of the family.
His Excellency the President even said that because of the prevalence of HIV, there is going to be free treatment of the affected. It shows that the President is aware that there is HIV prevalence in the country. Let us create a fund which will take care of those affected by HIV so that they are taken care of and not turn to vending.
Unfortunately, there is no money given to these orphans or widows. The only thing that is coming out are the policemen who are fighting these vendors. Please, let us look at the causes of vending.
The real cause of vending is lack of employment and investment in the country. If people are employed, there will be no vendors on the streets. There are people who are creating false jobs. We are looking for jobs which are created by genuine investors who come and plough in a lot of money because at the moment there is corruption. People are being cheated by these fly-by-night investors and this is destroying our nation because nobody is serious about opening up investments. We the elderly people know what is good and bad life because we have experienced both lives.
We knew what was bad during the colonial era and after Independence we also know the benefits we enjoyed and the reason behind vending. I am appealing to Government to engage the
Opposition so that it can get ideas on eradicating vending. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 11th October, 2018.
MOTION
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Mr. President, I move the motion standing in my name;
That this House –
RECALLING that during the historic Constitution making process and the subsequent constitutional Referendum in 2013, the people of Zimbabwe unequivocally endorsed the principle of devolution of power and the transformation of the Zimbabwean State from a two tier to a three tier State;
NOTING that our Constitution makes provision for the election of
Provincial Councils as well as the specific manner of the election of the
Provincial Council leadership;
ACKNOWLEDGING that the current Government has stated at
least on paper that it is committed to implementing devolution in the current dispensation;
RECOGNISING the fundamental constitutional principle of the sovereignty of the people and the important fact that devolution is widely regarded by Zimbabweans as the answer to uneven regional development in the country;
ALSO RECOGNISING that the people of Zimbabwe elected their Members of Provincial Councils on the 30th of July, 2018, which members are yet to be sworn into office:
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon the Government to –
- urgently bring a Bill to provide for the devolution, inter alia to provide for the key administrative and other processes in the provincial councils including the election for the heads of those councils within two months;
- abolish the post of Minister of State for Provincial Affairs as they compromise the full implementation of devolution of power;
- swear into office all the members of the provincial councils immediately and define their conditions of service and other mechanisms to make them more functionally efficient; and
- provide budgetary support to the provincial councils.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: I second.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Thank you very much Mr.
President. May I take this opportunity to congratulate you for your election as the Deputy President of the Senate.
Mr. President, since the attainment of independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has experienced uneven development in its regions. This uneven development has been blamed on the tribal discrimination by the people in the top echelons of power against some sections of our society. This has been viewed as some form of black apartheid by the people in power against other Zimbabweans. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – Resultantly, this perceived discrimination has become a great source of resentment, suspicion and disunity among our people. It has therefore, become a source of great consternation, potential conflict which could lead to bloody civil war the same as what happened in Biafra in Nigeria and in the Katanga Province in the Democratic of Congo sometime ago. It can therefore, be argued that ever since independence, Zimbabwe has been sitting on this dangerous time bomb.
Yet history and religion have taught us that Zimbabwe has been ordained as a truly rainbow nation of people of diverse colours and ethnicity, it is the home of black, white and Asiatic Zimbabweans. It is a home of black communities comprising the Tonga, Nambya, Fingo, Ndau, Zezuru, Manyika, Karanga, Kalanga, Sotho, Venda, Chewa, Tswana, Khoisan, Zimbabweans. These communities have equal rights including the rights of self-determination and equal access to opportunity – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - In particular, each of these communities should have the right to decide the development priorities of their areas.
On the 29th March, 2008 Harmonised Elections, the MDC led by the then President Tsvangirai won the elections no doubt – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - However, after that election, Zimbabwe was plunged into unnecessary tragedy by the dictatorship that governed it. In the presidential election runoff of that year, Zimbabwe found itself at war with itself. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - Innocent Zimbabweans were murdered in cold blood, women were raped, homes were destroyed and pillaged and livestock was forcibly expropriated from the poor all in defence of the dictatorship – [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.] -
At the end of the madness, Zimbabwe was forced by the
international community to negotiate with itself. This culminated in the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which in turn led to the erection of the Government of National Unity (GNU). One of the byproducts of the GPA was the promulgation of a people-driven democratic Constitution.
We can therefore state it as a historic truism that just like independence, the Constitution of Zimbabwe came about against a backdrop of much suffering of our people. Tenacious and resilient in the face of adversity as they have always been known to be, the people of Zimbabwe made key constitutional demands to the Government. One of these demands was for devolution. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - In the minds of the people of Zimbabwe, devolution is seen as the answer to uneven development and tribal domination. – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] -
There was however, massive resistance to devolution from the powers that were. Many hours were devoted to negotiating the devolution provisions in the Constitution. Much airtime and acres of space in both the electronic and print media, were devoted by the Government in fighting devolution. Fortunately, in the end, devolution and the people of Zimbabwe won. It can therefore, be argued with much justification that, just like independence and the Constitution, devolution came about after a lot of suffering and tenacity on the part of our people.
To the utter chagrin, heartbreak and mortification of our people, the Government of former President Robert Mugabe refused to implement devolution. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - “despite having won an overwhelming majority in 2013”, and “overwhelming majority”, as I say in inverted quotes. Sadistically, although members of the Provincial Councils were elected into those councils, they were never sworn into office until the expiration of their term. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - Instead, the Provincial Councils were replaced by Resident Ministers appointed by the President, thus at the stroke of the pen scores of elected individuals were replaced by less than a dozen handpicked people by the President – that was a disrespect to the people of
Zimbabwe and an affront to the principle of the sovereignty of our people. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] -
When the military intervention took place in November last year, there was much hope of return to constitutionalism. However, no devolution was implemented by the new Government led by President Mnangagwa. Recently, members of the Provincial Councils were elected but have not been sworn into office up to now. Instead, just like his predecessor President Robert Mugabe, President Mnangagwa infamously appointed Resident Ministers to the provinces. – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] -
Mr. President Sir, I am aware that both the membership and leadership of the Provincial Councils are provided for in the
Constitution. A person who must lead a province, as part of the Provincial Councils must be elected by the Provincial Councillors at their first meeting which has not taken place. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - In the minds of most Zimbabweans, this is a case of dejavu. Ignoring the fundamental issue that the Constitution first and foremost is a law, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs argued that the non implementation of the devolution provisions was because of absence of the legal framework providing for devolution.
It must be stated upfront that if something is in the Constitution, it makes no sense to say that thing is not in the law – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - for the Constitution is the law - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Zimbabweans refuse Mr. President Sir, that Ministers, including the Minister of Justice - and I have tremendous respect for him but as a Zimbabwean I refuse, together with my compatriots that Ministers become suddenly incompetent when it comes to implementation of devolution– [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Devolution of power is provided for in Chapter 14 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. With this devolution, Zimbabwe has been automatically transformed from a two tier state to a three tier state. The Chapter makes it clear that devolution is not secession. When the people of Matebeleland, for example ask for devolution, they are not asking to be a sub-province of South Africa. They want to be Zimbabweans with the same rights as other Zimbabweans, including the right of self determination.
The objectives of devolution as given in the Constitution include; to allow people to participate in making decisions that affect them, to promote democracy, effectiveness, accountability and transparency in governance. Those who oppose devolution do not want democracy – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – They do not want effectiveness, efficiency and accountability in governance. The other objective of devolution is to foster peace and national unity in the country.
Now, if there is domination, communities become resentful of those communities that they think dominate them and as a result of that resentment there will be no true peace in Zimbabwe and the ideals of the liberation struggle – the liberation struggle that I know. Mr. President, you were an active member of, will not be achieved without devolution. Another objective of devolution is to give local communities the independence to manage their own affairs and further their development, and to ensure equitable distribution of both local and national resources.
Devolution therefore, Mr. President Sir, presents the greatest opportunity for the advancement of democracy by ensuring the participation of our people in governance. The fact that members of the
Provincial Councils are elected means that it is a democratic institution.
The functions of the Provincial Councils are well spelt out in the Constitution; and include the planning and implementation of development activities, the coordination and implementation of Government activities, the promotion of tourism, the monitoring and evaluation of the use of natural resources in each region. Those who resist devolution effectively are compromising the sovereignty of the people of Zimbabwe, especially as demanded by the people of Zimbabwe in the Constitution making process.
Sovereignty Mr. President, when we talk of the concept of the sovereignty of the people, we mean the right of the people to make decisions that affect them without being forced by anyone – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The people of Zimbabwe demanded devolution. We must give them devolution. Allow me to quote the Bible Mr. President Sir, and I will do it in Shona. I must apologise Mr.
President at this moment that I do not know where this verse is found. Whether it is in Genesis, Mathew, Mark or in the Revelation, I do not know but Bhaibheri rinoti “Ko mwana wako akakumbira chingwa ungamupa dombo here?” So the same question we raise to our Government is, our people demanded devolution in a peaceful manner, in a constitutional referendum voted by 95% of the voters - they demanded in unequivocal terms devolution. Why are we giving them something else which is not devolution?
There are a number of false arguments raised against devolution, Mr. President. First is that devolution leads to wars. They argue that if there is devolution, there is likely to be civil war. Well, Zimbabwe had four major wars that happened; the First and Second Chimurenga, the
Gukurahundi conflict as well as the conflict during the 2008 Presidential Run-off Elections. Those were serious periods of conflict, armed conflict. There was no devolution and therefore, it does not make sense that devolution generates wars. Wars are generated when there is no devolution.
The second is that devolution leads to secession. The unlawful claim of independence by a region, for example some of us from
Manicaland seceding and saying Manicaland is now the Republic of Manicaland, or that we are joining Mozambique instead. That is called secession and the argument is that devolution leads to secession. That argument Mr. President is false and a-historical. Those countries where wars of secession have been fought include the Katanga in the Congo, Biafra in Nigeria; the Eritrea-Ethiopian war was about secession. In all these wars, the Constitution of those countries did not provide for devolution.
Therefore it does not make sense to say devolution leads to secession. Actually, the lessons learnt from the countries that I have quoted above Mr. President is that devolution can provide the much needed safety valve to conflict that is generated by resentment and hatred caused by humiliation and domination of one community by another.
The third argument which is false is that devolution gobbles up national resources. To the contrary, properly implemented devolution creates wealth by ensuring efficient exploitation of natural resources. The Zimbabwean Government anyway is notorious, Mr. Speaker Sir, with due respect for overspending –
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order!
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: My apologies Mr. President. The Zimbabwean Government is notorious for overspending. Year-in, yearout, our Minister of Finance comes with a supplementary budget every time. We are known for overspending. We are overspending but there is no devolution. So, why should we blame overspending on devolution which is not there? Devolution will lead to the creation of wealth.
Fourth and last argument that is false is that devolution cannot be implemented in the absence of an enabling legislation. We have already argued that the Constitution is a law itself and can be implemented.
However, in this argument the Government of Zimbabwe is relying on its own inefficiency and sluggishness. How can it take a country like Zimbabwe five years to craft a law as simple as devolution law?
In conclusion Mr. President, it is difficult to truly unite Zimbabweans without devolution. Devolution is the answer to the resentment and hatred generated by tribal domination. Why is the Chiadzwa area which is arguably one of the richest pieces of land in the world the home of the world’s most poor and miserable people? Why is Lupane sitting on huge gas deposits among the poorest and most deprived communities on earth? Why are the people of Mutoko whose granite is exported to many a capital in Europe among the people in the world? Why are the Tonga people in the Zambezi Basin who over the centuries traversed that Zambezi Basin denied fishing rights in the Zambezi and are instead treated as common criminals and poachers in their own land? Why are the people of Midlands wallowing in poverty with all the great deposits of gold, chrome, iron ore, asbestos and diamonds? I see my leader Hon. Josiah Hungwe is there and I pose this question through you Mr. President rhetorically to him. Why do Masvingo communities live in poverty with so many minerals and other resources in that province? The answer Mr. President to these sad questions is devolution; we must have devolution of power.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Sen. Mwonzora. I hope I will do justice to the wonderful motion and debate that he has just done. I just want to add my little voice to this very important motion. Mr. President provincial councils or devolutions are responsible for the socialeconomic development of their provinces. They plan, implement social and economic development activities in their provinces as Hon. Sen. Mwonzora said. They manage resources Mr. President, they manage even tourism and it is them that know the places of interest than can actually make money for the fiscus.
Mr. President, they also monitor and evaluate, like I said the resources in their provinces. If we had already, since the Constitution came into effect in 2013, if we had already implemented this devolution and provincial councils, we would not be complaining of being poor. It is because provinces are the ones that know where the resources are. It is also them that know that this road is damaged and needs to be fixed. It is also them that know that this clinic needs attention, it needs to be built. It is them that know that their children are travelling 10 kms, 20kms away from the schools that they attend.
Mr. President, I want to give you an example, when I hear the country saying that we do not have money, my heart bleeds. I come from the Midlands like alluded by Hon. Sen. Mwonzora. In the Midlands, Mapanzura area where the President of the day comes from, we have these Chinese people that are actually mining chrome in that area. The community there has benefited nothing, zero from these Chinese – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – All they have benefited are big holes and when the community called them that is the Chiefs, Headman from that area to say why are you doing this? The Chinese then felt ashamed and actually bought exercises books and donated to Mapanzure Primary School. So, the community in that area, only the school benefited exercise books.
Mr. President, the Constitution is clear that the resources from that area must benefit mostly the people that live in that area – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – So, how can we benefit if there is no devolution and there is no implementation of these provincial councils? There is no where the Government can really know what is happening on the ground unless they are told by the team that sits in the devolution. Yes, every time we go to the election since 2013, we have members who sit in these councils and they are never considered. We are shortchanging ourselves Mr. President. What I am realizing is that the outside nationals are actually the ones that are benefiting. It is painful to see big bags full of chrome which is being put into eroplanes going to China. China is building big buildings at our expense, using our raw materials, what are we getting in return? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The only thing that we are getting is T-shirts that go to the ruling party, that is the only thing that we are getting.
Mr. President, it is time we negotiate deals that benefit our people, it is time we negotiate deals...
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
you have freedom to debate Hon. Senator, but do not say things which cast aspersions on other people’s integrity. You can continue.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Sorry Mr. President. What I am saying
is that this country is one of the richest country in the world. We have got raw materials, we have got educated people, we have got over 4 to 5 million people that are outside the country that can actually come back and make use of the raw materials. I actually think the Chinese nationals are taking advantage of us but if we are to implement the devolution provincial councils, these things would not be happening as they are happening.
I am giving you an example of reality about the Chinese people, I stay in Zvishavane; they do not even pay workers well. The workers that are working in these chrome mines get US$5 a day, 7 days a week and they do not even have off days. If we had these provincial councils, the Government would actually be aware of how our people are being abused. They even beat up workers, the do not look after us well but you must know that as Zimbabweans we actually respect foreigners more than we respect our own people – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear.] –
When we go outside the country, they laugh at us saying ooh those poor people they are here looking for this and that. When they come here we handle them with kid gloves, we give them attention. Yes, let us give them attention, they must come and invest in this country but the first thing we should ask them is what our people are benefiting. If we are benefiting nothing then they must not get the deal.
Mr. President, I really need to support the motion and I really need the Government to really look at this, every Senator should look at this, this is the Constitution. The Constitution is clear and what I mentioned here, I actually took it from the Constitution which means that we actually agreed in 2013 to do this. So, why is it so complicated and why must we even debate about this because it should have been done way back. So, we are hoping that as Hon. Senators let us agree that this has to be done as soon as yesterday. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Mr. President. I am very grateful to Hon. Sen. Mwonzora for introducing this motion and Hon. Sen. Timveos for seconding this motion. This motion is very important and it has really touched me. Mr. President, I come from Manicaland. When we talk of devolution, when we talk of provincial council, this is a very painful exercise, we need to implement this. When there is devolution, the residents of that particular province should benefit from their natural resources. Like we have some quill birds which are trapped in Nyanyadzi and they are sold by people of Nyanyadzi for their benefit. We also have to look at the function of the Provincial Councils; we need to look at what is happening at the Provincial Court of Manicaland. In Manicaland, we had lots of diamonds, many miners and mining companies came to mine those diamonds. We believe that if they were used properly, Zimbabwe as a whole would have developed but all this was trashed.
In Manicaland, when we look at our town, Mutare, we do not have robots at road intersections, we have problems with water and we wonder why we have such problems yet we have natural wealth in that province. Why should we be so poor when we have the diamonds in Chiadzwa and that is the mineral which should be developing Manicaland? Mr. President, the road from Mutare to Chiadzwa is a impassable road, yet it is an area which is rich in diamonds which could have financed roads. So, devolution is very important for development of constituencies.
When we elected members of the provincial councils, we took part as a district, where each district elected a member to be included in the provincial council. Mr. President, it is quite bad to see potholes on our roads and I am challenging you to visit Manicaland and observe for yourself. You need to see for yourself the destruction which is in Manicaland and also the backwardness in Manicaland. The provincial councils were aimed at developing their particular provinces using their own resources. Yes, the resources would be shared by the whole nation but the owners of the resources should also be developed.
If we were to work at production in Manicaland like the boarder and mills paper or the other organisations such as plantations;
Manicaland would develop faster than many provinces. The problem is that we are failing to implement what we agreed on. We are disadvantaging the people who are supposed to be benefiting from what has been said and written down in the Constitution. The people at the grassroots are suffering and as Members of Parliament, we are being castigated by the electorate because they feel we are letting them down by not enacting anything to improve their lives. We are not saying there should be no sharing of the natural resources; they should be shared and as leaders we should tell the President the truth.
The problem we have is that we lie to the President. We have an Hon. Member who suggested that Members of Parliament or other officials should move around and make their own observations as to what is going on in the country. The nation is in problems; the nation is in dire straits. Let us implement what we agreed upon, especially the devolution of power. People are not happy and we have other people who are making people suffer. We said flats in Mutare, Sakubva should to be refurbished and renovated so that people will live a decent life. At the moment we have a family of six, including father and mother living in one room. What happens is that we end up having children indulging in early sex because they would have observed what is happening when they are sleeping in the same room with their parents. My apologies to the traditional leaders for the language I have used.
Zimbabwe is endowed with minerals, we should be living good but why is it that Botswana is better than us in terms of living conditions yet we have a whole lot of minerals. We are pleading with the Government to incorporate the Leader of MDC, Chamisa because he is knowledgeable and he can help with ideas of developing the country…
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order Hon. Member. We are debating at this present time and moment the issue on devolution and not about individuals with brains or otherwise. Stick to the motion.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Mr. President. The reason
why I say all this is I am emotional and when you are emotional, you may say some things which you are not supposed to say. In conclusion, we need to have people who benefit from our natural resources. I have two children, who have university degrees but they are sitting at home, they are not employed. That is why I am speaking with such an emotion.
Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: Thank you Mr. President. Since 2002 when I was in this august House, we heard people talking about devolution. Unfortunately there is no implementation of the devolution. We also talked about national healing because without national healing, there will not be any progress because when we talk about devolution, we are talking about the past years which befell the country such as
Gukurahundi. We have some people who suffered during the
Gukurahundi era and they have no identity papers…
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Senator, the motion which is being debated in this House is on devolution and not on healing. Let us stick to the motion.
*HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: When we look at natural resources,
Matabeleland North has timber, Matabeleland South has gold but the wealth which is generated from there is not used for the development of those provinces but other provinces. So, we are asking our Government that when there is wealth generated from a certain province, that money should be used in that province and not to develop other provinces.
Thank you.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 11th October, 2018.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND EAST
PROVINCE (HON MUNZVERENGWI): I move that the debate do
now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 11th October, 2018.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR
MASHONALAND EAST PROVINCE (HON. MUNZVERENGWI),
the Senate adjourned at Twenty One minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 4th October, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEE ON STANDING RULES AND
ORDERS
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish
to inform the Senate that further to the announcement made on Tuesday, 2nd October, 2018 relating to the appointment of Members to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, the following Members have also been appointed to serve on the Committee:
- Sen. Perence Shiri, Leader of Government Business;
- Sen. Elias Mudzuri, Leader of the Opposition;
- Sen. Tsitsi Muzenda, ZANU PF Chief Whip;
- Sen. Lilian Timveos, MDC-Alliance Chief Whip;
- Sen. Omega Hungwe, appointed by the President of the
Senate.”
For the avoidance of doubt, the Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders shall consist of the following:
- Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda, the Speaker of the
National Assembly and Chairperson;
- Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate and
Deputy Chairperson;
- Tsitsi Gezi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly;
- Sen. Lt. General (Rtd.) Michael Reuben Nyambuya, Deputy
President of the Senate;
- Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance and Economic
Development;
- Oppah Chamu Zvipange Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of
Defence;
- Dr. Joram Gumbo, Minister of Energy and Power
Development;
- Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of Government Business in the
National Assembly;
- Sen. Chief Air Marshall (Rtd) Perence Shiri, Minister of
Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement and
Leader of Government Business in the Senate;
- Tabitha Khumalo, Leader of the Opposition in the
National Assembly;
- Sen. Elias Mudzuri, Leader of the Opposition in the
Senate;
- Pupurai Togarepi, ZANU PF Chief Whip in the
National Assembly;
- Prosper Chapfiwa Mutseyami, MDC-Alliance Chief
Whip in the National Assembly;
- Sen. Tsitsi Muzenda, ZANU PF Chief Whip in the
Senate;
- Sen. Lilian Timveos, MDC-Alliance Chief Whip in the
Senate;
- Sen. Chief Charumbira, the President of the National
Council of Chiefs;
- Royi Billah, appointed by the Speaker.
- Sen. Omega Hungwe, appointed by the President of the
Senate; and eight Members, six from ZANU PF and two from MDC Alliance:
- Marian Chombo;
- Innocent Gonese.
- Spiwe Mukunyaidze;
- Mathew Nyashanu;
- Sen. Sikelela Gumpo;
- Sen. Morgan Komichi; 25. Hon. Sen. Tambudzani Mohadi; and
- Hon. Sen. Sydney Sekeramayi. DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I also
wish to inform the Senate that the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe is offering free defensive driving courses to Hon. Senators. The course takes two days to complete. Hon. Senators who are interested in the course should register with the Human Resources Department in office no. 405, 4th floor, Parliament building”.
ORAL ANSWERS QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Today
we have the following Ministers in the House;
- Eng. Matiza, the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development;
- Ziyambi Ziyambi, the Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs;
- Kambamura, the Deputy Minister of Mines and
Mining Development;
- Prof. Murwira, the Minister of Higher and Tertiary
Education, Science and Technology Development;
- Munzverengwi, the Minister of State for
Mashonaland East Province;
- Matemadanda, the Deputy Minister of Defence and
War Veterans;
- Gwaradzimba, the Minister of State for Manicaland
Province;
- Madiro, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage; and
- Simbanegavi, the Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Recreation.
I would like to remind Hon. Senators that we will follow the procedure that we followed last week that is – I would ask Hon. Senators to introduce themselves so that we know each other better and the
Ministers will also identify themselves when answering questions.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you very much Mr. President.
My question goes to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. Mr. President, violence against women and children is on the high in this country. I want to know what the Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Ministry is doing about it.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): Thank you very much
Mr. President. I want to acknowledge and thank the Hon. Sen. for a very important question pertaining to violence against women and children. Yes, it is true that violence against women and children is prevalent in our country and as far as the police are concerned, matters which are brought before the police are investigated accordingly. Where there is what we call prima facie case, the matter is brought before the court and handled accordingly. So, it is very unfortunate that we have so much violence against children in our society. It is incumbent upon everyone in society to make sure that we reduce the culture of violence.
Thank you very much.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. What measures do you have in place as Government to address the police stations which were built during the Rhodesia era in rural areas such as Dotito camps, which are now surrounded by tuck-shops and Eco-cash agents’ structures in order to ensure that the dignity of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is maintained?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): Thank you Mr.
President. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for the question. It is true that the accommodation for ZRP including their offices are now old and dilapidated and it is not a pleasant sight. The challenge that we have is one that is known to all of us, which is the financial aspect in order to improve on these buildings. However, what I want to promise Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi is that it is an issue that is under discussion in the Ministry, with the aim of improving and addressing this challenge. We may be looking at the National Budget to ensure that we get an allocation in order to improve on the accommodation. However, because there are so many ministries which are also vying for high allocations, we are hoping that it will be good for us to be allocated a reasonable amount.
I want to promise you that as a Ministry, it is our hope to improve the accommodation of ZRP. Some of these homes are a sorry sight for the ZRP forces and their families. For our ZRP officers to be able to do their work professionally, they should have decent accommodation and offices so that they receive the Zimbabwean populace who will be coming to report cases in dignified offices. We cannot only look at the financial situation of the Government or the fiscus, but we are also thinking outside the box and trying to engage with partners in the private sector to ensure that the homes are improved. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: My question is directed to the
Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. Hon. Minister, we realise that in the city centre, the police are running battles with vendors which is causing challenges because the time that the council police and
ZRP engage in running battles with vendors…
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Senator, can you ask your question.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Hon. Minister of Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage, we realise that there is a challenge in the city centre of running battles between the ZRP and vendors. I was also caught in a cross fire It causes confusion, what are you doing about it?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): Thank you Mr.
President and I want to thank the Hon. Senator for that question. Let me hasten to say that it is common cause that the work of the ZRP is to maintain law and order in the country. The issue that you mentioned; for some time now, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing has reiterated that what is happening is wrong because these are not designated selling areas. This affects the health of the nation. Currently, we are experiencing the cholera epidemic and it is said that prevention is better than cure.
The Government has done everything in its power in order to curb cholera. Vendors sell perishable goods such that cholera can be spread through these goods. Vendors are not supposed to be selling their wares everywhere. The council has by-laws that govern where people are supposed to sell their wares from. There is no country that allows a person to sell from wherever they want. The Central Business District (CBD), as mentioned, there are those who pay licences in order to conduct their businesses there without any challenges. However, the vendors are now everywhere.
We know that the economy of the country is in a terrible state and people are trying to earn a decent living but they should also follow the law and not take the law into their own hands. The Constitution gives the ZRP the mandate to protect that law, but the vendors are leaving the issue of livelihood and are now blaming the ZRP who maintain law and order. Let me promise the Hon. Senator that the police will not stop doing its work as mandated in the Constitution. However, what we are saying is that people should go to designated vending sites and you will see that there will will be order in town. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Mr. President.
My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs. Minister, I want to find out what Government’s policy is regarding prosecutors who are working in areas where they were born in. Where we come from, we realise that there is a challenge.
I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I want to thank
you Mr. President and I want to thank the Chief for the question where he is asking about prosecutors working in areas that they live in and what would happen to them. The prosecutors are professional in their duties and they even took oaths to follow the code of ethics that guide them. If there is a family member who they think has a case and he cannot handle the case, they can recuse themselves. However, if there are people who are engaging in corruption in the sense that they are protecting people in their community, we can take the cases to the Prosecutor General to look into the issue. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President.
My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. What is the Government doing concerning the traffic accidents that are happening? The heavy vehicle trucks are travelling at night and we have people who are driving without licences. I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): Thank you Mr.
President. The question that has been posed is an important question because we are losing a lot of lives and we are losing relatives through traffic accidents. Moreover, there is the issue of people who are driving kombis and do not follow the traffic regulations thereby distracting other road users. In short I say, it is an issue that is being addressed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police in order to contain the indiscipline on the roads. Our children, especially these kombi drivers, we do not understand what has become of them. When you look at their ages, they are very young and are engaging in such mischief. The ZRP, however are doing everything in their capacity contain the problem.
On the issue of accidents of heavy vehicles that travel during the night, I think the law can always be amended if there is a challenge and we need to tighten our laws. We can repeal the laws to contain the accidents being caused by heavy vehicles on the roads. We only come in when the law has been enacted but I want to thank the Hon. Senator for that observation because it is a problem in our country. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Is there a law that says
that if a person is involved in an accident without a licence, he can be jailed for so many years? I am talking of a mandatory sentencing for such a crime.
*HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. President. The legislation is there which says that if you are driving vehicles that carry commuters, you should have passed a medical examination and also to be of a certain prescribed age. Furthermore, the fines have been made exorbitant and it is under consideration. So, we are hoping that if the fines are increased, it will deter such behaviour.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: My supplementary question is
directed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. I want to find out - when accidents happen, we hear of so many people who will have died and they are given State assisted funerals. So, my question is that, after the burial, are there any measures that are taken to ensure that the bereaved families can continue being assisted, because in some cases, the deceased will be the breadwinner and the children will need to go to school and school fees and medical bills to be paid. I do not know if there is any policy to that effect?
*HON. MADIRO: Thank you Mr. President. The question by Hon. Sen. Tongogara is very important that if a breadwinner is deceased and there are dependants, the lives of the dependants change for the worse; is there anything that is done to ensure that the surviving family are looked after.
I think the question Mr. President the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. It is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, but what we do is to assist in the burial of the deceased together with the Local Government Ministry. I believe that the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, if they are here, they can assist to respond to that question.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: We
have more Ministers who have joined us, Hon. Mutsvangwa, Information..
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: We
have some more Ministers who have joined us. We have Minister
Mutsvangwa Information and Broadcasting Services, the Minister of ICT, Minister Kazembe Kazembe and his Deputy Minister Muskwere. I want to recognise Hon. Sen. Femai, Hon. Sen. Chief Chararumbira and Hon. Sen. Shoko – [Hon. Sen. Chirongoma having stood up.] – Garai henyu pasi Sen. Chirongoma ndakuonai.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. Mr. President,
I do not have a voice, I will ask someone to read the question for me.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Mr. President, I have
been asked to read the question for her. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. Can the Minister highlight on the spread of cholera nationwide and the mitigation measures in place.
*THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON.
- O. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. I am glad for the question posed. I think this is a good question because it will enlighten the Members of this august House to know the status of cholera in our nation. Cholera outbreak is there and it is not anything to joke about. It does not choose who to attack, be it tribe or political party. It cuts across everyone. We are teaching people that we need to be hygienic. Hygiene has to start with us in order not to get cholera. We are engaging in conscientisation of the cholera outbreak. Secondly, in the areas that we live, we should dispose our waste in the proper manner. Thirdly, the water that we are drinking should be boiled. Fourthly, we come into contact with many things, so we should develop a habit of washing our hands constantly.
Cholera is caused by dirt. We will have taken in dirt through our mouths and it gets into the body. What has been happening is that, if you look at Harare, the sewer lines that have been put, the settlements have not been well built. Those sewer lines are more than 60 or 70 years old and they have become dilapidated and depleted. In that case, they block and they burst. The burst sewer pipe will now push the water pipes and the sewer water gets into the drinking water. The people who will access that water, will now be drinking waste and it causes cholera. We have this happening mostly where houses are built everywhere. The stands are very small and before water system is connected, people drill their wells and build toilets close to the wells. The waste will seep through into the well and we end up drinking the water, yet we are taking our own waste. I will put emphasis on our waste, that is what causes cholera.
The way things are being planned and the way homes are just built everywhere is what causes cholera and typhoid. It is all because of unclean water. What has happened is that when the cholera outbreak started, I was appointed and found myself landing in cholera, a baptism of fire as I call it. However, we were lucky because where I had come from, Chitungwiza is the area known as the endemic area of cholera and we had system. Those are the systems that we took and set down with the city of Harare and adopted them to address cholera. The first interventions that we did was to decommission all the boreholes that were found contaminated. Secondly, after decommissioning, we had to provide clean water, because we cannot decommission boreholes without providing clean water. That is why it was declared a national disaster.
The national disaster was good in the sense that we could request for assistance from other countries in the form of financial assistance. Most countries heeded to the call of the national disaster. Econet came through, the President also donated some money, the POSB also donated some monies and those funds enabled us to get bowsers. Some were bringing water and up to today, they are still providing water. I was in Budiriro yesterday and someone donated one million litres. Some gave one thousand litres and up to today, there is water. Water is vital because if we let people drink water with waste, it means that more people will be infected with cholera. We set up tents at treatment centres in many places.
At first, we were getting more than two thousand people a day. You could see the graph going up and deaths also increasing. The epicentre where the cholera outbreak started at Tagarika Shopping Centre in Glen View, there was a lady who used to cook food using that water from contaminated boreholes. She would give people to wash their hands and eat the food. Three people died after eating food from this woman. I am sorry to say that that woman also passed on. It kept recurring but after providing clean water, we have realised that there is now a decline. At first the graph went up, it levelled and started going down because of the measures that we had put in place to control cholera. The figures that I can give, in short are that we have more than
10 000 people who passed through the treatment centres for cholera and 49 people lost their lives to cholera up to today, but we say that no one should die of cholera. It is not permissible at all. If a person is diagnosed with cholera, it should be treated.
The challenge was the type of cholera because it was mixed with typhoid. What we call the first line of medication failed to fight cholera, so what it meant was that we had to use more advanced medication. The advanced medicine was more expensive and was not available in Zimbabwe, but we had partners who came in and availed that medication. So, that is what has helped the graph to go down.
Where we are right now, we have a few people coming to treatment centres. The numbers have gone down, but the day before yesterday, I was shocked that in Bulawayo there were two people who got cholera. I had just left Bulawayo where I had gone to have sight of it and I noticed there was one area that was in trouble and I think that is the area where it all started.
We have now come to another stage of controlling cholera. We are now giving vaccines to prevent cholera. What I am saying is, even if you drink water with waste or contaminated water, it will prevent one from getting cholera. The vaccines started being administered yesterday. I want to say that the whole nation , the whole of Zimbabwe, will be able to get vaccines, but the only challenge is that it is trickling in bit by bit, but what is good is that we start with the area where it started, the epicenter, then we give them medication.
I also took the medication. There are some who may think that there are side effects. I personally took the medication to show people that it does not have any side effects and up to today, I am still alive. I do not think I will die this evening. Mr. President, this medication needs two doses; the first day and you take the second dose within a period of six months. If you take that medication, you will not get cholera for five years. So, that is where we are right now, we are giving cholera doses and we are addressing challenges everywhere where people are settled and we are ensuring that people get clean water.
The solution, Mr. President is to avail clean water. What we have done are just temporary measures. The solution is to address the issue of water and sanitary system. The solution is to stop what has been happening where people just eat from anywhere because you do not know where it came from. There were others who were found by environmental health officers washing their vegetables in dirty water. We were used to that. We had taken that to be right. So, unclean water to wash vegetables - we then go and buy those vegetables we would then get sick.
So, what we are saying is that we need to educate each other so that we do not get cholera. For us not to get cholera, we have a mantra that is there on the issue of awareness, Mr. President. Every Honourable Senator should go and educate people in the constituencies where we come from that we need to eat clean food, we need to boil water, we need to wash our hands and we need to assist each other in maintaining healthy and hygienic environments. Our theme is cleanliness is next to Godliness. Zimbabwe shall be clean again. We want to go back to that era when Zimbabwe was clean, Harare was clean, Bulawayo was clean, and all the cities were clean. That is what we are hoping for, but if we leave the situation as it is, we will be destroying and killing each other as a nation. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: We want to thank you
Minister. What of the homes that are being built by the land barons? They are just putting wells and blaire toilets all over. I visited a relative of mine who live in such a place. Are there any measures that you have taken?
HON. DR. O. MOYO: In our Ministry we look at the issue of hygiene but those who deal with the engineering and where a septic tank should go is not the responsibility of our ministry. All we can say is that the septic tank and the wells must be a considerable distance from each other. That is the mandate of the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. So, they are the ones who ensure that where there are land barons, it is being done in a proper way.
What I want to let you know, Senator, is that the Local
Government and the Ministry of Health and Child Care are now working together with mayors. Our mayors are working with us. We do not want to lie, we are working well because we all want good health. So, we need that control. If those control measures are there and the plans are adhered to and recommendations given by the Ministry of Health and Child Care are put into place, we will not have a challenge, but it is true that there are others who are mischievous and that is where we have the Local Government and the Home Affairs coming in to ensure that things are being done in the proper manner.
*HON. SEN. O. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President.
We want to understand on this matter because health is very important. Before I debate, I want to congratulate the Minister on his appointment as the Minister of Health and Child Care. We saw the Minister taking the medication. What we request is that the medication or the vaccine is not available for everyone and currently, it is trickling in. If I leave this House where can I go and get the vaccine?
*HON. DR. O. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President. Hon. Senator,
I thank you for that question it is a very good question. I think I need to start by enlightening you that WHO gave us 500 000 doses and they are already in the country, but what I had already said is that we would start with the epicenter then we would spread out to other provinces.
Yes, you are here in Harare at the moment and there are other doses that will be received on Sunday and they are about 900 000 which means we will have 1.4 million and we will get another 1.4 million that are also coming in. So, I believe that if we are in Harare, we will complete vaccination in Harare and we will go to the hotspots. We will first deal with the hotspots like Bulawayo that I have just mentioned,
Buhera, people died there as well, it is a hot spot and in Mutare around Chipinge area. Those are hotspots and we will be looking into these hotspots. We will also get other doses that will enable us to cover the whole nation but it will take more time. If you want to be amongst the first 500 000 people who are going to be vaccinated, as I see that the Hon. Senators here wants to be vaccinated and seem to be requesting in a subtle manner, we can bring the clinic here so that they can receive the vaccine. I do not see anything wrong with that and let me work towards that to ensure that we get doses here. We started with health workers and I do not want to lie about that. We started with them because they are the ones caring for those people suffering from cholera. Therefore let me try to use the clinic here so that the cholera vaccination is administered here at Parliament Building. Naturally we were supposed to have the vaccines administered on all of us in local authority and Government health centers such as clinics. However that request has come from Hon. Senators, I will have failed if I do not protect our Hon. Members and I believe this will also assist you Hon. Senators. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for giving
me this opportunity to ask my question. The question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. What measures do you have in place regarding heavy vehicles which are causing accidents on the roads?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG. MATIZA):
I want to thank the Hon. Senator for that question. We have a number of measures focused on the issue of transport and we are actually looking at ways through which we can improve the transportation of goods and passengers in the nation at large so that we grow our economy. I am happy you mentioned rail, and other means of transport. You also mentioned road and left out air transport. Those are some of the means that need to be addressed for our economy to develop. We also have inland waters and as a result, we also need to address the issues around water transport and to ensure that the waters are navigable. Such means of transport are actually important for the growth of the economy.
You talked about accidents on the roads and the broader issue that we are talking about is safety on the roads. People should be safe when traveling and what we are saying is that the roads should be wide enough, visibly well marked to the extent that when one is driving, they should be able to see what is happening. The drivers themselves need to be checked if they are appropriately licenced to drive the vehicles they are driving. We currently have a big challenge of fake drivers and other people who just get on the road knowing that they have other challenges that do not allow them to be driving on the road at that time. You can be involved in an accident because of speaking on the phone while driving, stress due to domestic violence from home and, all hinges on need to take safety precautions seriously.
We have the Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Council that looks at the issues of road safety. The Traffic Safety Board exists but it does not have the authority compared to authority that the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) has. With the VID, if your vehicle is found to be unworthy to be on the road, they are legally empowered to impound it yet the Traffic Safety Council lakes the authority to do that. What we want to do is to come back to this Parliament so that we amend existing laws and empower the Traffic Safety Council to have teeth to enforce its authority.
We also face challenges on permits issued out to commuter bus operators. These appear to be too many than the number of people commuting. We view that as a result, there is competition among the commuter bus operators and hence accidents are increasing. There are many other factors contributing to this problem and we need associations that have to be formed by these operators so that they self manage. Without associations, we are going to continuously have these problems and we are going to take serious measures to ensure that commuter operators cannot get a permit from the Ministry without being a member of the association. That measure will ensure that people adhere to the road traffic rules.
You will find that in other regions like Bulawayo, there are associations and these associations have assisted in curbing road carnage. We are taking a number of measures to further reduce road carnage and that includes post accident measures. We are working on the Road Accident Fund to ensure that we always have sufficient funds to assist road accident victims such as the injured. Those should get emergency support such as being ferried to the hospitals on time. We are working with the Ministry of Health and Child Care on that note to ensure that we have specialist medical doctors in various fields so that we are able to manage that in all emergency phases.
Under railway transport, we have a policy to recapitalise our railway system and I am sure you have read in the papers that the
National Railways of Zimbabwe is partnering with DIDG Transport Consortium that is bringing in US$400 million to recapitalise the national railways system. The railway system is important as it helps to transport cargo that is being transported by heavy vehicles on our roads which are now a major cause of accidents on the road. The move will also ensure that our roads are better maintained and have a longer lifespan.
In the same vein regard we are also engaging in the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) project financing model to speed up achieving our goals. Our airports should also be well equipped to make sure that we do not always have air transport accidents. We are addressing the air traffic control and radar control systems to ensure that we do not have air transport accidents. Generally, the issue of accidents is an issue that we are addressing. We have a number of measures and if we implement those, Zimbabwe’s road, rail and air transport systems will be safe. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: My supplementary question is on
accidents. Looking at statistics which say that HIV is number one killer in causing death, road traffic statistics say it is number four. Minister, before we talk about air transport and rail, what is in place to prevent these accidents on the roads because that is what is claiming the lives many people?
*HON. ENG. MATIZA: I believe I once touched on that question when I said that our roads should be redeveloped and I said there are a lot of networks under build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) so that the road network is smooth. I also said that for accidents to be curbed it all starts with the driver. If the driver is not licenced, is drunk and driving a defective vehicle, that person can cause an accident anytime. What we have before us is the need to address those issues. Those without licences should be arrested.
VID should be able to execute its mandate. What we want is for VID to be computerised and integrated. If your car is impounded by VID, it is computerised. If it gets to the road block and your number plate is entered, it will show that this vehicle was impounded and is defective. That is another deterrent that we are talking about. Coming on to trains, if the rail system is working it will put less pressure on our roads because the weight on the roads will be reduced and we have a longer life span. That weight should be on the trains and not on the roads. That is why I said on road accidents we can reduce that. On the issue of drunken drivers, we need breathalyzers. It should be checked whether the level of drinking that you have is able to take you to your destination.
We are working with the Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Council who are engaged in massive education. It is even being done in primary and secondary schools and it is in their curriculum that they should know the road rules and regulations. The pedestrian has to know the signs. If they see the red robot they can think that it means I am crossing. Children need to be educated. All these efforts should ensure that we reduce road accidents.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: I move that time for Questions Without
Notice be extended by fifteen minutes.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: In
order for us to cover as much ground as possible, I am requesting Hon. Members to be concise, precise and straight to the point so that we have as many questions as possible.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: My question is directed to the Minister of State for Manicaland Province. What measures have you put in place to assist the Municipality of Mutare because people in Dangamvura go for one week without water? What measures have you put in place to ensure that there is water in Dangamvura?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MANICALAND
PROVINCE (HON. DR. GWARADZIMBA): It is true that in Mutare
there is a challenge of water supply currently. The measures that are in place are, that we had a meeting with the Provincial Medical Director in Mutare, Mrs Mafaune, the city council, stakeholders and other residents in order to address this challenge. There are pipes that are similar to those that were found in Harare which are dilapidated and we are running around trying to get bowsers to ensure that the residents get access to clean water.
We have managed to get $400 000 that was sourced by the City of
Mutare in order to address the water challenges. I thank you
HON. SEN. NCUBE: My question is directed to the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation. Can this House know where the youth training centres are dotted in different provinces of Zimbabwe?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: That is
a specific question and I would urge you to put that in writing.
*HON. SEN. ZIVIRA: My question is directed to the Minister of
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. There was the issue of
Gukurahundi in Matabeleland and Bulawayo which resulted in children without birth certificates and national identity cards. Some of these people even failed to register for elections. What measures have you put in place to assist the people of Matabeleland to enable them to register and vote in the next election?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): I want to thank the Hon
Member for that question. It is a Zimbabwe citizen’s right to get documents such as birth certificates. There is no discrimination in acquiring documents but it is a right to get those documents. If there is an issue that children are failing to get these documents because of need of witnesses, I believe that it is not only the relatives or the parents who can witness but the community as well. In rural areas, there are village heads who know the subjects in their areas and these can go and witness for the children and they will be able to get documents. I believe it is not only in the mentioned area but it applies throughout the country. What is needed is that the MPs should ensure that their constituents and the Registrar are aware of this information to enable people to get their documents. Mostly, it is because of lack of dissemination of information or just the lack of interest to get those documents. If one says I cannot get a birth certificate and go to the Registrar’s office they can be assisted.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: My supplementary question to the Minister is - what is it that is needed by the orphaned gukurahundi children to get birth certificates? Who is supposed to accompany them so that we take that information to the people who are supposed to take them to the offices. I thank you.
HON. MADIRO: In my response to the Senator, I have said that witnesses are not limited to parents or relatives for anyone who requires registration in the form of birth certificates. May I remind the Senator that even for the new voters roll, it was made very clear that an affidavit is evidence enough to warrant an officer to respond to anyone who requires to register as a voter. As you are aware, voting is a fundamental right and the Constitution of Zimbabwe protects that right. It is incumbent upon the Government through the relevant pathway to make sure that the vote is effected. Let me assure the Hon. Senator that it is a question of knowing that the witnessing has been relaxed. It was a bit stringent before but now it has been relaxed. If there is clear evidence that no close relatives are surviving, we have our community set-up because there are no traditional chiefs at kraal head level who do not know their subjects. They can witness and facilitate the issuance of birth certificates.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: This is an important
issue but the problem is that it cited gukurahundi. From all areas where we come from, we also have orphans who are also experiencing these challenges. So, this has nothing to do with gukurahundi. In my area, I am in trouble daily. Hon. Minister, what you said is not what is happening on the ground in rural areas. As chiefs, we write those affidavits stating that the children are members of the community. They ask the child to still bring witnesses who will be 100km away. I know you are new Minister, but you need to educate your officers to do the right thing. We are tired of this.
*HON. MADIRO: I may be new in this House but I am not new
in terms of living in the rural areas and having witnessed such incidences. It is true that most people are experiencing challenges but I believe that the chief knows that our President and Government have reiterated that corruption is not permissible. There are other people who make things difficult for others by demanding bribes. So, if they want to assist they ask for something before assisting the individuals. That is why we have such a challenge. However, I believe that where it is happening, it is important for you to bring those matters to the provincial heads to enable the Ministry to address those issues. There is a lot of corruption taking place and you may find someone demanding a cow, a goat or a chicken. I know the Hon. Members and the chiefs are alive to the concern of their communities. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF. NGEZI: My question is directed to the Minister of Health. Is there anything that can be done to quicken the process of having a post mortem for persons who will have been murdered? People are spending two weeks waiting for the post-mortem because they cannot bury their relatives before the post-mortem results. The delay is mainly due to the fact that the doctor will not have come to the particular area. It then becomes expensive and people will no longer have resources to use.
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON.
- O. MOYO): Mr. President, I thank the Hon. Senator for the question. The situation is that, there are two types of post mortems. The first one is when one dies in a hospital after being admitted there for 24 hours, it is possible for the doctors at the hospital to do the post mortem. However, if a person dies before arriving at the hospital, the description is, ‘brought in dead,’ which leads to the need for an investigation on whether that person was not murdered. We also look at the medical history to investigate if there is evidence of the presence of any chronic illness. This can be done by the doctors at the hospital.
However, if there is no history of any chronic disease, we have to wait for the police and the involvement of police means that there is need for a forensic pathologist. In Zimbabwe, we have very few forensic pathologists, I think we have two. In Bulawayo we have one and we were being assisted by the Cubans who used to send forensic pathologists. What this means is that if it is in Harare, we have to wait until Wednesday to get the forensic pathologist to do the post mortems. However, we have other pathologists who are not called forensic pathologists, they are histopathologists who can conduct general postmortems.
So, what we encourage is that, they should also go and capacitate themselves so that they become forensic pathologists on police cases that are simple to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe are not affected.
The histopathologists are also assisting in some cases which are simple. However, if a human body is found in a river or a well, it becomes a police case and it needs the services of a forensic pathologist. We surely encounter these cases and it disadvantages the families of the deceased because they have to spend a lot of money in sourcing food for mourners at the funeral.
We are working towards getting our own forensic pathologists in Zimbabwe. It is a challenge that will persist until we get these pathologists. We are also submitting requests to allow us to engage histopathologists so that they also do what forensic pathologists do. On a contrary note, you will understand that if your relative is deceased through murder; you would want to have ample evidence on the case. Therefore, it is necessary to have pathologists who can do a professional job. It is sometimes better to wait, particularly on murder cases, in order to get evidence from a specialist in the name of a forensic pathologist. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
CURBING OF CHILD MARRIAGES
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to state measures being taken to curb child marriages.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for posing a very pertinent question. Mr. President, the importance of ensuring that child marriages and any other vices inherent therein are eradicated in our country cannot be understated. Stemming from the constitutional provision making 18 years the legal age of majority and following the Constitutional Court ruling that any marriage involving persons under this age is null and void, it is beyond contention that such marriages…
Some Hon. Senators having stood between the Hon. Minister speaking and the Chair
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, can we have
one question at a time.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. President. I was saying; following the Constitutional Court ruling that any marriage involving persons under this age is null and void, it is beyond contention that such marriages are illegal.
Mr. President, as Hon. Senators may know, the process of aligning legislation to the Constitution is ongoing and the majority of the Acts are at an advanced or completion stage. Some of the statutes being aligned namely, the Marriages Act, Customary Marriages Act and the Children’s Act are meant, in part, to deal decisively with the issues of the prohibition of child marriages. Much of the issues relating to the prohibition of child marriages and similar vices are being taken care of by the ongoing alignment process, and I am confident that this will put to rest this matter.
Mr. President, may I reiterate that Government is committed towards ensuring that the rights of children, including their right not to be given up for marriage or marry before they reach the age of 18, are promoted, respected and fulfilled. Such a process involves stakeholder consultations to ensure that the relevant laws reflect this commitment. I thank you Mr. President.
AWARENESS OF MARRIAGE LAWS
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to state measures being taken to raise awareness of marriage laws, particularly to women in rural areas.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President. I want to thank Hon. Chimbudzi again for posing this question again. Public awareness and outreach programmes in general are of paramount importance. Such programmes on marriage laws, not only to women but to communities, religious and traditional leaders will enhance and facilitate implementation of these laws.
There is need to educate the woman on the full content of her rights under any marriage regime and even extending to inheritance laws. Outreach is a necessary component to facilitate full understanding of the legal system relating to marriages, the various enforcement mechanisms and effective implementation.
Mr. President, one crucial awareness raising method is the accessibility of legal aid and advice relating to marriage laws. The Government is working towards improving the provision of legal aid to people who cannot afford legal representation and this encompasses women based in the rural areas. As provided for under Section 31 of the Constitution, we are taking practical measures within the resources available to decentralise the Legal Aid Directorate to all provinces in
Zimbabwe. In 2014, we managed to decentralise to Gweru, Mutare and
Masvingo. In 2015 and 2016, we managed to open offices in Bindura,
Gwanda, Chinhoyi and in 2017, we opened offices in Hwange and Marondera.
Mr. President, to ensure that the general populace is aware not only of the services that we offer at legal aid directorate but also of constitutional provisions as well as any other concerns they may have. We carry out awareness campaigns on the Constitution where we ensure that we let people know where they can find their nearest legal aid centre and the services that we offer.
We recently embarked on a constitutional advocacy programme in
Mashonaland West where members of the public had an opportunity to air out their views and concerns as well as pose questions on legal issues where clarity was required.
It is my firm belief that this reach can surely extend to women in rural areas where not only marriage laws are addressed but various legal issues as a whole. We have seen an increase in the demand for our services which is an indication that many people are beginning to know about the Legal Aid Directorate. Our lawyers have also been seized with a lot of deceased estate cases, most of our clients being women. I thank you Mr. President.
REUNIFICATION AND REINTEGRATION OF CONVICTS INTO
SOCIETY
3 HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Justice, Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs to explain the Ministry’s role in the reunification of convicts with their families and reintegration into society upon their release from prison.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President. I want once again to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for posing the question.
Let me start by explaining a bit about our rehabilitation programme. The importance of having rehabilitation programmes that focus on changing the offender into a law-abiding citizen cannot be overstated as it culminates in the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services carrying out its mandate. Mr. President, the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services has a mandate to protect the society from criminals through incarceration and rehabilitation of convicted persons and others who are lawfully detained and their reintegration into society while exercising reasonably safe, secure and humane control. This is in accordance with Section 227 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mr. President, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services offers prisoners opportunities to participate in different activities for their rehabilitation and these include:-
- Farming activities
- Skills training
- Academic education
- Spiritual counseling
- Knitting and
- Wood carving, among others.
These rehabilitation programmes are focused on spiritual development, vocational training and educational development that prepare the prisoners for their lives when they are reintegrated into society. The main thrust of the rehabilitation programmes is to restore prisoners to the status of law-abiding citizens.
Mr. President, prison visits are a tool used by the Prison Service in
Zimbabwe to keep prisoners in Zimbabwe in touch with their families. This is in a bid to keep families intact and foster familial connections that will provide for easy unification and reintegration when a prisoner is released and in turn lower the likelihood of reoffending.
Mr. President, in a bid to improve the general positivity of prisoners and give them motivation to prepare for re-integration, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs through the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services introduced the family week last year. It is meant to improve the rehabilitation of offenders while facilitating their reintegration into society through enhanced interaction with various stakeholders such as churches and other interested parties.
Mr. President lastly, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service is working towards improving its rehabilitation programmes so as to reduce the number of offenders who reoffend after being released.
I thank you.
COMPUTERISATION OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
9 HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Information
Communication Technology and Courier Services to clarify the
Ministry’s role in the computerisation of Government departments, for instance, the Criminal Intelligence Department (CID) which still uses typewriters.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. KAZEMBE):
I would like to start by thanking Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for asking such a pertinent question. The Ministry as you would appreciate is mandated to ensure an ICT enabled environment throughout the country. This covers mainly policy and other related issues such as connectivity, infrastructure and awareness. Further, the Ministry provides the central ICT requirements for the whole of Government departments such as the Public Finance Management System and e-Government.
Coming to the question by the Hon. Senator, the Ministry of ICT and Courier Services like any other Government department, relies on monies from the Treasury. If financial resources were readily available, the Ministry would buy computers and give them to all whom maybe in need of them. However, due to the scarcity of resources, this is not possible. What this means is that, any affected Government department can approach Treasury, get the resources to buy their requirements and in this particular case, the computers then the Ministry will provide connectivity and any other ICT technical assistance that may be required. I thank you Mr. President Sir.
CAUSES OF CANCER
11 HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of health and
Child Care to explain -
- The cause of cancer and whether it is hereditary; and
- Measures being taken by the Government to control it.
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON.
SEN. DR. O. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to appreciate the question asked by the Hon. Senator on the causes of cancer, whether it is hereditary. I am not going to go too deep into the medical jargon. Let me start by saying, the known inherited causes are based on our lifestyles, the food we eat, our physical activity levels. The lifestyle diseases are those which are caused by intake of alcohol for instance, you will end up with liver cirrhosis or smoking, you will end up with lung cancer. Pollution also accounts for about 2 percent of all cancers and 80 percent are due to environmental factors. The most common types of cancer are prostate cancer in men and cervical and breast cancers in women. We also get breast cancers in men, it is not just in women. You also get brain tumours, they are quite prevalent. Most cancers are not inherited however, they just happen. Some people are born with a gene mutation that they inherit from their mother or father. This damaged gene puts them at a higher risk for cause when cancer occurs because of this inherited gene mutation.
This type of cancer is referred to as hereditary cancer. Like I said, it could occur in breast, in ovarian, in the colon, rectal or even in prostate. There are capabilities of genetic testing for some of these hereditary cancers. These hereditary cancers account for 5 to 10 percent of all the cancers. In terms of the treatments that are available, there are many types of cancer treatments that are available in Zimbabwe. Most have a combination of treatments such as surgery with chemotherapy and all radiation therapy. You may also have immune therapy or hormone therapy.
Mr. President, major improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer are being witnessed particularly in high-income countries. Currently, over five thousand new cancer diagnose of all types are made here in Zimbabwe annually. Experience have however shown us that this is just the tip of the iceberg as many cancers are not captured by the routine national health information system because the patients do not present for treatment or register deaths. Of those who do report, the majority are already at an advanced stage of disease with limited access to screening. The current cancer treatment and palliation services are unable to meet the existing demand.
The cancer programme in Zimbabwe Mr. President, is guided by the Cancer Control Prevention Strategy which is there from 2014 up to 2018. The Cancer Prevention and Control requires a population wide integrated and coercive approach to cancer that encompasses prevention, screening, diagnosis and support. Palliative and rehabilitative care are also part of that integrated approach. While cancer survival rates have been noted to vary by type of cancer, the major causes of these low survival rates has been identified as lack of access to early detection and early treatment. There is a national cancer forum whose mandate is to monitor performance of the national cancer prevention and control programme and advise the Minister of Health and Child Care accordingly.
In conclusion, Mr. President, we have to address cancer issues holistically, from health promotion, prevention, screening, the treatment and the rehabilitation. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr.
President. There has been talk that cancer can also be treated using traditional medicine. At your Ministry, you have both traditional medicine and the western medicine, how far can you go with that as a Ministry?
*HON. SEN. DR. O. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President and I thank the Senator for the question. Yes, we hear that there is traditional medicine that assists in treating cancer. We also hear that there are herbs that assist. What happens with cancer is that you cannot stop anyone from using the medicine that he or she wants. You will find people ending up going to hospitals and at the same time they are also using traditional medicines. They also go to herbalists, therefore they go to all areas. Whatever comes is taken. As a Ministry, yes, we do have a department that deals with traditional medicines. That is the other issue that I am thinking that as a new Minister, I would want us to research on. We will get best practices from other countries like China and India because they use traditional medicine. In Australia, they also use traditional medicines and in other countries, they use cannabis to treat cancer.
However, on the issue of cannabis, we do not want to rush into it because for us to be able to grow it, we need to have security measures in place. If we just tell people to use cannabis, we will end up having people who are high because of the improper use. What we want to do first is to ensure that we conduct trial tests before we introduce cannabis medicine by getting it from other countries for our trials, whilst at the same time preparing to have our own using people who are already in it from other countries. They can come in and have their trial tests and they can also have their small farms to grow cannabis like what we were doing at the diamond area in Chiadzwa. We do not want to rush into it. It is a good suggestion, we will research on it and address the issue. In our department of traditional medicine, we do have our experts there. We know that our ancestors used to treat a number of diseases, so on the issue of cancer, we cannot downplay any medicine. Whatever would have assisted you is what you can take. I thank you.
CURRENT MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the Senate of the current maternal mortality rate and measures being taken to reduce it.
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON.
SEN. DR. O. MOYO): The death of a woman while pregnant or within
42 days of the termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes are a challenge not only for Zimbabwe but for most developing countries.
Currently, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) stands at 651 deaths per 100 000 live births in Zimbabwe (ZDHS 2016). The previous ZDHS
(2011) had shown that the MMR was 960 deaths per 100 000 live births.
Although there has been a significant decline in the country’s MMR, it is still unacceptably high. Zimbabwe did not meet the 2015 MDG target on MMR and is now strengthening the health system in a bid to meet the sustainable development goal of 70 deaths per 100 000 live births…
The Hon. Minister having been code-switching.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order
Minister, stick to one language. Our Hansard people have got difficulty in translating two languages so stick to one language.
HON. SEN. DR. O. MOYO: My apologies Mr. President.
Maternal deaths do occur due to three delays:
Delay 1: Delay to make a decision to seek help by the woman.
Interventions in place to address delay 1 include health education at health facilities for antenatal women, out patients attendees in children’s ward, targeting women and in general wards including men.
Removal of user fees for maternity services is being implemented in all public health facilities and it is of great help in removing financial barriers in accessing skilled health care.
Involvement of the community through community based health workers.
Delay 2: This is a delay in reaching a health facility.
The interventions for this delay number 2 is that we, as a Ministry, have and are continuing to strengthen mothers’ waiting homes (MWHs) at health facilities by improving the infrastructure, resources and services which women access while staying in the maternal homes , for example the measurement of blood pressure, fetal heart beat checks, urinalysis and so on. The Ministry of Health and Child Care is also striving to strengthen the referral system for pregnant women. A recent assessment of the ambulance service was conducted and findings being used to mobilise support for ambulances from partners and the
Government.
Delay 3: Delay in getting the appropriate care at health facilities when the mother has arrived at the health facility.
So, what is it that the Ministry of Health and Child Care is doing to avoid this delay? The Ministry has insisted that health worker capacitation in providing emergency obstetric and neo natal care (EmONC) at all levels is available. Lower level facilities are capacitated to provide basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care (BEmNOC) while higher level facilities are capacitated to provide CEmONC services. The capacitation includes training of health workers in obstetric emergencies and life-saving skills, supplies of drugs such as oxytocin, magnesium sulphate and equipment such as anaesthetic machines and patient monitors.
The Ministry also introduced the blood coupon initiative with the help of funding partners which saw women accessing blood for transfusion for maternity causes for free although blood is now free for everyone.
The electronic partograph was introduced and piloted in Mashonaland East province in 2017. This allows real time monitoring of women in labour and real time documentation of events as they occur. The initiative is now being rolled out in other provinces as a module in the EHR.
Other Interventions
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has introduced advanced low cost interventions to count and account for every maternal death both in the community and in health institutions.
Strengthening of the family planning services, especially method mix and accessibility help reduce maternal mortality.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care also developed, piloted and rolled out the electronic maternal and perinatal death notification system. This system allows timely notification of maternal deaths electronically so that interventions are put in place timely to avoid deaths of women from the same causes which killed others.
The community maternal deaths surveillance initiative is an intervention targeting to have community-based workers to actively search for and report maternal deaths occurring in the community to enable more accurate estimation of the magnitude of deaths in the country.
With the above stated interventions and many more, the Ministry of Health and Child Care aims to reduce avoidable maternal deaths in the country and bring down the maternal mortality rate (MMR). I thank you Mr. President.
EASING TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN CITY CENTRES
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain measures being taken to ease traffic congestion during peak hours in city centres.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG. MATIZA):
Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. While it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing for the management and design of road infrastructure and services in the urban areas, my ministry, in conjunction with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing plans to provide rail services at peak hours where rail infrastructure exists. Thank you.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order Number
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MANICALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): I move that
the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 9th October, 2018.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR
MANICALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE (HON. SEN.
MAVHUNGA), the House adjourned at Twenty Eight minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 9th October, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 31st October, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
2018 PRE-BUDGET SEMINAR
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to remind
the Senate that all Members of Parliament from Harare, Mashonaland
Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and Manicaland should confirm their flights to the 2018 Annual Pre-Budget Seminar to be held from 7th to 11th November 2018, at Holiday Inn, Bulawayo with Public Relations Officers at the Members Dining Hall by end of day.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate be adjourned.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 1st November, 2018.
MOTION
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for devolution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Madam President for allowing me to contribute on this motion. On the 16th of March 2013, this country went to vote for the Constitution that we have which is called
Constitution Number 21. As you know, we had another Constitution which was called the Lancaster House Constitution, the one I am talking about is the one which we voted for. The problem that we have in this country is not implementing what the Constitution states, which in essence is the guiding document that we must follow. I want to steal some words from the Hon. Speaker which he said three times. He said,
‘the problem that we have in this country is inertia, the problem that we have in this country is inertia, the problem that we have in this country is inertia.’ What he simply meant is that we do initiate things but we do not implement, we know about things but we do not do them. I was happy that Madam President was also there to listen to the Hon. Speaker talking about that. I believe Madam President does not have inertia.
Havana izvozvo vanoita basa ipapo ipapo.
When we went for elections…
An Hon. Senator having passed between the Hon. Senator speaking and the Chair.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order!
Hon. Member, you may use this other way.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Madam President. Before we went for elections, remember we closed this House, some of us were in this House, we were told to go and campaign. What I know is that the two political parties that are in this House stood up and said that devolution is for us. Sometimes I get confused when the other side does not talk about this thing. When they were campaigning they were talking devolution – [HON. SENATORS: Inaudible interjections] - I wanted protection but I realise …
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: There is no need
for protection but maybe to protect that other side you are talking about because this is not the end of the debate. Maybe they are still coming in to debate on that motion.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Madam President, that is why I said you do not have inertia, you do it there and there. I am simply saying, Madam President, when we went for elections the two major parties and the parties that are represented in this House, they went out and talked about devolution and also made sure that they have got a representative in the provincial councils that we are talking about. We already have representatives, but the problem that we have got is that we are being told to say, look we are going to put an Act and from rumous that I pick up or from talk of the corridors, I am hearing that might be in December and in many instances in December, Madam President, tinenge takuvhara.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: But, we do not
talk about rumours in the House.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Okay Madam President, yes but sometimes
it helps because in English we say, there is no smoke without fire.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Members,
have you seen people fighting because of rumours?
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you very much. I will take your advice. So Madam President, it then boggles the mind why we are not implementing devolution because I am saying both parties that are in this House already have got representatives that are sitting, that are waiting. We have already increased the anxiety of those people because they will not work and even the population that they are representing in
Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and in Matebeleland are eager.
Madam President, I can explain it this way - last week I went out to Mashonaland Central, in particular Mt. Darwin. I was accompanying the Budget and Finance Committee. When we were there, the people were saying listen, you people do the budget in Harare and when you have done the budgets, they do not come here. We do not have those budgets here. Look at the furniture. We were in a vocational training classroom. The furniture is completely destroyed. So, they were saying look - if you have devolution you will find that we are able to tell you that this bridge needs to be dealt with, but presently hanzi murikuHarare murikukolisa. That is what they are saying.
So, I realised that I had not moved around the country. I had only gone to about four provinces and these people were talking about devolution, but then when I went to Mashonaland Central I thought they were not going to talk about devolution. I said it means to say everyone wants devolution. They said if you bring devolution to us here, mbavha tichadziona because presently they are not seeing the thieves. Mbavha dzakawanda kuHarare. So, that is what I picked up in Mashonaland Central. They are saying that there are things that were promised to say we are going to do this, we are going to do that, but those things have not been done.
Madam President, when I was in that group we were in contact with what we called Team B. Team B was doing Midlands and the whole of Matabeleland. I am talking about north and south. They went to a small place called Gwanda. They got there and started talking about the budget and this is what they were told. They were told hamuende. We must take you to the bridge which you promised you were going to sort out. Look at that. It is not good. So, it means let us give these powers to the people on the ground. It will help us. Some of us want to stay in Parliament with no worries because I am at central Government level. So whenever I am being asked in Bulawayo, I will tell them look, your people are here; deal with them isusu takupai mari. That is what we will do. So, why are we afraid of devolution? Devolution is the best thing that we can have.
Madam President, there are countries that are very successful. I will give examples of Africa, Europe and also the Americas. In Africa here we have got our neighbour South Africa. Their powers are devolved. In Nigeria, we have devolution. You have got devolution that is done at a particular county. In Europe, there is Belgium and Spain. Spain has got 17. Belgium is also devolved, so why are we afraid of devolution? Devolution has got a lot of advantages, Madam President.
I will not have done any good if I do not define devolution in this House because sometimes we talk about these jaw-breakers when some people do not understand what it means. That is the problem that we might have. My teacher used to teach me English and then sometimes I would get lost, but if he defines I would understand what he means.
Devolution, Madam President, is a political and economic empowerment process. You are simply empowering the people that are in those communities. You are saying here is a budget, you know the things that you want, you know the bridges that you want to build, you can get money from this side and you can get some money from that side and from that side and they do their things. What we then do ourselves is to go and supervise and see what they do. Mbavha dzakataurwa kuMashonaland Central dzinosungwa because they know them down there. They will arrest them.
So, Madam President, this is very simple. This means central government will transfer the following into the provincial councils – decision making, finance, management and service delivery. Presently, we have got problems in the small towns that we are talking about. We have got problems in that if you look at the Constitution, it says
Government must pay 5% to the councils, but I believe from 1995 or 2000 Government has not paid anything to the councils, which brings problems to ourselves. If you devolve powers to these people, they are able to collect money from the local communities and then we can come in and chip in and you will see that you have empowered the people because they are able to do what they have decided to do which is very important. It is very good for us and I think we need to look at that.
Devolution also promotes democracy, accountability, it fosters national unity, and it recognises the right of communities to manage their own affairs. The communities are able to say this is what we want.
Now, the problem that we have got presently because we have got centralised Government is that Mr. Shoko here, if he loses his birth certificate in Bulawayo he must come to Makombe building to get a birth certificate. If Mr. Shoko wants to get a liquor licence, he must come to another building in Harare. He is coming from Bulawayo, 438 km and with the bureaucracy that we have got, it will take two years to get that licence. So, I will be travelling every month to come and get a liquor licence, a thing that should be done in Bulawayo, Hwange or Bindura. That is simple and straightforward, so why are we running away from that. That is very important Madam President. This House must recognize that and implement what they talked about. I said when we went for elections, it was us, the other people and everyone in this House who stood up and said we are giving you devolution, so let us give them devolution because it helps everyone.
Madam President, there is an author called Morgan who said devolution will protect and promote the interests of marginalised communities. In this country, you hear communities complaining, when I got to Kariba someone was telling me that the people that are working here all come from Masvingo and Mashonaland Central. We do not have our own children working here. If we devolve, then we are not going to be accused of favouritism because the people working there will be their people and they will be acceptable to them. So, it is very important Madam President that when we talk about devolution we should look at it in a wider way. Let us look at it as an issue that will help the communities where we come from.
Communities complain that in our particular areas we have got minerals. I heard someone saying in Mutoko where they come from, there is granite. The stones are being taken away and dzimba dzirikudhuurwa but they are seeing no improvement. The same applies to the people in all the other provinces. So if we agree to implement the Constitution as it stands we will be able to have people that are innovative. The officials and politicians will become innovative – why? This is because they are staying in the communities and know what the communities need. They are able to identify the things that the communities must have. This can only be achieved if we devolve and follow our Constitution that says devolution must be there.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on the motion on devolution. Firstly I would like to congratulate you for being elected to the post you are occupying now. Let me also congratulate my president, Chamisa who made me to be present here today. Now going into the matter that I stood up for, as you can see Madam President as far as I know we are the upper House in terms of the legal issues. I believe that we should attend to the devolution issue and finalise it. Last week we went on tour. We were in Chinotimba hall in Victoria Falls and we were asked whether it was only in Harare that you find all the educated people because they can steal from other people.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order Hon.
Members, I am appealing to you as Hon Members not to use your cellphones. I do not want to name you but you have to honour yourself.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: On a point of order Madam President. You mentioned that we should not be on our cellphones. I have notes on my phone and I want to debate or write down something
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Let us follow the
debate and also go through our Standing Rules and Orders and see whether we are allowed to do so. I can see from this high chair some people trying to hide and use their phones.
*HON. SEN MOEKETSI: One speaker wanted us to visit just two places in that area. He said he moves around schools and hospitals and he wanted us to go to a place where there are two schools. He said in that particular school there is not even a drop of medication. So when we speak of devolution the intention is for us to stand for ourselves and do what is best for us, but you see us as people who are not useful. We got to another place where we were asked what we wanted since we implemented the 2% tax without consulting them. They said why do you not just go ahead and do what you normally do because we are not people in your eyes.
Even the chiefs in our areas have lost their respect because of the issue of devolution. They are just chiefs in name but that power and respect is no longer there because people think they are not representing their interests. When we got to Kwekwe people said we told you about devolution and that is what we want you to implement. They said we were failing to implement devolution because we wanted to continue stealing. Even those who are not thieves are being grouped in the same category, so let us put our heads together on this issue of devolution as the Senate. We got to Hwange and were advised that there is only one hospital that belongs to a mine in that area. They said you come here to take our coal and sell, yet we do not get any returns in that as a community where the resources are extracted and further asked where that money was going? Yes you send us for public hearing but sometimes we are shy when we get to those communities. It is sometimes very embarrassing to be seated in front of people in a hall yet we would not have convincing answers to some of the questions.
When we got to Gwanda we could not do anything and we had to go back to Bulawayo to sleep. They said they had reported to
Government that their bridge had broken down in 1980 but nothing has been done to date. So they wanted us to go and see that bridge through which parents and children could not cross to other areas whenever there is a flood in that area. They said if we did not want to go and see that bridge, they were going to close the gate so that there had to be no meeting. That generally points to the fact that at the end of the day, because these portfolio committees will have been advertised in advance, we may end up arriving there to find people already armed against us. Therefore please let us put our heads together on the matter of devolution.
In Hwange they said there were certain leaders who were taking people’s names on the promise that those people would be included in the Provincial Councils as members, yet there is a feeling that those names are being abused to extort money from Government by the same people who took those names. This is a very important matter Madam President. When we are seated here it sometimes appears as if devolution is a minor thing, yet it is a very important issue. As we are in here, there are mines which are closing and the people there are saying if they are allowed to run their own affairs, they might be talking otherwise and they would be aware of the truth whether Government has money or
not.
Communities’ views are that Government is abusing resources and therefore, the local communities cannot believe that Government has no money. I just decided to say this Madam President so that the House is clear on the matter of devolution. That is important because when we debate on this issue, all Hon. Senators should be in support of this motion. Madam President Traditional Leaders in this House have lost their respect in their communities because of this issue, yet when they come to this House they remain quiet. They should help by supporting this matter Madam President – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order Hon.
Senator. We are not allowed to force another Member to debate. If you have any matters pertaining to any other Member, they should be raised through the Chair.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI Thank you Madam President. I was just reminding them. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: I move that the debate be now
adjourned.
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 31 October, 2018.
MOTION
CASH SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the cash situation in the country.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President for giving
me this opportunity to add my voice and I also want to say thanks to the mover of the motion Hon. Sen. Shoko. This is a very important motion. Mr. President the motion is saying the Executive of the Government must solve the cash crisis. The motion is saying the bond note is equal to the United States dollar and the nation is saying the bond note needs to be lifted. Mr. President we have to be truthful and we are the Upper House, which is why for one to be a Senator, one has to be 40 years and above. It means that we really need to think and be realistic. Mr. President it pains me as a Senator to get a salary of US$1 300 yet I cannot get the money from the banks. When I try to change it into United States dollars I got only US$350 yet the Minister can still say the bond note is equal to the United States dollar at a ratio of 1:1. This is impossible.
Mr. President the other day I had US$20 and I wanted to investigate the people who are selling this money on the streets. I said please change this money and I got $60 bond notes. I said to them do you guys know that this is a crime but the guy started laughing and said but Madam, looking at what I am like this, I am actually hungry right now and do you think I can actually go to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and get some cash on my own. We get the money from those guys who are there and they are the people who are giving us the money to sell because they are making some profits.
He went on to say it is actually a joke to say that you are going to arrest us. He said, “how can I get into the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe given the security there and, how can I get money from there?” He said, “we will continue to get the money supplied to us every day here and we are going to sell the money.” It is time Mr. President of this country to actually say the truth that as a Government we are failing and as long as we are not people centered we are always going to make our people
suffer.
I am going Mr. President to procurement of essential goods; well, it is okay, the Executive decided to say it is now a free for all but can you imagine Mr. President to say you own a bakery, you make bread and you bought 20 KGs of flour and maybe it was for $50 then you sell bread
and you make $20. Really, are you going to make that bread? You will not make that bread because you have to recover your money and then when you go back to buy that flour, the flour is now selling at $150. Does it really make sense? What makes sense? It is time to ask ourselves what makes sense. It is time for Government to really think because we cannot carry on and lie to the people of Zimbabwe to say a US dollar is equal to a bond and it is one to one – it is not and it will never be until we decide that we now want to work.
Mr. President, the motion goes on to say, we are appealing to Government to please solve this crisis but I then come back again to say, how can the Government solve this crisis when already we have so many scandals. We have the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) scandal and we do not have even one person arrested. Instead, Government iri kuputika semaputi. The other one says this one is guilty and the other one says he is not and the other one says this. What exactly is the truth? Why do we give one person such a huge responsibility to say this one person is going to be the one who is going to supply fuel – Queen Bee Tagwireyi.
How do we solve the problems at NOCZIM, ZIMRA, ZESA? In the last Parliament, we were shown a little hut that was built by Chivayo in Gwanda there after he charged ZESA huge sums of money but today he is out there walking freely.
How do we solve this cash crisis? The Government has a lot to ask themselves? Mr. President, who controls foreign currency in this country because it looks like the foreign currency belongs to individuals. Somebody goes to the bank, to the RBZ, takes a million dollars, they pretend like they are crossing the borders, they come back and sell it on the street, they make money and they go back to the Reserve Bank with $100 million that they have taken in bond. What have we done as a country and these individuals are known. As long as we do not read the riot act, then we are doing nothing. As it is right now, it looks like we are just here to rubber stamp.
The Government Ministers are also there and they have somebody who is bigger than them who controls everything. So really, what can we decide as Parliament? We have a mandate to represent the people here. Yesterday you heard Dr. Mavetera talking here that people are dying and we are guilty of killing people as long as we do not stand up and say no to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development - as long as we do not say no to 2%.
You have heard the Hon. Members and Senators say that it is embarrassing. The chiefs went on a fact finding mission on this budget and they were embarrassed, they were locked in and insulted as if you are not a father in your own house and as if you are not a mother in your own house. We deserve respect, we are called Hon. Members but when you go out there, are we really honourable? Are we really standing up; for the people? We are not because there are bigger cartels in Zimbabwe that are controlling the market and controlling us and we are afraid that if we speak out, maybe I will not get a car or this.
Surely, I want to look at those who have died. Are you buried driving a Mercedes Benz – it is left behind? Are you buried with all that money that you accumulate - it is left behind? Surely, you build a 50bedroomed house and you do not even want visitors to come there because you are a big kahuna and you think you are building the country. Even Smith had a four bed roomed house. So, why is it that tazowana kuzvitonga kuzere and you think kuzvitonga kuzere is building a 50-bedroomed house and you do not even see the bedrooms – chikwambo here kana kuti zvii zviri imomo?
Mr. President, this issue is not a joke and it needs us to self introspect. Where is our ubunthu/hunhu hwedu, kunzwirana tsitsi to say if your neighbour is starving ...
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Order Hon. Member, stick to one language please.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President, I will try my
best.
Mr. President, my heart bleeds – I am a Senator for Midlands and I do not know Hon. Members if you are happy with your salary? Hon. Members, this is embarrassing. People are getting paid out there and I believe the Government has to look at this. When I was debating on the devolution, I said it that the Chinese are staying in Zvishavane, I see them in Zvishavane where I stay. The only way to fix this issue is to say, are they paying tax as well? If the Government/Treasury is getting money from these Chinese, how much is it? How do you measure the chrome that is going out of this country and how do you measure the gold that is going out of the country?
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
your time is about to expire.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I am wrapping up Mr. President. How do you measure the platinum that is getting out of this country? We are the richest country in the world with bag managers and it is time we self introspect and think of our people. Self accumulation will never pay. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. RWAMBIWA: Thank you Mr. Chairman.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order. I am not Chairman.
*HON. SEN. RWAMBIWA: Thank you Mr. President. Firstly, I would like to thank my President Mr. Chamisa who made it possible for me to be here and secondly, the people of Masvingo Province and lastly, I thank myself for having made it here. I am seriously concerned about the current cash crisis, which I deem to be a very serious issue. Money is the mainstay of all the things in the country. Without money, Zimbabwe cannot go anywhere despite being a rich country. We are experiencing a cash crisis because there are some cash barons who are stashing the money away and using it for their own selfish gains.
Zimbabwe is suffering at the moment but during the campaign period, the country was awash with money, to buy beer and cigarettes. We once heard the former President Mr. R. G. Mugabe saying that there are some people who had stolen the money – a lot of money for that matter. There was also a list of people who were implicated in the externalisation of US dollars and that was the last we heard about it since nothing tangible was ever done to reach finality on that issue. The money was never brought back into the country. Maybe, it ended up with the banks but I do not know. On the other hand, I wonder if it is the same US dollars that are now awash on the streets. On the other hand, I wonder if it is the same US dollars that are now awash on the streets. I do not know how the money in Zimbabwe is only found in the road and where it is coming from remains a mystery. This is the money that will drive for our economic recovery; we should not hide it in our inner pockets for this will spell poverty for Zimbabwe.
On the 2% tax which was imposed by those who are in authority to do so, as leadership, are we being considerate? For instance, I may employ someone as a maid in my home and I pay $20 per month in return for the work done and a 2% tax is deducted from that amount. What does that mean? – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – Let us amend that issue so that we become good leaders who come from the constituents who mandate us to work according to their wishes.
The current situation is that there are no drugs in hospitals, the only things that are there are ARVs and condoms. There is nothing else available in the hospitals, which shows that we are now an abnormal people that thrives on allowing men to go and enjoy themselves with women at beer drinks. As people’s representatives, we should come up with measures that quickly redress these anomalies. During our consultations, the same members of the public bemoaned the demand for payment of drugs in US$, which is not easily accessible to the ordinary man and woman – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – Drugs are now very expensive. We have people that suffer from chronic diseases who require medication on a daily basis. If they are to buy the medicine at $80 bond notes or US$35, where is the ordinary man going to acquire these unrealistic amounts from. Our economy can only be developed from people who think positively. If a couple does not plan properly, there is no way that their family can be successful. I thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. CHINAKE: I thank you Hon. President for giving me the opportunity to debate on the issue of cash being debated here. I would like to thank my President, Mr. Chamisa who made it possible for me to be here – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – I would also like to thank my constituents in Mashonaland West who made it possible for me to be here in the Senate.
Mr. President, you have heard people debating so much on the issue of cash crisis in this House. The issue of cash crisis is not happening for the first time and I do not know where we are heading when this keeps repeating itself. During 2008/9 we had a cash crisis. I was employed during that period Hon. President. When we received our salaries, we were allowed to withdraw $200 out of a $1000 or $500 depending on the amount you earned. It was the same month in month out and I do not know where we will get the balance of money that we left at the bank. If there were thieves who stole our moneys, when are they going to be prosecuted? This was my money which I worked for and was supposed to get but to date, I have not received it.
As we speak Hon. President, there are thieves who stole people’s monies but they are scot-free. The scenario is back again, that if you visit the bank, there are queues and people are not doing productive work anymore queuing for cash at the banks. I do not know where they will get their next salary when they spend most of their time at the bank. I am just registering my concern Hon. President. This means that some people are earning money whilst they are not being productive as they spend most of their time queuing for money at the bank.
If we ask why this is happening, the reason given is that we are under sanctions. I do not know where the sanction is here. If someone is at home and fails to work, can they blame their neighbour when hunger strikes? One must simply till their land and work hard in order to feed their families. The issue of cash is a problem in our economy, I am pleading with you that this be rectified. If you have no cattle and you borrow when you need to use them, that home is as good as dead – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – If you borrow a suit in order to attend a wedding, you are as good as dead.
We do not have our own money in this country Hon. President, we have other countries’ currency which we are using and that is how dead our country is – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – I request that this issue be rectified; we are representatives of people who send us to present their grievances. We wish our Government could heed to our calls and do something concerning this issue so that we can have our own currency that we work with here rather than continue to beg money from others.
Everywhere we go without our own money, we are not well
received. If we board a flight to other countries, they look at us as beggars who would have visited for the purposes of borrowing money – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – Hon. President, we will not survive on borrowing, we survive on hard work in our own country. We should thrive to open up our industries so that the economy begins to tick and we stop borrowing money. We have a lot of resources like minerals in this country which give us earnings in foreign currency – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – The issues we are debating here should be taken seriously and we will prosper and stop grieving. However, if we continue to allow foreigners to come and exploit our wealth and then we follow them to beg for money, we are not going anywhere. With these few words, I thank you.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: Thank you Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 1st November, 2018.
MOTION
NATIONAL DRUG POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on National Drug Policy and legislative framework to effectively regulate drug use.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHABUKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 1st November, 2018.
MOTION
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF VENDING
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on finding solutions to challenges associated with vending.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. S. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 1st November, 2018.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON.
SEN. MOHADI, the House adjourned at Twenty-Seven Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 30th October, 2018
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
PRE-BUDGET BRIEFING SEMINAR
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to inform
the House that there will be a pre-budget briefing seminar on Friday, 2nd November 2018, at Sango Cresta Lodge, along Mutare Road from 0830 hours. Buses will leave Parliament Building at 0730 hours.
INVITATION TO A WORKSHOP ON THE FORMULATION OF
THE PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE INSTITUTIONAL
STRATEGIC PLAN
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I also wish to
inform the House that all Members of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, all Chairpersons of Committees, Chairperson and Deputy
Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee and Deputy Whips are invited to a workshop on the formulation of the Parliament of Zimbabwe Institutional Strategic Plan
(2018 – 2023) from 2nd to 5th November, 2018 at Rainbow Hotel, Bulawayo.
INDUCTION WORKSHOP FOR CHAIRPERSONS
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the House that the induction workshop for Chairpersons which was previously postponed is now scheduled for 6th and 7th November 2018, at Holiday Inn Hotel, Bulawayo.
INVITATION TO THE 2018 PRE-BUDGET SEMINAR
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I further wish to
inform the House that all Members of Parliament are invited to the 2018 Annual Pre-Budget Seminar to be held from 7th to 11th November 2018, at Holiday Inn, Bulawayo. All Members are requested to confirm their attendance, travel and accommodation arrangements with Public Relations Officers at the Members Dining Hall during sittings.
INVITATION TO THE ZIMBABWE WOMEN PARLIAMENTARY
CAUCUS INAUGURAL MEETING
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: All Women
Parliamentarians are invited to the inaugural meeting of the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) scheduled for Wednesday, 14th November, 2018 at 0900 hours in the Senate Chamber.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President. I
would like to start by congratulating His Excellency Hon. E. D.
Mnangagwa the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe on his election victory. I would also like to thank the visionary leadership of our President for changing the political environment in Zimbabwe by preaching peace tolerance and forgiveness. This truly contributed to the peaceful environment witnessed during the July 30 Harmonised Elections.
I would also like to congratulate you Madam President on your election as President of the Senate and your deputy. I would also like to give my sincere congratulations to all Members of the Senate on your election to this august House. It is an honour for me to represent Mashonaland Central as a Senator as we strive to deliver to our fellow citizens on this great nation Zimbabwe.
Madame President, as articulated by His Excellency at the official opening of the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe, we have a huge task ahead of us during this session. The task is to achieve our shared goals in line with His Excellency’s vision for Zimbabwe to become a middle income economy by 2030.
Agriculture plays a key role on the contribution and growth of our economy. We must re-double our efforts and utilise our land to increase productivity. We welcome His Excellency’s drive to pursue further investment and cooperation for the increased development and use of our water bodies throughout the country. Madam President, irrigation is the key to increase agriculture production. Of note, is the introduction of Command Agriculture which has helped to increase productivity and boost agricultural yields. The improvement of yields has helped end the importation of maize and save so much needed foreign currency.
I also applaud the restructuring of the Ministry of Lands, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement under one Ministry. This will make life much easier for farmers. It was challenging for farmers to move from one Ministry to another trying to get services pertaining to agriculture.
Madam President, I am a firm believer in the saying, Musha mukadzi. To that end, I applaud the establishment of the Zimbabwe
Women’s Micro Finance Bank. This facility and others will serve to empower women and give them access to loans to help them establish small businesses and projects. Micro financing has lifted thousands of women out of poverty in countries like India and can do the same for Zimbabwean women as they strive to rise above poverty and earn a decent living. The growth and modernisation of the economy cannot succeed without such programmes and policies that empower women. Additionally, while His Excellency is advocating for the uplifting of women in all areas of the economy, we as women must support each other at every level from the communities we live, but especially we must aspire to elevate more women into positions of leadership. As the
Shona saying goes Mutambirwi gwinyawo.
As we focus on empowering women, let us not forget the girl child. A lot of progress has been made in highlighting and protecting the needs of the girl child. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. As stated by His Excellency, the Child Justice and Marriages Act which seek to provide a child justice system and outlawing child marriages will be tabled by Parliament and we look forward to debating it in this House. However, our success in addressing these issues must be complemented by educating men and the boy child on the harmful practices that affect the girl child. We should also work together with traditional chiefs who are the custodians of our customary laws.
Madam President, I must also note and concur with His Excellency that the development and modernisation of our roads must be accelerated and prioritised. Some of our roads, especially those in the rural areas have been neglected for a long time. Even those that use scotch carts have a difficult time reaching rural clinics and hospitals with some reports of casualties along the way because of bad roads. Roads that serve as routes in and out of the commercial farming areas also need urgent attention. With good roads, farmers can deliver their produce to the market more quickly making the process more efficient and less expensive. I also do not need to tell the Hon. Members that in most of the urban residential areas the side and service roads have not been repaired or upgraded in a very long time.
As stated by His Excellency, there are many Bills which will be tabled and debated as part of the legislative agenda in this 9th Parliament. I particularly welcome the Consumer Protection Bill. Consumers in
Zimbabwe have been subjected to unfair and unexplained price increases of basic commodities to make life unbearable for the ordinary citizens. When this Bill is tabled, I hope we will put our heads together as legislators and pass laws that protect consumers and put an end to these unwarranted price increases. We must also enact current reforms so that we put an end to black markets, unscrupulous money changers and dealers who are distabilising the economy. Madam President, the Bill for the establishment of a Zimbabwe Media Commission to further open up our media space is also welcome and highly anticipated. Opening up the airwaves will hopefully provide Zimbabweans with a wider choice of programmes and content.
I would also like to address head on one of the issues facing our nation. His Excellency, like many of us, is gravely concerned by the recent outbreak of water borne diseases namely cholera which claimed the lives of almost 50 of our citizens. As emphasised by His Excellency in his address, the enforcement of the Public Health Act which creates a legal framework for the protection of public health in Zimbabwe must be a top priority to this House.
Madam President, I worked as a nurse for many years in the 1970s and 1980s. I am saddened and concerned that today we are still battling against such diseases as cholera and typhoid. As a Senate, we must play our part in supporting the measures aimed at providing clean water, sanitation and waste management practices. Zimbabwe, as a nation should not be battling with these preventable diseases in the 21st Century and 38 years after independence. It is our duty as the Senate to fully address these challenges by working closely with our communities and local authorities to strive towards the eradication of these diseases. We should also work towards upgrading and equipping our
provincial and district hospitals, especially the rural clinics. We must also focus on developing facilities for the disabled in our communities, conveniences such as wheel chair ramps, toilets and doors with wheel chair access must be incorporated in the development of all public spaces to ensure that all the basic facilities are available because we all know that disability is not inability.
Madam President, may I suggest that when we go back to our constituencies, we lead by example and initiate cleaning up operations within our communities as recently demonstrated by the First Lady amai Auxilia Mnangagwa. Let us put an end to cholera outbreaks and such diseases once and for all.
To conclude Madam President, I last sat and addressed this august House as a Senator over 20 years ago. I feel there is a strong ambition and optimism from this second Republic to succeed and deliver a better Zimbabwe for our people. I must say masamba asiyana, thanks to the new dispensation. I thank you and look forward to working with all of you in harmony, respect and in the spirit of nation building. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. S. K. MOYO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. PARIRENYATWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to Resume: Wednesday, 31st October 2018.
MOTION
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for devolution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. B. MPOFU: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to deliver my maiden speech in debating the motion that was moved by Hon. Sen. Mwonzora. Devolution of power is a much debated phrase and concept in our country and in others. The concept is highly political and has deep social implications, it is as contested as it is misunderstood. It is a legal and also richly political statement to which I beg to add my humble voice today.
I want to begin by celebrating the political and the legal minds amongst us in this House that have before me highlighted the capital fact that in our country, devolution is law that the sovereign people of Zimbabwe wield into a constitution. As such, we are all legally compelled and politically mandated to implement devolution or resign to being traitors to the people and the country that we must serve. It is a truism that indeed the voice of the people is the voice of God. We must ask ourselves “what are we doing and where are we standing viz-a-viz the voice of God. Are we to be faithful disciples or traitors?” That is the question. Much political stock is invested in talking about devolution itself in this august House and outside.
I ask that we stop to think and speak about that which is devolved - power. Power is understood, experienced and exercised in multiple ways. Generally, philosophers understand power to be the moral authority, the might of that which is right and correct by God and man. Political scientists, in simple terms appreciate power as democratically mandated authority to make decisions with and on behalf of the sovereign populations.
Economists and business people regularly know and understand power as the force of influence and the ability to cause certain decisions to be made and others not to be made. In all, power is the oxygen of history in the present world in which our country is located. Power as a moral authority, political mandate or influence has two defined sides and uses in our country and elsewhere. Power can be used to conquer, dominate and oppress people. Colonial regimes in Africa and the entire global community have shown us enough tragic examples of power that is used to dominate, oppress and exploit the multitudes. Under these evil regime military might, political clout, technological poise and the capacity to maim and kill are used to overpower, control and crush many men and women for the benefit of a few privileged individuals and organisations. Power can also be used for liberation. As a resource and an instrument of liberation, power is used to share and distribute rights and resources in a fair and just manner before God and man. Power as a weapon of liberation and not an instrument of domination fosters freedom, justice and human happiness by distributing resources such as national goods and services in a manner that is not only fair but seen and experienced by all as fair. Power is indeed a double edged sword that can be used to construct and also to cause catastrophe. For that reason it really matters who is holding power. If it is in the hands of the devil, the people perish but when power is in the hands of disciples of people and servant leadership, then the people prosper.
Therefore Hon. Senators, let us journey in our minds and hearts and let us travel into our organisations and institutions and probe as well as investigate ourselves. What are we using our power and privileges for? Are we using it to make our people perish or to prosper them under our care? I ask in earnest; what we have come to be told is the Second
Republic. Is it a republic for people’s prosperity or their continual peril and that is answered when we answer ourselves on what we are prepared to deploy our sword of power? Is it to cut bricks in building our nation or once again to chop off the very hands and heads of our people in the name of this and that revolution or this and that legacy, I ask?
If power is the bread knife with which the national cake is to be cut, how are we to do this? With this sword are we to cut clear the road to our people’s prosperity and happiness or to dig shallow graves in which to bury them enmass yet again. Is our power and privileges going to facilitate responsibility or impunity once again?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Member.
Are we debating on the motion of devolution?
HON. SEN. B. MPOFU: Yes.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I do not understand
your debate on the devolution and may you come to the motion please.
HON. SEN. B. MPOFU: I want to explore and define devolution by what it is not first. To devolve power is not to federate the country but to make it unnecessary. To devolve power is not to enhance succession but to make it unthinkable. To devolve power is not to exaggerate regional differences but to acknowledge, negotiate, navigate and to make them harmonious. To devolve power is not to divide the country but to acknowledge its human and political diversity and use it to enrich democracy and development. To devolve power is not to foster nativism but to permit cosmopolitanism within nationalism. To devolve power is not to separate peoples and places but to empower them. To devolve power is not to foster the apartheid of separated development but to foster patriotism of participatory development and democracy.
Devolution of power is not an enemy of national unity but an element of equality in unity as only equal citizens are able to unite, I argue.
Further, devolution of power is not cultivation of animosity and conflict but avoidance of them by just sharing of national resources to a point where no citizens are aggrieved. Devolution of power is not corruption but the avoidance of it and no individual organisations, factions or friends should eat on behalf of the nation any longer. Devolution is not the opening or exaggeration of the wounds of the past but part of healing the wounded and ensuring that new wounds do not come by. Devolution is not against power or any political establishment anywhere but it is the promotion of it by giving power to the people in their localities as the people give appreciation and support to power that has empowered them.
Honourable Members, it is political cowardice, intellectual laziness, social irresponsibility and moral negligence as well as legal hooliganism, cultural heresy and economic incompetency, poverty of thought and criminality practice to seek to reduce devolution to its very opposite. Devolution of power is not division, separation and or is it the encouragement of toxic differences and in our country, devolution of power is law. They are criminals therefore those that use fragile political excuses and sophistry technicalities to derail its overdue implementation.
Conquerors, enslavers, colonizers, imperialists and despotic regimes practice the political and economic paradigm of centralising power. Throughout Africa and the entire global South, we inherited states that centralised and monopolised power and rule. To devolve power therefore Honourable Members is to undo the slavish colonial imperial despotic exercise of power. Centralisation of power is coloniality and devolution of power is decoloniality, I argue.
Once again are we to be counted amongst enslavers, colonists, imperialists, despots and tyrants or the liberators of our people? The judge is in our hearts and minds. I reiterate that devolution of power is law in our country. We are law makers and must also be doers of the same law that we come up with. Every country under the sun has its national questions and it must answer those questions or pay the price as the questions decide national prosperity or peril. For instance South Africa in 1994 had its national questions such as, how the republic address Blacks’ expectations of what the liberation struggle had to achieve for them while at the same time allaying Whites’ fears of Blacks’ anger and likely revenge for the many decades they were under apartheid. How does a nation forge…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Senator,
can I remind Hon. Senators that they are not allowed to attend to their cell phones when they are in this House as they have to listen to debates. I have been noticing Members of Parliament concentrating on their cell phones. I can see from this Chair. Please we are Hon. Members and we have to respect ourselves.
HON. SEN. B. MPOFU: So, no history of any country can suddenly be a closed chapter for the joy and comfort of those that opened bloody chapters in that country in the first place. We must look at our past, our present and the future in the eye. Being honesty and earnest with our country and ourselves must be the article of our national faith. Devolution of power is a legal and a political method for distributing power itself and national resources in a manner that heals, unites, reconciles and delivers justice to our deserving nation.
When we look back at the corruption, the massacres, the divisions and the greed of a few against the many, the poverty of our people, the violent economic winds going on, we witness not legacy to be maintained or restored. Our mission is to be ashamed, to be sorry and to be sad and above all, to create a legacy of liberation and justice. Devolution of power is one powerful way towards that grand historical goal that we owe to God, to our ancestors and indeed our descendants to whom we owe what is to be left of Zimbabwe, a Zimbabwe that is daily being devoured by monsters that we know.
What is to be done?
- Members, I want to join the chorus of other Hon.
Members and plead the case....
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order.
Hon. Member, I am letting you know that your time is about to lapse – the light is on, if you can wind up.
HON. SEN. B. MPOFU: Thank you Madam President.
- Members, I want to join the chorus of other Hon. Members and plead the case that Government must recognise, respect and implement the dictates of our supreme law of the land – the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
- Stop the political excuses and remove political stumbling blocks to the implementation and realisation of devolution of power.
- Enable provincial councils to work and function;
- Financial and other resources should be advanced to fund and enable the implementation of devolution of power;
- If indeed there is a second republic, are we in our hearts and minds fit to be second republicans or once again, we are pretenders of the old republic. I plead honest, sincerity and courage. Let the change that we want begin inside us and with us. We cannot lead change if we ourselves are not changed. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: Thank you Madam President for
affording me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion. First and foremost, I would like to thank Hon. Mwonzora the mover of the motion and his seconder. We may look down upon this motion as child’s play, but it is not. I urge Hon. Members to sit down and think deeply about the motion and implement this resolution. It was once moved by Hon. Spiwe Ncube in the Eighth Parliament and there were disagreements in the approach with others arguing that Government did not have money but I thank Hon. Mwonzora for this motion.
I just want to say a few words – this is the people’s project. When we went out with the Committee from Kwekwe to Gweru and we moved on, I would like to thank the Ndebele people. I congratulate and thank them very much and what I observed had me taken aback and I was not happy to go back to Mashonaland Central where I come from. When they look at national issues, the people in that region are apolitical. We were quite hurt and we were ashamed when they brought up such issues. You would go into deep thoughts and you would hold your cheek in ashame such issues are debated.
This issue was raised in the Eighth Parliament and what we are saying is heard by Hon. Members and the people will be partisan wanting to defend their party, but let me forewarn you that, if you do that, you will not come back. What I saw has given me the courage to stand up and say that this should be supported. The people in Hwange said they have their own resources and the same was said by the Victoria Falls district. They asked us as to why we were not implementing this devolution because devolution will enable us to arrest those that are corrupt, thieves and uncouth characters. The Ndebele people are not ashamed and they said they were going to speak in English because some of us who were there did not understand Ndebele, but I understand a bit of English.
The people out there on devolution said this is a people’s project and if you fail to implement it, they said they were going to give us bicycles and not motor vehicles because we are acting or doing this for rubber stamping and that Ministers are going to be given motorcycles.
In Gwanda we were locked up and we were told to go and construct a bridge because we have been doing budget consultations for many years without any implementation – why have we not implemented the bridge construction. They took us to task for having failed to construct a very small bridge over the years. Hon. Mwonzora, I thank you. It is as if you had prophesied what will happen in future.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Please address
the Chair because you are not at a rally.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: I am being emotional because we
were scolded and that is why I am supportive. Old as we are, we were told that old people, you simply go to the august House to sleep on duty. I am saying everything and we must seriously address the issue of devolution. They gave us a narration of what each province has and that they were embarrassed for tourists that come here. In fact when the tourists visit that area, if they fall ill, there is no referral hospital
spacious enough to dispense services. I am ashamed by such a development Madam President. I reiterate that this is the people’s project and it must be implemented to the fullest. We were nearly assaulted and we were scolded.
We cannot support the idea that the party or the Government has no money when the people say they have their own resources. The national resources in our areas should be used to develop those areas. This was not being referred to Hwange alone, but they gave examples of each district like Mutare, Mutoko and others. I wonder whether the spirit mediums or national spirits which gave us such things were mad. I am of the Buja origin from Mutoko – the black granite is now being taken and people’s homes are destroyed when the roads are not being constructed, why? People are busy taking away the black granite and our wealth is being siphoned slowly out of the country. People were hurt and Parliament can be closed. We were scolded Madam President for our inactivity. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam President. I really want to appreciate the motion brought in by Hon. Mwonzora, the seconder and all those who contributed. Madam President, it is sad that Senate has to debate this the second time six years after the promulgation of the new Constitution. This means that the Government is defying the requirements of the Constitution and we are all here present because of the requirements of the Constitution.
It is incumbent upon Parliament to ensure that Government respects the Constitution and ensures that all the bodies that should be there are there and funded. What we are grieving over today is pure implementation of what the people have said. We are not supposed to be debating this but demanding that the Government makes it possible for the devolution of power as per the Constitution – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - It also allows Members of Parliament to participate in the development of their provinces – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – By not implementing this, we are actually excluding ourselves from helping our communities in developing them. We can still talk about the Constituency Development Fund and the rest of the things we want to fund but if we cannot fund devolution and our provinces whilst avoiding employing new people to overrun the provinces outside of the Constitution, then we are as guilty as the Government itself. We must be here together, we are not here as them against us. We are here as Parliament and as such; we are going to debate the Budget. We must be able to debate the Budget, which brings in sanity in our provinces and councils to ensure that the five percent sum of money that needs to be given to them is given – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, I do not know whether we can add a sentence here to say, let it be that Parliament demand that devolution of councils be done immediately because we are completely out of time – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – if we cannot do it, then we should all dissolve. We cannot implement the portion of the Constitution where we exist and refuse to implement the portion of the Constitution where we are supposed to work and implement what we have been instructed by the nation to do and say the money is not available. The money must be distributed in such a way that there are enough councils where Members of the National Assembly and Senators participate and ensure that the devolution succeeds. Not doing that is like doing injustice to the common man who presided over the formulation of the Constitution and has mandated us to be in Parliament. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 31st October, 2018.
MOTION
CASH SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call to solve the cash crisis in the country.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam President. I
wanted others to debate but I just want to add my voice before we close this motion. I want to thank the mover of the motion. We are losing time on this motion in terms of what is happening on the ground. I think everyone must be able to be emotive about what is happening on the ground in terms of cash.
It is sad Mr. President that we all sit here as Senators and overseers of Government and sanitise the suffering of the people, without being able to get protection from us about their currency that has been taken away – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –As Parliament, in the last Session, we legislated that the currency was United States Dollar (US$) and every person has been earning a US$. Up to today, the bond and the US$ were equated as one.
We reminded the then Vice President, who is now the President – I remember saying to him, bad money will chase good money, why are we allowing this? Why are we not having the bond coming out as a
different account? He replied that, “nothing will happen.” What has happened today is that, the Government – we are looking for the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to come and answer to us to say, what is really happening. I do not know if there is anyone who knows, what is happening to our money? – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – We are singing that dhora redu torida, tinorida dhora redu (We want our dollar) – because no one should be deprived of the currency suddenly like that and say, tatochinja (We have changed). You devalue somebody’s money by 700% overnight without doing anything to ensure
that those people are compensated.
To make things worse, there is no cash to use, that bond, there is no dollar to get and people who are sick today – I was listening to the debate by our late hero’s wife, Hon. Tongogara saying that she was a nurse - We are having, it is a shame that we have typhoid and cholera in this country. If you go to Parirenyatwa Hospital today - Hon. Sen. Dr.
Parirenyatwa, you are a Senator and that is the name of your father.
People are being asked to pay exorbitant sums but there is nothing and yet you are the former Minister. There is nothing in the pharmacies. People are being asked to pay US dollars and the US dollars are not there.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order! Do not
point at the Hon. Member. You address the Chair. You know it.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: I am still addressing you Mr.
President but I can…
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You are
pointing at him and saying your father - [Laughter.]- What has his father got to do with it? These are the rules which we have agreed on. You address the Chair and the debate has nothing to do with his father’s name being used for Parirenyatwa Hospital. You may debate.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Mr. President and I
want to say, I was not attacking him as an individual. I was just saying he must preserve the legacy of his father since he was the last Minister of Health and Child Care. We are all quiet and honestly, the people cannot buy medicine. Anything that is worth a dollar today is worth $500 to $600 more and we come and sit in here waiting to do a budget. Hon. Prof. Ncube cannot come here and say this is what I have done. He has not explained anything to Parliament. Are we really serious? Are we here to serve the people? How do we talk of a new dispensation which forgets that it has the people who voted them at heart?
There are cash barons who are coming up everywhere and not even one of them has been arrested. You find people running with cash in their hands. Hamuone here kuti vanhu ava havasi kusungwa. I will use English language. You are not arresting these people.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Senator,
you know it. You should use one language otherwise interpreters will have problems.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: I was putting it in quote. I withdraw.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Sen.
Mudzuri, be serious.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: We must debate and smile as
well. Sometimes you can coin the word if you are writing and put it in quote. So, we are talking and you cannot put it in quote. Thank you very much Mr. President.
I am saying we are failing to arrest the people with brand new dollars and brand new bond notes in the streets. Where are these things coming from? Straight from the factory or which bank where you find new notes which have never been used. We might want to serve
Zimbabwe, we want ease of doing business, but how do you do it? Today, go to any street and you will not find coke – a soft drink in a country that we say we want ease of doing business. A soft drink, even mineral water is difficult to get. If you tell me now let us go out and find where they sell this water and be allowed to buy five cases - you will not be allowed to buy five cases. You will not find a case of water to buy. It is now more expensive than fuel because of what we have introduced. I want to urge Government to go back to dollarisation. Allow people to have their dollars. If you want to change anything you can start new accounts but you cannot cheat the civil servant, sweeper and domestic worker, to say you must earn the dollar because the money which they have been earning was designated in dollars. We want that dollar back. If you were to remove the bond note and the coin, tomorrow you will find the dollars coming out.
We need only US$2bn to circulate in this country. You can afford that. I understand that from industry and commerce, for the past nine months they have managed to generate over US$4.8bn in foreign currency. When they manage to generate US$4.8bn, can we not satisfy US$2bn to be circulating within our communities? What does a simple man like a poor Senator who earns less than $1000, how much will he take out and use? It is only when he travels out that he will use that dollar and the rest will be circulating in the country.
We are playing around with people’s money wanting to ensure that people do not get cash. When they get it, it is like manna from heaven. At the same time you have devalued nothing without even explaining to the legislators. I want to say we must be more serious as Government. This is the third arm of Government and we demand that cash be made available in US dollars – not that you can produce it. We demand that if you want any change you should be able to start new accounts which are designated bonds and the rest is in dollars.
I am asking the Government to say when you introduced multi currency – yesterday the President said the multi currency system is still existing. He said that. How do you have multi currency. If I banked my money in rands, are you going to tell me that now it is bond. If you banked your money in rands or Chinese currency, it is only the dollar that you mixed. It was Government that forced us to mix bonds and dollars and said they were one. We are violating the same law which we created. We must be first to say no to this. We are stealing from the common man and we cannot continue to steal.
Last time Mr. President, we took everyone’s money when we changed from bearer cheques and now we have got the bond. This is the way of stealing people’s money. Everybody ended up with bonds which were valueless and now you want to us to end with a paper which is valueless. You are now giving us accounts called FCA/RTGS. We now know all the descriptions of money. If you go to South Africa, there is no common man who knows what a nostro account is. You want an old woman to know what a nostro account is. You want a woman who sells maize cobs at the village to know what a nostro account is. Is that their business?
Government defines cash, Government defines the money but when you continuously define money in the wrong manner and refuse people to get their money to use, then you are destroying the same economy you want to make. This is in less than ten years and there is no money that is going to the bank as long as you do not reverse that. If you do not reverse this move that you have done, you will not collect that money because no dollar, rand will go to the bank. You are actually making more crooks survive and the common man suffer. I thank you. HON. SEN. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President, for giving
me this opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. It is with a sad heart that we sit here as an arm of Government, as a creation of the Constitution which was actually promulgated by the will of the people whom we always want to say the “Voice of the people, is the voice of God”. Let me say it is unfortunate that we can actually come and sit here and behave like hypocrites.
One of the worst things which has happened in the new dispensation is the institutionalisation of crime against humanity. Some may think it is political but it is not. Why am I saying that? My background, I am a medical doctor. I went to one pharmacy in town; a drug which used to cost $2 before this confusion, I went and asked and they said doctor, I am even afraid to tell you how much it cost. ‘Do you have dollars or swipe’ and I said, where do you come from? ‘We use swipe, that is the mode of transaction’ and he said, doctor, ‘I am afraid,
I cannot tell you what it is’. I said, how much is it? With swipe, it was $80. You get the point. I am saying it is a crime against humanity because one person who we call our Hon. Minister, without consultation, makes promulgation that costs life. We have people who have died because of what I would call – for lack of a better word reversed judgement.
We are supposed to go and support his budget in Bulawayo. As Hon. Members, if we represent the people, we should not go until this is reversed. There is no reason for us to go and do that because we cannot trust and say, we are representing people when things like this are happening. We are all victims of this so-called Monetary Statement whatever it means, but I would want to call it a suffering statement. Ever since, we have never seen a decision that has caused seasonic shifts resulting in loss of lives in our country like the one that we are in. For us to continue debating other issues without protecting – we know in our profession we say, the first thing you do is to save life first then look do the next thing. As parliamentarians and as an arm of Government, we have to save life first by reversing this unfortunate proclamation by the Minister.
We cannot trust him and I personally do not. We all opened dollar accounts and there is no one who opened a bond account or an RTGs account. It is his own imagination and that is criminal. We now say there is a bond account. Who signed a bond account in his bank, nobody. That is a crime against humanity. I think in a law abiding country where there is proper rule of law, he should be somewhere where he belongs. There is no one who has caused a lot of suffering and loss of life. I work in the hospitals and what I am talking of is real.
People are dying as a result of a decision by someone and you are taking that lightly. This is a crime against humanity and I do not think as an arm of Government, we can be part to promote and support that. That should stop. I am not an activist but as Members of Parliament, we should say we cannot proceed until we save people.
This liquidity issue is a creation. He is amongst the authorities managing someone and I now say there is a bit of truth in what is happening. Someone gets to the Reserve Bank, gets money in US dollars that we cannot get and then goes to the black market; change that money and repay the Reserve Bank in bonds. I say it is the truth because people were suspended and fired. So there is truth, otherwise we will say ‘cry our beloved country if people can suspend people with no evidence’. However, suspension is not a solution. What are we doing, people are still dying. That suspension is not going to save life. The issue of liquidity crisis is a national crisis. It is a national emergency which even requires our Head of State to come in and rescue.
He has the mandate to protect the people. That is his primary responsibility.
To conclude, Mr. President, I would like to appeal to our Members of this august House that we start to be nationalistic in outlook and not partisan. People are dying. They are not killing ZANU PF people, they are not killing MDC people but they are killing Zimbabweans. In fact, it is criminal. We are cheating the public to continue to come and sit in this august House without us first of all putting a halt to this disastrous act that has been done.
Mr. President, I think we should come up and fight this crime against humanity. This is crime against humanity. I think I have argued my case, it is not political. The decision that was made – I cannot be part of the arm of Government that makes decisions that kill people. Do you want to be part of it? I do not want. I am sure we do not need to take courage because this is what is happening. Some of you have attended funerals that were as a result of this decision. Right now, you want to make us to be confident to say, this gentlemen will take us to the new Republic. What Republic are you talking about when everyone is dying? Is that the new Republic that you want? I do not want that Republic. I might as well go back to the old Republic. Let us make sure that we protect the people. I thank you Mr. President – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
HON. SEN. MAKONE: Thank you very much Mr. President, for giving me the opportunity to respond to this debate. I think the previous speaker put it very clearly and I think we still have a problem as a House. As the Senate, this is the only place where we have to speak with one voice, without screaming and shouting at each other. We are adults in the room. What worries me is that even as we thought things have changed, friends of ours across the nation are still afraid to come out and say what is wrong and what is right. I am not trying to demean anyone by what I am saying. In this House, as Senators, we can speak as adults in the House. We can make Government listen and we can make a difference. We can put our parties aside because we are not talking issue of what makes us MDC and what makes us ZANU PF. We are talking about things that make us Zimbabwe. If we cannot unite on things like money being taken out of our own pockets - surely you want me to believe that what went into my bank account is what went into every ones bank account. You almost make us believe that we have got different pay rolls. If what went into my account is what went into every
Senator’s account, you must know that there is something seriously wrong.
There is no way you can make a living out of that because most of our time we are in this House managing the business of the country and we should be able at least to go to the hospital and to buy food to eat. The amount of money has been reduced not by half but by 500% but we dare think that it is more important to be seen to be loyal to our party than to talk about what is correct.
Mr. President what is wrong is wrong. You know that in the past the Minister of Finance and Economic Development used to bring the budget to the House. We would discuss its bare bones here before we leave for Victoria Falls. We would have an idea of what it is that we are going to discuss. Is he going to hit us cold with a budget that we have not seen? We will not be able to complete it in a week. He would have to keep us there for a month while we argue this budget out and in the end who knows, if we speak as the people of Zimbabwe, we might actually turn him down and tell him to go and revise his figures. We need transparency from Government. We need to know what it is that is happening to our money.
We were told that 200 million bonds were going to be released into the economy and supported by US$200 million. What happened? Who printed the extra dollars without our authority? Who has got that authority to do that? We are the legislatures here. We can hold them to account, Mr. President. We should not be afraid to do our job as Zimbabweans. The Ministers now believe that they are actually more superior. There is nothing like that, Mr. President.
There are three arms of Government. I know that there is the Legislature, the Judiciary and then the Executive. We are at par. They cannot function without us. We can stop this madness. The people are looking to us to do our job. If we allow this craziness to go on, we are equally capable. Let them be seen by the people out there that they are the ones taking the people for a ride, that they are the queen bees who know what is happening. We are all innocent here. We are not part of that rot. They must explain themselves. They must tell us what has happened to the money.
They must tell us why they are devaluating the money and what will happen in future. I want the money that I deposited in my account as United States dollars to be given back to me as United States dollars. I do not want anything else. If anybody devalues it, I am taking them to court as a Member of this House independently because we do not have unanimity amongst ourselves. We can either do it together or we can do it individually. So, how many court cases will they be answering to. If they capture the Judiciary as well, then we are in serious trouble, then we have no country to talk about.
Mr. President, before we go to Bulawayo, Hon. Mthuli must bring his budget and we must look at it and we must give him our thoughts.
Thank you Mr. President.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon.
Senator. I would like to correct what I think is the wrong perception about the budgeting process. The Minister does not present the budget in Victoria Falls. The budget is presented in Parliament. What we do when we go to Victoria Falls normally, and this year we are going to Bulawayo, is that as is always the case there is a pre-budget presentation which is done by the Ministry to give you a heads up of what we should expect and then we go to Bulawayo for a pre-budget seminar. In other words we go and have a frank exchange with the Minister on what we, as Members of Parliament, expect in his budget. That is the normal budgeting cycle in this country. All the same, thank you Senator for your contribution.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order, Mr. President. I think what Parliamentarians would like to know, through your office, is what currency are we doing the budget in?
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Those are the kind
of things you can raise during the pre- budget and during the budgeting process itself. You know, Hon. Sen. Eng. Mudzuri, we all wanted the Minister to come and address us, but it was not possible because he was away. The budgeting process is now upon us, so let us do it properly.
The issues which are being raised here will be raised with the Minister. This is a transparent process and we are carrying out our roles as elected Members of Parliament.
HON. SEN. SHOKO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 31st October, 2018.
MOTION
NATIONAL DRUG POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on National Drug
Policy and legislative framework to affectively regulate drug use.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do not adjourn.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 31st October, 2018.
MOTION
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF VENDING
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on solutions to challenges associated with vending.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHABUKA: I move that the debate be now adjourned.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 31st October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA seconded by HON.
SEN. MAKONE, the Senate adjourned at Two minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 11th October, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMEMTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
APPOINTMENT TO THE PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the
Committee on Standing Rules and Orders has designated the following
Hon. Members to the Pan-African Parliament;
- Chief F. Z. Charumbira – (Leader of the Delegation);
- B. Rwodzi;
- P. Togarepi;
- S. Mathe; and
- Dr. T. Mashakada
APPOINTMENT AS CHAIRPERSONS OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders has appointed the following Hon. Members as Chairpersons of Portfolio
Committees;
- D. M. Mataranyika - Justice and Legal Affairs;
- C. Chinanzvavana- Environment and Tourism;
- M. Chikukwa - Local Government, Public Works and
National Housing;
- T. P. Mliswa – Mines and Mining Development;
- J. M. Wadyajena - Lands, Agriculture, Climate and
Water and Rural Resettlement;
- E. Huni - Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare;
- K. Paradza - Foreign Affairs and International
Trade;
- Rtd. Brigadier General L. Mayihlome - Defence,
Home Affairs and Security Services;
- F. Mhona - Budget, Finance and Economic
Development;
- Dr. R. Labode - Health and Child Care;
- C. Madiwa – Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development;
- Eng. D. Garwe - Transport and Infrastructural
Development;
- P. D. Sibanda - Information, Media and
Broadcasting Services;
- D. Molekela - Higher and Tertiary Education,
Science and Technology Development;
- M. Tongofa - Youth, Sports and Recreation;
- P. Misihairabwi-Mushonga - Primary and Secondary
Education;
- C. Hwende - Information and Communication Technology and CoUrrier Services;
- J. Sacco - Industry and Commerce; - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – and when I ask you to leave you say I am unkind. Please maintain your cool.
- Hon G. Gabbuza – Energy and Power Development; and
- T. Biti - Public Accounts Committee.
APPOINTMENT TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members appointed to the Portfolio Committees will be reflected on the Order Paper because the numbers are many.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. BITI: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 3 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Firstly, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to join my colleagues in this august House to congratulate you as our Speaker. We unanimously agreed and voted for you to be the Speaker of this august House to guide proceedings and to bring us back to the fold when we are getting lost in line with the Standing Rules and Orders of Parliament. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate all returning and new Hon.
Members in this august House.
I want to thank Hon. Kwaramba and Hon. Musabayana for moving and seconding the motion respectively in reply to the Presidential Speech which showed us the way forward. As a representative of all the people in Chegutu East Constituency and also on my own behalf, I also want to congratulate His Excellency the President Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa on his overwhelming success in the presidential elections and as the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. I pray that the spirits of the land and the Lord himself will guide him as he executes his mandate in a successful manner that will bring to fruition the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe said that the significance of the First Session of the Ninth Parliament was that it was his first time to speak to us as Head of State and President of Zimbabwe. Secondly, this historic event ushered Zimbabwe into a new epoch of lasting peace, unity of purpose rather than myopic, unproductive political agendas. The success and development of this nation is dependent on what we do in this House supported by masses in urban and rural areas and also those in Government and the private sector.
His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe’s address came and I quote, “at the dawn of the Second Republic,” end of quote. Mr. Speaker Sir, John. F. Kennedy, the 36th President of the
United States of America said, and I quote, “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly erasing old barriers, quickly building new structures.” These were the words that were spoken by the 36th President of the United States, Mr. John F.
Kennedy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when his Excellency the President urged us as Members of Parliament to always act in national interest and preach the gospel of peace, love, harmony, tolerance and hard, honest work, his views resonated with those of J. F. Kennedy.
As we stand united by our vision to be a middle class income economy by 2030, we stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will alter the way we live, work and relate to one another, in scale, scope and complexity. This is the fourth industrial revolution.
Mr. Speaker, the First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanise production. The Second Industrial Revolution used electric power to create mass production. The Third Industrial Revolution used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century, Zimbabwe should not lag behind.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President emphasised that agriculture remains a key sector in the resuscitation and growth of our economy. When I went through the 2017 Annual Report of the Lands Commission, I noted that the Commission faced challenges of inadequate funding and was seriously constrained by lack of mobility. I do hope that these shortcomings will be addressed in order to bring finality and sanity to the land reform in our great country so farmers can concentrate on increasing production. Agriculture is pivotal to our national economic recovery programme.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in Chegutu East Constituency, we will forever remain indebted to His Excellency the President and Commander-inChief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde Dambudzo Mnangagwa for the ground breaking ceremony he presided on the 24th July this year, heralding the beginning of mining by Karo Mining Holdings, an international platinum mining giant at Chirundazi, Msinami, Chegutu East Constituency. The investment will directly create 15 000 jobs and indirectly 75 000. In other words, 90 000 people stand to benefit.
This therefore means that in Chegutu East Constituency, we are now the direct beneficiaries of two platinum mining companies, namely Zimplats and Karo Mining Holdings. His Excellency the President is a man of action. Those of us who worked with him during the armed liberation struggle and after independence can testify.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in 2013, I had the opportunity to work with him as he gave on the sport guidance in the construction of the ZANU PF
Midlands province 6.5 million dollar Convention Centre – and accomplished the task in a record time of three months. This is the character of the man.
I thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate on a motion whose content will guide us in all our future deliberations.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I have two announcements
here. The first one is that, I recognise the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of teachers and girl students from Epworth Secondary School, together with Plan International matrons from Harare Province. You are most welcome – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. MAJAYA: On a point of privilege…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Your point of privilege will be
noted just now, I have another announcement.
APPOINTMENT TO THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL
COMMITTEE
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The second announcement that
I have is that, I have to inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders (SRO) has appointed the following Members to serve on the Parliamentary Legal Committee; Hon. J. Samukange as the Chairperson, Hon. C. Mpame, Hon. D. M. Mataranyika, Hon. I. K.
Phulu and Hon. M. Mavhunga. I thank you.
*HON. MAJAYA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My point
of order is on Standing Rules and Orders, Section 68 (d). Yesterday we had the Leader of the House where we asked questions on the spiraling prices of commodities and she said that a Ministerial Statement would be presented today by the Minister of Industry and Commerce. As we speak right now, we are not at ease because a lot of concern is being experienced in terms of the rise in prices on a daily basis. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Responding to your point of
order Hon. Majaya, we are being notified that the Hon. Minister is currently in the Senate and we are going to wait from him to respond to us. Hon. Shamu, the ruling is that it has been rejected. Thank you so much.
HON. PRISCILA MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to welcome the inaugural address to this august House – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order, please. The
speaker deserves to be heard in silence. Thank you.
HON. PRISCILA MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to welcome the inaugural address to this august House by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa on the 18th of September 2018 and to agree with him from the onset that we indeed enjoyed very peaceful, free, fair and democratic elections. In my Constituency, Mwenezi West, both the President and myself resoundingly won the very peaceful contest we went through and I also want to thank the people of Mwenezi West for voting me. We also continue to enjoy the peaceful environment that existed before and during the elections to this very day and I have no doubt in the future.
Madam Speaker, I want to fully support the President’s commitment to prioritise the economic development of our nation as a strategic response to achieve our national economic development aspirations and in particular the commitment to make Zimbabwe a middle income economy with a per capita income of not less than US$3500 and increased investment, more jobs, broad-based empowerment and reduced poverty. These lofty goals resonate particularly well in my Constituency of Mwenezi West where we suffer from perennial shortages of rain and drinking water. I call on the authorities responsible for water issues to prioritise the provision of boreholes in my constituency while those responsible for welfare should provide more and regular provisions to the food insecure families of which we have so many.
Madam Speaker, I fully support the call to bring about economic order and growth, job creation and end the scourge of corruption. In my constituency many young people resort to mostly illegal immigration to South Africa in search of jobs with quite some negative consequences to their own personal security and welfare. These young people badly need jobs and other economic empowerment opportunities. There is also a need jobs and other economic empowerment opportunities. There is also need to increase and improve the educational, health and road infrastructure in my constituency to support the development vision outlined by the President. It is unbelievable that so many years after our independence, we do not have a single boarding school in my constituency and we also do not have a hospital and adequate clinics.
Madam Speaker, I take not of the bold economic measures which the President is advocating for and I urge the responsible authorities to deploy additional measures including security measures against the street foreign currency traders and those controlling them. Although my constituency is prone to regular bouts of drought, we do well agriculturally whenever the heavens favour us with rains. Our good soils produce good crops without fertilizers. In this regard, Madam Speaker, I fully agree with President Mnangagwa’s observation on the role agriculture should play in the resuscitation and growth of our economy. we do have a few water bodies in my constituency such as the Manyuchi Dam that must be utilised to support the national development agenda. There are no adequate irrigation schemes centred on this dam, no organised exploitation of the dam’s other resources such as fish and no hydro power production facilities despite that these schemes are all very doable. I urge the responsible authorities to exploit the vast economic opportunities offered by the Manyuchi Dam in Mwenezi and I want to support.
HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member who has got into the House crossed your path between you and the speaker. He must go back.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you. May the Hon.
Member who has passed here, please go back and use the proper way. I thank you. May you continue.
HON. PRISCILA MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I also want to welcome the President’s vision on devolution and my hope is that it will improve the development prospects in my constituency which has over the years complained of receiving inadequate development attention from the centre. We need improved water and sanitation. We need to see our Mwenezi District centre Rutenga developed as a dry port strategically located to serve the rest of the country and a strategic connection to both South Africa and Mozambique. In this regard, it is important to fully revive and expand the activities of the National Railways of Zimbabwe nationally and all their infrastructure at Rutenga and to be guided by the master plan already in place for the further development of Rutenga and its dry port opportunities.
Madam Speaker, Mwenezi West benefited immensely from the land reform program. However, our newly resettled people without exception lack the most basics of life’s necessities. They need Government to focus its development endeavours to provide schools for the children, roads, clinics, boreholes, clean drinking water, other related infrastructure. They cannot understand why our mobile operators are failing to provide and construct base stations in their areas as they pay for services. In particular, in Wards 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17 of the Mwenezi West Constituency people still go without the mobile telecommunication services taken for granted in many parts of the country because there are no base stations. Madam Speaker, I call on these mobile service providers and the Ministry of Information Communication Technology to address this situation with the urgency it deserves. The legislative agenda of the Ninth Parliament as outlined by the President is ambitious and necessary and I fully support it as it has great impetus on our National Development Agenda.
Last but not least, I once again extend my congratulations to both
ZANU PF and His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo
Mnangagwa for resoundingly winning the most free and fair elections in our country.
Hon Kapuya having walked between the Member speaking and the
Chair.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Kapuya. May
you please go back and go the other way.
HON. PRISCILLA MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I also
congratulate both Mr. Speaker and Madam Deputy Speaker for their election, again in a free and fair democratic poll in this august House. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. NYERE: Firstly, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to the Presidential speech. I want to congratulate all Members who managed to come back to this august House. I also want to congratulate the Speaker for being re-elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly. The President, in his speech mentioned the issue of tourism. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and has a lot of resources and sites that attract tourists. They should come and enjoy the peace and tranquillity in Zimbabwe. Kariba is a tourist attraction area and what we would want to see is the people of Zimbabwe being able to also visit these tourist attractions. However, what stops us are the prohibitive fees charged in such tourist areas. My request is that the hotel rates should be different for tourists and
Zimbabweans. This will give us an opportunity as the people of Zimbabwe to also visit those areas. This will be an incentive for the locals to engage in tourism. Kariba is quite wide and extends to Binga and Bumi Hills. So, what we request is road infrastructure to ensure that people coming from Bulawayo can access Kariba without going round because when they get to Kariba, they have to get a boat to Bumi Hills.
The President of the nation reiterated certain issues which he talked about on his inauguration. He said that no one would defraud Zimbabwe again and any person found doing such things should be arrested. As leaders, we hold onto these words and do not want to be found defrauding the nation. Stealing is corruption on its own. The President also said that no one is above the law. All of us should respect the law but we find even in this august House, we cannot even follow the rules. The Speaker is always saying order, order because we do not listen. We want our constituents to know that as representatives, we are able to follow and obey the law. When they watch us on TV, we do not want them asking what was happening. We want a situation where people will appreciate when they see us on TV. So, we should adhere to the rules of this House. We should also obey the laws that were laid out by the Head of State and Government, the President. With these few words, I want to thank you.
HON. DZUMA: Thank you memo. Madam Speaker memo.
HON. D. SIBANDA: Good afternoon Madam Speaker. On a point of order, the Hon. Member has just addressed the Hon. Speaker as memo. Could the Hon Speaker, for the benefit of this House correct the Hon. Member?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, maybe for the
benefit of the House, when you first addressed what was the first word Hon Dzuma?
HON. DZUMA: I said Madam Speaker Maam. Let me begin by congratulating the President of the Second Republic Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa on his victory in the 2018 harmonised elections along with the Members of Parliament here present. I would also like to thank the people of Buhera West Constituency for their support without which I would not be in this Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I commend President Mnangagwa’s vision for Zimbabwe; which is to be a middle income economy with a per capita income of US$3 500, increased investment, decent jobs, broad based empowerment, free from poverty and corruption by 2010. In order to achieve this vision, there is need for us to unite and work to the best of our abilities.
I also commend President Mnangagwa‘s international engagement and re-engagement policies underpinned by mutual respect, peaceful development, shared principles and common values. This is a positive stride towards development because no country can exist on its own in the international community.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, the economy of Zimbabwe is facing challenges and economic sabotage is amongst these challenges. There are elements that seek to make our economy scream just like the Chilean economy was made to scream in the 1970s. The people of Zimbabwe are now in a state of panic due to price hikes and demand for commodities has risen and it is our duty as parliamentarians to remain vigilant, give hope to our people and build this economy of our great country.
An Hon. Member having passed between the Chair and the Hon. Member on the floor.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Member
may you please go back.
HON. DZUMA: Buhera West like any other part of the country is affected and infected with cholera. I thank the Ministry of Health and Child Care and various developmental partners for their own going effort to curb the spread of the cholera virus. I would like to state that Buhera West is a beneficiary of food aid from the Government of Zimbabwe through the social welfare Ministry and I urge the Members of Parliament present to facilitate ....
HON. TSUNGA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Hon.
Speaker, the Hon. Member is referring to a cholera virus and I am not too sure whether it is a virus or a bacteria. He must let us have the correct facts. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The point of order has been
overruled. Thank you.
HON. DZUMA: Madam Speaker, it is the cholera outbreak and I would like to state that Buhera West is a beneficiary of the MurambindaBirchenough Bridge Highway which is under construction. The completion of this highway shall make the Buhera Road network efficient and boos business for the district. Madam Speaker Ma’am, when completed, the Marovanyati Dam which is located on the Mwerahari river 5.5 km. west of Murambinda growth point shall supply domestic and industrial water to Murambinda growth point and the irrigation of 1 249 hectares. The dam has a capacity of 50 million cubic metres of water. The dam is also a potential area for the command fishery programme.
I am currently in the process of working towards the replacement of six electricity transformers belonging to schools in my constituency, rehabilitating boreholes for the community, working with the Zimbabwe National Waster Authority (ZINWA) to extend save tape water supply to other areas within Murambinda growth point and drilling new boreholes within Buhera West Constituency in order to promote sanitation and hygiene. Efforts are underway to carry on with electrifying Buhera West Constituency.
As our President, His Excellency Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa
said, we must all individually and collectively put shoulders to the wheel and play our part in the rebuilding of our great country. I thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am.
HON. MASANGO: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I am Precious
Chinhamo Masango, Member of Parliament for Mhangura Constituency in Mashonaland West. I thank you for affording me this opportunity to support the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba and seconded by Hon.
Musabayana on the speech made by His Excellency, President E. D.
Mnangagwa.
I would like to begin by congratulating our President, His
Excellency, First Secretary and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces of Zimbabwe for his victory in the July harmonised election. I would also like to thank ZANU PF party members of
Mhangura Constituency who voted for our President E. D. with 24 924 votes. Mhangura loves E.D – makorokoto baba veZimbabwe. Madam
Speaker Ma’am, I also feel honoured and humbled by the people of Mhangura for according me this privilege ...
An Hon. Member having passed between the Chair and the Hon.
Member on the floor.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order. Thank you.
HON. MASANGO: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I also feel honoured
and humbled by the people of Mhangura for according me this privilege of being in this august House - thank you Mhangura.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, our President really is a great leader, a listening President and a man of action. He really deserved this resounding win. His Excellency is preaching peace and unity nearly every day and even on the Opening of the Ninth parliament, he said, “To deliver a more prosperous Zimbabwe, we have to work tirelessly, be servant leaders, in love, unity and harmony”. Madam Speaker Ma’am, these are words only spoken by someone who wants great things for this country and it is our mandate as parliamentarians to see to it that we deliver for Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans. He said we have to create jobs and in Mhangura, youth and women will benefit so much by having a vocational training centre whereby there will be trained and equipped to be their own bosses. Mhangura Constuency is in an area with major rivers as the boundaries – there is Angwa River along Chirundu Highway, Hunyani adjacent to Chinhoyi town to Dande. It is in natural region 2A and 2Bmeaning to say it is an agricultural constituency which allows the growing of all major crops viz, maize, soya, tobacco and cotton. That is the reason why the largest grain silos are located in the Constituency at Lions Den. In any bad season, generally the country may realise low yields, but the constituency suffers only 50% drought effects - hence on job creation, my constituency will benefit immensely by having a tobacco auction floor because tobacco deliveries have remained tremendously high. Madam Speaker, I appeal that Mhangura farmers be given the necessary agricultural inputs on time so that agricultural practices are done on time for economic development.
Madam Speaker, His Excellency has reiterated the need to improve our social services and the provision of requisite infrastructure, water and sanitation. Mhangura welcomes this move. We have been without safe drinking water in nearly all the nine wards in Mhangura. The general populace is drinking water from rivers together with animals. If this cholera pandemic gets to Mhangura, Madam Speaker, it will be a disaster. As I have said, I have nine wards, so if for now I can get two boreholes per ward, that will be a very good start.
Mhangura constituency has more than 50 000 people and we only have nine clinics and one hospital. My constituency will greatly welcome an increase in the number of the clinics. Sick people travel for about plus or minus 15km to get medical help and that is not a healthy situation.
Madam Speaker, with the help of the Government, my constituency would also appreciate building of ECD centres. Five year olds travel for nearly 5km to 7km to get to the nearest school. This will lead to them disliking school immensely.
Madam Speaker, I applaud our President E. D. Munangagwa on the issue of developing our roads. In my constituency the roads are really in a bad state. Some areas are inaccessible by car. People walk for about 20km to 30km in the bush. Since these people are farmers they also end up selling to middlemen, popularly known as madhaiza or they are charged exorbitant prices by transporters to ferry their produce to the GMB or auction floors. Roads go hand in hand with communication boosters. They are needed in Mhangura constituency.
Madam Speaker, His Excellency also touched on the mining sector being a key component of our economic recovery programme. That is very true. I kindly refer you to Job 28:1-28 where it covers it all for the
Zimbabwe economy because it is God’s wisdom. My constituency boasts of copper reserves around Mhangura town and gold and other minerals all over the constituency. Therefore, I am calling for the resuscitation of Mhangura Copper Mines and support for artisanal miners as this will also create jobs for the people.
Madam Speaker, His Excellency is a leader par excellence.
‘Listen, we have to end corruption.’ Those were his words and it really has begun. We have evidence of people getting arrested for corrupt activities and in my constituency, I would love to have some people brought to book on the issue of selling land. Kwakatengeswa minda uko. Land invasion is still going on and it is causing environmental damage. To cleanse my constituency of this rot, Madam Speaker, vanhu ngava sungwe. If no action is taken, it will be a total disaster. There are a lot of people willing to testify on this issue.
Madam Speaker, these are the observed concerns of Mhangura people at large. I trust and believe that in the tenure of this Government we will try to achieve 80% of the requirements, especially with Baba
Mnangagwa as our leader. Long live E. D. I thank you.
*HON. SHONGEDZA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording
me this opportunity to add to the debate in this august House and it is my second term. I want to thank the President of the nation Zimbabwe for winning the 2018 elections resoundingly, especially in Mashonaland Central he won in all constituencies. Where I come from in Mt. Darwin, he was able to win resoundingly.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
During the debate of Hon. Karenyi the Chair’s ruling was that we should not mention provincial results of presidential elections. The Hon.
Member has mentioned Mashonaland Central provincial results – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - It was ruled when Hon. Karenyi was at the table that when referring to Presidential elections, you should refer to the national results. So, I therefore move for the adoption of that ruling, otherwise the member is challenging the Speaker’s ruling.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: To respond to your point of order, Hon. Chikwinya, we are encouraging the Hon. Member to avoid referring to provincial results as declared by the Speaker yesterday.
HON. DZUMA: On a point of order, Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. DZUMA: Can she therefore withdraw that statement.
Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think we have said it before
that she should avoid referring to provincial results. Thank you.
*HON. SHONGEDZA: Thank you Madam Speaker for your protection. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the women of Mt. Darwin for voting for affording me my second term in this august House.
Madam Speaker, the President mentioned the issue of land. On the issue of land he outlined the farming methods we are supposed to adopt in Zimbabwe and also mentioned the mechanisation programmes that should see us importing more implements for enhancing our farming programmes. We already have the Command Agriculture Programme that has already yielded positive results towards boosting the economic development of Zimbabwe. Farmers are achieving improved yields through this programme and in particular where I come from, many farmers have bought themselves personal vehicles as a result of their participation in the Command Agriculture Programme.
However, the road infrastructure in my home town Mt. Darwin has become inadequate due to the current increases in number of vehicles on our roads. The vehicles are now so many and the volume of traffic on our roads has increased. We are therefore requesting the Ministry of Energy and Power Development to install traffic lights in Mt. Darwin town. Those are important because many people are engaged in farming and they are continuously becoming more able to buy own vehicles as a
result.
The President further mentioned that Government would invest in road construction in the country. In Mt. Darwin, there is Ndoda Road that is currently under construction and the work going on there is very pleasant. The road has been lying idle for many years now but because of the coming in of President Mnangagwa and the ushering in of the Second Republic, the road is now being constructed. Madam Speaker, as the road construction is progressing, my other request is, we have another road that stretches from Mudzengerere where I come from to Karanda Hospital. Karanda Hospital serves people from all over the country and therefore that road needs to be urgently tarred. That road should to be tarred because most patients from all provinces in the country usually end up at Karanda Hospital. In the same regard Madam Speaker, there is another road that stretches from Dotito to St. Albert’s Hospital.
Madam Speaker these hospitals have exceptionally good doctors and also, the hospitals are well equipped. My request is therefore that the Government should consider tarring these roads to ensure easy access to these facilities by anyone from any other province in the country whenever they might want to access any emergency medical services from these hospitals. The tarred roads will further help to ensure that women will not give birth on their way to the hospitals as is currently experienced due to the bumpy state of roads leading to those hospitals.
The President further articulated a number of Bills which will be coming to this august House during this First Session of the Ninth Parliament. Among them is the Bill that will touch on early child marriages. My request to women in this august House is that we support the Bill when it comes to Parliament so that it is passed into law. I am saying so because our children are being mercilessly married by these elderly men who believe that if they marry young girls, they would not grow older. When this Bill will be presented in this august House, we have to unreservedly support it as women and with these few words, I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MADHUKU: Thank you very much Madam Speaker for
according me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion raised by Hon. Kwaramba on the present State of the Nation Address that was delivered to us on the Opening of the Ninth Parliament. Allow me Madam Speaker to heartily congratulate our great visionary and statesman, the President of the Second Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa for a resounding victory that was won in a peaceful, free, fair and democratic election period which Zimbabwe had never experienced before.
Madam Speaker, in his address, the President incessantly appealed and made passionate excitations for peace. That was so because peace is pivotal and an indispensable ingredient for politico-socio-economic development. Because of the peace that prevailed in our country coupled with other conducive investment friendly policies enunciated by His Excellency, we should see an improved economy especially if we all work together noting that economic transformation is naturally a process and not a once-off event.
The President further made mention of increased growth in the tourism sector in the country. This sector falls under the second pillar of vision 2030 that relates to the need to achieve inclusive economic growth. I can actually confirm that the President’s clarion call that Zimbabwe is open for business has already attracted a number of tourists and boosted this year’s tourists arrival even in rural some areas such as Bikita East Constituency. Save Conservancy has witnessed improved business as a result of international hunters who are visiting us thereby leading to a significant contribution to foreign currency inflows into the country. We therefore say, thank you very much for these policies, to our great statesman Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa.
He further made a call for us to improve our existing tourism infrastructure and this is very applicable to my constituency. There, we have great need of a 300km perimeter fence. Fence is the solution against the human-wildlife conflict menace that we are experiencing on a day to day basis in the Save Conservancy. Lions, elephants and buffaloes are on free range wrenching havoc in the area. These lions attack people, kill people and prey on livestock such as cattle. Many of those lions have now permanently relocated to forests and mountains in nearby resettlement areas. Elephants further destroy crops on the other end to the extent that the vulnerable people now perennially are in need of drought relief even when it was not supposed to be necessary. In that respect, buffaloes also continue to spread the foot and mouth disease to cattle they come in contact with. All those factors will unnecessarily continue to drain the fiscus until the fence is in place.
The President in addition bemoaned the need for us to develop a relevant, appropriate and modern education system for our country. Provision of education falls under the fourth pillar of Vision 2030 which focuses on social development. Madam Speaker, this is a crucial matter because education is pivotal and forms the backbone of all forms of national development. The need for relevant modern education is critical especially in view of the current high global unemployment rates being worsened by great strides being achieved in technological developments.
For instance in Africa, the two economic giants like South Africa and Nigeria have 27.2% and 18.8% unemployment rate respectively although they have not been hit by sanctions unlike Zimbabwe, which means that this issue of unemployment is a global challenge which should be fought.
There is therefore great need to impart into our learners critical lifelong skills that equip them to be more of job creators than job seekers. As the President said, relevant infrastructure in the education sector is required especially in the rural areas which have been lagging behind in development. This is to enable all learners to be part of the global train or movement driven by current pedagogical processes like elearning and other learner centred scientific learning techniques.
Allow me also to add my voice to the President’s call to servant leadership by everyone in the services portfolio so as to provide the best services to our people. The President is calling upon all of us to be God fearers; and servant leadership precisely means to lead like Jesus, the greatest role model of all time taking people on a transformational trajectory. This is leadership typified by love and responsibility, leading by example, visionary leadership, team building and motivation. Taking people on this transformational journey involves aligning our hearts, heads, hands and even habits. So, we have to start leading by example even in this august House. Let us all listen to the President’s call and shun egocentrism and selfish or self centred leadership so as to build a Zimbabwe that we all want.
Let me end again by most sincerely thanking the people of Bikita East who voted me to be part of this august House. It is my belief and hope that the trust they have reposed in me, I will not disappoint. I thank them so much. May God bless our President, Cde Mnangagwa. May God bless Zimbabwe. May God bless all of us in this House. I thank you.
+HON. ALICE NDLOVU: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I thank you
for affording me this opportunity to debate on this motion. I would like to thank our President Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa and I would like to congratulate him for winning the elections. The President has a wide vision because he is able to lead everyone including those who hate or like him.
Our leader Hon. Mnangagwa has empowered our country. Where I come from in Matabeleland, livestock and people are being fed. We now have a university in Gwanda. I will not talk about the Command Agriculture because Matabeleland was a dry region but at the moment, we are now taking maize for grinding and our cattle are multiplying. You are all aware that factories were closed in Matabeleland but because of ED Pfeee, he has done a great job and companies are opening. Trains have started moving again.
Let me talk about one of the precious minerals. We are taking all gold to Fidelity Refineries because we now have a leader who is saying people should be issued with licences and people are progressing as they are buying cars. As it is, there is Hon. Taruvinga who has employed 500 people through gold because we have gold in Matabeleland. This has been made possible by the able leadership of our President E. D.
Mnangagwa. The President has allowed his wife to visit people in hospitals. That is a hallmark of a very great leader. We now have a mother who visits all the patients. She does not discriminate.
We voted for ED because of his works. We did not make any mistake at all. As for Matabeleland, you know that we rely on animal husbandry. We now have cattle that we got through our President E. D.
Mnangagwa. I thank you.
*HON. MAKONI: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I want to congratulate our President Emmerson Mnangagwa for resoundingly winning the 2018 election and also his deputies. I also want to thank all Hon. Members who voted for Hon Advocate Mudenda and his deputy. I want to congratulate all Members of Parliament who made it into this august House – congratulations.
I want to thank Hon. Kwaramba and Hon. Musabayana for moving
and seconding this motion respectively. It is a pertinent motion. In his speech, the President looked at the issue of agriculture which we believe is the backbone of our economy and has alleviated poverty. We also request that the Government should support us and also the Command
Agriculture project has given us a lot. Secondly, there is no more starvation in Zimbabwe especially in Mashonaland East, there is no hunger at all. The challenge we are facing right now is that of fewer silos. In Mashonaland East, we have place like Macheke which engage in farming of tobacco. What we request is that there be tobacco floors so that the farmers can sell their tobacco. When the farmers sell their tobacco in Harare they lose their monies to thieves. Madam Speaker, the President also mentioned the issue of health. My request is that, on health, there should be support in terms of hospitals. Yes, the hospitals are there but our request is that they be increased. People are travelling very long distances to access medical services. So, what we are requesting is that, the hospital be within accessible distances to the people.
We also request that the Ministry of Health and Child Care be availed a greater allocation in terms of the budget to get medication. On the issue of education, our request is that, yes, schools are there, but we request for more schools to be built to ensure that children do not travel very long distances. What is happening is that children travel very long distances and are subject to abuse and experience gender based violence.
Once that is addressed, it will create a good atmosphere for them to go to school.
On mining, our request is that, women should be availed the opportunity to engage in mining because empowering a woman is empowering a family and a nation. This is because when they get money, their first port of call is to ensure that the family is well fed. When we go for elections, women do not make it because they do not have financial resources and yet men do have resources, hence, men have an upper hand when it comes to elections. I want to thank you Madam Speaker for the time that you have afforded me.
+HON. MABOYI: Thank you Hon. Speaker for affording me this opportunity. I would like to support what was said by the Hon. President when he addressed this House. He addressed a lot of things including agriculture when he spoke about Command Agriculture. In Matebeleland, when we talk of agriculture, we will be looking at livestock, cattle and goats and also fish. When we talk of agriculture, especially in Beitbridge, we have very good cattle.
We would like the Government to assist us when it comes to artificial insemination so that we will also have good breeds. We have the Brahmans and goats which are as big as cattle. We do not know how the Government can assist us when it comes to cattle. Here, I am talking about brahmans, simbrah and so on – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] - Maybe some people do not understand because they do not know about it. We are saying, the President spoke about all this.
We have a place called West Nicholson where beef was processed. We want assistance, we want our cattle in Beitbridge to be taken to West
Nicholson and be processed into beef so that we can export the beef. There is everything in West Nicholson except machinery. We need machinery so that West Nicholson can start operating. Matebeleland North and South can both benefit from this so that people can also get employment – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] – I do not know about that, I am talking about what I saw – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Inaudible interjection.] – Madam Speaker Ma’am, could you protect me because they are disturbing me.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, may the Hon. Member
be heard in silence. You are protected Hon. Member.
HON. MABOYI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I spoke
about Command Agriculture when I spoke about cattle and goats. We would also like assistance when it comes to education. A lot of people from my area are not educated. I was wondering if the Minister of
Primary and Secondary Education could assist – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I was still talking about schools because if you send a woman to school, you would have educated the whole nation. A lot of our young women are not educated, if they could be taught to read and write.
These women I am talking about have a lot of goats and cattle. When there is an agricultural show, they lose their cattle because they are taken by men and they make a loss. So, I was asking if there could be a Vocational Training Centre where people who are less educatred can be taught. When you talk of universities, those are for people who are educated, but for those who are not educated, they should be send to vocational training centres or taught life skills where they can use their hands like plaiting or farming. They also need some education when it comes to even running their gardens so that they know how much fertilizer they should use. We want assistance in those areas.
Coming to tertiary education, our request is that there be a university branch for those who are well educated. Our children go to
Great Zimbabwe or Gwanda Universities whilst some go to Bulawayo. In Beitbridge, if they could also assist us by giving us a piece of land where they can have a university. Most of our children spend the day in South Africa, they just cross the border because it is nearby. However, if we get such a place, they can spend the day in our own country learning or even learning Venda. I am also Venda but now I am speaking in Shona or Ndebele. If only we could have a campus. I thank you.
HON. CHIBAGU: I want to thank you Madam Speaker for affording me the opportunity. I want to thank Hon. Kwaramba who was seconded by Hon. Musabayana. I was surprised that here in Parliament, we are three hundred and seventy something and I am happy. I want to thank our President Mnangagwa for the justice that prevailed. I want to thank the people of Zimbabwe for going out in numbers to vote. As we were voted into Parliament, we should know our role and function because when the President presented his speech, he said many things that touched us. When we are in this House, let us give thought to whatever we want to say. We should be united and come up with ideas that will develop our nation because both of us have a duty to perform and we owe it to the electorate. I also want to thank the President, Cde. Mnangagwa for the voting that we did in Zimbabwe. I want to say that ZANU PF did well. You managed to vote 100 percent and that was a surprise to everyone else – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I will say whatever I want in this House because I am unconquerable.
We voted and we want people with vision, people who know what they are doing and who know why they went to war. We were happy voting for Cde. Mnangagwa because during the war, we experienced many challenges but today, we are here. Therefore, I want to thank the President. The President gave his Speech and the promises he made, I know he will fulfil because he is a truthful and honest man. For those who wanted to engage in farming, we all got inputs, there is no one who can say they are going to face hunger or starvation. I have 70 tonnes of maize and 9 tonnes of soya beans, what else do I need when I can get a million out of that produce. I am happy with what President Mnangagwa did because he is a man who does not mince his words. I
also want to thank Mashonaland Central and Zimbabwe as a whole for the voting that you did as ZANU PF supporters. We want to do better next time because currently, we are voting for people with vision who know that they represent the nation.
President Mnangagwa knows where he is coming from and where he is going – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Oooh please, give me an opportunity because I cannot listen to what you are saying. I have forgotten my paper but I can still speak off the cuff. The issue that I want to talk about is that, Madam Speaker, when we come into this august House, we do not come here to eat. We want to build our nation and the issue that I am trying to say is that our President Hon.
Mnangagwa – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
I want to proceed by saying Hon. Mnangagwa has done many things in my area Mbire. I have Eureka Mine that has not been producing for more than fifteen years and now, he has commissioned the mine and has employed a number of people.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I request that
you speak using the microphone so that people can hear what you are saying. You can proceed.
*HON. CHIBHAGU: The issue that I am talking about here is that President Mnangagwa is a man of his word who lived and fulfils his promises. In Mbire, employment has been created. Eureka Mine in Guruve has been reopened. President Mnangagwa came and opened the mine and employment was created, children are working and people are happy. I also want to say that President Mnangagwa came to Guruve a second time and commissioned a very big irrigation scheme because he realised that we know what we are doing. In Zimbabwe, we are the ones at the forefront in terms of production of wheat. We are eating bread and we do not even worry about the cost because we are baking our own bread. That is why you see we are well fed.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to talk about the issue of Kanyemba. The Kanyemba Road, Chitsingo Road, Gonono Road and Chikafa Road are now tarred. My car can now move along tarred roads. All this is because of President Mnangagwa. If they put gravel, I do not have any challenge. Currently, our President, after working on that, I want to say Kanyemba Road - the issues that I raised in the last session that from Mbare to Kanyemba, it was a challenge to maneovour that road but currently, if you want to order goods, you do not have to go round. You can go to Tanzania and order your goods and cars. All that is as a result of President Mnangagwa. I also want to say congratulations women; we are now being treated as people. When President Mnangagwa came, the
Zimbabwe Women’s Micro Finance Bank was opened and even the
Youths Bank is also functional. For those who are lazy, it is your own fault but you know that if you are into farming, you can get your money.
I can get my million and spoil myself.
My request is that when we come to this House, we must unite and we also say no to corruption – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. TARUSENGA: Madam Speaker, the Hon. Member on the
floor should stick to the motion. She is talking about herself, getting her millions, her cars and now using tarred roads. Our request is that she sticks to the presidential speech and not what she has as an individual.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: According to what you have
said, I do not see a point of order.
*HON. CHIBHAGU: I want to conclude by saying that as
Zimbabweans, let us unite and be one so we can get rid of corruption. Corruption is affecting our economy and there is no development. In the last session, we witnessed some people defrauding the State and now we hear the President saying no to corruption. We want everyone to engage in farming because we are all able bodied. You can do your work and earn your own living as an able bodied person. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NGWENYA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me
the opportunity to present my maiden speech in this Ninth Parliament.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker. I am amused by the manner in which the leadership of Parliament, including the Chief Whip of the governing party, how they have made concerted efforts to ensure that a motion that is of national importance and relevance to the prevailing situation in the country should be blocked in a manner that it should not be debated. In my view Hon. Speaker, we are not doing justice to the country which is currently in a serious economic crisis which likely to lead into a humanitarian crisis.
However, there is deliberate frustration that such a situation affecting the nation should not be debated. Hon. Speaker, I seek your indulgence that a ruling be made on that issue.
HON. KWARAMBA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: I second.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Let me first respond to Hon.
Sibanda before I take what Hon. Kwaramba has just said. Hon. Sibanda, what you have said is not in line with the motion that was being debated. I think the debate that we had was concerning a motion which was moved by Hon. Kwaramba. So, you point of order is not derived from the current debate and there is no point of order.
HON. NDEBELE: On a point of order Madam Speaker, may I
draw to your attention that there is no quorum in the House.
[Bells rung]
[Quorum formed]
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon.
Member. We have more than a quorum. We have 77 Members so we are continuing.
HON. KWARAMBA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. TOGAREPI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 30th October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. CHINOTIMBA, the House adjourned at Twenty Seven Minutes past
Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 30th October, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 10th October, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
Hon. Sacco having answered his cellphone.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Order, Hon. Sacco, the rules are very clear, you cannot use your cellphone in the House. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Some Hon. Members having insisted on sitting on opposition benches with Members of opposition strongly objecting.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! We have taken quite a bit of time of your question time. There is some confusion emanating from somewhere about the sitting arrangement which I shall deal with. Let us go by the tradition that we have been adopting all along since independence. So if there is a problem, approach the Chair and not start making noise – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - Order, order! Hon. Ndebele, order please!
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKERS’ GALLERY THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to acknowledge the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of girls from schools in Mashonaland East Province led by Plan International Zimbabwe in commemoration of the
International Day of the Girl Child. You are most welcome.
ORAL CHOLERA VACCINATION EXERCISE
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Oral Cholera Vaccination Exercise which started today will continue tomorrow, on Thursday, 11th October
2018, in the National Assembly, commencing with a presentation at 0900hrs.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD
COMMEMORATION
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that there will be an International Day of the Girl Child Commemoration on Thursday, 11th October, 2018 at Parliament Building from 1000hrs. The theme for this year’s commemoration is “Amplifying girls’ voices, leadership and the urgency to advance girls rights within 2030 sustainable development agenda. Plan International will be bringing girls from all over the country to learn about the Legislature and interact with Members of Parliament. All Members of Parliament are welcome to this event.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: The list of Ministers with leave of
absence is as follows:
- Prof Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education,
Science and Technology Development;
- K. Kazembe, Minister of ICT and Courier Services;
- J.B. Matiza, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural
Development;
- D. Marapira, Minister of State in Vice President Mohadi’s
Office;
- J. N. Mhlanga, Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public
Works and National Housing;
- P. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining
Development;
- Z. Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs;
- Prof M. Ncube, Minister of Finance an Economic Development
– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development is outside the country on Government business. Your request that he should make a
Ministerial Statement is not lost. It is still there when he comes back.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. CHIKWINYA: I stand on a matter of privilege in terms of
Standing Order Number 68 (d) read together with Standing Order Number 69. Section 119 of the Constitution confers myself as a Member of Parliament and collectively as legislators here present with the protection of the Constitution. Section 107 (2) demands that the
Minister must come to Parliament to answer questions. The Minister of
Finance and Economic Development was last here on the day the President presented the State of the Nation Address. He is prepared to address conferences, making legislative promulgations which have got an effect on ……
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! I am sorry you are out of order –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - The Hon. Minister is out of the country on official business. He is coming back. You cannot talk about his absence. I have ruled. Please sit down! – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] - Can you sit down otherwise you will be out.
HON. NDEBELE: I beg to rise on a matter of privilege. Last week same time on a Wednesday, I asked a question to the Minister of Information and because she was at sea you asked me to write that question down in order to direct her. Before I could do so in yesterday’s newspaper The Herald, the former secretary of that Ministry decided to answer me through a newspaper article which I truly believe is very unfair. If it is not disrespectful of this House or my person as a Member of Parliament, it is indeed disrespectful of the Minister herself.
It is important because in the past you have said we must not talk about people who are not in this House because they cannot defend themselves. What happens if they bring their nose into this Chamber, they open themselves to ridicule.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Which question was it on the Order Paper?
HON. NDEBELE: It was a question on why the Ministry of
Information….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Is it on the Order Paper?
HON. NDEBELE: No, before I could do that he was answering me and they were citing me – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - I stand my ground Hon. Speaker. They cited me by name. For the poor journalism that they practice at The Herald, they never granted me an opportunity of reply. So I am going to reply them in this Chamber.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I got your point of order.
HON. NDEBELE: I honestly believe senior civil servants like George Charamba must be brought to order by this very House. He cannot respond to substantive matters of policy via the newspapers. He cannot prevaricate on a matter that he clearly does not understand. I stand my ground, I am Member of Parliament in my own right. I represent the people of Magwegwe. I cannot be ridiculed by an individual and fail to answer back.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Take a seat. I got your point of order. Hon. Ndebele, if you could kindly get that caption of the paper, we would like to study it and make a decision after I have seen it. I had recognised someone to speak. – [HON. NDUNA: You had recognised me for a question Mr. Speaker and it is directed to the Minister of Mines]- Order. There was an Hon. Member in front who wanted to ask a question – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. P. D. Sibanda having stood up to speak.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Sibanda, are you disputing my
plea? If you have got an issue, please approach the Chair. Thank you.
HON. TOFFA: Mr. Speaker Sir, we are supposed to be the first.
We cannot have men talking before us after you promised.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I will do it, do not worry, I have not
forgotten.
HON. TOFFA: It seems like you have Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please sit down, I have not forgotten.
*HON. TEKESHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. Under the new dispensation, I want to ask that in 2008 – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
–
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, can you please ask the question. Do not make a statement.
HON. TEKESHE: In 2008, many people were killed – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Many people were killed but no one was prosecuted. So, in the new dispensation – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. If you do not want to ask a question I will send you out. Ask your question.
*HON. TEKESHE: When are you going to prosecute the people responsible for the killings? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I did not follow your question. This is the last warning. Can you ask your question and Members be quiet.
*HON. TEKESHE: I was asking when the prosecution of the people who conducted killings in 2008 will be done – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon.
Tekeshe asked a question…
Hon. Chikwinya having stood up between the Hon. Minister speaking and the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you go out please.
You want an answer, you must be in silence. Leave the Chamber – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Can we listen to the Minister’s answer?
*HON. MADIRO: Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon. Tekeshe asked a question and my response is that; the Hon. Member knows that when someone commits a crime, it is supposed to be reported to the police – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The police do not just prosecute, they do a thorough investigation and come up with a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. Hon. Tekeshe knows that when a crime is committed and is reported and a reasonable suspicion is built, it will be taken to court for trial and the police surrender it to the courts. So, a case is not surrendered to the courts first before a suspect is taken for investigations to take place. So, if Hon. Tekeshe has any evidence on any such killings, they should bring the evidence to the police for investigations – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. The Hon. Deputy Minister has been quite clear on the procedure and I cannot allow a supplement –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question goes to the Minister of Mines. What measures does the Government have in terms of reserved areas? Are there any measures of allocating the reserved land to the small-scale miners? What plans do you have in terms of reserved areas that were reserved by the Government for gold mining to increase our wealth and grow our economy?
THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHITANDO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I would like to thank the Hon. Member for his question. I would like to advise the Hon. Member that Government is in the process of rolling out gold service centres which will be rolled out throughout the country. The first gold centre Mr. Speaker Sir, was commissioned in Bubi in July and there are plans to commission a further four gold centres before the end of December. As we go on, there is an evaluation in all the mining districts in the country to ensure that where it makes economic sense, gold service centres will be established.
To answer the Hon. Member’s question, evaluation will be taking place throughout all the mining districts and the areas will be opened up where applicable and justifiable to small-scale miners with the subsequent establishment of gold service centres. I thank you Mr.
Speaker.
HON. NDUNA: Supplementary question – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Where the Hon.
Minister’s reply is adequate, as so adjudged by the Chair, I shall not allow supplementary questions.
HON. T. MOYO: My question is directed to the Minister of
Mines and Mining Development. How does the Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development advance President E. D. Mnangagwa’s mantra,
‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’ in bringing new investment opportunities in Gokwe Chireya which is endowed with large – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Zwizwai! Order Hon. Member! Question time is to ask Hon. Ministers on issues of policy, not on matters that relate to your constituency.
HON. CHOMBO: I direct my question to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Prof. Mavima. Can the Minister explain the Government policy on funding for textbooks for both primary and secondary schools? Is there funding for it? Is there a budget set aside for it? If there is a budget for it, what was the budget for this fiscal year and how much has been disbursed so far? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Members, you ask question on policy.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Before I ask my
question....
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Sikhala, with all due respect
please, out. Order, order.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Before I ask my question, I would like to register my concern with regards to the gender issue. I feel that the women Parliamentarians ...
THE HON SPEAKER: Please ask your question.
HON. TOFFA: Yes but I must register that concern. My question is to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Is it
Government policy to disallow children without birth certificates from registering for entry to schools? Furthermore, children have been sent away from school for not paying school fees and the Minister has said it is not Government policy. I would like to know what measures the
Minister is taking to make sure that all children go to school.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): It is not Government
policy to disallow learners without birth certificates to be registered in schools but parents should strive to ensure that such learners at some point get the documentation that is needed because those documents will be required for the writing of examinations especially at Grade 7 and later on. We have also said on several occasions in this House that it is not Government policy to exclude any learner from school for nonpayment of fees. We have indicated that if it is happening in any particular school, we should be told so that action can be taken against the school leadership that is practising such behaviour.
HON. TOFFA: Hon. Minister, I appreciate your answer but there are children that have parents that do not have birth certificates. What are the children supposed to do if their parents do not have birth certificates? Can the Minister not find a formula that allows children with parents that cannot get birth certificates to go to school?
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: As a Ministry, we have not excluded any learner but the onus is on the guardians or the parents to make sure that there is documentation for the learners, especially beyond Grade 7. We have had some learners going through Grade 7 but once they want to proceed beyond that, then there is a requirement for documentation. In terms of a solution to the documentation issue, I do not have jurisdiction over that.
HON. MKARATIGWA: Allow me on behalf of the people of Shurugwi South Constituency - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE HON SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Member, you do not ask
questions relative to your constituency. You ask questions on policy.
HON. CHIBAYA: In the absence of the Minister of Transport, I refer my question to the Leader of the House.
THE HON SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon Mkaratigwa, are you
with me. It would appear we need another induction. Order, order Hon. Member standing, please take your seat. It is not pleasant to be telling Hon. Members that you cannot ask questions further because we are asking questions on national policy to the Hon. Ministers. Please be guided accordingly.
HON. CHIBAYA: I was saying in the absence of the Minister of
Transport, I will refer my question to the Leader of the House. What is Government policy on ground breaking of projects that they never start on for example the Masvingo road?
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON. MUCHINGURI-
KASHIRI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me thank the Hon. Member for that very important question. We appreciate that the nation has for a long time been waiting for this road to start but I want to indicate to this Hon. House that only yesterday, Cabinet was discussing this matter and we are almost at the verge now of agreeing and signing a contract. I would rather that question be directed to the Minister when he is ready with the presentation. I thank you.
Hon. Zwizwai having stood up to ask a question before being recognised by the Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Zwizwai respect the Chair.
What is that yes, yes. Do not say yes. Can you ask the question?
*HON. ZWIZWAI: Sorry Mr. Speaker for the mistake that I made. My supplementary question is that Minister, if you are saying that you are almost there in terms of signing the contract, when you did the ground breaking ceremony, what were you doing? How can you have a ground breaking ceremony without a contractor and without a contract then you say you have commissioned the construction of the road? Is that practical?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Zwizwai, in terms of our Standing Orders, you address the Chair. Please can you repeat your question?
*HON. ZWIZWAI: Thank you Mr. Speaker for educating me.
My question Hon. Speaker is that, when the Government sent the
President of the nation to go and do the ground breaking ceremony at Chaka, how did he do this without the contract, because we are told that they are almost done in terms of signing the contract. How can you have a ground breaking ceremony without a contractor to do the work? I thank you.
*HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I want to thank the Hon. Zwizwai for that question. It is true that the ground breaking ceremony was done last year. The Government had contracted a certain company for the contract but later on it was discovered that that company had not been honest in its dealings, such that the new dispensation, the Second Republic saw the problems that arose from the contract and they withdrew the contract and considered other companies who had tendered for the same contract. So due diligence was done and interrogations were made to see whether the company had the money to do that. So I do not want to preempt things that the Minister is supposed to inform us on but I want to say that, we are correcting mistakes that had been made before. So, all I ask for is that they give us time to work on this. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. The Hon. Minister has admitted and when there is an admission, I do not think I can allow further supplementary questions.
HON. SACCO: Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development Hon. Mudyiwa and my question is, what Government policy do we have in place or what assurance do we have to the nation that we are going to have adequate fuel supplies for our country, considering that we have increased demand for fuel due to an increased economic activity after the Second Republic? And, also that our fuel is the cheapest in the region – what can we do to make sure that it is not diverted to the black market? –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I would like to thank Hon. Sacco for such a pertinent question, particularly now that we are going through this turbulence.
Unfortunately, I could not grasp all the questions because of the noise that was going on.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Minister. Can Hon.
Sacco please repeat your question quickly?
*HON. SACCO: Hon. Speaker, my question is concerning fuel. We have seen that after the new dispensation, there are a lot of economic activities and our fuel is the cheapest in the region when we compare it to US dollar prices. So, what measures have they put in place to ensure that it does not find its way into the black market. What can we do to ensure that fuel does not find its way to the black market? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): On the first question when
the Hon. Member asked about the policy on fuel, whether we have got enough fuel in the country. As the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, our mandate is to make sure that we have got enough fuel in the country and that is what we are implementing. That is exactly what we are doing as a Ministry – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjection.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Member seated there, allow the Hon. Minister to answer the question.
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry, through the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), we are trying our best to make sure there is enough fuel in the country. Following this upsurge in the withdrawal of fuel from the service stations which was unprecedented, we have implemented certain measures to ensure that there is enough fuel in the country.
Firstly, we have enough fuel that is being pumped into the country through our pipe lines and is being stored at the Feruka tanks and at the Msasa Storage Tanks, but the major problem that we are encountering is that even though fuel is in the country, we cannot withdraw it without payment of the required funds. This is because there has been an upsurge in usage of fuel following the increased economic activity probably due to the benefits of the new dispensation. We have enough fuel in the country. That I can assure you, but the challenge is that we do not have enough foreign currency to pay for the fuel so that it is withdrawn by the fuel suppliers and taken to the wholesalers and the retailers.
The queues are continuing - yes, but this is all because of speculation. Following the panic buying that has been going on in the country, there is a lot of hording of fuel in the country. There is a lot of unprecedented withdrawal of fuel in the country which has caused all this artificial shortage in the country, but there is enough fuel in our storage tanks. We have our storage tanks and we also have strategic reserves for fuel in the country. I can assure you, we have enough fuel, diesel and blend to take the country through for the next 36 days. From Saturday there has been pumping in of over 6 000 000 litres of diesel and blend into the country on a daily basis, but the problem, like I said before, we cannot withdraw it without payment upfront.
The Reserve Bank has been trying to provide the funds. I am sure most of you have read in the newspaper that the Reserve Bank has availed US$41 million for payment of fuel and that fuel we have paid for is in the country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection.] -
*HON. SACCO: Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is how can we avoid panic buying because fuel supply - from what I heard, is adequate for Zimbabwe? So, what policy do we have to avoid panic buying and people from hoarding fuel? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection.] - There are people engaged in panic buying and are hoarding fuel to create artificial shortages.
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority is out there to investigate the real causes of the panic buying – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order!
HON. MUDYIWA: Sooner or later, following our assurances that there is enough fuel in the country, the panic buying will disappear and a report from ZERA is being awaited on what is going on in the fuel market. Thank you.
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The Hon.
Minister told us that there is no money to pay for the fuel. She then went on to say there is enough fuel.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your supplementary question?
HON. MADZIMURE: When is the Government going to pay for the fuel because there is no fuel? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjection.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Can the Hon. Member be
heard in silence so that the Hon. Minister can also hear the supplementary question?
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want the Hon. Minister to clarify the point where she said there is no money. When is the Government going to avail enough money to buy fuel which is in short supply?
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I mentioned that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has recently availed over US$41 million for the purchase of fuel. Money is therefore there to buy the fuel that we need and that has been brought into the country as of now. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order, can you be
brief please.
HON. G. K. SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a point of privilege in terms of Standing Rules Number 69 read in conjunction with Standing Rule Number 68 (d) and also with the requirements of the Constitution and in particular Section 119 and Section 66 which talks about the freedom of movement. The crisis in the nation Mr. Speaker Sir; of fuel and the crisis of increases in prices, I think calls upon all Parliamentarians whether you are ZANU PF or MDC, that we join hands like what we did in November 2017. Then invoke Section 97 – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of privilege Hon.
Member?
HON. G. K. SITHOLE: My point of privilege is that as a House I think it is high time that we invoke Section 97 which talks about impeachment. Why do I say so? Section 97 (6) says – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Chibaya. If you raise
such issues, you better bring a motion in the House. I want to recognise I think there are two Hon. ladies who were supposed to ask last time and I indicated that I would give them time.
*HON. MAJAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is
directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce and in his absence, I direct my question to the Leader of the House. My question is - what is the Government policy concerning spiraling of prices in the country and especially for basic commodities including clothes and other goods which are being sold in United States Dollars?
*THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
(HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I believe those who were watching ZBC-TV yesterday, those who listened to the radio as well as those who read newspapers will agree that
Government have stated section by section regarding steps it is taking to address the pricing system issue including prices which have skyrocketed. These are issues I cannot exhaustively talk about today and I will request the responsible Minister to bring a Ministerial Statement to this House tomorrow and for him to inform all sectors of the economy what is happening. I will do so in my capacity as the Acting Leader of the House. Thank you.
HON. MAVETERA: My question is directed to the Hon. Deputy
Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation. My question is - what affirmative action policy have you created in terms of Youth Empower Bank in view of the fact that youths are complaining that conditions of that bank are not favourable to the young people? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Member seated at the back there, will you leave the Chamber. Hon. Member, number two from the back, that one in a white shirt there, yes.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH, SPORT, ARTS AND RECREATION (HON. SIMBANEGAVI): Mr. Speaker Sir,
responding to the Hon. Member’s question, yes the Ministry has a policy in terms of youth empowerment. The Empower Bank that she referred to is also part of the affirmative action that the Government has taken in order to ensure that the youths are empowered. The requirements for the youths to be able to access funds in the Empower Bank are that, one has to be between 15-35 years. However, also looking at the situation that we have got some disadvantaged and marginalised young people, the bank will also consider young people between ages of 35-40 years to be able to access these funds. Of recent times, as a Ministry, we have oversight over the Empower Bank and we have instructed the bank to go out to the provinces to explain to the youths what they need to do in order to access these funds. Some of the requirements are that they need to open savings accounts with the Empower Bank and once they do so, they can access the loans.
I am also aware Mr. Speaker Sir, that there are some challenges that the youths are raising in terms of access to the funds such as the stiffer collateral requirements that are needed. Most of the young people do not have these collateral requirements. As a Ministry, we have been having a marathon of meetings with the administration of the Empower Bank in order to be able to look at how we can assist to ensure that the bank becomes more youth friendly.
HON. MAMOMBE: In the absence of the Minister of Higher and
Tertiary Education, I will direct the question to the acting Leader of the House. My question is focusing on students in universities particularly when we are talking about the new dispensation and also the mantra that Zimbabwe is open for business. What are the measures in terms of academic freedoms within our tertiary institutions as well as the rampant increase of tertiary fees? This is also affecting the girl child because they are being abused by men who are forcing them into sexual harassment and abuse – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, I thought your question was
complete. What was the latter part of the question?
HON. MAMOMBE: I want to know what Government policy is
in terms of supporting students by giving them grants and loans because they are facing difficult situations within their universities. We also want academic freedom and freedom of research within our universities without fear from intimidation by university authorities.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You cannot ask two questions. The first question concerns the policy on giving grants to students. Am I right, especially the female students so that they are not harassed? That is the question directed to the Hon. Minister.
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
(HON. MUCHINGURI): Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to thank the Hon. Member for asking that very important question especially as it concerns the girl child. The girl child is dear to the Government of Zimbabwe as demonstrated by the empowerment programmes introduced by the
Ministry of Women’s Affairs especially addressing disparities that existed within the educational system. At primary education level the representation was 50/50. At higher education level, the percentage dropped to 60/40 for women. At universities it was worse and dictated that the issue be redressed.
As a result of that, Government came up with an arrangement with
Eduloan financial organisation which opened up opportunities for both boys and girls so that we address the imbalance. Any girl child looking for a scholarship or grant, is now free to approach Eduloan. Every university in the country has a branch of Eduloan and that information is easily available at all higher and tertiary education institutions.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS THE HON. SPEAKER: The other Ministers who have sent
apologies are:
- Dr. O. Moyo, Minister of Health and Child Care;
- Dr. J. Mangwiro, Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care.
May I conclude that perhaps the Acting Leader of the House to assist by ensuring that we get the Ministerial Statement from the
Minister of Industry and Commerce and also as soon as the Minister of
Finance and Economic Development is back, we need another
Ministerial Statement on the state of the economy. I will appreciate that if the message can be transmitted to the respective Ministers.
HON. MLISWA: On a point of order. This is according to
Standing Rule Number 17, which says that “at the commencement of every session there must be as many Committees designated according to Government portfolios”. The reason why I am saying this Mr. Speaker Sir, is that the sooner the Committees are in place - there are so many questions and issues happening, when are the Committees going to be put in place according to Standing Order Number 17?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Your question is very relevant. The problem is that you are an independent Member of Parliament, so you are not affected by the processes of consultation. Your observation is very correct. The consultations between the ruling party and the opposition are winding up on one or two things and they have assured me that by tomorrow they should give me their final position so that we can announce. Thank you.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
TITLE DEEDS FOR GWERU TENANTS IN GOVERNMENT
RENTED HOUSES
- HON. D DUBE asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to state when Government will issue title deeds to tenants in Government houses in Gweru that were acquired under the rent-to-buy scheme.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Thank
you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Dube for asking me the question. Mr. Speaker Sir, by way of background, I would like to inform this august House that the Government, in the mid 1990s, 1995 – 1996 initiated a Home Ownership Scheme for different categories of home seekers countrywide. In those schemes, the Government would construct the dwelling structures to completion and qualifying beneficiaries would then move in. A down payment of 50% of the purchase price, which constituted a deposit, was a condition precedent to occupation of the dwelling unit. The balance would then be amortised over a 24-year period.
However, in the case of Gweru urban, where we have flats in Mutapa and houses in Mkoba 7, which is where the Hon. Member is concerned, the housing estate is not surveyed to title because title registration for flats will be under sectional title. The cost of the title survey must be met by the property owner and once the owners have a functional residence association, they would then approach our Ministry for the initiation of title-surveying of the flats since they are the ones who will meet the costs. In the case of houses, an individual can approach the Ministry and have their stand title-surveyed. Similarly, the individual concerned would also meet the costs for the title survey.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me also emphasise that the process of title registration is triggered on an individual basis, where a beneficiary is fully paid up in respect of the purchase price of the property in question. Beneficiaries concerned should therefore approach the Ministry with a view to get assistance in obtaining title. I would urge the Hon. Member that our offices in Gweru can help those who want to obtain title.
However, tenants wishing to obtain title for the properties they currently occupy should observe the following;
- The property that one wishes to register for the title must be fully paid for;
- They need to clear all council dues and obtain a rates clearance certificate of occupation from the planning section of the Gweru
City Council;
- The property should be title surveyed;
- Tenants issued with rates clearance certificate of occupation from the City Council would approach the Ministry’s urban state lands management department for processing.
This should be done and we all urge the Hon. Member to assist where he can. I thank you.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. With your indulgence, the Hon. Minister spoke about accommodation – I want to find out what the Government policy is with regards to Government accommodation that is occupied by civil servants, especially those who are made to continuously pay rentals and not given the opportunity to own those houses?
HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, there are two types of house owned by the Government. There are title houses which are administered on behalf of ministries; those are reserved such that they are not sold because when a Ministry intends to transfer workers from one work station to the other, we will be constrained if we sell all the houses. Then, there are houses called fund houses, yes, those can be sold to sitting tenants and we have been selling to sitting tenants. So, there is a separation. If a house is tied to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry intends to use the house when they transfer workforce from one area to the other, we will not be able to sell those houses. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. In line with
reserved houses, how do they reconcile a situation where we have people who are non-civil servants, neither have they ever been civil servants but they occupy those houses whilst civil servants have no houses.
HON. J. MOYO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to be furnished with information regarding those who are not civil servants but continue to occupy Government houses whilst civil servants are waiting. Thank you.
REFURBISHMENT OF ROADS IN GWERU URBAN RENTED
HOUSES
- HON. D. DUBE asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to state when roads in Gweru urban currently in a bad state will be refurbished.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Thank
you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to thank Hon. Dube for asking me the question. Madam Speaker, may I inform this august House that the state of the roads network in Zimbabwe worsened up to the year 2017 because of the excessive and incessant rains. The condition of the roads was so bad in Gweru and other places and other places that the Government displayed a state of disaster in February, 2017.
In 2017, Gweru had an allocation of $470, 741 but the actual funds disbursed by ZINARA amounted to $1, 797, 335, 045. More funding was availed because of the state of disaster declared by the Government and the City Council had requested for extra funding to work on the road from town, leading to Midlands State University and this was done. In
2018, Gweru had an allocation of $2,640 000 and the actual disbursement was $2 371 480. Part of the allocation was used for works carried over from 2017. During the same year, Gweru was allocated $126 660 for routine maintenance by ZINARA.
Procurement procedures delayed the council in implementing documented road works plans. Gweru has $2,3 million worth of own resources to complement ZINARA efforts. The City council satisfactorily completed the road network totaling 27kms. The technical committee in the emergency road rehabilitation programme has encouraged Gweru City Council to speed up their work so that maximum ground is covered before the onset of the rainy season. I thank you.
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam
Speaker, councils used to maintain their own roads because they used to get 100 percent of all the motor licence fees. Since ZINARA took over, that is when we started seeing the continuous deterioration of roads. Can the Minister consider allowing the local authorities to retain the licence fees that they get from the vehicles within their local authorities.
HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, the issue of vehicle licences and how the collection of fees has become centralised is a matter that is being discussed to make sure that the money that is collected goes to the councils in accrual basis rather than on an allocative basis. On an accrual basis, the City Councils are able to know exactly when they will get the money on a regular basis but the collection of those fees through our post offices has created even better throughput than the councils were able to experience. While the collection can remain, what we are discussing is such that there is predictability in terms of when those councils will get their money. If we do it on an accrual basis, the councils will be able to maintain the roads through those fees.
Later on, the fees that will be coming from ZINARA on an allocative basis are the fees that ZINARA will be collecting from your fuel levy. A separation between fuel levy and the collection that is related to vehicle licences is what we want to disaggregate. I thank you.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
supplementary question arises from the fact that the Minister acknowledges that the money is supposed to be disbursed on a regular basis from ZINARA to the local authorities. How regular is the basis and what procedures are supposed to be done by the local authorities in terms of accounting for the disbursed funds and therefore, accessing the other allocation?
HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, the accrual basis for all vehicle licences is a three monthly cycle. We have asked all the local authorities to state all the vehicles that are registered within their boundaries. Right now, the local authorities no longer know what vehicles are registered within their council areas. This is known by checking the addresses of those vehicle licences. The local authorities are doing their work and we think that once that work is done, we will be able to say, on a three monthly cycle, can you ensure that that part of the money which relates to vehicle licences is given to the local authorities without using the allocative system.
CONSTRUCTION OF SEPTIC TANKS AND SHALLOW WELLS
- HON. CHIDZIVA asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing when Government will offer title deeds to residents of Highfield West whose houses were acquired under the rent to buy scheme.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Madam
Speaker, I had approached the Speaker to request for deferment of question numbers 3, 5, 6 and 8, we are still researching on them. I can answer the others.
GWERU CITY COUNCIL TOWN CLERKS
- HON. MAVHUNGA asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to clarify to the House who is entitled to benefit from houses sold to sitting tenants in Unit N ZRP Camp between the sitting police officers and Zimbabwe Republic Police as an institution.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Madam
Speaker, I want to thank Hon. Mavhunga for asking the question.
Madam Speaker, the houses in question fall under the jurisdiction of Chitungwiza Town Council. On the issue of disposal, the sitting tenant has the first right of refusal to the said properties. We are in discussion with Chitungwiza Municipality. I thank you.
DISBURSEMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE GRANTS TO CHILDREN
OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
- HON. CHIMINA asked the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing whether the Ministry will consider incorporating Woodlands suburb to Gweru City Council since the suburb’s services are provided for by the said local authority.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Madam
Speaker, I want to thank Hon. Chimina for the question. My immediate answer Madam Speaker is that until 2023, we are not able, in terms of the Constitution to change the boundaries of any local authority or any ward in the country. So, we cannot do it right away but the services can continue to come from Gweru City Council but we cannot change the boundaries. We are bound by the Constitution.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: Madam Speaker, my supplementary question – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Can I be protected?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: When is the Government starting to roll out command housing – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members.
HON. MAMOMBE: I am rising on a point of order Madam Speaker. Can we have protection in this House? That back bench is disturbing – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members. Hon.
Member, may you repeat your supplementary question.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: When is the Government starting to roll out command housing programme because there is acute shortage of accommodation within the urban areas? I thank you.
HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, I need your protection. This question on command housing is not related to what I have just answered, I could give a statement but it is something that would need me to make a statement in the House about what we are doing about command housing.
REVIEW OF PENSION PAY-OUTS
- HON. SITHOLE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to state when pension payouts will be reviewed upwards in view of the high costs of living.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Thank you Madam
Speaker. May I request that questions 9 and 10 be deferred so that the Minister can attend to the questions when he comes next week.
*HON. G. K SITHOLE: Thank you madam Speaker. I am the
one who raised question 9. The Minister was here and I am surprised he is no longer here. The deputy is here so he should respond to the question. Can you respond to the question? We did not come here to play.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Madam Speaker, I
requested that questions number 9 to 13 be deferred to allow the
Minister to come and make her presentation.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, the reason for this
session is for Ministers to be given enough time to go and research. The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare was here. She was fully aware of these questions and there is no reason whatsoever why she just disappeared without answering the questions. Why then do we give notices?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Minister gave her
apologies. She has been called for some other duties. - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. B. DUBE: Madam Speaker, question number 14 is a repetition and the Minister has already answered it in another question before this.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Can I ask that all the
questions directed to the Minister be deferred.
DISTRICT POLICE OFFICE FOR MBERENGWA
- HON. ZHOU asked the Minister of Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage to state when Mberengwa would have its own District Police Office in view of the rampant cases of murder in the areas.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CUTURAL
HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for asking the question, ostensibly seeking clarification on when a Police District Office, specifically for
Mberengwa would be established in view of what he terms ‘rampart cases of murder in the area’. Let me from the onset point out to the Hon.
Member that ZRP Mberengwa is a station that falls under the purview of Zvishavane district.
This district already has its own Officer Commanding whom the member correctly refers to as the Dispol. May it please the Hon Member to note that Zvishavane district has four operational stations under its command and these are Mberengwa, Zvishavane, Buchwa and Mataga. ZRP Mberengwa is only 31km from Zvishavane and in this regard it is not feasible to establish yet another district, given the distance that separates the location of ZRP Mberengwa and ZRP
Zvishavane district. Madam Speaker, in short, there is already Dispol or
Officer Commanding District which is ZRP Zvishavane District
Headquarters and this is the district where ZRP Mberengwa falls under.
Madam Speaker, the Hon member talked about the rampant cases of murder in Mberengwa. Indeed, it is true that in the past three weeks, three cases of murder were committed in Mberengwa. These murders emanated from disputes during beer drinks. In order to curb such crimes, the Zimbabwe Republic Police has since increased patrols in Mberengwa. Additional manpower has been seconded to the area to intensify patrols and at the same time raise awareness on the effects of engaging in criminal activities. The ZRP is also currently intensifying community engagement processes to find a lasting solution to this problem. These strategies are also being employed throughout the country. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. T. ZHOU: Hon. Speaker Ma’am, I want to thank the
Minister for that response. The Minister is explaining that these are disputes that will have arisen at the beer halls and I would want to understand that, so far how many arrests have they made for the three people he mentioned who were murdered?
*HON. MADIRO: Hon. Zhou posed a question asking how many
people have been arrested so far. I am not in a position to respond to that question now but I will need to go back and verify how many people have been arrested so far.
HON. T. P. MLISWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. The
issue of the Mberengwa extends to many other issues in terms of the murder cases that have arisen. You have Kwekwe, the murder cases have arisen, Kadoma they have arisen, Cheguru and Norton and this is because of people carrying machetes. In Kwekwe if I am not mistaken you have three to five a day. So, what corrective measures is your Ministry taking because you are limiting it only to Mberengwa that you have intensified Mberengwa?
So, from a national point of view, what have you done because the murder cases have risen and this is from a national point of view? So, what have you done to address such issues from a national point of view? Thank you.
HON. MADIRO: Madam Speaker Ma’am, the question by Hon. Mliswa that ZRP is concentrating in Mberengwa only – I want to inform the Hon. Member that of late, Members could have noticed an increase in roadblocks by the ZRP, especially in areas which are being affected by these incidences.
May I also remind the Hon. Member that it is a crime to move around with dangerous weapons and anyone seen holding or possessing dangerous weapons will be arrested. In short, that is my answer that we are aware of your concerns and we are increasing the presence of the police in those areas. Thank you very much.
HON. T. P. MLISWA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I do not think
the Minister is aware that the police is also said to be involved in protecting these criminals and a good example is one in Norton where somebody was stabbed. I recall the kombi conductors approached the officer commanding the depot saying that, you have betrayed us because we told you that this person was found at this place and you did not but we assure you that we will bring this person to you dead or alive. And, true to their word, they apprehended the person and brought him to Norton Police Station and it now goes to the point that the police were involved in these murderers escaping because some of them are able to also give them money. I am talking about the corruption in the police force which is leading to these culprits not being arrested and what are you doing about that?
HON. MADIRO: Madam Speaker, the level of corruption in the
country is deplorable; not necessarily with public officials only but in the private sector as well. Madam Speaker the Government does not at all tolerate corruption and it does not matter where it is practiced – whether it is within the police or otherwise. And, where specific information is brought before us, definitely action will be taken against those corrupt officers. Thank you.
MAIZE HARVESTED DURING THE PERIOD 2014 – 2018
19 HON. CHINANZVAVANA asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to state the following for the period 2014 to 2018 –
- Tonnage of maize harvested in Zimbabwe;
- Yield per hectare of maize;
- Money allocated towards agricultural activities; and
- Amount of money received from international donors and other agencies.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE,
WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON.
HARITATOS): Thank you Madam Speaker. Thank you to the Hon. Member for the question regarding maize during the period of 2014 to 2018 and the Hon. Member has broken the question into four.
The tonnage of maize harvested in Zimbabwe for the period of
2014 to 2018 is as follows:
- in the year 2014 - 1 456 153 metric tonnes;
- in 2015 – 742 225 metric tonnes;
- in 2016 – 511 816 metric tonnes;
- in 2017 – 2 155 526 metric tonnes; and - In 2018 – 1 700 702 metric tonnes.
The Hon. Member’s question b) regards to yields per hectare of maize:
- in 2014 we had an average yield of 0.880 metric tonnes per hectare;
- in 2015 we had an average of 0.480 metric tonnes per hectare;
- in 2016 we had 0.44 metric tonnes per hectare;
- in 2017, we had 1.150 metric tonnes per hectare; and - in 2018, we had 0.990 metric tonnes per hectare.
The Hon. Member had a third question with regards to money allocated towards agricultural activities:
- in the year 2014, the money that was allocated towards agricultural activities was $155 256 000;
- in 2015 - $225 529 900;
- in 2016 - $163 821 000;
- in 2017 - $309 641 600;
- in 2018 - $521 415 000.
The Hon. Member asked the fourth question with regards to funds received from developmental partners and funds received from developmental partners are accounted for by the Ministry responsible for Finance and Economic Development. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Madam Speaker, my
supplementary question goes to say, is the money that is allocated towards agricultural activities enough to pay our grain farmers every year according to those four allocated or we are using the donor fund?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. First and foremost, I would like to recognise the Government’s efforts of paying the farmers in time. In the last two years, we have had considerable amount of support from our Government to pay our farmers in time. However, I would like to have some time to be able to research and get back to you on the exact figures as they require extensive research.
Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, from what the Minister
says, it appears there is a variance of between 75-100% in terms of yearly national yield per hectare over time. In one year, it was 0,4 tonnes per hectare yet in another year it was 1,1tonnes per hectare. Therefore, can the Minister explain the real cause of such variances because with such inconsistencies it means there is a lot of money being lost in the production process when we go by the yield variances.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker and I would
like to answer the Hon. Member’s question in two parts. First and foremost, we receive continuous and superb support from the
Government through the Command Agriculture initiative. What this has meant is an increase in our yields and production levels as a country due to the support from our Government. Secondly, with regards to 2015/16, we had poor rains. The same factor also affected our 2016 yields but in 2017, we had very good rains which further assisted us to achieve higher yields.
*HON. G. K. SITHOLE: Thank you very much Madam Speaker.
My supplementary goes to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, may you
please speak in English.
*HON. G. K. SITHOLE: Madam Speaker, the Constitution of
Zimbabwe allows me to also speak in languages other than English.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Alright Hon. Member, it is
fine and you can go ahead.
*HON. G. K. SITHOLE: Madam Speaker, my question is
directed to the Deputy Minister who is saying that the Government has been assisting the agricultural sector through funding procurement of inputs such as fertilisers. However, the agricultural sector that he is talking about has other private players playing a major role towards the success of the Command Agriculture programme such as Sakunda Petroleum. What we want to know is - when did the Government start using the Procurement Act in acquiring its inputs and implements to ensure transparency in Government’s operations? I thank you.
* HON. HARITATOS: I thank you Madam Speaker and I also thank the Hon. Member for the question he has posed. Madam Speaker, our Ministry is not the one that deals with Government tenders and so, I am ill qualified to respond to that question. Thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, the question raised by
Hon. G. K. Sithole is of high significance. The Minister cannot tell us that he does not know the tender procedure that is followed in their
Ministry unless he is telling us that he does not respect this House at all. That is a key question and if he wants, we can put it across in English if he does not properly understand Shona. This question is very legitimate because at the end of the day it is the taxpayer who will pay for that Command Fund. The question is therefore very legitimate and the Minister must answer it.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. First and
foremost, we must recognise the institution called the State Procurement which acts independently of our Ministry. If the Hon. Member would however like to have a response in that respect, he can write to us and we may ask and consult with them to write him directly in response.
Thank you Madam Speaker.
CLASSIFICATION OF SUGAR CANE PRODUCTION UNDER THE
COMMAND AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME
- HON. MUSIKAVANHU asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to explain why sugar cane production in Chiredzi District is not classified under the Command Agricultural Programme.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON.
HARITATOS): Thank you Madam Speaker and thank you to the Hon.
Member who asked regarding sugar cane production under Command
Agriculture. To-date, we have the highly successful Command Agriculture initiative which covers maize, soya beans, cotton, fisheries and livestock. There are other numerous commodities that are being proposed to be considered under this initiative and I take it that the sugar cane production is what the Hon. Member is proposing for now. In that regard, consultations are going to be conducted to determine possibilities and feasibility of the proposed commodities and may you also take note that the sugar cane production is being financed through contract farming by Tongaat Hullets and, it has a ready market. Thank you.
HON. MUSIKAVANHU: Thank you very much Madam
Speaker. I thank the Minister but for clarification purposes, Tongaat Hullets is not supporting sugar cane farmers under any contract arrangement. The sugar cane farmers in the lowveld desperately need the respective support from Government. We are producing a strategic crop that is contributing towards ethanol production for the country. Thank you.
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Madam Speaker. I will consult
and get back to the Hon. Member regarding the issue in question.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Madii kumbosiya Tatenda ambogara pachigaro chenyu timboona – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Hon. Tatenda ngavambobatowo chigaro in promotion of youth empowerment – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order in the House. Your point of order has been overruled Hon. Member. That job is the prerogative of the Speaker’s Panel and the Speaker himself. It is overruled.
[Time limit]
HON. MGUNI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that you extend the time for Questions with Notice by 10 minutes.
HON. PARADZA: I second.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Can I get clarification or information from the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement on whether the Government has been able to attend the 560 metric tonnes of grain reserve as required by law now that he has hailed the programme on Command Agriculture? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE,
WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON.
HARITATOS): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would like to make it known that this question is not part of sugar cane, but I will answer it non-the-less, Hon. Speaker.
We have a strategic reserve of 500 000 metric tonnes, not 560 metric tonnes. We have a strategic reserve of 500 000 metric tonnes and it is in place. Zimbabwe is safe; we have no scare of hunger. Thank you
Hon. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Speaker, if the Hon. Minister can clarify that despite the fact that soya beans is part of the Command Agriculture, we have a serious shortage of soya beans. Can you explain the reason why we have a shortage of soya beans?
HON. HARITATOS: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Again, I would like to make it known that the question that is being supplemented regards to sugar cane and not soya beans, but I will answer the question at hand. The problem that we have with soya beans is a similar problem that we have with wheat whereby we do not have enough irrigation. This is something that our Ministry is looking into with a view to support ing our farmers with regards to irrigation for them to grow more wheat and soya beans. So we have less demand on imports and we become a net exporter in a few years to come. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. MGUNI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that we move on to question numbers 44 and 45 while the Minister is still there.
DEPLOYMENT OF THE ARMY ON 1ST AUGUST 2018
44 HON. CHIDZIVA asked the Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs to explain to the House who was responsible for the deployment of the army on 1st August, 2018.
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
AFFAIRS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. Allow me to start by thanking Hon. Chidziva for enquiring as to who was responsible for the deployment of Members of the Defence Forces on 1st August, 2018.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President and Commander-inChief of the Defence Forces responded to this unfortunate incident by appointing a Commission of Inquiry whose terms of reference, among others, is to establish circumstances leading to 1st August 2018 post election violence. The Commission comprising local, regional and international members was appointed in terms of Statutory Instrument 181 of 2018, Proclamation 6 of 2018.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Commission is to present its findings to the President within three months. Public hearings have since started in earnest. You may also be aware that members of the public who lost their loved ones regrettably or were affected have also started litigation processes. The matter is now sub judice. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. The
first thing that I would want to say is that I would like to thank the Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs. Why, because this question was not supposed to be entertained in this House. The President appointed this Commission that is still doing its own work. So, we must thank the Minister for what she has done. I cannot entertain any supplementary questions. No, not on this one, I have overruled it.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
WRITTEN SUBMISSION TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS MECHANISM BILL
45 HON. MATSUNGA asked the Minister of Defence and War
Veterans Affairs to explain
- why a Bill to provide for independent complaints mechanism about the misconduct of and harm caused by members of the security services has not been brought before Parliament; and
- when the Bill will be brought before Parliament as stipulated by Section 210 of the Constitution.
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS
AFFAIRS (HON. MUCHINGURI-KASHIRI): I would like to start
by thanking Hon. Matsunga. Section 210 of the Constitution states that an Act of Parliament must provide an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services and for remedying any harm caused by such misconduct. This is a matter of great significance to the security agencies. To this end, our legal officers are working on the principles of the Bill and a draft Bill for the consideration of Cabinet Committee on Legislation. I thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. GONESE: I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 to 3 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day Number 4 has been dealt with. In moving this motion, I would like to indicate that I have already consulted the Government Chief Whip and we are in agreement so that we can deal with the motion.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STRUCTURAL AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES FACING
ZIMBABWE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on economic challenges affecting Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. NDUNA: I want to thank the mover of this motion but in so doing, I want to add something on to the prayer of the motion. I want to propose an addition.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): I am
reliably informed that your notice of amendment has not been received by the Clerks. Meanwhile can you proceed to debate this motion?
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I am guided accordingly. As I debate the motion that has been brought up by Hon. Dr. Mashakada, I am mindful of the wanton disregard of basic tenets of humanity that is currently obtaining in the community as we speak. There is however a worrying coordination and incidents from various stakeholders in the community outside this Parliament, in particular, the business community in their conduct.
Assuming there was any reason for anybody not to sell their product to an unsuspecting innocent citizen of Zimbabwe for any reason or otherwise, we would not have cement being held off, the pharmaceuticals being held off, tomatoes, juice and oil for the same reason or on the same day. This would maybe come up in various days for various reasons not a similar reason on the same day. This is the very first issue that I want to bring up. That issue speaks volumes of some mysterious cohesion of saboteurs coming in from various corners for a common cause to sabotage the economy of this country.
I ask and make a clarion call therefore that business should not indulge in petty partisan political machinations. They should confine themselves to business ethics alone. It is with a heavy heart that I stand here and join Hon. Dr. Mashakada in trying to call for a coordinated approach to try and decapitate the issue of discrepancies in terms of economic delivery which is currently grappling the society of Zimbabwe. I require therefore all other sectors that are mandated to deliver in terms of economic development in business to do so and not indulge in politics.
When you want to appeal to the man’s conscience, you go through their tummy. Just this yesterday going around the City of Harare was a ZCTU truck laden with some operatives who were calling for both boycott of commodities and escalation of prices. One wonders as to the motivation of such an action – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Whilst the motion and the notion is noble on the face of it, it speaks volumes of what should be done for the betterment and good order of the unsuspecting innocent citizens out there according to
Section 119 where we are supposed to be here on a representative role.
I stand here again to say imbedded in this motion is a lot of injustices where on the face of the motion, it looks so flowery and very well intended but deep down if we look at this motion, if it is confined to this House without any additives and without some other people in the community trying to assassinate the economic development through political machinations, this definitely would see the light of day.
I speak of companies that are being supported by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Just this yesterday Hon. Dr. Mashakada spoke of a deficit of US$2.3bn where RBZ borrowed without the approval of Parliament where it is supposed to borrow about US$700m. I am together with him only if he so comes holistically for economic development. Where I want to make sure that I differ is where these companies are given support and they do not deliver. They wantonly go to the retailers and increase the prices where there is support in the wholesale sector in
terms of production and in terms of output and that has not changed. Then when you see a bag of cement now tripling in price, that boggles the mind. There is Statutory Instrument 64 that seeks amongst other things to protect the very industry that is being supported by the very lender of last resort RBZ in terms of foreign currency. Mr. Speaker Sir, what then is the motive if not to destroy, to kill and to maim the economic development machinations of this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – What then is the motive of those that are embedded in petty partisan political machinations instead of economic development? What then is the motive Mr. Speaker Sir, if not to make sure that the people of Zimbabwe suffer for lack of the basic commodities? I want to bring you back to what I said Mr. Speaker Sir.
If you want to appeal to a man’s conscience, you go through the tummy and here is the tummy that has been affected. What you are going to do Mr. Speaker Sir, you are not going to go through to the conscience. What the opposition has not managed to get through the ballot box, they should not come and try and get through the economic development of this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. MASHAKADA: Point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order in the House. What is
your point of order?
HON. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Nduna
has made serious allegations and he is casting aspersions about the intentions of the opposition – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – He cannot prove to this House the allegation that the opposition could not get what it wanted through the political route and therefore it is using the economic route. He cannot prove that so that statement must be withdrawn.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you. Hon. Nduna –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order! Order in the House Hon. Members! Hon. Nduna, may you avoid provocation. You have started very well but avoid provocation. Say out what you want to say but no provocation. Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker Sir, lest we go the route that the other Hon. Members went through that were in the Seventh and Eighth Parliament, we need to come here and adhere to the ethos and values of what the people of our constituencies sent us here to do – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – They did not send us here to come and cripple the economy of Zimbabwe. They did not send us here to come and castigate economic development. They did not send us here Mr. Speaker Sir to come and wantonly increase prices.
HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon. Member is challenging the Chair. The Hon. Member is repeatedly uttering inflammatory statements – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order in the House Hon.
Members! Hon. Nduna, that was a direct challenge to the Chair. I had actually given a ruling that you should not provoke. Your points were quite lucid and very meaningful but now you seem to be going out of topic and out of motion.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you for your guidance Mr. Speaker. Mr.
Speaker Sir, I want to talk of the formalisation of the informal sector.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the formalisation of the informal sector is one panacea and one antidote that could see the realisation of a lot of income to the Government fiscus. I see here in the prayer of Hon. Mashakada where he seems to believe that there is a lot of unemployment whereas a lot of employment has gone to the informal sector. It is incumbent and prudent on Government Mr. Speaker Sir and I call on the Executive to make ways and plans of formalising the informal sector. This is one way that we could generate a lot of income for the fiscus. This is one point which I want to support my colleague Hon. Mashakada in his quest for economic development, nothing else but the quest for economic development – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, speak through
the Chair.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, there is more than a million artisanal miners out there whose collections and delivery of gold to Fidelity can be streamlined in a manner that is going to see the royalties of the gold delivered by them being accrued to Government’s fiscus.
There is a year Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon. Mguni would remember, where there was an operation called ‘chikorokoza chapera’. Gold deliveries to Fidelity fell from 18 tonnes in that year to one tonne per year Mr. Speaker Sir. Now it is very unwise to ignore that sector and say people are not employed. They are employed in the informal sector, in the artisanal mining and we need to group and formalise them.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as we speak, Hon. Minister Chitando has already alluded to the fact that this year he is looking at getting over and above 30 tonnes of gold deliveries to Fidelity. Already the artisanal miners and small scale miners up to this date have delivered more than 15 tonnes of that expected 30 tonnes. These people are not employed at OK or TM. They are in the informal sector in the artisanal mining community which is termed small scale mining. These people are employed except they are employed in a way that is not easy to fathom and to see by a –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Order,
can the hon. member be heard in silence please?
HON. NDUNA: It is not easy Mr. Speaker to realise by a simple eye and simple conscience. It will take deep introspection for somebody to realise that as we are endowed with copiours or ubiquitous amount of mineral wealth, these people who are extracting this mineral are employed as they are embedded in those shafts and tunnels. Vanhu ava havagoni ku raper, havagone kuba. We would have removed the robbers from the street and we are extracting our minerals for the good order of the citizens of Zimbabwe and for our economic development. This is why I say these people are employed and they are employed in a sector that is good for our economy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, nyaya yekuti 1.25 dollar per day for 79% of our population – those facts do not speak to and about the people of Chegutu West Constituency and the people of Mashonaland West because this is where more than twenty minerals in Mashonaland West are being extracted out of the sixty minerals that this nation is endowed with. This does not speak to the large section of the people of Zimbabwe and it is my clarion call that …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Nduna. Can you
address the Chair?
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am sorry if I do
get carried away but it is so that I can ventilate this issue eloquently in a manner that is vociferous, eloquent and effective.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Address it through the Chair.
HON. NDUNA: However, what I want to call for as we debate this motion is the issue of the people and the sectors that are being supported by the hard earned foreign currency by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to stick to their mandate in a manner that is not going to see them having either double standards or conflicted in their operations. Let them stick to business and let those prices be depressed to the extent that the RBZ, them and the social contract so dictates so that we will not have unwanton or wanton assassination of our economy in Zimbabwe, aware that we are country that is using a multi-currency system which we do not print ourselves. It is incumbent upon the producers to stick to their mandate and to stick to their mandate only.
As I conclude, I call upon all sectors which are economic enhancers or those that are collecting revenue both in the private and public sector for them to be computerised because out of computerisation, you can generate more than three or fourfold the monies that you were collecting manually. It happened in the toll gates, in third party insurance and public transport insurance ….
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Nduna. Your
time is up.
HON. NDUNA: May I just wind up.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. NDUNA: I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity and I say alluta continua in terms of economic development.
I thank you.
*HON. KARENYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Firstly, I would like to thank the people of Manicaland who voted overwhelmingly and gave me the opportunity to represent them here in Parliament and also for voting my President Mr. Chamisa who won the election – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Do not tempt me to evict
anyone from this House today like what you did earlier on. So, please do not usurp my powers as the Speaker.
Hon. Member, the motion that was presented by Hon. Mashakada and was debated by other hon. members, I am sure you heard what they said. I thought they were off topic and I told them to debate the motion. What you have said is not in line with the motion. So, please may you restrict yourself to the motion itself?
*HON. KARENYI: Let me proceed by saying that - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order in the House, Hon.
Members! I think you did not understand what I said. The point that you mentioned that Mr. Chamisa won the election should be withdrawn. *HON. KARENYI: Let me say Mr. Speaker, if there are those people who were listening, I mentioned Manicaland where he won the election resoundingly. This motion calls for the unity of all Members of Parliament.
HON. GANDAWA: Mr. Speaker, we did not hear the hon. member withdrawing her statement - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Presidential results of Zimbabwe are not announced in each province.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order hon. members - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – The Hon. Member that I have given the floor is addressing his point of order to the Speaker and it is only the Speaker who is supposed to rule on that point of order, not anyone else seated. Thank you.
HON. GANDAWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I did not hear my fellow
Hon. Member and not by anyone else who is seated. I thank you. –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. GANDAWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir, I did not hear my fellow Hon. Member withdrawing her statement. . – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Presidential results were announced and Hon. Mnangagwa won that election. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Results are not based on – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Mr. Speaker Sir, results for the President of Zimbabwe …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member,
you point of order has been noted – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – [HON. GANDAWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, results …] – Order, order Hon. Member, your point of order has been noted. – [HON. GANDAWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Presidential results are announced in total and not piecemeal.] - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order in the House Hon. Members – [HON. GANDAWA: Mr. Speaker Sir,...] – Order, order Hon. Member, please sit down your point of order has been noted.
*Hon. Member I said, the point that you mentioned that Mr.
Chamisa won the election should be withdrawn – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – The reason I am saying that you need to withdraw your statement is because you spoke of him winning the election in Manicaland Province and results are announced at national level and not at provincial or constituency levels.
*HON. KARENYI: Mr. Speaker, in this august House I represent
Manicaland Province. Furthermore, the votes that are at ZEC reflect that Mr. Chamisa won resoundingly in Manicaland Province. So I do not know what you want me to withdraw because I would be lying if I were to withdraw – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member,
what you are doing is defying the Speaker and since you are defying the Speaker, I will request you to go out. Do not look at your colleagues to see what they are saying, please just address the Chair.
*HON. KARENYI: Let me proceed Mr. Speaker and say that
Hon. Mashakada’s motion affects everyone in Zimbabwe…
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member
are you contesting the Speaker’s decision? I said that you should withdraw your statement.
*HON. KARENYI: Mr. Speaker, since you are saying I should withdraw, I will withdraw since you want to hear it but I do not know what I lied about in this issue.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member,
as the Speaker, I gave a ruling that you have to comply to. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Karenyi having walked up to the Chair.
*HON. KARENYI: The Hon. Speaker has requested that I withdraw my statement because it has nothing to do with the motion. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Let me proceed with my debate – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
MDC Opposition Hon. Members having broken into song, ‘Into oyiyenzayo siyayi zonda!
*HON. KARENYI: Let me rephrase my statement for better comprehension. Mr. Chamisa won resoundingly in Manicaland Province where I come from – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I also want to thank Hon. Mashakada for raising the motion that is affecting all Zimbabweans.
When looking at this motion, let me say that all the people who are listening in the rural areas – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members,
may we please have some silence in this House. Hon. Member, do not talk about Manicaland Province, we are talking about the nation at large.
– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order Hon.
Member your time to debate has elapsed
[Time limit]
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, your time is
almost up and you have not said anything. May you please wind up your debate.
*HON. KARENYI: Mr. Speaker, let me say that everyone who is going to stand up to debate, we will make noise and ensure that they do not have time to debate because it is my right to debate what I want in this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, may
you sit down – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order Hon. Members, may you please lend me your ears. Hon. Member, I understand that it is your right to debate but you said a statement that I have told you to withdraw and you wasted time defying what the Hon. Speaker had said. So, can you conclude your debate.
*HON. KARENYI: Mr. Speaker, it was not my problem, it was the problem of the other side which interrupted my debate. The whole nation is aware that I failed to debate because of noise from ZANU PF.
I thank you.
HON. D. S. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker, my proposal is to extend time for the Hon. Member for another five minutes – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. N. NDLOVU: I second.
HON. KASHIRI: I object – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. There
is an objection, so the extension…
HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr.
Speaker, according to the rules, the moment you ask for any seconder before anyone has objected, you will have passed the position where the objection can stand. These are the rules.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I have asked for
an objection and an objection was raised. I have actually overruled and my decision is standing.
*HON. CHIBAYA: I want to thank the Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank Hon. Mashakada for the motion he brought into this House as well as Hon. Biti for seconding the motion. The motion before us Hon. Speaker, concerns the challenges that the Zimbabwean populace is facing, whether ZANU PF, MDC or even those who are not aligned to any party – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order in the House Hon.
Members.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My expectation
in this House Hon. Speaker is that; as we were voted for by the people to come here and represent them, everyone in this House has the mandate and right to stand up to debate as they please – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] – Hon. Speaker, the issue that is before us here, out there – [AN HON. MEMBER: Kupi.] – In Mkoba Constituency where I am a representative – [Laughter.] – Hon. Speaker, for me to come here into this House, I was voted for by the people of Mkoba Constituency so that I can represent them. For that reason, as I move on with my debate, I want to thank them for voting for me.
Further to this, let me say the exorbitant prices on goods is affecting everyone – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Speaker, people are spending nights queuing at the banks waiting to withdraw their money. As Parliament, if we do not debate these issues for the reason of sorting out the problems affecting our nation, I do not see any other platform where these issues will be discussed – [AN HON. MEMBER: Masanctions.] – [AN HON. MEMBER: Masanctions enzimbe dzamakatora kuChiredzi.] –
Hon. Speaker, the debate that is before us in this House – our Ministers, which is the Executive will get the Hansard booklets to read as they reflect on what the Hon. Members of Parliament would have debated regarding the shortage of money – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – For the Ministers to come into this House to give what is called a Ministerial Statement, they will take what we would have discussed in this House as Hon. Members – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Now, if we come to this House –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Speaker, it is true that our children are completing degree programmes at Nust University or Midlands State University. After graduating, those children are going out to sell air time in the streets because there is unemployment in the country - – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – If there is anyone who dispute the fact that there is unemployment in this country, I do not understand whether that individual lives in the country Zimbabwe that we all know.
Hon. Speaker, it is important that as Hon. Members who represent constituencies, if we are in this House, let us set aside party affiliations –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Let us focus on – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order in the House Hon.
Members.
HON. CHIBAYA: Hon. Speaker, we all underwent induction and when the Speaker Hon. Mudenda, when he was seated there said that, ‘I think we need to have another induction.’ I am sure you all heard that. Why? Mr. Speaker Sir, the role and function of the Parliamentarians is to come up with legislation, carry out a representative role and perform the oversight function. When we come to this House, let us separate rallies and Parliament business.
*HON. NYABANI: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have a motion of spiralling prices of goods and now he is lecturing. I do not know what he is saying.
*HON. CHIBAYA: I want to thank you Mr. Speaker. If we only debate without giving solutions, it is not enough. As a country, I think the issue of Bond notes should be withdrawn so that we use the Rand in this country. In the past when Bond notes were introduced, the Reserve Bank Governor said, if the Bond notes fail, he will resign. We all know about it and we see what is happening in this nation. The Bond notes are not working. People are experiencing challenges. The other major solution Mr. Speaker, is that for us to be able to address the challenges and come to an end, Zimbabwe should be given to Hon. Chamisa who won the election – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. O. MGUNI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – HON. GONESE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I wanted to seek clarification before your ruling – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Mr. Speaker Sir, at this juncture, I move that the debate do now adjourn to tomorrow – [AN HON. MEMBER: We are in Parliament, do not say hey hey hey. That is treason. She said Chamisa won the election. She must withdraw.] –
HON. D. SIBANDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 11th October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. DR. MASHAKADA, seconded by HON.
- NDLOVU, the House adjourned at Five Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 9th October, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
MOTION
STRUCTURAL AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES FACING
ZIMBABWE
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: I move the motion standing in my
name that this House;
NOTING the structural economic challenges affecting Zimbabwe which among others include –
- the crippling liquidity crisis;
- the existence of a recession that is now fast approaching an economic depression;
- huge unemployment levels currently estimated at 95%;
- extreme poverty with 79% of the population surviving on less than US$1.25 a day and a per capita income of less than
US$500.00;
CONCERNED by Government’s economic mismanagement, an
expansionary fiscal policy and gross abuse of public resources:
NOW THEREFORE, resolves that Government; must immediately
bring sanity to the financial and liquidity situation by:
- scrapping the bond note and strengthening the regime of multiple currencies;
- returning to fiscal consolidation and the pursuit of a fiscal balance;
- resolving of the sovereign debt crisis;
- attending to ghost workers and a crippling wage bill;
- accelerating State Enterprises Reform.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Let me
start by congratulating my hon. colleagues for making it into Parliament and also congratulate you on your re-election as Speaker of the House. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Before I proceed, please kindly allow me to thank my party and people of Hatfield for once again choosing me to represent them in the august House. I pledge to work for the betterment of Hatfield Constituency and also for the promotion of good governance in Zimbabwe. I thought I should register my gratitude to the people of Hatfield and the party.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish to give you a copy of my motion so that you can follow my debate.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have it in the Order Paper.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I have just
asked your staff to upload one of my files which I want to refer to. I hope that is taking place. This is a very important motion which binds all of us regardless of our political affiliation. It is a motion that will demonstrate that we represent people who are suffering – people who elected us to speak on their behalf. I think we must approach this motion on the economy from that basis.
My point of entry on this motion is that …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, the two Hon. Members
along the corridor there, you need to clear the way totally. No more chairs should come inside. You can come this side Hon. Members there is some space here. Bring the chairs – [Laughter.]-
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I hope the
graphics that I want to refer to are being uploaded.
Mr. Speaker Sir, our country needs to move forward as a united country - however, in my opinion, I think we squandered the opportunity in November, 2017, to galvernise the country, to move the country forward. We all know what happened in November and in my respectful view, this country should not have rushed into elections. We were supposed to build confidence to make sure that the economy is stabilised at that stage and not just to stampede into an election.
Some people had suggested that perhaps a national transitional authority would have helped to carry on Economic Reforms, Political Reforms and Electoral Reforms – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- I am addressing the issue of confidence in the economy, but we squandered this opportunity. Yes, we marched together but after marching together, I still think we should have put in place some transitional mechanism to bridge the gap between the old dispensation and the new dispensation and effect the critical economic reforms which I will refer to in the body of my presentation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is my democratic right to air my views, any Hon. Member who has got a contrary view should take the floor if they have got the facts. We then went to the elections and it is common cause that the outcome of the election was highly contested, up to now the jury is still out regarding the outcome of these elections.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am referring to confidence because after an election there should be euphoria, happiness, excitement, celebration – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – So that is the context in which I am referring to the contested elections and the post election period. As I said, it is all about confidence and the legitimate expectations that will make an economy respond to the policy measures or the policy statements that are made by leaders. You can pronounce so many policy statements, if the people do not believe in what you are saying, those will be blunted, they will not work. I will demonstrate that in the body of my presentation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I just want to run you through the pictures for us to understand the state of the economy. I shall ask...
HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order! – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Now, I am a bit concerned
about your pictures here in terms of their source and authenticity.
HON. GONESE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I think it is important when we are having our proceedings for us to have an understanding of where a ruling is coming from. So, the point of clarification where I am seeking clarification from the Chair is what Standing Order upon which the ruling by the Chair has been made, so that we can have an understanding and an appreciation of where we are going. I was of the view that the Hon. Member could then be asked to clarify what the source - so that in the course of the debate, the Hon. Member can then explain to the House and to the nation at large as to how and where those pictures have come from so that we are all on the same wavelength.
However, the point of clarification; I want to be educated as to what rule the Chair has used in making the ruling that it has made.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! The Chair is using the principle of reasonableness – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- I have agreed with the Hon. Member in terms of creating perceptions that may not be easily authenticated. But he can move on to discuss the prices in terms of what is currently happening now.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you for your indulgence Mr.
Speaker Sir. I now want to talk about the economic crisis or the economic hardships and the suffering that each and every one of us is experiencing. My characterisation is that our economy is broken and I will give you the matrix of a broken economy. As if that is not enough, our Government is broke. We have a combination of a broken economy and a broke Government. The state of the economy is almost like a depression. The economy is not growing. The prices are increasing; there are no jobs and so on and so forth. We are almost in a state of depression.
In order to give you the matrix of a broken economy, I want to paint an economic dashboard for you and for the benefit of this House, I will paint an economic dashboard so that I can jog you through all the indicators in the economy which I think point towards a bad economic dashboard.
My point of entry is inflation which is now 5%. In a dollarised economy, an inflation rate of 5% is something that we should worry about because it shows that prices are increasing. We are almost in a hyper inflationary state because we are a dollarised economy. Five percentage inflation rate is not sustainable. If I might ask the Clerks to show me the products that I want to demonstrate, just for you to see how inflation has jumped. One example is cooking oil - I know some of you send your domestic servants and gardeners, you do not go to the shops but if you go to the shops, you will see that a 2 litre bottle of cooking oil used to cost $2.90 but now it is anything between $10 and $13. Bread has jumped from a $1 to $1.55.
In the neighbourhood which I stay I took those pictures. Mr. Speaker Sir, during the induction workshop you encouraged us to research and come up with facts and empirical evidence. So, I tried to take some snaps of the prices.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Hon. Dr. Mashakada gave us a picture
without anything in the shops. So, now we do not understand where these pictures are coming from. The Hon. Member is lying to this House because he showed us a picture without anything and now he is showing us a picture of shelves that are fully stocked.
The first pictures were those of 2008. So, he should be truthful as a Hon. Member and not to lie to us to say that there is nothing in the shops and then he produces a picture with shelves that are full.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Order! Hon. Members, do not
force the Chair to remove one or two Members out of the Chamber. Do not force the Chair.
Hon. Chinotimba, let the Hon. Member state the case and if there is anything contrary to that, you can rise and debate to the contrary –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. In recent
weeks, in our economy we have witnessed sharp increases in prices and one such commodity is cooking oil. You know that nobody can do without cooking oil. It affects everybody across the board. In the rural areas, like in Hon. Chinotimba’s Constituency, people are buying this for $12 to $ 13 up to $15. These are the prices which we are concerned of and as legislators, we must say let us address inflation and control hyperinflation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, what is happening is that, because there is arbitrage between the US$ and the bond note, some unscrupulous dealers are buying commodities from our shelves and selling them in neighbouring countries to get foreign currency. They come back with the foreign currency and buy bond notes from the black market and go to the shops again to hoard commodities to sell outside and obtain foreign currency. That is why there is a crippling shortage in our economy.
The other problem that is pushing prices is the three-tier pricing system. In this country, there are prices for RTGS transactions, bond note, ecocash and the US$ which is causing market distortions. Where a product is priced using a three tier system, there is bound to be arbitrage and some people benefit from such. We have raised this problem time in and time out, why can we not have one particular price of our products in the shops? This is something which this Parliament should enforce.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the rate of unemployment is very worrying to me and to most of us. Economists put that figure at 95%, that is formal employment those people on the labour market seeking active employment. That is worrying and most of our graduates are selling air time or selling fuel at the service stations. Unemployment rate of 95% is something that we have to tackle. As I said, I am just running through the economic dashboard and then I will proffer solutions or alternatives.
Mr. Speaker Sir, our national debt – I did not know that it had jumped from $11 billion to 16.9 billion over a period of 12 months, what we owe to the outside world. Juxtapose that against our GDP, which is officially pegged at $15 billion. Now, if our debt is $16.9 billion and our GDP is $15 billion, where are we going as a country? It means we are mortgaging our future generations and our children.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am worried about the budget deficit. When he was the Minister of Finance, he was popular by his adage…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, when the Hon. Member…
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: When the Hon. Member for Harare
East, Dr. Tendai Biti was the Minister of Finance, he used to say, ‘let us eat what we kill.’ When he departed, the budget deficit was $275 million, just under 300 million.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you sure he departed or he is still alive: - [Laughter.] –
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: I am talking about the position, he left the public accounts books with a deficit of $300 million and now we are sitting on $2.2 billion. Out of a national budget of $4 billion, we have created a hole of $2.2 billion. To me, that is worrisome. Mr. Speaker Sir, unbeknown to us and to Parliament - by the way, you told us that Parliament has got powers, we must have teeth, how is it that the Government borrowed from the Reserve Bank to the tune of $2.3 billion as at August, 2018 yet the RBZ Act provides that the Government can only borrow amounts equal to 20% of the previous revenue and 20% of the previous revenue will equate to $762.8 million? However, the Government borrowed $2.3 billion from the Reserve Bank without the authority of this House or seeking condonation or coming back to this
House for a supplementary budget. I urge you to censure the Executive on that note as head of this institution – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Mr. Speaker Sir…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. The Legislature is not composed of the Speaker, it is composed of Parliament. So, it is Parliament that must censure, not the Speaker. Thank you.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Hon. Speaker for your
guidance. Be that as it may, my point is that this House must censure the Executive for unauthorised borrowing. Across the board, we are all Hon. Members, let us censure the Executive. One worrying statistic is on the Treasury bills, which have risen from $2.1 billion as at 2016, just two years ago, now it stands at $7.6 billion Treasury bills which were issued. In terms of percentage growth, this is a growth from 4.4% of GDP to 36.5% of GDP, which is only on Treasury bills.
I must explain what Treasury bills are for the benefit of this House. Mr. Speaker Sir, when the Government creates a deficit, it can borrow from three sources, maybe four. It can borrow from us as individual people, the private sector and institutional investors like pension funds and so on. I have already said it can also borrow from the Reserve Bank. In order to do that, it issues a paper which is almost like a promissory note, an ‘I owe you, I promise to pay.’ It floats that paper which we call Treasury bill, it is a short term instrument whose tenure is 12 months. It floats that on the market then people hold that paper and give the Government money. After 12 months, that Treasury has a coupon rate at which it will be redeemed. However, what has been happening is that, because the Government does not have enough money, it has rolled over these Treasury bills and has not been redeeming most of them when their maturity date comes.
Treasury bills are different from bonds; bonds are long term instruments, but these are short term borrowing instruments. I am saying, in the short term they have borrowed from $2.3 billion in 2016 to $7.6 billion as at August 2018. It is a worrying trend. Domestic debt on its own, out of the total debt, which I talked about of $16.9 billion, domestic debt on its own is $9.5 billion from $275.8 billion in 2012. It has jumped significantly.
I talk of external debt. We have two types of external debts. The first type of debt is what we call multilateral debt that we owe to the
IMF, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and European Investment Bank; that is a multilateral debt which is in arrears to the tune of $2.5 billion. It is a combination of the Word bank, the IMF,
African Development Bank. The other arm of the debt which constitutes $2.8 billion, we owe it to the Paris Club. This is a group of creditor countries, bilateral creditors for example, if we have a debt with France, German, Italy et cetera. These kind of creditors have come together to protect their interests to chess debtors like Zimbabwe. They have called themselves the Paris Club and we owe them $2.8 billion. We need to service the Paris Club debt and the Multilateral Institution debt. What is very important is the multilateral debt because without addressing that, it can cause problems for you to unlock commercial loans and any other loans. This gives a cue to creditors. I will explain what the alternatives could be in this regard.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not have to talk about the humanitarian crisis. We are in the middle of a devastating cholera outbreak which has taken a toll on lives. That is a social crisis on top of the economic crisis that I have talked about. The fuel queues are becoming longer and longer. In fact, there is a colloquial joke, I must just relax the atmosphere, people say, ndati pfee muqueue yefuel – [Laughter.] - [HON. MEMBERS: Pfee, pfee!] – Mr. Speaker Sir, another joke on the fuel is that most men are now pretending they are now going to the fuel queues to get visas from their houses. Mr. Speaker Sir, on a serious note, the parallel market exchange rate between the Dollar and a Bond Note, today’s rate is 1:380. You almost need $400 bond notes to get US$100. That is distorting the prices and is creating what we call cost-pushing inflation because whoever importers, they source their forex. If they cannot get it from their Nostro applications, they source it from the parallel market and they just put on the cost on the final retailer. The existence of a weaker currency in a basket where there is a stronger currency, the US dollar is problematic. That only requires a policy decision or a policy choice to deal with that.
If you look at the bank queues, they are not easing. They are growing by the day and people have not yet gotten access to their hardearned money. In my respective view Mr. Speaker, a person must have choice to use electronic ....
Hon. Chikwinya having passed between the Chair and the Member on the floor.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Please, return. Please continue.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: A person must have a choice to use electronic means of payment or to use own cash. In the United States of America, if they see you holding a US$100 note, they wonder what are you up to. It is now a culture that has evolved but it is all about choice. You do not have to carry large sums of money but as a matter of choice, not to say, go to the bank, you want money for kombi or to buy tomatoes or onions on the streets or to buy fruits at Mbare and you cannot get that money. You are forced to use electronic. That is not how a normal economy operates. I have painted this dashboard as I have advised you Mr. Speaker Sir, but in spite of this bad picture, economic dashboard, the Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank Governor believe that the economy is showing signs of recovering. Are we living in the same Zimbabwe or some have their own Zimbabwe where they are staying? I respectfully submit that the situation is not showing signs of recovery, rather the situation is deteriorating by the day. The economy is not yet on the rebound.
What is the real problem Mr. Speaker Sir? I think, at times policy bankruptcy can be a liability. If you have policy inertia, if you dither on policy, these problems will become unabated. I will give you a good example, removing a Bond Note does not require money, it requires a bold policy choice, a bold policy decision. I thought when the new Minister was sworn in, he had stuck the right code when he said, he was going to remove the Bond Note. Along the way, I do not know what had happened, he has stopped that. Joining the Rand monetary area, I will explain in detail on the alternatives, it requires a policy decision.
Stopping Government borrowing from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe requires an immediate policy decision to stop the budget deficit. The stopping issuance of Treasury Bills is a policy decision. Revenue collection, right now, do you know Mr. Speaker that, uncollected revenue is now $4 billion in the market, almost equal to the Budget. We need policies to revamp revenue collection measures, tighten your border ports so that there is no smuggling and there is no corruption.
I have talked about policy, but you also need leadership or political will. We have examples in African countries. The example of Rwanda – economic leadership, Kenya – economic leadership and Mauritius – economic leadership. These countries are in the pack of States in Africa, among failed States but they have emerged winners among failed states and they are growing at about 7% per annum. So we need leadership, we need economic and political leadership.
Now, I go to the alternatives because it is one thing criticising but another proffering alternatives. We, on this side, also offer alternatives. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - The first alternative is that the new
Minister of Finance and Economic Development is holding the wrong end of the stick. He is missing the woods for the forest because his assessment of the problem is that we need a two year stabilisation programme. Our diagnosis is different and what we need is structural transformation. We need real transformation of the economy because with stabilisation, all you are doing is to balance the books and you are not talking about growth, development or addressing structural bottlenecks, the supply side of the economy and production. You are not dealing with those things but just want to balance books for the purpose of having a good balance sheet. Those are what we call austerity measures.
This stabilisation is a school of thought which is outdated just like structural adjustment. It is neo-liberal. The father of market forces which is the basis of stabilisation is Adam Smith who said that in order to correct imbalances, you have to use market forces, reduce taxation and reduce or cut on expenditure. That is a neo-liberal view or what we call the Washington consensus which says cut this and that even where it affects society. That is what we call neo-liberal economics or free market economics which is an ideological issue. In an African country like Zimbabwe, you need a developmental state, strategic purposive and targeted intervention to create an enabling environment for growth to take place and not stabilisation.
I will now refer to the stabilisation measures which were announced by the Minister and tell you what could be our approach. The first stabilisation measure is servicing the debts. The Minister is saying let Zimbabwe re-engage and service the debts. Fair and fine, we ought to service the debts but do we have the capacity to service the debts at this juncture. How can we put five billion to service the debts when our roads are not right, when we have sewage flowing in the streets and we have no drugs in the hospitals? How do you then pump out all that money with the hope that they might give you new money? These multilateral institutions are very clever. They are debt collectors and they will dangle a carrot to a point when you pay all your debts then they tell you to reform this and that. Meanwhile you have paid them everything that you had. What could be our alternative approach? Our alternative approach is HIPC, the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Strategy. If you look at all the statistcs in terms of debt service ratio, ratio of exports to GDP and all those things, we qualify to be a HIPIC case. What do they do under HIPC? You apply to the creditors then they give you a holiday and say, instead of paying us $5 billion, take a proportion of that money which you were supposed to give us and build schools, hospitals and clinics. So, you retain some of the money that you were supposed to pay to the creditors. However, they will supervise you to make sure that that money is ring-fenced and is going towards what you are supposed to spend it on especially on social economic infrastructure. So, instead of going head-long full throttle debt servicing we would say let us apply for the HIPC status so that we can service the debts at a slower rate but retain some of the money to build our own institutions and infrastructure.
On Government deficit and borrowing, what is the solution? The solution is not to tax the poor to cover the mistakes of the rich. The people who have caused the deficit – the Government, has to bear the brand. How does it do that? It has to cut Government Executive expenditure. You cannot just pass on the burden to the poor people. The poor cannot keep on tightening their belt. That is a neo-classical approach.
On taxation, Mr Speaker Sir, we would not bother adding any cent or extra burden on the poor people. In fact, Zimbabwe’s tax rate is one of the highest in the world. So, instead of increasing we would reduce it and target property tax where the rich people are. We would also target taxation of luxury trinkets, fuel, farms and increase taxation for holding unproductive land. That is where you get the rich.
The other problem – I am still talking about stabilisation and the alternatives to stabilisation. I am running down elements in the stabilisation baskets and proffering the solution. Under stabilisation they talk of flexible labour markets and I am now talking as a trade unionist. They are talking about flexible labour markets or soft labour markets. One issue which features on stabilisation measures is the adoption of flexible labour markets to create soft labour markets where you reduce the cost of labour and you lay off workers as opposed to giving living wages. That is one approach where we think you have to invite a social contract or dialogue. You cannot just introduce flexible labour market measures without consulting the trade unions and the employers’ associations. We need a social contract and social dialogue to move the country forward.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is also need to create social safety nets for those people who are going to bear the brand of stabilisation. You need these social safety nets to protect the vulnerable groups that are going to be affected by these austerity measures which have been introduced by the Minister. So, my point is that, in tightening the belt, everyone must the bear the cost, not just the poor people. I respectfully submit that the 2% tax hurts the poor more than the rich people. That is why it has to be revised or scratched.
The other point is that this 2% did not come through a Finance Bill. You may recall that we need a Finance Act or a Finance Bill to effect all revenue proposals. This 2% has not gone through a Finance Bill. I am aware that this matter is now under litigation – the Minister has been taken to court by a number of affected people.
Now, I move away from the transformation agenda after having picked the basket of those measures, analysed them and proffered what I believe are alternatives. I now go on to what our transformation agenda would be or is. We are not into stabilisation but we are into real socioeconomic structrural transformation to eradicate poverty and initiate economic development. Mr. Speaker Sir, the first thing which we need is inclusive growth or shared growth. This economy must go back on a growth path/pedestal. We want growth rates of 7%, 8% or 9% per annum.
An Hon. Member having walked into the House without acknowledging the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. The Hon. Member who
has just come in here, the rule says you have to acknowledge the Chair.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
Another Hon. Member having walked into the House again without acknowledging the Chair.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Members, during the induction workshop, you were taught that each time you enter, you must make obeisance to the Chair – and not the Chair Hon. Mudenda but to this Chair of Parliament which shall be occupied by other people in as much as other people occupy this Chair. So, you make obeisance to the Chair and not to an individual. Now, if I will notice a Member just walking in, I will ask that Member to walk out zvachose.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I will ask you a rhetorical question. I am talking about our transformation agenda and I am now sharing with you what I call transformation markers – what should happen to change the path of this economy. Mr. Speaker Sir, I will ask you a rhetorical question. Mr. Speaker with a GDP of $15 billion, why should we have a budget of $4 billion? What is happening to the rest of the wealth? It shows that we have the capacity to leap-frog from a $4 billion budget to a $20 billion budget. We have a capacity to leap-frog from a $15 billion economy to $100 billion economy if we introduce the right policies.
Mr. Speaker Sir, changing the structure of the economy is a structural issue which we must address in order to develop Zimbabwe and not simply stablise the situation. Mr. Speaker Sir, sorry I see that there are a lot of interruptions. I want to draw your attention to my presentation.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Sorry about that.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabwe is a great
country and it has a potential. We must be a giant in terms of the economy. So, let us go back to addressing the structural fundamentals that we grow our economy from $15 billion, to $20 billion to $30 billion and create jobs along the way.
Mr. Speaker Sir, if you look at our GDP, across the 54 African countries, ours is only now higher - in the southern region than Malawi. We were the second largest economy after South Africa but now our
GDP is just only higher than Malawi. Our GDP is only higher than the island economies like your Comoros, Seychelles, Madascar and so on. So, in the pecking order, we must reclaim our position – we need inclusive growth and that must benefit everybody and not just the elite.
HON. KASHIRI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. The Hon.
Member is giving us figures which are fictitious.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Please, read your Standing Orders. When you have what you think is the correct situation, you will stand up and be recognised and debate and dispute what has been said.
HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Mr. Speaker Sir, when we were
doing the induction, you told us to research and I am only speaking out of the research that I have done. Also Mr. Speaker, my PHD is on comparative GDP and fiscal policy. So I am at home in this case, if you want to go through my thesis, it is there under Stellenbosch University and you will see some of these figures that I am quoting. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I was talking about growing the economy. Why do we need the growth of the economy? We need to grow jobs. If the economy is not growing, is stabilised, we cannot create employment. We cannot absorb the sea or army of school leavers. So, we need jobs to be created. How do we create these jobs? We need to reindustrialise to create the supply response, to increase productivity, increase investment in the manufacturing sector and create jobs. Open all the clothing industries, the textile industries, your ZISCO Steel and all former economic units that were closed to create employment. That goes beyond stabilisation. It is a structural matter.
Let us address our infrastructure, Mr. Speaker Sir. We need to spruce up our infrastructure whether it is roads, energy, water and sanitation or housing. One of the areas that can create jobs is the construction industry. It has got the potential to create millions of jobs. If you look at the skies of Harare, you do not see single crane. If you go to Bulawayo, you do not see a single crane and you cannot talk of stabilisation. You need an intervention to make sure that construction starts.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I now touch on investment or FDI to generate more foreign currency. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that we do not print the United States dollar. The United States dollar can only be obtained through ratcheting up our exports through diaspora remittances, through funding by international organisations and embassies, through private sector loans and so on. So, we need to address the investment climate. It is one thing saying we are open for business, but it is another addressing those barriers to investment and there are many, they are too many.
I have not seen an investment promotion and protection Bill tabled here since we talked about ease of doing business. You need the law, you need the legislation to back investment reforms so that you can attract investors because if an investors googles investment law in Zimbabwe, you do not get any law that protects and promotes your investment. So, we need to do that and we need to address the capital account to make sure that the movement of forex inside and outside the country is liberalised so that a person does not hesitate to put money in
Zimbabwe.
I read one news clip which said there was an investor who complained to the President that he had invested US$500 million and his money is now in bond notes. Those are the things that we need to address to make sure that investment is increased and we need an EGovernment, E- Commerce so that an investor does not physically need to come to Zimbabwe, they can just do their paper work wherever they are and we should also look at investment facilitation. It is very important. We must make sure that those people who invest also bank in Zimbabwe. So, there must be an annual report on how many investors have opened their banking accounts, because some of these investors are just externalising the money like the Chinese in particular, our friends.
Mr. Speaker, talking about foreign currency generation, we have got a problem. I can tell you five areas where we are getting foreign currency and I will put a caveat. We get foreign currency from tobacco, gold, platinum, coal and diamonds. What does that say to you? These are primary commodities. We are exporting value and we are not benefiting anything because there is no value chain there. That is why even though we have got the mineral wealth, we still have got what economists call a resource case because we are still rich in abundant resources but we are exporting them as raw materials.
Imagine chrome coming all the way from the Great Dyke as ore, going to Beira as ore. Imagine platinum. We export our platinum to South Africa for processing and in South Africa there will be five minerals that are going to come out of that platinum which we are losing. So, there is no point. Our export is being generated by primary commodities which are not processed and we are losing value. Our industry is down so we do not have manufactured products to export.
I also talk about socio-economic development, Mr. Speaker Sir. Do you know that our health sector is under severe stress. Drugs are running out of supply and their prices are beyond the reach of many. Pharmacies are now demanding cash or United States dollars. They are now disowning medical aid societies. That is how difficult the situation is and what is happening? People are now buying counterfeit drugs from the streets because they cannot afford the conventional brands or as he says are going to n’angas or prophets. So, we must address the health sector as a critical sector.
The other thing is to create entrepreneurship. In our policies we have talked about indigenisation, empowerment and so on, but I think we are paying lip service to entrepreneurship. Let us create our own black middle class - black business people who are successful who invest in the country like Strive Masiiwa. We need more of those people who we can support, as a country, to create employment - our own black driven entrepreneurship. So, we must have an incubation period to grow our own entrepreneurs, to create wealth for society.
The other thing is currency reforms. Mr. Speaker Sir, I still believe that the exchange rate is still 1:1. The Minister, when he was at
Chatham House in London, said that no, the bond note is not equal to the United States dollar. What is it? We all know that it is 1:1. What we need in this country are currency reforms. You need to choose a currency in the basket which is commonly available and in this case I propose that we adopt the Rand as our current. I will give reasons for that. Sixty percent of our imports come from South Africa. Whether it is fuel, food, medicines, capital or intermediary goods, they all come from South Africa. We go to South Africa and we buy in Rands and what people are now doing, if they buy something for R20 the price here is $20. I buy something for R100; I sell it for $100 here. That is causing a lot of inflation, yet we are buying these things in Rands.
So, I propose that why not price our products in the shops in Rands because it is in wider circulation, so you will not waste a lot of foreign currency buying things from South Africa. You would use your United States dollars to buy products that are denominated in foreign currency for imports, for example machinery from Germany, you have to buy in foreign currency, chemicals from America, you use foreign currency, but basic commodities that you buy using the Rand, price them using the Rand. There will not be any opportunity for price arbitration as I have told you; marking your product price from R100 to US$100 is usurious. I therefore propose that we adopt the Rand as an anchor in our currencies basket. Its supply is cheap. Instead of using the few American Dollars that we have to import United States Dollars, let us use that money to import the Rand. At the end of the day, maybe three million Zimbabweans in the diaspora - may be two million in South Africa – imagine if they send the Rand home since that will be the dominant currency in the basket instead of the United States Dollar which is a difficult currency dominating our currency basket.
As the opposition, we are demanding that we join the Rand Monetary Union area. Of course, there are some obligations linked to that move. The first obligation is that we are required to have macroeconomic convergence and second, we have to address our microeconomic fundamentals. They further want to know the amount of reserves we have and in our case, our reserves are only US$200 million – [HON. BITI: Which I left.] - reserves and that is enough for two months fuel supplies only yet it must provide six to seven months import cover. In fact, our ideal reserves should be at least US$1 billion for us to be able to cover our critical imports. Therefore, they will consider our macro-economic conversions in terms of how many we have and what is the level of budget deficit. They also look at our balance of payments (BOP) position. If you look at our balance of payments, we have got a trade deficit of US$3 billion. We are exporting under US$3 billion and importing over US$6 billion. Therefore, we have a trade gap of over
US$3 billion and they also look at that. They also look at steps we are taking to introduce our own strong currency. In this, there are fundamentals which have to be attended to before that local currency can come. So in the mean time, let us use the Rand because it is awash in the region and its supply is not as complicated as the United States Dollar.
Mr. Speaker Sir, using the Rand should also not be an accident but that is the future of Africa when we talk of economic integration. In January 2018, the Heads of State and Government signed the continetal free trade area agreement in Kigali. The continental free trade area seeks to create one common African market with a potential demand of one billion people and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$2, 4 trillion. It is huge market which we must capitalize on. We must go through the continental free trade area and get into regional integration. What a way other than joining the Rand Union to start being integrated into the subregion.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in the transformation agenda, we need to leverage our natural resources to unlock new capital. What are we doing at the present moment? I will give you an example of platinum. What has happened Mr. Speaker Sir? Are you aware that Government has parceled all the platinum claims and concessions – [HON. BITI: To the Russians.] - These claims are not developed and they are being held on speculative basis instead of leveraging them to build our economy, to anchor our debt and so on. We are just sitting on idle resources instead of using those resources to borrow and entering into what we call forward contracts or securitisation of our natural resources. That is one way of raising revenue and they have done that in Angola. Look at where Angola is now? Uganda has just done that and they have also done the same in Ghana. They have securitised their natural resources such as your gold, copper, chrome, diamonds and so forth.
These are transformational issues which have got a long term bearing on the development of the country. Mr. Speaker Sir, the vision of an upper middle class by 2030 is very hard to achieve considering where we are especially if we continue to pursue the stabilisation policy path and politics. We need to pursue growth politics, development politics and transformational politics.
I now come to the Monetary Policy Statement which was unveiled. The Monetary Policy Statement did two things. It created nostro-foreign currency accounts and real time gross settlement (RTGS) foreign currency accounts (FCAs) and said they were at parity one as to one. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have problems with the nostro-accounts because we are not sure whether importers will get this money on demand. In the past, FCA accounts have been raided and people woke up having Zimbabwean Dollar balances. Therefore, people are not sure and they may not have confidence about these nostro FCAs.
The other problem is that, there is a US$500 million facility from the African Export and Import Bank which should be an anchor or a guarantee fund for those nostro accounts. There is however one problem there; we have not seen the term sheet of the US$500 million that was borrowed from the Africa Export Import Bank if it was borrowed. We do not know where that money is. The second thing is that, it is too little too late. The arrears on FCA nostro applications amount to US$6 billion, that is the queue and quantum of people waiting for foreign currency to import something or to make foreign payments. When you tell us that you have got US$500 from the African Export and Import Bank, it is chicken change and a drop in the ocean. It will not help and Mr. Speaker Sir, that is why we have got problems with the FCAs. The other problem is that, what RTGS FCAs? These are our normal transactional accounts and we have just given them the name RTGS FCAs because we are a dollarised economy but those are the normal accounts that we have always been using.
I have already talked about the 2% retrogressive tax and I will not belabor on that. I have also talked about the surrogate currency which is the bond-note and the reason why it is not performing any useful purpose apart from distorting the market. What is happening is that you have got some importers who are getting foreign currency from the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe nostro accounts at US$1:1 bond note. Others who are not connected and unlucky are getting the same foreign currency at US$1: 380 bond notes. It does not make sense and there is that differentiation which is not healthy. Mr. Speaker Sir, if we have a shortage of foreign currency in this country, why do we buy gold in foreign currenc?. We need to export that inorder to get the foreign currency but we are using the same foreign currency to buy gold locally. The people who now have foreign currency in the pockets are makorokoza or what we call the artisanal miners. They have got the cash and who are the barons behind these artisanal miners? So, as of the alternative monetary policy, I will just summarise our alternative monetary policy; let us decommission the bond note, let us adopt pricing of good in rands, let us address the liquidity crisis in all dimensions from the point of view of foreign currency and from the point of view of the domestic currency for transacting.
On Fiscal Policy, as I have said Mr. Speaker Sir, this Government has been borrowing amounts without parliamentary approval. I have talked about the $500 million AFREXIM Bank facility; that is one thing. They have recently borrowed from the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) of London – $100 million without parliamentary approval; they have borrowed from GemCorp – $250 million. GemCorp is a private capital fund in London which lends to governments. We have not seen the term sheets. We only know that it is five years tenure but the details of the term sheet are not available. They borrowed from AFREXIM Bank for essential imports – all these borrowings must come through this House. We must have a full session on Government borrowings. What is this money intended to, what are the full terms?
So we need the term sheets.
The other factual issue is of parastatals. If we do not transform parastatals, they are doing business as usual. I have a quotation just to illustrate to you the attitude of parastatals. I read the annual report of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). By the way, it was put in our pigeon holes. On page 62, I just want to demonstrate the attitude of parastatals; there is an auditor’s item – those who are accountants here, there is an item of ‘Going Concern’. The auditor said this parastatal is not a ‘going concern’ which means that its liabilities cannot cover its assets. It cannot continue to operate, it is insolvent.
When the auditor gives you such a qualification, the management has to put a response to the auditor’s remark. This is what the board; said “The GMB Board made a loss of $32 million in 2016 and an accumulated loss of $209 million as at 31 March 2017. The Directors have assessed the ability of the board to continue operating as a going concern and believe that the preparation of these financial statements on a going concern basis is appropriate hence they agree.” They go on to say, “The board does not believe that the losses will have a significant impact on its ability to continue operating as a going concern because of the continued funding it receives from the Government” – [HON. MEMBERS: Aaah!] - That is the attitude of the parastatals. They said never mind, Government will continue to fund us. It is Father Christmas.
If we do not address the issue of parastatals, we are going to dig deeper holes because these are loss making entities whose excuse is that
‘Government will give us the money.’
To wind up, there is the issue of corruption. I do not need to belabour on the issue of corruption and how it affects the economy. It is a big issue.
I have talked about the issue of productivity – at the end of the day, this economy belongs to us as Zimbabweans. We have got a duty as legislators to make sure that we hold the Executive accountable. We do not want this economy to go back to neo-classical, pro-liberal programmes. We want a developmental approach and a transformative agenda for this country so that we can increase the welfare of our people. I so move. Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
ORAL CHOLERA VACCINATION PROCESS
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order! Before we proceed with our debate, I have got a very important health announcement. I have to inform the House that Hon. Members are invited to participate in the on-going oral cholera vaccination on Wednesday and Thursday – 10th and 11th October 2018 at Parliament Clinic. The programme will be preceded by a presentation at 0900 hours in the National Assembly Chamber on both days. Any members who fail to be present for the vaccination process on these days can also access any other designated vaccination points at the City of Harare Clinics.
HON. BITI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I rise to second the motion by Hon. Dr. Mashakada on the state of the economy. I would like to thank him for a very comprehensive submission before this honourable House.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the economy is in a serious state of malaise. Our economy has been battered by years and years of self induced policy distortions. The economy reflects the state of Zimbabwe. The State is broken, vulnerable and fragile. There are structural challenges – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Mr. Speaker Sir – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Madam Speaker Sir – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Madam Speaker…. THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is alright.
HON. BITI: Although I will speak on the economy…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Go ahead.
HON. BITI: Madam Speaker, although I will speak on the economy, I need to make it very clear that the challenges that we are facing in the economy are inextricably linked to our politics – [HON. MEMBERS: Yes!] – and that the economy is just a mirror or reflection of the challenges of legitimacy, the challenges which we are facing – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – in the body politics.
Madam Speaker, you can rig an election but you cannot rig an economy – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Gara pasi!] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – [HON. WADYAJENA:
Aka riga election ndiani?] –
HON. KARIKOGA: On a point of order Madam Speaker, - [AN
HON. MEMBER: Taura section!] - We are well aware that the Hon.
Member who just sat down is suffering from post – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – On a section of common sense … – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members!
HON. KARIKOGA: On a section of common sense, Hon. Tendai Biti is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and the things that he is mentioning do not make sense. I thank you. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member,
you can proceed with your debate but stick to the motion.
HON. BITI: Thank you Madam Speaker, we have structural challenges in our economy. One of the structural challenges that we have is the accumulation model. 100 years after colonialism, it is regrettable that our economy is still extractive. We extract raw materials and sell them outside the country. Our biggest cash crop is tobacco but we sell it in its raw form. So if you were to wake Cecil Rhodes from his grave in Matobo, he would not be confused by the accumulation model because it is still extraction – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
We have a problem Madam Speaker, our country is in a recession. A recession is a situation in economics where the economy recedes, grows in negative terms in two successive quotas. Since 2012, our economy has been in a recession so that effectively means that we are now in an economic depression. It is very difficult to get into a recession, a recession is characterised by absent aggregate demand; the absence of output and excess capacity - if you go to the industries, they are not being utilised. Excess capacity in the form of 95% of our people who are unemployed and so this is a grave situation that needs to be addressed. A recession is a crisis of under-accumulation which is why until recently, our shops have been full of goods but Zimbabweans have been unable to afford those goods. A recession is the opposite of what we had in 2007/08 – a crisis of hyper inflation.
What we had in 2007/08 was a crisis of over-accumulation of a situation whereby the economy had overheated and too much money was chasing few goods. Now, Madam Speaker, to move from a crisis of over-accumulation to a recession – a crisis of under-accumulation in less than eight years is impossible as these are two extreme positions of failure. To actually transit from a crisis of over-accumulation 2007/08 to a crisis of under-accumulation 2013 to 2018 is almost impossible. There is only one country that has gone through those extreme phases and that is Germany in between two world wars. Zimbabwe has achieved this without any war – it is extreme Madam Speaker – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam Speaker, the second man made challenge that we have in this country is that of a huge budget deficit that is now in excess of 25% of Gross Domestic Product [GDP]. We spend money as if it grows on trees and I always argue that there is a disease in this country called, fiscalitis. Fiscalitis is the disease when you just spend and spend and spend and like we say at rallies, ‘tinodya mari semushonga wemusana’, and this is the scourge of the budget deficit.
Madam Speaker, most countries, including the United States of
America run budget deficits, so the challenge is not budget deficit but is twofold. First, what are you putting the resources to? The challenge with our deficit is that we have been implementing deficit economics for consumption. So we have been creating budget deficits to hire luxury jets, buy cars, bribe the population in elections and have not been building schools, dams, roads and power stations. So when you have a budget deficit – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Chinotimba having stood up.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
HON. BITI: Chinotimba chimbondisiya ndidhibhete shamwari, handiti ucha dhibheta. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – So that is the challenge Madam Speaker, we have been running a budget deficit to finance consumption and not to finance developmental projects and the social agenda.
The second challenge of our deficit is how we have sought to monetize it and cover the gap. We have sought to monetize the budget deficit through creative illegal means. The first means has been to borrow from the central bank. As I am talking to you right now, the
Government is running an overdraft facility at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) that is standing at US$2.4 billion. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, the central bank is not a commercial bank. However, the central bank is broke and under capitalised. So when the Government borrows from the central bank, in fact it is not borrowing from the central bank. It is in fact raiding peoples’ deposits that are put in peoples’ accounts that are then kept at the central bank. This is why there is a cash shortage and why you cannot get your money. So the problem is now manifesting itself as a monetary problem yet it is a fiscal problem rising from a Government that is monetizing its budget deficit creatively and illegally through raiding peoples’ RTGs balances and peoples’ nostro accounts.
So the shortage of cash and the currency crisis that we have must fall squarely on the shoulders of the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development that has been raiding the central bank and fortiori deposits kept by persons in their accounts. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - So that is problem number one.
The second problem that is associated with the huge fingerprint of Government in the economy is that of the broad money supply. What economists call, M3. Since 2013 money supply has grown up to $5bn due to Government borrowing. On Friday last week, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development launched what they called the Transitional Stabilisaton Programme and that document actually discloses that as of that Friday, broad money supply was in excess of $11bn. Of that $11bn, $8bn is just Government activity. The problem of a huge Government fingerprint in the economy is that you are crowding out the private sector from participating in the economy. The Government which is a non-productive entity becomes the biggest and dominant player in the economy.
When money grows faster than production as is the case in Zimbabwe, then you have inflation. So, you are back to 2008, a situation where there is too much money chasing too few goods because of an over grown broad money supply, M3. We need to curtail the growth of money supply.
Thirdly, is Government borrowing. It is shocking Madam Speaker that for the first time in the history of Zimbabwe, domestic debt which is around $10bn is now exceeding external sovereign debt. It is basically unheard of. It means that the Government among other things is running a parallel quasi fiscal economy. When you have a situation which we have now that domestic debt plus external debt is now $21bn, it is criminal. It means that every child who is being born right now – a baby that is being born at Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Ward even before she has put on diapers she owes money which she does not know to the tune of $200 000 – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
The dangerous thing about that debt is that you are eating into future generations. That $20bn has to be paid by future generations. That means the present generation, through economic mismanagement, is imposing a tax on future generations, a tax in the form of interest repayments that has to be made. That Madam Speaker is absolutely unacceptable.
The fourth thing which I want to talk about is inflation. Zimbabweans know the scourge of inflation. In June 2008, which was the last time that our Government gave figures before the Inclusive Government, inflation was 231 million percent. Month on month inflation was over a million percent. We had a situation where when you are in a queue, prices would change three times. I saw that yesterday personally. I went to Union Hardware in Workington, a man came in the morning to ask for a quotation of a door. He was given a quotation of $90. That same man went at lunch at Union Hardware and he was told that the door is $190. When I saw that man at four o’clock at Union
Hardware, it was now $290. We are back to the era of hyperinflation.
Let me tell you something about hyperinflation. High inflation - 12% or 18% is byproduct of economic mismanagement. High inflation is economic failure. Hyperinflation has nothing to do with economics. Hyperinflation reflects a total breakdown of confidence and trust – a total breakdown of the social contract. In other words, the citizen loses any confidence in a Government. It goes back to politics. It goes back to legitimacy which is why I submitted at the beginning that what we are facing in this country might appear to be an economic problem. It is not. It is in fact a political problem, a crisis of legitimacy.
Madam Speaker, I want to zero in on solutions. The first thing that we need to do is to bring fiscal consolidation. We have to eat what we kill. We have to pursue a fiscal balance and balance our books. If you kill a rat, you cannot have the part of an elephant. You cannot feast and call the whole village when you have killed a rat. If you kill a rat, you eat a rat. We have to go back to the issue of cash budgeting. We have to go back to the issue of a zero deficit balance. It is normal economics
Madam Speaker. The greatest economists in the world are not the Paul Volckers of this world, they are not the Allan Crispers of this world, they are our mothers in Chendambuya and in Binga who know that if my husband earns $10, I spend $10. Let me tell you something about economics. In economics, one minus two it cannot. Once you say one minus two is minus one, you have got a problem and that is the problem with these men on the left.
The second thing which we have to do is to make sure that the economy grows. We have to invest in the supply side of the economy. We need foreign direct investment in this country. We have to be truly open for business. We cannot say we are open for business when we are busy stealing elections – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Member, stick to the
motion.
HON. BITI: We cannot say we are open for business when we unleash the army on unarmed civilians as we did on the 1st of August
2018 – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: The truth is that what happened during
elections of 31st July 2018 is under investigation. There is a
Commission. Hon. Biti is also under investigation on the same matter.
So, he needs to withdraw.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, events of the
1st of August 2018 must not be debated. I have ruled.
HON. BITI: When we are open for business there must be harmony and dialogue in our country. I submit that President
Mnangagwa….
[Time limit.]
HON. CHIKWINYA: I want to move that the Hon. Member’s
time be extended.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: I object.
Motion put and negative.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: He cannot continue, it is
objected. I will give you one minute to wind up.
HON. DR. BITI: So, the third solution which we are proposing is the total de-monetisation of the bond note. The bond note must be scrapped namhla kachana. It must go. Fourth, we must protect the balances of people which are in bank accounts right now. So, the major announce on the 1st of October in the Monetary Policy Statement, that we are now creating a FCA has got the effect of devaluing people’s
accounts at the present moment. We cannot lose value again.
Fifth, we must join the Rand Monetary Union as a matter of urgency. I thank you very much Hon. Madam Speaker – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to
thank Hon. Mashakada and the seconder of the motion. It is true that our economy is not performing well at all. What he has said is very true. However, if you were to look at the video or pictures which were shown during the debate by Hon. Mashakada when I wanted to raise a point of order, I was told that I would only be able to give my opinion as I debate. It is true that prices keep rising and cooking oil is now being sold at $13 to $15. I met some men yesterday who were moving in shops and were chanting party slogans like the MDC one, ‘chinja.’
There are people in this country who are corrupt, as alluded to by another Hon. Member. Some people want to lead this country through the poverty of other people by increasing prices so that it reflects negatively on the Government in power. This is done by the opposition, those who lost the elections. These are the people who are causing the rising of prices – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. May
the Hon. Member be heard in silence?
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, this is an issue that is of deep concern that people like Hon. Biti would stand up to debate and say that elections were rigged and yet he won in his own Constituency. I do not know what he means by saying that elections were rigged…
*HON. MADZIMURE: On a point of order Madam Speaker
Ma’am. The Hon. Member Hon. Chinotimba is no longer in line with the motion. I think he needs to go back and ensure that he debates within the confines of the motion that has been moved. If he has nothing to say, he should sit down.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Proceed Hon. Chinotimba
but ensure that you stick to the motion.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The issue
that I mentioned is that Hon. Biti said, what is happening is all politics. I am saying, those who lost the election are ones that are causing the rise in prices and that is the truth. Madam Speaker, we have a problem in our country whereby people take foreign currency outside the country to buy their goods and the goods do not attract foreign currency. As a result, our foreign currency – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, order. May the Hon.
Member be heard in silence?
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: I am within the confines of the motion. Madam Speaker. I am talking about foreign currency. We do not have enough foreign currency in our nation. The business people take the foreign currency – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Madam Speaker, I need your protection, especially from the Hon.
Member with spectacles, Hon. Thabita Khumalo.
When the companies get foreign currency from the Reserve Bank to go and buy their goods outside the country, those companies are not bringing back foreign currency. They manufacture goods and sell those goods that attract foreign currency but they do not remit it. That is why we have a shortage of foreign currency. For that reason, our economy is not developing at all – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Did you have evidence at all when you showed us that clip in your presentation? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Chinotimba,
address the Chair. You may proceed.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, the other issue that is causing economic challenges in our nation is the issue of people who just rise up in this nation and badmouth our country, requesting for sanctions and their behaviour affects the nation. The country cannot thrive under such a situation. Others are saying ‘open for business’ while the other party is saying ‘open for sanctions’. That is a challenge for our economy to grow. Madam Speaker, the issue of the Rand in Zimbabwe is a welcome proposal but there are measures that must be taken into consideration. We cannot use the Rand if our economy is not stable enough to use another country’s currency – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members.
Please allow the Hon. Member to be heard in silence – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, this motion was brought up by Hon. Mashakada but he does not want us to debate the motion. We are saying, we appreciate the motion and it is an important motion. We want to debate it and look at the positives and negatives of the motion. We are not in agreement with the rising prices or the shortages but at the same time, we will not support those who go into shops and take politics into the shops. Madam Speaker, this nation, if at all it has people who do not know where this country came from, who do not understand what makes people happy in this country will never be peaceful and worth living. People say the wrong things. They think that poverty and challenges being experienced is caused by certain individuals.
Madam Speaker, I thank you for giving me an ear – [AN HON.
MEMBERS: Yes, you are vomiting.] – My request is that the Hon. Member should withdraw his words – [HON. CHIBAYA: You are not
the Speaker.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chibaya! Hon.
Chinotimba, you may proceed.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, I want to thank you
for the opportunity and the words that I have said. I thank you.
HON. O. MGUNI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I must thank Hon. Dr. Mashakada and Hon. Biti for bringing up such an interesting and very touching debate. Madam Speaker, on the facts that they brought, I saw and I realise that they missed a lot from the Presidential Speech. The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe spoke about the Bill of Fiscal Balances. Fiscal Balances is exactly what Hon. Biti was hammering on to say, you cannot eat more than what you acquire, that is what the President demanded that, that Bill is coming to Parliament. We have to deliberate on it, correct it and have that Bill passed in this
Parliament. So, the President is on the right path to amend the economy.
Today when I looked at the first page of the Herald, I saw the notice of the privatisation of the parastatals and I said thumps up; Zimbabwe is now privatising the parastatals because parastatals have been doing what Hon. Mashakada referred to. Therefore, the
Government has already taken action to privatise them and you will see privatisation being done.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I saw today that Pure Gold, the manufacturers of cooking oil said they have enough stocks and they are dispatching the cooking oil that is worth $2.71. Therefore, when it reached the end user, it is sold at $10. Now, I am an anti-corruption expert and I have to track it like this. If the manufacturers say they are manufacturing something for $2.71 and then the end users are selling to the public at $10, therefore, there are some business people who are corrupt, unscrupulous, and unpatriotic and are busy engaging on price fixing. Why do they do that price fixing? That is the next question that I will be asking myself. It is something that is purported to counter correct governance and create ungovernable systems through social medias whereby we need to bring a very strong Cyber Crime Bill in this Parliament to correct such matters. People are reacting on rumour mongering which is circulating on the media and there are some people who are escalating the prices.
HON. NDEBELE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. It is not
fiction that cooking oil is selling for more than $2.50. So, the Hon. Member needs to debate reality. If a mere businessman out there in the rural areas can raise cooking oil to $10 and Government is saying cooking oil is $2.50, who is governing then?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, your time will
come and you will debate.
HON. O. MGUNI: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I do not want to
reverse what I said because I punctuated it by saying that Pure Gold the manufacturers of cooking oil are declaring that the price today is $2.71.
So, those who are selling it at $14 are unscrupulous people who are criminals.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, there is something that Hon. Mashakada brought here which needs to be debated. The HIPC status that we must declare so that we are being helped and monitored to grow our economy – what it means is that you are declaring that you have failed to run the country and you cannot do anything. Therefore, you are hindering investment. There will be no investment into the country if we adopt that system. Therefore, I encourage the Government not to go that way because you would prevent investors – they will not come to a HIPC status declared country and the reason behind all this is corruption.
There are three key things that we are missing in fighting against corruption. We need a unity that is called forfeiture unity whereby if somebody is found to be corrupt, those proceeds must be taken and forfeited to the State. I have seen a lot of people getting away with murder Madam Speaker. They are found corrupt but what they acquired is left with them. They would serve three years and they go out of prison to enjoy their fruits. We have to take all those things and bring them back to the State because they are eating into the coffers of the State and we want the State to benefit so that we grow.
The State is servicing its debt and the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development is coming here to give a Ministerial
Statement which will address how he is going to service the debts. He is ready to come and present that statement. We are a free market economy and if you look at it, we should be by this time having inspectors who are inspecting and governing our prices in every consumer shop but now, the economy that we are running here is a freemarket economy. Therefore, we cannot adopt a Rand in such a market because such a market needs our own currency Madam Speaker Ma’am.
We have gold, platinum and we can support that to make our own currency. We need our own currency because now you cannot put the figure low and you cannot put the correct systems of monetary laws on a foreign currency. For example, we need to simplify this to a street person. You will find a person carrying US$1 million at Beitbridge and he is going to South Africa. If you stop him and say where did you get this money from, he would say from Zambia – how will you prove it is from Zimbabwe? You will not control any money which is not from your country and that is what some opportunists are now using to make Zimbabwe suffer. We have a lot of unpatriotic people in Zimbabwe who are trading and the money is in the hands of those people. So, they will sabotage the country.
We have saboteurs and people who are against the improvement of the country and the policy of saying Zimbabwe is open for business, and others are opposing. We need to be strict on the money and we need our own currency to stand on our own and develop our own things that will help us.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, let me agree with Hon. Mashakada on the
exportation of minerals like platinum because he never spoke bad things altogether. There were some good things that we must take and agree on - the exportation of minerals like platinum which contains seven other minerals and they are processed in South Africa. We would want to know how South Africa declares those other mineral products that they find inside platinum and bring them back. That is his point and he is correct to say that we need now to move in beneficiating our platinum in Zimbabwe so that we extract those minerals also and they must benefit us here. So, we must move towards industrialising our country, not relying on another country. That is why Botswana never bought into a story of using Rands. I know it because I worked for SADC. It is because they do not want to be colonised by another country. That is why I am standing to say we need our own currency.
Another thing that he mentioned that is interesting which we need to take note of - it was a picture where bread was written $1.55. We have got plenty of wheat, Madam Speaker. I saw that today it is beginning to be harvested. We need to support Command Agriculture where we produce our own things rather than relying on imported wheat. We need to teach our farmers to produce wheat in larger quantities so that we do not rely on other countries. We cannot be taking money or foreign currency to buy wheat somewhere else. We have got enough
land and we have got enough fields. We need to plough our wheat and have our own bread, even at a lesser price. I remember people were querying why our bread was already $1. It must go down because we have got land, wheat and farmers in Zimbabwe. We have got Command Agriculture.
Madam Speaker, there was someone who was claiming that this is a broken economy and a broken Government. This is a very sad moment for Zimbabweans whereby as leaders, when we have these things in front of us, we are failing to come and sit down together and have a way forward to develop our country. There are some people who have got their own selfish interests where they think if it is me who is in power, then I will fix this problem. No, we need to have something that is called constructive criticism. Madam Speaker, we promote something that we call constructive criticism.
For the first time, I will respect this man Hon. Dr. Mashakada. He brought some of the solutions to the problems that are here, although his solutions we will match or mismatch them with those by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development when he comes here to Parliament because we want to hear from both sides to say who has got the best for
Zimbabwe. He is allowed as an Honourable to bring his opinion, but the
Minister is also…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Honourable. Vehicle number AEV4932 Twin Cab Fiat is blocking other vehicles. Please, may the owner attend to it.
HON. O. MGUNI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Lastly, I will say this to indicate that if people are not pulling together what happens. Zimbabwe decided to revive certain factories in Bulawayo, and they were given $7 million to resuscitate their businesses. When we made a follow up as the Committee on Industry and Commerce last year, we found that those factories were not resuscitated. You know what happened instead. The owners took the money to South Africa and they left the factories. So now we have unpatriotic Zimbabweans here that are destroying our economy and we need to be on guard. Thank you
Madam Speaker.
*HON. DUTIRO: Thank you Madam Speaker for this opportunity to add my voice to the motion that was moved by Hon. Dr.
Mashakada. Firstly, what impressed me from Hon. Dr. Mashakada is when he said, as a united country we shall move together and as a united country we shall progress, but after saying such beautiful words on debating issues to try and solve the challenges in this nation, he went further to say that we went into rushed elections. The rushed elections that he is talking about, the President was working within the confines of the Constitution and hence it was constitutional.
Hon. Dr. Mashakada mentioned two other issues. Firstly, he said that the outcome of the elections was being contested. What surprised me most was that I heard Hon. Chinotimba saying that he was moving around shops and he saw people running from shop to shop shouting the slogan Chinja, chinja, chinja. When he says that elections are contested, we feel that contesting of elections…
HON. GONESE: On a point of order, Madam Speaker. In terms of Standing Order 93, no Member shall whilst speaking use his or her right of speech for the purpose of obstructing the proceedings of the House or abusing the rules – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Madam Speaker, firstly my point is that what the Hon.
Member is saying is tantamount to abusing the rules and secondly, it is repetition of what some other Hon. Member had said earlier on. More importantly, it is tantamount to abusing your right of speech by saying things which did not happen when you know they did not happen, but simply to abuse the rules.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your point of order is noted.
Hon. Dutiro, please may you address the motion.
*HON. DUTIRO: The issue under discussion is that here in Zimbabwe there is 95% unemployment, but we know that when we say it is employment or unemployment, 75% of our people reside in the rural areas. I do not know where the 95% is coming from because if we go to the rural areas – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- because in rural areas, children will be in school and the adults will be busy at work which means that the 70% population…
*HON. SIKHALA: Madam Speaker, the Hon. Speaker previously ruled before you assumed the Chair that whenever Hon. Members are debating, they should support their claims with facts. The 95% unemployment levels cited by the Hon. Member as existing in Zimbabwe is emanating from the United Nations Report.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Sikhala, your
time to debate the motion will come and Hon. Dutiro may you proceed please.
*HON. DUTIRO: I heard in this House when the motion was introduced and we acted as if this deterioration and accumulation of debt in this economy began in November when His Excellency President
Mnangagwa assumed the Office. This country’s economy however accumulated some of the debts long back even during the Rhodesian era. We inherited this economy from the Smith Regime in 1980 and we should not forget that this country also borrowed money when it had the liberation struggle.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: On a point of order Madam
Speaker. I just want to give advice to my colleagues on the side from which I was banned yesterday. As you are seated there, you are the chief advisors to His Excellency the President. Yesterday the President spoke at the Professional Women, Women Executives and Business Women Forum (Proweb) meeting and he did not even discuss about the issue of prices discussed here today. He did not do so because he knew we were going to be sitting here to discuss that today. He is now busy listening to what we are debating here as advice to him through this House. From how you are debating and conducting yourselves, he will not get proper advice. He should listen to your contributions during this debate here and take the advice from this House. Now with what you are doing, I do not think he will get proper advice. You should be seen to be active because – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Matambanadzo. There is no point of order Hon. Matambanadzo. Hon. Dutiro, please proceed.
*HON. DUTIRO: What I am saying is that, the challenges that we are talking about in this House started a long time ago. I said during the Rhodesian era we accumulated debts and in 1980 when we attained our independence, we inherited those debts. When we took over from the
Rhodesians, we also took some loans which helped us manage to build our schools and universities. Now we are saying we have diaspora that is bringing in money and no one denied that fact. What we are saying is those people who are bringing in money are doing so as a result of the education that we empowered them with in schools and universities that we built.
When we got to a point where our land had to be redistributed to the black Africans, our production plummeted and in particular tobacco production. If we retrospect, our production levels of tobacco and the manufacturing sector went down during the land reform programme implementation era. The major cause being that we could not agree amongst ourselves in terms of that policy direction. Some of us were calling for sanctions against the economy that time whilst others were implementing the land reform. Those sanctions are still standing today.
I have mentioned the various phases that the country went through. For Zimbabwe to be the country it is today, it got various supports from other countries until we got back our independence. After we got our independence however, we also had the challenge that, some of our erstwhile neighbours also went to war. We therefore ended up sending our troops to support Mozambique and we used money in that respect. We also used money and other resources as well when we further sent our troops to support the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during their struggle.
The support we gave to each other as Front Line States brought independence to the various countries in this region.
HON. NDEBELE: Madam Speaker, I think you have to intervene. With all due respect, your Chamber is being turned into a circus please intervene. The Hon. Member is not addressing the motion and he is turning this motion into a circus. Honestly, this is an important motion and we are running on taxpayers’ money. People are angry out there and please intervene.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of order noted. Hon. Dutiro, may you please stick to the motion.
HON. DUTIRO: All the challenges that we have mentioned need solutions …
HON. MLISWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order Hon.
Mliswa?
HON. MLISWA: My point of order is on the basis that the motion
that has been moved is very critical to this country. In that respect, the Ruling Party must behave as the governing party and what I am trying to say is, they are in charge and they must not behave like the Opposition.
Equally the motion raised is of national interest and I also expect hon. members of the opposition to also allow the debate to flow. This issue is critical at this juncture and everybody wants to know what is happening to the pricing issue and people are following our behavior relative to what we are doing here. We are like kindergarten children and am wondering and saying to myself should I be here for the next five minutes because there is absolutely nothing that I am learning.
It is important Madam Speaker that you stamp authority when it comes to these issues. Madam Speaker, I say so because we do not want a situation where when the Speaker is in the Chair, we respect him and we respect the Speaker because he respects this House by ensuring that people adhere to the rules. As such Madam Speaker, while you are on that Chair you are equally as powerful as the Speaker and I think you must exercise your rights. If it means that 10 people remain in here who are contributing to national issues, so be it and I think you have to cut across and exercise the powers bestowed unto you. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your point of order is noted. Hon. Member, may you proceed but stick to the motion and I am giving you five minutes to wind up.
HON. SIKHALA: On a point order Madam Speaker!
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please allow him to wind up
his debate.
HON. SIKHALA: The Hon. Member’s twenty minutes has
lapsed.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Dutiro may you
continue and I am giving you five minutes to wind up your debate. *HON. DUTIRO: What I was saying is that currently, if you look at our economic recovery, we agreed that our country is agro-based and also mineral based with gold, platinum and tobacco. If you look at our production of tobacco, it was 260 million kilograms and with gold we are currently at 25 tonnes, which means that our country is recovering well but the cash crisis is still on-going. We all know that the flow of the US$ in financing the industry was a challenge.
Our industry is not being honest to the Government. The Government has been honest by supporting them and giving them foreign currency to produce but industry itself is not producing things that are adequate for this nation. If you look at products that were shown on that picture; bread, cooking oil and others, those products are produced locally and during the GNU, we got to an extent of getting $500 million and we supported the very same industry.
Currently, foreign direct investment is being directed to the manufacturing sector but the same sector is not producing anything that is tangible and coming to the market which means that our industry is not being honest to the Government yet the Government is being honest in availing the foreign currency. The Government has said there is now an FCA and Bond account, and from the time the Government announced that we realise that the rate of the US dollar shot up, which means that those companies that had their monies in the accounts are the ones causing this speculation to make the US dollar rise. Industry is just not being honest with the Government yet the Government itself is honest.
This is not a lie of what was mentioned here that Surface Wilmar said that they have a lot of cooking oil in stock and they gave a price of cooking oil but we have unscrupulous business people who are not honest with the Government. So, I am saying that – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
[Time Limit.]
*HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Thank you Madam Speaker for
giving me the opportunity to contribute on this important motion. I have been given the opportunity to thank Mashonaland West who voted overwhelmingly to elect me to represent them in this House.
Madam Speaker, I am deeply concerned by the issue that is under debate. If I look at my constituency, it is a constituency that has a lot of parents who have never worked at all and the few who have worked are getting very little pension from NSSA, basically $50 per month and they get this money through Ecocash. That is the pivot of my debate Madam Speaker that the challenges that we are experiencing are affecting those people in rural areas and even those in urban areas because there is no disposal income and nothing to guard their livelihood. For them to get money, the money that we knew of, that we used to touch and were actually able to count as we grew up is a thing of the past.
Now, our parents who do not understand Ecocash are facing challenges. We have elderly people who are pensioners in urban and rural areas. They are saying that the money that they get through Ecocash is giving them challenges. Their plea is that they be given their money as cash so that they can earn a living. When it is put on Ecocash, even if they want to get transport to get into town to withdraw their money, they are charged exorbitantly by the mushikashikas.
It was said that there is a 95% unemployment rate. If the children we sent to school would be working, they would be assisting these elderly people but we have people who have graduated who are selling airtime using Ecocash because there are no jobs and that does not in any way develop the economy. The economic situation has affected people.
If a child has a job, that child would be able to look after his/her parents. If that child was employed, he would be able to send his parents even cooking oil in the rural areas but the children have gone to school and are not getting jobs. That is what has affected the right to livelihood. A lot of people do not have anything to use, eat, drink and there is no money for school fees.
Madam Speaker, education itself for our children has become a challenge because there is now barter trade such that at one time the former Minister of Education said that parents could even pay school fees using goats. What kind of a nation is it that asks me to carry a goat to go and pay school fees? It means the economy of the country is dead. There is not even $5 to go and pay fees for a child in Grade Zero in the rural areas. That is where we are saying that if the economy has gone down to that extent, what more of securing the livelihoods of people. What are we going to use to buy? How are we going to live? We are now being told to do barter trade using goats and cattle. As we were growing up we knew there was money in banks but now we cannot get money because of these economic challenges. We are the only nation that if you want to go and buy you need to do electronic transactions through the phone. Why cannot we go back to the use of the basket of currencies that is used in the currencies of different nations? What is surprising is that you are telling us that we need to open FCA accounts there are no US dollars on market. If we go out on the black market we find it is there. This money is being sold and the speculation is taking place. This is done people in power. The Executive know where the money is coming from, the money that is circulating on black market.
The Executive has introduced the US dollar account which is different from the one we know. So, who has taken the US dollar from the bank which is now being sold on the black market? We want our Executive to explain to us why we are not getting any money. You know there are long queues at the banks but you are only getting US$5 in bond notes and yet US dollars are being sold on black market. Someone took that money from the Reserve Bank. That is why I am saying as an august House, we need to do our work so that we can see that the little that we have, how did it find its way out of the Reserve Bank to be sold on the black market and yet people are struggling.
We can make a lot of noise here but that will not address the issues of poverty that people are facing. We are saying that once that has been addressed, everyone should be able to get the little amount of money that can buy. What we are requesting is that you remove the papers that we call bond notes because we are not getting it. We have been troubled by the downward trend of the economy that is now dead because there is no money. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MATANGIRA: I thank you Hon. Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion raised by Hon. Dr.
Mashakada second by Hon. Biti, the ‘rate eater’. I will have to debate in Shona, why, because; I want the people in my constituency to understand the language...
HON. TSUNGA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. TSUNGA: My point of order is – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Ko ndiwe Biti here?] –
HON. MATANGIRA: Ko ndiwe Biti here?
HON. TSUNGA: The Hon. Member is referring to another Hon.
Member as a ‘rate eater’ I am not too sure whether that is Parliamentary.
I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Who is that Hon. Member? – [Hon.
Members pointing fingers at Hon. Matangira: Iyeyu.] – Hon. Matangira, may you withdraw your statement.
HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker I mean rate and not rat, it is the rate of the dollar – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. NDEBELE: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. NDEBELE: He said, he was the Minister, and it goes to the same issue that Hon. Mliswa was referring to. If you could put your foot down and ask him to withdraw that. He called Hon. Biti a ‘rate eater’ which is unparliamentary.
HON. MATANGIRA: RATE – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Matangira, please withdraw
your statement.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Let me express – [HON. KHUMALO:
Withdraw hatidi kudherera vakadzi taramba.] – Thank you Madam
Speaker, let me withdraw, I have withdrawn and I will switch to vernacular – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, let me speak in Shona because English seems to be twisted, I want to thank you Madam Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Withdraw.] – *HON. MATANGIRA: Ko inga ndati ndazvomora wani.
HON. NDEBELE: That was said in English you have to retract it in English – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. MATANGIRA: We withdraw Madam Speaker – [AN
HON. MEMBER: We withdraw?] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May you proceed.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for
the opportunity that you have given me to contribute to Hon. Dr.
Mashakada’s motion that was seconded by Hon. Biti who have said that the rates that were there in 2008, they were able to reduce them. We want to thank them for this motion that was brought before the House, an Hon. Member said that for the country to develop, the people of
Zimbabwe should be united.
The challenges that we are facing are not different from a person who has taken thorns and put them on the road and yet he is not putting on shoes so that tomorrow he can then mourn and say he has been pricked by the thorns. Surely, the difficulties that we have right now are as a result of elections from what Hon. Dr. Mashakada said. We should not have rushed to go for elections; money was taken from the economy because we were heading towards elections. After that money was used to fund elections that money was longer available. Those people who were opposing the ruling party were hoping to win but God said no, and he made it clear that he is the one who appoints the leaders.
Now that God has appointed leaders, what is the problem? The MDC mover won in his constituency and the councilor from ZANU PF won in his constituency and you then say there was rigging because the President of ZANU PF overwhelmingly won the election. Those who fear getting into a race should not enter the race because you will start saying I have been bewitched – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
Let me talk about the issue of the economy that is said to be on its knees. The issue of the economy which is said to be down on its knees is because you are chopping the branch that you are sitting on, then when you fall you then question why you have fallen. Those who went and sought that Zimbabwe should not develop in terms of economy and industries. Some borrowed money and went to Germany or America to beg that Zimbabwe and its people should experience a lot of poverty so that they can be in power. When they are able to govern, there will be democracy in Zimbabwe.
I was happy Madam Speaker that we have realised today, though very late that there is no medication in Zimbabwe. We do not have medication in Zimbabwe; there is cholera right now, how can we not have cholera yet we are the ones who went and begged for sanctions to be imposed on Zimbabwe; that the economy should go down on its knees. You are talking of the escalating of prices; yes that is what you wanted. You wanted the nation to suffer and for sure we are suffering, 13 years in the liberation struggle, now we are 12 months in power as the leaders of Zimbabwe that is not what will prevent us from moving forward.
What I want to tell you Madam Speaker is that the one who suffers because of hunger is because they did not work but the one that was ambushed will not suffer. What is being said is that the Government has failed. What would you have done, bring the ideas. Come, let us unite and be one people so that we can address the challenges. How can you talk about hunger in Zimbabwe, which country are you coming from? The alternative that this Hon. Member is talking about is that Zimbabwe should be a province of another State, no, if Jacob tricked his brother to get a blessing, we cannot do that as well. We are going to stand, let us unite and give each other ideas as leaders.
Madam Speaker, the issues that were debated here that we have graduates who are on the streets, the graduates who are on the streets selling airtime, it was caused by the Hon. Members in this august House who were at University, when they came to this House they did not give the Government as what happens in Cuba that students should be given life skills. From universities they should be employers not employees that sell airtime on the streets.
The three tier pricing system you talked about; the swipe, bond note and American Dollar, one with means of production is the White person and is the same person who formed the Opposition Party and he is the one with the United States Dollar (USD). On this side, we never had USD; we had no means of production before. Even if in the industries, you hear of Metro Peech; they all belong to the Opposition; Choppies is even yours too. So, means of production lies in their hands as the Opposition. They are the ones who want the economy to die.
They are the owners of the shops and they are raising the prices.
Come let us sit down and address our challenges as a nation. There is no one on the left side who was not allowed to bring a submission to the President to say I was thinking that we can address the challenges this way. That way, the country can then move forward because there will be no Opposition - because the opposite of right, no matter what happens, the opposing factor will always oppose. Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. The figure that were mentioned; yes they mentioned those figures that let us eat what we kill. What we have killed, are we going to be saying we are going to feed on mice only, when are we going to get kudus as well? We need to think big as a nation because our country is rich, we should not think small.
First and foremost important issue is that of unity; once we unite, our challenges are solved. If they scold and shout at us outside the durawall, we will not hear what they are saying. Let us face each other and work together so that we can prosper as a nation. With these few words I want to thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. GONESE: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this
opportunity to join others who have spoken before me on this very critical and important motion. I want to begin by thanking the mover of the motion for a very brilliant motion which was delivered in a very eloquent and comprehensive manner. I would also want to thank the seconder who also did a sterling job.
However, it is unfortunate that when we are in this august House some of the Hon. Members do not pay attention when motions are being debated. More importantly, they do not even read the contents of the motion in question. I want all Hon. Members to re-focus on the content of the motion. The motion is very clear. The people of Zimbabwe are looking to us to provide solutions for the problems that they are facing. It is very unfortunate, if they were to listen to some of the things that we are saying in this august House. This is the reason I want to begin by getting all of us to re-focus on the contents of the motion. The motion is very clear Madam Speaker. For the benefit of those who may not have read it, I just want go through it so that we are all very clear.
Madam Speaker, the motion speaks about the structural economic challenges affecting our country – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I am not reading the motion, I am simply drawing the attention of Hon. Members to the content of the motion so that we are on the same page.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members.
HON. GONESE: It is very important Madam Speaker for us to be on the same wavelength; to have an appreciation of what we are supposed to be talking about. For me, what is critical is to appreciate that we have got crippling liquidity crisis and it is important for us to understand where it is coming from.
HON. T. MOYO: On a point of order. Madam Speaker I
appreciate the fact that everyone in this House is literate and we have read the motion, so there is no point to go over the motion again. He should concentrate on his debate. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of order overruled.
HON. GONESE: Thank you Madam Speaker for protecting me.
For me, it is very important to also look at another aspect. When we are talking about fiscal consolidation, the pursuit of fiscal balance is critical Madam Speaker, for us to appreciate why we are in the mess that we are in. There is the issue of fiscal indiscipline and it is very important for us to appreciate that point. The Hon. Minister of Finance admitted as much in his fiscal statement and this is in black and white. He said so in his statement that we have got that challenge.
I will not go over what Hon. Dr. Mashakada has already said because those were paying attention heard him when you are looking at the amount of indebtedness that we are in as a nation, we must all appreciate that this has arisen because we have been spending money that we do not have. We have been creating fictitious balances through the RTGS. We have been creating fake money through the printing of bond notes. When the bond notes were introduced, we were told that this was an export incentive. It is important for the fiscal authorities to tell us what benefit we have derived as a nation, whether there has actually been an increase in exports from the time that the bond notes were introduced. We actually need a full disclosure of that aspect.
We asked in this august House that we want the details regarding the so -alled facility of U$200 million from the African Export and Import Bank. Nothing was forth-coming and we have not received those details and to the ordinary person out there, this was a fiction. There was no such guarantee and the suspicion is that the bond notes have just been printed without any limit which is the reason why when you go to Road Port, to our borders, Beitbridge and Chirundu, you will see brand new bond notes which have not gone through anyone’s accounts, but which had just been released directly to those people who are engaged in that illicit trade of money changing.
As a result Madam Speaker, we now need full disclosure. I am going to make reference to the provisions of the Constitution which are very clear. We have got a scenario where the Government has actually admitted that they have borrowed. They have over borrowed, violated all the limits which are provided for in all the Acts of Parliament and so on.
It is now important for us as an institution to demand full disclosure. The Hon. Minister of Finance has already indicated that we have both an external and an internal debt. As Hon. Dr. Mashakada and Hon. Biti have said, we now have a very unusual scenario where the internal debt exceeds the external debt. How did that happen?
We now need the Executive to come before us as provided for in terms of our Constitution. When we refer to the provisions of Section 300 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, it is very clear when it talks about the limits of State borrowings, public debt and State guarantees. In particular, we already have that Act of Parliament, the Public Finance and Management Act which specifies what has got to be done, but that is anchored on the provisions of the Constitution which I will now allude to. It says precisely, those limits must not be exceeded without the authority of the National Assembly. What we know is that the current debt which has been incurred, we have been told that we have got a new dispensation, but the reality is that on the ground there is nothing new about the dispensation because it is the same old habits, the same old habits which occurred during the era of former President Mugabe. At least what I can say Mr. Speaker Sir, is that the former President was honest about it. He was very clear and honest that he wanted to spend money and he said that no country can go broke. He was on record saying that but we now have got a fiction from the “New Dispensation”, that we are now managing our resources, which is not the case. So it is my submission that as an institution, we must speak with one voice –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon.
Members, can the Hon. Member be heard in silence please!
HON. GONESE: The other point Mr. Speaker, is that we are an
institution and we are one of the three arms of the State. It is important for all Hon. Members in this august House to appreciate those who are not in the Executive, notwithstanding whether you are from the governing party or from the opposition, you are not part of the Executive. So where we are backbenchers and I am appealing to the backbenchers to appreciate that we are a separate arm of the State, and as a separate arm of the State, we must put our heads together and proceed as an institution to hold the Government and the Executive to account.
We must find out from them when the debt has risen from US$2 billion to US$7 billion, they must tell us where that US$5 billion went to. We have got to demand that from the Minister of Finance. It is unfortunate that as we are debating this motion, there is no one from the Ministry of Finance. I know that they have parliamentary liaison officers who should be keeping track of what is happening in Parliament. I know that the Minister of Finance is out of the country but someone from his Ministry should have been in this august House to take notes and to gauge the mood in this august House; and to appreciate what is happening out there and what is coming from the representatives of the people. So, that is my first point. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Less noise in the House Hon.
Members!
HON. GONESE: We need to know how exactly that debt was accumulated. We know that some of the members of the Executive have got a penchant for young wives, small houses and so on and so forth. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Yes, it is on record Mr. Speaker Sir, that some of the Members of the Executive have recently got married to younger wives and we know that some of them have got small houses. This is what has led to their propensity to spend. This propensity to spend is driven by some of those factors and we now need that full disclosure.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. Can we
have less noise in the House please!
`HON. GONESE: We need a transparent Executive and the
reason is that...
HON. SIKHALA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. SIKHALA: The Hon. Member said munodya mishonga
yemisana musina vakadzi. That language is unparliamentary from this
Hon. Member. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Okay your point of order is
noted. Hon. Matangira please!
*HON. MATANGIRA: Mr. Speaker, I am seeking your
protection because we can both go and report the case at the police station. How can you point a finger at me?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Can you resume your debate.
HON. GONESE: Thank you very much. The other point that I
want to emphasise is that there is...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Matangira, I would
expect you to behave like an Hon. Member.
HON. GONESE: The other point that I want to emphasie is that there is so much resistance about the 2 cents in the dollar tax because there is no indication whatsoever from the part of the Executive as to what pain you are going to go through. People want to know; they do not want to be subjected to pain when they were not responsible for the incurring of the debt. It is important Mr. Speaker Sir, for the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development to come before this august House and tell us exactly what the Executive is going to do in order to reduce Government expenditure.
We have been told Mr. Speaker Sir that there is a leaner Cabinet but when we look at the reality on the ground, in November we had two Deputy Ministers. When we have the Executive being set up this time around, there are 15 Deputy Ministers. We have got two Ministers of
State in the Vice President’s Office who may not be part of the Cabinet. At the end of the day, these are extra members of the Executive. Again, we have got the Ministers of State, which I believe is against the spirit of the Constitution because we are going to have Provincial Councils.
We have been told that some of the members of the governing party are going to be full time at the ZANU PF headquarters. We need to know as to how these are going to be funded – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – It is on public record, it is part of the spending Mr. Speaker Sir. A lot of the spending which has been incurred in this country has been on the purchase of luxury cars. It will not be surprising if those full time members are going to get brand new cars when they are not part of the Executive. That is a further drain on the fiscus in so far as our foreign currency is concerned. Those are aspects where we need clarity. That is the reason why people out there are not willing to go through the pain which is being prescribed, to drink the bitter medicine which is being dispensed by the Minister of Finance without the Executive itself being the authors of the problems that we are in disclosing what pain they are going to go through themselves.
The next point I want to talk about Mr. Speaker Sir, is about the discord in Government. We thought that this was a thing of the past when former President Robert Mugabe left. We knew that at least under Robert Mugabe, that he was consistent in his inconsistencies. We now have the same problems surfacing. We have got this scenario where there is already discord in Government. It is clear Mr. Speaker Sir that on the issue of the tax, there is no consensus in Government. However, I will go to a more fundamental point and that is in regard to the RTGs balances. We have this fiction called RTG FCA account which in my respectful view is nonsensical. On one hand, you are saying foreign currency account. What is foreign currency account when you have got an RTGs balance which is not at par with the nostro balance? So it is a misnomer to begin with to talk of an FCA account under RTGs.
More importantly, the Governor of the Reserve Bank when he gave his Monetary Policy Statement gave the impression that they remain at par. Then, we have got the Minister of Finance and Economic Development saying specifically that they are not at par. So at the end of the day Mr. Speaker, we already have that discord in Government which sends mixed signals. There is no clarity. What is more important is that the Government must make up their minds. If they believe that the bond note experiment has failed, they should come before us and tell us that this experiment has actually failed. The Hon. Minister of Finance tells us when he came into office that the bond notes are going to go sooner rather than later. He was very clear that bad money drives out good money. However, we have got others who are part of the same Executive who have got this belief in voodoo economics. You continue saying it is 1:1 when the reality is that it is not. To illustrate the point, they have admitted as much. What have they done? They have now separated the two accounts.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are
reminded that your time is running out.
HON. GONESE: I am now winding up. As my colleagues have already indicated, we are now going to have a situation where these mixed signals are going to result in a situation where the situation simply gets worse. We have already been told about the rate which is obtaining at the moment. Believe you me, you do not even need to be a rocket scientist. It is clear that those rates of the bond note to the US dollar and the RTGs balances to the US dollar are going through the roof. It is going to worsen on each day. I believe that you must now have coherence in Government as to precisely where we are going.
The other point I want to make Mr. Speaker, is that the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development is out of touch with reality. I know that he was based in Switzerland. He is not alive to the actual situation on the ground. The point is that when you have got an overburdened taxpayer and when you have got an impoverished community, the last thing you want to do is to try to add more taxes on such a population. Our solution is very clear Mr. Speaker Sir. We need restoration of trust. The point is, no one trusts this Government, no one trusts this Executive. We need a restoration of that trust. For that trust to be restored, the Government must start to live within its own means.
What we need Mr. Speaker Sir, is to have the Magufuli approach. We need to be told what cuts are we going to have in Government expenditure. Are we going to have less travel on the part of Government Ministers? We do not want some of these useless trips where we are told about mega deals and nothing materialises in reality then we are back in the same situation that we were before the trip was undertaken. We must now restrict ourselves to those trips which are essential in order for us to get something beneficial to the country. We also need to be looking about the issue of foreign embassies and that will be my last point Mr. Speaker.
[Time Limit.]
HON. SIKHALA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the Member’s
time be extended.
HON. ZHOU: I object.
HON. MGUNI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 10th October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. O. MGUNI seconded by HON.
KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Five Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 4th October, 2018
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
APPOINTMENT TO THE COMMITTEE ON STANDING RULES
AND ORDERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! I wish to inform the House that further to the announcement made on Tuesday, 2nd October, 2018 relating to the appointment of members to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, the following members have also been appointed to serve on the Committee:
Hon. Sen. Perence Shiri, Leader of Government Business in the
Senate;
Hon. Sen. Elias Mudzuri, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;
Hon. Sen. Tsitsi Muzenda, ZANU PF Chief Whip in the Senate;
Hon. Sen. Lilian Timveos, MDC-Alliance Chief Whip in the
Senate;
Hon. Sen. Omega Hungwe appointed by the President of the
Senate.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders shall consist of the following:
Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda, the Speaker of the
National Assembly and Chairperson;
Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate and
Deputy Chairperson;
Hon. Tsitsi Gezi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly;
Hon. Sen. Lt. General (Rtd) Michael Reuben Nyambuya, Deputy
President of the Senate;
Hon. Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance and Economic
Development;
Hon. Oppah Chamu Zvipange Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of
Defence;
Hon. Dr. Joram Gumbo, Minister of Energy and Power
Development;
Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of Government Business in the
National Assembly;
Hon. Sen. Chief Air Marshall (Rtd) Perence Shiri, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement and Leader of Government Business in the Senate;
Hon. Tabitha Khumalo, Leader of the Opposition in the National
Assembly;
Hon. Sen. Elias Mudzuri, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;
Hon. Pupurai Togarepi, ZANU PF Chief Whip in the National
Assembly;
Hon. Prosper Chapfiwa Mutseyami, MDC-Alliance Chief Whip in the National Assembly;
Hon. Sen. Tsitsi Muzenda, ZANU Pf Chief Whip in the Senate;
Hon. Sen. Lilian Timveos, MDC Alliance Chief Whip in the
Senate;
Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira, the President of the National Council of Chiefs;
Hon. Royi Billah appointed by the Speaker.
Hon. Sen. Omega Hungwe, appointed by the President of the Senate and eight members, four being members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate:
Hon. Marian Chombo;
Hon. Innocent Gonese;
Hon. Spiwe Mukunyaidze;
Hon. Mathew Nyashanu;
Hon. Sen. Sikelela Gumpo;
Hon. Sen. Morgan Komichi; Hon. Sen. Tambudzani Mohadi and Hon. Sen. Sydney Sekeramayi.
DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe is offering free defensive driving courses to Hon. Members. The course takes two days to complete. Hon.
Members who are interested in the course should register with the
Human Resources Department in Office Number 405, 4th Floor, Parliament Building.
APPOINTMENT OF THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE
CHAIRPERSON’S PANEL
THE HON. SPEAKER: Section 136 (1) (b) of the Constitution states that the person presiding at any sitting of the National Assembly must be “in the absence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, a member elected for the purpose by the House but that member must not be a Minister or a Deputy Minister.”
Standing Order Number 10 (1) provides that “as soon as is practicable after the commencement of every Parliament, and from time to time thereafter as necessity may arise, the National Assembly shall elect one of its members to be Deputy Chairperson of Committees who shall be entitled to exercise all the powers of the Chairperson of
Committees excluding his or her powers as Deputy Speaker of the
National Assembly.” I now therefore call for the nominations for the position of Deputy Chairperson of Committees.
HON. TOGAREPI: I rise to nominate Hon. William Mutomba.
HON. PARADZA: I second.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Is there any further nomination?
There being no further nomination, I therefore declare Hon.
William Mutomba duly elected to the Chairpersons panel.
APPOINTMENT OF THE CHAIRPERSON’S PANEL
THE HON. SPEAKER: Standing Order Number 10 (3) provides that as soon as practicable after the commencement of every session or as the occasion may require thereafter, the National Assembly may elect two members, who with the Chairperson of Committees and the Deputy
Chairperson of the Committees, shall constitute the Chairperson’s Panel.
Such members shall be entitled to exercise the powers of the Deputy Chairperson, save in regard to the acceptance of a motion for the closure. Now therefore, I call upon for nominations for two positions of members of the Chairperson’s Panel.
HON. MGUNI: I nominate Hon. Martin Khumalo and Hon.
Tatenda Mavetera.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Any further nominations?
There being no nominations, I therefore declare Hon. Martin
Khumalo and Hon. Tatenda Mavetera duly elected to the Chairperson’s Panel.
HON. NDUNA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker, I do not have a
Notice of Motion but I have got a point of order.
THE HON. SPEAKER: In terms of what Standing Order? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Chikwinya order, order – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – [HON.
ZWIZWAI: Mr. Speaker Sir, on a point of order!] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Member, I have not recognised you. – [HON. ZWIZWAI: On a point of privilege Mr.
Speaker.] – I have not recognised you, Hon. Nduna, please go ahead.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I have been observing over a long period of time now that the Order Papers are insufficient. I am quite sure there is a renewed impetus and attention to detail from Hon. Members. I have not been able to get my Order Paper for sometime now and request that there be an increase in number. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – HON. ZWIZWAI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir!
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, I am attending to the Whip – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order, do you not see that I am attending to your Chief Whip. – [HON. ZWIZWAI:
That is fine Mr. Speaker.] –
HON. ZWIZWAI: Mr. Speaker Sir, as you were restraining Hon. Nduna, when you asked him to sit down, he pointed a middle finger which is a direct insult to the Chair – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – We will not accept any Hon. Member to do that to the Chair or any other Hon. Member for that matter. So this is a very serious matter Mr. Speaker. We will not allow anyone to do that in this august House and he ran away. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you, thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order. When I was looking at the Hon. Member - where is he now? – [HON. MEMBERS:
He ran away!] – Anyway, in terms of decorum, even the Chair cannot comment on that sign. I am sure you understand and if it was done, then it was wrong. I thank you. – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Zvatopera?] –
[Laughter.] - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Nduna having returned to the Chamber.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Nduna. In your
absence, I was ruling on the offensive sign that is alleged to have been given by yourself and I would not want to comment further on that. It
should not happen, thank you.
I did not comment on the point of order raised by Hon. Nduna regarding the shortage of the Order Paper. I have instructed the Deputy Clerk to go and check with Papers Office what the position is, but for the future we will make sure that there are enough copies for your picking.
Thank you.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the opportunity that you have given me to make this contribution. I am also informed that you were in the last Parliament and you were a good leader; congratulations for that. I would also like to congratulate Madam Speaker, Hon. Gezi for being the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. I am thoroughly humbled by seeing you on that Chair and please allow me to continue my debate by contributing to the speech that was delivered by His Excellency President Mnangagwa. I congratulate him because he won these elections resoundingly – [An Hon. Member having communicated something to Hon. Mathe] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member
seated next to Hon. Mathe.
+HON. MATHE: Madam Speaker, I had congratulated His
Excellency Hon. Mnangagwa for winning the elections resoundingly.
The President won resoundingly on the harmonised elections held on
30th July, 2018 and we realise that the President has the majority of Members of Parliament in this House. He has two-thirds majority, that is why we have to congratulate him – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order. The Hon. Member is
misleading the House, the President does not have two-thirds majority.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mathe, may you clarify
your statement?
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Madam Speaker for asking me to
clarify on the two-thirds. I am saying, I said congratulations to His Excellency Hon. Mnangagwa; what I am saying is that there are twothirds Members of Parliament of the ZANU PF party. I am not saying
His Excellency won by two-thirds but he has two-thirds majority of Members of Parliament in this august House. I am not very sure whether I am making some calculation mistakes but as far as I am concerned, we have two-thirds majority of Members of Parliament in this House.
I am also congratulating His Excellency the President and praising him greatly because he showed that he is a hero; he is somebody who is to be emulated. He was courageous enough to take the steps of trying to make peace in the country, taking all the steps to protect the public because there were some elements in our society who wanted to create chaos and the country would have been plunged into darkness. If he had not taken the bold steps of cutting off that violence, many people would have lost lives. As I am speaking, because of the steps he took Zimbabwe has peace.
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point of order. Madam Speaker,
there is a ruling by the Speaker of Parliament, in particular the person being Adv. Mudenda, seconded by yourself yesterday that we shall not discuss on the 1st August, 2018 and the Hon. Member continues to dig deeply into that incident.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The point of order is noted.
Hon. Mathe, we are not allowed to debate on issues which are under investigations.
+HON. MATHE: Madam Speaker, the President showed that he was a man of his words because he created an atmosphere where we had peace before, during and after the elections. I also congratulate His
Excellency because he promised that there is going to be development in Zimbabwe and if we go according to his plans, we will have the creation of jobs and wealth in the country, and very few people will be unemployed. He said he is going to fight corruption and by 2030 Zimbabwe will be a middle income country.
Madam Speaker, we are so happy and we are all looking forward to the year 2030 when we are going to be a middle income nation. We have all the faith in him because so far what he has promised us has been fulfilled and we also look forward to having many people being employed. I am also saying the President should take us out of the land of Egypt and take us to the land of milk and honey in Canaan which is an affluent life for the people of Zimbabwe.
The President also looked for ways of improving agriculture in the country and is sourcing for farming implements and technologies so that there is development in the country because Zimbabwe has an agrobased economy. We wish the farming implements, the tractors which have been sourced from outside should be distributed equally in the districts so that we start ploughing at the same time because the rains are upon us. We are very grateful for what the President is doing for his nation. In his speech, His Excellency also said Zimbabwe will develop and the reason Zimbabwe should develop is because it is an agro-based economy and if we improve on our agricultural styles and methods, and move the implements and distribute them on time, definitely we will have a bumper harvest.
The President also touched on the road infrastructure and said he was going to widen the roads and create many roads which will be tarred and be on time, but he is not going to create spaghetti roads. He is going to create a very good road infrastructure in the country. All the civil servants who will be manning some of those works should play an oversight role to make sure that the work is done perfectly and according to the construction agreements. We have some people who have negative attitudes towards Zimbabwe and when we are supposed to develop; they will be indulging in corrupt activities so that earmarked projects are not properly carried out. All I am saying is we need to play a strong oversight role on the people who will be involved in allocating jobs on road works.
May we also take into account the Nkayi-Bulawayo Road which should also be constructed, refurbished and repaired and I am sure from what is happening now, that road is going to be completed because it has been outstanding for quite some time.
The President also said the people of Zimbabwe are going to have a good supply of clean water. As a way of supporting that speech, there are boreholes which are being drilled in various areas within the country. We have equipment which can drill up to 1 000 metres deep sinking boreholes and because of that, we are asking the people who are responsible for using this equipment which was sourced by His
Excellency to move around the country, particularly in remote areas like Nkayi, drilling boreholes so that people have access to clean water. I thank you for the time you gave me to make my contribution and I am pleased with the speech given by His Excellency. I thank you.
HON. SINGO: Thank you Madam Speaker for this opportunity to add my voice on this motion. May I take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency, President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and our Speakers Hon. J. F. Mudenda and Deputy Speaker, Hon. T. Gezi and all of us in this august House – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – congratulations, makorokoto, amhlophe. I want to thank His Excellency for he is a caring President and he works tirelessly to revive the country’s economy. He encourages Zimbabweans to commit to the rebuilding of the country in unity, peace and love and together we can succeed– [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam Speaker, I think there is need for rural electrification to increase the number of schools in e-education and also the issue of distances covered by children when going to school. There are places like Beitbridge, there is need to build more universities, colleges and vocational centres.
Madam Speaker, on health issues, Beitbridge Referral Hospital is inadequate to accommodate patients as it caters for the people in the district as well as those in transit. There is need for proper structures to accommodate waiting mothers, emergency facilities and more nurses’ homes as the current ones are not enough.
On gender equality and empowerment, women should be recognised in all decision making positions like in Parliament, Government and even the private sector. The girl child should be empowered by being given a chance to go to school because if you educate a girl child, you educate the nation – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Women should be given land in their own right so that they can produce and sustain their families as they have the capacity to do so. The women and youths should be involved in command livestock even if they do not have any collateral. The President highlighted that agriculture is the key sector of our economy and there is need for maximum land use for those who already have the land and there should be maximum production. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear.] -
HON. S. SITHOLE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Firstly, I want
to give 100% appreciation to all people from Insiza South as they are the ones that chose me to come and represent them in this august House.
Once again, I want to give more appreciation to His Excellency, First
Secretary of the ruling party, ZANU PF and President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and his family to be voted in July by thousands and thousands of
Zimbabweans. This means the voice of the people is the voice of God.
Madam Speaker, I extend my congratulations to you and to the Speaker of the National Assembly and all members of this august House, amhlophe, makorokoto – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, 25th September, 2018, on the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba seconded by Hon. Musabayana. The President, on his State of the Nation Address speech made all
Zimbabweans proud that they have a leader who puts God first in his leadership.
On the economy, His Excellency the President said his new administration is committed to prioritise economic development as a strategy response to the pressing need to lift our economic development in line with our national as well as regional exploration. Madam Speaker, His Excellency went further to say though we have made progress over the last 10 months, some challenges however still continue to face the country and urged the Executive, parastatals, public, private sector partnership to bring about economic order and growth, job creation and end corruption to improve our social services which include education and health care Madam Speaker, this is a goal we must all share.
This was a powerful speech by the President which challenged the private sector to be honest, ethical and honourable in their business dealings. The President said it is very important to table the Gold Trade
Bill as there are some leakages of precious minerals. God bless this
House day and night okungapheliyo nini lanini, thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MKANDLA: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is my
pleasure and great honour to be afforded this opportunity to deliver my maiden speech. On the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba and seconded by Hon. Musabayana. Madam Speaker, first of all, allow me to congratulate His Excellency Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – for his resounding victory on the 30th July, 2018 election. I am optimistic that his election to this post will guide Zimbabwe to prosperity and make us a middle income economy by 2030.
Madam Speaker, allow me the opportunity to also congratulate Hon. Adv. Francis Jacob Mudenda and Hon. Tsitsi Gezi for being duly elected Speakers of Parliament amhlophe, makorokoto – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Madam Speaker, I am in full support of the President’s national address on the renewed urgency and vigor by the Government to continue to drive a high performance culture within all public entities. It is true that all public servants require a great change in their work ethics to ensure the efficient and prudent use of public resources, responsiveness, accountability, as well as, timely, impartial and equitable delivery of goods and services to the people of Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker, the President spoke of corruption and devolution of power. Managers should employ locals based on merit, unless they do not have the required qualifications. We applaud the Government for having schools built after independence. However, the sad truth is that the schools are not enough. Children still travel long distances to school. Where I come from in Matabeleland North Province, there are no sufficient schools providing sciences. There is need to equip all the provinces with the required education.
Madam Speaker, we also thank the Government for providing clinics and hospitals, although they are not enough in the rural areas where people travel long distances to reach a health centre or hospital. I would like to urge the responsible authority to look into the issue of Hwange District Hospital, which has taken ten years plus to be completed. People from Hwange, especially from the rural areas need the services from this hospital. We appreciate what the Government did for the children under five years of age, who are getting free treatment and free antenatal to pregnant women.
Madam Speaker, the President also spoke about Command Agriculture. We are appealing for more dams and boreholes in Hwange District so that women and youths can benefit from irrigation schemes. We require more of command agriculture because Region 5 is too dry and cannot fully take part in farming.
Madam Speaker, I am calling all civil servants to show the world that they are hardworking, they are a competitive and an honest labour force. This will enhance more investment in our country, thereby showing the world that Zimbabwe is open for business. Madam Speaker, all civil servants should remember that the ball is in their court to turn around our economy. Let us not be cry babies but rather work hard and be united for the common goal of creating a middle income economy by 2030. Let us put our partisan differences aside so that we can build a prosperous Zimbabwe that everyone so desires. Let us all say no to corruption. Let us all commit to re-building our nation as one people, united by one flag and one national anthem. I thank you Hon.
Speaker.
HON. KARIKOGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to congratulate His Excellency, Cde. E.D. Mnangagwa on his resounding victory in the just ended harmonized elections – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I do applaud the trust of his leadership, his commitment to servant leadership, anchored on service and listening leadership.
I would also like to thank the people of Gokwe-Mapfungautsi for sending me here to represent them, “ndinokutendayi abi yangu.”
Madam Speaker, as stated by His Excellency in his SONA, “Parliament is a sacred institution. Collectively, we carry our people’s hopes, dreams and aspirations. A great deal of trust has been placed upon us to work tirelessly as servant leaders in love, unity and harmony to deliver a prosperous Zimbabwe for our people. Servant leadership can be characterised by traits like listening, commitment to the growth of other people and building communities.”
Madam Speaker, as legislators here, servants, leaders and citizens, I urge all of us to embrace the culture of voluntary subordination by demonstrating a revolutionary attitude that demands putting our people first and be symbols of service to humanity, regardless of political affiliation. We do share a common vision to make Zimbabwe a middle country as was outlined by His Excellency. This should be possible with very exciting and sound bills such as the Zimbabwe Investment and
Development Agency Bill, which seeks to consolidate various pieces of legislation on investment, which are presently spread under various Acts. The Bill will also provide for the establishment centre, the
Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency. We have seen how similar institutions have propelled growth in the promotion of investments in countries like Rwanda and Mauritius. With Rwanda, they do have Rwanda Development Board and in the Mauritius they have Mauritius Investment Authority.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as a greenhorn MP, I pledge myself to learn from His Excellency and my tenure as an MP will be characterised by acts of service, where I will work tirelessly to improve the living conditions among deep seated poverty currently pervading my constituency,
Gokwe-Mapfungautsi. As a low hanging fruit, we will be introducing
“nhimbe.” This will be a monthly community initiative which will be done to public areas such as schools, clinics and old widows houses. We ought to be champions of love, non-violence, forgiveness and peacefulness. Moral reasoning is at the core of our new dispensation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, my constituency, Gokwe-Mapfungautsi is well known for cotton production. We are primarily cotton farmers and we do it with distinction. I am encouraged by His Excellency’s correct diagnosis about the pivotal role that agriculture plays. I am talking about the Command Agriculture. His wisdom of Command Agriculture has become the fulcrum upon which our economy revival prospects are anchored on.
In conclusion from where I stand, the struggle of today is not altogether for today. It is for the vast future also. I say to my fellow MPs, let us proceed with the great task which events have devolved us.
I thank you.
HON. NDIWENI: Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you for affording me this opportunity to make my maiden speech. Firstly, allow me to congratulate His Excellency, the President of the Second Republic, Cde. E.D. Mnangagwa, aka Pfee on his resounding win at the just ended Harmonised Elections of the 30th of July, 2018, and to my fellow MPs, congratulations on making it into this 9th Parliament. I would like to congratulate yourself on your election as Speaker of this august House. Let me hasten from deep down my heart, to thank the people of
Hurungwe Central for entrusting me to represent them in this august
House “Vanhu chaivo chaivo, vakavhotera munhu chaiye chaiye”
Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to speak in support of the motion moved by Hon. Kwaramba, seconded by Hon. Musabayana pertaining to the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, the President. Allow me to quote on the President’s eloquent speech, “I urge us all, the Executive, Legislature, and the public and private sectors alike to be partners, partners in bringing about economic order and growth, job creation, an end to corruption, improving our social services, and in the provision of requisite infrastructure, water and sanitation, education, healthcare and good environmental practices. This is the goal we must all share.” Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to zero in on the above quotation, as it relates to my constituency.
My constituency is largely dependent on agriculture. I can easily and boisterously say we are the bread basket of Mashonaland West in particular, and of Zimbabwe in general. With land distribution that was successfully undertaken, job creation in my constituency would entail proper and efficient utilisation of the land we acquired; good farming practices, leading to an increase in output, which in turn would increase the number of jobs available. With increased farming output, there would be a subsequent increase in service industries in my constituency, also assisting in absorbing a sizable number of our unemployed youths. Value addition, as spelt out, by His Excellency the President, would help in easing unemployment in my constituency.
We grow tobacco and tobacco floors should all be based in my constituency, together with cigarette manufacturing companies, thereby further increasing the number of jobs available to our people. There is nothing special in the production of cigarettes that my constituents, given the correct training and equipment would fail to produce. All the above are achievable goals which are low hanging fruits easily attainable if we all put our heads together in fulfilling our President’s vision.
Mr. Speaker Sir, still on agriculture, I would want to thank His
Excellency, for bringing about programs such as Command Agriculture. These have gone a long way in improving productivity in agriculture in my constituency. We however, would urge more supervision on the part of the implementing officials, so as to remove the bottlenecks that are currently being experienced. The Presidential input scheme is another programme that we can never sufficiently thank our President for. This programme has vastly improved production within our A1 small scale farmers.
Still on agriculture, l would like to urge the private sector, specifically, tobacco merchants, and other related industries, to complement Government efforts in ploughing back their proceeds to the communities that sustain their businesses. Why should we continue having poor roads, poor schools, and poor hospitals when these companies are enjoying triple digit percentage profits from our sweat? I would want to remind these companies that a happier and healthier community produces bigger and better yields.
In supporting the President’s call for zero tolerance to corruption, I would like to urge everyone and people outside my constituency inclusive, that the biggest catalyst to corruption is SILENCE. Fighting corruption should start with me and you fellow citizens and parliamentarians. There is nowhere where corruption occurs, and there are no witnesses. My personal observation is that the biggest weapon against corruption is speaking out.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am 1000% behind the President’s call on change of attitude and behavior amongst our public officials and everyone tasked to serve our people. Our people have entrusted us with these positions, and let us all pay them back by working diligently and transparently in the fulfillment of their aspirations. I urge all of us to be servant leaders.
My constituents are very hard-working. All they need is to be empowered so that they perform more. Their basic needs are water, sanitation, healthcare and education. These are needs that can easily be fulfilled in line with our President’s vision.
On infrastructure, I am glad to report that there has been a hive of activity in road maintenance and rehabilitation in my constituency. I would like to thank the Government for the financial assistance given to local authorities through ZINARA in this endeavor.
The Bills that were presented by the President will facilitate the smooth running of the Legislative agenda in our quest of attaining a middle income society by the year 2030. Of particular interest to my constituents is the Bill on the implementation of devolution, and the one on Mines and Minerals.
My constituents applaud the President’s Speech on the importance
of the provision of water, sanitation and healthcare. This dovetails with the basic needs of Hurungwe Central. Almost half of my constituents consist of newly resettled farmers who by virtue of location, find themselves greatly in need of these essential services. I would like to thank His Excellency the President, on the programme of drilling boreholes that was initiated in the provinces. We however, appeal for a more concerted effort in the provision of additional health facilities in these resettled areas.
Let me conclude by saying if we work together across the political divide, there is no challenge that is insurmountable. Together we can build a better Zimbabwe. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. God bless Hurungwe Central. God bless Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. E. MASUKU: Mr. Speaker Sir and hon. members of this august House, I wish to commence by acknowledging and appreciating the political leadership of our country under the presidency of His Excellency Comrade E.D. Mnangagwa for creating an enabling environment for peaceful, free and fair elections – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] –
Of course, the President mentioned during his State of the Nation
Address (SONA) the events of the 1st of August….
HON. CHIKWINYA: On a point order Mr. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): What is
your point of order?
HON. CHIKWINYA: Mr. Speaker, we do not constitute a quorum.
Bells rung.
Quorum formed.
HON. E. MASUKU: Of course, the President mentioned during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) the events of the 1st of August 2018 in which six people lost their lives are regrettable. All human life is blessed and our sincerest prayers are with the families of all those who needlessly lost their lives on the day. The reports of political violence that we hear of and read about in various media platforms are clear acts of criminality which should be handled as such. As the President reminded us in his SONA, elections are decisively in the past and now is the time for us to get down to working and delivering on the various election promises and commitments which we made to our people.
I also want to appreciate Zimbabweans in general and the people of Umguza in particular for coming out in their numbers to cast their vote. We thank you for giving us the mandate to lead you for the next five years. We will do our best to realize all the promises that we made to you during our campaigns.
In his SONA, the President admonished all of us to be servant leaders who will work tirelessly to improve the lives of our people. We welcome this call and commit that we will indeed work hard and tirelessly in order to improve the quality of life for our people. In no particular order of importance, I will outline some of our constituency developmental initiatives in the context of the President’s SONA to all of us.
We at Umguza Constituency have identified particular focus areas which require attention from us as the leadership in order to improve the quality of life for our people as said by the President in his SONA.
These focus areas include and are not certainly limited to the following:
Food insecurity
Umguza Constituency falls within agricultural region 5. It receives below 650 millimeters of rainfall per year. Despite this, households do practice crop production and grow particularly maize and millet for subsistence use. Crop yields are however low and the risk of crop failure is high. Because of this, food insecurity is a common challenge amongst households. Many people do not have adequate access to good healthy food. In line with the President’s call during the SONA, it is my wish to work closely with local farmers to come up with innovative ways of enabling irrigation of crops to alleviate the perennial challenge of reduced crop yield and poor access to good nutritious food.
There is a need to assist widows and child headed households to cultivate their land in order to enable them to grow and ultimately access food. We will also work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture to assist households adapt to the uncertainties and effects of climate change on rainfall cycles in order to enable households to farm wisely in the view of changing rainfall patterns.
Promoting education and appreciating top performing teachers and pupils
Mr. Speaker Sir, we all know that education is a very important denominator for the development of a country. The most developed and advanced economies of the world have high standards of education. Education plays a crucial role in the advancement of technologies. It not only helps us in surviving but also makes people aware of their rights and duties towards the nation. Education itself is a right everybody is born with and is also recognised in our Constitution. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - In his State of the Nation Address (SONA), the President committed to prioritising economic development as a strategic response to the pressing need to leap frog our economic development in line with our national aspirations as well as regional, continental and international trajectory. We as a province, are going to promote the importance of education because it is through an educated citizenry that economic development as called for by the President can be realised …
HON. G. K. SITHOLE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker, there is a breakdown in communication! – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order, less noise in the
House Hon. Members. Order, order, may you please sit down Hon.
Member.
HON. G. K. SITHOLE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I withdraw my point of order, thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you, may you resume
your debate Hon. Member?
HON. E. MASUKU: We are going to work hard to improve the
dilapidated schooling infrastructure in the province. I will also champion the recognition of top performing pupils and teachers in the area through various initiatives such as prize giving days as well as sports tournaments in order to encourage optimal academic and extracurricular performance by our learners and educators.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in his SONA, the President emphasized the importance of agriculture for our economy. Zimbabwe is a largely agricultural society and while we do not receive a lot of rainfall in our constituency due to the geographical reasons …
Hon. Chinotimba having passed between the Chair and the Hon.
Member on the floor.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member.
Hon. Chinotimba, I have noted what you just did. Could you just respect the Chair and go back the way you went to that place. – [HON.
CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.] – Thank you very much.
Hon. Member, you may resume your debate.
HON. E. MASUKU: Thank you Mr. Speaker. We will strive to
encourage and support farmers to conduct best agricultural activities that lead to active, sustainable and productive use of land.
Coupled with its uneven land and poor soils, the area covering the constituency is best suited for animal husbandry as compared to crop production. For this reason, we will closely work with the Ministry of Agriculture to assist our people to utilise the enormous animal husbandry opportunities that our constituency offers. Construction and rehabilitation dip tanks is a must in the area since there are so many tick borne diseases that affect livestock.
During his SONA, the President bemoaned the outbreak of water borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. He invited all of us to commit to the eradication of these diseases through addressing the challenges that relate to clean water and the provision of sanitation. In Umguza, we have identified new places where we will spearhead the drilling of new boreholes to improve access to clean water for our people.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we have also identified various other developmental initiatives that all speak to the general development mantra of the President as contained in his SONA. These include and are not limited to: -
- addressing gender-based violence which unfortunately affects mostly women;
- promoting practical projects to address unemployment for the youth; and iii.paving of roads and improvement of the transport network.
In Matabeleland North, we acknowledge the need for unity and as
Such, will engage with all leaders across the political divide to unite all of us in our province so that we can work for the greater good of our people. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. KWARAMBA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 9th October, 2018.
On the motion of HON. O. MGUNI, seconded by HON.
KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Eight Minutes to Five o’clock
p.m. until Tuesday, 9th October, 2018.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 2nd October, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEE ON STANDING RULES AND
ORDERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: Section 151 (1) of the Constitution provides that Parliament must appoint a Committee to be known as the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders for purposes of supervising the Administration of Parliament, formulating Standing Orders, considering and deciding on all matters concerning Parliament and exercising any other functions that may be conferred or imposed on the Committee by the Constitution or by Standing orders or any other law.
Section 151 (2) of the Constitution provides that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must consist of the Speaker and the President of the Senate and the following Members of Parliament;
The Deputy Speaker,
The Deputy President of the Senate,
The Minister responsible for Finance and two other Ministers appointed by the President,
The Leader of Government Business in each House,
The Leader of the Opposition in each House,
The Chief Whips of all political parties represented in each House,
The President of the National Council of Chiefs,
Two Members who are not Ministers or Deputy Ministers, one being a Senator appointed to the Committee by the President of the Senate and the other being a member of the National Assembly appointed by the Speaker.
In terms of Standing Order No. 13 of both the Senate and the National Assembly Standing Orders and the provisions of Section 151 of the Constitution, I therefore, inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders shall consist of the following:
Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda, the Speaker of the
National Assembly and Chairperson;
Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate and
Deputy Chairperson;
Hon. Tsitsi Gezi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly;
Hon. Rtd. Lt. General Michael Reuben Nyambuya, Deputy
President of the Senate;
Hon. Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance;
Hon. Oppah Chamu Zvipange Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of
Defence, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs;
Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of Government Business;
Hon.Tabitha Khumalo, Leader of the Opposition;
Hon. Pupurai Togarepi, ZANU PF Chief Whip;
Hon. Prosper Chapfiwa Mutsenyami, MDC-Alliance Chief Whip;
Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira, The President of the National
Council of Chiefs;
Hon. Sen. Tsitsi Muzenda, appointed by the President of the
Senate and Hon. Royi Billah, appointed by the Speaker.
Section 151 (2) (i) of the Constitution, also states that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders shall also be comprised of eight members who are not Ministers or Deputy Ministers, four being elected to the Committee by the Senate and for being elected by the National Assembly. The membership of the Committee must reflect as nearly as possible the political and gender composition of the combined Houses of Parliament.
We have now received eight names, six from ZANU PF and two from MDC-Alliance as follows;
Hon. Sen. Sydney Sekeramayi; Hon. Sen. Tambudzani Mohadi; Hon. Sikelela Gumbo; Hon. Mathew Nyashanu; Hon. Marian Chombo and Hon. Spiwe Mukunyaidze.
MDC Alliance – Hon. Sen. Morgen Komichi and Hon. Innocent
Gonese.
The nominations comply with the requirements of Section 151 (2) (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I therefore declare them duly elected to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. I also wish to inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders will have its inaugural meeting on Friday, 5th October, 2018 at 1000 hours in Committee Room No. 4. All Committee members are expected to attend.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. CHIKUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker and a very good afternoon to you all hon. members. I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on the motion on the Presidential Speech which was raised by Hon. Kwaramba.
I am grateful for what His Excellency Hon. Mnangagwa said. I applaud and congratulate him for a resounding victory in the elections. I
am also grateful to the women of Manicaland who elected me back into Parliament. I would like to thank His Excellency on the issues that he raised concerning the new Zimbabwe which he is now leading.
His Excellency spoke about agriculture. He said that agriculture is the backbone of our country. We have five regions in Manicaland where timber is produced, we cultivate wheat, small grains and other things. There are many minerals which include gold and diamond in
Manicaland. What the President said is economic zone – that is what we are in Manicaland especially on crops and minerals.
I would like to thank the President because he said that schools and health facilities will always be upgraded. On schools, I was impressed that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which was allocated to all hon. members to develop our constituencies has been very effective. It has developed our constituencies to a greater extent, though it may seem insignificant, but it will alleviate the burdens for parents in paying building funds in schools. State of the art toilets were constructed in my constituency; several schools were repainted; teachers’ homes were electrified and we managed to increase our animal dips. In terms of education, we hope to make further developments with the next Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation so that it benefits everyone including the completion of several church buildings, soccer pitches, et cetera.
In terms of the health sector, as was alluded by His Excellency the President, in conjunction with the Bill that he mentioned in his address that includes the abolition of early child marriages, this is also linked to health hence should the Bill be properly debated and tabled, it will be major milestone for women - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Men can always migrate to other countries once they impregnate teenagers to the detriment of the abused child. We are also elated by the First Lady’s positive stance on the eradication and treatment of HIV. I thank you.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
ZANU PF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, please switch of your microphones. I have just received another announcement here, I wish to inform the House that the ZANU PF Women’s Parliamentarians are invited to a meeting to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 3rd October, 2018 at ZANU PF Headquarters at 0900hrs.
HON. A. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. First, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency the President, Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa for the victory that he scored on the 30th July, 2018 harmonised elections.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to note that the address given by His Excellency was as audacious as it was consistent. Indeed, over the last nine months, the President has consistently provided and preached a message calling for the need to build a united, peaceful and prosperous
Zimbabwe. I want to say that over these same nine months, the people of Zimbabwe listened, watched and what they saw was the most amazing affirmation of their hopes in the leadership of His Excellency. They saw him walk the talk and because of that – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – the people of Zimbabwe believed and this is why they gave him the resounding victory on 30th July, 2018 – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, in his address, His Excellency made it very clear that there is need to reintegrate Zimbabwe into the community of nations; that there is need for Zimbabwe to strengthen, increase the scope and diversity of its international partnerships and indeed to date, it can be said that the robust policy signals that he sent out are already bearing fruits as we have seen in the heightened interest from international investors whether they are coming from the east, west, north or south.
His Excellency also made a very unequivocal statement that agriculture remains a key driver in the resuscitation and growth of our economy. Mr. Speaker Sir, I come from Mberengwa South
Constituency, a much challenged agro-ecological region five. Therefore, the issue of food security and nutrition are of paramount importance and concern to my community. The President’s message therefore, on agriculture’s modernisation and mechanisation has given us a lot of hope that at least the 744 hectares that we have for irrigation in the district with the potential to benefit 1 738 households will finally be fully operationalised – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
He also gave us a key message on mining, again showing his total commitment to the revival of this sector and the people of Mberengwa South are excited about this. We are a constituency that is very rich in a diverse basket of minerals including tantalite, chrome, emeralds, et cetera. It is very important for us and is of particular interest that finally, with the kind of emphasis that he put and focus he has put on the mining sector – this will see the reopening of some of the mines that are lying fallow and idle. It is on record that some of these mines like Inyala and Rhonda mines have the highest grades of chrome ore that is very competent indeed in the market. We are therefore looking forward that our youth and women are going to benefit from the tribute system that is accorded to the sector.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President dwelt at length and with emphasis on the performance of State owned enterprises. State owned enterprises in successful countries are supposed to be centres of high performance. They are supposed to be the most innovative places in the sector within which they operate. We, therefore, are very encouraged by the message by the President that underlined the need to have competent and accountable boards, where governance systems and structures are allergic to corruption and where there is more value creation than what we presently see, which is more of value destruction.
The legislative agenda that was outlined by the President was both comprehensive and holistic. I want to particularly dwell on the establishment of a Zimbabwe Media Commission. Indeed open media spaces are completely in line with the President’s unrelenting focus on deepening democracy. Indeed multiple media channels will afford opportunities for different voices to be heard but most important is that these open media spaces would be judged by the degree to which they will allow the use and development of the 16 languages that are recognised by our Constitution. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Open media spaces would be judged by the degree to which they will add to the growth of output from our local creative industries. They would be judged by the degree to which therefore, they contribute to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product and of course to the growth of skills in that sector. Most important in this era is that open media spaces; more channels whether they be television or radio stations, will not be enough. It does not matter what number they are, the most important thing is that they will be able to give different offerings that can be afforded by their efficient and swift adaptation to today’s information, communication and technology industries. I thank you. *HON. SHAVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this
opportunity to debate on this motion. Firstly, I would like to congratulate our President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa for his resounding election victory, which shook the entire world. I would also like to thank the women of Mashonaland West Province for voting again for me to be here the second time around.
Going into the speech that was delivered by His Excellency the
President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa concerning agriculture, he dealt with Command Agriculture. He mentioned that our farmers were given seeds on time. What remains now is for them to wait for the rain season. I would like to thank the President in his address for what he mentioned in terms of road construction. In the district of Kadoma where I come from, roads in that area no longer have potholes. They have been repaired and potholes are now a thing of the past. We are grateful that the KadomaSanyati road up to Gokwe is now under construction. We therefore urge the President to ensure that these people speed up the construction so that they will not be destructed by the rain season.
I would also want to thank the President about the boreholes that were sunk in Kadoma where I reside. Clean quality water is now being received by the residents. We urge him to continue in that regard; thank you so much ‘Shumba’, the President’s totem for what you are doing.
However, we urge the President to increase the number of boreholes in Kadoma so that people do not spend a lot of time in queues fetching water or travel long distances to reach the nearest borehole. The people of Mashonaland West Province are quite grateful for the good job that he is doing.
I am also grateful on the issue of hospitals. I say this from the depth of my heart and from the people of Mashonaland West, specifically Kadoma that the President has renovated Kadoma General Hospital. The renovations were of first class status such that if a patient arrives at the hospital, he would recover without receiving any medication. I however, urge our father of the lion totem to continue in that state so that our children who work in the health sector maintain the good heart that they portray now. We urge him to construct new hospitals in rural areas so that patients will not travel for long distances to seek treatment…
HON. MURAI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. The Hon.
Member isspeaking like she is giving a vote of thanks, she is no longer debating the motion – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! When the motion was
moved from the Chair, if you listened very carefully, part of it says ‘and beg leave to offer our respectful thanks for the speech’. So, the Hon. Member is within the dictates of the motion.
*HON. SHAVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I was thanking the
President for his deeds in my constituency. I was talking about hospitals and I was urging the President to increase the number of hospitals in communal lands so that patients do not travel for long distances before receiving medical attention. I also thank the President for the free maternity facility for pregnant women. We are witnessing this in practice and children that are below the age of five are being treated for free, especially in Mashonaland West. We are grateful to the President for a job well done. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. GARWE: Mr. Speaker Sir, let me start by congratulating you for being elected to lead this House for the second time. I also want to take this opportunity Mr. Speaker Sir to say makorokoto kubato reZANU PF randinobva naPresident wedu nekuhwina maelections – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] .
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency set the tone for our development agenda in his State of the Nation Address. For us to develop this economy or turnaround the economy, we need to put our focus on infrastructure development. I come from the construction industry and have been in that industry for the past 30 years. I have read widely about the construction industry and how other countries like China and USA have turned around their economies using the BOT environment.
I want to thank our local authorities and Ministry of Local Government for I see the refurbishment of roads in all our cities and towns. However, the contractors that are being employed in that refurbishment programme are not local contractors. They are only wearing local clothing but they are not local contractors. We need to be aware of the suffering of our people who are in the construction industry. The contractors, engineers and architects are not involved in the turnaround or refurbishment of these roads and designs of the same roads and bridges. We are not creating adequate employment for our skills because the people that are being used are foreigners. For as long we continue to focus on employing foreigners to refurbish our roads Mr.
Speaker, the unemployment problem will not be addressed.
We need to pay attention to the need of creating employment for our skills. We have got at least 5 000 children coming from universities every year and they need employment. As we focus on turning around our economy, I want us to look back in terms of attracting the skills of Zimbabweans that are in the diaspora. They want to come back home and participate in the turnaround of the economy, yes they want to come back home, however Mr. Speaker Sir, it is our duty as Zimbabwean here, particularly the honourable members in this House to set the legislative agenda that ensures those skills come back home. What do they need to come back home? They need the facilities that they are enjoying out there to be here. They need access to affordable finance for them to be able to buy houses, cars and borrow money from banks at reasonable interest rates. We need to look into that.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I remember very well in 2008 the then Minister of Finance Hon. Biti in one of the workshops that we attended, he said we cannot turnaround the economy if we do not pay particular attention to retooling our young kids, engineers and architects. That is what the Government of Zimbabwe wants to do. That is what the Government yavaMnangagwa is now focusing on doing to ensure that our skills are back. We need to recruit – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Members, can we respect the dignity of the House and lower your voices.
HON. GARWE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the President set the tone for our development agenda and I want to repeat that statement. The agriculture command programmes have benefitted our constituencies. I come from Murewa North Constituency and we are benefitting immensely in terms of command cropping, livestock and fisheries and I want to thank the President for setting that tone Mr. Speaker Sir.
We have schools and clinics that have been in our constituencies. The people from Murewa North Constituency have got a lot of primary and secondary schools that have been built. Children are no longer walking 25 – 30 km like they used to do a long time ago. We want to thank the President for ensuring that every child has got access to facilities like education, health et cetera.
In conclusion, the people from Murewa North Constituency and the whole of Mashonaland East are quite happy to continue to be part of the Presidential Input Scheme that the President is focusing on. Our people are benefitting in terms of fertilisers and seeds, and we are already preparing for the new season. Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank you.
+HON. NKOMO: I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity that you have given me to debate in this House. I am going to debate on an issue that was raised by the President in this august
House. I would want to thank him for having won the elections on the 31st July, 2018 and thereby becoming President of this country ushering in a new dispensation, a new Government. As an august House, we saw it fit to elect Hon. Jacob Francis Mudenda as the Speaker of this National Assembly, deputised by Hon. Tsitsi Gezi. I thank you.
In his speech the President talked about the need for having more schools so that children can learn well and that the type of education in the communal areas should be the same as in the urban areas. Our children in the communal areas should be able to do science subjects that are being done in urban areas. Those houses that are built for teachers in the communal areas should be fit for teachers so that they are happy to work in rural areas.
I would also want to thank the President for he set an agenda of certain Bills that we are supposed to pass as an august House. We need to craft a Bill that will protect our environment. People should not cut down trees unnecessarily. We need to craft these laws so that we bring development in Zimbabwe. We should enact laws on local governance development and devolution. We need to develop our constituencies and as Parliament, we need to enact laws which will be used by local authorities in running their districts. When these local authorities are empowered, they will be in a position to improve conditions through the construction of health centres such as clinics. At the moment, these health institutions are far apart in such a way that people have to travel long distances to access these services. Our wish is that each ward in these rural areas should have its own clinic for easy access by the residents.
I will now turn my attention to the devastating cancer chronic disease especially in women. The main reason why this disease is spreading so fast is that women do not have easy access to health institutions for early detection of cervical or breast cancer. When these institutions are established in such a way that residence have easy access, there is also need for the supply of technology to detect cancer. We need laboratory facilities in our areas. At the moment people are spending lots of monies travelling to these health centres which are far away and also paying for treatment.
The President also urged us to enact a law which will replace the archaic law on Forestry Commission. At the moment people are resettling in these forestry areas. People who are resettled in these areas are not allowed to cut down trees, as a result when they are ploughing, they find ways to circumvent get around these trees. Unfortunately, the education department then allowed villagers to cut down trees so that they can be used as benches in classrooms. We need to craft an Act which will lead to the peaceful core-existence of resettled villagers and the forestry farmers.
The President also urged us to be comprehensive in our debates when making laws. When laws have been made, they should be implemented because in many cases these laws are simply passed by Parliament and just die a natural death without being implemented. These Bills include the Budget Bills where the recommendations are not implemented for the benefit of the country.
The President talked about the protection of the girl child from early marriages. In most cases, these early marriages are caused by the fact that secondary schools are far apart as a result when a young girl has gone through grade 7, she cannot afford secondary education and because she has an idle mind, she rushes into early marriage because of circumstances. As members of this august House, we need to promulgate legislation which prohibits marriage of a girl who has gone through grade 7 only without proceeding to secondary education which should be compulsory. In that way, we will protect the girl child from early marriage. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: There is a vehicle registration number AEV 8959 blocking other vehicles.
HON. JOOSBI: I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the opportunity to present my maiden speech to this august House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Before I commence my speech, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, please carry on.
HON. JOOSBI: I would like to start from the beginning again. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the opportunity to present my maiden speech to this august House. Before I commence my speech, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud and appreciate His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, Cde E.D Mnangagwa for his outstanding delivery of the State of the Nation Address during the Official Opening of the 9th Session of Parliament.
He paved way to real economic development through unity and peace. He also committed to eradicate the Cholera outbreak which has since significantly declined. He also vowed to eradicate corruption and the onus is now on us as citizens to work together as we instill investor confidence within and beyond our borders. In short, from his speech, I learnt that the economic recovery of Zimbabwe is also in our hands as Zimbabweans and we have a crucial role to play in the development of our sovereign nation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to then start my maiden speech. I will focus on introducing my constituency to everyone as most people are not aware of its existence. Mwenezi East is a district situated in Southern Zimbabwe. It is bisected by the Mwenezi River and the A4 highway, the main thoroughfare that connects the town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, to Masvingo. Rutenga is the de facto capital of Mwenezi District. Mwenezi derives its name from the Mwenezi River, which provides irrigation water to the sugar cane plantations in and around Mwenezi and is fed by Manyuchi Dam.
Mwenezi East Constituency is in Mwenezi District. It has a population of 78 403 (As per Census 2012 – Masvingo Provincial Report, page 128. In 2014, families residing near Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam were affected by floods and resettled in Chingwizi, Nuanetsi Ranch. Three thousand and twenty households were resettled, increasing the population of Mwenezi East.
Mwenezi East Constituency is comprised of 8 wards covering a distance of about 190km from Matibi to Chikoko. Rutenga, the capital of Mwenezi, situated 150km from Masvingo along the MasvingoBeitbridge Road was acknowledged a port of entry during the US$5.1 billion 2018 national budget presentation.
To date, Rutenga has remained an underutilised transport junction, despite being strategically linked by road and rail to major towns such as Beitbridge, Chiredzi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Harare via Masvingo and
Bulawayo. It is also linked to Mozambique via Sango Border Post. Mr. Speaker Sir, I would also like to thank the President for assisting us and giving us the funding that has assisted us to put school desks in our schools and we managed to resuscitate many other things that assist the locals of Mwenezi East.
Rutenga now has an opportunity to grow and contribute to the GDP of the country after being declared a port of entry thus the beginning of a “Greater Rutenga”. The Mwenezi Rural District Council is working towards upgrading Rutenga into a town, making provisions for factories, industries, shopping malls et cetera. Despite Rutenga being the capital of Mwenezi, the main administrative offices are located at Neshuro Busienss Centre, 47km from Rutenga and the main police station, the administrator’s office and some Government offices are located in Mwenezi. We hope that by the time the Greater Rutenga masterplan is finalised, these offices will be centralized in Rutenga to make it convenient for all in Mwenezi ti access these offices.
Education
As in other rural parts of the country, the schools in Mwenezi are government run, although some have historical links with missionary
Christian denominations. The fact that all secondary schools (other than Lundi Christian School) were established after independence - is testimony to the marginalisation of the district and the ‘catching up’ it needs to do. Though Zimbabwe has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, in some Mwenezi communities, the rate is as low as 50 percent.
There are notable schools in Mwenezi but not all villages have secondary schools. Some students, especially those villages along
Mwenezi River, below the main wall of Manyuchi Dam, and in the recently resettled areas, have to walk long distances of 8km to 15km to school. This state of affairs discourages students from going to school, instead opting to cross the border and go to South Africa. Education infrastructure in these areas needs to be improved so as to improve on the pass rate and staff turnover. On education, the following are current statistics:
Schools | Registered | Satellite | Number of
Pupils |
Number of Teachers |
Primary | 46 | 81 | 56 972 | 1 214 |
Secondary | 23 | 22 | 12 541 | 498 |
Total | 69 | 103 | 69 513 | 1 712 |
Education: Current Project
The construction of Nyuni Primary and Secondary Schools in
Mwenezi East Constituency is a project funded by Opec Fund for
International Development. The project is at its implementation stage. The model of construction is said to come complete with all amenities, science and computer laboratories, furniture and standard teachers’ houses.
Health
Public health care is delivered at four levels meant to function as a referral chain. The entry level includes rural health centres, rural hospitals and urban clinics. Hospitals exist at the first referral level, provincial and general hospital at the second referral level. The third referral level includes central and special hospitals.
Most health care facilities in the district are owned and run by the government’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, although local communities are involved in the management of clinics. The main referral hospital is Mwenezi District Hospital at Neshuro. The Catholicrun Matibi Mission Hospital to the northwest (bordering the Mberengwa District), also acts as another referral hospital. Several poly-clinics are scattered across the constituency offering primary health care.
At present, we have two hospitals and eight clinics in Mwenezi East Constituency. The health sector is currently facing the following challenges:
- Equipment - Equipment at hospitals is obsolete, for example washing machines, driers, industrial irons, stoves, ovens, dish washers, et cetera.
- Vehicles - No enough funds to service hospital vehicles. Due to the terrain, these vehicles operate and the total radius they encompass, they need to be serviced often. Unfortunately, the cost is high and funds do not match the expenses. Mwenezi District Hospital, one of the hospitals in Mwenezi East has a total of four ambulances and currently operating with two ambulances; the other two are currently going through repairs. An ideal situation would be if the hospital could have about six to seven ambulances, so that when a vehicle is booked for repairs or service, there are enough vehicles remaining at the hospital.
- Water – there is currently no consistent supply of water at the hospitals from ZINWA, and some clinics in the constituency have challenges of water shortages and no electricity.
Infrastructure Development
The district is serviced by a network of mostly gravel roads. Apart from the A4 highway, all other roads in the district are of macadamized gravel roads (constructed by compacting into a solid mass layer of small broken stone on a convex well-drained roadbed and using a binder for the mass). During the rainy season, despite the best efforts of DDF, they get washed away. Some of the vital bridges destroyed during cyclone eline in 2000 are yet to be repaired, e.g Mucheni Bridge which at the time of evaluation in 2013, the cost of repairs was $236 000. The primary mode of transport is by donkey cart.
Economic Development
The district’s main employers are sugarcane plantations, all connected by a railway line from Bulawayo. The cattle ranchers, before the influx of commercial farmers in 2000, used to employ many people. Many people are also employed in the civil services and National Railways of Zimbabwe. The people in the constituency and the district as a whole had always trekked to the mines of South Africa. However, the number of migrant workers has increased in recent times due to the economic recession that Zimbabwe has been going through. Few young people remain in the villages across the constituency, preferring to take their chances in South Africa working on menial contract jobs.
Mwenezi East Constituency has many service and business centres of varying sizes and economic vibrancy. Among these, Neshuro, Sarahuro and Rutenga are noteworthy.
Agricultural Development
Mwenezi East lies in region 5. The district is prone to droughts and experiences low annual rainfall. The majority of households in
Mwenezi East depend on agricultural production like livestock rearing. The climate in this region is suitable for cattle and goat farming. Aquaculture can also be introduced to enhance food security in this area.
BJB (Tinnor, Tiperray, BJB Estates) is in Mwenezi East Constituency. They are self contained plots of 90 hacters each. There are 346 households in BJB. The soil in that specific area is good deep black soils which are good for irrigation. Water can be drawn from
Runde River and connect continuous pipe lines from Masangula into BJB through Mawiriwiri. Currently, there is crop production in the area and the farmers in this past financial year supplied GMB with a lot of grain. With irrigation, better harvests will be a guarantee.
In Section 65 of Mpapa, there are 17 farmers, each farmer with an average of 50 hactres. Sugar cane production is the main activity, utilizing water from Mutirikwi and Tokwe Murkosi Dams though a pump station at Runde Bridge.
Year ending 31 March, 2018, GMB recorded to have received the following in Mwenezi: white sorghum 393 107 tonnes, red sorghum
10 576 462 tonnes, yellow maize 79 450 tonnes, white maize 3 149 875 tonnes, millet 11 314 932 tonnes and ground nuts 52 tonnes.
Increasing irrigation programmes will see these figures rising, and Mwenezi playing their role in contributing to the GDP of our country. Manyuchi Dam is another source that can be used to increase irrigation schemes in Mwenezi as a whole. Its maximum capacity is 307 368 million litres.
Social Development
Residents from Tokwe Mukorsi area were resettled in Masangula as Phase 1 of the resettlement programme. Six hundred and fourty households were resettled, each household receiving four hactres of land. In 2014, the remaining residents in the Tokwe Murkosi area faced floods and were also relocated to Chingwizi Area as Phase 2. In Nuanetsi Ranch, in Mwenezi East Constituency, 3 020 households were resettled there, one hactre (without grazing area) was allocated to each household. Boreholes were sunk but a few are yielding across the Chingwizi and Masangula, hence the reason for water shortages in the area.
Up to date, 1 482 households have been fully compensated, 1 651 households have been compensated 20%, and the rest are still to be compensated. A total of $7 545 339 has been paid towards compensation and a balance of $5 885 268.15 is still outstanding.
Schools in this area are mostly satellite schools. There is one polyclinic and because of the long distance (Over 120km) to Mwenezi District Hospital, patients travel to Chiredzi to get medical care from the hospital.
Achievements:
Mwenezi East Constituency Development Office was launched in September 2017, in Rutenga. Since the inception of this office, the following has been achieved so far.
- Repairing two ambulances at Mwenezi District Hospital that had been broken down for almost two years.
- Supplied garbage bins in Rutenga and Neshuro Business Centre.
- Donating balls for soccer and netball, and sports attires to schools.
- Assist with refuse removal in Rutenga.
- We have established a community assistance facility at our constituency office that assists with transport, food and other logistical inputs for functions like funerals, sports events etc.
- Managed to get an investor to open a bakery in Rutenga since bread is a scarce commodity in Mwenezi, bread is normally transported from Masvingo.
Under the Constituency Development Fund projects, the following projects were undertaken:
- Supplying 266 x 3-seater desks to 26 satellite schools in Mwenezi Constituency.
- Constructing road culverts worth $20 000.
- Repairing Dip Tanks.
We are currently preparing to launch a Mwenezi East Goat Association project. We recently imported five Boar-Goat rams to kick-start the project. We aspire to improve the breed that already exists in our area through cross-breeding. We intend to offer training to goat farmers in Mwenezi on Goat Management and Husbandry under this project. The aim of this project is to make goat farming in Mwenezi profitable for the farmer and thereby contributing to the GDP of our country as the goats can be exported to gain revenue for Zimbabwe.
Unfortunatley, on Monday 14 May, 2018, Mwenezi East Constituency was hit by a hailstorm. Forty households in Ward 7 and 140 households in Ward 13 were affected. Houses were razed to the ground and grain was lost. Livestock was also lost.
In conclusion, Mwenezi has been left behind in almost all developments. Fortunately with Rutenga becoming a dry-port, an opportunity has been availed for Mwenezi as a whole to participate in the economy of the country and be on the map. Investors are welcome to come and invest in this new venture in Mwenezi.
HON. SVUURE: Let me start by thanking you for according me
this opportunity to just add my voice in a very brief manner to the motion that was raised by my fellow Hon. Kwaramba. Madam Speaker, I rise to give this speech to add my voice like I said to the speech that was given by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe on the occasion of the Official Opening of the First Session of the 9th Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe. I would want to thank the President for the speech whose theme resonates very well with the aspirations of the generality of the people of Zimbabwe.
The speech was so inspiring and pregnant with hope for the expectations of the people of this great nation of Zimbabwe. It illuminated the hope of many as it centered on the economy more than anything else. He gave practical and fundamental deliverables and this was delivered so clearly as was set before this august House. The task set before will with no doubt unlock the economic potential going forward. The Bills that the President set out for this Parliament are sacrosanct in shaping the destiny of this nation and fulfilling the vision of making Zimbabwe a middle income economy by the 2030.
The Bills that have been set before this Parliament for debate happen to be the master key to the revival of the economy of this great nation of Zimbabwe. The President spoke on a lot of Bills. He touched on agriculture. I cannot over emphasise what the President said because the fruits of his move and initiative on the agrarian sectors are so clear for us to realise. Our Grain Marketing Board across the provinces, most of them are full to the brim as a result of the President’s initiatives on agriculture.
The President touched on mining as one of the key economic drivers. He touched on the need to realise the small scale artisanal mining sector as a major contributor to this country. I would also want to add my voice that his realisation of that sector will go a long way in the improvement of the economy of this country. At this moment, I would want to as I should have done when I started to thank the people of my constituency. I thank the Zaka Central constituents for voting me into this position.
So, the region which I represent is one of the dry places but I am glad to appreciate the fact that the President alluded to the need to fully utilise the resources that we have in our constituencies. My constituency is one of those that are privileged to have water bodies and his speech alluded to the fact that the resources that are available in not just my constituency but a lot others here are going to be utilised to the maximum for the realisation of the full potential of those respective constituencies.
I would also want to appreciate what the President said on employment creation. Employment creation in the mind of many is seeking employment on an established organisation, but I would want to thank him, for bringing to realisation that employment creation is also putting one’s skills in a profitable manner. I would want to thank the President for making this House realise that employment is the application of one’s skills in a profitable manner. If we realise that application of our skills in a profitable manner, I would want to urge our young and our women in the various constituencies that we represent that we should arise.
Going forward, because of the little accorded to me, I stand here Madam Speaker excited by the fact that we have been made stewards of what the President desires to deliver to this nation. I therefore want to urge my fellow honourables in this House that we fully move with the vision of our President, and that we support him in his endeavour to turn around this economy. We want to stand with him and repeat what he has continued to speak and acknowledging what gets spoken about repeatedly gets to happen. Our President continues to speak about economy and pushing economy ahead of politics is what I would want to advise our fellow MPs in this House.
It is only that way that we will honestly be his stewards and that we will honestly represent him in the manner that he desires in the constituencies that we represent. May God bless our President.-[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Like the biblical Nehemiah, I would want to use us to arise and go out there in our constituencies and begin to rebuild the nation of Zimbabwe. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MPAME: Madam Speaker, allow me to thank the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, the President, on the occasion of the Official Opening of First Session of the 9th Parliament of Zimbabwe. Allow me to thank my constituents that reposed their trust in His Excellency and myself and for their resounding thumping victory. I assure them that I will work hard to bring a positive change to their livelihoods. I trust that as Members of this august House, we shall as His Excellency implored in his speech, collectively put our shoulders to the wheel in rebuilding this great nation of Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker, as His Excellency has remarked, I quote,
“Parliament is a sacred institution and it is therefore incumbent upon us to work tirelessly as servant leaders to deliver a more prosperous
Zimbabwe”. I therefore, urge fellow members of this august House to note that Parliament can and should never be used as a platform for political grandstanding to pursue personal vendetta under the guise of Parliamentary privilege. Madam Speaker, His Excellency set the tone for the Session of this Parliament to consider amongst other Bills, the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill. The passage of the Bill is long overdue and I trust that the deficiencies that were raised when it was returned to this House shall be addressed and that implementation on the ground can take place.
Zvishavane-Runde Constituency I represent is endowed with numerous natural resources such as chrome, gold, diamonds and limestone. There are small-scale miners, artisanal miners working alongside established large-scale miners like Sabi and Jena. As part of the broad based empowerment initiatives, it is necessary that mining title in the form of leases, even tributes be strengthened in the new mining regime to all players. Where large scale miners are not fully utilising their claims, it is economic, prudent and just that such claims or portions thereof be offered as tributes or leases to the small-scale artisanal miners as cooperatives and not as individuals so as to efficiently utilise resources for broader empowerment.
Madam Speaker, I commend the initiative by His Excellency, the President on pursuing an industrialisation agenda for the development of agro-based industries along the various agro value chains such as cereals. I look forward to the execution of this agenda. In line with the natural farming regions or various constituencies, in particular in my constituency, small grains perform better and it will be beneficial to create value chains that support small grain production and beneficiation. Manufacturers of local or opaque beer such as Delta could receive incentives from Government to fully utilise and set up plants in dry farming regions such as my constituency. This is a winwin situation for both communal farmers and industry.
Madam Speaker, Government has initiated Command Livestock and the majority of my constituents have applied for that programme. Unfortunately, it appears that only those who have or own cattle are considered for loans. It would be prudent and appropriate to also consider those who have never owned any cattle. Madam Speaker, I thank you for the time you have granted me. I thank you.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
INAUGURAL MEETING FOR THE COMMITTEE ON
STANDING RULES AND ORDERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would like to inform the
House that the first meeting of the Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders will be held tomorrow, 3rd October, 2018 at 0900 hours in
Committee Room No. 4. Kindly note that this announcement denounces the earlier one made at the beginning of the session in connection with the same subject matter.
APPOINTMENT TO THE COMMITTEE ON STANDING
RULES AND ORDERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the
House that Hon. Dr. Gumbo, the Minister of Energy and Power Development has been appointed a member of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.
HON. MUCHIMWE: Madam Speaker, I honour you for allowing me this moment to express my profound gratitude to thank His Excellency for his effort to drive a very successful election which he won resoundingly in the just ended harmonised elections. I am so prospective that in 2023, he will treble this success. May God be on his side. Allow me Mr. Speaker Sir, to enlighten the House that – [HON.
MEMBERS: Havazi Mr. Speaker Sir. NdiMadam Speaker Maam.] - Allow me Madam Speaker Sir, to enlighten the House that the vision of our President is indubitably uncontested. Mr. Speaker Sir, Madam Speaker Maam, may I call now for his attention......
HON. KARENYI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. KARENYI: Madam Speaker, he is referring you as Sir –
[HON. WADYAJENA: But he corrected himself, he did.] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – She has to rule. She will rule my friend.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order. May the Hon.
Member continue.
HON. MUCHIMWE: Madam President, we are new Members of
Parliament and to know a situation you must practice, so I am practicing.
I now call for his attention to be focused in Mutare West Constituency, an area rich in diamonds and pave way for the local people to access employment there. Madam Speaker, I will further praise the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for allowing all local churches to worship in a free environment – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. May
you allow the Hon. Member to be heard in silence please?
HON. MUCHIMWE: The economic stimuli stipulated by His Excellency is continuing to show significant impact in the areas affected by marginalisation for quite a long time.
Madam Speaker, my growth point is already receiving tarred roads on all avenues – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members
HON. B. DUBE: On a point of order, Madam President. We cannot hear what the Hon. Member is saying. He is not opening his mouth. I do not know whether he is learning to be salad or what. We cannot hear what he is saying.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May the Hon. Member
continue.
HON. S. SITHOLE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I think it is God given for him to talk the way he is doing – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, order.
May the Hon. Member continue.
HON. MUCHIMWE: Madam Speaker, the economic stimuli
stipulated by His Excellency is continuing to show significant impact in the areas affected by marginalisation for quite a long time.
Madam Speaker, my growth point in Marange is now already receiving tarred roads on all avenues. Thank you E.D. In full E.D might mean economic development. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NKANI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me start by congratulating His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Commander-in-Chief and the First Secretary of the ruling party, for his candid victory in the July 30 Harmonised Elections. I say makorokoto, amhlope to him. In the same vein, I would like also to congratulate you for being elected Deputy Speaker of this august
House.
Madam Speaker, coming to the gist of my contribution, as enunciated by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, in his State of the Nation Address in which he pronounced the importance of revamping our economy through the following elements; namely unity, free environment for business, corruption free environment, development, re-engagement - both regional and international, job creation and others for the purpose of convenience, Madam Speaker, let me categorically centre my contribution on unity and re-engagement. Unity forms a firm basis and foundation for a conducive environment for economic growth and development of our beautiful country thereby enabling our Government to fulfill the people’s aspirations. Our President has made tremendous efforts towards uniting the people of Zimbabwe by the capacitation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to execute its constitutional mandate and deal with pre and post independence era conflict issues, and the recent appointment of a commission to look into the post election violence of the July 30 Harmonised Elections.
His Excellency spoke about the need for Zimbabwe to reopen the global business. There is no way Zimbabwe can survive in isolation; we need to trade with other regional and international partners. We need foreign currency to buy essentials, for example raw materials, fuel and so on, hence Zimbabwe is open for business mantra loudly pronounced by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E. D.
Mnangagwa.
As much as our workers both in private and public sectors would need better salaries and good conditions of service, it is undoubtedly that we are surviving from a thinner fiscal space in our country. Our income versus expenditure requirements are a mile apart thereby a timeous and well calculated move by His Excellency to woo investors to bring fresh capital into our economy and other relative organisations like the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and African Export and Import
Bank.
In conclusion, let me implore my fellow Hon. Members of Parliament to advise their electorate in their various constituencies to be patient, peaceful, hard workers and hopeful as we will soon start enjoying the fruits of our economic revival being spearheaded by His
Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. KWARAMBA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. S. SITHOLE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 3rd October, 2018.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MATEMADANDA), the House
adjourned at Two Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.