PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 6th April, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
FIRST READING
CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE AMENDMENT (NO. 1) BILL
[H.B. 1, 2017]
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA) on behalf of THE VICE
PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MNANGAGWA) presented
the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.1) Bill, (H.B.1, 2017) Bill read the first time.
Second Reading: Tuesday, 11th April, 2017.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE
CHANGE
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): I move the motion standing in my name that;
WHEREAS Section 327 (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that any international treaty which has been concluded or executed by or under the authority of the President shall be subject to approval by Parliament;
WHEREAS the Republic of Zimbabwe signed the Paris
Agreement on Climate Change at the United Nations Headquarters in
New York, United States of America on the 22nd of April 2016;
WHEREAS the Republic of Zimbabwe is desirous of ratifying the
Paris Agreement on Climate Change;
WHEREAS Article 21 (1) of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change provides that the same shall come into force on the thirtieth day after the date on which at least 55 parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
NOW THEREFORE, in terms of Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid Agreement be and is hereby approved for ratification.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe participated in the historic Twenty
First Conference of Parties (COP21) which took place in December,
2015, in Paris. The Conference resulted in the adoption of the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change. His Excellency, the President signed the agreement on 22nd April, 2016, in New York, thereby binding Zimbabwe to fully commit to its implementation.
Madam Speaker, 196 country parties reached a consensus on the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, thereby making the Paris Agreement a unifying treaty in the world’s effort to combat climate
change.
To date, 136 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement with over 30 countries being in Africa. The countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement are already preparing and positioning themselves to benefit from the agreement’s provisions.
OVERVIEW OF THE AGREEMENT
The Paris agreement was developed to complement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that did not include the developing countries in climate change mitigation, especially with reference to greenhouse gas emission reduction. Greenhouse gases cause global warming which consequently causes climate change – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, can we have order
please, let us listen to the Minister.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you.
- The agreement has an implementation framework that also highlights its objectives. The framework aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
- Provision on the implementation of the National Determined Contributions (NDCs) elaborate their purpose, as building climate resilience and contributing towards keeping the global temperatures below 1.5 degrees celsius, through mitigation actions.
Zimbabwe’s focus is on energy and agriculture.
- Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human (anthropogenic) emissions of greenhouse gases. Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks through such measures as afforestation, reforestation and reduction of deforestation.
- The agreement encompasses the concept of adaptation with the aim of enhancing adaptive capacities, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change. Adaptation entails anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minimise the damage they can cause, or taking advantage of opportunities that may arise. It has been shown that well planned, early adaptation action saves money and lives.
JUSTIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT
- It is from the above background Madam Speaker, that I recommend to this august House to consider ratifying the Paris Agreement for the following reasons:
- Ratification of the Paris Agreement will allow Zimbabwe to join the rest of the world in implementing the Agreement in order to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
- Being part of the agreement will ensure that Zimbabwe is eligible to access resources provided for under the different frameworks and mechanisms for climate change adaptation and mitigation, particularly with reference to the intended Nationally Determined Contributions.
- Ratification will also ensure that Zimbabwe can participate in the pre-2020 preparatory activities that will define the operational modalities of the Paris Agreement and, with other African countries, ensure that these modalities are not detrimental to
Zimbabwe’s socio-economic aspirations.
- Benefiting from the multilateral climate funds is conditional upon a country being a party to the Agreement, hence, Zimbabwe will be better positioned to benefit by ratifying the Paris Agreement.
I therefore plead with this august House to approve the Paris Agreement. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Madam Speaker for this
opportunity and let me also take this opportunity to thank the Hon. Minister for so eloquently going through what is contained in the protocol. I also wish to take this opportunity to convey my condolences to the families of those that perished last night when a bus heading to South Africa from Harare got involved in an accident. The news that we have is that 30 died on the spot and that most of them were burnt beyond recognition. It is very saddening Madam Speaker. I would like to convey my condolences to the families of the deceased.
Coming back to the business of the day, it is very important that Parliament approves this Paris Agreement. Madam Speaker, there are things that we must also be able to do because just acceding and ratifying international agreements without us playing our part in this country is not good enough. We know that climate change is the way to go. Acceding to those conventions is the way to go because Zimbabwe is a member of the family of nations. We cannot say as Parliament we are not going to approve because it will not help us. So, approving it is the most logical thing to do.
In this country we have a problem – the Minister must take steps to stop doing things that militate against climate change like constructing on wetlands. I will give you a typical example of Longcheng Plaza in Belvedere. That complex was constructed on a wetland and I remember residents of Belvedere presenting a petition to Government to stop construction of that complex on a wetland. What happens is that, when you construct a building like Longcheng Plaza on a wetland, it disturbs the integrity of underground water bodies. What it means is that in the passage of time, people to the south of that complex will not be able to get water from underground sources.
It is the same thing in Mabvuku-Tafara, I remember growing up in that suburb, there was an area we would call “kumadhaka” because it was a wetland. Construction of houses has happened there, there are shops and now it is very difficult to sink a borehole in Mabvuku because you must go 100m underground and yet in the early 80s it would only go 30 to 40m underground. These are some of the things that we must also take into account.
Issues of cleanliness of our cities also militate on climate change. Harare used to be called the sunshine city because of its cleanliness but today you cannot possibly walk on First Street. I remember once upon a time First Street Mall was said to be one of the best mall in Africa outside of South Africa and Zimbabwe was called the Switzerland of Africa. Today, I doubt that there is anyone in this House who will be able to take his children for a walk on First Street. The place smells, there is so much litter. At one time I had a very good laugh when the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate here said, we are going to ban airtime scratch cards because they cause a lot of dirt on the streets. I said the Minister must be joking because what impact do they have to the cleanliness of Harare when there are heaps and heaps of rubbish that have nothing to do with scratch cards of airtime. Hon. Minister, when you come with these protocols to this House, you must also then be able to tell us what you are doing as our Government to say this is the part that we are playing. No more construction of illegal structures on wetlands.
On your way to Bulawayo just before Kuwadzana Extension, that whole area is a wetland. You need special foundations for you to be able to construct houses in that place. Houses are already going up and you wonder what our Government is doing. The City of Harare will tell you they do not allocate people stands on wetlands. It is therefore somebody else who is not the City of Harare those stands are not in the books of the City of Harare. There is somebody who is parceling out land. Your Committee on Local Government did a fantastic job yesterday by naming Hon. Chigumba as one of the land barons. To me the worst crimes on earth are raping a woman and stealing of land. For Hon. Chigumba to come to this House when he knows he has stolen land, I think it is unforgivable.
Hon. Minister, some of the people that you must start fighting are land barons and start fighting in this House by fighting Hon. Chigumba who has parceled out land in Chitungwiza. The way they do it Madam Speaker is that they will take a banner with the name of the First Lady and they put it there and that is it. The police cannot touch them because the banner will be written “Amai Grace Mugabe Housing Cooperative
Chitungwiza”. That is it. That is all the licence that they have. When they build their houses, you find one house that has been allocated to Maridadi – he builds a house, his bedroom is facing the toilet of the next door neighbour and his toilet is facing the lounge of the other neighbour.
There is a pit toilet here and there is a well for drinking water there. Just imagine, what is happening underground? That is why there is typhoid. Madam Speaker, the Minister must now start putting measures in place to ensure that we have electricity and people do not cut down trees. Tobacco is being sold at the auction floors and people are using firewood to dry that tobacco. Where do they get firewood from? They get firewood from the forest because there is no coal to dry tobacco and there is no electricity. Those are some of the things that impact on climate change – cutting down of trees and things like that. So Madam Speaker, in summary I would like to say, thank you to Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill and that Parliament should support it, ratify and accede. We also want to thank His Excellency the President for signing because I think that is the way to go because Zimbabwe is a member of the family of nations. I thank you.
HON. ZINDI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker I
also rise …
HON. ADV. CHAMISA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
Thank you Hon. Speaker, just to kindly request Hon. Members to shorten their presentations. This is a very important Bill and we are not going to do much to change it if we are in agreement with the ratification. I think Hon. Maridadi has captured the issues… - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - I have not finished. - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order can we have order – [AN HON. MEMBER: Counter, counter!] – No, please we cannot have that - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Can we have order in the House? Hon. Members, there is no need to complain. Hon. Chamisa is bringing his point of order saying we should shorten …- [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - The Hon. Minister is ours - yes. If you look at the Order Paper, we are going to be supporting a lot of things on the Order Paper. So, I think if we shorten and support our Minister, it is very good for us. - [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. ADV. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, in fact I do
not intend to take a lot of time but just to say that …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Will you please shorten as
well.
HON. ADV. CHAMISA: Indeed. I know that the Hon. Minister
is going to bring another Bill – she has two Bills. I totally respect Hon. Zindi and others - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - but I am aware that the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development intends to also provide us with a Ministerial Statement on cash shortages…- [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – It is a very important one and we are conscious of the time. So, if we may also be sensitive to that Hon. Speaker. I thank you. – [HON. MAONDERA:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member,
you cannot call to Hon. Zindi who is far across the other side. – [HON.
MAONDERA: Inaudible interjections.] – No, no that is not your duty. HON. ZINDI: Thank you Madam Speaker, while I appreciate the concern. I am waiting for your attention Madam Speaker…
HON. HOLDER: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Hon. Chamisa raised a point of order and we have not heard the ruling from you yet Hon. Zindi is already debating.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I was supporting... - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – him and there was no need to make a ruling. May you please proceed Hon. Zindi.
HON. ZINDI: Thank you Madam Speaker, I just want to make my point as well. While I appreciate Hon. Chamisa’s concerns but just to remind him that he is not the prefect in this House… - [HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – and also, I think it is your responsibility as the Speaker of the House …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order may you please get to your debate Hon. Zindi. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Adv. Chamisa having stood up to raise a point of order.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chamisa, please do not worry, may you please resume your seat - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – She is supporting you, so there is no need. I was even supporting you so you do not need to keep on. – [HON. ADV. CHAMISA: Okay Madam Speaker.] – No, I do not think that it will work.
HON. ZINDI: Thank you Madam Speaker, the point has been driven home. Nonetheless Madam Speaker, I also rise to support the
Hon. Minister of Environment, Water and Climate’s statement. In my support, I would like to point out the fact that we should support this statement and we need to ratify this agreement because it is the poorest countries, the under-developed countries with the poorest people who get affected with climate change.
For example, the issue of drought and rising temperatures, it is the people in the less developed countries who get affected. Therefore, we need to ratify this agreement. For example, the green house gas emissions which will actually contribute to almost about 20C would actually be so catastrophic in terms of any cultivation of whatsoever and the consequences of such would be displacement of people with no savings whatsoever. It is the poorest people who get affected.
On that note, Zimbabwe is one of those countries in the less developed countries. Therefore, Madam Speaker, with those kinds of effects of climate change affecting us as Zimbabweans, without really taking it seriously, I get a bit concerned when I see the attitude of the developed countries and in particular, Donald Trump’s attitude towards climate change. He seems not to be taking it seriously yet those are the economies that are contributing largely to these gases and climate change. The Chinese, for example, we need to see these developed economies contributing more in terms of mitigating against the effects of climate change. I can also give an example of Kenya as one country that has been affected economically. They rely so much on agriculture and in the horticulture industry where they market their flowers to Europe. They have had to suffer where the European countries are saying Kenya is actually contributing to climate change and yet it is insignificant if you were to compare to the developed economies of the United States of America, Japan and China. Therefore, it is the less developed countries that are affected in terms of having to mitigate against the effects of climate change.
I therefore need to urge, while we do ratify this agreement, that we as less developed countries should have it at the back of our minds at which ever international forum that we attend always, to put pressure on Donald Trump in order for him to actually revisit his attitude towards climate change because it is us in the less developed countries who get affected more as long as we do not oppose the negative attitude of Donald Trump. With this contribution, Madam Speaker, although you are not paying your attention to my contribution, I thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My contribution
will be very short. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing this agreement to Parliament pursuant to our constitutional provisions which dictate that such agreements do not take effect until they are tabled in Parliament. Once this agreement is in force and we have ratified, there are certain measures that are taken to ensure that State parties comply with the provisions of the agreement. So, whatever fears that we have that have loophole here and there, they will be covered by the State reporting mechanism which will oblige us to take certain measures to ensure that we comply. So, I think even the fears by Hon.
Maridadi are going to be covered by this progressive piece of agreement that have been brought before the House. I thank you.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order. Concerning Order
Number 63 of Privileges, we have Ministers that were appointed by the President, Cde. R.G Mugabe. So, I do not know what is the way forward through your ruling Madam Speaker, that with us as the Members of Parliament, how we are going to work when we know that the ruling party has its monitors and stands infront of the nation and insult the Ministers. Some of them are referred to as thugs. I know that the term is used to insult. A Minister that was appointed by the
President is referred to as a thug; how are we going to work as Parliament?
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member.
Those are things that we heard from the press and once it is brought here in Parliament, that is when we will be able to debate.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Like my
predecessors, my debate will not be long. I just want to highlight about two points. Firstly, I think there is no objection to ratification of these protocols because this is the trend world over. However, suffice to say Madam Speaker, there are certain things that we need to do as a Government which I would wish the Minister to consider as we sign these protocols. All other countries have signed the protocols, that is acceptable and that is good. From the presentation that the Minister has given; what causes climate change as we have heard from the presentation of the Hon. Minister, is due mainly to those obnoxious gases, the CFC’s, the chloroform carbons which cause the increase in temperature.
Now, as Zimbabweans or as many other African countries and we
all agree that we are not responsible for these gases; it is mainly the industrialised countries. Madam Speaker, what the Minister knows is that we are doing a lot as a country to reduce those carbon emissions. There are issues to do with our aforestation programmes which the Minister indicated. We have a lot of big sanctuaries with game and flora which act as carbon 6; they reduce the availability of the obnoxious gases into the atmosphere by acting as carbon sinks. We have our national parks; we have our big plantations all over. Now, for that on its own, there is what they normally call the carbon credit for reducing the emission of carbon. What are we getting as a country from those carbon credits? I am aware that the Ministry has done a very good job by establishing what is called the climate change office in her Ministry which is a good step. However, let us do a bit more and benefit out of our efforts to reduce the carbon because many countries world over are getting more money out of these carbon credits.
Secondly, as we talk of climate change, can we as a country positively say there has been climate change if we do not have accurate and consistent records over a long period of time of our weather elements? Definitely, we cannot say so because we do not have much evidence. This is because most of our weather collation centres are not properly capacitated. Why not take advantage of this climate change protocol to ensure that most of our weather stations are supported by these world countries that are polluting the atmosphere so that we can positively say as a country, indeed there has been climate change. For now, if you say there is climate change when you do not have records of the temperatures of the 18th century continuously up to the current, where do you compare, where do we base our comparisons? Can we positively say in Zimbabwe there has been a temperature increase when most of our weather stations are unequipped? I do not think we should just let these. We should sign protocols, ratify them and pressure these developed countries to support our weather centres so that we can positively and accurately say, indeed there is climate change in the country.
Those are the two issues I thought we need to allow the Minister to reconsider because we cannot just be ratifying and get nothing out of it. We ratify and agree that there is climate change when actually our weather collation centres are in shambles. Thank you.
HON. DR. SHUMBA: I rise to thank the Minister of
Environment, Water and Climate and thank her indeed for moving this motion which must compel every reasonable Legislature to support.
Hon. Speaker, when the Minister comes to this House, she comes to satisfy the constitutional provision that we need to ratify the following treaty, more specifically the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Madam Speaker, already the Minister and her team has introspected, researched and attended to the specific issues that have specific outcomes that affect the signatories to this Paris Agreement.
Therefore, Madam Speaker, our job is to look at reasonableness of the quality work already done and whether we accept it as a country which we are in full support of and not pretend to be attempting to tear it apart here. Madam Speaker, the Paris Agreement was not tailored for Zimbabwe alone; it is an agreement that was signed by international parties and therefore, I urge other Hon. Members to defer their appetite to contradict for other less critical issues.
I also would like to talk about points to do with the funding and pushing for foreign aid. We are a sovereign nation and on one end, we are pushing to avoid foreign aid that comes with the various conditionalities or even opening ourselves as a nation to various western involvements in our economy. Zimbabwe is going to have to attend to its obligations in terms of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
I therefore move, Madam Speaker that we accept this and that accordingly, we applaud the Minister for a wonderful teamwork representing Zimbabwe. Thank you very much Hon. Minister.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you Madam Speaker. Let
me take this opportunity to thank the Hon. Members who have contributed to this very important motion and have supported the ratification of the Paris Agreement. Let me respond to some fundamental issues that were raised and I will start with Hon. Maridadi. I want to thank him for supporting the motion which is aimed at ratifying the Paris Agreement. Of course, he raises some fundamental issues to do with our wetlands in Zimbabwe which fall under EMA which has the sole responsibility to register all wetlands in Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker, I want to state that EMA came into existence when quite a number of these wetlands were sold to various house owners and we did not have much to do because this was a situation which prevailed before EMA came into inception. I want to state that we have been alert to the situation whereby we have been carrying out inspections with Local Government authorities to ensure that for those that were already constructing either houses or buildings, they adhered to our expectations within EMA. We will continue arresting those people that do not adhere to our expectations. We have had in the rural areas some traditional leaders who have been parceling out these pieces of land. I want to say that it is illegal and we have been taking measures which call for an offence or a levy of $1 000. So, we are doing everything possible to make sure that we protect our wetlands.
The second issue which he raised was the issue of cleanliness within the City of Harare. It is not just Harare which is affected by the issue of litter. The issue of litter is of concern to my Ministry but I want to say that we do have the climate change policy and also the climate change response policy. These two pieces of legislation outline what is expected of local authorities. It is not just EMA which has that responsibility. This is an agency which provides the regulatory framework to ensure that constitutionally, we enjoy a clean environment which translate in us breathing clean air and also have clean water.
Therefore, the policies that I have indicated require that climate change is also mainstreamed whether by Local Government authorities to make sure that their cities are clean. It is our responsibility to ensure that these policies are adhered to. We will arrest where possible with the assistance of the police. So, where we catch people indulging in throwing litter everywhere, we work very closely with the police and it calls for $20 fine for individuals who throw away litter either through moving vehicles like buses and cars. We are not very happy about the progress in this area because we have our buses going to South Africa.
Those passengers that board these buses throw litter from Harare right up to the border but when they reach South Africa, they change their behavour and they do not throw away litter. We are trying as much as possible to ensure that these fines are deterrent enough, but this is not a responsibility for EMA alone, but also the cities because they have got that responsibility to ensure that they keep their cities clean. We have also fined even the City of Harare for not providing a clean environment for their citizens within Harare. We have found them on several occasions but they continue with that behavior and we are looking at the possibility of even increasing those fines. So, we may end up bringing Bills to this august House.
The third issue which he raises is the issue of us providing electricity in order to ensure that the issue of desertification or the cutting down of trees is curtailed. On electricity, last year we witnessed that Kariba Dam was not producing the 700 megawatts which originally was the target which was set when it was constructed. We noticed that the generation of power had been reduced to about 290 megawatts. It shows that climate change is real to Zimbabwe. We cannot rely anymore on hydro-electricity, which is why Zimbabwe adopted the strategies of resorting to renewable energy which is solar and bio-gas. We are still using thermal power from coal, but we know that most of the gas emissions come from the generation of thermal power.
I can understand why Obama had to ban the use of coal within the United States which was reversed by Donald Trump. I am saying also that thermal power to us in Zimbabwe is still our policy. We should continue producing thermal power because developed countries have industrialised their own countries because they used coal as a means of driving their own industries. So, we are not going to be banning that. I am happy that even Trump in his craziest way was able to reverse this because the world still needs thermal power and it is much cheaper to use thermal power and also to use thermal power and so, my Hon. Member must appreciate that we are doing everything possible to ensure we address the issue of electricity deficit.
Let me also address the issue of tree planting to say that since 1980, the country, through our President, introduced the tree planting programme which is an annual event. It is in that realisation that in order for us to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and also for us to create the carbon sink, it is possible to plant as many trees as possible because each individual requires five trees the whole year to be able to get enough oxygen and also for these trees to be able to accommodate carbon dioxide. So, we are very mindful of that, that is why we have a very ambitious programme.
Turning now to the issue of the tobacco farmers who use firewood in order to cure tobacco, I am sure you appreciate that Government put in place a levy which therefore, has been used by TIMB. I understand this is a new development that they should ensure that those tobacco farmers replant or plant more trees to replace those trees that they are destroying. In our climate change policy, we are encouraging the new usage of bio gas equipment and solar in the curing of tobacco. So, we hope that in the future, we will be able - over and above these mitigation programmes, to reduce the cutting of trees.
Let me turn to Hon. Chamisa and thank him for supporting the motion. Hon. Zindi also supported the motion and indicated that developing countries bear the brunt of climate change, which is very correct. We all know that the suffering that we are incurring is a result of the very aggressive industrialisation programmes, where a lot of this coal usage went into place in order to create jobs and grow the economies of the developed countries, but I want to say that the difference between the Kyoto Protocol is that most developed countries were upbeat and till this day, they are not signatory to the Kyoto Agreement because that was really forceful where developing countries were saying, developed countries, you are responsible for these climate change problems and that you should pay for it, but we saw, in the Paris Agreement, that there was a strong principle of common objectives, but also looking at the different developmental issues that affected each country.
The issue of global warming as a result of greenhouse emissions - this one is affecting most of the small islands which are almost becoming extinct because of the high temperatures that are being experienced. We saw that there is an accommodation of these small islands within the Paris Agreement itself. Yes, the poorest people are the ones that bear the brunt. We appreciated last year that when we had drought, we noticed the agricultural yields, even of the maize crop, was very low as compared to this year when we received some above and above normal rainfall. We noticed that there was a drift of populations moving from the rural areas coming into urban areas, putting pressure on water, sewer systems and also creating an environment where you see people selling items on pavements, which has become a menace to our cities and this is one of the climate changes where people move into cities to look for greener pastures.
She did raise an issue of the attitude of developed countries, where they are not contributing to building resilience of small countries or developing countries in appreciation of the fact that they created this climate change problem, but she mentioned China. Specifically that countries like China should also play their part. I wanted to mention that China put US$60 billion, which they refer to as FOCAC for Africa to address its own climate change problems, looking at how agriculture has been affected in Africa, how the issue of hydro electricity has been affected. So, we want to thank China, that they have taken the first step.
We are not very happy that the pledges that have so far been raised by developed countries have only managed to raise US$10 billion out of the US$200 billion which they promised, but we are still yet to see whether this will be met because the cut off dates are 2020, Madam Speaker.
Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi also supported the ratification of the Paris Agreement and this is a constitutional provision where by any international convention or treaty requires us that we should ratify so that we domesticate some of these conventions. So, we are looking forward today, to the approval of this Paris Agreement so that we join other nations so that Zimbabwe, like other nations, benefits from international donor funding. Hon. Gabbuza supported the agreement, but indeed CFCs cause climate change. Of course, the issue of aforestation, I have that this is part of our NCDs, our own national determined contributions as a country that we identified aforestation as one of the driving strategies to address the issue of green gas emissions.
On carbon credits, this is an issue that we are currently working on by bringing in the private and public sector, to make sure that those who are participating in these programmes apply for the funding that is available - adaptation funds and green climate funds. So, what we are currently doing is that over and above the climate change policy and the climate change response strategy, we have also put together a national technical team which is identifying projects which seek to address issues of aforestation, renewable energy and agriculture. Water is a very important component. So this technical team is responsible for putting together bankable projects which we will present to the Green Climate Fund. So, carbon credits, those that are planting trees to address the issue of afforestation are those companies that are targeted. So, we are mindful of ‘Road Plus’ and Zimbabwe must benefit.
I want lastly to thank Hon. Shumba for supporting this agreement for us to be able to ratify the Paris Agreement; funding for developed countries where he raised a very fundamental concern of conditions that come with this donor funding. This is an issue which was raised by
African countries and other developing countries and within the Paris
Agreement itself. There is an area which talks to the need for transparency where if a country is to assist any country in the developed countries that information will be made public. We made sure that we are protected in the processes. I want to thank you Madam Speaker.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE BILATERAL AGREEMENT WITH
MOZAMBIQUE ON THE PUNGWE WATERCOURSE
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Madam Speaker, I move motion
standing in my name that:-
WHEREAS Section 327(2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that any convention, treaty or agreement acceded to, concluded or executed by or under the authority of the President with one or more foreign states or governments or international organisations shall be subject to approval by Parliament;
WHEREAS Zimbabwe signed a Bilateral Agreement with
Mozambique on the Pungwe Watercourse on 11 July 2016;
AND WHEREAS Article 22(1) of the Agreement provides that it
shall enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the parties;
NOW THEREFORE, in terms of Section 327 (2) of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid
Bilateral Agreement between Zimbabwe and Mozambique on the Pungwe Watercourse be and is hereby approved for acceptance.
Madam Speaker, the Pungwe River, which flows from Mount
Nyangani in the Eastern Highlands and drains into the Indian Ocean, is a shared watercourse between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The watercourse is managed under the Pungwe Basin Trans-boundary Integrated Water Resources Management and Development Programme, a joint initiative between the two Governments that was established by the Joint Water Commission.
Overview of the Pungwe Agreement
The Agreement outlines measures jointly adopted by the parties for the sustainable utilisation of the Pungwe watercourse, which include:-
- The joint responsibility to prevent, reduce as well as to control the pollution of both surface and ground water for purposes of enhancing the quality of the waters and the surrounding ecosystems;
- The obligation to exchange data and information, including rainfall figures, floods and river flow data; and
- The adherence to the Flow Regime contained in Annex 2, which limits abstractions from the Pungwe Watercourse to the levels agreed upon.
The governments of Zimbabwe and Mozambique now desire to adopt criterion for the conversation, allocation and sustainable utilisation of the Pungwe water resources, through the proposed Bilateral Agreement.
Justification for the Agreement
Madam Speaker, the proposed Bilateral Agreement seeks, among
others, to:-
- Safeguard Zimbabwe’s interests in the sustainable supply of water to the City of Mutare, as well as the utilisation of water from the Pungwe River basin in general, for afforestation, livestock management and tourism;
- Minimise potential water-related conflicts between the two countries; and
- Create opportunities for other forms of cooperation in different sectors.
This cooperation demonstrates the importance of transboundary river basin management for economic and social development. I therefore plead with this august House to approve the Agreement. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MAJOME: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Madam Speaker. I raised this point before in terms of our very own Standing Rules and Orders, particularly Order No. 20, paragraph (c) that pertains to the terms of reference of
Portfolio Committees. It says that “Subject to the Standing Rules and Orders, Portfolio Committees must,” I underline the word must and emphasise the word must, “consider or deal with all treaties conventions and agreements relevant to it which are from time to time negotiated, entered into, agreed upon”. I am raising this because I am not aware that the relevant Portfolio Committee has indeed considered this treaty. I rise because I have raised this before, this might be about the third or so time, and I think last time it was in connection with Finance Agreement.
My concern Hon. Speaker is that we are a Parliament that has made rules for ourselves. I do not think it bodes well for us to ignore our very own Standing Rules and Orders. If we do not think that that provision is relevant, my humble suggestion is that we amend the
Standing Rules and Orders and just remove that requirement for
Portfolio Committees to consider international treaties and
organisations. I believe there is a reason why this august House provided for this in this Standing Rules and Orders. Up to now, not a single international treaty has ever been referred to any Portfolio Committee whatsoever. If we do not take ourselves and our rules seriously, we cannot expect the Zimbabwean public to respect us as a Parliament. I do not know why, with due respect, the staff of Parliament does not refer these treaties to Portfolio Committees through the Research Department. We are just not abiding by our own rules. I am embarrassed Madam Speaker, to say the least, that we are failing to abide by our own rules that we have made for ourselves, unless the Portfolio Committee considered the report.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I hear you Hon. Member, but
this has been our practice ever since we have been in this House.
However, I think the Leader of the House may help us on this one.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Madam Speaker, may I look at the provisions –
[Laughter.] –
Hon. Majome handed the Standing Rules and Orders to the Hon. Vice President and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for perusal.
HON. MNANGAGWA: Yes Madam Speaker, I think it was just a
matter of oversight. I think this should be done in future. I thank you –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Majome for
bringing up that issue.
Motion put and agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
CASH SHORTAGES AND QUEUES AT BANKS
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Thank you Madam
Speaker. Madam Speaker, last week the House asked that I give a Ministerial Statement on cash shortages or queues outside the banks. It is now my pleasure to make my brief Ministerial Statement and this will cover two important issues namely:
- The main causes of the cash challenges; and
- The initiatives that Government is taking to address these challenges.
Causes of cash shortages
Madam Speaker, high fiscal deficit that is further exacerbated by the current account deficit have contributed to the current cash shortages and queues for cash at banks. There is a direct association between high fiscal deficits and current queues at banks.
Government employment cost at above 93% of tax revenue, combined with Government legacy debt of over 40% of tax revenue means that Government expenditure is above Government revenue. This shows that we are living beyond our means through borrowing from the market by way of Treasury Bills that translate into Government overdraft at the Reserve Bank on maturity.
Further, Government funds its employees’ salary accounts through electronic transfers over the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) platform. On the contrary, employees would want to obtain physical cash from banks. This misalignment is the greatest cause of queues at banks for cash as both the Reserve Bank and banks would be required to withdraw foreign exchange from their Nostro Accounts to meet cash demand.
Madam Speaker, non-banking of cash by traders is also a major cause of cash shortages and queues for cash at banks. This indiscipline is counterproductive and cannot continue to be tolerated. Money is like blood, it needs to circulate for the economy to survive. Money should be circulating in order to deal with queues at the banks. To date, three traders have been hauled before the courts for not banking their sales proceeds in line with the laws of the country from as far back as June 2016. They have all pleaded guilty to the offence and they now await their sentences after the Easter holidays.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is also pressure for Government to monetise the overdraft or Treasury Bills to physical cash. Monetising Treasury Bills means that physical foreign exchange cash is being withdrawn from banks without a corresponding foreign exchange receipt to fund
Government’s position at banks.
Strategies to address cash shortages
Mr. Speaker Sir, Government, through the Reserve Bank, is advocating for the use of plastic money in order to ameliorate the mismatch or gap between electronic salary transfers and the demand for cash from banks. Embracing plastic money preserves foreign exchange in the Nostro Accounts for use of foreign payments whilst at the same time mitigating against non-banking of cash by traders. Government is also considering removing the 5c tax on plastic money in order to reduce the cost of transacting.
The non-banking of cash by traders is currently being attended to by the Reserve Bank and the police under the Bank Use Promotion Act [Chapter 24:24] which compels traders to bank their surplus cash on a daily basis when banks are open for business. Best practice is that traders in the reserved sectors of the economy should be locals as is required in terms of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
Act. These reserved businesses include the following:-
- Transportation, passenger buses, taxis and car hire services;
- Retail and wholesale trade;
- Barber shops, hair dressing and beauty salons;
- Employment agencies;
- Estate agencies and Real Estates;
- Bakeries;
- Grain milling;
- Tobacco processing;
- Advertising agencies; and
- Provision of local and craft, marketing and distribution.
In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true and as a result we have noted with great concern the deliberate disregard to the laws of the land by these traders. Such unscrupulous traders should not continue to enjoy the freedom of being in the reserved sectors without compliance. The net is closing on those players who continue to disrespect our laws.
Conclusion
Mr. Speaker Sir, the factors underpinning cash challenges are beyond banks. Banks find themselves in a difficult position where they are compelled to ration cash withdrawals in order to meet their customers’ demand. Banks have, therefore, continued to explore pragmatic measures to meet their customers’ demand for cash.
*HON. ENG. MUDZURI: I want to appreciate Hon. Chinamasa for having made an effort to give a Ministerial Statement at a time when Zimbabweans have a crisis on the issue of cash flow. Hon. Chinamasa believes that he can bring sanity into the banking sector through the promotion of Bank Use Promotion Act. I believe that a lot of people in this country do not have a lot of money to the extent of keeping it at home. There are a lot of point of sale machines and you find people requesting for cash because they cannot access cash. If you want to arrest them, I do not know who is going to fill up these prisons. There is no money in circulation. We used to have the dollar and people would move around with loads of cash.
When you go to buy fruits such as oranges, you need hard cash. At the moment, there is no US$20 in the market. You just find US$10 notes and below. I urge you to look into this issue more seriously. If you go to OK Mart or TM supermarket where I normally visit, you find a person requesting shoppers that have hard cash to give it to him so that they can swipe for the goods that they are paying. If our intelligence organisations are doing their work, they should be able to give you this information on what the people are observing. I would want you to also observe that. A lot of people receive their salaries through the bank, the people want to use the same method of swiping everyday but we have not yet reached that stage. People are having problems accessing their salaries.
The elderly people need the hard dollar to pay for their transactions. I once spoke about this issue and I even spoke to the Vice President and he said the money will be made available. You cannot say that a donkey and cow are the same. You cannot equate a bond note to a US$. I did say that there should be a dollar account and a bond note account. There should be several bond notes so that people can use them. People do not want to buy a donkey when they can slaughter a cow and eat the meat.
*HON. MANDIPAKA: We have heard what has been said by the Hon. Minister and we respect that. He has also given measures which we believe would aid the cash problem. May the Minister clarify on how much expertise do we now have as a country, in understanding and looking into the issues of economic sabotage because there might be a few that have a lot of money that are mopping up all the money in circulation. They buy bond notes using US$ and they throw away the bond notes in trunk loads and use their US$ outside the country. What is being done because there could be others that could use all the money they have, for instance they can do that in Mufakose and use all the money. I thank you.
*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you Hon. Minister for your brilliant suggestions to ensure that there is an improvement of money circulation on the market. The sanctions that the country is grappling with.. [HON
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] -
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA): Let the Hon
member ask his question. This is not a time for debating. I would want to repeat, please Hon Member, ask your question that seeks clarification.
*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you. If we discuss the issue just for the sake of discussing it without hitting the nail on the head, this is the reason why we are in this situation. Be that as it may Madam Speaker, you said that - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members,
may you please observe order in this House. Ask your point of clarification Hon. Mupfumi, straight to the point.
*HON. MUPFUMI: My point is on the sanctions, we should not run away from the problems that we have - we say whatever we want to say. Very well Madam Speaker, I will confine myself to what the Hon. Minister said. Hon. Minister, I know if all the money goes into the banks as you say, we request not to be limited in terms of the withdrawal amounts so that we access our money timeously. The problem is that MDC… - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – does not want this country to progress.
*HON. S. CHIDHAKWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
The Hon. Member should not mention other people’s parties where there is peace and tranquil. He must mention political parties where there is turmoil. We did not demonstrate against anyone here.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order I will not allow
anyone to debate but I want to make it clear that you are only seeking clarification from Hon. Minister Chinamasa’s presentation – that is all.
If you are going to be debating, I am not going to allow that.
*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you, I am not yet through - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – No, no I want to speak.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please, round up Hon.
Mupfumi.
*HON. MUPFUMI: I am saying, Hon. Minister we thank you for what you are doing but we will not progress for as long as those who are seated to my left will go behind your back and undermine your efforts so that things remain difficult for us. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order may you wind up
your question?
*HON. MUPFUMI: We are not in any hurry; we have cash flow
challenges in this country. We request those on my left not to sabotage and destroy this country because overnight they are going to overturn whatever measures are put in place so that Zimbabwe is declared as a country that has failed to run itself. I thank you.
*HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I raised that question last week and I am a member of the MDC. I would want to ask the Hon. Minister that if you go to the bank today, you no longer have the option of getting either the US dollar (US$) or bond note – you are just being given the currency that is there. Does Government have in place measures to monitor the amounts of US$ that are in Zimbabwe and in circulation because the money that was deposited was in US$. At the inception of the bond notes, we were informed we would have an option to withdraw US$. I had to withdraw bond notes today when infact I had deposited US$. Are there any measures that are being taken to correct that? I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The Hon. Member with
vehicle number ADI 8489, range white, may you please go and remove your car – it is blocking other vehicles.
*HON. MAHOKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me say to
the Hon. Minister that we would want clarity on the issue of plastic money pertaining to the police and spot fines. Are there going to be swipe machines with police officers manning road blocks? There will be many police officers from one station on the road that even when you go to the police station, they do not have swipe machines. How are you going to look into that?
Secondly, is the issue of tobacco farmers; a farmer leaves his communal home without any money to sustain himself. Are there any swipe machines with food vendors for instance, so that the farmer is able to buy food? Our farmers are suffering.
Again, the vendors that are on the roads, if you were to go five to ten steps, you will see people openly selling currency. What action are you taking to ensure that people do not sell these currencies in broad daylight? What measures are you putting in place to people like Mohammed Musa? If I was to go and sit by the corner, I would realise that people will be buying until the end of the day. If I was to do that and say all the money that is there should be banked, what are you doing in as far as foreign nationals like Indians, Asians and the Chinese are concerned? I thank you.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, my question to
the Hon. Minister is tied to Hon. Mahoka’s question. Does the Hon. Minister have any plans or measures to ensure that all Government institutions and agencies are also able to accept plastic money? She mentioned the police but there are also a lot of others like if you go to the airport – the parking service that is employed by the Civil Aviation Authority, they only accept cash. There are also other Government departments of various kinds. Is the Hon. Minister doing something to ensure that all Government agencies and ministries accept plastic money and also, what are the remedies that are available to members of the public who do not have cash through no fault of their own but are required to pay for those services when those services are not available in terms of plastic or electronic money?
*HON. ADV. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I will be
coding switching to our mother tongue since it is allowed. Of the $200 million that was backed by Afrexim to support the bond notes, do we have a measurement to see how much money is now in circulation and how much is still remaining? As a result of the money that has been poured into circulation, what has been done to ensure that the existing problems are resolved?
Secondly, if the banks do not give US$ to depositors, are we not in contravention of Section 71 of the Constitution where money is defined as a property. Are our property rights not being contravened? Since you are unable to access the money that we will have deposited, what is Government going to do about this to ensure that there is no contravention of this section of the Constitution? Why is the
Government not coming up with legislation that everyone should have a point of sale machine so that wherever one goes, they will be able do transactions and business people will not say they operate on a cash basis? It should be illegal for someone to say they operate on a cash basis so that e-payments and e-transactions are backed by the law- regardless of a barber, commuter omnibus driver, or at the Avenues Clinic. The hospital must have a point of sale machine so that work can be done properly. Is the Government facing any challenges, if so may you please point out what these challenges are?
Lastly, Hon. Minister Chinamasa, would it be difficult for the Government to have the United States dollar back so that everyone uses it. If one fails to use the United States dollar, then they can use the South African Rand so that our country can regain economically. People have their monies underneath their pillows whilst others do not have money because they cannot access the bond notes in the banks. So, is it so difficult for the Government to go back to dollarisation?
There are very few Ministers that we meet at the bank, where are doing their own banking? Some of them cannot even swipe. Where are they swiping, maybe you are the exception but some of your colleague do not know anything about swipe machines. We have never come across with Ministers in a bank, where are they getting their monies from? I would want clarity on that issue as to whether you are also using the bond notes or not.
HON. HOLDER: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to seek
some clarity towards the Minister’s statement. First of all, I want to thank the Minister for coming up with this Ministerial Statement. However, there are a few issues that I wanted to find out and get clarification on. When the bond notes were introduced into this country, it was for change purposes. Now, the biggest denomination that we are coming across in United States Dollar is most probably US$10 or US$20. Most of the money that we get from the banks or from the different departmental stores in form of cash back is actually bond notes. So, you would find that when you want $100, you would be having this big bundle of notes. What mechanism is the Minister putting in place to try and restore the issue of money? Although in the banking sector you have come up with bank promotions where you try to get people to have confidence in banking. The Minister mentioned that there are some culprits that were arrested regarding the issue of not banking but you did not mention how much were they carrying, whether it was two, three or five million dollars, those are the issues that we want to know.
On the issue of swiping, plastic money, the e-banking system, most of the time you will find it is down. Last week I encountered a major problem because I employ miners and farmers. People who work on the farms do not have bank accounts and people who work in the mines are almost like makorokoza’s, they work one month and go. However, the mining sector where it is supposed to bring in money, you cannot buy explosives using bond notes, they want United States dollars cash, and they do not accept RTGS or anything. They need cash in order for them to be able to purchase raw material to come and make sure that there are explosives, cynide and stuff like that, that is Intrachem, and they do not accept all these available forms of payment. So, there must be a system put in place.
Also on the issue of service stations that are selling fuel. They swipe up to a certain amount and they will tell you that the machine is not working because they want the United States dollar so that they can be able to purchase fuel. If they have bond notes they say they cannot change it because when they take the bond to the bank, they will be told there is a process to follow yet when you bank United States dollars there is no process. So, I would like the Minster to clarify how much bond notes were released into the market because there is no more bond note, no more United States dollars and the swipe machines are not working.
Credibility in the banking sector, we have a challenge - that is why people are not banking. Eco-cash; people are no longer accepting it. I also want to know what is the relationship between eco-cash and the banking sector, because I am not too sure how it works but there are a lot of eco-cash booths around the country. When you go there you are only able to cash in and not cash out. So, where is that money going and what mechanism have you put in place to protect that issue?
On the issue of TB’s, did we not release too many TB’s that are now maturing, maybe that is the reason of cash shortage. Most probably you issued too many of these TB’s, so now they are maturing and people are cashing out. So, the money has been mopped up; there is no more money in the streets. As a country, let us be masters of our own destiny, let us make currency here.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I need clarity on
the issue of swiping machines. If you go to the shops owned by people of the Indian decent in Mutare as well as Chinese in Kaguvi, they now have the swipe machines. However, what they do is that since you want the product, they will simply tell you that their machines are nonoperational. What measures are you going to put in place to ensure that people are not going to be hoodwinked to believe that the machines are not operational when they are actually functioning.
On the issue of swipe machines, I need you to remedy the issue of the price of a product because four prices are being used for one same product. It has been mentioned in Parliament several times but nothing has been done out there. There is one price for eco-cash, swipe, bond notes and United States dollar, those prices are different.
The other last clarification that I require is that of the people that are going to the banks to get their salaries, one is receiving $200 bond in the form of 50 cent coins to go back to the communal areas. Are we not burdening our people? What other measures have you put in place to alleviate that problem?
The last part has already been mentioned by Hon. Mahoka, it is in regards to tobacco farmers. If they accrue $40 000 for their product, they are being allowed $1 000 at CBZ. When Agribank processes the money to CBZ, it takes a lot of days. The person will have come from Chiendambuya and he is now living under a tree. From the $32 000 that remains, he requires 7 or 9 days so that they can withdraw $1 000 each. So when they come back, the money will have been taken through expenses. Are we not burdening our farmers? What measures are you going to put in place to ensure that they receive reasonable amounts of money? I thank you.
*HON. SARUWAKA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is
that there is the 5% export incentive that had been increased. It was to be given to those that will have received the diaspora funding. Is it now 5% or 3% that we are supposed to receive? We observe that people are being given 2% and 2% remains with the financial institution. It appears that the Government is not truthful about what it is saying. So, those that were in the habit of sending money have now stopped because what you pronounced is not what the institutions are doing. They are now receiving $3 instead of $5 as incentive. May you clarify so that these measures can be corrected so that those that were defrauded long back can be refunded the $2 that were being stolen from every $100. I thank you.
Hon. Ndebele having gone to the other side of the House.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Order Hon. Ndebele, are you on the right side?
HON. NDEBELE: I was visiting and this is why I am on this side.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: So I may not recognise you if
you are a visitor.
HON. TSHUMA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. The
clarification that I want to seek from the Minister through you is on the issue of the informal traders that go outside the country like South Africa and Botswana. When they try and use their swipe cards, they are always declined. I think there is no sort of arrangement between the banks in Zimbabwe, South Africa or Botswana. May I know from the Minister what measures they are putting in place to make it easy for those traders that go to Botswana, South Africa or even other countries for them to be able to swipe their cards and access cash from there for whatever savings, be it buying goods or even accommodation and staff like that. I have had an experience whereby somebody went out there with cards and when they tried to swipe for hotel accommodation, it was declined. When they tried to swipe for food it was declined and they ended up being destitutes there yet they had money in their local account here in Zimbabwe. That is the clarification that I want from the Minister.
I thank you.
Hon. Ndebele having stood up to debate.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Were you in the Chamber
when I made this arrangement?
HON. NDEBELE: I wish to seek clarification from the Minister in terms of the formula that the Central Bank uses to allocate money to various banking entities. I bank with the POSB and I believe that is where most of our poor people also bank their money. That bank goes for several weeks without cash and if at all cash comes, it comes in the form of coins yet those that bank with Standard Chartered and Barclays get notes more often than not. Is it possible for the Minister to look into that by way of providing relief, because most of those that bank with me at POSB are pensioners and rural folk who sometimes have to spend nights on end at the bank? Thank you.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I
thank the Minister for a job well-done and also that he consults us whenever he has come up with ideas saying that we should come up with ideas so that we ensure that the money goes back into the system. There is no longer money in circulation. Why has that money gone out of circulation? I believe we should put our heads together and come up with suggestions. I am glad others have come up with their suggestions and I believe for us to have money in circulation...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Matambanadzo, please
seek clarification only.
HON. MATAMBANADZO: I was saying, for us to have money
back in circulation since - it is being brought into this country, those that have funds garnished against them like cross borders, since they have been crossing the border about three times a week to buy and resell.
There were about 5 million people, we were told by ZIMRA last time. On average they were going with $300. This means that they are now keeping this money in their pillows and are no longer banking that money. If you calculate $5 million and if each of them was using $300, it is $1.5 billion, which is now being kept out of circulation of the money system.
Could you come up with measures to relax these things so that people can take their money back to the banks because they are the ones that earn this money? Car dealers are another issue. We observed that the majority of motor vehicles that were parked on the roads, it is a loss - but as a Grade 3 pupil that I am in these days, I observed that it is the currency that is not even banked. It is a benefit to the country. They were purchased by foreign currency and they are now being sold at a higher price, and they could be bought by Zambians or Malawians using foreign currency.
That money was being banked because the person was able to withdraw it from the bank. That is why there was a lot of money in circulation. In terms of gold, we lost out. When you came up with daily limits, you will have observed that last year five tonnes of gold was banked. When you controlled the amounts to be disbursed...
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, those are the
suggestions that you should give the Hon. Minister at his office and we only need you to seek clarity on the issues that he has made reference to. He will accept your suggestions because Minister Chinamasa operates on an open door policy.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: In the form of a question did the
Minister observe that in three months we were able to raise five tonnes of gold, but when the withdrawal limits came into effect, we were supposed to come up with 30 tonnes, but we eventually came down to 21 tonnes. This year have you observed that in three months, we have been able to raise gold amounting to three tonnes and we failed to hit last year’s figure of five tonnes. As a result, no foreign currency is coming in. I thank you.
*HON. KATSIRU: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.
Though we are part of the House, where we are situated, it is difficult for us to be given a chance to speak. You only pick on those that are nearest to you.
My first issue, Mr. Speaker Sir, if we leave this place and we are to go to Simon Muzenda Street, we find brand new bond notes that are being traded as we speak. Where are these bond notes coming from? Every day we find these new bond notes. Where are they coming from and those that are being sold, where are they going to? I believe money is being moped from the market and there is nothing tangible that we are doing about it. That is the first issue.
My belief, which is my second point, is that if there are Chinese people that have bank accounts, out of 500, there will only be two. The majority of them keep their monies in their pockets. They leave this country with their money. The Government goes to the Chinese, they are given a loan of US$2 million and the Chinese mop up US$3 million. The Government is always in deficit. I am not making just reference to the Chinese, but I am also talking of our other friends like the Nigerians. They keep their money in a pillow underneath the bed and in their pockets. That money is leaving this country through the border post.
Why can we not come up with laws that would bar people from leaving this country with such currencies?
If you want, send four MPs. They can go and buy money. They can bring in thousands of bond notes. We are making a lot of noise in here, crying about the difficulties in accessing cash when we do not have appropriate measures to protect our cash. I thank you.
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: It is clear that we are
seeking clarification, but mostly suggestions are what you are bringing forward to the Minister, which is not the case. If you are not sure, rather sit down and then we proceed with those people who would want to seek clarification.
*HON. GANGARAHWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I need
clarity on the issue of the use of RTGs and plastic money. We have observed that those traders from the communal lands are failing to access swipe machines instantly. They require a waiting period of two months. Secondly, we heard that the banks were importing funds. Why have they stopped importing the money? That was the source of foreign currency which we seek. Thirdly, we heard that US$102 million worth of bond notes has been printed. Because of the suffering of the people, we know that we were given a guarantee of US$200 million. Why did you not simply come up with bond notes equivalent to US$98 million?
When the bonds came, you said they were for purchasing mazhanje, tomatoes and vegetables, but we now know that they can buy cattle and cars. What measures are you taking to ensure that there are sufficient bond notes on the market? You said there are certain sectors that are reserved. How significant are they in our economy or you are talking of just those that sell wrist watches and jewelry which may not contribute much to our economy? We have Command Agriculture and we would like to thank the Vice President who led this project. We expect to realise a lot of maize. Are we going to be able to pay these farmers when you are saying that Government is surviving above its limits?
Then I would like to talk about the queues that we are seeing in our banking halls. They are bad for us as a Government and as leaders of
the country. The people in queues are taking the opportunity to insult the President. They now appear to be opposition rallies. I thank you.
*HON. MAONDERA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I need clarity on one point. We know that a lot of people that are in here such as Ministers and MPs are businessmen. Minister Chinamasa runs hardware and a service station at Headlands. You say that you are going to force people to bank their cash. Are we going to investigate to find out if Hon. Members and Ministers are also banking their money? Are we practicing what we are preaching because others have mines in Zvishavane and they are not banking money like Hon. Holder, so that people can have confidence in our system?
*HON. TARUSENGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I seek clarity from the Minister. When you say that there are certain businessmen who are about to be arrested for not banking their daily takings, I am one of those that are going to be arrested. What are you doing to incentivise people to use the banking system because the money runs out when it is in the bank? When we used to bank, we used to get interest, but you get to a stage where your account runs out of cash? What incentives are you putting so that people can use the banking system?
*HON. MUZONDIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also need clarity on the payment of school fees for children that are outside the country. You can no longer carry out any transactions using visa cards. How best can we be assisted because once we get the bond notes, we go to the Road Port as Hon. Members and buy rands on the streets? There are no rands in the bank. They can give me 1000 rands if the rands are available. I have no choice but to go and acquire the rands on the black market. How best are you going to address that? I thank you.
HON. ZVIDZAI: I noticed the Minister has spoken very strongly on the participation of foreigners in the reserved sector and yet we know that if we amplify this, it might lead to xenophobia and killing of relationships between ourselves and other nations around us. What is the Minister likely to do to avoid the possible consequences of xenophobia arising from expression in an amplified manner of a dislike for our neighbours. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Thank you very much Mr.
Speaker Sir and I thank all Hon. Members for the clarifications they have sought. It gives us an opportunity to clarify so that Hon. Members and Treasury are on the same page with respect to this problem.
Vamudzuri you asked – [AN HON. MEMBER: He is an Hon.
Member.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Maybe varikuda kuti muti Vice President.
*HON. CHINAMASA: When we are here in Parliament, there is only one Vice President, who is Hon. Mnangagwa. We will use that title on others when we are outside of Parliament at their Party caucuses.
However, when we are in here, the Vice President who is here is Hon.
Mnangagwa – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members.
HON. CHINAMASA: We respect the Vice President of MDC-T, Hon. Mudzuri – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – who is one of the three Vice Presidents of MDC-T – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, let us
move on – [Laughter.] –
*HON. CHINAMASA: Hon. Mudzuri, you asked a question on how tomato vendors operate, are they also able to use point of sale machines? My answer is yes, they are able. There are several vendors who are now using them. We know that even those who stand by the roadside selling maize cobs and tomatoes are already using point of sale machines. The only problem we have as an economy is that we need foreign currency to buy more point of sale machines. Right now, throughout the country, we have more than 32 to 33 thousand point of sale machines and we still need more. Some of you who buy goods at Siyaso Market, point of sale machines are already there. If one does not have a point of sale machine, the business will be very difficult to operate because we are encouraging the use of plastic money. With the current shortage of cash, it would mean that your business does not have clients. So, I would like to say to Hon. Mudzuri, every individual who is in business is able to use point of sale machines. This is what we are encouraging and even if we get foreign currency, we still want point of sale machines to be used more often. That is our goal as Government.
Hon. Mandipaka, you spoke about suspicions that some people could be hoarding bond notes for the purpose of destroying them. We have not yet come across such a scenario, if it is there, I do not subscribe to that for now. Mr. Speaker Sir, the problem we are facing are people, especially those who deal with huge cash transactions, retailers and wholesalers, who are being paid cash and not banking it and we have a track record.
As I mentioned in my Statement, three traders have been held before the courts and pleaded guilty. What we did is, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, through its financial intelligence unit, has been positioning people in these huge trade businesses to find out how much was banked yesterday or two months ago, cash sales for a given day and how much will be banked. Already, three traders have been caught and we are going to intensify this process.
Further, Mr. Speaker Sir, it will not stop us from passing a law that provides that, any business person who is obliged to bank their money in terms of Bank Use Promotion Act and does not do so leading to conviction, we can withdraw the licence. What we lack in this country is discipline, we have become too careless and basically, we do what we want. The economy cannot grow whilst we do whatever we feel like doing. We should have discipline and statutes in place. On this one, I must give a very stern warning, licences will be withdrawn when we enact the legislation for businesses which are not banking.
We have instances where, on a daily basis, something like US$1,5 million is received and the banking is only US$30 000. In fact, what we suspect is that, if it is bond notes, they are hoarding it in order to try to seek forex on the black market and that must also stop. We are going to take very stern measures to make sure that we bring these saboteurs to book.
Hon. Mupfumi, I think I have already responded that clearly, where the legislation is already in place, we will enforce the law. Where there are any gaps in the legislation, like I mentioned, cancellation of licences will certainly bring the law to make sure that we have that extra power to make sure that people follow into line.
Hon. Mpariwa, you said that one should have a choice when they visit the bank on whether to withdraw US$ or bond notes. I think you miss the point, we have a multi-currency basket with the British Pound, Rand, US$ and bond notes. Bond notes have been pegged at 1:1 with
US$ and you will be given whatever is available on a one is to one basis – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – that is the law and that is what will be happening.
Hon. Mahoka, thank you very much for the clarification you sought. Clearly, point of sale machines are also going to be introduced when resources are available, to procure point of sale machines. They will certainly be introduced in all Government Departments, police road blocks, where there will be network because point of sale machines work where there is a network. So, the thrust is to introduce point of sale machines and the progress we will make in doing so, will depend on availability of foreign currency to import those machines.
Similarly, there is nothing that stops those women who cook sadza at the tobacco auction floors to have swipe machines and basically, that is what we are encouraging them to do. You also mentioned
Mohammed Mussa, we are going to monitor all big traders to include Mohammed Mussa, T.M Supermarket, OK Bazaars, are they banking their cash every day – [AN HON. MEMBER: Choppies.] – Yes it will be included. Every big trader will be under scrutiny. Once again, I want to give warning, there will be severe consequences for those who do not bank their money, those who do not comply with the Bank Use
Promotion Act.
Hon. Majome, yes, once we introduce point of sale machines, they will also apply to Government institutions and departments. Clearly, those who refuse will get into serious problems.
Hon. Chamisa, you asked how much cash there is in the form of bond notes. Currently, we should be in the range of 104 million worth of bond notes. The issue of saying the shortages of cash is violation of property rights, I do not agree with you because no money is taken, neither has any property been taken – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –the property is there in a reserve. For property rights to be violated, someone should have taken those property rights and appropriate to themselves, but the money is in the bank and it is still your money. What you are unable to do is to access your money at the period that you require it. So it has not been taken.
I agree with Hon. Chamisa, the Vice President of MDC-T when you say that we should get to a stage – which I do not believe we can do it at the moment – that point of sale machines become compulsory because we do not have sufficient resources to acquire the point of sale machines. The problem is due to the fact that we do not have adequate foreign currency. There will come a time when we have adequate point of sale machines and there is no need or excuse for anyone not to use the point of sale machines. It is only in that environment that we can then come up with legislation to deal with the culprits.
You talked about the Rand and the US dollar, what I would want to say is that no one is barring you from using the Rand because the Rand is part of the currencies that are in the multiple currency basket. You may use your Euro, Rupee or Renminbi. No-one bars you from using any of those currencies. The reason why the Rand is not in circulation is you because you do not like it. You only want to use the US dollar. It is our desire that the Rand be acceptable to Zimbabweans but the people are not accepting it. You see the point. I hear the reasons why it is being turned down. The reason is that it fluctuates all the time.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
May the owner of a Ford Ranger, registration number ADL 8927, silver in colour, go and remove your vehicle. It is blocking other vehicles. *HON. CHINAMASA: I am trying to explain that all currencies in the multi currency basket are acceptable. If you buy goods and give someone a pound and they refuse, in as far as you are concerned, you have discharged your obligation. There is nothing that stops Hon. Chamisa from using the Rands that are available. The problem that we face is that when we sell goods to other countries they want hard currency. We do not want to be paid in any other currency which we may not have knowledge on how best to use them. Therefore, we are discussing with South Africans so that when you buy from them we can be able to buy with the Rand. We need to negotiate. If they sell to us, the South Africans do not want to be paid in Rands, they want to be paid in US dollars because they want to use the US dollar to also buy from other countries where the Rand is not accepted.
It is easy to talk about the use of Rand but the practical matter of it is that people refuse to accept the Rand. They continue to refuse the use of the Rand. They may use it but the use of the Rand is not as frequent as it should be. There is nothing that the Government fears. We urge the people to use the Rand. When initially we started using the Rand and the US dollar, they were the same but when the Rand lost its value people stopped using the Rand. Ninety-five percent of our trade is in US dollar. The Rand became unacceptable in trade. This is the problem that we are facing. Please inform the people and encourage them to use the Rand. We urge you to do that because it gives less pressure on US dollar. We are not going back. We will not remove it. We are going forward Hon. Member. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You are still stuck in the old era.
I was of the belief that you had observed that we used to do as we please with the foreign currency but we are moving from that stage where you could do as you please with your foreign currency. You can no longer do that. We now have a managed foreign exchange market. For all the exports, the Reserve Bank is holding some of the foreign currency to buy raw materials and fuel. The other foreign currency remains with the banks. Things are now being prioritised for one to access foreign currency. We are moving from yesterday to today. We are not going backwards.
Hon. Holder said that the bond notes were introduced for purposes of change. No, it was never meant for that purpose. We were urging those that were exporting to use it as 5% incentive to exporters. We urge the use of bond notes so as to enable us to have money in circulation. That is what we said. You further posed as to how much money had not been banked by the traders that we arrested, unfortunately I do not have the figures at hand.
One of the priorities on the priority list for usage of foreign currency as we go forward is purchase of raw materials and consumables – which we do not make here – such as he has mentioned, explosives, cyanide and so on. This is where the applications will be made through the Chamber of Mines to the Reserve Bank and we hope that over time, through availability of foreign currency, that problem will cease to be a problem. What I think Hon. Members do not accept is that unless we export more, we will not have foreign currency. Foreign currency is a function of exports of diaspora remittances. We must work very hard to export. Once we export and is in greater availability, much of the problems that we are talking about will cease to exist.
On the issue of service stations not accepting bond notes – Mr. Speaker Sir, the priority list issued by the Governor is giving priority to purchase of fuel. Service stations do not generate foreign currency. The foreign currency that they use, they are given by the exporters through the allocation that is given by the Reserve Bank. Of all businesses, service stations have no ground whatsoever to want to withhold or to keep foreign currency or US dollars. They have no basis at all. These are the measures which we are going to take to restore discipline into the market which may necessitate – when we get there – to withdraw the licences. They will never repeat it.
I have already replied to the issue about how many bond notes are in the market. They are around $104m that have been so far issued in the market.
On the issue about Ecocash not being as popular as it used to be, I think it is also arising from the shortage of cash. At the end of the day there must be cash at the recipient stage.
On the issue about Treasury Bills, I am going to issue another Ministerial Statement to do with Treasury Bills and I hope that I will have this occasion to do so this afternoon.
Hon. Mutseyami, you are quite right about the about the abuse of Point of Sale machines (POS), we are very aware of this problem. More particularly with respect to some of the nationalities – we do not want again to mention the nationalities but we want to look at the business and not who owns it. If the business is not complying with our law, we must make it comply or it will eventually like I said, if we enact the legislation – withdraw licences.
I understand there is 40 year pricing system that we also know and will be taking measures basically to deal with that. You made a statement about a tobacco farmer receiving $32 000.00 and only being allowed $1 000.00. If there is one person who should have a swipe account, it is that person you mention because this is a lot of money and he should not be doing his business in cash. We want to move away from cash based transactions to plastic money. In any country, whether the United States of America or Europe, people do not move about with bags of cash – we all know that. So we appreciate and understand that it is a mindset change and paradigm shift but progressively we are getting there. We are overwhelmed by the manner in which the public embraced the plastic money system. We are very encouraged and what remains now is to find resources to increase the availability of POS machines in the market but you should not encourage this person who has been receiving $32 000.00 to move with that $32 000.00 in his bag –
Hon. Saruwaka, I am going to look into the issue that you raised. This pertains to diaspora remittances; you are basically saying it is not reaching the recipient as 5%. What I suspect happened is what happened with the 10% at the tobacco auction floors. The law provides and has been law for a long time that if you are receiving income, taxation is about income. If we know you are an income recipient from whatever quarter, ZIMRA would want to know whether you have got a tax clearance certificate and the more substantial the amount, the more interest in ZIMRA to identify you as a tax payer – that is the manner they use to identify new tax payers or people who are generating a lot of income but are outside the tax net. What they do is, the law says, if you sell any goods to TM or OK Supermarket – it could be cabbages or potatoes. TM Supermarket must withhold 10% tax pending production of a tax clearance certificate from ZIMRA. In other words, it is just being withheld. If you produce the tax clearance certificate to show that you pay taxes, you will get your 10% back. I suspect this could be the case but I will look into it.
Hon. Tshuma, the issue you raise about swipe machines with cross border traders - clearly visa cards have run into temporary problems in the sense that in order to swipe and pay through visa cards; you need to be guaranteed that there is foreign currency in the NOSTRO account. So because of the challenges that we are currently facing which we consider temporary, there is some limitation on the use of visa cards for now but I am sure that problem, with the availability of foreign currency, can be sorted out.
Hon. Ndebele, POSB is very much in the same situation as CABS.
Most civil servants, most workers open their accounts with CABS and POSB – the result is that most of these workers want to withdraw everything. If we pay salaries into an account today, they want to withdraw everything tomorrow – it is like these banks are just conduits to pass on money from the Government mostly to the worker. So, again it is a question of discipline, why are they withdrawing everything? And the demand always comes at the end of the month and there is no way that the POSB or CABS would have the requisite cash to be able to meet that huge demand for cash.
*Hon. Matambanadzo, I thank you. I have understood what you said that we should take measures to ensure there is money in circulation. I knew that you would eventually end up talking about gold even if it was not relevant to this issue. I am happy that you like issues pertaining to gold. I agree with you that with the inception of Statutory Instrument 64, cross border traders could not bring in a lot of stuff that they were importing because it is now being produced locally – that is why our import bill has gone down.
Hon. Katsiru, thank you very much for the point you make but you are asking a question to which I am going to further investigate. From what I know, any bond notes that are issued are not issued to individuals – they are issued to commercial banks. Now, when people go to commercial banks they withdraw and obviously it depends at what point they withdraw. Some withdraw brand new bond notes and if they are so inclined, they will end up at Roadport in exchange for US$ - that is what could be happening. I doubt very much and would dismiss that any new bond notes are issued directly to individuals by the Reserve Bank – it is always to the commercial banks.
You make reference and make a very good point of some traders who do not open bank accounts. Again, we are going to enforce the bank use promotion to insist that such traders open bank accounts and also deposit the money.
You also make the point, of course which I do not support that we should issue all the bond notes up to $200 million. We made it very clear, the bond notes are only issued relative to the exports – no exports, no Bond notes in the market and that we are going to stick by. They are coming in as an incentive.
You ask the question, how are we going to purchase the maize crop? We are going to purchase, we have mobilised resources to purchase the entire maize crop. We are also going to purchase the entire wheat crop when we plant it this coming season and also going to purchase the entire cotton crop – that which we supported through
Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (COTTCO). COTTCO is going to buy that cotton on behalf of Government, it is our money and resources have been mobilised. That kind of resources is very good because it is encouraging production and we should be happy when we see increased production like we have witnessed this agricultural season. We are going to have a record maize crop and we are going to have, with respect to cotton, a record cotton crop that is something that we should feel encouraged. It is one of the problems in this country, of low production. You will recall that the theme of my 2017 Budget was that we should enhance and promote production across all sectors of the economy. Right now, I am fully satisfied that those efforts to promote production are beginning to bear fruit. In the agricultural sector where they are talking about sugar cane, maize, cotton - right across the board, ground nuts, tobacco and so on. The picture is looking very promising.
If we look at the mining sector, the same thing chrome ore exports are on the increase, platinum production is on the increase, nickel production is on the increase, and gold production is also on the increase. That is what is going to achieve the economic recovery of our country. We have of course, some challenges in the area of mining with respect to the the diamond sector and also with respect to coal, but those are issues that we are addressing. We hope that we should be able to get on top of the situation.
There was a question about deposit rates; it is a matter that the
Reserve Bank is working on because if we are to encourage our people
to put their money in the banks, it must earn decent interest rates. However, that is not happening and we have been engaging the commercial banks with a view to changing that situation. The banks themselves explain it this way, that most of the deposits are demand deposits, that they cannot on-lend money that is deposited as demand deposits because it may be required anytime to be withdrawn, like we witness with POSB and CABS. Money is deposited as salary today and tomorrow it is withdrawn which means that the banks cannot have comfort to on-lend that money.
So, for that reason they said why should we pay interest when we do not know how long it is going to stay with us? So, those are the issues that the Reserve Bank is looking into and will clearly; we have been trying Mr. Speaker Sir, to encourage long terms saving and through my budgets I have given incentives to encourage terms six months, one year deposits and savings. We used to have instruments which were Paid Up Permanent Shares, those were savings instruments. We need to go back to that discipline. Our savings culture is very low and when we compare ourselves with other countries, we are around only 5% savings when other countries are at 25, 30, 40 percent savings. It is savings that will make production because there will be money for on-lending to the productive sector.
I think I have answered the question about school fees and so on. Go to your bank and apply for forex. One of the priorities in the priority list is basically to meet the tuition fees of students who are studying abroad.
Hon. Zvidzai, I do not know what the issue of xenophobia comes from. Anyone who trades, whether a local or a foreigner must abide by our laws. We are not targeting the fact that he is a foreigner; we are merely targeting the malpractice of receiving and not banking in contravention of our laws. When we do target, we do not want to mention nationalities, we just look and focus on the business, are you doing what should be done in terms of our laws? If you are, no problem. So, I do not see where the issue of xenophobia comes in. It does not matter whether you are Zimbabwean, you are Lebanese, you are Nigerian, Chinese, Indian, if you are doing business in Zimbabwe, please comply with our laws, irrespective of where you come from.
Thank you.
THE HON. VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF
JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, Section 323, of The Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that every Commission must submit to Parliament through the responsible Minister an annual report describing fully its operation and activities. In observance of this Constitutional requirement, I therefore, lay upon the table the Judicial Service Commission of Zimbabwe Annual Report 2016 – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.]-.
On the motion of THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER
OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA), the House adjourned at Two Minutes past Four
o’clock p.m. unit Tuesday, 11th April, 2017.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 30th March, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER’S RULING
HON. MINISTER CHIKWINYA’S RESPONSES DURING
QUESTION TIME
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have this ruling to make. On
Wednesday, 1st March, 2017, the Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Hon. Chikwinya, in response to a question from Hon. Khupe on the Women’s Bank responded as follows; “…we now have a Board in place, an acting Chief Executive Officer. We also now have Banking Halls. Training of those that are going to man the Bank is in progress…..” When asked by Hon. Zwizwai how that was possible when the vacant positions in the said Bank had not been advertised, the Hon. Minister stated that the Board Members and the Chief Executive Officer were responsible for the recruitment and that it was not the duty of Government to do that. Upon further probing by Hon Gonese on the process and procedure used to recruit those who were undergoing training and also how the Board members were recruited, the Hon Minister stated that, “they are in the process. If they are in the process, there are procedures that they are supposed to take …..”
The response given did not go down well with some Hon. Members who felt that the Hon. Minister had given conflicting statements to the House and also evaded the actual question asked on how the staff being trained was recruited without following due process, whereupon the Chair undertook to make a ruling after studying the verbatim report of the Hon. Minister`s reply.
After studying the Hansard and listening to the audio recording, it would appear that the Hon. Minister changed her initial response. Such action might be perceived as bordering on prevarication on the part of the Hon. Minister.
Appendix C of the Schedule to the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act [Cap 2:08] cites prevarication as one of other contempts which are offences to Parliament. In light of the inconsistencies in the Hon. Minister’s response, the Chair rules that the Hon. Minister be given an opportunity to clarify her statements in a comprehensive ministerial statement, failure of which a charge of contempt of Parliament will be laid against the Hon. Minister.
SECOND READING
NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS COMMISSION BILL [H.B. 6,
2016]
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Reading of the National Competitiveness Commission Bill [H. B. 6, 2016].
Question again proposed.
HON. MANDIPAKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker
Sir, allow me to state from the onset that the debate on what to do as a nation in order to rebuild our economy has been in the public domain for quite a while. The nation is trying to look for solutions to ensure that there is growth in our economy. When we talk about the economy, we are talking about the people’s livelihoods and it is a very important subject. So, it is everyone’s preoccupation Mr. Speaker Sir.
We need collective wisdom Mr. Speaker Sir, to support this Bill which was brought at the most opportune time by the Hon. Minister of Industry and Commerce and, we want to congratulate the Minister for bringing this very important Bill before this august House. It is my appeal Mr. Speaker Sir that we, as an honourable Assembly, should facilitate its smooth sailing so that at the end of the day, it becomes law.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is a fact that our economy is not performing due to a variety of reasons; one of which is the obvious one, the illegal sanctions. But, we need to congratulate our Government and the people of Zimbabwe Mr. Speaker Sir, for remaining resolute and resilient in adversity. We also need to congratulate the Executive for making efforts to bring policies that will ensure that there is growth in our economy. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Hon. Bimha must be applauded for also remaining focused and creating policies that ensured growth of industry. You remember very well Hon. Speaker, S. I. 64 did wonders to the economy of this country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the introduction of the National Competitiveness Commission is a welcome development. Why do I say so? Because it is going to simply replace the National Incomes and Pricing Commission
(NIPC) that solely looked at pricing per se. But, when we introduce the NCC, we are going to be able to look into the economy from a broader perspective and the NCC is going to deal with quite a number of issues. One of which includes policy issues in various sectors of the economy. It could be in agriculture, mining or tourism. What is more interesting Mr. Speaker Sir is that, the composition of the NCC will be Government, private sector, labour, economists and lawyers. Once this board is formed, it is our thinking that Government is going to be advised accordingly and research is going to be undertaken to enable our economy to boom and to grow.
This board Mr. Speaker Sir, will devote its energies 365 days per year, 24/7. To ensure that they accordingly monitor factors that affect the growth of the economy and in that respect, the Government can actually be able to trade on smooth ground. Mr. Speaker Sir, the NCC is going to look at issues to do with quality and production so that as a result, there will be open competition amongst players for the betterment of our economy. The NIPC specifically only looked at costs but the NCC will look into a number of issues in a holistic manner.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President of this nation Cde. R. G. Mugabe should be applauded. During his tenure as the African Union (AU) Chairperson, he championed industrialisation in African countries. Actually, he was calling upon other African states to use our own God given natural resources for production purposes so that we improve our economies. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is appreciated that Africa is for industrialisation and Zimbabwe cannot be left out. We need to use our God given resources to make sure that we have production. The NCC will take a closer look at what the nation can do to produce goods at a lower cost; hence we support the introduction of the NCC quite vigorously as Parliament because countries like Egypt, we are told Mr. Speaker Sir, through research, Senegal, USA and Panama have introduced such institutions and their economies are performing very well. So we want to copy good practices internationally and regionally.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabwe’s economy is poised for growth. Why do we say so? Because we are endowed with so much in terms of natural resources and if these natural resources are put to good use, there is obviously, going to be an economic boom.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would now want to look at the ease of doing business and what we mean by competitiveness. The ease of doing business Mr. Speaker Sir can be defined as a measure of how a nation’s regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm or a business. This is the most critical stage Mr. Speaker Sir, in nurturing and attracting business in a country. This also involves attracting Foreign Direct Investment and investors to come in a country. Nowadays, countries use the ease of doing business rating as a measure by the World Bank as a way of attracting investors to their own destinations.
You might want to know Hon. Members that in 2015 and 2016, the country was rated 153 and 155 respectively in those years out of 189 countries. This rating is not good for us, hence the need to address and reposition our country in terms of the economy. Measured under the ease of doing business Mr. Speaker Sir are 11 factors, which are bordered on regulations. These are: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, forcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labour market regulations.
Allow me Mr. Speaker Sir, now to attempt to define what we mean by competitiveness. This can be defined as sustainable growth in productivity that improves lives of the average person or the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. This makes competitiveness bigger and broader than the ease of doing business though the two are complementary.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in my parting words, I would want to state categorically that as Zimbabweans we need to be proud of our country. As Zimbabweans, we also need to desist from the habit of denigrating our country, leadership, policies and our well being because that invites the wrath of enemies and they will wreck havoc in our economy. So, the introduction of this Bill must be applauded; the introduction of this Bill is going to some extent or to a greater extent make sure that the economy improves. With that Mr. Speaker Sir, I also call upon colleagues, Hon. Members to support this Bill and make sure that it comes to fruition at the end of the day for the betterment of this great country Zimbabwe, which is our nation together. I thank you.
HON. D.M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to commend the Minister of Industry and Commerce for bringing this important Bill to Parliament. My understanding Mr. Speaker Sir is that the National Competitiveness Commission will be tasked with a number of specific functions, nine to be precise but I only want to speak to two of them. The first one being to monitor the evolving sector specific subjects and strategies for enhancing Zimbabwe’s global competitiveness.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in this regard, this means coming up with empirical and well researched evidence that our goods and services can compete with the best in the world. We need to continuously monitor our competitiveness edge and make continuous improvements wherever necessary. Mr. Speaker Sir, competitiveness is like an axe. The cutting edge needs to be kept razor sharp all the time; otherwise it becomes blunt. The National Competitiveness Commission will act as a grinding stone, which will ensure that our global competitive edge is maintained in a razor sharp condition.
The other function which I would like to speak to Madam Speaker is to continuously monitor cost drivers in the business and economic environment and advise on the measures to be taken to enhance productivity and address current and emerging cost challenges. Our input costs are just too high. I understand the construction industry a bit. A bag of cement produced in Zambia, in Chilongo specifically can be delivered FOB to Harare for $6 but for a similar bag of cement produced by Lafarge in Mabvuku, the cost price is $10. These production costs cannot be sustained on the global stage. The major cost drivers being electricity. Our electricity, fuel and labour costs are just too high. These are areas which would be empirically interrogated and addressed by this apex body, the National Competitiveness Commission.
Madam Speaker, is there a business case on why the price of water has got a fixed charge in Zimbabwe while there is no fixed charge in
South. Is there a business case why fuel per litre on average is around
70 cents in the region, in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and
Mozambique while the average price for fuel in Zimbabwe is around $1.36 to $1.40? These cost drivers have got to be periodically reviewed and corrective measures taken, hence the need for this Competitive Commission Bill to sail through Parliament as soon as possible. I therefore commend you Hon. Minister and would like all the Members of Parliament to actually support this very important piece of legislation.
I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. CROSS: Thank you Madam Speaker. I do not have any real dispute with the Members who have spoken this afternoon but I would want to question their conclusion that the Bill should be supported. When I listened very carefully to the presentation to the House by the Committee responsible for Industry, I came to the conclusion that the population of the country; the people who were consulted around the country had basically rejected the Bill. I also came to the conclusion that the Committee itself did not support the Bill. I was puzzled why the Chairman then went on to actually recommend the adoption of the Bill to the House. This is because I could see nothing in his report to substantiate his position.
The main thrust of the Bill is to replace the Prices Board with a Competitiveness Board. I am one of the businessmen who suffered under the Prices Board. I controlled the …
Hon. Mliswa having been standing and conversing with other Hon.
Members.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Cross. Hon. Mliswa, you have been standing there for quite some time. I do not know what you are doing. Do you know that it is not allowed? You are not a Chief Whip – [AN HON. MEMBER: He is his own Chief Whip.] – - [Laughter.] - So who are you whipping over there?
HON. CROSS: Thank you Madam Speaker. I was one of the businessmen in Zimbabwe who suffered under the Prices Board. We were instructed in one year to reduce prices in our retails stores by 50 percent and continue to operate. As a consequence of that, we lost millions of dollars and many major firms like Jaggers, simply closed their doors. Madam Speaker, if we do create a board like this, we have to make sure that it can perform its functions, we have to make sure that it will be effective and will not simply waste money. We now know that the price control does not work but it was a very painful experience.
Quite frankly, I do not believe that this board will make an iota of difference to our competitiveness as a nation because competitiveness is created nationally. It is not a function of a single entity, it is a function of national effort. I, personally do not support the creation of this board. I think we should wind it up and stop spending money on a board that does not carry any real responsibilities.
The main thrust of those of us who believe that this Bill should not be supported is the fact that in so far as the Ministry of Industry is concerned, the Ministry has all the staff and the expertise that are required to perform all the functions envisaged for the board. Creating a board as a parallel structure to do the same thing as the Ministry, to us seems to be a complete waste of time. I think that Parliament should seriously consider this particular aspect. The cost of doing business is a cross-cutting issue and it involves many institutions. The board will not have the authority or the capacity to deal with this multifaceted problem and all the issues that are involved.
For example, the cost of doing business today in Zimbabwe concerns the Ministry of Finance. We are amongst the highest tax people in the world. We have just seen the Ministry of Finance double the fines on the roads. We have just seen the Ministry of Finance imposing a 5 percent tax on cellphone usage. We pay I do not know how many taxes here and I think every Zimbabwean must pay at least half or more, 60 percent of their income in taxes. In a high tax environment like that for example in Botswana or Mauritius, the maximum tax rate for a company is 15 percent and here it is 35. When we have these high cost taxation framework, it is very difficult for formal sector businesses to make money.
I know for example, at the moment, we have three platinum producers. Two of them have special agreements with Government involving the payment of certain tax. They only paid two percent. The third producer Mimosa in the south pays 10 percent on their gross revenue. I am pleased that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development has woken up to this and is taking steps to reduce it. That is the kind of nonsense which in fact we have to avoid.
The Ministry of Transport, if you look at our transport costs, it is a fact Madam Chair that the cost of exporting from Zambia are a third less than exporting from Zimbabwe, why? It is simply because our railway is not working. It cost 12 cents a t/km to run a road truck and it cost 5 cents to run a railway line and it cost one and a half cents to run a pipeline. You cannot, as a landlocked country, survive if your railways are not functioning.
Thirty years ago, our railways were handling twenty million tonnes of cargo a year, today they are handling two million tonnes and the railways are losing $45 million a year. The railway used to employ thirty thousand people, today they employ six thousand. That is not a problem which we need other people to fix, it is our problems and it is the Minister of Transport’s problem, not the Minister of Energy. Unless we get on top of that, for example, when I was in the private sector, as a businessman, I led a group called the Beira Corridor Group. Why did
the business community in Zimbabwe invest in the Beira Corridor? It is because we saved a thousand dollars on containers on exports to Beira as compared to Durban. You cannot throw away a thousand dollars per container and you cannot compete internationally. It cost $1 200 for China to send a 20 foot container to Europe, it cost us $3 800.
You are not even beginning to be performers in exporting unless you bring those cost under control. That has nothing to do with the Ministry of Industry, that is for the Ministry of Transport. It is also for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because we have a deal with
Mozambique and South Africa. When I was the General Manager at the CSC, we had to ship our beef via Cape Town. Do you know what that means – from Chinhoyi to Cape Town, it is thousands of kilometres by road because we could not handle it any other way. You cannot be competitive if those are the kind of issues.
When it comes to the Ministry of Labour, I was in the shoe business in Bulawayo and I was a director of a major shoe company.
We employed three thousand people and we were producing two pairs of shoes per day per employee. In China it is 12, why and what is the difference? In China the minimum wage is $36 and in Zimbabwe it is $250. You cannot compete if those are the realities of your business.
Dealing with that is the Ministry of Labour’s issue. We are struggling with the Harare City Council where the Chief Executive, the Town Clerk was getting $30 thousand per month, a sweeper getting $420 and municipal policemen getting $1 100 and constable on the ZRP gets $350, what kind of crazy salaries are they?
When you talk about negotiating a reduction in the salaries, believe me, it is like declaring war. If we had a true forum where we could discuss these issues and reach agreement between labour, businesses and Government, believe me, we could make progress. That has got nothing to do with the Ministry of Industry, that is for the Ministry of Labour. We have got EMA. Do you know what a nightmare EMA is? If you speak to any businessman who is involved in mining industry, I have a small scale miner who is a friend of mine, the EMA closed him down because of some of the problems of pollution on is site. They are charging him $5 000 per day until he fixes the problem. He just closed the mine, he could not afford the $5 000 a day.
If you take the City of Harare, there is not one sewerage plant in the City of Harare or City of Chitungwiza that is working. For every one of those failures, EMA charges City of Harare and Chitungwiza thousands of dollars a day in fines. Why, what for, what on earth are they achieving? I believe Madam Speaker, unless you bring these institutions under control and you manage them from a cost effective point of view, we are going nowhere. Nowhere in the world can you see this kind of thing.
When you take NSSA, how many businesses have closed in Zimbabwe because they did not pay NSSA on time and they were subject to a garnishing order on their accounts. We pay 8 percent to NSSA and it has accumulated $5 billion of income over the last 24 years and their total assets at the moment are $1. 2 billion. Where is the other $4 billion? NSSA is the most inefficient investor in Zimbabwe today.
Look at the Beitbridge Hotel, $53 million and it is closed. Look at the hospital in Bulawayo, $250 million and it is closed. It has never functioned and yet NSSA continues to collect money from you and me and from the poorest people in the country and squanders the money.
You had a look at the forensic audit of NSSA, it is litany of crime.
Thirty percent of our cost of labour, our levies and fees, it is NSSA, Aids Levy, Standard Association, ZIMDEF and you can go on and on. In other words, if we scrap those levies, we could reduce our cost of labour by 30 percent.
Madam Speaker, look at ZINARA, it is collecting $200 million a year from everybody. What are they doing with it? The small bit of road from Harare to the airport (17kms) cost us $83 million, which is $4.8 million a kilometre. These guys simply do not know what they are doing. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - We discussed it yesterday. When the Chief Executive Officer of ZINARA bought 40 graders from China, the specifications were so designed that only one supplier could deliver the graders and the cost was $16 million. Seven million dollars of that was for a snow plough which is on the front of the grader. We are a mockery of the world – I mean, who on earth would do a thing like that? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - I do not know how many of those graders are working today. I do not see any of them operating in the rural areas.
Then you take ZINWA and you speak to any farmer about ZIMRA. I think it was raised this afternoon; our farmers cannot function where they are paying $12 a cubic meter for water. You take all our municipalities but particularly people who irrigate, they cannot afford to pay this kind of fees. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Madam Chair, what are these guys doing with the money.
When Parliament visited Tokwe/Mukosi dam, 18 Members of
Parliament arrived in a bus at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon for an official inspection of the dam wall. We could not find anybody on site. I then went looking around and found a ZINARA engineer sitting in an air conditioned office without his shirt on and drinking a six pack of beer. I pulled him out of his office and told him that we were on an official visit and that he should have been notified that we wanted to see the dam. We went around and visited the dam.
Members need to know that in 1998, when the Government issued a contract to Celine, to build the Tokwe-Mukosi dam, the price was $57 million dollars. It now cost us $250 million, five times and what is the reason, an incompetent agency. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - So, what is going to be the price of water from Tokwe-Mukosi? Who is going to be able to afford paying for water at that kind of price? The litany just goes on. The proposal to build a dam on the Gwaai-Shangani - that water will cost Bulawayo $3,80 a cubic meter. At the moment we are paying 23 cents. We cannot afford it but where is the sanity?
Then you also look at the cost of energy. Already my colleague this afternoon has mentioned the high cost of petrol and diesel. You tell me why we are paying the highest cost in the entire region, why? What is the reason? I have told some of my colleagues in the Committees that my view is it is corruption. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - I believe that somebody with some organisation here is taking $500 million a year out of the fuel bill and every Zimbabwean pays this. So, as long as you have got that kind of energy cost – look at this diesel project producing energy out of town here - one hundred megawatts of power. Madam Chair, do you know that is consuming a million dollars worth of diesel a day. The cost of electricity from that plant is 18 cents a kilowatt/hour. The cost of energy from Kariba is 1.5 cents and that from South Africa is 14 cents while the cost of energy from Hwange Thermo Station is 8 cents. The cost of energy from Cahorabasa is 4 cents. Why are we generating electricity with diesel? We are still paying foreign exchange for the imports!
We keep making what I call structural mistakes like this. This is not an issue for a board under a Minister of Industry and Commerce.
This is an issue for the President’s office. In my view, the ease of doing business programme which has been run from the President’s office, is the right place for it because if anybody in this country is going to be able to give an instruction to an individual line Ministry and make sure that it happens, believe me, it is the President’s office and it is not going to be a board. I thank you.
HON. MUKUPE: I would want to start by pointing out that having gone through the Bill and having also listened to the public being part of the consultations that were carried out to the public at large, one thing I would like to point is that yes, there were concerns by the public in terms of certain areas and certain things that need beefing up. However, I would want to believe that they are not show stoppers in terms of the things that needed beefing up. I think when you look at the main thrust of the Bill, the key problem statement for our country is that there has been a loss of competitiveness and we have been going down in terms of ease of doing business in this country. So, when you look at
Hon. Chinamasa’s budget, I think it was really clear that the problem we are having in the country is that we needed to increase productivity and the revenues of the country. Nevertheless, there is no way we are going to be able to increase the country’s revenue if we do not have a functioning industry. So, our starting point in terms of having a functioning industry is making sure that we look at all the problems that industry is facing. That is where the issue of looking at the pricing and income of all the companies that are operating in industry will have to done.
I have been listening passionately to what Hon. Cross and other Members on my right side, members of the opposition have been saying.
Yes, I feel their pain and the issue that they are pointing at ..
HON. MLISWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker, I am on the right side but I am not opposition but an independent candidate. Can he withdraw his remark?
Hon. Mliswa having stood between the Chair and the Member. debating.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mliswa, if you revisit your Standing Order Number 76 concerning standing between the Chair and the Hon. Member who is debating, it will explain to you that when you want to make a point of order, you cannot stand between the Chair and the Member debating. You have to use another mike which is not between the Chair and the Member debating.
HON. MUKUPE: Thank you for protecting me Madam Speaker. As I was pointing out, when you look at some of the concerns that the public and members of the opposition were basically pointing out, you would find out that most of the concerns are coming from legacy issues. When you look at the National Incomes and Pricing Act as well as the Institutional memory in terms of probably what happened during the hyper-inflationary times, where you had members of the commission that was administering the Act basically setting up prices and going to some of the retailers, you would hear issues of confiscation of goods and so on. However, I am happy that we have come up with this
Commission, which is a product of the Minister and the people that he is working with having gone around and basically saying how do you make right the wrongs of the past and coming up with something that is going to take the country forward. I think what we have to come up with is a situation where we ask ourselves what it is that we need to do in this country for us to be able to make sure that our country becomes prosperous.
Everyone has been crying out about the issue that there is not enough money to go around in terms of making sure that Government carries out its business. MPs are crying out that we are the least paid MPs in the region and I think all those things can only be improved if we have got a functioning economy which is dependent on a situation where we have got revenues flowing into Government. These revenues only flow into Government where the situation is that the businesses are competitive and are able to produce goods and services in an efficient and competitive manner.
So, I am actually perplexed when someone stands up and says that they have got a problem with this Bill which is looking to improve the social ills and the economic ills that we have got in this country. Let me tell you one thing I am really happy about, this Bill actually addresses everything that has got to do with the supply side of the economy. Not only does it do that but it also addresses the fiscal issues that we have got because some of the fiscal issues are issues of not having enough money and that is what this Bill is trying to address. For me, when you address the problems that it is trying to address, it is about fiscal issues. Not only is it addressing the fiscal issues, we are saying that when you are looking at all the impediments that are hindering businesses from progressing, they are going to be looking at the import tariffs, at export tariffs and the issues of why petrol and diesel is expensive in this country.
You have an issue where petrol costs 47 cents and your duties are at 67 cents. So, these are the things that I expect the Commission will not be looking at and saying, what is going to be the impact of saying that if we reduce the duties from 67 cents to 20 cents, what is the positive impact because logistics are going to be lower? It might mean that our exports are going to become more competitive. I think that on all the other issues that are also going to be addressed, one of the things that has been happening in this economy is that now we are having a three tier pricing system where people have different prices for bonds, for US Dollars, for making transfers. It becomes an issue of that Commission to be also saying for example why are we having these issues? How can we be able to address them? It is clear when you look at the functions that they are going to be monitoring all the cost drivers in the business and economic environment. Right now there is no entity and no one who is monitoring all those cost drivers.
What happens is that at the present moment, I think that one of the cries that have been coming out is sometimes; it appears that there is policy inconsistencies. For example if you want to export a certain commodity, like even raw hides out of this country, I have to go to the Minister of Industry and Commerce and he will give me some authorisation. Then the next thing is that I will go to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and he might not give me the authorisation. You will find that it will end up being a situation where some of these Ministries are appearing as if they are competing and there are policy inconsistencies. This is what we are now expecting that such a Commission will be looking at such things and saying that where there are inconsistencies, how we can make sure that these inconsistencies are corrected.
There is also the issue that the Commission is also going to be looking at the structure of industry. Everyone is crying out about all these monopolies and oligopolies that have been set up in our industries. You have institutions like Econet who are basically urinating on the foreheads of the citizenry and basically telling them that it is anointed water from Prophet Magaya. So, I am expecting that you are going to have a situation where the Commission will be looking at such situations where you have monopolies and oligopolies that are basically raping the citizenry, but we want make sure that they have competitive pricing, and do not end up raping the citizenry.
The other point that I will also point out that I am really happy about is that they talk about the fact that they are going to be having a nationwide statistical database. We should actually take this as one of the greatest things that is going to come out of this because for any business to be able to operate…
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of Order Madam Speaker. I am not
so sure if I heard the Hon. Member correctly but if I did, Madam Speaker, he mentioned something about urinating and that Econet had urine. If he may withdraw because that in terms of parliamentary language, it is very unfortunate. I appreciate his view and we want to hear what his views are to enrich the debate but of course the anointing water is something else but the urine aspect.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mukupe, before you
proceed, I think the Hon. Member is right. We have to use parliamentary language when we are expressing ourselves. Would you please proceed?
HON. MUKUPE: I accept your wise counsel Madam Speaker for my idiomatic expression that the Hon. Member probably had issues with and I understand, considering he took such a long time to become a lawyer.
What I would want to point out ….
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. You
know, we do not want to use these platforms to abuse one another. When it comes to intellect, I do not even qualify to be rated at the same level with this man, but I will not want to even go there because we are not here on account of our intellect. We are here on account of our representation of the people and what I did raise is very consistent with what is in our Standing Orders. I really urge the Hon. Member to withdraw what he has said because it is inaccurate. Madam Speaker, if he does not, I will simply donate a tonne of abuse and he will not be able to sustain it.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Member,
while you are bringing a good point, if you start competition of doing something which is bad in this House, and also, if the Hon. Member was using unparliamentary language, he was not even referring to you but, the whole country. I even tried to explain to him that he should use parliamentary language and he is supposed to express himself in language which is acceptable and that is what he is supposed to do and not talking to Hon. Chamisa as a person. I think Hon. Mukupe, if you can correct that one.
HON. MUKUPE: I withdraw my statement Madam Speaker. I
was pointing out that one of the things that excites me about the Bill is that, we are going to have a nationwide statistical database. I think for any business to be able to come up with any of its budgets and futuristic plans, you basically need a statistical database that you can be able to infer to and be able to make your decisions from and be able to come up with real quantitative decisions. Not that I would want to brag but that being one of the brightest mathematicians around, I am really happy about this.
Madam Speaker in conclusion, I am just going to point out that I emphatically support this Bill because it is going to basically look into all the problems that industry has been facing in terms of making sure that they are competitive, they are able to come up with the right price and are able to make the right income which will actually be good for the fiscas, which will be a welcome development for our country. I thank you.
*HON. MUKWENA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I rise
to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill to Parliament. The Bill may have been introduced later than we anticipated but this is a conditional situation. When things were still okay, the Hon. Minister did not even dream about bringing this Bill, but because of the economic conditions that the country is facing, the Hon. Minister has seen it fit that he introduces such a pertinent National Competitiveness Commission Bill. Thank you Minister for bringing up this Bill. Some of the responsibilities of this Commission are to hold research programmes on means and ways of resuscitating the economy of the country. My input on this Bill is that some of the responsibilities of this Commission are to lure foreign investors to come into the country and hold joint ventures with indigenous and existing enterprises. Minister, if it is possible, we would like our industries to be decentralised in other countries. We need joint partnerships. We ask you Hon. Minister to look into this with your Ministry so that we start to develop our economy.
I would like to thank you Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill to this House. I plead with Hon. Members to support this Bill so that we will have a Commission that will be the foundation to develop our economy.
I thank you.
HON. WATSON: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to
reinforce what Hon. Cross has said. To me, competitiveness is about existing numbers. We already have shrunken industrialisation in business. We do not have the numbers. Legislation in itself will not create those numbers. Ever since we came into Parliament in 2013, we have talked about the ease of doing business and it has gone to the
President’s office. That is all it has been. There has been consistent discussions and workshops. There has been very little on the ground in terms of creating ease of doing business. We have a multiplicity of commissions already that are underfunded and under functioning. So what will you be doing by creating yet another one that will create what; a price control or a price investigative commission where the prices are driven by parastatals in the main and also by corruption?
We have a Corruption Commission which is yet to prove that it can actually deal with corruption. I believe that the lack of business in Zimbabwe is driven by other concerns rather than simply achieving competitiveness. I do not believe that yet another commission will solve one of the underlining economic issues in a country as we are today in Zimbabwe.
We also have a shrinking fiscus despite whatever positives people see in S.I. 64. Personally, I cannot say what they are. The fiscus is shrinking and therefore we create yet another commission to eat more fiscal space and be underfunded and under achieving. I personally cannot support this Bill. I thank you.
HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker for
allowing me to add my voice to this very important Bill. The National Competitiveness Commission Bill is very important in that it is going to improve our economy as it will help to lure foreign direct investment hence this will reduce the cost of doing business. Jobs will be created due to the functioning of the Commission. The GDP will also increase and hence economic growth will be witnessed in our country. I thank you.
HON. HOLDER: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice toward the National Competitiveness Commission Bill.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate the Minister for bringing this Bill to Parliament. I have been listening to debates by my fellow Hon. Members. Hon. Members need to understand that our economy is not in isolation. It is disturbed by the economies of other countries as well. The S.I. 64 began to bear fruits with industries opening up and I would like to congratulate the Minister on that.
This Bill seeks to put a board in place. You see what happened in
Shabanie Mine at one stage. There was a board and it was dissolved. The mine was put under judicial management where one person was making decisions. Now, without a board, you will have problems on checks and balances. This Bill therefore seeks to put a board and I am happy about that. At least you will find that there will be able to have checks and balances. Industries will be able to open up.
How are industries going to open up in Bulawayo or around the country if we do not protect ourselves? We have to be masters of our own destiny. The problem is that people want to complain. They want to move and look at the negative sides and say I have to pay NSSA and other things. Let us be legal. This board will be able to advise the Ministry and be able to look at all the other issues that Hon. Members were talking about. I think we should support the Minister in every manner so that this Bill can go through.
This Bill will also help those industries produce staff that have got high quality. It will also improve the welfare of people locally. You see people buying shoes from China; they walk three kilometers and the shoe opens up. If you go back to the shop, you are asked if you can read Chinese. I am saying this because if you produce quality, the quality will sell itself. You will find other countries coming to look for staff here because of the quality and not a lot of production but quality.
When one wears quality, people automatically can tell you that this is quality staff and it is from Zimbabwe. We used to have industries here that used to produce beef; I think it was Fray Bentos or something of that sort. A lot of people would go out of their way to this stuff. If you go anywhere in the world, they will ask if you are from Zimbabwe and then they will ask you to bring Mazoe. They are very happy. Go to China, bring us Mazoe. That shows the quality of stuff. Having this board, we will be able to look into all the issues so that the people will be able to produce.
Globally, you will find that production will go up; quality of production will be good and the living standards will also be good because you will be seen wearing quality stuff. I think as a House, I do not want to distort or repeat what other people have said but I would like to say let us support this Bill. Let us learn to support each other in this House, than to look at the negative side. If we learn to support each other we will grow. There is strength in numbers; let us support the Minister. Thank you Minister.
HON. GWANETSA: Thank you Madam Speaker for according
me this opportunity to add my voice on this very important Bill, the NCC. I want to applaud the Minister, Hon. Bimha for bringing this issue which is critically important. I view the introduction of this
Commission as a tool to awaken a sleeping giant. It is undisputable that Zimbabwe is second to South Africa in the region in terms of industry and production. No wonder why Zimbabwe was called the breadbasket of the region.
Therefore, it is this Commission that is going to bring about the status of Zimbabwe – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Madam
Speaker Maam, it is undisputable that we are living in a global world. The global world entails that there is competition. Our industrial hub, which is Bulawayo, all the industries have shut down because of lack of competition. All industries in Zimbabwe have shut down because of lack of competition. Therefore, by bringing about this Bill the Commission is going to strategise on how we are going to bring the face of Zimbabwe on the international scene and locally. Therefore, I support the introduction of this important Bill. It is a tool to strategise how we interact with the outside world and within ourselves. Therefore, it is very important.
Madam Speaker, our country has become a dumping ground of
materials. We have got what we call zitye, this has killed the textile and agricultural industries. If we bring in a Commission of this nature, it is going to look at how we are going to strategise and resuscitate the best industry, that is agriculture. We are saying this economy is agro-based. Therefore, this Bill is going to analyse factors to spruce and resuscitate what we need as a country. So, this Bill is very important and it has come at the opportune time for us to move ahead and become recognised on the international scene.
It is undisputable that two issues have killed this country in terms of economy; sanctions and corruption – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The Commission is going to look seriously at the impact of sanctions; the negative effects of sanctions and look seriously at issues of corruption. These are twins, siamese twins that have killed the economy of this country. Therefore, this Bill is critically important and thank you so much Hon. Minister Bimha, for bringing this issue at this critical moment. I applaud you for not thinking inside or outside the box but throwing away the box and think as a Zimbabwean – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam Speaker Maám, this country is rich. We have got endowments, we have all the minerals that you might think under the earth. This country has got the flora and fauna, all those things hinge on our economy. This Commission is going to critically analyse and unpack everything; put everything in its proper perspective and then we get ourselves on the proper footing and address all the problems that we have. Like I have indicated, globalisation, dumping ground, sanctions and corruption, all these things have brought about vices like unemployment, drug abuse and many other bad things. Bringing in this
Commission is going to unpack and analyse all these things and then we will be on equal footing with the developing world. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker for
giving me the opportunity to contribute to this most important debate. Firstly, I wish to thank the Minister for his efforts towards trying to make sure that our economy begins to function again in a proper manner. I applaud him for the effort. That is what Ministers should do; they must keep trying. At the same time, I really feel very sorry for him because within the context that he is working, it will be very difficult to see the fruit of his sweat.
Madam Speaker, I contend that in doing what he is doing with respect to this Commission, the Minister seeks to improve the economy.
It is the nation’s quest to fully benefit from its endowments. As the previous speaker said, this nation is very rich; it is uniquely rich with natural endowments, unmatched in the world. We are first with respect to platinum and chrome. I was looking at our statistics in terms of the amount of gold we have on the belly of Zimbabwe. At the rate of extraction, of say 30 tonnes per year, which is the highest it has ever been; we have got enough gold to last 650 000 years in this country. We have got the entire petalite in the world. We are the only country in the world which, within its boundaries, has two wonders of the seven. So, it is a unique country.
Some people believe – in the Bible they say ‘there is a country in between two big rivers, where you find good gold” Good gold is where you get gold from the ground, without processing it, you walk with it and sell it. This is Zimbabwe. We are so naturally endowed that it is surprising and it is unacceptable that we lie so far down on the scale of happiness of our population.
The Minister is trying; his efforts are visible but what are those things that we must do to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes competitive. I would like to agree with Hon. Cross, that this issue is beyond the narrative of one governmental department. It is more about corporate called Zimbabwe. When we talk about value addition, we have spoken about the narrow side of value addition where you take gold and refine it; diamond and polish it. We need to add the value of ‘beneficiate
Zimbabwe’ as a country. We have to make sure that there is value to Zimbabwe. We add that value to Zimbabwe through the way we govern our country and relate with other people, and the global village so that together we can enjoy the benefits of this narrow global village.
What are the things that cause Zimbabwe to continue on the downward spiral? Corruption is one of the issues. As long as we do not go to the heart of corruption and deal with it, it does not matter what else we do. We do not create the required confidence for other people to come in and dance with us on the dance floor. So, as a nation we need to makes sure that together we fight corruption wherever we find it; in high offices or sub-offices, in villages or rivers we must deal with corruption so that the world out there can confidently say we can work together in Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker, there are issues of policy and policy inconsistency. Those are issues that anybody who wants to do business with us will consider those issues very seriously. Today we are talking about protection; tomorrow we are talking about competitiveness. The next day we are talking about something completely different. No one can predict us. As long as you are not predictable no one wants to dance on the floor with you, you are not competitive. Madam Speaker, I think these are issues that are extremely important.
Issues of infrastructure are extremely important. Last night I watched a video and I saw Pastor Mugadza fishing in a pothole dramatising the issues of the decayed infrastructure that we have, the lack of beauty and destroyed aesthetics of even Harare. You know a building right in the middle of town last got a dash of paint years and years ago. Again, if you cannot deal with those simple issues no one can take us seriously with respect to more important issues.
Madam Speaker, issues of rights whether it is environmental, human and other rights. They are very important for us to go up the rung of our competitive index. I am saying Madam Speaker, for as long as we do not deal with hygiene issues at corporate level, our competitiveness battle will always be lost.
My colleague, who just spoke before me Madam Speaker, spoke to issues of taxation. These are hygiene issues which we need to face head on, deal with them and make sure that our country is more attractive. What are the levels of trust? Are we a trusted nation? Are we a trusted people? Do we respect our own rules of the game? If we do not respect our simple rules of the game including issues like a Constitution that we all agreed upon. A Constitution that was voted for overwhelmingly by all the people of Zimbabwe, issues of devolution and issues that the people said yes, this is the way we have to run Zimbabwe and we do not do that. The next day we think we can through some sort of magic be competitive. For me, it is an exercise in futility.
Madam Speaker, with these few remarks I would like to applaud the Minister for trying but at the same time feel sorry for him that this sounds like a serious exercise in futility.
HON. MLISWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this
opportunity to contribute to this Bill. My contribution is in support of the Bill and like anything else, the Minister has the mandate to ensure that the economy moves forward in the portfolio that he holds. At the same time, the bleeding must stop. So, you cannot keep bleeding and not put it to a stop. The Minister is one of the most hardworking Ministers who are trying to resuscitate industry, which is key in the economy that we are faced with.
Madam Speaker, the aspect of domestic mobilisation is important. We have discussed this issue a number of times in our forums as parliamentarians but I think with this Bill coming into play, the emphasis must be on domestic mobilisation taking advantage of the resources we already have in the country rather than looking outside. I think the Bill will assist in addressing that. I think we have industries like ZISCO Steel for example, which can compete with any steel company in the world and we need to have them resuscitated. We have got Kamativi already as a mine which equally, from what I read, is being resuscitated and Willowvale Motor Industries which as Members of Parliament, we must equally benefit from and also contributing to the economy of this country.
What is critical is equally to take note of what Hon. Cross said. Though he does not support it but I think his contributions were key in ensuring that we come up with a good strategy in terms of what we want to achieve. He certainly has a wealth of knowledge and I was actually impressed by what he had to contribute in the various boards that he sat on in ensuring that Zimbabwe moves forward. So, I would like the Minister to take on board what Hon. Cross said on a lot of issues which he mentioned.
The aspect of the board is critical. The Minister must ensure that there is regional balance. We need to have new people on the boards. We cannot continuously have the same people. I see that we keep changing this one to this other board and this one to this board as if we do not have enough people. We have got young people who are educated in this country. This country is endowed with human capital, but I get surprised when boards are still appointing one person on three boards yet we are endowed with so much human capital. What are other people doing? The component of the youth is also important in ensuring that the board composition has the youth and women also included. We have a lot of women even in Parliament who are furthering their education. They must be given that opportunity to that demographic which is pretty well known in terms of the population must be considered when we are making these boards or else it does not mean anything.
The aspect of corruption has to be nipped in the bud. I think that has to do with the integrity and dignity of the board that will be appointed. As much as we believe that the boards are critical in giving the guidance and support needed by the management, at times they are seen wanting at the end of the day. You saw with the State Procurement Board what then happened to it. Instead of it solving a lot of our problems, it ended up being a problem for us. So, it is important that the Board that is put in place is equally able to do that.
I also implore the Minister to also consider those living with disability. Disability is not inability. I think as a nation we are seen wanting. I do not see many people on boards who are people living with disability. They are 10-15% of our population and we seem to ignore that. As a nation, we must also conform to a lot of things that should be done in terms of the United Nations Convention on People Living with Disability which was ratified. I think we must be seen to be doing that.
The ease of doing business will come in to being tested at the end of the day. Our Government is well known for putting together great documents but what lacks is implementation. The challenge the Minister has like any Government department is to see how this should be implemented. Not only that, I concur with Hon. Zvidzai on the aspect corruption. Corruption has got to be nipped in the bud at the same time find competent people who are able to do the job. Yes, in a way Hon. Gwanetsa said we have got siamese twins in terms of corruption and in terms of the sanctions but I would equally like to say to him, I think the other twin called sanctions is no longer there. The twin that is there is the one called corruption and this is my message to the Minister and the party that governs this country that, they need to be very strong on corruption at the end of the day. They seem to be very weak in bringing these issues forward and I think as long as they are a party in power, they are not able to implement what they say. The President is very clear on zero tolerance to corruption but we have not seen the Government left doing much in terms of corruption. They seem to keep quiet and they do not say anything about it but it is hurting the economy, their party and the Government at the end of the day.
So it is about time that they started really bringing this issue up to the fore and debate it in the context that it has to be debated, because this is the biggest problem that we have in the country. You can talk about the US$15 billion that has gone missing and so many parastatals. The main problems with parastatals in this country are a result of corruption, and nothing has been done. There is no one at all who has been brought before the courts to show that they are serious about this. You do not have to be brought before the courts; I think any allegation that points to corruption must be investigated. It certainly renders the Zimbabwe Anti-
Corruption useless. It wastes taxpayer’s money because when they want to conduct their job, there seems to be reasons why they cannot. There are excuses that the exposition is because of the factional fights in the party and so forth. So, no one is investigated and it has given leeway to the ruling party to keep on being corrupt. Because when one is alleged to be corrupt, they quickly run and say no, I belong to G40, I belong to Lacoste and I am being fought in this factional fight.
So to me I know that the party has got very strong people who equally were in the Police Force like my colleague Hon. Mandipaka who was a senior officer and I expect him to be leading in terms of corruption. He was an outstanding police officer and we are glad that he is a Member of Parliament. He can actually help in addressing some of these issues rather than sweeping them under the carpet and so on. So I implore Members of Parliament to be able to do that.
The other issue that I think is critical is policy inconsistency which Hon. Zvidzai spoke about. You saw with the Indiginisation and
Empowerment Act, Hon. Zhuwao was saying something, Hon.
Chinamasa something and the Governor of the Reserve Bank, something else. You know, it is like they are Ministers belonging to different political parties yet, it is one party. It took the Head of State to issue a statement. Honestly, when the Head of State gives you a job, he expects you to do the job but if you are now making the Head of State come and give you a statement, it is embarrassing for those Ministers who are mandated to ensure that this moves forward.
So please, can you give the Head of State a break and make sure that Minister other line ministries are well vested with what you are doing so that we do not have policy inconsistency. As much as policy inconsistency is bad for the country, it also brings doubt in term of investors coming in and the terrain that we have. We are Zimbabweans and I would like to applaud the Minister for this initiative and like I said, he is a Minister who tries to work hard. He has a heavy task ahead of him in terms of ensuring that industry ticks and certainly, we must support this Bill but at the same time Minister, taking into consideration some to the issues especially that Hon. Cross said.
I would like to certainly give it my nod and support that as a nation, we must stop the economy from bleeding and we cannot keep on accusing each other until when somebody wants to work, we then put spanners in the works. Let us allow the Minister to do his job and judge him after that. Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker I would like to embrace technology in carrying out my debate and in particular this Bill [H. B. 6, 2016] speaks to and about other sectors of the economy and other supporting pillars-specifically, Zimbabwe
Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation (ZIM ASSET).
Madam Speaker, I want the Hansard to extract pages 31 – 32 Madam Speaker because they form part of my debate and they also speak about and to the issues of the establishment of special economic zones that can support the initiative of the Minister. So, I applaud the Minister and I ask that the Hansard extracts pages 31-32 of the ZIM ASSET policy blue print which speaks to key factors in achieving our aims and objectives if we are to successfully carry out our national agenda as a nation.
Madam Speaker, having said that, the issue of domestic resource mobilisation, value addition and utilisation is also a theme for the 2017
Budget. Hence that same ZIM ASSET document is going to be a supporting pillar to the Minister of Industry and Commerce I believe, especially given the proposed National Competitiveness Commission Bill. If pages 105-110 can also be extracted Madam Speaker, that is going to form part of my debate and it speaks amongst other things, the issue of value addition of our ubiquitous amount of wealth in terms of natural resources and particular mineral resources. Madam Speaker having said that, now I will say the NCC can be supported mainly among other issues relating to the ongoing Buy Zimbabwe Campaign along which the Minister has already brought-in another Statutory Instrument.
(Extractions from ZIM ASSET Document (pages 31-32)
3.6. Key Success Factors
3.6.1The implementation of this Plan will rely on the
Following Key Success Factors (KSFs):
- Political commitment and leadership from the highest level.
- Strong collaborative partnerships among Government agencies, the private sector, citizens and other stakeholders;
- Human capital development programmes to enhance the acquisition of requisite skills; iv. Scientific research and development;
- Continued use of the multi-currency regime to consolidate macroeconomic stabilization; vi. Introduction of Special Economic Zones; vii. Creation of special funding vehicles such as acceleration of the implementation of PPPs; viii. Establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund; ix. Institutionalization of RBM across the public sector (civil service, parastatals, state enterprises and local authorities);
- Value addition and beneficiation in productive sectors such as mining, agriculture and manufacturing; xi. Rehabilitation, upgrading and development of key infrastructure and utilities comprising power generation, roads, rail, aviation and water; xii. Deliberate implementation of supportive policies in key productive economic sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism in order to quickly grow the economy;
xiii. Alignment of legislation, policies and guidelines by all Government ministries and departments in line with Constitution Amendment
(No 20) Act 2013.
(Extractions from ZIM ASSET Document – Pages 105-110)
Cluster Key
Result Areas
|
Cluster Outcomes | Cluster Outputs | Strategies | Lead
Institution
|
Agriculture/
Agro-processing
|
Improved availability of organic fertilizer.
|
60 000 tonnes of organic fertilizer/
Annum produced; Stock feed produced; 60 000 tonnes of organic fertilizer/annum produced.
|
Build earthworm breeding plant; Develop MOUs with municipal authorities to guarantee organic waste;
Commercialise organic fertilizer production through franchising. |
Ministry responsible for Industry.
|
Increased revenue from export of honey products; Improved production of pharmaceutical products.
|
At least 500 000 litres of honey per annum produced;
Cosmetics and pharmaceutical products produced.
|
Establish honey producing clusters in each province; Capacity building and technical
training; Resource mobilization for hives and kits; Facilitate market linkages Establish SACCOs among honey producers; Establish honey processing centres; Research and development.
|
Ministry responsible for Small to
Medium Scale Industries.
|
Increased supply of locally produced dairy products
|
100 million litres of
raw milk and by products produced per year milk processed
|
Resuscitate the national dairy herd;
Apply measures to protect the local diary industry against imports; Put in place measures to attract and empower new players (farmers).
|
Ministry responsible for Agriculture.
|
|
Increased supply of meat in the domestic and export market.
|
400 000 tonnes of meat produced.
|
Restock the national herd; Provide extension services support to farmers.
|
Ministry responsible for Agriculture.
|
|
Increased revenue generated from exports of avocado oil.
|
Avocado trees planted;
14 000 tonnes of avocado oil produced per annum; Pharmaceutical products produced; Skin care products produced.
|
Encourage planting of
avocado trees; Establish an avocado processing plant in Rusitu Valley (Chimanimani); Mobilise resources; Commercialise the growing of avocados; Establish SACCOs among avocado producers.
|
Ministry responsible
for small to medium industries.
|
|
Increased revenue from fruit juice.
|
100 million litres of fruit juice per annum produced.
|
Mobilize resources; Operationalise the fruit juice manufacturing project.
Operationalise the incubation |
Ministry responsible for Industry.
|
centre;
Capacity building for the fruit juice producers, entrepreneurship, technical and business management; Mobilize resources for acquisition of equipment for small scale producers; Targeted financial support for SMEs in fruit juice production.
|
||||
Manufacturing | Increased supply of domestically produced cooking oil.
|
7 million litres of
cooking oil produced/month; Stock feeds produced.
|
Resuscitate the Oil Expression Industry.
|
Ministry responsible for Industry.
|
Improved productivity.
|
Synergized informal and formal sectors.
|
Promote strategic linkages between the informal and formal sectors;
Support cooperatives and SMEs development.
|
||
Increased supply of value added steel products.
|
700 000 tonnes of liquid steel per annum produced.
|
Operationalise
New Zim-Steel; Target financial support to SMEs in metal fabrication; Build capacity (Entrepreneurial technical and business management and training). |
Ministry responsible for SMEs.
|
Improved supply
of locally produced herbs/herbals.
|
Locally produced herbs availed.
|
Capacity building.
|
||
Increased capacity utilization
in the leather manufacturing industries.
|
Million pairs per annum
of leather shoes produced; 5 610 jobs created.
|
Build capacity of
Small scale leather products manufactures; Implement the leather strategy.
|
||
Increased revenue from the gold industry; Increased employment
creation
|
8 Provincial Gold
Processing & Buying Centres set up; 500 syndicates registered (2500 registered small scale miners).
|
Establish
Syndication Programmes for small scale gold miners.
|
Ministry responsible for Industry.
|
|
Improved supply of locally produced drugs.
|
Caps
Pharmaceutical Company resuscitated.
|
Mobilise resources;
Policy alignment to support the sector.
|
||
Mining | Increased revenue from the diamonds
industry Increased employment
|
1.2 million carats polished gem diamonds produced; 1000 jobs created; Value added industrial diamonds | Establish
Diamond Cutting & Polishing centres.
|
Ministry responsible for Mining.
|
produced;
Skilled personnel Produce.
|
||||
Improved planning for mineral resources
development .
|
Data base on the country’s minerals established; Geological Survey Unit strengthened.
|
Evaluate the country’s
Mineral resources.
|
||
Human
Capacity Building & Development
|
Improved supply of highly trained mineral professionals for:
Universities; R & D institutions; Mining industry; GoZ; Improved capacity and capabilities for value addition; Increased development of downstream industries; Improved linkages among higher & tertiary education, research institutions, industries & government.
|
World-class training institution for R & D in mineral beneficiation and value addition established; <200/yr Masters, PhD graduates produced in: Geo-Sciences;
Mining and extractive Metallurgy; Mineral Business with entrepreneurial skills; Database on minerals set up; Diamond college established; Diamond specialists produced.
|
Establish Plan
African Minerals University of Science and Technology (PAMUST).
|
Ministry responsible for Mining.
|
Increased
Indigenous Intellectual property, registration and promotion of indigenous knowledge system. |
Intellectual property rights registered;
Indigenous; knowledge systems promoted.
|
Register property rights;
Promote Indigenous knowledge systems.
|
Ministry responsible for Higher Education.
|
|
Increased utilization
Nano technology skills.
|
Nano technology
Institute established; Nano technologist strained
|
Establish a Nano technology institute at
SIRD C; Train and retain Nano technologists.
|
Madam Speaker, the world over including SADC and Africa, governments are the biggest buyers in any economy. So, I want to say as we were debating last year and during the first part of this year in terms of our Portfolio Committee proposals to the Minister of Finance, we spoke among other things as your Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development that we need companies like ZUPCO first and foremost to buy from Zimbabwe before they can export our resources to China Madam Speaker so that we can capacitate the local manufacturers amongst other things by 10%. They cried out loud to your Committee to the effect that if only ZUPCO and Government bought from them, they would increase their capacity utilisation by 10%. So it is my clarion call that before we look outside, we need to self introspect and make sure that we support the Bill that is before us as brought by the Minister of Industry in that we implore Government to buy from its own industries. First and foremost, that is going to give impetus to the private sector, to be embedded with Government and in the process support local industry.
Madam Speaker, the issue of industrialisation and utilisation of our local industry dovetails well with the SADC Industrialisation Strategy of 29 April 2015. The time during which our Head of State and Government, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe and President of this nation was the Chairperson of SADC and AU, where he also spearheaded the ten points of the Development Plan of the Continental Blueprint of 2063. It seeks amongst other things, the value addition of our God given minerals. Madam Speaker, what we need to do is to make sure that we complement and augment his efforts, his never die spirit of making sure that we have an entry point of our national agenda into the SADC industrialisation strategy. From the SADC industrialisation strategy, we put it into the continental agenda, which is going to feed in to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Madam Speaker, I believe the Minister has started a journey and I also implore other Ministers to complement him, amongst other things to bring to the House expeditiously for debate, the issue of our Exploration Bill, so that we quantify our ubiquitous amount of wealth so that we get to know our withness as a country. They also bring the Mines and Minerals Act so that we repeal it, so our people get to be embedded in the mainstream economy so that the Minister of Industry …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you be
careful enough so that we debate on the Bill and not bring in another Bill.
HON. NDUNA: Madam Speaker, the Bills I am talking about are
going to be a pillar to his Bill, without which this one is going to be still born. They depend amongst other things, the Special Economic Zones, the repealing of the Mines and Minerals Act, the introduction of the
Exploration Act and also Madam Speaker, you are going to see if you read into the Hansard, the establishment of PAMUST, which is a Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, the Minister is
taking notes so that he responds to the House. Once you stretch the debate to other Bills and so forth, I think he will get confused.
HON. NDUNA: Madam Speaker, do you want me to speak
slowly or …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am appealing to you.
Would you please concentrate on this particular Bill?
HON. NDUNA: Madam Speaker, I take guidance. The issues that can also help the Commission’s carrying out of the mandate in this Bill, speak, amongst other things, alternative ways of revenue collection as opposed to issues to do with taxing the unsuspecting innocent citizenry to death. The issue of Command agriculture quickly comes to mind and beneficiation of our God given mineral wealth. The issue of resuscitation of our industries, in particular David Whitehead is going to give him a wide scope of a place that he can take care of in industry.
Aware that the Government has taken over the COTTCO debt of $68 million, and has given to cotton farmers three seasons worth of seed which is going to make sure it opens the floodgate of economic revival, which is then going to give him a panoramic view and a bigger scope of operation in his National Competitiveness Commission Bill. Madam Speaker, what I implore the Minister to do is to expeditiously, without any further ado because it falls under his ambit to resuscitate David Whitehead and make sure that he does not leave David Whitehead, whichever investor in the future prone to violent take over from creditors.
Madam Speaker, as I wind up, I also applaud him in the same vein for the Motor Industry Bill that he is also going to introduce that is also going to give him a give scope in terms of the National Competitiveness Commission Bill aptitude and spheres of operation. I thank you.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I would also like to add my voice in acknowledging the efforts of the Minister by introducing the National Competitiveness Commission Bill, which seeks to bring Zimbabwe back to its original glory, because Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of Africa and it used to be the jewel of Africa.
Madam Speaker, if you look at Bulawayo, which used to be the industrial hub, there were so many industries which were producing more than 7000 products. This is a clear indication that we were competing with other countries. If you look at GND shoes, the leather shoes and bags we were producing, we were producing them for export purposes. If you look at Merlin towels, the quality towels that we were producing, look at National Blankets, the quality blankets that we were producing, look at Cotton Printers – you were all coming to Bulawayo to buy the bedsheets. Look at shirts, the Van Heusen and so forth, which we were exporting to other countries Madam Speaker. You should look at all the things that we were doing. Just look at tobacco, we were producing first grade tobacco. This is a clear indication that we were competing with other countries and tobacco used to generate more than US$1 billion per year. If we had improved on that, right now we would be generating more than that.
Look at our cotton. It was first grade cotton. On horticulture, aeroplanes were flying out everyday carrying flowers to Europe and America Madam Speaker. We were producing quality vegetables and aeroplanes were flying everyday going to Europe and America with our vegetables. I have got friends who are in Botswana who used to come to Zimbabwe and they were saying to me, we were buying quality clothes and food such as meat, vegetables, et cetera. This is who we were as a country. People were flocking from Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia, coming to Zimbabwe to buy our quality products.
Madam Speaker, I think it is important as a country that we mirror ourselves, we look at ourselves to say where is the problem. For me, I think we are scratching where it is not itching and this is what we are supposes to be interrogating. Let us diagnose our problem properly so that we are able to administer the proper medication. Once we do that, Zimbabwe is going to return to its original glory. Zimbabwe was the envy of the whole world and no one can doubt that. Personally, I want Zimbabwe to get back to where it was.
Madam Speaker, as much as I appreciate the Minister by bringing in the National Competitiveness Commission Bill, I do not think that the Bill will make sure that we return to our original glory. For me, our problem as a country is the fact that we are faced with a political problem, which has resulted in a legitimacy problem; the legitimacy problem, which has resulted in an economic problem. Let us deal with our politics so that we return to legitimacy. Once we return to legitimacy, mark my words, Zimbabwe is going to be once more the jewel of Africa. It is going to be once more the breadbasket of Africa.
Madam Speaker, right now more than 80% of Zimbabweans are living in abject poverty, misery and destitution. The majority of Zimbabweans are living on less than US$1 per day in a country which is endowed with so many resources. Let us be honest with ourselves and say where is the problem. Madam Speaker, let us deal with our politics.
Once we deal with our politics, we will return to legitimacy and once we return to legitimacy, Zimbabwe is going to be once more an envy of the whole world. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
BIMHA): Thank you Madam Speaker. Firstly, I would like to thank Hon. Members who contributed to this Bill. I think it is an indication of a collective desire to see Zimbabwe grow and take its rightful place. I think we can do it if we all put our heads together. The contributions varied and I want to thank all those who supported the Bill. I also want to thank those who even raised concerns about the Bill. I think it is still constructive and we will take those issues on board. That is the importance of the debate that takes place in this august House – varied contributions and all our experiences. Some of the issues that have been raised here, I am very happy that most of the contributions that have been made here, dovetailed the issues that have been raised before and even some of the issues that I raised when I introduced this Bill.
The issues of competitiveness cannot just be addressed by this Bill alone but this Bill complements other efforts that we as Government would like to put in place, both from my Ministry and other Ministries. Once again Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon. Members for their contributions. I will take most of their concerns on board. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a Second time.
Committee Stage: Tuesday, 3rd April, 2017.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. BIMHA), the House adjourned at Eight Minutes
past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday 4th April, 2017.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 29th March, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
MATTERS OF PRIVILEGE
MESSAGE FROM ARTISANAL MINERS
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a point of order, it is not a notice of motion. If you allow me I will carry on.
THE HON. SPEAKER: In terms of which standing Order.
HON. NDUNA: In terms of Standing Order Number 69 as read with Section 119 of the Constitution. I am not going to speak about this paper that I am holding but I got a message from my constituency which is addressed to Parliament on a point of privilege that says they are elated and they are humbled by the way Parliament has treated their plight of artisanal mining. Aware also that they have delivered to Fidelity more than 10 tonnes of the 22 tonnes delivered last year. So they have asked me to come and give you a message Mr. Speaker, that they are quite humbled and elated. They wish that Parliament can do more for their plight; in particular today, that is from those at Inezi Mine. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We are grateful for that message and my
response is that can they also double up the production of gold. Thank you.
APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE
HON. ADV. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Advocate Speaker Sir.
I rise on a point of privilege. Standing Order Number 69 arising out of
68 (d) and it speaks to issues of privilege at any particular point in time. Hon. Speaker Sir, I rise on this point because it is a very important motion. To celebrate, acknowledge, honor and appreciate what has happened in this country; a momentous occasion as regards the appointment of a new Chief Justice in Zimbabwe. I want to congratulate the new Chief Justice. You know, I am one person who does not resist goodness. I am one person who looks at things objectively and for that reason Hon. Speaker, I want to congratulate the First Citizen of this country for respecting the first document and law - the Constitution of this country and making sure that we have an appointment of a man on the basis of merit.
It is a victory for our country in terms of constitutionalism, in terms of the rule of law, in terms of our processes as a country; respecting our constitution. You are aware that we had problems Hon. Speaker Sir but in terms of Section 180, Subsection 2 of the
Constitution, once a process has been ignited or set in motion by the Judicial Services Commission, it has to be respected and honored in terms of our Constitution. So, we are happy that in the case of the appointment of Hon. Chief Justice Malaba designate, as Parliament, because we defend the Constitution, the man is a man of merit and a man of integrity.
I have been practicing as a lawyer, I have interacted with him. When you look at him, he has a fair and firm sense of justice and his appointment is an appointment that should not be celebrated by ZANU PF or MDC. It must be celebrated by all Zimbabweans because he is a candidate for Zimbabwe. Going forward Mr. Speaker Sir, I can assure you that this country is richer. I was discussing with my learned colleagues from the other side who equally appreciate and as Parliament in terms of Section 119, we are supposed to uphold the defence of the Constitution. The fact that it has been an outcome of a constitutional process, we must celebrate it as Parliament.
This is very good because when the First Citizen nods to the dictates of the Constitution, we must all join in a chorus, to sing the
“justice wins law wins” as we say vincit legem vincit. Justice wins, law wins and we must celebrate that. We must congratulate this process Hon. Speaker Sir and I want to say this is a very positive development. As an arm of the State, being the Legislature, when good news happen in the judiciary, it is a positive thing for all the other arms of Government.
Even God in heaven is going to smile because it is God who said through the Prophet Amos, “Let justice roll down like a stream and righteousness like a never ever sinking river”. So in Zimbabwe, we are seeing the flowing of justice, we are seeing the stream of righteousness and we must thank God. We must also thank the President for being a creature of the Constitution to all intends and purposes. We must also thank the new Chief Justice for being a doyen of constitutionalism. We must also thank the outgoing Chief Justice for being the superintendent of our justice system in this country. Hon. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you. That is my motion, thank you very much.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Murai.
HON. MURAI: Hon Speaker, I am sure you are correct where you are sighting your eyes. I am not the one, you are being misled Hon.
Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I saw the Hon. Member who is in glasses ndiani? – [HON. MEMBERS: Chidhakwa!] - Hon. Chidhakwa, can you withdraw your statement.
HON. S. CHIDHAKWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I withdraw my statement.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Hon. Speaker for affording me the opportunity to also congratulate the President for the appointment of the Chief Justice.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Nyamupinga, Gonese and I think Chitindi, can we please listen to our fellow Hon. Member. Thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also rise as the Chairman of the Portfolio Committee on Justice to also express our joy on this side of the House. We have often been labeled as people who do not uphold the Constitution and we have shown them just like what the Hon. Advocate has said. He alluded to the fact that Constitutionalism is upheld in Zimbabwe - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, do not spoil the good news … [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I have not finished. Hon. Advocate Chamisa was very inclusive in his commendations. Why should we bring sour grapes now, please?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It was not the intention to bring sour grapes but to applaud that he has correctly stated the true position that obtains in Zimbabwe; that there is rule of law, there is constitutionalism and we are very happy that the President has upheld the due process and appointed the Chief Justice and, as the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, we are very happy that the President has appointed a new Chief Justice. A man of integrity and a man whom we look forward to upholding the Constitution of Zimbabwe and ensure that there is justice delivery in Zimbabwe. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. GWANETSA: Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to Hon. Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri. In her absence, I might re-direct my question to the Hon. Minister, Dr. Made.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Gwanetsa, please be
seated. You cannot substitute Hon. Ministers. Your question must be pointed to a particular Minister or Ministry. If your question was directed – [HON. GWANETSA: Inaudible interjections.] – I have not finished. If your question was directed to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate and there is no Deputy, hold on to your question until the Hon. Minister comes through.
HON. GWANETSA: Mr. Speaker Sir, could I re-direct my
question to the Leader of the House if he is in?
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Leader of the House is not in.
HON. GUZAH: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment. The Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Act is very specific in terms of the reserved areas where Zimbabweans by their very nature must indulge their businesses in.
Despite the fact that His Excellency in the last State of the Nation Address was very clear in terms of aligning the laws and what is happening on the ground. As we speak Mr. Speaker Sir, we have quite a number of people of Chinese origin and Ghanaians plying their trade in these key reserved areas…
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is the question?
HON. GUZAH: The question is what is the Ministry doing in terms of aligning what His Excellency said in terms of the reserved areas. Why do we continue to see foreigners trading in this particular area when it is a reserved area? Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT,
INDIGENISATION AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT (HON.
TONGOFA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. It is true that the Act is very clear with regard to reserved areas being reserved for our indigenous people. However, the clarification from the President delegated the implementation of the Indigenisation Act to the various ministries. It is now the responsibility of various line ministries to make sure that they do not allow people to trade in those areas. I thank you Hon. Minister.
HON. SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is that what policy measures are they putting in place as Government to ensure that there is harmony between their Ministry and the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing which is actually more responsible for the issuance of licences yet their Ministry is the custodian of the Indigenisation Act. Thank you.
HON. TONGOFA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I think last time the Hon. Member asked that question here in Parliament in writing, we responded to that question adequately. We only coordinate the line ministries through the Cabinet Committee with regard to the implementation of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act. However, we suggested that the Local Government may make sure that companies which want to operate in Zimbabwe go through the Ministry before they start operating to make sure they allow their status in terms of shareholding has been looked at. If it is not in line with the Indigenisation Act, they do not allow those companies to operate. We do not know how far they have gone with regard to the implementation of that condition. So, I cannot say anything with regard to that because these are implemented in the line ministries at the moment. Hon. Speaker, allow me to go and find out how far they have gone with regard to implementing the Reserved Sector Statutory Instrument in those line ministries. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
+HON. G. M. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. How far have you gone in your objective in trying to improve Bulawayo companies which were not functioning properly, how far is it now? When you introduced the policy you mentioned two companies. Are those two companies working well? Are there any other companies that you have added on to this programme? I thank you.
+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. I thank the Hon. Member for the pertinent question. I will not mention the two companies only but I will talk of the resuscitation of Bulawayo industries as it is important to bear in mind that Bulawayo is the hub of industry in Zimbabwe. Now, there is a law which has just been put in place in Zimbabwe that of Special Economic Zones. This law has got opportunity to look into resuscitation of Bulawayo companies. As it is, we also have two policies which are in line with resuscitation of industries in the entire country and in particular, Bulawayo.
The two policies are as follows;
- The policy on cotton to clothing.
- The leather industry development policy.
The implementation of these will actually target Bulawayo industry resuscitation. This cotton to clothing policy, was launched in Bulawayo so as to emphasise the earmarking to improve the textile industry, particularly in Bulawayo. Looking at that, we assume that we will harvest a lot of cotton this season. Hon. Made will probably give you the tonnage but we are expecting about 100 000 metric tonnes of cotton to be harvested this year. Whilst on that, Bulawayo should have a place where this cotton should be processed from lint right through the value chain up to clothing.
We should improve the textile industry in Bulawayo. Whilst on that, the textile industry in Bulawayo has since been resuscitated and they are supplying Edgars with clothes manufactured in Bulawayo. I would like this House to know that there is no reason to import suits and shirts for men because we have them in Bulawayo.
In the leather industry, we are looking forward to resuscitate the industry through the CSC because that will resuscitate the leather industry in Bulawayo. That is not the only area that we are looking at. We are also looking at the heavy industries in Bulawayo that supply mines throughout the country. Particularly in Bulawayo, we have a programme, just before Trade Fair, to showcase what is happening in Bulawayo industries. I thank you.
+HON. K. SIBANDA: Hon. Minister, what impact has been realised from the introduction of the Statutory Instrument 64?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, this is not a supplementary question, this is a new question.
HON. MURAI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. Last time, you promised that you will read out the Hon. Ministers who will be absent in the House before commencement of business.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I did not promise on that. I made a
commitment and that will be done tomorrow after I have concluded my investigations.
*HON. CHISOROCHENGWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My name is Chisorochengwe and no longer Teti Banda. I am directing my question to the Minister of Agriculture....
THE HON. SPEAKER: You do not direct your question to the
Minister, but direct it to the Speaker.
*HON. CHISOROCHENGWE: My question is directed to the
Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.
What is Government policy regarding farmers who joined command agriculture but were not given all the inputs necessary for the programme?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Thank
you Mr. Speaker Sir. We will not go back and console them by giving them what was supposed to be given. This was an initial programme and we are now looking at the times ahead. We need to look at the inputs that are needed for the next planting season but definitely we will not act retrospectively. We will keep on implementing new changes because this was a learning curve. We are now looking at wheat farmers and we are urging farmers who want to get into the command wheat agriculture to come and register. Command agriculture is going to include almost all the crops and livestock, a livestock programme.
HON. MLISWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is, Minister your role in having to discharge your duties is to plan properly especially if you are an agriculture minister. Your answer is indicative of the fact that you did not plan properly and in not having to plan properly, there was shortage of inputs. As much as command agriculture has done well, you are admitting that the planning was poor. What assurance do we have in moving forward that the planning will be spot-on? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, I hope you understand what it means by spot-on.
HON. DR. MADE: Yes, I do. I do not accept the assertion that the planning was not spot-on. That I want to assure the Hon. Member. I indicated in my response that whenever you are starting a programme or a project, it has its own weaknesses and strengths. By and large, this programme had many strengths that we are building on. However, I will be fair to the Hon. Member and say; the assurances are there that we will improve on the planning. Planning is also a science and not as perfect as you would like to paint it. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I can see that there are hiccups here and there on command agriculture. I would like to seek clarity from the Minister in terms of the funding because some people are saying, command agriculture was funded to the tune of $190 million and others are saying $500 million.
HON. DR. MADE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for raising that supplementary, it gives me the opportunity to clarify to the nation. Five hundred million was the target. As we moved into the programme, various offers were made towards that $500 million. However, the bottom line was that there was a certain interest rate that was acceptable for us in order to pass, that onto the farmers. As you know, farmers are primary producers, they are price takers and if we had taken money that was expensive, we would have crippled the farmers. So, at the end of the day, the percentage that was accepted was 6 percent and below. This is the limitation that limited us from taking the 500 million that was offered.
The figures that are being referred to, if the Hon. Member wishes, she can put the question in writing so that I can have an opportunity to clarify on that particular matter. I thank you.
*HON. S. CHIDHAKWA: My supplementary is that there are
farmers who got some inputs but they did not get all the inputs that they applied for the hectrage that they planted. They are also saying that the expected yield will not be achieved because it was affected by lack of inputs. What are you going to do with such farmers? How are you going to work out their payment plans because it is not their fault that they did not get the required inputs timeously but only got part of the inputs and the remainder never came? How are you going to treat such a scenario?
*HON. DR. MADE: The Hon Member is talking about farmers
who received partial inputs and what we know is that we have a clear set out agriculture structure where these farmers can go and talk about their problems. What we know is that we cannot just guess but from a policy point of view, like I have stated, we have command structures where that farmer can go. Hence, I cannot answer this question as a general question therefore I urge these farmers to go to their command centres and should there be any problems we will then deal with it on an individual basis so that we get the details and give technical responses to the questions. Where you have not received all the inputs from Command agriculture, farmers did not necessarily take the whole package. Other farmers had their own seed while others had part of their own fertilizers. You only came into Command agriculture voluntarily for the items that you possibly did not have and wanted funded by command agriculture.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Chidhakwa, can you put your
question in writing so that you can get a detailed response.
HON. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I think it is very important that we take the business of Parliament seriously. The Minister knows that I signed a contract for Command agriculture and the farmer was to get everything. He is lying through his teeth if he says the contract says that you were supposed to get other things. I have a contract which I can produce showing that Government was supposed to provide everything.
Why is he not telling the truth in this House? – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, that is not a point of order.
HON NDUNA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Nduna, what is the issue?
HON NDUNA: Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question. –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon Members please listen
to the Chair when I make a ruling. I said Hon. Chidhakwa is the last person to ask a supplementary question. Thank you.
+HON. TOFFA: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour, and Social Services. I was talking of the resuscitation of Bulawayo industries and some will be resuscitated. I would like to find out what the Ministry has put in place to enable people to register for employment, such as employment bureaus which used to be at a place called Vhundu where people would go and register for employment. I am saying that because people in Bulawayo have been crying that some non residents are taking over their jobs. So what is your Ministry doing to resuscitate the industries?
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR, AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): Let me start by
thanking the Hon. Member for bringing a very important question and contribution. As a Ministry, we are delighted with the positive developments in the country and we will be liaising with our counterparts in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. I want to remind the Hon Member that we still have employment bureaus in Harare and Bulawayo. However, they have not been very active in view of what is happening in terms of the economic recovery. We will make sure that as a Ministry we re-advertise and make sure people are aware of where they can register for employment as well as going into other provinces when the situation arises. So, it is something which is very important and we will be looking into it, though we have two which are operational although low key. Now we just need to advertise and let people know and also ask the Hon. Members to conscientise their constituents so that people know where to go and register for employment. I thank you
HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, I seek clarification on
Government’s position regarding reducing public expenditure through cutting down of Government employees. I particularly seek clarification on the issue of youth officers. What is their job – is it critical at this point?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. The original question concerned policy on the establishment of employment bureaus where people could register for employment. That is the original question so; your question does not arise.
HON. NDEBELE: May I seek you indulgence Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, your question does not arise as a supplementary. You will have to have a fresh question.
HON. B. TSHUMA: Spoke in Nambya.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, in summary the Hon.
Member is saying, some youths and other people do register for employment at those employment bureaus but in the end, those who have registered in that locality are not taken and, you get people from outside the locality being employed, ignoring those who have registered. I think the Hon. Member said, in some instances, they are brought in in buses.
HON. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to
thank the Hon. Member for bringing to my attention the challenge or problem. It is not Government policy to allow importation of labour from different areas. It is something which we would like to look into if I maybe availed a detailed report so that we can follow through to curb that. It is not Government’s policy and we do not encourage importation of people from various areas to come and take jobs for locals. So, if I can be availed with the details, we will follow up as a Ministry.
HON. B. TSHUMA: I had a specific request. I want to know at the policy level what remedies are there before I can even attempt to pursue the remedy as the Minister rightly advises. Before I can even go and compile information to bring to her, I want to know what remedies are available to that community, then I can be inspired to follow up. As it stands right now, if there are no remedies, as I seem to suspect from the answer that she gave, then there will not be any point for me to follow up.
So, I would want to know the remedies that are available at policy level. I thank you.
HON. MUPFUMIRA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am sure that the Hon.
Members will agree with me that we can only act on facts and that is what I have requested that once we have the facts, we will be able to come up with the remedies. Perhaps the remedies are already there but I need facts for me to be able to assist. I have already said as Government, it is not our policy to encourage importation of labour, because we all come from constituencies. If there is employment in the area, we expect the locals if they have the requisite skills to be given priority. But, I am saying let me have the facts and we will deal with whatever needs to be done. Thank you.
HON. K. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is
directed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. Minister, how far have we gone with the resuscitation of the Cold Storage Company and what are the strategies that you have put in place?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR.MADE): Mr.
Speaker, the question is a detailed question. However, from a policy point of view, I just reaffirm that we are in the process of resuscitating the Cold Storage Company starting with the appointment of a new board and that will be done just now. Then also, that Cold Storage Company will be the major player in the command agriculture related to livestock. I want to mention - even though that question I will answer in the written question that I am answering today on the partnership with NSSA as well, as they are coming in to invest in that company. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MANGAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I intended to ask a question to the Minister of Health and Child Care when I registered to ask my question but now that the Minister is not around, I
stand down my question.
HON. WATSON: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is
directed to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. I would like him to tell the House and the urban population particularly, how he feels their policy for the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to use large metal bars with spikes as lethal weapons rather than the control of traffic and the improvement of road safety. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. O.
MGUNI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Thank you Hon. Member for the pertinent question that a lot of Zimbabweans would like to hear and get clarity on. Spikes, boom-gates and walls are under the column of security barriers to control traffic or human beings. It is vital to control traffic or human beings. It is vital for police or any security organ to use the spike to prevent vehicles from parking in that area or going through the road that the spike is laid on. Therefore, you are controlling traffic.
However, the dispute that has come across Zimbabweans is that when do the police put the spikes on the road because some people say they throw it on the vehicles. Some drivers will then run over the spike when they are disobeying the rules of being controlled. I went to Bulawayo three days ago to see exactly whether the police throw or put spikes –[Laughter.]- I saw the police laying the spike down and I saw the taxi driver running over the spike. It is the Parliament that has to conscientise and educate the drivers to follow the rules because they are carrying people. You cannot run away from a ten dollar fine, run over the spike and sacrifice the lives of eighteen people. We need to educate our drivers on spikes. I thank you -[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
HON. WATSON: Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I was in
Bulawayo four days ago and witnessed-[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order! Can you switch off the microphone at the back there?
HON. WATSON: I was in Bulawayo four days ago and witnessed road traffic officers holding those very metal poles with spikes not in front of the vehicle but from behind a vehicle running to lance with that weapon. It is not for traffic control. If it is used correctly, it should be put on the road and not to hold it. Can the Minister not clarify that point instead of making it the fault of drivers?
Thank you.
HON. MGUNI: As I articulated, the dispute -[HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
HON. MUDZURI: On a point of order…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order! Hon. Mudzuri, the
Deputy Minister has not even opened his mouth to answer the question.
Why are you raising point of order before he answers?
HON. MUDZURI: That is where my point of order is.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Procedurally, the Hon. Minister must answer first. I must give him that opportunity.
HON. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. If a police officer was running behind the taxi with a spike throwing it, it is not allowed. A spike is laid on the ground as I explained, as a security barrier but one cannot throw an object on a moving vehicle. If that has happened, we need to discipline that officer because that is not allowed because it causes other damages like breaking the windows.
If there is a particular incident like that, the Hon. Member has the right to come to our offices and report that and action will be taken.
HON. MUDZURI: My point of order is that I am shocked by the behaviour of most of the Members of Parliament here. They get excited and try to clap hands over death traps which are being put on our people. I think we must be disciplined and let the Minister respond correctly as to what should be seen to be happening to our people. It is not proper to find somebody excited and clapping hands over something that has threatened our people’s life. It is not fair.
My point of order is that we must be disciplined as Members of
Parliament and behave.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mudzuri, it is up to the Chair to
control that.
HON. HOLDER: Hon. Speaker, I have a supplementary question to the answer that was given. Can the Minister please explain to this House if the spikes that are being carried by the policemen are under the specifications which the Police Act conforms to?
HON. MGUNI: Mr. Speaker Sir, can he repeat the question. I was in a discussion.
HON. HOLDER: Are the spikes that the police are carrying according to the Police Act in terms of the specifications, length and the way they are laid? Are they in conformity with that because a spike looks like a weapon?
HON. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Yes, that is where I
started when I was explaining to say that they are counted as one of the security barriers. They are there. The dispute is about how to use it and I explained that the police officer must lay the spike down. Even a security guard is allowed to lay it in a no parking area so that you do not park your car on that area. It is a warning sign.
HON. HOLDER: That is what he was asked. He never answered.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order! I think the Hon.
Deputy Minister has been very clear.
HON. MAONDERA: My point of order is that Ministers must come here to answer questions. Hon. Tshinga Dube is asleep there [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- He is supposed to be here to answer questions. War Veterans are suffering and that Minister is asleep. What does that mean?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order, order! Hon.
Member, you are now out of decorum.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: Mvura iyo mugeze kumeso.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami and your colleague there. When someone closes his eyes - [Laughter.]- Order, order Hon.
Mpariwa please, closing one’s eyes may not be sleeping. So, I saw him as closing his eyes. You cannot determine whether someone is sleeping because he has closed his eyes.
An Hon. Member having wanted to pose a supplementary question.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No more supplementary questions on
that one.
*HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I wanted to direct my question to the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development. In his absence, I will direct it to the Leader of the House, the Vice President, Hon. Mnangagwa. Now, that the date is 29th March, towards the end of the month, there are very long queues at the banks. People are now absconding from work trying to get money from the banks.
Since there is shortage of cash, people are now not able to carry out their duties and they are wasting productive time standing in queues.
What is Government policy regarding the increase of cash so that everybody who wants money would get it, especially when we are looking at the end of the month where people want to pay their bills? In fact people get their salaries through banks and they intend to get their money.
*THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. E.
MNANGAGWA): Hon. Speaker, I advise the Hon. Member to put the question in writing so that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development would go and check the details in consultation with the Reserve Bank Governor and the question can then be answered.
The Hon. Member is a former Minister and she is aware that you cannot tell that Treasury has so much funds or nothing. It is also
Government policy that when people have worked, they should be paid. When they go to the banks to get their salaries, they should get their money on time. When there is no money, we then need to question the banks and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). That is why I have asked the Member to put the question in writing.
*HON. ENG. MUDZURI: My supplementary question regarding
the shortage of cash in the banks is – we had a discussion with the Vice President on cash shortage recently. My question is what plans does Government have in re-introducing the US dollars in paying out people who need that money. I remember the RBZ issues out a statement - looking at the priority list in the allocation of funds; it appeared that the US dollars will only be given to the industry people and not ordinary people. Ordinary people will only receive the bond notes. As a result, they will go to the exchange bureau to get foreign currency. When they want to go outside the country, they have problems in getting the foreign currency.
Before, we get out of the Inclusive Government; we used to get our money directly from the banks. Now, the problem is you cannot access the necessary foreign currency to go outside the country.
*HON. E. D. MNANGAGWA: Yes, we once had a discussion
about liquidity shortages and we made a foresight that we were going to face some cash shortage in the country. I also explained to him the four ways where we get our foreign currency. He said he knows the four ways. So, I am not going to talk about them. They are the same methods we are still using to get our foreign currency.
I did not clearly get his second point because he was meandering and I could not get the gist of the question. He said if an individual has an account with US dollars or rands and if that person wants to go out of the country – the policy which is in existence is that when you are travelling outside the country, the amount which you can carry is stipulated, especially if it is an amount which is in the bank. We also look at what it is that you want to buy outside the country. That does not depend on the amount you have but on the amount which is in the Treasury to facilitate the importation of goods.
As I said, I did not understand the other part of his question – is there a limit that is set aside that if you are going outside the country and you want cash, the amount should be about $1000.00, but I am not very sure about the exact amount. All I know is that there is a set limit which one can withdraw for going outside the country. If you go to a bank and tell them that you want bond notes, they are available in the banks. I am talking of the money which is in your account. You cannot access someone’s account. What I am explaining is that you access the amount which is in your account. This also relates to the foreign currency in the United States dollar and that is why I advised you to write the question down, and the responsible Minister of Finance will give the correct response to that. So, since you are saying there is a liquidity crunch, we then have to ask the Minister of Finance who will liaise with the Reserve Bank Governor and tell you of the availability of cash.
THE HON. SPEAKER: There is a vehicle registration number ADF 7027. It is a cream Land Cruiser which is blocking the exit of another vehicle.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Hon. Vice President
Mnangagwa. I have a supplementary question to do with foreign currency. The Mid-Term Review Monetary Statement meant to meet the needs of SMEs. However, access to foreign currency allocations from banks is a big problem. Even the priority lists are not being followed. What is Government doing to make sure that SMEs, especially women have access to foreign currency allocations from banks so that they are able to replenish their stocks since they are the major drivers of this
economy?
HON. E. MNANGAGWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am in total agreement with the questioner. That is the thrust we would want to achieve. How much of it we have achieved, it is a question of the availability of resources to meet the objectives which you have identified as useful to the growth of the economy. I thank you.
*HON. CHIDHAKWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. The workers, especially civil servants have problems of accumulation of debts because they are not receiving their salaries on time. They borrowed money from the banks and the banks are adding interest as per agreement. What is the Government policy regarding the payment of civil servants salaries on time so that they can settle their bills on time without being affected by interest which is charged by these financial institutions. As I speak, some of the members are about to have their houses attached because of ballooning credits with these financial institutions.
*THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): I want to thank
the Hon. Member for the question. It is Government policy that workers receive their salaries on time because they will have worked for it. At the moment, we have a liquidity crunch in the country and civil servants are not being paid on time. Regarding the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, I have stated that workers should be paid on time. We only have control of what is happening in Government. I am happy that all civil servants are receiving their salaries within a week after month end. We know we have very few people who are disadvantaged but as Government we pay salaries at stated times at least a week after the month has elapsed. We also as Government make enquiries if there are any labour disputes regarding salaries and intervene trying to make harmony in the working industry. As Government, we are proud to say we receive our salaries a week after month end. In the private sector, that is a different set up.
*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am directing my question to the Vice President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa. In the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, we have learners who are failing to raise the exam fee which is required. As a result, they are now writing a subject per year and accumulating up to six certificates. When they go to apply for enrolment at tertiary institutions, they are told that the institutions want students who have sat their examinations in two sittings not six. Therefore, how can the Government work on this programme to alleviate the problem of these students?
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. E. D.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, let me say this is the first time for me to hear of this problem. I think I would advise the Hon. Member to put the question in writing so that it can be responded to by the relevant Minister.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Hon. Member, may you put your question in writing so that the relevant Minister will respond.
*HON. CHAMISA: I am surprised Mr. Speaker Sir because the Vice President who works hand in hand with the President is answering all questions. He then says he does not know what is going and I wonder how he cannot respond to that question when he is in such a high office.
*VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL
AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. E. D.
MNANGAGWA): What I heard is that Hon. Chamisa is now Vice
President.
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Nduna and
Hon. Mliswa in that order please.
*HON. NDUNA: Thank you. I want to thank … - [HON. MEMBERS: Muri kudzokorora vanhu sei. You keep calling vanhu vari kumberi ikoko munoti hakunawo vanhu here ku back kunoku] – ndinonzi Nduna ka ini.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
HON. RUNGANI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am asking that we extend the question time with 10 more minutes.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It took time coming but came nevertheless. My question goes to the Leader of the House and Vice President Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa. As head of Command Agriculture in Cabinet and in the nation, compared to what we were expecting out of Command Agriculture and also with what we are going to get, is there a variance or we will get what we had budgeted in terms of quantum as it relates to the grain that we are going to get or that we expect to get out from the venture?
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. If
you go through your Order Paper, that question is already on the Order Paper Number 25. So it does not arise at this juncture.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for your guidance.
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you. After Hon. Mliswa we will have Hon. A. Mnangagwa and then Hon. Murai in that order please - [HON. MEMBERS: Inadudible interjections]-. You may go ahead Hon. Mliswa.
*HON. MLISWA: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment. May you please explain the progress regarding the Community Share Ownership
Trust because what is happening in Zvimba, I noticed that the people of Norton who are supposed to benefit from ZIMPLATS are not benefiting and the only people who are benefiting are the people of Zvimba. My question is, why should we have people from outside benefiting and yet those in the mine vicinity whose resources are being exploited are not benefiting.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT,
INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT (HON. TONGOFA):
I thank the Hon. Member for such a pertinent question Hon. Mliswa. The Government Policy regarding Community Share Ownership Trusts is that the people who are within the vicinity of the resources being exploited especially the district, are the people who are supposed to benefit from the exploitation of their natural resources. They should be specifically getting something from the companies investing in their area and what you are saying is surprising to me. We do not discriminate people in that area and benefit people outside that jurisdiction.
*HON. MLISWA: This question is pertinent. The Deputy Minister said those within the district should benefit. ZIMPLATS is under Chegutu and Zvimba is an independent district hence I am saying why Zvimba should benefit yet the people of Norton where ZIMPLATS is resident were not benefiting? My contention is Zvimba and Chegutu have two administrative districts. Chegutu is an independent district just as Zvimba is and I repeat, why should Zvimba benefit at the expense of Norton?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT,
INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT (HON. TONGOFA):
Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and please, may I advise the Hon. Member that the Government policy is that, the people who live within the vicinity should benefit. But when it comes to the implementation of the programme, there is a team which includes the area traditional chiefs who should decide on which areas should benefit. I think what I may best advise the Hon. Member is that, Hon. Mliswa, put your question in writing. Then we will carry out our own investigations and respond accordingly.
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. A. Mnagwagwa.
HON. ZWIZWAI: Mungabvumidza munhu one chete Mr.
Speaker kuti abvunze mubvunzo?
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The Minister said put
the question in writing.
HON. ZWIZWAI: It is a supplementary.
THE HON. TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No it does not arise. HON. ZWIZWAI: Haaa, totadza kubvunza supplementary?
*HON. A. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am
directing my question to the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality
Industry and I am saying, we are in the contest for the World Tourism Organisation Presidency and we want to get that position. How far are we in this race? Give us a briefing regarding how we are progressing.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. NDHLOVU): Thank you Hon.
Member for asking such an important question. If Zimbabwe is going to be successfully elected into the hierarchy of world tourism, definitely we are going to benefit. Actually, we are very glad to inform you that there is very stiff competition for that position being contested by seven people of which two of them are from Africa. But talking of Africa, the Zimbabwean candidate was being supported by most of the State
Presidents in Africa and this was shown in Kigali, Rwanda though because this position is very powerful, we have some people going behind the back of African leaders saying they also want to contest.
In December we got people from Seychelles who submitted their own candidate and are trying to arm twist Zimbabwe out of this but as
Zimbabweans, we are a people who are hard working and very creative. When we set our mind on a certain aspect, we definitely see it through and we are campaigning to the other countries with the right to vote. We have got thirty three countries in the Executive Council who are going to vote and, they also form part of the UN tourism board. Therefore, I am asking all the people of Zimbabwe to support their candidate. Cognisant that His Excellency always talks about the reform of the United Nations. We are saying as Africa, we need to have more seats in the United Nations. The World Tourism Organisation is one of the organisations of the United Nations. Let me look at the benefit of winning this seat. We will benefit more because there will be more tourists coming not only to
Zimbabwe but the region.
Our candidate, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon. Mzembi is always talking about the improvement of the number of tourists into the country. What is happening at the moment is, globally we are just getting a fraction of what we should be getting in terms of tourists coming into the country. We believe when we have taken up that seat, we will have more jobs in the country. I thank you.
*HON. MURAI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. We are being told about what is happening on this world tourism position. It is showing that as you are progressing the campaign for this position is getting to be very stiff. I am suggesting that since we have our colleagues who have the NIKUV system, may we please ask them to intervene and give us the technology so that we win this position at all costs – [Laughter.] -
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE ACTING
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
HON. MAONDERA: I have a point of order Mr. Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MAONDERA: My point of order Mr. Speaker is to request the Minister of Energy and Power Development to give us a Ministerial Statement regarding the issue of pre-paid meters. A lot of residents are being duped of their hard earned cash and since they installed pre-paid meters in various areas, they did not finish, particularly in Glen Norah, Kuwadzana, Highfield and Glenview. So, we are having a challenge because residents are in darkness as to when ZESA is going to resume that programme and when it is going to end.
There is a lot of corruption going on and people’s hard earned cash is being stolen. So, we request a Ministerial Statement if possible so that we can interrogate the issues.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUZENDA): Thank you Hon. Speaker.
The Statement will be prepared so that everybody understands where we are and that they are not conned by some people. Thank you very much.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE INSTALLATION OF COMMUNICATION BOOSTERS IN
MWENEZI WEST CONSTITUENCY
- HON. L. MOYO asked the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to state when communication boosters (Econet) would be installed in Mwenezi West Constituency since the request was made in Parliament in 2013.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON.
MANDIWANZIRA): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Moyo for the question. I obviously would like to say that operators in this sector are facing huge challenges in terms of deploying base stations and boosters across the country.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has a total of eight boosters in
Mwenezi West Constituency with the last to be constructed being Mwenezana site in October, 2013. Econet indicated that since that time to date, they did not manage to construct additional boosters and they do not have any plans to do so due to resource constraints.
Telecel has two boosters in the constituency and of the two, the one in Rutenga was upgraded to 3G in 2013. There are plans to upgrade the Mwenezana site in 2018.
NetOne is also cognisant of the challenges being faced by Mwenezi West residents on network availability. Against this background, plans are underway to ensure that the situation improves this year. A total of seven sites have been earmarked for network deployment in 2017. The areas that are under consideration are: Maranda, Sarauro, Mwenezana, Lundi, Matibi Mission, Alko and Mwenezi Centre.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority (POTRAZ), the regulator who administers the Universal Services Fund (USF), which is used to service underserviced rural areas indicated that the constituency has not yet benefited from the fund. POTRAZ, however indicated that once the major project of rolling out the communication boosters to all the underserviced areas is approved,
Mwenezi West constituency will benefit.
In summary therefore, there is a total of ten mobile communication boosters in Mwenezi West Constituency, eight for Econet and two for Telecel. An additional seven boosters for NetOne are planned for this year. Therefore, by the end of this year, people in Mwenezi West
Constituency will have a choice to use any of Zimbabwe’s three networks though connectivity will remain intermittent because of the sparse population of the boosters that will still exist by year end. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My supplementary
question to the Minister is, do you not think it is a good idea to start developing an infrastructure master plan upon which you will then bench-mark progress in a time sensitive manner to say by such and such a year, you are going to be having infrastructure of this nature or that character in a particular area, so that citizens are able to follow the progress particularly in the rural areas. Correspondingly linked to that, are you also not considering the introduction of national roaming, meaning to say that citizens are able to roam from one network onto another, for example from Telecel to Econet; so that we do not have unnecessary duplication and multiplicity of boosters and competition of infrastructure in unnecessary fashion.
HON. NDUNA: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I am not going to rise again on a supplementary question because he has taken the words out of my mouth. The issue is about local roaming...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Nduna. There
was no need of you saying that.
HON. MANDIWANZIRA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank Hon. Chamisa for a very important question. The short answer to his question is that we are considering a national roll-out plan. The second part of his question is, when are we going to introduce national roaming. We have already introduced the infrastructure sharing regulations. Therefore, it is now up to the operators themselves to discuss these roaming arrangements. We believe that it is important that service is introduced because it saves money and deployment of infrastructure because it means that you are not passing on any particular cost to the consumers.
In line with that also, we have instructed that number portability be introduced before the end of this year. This has been on the cards for the last three years. To explain to Hon. Members what this means – number portability is that you should, as a subscriber to a mobile network, be able to choose to migrate from your current network to another network with your current number. If you are on NetOne or on Econet and you want to go and enjoy NetOne services or vis-a-vis, you should be able to take your number. The 0712 must work on Econet and the 0772 must work on NetOne. That is what is number portability. We have directed that before the end of this year, it be introduced to help consumers seek better services.
We realised that one of the major reasons why people get stuck with a service that is poor is that they do not want to lose the number that they have had for a long time. It undermines their business and their contacts. We believe number portability must be introduced before the end of the year and that instruction has gone out. I thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir.
ELECTRIFICATION OF KACHIVA PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
SCHOOLS
- HON. KWARAMBA asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to explain to the House why Kachiva Primary
School and Kachiva Secondary School in the Hurungwe Constituency, Mashonaland West are still not yet electrified despite the fact that the necessary tubing was done in 2002.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Kwaramba for the question. Mr. Speaker sir, Kachiva Primary School was electrified in 2011. Some houses are actually connected and ZESA is from time to time attending to faults in the complex. Those houses that are still not connected are due to the fact that the customers have not yet paid their connection fees. Kachiva Secondary School, on the other hand, is not yet electrified. At the time the primary school was connected, the structures for the secondary school had not yet been put up and the secondary school was using the facilities from the primary school. The secondary school later put up its own structures and according to the rural electrification programme, the secondary school which is just 400 metres away from the existing grid will be electrified in 2018, resources permitting.
Hon. Members may wish to know that it has now become very common for customers, inclusive of institutions to remain without electricity years after the grid has been erected, resulting in infrastructure redundancy. This is normally result of lack of financial capacity to fund internal wiring and pay connection fees. To get around this problem, ZESA is with effect from 1st March 2017 expected to implement a policy position whereby they capitalise the cost of connection for the institutions. After connection, ZESA will recover their costs as the consumers do their electricity top up under the prepayment platform. The institutions are however still expected to do the internal wiring.
HON. KHUPE: The Honourable asked about a primary school and a secondary school and the Minister is talking about houses that have been electrified and not classrooms. Mr. Speaker Sir, education is the greatest vaccination against poverty and children can only get out of poverty if they are well educated. If the environment in a school is not conducive, especially where there is no electricity, you do not expect children to perform well. I would like to know, 15 years down the line, why these schools have not been electrified when tubing has already been done.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Minister, before
you stand up, apparently this school is in my constituency and it was electrified long back. I do not see why this question is on her.
PLANS TO AMELIORATE ELECTRICITY CHALLENGES IN
PARTS OF CHITUNGWIZA
- HON. MUSUNDIRE asked the Minister Energy and Power Development to inform the House, what plans the Ministry has to ameliorate the challenges in some parts of Unit J in Chitungwiza which have been without electricity for over four months despite the fact that some individuals from ZESA have been moving around collecting money from residents and claiming that such payments would go towards the repairing of the transformer.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. Unit J lost a 200KVA transformer in December 2016. Power was fully restored on Friday 24th February 2017. The delay in power restoration was due to the critical shortage of transformers owing to increased faults caused by theft and vandalism as well as thunderstorms.
Transformer repairs are the responsibility of ZETDC through its sister company ZESA Enterprises. However, some criminal elements have been taking advantage of vulnerable clients to collect money purportedly for transformer repairs. Residents should approach customer service centres when in doubt for an official position. I would want to emphasise that consumers should desist from entertaining unscrupulous elements who are ripping off customers of their hard earned cash in the name of representing ZESA.
HON. SITHOLE: My supplementary question is on intervention mechanisms that the Ministry has put in place to ensure that these transformers which are being vandalised almost on a daily basis in Chitungwiza does not recur. What security measures do they put around those transformers because most of the transformers are left unattended? There is no security guard or security system to guard those transformers. So, on a daily basis, they are being vandalised yet they are very expensive to replace.
HON. MUZENDA: Whilst I appreciate that ZESA should be
providing security for the transformers, it is important that we should try also to educate our constituents about the importance of transformers and how expensive they are to replace. Since there are quite a number of transformers, it becomes very expensive for ZESA to provide security, hence people should also help the enterprise by conscientising the users.
MONEY OWED TO ZESA
- HON. CHIRISA asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House on:
(a) What the Ministry is doing to assist ZESA recover the more than one billion dollars that it is owed by consumers, especially Government Ministries and departments.
(b)What the impact of non-payment by consumers to ZESA which
has to service its external debt of imported electricity is.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): The Ministry is
engaging Government Ministries to arrange for the off-setting of ZESA debt with its obligations to Government departments and institutions. In addition, inter-ministerial interventions are being employed to collect debts of private entities under various Ministries such as Mines and Industry.
The non-payment by consumers has resulted in ZESA failing to service its external debt for power imports of up to 400 MW. The external debt currently stands at $77 million. There is a risk of curtailment of imports from HCB and Eskom that may lead to loadshedding. ZPC is owed $741 million for local power purchases and this is resulting in low coal stocks as winter approaches. The non-payment is also negatively affecting the smooth flow of operations and provision of service delivery. ZESA is owed over $1 billion despite the measures being taken to recover that debt to its suppliers and it is also facing cashflow challenges.
HON. CHIRISA: Thank you for your response Deputy Minister. However, I still want to know how long this debt has been carried over and the impact on the mega project by ZESA.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: The debt was there when I joined the Ministry so, I do not know how long that debt has been outstanding. It is impacting heavily on the repayment as I indicated in my response that the import bill as of last week is standing at $77 million. So you can see that it really is heavy but the Ministry and ZESA itself are trying their level best to recover the debt through inter-ministerial arrangements.
When it comes to Parastatals, we are trying to engage the parent
Ministries, for example, in the case of the Hwange debt, we go to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce so they can at least try and persuade their parastatal to make some payments but it is not easy going.
HARMONISATION OF THE MARRIAGE LAWS BILL
- HON. MUSVAIRE asked the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to inform the House when the Ministry would bring before Parliament the proposed Bill on Harmonization of Marriage
Laws.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Marriages Act and the Customary Marriages Act are among the pieces of legislation which were identified as requiring alignment to the Constitution. Some of the provisions in these Acts are incongruent with the Supreme law of the land and thus need to be aligned thereto. Such issues as the abolition of child marriages in whatever form and the equitable distribution of matrimonial property upon divorce or separation of spouses, amongst other issues, is the subject matter to be considered in aligning these Acts. The two Acts will be harmonised under one Marriages Act.
At present, the Memorandum of Principles of the Marriage Bill has been prepared and will be presented before Cabinet for approval. If the principles are approved, the drafting and consultative processes will follow before the Bill is presented to Parliament. It is important to note that the Marriages Bill is one of the legislation which formed part of the legislative agenda as presented by His Excellency, Cde. R. G. Mugabe when he officially opened the current Parliamentary session in October 2016. As soon as the consultative and drafting stages are completed, the Bill will be brought before this honourable House. We are hopeful that this will be done during the current Parliamentary Session. Some of the proposed amendments to the marriage regime particularly, the outlawing of child marriages will be dealt with under the General Laws Amendment Bill. Drafting of these provisions is almost complete and these will be contained under the General Laws
Amendment Bill. I thank you.
DECENTRALISATION OF PRODUCTION OF PASSPORTS TO
DISTRICT OFFICES
- HON. CHITURA asked the Minister of Home Affairs to inform the House, whether the Ministry has any plans to decentralise the production of passports to district offices.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. O.
MGUNI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. According to the international
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards which come under the United Nations, the production of passports should be in a centralised and well secure area. In Zimbabwe, we have decentralised the passports to the provincial capitals and it is only one provincial capital which is Lupane. However, the offices and systems have been put in place but, the staff has not yet gone there and the Department of Public Works is still sorting out their accommodation. We may not decentralise more than that to the district due to the security that is required from UN and I have seen that some provincial capitals are very far from each other. We have made arrangements that the nearest provincial capital, for example, Gokwe North, the nearest place is Gweru which is Midlands. So, Gweru can accept the passport applications from Gokwe North. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
ACCESSING OF PENSION FUNDS
- HON. CHITURA asked the Minister of Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare, to inform the House how long it takes to access pension funds after one has retired.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Thank
you Mr. Speaker Sir. The lead time for processing and paying of pension benefits after a member has retired is two months. We are unable to pay pension benefits on time because we are faced with the challenges of limited financial resources. To mitigate the negative effects of limited financial resources on our pensioners, we are making sure that one is paid his/her monthly pensions within two months of retirement. A lump sum payment is paid approximately one year after retirement.
However, as a Ministry, we are working with Treasury to ensure that the lump sum is paid on time, preferably a month or two after retirement. The current delay is undesirable. I thank you.
REENGAGEMENT OF RETRENCHED WORKERS
- HON. CHIRISA asked the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to explain to the House whether in view of the anticipated bumper harvest Grain Marketing Board would reengage all the more than 1 200 workers who were retrenched and if not what criteria would be used and which skills would Grain Marketing Board consider from such people.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I want
to thank the Hon. Member for raising the question. Hon. Member, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) may reengage some of its employees with grain handling and storage skills. The selection criteria will be guided by its recruitment procedures. Thank you.
HON. CHIRISA: Thank you Minister for the response but Mr. Speaker Sir, I just want to know – we know that there were over 1 000 workers retrenched and they are picking these skilled ones only. What are they going to do about the remainder who are also struggling at the moment? Thank you.
HON. DR. MADE: I think that the Hon. Member needs to understand that, when an institution retrenches, the workers would have received benefits but it is also understood that, in granting the permit to retrench, it is as a result of, generally speaking, down sizing business. So, as and when the business comes back to life, it does not mean that only skilled workers - no, it can also mean human resources, administration and those in the finance side, that, the Grain Marketing Board will examine as the need arises.
Some workers may have alreadyfound something else to do but on the skills side, when we are talking of grain storage, it is not just a question of just putting bags there. There are actually skills to put up those stacks – the straining that is related to that even in human resources, in administration, maybe GMB used to train its people if they are experienced people who went out maybe without any crime or something like that, certainly, the institution will consider that as and when the development comes. It is not only GMB but it is all agro related entities and institutions and even companies. So, that will be looked at as the issue of resuscitation of the economy and in particular agriculture takes place. Thank you.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES IN GRAIN MARKETING BOARD
(G.M.B)
- HON. CHIRISA asked the Minister of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to explain to the House whether in view of the fact that there are plans to fund agricultural activities in Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and reviving CSC in Bulawayo, Marondera, Kadoma and other areas using NSSA contributions by workers, there are any plans for a NSSA housing scheme for the workers who are the major contributors to the fund.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Mr.
Speaker, unfortunately on this question, there are portions that relate to NSSA that the Hon. Member might wish to refer to NSSA, in particular the NSSA housing scheme for the workers. I think if the construction of that question could be separated.
On the issue of the Grain Marketing Board, we have no plans of carrying out GMB using NSSA funds. We have not applied for that. As regards the CSC, I have already indicated that NSSA has taken the option to invest along with others in the Cold Storage Company. This will also help our livestock areas which is also very important.
I also need just to add for the Hon. Member that remember, NSSA also invested in the fertiliser companies that support agriculture in general with fertilisers. I want to thank the Hon. Member for raising these questions. Thank you.
HON. CHIRISA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I just wanted to find out whether the Deputy Minister can answer the last part of the question or I have to put it in writing again.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADE): With your
permission Mr. Speaker, yes, the Hon. Member can put that part of the question in writing.
WRITTEN SUBMISSION TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
PLANS TO REDUCE ELECTRICITY TARIFFS IN SUPPORT OF
IRRIGATION SCHEMES
- HON. A. MNANGAGWA asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House whether the Ministry has any plans to reduce electricity tariffs in support of irrigation schemes for winter cropping in view of the fact that the country has received a lot of rainfall for 2016 / 2017 farming season which is expected to yield a bumper harvest.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): ZESA supports the
Command Agriculture and Winter Wheat programmes. The utility has made arrangements to import power from HCB and Eskom to ensure that there are adequate power supplies during the winter season and hence support irrigation. However, the cost of supplying this power to the farmers leaves no room for a tariff reduction. The tariff is already below cost of supply. The Ministry has, through the Command Agriculture programme, requested that electricity for winter wheat should be funded as part of the other inputs such as seed, fertilizer and chemicals with such costs being repaid after harvesting.
On the motion of HON. MATUKE seconded by HON. DZIVA, the House adjourned at Twenty-Three Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 28th March, 2017
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
INVITATION TO A CATHOLIC CHURCH SERVICE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the House that there will be a Catholic Service tomorrow, Wednesday, 29th March,
2017 at 1145 hours in the Senate Chamber. All members who are Catholic and non-Catholic are invited.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC ASSETS
BILL [H.B. 5A, 2016]
First Order read: Consideration: Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Bill [H.B. 5A, 2016].
Amendments to Clauses 2, 29 and 99 put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC ASSETS
BILL [H.B. 5A, 2016]
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move
that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
SECOND READING
NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS COMMISSION BILL [H. B.
6, 2016]
Second Order read: Second Reading: National Competitiveness
Commission Bill [H. B. 6, 2016].
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE VICE PRESIDENT’S
OFFICE (HON. C. C. SIBANDA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
SECOND READING
DEEDS REGISTRIES AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 3, 2016]
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE VICE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE (HON. C. C. SIBANDA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Government of Zimbabwe remains devoted to eliminating the problems involved in doing business in Zimbabwe. The anticipated advancement in the economy and investments would be sustained if we have a favourable working environment. There are quite a number of obstacles that are involved when one wants to set up a business in Zimbabwe. After realisation of the stagnation in business growth, the Ease of Doing Business Project was launched. As a country, we evaluated means of improving on our commercial laws and regulations and their enforcement. In a world that is fast globalising, many of our transactions are not being done electronically thereby making it relatively unfavourable for business to be conducted only through paper records. That is why this Bill seeks to amend the Deeds Registry Act so that registration of property is done electronically and an electronic database is created to promote economic growth, both locally and internationally. The effect of these changes is to ensure that business is promoted by the expedited registration period and electronic database, thereby making savings on both money and time.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am sure that everyone is affected by the aforementioned challenges which significantly contribute to corruption in Zimbabwe. The unavailability of electronic access to the Deeds
Registry’s Offices also contributes to delays in export time and reduces exports. The unavailability of access to the Registry’s Offices is of great concern as we are in an era of globalisation and digitalisation. It is, therefore, fundamental to ensure that there is smooth transfer of titles and registration of properties to reduce the cost of doing business among other benefits.
Mr. Speaker Sir, at this juncture, I would like to highlight the contents of the Bill before Honourable Members.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Clause 2 seeks to amend section 78 of the principal Act so as to restrict the execution of powers of attorney only to those witnessed and signed by a legal practitioner, notary public or justice of the peace and the signature of such legal practitioner.
Attestations of such powers by “competent witnesses” or commissioners of oaths will no longer be competent for deeds registry purposes. This new mandatory provision of having a legal practitioner, notary public or justice of the peace attest to approve of the power of attorney is due to the high increase of fraudulent transfers of immovable property based on fake powers of attorney. This new requirement will protect the public from fraudsters who intend to swindle innocent victims.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Clauses 3 and 4 further seeks to permit the digitalisation of the deeds registry and eventual establishment of an electronic deeds registry which will supplement the paper based one, thereby greatly expediting and facilitating deeds registry administration. Access to the electronic registry for the purposes of information gathering and conveyancing work or notarial practice will be subject to certain safeguards against fraud, violations of privacy and other abuses.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, our whispers are too loud please.
Hon. Minister if you can carry on.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE VICE PRESIDENT’S
OFFICE (HON. C. C. SIBANDA): The Clause will not limit the Deeds
Registry Office to Harare and Bulawayo only but will allow for a centralised electronic database. The Bill will also allow maintenance of the Register to be extended to provide online services which is the new trend in business and allows users not to be physically present at the
Registrar’s Office, thereby saving and promoting businesses in Zimbabwe. Hon. Members will note that this amendment Bill has addressed the core issues to facilitate ease of doing business in
Zimbabwe in terms of the Registrar’s Office. The role of the Registrar is expediting the registration and inspection of properties. Registration is fundamental in promoting business in our country. It is high time that we move from paper based systems that are long winding, difficult to access and confined to a specific geographic location. We need to embrace technology and use it as a necessary tool to promote business and attract investors by eliminating obstacles that lengthen the process of registration.
I therefore commend the Deeds Registry Amendment Bill of 2016, to the House and move that the Bill be now read a second time.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I shall not call for a debate because the Portfolio Committee on Justice needs to table their report before we can open the debate to everyone else.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN VICE PRESIDENT HON.
MNANGAGWA’S OFFICE (HON. C. C. SIBANDA): I move that
the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
SECOND READING
JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING
COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) BILL [H.B. 4, 2016]
Fourth Order read: Second Reading: Judicial Laws Amendment BillAmendment (Ease of Settling Commercial and Other Disputes) Bill [H. B. 4, 2016].
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN VICE PRESIDENT HON.
MNANGAGWA’S OFFICE (HON. C. C. SIBANDA): Mr. Speaker Sir, our Government remains committed to removing the difficulties involved in doing business in Zimbabwe. The desired growth in the economy and investment would be sustained if we have an enabling environment. Rigorous business hurdles for setting up and running a business, limited access to credit, limited legal enforcement of business contracts are just but to mention a few challenges we face in Zimbabwe and across Africa. The ease of doing business project is centred on how as a nation we can improve our commercial laws and regulations as well as their enforcement so that we improve economically in the region. Its objective is to eliminate the unnecessary cost and other policy inconsistencies affecting business. Business regulation and enforcement plays a pivotal role in the fulfilling of ZIM ASSET as it contributes towards economic growth. That is why this Bill seeks to amend the
High Court Act, the Magistrates’ Courts Act and the Small Claims Courts Act so that disputes of a commercial nature are dealt with expeditiously in our courts. It will expedite justice delivery and promote access to justice.
Hon. Members might be aware of our considerable efforts to get rid of stringent business regulations which hinder economic growth, causing unemployment and corruption. This also leads to delays in export time and reduces exports. Court regulations that result in delays in dispute resolution weaken the enforceability of contracts, increase corruption and are associated with inconsistency and unfairness of dispute resolution. Justice delayed is justice denied. A competent court system capable of enforcing business contracts and ensuring a smooth transfer of titles in the event of sale or purchase of property reduces the cost of doing business. Mr. Speaker Sir, this now brings me to the contents of the Bill before Hon. Members.
Clause 3 and 8 seek to introduce ‘virtual sittings’ in our court system. This will enable provision to be made by rules of court for
‘virtual sittings” of the Court at which all or any of the parties to a civil suit may (by mutual agreement) participate in sittings of the court by electronic means. The virtual sitting will enable court proceedings to take place especially in places where parties involved are outside the country, in hospital or have failed to attend court due to other commitments. Virtual sittings consist of the judges of the High Court or in matters heard at the Magistrates Court, magistrates, sitting in court or in chambers communicating with all parties. The communication is by the use of any electronic or other means of communication by which all the parties to the proceedings at the sitting can hear and be heard at the same time without being physically present together. Some business previously confined to the civil courts will qualify to be heard by superior judicial offices via telephone and video conferencing.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the parties involved in the suit must consent to the hearing of the case by means of a virtual sitting. The Bill states that the High Court rules of court for virtual sittings apply only to civil proceedings and not criminal proceedings. The Bill does acknowledge the possibility that the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act may under exceptional and specific circumstances, allow the use of virtual sittings in criminal hearings. In its current form, the Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Act does not make provision for virtual hearings. This will assist in speedy resolution of commercial disputes between parties electronically, without them being necessarily present in court.
Mr. Speaker sir, Clauses 2 and 5 of the Bill provides for the creation of divisions in the High Court for specific purposes. The judiciary is set for reformation through specialised extensions of the
High Court. This is in line with the Constitution as provided for under Section 171 (3) which stipulates that a law may be made to provide for the High Court to be divided into specialised divisions but every such division must be able to exercise the general jurisdiction of the High Court in any matter that is brought before it.
The High Court will be given some powers to create divisions through a Statutory Instrument where necessary, in this instance the Commercial Division. From time to time, the High Court may create divisions to speed resolution of disputes. This is a positive measure as it will go a long way in breaking the perception that commercial litigation in the country is frustratingly slow while the costs are far too burdensome. The amendment will assist in the fast, efficient and high quality dispute resolution of disputes and claims of a commercial nature.
Cases will be heard by judges with suitable expertise and experience.
The Chief Justice, after consultation with the Judge President, can now cause the creation of a specialised division of the High Court in accordance with Section 171 (3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe by notice in the Government Gazette. The Chief Justice shall specify the name of the division of the High Court concerned; and define or give a statement of the scope or nature of the division’s jurisdiction and if necessary or expedient, specify the places and times at which the division shall sit. Specialised divisions of the High Court may be created to specialise in the adjudication of cases in the field of commercial law, family law, mining law, electoral law, revenue law, the law of the deceased and insolvent estates or any other specialised field of law.
Other specialised divisions will include the Fiscal Appeal Court and the Intellectual Property Tribunal. The rules of court applicable to the High Court shall apply to all divisional courts. The Judge President shall assign at least two judges of the High Court to be judges of a specialised division of the High Court for such period as the Judge
President shall specify. This is the practice in other jurisdictions such as Ireland, Tanzania and Britain just to mention a few. Cases are determined in a manner which is just expeditious and likely to minimise the costs of those proceedings.
Mr. Speaker sir, Clauses 4 and 9 introduce an electronic service of litigation in Zimbabwe to enable rules to be made for such matters as the electronic service of process. These proposed amendments will apply equally to the High court as well as the Magistrates’ Court. This move will transmute the current paper-based court processes by moving towards computer-based technology. In a bid to expedite court processes, the Bill seeks to allow for:
- the service of process, for example summons and court applications by electronic means;
- the authentication of documents by electronic means, whether executed inside or outside Zimbabwe; and
- the digitasation of the records filed or lodged with the Registra and the conditions of access thereto or for the copying thereof for the purpose of any judicial proceedings.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Clause 5 of the Bill will amend the interpretation section of the Magistrates’ Court Act, Chapter 7:10 by adding definitions of business, commercial court and commercial dispute for the avoidance of doubt and the closure of any loopholes when disputes of a commercial nature arise. This will also ensure speedy conclusion of disputes as there will be no need to battle on interpretations of what constitutes a commercial dispute. This has been done for clarity.
Clause 10 of the Bill addresses the decentralisation of the Small
Claims Court. The recent decentralisation of the small claims through Statutory Instrument 34 of 2016 has also played a significant role in making the country conducive for business. Every Magistrate Court in
Zimbabwe can now sit as a Small Claims Court. This means that Small Claims Courts are now in every province countrywide and in every district where a Magistrate Court can be found. Instead of forking out fares travelling to and from provincial towns for the small claims, upcoming business people can now walk to their nearest Magistrates’ Court for justice.
The definition of person has been extended to juristic persons to allow corporate entities to follow up on their debtors. Formally, they had no locus standing in the small claims court. Artificial personality, juridical personality or juristic personality is the characteristic of a nonliving entity regarded by law to have the status of personhood. Statutory Instrument 34 of 2016 has also increased the jurisdictions of the Small Claims Courts from $250 to $1000. This was done in order to decongest the Magistrates’ Courts in order to facilitate speedy resolution of
disputes.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Clause 11 of the Bill seeks to afford parties in a dispute the right to legal representation in the Small Claims Court which was previously non-existent in such courts. Lawyers are now allowed to represent clients in the Small Claims Court in line with the constitutional provision as stipulated under Section 69(1). However, the tariffs should be governed by the Minister responsible and party to party costs cannot be claimed. The right to legal representation is generally regarded as a constituent of the right to a fair trial. Legal representation is an important tool or means of enforcing one’s rights. As a minimum, the right to a fair trial includes, the right to be heard within a reasonable time, the right to counsel and the right to a public hearing just to mention a few. This right is also protected under the Universal Declaration to Human Rights (article 10), International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR (article 14), African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, ACHPR (articles 3, 7, 26).
Clause 12 of the Bill seeks to shorten the period within which small claims court proceedings may be initiated for speedy conclusion. Currently, for one to commence action in the small claims court, the plaintiff must deliver personally or through registered post, a letter of demand to respond within 14 days. If the defendant fails to respond to the claim within the 14 day period, the plaintiff must request the clerk of the Small Claims Court to issue summons which again must be responded to within the 14 day period. Hon. Members, the amendment which Clause 11 seeks to introduce has an effect of reducing the 14 day period to seven days for ease of doing business. This again is a positive move in providing speedy conclusion of disputes of commercial nature by reducing the time period of institution of actions in the Small Claims Court.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon. Members will note that this amendment Bill has addressed quite a number of issues to facilitate ease of doing business in Zimbabwe. The role of the Judiciary in dealing with insolvency and resolution of other disputes is of considerable importance. There is a significant relationship between the positive and negative between court efficiency in handling debt contracts and total credit. There is also a correlation between procedural formalism of the court system and the duration of resolution. Courts are essential for entrepreneurs because they interpret the rules of the market and protect economic rights. Efficient and transparent courts of law encourage new business relationships.
I therefore commend the Judicial Laws Amendment Bill of 2016 to the House and move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, if I could
crave the indulgence of the House to move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 5 to 45 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 46 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. CHAMISA: I have a point of order.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: You may go ahead.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much. I did not rise to object to the expediency of dealing with Order Number 46 but my reason for being on my feet is just to seek clarification before the Minister assumes the platform, particularly in the context of the myriad of challenges and problems we are facing in the country when it comes to the queues that are in the banks. We have been waiting for the Minister. If he may also favour us with whether or not he is going to issue a Ministerial
Statement on the important issue of availability of cash in the banks.
Hon. Speaker, it is very important. I know it is not directly related to this matter but now that we have the Minister and we have given him the indulgence in allowing him to skip all the other motions. Is he also as a quid pro quo and an alternative favour to Parliament, is he going to favour the nation with a statement on the circumstances around the bond notes, their effectiveness or lack thereof and what is being done by Government? I think we have gone into almost 100 days after the introduction of the bond notes. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Yes, I will do so. I will favour the House with a Ministerial Statement sometime next week. I am not going to be in the country from tomorrow until Saturday. So, I will do so next week.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING SPEAKER
ZANU PF CAUCUS MEETING
THE ACTING SPEAKER: ZANU PF Members of Parliament,
there will be a Caucus meeting for ZANU PF Members of Parliament on Wednesday, 29th March, 2017 at the ZANU PF Headquarters at 1000 hours. You will be advised of the agenda. Please attend and be punctual. Thank you.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE ON
THE ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL
ON THE 2013 APPROPRIATION FUND AND STATE
ENTERPRISES AND PARASTATALS ACCOUNTS
Forty-Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Analysis of the findings of the Auditor-General on the 2013 Appropriation Funds and State Enterprises and Parastatals Accounts.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me
to express my sincere apologies to the august House for the time it has taken me to respond to this report that was presented in March, 2016; as well as the other issues that were raised by the august House for my attention. Let me further assure the House that I will, going forward, endeavour to submit timely responses to issues raised by the House. For ease of reference, in my response, I will deal with each of the issues raised by the Committee. I refer to the Committee’s recommendations and also the action taken by the Executive.
Issue of concern to the Committee | Committee recommendation | Response | |
1. | Financial Misconduct | Treasury should by the end of June 2016, come up with regulations providing specifically for various acts of financial misconduct. | As indicated in my reponse to the Third public Accounts Report on the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development, the Public Finance Management Regulations are currently being finalised and will be available to the AuditorGeneral for comment during the first quarter of 2017. |
2. | Appointment of Boards and
Senior Management of SEPs and declarations of Assets by SEPs Board Members. |
That the Executive should, where applicable, constitute Boards and appoint Senior Management to run the affairs of State Enterprises and that all Board Members should declare their assets. | The Executive is finalising a draft corporate Governance Bill for Public Enterprises that will govern the appointment of Board Members and Senior Managers, clarify roles and responsibilities and provide for the declaration of assets by each Public
Enterprise Board Member. The Bill should be presented to Parliament during the first half of 2017 as the drafting is at an advanced stage. I also need to point out that in terms of good corporate governance, Ministers and the Executive should not appoint management. Management appointments should be the responsibility of Board Members. |
3. | Appointment of Audit Committees | All Accounting Officers must appoint Audit Committees by June 2016 in order to comply with
Section 84 of the Public Finance |
While the process has taken longer than anticipated, given the requirement to consider conditions of service for Audit |
Management (PFM) Act. | Committee Members, the Treasury in January 2017, directed all Accounting Officers to appoint Audit Committees by 31 March 2017.
The framework for these appointments has been resolved and is specified in a letter to all Accounting Officers, headed, “Operationalisation of Public Finance Management Act and Provisions on Establishment of Audit Committees for Government” dated 27 January 2017. |
||
4. | Key Policy Documents | All entities must put in place key policy documents such as IT, Investment and Risk Management Policies by the end of June 2016. | These issues will be adequately addressed in the proposed Governance Bill and will be vigorously pursued when the Bill becomes law. |
5. | Failure to manage Cash and Receivables. | Accounting Officers failing to manage cash and receivables should be dismissed. | While I share the Committee’s concerns and Treasury is doing everything in its power to improve the management of these and other Government resources and assets, each case will be treated on its merits with the dismissal of Accounting Officers possibly being considered by the responsible authority as a last resort after appropriate disciplinary procedures have been fully exhausted.
I may also wish to add that, training of Accounting Officers is imperative and will be pursued as vigorously as motoring of their performance. |
6. | Related party transactions | Related party transactions should be reported on time and failure to do so should be dealt with in terms | I am satisfied that related party transactions are adequately covered in annual reports of Appropriation Accounts and the |
of Section 91 of the PFM Act. | Financial Statements of SEPs, reports that are tabled before this House. Where there are transgressions, these will be fully investigated and appropriate action taken. | ||
7. | Payment of allowances to
Executives and Senior Managers |
All allowances paid to Senior Executives and Managers should be reflected in the payroll. | All emoluments to Executives and Senior Managers are now fully reflected on the payroll. In addition, these as well as payments to Board Members are now subject to appropriate taxation. |
8. | Decentralisation of the procurement function | Government should speed up the
effort to decentralise the Procurement Law |
Government efforts to reform the Procurement Law are at an advanced stage. As you are all aware, the Bill is going through the Parliamentary approval processes. |
9. | Remission of Statutory and Contractual payments | Entities should remit Statutory and
Contractual payments to NSSA, ZIMRA and Medical Aid Institutions |
I agree with the Committee’s recommendations and would advise that, while there are a few
exceptions, remission of Statutory and Contractual obligations to these bodies has improved considerably this report was tabled. We continue to work on trying to ensure total compliance. |
10
. |
Result Based Management | All Ministries and Parastatals should implement RBM | Government is fully committed to implementing the RBM Performance Management System. Within different ministries and parastatals, the level of success and commitment has been varied but we continue to work at it. |
11
. |
Loan Agreements | All loans should have loan agreements | I agree with the Committee’s recommendations and am pleased to advise this House that all loans now have loan agreements and that all
Government guarantees are now |
subject to on-lending agreements between the Government and the ultimate borrower. | |||
12
. |
Strategic plans for all entities | All entities should have strategic plans that are linked to the Results
Based Management System |
I agree with the Committee’s recommendations and advise that the draft Corporate Governance Bill adequately deals with this issue. |
13
. |
Proper segregation of duties, monthly reconciliations, separation of Appropriation and Funds Accounts and timely submission of financial statements and supporting returns | All entities should generate timely returns, carry out regular reconciliations and meet deadlines for the submission of financial statements and supporting documents | I have combined a number of issues of a compliance nature that the Committee raised in their report. I agree with the Committee’s recommendations on compliance, timeliness and the need for disciplinary measures to be taken where there are transgressions. There has been some improvement, achieved mostly through considerable investment in training at the processing as well as the supervisory level. This, however, remains work-inprogress. Where appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken. |
14
. |
Fraudulent activities and abuse or loss of State property | Fraudulent activities and instances of abuse or loss of State property | I agree with the Committee’s recommendations and can assure the House that such incidences are fully investigated and disciplinary action taken. As financial management performance improves through training and experience, I expect the occurrence of these incidences to reduce and cases of prosecution to increase. |
Once again, I apologise for the delay in responding to the
Committee’s report and I am sure that as we go forward, there will be increased improvement in the matter. Thank you very much.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I rise to give an appreciation to the Minister in terms of the good progress that he has indicated and some of the members including myself have seen that the Minister has gone out of his way with the meager resources that the country has in trying to implement and cushion in terms of departments and parastatals. You may recall, Hon. Speaker, you are a member of the Public Accounts Committee, that we have lost millions of resources in parastatals. We appreciate that the Minister is trying his level best in trying to curb the loopholes as indicated in the reports of the Auditor General.
I may not have done justice if I were to sit down without actually paying tribute to the Auditor General and her department who happen to be the real people in terms of the work that the Public Accounts
Committee does and with the reports that they produce. Let me encourage all members of the House to go through the reports of the Auditor General so that they get an appreciation of where we are getting all these issues and concerns. With that, let me thank Hon. Minister Chinamasa for a job well done.
This is team work and this is what we are calling for as Members of Parliament – to hold the Executive to account so that we have some kind of progress and protect our own resources.
With these few words, I move that this House takes note of the
Second Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Analysis of the
Findings of the Auditor-General on the 2013 Appropriations Funds and State Enterprises and Parastatals Accounts.
Motion put and agreed.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that we revert to
Order Number 14.
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT ON
THE ENQUIRY IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY
HON. NDUNA: I move the motion standing in my name that this
House adopts the Second Report of the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development on the inquiry into the Aviation Industry in Zimbabwe.
HON. MAONDERA: I second.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. In the second and third Session, the Committee commenced an enquiry into the operational challenges faced by aviation industry. Pursuant to this, the Committee held oral evidence sessions with the Civil Aviation Authority of
Zimbabwe (CAAZ), Air Zimbabwe Board and Management and National Handling Services. The oral evidence sessions were augmented by site visits to the Harare International Airport and the Victoria Falls
Airport. The enquiry was not only motivated by the Committee’s desire to uphold Section 119 (3) of the Constitution which explicitly spells out our oversight mandate, but also by the Committee’s earnest intention to contribute to the national development agenda in line with Strategic Goal 7 of our Institutional Strategic Plan and the ZIMASSET economic blueprint. The idea was to create value through rejuvenating our flagship carrier, Air Zimbabwe, in particular and the entire aviation industry in general based on the firm belief in the strategic importance of our national airline to the economic revival of Zimbabwe. Air Zimbabwe is, indeed, a strategic unit that can be used by Government in order to grow other sectors. As such, it must not be viewed parochially as a cash cow or as a business entity with the sole mandate to make a profit but rather as an economic driver. To put this into perspective, for example, if an individual flies from Johannesburg to Harare, they are only going to spend USD 300 on airfares which may not translate to much, but they will spend over USD 2 000 when they stay at the Meikles Hotel for a week. Viewed from this perspective, our national airline is thus a major economic driver whose revival we must resolutely fight for.
1.2 The afore-stated enquiries confirmed, regrettably, that though Air Zimbabwe is a strategic national asset which is still very much viable and will, if handled correctly, always be viable, the aviation industry was fraught with both intrinsic and extrinsic challenges. The enquiry into the operations of the CAAZ in particular revealed that the aviation industry requires funding in excess of US$50 million for construction and upgrading of airports infrastructure as well as the modernisation of Air Traffic Control communication systems and air navigation aids. Given such a scenario, it was little wonder then that Zimbabwe continues to maintain such an enviable safety record in the region and beyond in the face of such challenges. The Committee believes that this admirable safety record is attributable to the professionalism and dedication of the foot soldiers- pilots and air traffic controllers- even though the resources are insufficient to the extent that at one time these diligent men and women worked for three years without pay. The Committee thus resolved to extend its enquiry in the Fourth Session to the operational level, to the pilots and air traffic controllers themselves- the men and women responsible for maintaining safe, expeditious and orderly movement of aeroplanes in our skies- to hear from ‘the horse’s mouth’ as it were, the situation obtaining in the industry. This report, therefore, outlines the Committee’s findings in that enquiry.
2.0 Submissions by Air Traffic Controllers
2.1 Prioritisation of non- core activities by CAAZ
The Air Traffic Controllers averred that in spite of the challenge of inadequate resources, the bulk of the resources were being committed to non- priority areas at the expense of core activities. For example, CAAZ financed non-core activities such as Customer Service Celebrations over procurement of standby communication radios. Not celebrating customer service week has no effect on the safety of aircraft whereas loss of communication with aircraft may result in loss of property, lives and stretches the nation’s fiscal space through litigation.
2.2 Expeditious Procurement and Implementation of
Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B).
The Air Traffic Controllers submitted that with ADS-B and SSR operational across the country, pilots in equipped aircraft would have access to services that provide a higher level of safety and efficiency. Aircraft will enjoy more efficient spacing and optimal routing. This will enhance the Air Traffic Controller's awareness of aircraft in the airspace and enables controllers to identify and resolve potentially hazardous situations quickly and effectively. It also improves the ability to perform life-saving search and rescue missions. Air traffic controllers tracking aircraft will have information that is more accurate about last reported positions, helping to take the "search" out of search and rescue, thereby reducing the critical window of time involved in search and rescue operations.
2.3 Outdated, Moribund and Antiquated Equipment
2.3.1 The Air Traffic Controllers stated that if the current situation prevails, the country is not guaranteed of continuous provision of efficient and effective air navigation service. They pointed out that the Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management equipment has outlived its lifespan. The radios breakdown frequently and, in some cases, pilots have to resort to use of cell phones to talk to controllers. Basic equipment like microphones, headsets and handsets are in a sorry state and in short supply. There are no backup communication systems in the event of a breakdown of the equipment.
2.3.2 As a result, aircraft flying in the lower air space are flying with very limited radio contact with Air Traffic Control. This may lead to collision due to lack of traffic information and traffic avoidance advice. Lack of radio surveillance in the lower airspace may also result in security infringement and delayed or no rescue in the case of a crash. A case in point is the helicopter that entered Zimbabwean airspace and crashed in the Gwanda area in 2014.
2.3.3 The Air Traffic Controllers highlighted the following critical issues:
Lack of emergency escape routes for Control Towers at Harare, J.
- Nkomo, Victoria Falls, Kariba, and Charles Prince Airports
- Outdated Aeronautical Charts resulting in pilots using inaccurate data;
- Absence of wind direction and speed indicators at Hwange
National Park airport;
- Absence of a standby generator at Hwange National Park airport resulting in limited VHF radio range when mains power fails; and,
- Unserviceable crash alarm at Victoria Falls Airport
- Refresher Training Programmes for ATC Staff
CAAZ was encouraged by the Committee to prioritise training of
Air Traffic Control personnel in the mainstream of the organisation’s programs. They contended that ATC training programs are afforded minimal funds in favor of non-core activities that include but are not limited to golf tournaments, football tournaments, secretaries’ and office orderlies’ retreats. The Air Traffic Controllers pointed out that there are some officers that were last trained over 20 years ago and have not received any further refresher training since their basic ATC training. Thus, the air traffic controllers are not abreast with modern trends in the industry.
- Implementation of Safety Management Policy
- The Committee called upon CAAZ to implement the Safety
Management Policy in full. They noted, for instance, that in 2010, the nation lost an MA60 aircraft owned by Air Zimbabwe in a runway accident at Harare airport involving warthogs. While wildlife remained a looming threat at airports such as Victoria Falls, Buffalo Range, Hwange and Kariba, the authority had not put in place robust measures to mitigate accidents similar to the one that occurred at Harare airport. They pointed out that simple, inexpensive measures like grass cutting, bush clearance and allocation of vehicles and personnel for the sole purpose of clearing identified wildlife were not being implemented by management. This resulted in aircraft delays and increased workload on the pilots and controllers due to aborted landings and takeoffs.
- In addition, the runway rehabilitation at Harare airport remains incomplete more than a decade after it began. Consequently, a significant stretch along the runway has a rough surface, which has the potential to damage aircraft. Moreover, there is no lighting on the runway centerline and all taxiways. The airfield lighting cannot be switched on/off from the tower and the brilliance cannot be adjusted from the control tower as well. This is particularly important in harsh weather conditions when aircraft on final approach request that lights be turned on or brilliance be increased or decreased at that instant. Coordinating with an electrician with that capability is not instantaneous and usually the aircraft lands without any of the requested action complied with which is very dangerous and exposes the aircraft to risks of bad landings and accidents.
- Submissions by Pilots
It is imperative to highlight that though the oral evidence sessions with pilots and air traffic controllers were held separately and on different days altogether, the striking similarities in their submissions were very revealing, particularly on the need for a secondary surveillance radar and modern state-of-the-art equipment. Over and above the issues raised by air traffic controllers, the pilots also noted the following issues of concern:
- Governance Structure
- Air Zimbabwe had no substantive management for over three years with the Chief Executive Officer holding the post in an acting capacity. This had crippled the CEO’s ability to make substantive policy decisions and created an untenable corporate governance scenario of
‘responsibility without authority.’ The implication of this scenario was that the acting CEO could not make decisions without consulting the parent Ministry thus resulting in inordinate delays in decision- making due to bureaucratic red tape.
- The pilots further submitted that due to the specialised nature of the aviation industry, it would be prudent to appoint board members with a modicum of understanding of the industry as opposed to the prevailing situation wherein ‘professional ignoramuses’ were appointed to the board. In addition, the board members were constantly and consistently chopped and changed at the discretion of the Minister resulting in a dearth of continuity in operations and, ultimately, a disconnect between the Ministry and the airline’s vision.
- Fleet Modernisation
The pilots observed that the economic lifespan of an aircraft is at most 20 years. Beyond that, the aircraft would have exceeded their sellby date resulting in huge maintenance costs. Accordingly, they proposed that new aircraft be purchased to enhance efficiency, attract customers and reduce operational costs.
- Resuscitation of the Harare- London Route
The pilots submitted that the Harare- London route which had been abandoned due to operational challenges, was a latent cash cow which needed to be resuscitated as a matter of urgency. They contended that owing to the huge number of Zimbabweans residing in the diaspora, airlines plying that route such as Ethiopia and Emirates airlines were almost always full to capacity. Re-introducing a direct flight between Harare and London would recapture all those customers who had to endure long transit hours along that route.
- Conditions of Service
- The pilots noted with concern the lack of job security arising from the fact that they did not have proper working contracts but were paid what was termed a “working allowance.” This had resulted in an unbridled brain drain of skilled and experienced pilots and engineers. In addition, there was no visible commitment from management to retain the skilled manpower.
- The underlying frustration from poor working conditions was exacerbated by the apparent lack of engagement at policy level which had resulted in policy decisions which neither protected nor promoted the national airline. For instance, where other airlines are jealously protected by their governments, Zimbabwe had granted licences to new airlines to ply exactly the same routes that Air Zimbabwe plies which was unheard of in the industry. All national airlines are protected by their governments and are given the first right of refusal rather than just putting a direct competitor on the same route.
- Committee’s Findings
The Committee noted the following:
- There was generally low morale among both pilots and air traffic controllers who felt that the importance of their profession was not being given due recognition and support. This was exacerbated by management’s apathetic attitude towards staff welfare issues typified by delayed responses to the concerns of staff.
- While the Committee acknowledged that the purchase of state-of-the-art aviation equipment requires resources, CAAZ and Air Zimbabwe management were not proactive in resolving those issues that do not require huge capital investments such as grass-cutting and bush clearance at airports;
- Sharing of equipment such as microphones and headsets
poses serious health hazards to ATC personnel;
- Air Zimbabwe and CAAZ management have not created sufficient platforms for engagement with operational staff with the result that there is no shared vision of the direction both organisations should take nor are there common values.
- Clearance of the debt to IATA will unlock value for
Zimbabwe by enabling Air Zimbabwe to create strategic partnerships with other airlines.
- Air Zimbabwe’s governance structure should be modeled in a way that enables management to make quick and viable decisions in a short space of time. The rather lengthy consultation chain involving management, the board and the parent Ministry hinders expeditious decision making in this cut-throat industry.
- Recommendations
- Purchase radar and surveillance equipment, radios, headsets, control units and a standby communication system by end of June 2017.
- Training of staff must be inculcated in the broader human resources strategy of CAAZ to ensure that air traffic control personnel are up-to-date with modern trends and developments in the aviation industry by end of June 2017.
- Rehabilitation of the runway at the Harare International
Airport and installation of airfield lighting must be done immediately.
- The air navigation system should be computerised and integrated by end of June 2017.
- Management must create platforms for engagement and consultation with operational staff and provide timeous feedback on staff welfare issues by end of June 2017.
- Government, in the current budget, must prioritise the clearance of the IATA debt to enable Air Zimbabwe to actively pursue strategic partnerships and alliances with other airlines which will facilitate the revival of the national airline through opening up more routes.
- In view of the prevailing challenges, Air Zimbabwe needs to streamline its work force to ensure that it is not overstaffed in the wrong areas and understaffed in critical areas. Critical revenue generating processes must be prioritised in the process by end of June 2017.
- Air Zimbabwe management must explore other previously unexplored lucrative local routes such as Harare-Beitbridge by end of June 2017.
- A representative of pilots and engineers must be drafted as a permanent member of the board to ensure not only that they are represented at the policy making level but also that the board comprises personnel with extensive knowledge of the aviation industry by end of April 2017.
- Government should consider giving Air Zimbabwe the 5% incentive on all tickets sold outside the country by end of April 2017.
HON. CROSS: Mr. Speaker Sir, this report is extremely important and I must say every one of us who are regular fliers must have heard this report with a great deal of concern. Flying an aircraft in the skies is not an amateur’s job. This is a task that has to be conducted by experts and has to be managed properly or else it puts at risk everybody who does so. What we have heard this afternoon is a litany of failure by the Ministry of Transport and the Air Zimbabwe Board. I want to raise in terms of the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe, the question of landing fees and departure taxes which were not raised by the Committee. In my view a departure tax of fifty dollars per passenger is simply outlandish and there is absolutely no way that we can provide a cost effective aircraft service or landing fees here at this rate. We have got to be competitive internationally when it comes to landing fees if we are going to attract air transport services.
In addition to that, this question of airport communications and control; this is not something you can play with. This is either done properly or it is not done at all and to have heard this afternoon that the equipment is antiquated, that many aircraft controllers simply do not have the basic equipment to do their jobs and, that radar systems are not working Mr. Speaker, is an issue which needs urgent attention. I think and I would hope that we will demand that the Minister of Transport make an early response to this report.
When it comes to the questions of dysfunctional management, I think this has been an issue for a long time and I think this requires the
Minister’s urgent attention. I know the new Minister is doing his best and I really think that he should put this matter to rest as soon as possible. These proposals by the Committee that senior members of staff should be incorporated into the Board from both the technical and the flying staff I think, is a very good one and would help improve the quality of the management team.
When it comes to procuring equipment Mr. Speaker, there is no problem in the aviation industry in getting credit in terms of buying new equipment but what the sellers of new equipment look for is credible management that we can provide and a sound balance sheet. I think the Minister of Finance could restructure the balance sheet to meet the requirement. Good international insurance cover; we can arrange that in no time at all and a sound business plan whichcould be put to bed by a team of local consultants together with management. That includes the question of vigorous promotion and advertising and good financial management. Mr. Speaker Sir, all those issues are under our control and I believe that we could put together a respectable, functional and cost effective air services in Zimbabwe under Air Zimbabwe’s control without any difficulty and in short order.
The recommendations of the Committee I think needs to be followed up without exception and I will just point out to the House Mr. Speaker that, the question of management moral is very much a product of management itself and the question of the Board. It is not difficult to manage people who want to work for you and provided we do the right things. Even if pay is not adequate, we can find highly motivated people who would work to put Air Zimbabwe back on its feet. When it comes to procurement, I believe that we put together a team today in Zimbabwe, consisting of our better business persons. We could in fact organise procurement of new equipment across the board of extensive credit terms. Every airline in the world well does this. You do not have to buy equipment for cash. When it comes to provision of essential equipment, what we heard this afternoon Mr. Speaker is not a hugely expensive list of requirements. Earphones and microphones; for heaven’s sake, these are minor equipment. This should be petty cash in terms of an institution like Air Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Transport.
These matters need to be attended to immediately. There should be no delay whatsoever. Then there is the question of vision. Mr. Speaker, surely, we as a nation can sort this out tomorrow. It is not difficult to give an organisation a vision of where it needs to go. I think that the Minister needs to address this urgently.
When it comes to the debt to IATA of $4.5 million, I cannot understand why this is not being settled. You cannot fly internationally if you do not pay IATA. You cannot sell tickets through the international systems without paying IATA. It makes complete business sense for the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to find this small amount of money and settle this obligation immediately. This really is petty cash.
When it comes to management review, we have all heard in the past the fact that Air Zimbabwe has numerous directors. They have a tor heavy management staff. Surely a review of management and conditions of employment and of general staff, is long overdue and that should be attended to. None of these issues requires external assistance or external intervention. None of these issues require donors’ assistance. These are things we can do ourselves and we can do it tomorrow. I think as this august House, we must demand that the Minister appears before this House and give a full ministerial statement in response to this report. I thank you.
HON. MATUKE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: I move that we revert to the Order of the Day
Number 24.
HON. MAJOME: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF URBAN ROADS
HON. MAJOME: I move the motion in my name that this House:
CONCERNED that the state of the capital city Harare’s and other urban roads are in an appallingly dilapidated state that is not only carworthy but is hazardous to life, limb and property.
RECALLING that the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) took over from Harare City Council and other municipalities the collection of termly vehicle licensing fees, 10% of which revenue would be retained by municipalities for road maintenance.
FURTHER recalling that municipalities were able to fund the maintenance of roads then, but disconcerted that the state of municipal roads deteriorated steadily since ZINARA took over the revenue collection, and even more sharply in the last four years.
CONCERNED that ZINARA fails to disburse to Harare City Council sufficient money to maintain roads, despite the bulk of the nation’s vehicle fleet being domiciled in Harare.
FURTHER disturbed by the lack of transparency, inequity in disbursement and misappropriation of revenues from motorists by ZINARA, which is not in the national interest, as exemplified by the recent purchase of snow ploughs.
AFFIRMING and encouraged by the imperative in Section 264(f) of the Constitution to ‘transfer responsibilities and resources from national government in order to establish a sound financial base for each provincial council and local authority’ and
MANDATED by the duty of Parliament in Section 119(2) of the
Constitution to, ‘ensure that the provisions of this Constitution are upheld and that the State and all its institutions and agencies of government at every level act constitutionally and in the national interest’
NOW THEREFORE this House resolves that;
- ZINARA ceases to collect termly motor vehicle licence fees thereby restoring that function to Harare City Council and all other respective municipalities and local authorities.
- Harare City Council and the respective municipalities and other local authorities retain 100% of the resultant revenues from termly motor vehicle licences and suspend remittances to ZINARA until all their roads are in a demonstrably recovered state.
- ZINARA disburses to Harare City Council by July 2017 all the arrears it had undertaken to pay, and by December 2017 to all other local authorities.
- ZINARA accounts be audited for the past 5 years for its revenues and comparative disbursements to local authorities and its expenditure, and such audit be tabled to the Public Accounts Committee.
HON. MAONDERA: I second.
HON. MAJOME: I thank the indulgence of the House in allowing me to debate this motion right now. I rise to move this motion on behalf of all other Hon. Members of Parliament and other members of the public on the appalling and alarming state of our roads. Not a single person who is in this room or an outsider who possesses a motor vehicle or even rides in a motor vehicle has not ever had the experience of being stopped by the police, in our numerous road blocks and having their car combed through with a fine tooth comb for un-roadworthiness. We are a nation that is, for lack of a better term, obsessed with roadworthiness of cars.
The police holds microscopes and magnifying glasses to check if our cars are roadworthy or not. Some people have even been arrested for keeping their cars dirty because in terms of the law, you cannot have a dirty car. However, we are so fastidious about making sure that our cars are roadworthy but unfortunately, while we are doing that, we are not at all making any effort to ensure that the roads that our cars travel on are car-worthy. Our roads are not worthy of having any modern motor vehicle travelling on them.
What I am seeking to persuade Hon. Members of this august House is not anything new. I have researched and found beyond doubt ever since I came into this Parliament the reason why - particularly our urban roads are in that state. I represent Harare West Constituency. With your indulgence, I am going to ask Hon. Members to be shown the state of roads that are in Harare West Constituency, in the capital city of Harare, Zimbabwe. I have been travelling all over the country and the roads in Harare are not in a different state from the other ones. I have found that the sole cause of this terrible state of our roads is the lack of funding to Harare Municipality in particular. They are not accessing the money that is required in order not only to repair our roads but to keep them in a state of repair.
Hon. Members of the august House will remember that the state of our roads started deteriorating very rapidly from around 2010. Before that, our roads might not have been the best in the world but they were certainly not in the state that they are in. Their decline has been precipitating and escalating. Recently, with cyclone Dineo, it is even worse now. What it means therefore is that local authorities and particularly Harare City Council is failing to maintain the roads because it cannot cope with the rate of wear and tear and it does not have the money. It is no coincidence that our roads started to decline more around 2010 but there is something very particular around the financing of infrastructure that happened there. In that fateful year of 2010, in October, Government made a fateful decision to take away the collection of revenue for car licences that we pay on a termly basis, in its wisdom. I am sure Government had good intentions by taking away licencing from local authorities and directing it straight to ZINARA. From that time on, our roads descended into the deep potholes that they are now.
My motion is designed to plead with Hon. Members of this august House across the political divide to; for once do something that is in the common national interest and put aside our party suspicions, but do something that is in the interest of the public of Zimbabwe and do something in this august House where we use the powers that we have as legislators, to make, guide and influence good policies for the good governance of this country. In particular, to specifically move to reverse that very unfortunate decision that has resulted in municipalities, in particular, I will speak of Harare Municipality because that is what I have researched on. This will allow them to access funding that we pay for motor vehicle licences so that our roads can be repaired. I make this impassioned plea to Hon. Members because this is not the first time that this august House has done something that I am pleading with the Hon. Members to agree to resolve. A short while ago, in the Seventh Parliament, on 20th January 2009, a similar motion was moved and indeed passed by this august House in order to save the nation from the suffering that was there. In that motion of 2009, Hon. Larry Mavima, seconded by Hon. Hlongwane, moved a motion that was carried by this august House because of the love that Hon. Members of Parliament have for the people of Zimbabwe and for the people they serve. They moved
a motion to stop the Zimbabwe National Water Authority’s revenue collection of water and put it back to council.
Mr. Speaker Sir, you will recall in 2009, cholera was wreaking havoc in our country and no less than 4 000 people died because of cholera. At that point, the management of water systems had been taken away from municipalities and had been given to the ZINWA. The
House noted at Hon. Mavima’s instigation that ZINWA did not have the capacity or resources to provide safe drinking water and that municipalities used to be able to do that before. Indeed, Mr. Speaker Sir, this august House did work across the political divide and resolved to pass the motion by Hon. Mavima for municipalities to have back their water revenue so that they could manage water supplies.
Mr. Speaker Sir, what I seek to do is to plead with the Hon. Members to repeat history, that they work according to their consciences and agree that for the good management of our country and of our roads in particular, that Hon. Members move and agree that the licences that we pay for the maintenance of roads, go back to municipalities so that they have money in their hands to fix the roads that are in their districts, in terms of the Constitution. That is the essence of my motion Mr.
Speaker Sir.
I did a bit of research about the origin of motor vehicle licensing and our good friend Wikipedia gave me the definition that a motor vehicle licence is required for a motor vehicle to be legally permitted to be used or kept on a public road in the jurisdiction. There is a brief history about the origins of motor vehicle licensing. Zimbabwe uses a system that we inherited from the United Kingdom, rightly or wrongly but our system of motor vehicle licensing was borrowed from there. When motor vehicle licensing started somewhere in 1870 and there was something called the Tramways Act of 1870 that was passed. It tried to develop infrastructure in the local authorities. There was a Motor Act of 1903 that introduced a registration fee for each motor vehicle that was not the news for trade and the pricing were according to the weight of the vehicle.
It was established that in 1920, there was need to maintain roads and it was developed to ensure that the money goes to the use of roads. Therefore, Mr. Speaker Sir, there was a road fund that was established after the Great War. That localised the collection of revenue for municipalities to fix roads in their localities. This is essentially, what we inherited and the system has been working extremely well. I did find out why it is that this decision was made and I could find no clear answer. I was also told that when the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority collects this revenue, it is meant to remit and give back the revenue to municipalities. I have established in Harare City Council in particular, that right now for Harare City Council to have its roads fixed, it needs a phenomenal amount of money that goes into millions but what has been disbursed by ZINARA from 2009, from the time they started up to 2015, is only $9 292 000. I am going to show you slides of the roads that we have so that we see and remember what it is exactly that we are dealing with. So that we do not forget that as legislators, have a responsibility to represent our constituents so that they can live better lives.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I started more or less in First Street, Harare but I realised that from the minute that I gave notice of my motion, I was very pleasantly surprised Mr. Speaker Sir, about two days later, which I want to think that it was a happy coincidence, I heard an announcement that the Government has declared the roads in Harare to be in a state of disaster. I was encouraged and also amused because I thought to myself, why are we in a state of disaster? I said to myself, honestly, from the history of the revenue collection and management that this is surely a state of disaster that we have created for ourselves by taking a disastrous policy decision where we deprive ourselves of revenue and our roads are not repaired, they are in a state of disaster.
(Showing slides of the state of roads.)
Mr. Speaker Sir, those on the screen are roads in Harare West
Constituency. The first one was in Kirkan Road near Warren Hills Golf Club. These are plush suburbs that Harare West must have invested their life savings to build houses and every quarter they pay, on those roads, for licenses. That is Good Hope road in Good Hope and that is not hopeful at all Mr. Speaker Sir. There are craters in the middle of the roads and the communities are suffering.
This is the plush suburb of Marlborough in Harare and that road is called Campbell Town road. Mr. Speaker Sir, I ran contest of the worst road in Harare West Constituency on my facebook profile, to hear from Harare Westners which roads they consider – Mr. Speaker Sir, that is nothing less than a disgrace. I want to remind Hon. Members that the state of our roads does cost us lives.
This young man was called Delan Dzimunya. He perished on 18th March, 2013 on Harare Drive. Those Hon. Members who use Harare
Drive will know that there is an Engen Garage just before you get to the
Lomagundi Road. Young Delan Zimunya was a Grade 7 pupil at
Hallingbury School. He was knocked down on trying to cross Harare Drive Road. He was knocked down because while there is a pedestrian crossing that has been designated for the longest time, that pedestrian crossing, because of the lack of funding to roads, is invisible to motorist. A child who wanting to cross the road can see some faint zebra stripes but a motorist who is passing by cannot see them at all. This young child died on the way to Parirenyatwa Hospital, a needles loss of live.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am particularly moved and inspired in the memory of Delan Zimunya that this august House does think about the safety of road users. Signage road markings are poor or missing or the paint that is used is so faint that even if they paint it, three months down the line, it is gone. This has cost lives. Brilliant young minds and loses to families that would have done something for Zimbabwe. I do implore upon Hon. Members to do the right thing and resolve that licensing be taken back to municipalities because I know that if roads are funded, we will avoid such needless loss of lives. May His soul rest in peace.
On the issue of traffic safety, I am glad that members of the Transport Committee are here. In the Harare West that I represent, there are cycle tracks that had long been built alongside roads for children even to cycle their bicycles out of the road. What you see on the screen is in Sawlely Way in Marlborough and this is near Marlborough Primary School. On the right, there used to be a cycle track that school children could use bicycles and it was very safe but there is nothing like that anymore. On the same road, the humps are missing and it is a tale of horror. Our roads are extremely dangerous because there is no funding on roads. Apart from the potholes, the issue of traffic safety is gone. In terms of traffic lights, there should be robots that should work but they are never working. These signs are so dilapidated and are causing a danger because there is no funding.
Mr. Speaker Sir, while we are here, I have talked a lot about Harare West but let us talk about the capital City of Harare. That should be the jewel in our crown. We talk day in day out about ease of doing business and investor confidence. Mr. Speaker Sir, what you see on the screen there in fact is a crater that has been at the corner of nowhere else other than the corner of First Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue, the very street that this Parliament is built.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I feel ashamed. I think even in the memory of Nelson Mandela, it does not do right to the memory of people that we want to honour to have the roads that we name after them deteriorate to that level because we have taken away revenue for their maintenance. That is the Central Business District of Harare and in fact of the capital city of Zimbabwe. No investor will take us seriously if we continue to make decisions and keep on along a disastrous path or disastrous and potholed road.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want Hon. Members to pay attention to this video that I filmed in First Street at exactly the corner of Nelson
Mandela Avenue and First Street, the Central Business District of Zimbabwe. That is a Mercedes Benz that is getting right into the crater and another vehicle on the other side and pedestrians that are at the centre of that island. We now need 4 x 4s, to go through the streets of Harare, First Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue. If you noticed, there was an island in the middle of the street. Actually, on that day, I was moved to record that video because I was almost knocked over because when you stand in the centre of the island, cars come inside to the centre towards the island to avoid the crater.
Needless to say Mr. Speaker Sir, traffic lights were simply not working again because of this issue of roads. My question is, why do we as a country insist on taking policy decisions that harm us. We saw the young life of Delaney Zimunya gone needlessly. The policies harm ourselves, our lives and those of our future citizens and not only our vehicles. The cost of doing business and the amount of money that individuals spend on maintaining vehicles, Mr. Speaker Sir, this cannot be said.
Yesterday there was commissioning of a plant for motor vehicles through Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries. I think we are doing very well by seeking to attract business but if we were to ask those Engineers who assemble those vehicles and ask them to give us a report, they will tell you that the motor vehicles that are being assembled are meant for what is called tarmac roads or roads that are paved. They are not meant for what we see there. This is along Hopley Road. Mr. Speaker Sir, this cannot be allowed to go on. Property values are deteriorating in that area. Our beautiful city and other cities across the country are like that.
While we are on the issue of licencing, if it is said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, what we did is to channel all the revenue and flood ZINARA. We took away vehicle licences and flooded them at ZINARA and ZINARA is swimming and drowning in money and it does not know what to do with it any more. Mr. Speaker Sir, this has been tabled in this House. There is an article from The Newsday that appeared some time in 2015. There was a report that ZINARA bought snow ploughs for roads. Yes, it has been said. They are trying to give the excuse that they are multi-functional but seriously speaking, if we are to be resourceful and try and also use the snow ploughs to grade roads, they were created as snow ploughs. We do not have snow in Zimbabwe and this decision is not a good decision.
Our municipalities are crying out loud for funding to fix roads and yet ZINARA is not doing right and is not disbursing that money to municipalities, it has deficits. Mr. Speaker Sir, ZINARA is blaming heavy taxes for bad roads and it is really alarming that they receive money and like I said, they are looking for excuses. They are suffocating and drowning in money that they do not know what to do with. Let us save, not only our roads, but let us also save ZINARA by giving it what it can manage. Let ZINARA continue collecting revenue for the trunk roads but for the municipalities and the cities, the crafters of our Constitution found it fitting that we devolve and decentralise power and resources to municipalities. What we have done there now needs to be reversed for the sake of our lives and our economy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon. Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development said we need $24 billion to repair our roads. My simple plea is that if we had not made this disastrous decision of removing revenue from municipalities and starving them, our roads could not have deteriorated so badly that we now need $24 billion to repair them. This august Parliament can put a stop to this unhappy state of affairs. I am sure no one likes the deterioration of vehicles and even danger to life. We need to stop this. Hon. Minister Kasukuwere said the roads are in a state of disaster and indeed they are in a state of disaster but this is a man-made disaster. I am happy that no women were part of that decision. If it was, it is time this Parliament has an opportunity in this House to solve this state of affairs.
We do not need to look for money from investors from outside to fix our roads. Each month we pay those termly licence vehicle fees. That is a lot of money. All that we need to do is to take that money and channel it straight to the roads and the local authorities are best suited for that. While I was on that, there are alarming reports that have been produced by the Auditor-General’s office about opaqueness and lack of transparency and apparently also misappropriation of money by ZINARA because it simply has got too much money. There are procurements that are done that are not substantiated at all. I am looking for a specific set of accounts that is still pending. I am glad that the Public Accounts Committee has taken an interest in it. I got that from the Public Accounts Committee’s reports and I want to salute the Committee, led by Hon. Mpariwa for doing a sterling job and exposing these distortions and foibles.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there are successive reports that councils are indeed crying about. In 2014, the Auditor-General found that ZINARA operates in a system of weak financial controls and that in 2014 they have made payments amounting to $4 157 937 which were not supported at all by authorised payment vouchers. Mr. Speaker Sir, if you give me $4 157 937, I can tell you what I will do with the roads in Harare West. For example, I will just repair Lomagundi Road, widen it and I would also widen Kirkman Road. Anyone who lives in the Western suburbs of Harare will see how these roads are now no longer fit for the population of Harare. There are plans to widen them through byways and pass ways. We could do wonders with that.
Speaking about Lomagundi Road Mr. Speaker Sir, I note with sadness that His Excellency the President hails from Zvimba in
Mashonaland West. Mr. Speaker Sir, the way to Zvimba right now, I would want to believe it is impassible by the Presidential motorcade.
Driving there day in day out, I do not see His Excellency’s Mercedes
Benz being able to pass by and actually travel and go at the speed that is required. That is the road that is the gateway to Mashonaland West. Mr.
Speaker Sir, we cannot allow this. The money that has been given to ZINARA should just come straight back and repair our roads.
Further on, in 2014 again, ZINARA procured 40 motorised graders through a tender of $8 040 800. In Harare, we do not need graders. We just want our roads to be resurfaced and paved. I am sure that other places would also want graders and even rural authorities would also benefit from that money from licences that they also get from their surroundings. They did not at all go to tender in using that shocking amount of $8 040 800. ZINARA deals in huge sums of money – it is awash in funding and choking in it and this decision to keep on giving them the money that we need for our roads is a bad decision and we need to secure it.
Mr. Speaker Sir, they did not even go through the State
Procurement Board that was there before we started debating the Procurement Act that we are debating. They also proceeded to engage exactly the same supplier who they had engaged without going to tender again, to develop a $54 million vehicle licencing system. Mr. Speaker Sir, why pay $54 million to licence vehicles when those licences that we are paying are meant to go down on to the roads. They are not meant to pay some obscure and dubious supplier who has not been approved by the State Procurement Board.
Further on Mr. Speaker Sir, in 2015, again ZINARA was caught with its hands in the cookie jar. They failed to account for $2 million and it is only millions and millions and those millions can do a lot of work if they get back onto our roads. There was $2 201 660 difference between their disbursements and their financial statements and they failed to provide a reconciliation on how the difference arose. The
Auditor-General said, “I therefore could not confirm the correct revenue figure for the year.”
Mr. Speaker Sir, this is the revenue that we pay for licences. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to remind Hon. Members that our duty in terms of the Constitution is to ensure that the Constitution is upheld and followed. We do have that power for a very good reason. We represent those people who are having their vehicles mangled. I saw Hon. Chibaya sitting there and he has left – just about two weeks ago, there was a story in our national newspapers to the effect that a family of three people was killed instantly when the kombi that they were riding in was swerved to avoid a pothole.
These are matters of life and death and we can solve this problem for the sake of our nation. We do not need to keep on shoveling money to ZINARA. It can still have money as it can do all sorts of other things but, in terms of lives and the expenses, and even in terms of savings per household, if we want to grow the economy, we need to put money back to the local authorities. We have an Auditor-General who has stringent methods of monitoring. If we are worried that the local authorities might abuse the money, I do not think that Zimbabwe is short of auditing brains that can put in place vigorous methods to ensure that money is not abused. Even using ICT, it would be possible to track how much money has been used.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to end by winding up and plead with Hon. Members of this august House that can we use the hopes of the people that we represent and do the right thing and move this motion and pass it to ensure that the licencing fees that are actually meant for repairing the roads comes straight to our roads. That in particular, our Constitution requires that local authorities be given the authority and it will not disempower anyone but it will be a good way of prudent financial management. Let money be used for its purposes and let it be directed by the shortest route. If money goes round and round in ZINARA bank accounts and graders, it will get lost. It is getting lost and it is not getting to our roads.
Mr. Speaker Sir, on that note, I want to wind up and plead with Hon. Members of this august House to support this motion so that we use the money that we are paying everyday so that it goes right back on to our roads. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. MAONDERA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the
opportunity to make my contribution on the motion raised by Hon.
Majome. It is a very pertinent and important motion. I support all that she has said and we say this motion is not partisan. It is not ZANU PF and it is not MDC-T but it affects all the people of Zimbabwe because when we are looking at these issues which have a bearing on our lives, we have to support them just like we supported the motion raised by Hon. Khupe when she talked of cancer. We all supported it because it has a bearing on our lives. Hence, we also have to support this motion on the state of our roads because it affects us all.
We are talking about ZINARA and the maintenance of the roads. When you talk of local authorities about why they are not repairing and maintaining the roads, they will tell you that we are not receiving anything from ZINARA. Yet, when you go to ZINARA and say why are we not repairing our roads which are so full of potholes, they will tell you that we are sending all the monies to the local authorities and we find ourselves in a blame game. As stated in the motion by Hon. Majome, we need to take back the process where councillors were collecting vehicle taxes and levies. This way, we will be able to confront local authorities if our roads are still bad. I am sure that we were all watching on the screens in this House when we were shown the state of the roads and cars having problems in maneuvering these roads. When you are travelling along Highglen Road getting to the roundabout in Glen Norah up to a place called Masimbi in Glen Norah, this is the road which feeds into Simon Mazorodze and also goes via Glen Norah and Kuwadzana up to Bulawayo Road. This road is in a bad state. Again, when you look at Glen Norah, we also have a road called State House where recently a learner from Ruveneko School was hit by a car because the road signs which were showing the state of the road and humps had been vandalised. This pupil was fortunate in that whereas she was injured, she was not killed. We are saying, let us put our heads together and solve this problem.
When you talk to the local authorities in Harare, they will tell you that they were given less than $2 million to repair the roads yet the taxes from cars in Harare can give an amount of $9 million. So the question to be asked is, we have paid $9 million and we are only given $2 million – where is the $7 million going to. Even if you were to look at the amount which is collected by Mutare, Zvimba or any other local authorities, you will ask yourself the question that these monies have been collected from motorists residing in those particular areas but, where are these taxes taken to.
We are always saying that we want to lure foreign business ventures to come into this country, but whenever they come into the country; they do not feel comfortable with investing in a country which has a problem with its roads, communications and water; yet when these people alight from the aeroplane at the Harare International Airport and travel along the Joshua Mquabuko Nkomo road, which is the Airport road, it is so beautiful and it gives them the comfort that Zimbabwe has good roads. But to their surprise, they will find that the roads are so bad. The road was constructed by a company which was given $70 million yet we know that the road did not cost that much and they did not complete the project. It had to be completed by the local authorities or the Government at a lesser amount than what has been stated. That is why I am saying the investor comes into the country, travels along Joshua Mqabuko or Airport Road, the road is good but when they get into the city centre, they find that the roads are in a bad state and full of pot holes. How can we lure foreign investors?
We need to be very careful. If we look at the report of the audited results of ZINARA, the Auditor General (AG) revealed that there was recklessness in handling of finances at ZINARA. How do the people of Zimbabwe feel if they pay a lot of money and yet the roads are not maintained? This is tormenting because when you pay your money, you expect to get good service.
ZINARA was founded so that it could rehabilitate the roads but instead of serving this purpose, the problems are multiplying. The same goes for the animosity between the police and the people of Zimbabwe. If we were to go on an opinion poll and ask the people of Zimbabwe about the performance of ZINARA, they will tell you that ZINARA is an organisation that the country can do without because it is not properly utilising the money meant for road maintenance. Motorists incur huge bills resulting from hitting pot holes. The suspension, wheels and shocks of vehicles are being damaged and yet people pay licences but
ZINARA abuses the funds. At times people are involved in accidents.
As a result people are now asking what they have done wrong to the Government to deserve such an imposition which is now tormenting them.
We are a democratically elected Government which is empowered by the people. Let us put our heads together. ZINARA should confine itself to collecting toll fees only and let local authorities tax the vehicles in their vicinity. If the Government does not want to give back the licence fees to local authorities, then let us craft a law which does not compel local authorities to maintain and construct roads. We need to consult ZINARA and the local authorities to come and give us a clear picture of who is responsible for repairing, maintaining and constructing our roads because the blame game is too much. We may not make a decision as to where our finances are going to.
We have been told that in the procurement of products and services, we hear that ZINARA will simply decide without consultation and purchase equipment for repairing roads. As far as we are concerned, this is just a scapegoat for abusing these funds. If we go to China and buy that equipment, you will find that we are being short changed. One will only notice this after thorough calculations have been done. I am pleading with the people of Zimbabwe that we talk to Government so that licence fees for cars be collected by local authorities and not
ZINARA.
Our roads are bad especially when we compare to the state they were in, in 2009. From 2009 to 2017, there was nothing comprehensive done on the maintenance and repair of roads. This is what has led to our roads being declared a national disaster.
As far as the bad state of our roads is concerned, it is of our own making. We were watching whilst the situation got bad. This is unlike the cyclones which just come all of a sudden and cause destruction. I feel we need to get a response from the responsible Minister of Local Government or Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. The collection of vehicle licences should be taken away from ZINARA and returned to the local authorities. If this is not solved, this is going to have an effect in the next coming election.
*HON. GANGARAHWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on the motion raised by Hon. Majome. There are some points where I agree with her and where I do not agree. Let me now explain myself clearly.
Thank you Hon. Majome for informing us that ZINARA is collecting licence fees. Local authorities in Harare are also collecting money but Hon. Majome did not talk about it. Cars are parked for eight hours in town and they are charged one dollar per hour. That money is collected by the local authority. One car pays eight dollars per day. How many cars are parked per day? Why should the local authority start clamouring for money from ZINARA when they cannot account for the parking fees they collect. Some of the areas where these cars are parked are bad but people still pay a dollar per hour.
At Mbare Musika, the buses pay $15 for coming into the terminus. How much money is collected per day? I think it adds up to $1 000 per day. The travelers’ sheds at Mbare Musika are all dilapidated and vandalized. The local authority is not doing anything about it. Why are they not repairing that market place?
The local authorities are also collecting money for water. What is happening to that money which is collected on behalf of ZINWA? If one checks on the reservoirs, we find that the water is now murky because the pumping systems are so bad. They do not suit the current population. If the pipes were good enough to allow all the water coming in, we would not see frogs coming out on the pipeline.
Airport Road which is being referred to as a good road, it was in bad shape until it was taken over by the local authority of Harare. I am not opposing that ZINARA should hand over the payment of licence fees to local authorities but what I am saying is that Harare City Council should account for all the monies that they are collecting so far so that we can judge them on their performance. If you look at MutarePlumtree road, the road was maintained and reconstructed. It is now a smooth road and even the toll gates which were erected are collecting money for the maintenance of that road. If we were to ask ZINARA about the fees collected, you can have the tangible example that ZINARA is doing a very good job.
HON. MAJOME: On a point of order. My point of order is that my motion pertains to municipal roads and local authority areas. I am not talking about ZINARA generally and the toll gates. My motion simply deals with the issue of vehicle licencing fees paid by road users in their locality; it is not at all about revenue for that. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Order, order! Hon Member, please confine yourself to the motion raised by Hon. Majome. Do not talk about other authorities. You can give examples in your contributions but please stick to Harare versus
ZINARA.
*HON. GANGARAHWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I was
giving examples of the revenue collected by Harare City Council. Most of the bad roads are found in Harare. When we go to the City of Bulawayo, there are very good roads and yet they are the same people who are saying ZINARA should give them the chance to re-collect licence fees.
When we look at the salary bills, they are paying themselves huge salaries. When we look at the materials used to repair roads, 50kg of bitumen which can patch up to five potholes costs $20.00. Vehicles pay $8.00 each per day, so for a week that car will have paid $40.00 and above. They can buy a lot of bitumen to seal those roads. This is only showing us that there is abuse of funds by the local authorities. I still emphasise that Harare City Council should account for the taxes they collected from vehicles on the roads.
As far as I am concerned, there is abuse of funds by the City of Harare. Even if Harare is to say they were allocated $1.2 million, if we were to look at the materials used to seal the potholes, we will be surprised at the amount which they used to buy those materials. I am saying City of Harare is being reckless in the use of money. They should account for the levies that they are collecting so that we can judge them from what they are saying.
I come from Mhondoro where we do not pay any amount but our roads are being maintained, even though they are gravel. The Ministry is sending graders to maintain and repair our roads. I would like to thank the Government for such an effort and ZINARA for giving us money to repair our bridges. I am saying, we should not give Harare back the responsibility of collecting vehicle licence fees because they cannot account for the parking fees which they are collecting. There should be a condition that in order for them to be considered for any return of service, they should account for the monies they collect from parking.
Also at Mbare Musika terminus, they should account for the
$15.00 they collect per bus. Why are they not repairing the travellers’ sheds at Mbare Musika. As far as I am concerned, City of Harare is a council which has not been properly run. I am also told that the directors at Harare City Council had their salaries cut on the back of a directive by the Government that they were getting mega salaries. Now they want to strike so that the salaries revert back to the era of mega salaries which were inappropriate. I thank you.
HON. MATUKE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. RUNGANI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. MATUKE seconded by HON.
RUNGANI, the House adjourned at Ten Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 23rd March, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. RUNGANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I move that Orders
of the Day, Numbers 1 to 5 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
HON. MAKARI: Good afternoon Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker,
rising for the first time, I seek the indulgence of the House which it always extends to those who address it. It is indeed a priviledge to stand before you. I owe this priviledge in its entirety to His Excellency the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, Head of State and
Government, the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces for a sterling ideology which I represent. My sincere gratitude also goes to the people of Epworth who have given me this priviledge.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the decisions we make in Parliament shape our future and guide our destiny of this nation and in our own personal capacity. Thus realising the immense responsibility that accompanies this position, I intend to represent the people of Epworth to the best of my ability - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order can we give the Hon. Member some ear please and lower your voices please. Especially that corner there by the door and this corner here on my left.
HON. MAKARI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would, at this time, like to honour the contributions of my predecessor the late Ambassador Midzi. We will continue to advocate for progress and development in Epworth – may his dear soul rest in eternal peace.
At the dawn of Zimbabwe’s independence, it was deemed fit that the only place which symbolised the very essence of Zimbabwe would be represented on the national currency. The Chiremba balancing rocks of Epworth took front and center stage as ambassador of the new Zimbabwe. People from all over Zimbabwe and many others from across the boarders have made pilgrimage to Epworth to view the wonders of nature such as Dombo raMwari and Dombo remaziso while so many other wonders that Epworth has been endowed with have been printed indelibly in the psych of Zimbabweans.
Epworth has always been a spiritual center from pre-colonial times. As the custodian of the Seke chieftaincy, Epworth was a recognised shrine where people came for spiritual nourishment and supplication. The colonial settlers realised the significance of this holy place. It is no coincidence that the Epworth that we know today was established by the Methodist Church as its mission in Zimbabwe. When the mission was established, evangelists from all over the country made Epworth their home and one such evangelist was Peter Tendai, the very first head teacher of Chizungu Primary School. He was my grandfather and today his grave is in Epworth, together with other members of my family. Just as he was an instrument of transformation to modern Epworth, the people of Epworth have found it fitting that his granddaughter bear the mantle of their servant-in-chief and advocate for the development of my home, my constituency in Epworth.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Epworth has a strong tradition and proud legacy. It consists of hardworking citizens who everyday strive to be selfsufficient in providing for themselves and their families. The people of Epworth are enterprising; they have made an immense contribution to the nation both in skill and resources from kumajecha where sand and building materials are sourced to the quarry where gravel and stone have helped to build the whole of Harare. Epworth has indeed made its contribution.
In His Excellency Cde. R. G. Mugabe’s address to the Third
Session of the Eighth Parliament …
Hon. Mlilo having passed between the Hon. Member on the floor and the Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Mlilo you cannot do
that. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Alright that is fine Hon. Member, you may continue.
HON. MAKARI: Thank you Mr. Speaker, in His Excellency
Cde. R. G. Mugabe’s address to the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament, a commitment was made to all small and medium enterprises under the Cooperative Societies Act which will be tabled in this august House. This will benefit my constituency by not only giving the growing sector a boost but providing a legal framework under which they can be protected. Small to medium enterprises are the order of day in Epworth. They almost account for 80% of the population, they are self-employed.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in line with His Excellency President R. G.
Mugabe’s ZIM ASSET economic blueprint, we have ambitious goals and we would like to see them to fruition. We have a population of 200 000 plus residents pegged on the outskirts of Harare. Epworth has mainly been an unregulated dormitory town with none of the characteristics a settlement of its size should have. The main issues stifling the controlled growth of Epworth were lack of tenure of land, title deeds and residential stands. Working together with the Epworth
Local Board and the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, we are now engaged in a regularisation exercise where proper town planning is being undertaken. – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Epworth Local Board has been allocated two farms neighbouring Epworth to administer and facilitate the transparent resettlement of tenants. Areas have been surveyed, pegged into land sizes for different land use. The correct zoning of land, coupled with the demarcation of residential, recreational, commercial and industrial zones goes hand in hand with the social services and poverty eradication cluster of ZIM ASSET. This thrives to enable the Government of Zimbabwe to improve the living standards of its citizenry for an empowered society and a growing economy.
According to the findings recommended by the Nziramasanga Commission in the late 90s; Epworth was in need of 13 primary schools and five secondary schools. The population at that time was 114 000. Conversely on the ground, we have eight primary schools and four secondary schools. This year, we have commissioned two new schools Glenwood Primary School and Mabvazuva Secondary School respectively – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - We are aware that more schools need to be built but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
The healthcare system in my constituency Mr. Speaker Sir is of great concern. We only have three polyclinics namely, Epworth Polyclinic, Overspill Polyclinic and Epworth Mission Polyclinic. The last one to be mentioned is being administered by the Methodist Church. Statistics have proven that the polyclinics are providing maternity facilities to 250 babies a month. The number of clinics available and the population size in my electorate does not correlate at all. However, we have been working and have been on the ground. The Ministry of Health and Child Care has pledged to transform the Epworth Polyclinic into a district hospital which will better service the population. I will be glad to note that as of two weeks ago, we have been given two resident doctors who are resident at the Epworth Polyclinic – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Mr. Speaker Sir, infrastructure and industry development are catalyst to the growth of Epworth. We have already started rehabilitating major roads such as Delport road which connects Epworth to Mabvuku and Tafara and also connects Epworth to Chitungwiza. Much more work is waiting to be done and once regularisation process is completed, we will have more new roads and highways in our constituency.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Shamu, if you want to attend
to your cell phone messages, you can either stay here or do it outside.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not have a cell
phone.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Why was your head down? Hon.
Chakona, please be attentive as well.
HON. MAKARI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The energy and water infrastructure is a challenge but we are looking to engage the necessary stakeholders according to His Excellency’s 10 point plan. Government has focused on giving us the necessary infrastructure, particularly in key areas like ICT. We have a resource centre in
Epworth. Presently, we have a total of 54 boreholes in the constituency, 46 of them are fully functional while sinking of boreholes is a stop gap measure, and we have undertaken consultation to ascertain the best long term solutions with regards to water reticulation and sewage.
I will be pleased to inform you Mr. Speaker, that we are in the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a company that will put in water reticulation and sewage in the next couple of weeks. Once the regularisation process is completed, this will make the task of providing electricity and household water connections more feasible.
Approximately 85% of Epworth did not have access to electricity.
I am pleased to announce that even as we speak, ZESA is in Epworth. The residents of Ward 6 are being set up with electricity connection. In regard to public safety and social amenities, the Ministry of Home Affairs has given us a great boost. Through negotiations, we expect that we will have more than two police stations that we already have in our constituency. We have also Mr. Speaker Sir, through the help of your office, sat with the Registrar General and in the next couple of weeks, Epworth will have a sub-station for identity cards, birth and registration.
Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I firmly believe that information, communication and technology are the way to transform our nation, the way we live and what we earn in the future. The ICT industry will without doubt, be the biggest catalyst towards social change, employment and development. With this in mind, we have engaged the Ministry of ICT and established a resource centre where the youths and other residents can utilize computers and access the internet, in the process of gaining skills and the pre-requisite knowledge to equip themselves in today’s world.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the past couple of months saw the ground breaking of Olympic Africa Sports Centre which will be the first project of its kind in Zimbabwe and I would say, in Southern Africa. The Olympic Africa Committee saw it fit to grace Epworth as a custodian of its endeavours in Zimbabwe. With the facilities that they will provide, we will definitely put Epworth under mark.
Mr. Speaker Sir, whilst these are but a few of the issues and accomplishments that I have in my constituency, since becoming a legislator for Epworth, we have only scratched the surface in what needs to be done in achieving my own personal vision and the vision of the people of Epworth themselves. By the grace of God, by the hard working and the sweat from our brows and with the endowment of determination, mental faculties, I am certain that Epworth will claim its long forgotten birth right as a place where God printed his footprint upon a rock for remembrance and claim its place under the African sun as a centre of excellence, hardworking people, rejuvenation and hope in Zimbabwe. Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank the House for its indulgence. I thank you. God bless Zimbabwe; Ishe Komborerai Zimbabwe, Nkosi sikelela iZimbabwe.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: I thank the privilege of debating the
State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, R.G. Mugabe. In his speech, the President speaks of the measures he has taken through ZIM ASSET to ensure that the economy comes up. The President speaks of implementing policies which are supported by Government actions to revitalise agriculture, infrastructure, development, unlocking potential to small and medium enterprises and also encouraging private sector investment, fostering financial sector stability and observance of zero tolerance to corruption.
I want to talk around these areas to say, while the President is talking of zero tolerance to corruption, in another paragraph he talks of ease of doing business. Mr. Speaker Sir, the President left out a number of measures which should be taken to ensure that our country has ease of doing business. Out of the work which is being done with the 10 point plan, the absence is clear on the ability of the Executive to ensure that they stop the corruption that is taking place.
The first incident which comes to play is the initial US$50 000.00 which the President mentioned about. Secondly, the ZIMDEF half a million dollars which disappeared, the President never mentioned about what is being done to recover that amount of money. The third one is the presence of the police road blocks in the city. Mr. Speaker Sir, the roadblocks in the city and in the country have actually made it so difficult for people to do business. I have had experience of police stopping my vehicles doing business, people being asked to pay bribes on the spot.
In the Transport Committee, they have discussed this with the Ministers to say this should stop but the Government has never taken any action against the police who continuously harass citizens who are driving. It has become a sin for a citizen to own a car in this country. If you drive and you are not an MP and they do not see your car with a sticker of an MP, once you are stopped, your car is searched as if you have stolen something. They will look from the front and go around. The will even tell you your car is dirty and they want to charge you some US$10 or some US$20 and they will be asking for a bribe. That is the clear state of the nation in this country, that the police have been used to collect money from anybody with a car, who might not be of influence to the Executive.
Mr. Speaker Sir, anyone who has travelled in this city will know that the state of the nation is such that the police are demanding people to pay money which is not available and the President should have helped us by saying how he is going to ask his Ministers to ensure that this stops forthwith, in terms of where he says we have to do observance of zero tolerance to corruption.
He also speaks of the reforms that are meant to rejuvenate the economy and contribute to poverty reduction. Mr. Speaker Sir, who monitors the police? There are more than five judgments so far – you are a lawyer yourself, Mr. Speaker Sir - which have actually come out to stop police from harassing residents. I can give an exhibit of three which I have managed to collect, but there are five judgments which actually speak to the fact that police should not harass people by forcing them to pay spot fines. I will leave them here for inclusion in my speech.
The police continue to demand that they do not use Form 265 just because they want to take money from innocent drivers. They also go to the extent of saying a car which has been designed – myself as an engineer, I know a car is designed at a certain standard. They have become vehicle inspectors. A car has been designed to use four wheels. During the day they will search for a tyre and if they see a biscuit tyre, the police will insist that this is not the same size of tyre. To me, it is ignorance of the police because that is the same size of tyre which you can fit and you can travel from point A to point B. The engineers have done a proper design and they will fit that tyre where it suits, but today there is not a single policeman who has been taken to task for arresting people and forcing them to pay a fine for saying your tyre is different from the other.
It has happened to me several times and I continuously say please, take me to court. There is an understanding on the roadblocks that they tell you they have been asked not to use Form 265. Form 265 allows you, Hon. Speaker Sir, to relate to Statutory Instrument 29 (2015). The Statutory Instrument speaks of anyone who is caught on the wrong side of the law must be proven guilty, but the police continue to demand money and they pretend that you are paying willy- nilly. This House has a duty to aid the President and ensure that this law which has already had several judgments is followed so that we reduce corruption. We also insist that our police must know that they are policing everyone, not to police only those people who use cars. You can go and have something stolen next to a police station and they will not attend to you. They will only attend to vehicles. This is real. I do not know if you have looked at it, Mr. Speaker Sir. If you have not witnessed it, I urge you to talk to common people, you will hear them complaining.
What is also absent in the President’s speech is the state of the nation, in terms of the closure of companies. It is clear that in 2016 we lost 262 companies that closed. While we lost 262 companies, he did not mention what measures are being taken to ensure that we do not have further closures. What is absent again from the President’s speech is that we have over 80% to 85% unemployment. What measures are being taken to ensure that we create new employment, we get new jobs coming, and we get everybody on board as Zimbabweans to ensure that the economy ticks. Instead he is talking of Statutory Instrument 64. Statutory Instrument 64 which has just brought in more poverty to people who have been going to do imports. There is no strict mention of which companies we are protecting by the introduction of Statutory Instrument 64.
Mr. Speaker Sir, what is also absent in the President’s speech in terms of the state of the nation is that in a year or so, we are going to an election , it is measures which are being taken to ensure that we have a peaceful election to come, measures which are being taken to ensure that ZEC is properly funded, measures that are being taken to ensure that all political parties and all stakeholders and civic society play their part. It is completely silent on the state of the nation as we approach the next election.
What is also silent as the President spoke of the introduction of bond notes, is how these bond notes were likely to help the economy. It was so evident that time that the state of the nation was that every Jack and Jill who wanted to get his money from the bank could not get it and today it is even getting worse, Mr. Speaker Sir. I have had questions for the Minister of Finance and Economic Development and for the Leader of the House in terms of what the banks are now doing. The banks have written conditions; the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has written conditions to say, you cannot take your money outside the country to use it unless you prioritise imports and exports. The introduction of bond notes was meant to incentivise exports, but while it is doing that, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has given conditions which are not favourable to the common man, to the middle income person and to the low income person. The conditions are such that you cannot collect your money from the bank, even the bond note you cannot get it. You have no choice when you get to the bank. So, there is need for the President to address the situation with his Cabinet, to ensure that people have a normal life.
The business environment which he is talking about is seriously constrained that a person who is in the village cannot buy tomatoes with EcoCash. There is no cash in the banks. If you go to FBC today, you will be told that you get US$300 or 300 bond notes per week for companies. US$300 a week is too little for a company. For the common man, you get US$50 a day and for a civil servant who earns US$300 or US$400, to go every time to the bank to withdraw money, it is so difficult and you are forced to pay a certain amount. So, I am saying, while the President says we have introduced bond notes to help the situation of cash transactions, he has actually helped the situation where the bad money has chased good money and the master card which you use when you travel without travelling with cash has been abolished.
If you check, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Standard Chartered Bank has introduced a situation where anyone who wants to travel, I do not know whether that applies to Ministers, but for you MPs, if you want to travel outside the country, you cannot travel and use your visa card even if you have your dollars in the bank. What they are saying is, you have to seek permission with invoices of where you want to sleep, what you want to do and that is invasion of people’s privacy to say you want to travel to a certain country, you are supposed to tell the banker that I will be in such a hotel at such a time and I want to be making transactions with A, B, C. That does not make ease of doing business, nor does that help in terms of people’s rights to make sure they can travel and come back. At least if the banks were to introduce a certain figure where you can negotiate to say you are allowed to travel with US$2000 or US$3000, then if you want extra you can apply. There is nothing like that they are saying you must bring invoices of where you are going to sleep. I have never heard such a thing in the world.
Mr. Speaker Sir, you must appreciate that I am from the opposition. Sometimes, I do not feel secure to just write where I am going to sleep because I do not know who is going to attack me. Politics is dangerous, it is very dangerous - even you Hon. Members from the opposite side, you do not know. What is clearly absent is the situation with our health sector, our health sector is collapsing. The state of the nation is such that we need a lot of assistance, we might not get a lot of funding coming from outside. We need to ensure that our health sector is properly revived. The doctors have just gone on strike and the nurses are not being employed. If you pass your nursing or teaching diploma today, the state of the nation is that you are not likely to get employment. We are training people who are going to sit at home and they are trained for special courses like being a teacher you have to be in a class, being a nurse you have to be in a hospital and being an engineer you have to be either on the road or industry doing something. All these people are sitting, this is the state of the nation I expected His Excellency the President to address to say how are we going to harness and likely to address the circumstances of all these people.
Last but not least, is the scenario of civil servants; the State of the Nation was done in December, the President could not address how he is going to tackle the situation of civil servants in terms of their payments civil servants, including public servants like Members of Parliament. Civil Servants are not certain of their pay day even up to today and that is the state of the nation. Members of Parliament are not certain of their allowances for the past four years and they are likely going to leave this Parliament without knowing when they will be paid their sitting allowance or traveling allowance for coming to work. So that is the state of the nation which could not be addressed by His Excellency the President and we are all sitting here and saying we are checking over the Executive.
Whoever wrote that speech deliberately left those things out and it is up to this Parliament to raise issues with the Executive to say what is the state of the nation, how are they going to address these issues of the public servants salaries and Members of Parliament failing to come to work. You see this House is almost empty; it is because they cannot live, it is half full because they are also looking for money to survive.
So, we have a crisis in the country, not just in Parliament but in homes. The situation in homes right now is that it is difficult to touch a dollar and you will not know unless you live in the back or beyond.
I have travelled across the country, there are people in their lives who have never touched a US$1 and they are being punished. They have never touched it; they just want to use it for going to the grinding mill or doing something. Today, they are not going to see it forever, and they are not even going to see the bond note. So, I am trying to say as Parliament, we need to address the issues of the real state of the nation, the state of the nation where we have to change the situation as it is. The situation where everyone is so poor and does not know what will happen tomorrow and people are worried about tomorrow’s election, worried about how many police roadblocks he is going to meet.
I want to urge you Mr. Speaker Sir, to say this Parliament must pass a resolution where no policeman should ever force anyone to pay a spot fine because there is a form 265 which should be given to anyone who has failed to pay who admits guilt and will pay within 7 days, especially in the circumstance where they is no cash available in banks. You do not swipe when you do not have money in the bank as well, so you must be given time to look for the money if you are proven guilty by the police. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. J. TSHUMA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can I interrupt you one second. There is
a vehicle ADL 4212, it is a Ford Ranger, dark grey in colour, it is obstructing other vehicles. Can the owner please re-park that vehicle; otherwise the police will clamp it.
HON. J. TSHUMA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I
also rise to add my voice on a very important speech that was given to us by the President of our nation Cde. R. G. Mugabe. As we look at this motion of the State of the Nation, it got me really thinking, I compared the yesteryear of Zimbabwe and our today situation and I asked myself, in 1980 a person like you was probably maybe 25 years or so. When I
look at it...
THE HON. SPEAKER: How did you know that?
HON. J. TSHUMA: It is simple guess work, taking into consideration that now it is about 37 years after 1980 and I want to believe that you are not yet 60. Anywhere the point is...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Anywhere Hon. Member that is a
compliment.
HON. J. TSHUMA: My point is the nationalists who brought the independence of our country, at that tender age of between 20 to 30 years had a certain mindset that mindset, which made it possible for them to get our country to be independent. I can imagine people like our Late Cde Tongogara at 25 years, his mindset, what he was thinking of then, he was thinking of how he was going to get Zimbabwe to be free so that we can enjoy the freedom of our nation. I am looking at today’s generation, at 25 they are still being kept at their parent’s houses. They are living under their parent’s allowances, they are not thinking at all of how we can turn this nation around to start to work for us again.
You find people today, instead of finding out how we can improve our economy, instead of trying to find out how we can create jobs, but thinking it is a Friday, and somebody is thinking of which bar to visit. Somebody is thinking of immaterial things that cannot get a nation to work. What I am saying here Mr. Speaker Sir is that, there is need for a paradigm shift on how we are going give thought to issues of this nation. Seriously speaking, if people like you back then in the 70s and 80s were thinking like us today, who would have freed this country? You could have asked yourself why you would go to the liberation struggle without a pay slip or medical aid, but your generation saw it fit to sacrifice and go out there without any guarantee of coming back, health or a salary. However, you went and fought for a cause, hence, our nation was liberated.
Today, we see ourselves, even here in Parliament, we demonise our own country but for crying out loud, this is the only thing that we have. This is our only heritage. Instead of looking at how we attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), resuscitate industries or give attention to issues where boards are appointed clandestinely and performance becomes zero, we do not do that. We zero in on useless things that will not give us food at all or change the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We are now even involved in useless factional fights that will not increase our economic expedience. Mr. Speaker Sir, I am asking, where are we going as a nation? One thing that we need to realise is that nobody is going to come from outside to fix these things for us. It has to be upon us to make sure that we get this country running.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I was so saddened, when I came to Parliament, I had the verve of talking about Cold Storage Commission, which has its headquarters in Matebeleland and Bulawayo in particular. However, up to today, that thing is still closed. How many of our people in Matebeleland could have been employed but are not employed? I came here and talked about Ekusileni Hospital, the hospital that was coined by our late Vice President, Father Zimbabwe, Dr. Joshua Nkomo. I can tell you Mr. Speaker Sir, if that hospital was here in Harare, it would be running today, but it is not and my question is why? Are we looking at these things in a positive way or we are looking at them in unclear ways? We need to demystify that in this House and to the nation.
It is a known point that a company once came to Ekusileni Hospital to try and open it but the efforts were frustrated. We did nothing about it. Today, we have some people, some of whom are dying of cancer. We have no cancer machine in Bulawayo and yet there are cancer machines here in Harare. Two of the cancer machines were brought in and one was put at Parirenyatwa and another at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo. The Parirenyatwa one is working today but the Mpilo one is not working. What are we doing, who is fooling who?
That is where I want us to go to as we talk about the State of the Nation. The State of the Nation is not being derailed by anybody or anything; we are to blame for all the rot that we are facing today.
We need to start looking at this thing with the reality that it deserves. This is not about politics; this is about national issues and getting our nation to work. Our nation will not work if I am putting money into my pockets, and only want to put my relatives to chair on boards, and appoint managers who do not have qualifications to mann companies. For the nation to work, we need to be real and let us have proper board appointments so that proper boards will appoint proper management. If we have proper management, we will not have statements like ‘National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is dead.’ That statement really worried me Mr. Speaker Sir. If one is saying NRZ is dead and yet it employs thousands of our people in Matabeleland, what are you saying? What are we doing as Government? That is where we now need to come up as Parliament and bring up issues that are going to repair and restore such things.
I remember in my Presidential debate speech, I talked about
ZISCO Steel. I will not repeat it today. However, all I am saying Mr. Speaker Sir is that, for our nation to work, let us remove all these hindrances that we have in our minds, issues of factionalism, individualism, regionalism and even nepotism. They must all go and then we start looking at this thing as a national issue. Once we look at things in the national perspective which we ought to, we will begin to have our state of nation in a sound manner. So, as I conclude Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to implore everybody, wherever they are, who are engaging in any corrupt activity to know that they are not only doing a disservice to their families, but to the nation at large.
Even if you are a police officer mounting road blocks – I have actually complained one time when I saw within a distance of 10km, there were five road blocks, what for? Why are we harassing people? Why are we harassing even the tourists whom we need to come? Now, when they start tweeting and talking bad about Zimbabwe, we suffer as a nation. Why are we not correcting these things as we go? What we want at the end of the day is a sound nation and economy. It will not come by sparing each other and patting each other on the back when we are doing rubbish. We need to do what is correct, corporate wise, nation wise and even family set-up wise.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when we achieve that, we begin to be a nation that is moving towards making sure that we resolve issues of Zimbabwe and the country is for us all, regardless of being on the left side or the right side. I want to also say that even those people who find themselves demonising Zimbabwe, are doing a disservice to their own country. If you go out there and say do not come to Zimbabwe, it is ungovernable, it has no rule of law, what are you doing? You are killing your own country and disadvantaging your own next generation, so we need to have a patriotic mind. We need to look at Zimbabwe as our own, all of us and when we get to that stage Mr. Speaker Sir, we will begin to build the nation and then the state of the nation shall be well. I want to leave you Mr. Speaker Sir with one voice to say, no to corruption, unfair appointments of boards of people who are not competent to run them and appointment of management of companies and parastatals to people who have no competence whatsoever to run them because they are running them down and to the detriment of our nation. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for this opportunity. His Excellency, the President came to this House and delivered his State of the Nation Address. I was seated just a few metres away from him and I listened attentively. I would like to say thank you. I also want to thank the mover of the motion to give a respectable response or responses to the State of the Nation by His Excellency. That is exactly what I am going to do; give a respectable response to the State of the Nation Address that His Excellency was pleased to deliver to this
House.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commit my debate in the name of the Almighty who in his infinite wisdom and providential goodness has appointed this office of Parliament. I am going to be assisted in my debate by two books. This one here, report of the Auditor-General for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2015on Appropriation Accounts, Revenue Statement and Fund Accounts and also this book here - report of the Auditor-General for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2015 on State Enterprises and Parastatals.
Mr. Speaker, the background is that 84 state enterprises were audited and analysed by the Auditor-General and 40% of those were given opinions relating to going concern status. There are basically two types of opinions that the Auditor-General gives after going through the numbers of either a ministry or state enterprise. It is either modified or unmodified – I am not going to talk about unmodified because unmodified is a clean report. I am going to talk about modified. 40% of the parastatals whose books the Auditor-General looked at got modified opinions. An auditor will give an opinion based on the numbers that he/she has looked at.
Mr. Speaker, under modified, there are basically three opinions that the Auditor-General will give. It is either a qualified opinion – when the auditor gives a qualified opinion, basically she is saying there is a particular number that I do not agree with that you have put in your financial statements. I do not agree with that number and you do not agree with me as the Auditor-General so we disagree on that number so I give you a qualified opinion an example is POTRAZ on page 26.
The Auditor-General can give you an adverse report. When an auditor gives you an adverse report, he is saying the numbers that you have given me are not reflective of the true position of your organisation. When the Auditor-General gives a disclaimer opinion, he is saying, ooh ndazvitadza, I have failed and cannot do anything about this. God help me. That is what the auditor is saying. Harare Hospital got a disclaimer and it is on Page 189 of the Auditor-General’s report which states, ‘Ever since I was born, I have never seen shambles like this’. That is what the Auditor-General was saying. The Auditor-
General says, ‘I have audited the financial statements of Harare Central Hospital for the years ended 31st December, 2013 and 2014 and issued a disclaimer of opinion. The hospital prepared financial reports in line with guidelines from the Ministry of Health and Child Care.’ The
Auditor-General goes on to say, ‘owing to the nature of the accounting records, I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence relating these transition adjustments through alternative procedures.
I remember when His Excellency the President was commissioning ZISCO; he said and please allow me to say it in Shona. Zvanzi, ‘veduwe dai simbi dzaiwora pano tainhuhwirwa tikafa.’ So the Auditor-General was saying dai Harare Hospital iri nyama, dai ndanhuhwirwa ndikafa and this is a hospital which is supposed to give life to people yet its financial report is in such a state that the Auditor-General almost died by merelly looking at it. – [Laughter.] –
Mr. Speaker, 40% of the parastatals looked at had problems with going concern issues. When the Auditor-General says, ‘you have going concern issues’, he is saying, looking at your numbers, it is unlikely that in the next 12 months after this audit report has been signed you will not still be doing business because your liabilities outstrip your assets. Let me give you an example and bring it closer to home and be graphic. The parastatals that are under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and it used to be Ministry of Transport and
Communication. The National Railways of Zimbabwe, Tel-One and
Net-One – The National Railways of Zimbabwe’s current assets are outstripped by current liabilities to the tune of $171 million; Tel-One current liabilities outstrip current assets by $163 million.
Mr. Speaker, this is not small change, $163 million. If you put $163 million into Harare even stray cats in Mabvuku will tell you that something is happening in this town. Stray cats not even dogs but stray cats in Mabvuku will tell you something is happening in this town. That is the extent of the loss that has been incurred by the parastatal and you find men and women still going to work wearing ties, drinking tea at
1000 hours and having lunch at 1300 hours. What are you doing when a parastatal has made a loss of $163 million wearing a tie and going to work? Before I go any further, Air Zimbabwe has not been audited since 2009, yet Air Zimbabwe has had ministers who go to Cabinet every Tuesday. What are you going to Cabinet to do? Actually I saw Hon. Goche seated here and I was saying, aah but what is wrong with this man? He was Minister of Transport with Air Zimbabwe under his purview yet it was never audited.
Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what a minister who allows a parastatal under his purview not to be audited for five years deserves. We must strip him naked, put him out there and whip him to death like a donkey– [Laughter.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Maridadi, surely what law will you be using to do that? – [AN HON. MEMBER: Sharia law!]
–
HON. MARIDADI: Sorry Mr. Speaker, this is what happens in other jurisdictions - Philippines and China will horsewhip you to death.
THE HON. SPEAKER: And in Zimbabwe?
HON. MARIDADI: In Zimbabwe we do not do that because we
respect the rule of law so we do not do that. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, let me go to …
HON. NDUNA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I am
listening so attentively to his debate and we call it ‘sledging’ in the queen’s language. Mr. Speaker, I am quite sure as a former broadcaster, he would know what this means.
I ask, Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, the tone that he is so eloquently using to deal with the issues that he is articulating; not that it be constant, the spikes should be limited to acceptable tones – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] This is my prayer Mr. Speaker Sir and as I have alluded to, as a former broadcaster, he would know what these nyaudzosingwi might do to his debate. I am hoping that I have not distracted him but let sledging be toned down. I thank you. – [AN
HON. MEMBER: Ucha dhibetawo!] - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] THE HON. SPEAKER: I hope Hon. Nduna, you were listening very carefully when I intervened and asked which law he was using to
do the whipping of someone who is naked and subtly, the Hon. Member realised the problem. We go by the rule of law here. Hon. Member, you can continue.
HON. MARIDADI: I commit this debate in the name of the Almighty who in his infinity wisdom and providential goodness, has appointed the offices of the rulers and Parliaments, like this one. So, help me God.
Mr. Speaker, parastatals; let me go to the parastatal called ZESA, it is an economic enabler. It operates three power stations, Hwange,
Kariba and Harare. The other two power stations are now obsolete, Munyati and Bulawayo. Hwange has an installed capacity of 900 mega watts; it is dispatching 350 mega watts. Kariba has an installed capacity of 750, it is dispatching about 700. Harare has an installed capacity of 80 mega watts; it is dispatching 15 mega watts. In total, ZESA is dispatching 1 350 mega watts, the remainder of the mega watts that we need as a country, we import from South Africa, Snel and from Namibia.
Mr. Speaker, the structure of ZESA is such that there is a holding company which has a chief executive, directors, company secretary and senior managers. Below ZESA holdings, we have Zimbabwe Power
Company, whose job is to generate, we have Zimbabwe Distribution and Transmission Company, we have ZESA Enterprises and Powertel. So, under ZESA there are five business units.
Mr. Speaker, ZESA’s structure is blotted because each business unit has a chief executive; it has a finance director, an operations director, a company secretary and so on. You can put the executive at each business unit of ZESA at about seven, so you multiply seven by five business units and it gives you 35. Then you take the holding company which also has a group chief executive and a set of directors including a group finance director, group corporate affairs director, you have another 11 people. So, ZESA is manned by about 50 people.
ESKOM of South Africa, let me refresh your memory, ZESA generates 1 350 mega watts, ESKOM of South Africa generates 37 500 mega watts. ESKOM generates power and they give power to about 40% of Africa. ESKOM’s structure is managed by eight people, there is a group chief executive, there is a transmission director, a generation director, distribution director, finance director and corporate service director and then those other ones are managers. Eight people make up the executive of ESKOM which generates 37 500 mega watts; ZESA which generates 1 350 mega watts has about 50 people, its top heavy. Let me break it down. It is like taking a five year old, then you give him a head of an elephant and you expect them to walk. They will not be able to walk; they will buckle under the weight of their head.
Mr. Speaker, these parastatals were here, I wish the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, ZESA in particular; when you ask them to give you their pay slips, they will give you pay slips which will tell you that Mr. A earns US$3 500 a month, that is the money that comes through payroll. Parastatals have a benefit called ‘cafeteria’. The way ‘Cafeteria’ is calculated is such that your salary is equivalent to the ‘Cafeteria’ allowance that you get two weeks after getting your salary and it does not come through payroll. So, when books of parastatals are being audited, you are auditing a finance director who is taking home US$4000.00 and yet in actual fact they are taking home
US$8 000.00 because they have that ‘cafeteria’ allowance which does not go through the payroll.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development must
investigate that. I will leave that one aside and go back to the Auditor
General’s report. Mr. Speaker, there are 80 fund accounts that the
Auditor General has looked. Let me tell you what a fund account is. Government would have realised that there is a need that should be addressed by creating a fund and that money should be put into that fund. A typical example is the Number Plate fund. Our Number Plates are securitised. It says here on page 209, of the Auditor General’s Report, “the new vehicle security registration number plate revolving fund for 2013. Objective of the fund - the fund was established to import blank registration plates of the specifications stipulated in the vehicle registration licencing regulations and incidental materials for the production of vehicle registration number plates and to sell plates to vehicle owners. “I have audited”; this is the Auditor General speaking, “the financial statement of the new vehicle security registration number plates revolving fund for the year ended December 31, 2013”. Here is the opinion of the Auditor General, “in my opinion, because of the significance of the matters discussed in the Basis for the Adverse Opinion paragraph, the financial statements do not present fairly the financial position of the New Vehicle Registration Number Plate Revolving Fund as at December 31, 2013 and its financial performance for the year then ended.
Mr. Speaker this fund has so much money to the extent that Ministry of Transport has taken 30 million out of this fund and given it to Air Zimbabwe without the authority of the Ministry of Finance. The Constitution of the fund says, if you are going to spend money from that fund or extend it to another arm of Government, you must get authority from the Ministry of Finance, they did not get authority. However, that is not even worrying that they have put $30 million into Air Zimbabwe but by his own admission, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport says, it does not matter how much money you put into Air Zimbabwe, the airline can never be revived because of the Business model that they are using but he is the same man who then authorises $30 million to be into that business. It is like you are taking $30 million and throwing it down a blair toilet and you know if you put money in a blair toilet, you cannot it back. That is exactly what the permanent secretary has done, $30 million dollars into Air Zimbabwe from this fund, Mr. Speaker that is worrisome, I think something must be done
about it.
Mr. Speaker, I go to the Ministry of Mines. It has a fund here called Mining Industry Loan Fund which was established to assist the mining industry and promote the production of minerals in such a manner as the Minister of Mines and Mining Development in consultation with the Minister of Mines shall from time to time determine. How do you give such an open cheque to a Minister? A minister is a person. Why should we give the Minister such a blank cheque. Hold on! Under the same Ministry, there is another fund which is listed on page 155 of the Auditor General’s Report. By the way Mr.
Speaker, what I am saying here handisikuzvipihwa, it is from the Auditor
General’s Report. This is not prophesying but it is knowledge available in this book presented to Parliament.
There is a fund here called the Mines and Mining Development Fund. The fund was established to support and sustain the operations of the computerised mining title system.
If you look at the constitution of the fund and the constitution of the fund that gave earlier, why can they not be harmonised so that we have one fund? Bureaucrats in Government will not want these funds to be harmonised for very obvious reasons because that is where corruption takes place. Of the funds that were audited by the Auditor General, most of them got modified opinions; they are not working well, Mr. Speaker. I will put this book aside because I shall deal with it in a latter debate.
What I am talking about here, Mr. Speaker, the state of parastatals are reflective of the state of the nation. If there is anybody in his wildest dream who does not believe that the state of parastatals represent the state of the nation, that person must have their head examined. That person can actually be given a certificate of madness by a competent doctor like Hon. Dr. Mataruse here.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you have five minutes
left.
HON. MARIDADI: Five minutes is a lot of time, Mr. Speaker. I will do justice to the five minutes. Mr. Speaker, the state of the nation is reflected by parastatals because parastatals are of the cool face of Government service delivery. Government delivers service via parastatals. Essential services like electricity, water, road infrastructure, transport and so forth. So, parastatals were formed by Government to take care of Government service delivery. Parastatals must participate in business at a profit.
[Time Limit.]
HON. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I propose that we extend
Hon. Maridadi’s time.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. So, when State enterprises were formed, Government realised that if you leave private companies to give essential services, they will charge exorbitant prices and people would not be able to afford. So, electricity, water, road infrastructure and so forth are services given by parastatals because parastatals participate in business on behalf of Government. But parastatals must declare a dividend – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members on my left, please keep
quiet.
HON. MARIDADI: Parastatals, Mr. Speaker, must declare a dividend to Government, but as we speak today, if you go through the
Auditor General’s report, there is not a single parastatal that has declared a dividend to Government - not a single one of them. Parastatals are all perennial loss makers. It could be Zim Post, it could be Cold Storage Company, whatever it is, they are perennial loss makers and when they make a loss, they go back to the shareholder and the shareholder is Government for bail-out.
The reason Government will continue to give bail-out to parastatals is because they realise the importance of parastatals in the scheme of the economy of the country. So, you cannot blame Government. You cannot blame the President to say, I want ZESA to continue to survive. When the President says they must continue to survive, he is saying ZESA must continue to survive because there are poor people out there that benefit from the provision of electricity at an affordable price.
The President is saying, for businesses to operate, they must get power from ZESA but unfortunately, the people that the President appoints to run those organisations are letting him down. If a Minister who was appointed by the President to run Air Zimbabwe does not present books to be audited by the Auditor General for seven years, that person is not doing any good to the President and the President must fire such people.
Mr. Speaker, in 1980 at independence and Hon. Mnangagwa seated here was a Minister and he was younger, he was in his early 40s, he can vouch for me that parastatals contributed 40% to the Gross Domestic Product of this country and the other 60% came from private companies. Let me give you a typical example of ZUPCO. ZUPCO, Mr. Speaker, is supposed to give transport to Zimbabweans because if you want to see the success or failure of a Government, you see by the urban transport system. When I grew up in Mabvuku, there used to be ZUPCO buses coming from Mabvuku, going straight to industrial sites on time, buses that took us to school written ‘schools, as destination light industry, heavy industry, Msasa’ and so forth. ZUPCO was making a profit.
There is a chairperson at ZUPCO called Prof. Chipo Dyanda. Mr. Speaker, if you go to ZUPCO today in Willowvale Industries, you will moan because ZUPCO is almost dead. The buses at ZUPCO are like seeing bones of people that died in the Second World War, but Mr. Speaker, the same Chairperson who presided over the demise of ZUPCO has been given another mandate to be Chairperson of Air Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker, it is like you take a person who you know has full blown AIDS and you have given him a wife and the wife is dying because she has contracted AIDS from the husband. As if that is not bad enough, you say okay, my virgin daughter who is 18 years old, please go and live with that man and please produce children for him. What are you saying? The daughter is going to die. That is the situation of ZUPCO, Air Zimbabwe and Prof. Chipo Dyanda.
Mr. Speaker, the state of the nation is such that the Auditor
General’s report must be respected and when an Auditor General produces these two huge volumes and they are put in our pigeon holes, these books are not supposed to be taken home and put somewhere for children to play with. These books are meant to be read.
Mr. Speaker, over the weekend I was coming from a beer drink with friends and I was so excited. I said look, this is too much excitement and my wife said no, you are too excited, please can you read the Auditor General’s report. I went through two pages. I was so devastated; I went to sleep like a baby and woke up the following morning. Mr. Speaker, if you are so happy, you are excited about something and you want to be angry, read this book.
Hon. Vice President, when people from the other factions of the party are saying things about you, please, give them the Auditor
General’s report – [Laughter.]- They will stop talking about factionalism because after reading this book, it sobers them. You cannot talk about factionalism after reading this book. Hon. Vice President, I urge you to produce copies of this book, give one to Hon. Sarah Mahoka and give the other one to Hon. Sandi Moyo. Problems will be solved –
[Laughter.]-
Mr. Speaker, as I said, the state of the nation is such that our youth do not need residential stands. Young people need jobs. They earn money, they save their money, they buy stands, they continue to save and they build houses. That is the state of the nation. If you give a residential stand to a 27 year old who does not work, it is like giving mapatapata to a person who does not have toes. What does he do? I will tell you a typical example of what is happening in Mabvuku. You give a residential stand to a 25 year old, what they will do is look for somebody who is going to buy that stand for US$3000 and they spend that money.
Mr. Speaker, I was able to buy my first house at the age of 24, Hon. Nhema is here, I had an interview with Hon. Nhema during my early days on radio, I was 23. Hon. Nhema said to me, young man, never live in a flat where you are paying rent to somebody because that flat will never be yours, buy a stand even if it is for US$100 in Epworth, save money and buy stand. I was able to buy my first house in Mabvuku through the advice that I got from Hon. Nhema. I went to a bank and I got a loan for fifty thousand dollars which I paid over a period of six years because of the advice Hon. Nhema did not say go to a political party and get a residential stand. He said save money and buy a residential stand – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – and that is what we need. Mr. Speaker, I will quote from the Bible and say, ‘with these- go ye therefore’, I thank you.
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I think the story has now reached climax because the former speaker was well prepared. This issue that we are debating on parastatals; I am very happy on how it has been handled. What we want to look at, is what we can do for things to move well, what solutions we have. Looking at ZUPCO why it is not operating, it is because the people there do not have a vision. It is only looking at conventional buses but we have other options of commuter omnibuses and small cars. If they were visionary people, they would have introduced commuter omnibuses as well. So, in this country, it is business as usual but people are supposed to think outside the box.
What causes that is because the board of directors is appointed on nepotism. A person with a catering degree is given a position in transport. So, this board of directors issue is the one which is making our things not to flow well.
Looking at Air Zimbabwe, comparing with other countries like Ethiopia and United Arab Emirates, how are they doing it for their things to move well? They have airlines all over Africa and Asia but when we look at our country, you will find that our aeroplanes will just be parked there and they get dilapidated. For us to get airlines from South Africa, you find that our routes are not being utilised. Our domestic routes are being taken by other countries whilst we are just watching, which means that we should be visionary. Even when we are defeated, we should go back and plan to see why we have been defeated.
If you look at National Railways of Zimbabwe, in other countries like China, they now have tube trains which are quicker. In this country, you find that it is taking long for us to go that route and I think it is being caused by the board of directors or the workers that are there who do not think ahead. I think we should introduce speed trains as well. For us to still use ancient trains which take the whole night to travel, the people will opt to use buses that take 3 hours. So, people should be visionary and look at how we can cope with the emerging trends especially this board of directors’ issue.
The Minister should not appoint board of directors. Some of the parastatals in other countries like Rwanda produce money that they take to the fiscus. We should not go to Victoria Falls for our pre-Budget Seminar but to ZIPAM which is quite near. When I look at the money that was paid by my parents when I went to school, comparing it to people who send their children to learn outside, I think it is not right. We should use our resources locally and not export resources so that they are brought back to the coffers of Government.
If we look at what is happening in jails, China has made money with prisoners because they work in mines and farms but here we give prisoners farms like 30 000 and they have workers. This command agriculture programme, prisoners should have been mandated to produce 5000 tonnes per hectare. Prisoners will work in the fields so that when they leave prison, they are given money which would have been realised from the fields. Why should prisoners sleep during the day? I think we should look at our laws so that we will be able to produce things that will alleviate our poverty. The Army should have farms where they grow maize and small grains so that if there is no war, they feed the country instead of us importing maize from Malawi. Long back, we used to think that Malawians are backward but now it is us who are going there to buy food. I think the planners should look at things that will alleviate our poverty. Prisoners should be engaged in mines instead of them playing games and then the money will be taken to the fiscus so that when they leave the prisons, they will be given some money to start some projects.
Looking at the prisons as well, if we look at SMEs, a lot of them are involved in tailoring. Prisoners should be involved in tailoring so that the country can buy clothes from them. That is what China is doing because many prisoners are making clothes which are being sold. In China, the prisoners make furniture and even laptops. This would help us if we do the same. It is now expensive to imprison people because we buy food and we need money for their day to day expenses, be it blankets, sanitary pads and this consume a lot of money. So, I think we should look at these areas and make sure that we make money out of them.
Coming to the councils on running beer halls, I remember when I was growing up in 1975; there was a petticoat bar in Magaba. That time councils used to make a lot of money, but nowadays, councils cannot run even a simple bar in order to make money. The Councils are just crying foul that they do not have money yet people running those councils have degrees in accounting. They are being outwitted by the people in the rural areas who are not educated but are able to run bars.
Coming to stands, the council should take over the business of running stands and parceling out land to people. Councils were given equipment to service land, but you find that they are doing nothing but are contracting companies to do that. They can peg a stand even without the money.
Coming to agriculture, I want to thank the Hon. Vice President because of Command agriculture. Command agriculture is doing very well. If Command agriculture should be taken to command mining it could do well for us because we have a lot of money underground which we have not realised yet. If people go into mining like what they did in command agriculture, we could realise a lot of gold which is underground and sell it.
We once said the illegal gold panners should be formalised, I think it is taking long. Coming to my area in Shamva South, you find that there is a lot of gold there and I have a lot of women who are involved in gold panning. They obtain about 5 grams a day but they cannot take it to Fidelity because they will be convicted. That gold is from Zimbabwe and it is our way of living. However, because of the law, they are not free to take their gold there.
Coming to agriculture, Command agriculture in particular, if I talk to the Vice President, we are talking about a post-harvest programme.
Now we have grown our food, we should be engaged in beneficiation. In South Africa, they are making diesel out of maize. They are also making baby food out of soya beans. So, I think we should look at value addition and make it the same as Command agriculture so that our people are able to obtain value out of the grains that they grow.
Our farmers should not only be trained in farming, but they should also be trained in beneficiation because many countries are involved in that. Let us not just look at growing maize only, we should also look at fish-farming, Namibia is doing that. Here we have an opportunity to come up with fish ponds where we can realise a lot of fish and can it for export. Those are some of the things we should look at. Our agricultural colleges like Chibero should engage in maize growing and not just eat but to help the nation.
Coming to Matebeleland, we have a lot of cattle, but the cattle found there are not growing. We cannot get into Command agriculture of cattle farming, we should revamp our breed. In Rwanda they have artificial insemination centres where farmers go and buy the artificial insemination equipment. It is like a shop and people go and buy the breed that they want and do artificial insemination. If we come up with good breeds, they will be saleable and that will bring more money to the fiscus as more money will be realised.
We have found out that people are very educated but they cannot work using their degrees. Coming to education, in 1978 and 1979, schools were divided into two, the F1 and F2 schools. In F2, there were practical subjects and it was recommended by the Nziramasanga Commission. However, these days, the graduates we are coming up with have masters’ degrees, but they are unemployable because they did not learn any other practical subject. Things have changed these days, so we cannot come up with graduates who end up selling firewood. It means that our education is now cheap. We should look into that. I know people are not happy about this new curriculum, but I have realised that it will help the graduates to be employable on the job market. People who are involved in research are unable to research on how to make tooth-picks or even sanitary pads. So, we want to support Hon. Dr. Dokora so that people who come from primary, even if they lose their parents at Grade 7, they can engage in sewing clothes. That is what China is doing and their education is not looked down upon. These days there are no companies to employ people but people should be employers when they leave school.
Lastly Mr. Speaker Sir, I will talk about corruption. I think in the courts, there should be a definition of what corruption is because you will find that when people have been convicted on corruption, the investigating police officers, do we have them? This is because many people who are accused of corruption have not been convicted because maybe we do not know what corruption means. To say that one is corrupt, what would they have done? The investigating police officers, how articulate are they in those areas? Many of those who were prosecuted at Air Zimbabwe were all discharged because they could not put a finger where the corruption happened. I think we need to look at that as well.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for the Presidential Speech which was given by the President when he opened Parliament. I think we should do more so that the country moves forward. Command Agriculture, I think we should grow more of small grains. Malawi did it and that is why we are buying food there. They are no longer relying on sadza as staple food but they are eating a variety. This means that those in schools should engage in research and we should have hybrids of small grains which will produce more from 1 hectare. If we eat small grains, they are nutritious and we will fight the diseases that we are coming across these days. So, the agricultural research department should look at that so that our country moves well. Thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 28th March, 2017.
On the motion of the VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF
JUSTICE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS (HON. MNANGAGWA), the
House adjourned at Six Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 28th March, 2017.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER: In spite of the truncated House, we proceed to Questions Without Notice.
HON. MLISWA: On a point of order, Cabinet Ministers are not here…
THE HON. SPEAKER: In terms of what Standing Order Hon.
Mliswa?
HON. MLISWA: I am not sure but I stand guided by you [Laughter.] – it should be Standing Order No. 69.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You can proceed.
HON. MLISWA: It is common knowledge that His Excellency was away and Cabinet was supposed to be held yesterday so they are having Cabinet today. I think it will be unfair for us to continue with Question Time whilst the Ministers are in Cabinet. The Deputy Ministers are equally not here, so it was something that I observed and it is up to you to make a ruling.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You made an observation without a
proposal?
HON. MLISWA: My proposal would be to continue with other
business of the day and try to give Ministers an hour to be here.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you sure the Hon. Deputy Ministers cannot answer some of the questions?
HON. MLISWA: I think the issue is that, for example, I wanted to ask the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services and in her absence, the Deputy Minister but he is not here as well. There are only a few Deputy Ministers present. According to Section 107 of the
Constitution, the Deputy Ministers must be here and they are not here.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I said also on my left the House is truncated as well. I do not know where they are but I think let us ask the Deputy Ministers who are here. Those that have got other questions, I am sure the Deputy Ministers will be around to respond accordingly, so we proceed with the questions.
HON. MLISWA: On a point of order, yes, I respect your ruling Hon. Speaker but just for me being a diligent Hon. Member and like all the Hon. Members who are here present; I have a difficulty to justify the absence of the important arm of Government. I know that the
Legislature in terms of our Constitution has two important elements and it consists of Parliament being the Senate and the National Assembly, as well as the President acting in accordance with this Chapter, meaning to say that the President in his capacity as the President of this country is also part of the Legislature to that extent. Now, when you have members of Government on a Wednesday choosing not to be there for whatever reason, Hon. Speaker, we have a duty as Parliament to enquire from Government why perennially they undermine an organ of the State because Parliament is an organ of the State and must be respected.
I want to say that members on this side of the House are on their way, they are just preparing for Parliament…
THE HON. SPEAKER: They are so few.
HON. CHAMISA: They are so few but they are coming, I can assure you, they were just dealing with one or two logistics – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – They will be here in 10 minutes time.
Hon. Speaker, my plea and request is for us to again and once more, under normal circumstances, we should have made what we have to make as a resolution to say we invoke the Standing Orders. Let us sanction the concerned Members, if it is Cabinet, there must be a request from Cabinet to say that we postpone Question Time to another day like Thursday so that as Parliament, we consider it as a special request. Otherwise, we are now being regarded as the deputy of the Executive or as another leg of the Executive when in fact we are another leg of the State. So, we cannot play second fiddle to Cabinet, for whatever reason. We need people to respect Parliament. We need Government Ministers to respect Parliament Hon. Speaker. So, this issue cannot just be taken lying down.
I know that we cannot expect Members from both sides to have a common view on this one but I know Hon. Speaker that this we share as a view. Let Parliament be respected and let us have Ministers coming to this Parliament out of genuine desire to respect this Constitution.
Otherwise, if we do not do that, we will continue to have problems. Yes, we acknowledge Deputy Ministers who are here present but we must also have Cabinet Ministers. This is a day that is set aside for you and not for any other to explain to the public what you are doing in Government. So, we are very serious about this and may the seriousness come from your Chair and descend onto Cabinet to the President of this country.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much for your - Hon.
Mliswa, just pay attention please. I will ask the Chief Whip to please give me a register of the absent Deputy Ministers except for Hon. A.
Ndlovu, Hon. Damasane and Hon. Eng. Madanha.
As for the members of Cabinet, in terms of Section 47, if
Parliament is advised about Cabinet sitting, that is accepted but for the Deputy Ministers who are not here, we shall definitely take action against them. I did not want two wrongs to make a right but Hon. Chamisa will agree with me that members on my left are terribly truncated and should be the first ones to respect Wednesday as their day and they are not there - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Be that as it may, we will proceed with questions. I had recognised Hon. Nduna, Hon. Mkandla, Hon. Holder, Hon. Gabbuza followed by him in that order.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, it took a long time coming but be that as it may, good afternoon Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. NDUNA: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, Hon. Eng. Matangaidze. Aware Mr. Speaker that there was 700 000 metric tonnes of drought mitigation grain imported into the country for the sole benefit of the vulnerable and those who are affected by drought and also aware that His Excellency the President said nobody, including in urban areas, should suffer from hunger due to the drought that has befallen us.
My question goes as follows, what is Government policy regarding distribution of drought mitigation grain in urban areas?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Thank
you Mr. Speaker Sir. I respect Hon. Nduna for the question he has posed but I think I have responded to that question before.
Suffice to say, we have already come up with mitigation strategies for the urban areas. What we were waiting for was the outcome of the results from the ZIMVAC Urban Assessment Programme. Those results have since come through and Cabinet is seized with those results.
Regardless, we have since moved on to distribute food in urban areas. I can give you figures and examples of the mitigation even in the metropolitan provinces of Bulawayo and Harare; we have since started distributing food aid. I would also like to add that, we appreciate that initially, the programme was supposed to end at the end of March but we realised that a lot of people are still to harvest their crop. So there are considerations on extending that programme until the harvest starts coming in. I thank you. – [HON. NDUNA: Supplementary, Mr. Speaker Sir!] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: When the answer is so lucid, let us avoid supplementary question – [HON. NDUNA: Inaudible interjections.] - Yes, I thought the Hon. Minister’s response was quite comprehensive. I shall indulge you one question.
HON. NDUNA: I thank you once again Mr. Speaker for indulging me. My question will border on exactly when will we have this ZIMVAC report, aware also that you have now extended the time within which you want to distribute the drought mitigation grain in the urban areas?
When is the ZIMVAC report coming seeing that we, in particular Chegutu West, have not received any grain?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, time frame Hon. Minister.
HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I
mentioned that the ZIMVAC report is already out but Cabinet is currently seized with considering it. The ZIMVAC report is not affecting anything at all as things stand because we have since moved in to distribute food in urban areas.
If Chegutu has particular issues and problems, I would gladly indulge Hon. Nduna then we can see how best we can resolve them.
Thank you.
+HON. MKANDLA: My question is directed to the Deputy
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. What is Government policy regarding students who have completed school especially at Harare Polytechnic, it took them very long to get their certificates? Those who finished in 2014 only got their certificates in 2017.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for her question. The certificates are issued to students on graduation day; they are supposed to get their certificates on graduation day. If there is a problem with graduates not getting their certificates, it must be a unique problem that we must look into if it is brought to us but the policy is on graduation day, students or graduates must get their certificates. I thank you
*HON. DR. MKANDLA: I have a child who was at Polytechnic
in 2014 but the child only got the certificate in 2017 because they are asked to pay $50 so that they get their certificates timeously.
HON. DR. GANDAWA: Like I mentioned in my response, I
think this should be a unique issue that I can engage the Hon. Member to find out what the problem is. However, there is no policy that students must pay an additional $50.00 to get their certificates because the examination fees and tuition fees covers the aspect of the certificates. On graduation, there is a small fee that is charged which is the graduation fee. So, it should not be a certificate matter. I think it is an issue and she has actually mentioned to say Harare Polytechnic. So, I
might engage the Hon. Member to find out the problem and rectify the issue. I thank you.
HON. HOLDER: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement. What policy does Government have in place regarding those that have been settled on farms in the year 2000 that are now being evicted by the courts and individuals yet all land belongs to the State?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL
RESETTLEMENT (HON. CHIKWAMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker
Sir. The Government policy is that when a person is replaced or was allocated land during the 2000 period; when people were having land without documentation, if those people were not given the documents, we are going to rectify that anomaly. However, whenever a person occupies land which belongs to somebody as an indigenous or a land which is not gazetted, then they are supposed to vacate. If that person has not yet been given any documentation whilst the land has already been gazetted, I think it is wise for the Hon. Member to put it in writing so that the Ministry will deal with those issues.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is
directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour, and Social Services. The Government has put a freeze and cap on further recruitment of civil servants yet we have schools that are running with one or two teachers and ratios have gone up to 1:80 student people/ ratios. Is there a possibility of a rethink on this policy so that those schools are not disadvantaged, given that we are now into second term without teachers?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE,
LABOUR, AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG.
MATANGAIDZE): There is definitely a rethink on that issue but all we need to do right now is to ascertain the vacancies which are there, approach Treasury to seek funding and should the funding be in place, definitely we will see movement in that regard and some recruitment coming through. However, the challenge right now, is to assess the vacancy levels and to source the funding requirements. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Can the Minister indicate how long that is going to take because there was already a Civil Service audit. Are they thinking of doing another one? Is the one that was done not sufficient to establish the number of vacancy rates?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Can we reduce our voices
to strictly whispers so that we can follow the proceedings properly?
HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE: This particular exercise that I am
referring to does not relate to the Public Service Audit that was done. This now depends on the three Ministries, firstly, the Ministry of
Primary and Secondary Education, the Ministry of Public Service,
Labour and Social Services and the Finance and Economic
Development. So it will not relate to the Public Service audit like I said.
What we need coming through from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is to establish where the vacancies are. Once the relevant Ministry has done that and we, through the Public Service Commission, ascertain that indeed this is actually true, will then approach Treasury for funding. So, you will appreciate that this is a significantly lower route to take for a result to come through. The main challenge as it stands right now will be in assessing the funding so that these will be funded posts.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Is the Minister aware that he is in breach of the Constitution by delaying the education of these kids through insufficient teachers? It is not enough to tell this House that there is not enough funding for teachers when you have student/teacher ratio which is not acceptable. These children will not have a gap which they have to subsidise after they have already lost the time. Can the Ministry take it as a Social Welfare Ministry to ensure that is done yesterday?
HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE: I fully concur that this exercise
that I am referring to should be done as quickly as possible and we will definitely implore on the Ministries that we work with in this regard to make sure that all resources necessary are channeled in that direction.
HON. TARUSENGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question
is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Currently, there is a problem on pupils who are on BEAM whose parents are forced by school heads to pay in advance school fees when these pupils want to go for form one or lower six. What is Government policy on school heads who continually request advance fees payment awaiting Ministry’s BEAM payment?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): I thank
the Hon. Member for that very pertinent question. The Government policy is that once a student has been taken on to the BEAM programme, the liability to pay fees falls now with Government. So, every school head is supposed to enroll that person who is on a BEAM programme. There might be delays in funding coming through, but the obligation now will be between the school and Government. So, the position is clear. Children on BEAM should be registered and should write their examinations. Should there be specific cases Mr. Speaker Sir, where children are not afforded that, please by all means, let us know and together with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, we will implement that the and enforce that headmaster complies.
HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Recently, some students embarked on a tour to America. I would like to know from the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development what Government policy is as regards to payment of air fares. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Because the Hon.
Member was not clear, I will assume she is referring to the Riding College students that took a tour to the United States last week.
It is a private college and the parents of those students are the ones that paid the air fares for the students and all the requirements for the tour. The Ministry only gave them a send off event to encourage the other schools since we introduced the STEM programme, but there is no funding from Government as regards these students that are touring the United States of America currently from Riding College. I thank you.
HON. MANGAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. Minister, what is Government policy regarding the use of the fees which is paid to our universities considering that the fees are so exorbitant and they are not part of the salary?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.
While I appreciate that the income of our populace is not as much as we would want it to be, it is incorrect to say that the fees that are charged in our universities are exorbitant. People should appreciate that we are the lowest in terms of fees. Our fees at the university are US$350 tuition fees for general programmes and US$450 for the sciences excluding accommodation.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development or Treasury has not been allocating funds to all our institutions of higher learning and the fees are the ones that are sustaining the institutions of higher learning in terms of the learning and teaching material. Everything that you see happening in our institutions of higher learning, be it polytechnics, teacher’s colleges as well as universities is managed from the tuition fees that the students are paying to our institutions. So, we are actually commending our institutions for fully utilising the fees that they are getting from the students. All the developments, even infrastructural developments that you see - for instance, if you visit the Great Zimbabwe University, you will see that there is serious development happening there. If you visit the Bindura University and all our universities, you will see they are working extra hard to use the little fees that they collect from our students to do infrastructural developments since we are not getting any PSIP from Treasury.
So, I think our institutions are utilising the tuition fees and the fees that they are getting from the students to improve our institutions of higher learning. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Good to see you Hon. Khumalo. It is good to see you back. I hope you are in better health now.
HON. T. KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank you for carpeting the Parliament. That was a huge move. Now I can breathe. Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
We have cadetship in your universities, Hon. Minister. The latest information states that you have not been paying. So, the fees…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Khumalo, you address the Chair
please.
HON. T. KHUMALO: My apologies Hon. Speaker. Mr.
Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development is paying cadetship to universities and since they started the cadetship, there has never been any payment. He is talking of utilisation of the school fees. What then happens for the non- payment of these cadetships and what is the impact if you do not pay, for example, you owe NUST US$2 million.
HON. DR. GANDAWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir
and I want to thank Hon. Khumalo for a very pertinent question. I concur with her that we have challenges in the payment of the cadetship fees and to date, our institutions of higher learning are owed US$62 million by Government across all institutions. As Government, we have engaged our counterparts in the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development because it is the Treasury’s duty. It is not the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development that must pay the institution, but it is Treasury that is supposed to pay the institutions.
We sympathise with our institutions because they really need that money to make sure that the institutions are running. We have engaged Treasury. They are now paying US$30 000 every month to the institutions spread across so that at least they cushion the institutions until the whole debt is cleared. We know the amount that is being paid per month is not as much as we would like, but as Government, we appreciate the problems that we have and we assure the intervention that has been made will mitigate against the challenges that the institutions are facing, but we are seized with the matter and appreciate that Hon. Members also agree and sympathise with our institutions that they should be paid so that our institutions continue to be afloat. I thank you.
HON. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock). I would like to thank the Government for the Command agriculture programme which seems to be a success. What is now Government policy on the restocking of cattle, with particular interest in the Masvingo Province.
Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The policy is that we have just completed drafting what is required for command agriculture in terms of livestock and it will be submitted to Cabinet. Obviously, I think it is fair to say that other farmers benefited immensely from command agriculture, particularly crop farmers.
Livestock is an important part of the agriculture sector, so we have drafted proposals so that farmers, particularly in Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, part of Midlands, Masvingo which has got the largest population of Mketo can also benefit from the programme I thank you.
HON. BEREMAURO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question
is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock). Hon. Minister, while I applaud the Government for coming up with a good successful Command agricultural programme. What is the Government policy on decentralization with regards to distribution of inputs and administration of the programme from district to ward level where there are GMB depots and Agritex offices? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULUTRE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. Speaker I did not
get the first part of his question. Can I ask the Hon. Member to repeat first part of his question?
HON. BEREMAURO: Whilst I applaud the Government for coming up with a good successful Command agricultural programme. What is the Government policy on decentralisation with regards to distribution of inputs and administration of the programme from district to ward level where there are GMB depots and Agritex offices?
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I am not very aware what he is referring to because the distribution of inputs has already been decentralized from the main GMB distribution centres to provinces and districts. I do not know whether he is talking about the physical collection of those inputs or I just do not understand his question. Can he expand his question to say where the problem is, because I do not understand where the problem is at the moment?
THE HON. SPEAKER: But the policy is there for
decentralization that is the issue.
HON. ZHANDA: It was decentralized a long time ago. The data
collection, the identification of beneficiaries, the collected data has already been decentralised, the district administrators are in charge already because District Administrators come from the district. They are in charge of distributing those inputs. So, I do not actually know what he is talking about because it is already decentralised.
HON. MLISWA: The question is while that decentralisation is there, it is on paper, the farmers in my area, Norton – there is a GMB depot and they are actually collecting their inputs in Chegutu yet they are supposed to collect in Norton. I think this is where the Hon. Member was coming from. So, on paper it is there, in terms of implementation it is not happening. They have to travel 100km to 200km to go and get the inputs and that is where the Minister must respond. Why is it that the GMB in Norton where the Norton farmers are supposed to collect, they are not collecting but they are going to Chegutu, that is where the question is.
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the
Hon. Member for the question. It is the administrative aspect of the programme, not that it is a policy. It could have been caused by delays in transferring inputs from Chegutu to Norton; therefore it cannot be perceived to be a policy. It is just a question of administration that could have caused the delay. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Minister the issue is
implementation of the policy.
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. When inputs are being
distributed - for instance when they are distributed to the provinces, the identification of beneficiaries is done province by province. They are then dispatched to the main depot of the province. The main depot of the province will be responsible for distributing to the district depots, because they could be a delay from the main district in the province to the depot then farmers can volunteer to go and pick it up from there rather than waiting for it to be delivered to the district depot. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MARIDADI: When policy is not speaking to what is
happening administratively, there is a problem and I think that is what the Minister is required to address, the policy is there but there is no administration..
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, you need to address that by way
of a supplementary question, not a point of order.
*HON. MACHINGURA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My
supplementary question is on the challenges that we are facing; people are not getting inputs where they are supposed to get them. So, it means when they are delivered it will not be a full consignment. Some will get fertilizers without the seed or some will get seed without fertilizers. We want our Minister to comment - if people are not able to deliver the 5 tonnes per hectare, will you understand them?
*HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. People came across those challenges in certain places where they got their inputs late. What happens is not uniform, in some places people got fertilizers and did not apply them but decided to sell, so for people who could not deliver the 5 tonnes as specified in the Constitution, each case will be looked at on merit. We cannot give a blanket answer on that. So those who are not able to deliver, their cases will be looked at on merit.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, whilst you are up
standing chii chinonzi kudelivhara?
*HON. ZHANDA: Mr. Speaker, if a person fails to honour the contract, that case will be looked at an individual level on merit. We cannot give a blanket answer that everyone who failed to meet the contract is because they did not receive the inputs in place, it is not the same because there are rumours that there are others who sold the inputs because they got the inputs late or the fertilizer was washed away by the rains. So, we will not forgive people like that.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, please forgive me. You
must stick to one language; we should not mix the languages, English and our vernacular.
*HON. CHITEMBWE: My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. The Hon. Minister talked about fertilizer which was stolen, what is he doing if he heard the rumours that there are people who stole fertilizer and sold it? – [HON. CHIBAYA: Umwe wacho ndiMushowe.]
–
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Chibaya. Regerai Hon.
Minister vapindure.
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I think the Hon. Member did not get what I said. I did not say there are people who stole fertilizers. I said there are rumours that some people stole the fertilizer. So, the issue is that, a farmer may not have been able to fulfill the contractual agreement within the specified time, there is need for evidence to that effect and we cannot use the grapevine to persecute that person. Thank you.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. Mr. Speaker Sir, taking into consideration that today marks 100 days since bond notes were introduced as a way of addressing the liquidity crisis currently bedeviling this country, what is Government doing to ensure that we move away from being primary producers to secondary producers - looking at tobacco, chrome and platinum? If tobacco or chrome was to be sold as a finished product, we could easily generate more than US$3 billion for each one of them.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this is the much needed foreign currency, which can move this country forward. If platinum is processed, it consists of 10 other minerals, rhodium, palladium, gold and others. So, what is Government doing to ensure that we move away from being primary producers to secondary producers so that we value add our products? Once there is value addition, we will be able to fetch more money, which is the much needed foreign currency and we will be able to deal with the liquidity crisis that we currently face as a country. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I
would like to thank Hon. Khupe for that pertinent question regarding issues of value addition and beneficiation as enunciated in the ZIM ASSET. I completely agree that an economy like Zimbabwe is currently based on primary products or goods. The reason the Government found it necessary through the leadership of His Excellency, to put value addition and beneficiation as one of the sectors or priority key areas to be explored was for the sake of answering what Hon. Khupe has brought
Look at tobacco for example, yes, the gold leaf is going out of the country in its tonnage as raw material, but as Government, we are encouraging the value addition of that raw material. If you look, we have encouraged companies such as Savanna to be able to process tobacco to become a cigarette so that we export cigarettes to our partners who are willing to trade with us in cigarettes. We have markets which are willing to buy processed cigarettes from Zimbabwe.
I will take this opportunity to encourage investors, be it local or international, to come in and invest in cigarette processing companies like the Savanna, which we currently have here in Zimbabwe, which is wholly owned by Zimbabweans. Coming to chrome, yes, as a finished product, we do not go up to the finished product, but we can add value for us to come up with ferrochrome. At the moment, I am happy to say that we have seen the resuscitation of ZIMASCO, which, by the end of this year, will have all the six furnaces up and running, thanks to an investment by a South African company. That investment has seen the resuscitation of ZIMASCO on its own when it sub-let some of its furnaces to a South African company.
We also have a ferrochrome producer in Gweru and in
Mashonaland West. So, the four ferrochrome producers, last year, they have been contributing around US$10 million in terms of export. With this ferrochrome production, the projection that we have is that, by the end of this year, we are looking at between US$25 million and US$30 million in terms of export earnings.
With platinum, I agree with the Hon. Member that as we export raw platinum, we are not only exporting platinum but several other minerals. The Government has gone into negotiation with the big platinum producers such that we will see a platinum processing plant being installed here in Zimbabwe. Those are the negotiations that are currently underway. You know that Zimbabwe has the second largest deposits of platinum to South Africa in the world. So, we are working with the South African companies which are currently mining here so that they come and put a plant here so that they take out the platinum and the rest of the 10 plus minerals embedded in there so that they remain in the country. I thank you.
HON. SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The Hon. Minister has just said that Zimbabwe has the second largest deposits of platinum in the world. I would like the Hon. Minister to explain to the House and the nation at large why if we have the second largest deposit of platinum in the world, we are still poor. What are they doing as a Ministry to ensure that we are not poor? Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Sithole, I heard the Hon. Minister indicating that a processing plant will be established in order to accelerate value addition. So, the supplementary question does not arise – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order.
The Chair has ruled.
HON. MUNOCHINZWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. Hon. Minister what is the Government policy with regards to the number of days that must be accrued by a teacher in order for one to
be regarded as due for vacation leave?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Sorry Hon. Member that is an
administrative question.
HON. CHASI: I would like to start by commending Government on the Command Agriculture Programme but it looks certainly in my constituency and Mazowe generally that food security is somewhat secured.
I would like to find out from the Hon. Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, now that we will be nearing harvesting, can he assure us that the necessary machinery such as combine harvesters and driers will be available so that we do not lose on the bumper harvest that we are facing in Mazowe?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Yes, I do confirm that whilst I do not have the specific figures but from a policy point of view, Government has already identified combine harvesters locally.
We have also identified combine harvesters that need to be repaired and Government is in the process of repairing those combine harvesters that are not working including driers. Government has already identified driers that are working …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Chasi, I thought that was your question and you are busy talking with Hon. Paradza. – [HON. CHASI: No Mr. Speaker, I was just smiling.]- – [Laughter.] – Can you listen to the Hon. Minister? Yes, Hon. Minister, you may proceed.
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I was on the issue of
driers. Government has already identified the number of driers that are in working condition all over the country and about 20 which are not working which Government has embarked on repairing.
The issue of driers is very important because Government wants to make sure that maize is harvested as quickly as possible so that wheat farmers can go into the fields as soon as possible. I thank you.
*HON. MLISWA: My supplementary to the Hon. Minister is we have farmers who were unable to take their maize to the GMB and now you failed to avail fertilisers to the farmers at their nearest depots. What have you done to farmers who are near depots, how are you going to ensure the farmers will deliver their maize to the depots yet you failed to avail fertilisers to them?
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker and let me thank the
Hon. Member for the question. However the Hon. Member’s question is premised on assumptions that we might not be able to do that. I thought he wanted to find out the plans that are in place in order for GMB to be able to collect maize from the farmers?
We have directed GMB to open as many depots as possible, particularly in the maize growing areas. We have also put an order for tarpaulins where the silos are not available in order to deal with that matter. We are also dealing with the issue of bags where bags will be required where harvesting requires bags. So, we are leaving no stone unturned about preparing for this big harvest to make sure that we minimise harvest losses and that is all in place. – [*AN HON. MEMBER: Hon. Minister, we have combine harvesters which are not being used in Matabeleland?] -
*HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the
Hon. Member. I do not know how many combine harvesters are in
Matabeleland but if they are there yes, because there is nothing to harvest. When the harvest time comes, they will be used for harvesting.
– HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I can see that
our time is moving very fast but I just want to point out that if you look at the way our Cabinet Ministers treat us, it does not show respect to Members of Parliament.
I was asking one of the Cabinet Ministers where he was and he said he had gone somewhere but Cabinet has finished its business. When we are talking about this, I think we should revamp the powers of Parliament because it is not a joke for Ministers to come to Parliament.
It is because they earn their salaries from the taxpayers’ money. You will find that the country ranks second place in the way we pay our taxes and I think the taxpayers should benefit. We have a lot of questions including that of mothers who went and grabbed land, there is no one we can ask pertaining the movement of our President as our Deputy Ministers cannot tackle those questions. So we want the Ministers to take Parliament business seriously.
Mr. Speaker, I think we should seriously look at the issue of Ministers abstaining from Parliament because it is not that they will be with the President because some of the Hon. Ministers are here. The
President has released them already seeing that Hon. Dr. Dokora and Hon. Dr. Gumbo are here. Our Ministers should respect this House. I know that Members of Parliament cannot be found anywhere but they should be respected when they are here and Parliament should be respected. When Ministers are here, they should respond to questions, failure of which we charge them with contempt of Parliament so that Parliament is respected. I think we should deal with one of them to show that we have powers as Parliament. – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, I have not responded to the point of order. Hon. Minister Dokora and Hon. Minister Gumbo, we notice that Hon. Gumbo has been here for the last 30 minutes. Can you confirm that Cabinet is over? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Mr. Speaker, when we left, Cabinet was still in session – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – but our attention was drawn to the fact that those who were aware that their deputies may not be in the House could go and attend to the matters of the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for that clarification. So, the matter does not arise – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
*HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker, we do not trust Hon. Dr.
Dokora. I think Hon. Gumbo should speak out the truth.
*HON. DR. DOKORA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. May the
Hon. Member withdraw the statement that VaDokora havatembeke.
Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Chamisa, I think we
need to treat each other with honour and respect. Please, if you can withdraw that statement.
*HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I understand that I had to speak my mind out and I know it is not allowed. I am very sorry about that Mr. Speaker. You know when you just speak your mind out, it is not allowed and it does not make others happy. I withdraw my words.
HON. GONESE: On a serious note, Mr. Speaker Sir, I feel that it is important to establish the truth of the matter. The matter which has been raised by Hon. Chamisa, I believe it really goes to the core of what we are here for. It really goes to the core of governance issues and I believe that from the way that my colleague, Hon. Gumbo was chuckling, I had a sixth sense – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-yes and I believe that we should do more. I think that it is appropriate for this august House, through your office Mr. Speaker, to ascertain, though not now, as a matter of fact what time the Cabinet meeting ended. I believe that through your office; it is critical that it be established as a matter of fact when Cabinet meeting ended today and then advise the House. I think there is a possibility that some Hon.
Ministers are trying to hide behind a finger. Cabinet might have ended and for reasons best known to them, have decided not to come to Parliament. I believe that it is very important to establish the truth of the matter and to ascertain exactly what the position is. That is my humble plea to your office Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKR: I will liaise with the Leader of
Government business to establish the truth and then will come back to you.
+HON. MLILO: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. I would like to know what Government policy is in order to protect people who are using electricity. A lot of people in Zimbabwe have pre-paid electricity metres and there are people who still owe ZESA a lot of money. If he pays maybe $10.00, part of that money is used to pay for the arrears and the rest will pay for the electricity that the person has to consume. This has been happening in Bulawayo, Gweru and other places. At times they are switching off electricity…
+THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Do not expand, just ask your question.
+HON. MLILO: I wanted to give her a background. The question is what Government policy is in place to protect consumers on electricity. I hope you have understood what I was trying to get at.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUZENDA): Thank you Mr. Speaker. I
want to thank the Hon. Member for his question. Yes, we have a policy in place which says that when a person has been given a pre-paid metre, they are supposed to come up with a payment plan with ZETDC.
However, if they do not pay their electricity, they will not get electricity; that is how it works. If the pre-paid electricity is finished and you do not pay your debt, then you are switched off.
+HON. MLILO: Thank you Hon. Minister. I think my question was quite clear. Every month, people buy electricity worth about US$100, US$50 is then said to be paying for the arrears. So, in other words this electricity company has actually forced people to make payment for their arrears. I do not see how people can afford to pay for the arrears and also pay for the electricity that they need for that month. We all know the state of the economy at the moment, so, people cannot really afford this. I thank you.
*HON. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I have understood
your question that how can we protect those who use electricity whilst having arrears in order to ease their problems. I had said that if you are on pre-paid metre, for you to be switched off. What it means is that even if you have a payment plan and you have US$100, US$50 will go towards electricity and US$50 will pay your debt. What it means is that if you do not follow that plan, it is a problem to protect such people.
HON. MLILO: Maybe, Mr. Speaker Sir, let me rephrase my question and ask it in the English language.
+THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! I think, Hon. Mlilo, the Hon. Minister has already explained. I do not think we will go anywhere even if we ask the question three times or more than three times. We are not getting anywhere. If there is anything maybe, Hon.
Mlilo, you can see the Minister and talk to her, maybe she can explain.
No more supplementary questions.
HON. B. TSHUMA: (Hon. Tshuma spoke in Nambiya) THE HON. SPEAKER: (The Hon. Speaker spoke in Nambiya)
*HON. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker Sir. I ask that if there is an issue concerning electricity, I think we should allow supplementary questions because we have about two or three weeks without people attending to those questions. So, if we ask for supplementary questions concerning electricity, I think it is our privilege that we should talk about what is happening in our constituencies because people are just paying and 50% of their money is being deducted towards paying their electricity.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Even me, I am also pleading with you that you should write your questions down because it needs a full response.
*HON. A. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My
question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development, that those who are going to engage in winter ploughing, there will be no water. What is the position of our electricity and the price because people are really crying about the tariffs on electricity? How are they going to pay for the electricity so that we get a bumper harvest? Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUZENDA): Thank you Mr. Speaker. I
want to thank Hon. Mnangagwa for her question. I am not very clear whether she is saying that we should change the way people were paying their electricity because at the moment we are not in a position to lower down the tariffs. They will remain like that.
*HON. A. MNANGAGWA: I will submit the question in
writing.
+HON. R. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Could you please direct me because it is a difficult question? I do not know whether I can direct the question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are women foreigners who are in prison. They say when they were put in prison they had not committed any offences. What is Government policy in relation to repatriating these ladies back to their countries? Some are from Ghana, Zambia and Malawi.
There is no food in prison. They said they last had meat on Christmas Day. So, they were asking for help from the Government so that they can be repatriated back to their countries.
+THE HON. SPEAKER: Sorry Hon. Ndlovu, the Minister of Home Affairs is not present in the House. Maybe you should ask your question again next week.
*HON. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services and in her absence, the Deputy Minister. The United Nations
Convention which referred to the people living with disabilities in 2013, Zimbabwe was there and there are things we agreed to do. How far are we from implementing the things of the United Nations Convention 2013, in terms of people living with disabilities? How far are we in terms of implementation?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE,
LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG.
MATANGAIDZE): Thank you Hon. Speaker for the question asked by Hon. Mliswa. Yes, the Government is working very hard that we should implement what we agreed on the UN Convention. The important thing that we are doing is aligning the law to the Constitution. The law that we had was enacted in 1994. So what we want is to align that law with what we agreed to. Now, we are at the stage of coming up with principles which are guidelines of how the law will come out.
I have said that we have visited about six provinces and we are getting ideas from them on how we incorporate it into the law on what we agreed. What I can tell this House is that as a Ministry, we have created at director level a position which only deals with disabled people. On all issues pertaining to Social Welfare and the programmes we will give priority to people living with disability and the programmes, are at an advanced stage. We will come up with a Bill that we will bring to Parliament for debate. I thank you.
HON. MLISWA: Minister, it was 2013 and you are still implementing in 2017. When are you going to really fulfill this implementation of this programme? Section 83 of the Constitution is very clear about what the State must do to ensure that those living with disabilities are also given priority. How far have you gone even in terms of the building structures in this country; the schools for example? How far have you gone in implementing Section 83 of the Constitution? As a nation, we are seen wanting when it comes to people living with disabilities. It is like we tend to ignore them yet they are 10% to 15% of this population. We need to know the timeframe when this implementation will be done.
Time for Questions Without Notice having expired.
HON. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker, I move that Questions Without Notice be extended by 10 minutes.
HON. MARIDADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE: The
most important thing in addressing the issue that Hon. Mliswa was coming through is to come up with a legal framework which will govern the implementation of the ratified positions. We are thinking that at least by the third quarter of this year, we should have that Bill coming to
Parliament for deliberation. That now addresses the timeframe that Hon. Mliswa is talking about. We accept that there has been delay in that implementation but certainly by the end of this year, we should be able to have a Bill that guides the legal framework which will ensure that other line ministries, like the Ministry of Local Government, Publics
Works and National Housing for argument’s sake, which now stipulates how building can be built up to accommodate the disabled of our society should be able to be operative.
It is important that we get the legal framework in place and we have made significant progress in that regard. Yes, I agree that there have been delays but going into this year, we should be able to get the legal framework in place and guided by that, we should be able to implement all the important issues as ratified in that Convention.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is
directed to Hon. Dr. Dokora. Students, parents and teachers are not happy about your curriculum. My question is, are you going to continue implementing your curriculum which is causing challenges to our Government?
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Mr. Speaker for the question asked by Hon. Chibaya, an Hon. Member from Midlands, which means that he lost a lot because he did not attend the day which was set apart by Parliament to explain on this matter.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Hon. Speaker, we can come up with plans on teaching Members of Parliament on Government plans. What happens is that as we represent people, what I bring here comes from the people.
He should answer the question that I have asked. The people who asked the questions are listening and they want an answer. It is not good for the Minister to answer that I lost the explanation he gave whilst I was not in Parliament; he should answer the question without insulting me.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Do not forget Hon. Members
that you are left with only 5 minutes.
*HON. DR. DOKORA: I want to answer Hon. Chibaya. His question should not be brought into this House at this moment because we set aside the 13th of March to explain to Members of Parliament about this curriculum. Hon. Chibaya comes from Midlands, after this he will go and explain to his constituents.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, for us not to
waste time please answer the question.
HON. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MLISWA: I think Hon. Speaker Sir, with due respect, when this issue was heated here, we were all invited to listen to this.
Secondly, the Hon. Member of Parliament can learn from my lesson. I invited him to my constituency and he addressed everyone there. So, there is nothing that stops him from that as that is his role as a Member of Parliament to engage the Minister to go there – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members.
HON. CHIBAYA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. CHIBAYA: I referred my question to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Dr. Dokora. I did not refer my question to Hon. Mliswa. Hon. Mliswa cannot respond on behalf of
Hon. Dr. Dokora. I want an answer from the Hon. Minister – [HON.
CHIBAY: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Chibaya. I may
make a ruling that the Minister will not respond to your question. If I say order, I mean order. Hon. Minister, just in brief, respond to his question.
*HON. DR. DOKORA: Now, on this journey which we have embarked on, of revamping our education curriculum, it did not start in a few years but it started long back in 1998/99 when it was seen befitting by our President that we should set up a Commission which was led by Cephas Nziramasanga. He is the one who came up with the issue that we are following and want to implement in our education system. So, we are doing it bit by bit in implementing what they came up with. I think that from the many words, Hon. Chibaya as a representative from Midlands in Mkoba, can make plans so that we send technical people to help them on that issue – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. It is not
the first time for Hon. Dr. Dokora to answer the questions as he is doing right now. So I am not going to take any supplementary question –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order please.
*HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question to Hon. Dr. Dokora is different. I am not going to say anything about that issue – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection.] – let me ask a new question. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services. In our country, we have a law on how we disseminate information. As Government, are you allowing members of political parties to have their own radio and television stations like in other countries like Uganda and Kenya? Yes, we have newspapers, but radios and televisions, are there any plans so that if political parties are able to do that, they can do it?
+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I apologise, I am not very fluent in Shona.
Hon. Member if you allow me to respond in Ndebele. The Hon. Member asked and said other political parties are allowed to broadcast in other countries. I thank you for the very important question. The Hon.
Memeber is aware that we are digitalising and after the end of the digitalisation process, we will be having 12 stations. Six of those stations will be open to anyone who wants to broadcast, regardless of which political party that person belongs to or religious organisation they belong. If they want to broadcast to the nation, they are free to do so. Yes, whoever wants to broadcast, they can, but that can only be done after we are through with the digitalisation process.
+HON. KHUPE: Thank you Hon. Deputy Minister. My question is, why is it that when you watch the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) now, other parties are not given an opportunity to broadcast but we only hear of ZANU PF broadcasting women’s activities. Why is it that we never hear of MDC activities being broadcast on ZBC? This is for the reason that we also want other political parties to be broadcast on ZBC.
+HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. That is an important question. ZBC does not discriminate – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – wait, wait…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order please.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I have not yet finished – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, let us
hear the Hon. Minister in silence.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. If you allow me I will proceed. Mr. Speaker Sir, I said ZBC does not discriminate. Anyone can bring whatever they want for broadcasting. However, if they are invited and they do not turn up for recording, interviews or whatever reason for which you would have wanted them to broadcast, I think you should put it down in writing so that I will investigate and bring a proper answer.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE
TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order Number 64.
HON. MAWONDERA: Mr. Speaker Sir, through you I am asking
the Hon. Minister of Industry and Commerce if it is possible to give us a Ministerial Statement on investors who have been visiting us here in Zimbabwe such as Mr. Dangote, Russians and Chinese people who come for a short period of time and they leave without investing. We want to know what is happening, whether the companies are being opened here in Zimbabwe or in South Africa. We have been observing this movement for a while, so we want to know what is going on.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): I thank you for the point of order
raised. I think it is very important for the Ministerial Statement to be issued in relation to investment. However, investment is not only linked to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, there is another Ministry directly linked to investment promotion. I think the words Industry and Commerce narrows the whole framework. The issues of investments being referred to should be directed to the Ministry of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, which is the rightful Ministry. I thank you.
CORRECTIVE MEASURES TO MAKE THE WORK PLACE
CONDUCIVE TO THE WORKERS IN DETE
- HON. MKANDLA asked the Minister of Industry and Commerce that in view of the facts and findings from the management of Industrial Development Cooperation in Hole Investment in Dete, what are the corrective measures taken by the Ministry to make the work place conducive to the workers in terms of the Labour Act.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. With
your indulgence, allow me to thank the august House for the patience regarding this particular question and the next one, which was asked in November 2016 and took all its time because of the intricacies that are involved which needed us to research on this question and only be able to bring the response now. I would also want to express gratitude to the Hon. Member who was patient with us as we went through the enquiries so as to bring a suitable response. The response is still however work in progress but the Hon. Member and is aware of the processes that we are going ahead with.
In response, Hon. Speaker Sir, Hon. Members are aware of the
Parliamentary Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare’s visit to Last Hope Estate trading as Ginhole Investments to investigate the challenges that the company is experiencing.
The findings of the Parliamentary Committee resulted in a management shake-up that led to the then Chief Executive Officer of Ginhole Investments leaving the company. Hon. Members will also recall that Hon. Deputy Minister Matangaidze, the Deputy Minister of the Public Service, Labour and Social Services addressed this august House on the issues affecting workers at the company.
It is the objective of my Ministry to ensure that all the assets at the company are fully utilised in order to benefit the community. As part of efforts to appreciate the goings on at the company and come up with the way forward, I had a very fruitful meeting with Hon. Mkandla in whose constituency the business is located. My Ministry is also in consultation with the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe so as to come up with a lasting solution to these challenges. I am convinced that these corrective measures will in future positively contribute to the welfare of the employees in line with the requirements of the Labour Act. I thank you.
REVAMPING OF THE CERAMIC DIVISION BY THE INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
- HON. MKANDLA asked the Minister of Industry and
Commerce to explain to the House why the Industrial Development Corporation in Dete, Hwange East Constituency is not considering the revamping of the management and administration of the ceramic division and pave way for new personnel with new ideas for the welfare of the workers and benefit of the company.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Hon. Speaker Sir, the issues
relating to the revamping of the management at the Industrial
Development Corporation of Zimbabwe owned ceramic business in Dete have already been addressed in my previous response.
May I once again reiterate that the consultations currently underway will come up with lasting solutions that will meet both the welfare needs of the workers and benefit the community. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker, first I want to applaud the Hon.
Minister for having taken action aware also that I am a member of the Committee that went to IDC in Dete. She eloquently spoke about there being a shift in terms of management – the CEO having been shifted to somewhere else.
One of the key issues that was there was about the CEO being a member of more than three boards. Has the CEO, in particular, also been removed from the other board, aware that he is only maybe supposed to sit on one board? This is my question that follows up on this one.
HON. MABUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I will refer briefly to the Findings of the Committee that went to Dete where Hon. Nduna is also party to.
You will recall that your Findings touched on issues that needed investigations which were even amounting to allegations of some criminal activities. So, the investigations are bordering around that. I do not want to prejudice the ongoing processes and comment on the membership of this individual but what I can safely say is, I did not say that he has been relocated to other places. I just said that he was removed. I thank you.
REPAIRING OF THE NATANE RIVER BRIDGE CONNECTING
PLUMTREE AND SOMNENE IRRIGATION SCHEME
- HON. S. M. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development whether the Minister is aware that District Development Fund (DDF) has failed to repair the Natane River Bridge connecting Plumtree and Somnene Irrigation Scheme.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Mr. Speaker Sir, my Ministry has not received the information that the
Hon. Member is referring to regarding the failure by DDF to repair the Natane Bridge. DDF is a road authority under the Office of the President and Cabinet and as such, it is responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges that fall under its jurisdiction. As the overall road authority, my Ministry is investigating the issue with a view to taking corrective action under the Emergency Road Works Programme.
REHABILITATION OF MANYUCHI BRIDGE IN
MATEBELELAND SOUTH
- HON. L. MOYO asked the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing to inform the House, what steps the
Ministry is taking to rehabilitate the Manyuchi Bridge below Manyuchi
Dam and the Chipwe Bridge in Maranda Area which link Mberengwa, Mwenezi and Beitbridge in Matebeleland South.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the
Hon. Member for asking the question but I would like to point out that this question belongs to the Ministry of Rural Development, it does not belong to Local Government.
ELECTRIFICATION OF SCHOOLS IN CHIVI SOUTH
CONSTITUENCY
- 24. VUTETE asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House when the Ministry would connect electricity in the following schools in Chivi South Constituency:
- Simudzirai Primary School
- Chehaya Primary School
(C)Runesu Primary School
(D)Tokwe Primary School.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUZENDA): In response to Hon. Vutete’s
question, Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to inform you that Chehaya Primary School is 4km from the existing grid network and the targeted electrification date is 2018, according to the REF plan. Runesu Primary
School is 6km from the existing grid and it is also targeted for 2018.
Simudzirai Primary School is 8km from the existing grid and it is targeted for 2019. Tokwe Primary School is 7km from the existing grid and it is targeted for 2019.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me take the opportunity to inform you that Nyahombe Primary School, Nyahombe Clinic and Nyahombe AREX,
all in the same constituency, were electrified in 2016.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
RECAPITALISATION OF CAIRNS FOOD COMPANY
- HON. CHIKUNI asked the Minister of Industry and
Commerce to inform the House when the Cairns Foods Company would be fully recapitalised so as to cater for farmers’ produce such as tomatoes, butternuts, Michigan beans, among others in Manicaland and a situation that would help create employment for the people in the Province.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Hon. Speaker, my Ministry is
cognisant of the need to fully recapitalise Cairns Foods Company so that it generates more employment in line with our economic blueprint, ZIM ASSET. May I however, advise that this process is on-going.
Cairns Foods recently partnered a local investor who injected fresh capital into the business. As a result, the company now employs 436 permanent employees and up to 500 contract employees, depending on volumes in both the production and merchandising divisions. However, an additional US$7.9 million is required for the business to be fully recapitalised so that additional employees are engaged.
Hon. Members are aware that my Ministry included some products produced by Cairns Foods such as baked beans, jams, canned fruits and vegetables on Statutory Instrument 64 (2016). This has enabled the company to increase capacity utilisation and the uptake of products from the local farmers.
My Ministry will continue to monitor the situation with a view to ensure that the company increases capacity utilisation, attains viability and creates more jobs. I thank you.
DISTRESSED INDUSTRIES FAILING TO OPERATE DUE TO
OUTSTANDING WATER BILLS
- HON. MAVENYENGWA asked the Minister of Industry and
Commerce to inform the House on the distressed industries which are failing to operate due to outstanding water bills dating as far back as the Zimbabwe dollar era and to state whether there would be a reprieve for industries.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Hon. Speaker Sir, this august House will agree with me that local businesses have been continually affected by a myriad of challenges among which include the high cost of utility bills such as water. It is the mandate of my Ministry to facilitate industry and commerce through addressing these challenges so as to ensure increased capacity utilisation, generate employment and develop exports.
In addressing the issue of high water bills, my Ministry has invited the affected companies and engaged the relevant stakeholders on the concerns raised by the companies so as to come up with a win – win solution. May I however, advise Hon. Members that the long term solution to the high cost of utilities is an ongoing programme that my Ministry is seized with within the ambit of the ease of doing business reforms and current efforts to establish a National Competitiveness Commission (NCC). The NCC will holistically analyse issues relating to the high cost of utilities including other variables that affect local businesses.
GOVERNMENT POLICY ON SUGAR CANE MILLING BY
TONGAAT
- HON. MAVENYENGWA asked the Minister of Industry and
Commerce to –
- explain Government Policy on sugar cane miller, Tongaat Hullet in Chiredzi who has a monopoly on milling sugar and does not want to give more than two hundred indigenous farmers, milling quota to enable them to sell their sugar cane; and
- further state how Government intends to protect such farmers from losing their crop if not bought by Tongaat Hullet;
- state whether Government has any plans for accommodating more millers in this industry as is the case in the tobacco industry which has many floors.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND
COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Hon. Speaker, may I inform this august House that the issues raised by Hon. Mavenyengwa are before the courts and under judicial consideration. As such, we are prohibited by law to comment or elaborate.
ABUSE OF INPUTS BY BENEFICIARIES
- HON. KANHANGA asked the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to inform the House what the Ministry is doing to bring sanity in cases where beneficiaries:
- Did not have land and capacity and have converted inputs to personal use;
- Have not paid back anything ever since they were allocated land;
- Have abused inputs at district level and have not utilised the land despite the fact that they were supplied with requisite measures at the express of productive farmers.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON ZHANDA):
- It is Government policy that matters like these should be reported and brought to book like in the case of the two farmers from Mazowe District whose issue is before the Bindura Magistrate.
- I am not aware of any programme that required farmers to pay back for inputs. If the Hon. Member has any other information where abuse of inputs has taken place, may he share with the Ministry so that action will be taken.
- As indicated above, if the Hon. Member has information of
any such abuse of inputs, may he share the information with the Ministry so that action is taken. Matters relating to utilisation of land are the responsibility of the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement.
INSTALLATION OF BASE STATIONS IN GURUVE NORTH
CONSTITUENCY
- HON. KANHANGA asked the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services to appraise the House as to when the four sites for base stations identified by engineers in Guruve North Constituency, namely Zembelipinda, Nyamanyi, Bakasa and Nyamaseve will be installed, considering that most of the sites are in low lying area dead ground.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, MEDIA AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. MLAMBO): It is not
clear whether the Hon. Member is referring to base station for mobile telecommunication service or broadcasting transmitters for the provision of radio and digital television services in Guruve North Constituency.
We are therefore not sure which engineers identified the base station and for what services.
For television and radio broadcasting, under the Zimbabwe Digital Broadcasting Migration Project, there are two transmitter sites that will provide broadcasting coverage of both radio and digital television services to the Guruve North Constituency. These broadcasting transmitter sites are at St. Alberts’ Mission and Mutorashanga.
St. Alberts’ Mission will provide coverage to the lower lying areas such as Mahuwe and Muzarabani, as well as areas on higher ground such as Bakasa.
Mutorashanga will provide coverage to areas that include
Zembelipinda, Nyamaseve and Nyamanyi.
However, the transmitter tower at St. Alberts’ Mission is currently being reassessed following initial indication that the tower may need to be replaced before new transmission equipment can be installed. Should the tower require replacement, then a disbursement of approximately
$400 000 will be needed to replace the tower under the ongoing Digital Project. The timing of its completion will therefore be linked to the disbursement of this funding requirement, funding which has not been available to maintain a reasonable pace even as the Project is far behind completion timetable. If the tower does not require to be replaced, equipment installation can be completed within a period of four months since the transmitter equipment is already in the country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Mutorashanga site is ready for equipment installation following some repair works to the tower. However, the equipment for this and five other sites is currently held up at the manufacturer’s warehouse in Germany on account of payment, due to transfer challenges, to allow the equipment to be shipped. Once these moneys are transferred, equipment installation can be completed within six months of the equipment being shipped. I thank you.
TITLE DEEDS FOR HOUSES IN CHITUNGWIZA
- HON. G. SITHOLE asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, to explain to the House why most houses in Chitungwiza’s Unit A, Unit B, Unit C, Unit G and Unit K, still do not have title deeds.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking the Hon.
Member for asking the question. However, let me inform this august
House that all the bona fide property owners of Unit A, Unit B, Unit C, Unit N, Unit G and Unit K in Chitungwiza can now get title deeds to their properties subject to clearance of land value fees by the property owner.
TERMINAL BENEFITS FOR TARUSARIRA MUNYIKA
- HON. G. SITHOLE asked the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing, to inform the House when Tarusarira Munyika, a former employee of Chitungwiza Municipality, Employment Code Number 11081, who used to work in the revenue section would get his terminal benefits.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to start by thanking the Hon. Member for asking the question. However, let me inform this august House that Mr. Tarusarira Munyika, a former employee of Chitungwiza Municipality who used to work in the revenue section was fired in 1999 and got his terminal benefits totaling Z$19272.83 in the year 2 000 and 2001.
EVICTION OF CIVIL SERVANTS IN NEW ZENGEZA 4
- 22. MUSUNDIRE asked the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing, to explain to the House why residents of New Zengeza 4 who are mostly civil servants have been asked to vacate Government properties which they have been occupying since the Zim Dollar era, considering that they have been struggling to service their debts ever since their balances were converted to the United States Dollars.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Mr. Speaker Sir, let me inform this august House that the properties of Zengeza 4 in Chitungwiza are National Housing Fund (NHF) properties. Some were sold to the sitting tenants, some are on sell and others are on lease to the sitting tenants. The tenants were offered the properties to purchase but some did not accept the offer when it was extended to them so they remain on lease agreements. About 698 of these properties are on sale to the sitting tenants who have since paid a deposit and are still paying installments towards the purchase price. 131 are strictly rented houses with no option to purchase after clearing rental areas. However, the agreement that we have with the tenants under lease is that they pay their rentals in full of which failure to pay warrants eviction and most of these tenants have not been paying rentals since 2009. The Ministry has reminded them to settle their outstanding rentals of which failure to clear the money overdue will leave the Ministry with no option but to give them the three months notice before it institutes the eviction process for non-payment of rentals.
POLICY ON ASSISTING THE INFORMAL SECTOR
- HON. CHITURA asked the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, to inform the House what the
Ministry’s policy is regarding assistance given to the informal sector in order to ensure that there is no economic exclusion in terms of accessing credit and insurance facilities.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH, INDIGENISATION
AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT (HON. TONGOFA): Mr.
Speaker, Sir, the informal sector is a preserve of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development, hence the question should have been directed to the Ministry. The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development is registering and creating business linkages for the informal sector as part of the financial inclusion strategy launched by the RBZ in 2016. Broader financial inclusion will ensure access to credit and insurance facilities for this sector. However, youths are dominant players in that sector, which then gives my Ministry a keen interest. Several other
Ministries and agencies in fact also have a keen interest in that sector that is spearheading the transformation of the Zimbabwean economy from a colonial, dualistic and enclave structure to a more participatory, inclusive and indigenous structure that facilitates broad based economic empowerment.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is pertinent to note that the Constitution of
Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013 Sections 14 (1) states that
“The State and all agencies of Government at every level must endeavor to facilitate and take measures to empower through appropriate, transparent, fair and just, affirmative action, all marginalised persons, groups and communities in Zimbabwe.” In addition, Section 20 (1) (c) , states that “ The State and all agencies of Government at every level must take responsible measures including affirmative action, programmes to ensure that youths, that is to say people between the ages 15 to 35 years, are afforded opportunities for employment and other avenues for economic empowerment.”
It is in line with these Constitutional provisions that the Ministry of
Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (MYIEE) is mandated to facilitate the empowerment of youth and indigenous citizens for them to effectively participate in the mainstream economy. The major drive behind the youth empowerment initiative is recognition that the empowerment of young people is central to achieving the ZIM ASSET objective of all inclusive sustainable economic growth and development. The youth in general have been economically disadvantaged in terms of access to credit and insurance as the Hon. Member correctly observed. My Ministry therefore seeks to increase access to economic opportunities for the youths and indigenous citizens by enhancing their livelihood through various policy initiatives. These initiatives also benefit the informal sector players. The Ministry’s initiatives are guided by the National Youth Policy and the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy. I will discuss each of the two separately.
The National Youth Policy provides a comprehensive and multisectoral framework for addressing youth challenges to enable them to achieve sustainable socio-economic development. The National Youth Policy recognises that decent employment and participation in agricultural, industrial, commercial and service sector provide sustainable livelihood to the majority of youths. The National Youth
Policy also provides for the establishment of a Youth Fund and removal of barriers in order to ensure access to capital by youths. The policy also encourages promotion of youths entrepreneurship but including entrepreneurship training in the school curricula, providing access to skills training, mentorship opportunities and timely information on market opportunities.
These policy provisions have led to the establishment of youth empowerment facilities run by the Ministry in conjunction with private sector institutions. Whilst these facilities are currently suspended owing to lack of funds, the Ministry, with the support of Ministry of Finance is at an advanced stage of establishing Empowerment Bank. Empowerment Bank will enable tailor made financial inclusion and support of innovative and enterprising youths who are not receiving adequate support from the traditional banking sector.
The National Youth Service training programme which resumed in 2015, has been configured to incorporate a significant component of entrepreneurship which will greatly assist in economic inclusion as youths will be able to take full advantage of economic opportunities as they arise from time to time. The Ministry also runs 42 Vocational Training Centres around the country which offered technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills to 41 263 young people in 2016 alone. The Ministry intends to establish at least one VCT in each district.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in June 2016, the Junior Parliament of Zimbabwe adopted the Zimbabwe Youth Empowerment Strategy for investment
(ZIMYES for Investment) which presented recommendations on how Government can establish a conducive environment for young people to effectively contribute to economic growth. ZIMYES for Investment outlines a Youth Empowerment Model with three main areas of intervention, namely Youth Entrepreneurial Development Programme, Youth Anchor Companies and Empower Bank Youth Financial
Inclusion Initiative. I have already explained the progress being one Empower Bank and will thus briefly discuss the other two.
The Youth Entrepreneurial Development Programme (Zimbabwe
Champions and Heroes of the Economic Empowerment Revolution) ZIMCHEER identifies, acknowledges and celebrates innovative, enterprising young people who are contributing towards the transformation and growth of Zimbabwe’s emerging economy. The Ministry has already identified 39 358 ZIMCHEER entrepreneurs from across the country who have together created 93 692 jobs.
Through the Zimbabwe Youth Council, the Ministry has established four anchor companies to provide aggregated services for market linkages, value chain development, as well as support for management, human capital, accounting and legal services for youths.
The four companies and their relations with ZIM ASSET clusters are as follows:
- Youth FEED Zimbabwe (Food Security and Nutrition
Cluster)
- Youth Make Zimbabwe (Beneficiation and Value Addition
Cluster);
- Youth Shape Zimbabwe (Utilities and Infrastructure Cluster); and
- Youth Employ Zimbabwe (Poverty Eradication and Social
Service Cluster)
Mr. Speaker Sir, the indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
Act [Chapter 14:33], provides for the establishment of the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund. This fund has the mandate to offer finance for business start ups, rehabilitation and expansion. This can be accessed by players in the informal sector.
Unfortunately, the fund has never been capitalised.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Youth
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment has made significant strides towards economic inclusion of the informal sector through skills training and access to credit facilities, though in a limited way. The informal sector is mainly dominated by young people; hence my Ministry has a keen interest. That notwithstanding, this question is best answered by the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development. I thank you.
ACCESSING OF PENSION FUNDS
- HON. CHITURA asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, to inform the House how long it takes to access pension funds after one has retired.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Mr.
Speaker Sir, the lead time for processing and paying of pension benefits after a member has retired is two months. We are unable to pay pension benefits on time because we are faced with challenges of limited financial resources. To mitigate the negative effects of limited financial resources on our pensioners, we are making sure that one is paid his/her monthly pension within two months of retirement. A lump sum pension is paid approximately one year after retirement. However, we as Ministry are working with the Treasury to ensure that the lump sum is paid on time, preferably a month or two after retirement. The current delay is undesirable.
CONSTRUCTION OF A TEACHER’S COLLEGE IN
MATEBELELAND NORTH PROVINCE
- HON. MAIL NKOMO asked the Minister of Higher and
Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, to inform the
House what plans the Ministry has in place to construct a Teacher’s College in Matabeleland North Province, in view of the fact that the province has no Teacher’s Training Colleges despite the many vacant teachers posts throughout the Province
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (HON. DR.
GANDAWA): The Ministry is at an advanced stage to establish a
Teachers’ College in Matabeleland North Province since there is no college in the province. Meanwhile, Hwange Training Centre has been identified to house the college while a site and construction of the permanent site is under consideration. There is also a plan to establish a polytechnic in Matabeleland North too.
SHORTCHANGING OF CUSTOMERS ON SUBSCRIPTIONS BY
DSTV
- HON. CHINOTIMBA asked the Minister of Media,
Information and Broadcasting Services, to explain to the House why DSTV service provider is short changing clients by charging them an extra two dollars over and above the subscriptions that they pay through the banks which are subcontracted by DSTV to collect the subscriptions on their behalf.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA AND
BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): Mr.
Speaker Sir, I wish to thank the Hon. Member for Buhera, Hon. Joseph Chinotimba for his questions. Multichoice did not sub-contract banks to collect payments but has nominated numerous banks that clients can use to make payments for its services. Multichoice is therefore not responsible for the $2 commission charged by the banks for accepting DSTV subscriptions. The $2 charge is a commission raised by the banks, under the jurisdiction of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe just like any person or corporate body in Zimbabwe is free to use the banking system as a channel to receive payments.
In response to the second question, I will make a few points that address the matter. Multichoice Africa, which provides the DSTV service from outside Zimbabwe, does not have a permanent presence in Zimbabwe and therefore, is not able to operate any bank accounts in this country. Subscribers can choose to either pay Multichoice direct in Randburg, South Africa, with no extra commission added, or to pay through local banks who remit the funds direct to Multichoice Africa and charge a commission to do so. Bank charges of this nature are normal to standard banking practices, Skynet (Pvt) Ltd, trading as Multichoice Zimbabwe are a franchise appointed by Multichoice Africa to manage Multichoice subscribers in Zimbabwe on their behalf, and are remunerated accordingly by Multichoice Africa. They are not permitted to receive subscriptions directly from subscribers.
Allow me to also point out that the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe have been encouraging the use of plastic money as a way of easing the liquidity crunch currently being experienced in the country. When clients use plastic money to pay for the Multichoice services, the costs are close to nothing and far less than the $2 charged for hard currency deposits made through local banks.
It is however important to explain that the decision to use the banking system as a payment channel in real sense is to the advantage of Zimbabweans who want to pay for Multichoice services. The alternative of building a collection infrastructure in Zimbabwe would escalate the costs of subscriptions by margins far higher than the $2 paid when one uses the banking system in terms of costs associated with the requisite buildings, accounting, labour, vehicles and security.
The response to the third question has been covered by the
explanations in the first and second responses. Thank you
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY
AND COMERCE (HON. MABUWA), the House adjourned at Twenty Two Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 7th March, 2017
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE SENATE
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Madam President, I move that
Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 and 2 be stood over until the rest of the
Orders of the Day on today’s Order Paper have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second. Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the
Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Madam President, I move that the
debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th March, 2017.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE TRADE MARKS (MADRID PROTOCOL)
REGULATIONS
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Madam President, I move the motion standing in my name;
That this House-
RECALLING that the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe
acceded to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the international Registration of Marks of 1989 (the Madrid Protocol) and accepted the obligations that follow there from;
NOTING that Parliament approved the amendments to the Trade
Marks Act [Chapter 26:04] to incorporate the provision of the Madrid
Protocol into domestic legislation as contained in the General Laws
Amendment Act, 2016;
FURTHER NOTING that the full operationalisation of the Madrid Protocol has been hampered by the absence of implementing regulations;
WHEREAS subsection 7 of Section 97B of the Trade Marks Act [Chapter 26:04] requires that any regulations for the operationalisation of the Madrid Protocol are to be tabled before Parliament for approval;
AND WHEREAS, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs has developed the Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) draft regulations for the operationalisation of the Madrid Protocol which has been placed before the National Assembly for consideration and approval;
NOW THEREFORE, calls upon this House to approve the Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) Regulations as contained in the said draft statutory instrument and have them gazetted for effective operationalisation of the Madrid Protocol. Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the SADC Model law on eradicating Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you so much Madam President
for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion. I want to thank Hon. Mohadi for bringing this report to the Senate. I am highly passionate when it comes to our girl child and I want to support this motion and the SADC Model law. We hope that as Zimbabwe, we are going to implement it for the good of our girl child.
Just recently, in Zvishavane where I reside, I was shocked and really touched to see almost twenty something commercial sex workers from 12 years of age. Some of them had left their homes and had nowhere to stay hence they were staying in groups in little rooms in Mandaba. I was really touched and hope this law, Hon. Mohadi is going to help us to defend the girl child because there is a lot of work that needs to be done by Zimbabwe on protecting the girl child. Until today, the Constitution is clear that an adult is 18 years and above but to date, girls are still getting married before the age of 18 years. They are still being forced as their own parents are the ones who are marrying them off at a tender age.
We know the economy is bad but the girl child needs to be given an opportunity to grow. They need an opportunity to realise their dreams and as a country, starting with the Constitution, it shows that we are really serious. We should now try and implement. I am happy that Hon. Vice President Mnangagwa is here today and hope the Bill is going to come very soon on protecting the girl child and is going to be supported by this SADC Model law. So, please as a Senate, we really need to do something to support this motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Mohadi. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam President for
giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on this important motion, which is talking about early marriages. We have to protect the girl child, especially those who are already into the early marriages. I should make this contribution because in Mashonaland Central, where I come from, especially in Bindura and Shamva, there are a lot of early marriages - mostly underage girls.
We have realised that this is caused by the community which resides in that place. This community is mainly made up of farming areas and there were very few schools taking off from the colonial era whereby education was not very important. Also, the community is made up of mines and people who live in mine compounds. As a result, they no longer have a strong culture. This leads to loosening of morals and we end up having early marriages. We know the country is going to face a bumper harvest because Government embarked on Command agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme. When we have a bumper harvest, it is going to nip in the bud the early marriages caused at times by poverty.
We have realised that since we belong to the SADC, they also talked about the protection of the girl child so that girls are not married off when they are still young. As Zimbabweans, we support this. We have a Constitution which protects the child because we talk of the legal age of majority, which is 18 years. Therefore, we need to align this law on the protection of the girl child with the legal age of majority so that we have children who will not embark on early sex and marriages.
Hence, they have to be protected by this law.
I know some of us might think that we are talking on a triviality because we have people who are used of abusing other people’s children. We are looking at an underage who is introduced into marriage early. They may suffer from the problems of running a family when they are not yet prepared. At times, when they are giving birth, they may die because they are not yet mature enough to go through the process of carrying the baby and this may lead to either death or unnecessary operations. We are calling for the alignment of our laws with the Child Marriages Act in order to eradicate early marriages and protect those children who are already in these marriages.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity of supporting this motion on the SADC
Model law. When young girls or young men get into early marriages, they are immature and still need care from their parents. I will now look at the driving force which makes young people engage in this. As an august House, we need to enact the law which will protect these children. We will be calling for the prosecution of the offenders.
As I stated, let me look at the driving force of these early marriages. The first one is religion. We have some religions, especially those of the apostolic sects where they encourage some of the early marriages, for instance, religious groups such as the Marange sect. Children are married off before the age of 18 and we may face some difficulties in enacting this law, which has to protect children from early marriages.
The other factor which drives people into early marriages is the poor economy of the country. When there is poverty, some people take early marriages as an escape from poverty. We realise that when there are many school drop outs, they end up looking for solace in early marriages. When we look at the girl child, they mature early and their bodies show that they are mature and yet they are not. Due to the fact that they cannot continue with their education and they are not employed, they look for solace in early marriages. As the august House, we need to encourage Government to work hard in improving the economy of the country and also create more jobs so that even if students do not pass their O’ Levels, they will get employment which is according to their level of education. When they are employed, they will not rush into early marriages until they attain the legal age of majority.
When we look at these youngsters in urban areas, what we refer to as youth bulge, and this includes both the underage girls and boys. When they are sitting on the bridges, especially in urban areas or townships, besides partaking in drugs, they also rush into sex. They go into early sex because they will be under the influence of drugs. In these groupings they will be mixed; both these young girls and boys. As we know, when they have taken up the drugs, the drugs will be ruling in their lives and they make decisions in that stupor. We need to create a law, which will protect these youngsters. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on this important aspect of life. As parents, it really pains us that the future of our children is destroyed, whether this is a boy or a girl. They will be in problems because they would have been pushed into early marriages. We are saying, this law which was enacted by the Model SADC law, as parents we need to go back to our culture and give our children moral lessons on the boyhood and girlhood. How do you get into these stages? How are they given the morals? During our time, we also had cases whereby girls would go for virginity tests and this would protect the girl child. Unfortunately, we have now done away with our culture and we are even saying the aunties and other sisters are witches. Therefore, they cannot take care of our children.
We are now calling for the traditional leaders to come in and save the nation from this scourge. We have been saying churches are to blame, but we are the people who are living in the community. We need to talk sense to our children so that even boys do not indulge in early marriages because these people are immature. When we are talking of a young man, we are saying he still needs guidance and if he has a baby, how is he going to take care of that baby when he is still a child himself? Again, even when we talk of these young girls under the age of 18, they get into these early marriages and do not know how to take care of the family. So we will have spoiled the future of these youngsters who should marry when they are mature.
I am therefore pleading with the traditional leaders to look into this issue because they are the only ones who are the custodians of our culture. In the past, people used to value education because they would have a better future. If you look at some races in this country, such as the Britons, Indians or Westerners, they have a culture that they inculcate into their youngsters. They give them businesses and money so that they can have a better future but in our case, we do not have that type of culture. I am also pleading with the aunts and sisters who we accuse of being witches and wizards but they are there to safeguard and protect our children. We need to protect our children from drug abuse, that is why I am pleading with the chiefs as custodians of our culture to help inculcate the values of ubuntu/hunhu in our children. I thank you Hon. Sen Mohadi for bringing this motion.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: I am also going to say a few things regarding these early marriages. We are the leaders of the people in this country and when we look at this motion, which was introduced by Hon. Mohadi on the SADC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriages, it means when we embark on this and enact these laws, we are protecting our children so that they do not get into early marriages. As far as we are concerned, we are dilly-dallying. We should have brought this Bill long back into the august House so that we enact this law. Our Constitution is very clear on the legal age of majority which states that the legal age of majority is 18 years. We have a landmark ruling in this country which states that nobody should be married or be married off when they are below the age of 18. At the same time we have this Bill while we have part of the Act which says there is an age of consent to sex which is 16 years of age. As a result, there is some contradiction where early marriage is 18 years yet the consent to sexual activity is 16 years. We need to align these laws. As a country, we are procrastinating while our children are dying, indulging in early sex and time is not ripe for them to do so. We have some adults who are taking advantage of these youngsters and getting into sexual activities with them and yet at the same time, biologically we have our youngsters who appear mature because of their physic and yet they are very young and not fully grown up.
This law will prohibit people from carrying out these early marriages or early sexual indulgences. We need to take this issue as a matter of urgency because when we look at what is happening in the country, we have different types of marriages. We have Chapter 5.1 which says one husband one wife, Chapter 5.67 which allows polygamy then we have customary and another one which caters for cohabitating or living together. We have people who are cohabiting and according to our culture, if you pay some token or agree that you are living together that will be okay - yet when we really look at it, you are disturbing somebody’s life. This young boy or girl would be living with somebody who is very old and they will have been together for a year and that kind of a union is justified. When you look at some people who got into such marriages such as our parents, who were married off when they were 16, they are now old and they lived through that forced marriage.
What we are saying is that now, we are living in a different era and we should prohibit these early marriages. We need to protect our children because we have some people who are menacing and daring to spoil our children. As a woman, I feel very hurt because we have some people who are living with disabilities and these people are abused sexually. Some of these people are mute and some are deaf so when they go to court, they cannot express themselves or narrate their ordeals and some of these thickheads are taking advantage of that. We also have some people who are living with albinism and these sex perverts will want to go to bed with a white girl and because they cannot access the western white girls, they then take advantage of people living with albinism. So, if we are to enact a law, we should prosecute and give heavy sentences to these sex perverts or pedophiles who are abusing these children. The SADC and the whole world have crafted this Bill so we need to fast track this Bill to enable us to enact a law which is going to punish these sex perverts because they are taking advantage of the helpless. So I am saying regardless of whether it is the young man who is being taken advantage of by an elder lady, they should both be punished. This SADC Model law needs to be domesticated and used in our country. At times, when you go to court after your girl child has been abused, at times you may not win that case.
Now, let me also look at the family which is marrying off this young girl. They actually invite all their family members to this marrying off ceremony and my sentiments are that whosoever is at that court or meeting where the youngster is being married off, they should all be prosecuted and given a heavy punishment. I am also suggesting that the law should be extended to cover the young girls who are delivering in the hospitals. There should be some law enforcement agents who will be investigating whenever an under-age girl is giving birth. The person responsible for impregnating that girl should be prosecuted. I am also saying, we also need to empower our children by telling them their rights that they should not be abused.
In rural areas, we have children who are subservient because they are told turning down an offer from an adult is bad manners. We are saying these youngsters should only indulge in sexual activities when they are mature. If ever there is anybody older than you and wants to have sex with you, they should wait until you are mature because we have problems with these sex perverts and pedophiles. Madam
President, I am saying let us fast track this law which prohibits this Model Law which aims at eradicating child marriages and definitely Zimbabwe will have a better future. I thank you.
HON. SENATOR MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President. I
stand to support the motion brought into this House by Hon. Mohadi on the SADC Model Law. If Swaziland has already adopted the SADC
Model Law, why have we not done so Hon. Minister?
Madam President, I can hear that at times people think that if the country has a good harvest, then the people will not want to marry their young girls. I think when men are hungry, they do not think of sexual pleasures but when they have a bumper harvest that is when they want sex. So, I am thinking this bumper harvest will cause us a lot of problems in terms of men wanting to marry as many wives as possible because they have food to give them. I think it is a problem and I wish that we have a law to protect these girls against these men.
If we take it from the point of being hungry Madam President, we will be deceived. So, we need this Madam President as soon as possible. If you look at a situation where a man rapes his own daughter and the court sentences him to do community service, you would see that it is very worrisome and the same man will still continue raping the same young girl at his own home because he will be doing community service and going back to his home. So, we need to have a law that will force the Judiciary Service to give stern measures or sentences that deter the marrying of these young girls.
Also, for the parents that marry this young girl to this guy because he is rich, there must be a penalty for that otherwise it will not stop. It is a serious case. It is unfortunate that a girl child is looked upon by this lazy family, a father and mother who have failed to achieve anything in their lives and now think they can use this girl to get rich by marrying the girl to a person who is more empowered. So, if a sentence is given to this family, then they will know that their laziness has to be sorted out by themselves but not by this girl because this girl should live her own
life.
Madam President, at one time, we were talking in this House about the child marriages. The Hon. Members discussed about why men cannot wait for this girl to mature. Why do you not wait for this girl to mature because you are 60 years old and nobody forced you to do anything before you were prepared? Then why do you think this girl is prepared. Why are you forcing her to do what nobody did to you? If you are marrying somebody at 12 when you are 60 years of age, it shows that something is wrong with your head.
I also want to touch on the issue of churches that prefer to marry these young girls. There was a report that was given at a workshop where we were talking about these child marriages. The workshop took place after a research which showed that there are women in churches who prefer to marry their own girl children at 12 to an established pastor because they think it will benefit the girl than when the girl chooses her peers. Madam President, the report said the mother of the girl cooks delele in order to assist the man to penetrate this young girl. So, women also are supposed to be charged for doing this – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –. Really if it happened to you, why do you want it to happen to your daughter? It must stop with you because you know very well that it destroys the girl’s life because I believe that if a person has to be married, the person has to know what to expect in a marriage and enjoy the sexual pleasures.
A twelve year old compared to a 60 year old man, there is no sexual pleasure that this girl is enjoying. She is being forced but then she has a right to enjoy. So, when is she going to enjoy because she is going to bear so many children before she realises that she has to do something for herself? Madam President, we are very luck that the very Minister that has to help us by bringing this Bill is here so that we will try to stop this behaviour because it will not stop automatically. We will try to have something that will take these people to court. With these few words, I thank you.
+HON. SENATOR MASUKU: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity. I would like to thank the mover of this motion, Hon. Senator Mohadi. Madam President, a child belongs to her parents. Thereafter, the child grows and becomes a citizen of the nation. What that means is it is therefore necessary that we have this law because it has been observed that there is something missing.
First, allow me to talk about the child. Whilst the child belongs to a parent, there are laws Madam President but if the laws are not being held by those who are supposed to be the eyes of the law so that the law functions properly. What I am saying Hon. President is that as parents who bring forth these children who are being abused, being made wives whilst they are still young, it is our responsibility therefore as parents. Some of these children who enter into problems of this nature are mostly orphans who are cheated through being lied to that you need a better wife. The men will say, when you marry me, you will be protected than what you are now.
As parents, if we have such an orphan or a neighbour’s child, do I look at that orphan as my child as well or just say, ah this child should have his own parents. A child is a blessing to a nation. Madam President, my view is that all children should be at school and be given compulsory education. All children should go to school. If a parent does not send her child to school, that parent should be arrested. The Government has a programme to pay fees for such children. If I fail to send my child to school; which law will protect that child? I will be forced to marry off my child to some rich guy or some reverend. A parent who does such things should be arrested. Every child goes to school. If a child has nothing to do, just stay at home or anywhere else, I believe that all of us who are here, those who have educated their children, we protect our children by sending them to school. Therefore, the nation should see to it that these children are protected in that manner. When I read about this model law, it says even those who are already in marriages should be protected. How can they be protected when they are in this marriage?
If this law comes Hon. President, it should be debated broadly such that even those who are in the communal areas, even remote areas should hear that this law is there to protect children not to protect those who are being cheated but those who are already in marriages because they are being abused. I suspect that even these S.T.I’s have been triggered by most of these things. You find that a child who was growing well, despite having social problems, will end up finding an old man who has seen it all. So, marrying this child to that man who is already infected spreads the disease to infect the child. That is the way it happens. It is possible that she may give hope to her un-infected children but you cannot say that child will bear children without any infection. She will bear children with infection because of this bull of a man who does not know which woman to approach.
Madam President, I am happy that this report was debated today when we have our Hon. Vice President and Minister of Justice. I am surprised that someone who steals a goat or a cow, is given a stiffer sentence that these men who abuse children. If someone steals a beast, he goes to jail for a long time but this one who marries a child before the rightful time, we do not know the sentences they are being given.
Sometimes it is sad just because evidence does not indicate that it is a grave matter. Who then is protected by the law? These men who abuse children, if they are let free continue with their ways. The law should consider it that this child might be afraid or maybe the child cannot talk but the truth is that this child is being abused. I am of the view that children should be protected by us as Parliament through the law.
It should be our responsibility here that this law be enacted and be made known to the people so that even those who are abused, when they become aware should not just keep quiet. I am sure that these children who are being married when they are still young, their whole life is destroyed. When they see their age mates at school or playing, it does not auger well for them as they do not enjoy that at all. Marriage is not all that easy. We are aware, mature as we are, that marriage is not easy; now how about a child who is 12 years? Why do people do that? What kind of men are these, we feel pity for such a child. You find an old man who even has his own old woman going after a child, what kind of behaviour is that? I am grateful and happy for Hon. Sen. Mohadi for moving this motion and that the Hon. Vice President and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is here. It is good that it is not only women involved but even men are parents of children who are being abused. So, it is not good when they see those children being abused. May these children be protected and may the Lord protect them.
I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President for giving
me the opportunity to also add my voice to this debate. First of all, let
me thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi for bringing this informative motion to this Senate. Secondly, let me hasten to say I might run the risk of repeating some of the points because the last Senator has spoken in a language which I do not understand very well. My apologies, I might repeat some of the things, I saw people applauding and approving to what she was saying.
However, I have two or three points to make. First of all, I want to point out that the SADC Model law is a regional law which is emanating from an Association of Parliamentarians which sits in the SADC region and come up with recommendations. The point which I want to make is, up to now, we do not have a full time regional Parliament in the SADC region. So, I want to urge the member states to institute a regional Parliament in a similar fashion like the European Union Parliament which is effective so that its recommendations become effective and binding to the national Parliaments.
Madam President, the issue of child marriages has been a topical issue or debate in our national Parliaments especially here in Zimbabwe; this is not the first time that we are debating it. We have got a Thematic Committee which has brought these motions once or twice in this Senate. It has been brought here and the reasons for the perpetuation of child marriages have been identified and solutions have been proffered but not fully implemented all the time. Some of the reasons given include but not limited to poverty, culture and religion. All these reasons, we have always condemned them in the strongest terms at many gatherings or other fora where we have addressed other people and making them aware that child marriage is not a good practice.
As Zimbabweans, we are well known for coming up with very
brilliant policies but we always fail or fall short of the implementation of those policies. We should shift to a higher level, make good policies and let us implement them. We do not mean what we say because even in the Bible, it was warned and I quote in Shona, ‘havasi vese vanoti
Mwari, Mwari nemuromo vanopinda denga’, saka pamwe ndozvatirikuita about this issue, let us be serious.
I also want to point to the issue brought up by Hon. Sen. Shiri, the existence of the two contradicting pieces of statutes is always confusing to the public. The age of consent is different from the age of consensual sex among the girls. Why do we not align these laws as soon as possible and then speak with one voice so that it does not cause confusion? That is my plea. The SADC Model law is encouraging us to domesticate this law. I think we are more than ready to do that. As the debate is going on now, we have to domesticate the SADC Model law so that it becomes effective as what Hon. Sen. Shiri said and bring somebody to court on the basis of that law when it is breached and so forth. So, those are the two points which I wanted to add but we all agree and support this motion on child marriages. It should end once and for all, I thank you Madam President.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam President. I will make a comprehensive reply taking into account the contributions of Hon.
Senators. Preliminarily, I may say that we are already working on our Bill. The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs aligning all the marriage laws and the progressive provisions of the SADC Model law will be incorporated in the comprehensive proposed Marriages Bill which we are already crafting. The proposed Bill will be able to amend the Marriages Act and the Customary Marriages Act and all other laws that are outdated in relation to marriages. As you may be aware, the Constitutional Court has already ruled on the scope and content of Section 78. They ruled that all persons below the age of 18 must not consummate in marriage. Therefore, the SADC Model law would be reflected in our Marriage Bill.
I may also say that the other two points you have raised relating to the issue of consent between juveniles or children, anybody who is below 18 is regarded as a child. We had a Committee to deal with that and we have arrived at a possible solution which will come to Parliament on the issue of consent between an adult and juvenile or between a juvenile and a juvenile. Those issues we have debated and we believe that we should bring up also the age of consent to the age of 18. Of course, this is subject to debate when it comes to Parliament. I have no doubt that you will be pleased because we have criminalised the issue of child marriage. We have also made provisions regarding those children already in marriage as to what must be done. So the Bill will also deal with such a situation. I am very happy that the trend, the atmosphere, the perception and desire of the Senate is similar to the sentiments that we have in Government. I believe that when we bring the Bill, you will be able to study it and where you feel there are gray areas in the Bill, I would be amenable to attend to such gray areas and improve the Bill. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. D. T. KHUNALO: Thank you Madam President
for giving me the opportunity to contribute on this motion on the National Pledge that was moved by Hon. Chimbudzi. I followed everything and found that we should understand this matter because I hear people saying that this Pledge is such that people can be united and love each other but when we debate it on our own, we do not look at it in that manner. There are differences, there is no unity but we all fought for this country – those from the East and those from the Western part, those from the South and those from the North; we all fought. This is what I want you to understand so that we can work together and raise our children in a proper manner.
Most of our time, when we talk of the liberation of this country, we hear about Mbuya Nehanda, Kaguvi and Mukwati. I have not heard people when they debate when they say, yes Lobengula signed the Rudd Concession, thereafter having signed, he realised that the people were no longer mining. That is what they used to be doing but they were now farming. Lobengula said, no this is not what I agreed to in 1893 and he rose up and fought in. Even if you google or read books, you will witness that. Do not be angry when we are debating here. They say those in Mashonaland did not participate in the First Chimurenga because they were in the farms. You can check in ‘A’ levels books today, it is written that these Shonas were in their fields because they were people mostly into farming.
In 1896, when there was the Second Chimurenga, that is when we united together – is that not true? We were all united. What I want you to know is that children should be told about that and not sideline others who fought the First Chimurenga. This is what I am requesting you to do. The First Chimurenga occurred at Gadade and the Second Chimurenga where we were all united occurred all over. We were united and we fought the white men. Let us tell our children the truth and this is the truth. The Ndebeles and the Shonas fought the white men. Our children should be proud of that not to sideline others.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Thank you Mr. President.
Because of the language barrier, I think the Senator is not sticking to the scope of the motion. She should stick to what is in the motion rather than trying to introduce tribal issues. Thank you.
HON. SEN. D. T. KHUMALO: I thank you Mr. President. I am responding to what was introduced here. The Mukwati is there in her motion and I am just responding to the debate that was introduced. We all fought; we should not be sidelining others so that our children know our history and we can be together. They cannot be united when there is only one side of the story and this is exactly what I am saying.
We come to the 70s when we were fighting the white men, most of the time we hear of Chimoio as though some other people were not there. There was a Wankie war in 1966 which was fought by the
Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). Such history should be made known to our children, that ZIPRA fought in 1966 in Wankie.
It was being led by John Dube and Chris Hani of African National
Congress (ANC). All sides fought this war. Then in 1967 in Sipolilo,…
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Mr. President. I am one of
those who seconded this motion. I do not think that the motion which was moved involved the history which we are now listening to. I think
Hon. Sen. Khumalo should stick to the motion. If we refer to the Order
Paper, the parameters of the motion are very clear as was moved in this House. Thank you Mr. President.
THE HON. TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
(HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): Thank you Hon. Mawire. I believe that the motion is quite clear. The issue was ‘now, THEREFORE strongly advocates for the unequivocal support of the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament’. Debate otherwise and do not bring in regionalism and tribalism into the issue, that is all they are saying. Let us just debate the issue as it is.
HON. SEN. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President Sir. I think when a motion is brought into this House, Members are free to debate as long as one is debating what is on the Order Paper. A Member has a right to debate the way they feel like. Other Hon. Members are given their own time to debate. As long as you will not have debated on the motion, you have the right to debate. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I did
not bar anyone from debating, did I? No one has been barred from debating.
HON. SEN. NYATHI: Sorry Mr. President, this is because there
are a lot of points of orders that are coming up.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Points
of order are also allowed in the House. We listen to what they want to say, and then we proceed.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Mr. President, the problem is that
Hon. Senators are not understanding what Hon. Khumalo is saying. They are therefore penalising her through calling for points of orders and saying she is off the motion because they do not want her to debate in Ndebele. They want her to debate in English or Shona so that they understand. However, she is debating correctly and in accordance with the motion. So, if you did not understand, then it is a problem and you should learn to understand other people’s languages. We always understand your languages when you are speaking here.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Please
do not imply that people do not understand. Some do understand but they are quiet.
HON. SEN.CHIPANGA: Thank you Mr. President. It is not true to say that we do not understand Ndebele. I understand Ndebele very well. The problem is that, the Hon. Member is bringing in what happened during Chimurenga in terms of who fought where and who did not fight. The Member is bringing in issues before the recent Chimurenga where the Ndebeles were fighting and the Shonas were emasimini, the war at Hwange and the issues of non documentation of these events, which is not the issue under debate. I know, I was grown up then and I can tell you who was involved in that battle at Hwange. I stayed with those people after the war, I know them but that is not the issue at the moment. At the moment, the debate is about the National Pledge. If anyone thinks that we are raising points of order, because we do not understand the language, it is totally untrue. The truth is that we are saying let us stick to the motion, which is about the National Pledge.
I thank you.
HON. SEN. D. T. KHUMALO: Thank you very much Mr.
President. I think we should remove Chimoio from the presentation which you gave. If it is possible, let us remove Chimoio because the insertion of that name makes us think of the other places which are not there. [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear] – I am not the one who inserted Chimoio. Anyway, I am about to finish. Our children need to know both ways my friends; Chimoio and Sipolilo, Sipolilo war was fought in 1967 and the battle was between ZIPRA Forces and the Rhodesian Front. The National Anthem even says we should remember the blood of those who fought and that is why the flag has a red portion.
I am saying, from now on, whenever you and I are talking, there should be no mention of the names Kaguvi, Mukwati or Mbuya Nehanda only, put others as well because they were part of this – [AN HON. SEN. Gara pasi.] – I am not going to sit down because you are not the Chair. Let us mention them all so that our children from both sides know the entire history. We could have accepted it if there was no mention of the names Chimoio, Kaguvi or Mukwati. I am saying those names should be mentioned alongside with other names from the other sections which also have names.
Finally, the last fight was between ZIPRA Forces and Rhodesia
Front named ‘Operation Storm of the Heaven’, I hope you all know that war. In that war, the ZIPRA Forces pushed the Rhodesian Front out and that was the time when considerations for negotiations were made. In my opinion, it is about the importance of making people understand the importance of the part played by both sides and that they all did something for the country. All our children should love it because it is their country. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Mr. President. This
is a very nice and interesting debate because it reminds some of us of the history that we learnt a long time back when we were doing Grade Five.
It was called ‘Discovering Rhodesian History,’ by R. W. Dickin who was the Director of Students’ Affairs at the University of Zimbabwe. I met him at the University of Zimbabwe when I went there in 1981.
My impression of the debate today seems to suggest that our
Curriculum should be tasked with making sure that every student from Grade One to Form Four studies history. This is because it is very important to be able to know some of these things. Sometimes we debate issues with shortcomings because of lack of historical knowledge of what may have transpired. I listened to Hon. Sen. Chipanga and Hon. Sen. Khumalo exchanging views and so forth and I thought that was nice and very interesting. One interesting thing for instance in the case of one Senator who spoke is that, Mukwati – although he is very often maybe associated with Harare and other places in Mashonaland, he actually came from Matabeleland, Zvishavane, Matopos and Mberengwa area. So, for those from Matabeleland, he is actually one of you. That is where he came from and the first person that he incited to join the war in Mashonaland is another hero who is not always mentioned and his name is called Chief or King Mashayamombe in Mhondoro. He is one of those people who are rarely talked about but according to wise historians, they admit that he was the first person to join the 1896/1897 rebellions and the last one to be defeated. So he is a very important figure but somehow, our historians seem to miss that one.
I am simply saying that, I think for the national pledge to be very effective, we should also accompany it by the compulsory learning of history, particularly Zimbabwean history and maybe with a bit of African history to all our children from primary to secondary level up to the respective level of ‘O’ level. That makes people understand what goes on around and what really went on around in the times past. We can argue about Hwange, Sipolilo, Chinhoyi, Chimoio and so forth; but I think the main point is that somewhere along the line, our history missed a point and people where allowed to drop subjects which they should not have dropped at for instance ‘O’ level because, those are the things that are supposed to be given as facts in the subject of history.
I know that there was a point when people were allowed to take any combination of subjects that they wanted and I think that is dangerous. We need coresubjects, for example outside the historical thing that for instance, to me if you want to do Economics, Business Studies or Agriculture, Geography cannot be excluded from your studies. For geography, that is where you have soil types, rock types, geomophology, igneous rocks and what ever they are called. Economy Geography - that is economics and even Agriculture at the same time.
So, we should decide as authorities what should be taught to our children to give them a balanced education in the same way that others give our children diets. We also need a balanced education which will prepare them for life, including life for parliamentary debates like this one so that when there speak, they actually say the correct things which should be said about our situation and about other people’s situations and so forth. So, with those few words Mr. President, I want to thank you.
*HON. SEN. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate on a motion raised by Hon. Chimbudzi and seconded by Hon. Mawire on the National School Pledge. This is a very important aspect of constructing patriotism and inculcating the values of patriotism among youths because it is more of a history of our country. I thank the Minister for crafting this National Pledge because it was not of his own but basically, it is an extract from the Constitution of the country. It talks about the endowment of the flora and fauna in Zimbabwe. This National Pledge acknowledges the people who were dedicated to liberate this country and to learners in both secondary and primary education, it shows that our children should be aware of their culture, aware of their background and aware of the history of their country, especially the liberation from colonial regimes.
Mr. President, we need to teach our children that it is so important that they know the history of this country, especially the way it was liberated from colonial rule. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Mr. President for giving
me this opportunity to make a contribution on this motion raised by Hon.
Chimbudzi seconded by Hon. Mawire. It is encouraging to us as Members of Parliament to support this National Pledge which was initiated by Hon. Dr. Dokora, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Mr. President, looking at this National Pledge – wherever you find people, there should be something that unifies them. It also inculcates the values of patritiosim, especially when you look at the preamble and the narration within the body of that. We know that
Zimbabwe is a Christian country and it starts by saying, ‘Almighty God ….’ showing that Zimbabwe is really a Christian country and it is very religious because they know that our future lies in the arms of the Lord. It only shows about the war of liberation which is Chimurenga and the Umvukhela – both the First and the Second Chimurenga wars. All these wars of liberations were meant to liberate the country from colonial rule.
I have my grandchild who is in ECD. When this grandchild of mine comes home, she comes and recites this National Pledge. We relate to the National Pledge by informing this grandchild that your grandfather and your grandmother who is myself, were part of the war of liberation. We were the veterans of that war, therefore, when we were talking of the SADC Model Law on eradication of early child marriages, we did that with a unity of purpose. So, I am pleading with this august House that, even when we are debating the National Pledge, we should again show that unity and patriotism. We are talking of equality and justice and all these are included in the National Pledge and it brings the people of Zimbabwe together as one family. Hon. President, during the Smith illegal regime, there was a pledge which was dedicated to the Queen as the person who was leading the country. Even when we went to war, we also had a pledge which was inculcating the values which were necessary for dedicating oneself to the war of liberation. When we look at this National Pledge, the learners are making a pledge that they will be patriotic and work for the development of their country. What I know is that, we need to be selective when we are making these debates.
I know during the war of liberation, when we were talking of the armies which fought for our liberation, the ZANLA and ZIPRA, we will notice that, an army like the ZANLA was made up of both Ndebeles, like Comrade Mark Dube, my instructor; and Shonas. The same was in
ZIPRA – it also included the Shonas and Ndebeles like the Hon. Ambros Mtinhiri – they had high ranks. We notice that when people talk about the liberation war, they talk about these people just like what the Minister is saying, he is one of the people in high positions in the country. What we are saying is, since this prevailed, in the war of liberation, we need to inculcate the values like we have stated, to inculcate the values of patriotism and sustained independence of their country. We have heard these children saying they are prepared to defend the independence of Zimbabwe with their lives. This means whenever they are starting their lessons for the day, they start with this pledge and this pledge shows that they are people who are very patriotic and looking to the future. When they have started on such a note, they will never become school drop outs. We will never have people who go for early marriages because they will have the values of patriotism, ubuntu, hunhu in them. I thank you.
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: This
is what we want when we are talking of debates. Each one of us should be given a chance to debate. I am so glad because Hon. Khumalo was also agreeable to what was being stated. Talking with one voice.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. First and foremost, I would like to add my voice in support of this motion which was brought to this august Senate by Hon. Chimbudzi and the seconder. This motion is a very good motion according to my own opinion because it educates our children when they are still young. There is a saying, catch them when they are still young, so that they grow up knowing what they should do in future, so that they do not lose the history of the country. To me it is good enough.
I wish I could have another child at this age so that that child is educated. He grows up knowing what the history of this country is all about. I urge all Senators, if we could really understand the meaning of this National School Pledge, because it does not talk about who did what, where. It talks about the history of our country which was brought not in a silver platter, but there was some shedding of blood of our comrades, not even segregating which comrade. Some did not even go outside the country. They died within the country, but they are still honoured. Some were spared during the war. They came back alive, but they sacrificed for this country. We should pay tribute to these comrades who did all this work.
Hon. Senators, I would like to urge you to think a little bit out of the box and let us not be shadowed by tribalism and regionalism because everybody fought for this country. If we talk about – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Give me a chance. You will also have yours.
If we think about the issues that we are talking about, it is not about language, it is not about the place where wars were fought, but it is about the history of our country. If we feel, as I do feel, that there are some things that were left, not in this motion, but elsewhere, we have the right to bring up what is missing in our history so that our children can learn all what was done during the war. If we fail, the doors are not closed. We have so many ways of doing that. Let us have more research. The doors are still open and we have to tolerate each other.
This is our country and we have only one country which is Zimbabwe. We do not have any other.
We might emulate what is being done in other countries, but they are not our country. Our country is this Zimbabwe, where we have to come out in the open and assist each other so that whatever was left behind should be incorporated in the history of Zimbabwe, so that at the end of the day, everyone is happy.
Someone talked about the unity of purpose. We have a purpose. The purpose that we are talking about, Hon. Members, is about our children. What legacy are we going to leave for our children if we cannot unite and incorporate every little bit of it that has remained so that our children grow up knowing about the history of our country. It does not assist us in any way if we just talk about it like this and not putting it anywhere where it has a correct record.
Mr. President, this brings me to the issue of thanking the Minister himself for bringing this National School Pledge as well as also incorporating this into the curriculum because we want our children to know where we came from, where we are and where we are going. It is our duty to add, I repeat, to add what we think was not incorporated into this so that our children know the real history. If we start regionalising, if we start tribalism, where shall some of us stand because we are not Ndebeles and we are not even Shonas? Where then are we supposed to be because this country was not fought by Ndebeles and Shonas only. Everybody sacrificed in this war and what we are fighting for is that everything should be incorporated. Only that! With these few words, Mr. President, I once again support the mover of this motion and the seconder. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. GOTO: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the mover of the motion, Senator Chimbudzi seconded by Senator Mawire. This motion is a very good motion. I also want to thank Minister Dokora for introducing the issue of the pledge in schools. This motion is loaded with history. If you start from the beginning to the end, you will see that everything about the history of Zimbabwe is included in that pledge, even our minerals, everything is included.
If you have your child at home, teach them this pledge. As a clever people, I think we should take what is wise and what is good and leave out the bad. Let us not be jealous of what is good. If we work with the mind that we do not benefit, we would go nowhere as Zimbabwe. I support this motion and as I am debating, others are talking.
We should copy what is good. If you see children reciting the National Pledge, you will feel some freedom. There is no nation without its culture. Even if we visit our chiefs, they have got their own tradition where you kneel down and clap hands from a distance. The same applies to this pledge. There is nothing wrong for Hon. Dokora to introduce this in schools. We should support it. If we do not support
this motion, next time you bring your own motion, noone will support it. So, I think we should support what others have brought in. We should take forward this National Pledge. We should behave like mature people in the Senate. When we go out there, we should support it because when we go to the rural areas, what do we say about the pledge?
As leaders, we should support this. I support this National Pledge freely.
It should not change, but it will sail through.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President. I wanted to
make a point of order but I think I am going to debate. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to debate this motion.
I want to thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for bringing this motion to the Senate. I heard a lot of Senators debating this motion. Most of the times when we bring motions and you want it to be supported; sometimes Senators tend to point out errors. We should bear in mind that we come here to represent our constituencies. It depends on what people are saying about the National Pledge.
I think it is not in dispute that the pledge is here; and it is here to stay. It is also not in dispute that this country was fought for. So, what I heard others saying, especially Hon. Khumalo, is that this pledge is very important but when Hon. Chimbudzi presented it, she only mentioned a few names, whereas the war was fought by quite a number of people that are really popular. The history is clear on this. So, what we are saying is not because we do not want to support it. We are saying for us as Zimbabweans to achieve unity of purpose, equality and justice, we should consider all cultures, all religions and all parts of the country –
[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
What I see with this pledge and how it was brought, if we mention Kaguvi, we are also leaving out other important names. We are likely to say in Matabeleland, who else fought? In Mashonaland, someone was left out, Mashayamombe and all that. One thing I am seeing here is because this pledge just went to be introduced in schools without coming through Parliament. If this pledge had been brought through Parliament, we were going to debate this and a lot of issues were going to be included. So, we want to be inclusive and we want unity of purpose. I think everyone is important in the history of Zimbabwe. There is no one who is more important than the other. For us to say we have attained independence there is no family that did not fight the war – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – [AN. HON. SENATOR: Who fought in your family] - My father fought the war and he died. My father Sibanda fought the war and he died. I also want it to be inclusive so that I feel I am included in every decision of this country. I must not feel left out. This pledge is leaving me out. So, it should go back to Hon. Dokora to correct it. May be you were not getting some facts, but Hon. Khumalo was talking sense that we want to attain unity. We need to attain a common desire of equality that every person should feel included – Hon. Senator Timveos having been code switching.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order. Stick to one language Honourable Timveos.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I noticed that some were talking
amongst themselves, so I thought of explaining in Shona. I realise we are having a problem of assuming that if someone had different feelings on the motion, we are not happy. We are all Zimbabweans – being in opposition does not mean that I am not worthy to be recognised. You feel as if we are attacking the motion, that is not it. We are saying it should be inclusive. That is why I reverted to Shona so that others can understand. Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. JADAGU: Thank you Mr. President. I have seen it befitting that I should add my voice on this motion. Probably I am myopic in my thinking. How I feel about the motion should be respected. I also feel that Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi brought in a very good motion, seconded by Hon. Sen. Mawire. This motion is clear. What I think is if a person has been appointed to be a Cabinet Minister, he has a higher responsibility. However, the Minister should not just introduce anything like the National Pledge. He did not come from nowhere to just introduce this National Pledge. He introduced this as a Cabinet Minister. At times, we debate as school kids and that is why I keep quiet. I am not seeing any problem with this House. I am not blaming Hon. Khumalo or anyone, but I think we should behave maturely.
I have a father who was raised up in Matabeleland. Ruth
Chinamano raised Joshua Nkomo. If you want to bring in tribal lines, we will be lost. We should speak as Members of the Senate. I think this Senate is very good and there is nothing wrong with it. What we want to do right now is that we want to receive it as the Senate and make sure that we go back and explain to the people. All of us here were not voted for, but we were appointed. We should not act as young people.
I am saying, this is a very good motion. We should not get in the habit of getting into Committees or even breaking the House. We should embrace this pledge because it is touching on all the corners of Zimbabwe because all of us fought for our independence. We do not have Ndebele or Shona people, but there are children of Zimbabwe in the Senate. So, we should stand as people of Zimbabwe. If we want to behave as young children, there is the National Assembly, they will laugh at us.
All I am saying is, we should embrace this pledge and make it work in our schools with the contributions that we are bringing into this House as Members of the Senate. There is no one who is destroying the country. We are all destroying it. We should lift it up. The Minister brought the pledge and we saw that it was befitting. It was then moved as a motion so that we should panel beat it, but we should know where we want to end. There is no politics here. This is the Upper House. We should rule and bring our country together. The Minister did a good job. We should make it work to the whole of Zimbabwe. That is my contribution Mr. President. Thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you Hon. Jadagu. Thank you Hon. Senators for your contributions but I would plead and urge you that if we do not understand languages, let us read the Hansard as much as possible. Let us be patient enough then you respond other than saying things which are not necessary. So, I beg you to do so.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA, the Senate adjourned at Twenty Five Minutes to
Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 8th March, 2017
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 A WORKSHOP ON THE NEW EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the Senate that all Hon. Senators are invited by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to a workshop on the new education curriculum. The workshop will be held on Monday, 13th March, 2017 at
0900 hours at the Harare International Conference Centre.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 9 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 10 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON GENDER
AND DEVELOPMENT ON THE STATUS OF CHILDREN’S HOMES
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on the Status of Children’s Homes.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Thank
you Madam President. Allow me to thank Members of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on the detailed work they put in establishing the status of children’s homes across the country. Allow me to extend my Ministry’s appreciation to Hon. Senator Makore and Hon.
Senator Buka for respectively moving and seconding this motion.
Madam President, this august Senate was informed that your
Thematic Committee visited Matthew Rusike Children’s Home, Irvadole
Chirinda, Alpha Cottages, SOS Children’s Village, Midlands Children’s
Home, Mary Ward and Kadoma Training Institute which indeed gave the Committee an even spread of homes visited. Accordingly, it is fair to say the report they tabled is largely indicative of the broad status of children’s homes in this country.
Madam President, your Committee’s work was motivated by the
need to:
- Identify and appreciate the challenges being faced by children accommodated at children’s homes;
- Assess the status of the children’s homes;
- Explore legislative and policy considerations regarding children’s
homes; and
- To offer policy recommendations for improvements.
Madam President, your Committee established and tabled the following findings:-
- That most homes do not have adequate land for their operations.
- That the Government is not consistently disbursing the $15 per
child per month grant.
- That the Department of Social Welfare might not regularly be monitoring these homes.
- That birth certificate registration is not as prompt as it should be.
- That there is a general shortage of Government social workers.
- That the general practice of discharging children on attaining 18 years of age be reviewed and assessed based on individual circumstances.
Accordingly, your Committee requested that my Ministry looks
into:
- Considering to assist in availing scholarships such as Presidential
Scholarship Schemes to vulnerable children.
- Immediately resuming payments of the $15 grants.
- Roping in other stakeholders such as NAC and the Ministry of Health and Child Care in a roll-out training in ART, HIV/AIDS services.
- Crafting an after care programme to cater for children on attaining
18 years of age.
- Employing core and critical staff for children’s homes which should be paid from the fiscus.
- Facilitating birth certificate registration.
- Decentralising the operation of the Department of Social Welfare and bring some autonomy to the children’s homes, albeit with increased supervision from the Welfare officers – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]
–
Madam President, in an endeavour to adequately respond to the concerns and subsequent recommendations of your Committee and debate in this House, allow me to in the first instance, present the legal framework which governs the operations of Children’s Homes in this country.
Children’s homes are registered in terms of Section 31 of the Children’s Act (Chapter 5.06). The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has moved from the term orphanage to more child friendly terms such as children’s homes or residential child care institutions. These terms take into consideration that not all children in these institutions are orphans. Placement of children in residential child care institutions by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare is provided for under the Children’s Act (Chapter 5.06). Section 2 of the Act defines a child who is in need of care who may end up being placed in a registered children’s home for their safety and rehabilitation support.
Madam President, the Constitution of Zimbabwe defines a child as a person below the age of 18. As such, children’s homes are administratively limited to taking care of children below the age of 18 unless and until there is a shift in the age of majority upwards. This however, does not translate to throwing the children out into the streets upon their attaining the age of majority. The national residential child care standards stipulate that each child’s care and discharge plan should be developed by the Child Welfare Officer and institution for the following reasons:-
- to enable children to continue with their education and training;
- to ensure support and follow up in the case of children with disabilities including those in need of medical, educational, occupational and psycho-social support;
- to allow children to develop and maintain relationships with their peers;
- to assist children in understanding their sexuality and establish positive and caring relationships;
- to help children in overcoming trauma and building selfesteem as well as resilience in case of extreme abuse;
- to assist children in preparing for the world of work and/or for further education and;
- to enhance practical and independent life skills.
Madam President, after leaving the institution, the young adult is afforded with continuous support, follow up and an open door approach in case they need help. All this is to make sure they have adjusted and are integrating well in their new life. Each case is handled individually but the best practice is that before the child turns 18; their case is continuously reviewed for better options. Most of the institutions have built other shelters for the older children, a reasonable distance away from the established Homes. These shelters are called Youth Centres or Half Way Homes depending on their management. The major limitation for Government remains funding as these young adults should graduate under funding from the Children in Difficult Circumstances provision with public assistance paying for their independent living or subsidising support from foster parents and relatives.
My Ministry is advocating for a quota to be set aside for vulnerable children in institutions to access tertiary education and scholarships including the Presidential Scholarship – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, it is important to bring to the fore that the
Ministry supports registered children’s homes with the following:-
- a once off administration grant per year of $15.00 per child per registered capacity;
- monthly per capita grant by 12 months as per claim;
- school fees, examination fees and school uniforms per claim.
My Ministry requires a budget of over US$1 million per year to meet these needs but has only been allocated $200 000.00 per year which is usually not released, therefore making it difficult to support the deserving institutions; a case in point being the 2016 Budget which is still to be released. As the Ministry receives funding, the available resources are shared using registered capacities to make sure all institutions receive some allocation. My Ministry’s records however, show that the last disbursement of grants to institutions were made in 2015 from the $100 000.00 released by Treasury for all institutions that had submitted claims and banking details.
Madam President, to supplement the late releases of funds, my Ministry has also distributed rice, cooking oil, laundry soap and other basic requirements to all these institutions. My Ministry also partners the business community and churches that also supplement institution needs with donations. It is however unfortunate that the majority of the well-wishers are reluctant to visit institutions that are outside of urban centres.
Madam President, the current update on Chirinda Children’s Home is that four children whose relatives were traced and assessed to be safe were reunified with their relatives. Seven toddlers were also removed from Chirinda Children’s Home after a new institution was registered to take children.
Unfortunately, older children that are going to school or sitting examinations could not be removed from the institution until new places of safety are found. Donations have also been directed to the home to meet the homes’ basic needs. The home is under constant supervision. Once all children have been removed, the institution will be temporarily closed until management is able to sort out the staff and child care issues
– [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, on different standards for the different children’s homes, let me highlight that the National Residential Child Care Standards (2010) currently under review make it mandatory for all children’s homes to set up family units to decongest and provide one on one, socialisation for children in institutions. The majority of the 94 registered children’s homes countrywide have now renovated their buildings but due to lack of funding, 40% of the institutions are still to comply. My Ministry engaged Treasury to fund renovation of all
Government institutions.
Madam President, with regards to supervision and inspection of
Children’s Homes;
Child Welfare Officers from my Ministry are mandated to conduct two major inspections per institution each year and at least one monthly monitoring and support visit to institutions under their jurisdiction. The Social Worker to child ratio which is estimated to be one social worker per 12 000 children remains a challenge. We are again appealing to Treasury to avail more funds to help to recruit more social workers. The current status where one Child Welfare Officer has to deal with child abuse cases, custody cases, adoption cases, community awareness on child rights, appear in court as a Probation Officer in all cases involving children including children in need of care and children in conflict with the law and in the worst cases where one officer supervises an average of 10 children’s homes in one district is completely untenable. My Ministry therefore, appreciates the Committee on Gender and Development’s recommendation for additional staffing. However, in the interim, we will continue to make use of available resources in monitoring and supporting the existing institutions.
Madam President, on the vetting of staff at Children’s Homes; To avoid placing children in the hands of criminals, it is a requirement at registration, that the management of the home and all staff members are vetted by the police. Some cases of abuse are however not reported through the police and therefore we risk employing abusive staff. Community involvement in the vetting of such cases is important to reduce such risks. Medical clearance on contagious diseases by all staff that interacts with children is also a requirement.
Madam President, birth registration falls under the mandate of the
Registrar General’s office in terms of the Births and Deaths Registration
Act (Chapter 5.02). The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare applies for birth certificates from the Registrar General’s office in cases of abandoned children without traceable relatives. In cases where the child has traceable relatives, the role of the Ministry is to facilitate birth registration awareness raising. When the Ministry applies for birth certificates as Guardian ad Litem for a child, they also meet set requirements for birth registration as stipulated by the Registrar General’s office. Efforts are however in progress to register all outstanding children without birth certificates.
Madam President, with regards capacity building of staff at children’s homes, please note that all institution management and staff are required to receive basic training in child care and protection. Additional representatives of staff at all institutions have also been trained on the National Residential Child Care Standards, HIV sensitive child protection and project development and fundraising to help them start fund raising projects for the institutions in 2016. Staff attrition is high, especially when children’s homes are failing to pay institution staff. Refresher training is therefore always necessary for the benefit of new staff members coming to institutions.
Madam President, there is a call to decentralise authority for children to leave institutions on field trips. It is important to highlight that children in institutions have a right to leisure, art and sports. Permission to leave the institution is decentralised to the district and province, depending on where the child is going. If the child needs to leave the country, the Director Child Welfare and Protection Services is required to approve in line with the Children’s Act in order to minimise instances of child trafficking.
Madam President, having fully taken cognisance of your
Committee’s report and submissions of this august House, my Ministry accordingly agrees:
- That Treasury should release budget allocations timeously for children in difficult circumstances, Government child protection institutions and PSIP projects to improve access to quality service to committed children in institutions and under foster care;
- That the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should be capacitated in terms of human and capital resources to enhance capacity to effectively supervise institutions and have resources to cover emergency situations in institutions;
- That a quota be set aside in technical colleges, universities, training schools and scholarships for talented vulnerable children identified by the Ministry in consultation with other relevant line
Ministries; and
- That birth registration of children within six weeks of age be enforced to reduce statistics of vulnerable children without birth certificates – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
Madam President, it is therefore my Ministry’s hope that with the support of the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Gender and
Development to lobby for support for children’s homes, the situation of children in the country will greatly improve. I thank you.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to thank
the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – for being the first Ministry to respond to a motion moved in this House. We really thank and congratulate you. We look forward to your Ministry keeping it up. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th March, 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. I move
that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 11 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 12 has been disposed of.
HON. SEN. GOTO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 39TH PLENARY
ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY FORUM
Twelfth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the delegation to the 39th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary
Forum.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. I would
like to take this opportunity to thank Hon. Members who contributed on the motion. On that note, I seek leave of this august House to withdraw the motion on the report of the delegation to the 39th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum from the Order Paper.
Motion; with leave, withdrawn.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation address.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. GOTO: Thank you Madam President. I thank Hon.
Chipanga for this motion on the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency. His Excellency discussed a lot of items in his Speech. The first item which I would like to debate on is ZIM ASSET. We are aware that ZIM ASSET has four clusters namely: food security and nutrition, value addition and beneficiation, infrastructure and utilities and social services and poverty eradication. I was very much elated when he talked about that because it included the implementation of the command agriculture.
He talked about it and this year this programme was implemented. We have a feeling that we are going to have a bumper harvest to such an extent that at the moment, we feel our storage facilities are going to be overwhelmed. The inputs were delivered on time and whilst we do agree that we had some problems in some areas, I am sure this is going to be ironed out in future. Some people benefitted from the Presidential scheme, which was also aimed at improving agriculture.
The President also talked about women empowerment through a micro-finance bank and we know this bank is in the process of being established. This is targeting women who are very pro-active and may want to establish some businesses. Let me give you an example. We were told that women who can take this country to a higher level are blessed women, very courageous with strong decision making traits which they stick to and they are also balanced. In other words, it is essential for a woman to be well balanced and well organised. My feeling is that if this bank is established and starts working, definitely the lives of the people of Zimbabwe will be improved. We also have social partners who are prepared to work with us to improve the livelihood and the economy of Zimbabwe. We all need to work in unison and be a team. When people come from outside, they will learn from us as much as we will also be learning from them.
Like I said, the President’s speech was very pregnant with ideas. His Excellency also spoke strongly against gender based violence and encouraged Members of Parliament to give lectures on gender based violence wherever they will be and at every opportune time especially to women, who are the people mostly abused. So, we need to comply so that people get to know that gender based violence is a disease which is very harmful and needs to be avoided.
Let me end by thanking Hon. Chipanga for raising such a motion because it is very important and it outlined what had been highlighted by the President, Cde. R. G Mugabe.
*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: I also rise to make my contribution to the address by His Excellency Cde. R. G Mugabe. Let me start by saying that the President’s wishes were granted because he moves around the world seeking assistance so that we do not face starvation in Zimbabwe. Indeed, the Command agriculture programme and the Presidential input programme have yielded advantages which we can all see. The country is all green because the people of Zimbabwe are hard working and very creative. We thank the Lord for answering positively to our prayers. I also want to thank the traditional leaders because they asked for appeasement from the ancestral spirits and they have been answered and that is why we have these rains.
The President also talked about the advancement of women through the establishment of a women’s bank which is a step in the right direction. The President spoke strongly against corruption which is a cancer and a killer. He did say that as Members of Parliament, we need to speak against corruption in our constituencies, especially in the distribution of Government handouts of whatever needs to be distributed amongst the people. There should be fairness and we should know that this is our country and all the resources are ours and should be shared equally. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: 9th March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on the statement by His
Excellency, Cde R. G. Mugabe. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Nyambuya and Hon. Sen Mavhunga for introducing this motion. The statement by His Excellency, when opening this session had to do with the development of the country. He touched on a lot of issues which included agriculture. As far as we know, the Zimbabwe economy is agro-based and by coincidence, Command agriculture and the Presidential input scheme were established. The Lord answered our prayers by giving us rains although in some areas there were floods but what we know generally is that we are going to have a bumper harvest.
His Excellency also talked about the realignment of laws to the
Constitution of the country so that there will not be any problems. The
President also talked about some Bills which are to be introduced in both Houses. One of them is the Marriage Bill and Land Commission Bill. I will turn to the Land Commission Bill which has already been introduced in this august House. We know that Zimbabwe is an agrobased economy and people need to have security of tenure on the land which they are farming. When we talk of the Marriage Bill, this is an important Bill because it is going to be introduced in this House. We know the Vice President said he was going to see to it that this Bill is introduced as soon as possible. This Bill is also going to fight early child marriages because it is a menace. We heard all the members who talked about this Bill saying this Bill should be brought into the House sooner than later.
I would like to thank His Excellency for his wide ranging speech which was aimed at the development of our country, Zimbabwe. In conclusion, I say congratulations to you, Your Excellency for attaining the age of 93. That is a very ripe age. May the Lord continue being merciful to you. I thank you.
HON. SENATOR MAKWARIMBA: Thank you very much Mr.
President for according me this opportunity to also add my voice to a motion raised by Hon. Senator Rtd. Gen. Nyambuya and his seconder. First of all Mr. President, I want to thank His Excellency the President for his continuous effort to ensure the realignment of laws as expected by the majority of our people.
Mr. President, I am aware that several Bills are going to be brought before this House but I want to single out the Rural District Councils’
Bill, which to me is one of the important Bills that are coming our way. Why do I say it is important Mr. President? It is where 75% of the population of this country resides and these are the people who were neglected by the colonial government over the years. Over and above that Mr. President, these are the people who suffered during the armed struggle because as you are aware, the war was more concentrated in the rural than the urban areas. Therefore, they deserve to enjoy the benefits of the independence of this country.
In terms of Section 276 Mr. President, rural district councils (RDCs) are mandated to run their own affairs using the resources that are under their jurisdiction. The most fundamental thing to do Mr. President is to decentralise power and authority to these local authorities so that the people under them have the right to participate in the development processes in their areas of jurisdiction. This brings about popular participation in decision making processes, hence their involvement from the planning to the implementation stage.
What do we see now Mr. President? We see a situation where some central Government ministries are actually competing in the collection of resources in areas under the rural district councils. I will give an example of the Ministry of Lands Mr. President. The Ministry of Lands collects rent levy in areas under the rural district councils, competing now with the rural district councils which are supposed to collect revenue and use it for the majority of our people.
Mr. President, people often talk about congestion in urban areas and looming numbers of unemployment. If Government provides resources to the growth points that are under the rural district councils, I can assure you that some people will be able to earn their living running their small businesses and making a living without going to urban areas as is the case now. In my own opinion, rural district councils are lower tires of Central Government and should uphold the image of Central Government instead of tarnishing it. We hear all sorts of names that are given to RDCs such as inefficiency, ineffectiveness and so on instead of assisting them to perform well.
In conclusion Mr. President, I would like to request all Hon. Members here present to look closely at this Bill when it is brought to this House and ensure that the Bill provides a conducive environment so that the RDCs can run their affairs, and possibly improve the living standards of our people. I thank you Mr. President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): Mr. President, I move
that the debate do now adjourn. Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SENATOR MLOTSHWA: Thank you Mr. President. I
wish to take this opportunity to thank Hon. Senator Timveos for bringing this motion to this House. As the seconder, I would like to add a few things that I think she did not mention in her motion.
Mr. President, in seconding this good motion, I want to start by examining the composition of ZEC and also their mandate. Section 236 of our Constitution outlines the mandate of the Independent
Commissions. It says they should be non-political and must not further the interest of any political party and prejudice the lawful interest of any political party, cause or violet the fundamental rights or freedom of any person. Anyone can read further into that section.
Mr. President, I have been privileged to have been involved in the panel of selecting the Commissioners as a member of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. As I speak, I speak from the experiences that I noticed when we put in place the Commissioners by way of interviews. The selection process, I think I can say is politically pregnant because those that are in the panel of interviewers are politicians and they look to see whether the ZEC Commissioners – since we are talking of ZEC in this motion, are aligned to what they think they will further; this is very true.
I think it is very difficult for the ZEC Commissioners to find themselves being apolitical as to the requirements of the Constitution because if they do that, then they can never get the job. The Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, it is stipulated in the Constitution, that in 30 days the person who has been given an opportunity to be a
Commissioner must relinquish his or her political position in whichever party that the person belongs to. In the curriculum vitae, I want to remember and I remember vividly well some of the people had written that they are members of Central Committee and members of this and that in their curriculum vitae. As I have sat in the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, I have never seen us as a Committee receiving a letter to declare a person who has been appointed by our interviews through the whole processes of sending to His Excellency the President, appointing and sending back a letter of declaring that he or she is no longer a member of a certain party. So, I say that it is very difficult for ZEC Commissioners to be apolitical.
Mr. President, the role of Parliament in Section 119, says we must protect the Constitution and promote democratic governance in Zimbabwe, that is our role and that is why we are sitting here trying to discuss and see ways of how we can improve all the processes that we do for the betterment of this country. I mentioned this because I know it was not mentioned by the mover of the motion when it comes to the alignment of ZEC so as to promote democratic governance.
Mr. President, I believe very well that voting is a way of endorsing the kind of Government you want, though in most cases in Africa, elections are rigged and the true reflection is just eroded by those in power. I am speaking to the issue of holding a transparent, free and fair election in 2018, depending on integrity of the voters’ roll as well as an enabling environment. I am contributing because we all know and witness in certain corners of our country that every time when we prepare for elections, people start to show their muscles against the weaker ones who do not have protection – [MDC-T HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – [ZANU PF HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - that is exactly what happens and those that are complaining are those that are involved.
People are at times forced to attend meetings that they are not prepared to attend because in a free Zimbabwe, a person is not supposed to be forced to close shop and attend a rally because a certain political figure is addressing the rally. That is the conducive environment that we are talking about. If you want people to vote freely, you start by not forcing them to go to a rally which they are not prepared to go to; that is the conducive environment that we are talking about.
Mr. President, anybody in Zimbabwe is not supposed to be intimidated by any security forces because the security forces usually are known to be armed and if now they approach the villagers in a manner...
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: On a point of order Mr. President Sir.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON.
SEN. TAWENGWA): What is your point of order?
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Mr. President, the Hon. Senator started by saying she wants to bring up issues which were not raised by the mover of the motion, suggesting therefore, that she does not agree with the motion. I would sincerely request that she moves a new motion which will look into the appointment of ZEC; how elections are held in this country, intimidation; the fairness and heavy-handedness of the security forces so that we know that we are looking at a new motion. I have been trying to look closely at the motion here, it looks like she has a new motion altogether. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you Hon. Sen. Chipanga, if you read on page 237, the last aspect of it is about the Constitution and the realignment of laws.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Bathi esi Ndebeleni kusasa kuyizolo
and I know that Hon. Sen. Chipanga understands very well what that means. Mr. President, I am speaking on the need of Government to align the electoral laws with the Constitution and create electoral environment that complies with Article 7 of the African Union Charter on free and fair elections. So, when I talk about people being forced to go to a meeting, it is election preparedness, it is an election preparation that is being done and I am saying it must be done well – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – We should know that we are different and we should live with our differences. If you have advantage of having that power, you must not abuse it so that those that do not have that power have no choice in terms of elections. Mr. President, as Parliamentarians and as I said before, we must not allow a situation where we see in wherever we live people abusing power. We should make sure that we adhere to the Constitution of our country. If you read the Constitution properly, you would understand what I am talking about.
Mr. President, the partners had agreed to acquire the biometric voters’ equipment. I say so because there is a sub-committee that involves all the parties in Parliament, in the ZEC. We happen to be in that Committee as a party and we know what exactly happens. It is unfortunate, may be in other parties you do not share information like we do. The partners agreed on the plan but just last week, we heard from the newspapers that Government has since taken over the buying of this same equipment. We suspect Mr. President, that all is not well because we know very well that the economic situation that we are in, is not going to be conducive and allow that the Government buys this equipment. I am suspecting, as I am debating now that by the last minute, the Government will announce that the status quo will remain for the 2018 elections because we do not have the money. That is a sure case. Therefore, the issue that we were always talking about, the issue of the manipulation of elections cannot be avoided.
Mr. President, electoral laws determine women’s ability to access and control positions of leadership at the national and sub national level. I could not avoid this statement Mr. President, because today being the
Women’s Day and me being a woman, in case you thought I was a man, I want to concentrate on that issue. We are not the only country that has internal conflicts. We are not the first country to have internal conflicts. The only determining factor in the case of elections is how we move and adopt the inclusivity of allowing everyone to have a right in terms of elections. So, we are not the first ones and will not be the only ones to have them.
I would want to use the case of Rwanda. Rwanda had its divisive internal conflict in 1994 just as we had the Gukurahundi era which our own President describes as the era of madness. The Rwandans learnt their lessons and now they have aligned their Constitution with electoral laws that promote women and peace. This is what we must learn to do.
Rwanda is now a shiny example that resides in Africa. It is a shining example of the world and it has taken over from Sweden. The women in Rwanda are holding the majority of political leadership positions through elections. They do not just do it but through elections by making the electoral law conducive for everyone to vote the way they want to vote.
Mr. President, education, employment and electoral laws affect women’s voices in empowerment. Women who earn income are less likely to depend on men. Girls and women’s education is central to women’s access to employment. Laws like the electoral laws that make sure that women are properly looked after and that make sure that the fight for reforms by women has gains, Mr. President, will make the few women that are in the positions of power take chances to make their voices heard so that there is transformation. For example, if women are voted into Parliament through the electoral law in Zimbabwe, it means that they will look into all the other spheres where women are supposed to occupy the legal institution, the formal professional associations, Government and civic organisations by having those opportunities through elections. It means that so many women in the men’s spheres
can benefit.
In my conclusion Mr. President, in Zimbabwe, women are not in charge of their political parties. That is why I said, today being a
Women’s Day, I want to look into how women benefit to be in charge of their political parties. For you to have a position where your voice can be heard so that you benefit other women and girls, you have to be a member of a certain political party. Their – [HON. SEN. CHIPANGA:
Inaudible interjection.] – Mr. President, can I have protection from Sen. Chipanga.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Please
proceed.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Mr. President, I was saying that the women’s contributions enhance women chances through electoral laws but because they are in the political parties, the women are always waiting to be promoted by the men. For example, Mr. President, in this House, we moved a motion to have a holiday for this day declared but because women are afraid of men in their parties, they threw away the only chance of them being honoured. So Mr. President, you can see how much we are being affected by not having the proper voices at the proper places. I thank you very much Mr. President.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to add my voice to the motion presented by Sen. Timveos and start off by saying, our Constitution is very clear about ZEC which is an independent Commission. I will read two sections; that is 239 (i) and (j), where (i) talks about – “to accredit observers of elections and referendums” and (j) “to give instructions to persons in the employment of the State or of a local authority for the purpose of ensuring the efficient, free, fair, proper and transparent conduct of any election or referendum”. Mr. President,
H.I st340350 08 March, 2017
an election is a process where people make choices. It is important that people make free choices. When the Legislature came up with the idea of aligning the laws to the Constitution, it was very clear that we wanted to have free, fair and credible elections. I cannot understand why it has taken us so long for us to align the laws to the Constitution. We have an election coming next year and we seem not to be prepared for that. We question - what kind of an election result we are going to have? It becomes embarrassing to always have a disputed election.
As a country, we also go out to observe elections from other countries, but I wonder what we are learning from those countries because we come back here and do not learn any best practices. There is no political will on both the Government and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). The section that speaks on giving instructions to people in the employment of the State also includes the uniformed forces. Why should the uniformed forces give instructions to ZEC rather than ZEC giving instructions to the uniformed forces? To have a credible election, we must have confidence in the system and it is very clear that we have not reached that stage. As we approach the year
2018, many people are questioning what kind of an election we are
going to have. Personally, I want to believe that when we shun international observers, there is something we are hiding –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – If we are doing things properly, we should not be afraid to get other people come and witness what we are doing.
Something that is very clear at the moment is the question of buying the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits. At one time the Government said it did not have the money. Something like US$9 million was put in the budget and after a short period, we are told that the Government now has US$17 million. Where are we getting the money when the Government is broke? We have had almost 35 byelections in this country, where did we get the money to conduct those elections? There is no disclosure of funding and people are afraid when we go into elections next year; we may have somebody with a chase somewhere, where we are going to use that money for an election and ZEC may not know the source of that money. That destroys the credibility of a free and fair election.
Mr. President, people must enjoy going into an election. If ZEC does what it is mandated to do in the Constitution, definitely, we would have a proper election. My fear is that, there is a lot of interference that is coming from other quarters. I will take an example; if you look at the source of funding, nobody knows where we are getting the money from. If you look at the preparation of the Voters Roll, it is a hide and seek game, nobody knows exactly what is happening. If you look at the recruitment of personnel, voter education and election regulations, there is no clarity on what we want to do. So, the point is, as long as we do not realign the laws to the Constitution and follow precisely what is provided, it is a sheer waste of time to have an election. The question I ask is - why do we spend so much money if we do not want to accept an election result? If we want to have one person leading this country forever, why do we go for an election? – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – ZEC should be empowered to make sure that it runs a credible, free and fair election and give the results according to the people’s choices. It is then that we can be proud to have elections in this country.
Let us align the laws to the Constitution of this country. I thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Mr. President. I want to support this motion. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Timveos for moving this motion and the seconder, relating to the issue of elections in Zimbabwe. His Excellency, the Head of State and Government, in his speech talked about aligning the laws to the Constitution and ensure that they are both in sync. I am very happy that there is peace and democracy in Zimbabwe, and I am ecstatic with the state of affairs. Today we are able to express ourselves concerning how we wish our elections should be carried out. I am especially delighted by this debate because, as alluded to by one Hon. Senator, it is not only in Zimbabwe that we have misunderstandings during elections. It is true and yet I have not witnessed any event where we have been called to observe elections in Europe, be it the Bush, Blair or Clinton administrations. We have never gone there as observers.
In comparison to what happens in countries like the United States of America, we are blessed here in Zimbabwe because we compete and campaign in elections together. We all vote and I have not seen anyone who was intimidated – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – However, if you observe the elections done in European countries, they practice patriarchy where one appoints their nieces and nephews and they have a system of Chibwechitedza, (one partyism), which has not happened in Zimbabwe.
I want to thank the people of Zimbabwe who vote with wisdom of how independence came about – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - Where did it come from? That is why you hear the people of Zimbabwe saying President Mugabe must be a life President – HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear] – because he is the one who brought us freedom from slavery. He ensured that the land which was taken from our ancestors who were previously allocated poor land was brought back into our hands. Women - look at us today we are celebrating the Women’s Day through the efforts of our father President Mugabe and those whose blood was shed during the war. We did not have a day to celebrate as women in Zimbabwe since the colonial era, the 18th century as the woman was looked down upon. The woman was viewed as a property but through free and fair elections – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – it is even possible for a woman to be standing in this august House debating on what we want or do not want to see in terms of the running of our Government.
We are highly indebted to the Hon. Senator who brought the motion to this august House. She brought a very good motion – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – that we want to vote in unity without any kind of conflict. I understand that everyone is now enlightened and knows that violence is a bad thing through the efforts of our father, President Mugabe who said that he does not want violence or people who burn each other’s houses. This is because in all the elections which were done for the past years, we have not witnessed violence – [HON. SENATORS: Inaudible interjections] - However from the year 2000, houses were burnt. Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you very much Hon. President
for giving me this opportunity to add a few words to this very important motion that was raised by Sen. Timveos. Mr. President, an election is an expression of democracy. It is also the mandate that was given to ZEC to ensure that democracy prevails during, before, towards the elections themselves or even after. An element of freedom, fairness, transparency and also accountability - perhaps to be supervised by ZEC itself; hence the call for this one is the respect of ZEC in the jurisdiction that is articulated in the Constitution where there is an advocation for independence of commissions themselves. ZEC must ensure also in accordance with its mandate that the resources are so much equal to the demands that are needed for the elections themselves.
The point that is being raised by quite a number of people is the immediate shift to the Biometric Voters’ Roll – its funding, because we are shifting from this manual to the electronic one. It has been mentioned by my competent Senator here that the amount that was allocated seems to be small. It was $9 million and that is very true Mr.
President. Now, the question that we have is that there was once a voluntary sponsorship from UNDP that it could also sponsor this one, but we are hearing that at least now there is $17 million which was not ever put on the budget. Why this raises eye brows is that we are hoping for free and fair elections in the election that is coming next year. We do not want to continue complaining about the processes of the elections. We also do not want a repeat of illegitimate elections as a result of the raising of these oppositions. The complaints that are continually raised are as a result of processes. Sometimes this process could be marred with violence Mr. President. The violence is unacceptable in this country and elections are an expression of democracy as I mentioned before, everybody needs to be respected in terms of his right to vote.
This is also included in the fundamental rights of a person that is in Chapter 4 of the Constitution. The need to vote is an expression of freedom and no one must be found to avoid somebody from voting or to infringe on that individual’s right to go and vote. It must be free and it must be interesting because we all agree that this country was fought for and no-one did not participate within those particular wars. It was generally a national agenda and it was generally acceptable that we were under colonial regime and everybody understands that. It is also a fact that many people perished as a result of those wars; but they did not perish for elections that are not free or for elections that do not want them to express their freedom as well.
So, the question of elections should not be contested with regards to how the freedom came. Freedom came as a result of the general complaint of everybody that we have to be free because we were under oppression by the minority regime. We substituted it with the majority themselves but we must be seen in the independence to be able to respect each other and to enable good and fair elections to take place according to this claim
Mr. President, we are also talking of the integrity of the Voters Roll itself. We are now almost, I do not know how many months left, but we have not seen the processes starting so that there could be efficiency in the re-registration. I understand that we are all going to reregister so that we qualify in the coming voters roll as a result and so that we can also be captured within the Biometric Voters Roll. However, we have not started those processes and sometimes we start very late or even towards those particular elections. This means that we will not cover the majority of people who would wish to register and go to vote as well. Why should we cramp things together Hon. President? Our wish is that, we start earlier, do our smooth registration and make processes smooth without any hindrance, which is our claim.
We also wish to support ZEC and call for total independence of ZEC without any interference from anybody. We are not suspicious but history has really shown that the call for some control has existed before. Now we believe that we have to open a new page where elections must be an enjoyable activity; where expressing of independence will be seen in this particular election and where results will be respected by everybody so that we attain the legitimacy of our elections. To me, that is something which I think generally we all agree that this motion is not put for marking any difference. We all fought for this particular freedom and we also respect those who were involved in the processes of fighting for freedom. This is why we say, their expression must be respected in the justice that is supposed to be implemented as is required in these particular processes. Mr. President, I do not want to waste much of your time. I want to thank you very much for this opportunity where I aired my views.
+HON. SEN. JUBA: I thank you Mr. President for affording me this short opportunity to give the little that I have. We are all in
Zimbabwe. I have four children and my children’s surname starts with an ‘H’ and my surname starts with a ‘J’. Every time that I go to vote, I find Patience’s, Angie’s and Judy’s names still on the Voters Roll but they are all deceased. That is not democracy.
My daughter fell pregnant and she had a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant and she died in hospital. I took the child because they could not bury her because she had not paid. So, the baby is supposed to be registered. We tried to find out from them whether that was a child or it was a still-born child? This is a still-born child who is supposed to be buried by elderly women and not to be buried by men. So, I asked them - is this a human being when that person never really walked on this earth. Then, we queried why because women are asked why they cry each time there is a still birth. We tried to find out why women carry pregnancies for six and a half months and at the end of the day they have a still birth. At times that is why women do not want to waste their time standing in the queues to go and vote. So can we say that is free and fair? We cannot say it is free and fair. Let us accept, if things are wrong they are wrong and they should be rectified so that everyone at the end of the day is happy about what would have happened.
However, if people have miscarriages, I should not be bothered about going to dig a grave to bury the miscarried fetus. It should be incinerated because it never survived on this earth. With these few words, Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I thank you, Mr. President. I am supporting this important motion. I would like to thank Hon. Timveos for moving this motion and the Hon. Senators who supported the motion. This is a very good motion where we may assess ourselves on the progress. Are we progressing or retrogressive.
I will now want to talk about the alignment of laws to the
Constitution of this country. In his address at the opening of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament, His Excellency emphasised the fact that this is one of the many responsibilities to be faced by this Session, that of aligning laws to the Constitution and we had about 400 laws which had to be aligned. I know from the progress we have done, there are now less than 400 and I know, as Members of Parliament, we need to work hard so that these laws are aligned before we get to the next year, 2018.
I have heard most of us during this debate saying, Zimbabwe came through the barrel of a gun so that people could be free to select and elect whoever they wanted to rule them. We know that during the colonial regime, only the whites were allowed to vote and Africans started voting in 1980 after the elections. As Zimbabweans, you are free to campaign, whether you want to be a councillor, an MP or a President. You find that the ballot paper will have a lot of people who will be contesting for those positions and I still have to get an election where there are no contesters. We have freedom of choice because the ballot paper will be made up of many contesting parties and individuals.
Let me now proudly say, in all the elections which are held here in Africa, we have observers who come from the AU, we also have observers coming from SADC. These are the people who assess the progress of the elections and they also give us a report on whether the elections were free and fair or not. The report should not come from contestants because the observers from AU and SADC have that responsibility.
In Zimbabwe, I do not remember having a case where we had a rerun of the elections and as Zimbabweans I am saying, let us maintain our peace and order because we know in some countries, including African countries, there is havoc. There are fights and demonstrations, but in Zimbabwe we have the freedom and democracy to elect councillors, Members of Parliament and the President we want. That is why we are in the process of aligning the laws to the Constitution and the laws include ZEC which we are talking about.
The Vice President, Hon. Mnangagwa, was in this august House just the previous day and he promised that he will speed up the realignment process. It is the responsibility of the people of Zimbabwe and this Parliament. I am saying this is a very good motion illustrating that in Zimbabwe, we have peace and tranquility. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Thank you Mr. President. I rise to support this very important motion, particularly where it relates to what ZEC is expected to do and particularly where it refers to the need in our country for fair, free and transparent elections.
Mr. President, I just want to raise a few issues here. Firstly, I want to agree with Hon. Makore who said elections are an expression of democracy. This is why we have had elections in this country since 1980, because that is an expression of democracy. The only problem we have in Africa and in the Third World in general, is that elections are free, fair and transparent if I win that election. That is the only problem – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - If I do not win an election, then there was rigging. I am hopeful, Mr. President, that as we mature politically, we will get to a point where we will not engage into such expressions such as such and such leader should go, but where we simply organise ourselves, our own supporters, to make sure we are voted into power instead of complaining about why we did not win.
Mr. President, a point has been raised and I think in the debate there is need for voter education. If you look at the section of the Constitution, raised by Hon. Chimhini, I think it is Section 239. He deliberately, I think, jumped where ZEC has the mandate for voter education and then went on to say, there is no education, implying therefore, that as long as voter education is not conducted by NGOs or some international organisation, then there is no voter education.
Mr. President, I also want to touch on the issue of observers. I just want to add a few points, otherwise it has been adequately covered by Hon. Chimbudzi. Some of us have been out of this country to observe elections. The AU has in its power and has directed that all the elections in the region shall be observed and that is being done. There is not one election, for all I know, which was conducted in the region which was not observed by members from the region, but I suppose the problem now is when we say observers, we are talking of international observers. One Hon. Member raised the issue here and said we have never been invited to go and cover or observe elections in the United States of America, United Kingdom, France and Europe in general. Why then should we be expected to invite them to monitor our own elections? We are a region and we should cover and observe our own elections. When a Government in Africa then refuses observers from the region, that becomes a problem but I am yet to see that. I have observed elections in Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and many other counties in the region. We have SADC PF in addition to AU and Pan African Parliament which sends their observers, which means our elections are being observed and that applies to this country. I do not see where the issue of observers not being invited is coming from.
The issue of alignment of laws - that has also been covered. The Electoral Act is not the only law that needs to be aligned. There are many of them. I believe this is why ZEC has taken it upon itself to ensure that each time they want to make any move, they invite all parties to their offices so that they can say this is where we are. I am happy to hear that Senator Mlotshwa did say she was involved in the selection of ZEC Commissioners and that her party is always represented whenever ZEC holds its own meetings. We are also represented as ZANU PF. We know what happens there. If I do not hear what is happening there, it is not that nothing is happening. It is only that my party has not yet informed me. The issue of realignment is taking place and we all know where we are now.
The other issue which I want to bring to the fore before I come to a conclusion is the insinuation that only $9m was put aside for elections then we hear there is $17m, where is the money coming from. The only implication Mr. President is that we do not read the Blue Book. If you go to the Blue Book right now, you will find that each and every year, there is what they call reserved funds. These are funds which are put aside for emergencies. If there are floods like it is now in Matabeleland – because there was never any funds put aside for floods, then they use that money. It is where these monies which were never allocated to any particular Ministry or function are then taken from to be used for that purpose.
That brings me to another popular issue of biometric which I do not understand very well. What I do know is that as a Government, surely we cannot sit everyday and say we want UNDP or IMF to buy these gadgets for us. Why do we not do it ourselves? If we can, let us do it. If we cannot do it this time, we will get it next time. Yes, I know there are so-called partners who are always quick to jump when it comes to buying these gadgets but when it comes to buying food, they will say they have no money. When it comes to buying gadgets, they are quick to say, we will help you. Why help us with gadgets whose source we are not sure of, whose functions we are not sure of? Government will buy these machines when they get money. I believe these gadgets are going to come for the purposes of this election.
One Senator raised the issue of registration; I know that everyone is registered except for those who were still in the bellies of their mothers and those who are still very young. To say, we do not know whether registration is taking place, I do not know what we are talking about. Let me conclude by saying, whilst we as Members of Parliament are supposed to ensure by way of oversight that things are going well throughout the Government machinery, it is also important that we know what we are supposed to observe. When we sit here and say ZEC is supposed to ensure that there is peace before, during and after elections, then I think we are missing the point. That very Section would show you the functions of ZEC and there is nowhere in the Constitution of Zimbabwe where ZEC is empowered or expected to ensure that there is peace before and after elections.
Peace and tranquility comes from us as political parties. We need to make sure that our people are educated to accept that elections come and go. If I lose this election, next time I will win. Once we get to that point, then there will be peace. We know that there are countries that surround us where violence is the order of the day. I am not saying because there is violence in these countries we should also do the same. What I am saying is that we need to teach our own people so that they accept and get to know that if I do not win this time around, it will be my turn next time. With these few words Mr. President, I wish to thank you.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on SADC Model
Law on Eradicating Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to also add a few words to what has already been said by other Senators. What I would like to say is that the motion that was brought by Senator Mohadi is a very good motion which we should all embrace but we first have to look at the SADC Model Law. Our things have to be in order first in our country as well as our economy. If things are not well economically in our country, then this SADC Model Law cannot be properly implemented because it talks about different things especially in our country. A lot of Hon. Senators have already spoken about early marriages and all this is caused by the fact that things are not economically well in our country but if our economy starts to tick and the industry starts functioning, everything else will fall into place.
As it is Mr. President, I would like to talk about something different. I am talking about these children who engage in early marriages. It is not that they get into these early marriages because they want to but there are certain reasons why they end up getting into early marriages. Maybe as elderly people, we are not even aware of those reasons but maybe as Hon. Members of this august House, we have to try and investigate why exactly that is happening. I come from Hwange in Matabeleland North. There are some places; they are not really proper places but hotels or houses meant for visitors and those vehicles that we normally call, the gonyetes. These are long distance heavy duty trucks and these trucks are always parked where there are schools especially at Cross Dete there is Fatima School and other places. These are teenage children who are at school and staying there on their own without their parents. We have to consider all this Mr. President.
Why do we not investigate, as elderly Hon. Senators in this august House, why the drivers of those heavy trucks choose to go and park at such places taking into consideration the fact that the economy in our country is not good? That is how our children start being mischievous because the drivers of those long distance heavy trucks are men who have been away from their homes for some time. These teenagers learn from there that is not what they are taught at home but they learn it from such places. Some children Mr. President get almost everything they want and others do not as they come from different families.
These elderly truck drivers end up calling these young children, especially an elderly man may call a child who is young enough to be his granddaughter, entice them with money and end up engaging in sexual intercourse with those young children. They lure them using money and because the child needs some things, she needs money; she ends up doing whatever this elderly person wants. Mr. President, we really have to investigate why these long distance heavy duty trucks are parked there. I think as this august House, we should try and find means and ways of having those long distance heavy duty trucks parked some other places where there are no schools because they are causing a lot of confusion.
I come from Mabale, Mr. President Sir. Some of these young girls end up getting into those long distance heavy duty trucks and go for a drive, only to be returned later by those drivers. The drivers of these heavy duty long distance trucks should be given rules. Especially in Mabale at Cross Dete, they just park anyhow near the roads and cause a lot of confusion. All this happens usually at night, they do not usually stop during the day. This motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Mohadi is good. We need to start from there because we still have to teach our children. With these few words, Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: On a point of order Mr. President. I do not know what the regulations in the Standing Orders say because as far as I am concerned, this motion was responded to yesterday by the relevant Minister yet we are continuing to debate it. Are we expecting the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Vice President Mnangagwa to come back to offer another response? – [HON. SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] – This one, he responded to it yesterday yet we are continuing to debate it. What do the regulations of the Standing Rules say?
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you for that observation Hon. Sen. Mashavakure. The motion has not been closed by the mover as yet. So until it is closed, it remains on the Order Paper so it is quite in order.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate this motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Mohadi; thank you Hon. Sen. Mohadi for this articulate motion and your seconder.
I rise to make my contribution … - [HON. SEN. MUSAKA:
Inaudible interjections.] – Mr. President, I need your protection please.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order.
HON. SEN. MURONZI: Yes.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You
are distracting her, that is why she is asking for protection. You may proceed Hon. Senator.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: I am supporting this motion on the
SADC Model Law. We were told by the Vice President in his capacity as Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that he is going to talk on the alignment of this Bill. When the law has been enacted, it does not take authority from parents of looking after their children.
My observation is that as Africans, we have now adopted the western culture. I will take myself as an example; I was born and bred in the rural areas. When I hear Hon. Senators saying school children are now leaving school at an early age, I agree with that observation. During our time, we would go through Sub A, B; Standards 1, 2 and 3 and if you fail to take an entrance test for subsequent standards you would go home. I am saying that did not make us promiscuous. We were able to grow and mature before marriage. Unfortunately, we are misinterpreting some of the laws and borrowing western laws.
Let us talk about the Act that says, do not spank your child. There is a difference between spanking and murdering your child. We are saying when your child has erred, definitely as a parent; you are allowed to thrash that child. I am looking after a child who is in grade three.
After the mother died, I took custody of that child. What I observed was that even though he was young, that child was a thief. He would steal coins that would be lying around and many other things. I started by beating him up and when he continued stealing, I went to the child’s school and sensitised the Headmaster on the behaviuor of this child. The headmaster did his duty and gave him a beating, not to kill him but to straighten him. From that time, the child stopped stealing. Now I can leave money in the open. I even remember that at one time I deliberately dropped a $20 note and that child picked the money up and brought it to me saying “mum, you dropped this money, here it is.”
So, I am saying that as parents, let us not negate our parental duties. It is not only that but we are also disregarding our extended family in such a way that we are no longer giving the aunts and sisters their role to give guidance to our children because we are pinpointing them as witches, which is very wrong.
So, we are calling for the punishment of whosoever marries off a child who is under age. Whoever is seen at that marriage ceremony should be prosecuted but the onus rests on us as parents to encourage morality in our children.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU seconded by HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA, the Senate adjourned at Twenty-five Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 16th March, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. CROSS: On a point of order Madam Speaker. When we adjourned yesterday, we were discussing a motion on village health workers and it was agreed that the motion should be brought forward to today. It is not on the Order Paper and I would like to see it reinstated on the Order Paper for discussion this afternoon so that we can conclude the debate.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Cross, I am being advised
that it cannot be brought forward because it was a ministerial statement from the Minister. If you needed any clarifications, you should have done so yesterday.
HON. CROSS: Madam Speaker, it was not a ministerial statement. It was on village health workers debated by the Acting Chairperson of the Health Committee.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Was it a report from the
Chairperson?
HON. CROSS: Yes.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: And the response from the Minister was not given? –[HON. MEMBERS: Yes.] – We are going to look
into that.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 5 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Madam Speaker for this wonderful opportunity to debate. When the President delivered his Speech, he spoke about two very important issues.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Could you please wait Hon.
Maridadi, there seems to be a feeling that you debated this motion before?
HON. MARIDADI: If I debated, I can debate on behalf of Hon.
Maziwisa.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You can proceed. We have checked
with our records.
HON. MARIDADI: I would like to ask the secretariat of Parliament to bring me some exhibits that I have. Can you kindly bring the exhibits that I want to show to the House – the dishes and all the other things so that when I
debate, I put my debate in context.
One small dish, one large dish, transistor radio, a thread, binder and outer blanket were laid on the table.
The President spoke about two issues. He spoke about the economic downturn and he said Government was working hard to ensure that the economy can start working again and for very obvious reasons. The President then spoke about the need for Zimbabweans to shun corruption. Madam Speaker, I want to talk about those two issues, the need for Zimbabweans to shun corruption and the need for the economy to grow. There are issues that I want to highlight here which militate against the growth of this economy. The last time I spoke about this, I brought exhibits of blankets and I spoke to that. Today I have some exhibits and some documentary evidence here that I have which are militating against the growth of this economy.
There are people that are operating in this economy that are not following regulations that are stipulated by Government. What I have before this House are two dishes. These two dishes are imported into this country by a company that I have put tabs on. When this dish (small) comes through the border, it is cleared at $0.02. This one here (big) clears at the border at $0.04. That is the duty that they pay. I went to buy this one here (small dish) for $6 and I bought this one here (big dish) for $13. They are imported from China.
In China Madam Speaker, they pay the correct amount but when they come to
Zimbabwe, they do not pay the correct amount. I am talking about $0.02 and $0.04 and I have the evidence here.
I have another item. This is a transistor radio. This radio declares at the border $1.20 and it is sold in Zimbabwe for $14. Let me go on to the next thing. I have here what is called a quilting kit. A quilting kit consists of a liner, binder and the outer blanket. When these things are imported into Zimbabwe, there is the binder, liner, the outer blanket and the thread. It is called a quilting kit. When you put these together, you then come up with a blanket. This blanket here in Zimbabwe sells for about $20. A blanket which is manufactured in Zimbabwe is sold for $30 for a double. Companies in Zimbabwe like Waverly do all the manufacturing from lint to a complete blanket. The lint will lead to this outer material, it will also lead to this inside material and it will lead to this binding cloth and to a complete blanket, a double of which will sell for $30.
When these quilting kits come into Zimbabwe, what they declare at the border is $0.40. A local company which is manufacturing blankets cannot compete with a company that is importing a quilting kit for $0.40 and sell a blanket because they can even sell it for $3 and still make a profit. Actually, this material here, when it is being imported into Zimbabwe must declare $2.93 per metre at the border but this whole set is declaring $0.40 at the border. That is the level of prejudice to this Government.
This Chinese Company would not able to do this if they are not protected by senior people in Government. The document that I have here
Madam Speaker will tell you what has been imported into this country. The
Chinese Company I am talking about here is called Yufan Import and Export
Trade Company. It does not have a bank account. I wonder how they are then able to pay for these things in China if they do not go through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe because they must essentially go through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. They must submit an application to the RBZ and say we need so much to be able to import these items into the country but I do not know how they do it because they do not go through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Holder. Can we have order in the House? - [AN HON. MEMBER: Akadhakwa.] –
HON. HOLDER: I am sorry, I was speaking a little bit louder but I was just trying to highlight that what Hon. Maridadi is saying has something to do with the Bill which is on Order Number 1 which they shot down. The Hon.
Member who said I am drunk, did he buy me beer?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! It is only that I heard your voice and you are not supposed to speak when another Hon. Member is debating.
HON. MARIDADI: They do not have a bank account and what it means is that they do not pay corporate tax. When I went to buy these items, they have three different sets of tariffs. They do not allow to swipe. If you are buying using bond notes, this dish here costs $16. If you are using US dollars you pay about $12. They will tell you that if you are buying more than one, they do not want bond notes, they want US dollars and I have documentary evidence to that.
Madam Speaker, if you look at the extent of prejudice – I was calculating here – a 40 foot container paid ZIMRA $4 000 when in actual fact it should have paid $49 970. I am talking of one container. This item that I have here which is called a Bill of Entry talks about twenty 40 foot containers that have come into Zimbabwe and they have only paid about $80 when in actual fact if you calculate $49 000 by 20, it is about a million. With this kind of attitude, we are not able to go anywhere. But let me bring it home.
ZANU PF owned two companies, one called National Blankets and another one called Kango. National Blankets had machinery and employed people to produce blankets. But because National Blankets can no longer compete with people that are protected who import these quilting kits.
National Blankets; to all intents and purposes has closed shop; it is no longer there. All of us in this House, when we grew up, we remember the kind of plates and pots which were called Kango. Kango is a company that was owned by ZANU PF. Kango has closed shop because of imports of plates like this for two cents and sell it for whatever price, Kango cannot compete because they must buy material and come up with a plate like this via a manufacturing process.
I will bring it closer to home even further. Cone Textiles is the company that used to do most of these materials. It is now done by a company called Waverly Blankets. Waverly employed 1800 people but when these imports started coming into Zimbabwe, they have retrenched and now employ about 400 people. What it means is that 1400 jobs have been exported to China who do not pay corporate tax, Pay As You Earn, et cetera.
Madam Speaker, what we want to do is, we need now to say, the
Chinese companies that are operating in Zimbabwe, how are they registered? Who are they doing their banking with? Does the Reserve Bank and ZIMRA know that they are importing and exporting? When they get bond notes, they simply go on the streets of Harare and harden the money into US dollars and the money is spirited out of the country. It is very easy to take money out of Zimbabwe. If you have $200 000, you simply go to Charles Prince Airport, you charter a plane and you fly into South Africa. It is that simple. You do not use Air Zimbabwe and South African Airways because Harare
International Airport security limits the amount of money that you must take out. That is how money is leaving this country. It does not really matter how much policy and regulations the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is going to put into place, money will still leave the country.
The fact of the matter is that, we must start now to investigate all companies. I am talking across sectors. If you go into the brick molding sector, Chinese companies that are molding bricks are selling those bricks at a price such that Willdale Limited, a Zimbabwean company cannot survive. A
Chinese company that is selling fast foods does it in such a way that a Zimbabwean company that is in that industry is not able to survive.
Madam Speaker, the textile industry in Zimbabwe to all intents and purposes is dead. Hon. Nduna from Chegutu can vouch for me. There is no way that David Whitehead can come back if we have this kind of thing.
These are cheap imports but what I want to reiterate today is that these people who are doing these things are protected by senior Government officials.
Today I hear that one of the Chinese people and a Member of Parliament of Zimbabwe are trying to borrow money from CBZ so that they resuscitate National Blankets. You will not be able to resuscitate National Blankets as long as there are cheap imports that you are going to compete with. You are not going to revive the textile industry for as long as there are cheap imports that you are going to compete with. You are not going to revive Kango for as long as there are these imports coming into Zimbabwe that are equally good but are selling at a quarter of your input into production.
Madam Speaker, there is Capri Corporation, a wholly owned
Zimbabwean company. In the past two years, Capri Corporation has invested $15 million into the manufacture of refrigerators and stoves. They made a profit of $200 000 in 2015. If you are in business and you invest $15 million and make a profit of $200 000, get out of that business. You would rather put that money in a bank. Where you have an interest rate of 5%, you are able to make more money than you are making in manufacturing.
The reason why Capri is making that meager profit is because there is Samsung. Samsung is a South Korean company that has been given a licence to manufacture in Zimbabwe. If you go to Samsung in Harare today, all you see is an office the size of this desk. That is all they have. They bring complete refrigerators to sell in this country competing with refrigerators from Capri and the other company which does industrial refrigerators.
Madam Speaker, if you go to Capri, which I visited about three weeks ago, it is a hive of activity but they are operating at 40% of capacity because of Samsung. Why are we bringing Samsung into Zimbabwe when we have our own company that is manufacturing in Zimbabwe? Samsung could not go into Zambia. In South Africa, their products have knocked down the prices of refrigerators but they now have a ready market in Zimbabwe. They have been given a ready market in Zimbabwe, they are militating against our own companies and we are exporting jobs to South Korea.
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank you for your time but I want to say the attitude of senior Government officials who protect corrupt people, especially Chinese must stop. In my next installment which is coming very soon, I am going to name and shame you. What I am urging Hon. Ministers and Hon. Members of Parliament who are protecting these people is to please stop forthwith so that you avoid the embarrassment of me standing up here because I will name you. I will say your first name, second name, surname and the constituency that you represent. Thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. There are
certain things that we can talk about that are really painful when we think about them. The issue that was being debated here by Hon. Maridadi is a touching and painful issue. He did not look at the political situation in Zimbabwe but he mentioned strategies of how we can develop our country, create jobs and sources of livelihood. The issue of companies …
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I would want to
understand whether you are debating the Presidential Speech?
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: There are so many things that the President mentioned. He talked about ZIM ASSET, education, the economy and many other issues. So, I would want to support what the President was saying. He implored people to stop corruption. We cannot name the corrupt individuals because they know themselves. Your conscience will tell you. Those people who sin may not be seen by the people but their conscience tells them that they are sinning.
The issue that the country further sinks when we have put Statutory Instrument 64 to resuscitate our companies is unfortunate. The President said we need to rescue our companies and we are watching whilst are companies are sinking. You are the Speaker of Parliament, we have Ministers, Judges and Vice Presidents who are drunkards and all those other things that we have. What I am saying is that if we do not protect what the President said, surely we will continue to point fingers at the President saying he is not capable. We may even point fingers at the Cabinet but when we see that there is corruption, we are not able to point out the corruption like what Hon. Maridadi did.
Last week we toured the industries and we saw a car that was full of goods that had passed through the border. They were offloading the goods at one company. The good thing was that I was there and I was able to impound the car. I went to ZIMRA and reported the issue. I took the ZIMRA people there and it was realised that the goods had been under declared. So, when the President tells us what to do, people might point fingers at the Government yet it is us the people who fail to realise that if we do not adhere to what the President says, our country will not develop.
Madam President on the issue of schools, the President mentioned that in this country children should go to school. Some of us here in this august House do not even pay school fees, especially in the rural areas, the Members of Parliament are not paying school fees. Political party members are not paying schools fees but they want that school to continue with its work and for education to continue while as adults, we are not doing what the President said. My request is that we should all stop corrupt activities and adhere to – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, we were quiet on this side when the Members on your left were debating. So, our request is that since we now have a biometric system, we also need breathalysers to see if the Members of Parliament that come in here are not drunk. Most of our Members of Parliament are drunkards and when they come into this House they will have taken some alcohol – [AN HON. MEMBER:
Inaudible interjection.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I never heard him refer to anyone by name.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, my request is that the Hon. Member must withdraw his words. The remark that I murdered someone is not right because he can also murder someone.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Zwizwai, may you please
leave the House.
The Hon. Member duly left the House.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. J. TSHUMA: Good afternoon Madam Speaker. I also stand to add my voice in appreciation for the efforts that our Head of State, the
President has been trying to put across to us as a nation of Zimbabwe. Madam Speaker, I want to speak in particular reference to the issue of industries, in particular one industry called ZISCO Steel.
Madam Speaker, the President is on record talking about issues of corruption and people doing a disservice to the nation. I was looking very much and soberly at the issue of ZISCO Steel with the perspective of the chain reaction that ZISCO Steel can actually bring if it can be opened to start working today. Why I say so Madam Speaker, I have interests in companies like NRZ, which was headquartered in Bulawayo and used to employ so many people in Bulawayo. I have got interests in Hwange Colliery Company where I grew up, which used to be a vibrant company offering superb services to its people but today everything is gone.
I was saying to myself Madam Speaker, here is a company called ZISCO Steel. If we all had to put our efforts into resuscitating that company, without even looking for foreign help because that is a very pivotal company; if ZISCO Steel starts functioning today, guess what happens? We have got Sable Chemicals which used to supply oxygen to ZISCO Steel. For Sable Chemicals to actually get that oxygen, they were using what we call the water electrolysis plant which requires so much electricity. It is on record that Sable
Chemicals used to pay ZESA in advance for its electricity, which made ZESA to be liquid enough to be able to service its importation of electricity from the other regional partners like South Africa and Namibia.
Now, because ZISCO Steel is no longer working, Sable Chemicals no longer has to produce that oxygen, which means that they no longer require much power from ZESA. Therefore, there is a crippling effect to ZESA as well as to the manufacturer of our fertilisers. Let us go away from Sable Chemicals in Kwekwe and go to Hwange Colliery Company. There used to be two express trains that used to leave Hwange coming to Kwekwe. Those trains, I remember passenger trains would actually give way to them. They were taking coke from Hwange everyday to ZISCO Steel. That also guaranteed that Hwange Colliery Company would be functional and have its people well employed and paid on time.
While we are at it, for Hwange to transport that coke from Hwange to
Kwekwe, NRZ was playing a pivotal role, which means that NRZ was being well paid. So, it was easy to maintain its fleet and pay its workers. Therefore, there was not going to be any need for retrenchment whatsoever. Alas, here we came with our greedy mindsets and started appointing boards that do not even know what they are doing. The whole rot started there. You have a board that does not even have a technical person who knows about locomotives and mining at Hwange Colliery Company. You have a board that is so unclear about what we call corporate governance and then you expect that board to actually hire competent people. How does that happen? Therefore, the people that will be hired in management positions also become useless as much as the board is useless.
By the way, we are talking about the Presidential Speech whereby the
President is saying let us stop corruption. Let us stop shooting ourselves on our own feet but here we are – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] – When we have all these perspectives Madam Speaker, you begin to wonder if we are all for building this nation or some of us are for filling our pockets but at the expense of who - the nation? We cannot allow that as this august House because the problem is that if you want to build your own pocket, I do not benefit from that. So, do not expect me to come here and defend you in your unscrupulous activities that you do that benefit you and your family.
That is why I am saying that as a nation, we need to start moving in a
direction whereby we say, let us put Zimbabwe first, as the President wants us to do. We should not want to just feed our own pockets and families at the expense of the whole nation.
So, as I was speaking about the ZESA issue, you will now realise that – I remember there was one time when there was a ceremony in Kwekwe. A budget was made, tents, food and drinks were put aside and we were told that ZISCO is coming to life. But suddenly - I remember that was during the GNU period and Mr. Welshman Ncube was the Minister of Industry. What then happened – nothing. So, what I am saying is that for us as a nation and Members of Parliament here, we should be lobbying for Government to put aside money so that we can go and resuscitate ZISCO Steel on our own, as the Zimbabwean |Government. This can be done without any outside partnership because that is a component with side effects that will change the scope of industry in Zimbabwe. I will give you another example, there was Lancashire Steel which used to get by-products from ZISCO Steel and manufactured our harrows, ploughs, axes etcetera. That was going to feed even into our command agriculture scheme instead of us going to Belarus or Brazil to
import those things, we could be doing them here, meaning that we would be creating jobs for our own people. That is our purpose and why we are here. We should make sure that we safeguard our people and defend them from unruly elements amongst our society.
When you look at that, then you will know that we are playing who is fooling who here. So, I want to stand up and implore our fellow comrades, brothers and sisters to follow the footsteps of our President. He wants us to stop corruption and alleviate the suffering of our ordinary people that we represent here. How do we do that? We can only do it if we are honest with each other. Let us tell each other the truth and let us not promote people who want to fatten their pockets at the expense of the whole nation. That is very treasonous and we cannot allow that. I want to say that the President did so well but now the question is; what are you and me doing about it? It should begin from there. Let us all take steps – I am very pleased with Hon.
Maridadi’s presentation. It shows that he goes an extra mile to check his facts and present proper things. These are the kind of things that we need as a nation – to build, because we cannot keep on saying that we want to build, yet we condone corruption. We cannot say we want to build yet we want to turn a blind eye to evil deeds. That is not building but destroying.
I am sure where I stand as I speak right now; I speak for my organisation that has put me here. My organisation does not condone corruption but some of our members do that. So, we want to separate that and say whoever is doing that to kill our nation must be brought to book and be answerable so that we can move forward. I could talk the whole day but the long and short of it all is, let us stop corruption, let us be sincere and build Zimbabwe together by being truthful to one another. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. GABBUZA: I will not be long but there are just two issues that I wanted to raise, which emanated from the President’s speech. The President raised issues to do with giving an indication that this year, we were going to have normal to above normal rains but unfortunately after that pronouncement, we did not see our civil service taking precautionary measures to prepare for that kind of pronouncement. What we were looking forward to is the issue that at least our Civil Protection Unit must have been prepared to avert the disaster that we eventually saw. Bridges and dams must have been inspected and many other mitigatory measures should have been taken to avoid the catastrophe that we eventually had.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members would you
try as much as possible to lower your whispers. Please try to speak to someone who is close to you and not to call to someone who is very far. Please take note that there should be no meetings in Parliament. You are allowed to go outside and have your meetings.
HON. GABBUZA: The other issue that I would want to draw the attention of the Executive is the issue of checking on our bridges, which could have assisted us a lot in averting the natural disaster and flooding that we eventually had. Once in a while I take time to go under most of our bridges. Bridges are designed to withstand vertical horizontal pressure, but when bridges pillar collapses, they cannot withstand the horizontal pressure from the flowing water. This being the case – that is why you see most of our bridges that eventually got flushed away by the floods was not an issue of the floods but an issue of poor workmanship and lack of inspection of some of the
Government infrastructure.
Just yesterday, in relation to this issue of disaster preparedness, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development indicated to us that the rains caused a lot of damage. We should not blame the rains but the workmanship on our roads because there is nothing wrong about rains. In various countries like the tropical rain forest, they have plenty of rain every day, more than what we receive but their roads are still standing. Roads can be made even under water. Two days ago, we saw on the international media, some clever countries designing bridges that even go under water. So, water is not an issue when it comes to complaining about whether the road will go or not. It is a matter of how you design your roads. So, we would appeal to the civil service to ensure that when they do some of these designs, they must meet the standards so as to meet the worst possible disasters that might emanate in the country.
The second issue that the President raised was the issue of education, which I know many of you are aware he is very passionate about. Beginning of this year we were given figures of pass rates in the country. The President raised issues to do with education but when we look at the pass rates that were released from ZIMSEC “O” levels, in particular, Matabeleland North was the worst with the lowest pass rate. You then ask yourself if Matabeleland North had the lowest pass rate this year and also had the lowest pass rate last year, what are the issues there?
Upon analysis, the issue is about the level of teacher/student ratios that we have in many of our schools. Most of the teachers in most Matabeleland North schools are temporary teachers. Now, Government has put a freeze on the recruitment of qualified and non qualified teachers to the extent that as we speak, we get a school which is running with two teachers from Form One to Form Four. This is not characteristic of many other places or other provinces because they already had qualified teachers. However, in our situation where we had temporary teachers, Government has put a freeze on recruitment of temporary teachers. It has also put a freeze on the recruitment of qualified teachers so we get about twelve schools that have form one up to four but only one or two teachers doing all the work. One of these is also the headmaster, when he goes to a meeting, one teacher remains teaching form one up to form
four.
I do not know what is there for us in Matabeleland North. I think this is something that needs urgent attention and we still appeal to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education or those Ministers who are here present to raise this issue in Cabinet because it is causing very high teacher-student ratios. One teacher teaches about 80-90 students. For those with an education background, there is no way you can teach 90 students in a class and expect them to pass but this is what is happening in many schools in Matabeleland North.
At primary school it is even worse. I went to a school last week where there are three teachers who teach grade 1 to 7. We are moving towards second term and there is no hope that Government will ever put more teachers in those schools because they are not talking of any lifting or special waiver for these particular schools. If it remains like that, some of us are very greatly concerned that the President is worried about education. Unfortunately, this scenario will not put the country on the map or at least to be at equitable levels in terms of education.
We will get to a situation where some provinces are lagging behind. They are already lagging behind but if they are going to go without teachers for all these long periods of time, it will be even worse. There is an issue of high teacher-student ratios but there is also the problem of those few teachers that are there, they are overburdened and they are stressed. They cannot work effectively because if they have to teach all those subjects and being two only in the whole school- I think it is demoralizing.
More-so, I think for the students in most schools, we were beginning to witness a lot of drop outs because they get to school and there are no teachers or there is only one teacher. I am of the idea that if Government cannot employ, why can it not move some excess labour in some departments in the Civil Service. I have in mind the Ministry of Youth. We have several young men and women who are equally qualified to teach at schools. They have obtained five O’ levels and they can work as temporary teachers. At the moment, they spend most of their time doing almost nothing and just wait for their salaries, come month-end. Why can we not move those youth officers at the moment when Government has no money because that will not cause an extra cost to Government? That is what I think can be a mitigatory measure in the short term.
Those are the two concerns that I am really worried about and I will lobby with the other fellow Government workers and others to see if that can possibly be initiated because the situation - particularly in Matabeleland North, is very critical and the Minister may not be aware because it is not common in all other places. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would like to assure Hon. Cross that the motion you were talking about is on the Order Paper and it is Order Number 35. You can prepare yourself for that.
*HON. MARUMAHOKO: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My focus is on developing our economy. As the President said, we need to work hard and develop our economy. The economy of Zimbabwe was based on chrome.
The Great Dyke area up to Zvishavane was rich in chrome.
Over a million jobs were created in the mines. All of a sudden, it was announced that there would no longer be chrome exportation to other countries because of beneficiation. Beneficiation does not come before we are prepared for it. We were supposed to have built our furnaces. We are also supposed to have enough energy, then we can talk of beneficiation. At that time, we did not have furnaces and energy for Zimbabwe. Even up to now, we do not have the required power to power our industries to be resuscitated but we abandoned the export of chrome to engage in beneficiation. How are we going to do that when we do not have furnaces and we do not have power?
Over a million jobs were lost because of that decision.
In Chiadzwa, the diamond companies are not bringing in any revenue and we decided to close the companies and amalgamate them into one. We did not look at the reasons why revenue was not coming in. We came up with a decision to say we need to amalgamate these companies. A businessman does not invest his own money in a business but he uses loans that he borrows and is given about 25-50 years to pay back the loan. In so doing, he sources contracts of where he can sell his products, where he can get a contract to supply for the next twenty years. We wake up one morning and we decide we have closed the mines; for the person to pay back the loan he borrowed, he is not able. For the standing partnership to deliver the product, there is a gap.
Right now, there are no diamonds.
If you look at the history of America, for its economy to be as strong as it is, most of the money came from mining, especially alluvial mining. California is one of the states that brought in alluvial metals. Here in Zimbabwe we started doing that. In a very short space of time, that was abandoned. The Government is the one that had to do that. Government is supposed to facilitate and not take over the businesses. It should not be involved in businesses. The environment that we are talking about that if we do alluvial mining, we will resuscitate our economy. Those who are engaged in alluvial gold mining are there and they are experts. We should look into that and resuscitate our economy.
If we are to say all companies should engage in such activities. The challenges we are facing in Zimbabwe will be a thing of the past. There is so much wealth in alluvial gold mining. We can get 10-30 tonnes in a week but we said we do not want that. Government should only facilitate.
Government in 1980 took over all the mines in Zimbabwe through ZMDC. Today there is not even one mine that is operating. All the mines are no longer operating and we are no looking at where we are going, where we came from and what are we doing. Our wealth is important. This country has everything. It has resources but we cannot manage the resources for our country to develop.
On land reform, the land reform is a process. It cannot be done in one day. A process means that it is supposed to be gradual and our children should also benefit. It should be sustainable. Right now, we are talking about farm sizes; have we looked at the issue of production because what we need to look at is production. Are our farms producing? What is it that is making our farms not to produce?
The Government came up with a good project of Command Agriculture.
We are supposed to evaluate and see what the advantages of Command Agriculture are. We also need to look at the size of our farms and the way forward because that is the inheritance and heritage of those to come. It has to be sustainable. We need to do that because that is what is causing our nation not to develop.
All the other issues I talked about – the companies, there is no investor who is willing to invest in Zimbabwe because they are afraid that tomorrow the company will not be operational. Once it is closed, what is the future? We are given guidance on what to do but in no time we abandon them. We must assist the President, this is our duty. He gives us policy direction and we should expand on it, but that is not happening. This nation is rich in natural resources and we should not be suffering as we are experiencing right now.
The problem is with the way we operate our resources.
Hon. Maridadi was talking about corruption. I do not think if we continue singing that song, it will come to pass because everywhere, that is the order of the day. It is not surprising to find someone engaging in corruption because that is the order of the day. If you go to a company to have your car serviced, when you go out, the mechanic can follow you and ask you to bring the car privately to him and you will be charged less. So, there is no way that you can actually say business is moving openly and swiftly. I think as Hon. Members, we should look into it and sing from the same hymn book so that where there is corruption, we stamp it out.
I would like to give an example as was given by Hon. Maridadi, last year; there was a Chinese company that was bringing in spare parts into Zimbabwe. The spare parts would come under one of the Government Ministries. As they came into the country, they were sold by a private company. They were not paying duty because it was believed it is a Government Ministry. They sold their parts but they were not paying anything. So, there were a lot of things that Hon. Maridadi did not mention and I request that each of us takes up the challenge and address these issues because we will have nothing to leave for our children. We need to look at sustainability and ensure that the future generation is able to have a source of livelihood. We have destroyed our nation. I thank you.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker for allowing me
also to debate on the issue of the Presidential Speech that was presented last year. Before I even get into the merits of my matter, it is important that I indicate that in normal and ordinary countries, when the Head of State is going to give a speech, it is either through a normal Presidential Speech or State of the Nation Address, usually business comes to a standstill.
Hon. Speaker, an address by a President of a country is not a normal address. It is not something that is ordinary. It is usually something that is extraordinary because it is a speech by the Chief Executive of the country. Usually it is a speech that is intended to outline the major challenges that the nation is facing, including the symptoms that some of my colleagues have already highlighted. When the Head of State is speaking, you expect to hear touchable and real solutions to the challenges that the nation is facing. The speech by the Head of State is a speech that is supposed to give the nation the direction that the country is going to take in a certain given period of time. Therefore, a speech by the President is not an ordinary speech, it is an extraordinary speech; it is an important speech in a country. Ordinarily, it is supposed to bring business to a standstill.
However, in this country, I have realised that be it the State of the Nation Address or be it any other speech by the President; because we are all aware that the President does not make speeches every day except during campaigns that you might be able to see him on television now and again making speeches. Ordinarily, when there are no campaigns, when you see the Head of State coming into Parliament to make a speech, you all pay attention.
It is a speech that is supposed to grab the attention of the nation.
I have realised, the few years that I have been in Parliament that in this country, even when the Head of State is going to address, it is business as usual. People do not pay attention. It does not grab the attention of the population. I have always been wondering why that is the scenario. When the Head of State speaks, there are certain things that you expect, especially the one that he gave when he was opening Parliament, we expected that the Head of State was obviously going to speak to issues of our 98% unemployment rate; the crumbling health sector, highlight on the education sector that has become a pale shadow of what is known of it or that he would speak about rampant corruption that is bedeviling this nation, especially the public sector like my colleague Hon. Tshuma indicated.
Remember, this is the speech which was given during the year when a
Vice President of this country went to a police station to release suspects that had been arrested for corruption. Therefore, the expectations of a nation is that when the Head of State comes to give his speech, he will touch on these things because they are pertinent; they are important things, when an Acting Head of State would go to a police station to release suspects that are under investigation by the police and then no further action is taken. Those things are expected.
You expect the Head of State to speak to issues like, very important people in this nation are not getting allowances that they are supposed to be getting; the chiefs, our traditional leaders. This speech by the President was given at a time when traditional leaders had their allowances in about seven/eight months’ arrears. Therefore, you expected those kinds of things to be addressed.
You expect the speech of the Head of State to speak to the concerns pertaining to the state of welfare of the population in the country; looking at the poverty levels; school dropout levels; accessibility of higher and tertiary education, life expectancy levels, wage levels and all those challenges that are bedeviling this nation. We can continue to talk about HIV/AIDS but that is not the only ill that is bedeviling this nation. We have got so many ills. We have become a nation of problems. If we are going to declare a national disaster Hon. Speaker, I think everything is a national disaster in this country. We have to declare everything a national disaster. So, in the face of all these challenges, it is important that we note that these challenges are a function of the challenges that we are facing in our economy. All these challenges that we are talking about are merely symptoms. What Hon. Maridadi was outlining here is that there are symptoms of a sick economy that needs to be healed.
Therefore, we expected that when the Head of State was going to speak, he would have spoken to issues like lack of capital inflows in this country. Why is it that we do not have capital, always crying about no foreign currency and no US$ which is our adopted currency? We should be speaking to the bad and inconsistent policies that investors have been complaining about in this nation and say how do we deal with them. We expected issues of low confidence in the economy – how do we deal with issues of low economy and low confidence that is in the economy. We expected the Head of State to talk to the decaying infrastructure in the country as what Hon. Gabbuza was saying.
When in a nation you begin to become a nation where there are cases and complains about natural things that you cannot change, it is a sign that you have got serious problems. When you see a nation complaining about rainfall that it is destroying our infrastructure, it is a sign that mapererwa. You have got no ideas of how you can redress the challenges that you are facing as a nation. We expected a genuine and honest Head of State to speak about a bloated Cabinet that is always facing a huge rate of turn-over which is consuming a huge chunk of our fiscus.
A nation expects a Head of State of speak to issues of uncontrolled appetite and penchant for foreign travels, where you have a Head of State being called a visitor to his nation because week in and week out, he is out of the country. We expect the Head of State when he is speaking to the nation to explain to us why he is always out of the country week in and week out. –[AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] - It is important, do not say ah! He is accountable. Who am I, I am a Zimbabwean and I am the one that is paying for his travels. So, it is important for the Head of State to speak to those issues.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): May you be
reminded that you are supposed to be addressing the Chair. You need not to answer whatever is coming from the floor.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Hon Speaker. I will abide by your ruling. To take my colleagues back, when I started, I indicated that when the Head of State who is the CEO of a nation is speaking, the nation is supposed to come to a standstill. It is supposed to pay attention and listen because he is the man that is in charge of the nation. Therefore, when he speaks, people are supposed to listen. However, what we have experienced in this nation is that when the Head of State is speaking, everyone carries on with their business because it has become a tradition that when he comes to speak, things that he speaks to are not relevant to the prevailing issues. What are the real issues that people expect the Head of State to speak about?
They expect the Head of State to explain why he is always out of the country instead of attending to the problems that are here. They expect the Head of State to inform the nation about the returns that are coming out of his multiple journeys that he is making each and every week. Hon. Speaker, if the Head of the Nation takes out US$6 million every week going out of the country, the nation needs to know how much he is bringing in by his going out. If we do not speak to those issues, our economy will continue to decline. Our hospitals and companies will continue to be closed. So, Hon. Speaker, we expect the Head of State to...
Hon. Mukupe having stood up again.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Sibanda. Hon. Mukupe,
you were standing up and you have not said anything.
HON. MUKUPE: Yes, it has been withdrawn.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: My point of order Mr. Speaker has been clarified by my Chief Whip, but I wanted to ask how many leaders go out for medical treatment and to seek for sanctions. That money that is exernalised is money that can be used. There are no toilets in Highfields.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. There are pertinent issues that we need to attend to as a nation. I know some of my colleagues are so much in love with the person of the current Head of State. Let us not forget that when we are debating, we are not debating looking at an individual. We are debating looking at the institution, the Office of the President because tomorrow it will be Hon. Mukupe who will be President for example. Should we allow him to be taking water across from our country to other countries? – [Laughter.]-
So when I am speaking, I am not speaking to the incumbent. I am speaking to the institution. There are certain critical issues that need to be attended to when the Head of State comes to address Parliament. It is important that he addresses the nation on those issues. We have got the so called Seke Diesel Electricity Plant. For a long time, people have been speaking to it. The electricity that is being generated there is double expensive than electricity that we get from Mozambique and South Africa but no one has attended to it. When I listen to my colleagues, they are busy setting free the culprit who is the Chief Executive Officer of the country, and everyone is saying the President has been busy talking about corruption.
The problem is that the President is talking about corruption. What we need is not people that talk about corruption. What we need are not people that will talk about our problems. We need people in offices who are occupying the one centre of power office to make sure that they take action against the ills that we are facing. Apparently, the Head of State that we have has failed dismally in that area. He has failed dismally. I have talked about issues...
HON. MAONDERA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of Order Hon.
Maondera.
HON. MAONDERA: My point of order is that I am surprised to hear
Hon. Nyoni hackling and she is one of the Ministers who rarely comes to Parliament. We want to listen to issues but she is busy hackling and she rarely comes to Parliament.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No point of order, I did not hear that
Hon. Maondera.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Hon. Speaker, with all due respect to the Office of the President, when we call him the Head of State, Head of Government, Commander-in-Chief, First Secretary, Chancellor of all universities and all those titles, those titles do not just go without any expected return. When we give you all those titles, what we expect are results and right now as we speak, corruption is going uncontrolled, the economy is decaying, hospitals have closed, schools have got no teachers and nothing is happening. We want to pay civil servants bonuses with land because the Government, the Head of
State, the Chief Executive Officer has failed. If it was a private company, President Mugabe would have long been fired. He is not supposed to continue to be where he is. He has failed this nation and therefore, the best that he can do like in other countries that have got leadership that have a conscience, that loves the people and not themselves, not selfish leadership, when they fail they say can I give someone an opportunity to do better because I have failed. How long does he want to continue failing? I think it is time that he steps down and give new leadership to take over this country. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. NYONI): I move that
the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. NYONI): I move that
Orders of the Day, Numbers 7 to 44 on today’s Order Paper be stood over
until Order of the Day, Number 45 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SMALL AND
MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT ON
THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC
CONTRIBUTIONS OF SMES AND THE INFORMAL SECTOR
Forty-fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises and
Cooperative Development on the Operational Environment and Economic Contributions of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Informal Sector in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. NYONI): I would like
to thank the Portfolio Committee on the detailed and informative report on the operational environment and economic contributions of small and medium enterprises and informal sector in Zimbabwe. Indeed, the SME sector has become an engine for economic development in our country given its immense contribution in employment creation and contribution to the GDP of over 60%.
My response focuses on the recommendations that were given in the report. Recommendation No. 6.1: the Ministry of Small and Medium
Enterprises and Cooperative Development should draft a National
Formalisation Strategy with clear incentives to motivate SMEs to formalise their operations by December 2016.
My Ministry has identified formalisation of the SME sector among other recommendations of the Fin Scope Survey which was in 2012 as of paramount importance to revamp and develop the sector in line with the ZIM ASSET which clearly articulates the importance of MSMEs. Also Labour Force Survey of 2014, highlights that close to 90% MSME business entities are operating informally.
Formalisation is a transformation of an economic unit from noncompliance to compliance. Formalisation will result in the realisation of the following benefits:
- Broadening of the tax base;
- Provision of higher quality, better paid and more sustainable jobs;
- Reinforcement of the social contract between citizens and their state;
- Strengthening of the reliability of agreements between firms;
- Building investor confidence especially in joint ventures and in partnerships;
- Increased formalisation on local enterprises to facilitate deal making and strengthening frameworks for policy advocacy;
- Improved access business services, formal markets and productive resources such as capital and land;
- Formalisation may also increase welfare of some marginalised groups by confirming their rights to take advantage of market opportunities and other benefits in the economy;
- Reduction of the cash economy and provision of more resources for intermediation by the formal financial sector such as banks;
- Freedom from corruption and embarrassment of the SMEs
In cognisance of that, the Ministry has embarked on formalisation of the SME sector where in collaboration with other stakeholders is in a process of developing the formalisation strategy of the sector which will avert informality and encourage people to formalise their businesses. The zero draft has since been completed and we are now in the process of coming up with the first draft of the policy.
This formalisation strategy once complete will employ the following strategies to incentivise MSMEs to formaliase:
- Review of labour laws to incorporate MSMEs;
- Capacity building of MSMEs and MSMEs associations;
- Developing simplified and sustainable MSMEs tax systems;
- Financial inclusion of MSMEs;
- Simplification of business registration and licensing processes;
- Provision of appropriate and affordable infrastructure and work space;
- Development of local, regional and international markets for registered and licenced MSMEs.
Recommendation 6.2: The Ministry of SMECD should develop a national database of SMEs that are in existence by 2016.
Response
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry is in the process of developing a national database of SMEs which is being funded by the African
Development Bank and the following equipment was purchased in 2016:
- 150 desktop computers; ii. 108 laptops; iii. 67 printers.
The use of this equipment will enable district officers to capture SME information in their respective districts. Currently, Tel One is in the process of installing Wide Area Network (WAN) and a consultant has been engaged to develop and install the data base system. Training of Ministry officials on data base management has commenced on 20th February, 2017 with three provinces (Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Masvingo) and will be rolled to other provinces.
Recommendation 6.3: The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should unlock the BADEA loan facility of US$3 million which was approved by Parliament to recapitalise SMEDCO for the provision of adequate financial resources to foster the growth and development of SMEs sector by December, 2016.
Response
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is yet to secure the loan from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) meant for the recapitalisation of SMEDCO. The major challenge, among others being encountered is associated with the economic sanctions imposed on the country. However, efforts are underway to recapitalise SMEDCO through the issuance of US10 million Treasury Bonds that were issued by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe last year.
Recommendation 6.4: Local authorities should plough back 3% revenue collected from the SMEs towards the development of decent workspaces and for the provision of better services to the sector.
Response
The Ministry has continuously engaged local authorities in any new developments and encourages them to plough back part of the revenue generated from SMEs towards the development of infrastructure of SMEs. In addition, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. P. Chinamasa, in his 2017 Budget Statement also acknowledged that provision of infrastructure for SMEs remains one of the most important features for supporting their businesses. In that regard, the Minister proposed that Government will be introducing incentives for institutional investors such as pension funds, insurance companies and other private investors, who finance the construction of infrastructure such as market malls/factory shells for SMEs.
Recommendation 6.5: The Ministry of SMECD in collaboration with ZIMRA and local authorities should hold countrywide programmes on tax policies, by-laws and relevant regulations on a yearly basis.
Response
The Ministry of SMECD in collaboration with ZIMRA has embarked on a programme on tax education countrywide targeting the SMEs and cooperatives. The programme is aimed at sensitising and educating the SMEs and cooperatives on tax issues as well as encouraging them to be tax compliant through registering with ZIMRA. A module to that effect has been developed and also a training programme covering all the provinces has been developed. The tax education training workshops are being funded by ZIMRA and they have since commenced in all provinces. The programme has a target of registering at least 15 000 SMEs by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
Recommendation 6.6: ZIMRA and local authorities should establish an SME desk in their respective institutions as a strategy of improving relations with the SME sector by October, 2016.
Response
The Ministry is in consultation with ZIMRA and local authorities where we are encouraging them to establish SME desk as a strategy of improving relations with the SME sector.
Recommendation 6.7: ZIMRA should establish offices in all districts of the country by December 2017 and should not only be visible in the districts when collecting revenue.
Response
ZIMRA has some regional offices which cover all provinces in the country. It is hoped that this current exercise will encourage them to open district offices.
Recommendation 6.8 and 6.9: The Ministry of SMECD must engage the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe for it to be flexible on the types of collateral, maturity periods and interest rates on loans to suit the business models of SMEs by September, 2016.
6.9: The Ministry of SMECD should liaise with banks so that they are more visible in rural areas by October 2016, for instance, in the form of mobile banks operating at given intervals or coinciding with key events in rural communities such as agricultural marketing seasons.
Response
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, in collaboration with key stakeholders developed the National Financial Inclusion Strategy
(NFIS), which was launched on 11th March, 2016 by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. This is a five year road map defined in the Zimbabwean context as effective use of a wide range of quality, affordable and accessible financial services provided in a fair and transparent manner through formal/regulated entities by all Zimbabweans. The Ministry is engaging some banks to open branches in rural areas. I thank you.
HON. MANGAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to thank the
Minister for this detailed response to the Committee’s response. On behalf of the Committee, we thank you for taking up each recommendation which you are working on as to our Committee’s report. I also want to thank the Hon. Members who contributed to this
Committee report and say that as the Portfolio Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises, and Cooperative Development Hon. Minister. We continue to appreciate your continuous responses to the Committee’s reports and hope that will actually facilitate the smooth development of our rural areas, especially those that are disadvantaged which are actually financially excluded. Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move for the adoption of the report that:
This House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio
Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative
Development on the Operational Environment and Economic
Contributions of small and Medium Enterprises and the Informal Sector in Zimbabwe. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, with the leave of the House, I move that we revert back to motion number 35 on the Order Paper.
HON. D. SIBANDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
HEALTH AND CHILD CARE ON THE DEPLOYMENT, ROLES
AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VILLAGE HEALTH
WORKERS/CITY HEALTH PROMOTERS IN THE PROVISION OF
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Thirty Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care on the
Deployment, Roles and Responsibilities of the Village Health Workers/
City Health Promoters in the Provision of Primary Health Care in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. CROSS: Thank you Mr. Speaker for this opportunity to address this particular issue this afternoon. We have to recognise Mr. Speaker that this is an extremely important subject. It is a subject which affects the basic health needs of everybody in the country. The first port of call of especially the poor people of Zimbabwe is the village health worker and the primary health care centres. Therefore, I think the shocking nature of this particular report is the revelation to all of us that this particular community of voluntary workers is being badly neglected and abused.
Mr. Speaker, I think we have to recognise today that this is an extremely important report and one which I hope other Members will debate. I think this report in particular needs a ministerial response. Once we have concluded this report and I hope we can wrap it up quite quickly, I hope that the Minister will then come to the House and give a report on this issue. The first thing I want to address is this question of salaries and allowances, if we can call them that. How on earth can you in all honest pay an individual $14 per month to work as a primary health care agent? Who in his right mind can possibly expect people to perform their roles with that ridiculous amount of money, especially when you hear that they are not even getting that on a regular basis?
Mr. Speaker, I do not think we can look at a figure less than $100 per month plus, uniforms, equipment and the facilities that are needed to enable them to perform their roles at the village or community level. I will just point out to Members that $100 per month will cost us $14 million. At the moment, we are spending $4 million. That is the aggregate cost of the total cost of these 10 000 primary health care workers in our communities. I do not think that $14 million is a lot of money. It is the kind of money which I think we can find.
The second thing Mr. Speaker is to understand that the primary health care clinic is the focal point for the operation of this village or community based health care workers. If we do not have enough primary health care clinics that are properly equipped and have the basic infrastructure, and the staff to deal with the next level of demand for health services, then the majority of our people will go without the necessary services that are required. We already have 1 600 primary health care clinics today, all we need is another 400. Again Mr. Speaker, if we made a consented effort as a community and country, we could provide those additional clinics without difficult.
I believe that if we get together we can make sure that those clinics are properly maintained, have the necessary pharmaceuticals and access to the internet, and power to do the job that they are required to do. In my constituency, I have Tshabalala Clinic which has 12 beds, a gynecological maternity unit and women can have their children there safely. We get the services of a doctor once a week. We have 21 staff members there and serve about 250 patients per day. That is the kind of facility we need in every ward in Zimbabwe. What should happen is that the community health worker should be attached to the clinic and their salary should be part of the budget of the clinic, no matter how the salary is funded. I think we should make a sincere effort to achieve that
The next thing is to make the clinics responsible for supervision and payment of salaries. You cannot have these 10 500 or 14 000 individuals running around the country without supervision or proper assistance and support. The only way you can do that is through the primary health clinics. You cannot do that through administrative offices or the other structures of Government.
The last thing I want to suggest Mr. Speaker, let us get all the agents concerned with this issue together. Let us have a meeting of local authorities attended by the donor agencies and the global fund. The global fund in Zimbabwe is $100 million per year, funded principally by the United States. I am quite certain that if this programme was presented to them in a proper context and situation, they would be prepared to fund this. I am quite certain of that. Let us get the Minister of Health and Child Care and the Minister of Local Government there and have an indaba on this particular issue. Let us sit down as a country and discuss this. Let us put the situation right. I hope that the Chairman of the Committee concerned will pursue this issue with vigor the same way that Hon. Paradza is pursuing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the dilapidated nature of our foreign missions.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. S. NYONI): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM
ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. S.
NYONI), the House adjourned at Seven Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday 29th March, 2017
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON. SEN.
CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): I have to inform the House that I have received the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Bill [H.B. 5A, 2016] from the National Assembly.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that Order of
the Day, Number 1on today’s Order Paper be stood over, until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL
RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MOMBESHORA): Mr. President,
with the leave of the House, I move that we revert back to Order of the Day, Number 1.
Motion put and agreed to.
COMMITTEE STAGE
LAND COMMISSION BILL [H.B. 2A, 2016]
First Order read: Committee Stage: Land Commission Bill [H.B.
2A, 2016]
House in Committee.
Clause 1, put and agreed to.
On Clause 2:
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: I move the amendment
standing in my name that between lines 32 and 33 on page 9 of the Bill, to insert the following definition:
“National Council of Chiefs” means the National Council of
Chiefs established by section 285(1) of the Constitution.”
Amendment to Clause 2 put and agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, put and agreed to.
On new Clause 3
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: I move the amendments
standing in my name that between lines 35 and 36 on page 9 of the Bill, to insert the following clause in Part II of the Bill, the remaining clauses being renumbered accordingly:
“3 Procedure for appointment of members
- Before the President appoints a member, the Minister shall, in writing, invite the National Council of Chiefs to submit to him or her the names of at least two traditional leaders, qualified in terms of Section 296(2) of the Constitution, to be considered for appointment to the Commission.
- The Minister shall without delay, forward to the President, the names of any suitably qualifies traditional leaders nominated by the National Council of Chiefs in response to an invitation in terms of subsection (1) and, subject to Section 296 of the Constitution, they shall be considered for appointment to the Commission.” Amendment to new Clause 3 put and agreed to.
New Clause 3, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clause 15 to 35 put and agreed to.
On Clause 36:
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: I move the amendment
standing in my name that between lines 43 on page 21 of the Bill and line 1 on page 22, to insert the following sub-clauses, the remaining subclauses being renumbered accordingly:
“(4) Where the appeal or dispute concerns agricultural land, or any other land that is under the jurisdiction of a chief, at least two of the names on the panel referred to in subsection (3) shall be that of a chief.”
Amendment to Clause 36, put and agreed to.
Clause 36, as amended put and agreed to.
Clauses 37 to 66 put and agreed to.
First to Third Schedules, put and agreed to.
On Fourth schedule:
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: Thank you Mr. Chairman, I do
not know whether you are too fast for me but I am not sure whether the Hon. Minister asserted both amendments between lines 31 and 33 on page 9 and also lines 35 and 36.
THE CHAIRPERSON: Sorry repeat that again.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: Lines 32 and 33 and then lines
35 and 36.
THE CHAIRPERSON: That is the new clause.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: Did you cover all of them?
THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Fourth schedule put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: I would like to add a few words
to the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Chipanga and his seconder. I think it is a very good motion and a lot of important points were raised in the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President. As has become the case, in Parliament these days, corruption was one of those items that the President talked about. I would like to weigh in on to the subject of corruption by reminding Government and ourselves that when we speak of corruption, I think we are not just limiting ourselves to what is happening in the public sector, in the Government,
Parliament, Executive and Judiciary.
I think it is an issue which can be found in all sectors of our systems, economic, political, social system and the private sector. That is the reason why you will find that you go to some shops down in Cameron Street and Bute Street and all those places. In some shops, I understand when you buy things using US dollars the money is placed elsewhere and when using bond notes there is a different container. I hope that at the end of the day, all that money is banked, not just the bond notes. I think there is a lot of corruption that goes on there in the private sector as well. As Government, which is responsible for all our systems, the eyes of the State should be watchful of all those possible happenings. The other time we were told that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had increased – or had imposed a tax of about 15% on VAT on meat products and when it was reversed or when we were told that it had been reversed, the shops did not follow the reversal. They happily effected the tax but were unhappy to remove it.
Some of those practices which are taking place in business and other aspects of the private sector should be considered as part of corruption. When we were discussing last week at the HICC, we talked about codes of conduct for sectors like Parliament and other sections of Government. I think it is also important that the State system which is responsible for everything that happens in this country also looks at the possibility of calling upon the private sector to have similar codes of conduct and ethics to be signed by their Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officers and general managers so that we try by all means to clean up the system, whether it is Government, non-governmental, industrial, agricultural or whatever. I think it is important that we work on corruption in all its forms and wherever it appears and try to solve the problem for our country to go forward in a positive mode and direction.
There was also the issue which was raised by the President where he referred to the public sector conducting a rationalisation exercise whereby they were going to make redundant, certain non-critical positions. I think to me, that is a good point because it means that Government wants to be saving some money. If we could do it sooner and faster, the better because then, we can use the resources released and possibly revamp our education system and provide money for research at our tertiary institutions, colleges, universities and other vocational training centres.
We will also be able to repair our roads, construct bridges and construct other roads like the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway so that when the dualisation comes around, the whole thing will be good and we ensure that we do exactly what the nation wants us to be doing. We can also use the saved money for next year’s Command agriculture so that it starts early as the newspapers tell us that this year Government want the programme to commence earlier so that people are not disadvantaged when the rainy season comes around. I think it is a good thing that we can possibly make some savings if we look properly and critically at some of the positions we have in Government as the President said in his State of the Nation Address.
He also appealed to us to be on the moral high ground so that we could avoid things like violence, especially gender-based violence.
However, I also think that we can extend that to include other forms of violence like the domestic violence talked about by many people. I think there is also violence happening in families and among young people by things like drugs and alcohol, the illicit substances that they take. You find that there are a lot of immoral people or people who are not ethical in their behaviour who go to foreign lands to get substances like zed or broncleers, whatever name they call it.
My other worry is that maybe there are people in neighbouring countries who wish the whole of this country could just become a nation of alcoholics and drug addicts, otherwise, how does such huge quantities of material end up in this country? I think for the last 10 to 15 years we have been bombarded by all sorts of substances, some say from
Mozambique and others say they come through Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Somehow, even the authorities on the other sides of our borders have not been able to curb that kind of illicit trade which ends up brining those unlawful substances into the country.
Sometimes when we say that our youth, for instance are taking drugs because there is not employment or there is nothing to occupy them, I think it is not correct. It is simply a result of some of us persuading our young or even our old people to use those substances. By the way, these substances are not given for free. Money is used to buy those items. So, it may not be a question of people having no money or having nothing to do but a question of some untoward reprobate characters persuading people to engage in illicit activities which they know are illegal in this country but still they persuade them to buy and use them. I think even our security system; the police and other forces should be taking down those things. I hope some of them are not persuaded to use those substances so that at the end of the day we will lose control of who can control who.
There was also the issue of residential stands that was raised. I think that one indicated that there are about 69 000 stands which are going to be rolled out. Of course, a few of us here in Parliament are also looking forward to that possibility that maybe of the 69 000, 200 can be allocated to Members of Parliament. This is because they have already written papers requesting that they also be allocated stands in some parts of the country. I hope that 200 out of 69 000 is not a very significant figure.
The President also talked about the dependency of our regions on foreign donations or foreign financial sponsorship organs like SADC and AU. However, I also think that such dependency also extends even to individual countries. That is where we get the problem like; if somebody brings a programme which you may not like but have some monetary benefits behind it, do you refuse it or you take it and pretend to want to implement it so that you get the money. I think it is a very important wake up call for a lot of countries in Africa and the Third World in terms of how they should go about dealing with foreign financial assistance or aid. Do they simply take it on the basis that it is money that should be taken or should they also worry about possible attached conditions like erosions into local cultural practices which may come under attack as part of the conditions of that money coming into your system. I think it is very important that as far as possible, our resources should be mobilised to fund things that we want to do in our own countries. With those words, I thank you Mr. President. – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on stray dogs and other domestic animals.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWEELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the SADC Model law on eradicating child marriages.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. A. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my own words to this motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Mohadi and her seconder.
We are grateful that as they move around, I have noticed that they come back and report what would have transpired to the House. This motion is very important to us as Zimbabweans. I was overjoyed that our leaders have finally realised what happened amongst SADC countries and I believe that the whole of Africa will realise that what has happened in SADC concerns the whole of Africa especially when we speak of the girl child.
Mr. President, our girl children have many challenges and difficulties in their lives because often, you will notice that these children of ours, in communities when people fight or have squabbles that result in loss of lives and people have to reconcile, never in any of the cases are boys used to appease the spirits – only girls are used. With the evolution of time, we realise that as our girl children grow up, they are seen as women who can be married and be turned into wives who can maintain households. I do not know how the law has lost it because in the past we knew that there were proper girls who were ready for marriage who would be married off to men who were ready for marriage. The bride price was paid for these girls and it was very good and made us all happy.
However, what I realise nowadays, as was said by a previous Hon. Senator; there is a place in Zimbabwe where young girls are viewed by men as grownups. We realise that elderly men will be having minds of making them their wives. I would like to enquire what has happened to you as fathers and as men? We are wondering why that law has made it like this. Mr. President, we also realise that when you leave your girl child with their father, your mind will not be at ease where ever you are as you will be wondering whether the child is being taken care of properly. I do not know what has happened to our men, I do not know what they are eating or feeding on, Mr. President, perhaps they can tell us, how can they lust over their own children, the ones that they have given birth to? Children who are so young and I wonder how they can then go on and rape their own children. There are men who even rape newly born babies, children with five days or even a month. I wonder what they will be lusting over such a little baby. I hope that this law will be looked into and it will be taken as an example for those who rape these poor little children. I also hope that the current Minister who is responsible for this portfolio can come to this august House and carefully listen to what we are saying about this motion which has come from the SADC meetings because it is important.
We hope that countries in the SADC region will respect each other and we can have our children grow up properly, our girl children will be left to get educated and get to where they desire and make sure that they are not disturbed by sugar daddies.
Hon. President, you will see a child going to school in uniform and you will see a sugar daddy waiting for her in his car putting on black shades because he is ashamed, he does not want people to see him, so he hides himself with those shades. Therefore, we want it to be clarified that these men should not lust over their own children. We therefore, plead that this law which comes along with this motion, that as
Zimbabweans we will be the first to look into this and make sure that we enact it as a law in order to safe guard our girl children. We do not want people to be referring to the law that says that young children like those who are 12 years can be turned into wives. There are people who have expertise in that, perhaps they can answer us but however, our chiefs can testify that there is nothing like that. A child who is 12 years cannot become anyone’s wife and we do not want them to be exposed to some of these issues.
Mr. President, there should be an end to these things so that we are a country that respects its values and norms. We want our children to know the proper values and also our culture. Previously, there was a chief who said that in his community, there are times when girls are checked. That is recommended Hon. Chief so that we do not have children who do not have fathers and children who are depressed by what happens to them and later on become criminals. So, often these children are confused, they wonder who their fathers are. All this is because children are raped and are married off at a very tender age and later on these men leave them as they would have satisfied their desires.
Hon. President, this is an important issue and we hope that when we conclude it, we will bring the Minister so that we speak to him concerning the issue and also hear what he has to say concerning this issue. If you see men sitting down to discuss a particular issue, it means that it is really vital. Therefore Mr. President, we do hope that this is not one of those motions that will be just adopted without the Minister coming here to respond. I would like to say that this should stop and perhaps we can save the few children who are yet to be born because most of these men have become criminals. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for un-equivocal support for the national school pledge by Hon.
Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. MKWEBU: Thank you Mr. President for giving me
this opportunity so that I can debate on this motion that was brought by Senator Chimbudzi and her seconder. Hon. President, this motion is very important to our children who are growing up and who go to school. If they show that they respect their norms and values, it is important. As they begin to practice the National School Pledge, they have to salute to our fallen heroes, the people who died for this country. That is why I am saying this is a vital motion. They show the importance of our heroes. This motion also teaches our children our history. They have to know that a lot of blood was lost and so many people were killed for us to get our independence and freedom. Hon. President, the children are also made aware that as a nation, we lost so many people who died within Zimbabwe and also out of the country as they tried to fight for our independence.
This motion also teaches us that our children will be made knowledgeable and aware of the fact that there has to be unity in our country and amongst all Zimbabweans. Therefore if our children get to know that it was difficult to get our independence, they will be alert to the fact that they have to be united and work together as one. It is important for those who are growing up and to those who are still going to school, that unity of purpose is important.
This motion is important because the Minister, who is responsible for Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Dokora, did not alert us in time on what was taking place in various schools. When he told us, it was like something new. However, it is something that has been taking place. People were learning about their own particular cultures like the Hindus used to learn about Hinduism and every other child would also cover that aspect. It is something that was always there. Therefore, when he came about with the new curriculum, we thought it was a new thing because we did not know what was being covered in various schools. The fact that they looked into different languages and different cultures, we did not know that.
Hon. President, I found that this motion is important because it also made us aware of what was taking place in the education sector in our country, even though we had not noticed it. We had not noticed that education was different. People are learning about various cultures and different languages in the world. When it came to us, it was like something that was new, but it has always been in existence. Therefore, I would like to thank those who brought this motion which is so important, which has made us aware of the things that we did not even know were happening in our own country. It has provoked our thoughts concerning the education sector. When the Minister explained how the curriculum came to be, who he spoke to, who he consulted and how it came about, it was as if we had missed out on a number of things.
Mr. President, this motion reminds me of the past and the future.
They are all in my mind. I am now open-minded and I am in a position where I am able to speak to others in my community in different areas. When they ask about the new curriculum, I am in a better position to explain. Hon. President, with those few words, I would like to thank you for this opportunity.
+HON. SEN. MASUKU: Thank you Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to add my own words on the motion that was brought to this Senate by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi and her seconder. Mr. President, I remember when we were growing up, we used to study other people’s history. I remember we used to sing a song that was a prayer in a way that used to refer to God saving the gracious Queen. Each and every student was supposed to know that song. I wonder, Hon. President, why we used to sing as if we did not have our own people that we could sing about.
The thought that, from a young age, our children are taught to know of the history of Zimbabwe, how it came about, how people are supposed to live in it and how people are supposed to handle themselves is very important because it will make our children, to grow up as children who are organised because from an early age, they will get to understand everything about Zimbabwe. They will know that this country is for people who are well behaved, people who have unity, and people who are unified by the independence that was brought by their forefathers. I will speak of their forefathers because most of them who are reciting this pledge have forefathers who spilt their blood in the struggle for independence.
Hon. President of the Senate, what is vital is that our children get to understand the national pledge. What could make them understand it is of course, we have a language - one that brings us together. However, what is disturbing is that we are making it more special than our own languages. I am saying this because everything that is introduced is written down in this language. However, some of the elderly people in rural area are unable to understand it when they hear our children singing it and when they see them saluting. We would want the elders to understand what it is that is being taught to these children. Therefore, it is important that in the near future, this pledge should be translated into our own indigenous languages that are in our Zimbabwean Constitution. This way, it will not just be a pledge, but it concerns us as
Zimbabweans, all of us, by remembering our fallen heroes, by upholding unity and by upholding the value of working together with the determination of improving our nation.
Hon. President of the Senate, I do notice that it has taken a while for people to agree that it is fine for us to have this pledge. However, since we now have it, it is important, that people accepted, say it and are able to use it because it is a prayer for Zimbabweans. I would like to say that Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi, I do believe she understood it very much for her to bring it to this Senate. She saw its importance, therefore, I do urge all of us especially Members of this august Senate to come together as one so that this pledge is used by our children and they will always remember it up to old age. Even in old age they will know that in Zimbabwe this pledge is our song and a prayer, as we also were taught of the song ‘Our Gracious Queen’ which we still remember today in our old age.
We do believe and hope that our children, grandchildren and our grandchildren will understand this pledge and always believe in it. I do believe that it will correct a number of things because if it speaks of unity and hard work, our children will know from a tender age that one has to work hard for themselves, their family and nation; to make sure that their nation is a nation with respect, a nation that does not have poverty and a nation that is not disease infested. As people we will be working hard, to make sure that we are not a nation that always look forward for donor funding. Our children will know how to work hard.
With those few words Hon. President, I would like to thank Hon. Sen.
Chimbudzi for bringing this motion to this august Senate.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you Mr. President, I have
observed that this is an important motion. I cannot go by without debating on it. If we do not debate on it, we will not have done justice to our country because our education is going further in Zimbabwe. Without taking anything away from the National Pledge, it says a lot of good things that are important. It talks about the importance of the
blood that was shed in the liberation of this country. It also calls upon unity for the country of Zimbabwe and that people of Zimbabwe be united as one family.
I am unhappy with a few things about the National Pledge. Firstly, the National Pledge, when it was introduced in schools, it is a good thing that they are people in Zimbabwe that know what is important and what is not. If you want to pass a Bill in Zimbabwe, it has to be taken all over Zimbabwe conducting public hearings but this National Pledge was forced on school children and it became compulsory.
When I look at it, it has everything in our National Anthem. The pledge talks about the flag which we should salute, it says raise up our Zimbabwean flag. Raising up the flag is not just merely raising but also saluting it. The National Pledge says we should salute the flag; it talks about the blood that was shed for the liberation of this country. The National Anthem talks about this country having been given birth because of the protracted liberation struggle where blood was shed. The unity of the people is implored in the National Anthem. It is important that this unity be put into practice.
Furthermore, Mr. President, the National Pledge should not have been imposed on our school children. The parents should have been consulted before it was forced down on the throats of our children. When the National Anthem came about it had to be relooked into until it was accepted. A lot of people were asked to submit their views on the National Anthem of this country and the one by Professor Mutsvairo was then adopted. There is reiteration of the need for consultation. Since the parents were informed about the National Anthem and consulted, the same should have been done for the National Pledge. Although this was not done in the first place, maybe there is need for the idea to consult so that they can also have an input because the children that are below 18 years are minors, they stand guided by their parents.
It is either the parent or the guardian will act for and on behalf of the children that are in their custody. Once again I reiterate that it was forced on the throats of the children they and they then informed the parents. That was a shortcoming that was done and it needs to be rectified. This imposition was not supposed to have been done without the buy-in of the parents. This was smuggled through the education system. There was nothing bad with our education system but with
National Pledge there is a dent in its repetition. I thank you Mr.
President.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY
POLITICAL PARTIES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that had become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th March, 2017.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF POPULATION GROWTH IN ZIMBABWE
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Zimbabwe’s low population.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Mr. President. Good
afternoon. I would like to thank you Mr. President for the opportunity you have granted me to add my voice to the debate on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Musaka and seconded by Hon. Sen. Murwira. This is a good motion, it is about good things. It is about a family in harmony, a father and mother saying that they are now very few and they should increase their birth rate to grow our population. It is quiet pleasing. Zimbabwe is a good country. This is enhanced by the fact that both men and women are in unison that we should increase our birth rate. It is a peaceful and loving country. A child is born out of love, hence the multiplication of the family.
Mr. President, if we were to go to the books such as the Bible, it says that we should be fruitful and multiply like the sands of the sea. The Lord God did not say that there should be few of us. I recall one day when I was invited to a certain church gathering, the pastor of the church was concluding the service and he gathered all the women. He said that, “We are coming to a close of the meeting and as women you are going back home. When you go back home, be fruitful and multiply.” The women ululated, they were very happy to be told to go and multiply so that we have a high birth rate and increase our population.
I listened to what Hon. Sen. Musaka said in terms of the development of this country. It is indeed true that if people want to bring investment to this country, they ask about the population of that country. They also ask on the extent to which these people are educated. This is because when the investor examines their production figures, they want to know how many of these people are living well and how many are not or how many will be able to work for him/her. In this august House, a lot of ideas and opinions were given on what can be done when too many children are born in a family in terms of feeding them. We are at 12 million people in population and in Nigeria they have 82 million but they are sitting pretty.
As I stand in this august House, I have two sets of triplets, In 1978
I was given triplets set of twins and in 1980 I had another set of triplets, two girls and one boy. I did not have problems in fending for them. If you have a big family you look for a plan to feed them. During that time, I used to have friends, one worked in the butchery, the other one a baker whilst the other one was a milk-man. I did not have problems in fending for my family.
I read a certain book which says that a man and woman should not worry about looking after their own children, for they belong to God, who will provide for their upkeep. You are God’s vessels in delivering these children to the world. The Lord will give us ideas on how best we can sustain these children.
In terms of production, there is day and night. If children cannot all go to school because they are too many of them in the family, certain pieces of work are done in the country. If we have few children and all of them are degreed, there will be no street cleaners or sanitary workers or those responsible for refuse collection. If the few of us are all educated, we will not want to clean the toilets or sweep the streets. We are not looking down upon those people who perform this work, but this is what is suitable for them. Even on farms, the majority of farm workers are not highly educated but the farms have been able to sustain us in terms of food.
Where I come from, if you look at our tribe, you hear our fathers saying there are some who are of the Chuma totem but they are not part of us. They were incorporated so that if there is war, they will be in the forefront of the battle and get killed whilst the majority of us survive. When a war broke out, the majority of them did not die, they hired members of the family because we were few. They were then involved in incest because they were not really related to those of the Chuma totem. For us to be able to multiply and fill the earth is a good thing so that we can defend ourselves in our numbers. There is safety in numbers.
Mr. President, if we look at our colonisers from whom we repossessed the country, I will go down in nostalgia and talk of my experiences in Redcliff, Kwekwe. There was a Mr. Boyle who had 11 children. He was a white man, he had a football team, his family was pleasing. It was the Boyle Eleven. They had a band, geologists, boilermakers, electrician, plumber and teacher in that family because they were many. We should not be apprehensive about large families but should seek God’s assistance and ideas.
As we were growing up in 1980, I recall the words of the late Minister, Dr. Hebert Ushewokunze when he stated that we should not be used by whites especially the women. He was saying that our women would not use birth control methods such as Depo-Provera as it was being used on race horses as the horses would not be able to race fast after giving birth. Eventually he was removed from this earth by the Lord Almighty though he urged us to be fruitful and multiply and fill this earth. I would like to thank the mover and seconder of this motion for encouraging us to have large families in Zimbabwe.
The gap between my parents who brought four of us into this world, I am only left alone as my other three siblings have passed on. I am 70 years and neither have a brother who is 17 years up to 60 years in those age groups. The lack of Machingaifa’s in those age groups is a death to the family as they should have been there in the 40s ranging up to 100 years in order to continue the lineage and generational movement so that we pass on the history of our country. With those few words, I again thank Hon. Sen. Musaka and Hon. Sen. Murwira because I also heard Hon. Sen. Murwira saying that she will be going on maternity leave very soon. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President, I need your protection …
THE HON. TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: From which angle? HON. SEN. NCUBE: From Hon. Sen. Chipanga – [Laughter.] – THE HON. TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: You are protected.
+HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President, I would like to thank you Hon. President for this opportunity that you have granted me in order for me to also speak on this motion that has to do with increasing our population. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Musaka who tabled this motion and was seconded by Hon. Sen. Murwira.
During the week that he tabled this motion, when I was reading the newspaper – I wonder if he had seen the article but I remember showing him that in Spain they had appointed a minister responsible for looking into sexual activities to make sure that people were conceiving. I read that paper and understood and wondered whether Hon. Sen. Musaka had also read that article. If other countries are appointing ministers to ensure that people are conceiving babies then it is obvious that his motion is important.
I also realised that it is equally important for us to increase our population as stated by my predecessors. However, we need to point out that there are reasons for people not to be able to work on increasing their families as it is said most times men who work for long hours are tired when they get home. At times, it is also said that, eating late into the night causes men not to perform effectively sexually – those are some of the reasons that have led to the diminishing of our population.
In my own opinion, I think that it was good in the past for people to have many children as they said that the Bible encourages us to be fruitful and multiply like the sands of the sea. Many of us have mentioned how many they are in their families. However nowadays we also need to look into the current economic situation. People may say what they want but truthfully you cannot take care of a big family these days without any form of employment. Nowadays, you cannot take care of family when children are all over the world and there is prevalence of HIV and Aids.
In the past there were extended families but not as it is right now. We can speak about how it used to be in the past but we need to look at how many people manage to have the children that they had planned. In my age right now, with the way I had children, I should be enjoying the fruits of motherhood. However it is not easy these days as children are left behind by their parents as those parents do not have time to rest. What sort of energy would you be having to have children until old age or until you die? That is one of the reasons that though this motion is important and the Hon. Senators had reasons to, we need to tackle both the pros and cons.
I remember there was a motion here that spoke of children’s homes and orphaned children who are thrown away from different ethical backgrounds. This very Government that we are speaking of and that some speakers are saying can assist – I have realised that most of the children in the orphanages have to be given $15.00 monthly. However for the past three or four years there is not a single cent that the
Government has assisted them with, yet we have approximately 100 orphanages.
So when we speak of increasing our population, we are not blaming the previous speakers for supporting this motion but we need to consider the fact that nowadays due to the prevalence of HIV and Aids, our children are deciding to have smaller families. It is only a few people with more than two children. Those who say they have many children only have four as there are diseases, accidents and so many other things that cause families to separate. What is important is that parents are unable to take care of larger families.
The education that we have been speaking about is a basic right that none of the children should not be deprived of. Let us be honest with each other, it is difficult out there and in schools. When we are in this House, the Minister will tell us that children are not supposed to be turned away from school when they do not pay school fees but we notice that in so many cases, the headmaster will not avail results when children fail to pay school fees. Our Government did not take into consideration the fact that after we gained independence, schools can be build as many as they are but we should know that our education is expensive. Our education is affordable to those who are employed. If you are not working, even as we speak of buying covers for children who are in grade one, you will not be able to do so.
It is difficult for many parents that when children go to grade one from grade zero, for them to be able to make that transition, they are supposed to buy 10 exercise books, covers and files which are required nowadays. As a parent, you get so devastated. When my grand child was going to school and said that they needed a file, I thought it was just an ordinary file; they refused to sell the file for me in the shops, they said that I needed to go to school and find out what kind of a file is needed. It is so difficult; it means that you will not rest to take care of these children. We need to notice and take into consideration that family planning has made it better for people to manage their families because it is so difficult to take care of a child.
There is no employment; unemployment is very high in this country. One Senator whom I was seated with in the bus showed me a lorry that was taking maize to some farm. Where will we get all this food for these children? I know that food aid is politicised. I want us all to be united, it is not like it is a problem to give birth but our children no longer want to because they are concerned about feeding and taking care of the children. They think that they will not be able to pay their fees or they will die of HIV and AIDS before they take care of them or their fathers will run away. All those issues are some of the problems that we face as parents.
We would like to encourage our children to work towards increasing the population but nowadays it is difficult. We also want to rest because our children will give birth to their children and they will want us to take care of them. As much as we would want to encourage our children to work towards increasing the population, we have to put into consideration the fact that there are so many challenges. We would want the Government to look into other people who are suffering from poverty. It is not a bad idea at all to give birth, however, because of the problems that we are facing, it is a no for me. Those who are able to have large families, I think they can go ahead but those who are not able to, I think in my own opinion should do what is comfortable for them because no one wants to bring into this world a child who will end up suffering, it would not be a proper thing to do.
+HON. SEN. NDHLOVU: Thank you Mr. President for giving
me this opportunity to speak on this motion that was brought by Hon. Sen. Musaka, seconded by Hon. Sen. Murwira. I also have my own point of view that is a bit different from the ones that others have expressed but I understand what they have been saying.
Mr. President, this issue of people having many children, I support it a lot without looking at how you will feed these children because the Lord said that the birds of the air which do not work, are well taken care of. As much as you will have these kids and you are worried about what they will eat, I am sure that the Lord above will take care of them. At times, I take care of my children on my own. If I die, somebody else will take care of them.
I am saying this Mr. President and I have to also look into it from
Hon. Musaka’s point of view that it even pushes investors to come into the country and invest looking into the population that is in existence. If I am to give an example, I remember that when I was applying for a loan at a particular bank, I wanted to boost my business, the bank manager inquired from me how many villages, I have in my community and what the population is like. When I told him, he said that he wanted to go and see it for himself. I went with the manager and he approved the loan after he noticed number of the homesteads that I have. If the people were fewer, I am sure that the loan was not going to be approved.
Therefore, when it comes to giving birth and when it comes to family, there are others who do not have problems with conceiving and they can bear as many kids as they can. However, there are others who face difficulties and they are not able to give birth to two children, especially those who go through cesarean whilst giving birth. So, what I am saying is that those who are able to have children without any problems and difficulties and are able to feed these children and given them proper education, then they need to go ahead. They need to cover up for those who are not able to give birth so that we strike a balance. If I am to have two children and the other person who is able to give birth to more children, also has two children, then at the end of the day, our population decreases. That is my own point of view.
I would also want to give you another example that I have from my family. My grandfather had one son, his son had two sons, all of them passed on and only one left four sons, that means that homestead was closed. If our grandfather had managed to have eight sons or five or more, his family would be going on and on. However, his family tree was cut short because he had one son. His property was taken away by other people because he did not have anyone to inherit it.
Therefore, all I am saying is if anyone is able to give birth and to have a large family, then let them do so. We need to encourage our children not to copy us, if they do not have the challenges that we have, then they need to have more children who can take care of them in the future.
Another view that we need to look into, is that the mover of the motion said that if it is possible, I am sure that he is not looking in the present but in the near future that the Government can be able to give incentives and grants to those who have many children. If you look at the example of South Africa, for them to be so many, their Government gives grants to young women who have children at an early age. For example, if you have a child who does not have a father or you have a child who is still going to school, the Government pitches in to assist you. That encourages people to have children, even though they might not have more children like nine or ten but the rate at which they give birth makes their population to grow. Mr. President, with those few words, I would like to thank you.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 29th March 2017.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT ON EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on Early Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU seconded by HON. SEN. MARAVA, the Senate adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday 30th March, 2017
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY HON. THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
VISITORS IN THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE’S GALLERY
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish
to acknowledge the presence in the President of the Senate’s Gallery of students and teachers from Msasa Industrial Training College from
Harare province – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
APOLOGIES FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: The
following Ministers have tendered their apologies;
- The Deputy Minister of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services - Hon. Sen. Mathuthu.
- The Minister of Health and Child Care –Hon. Dr. Parirenyatwa.
- The Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care - Hon. Musiiwa
- The Deputy Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services – Hon. Mlambo
- The Minister of Energy and Power Development – Hon. Dr.
Undenge
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Mr. President, I want to express my concern that we continue to witness the total disregard by Ministers to come and do their duties here. There has never been even a single day when we saw a full house of Ministers here. There will be five or seven Ministers; it is the greatest number that we have witnessed in this House, why is this happening? Is it that the Executive does not respect this
House or they do not feel obliged to come and do their work here? We object to that Mr. President, that is not right – [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.]
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you Hon. Sen. Komichi. I am with you on that and as you know we have always issued statements to this effect and as a result of this we will take up the matter with the Leader of the House. Thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that
Questions Without Notice on today’s Order Paper be stood over, until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC ANIMALS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on stray dogs and other domestic animals.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MAKWARIMBA: Thank you Mr. President for
giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire and seconded by Hon. Sen. Machingaifa. Mr. Prisident, this is a scary issue concerning stray dogs and domestic animals. As far as I am concerned, these are animals bought by people for domestic purposes. A dog is used for security purpose; donkeys and cows are used for ploughing. They also get milk and meat from it. However, what is amazing is that you find those animals moving around interrupting people and their businesses.
Mr. President, people who buy these domestic animals, what they need to do is to have proper places for them; for example, proper kraals for them to stay. What we have noticed is that these animals are left to stray wherever they want and whenever they want. I think that is abuse of those animals.
Mr. President, if we have to speak about the accidents that we see on the roads because of these stray animals– let me give an example of the Beitbridge-Harare Highway. We witness a lot of bus accidents and we lose many lives. Mr. President, it is frightening to see 20 or 30 people dying at the same time. However, this happens because of people who cannot take care of their domestic animals. They leave their animals to move around and stray on the roads. It is deeply saddening that people just die there on the spot and the owners or the domestic animals are just left to move around with no crime.
Mr. President, I think when we speak of abuse of animals, it should be treated at the same level as child abuse. It should be a criminal case because losing lives without anyone being responsible is tough. There are some accidents that occur such that property is lost like cars would have to be taken to repair and the owners would have to meet the costs on their own if they do not have insurance due to those stray animals that are on the roads. Hon. President of the Senate, I think it would be proper that we leave these animals that are straying and we look and speak to the people that are responsible for those animals. If they are arrested, I think it would be proper and people will learn to take care of these domestic animals.
Hon. President of the Senate, if it is a dog, you would realise that it would go next door, it does whatever it wants, even leaves its own dirt and the owner does not do anything. The owner of the house would have to take care of his house and clean the dog with no compensation. They do not even care about what happens.
Hon. President of the Senate, I think the Government should look into this issue and make sure that we can put a law such that people are able to take care of their domestic animals in knowledge of the fact that there is a law concerning this and they have to be accountable. So therefore, Hon. President, I just wanted to add those few words. I know that a lot of speakers have spoken so much about this motion. What I wanted to say is that we are tired of accidents, we are tired of the deaths that are caused by the dogs and people are left to move around scot free. It was better if a law was enacted such that it became a criminal offence, like other people who do wrong things. With those few words, I would like to say thank you Hon. President.
+HON. SEN. JUBA: Thank you Hon. President of the Senate for giving me this opportunity so that I can add my voice on this motion. Where I come from, it is now so usual because when I went to my community, I saw cows straying around. We looked for the person who was supposed to be looking after them, but we could not find them and the grass is so long right now, so we could not manage to see them.
Cows, dogs and donkeys are taken care of just by the road where people are supposed to be travelling. If we were moving at a very high speed, we would have perished together with my children. People have been told that they should not remove the fence that is next to the road so that these animals do not stray onto the road. The other animals, like elephants, are better because they do not cause as many accidents as domestic animals.
Our children together with our domestic animals are the same. We are supposed to look after them. You cannot allow your child to go next door and steal and say that I am not working; I cannot take care of them. You are supposed to be taking care of them as much as you are supposed to take care of your domestic animals. Some people just leave their animals to go even to other people’s fields and even destroy their crops.
As the previous speaker has said, the Government is supposed to enact a law such that these animals, especially these black ones, if people leave them to stray, then they can be arrested as it would be a criminal offense. Where I come from, there are a lot of trucks that move around and when these trucks run over domestic animals, they come to the small cars. Hon. President of the Senate, I do hope that the issue of a law concerning these stray animals can be looked into.
At night all these domestic animals are supposed to be put into their kraals and they are not supposed to be left to stray such that they cause these accidents. I know that most of them do this because they are in full knowledge of that even if an accident occurs, no one would look for them and they can just go scot free. Hon. President of the Senate, this law has to be enacted because there is so much grass around and so much feeding field for these animals, but people leave them to stray on to the road, where vehicles are supposed to move around. If cars are moving at a speed that is high, people can perish.
Hon. President of the Senate, it is supposed to be made a criminal offence for people to leave their animals straying. People leave them to go to the road. Even elephants, when they get to a homestead, they destroy the things that are there and they get what they want. There is supposed to be a stiff penalty that is set up for these people. Hon. President of the Senate, those animals are just left to stray and they are hit by cars and they die at any time. They are left there on their own. They are not supposed to be left to just go wherever they want and when the owners of these animals see people looking for them, they do not own up concerning their animals. They will not agree that the animals belong to them.
We know that there are cows that are being taken care of and those that move around on their own. There is supposed to be a stiff penalty concerning these stray animals so that there are fewer accidents. With those few words, Hon. President of the Senate, I would like to thank you.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 4th April, 2017.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. TIMVEOUS: Thank you Mr. President. My
question goes to the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr. Dokora. Hon. Minister..
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON.
SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Before you ask your question, I see a lot of interest in Hon. Senators who would like to ask questions. I will insist on clarity, short to the point for everyone. Please proceed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOUS: Thank you Mr. President, I want to ask
the Hon. Minister the policy that is being used at schools when it comes to giving the Grade 7 results to students. I have got a lot of cases in Zvishavane whereby until today children are not going to school because their parents failed to pay the full fees and the headmasters are not giving the students their results. So, I want to know the Government policy regarding that.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Mr. President and I
thank the Hon. Senator for...
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Minister before you proceed, the Ministers should answer the questions briefly and to the point and then we proceed. Some Ministers would go round and round and you deny members the opportunity to continue asking questions. Thank you Minister, proceed.
HON. DR. DOKORA: On the back of that advice I shall proceed to answer the question. Guardians and parents must sit down with the school heads and write down their payment plan which is useable in a court of law should there be need to pursue the debt. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOUS: Thank you Mr. President. I wanted
clarity Hon. Minister, some parents sit with the headmaster and they try to look for the money, a lot of parents are not working - they are selling goods and cannot manage. Right now the children are not going to Form 1, they are all at home. Is it the fault of the student or for the parent?
HON. DR. DOKORA: I repeat the response I have just given. The guardian or parent must sit down with the school head and write down a payment plan for the debt, such a plan which can be used to follow them up through the courts. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you Mr. President. My question
goes to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock) Hon. Zhanda. This year, Minister, we are expecting a bumper harvest, maize and other crops. Does the Government have financial capacity to pay for this harvest that we expect to be delivered to Government institutions like
GMB?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President, I want
to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. I think you have read in the newspapers, though not the best for information, but I confirm that Government has already started putting some money aside for that purpose. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Hon. Minister you can answer me in English but I know that you understand what I am saying. Hon. Minister in the education curriculum you put other things but Clothing and Textile, Home Economics is being sidelined in the curriculum yet you talk of ZIM ASSET. What are these teachers going to teach when these subjects are left out?
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Mr. President, I am surprised the Hon. Senator is asking this question. I thought the whole burden of the new curriculum was to broaden it and to be as inclusive of the practical disciplines as we can and that is what we have done. The specific areas of skill that she is talking about actually begin from Grade
- I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. Hon. Minister we have heard about the other components of your Command agriculture, is it your policy and how soon do you expect to hear about the aspect of livestock? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President. I want
to thank the Hon. Senator for that question. Yes, I think it is evident that the Command agriculture has done very well on the crop side and we have just recently submitted a plan to cover the livestock sector, particularly for the sectors in Masvingo, Matebeleland South and
Matebeleland North and part of Midlands where livestock does very well. It is Government’s intention to make sure that the finances are in place as soon as possible so that farmers in that area can also be covered like what we have done with the crop side of Command agriculture. Government takes very seriously the issue of livestock, because it is a major component in agriculture and in the lives of our people, particularly in those regions that I have talked about. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President, my
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock), Hon. Zhanda. What is Government policy as regards the abattoirs, they take the hides, offal and rural farmers are not quite sure about what the position should be. May you clarify, I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President. I would want to thank the Senator for such a pertinent question. When livestock is slaughtered, hides, heads and offals are taken by those from the abattoirs without payment. The position regarding abattoirs is that they ask for a nominal fee of say US$30 for payment of the slaughter and if you do not have the US$30 fee, you will then pay in the form of hides, heads and offal. This is an arrangement between the abattoirs and the farmers who has the beast. The price of the fifth quarter is almost a US$100 so the slaughtering of a cow that may take about an hour should not lead to such charges of almost US$100. We are looking into that issue because at the moment the majority of the abattoirs are in private players’ hands. Currently, CSC, which is a Government entity, is not operating and it will start operating at the end of the year. So, the farmers will get a better bargain from CSC. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I thank you Mr. President. My question goes to Hon. Moyo, Deputy Minister of Mines Mining Development. There is great work being done at ZIMPLATS, the community is thankful but the blasters used underground are not appropriate. Houses are cracking in the community and people are demanding compensation. What is Government policy in terms of the blast equipment used and compensation for their property? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. I
was actually not aware that we have that challenge that is affecting the communities of ZIMPLATS. All blasting systems for all mines must be designed in a manner that ensures that ground and air stability is guaranteed. We should not have structural failure after blasting. If there are failures as said by the Hon. Senator, we kindly request that perhaps we get a community complaint or notice in writing to the Ministry and we get our engineers to look at it. We should not have structures failing out of blasting of mining operations. It should not happen. If it is happening, please let us know then we investigate. I think the issues of compensation should follow after conclusive investigations which we will carry out. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to ask the Hon. Minister of Mines and Mining Development when we can look forward to the introduction of the new Minerals Exploration Bill. Can the Minister favour us with the reasons for what I consider to be a very long delay?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. We
had a few issues on that Bill with our Portfolio Committee. I think we have now created common ground. We were discussing this matter in the Ministry as late as this week. We looked for our Portfolio Committee Chairperson; I think he is not around. We will be engaging the Committee and I believe we will progress with that Bill with least delays going forward. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. NDHLOVU: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to Hon. Tshinga Dube, the Minister of Welfare
Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Detainees and
Restrictees. Hon. Minister, I would like to find out from you, what is Government policy concerning those who fought the liberation war struggle and were not trained to be soldiers but other trades? They trained for different trades during the war. Hon. Minister, they were promised payment, but they have not received it. They go and register after every four years, till when Hon. Minister?
+THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER DETAINEES
AND RESTRICTEES (HON. DUBE): Hon. Speaker Sir, the truth is; yes, what the Hon. Member is saying is the honest truth. There are promises which came up so many times. However, this has not been dealt with. The issue is, we delayed looking into this issue. As you may realise, we have 37 years of independence and we have not dealt with this issue. This issue should have been looked at in the past, in the early 90s or so. However, the Cabinet selected a Committee co-chaired by both Vice Presidents. That Committee consists of Hon. Minister
Sekeramayi, Hon. Minister Chinamasa, Hon. Minister Muchinguri and I.
We are supposed to look into these issues so that we can look into the issue of collaborators, who they are. Once this is defined, it will be quite easy for us to go back to the Cabinet. When it is dealt with at
Cabinet level, it can be brought here in Parliament and you as Hon.
Members can agree on what their compensation can be. Meanwhile, there is this issue of the alignment of laws which has not been looked into and we are working on that. We do not have the right to work with those people directly without the National Assembly and Senate or Parliament. However, when it comes to you, then we will know what we can do. We will do what we will have agreed upon in Parliament. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to Hon. Minister Tshinga Dube. There is a lot of discord in the public domain among the war veterans. What is your policy in terms of managing the discord? This is because, in my view, it is a security threat where we have fights among the war veterans in the public arena.
I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. DUBE): Thank you Hon. Member. You
have to be truthful and do not just mention war veterans. I believe this goes to all of us. Even in the party, you do not ask what are we doing to resolve the problems that we have within the party, you are only talking of war veterans. This may be very much related. If we have no problems in the party, there may not be any problems within the war veterans. Thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Mr. President. Hon. Minister, I talked about security threat among the war veterans because these are people who fought for this country and should not be allowed to fight in public. The fights in the public domain become a security threat if not properly managed and you are the relevant Minister. We are not talking of parties but a Ministry which you superintend over. I thank you.
HON. DUBE: Hon. Member, I think I will repeat, unless you do not see any relationship between the issues in the party and those within the war veterans. We are talking about the same people wearing different caps. However, I wish to repeat it again. If we have no problems within the party, there will not be any problems among the war veterans. So, you may not agree with that, but that is the truth as it is. I think you understand what I mean. There is no way I can explain it better than that because you know deeper than me. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Zhanda. We have farmers who are under the command agriculture scheme, they got seed in November and they ploughed. They got fertilizer in February when their crop had already been destroyed. What line of action are you going to take as regards such people because you insisted that you want to receive your five tonnes of maize? I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President, I would
want to thank the Hon. Sen. for the question. It is true that we will require our mandatory five tonnes of maize. A farmer who is worth their salt should not have sowed the seed without fertiliser. They should have stopped there without sowing the seed. We would want to talk and agree as farmers that you cannot sow seeds without fertiliser. If you had been given seed minus the fertiliser, then you should have not proceeded to sow and if you got the Compound D fertiliser in January; then we would want you to account for it. If you have it then we cannot disclose what steps we are going to take.
I am saying each case is going to be considered on its own merit depending on how truthful the farmer is. We cannot give a blanket statement because we have heard that other farmers are saying they received Ammonium Nitrate and they will claim that it was lost due to leaching yet we know that not everyone is honest. It surprises me that we find dishonest people when the Government has come up with such a programme that is meant to ensure that the country becomes selfsustaining and people then decided to unjustly enrich themselves through dishonest means. Each case will be dealt with according to its own merit and we will make judgments as per each of the cases. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: My question is directed to the
Deputy Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement but I would have wanted to pose my question in SiNdebele. I know Hon. Minister Chikwama is well versed in the language.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL
RESETTLEMENT (HON. CHIKWAMA): No, I will have to ask the
other Hon. Ministers to interpret the question for me.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: So I will pose the question in English then. Hon. Minister, I am concerned as to your policy on distribution of land. When I see land being distributed at rallies. I want to know whether it is your policy to make land a benefit to members of your party only – ZANU PF?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL
RESETTLEMENT (HON. CHIKWAMA): Thank you Hon. Sen.
Mlotshwa for asking such a good question. I do not think there is such a policy that we can debate on the party rallies. I know the land distribution policy is straight forward not that land would be distributed at rallies.
I am going to give you a written statement should you want to know how we distribute the land.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: My supplementary question is, Hon.
Minister, I said that I have seen land being distributed at a rally. So I am saying is it the policy of the Ministry because it is happening.
I for one applied for land in 2009 at my District Lands Committee but people who are in the Eighth Parliament are members of ZANU PF now have farms and I still do not have. So I am asking whether it is your policy to let land be distributed on partisan lines?
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order, before the Hon. Minister responds. Hon. Sen. Mumvuri, your name is noted on the list. Thank you, Hon. Minister, you may proceed.
HON. CHIKWAMA: Thank you Mr. President and thank you
Hon. Senator. I think it is very important for you to put your question in writing and highlight to the Ministry those people who were given land at rallies because I do not foresee any offer letter or document concerning land distribution for that matter being distributed at a rally. I thank you – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: My question is directed to the
Minister of Agriculture. Hon. Minister, now that this year we are having this huge bumper harvest, are we going to start seeing a decline of the price of maize per tonne to the farmer so that the benefits can also trickle down to other food items, chicken feed, stock feed and even supermarket prices?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President. I want
to thank the Hon. Sen. for the very important question that affects the value chain in the production of maize.
The price of $390.00 that was set by Government is considered to be a floor price and not a fixed price, especially to those farmers who want to sell their maize to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). However, it does not stop other farmers from selling their produce to anybody who wants to buy or any other buyers to buy maize from farmers at an agreed price. One would hope that without mentioning the qualities that we are expecting this year, obviously the intention of Government to peg the price or put a floor price of $390.00 was meant and is meant to incentivise farmers to produce adequately for this country to have sufficient maize, thereby eventually reduce the price of maize.
One of the important issues that would obviously lead to reduction on the price of selling maize is efficiency of production when we start achieving the rightful tonnes per hectare; eight to ten tonnes and so forth. Obviously, it is unavoidable that we will probably see the price of maize coming down and it will be good for the value chain. I think that was your intended question. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MURWIRA: My question is directed to the Deputy
Minister of Agriculture responsible for livestock. Hon. Minister, fertilisers are expensive, can Government not raise the price of maize slightly?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President, I would
want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question and state that I will not agree with the Hon. Senator’s view that fertilisers are expensive.
The prices of fertilisers in Zambia in comparison to those in Zimbabwe will prove that fertiliser is more expensive in Zambia. Our farmers are failing to get good harvest which is more than seven or eight tonnes per hectare which will help you to make a reasonable amount of money. I want this august House to know that if you are a farmer and you do not make money out of maize production in Zimbabwe, you will never have any other crop that will give you easy money like maize. The world over, US$390.00 per tonne for maize is the highest price as no other country is known for paying such an amount. In South Africa, they pay $200.00; Zambia $180.00; Brazil $130.00; Argentina $140.00 per tonne. Where our difficulty comes is that once our milk and chickens are being produced, livestock such as pigs become expensive.
Hence we urge farmers to make a lot of money selling maize at $390.00 per ton. I thank you.
SENATOR CHIEF NYANGAZONKE: Thank you Mr.
President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock). How effective is the artificial insemination on cattle. My question is based on the recent drought that killed a lot of our cattle including bulls.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President. I want
to thank the Hon. Senator for that question. The effectiveness of artificial insemination depends on various issues; one of them is obviously the body condition of the animal. The body condition of the animal leads to the fertility of the animal itself. Apart from the body condition in terms of fertility, the other condition is the genetics of the animal, the gene type of the animal which also other animals are highly fertile like our indigenous cattle like the Shona, the Nguni and the Tuli, are very fertile. So, obviously the fertility or the body condition depends on the grazing available or the timing of it.
However, artificial insemination depends as well on whether you do artificially bring the animal to heat using the method called instrument to bring the animal into heat prematurely before the normal circle, obviously, the chances are very lean. If it follows the normal cycle of 21 days and also the timing of it at the tail end of the heat, the chances of getting that animal into calf is better. It also depends on the inseminator again, how accurate he is in terms of insemination process.
So, that obviously deals with how accurate the insemination is. However, others are getting as far as 80%, others above 60% and so forth and others are working very well. So, if you are getting 80%, a conception rate using insemination, then you are doing very well. I thank you.
HON. MLOTSHWA: Hon. Minister, may I get it clearly. The
inseminator is supposed to be a he or a she?-[Laughter.]-
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you very much Mr. President. Since
everybody has laughed, I thought I could join the chorus and I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. Traditionally or commonly, it is perceived from human nature that the inseminator from a human being is a ‘He’ but in this context it can be a ‘She’ as well. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. Deputy Minister, F. Moyo. What are you doing to ensure that there is peace in the mines? There are now a lot of fights in these mining locations. I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President of the
Senate. The violence that has erupted in mining areas is a headache. Recently, it was discussed in Cabinet and a Ministerial Committee has been set up to go down to the provinces and districts to deal with district administrators. The provincial administrators and their teams as well as the police, the chiefs, and all the leadership that are in the traditional areas where these mines are located are going to be involved to try and come up with an amicable solution to these problems or I believe Members of the National Assembly and Members of the Senate should also be involved in dealing with this issue so that our mining industry can properly prosper. As a Ministry, we have a duty to ensure that everyone who is allocated a mine has a security of tenure on the mine. There should not be any other persons who then comes to counter claim this ownership. As human beings, let us be certain that we have indeed applied for a plot or a concession and that it is yours. Please do not go into other people’s mining claims. It is illegal for us to try and do that. We are urging our workers to ensure that they should work in a professional manner. There should be nothing that is swept under the carpet or in simple, there should not be any corrupt activities. Those that approach our offices, please come in good faith, do not bribe or corrupt our officers, if ever there are such people who behave in such a manner.
It is our duty as a country, as Zimbabweans, to ensure that we look into this issue and resolve it. Other Ministries are also involved ensuring that they create employment for our youth. It could be townships where they drink bear, they meet those that would have sold some minerals. They go all over, be it in Chipinge, Kariba and Gwanda, they commit offences allover and it becomes difficult for us to know whose child it is that committed these offences. It is an issue that requires a concerted effort from the leadership. It is not a phenomenon to Zimbabwe, it is a regional, continental and worldwide problem. Zimbabwe has been a peaceful country and we want to remain peaceful and orderly. So, that is what we are trying to do so that all of us can come and assist the Government as well as our people. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: In terms of the allocation of
these licences, why can you not have e-licencing so that it becomes easier for one to track so that if you have corrupt officials, you can easily deal with them.
*HON. F. MOYO: Thank you very much Mr. President. We have
a project that we have embarked on to ensure that we have the titles of all the mines into the cadastral system. The cadastral system will enable anyone to access such information. When you go into any café, the cadastral system should be able to ensure that one person is able to ask if they will require a claim for instance in Gutu then the system will be able to tell you of unoccupied claims. You can then it can tell you which office you should go and after you have filled in your form and send it at1.00 p.m., no one can claim the claim even if one were to send their own application at 1.01 p.m. If you fail to raise the money or after a specified number of days if you have not paid, it is declared unoccupied, but if you had complied with the requirements and have paid, no one can overlap for even a single meter.
We had delayed in coming up with this cadastre system because Treasury did not have money. The programme has started in Mutare.
We are doing the pilot project in Mutare and it will spread nationwide. Just as much as the Ministry of Lands and Rural Development was doing, this is the same system that we are using. This programme may take a year to two years, but it is our intention that we move in that direction so that there is order in the registration of claims so that there will be no multiple ownership claims. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NTABENI: The Ministry takes some one from Mutare and puts them in Midlands. This is why the youth become angry because people are coming out to take some things that are in another area. As chiefs, we do not want that situation where people come from Murewa and mine in Gwanda for instance. Can you clear that?
*HON. MOYO: The Constitution is very clear and we should uphold it as a Ministry and as a Government. It says each Zimbabwean citizen is allowed to tap into the wealth of Zimbabwe. Thereafter, we will then say the local leadership, in their various areas, should be able to see that there is a good relationship between those that come into that area to explore. It is not correct to say people from a particular district cannot go into another district to mine.
Miners can move from one province to the other to mine, to go to school and do other things. It is allowed, but as a Ministry, we say if there is a mine like ZIMPLATS, the people that are not skilled that require employment should be drawn from the local people because in other instances they can move at the end of the day to their homesteads and work at the mine.
If we talk of skilled labour, fit and turners, engineers and accountants, they should compete as a country so that the company can have people that are competent regardless of their province of origin. For general labour, we should not have a person coming from Mvurwi and go to be a general worker in Gwanda. There are general workers in Gwanda. We urge the local leadership, the chiefs, the headmen and the councillors to encourage that the general workers be drawn from the members of the community. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I thank you Mr. President. This is a supplementary question again on ZIMPLATS regarding local jobs for the low professions. When the Minister comes to investigate the fallen houses, he should also investigate that ZIMPLATS placed an advertisement for 29 menial jobs and people applied from all over and it also caused problems with the community. The policy seems to be disregarded which you have just announced it. Also investigate. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Usually we end Questions without Notice by 3.30 p.m., but since we started late so, we extend Questions Without Notice by 15 minutes.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NYANGAZONKE: My question is directed
to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Can you direct me on the punishment that is given to teachers and other civil servants that leave their duties to go and collect mopane worms – [Laughter.] –
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I think
it only means absenteeism from work and I believe the answer is obvious, unless the Minister wants to take some 30 seconds on that issue. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Mr. President.
Well, mopane worms are very nutritious. It could very well be we need to look at the particular circumstances that are taking place in that particular school.
You are well aware that we are doing school feeding and in some communities the question of relish has been raised and local initiatives have also been flagged. So, I would not give a blanket answer unless we know what the circumstances are. To the outsider it may look like teachers are out on mopane worms collection exercise, but let us understand what the circumstances are. If the Hon. Senator has a specific situation, we can look at it.
THE TEMPORRY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Minister,
I had come to your defence somewhat, but the way you have answered, can a teacher go out as an individual to collect mopane worms for students or would the students go out themselves. I think the question is a teacher not in the classroom leaving students, going out to collect their own mopane worms for their own consumption; neglecting duty just because they are collecting some food.
HON. DR. DOKORA: Well, with the amplification from the
Chair, then quite clearly the rules of the job apply.
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. Minister, we welcome the recent unbundling of the chrome sector which has been done by Government which has actually broken the duopoly of ZIMASCO and ZIM ALLOY so that many other small miners can come in. We have women who are also into mining chrome. My question is what financial arrangements has the Ministry put into place with global chrome consumers so that our small miners will not be taken advantage of. If they are dealing with big miners in this country, they mine and get US$50 and the bigger companies will get US$400 a tonne. So, what financial arrangements have you made with chrome miners globally?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Hon. President.
Yes, the sector has been unbundled, we have finished with ZIMASCO.
22 000 hectares have been put out to our other players, the small producers those who are having smelters who did not have access to claims before. We reserved 10 000 hectares for small players, 7 000 hectares for smelter operators so that they can supply themselves, 5 000 hectares for Government for future use and we are at the moment analysing the status of these claims. Some cannot be mined by underground work, some by open cast work and some have been partially worked. In other words I am saying there are only a certain number that is suitable for small scale miners. The deeper ones are suitable for bigger operators who can raise big capital.
We have put together at the moment for gold and chrome an amount of US$100m which will be made available not as money but as equipment, in other words accessing the equipment from those countries who benefit from our mined mineral resource. We are not going to be able to move that programme forward as quickly as we would have liked to because we need to analyse all those claims that ZIMASCO has given us. We will move on to Zim Alloys where we expect to get another 20
000 owed hectares of claims which again will be specifically distributed to target 4 areas; small scale miners in the form of women, small scale miners in the form of youths, small scale miners in the form of special interest groups which is the disabled people, war veterans and such other groups and then of course the big operators. That is the programme that is at hand at the moment. They will be funding women, youths and special groups will be looked after.
The pricing that you talk about needs also to be corrected. We want to ensure that smelter operators only satisfy themselves up to a certain extend but they cannot be 100% self sufficient because this will then force them to buy from small scale operators who will then have bargaining power to be able to achieve prices that are also most beneficial to them. At the moment we do have loop situation where exporting...
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN.
CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Sorry Minister we are just encroaching into the very last segment of this and we have a long list.
HON. F. MOYO: Thank you, I just wanted to touch on the point that we are having a challenge in that if you export at the moment you will fetch more money may be as high as US$130 – US$140 per tonne raw. If you sell to our smelters, you will not fetch anything more than US$60 because of cost of production for our country is too high because of infrastructure, higher cost of power, labour et cetera. So, we have that dilemma which we are trying to battle with.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: I thank you Mr. President, I thank the
Minister who have finally made it. My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. There are those artisanal miners; you talked a lot about the assistance that you are going to give them so that their mining ventures become easy. What have you done to date to ensure that their mining activities become easier in the form of mechanisation? I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you, small scale miners
and artisanal miners are assisted by the machinery that they use. There is a US$20m funding given by the Government, it is almost being exhausted. We are training throughout the country using the School of Mines. The Ministry is also conducting training programme and we are registering them into groups so that they have their own membership under the Zimbabwe Mining Federation.
At the moment their production is now 50% in terms of volume as compared to large companies shows that there is a growth in their production.
+HON. SEN. MKWEBU: Thank you Mr. President. My question
is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. My question is what does Government policy say concerning disputes of two parties for example if one party is to take the other to the High Court and one party remains behind working whilst the other one is not working.
What does policy say concerning these two parties?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVEOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President. The
policy is that once the parties take themselves or take each other to
court, then we must wait as Ministry until the court processes are finished. As to what happens to one on the ground and one is not on the ground, I think that tends to be treated on a case by case because the circumstances turn to be different.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Mr. President. At last, I was
the first one to stand up anywhere. I want to thank you. My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Mr. President, allow me to commend the Ministry first by engaging in activities which have reduced the cost or activities which are an expense to the parents besides paying schools fees. They banned exit weekends at boarding schools and entrance tests are no longer there. However, there is another activity which is going on more frequently in schools. I want to ask the Minister, do you as a Ministry vet and approve the funding raising activities which go on in schools almost on termly basis. Do you also ensure that the funds which are raised through these functions are accounted for? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): First of all I thank the Hon. Senator for acknowledging the work of the Ministry. It is true that any fund raising in the school should have prior authority granted by the District Schools inspector or higher up at the provincial education director level, so there is no question about it. Secondly, all schools as of 2015 were put on notice that they are subject to audits. In the course of 2017, our 60 or 70 auditors are actually out in the field at the moment. We are trying to cover about 1 500 schools by the end of the term. We are going to be moving these auditors to one province at a time and clear all schools that have not been audited in the last six months or so.
This is done as part of measures to ensure that every dollar collected is accounted for in terms of the teaching-learning materials in the schools. So, we are conscious of the responsibility that we have.
Once we allow for the fund raising, we must also account for the dollars.
I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Mr. President.
There have been too many questions for the Minister of Mines and Mining Development so I will direct my question to another Minister. It is now directed to the Hon. Minister of Welfare Services for War
Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and
Restrictees, Hon. Rtrd Col. Dube. What do you have in place to ensure that the war veterans are also uplifted so that they do not rely on pensions? As Government, what are you doing in ensuring that they start their own businesses? I believe there were companies for war veterans. Thereafter, what do you have in store for them so that they also enjoy the inheritance of this country? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER POLITICAL DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. DUBE): The question
asked by the Hon. Senator will also be answered on Question Number 12. However, I can explain that we are trying to come up with useful projects for war veterans. We are trying to form a security company that will assist these war veterans. They will own this company which will be like a private company like Fawcett and so on so that they can be able to get employment.
We are also trying to move into the mining sector as the Hon. Minister has said. We were issued with mining claims in the chrome sector. We are yet to start this project. We started by importing maize from Zambia and selling to the Grain Marketing Board. The profits raised are used to assist war veterans on hospital bills and their upkeep.
There are a lot of other things which we are also trying to come up with. For instance, we have a quarry company which we have opened. We will be selling quarry stones to those who are into road construction. We have a conservancy in Hwange. We will be selling wildlife and the proceeds will be used to assist the war veterans. So, we have a lot of projects that we are coming up with. Thank you Hon. Senator.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF DANDAWA: Thank you Mr. President.
My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. I believe last year, command agriculture inputs did not reach people in time.
People were unable to collect inputs from the Grain Marketing Board.
The majority were collecting these inputs from Harare. For the 2017/2018 farming season, what measures are you going to put in place so that farmers can collect the seeds and all the ancillary services from the local area?
The second question is directed to Hon. Minister Tshinga Dube. The war collaborators, former detainees and restrictees have not received anything. What are you going to do with their plight?
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa, we allow a
single question at a given time. However, as a chief, I will give you that dispensation and allow the Hon. Ministers to respond to the question.
We will start with the Minister of Agriculture.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Mr. President. It is true that Government intends to ensure that seeds and other farming inputs should be readily available the people’s local areas. This was the inception of the project and it has its teething problems. We have learnt from this experience and we hope to have conquered this problem during the coming season. I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER POLITICAL DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. DUBE): Hon. President,
as I said, this question was supposed to be answered in full in my prepared answer Number 12 on Chimbwidos and Mujibhas. First of all, a lot is being done…
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon.
Minister. Take your seat. I think I agree with you, that in the interest of time, since you will still come back to this question when we do Questions With Notice, I believe Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa will get the full response when the prepared answer is presented.
HON. SEN. CARTER: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement. May the Hon. Minister please give this House a progress report with regards to the security of tenure for farmers and whether the land is accepted by the banks as a basis for providing loans? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL
RESETTLEMENT (HON. CHIKWAMA): Thank you Mr. President.
I would like to thank the Hon. Member who asked a very important question. In terms of land security tenure, we are now issuing new 99year leases in order for the beneficiaries to get loans from banks. It is now bankable. We were busy discussing and engaging the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe and we agreed on certain issues. They also demand some corrections, which we made and we are now using the 99year leases at the banks. They agreed, we do not know whether they are refusing but we reached a certain agreement with the Bankers Association. We also prepared a new 99-year lease, which also accommodates its use as collateral. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIDUKU: Thank you Mr. President. My
question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Welfare Services for War
Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and
Restrictees. What is Government policy regarding the children of these war veterans have stopped attending school. What assistance are you going to come up with?
THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER POLITICAL
DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. DUBE): Hon. President,
I think the response to the Hon. Chief’s question will still go into the paper that I will present to the august Senate during Oral Answers to Questions with Notice.
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
Again, the Hon. Minister is going to respond to the question when he deals with Questions with Notice.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: My question is directed to the
Minister of Agriculture. Hon. Minister pertaining to the prevailing drought in areas such as Manicaland and in Matabeleland where they are engaging in cattle ranching programme as a lot of farmers have lost their cattle and no longer have draught power. What measures does the Ministry have in place to assist those farmers so that there can be an increase in the national herd as once the national herd has improved, the price of beef will go down?
*THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Senator, I believe the question was posed earlier on today. The Hon.
Minister responded and there was a similar supplementary that Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa raised which was an interesting question too. Hence in the interest of time, we will not repeat that question. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. Hon. Minister, what do the laws as pertaining to mining say in our country, when a mine has been discovered and something happens or there is an accident, the Ministry will come back and say the miners would not have consulted the local traditional leadership.
An example is in Gache-gache, the machine that was being used in Gache-gache was drowned as there was a lion that was on the prowl in that area that caused people to abandon their work. It was then said that the traditional leadership had not been informed about this. Why do such things happen, or what leads to such things happening?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MOYO): Thank you Mr. President, I
believe I got the gist of the question.
Our Constitution states that everything that is in the communal areas be they natural resources, land, minerals, animals are under the custodianship of the traditional leaders. Traditional leaders are the chiefs, headmen and the village heads as well as Government officials such as District Administrators. I did not say that they possesses but are the custodians. So, if miners have prospected, they must inform the
Rural District Council that they want to prospect or mine in that area. They should also see the traditional leadership although it is not clearly spelt out in the law, but it is our intention that these things be done so that the community is involved and they are acceptable to the community. Hence the community and miners live harmoniously. I believe that is what the companies are doing but once in a while certain things may tend to be overlooked. Should that be the case, the leadership should inform us and we redirect them accordingly so as to ensure there is coexistence between the parties and the involvement of
EMA.
They will even ask you whether there has been community consultation in terms of the Community Environment Impact Assessment because the Environmental Impact Assessment should also involve the community. This is what the Ministry expects, should it not be done that way, the Ministry should be informed so that we can intervene and redress these anomalies so that no mining activities take place without the consent of the local community. That is how it should be done, I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON. SEN.
CHIEF. CHARUMBIRA), in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
MONEY FOR WAR VETERANS
- HON. SEN. MAWIRE asked the Minister of Welfare
Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political
Detainees and Restrictees to explain to the House as to how the War Veterans would continue to receive paltry sums of money considering that some of them were affected by chemicals during the war while some need specialist treatment and medication.
THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER POLITICAL
DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. DUBE): Hon. President
Sir, I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Mawire for raising this very pertinent question to the august House. I also wish to apologise for the delay in giving an appropriate answer to this question, this was due to situations beyond my control.
Hon. President Sir, yes it is true that the war veterans may not be getting satisfactory remuneration in terms of both pension as well as war victims compensation. We must agree that a lot of things were not reviewed after the war. In the first place,…
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order,
order Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa and Hon. Sen. Sibanda order please.
HON. DUBE: In the first place, Special After War trauma clinics could have been opened. This is a normal case in most countries that experienced war. However, the war veterans in Zimbabwe are getting a pension, though far below the poverty datum line. Over and above, they get some medical care in Government hospitals. It is not always enough as we know that some hospitals may not have sufficient drugs or medical equipment. However, the Ministry is obliged to pay for medical services rendered to the war veterans.
We appreciate that as the Hon. Senator says that some of the war veterans were victims of chemical warfare such as napalm, itching gas, anthrax and many other chemicals that were used deliberately by the former Rhodesian forces against the fighters. Some of these chemicals take a long time to cause body damage leading to the death of the affected war veterans may be even years after. Napalm bomb peels off the skin as it burns. Some of these war veterans are without flesh in some parts of their bodies. Yes, they require specialist treatment.
There is a provision to pay for the treatment except if funds are not available due to our dire economic situation. The war veterans also get some other benefits which you all know such as payment of school fees for their children. Our register shows that we have 23 000 children of the war veteran who are benefiting on this welfare project. While the number of the war veterans is about 34 000, this is just an approximate number because we have not taken into consideration the worst such as death and so forth. Over and above, there is a provision for funeral assistance, an amount of US$500 as part of funeral expenses is provided, while an additional US$300 of what we call chema comes from the President. It is given to a member and this has been the norm for a long time.
Indeed we are heartened to realise that the Legislators are concerned about the welfare of the war veterans and can only hope that as our economy improves, more shall be done for the members. We are in the process of establishing some projects which will generate funds that can assist to improve the welfare of the war veterans. We also want to appeal to the population at large to realise that it is a duty of every citizen as it is in our Constitution to take care of war veterans. Meanwhile, we are in the process of aligning laws to the Constitution, the definition of the Veterans of Liberation Struggle excluded other categories in the current Act. The purpose of this process is to emphasise on the provision of the rights and benefits of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle.
The Bill will maintain ex-political prisoners, detainees or restrictees as provided in the Act. The Bill will also provide for nine combatant cadres, war collaborators and nationalists, war victims, widows of National Heroes will continue under their two existing Acts.
Mr. President Sir, we are doing everything we can to finalise the issue of collaborators who are mujibhas and chimbwido’s. We cannot do much in the Ministry itself before this issue has gone past the Cabinet and Parliament. As I am talking, I have already mentioned earlier that a Committee was specially established by the Cabinet to look into these issues. Once they complete this exercise, it will be forwarded and passed in the Cabinet before it comes to Parliament. So, everything is being done to make sure that this is done as soon as possible. It is unfortunate that these exercises started many years after the end of the war, as you all appreciate that we are now in the 37th year after the war. So, a lot has been done, it has also not been very easy to establish who are these mujibhas because from what you all know, you may find that everybody here or elsewhere around here may qualify to be a mujibha if you follow certain definitions. However, it will be up to this Committee to come up with very strict definitions of who qualifies as a mujibha or chimbwido otherwise we will have a chaotic situation when we will probably have a million people coming to say we are all mujibhas and chimbwido’s and they will all expect some form of remuneration which I do not think our economy will be able to carry.
So, Hon. President Sir, I believe I have answered the question satisfactorily but if there are any more questions pertaining to this, we will be very happy to explain further.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: On question
24, the Minister said he handed the response to the Hansard Department because Hon. Mlotshwa was not present at that time. So, you can find the response in the appropriate Hansard.
DEPLOYMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHER
- 25. SEN. MLOTSHWA asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to give statistics on deployment of science teachers per province 2013 to 2017 including the beneficiaries of STEM per year, per province, gender disaggregation and the subjects on the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DO.KORA): I am able to give a complete list of teacher deployment by Province. The first column will show those science teachers with pedagogy, the second column will show those who have a science degree but without pedagogy but all the same the two groups attending to the teaching of the sciences.
I have also given you a sense of the output from the group of students that went through Advanced level last year. We extracted from there those who were dealing with the sciences so that you could look at the teacher deployment and the performance of the student in the particular disciplines across the province. So, because I have these documents, I am sure I could just submit these without further prejudices
(see attached document). As to those that have actually received the
Government support from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary
Education, just like what I said in the oral response, that really should be directed to those who have control of that funding module, they would have the breakdown of who they have paid for and who they have not paid for. All I have on my side is the student cohort and my teacher deployment part two.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has since 2013 received a sizable number of teachers who can teach a number of learning areas as per the Ministry’s curriculum. However, the Ministry is on record that one of the shortage areas is the sciences. Learning areas such as Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology are still experiencing some shortage. The deployment of science teachers per province as from 2013 to 2017 is as follows:-
Bulawayo 125+66
Harare 114+13
Manicaland 263+28
Mashonaland Central 156+74
Mashonaland East | 140+174 |
Mashonaland West | 175+75 |
Masvingo | 240+150 |
Matabeleland North | 120+152 |
Matabeleland South | 117+16 |
Midlands | 186+131 |
Total | 1 636+879=2 515 |
With regards to the STEM beneficiaries, the fund and the records thereof are under the purview of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order Mr. President, I see that there is no quorum in the House. `
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: So, you want to
destroy your own questions. Have you counted?
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: We are less than 26.
[Bells rung]
[Quorum formed.]
HON. MLOTSWA: Mr. President, I had posed the questions deliberately because I wanted Hon. Minister Mzembi to come and address the Senate. So, my interest is having Hon. Mzembi to address the meeting because if he goes away in May, we will not see him again. So, I wanted him to come to the House and deliberately answer to the questions.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: The
person raising the questions is not interested now in hearing from the Deputy Minister, but the Deputy Minister can respond in brief and I believe the rest of the questions, you can simply hand in your responses to the Hansard.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU): Thank you
Mr. President. For the purpose of addressing the questions on the Order Paper, I am going to submit them to the House and say to the Hon. Member that Minister Mzembi is currently away campaigning. Today he is in China, he had a meeting with the Foreign Affairs Minister of China as well as his counterpart to canvas support and I receive that prophecy that by May he is going to win and we go, which is very good, but I can promise this august House, through you, Mr. President, that once he is back in the country, he is going to give a ministerial statement to this august House and update Senate on the campaign which is very critical for Senators to be clear in terms of why this is important for the country to have a position at the highest level in as far as governance is concerned globally and also explain to this same House our chances and why it is important for all of us in this House and the whole nation to rally behind the candidature of the country.
I know the Hon. Senator is very passionate about seeing tourism grow. She comes from one of the prime tourism areas of our country and I want to also give her and other members in this august House, through you Mr. President, the commitment of Government to growing domestic tourism. So, I want to thank her for composing these questions and without any further ado, Mr. President, I thank you and I am going to brief the Minister and give him your regards and the best wishes you have for him on behalf of our country. I thank you Mr. President.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: So we go
question by question so that the Minister can then submit the reports one by one.
GDP PERCENTAGES CONTRIBUTING PER YEAR FOR THE PAST
10 YEARS
- 19. SEN. MLOTSWA asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry to give the GDP percentages contributing per year for the past 10 years, of the tourism and hospitality sector.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU): The tourism
sectors’ annual contribution to GDP over the past ten years is as follows:
YEAR | TOURISM CONTRIBUTION TO GDP (%) |
2007 | 5 |
2008 | 4.7 |
2009 | 4.9 |
2010 | 5 |
2011 | 11.3 |
2012 | 11.7 |
2013 | 11.3 |
2014 | 11.4 |
2015 | 11 |
2016 | 10.9 |
GDP Source:- WTTC Travel and Tourism Economic Impact WTTC – World Travel and Tourism Council.
NUMBER OF JOBS WHICH WERE CREATED BY THE
MINISTRY
- HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, the number of jobs which were created by his Ministry during his tenure.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU): The tourism
sector’s contribution to direct job creation is as follows:
Direct Contribution to Employment:
YEAR | EMPLOYMENT IMPACTS (‘000) (Direct
contribution of Travel and Tourism to employment) |
2010 | 173.1 |
2011 | 197.4 |
2012 | 201.9 |
2013 | 188.8 |
2014 | 179.7 |
2015 | 180.0 |
2016 | 179.8 |
Indirect jobs are also created as tourism impacts on all sectors of the economy, in particular, agriculture, transport and manufacturing among others. It is important to note that statistics for indirect contribution of tourism to employment creation can be obtained through a Tourism Employment Survey which has been outstanding for a long time due to financial constraints.
HOSTING OF THE UNWTO IN 2014
- HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry whether the co–hosting of the UNWTO in 2014 has attributed to the Ministry successes or the inclusive and promising peaceful atmosphere created by the GNU.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU): The `20th
Session of the UNWTO General Assembly, co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe was held in August 2013. The General Assembly is not attributed to the Ministry’s success only, but to the country as a whole as illustrated below:-
Destination Endorsement by the World Tourism Body.
There was a huge endorsement for Brand Zimbabwe as over 120 countries were represented by 700 delegates and 900 affiliate organisations. I am proud that the people of Zimbabwe are well known for their Zimbabwean hospitality. Zimbabweans are naturally a peace loving people and this is a special endowment from God. In the tourism sector, we consider our people and our culture as one of the country’s Seven Wonders. Zimbabweans therefore derive their peacefulness from nature and not from the GNU.
Infrastructural Development
The US$150 million up-grading of the Victoria Falls International Airport and the overhauling of roads, water reticulation and sewerage system are some of the tangible benefits the resort town gained from the conference. The Victoria Falls International Airport registered significant increase in revenue from landing and other fees as a number of new airlines and airbuses were introduced on the Victoria Falls route.
As an example, Air Zimbabwe added two new airbuses namely, Airbus
320 and an Embraer which offered direct flights in that route. Air Zimbabwe also increased its frequency and number of domestic flight schedules especially between Harare, Victoria Falls and Bulawayo.
Hotel Refurbishments
Most of the hotels in the town refurbished their facilities and registered 100% occupancy rates for the duration of the General Assembly. These included the Victoria Falls Hotel, the Zambezi River Lodge (AZRL) and the Elephant Hills Hotel.
Curio Shop Owners
Curio shops registered the highest revenue increases especially those located in areas where there was reasonable interaction with the guests. These included those that were located at Elephant Hills Hotel, the Victoria Falls International Airport and the Landela Complex along Livingstone way.
Independent Home Ownership in Victoria Falls
Independent home owners who rented out their houses to vendors from Harare, Bulawayo and Beitbridge for that whole week also realised reasonable revenue.
IMPACT OF THE LAND REFORM PROGRAMME ON TOURISM
INDUSTRY
- 22. SEN. MLOTSHWA asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry what the impact of the land reform programme on Tourism industry has been considering that certain individuals occupied some lodges and conservancies.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU): The majority
of the Land Reform Programme was to empower the people of
Zimbabwe through their active participation in the country’s economy. Due to the forward and backward linkages that tourism plays in the economy, the introduction of the Land Reform Programme had a positive effect on the tourism sector as we say a number of indigenous people joining the sector, competing with those already in the industry. The negative perception to the Land Reform Programme by countries opposed to the programme resulted in economic sanctions against the country which had a negative effect on all sectors of the economy, including tourism. Concerted efforts by the Government of Zimbabwe to revive all sectors of the economy have started to bear fruit. Like all other sectors tourism is now on a recovery path.
POLICY TO ENSURE UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY OF TOURIST FACILITIES
- HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry what policies have been put in place to ensure universal accessibility of tourist facilities, products and services for everyone.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU): The Ministry
has a National Tourism Policy which was launched in 2014. This policy clearly mandates the tourism industry to ensure that it is compliant with universal accessibility guidelines. In addition, Statutory Instrument 128 of 2005, makes it mandatory for tourism facilities to have ramps at points of entry and also have appropriate facilities for person with disabilities within the establishments.
Further, Statutory Instrument 128 of 1996 outlines that accommodation units should have toilet cubicles suitable for persons with disabilities.
The 2016 World Tourism Day was celebrated under the theme
“Promoting Universal Accessibility” in order to conscientise the world on the need to provide for people with disabilities. The Ministry is engaging relevant stakeholders to map-out a way forward on the implementation of national and international accessibility guidelines.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY
LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have
to inform the House that I have received an Adverse Report on the land Commission Bill [H. B, 2016]. What this means is that the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Hon. Samukange, will come to this chamber, I believe Tuesday afternoon, to present that report and indicate why there is that adverse report. For your information, the procedure then is the Senators can debate and if they want agree or disagree. Because the PLC is an advisory Committee, it does not make a ruling, but the Senate will then make a ruling and say we reject what you are saying, we stand by the Bill or we agree with your adverse report.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM
AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVHU), the
Senate adjourned at Half past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 4th April, 2017.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 9th March, 2017
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
INVITATION TO A WORKSHOP ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT
FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the House that all Members of Parliament are invited to a workshop which will consider the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament and the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act. It will be held on Wednesday, 15th March, 2017 at the Harare International Conference Centre at 0830 hours. Honourable Members are requested to take their copies of the Code of Conduct together with its annexure which is the declaration form and the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of
Parliament Act to the workshop.
INVITATION TO A WORKSHOP ON THE NEW EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to remind
the House that all Honourable Senators are invited by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to a workshop on the new education curriculum. The workshop will be held on Monday, 13th March, 2017 at 0900 hours at the Harare International Conference Centre.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: I thank you Madam President. Could I
ask the Minister of Defence if at all we are under threat on our eastern border and what our policy is with our neighbours when they are destabilised?
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON. SEN. DR.
SEKERAMAYI): I want to thank the Hon. Senator for that question. The situation that we have is that inside Zimbabwe, we have got peace all over and that is something to be very proud of. Along our border with Mozambique there are cases of people or rebels, to put it bluntly, who are fighting against primarily the Mozambican Government and not against Zimbabwe. As you know, whenever there is conflict, there is a lot of movement by people running away from being assaulted seeking refugee status in areas which they consider to be safe. So what we have along our eastern border with Mozambique is a process of people leaving Mozambique coming to seek safety and refuge in Zimbabwe. From a purely security point of view, we do not regard that border as a major threat to our security but as we have said before, if a situation should arise requiring us to take action, we will not be found wanting and if that situation does arise, we will let the people of Zimbabwe know and we will take the necessary police and military steps to defend our border, people and the rest of our country. I thank you – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: My question is directed to the
Hon. Minister of Defence. Last year we asked regarding civilians who are found wearing fashionable military attire which is said to be illegal.
In Harare, a lot of civilians are wearing fashionable military camouflage. There are shops that are selling this type of regalia. What are you going to do? Are civilians going to be prosecuted and what steps are in place to prevent the public from buying and wearing this type of regalia?
*THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON. SEN. DR.
SEKERAMAYI): Madam President, this is a very pertinent question. Zimbabwe and other countries are saying it is illegal for any civilian to wear military attire or some look alike fashion army regalia if you are not in the military.
We know it had become fashionable to wear look alike fashion army attire and people would even be showing off in that attire. We prohibit this because some people who were wearing that regalia yet they did not belong to the military were engaging in illegal activities such as raping, corruption, murder and armed robbery and innocent civilians would then end up blaming the military. That is why, we are saying, it is illegal for anybody to wear military regalia or anything camouflage.
Now, this is a directive to shop owners and retailers that it is illegal to sell this type of regalia. This should also serve as a warning to civilians that it is illegal for you to wear fashionable look alike military regalia. We do not want to end up prosecuting people unnecessarily.
Hence I am pleading with Hon. Senators and Members of Parliament to go and advise shop owners, retailers and hawkers in your respective constituencies to stop selling fashionable look alike military regalia because it is illegal. So people who continue putting on such attire should stand warned that it is illegal and whosoever is found in future to be abrogating this law may find themselves being arrested and prosecuted. Putting on military attire, fatigue or camouflage is illegal.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you very much Madam
President. I want to understand whether or not this new policy includes musicians as well such as Jah Prayzah?
*HON. SEN. DR. SEKERAMAYI: Hon. Madam President,
some questions are asked for the sake of rhetoric. The Hon. Senator is asking whether it is permissible for Jah Prayzah to wear military fatigue. We are saying, members of the Jah Prayzah musical group are known even their physique and sizes are well known by the military. As of now, they were given permission to wear that uniform as long as they are performing on stage. We are yet to hear of members of the group abusing the facility. Let me warn civilians that should we find copy cats who are emulating Jah Prayzah and his band – we will get a way of resolving that problem. We know there are people who when they see Jah Prayzah performing become overzealous because he is a real entertainer and man of the moment, hence he has authority to wear that uniform. He was also declared Zimbabwe’s military ambassador.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to advise
the House that we have these Ministers and ministries present: We have the Minister of Defence, Hon. Dr. Sekeramayi; the Ministry of
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services represented by Hon.
Mathuthu; the Ministry of Womens’ Affairs, Gender and Community Development represented by Hon. Damasane; the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development represented by Hon. Minister Dr. J. M. Gumbo and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce represented by the Minister Hon. Bimha. So I think our representation of Ministers is growing bit by bit.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: My question is directed
to the Minister of Defence, Hon. Dr. Sekeramayi. Hon. Minister, the country is faced with the problems of flash floods. As Government, are there any plans in place of rescuing marooned people? You are responsible for one of the arms which is responsible for rescuing people.
What plans have you put in place for such rescue missions?
*THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON. SEN. DR.
SEKERAMAYI): Thank you Hon. Sen. Chief Musarurwa for such a pertinent question. Our country received rainfall more than we expected and some places are affected by tropical cyclones, which have induced rains in Matabeleland North, especially Tsholotsho, Matabeleland South, Midlands and Masvingo Provinces. We have excessive and incessant rains. We have some infrastructure which has been destroyed and these include bridges, schools, roads and homes. In some homes, people have been moved to safe areas. Government has a Civil Protection Unit, which is under the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
The Ministry has been moving around holding meetings with
Ministries which may come in and assist such as Defence, Health and
Child Care and Transport and Infrastructural Development. These Ministries work on the welfare of the citizens of Zimbabwe. When we look at floods which occurred in Tsholotsho, we realise that marooned people were airlifted and taken to safer places. Some people were rescued in areas like Masvingo where people are not able to move from one place to the other because of the flooded and broken down rivers.
We did move around with the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Hon. Kasukuwere.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe has dedicated its services to rescue such people and also even ferrying medicinal assistance to areas which are marooned and where people should have access to medication. The Air Force of Zimbabwe is on standby to supply the services of rescuing people who could be marooned where ever they are. We should be on high alert because of this cyclone induced rainfall. Therefore, the Air Force and the Zimbabwe National Army are ready. We also put aside some storage facility for fuel to fuel the planes which are supposed to rescue people who could be marooned because of the incessant rains. I thank you.
HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of
Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Hon.
Damasane. In light of celebrating the Women’s Day, may you update this House on the national theme and strides made so far to emancipate the women of Zimbabwe? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (HON.
DAMASANE): Madam President, I would like to thank the Hon. Member who has asked a very noble question that is close to our hearts today. The theme for 2017, for the International Women’s Day is coming with the times because in 1910, a group of women who had issues and questions visited the UN and they were accorded this day. So, all those years down the line to 8th March, 2017, we try and change to suit the times. The world has gone ICT, the village is now smaller than what it is because we now live in a global village.
For the Zimbabwean woman we said if you are going to adjust, you have to be bold for change and if you are going to survive in 2017, you have to be business minded. If you are going to stay as a laurel in any country, being a mother, an aunty, a sister or grandmother, you will need your beauty. The type of the Zimbabwean woman we are looking at as from yesterday and 365 days on, is the one who will put beauty and brains together – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – and then be able to be bold to change because you adjust from the mindset. This is the type of woman we were celebrating because the UN theme is “Bold for change” but then we strategised ours to suit the type of woman we have.
Just to add on to this lovely question, which comes just 48 hours after the launch, what we have noticed is that we are not ending the celebrations; we have adjusted our style. It is 365 days in a year, because the issues are not laid to rest until they are solved. Also, we are urging all organisations to celebrate women, their mothers, sisters, aunts and the girl child. You will recall that yesterday there were two types of celebrations; one at the National Art Gallery, which coincided with the national launch. So, this is the type of the Zimbabwean woman we are like. All doors are open. It does not matter whether you are taller or shorter than me but you are standard. So, the Hon. Member Madam President, her organisation and colleagues in the representation which has come in here to the Senate are welcome and can celebrate. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural
Development, Hon. Dr. Gumbo. Your Ministry oversees Air Zimbabwe, Roads and Road Traffic and National Railways of Zimbabwe. It seems as if the last parastatal has not been looked at in earnest. My question is, is the National Railways of Zimbabwe going to be rehabilitated at all? If yes, what measures are underway to achieve this goal? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Thank you Madam President. Thank you Hon. Sen. Mumvuri for that very important question about the National Railways of Zimbabwe. You want to know what measures the Ministry is taking to resuscitate the
NRZ. Madam President, the National Railways of Zimbabwe’s operations had been going down year after year. Now they have actually worsened to such an extent that it is becoming very difficult to resuscitate the national line.
However, that be as it is, we are working very hard to make sure that we resuscitate the national line because it is important, particularly during this time of the year, when we are expecting a bumper harvest because of Command agriculture. Also, we are looking at improvement in our mining area. So, it is important that we do something about it and that is exactly what we are doing. Just yesterday, we presented a paper to Cabinet seeking permission to allow us to look at options of resuscitating the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
The problem that we have been facing is the fact that the NRZ books are so bad to the extent that it has been very difficult to attract investors and partners because of the situation that has affected NRZ for many years. We are at this moment negotiating with some companies who want to partner us. This is the reason why we asked for permission from Cabinet and negotiations are still going on at Cabinet level so that we get guidance as to who we can involve partners to assist us in the resuscitation of the NRZ. It is an important thing to do for Zimbabwe because if you see the damage that you find on the roads, it is because the National line is not assisting by carrying heavy loads or cargo due to the fact that we do not have the locomotives to assist us. Those are the things that we are working at. I want to tell Hon. Senators here that hope is not lost. There is light at the end of tunnel. We are working and what is left is just for us to come up with the best option for our country, which will not work against the interest of the country by getting the best person who can partner us. So, we are doing something about it and I hope that very soon, we will be able to come and tell this august House that something is now on the cards and we are pursuing it. Therefore, we are not just sitting but we are doing something about rehabilitating the NRZ.
There are many issues that bedevil the NRZ. Firstly, it has been over employed. It had about 20,000 employees. By 1990 they had come to about 12,000 and as I speak to you now, the number stands at 5,000 but they are doing nothing. That is where the problem is.
However, we just cannot dismiss people before giving them their dues. So, at the moment we continue to get the little that we have and pay people who are seated. These are the things that we cannot ignore as they are governed by our labour laws. I hope Hon. Members will understand where we are coming from and where we are going. We want to be able to give our people something when we tell them to go home. So, from that position, we are still working to make sure that when we part ways with those who have been working for the NRZ for many years, they go home happy. We are trying to balance the scale but at the same time also looking at the interests of the nation.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINHI: I would like the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to clarify whether the issue of urban tollgates is still speculation and if it is not speculation, who is going to be running urban tollgates? Would it be the Ministry of Transport or Local authorities? I am asking because about a year ago there was a question on urban tollgates and the answer was ‘this is mere speculation.’
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to answer the speculation with the truth. Yes, there has been talk, there has been speculation because before you do something, you start by talking about it, throw the bone and see how people react. There is that thought that urban tolling should be done but it is not done by my Ministry. If there should be urban tolling it is done by the Ministry of Local Government. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development does not deal with what happens in Municipalities. Whatever happens in municipalities, the potholes that you see in the towns are not our responsibility.
Our responsibilities are outside the towns. When you go to
Mutare, in between the towns it is our responsibility but when you get to Mutare it is not us. I do not shy to say we are responsible but as far as urban tolling is concerned, it is a noble idea, other countries have tried it and it hit back but they talk about it. We hope the Minister of Local
Government, when it becomes necessary, will come and explain to both Houses that this is the way we want to go. However, it is not my baby but that of the Minister of Local Government’s.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: My question is directed to the
Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Hon. Minister, Kamativi – Binga road is untrafficable. Have you been there to check and are you doing something for that road to be trafficable?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Before the
Minister responds to that question, may I just remind Hon. Senators to pose questions on policy. The Minister may just stand up and say yes or no and that will not help. When posing a question it does not just help you but all the other Senators in this august House in as far as that particular issue is concerned. So, you may want to rephrase your question Hon. Sinampande.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: Madam President, I think that is
all I can say. I cannot rephrase the question.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO): I
will answer the operational question which is not a policy question because I think it is important that I respond. I am on recording stating that all our roads are a disaster and are deplorable. You cannot drive safely as there is a danger to your car and to yourself because of potholes, particularly when it is raining because you cannot even tell whether you are going to hit a pothole, as it is just water. It is even worse in rural areas because the roads have been swept away. Even in tarred roads, you would wish you were driving on a dust road than a tarred road. I accept that. What we have now done as a result of the disaster that has been declared by His Excellency Cde R. G Mugabe, is to look at all the road networks including urban areas. As a Ministry, we are working with ZINARA and the Ministry of Local Government- working on urban roads. We are addressing that situation right now because we are working with a Committee that is mobilising funds so that we can work on our washed away bridges, dams, clinics, hospitals and so on. Many places have been badly damaged by cyclone Dineo. That is now a blessing in disguise for places like Binga. The road that you are talking about ordinarily, we would not have been able to get funds to quickly move, assist or rehabilitate those roads. Because of this situation that we find ourselves in, we are now working on a budget particularly for us as Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural
Development which would not have come to us as a Ministry.
We are now getting some money which is being mobilised through
UNDP and other agencies; and through the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Development, working together with the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC). We have given ourselves a timetable to say there are some areas that need urgent attention, like washed away bridges and some roads which are now not passable. We need to work on those roads within 30 days and others within 130 and 180 days at most to have completed those roads within six months. What has just been stopping us is not that we do not have the capacity to do it, but it has been the resources which you yourselves as Hon. Members, including me, have not been able to pass in our budget to enable us to do the roads. Now, we are going begging and I think the begging will assist us get the money to rehabilitate Binga - Kamativi Road. I have been there, so I know what you are talking about.
I want to thank you because I might have given my colleagues from wherever they come from, some information because we are going to be visiting all the places. We actually have a data Madam President which we presented to this Committee which I am talking about on Monday where we have a record on all the roads throughout the country, be it in town or rural areas, and other places and bridges. So, it is being taken care of. I thank you.
HON. SENATOR B. SIBANDA: Unfortunately, I have to direct my question to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development again. Could you explain the policy with regards to use of local labour in this mammoth reconstruction programme in view of abundant labour and the serious state of roads that need to be rehabilitated?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Madam President, as I was gazing at you, I wanted to find out what the Hon. Member is asking for. Is it on reconstruction or rehabilitation? If I understand you to mean …
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Member,
may you repeat your question.
HON. SENATOR B. SIBANDA: Hon. Minister, my question
relates to the employment of local labour for the reconstruction process for the damaged infrastructure.
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you Madam President. As we look at
these urgent works that we are talking about right now, they are not that massive and we have the money. We normally look for people or investors from outside when we do not have the money to do the work. For example, when we talk of the Beitbridge – Chirundu Road because we do not have money, then we look for investors from outside who then come with their own money and terms to us, which terms we also agree with.
Regarding what we are talking about, we are actually looking at local companies to do the work. You cannot look at one company if you want to do the roads in Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo, Bindura, Chinhoyi, Gweru and so forth. So, you have to look for companies possibly, in those areas to do the rehabilitation because it is not really constructing a new road but repairing and rehabilitating. That is what we are doing now in order to address the situation which we find ourselves in. So, we are looking at local labour. When we get the money we will then ask the people who can do the work.
In fact Madam President, the early bird catches the worm. Others have already started coming to our Ministry because they know what is happening. So, they are actually bringing their brochures and the locals are the ones we are going to look at. If you have a company or know people who have companies, the earlier they can bring their brochures and profiles to us, the better they will be considered because we are looking for the local companies and local people to do the work. Thank you.
*HON. SENATOR MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Madam
President. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. From the issues that are coming out in the newspapers and when we visited Kariba, we were told that diesel and petrol is cheaper across the border in Zambia. Is it Government policy that our fuel is expensive here but once it crosses the border, it becomes cheap? What can we do so that we alleviate that problem and help our industry to function well? Thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUZENDA): I want to thank the Hon.
Senator for his question. Yes, fuel can be cheaper but each and every country has its own taxes which are different from country to country, which makes our fuel appear to be more expensive than in other countries. Thank you.
HON. SENATOR CHIPANGA: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Minister, I am satisfied with the explanation that your Ministry is looking at all the roads but as a Ministry, do you also have a policy that targets particular areas that are related to tourism. I am thinking of the road to Nyanga and other tourist areas. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
The short answer Madam President is yes we do – [Laughter] – [THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: And the long answer?] – The
long answer Madam President is that in particular, the road that Hon. Senator Chipanga is referring to, we have before attended to it because we know it is a road that leads to most of our areas that actually bring benefit to Zimbabwe. I think he knows about it. We did try but like I said earlier on, we only get hamstrung by funds. Even that situation did not stop us to do some rehabilitation to the road that leads to Nyanga. We did that last year and the Hon. Member from that area, Hon. Supa Mandiwanzira came to thank us.
We even did a little bit on the road from Rusape that gets to Montclair or Nyanga working together with the Hon. Member of that area. We are quite cognisant of that fact. Those are actually roads which fall directly under the Ministry of Transport. We are very alive to respond to such roads when we have the funds. Our problem is money and nothing else. I thank you.
HON. SEN. JUBA: I thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. I stand to be guided, in Hwange, we have a power station; the Government said the first people to benefit is our youths in the community. Last week, I was at home, the children of our community did not benefit. We saw children coming from elsewhere being recruited by ZESA Power Station. Is it the Government policy or something I do not know?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order Hon.
Senator, which Minister are you posing that question to?
HON. SEN. JUBA: The Minister of Industry and Commerce.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: It is Minister of Energy and Power Development.
HON. SEN. JUBA: Thank you Madam President. Minister, we
have got a big power station in our country in Matabeleland North. When I was called there, I noticed our children are still drinking beer and are idle. They will end up resorting to stealing. There are some youths who were employed by ZESA but our youths in the area were left out. Is it Government policy?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUZENDA): Thank you Madam President.
I want to thank the Senator for the question. It is not very specific but if it is just ordinary labour and no expertise involved, surely, the Government policy is that we should recruit from within. So, I am not very sure Madam President whether those people who were recruited are just general labourers or specialists. She did not specify what kind of jobs they are doing but one would want to think that if it is technical, then of course technical people can come from anywhere in Zimbabwe.
I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Thank you Madam President.
My question is directed to the Minister of Defence, Hon. Dr. Sekeramayi. I want to be appraised if it is Government policy to centralise the recruitment of soldiers or trainee soldiers to provincial centres only? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON. SEN. DR.
SEKERAMAYI): Madam President, I want to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Chisunga for that question. I also want to take this opportunity to make very clear that in our recruitment programme, we want to make sure that all provinces contribute to the recruitment of their sons and daughters to the Defence Forces. Therefore, when we are about to recruit, we advertise in the papers and indicate province by province the centre where those aspiring to join the Defence Forces should go and be vetted.
Previously, the recruitment tended to be a bit centralised but it has now been decentralised to provinces and we think that way we are able to cover the whole country and we have our daughters and sons in the Defence Forces to defend our motherland.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Minister, it is difficult for people to travel when it comes to recruitment, it is said that you should go to your district of origin. Is there anything that you are doing so that you curb the costs involved when people travel from Mount Darwin to Beitbridge which is their place of origin?
*HON. SEN. DR. SEKEREMAYI: Madam President, it happens
here and there that if I was born at a place which is far away from a recruitment centre, it can be difficult for me to go to the centre. When you consider that each province must be able to send recruits, we think there is more good done that way, all our districts send recruits. If one or two are at that given moment staying very far away from the recruitment center or his or her district, if that person is really serious and if they are true soldiers, they will get to that place. If we say that wherever a person is, then there are a bit of distortions and people will start crying foul that we are living other districts out. So, we want all the districts to benefit. Those who are further from their districts, if they want to be soldiers, they should be strong and get to where they are supposed to go.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services. Can you please appraise this Senate on your Ministry’s policy on educating people on the advantages and disadvantages of using social media? I thank you Madam President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
Thank you Madam President, I want to thank the Hon. Sen. for such a pertinent question. Our policy as a Ministry, we cannot stop Zimbabweans from using social media because we are now a global village, the world has moved on. What is important is what you communicate in the social media. If you go against the laws of Zimbabwe, then you may be in trouble with, not our Ministry per se but maybe the Ministry which is guarding the suitability of the content you are communicating. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Madam President, I move that Oral Answers to Questions Without Notice be extended by 20 minutes.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President, my
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Media, Information and
Broadcasting Services. Is it Government policy that for musicians, the
Viewing Commission that does the vetting of the music material for all Zimbabweans only be premised in Harare? Is it also Government policy to ask the musicians their political parties as was done to me when I submitted my disk? The Producer of ZBC asked me which political party I belong to. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
Thank you Madam President. Government’s policy is that all
Zimbabweans should have access to all services that are provided by our Ministry. Presently, because of our digitalisation programme that we are seized with at the moment, we have decentralised to provinces through the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ). We have set up studios in Bulawayo and elsewhere in the countryside and we hope that all those who want to record their content; who have produced anything that they want to be vetted for, will be given space. For instance in Bulawayo, we have two fully-fledged studios as we speak, that are already functional and elsewhere, they are at different stages of completion. On something which happened to the Hon. Senator, I am not sure I can be able to answer that.
If I may recall Madam President, I had asked for the specific name of the individual who denied her to present her DVD to ZBC and I have not yet received it. If she can please bring forward the name of that individual because it is not Government policy to discriminate any party from any activity that is legal. I am sorry if it happened to the Member. Last time when we were in Bulawayo, she expressed concern that she was denied an opportunity to present her musical DVD to ZBC Montrose and I requested for a name. I hope the Hon. Member has managed to get the name. If she can bring the name to me so that I take it to the Minister for further actioning. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. I would want to know about the EPZ that has got structures in Beitbridge that are lying idle. Some of these buildings are now deteriorating. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
BIMHA): Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank the
Senator for the question. I think the question lies squarely on the Ministry of Macro Economic Planning because that is the Ministry that is driving Special Economic Zones, although Special Economic Zones do affect a lot of other Ministries. In terms of driving policy wise, it is the Ministry of Macro Economic Planning. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Madam President. My question goes to the Hon. Minister of Defence. Peace-keeping, remuneration and participation – what are the limits for Zimbabwean forces getting involved in peace-keeping operations. It has come to my notice because I was in peace-keeping for six years but Zimbabwe’s
participation was a bit limited.....
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: We only have ten
minutes for the extended time, can you go straight to your question.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you. What is the policy and why
are we not effectively taking part.
THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON. SEN. DR.
SEKERAMAYI): Madam President, I want to thank the Hon. Senator for that question. You only go for peacekeeping where there is need for peacekeeping and where you have been requested to contribute forces. If there is no request, you do not go and knock at the door and say, we want to come for peacekeeping. For now, we have officers from our
Defence Forces in various countries as observers in Sudan, South Sudan, Darfur, Ivory Cost and Somalia but we do not have troops on the ground. That is the only difference but if we are requested and we look at the request and think it is in the best interest of that country to have Zimbabwean troops deployed there as peacekeepers, we will do so and advise the nation that we have deployed our forces in such and such a country. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to Dr. Gumbo, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development. I would like to know, because our highways are under your control, let us suppose I am driving along the highway and I hit the pothole and my car breaks down; are you supposed to pay for the repairs of my vehicle?
+THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO): I
thank you Hon. Sibanda for your question. You have no right to make the payments. I am sure if your vehicle is damaged by a pothole, the insurance is supposed to assist in making the repairs. You should not come to us. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. BHEBHE: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Women’s Affairs. I heard that there is a Women’s Bank, is this bank lawfully implemented and what efforts are being put in place to assist women? How are they supposed to know about it? I thank you.
+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS,
GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (HON.
DAMASANE): Thank you Madam President. I would want to thank the Hon. Senator for asking such a good question. Government says that we should empower and assist each other, especially when it comes to business people so that we try and eradicate poverty and hunger.
Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development saw it fit that funds should be made available. The reason why they chose to come up with a Women’s Bank is that all the other banks which are not for women demand some form of collateral security. So, to do away with that, we decided to come up with a Women’s Bank. A lot of progress has been made towards the establishment of that bank and we are awaiting its official opening on the 8th of May, 2017. We will be informing all the 10 Provinces in the country.
This bank is being opened for all women to be able to borrow or deposit their funds. The reason why we say so is that, for the past 32 years, we were just giving out loans to people and they were not paying back because they were arguing that it was Government funding. In terms of this bank, we will be explaining how people can borrow from the bank and how they can pay back. The interest rates will also be very low.
CAUSES OF EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Women
Affairs, Gender and Community Development;
- to explain the real causes of early child marriages in Zimbabwe;
- to indicate the plans the Ministry has put in place to end early child marriages, particularly in rural areas;
- to inform the House whether the Ministry has embarked on education awareness in prisons where most women are incarcerated as a result of rape and theft convictions;
- to inform the House, what measures the Ministry has put in place to make sure that women in prisons get adequate sanitary wear during their terms of serving; and
- to clarify whether the Ministry has any policy relating to the monitoring of the use of condoms by females in the institutions of higher learning.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (HON.
DAMASANE): Mr. President of the Senate Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for raising the question. Mr. President, the Ministry has identified poverty, culture and traditions, religion, inadequate and conflicting laws and trafficking as key drivers of child marriages. Poverty influences the high rates of child marriages in Zimbabwe.
Marrying off young girls is common in rural areas, farming and mining communities where the educational, social and economic prospects for girls are usually very limited. According to the Zimbabwe Development Health Survey of 2012, 60% of households in Zimbabwe are child headed. This constitutes an already vulnerable group as they lack education and financial independence. Twenty percent of those children are orphans and this perpetuates their vulnerability to child marriages. Mr. President Sir, many of these children are susceptible to early marriages as they view it as a means of survival. Young girls are usually lured by old working class men whose economic fate looks more favourable than theirs.
Mr. President Sir, our cultural values have resulted in sharp gender inequalities, disadvantaging mostly women and girls. Some practices such as kuripa ngozi/nxa umama eyinyumba (appeasing avenging spirits), attornment marriages, (kuzvarira/ ukwendisela), arranged marriages, ukulamuza/ kutamba chiramu and chigadzamapfiwa (where a niece is brought in as wife to the aunt’s husband after the aunt has passed on) are major cultural practices leading to child marriages.
Mr. President, child marriage is a product of cultures that devalue women and girls and discriminate against them. According to a United
Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Report on Child
Marriage and Law, “discrimination often manifests itself in the form of domestic violence, marital rape, deprivation of food, lack of access to information, education, healthcare and general impediments to mobility.”
Certain religious practices fuel child marriages. Girls and young women are married off before the legal age of marriage in the name of religion and church practice. However, some repentant churches are fighting the scourge. These member churches to the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) have come up with a gender work-plan on activities to end child marriages.
Mr. President, many countries have laws against child marriages. The laws in most countries are inconsistent, thereby allowing perpetrators to get away with their crimes. The Constitution stipulates that the minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls is 18 years yet the Marriage Act provides that the minimum age of marriage is 16 for girls and 18 for boys. We await the re-alignment of the pieces of legislation. The Customary Marriage Act on the other hand does not provide for the minimum age of marriage. This inconsistency has contributed to perpetrators of child marriages to get away with child marriage related crimes. Let us harmonise the Marriages Act without delay.
After realising that rape, child marriages and other forms of gender-based violence were on the rise, the Government of Zimbabwe through its Cabinet, set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to end all forms of abuse. This Committee is made up of the Ministries of
Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development; Home Affairs; Public Service; Labour and Social Welfare; Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs; Primary and Secondary Education and Health and Child Care.
Mr. President Sir, the Ministry, in partnership with Development Partners and civil society organisations, rolled out the 18 + campaign in selected provinces which have high incidences of child marriages. The campaign package included, among others, sensitisation of laws around ending child marriages, rape and domestic violence. These provinces included Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Mashonaland Central. This campaign has seen the sensitisation of the 150 traditional leadership structures on the Constitution and legal provisions prohibiting child marriages, health and economic consequences of this practice. The campaign is still to be rolled out to all the provinces. However, all these programmes need to be strengthened and accelerated to reach our desired goal.
Mr. President Sir, in partnership with Non-Governmental Organisations and civic societies, the Ministry is carrying out dialogues with church leaders, particularly in the Apostolic and Zion communities. The purpose of these dialogues is to bring about a positive change on the issue of child marriages and in the same breadth, accelerating its end and to come up with resolutions based on practice and not theory. Mr. President Sir, the churches are implementing an action plan drafted during the Bishops’ Dialogue and some of the activities include awareness campaign on ending child marriages, conscientising parents to prioritise education instead of early child marriage for the girl child. Also, economically empower poor families through promoting cash generated projects for example poultry, candle making projects, lokuholisana/mkando.
Mr. President Sir, the Ministry in 2014 developed the girls and young women empowerment framework. This framework sets out strategies for protecting and empowering girls and young women of
Zimbabwe. It is anchored on five strategic areas of intervention namely; education, economic empowerment, reproductive health rights, safety and protection and leadership development. The framework is currently guiding all relevant stakeholders working on girls and young women empowerment programmes in the civil society and other organisations.
On education awareness in prisons – the Ministry is aware of the gap that exists on carrying out gender based violence awareness campaigns in correctional facilities and plans are underway to address the issue. However, the Ministry managed to carry out a social empowerment visit at the Chikurubi Female Prison as we commemorated the International Women’s Day and this exercise will be done every year. This visit focused on women economic empowerment through various projects such as market gardening, crotchet making and poultry, just to mention a few. Through the sensitisation, the female inmates were equipped with adequate information on economically empowering themselves for life after prison. This intervention can be evidenced in the programme dubbed ‘Another Chance’ by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Mr. President Sir, the Ministry carried out gender based violence awareness campaigns in various communities, schools and tertiary institutions. Through the Inter-Ministerial Committee which the Ministry is part of, a school based programme was developed and some of the activities planned under the school based programme include establishment/resuscitation of gender clubs, branding of school accessories with messages on rape and sexual abuse, training of teachers to become gender based violence champions in fighting child sexual abuse through debate, essay and drama competitions on rape and sexual abuse and blitz messages on rape and sexual abuse during assembly and other school activities.
We hope to emulate such efforts through the Inter-Ministerial Committee towards female inmates and this exercise has brought about the issue which we called ‘third party reporting’. A child is abused at home and they are so scared to face their family because suppose it is the father who is the perpetrator, the mother would say if you report, who is going to look after us and all that type of scenario. But saying it at school and the peer groups, what happens is then that the third party member goes to report to the police. Then round about the perpetrator – be it the father, uncle or brother is apprehended.
Mr. President Sir, in partnership with SAYWHAT, an organisation working with students and youths in tertiary institutions, tertiary institutions have launched an Anti-Gender Based Violence campaign in tertiary institutions. The objective of the campaign is to educate young people on the forms of gender based violence in tertiary institutions and how students can access help on related matters. In addition, the
Ministry has also partnered with Mai Chisamba Show on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZTV) in establishing open debate on topical issues related to gender based violence. Padare is a men’s forum only and it addresses the involvement of boys and men in addressing gender based violence related issues. We found out that through Padare, you get honourary men who will stand by the issues but not look at their given body structure.
The Ministry has also worked with organisations such as Musasa,
Women’s Action Group (WAG) and Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) just to mention a few. The Ministry has put in place measures to make sure that women in prisons get adequate sanitary wear during their times of serving. Plans are also under way to look at ways that we can assist female prisoners with adequate sanitary wear. The Ministry is currently mobilising stakeholders and resources to assist sanitary provisions for prisoners. At present, we have initiated a pilot project in Masvingo District targeting schools and communities in partnership with SNV, a non-governmental organisation from the Netherlands where reusable sanitary wear is provided in communities and schools. If the programme is successful, the Ministry intends to replicate it to all the other communities and institutions such as prisons. The Ministry will team up with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to see to it that business companies that produce sanitary wear supports this cause by way of supplies in their social security commitment.
There was a question of clarity on whether the Ministry has any policy relating to the monitoring on the use of condoms by female students in the institutions of higher learning. Mr. President Sir, in relation to monitoring the use of condoms by females in the institutions of higher learning, it is a noble cause to analyse and understand the use of condoms in institutions of higher learning. However, this question can be best answered by the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education for further elaboration because they have put some statutory issues in place so that it conforms to the level of society that they are dealing with. I propose that the Hon. Member visits the Ministry of Health and Child Care for appropriate information on this one so that we share the proper and relevant knowledge.
In conclusion, the Ministry would like to thank Hon. Senator
Chimbudzi who raised the questions. However, we implore upon all Hon. Members - that the job of ending child marriages has to be approached in a cluster form and to be everybody’s business. Let me emphasise this point by saying - i nhimbe iyoyi/li limasibili leli and it requires a joint venture by Hon. Senators and the traditional leadership in our constituencies. The causes are rooted in family lifestyles.
Therefore, the first socio related prerogative is, we humbly say to Hon. Senators is to oversee rightful and legal social practices in our constituencies in addition to that of passing Bills into Acts and working side by side with Hon. Members from the Lower House to develop our constituencies on the social side.
Let us continually encourage parents to instill discipline and to practice good moral behaviours for as parents, we are the custodians of good morals that children emulate. Let me state this Mr. President of the
Senate, “The boy or girl who is born of a father and a daughter, will grow up and when they get to the Registrar’s Office, they will need to answer questions like, “Who is your mother”, and the answer is Stabile. The father’s name is the name of Stabile’s father. Therefore, untwana lo uzabiza esithini abakonina? The topic has torn apart our family values and social fabric. I thank you Mr. President.
UPGRADING OF MTSHABEZI RIVER BRIDGE IN GWANDA
TOWN
- HON. SEN. NDHLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to inform the House when the Mtshabezi River Bridge in Gwanda town would be upgraded; considering that people from Kezi, Maphisa, Magwe, Tshoboyo, Lushomkwe, Wenlock and other surrounding areas have no access to Gwanda town when the river is flooded.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Hon. President, Mtshabezi River Bridge is on old Gwanda Road. The upgrading of this bridge and the road is in our plans, as reflected in the Department of Roads National Road Development Programme. Construction of the road and bridge will commence when the required funding becomes available.
Our constraint, Mr. President, is that at the moment we do not have the funds, but like I said, we are lucky because we might have to move
to those projects like the one you are talking about, where we know we have already had a problem of people crossing such rivers when they get flooded, actually preventing pupils and other people from crossing that river. Because of the programme I have indicated earlier on during our policy questions, we are also going to be looking at such roads, bridges and the other bridges that were destroyed during cyclone Dineo and also that includes bridges like the one we have in your province at Chikwalakwala and others. We are going to be looking into those because of the new programme that we have for now. I thank you.
WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
- HON. SEN. D.T. KHUMALO asked the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development to inform the House when the SADC Model law would be brought to Parliament for
ratification.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (HON.
DAMASANE): Hon. President, as the Ministry responsible for gender and women empowerment, we are glad that SADC has passed a model law that speaks on issues of child marriage. The Model law which was developed by the Southern African Development Community-
Parliamentary Forum [SADC-PF], has huge potential to shape how, as a nation, we can address child marriage.
Based on the latest evidence, the Model law sets a consistent standard for how legislation should deal with child marriage and protect children already in marriage. The SADC Model Law on Child Marriage can be used as a reference document by countries that are in the process of developing, reviewing or harmonising their laws related to child marriage and its impact.
The passing of the Model Law on Child Marriage is a welcome development for Zimbabwe because currently the realignment of laws programme is still in progress. This presents an opportunity for Zimbabwe to align its laws on child marriage with that of the SADC Model Law on Child Marriage.
However, the law has not been deliberated on by the SADC Ministers of Gender who are responsible for the implementation of programmes in the region concerning issues of child marriage. Hon. President, while many of the provisions in the Model law can be found in our laws, a few issues for instance, the issue of who takes responsibility when a child is impregnated and cannot be married as they are under age requires consensus.
The role of Parliament in domesticating the Model Law on Child Marriage is for Members of Parliament and Senate to consult widely with their constituencies so as to find out how the nation would want to deal with this aspect of child marriage. And also to ensure that when the law is brought to Parliament, it has incorporated the provisions of the
SADC Model law.
POLICY ON FOOD DISTRIBUTION
- HON. SEN. D.T. KHUMALO asked the Minister of Public
Service, Labour and Social Services to inform the House whether it is the Ministry’s policy to engage Urban District Administrators to distribute food without informing councilors and other urban structures.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Hon.
President, the current grain distribution by Government to mitigate the adverse effects of the El Nino induced drought is undertaken through the multi-sectoral Drought Relief Committees at district, ward and village levels.
At the district level, the District Administrator is the head of the team while secretariat services are provided by the District Social Welfare office. Councillors are an essential part of the team and are the chairpersons of the Ward Drought Relief Committees.
Councillors work very closely with the Department of Social Welfare Officers to draw up distribution dates for their respective wards and to publicise these dates in their wards. They are also responsible for mobilizing beneficiaries during grain distributions.
Councillors are therefore among the first people to be aware of the distribution calendars for their districts. These are the operational modalities for the grain distribution. If this is not the method that is being followed in Hon. Senator Khumalo’s constituency, then we will ensure that corrective measures are taken.
Hon. President, allow me to conclude by stating that the responsibility lies with all the local leadership to be proactive and ensure that they keep abreast of the distribution calendars for their constituencies. I thank you.
UPGRADING OF PUBLIC TOILETS IN ZVISHAVANE
- HON. SEN. TIMVEOS asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to inform the House what plans are in place to upgrade the public toilets in Mandava, Maglas, Kandodo and Nil Town in Zvishavane, of the fact that communities in these areas continue to use communal toilets, thirty seven years after independence in a situation that gives rise to the spread of typhoid and other diseases which lead to unnecessary deaths.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
- Public Toilets in Mandava
Hon. President, it may please this august House to note that Zvishavane Town Council refurbished all the toilets in 2016. The houses with the toilets in question belong to Zvishavane Town Council. This year, the town council has a programme to hand-over the properties to the sitting tenants. The starting point is one of servicing the stands with the toilets in question and as I speak to you Hon. President,
Surveyors are already on the ground. Once Zvishavane Town Council fully services the stands with the toilets, the sitting tenants will be able to construct individual toilets.
- Public toilets in Kandodo, Maglas and Nil Town
Hon. President, I would like to inform this august House that Shabani Mine was placed under judicial management in 2004 following serious financial problems that constrained the mine’s capacity to meet its obligations. The houses with the toilets in question, Kandodo, Maglas and Nil Town fall under Shabani Mine. However, Shabani Mine is working on handing over the houses with the toilets in question to Zvishavane Town Council. Once that process is finalised, the sitting tenants will be able to construct their own toilets.
Hon. President, it is the Ministry’s view that once the individual household toilets are put in place, it will go a long way in assisting Zvishavane Town Council in fighting the outbreak and spread of diseases such as typhoid, cholera and other related diseases which lead to unnecessary deaths.
Questions With Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
THE IMPACT OF STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 64 OF 2016
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
BIMHA):
1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 Government has come up with a number of interim measures aimed at resuscitating the local industry whose performance had been immensely affected by the influx of imported products. The most notable intervention has been removal of products from the Open
General Import Licence (OGIL) through gazetting several Statutory Instruments (SIs) such as SI 64 of 2016 which regulates the importation of selected products.
1.2 SI 64 of 2016 was gazetted in June, 2016 following a recommendation from the local industry which was based on an extensive study and consultations with respective sector players on the locally available manufacturing capacities. Imports are only allowed on instances where the local producers are not able to satisfy local demand.
1.3 This strategy of reviving the local industry is key to the achievement of the economic targets outlined in the country’s blueprint, ZIMASSET (2013 – 2018), under the value addition and beneficiation pillar. Value addition and beneficiation will be achieved through boosting existing industries and also through the creation of new ones.
1.4 The importation of products specified under SI 64 of 2016 is controlled through issuance of import licences. The current licencing procedure requires applicants to physically submit their applications to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for consideration. Import licences are only issued in cases where there is a local supply gap. The Ministry is in the process of migrating from the current manual licencing system to e-licencing.
2.0 RATIONALE FOR SI 64 OF 2016
The influx of imported products and the subsequent displacement of locally produced goods from the market resulted in the following:
High Import Bill – This resulted in the worsening of Zimbabwe’s trade balance wherein the country imported US$5.2 billion worth of imports in 2016 against exports of US$2.8 billion thereby having a negative trade balance of US$2.4 billion which is unsustainable.
Use of the multi-currency regime – Exports mainly from the country’s neighbouring trading partners were being attracted by
Zimbabwe’s use of a stronger US Dollar.
Capacity Utilisation – The manufacturing sector capacity utilization has been falling since 2011, from a peak of 57.2% to 34% in 2015.
Closure of Companies - Zimbabwe has experienced pronounced company closures and retrenchments. During the first half of 2016, there were 231 company closures, with about 5 333 workers being retrenched during the first quarter of 2016.
2.2 SI 64 of 2016 is therefore, part of Government’s Import Management Programme whose main objective is to assist local industry in its resuscitation process. Regulating imports will lead to industrial recovery, as it stimulates demand for locally produced goods. The Import Management Programme will give companies space to retool and become competitive. In addition, new investments will be attracted as there will be a guaranteed market for locally produced products.
3.0 ACHIEVEMENTS OF SI 64 OF 2016
The following achievements have been realised to date:-
3.1 REDUCTION IN THE IMPORT BILL
The country recorded a reduction in its import bill from US$6.3 billion in 2015 to US$5.2 billion in 2016. This was partly attributed to the Government’s Import Management programme, specifically SI 64 of 2016.
- INCREASE IN REVENUE COLLECTION
SI 64 of 2016 has in effect stimulated local manufacturing production. This had a positive outcome on local manufacturers’ profitability and a marked improvement in their contribution to the fiscus. In the third quarter report for 2016, ZIMRA reported an increase in gross revenue collection of 6%, up to US$919.91 million from US$866.96 million realised in the second quarter of the year. This has been attributed to the implementation of S.I 64 of 2016.
3.3 Increase in Capacity Utilisation and/or Employment Levels
According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) 2016 Manufacturing Sector Survey, implementation of S.I 64 resulted in an increase in average manufacturing sector capacity utilisation from
34.3% in 2015 to 47.4% in 2016. Capacity utilisation for some subsectors or companies increased as follows:
3.3.1 Personal Care Products – Datlabs has increased its capacity utilisation from 30% to 50% on the camphor cream line and it is envisaged to reach 70%. Prochem has recorded an increase in both capacity utilisation and employment levels from 30% to 48% and 43 to 101 workers respectively.
3.3.2 Tyre Manufacturers – increased their capacity utilisation from 30% to 50% following the regulation of importation of second hand
tyres.
3.3.3 Synthetic Hair Fibres Sector – Blue Track and Sensational which are in the manufacturing of synthetic hair products have since raised their employment levels from 150 to 450 and 12 to 600 workers respectively. Capacity utilisation has also increased from 28% to 60% for Sensational and 15% to 50% for Blue Track Investments.
3.3.4 Furniture Sector – Improved capacity from 45% to 70%. In one instance, mattresses has increased their capacity utilisation from 70% to 85% (2 700 to 3 500 mattresses per month). The industry has also increased operating hours from 5 days per week to 6 days per week. 3.3.5 Tinned Fruits and Vegetables – Associated Foods in Vumba increased capacity utilisation from 38% to the current level of 80%. The company’s employment also increased by 20% to the current level of 143 workers (98 permanent and 45 contract).
3.3.6 Nestle Zimbabwe – The Company’s Cremora Plant increased
capacity utilisation from 30% to 70%. S.I 64 also resulted in the preservation of employment which is around 330 workers.
3.3.7 Fertilizer Industry – The fertilizer industry increased capacity utilisation from 25% in 2016 to the current level of 40%.
3.3.8 Plastic Pipes (PVC) – In one instance, capacity utilisation increased from 40% to 51%, sales grew by 13% and there was an additional employment of 27 people.
3.3.9 Chitaitai – S.I 64 of 2016 resulted in the company automating its production and production capacity increased from 2 400 litres of shoe polish per day to 6000 litres per day.
3.3.10 Capacity Utilisation for Downstream Industries
Capacity utilisation for downstream industries increased as follows:
Industry | Before SI 64 of 2016 | After SI 64 of 2016 |
Label Supplies | 5% | 15% |
Plastic packaging
Supplies |
37% | 60% |
Raw Materials | 20% | 37% |
3.4 NEW INVESTMENTS
The following companies have invested in new plant and machinery to date:
3.4.1 Arenel (Pvt) Ltd
In August 2016, the company commissioned a snack manufacturing plant worth US$750 000. Furthermore, they invested into mayonnaise and bottled water plants at a total cost of about US$2 million.
3.4.2 Kershelmar Dairies (Pvt) Ltd
The company which is into dairy and fruit juice production, invested into new equipment worth ZAR2.146 million in August 2016.
3.4.3 Probrands (Pvt)
The management of imported milk and dairy products has seen the company investing into a new dairy processing plant worth US$1.6 million in July 2016. This new investment will increase employment from 340 to 370 workers. The company has also set up a creamer making plant following a joint venture partnership formed end of 2016.
3.4.4 Dairiboard Zimbabwe
Invested in a US$5.8 million state of the art maheu making plant at its Chitungwiza branch.
3.4.5 Associated Foods (Pvt) Ltd
The company invested US$400 000 in a peanut butter manufacturing plant, under the Norwegian Investment Fund for
Development.
3.4.6 Proplastics Limited
Proplastics invested in a new PVC Extrusion Line worth US$1.3 million.
3.4.7 Nufert
The company which is a division of Origen Corporation invested
US$0.5 million in July 2016 for its new fertilizer blending plant in Mt Hampden. The plant has capacity to produce 200 to 300 tonnes of fertilizer per day.
3.4.8 FSG
In August 2016, the company invested US$1 million in a new Blending and Granulating Plant in Bindura. As a result production went up from 300mt to 1200mt per month and employment increased from 50 to 300 workers.
3.4.9 Chitaitai
The company acquired an ex-Reckitt machinery for US$40 000
and installed a 50 litres tank for the storage of illuminated paraffin for
US$19 500.
4.0 Challenges in the Implementation of S.I. 64 of 2016
4.1 Although some success stories have been recorded as a result of the S.I 64 of 2016, as highlighted above, its implementation is not without its own challenges. These challenges include, among others; trade-off between balancing existing employment within the retail and distribution outlets that import and protection of the local manufacturing industries; delays in payments to foreign suppliers of raw materials; and the prevailing liquidity crunch which is currently depressing general aggregate demand.
4.2 Other challenges are continued appetite for imports by consumers, poor quality and delays in delivery of goods by the local producers due to less competition from imports; incessant smuggling through the porous border posts resulting in increased black marketing; monopolistic behaviour by some local producers which has resulted in price increases; and threat of retaliation from the country’s neighbouring trading partners such as South Africa and Zambia.
5.0 Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms
5.1 An Imports Management Monitoring and Evaluation Committee comprising of stakeholders from both public and private sectors has been set up to assess the impact of SI 64 of 2016 and is expected to submit its first report and recommendations in due course.
6.0 Conclusion
6.1 To address the challenges of the threat of retaliation from our trading partners, Government will in the long run replace the import management programme with a Local Content Policy. The policy is anchored on prescribing sectoral local content thresholds for goods purchased by Government Departments, industrialists and retailers, among others. Local Content Regulations (LCR) will be used to maximize localisation of supply chains and these are also considered as smart protectionism measures which are in force in developing, emerging and developed countries. I thank you. – [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.] –
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Are
there any comments from Hon. Members? Thank you Hon. Minister for that Ministerial Statement, if you recall, that was in response to what was raised by Hon. Sen. Charumbira and we all agreed to that. Thank you very much for that comprehensive statement. – [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.] –
On the motion of HON. SEN. DR. SEKERAMAYI, the House
adjourned at Twenty-two Minutes past Four o’clock p.m., until Tuesday,
14th March, 2017.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 21st March, 2017
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
BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM AT PARLIAMENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I would like to
remind the House that our security officers will be registering Senators for the biometric registration system this week from today to the 23rd of March, 2017. They will the stationed in the Senate Lobby from 1430 hours every sitting day until adjournment on Thursday. Hon. Senators are urged to register on the system which will go live on the 3rd of April,
- Details of the system have been placed in the pigeon holes.
WORKSHOP ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS OF
PARLIAMENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to remind
all Hon. Senators that they are invited to a workshop to consider the code of conduct for Members of Parliament and the Privileges,
Immunity and Powers of Parliament Act to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017 at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) at 0830 hours.
*HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: On a point of order. My point
of order is, since these security personnel will be registering during our working time, will that not disturb the business of the day? I would suggest that they should look for an alternative time to avoid clash of interest.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: That is a good
suggestion but let us note that they will be in the Senate lobby and we can take turns to go there. We will look into it.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that Order of the Day, Number 1 on the Order Paper be stood over until all the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Madam President. I wish to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Sen. Chipanga and the seconder. I just wish to express my grateful thanks to the President for the views he expressed in his Speech. He touched on many various issues in his Speech but I only wish to zero in on agriculture and the issue of corruption.
Indeed Madam President, all of us in Zimbabwe – at least the majority totally agree with him on his disagreement or dislike of corruption. All efforts are being made to curb corruption. The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has even issued us with a ticket to say, against corruption together – act; that should any one of us see anyone behaving or trying to display tendencies that can be construed as corruption, ring the bell, that is the phone number given on the card to report the incident. All these are efforts to really curb corruption. I know some of my colleagues may say this is what is only just being said but indeed, something is being done. Those who are corrupt should be reported to the police for investigations. Should there be evidence of corruption on arrest should be and taken to court for prosecution.
On agriculture Madam President, it is evident I think what has been happening year in and year out – us being a talk show in the region and in the world that we were importing maize, our staple food from neighbouring countries like Zambia, Malawi and it was not pleasing. Government came up with a policy of financing. With the introduction of command agriculture, we hope and believe that we are going to get a bumper harvest this year. It may not be a bumper harvest but we will have enough to eat. This will trigger revival of industries of beef production, poultry, cooking oil, et cetera. With those few words, Madam President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. BUKA: Thank you Madam President. I rise to contribute on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Chipanga and in support of the statement raised by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Hon. R. G. Mugabe. When the President delivered his speech last year, we were importing maize from other countries and I wrote some Government documents which showed that we imported a million tonnes of maize. Some of this grain was imported by the Government and the other part was imported by grain millers and Non
Governmental Organisations because we were facing starvation.
I am glad that whilst I am making my contribution on this debate, we have stopped the programme of importing grain from other countries but what is coming in is grain which had already been ordered. We were spending millions of dollars on importing maize from other countries. That money is now going to be used to develop our country by reconstructing roads which have been destroyed by the rains. The money will also be used to rehabilitate hospitals.
It is pleasing to note that nobody died of starvation. Zimbabwe has embarked on command agriculture. Farmers have been given all the necessary inputs for the programme to be a success. I may not have the statistics on the harvest but judging from the statement made by VP Mphoko and the Minister of Agriculture, they are saying we are going to have a bumper harvest and even some surplus to export. I thank the President for such a vision. It is very promising.
I have noticed that every Zimbabwean who has a piece of land, be it in the urban or rural areas, we are growing maize. This shows that the Command Agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme have been successful.
Our farmers had problems in accessing funds from the banks and if ever they had that money, it had high interest that farmers would suffer losses but now, all these were given to them free of charge. I am hoping that this programme continue to be an annual event. We are very pleased because we have had a lot of rain. Our traditional leaders led the rain making ceremonies and our religious leaders prayed and God blessed us with a lot of rain.
I would like to thank His Excellency because when he spoke of food security, he also supported the cotton growing programme. I come from Gokwe, a cotton growing area. Farmers had given up on cotton because of the low prices but His Excellency then gave the inputs to the cotton farmers which include fertilizers, seed and pesticides. We are also going to have a bumper harvest. The Minister of Agricuture forsees a harvest which is 100% of what we have been cultivating in previous years and we are happy because there is progress. Even the farmers who had talked of giving up on growing cotton have said they are so happy because they are looking forward to a bumper harvest.
What is going to happen is that this Command Agriculture, Presidential Input Scheme and other agricultural support systems are not meant for our own consumption but we know that Zimbabwe has an agro-based economy and that means that our industry is going to create employment for a lot of people.
We should not continue exporting raw cotton but we need to process it and export, for example some cotton. Cotton is a labour intensive crop because of the pesticides and other things. Therefore, we have to benefit by value addition on the cotton. I also hope that when we come to the next season, we definitely see the positive results of these agricultural stances taken by the Government.
The President also talked about the introduction of a women’s bank. For five years, the country has been talking about establishing a women’s bank and now that His Excellency has taken this programme up, definitely it is going to be a reality. May I inform this august House that we are not the only ones clamouring for the women’s bank but we have countries like Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda who have already launched this women’s bank progamme and they are benefiting from it. I believe that Zimbabwe as a country of educated people should join this band wagon and establish this women’s bank.
As we know, homes are made by women. Men can only build a house but a home is founded by the woman. Everybody will be content because whenever women get money they do not spend the money recklessly like men. Women will put that money to good use in the home. They can pay school fees or buy food. When men get some money, they marry, open unnecessary businesses or buy alcohol.
I believe that when the bank is established, women will be entrepreneurs opening up businesses and banks. I am so happy that even the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr. Mangudya also talked about this women’s bank when he said that we realised that most of the banks which are in the country leave a lot to be desired especially in the support of women. To quantify that, women are given 10% of the money disbursed and yet on the contrary, the population of Zimbabwe shows that 52% is made up of women. So, why should they be given 10% of the money disbursed by the banks and give 90% to the men who are not as many as women?
Women should be given a chance to be entrepreneurs. We find this clause in the Constitution of Zimbabwe where we are told of the upholding of women in their productive programmes. When they are given financial support, definitely the country will develop and lives will improve. As women of Zimbabwe, we are really grateful to have this support, which is very important.
My last contribution is that the President spoke against domestic violence. There are increasing cases of domestic violence. What is mesmerizing is the rise. I remember reading an article in the newspaper and there was this man who was left in the care of a four year old boy. This boy was left alone at home and decided to move to a safer place in the neighbourhood. He went to his uncle’s homestead. When the father came back and saw the child was away, he took the child and beat him to death. There was also a story of a father who used a 7.5 kilogram battery to hit a child on the head and the child died. There was also another story of a man who killed his wife and cut her into pieces; he fed the flesh to the dogs. I am surprised. What has happened to the people of Zimbabwe? We were talking about some of things being taboo and sacred. Why is it that we are having all these taboos?
To add on to that, it is not only men who are violent but we have some women who are also tormenting, torturing and violating their men. I am saying, as the people of Zimbabwe, including the churches let us speak against domestic violence. Let us inculcate the values of care and love in the home. We believe if somebody has been involved in domestic violence and they are taken to court, justice should be meted out so that it can be a lesson to other people. In our culture, we believe that if somebody murders another person, the whole clan would put up payment in the form of some beasts to placate the family who has lost their relative. I think we need to look at that and consider it. People should value other people’s lives.
I am appealing to our traditional leaders and religious leaders to preach the gospel of peace and reconciliation. This is because peace begins with me, peace begins with you and peace begins with all of us. Also, as the extended family, we need to ask for the services of the uncles and aunts because these are the people who used to create peace in the homes whenever there were problems. I am begging mothers, women that even if you are involved in domestic violence with your husband, please do not move out of the home leaving your children because the man will go and marry another wife. The stepmother will be so cruel. They are the ones who are plucking out the eyes of these children, pouring boiling water and oil on them. We need to take care of our children. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to make my contributions on the joint sitting addressed by His Excellency. I thank Hon. Sen. Chipanga for introducing this motion. When we look at what was stated by His
Excellency, he talked like a mature international Statesman. I was very pleased to hear His. Excellency talking about agriculture. We know Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy and when the economy is running, everybody will be content.
When we look at cotton farming, the industry had gone down because cotton was no longer doing well. As of now, the President supported cotton producers and the farmers are very pleased. When we look at cotton, we can extract oil from the cotton. We used to import cooking oil but as of now, we are going to get our own oil from the cotton seed. We are creating jobs because Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy. I thank His Excellency for such foresight and for the developmental Speech he gave.
When we look at agriculture again, we look at Command agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme. We have people who are suffering because they were affected by the cyclone induced floods. These people are going to be fed from grains which are grown in
Zimbabwe. We are not going to import grain to feed our people. This shows that our President had foresight. We are going to have a healthy and developmental life.
His Excellency spoke against corruption. Corruption has to be nipped in the bud and has to be destroyed. Corruption has to be annihilated because it has no development and is disruptive. We need to put our heads together and fight this corruption. I am supporting His Excellency for that Speech. Once again, Hon. Chipanga thank you very much for bringing in this motion.
+HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: Thank you Madam President
for giving me this opportunity to add a few words on what was said by His Excellency, the President, Cde R.G. Mugabe. The President talked about help received by Government towards drought. He further stated about other programmes in the country that include protecting vulnerable children from hunger, especially those in the communal areas. Madam President, all this is indicative of the fact that
Government is working with development partners to help those who are in need. This year it is quite clear that wherever you go – whether from here to Bulawayo, Murewa, Mutare or Kariba, you find that people will harvest more than enough this year under the Command agriculture programme.
Even those who are not in this programme will realise enough to feed their families. If we get enough food, it will be quite clear that a lot of money which was being used to buy food from other countries will be used for other programmes in the country. We believe the monies will be used properly without any corrupt tendencies. We have had enough rains to have enough food. We do not want to go back and suffer. The money shall be used on other programmes or projects in this country.
With those few words I thank you Madam President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICE (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. NYAMBUYA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC ANIMALS HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House:-
DISTURBED by the persistent problems posed by stray dogs and
other domestic animals to their surrounding neighbourhood and communities countrywide;
COGNISANT that all animals are protected under the laws of the country;
CONCERNED that owners of such stray animals denigrate on their responsibilities to look after them, thereby bestowing the onus to do so on other members of the community;
INCENSED by the fact that some people have suffered from bites inflicted on them by rabid dogs and have faced challenges in getting proper medication while others have been involved in fatal accidents caused by such animals;
NOW THEREFORE, calls upon the Local Authorities and the
Society for Prevention of cruelty to Animals to:
- Enforce laws that do not only protect the stray animals but also safeguard the lives of people.
- Prosecute owners of stray animals and also ensure that proper facilities are constructed for the safe custody of such animals.
HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: I second.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I stand to move a motion concerning stray animal mostly dogs. Stray animals have become a problem in our country. It is very important that we realise that all animals whether domestic or wild have rights that we need to observe. I grew up knowing that responsible authorities like local authorities and the SPCA would capture stray animals and help protect their rights.
It is disheartening to note that we the human beings are responsible for the stray animals which have caused a lot of accidents that have led to loss of lives on our roads. I would like to believe that these animals wherever they come from are coming from a home if they are domestic, which leaves us with the responsibility to protect their rights as their owners.
I want to talk mostly about dogs which have caused deaths through accidents and the spreading of rabies. People are being bitten by stray dogs which are rabid in our country where we are facing problems in providing drugs to cure the disease. The same stray dogs are being hit by vehicles on the roads, causing accidents in some instances and if left lying there, can cause air pollution.
It is very important that dog owners take full responsibility of their dogs and observe their rights. One cannot purchase a dog just to leave it loiter around the streets. I call upon the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate, local authorities and the SPCA to enforce the laws that protect these dogs and other stray animals so that we save lives of our people and the animals.
It has been made very clear that if one owns an animal of any type, he should never let it loiter around the streets without any care. It should be a crime to own a dog or any other animal without proper infrastructure or facilities or capabilities to take good care of them. Our Constitution gives citizens the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well being. Save animal and human life. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Madam President. I
greet you in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on a motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire and seconded by me.
We are talking about the problem which is rampant in this country of Zimbabwe. This is in regard to stray animals. These animals belong to individuals and some of them are even registered in the name of individuals who are supposed to be taking care of them. This issue has been discussed for quite a long time and I remember when I was growing up, even before I became a Senator, I remember there is an Hon. Member of that time, the late Hon. Sydney Malunga who was being chauffer driven. His chauffer tried to avoid hitting a stray dog and in the process he lost control of the car and Hon Sydney Malunga died.
This is very sad indeed.
I am saying those people who have homes near the roads; if they have cattle or dogs they should take some measures to protect these animals. What we know is that some of these dogs stay outside and they act as security when thieves or undesirable people come, the owners will come out and defend their property. Unfortunately, these owners are not prepared to take care of their dogs and they stray onto the streets and motorists in trying to avoid running over these dogs end up involved in accidents.
When I was growing up there was an organisation called SPCA which would move around local authorities and they would collect these dogs. At times if they saw there was a skinny dog with wounds on it, the owner of that dog would be prosecuted because it was seen as cruelty to that animal. What we know is that if a pet is well taken care of, it will never go out of the yard because it will be content. I have realised on my way to Harare from my constituency in Mashonaland West, some farm owners are now fencing off their farms so that animals do not move into the roads.
The other big problem that we have is that of stray dogs. If we look at the issue of veld fires, these are caused by people who have dogs but do not take good care of them. Some of these dogs which are straying have rabbis and if they are to attack anyone, that person will be infected with rabbis. Treatment for the rabbis or vaccination is very expensive. Therefore, we are pleading with the people of Zimbabwe to take care of their domestic animals or pets. If you want to own a pet, please take care of it properly. Fence off your perimeter, homes, fields and cattle pens so that animals do not stray.
At some other time when I went to Gokwe, in my area in winter, people do not look after their cattle but just let them roam in the veld. The people of Gokwe were saying they do not practice that system of letting these cattle stray into the wild because they lived near Kwekwe and other growth points. So, people would steal their animals and sell them to the butcheries for slaughter. I am therefore saying, if these animals are not taken care of by the people, they may die of natural causes and rot in the wild. What happens when the rain comes is that the carcass which is rotting will have the remains swept into the rivers and we end up drinking dirty and infectious water. What worries me is that we are no longer seeing the SPCA personnel scouting for these stray animals. Is it because of the sanctions that SPCA no longer has personnel? What is really happening because SPCA would do a great job of scouting for these stray and tormented animals, and punish the offenders?
Madam President, this is quite a sympathetic and pathetic situation. I am begging the traditional leaders to be aware of that. I advise the traditional leaders to send their messengers to move around the villages examining these animals. If there is an owner who has skinny and wounded animals, it means this person should be taken to the chief’s court to pay a fine because if you have a pet or animal, you should take care of it properly. If you cannot take care of your pet, please do not keep pets because they will end up straying onto the roads and lead to death and injuries of human beings and property.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Madam President for this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire seconded by Hon. Sen.
Machingaifa. This is quite a painful issue Madam President especially were people do not take care of their pets. When somebody has been attacked by stray dogs, the person injured is treated for rabbis and the owner is left to go scot free. My belief is that the owner of the dog which has attacked a person should be fined and prosecuted because the person who has been attacked is not going to be compensated in any way.
I remember one day when I had gone for a funeral within the neighbourhood, they were lots of dogs which came out of that area.
There were about 20 dogs which came running intending to attack me. The smaller ones were enticing the big dogs to come and attack me but I thank the Lord because I was very calm and courageous. I stood still and started crying for mercy. Some of them even jumped at me and put their legs on my shoulder. On the following day, the same dogs attacked another man and he had to flee and climb a tree. That is how he was saved. Therefore, the owners of such dogs should be prosecuted.
Even the owners of dogs, cattle and donkeys which stray onto the roads and cause accidents, should be brought to book. In trying to avoid accidents we end up losing lives and properties destroyed. What is now happening is that people no longer own up if their animal has strayed into the road and caused an accident. When a dog or cow has been involved in an accident, the animals will rot by the road side because the owners do not want to own up. We are now calling for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to think twice and start moving around the homesteads, locations and townships looking for these stray dogs. If this was caused by sanctions, I hope there is going to be a way of circumventing this problem because these stray animals cause accidents, people have lost lives and properties have been lost. Fellow Zimbabweans, if ever you should own a pet or animal, please take care of it. You are the one who sourced for that pet or animal. That animal did not come to you and say I want comfort but you looked for it.
Therefore, be prepared to take care of it.
Let me talk about the dogs. The dogs will come into your yard which you have cleaned and they spoil it. They can even go into your garden and urinate on your vegetables. I once had a problem with my neighbour sometime back because her dog came and dug up my onions. This creates animosity between neighbours who are supposed to be living in harmony. This dog is so funny because it can go and dig up even the sweet potatoes or potatoes and even when you are planting your maize, it will go after the seeds that you will have planted. Therefore, I am pleading with you fellow Zimbabweans that if you want to keep a dog or any other animals, please look after them. Who is supposed to take care of them if you are failing them?
At times, this causes stock theft because if you leave these animals straying there is going to be some stock theft. I remember when we were growing up in Wedza, Negomo area, some herd of cattle were ran down by a bus. The owner of those beasts instead of people sympathising with him, he was taken before the courts and tried. When he was found guilty, he had to pay a fine for letting the cattle stray. I believe the main reason why this happens in rural areas is because we have emasculated our traditional leaders. In the past, somebody would really look after his beasts because he knew that if his cattle should stray into other people’s fields or into the roads. He will pay a beast to compensate the loss. We are therefore saying, traditional leaders must be empowered to prosecute people who let their animals stray. So, because of these animals, chiefs have to be empowered because if you let your cattle stray into another’s garden or field, they would go for trial before the village head court or the chief’s court. This has to be taken up so that the chiefs be
empowered and also the SPCA should be financed so that they can take care of these animals.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA. Thank you Mr. President
Sir. I am going to add my voice onto the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire, seconded by Hon. Sen. Machingaifa. The few words that I want to add are that it is very true that stray dogs are all over the place. Even in the townships or in locations where we live, we have lots of stray dogs. At times you wonder whether these dogs belong to some people or they are just like street kids who are now living in the streets with no owner. I wonder whether the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals SPCA still exists.
I am urging the Government to look at this problem in supporting the Veterinary Department so that we take care of these stray animals. One of the previous speakers has also said traditional leaders should be empowered to go and examine these animals in the rural areas. If anybody is found guilty, they should be taken to court and pay a fine.
We are also urging the Members of Parliament in the areas in which you are operating from, whenever you see that there are people who are illtreating their dogs, please talk about the protection of these animals especially in areas where you are addressing rallies. Take part in fighting the neglect of these animals.
Whosoever may have brought their dogs to your gatherings, they should take them back. I believe we may be over burdening the chiefs because by prosecuting these people who let their animals stray, we may spend a lot of precious time doing just that, hence, my call and plea to you Members of Parliament to talk about the care of these animals to people who will have attended your rallies so that we do not have any stray animals.
We also have the department of Veterinary Services. The Veterinary Department should craft laws on dealing with stray cattle. In the past, the roads were fenced on the sides and the aim of these fences was to protect these animals from straying into the roads, but this fence has been removed. Therefore, I am pleading with the authorities that be to re-erect these fences to protect these stray animals. Once again, I am begging politicians to include this issue on your agendas at these meetings so that we protect these animals. There is need to sensitise those people who will have brought their animals to your gatherings. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on this important motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire, seconded by Hon. Sen. Machiangaifa. This motion is very constructive. We have a lot of people who have died in accidents which were caused by these stray animals hence the debate in this House. Some few days ago, there was a pack of dogs which were so many. They attacked a certain lady. This woman called onto to her husband to come and be inspected. When she went for treatment, the husband was told that he had to fork out some US$600 to get the treatment to fight this rabies.
They went to the clinic and they were given some aspirin tablets. What happened was that before this woman died, she was barking like a dog. She left behind young children and properties. This was caused by these dogs. What really worried me was that the owner of this pack of dogs was left to go scot free because nothing was done to him. He was not even prosecuted. In my Constituency, we do not have much stray dogs because we have lions which devour them. We have problems with the donkeys. As stubborn as a donkey, even when the car is coming, the donkey will just turn and see whatever will be happening without moving out of the road.
We have the youngsters who will be driving these cars and playing their music in full blast and even the buses, and so because there is much noise, they end up getting involved in these accidents and people dying and prosperities are destroyed. We need to have a communal care for these stray animals. We noticed that even in rural areas, we also have a volume of traffic because kombis are now plying those routes. In my area, there was an accident caused by the dogs. The road had dogs and donkeys on the other side. The driver of the kombi tried to stop his bus but a wheel fell off and the bus overturned, and people died.
Some of these people were buried in my area. In my case, we buried one woman who was in the neighbourhood. This woman who died was a widow. The husband had died long back. The breadwinner has died and we now have orphans. I thank Hon. Senator Mawire for this motion and this should be a reminder to us that if you have pets and these animals, let us take care of them. Accidents have happened at night because these animals stray on the road.
We have a neighbour who had donkeys and these donkeys would go into the fields and feed on the crops. One of the people who had suffered because of these donkeys menace, a cruel young man took hold of those donkeys and tied up their mouths and all those donkeys spent a whole week without eating. What surprised people is that when the donkeys had died, the man started talking and yet, the person did not look for the donkeys until a week or two had lapsed. It seemed that this person really had no care because if he was taking care of his donkeys, he would have realised that the donkeys are not at home and looked for them. May be he could have untied the mouths which had been tied by this wire. I am pleading with the people, if you have your animals and pets, please take care of them. Hon. Sen. Mawire, thank you very much for bringing up this motion because we have these stray animals causing havoc in other people’s properties. Dogs also devour people’s chickens and goats. The donkeys and cows stray into people’s fields and we end up asking traditional leaders to go and check the extent of damage caused by these animals before the owners are prosecuted. When the traditional leaders try people and find them guilty, they become angry because they will have failed to come to terms with what would have happened. We then go on to call the Agritex officers to go and assess the damage to the fields or somebody’s crops and the owners of the stray animals will then be asked to pay accordingly. That is why I am saying this is an important motion. Thank you Sir.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Let me start by saying that this is a very important motion. The stray animals we are talking about are our property which we acquire and take care of. I remember my father used to have a lot of problems with our neighbours because he had a lot of goats. The goats would get into people’s kitchens and when being chased out, they would carry baskets with them because the horns would have hooked into the baskets. Some of the goats would get into the house and if there were buckets full of water, they would splash the water all over the place when being chased out. My father used to be told off because people used to say that when you are enjoying your goat meat we will not be there, so you have to take care of your goats.
At times people come to attend meetings with their dogs. These dogs cause havoc as they start to intimidate or even attack people. So, I am calling for Government to make it mandatory for owners of these animals to register these animals and pay tax for each animal that they have. This will lead to the cutting down of the number of pets that people have as they will not be able to pay the tax for these animals. These stray animals have destroyed friendships and relationships. When you look at the people with such dogs, they will have named them Susan or John and yet they do not take care of their Susan and John. They only think of these animals when they want to use them as beasts of burden and under normal circumstances they just let them go astray. So, I am pleading with Government to craft a law which will enforce people to pay tax for every animal that they have.
I remember that in my area, we had a man who would go to the grinding mill with two bags of mealie-meal. He had 19 dogs that he kept, so the other bag would be for the dogs while the other one would be for his family. One just wonders why someone would want to keep 19 dogs which he does not even use to pay lobola or take to the market for sale. That is why some of these dogs would attack passers-by who came close to his homestead and he ended up compensating the person who would have been attacked by the dogs, tearing their clothes and property in the process. That is why I keep saying that if you want to keep 25 or 30 dogs, you should be forced to pay tax for each one of them. I do not think it would be fair if we were to ask our chiefs to look after the stray animals in our areas. So, the best thing to do is enact a law which will make people pay taxes for their animals.
You also notice that dogs become so excitable when they get into newly ploughed fields because they roll themselves in the fields thereby destroying the plants that will be germinating or growing. The effect is that you will suffer as this impacts negatively on the hard work and inputs you will have invested into the field. Thank you Hon. Sen Mawire for bringing up this motion because we are so careless and yet we are the people responsible for these stray animals, which end up destroying other people’s properties that they would have worked very hard for in order to feed their families.
At one time we had a neighbour who had a visitor who was her son-in-law. The mother-in-law killed a chicken for her visitor and unfortunately for them, when they were not looking, a neighbour’s dog came and ate all the cooked chicken. When they were about to have their meal, there was no relish to give to the visitors. That is why I am saying we need to charge higher taxes for these pests and stray animals and any animals that we own.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the SADC
Model Law on eradicating early Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY POLITICAL
PARTIES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that had become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Mr. President for
giving me this opportunity to add a few words to the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Sibanda.
I think the problem with our country is that we have more or less socialised into violence for almost the past 200 years. I think that is an issue which needs to be taken charge of and addressed. We can decide to pick and choose the spot from which we want to look at the issue of violence. My argument is that we have been subjected to an almost institutionalised programme of violence, both explicit and implicit for the last 200 years as I said. I will give the long example.
In 1831, a breakaway force of Zwangendaba’s Nguni invaders killed the Rozvi king Chirutsamhuru by skinning him alive. For the next ten or so years, there was a lot of havoc, chaos or anarchy in the country exemplified by the fact that the Rozvis were not able to install another king until the Ndebele came under Mzilikazi in November 1841. That again perpetuated the system of violence up to 1890. When the whites came, they further strengthened the life of violence in their own way.
We can give an example of hundreds if not thousands of people who were shot by Whites at Lalapanzi, Gokomere, Zvamagwiro,
Filabusi and many other places. The Whites were of the view that you could only rule over an African by exerting a certain kind or amount of pressure. They did that in many ways including forced labour which later on was called Chibharo, destocking exercise which included cutting off the tails of cattle and a number of laws which were passed. These included the Land Apportionment Act in 1931, the Native Urban Areas Accomodation Act – 1946 and the Land Husbandry Act – 1951.
The good thing is, some of the whites who participated in this explicit and implicit violence were missionaries by descent, for instance the premier of Southern Rhodesia who was there from about 1927 to
1933; Howard Moffat was actually a grandson of the great missionary
Robert Moffat who built Inyati Mission in 1859 and was the son of John
Smith Moffat who built Hope Fountain Mission in 1869. That same Moffat, the grandson Howard was still alive in 1945/46 and 1951 when other hostile laws to Africans were passed to suppress blacks.
We can go back to 1893 after the Ndebele kingdom was quashed by the whites and the whites created a reserve called Gwayi-Shangani reserve for the Ndebeles. They were not inventing land, they were not creating a new piece of area. They were simply forcing people to go to live amongst the people who had not even asked for visitors from the white Government but they claimed to have been creating a reserve as if there was nobody in that area.
In 1896, if you read our history which was written by very good whites not wise; the other time I said white historians and the Hansard people said wise historians – I was saying white historians. They tell us that among the complaints that were made by the Ndebele people in 1896, they were not worried about white policemen but were worried about black policemen especially those who were not Ndebele speaking. They really looked down upon them. They were not happy that they were in authority above the Ndebeles. At the same time, the Kalangas or Vakaranga thought that the uprising was actually a chance to drive out both the white settlers and the Ndebeles who had come in 1841. They had an expression which said, ‘bhunu halibhudha bhotoko lobhudhawo’ which meant that both the whites and the Ndebeles had to go far away. The bhotokos or mapotoko actually the Ndebele in Kalanga, they were supposed to go back at the same time. That is one of the reasons why the southern entries were left open so that the Ndebele would go back south, the whites would also go back south where they had come from.
What am I trying to say? I am saying that we have a long history of violence in the form of intolerance or scorn for each other, physical violence, sometimes legal as I cited in the Land Apportionment Act and other Acts. The list goes on. What I really think is that this motion should help us to find a way of doing away with this legacy of violence which has been with us for as I said, almost 200 years since 1831. We need to be a people who can live tolerantly of each other, especially leaders in this august House who do not whip up emotions and sentiments against other people. When people stand up to say that for instance, they are surprised to find certain language speakers in the middle of a certain city which they believe should be speaking some other language – I find that to be a bit morally and logically distasteful because this is a country in which you can travel and you can be in any part of the country and be able to speak the language of your choice. So, people should not be surprised that they find a Kalanga speaker in Manicaland or a Shona speaker in the middle of Bulawayo. I think that is wrong, especially as I said for Hon. Members of Parliament to come and peddle some of these emotive issues in Parliament. It is bad because there are people out there who read and listen to what we say.
About a month or two ago, we read of a certain mayor in South Africa who really made a lot of noise about foreigners. Within a few weeks, xenophobic attacks broke out against Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Somalis and so forth. I think as leaders, people should be careful of what they say, they should take stock of whatever they say. It is good, sometimes you become famous because you say you represent a region but in the long term, it does not serve the country well and the region well. We have to be mature politicians.
I can give another example of what happened last week when we were in Bindura conducting public hearings on the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill. The Chairman was trying to tell some people to keep quiet and they were saying “Iwe ndizvo zvaunoita kuParliament tinokuona paTV.” What we do here, they see you on TV, they read the Hansard and they know what you are saying and you are simply whipping up emotions to incite people against each other, to prove to some people that you are actually representing their tribal angle. I think that is dishonourable for an Hon. Member. We should encourage our political parties to take a stand against any violence, whether historical or created now.
I think it is not good enough for us as Members of Parliament to drive people in a certain direction in which we might antagonize them against each other. Whether they come from Harare, Seke, Chiweshe, et cetera, people are people of Zimbabwe and should be freed to be wherever. As Members of Parliament, let us not incite antagonism amongst our people.
One thing for sure that a lot of people have mistaken is the colonially given names of provinces, which we adopted after independence. When we talk about Mashonaland, we also forget that there are Tonga people under Chief Mola and maybe Musambakaruma in Mashonaland West. Those are not Shona but the area is called Mashonaland. We can go to other places and do the same. I think we should remove the tribal names of provinces because people begin to believe that because whites called us Mashonaland or Matabeleland, the area belongs to Shonas or Ndebeles. That is not correct. Where are the
Kalangas, the Tongas, the Vendas and the Shangani – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - I think it is wrong. Thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Mr. President. I am going to make my contribution on this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Sibanda. It is very true that the problem of violence is big. When they were introducing the motion, the mover talked of two types of violence. The first one is the domestic violence and we also have people fighting in drinking places. You get some people who kill each other by stabbing or clubbing each other. This is quite a problem in a country where we have the President who is talking over and again that people should solve their problems and misunderstandings amicably. Talking of peace, we talked about some of the issues when we were debating on the
President’s address to the nation, especially when Hon. Buka talked about domestic violence where we have the husbands, wives and children involved in murderous acts.
We know children have their rights. They should live in a peaceful country and grow to be responsible adults. As parents, we are now leading our cattle astray and we are destroying their lives because of some trivial cases. The child would have grown up to be a leader or even a Member of Parliament but as parents we disregard that and destroy innocent lives. In the past, we had a culture which was to preserve life and that is why one of us talked about empowering our traditional leaders so that they can have the same powers they used to have.
In the past, whosoever hit a woman would be taken to the traditional leader’s court, be prosecuted and pay a fine. To make matters worse, if you murdered anybody, there would be communal punishment because members of your family would contribute towards the fine of compensating the family of the deceased. I do not know why our police are now emasculated. They no longer do their duties as should be the norm. Yet in the past we know that we had a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. If you killed, you were also supposed to be killed.
My sentiments and feelings are that people now know that if they murder somebody, they just go to prison and come back. They will not be sentenced to death and yet some of them, when they indulge in domestic violence or murder, there will come a time when His
Excellency would pardon them and they will come out of prison. Therefore, they are so happy. Some also want the social welfare which is extended in the prisons; they have three meals a day, they are taken care of and some even attain certificates and diplomas whilst they are in prison. We are now saying this should be changed.
I remember when we were at war, there is a song which we used to sing. We encouraged freedom fighters to take care of people whom they would have captured, that they should not torture or persecute them.
Again, we have now changed the law and said we should not practice
the Mosaic Law – a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye or kill whosoever has murdered somebody. This is encouraging people to kill because they know that they will not be killed but will simply go to prison.
Let me now turn to political violence. Political parties should be taught how to create peace amongst people who have different opinions with them. I remember some other year, I am not able to tell the time but I only remember the incident which happened between 2008 and 2010. We had some political leaders who were encouraging their supporters to beat up their opponents and you can imagine, you are a leader and people are looking up to you and you are encouraging these people. What happened is that they would be encouraging these youngsters to go and beat up people and we had some people who unashamedly took advantage of beating people who are innocent. They simply fight because they have been encouraged by their political leaders. People would be serving the political party leaders. His Excellency, Cde R. G. Mugabe and his ZANU PF and Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T, people start fighting burning each other other’s property and I am pleading with the political leadership that we should create peace.
Hon. Sen. Mashavakure has encouraged people to avoid hate speech. We had one leader who was talking about people who had settled themselves wherever they wanted. He said they are just growing up like mushroom. I am saying to any leader of any political party, they should preach peace. What we know is that Zimbabwe practices democracy and the Constitution allows us to have many political parties.
This means we have to agree to disagree on our political differences. Why can we not that this is what is in the Constitution? We need to follow the steps taken by our leaders, the late Joshua Nkomo and Cde R. G. Mugabe. They created peace and unity so that there is peace and harmony in Zimbabwe.
As political leaders, why do we not follow the example of our leaders who said peace to the people of Zimbabwe, peace to the children of Zimbabwe, peace to mwana weropa? Why are we burning each other? Why are we stoning each other? When we look at the majority of these violent cases, some of these people are not sent by anybody to fight anybody but it is because of trivial cases which may have happened in the past like some women fighting over a boyfriend or men fighting over a girlfriend. We end up saying it is political violence when in actual fact it is not. We are not going to condone any source of violence.
Violence is violence. Let us live in peace and harmony and share love.
We need to go to areas where the men would meet in their own areas and talk to the youngsters about peace in the home and the responsibilities of a father. We are noticing that some of our youngsters, especially young men get married without getting any lessons on fatherhood. As we were growing up, we realise there was a time when the young men were taken by the elders in the community to be taught about fatherhood. The same was happening to the girls. They would be taken into the kitchen or some other fora by the elderly ladies and they would be taught about motherhood. I have this feeling that this is lacking in our modern day homes. That is why our youngsters fail to solve their problems amicably and then they end up fighting.
We now have counsellors in churches and these counsellors solve problems between feuding families or people who misunderstand. I am calling for political parties to establish the post of counsellors so that they create peace and harmony amongst the religious folk because if you leave it in the hands of traditional leaders alone, we could be overburdening them. I thank you for giving me the chance to make my contribution.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Thank you very much Mr.
President for affording me this opportunity to contribute towards this most fearful debate which has been going on for quite some time. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Sibanda for raising this motion. The reason why I said it has been very fearful, it is because of the way Senators treat each other, especially on issues raised. As a House there are times when we seem not to be tolerant to each other. I want to thank the previous two speakers namely Hon. Sen. Mawire and Hon. Sen.
Mashavakure, they have debated in a manner which forced me to stand up and add my voice to this motion.
At times it complicates the chiefs lives to debate a certain motion because of the connotations associated with such a motion. For instance, this motion had a lot to do with violence and a lot of practical examples were being raised from both political parties and it complicated our lives that if ever you try to stand up and raise some issues you will be aligned to this or that political party. It is our desire as traditional leaders who are neutral to stand up and tell the country that it is not good to tolerate violence. Why am I saying so? Our President has for a very long time been denouncing violent acts.
It if you go to the Constitution on Chapter 1, Section 6 (1) “the following languages namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga,
Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe”. According to the Constitution this is recognition of the existence of our diverse characters, understanding and comprehension of issues. It is a recognition of how people think. Each language tells me how these people think and perceive issues. I want to congratulate Hon. Sen. Mashavakure for encouraging Members to debate positively because the nation will be watching. The nation listens to our contributions. From what we contribute in this House, tells our nation the way to go.
I want to say it out today that violence manifests itself from all political parties. Last week in Chipinge there were violent activities which occurred. Those had nothing to do with MDC but it was intra party violence. We have had cases as well in the MDC where you have had intra party violent activities. When we stand up to denounce violence we are not saying ZANU PF stop the violence, MDC stop the violence, we are simply saying as traditional leaders for our nation and the sake of our young people who are growing up and are tomorrow’s leaders, I think we should be tolerant of each other because we are different. We think differently and we should be perceived differently hence the issue of tolerance.
If we do not tolerate each other, we end up like the Malemas in South Africa where you end up fist fighting, which is undesirable. For example, as traditional leaders we preside over different tribes. We preside over Ndebeles, Kalangas, Vendas, Korekores and all these other tribes. All these people look up to the wise leadership of chiefs for them to continue enjoying their rights. As such, may I encourage Hon. Members to be positive when we make contributions so that you do not perpetrate emotional violence towards chiefs. Several times you say things and we keep quiet, but to tell the truth you will be perpetrating violence on us because there are times when we stand up trying to say this, people say ha-a ha-a. That is being violent towards others. Most of the times we prefer to keep quiet because if I say something, it therefore means I am aligned to this political party.
I think from what Hon. Sibanda and from the historical background given by various speakers, it shows that the violence being debated sometimes has nothing to do with this political party or that one but has to do with us as Zimbabweans. We do not have to perpetrate violence on each other. We have had scenes in schools where school children perpetrate violence on each other or a parent perpetrating violence on his or her children. We should be debating those cases for the benefit of our nation so that we have a violent free country.
If we do not have violence in our country, development will take place and take its course. If we do not have violence, it means we are united and if we are united, truly speaking we will be like the Rozvi people who almost built a tower in Rusape, on Tikwiri mountain because they were united and almost reached the moon. I think it is important for us to be united knowing that we are different. We think differently, we came from different backgrounds and as such, we must tolerate each other. Thank you very much.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President for according me this opportunity to add my voice on this motion which was raised by Hon. Sen. Sibanda and seconded by Hon. Sen. Ncube. I want to thank you for this motion which was brought to this House. It is a very good motion which gives us an opportunity to look at how we can build our nation. Violence causes our country not to function well because if you were beaten, is very painful.
I want to start by the violence which is found in our homes. I come from Zvishavane and one day when I was going to Mberengwa, I passed through illegal gold panners and saw 10 and 12 year olds gold panning with their paraphernalia. This was during school days and I asked myself what was happening because illegal panning is not easy, and that is where violence is rampant and very common. There are a lot of illegal gold panners in Zvishavane and we find that a lot of violence is perpetrated there. I want to articulate that as a nation, what can we do so that children do not go and work whilst they are still young.
I also want to look at our farms where I came across young girls working. You find them carrying heavy loads and you wonder what time they go to school. So, we should look at whether our children are going to school or they are now drop-outs because of lack of funds. What can the Government do for these children to go to school so that they will work when they are ready and mature? That is another form of violence.
I also came across a married woman. She is married to a man who has a girl child from a previous marriage of about 10 years old. This man goes out to do illegal panning leaving this woman with this 10 year old. This girl is now a slave to this woman. The last time when I sent some police officers to arrest them, the child slept outside but when the husband is around she is treated like a queen.
I have come across violence even on WhatsApp where a man kills his wife and children, and finally they hang themselves. I do not know what they will be thinking. So, it means that as a Government, we have a lot of things to do for us to bring to light what is really happening in the lives of our people and how they are surviving.
I also want to look at what really causes violence. You find that many people engage in violence because they are lazy. You can pass through your neighbour’s field and notice that she is doing very well tilling the fields and you are pained by that. So, most of the time even when we come to politics, if you really look closely you find that people who are violent during election time are the Members of Parliament who do not stay within the constituency. They stay here in Harare and when it is almost time for elections, they go back and want to force people to do what they want. So, most violent people are lazy because if you represent people well and meet with them every time, I do not think there will be any reason to be violent because you will have worked with them already.
Also, focusing on chiefs - if chiefs become involved in politics, yes we can get instructions from another person but you find that because we stay together we know each other in our villages. So, I was actually thinking that our chiefs can help and do a good job if they could sit down with the people in their areas, and also educate them on the negative effects of violence. They should tell them do not want to see violence during elections and people should campaign peacefully. I was surprised yesterday when I was reading from the internet that there is an Hon. Member from Masvingo who has threatened chiefs. I think there is a by-election going on there and this Hon. Member was saying chiefs should campaign on behalf of the ruling party because it is the Government of the day. It is the one that gave them cars and also inputs. So, chiefs should know which side their bread is buttered because they received those things and they should campaign for the ruling party. The Hon. Senator said if you do not do that, you will see for yourself. I was really shocked that even the chiefs are now being threatened but we are their subjects and we want them to settle our problems.
I want to tell you the truth. I went to Zambia. I am a member of the Universal Peace Federation. I was shocked to see the chiefs that I came across. The Zambian chiefs drive 4 by 4s and travel with their policemen. Right now if it was a Zambian Parliament, the policemen for the chiefs would be sitting behind them. The bottom line is that chiefs are respected. They are looked after by their country. They have their own independence. They rule without favouring any political party and no one can threaten them.
I have found that in Zimbabwe it is very easy to threaten anyone. So Hon. Members, we should look at this issue together with one spirit and honesty so that we build our nation. If you come to me for my vote and you threaten me, I can be afraid and vote for you but you are in power because of threatening people, how do you feel? You might be here but on development, the people will just say do whatever you want but we will not participate. A good nation is a result of people who are free and do their things out of love and freedom.
If I go wrong, I am convicted because of my crime. If we do all our things in love, I will tell you that our nation has everything. It has gas in Lupane, diamonds, platinum and a lot of resources. If we had love, we could sit down together and give each other ideas on what we can do with the gas. Even with the diamonds in Chiadzwa or the minerals in the Midlands area, all the Zimbabweans together would live well. If you look closely in Zimbabwe, you will find that after the elections in 2018, in 2019 we have already started to campaign for the next five years. Is that a country where we do not have time to talk about development?
We are always campaigning and threatening each other as
Zimbabweans.
Everyone is aware that when it is time for elections, it is time for threats and for being beaten. Also houses will be burnt in areas where we stay. Is that a good country that we can develop? I think it is us who sent people. An example was given by Hon. Mashavakure that we travelled with the Peace and Security Committee and you would find that this person has been sent. This is because after they have disturbed the programme, they would ask for the opinion of the people who would have sent them. Are we building our nation? I think we should ask ourselves.
This country was the breadbasket of Africa and this country flows with milk and honey, but the problem is that we are always campaigning. We do not look at each other as Zimbabweans. I am afraid to be seen talking to Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi, laughing together and asking how things are in her constituency. You are doing a lot of projects, can you help us how you are doing it. Our rivers are flooded, what can we do now in order to build our nation as Zimbabweans?
If you beat your neighbour, you can be happy that you were not directly involved because you would have sent the youths. You are using other people’s children, especially those who are disadvantaged by just buying beer for them. After drinking the beer, the country will not develop - it will remain stagnant. So, when it comes to violence, I am really pleading that we should look at 2018 and we beat the record and demonstrate that Zimbabwe is a peaceful country, has united people. Even if we belong to different parties, first and foremost is that we are Zimbabweans.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT
OF THE SENATE
VISITORS IN THE SENATE GALLERY
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON.
CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): I wish to recognise the presence of the Members of the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Friendship Association from the Parliament of France. The two members are Mr. M. G. Chevroria and Mr. M. René Roquete. You are welcome and please take your seats. +HON. SEN. JUBA: Thank you Mr. President for granting me
this opportunity to say just a few things. I do not know what we can do so that we can be united and pray so that everything may be smooth. I was at home during the weekend. On Saturday a child stepped on her step mother and the child disappeared into the bush. So the issue of violence does not matter whether it is a child of an adult, everyone is attacking the other. I do not know where this has come from.
When we were growing up, it was very surprising to hear that someone has killed another person. I went to a funeral and left my daughters at home. There was a young man who entered into the girls’ bedroom. He fondled a girl’s breast. The girl who was married to this young man approached me and requested me to withdraw the case. I called the father of the young man. I did not know that the young man stayed with the step mother. I told the father that I have daughters and these are youths. Why did your son come from that far to frustrate my daughters? I requested the Presiding Officer to remonstrate the young man that daughters are children just like him.
Thereafter, the son child did not make a repeat of that. He is now so good. Sometimes it will be out of lack of love. The stepmother has nothing to do with that. We also have a wrong habit as women. When we have a child and you are divorced, you leave the children there. That child survives without a mother. It is good for one to leave the child with its grandmother when you are divorced not even your brother’s wife. Let us put our heads together as Zimbabweans, love each other and pray to our God that these wishes obtaining are the worst; it is not good at all.
A twenty-five year old girl killed her fifty year old husband and left a child sitting on blood to make a report to the police that a girl had taken her husband yet she had killed her husband. When police went to the scene of the accident, they realised that it was murder. This girl was just rolling on the blood.
Our bodies are the temple of God. We are made from the image of the Lord but we are no longer able to remonstrate our children. When I grew up, my grandparents could not fight infront of me or get angry to each other but now, the devil is causing all these problems. The fathers kill their children for eggs. Would you murder a child for eggs? This is not good at all. You are afraid to say to a child this is wrong because the child might attack you with a weapon. With these words, Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GOTO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI, the Senate adjourned at Twenty-Six Minutes to
Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017
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
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform the House that I have received the ZEP-REP (Membership of Zimbabwe and Branch Office Agreement) Bill [H. B. 9, 2016] from the National
Assembly.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 on the Order Paper be stood over until all the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY
THE PRESIDENT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC
ANIMALS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on stray dogs and other domestic animals.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. GOTO: Thank you Madam President. I rise to make my contribution on the motion raised by Hon Sen. Mawire seconded Hon. Sen. Machingaifa. This is a very pertinent motion and it is not for clowning or any other but it has to do with pets and other domesticated animals. Let me give an example, if you have pet dogs in your family you should love them just as you love your family because the dogs are a source of security for you. When the dogs are under-fed and not protected, they roam into the streets and are exposed to the dangers of the streets.
I bet you, the dogs have an understanding just like a human being; even if you call it, it will come to you.
We have some people who do not love their domestic animals. When they feed them, they throw food at them and they usually call them using a derogatory term like ‘pfutseki’ and yet we are supposed to love them so that they obey you.
We have some people who love animals like cattle because they use them for draught power. When there is starvation, they can be sold and one can have cash. There are some people who are very cruel despite all these services that these animals give. The cattle are left in the cattle pen until it is noon and under scotching heat. This is real cruelty to animals.
In some cases, the cattle stray on the roads and this causes accidents. Human beings and properties are destroyed. Government had erected fences along the roads so that animals will be protected but human beings stole that fence for their personal use. Bins that were put along the roads on lay bys were also taken and used for domestic use.
Let us take care of our animals because they love you and so should you.
Animals are our source of wealth.
If you are bitten by a stray dog, it may have rabies and some people will say no, we are well, we do not want to go for rabies treatment. As time goes on, that person will start behaving like somebody who is rabid. I remember a certain case where one man was bitten by a dog. Health care givers had to follow him up to his homestead but he had gone away yet this was for his own safety.
I remember another case where there was a neighbour who had many dogs. These dogs were used for hunting. When these dogs were not taken to the bush for hunting, they would attack people. In this instance, they attacked a lady and she was gravely mauled. We should be aware that these pets need to be taken care of. We need to pay the taxes for them and also protect them.
People should be given rules and regulations to be protected. Dogs should only be released in the evening so that they protect you and give you the security yet we have some heartless people who do not feed their dogs. They would prefer feeding them on left-overs.
Cattle should be given extra feed like salt and other fodder. Even when they are in the fields, in the evening they will come back home because they know they are well fed on fodder and salt.
A donkey is a very stubborn animal. It will go into the street and lie down despite the queuing cars which may want to pass, it remains on the road. We should take care of our animals because when we have these animals; when we slaughter them, we enjoy the offals.
I support this motion because it encourages us to take care of our domestic animals. I thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: I thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity to also add my voice to the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire and seconded by Hon. Sen. Machingaifa.
It may look as if it is trivial but it is very important. A stray animal is an animal which has no owner and moves everywhere without anyone looking after it properly.
I will specifically talk about cats in the urban areas. You find that in urban areas, cats are not being looked after. When you drive in town, cats may pass through your vehicle and you think it is a stone. You move off the road and your car may be damaged. Cats should be looked after by the owners.
These stray cattle or beasts on highways or in town; for example in Gwanda where I come from, cattle have killed people through road carnage. They go to the urban centres and eat vegetables in the gardens. The council has proposed that there should be a law to cater for these stray beasts. Ten dollars has been set as fine to the owner of a beast if it is found grazing by the road side and $10 for a beast that is found lying by the road side at night. The situation will improve since people get deterred by that.
It is better that there be $10 fines if beasts are found day by day on the road side and $20 for a beast that is found straying at night. I am in agreement with this because it is a good decision. This should apply throughout Zimbabwe so that everyone who uses the road is safeguarded.
Other Hon. Senators have contributed here about dogs that wherever you would have taken it, you should be able to take care of it. Some steal dogs and fail to look after it as they would love to. It is important indeed that through the law, the dogs should be properly looked after and see to it that they are well fed. Dogs and cats should be properly fed so that they do not stray.
With these words, I support this important motion that we should look after our animals properly. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Madam President
for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this motion. The issue of not taking care of domestic animals properly leaves a lot to be desired because one can lose all the animals. We need to be very careful in whatever we do because in some instances, we have animals like the jackals which may eat and injure our animals. We also have some diseases which are spread by these wild animals, so they should not be allowed to share space with these wild animals; we should separate these animals. Therefore, we should be careful about wild animals mixing with domestic animals.
My fellow parliamentarians talked about the dogs because there are so many stray dogs. In my case as somebody who is visually impaired, I may not be able to see these dogs. At times, they may feel like attacking you. I move around with white walking stick and even if you are to hit that dog with it, that may not really scare it away. We are appealing to you, that as people living with disability, please protect us from your domestic animals. You need to take care of them so that they do not victimize people living with disability. This also includes people who are on wheelchairs. They are terrorized by these stray dogs.
We do have some dog owners who prefer to have vicious dogs and they feed them with mustard which makes them be very vicious. Unfortunately, when a dog has been given mustard, it really feels it has to bite something so that it may be vicious like what the owner wants it to be. If you are in the rural areas, you may take the dog for a hunt and it may ease the viciousness. However, if you are in the city, why should you give your dog that mustard? We are calling for stiffer penalties for people who would have let their dog stray and bite or injure other people.
We have some people who are considerate who enclose their dogs which are vicious during the day but at night they open up so that the dogs may provide security. Unfortunately, some of these dogs end up going into the neighbourhood and start tearing dustbins apart, throwing dirt all over the place. I am saying, we need to fence off our areas so that when we have these dogs and we release them at night, they will not go and cause havoc and harass our neighbours.
I am also pleading with local authorities that they should be faced by regulations that they establish veterinary departments which will go around their locality and impound any stray animals that are found in those areas. The owner of that stray animal will have to pay a fine for the release of the dog. We need to look at the functions of the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Why is the SPCA not operating as it was operating in the past? I remember along Seke Road, my aide read some place saying this is the place where there is the SPCA. Is it not functioning properly because of the sanctions imposed on us? We need to put our heads together as the Veterinary department and society for the prevention of cruelty to animals because we know there may be diseases and there may be damage to property and injury to individuals. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. BHOBHO: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on a motion raised by Hon.
Sen. Mawire, seconded by Hon. Sen. Machingaifa. This is a very important motion because it has a lot to do with our living. I know we have a law which is there to protect these domestic animals. Some of these rules regarding the keeping of pets in our locations have some regulations which say you should not keep these pets if you do not have the correct security fence. It also limits the number of animals you may keep within a perimeter depending on the size. We also have some people who have started keeping free range chickens. These chickens are so active that they can fly into somebody’s perimeter fence and cause havoc. People should build fowl runs and as for the dogs, they should get kennels where they can lock them and only open at night.
It is important that when you are keeping dogs, you should clean your yard because the dogs would have messed up. Some time back, when I was working in the health department, in one of these local authorities there was a certain family which was keeping pigs which were up to ten. I am saying if you have these dogs, they should be vaccinated and kept properly. However, the local authorities are saying they no longer have funds allocated for the vaccination of these dogs. If the dogs are not vaccinated, when they bite an individual, they cause them to suffer from rabies and some people may die. We now have people who are keeping dogs in local authority areas, especially in high density areas and say when time is ripe, they will take them to areas where the dogs are allowed such as rural areas or plots.
In the rural areas, if your animal goes astray and if it is run down or causes an accident, the owner of that beast is the one who is going to be penalized and they will pay a fine because that stray animal will have caused loss of lives or damage to property. What I have noticed is that, when cattle stray into the roads and are run over, the owners of these beasts do not collect them because they fear that they will be penalized and made to pay some fine. What is happening is that these animals end up rotting and this causes diseases because we have maggots settling in on that place. I am advising villagers who are near the roads that if they see these stray animals which would have been hit by cars, I am begging you, whether it is a dog, goat, cow or pig, please just burry it because it would be for your own good.
We are calling for the enforcement of the rules and regulations regarding these stray dogs. Some people who have been bitten by these stray animals; even donkeys are now biting people, the medication for such bites is very expensive and few people can afford them and consequently they end up dying or some of them become maimed or disabled. If it is possible may we please establish a fund which will be used for the treatment of people who have been bitten by these stray animals?
I remember when the SPCA was working properly; the people would go to the SPCA and collect those stray dogs which would have been captured by the SPCA. I know these rules and regulations are still in existence but they are not being enforced and they should be enforced. Most people stay in high density areas where there is a high volume of people and as such, infectious diseases tend to spread easily. As a result, even when we have these animals - they will definitely infect if we let them go astray. These high density homes were created for the workers by our colonizers who would go and live in low density areas and on farms. What is happening now is that one homestead is so overcrowded because there so many families in that one house and there are so many dogs which will be staying in that area and as a result there is going to be some infection.
I also realise that because of such places which are so crowded and filthy, some people do not welcome visitors. When you visit them they will come to the gate and entertain you outside the gate because they would not want you to see the filth in which they live. I want to thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on this motion moved by Hon. Sen. Mawire and seconded by Hon. Sen. Machingaifa. When the two Senators moved this motion initially, I was surprised and I even doubted their sanity and said what a motion. When Hon. Senators started debating, it started dawning on me that this was an essential motion.
I am supporting people who are saying the regulations regarding the welfare of these animals are in place but are not being enforced. I am a farmer in Macheke and when I went to my place in the evening I saw an animal which was in my field and as I was driving out of the field what I saw was very scary because it had a big wound on its hindquarters which had maggots. I was told that the wound on the animal was caused when the owners were treating the blackleg. What they did is that they rubbed the hot iron on its skin and it was injured. What surprised me is that are these people so poor that they could not afford a dollar to treat their cattle.
May I also add that these people who are so careless do not respond positively to calls by the Veterinary Department and SPCA to bring cattle for vaccination. I am surprised, is it because we are independent we now do as we want. We do not care about our animals and pets. Really, my whole shivered when I looked at that animal which was in pain. I asked myself, ‘do I take the legal route and report these perpetrators of such a heinous crime to the police’. In the long run I ended up saying, ‘well this is not my baby’.
I also notice that those people who keep goats, they tie the goats using a rope to on one place regardless of the inclement weather. Come rain or sunshine, that goat will still be tied to that place. This is very cruel. This is very bad. This is very diabolic. I grew up in the rural areas and my father had a gun. What my father would do was if there was a stray animal he would shoot it, especially these pigs. Nobody would come and lay the blame on my father because they knew that the regulations were there to protect him. Pigs should not be left to roam around freely. As of now we see pigs all over the place squeaking, rolling in the mud and making all the noises, is this independence? Surely we are abusing our independence. This is a problem on our hands and therefore we should take care of our animals. It was really painful what I witnessed.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the
Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the SADC
Model Law on eradicating Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: I thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi for moving
this motion so that we can prevent early marriages, especially to the young men and young women. When I look at it, when these people have been married off, they are young and immature. They are not aware of their responsibilities. As for the girls, they may not even be able to know that they are supposed to prepare for the husband who will be coming from work. At times you find these girls playing Hula Hoop or some other games with young people of her age. These young girls are married off to adult males who are mature and instead of teaching this young girl how to become a proper housewife, they torment them.
We have also realised that these unashamed elderly men, when they are widowed or divorced, instead of marrying somebody of their age, they go to the youngsters because they can control them and cannot be challenged by them. This is very painful. I am saying to the men folk, when you are divorced or widowed, please go and look for women of your age, especially the widowed or divorced like you because you are depriving young men of marrying girls of their age.
As this august House, we should enact a law to set down the proper age for marriage. I have noticed that in some instances, you meet this old man moving with this little girl and you say hello my daughter when she is actually the wife to that man. Whatever is planned by that man, he does it without consultation because he knows that this is a young girl and she knows nothing about life because she is still immature. To the sugar daddies, I say please behave.
I think since we now have these elderly men marrying young girls, we now have a case of sugar mummies. There are young men who are marrying elderly women. They will approach and propose love to a woman of 50 or even up to 67 years, and they will tell you that age is nothing but just a number. Why is this happening, because elderly men have taken up the young girls? Please, if you are widowed or divorced and you go and marry a young girl who is the same age as your last child, your children have problems in respecting that step mother because she is younger than them. When you get into such a home, you notice that it is a sorry sight and they live a pathetic life.
We need to enact a law which will protect these children. I think what is causing these early marriages is because of poverty which makes people marry off these young girls. When the girls are married off to these adult males, they are abused. Whatever these young girls are told to do in the homes, they are simply yes people because they cannot say no because they are immature. At times they may be aware of the fact that they are being abused but they have nowhere to report because they were married off since their parents wanted to be taken care of. Men please marry people of your age. We have widows and spinsters of your age who want to be married and are waiting for you. Please marry them.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I thank you Mr. President. I wish to also thank the mover and seconder of the motion. Mr. President, the depth, philosophical nature and the capturing of the Zimbabwean society in the pledge is commendable. I also wish to thank Minister Dokora for the originality in which this is constructed. Therefore, my unequivocal support for the National School Pledge is anchored on its inclusivity to all aspects of the Zimbabwean society. It is very inclusive.
Mr. President, you take religion; the pledge is very inclusive across the board. On religion it does not actually mention of any faith; Christianity, Islam, Judaism or our African religions, it simply mentions that religion should be respected. We are a religious nation, not a
Christian nation and that is a subject for another debate.
On patriotism, it is again very inclusive. Read it, it is brilliant. It is fantastically constructed. It addresses hard work - that is exactly what we should all do. Let us not spend all our energy looking at other people’s hard work or doings and say, okay this region is more disadvantaged because of so and so forth. Let us work hard. We pledge to work hard. That is another score. Patriotism, again as I have said, It appeals to our school children to grow up with a culture of patriotism. Values of the liberation struggle, all levels and liberations struggles are inclusive. I am talking about inclusiveness here. All of the liberation struggles right from the First Chimurenga, the Ndebele uprising which the whites called the rebellion when people wanted their freedom right to the Third Chimurenga to our current Economic Chimurenga, evidenced by the introduction of the command agriculture. Mr.
President, I rest my case on the inclusivity of the Pledge, brilliant staff. I thank you.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: Mr. President, thank you. First of all, I would like to thank the mover of the motion. She has given us an opportunity Mr. President, to exercise our intellectual and empirical capabilities in terms of examining the subject at hand.
Let me start off by saying I personally have no quarrel with the idea, principle, concept and philosophy of a national pledge in any nation. It defines where you are going, your values and what you are enthusiastic about. I know it is actually very interesting that I am making my response to the National Pledge soon after the observations made by Hon. Sen. Musaka. People have a different way of seeing and conceptualising things. I have already underlined my support for the principle, philosophy and the concept.
Let me start off and say, I sat in this House and felt quite bad when the issue of balancing history was raised by Hon. Sen. Khumalo, I felt that it was below our dignity to respond in an emotive way when somebody asks for history to be balanced. On that issue, I rest my case and I would prefer that in future, Hon. Senators have a balanced mind in terms of the regions that constitute this nationality.
I move on Mr. President and say that in my opinion, while I believe in the principle, concept and philosophy, I also feel that a national pledge must be anchored on certain principles and values. For me, those principles upon which it must be anchored must include total national happiness, belief in our current situation, excitement about our current situation and environment. My example says when a young man gets married to a young lady, the day they tie the knot, they make a pledge, to say till death do us part. It is an expression of excitement and anticipation.
A long time ago, when two virgins married, they all did not know what was across the road. That excitement made them make the pledge. What I ask is, have we properly or are we properly anchoring our national pledge? Regrettably for me, we did not show the unity of purpose that we could have as a nation. The capacity of our educated persons and the traditional African value system that should carry this nation does not reveal itself in today’s Zimbabwe.
I also ask the question, are we doing our best to achieve equity and justice in this land? My answer is, regrettably we are not. Are we doing our best to finalise the values that we fought for, that we are so greatly enthusiastic about the 18th April 1980? My answer again is no. The 18th of April is coming and that enthusiasm we had about our independence and that desire for achievement is not there. I almost left school to come back to Zimbabwe in order to be party to that new situation. Luckily, I was persuaded otherwise. The question I am asking is do we still have that enthusiasm about this nation? My answer is no.
So, I am saying while the concept, the idea and the philosophy of us having a national pledge is acceptable to me, we need to anchor our pledge properly. Children of today are different from our age. I always talk about how stupid we were when we were asked to go and look for a cane to come and cane you and you religiously went and picked it up and gave it to your father who gave you a thorough hiding. They do not do that today. If you ask them to go and look for that thing, they do not come back.
Similarly, let us not assume. I was asked by one young child that you Parliamentarians are talking about the national pledge, how about the dichotomy that we see about what we should pledge to and what obtains? I must confess Mr. President that I was unable to answer a Grade 5 child convincingly because I think there is a chasm between what we should be anchoring our pledge on and what we are doing as the leaders in this country.
My second and last worry is the disposition of the persons that are supposed to propel this pledge forward. One of the earliest things when the pledge came in, I am not an educationist. I sent an enquiry to a number of people and said, give me your response about the national pledge. How enthusiastic is it as a tool to assist us drive it to realisation? The majority of the people who responded to that question indicated to me that they are not keen. They do not believe in what the national pledge says largely because there is a difference between the practicality in Zimbabwe and what they are supposed to teach the children. What happens in a situation like that where the implementer is hesitant about the programme to be implemented?
There are chances that the programme may not be as successful as it should be. Mr. President, I think it is important for us and I concede that one of the Hon. Senators stood up and said that the national pledge has not been cast in stone, it can be revisited. Before we revisit the national pledge, let us examine ourselves as a nation and a leadership, refocus our efforts into building this nation. I am very jealousy about this nation. I am extremely jealousy if you have noticed. It pains me to see our independence being lost particularly if you count the number of lives that were lost in order to recreate this nation.
I therefore suggest that we do a serious visitation of our behaviour and our doings on the ground and deal severely with things like corruption in this nation, and then we bring our pledge to the generation that has to be taught the values that coincide with our actual behaviour on the ground. Mr. President, I want once again to thank the mover of the motion largely because this motion has given us an opportunity to exercise intellectual ability and also to compare the obtaining empiricism against theoretical. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Mr. President for
giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on the national pledge. This motion was raised by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi supporting the idea by Hon. Minister Dokora responsible for Primary and Secondary Education regarding the national school pledge for school children. The whole idea behind the introduction of this pledge is to inculcate the values of patriotism in our youngsters.
I remember when we were growing up, especially my age mates, those who grew up in Rhodesia, we used to make a pledge and we would say ‘God save our gracious Queen’. We went a step further. We had boys who had enrolled into boy scouts and girls who joined the girl guides. All these were colonial mentality orientations. It is very important that children should know their background. They should know their history. We know when the colonialists were doing this, they used to inculcate the values of patriotism and also they would teach the superiority complex in their children and they would take two dols, a black and a white doll then they will ask the children which one they want to be friends with. The children will pick the white doll. This inculcated the values of apartheid and segregation amongst the children.
I would like to say thank you to Hon. Minister Dokora.
I have also noticed that when musicians are compiling their music, they look for ways to please people with their songs. When the songs are first released, people may not enjoy them much but with time, they will embrace the song and take it like a national anthem. So, I am also saying that this national pledge is very important because when people were asked to come up with songs for the national anthem, some wrote and the late Professor Mutsvairo was the winner. This is similar to the national pledge. It is very important as it inculcates the values of patriotism. If some of you watched the President on his visit to Mauritius on the African Economy meeting, the people were asked to dress in their national attire. Our one and only President, Cde. R. G
Mugabe put on a Cuban shirt while most of the other Presidents ended up putting on suits and ties which was contrary to what had been called for. That is why I am saying that we are so colonized that we believe being smart is putting on a tie and jacket, hence I am calling for inculcation of patriotic values amongst our children to enable them to know where we are coming from, where we are and where we are going.
Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY
POLITICAL PARTIES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that has become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. NDHLOVU: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to debate this motion. Hon. Senators have debated here, so I will just debate briefly on what I know about violence amongst our people. I will start with domestic violence. You will find that if husband and wife have differences, they fight in the presence of their children who then tend to think it is the normal thing to do yet it should not be like that. When husbands and wives have differences, they should find time to talk about the issue in the absence of their children.
Another thing which is a problem is a divorced father who marries another wife so she can look after his children. This other woman will not look after the children as expected but take them as animals, yet she is the one who will have come to disturb the children who were living peacefully with their father. Children cannot defend themselves in such a situation. What is common is that the woman will pretend to be good when the husband is around but when he goes away, the children will be abused. Sometimes they do not even go to school and they are not given food to an extent that they end up being fed by next door neighbours. As an august House, how can we handle that? We, women are evil when we get into such a set-up. Men also have their weakness of not looking after their children. When a child tells the father that this is what is going on, he does not believe the child and ends up beating up the child for lying against his wife. How do we handle such a situation? I am pained by people who abuse defenceless children. People should fight with those who can fight back and not children who cannot defend themselves.
The other form of violence is between husband and wife. There are men who are violent and beat up their wives. I have a video of something which happened. This young man used to beat up his wife until she fled the abuse. However, this man approached this woman at her work place and lied to the employer that the wife had left behind a young child who was not feeling well. They went home and discussed their issue and talked of reconciliation but on their way to collect the wife’s property – it is there in the video – the young man beheaded the woman and hanged himself. Prior to that, he had talked to his parents and told them that he was going to kill himself because he had killed his wife and they would find him at such a place. Indeed, they were both found there – dead. You wonder why the woman was no longer interested in that marriage yet the man was trying to force her to come back, resulting in him killing the woman. It is very difficult when people are dead to know who exactly is to blame. The parent of the woman loses because the man willingly wanted to kill himself. So let us look at this issue and try to address these matters when we engage with our constituents. If there are differences, people should communicate and if they are not agreeable, they should go their separate ways.
Then on political violence, I will not say much because you are aware of what is obtaining. I am requesting that when we are addressing our people in meetings, we should tell our youths whom we normally use that they should stay away from violence. Sometimes they are not sent to perpetrate violence, they start that violence on their own. That is not good at all. It is not good for our politics.
Politics is good when there is fair competition. It is like when you are proposing love; a woman can be proposed to by two people but will only agree to one proposal. That is what should be done even in politics. We should discuss and tell each other that it is not good at all to be violent because you want a position. When I want a position, I use another person’s child to achieve my objectives. I will not use my child because I am aware that my child may be injured. Let us take heed that violence does not build our economy. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate. I would like to talk about violence. Violence has been debated here and it is being caused by us Zimbabweans.
We, the adults are the ones who cause this violence. I have observed that violence is now at peak here in Zimbabwe. It is ruling now. In our homes, people are facing problems. A lot of things are happening and some of the things are not said in the communal areas in various districts and constituencies.
Violence is not perpetrated by an ordinary person; it is perpetrated by someone who is aware of what he is doing; a person with money and position. A person without money will not afford to cause violence because he has nothing. We, who are here, are the perpetrators of violence. We debate religiously here but when we are out there at our places, we engage in these acts. In Shona, they say ‘Chakafukidza dzimba matenga’, there are a lot of things that we do.
I am saying this because last week at Cross Dete where I come from, a young disabled man died at his homestead. This happened in a beer hall where a certain man tried to put some poison in other people’s beer. This young man gave people some signals because he had seen that the man wanted to do something bad. That man followed this young disabled man to his home and axed him to death. The young man died and was buried on Saturday. When the case was reported, the man refused that he had tried to put poison in other people’s beer.
That is not the only incident. In Mabale and Cross Dete, a lot of things are happening. Children are being killed. My aunt’s child was killed and there is no suspect at all but the police are there and we the leaders are also there. We know what the law says but we are doing nothing about it. How do we view our law if we allow these things to happen when we are there? Is this the independence; killing each other killing a disabled person who had noticed that someone wanted to commit a crime?
You find that the person who commits such a crime will be picked by the police and after two days, he will be back. What would deter people to be afraid of perpetrating violence if nothing is done? We will continue debating here but we are not even implementing the law. If someone is being accused of a crime, that person should be given a deterrent punishment so that others will not commit the same crime.
We come here to make laws, we debate on a daily basis trying to make laws but the laws are not being implemented in Zimbabwe. It is said that no one is above the law but in Zimbabwe, we are above the law because we are dining with a lot of perpetrators.
Last month, a man killed a child. I asked what action was taken on that man who had done that but I heard that nothing was done and he was walking on the streets. That is why I am saying that an ordinary person cannot perpetrate violence. It is us who debate here. We are hypocrites. You find me instructing young people to do certain things that are derogatory and this results in violence.
What does honourable mean? It means something but we are not behaving honourably. When we are out there, we are animals – lions; we do as we please. We forget what we pretend to do here as honourables. People call us honourables but we are committing crime. It is painful, Mr. President. It is difficult out there; women are facing problems at home. I have observed that in Zimbabwe, we always debate and debate. The chiefs no longer have their powers. When we were growing up, the chiefs had power. They would do a lot of things and people would be afraid. The chief is the custodian of our traditions. When I was in grade 3, I learnt about all the chiefs in the country and I knew them. Right now, if you approach school children and ask who the chief of Mashonaland Central is, they do not know but we could recite them by their names. Zimunhu, Ngorima, we would recite them, even us who did not know them. All that is no longer there. Today, there is a teacher at Mekandama and there was a problem. I approached the teacher. I asked the teacher, where do you come from and the teacher said I come from Shurugwi and they mentioned the place. I asked the teacher who their MP was and the teacher said, I do not know my MP.
A teacher who does not know the MP from his area; is that proper? What kind of teaching does he give to the children when he does not know his MP? That means even the headman or chief is not known.
What would he teach then?
Let us look into it, when we debate here, we must not be hypocrites; let us say the truth. As we debate people will be listening. I heard an Hon. Member here saying people ask about things we debate here. They are aware of what is going on. Yes, there is a tug of war here when we are one nation, a nation we fought for from east to west.
It is as though this country was fought for by one side. This country was fought for by everyone. We fought for this country all of us.
As I am, I will not perpetrate violence. I am in pain because my uncle was killed for supporting a certain party. He was discharged from the hospital with a big wound on his head. He said to me, do not ever fall in love with a person of this language because he was in pain. He said he heard the people saying let him be killed but he woke up. After a month, my uncle passed on. It was being done by us, people with money. Let us do what is proper. Let us not pretend or be hypocrites as adults so that we can be exemplary to our children that when they grow up they should know what to do. What will they do if at all we kill each other with axes and spears? Mr. President Sir, it is a painful thing. This is our country and we should put things in order. As elected MPs, we should legislate for the proper running of the country. With those few words I thank you.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF POPULATION GROWTH IN ZIMBABWE
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Zimbabwe’s low population.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution. The proposal of this motion is to increase the population and that people should give birth to more children. When we look at the support given by NonGovernmental Organisations who are calling for small families, that support should now be for large families. Hence, I thank you Hon.
Members for bringing up this motion.
Let me confess. I was very much touched when I heard about this motion. What pains me is that I am now beyond the child bearing age, having given birth to very few children. I gave birth to three children and yet the motion is calling for a minimum number of eight children. My reproductive system was disturbed because I went to the war of liberation. When this motion was introduced by Hon. Sen. Musaka, I thought maybe it was just a way of whiling up time but I later realised that the Hon. Member was not talking about the multiplicity of the family unit but Zimbabwe as a whole. If we do not multiply, we run the danger of having foreigners coming into the country and multiplying more than us. The problem is, if we let the foreigners multiply more than us, we may end up being swallowed and even the powers being taken away from us.
When we talk about the multiplicity of the family, we are not talking about child spacing which is so poor that you give birth annually. We are saying, the children should be properly spaced in such a way that the family is able to be fed properly and be given proper education.
Thank you Hon. Member for this motion because you also talked about the defence of this country. I was mesmerized saying, are we talking about the defence as in soldiers or the generation gap. We have a time whereby if we miss some children because of this family planning, we may end up having no soldiers because nobody would take up the job of the soldier to protect the country. Hon. Members, we come to
Parliament through elections and the sovereignty of the country is going to be protected by giving birth to more children who are going to carry out the flame of Zimbabwe. I am saying, to the child bearing men and women, please give birth to the required number.
When we look at our country and we will look at the space which we have, we find that we still have space to construct our houses as we want. We even have some open spaces to the extent of saying the animals of Zimbabwe are occupying another space in our game reserves. This shows that we have a lot of space which we can occupy for the development of the country and I know we should multiply because Zimbabwe is a land of milk and honey, full of minerals - about 60 different types of minerals in the country. If we exploit these minerals and extract them using sustainable methods, we can all survive. Even the future generations may survive on these natural resources which are abundant in Zimbabwe. We have abundant space in this country, unlike in other countries where they are building skyscrapers because they are running short of space. Zimbabwe still has enough space.
What we want is to fully utilise the natural resources which we have for the sake of the future generations because if we exploit them as if there is no tomorrow, it is a disservice to future generations. Talking about giving birth, we need to have good health care centres with mothers waiting shelters. Maternity hospitals should be nearer to the people so that the pregnant women do not travel long distances looking for maternity services.
I remember there was a time when one of my cousins died during her gestation period. Both the mother and the baby died because the child was so big that during that gestation period the child disturbed the health of the mother and they both died. When the clinics are nearby, the women will go to those clinics and receive counselling on how they can go through that period. I am also calling for the maternity leave to be extended to pregnant mothers in both the private and public sectors. On the issue of paying maternity fees, my wish is that we should enact a law which prohibits the payment of maternity fees because the women will be on national service, hence that should be free of charge.
We have BEAM in our country which pays school fees for vulnerable children and this fund should be expanded to take care of these children so that when they go to school, the Government will still be able to pay for them. I am pleading with the child bearing age that they should give birth to children and Zimbabweans should multiply. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. JUBA: I would like to add a few words to this motion. I know that we are speaking as if we are singing. In Ndebele they say that there is no one who can dance and clap for themselves at the same time. I have had an instance whereby my cousin who was pregnant, went to maternity clinic and she was told that she still has some time to go and therefore she must come later. She was told to bring some maternity fee of $15. She went for the injection and when the injection was administered on that pregnant cousin of mine she was told that she should pay another $20 so that she would go for a scan. These people had no money and I had to pay for them. When she had a scan, the next thing is that they were calling for another $7. This really disturbed me to the point where I wanted to interfere but I did not because I could have said something which I would regret.
What surprised me is the way she was treated at the hospital. She was treated like a thief or law breaker and yet she was someone doing a national duty. Because she had failed to raise the required amount she was treated like a convict or a law breaker. I am appealing to health care personnel to change their attitude. In my area we have St Patrick’s hospital where we have reports of some care givers who are so relaxed. During the ordeal of my cousin, another pregnant woman who also had come died because of negligence by the health personnel.
The other time I had gone to a health centre with my last born daughter who was pregnant. She was about to give birth and when we told them that the baby was about to come out, the nurses told her that she still had some time to go. What worried me was that if ever she was to give birth on her own, the beds in the hospitals are so high that during birth the baby can fall to the ground and die. I told the nurses on duty that whatever would have happened to my daughter, I would have taken the nurses to task and they would regret what they would have done. The nurses were busy talking about their own stories instead of taking care of the pregnant mother. This is very painful. Expecting mothers encounter a lot of problems and I am saying care givers and health institutions need to be fully supported. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I want to thank you Mr. President for affording me the opportunity to make my contribution on this motion. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Musaka and his seconder for encouraging the people of Zimbabwe to bear more children so that we increase the population of our country. The mover of the motion is proposing that the minimum number of children per family be eight.
I remember last week when this motion was raised when I was in Zvishavane. We were on YA FM phone-in programme and they were saying Parliament is calling for families to give birth to eight children. The producer called for the sentiments of the people of Zvishavane regarding the number of children per family. People were fuming with anger and they were saying the first thing they face during pregnancy is the high maternity fees. The second problem that they highlighted is that when they have given birth to a child how do they fend for the child when the economy is very poor. They were very much worried saying why should the Government be calling for people to have more children when the economy is so bad.
In my case I gave birth to four children. What really worries me is giving them day to care. I know I am better off as a Senator but there are times whereby I cannot stand the problems and expenses encountered in taking care of the needs of these children.
As stated by Hon. Sen. Juba that the maternity fees are so prohibitive in that they are so high. Some two weeks ago here in Harare, we went to attend a funeral of a lady who had died at eight month pregnancy. Despite the fact that the foetus had survived when the mother died, it later died because of the conditions was surviving in. When we talk of health, we are talking of a very important issue and when we talk of getting pregnant, this is a very difficult period in one’s life. We are saying this giving of birth is a national service. What the nation needs to do is to say anybody who is pregnant should be given free treatment. Even when giving birth, there should be no fee paid because the child who will be born is going to be an asset to Zimbabwe and will give some assistance to Zimbabwe.
I know we had an Hon. Member who talked about BEAM which he said was paying fees for people who cannot afford to pay school fees. Now, let me inform the Hon. House that BEAM does not pay fees for every child at a school, but they only select about five children at any given school to pay school fees for. In the rural areas, there are lots of problems faced by people and some of the children in these rural areas are not attending school as I speak. In some instances where some of the learners did well at A’level, I have a cousin who obtained 15 points and she wants to go to university to undertake legal studies and become a lawyer. I am begging you my fellow hon. Members, this learner is a girl who would want to go and study law at university. May we please find a way of assisting this learner?
As a country, we need to look at our resources. Are we being truthful to ourselves when we say families should give birth to eight children? How are these children going to be taken care of? Who is going to take care of their welfare because giving birth is easy but taking care of the family is a difficult problem. I am saying Hon. Sen. Musaka, thank you very much for this motion because it is giving us a chance to dig deeply into the issue of giving birth.
When we look at Zimbabweans, they are second to the Nigerians.
Why, because they are all over the world just like the Nigerians. As a
Senator, I have had the opportunity of travelling around the globe. When travelling around the world, when you see a black man seated and you may think he is a Nigerian or from some other country; you get surprised when you hear this person greeting you in Shona or Ndebele and you then know that this is a Zimbabwean. I can safely vouch and say, we have a lot of people, millions of Zimbabweans who are outside the country. What is going to happen when we give birth to more children? They will definitely go out of the country because we have unsuitable policies.
As Members of the Senate and this august House, are we being truthful to ourselves when we encourage giving birth to children at an average number of eight children per family? I think we are not being truthful to ourselves because we still have about eight million
Zimbabweans who are in the diaspora. When these people come back to
Zimbabwe, are we going to have enough resources? This is unlike in South Africa where a pregnant mother is given some incentive or allowance for being pregnant. Even if the husband or boyfriend denies paternity, the State will still pay for the upkeep of that child. Although I have said this is a good idea, but it has its own disadvantages because South African women no longer want to be married because once she gets married, she loses the Government pay out.
I am therefore calling upon this august House that we should be truthful to ourselves. I thank the mover of this motion and Hon.
President of the Senate for giving me a chance to make my contribution.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT ON THE STATUS OF
CHILDREN’S HOMES
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on the Status of Children’s Homes.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you very much Mr. President.
Today I have to wind up the motion on the status of children’s homes. I would like first to thank the Committee on Gender and Development, in particular the seconder Hon. Sen. Buka. I also want to thank the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, particularly Eng. Matangaidze. I also want to thank the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services for providing information regarding their social service. My appreciation also goes to Plan International Zimbabwe who made such extensive research and finally Musasa Project.
Mr. President, the findings were based on the following objectives which I think were totally achieved. One was to identify and appreciate the challenges being faced in accommodating children at children’s homes. The second was to assess the status of children’s homes. The third was to explore legislative policy regarding children’s homes and to offer policy recommendations for improvement.
Mr. President, this debate was well debated and oversubscribed by the Hon. Senators in here. The Senators who did contribute to this debate were Hon. Sen. Moeketsi, Hon. Sen. Khumalo, Hon. Sen.
Timveos, Hon. Sen. Mabugu, Hon. Sen. Bhobho, Hon. Sen. Goto, Hon.
Sen. Shiri, Hon. Sen. Marava, Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira, Hon. Sen.
Mawire, Hon. Sen. Machingaifa, Hon. Sen. Mavhunga, Hon. Sen. Matiirira, Hon. Sen. Musaka, Hon. Sen. Chabuka, Hon. Sen. Sibanda, Hon. Sen. Ncube, Hon. Sen. Masuku and Hon. Sen. Jadagu.
They all made very positive contributions. In any case, the areas which we visited were only eight and of the eight areas out of 94 children’s homes, some even persisted that this activity must be followed and be completed in other areas which we did not visit. Let me mention those eight areas that we visited Mr. President. We visited
Matthew Rusike Children’s Home in Epworth, which people found a
little bit balanced, but at least they had their peculiar problems as well.
Even at Chirinda Children’s Home in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East, they also had their challenges of accommodation and birth certificates which we found common in all these particular areas. We also visited Chirinda Orphanage Home in Mount Selinda, which had a fountain of problems. So many problems were identified like water and even blankets, food shortages to the extent that Senators made contributions to that. This was well debated and scrutinised. At Alpha
College Children’s Home in Masvingo town, we found that this home was particularly funded by the churches that surround it and also contributions from the Council, so much that those people were not entitled to pay water that was subscribed by the council. They also had their particular problems where they had about US$22 000 shortfalls where people who are working there are not paid at all, and are not even subscribing to NSSA.
We went to Bulawayo SOS Village Lodge. It has various challenges but that is well balanced. They have a problem where university students do not have birth certificates but at large, it sounds a little bit balanced. We also went to Midlands Children’s Home in Gweru. It shows that they have some challenges of land, but they have a problem called ‘INO’ for children above 18 years. In circumstances Mr. President, we found that those above 18 years who have not completed tertirary education seem to be having problems because they are relegated in accordance with the legal age or the majority age which is 18 years before they are fully accommodated. That is what we found in those particular areas.
We went to Mary Ward Children’s Home in Kwekwe and we also found those other challenges. This is also run by the churches and it appears a little bit balanced but with their peculiar problems. The problems of grants of US$15 per month are found common in all these institutions. At Kadoma Training Institute, it caters for young offenders, those who could have committed their crimes at the early age. We found exactly that the land could be there, but they wanted irrigation equipment and provisions of their pumps to be able to pump water irrigating in their land.
We had some response from the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services Hon. Eng. Matangaidze. The area which we wanted first was that those children’s homes should have a set standard in terms of meeting those other conditions which we believe could be fair. In his response, he said those areas have to be monitored all the time by the officials from the Ministry. In other words, we also moaned of the additional staff in these institutions like what we found in Chirinda. The people were not qualified to do their job because they seem to not have been trained to do that. They only assisted on the basis of that shortage.
In his response, he said those children of 18 years, the Ministry is advocating for a quota to be set aside for vulnerable children in institutions to access tertiary education and scholarships. This means this one was partially met because the Minister advocated that at least that would be taken care of and those that are above 18 years are going to be catered for, which is an achievement in the preset objective. The
Minister intends to pay a once off administration fee per year which is US$15 per child per registered capacity. It means to say that instead of paying them US$15 per month, a lump sum will be paid for the full year, which means to say that is a met objective by the Ministry.
If this would be translated to reality, it would be a great achievement. He also indicated that there are those other grants that can be submitted per claim like school fees, examination fees and school uniforms. These will be given or distributed per the claim submitted by these particular institutions. The Chirinda Children’s Home was found to be a little bit far worse in terms of the Senators who did bemoan that Chirinda had substandard conditions. According to the Senators, there were a lot of things mentioned by those who went there. First of all, the Minister promised that he is taking seven children out of that home and also other four young kids were returned back to their relatives and only those who are bound to write their examinations were left at Chirinda.
The good thing about it Mr. President is that currently...
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON.
SEN. TAWENGWA): Order, I am just consulting here. You are now reopening debate. I had allowed you just for five minutes because you had made your observations and you came up with your recommendations. The Minister responded to the Senate and to your Committee report. It is either you are now withdrawing your motion or you are moving for adoption.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Mr. President. I was only highlighting as the Chairman. I want to thank you very much. In other words, all these are substantive matters that we did investigate and of late, it appears that it is an expression of appreciation. I therefore move for the adoption of the First report of the Thematic Committee on
Gender Development on the States of Children’s Homes. Thank you very much.
Motion with leave, adopted.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON.
SEN. KOMICHI, the Senate adjourned at Half Past Four o’clock pm.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 28th March, 2017
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 SENATE
INVITATION TO A CATHOLIC SERVICE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to inform the
House that there will be a Catholic Service tomorrow Wednesday, 29th March, 2017 at 11:45 a.m. in the Senate Chamber. All Members who are Catholic and non-Catholic are invited.
SECOND READING
ZEP-RE (MEMBERSHIP OF ZIMBABWE AND BRANCH OFFICE
AGREEMENT) BILL [H.B. 9, 2016]
First Order read: Second Reading: ZEP-RE (Membership of
Zimbabwe and Branch Office Agreement) Bill [H.B. 9, 2016].
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Madam President, Hon.
Members will recall, Zimbabwe is a shareholder of the PTA Reinsurance Company (ZEP-RE), an intergovernmental reinsurance company with a local branch office.
The Government, through Treasury signed a Host Agreement with ZEP-RE in June 2013. The Host Agreement provides among other things that the Government of Zimbabwe should grant Privileges and Immunities to ZEP-RE. This is also in line with the provisions of
Article 40 of the Agreement establishing the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
In this regard, the ZEP-RE Bill before this august House seeks to confer legal status to the PTA Reinsurance Company.
Objectives of the Bill
The objectives of the Bill are as follows:
- To recognise ZEP-RE as a body corporate in Zimbabwe with international legal personality having power to acquire or dispose movable and immovable property.
- To confer privileges and immunities to ZEP-RE and its employees as outlined in the Host Agreement.
- To allow ZEP-RE to have the legal capacity required to perform its functions under the Preferential Trade Area (PTA)
Treaty, now known as the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa.
Provision of the Bill
Article 1 of the Bill provides for legal capacity of ZEP-RE in Zimbabwe while Article 3 provides for the inviolability of its premises and archives as is accorded to an international financial institution.
Section 1 of Article 7 of the Bill seeks to confer privileges and immunities to ZEP-RE legal persona.
In addition, Articles 8 and 9 of the Bill also seek to confer
privileges, immunities and inviolability of residence of ZEP-RE directors, alternate directors and employees as provided for in the Host
Agreement.
Benefits of ZEP-RE operations in Zimbabwe.
The operations of ZEP-RE will bring economic benefits that include writing insurance business from the insurance market, improving the capacity of the local reinsurance business by bringing on board strong shareholders as well as downstream economic benefits associated with insurance business.
A robust insurance sector for Zimbabwe will contribute to sustained economic growth and improved financial sector performance. Growth and development of the insurance industry will in turn create more businesses for ancillary service providers.
The operations of the reinsurance company in the country will also benefit the Government of Zimbabwe through a wider capital base for the subscription of prescribed assets.
It is against this background, Madam President, that I submit the
ZEP-RE Bill for consideration by this august House. I move that the Bill now be read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee stage: With leave, forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
ZEP–RE (MEMBERSHIP OF ZIMBABWE AND BRANCH OFFICE
AGREEMENT BILL [H.B. 9, 2016]
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 4 put and agreed to.
Schedule 1, Article 1 to 15 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
ZEP-RE MEMBERSHIP OF ZIMBABWE AND BRANCH OFFICE
AGREEMENT BILL, [H.B. 9, 2016]
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Madam Speaker, I now move that the ZEP-RE Membership of Zimbabwe and Branch Office Agreement Bill be now read for the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Madam President, I move
that Order of the Day, Number 2 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day, have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I move that the debate do
not adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I move that the debate do
not adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on stray dogs and other domestic animals.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MURWIRA: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity to debate on a motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Mawire. We may dismiss it at our own peril in terms of safeguarding our livestock. This is an important motion because it affects me. I am going to talk about looking after of dogs. If in the community we do not look after our dogs properly and disturb community members by eating their chickens or goats, peace will not prevail as bad blood will be felt by the neighbours, even to the extent that they will not be together when there is a funeral.
Dogs that are not vaccinated are a danger to people because they cause rabies and those that suffer from rabies ordinarily succumb to death as what happened in our communal area in Seke. In urban centres we see dogs that are dead on the streets. The decaying dogs pollute the air. People should be urged to look after their dogs properly so that they will not be run over by motor vehicles. They should either be caged and confined to the house and only released during the nights. Dogs are very good for security at home. If it is confined during the day and released during the night, thieves will not come because the dogs will alert us.
Dogs should be well looked after.
Let me move on to stray cattle and donkeys that cause accidents on the roads. It is indeed correct that they contribute to accidents but my father always used to say that livestock are important, just like human beings. I have observed that when people have a lot of livestock, they tend to ignore them. We should look after our livestock properly because they are important. If an ox or a donkey is on the road people may lose their lives because they may fail to break and hit into the cattle.
There is also a problem of people who have more than 30 or so dogs and these dogs are not properly fed. You see them roaming all over the community. They break into people’s homes because some of the people do not have proper security and they may be hurt by such behaviour. Others are stubborn when called to come and see what the dog would have done; they ignore the message. I urge that there should be a law that makes it difficult for people to have 30 or so dogs so that people do not simply have dogs that they do not look after. This will prevent people from being attacked by rabid dogs and end up dying.
One should not have a kennel full of dogs but instead they should have a kraal full of cattle. There should be a limitation to the number of dogs that one can keep as a means of security at a homestead. They should be well nourished. Dogs should be looked after and I know that dogs behave very well; they listen just like a human being. If there is a limit of a specific number, people can be able to look after their dogs.
Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN CHABUKA: Thank you Madam President for
affording me the opportunity to add my voice on this debate that has caused the loss of lives on the roads. I thank those that have debated before me, this is a good motion. This motion helps us to secure our livelihoods as we travel either as motorists or as pedestrians. When I talk about donkeys, lions and elephants - if there is a fence such wild animals cannot go on the roads. We urge our people not to tamper with the fence that is there to protect livestock from straying onto the roads. We know that there are certain areas along the Mutare and Bulawayo road where there are some settlements. You even see people leaving their livestock on these roads and as a result a lot of people have lost their lives. We urge the Government to expedite this issue of protecting animals on the roads.
A lot of people have lost limbs and cattle; if electrical fences are to be erected, elephants will not stray on the road. If they are confined, it would enable people to travel safely on the road. Times are hard, we are aware of it - but the Government should put in place border fences to restrain animals. We love these animals but they should be well looked after and people should move freely, and those that travel at night should be able to see the road properly without these donkeys and cattle that one will quickly hit into due to reduced visibility on the road. The boundary fences that were removed should be reinstated so as to safeguard the lives of the people. We are wary of our tourists who may not be aware of such hazards posed by elephants along the Victoria Falls road.
A lot has already been said Mr. President and I am seconding this good motion so that we have our lives secured. There are lions and elephants; they are a menace to the people. There should be an electric fence to confine the zones of animals such as elephants and lions. These will confine livestock from the road as well as wild lions. I repeat, this is a good motion by Hon. Sen. Mawire and it helps us. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the
debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the SADC Model law on eradicating Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the
debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by All Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY
POLITICAL PARTIES
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that had become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Mr. President, I move that the
debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF POPULATION GROWTH IN ZIMBABWE
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Zimbabwe’s
low population.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Mr. President for this opportunity to support the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Musaka. I want to thank him for his motion that we should have large families and we should multiply like the sands of the sea as mentioned in the Bible. Indeed it is mentioned in the Bible that we should reproduce and replicate like the sands of the sea. It is good if we were to look after the children and support them. The reason why we have very few children these days is because things are generally not well, but it is a good thing to have a lot of children. I also want to talk about the issue of the NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) which are said to cause people not to have a lot of children. It is not because of NGOs, but the economic climate.
If one has 8 children, what will become of them if they pass at school, how do you pay their school fees? We left our parents home to become mothers, but our economy does not allow us to have a lot of children. We want God to intervene so that our industries can start running and our children will be employed. Our husbands are still young, they also want to work. They should be able to leave the house to go and work so that in the evening, we have a meal. We look forward to having large families but at the moment we have nothing to give them. The children that you see drinking toxic alcohol like the zed and the blues of this world have nothing meaningful to occupy themselves with. Indeed some can be farmers, they can till the land and be able to sell, but we urge that there should be a resuscitation of the industry so that our children can go and work.
We were urged to be productive during the night so that we have children, but we have nothing to give our children. We allow investors to come and open the industry. We should not have stringent conditions.
The Mutare Board and Paper Mills Company is no longer running. When investors come, let us ask for a less percentage and not the 51% and there should not be stringent measures because they tend to deter prospective investors. Children assault their parents because they will be intoxicated by drugs and they are unemployed with nothing meaningful to do. This is a good motion by Hon. Sen. Musaka, but we need to look at the macro and micro environment so that we bring children into a world that is conducive. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to express my gratitude to Hon. Sen. Musaka and the seconder of the motion. It is a very good motion. I am privately informed and convinced that by the time this motion is wound up, the Hon. Senator and others who have supported this motion would have added a woman or two to their fold and that will definitely increase our population. The female Hon. Senators will definitely invite other females one or two to the lot of their husbands. So, we can be very grateful because as I am speaking, I can hear somebody groaning with joy on my left that she is going to do exactly that. So, thank you very much Hon. Sen. Musaka.
I think one thing that we have to take into account is that, there is a degree of correctness in saying that a large population can help us with some of our economic challenges. It will mean that we will have a good local market where produce from factories operating or resuscitated can be sold. I think one problem that we have to deal with from the outset is the mindset or the mentality where our people, industrialists, traders and entrepreneurs are always thinking that they produce services and goods for the sake of exporting. We should have a mindset which says that a lot of the majority of whatever we are going to produce should be sold locally and then we can only export the little remainder.
Unfortunately, if you read our press and listen to the electronic media like radio and television, what you get from our industrialists is that, they think that export is priority and the local is just another little thing to add to whatever can be generated from exporting. I think that should change and the reverse should be correct so that whatever is produced, the bulk of it can be sold locally. If we did that, it means that the population can really support our economy.
The other thing that we need to think about when we talk about big populations is the way we live in terms of our settlement pattern, the way we build our homes. A lot of us are used to life in the rural home and if we do not have a hut at home, the assumption is that we are not Zimbabwean, whereas I think that what should be happening is that if you really want to develop and make a great lip forward economically, we should think seriously about urbanisation and urbanise the whole country. Even the issue of accommodation can be solved by building high rise accommodation or high rise flats with three to five bed-roomed flats as long as you will be building upwards and not horizontally or sideways. The moment you try to build sideways, it means that you will be eating into a lot of space, which could be used for other things like game-parks and agricultural farming. So, we need to change our mindset in terms of the settlement pattern that we want for this country so that we can build a thousand floors upwards. In so doing, we will also be creating employment for local people who can spend the money that they earn from those construction projects on items produced locally.
I think it is a good idea but we also have to change certain ways in which we think in respect to our own lives. We have to believe that the majority of the people, more than 90% to 99% have to live in urban areas and we leave the rest of the land to be worked on by specialised farmers who will be responsible for feeding those in urban areas. Some of the land also needs to lay fallow because you cannot be using every piece of land as if the world is going to end at 12 midnight. We have to leave some land idle for the sake of future generations, not only from farming, but from mining. You cannot be mining every mineral claim or gold that we have in order to satisfy today’s needs, something has to be left for generations to come for posterity. That is very important.
The other thing is that people have to realise that when we talk of family planning, I think it is a strange idea because it is one of those things where you find the principle of one size fits all jacket. You cannot have any jacket that is worn by someone who is six metres tall, 50cm tall and another who is 1.5 metres tall, I think that is not correct. It cannot be correct that family planning ideas should be spread all over the world in the same way that populations are controlled. If you go to islands like Papua New Gunea and the Pacific Islands, populations have to be controlled and in Zimbabwe the same way. You also visit big countries like Algeria, Zaire and Russia, populations also need to be controlled there. There must be something wrong with that argument. I think one of the real reasons why that is done is that somebody is trying to create a market for those people who manufacture family planning tablets and other medication. If you create that big market, a lot of people will be buying those things, either themselves or through some other donor funded programmes or sponsors but the end product will be that somebody will be making a lot of money. Somebody somewhere maybe not in Zimbabwe because I suppose most of those tablets are not made in Zimbabwe or did not originate in Zimbabwe. My understanding is that the person who originates something gets paid for the patent so even if you produce it locally using someone’s patent, I suspect that somebody will be benefiting behind there because they originated the idea of the particular medication that you are producing locally.
For instance, because of that, in Zimbabwe there was a time when we were getting a rebate for having up to four children – father and mother plus four children but now that has been scrapped because the local family planning organisation campaigned against it because they felt Government was undoing their efforts by de-campaigning them by encouraging people to get rebates for what they perceived to be large families of parents plus four children or four dependents. So, I think we can also look at the family planning mechanism as a problem in itself because it raises suspicions as to the real motive behind prescribing the same medication for every geographical population situation. I think something can be done about that and it may not have to be trusted that it is fine. In other words, I am agreeing with Hon. Sen. Musaka’s proposition that maybe we should consider raising our population to some level which can then support us in terms of economics and what we produce locally first being sold to our people and the remainder being sold to foreigners in the form of exports. That is how some currencies are now considered to be important forex. We always cry about foreign currency yet we do not want our currency to be foreign currency in other places. There must be something wrong with that reasoning. We only want to be assistants or deputies and not become the real leaders of the situation ourselves. We can change that I think.
There is also the issue of a large population, the way in which we manage ourselves, our systems and the way in which we reason – that I have already alluded to, is very important in taking us forward economically. There are other places with smaller populations to Zimbabwe who are doing very well like the company of Nokia phones from Finland. It originated from a country which has less than 10 million people, if I am not mistaken and they are doing very well with Nokia as everybody likes Nokia all over the world. I understand they have now bought back their right to be producing those phones; most of us will be rushing to get a Nokia phone. You can also think of Singapore which is referred to as a city state with a small population of about two million people yet it is doing very well economically.
So some of these things depend on the way in which you mould your people’s mindsets, gear up yourself to certain tasks and things; doing certain things and not doing other things that might destroy your economic outlook. I think it is good that we have a good population, can have it and that Hon. Sen. Musaka and all the women who have supported it are going to be invited, taking things for their spouses before the motion is wound up. I think it is really good that we set our mindsets in the correct positions and places so that whatever we do results in what we want to achieve. I thank you Mr. President. – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for
affording me the opportunity to add a few words to the motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Musaka and his seconder.
This is an industry that never fails as people pass away year in year out because every year you find there are new children enrolling countrywide meaning that some people are reproducing. Therefore something happened in our age group which saw the advent of family planning. A long time ago, our mothers used to plan their families. When I became knowledgeable, I could see that my family consisted of eight of us spaced by four years. So, it is possible that the gaps that are left due to attrition are covered by others.
We then went to the hospitals and were informed of family planning. There were four methods of family planning consisting of Depo-Provera; injectables, the loop and the pill and all these are foreign bodies. All these family planning methods are detrimental to ourselves as we are giving birth to children with several disabilities and this was not so in the past. This has taken us back.
I went to Beijing, China and in each town, there are about 20 million people. There are very few of us here. We should encourage our children who are still in the child-bearing ages to produce more children – we want more children. My father used to take good care of us yet we would walk with naked bellies and drink cattle milk. We would pound our millet and this year God has given us good rains and we are going to feast because there is no hunger. We have a lot of maize, groundnuts, crickets; grasshoppers and so forth and so on. Young couples should reproduce and make up for those who have left this planet. We will make a follow up if you do not listen to us.
I visited one of our clinics in Shangani. They are well organised in terms of this issue and a lot of young mothers were attending family planning sessions. I enquired as to the number of children they had and their children ranged from one to two. I asked them whether they were aware of what exactly it meant and explained that they would stop conceiving as others were opting for operations so that they stop reproducing completely. As I was busy addressing the young women, one of the husbands arrived from South Africa and rushed to the clinic as he was perturbed as to why she was engaging in family planning methods during his absence. It does not kill to give birth; you should agree with your husband and give birth. You should not engage in family planning methods so as to cheat on your husband who is in Johannesburg. I do not advocate for people who engage in family planning in order to cheat on their partners.
Thank you very much Hon. Sen. Musaka. Why is it that he is not here? He did very well in tabling this motion. We are the midwives and thus should educate our children to reproduce more children because teachers will be born out of those. I have six graduate children. God helped me to have doctors, nurses, teachers and lawyers. From where I come from, the Shangani land, even here because the children should be produced because there will be donors that will assist us, if you have two or more. If I have two of each children, how many will you have? I had
16 children because some of them were twins, what is wrong with that.
I asked those in Beijing, China what would happen if a person has quadruplets babies, they said they will accept that. So, we should not give the economy as an excuse. We should farm our land and export our beans, rappoko, cow peas and our Government will have money. If the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Hon. Mabuwa, was here, we would tell her that we want to process our dried vegetables so that they could be exported by women so that we can raise our economy and bear children. We will be able to look after our families if we give birth to a lot of children and work hard. Traditional chiefs, here is the duty for you, indeed if you go to the clinics and then you will see what an anathema, tell them that we encourage them to give more birth and that the Government will assist them in looking after these children. Why bar the bringing in to this world of new teachers and doctors because we have taken contraceptives? I disagree with that issue, Mr. President.
I urge that we have more children so that we have more people in Zimbabwe. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you for affording me the
opportunity in support of such an important nation building motion raised by Hon. Sen. Musaka and the seconder. I support what has already been said by Hon. Members who supported that we should have more children. As has been said by the previous speaker, a long time ago when we used to live with our parents, we did not have the same food stuffs that we are now having. We had seasonal foods to feed eight to ten children; you would rarely find any weaklings. Nowadays, these chronic diseases are on the increase. During our time we would eat maheu, cow peas, round nuts and our children would go to school bare footed.
However, not even a single women is suckling in this Senate Chamber, it is not a good thing – [Laughter.]- We would want a situation whereby women would excuse themselves changing baby dippers during a Committee workshop or public hearing but instead Hon. Senators will be busy sleeping because of age. Let us encourage our children to have more children; there is no problem with that issue. We will create employment on our own. If our children are educated, some will become builders and build schools, dam walls, and clinics thereby creating our own employment. We should not be afraid of giving birth.
We are the owners of our own destiny. As a grandmother you should have six children on one arm and four on the other, it is good and it shows that your family is growing up. Why do you build an eight bed roomed house where you live alone with your husband. Once your daughter has been married, you remain with the 12 bed roomed house, what aid is to? Let us build homes and have several children that will be happy with these houses that we are building in Borrowdale. Each room for every house in Borrowdale should be occupied. I urge people to have more children, let us teach our children not to plan these families, there should not be these child spacing. If you agree with your husband, set your target that you have 10 children and every year, you will have a child. In ten years you will have 10 children. Once the 10 children are born, the mother becomes fit and she will be now looking after the 10 children and she becomes sweeter. This is a good motion, let us have more children. Let us not be afraid, there are several ways in which to look after these children. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: I move that the debate do
now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March, 2017.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT ON EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second
Report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on
Early Child Marriages
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 29th March 2017.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
ZANU PF CAUCUS MEETING
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESDIENT OF SENATE: There will be a caucus meeting for ZANU PF Members of Parliament on Wednesday, 29th March, 2017 at ZANU PF Headquarters at 1000 hours. You will be advised of the agenda there, please attend and be punctual. Thank you.
On the motion of the HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA seconded by HON. SEN. MAKONE the Senate adjourned at Twenty minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 14th March, 2017
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
POSTPONMENT OF CODE OF CONDUCT WORKSHOP
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the Senate that the Workshop on Code of Conduct for all Members of Parliament has been postponed to Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017. The workshop will consider the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament and the Privileges and Powers of Parliament Act. It will be held at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) at 0830hrs. Hon. Senators are requested to take copies of the following documents to the workshop: -
- The Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Benefit Act.
- The Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act; and
- The Code of Conduct together with its Annexure which is the declaration form.
Bring those three documents with you.
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: In terms of
Section 39, subsection 7(a) of the Electoral Act, Chapter (2), the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has notified the Clerk of
Parliament of the nomination of Senator Caroline Tsitsi Mugabe as a
Senator. Hon. Sen. Mugabe is a registered voter in Ward 19 of Zvimba Rural District Council in Ngomahuru, Mashonaland West Province; who was nominated by the Zimbabwe African National Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party to fill in the vacancy that occurred in the Senate following the death of the then incumbent member, Hon. Sen. Virginia
Muchenje. Hon. Sen. Mugabe was duly appointed Senator for
Mashonaland West Province with effect from the 6th of March 2017.
Section 128, subsection (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that before a member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the member must take the Oath of a Member of Parliament in the form set out in the Third Schedule. Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. SEN. CAROLINE TSITSI MUGABE subscribed to the
Oath of Loyalty as required by the Law and took her seat – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
Thank you Madam President, I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 be stood over until all the other Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. BHEBHE: Thank you Madam President for giving
me this opportunity to add my voice on the speech that was done by the
President of the State. I would like to thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Sen. Chipanga seconded by Hon. Sen. Mkhwebu. I will say just a few words since most of the Senators have debated a lot on this. The first thing I would like to do is to thank the President on his speech when he was addressing the Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate.
The President of State and Commander in Chief of the Defence
Forces emphasised on the importance of having this country and the economy as well. He touched a lot on the agricultural sector. Looking at agriculture, he emphasised on the command agriculture that when it is implemented, the country will have enough food. As it is, we have a tangible example for there are so many people who are willing to do command agriculture. He touched on dairy farming because milk is a product needed by everyone in the country. I noted that goats have rich milk; some people buy goats because they want goat’s milk. Research says that goat’s milk is good nutrition especially to children; it helps on resisting diseases and contributes on health body building. The President emphasised on the issue of having dairy farming, he also hinted on the issue of having enough dairy cows.
He talked about mining, for example gold, diamond and other minerals mined in Zimbabwe. If only we can take good care of all minerals mined, I believe this will improve the economy of the country. For everything that is being mined, I know there are many minerals that are mined and most of them are still available in our country. Where I come from - if there are no proper regulations, many people are having disputes over minerals and if there is no law that guides them, we face so many issues that are related to illegal mining. Our wish is that all the minerals that are mined assist us in improving the economy of the country. The President also touched on the issue of the Bills that are supposed to be passed. Yes, we are seeing that most of the Bills are coming and being passed in both Houses. My wish is that if the Bills are passed they should be implemented.
You realise that we are waiting for the Bill on land to be brought into Parliament, it has to be debated and Members of Parliament will pass it but at the end of the day it will not be implemented. On the education sector, when we look at Zimbabwe, we realise that it is a country that values education. Whilst on that, we have to take note that there are other children who are not fortunate enough to get educated. If only we can get social welfare to assist such children. The Department of Social Welfare also pays for the BEAM programme; it is one of the programmes that the President of the State highlighted on.
What we know is, long back they used to say as long as you are able to write your name, it is okay and enough especially for the girl child. They say at the end of the day, you will get married and change your surname. Nowadays, we realise that it is affecting everyone - the boy and girl child are supposed to be given proper education. If we take serious consideration on issues to do with mining, we will be able to buy the medication for our hospitals and even supplement the AIDS levy. We will also be able to and assist those who are affected with cancer, high blood pressure and sugar diabetes. These are some of the things that can be taken care of by the Government, especially by availing medication that they take.
There are some people who live with the disabled. The President highlighted that those people should be taken care of and not be isolated in so many things, for being disabled does not mean that you are not able to do anything –
Hon. Sen. Bhebhe’s phone having rung.
I am sorry Madam President, I thought I had switched off my phone. There is this animal called corruption Madam President. This is one animal that attacks everyone as long as you are living in this country. The President highlighted on the issue of corruption and he hinted that if only we are serious Zimbabweans, we should not participate in any corrupt deals. When I look at Matabeleland Province in Bubi district, there is something that was flighted several times in the newspapers concerning mining. There is a group of boys that we refer to as ‘Shurugwi’ and if they come and try to overtake your mining area, they will go to an extent of murdering people. People from that community will then be able to identify the group and say it belongs to so and so. If we can stop engaging in corrupt activities, we will be able to improve our country. Even the issue to do with sanctions; it was because of the fact that our country has rich minerals that can improve the country. That is why sanctions were imposed on us. If all of us can stop being involved in corrupt activities; we will improve the country.
Madam President, if a man marries two wives, that is another form of corruption because you are causing these two women to always fight. If we can take seriously what the President said. The President also touched on the issue of violence. He hinted that most of the times when people are arguing or fighting, at the end of the day there is no peace. Madam President, I just wanted to add my voice on the few points that I had since the other Hon. Senators have already debated. With these few words, I thank you.
+THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you but I
am not sure whether male counterparts heard what you were saying about marrying two wives.
+HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President. I
would like to make my contribution on the debate that was brought by the President. When the President says something, he says it on behalf of everyone in the country because when you are leading you are leading everyone and no one is left out. What I would like to say is that ZIM
ASSET is properly written. It gave us four areas which are good and the President also mentioned those things that should be implemented to ensure that we are successful on those areas. The President also mentioned about the Bills. To my surprise, the Bills are not being brought at the pace that the President highlighted on. When the President speaks on certain issues, we want to see those issues being implemented. Maybe what is delaying the process is because there are some people who have been in the same position over and over again and at the end of the day there is nothing new that is being brought.
On the issues that that the President highlighted on; I have looked at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, you find that the same industries, especially for food have been reopened. Yes, I have seen things like cooking oil, are now in stock but when you go out to places like Mupedzanhamo, they are still selling clothes that are being imported whilst we have our own cotton in Zimbabwe. Why can we not reopen
Kadoma Textile industry? There is nothing that is being done at Kadoma Textile industry. Is it not possible that people can be reshuffled? Surely, we will not achieve all the things that the President highlighted for example on the issue of improving the economy of the country if we continue like this.
The President also highlighted the issue of agriculture. Yes, we are seeing that being implemented, especially this year with the introduction of Command Agriculture. In most of the areas, people managed to do their farming activities but in my own view, most people did not have fertilizer. Yes, some are going to have a bumper harvest. We have heard that there are three silos. Most of the times we do a reactive response, for example when we are told that there is a bumper harvest, that is when we start building silos. Why can we not be proactive and have silos readily available?
Another thing that is taking us back as a country is that fertilizer is causing erosion to the country. People should be educated on conservative agriculture so that it is helpful to those who are not able to buy fertilizer. This will also help on climate change. We have the SDGs, one of them states that there is Climate Change. So, for us not to witness the effects of climate change, we are also suppose to participate.
For example issues like farming affects climate change at 60% rate more than the other issues that contribute towards climate change. We should therefore change in our ways of farming so that we can conserve our environment.
The President also touched on violence. We have heard that violence - there. I think the major form of violence is whereby we use children who are under 18 to have children. To me that is a form of violence. For those kids to get pregnant, they are impregnated by an elderly person. According to Zimbabwe Democratic Health Survey, children who are below the age of 15 who have given birth are at 15%. It also revealed that children who are 16 years old and already have kids are 16.4% and children at 17 years old are at 21.4%. These are elderly people who have sex with these children.
The President indicated that he does not want children to be raped, yes - but we are seeing this still happening. If only we can work together for this country. I know when this is said by a Member belonging to the opposition party, we seem to complain a lot but these are our children who are being raped at a tender age. As I have highlighted and the percentages that I have given; we visited children who are 14 years of age at Musasa Project. Those who are 9 and 12 years were not catered for in that survey. Those 15, 16 and 17 years that were put into consideration by the survey were considered as older people who have the right to engage in sexual activities. If only we could work together, the ZIM ASSET Blueprint is a very good policy.
However, the question that I want to ask is, are we going to achieve it? In my own view, people who are in positions of authority have overstayed and not able to effect change and if we cannot change them, we will not be able to have any further development. Those who are not able to perform should be relieved of their duties and replaced by those who are able to effect development. I thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to add my voice on this motion.
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order Read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. MATHUTHU): I move
that the debate do now adjourn. Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE SENATE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. MATHUTHU): I move that Order of the Day, Number 4 be stood over until all the other Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fifth Order Read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15 March, 2017
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
Sixth Order Read: Adjourned debate on motion on SADC Model law on eradicating Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: Thank you Mr. President for giving
me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion that was brought by Hon. Sen. Mohadi on the SADC Model law that was done in Swaziland and seconded by Hon. Sen. Chipanga. I will say a few words, especially after the long debates which took place in this House.
Hon. President, what was highlighted on this law relates to children who get married before attaining the age of 15. In my view, I wish we could pass a law in this country which protects children who get married before attaining the legal age or those who give birth to children before attaining the expected age. What I know is that there is no way we can say, for example, that a child should be taught the laws by a neighbor, but one should do it on their own. The children who come from a well-groomed family with regulations are distinguished by their behaviour, even at school they listen to their teachers. Our children get married at an early age as some of them are not given enough advice whilst some are advised in a harsh way and ultimately they become stubborn at a tender age. We should learn to teach our children in a proper way so that they become our future leaders with a bright future.
Another thing that forces children to get married at a tender age is that, they are not adequately provided for. For example, you send a child to school without enough resources and when they find that their friends are adequately provided for, they fall for anyone who offers them US$10 and that child will end up falling into the trap because of shortage of resources. I therefore urge the Government that if only they can implement this law that those who are below the required age for marriage or those who are already in marriages before attaining the required age, should be protected by the law passed by the Government.
I emphasise that the Government should put the law that will protect these children. What is also important is that as Hon. Members have debated this at length. I have been listening to everybody who contributed to this debate and they wish that if only the law could be implemented, it will protect these children so that they do not get married at a tender age. With these few words, I thank you Mr.
President for giving me this opportunity.
*HON. SEN. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. President for giving
me this opportunity to add my voice. I would want to thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi for this motion on the SADC Model Law being seconded by Hon. Sen. Chipanga. This motion is very important as it talks about the law that was put in place against child marriage. It also gives the girl child an opportunity to go to school just like a boy child. Again, it gives them an opportunity to make choices about their lives.
Mr. President, this law is very important. We should embrace it and use it in our country for the upliftment of the girl child. When this law was passed, even our President was present, so the law should be effected. I think it was long overdue for us to protect the girl child so that she will get married when she is mature. I thank you.
HON. SEN MOHADI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY
POLITICAL PARTIES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that had become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF POPULATION GROWTH IN ZIMBABWE
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Zimbabwe’s
low population.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Thank you Mr. President for according me this opportunity to debate on this motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Musakwa and seconded by Hon. Sen. Murwira. The motion wanted to bring out that the population of Zimbabwe should be high. This will help us in luring investors to invest in our country. The motion also seeks that the Government should come up with ways of incentivising those who are able to have large families so that the population of Zimbabwe will grow.
Mr. President, yes, we are aware that at the moment we are having challenges economically but it should not be given as an excuse for not bearing children. During the liberation struggle, when things were difficult, people would bear children; women would be seen running whilst pregnant. In those days, families were very large with more than eight children per family and it has helped the nation to be where we are today.
However, with the advent of HIV/AIDS, many people have passed on, so who will compensate those people? So, I am encouraging people to bear more children so that we enlarge our population. We do not want to be in the same situation with Europe. Right now, they have challenges with their population which has more aged people that are no longer productive. Let me give you a very good example of retirement. For example, Spain was the first nation to come up with a post for Minister of Sex which means that when people get into their homes, they become busy.
This will help us Mr. President, to ensure that our population in Zimbabwe grows. Those who contributed in the past brought out the advantage that companies can produce more products and there will be many consumers, then population growth will be promoted and those who pay tax will be more. If people are few, we will remain cry babies. For example in Germany in Europe, privately they are courting foreign citizens. If you go to Germany today and you are not working, you earn £400 per month even if you are not employed, just for sitting. After three years, you become a citizen. They want to improve their population.
If we support this motion objectively, it will help us in future to ensure a bright future. If you look at our war veterans, most of them are now retiring. What does this mean to us in terms of our country’s security? If you want to take statistics and you go to NAC, you will find that over two to three million people are HIV positive. I do not mean that they are going to die but HIV reduces the level of those people who are productive. We should encourage people not to look down on family planning methods, but at the same time big families will help our country to grow. It will help us have a bright future.
As a country, we should come up with a policy that if you have a large family, you get an incentive for giving birth. In China, they once came up with a one child per household policy, but they have now relaxed that because they are aware now that their population is dwindling. So, the relaxing of the policy is helping them to rebuild their nation. We should also be in line with God’s law because we know that Zimbabwe is a Christian country. When God created man, he said be fruitful and multiply. If you are not reproductive, you are defying God’s law. All those who are able, you must get busy. It helps our nation to grow.
I also want to give another example, if you look at our children in Zimbabwe; most of them are now working in the diaspora. So, who is left? Most of those who are living the country are acquiring foreign citizenship. If you go to South Africa, you find that there are those who are called the Boers. They were very few but they came up with a policy that they should reproduce. A few weeks back, they were challenging South Africans that if you start grabbing our land, we will start a war because their population is now large in numbers.
Mr. President, I want to support this motion by saying that it is a very good motion and it helps to grow our population. It will help us develop our nation. Before I sit down, let me give you an example which
I was told by a Chinese. He said that even if we give them the worst
parts of our country; say a mountainous place like Kariba, in two years time, they would have completed constructing that area and they would be about two billion people living there. We have our land and there is nothing that can stop our nation to grow so that we are productive. With these few words, I want to thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: I want to thank Hon. Sen. Musakwa for this motion, which was seconded by Hon. Sen. Murwira. I want to start by saying child-bearing is very good for us and our elders said that kuwanda kwakanaka asi kwakaipira kupedza muto (it is good to have large numbers but they also demand more resources). Coming to the way we live these days, for me to have ten children and be able to look after them is a challenge. However, in terms of work, it is very good to have as many children as possible. We should not be like those people who employ a lot of people but cannot pay them.
We can have a lot of children and not be able to send them to school. Long back, yes, we could live on the mere salaries that we got but these days the children are different. They cannot go out without shoes or wearing tattered clothes. They can go out like that but inside they will be crying. So, if we still live in the past, I think we will be creating a problem. Even if a husband has 15 wives, the children will end up being a problem in society because they cannot get enough from their homes. Those who can have 15 children and those who cannot should do what is within their means.
We should not have children for other people to look after. Even if you become busy and have children that you cannot look after, it is a sin before God. You should have a child that you are able to look after. At my age, if I go to the clinic pregnant, the nurses will scold me. Long back at my age, they could bear and give birth to normal children but these days the nurses would be angry with me. Now, our children are giving birth at the age of 15 years and I cannot compete with a 15 year old. It is very difficult. We should tell each other the truth. We cannot still live in the past.
Long back children could carry samp to school but these days, they cannot take boiled maize (mangai) to school. If you tell them to take boiled maize to school, they will look at you. Yes, long back we were born in large families of about 15-20 children but those who said people should engage in family planning methods were not mad. They knew and had realised that some of the children were not going to school. Everyone should look after their children. There are children in the streets. I once said that our male counterparts should go and take children from the streets because those children do not have anyone to look after them, yet you still want to add the number of children living on the streets. So, the motion is very good but it was good long back not these days. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMANIKIRE: Thank you Mr. President for according me the opportunity to add my voice to this motion. Surely, giving birth was a good thing. When I was growing up, if it was a good thing to do, I could have given birth to 15 children because those who were able to give birth to 15children, how strong were they? I really wanted to have 15 children but these days, our children want to have more children but you will find that when they get pregnant, the maternity fees that they are charged at the clinics are so exorbitant, the men are not empoloyed and they are living from hand to mouth as they are all vendors. Parents are not even able to save say $5 and that is one of the reasons that is hindering children from having many children as they are worried about looking after those children and also how to feed them when they give birth.
When I grew up, I was a dressmaker and I used to sell clothes. As I was selling my wares, I came across this family and this man said to me, you should tell your friend to practice family planning. So, the man was scolding the woman but in my mind I said to myself, does the wife just get pregnant on her own. So if we go to these industrial areas, we would find that all the people who were employed there are now unemployed and are sitting at home. Our form fours are now on the streets selling airtime juice cards. So if we increase our population, where will the children go to stay because the way that we are living these days, it is an impediment for them to have more children.
My daughter in law has two children and I always ponder that if it happens that one child dies, it means that she will be left with only one child but when I look at them, the husband is not working. So even if they have another child, how will they support that child? Yesterday I was listening to the Minister when he was referring to the children going to Grade Zero. He said, if children start school at Zero Grade, when they get to ‘O’ level, they come out with good grades like ‘As’ and ‘Bs’ because they were motivated right from the beginning. But when you look at some children who did not go to crèche and Zero Grade, they are the children who are getting lower grades because their minds are not sharp enough. So comparing them, you will find that that woman who would have given birth to a lot of children, her children are dull but those with a few children, their children are intelligent.
So, I think, we should come up with a mechanism that we should use to help the less privileged people so that they can have more children who would be well looked after. With these few words, I thank you Mr.
President.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Musaka who moved this motion in this august House and seconded by Hon. Sen. Murwira. Hon. Members, when we debate this motion, let us have a vision and let us look into the future because, if we look at the present situation really, we have all the reasons not to have many children. So, let us not look at the present situation because situations come and situations go. When these situations change and we are stuck with one or two children, we cannot have children because we cannot give birth, raise them and educate them within months. So, where will we get people to vote for us because we need votes and we need them very much. We need to see the population of the country increase but can we increase it like we grow maize in three months time and have the population that we want. It is not possible. So, let us get prepared as there is nowhere where we have heard of children dying because of hunger or because of not going to school – they are all surviving. So, we have to think outside the box.
Mr. President, in my own opinion, I prefer to export people to look for greener pastures out there other than importing people from foreign countries to come and run technical schools here in our country because they will bring their technical schools that do not match with our own country. We need our own people to do it. So, it is wise to train them here. Mr. President, we need nurses, teachers, soldiers and policemen, you can name them. We cannot say we have to limit ourselves today and have maybe a minimum number of children yet we need all those people. As I said earlier on, they cannot be born today and get jobs in all these fields within three or five months but we need years for them to grow up. We have to plan in advance and we need children. Let us not limit ourselves.
This morning when I was listening to the news, I was impressed. There is a certain old man who I cannot remember his name. He passed away and he was declared a Liberation Hero. He had 12 wives and those are the kind of men that we need in Zimbabwe – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
He had 30 children – yes, he has greatly contributed to the country because now he has grandchildren and great grandchildren, may be totalling 60 or 100 and those are all voters for Zimbabwe. As ZANU PF, really we need that.
Mr. President, even if we look at the production sector - that is agriculture where everybody is singing about command agriculture.
You know what; we have these white farmers who are very clever. Whenever their children grow up, they do not mind about them getting degrees in English or what, but they train them so that they know how to farm. They should get degrees in farming and mechanical industries and so forth so that when they grow up, they would assist them when they are old. They invest in their children so that tomorrow when they are old, those white men will go and rest whilst their children carry on with the work. Unlike when we cry that my child should go to school, he or she should be a professor – what for? A professor where? Let us think about it. It is not a joke. We are talking about the future and we should prepare what the future will carry for us, not just looking at today that what is my child going to eat, food on the table for the first day, what about tomorrow? You might be very unfortunate and that one child that you have, the following day that child dies and you have invested in nothing. Where will you put all those riches that you have. Whom are you going to give them to because the only one child that you had prepared for is already dead. You better think and plan. Mr. President, with these few words, I would like to support this motion. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MASUKU: Thank you Mr. President. Firstly, I would like to say that Zimbabwe is a Christian country and I can simply say that we are a Christian family. We learn from the Bible that we should multiply and it does not give a limit on how many children you are supposed to have. Mr. President, in our traditional culture, it is said that an elephant is not burdened by its own tusks.
Mr. President, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I would like to thank the mover of the motion, Senator Musaka and the seconder of the motion. I come from a big family and I am the fourth born from a family of 12 from the same mother. In our culture, what we call the clan will not disappear for we were born a big family. If we say we limit on the number of children that a family is supposed to have, where is the clan going exactly? A nation is identified by its culture and if your nation does not have children, where is it going to; but because you have members of your clan, your traditions will continue.
Mr. President, how I understand family is that it was supposed to be brought by other people who wanted to limit on the number of children that we will have so that they can benefit from that. What I will agree with Mr. President, is child spacing; how you space your children but not in a way that every year, you have to bear children. You have to give birth to as many children as you can. Another issue that I will try to add my voice on is that our God gave us different minerals, trees, vegetation and different things that are bringing money to the country which the other countries are jealous of. That is why they brought issues like family planning. If only we could use that in a way that will enable us to give birth to our children. I do not think we can say there is a family that is not able to get enough.
Mr. President, I know most of the times people tend to think that if they bear too many children, what am I going to do. I will continuously refer to the Bible for we are a Christian nation. The Bible says that the birds do not know what they will eat but they are still alive. Why do I want to go ahead and plan for God? You can have one child and be thinking that you will be able to support the child but you do not know what your tomorrow has. What if you fail to take care of the one child that you have, God takes care of our lives.
Mr. President, the problem that is there is – we are too much of the dependant syndrome. We are no longer the nation that loves working and we are not ashamed of depending, for example, like what the chick does. You will hear from a family whereby a man is supposed to be supporting the family but he will be asking – where are we going to get food and when are we going to be given the food? Why do you not want to work as a man and feed your family? People will be asking – where are you going to get the job? For you to do your farming in your small garden that you have, it does not need you to be employed.
We have even taught our children to always depend on
Government. Why should you bear children with a mentality that the Government will take care for them? When you bear children, you should be responsible to care for them as a parent and not to bear them with the mentality of going to the Government asking for donations. We should teach ourselves to work and be responsible for our families which will be equivalent to the number of children that we have.
Someone told me that if you bear so many children and have girls only, what are you going to do and I asked her – when you plan to have children, is it you who determines or it is God. We do not know, maybe when you are trying to have children, God would have made it in a way that later on he will give you boys. The question that I want to pose is, is a girl child not a human being enough, especially these days? Mr. President, I want to acknowledge the fact that the girl child is now equal to be boy child in many different ways, for example, if our Deputy Clerk of Parliament did not refuse, by today she would be one of the chiefs. We will be saying the clan of Dingani is continuing, even if there were girl children only that were born.
I am therefore, against the idea that people should not give birth with the mentality that what if I have girl children only or if I give birth to children, I do not know how I am going to feed them. I would like to urge everyone that when you are reading your Bible, please do not skip the verse that says, you should give birth and multiply. If we are saying to our children they should not give birth, what are we saying about our future because they should take care of us later on. I would like to second this motion and say that when Zimbabwe is improving in its economy, it should also improve on its population and this can be achieved by us as Zimbabweans through hard work. This will be evident in that what you are doing at work is equivalent to improving the state of the nation. I thank you Mr. President Sir.
*HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Mr. President. I have a few words to add on the motion. Firstly, when you are debating a motion, it is very important to ask ourselves on what we are talking about, where it ends up to. I am saying this because those who are debating should be sure that they would have eight children because we come here and encourage people to bear a lot of children when they know that they have gone past that age and we want people to give birth when they do not want to.
Secondly, we should look at the Government. When they accepted the policy on family planning they must have seen something. My question is, what have we seen today that we should want families to have eight or ten children? I do not have a problem with people who want 20 or 30 children. Hon. Sen. Chifamba said we should have children that we are able to look after because it is not a question of bearing children as if they are cows. We are talking of quality life of a child. The quality life of a person is not to have children and feed them with porridge but they should get nutritious food, go to school and dress well. If you have 30 children and we are saying we do not have money in this country and there are no jobs – we are only looking at tomorrow and not today.
The child that we are bearing, we are saying tomorrow we want them to work, I think we are right because we just want to bear and put them in the country and count them. These children also want a good life. I have seen that as we are debating in this House, we are forgetting what a child is. We are talking to a child that we want them to be a leader for the betterment of our country, but we see that our debate is just pointing to having more children so that they will help us tomorrow. This motion has two aspects that is the Government should give incentives. There is no guarantee there, and there is nothing in place that the Government will get the money.
Right now, the Social Welfare is not able to look after the deserving children. Children who want to benefit from BEAM – we cannot pay for the children that we have right now but we are saying we should give birth to children because the Government will give incentives. Where do the incentives come from? The Budget of this country is $4 billion and it cannot take our country further. Today, we are bringing in a motion that we should have more children who are to be looked after by the Government when the Government is not able to look after the people that are there. I think this debate does not show where we want to go.
We are also looking at NGOs and saying they should give us money so that we increase our population. We cannot approach donors and say, give us money so that we have more children in our country. Therefore, what this motion is saying is not possible because we are not in control.
In conclusion, I want to say, this motion is not bad for those who can look after the families that they have. We should not come up with an exciting debate so that when we go out, people will ask us about the debate. I think Mr. President, those who stand up to debate should not point to other people when we know that in here, the Senators are not able to have those children and they do not want their children to have large families. I thank you Mr. President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 68TH SESSION OF THE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARY
UNION
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the 68th Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. GOTO: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to wind up the motion of the Report of the Parliamentary Delegation to the 68th Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union held on the 2nd to 3rd June, 2016 in Khartoum, Sudan. Suffice to say that participation to such an important conference by our delegation is very critical. It enables us to share best practices and views. In our case, the highlights of the conference were on issues to do with culture, linguistics, religious, ethnics and social diversity and the importance of preserving our cultural inheritage.
I would like to thank all Hon. Senators who contributed to this motion, notably, Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa, Hon. Sen. A. Sibanda, Hon. Sen. Khumalo, Hon. Sen. Mohadi, Hon. Sen. Bhobho amongst others. I therefore move that the motion that this House takes not of the Report of the delegation to the 68th Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union be withdrawn from the Order Paper. I thank you Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON GENDER
AND DEVELOPMENT ON THE STATUS OF CHILDREN’S HOMES Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on the Status of Children’s Homes.
Question again proposed
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Mr. President. I rise to give notice to the closure of this motion because it was responded to very tactically by the Hon. Minister himself. I only await to see the Hansard so that I will also quote some of the areas that were promised. I think the Hansard will be out today or tomorrow. However, I think this week I will be winding this particular motion. I want to thank you very much.
I therefore move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON GENDER
AND DEVELOPMENT ON EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
12th Order read: Adjourned debate on the Second Report of the
Thematic Committee on Gender and Development on Early Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. SEN. DR. PARIRENYATWA), the Senate adjourned
at Five Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 16th March, 2017
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:
APPOINTMENT TO THEMATIC COMMITTEES
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I would like to
inform the House that Hon. Senator Mugabe has been appointed to serve in the following Thematic Committees; - Sustainable Development Goals and
- Gender and Development Committees.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment. We want to know Government policy; just like other countries on demographic dividends in line with investments. What plans do you have concerning our youth so that we go along with other countries as we sign treaties?
*THE MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT,
INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT (HON. ZHUWAO): I
want to thank the Hon. Sen. Chief for the question. On demographic dividends, we are looking at how a country can be recognised; how the economy can grow by way of raising the youth, giving them education and good health so that they will be able to work for the betterment of the country. Our country is well-known in education which is the first goal for us to get the demographic dividends. Right now as Zimbabwe, we are seen as a country with well educated youth and elders but we want to go further from the education that we get from schools. Our youth should be skilled as well.
Also looking at how our economy is growing, we want our youth to be empowered for them to venture into businesses. As a Ministry, we have 42 vocational training centres. We also have six National Youth services centres. Also, we have plans that in our 210 constituencies, each constituency should have a vocational training centre. So, we want to work together with Members of Parliament so that we come up with places to put those vocational training centres especially in areas that do not have. We are working in conjunction with our councils. We also want each province to have a National Service Centre.
Madam President, I also want to inform the House that when we started the National Youth Service in 2015, we had 109 graduates and in 2016 we had 302 graduates. This year, we are looking at about 1 260 graduates. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF. DANDAWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Looking at the rural schools, the pass rate is very low. What are you doing as a Ministry to improve the pass rate so that they get places in boarding schools? *THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCTION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Madam President for
such a very important question which has given us an opportunity to explain one of our wishes concerning education. It has come in two parts; the desire for children to pass and desire to have more boarding schools in rural areas. When we started the process of revamping our education in 2014, the other thing that we were looking at is to look at our state of education, looking at using 100 and we divide that into quarters; if we took at the highest level, the 25% at ‘O’ level, we have seen them being outstanding that they attain credits at that level.
What it means is that the other three quarters that is left in the system are those who would ask what they have been doing for four years without achieving anything. Others come out with 1, 2, 3 or 4 subjects. With the new curriculum, we want to be able to really touch at the desires of these children when it comes to using their talents so that they come up with something. That is what we call updated curriculum that we talked about on Monday.
We are explaining fully on this issue, so going forward, what it means is that this education when we mix it with trained teachers in those areas and with what we are doing as a Ministry; we are going around helping the schools with grants to help them improve their delivery and encouraging parents to pay levies so that when we mix those with grants that we are supplying to schools, then our education will be revamped and the children will pass. Their facilities will be updated.
The major thing that we have to do is to improve the infrastructure but we will look at that later. Coming to boarding schools, I want to say that boarding schools are expensive because children are housed and kept there and we have found that many people cannot afford to place their children in boarding schools. So, we do not encourage boarding schools to be more in the rural areas. We want those in the rural areas even if there is a boarding school there, they can take their children there as day scholars not that they should be boarders because it will be too heavy for them.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President. My
question goes to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Having explained very well on Monday at the HICC, I have a question which I think affects a lot of people. Is there any difficulty in recruiting teachers from sixteen provinces that speak these 16 languages that are in the Constitution, trained and then we can have these teachers to teach these 16 languages in schools?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, Hon.
Senator. The question is not for his Ministry.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: I am sorry Madam President. What
policy do you have of employing student teachers from the 16 languages that are in the Constitution?
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Madam President
and I thank the Hon. Senator for raising this matter. I am a user Ministry but I determine those that work in my sector. I can only facilitate the deployment of those persons that have come from the colleges and universities who are deemed to be suitable for my use in my sector. If they come with attributes of particular languages, we are very sensitive to that. We will be able to deploy the same. I cannot determine in advance what kind of officers I shall have available for deployment in my system. That is beyond my purview, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Minister, in the same vein, how does provinces like Matabeleland South who have less science teachers participate in the STERM? How do these children benefit? You realise Matabeleland always contribute very few children because they do not have science teachers in the whole province. So, how do they benefit on
STERM?
HON. DR. DOKORA: If Hon. Senator could give me a written question, I will be most happy to bring to the Senate the statistical evidence which shows the extent of our deployment of science teachers that we have and what each province shows in that deployment pattern. What we do know from previous statistics that we had is that one of the provinces with the least teachers of science is actually Mashonaland Central. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NEMBIRE: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Minister, what plans do you have to cater for orphans that write examinations because they do not have enough documents like birth certificates, I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Madam President
for the question that has been asked. As a Ministry, we are not involved in the issuance of birth certificates but headmasters can help with documents that are authenticated that those children are indeed attending school or had attended that particular school. They write letters where they prefix their signatures and stamp to verify that the child in question will be attending that school even if he/she does not have birth registration certificate. There are Government departments who are responsible for issuing those birth certificates and not the Ministry of
Primary and Secondary Education.
It is true that the law provides that a child should be registered at school using a birth certificate to avoid future mishaps but we analyse every situation. It is a fact that those who are in this august House are some of the people who are allowed to act as witnesses to the existence of some of the children in their constituencies who often find it difficult to obtain birth certificates. So, they are encouraged to help including the Hon. Senator who brought in the question. If there are children whom you know are facing the same predicament, you can accompany them to the national registration offices to obtain birth certificates and I will work with my teachers to register these children so that they will be able to write their examinations at the appropriate time. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MURWIRA: My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are children who are in South Africa who are being attacked, what plans are there within the Ministry concerning the violence on our children there?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MBWEMBWE): Thank you Madam President. I thank the Hon.
Senator for the question, it is a good question. I think she is referring to xenophobic attacks. As Government, we are content with the precautionary measures taken by the Government of South Africa to curb the xenophobic attacks on foreign citizens and Zimbabweans in particular, living in South Africa.
We are happy that the South African Government is being transparent. The South African President and his Home Affairs Minister spoke to African diplomats to the effect that they will take precautionary and firm steps towards curbing xenophobic attacks. They also set up an Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration which will look at ways and means of coming up with these measures of preventing these unwarranted attacks on Zimbabweans living in South Africa. So, we are content as a Ministry to note that the measures taken so far have gone far in curbing violence. We are also happy and continue to monitor the situation on the ground as a Ministry through our two consulates in Cape
Town, Johannesburg - including our Embassy in Pretoria. They
continue to update us on the developments concerning such violent acts and currently we have not received any report on such. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. Hon. Minister, the Members of Parliament had shown interest in acquiring residential stands and your response was that Government does not have serviced residential stands. What policy is there on the stands that are being distributed all over the provinces when Hon. Members of Parliament are failing to obtain them?
I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Madam Speaker. I thought when you come to Senate you will be faced with considered questions. However, the Hon. Senator thinks I distribute stands. I want to thank you very much Hon. Senator. We have not denied making sure that our Members of Parliament have serviced land, if anything, we are currently going through the process of making sure that land is available, serviced residential stands to a number of our Senators and Members of the National Assembly. Particularly those in cities which are not preferred by the majority, for example, Bulawayo, Gweru and Marondera, we have already made strides in terms of accommodating individual interests of our Members of Parliament. It is only in Harare where, because of limited serviced land, we have not been able to progress in the manner that we would have expected.
However, we are already in the process of raising funding alongside with the civil service housing scheme so that we accommodate our Senators and Members of the National Assembly. Everyone of us would love to have a property in Harare but it is also very expensive for my Ministry on its own without the sufficient financial support to get it started. However, we are in contact and discussions with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development who have assured us that we will get the relevant support to service the land. We are aware that some of our Senators and Members of the National Assembly are owed some money and it is in that context that when we discussed with Hon. Minister Chinamasa and two Chief Whips from the two political formations, we agreed that, there could be a process of netting off what Members of Parliament are owed by Government.
In turn, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development will make available that financial support for us so that at least we can service the land. The land had been identified, that is along Enterprise Road, on your way to Shamva and Mutoko, what is outstanding is for us to service that land. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President. I understand that those in Bulawayo have been allocated. I am from Bulawayo, I have not heard of that scheme. How do I get in touch or have that knowledge?
HON. KASUKUWERE: Thank you very much. We received a
list from Parliament that indicated the preferred areas by various
Members of Parliament. Like I have said, some of the Members of
Parliament who indicated interest to acquire residential stands in towns outside Harare have been contacted. I am sure that as you have raised it with me, I will also check with my office so that they get in touch with you because Bulawayo City has a lot of serviced land. For that reason, it has been easier for us to acquire land on these areas, including Marondera and others. I apologise to you Hon. Senator if you did not get that information. I am here and the Clerk of Parliament is also here, we will strive to facilitate. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President, my
supplementary question is, for those who are interested in acquiring stands in Harare, you mentioned a place where you are going to allocate stands, are you going to group them together in that area or they will be in different places? Thank you.
HON. KASUKUWERE: Madam President, I want to thank Hon. Mohadi for the question. I thought as Senators you are in the same room all the time, you can also be neighbours back home. What we are saying is, we have limited land available and for us to service individually – yes, there could be instances where some could get stands in Greendale and other areas like that, but I thought if we, as Government service the land directly meant to benefit our Members of Parliament, we can only do it in given areas and this is the area I have identified. Unfortunately, most of our land or fortunately has already been taken, there are people who are already in those areas and the City of Harare itself has very limited land available. So, it is some of these portions that we identify that we can make available. However, we have also identified and we are going to be working on three townships that I have talked about that is Manyame just across, Chishawasha area, as well as Norton. These three are close by but they will consist of low density, high density and medium density suburbs. In Bulawayo, we had identified Umbvucha but it is no longer possible for us to do most of the work at Umbvucha because it actually requires a bigger area due to where it is sited. It is sited right on the approach to the Airport runway, so we cannot have more people there. So, the land has been identified in various areas.
However, I had to be very honest with Parliament and said where do you think we can be able to get land for most of our Parliamentarians.
Thank you.
*HON. SEN. GOTO: My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. What plans do you have on new Government complexes that were built in the rural areas 10 years ago? Right now, they are getting dilapidated and thieves are breaking through, so what plans do you have?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE): It
was a Government programme which was funded by the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development under the Public Sector Investment Programme. It helped us a lot to build Government offices in many places. However, at the moment we are facing financial challenges for us to finish and maintain other places. So, the Government has got many complexes which need funding so that they are kept well maintained. We have Government infrastructure which is being abused by illegal gold panners in Kwekwe which needs to be revamped. So, as a Ministry we need a lot funding to carry out these projects. Hon. Senator Goto, you once asked me this question which was in connection with areas in Hwedza.
However, I will engage my Ministry officials to look into those areas and check our relationship in those areas so that we carry out the necessary work earlier. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you very much Madam
President. My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Hon. Kasukuwere. What measures have you put in place concerning people settled on wetlands? People are dying, we are seeing houses being destroyed and properties are also being destroyed because of building houses on wetlands. So, what plans do you have to re-settle those people so that they do not tamper with our water sources?
*HON. KASUKUWERE: Thank you very much for your
question. The Government has come up with a department called Environmental Management Agency which has skilled people to look at how the environment can be used. Long back we did not have that department meaning that a lot of people were given land by councils in wetlands. Right now, due to the heavy rains that we have received, people are facing challenges in these areas. Furthermore, I would admit that there are a lot of our local authorities who did not execute their duties properly in that land was just distributed in places not fit for settlement. For example in Chitungwiza; Zengeza 3, Zengeza 4 and Zengeza 5, there were places which were left idle because they were not meant for building but local authorities would just sell those areas to people for settlement. As a result, this is now causing a great challenge to our residents. This has also been exacerbated by lack of maintenance of drainage systems, some of them are blocked and our people are greatly troubled.
I wish if our people also would seek more clarity from relevant authorities before being offered land because they will end up being given wetlands as residential stands. As a Ministry, we will only be able to go and help those in danger of drowning yet we would have cautioned people not to build on wetlands. Again, people should be wary of land barons who illegally sell state land. A lot of people have lost their children and valuable goods because they have built on wetlands. Nobody can overcome nature, even myself as the Minister, I do not have power to control the rains meaning that our people settled on wetlands will be in trouble. As a Ministry, we are strongly working hand in hand with EMA and not overriding what they would have suggested. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government. Last week I asked a question to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development which he referred to your Ministry. It relates to urban tolling. Last year I asked a question which was answered that it was mere speculation that we are going to have urban toll gates. I do not know whether Government is thinking of having a policy where we are going to have urban toll gates. If we are going to have them, what does that mean to commuters who come to town every day? When the money is collected if we are going to have urban tolling, will the money be kept by your Ministry or the local authorities, or it will go to ZINARA as has happened with vehicle licencing in local authorities?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Senators,
please pose questions, do not address the House so that we have more time for more questions.
HON. KASUKUWERE: I want to thank Hon. Senator Chimhini
for his question which my dear brother politely pushed on to me, which is okay because we have been having discussions together.
I think urban tolling is a necessary evil. We have to fix the roads. I think it is more expensive to repair broken tyre than to pay a dollar or 50 cents. We think if we can work hard for us to have better roads which we can maintain going forward; it will be in our best interest. However, what has been happening is that we have not articulated why we need urban tolls. We had discussions with Minister Gumbo and have seen how the tolls in this country have actually helped the maintenance of most of our major road networks, hence we have also analysed and said in the urban centres, perhaps three quarters of the vehicles are not even paying for using the roads. They are from Chitungwiza into the city, Norton into the city, Ruwa into the city and these areas there are no toll gates. If you look at our Harare network compounded by the flooding and rains, we have actually lost 80% of our road network, hence we need to find a way of working with Government under our disaster programme and the Minister of Transport as well as going forward, let us have a tolling system. So, it is indeed a fact that we have agreed on a policy to set up tolls in the city.
Secondly, when you set up these toll gates, who are going to be the authorities? The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development is in charge, overally, of that policy which looks at the tolling, but because he can delegate that authority, we have discussed that that can be delegated to our local authorities.
Our local authorities must collect and maintain the road network.
If it is not them, if it is ZINARA, whoever at the point we complete this exercise is going to be charged with the responsibility; they must use the money to fix and mend out roads. This is what we have been talking about and this, I think, is the way forward for this country, for our urban centres and for most of our areas. I thank you Senator.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. The influx of vendors in towns or in undesignated areas shows that is how our people are surviving. What plans do you have, as Government, that in towns there are legal places where they can sell their wares from?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
The Government, in conjunctions with our councils, has laws in place that we refer to as workers and also others who are just selling. We have places already and the council always says there are places where people should sell their wares from. Like in Mbare, there are places there and also here in town we have places. With the help of Hon. Sithembiso Nyoni, we have places like Copacabana and Fourth Street. But now, we had reached a level where people were roasting mealie cobs in First
Street. We cannot allow that. You bring a cow’s head and you start roasting and preparing that at Karigamombe Centre.
We should also respect the shop owners when we come in front of their shops and sell the same wares that the shop owners are selling. So, what we are saying is, we should place these hawkers at a place where they are free because some of them are doing it as a way of stealing. That is why we are working very hard as councils in our country, that we should have places where people can sell their wares from.
At times, we have challenges that some of the places will be far away, but down town there, there are a lot of places where people have been given, where they can sell their wares freely. Also, ablution blocks should be in place so that we do not spread diseases and there should be a limit on food items because we cannot sell cooked food in open places because we will kill our people. We should uplift the life of our people but not kill them at the same time. Thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF SIANSALI: Thank you Madam President.
My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Minister, most schools in Matabeleland North have downsized the number of subjects they used to offer, especially at secondary level and the most affected subjects are the newly introduced indigenous languages. What are you doing, as a Ministry, to protect those children that had started to pursue those subjects and got affected, say Form 3s? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): I am not aware that we have downsized offerings of indigenous languages. What I am happy to confirm is that we have, this year, the pioneer group that is writing A’ level Chitonga. Thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF. SIANSALI: Thank you Madam President. That was necessitated by the lack of teachers. New teachers are no longer being employed and as such, the schools do not have teachers to teach and they are not allowed to recruit more teachers. So, they cannot offer those subjects now. I thank you.
HON. DR. DOKORA: Thank you Madam President. That confirms my earlier response that we have not downsized. The fact of the volume of our candidates who are coming from primary going into the secondary sector, that volume has grown, is a fact and that we have made a public statement since end of December to say that I do require additional teachers, but it has not meant downsizing. We have maintained where we were as at end of December. I do need teachers, but I do not employ. I must get the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the employer agreeing to give me the kind of requirement that I have put on the table. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Minister, Government is not meeting its obligations on some STEM funded students. We have learnt recently that their tuition and exam fees have not been paid and the parents are running around trying to meet the deadlines. What are you doing to try and help? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): As with respect to funding,
my Ministry is a beneficiary of those that have the money. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development is funding some of my students, so the question should rightly be directed to them. Just as much as I am a beneficiary of what Government does, pursuing the payment of fees for girl children in my school system, I could not then hold anybody accountable because I am a beneficiary. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: While I understand what the Minister is saying, but the affected people are his students. The money question aside, I am trying to find out how we can best help the boy and girl child who is at school right now and not let him or her be affected by the failure of Government to meet its obligations.
HON. DR. DOKORA: I thought I provided the direction in which the question should take. I did not stand up to confirm Government failure. I did say, I am a beneficiary and therefore the question ought really to be directed to the Ministry that is providing the funding, just as I am a beneficiary of Government funding and so on. So, you cannot really be addressing the recipient to say, what are you going to do if you do not have the money. I work with deadlines because we have to prepare examination systems to run in accordance with a timeframe. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Thank you Madam
President. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Hon. Dr. Gumbo. I would like to know what measures is the Government taking to resuscitate the two companies which are the National Railways of Zimbabwe for the enablement of easy transportation of goods and also Air Zimbabwe so that our aeroplanes would be competitive with airlines from other countries in that business. I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Thank you Madam President and I would want to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Chisunga for the question. I want to start by saying that last week, I answered that question on the National Railways of Zimbabwe but since you have allowed the question to be asked again, I will respond.
The National Railways of Zimbabwe – Government has plans that are in place. Last week I said that we presented our strategic paper on what plans we have in the resuscitation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe and it was accepted by the Cabinet and they have plans on how to implement it and see how we can resuscitate it. We are all in agreement that if the National Railways of Zimbabwe is functioning properly, it will help us so that we will not burden our roads in the transportation of heavy goods, which is what also is worsening the state of our roads.
On Air Zimbabwe - the Government is doing something in the resuscitation of Air Zimbabwe at the moment. We were given a go ahead by the Government, its Cabinet Committee, for us to look for people to partner us so that we work together in the resuscitation of our airline so that it would go back to where it was long back. I also want to tell the Senators that we are at an advanced stage in carrying out the work on the resuscitation of the national airline of Zimbabwe. In a month or two, I think that we would have signed agreement papers with those people whom we are negotiating with. I am not yet in a position at the moment to mention who we are negotiating with to help us in the resuscitation of our national airline. We would get more aeroplanes and also to resuscitate the other air routes that we had lost, for example, routes to places like London. So, the Government has plans which are now at an advanced stage on the resuscitation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe and Air Zimbabwe. Thank you.
HON. SEN. D. T. KHUMALO: My supplementary question is,
what policy is there on the use of ICT at, for example, the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Airport – there is no photocopier and they are writing by hand – [Laughter.]-
*HON. SEN. CHABUKA: Thank you Madam President. I had
already asked my question but, since I was so lucky to be given a second chance, let me ask my other question to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Dokora. Minister, there is a programme which is being run by the National Aids Council in schools in educating children on AIDS. Is it on your school programmes as a Ministry for children to be aware of HIV/AIDS as they are being affected by the virus while they are still young? Thank you Madam President.
*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): I thank the Hon. Senator for
asking the question. I want to take you back to the document that we distributed to all the Senators and Members of Parliament, which document is called the Curriculum Framework for Primary and
Secondary Education. If you look at that document, there is a section on crosscutting issues, you will realise that that is where we built all the issues concerning the virus or disease that she has mentioned. Also, we would be looking at and identifying learning areas where children
should be knowledgeable. It might be history, geography, biology and so on and we have seen that in all the areas, all these issues should find a way there. So, if I hear that the National Aids Council has come and are working with my children and educating them about this disease, I would be happy as it is good for us. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I insisted to have this opportunity. I wanted also to ask Hon. Minister Kasukuwere but unfortunately, he has
left.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NEBIRI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate. I would want to know whether Zimbabwe is a member of CITES which has the responsibility of overseeing the trade of ivory?
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you Madam President.
Indeed, Zimbabwe is a member of CITES. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate.
Minister, what measures are you taking to solve the problems of water caused by ZINWA in the town of Beitbridge? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you Madam President. Hon. Sen. Mohadi, two days ago, got in touch with my office and I have since dispatched a team to go to Beitbridge with very clear instructions that they should work with the authorities there to ensure that they solve the problem of water in Beitbridge once and for all. I want to assure the Hon. Senator that we are looking into the matter and I think by tomorrow, we would have amicably solved the problem. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order Number
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
REMOVAL AND REHABILITATION OF STREET PEOPLE
- HON. SEN. CHIMHINI asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House, what Government plans are, as regards the removal and rehabilitation of street people who are a nuisance to motorists as they break vehicle windows and breach public peace.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Thank
you Madam President. It is Government mandate to protect vulnerable groups that include children and adults living and working on the streets. As part of the protection exercise, the Ministry with the support of the Multi-sectoral Taskforce for Children Living and Working on the Streets is engaged in an ongoing exercise of removing children from the streets to safe environments. One of the functions of the taskforce which is made up of officials from the Department of Social Welfare, relevant Government departments, civil society organisations and the local authority is to ensure that adults using children to beg on the streets are apprehended by the police.
Children without families are placed under foster care, others in
Government institutions and registered children’s private institutions. At places of safety, children should be able to attend school as well as receive livelihood skills. At the last count, the Ministry estimated that a total of 4 701 children were living in and working on the streets of Harare, Mutare, Bulawayo and Beitbridge. Last year, a total of 463 were removed from the streets countrywide. The exercise of removing these children is a mammoth one which needs assistance from the public, supporting partners and civil society. In order to finance the programme, Government has established the Children on the Streets Fund which is supported by civil society.
As part of the overall Ministry’s mandate, the Government through the Ministry, implements the National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. Using the National Case Management System, family structures are protected and are brought up within the normal family environment. This task is not for Government alone and we appeal to the Honourable Members from the different constituencies to ensure that they actively work in their areas in providing support to this initiative.
OPENING OF THE RAINBOW AND HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS
HOTEL IN BEITBRIDGE
- HON. SEN. MOHADI asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry whether the Ministry has plans to open the Rainbow and Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Beitbridge.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. ENG.
MZEMBI): I am told that the RTG at Beitbridge is not going to open under RTG. The building has since been handed back to NSSA who
owns it.
MEASURES TO CURB THE RAMPANT POACHING OF WILDLIFE
IN SAFARI AREAS
- HON. SEN. MOHADI asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to inform the House what plans the Ministry has put in place to curb the rampant poaching of wildlife in safari areas.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Mr. President, poaching of wildlife is one notable problem being faced in Zimbabwe. However, my Ministry, through Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has put a number of strategies in place to curb poaching of wildlife. Firstly, there is increase in collaboration with other law enforcement agents that is the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe National Army to reduce poaching. Furthermore, we have introduced modern technologies in monitoring our estates that include unmanned vehicles such as drones. Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is now also using sniffer dogs to track poachers. As a way to reduce poaching, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has also increased community engagement as these are the people living with wildlife. Due to globalisation, new poaching mechanisms are always coming up and therefore, we have been continuously improving and coming up with new strategies to curb poaching. I thank you.
MEASURES TO SUPERVISE AND MONITOR MAINTENANCE OF
ROADS
- HON. SEN. CHIMHINI asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House what measures the Ministry has put in place to supervise and monitor maintenance of roads including those done by the District Development Fund (DDF) and Local Authorities given the fact that it appears nobody is responsible for the maintenance of such roads, particularly in rural areas, as is the case in the following: Odzani Road from Bvuma turnoff to Penhalonga Via
Jombe; Honde Green to Ngarura via Sahumani Primary School and the
Road from Mutasa District Offices to London Stores via Bonda
Hospital, whereby the section passing by Knowsticks Boys’ High School is impassable, due to lack of maintenance of the road.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Mr. President, there are four road authorities, namely the Department of Roads, DDF, Urban Councils and Rural District Councils. Each road authority maintains its own road network and it is the duty of the respective authority to monitor and supervise its maintenance works. If a road belonging to any of these authorities is not being maintained properly, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development is empowered to intervene and rectify the situation.
Referring to the specific questions on the set of roads that have been mentioned, Mr. President, we acknowledge that Odzani road from Bvuma turnoff to Penhalonga via Jumbo especially the gravel section, has developed gullies and the drain is no longer functioning well, and the surfaced section has developed potholes. Also Bonda road is heavily potholed especially near the Knowsticks Boys High School and approximately 1.5km which is impassible.
You will be aware that His Excellency the President declared a state of disaster of our roads and Government is mobilising funds to attend to our road network. The maintenance works needed to make our roads operational have started in all provinces.
Mr. President, Treasury has to date allocated US$14.5 million towards the Emergency Road Works Programme and I am pleased that the two roads with impassable sections have been included in the programme. The Provincial Road Engineer is already working on similar impassable sections in the area. Currently, he is working on Honde Valley washaway near Hauna which is just 2km from Jombe. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
REFUGEES AT TONGOGARA REFUGEE CAMP
- HON. SEN. MAWIRE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to explain to the House whether the refugees at the Tongogara Refugee Camp are genuine refugees.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Mr.
President, allow me to advise the august House that Zimbabwe is a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of
Refugees and its additional 1967 Protocols and the 1969 AU
Convention. Zimbabwe enacted the Refugees Act (Chapter 4.03).
Currently, Zimbabwe is host to 10 428 refugees and asylum seekers of which 92 percent are from the Great Lakes Region and the
Horn of Africa while the other 8 percent are the newly arrived Mozambican asylum seekers. The refugees are resident at the Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge. For the benefit of the House, refugee status is determined by the Zimbabwe Refugees Committee
(ZRC) in terms of Section (5) (1) of the Zimbabwe Refugees Act. The
Committee is made up of officials from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour Social Services, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Immigration, ZRP, Ministry of Defence and the President’s Office.
The work of the Committee is to assess the credibility/genuiness of each application for refugee status and make a decision on whether to grant or decline refugee status. The Commissioner for Refugees endorses the decisions made by the ZRC. We can confirm that all the refugees currently registered at Tongogara have gone through this verification exercise as outlined and are indeed genuine cases.
MEASURES TO RESOLVE WATER CHALLENGES BETWEEN
ZINWA AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF GWANDA
- HON. SEN. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to inform the House what measures the Ministry has put in place to resolve the water challenges between ZINWA and the Municipality of Gwanda.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Ndhlovu for the question. ZINWA treats raw water and in turn supplies Gwanda Municipality with bulk clear (purified) water which Gwanda feeds into the distribution network currently under its management. ZINWA is able to meet the water demand for Gwanda Municipality. The challenge with Gwanda is the non-payment for water supplies by council to ZINWA. This challenge has persisted since 2009 since ZINWA handed over the operation of the reticulation network and billing to the Municipality of Gwanda in 2009 at their request.
The municipality of Gwanda currently owes ZINWA $10 million for water supplied. ZINWA on average bills – Gwanda $105 000 per month and Gwanda on average is paying $30 000 per month for this service, a shortfall of around $70 000 per month, which has now accumulated to the current debt of $10 million. This inability by the Municipality of Gwanda to pay for water supply services has left
ZINWA sourcing funds from other centres to service the residents of
Gwanda, a situation which is not sustainable. On the other hand Gwanda is citing challenges in collecting revenue from water users as well as their inability to account for most of the water supplied to them.
In a bid to resolve the issue of non-payment of bills, ZINWA has introduced a prepayment system that will commit council to paying for services rendered. In order to resolve the issue of unaccounted for water, my Ministry is assessing the capacity of the Municipality of
Gwanda to manage the operation and maintenance of the water supply reticulation network. This is to ensure that the residents of Gwanda get a reliable water supply service.
POLICY ON THE CHANGE OF THE CURRICULUM
- HON. SEN. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education whether it is Government Policy to change the curriculum without initially training teachers to enable them to impart knowledge to children.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): The curriculum update was a
consultative process which involved different stakeholders. Teachers and all our line managers were central in the course of the review. As members might recall, the consultation peaked on 28th November, 2014 when all our schools were consultation venues. The teachers were charged with the responsibility of conducting interviews at all venues.
COMPLETION OF PROJECTS IN HARARE
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing:
- a) To indicate when the following Government projects in Harare would be completed in view of the fact that they have remained outstanding for too long:
- i) Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters; ii) Police Protection Unit Flats; and iii) Registrar General’s Office.
- to state whether there is any supervision of the construction of such projects to ensure that they do not collapse before completion.
- to state whether it is not prudent and economic for the Ministry to complete at least one project at a time so that something tangible is realised.
- to state whether the Ministry is adequately funded to complete the construction of these buildings.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Mr. President on the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, let me start by thanking the Hon. Member for asking the question. However, let me inform this Senate that the project started on 11th September 1999, and was supposed to be completed on the 30th of September 2001. Due to financial challenges, the project was stalled and resumed in 2011 under the dollarisation era with an estimated cost of US$9 905 371.12. Construction progressed well in 2011 to 2012 because funding was being availed consistently. However, progress declined from 2012 to 2013, and the project stalled again. Activities on the project are expected to resume again on the 15th of March 2017.
The project is expected to take 98 working days to complete from the 15th of March to the 28th of July 2017. The success of the programme can only be realised if funding is consistent and timeous so that no further stoppages are encountered.
Failure to avail the resources in time will affect the gestation period of the project, and unforeseen costs such as changes in Government Statutes, changes in National Employment Council (NEC) workers rates, wear and tear and preliminaries and generals will affect the project’s outstanding costs.
The building is at finishing state and is almost ready for occupation. The estimated cost for completion of the project is US$2 448 078.08. Currently, US$1 000 000.00 has been realised by Treasury to resume the project and an outstanding amount of US$1 448 078.08 is required to complete the project.
- Police Protection Unit Flats
The project commenced on 29th April 2011, with the Ministry’s Construction Unit as the main contractor and was supposed to be completed on the 30th April 2012. The project comprises of 3 x 3 storey residential blocks of flats with a capacity to house 96 families. The original allocation was US$6 700 000. To date, a total of US$4 288 000.00 has been committed on the project and US$3 300 102.00 is required to complete the outstanding works but no further funding has been availed by Treasury ever since August 2013 despite estimates being submitted every year. However, the figure can escalate due to deterioration of some of the material like roof trusses that remain exposed to vagaries of weather which might need replacement.
- Registrar General’s Office
- Immigration Control
The wing has been partially handed over and only two out of eleven sub-contractors are currently working on the snags identified on the day of handover.
- Central Registry
The wing is almost complete and is ready for partial handover.
The completion of the whole project has been adversely affected by the lack of funding and currently, nine sub-contractors have moved off site.
The outstanding amount required to complete the works is US$1 300
000.00
- To state whether there is any supervision of the construction of such projects to ensure that they do not collapse before completion.
Mr. President, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, through its professional Design teams comprising of architects, engineers and quantity surveyors, supervise and monitor progress of all Government structures (CID headquarters, Police Protection Unit Flats and Central Registry and Immigration Control included) and can confirm that they are structurally sound.
- To state whether it is not prudent and economic for the Ministry to complete at least one project at a time so that something tangible is realised.
Mr. President, the Ministry has always advocated for this from our client ministries to achieve a tangible result instead of having halffinished structures scattered throughout the country.
- To state whether the Ministry is adequately funded to complete the construction of these buildings.
Mr. President, the mandate of the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is to administer projects on behalf of client ministries. Funding of the same is a prerogative of Treasury and is channeled to user ministries and it is a shared responsibility between ministries, though it is not the best arrangement for project implementation as has been proven to date. Client ministries have different mandates and priorities. However, numerous representations have been made on various platforms to have project implementation funds resident with my Ministry but to no avail. We have been assured by Treasury that funding for Central Registry and CID Headquarters will be released in 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that Orders of the Day, Number
1 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Second order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD
MARRIAGES
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on SADC Model law on eradicating Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY
POLITICAL PARTIES
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that had become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe. Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Mr. President, as a way of giving
our Senate business, I have decided to debate on this one. Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the issue that was raised on corruption that is there in this country. I want to thank Hon. Senator B. Sibanda who brought this issue of violence and corruption in this country that leads to people failing to reach an argument without an act of violence, even when they are talking about smaller issues that can be resolved amicably without violence.
Mr. President, most people look forward to us as elderly people living behind our children without any legacy. Yes, it was there long back that when people are failing to reach an agreement they will sit down and try to solve the issue amicably and the one who is supposed to apologize should apologize properly. What we have done to our children as elderly people
+HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA (SPEAKING)…elderly people is
that, we are leaving behind our children without knowing what to do for them to reach an agreement. It is normal for people to have a disagreement. For example…
Hon. Sen. Chipanga having walked into the Senate Chamber.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I need your protection Mr. President from Hon. Chipanga – [Laughter.] –
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Sen. Chipanga
is just walking in. I did not see him with a knife or something –
[Laughter.]-
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Mr. President. I was
saying that what we are doing to our children is not fair because we will leave them without the knowledge of living in harmony as a family in their communities or in other countries. Sometimes people may not live in their country of origin as most of the times they migrate to other countries. If we teach our children that every time they disagree, they have to use violence, hurting or killing the other party, it will be difficult to reverse it. As we continue to age, it will be difficult to find time to teach our children.
The motion that was brought by Hon. Sibanda is a good motion that teaches us not to tolerate violence. On subsection c of the motion, the issue of politics is highlighted. Issues related to opposition or competition are highlighted in the Constitution. Most people live in fear whenever the issue of elections is discussed because in most cases, many people are hurt and even killed during that period. My wish as I contribute to this motion, especially now when we are preparing for elections is that, if there is any political party that is found to have
caused violence like killing and hurting people, the leadership should be punished so that our children will learn that there is punishment after doing wrong. In addition, there are rights for those who are in politics and it does not mean that if your relatives are not members of a party that you support, you cease to be related to them.
Mr. President, this is an important issue that is being debated in this House. Hon. Sen. Sibanda also hinted that it is the duty of the
Government, especially when you take a look at Section 48 to 78 of the Constitution which was agreed on by all the people. It is therefore the responsibility of the Government to ensure that the rights for all the people are respected. It should not be a crime for anyone to express themselves in any way. It is a right for anyone to worship wherever they want to and it should not be a crime to put on party regalia for any political party. Additionally, it should not be a criminal offence to choose how you want to vote because it is your right. Mr. President, with those few words, I thank you for allowing me to add my voice to the motion moved by Hon. Sen. Sibanda. I thank you Hon. Senator.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF POPULATION GROWTH IN ZIMBABWE
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Zimbabwe’s low population.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the Debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON.
SEN. MARAVA, the House adjourned at Two Minutes to Four o’clock
p.m until Tuesday, 21st March, 2017.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBAWE
Tuesday, 14th March, 2017
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
WORKSHOP ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS
OF PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the workshop on the code of conduct for all Members of Parliament has been postponed to
Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017. The workshop will consider the Code of
Conduct for Members of Parliament and the Privileges and Powers of
Parliament Act. It will be held at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) at 0830 hours. Hon. Members are requested to take copies of the following documents to the workshop: -
- Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Benefit Act;
- The Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act; and
- The Code of Conduct together with its annexure which is the Declaration Form.
This is a very important meeting and it touches on the welfare of Members of Parliament. You are urged to attend with those three documents.
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to bring to the attention of the House that Section 12 of the Audit Office Act [Chapter 22:18] states as follows, “any report transmitted in terms of Section 10 or 11 (a) to the Minister or (b) to the appropriate Minister shall be laid by the appropriate Minister as the case maybe before the National Assembly on one of the seven days in which the National Assembly sits next after he or she received such a report. Where the Minister or appropriate
Minister fails to lay any report before the National Assembly in terms of Sub-section (1) within the period specified therein, the Auditor-General shall transmit a copy of such a report to the Speaker of the National Assembly for the Speaker to lay it before the National Assembly.
On Friday, 28th September, 2016, the Auditor-General submitted the Report on the Management of Irrigation Schemes by the Department of Irrigation under the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development in terms of the Audit Office Act [Chapter 22:18]. In view of the fact that the relevant Minister has not tabled the said report within the specified time frame, I therefore lay upon the table the aforesaid report in terms of Section 12 (ii) of the Audit Office Act
[Chapter 22:18].
BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM AT
PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: As you have observed Hon. Members,
the administration of Parliament has installed fingerprint scanners at all entrances into the building. This is the first phase of the biometric registration system that we are in the process of installing as part of our endevour to automate all key business processes in line with Goal 2 of our Institutional Strategic Plan which aims to modernise the work of Parliament leveraging on ICT. The biometric registration system will enhance ease of access into the building for both Hon. Members and staff of Parliament as you will be able to enter the building even without your I.D. once you are registered on the system.
Additionally, the system will also generate an electronic attendance register of both sittings of the Houses and committee meetings, thus reducing the prevalence of human error in recording the attendance of Hon. Members. This electronic attendance register will eventually be linked directly to the accounts department and will automatically calculate and update the sitting allowances and fuel owed to each Hon. Member on House and/or Committee meetings. To make it easy for Hon. Members to register onto the system, our security officers will begin with the National Assembly this week. They will be stationed in the retiring lobby for Members near the pigeon holes lobby from 1430 hours today until Friday, 17th March, 2017 at 1300 hours.
Next week, they will proceed to register Senators and they will be stationed in the Senate lobby from 1430 hours every sitting day until adjournment of the Senate. I am therefore, urging Hon. Members to register on the system as advised. It is envisioned that the system will go live on 3rd April, 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): I move
that Orders of the Day, Number 1 to 36 on the Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 37 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE ON THE
ADMINISTRATION OF THE BASIC EDUCATION ASSISTANCE
MODULE (BEAM)
Thirty Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and
Social Services on the Administration of Basic Education Assistance
Module (BEAM).
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): I would
like to thank you Mr Speaker Sir, for the opportunity for my Ministry to table its response to the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Services on the administration of the Basic Education Assistance Module programme.
Mr Speaker Sir, allow me to thank Members of your Portfolio Committee chaired by Hon. Kwaramba for the detailed and comprehensive work they put in compiling this work. The BEAM programme is indeed very topical as it impacts on all constituencies country wide. As to be expected, the motion attracted a lot of interest and debate, raising focus areas which need to be addressed in adequately administrating the programme. Accordingly, allow me to thank the Hon. Members who took time to contribute in the debate.
Mr Speaker Sir, allow me to also acknowledge that the debate fully recognised the tenets of this module that is one of my Ministry’s main social protection programmes. It is a national community based programme which we implement in partnership with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and affords schools fees assistance targeted at vulnerable children of school going age attending both primary and secondary levels in rural and urban areas.
The primary objective of the programme is to reduce the number of children dropping out of school due to economic hardships. Specifically, it targets children who are in school but failing to pay or having difficulties in paying school demanded fees, who have dropped out of school due to economic hardships and who have never been to school due to economic hardship but are of school going age.
Currently, assistance provided covers full tuition fees and levies at both primary and secondary levels for eligible needy children. For children living with disabilities attending special schools, it also covers boarding fees. In addition, examination fees are paid for the same needy children for public exams. Beneficiary selection is done by each primary school’s selection committee elected by the parent body of each school and limited by an annual hard budget allocated to each school.
In debate, some Hon. Members pointed out that this broad modus operandi framework needed to be expanded. The Members raised concern that the BEAM programme is blinkered towards welfare issues of beneficiaries in that it only focuses on school fees and does not address other environmental conditions and issues which affect a child’s school attendance such as school uniforms and any other extra needs. In clarification, it must be borne in mind that BEAM is only one of the many social protection programmes my Ministry implements which cover the various needs faced by BEAM beneficiaries and other vulnerable families from poor backgrounds.
In this regard, it is imperative that I highlight some of these programmes and ensure how they complement the BEAM initiatives and address Hon. Members’ concerns. Some of these social protection programmes including public assistance and public works are aimed at reducing family household poverty levels, thus preventing targeted households from resorting to perverse coping mechanisms amongst them, child labour which prevents children from attending school.
My Ministry also implements the harmonised social cash transfer programme which unconditionally transfers cash to the food poor and labour constrained households which they then use to meet their basic requirements. Reviews which have been conducted on the harmonised social cash transfer programme indicate all beneficiary households on this programme also qualify for other social protection programmes like education, health and food assistance. Indeed, 82% of households under the harmonised social cash transfer programme care for vulnerable children, most of them benefiting from the BEAM programme.
Going forward, the following action plans will be looked at to address welfare issues which may impact on both BEAM and nonBEAM beneficiaries across families.
- Firstly, promoting income generating projects (IGPs) like horticulture and market gardening at micro level such as schools for the benefit of BEAM beneficiaries and other vulnerable children.
- Secondly, supporting and promoting IGPs at household level, among them, small livestock rearing, poultry and market gardening to avoid over dependence on Government. Government will look at intensifying the provision of agricultural inputs through relevant Ministries to roll out the programme.
- Thirdly, as part of our social welfare workforce strengthening and in order to increase children’s access to welfare and protection services, my Ministry in 2015, rolled out the National Case Management System to all districts in the country. The programme introduces a voluntary frontline ward cadre, the Community Childcare Worker (CCW) selected by communities. The cadre is the Ministry’s face in the community for identifying and referring needy cases for various welfare and child protection issues.
Mr. Speaker Sir, with regards to increasing awareness to the BEAM programme, it is important to highlight that BEAM is a community programme and as such, stakeholders and communities must identify themselves with the programme’s governance structures, i.e. village and ward assemblies where there are traditional leaders, councillors,
Government Sector Agencies and Private Voluntary Organisations.
In order to maximize the publicity of the programmes and ensure its adequate prominence to would be beneficiaries and the community at large, my Ministry will in addition to current efforts such as exhibitions and talk-shows at various national and community events, e.g. agricultural shows and radio talks, pursue the following:
- Both the Ministry’s District Officials and their Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education counterparts supported by the District Administrators will be sensitised to spearhead the publicity of the programmes at meetings and related gatherings by making use of local leadership at village, ward and district levels.
- Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material like the BEAM brochures and posters in both English and local vernacular languages (Ndebele and Shona) are currently available and will, going forward, be distributed in
all public places such as schools, churches, district resource centres, council offices, health facilities, shopping centers and other relevant venues as well as through the print and electronic media.
Subject to resource availability, my Ministry will endevour to ensure that the IEC material is also available in other local vernacular languages since our Constitution provides for use of all our country’s
languages.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members, several questions have been asked in the past concerning the BEAM programme. That little corner there by the door is not listening at all. I do not know what message you will carry to your constituencies. BEAM is a very important Government Policy Programme, which you need to explain to the electorate from an informed position. If you are not listening to the Minister’s report, why then do you say it is important that your recommendations in Portfolio Committees must be taken seriously by the Hon. Ministers if you cannot listen to the responses. If you do not want to listen, please, you are free to leave the House and allow those who want to listen carefully to do so without any obstruction at all. Thank you.
HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE: Ministry officials will also disseminate information about the BEAM programme and cash paying points for the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programme and at District Child Protection Coordination (DCPC) meetings so that information is disseminated to a larger number of people.
Hon. Members debated on resource mobilisation and indeed schools must be capacitated to come up with IGPs in keeping with the psychomotor policy, e.g. moulding of bricks for selling in their respective communities, harvesting of natural resources such as timber and river sand. Leadership at grassroots level, i.e. village and ward, will be sensitised to embark on projects that have low set-up costs.
Hon. Members might want to know that some schools have already started income generating projects; for example in Manicaland Province, some schools are utilising natural resources to come up with projects such as banana plantations, bee keeping and piggery. This is a noble idea and other schools in the country will, during routine monitoring visits and training, be sensitised and encouraged to embark on such projects so that even without BEAM funding, schools can assist some vulnerable children.
In addition, some Civil Society Organisations are already complimenting Government’s efforts by assisting children to access education. My Ministry will also continuously engage development partners to raise funds to assist more vulnerable children.
On Joint Monitoring and Supervision, Hon Members must note that in line with BEAM policy requirements, programme implementation monitoring visits with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, which is an implementing partner are already happening both at national and sub-national level. These visits are scheduled for each term to inform both Ministries on the challenges and positives the programme might be facing.
Hon. Members called for an all inclusive BEAM implantation. By this, Members called for the participation and involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the provision of education assistance to vulnerable children. It is my Ministry’s belief that the very fact that
BEAM is a community anchored programme, renders it all inclusive.
General members of and in the community, openly participate in critical
BEAM activities such as beneficiary nomination and election of Selection Committees.
Furthermore, community and traditional leaders have distinct roles in the BEAM processes as well as the various Ministries who also form membership of the BEAM implementation structures at national and sub-national levels. In addition, civil society and church organisations are also roped in to assist. My Ministry will continuously endevour to scale up such participation. The recently undertaken BEAM review recommended this as an all inclusive approach.
On relations between the school heads and parents; from the monitoring that was done, it was revealed that sound relationships exist between most schools and parents. Some parents and schools even arrange payment plans for children with outstanding school fees arrears. In addition, it is only proper that the requirements governing relationships between school heads and parents or the community as a whole should be under the governance of the Ministry of Primary and
Secondary Education’s Public Relations programme. However, my Ministry will make recommendations of the same at sub-national levels through Rural District Development Committees (RDDC) and other public meetings such as our sub-national officials.
Mr. Speaker Sir, on Child Headed Households; selection of beneficiaries into the BEAM programme is based on both child and family socio-economic vulnerability. Thus, children considered vulnerable are nominated by persons in their respective communities who are knowledgeable of their circumstances. In this regard, child headed households are indeed given priority in the BEAM selection process. However, because some child headed households are not necessarily financially vulnerable, community selection supported by my Ministry’s staff means testing may have to take this into consideration into the BEAM programme. Indeed, if they are vulnerable, they will be assisted.
Madam Speaker, Hon. Members suggested an MOU between the
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, the Ministry of Public, Service, Labour and Social Welfare and ZIMSEC. MOUs are generally meant to tie-up critical entities or stakeholders to a common understanding and operational modalities. The current BEAM policy already provides for an MOU between the Ministry of Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary
Education. Hon. Members propose that there be an MOU between the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and ZIMSEC whereby the later would allow BEAM beneficiaries to sit for exams with the understanding that Government will pay the examination fees.
Already, an understanding exists along these lines, albeit unwritten, and Madam Speaker, I agree that a formal MOU needs to be entered into. The recently undertaken BEAM policy review recommended the need for such an MOU and we will move forward to operationalise this recommendation.
Madam Speaker, with regards to chasing away of BEAM
beneficiaries from school, there is in place a policy in the Ministry of
Primary and Secondary Education which states that children whether on BEAM or not, should not be sent home due to non-payment of school fees. It is emphasised that the contract for payment of school related fees is between the school and the parent, and not with the child. Thus, the policy should be enforced by the responsible Ministry to make sure that children are not sent home due to school fees arrears. However, as soon as funds are released by Treasury, all outstanding fees for BEAM beneficiaries are honoured.
Madam Speaker, with regards to nepotism in selection of beneficiaries, my Ministry castigates in the strongest ways, this bad practice. Accordingly, this is completely discouraged and censured. Hence, all reported and detected cases are dealt with and corrected promptly by my Ministry officials and these anomalies are also checked upon during the termly routine monitoring visits conducted by my
Ministry jointly with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Madam Speaker, with regards to assistance covered by the BEAM programme, it is emphasised that already the programme assists children from Grade One up to “A” Level with payment of tuition and school levy fees and for those writing Ordinary and Advanced Level
Examinations, their examination fees are paid for by the programme.
The policy recommends BEAM beneficiaries to write six subjects, including a practical subject as per Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education requirements because of resources constraints. All children who are on BEAM are not supposed to pay advance payments for both school fees and examination fees because the programme will cater for this. Investigations and corrective measures on reported schools who have been asking for advance payment are carried out and will always be done and corrective action taken.
In addition, children on BEAM have the right to choose the subjects they want to write according to their aptitude and ability.
School Heads are not supposed to impose on them which subjects to write. Madam Speaker, with regards to outstanding payments, the obtaining position is that with ZIMSEC, we have since paid for the 2016 examinations for both BEAM beneficiaries and non-BEAM candidates who failed to register due to economic challenges. It therefore should be reiterated that once the commitment to pay has been made, no candidates should be prevented or barred from writing examinations even if the actual payments have not been made or are delayed.
Mainstream schools are owed 2014 third term, 2015 and 2016 fees and special schools are owed fees for 2015 and 2016. The backlog has been caused by late disbursement of funds by Treasury and underfunding of the programme. Once the required resources are made available, the commitment is there to clear all arrears. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for responding to the Committee Report on
BEAM. The recommendations the Ministry has taken aboard are very important since the BEAM programme has gone a long way in assisting the vulnerable groups. I also want to thank the many members who contributed to the motion. Madam Speaker, I therefore move for the adoption of the report.
HON. CHAMISA: Mine is just a point of privilege and appreciation in terms of our Standing Rules and Orders. You are aware Madam Speaker that in terms of Standing Order Number 26, our Ministers in all cases are supposed to provide a comprehensive report responding to recommendations by our Portfolio Committees within ten sitting days after having been notified by the Committee or Parliament.
Once a Ministry or Minister fails to do that, there is a contempt of Parliament charge that has to fall upon the Minister.
We just want to appreciate the due diligence of Ministers who take Parliament seriously and take the reports of Parliament seriously. There were four recommendations and I was listening carefully. They have adopted all the four recommendations and they are going to implement them. This is very good Hon. Speaker. It is good because we also have other Ministers who think that when we are here, we are here to play around. We are using taxpayers’ money and we must give due regard to time, effort and even the cogence of the Constitution and the Standing
Rules and Orders. Hon. Minister, this is very good. We appreciate it. We are not there to mark you; we are not your examiners but we are there to appreciate good things. Also to encourage other Ministers to say if we are to build this country, we must be serious about the things that we are doing, especially your Ministry has been doing well. We really appreciate that. May you send the message to other Ministers that we are serious about Parliament. We want these reports to make progressive and meaningful contribution to the upkeep of our country. We want to thank you. May you continue to be a good steward of the tax payers’ money and also of the duty we have given you as a country. Thank you.
HON. KWARAMBA: I move that the motion on the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare on the Administration of the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), be adopted.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. HOLDER: After the Minister has made a statement, can we not seek clarification? Is there any provision for that?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, it is not a
Ministerial Statement. He is responding to the report which was put to the House by the Portfolio Committee chaired by Hon. Kwaramba.
HON. HOLDER: I do understand that Madam Speaker but I am saying that Hon. Members have some points that they wanted to clarify but I see that the motion has already been adopted.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: We cannot continue debating
the same report. There is no time to give back to that Committee as well. If you need to debate, you can as well debate on other motions.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MBWEMBWE): Madam Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 to 36 and 38 be stood over until Orders Number 39, 40 and 41 have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION ON THE BILATERAL VISIT TO
THE PARLIAMENT OF KUWAIT
Thirty-Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the delegation to the Bilateral Visit to the Parliament of Kuwait.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MBWEMBWE): Madam Speaker, I wish to thank the Speaker for the
report tabled before Parliament after his delegation’s very fruitful visit to Kuwait in 2016. The visit not only afforded him the opportunity to engage on some bilateral issues, but even more importantly, it secured the freedom of 32 young Zimbabwean women who had been trafficked to that country by criminal syndicates.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has, since September 2015, been seized with the issue of our nationals trafficked to the State of Kuwait. The Ministry issued press statements warning citizens not to take up misleading offers and for relatives to contact the Ministry with information on their daughters or relatives who would have been trafficked to Kuwait.
This led to more parents coming to the Ministry to inform of their daughters or relatives who had gone to that country. It also led to a decrease of recruitees as many became aware of the human trafficking that was being perpetrated by the criminal syndicates. The police also managed to get information on the recruiting agents. The Ministry subsequently co-ordinated the return of 51 women, with the support of their relatives.
Due to the multi-faceted nature of the problem, Government created an Inter-Ministerial Committee chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and composed of the Ministry of Home Affairs
(Zimbabwe Republic Police and Immigration Department); Office of
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services; Attorney General’s Office and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
Madam Speaker, the Committee came up with recommendations which I took to Cabinet and was kept apprised of all the developments.
Based on the recommendations, Cabinet made the following decisions;
- i) The creation of a Fund to assist the victims; ii) Request the Government of Kuwait to stop issuing Article 20 visas to our nationals; iii) The foreign Minister to write to his Kuwait counterpart to convey the Zimbabwe Government’s decision; and iv) The Ministry of Home Affairs to intensify investigations in order to bring traffickers to book.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, approached the International Organization on Migration (IOM), YWCA and UN
Women to assist in the repatriation of our nationals to come back home.
The Young Women’s Christian Association then led by a Zimbabwean; Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda contributed to the purchasing of tickets for 28 women. The IOM also indicated the possibility of extending reintegration assistance to the returnees.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also held several meetings with officials from the Embassy of Kuwait who were extremely cooperative.
I am glad to inform this House that the Minister wrote to his counterpart in Kuwait requesting that the Government of Kuwait:
Immediately desist from issuing to Zimbabwean nationals, especially women, Article 20 visas;
Assist in identifying and locating all the Zimbabweans issued with
Article 20 visas;
Grants access to Zimbabwean diplomats accredited to Kuwait to these nationals with the view to having them repatriated to Zimbabwe; Permits the diplomats to collect personal possessions left in the custody of their former masters as the ladies fled from the unbearable conditions they were subjected to;
Facilitates the immediate repatriation of those currently held at the
Zimbabwean Embassy or in shelters;
Arrests and deports from Kuwait into our custody, Zimbabwean criminals who have been identified as being part of the criminal syndicate operating in the trafficking in persons in the State of Kuwait.
The Government of Zimbabwe will continue to do all in its power to make sure that all those of our nationals in Kuwait who wish to return home will be assisted.
Let me give the breakdown of the Zimbabwean women repatriated
to date.
According to Kuwait authorities, around 200 Article 20 visas were issued since September 2015. Only 15 of those were issued through the
Kuwait Embassy in Harare. The rest were processed by criminal syndicates. The Ministry, in conjunction with our embassy in Kuwait assisted the following of our nationals to be repatriated from Kuwait:
- those assisted by relatives that is between November 2015 and early 2016 were 33;
- Young Women’s Christian Association between 13 and 19th May,
2016 assisted 28;
- Parliamentarians and Mr. Chivhayo assisted 32 on 30th May, 2016;
- Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare on 2nd June, 2016 assisted 29;
- Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare on 16th June, 2016 assisted 14;
- Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare on 21st July, 2016 assisted 13;
- Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare (that is returnees from Saudi Arabia) 2;
- Employer assisted (one returnee from Saudi Arabia) on 13th
September, 2016;
- Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare on 22nd November, 2016 assisted 6;
- Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare on 26th January, 2017 assisted 3; giving us a total of 161 as at 26th of January, 2017.
Our Embassy in Kuwait, estimates that approximately 50
Zimbabwean women are still in Kuwait, while about 10 could be in Saudi Arabia. Government will continue to assist all our nationals who wish to return home.
Madam Speaker, the Kuwait Government assisted in identifying and locating Zimbabweans issued with “Article 20” visas, as well as granting access to Zimbabweans diplomats accredited to Kuwait to these nationals, with the view of having them repatriated home. Our officers were also permitted to collect personal possessions from the maids’ former employers. The Kuwaiti Government has also been assisting the Embassy in providing food and shelter to our nationals who wish to return home.
I am pleased to inform Hon. Members that the Government of Kuwait has been very helpful in the whole repatriation exercise.
A request was made for the Kuwaitis to arrest and deport Zimbabwean criminals who have been identified as members of the criminal syndicates involved in the trafficking of nationals to the State of Kuwait. Consequently, three Zimbabwean women were netted and repatriated. They have since appeared in court.
Another Zimbabwean female kingpin, in the trafficking, is still at large and is thought to be outside Kuwait.
Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Home Affairs is actively seized with the trafficking in persons investigations and have apprehended several suspects, who have been arraigned before the courts. We continue to watch the due process with keen interest and hope that it puts an end to this abhorrent crime.
Madam Speaker, I also wish to bring to your attention that
Zimbabwe launched the Trafficking in Persons National Act Plan
(NAPLAC) on 29th July, 2016. The plan is actively being implemented.
The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Act [Chapter 9:25] was signed into law on 13th June, 2014. This Act is Zimbabwe’s first permanent legislation on TIP and stipulated its international obligations as a signatory to the “Palermo Protocol”, to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. The coming into force of this
Act demonstrates our Government’s seriousness and determination in dealing with the scourge of human trafficking. I thank you Madam
Speaker. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. PARADZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Firstly, I would
like to thank all the Hon. Members who contributed to this debate and also Hon. Minister for his response to our recommendations. Cabinet was agreeable to our recommendations and acted upon them. We are happy about that.
Madam Speaker, we are glad that the Government has set up a fund to make sure that all our remaining girls are brought back home. As the Hon. Minister said, there are about 50 or so who are still held up in Kuwait. However, what is worrying is that the Kuwait denied visas to some of our social welfare officers from the Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare who were supposed to go there to conduct the cleanup operation including some investigators from the police … - [HON. P. D. SIBANDA: They are too poor, they would have remained there!] –
Madam Speaker, as Members of Parliament who are concerned about all this, we have set up a parliamentary committee of Against Trafficking of Human Persons and this is currently in motion. Through the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development and the Government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare; we are working together with IOM to make sure that we assist these returnees to get some income generating projects and a fund to that effect has been setup through IOM.
Madam Speaker, I therefore move for the adoption of the motion on the Report of the delegation to the Bilateral Visit to the Parliament of Kuwait.
Motion with leave adopted.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON THE EXCHANGE VISIT TO THE
PALESTINE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Fortieth Order read: Adjourned debate on the Report on the exchange visit by the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs to the Palestine Legislative Council held from 15th to 20th May, 2016.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MBWEMBWE): Thank you Madam Speaker, let me from the outset thank the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Hon. Kindness Paradza and his delegation for the report tabled before Parliament after their visit to Palestine in 2016. I also thank all the Hon. Members of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe and Palestine share historic brotherly relations of cooperation and solidarity, established well before
Zimbabwe’s independence and these were consolidated and solidified after independence. Naturally, after Zimbabwe’s Independence, the cordial relations have grown to new heights.
Zimbabwe has continued to render full and unwavering support to the Palestinian cause and just struggle. It is reaffirmed the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (P. L.O.), as the sole and authentic representative of the Palestinian people and facilitated the opening of the
- L. O. Embassy in 1983, with Cde. Ali Halimeh, now late, as the first Palestinian Ambassador accredited to Zimbabwe.
Ambassador Halimeh had the distinct honour of serving as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Zimbabwe, despite protestations from some quarters. The Ambassador worked tirelessly towards cementing
relations between Zimbabwe and Palestine, just as he also brought the plight of his people to the fore. In 1988, Zimbabwe was one of the first countries to recognise the proclamation of Independence of the State of Palestine.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe has been one of the staunchest supporters of the Palestinian quest for self-determination. The President, His Excellency, Cde. R. G. Mugabe, enjoyed very close and fraternal relations with the founder and former President of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Cde. Yasser Arafat. The late Palestinian leader paid a State visit to Zimbabwe in 2001, reaffirming the close relations between Zimbabwe and Palestine.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe continues to support the AU’s efforts in solidarity with Palestine. The President, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, is always invited to address the AU Heads of States and Government
Summits. Palestine holds an observers’ status at the AU. This gesture shows that African Union is still vigorously pursuing the decolonisation agenda and President Abbas always expressed his country’s gratitude for the efforts, the AU is making in order for the Palestine to achieve full statehood.
ZIMBABWE’S STATEMENTS TO THE UN ON PALESTINE
Zimbabwe has been consistent in its support for Palestine statehood. One of President Mugabe and ZANU-PF’s crowning achievements in the area of revolutionary solidarity has been the unwavering support of the Palestinian people and struggle. His Excellency, the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe, in his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has repeatedly highlighted the following:
- Support for the establishment of a Palestinian State based on the pre-June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem, as its capital;
- Need to implement all UN resolutions on Palestine;
- Call for an end to all Israel settlement activity in the occupied
Palestinian territories;
- Destruction of the “wall of shame”;
- Urging the Security Council to be more pro-active, even-handed and decisive on the issue of Palestine;
- Advocates for the boycott of Israeli products;
- Calls for the resumption of peace talks and advancement of the
Middle East Peace Process and
- Encourages unity among all Palestinian groups, particularly Fatah and Hamas.
ZIMBABWE’S SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE AT UN AND
INTERNATIONAL FORA
Zimbabwe has consistently supported UN Resolutions in support of Palestine. Zimbabwe has maintained its principled stance and continues to show support for Palestine in that regard.
- In September, 2015, in unanimous vote, the General Assembly
(GA) agreed to hoist the Palestine flag at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York, a privilege also extended to the Holy See;
- United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 67/19 upgraded….
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Chibaya, the
ladies were very quiet when you were out.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MBWMBWE): Let me take that again. The United Nationa General Assembly resolution 61/19 upgraded Palestine to a non-member observer state status in the United Nations (2012);
- Zimbabwe also voted in favour of Palestine’s membership of
UNESCO in 2011;
- Zimbabawe also supports Palestine’s quest to join more
International Organisations, including UN Agencies as a prelude to full UN membership.
NAM COMMITTEE ON PALESTINE
Zimbabwe is an active member of the Non Aligned Movement
(NAM) Committee on Palestine. The Committee’s mandate is to lobby for the full recognition and attainment of statehood for the State of Palestine, as well as to focus the attention of international community on the situation in Palestine.
The Committee usually meets during NAM Summits, mid-term
Ministerial meetings and annually in September, on the sidelines of UNGA at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has always participated at all Committee meetings.
The Committee can convene emergency meetings as and when the need arises. This was the case in August 2014 when Iran, the then Chair, convened an emergency meeting following a 55 day military invasion of Palestine by Israel. The meeting discussed means to end the
Israel atrocities in the Gaza strip and duly condemned the atrocities. The Committee requested humanitarian assistance for Palestine and also made individual country pledges.
Madam Speaker, in the Security Council the NAM continues to be a flag bearer in the fight for the Palestinian cause. In a recent debate in the Security Council, the NAM asked how the Council could remain silent as Israel continued its repression of the Palestinian people. It pointed out that the destructive impact of Israel violations was immense, emphasising that such criminality must be rejected and must not be allowed to go unpunished.
NAM CONTINUES TO URGE FOR THE RESUMPTION OF
PEACE TALKS
Zimbabwe supports the NAM ‘s position which urges the international community – particularly Security Council – to end the occupation of Palestinian and other Arab lands, thereby paving way for the fulfillment of the rights and independence of the Palestinian people.
The Movement also reaffirmed its longstanding solidarity with the Palestinian people.
CONCLUSION
Zimbabwe will continue to support all initiatives aimed at realising Palestinian independence and her full participation in the community of nations. Visits such as the one undertaken by Hon. Paradza and his delegation serve to reassure the Palestinians of Zimbabwe’s unwavering support and should be greatly encouraged. Thank you Madam Speaker.
– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order Hon. Mupfumi.
HON. PARADZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like on behalf of my Committee, to thank all Hon. Members who contributed to this motion. I would like also to thank the Minister for his comprehensive response to our report and also for the unwavering support which Zimbabwe has towards the Palestinian question.
For over 70 years now, the Palestinian people have suffered in order to free themselves from the occupying forces of Israel. Israel has continued for those 70 years, since 1948 to ignore and violate all United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Even the latest one, the OZUL
Accord, where it was agreed to form a two-state solution between them, so that they can live side by side as neighbours, Israel continues to ignore that.
This issue has been worsened by the fact that the new American President, Donald Trump is siding with Israel against Palestine. He is actually thinking of moving US Embassy from Tele Avivi to East Jerusalem, which is the Holy Land which belongs to the Palestinian people.
We have about seven million Palestinians who are refugees inside their own country as well as outside. Most of these have not tasted any peace since 1948. However, I would like to thank the Government of Iran for keeping this Palestinian question at least, so that the world continues to remember that there are still people in Palestine who are suffering. This is because the wars in the Middle East, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen have sought of taken the Palestinian question outside the UN Radar or rather the International Radar. It is no longer a priority as all these countries are now focusing on these wars. We are happy that the Government of Iran is reviving this.
From our own point of view as Zimbabwe, we must also revive the Zimbabwe-Palestinian Friendship Association so that we keep the fire burning. As we speak, Israel continues to build illegal settlements in West Bank and this is an area which belongs to the Palestinian people, but Israel continues to violate the UN resolution. I would like to move that the House adopts this motion on the Report on the exchange visit by the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs to the Palestine Legislative Council held from 15th to 20th May, 2016. Motion with leave, adopted.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN
AFFAIRS ON THE VISIT TO EMBASSIES
Forty-First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the visits to Embassies by the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs from 16th to 19 November, 2015.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON.
MBWEMBWE): Thank you Madam Speaker. First of all, I wish to thank the Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon.
Paradza and his delegation for undertaking the visits to Addis Ababa and Gaborone. The findings though disturbing, are quite pertinent. Let me at the outset say that the situation obtaining in Addis Ababa and Gaborone is a microcosm of what is happening at most of our Missions globally.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the main reason why Government has not been able to adequately maintain these properties are the economic challenges that the country has been experiencing over successive years. It is common knowledge that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, like all other Government departments, is only a tenant in Government buildings both inside and outside Zimbabwe.
With regards to the Chancery in Addis Ababa, Treasury availed
US$20 000 for the repair of the leaking roof soon after the esteemed
Committee members had visited the station. With respect to our Embassy in Gaborone, the Ministry last received US$15 000 in 2012 for repairs and maintenance. Currently, we await funding for the renovation and repairs that need to be undertaken at the Chancery.
Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to go into the specific details of the underfunding of the maintenance vote for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. This information is readily available to all Hon. Members. My
Ministry’s budget passes through this august House year in and year out. Each year Hon. Members have noted the inadequacy of the resources made available. I am grateful to Hon. Members who make this observation every year. Let us all appreciate that we are going through challenging times. The Minister is in constant discussions with his colleague, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, to see how this situation can be remedied as soon as possible under the circumstances.
I am confident that the facelift requirements of Government owned properties at our Embassies in Africa by the Ministry of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing will be done as soon
as the resources become available. My Ministry has already submitted the requirements for 12 of our Embassies in Africa namely Beira,
Lilongwe, Lusaka, Nairobi, Maputo, Addis Ababa, Gaborone, Pretoria, Windhoek, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Dar-es-Salaam. I am glad to report to this august House that the renovations at our Mission in Juba South Sudan have already been done.
Mr. Speaker, my Ministry noted with appreciation all the recommendations that the Committee made. I wish to assure Hon.
Members that we will continue to work closely with colleagues in other
Ministries, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing as we, together, endeavour to improve that state of our properties, as well as the welfare of our diplomats abroad. Let me once again, Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you for the Committee’s report.
HON. PARADZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Once again, I would like to thank all the Hon. Members that contributed to this motion and also the Minister for his response. However, Mr. Speaker, since our return from Addis Ababa and the availing of this US$20 000, up to now, no maintenance work has been done in our Embassy in Addis Ababa and also the situation is the same with other Embassies across the globe. We would like for Minister Chinamasa to really look at the budget of this
Ministry so that we can have some allocation to deal with these Embassies.
It is not only the buildings Mr. Speaker. Also the vehicles there are all very old and no longer fit to be diplomatic vehicles and it is no longer exciting talking to our Ambassadors. Mr. Speaker, it is no longer exciting to be an Ambassador for Zimbabwe at this particular moment because of the situation there at the Embassies. However, we are glad that the Government, through the Public Service Commission, has seen it fit that salaries for our diplomats go through the SSB and some of them are able to access. However, we have other countries, like for example Iran and Cuba, where they are having difficulties in accessing their salaries because the visa cards are not functioning there.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to urge the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and also possibly the Ministry of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing, to allocate at least US$1 million or US$2 million a year to build an Embassy a year; one embassy a year. This is the only way to go because when we were in Addis Ababa, we had the opportunity of visiting the Malawian Embassy and they had put up a nice two storey structure for US$600 000. We also went to the Embassy of Gambia, a small country in West Africa. They have also done the same thing. They have used US$600 000 to
US$700 000 and Zimbabwe, we have land which is already there in Addis Ababa, but this land has been lying like that for the past years since 2005 and nothing has been done.
We were surprised to see Minister Mumbengegwi taking His Excellency the President to go and officially open the Embassy which belongs to Equatorial Guinea. It is a marvelous piece of architecture, but he did not take the President to go and view our Embassy which is so dilapidated that you cannot believe it is an Embassy. However, having said that, Mr. Speaker, I move that the motion on the report of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs on the visit to Embassies be adopted.
Motion with leave, adopted.
HON. RUNGANI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to Number 12 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 13 has been disposed of.
HON. DR. CHIMEDZA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
AND CHILD CARE ON THE DEPLOYMENT, ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VILLAGE HEALTH WORKERS/CITY
HEALTH PROMOTERS IN THE PROVISION OF PRIMARY
HEALTH CARE
HON. DR. CHIMEDZA: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care on the Deployment, Roles and Responsibilities of the Village Health Workers/City Health Promoters in the provision of Primary Health Care in Zimbabwe (S.C. 21, 2016).
HON. GABBUZA: I second.
HON. DR. CHIMEDZA: I rise for the House to take note of the
First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care on the
Deployment, Roles and the Responsibilities of the Village Health Workers/City Health Promoters in the provision of Primary Health Care in Zimbabwe (S.C. 21, 2016).
INTRODUCTION:
Pursuant to its oversight role over the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care enquired into the roles and responsibilities of the Village Health Workers (VHWs)/City Health Promoters (CHPs) in the provision of primary health care in Zimbabwe. The Committee was compelled to enquire on the deployment, roles and responsibilities of the Village Health Workers/City Health Promoters following observations during the tours to Population Services Zimbabwe’s Outreach Family Planning Services in Ntabazinduna and Chitindo areas in 2015.
From the tours conducted in Ntabazinduna and Chitindo areas, the Committee noted that the Village Health Workers have an essential role to play in the provision of the primary health care in Zimbabwe. The Committee learnt during these tours that the Village Health Workers face various challenges in the discharge of their duties, among them were inadequate tools of the trade and some discrepancies in allowances
given to them.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the enquiry were:
- To appreciate the roles and responsibilities of the Village Health-
Workers in the provision of primary health care in Zimbabwe;
- To appreciate recruitment and selection criteria of the Village Health
Workers;
- To assess the deployment of the Village Health Workers in the rural communities;
- To understand the Village Health Workers’ working conditions and remuneration; and
- To recommend possible incentives for improved service delivery for increased Village Health Workers productivity and effectiveness in
the health sector.
METHODOLOGY
The Committee used two methods of data collection namely; oral evidence and familiarisation tours to selected Rural Health Centres and urban areas.
Oral Evidence Sessions
Brigadier General Dr. G. Gwinji, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Child Care briefed the Committee on the deployment, performance and remuneration of the VHWs/CHPs, on the
8th of March, 2016.
Familiarisation Visits
The Committee conducted familiarization visits to selected Rural
Health Centres from 16 to 20 May 2016. The committee visited 8 Provinces, two Metropolitan provinces and one city. The purpose of the visits was to meet with sampled Village Health Workers (VHWs) and City Health Promoters (CHPs) from at least one district of each of the provinces. The Committee aimed at holding twenty-seven (27) meetings with the VHWs. However, due to unanticipated bad road networks in some districts, the Committee successfully held a total of twenty-three (23) meetings. The Committee interacted with a total of 567 Village Health Workers and City Health Promoters during the visits. The areas visited are presented in Table 1.
The Committee’s first port of call was the District Nursing Officer/ Community Nursing Officer/ Health Promotion Coordinator or their representatives. These are the officers who mobilised the VHWs/CHPs and would lead the committee to each meeting point and took the privilege to brief the committee on statistics, recruitment and deployment and roles of VHWs/CHPs. The Committee employed focus group discussion tool to gather more information from the VHWs/CHPs. In light of this approach, the VHWs/CHPs were themselves given a chance to share with the Committee their working conditions and challenges. Mostly, the VHWs would gather at a health centre where they report to. In rural communities, the number of VHW in a single meeting ranged from 4 to 19 while in urban area, it was above one hundred.
Table 1: Areas visited by the Committee
|
Province |
District |
City |
Rural Health Centre |
1. |
Mashonaland West |
Karoi |
- |
-Kasimure Clinic -Tengwe Clinic -Zebra Downs |
2. |
Midlands |
Gokwe-North |
- |
-Tsungayi clinic -Kuwirirana clinic |
3. |
Matebeland North |
Nkayi |
- |
-Fanisoni clinic -Sesemba clinic -Zenka clinic |
4. |
Matebeland South |
Plumtree |
- |
-Ndiweni clinic |
5. |
Mashonaland Central |
Mt. Darwin |
- |
-Chitse Clinic -Dotito Clinic -Mutungagore |
6. |
Mashonaland East |
Murehwa |
- |
-Kambarami Clinic -Nyamutumbu |
|
|
|
|
-Kadzere Clinic |
7. |
Manicaland |
Makoni |
- |
-Mayo1 Clinic -Weya Clinic -Headlands Clinic |
8. |
Masvingo |
Gutu |
|
-Matizha Clinic -Chesguro Clinic |
9. |
Harare Metropolitan |
- |
Harare |
-Venue of the meeting was at Rowan Martin Building |
10. |
Bulawayo Metropolitan |
- |
Bulawayo |
-Venue of the meeting was the Tower Block |
11. |
- |
- |
Chitungwiza |
-Venue of the meeting was Young Africa Skills Centre |
THE COMMITTEE FINDINGS
BACKGROUND TO THE VILLAGE HEALTH WORKERS PROGRAMME
The Village Health Workers (VHW) Programme was launched in
April 1981. In 1984, the programme was moved to the Ministry of
Women’s Affairs, Gender and Cooperative Development. Following the recommendation of the Presidential Commission in 1999, the VHWs programme was moved back to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) and it was resuscitated under this Ministry in 2000. The broad objective of the VHWs programme is to reduce morbidity and mortality of all preventable and curable diseases. Specifically, the programme aims at the following:
- Strengthening of relationships between the communities and health service providers;
- Enhancing community ownership of the health programmes; and
- Strengthening early identification and referral of clients.
Administration of the Programme
The original funding was through the Zimbabwe AIDS Network
(ZAN) and the agreement was an amount of US$15.00 for each Village Health Worker which was split into US$14.00 for VHWs and US$1.00 for administration fee. However, lack of capacity and cost of implementation became a challenge for ZAN and responsibility was transferred to the MoHCC under the same arrangement. The purpose of the administration fees is to covers the following:
Quarterly meetings;
Payment runs to each health facility to pay each VHW; and Fuel and transport related costs and communication costs.
Roles and Responsibilities of VHWs/ CHPs
Generally, the Committee noticed that the roles and responsibilities of VHWs and CHPs were similar across the provinces and were mainly on primary health care, initial treatment and prevention, water and sanitation and hygiene promotion and health information dissemination.
They are a critical link between the clinics, other health care organisations/programmes and the communities thus, improving access to health services. They are the first point of call to primary health care in a village or community as it were. It was however noted that the VHWs perform other functions that are not ordinarily their duties especially at the health centres.
In particular, the roles and duties of the VHWs/CHPs were mentioned as follows:
Diagnose and administer first dose treatments for malaria and minor ailments (e.g body aches, colds and baby eye challenges) and wound dressing;
- Refer patients that need further care to the nearest clinic;
- Advocate for sanitation and hygiene at households, encouraging each household to have a toilet, safe water source, rubbish pit and kitchen utensils drying shelf;
- Water sampling at new boreholes for onward transmission for bacterial and chemical analysis;
- Promote adherence to treatment and do follow ups on clients that are on treatment programmes like for ART, TB, cancer and stroke;
- Social mobilisation of communities during the Ministry of health and Child Care campaigns like the Expanded
Programme on Immunisation (EPI);
- Record and monitor baby (under-fives) growth;
Encourage and educate families on proper post-natal baby care;
- Transmit different health care information and messages to communities;
- Look out for disease outbreaks and make reports to the clinic;
- Observe the general wellness of villagers and encourage uptake of health care services where it is needed;
- Identify and register every pregnant woman and encourage them to go for ANC and then to the mothers waiting shelters on time;
- Educate and distribute family planning products like condoms;
- Alert communities of sexual and reproductive health issues;
- Mobilise male villagers to take up VMMC;
- Patient counseling;
- Submit monthly reports at their clinic where there is a VHW
Return Form which captures malaria, PMTCT, OI/ART and
TB, condom distribution, EPI, disease surveillance, health promotion and growth monitoring;
- Assist several NGOs to proliferate their health community programmes. The VHW has become the focal person for any health community programme; and
- Sometimes are called in at clinics to assist staff with baby weighing, weeding and general cleaning.
Selection and Recruitment of VHWs and CHPs
In all the rural districts visited, the VHW is chosen by the community or village they are to serve, usually through the office of the headman. In Bulawayo City, all the City Health Promoters were selected by councillors from 29 wards in 2010. In Chitungwiza, the City Health Promoters were selected by their councillors in 2010 after having been trained as Red Cross cadres, while those for Harare City were selected at ZANU PF branches in 1986 with some having been recently selected through their councillors’ office. In some communities, the selected candidates will be interviewed at the clinic to assess suitability.
Communities look out for the following characteristics:
- Able to read and write.
- Aged 25 years and above.
- Interested/passion in health issues.
- Exemplary in issues of health and hygiene.
- Able to communicate.
- Able to observe confidentiality.
- Committed to work on voluntary basis.
- Approachable person.
- Organised person.
- Married person (Dotito Community).
After the selection, they are called in batches for training (3 to 8 weeks), as and when funds are availed either from the Global Fund (GF) or the Health Transition Fund (HTF) which is now the Health Development Fund (HDF). Trainings are ongoing with the latest batches met being end of April 2016 trainees.
They are trained to have adequate understanding of health issues and to be able to teach communities and perform several primary health care procedures. Among other key issues, trainings were said to cover disease identification and testing (e.g using malaria test kit), administering of certain medicines to patients, wound dressing, home based care, PMTCT, T.B case management, baby growth monitoring, family planning and water sanitation and hygiene (WASH). When available, they are given kits with medicines, bandages and malaria test kits. They are also given basic baby growth monitoring equipment like weighing scales.
After training, the VHWs and CHPs are recruited to serve in the communities from which they were selected, reporting at their nearest clinic. The deployment standard is to have one VHW covering a hundred households which is roughly one village. Due to shortages of funding, the majority of VHWs and CHPs interviewed are deployed to cover more than one village. As more VHWs get trained, those areas that are in much need and underrepresented are then relieved.
Conditions of Service
The current VHW and CHP cadre was recruited and trained under the GF, HTF, UNICEF, OPHID, World Vision and CWGH. Of these four organisations, only GF and HTF further support the VHW with uniforms and regalia, kits, training costs (including allowances), a $14 per month allowance and sometimes bicycles. The VHWs and CHPs are treated as volunteers and not employees hence none of the said issuances are obligatory and come as and when availed. It was noted in Bulawayo city that a handful of CHPs were not happy with the volunteer tag and had believed that they were employed by the State.
The Village Health Workers/ City Health Promoters are supposed to work 2-3 half days in a week. However, in most cases, the VHWs are now working throughout the week and remain with their doors open for service even at night.
Remuneration
There is no VHW who is getting their $14 monthly allowance on time. There was a working gentleman’s agreement to pay out the allowance once every quarter, however evidence gathered shows that the allowances payment is so erratic and uncertain with cadres sometimes paid once in a calendar year. When the allowances come, they will not be up to the payment date but have always remained behind, with the best performing districts having paid up VHWs up to February 2016.
It was noted that at most centres none of the VHWs appreciate how much they are owed in allowances. Some of the MoHCC staff also did not have the payments balance sheets at their fingertips and agreed that they employ a wait-and-see approach since they have no control or knowledge of what amount will come and when.
The HTF is giving cash payments through the MoHCC, while the
GF has shifted to using Ecocash. There are recorded challenges with the
Ecocash system where some cadres are not receiving their allowances (some from the onset while others received first and second rounds only) and are sometimes skipped when disbursements come but are never back paid when the next disbursement reflects. In Bulilima district, up to 49 GF VHWs have not received their Ecocash allowances in spite of resubmissions and verification of personal details since 2013 when that mobile payment option was adopted.
Some of the VHWs indicated that they have to travel to their district hospitals to collect their allowances. The worst scenario was reported at Mayo1 Clinic in Makoni district where the VHWs have to look up for accommodation after having missed their buses due to the delays in the payments of their allowances by the Accountant at Rusape District Hospital. However, the VHWs in Gutu District get their allowances at the clinic they report to.
The VHWs appreciate that they are volunteers but kindly requested for at least timeous payment of the little appreciation they were promised and an upward review of between US$20.00 and US$150.00 would be most welcome.
In the event that a VHW is deceased, his/her allowances are then given to another VHW who was not receiving this allowance before.
Deployment
Due to lack of Government support and limited donor support to the VHWs programme, most of the communities are not adequately covered according to the one VHW per 100 household standards. The country has a coverage of 50% of the requirement—i.e 12 000/24 000.
The worst case scenario encountered was one VHW covering 17 villages in Cheshuro area, Gutu district. There are some scenarios in sparsely populated villages where there is more than one VHW in a village. But in most, if not all cases interrogated, VHWs are enduring long distances to cover their areas of jurisdiction. In Matizha, one VHW serves communities that are as far as 40-50km from the health centre and walks long distances of about 25km to provide health care services to other villages.
Table 2 shows the deployment of the VHWs/CHPs by province. It is also important at this point to state that one thousand and forty VHW (1040) new VHWs were trained in 2015 but do not receive allowances.
Table 2: Coverage of Village Health Workers by Province
Province |
No. of VHWs in post that are paid by Health Transition Fund |
No. of VHWs in post that are paid by Global Fund |
Manicaland |
597 |
840 |
Mashonaland Central |
530 |
920 |
Mashonaland East |
1111 |
1080 |
Mashonaland West |
413 |
840 |
Masvingo |
392 |
840 |
Matebeleland North |
562 |
840 |
Matebeleland South |
447 |
800 |
Midlands |
516 |
920 |
Bulawayo City |
- |
120 |
Harare City |
- |
120 |
Chitungwiza City |
- |
120 |
Total |
4568 |
7440 plus (40 not being paid: GF not considering the split & funds were not provided for) |
Grand Total |
12008 (plus 40 not being paid). |
|
Source: Submissions by the Permanent Secretary of MoHCC—
March, 2016
From the table above, it is evident that Mashonaland East Province has the highest coverage of VHWs compared to other provinces.
Mashonaland East province has one thousand, one hundred and eleven (1111) VHWs sponsored by HTF and one thousand and eighty (1080) VHWs sponsored by Global Fund, giving a total of two thousand, one hundred and ninety-one (2191). Consequently, the Committee expressed great concern over this disparity and sought justification for this kind of arrangement.
Justification of the high coverage of VHWs in Mashonaland East
Province
The reasons given for the high coverage of VHWs in Mashonaland East Province were as follows:
- Global Fund trained in all the nine (9) districts of the province; ii.UNICEF trained 82 VHWs in Seke district; iii. OPHID Trust trained 27 VHWs in Murehwa and 40 VHWs in
Marondera districts; iv. Community Working Group for Health trained 300 VHWs in Chikomba and 300 VHWs in Uzumba-Marammba-Pfungwe
districts (U.M.P);
- World Vision trained 117 VHWs in Mudzi district;
- Health Transition Fund trained 480 VHWs in 7 disricts, 40 each in the year 2015 (Seke, Wedza, Murehwa, Goromonzi, Marondera and Mutoko).
During the oral evidence, the Permanent Secretary for the MoHCC, Brigadier General Dr. G. Gwinji, attributed this high coverage to the potential of the province to attract donors and further stated that donors preferred to train VHWs in Mashonaland East Province due to its proximity to the capital city, Harare. Such a great support for this province has resulted in some districts having more VHWs than what they require while other districts within the province and other provinces in the country faced acute shortage of this cadre as Table 3 would reveal.
Table 3: Demographic Data by District in Mashonaland East
Province
District |
Total Population 2015 |
Estimated Total Villages |
Total VHWs in post |
VHW Required |
|||||
1. Chikomba |
125 912 |
786 |
433 |
353 |
|||||
2. U.M.P |
117 195 |
420 |
|
392 |
|
|
30 |
|
|
3. Seke |
279 138 |
405 |
|
287 |
|
|
118 |
|
|
4. Mudzi |
138 678 |
500 |
|
306 |
|
|
194 |
|
|
5. Murewa |
209 362 |
450 |
221 |
229 |
|||||
6. Marondera |
186 270 |
300 |
|
210 |
|
|
90 |
|
|
7. Goromonzi |
293 133 |
500 |
199 |
301 |
|||||
8. Mutoko |
152 077 |
400 |
199 |
201 |
|||||
9. Wedza |
75 197 |
254 |
|
152 |
|
|
102 |
|
|
Totals |
1 576 962 |
4015 |
23 |
99 |
1618 |
||||
Source: Submissions by the Permanent Secretary of Health and
Child Care—April, 2016
The district numbers of VHWs that are highlighted in grey clearly show that five (5) districts (U.M.P, Seke, Mudzi, Marondera and Wedza) out of nine districts in Mashonaland East Province are over deployed with the VHWs.
Presentation
The Committee noted that upon training, the VHWs and CHPs were promised uniforms. When the Committee visited, some VHWs had their uniforms on while others did not have, either because the uniforms never came or are no longer usable or are oversized or small sizes. There was a unanimous outcry about the poor quality of materials and design used for uniforms. The cadre values the way they present themselves to the communities and pleaded for some uniforms as these will also make them easy to identify. A complete uniform would include a dress/trousers and shirt, hat, jersey and shoes (preferably leather shoes).
Depending with the partners handouts, items like umbrellas, tshirts, bags and cellular phone handsets sometimes come but in limited numbers such that no one cadre can get all the regalia at once. Receiving these items proved very motivational to the VHWs.
Identification badges were also requested, to make sure the cadre gets the space they deserve, even when they visit a health centre elsewhere to seek treatment, which would come for free. They also requested for raincoats and torches to use during the odd and adverse conditions under which they have to attend to work now and again.
The VHWs understood the need to be always smart and clean, but bemoaned their little allowance and erratic payments, a situation that makes it difficult for them to afford descend clothes and toiletries. They also even fail to afford money to build an exemplary homestead and would appreciate if funds could be availed to set up a model home at each VHW’s homestead.
Tools of Trade
Some VHWs were given bicycles that are still functional while on the other hand, some are broken down. The bicycles are provided by World Bicycle Relief, and are designed in the USA. All the centres visited registered one similar challenge of lack of repair parts in local shops. They also informed the Committee that they use their own money for the bicycle repairs. The distances covered and the volumes of work to be done have exerted a heavy workload that most VHWs are failing to adequately carry. In the eight (8) provinces visited (the rural population), the VHWs who underwent training did not have bicycles to use and this also applied to their allowances and uniforms. In urban communities, some CHPs end up using their own resources on public transport to access their places of work.
Village Health Workers Kits were inadequately equipped to enable them carry out their duties in the communities, for example, shortage of drugs like painkillers, gloves, stationery, Mid-Upper Arm
Circumference (MUAC) Tape, torches to use at night, and raincoats to use during the rain season.
Community Work and Acceptance of the VHWs/CHPs
Generally, the cadre is well respected, trusted and valued in most communities, both by the villagers and several other external health care stakeholders. The VHW has managed to uplift the countries primary health care system over the years with notable results. There is however a serious shortage of tools of the trade in every place visited. Majority of the VHWs never received kits after training, and those who did, no longer get stocks replenishments from the local clinics. They face difficulties when they fail to find even painkillers, or fail to dress a wound and always have to refer patients to the clinics which in many cases are too far away. This has limited their usefulness in the community as far as treatment is concerned. Kits would normally contain items like methylated spirit, vaseline, gloves, small towels, painkillers, malaria test kit and pills, G.V, betadine, bandages and eye treatment creams.
Challenges were recorded with some religious groupings that refuse to take up any form of conventional medicine or utilize health care centres, as a way of their faith. In Headlands, the Committee received reports of maternal deaths that were due to home deliveries mainly from the Vapostori Religious Sect. This has presented a big problem especially during communicable disease outbreaks. Such people are also known to collect prevention items like mosquito nets and use them for unintended purposes like fishing. However, some districts reported that they were successful in persuading these religious sects to access conventional health services although many of them would seek these services nicodemously. As a result, Matizha community reported zero maternal related deaths between January and May 2016. Of interest to note in Gutu district, is the unequivocal support the VHWs and health system in general get from the traditional leaders, especially chiefs.
As far as spreading health messages is concerned, the VHWs appreciated and preferred the use of posters and pamphlets. These media of communication are not as available as they would want, and sometimes they are available but written in a language that is foreign to the targeted community. An example was distribution of Shona Marvelon 28 (an oral contraceptive) pamphlets in a predominantly Ndebele speaking area of Fanisoni in Nkayi.
The VHWs registered demotivation when they have to preach a good message, say about WASH to a majority of citizenry who cannot afford the construction costs.
Lack of stationery was mentioned in several places as a big hindrance to the VHWs and CHP’s referral and record keeping systems. This has also added up to the extra costs that the cadre has to face in order to execute their voluntary duties. Some clinics in Bulawayo town were giving their CHPs stationery.
Harare and Chitungwiza Health City Promoters
Harare City Council set a good example by paying the City Health
Promoters allowances of US$122.00 per month over and above the US14.00 they get from the donors. This has motivated the CHPs in doing their work. It was quite visible how happy and organised the CHPs were and they attributed this to the good leadership of their Health Promotion Coordinators, Mr. Makwara and Ms. Makoni.
This situation was contrary to Chitungwiza City Health Promoters who indicated that there was no good work relation between the City Council and them. They accused the City Council of not being concerned with their welfare and working conditions as well as support on their allowances.
The CHPs bemoaned the failure by the City Council to collect refuse regularly and supply clean and safe drinking water to the citizens, adding that the lack of these services in the city made their effort to prevent the outbreak of diseases, especially cholera and typhoid futile.
COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Observation
The Committee noted with concern that the VHW programme is donor driven and that raises sustainability issues. In light of this, the
Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care
Recommendation Number 1/2016
There is need for strong Government support in terms of adequate budgetary allocation towards the VHW programme starting from the
2017 budget allocation.
The Committee further recommends that Government should immediately start working on innovative domestic health financing such as sintax in order to raise revenue to meet the demands in the health sector.
Observation
The Committee noted that there is variance in VHWs training periods. Some were trained for 3 weeks, others for 6 weeks and yet still some official documents indicate they are supposed to be trained for a total of 8 weeks. The Committee therefore, recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 2/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should ensure full training (8 weeks) of the VHWs/CHPs as a matter of urgency.
Observation
The Committee also noted that there is an imbalance on resources disbursed to VHWs from district to district. Some districts like Hurungwe have received at least two batches of bicycles from Goal and later on from HTF, such that VHW received 2 bicycles between 2010 and 2013 and even afforded to give 23 more to untrained volunteers, while other districts have trained cadres who have not received a bicycle. This poor coordination of state programs and donated resources was witnessed by the committee at Fanisoni clinic where two perimeter fences, from different sources, are erected adjacently. In light of this, the Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 3/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should come up with mechanisms to improve coordination of VHW programmes, particularly in the distribution of supplies and equipment by the second quarter of
2017.
Observation
The Committee noted that the Ministry of Health and Child Care is doing very little to keep the VHW motivated and active. The Committee therefore, recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 4/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should provide visible examples of the VHW/CHP’s status such as identification cards with photos and certificates and make it possible for them to get preferential access to healthcare services or provide healthcare services at reduced cost or free by the second quarter of 2017.
Observation
The Committee noted that there is less regard of this very pivotal cadre within the MOHCC administration systems as evidenced by the absence of proper channels for the VHW to present their concerns. It is apparent that the Ministry and its partners dearly need, and in fact overuse, the VHW but do not demonstrate equal care and concern about their individual welfare, requests and challenges. In light of the foregoing, the Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care
Recommendation Number 5/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should ensure that the VHWs/CHPs get the recognition and respect that they deserve from the health system with immediate effect. This should be done by provision of adequate tools of the trade and putting in place proper channels of communication through monthly meetings at the Rural Health Centres by the second quarter of 2017 to enable the VHWs air their views.
The Committee further recommends that the Ministry of Health should review VHWs allowances upward and liaise with the GF and HDF on timeous disbursements of the VHWs’ allowances starting from the first quarter of 2017.
Observation
The Committee noted some inconsistences in allowances given to VHWs trained during the same period and failure to address simple matters like ecocash payouts since 2013 demonstrated poor administration. In view of this, the Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 6/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should assist in addressing the inconsistence/discrepancies in the payment of allowances of the
VHWs/CHPs through provision of funds by the first quarter of 2017.
Observation
The committee failed to get a single VHW who knew what they are owed in allowances. Some did not even know the actual figure they are supposed to get per month, and when it comes backdated, they do not know for which months it is supposed to cover. Such practices create fatal grounds for corruption. In view of this, the Committee therefore, recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 7/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should immediately avail to the VHWs how much they are owed and include in the pay sheets information on the month which the VHWs would be receiving their allowances.
Observation
The Committee also noted that despite all the listed recruitment characteristics, there is still a significant number of inactive VHWs due to resignation after failing to cope with the conditions of service. The Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 8/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should provide an enabling work environment in terms of reasonable workload, supportive supervision, adequate supplies and equipment, carrier growth opportunities and continuing education to motivate VHWs and keep them at work by the second quarter of 2017.
Observation
The Committee noted that there was untimely relaying of information on resignations, absconding and deaths of VHWs to paying agencies such that there are high chances that an inactive VHW can still continue to receive allowances especially on ecocash. For instance, in Bulilima, the Committee noted a case of 22 VHWs who had retired but were still on the payroll as a form of pension while there are more candidates waiting for funds to get trained and join the VHW workforce.
Furthermore, the Committee noted some disturbing arrangements in
Matebeleland South, whereby payouts remaining after Health Transition
Fund disbursement is not returned but given to VHWs under the Global Fund whose payments were delayed. In some instances, some change is returned in cash to the provincial offices as it is not clear how the funds are to be handled. In light of this, the Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 9/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should come up with a clear policy on mechanisms for the payment of the VHW upon retirement, resignation or abscondment of duties or deceasing by the first quarter of 2017.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should come up with clear terms of reference or regulations regarding the acquittals of payments of the VHWs allowances. The Committee further recommends that the Ministry of Health and Child Care put in place strong monitoring systems to ensure timeous reporting of such.
Observation
The Committee noted that Hurungwe, Weya and Cheshuro communities had many active yet untrained VHW while other districts only call for specific villages to appoint according to the disbursed training funds. The Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 10/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should ensure that the untrained VHWs who are offering their services to the communities are trained through provision of funds by April, 2017.
Observation
The Committee noted that some deployment formulas used left a lot to be desired, whereby some villages have more than one (1) VHW yet other villages in the same district have none. The Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care Recommendation
Number 11/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should ensure fair deployment of VHWs in all the provinces of the country by directing donors to the areas that are most underrepresented or underserved and stop the current practice of deploying VHWs to areas that are already represented, leaving the underrepresented areas unattended by the second quarter of
2017.
Observation
The Committee also noted that the working hours for the VHWs are not 2-3 half days due to the ever growing demand of their services by the communities. The Committee recommends that:
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care
Recommendation Number 12/2016
The Ministry of Health and Child Care should take cognizance that the VHWs/CHPs now work more than 2-3 half days as stipulated before and improve their working conditions and allowances accordingly from the first quarter of 2017.
HON. P.D SIBANDA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker for
giving me an opportunity to also have an input to this important report from the Health Committee.
When we talk about issues of village health workers, generally, I think these are issues that people can simply take lightly but if you ask all Hon. Members that are stationed in rural areas, they will tell you the importance of these unsung heroes that are called village health workers especially in assisting in the discharge of our health care services in the rural areas.
The importance of village health workers can never be over emphasized, especially when we look at the state of our health sector in terms of how it has been compromised in terms of its accessibility, affordability and in terms of its quality. In terms of accessibility, I think the policy of the Ministry of Health is such that clinics should be at least ten kilometers apart in rural areas. That is the ideal scenario. The understanding is that within ten kilometers radius, it is easy for people that are in the rural areas to be able to walk to the clinics and access medical help.
However, whilst that is the ideal situation, the real situation that is prevailing on the ground as has been enunciated in the report is such that some clinics are 60-100 kms apart in rural areas. Worse still, the rural areas that we are talking about are rural areas that have got poor road networks where there is no road traffic movement which can make it easy for a sick person to easily access a clinic that is far away.
When we are talking about quality that has been compromised, it is important to take note that in rural areas, some health centres are actually manned by these village health workers and these are the people called nurses by people in the rural areas. When they tell you that they are going to see a nurse or doctor, they will be referring to a village health worker because of the scarcity and inadequacy of the number of the health provider employees in the health sector that we have in this country.
The other problem that has compromised our health sector is that fact that the personnel in the health sector, especially those who are in the rural areas are poorly remunerated as there are no incentives of being stationed in rural areas. I can give you an example of a report that was given by your Committee some time back talking about the allowances that are distributed coming from Global Fund and HTF going to the health sector. It was discovered that while nurses who are stationed in rural areas are getting something like $50.00 a month as allowances, you will find that personnel who are stationed at the Ministry of Health and Child Care Headquarters are getting around $200.00 per month from the same donors. That amount that they are given is also in addition to whatever perks that they get from the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Therefore, if you look at how the rural health sector is not incentivised that therefore creates more need for Village Health Workers to be incentivised, and motivated so that they can continue to discharge their responsibilities.
The nature of challenges that is faced by our health sector calls for shift of focus to prevention rather than treating or cure because as far as we know, our health sector has become so dilapidated that we cannot treat. We are unable to treat these days, we are unable to cure.
Therefore it is important that we shift our focus towards prevention. The Village Health Workers are the people who are offering the services of prevention in the rural areas. These are services that are associated with sanitation and the other good health behaviour in the rural areas that can assist our people to prevent attracting diseases. The Village Health
Workers are responsible for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of measures that are necessary for prevention of disease contraction and disease spread in the rural areas.
Where someone falls sick, in the rural areas like I indicated that some clinics are about 60 to 100 km apart; the Village Health Workers are handy in providing primary care and management of sickness before the patient starts looking for transport to take them to clinics. As I indicated earlier on Hon. Speaker, in areas like my constituency in Tshunga, one of my wards called Tshunga; it is an area that has got no accessibility in terms of road network and telecommunications. There is only one health centre that is there and that health centre is manned by none other than the Village Health Workers. Those are the only health personnel that are known by the community, a total population that comprises of not less than three wards in that particular area with about four chieftainships. Those are the kind of services that these people are offering.
The people who are offering such an essential service, we call them “voluntary”, that is what they are called. Volunteering to offer such an essential service, service that we cannot afford to do without as a nation. Hon. Speaker, as the mover of the motion indicated, the agreement was that Village Health Workers would be working part-time, voluntarily for two to three days a week but nowadays they are not only working seven days a week. They are working almost 24 hours a day because every time a person falls sick, the first port of call that they go to is the Village Health Worker.
To worsen the situation as has been indicated, these people are paid $14.00 per month as an allowance. That allowance comes from Global Fund and the HTF and the Government of Zimbabwe is giving them nothing – not even uniforms. The Government of Zimbabwe is giving nothing to the Village Health Workers. So it actually means that these unsung heroes in our health sector are being acknowledged by foreigners rather than by ourselves – we do not care about them. Foreigners are the ones who are acknowledging the critical and important role that they are playing in our health sector.
As has been indicated, Hon. Speaker, they are not even getting the $52.00 quarterly amount of money that they are supposed to get. But like heroes that they are, we have never heard of Village Health Workers going on strike nor abrogating their responsibilities – they continue to deliver service to our service regardless of the fact that as a Government and as a nation, we have not been able to recognise them.
Let me talk about the allocation of resources that has been talked about in the report by the Ministry of Health and Child Care. On resources, I am now talking about the Village Health Workers. Mashonaland East has got 2 399 Village Health Workers and the rest of the other provinces have Village Health Workers who range between 1
200 to 1 400 – every other province and only Mashonaland East has got 2 399. As has been alluded to in the report, when we asked the Ministry of Health and Child Care, why is it that Mashonaland East has got over 100% more than any other province? The reason that was given was that the situation was so because of proximity to Harare.
If we enquire into that we will find that is not true. Mashonaland Central is actually closer to Harare than Mashonaland East yet it has got less than 1 400 Village Health Workers. So, why is it that donors are running towards Mashonaland East and leaving Mashonaland Central and every other province that is closer to Harare? The issue is not the distance or proximity but about the skewed distribution of resources by this Ministry of Health and Child Care. Remember Hon. Speaker, earlier on, we once gave a report as Committee on Health and Child Care stating that this is the same Ministry that is paying Rural Health personnel about $50.00 as allowances from the donors. It is the same Ministry that is paying a person who is stationed at Headquarters $200.00 per month but only giving $50.00 to the person who is actually delivering service. Giving $200.00 to a person who is merely seated at the Headquarters and obviously with other huge perks that are coming from the Government and that $200.00 goes on top of whatever the
Government is giving that person.
It is the same Ministry, Hon. Speaker, that at one time we indicated gave St. Alberts’ Mission Hospitals $709 200.00 and gave Kariyangwe Mission Hospital $37 500.00. The reason why I am bringing about these figures is simply trying to show a trend within the Ministry of Health and Child Care that it does not do equitable distribution of resources.
That is the reason why Mashonaland East today has got 2 399 Village Health Workers whilst other provinces have got less than 1 4 00. What is it that is special about Mashonaland East province?
I tried to enquire, Hon. Speaker, after I saw these figures and one thing that I discovered was that the Hon. Minister of Health and Child
Care comes from Mashonaland East province. – [HON. D. SIBANDA:
Batshele!] - I am sure it might be coincidence that the Ministry of Health and Child Care says that Mashonaland East has such a high number of village health worker because donors prefer Mashonaland East than other provinces because of proximity. As I have indicated, proximity cannot hold water because Mashonaland East is not the closest province from Harare. I also believe that the Ministry of Health and Child Care has got as responsibility to ensure that when donors come in and say they want to train village health workers, they should not allow them to simply say we want to choose this province.
They should direct them in order so that we can get equitable distribution of resources. When we are talking about what we are talking about Mr. Speaker; these are resources. Let us say, by any chance the Government of Zimbabwe decides to add something to the allowances that village health workers are getting, what it means is that whatever amount of money that is given to each village health worker, multiply it by the number of village health workers that are in that province, it automatically translates into that province getting more allocation from Government and in this case, from donors than the other provinces.
So, the common denominator of Mashonaland East is that the Minister of Health and Child Care comes from that province. My inquiry seems also to prove that the Secretary for Health comes from the same province. – [AN HON. MEMBER: no.] – So, it is only the Minister? That having been said Mr. Speaker, it is important that we indicate that the Ministry should practice fair and equitable distribution of resources if we are going to make sure that next time it distributes its resources well.
I am seeing that the lights are on, but basically what I want to conclude on is that the fact that a critical component of our health distribution is entirely dependent on donors; I mean village health workers. As I indicated earlier on, all their allowances, uniforms and cycles are given by the donors and nothing is coming from the Government of Zimbabwe, at a time when 98% of drug requirements in the health sector also comes from donors. This reflects a serious donor dependence syndrome within our health sector. Therefore, it is important that we try by all means as a Government and as a people to try and invest as much resources as possible into our health sector. We cannot continue to say the mainstream health sector is dependent upon donors and the village health workers are also dependent upon donors. It is incumbent upon us, and this is a clarion call to the Government of Zimbabwe that we need to invest some money, especially into the allowances of village health workers.
Mr. Speaker, $14 in the kind of economy that we are living in means nothing. It is money that does not buy anything. Therefore, it would be proper if this allowance can be increased, say like $50 or $100 a month, with the difference coming from the Government of
Zimbabwe. I do not believe in that we need to go and push donors again to say can you increase this money. I believe that the Government of Zimbabwe has got to find a way to finance the allowances of village health workers, until such a time when we have got sufficient resources to stabilise our health sector. In the current scenario that we have, village health workers continue to play an important role. Therefore, it is important that we motivate them in the discharge of their responsibility. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MATUKE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. RUNGANI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
The debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. MATUKE seconded by HON. D.
SIBANDA, the House adjourned at Twenty Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 15th March, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. NDUNA: I rise on a point of order that speaks to Standing Order Number 69. Mr. Speaker, I have two very pertinent issues that I need to bring to the attention of this House. The first one is, with your indulgence, that the Minister of Home Affairs in particular who deals with registrations of nationalities and citizens of our country. I am aware that we have a third of our population that does not have birth certificates or registration certificates. Can we have at least a ministerial statement to that effect so that we can get to know when and how mobile registration units can come on the ground so that our people can have also a moratorium, a period within which they can register without any payment both for birth certificates and for identity cards.
The second one borders on electricity Mr. Speaker Sir. Recently, there is a unilateral decision that was made by ZESA in particular to the issue of upping the payments for domestic and business entities to the effect that I for one, for my business, have to pay 80% out of whatever payments I have to make for my electricity token that goes towards ZESA. There are entities that cannot pay, in particular the domestic and the businesses that are meant to liquidate their debt first before they can make payments. What this has done, it has certainly made life very difficult for the electorate in particular where I come from. I am calling at least for a statement from the Minister of Energy and Power Development to that effect so that we can alleviate the plight of the masses of Zimbabwe. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! May I urge Hon. Members to
appreciate what a privilege is, otherwise we can be misdirected. The issue raised by the Hon. Member, particularly the latter one, is contained in the Order Paper and the matter will be discussed as a motion. That is why we encourage Hon. Members to collect their Order Paper in advance so that you can check what is on the Order Paper. In future, let us not take time for our privileged time of Question Time.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order, may I find out who
will be our Leader of the House. Besides the issue of the Leader of the House, we only have two Cabinet Ministers and the rest are Deputy Ministers. The other one has been causing controversy of challenging the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. I think we have to respect this House Mr. Speaker. This is sad – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Pane one Minister nemuzukuru.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: I hear you Hon. Mutseyami. Hon.
Zwizwai, spare me the discomfort of sending you out please - [Laughter.] - I have a list of Ministers who have sought leave of absence. The Leader of Government business is overseas in Geneva. Hon. Chinamasa was not in good shape and is normally our – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection.] - When the Chair is speaking you listen. Thank you. He was not feeling well and sometimes we have to do without a Leader of Government business.
The second observation is that some three weeks ago, you gave some very good commendations to Deputy Ministers that they had performed exceptionally well and let us give them the chance to do likewise again - [HON MEMBERS: Hear! hear.] -
HON. MACHINGURA: My name is Hon. Machingura from
Chipinge Central. - [HON. ZWIZWAI: Ndewe ZANU Ndonga.] -
[Laughter.]- I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for you have a very good way and patience of dealing with fact free contributors. My question goes to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. In our recent interactions with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, he indicated a penetration factor of ICT which is close to a factor of one. Is the Minister prepared for that situation? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. UNDENGE): I would urge the Hon.
Member to give me the schools in question because we have a programme which is rolling for electrification of schools. As the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, it is our objective to ensure that every school in Zimbabwe and every public institution is indeed electrified and that programme is rolling on. If he gives me the list of the schools, I will be able to tell him when they will be electrified. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I have heard a very important question from Hon. Machingura about electrification of our schools across the country. My supplementary question to the Minister is to say, without a proper comprehensive plan, do you think that it is sustainable for Government to take electricity to all the schools in the absence of a centralised settlement plan that ensures that we do not have schools even in areas where it is not going to be economic or possible for Government to get electricity? Are you also looking at a master plan in terms of going forward, wherein you are going to determine together with other ministries where schools are supposed to be placed so that all the amenities are made accessible to those settlements?
HON. DR. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker Sir, perhaps let me take
Parliament a little bit backwards. In 2002, this Parliament passed an Act to create the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). It was after noticing that the pace of rural electrification was a bit slow. In the same breadth, Parliament resolved that for every payment of electricity, 6% is subtracted and it goes to the Rural Electrification Fund, specifically to ensure that all our public institutions, which include schools, clinics, hospitals wherever they are in Zimbabwe are electrified. So far, the Rural Electrification Fund has electrified over 8 800 institutions. May I advise the Hon. Member that every school in Zimbabwe no matter where it is located, it is our objective as Government to make sure that it is electrified. I thank you.
*HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My
supplementary question to the Minister is, we want electricity to be available in schools so that we can set up our ICT equipment. Can the Minister enlighten us on what is happening concerning rural electrification because the poles are deteriorating? What we want to know is, will these rural areas be able to access electricity? There are rural areas that can spend a month without getting electricity because the poles would have worn out. What have you done to ensure that electricity is available at all times? I thank you.
HON. DR.UNDENGE: I am happy that the Hon. Member asking me this question is a former Minister of Energy – [HON. ZWIZWAI:
Abvunza neShona kauyu.] – I will answer him Mr. Speaker in English. He is well conversant with English. I believe he is an Engineer, if I am not mistaken.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you proceed.
HON. DR. UNDENGE: May I perhaps further elaborate that
when we look at all schools, there are those which are near the grid and those which are far away from the grid and we have an off-grid solution. At such schools we will put in solar energy. It is understandable that if we are to connect the national grid everywhere, it will take long. The quickest solution is, areas which are far away from the national grid, at such schools we will install solar energy so that at least they will have access to electricity. Regarding ZESA poles which are falling due to heavy incessant rains, we will ensure that the repairs at least last longer.
Of course, you are talking about poles which fell after heavy rains. We have many such cases and I think so far it has cost ZESA millions of dollars. As Government, it is our mandate to ensure that we repair all the faults. We put in place the grid system, repair and install new poles where those would have broken or decayed. The exercise is ongoing Mr. Speaker. I thank you.
HON. K. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment – [HON. CHIBAYA: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Chibaya, you go through your Whip. Hon. K. Sibanda, can you continue.
HON. K. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment. Can you advise this House, what plans your Ministry has to financially empower youths who have undergone vocational training in your Ministry all over the country who cannot be absorbed in the formal sector?
THE MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT (HON. ZHUWAO):
Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that very important question, which talks to young people who constitute a significant component of our population. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry is involved in the provision of skills through our 42 vocational training centres. Those 42 vocational training centres also provide entrepreneurial skills. The objective of providing vocational, technical and entrepreneurial skills is to enable the young people to be able to be financially included. Mr. Speaker Sir, as a Ministry, we have received from Treasury during the year 2016 an amount of $2,5 million. We are utilising that amount towards establishment, as indicated by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, of a youth focused micro-finance institution. Processes of establishing that particular microfinance institution are at an advanced stage. Over and above that Mr.
Speaker Sir, through part of the indigenisation legislation, the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe has put in place measures for all financial institutions to provide at least 5% of their loan book towards empowering young people. I thank you.
HON. TOFFA: Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question to the
Minister is; I just heard him talking about Vocational Training Centres. What about the youths that do not attend Vocational Training Centres and what methods will the youths use to join these Vocational Training Centres? Also, when youths are enquiring about funding most of them are asked about collateral which they do not have. I would like to know from the Minister what measures he has taken to cover that gap for the youths.
HON. ZHUWAO: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I
would like to thank the Hon. Member for the four questions that she has put forward. The first question Mr. Speaker, talked to young people that have not had access to Vocational Training Centres. Mr. Speaker Sir, all young people must be regarded irrespective of whether they have gone to any particular institution or not. To that end Mr. Speaker Sir, the answer to the question that was posed earlier on remains valid.
The second question Mr. Speaker Sir was with regards to how the young people can enroll at Vocational Training Centres. We have 42 Vocational Training Centres throughout the country. It will depend on which particular area that young person resides in for them to be able to enroll at a Vocational Training Centre that is probably closest to them. However, we also have other Vocational Training Centres that we are actually developing to be centres of excellence. For example, Chaminuka Vocational Training Centre which is becoming a centre of excellence in terms of tobacco production and that is an initiative that is being conducted together with BAT as part of the BAT economic empowerment programme.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the third question was regarding funding but I did not quite get – [MR. SPEAKER: Collateral.] - Yes. The issue of collateral for young people is that we recognise that as you are starting out, a young person will hardly be able to get collateral. To that end, we have put in place through the Old Mutual indigenous programme, which is a programme that will allow young people that do not have collateral to be able to access that particular facility. However Mr. Speaker Sir, we are also in discussions with the Central Bank as part of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, for the Central Bank to engage with financial institutions so that they can utilise the transaction history of young people that utilise financial institutions as a basis of securitising their access to credit. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. SITHOLE: My supplementary is that I wanted to enquire from the Minister what his plans are in terms of the two million jobs.
Where does his Ministry stand?
*HON. ZHUWAO: I want to thank the Hon. Member for his question enquiring on the plans regarding Vocational Training Centres in line with employment creation for youths in order to sustain themselves. Mr. Speaker, as I have alluded to, in Zimbabwe we have 42 Vocational Training Centres. What we would want is to sit down and consult Members of Parliament as I am going to explain in the Ministerial Statement that I will give. We want every constituency to have a Vocational Training Centre. Why we want to do that is because each constituency has young people in its area who would also want the skills and knowledge for them to be able to sustain themselves.
So, we will be engaging Members of Parliament who have the vibe for the youths to have a source of livelihood. We know that there are Members of Parliament who would not want such plans in their constituencies to empower the young youths so they can sustain themselves – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Minister said he would make a
Ministerial Statement. You will then interrogate that Ministerial Statement. Why can you not wait for that and he is doing it today – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order.
*HON. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Minister, the issue is not about giving youths funds. When Hon. Kasukuwere was the responsible Minister, he gave the youths money and it failed, and it was given to one party. What measures have you put in place to ensure that those youths without collateral are able to repay that money?
*HON. ZHUWAO: I want to thank the Hon. Member for posing that question. I want to explain Mr. Speaker as I have done before, that I had requested that you give me an opportunity to give a Ministerial Statement that will enable me to explain the measures that we have put in place to empower the youths; and also to ensure that they are able to have a livelihood and sustain themselves. I also want to say that on the issues that were raised but are not in the Ministerial Statement, that the facilities for funds for the youths which started in 2007, most of the funds were being managed by financial institutions such as CBZ, IDBZ and Cabs. Those financial institutions are not aligned to any political party. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MASHAYAMOMBE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker
Sir, we have a concern on the list that is submitted to you to recognise us. We are also here and our names are not on the list. - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Mashayamombe, do you want an answer or not? Hon. Mashayamombe, that is a question that must be properly addressed at the Caucus or directly to the Chief whip.
*HON. MAZIVISA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Hon. Dr. Undenge. Hon. Minister, we know that in life people are different. We have different gender, male and female, some are tall and some are short. Mr. Speaker, we have a challenge that in the constituencies that we represent, there are elderly people who are between 70 years and 80 years as well as above 80 years. They are not being disaggregated in terms of billing by ZESA. The elderly do not have any source of income so if they use for example three megawatts; they are being charged the same amount as those in Borrowdale or Highlands. Is there no policy that can disaggregate such groups of people in life? I thank you. -
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members. Hon. Members
on my left, I did indicate that there is some discomfort in sending out an Hon. Member. If you do not agree with the questioner, please hold your cool and allow the Hon. Member to ask the question in silence.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. When Hon. Mazivisa was posing his question, the Hon. Members on the left were saying that Mazivisa is gay. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - It was Hon. Mutseyami and we want him to withdraw that statement. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order Hon. Members. In terms of our Standing Orders, we need to maintain the decorum of the
House and avoid name calling - unsubstantiated. Hon. Mutseyami, - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Order, order. Hon. Chinotimba alleges that Hon. Mutseyami – kana mataura zvakadaro, please withdraw.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I never said those words. I request that the audio recording be referred to because I never said that. How can I refer to him as being gay or homosexual as if I was ever intimate with him? - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, we will check with the audio recording to get the truth.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. UNDENGE): Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon.
Mazivisa was asking whether we can extend social welfare status to the elderly people who are above the age of 70, when it comes to payment of ZESA bills. In actual fact, I am classifying it as a social welfare matter and we do have a department of social welfare, which caters for such incidences. However, we will look into that in conjunction with the relevant social welfare department to see whether something can be done. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, please listen very carefully to the
Minister’s response. He said he will look into the matter in conjunction with his colleague in the other Ministry.
HON. ZVIDZAI: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. In my constituency as in many others, there are thousands and thousands of people in my constituency as in many others, there are thousands of people with disabilities. Many are blind, others are wheel chair bound and there are a lot of them that are living with albinism. Consequent upon their inability to deal with the needs around school fees for their children, getting proper education for the children and health services for their children and dependants, I would like to find out if there is any policy on the part of the Ministry to deal with those exigencies in the communities. I actually believe that there is 1.2 million cases of people in the country that live with the disability of visual impairment.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): I
would like to inform the Hon. Member that current initiatives which we are taking up as a Ministry to specifically target the number of the disabled which he rightly puts at 10% of our population are at an advanced stage. We are in a process right now to come up with principles which will be governing the establishment of the Disabled Persons’ Act.
The outreach programme has already been taken to six of the ten provinces. We believe that in the next few months, we should be able to have gathered enough information that will speak to the new Disabled
Persons’ Act that we are currently in the process of making. I hope that that will adequately address those issues. In the interim, the policies that we have which target vulnerable people deliberately have an affirmative action towards the disabled persons.
*HON. ZWIZWAI: My supplementary question is that there has been mention of employment, issues of food and also of people living with disabilities who are about 1.2 million. As a Ministry I would like to know what you are doing about their challenges. Have you considered having a voters’ roll for this group of people so that they will be able to vote for their representatives in Parliament than for them to vote for people who will not stand for them and yet they are a population of 1.2 million.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. The supplementary question does
not arise because it is misdirected in terms of the original question.
+HON. NDEBELE: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. There is a STEM program which caters for A’ level sciences. I would like to know if there is any policy that is in place to make sure that there is transparency when children are being enrolled. I have taken note that there are children with As but are not being considered for this programme because there are children with Cs who are connected to school heads and are being given all the places.
+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. GANDAWA): May I answer in English so
that I will be able to answer him properly.
I thank the Hon. Member for his question that seeks to understand the policies that we have in the Ministry that takes effect to the position that students that have ‘As’ or higher passes are not taken by STEM because they do not have headmasters who are their relatives.
The Ministry’s policy is that any student who will have achieved a grade of ‘C’ or better qualifies to have his or her education paid under the STEM programme. It is not the prerogative of the headmaster to choose who benefits from the programme. We have science and technology officers across the country who represent all the provinces or students can go to our ZIMDEF offices in every part of the country to register for the fees payments under the STEM programme.
Should you have a specific problem where a student was denied access to the facility, we will be glad to solve that money if you approach my office or our Principal Directors.
This programme is open to every student who has a grade ‘C’ or better in the country irrespective of where they are coming from or who their parents are. As long as they have a grade ‘C’ or better and if they are going to study the four subjects, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics, they shall get access to the programme. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: My supplementary question is, indeed, we do appreciate that the Ministry has decentralized offices to provinces.
They have advertised in the press widely about the programme. However, there are areas that have no access to most media channels in this country and that are remote and far away from provincial offices.
I can give an example of Matabeleland North; your office is based at Mhlahlandlela which is in Bulawayo….
THE HON. SPEAKER: May you go to the question please Hon.
Member.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: What are you doing to ensure that that programme becomes accessible especially to students that are based in rural areas?
HON. DR. GANDAWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It is indeed true that specifically for Matabeleland North, the Science and Technology officer is based in Bulawayo but we have given them resources to make sure that they visit every high school to make sure that if they collaborate with the headmasters and the District Education Officers and make sure that those deserving candidates; because in most cases, the people that live in the rural areas are the ones that fail to…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, address the Chair please.
HON. DR. GANDAWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Most students who stay in the rural areas are the ones who are disadvantaged and they could benefit from this programme. We are putting all measures in place to make sure that our science and technology officers visit each and every school that offers science programmes that could benefit from the STEM programme but we are open to any suggestions that could make the STEM programme successful for the benefit of the nation. I thank you.
HON. D. SIBANDA: I am glad that the Minister has highlighted that ZIMDEF officials are in all provinces. What measures are you putting in place to safeguard the places - because I understand that those places are on a first come first served basis? What measures are you putting in place to make sure that it is a decentralized provision to make sure that those in Matabeleland or Bulawayo get those in Matabeleland or in Bulawayo for instance, get those places. Rather than having someone coming from Mutare to occupy the position in Matabeleland, what measures are you putting in place to make sure that it is decentralized – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – to make sure that those in respective provinces get the places before you take those coming from afar? Thank you very much.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member, while you
are still there. It is not clear, I think, when they come from Mutare to get positions, what sort of position is that?
HON. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker, I am talking of the Science places (STEM) at high schools. You will find that others are coming from different parts of the country to register in Bulawayo.
THE HON. SPEAKER: To register in Bulawayo, alright.
HON. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker, maybe to add on, the Hon. Minister said it is decentralised so every province has got a ZIMDEF office, which means positions are all over the provinces. So, how are they safeguarding places in schools? – [HON. CHINOTIMBA:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Chinotimba, respect
your colleague.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The ZIMDEF Offices and Science Technology offices across the country serve any member irrespective of where they come from.
If a person is coming from Matabeleland North and they apply in Matabeleland South, the individual in that respective area must serve that student. In terms of the payment, we do not select where the student comes from because it is a national programme and it should remain like that. I hear what you are saying Hon. Member, that you want the people in that area to benefit. If we concentrate as she is suggesting, we will indeed …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order as the Hon. Member is suggesting.
HON. DR. GANDAWA: As the Hon. Member is saying, we will disadvantage quite a number of students who could benefit because in certain provinces, for example in Matabeleland North, there are a few high schools that offer the Sciences so we opened it up so that even those students who come from Matabeleland South where there are less schools that offer Sciences can go and access the courses from other provinces. So, it is open irrespective of where the student is coming from. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. NDEBELE: Another supplementary as the originator Mr.
Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are the last to ask the supplementary question but before you do so. Can you allow me to make a short announcement?
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY
THE HON. SPEAKER: I would like recognise the presence of visitors from Mbizo Constituency represented by Hon. Mupereri. You are most welcome – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker, on numerous occasions our Government has been accused of creating ghost workers and ghost supporters in some cases – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – My question regarding the ZIMDEF Fund which has also been bedeviled by similar allegations of corruption is; are there any policies that will safeguard this fund since the Hon. Minister has explained that it allows for the crisscrossing of students from one province to the other? Can the Hon. Minister assure us if his policies are waterproof in terms of safeguarding this fund from the creation of ghost students?
HON. DR. GANDAWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir and I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The way the fund is executed in terms of the STEM Programme is that the headmasters from respective schools, after registering the students, compile lists of students and submit those to the ZIMDEF Offices. The officer responsible for that particular province will visit the school to cross check and verify whether indeed the students are indeed attending classes there or have been registered there before payment is made.
There is a verification process that is done. The auditors also follow up to determine whether the disbursed funds are equivalent to the students that are learning. Even when the next term starts because at times some students register and they dropout – the system must be able to pick out if there is a change on the number of students as per the original registration. I thank you.
*HON. CHIKOMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. Hon. Minister, since we are expecting a bumper harvest this farming season, we had depots in the rural areas where we would take our produce.
Now that we have a lot of maize and produce and people cannot ferry their produce as far as Gokwe from my constituency, are you going to open depots to ensure that they are accessible to everyone so that people bring their produce in?
*THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION
AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Mr.
Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that he posed. We are going to open satellite depots to enable farmers to take their produce to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
The satellite depots will be in relation to GMB as well as cotton. It is not only about the bumper harvest that we are having but we also know that in other areas, the road networks are bad. So to insure and preserve our produce, we will assist by establishing satellite depots.
HON. DR. MUKANDURI: My supplementary to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development is, will it be possible to also mobilise transport to allow or assist them to sell their produce to the nearest depot because some of our rural folk worked very hard under very difficult conditions to produce the bumper harvests?
HON. DR. MADE: Madam Speaker, I have already stated that we are going to open satellite depots. The purpose of the satellite depots is to assist farmers so that they do not transport the produce for long distances – that is the purpose of a satellite depot.
A satellite depot assumes that the grain has already been bought and is now in the hands of GMB – that is it. I have made that clear but to say we will provide transport. No, we are making the satellite depots nearer to the farmers. If we try to say we are going to do everything – I will say in here, we will provide transport then we do not achieve it. No, the satellite depot must be nearer, the grain is protected there and when GMB is ready to move it to their main depots, they will do that. It is the same with cotton. I have said for cotton or for any farmer, no farmer should be moving more than 5 kilometers. You cannot draw scotch carts and so forth beyond any reasonable point. Hon. Member, I thank you. I have simply just emphasised that we will do that.
Hon. Members having wanted to pose many supplementary
questions.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Supplementary questions are
over. Those three are enough.
*HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
supplementary question is that Minister, since you have opened depots to bring our produce; when are you going to inform us of the prices for all our agricultural produce because the pricing that is being mentioned each and every year is that of maize only, yet we have a variety of crops that have been grown? We also want to find out if we can get seed for those crops and at what price? I thank you.
HON. DR. MADE: Grains will be bought at $390 per metric tonne, all other commodities we do not determine the prices for them but they will all be bought. All grain, sorghum, millet and maize will be bought at $390 per metric tonne.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I heard as if the Hon. Member
wants to know what price is the other small grains. Of which maybe you can promise that in the future you are going to give those prices because even if the people know that all the grains are going to be bought by GMB, what about the small grains? I heard as if that was the question from the Hon. Member.
HON. DR. MADE: Madam Speaker, that is exactly what I said. I said all small grains and maize will be bought at $390 per metric tonne.
We do not fix the price for all other pulses and so on.
*HON. SITHOLE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to know what Government plans are and the position of the Government concerning Command Agriculture. We heard one of the Government leaders saying that Command Agriculture implementation did not work out well. Professor Jonathan Moyo appeared on television saying that.
So we would like to find out from the Minister that is it true that
Command Agriculture did not yield the intended results? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I would
like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I am not aware of what he is talking about.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Who is saying that? Hon.
Minister, are you referring to what was said by the Hon. Member or what? You are giving the answer yourself, can we hear it from the
Minister? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon.
Members on my right, that is too much.
HON. DR. MADE: I am very clear on what the Hon. Member
said that Professor Moyo had said this. I do not know that. – HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Chibaya
please take your seat?
*HON. MUFUNGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. We also heard
the Minister saying that all grain will be bought at $390 per metric tonne. My question is in areas close to the border, such as Mbire and Rushinga produce cotton. They sell most of the cotton in Mozambique because they do not know the pricing. What plans do you have as a
Government to ensure that the cotton that was sponsored by the
Government is not taken to another country? What is our position?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I would
like to thank the Hon. Member for the question that he raised in relation to cotton farming because our people end up selling their cotton in Mozambique. We will look into the matter seriously. With time I will enlighten the House on cotton farming as well as the pricing. –[HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Chinotimba having risen to speak.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Chibaya.
Hon. Chinotimba, I am calling for order.
*HON. CHIONOTIMBA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I want to raise a supplementary question.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I said after three
supplementary questions, there would be no more supplementary questions. Please take your seat.
+HON. R. MPOFU: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question
is, there is a road from Maphisa to Gwanda. This road has gone for years without being tarred. This is a road from a district to a province. This road is used by many people, including women going to the hospital. It is a busy road. What is Government policy on that Hon.
Minister? I thank you.
Hon. Zwizwai having commented on the delay by the Minister to respond.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Zwizwai, you have been
given three warnings. I was here; I will take up from those warnings and send you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADANHA):
Thank you Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member has asked a question on when the road from Matopo to Gwanda will be tarred. I think it has been on the programme for a very long time and that people who are going to hospital sometimes find it difficult to reach to the hospital and also the bridge was washed away.
Madam Speaker, let me start by saying that most of our roads are facing a big problem mainly because of the normal to above normal rainfall that we received during this rainy season. Most of our roads which require to be surfaced have stayed quite a long time without being surfaced. The reason has been due to lack of funding. Let me start by saying that this road from Matopo to Gwanda is on our priority for surfacing.
Currently, we are mobilising funds to see to it that this road is surfaced. There are so many programmes that we are pursuing which start from Public Private Partnerships and we are also looking for investors who are willing to invest on some of these roads on a build, operate and transfer arrangement. So, this road is actually on our programme and sooner or later, it will be tarred. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
supplementary question is - from your response, you mentioned that our roads are no longer worthy. May you enlighten us as a nation because we have lost lives because of the status of our roads? What are you doing do address the situation of our poor road network to ensure that we do not lose more lives? Thank you.
*HON. ENG. MADANHA: I want to thank Hon. Chibaya for the
question that he raised. It is a very pertinent question and in line with the truth that we have met a lot of road accidents because of the poor road network. What I would want to clarify is that whenever there are heavy rains, the first enemy of our road network is water or the rains. This year we have been blessed with a lot of rains which has led to a bumper harvest. On the other hand, this rain has destroyed our road network. I want to promise to all those listening that the Government has plans to restore our road network.
We have three plans and the first one is on emergency works. If you go out there, you find that there are people who are addressing the issue of potholes to ensure that we drive on safe roads. The second plan is to restore our bridges and protecting them from being washed away by the rain. The third plan is to resurface the roads. So, I want to say that there are three Ministries which are the Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructural Development, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
These Ministries formed a Committee as you are aware, that the roads have been proclaimed to be in a state of national disaster. There is a Committee that was formed to mobilise funds to address the poor road network with the three plans that I have highlighted. As of now, I want to enlighten this House that we now have US$20 million that is being used to address phase one that I have mentioned. We have also requested other parties such as the Zimbabwe National Army to assist us especially in the construction of bridges. Bridges take long to construct and we know that others from the army have barely bridges that are made from steel and they can be made in one day to enable people to access the other side. We want to end this pothole menace that is in our nation. I thank you.
+HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister why there are no funds set aside for those who would have been injured in road accidents. Some people die and some get injured, but you collect a lot of money from people. I thank you.
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker. We have
got a fund with Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe which is destined to helping victims of post crush accidents. Everybody knows that all cars pay insurance. So, Traffic Safety Council collects twelve and a half percent of all money that is paid for third party insurance and that is part of the money that is used to cater for problems of post crush victims.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Hon.
Minister, you have admitted that the state of the roads is a disaster. Are we going to see a situation where you are going to reduce the maximum speeds on our roads? The current maximum speed is 120 km per hour and 80 km per hour for heavy trucks. Thank you.
+HON. L. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I heard the Minister saying that funds that are collected from insurance companies are given out to people. Who are the people who have benefitted from those funds?
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker. This is a
very important question. What I can confirm is that there are some people who have been helped through this fund. All along since 2009 when dollarisation was introduced, people were not paying third party insurances and there were a lot of fake cover notes in the insurance industry. From 2015, that is when we started enforcing this condition that all third party insurance should remit twelve and a half percent to
Traffic Safety Council. This money has been paid to some victims and part of the money is being used to fence some of our roads. For example, if you go to Bulawayo, you will see that there is some perimeter fencing, and that is the money that is being used. Part of the money is being used to buy even ambulances which will help victims of accidents. So, the fund is there and I know it is going to intervene and do something. I thank you Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can you answer Hon.
Hon. Sibanda having stood up.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You brought in your question through the back door. We cannot have that. Can you please answer Hon. Mudarikwa’s question.
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Actually for the benefit of doubt, the Hon Member can put her question in writing so that I can give her the details of who has been paid from this fund.
Hon. Mudarikwa has asked a very important question. When we
are going to rebuild the roads, I do not think there is going to be any
shift in terms of the speed on the road. Why do I say so, when you build a road the speed is determined by the width of the road…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, in terms of the
question he was talking about now when the roads are not yet built and repaired. This is where the question is coming from. We cannot talk about when the roads have been built.
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Madam Speaker, this is not a normal
practice. It involves a lot of investment and since the roads are being repaired and they will be repaired in no time through the three phases that I have indicated in which case there will not be any reason why we should reduce our speed because it will be a very unnecessary investment. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
HON. D. S. SIBANDA: I move that time for Questions Without
Notice be extended by 15 minutes.
HON. MUNENGAMI: I second.
HON. MUDARIKWA: I object.
Motion put and negatived.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order. Previously in this House, I asked a question to Hon. Minister Chidhakwa and the Hon. Speaker was in the chair. The issue was that His Excellency came and gave a statement to say that the small scale miners were given a loan of $100m that has improved gold production in this nation. But the $100m was never given to small scale miners, which means His Excellency was given false information to say that there was a loan that was advanced to small scale miners.
We asked the Minister to explain to us who gave the President false information and enlighten us but he promised that he would look into it. The Minister promised to go and look into it and find out who would give such false information to the President. The Minister has not responded to this issue from the day that I asked this question.
THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. W. CHIDHAKWA): Thank you Madam
Speaker. That is work in progress and I will advise Parliament.
*HON. CHAMISA: When I look at the Standing Orders that guide the conduct of this House, there are a lot of procedures that we are not adhering to especially on Section 79, it says “every Member desiring to speak must rise in his or her place and must address himself or herself to the Chair”. I have observed that there is this scenario of coming up with written lists. This is in violation of the Standing Orders. I know that there are challenges in that probably the Chair does not know other Hon. Members but it is allowed for the Speaker to just point to that particular Member so that we do not violate the Standing Order. The written list that we are now presenting to you takes us back to an era in primary school where this was used. My request is that we go according to the Standing Orders. I would expect the Standing Orders to be followed as we agreed.
Secondly, on the issue of the Standing Orders, we said if a Minister finds it difficult to come to Parliament, he or she should put it in writing to the Speaker in order to give honour and respect to this House. If you look at it, most of our Ministers see it as a joke. My request is that we teach our Hon. Ministers good conduct. Hon. Dr. Made comes everyday and there is no need to educate you. For those who do not come, we want to educate you because you cannot fool around with Parliament. You should not take us for granted and play around with us in this august House because this is not right. I thank you.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Chamisa, you
mentioned the issue of recognising Members that they should stand up on their feet if they want to contribute. It is true, that is what should be happening but the other challenge that we faced was that if all Hon. Members are to stand up at the same time, we cannot see those who are seated right at the back. There was a report that those who want to debate be listed in advance but it does not mean that only those on the list will be recognised. Those who are not seen and feel that they are not being recognised is because sometimes they are right at the back and we cannot see them. We have liaised with the administration that we should not have a rule that Members should be listed for them to debate.
Secondly, you mentioned about Ministers and their attendance to Parliament. I have a whole list that is two and half pages long and they have all requested the leave of the House because they are committed elsewhere. I can actually read them out if you are interested – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
*HON. MLISWA: My issue Madam Speaker emanates from the
fact that I need to be educated because from parties that do have Chief Whips, if the Chief Whip stands to give a position, one from the same party objects. What do you say? When there was a request to extend Question Time, Hon. Mukwangwariwa seconded it and an Hon. Member from the same party objected it. We end up being involved in factions.
My question is that some of us do not have Chief Whips. What Hon. Chamisa was saying is, we no longer understand the issue of bringing lists to the Speaker. I am no longer from ZANU PF so if I ask questions, it is as if you are against me as a Member of Parliament for Norton.
Three times I have stood up and you are not recognizing me.
I will put it in writing and point out that the Speaker seems to be supporting the ruling party. I was expelled from ZANU PF and I have come back. I am not being recognised; you continue to victimize us – [Laughter.] - I mentioned it last time to the Speaker and I actually informed the Speaker that you are destroying my spirit. Even today I went to him. ZANU PF writes a list of Hon. Members who want to debate and MDC does the same. What about me? Who will write my name? We want to be a Parliament that discusses national issues regardless of party. We are now approaching a political angle to show that you are partisan. When you are in the Chair, may you be nonpartisan. We came from the people and we are representing the people. What really is my issue? Is it because I am not a ZANU PF member? I thank you.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order please. Hon. Mliswa, I think I have addressed the issue of coming up with a list of people to be recognised. Secondly, the fact that you won against ZANU PF has no relevance in this august House – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] - Order! Can we have order please! I am at work right now as I am doing this. As I assumed the Chair, I am sure you saw me communicating with the Speaker. The Hon. Speaker advised me that Hon. Mliswa should be given an opportunity but the challenge was we spent a lot of time on supplementary questions. When the Hon. Speaker handed over the Chair to me, he informed me that I should give you the floor to debate, so to say that you are being victimized, that should not be entertained by Hon. Members. That is not true. So, let us not be angry because there is nothing of that sort.
Thirdly, on the issue of the Chief Whip, the Chief Whip as we are in this House does not speak on behalf of any other Member. Every Member who comes from his constituency is representing his constituents and not the Chief Whip. What happened is what we can term free and fair. So, the Hon. Member who spoke in this House was actually representing his constituents. Lastly, Hon. Mukwangwariwa is not a Chief Whip, so if he gave his opinion, it is the same as Hon.
Mudarikwa giving his own opinion. Let us proceed.
*HON. MAONDERA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
*HON. MAONDERA: My point of order Madam Speaker is that we should talk to the Hon. Members who are causing violence in their constituencies. For example, In Highfield West there was violence at Zororo Centre and Hon. Mazivisa was said to be involved.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are out of
order. Can you take your seat?
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My point
of order is that if you do not bring your grievances forward, no one will assist you. So, when Hon. Mliswa was giving his grievances, I wanted to inform him that it should be good for him to ask for forgiveness from the party so that he is re-admitted into the party.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you are out
of order. May you resume your seat?
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
POLICY ON COMPENSATION OF PEOPLE DISPLACED
FROM THE ZAMBEZI VALLEY
- HON. P. D. SIBANDA asked the Minister of Energy and Power
Development to state whether the Ministry has a policy to compensate the people who were displaced from the Zambezi Valley during the period 1955 – 1958 to pave way for the construction of Kariba Dam.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. UNDENGE): Madam Speaker, the
Ministry of Energy and Power Development superintends over Zambezi
River Authority Bi-National Statutory Body jointly owned by the Governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River Authority created a trust fund called Zambezi Valley Development Fund in 1997. The purpose of the fund is to ameliorate the suffering of displaced communities in the Zambezi Valley through implementation of projects identified by the said communities.
Projects implemented to date include construction of schools, irrigation schemes, clinics and installation of hammer mills. The Trust Fund is funded by the Zambezi River Authority and Zimbabwe Power Company through monthly contributions of 1% of the monthly water sales invoice.
HON. P.D SIBANDA: I believe that since this was a question with notice, the Minister should have favoured us with the names of the schools and irrigation schemes that have been done in the Zambezi Valley because I come from there. I know of only one irrigation scheme since 1997 that has been done. Therefore, I do not know whether the Minister is able to supply me with the names of the irrigation schemes and the schools that have been developed from that fund. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. DR. UNDENGE: Madam Speaker, I will certainly furnish the Hon. Member with the names of schools, clinics and irrigation schemes which have been funded and developed by the Zambezi River Authority. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Madam Speaker, if the fund is jointly managed by both Zambia and Zimbabwe, why is there such a wide disparity between what Zambians are getting from what Zimbabweans are getting? Like my colleague has said, only two projects in Zimbabwe have been funded but in Zambia almost in every ward there is a clinic which was built by the Zambezi River Authority.
HON. DR. UNDENGE: Madam Speaker, sometimes I wonder
whether they come from the Zambezi valley because we have so many projects that have been developed by the Zambezi River Authority. Perhaps, let them allow me to come and furnish them with what has been done because what he is telling me is his counterpart in Zambia seems to be more informed. However, I will ensure that they are also informed about what has happened on the Zimbabwe side. Thank you.
THE HON. MADAM SPEAKER (HON. CHINOMONA):
Thank you Hon. Minister, I think that is the best, that you bring the information to the House.
ELECTRIFCATION OF MHONDORO-MUBAIRA CONSTITUENCY
- HON. GANGARAHWE asked the Minister of Energy and
Power Development, to indicate when the following schools in
Mhondoro-Mubaira constituency would be electrified considering that the connection fees were paid 2 years back:
- Mavhudzi Primary School in Ward 8;
- Nyamweda Primary School in Ward 10; (c) Zibhowa Primary School in Ward 4; and
(d) Chief Nyamweda’s homestead.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. UNDENGE): Mr. Speaker Sir, I would
like to inform you that electricity connection to Mavhudzi and Nyamweda Primary Schools was scheduled to be carried out during the month of March, 2017. The delays were due to shortage of prepaid meters. The Region has since received some prepaid meters and ZETDC is in the process of clearing connection backlogs, giving priority to schools and hospitals. As for Zibhowa Primary School, seven paid up points at the school were connected two weeks ago. Chief Nyamweda’s homestead will be connected by the week ending 24 March, 2017. ZETDC is currently in the process of ordering materials for the connection.
DISCONNECTION OF ELECTRICITY AT CHIPASHU PRIMARY
SCHOOL IN MHONDORO-MUBAIRA CONSTITUENCY
- HON. GANGARAHWE asked the Minister of Energy and
Power Development, to explain why the Zimbabwe Electricity
Transmission and Distribution Company disconnected electricity at
Chipashu Primary School in Mhondoro-Mubaira Constituency in Ward 4 a year ago, in view of the fact that when they connected electricity they had proof of payment.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. UNDENGE): Madam Speaker, may I
clarify that Chipashu Primary School was not disconnected from the grid. However, five clients at the school who had not paid their connection fees were the ones that were disconnected. The clients have since regularised their supply contracts and have been reconnected after they paid standard connections fees.
ELECTRIFCATION OF SCHOOLS IN MHONDORO-MUBAIRA
CONSTITUENCY
- HON. GANGARAHWE asked the Minister of Energy and
Power Development, to state when the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) would electrify the following schools in Mhondoro-Mubaira constituency, given that REA failed to complete the 2016 roll out programme:
- Gonza Secondary School in Ward 8
- Makuvatsine Primary School in Ward 8
- Gora Primary Schools in Ward 6
- Nyokandove Primary School in Ward 7
- Peters Primary School in Ward 7
- Chibikira Primary School in Ward 1
- Muzavazi Primary School in Ward 27
- Gavaza Primary school in Ward 5
- Gavaza Secondary School in Ward 5
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. UNDENGE): Madam Speaker, in
response to questions raised by Hon. Gangarahwe, Makuvatsine Primary School is scheduled for electrification in 2017, subject to budgetary provisions. Muzavazi Primary School near Watyoka Rural Service Centre was electrified prior to 2002 although the transformer is faulty.
Rwizi (Gavaza) Primary and Secondary Schools are both electrified.
Gonza Secondary School is electrified.
With respect to Gora Primary School which is 5 km from the existing 11 kv grid network; Nyokandove Primary School which is 5 km from the existing 11 kv grid network; Chabikira Primary School which is 1, 5 km from the existing 11 kv grid network and St. Peters Primary School which is 1.3 km from the existing 11 kv grid network. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Rural Electrification Fund (REF) is currently working on a Rural Electrification Master Plan (REMP) which should be completed this year. Once produced and adopted, this document will form the basis for programming all electrification projects in the rural areas including the four institutions above.
PROVISON OF SILOS AT THE GRAIN MARKETING BOARD
DEPOT IN PLUMTREE
- HON. M. S NDLOVU asked the Minister of Agriculture
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to inform the House when silos would be provided at the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depot in Plumtree.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION
AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Madam
Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member and I respond as follows; that GMB provides silos when the capacity exceeds 1 500 metric tonnes. At the moment, the depot that is there is adequate for the grains in the area. That is what I can say but seasonally, this year we are expecting that this area will certainly produce more than the level that I have talked about.
So the matter will be looked at as we get the capacity. Thank you.
MEASURES IN PLACE TO ACCESS MAIZE BUYING POINTS
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, to explain to the House what measures the Ministry has put in place to conveniently and easily access maize buying points in rural areas, in view of the anticipated bumper harvest, following the above normal rains during the 2016-2017 farming season?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): My
response to that question is that GMB is identifying areas to establish collection points that will be opened in April, as I also indicated during the session on the questions without notice.
*HON. CHAMISA: I heard the question raised by Hon. Mpofu concerning where grain will be procured. We want you to explain the validity of us having a bumper harvest because the other day, I heard the Minister of Finance and Economic Development saying we are expecting 3 million metric tonnes of maize and I heard Hon. Minister Made on radio saying we are expecting 2 million metric tonnes. So far we have two conflicting figures. What really is the truth of the matter so that we can adequately prepare for the bumper harvest that lies ahead of us?
HON. DR. MADE: To respond to the Hon member; as he rightly said, we have made some projections and we have certain expectations that we look at because we cannot go to every household to check what they are expecting. Overally, when we look at cereals we are looking at maize, small grains etcetera, so the Minister did not make a mistake when he gave his figure because this is a global situation. So, when we say 2 million, within that range it could be 2.5 million and if we include all those other items, that range will move to 3 million and that is acceptable for now. But when we do the actual harvesting, that is when we take the final position. So, the first round we look at the hectares planted, second round is expected output then lastly, we look at what is marketed to the various institutions. I thank you.
BUDGETARY ALLOCATIONS TO FARMERS
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, to inform the House what budgetary allocations have been set aside to cater for the timeous payment to farmers who would deliver maize to GMB as an incentive and also to motivate them so that they maximize production of maize in future
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): As I
have already alluded to, farmers will be paid just as what happened for the 2015/2016 season, where all farmers who delivered maize and wheat have been paid. Farmers are now not only encouraged but must open bank accounts. We have already appealed to the banks to go out to the farmers and make sure that they facilitate ease of opening bank accounts.
MEASURES TO COMBAT OUTBREAK OF THE RED LOCUST
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, to explain to the House what measures the Ministry has put in place to combat the outbreak of red locusts which have the potential of destroying the anticipated good harvest throughout the country.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): There
has not been an outbreak of red locusts in Zimbabwe this rainy season. However, the Ministry is on full alert and monitoring the situation through the International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA).
CONSTRUCTION OF A BRIDGE ACROSS TJANKWA RIVER
- HON. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when a bridge would be constructed across Tjankwa river, considering that pupils spend as many as 2 to 3 weeks without attending lessons owing to the flooded river.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG.
MADANHA): I am advised that the existing drainage structure at Tjankwa on the Plumtree-Samenani road is a low causeway, which will need upgrading at some point in the future. However, there are other roads in the province with a higher priority such as Bulawayo-Nkayi; Bulawayo-Tsholotsho and Plumtree-Mpoengs, which my Ministry has to
attend to first.
POSITION REGARDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON TARRING
OF THE PLUMTREE/TSHOLOTSHO ROAD
- HON. S. M. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to inform the House on the Ministry’s position regarding a newspaper article to the effect that Plumtree- Tsholotsho road was tarred.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG.
MADANHA): The Plumtree-Tsholotsho road is a gravel road. The article that appeared in the newspaper is erroneous. The road requires re-gravelling in the short term but this repair work requires a substantial amount of funding and this has not been availed as yet. Due to the limited funding availed, the Department of Roads was only able to carry out maintenance grading. Re-gravelling will be carried out when the required funding is availed. The long term plans are to tar surface the road, subject to availability of funds. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Madam Speaker, this was one of the roads that was advertised for BOT and many others – advertisements were flighted and after that, the Ministry just went quiet. Were there no takers for all these roads? What exactly was the problem?
HON. MADANHA: It is very unfortunate that personally, I never saw the advert as such but the position right now is that the advert was erroneous. I do not know how it ended up in the newspaper.
HON. NDUNA: We have a lot of road making equipment like graders and ancillary in the army engineers corps which the Minister alluded to earlier when he said military men or the army can build belly bridges in no time at all across any stream and river if so required and if called upon to do so.
My question that borders on a supplementary is, how far is the Ministry in terms of relating with the army in order to mitigate on the effect of destruction of roads with a view of optimally utilising their equipment that they have got and their expertise?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA): Hon. Nduna,
are you still speaking to the newspaper article question that was raised by the first speaker.
HON. NDUNA: Yes, I am speaking to the maintenance, regarding the reconstruction of the road.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: It is not arising from the
response from the Minister. I think you can ask it on the other questions that are going to be asked.
HON. S.N. NDLOVU: I have a supplementary question on the
Plumtree-Tsholotsho Road. I think the Minister is mixing the two.
There was an article by Hon. Minister Gumbo….
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon Ndlovu. I said the
next question because the Hon. Minister has already responded to that effect.
HON. S.N. NDLOVU: He has responded but he is putting two articles separately. Hon. Gabbuza has said there were advertisements that were flighted about the tender to deal with this road but the article that came out was given out by Hon. Gumbo – the Minister now but the advertisements were flighted when Hon. Mpofu was still the Minister of Transport. He should not mix the two.
HON. MADANHA: The answer that I have availed is the correct position of the Ministry of Transport. This answer is actually coming from the department of roads who are indicating that the newspaper article was an error. I think that is the final answer that I can avail to this House.
STATE OF WESTFIELD-TSHOLOTSHO ROAD
- HON. S.M. NDLOVU asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to explain why the Westfield Tsholotsho Road has not been graded for the past 15 years yet its feeder roads are graded yearly.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADANHA):
Madam Speaker, the Westfield-Tsholotsho Road falls under the jurisdiction of Umguza R.D.C and the official name is SeafieldTsholotsho. According to the R.D.C, maintenance grading was last carried out in 2014. This intervention might not have had a lot of impact as the road requires re-gravelling. To that effect, the road has been put into the re-gravelling programme for Umguza R.D.C for 2017. I thank you.
HON. S.M. NDLOVU: I have a point of clarification to make. This road passes right through the constituency of Bulilima East and is nowhere near Umguza which is being talked about here.
HON. MADANHA: What I am saying Madam Speaker is that the
road falls under the purview of the Umguza R.D.C. I never said it goes through Umguza R.D.C - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
-
HON. S. M. NDLOVU: I am perplexed that people think that I am mistaking the English that was spoken. The road passes...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Ndlovu. Order,
order Hon. Ndlovu. I have allowed you to ask the new question. This is what I want you to stick to. There is no need to defend yourself in the House.
Hon. Munengami having stood up to ask a question on behalf of an absent Hon. Member.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members! Order! Order Hon. Munengami! I will not allow anyone to stand on behalf of another Member of Parliament unless the necessary procedure has been made. In this case, there was no communication to the Speaker so I will not allow that.
UPGRADING OF BRIDGES IN THE SILOBELA CONSTITUENCY
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development, to explain to the House what the Ministry’s plans are as regards the damaged bridges caused by incessant rains and also on upgrading low level bridges which hinder movement of community members and school children when accessing essential services such as hospitals/ clinics, police stations and schools as was the case in the Silobela Constituency where bridges leading to Silobela
District Hospital, Loreto High and Primary Schools and Silobela ZRP Police Station at some point were over flooded for over four consecutive days.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG.
MADANHA): Madam Speaker, the incessant rains that the country has received this season have resulted in the further deterioration of our already aged road networks. This damage has been further worsened by flooding especially in the southern provinces caused by cyclone Dineo. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has so far raised $15.3 million of the $100 million that is required for the emergency road repair programme. This money is to be availed to all road authorities, Department of Roads, Urban Councils, District Development Fund and Rural District Council.
The Department of Roads has compiled the requirements for the damages on the major road networks and the estimated cost for repairs is
$18.2 million nationally. This cost does not include the cost of upgrading structures that are low lying and prone to flooding but are intact. Priority for repairs is going to be placed on major links. For example, the Masvingo to Mbalabala Bridge, wash away and missing links to vital services. The final goal is to have every wash away repaired. The bridges that were flooded will be attended to after the missing links have been replaced. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NDUNA: My supplementary question is, the Hon. Deputy
Minister is a product of the army engineers corps himself. He is aware that the army also has an engineers corps which can effectively, efficiently and expeditiously lay infrastructure for the good of the people in any set up so that we can quickly traffic any disused bridge situation, any impassable stream or river. To what extent has the Ministry engaged the army in order to mitigate such effects without just engaging them for nothing because we have been informed that there is money for that purpose? To what extent have you engaged the army for payment purposes for them to expeditiously lay belly bridges and infrastructure in no time at all in order to put infrastructure for the betterment of the citizenry because we owe the goodness of our roads to the people of Zimbabwe and posterity?
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to
thank Hon. Nduna for the supplementary question. I think the regulation states that when you do work, you must be paid for it.
I want this august House to know that we have engaged the army, not only for the emergency works. I am well aware that the army has even submitted their expression of interest to work on most of our programmes. A clear example that I may want this House to know is on the construction of the Beitbridge/Harare/Chirundu Road including the Harare ring-road where the army has expressed its interest to come and work on this project. Let it be known that for the local contractors, we have reserved 40% of the total contract sum on this road which will be shared amongst those contractors who are going to work on this programme.
As far as the emergency works are concerned, we have definitely engaged the army whom we have specifically requested for the supply of belly bridges because most of our roads have been cut due to the collapse of infrastructural structures like bridges, culverts and shelverts. The army usually uses the belly bridges which are mounted within no time and can be dismounted when a proper bridge is constructed. So, I would like to appreciate and thank the army who have actually accepted to intervene and come and work with us. I know preparations are in progress and we are going to start working with the army for all those emergency works. I thank you.
HON. PHIRI: My supplementary question is on councils. The Hon. Minister spoke about major roads and link roads as most of them have been destroyed. Where exactly do councils come in? Also, how can the local people assist in mending these roads?
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to
thank the Hon. Member for asking a very important question.
Let me make it clear that in this country, we have four entities that are responsible for road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development is mainly in charge of major roads but we have gravel and earth roads. Both these roads have categories. If you look at your road maps, you will find that most of these roads have numbers which indicate to which entity the road belongs. I appreciate the Hon. Member has pointed out that our Rural District Councils do not have capacity to work on most projects, something which we have encouraged them, through ZINARA, to improve on their capacity in terms of recruiting engineers and technicians who can manage the money that they are receiving from ZINARA for road maintenance.
In as far as where the community can intervene, let me also suggest to this House that we are mooting ideas of introducing labour based technologies whereby we are going to ask the communities to come and work on the roads. They will be trained and paid salaries. In the Ministry, we have experience that such work will produce work which is just equivalent to what machines can produce. So I think this is one area where the communities can benefit on the works that are happening on the roads. I thank you Madam Speaker.
GOVERNMENT POLICY REGARDING THE HEALTH OF
OFFICERS MANNING THE TOLLGATES
- HON. S. MPOFU asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development, to explain to the House the Government policy regarding the health of officers manning the tollgates, considering that they are exposed to poisonous fumes emitted by vehicles passing through the tollgates especially those who sit inside the cubicles.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG.
MADANHA): Thank you Madam Speaker. ZINARA installed fresh
air ducts on 40 out of the 65 tolling booths countrywide. These fresh air ducts bring in fresh air into the booths to counter the outside air. A maintenance plan is in place to allow for repairs of the ducts periodically whilst checks of the amount of fumes or emissions from outside sources is measured every quarter through environmental hygiene surveys to track both outside and personal exposure levels. Madam Speaker, employees also go for yearly periodicals to ascertain their health status as another control measure. Tool box stocks on effects of fumes are also undertaken for awareness.
ZINARA is in the process of completing the installations of the same fresh air ducts to the remaining 25 touring booths. The process will be done before the end of the second quarter. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: My supplementary question is, may you
kindly put it on record that as we speak, those officers manning tollgates are being attended to in terms of their health. May you please put it on record to this Parliament?
HON. ENG. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I think
the answer has said it all that there is a programme; there is a plan to attend to all those working in those environments. This is something which has been recently introduced and maybe in one or another, they have been effective but…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister Madanha, the
Hon. Member is asking if you can confirm that all is in order in terms of the health of all those workers.
HON. ENG. MADANHA: I confirm Madam Speaker, because
there was one Hon. Member who asked last month. That is when people start moving and putting these….
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: That is the question because
the Minister said she must put it in writing.
HON. ENG. MADANHA: I confirm.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Sorry Madam Speaker, the Minister had
not confirmed.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: He said he confirms, Hon.
Mutseyami.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: He put it to the House that they are in
preparation to attend to those situations but right now, we have officers who are manning tollgates who are being exposed to the fumes. My question is, as we speak today, are you attending to officers in terms of their health or you are preparing to?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Mutseyami.
The Minister has confirmed according to what he said. I clarified the question to him and then he said he confirms. So, if you want you can go and check.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ABUSE OF INPUTS BY BENEFICIARIES
- HON. KANHANGA asked the Minister of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to inform the House what the
Ministry is doing to bring sanity in cases where beneficiaries;
- Did not have land and capacity and have converted inputs to personal use.
- Have not paid back anything ever since they were allocated
- Have abused inputs at district level and have not utilized the land despite the fact that they were supplied with requisite measures at the express of productive farmers.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION
AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Hon.
Member;
- Matters have been reported to the police and the culprits have been brought to book.
- I am not aware of any of these cases.
- I am not aware of inputs that have been abused at the district level.
ADVERTISED TENDER OF MAIZE BY THE GRAIN MARKETING
BOARD
- HON. MUDARIKWA asked the Minister of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to explain to the House
- Why the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) flighted an advertisement for a tender of 50 000 metric tonnes of maize and to further clarify whether that is not an indirect way of setting the price of maize as GMB does not seem to have a set price for maize?
- Why the advertised tender is meant for millers only and no other consumers of maize?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): On
question
- The GMB is either acquiring or disposing of its products as a public institution is required to float a tender in order to achieve transparency and value for money. The answer to question
- The disposal of grain through tender is meant for bona fide
REPAIR WORK OF THE DAMAGED CULVERT ALONG THE
HWANGE DEKA ROAD
- SANSOLE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House what plans are in place to repair the damaged culvert along the Hwange-Deka Road, about 17km outside Hwange town, where the gravel surface below the tarmac has been eroded to the extent that the road surface has collapsed, posing a serious hazard to the lives of motorists.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG.
MADANHA): The wash away at the 17km peg was caused by water that over topped the culvert. Materials for the repairs have been received and work will commence once the incessant rains have subsided.
MEASURES IN PLACE FOR THE COAL MINING COMPANIES
BETWEEN HWANGE TOWN AND DEKA RIVER TO REPAIR THE
HWANGE-DEKA ROAD
- SANSOLE asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to inform the House on the measures that the Ministry has put in place to make it obligatory for the coal mining companies between Hwange Town and Deka River to repair the Hwange – Deka road, which has been extensively damaged by heavy vehicles plying that route.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. ENG.
MADANHA): The Section in question is trafficked by heavy vehicles hauling coal from the adjacent mines. Previously, we engaged the mines to carry out maintenance activities on this section and they did so to enable other light vehicles to use the road without challenges. We will re-engage the mines to continue with the maintenance works.
NUMBER OF VEHICLES ON THE COUNTRY’S ROADS BY
CATEGORY
- SITHOLE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to state the total number of vehicles on the country’s roads by category.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADANHA):
Madam Speaker, the total number of vehicles on the country’s roads is 1 166 453 broken down as shown below in the vehicle class categories that apply in Zimbabwe:-
Category of vehicle |
Number |
12 300 kg net mass (motor vehicles) |
933 673 |
2 301 – 4 600kg net mass (motor vehicles) |
53 889 |
4 601-9001kg net mass (motor vehicles) |
50 469 |
Over 9 001 net mass (motor vehicles) |
14971 |
550kg factory rated load capacity (small trailers) |
28 271 |
1-70 cm3 engine capacity (motor cycles) |
7 322 |
Over 70cm3 engine capacity (motor cycles) |
39 218 |
Tractors and farm equipment |
23 623 |
LENGTH OF TARRED ROADS IN HARARE AND CHITUNGWIZA
- SITHOLE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, to inform the House what the total length of tarred roads in Harare and in Chitungwiza is.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADANHA):
Madam Speaker, the total length of tarred roads in Harare and in Chitungwiza is 4 300 km and 432 km respectively. I thank you.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order Number 64.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I
move that the time for questions with notice be extended. – [AN HON. MEMBER: Haiti kuwedzerwa.] – If it cannot be extended, it is okay but you are not the Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: There is an objection, so I can
no longer extend the time.
FIRST READING
NATIONAL PEACE AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION BILL,
[H.B. 2, 2017.]
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION (HON. MPHOKO) presented the National Peace
and Reconciliation Commission Bill (H. B2, 2017).
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
ZIMCHEER HERALD
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH, INDIGENISATION AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT (HON. TONGOFA): The
ZimCHEER Herald is a publication that outlines the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment initiatives to identify, acknowledge and celebrate Zimbabwe young entrepreneurs who are innovatively, enterprisingly and resiliently contributing to Zimbabwe’s sustainable socio-economic transformation and development.
The ZimCHEER initiative is motivated by His Excellency,
President R.G. Mugabe’s clarion call in 1986, that youth must play an equally crucial vanguard role in the struggle for economic power by solving the remaining contradictions of economic independence in the same way that youth played a crucial vanguard role in the struggle for political independence by solving the then contradictions of political power. His Excellency consistently directed that our political independence must lead us to economic independence.
Pursuant to this, the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and
Empowerment Development will be celebrating Zimbabwe’s champions and heroes of the economic empowerment revolution. During the last quarter of 2016, the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, through all of its youth officers spread across all the country’s wards, districts and provinces, has identified 39, 385 young entrepreneurs who have created a total of 93, 692 jobs.
The ZimCHEER initiative is consistent with His Excellency,
President R. G. Mugabe’s statement during the 21st February Movement
Celebrations in 2016 that “Our development thrust as a nation recognises that youth constitutes, not only the majority of our economically active population but also forms a critical productive force in our country. Our first commitment is to empower the youth so that they become creators of employment and that we can accommodate them in various sectors of the economy. This will be done by allocating given percentages of operations in the economic sectors, including land. In line with ZIM ASSET, our vast natural resources will be effectively exploited as we add value to them with effective participation of the youth, thus creating a more employment for them”.
Volume 1, Issue 1 of the ZimCHEER Herald published in the first quarter of 2017, celebrates His Excellency President R. G. Mugabe’s legacy of nurturing young economic champions and heroes in the new frontier of the economic empowerment revolution in order to harness the youth demographic dividend. Consistent with Government’s superlative record of investing in Zimbabwe’s young people, Zimbabwe is poised to harness a demographic dividend so as to further the country’s economic transformation and growth within the ZIM ASSET Framework.
The ZimCHEER initiative is part of the measures designed to integrate young people within the country’s developmental agenda. To that end, the Zimbabwe Youth Council has also established four anchor companies to allow young people to contribute to the four clusters of ZIM ASSET. These include:
- Youth Feed Zimbabwe;
- Youth Shape Zimbabwe;
- Youth Make Zimbabwe; and Youth Employ Zimbabwe.
Furthermore, the Government will facilitate the establishment of Empower Bank as an Innovative Micro-Level Financial and Merchant Banking Services Institution.
The Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment is implementing the Zimbabwe Youth Empowerment Strategy for
Investment’s Youth Empowerment Model which consists of three components. The ZimCHEER initiative is the first component that identifies and celebrates young innovative, enterprising and resilient young people, upgrades the young entrepreneurs vocational training, entrepreneurial and technical skills of our Vocational Training Centres and National Youth Service sites, facilitates coaching, mentorship and incubation, and assists them in protecting their ideas and innovations.
The Youth Empowerment Model’s second component provides aggregated support services through four business eco-systems anchor companies in accordance with the four clusters of the ZIM ASSET namely; Youth Feed Zimbabwe, Youth Make Zimbabwe, Youth Shape Zimbabwe and Youth Employ Zimbabwe.
The third component of the Youth Empowerment Model facilitates for youth financial inclusion by encompassing financial advisory and support services and Micro-finance through Empower Bank.
Zimbabwe’s young entrepreneurs have displayed a tremendous amount of innovation, enterprise and resilience. We do have a very good story to tell. Our young entrepreneurs are Zimbabwe’s Champions and Heroes of the Economic Empowerment Revolution. They are our very own ZimCHEER. The very first edition of the ZimCHEER Herald profiles only 20 of the 39 385 young entrepreneurs indentified throughout the country.
The Hon. Deputy Minister Tongofa holding the Volume 1 of the ZimCHEER Herald Book.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this is the Volume 1 of the ZimCHEER Herald which we are launching and we will give each Hon. Member to go through it. We used our own youth officers to gather information about young people who are in each constituency and we have got 39 385 young people who are engaged in business activities. These are the young people and 20 of them are in this Herald. These are the young people who will be capacitated with the money from the Empower Bank.
So, each constituency should have its own young people who are already engaged in business and this is the first edition of the
ZimCHEER Herald. Because we have been witnessing non performing loans from young people, because they were receiving loans without proper training when they were not doing anything and most of them were not using the money for the business purposes, but some of them were diverting the money for other things other than the business issues.
We have decided to gather data from the various constituencies of the young people who are already doing something and these are some of the young people who are doing something in their constituencies. We are also saying these are the people who deserve to be capacitated and to be given the money from our Empower Bank when we start operating. I thank you.
On the motion of HON. MATUKE, seconded by HON. D.
SIBANDA, the House adjourned at One Minute past Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 4th April, 2017
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p. m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
FIRST READING
ESTATE ADMINISTRATORS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B.8, 2016]
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
BIMHA) on behalf of THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER
OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA) presented the Estate Administrators Amendment Bill (H.B. 8, 2016).
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
COMMITTEE STAGE
NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS COMMISSION BILL [H.B. 6,
2016]
First Order read: Committee Stage: National Competitiveness Bill [H.B. 6, 2016.].
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 22 put and agreed to.
First Schedule Section 4 (4) put and agreed to.
Second Schedule Section 6 (2) put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 6,
2016]
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON.
BIMHA): I move that the Bill be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to inform the House
that I have received Non-Adverse Reports on the following Bills:
- i) Movable Property Security Interest Bill [H. B. 7, 2016] ii) National Peace and Reconciliation Bill [H. B. 2, 2017] iii) All Statutory Instruments published in the Government Gazette in the month of February 2017.
SECOND READING
DEEDS REGISTRIES AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 3, 2016]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second
Reading of the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill [H.B. 3, 2016].
Question again proposed.
SECOND READING
DEEDS REGISTRIES AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 3, 2016]
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second
Reading of the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill [H.B. 3, 2016].
Question again proposed.
HON ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker, I have a report on the Public Hearings on the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill that was conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order in the House so
that we listen to the Hon. Member who is debating.
HON. ZIYAMBI:
1.0 Introduction
The Deeds Registries Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Deeds Registries Act (Chapter 20:05) by restricting the execution of powers of attorney only to those witnessed and signed by a legal practitioner, notary public or justice of the peace in the presence of the person executing the power of attorney. The Bill also seeks to allow for the digitisation of the deeds registry and the establishment of an electronic deeds registry which will supplement the paper based one.
2.0 Methodology
2.1 This report is a product of public consultations conducted from 20 to 25 March 2017 in Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo, Mutare, Kadoma and Harare. The consultations were in compliance with Section 141(2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which requires that Parliament ensures that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by
Parliament. The Committee’s report was also informed by written submissions from interested stakeholders and an analysis of the Bill by the Committee.
3.0 SUBMISSIONS BY PARTICIPANTS
3.1 Amendment of Section 78 of Cap. 20:05
Two dominant views emerged regarding this amendment. The first one commended this amendment for seeking to increase security by limiting attestation power only to legal practitioners, notary publics and justices of the peace. Those who were consulted believed that by limiting those who can attest ensures security to the people who are transferring their properties. The alternative view was that access to justice would be limited if general Commissioners of Oaths are removed from attesting to documents for the Deeds Registry purposes.
3.2 Clause 3 section 89.
Participants generally noted that this was an interpretation section which was consistent with modern legal drafting practice.
3.3 Establishment of Electronic Registry
Various stakeholders applauded the introduction of an electronic registry system. They indicated that the introduction of an electronic registry system would expedite the processing of documents at the Deeds Registries Office.
3.4 Use of electronic data generally as evidence: Clause 3
Section 91(1)
Generally as evidenced, some participants raised concern on why the paper version is considered as the authentic version in the event of discrepancies between the two.
3.5 Clauses 3 Section 92: User agreements.
Participants raised a concern that user agreements were only limited to those involved in conveyancing and notarial practice and to those involved in research and information gathering purposes. Other users such as estate agents queried why they were excluded - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order why is it that Hon. Members are so excited? - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - No, no, may we please concentrate with the business of this House and lower your whispers. I know you are whispering to each other but please lower your whispers.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Other users such
as estate agents queried why they were excluded yet they conduct due diligence exercises when selling a property which requires access to the Deeds Registry.
3.7 Clause 3 Section 93: Registration of users and suspension or cancellation of registration.
Concern was raised on the issue that the Bill was silent on the definition of a regular user.
3.8 Clause 3 Section 94: Digital signatures and passwords
No issues raised.
3.9 Clause 3 section 95: Production and retention of documents
No issues raised.
3.10 Clause 3 Section 96: Sending and receipt of electronic communications.
No issues raised.
3.11 Clause 3 Section 97: Obligations, indemnities and presumptions with respect to digital signatures and passwords.
The Committee was informed that Government should ensure that the system is encrypted and foolproof against electronic emulators who can emulate electronic information.
3.12 Clause 3 Section 98: Alternatives to electronic communication in certain cases.
No issues raised.
3.13 Clause 3 Section 99: Unlawful uses of computer systems
No issues raised.
3.14 Clause 3 Section 100: Restrictions on disclosure of information.
The only concern raised here was that the proposed amendment unintentionally impinges on the access to information right enshrined in
Section 62 of the Constitution.
4.0 COMMITTEE FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Having analysed the Bill and considered the contributions made by the public, the Committee made the following findings and recommendations:
4.1 The Committee analysed the Bill and considered the contributions by the public and noted that generally, members of the public were very happy that this Bill has been brought to the august House as it will expedite the Deeds Registries system.
4.2 The Committee viewed the limitation of power of attestation to powers of attorney as a progressive provision aimed at curtailing fraudulent activities.
4.2 Regarding the preference of the paper version of the deeds in the event of a discrepancy between the paper version and the electronic version, the Committee noted that where two versions of the same document exist, it is standard practice that there must be a version that must be specified either by the enabling Act or the regulations to take precedence. In casu, the paper version is the one already in use and it is only logical that it takes precedence since it is tried and tested.
4.3 On user agreements, the Committee noted the legitimate concerns by estate agents, that the Bill should be broadened to include other players who depend on the Deeds Registry to carry out their work like estate agents should be included.
4.4 Consistent with current practice, regular use should be interpreted to mean renewal of practicing certificates for conveyancers, legal practitioners, notaries and estate agents. For researchers, this should be as and when the need arises upon payment of a prescribed fee.
4.5 Consistent with the submissions made, the Government must ensure that the system is encrypted and foolproof against electronic emulators who can emulate electronic information.
5.0 Conclusion
There was general consensus that the proposed amendments are progressive and Government’s intentions to utilise technology in the delivery of legal services are commendable. I thank you.
HON. MAJOME: Madam Speaker, I rise to also join the
Committee in commending the step to amend the Deeds Registry Amendment Act because indeed, registration of title to land is possibly the most valuable asset any human being can have in terms of the property that they might have. A deed of title is an instrument to hold against the whole world, to demonstrate real rights that a person has to land, against the whole world. Indeed, there may very well be other valuable items of property that a person can hold such as jewelry or diamonds but such kind of title or such evidence of ownership is not as secure at all as title to land.
So, I believe it is fitting that we do amend our Deeds Registries Act to move in tandem with the times, to use technology and indeed, to make the Deeds Registries more user friendly. Madam Speaker, having said that, instead of amending the Deeds Registries Act, only to this extent, I believe if we want to increase ease of doing business, in my respectful view, we need to go further. Going further, it is commendable that we establish a Deeds Registry that is electronically accessible. However, as the report pointed out, there were members of the public who were concerned about the limited scope of the access to the Deeds Registry in terms of electronic users. Many of the members of the public wondered why this august House does not go as far as allowing even any other person who is not a registered user, whom the Registrar of Deeds would have recognised, to have access to the Deeds Registry in keeping with the provisions of access to information in the Constitution.
If for example, a person such as your good self, Madam Speaker, who is not a conveyancer, not necessarily a dealer in real estate or not a property developer, might want to find out about a certain person that they may want to trade with or somebody who wants to sell you their stand; there appears to be no logical reason under the sun why you would not be able to, subject to the necessary payment being made, access the Deeds Registries itself electronically without being registered as a registered user.
Already, the practice is that if any member of the public wishes to go and peruse the Registry of Deeds, that is here in Harare or in
Bulawayo, all you need to do is, in Harare you walk up to Century House, appear at the counter of the Registrar of Deeds, pay a nominal inspection fee and be able to check whether maybe John or James or so and so is indeed the holder of a certain land or property without enjoying maybe a specialised status where you are recorded by the Registrar of Deeds. It should be open to every Tom, Jack, Mary and Paidamoyo to be able to also access electronic Deeds Registry in the same way so that it is not the privilege of a secured few.
Madam Speaker, I also echo the sentiments of the Committee that was also echoed by members of the public, that the criteria for registering as a user for the Registrar of Deeds to use those deeds is also very curiously limited. In the Bill, there is a proposal to delete from the
Registrar that if one person is fortunate enough or maybe is able to appear to be selected by the Registrar of Deeds to be on the list of registered users, they may be struck off if in terms of the Bill, it is found that they are not using it frequently enough. Madam Speaker, I would indeed also venture to say that such provisions need to be looked at. I hope that the Hon. Minister will re-look at that provision again because terms like that are not defined properly. They are not in keeping with the dictates of practice and even the current state of the economy. Our Deeds Registry is not as busy as it used to be. The changing of money for the purchase of real rights is not as frequent as it used to be.
If you were to ask many a legal practitioner who also practices as a conveyancer in this town, it is common to find that they are not registering transfers of title, maybe on a weekly, monthly or even a yearly basis. Instructions of conveyance to effect of registered title are not things that happen every day. So, it is very well possible that a whole lot of users maybe bona fide users who are required to be registered, might indeed find themselves being struck off because the frequency of the use is not possible to know how often a conveyancer
for example, might be required to register property. So, definition and provisions like that need indeed to be given further attention and to maybe even be removed altogether so that once one is a registered user, they are registered as far as they can be.
However, my main point in that remains that usage of registration must be amended so that it is similar to the one that users come in off the streets and inspect the Deeds Registry without enjoying that particular
title.
Madam Speaker, I also wish to proceed to my point, that I would want indeed this Deeds Registry amended to not only stop at doing those two things, that is of removing powers of attorney, not allowing Commissioners of Oaths that are not notaries public, non-conveyancers, justice of peace from attesting to powers of attorney to transfer and also to introduce an electronic registry. My hope is that this opportunity to amend the Deeds Registry Act must involve a very thorough fine tooth combing of the entire Deeds Registry Act that we have today so that we not only align it to the Constitution, but also do even more to make sure that it is easier to do business.
Madam Speaker, I want in particular to speak about provisions in the Deeds Registry Act that are archaic and that are a shame to this day and time. Our Deeds Registries Act still contains provisions that belong to the middle age as far as the property rights of women in particular are concerned. I was actually surprised Madam Speaker, when we were going around the country to find that even, of the members of the public who came to give their views; I was hoping that I would also hear even women’s organisations coming to urge the amendment of the Deeds Registries Act to remove such archaic provisions. As I am speaking to you Madam Speaker, I am looking for the precise provisions that are a shame in this particular day and time, that are not in sync with the provisions of Section 17 of the Constitution in particular, that requires that there be gender balance. I believe that it is Section 54 that provides that in the Bill of Rights itself, that provides for equality before the law, equality and lack of discrimination.
Madam Speaker, there are still provisions in our Deeds Registry Act that tend to discriminate against women. Madam Speaker, that requires special provisions, in particular Section 15 of the Deeds Registries Act. It is a shameful provision. It is headed special provisions relating to women. If you allow me, I will just proceed to share what
Section 17 says. I say that because this Deeds Registries Amendment Bill proposes to do only those two changes that I mentioned, it requires the powers of Attorney to effect transfer, be by oath to a Conveyencer, Notary Public as well as the Justices of the Peace and to introduce an electronic registry.
It baffles me to no end that the drafters of this Bill saw nothing amiss in Section 15 of the present Deeds Registries Act, which as I indicated, discriminates against women. It says special provisions relating to women. Subsection (1) provides that a married woman shall be assisted by her husband in executing any deed or document required or permitted to be (a) registered in any Deeds Registry, (b) produced in connection with any deed or document referred to in paragraph (a). If by virtue of her marriage she has no legal capacity to execute such deed or document without the assistance of her husband. This may be referring to marriages in community of property. These are marriages that are not necessarily found in our laws because they have this provision for marital power. This is where a husband is the one who is the person at law and they will be able to exercise those issues.
Our Constitution provides for full equality between men and women. It provides that there shall be no discrimination. There shall be equal citizenship in Zimbabwean law. That would therefore mean that even if there was somebody who wanted to register and get into a marriage in community of property, it would mean that because of the provisions of our Constitution, marital power would now be unconstitutional. Therefore, there will be no occasion for any situation that requires Section 15 of the present Deeds Registries Act to proceed to allow a married woman to be assisted by her husband. This belongs not only in the bin, but maybe in the incinerator.
I am disappointed because this Deeds Registries Amendment Act is a golden opportunity to align the laws of our country with the Constitution. Women are the biggest winners in the constitutional reform process. We cannot in 2017 allow this Deeds Registries
Amendment Act to go through while only making those two changes. Why do we not amend or even repeal this Section 17 so that it removes any relationship to marital power. This is because every woman in Zimbabwe whether married or not, has a right to appear as a full person can appear at the Deeds Registries Office. It is unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of marriage, marital status and on the basis of sex or gender.
This Section 17 needs attention while we are doing this. There is an opportunity to do so, let us do so now Madam Speaker. That is what I am hoping that the drafters will think about this and truly align the whole Deeds Registries Amendment so that we do not waste time and then bring it back again. We cannot allow shameful provisions to pass through our watch. Generations will ask us, ‘what we were doing when you were allowing Section 15 of the Deeds Registries Act to remain untrammeled?’
Madam Speaker, I want to say I generally commend the spirit in which this Deeds Registries Amendment Bill is being brought, but it can certainly do more. This Parliament is ending in a few months and we must use this time wisely. Let us amend or delete the provisions of Section 15 and add them to this Bill. I want to wholeheartedly support the noble protection there is coming to members of the public who are being protected from charlatans who are masquerading as
Commissioners of Oaths who are unlawfully fraudulently dispossessing property owners of their properties by purporting to execute powers of attorney to effect transfer, when in fact they are not.
I was listening to members of the public and I noticed that with respect to them, some of those are worried about the other
Commissioners of Oaths who are not notaries public, conveyencers or justices of the peace. They were worried that they would be removed from relevant - initially but did not seem to be aware that those Commissioners of Oath can go ahead and do whatever else it is that they do like certifying documents and so on. The power has not been taken away, but for that very drastic power to give somebody to give a
Conveyencer to go and appear on your behalf to be the Registrar of Deeds to remove you from your title deeds and to confer title to somebody else - only those people who hold offices that are indeed known, stable and reputable such as conveyance and notaries public and justices of the peace should be able to do that.
In any event, for those who are indigent, I do not think that there will be any problem at all because in any event, they will need a conveyencer to go and convince their properties. They can be referred to organisations that conduct legal aid like the Legal Resources
Foundation, Zimbabwean Lawyers Association and others. The Legal Aid Directorate itself that was established by this Parliament should also be able to be in a position to have its conveyencers - if they are there and notaries public and justices of the peace and also all those other justices of the peace that occurred to avail their services to attest powers of attorney for the purposes of registering title deeds.
Having said that Madam Speaker, I want to support the Bill but I am praying that the Hon. Minister goes and bring a draft that incorporates either a total deletion and incineration of the provisions of the very sexist provisions of Section 15 of the Deeds Registries Act as well as to also expand access to users of the electronic registry to other people who are not necessarily those people and to remove the restriction of deleting from the register on the basis of non use etc. I thank you.
*HON. MAKUNDE: Thank you Madam Speaker. As we travelled
conducting public hearings on the Bills, I just wanted to add a few issues that my colleagues did not mention. Firstly, people were asking why the
Government was absent all this time when you can craft such good laws. It was well received. Those who liked the amendments were mostly women because they were saying that the deeds that are in hard copy had challenges because a man would take that copy to their concubines or small houses and they would remain with nothing. So, they were excited over the fact that there is now an electronic one because if a man takes the hard copy, the electronic one is still there.
The second issue is that as the legislature, need to consider the Commissioners of Oaths. I believe when Home Affairs was giving people authority to be Commissioners of Oaths, they were hoping it would be of community service, not for money making venture. When you walk down the streets, you find a Commissioner of Oaths charging. That is not on the books. Those people should render a community service because they were entrusted to do that. Some of them are retired priests and some are retired headmasters and have been given that authority because of their good standing. That is what this august House should also legislate that those Commissioners of Oath who charge should be brought to book. The Ministry of Home Affairs has the ZRP which should arrest such culprits.
As we travelled, we also realised that as Members of Parliament, we are entrusted with authority to become Commissioners of Oath. So, let us assist people in our constituencies so that they are not charged by the Commissioners of Oath. These are the few words that I wanted to add, Madam Speaker, but in conclusion, I want to agree with Hon. Majome to say that this is the opportunity that we have to align everything that is not in line with international best practices and we should join the international community in having laws that are internationally compliant. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Chair. I see you are in high spirits today – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - I have just risen to give an impetus to this Bill on just one point, Madam Chair, that of computerisation. Madam Chair, also because this Bill deals with a plethora of offices that include amongst them the local government, in particular the councils. Where I come from, there is dearth in terms of computerisation and I will at this point call for the computerisation of such entities as councils.
Madam Speaker, this is going to allow for integration of systems.
If the Deeds Office or the Deeds Registry Office is computerised and the councils are also computerised, it is going to alleviate the plight of the multitude of the citizenry that are going to have these offices being user friendly. We already have POSA that disallows access to information and publication of information without due diligence or without the express authority of the originator. There is no reason, Madam Speaker, for there to be duplication of that effort in terms of criminalising journalists that are going to publish information from the Deeds Registry. Let us continue on the progressive path of having public involvement in any processes, in particular, in such processes that call on the public’s involvement in deeds registry. As long as we computerise, we are being techno savvy and we are being ICT related, going away from the BBC era, that speaks to Born Before Computers.
Madam Speaker, we should utilise this Deeds Registry Bill to embrace technology so that we do away with being archaic, moribund and antiquated. I want to say, as I conclude that this is a progressive Bill for as long as it calls for computerisation of where the Deeds Registry Office is going to reside. Furthermore, let us integrate all systems so
that they speak one to another so that we have a shared vision, shared information and flawless system that also speaks to revenue generation, plugging of loopholes of revenue leakages using computerisation and integration of our systems. I thank you.
HON. CHASI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise merely to commend the Hon. Vice President…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. The Hon. Member who is debating has a small voice, so could you please lower your voices – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Yes, it is for my benefit. I want to hear what he is saying. So please, lower down your whispers.
HON. CHASI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to commend the Hon. Vice President for the wonderful work that is emanating from the Ministry in particular, in this regard - the digitalisation of conveyancing is a very important stride that we are taking as a country. We have witnessed a lot of fraudulent activities regarding conveyancing in this country and it is quite clear, from the digitalisation process that is taking place and which this law applies to, that we are going to plug the very serious holes that have resulted in many members of the public losing a lot of money and I simply want to make that point, Madam Speaker.
The processes that are detailed in this Bill also mean that we are catapulting our country in to the first world in terms of the way that we are going to be registering the buying and selling of property in the country and I simply want to commend the progress that has been made in this regard, I thank you.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I will be very brief. Let me begin by thanking the Minister for bringing the Bill to Parliament and also those who have spoken before me. Hon. Speaker, I think you may recall even during the debates in my reports that procurement was one of the problematic areas where we have highlighted the absence of such procedural actions in terms of actually procuring or acquiring assets in Government, even disposal of the assets. As such, I think the Minister has acted in terms of the demands or the recommendations, in terms of the Public Accounts Committee. I want to appreciate and thank him for having brought the amendments.
However, let me also buttress the points that have been raised by Hon. Majome in terms of inclusion of women on having title deeds and the authority also to have access to property, access to be included in the deeds. Hon. Speaker, you may recall that we have held several meetings and workshops in terms of how we can empower our own women in marriages and even those single people because when we balance equality, it is when everyone is equal in terms of action and in terms of benefits. When the law then goes on to actually take away the rights that have been given in the Constitution through another separate Statutory Instrument, then we bemoan as women. I want to appeal to the Minister, because he has just walked in, to say, this is a good move, but however, he should also improve on the section that we have noted through Hon.
Majome’s submission. Hon. Speaker, let me thank the Hon. Minister and actually impress upon him to actually re-look at the sections that
Hon. Majome has bemoaned that affect women, that are taking the rights of women that are given in the Constitution vis-a-vis through this particular Procurement Bill. I want to thank you for the opportunity.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I
want to start by commending Government for this timeous and timely Bill which has been long overdue in the sense that the world over, jurisdictions are moving from the paper platform to an electronic platform. Our introduction of this platform is going to help the country to handshake with other global economies. Not only is it going to enable us to rank very high in terms of easy of doing business which is a very important indicator in terms of our ranking of economies on the world state. This is a very important Bill because it seeks to move the country in the direction of e-government.
I am aware of the fact that other governments have already moved on to other high platforms, not just the e-government platform but the i- government which is the Intelligence Government and the smart government where Government departments are able to interlock, intercommunicate and be able to move forward. In terms of the Bill being a very important national step, we are going to obviously see the reduction in the space that has to be used because we no longer need all those files; now we can lodge them electronically. We also see that we are going to be able to detect fraud, detect any kind of criminal conduct, if there is any conduct in terms of what the Hon. Member has referred
This is a very important Bill; it is also going to be very important because what it does is that it will save time. Where this has been introduced in Denmark, South Africa where they are currently introducing it, we have seen that there has been a saving of time in terms of how governments function, in terms of how business is transacted.
So, it is very important that this Bill is coming at this particular juncture.
It is also very important particularly because we are seeing that the Electronic Deeds Registry is going to run concurrently with the paper one, that also makes sure that if they are running peri-quasi or at the same, if there is a collapse on one system you are able then to have redundancy and a fall back on the other systems. So, it is a very clever way of adopting a transition from the paper based one to an electronic based one, particularly if we are to look at the model that was used through the 2016 Bill in South Africa, very important Bill. I know that there is a lot of debate that went into the South African one and a lot of good practice that we also have to benefit.
Madam Speaker, I was looking at the African continent, almost 71.4% of our deeds registries are on the paper platform and that has militated against the competitiveness of most of our economies and Zimbabwe is included. Paper based systems have their own bureaucracies and also the red tape in terms of delaying and dilatoriness. Once we move on to this platform, we will be able to then cure the kind of mischief that has undermined the attractiveness of our economy. So, it is a very important development in our country and I want to say that I want to comment the most important amendment here wherein the notary publics, conveyancers and also Justice of the Peace are the ones that are not supposed to be doing the authentication and validation as well as attestation. It is very important because what it does is that you are now looking at a specialised area; a specialised area requires specialised minds and specialised hands. You cannot just have generalized approaches to a specialised area. So, once you have conveyancers who are adequately trained, then it enables the issues of security to be dealt with because they are also things that come along with notary public straining. I for one know that there are certain special courses that are given for those who would actually be doing notary public work and also conveyance.
It is very important that it is done in a way and in a manner as to allow certain members who are trained to deal with those matters. I want to say that they are areas that have to be dealt with if we are to have an effective Electronic Deeds Registry in Zimbabwe. The first one is the issue of the way this Bill has been drafted. I see that there has just been an addition from the last section; it should be section 89 or 79, I cannot remember. There has been an addition of sections from that section, the last sections in the current Deeds Registries Act. Now it is going to be problematic because there is a potential of conflict in terms of sections because there are certain sections that have to be amended because automatically, once you place the obligation of an electronic register, you have to amend certain sections for example section 5, wherein you are looking at the duties of the Registrar; he has to have an obligation to keep an electronic register. So, you have to go and amend the other subsequent sections and I think this has to be sorted out in terms of the drafters, if they could actually make sure that we amend section by section so that all those other inconsistencies, contradictions are then eliminated.
I know in South Africa for example, they had a holistic approach. Yes, there has been a holistic approach but it is an electronic one. We have just looked at an addition of certain sections on top of the Bill without necessarily doing a forensic assessment of what has to be done in terms of aligning it with the modern day dictates and what is required of an Electronic Deeds Registry. So that is the first point I make.
The second one I make is that it is going to be very difficult and I was actually discussing with some officials to say how are you going to have unanimity within Government? The Deeds Registry on an electronic platform has to be done in the context of a holistic approach. There has to be an e-government strategy. Now I do not seem to see an e-government strategy that is now being the source of the Electronic Deeds Registry because we have to make sure that the whole
Government is on an electronic platform. We have to make sure that the
City Council is on an electronic platform, we have to make sure that the Home Affairs department is on an electronic platform. It is very clear that in terms of an ICT, e-government strategy which is basically not an issue that has to do with the law but the framework because it is very important and has to be sorted out. It has not been sorted out because what it then does is that you then do not have what is called the etransaction Act, in fact as a Bill, it is not there.
In issues like cryptography, digital signatures are handled and dealt with, that has not been sorted out. So, we still have to make sure that in terms of other areas of legislation, we have a holistic approach rather than an eclectic or a piecemeal approach. It is going to cause serious problems when it comes to implementation, particularly of this platform. We also need to make sure that we deal with other areas that are left behind, I know the ICT Ministry was working on the Digital Signatures Bill, and there is also the Data Protection Bill. All those Bills if there are not there, you are then going to bump into issues of conflict between privacy and security, which one comes first, the security of people’s information and data and also the privacy of individuals in terms of confidentiality. So, we need to arrange those in terms of their constitution so that there is no contradiction when we go then to issues of who is the user in a particular law firm or in a particular setting.
If that is not done, we are then going to end up with problems of security, hacking, and problems of interfering with systems may actually be those we are supposed to deal with. There is also the issue of the ICT readiness. We must be able to make sure that there is an ICT readiness on the part of not just the citizens, but also conveyancers, notary publics and so on. This is because if it is not there, you will end up with a system that is so good, but with no one who is capable or competent to
utilise it.
So, citizens have to be educated in terms of ICT readiness to make sure that they are also on this platform. However, this is a very progressive Bill. It has elements which have to be sorted out. My advice to the Ministry that is in charge of this Bill, is to seek the advice of certain experts in the industry to help in tying up the areas that are not connecting, especially around the sections. We are ready to help where they need our help and other conveyancers who may be available to help in order to make sure that this Bill is the best for our country. I would like to say, as far as I am concerned, this is a Bill to support.
However, it must be supported with the understanding that the
Government is not just taking us into an area that they are not aware of. They also need to be clear in terms of what strategy they are taking us through. It does not make sense for us to copy or follow South Africa,
Nigeria or Kenya without understanding that ours is a unique situation.
We need to understand our circumstances and make sure that our laws are in harmony with each other as we go forward. Once we sort out issues of e-government as a strategy and as a Bill or an Act of
Parliament, then we are able to implement it. This is something that we have to support because the world over, business is moving from a paper platform to an electronic one. This is a very progressive Bill.
This is also a very positive thing and we are encouraging Government to make sure that even as we go to elections, let us also move from the paper platform to an electronic platform. This is a good and progressive gesture from Government. I want to thank you Hon.
Speaker.
HON. ZINDI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I will be very brief in my contribution. I would like to emphasise on the point of computerisation of the Deeds and Registry Office as I make my observations on the Deeds, Registries Amendment Bill (H.B. 3, 2016). On the issue of computerisation, that will quicken the process of one having to register his/her title deeds as compared with what is currently obtaining. For instance, if one is to buy a property today, it is most likely to take you close to two or three years in order for you to register the property and obtain the title deeds. That is a situation that is totally unacceptable, given the world that we are living in today.
If you take the Zimbabwean situation, where we are going with the policy of the ease of doing business, we need to create an investment environment that is user-friendly and attractive to investors. Therefore, this process of computerisation, will quicken the process and make the environment user-friendly and attractive to the investor. I therefore emphasise the point that computerisation is very important with regards to the policy of the ease of doing business which was adopted by the
Government. That will create an enabling environment because the Government is there to create that environment.
Further to that Madam Speaker, we have witnessed quite a number of fraud cases taking place because these estate agents which have mushroomed – one have to buy a property and the same property is resold to more than 10 people. People are losing their money. Now with the computerisation process, that will deal or perhaps lessen the issue of fraud in terms of accessing one’s title deeds or registering false title deeds.
For instance, what is currently obtaining today, if you go to the Registrar’s Office, files are strewn all over and sometimes you are told that you cannot even access that file. There is a very chaotic situation in that office. Hence, the fraudsters take advantage of such a situation. Now, with e-governance and e-searching, once it is computerised, this will deal with the issue of fraud. With such remarks and observations in the process of amending, I think if the Government takes that into consideration, it will create an enabling environment, which should be the cornerstone of Government. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MLISWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My contribution is
in support of the Bill in that it will attract a lot of investment, especially with our people in the diaspora. I think if they want to invest, they will be able to search and see whether the property they want to buy has been bonded or not. The aspect of fraud will be equally minimised in that respect. I think it is important that even from an investor’s point of view, people who are outside Zimbabwe will be able to access that.
The aspect of fraud, which has been happening for a long time – I totally agree with Hon. Chamisa’s contribution that, this is where the world is going and Zimbabwe cannot be left behind. I know we can talk about the shortage of resources, but that is not to say that the Ministry responsible must not continue with its mandate at the end of the day. We have been in this for a very long time and we cannot afford to complain but we must ensure that the Ministries do what they have to do. It is also equally important for the line Ministries to also complement in terms of this becoming a total package at the end of the day.
He mentioned the fact that, there could be some missing dots here and there, but I think it needs every line Ministry involved to ensure that it is happening. We do not want a situation where, for example, the education curriculum which is there; Hon. Minister Dokora is able to come up with something which this country certainly needs in terms of a new curriculum, but there is an aspect of resources which are not available. The Minister responsible for implementation of the curriculum is not responsible for the availability of resources, instead, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is responsible. In terms of training teachers, it is the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development who has the responsibility to support what the other Ministry would have initiated.
It is pretty important for the line ministries to come on board to ensure that whatever is missing is tackled. However, I really appreciate and support this Bill because we are certainly moving forward and we are in the right direction. His Excellency has been on record speaking about zero-tolerance on corruption. The more things are handled electronically, the less corruption there is. This is because people’s hands are pretty fun at times; people do things that they do not want their hands to do. However, a computer is able to examine that, if your hands go wrong, it is able to double check and tell you that your hands pressed the wrong button. If we are used to the manual way of doing things, we will certainly not be where we want to be. So, I support the Bill and the Ministry responsible because Zimbabwe has got to be up there with what it takes. The aspect of resources is something else. Those who went to the struggle never had guns but while they were in the struggle, they got the support. I think we will eventually get there, thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF
JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): I thank the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on its first report on the Deeds and Registry Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2016] and also other Hon. Members here who have made contributions. I am most appreciative of the conclusion of the Portfolio Committee report which says that, in conclusion there was general consensus that the proposed amendments are progressive and
Government’s intention to utilise technology in the delivery of legal services are commendable. However, I wish to make comments in relation to contributions by Hon. Members. I thank all Hon. Members especially those involved in public consultations for their support of the Bill. Let me respond to some pertinent points raised by those who have spoken.
Firstly, I take note that the scope of those who may use the electronic Deeds Registry as registered users should be expanded to those who are self actors, that is to say, to those members of the public who may want to register deeds for their own benefit, I will certainly look into that issue when we do the Committee Stage.
Secondly, I appreciate that regular use of the electronic registry should not be based on actual transactions executed through the registry but simply on whether the regular use pays the annual fee for registration.
Finally, I take note that there are some discriminatory provisions affecting women who use the Deeds Registry. I wish to inform this
House that provisions like these are being dealt with by an omnibus
Gender Bill which will soon be introduced into the House by the
Minister responsible for women’s affairs.
On the point raised by Hon. Chamisa, we have a law reviser whose work is to do the needed alignment of sections you mentioned. May I also assure Hon. Chamisa that when the e-Governance Bill is introduced by the Minister of Information Communication Technology and Courier Services, you will see the holistic approach the Hon. Member is speaking of. I therefore thank the contributions by Hon. Members and I am well disposed to taking on board the useful suggestions by Hon.
Members. I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: Wednesday, 5th April, 2017.
SECOND READING
JUDICIAL LAWS AMENDMENT (EASE OF SETTLING
COMMERCIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES) BILL [H.B. 4, 2016]
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Reading of the Judicial Laws Amendment (Ease of Settling Commercial and Other Disputes) Bill [H. B. 4, 2016].
Question again proposed.
HON. ZIYAMBI: I rise to give a report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs regarding the public submissions on the Judicial Laws Amendment (Ease of Settling
Commercial and Other Disputes) Bill [H. B. 4, 2016] gazetted on the
26th August 2016. This Bill seeks to amend the High Court Act,
Magistrates’ Court Act and Small Claims Courts Act with the objective of speeding up and otherwise facilitate the settlement of certain suits or actions, especially those of a commercial nature.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
This report is a product of public consultations conducted from 20 to 25 March 2017 in Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo, Mutare, Kadoma and finally Harare. The consultations were in compliance with Section 141(2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which requires that Parliament ensures that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by Parliament. The Committee’s report was also informed by written submissions from interested stakeholders and an analysis of the Bill by the Committee.
3.0 SUBMISSIONS BY PARTICIPANTS
The Committee received the following submissions on the Judicial Laws Amendment Bill.
It was noted by the participants that there is no amendment of the High Court Act to include new definitions established by the amendment.
3.1 Clause 2: Specialized Divisions of the High Court
Regarding the proposed Section 46 (a) of the High Court Act, which gives provision for the establishment of specialised divisions, participants commended the proposed amendment as progressive.
3.2 Clause 3: Virtual Sittings: Amendment of section 47 of Cap
7:06
Regarding the proposed amendment to Section 47 of the High Court Act, which makes provision for the establishment of virtual court sittings, concerns were raised on the lack of a clear definition in the Act of what constitutes ‘virtual sittings’ of the High Court. By and large, participants agreed unanimously that this amendment was progressive as it is in line with international best practice.
3.3 Clause 4: Amendment of section 56 of cap 7:06
The Committee also gathered that there was need for a clear definition of what “service of process by electronic means” entails, since this has a direct bearing on the current rules of service of court processes.
3.4 Clause 5: Savings
There were no issues regarding this section
3.5 Clause 6: Amendment of Section 2 of Cap 7:10
No issues arose regarding this amendment. Participants generally endorsed the amendment as proposed.
3.6 Clause 7: Amendment of Section 11 of Cap 7:10
No issues arose regarding this amendment. Participants generally endorsed the amendment as proposed.
3.7 Clause 8: New Section inserted in Cap 7:06
No issues arose regarding this amendment. Participants generally endorsed the amendment as proposed.
3.8 Clause 9: Amendment of Section 73 of Cap 7:06
No issues arose regarding this amendment. Participants generally endorsed the amendment as proposed.
3.9 Clause 10: New Section substituted for section 3 of Cap
7:12
No issues arose regarding this amendment. Participants generally endorsed the amendment as proposed.
3.10 Clause 11: New Section substituted for section 6 of Cap
7:12
Participants applauded the constitutional provision allowing legal representation at any fora, but however raised concern on legal fees and affordability. This is in regards with small claims courts and in line with the constitutional provision that now says everyone has a right to legal representation at any forum or any court. So, this is in line with that provision.
3.11 Clause 12: Amendment of Section 22 of Cap 7:12
This proposed amendment was hailed as being very progressive as it expedites dispute resolution. This amendment seeks to reduce the time which documents can be lodged from 14 days to seven days within the small claims courts.
4.0 COMMITTEE FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 Having analysed and considered the contributions by the public, the Committee found that the proposed amendment of the High Court Act does not amend the interpretation section of the High Court Act to include new terms introduced by this amendment. Of concern was the need to have clear definitions of what is entailed by ‘virtual court sittings’ and ‘electronic service of documents’. The Committee recommends inclusion of a definitions section within the High Court Amendment Act.
4.2 As regards the issue of affordability of legal services at the small claims court, the Committee found that there is need for the Act to provide for stringent regulations for charges against litigants at the small claims courts.
5.0 CONCLUSION
Participants were generally pleased by the proposed amendment because if passed, it will expedite the resolution of disputes and thus address the issue of backlogs bedeviling the justice delivery system.
Also in terms of access to justice and the right to legal representation, participants welcomed this amendment in that it affords litigants the right of representation even at small claims courts, which effectively realigned the Small Claims Court Act to the Constitution. However, due regard should be made to ensure affordability of services rendered by legal practitioners. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. ADV. CHAMISA: I am actually surprised but positively surprised Madam Speaker, that Government seems to be taking the right steps in the right direction. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Very unusual, but we must appreciate it all the same. This is a progressive amendment again of our laws, particularly to deal with the advent of commercial disputes.
I have seen in the courts that our court roll is clogged with a lot of commercial disputes arising out of winding up of companies, shareholder disagreements because of the economic situation in our country. So, this is a very positive development which merits the support of Hon. Members of Parliament because what we are going to then see is an expediting of resolution of commercial disputes and commercial disputes seem to be many. You would find that it then introduces some kind of a specialised approach to commercial disputes just like we have done with the tax and labour issues. Now this, in as much as it is amending the High Court Act, particularly Section 46 (a) and Section 47 by having virtual sittings, you are then going to be able to transact business with people who are even outside the country.
The spirit is very good, the direction is very good and the motivation and reasons are very good and must be supported because we are now moving onto an electronic platform even in the justice system. Access to justice is not access to justice if we do not have mechanisms of that access and access is only engendered when we are able exploit modern day technologies to enable representation, access to justice and judgements to be made, and decisions to be arrived at without people necessarily having to transport themselves to the courts. Gone are the days when a court would be defined in the context of brick and mortar to say if there are no walls, there is no judge sitting in a Chamber and litigants in an adversarial or inquisitorial system, ‘then you have a court. No, those are days of the old. Now, a court is basically the existence of a virtual system. The players may be in different geographical locations but they are able to transact this kind of process.
The wish though is to say, let us not limit it to commercial issues and then even move a step further and say, within our country we also have virtual sittings particularly if people are in Bulawayo so that people do not necessarily have to come to Harare for access even to the Constitutional Courts. Let us move a step forward and a step further and make sure that we have virtual settings even at a national level. I know that in terms of the law, that is where we should be going as this is happening in other advanced jurisdictions like Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. So this is a very positive thing again as it expands and engenders access to justice.
There is also the issue of electronic service of documents and lodgment – this is powerful and perfect. The only rider though is that we must also be very clear in terms of issues of security and how we avoid manipulation of innocent parties. Again, it boils downs to an administrative application and system that has to be adopted but this is very positive. It is going to be good news not just for lawyers, it is good news also for various litigants, it is good news for all the actors in the justice system including the registrar and the whole bureaucratic system that deals with moving of documents. This is very progressive, we must support it. In fact, this one in my view, does not even require a lot of debate because at times there are areas where as a country we should be able to agree.
We belong to the opposition but opposition of good things is retrogressive opposition but when we then support good positions, it must also be acknowledged because that is what democracy is all about. When you are unhappy with a particular view, those in Government must be able to appreciate the logic, cogence and power of the wisdom from the other side. Of course, when there is also good wisdom from Government, those from the other side must be able to appreciate and we appreciate this progressive move but very unusual and very uncharacteristic, all the same, it is appreciated. Thank you very much Hon. Speaker.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Chair. I was just sarcastically trying to respond to somebody who wanted to assume your Chair. I want to say the General Laws Amendment Bill that came to this House consequentially amended a lot of other Sections in the Constitution, amended about 114. I think it so, consequentially other Acts were amended by just bringing to Parliament the General Laws Amendment Bill. This Bill speaks to, amongst other issues, setting up of ease of settling of commercial disputes. What my point will dwell on, is going to be that we need to couple this Bill with other Acts, we need to expeditiously bring in other Acts in order to amend them, so that we are not still in a back ward mode, in a historic mode where we are trying to settle commercial disputes that are still hinging on the Acts of the Companies which are moribund. The Companies Act is still archaic in this form in that it still speaks about the power of the muiti-nationals, as opposed to speaking to the formally marginalized black majority where there is still no moratorium in terms of the sale of company property, the sale of commercial property, the sale of housing that is accommodation property. So, they should expeditiously be brought to the House - the Acts and Bills that speak to the repealing and amendment of the companies Act that gives also unfettered access to companies of the Judicial manager in particular and other arms that impede upon the progress, one of companies and of individuals in the business sector.
So, my point exactly, which I am trying to ventilate speaks about the bringing in of other Acts that are going to complement and augment this Bill which in my view is very progressive. Also, in the same vein, the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure at some point called for the establishment of a traffic court that is going to deal with traffic offences. So, I want the relevant Minister to also cue from the Minister of Justice that speaks to the ease of doing business that is going to remove from the mainstream courts and mainstream judiciary the issue of traffic offences as we have seen and alluded to this one that deals in particular and specifically just to commercial disputes.
Madam Speaker, I also want to say in that vein, we have spoken about other Acts before and we have seen about other Acts before, in particular the Mines and Minerals Act and the Exploration Act…
THE TEMPORARY CHAIR: Order, order! Hon. Nduna, can
you please speak to the Judicial Laws Amendment Bill.
HON. NDUNA: I understand your anxiety for me to conclude but I want to say this Bill should be coupled with other Acts that have come to this House and have just vanished into thin air. They should expeditiously come to this House, be debated in the same vein with this one because the same disputes that we are talking about of a commercial nature resides in those Acts that have not come here, in particular the Mines and Minerals Act and the Exploration Act.
Madam Speaker, given that little time that I have had to debate, I want to thank you for your time. This is a progressive Bill, it should in the same vein, call for the expeditious tabling of other Acts and Bills in this House in order that it can efficiently be carried out and efficiently have its mandate reside in all other Acts that have a commercial nature.
THE HON. VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF
JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Madam Speaker, I thank the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for their very positive report on Judicial Laws Amendment Bill, ease of settling commercial and other disputes. I also thank the Hon. Members who have contributed to this debate.
Let me address the most relevant questions raised. The issue of definitions - like virtual sittings and electronic service of process will be included in the rules of the High Court and the Magistrate Courts. These rules are presently being revised by the Judiciary who has submitted a first draft to the AG’s office for scrutiny. As to the all important issue of legal costs, I myself share the concerns of the public about the high level of legal costs. However, please take not that I, as Minister can fix a lower level of costs for cases that are heard in the small claims courts. I refer you to Clause 2, of the Bill.
With regards to comments by the last Hon. Member, the issues he raised will be attended to when we deal with those specific Acts he has referred to.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Bill be read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read as second time.
Committee Stage: Wednesday, 5th April 2017.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE HON. VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF
JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA: I further move that Orders of the Day, Number 4 to the end, on today’s Order Paper, be stood over until the Hon. Minister of Environment, Water and Climate gives her notices of motions.
On the motion of THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER
OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA), the House adjourned at Seven Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.