PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 21st June, 2016
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
DEATH OF MRS. CLEOPATRA JANI
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to advise
Hon. Senators that Parliament lost one of its officers Mrs. Cleopatra Jani who was P.A. to Mr. Samu. May I please ask the House to rise and give a moment of silence.
All Hon. Senators observed a minute of silence.
CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP ON SDGs
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the Senate that there will be a Capacity Building Workshop for the
Thematic Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from
23rd to 26th June 2016, at Amber Hotel in Mutare. All Chairpersons of Portfolio and Thematic Committees and Whips for Parties are invited. The buses will leave Parliament Building at 1300 hours on Thursday, 23rd
June, 2016.
INVITATION TO A CATHOLIC SERVICE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I also wish to
inform the Senate that there will be Catholic Service tomorrow the 22nd June, 2016 at 1200 in the Senate Chamber. All Hon. Senators are invited.
Non-Catholic Members are welcome.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT ON THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
SEMINAR HELD AT KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: I move the motion standing in my
name that;
This House takes note of the report on the Transformational Leadership Seminar held at Kenyatta University held from 13th to 19th
September, 2015, in Nairobi Kenya.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Madam President. I am actually happy as a Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus to move this report. Through the support we have from Parliament and the Development Partners the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary
Caucus underwent training in Transformative and Inclusive Leadership at Kenyatta University in Kenya from 13th to 19th September, 2015. The training was funded by UN Women under their Gender Peace and
Security (GPS) Project, a five year initiative running from December 2012 – January 2017. The objective of the training programme is to support efforts of the Government of Zimbabwe and other partners on strengthening capacities to respond to gender, peace and security concerns in Zimbabwe. The programme is also aimed on focusing women’s participation at all levels of peace and security and policy making.
1.2 Madam President, as you know, the number of women in our Parliament has gone up from the last Parliament where we had only 55 women Members of Parliament to the current position where we have 123 women Members of Parliament. We are so grateful that we got this opportunity. The delegation was composed of twenty (20) members from the Zimbabwe Women's Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) and this is why we are quite happy that we managed to take a very big group because our intention is to make sure that all the female Members of Parliament have got an opportunity to go through such training. The Members who managed to go on this training were Hon Mangwende, Hon Jenia
Manyeruke, Hon Maidei Mpala, Hon Lucia Chitura, Hon Molly Mkandla,
Hon Lillian Zemura, Hon Tambudzani Mohadi, Hon Melania Mahiya,
Hon. Goodlucky Kwaramba, Hon Angeline Chipato, Hon Keresencia
Chabuka, Hon Maragret Matienga, Hon Teti Banda, Hon Concilia
Chinanzvavana, Hon Jane Chifamba, Hon Fanny Chirisa, Hon Siphiwe Ncube, Hon Jane Watson and Hon Jasmine Toffa. The delegation was headed by Chairperson of the ZWPC Hon. Monica Mutsvangwa. Three members of the secretariat accompanied the delegation, Mr Nesbert Samu (Parliamentary Programmes Coordinator), Ms Farai Hondonga (Secretary to the ZWPC) and Ms Linda Manyemba (Principal Public Relations
Officer).
2.0 Opening remarks
Training commenced on Monday 14 September 2016 with welcome remarks from Professor Saudi Swale who highlighted that the same programme had been held with Somalia, South Sudan and Tanzania and that training was meant to enhance leadership skills that will be useful to Zimbabwe and beyond.
2.1 The UN Women Regional Advisor of Peace and Governance,
Mrs J Odera
In her remarks, she informed members that UN Women was a firm advocate in women leadership and had realised the need to empower women for political leadership. She emphasised on the need to overcome some negative narratives on women such as the narrative “Aaaaah! women are their own enemies”. Members were urged to look at the positives and build on them. The Israeli motto which is known as the
DNA, meaning “Develop, Nature and Accelerate” was encouraged. Ms D
Nhengu from the UN Women Zimbabwe Country Office, Programmes
Officer on Peace and Governance also gave remarks and noted the historical challenges Zimbabwe has experienced and the importance of the workshop in meeting regional and global initiatives on gender equality. The Chairperson of the ZWPC also gave remarks highlighting the great strides Zimbabwe had made in terms of Women representation in Parliament from 18- 34% as well as gains obtained in the new Constitution.
2.2 Remarks by the Regional Director UN Women, Ms Christine Musisi
Ms Musisi gave remarks during the course of the training highlighting that Africa was the largest growing continent. She gave statistics noting that the growth rate in Africa was at 5% higher than the global average of 3%. In terms of mineral resources, Africa was said to have 30% of the world’s reserves but is not benefiting from them and in terms of arable land, Africa has 60% yet the continent experiences hunger. The reason for this deficit was cited in the leadership hence the need for transformation. A call was made for a change in the way we act and make decisions.
3.0 Transformational leadership training modules covered 3.1 Leadership and leadership styles
Ms Njoki Muhoho, the facilitator, defined leadership in terms of being able to influence, to have followers and doing the right things. Differentiation was given between a manager and a leader. Theories of leadership were also analysed such as the Traits theory which has to do with one’s personality, the Great Events theory which implies someone rising as a leader in crisis and bringing out leadership qualities and lastly the Transformational leadership theory. This theory explains that people can learn leadership skills.
The facilitator noted that in life, there are different groups of people, the introverts and the extroverts, the sensors and the intuitive, the thinkers and the feelers, the judgers and the perceivers and every person belonged to either of the highlighted two groups. In concluding her presentation, she highlighted that there is no right or wrong personality in life.
3.2 Transformative Leadership
Professor Catherine Ndungo took the participants through transformative leadership where she noted 5 types of leadership styles, namely, the Engaging, the Autocratic, the Democratic, the Laisse faire and the Narcissistic leadership. Types of leaders were also discussed who included the autocratic, entrepreneurial, motivational, inspirational and directional leaders. Transformational leadership was defined as, a leadership style focussed on revolutionary change in organisations through a commitment to the organisation’s vision.
4.0 Gender and leadership
This was also part of the course where key gender concepts were discussed as well as the triple roles of women that affect their participation in governance.
The need to have tools of assessment for self examination was emphasised such as the 360 degrees cycle and Johari’s Window. Indicators of women empowerment were also discussed as self-worth, self-confidence and self-reliance, solidarity voice and action with likeminded people to determine rights, economic independence, influence over decisions and freedom from abuse or exploitation.
The training was characterised by group work where members applied the various skills acquired during training to practice at the end of each day.
4.1 Transformed mind sets for leadership.
Transformed minds for transformed leadership was also discussed and the butterfly scenario of transformation was given. Attitude was noted as the main pillar affecting one’s way of thinking. Mindset was highlighted as having implications in both politics and governance. Members were advised to be good politicians who are open minded and not open mouthed, transparent, accountable and should utilise reason always as a tool. Participants were reminded that in politics, one does not need to work hard but to work SMART. Challenge was made for politicians to engage in SWOT and PESTLE analysis as leaders.
4.2 Gender and Governance.
The reason for understanding gender and governance were given as the need for equal participation and recognition of their right to speak and be heard. This was noted as a means of transformation. Decisions made were noted as having a huge impact on the ways in which women and men lead their lives. Governance decisions were noted as shaping how public resources are allocated and whether services take into account both women's and men's needs and interests. Good governance was encouraged and the results were listed as poverty reduction, equality, democracy, corruption free societies, promotion of social justice and gender equality and further realization of the rights of all citizens, accountability, transparency and inclusivity. Enabling more women to participate in governance will lead to gender responsive governance institutions and processes, with stronger systems of accountability and honouring international commitments such as CEDAW.
5.0 Gender mainstreaming in electoral processes
Merits of mainstreaming women's roles in electoral processes were noted as strengthening democracy, better observance of human rights, creation of equity and equality and providing transformative leadership. Members were also challenged to rope in professionals into politics as well as those from religious sects. The roles of political parties were discussed as governing, conducting oversight and representative. Challenges on institutionalizing affirmative action were also discussed which included, rooted patriarchal ideology, structures that have often supported the status quo, misinformation, misinterpretation of issues and lack of proactive and progressive strategies involving younger men, adult men and young women. The term gender equality was discussed and realized that the term was now changing from gender equality to gender fairness / justice.
5.1 Conflict Resolution
Training in conflict resolution was done by Dr Francis Onditi. It was brief with emphasis on cognitive and affective conflict. Cognitive conflict was defined as, disagreement about ideas and approaches and affective conflict being personal antagonism fuelled by differences of opinion and destructive to group performance and cohesion. Members were urged to avoid affective but focus more on cognitive conflict. Challenge was made to think outside and inside the box as the box provides the frame work for one to become a reflective leader.
5.2 Resource mobilization and financing in election campaigns
Mr B Nyukuri presented on resource mobilization and financing in election campaigns in which mobilisation constituted human resources, financial resources, material resources and technical resources. All the above resources were noted as key in an election campaign. He further presented on the 10 principles of power. Principles were defined as higher than goals and are derived from values. The principles were listed as, keeping sight of the end, collaboration, servant leadership, the quest to learn, charting one’s cause, principle of reinvention, focus, taking the initiative, fighting for a good cause and principle of being a change agent.
5.3 Members were challenged to have a vision which was defined as a dream but not just any dream but one that summarises one’s intentions and is driven by passion to keep one focused. A leader without a vision was noted as useless and having no value of life. Leaders were also challenged to have a purpose, a reason for living and existence which will enable one to live a legacy.
5.4 Self-assessment and self-discovery
Towards the end of the training, members were requested to do action plans and guided by the tool of self discovery known as the 5”Ws” and “H” of self discovery, that is, why, when, where, who, what and how.
Other tools given for self-discovery were, the Johari's window, Edward
De'Bornos six hats and Goalman 's five discoveries.
6.0 Leadership and communication
Members were also taken through a session on communication which was noted as an indispensable leadership discipline.
Communication was tamed as a double edged sword which could be used to build or destroy oneself and has to be effectively utilised to avoid significant self- inflicted harm. Emphasis was on the fact that the power of communication must be strategic, deliberate, thought through, key messages well directed, target audience noted, using relevant and efficient channels with clearly spelt out M & E for it to deliver.
6.1 Non-verbal communication discussedincluded facial expressions, intonations and gestures which this makes up what is known as body language and amounts to 93% of communication. Members were urged to ensure that they are not misunderstood as a result of their nonverbal communication. The need to connect with the people was emphasized and also to get feedback and to adopt the mood of the environment, damage control was noted as necessary but advice was given that if one is not effective it would be best to retreat and restrategize.Advice was also given on public speaking, firstly the need to ask who you are to the people, the source of information, the information you are passing, relevance of the message to the target group and the feedback you are getting.
6.2 Lastly, members were trained in strategic planning and why they need it at both individual and political party level. Emphasis was on having a focal point to drive the planning purpose which must be inclusive in terms of regional representation, age, gender, religion as inclusivity creates ownership (nothing for us without us). In conclusion she highlighted that strategic plans should have monitoring mechanisms and continuous evaluation.
7.0 Closing ceremony
7.1 In closing the training session, His Excellency the Zimbabwe
Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Kellebet Nkomani was invited to officiate.
7.2 The Regional Advisor on Peace and Governance Mrs Odeira gave remarks challenging members to implement the skills they had acquired during the training in their work as leaders. The Vice Chancellor reiterated the same message and emphasized on results and a follow up that will be done by ACTIL. He also challenged members to change their mindset and become transformative leaders and lead Africa’s growth as a continent.
7.3 Remarks from His Excellency, the Zimbabwe Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Kellebet Nkomani
His Excellency the Zimbabwe Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Kellebet Nkomani in his remarks gave a country brief on Kenya in terms of its size, GDP, growth rate, population , exports and its cordial relations with Zimbabwe. He urged members to embrace the knowledge acquired for the growth of not only Zimbabwe but Africa as a continent. His Excellence, the Ambassador, applauded women for their participation in governance in Zimbabwe and their outstanding performance as illustrated in the
Constitution in 2013 with regard to the 50/50 representation. He however challenged members to ensure that aspirations in the Constitution are translated into action. The Ambassador noted that after training, the key responsibility is to develop clear mechanisms of implementation and achieving this can be done through cross party platforms with common agenda items. He encouraged women to be more aggressive and to encourage young women and the girl child to take up politics as careers. In conclusion, he reminded MPs that as trail blazers, they should not fail both current and future generations.
7.4 Members were awarded certificates of participation at the end of the training.
8.0 Recommendations
- To set up a committee to establish implementation mechanisms to ensure members trained become pioneers of transformational leadership.
- Training to be extended to all members of the ZWPC and also other male MPs.
- Engage more men in issues pertaining to Gender justice.
- Members to develop action plans as transformative leaders.
- A follow up to be made to monitor implementation by ACTIL.
It is important to continue developing action plans as transformative leaders. Madam President, I thank you for listening to the report of this study group.
+HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Madam President for giving me
this opportunity to second the motion which was tabled by the Hon. Sen. Mutsvangwa who is the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus who was also the leader of the delegation that attended the seminar on leadership.
I want to thank the time that has been afforded to me, she has said a lot I have been following her report. Her report touches on a lot of issues, I will just add on some of the issues that if only as women we are those kind of women who want change and are aspiring to have those high leadership positions we could implement all the things we have been taught here. I know we will get this record from our Hansard and most people will read it and also implement it as well. She indicated that the main reason why as women we fail to hold those high leadership potions is the fact that as women we fail to show love to each other, we pull each other down and we are the same people who put men into those leadership positions. All that is not Zimbabwean but it is throughout the world. It was also dealt with at large that as women we are actually enemies to each other. Madam Chairperson touched on a lot of things and she stated that we could desist from the old age system that take women as housewives only, for bearing children as a national duty. Are women not allowed to assume those high positions, they are not supposed to be abused for when a women is abused, how then do they stand in front of the public requesting that they vote for her to assume a certain position? When a woman goes to stand in front of the public whilst she slept on a hungry stomach and she was beaten up day before, it brings her confidence down. If you know things are not going well you lose all your confidence for you would not be sure whether people will be seeing your swollen face because you were beaten up.
We are so lucky because our Constitution gave us as women an opportunity to come into Parliament for the next coming ten years. What we were looking forward as a nation is that when women have been uplifted to such positions like being Members of Parliament, they should then work hard and not retrogress. They should continue working hard.
Being on leadership position, she can be uplifted from being a member of Parliament and assume a position of being an Ambassador, President of the State or CEO. There are so many leadership positions that can be assumed by women instead of being subordinates only.
However, where women can get such opportunities, they should motivate themselves. When people elect and put you in a leadership position, there are expectations that they are looking forward to. You cannot improve the lives of the people you lead if you cannot improve yourselves. If you follow the Hansard in which the report will appear, the report is broader than what the Chairperson has presented here. The report can be photocopied so that people can read on their own, as it appeared.
We expect that if the ten years that is stated in the Constitution lapse, women should come back. Many of the women who are in this august House came through the quota system. We look forward to have constituencies that we can lead and also to compete with men. When they have the constituencies that they lead plus the 60 that come through the proportional representation, this will increase the number of women Parliamentarians. We do not want to be coming in as Members of Parliament through quota system only because it brings down our confidence and makes us fail to assume the leadership positions. When you are doing your job, you will be working cautiously for you fear that once you do something wrong you will not be given another opportunity to come back again.
We are looking forward to seeing women in leadership carrying themselves with confidence. There are a number of things that were enumerated such as the way we dress. A red hat is significant because it shows that you have problems; this is what we were taught. If you are putting on a red hat, particularly when you are going to address people, it shows that you have problems. So, we should be careful about those things. In America, they put on red ties and they are significant in a particular way. When we are dressing knowing we will address the public, we should know the type of dressing for that occasion. The red hat has problems in that you are a person with problems. A blue hat gives you authority if you are going to chair a meeting. A black hat helps you look at all bad points of the decision and look at it cautiously and defensively. It highlights the weak points in a plan. We learnt that a yellow hat makes you a positive person. These are things that we learnt.
When you put on attire that you are not comfortable in, or as a lady when you put on a tight dress, it is not easy to stand infront of people. You also fail to have authority because you will be busy with your dress instead of concentrating on what you are delivering on. You are only thinking of what people would be saying about your dressing. It is important therefore for women that when you are going out to address people, especially when you want to be put into leadership positions, you should know how to carry yourself around and also how to sit. When you are leader, people look at the way you move, communicate with people and the way you laugh. You should therefore know that if you are a woman, you should carry yourself properly.
We were given an example of the former President of Malawi, Mrs. Joyce Banda. If you are a leader, you should know how to lead, where you stay up to your family level so that your family supports you as well. People from outside can support you also. Charity begins at home; you first get support within the family. When Joyce Banda was the President, after the passing on of the country’s President then, there appeared a picture of a house in the rural areas. It was a mud and pole hut thatched with grass. The thatch was not good and was in need of repairs. Her mother was seated down and Joyce Banda was there visiting her mother. What does this picture teach you? We discussed that picture and debated it. We were surprised that a house belonging to the mother of a country President can be like that. Joyce Banda was not seated on a chair but she was seated down and her bodyguard was standing next to her. All this shows that she was not a proper leader. People then indicated that maybe that is why she could not even get another term. There are a lot of things in life that we should take care of through the way we interact.
For you to be a leader, to retain power and to be re-elected, what should you do? We learnt a lot of things that develop us as women, so that when we go in front of people, we should know how to put on the attire. Another example that was given was that there was a woman who wanted to be a Member of Parliament in Kenya. It is said that she would move around campaigning and she had a lot of people following her but it is said that her father in-law was not happy with her campaign. The father in-law decided to cut short this issue, he tried to persuade her not to stand as a Member of Parliament. Since she had so many supporters, she decided to stand disregarding the opinion of her father in-law and viewed the opinion of her father in laws as a way of wanting to suppress her.
Mr. President, we are talking of a country like Kenya. This happened in Kenya; it means throughout the world, women are being suppressed. The woman refused to be suppressed and the father in-law decided to curtail her campaign. He decided de-campaign her with others talking malice about her so that she would not be successful. In short, that is suppression of women. Culture sometimes suppresses women. We should change such cultures why should women only stay in the kitchen. Mr. President, that woman regardless of her support, did not make it. The facilitators said that she had enough support to have gone to Parliament.
They actually enumerated a lot of things that in Kenya, even the woman’s attire is important. If you are going to the rural areas, you should dress like the people in the rural areas not like the way people dress in town. You should put on decent clothes with your zambias and the likes so that you do not expose yourself unnecessarily.
Mr. President, others will mention some of these things, so I will leave it like that. As women, you have heard the report and what we learnt. Let us take that and use it in support of other women so that we would come back and lead the people as expected by them. What is important is communication within our parties. If at all there is a woman candidate, there should be another person from the other party who is a woman to contest as well. As long as there is a woman who is contesting and wins the election this will help in increasing the number of women in Parliament. With those few words, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this report on Transformation which took place in Kenya. As an Hon. Member who also attended this workshop, to me it was an eye opener because there were a lot of things that we went through. Mr. President, the mover of this report talked about peace and security. You find that when they talk about peace and security, charity begins at home. As women, we should always be speaking about peace and the security of your home starts at your home. You must protect your home so that when you are elected into leadership, you should also be able to protect the nation.
Mr. President, as other Hon. Senators have alluded to about the gender equality, we are not talking about gender referring to women. We are talking about equal leadership of men and women. We should be together by all means. We should avoid stereotypes whereby men are said to be superior to women and by all means, we should work at par.
Mr. President, it was also encouraged that women Parliamentarians should not look down upon themselves. As a result, they should also have quality contributions. They have to research; it is not a matter of just standing up and talking. You should have facts; you should research on your subject matter so that you have quality debates.
Mr. President, we should be very careful because when we are here, we are people who are looked down upon as women; most of the time they are assessing us. They want to know whether we are making meaningful contributions. A man can say anything but he is not taken seriously because he is always right – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – but as for women, once you say a word, it will be analysed to find out whether you have said a meaningful thing. We have to work against
that.
So, results have to show that we are on it and we want it so that we encourage the region, continent and the world at large, that we have the skills to lead not to be chosen by men whenever they want to pursue their own agendas. The previous speaker talked about good governance.
What is it about good governance, why should it be included whenever women are being trained? It is about transparency, inclusivity and nonpartisan if ever we want to have good governance.
Mr. President, the issue of the Convention of CEDAW which talks about the fundamental rights of women was also taken into consideration because we ought to know our rights as women. We are just living people. We have the right to life, shelter and right to many other things but we have to be ourselves; we have to fight for ourselves. No one will ever come and say there is a woman who is seated there or there is a Senator who is seated there apart from working together as women.
Mr. President, another issue that was touched on was during the campaigns in political parties. You find that women lack resources to campaign. We are also our own enemies because we do not want other women to be with us. We want those who have had the chance of being chosen, they do not want other women to be with them. For instance, you will find that we have the women quota, especially in the National Assembly and we have those women who have constituencies, it is now a wrangle among women, hating each other saying that those women on the quota system do not have constituencies. They also cannot visit a constituency before getting permission from the one with a constituency – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – by doing that, do you think we will ever come to the 50:50 percent that we are looking for, if we hate each other as women? Mr. President, it was through these lessons that we learnt all these things.
Another thing that we learnt was about the work plans. As Parliamentarians today, as we go back to our constituencies, we do not even have plans for our constituencies. You just go there so that people see you, without any written plan or in your heard. We should always have plans on what we are going to do about our constituencies, how we are going to do it and who is going to assist us. If we do not have those plans, we cannot even look for anyone to assist us in the constituencies because we will not know what we want to do and at what time. So, we have to work hard on our work plans. Why should we have work plans?
We have to monitor our activities in the constituencies and evaluate them so that we can have corrective measures wherever possible and have a way forward.
As women, we are known to be people who stay in the kitchen. Yes, we allow that, I do not know whether it was made so by God for us to be in the kitchens. However, we have to take a leadership role and we have to plan for everything that we want to do because we cannot plan everything from the kitchen. You will find that the work that is done by a woman in the kitchen is not recorded anywhere. Women do a lot of work, they are the ones who plough and do all the agricultural work and reproductive work but it is not on record anywhere and it is not known. Even in our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there is nothing, there is zero percentage of the work that is done by women – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – and who should raise that or blow the whistle? It is us as women who should do that. Mr. President, I can say a lot, but I just want to leave a few items for those who attended the workshop.
Lastly, I want to talk about the dress code. It is not only in the communal areas where we have to dress accordingly. Even here in Parliament, the dress code says we have to dress properly; look dignified and respectable. You will find that even in this country, we used to do a lot of workshops on the Parliamentarian dress code. However we are not talking about it anymore. Everyone just think that whatever they put on is correct to them. Remember, you are not only leading yourself or your family, you are also leading the people outside there and you should think about what they will say about you when you are not properly dressed in Parliament. Those who have been in Parliament know exactly what they should put on but it is not being followed. Think about it and correct yourselves so that you will be good leaders. Mr. President, I would like to urge those who worked tirelessly for this workshop to take place that the work continues so that we will be respectable women of tomorrow. There is a lot to be learned and there are a lot of things that we should transform so that we become good leaders of tomorrow. With these few words Mr.
President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President for affording
me this opportunity to add my voice. I also want to thank our
Chairperson whom we travelled with to Kenya because the tri was an eye opener. I also want to thank the whole delegation that went there. When I arrived in Kenya, there were a lot of things that they talked about which are happening in Zimbabwe especially on the girl-child. Zimbabwe is ahead when it comes to the girl-child issues– [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – even if there are things which we aere not doing properly, we are still ahead.
In Kenya, they say that if a girl child reaches puberty age, they are handed over to a husband. I was hurt when I heard that some eight-year old children would go out and play house and then they would come back and be given a home so that they live with a husband. However, they are now rectifying that. If a boy reaches the age of puberty, he is given a wife. During the day, they play as children and in the evening they meet as husband and wife. I think as Zimbabwe, we are doing it right because our legal age of marriage is 18 years. The women in Kenya are struggling to get to that age so that they protect the girl child to allow them to get married when they are mature.
There is a girl in Kenya who is an activist and is making strides even though it is very difficult. The other thing that I learnt is that women have problems when we want to attain high positions. I have realised that there are people who canvass for positions and it is happening. A man influences other women so that they would spoil the chances of ascension to high position by other women. This issue diminishes our chances to attain high positions as women, this is what is happening. Let us uplift each other as women. Let the woman get a position and learn even though they may not be perfect in the first place.
We should desist from getting into relationships with men who will be contesting against a fellow woman because he will weaken you by giving you all you might be craving for. This does not mean that he loves you, but he will be having an agenda to weaken you so that his objectives can be realised. I was so touched by that issue. This is frequently happening in our country, men should leave us to achieve our goals – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – we should know that when approaching people, we should have full knowledge of who we are, who are we talking to and what are we doing? This is because there are different ways that we address ourselves to different age groups, some of which may not be appropriate for old age groups. We should humble ourselves. An argument is also an important aspect in dialogue because you get to know my views and if we do not engage in arguments, you will never be able to hear them.
There are certain debates that we engage in here such that we end up arguing and yet we get to know the views of each other. From within your thoughts, you may end up knowing that despite the argument, the view of others were up to scratch. It is therefore healthy to engage in arguments, there is nothing wrong with that. What we do here as we share our opinions is a very good thing as we sometimes realise that the opinions of others are ahead of ours, but I may not be humble enough to accept it then.
We saw an image of a mother who was suckling a goat alongside with her baby. We queried the decision of this mother to act in such a strange way, then we realised that this woman was strong and full of love because she is looking after the goats and the child as well. It is like you are looking after a child who is not yours – a step child, the way you handle a step child can be different from the way you handle your own child but as a woman, you should be well balanced. You should not show any favouritism.
We were also taught that when we get into these positions, we should sit down with our families and agree so that when nomination time comes, you have the support of your spouse because you would have used all the resources at the family’s disposal. If ever one is using the family’s resources, there is need to agree on the amount of money that goes towards campaign and what remains in the family household. We also learnt a lot of things like when I am addressing people, I should take into consideration my dress code. The way I present myself to people, be it in rural or urban areas is very important. We were also taught that we should be humble and show humility to the people that we address so that we do not lose respect as women.
I want to thank the people of Zimbabwe because they recognise widows and single mothers. In Kenya, they are fighting that because they do not want single women to lead but in here, we have a lot of single women and our voices are being heard. I am saying that we should continue like that as Zimbabweans without discrimination on the grounds of marital status. Probably I was divorced or widowed by circumstances beyond my control and as you know here in Zimbabwe, we have more women than men and all the eligible men cannot marry all the women.
So, we should be accepted as we are. I would like to thank you Mr
President for these few words.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I want to thank the mover and seconder
of this motion. You will agree with me that this is a debate with a difference and we want to welcome it. I, personally, was very touched by it and we must debate it openly as what they have already given. Me being the first male to debate on it, I want to congratulate the mover although she brought it too late. The course was attended in 2015 and I do not know why it is being brought now. All the same, let me get along with the debate.
Mr President, the seminar which they attended was just more than a seminar. They were taught what to do and what not to do as women. It was a women’s caucus forum and it focused on such. Some of the lectures from what they have said centred on their deportment in the public domain as leaders among their male counterparts and that is a welcome development. The exercise, as I said, was more than a seminar because they managed to cover several modules in one week. Normally, this exercise takes a year or two and at the end they are assessed whether they have understood or not but they managed to go through this training in one week.
The concepts such as gender fairness which they were taught are in line with modern thinking and should be embraced by all of us to build better relationships between men and women. They talked about principles of power which enable us to be fair to our followers whenever we are in positions of authority and that is good. The principles and leaderships styles which they were taught to me are applicable anywhere in the world. The knowledge of these enables them to represent us well whenever they go outside the country as this nation’s ambassadors on foreign assignments if they go out.
Senator Mohadi spoke about planning and I want to add as well to planning that there must be organisation all the time. Be organised in the leadership styles and in whatever we do. Organisation is very important. However, this exposure which the women got should not be a once off event. It was too short. It has to be a continuous process in one way or the other. What I am advocating for is that what they learnt there, must also be passed on to the others here and then replicated.
This should also translate to their ability to impart information in their respective constituencies when they go back home. More importantly, to debate with confidence and zeal in this august Senate. This should be the beginning of such a robust debate spearheaded by these women. Such an event is always a welcome development and as I said, it should be an ongoing process for it to be a fruitful exercise. I want to thank you for your kind attention.
HON. SEN. MAPUNGWANA: I would like to thank the mover and the seconder of this motion on women empowerment. Knowledge indicates that the era for machoism is over. That is to say from AD1 to 2012 normally those were the years for machoism but as from 2013 according to David Arch, it is the era for feminism which means women, if given positions to lead, we lead because nature and cosmos at the same time will actually help them. Probably, that is why you find that for the first time in America, there is going to be a woman president, Hilary
Clinton. It is because America might know about the esoteric knowledge. I have always wondered why it is that in Zimbabwe 90% of spirit mediums are women. I have always asked myself why spirit mediums normally visit women. It is because of how God created women. Women are kind, they have passion and they can lead. If God could reverse nature and say, this season all men must be pregnant – Mr. President, I think we will quickly fast track the abortion Act as men. It is on a light note but I would like to thank the understanding in this House that as long as women are united, they can achieve something.
When God created man, it was Adam. Adam was lonely, so God created Eve. Suppose God created Eve first, was he going to create Adam? The answer might be no, why, because you will find that if a woman’s husband dies, the woman takes a long time to remarry and in some instances they never remarry. However, if a man’s wife dies, within six months that man will have remarried. So, it means men cannot live alone unlike women. That is nature and that is how God created it and it cannot be reversed.
I will urge women in this House to work together and put aside political differences if they want this country to develop. If women were given positions – say in Zimbabwe, our Anti-Corruption Commission is composed of women only, most probably the corruption might be less because men spearhead such things. It is unfortunate I am a man, but I have to say it. One has to take the devil’s advocacy. I do not know how we can do it, to unite all women in Zimbabwe, apart from political affiliation, to try and develop Zimbabwe sincerely. Zimbabwe is a rich country and all it needs is good management, with women in better positions. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. SEN CHABUKA: I rise to also support this motion. I would like to thank the mover Senator Mutsvangwa and the seconder Senator Ncube as well as the secretariat that accompanied us. They captured accurately everything that happened there. A lot of things have been said but I just want to highlight that this is a good motion which has uplifted us as women. We received a lot of panel beating from the meeting. We were enlightened and reminded not to have the “pull her down syndrome” but to support each other as women. I think there was a time when we heard people from Kenya saying that people in Zimbabwe are very good because in Kenya, if an MP is elected, they are never seen anywhere until they want to be voted for again. When we told them that we visit our constituencies even without the resources as women, we still visit our constituencies, they told us that in Kenya, MPs behave like bosses and they are unapproachable, yet they are supposed to represent the people. They should go back to the people and hear their concerns. Then sit down, discuss, analyse and map the way forward.
We were also told that men use women as ladders when they want to go up. They step on our shoulders to enable them to get whatever they want at the top. We should get rid of that set-up and uplift one another as women. We should stop depending on men but the men should see what we want as women. When women say something, men should support them and empower them. Women know exactly what they want. I remember last time when Senator Makone was appointed the Minister of Home Affairs, we were happy because she was the first woman into that position. Many a time, women are deputies but we were told that we should not allow ourselves to be second class citizens. We should be given high positions and we should not demean each other in Parliament. When one woman says something which we do not agree with, we should not degrade them in front of other MPs.
I am very happy with this motion and the lessons that we learnt.
Many a times we hold workshops where we are told that we should be confident as women. We should not worry about what people will say because if we do that men will undermine us because they think there are certain things which we cannot do. Often times women are used as girl friends to get a position from another woman. So, I am very happy with the empowerment that we got-to continue moving forward as leaders.
Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Mr. President. I also stood up to add a few words to this pertinent motion. Our women went to see and learn from other countries and came back enlightened. I saw it befitting that I should leave this House with a few words of encouragement to the women and give them the highest honour because of their importance. We can look down upon them but we will be lost when we do that. A chief is born by a woman after nine months. The mother will be uncomfortable when the unborn chief is troubling her but she will soldier on. They give birth to Ministers, Presidents and the wise people like President Mugabe, all that comes from mothers, hence the honour that should be bestowed upon mothers.
When we talk of gender, I heard Hon. Sen. Mutsvangwa making reference to gender equality. Yes, we can say we are equal but mothers are very important and as people who are well versed in our culture, we know that mothers are very important. In our Shona culture, one can be at loggerheads with one’s father and there will be no avenging spirits but that is not so with mothers. So mothers are very important, that is why I stood in support of this motion as a father and chief.
I remember this issue of women being debated in Zimbabwe. We held a lot of fora so that you attain your current status and we were wholly behind you. The problem that you have as women is that you do not love each other. You must show each other genuine love to the extent that when a woman stands up and you also want that portfolio, you do not fight but stand united and support each other. During elections, when a man and woman are gunning for the same post, you will find that women will vote for the man in large numbers. So who will support you when you do such things? We are saying that you should be united as women even those who are in polygamous unions should be united… - [HON.
SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] - Already you are displaying jealousy against each other and not against the man because you will try to fight the other woman. That is very bad, you should be united and stand as one.
You are the same women who are marrying off young girls. You should be united and come up with one thing. With these few words, be united and love one another as we love you.
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: Yes, Mr. President, an interesting
debate for sure. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
LEVELS OF CORRUPTION IN THE COUNTRY
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on monitoring the
Executive performance in dealing with reported cases of corruption.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
DETERIORATION IN THE ROADS AND RAILWAY
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alarming incidents of road carnage due to dilapidated infrastructure, obsolete vehicles and human error.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President for giving me
this opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I want to thank Hon. Sen.
Musaka, the mover of this motion and Hon. Sen. Mumvuri, the seconder.
Mr. President, horrific accidents make headlines every day in Zimbabwe. This year in early May, 31 people perished and it was declared a national disaster. In another incident in early April, I think 15 people died and it was also declared a national disaster. This shows that, in Zimbabwe, we are facing a huge problem on our roads. Further statistics that were availed by the police early this year indicate that
Zimbabwe’s roads have become a death trap with an average of 2 000 people dying each year. Since 2006, road accidents have increased from at least a thousand to now over 2 000 people dying every year.
The number of unlicensed motorists has also increased. When I was researching on this motion, I discovered that since 2010, unlicensed motorists were about 4 356 and in 2015 when the statistics were last up dated, the number is well over 44 000. These issues really need to be looked at. This only shows how rampant corruption is in the issuance of licences and this is very serious.
Also issues to do with human error are rampant, last year during the festive season 93.4% of accidents were due to human error. Mistakes such as speeding, misjudgment, overtaking, following to close to other cars, maybe fatigue, drinking and driving actually caused quite a lot of fatalities on our roads. So, we need to look closely on how we can help as Government to stop all these fatalities.
Also, there are a lot of road signs that are not showing properly. For example, give way and stop signs do not really show. That makes more human errors on the roads. So, we need to look at our signs and see how we can improve. The Government needs to look for funding to make sure that we improvise on our road signs so that we avoid all these accidents that are happening.
Mr. President, we also need to improve on vehicle inspections. There are a lot of unworthy vehicles moving on the roads. If you travel during the night, many motorists know that the police are few in the night and most of the cars that you see do not have lights. This really needs to be looked at because accidents have taken a lot of lives and we need to do something as a country. Zimbabwe needs a wide range of co-operative efforts if the country is to end road traffic accidents. All stakeholders and even passengers themselves, I am sure they have rights. In the end, it is them that die when the driver is speeding. For example, if you see that a driver is speeding you should tell him to reduce speed. There should be awareness campaigns to let passengers know that they have rights to tell drivers to reduce speed or to stop them from driving when they are drunk.
Mr. President, I thought that this motion was critical and I decided to add my voice on the motion. The Government needs money to improve our roads. We know that the railway system is not working at the moment. Workers are complaining because they are not getting paid. If the railway line was in order, maybe there would be few trucks on the roads. I have noticed that in South Africa, truck drivers use their own roads while the small vehicles drive on the other side, which actually helps. It is unlike our highways. I travelled on Masvingo road, coming here on Monday. Believe me Mr. President, something must be done on that road. I know every Hon. Member who stood before me has spoken about the Masvingo road and nothing seems to be happening there. The road is bad. It has got bumps, twists and turns and it needs to be taken care of.
As for the Air Zimbabwe, as said by the Hon. Member who moved this motion, definitely Air Zimbabwe needs to be improved. We need more airlines to move. I do not know if it is true but I saw an advertisement that said Air Zimbabwe would start travelling to London. I think that would be something exciting and would make us improve on our airline. It is time that the Government looks for money to improve our highways because the Zimbabwean community is crying. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE FIRST AFRO-ARAB
LEGISLATORS AND BUSINESS SUMMIT
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First AfroArab Legislators and Business Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1st to 2nd August, 2015.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS CENTRED ON
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for Government to implement the devolution of power as provided for in the
Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
RESCUSCITATION OF THE ZAMBEZI WATER PROJECT
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the resuscitation of the Zambezi Water Project.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON. SEN.
MOHADI, the Senate adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Four O’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 30th June, 2016
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
MEETING OF THE SENATE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the House that pursuant to Section 110 (2) (c) of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde. R.G. Mugabe has summoned the Senate to meet on 30th June, 2016, to conduct special business.
MOTION
LEAVE TO MOVE SUSPENSION OF PROVISION OF
STANDING ORDERS NUMBER 50 AND 129
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Madam President, with the leave of the House, I move that provisions of
Standing Orders Number 50 regarding the automatic adjournment of the
House at Five Minutes to Seven o’clock p.m. and at Twenty-Five
Minutes past One o’clock p.m. on a Friday and Standing Order Number
129 regarding the stages of Bills be suspended in respect of the Local Government Laws Amendment Bill [H.B. 1A, 2016].
HON. SEN. D.T. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President for
allowing me to say a few words on the Bill. I was looking at the Bill and I thought that the Bill contravened what the Constitution says because according to this Constitution, the members of the Tribunal are the ones who are supposed …
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order Hon.
Member. We are not discussing the Bill.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you very much Madam President.
This is a very important Bill that we are supposed to debate in this House. Can you imagine that we have just got this Bill from our pigeon holes, an hour or less? We got it from pour pigeon holes now, and with the importance that this Bill entails, I think that it is supposed to be thoroughly considered, thoroughly studied and looked into so that we can have a healthy debate. Why and where has it been hiding and it just surfaced in the pigeon holes some few minutes ago. Madam President, we cannot debate this Bill until we have studied it.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President. I want to thank the Minister. We were given this Bill a long time ago and we have had it for some time. So we need to debate it because we have already interrogated the Bill and read it. We had the Bill before.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order. This Bill is not the same as the one that we were given. So this is the new one. It has new clauses.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Senator, if I
may help. This Bill was gazetted on the 9th of May, 2016. Now it may have some additions or subtractions but this numbered Bill was gazetted on the 9th May – So, you have had it for a while.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order. Those new additions; we should have had time to go through them because we got the Bill now. We live very far and the notice was put on radio/television on Tuesday and where we come from, for me to be here and get the Bill and go through it, I will need that time.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. I just want to add my voice on this Bill. This Bill has been gazetted and the outreaches have been done. So, I do not understand why people are saying that they do not have the information on this Bill because all the necessary things that were supposed to be done were fully done. So I just support this Bill to proceed.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Madam President. This kind
of Bill, to us, is of utmost importance and that as a point. We also think that it is quite noble that the report of findings from public hearings should be availed to us, so that we discuss this Bill with the knowledge of the recommendations from the Committee – [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] –
Secondly, Madam President, we do not seem to see the urgency of this Bill on the basis that the Minister had ample time before....
HON. SEN. MOHADI: On a point of order. My point of order is that if you say you do not want this Bill to be debated, just say so but do not put lame excuses because this Bill was here. Everybody saw it ....
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Point of order Madam President.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I am still on the floor Madam President
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You do not have
a point of order, he is still debating.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: While accepting that this Bill was publicised, the steps that were supposed to be taken, according to the procedure, were not followed properly. We are saying that we have to have the reports available. No one is saying the Bill should not be debated but we wish to state it quite categorically that we have to follow procedures as it is supposed to be taking place. Thank you very much.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam President for
giving me the opportunity to air my views concerning this Bill before this House. Madam President, this Bill was given to us about two months ago. Furthermore, in this House, there was a plea that the alignment of laws was taking too long and this is what the Minister is doing and he has brought it. He has brought this Bill for alignment and I do not see the reason why we should have disagreements on why the Bill cannot proceed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President. I want to highlight a few issues. I think Hon. Mohadi mentioned that the outreach meetings have already been done but if the outreach meetings were done, how come we do not have reports from the meeting. I do not know if she has, but I do not have. I have been through my pigeon holes and there is nothing of the report from the outreach meetings.
Secondly, Madam President, the Bill that we got in May is different. I have seen this Bill, went through it very early and it is totally different from the Bill that we had. So we did not have enough time to go through and see what this Bill means – [AN HON. MEMBER: You
are lying.] –
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: We do not call each
other liars in this House please. Let us be civil about it. I just want to help Hon. Timveos that the outreach for this particular Bill was done because the Committee is in the Lower House. They did and they reported it in the Lower House.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. I think this House agrees that when we make laws, we want to come up with good laws for the country. It is not a question of rushing so that we have the alignment of laws. We have to come up with good laws. The fact that in the Lower House took so much time to debate, is a clear sign that people are not in agreement. So if we want to come up with a law, that law must be a good law. The resistance people are putting on this law simply means it is a bad law. So, let us study this law, come up with an agreement so that we govern this country properly – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – We are coming up with a law at a time, when personally, I may view this law as a law targeting an individual. This is the time we are simply saying can we revisit this Bill before it is passed into law. What is the urgency? Why is the Minister rushing? It simply means that the Minister may have something up his sleeve. We want a good law and let us debate that law that can stand the test of time.
I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. SEN. MOHADI: On a point of order Madam President. I think in this august House we are grown ups and we should do our business maturely – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order in the
House.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Madam President, I propose that we proceed with the Bill.
*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: Thank you Madam President for
giving me this opportunity to air my views concerning the Bill. I want to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill timely because the motion that we had in this House was concerning the issue of expediting the alignment of laws. We requested that laws should come for alignment and the Minister has brought this law. So, we should make sure that we align it to the new Constitution.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: Madam President, I rise on a simple point where people seem to indicate that this Bill has been with us. The fact that this Bill has been numbered as H. B. 1A, indicates that its tabling is a subsequent tabling. It is therefore inaccurate, incorrect and deceiving that this Bill has been with us. I made that point succinctly.
+HON. SEN. MASUKU: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to debate the motion that is before this House. We were given the Bill 3 to 4 weeks back, if there is a difference on the weeks I mentioned, it might be just by afew days. I would also like to mention that, that is the reason why we have moved for automatic adjournment; even if it means adjourning tomorrow so that we can fully debate this issue and have a common understanding at the end of the day.
Madam President, there is a proposal that was brought by Hon Senator Mohadi where she was suggesting that we continue debating this Bill. Madam President, in my view, I think we have to agree that we debate this issue. If it means getting until late or tomorrow, we have to debate it up until we agree as a House for it is an important motion that needs to be dealt with in the House. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I propose that we divide the House
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: No, I am calling
for debate, not for proposals.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Madam President
for giving me this opportunity to debate the issue before this House. I want to thank the Minister who came into this House. As we always talk about the issue of aligning our laws in this country, I stood up to give an example of the fact that a man or a woman whom you have divorced and has remarried, seeing her or him, you cannot correct mistakes in her or his new life, someone is in charge. There is a challenge for you to be able to live amicably because you will have divorced. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Madam President. I want to thank all the Hon. Senators for their contributions with regards to this Bill. Certainly and quite clearly, this Bill is long overdue. This Bill must bring about order and good governance in our country and especially our local authorities. Secondly, whatever we are doing is in terms of the law. We have followed the law and we have made necessary notices. We are seeking for the extension of our sitting time so that we can accomplish the task at hand which means, if there are any concerns that the Hon. Senators have, this again provides them an opportunity to enrich our Bill in terms of their contributions.
I have listened very carefully to all the contributions by the
Senators to your left Madam President, and I do not want a repeat of what we saw in the Lower House. I think we must put our people first. We must have the interests of the majority of our people first, not the interests of individuals. We are not coming up with this law to fix an individual. We are only aligning the laws of our country. – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] -
If there are any individuals who feel aggrieved, we are sorry. We gazette the Bill on the 9th May, 2016 and this was way before some of the exigencies you are raising had even happened. Even if it were to be so, we are responding to what Justice Bere said to us, that the Minister and the Ministry must align the law. We have a Constitution that was approved by the people of Zimbabwe. What this Minister is simply doing is to simply say can we align our present Acts to the Supreme Law of the land. I do not think I am wrong. If I delayed doing what we are supposed to be doing here, we are actually doing a disservice to our nation. So I want to urge our Hon. Senators that we have got to move forward with the business of the day. I thank you Madam President. –
[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] -
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Point of order Madam President. Let us
divide the House.
[Bells rung.]
– [HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Madam President, according to
Section 281 of the Constitution, traditional leaders must not be members of any political party or in any way participate in partisan politics.] – – [ *HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Madam President, we will not agree to that.
You are intimidating and abusing the Chiefs; that is not their choice.
The law is very clear that they should be non partisan. Madam President, you can go ahead with the deliberations on your own and we can leave the House, moita moga. The Chiefs were not voted on ZANU PF card. The Chiefs should not be allowed to vote.] – – [HON. SEN. MAKONE: Madam President, the Constitution is very clear. Kana mati Madzimambo ovhotera ku ZANU PF ngaachivhotera kwatiri zvekare.] – – [*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: The Chiefs were not voted on ZANU PF card. The Chiefs should not be allowed to vote. This vote is a nullity.] –
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: The results of the
division are as follows:
AYES 42 and the NOES 21
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order Madam President. Whoever was removing the names, he or she even removed the names of Hon. Sen. Khumalo and Hon. Sen. J. Ndhlovu, so you are now rigging.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Why did you
remove them?
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: It is not me who was removing the names. It was Dingani who was removing.
AYES 42: Bhebhe M, Bhobho H, Charumbira Chief, Chidarikire
F, Chiduku Chief, Chimbudzi A, Chimutengwende C.C, Chipanga T.S,
Chisunga C, Chitanga Chief, Dandawa Chief, Hon. Gampu Chief, Goto
R, Gwenzi Chief, Hungwe J.D, Jadagu G.T, Machaya J.M.K,
Machingaifa T, Makwarimba C, Maluleke O, Manyeruke J, Marozva Chief, Mashavakure N, Masuku A, Mathuthu T.A, Matiirira A,
Mavhunga M, Mawire J, Murwira T, Musaka M.B, Musarurwa Chief, Mutsvangwa M, Nembire Chief, Ngungubane Chief, Ntabeni Chief,
Nyambuya M.R, Nyamukoho Chief, Nyangazonke Chief, Sekeramayi
T.S, Tawengwa C
Tellers: Hon. Sen. T.B. Mohadi and Hon. Sen. D. Mumvuri.
NOES 23: Carter M.N, Chabuka K, Chifamba J, Chimanikire A,
Chimhini A, , Juba A, Khumalo D.T, Komichi M, Mabugu F.E, Makone
T, Makore J, Mapungwana V, Moeketsi V, Ncube S, Ndhlovu J, Nyathi
R, Sibanda A, Sibanda B, Sinampande H.M, Timveos L
Tellers: Hon. Sen. S. Mlotshwa and Hon. Sen. M. Marava.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I think that ends well. According to the Tellers, the ayes is 42 and the noes is 23. Therefore, the question is accordingly affirmed.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: On a point of order Madam
President. I do not know; perhaps this could be food for your eyes and ears. We want to make note that chiefs are neutral. They are supposed to be non-partisan as regards Section 281 of the Constitution. Hence, here they voted for a political party – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Minister
and Hon. Members on my left. There is no debate; it is not time for debate.
SECOND READING
LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B.1A,
2016]
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Madam President, the Local Government Laws Amendment Bill has been necessitated by the enactment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment Act [20:2013] in particular Section 278 Subsection (2) and
(3) which provides as follows: “An Act of Parliament must provide for the establishment of an independent tribunal to exercise the function of removing from office mayors, chairpersons and councillors but any such removal must be on the grounds of
- Inability to perform the functions of that office due to mental or physical incapacity;
- Gross incompetency;
- Gross misconduct;
- Conviction of an offence involving dishonesty, corruption or abuse of office
- Willful violation of the law, including a local authority by-law.
Madam President, a mayor, chairperson or councillor of a local authority does not vacate his or her seat except in accordance with this section.
Pending the finalisation of the new Local Government Act which is currently with the Attorney General’s office, there is need to align the
Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29: 15] and the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13] (hereinafter referred to as Acts) to the provisions of the new Constitution. This matter is urgent in light of the increasing number of cases of corruption, mismanagement, insubordination and other ills that are being exposed in various local authorities particularly urban. We are also complying with the Justice Bere judgment whereby he directed that the tribunal be established.
The current Acts, as read with the Constitution, allows for the 45 day suspension of errant councillors but are out of line with the spirit of the new Constitution when it comes to the conclusion of the disciplinary action. This has in essence created a free-for all in local authorities.
As we speak, a number of shocking cases of maladministration and corruption have been uncovered by the Ministries following reports from concerned and desperate members of the public and residents associations:-
- A councillor in connivance with council plumbers, has bypassed his water metre and those of his cronies, thereby prejudicing his own council of revenue for a service rendered;
- A councillor has used funds meant for a council medical aid society to pay for personal university tuition;
- A councillor has awarded himself more than 20 stands in a single term, and still in office;
- A councillor has sold council land and pocketed the proceeds;
- A councillor, who was unlawfully driving a council vehicle and had an accident, framed a driver for the offence;
- Several local authorities are still operating without approved
2016 Budgets in violation of the Public Finance Management Act and more are up to four years behind in the audit cycle.
Such acts defy the basic values and principles of public administration as espoused in the Constitution and cannot be left unchecked. The Constitution provides for Cabinet to prepare, initiate and implement national legislation. As Ministers responsible for the Urban Councils and Rural District Councils Acts, it is imperative that, in order to effect the entire Acts, provision is made to sanction those who willfully violate parts thereof. There is need to clarify that the establishment of local authorities does not in any way impinge on the Constitutional powers of Central Government to enforce compliance to national legislation.
This proposed legislation has put in place measures to ensure the independence of the tribunal by having reputable bodies nominate the members thereof. I must also bring to your attention the fact that where a councillor is aggrieved by a perceived lack of independence of members of the tribunal, she or he has the right to raise this in an appeal. May I point out that this legislation will cover all one thousand, nine hundred and fifty eight councillors in the ninety two Rural District and Urban Councils. Currently, councillors across the political divide, including several from my own party, have cases pending hearing from this tribunal.
To this end, there is an urgent need to amend the respective Acts to restore order, protect the public from abuse and misuse of council property and funds and to restore public confidence in their local authorities.
The memorandum of Principles for the Local Government Laws Amendment Bill was approved by Cabinet on the 26th of April, 2016.
My Ministry has finalised the drafting of the Local Government Laws Amendment Bill incorporating the new Constitutional requirements in relation to the discipline of mayors, chairpersons and councillors.
Recommendation
Madam President, it is in view of the above that I hereby submit the Local Government Laws amendment Bill for consideration. I therefore move that the Bill read for a Second time.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you Madam President and like I
mentioned originally, this Bill is very important. So we have to give it all the weight that it deserves. Madam President, from the start, we understand that the rural councils are now under a different Ministry with a different Minister and we thought that Minister would bring this Bill representing the rural councils. Now, we are seeing one Minister running away with both councils. We do not know whether it is very important but we believe it is very important that when a Minister is appointed, there is need that would have been found. But, here we are finding a certain Minister who has nothing to do with that area, running around with the Bill including his own Bill of urban councils.
If you look at the Memorandum of this Bill Madam President, straight away, although we just got this Bill today, let us look at it.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, right now
we are not actually using that Bill for debate.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Sorry Madam President. The point is, you will find that on memorandum, this thing from page 1 to the end – there are so many defects and if those defects are not dealt with here and now, we will be completely wasting our time sitting here. I know we that we will reach the Committee Stage but it is better to talk about the body than to talk about the finger. So, I am talking about the body here.
Madam President, on the memorandum page, the Minister, from that page and again on page 2 it is the Minister and all angles it is the Minister and nobody else even if we are talking of the tribunal, you will find that it says the Minister. From that high office, he will leave the tribunal and go and fire the mayor. We can call them mayors but probably he is aiming at a mayor. He can go and fire a mayor. One particular person has caused this whole House and the Lower House to sit. I think if we are going to set up a tribunal…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Honestly, you
are a seasoned Senator and you know that when there is a Bill, both Houses have to go through it, that Bill has to go through in both Houses.
It is not peculiar to this particular Bill.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Madam President, starting from the memorandum, you will find out that we just copied and pasted the
Constitution on to this Bill. The job of this Bill should be to simplify the Constitutional Clause - for example, in this case, we are talking of a clause that has to do with Local Government from our Constitution. We are not copying and pasting on to the Bill. It is like a Memorandum and
Articles of Association, the Article cannot be greater than the
Memorandum. This Bill serves no purpose whatsoever as to define or to explain to the ordinary person what they are trying to achieve, what alignment we are trying to reach; because we are trying to align a section in the Constitution.
Madam President, we are trying to align this Bill to Section 278 of our new Constitution. You will find that we have rushed to Section 157 but we have left Sections 8, 9, 10, 21, 30, 42 and we rushed only to this one because – and this Bill goes ahead to say the Minister may align some of the Sections, just as he feels. He can align some and leave some, probably. Madam President, the Tribunal that is being set up here is supposed to look after or hire, fire whatever, the Mayors and the council chairpersons. Why are we talking about the Tribunal here if their job has already been assumed by the Minister? The Minister has taken it all. He is doing it alone, it is a one man game. Why waste tax payer’s money in sitting. This House, I understand is very expensive for us to come and sit, why should we come and sit to empower the Minister to do the job which he will not be supervised by anybody?
Madam President, If you look at Section 2 (2) of the proposed new
Section 157 which we are supposed to adopt, you will see it, it is totally unconstitutional, because the Minister cannot suspend. He cannot suspend, this is the job of the Tribunal. If you read the Bill, you will laugh Madam President, because it goes on to empower the Minister that even if he suspects, he can take action against you. If he suspects – no proof, no nothing. You are empowering the Hon. Minister to deal with suspects – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, it is not fair. It is not fair for the country, it is not fair for anybody, it is not fair for our history, it is not fair for the future generations, it is not. We will be scorned we will be laughed at by the grandchildren. We will be definitely. Madam President, what should happen is, the Hon. Minister, I know he is young and energetic and he can do a lot of other things, but the very honourable thing that he should do on this Bill is to recuse himself and make sure that the
Tribunal that is set up here is doing its job and it is independent.
The moment we talk of the Minister, we are removing the independence of the Tribunal and it will not work. If we remove the independence of the Tribunal, there is no the reason why we should set it up. I know that you will say since it is an ad hoc thing, and what not – but even if it is an ad hoc thing, when there is need to fire a mayor, council chairperson, it should be set up.
Madam President, again - why should the Minister appoint, why should he do that? We have neutral people who are not partisan. We have Churches in this country, we have the Parliament and we have the courts, they are not partisan. If I ask you Madam President, which party Judge Dumbuchena comes from, which party has seconded the judge, you will not tell because they are neutral but if I ask Madam President - which Party seconded to Parliament Hon. Kasukuwere, you will know straightaway that it is ZANU PF. If I asked further and said who appointed Hon. Kasukuwere, you will know straightaway that it is His Excellency, the President of this country, President Mugabe. If I asked you where the centre of power of ZANU PF lies, you will know it is President Mugabe. Therefore, the whole issue is partisan.
This also applies to Section 3 (5) of the proposed new Section 114, which we are supposed to adopt here. It is so painful to adopt a wrong thing. As you always tell us to behave in this House because we are mature, we should do so. We are not a group of numbers here, we are a group of mature people who are led an able President of the Senate. This issue affects also Section 2 (2) of 157 (a), who will be nominated by the Minister? Who will be nominated by the Minister, which lucky blue-eyed boy will be nominated by the Minister – definitely, it is clear, ZANU PF person. So Madam President, this...
HON. SEN. MOHADI: On a point of order.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Oooh you again.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Yes – [Laughter.] – Thank you Madam President, with all due respect, we are not debating ZANU PF here. Can we just stick to the Bill and discuss Government issues. We cannot continue talking about ZANU PF in this House. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you very much Madam President.
These areas I am mentioning must be reversed. They must be. If the
Minister is serious, definitely he must engage in his reverse gear on
these Sections that I am talking about. A lot more, he also wants this Bill to be successful.
Madam President, I was asking who will be appointed by the Minister. Definitely, we have had the definition of the Minister here. If you looked closely, the definition of a Minister in our Constitution has completely nothing to do with the things that we are talking about. He has a big job in his office which has nothing do with this, minus all this. If you looked at Section 3 (2) (b) of the Urban Councils Act, it talks about the proposed new Section 114 (a), Madam President, if this House does not reverse this thing, we are in for a high jump. We are in for big trouble, because other countries are looking and it is already appearing on WhatsApp in other countries.
Section 2, (10) of this Bill talks about the intended new Section 157(a). It allows the Minister to remove members of the tribunal at any time. He can interfere with all the work of the tribunal from A to Z, and we feel definitely that if we are a live country, we cannot allow this to happen.
Madam President, my last point is on Section 3(10) of the Urban Councils Act which talks about 114(a) again. It is dangerous if we continue because the repercussions on this House will hound us. We have to change and make sure that we have engaged in our reverse gear or you have corrected this Bill, so that we can present it to the nation as a good gift. May be 2016 might present Zimbabweans with something they will appreciate. The Minister must do everything in this Bill and not choose sections of it. Let us deal with it all. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President for
affording me this opportunity to speak on this Bill. I am very disappointed with this Bill because the Constitution is clear that the tribunal has to be independent. I want the Minister to explain because when you are reading this Bill, it comes out to say the Minister can do anything. The moment this Bill passes Hon. Minister, how many councillors do we have as the opposition? I think the Constitution is clear because it protects everyone. It looks like the Minister is free to hire, fire and do everything.
So, the way I am looking at this Bill is that the moment it passes, the Minister can just issue a statement and fire all the MDC councils. –[HON SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- This is how I am looking at this Bill. Madam President, to those that do not read, please read this Bill and understand it. It is clear that the Minister has all the powers to do anything. This Bill is to sort out the opposition so that it disappears from
Zimbabwe. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- you do not want in Zimbabwe to have an opposing voice and if we do not have the opposition, will this country grow?
Will this country grow without an opposing voice? This is what is going on with this Bill as I am looking at it. Even though I did not get enough time to go through it, but what I have seen in this Bill is disastrous to the nation. It violates the Constitution drastically and I want that to be understood. The other thing that I am seeing is that as I went through the Bill, I was just flipping through the pages, there is nothing said about provincial councils, devolution and nothing about anything.
Meanwhile, the Minister is doing everything but the Constitution is clear on devolution that we are going to have provincial councils that are going to oversee all provinces to ensure things are being done properly. The Minister has taken everything and it is silent and nothing is being said. I remember clearly when we were writing the Constitution; Bulawayo, Manicaland and all the other provinces were clear on the devolution but Minister, you have taken everything. Surely....
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order Madam
President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: What do you
want?
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: The Hon. Member is not being
protected because as she is speaking, some people are speaking as if they have anything to say to this.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President. I think the Minister in his opening remarks when he was speaking on this Bill, he highlighted a lot of issues about the Constitution. He said he is aligning this Bill to the Constitution. This Bill is not aligned to the Constitution. It is giving him so many powers. Have we forgotten what the people said? I just want to implore and really talk to the Minister. I am lucky that I am in this House and I can see him face to face. Please Minister, can you rethink on this Bill. You do not need to treat the opposition as your enemies. We are all Zimbabweans and we are here for a reason. –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
We are not your enemies. The councillors that are in the opposition can be your friends and they can teach you something that can make Zimbabwe grow. Do not treat us badly like this. I might sound like I am emotional. I am being told kuti ndiri sascum, but as far as I am concerned, I am not talking for myself, I am talking about Zimbabwe handiti?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I think I called for
respect earlier on in this House. Unfortunately I did not hear anybody calling you those names, but please let us desist from calling each other names in this Chamber. Tojoina vana here vakomana ah!
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President for
protecting me. All I was saying...
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Let us not call
each other names. It is one thing interjecting but in a respectful way and it is another calling out bad names or calling names, it is not nice. We should not do that. Let us refrain from that. You may continue.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: When I stand up Madam President, I am not speaking for myself. So when I talk do not look at Senator Lillian Timveos. Look at the people that I represent. When I talk, I am talking on what the people said about this Bill. This Bill is not good and the councillors were chosen by the people. So, one person cannot just decide to say this councillor is bad and he must go when they were chosen by thousands of people. The Constitution is clear on that.
I am appealing to the Minister to rethink and look at this Bill. Do not look at the opposition as your enemy. Look at them as Zimbabweans and we will build Zimbabwe together, instead of presenting a Bill that is going to get rid of the opposition. I think this Bill is unfair Madam President. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: Thank you Madam President for
affording me this opportunity to debate on the Bill that is before this House on Local Government. I think the way it was crafted and that it is being amended, it means that they are amending sections that are contentious. This is not the first Bill or the last one, I do not think it is the last one to be amended. I remember when this Session of Parliament was opened by the President, the President urged us to carry out our deliberations with wisdom. He urged us to deliberate on Bills that will come to this House like this Bill that has been brought by the Minister.
We should all work together and ensure that amendments are done and alignment is done. Our term of office may come to an end before we are done with the alignment if Bills delay in coming. The Bible in Proverbs says, “Do not tell me what to do”. We cannot tell the Minister what to do because the Minister was chosen and appointed by the President. The President knew that the Minister had the capacity to run the Ministry. We were chosen by the people to become Senators and we will carry out our mandate as Senators in our constituencies. I do not think there is any need for conflict concerning this Bill.
Madam President, I urge all of us to speak with one voice and become united in order for our nation to develop because once we start telling the Minister what amendments to make then we have a challenge. What he has brought is what is before us and as Senators, we should not be partisan but let us amend what has been brought before us. Even the laws, the chiefs did not vote for any party but voted for the Bill that is before the Senate.
So we need to understand each other as the Upper House and if we speak in English, Shona or SiNdebele, we need to understand that the Bill that has been brought by the Minister should be passed. I think we need to pass this Bill and I thank the Minister for bringing this Bill. We were already on recess but were recalled for this Bill because of its importance. My request is that as Senate we need to unite and pass this Bill that has been brought by the Minister. I thank you for the time that you have given me and also the Minister for bringing this Bill. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Hon. Madam President.
I have a few points that I just want to add and also add my voice to the
Bill that was brought by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
First of all, Madam President, it is not a problem to look at the Constitution Chapter 146, the provision that gave the President to recall us from recess. When I look at this provision, it shows very well that the Executive does not take Parliament seriously because when they want to fast track whatever they want, they know they can recall us at any minute and we come and rubber stamp Bills like this one.
Madam President, I want to implore the Minister to avoid things that divide Zimbabwe. Things like this one divide Zimbabwe because when you go to the Bill of Rights, you will understand that if people speak about issues, if they are not happy about issues it means that the one that is appointed like the Minister should listen to what people are saying because there can never be stability in a country when people are opposed to what one individual wants to do.
We very well know that these clauses that are being put to amendment today by the Minister are clearly “the Manyenyeni must be fired lauses”. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – These are the Clauses. There is nothing else and the fast track is only because Manyenyeni must go according to the Minister. So it is a violation of our Constitution to have the Minister manipulating the laws and fast tracking sections in a Bill and amendments so as to carry forward on issue about one man in one town.
Madam President, it is very clear ngeSiNdebele kuthiwa, uxatsha ngomunwe meaning you are hiding using something that will not cover the whole body. Maybe you are only covering the eyes but people can easily identify the other parts of the body that it is you, so ukuxatsha ngomunwe that is what it means. We know very well that the Minister here according to how he is pronouncing the benefits of the amendments, that he is now on the gear being the Political Commissar for the forthcoming 2018 elections because – [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.] – it is very clear that the …
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order I
would like to appeal to Hon. Senators, could we actually address the Bill please.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President, it is
very difficult to accept one person to have powers to detect whereas Zimbabwe has millions of people around who can do the job equally as well. If you look at the sections, it shows very well that all the other people are being ignored. I do not know when the other people are supposed to participate in the processes of the country.
Madam President, in other countries people are busy talking about improving participatory governance. We must improve that, show the democracy and evolve power so that other people sit and talk about the issues that affect them. If now the Bill is not talking about the Preamble, Chapter 14 where there is devolution and involvement of other people, then it only talks about the Minister suspending, the Minister appointing a Tribunal, the Minister doing this and that, when are other people going to participate?
Really, I think that the Executive and Ministers are taking us as Members of Parliament too much for granted in that you see it because you can see that the other side is not even debating. Maybe they belong to the same party as the Ministers, so they do not want to debate. But I think if we are people, we should listen to each other, debate, differ and come up with something…
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Madam President, on a point of order. I just want to remind the Hon. Senator that we are not talking about the Senators on the other side. We have to stick to the Bill because we are not the other side of the Bill. I thank you. – [HON. SENATORS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order!
Thank you Hon. Senator, are you done?
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Yes, I am done Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You may
continue Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: It is not amiss Madam President, when we debate that you look at the reactions or contributions of other people who have a different thinking from yours. When I am saying the other people, I know I am referring to the other people who have different policies and thinking from my side of the people. I do not think it is like I am insulting anybody because if you make me stand here and Hon. Sen. Mohadi stands there, we have different policies, thinking and even different dreams.
Madam President, the sections that Hon. Sen. Marava spoke to can be reversed especially the issue of the appointment of the Tribunal because it will be one man’s band. Even in a band you will need other people to play the other instrument. So I implore the Minister that yes, you can be having intellectual capacity to do all the other things but when we look at Zimbabwe, where we started and where are we now, as
it is, we are in a messy. We are even going to get our salaries on the 15th of the June, because the Ministers cannot produce what can take us forward. So we are in a quagmire because of these Ministers. So, they are not supposed to force us to fast track a Bill because they have decided that this will assist Zimbabwe in any way - it will not. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam President, for
giving me the opportunity to add my voice to this Bill. In my debate, I am going to look at the local authorities. They are there to provide service delivery to the citizens. They should be providing adequate shelter, water provision and everything else. This is what our Constitution requires.
Madam President, this Bill that has been brought to this House intends to correct the mischief where councillors or the mayors that are misbehaving are removed from office and a tribunal is put in place to carry out such investigations. Should we stand up here as Hon. Members of the Senate to support that corrupt members of councils should not be uprooted? If we are taking that line of argument, the ordinary public out there will then stand to wonder what has become of us as Senators. We must pass laws which serve the interests of the people, not to serve the interests of a few individuals.
I urge Hon. Senators not to look at the current composition of the councils but after elections, others may come in. Let us not pass laws whilst we have individuals in mind but pass laws that are for the prosperity of this country and for posterity of the people. Hon. Senators, we should not spend the whole night here, this is a very easy matter to ensure that we carry out our alignment function that we have been clamouring for. With those words, I urge that we proceed and have this law passed. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President, for affording me the opportunity to add a few words to this
Bill that has been brought by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Hon. Kasukuwere. The Bill is intended to ensure that a country has laws and that there is order. If a country has disorder, like what is prevailing here, that will be the case.
Let me proceed and say Madam President, that when we grew up, we used to play football and were involved in other sporting activities. However, we no longer have playing fields; people have been settled in those playing grounds. Even on wet lands, you find that there are now houses. One fails to understand what is going on.
Hon. Minister, we support you when you bring such a Bill because we know that local authorities are the ones who allocate residential stands in various locations where people are located. They are led by councilors and mayors. We tend to believe that it is these councils that are resettling people in wetlands. As whether who has caused the eviction of such people, that is neither here nor there; what we want is to ensure that the law is preserved. The law should be applied to any individual who breaks it.
So Minister, we support this Bill as a matter of urgency. You have performed like a Munhumutapa; do not backtrack - forward forever, backwards never so that this country can be ruled properly. When a dog barks at an elephant, the elephant should continue walking. Let us keep walking and ensure that we straighten up Zimbabwe.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order! The Hon. Chief has insulted us. We are not barking here, we are putting forward our points. We are here because we have to air our views. If he does not have anything to say to us, he should sit down and keep quiet.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Chief, the
proverb that you have used has been misread, may you withdraw that? It is a good proverb but it has been misunderstood; it makes us understand what you are saying. Unfortunately, it is ambiguous under the circumstances.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: As Chiefs, we use proverbs – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Please, do not do
that. Hon. Senator Komichi, you are an elder, I expect you to guide others. The chief did not insult anyone, ah!
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President. I was just putting across the point that we should proceed with deliberations because this Bill is constructive to the country – [HON.
MLOTSHWA: Withdraw your statement!]-
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order!
Hon. Chief, what did you say, I was talking to Hon. Komichi?
However, I have ordered you not to use such proverbs.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President. I am sorry if I have conveyed what has hurt others. I withdraw, thank you.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You may
continue with your debate.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President. I was saying Hon. Minister, go ahead with the Bill, whether people are going to be dismissed, it is irrelevant as to who will dismiss them. Put this law in to place so that we eradicate corruption. I foresee your Bill ensuring those wetlands and other places erected going to be preserved because of this law.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President for giving
me this opportunity to say a few words. I was just wondering why the Minister is giving us an amendment of the Bill instead of covering the whole Bill in relation to Rural and Urban Councils Act. We are saying this country has no money but this is really a waste of money. The Minister is coming up with an amendment, and Parliament went out carrying out public hearings. Mr. President, when the Minister wants to look at the overhall Bill as it is supposed to be, Members of Parliament will have to go out again to carrying out public hearings; consulting people. This is very worrying in a country where we are saying we have no money but we are wasting money. We need to think about that as well.
Madam President, it has often been said that we should speak with one voice, how can we speak with one voice when our Constitution states that the tribunal has the responsibility of dismissing the mayors and councillors. Now, on this Bill, we are told that the Minister is going to do the function of the tribunal. What is now going to be the function of the tribunal; to be told what to do by the Minister? I hope the Minister will go back and read Section 278 of the Constitution which stipulates the functions of the tribunal which are now the functions of the Minister. I hope the Minister will also consider this.
Madam President, now that the Minister is responsible for firing people, he is going to recommend at the end who should be taking over from the mayor because we are not going to have the election, it is like thinking amongst yourselves who is going to be the next mayor. In this manner, this will lead to corruption, the Minister choosing either relatives or party members – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear] – can it be left to the tribunal and the community to do the selection and appointing of the mayors or councillors so that we avoid corruption. Somebody was saying the land is now being taken by so and so, these councillors from the other parties are new, the councillors who have been there all along are from one party, so they are the ones who have been grabbing land and doing whatever they want – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear] – People were just looking at what was happening without taking any action but we are now afraid that the new ones are going to be rich as well – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – Let us do our things properly, let us put the tribunal and let it be independent, no one should do the job of the tribunal including the Minister as well. The Minister should observe how the tribunal is doing the job and not doing it on behalf of the tribunal. Even the temporary removal of people is supposed to be done by the tribunal and not by the Minister. I hope the Minister is going to look at that and do the supervision outside the ring not inside the ring; doing the taking in and taking out. That is my main worry.
Now, what does outsiders say about Zimbabweans; when our Constitution states clearly what is supposed to be done and this Bill is saying the Minister is to do this and that, contrary to our Constitution, where we wasted so much time consulting people on what they wanted to see in their Constitution. I beg the Minister and the House; let us follow the wishes of the people. Madam President, independent, means the Minister does not get involved, he observes and follows what the tribunal has done. Thank you Madam President – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]
HON. SEN. CARTER: Thank you Madam President. The Urban Councils Act and the Rural District Council Act need to be amended in line with the Constitution. We agree with the Minister on that, however, the Constitution is very clear that these amendments should take place within the context of devolution as we have said before.
The devolution of power to provinces will mean that the power of the Minister is decreased as councils are empowered to take control and responsibility for service delivery. This is provided for in Section 264 of the Constitution, yet the Minister is doing nothing to implement devolution. So, this is where we fundamentally disagree with his approach. The Bill in its current form does not represent the spirit of the Constitution – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] - Instead of reducing the power of the Minister, this Bill seeks to increase his power to suspend and remove from office mayors and councillors. It is disingenuous of the Minister to claim he is doing this for the sake of the people of Zimbabwe – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – the
Government, through this Bill, is actually showing contempt for the will of the people of Zimbabwe as the Minister picks and chooses which elements of the Constitution he wishes to implement.
Madam President, without devolution, this Bill is abusive of the
Constitution and therefore of the people of Zimbabwe – [HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – I have heard many Senators in this House speak of the Constitution as our political bible representing the voice of the people, the supreme law, the will of the people and even someone says the voice of God. This Bill is a big step backwards for constitutionalism and democracy and runs against the entire of history but the will of people will eventually prevail.
Hon. Senators who have decided to vote for this Bill; you are not walking your talk. Your view that the Constitution is your political Bible, you are not walking that. Your vote will be recorded today for ever in history as violating the will of the people. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Madam President. I rise to make a few observations regarding the Bill in question. Hon. Madam President, the Constitution cites two angles; the first angle is political and that is covered in Section 129(k) of the Constitution. That to us is very clear. The second part of it is on Section 278(2). To me it is administrative. By virtue of fact, the tribunal is intended to administer councils. I want to agree with the Minister.
On the violations and corruption that do exist in the councils in terms of day to day mistakes that are committed, corruption has ever been there in these particular councils. However, there is expected order that has to abide with the Constitution where the arm of administration must be truly independent; not with any due influence from the Minister.
Everybody who spoke before me was emphasising on the independence of the tribunal. To me this is a true protection of the Minister from the intervention of the day to day running of the council.
The point in question Madam President is that this Bill is not temporary. It will be there for time immemorial but if you build it focusing on individuals and petty issues that do crop up within councils, it then becomes much more biased. This is the view of this particular House that the Bill must be exceptionally neutral. The Minister must see from a distance rather than to allow him to appoint in terms of this particular section, which is 114(a). In itself it means people will not really be sure whether the Minister is neutral in terms of his appointments of people because definitely we are all seconded from different parties. He could be biased and such was mentioned before. To us, it is so partial and it ceases to be impartial.
All we are calling from this House is that we want to protect this particular Constitution, which is written with good intentions and call for the Minister on the basis of his professionalism as a Minister to be hesitant to indulge into other issues that will rise tomorrow as misconceptions by the generality of the people of Zimbabwe. I want to echo my view independently and with a lot of respect. We are calling for this thing to have a second thought in terms of its appointment of people to this secondment of people who are supposed to be in these tribunals.
Secondly, the powers that are too much on the Minister must be revisited to make it purely independent. We will be happy with that. I want to thank you very much for this opportunity.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Madam President for giving
me this opportunity to debate on this Bill. First and foremost, I would want to thank the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing for bringing in this Bill. You have observed that there are certain steps that you need to take before you move forward with this law. Minister, you could have easily done what you wanted with this law but you have respected us – [HON. SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] - Madam President, a while ago, some of our erstwhile speakers were asking for protection but they are now speaking and I ask for the same protection.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Please do not attack
her. You are protected.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Madam President. I thank the Hon. Senators for accepting that they have been remonstrated with and for the respect that they have accorded me. I was saying the Minister should be thanked for realising that before coming up with the law, he had to come via certain steps and has given the Houses of Parliament respect. As the Upper House, we should think deeply and we should not be partisan. There is nothing partisan about this Bill. We should not bring pre-conceived ideas because the Bill is being sponsored by a particular Minister. People want to be protected by us as Senators and the House of Assembly.
Time and again, emotions are raised in this House about corruption and we are now bringing a Bill to curb corruption. As observed, our mayors and councillors are the most corrupt people and you should not deny this. Double allocation of stands and houses is being done by Rural District Councils and urban councils. Theft of funds from the people is being done by local authorities. We should not protect such thieves in this august House. We are directing our attention to councilors and mayors. Is that the only thing that we should be talking about? We should not protect people who are looting.
Someone wanted to talk about Mutare and let me talk about the city because that is my constituency. Some of the claims that you were making is because you are not aware of what is happening in Mutare. People are even constructing structures at the railway station and people’s money is being misused. Time and again, the Minister has been in Mutare. Let us not just cast aspersions and make wild accusations when you have no solid evidence. We should not rely more on hearsay.
Secondly, you talked about us wasting time on coming here as an august House because it is costing money to the Government. It is true that this costs money. You have observed that the Government has no money. We should not play and waste time when we come to this august House; we should get to the point and get our business and ensure that we remedy the situation. As elderly people, we should put our heads together and where there is need to correct, we should do corrections. Let us change our mindset. Let there be a paradigm shift and let us not have pre-conceived ideas. We should not be throwing stones at the Minister because he has afforded us the opportunity to come here. The Minister could have done as he pleases and he could not have even come through this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - We may make noise but this is the point.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order Hon. Members.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: On a point of order Madam President,
it is incorrect to say that the Minister can do as he pleases. The Hon.
Member should withdraw. The Constitution does not say that. The Minister is not a dictator.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I believe I have the right to say whatever
I say like anybody else. Thank you Madam President for the opportunity that you have given me and as elders we must not behave like children, we must take matters seriously. I thank you.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam President. I have
about three or four points I want to make. The first one is directed to the Minister. Minister, I think you are consolidating power at a time when the nation wants to devolve power and when the international community and the global village is devolving power. I think you are moving in the wrong direction. This is what this Bill does - specifically in Section 114(a), I think you need to revisit that and see if I am not making a valid point.
If you insist Minister on keeping the Bill as it is, I would rather you call it the un-independent Tribunal as against the independent
Tribunal..
HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: On a point of order Madam
President.
MADAM PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: What is your point
of order?
*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: The Hon. Senator is insulting the
Minister by saying that he is moving in the wrong direction – [HON.
SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] –
MADAM PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Let her speak her
mind. Thank you Sen. Manyeruke.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: The second point I want to make is
that the Minister, under the section where he talks about security of tenure. When you hold people ransom by being responsible for their employment and their dismissal, what you are saying is you are seeking excessive compliance with your own position and I think that is use of resource power in order to seek compliance. Once again, I feel that the direction in which the Minister is going - in modern political, systematic, social and economic, he is in the wrong direction in my opinion.
I think the Minister should be very pre-occupied with aligning the entire legislation relating to local governance – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – That is what we as Zimbabweans need. I do not know what they as the Executive need. The third thing I want to talk about is once again the tribunal is serviced by a secretariat from the Ministry of Local Government. Effectively, what we are saying is the Ministry of
Local Government is directly in charge of the supposed independent
Tribunal. The command structure in any ministry starts with the Minister, goes to the permanent secretary goes to the underlining levels right down to what may be the secretariat at that time. Therefore, where do we find the independence of this Tribunal?
That last point I want to make is the Minister correctly says that we wants to deal with corruption in Local Government. If there is corruption, yes, let us deal with it. I think the Cabinet has missed it here, the Auditor General’s report indicates bigger and huge corruption in Government – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – and this is factual, it is not manufactured, and we are dealing with people in Government - what we see in papers today is frightful. People in Government departments are taking millions US$3m at CMED, I cannot even what US$3m is like, it must be a huge amount of money.
Now, we are dealing with local government and leaving the big theft, I am saying this to Cabinet; I am not specifically saying this to the Minister. Also, Minister, as a last consideration that fish rots from the head, if you cut the lower stem of rotten fish is, that fish still rot. Let us address the entire system. I am sorry to say this to you but the Government must address the entire system in order to make sure that what I will classify today as legislation that is subsidiary to big legislation has effect.
Madam President, I think I have made my full points.
Unfortunately, I think the Minister may not be in a position to change his Bill, but I wish him a re-think and I can see he is smiling, he is rethinking. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President. I
would want to thank the Minister for such a good Bill in which he has clarified a lot of issues, including what is written in the Memorandum of the Bill. We are all aware that in Zimbabwe our urban or rural councils are not operating properly. This is the mischief that the Minister intends to cure by bringing this Bill. We know that the councils were paying themselves huge salaries and perks. People did not have good service delivery such as water, a lot of councils were now prone to typhoid and this is what the Bill seeks to correct. There is a single Minister for every Ministry. We may make reference to the Bill of Rights, what about sanctions that were imposed on us? Are they not infringing on the rights of Zimbabweans? We cannot have a democracy in Zimbabwe while
sanctions are there.
We are putting a law for our country called Zimbabwe so that our councils can assist people so that there will be development emanating from our councils because the majority of our councils are not working properly. Stands are being dished out left, right and center among councilors so, it is the duty of the Local Government Ministry to put these wrongs right. It is there to curb the misuse of council vehicles and the stopping of huge salaries, this is corruption. We should support this Bill, it is very clear; there should not be a problem with this Bill. We are misleading the intentions of this Bill. When we talk of democracy in this country, we talk of elections and the majority forms the Government of the day and there is a Minister who is in charge of Local Government, we should know that. The Minister brought this Bill and if we push the
Minister away from the councils, what will he be superintending over?
His duty is to supervise and superintend over councils. Local Government is what makes Zimbabwe that it is. It is a good Bill and I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. To the Minister I say I have a problem with the timing of our Bill. Yes, we have all been talking about corruption and we are very clear that no-one supports corruption, both sides in this Senate do not support corruption but the timing, Minister is highly questionable. We hear quite a lot that you are planning to offer stands to almost 500 000 youths and the question whether this is not a ploy where you are going to dismiss elected councillors and replace them by either commissioners or anybody that you may appoint then you can achieve …
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, may I
please ask the Hon. Senator to address the Chair and not your counterparts.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: I will repeat – I want to believe that it is not a ploy. I do believe Minister that as you move with the implementation of the law that you have brought to this House, you will not be accused that you came up with a specific Bill so that you can achieve what you intended to do. Hon. Minister, nobody really supports corruption but the question is, is it now that you have discovered that there has been corruption in terms of land allocation? How many officials in Government do own more than one stand and where have they got these stands from? How were they allocated these stands by the same councillors that you may now want to dismiss?
I question whether you are really doing it in an honest manner. I also question your sincerity in terms of the public hearing. Are you really saying that people in Zimbabwe supported your Bill? Can this really be ascertained or you decided to say that this is what people have said? Maybe we are talking about Harare or one or two centres. What did the majority of people say in Zimbabwe? So we really want to know what the people said, because this is the purpose of going out on public hearings.
I also want to say that Minister, when you come up with a Bill or a law in this country, do not look at who is running a particular institution at a particular time, because things will change at some point. I really want to believe that we are coming up with a law that is sustainable, good for the country and nobody is supporting corruption. I want to repeat that we are simply saying why do you not fight a mechanism where you really go back to the people, check what the people are saying about your Bill and at least listen to the people? We went out during the time of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission – people spoke and the relevant Minister withdrew the Bill. Why can you not do the same because people have spoken and we know what people have said? The urgency that you are taking to make sure that this Bill passes makes us question whether you are really serious about doing the right thing. Or, it is simply to please certain people, to punish certain people and people will say you have come up with a Bill which is known as the ‘Kasukuwere Bill or Law’. This is not what we want. We want you as a Minister to listen to the people of Zimbabwe and we know very well that it is possible. I thank you Madam President.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Chimhini,
Are you actually inferring that every Bill that is in Zimbabwe is a Madzongwe Bill, Chimhini Bill and so on or it is just a Bill? I think let us not try to sensationalise while we debate. Thank you for your contributions.
HON. SEN. MAKONE: Thank you Madam President. I think
that most of the things that I was going to say have already been said.
There is only one or two things that I would like to emphasise on. Hon. Minister, we are not against action being taken on corrupt people – be they in Central Government or Local Government. In our pigeon holes, we have these two bigvolumes written by Madam Chiri, the Auditor General of the Government of Zimbabwe. They do not talk about town councils or rural councils. They are talking about parastatals and Central Government. In almost all of them, she is talking about corruption on a huge scale – scales to dream about.
So, it is not something new and it is not acceptable. We are saying, let us follow the Constitution and let us be true to the
Constitution. Let us follow the spirit and letter of the Constitution. Chapter 14 of the Constitution is very clear on what should happen to the urban and rural councils. The concept of devolution of power is paramount in Zimbabwe. It is not something that should be debated because 3 million Zimbabweans endorsed it and the spirit and letter of your Bill should reflect that. If it does reflect that, we would not be in this debate. We would have passed this Bill and gone home a long time ago but your Bill is ultra vires the Constitution. It is.
The whole idea of Chapter 14 is to unite the people of Zimbabwe and not to cause any more disunity amongst the people of Zimbabwe.
Therefore, the Bill should be seeking to do exactly that. If you are genuine, as I would like to believe you are as the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, it would be highly acceptable and respectable if you were to withdraw this Bill and bring one Bill which encompasses the whole of Chapter 14 so that we can vote for you with our feet and our hands. But, the way you have done it is selective and it would look like you are targeting certain offices and individuals in urban councils, especially Harare, where again and again the cases that have gone to court have not been won by the Minister.
It is not just you as the Minister – there was another Minister before you and the trend is the same that you continue to lose in court.
So, why do we not do those things that bind us together in line with the Constitution and let a truly independent tribunal be the one to fire people. An independent tribunal cannot be chosen by the Judicial Service Commission of this country because that has also been chosen by a political party or by the Minister who has been chosen by a leader of a political party. There are ways of getting a neutral person and you Minister are a lawyer and I know that you know how to go about it. You know how to avoid somebody who can be called a neutral person. So please, I think that we do not want to belabour the point that this Bill, if you allow it to go through, be rest assured that it will be fought at every turn - even if it means going back to the Constitutional Court or to the Supreme Court, it will be fought. Thank you Madam President.
+HON. MASUKU: Thank you Madam President. I would like to support this Bill that was brought in this House. I am supporting it, taking into consideration the two important points. Madam President, we realise that when they are highlighting on the powers that the Minister will have on this Bill, we have to take into consideration that it is not only him with all the powers but there are some sections where the Bill is giving the Minister the powers, not all the sections. If the Minister is suspecting the mayor or the councillor basing on what is written in this Bill that the mayor or the councillor will be dismissed, the person who is dismissed is also given an opportunity to argue his or her case and respond. Therefore, the Minister is doing what is written according to the Constitution. If the Minister is doing what he wants, you will realise the Bill would have stated that his word is final.
The second thing I would like to highlight is that Zimbabwe is a nation with values and laws and no one is above the law, even the Minister himself. I know if the Minister would, for example, do something that is above the law, we know the law would take its course. Madam President on the issue of the independent tribunal, when I am going through the Bill, you realise that the members who will form the tribunal will be chosen by the Law Society of Zimbabwe. That is what I understood when I was going through the Bill. The other members will be selected by the Civil Society and the Minister will be given an opportunity, for example, if the members are not enough, to add but most of the members will be chosen by the Zimbabwe Law Society.
Madam President, I would like to say that since the Minister has brought this Bill, we need to realise that it is the correct thing that he has done for his Ministry is the one that is responsible for local government. It is the Ministry that is responsible for the rural development and you realise that he did not touch on that but he is only dealing with issues to do with the local government. My wish is that, if only we can take into consideration that all of us are leaders who are representing the people of Zimbabwe, but we take note that it is not all the people who have the same views on something that is being discussed.
If by seconding this Bill, it appears as if we are no longer representing the people of Zimbabwe, I am sorry about that. What I know is, we are all representing the people of Zimbabwe as leaders. We are all Hon. Members, we should not think it is Party - based regional, but we should take into consideration that as legislators, we are making laws for the people who are Zimbabweans.
For now, what was brought by the Minister, I would like to say to him, we second you on the Bill that you have brought into this House. We are seconding the Bill hoping that you will do according to what is stated in the Bill, not doing according to what you want for you are also not above the law. We hope you will be able to supervise even those who will be appointed. If they do not do it according to the law, this Bill is giving you the powers to dismiss those who will fail to do their work. With these few words, Madam President, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity.
*HON. SEN. A. SIBANDA: Please allow me to make my contribution in Shona and if I miss a word, please bear with me. Hon. Minister, please understand us, we are not rejecting this Bill but the way it has been introduced into this House is that it is only a piecemeal and not that we would have expected it to be. I would have thought that as a Minister who is still young and energetic, you would have taken the Bill and presented it, taking up all the façade of this Bill. Why are you making a piecemeal of this?
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: On a point of order Madam President. You told us that as Hon. Members, we should not direct this to the Minister but to direct to the Chair. The contributor has just pointed a finger at the Minister.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you Hon.
Machingaifa. This is besides the point. If she is referring to the Minister, that is not a problem because he is the owner of the Bill, he is the one who is introducing the Bill. Please, do not applaud because I am not yet through. You can only have a problem if the member is speaking directly to the Minister and not addressing the Chair.
*HON. SEN. A. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam President. I will
now address this issue looking at the Chair. Madam President, I am pleading with the Minister that he should rephrase this Bill because honestly speaking, we all support this Bill. What is happening is that this is a piecemeal and that is our only objection. We hope that if you have a way of advising him, he is our son and is growing up. As adults, he needs advice from us.
He is an educated young man. He is a lawyer and knows what he is talking about, but we wonder why out of the whole Bill, he has just taken part of it. When he brings the Bill to the House, you will see that we are going to accept it. It shows that the Minister is already angry because there are a lot of corrupt activities which are happening among mayors and councillors. The Minister is eager and has the zeal to fight this corruption and win it. Therefore, my wish Madam President, is that if he could take the whole Bill and see if we can reject it because we would have no problem with that. We will pass it without any doubt.
Madam President, may you please ask the Minister as to why he wasted the scarce resources in holding public hearings. This is wastage of the scarce resources in his Ministry. After holding those public hearings, he introduced this Bill before the programme was through. It only shows that he has a vendetta and has a score to settle. I will repeat that our Minister is a young man who has a bright future; he needs our protection. I foresee in him holding the seat of the Presidency in future because he is still young.
Therefore, he needs advice from us because if this is going to be his approach, we have been told that there is corruption which is being carried out by councillors, lawyers and chairpersons of councils. I stay in Bulawayo and this Minister is not a political Minister, but he is a national Minister and my Minister as well. The Minister arrived in
Bulawayo ...
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order Hon.
Senator, let us talk about the Bill.
*HON. SEN. A. SIBANDA: Madam President, let me address the Bill but he is the one who said there is corruption in councils. I would have wanted to say more about this corruption. Please, I am pleading with you Madam President. I am pleading with the Minister to take up the whole Bill because as we speak, there are stands which are being distributed but I was not called and yet I stay in Bulawayo. He could have given me a stand because I have my children who could have benefitted on these stands which are being distributed in Bulawayo.
The Minister knows me and he knows that I stay near the place where he is allocating stands. Minister, next time when you come, please invite me. Therefore, I am pleading with you. You were chosen by the Lord above because leaders are appointed by the Lord. You took an oath of allegiance to Zimbabwe holding a Bible and the Almighty God is watching everything that you are doing. God is still watching us.
As Zimbabweans, we do not want people to laugh at us especially when we have Ministers who are supposed to be the last port of appeal. People should apply to him not for him to have all the powers of the Bill while God is watching. He took the oath of allegiance to Zimbabwe in a good way. So we are not rejecting this Bill because the Minister said this. He is our Minister but through you Madam President, let us listen to the voice of the people out there.
People have their requests and he knows what people want. He should represent them and give them what they want. The Minister is not doing this as an individual, but he is doing it for everybody in the country regardless of the political affiliation ZANU PF, MDC or whatever. What happens is that regardless of your party affiliation, if you want anything, you will go to him and he will support you. It is unfortunate that he left me out in the allocation of stands.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you Hon.
Sibanda. I am sure the Minister will correct his mistake of leaving you out on the allocation of stands. Unfortunately, Sen. Chief, we are now going to have our last contributor in as far as this section is concerned. We will go into Committee Stage and that will also give us a lot of leeway to contribute to this Bill.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. I am also
grateful to the Minister who introduced this Bill in the House. In the year 2014 in Harare, I met my friend and this friend is a supporter of the party opposite me. He told me that they had made a plan and that they were going to fire local authorities in Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare and Harare so that come 2018, they would be in charge. I asked him how they would fire when we have Section 278 which does not allow them to do that. This friend of mine leaked the information that something was going to be done and true to his word, evidence has been brought into this House.
The reason why we constituted a new Constitution of Zimbabwe was simply because we felt there was more power which was with the leadership.
One speaker said, “Constitutions were not made for the angels because the devil never sets up openly”. When we crafted our Constitution, we tried to avoid giving too much power to the leadership because they would oppress the weak. We also empowered Local
Authorities with the aim to avoid the unnecessary dismissal of Local Authorities. The people of Zimbabwe elected their own Government at an election and selected one of the contesting parties the right to rule the country and also select the President. The people of Zimbabwe also elected that the big cities be run by MDC-T Councillors and the Constitution also gave us the opportunity to protect those Councillors from victimization. From what we are seeing, the Minister has brought a Bill which will enable him to fight the Councillors.
Allow me Hon. Madam President to call this Bill a Manyenyeni or
Mushore Bill. In our Constitution, we also spoke of Anticorruption Units which were supposed to deal with the corruption which is happening in all parts of Zimbabwe so that whenever there is a problem, whosoever is in power will not fight with Councillors of opposing parties because there will be arbitrators with no sides. If you commit any crime, you will be arrested and incarcerated and that will remove the reason for saying Councillors have been victimized and that is why the people of Zimbabwe voted for Anticorruption Commissions. As
Zimbabweans, we have to establish these Commissions to lead us.
Now that we are approaching the year 2018, there is an amendment that has been introduced and we plead with the Lord to have mercy on us because our party was running the Local Authorities …
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, order, I
thought we said we were not going to use unparliamentary language. I think that refers to everybody.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: I withdraw. When you scrutinize this
Bill, the people who were asked about this Bill rejected it and we were informed that there were about three places where there were fights at the Public Hearings. We have honourables like Hon. Chidhakwa who were assaulted at these Public Hearings.
You then start wondering why people are being violent when they are being asked about the running of their country. This is a worry to us and we continue to ask ourselves what the problem is? We are the law makers yet most of the people of Zimbabwe rejected this Bill, yet we are supposed to be working with them and as a result, as Members of Parliament of this party we are rejecting this Bill.
- [Hon. MDC Senators broke into song, ‘Lizosala entabeni’ and marched out of the Senate.] –
- [AN HON. SENATOR: Mufambe zvakanaka! Kamba kahle
Ncube!]
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Madam President, I am sure it is self-evident why our colleagues are running away. They realised that this Bill has caught up with their shenanigans and corruption in running our Local Authorities –
[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
I am also certain that this will vindicate our party and Government that we stand for a clean Government and will not tolerate corruption in Local Authorities. This Bill is not only affecting one side of the party but we are all affected and I think it is commendable but our Members of Parliament and Senators have stood with the people and the majority of our country in shunning corruption in our society.
Madam President, in quickly answering some of the issues, let me just in brief say that what was missing in the Act is the setting up of an independent Tribunal. Everything else is in place. What the Minister did not have was the way of setting up a Tribunal. What therefore this Bill provides is for us to have a mechanism of setting up a Tribunal in case the residents and citizens come to us and level allegations against a sitting Councillor, a Mayor or Chairperson. We needed to have a mechanism that will allow us to have or hear from both sides, this is part of our law, you must be able to listen from both sides.
Going further, we then sought to have an independent Tribunal in keeping with the Constitution of our country. I do not see, Madam President, the problem with setting up a Tribunal. It is not the Minister’s
Tribunal but an independent Tribunal meant to look at these matters. –
[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Madam President, a lot has been said by the opposition. They spoke of devolution. I want just to allay our fears as colleagues and say that in terms of Section 264…
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: May you please
read it out.
HON. KASUKUWERE: In terms of Section 264, Devolution of
Government powers and responsibilities. It says, “Whenever appropriate…”, it is not mandatory, it says, “Whenever appropriate, governmental powers and responsibilities must be devolved to provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities which are competent to carry out those responsibilities efficiently and effectively.” And in this case, how do you devolve power to corrupt councils and authorities?
Madam President, I am cognisant of the need for us to windup our debate but I am sure if we leave everything unanswered, it might end up with the Hansard capturing only one side of the story but I will be very brief. I have no doubt that they are not going to come back; this is how they behaved yesterday. They are already on their way to their homes, they did exactly this yesterday in the Lower House and they did not come back. However, it will be in our interest Madam President, for the Hansard to capture our answers, otherwise when the interpretation is done, our side of the story will not be understood.
Allow me also to say that some of the Sections that they have quoted; Section 157 as explained by Hon. Senator Marava; the list of the members of the tribunal are going to be drawn from the Law Society of Zimbabwe and from the Civil Service Commission. This is fair; they are not coming from the Minister at a personal level. They have talked about WhatsApp, this really is of no consequence to this House. The removal of the members of tribunal; yes indeed Madam President, if somebody fails in their responsibilities, there must be a mechanism that will ensure that, that person is removed.
Madam President, I want to thank Hon. Manyeruke for her very solid and strong contribution in support of this Bill. We are making laws to stop individuals and those who are elected from pilfering and stealing from the majority of our people. What they want us to do here is to support the continued abuse of resources by a few. Senator Mlotshwa raised issues to do with why His Excellency, the President, recalled this sitting; it is again provided for in our laws. The President can summon Parliament if there is urgent business and this is what the President has done. So, everything that he has done is within the laws of our country.
Mr. President, I would like to thank Hon. Senator Mavhunga for her answer and contribution in terms of service delivery. I think as a Government, we must ensure that service delivery is afforded to our people, fair and efficient. Our people cannot afford to continue the shoddy work and services that they had been given to this day and as a result of the corrupt activities of the City fathers.
I want to thank Chief Musarurwa for his contribution as well. I think the invasion of our space and the destruction of some of our key recreational facilities is a cause for concern. Senator D.T. Khumalo spoke about the law and the entire amendments. We have a combined Bill which will speak to all the issues that they have talked about. This one is as a result of what Justice Bere told us as a Ministry, that “go immediately and ensure that you have an independent tribunal so that you can proceed to deal with some of the cases of malfunctions that have emerged”.
They expected both Ministers to come here; we are not going to be coming here to sing; both Ministers myself and Hon. A. Ncube, share responsibility in terms of local governance. One in charge of rural areas and the other in charge of urban areas; meaning that each and every one of us has a duty still, to protect the majority of our people who are governed under this very same Act.
Mr. President, Senator Carter was in support of the Bill but again brought the issues to do with devolution and these I have answered to, that we are working on the Bill, subject to us also being able to afford what is required. Senator Makore; I would like to thank you for your contribution but again it is all about devolution. Senator Mawire, I would like to thank you very much; City of Harare and also Mutare which you mentioned have started billing people privately. There is one bill coming from the City Authority and the other one coming from the individual operator. The other amount of money is coming to their pockets individually and the other is coming to the local authority. This type of corruption is unacceptable and we must have a mechanism of dealing with this level again of malfunctions.
Senator B. Sibanda spoke about consolidation of power, far from it. We are actually respecting what is said in our Constitution. Senator Chimbudzi, I would like to thank you very much for your contribution, very solid in terms of the salaries, the service delivery issues, typhoid and so forth. We cannot sit back and watch people having a picnic over public funds. Senator Chimhini spoke of the timing of the Bill and he spoke about the planning to offer 500 000 stands.
Mr. President, our business as the Government of the day, is to deliver on the promises we would have made to our people and what we are doing here is delivery. We will not stop from ensuring that all authorities make land available in an orderly manner to our young people, to our citizens, the old and so forth because this is what our part promised when it was voted for by the people of Zimbabwe. So, if any Mayor or any Town Council wants to stand in our way, certainly we will not accept that.
Mr. President, Senator Makone, it appears she has not read. A very well educated lady who refuses to read very simple things. There is a saying which goes, if you want to hide the truths from some people, put it in black and white. I hope she does not fall into that category. This book; everything to do with all the local authorities up to Zvimba, it is contained. What each council has been doing, the corruption, it is all here but Senator Makone decides to be economical with the truth. I am sure it is also as a result of the truth that has been highlighted by Mai Chivi which shows serious corruption in the cities that are governed by the MDC.
Hon. Masuku, I would like to thank you Mama for your very strong support for this Bill. I am sure this is the way we should go, if allegations are made, we must prove them and it must be fair. Hon. Sibanda, again he spoke about why we are approaching this in a piecemeal fashion. We had to attend to this exigency because the judge wrote to us, in his judgment said, “Attend to this” but as a Ministry we felt we cannot leave this legal lacuna open. We had to close this void. Senator Komichi, all I remember, Mr. President is that he came here to sing, he did not make any contribution.
I move that this Bill be read a second time. Thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave, forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B.1A,
2016]
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 4 put and agreed to.
Senate resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave; forthwith.
THIRD READING
LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL, [H.B. 1A,
2016].
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Madam President, I move that the Bill be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Congratulations
Hon. Minister. I also wish to thank all the Hon. Senators for showing up even though the other Hon. Senators walked out, but they did show up so that we debate this Bill. We gave you a very short notice, so the fact that you did turn up in your numbers is appreciated. I thank you.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (HON.
SEKERAMAYI), the Senate adjourned at Eight Minutes to Six o’clock
p.m. until Tuesday, 19th July, 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 9th June, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I move that Order of the Day Number 1 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 2 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL (H. B. 15A, 2015)
Amendments to Clauses 2, 21, 29, 40 and 56, put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL (H. B. 15A, 2015)
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I now
move that the Bill be read the third time.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill. However, I want the concerns that myself and others have raised in not agreeing to the exemption of the Labour Act recorded in the Hansard for the benefit of doubt. Everyone else should know that we are not in agreement with the provisions, the exemption of the Labour Act, in violation of Convention 98 of the ILO being proffered by the Minister to be considered. I thank you Mr.
Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I am sure that the Hon.
Member has recorded her reservations and the Hansard will capture that,
I am sure.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
SECOND READING
PAN-AFRICAN MINERALS UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY BILL (H. B. 10, 2015)
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Reading of the Pan-African Minerals University of Science and
Technology Bill (H. B. 10, 2015).
Question again proposed.
HON. MATARUSE: Pan-African Minerals University of Science and Technology is one of the four specialised universities on the continent that has the blessing of the African Union. The institutions are part of the Nelson Mandela Institute of Science Excellence meant to bring excellence in science on the continent. The four universities will be located in the north, south, east and west of Africa. Currently, one is in Nigeria, the second in Tanzania, the third in Burkina Faso and the fourth will be established in Zimbabwe. The country won the bid to host the university following stiff competition from regional competitors such as South Africa.
Pan-African Minerals University of Science and Technology will be dedicated to the teaching and training of very high calibre mineral professionals in mineral beneficiation and value addition for the African continent. This is in realisation that most resource-rich countries on the continent export most of their minerals in raw form, without any value addition, hence loosing potential wealth and exporting jobs to other continents. As such, the Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education,
Science and Technology Development welcomes the introduction of the
Bill since such a development is likely to ensure that the country maintains its high ranking in the region and the continent in terms of high standards of education.
After the gazzetting of the Bill on 22 January 2016, the Bill was referred to the Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, the Committee resolved to analyse the
Bill in line with Parliament’s mandate of scrutinising legislation.
METHODOLOGY
This report is a culmination of the Committee’s meetings devoted to the analysis of the provisions of the Bill. In addition to the meetings, the Committee benefitted from the oral and written submissions made by stakeholders and members of the public as provided for by Section 141 (2), which requires that members of the public be consulted on Bills before Parliament. Oral submissions were made during the public hearings conducted from the 16th to the 20th May 2016. The Committee is grateful to all the people whose input has been considered in compiling this report.
The following are the views that the Portfolio Committees on
Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and Mines and Energy gathered when they undertook the Public Hearings on the proposed Pan-African Minerals University of Science and Technology Bill (H.B. 10, 2015).
On top of Page 3
- After the consultations with the public, the Committee feels that the statement, ‘Presented by the Minister of Mines and Mining
Development’ should read, ‘Presented by the Minister of Higher and
Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development.’ It is not procedural that a Ministry of Mines superintends issues of higher education. Universities provide higher education to human capital for the benefit of all Ministries and the private sector. Doctors, lawyers, agriculturists, et cetera are produced in universities under the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development but they graduate to go and work in Ministries which need their services. There will be chaos in universities if each and every Ministry is to oversee issues of a University which trains the Ministry’s own professionals. To avoid this, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development should be allowed to carry out its mandate.
- Notwithstanding, it must be encouraged in Zimbabwe that each Ministry should support universities, faculties or departments which train its professionals. The help could be financial or in the form of research grants, curriculum review, equipment et cetera; but the running of such universities should be left to the parent Ministry – the
Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology
Development.
- The same reference to the Ministry of Mines is also on Page 4 under definition of terms on Interpretation.
- In light of the above, the Committee proposes that the statement beginning with, “Minister,” under definition of terms, should replace
‘Ministry of Mines’ with ‘Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education
Science and Development.’
- On the statement beginning with “Secretary,” to replace ‘Secretary of Mines’ with ‘Secretary for the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary
Education Science and Technology Development.’
Page 5 Clause 4(a)
- As a Committee, we recommend that PAMUST should be
established as a fully-fledged University of Minerals. Limiting
PAMUST’s mandate (Objects) to ‘advanced post graduate training’ would cripple its operations and it is against its own purpose as outlined in Clause 6 (b): under Powers of the University where it is stated that
PAMUST will confer certificates, diplomas and post-graduate degrees. The public showed much concern and suggested that Clause 4 (a), could
be amended to read as follows:
- The provision of highly advanced courses and research in minerals value-addition and beneficiation and related minerals studies with a bias towards post-graduate training’.
Such an object does not limit the University’s growth or its influence to society. PAMUST should be allowed to grow and not to limit its training to post-graduate training as this may create a white elephant. There is a feel that it is not right to over-dramatise the importance of post-graduate training as research has already concluded that 95% of any country’s economic activities do not need a postgraduate qualification. Post graduate training which produces researchers should stand on a firm foundation of practitioners who will implement the findings of the researchers. The Committee remains live to the importance of post-graduate training but we feel that a university should not be legislated against offering undergraduate training. PAMUST may fail to get enough applicants with first degrees to enroll in its post-graduate course, given the dwindling rate of return to postgraduate education. PAMUST should be allowed to grow its own brand of undergraduate Minerals Students base who will then be inspired to advance to post-graduate studies. PAMUST cannot survive by expecting other universities to do the lower level training for it while it waits to only get the students at post-graduate level even if it should have a bias towards post-graduate training. If that has worked in other countries, it may not work in Zimbabwe. PAMUST should be free to offer shortcourses, certificates, diplomas and degrees in Minerals which resonate with its mandate so that it has relevance across the board. A participant all over Zimbabwe hopes that the University will be open to all the people despite their educational background. This was emphasised with the belief that those that are already in the Mining sector, who are already working on their experience as small scale and artisanal miners may as well benefit and improve their skills in the field of mining. For instance, PAMUST should feel free to offer courses to artisanal miners so as to have relevance to Zimbabwe, but if Clause 4(a) is left in place, then responding to stakeholder needs such as those of artisanal miners would be illegal, yet it is the role of every university to solve societal problems without undue limitation.
Page 5 Clause 4
The Committee recommends the addition of Item 4(g) under
Clause 4: Powers of the University as follows:
The creation of opportunities for income generation through consultancy work, training and other similar activities, with the ultimate aim of making the University a self-sustaining entity.
Page 5 Clause 5,
- The Committee recommends the removal of the whole of Clause 5 because it is not necessary to be too prescriptive and to railroad a University by telling it which degrees to offer to a level of doing the role of the Vice Chancellor, the University Senate and the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education. These individuals and bodies are mandated to look at the suitability and adequacy of staffing, laboratories and Course outlines after doing stakeholder consultation before approving the start of a degree programme and not those who promulgate Acts. It is not the role of a University Act to prescribe to the University what the first degrees should be about. Spelling out the mandate as in the Objects of the University is enough.
Page 6 Clause 6 (b) under Powers of the University
It has been proposed that Clause 6 (b) should be re-stated so that it reads as:
- ‘To hold examinations and confer degrees, diplomas, certificates and other awards including honorary degrees, upon persons who have followed courses of study approved by the Academic Board and additionally, or alternatively, have satisfied such other requirements as may be determined by the Academic
Board.
Page 6 Clause 6(g)
The Committee recommends that Item 6(g) be deleted completely because the world over, it is not the job of a university to accommodate students but to educate them. For instance, students who fail to get university accommodation twenty years from today can sue the University if Item 6 (g) is left to pass through. A University Act should concern itself with the core business of a university and to accommodate students is not core business because that can be done not only by the university but also by relatives, landlords, parents, the private sector and the business community. The Committee proposed that the provision of accommodation should not be legislated. The purpose of a university is to educate and it should seek to be good at that; not to seek excellence in provision of accommodation even if it is a basic need. We all know that no university the world over accommodates all its students on campus.
While we can legislate the provision of learning space by the university, we cannot legislate sleeping space as this can be provided by any other players/ stakeholders.
Page 6 after Clause 6(o)
A proposal was also made to add another Item under ‘Powers of the University’ which can read as:
‘ to enter into partnerships or joint ventures with individuals, corporate bodies in commerce and industry, the public sector or other tertiary institutions after following due process.’
Page 8 Clause 11 under Pro-Vice Chancellor
The public welcomed and noted that the selection of the Pro Vice Chancellor, Registrar (Clause 21 on page 13), Bursar (Clause 22 on page 13), and Librarian (Clause 22 on page 13), is substantially different from that of the Vice Chancellor. The Committee thinks that is correct and we applaud it; suffice to state that the procedure is a departure from the procedure followed in all State Universities in Zimbabwe. In the current system, all Designated Grades of Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Bursar and Librarian are selected using the same procedure and there should be uniformity for State Universities. We feel that what has been recommended for PAMUST should apply in other
State Universities to reduce bureaucracy.
Page 9 Clause 12(e),
The Committee, in consultation with the public recommends that Zimbabwe Council of Higher Education (ZIMCHE) representative be removed from the list of Council Members. ZIMCHE is a quality assurance body which should give an independent outside view of the system. If a member of ZIMCHE is a member of Council, it reduces independence to a level that when ZIMCHE visits the University to audit academic programmes, they will be auditing themselves and that compromises quality. It is tantamount to having a referee being one of the players. Universities have adequate internal quality assurance mechanisms and ZIMCHE should continue giving an external independent opinion or audit by not as a member of any of the University structures in accordance with good corporate governance practice.
Page 9 Clause 12: University Council
It was proposed that Item 12 (f) be swapped with Item 12 (d) so that we mention the representative of the parent Ministry first. We cannot start by mentioning a representative from the Ministry of Mines when we are dealing with issues of higher education. Although minor, such little things also matter when drawing up an Act.
Page 9 Clause 12 (l), (m), and (n): University Council
It was noted with great concern that the University Council, with its 24 members, is already too big for productive discussions. As the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and
Technology Development proposed that representation on Clause 12 (l), (m), and (n) should be reduced to one person. The Committee also proposes that the number of council members external to the university could be trimmed to about 14 and there should be gender balance.
Page 9 Clause 12 (n): University Council
The public proposed the deletion of Clause 12 (n) which proposes
4 members representing regional university councils or commissions. However it is the considered view of the Committee that regional representation is necessary given its regional focus
Page 9 Clause 13(b): Functions of Council
The public did not understand why the Information Technologist should be a Designated Grade. While the appointment procedure of the
Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor,..
[Time limit]
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Hon. Member be
allowed to continue, seeing he is the Committee Chairperson and that is a Committee report, it is good that it leads those of us who are going to debate, in particular is the artisanal mining issue that I heard him so eloquently talk about.
HON. S. CHIDAKWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. DR. MATARUSE: Registrar, Bursar and Librarian are
covered under Clause 10, 11, 21, 22, and 23; there is nowhere in the whole document where it explains how the Information Technologist is appointed and that leaves us with the impression that the inclusion of an
Information Technologist was an error.
Page 13 Clause 21, 22, and 23
The appointment procedure of the Registrar is substantially different from that of the Bursar and Librarian. For instance, the appointment of the Registrar is approved by the Minister yet such requirement is not stated under the appointment of the Bursar and Librarian who are appointed and approved by Council only. We feel that if they are to be the same Grade, then the appointment procedure should be the same. It is the Committee’s view that the approval by Council should be adequate because legally, the Council is the employer.
Page 13 Clause 22
It was proposed that the Bursar be called ‘Finance Director’. The term Bursar is synonymous with lower level officers in Primary Schools who are called by that title. Bursars in Primary Schools are mere accounts clerks with receipting duties and yet this post as it relates to universities is a very senior designated post with numerous decisionmaking roles and risks associated with it. They superintend over university assets which run into millions of dollars and they handle millions of dollars from the State, students and the donor world, and we feel that the continuous use of the title Bursar misrepresents the executive role and influence of this post.
Page 15 Clause 28: Staff Disciplinary Committee
The whole section on Staff Disciplinary Committee needs re-casting in line with the country’s Labour Laws. It terms of the Zimbabwean Laws, the Labour Act states that it overrides any other Act or law which is inconsistent with it. It has already been decided in the Courts of Law that what is on Clause 28 is wrong or illegal and it was suggested it is corrected as explained below:
- The University’s Staff Disciplinary Committee is not a court of law and does not need a retired judge to preside over issues, for example, cleaner at a university who was absent for two days. Having a retired judge has been tried in other State Universities in Zimbabwe which have similar Clauses and it has been seen to be impossible to implement because judges by their nature do not retire unless they become senile or sick. Thus we strongly advise the removal of the requirement of a retired judge as on 28 (a). One quality of a good piece of legislation is that it must be practical or implementable. This requirement is not implementable.
- Item 28 (d) is also not correct. The need for a legal practitioner in a staff disciplinary Committee cannot be legislated. In the Labour Act, a staff disciplinary Committee is a plant level (local committee) and anybody grieved by its verdict is free to appeal. Practice has shown that issues that an institution’s Disciplinary Committee grapples with can be very minor. Even insulting a student can lead to a disciplinary action only to get a written or verbal warning. Bringing a registered legal practitioner of 5 years standing to such issues has proven to be financially crippling to universities which have that requirement because senior lawyers charge per hour and are expensive. It should be left to universities to decide after looking at the gravity of the case, sensitivity, grade of member, et cetera to decide whether a registered legal practitioner is needed. It is the public feeling that such a provision cannot be legislated and the Labour Act does not require it. Legal practitioners of five years standing can be very busy and difficult to get at short notice yet the Labour Act requires that disciplinary issues be expeditiously attended to since justice delayed is justice denied.
- To achieve natural justice, the Labour Act requires that in the
Disciplinary Committee, there should be a member of the Workers Committee or Staff Association representing the affected member and this should be added. The above changes, if implemented, should make the Staff Disciplinary Committee compliant with the Labour Act.
Page 15 Clause 28 (5) Clause 28 (7)
The Items [Clause 27(5) and 28 (7)] should be removed as they are ultra vires the Labour Act. Once the Staff Disciplinary Committee has made a decision, only the Appeals Committee can vary such decision. The Labour Act does not allow the Vice Chancellor to unilaterally approve or vary the punishment, but the Vice Chancellor can chair the Appeals Committee/ Authority for his/her input. There are cases where the courts have overturned dismissal verdicts at very high cost to institutions simply on the grounds of violating this provision. Courts have pointed out that the Vice Chancellor will have abused his/her powers and that is classified as unfair labour practice. It is also against the laws of natural justice to leave an individual decide the fate of an employee.
Page 11 Clause 16(2)
In accordance with corporate governance best practice, a
Chairperson is defined as ‘one among equals’. A Chairperson should not wield too much power over his/her colleagues as this can destroy productive debate. The job of a Chairman is to chair by facilitating and inspiring free debate. The Committee, in consultation with the public, humbly notes that under Clause 12 (a), the Chairman of Council is appointed by the Chancellor. The best practice should be that in their first meeting, appointed council members should elect one from among themselves to be the Chairman. Such an arrangement is more democratic and creates free debate. Having the Chairman appointed by the Chancellor can cause other council members to view him/her as senior and that has destroyed free debate in many Boards.
Page 20 Appointment of Pro-Vice Chancellor
Under Schedule of Statutes of the University Clause 3; the
Committee recommends that the length of term of a Pro-Vice Chancellor be five years and not three years. A five-year term renewable for another term was recommended as the term of office for the Vice-Chancellor.
The extension of one’s appointment for a second five year term would be based on one’s good performance during the first term. Practice has shown that designated posts have benefits attached to them and if an individual’s term is short, institutions battle to raise funds to buy, for example a Toyota Prado every three years. University Strategic Plans run a cycle of 5 years. If officers are given a term of only three years, they will not have achieved anything.
In the same vein, we propose that the length of term of office for the Bursar, Librarian and Registrar be legislated to four or five years.
Page 25 Section 21: Auditors
The Committee feel that the title should be ‘External Auditors’ not just Auditors because in universities, there are already Auditors whom we term ‘Internal Auditors’.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
- It was recommended that the University should be located at an area that is naturally rich in mineral and that has some sense of already developed structures. This will make it easy for practical lectures to be undertaken easily and at a local area.
- Courses that have something to do with Environmental
Awareness have to be provided at the University
- The Public also recommended that studying at this University should be affordable to all the people in the country despite their economic class.
MINOR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Page (i) Part II,
Page (i), Remove ‘s’ on ‘provides’ on the statements for beginning with;
‘Clauses 3 and 4…’ ; ‘Clauses 7 and 8…’; ‘Clauses 10 and 11…’;
‘Clauses 14 and 15…’; ‘Clauses 16 and 17…’; ‘Clauses 28 and 29…’
Page 4
- Use capital letters for all the words starting sentences.
- The statement, ‘‘’dean of faculty” means a person elected by the faculty board in terms of the Statutes’ should read, ‘‘’Dean of Faculty” means a person appointed to the post of dean in terms of the Statutes’
- On statement beginning, “mineral science”, to replace ‘is’ with
‘means.’
Page 8
Need to correctly quote the sections on Clause 10(g) as follows:
- Clause 10(g) (i), ‘…..Section 28(7);
- Clause 10(g) (ii), ‘…..Section 29(6).
- Clause 12(a) not best practice for good governance to have the Chancellor appointing the Chairperson of the Council.
- Clause 12(c), Remove ‘every’, to have, ‘Pro Vice Chancellor(s)’
Conclusion
The establishment of a Minerals University in Zimbabwe to serve not only Zimbabwe but Africa was long overdue. The Members of the Public nationwide applauded the Government for this move and we as the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, strongly support the same. If our knowledge serves us right, Zimbabwe has the highest diamond reserves in the world; it has the second highest platinum reserves in the world; it is the fourth largest producer of chrome in the world; it has the largest known coal reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa and is the sixth largest gold producer in Africa. Zimbabwe also has 40 other exploitable minerals and it was only right that as a nation, we should have a Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology to advise on how best to exploit such vast endowment. Thank you very much.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to add my voice
to this Bill. In particular, I want to touch on – it must be page 4 of the report on the establishment of this university, where it touches on expertise. As long as the artisanal miners have been sidelined, that expertise cannot be imported from the informal into the formal sector because as far as I remember, I used to stay close to a Blacksmith’s house and the children of that Blacksmith have never attended university but they taught me that experience is the best teacher. When we speak of exploration; when we speak of mining and optimal utilisation of our resources, we speak to those that are experienced.
I spoke one time about brown bed exploration which is indulged and engaged in by artisanal miners. For as long as we leave artisanal miners in the fringes of our mining activities, universities and institutions of higher learning, we are marginalising our own economy, not only now, but for the future because these are the people that are engaged en masse in the resources extraction and in resource mobilisation, which is what our economy is skewed towards. Why I speak of artisanal miners is because, as long as we leave them in the fringes of our mining activities, we have not done what is called continental integration. In Ghana, these artisanal miners have been recognised. This is a Pan African University, if we have to follow global best practices, let us follow what has occurred in other African countries, so that we indulge in what is called continental integration. This is exactly what Africa Union was founded for Mr. Speaker.
Secondly, the establishment of this university should follow where the minerals are. There is no reason for us to establish this university at Mt Hampden or any other place, save for the place where these minerals reside. In Chegutu, this is a case in point; Kadoma is a place which is endowed with resources where we should have this university. Why should we, when we talk of the national university of academic, science and other issues, talk of Harare, Mount Hampden and all other places? When we now talk of issues to do with gold, diamond and such like, we still want to come to Harare, this should be a thing of the past. Let us go to where these resources are. Let us go and establish this university where these resources are. In particular where there is gold and where it is there in optimum, ubiquitous form; where it is there in large amounts. Let us go and establish this university, which is Pan African, in Kadoma or Chegutu. I would not mind in Chegutu West, there are more than 49 gold mines in a 20 km2 radius. So, what a better place to establish such a university than that place?
When we speak of a Pan Africa University, we should speak to SADC industrialisation strategy. Where do we want to strategise our industrial capability, if we do not go to where our minerals are? When we speak of this university, let us be all encompassing and also speak to the beneficiation and value addition which is Agenda 2063 of the Africa Union. Where do we want to go except to where there is a lot of these resources. Let us not take our people to follow the university; let us take the university to follow where the resources are so that we can beneficiate and value add where these people are; where the gold resources are.
As I conclude, I also want to speak to the issue of making sure that this university removes the tag called makorokoza in total. We have put it upon ourselves; we have put a tag upon ourselves in the same manner we have sidelined the economy of this country and left it to the other countries to benefit. Why do I say so, when the Rand fell, South Africa was very clever, they started buying our gold from artisanal miners and our makorokozas, at a premium, 15% more than the value of our gold here in Zimbabwe because they are benefiting from our own people that we are sidelining. This university should be a university par excellence; that speaks and thinks outside the box.
Mr. Speaker Sir, long back when I was still in higher education,
Chess used to be called the game of high level thinking, and it still is.
When you talk of high level thinking, let us speak to those that are going to be running the higher and tertiary education. Why should we continue to be regimented in our scope or line of thinking, and still think in the same manner that was used to establish these universities? Let us follow our economy and our resources; think outside the box and make sure that it is a place that is going to remove the tag totally in terms of marginalizing the formerly marginalised black majority. Vanhu varikunzi makorokoza ndovanhu vatema. Hakuna murungu anonzi mukorokoza, asi ndivo varikubata goridhe. Iyi university ngaiite basa rokutobvisa tag iyoyo zvachose.
If we continue to do it in the manner that was always done, we are not doing ourselves justice, in terms of economic emancipation. Let us use it formalise the informal sector. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity, and hope that as I make this clarion call, Hon. Members can support my call to say let us establish this university where the gold is; where our minerals are and let us also take, as has been alluded to by the report on Education Portfolio Committee, that let us not sideline our artisanal miners. Let them go into this university, use their experience and then use the university as a spring board for economic emancipation in terms of resource beneficiation. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I wish to thank the
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for this beautiful report. Let me talk about the setting up of a university. Zimbabwe went to bid for it, and there are four of them that are going to be set up in Africa and
Zimbabwe is going to have one of them. Let me tell you that in Zimbabwe, we have about 20 universities, the majority of them are State universities, and we have three universities which basically teach Science Education. Harare Institute of Technology, Bindura University of Science Education, NUST and above that we have the University of Zimbabwe. The University of Zimbabwe used to be a renowned university during their time before they started giving some these PHDs which we are not quite sure of.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when you look at this report, there are a number of governance issues that come out straight away. One has been flagged by the Portfolio Committee where you have the Zimbabwe Higher Education Council representative sitting on the Council. I have heard occasion to talk to lecturers in many universities and they say the Zimbabwe Council of Higher Education is a referee. So, what is their business sitting on university councils? They must sit there as referees and they must allow the universities to run on their own but you have a referee who is also participating in the game so that is an issue of governance.
Interestingly, in Zimbabwe we have a School of Mines. The
School of Mines has a specific mandate to train specialized people that will work in mines. The School of Mines Mr. Speaker today is a pale shadow of its former self because it is not funded. There is no single State University in Zimbabwe which is properly funded. If you look at the budget of Zimbabwe universities and the amount of money that
Zimbabweans are spending in universities in South Africa, look at the Presidential Scholarship, which alone gobbles so much money from
Treasury in comparison to the money that is spent on local universities. , MSU and NUST, the amount of money that is allocated to those three major universities by Government is far less than the amount of money that is spent on the Presidential Scholarship sending children to South Africa. So essentially what we are doing is that money is taken out of this country to fund the education sector in South Africa. The education here is substandard there is not a single Member of Parliament here, all of us myself included that do not have either a brother, cousin, son or a daughter who is schooled in South Africa.
Some of the degrees they are studying in South Africa are available here. You have somebody studying Political Science in South Africa when the father is a lecturer in Political Science in Zimbabwe. You have a son of a Minister of Primary and Secondary Education who after ‘A’ level goes to South Africa to study Law and when he comes back to Zimbabwe he cannot practice and he must do conversion studies for him to be able to practice. When you study Law at MSU or University of Zimbabwe you go straight into practice. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- I will leave that aside. The money that was spent on education in Zimbabwe, US$866 million was allocated to
Primary and Secondary Education, US$332.7 million was allocated to
Higher and Tertiary Education. What this means Mr. Speaker is that, our
Government anticipates that some children after ‘O’ level must not go to university. The money that is allocated to universities is just a third of the money that is allocated to Primary and Secondary Education. What it means is that our Government anticipates that some children will fail so, it is a bottle neck that is deliberately put by this Government so that our children do not go to university.
If you go to, for you to study Engineering, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, you need 15 points, but when you go to the South Africa University of Cape Town, which is regarded as the second best university on the continent, with 8 points you can go and study Electrical Engineering, with 4 points you can also study Electrical Engineering at the University of South Africa. Yet at you need 15 points Mr. Speaker when you put those two students after graduating onto the market, a graduate from the University of Cape Town is given precedence over a graduate from the because a university is what it is because of research. There is better research carried out at University of Cape Town than the research carried out at University of Zimbabwe the and there is no question about that. If you go to the University of Zimbabwe, I did a postgraduate in 2007, we could not use the ablution facilities at University of Zimbabwe. We had to drive to Mt Pleasant shopping centre to use the ablution facilities there because the toilets did not have running water. So we have a University of Zimbabwe here, our flagship university without running water and we are bidding to set up a
University of Minerals, what for.
Let us fund the University of Zimbabwe, let us pay our lecturers correctly, let us give our students grants because most of the children at University of Zimbabwe come from poor backgrounds. My cousin came from Hurungwe with 15 points, to study at University of Zimbabwe but he could not secure a grant because Government does not have that kind of money. It is the same Government which is bidding to set up a university here, what for. Let us take care of what we have first before we want to invite some more problems. What we need in Zimbabwe; the Bill that was brought by the Minister makes a lot of good reading but it is not good reading for Zimbabwe. It would have made better sense for South Africans. South Africans did not bid for this university because they know that the courses that this university will offer are available in their universities already. What is it that this university is going to offer, which cannot be offered in our universities? Geology, we have Geologists here - Hon. Gabbuza trained at University of Zimbabwe. We have Mining Engineers, the Deputy Minister of Mines trained at the local University of Zimbabwe here. We have so many people, Electrical
Engineers and Civil Engineers so why should we want to set up …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order!
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker Sir. May I ask for some water I want to replenish my body fluids. Now, here is another issue. We want to set up a university that is going to train people in mining when we are failing to do the basic things. We are failing to account for resources that are coming from the mining sector, US$15 billion disappeared from the diamond sector. What do you want to set up the mining school for? What we need is to train our people in issues of governance and issues of honesty. What we are going to set up is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. We should have set up the mining training school before diamonds were discovered in Chiadzwa, may be we would have been able to save those diamonds that disappeared. I will set that aside.
The School of Mines train people that are ready to get into industry. If you go to most of our mines and ask those people where they were educated, they will tell you that after ‘A’ levels they went to the School of Mines to study Geology, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy and most of the courses that are required by mines. So, this university here, we do not need it because firstly, we do not have the money and it is not a secret. We do not have the money in Zimbabwe to be able to set up this university that is number 1. Secondly, we need a lot of expertise and we do not have the expertise. Let us concentrate on the universities that are already existing and not waste out time trying to bid for a university whose functions we do not need in this country. Let us look at the mining sector-the diamond mines in Chiadzwa were consolidated.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Member. Can the
owner of the following car: A3Y3326 go and remove his car – [HON. MEMBERS: We cannot hear you.]-
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Okay. The owner of this car
ACY3326, can you go and remove it. We have got workers from City Council who would want to work on the water line. Thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I was talking about the turmoil and the confusion in Chiadzwa. There is so much turmoil and confusion. You wake up one day and you hear that the Minister has ordered that all the mining companies come together, they have bundled. You wake up two days later and you hear that the Minister has said those mines should be unbundled. There are so many things that we must expend our energy on, and setting a Pan-African Minerals University of Science and Technology is not one of those things. There are so many things that we must do with the mining sector. This university is far from one of those things that you must do.
Mr. Speaker, I want to go to another issue. We have issues of governance that I was talking about where you have for example, a Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education going to be trained at a university - how do they fail? You have the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education being trained to be a lawyer and the year that he was admitted into law school, we are told Law School is not admitting students for the next three years. Why is that? For the next three years Mr. Speaker, the Law School at the University of Zimbabwe is not going to be admitting students from outside.
The reason is because in the class where there is the Minister of
Higher and Tertiary Education, there are also two other Ministers, the Minister of Indigenisation and the Minister of ICTs. What it is to me is that they are protecting turf so that they do not get competition from others and that is unfair. That is an issue of governance because for the next three years, the University of Zimbabwe is not taking students into the Law Faculty and that must be investigated.
Mr. Speaker, I think I have said enough. All I want to say is that let us not waste our breath discussing the merits or demerits of this University of Science and Technology. We do not need it. Let us put all our resources at existing universities like the University of Zimbabwe, NUST, Harare Institute of Technology and the School of Mines in the Midlands. I think that is where we need to spend all our energies and get good graduates, put more money, do more research and get better graduates. I rest my case. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MUDEREDZWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker for
giving me the opportunity to make my contribution towards this very important debate. I am not going to waste time. I am going to highlight four issues that are pertinent to this Bill. This Bill is not a concept of the Zimbabwean Government alone. It is a concept of a number of African countries that realise that by geo-location, Zimbabwe is strategically located and that it is in a position to relate with other countries around it in the area of research on mining issues.
It was also noted that Zimbabwe is sitting on the Great-Dyke. We are the richest in the region and this is why this Bill is considering locating a university in Zimbabwe. It is not going to be a baby of the Zimbabwean Government alone, but there is going to be mobilisation of resources from all other countries like South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, DRC the entire SADC region and other countries beyond. They will be coming to Zimbabwe. By so doing, there will be an infusion of knowledge and resources towards the growth of Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the regional integration that is going to come up as a result of the existence of this university is going to cause Zimbabwe and other SADC countries to grow and obviously, because of economies of scale, regional integration and all the other things that are associated with mining activities. It is logical that such a university should be located here. The leaders of these respective countries had taken it as a thoughtful thing to say let us go to Zimbabwe and let us not go to South Africa and Zambia but to Zimbabwe. Ourselves, as people of this country, should be in support of this Bill.
Of course, we have got problems with our own universities. We have problems in terms of location of this university, but it is pertinent that we address the bigger picture of this thing and say this House should support the Bill so that we come up with a university that is centred in Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Committee and the Committee Chairperson for such a relevant report in the context of the Bill that we seek to pass as Parliament. I acknowledge the fact that I agree with Hon. Maridadi in most of his concerns around our scope, strategy and our approach when we come up with universities and when we come up with institutions of higher learning. Be that as it may, I am fortified by the fact that the World Bank is going to play a very significant role in financing this university. For that reason, we must thank our God that we have won the bid to have this university. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
I genuinely believe that this is the future of Africa, human research and investment and I genuinely believe that we, as Zimbabwe are the House of Stone. You cannot talk about a stone without mining. When you talk about the House of Stone, you also want to acknowledge the centrality and relevance of mining in the future of our country. How do we position ourselves? We must also think beyond and start to see the Great Zimbabwe. The Great Zimbabwe is not going to be great without some key models that are going to leverage the future of our country. What is going to leverage the future of our country? The first is mining and the second is probably agriculture.
We must start to build institutions that are going to mortar and carry the pivot of the future of our investment. When we have big minerals in terms of our resources, we also want to have big institutions so that we are able to portray ourselves in a proper manner for the future.
I totally agree that this is the most important development for Zimbabwe. We must celebrate the victory to have the Pan-African
University on minerals in Zimbabwe.
It is important because when one looks at the future of our country, we cannot have the future of Zimbabwe without the future of the continent. So, we need to begin to portray ourselves as a champion of that future. Mineral technology is a very important element. I agree with Hon. Maridadi that we have a lot of concerns when you look at the university. I have stood and I have taken platform in this Parliament to also argue that we cannot just have universities without the necessary human resource investment, but now because we have the World Bank and the intellectual resources, you can hardly compete with a
Zimbabwean intellectually.
We need to build on that intellectual resource we have and then be able to say when we go forward, when people think about Zimbabwe, they must think great minds. When people think about Zimbabwe they must think about a great university that is going to be giving the best mineral technology.
So, all mining technology must come from Zimbabwe. You can talk about diamonds in DRC or South Africa, but when you want to talk about the technology that diamond or any mineral, let us talk Zimbabwe and we need to start investing in this. We may not be Members of Parliament then, but we must make sure that we lay the framework. Let us plant the seed. We may not enjoy the fruits as Members of
Parliament but we will enjoy the fruits as citizens once we start to invest in this one.
I believe this is a very important Bill which must be supported and I think the findings that have been made are very relevant, but let us begin to think of the future. Let us think of the centres of excellence, what do I see going forward. Let us have the best universities so that in the same way people go to Oxford, Stanford or other Ivy League universities. When people think of education and mining on anything, let them think Zimbabwe and we must start by making sure that we have institutions. When we have strong institutions within SADC and on the African continent, we are then able to be an example across the whole world in terms of doing what we have to do.
We have the climate, intellectual, human and mineral resources. All these minerals are already there. We have complete and perfected artisan miners and we must build on those ones. It is only in Zimbabwe where you find that we use derogatory language to say makorokoza. We must also be giving the necessary incentive to that creativity in our people to be able to run an economy and create the necessary contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. So, I have no doubt in my mind Hon. Speaker Sir, that this is the most important thing that this Parliament can support.
I want to say my voice is something that I will add to this kind of debate. I am not ashamed to be a Zimbabwean when you have a PanAfrican agenda – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I am not ashamed to be a Zimbabwean when you are thinking about institutions that are going to even outlive our existence. We need to go that direction and support that kind of effort, particularly if the World Bank is coming in to build on our capital investment in intellectual resources. Having said that, I want to thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, thank you very much.
HON. MANDIPAKA: I am not going to waste the august House’s
time. I just want to make some few observations following the debate by Hon. N. Chamisa. I was really impressed to discover that although he is from the opposite side politically, he has exhibited exploits of a nationalist who is patriotic - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –. So, allow me Hon. Speaker to support the entire debate by Hon. Chamisa. It is unfortunate Mr. Speaker Sir, that his colleague Hon. Maridadi is not well informed. When we come here to make Bills …
HON. MARIDADI: On a point of order. My point of order is that this House is a theatre of dreams, debate and engagement. I am not at the centre of discussion, we are discussing the university, not me. What I simply submitted are my submissions and he must make his own submissions. This is a theatre of debate, ideas and not a theatre of throwing insults at each other. He must be guided accordingly. Thank you very much.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Your concern has been noted Honourable.
HON. MANDIPAKA: Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the member is not quite informed about the statement that I have recently said. What I meant to say is that we come here to Parliament to make laws for the good governance of this country. We do not make laws just for the present generation. We make laws for even generations that will come after us. So, it will be folly for someone to suggest that we have economic problems and we must stop making laws. That is why I am saying my colleague, Hon. Maridadi, is not well informed because we need to make and support these Bills, especially and more so, when these Bills are helpful to the Zimbabwean populace and the generations that will come after us.
Like Hon. Chamisa has rightly pointed out, we are endowed with mineral wealth and once we do not have institutions of higher learning where we have the present day technology to be able to beneficiate on our minerals, then we are a nation doomed to fail. I would also want to support the observations by Hon. Muderedzwa that when we are thinking around this Bill, we are not only looking at ourselves. We are also looking at countries that are around us and the benefits that will accrue from that regional integration. So, we need to be broad in our thinking.
I do not understand when Hon. Maridadi talks about turmoil and confusion in Chiadzwa. I do not know where this turmoil and confusion is coming from. It is unfortunate, and I think he is the one who is confused and in turmoil with his mind because when the Government discovered that we were running loses, the Government had to come up with a strategy to improve accountability. If that can be termed turmoil and confusion, then I am also confused Mr. Speaker Sir, but I want to believe our Government is doing all it can to be able to have these institutions of higher learning to improve the welfare of our populace.
This Bill, vigorously Mr. Speaker Sir, must be supported. This Bill, like Hon. Chamisa has rightly pointed out, needs to be supported by any right thinking Zimbabwean unless one is not a Zimbabwean. I thank you.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you very much for giving me the time to contribute on this very important debate. Zimbabwe has a lot of minerals. The Pioneer Column came to Zimbabwe specifically looking for minerals and they knew there was gold in Zimbabwe. Our problem at the present moment is we are failing to understand that institutions like the Pan-African Minerals University must be there to improve the quality of life of our people who are contributing 60% of the gold to Fidelity; 60% of this gold is coming from the so-called makorokoza.
It is my wish that one day I will come across a faculty of gold panning researching on ways to improve gold panning for the benefit of the larger masses of our people. We talk of democracy but there is no democracy when there is no economic democracy. Our universities, most of them now, are serving the colonial institutions. They are serving institutions which were established by colonialists. They are serving these big multi-national companies which has no direct benefit in removing poverty in the rural areas and in our people. Mr. Speaker Sir, to assist some of the Hon. Members – what is poverty? The Oxford dictionary says, poverty is the inability to utilise resources around you for your personal, national and international benefit. We have this university which we want to establish, it is going to be funded by 60% of the gold because the percentage of the gold is going to come from the korokozas but it does not develop the korokozas. What a joke. We want a situation whereby there will be a faculty of gold panning established in Kadoma and in UMP because they are the largest contributors of gold to fidelity.
The other thing we want to look at is that the Munhumutapa Kingdom was the most powerful kingdom ever established in Africa. It was based on the gold that was produced by individuals. If people of Munhumutapa benefited from our gold, why are we failing to benefit from the gold because even here, if we go out and dig, there is gold. It is only that the percentage is not viable to start mining but we have areas where there is plenty of gold and we waste our time training people about engineering of protecting this structure of platinum and all these things. We must also look at the basic interest of our people.
Mr. Speaker Sir, people are saying there is no money but this university is self-funding because miners are funding it. A percentage of proceeds from mining is going to fund this university. Pan-African University is a noble idea. It is also something that must look at the indigenous knowledge in different areas. How were we mining before the Europeans arrived in this country? How were we benefiting from our minerals before Cecil John Rhodes came to Zimbabwe? These are some of the critical areas we must look at and we must also look at funding of certain institutions like the Pan-African University. It is getting money from the World Bank and from the sale of mining but as part of our establishment, we must come out to assist the poor.
How do we call ourselves a poor country when we have 74 minerals in the whole world which can be mined at any given time. You continue to meet very poor people in the roads yet we have all the minerals at our disposal. Mr. Speaker Sir, this university is not a ZANU PF institution but a national institution. There is a tendency of certain people to think that because this has been brought by a ZANU PF Minister, I must go against it. No, there are times, as a nation, we must agree to say, this is right we must do it. I would also want to recommend Committees, in future, to concentrate on critical issues and not talking about the bursars and so forth. If there are problems, the Chairperson of the Committee will obviously meet the relevant Minister, discuss with him and see how this thing can benefit our people.
Chrome mining is one area we have skills on. We were talking to South Africans yesterday – our people have rare skills of extracting chrome which no other nation has got. We must develop and sharpen the existing skills of our people before we can accommodate anyone
else.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker, I would say today, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kinyatha, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel and Ben Bera are celebrating that at least Africans have now waken up. They have realised where their wealth is. Their wealth is in the soil. So the founders of the African Union, on the 26th May 1963 are celebrating wherever they are, obviously they are with us here. That is why they have given guidance to Hon. Chamisa to contribute like a ZANU PF person in the whole process.
Hon. Maridadi, your contributions, some of them were valid....
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. CHAMISA: I am actually surprised Mr. Speaker Sir that he thought that I had left but I was around. I did not argue like a ZANU
PF member, I argued as a Zimbabwean. I think we must not
‘partisanise’ the interest and love of our country. Our country belongs to no political party, it belongs to all of us. So, I would want the record to be very clear that when I contributed, I was motivated by the spirit of Zimbabwe as opposed to the spirit of a political party. Thank you very much.
HON. MUDARIKWA: I want to thank Hon. Chamisa because you are a product of the education development of the Government of Zimbabwe – [HON. MEMBERS: Taurai nyaya yenyu chete and speak to the motion.] – Mr. Speaker, we are speaking to the motion but in this House, I had seen some people dosing and we had to wake them up. I want to thank the Chairperson of the Committee for the job well done; the mission has been accomplished.
HON. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to commend the Chairperson of the Committee for bringing this matter before the august House. I have a few remarks concerning our mining capacity as Zimbabwe. The previous speaker has alluded to our history as a gold mining nation. It is the basis of the Great Zimbabwe civilisation for more than eight centuries. People used to come from India, Egypt and from the Middle East to buy gold in Zimbabwe. That is how we built the Great Zimbabwe Civilisation. So, we have always been a mining nation even in pre-colonial times. Most of the gold mines that are now on record used to be called blanket mines because white people who came in 1890s would come and look where Shona and Ndebele people were mining and give them blankets and go and register those mines in South Africa.
The knowledge about gold mining that this country has is a matter of the product of the people of Zimbabwe. We used to be the greatest gold producer in the 13th Century. Therefore, this Bill is timely. Mr. Speaker, we have the Great Dyke which is one of the seven unique geological formations in the world which have got so many minerals as has been alluded to. We missed as a country on the mining boom of China when it was modernising its cities. Now, it is India which is coming on board. All these countries with billions of people need minerals to build their new cities. This is the time where we should exploit Zimbabwe’s prowess in the mining sector. This university will give us not only the scientific knowledge that is needed but also the marketing knowledge because you ultimately want to mine because you want to sell.
This is important to have the university that looks at all aspects of mining. I want to commend the Minister and the President for having Africa choose Zimbabwe as the centre of this university. This is something which is a kudo to Zimbabwe because of our expertise, but what is important is to turn expertise into money for our people. Agriculture will never be Argentina or Canada; we can only be self sufficient. We are also landlocked so we cannot export like these countries, but in the mining sector we have a unique advantage in some of these minerals. We are number two in chrome production; in gold we are in the top ten, in platinum we are in the top two and we are only two countries - with South Africa.
When the United States made its first Atomic Hydrogen Bomb in
1953, they used lithium from Bikita Minerals. This is the history of
Zimbabwe’s contribution at a global level and when America was modernizing its Navy against Russia and [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- against the Soviet Union, it needed a lot of steel which comes from chrome that is why Kwekwe and Gweru became major chrome smelting centres, because of the American demand.
Our chrome, which is so special, was actually the subject of an
American Law, the Byrd amendment, which said “even if Ian Smith had sanctions imposed on him, we will still import chrome from Zimbabwe against United Nations because the chrome from Zimbabwe is very special”. So these are world class minerals which we have and this university will bring the historical knowledge, it will bring the scientific know-how, but it will also bring global marketing expertise so that decisions which are informed by markets can be made so that our minerals can benefit Zimbabweans, because that is the only area where Zimbabwe is world class undoubtedly, in the mining sector.
So, the Bill is timely, I am coming from Norton which is on the Great Dyke, all the way from Gwanda to Shamva, these are minerals which are waiting to be exploited. The mistake which we made was when we removed the chrome ore exports, saying we want to beneficiate when we had no electricity, no railways, no water and everything. Once you remove the chrome ore exports, there is no load for the railway lines that is why there is no business plan for the railways because you cannot export beef or wheat with railways, but you can export minerals with railways.
So, I am glad Cabinet and Government have decided to lift the chrome ban. We need to do it in a clever way because every building in the world is steel and chrome is an ingredient of steel. So, every building in the world should have something to do with chrome from Zimbabwe, because the other competition is from Turkey and South Africa - but ours is superior. So, let us open up the chrome ore sector so that we export as much chrome as possible to build all the new building in the world. Our youths will be taken away from the streets, they will go to the Great Dyke, they will be busy digging chrome, our railways will be developed all the way to Maputo, Richards Bay, Beira, Manakala or to Makudi because only minerals can revive the railways of Zimbabwe. Anything else is day dreaming – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
HON. GABUZZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I am only rising for
one point, I am sure all other points have been fairly discussed. I do not think it is a bad idea to have a university but there are certain things Mr. Speaker that we must understand about university education. It is all about research, you do not just read text books, you have to do some research and research is practical. You do not research sitting only in the laboratories, but one has to go physically on the ground and see things and make things happen in the laboratory.
Now, when we were in Masvingo, it reminds me of some woman who said, how you can you locate a university on mining around potato fields and tomatoes in Harare? It means that after the lectures have been conducted at Mt. Hampden or wherever the Government is proposing to put, the pupils who would have just done the lectures will have to go all the way to Kadoma, to go underground and do their mining engineering and all those other things including the metallurgy. If it is going to be done around those potatoes fields, it will have to be laboratory work only.
So, in terms of the location, I do not know why we still have this bambazonke mentality of Harare. We have to move out and go to where mining is happening, because that is where research is. If it was going to be done by me, I would have preferred – because we do not have enough resources, World Bank is going to assist but certainly they will not give us all the money that is required of the level of that institution. So, to reduce cost, I would have definitely preferred to go to a place where similar structures are already there and indeed this is what they have recommended the Committee. The best place would have been the School of Mines in Bulawayo, simply because they are already training regionally. At the School of Mines, you will find the whole of Africa there training.
There used to be geologist at the University of Zimbabwe but it is no longer there, Institute of Mining Research is no longer there, they are struggling, but the School of Mines because they are attracting regional students from the SADC region and from all over Africa and from all the other parts of the world, they are able to sustain themselves. They are struggling but with the little resources, we could push up that institution.
However, if that fails because of other considerations, the best would be as what was suggested by other speakers. We could have the administration at SRDC as has been proposed, but the various faculties be certainly along the Great Dyke where the minerals are. We have the faculty of gold processing in Chegutu where there is gold, something to do with diamonds; we could have it in Mutare; something to do with other minerals like platinum, we have it where there is a concentration of platinum mines. Then we can safely have our administration at Mt. Hampden or SRDC, but the actual practical field work must be done at the faculties where things are happening.
That would also give us an advantage in that when practical work is being done, our small scale miners, our artisanal miners will benefit because certainly those lectures and experts will have to test run their projects on those small scale miners and boost them up. To that extent, I think it would help not only Harare but even our small scale miners, our artisanal miners and grow the mining industry. That is what I thought; I
would wish to contribute to this motion. Thank you – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Firstly I would like to propose that this university should be set up in Shamva because the town has all minerals, gold, asbestos and all others. So, I need someone to second that the school be set up in Shamva.
Secondly, I want to thank the Honorable Members who have debated before me especially Hon. Chamisa, his debate reflected that he has natural wisdom. In his debate he expressed that he is able to separate matters on the ruling and governing of the nation as well as what he learnt in school. He also realised that these things cannot be isolated. I realised that if we have two or three people of his caliber we will develop. Even the money that is being paid by the Government to finance students will not go to waste.
I stood up to support that the university should indeed be established. I would want people to know that the school will not only benefit Zimbabweans but so many countries are set to benefit because when they want to get technology in terms of mining, they will come to
Zimbabwe and as they come in, they will also bring in foreign currency. I also heard another Hon. Member talking about the misuse and abuse of money especially that from diamond. I can liken this to a woman who has suffered a miscarriage. What will happen then is that if we take that route, then it means we will never go anywhere because if such a woman says she will not give birth because she has lost a baby, then nothing fruitful will come out. So, we should not be short sighted but we need to have foresight and hope for the better in the future. In this country we have so many challenges, I think we saw this challenge in the SMEs sector, we allowed them to do whatever they wanted, thinking that those with huge companies are the only ones who develop the country.
When we sat down and went back to the drawing board, we realised that the Small to Medium Enterprises bring in about US$8 billion. Most of the revenue right now is coming from the SMEs. So, likewise we should ensure that artisanal miners also gain education skills and technology to ensure that money comes from them. If we sit back and think that Anglo American and other multi-national companies will come, we are losing it; we know they will not come here. So, we need to look at the issue of empowering the small miners. I think 60% of the gold that is going to Fidelity is coming from them and in six months they are raking in quite a lot of gold. So, we need to support them by putting universities in this country that will also assist the children of Zimbabwe.
If IMF has committed itself in supporting the universities, other countries will also support. So, I do not think we should be against this Bill. We cannot say that once there is one rotten apple, we throw away all apples. Once we do that, we are failing to reason as Members of Parliament. I want to say that such issues should be supported by all of us here in Parliament so that the university is built in Zimbabwe. Cement was discovered here in Zimbabwe and we have been told that we can go for 100 years with this cement. So, that is why we need such a University so that we have the technology and the skills. We have a lot of minerals in this country and we need such technology to be able to extract these minerals.
We also want technology to get alluvial gold because others are coming to get our alluvial gold. Once we have the skills and the technology in mining alluvial gold, we will develop. Zimbabwe is not poor but sometimes it is because we fail to manage what we have. So, my request is that this university be set up in Shamva because that is where you find most of the minerals. It is in the Great Dyke area and therefore Shamva should benefit. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. HOLDER: This Bill – the Pan African Minerals University which has been brought to Parliament; I stand up to support it, simply because there are 4 countries within African that will have this university. If you look at Wits University in South Africa, it is one of the best universities as far as mining issues are concerned. Now, by the time we have won the tender that the university is build here in Zimbabwe, which means that we will have one of the universities here; it is different from a school of mines. A school of mines is for people who are starting to learn, small scale miners and staff like that. Having a university here will be a noble idea, simply because it is supported by the World Bank; it will bring revenue into this country as well.
As much as the other Hon. Members are saying I wish it was in Shamva or Great Dyke, parliamentarians that are sitting in here, you find they want to go on field visits. So, what about the students who will be in the university, they will also want to travel. Harare is a good place for it to be here, the simple reason is because Harare is good for networking. It is the capital and airports are here, you cannot have a big airport in Zvishavane or in Shamva, you have to land here in Harare, the airport is there, the infrastructure is there already.
If you are going for practicals, there is Shabanie Mine, Mashava Mine, there are mines that are along the Great Dyke where people will be able to be transported to go and see and understand. Secondly, this university will also benefit us on beneficiation, where we will improve technology on extraction; we will improve on how to use our minerals. We know we talk about beneficiation, we talk about mining and how wealthy we are; but having it here is one of the blessings which I think your Ministry has done a good job and His Excellency the President for lobbying for us on that.
I want to say to the other Hon. Member, James Maridadi, he was complaining and saying you know that we have got so many problems; we have got this university that is incomplete, that school, this and that, we all have problems Mr. Speaker. We have problems to pay even children’s school fees but we have to send the children to school. So, it is important that irrespective of our problems, we must plan for the future and the future is once we have that university, we will also have a name, as Wits University has that it is one of the best universities, and in Zimbabwe – we will have a Pan African University, where we will understand all the research to do with minerals. We mine over 32 minerals in this country, platinum, gold, asbestos, chrome, uranium - you name it, there are a lot of minerals but what are that used for.
It will be important if that university is built here in Harare where people will be able to come, fly in, have their courses and fly out after a block release, it is okay. I want to say to you Mr. Speaker, as much as we as miners, we would have loved it to be near the Great Dyke where there are mines and staff like that but I am sure the research - as far as the university is concerned to say it must be in Harare, it was all to do with the networking as well. There are a lot of factors that are put into place, although even on the public hearings, the people were saying it should be closer to our mines so that they could do the practicals.
Mr. Speaker, practicals, yes I agree but having it here in Mt
Hampden will be quite good for us. With those few words Mr. Speaker,
I want to thank and congratulate the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development for winning and becoming one of the Pan African Universities here in Zimbabwe, not other places. As far as he is concerned you find him saying how many of our kids are sent out of country, it is their choice. I can go to Europe to a university, I can go to America, it is your choice - but having it here shows that we are now very patriotic about country. So, I think I will support having it here. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
*HON. MUKWENA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I stood up to
support the Bill that was brought by the Defence Minister I said I would like to support the Bill that was presented by the Chairperson - I am sorry Mr. Speaker Sir; we went out as two Committees. The person who brought the Bill is the Chairperson of Higher Education and I am sorry for the mix up. I want to thank the coming of this Bill. It is an important Bill and it is a welcoming development in Zimbabwe. I think this Pan African University is in the SADC region, meaning that
Zimbabwe also tendered together with other countries in the SADC and Zimbabwe was successful. That is the first thing and we really applaud the nation for that.
Secondly, the Pan African University, now that it is in Zimbabwe it means that it has to be in the capital city of Zimbabwe, which is Harare. It is a SADC University and I do not think it should be set up in any other town other than the capital city. For that reason, we applaud Africa as a continent for setting up such an institution in order to get skills and technology on our minerals. On that note Mr. Speaker, this university will enable not only the SADC but other countries to develop, which means Zimbabwe is at a better advantage than other countries in the SADC region.
Everything that will be done at the university will benefit
Zimbabwe. I am delighted by the coming of this Bill on the Pan African
University, which means that coming generations of people in Zimbabwe, SADC and Africa as a whole can have higher education. It also means that the minerals that we have in this region, we will now be able to extract them and develop our nations, not only Zimbabwe but also the SADC at large.
In short, I want to thank the Hon. Members who stood up in support of this Bill, especially Hon. Chamisa. Hon. Chamisa has reflected that he is a nationalist and he has also reflected that he is patriotic to the nation at large. My request is that this august House should be united and should have the same spirit and stand by the same token because Zimbabwe is our country. All of us need to be patriotic.
My hope is that the university should bring in projects and plans as well as education and technology which will assist artisanal miners whom we call makorokoza in shona. If we look at the history of artisanal miners that is how the first miners began, they were artisanal miners when the white men came. So, I think the word makoroza should be done away with. As a Government; as a nation of Zimbabwe, we need to assist these miners to develop.
There was an issue that was mentioned, of the pioneers who came in through the Pioneer Column. They used to extract minerals using picks and shovels; traditional methods of mining but today, the Government should ensure that the necessary machinery and implements are made available for our children to use. Zimbabwe is a blessed country, it has so many minerals and it is rich in gold as well, which means that the small miners and artisanal miners, if we happen to empower them, in 2/3 years Zimbabwe will no longer have economic challenges because of the amount of gold that we have.
Furthermore, the people of Zimbabwe are hard workers. I think the Government should ensure that they take it upon themselves to fund and empower these artisanal miners. So, I would like to thank once again the Ministry for bringing the Bill and I support it. I also move that if the university is to be set up, it should be in Harare. I do not think there is anyone who is handicapped to travel to Harare. Those who are coming from Beitbridge or Binga can come to Harare. What it means is that Harare it is central. If we also look at the catchment area in terms of SADC, I think Harare is central. From Harare to Durban, Port Elizabeth, DRC and Dar es Salaam, it is central even though we cannot use a tape measure to find the distance. I think it makes economic sense to have the university in Harare. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for according me
this opportunity to debate on the Pan African Minerals University of
Science and Technology Bill. I would like to start by commending the Committee on Science and Technology for presenting this report and congratulating ourselves as Zimbabweans for clinching this very important and critical centre of higher learning. Notably, because we appear to be one of the few countries in Africa that actually recognise Africa Day, which is the day that the African Unity was formed as a national holiday. We are one of those countries that take seriously our Pan Africanism in Africa.
So, I congratulate our Government for clinching this important facility in Africa – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – My interest is in governance issues. I also want to echo the Committee’s observation that in terms of disciplinary proceedings, the Bill has seen it fit to appoint a retired judge to preside over the whole host of disciplinary offences. I want to agree with the Committee that it does not seem to be proportionate to get a whole retired judge to preside over matters of discipline at a university.
My view is that, the aim here is to ensure that fair hearings are done and that anyone who is charged with disciplinary offences experiences justice. It does not take a judge necessarily, or a retired judge for that matter, to preside over disciplinary offences. There are a lot of other ways in which a person who is capable of understanding the administration of justice and the principles of natural justice can be appointed. I will suggest, with respect Hon. Speaker Sir, that the Bill considers also appointing various people, including even legal practitioners. They could also liaise with the Law Society of Zimbabwe, which is the board that governs the practice of legal practitioners, which board was established by an Act of this House. I am confident that it is possible to get a legal practitioner of repute who can serve in this particular event and also dispense justice. It would also be more cost effective if I may say so.
Having said that, I now move to another issue of corporate governance, I notice that the Committee is concerned with the issue of the Chancellor appointing a chairperson and in particular noting that in terms of the principles of good corporate governance, a chairperson of a board is a first among equals. That is done in order to facilitate free debate and exchange of ideas. As the Committee notes, I tend to agree with them that having a Chairperson appointed by the Chancellor does tend to scuttle the equality of the board, stifle debate and might tend to deprive such a board of all the best of its brains and ideas. With that, I do not think it is appropriate to burden the Chancellor with appointing and cherry picking a chancellor, it does not augur well with good governance.
My last point is a point that I have been ruminating on over a long time. It moves from corporate governance to general governance but it also interfaces with good governance. Mr. Speaker Sir, I note yet again that the Chancellor that is proposed to be appointed by this Bill, is His Excellency the Head of State who is also the head of Government. I want to submit to this House because I have been thinking about it for quite a while that does it augur well with the tenets of good governance to provide that in each and every State University the very esteemed and very lofty office of the Head of State is the Chancellor of each and every State University. My considered view is that it is not in fact with that. Firstly, I do not think that it is correct or good for the governance of our country to burden the very weighty and lofty office of the Head of State with being a chancellor of every State University. Matters of the administration of the Executive that is leading Cabinet and also the State are very weighty, complex and they require a lot of attention. So, to burden the Head of State with being the Chancellor of yet again of another university does not augur well with good governance. I will explain the reason why I say this Mr. Speaker Sir. In saying this, I realise we are creatures of habit. We do certain things, adopt certain traditions and sometimes we keep on doing them again. We do not stop to examine whether we are doing the right thing. Are we doing something that works?
I want to go off on a nostalgic journey. When I finished my Advanced level in 1990, at that point it was a very historic period in the history of tertiary education in Zimbabwe. That was the year that monopoly of UZ ended. In the year that I finished my advanced level, the NUST was launched and it became the second State University in
Zimbabwe. At that time, university meant the UZ. Of course fittingly the Head of State and Government was also fittingly indeed the Chancellor of the university because it was the one and only university in the country. Then in 1990, NUST came into place and the Head of State also become the Chancellor, which I am sure was manageable. Since 1990,
Mr. Speaker Sir, there has been an exponential increase in the number of
State Universities in each and every province. I commend our Government for making sure that Higher and Tertiary Education at university level devolved to all the provinces of Zimbabwe because this is in keeping with Chapter 14 of our Constitution. In each and every province there is now a State University and I want to commend Hon. Members –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- because indeed, they are the ones that passed those Bills to establish State Universities in each of the provinces.
So, I now fast forward to the present day where in the year 2016, there are now 10 State Universities. This PAN African University is going to be the 11th one. I want Hon. Members to seriously apply their minds wonder and think about the fact that the Chancellor of a State University is a very important post and at the apex of decision making of the university. Even from an ordinary human point of view, it is my submission that it is humanly impossible for an individual to able to
have the time and energy to address their min to being a Chancellor of each and every State University unless we intend that the post of a Chancellor is just a ceremonial post and it does not matter. I do not believe that this august House wants to just pass legislation and establish institutions without careful thought.
Mr. Speaker Sir, our Constitution requires that we have good governance in our country and I want to submit here that it does not at all augur with good governance to make the Chancellor of each and every State University the Head of State. It does not work out. That will mean that the Head of State has a lot of very important work to do especially at these times where our nation is grappling with some of its more serious issues in terms of economic crisis. It is a lot of work. To then also continue heaping upon him another responsibility to be the Chancellor of another university Mr. Speaker Sir, my apologies. It does not do justice to the universities themselves because with respect, I do not think they will be able to have the time. There are only 24 hrs in one day to address their mind to the issues that need guidance at that university.
In all other countries it is not necessary for a head of State to be a Chancellor of a State University but it is good practice, particularly when we had one university. It does injustice to the universities themselves. Mundane matters such as the graduation, I shudder to think and wonder how our head of State copes with annual graduation ceremonies of 10 universities and this will be the 11th one. It would mean that the business of Cabinet and Government is disrupted because the frequency is a lot, but also for the universities themselves I want to believe that would also wreck havoc and cause difficulties in their calendars in also trying to schedule their graduations to times when the Head of State is available.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is not necessary to do so as it does not add to the universities and it is also unfair to His Excellency to keep on giving him that burden because he has a lot of work to do. So, I want to urge the august House to start thinking about different models because in other countries universities, even State Universities have Chancellors that are from various posts. Even then, I do not think it is mass education that we want once upon a time when I graduated with my first degree at the University of Zimbabwe, I was capped by the Chancellor. Now, because of the multiplicity of universities, it is almost like mass education enterprise where everybody is told can you stand up; we are now declaring you graduated.
I am not suggesting that it is particularly necessary to be capped and it was one of those traditions that are hallowed and give weight and sentimental value to one’s heart and qualification. Let us re-think and let
us not keep doing things out of habit.
Finally, to support my argument, we are at a time when our Government has decided to withdraw funding to State Universities. I want to say that it is unconscionable to withdraw funding to State
Universities. I am a very grateful and proud product of State funding of
State Universities. When I studied my first degree at the UZ I received a
Government loan and grant from university but now we are in different circumstances. There is hardly any funding for students. So State Universities are becoming State Universities and nothing but name in that there is no funding. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is unconscionable and immoral to continue also apart from the practical and good governance practical issues about the impossibility of being able to perform that function. When there is not State funding it is not fair and it is not okay or right for there to be chancellorship when the funding is also dwindling but from a good government’s point of view I urge the Hon.
Minister to re think our model…
[Time Limit]
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Order Hon. Majome, you are left with five minutes.
HON. MAJOME: I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. With that, I end by saying can Hon. Members of this august House and the Hon. Minister look seriously at enhancing the very good practice of making Higher and Tertiary Education University devolve everywhere by ensuring that we continue to do good governance by appointing Chancellors that are not necessarily the Head of State, because it undermines the functions and efficiencies of the university and also of our Executive. I thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir.
*HON. MACHINGURA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Firstly, I
want to thank the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education for his report. I travelled with the Chairperson as we held public hearings. We want to thank him for his conduct in all the areas we travelled because our public hearings were a success. I want to put emphasis on things that will hinge on the life of the ordinary person in the street. Their concern was that to put such a university is a challenge because they will not be able to afford to go to that university. So what they are requesting is to put a mechanism in place for people to be able to access and gain education from this university.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I come from an area where there are miners in Chimanimani. Most children perished because of the poor and dangerous method of farming. We hope that when such empowerment comes, this should not be selective, but should go to everyone who is being affected by mining. What we are requesting now is that the Ministry should also have measures considering that it is not everyone who can afford to go to university.
I remember there was mention of the School of Mines and other schools that look into mining that these should be funded and ensure that these schools are able to empower the different groups of miners that we have especially on using mining methods that are not dangerous and life threatening. Mr. Speaker, as we travelled, everyone wanted the university to be set up in their various areas. I am not really concerned about where it will be set up. What makes me happy is that the university will be set up in Zimbabwe.
On explanations that were made by the previous speaker, I cannot go into technical issues that were being mentioned, but of the Chancellor being for all universities. At one time, I was deeply concerned with the University of Zimbabwe whereby those graduands were not happy and were not pleased because they were not capped by the President himself. So, they felt they had not graduated. Being capped by the Head of State gives some form of honour that they need. What I am saying is that if possible, we would want to have a Chancellor who can accord such honour on the students. I am sure students will be happy. That is my contribution and I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 14th June, 2016.
On the motion of HON. MATUKE, seconded by HON. KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 14th June, 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 8th June, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to recognise the
presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of students and teachers from Fountain Academy of Harare. You are most welcome – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
TABLING OF AUDIT REPORT
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADANHA):
Madam Speaker, I lay before the House a follow-up audit report of the Auditor General on the management of Government vehicles by the CMED (Pvt.) Limited. I thank you.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. KWARAMBA: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, in the absence of the Minister, may I direct it to the Leader of the House.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Leader of the House is
not yet here.
HON. MUNENGAMI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I did not recognise you.
HON. MUNENGAMI: I was thinking that maybe you can postpone Question Time for thirty minutes to allow the ministers to come in since there is no one in front.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: She was directing the
question to another Minister who is here. Hon. Kwaramba do you still have your question?
HON. KWARAMBA: I will wait Madam Speaker.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Since we do not have any Minister, with the exception of Hon. Made and Hon. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I am suggesting that we only have about three or four Cabinet Ministers who are in this House, so I am suggesting for the postponement of the Questions Without Notice in order to allow the Ministers to come in. We do have some other questions which might also need the Leader of the House. I do not know whether Hon. Tshinga Dube might be the Leader of the House since he is sitting to the extreme right. Thank you Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, there is a
proposal but I think those with questions where the Minister is here can proceed.
HON. GONESE: Madam Speaker, I think we need clarification. First and foremost, this situation where we have got only three or so ministers needs an explanation – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I have not finished. It is a point of order Madam Speaker. We need clarity, are the ministers going to come at a later stage? There are two issues which we have raised before in this august House that we need somebody who is designated as the acting Leader of the House so that we know whom to direct our policy questions to. That aspect has not been clarified.
More importantly, we have said before, in terms of our
Constitution, it is very clear that Ministers have an obligation to attend Parliament to answer questions on a Wednesday. We have said that political parties must be aware of this so that they do not schedule their National Executives, Politburo, Central Committee or other meetings on such a day – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – We have said this before. The business of the House must take precedence so that all political parties must be aware that on a Wednesday, especially when you have come from a two week adjournment, there are burning issues arising from various Constituencies. The House has not been sitting for the last two weeks. We end up not knowing whether Ministers are running away from answering questions or whether it is.....
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I have heard
everything you are saying.
HON. GONESE: I think it is important Madam Speaker because as the custodian and as the presiding officer of this august House, it is quite important. The reason why Hon. Munengami .......
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: How can you continue saying
the same thing on and on?
HON. GONESE: I am not saying the same thing because I think we need a definite response. There is one aspect which has not been responded to.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is it?
HON. GONESE: One specific aspect about the Leader of the House. We need that clarification so that we know to whom members are going to direct their questions.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I hear you Hon. Gonese and
also I take note of what you are saying but it does not stop us from asking questions to those Ministers who are here, who are very much able to respond to whatever you are saying.
HON. GONESE: Madam Speaker, I think it is not adequate to
just take note. It is not the first time. This is not the first time this issue has come up. It has come up on many occasions and we think that the only way – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – To make this point clear, I think for that reason, it is preferable to stand over the issue of Questions Without Notice until such a time that we have a sufficient number of Ministers that Members can direct their questions to whoever is the responsible Minister; not a situation where we are confined just to issues relating to agriculture because the Majority of the Ministers are not there.
So I strongly suggest Madam Speaker that we stand over Question Time, if the Ministers are not there, we cannot proceed.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, the issue of the
Leader of the House, once we are told of someone who is appointed by the President to take the position of the Leader of the House, we will advise you. However, to those Hon. Members with questions to
Ministers who are here, they can ask. So, can we please proceed!
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. May the Minister enlighten us on the rumours that we are hearing that we have some of our Members of Parliament who have been given diplomatic passports yet some did not get? We want you to enlighten us as to whether it is true or false? If it is true, how can you discriminate against Members of Parliament that others get diplomatic passports and others do not get –[HON. MEMBERS: Chinos, Chinos ]- I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON.
MGUNI): Thank you Madam Speaker. The question posed by Hon. Chinotimba is misdirected and should be re-directed to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs. I thank you.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: Supplementary...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon.
Chinotimba, your question should be directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
HON. MUKUPE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is
directed to our Minister who has done his work very well – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – Minister Made. We have been reading in the press that there are tenders that have been made concerning grain. With the drought and the hunger that we are facing; we would want to find out how this has gone in order to address the situation.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Thank
you Madam Speaker. I did not quite understand the question raised by Hon. Mukupe, through you, can he repeat the question.
*HON. MAONDERA: On a point of order! Madam Speaker, we
once mentioned that there is not much room in this House; people are standing in the corner. They are standing in the corner like rats because of in adequate space; this is an issue that needs to be addressed. So, we are not sure whether those Hon. Members standing in the corner are demonstrating or it is because of the poor seating capacity? – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DPEUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Gonese, I
think you are the Chief Whip of the opposition side, order please!
HON. CHAPFIKA: On a point of order! – [HON. MEMBERS:
Ruling, ruling.] - Madam Speaker…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What I said is that the
Standing Rules and Orders Committee are looking into that issue.
HON. CHAPFIKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The point that Hon. Maondera has raised is important but he referred to those Hon. Members at the back as rats, so may he withdraw because rates will never stand. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Members
on my left side; order please! Hon. Mukupe, the Minister has requested that you repeat your question.
*HON. MUKUPE: Thank you Hon. Chair. I said that my
question is directed to one of the best Ministers in President Mugabe’s
Government, Hon. Made – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - we have read in the newspapers that there are tenders that have been coming out concerning grain, so with the current drought and situation in the country, I would like the Minister to enlighten the House on how far they have gone to address the issues of drought in the nation. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I would
like to thank the Hon. Member for raising the question on where we are
– [HON. MEMBERS: Whispering]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, would you
please lower your whispers so that the Hon. Member will hear the response from the Minister – [HON. T. KHUMALO: Buda ndikumamise panze.] – ah, Hon. Member would you please stand up and withdraw what you have said because at times you ought to behave as Hon.
Members.
HON. T. KHUMALO: I withdraw.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I want
to assure the Hon. Member that indeed, we are continuing to import the maize that is due for importation so that we augment our supplies, particularly for the rural areas. The private sector is also importing mainly as millers for the urban areas but I would also want to indicate that our farmers locally are also delivering to the Grain Marketing Board. As we are talking, where we had not expected any grain at all due to the drought, farmers have already delivered, updating the figure that I reported on in the media. We are now close to 35 thousand metric tonnes. On top of that, Government is paying through Grain Marketing Board all the farmers that are delivering the maize. So I want to assure the House that so far our programme is moving well. In terms of delivering the food to the rural areas, there are some areas where we continue to have challenges in transportation but that matter is being address. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. MACHINGAUTA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to
thank the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development on the update of importation of grain in the country. I also want to find out from him that as the grain is coming in - as has been happening in the past, is it Government policy that as the food is distributed, a person should produce a ZANU PF card in order to get the grain? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order let us have order
please.
*HON. DR. MADE: I want to thank the Hon. Member, he has
raised a very important question and it will help me to enlighten the issue. There is nothing that is being taken to the rural areas, especially concerning food or farming implements that require one to disclose his or her party. There is no such arrangement that I am aware of that requires that. If the Hon. Member has evidence of such things happening, he should bring it forward so that we address the issue. On the issue of food, His Excellency, the President said that no one should be denied of food. I thank you.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Madam Speaker, can the
Minister confirm that the importation of maize from other countries, especially from Zambia, is an admittance of a failed agricultural strategy - considering that we are importing maize from a country which was also affected by the El Nino induced drought. I thank you.
HON. DR. MADE: I want to thank the Hon. Member and respond
very clearly that it is not because of a failed agricultural strategy. I thank you.
HON. SANSOLE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is
directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. I would like to know what measures have been put in place to ensure that the
Nambya language is examined at O’ level next year. The first group of students who studied Nambya at secondary schools are now in Form 3, are there any measures that have been put in place to ensure that the language is examined at O’ level next year?
With your indulgenced Madam Speaker, I would like to know also from the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development whether any measures have been put in place to ensure that the language is taught...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are you asking two
questions? No we allow one question. Hon. Minister, can you please answer that question.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Madam Speaker.
The natural and logical sequencing of the development of indigenous languages follows that when pupils sit the Grade 7 examination, they proceed to study the same language if they so wish at O’ level and therefore to say that they are now in Form 3 is to acknowledge that the Ministry is already doing well at what is set out to achieve. So, next year they will sit for examination as expected. I thank you.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. My
question is directed to Minister Dr. Dokora. What is Government policy in regards to the teacher/pupil ratio? I am asking this question because if you look at Matabeleland North for instance, the teacher/pupil ratio is 1:80 as opposed to 1:20 and we were advised that temporary teachers are no longer being employed. Qualified teacher who left the country and came back and where re-employed have since been removed so there is a serious shortage of teachers, one teacher is supposed to be teaching 80 children, all ECD children. So, what is Government policy?
HON. DR. DOKORA: Thank you Hon. Madam Speaker, the
Hon. Member asks a question and then provides what appears to be an answer because she is asking what the teacher/pupil ratio is and then she proceeds to say it is 1:20. My Ministry operates on the establishment which is agreed between itself and the Public Service Commission as employer which allows for 1:20 for the infant which is the ECD (A) and
(B), as currently constituted 1:40 from Grade 1 to Grade 7; and then
1:33 between Form 1 and Form 4 and then for technical/vocational disciplines, it is 1:100 learners and then at A level it is 1:25, that is the agreed ratio with the employer for purposes of budgetary control et cetera.
The fact that in some areas, there are larger numbers of learners in a class is a matter of recruitment patterns, distribution of the establishment which is in employment. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Madam Speaker, given those
figures, why are most schools operating at below 50%, of their establishment-beginning this term and yet Government is not recruiting but qualified teachers are on the streets. Has there been a change in policy?
HON. DR. DOKORA: Thank you Hon. Deputy Speaker. I have
responded to this matter in previous sessions to say that – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members
behind there, we are hearing your voices here. Please, we want to hear the answer.
HON. DR. DOKORA: Thank you Madam Speaker. At any
moment as we begin a new term, my Ministry, Public Service, Labour and Social Service and the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development, establish what is called an establishment control. In other words, how many teachers we can have who can be anticipated in the budget and therefore the allocation of resources. If there has been some delay experienced in the transition between term one and two, that I acknowledge, but the establishment control has since been communicated to my Ministry and up and down the country they are ensuring where it is now agreed, they will be recruiting teachers for that purpose. Thank you.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order. The Minister who has just responded to this very important question promised this House in our previous sitting – and we have a very functional memory system. He indicated that he was going to give a Ministerial Statement. That Ministerial Statement has not come. We hear that the national pledge is wreaking havoc without that national statement from the Minister.
Hon. Dr. Made having yelled at Hon. Chamisa.
HON. CHAMISA: Mr. Made stop just saying haaa, this is a very serious issue. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members.
Hon. Chamisa, there is no Mr. in this House.
HON. CHAMISA: Sorry, Hon. Minister Made was yelling at me,
that is why I had to respond that way.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: But I think you have to
address the Chair. I am the one who is supposed to talk to him.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Chair for protecting me from Hon. Made. I really appreciate, he is terrorising me Madam Speaker. My point of order has to do with the promise given by the Minister. It is a very important one because it left Parliament hanging in terms of what he had promised. Has he forgotten? Does he need a reminder from us?
HON. DR. DOKORA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am
conscious of the fact that the Hon. Member who has raised this point of order could possibly not forget that he pleaded with me not to make a
Ministerial Statement at a particular time – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Can we have
order and hear the answer.
HON. DR. DOKORA: But that notwithstanding, I took counsel from the Hon. Speaker and the advice was that we should delay that to enable the Constitutional Court to proceed.
*HON. CHIPATO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is
directed to the Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees. Minister, what is Government policy concerning war collaborators in terms of their vetting because they have been waiting for 13 years without the vetting being completed. We seek enlightenment in this august House to know their status as of now.
THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER POLITICAL DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. T. J. DUBE): Madam
Speaker Maám, I wish to thank the Hon. Member for asking a very pertinent question; a question which is causing a lot of crisis of expectations. The thing is, it is true that it has taken long, but you must go back to the history of our country and find that most of these problems, we were pre-occupied by other problems, including those of the war veterans themselves.
When we started working on this matter, the problem of war collaborators, former political detainees and restrictees was not acted upon at the same with those of war veterans. Now we are working very hard to align the laws of the vetting of Mujibas and Chimbwidos, as well as many other groups that fall…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, would you
please address the Chair?
HON. T.J. DUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. We are now
seriously addressing the problem of vetting of the collaborators and any other groups that are supposed to be included in this. We are now working on the alignment of the laws…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Minister. I
can see the question is number 11 on today’s Order Paper. You will
attend to it with statistics.
HON. M. MAWERE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question
is directed to the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Minister, we hear through the press that Zimbabwe is campaigning to become Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. We also hear it through gossip. Is it true and how prepared are you?
THE MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY (HON. DR. MZEMBI): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question, to which I owe Parliament a statement at some stage in the future. I wish to first and foremost confirm that yes; my candidature for an impending post or vacancy for the position of
Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation is actually confirmed. I have been nominated by Zimbabwe and His Excellency, the President has authorised my entry into the race.
With regards to our chances for clinching the position. I wish to state that we are at a very early exploratory stage of the race and in due course I would like to bring forward to Parliament after July, a statement in which I will be appealing to Parliament and the rest of the country to support our candidature. Otherwise yes, we are officially a candidate in this race.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Minister.
*HON. CHIDHAKWA: Minister we thank you your confirmation
that you are a candidate. Is it not possible that we also hire other companies that we hire during elections such as Nikuvu to help us campaign?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order Hon. Members.
Would you please lower your voices because we want to hear the supplementary question?
*HON. CHIDHAKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I said that
we are happy that the Minister confirmed that he is a candidate. As a nation we realised that we had a company that assisted us during elections known as Nikuvu. Can we not hire the same company to assist in campaigning?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon Member, you are
out of order. Anyway, you have taken your chance to debate.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: My question is directed to the
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. Considering that Zimbabwe is an agro based economy, may we know what considerations exempted Agri- science on STEM, now that we are considering that we have to boost our production in the country and we cannot do without agriculture? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Madam Speaker, I would request the Hon.
Member to rephrase her question.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members! I think
it is because we are making a lot of noise. Hon. Member the Minister did not hear you. He did not understand the question.
HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Hon.
Minister. What considerations were there that exempted Agri-Science to be considered on the STEM programme considering that we are an agro- based economy and we thought STEM is to boost production in all industrial areas.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Chief-
whip, I am sorry that Hon. Members on that side are making a lot of noise and we cannot hear. Hon. Minister did you hear the question?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for a very pertinent question.
Agriculture is a science and the basic foundational course for science is
Chemistry and Biology. That is why it is included there because there is no way we can stematise agriculture if we do not have the foundational courses of science. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. T. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question
is directed to the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. What is Government policy vis-a-vis the deferment of university students from writing their examinations because they have not paid fees. Why are you penalizing the students by denying them the right to write their examinations after having spent years at the university and then only dismiss them on the day of writing the examination?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for that pertinent question. The Government policy states that there is no student that is not allowed to write examinations because they have not paid their fees. That is the
Government policy. It would help the Zimbabwean populace to exactly know which university has prohibited students from writing examinations so that we could deal with the matter at the administrative level. Otherwise, all students must write examinations whilst they are looking for the fees in order to pay. We should not be disadvantaging students because we are all aware that the situation and the economy is not performing very well. We would be glad to get to know the institutions that have prohibited the students from writing the examinations so that we can deal with the matter at the administrative level.
HON. T. KHUMALO: Thank you Minister. Just to put you in the picture, NUST, MSU, ZOU and Lupane State University students were denied. We had to come in to stop the university from doing that. So, we need a communiqué to those tertiary institutions to the effect that they cannot penalize the kids but the parents.
*HON. KAUNDIKIZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Hon. Dr. Made. What is Government policy concerning farmers who lost their receipts in the past four or five years before you paid them?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May you repeat your
question.
*HON. KAUNDIKIZA: My question is …
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Okay the Minister has
understood.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I want
to thank the Hon. Member for asking a pertinent question.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Could you please raise your
voice?
*HON. DR. MADE: I am raising my voice. Government policy is that GMB cannot pay if you cannot produce a receipt.
*HON. KAUNDIKIZA: This is a supplementary question. If you go to the Ministry of Home Affairs, to the Registrar’s Office, if you lost your documents they are able to find your information after paying a searching fee. Why is it that the GMB does not have such a facility to assist farmers if they happen to misplace or lose their receipts, since the receipts originated from GMB?
*HON. DR MADE: What the Hon. Member has said, like I said,
the farmer needs to have his receipts and if he/she does not have them, how did she lose that receipt?
*HON. MANDIPAKA: My supplementary question goes to
Minister Made. He mentioned that the policy is that if you lose your receipt you are not supposed to get your money. My question is, is there no other alternative that the officials can check in the receipt books to ensure that the person did not get his money from the receipt books? I thank you.
- DR. MADE: On the supplementary raised by Hon.
Mandipaka, the reason why we are saying that is, there are some who come and give false information that they delivered maize but without the proof. So, the policy is every farmer who has delivered maize to GMB should explain how that receipt was misplaced or lost.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order please. Let us have
order. Order Hon. Members! I would like to assist the Minister. I think what the Hon. Members are requesting for is that misplacing or losing a receipt is not anything out of this world, but we have an office where the receipt originated from. Was that book thrown away because this would assist the person who will have lost or misplaced the receipt?
- DR. MADE: Of all the farmers that we have who are supposed to get paid, we do not have farmers who have such queries that are being raised in this House. I know what I am saying. We do not have farmers who have raised such issues.
*HON. MUNENGAMI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order Hon. Member?
*HON. MUNENGAMI: My point of order Madam Speaker is
that firstly Hon. Mukupe should withdraw the statement that he said concerning the Minister because this has reflected that as a Minister, he is failing. Secondly, the Minister cannot tell us ...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, you are
out of order and can you please take your seat.
HON. M. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question
is directed to the Minister of Agriculutre, Mechanisation and Irrigation
Development...-[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. May
the Hon. Member please continue?
HON. M. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question
is directed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation
Development. We hear and witness a lot of work going on at the ARDA
Estates and there are joint ventures that are taking place within ARDA Estates. May I know what policy Government has in terms of the companies that have those joint ventures, the sharing arrangements and how the proceeds are going to be disposed of after the harvest? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I want
to thank the Hon. Member for raising that question. The issue of the joint ventures relates to the agreed position on the investment that is put on the projects, then the operational costs on an annual basis. So, there is an agreed percentage on a project by project that is given to the sharing mechanism that is agreed upon on those particular projects. I thank you.
HON. MATANGIRA: My supplementary question to the Minister is on the contracts. In my constituency, people are getting peanuts, as low as 5% of the net value of the production. Is it Government policy that a percentage is not reached at in the contracts because our people are going back to slavery again? Thank you.
HON. DR. MADE: Madam Speaker, I want to thank Hon. Matangira for raising that important question. This is why we say before farmers sign contracts, they must make sure that the contracts are brought to the Minister of Lands first and foremost because of the matter of contracts, particularly relating to A1/A2, which is on Government acquired land. So we do not want to have a situation where contractors are coming to repossess land. We have said this again and again. After it has been cleared by the Minister of Lands, we look at the contract as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. These two Ministries must be notified of any contract agreement before the farmer finalises that situation. I want to thank Hon.
Matangira for that question.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. Minister of Health, is it Government policy that when patients have been admitted in hospitals, they find themselves in a position where they are weak, cannot pay the money which is required and are detained, especially women. This has happened in some of the general hospitals. I want to say one day I called you about a case and it repeated itself again. I have heard that when people are discharged from hospital, when they have no money, they are not allowed to go and look for the money, instead they are detained in verandahs. Is it Government policy? If it is not Government policy can we have a communiqué which goes to all hospitals and to the public to say this is not acceptable?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. DR. MUSIIWA): I want to thank the Hon. Member for raising this question and I want to apologise on behalf of the Ministry. It is not Government policy to detain patients who have not paid. Government policy is for patients to access treatment. In cases where they are assessed and we feel they must pay, a payment arrangement must then be made where the patients are discharged and be able to go and find money to pay when they are able to pay. In the instances where this has been reported to me, I have taken action particularly in the case that the Hon. Member has referred to, I actually made it a point to follow up with the administration and made sure that such action is not taken.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: My supplementary question is that the Minister is confirming that it is not Government policy. That same patient has been in hospital from Friday to Monday detained after your instruction, which means it is like turning a blind eye or involved in corruption and there is no action taken when such things happen, then it means that becomes policy by mere negligence. Can the Minister confirm that he is taking action to communicate to the public to say this is not acceptable and if it happens, they must have a route where to complain?
HON. DR. MUSIIWA: I understand what you are saying and I want to assure this House that we will take action, and particularly for those administrative hospitals that do not follow instructions. We have actually given instructions that it is not Government’s policy and it is not acceptable for them to detain patients. Thank you.
HON. WADYAJENA: Madam Speaker, I am rising on a point of privilege. I want to dispel rumours that I am dead – [HON. MEMBERS:
Laughter.] – Madam Speaker, there are …
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Wadyajena, please
resume your seat.
HON. WADYAJENA: Madam Speaker, the messages are saying I
perished in a car accident during the course of parliamentary business.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: But people are seeing you.
HON. WADYAJENA: How do I know they are seeing me? –
[HON. MEMBERS: Laughter].
+HON. D. SIBANDA: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Minister, it is known that people are allowed to demonstrate. It is permitted and it is there in the Constitution. Minister, I am asking this question because there are workers who have been demonstrating, I do not know whether they are still demonstrating up to now. I would like to know what Government has done about their grievances. Here I am talking about the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) workers. What has Government done about their grievances? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADANHA): I
would like to start by thanking Hon. Sibanda for a very important question. It is now in the public domain that some workers at NRZ are on strike. Now, what is actually happening at NRZ is, as we all know that the situation at NRZ is that the entity is not actually operating at a profit. Why? Because our railway line is now dilapidated and secondly, the rolling stock is now old to perform efficiently. So, what is happening now is that workers have gone on strike but the reason why workers have gone on strike is not actually that workers are not being paid. Workers are being paid a certain percentage every month and the other remaining percentage which is not being paid accumulatively, can amount to something like 12 months’ salary arrears.
What is the NRZ doing as an entity? NRZ since the start of the strike is encouraging workers to go back to work because at least they are receiving something and are operating at a loss. Some workers have since returned but some remain on strike. The NRZ is concerned and we are going to continue encouraging workers to go back to work. Then another solution that NRZ has adopted is the legal way to at least try and see how best this problem can be resolved legally. So, NRZ is doing everything possible to actually pay its workers. Definitely, I agree that when workers work, they must be paid their salaries but the
problem is that the entity is running at a loss from problems that I have already alluded to. Thank you.
HON. D. SIBANDA: Minister, what corrective measures are you taking towards paying the full amount to the workers so that there is sanity in the system?
HON. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like this House to know that NRZ has embarked on a programme to actually recapitalise the entity. Right now we are talking to quite a number of investors who are interested in investing in National Railways of
Zimbabwe. So, the sooner this deal is finalised, the better. However, National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is also talking to Treasury so that we can secure funding to pay off the workers. Once this is done, I think everybody will be paid and the problem will be solved. I thank you.
HON. SITHOLE: I want to ask the Hon. Minister to confirm to the House if NRZ is still a going concern. Thank you.
HON. MADANHA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Operating
without profit does not indicate that you are no longer a going concern. NRZ is a going concern unless if someone has information to the contrary and you can make it available to the House. However, as far as we are concerned, we are doing business, we are now in the process of revamping NRZ and we have a number of investors willing to investors.
So, the business of NRZ is going to continue.
*HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
question is directed to Hon. Hlongwane, the Minister of Sport and Recreation. Firstly, we want to say congratulations for the success of the National soccer team. However, would you please enlighten us on the news circulating on social media that the success of our National team is being credited to the anointed shooters which are being sold, hence the goals that came through – [Laughter.] – on the other hand, we are also hearing others saying there juju was used by the National team for them to win excessively. Would you please enlighten us whether we won fairly without the use of anointed shoes – [Laughter.] –
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, there is no question which can be answered.
HON. MAPIKI: My question is directed to the Minister of
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Hon. Made. What is Government policy on the irrigation equipment which is assembled in the A2 farming areas? It is not working since there is no water yet the Government needs to pay for that equipment and its not working.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I would
like to thank Hon. Mapiki for his question concerning irrigation equipment in the A2 or A1 farming areas. We have a programme which is being run so that we identify areas with water sources so that we resume the irrigation projects. I would like to assure this House that there is a national programme relating to national irrigation and revitalization of that project, particularly for the A2 and A1 farming areas in the resettlement areas.
*HON. MUNENGAMI: I would like to thank the Minister for the response given. However, as you had admitted that there is a project to address this issue, are you aware that the infrastructure has been in place for a number of years, it is getting obsolete and is being vandalised. Are you going to address this issue when there is absolutely nothing in those areas – Hon. Kasukuwere can you please stop greeting the Minister so that he can understand what I am saying – [Laughter] – Thank you. Will you be able to address these issues because some of the equipment had been stolen whilst some are being vandalised?
*HON. DR. MADE: I would like to thank the Hon. Member. I think the Hon. Member did not understand Hon. Mapiki’s question. Hon. Mapiki said that there is equipment which is already there. I am not surprised because Hon. Mapiki said there is equipment…
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Let Hon. Munengami as his
question for the second time.
*HON. MUNENGAMI: My supplementary question is – The Hon. Minister could not understand the question because he was being greeted –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Do not talk about that, ask your supplementary question.
*HON. MUNENGAMI: Hon. Minister, my question was, Hon. Mapiki asked about the existing equipment and I asked my question based on the same equipment to say; Do you know that this equipment has been there for a long time and it is becoming obsolete, it is being stolen and vandalised. This being the case, when you go there to carry out irrigation projects, how will you do the operations without the equipment?
HON. DR. MADE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I addressed the question to say Hon. Mapiki asked the question knowing that there is equipment which is still there and should be put to use so that A2 and A1 irrigation schemes to include every area with water are revitalised.
That is how I responded to the question.
HON. CHASI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question concerns a question that has been on the agenda in this country since
- I want to direct my question to the Hon. Minister of Welfare
Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees. The question relating to war veterans continues to be unresolved.
A lot of these people are dying as a result of the ailments that were a result of the war. Their children are not able to go to school because some of them cannot make a living because of the injuries that they sustained during the war. When we made this Constitution, we translated the rights into legal rights to ensure that they are enforceable. This is contained in Section 84 of the Constitution and in terms of Section 84(2), the Constitution contemplates that there will be a law that will come into place and will make it very clear and mandatory what the war veterans and other related classes of persons are entitled to. This means that they can go to court and enforce if they are not given those rights. I would like to know from the Hon. Minister, when we can expect this law to come into place. It is now 36 years. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMER POLITICAL DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. T. J. DUBE): Hon.
Madam Speaker, the answer is contained within the answer to question number 11 and I will answer when it is presented – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. MAONDERA: Madam Speaker, may the Lord help us. My point of order is that if we have Ministers who are sleeping in Parliament not knowing......
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are out of order Hon. Member. Hon. Minister, question number 11 is talking about vetting of war collaborators and so forth. It is different from the question which is coming from Hon. Chasi.
THE MINISTER OF WELFARE SERVICES FOR WAR
VETERANS, WAR COLLABORATORS, FORMERS POLITICAL DETAINEES AND RESTRICTEES (HON. T. J. DUBE): Madam
Speaker, – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – You are talking rubbish. I want to thank Hon. Chasi for raising this question. This question has been raised many times and we have tried very hard to answer through the press and from – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order please. Hon. Members, there are so many meetings in this House, can we do the same business please.
*HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. If we have our elderly Ministers in the country, let us give them respect. We are not respecting him when he is responding to the questions. Let us listen to them when they are talking. We are disturbing him from doing his job.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are even disturbing him because he was about to answer – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Minister, do have an answer or you want to talk about it on number 11.
HON. T. J. DUBE: I should go to number 11.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to Minister Kasukuwere. Hon Minister – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I was here before you Mukwangwariwa, shut up [Laughter] – Hon. Minister is it Government policy – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: On a point of order Madam
Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
*HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: The Hon. Member is telling me
to keep quiet when I have not said anything to him and he used unparliamentary words. He said shut up.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I do not think
you instruct another Hon. Member to shut up. If you said that you have to withdraw.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I withdraw the words that I was here before he came. My question to Minister Kasukuwere is that I realise that you are appointing Commissioners with companies to run councils. I believe we are fighting corruption but it seems you are, in a way still providing ground for corruption as these commissioners are engaged in corrupt activities using their owned companies?
*THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I would be more grateful if you can provide me with the details of the names of the companies or the commissioners that you are talking about because we do not want corruption – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Members
you are wasting our time.
*HON. KASUKUWERE: Madam Speaker, I really appreciate
that the Hon. Member said that we are fighting corruption and that is very true. There was a lot of corruption and a lot of fraud that was taking place such that the lives of the people in cities, access to water, accessible roads as well as their health was becoming a concern. I am happy that Hon. Chibaya also raised this and it shows he has the concerns of the people at heart. I thank you.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Madam Speaker for the response that I got. Hon. Minister Kasukuwere, the evidence is here with me. The Commissioner that you appointed, known as Eng. V. Choga in Gweru is the same person who owns the company known as ZIT which did the audit and water infrastructure in Gweru. He was paid $222 000. So, I am saying the evidence is there and it is transparent. You also have to fight this corruption. You are removing this and are increasing the level of corruption through these commissioners. Are these commissioners you are bringing in not taking money from the councils and bring it to you?
*HON. KASUKUWERE: From what I know as the Minister of
Local Government, we had three Commissions that we appointed. For Eng. Choga, I am not aware of him, unless you are the one who appointed him. Should I sit down – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. ROSE MPOFU: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order. What is the
point of order?
+HON. ROSE MPOFU: Madam Speaker, my point of order is that we are sick and tired of people who come here and want to play in parliament. Each time they see that there are cameras; they want to come here and make a lot of noise. Madam Speaker – [Hon. Members:
Inaudible interjection.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Ini handina
kunzwisisa, Hon. Member murikutii?
+HON. MPOFU: Thank you Madam Speaker. People are taking what they are seeing on Television happening in South Africa, they are bringing it here. We are sick and tired of that, if they do not want they must leave this Parliament and go; we are tired – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjection.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! I would advise
Hon. Chibaya to put your question in written form for next week because according to our time – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection.]- Order, order! It is alright, the Minister can respond now.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Madam Speaker for your protection. With the evidence that I was given by the Hon. Member, I would be happy if you were to give this evidence promptly, there is nothing that we hide. If he is there and has done such practices, I promise that you that by tomorrow, 0800hrs we would have taken measures.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order Number 64.
HON. GONESE: On a point of order! That question only had one supplementary question and as a matter of practice and procedure, normally…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon Member,
you take a lot of time uchitaura – there is no need.
HON. SITHOLE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to find out
from the Minister that whether the mansion he has built has nothing to do with corruption, since he is also fighting corruption. I thank you.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order! The point of order
is based on my question on Privileges of Parliamentarians. I had requested that the Minister of Finance should come and give us a Policy Statement on financial issues, including the bank notes which are going to be introduced, so I would want to know whether the Speaker as promised yesterday, has had an answer from the Minister if he is coming. If he is not, will he be able to come tomorrow?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, we have not
yet received any response from the Minister, so we are pursuing.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
WITHDRAWAL OF OFFER LETTERS FOR FARMS IN
NYATSIME
- 1. HON. CHIDHAKWA asked the Minister of Lands and Rural
Resettlement to explain;
- Why the Government has allocated farms in Nyatsime area that belong to Chitungwiza Municipality without withdrawing offer letters.
- Whether the state will withdraw the offer letter and when?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL
RESETLEMENT (HON. CHIKWAMA): May I start by thanking
Hon. Chidhakwa for asking this question. There is need for the farms to be mentioned by name so as to allow me to respond properly but I shall however, proceed to respond in general. There are farms in Nyatsime area which were acquired by the State from the former white farmers as rural agricultural land and the same were allocated to different people under A1, A2 and then peri-urban farming schemes. The farms were requested for urban development by Chitungwiza Municipality sometime in 2013, and the same were handed over to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing in 2013, with a condition that my Ministry will need to first re- allocate the affected farmers before the Municipality could start operations. To date, we have managed to re-allocate some of the farmers and are only left with a few.
Therefore, the offer letters will be withdrawn when alternative land is obtained for the farmers or if another arrangement is made for compensation through the Ministry of Local Government.
HON. CHIDHAKWA: Thank you Hon. Chair. Hon. Minister,
the land that you are referring to, there are people who were allocated stands in 2007. People have paid a lot of money towards purchasing those stands. Now, those people do not know exactly what is going to happen, you can imagine from 2007 to 2016, it is a very long period, somebody could have already developed that stand.
Now, if you are saying you do not even know when you are going to identify another piece of land to re-allocate those other farmers, it means, that is going to take a very long period again for those people to be allocated their stands, yet they have already paid money. What is the Government going to do for those who have already paid their money?
Some are even dying before they are allocated their stands. Thank you.
HON. CHIKWAMA: Hon. Chidhakwa, It is a mistake that was done by Chitungwiza Municipality to allocate the stands without following the correct procedures. The procedures is that they were supposed to apply for that land because it was agriculture before land reform. So, they were supposed to apply to the Ministry of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing and then Ministry of
Local Government applies to the Ministry of Lands and Rural
Resettlement. At this stage we had already handed over the six farms to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing but we are still waiting for these people who are there to be given some other area to resettle.
PROMOTION OF DOMESTIC TOURISM
- HON. ZHOU asked the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality
Industry to
- to state the steps the Ministry is taking to promote domestic tourism for example in places like Mberengwa, where the liberation freedom fighters were receiving treatment;
- To explain why these places are not on the Zimbabwe map.
THE MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY (HON. ENG. MZEMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker. I wish
to thank the Hon. Member for appreciating through his question, the value of domestic tourism. Indeed, I wish to share with him that the new national tourism policy gives more prominence to the development and promotion of domestic tourism, with the realization that domestic tourism is the anchor upon which international tourism should be built. To this extend, my Ministry is undertaking the following measures:-
- Finalizing in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority, the drive towards the ‘know your Zimbabwe, know your country’ campaign that will see every Zimbabwean being exposed to the endowments that our nation is blessed with. We should see vigorous awareness campaigns that are targeting the domestic market.
- Engaging the hospitality sector to come up with packages that are affordable to our people.
- In collaboration with other Ministries and parastatals, various forms of domestic tourism are either already under development or are planned for development. These include historical, cultural, heritage, religious, sport, culinary and agro-tourism amongst others.
- The promotion of school tourism in order to instill in young school children the value of tourism at an early age. With support from the African Development Bank and the Japan International Corporation Agency, countrywide surveys to identify functional, non functional and new community based tourism enterprises, what we commonly refer to as CBTs are being undertaken. A capacity development programme is being developed for the CBTs in order to ensure their viability. Viable CBTs will provide an increased number of diversified and unique tourism products. CBTs will facilitate:
- The empowerment of communities so that they actively participate and benefit from value addition and beneficiation of tourism resources that are resident in their communities.
- Capacitate communities to own and viably manage their
CBTs, develop diverse and unique tourism products and services that they can successfully market to domestic and international tourists. iii) Create employment for communities thereby increasing their incomes and finally ensure sustainable development and management of natural resources in communities.
In part b): The Hon. Member asked us to explain why these places are not on the Zimbabwean map. All tourism products in the country need to be packaged and incorporated on the Zimbabwe Tourism map for marketing purposes. This is being done for existing products, new products that are under development which will in due course include places in Mberengwa, where liberation freedom fighters were receiving treatment and similar reach liberation war sites will need to be developed, packaged and marketed to both domestic and international
tourists.
These products are national pride issues and we are proud to market them. Before I take leave, and sit down, I just wish to underscore that the success of domestic tourism is anchored by the ability of the nation to raise a middle class that can afford the products. So, we must all work conscientiously to raise a middle class that can afford those products and begin to holiday and enjoy our products. I also wish to share with you a benchmark statistic, I have just come back from the People’s Republic of China, apart from providing 120 million our bound tourists, the success of China tourism is anchored on their ability to raise a middle class in their country of 300 to 400 million people. Recently they shared with us that domestic trips alone are accounting for 4.1 billion visits in their own country. I wish, going forward that as we capture national tourism statistics; we also capture domestic tourism trips that are being done by our people for whatever reason, religious, liberation, site visits and others. I thank you so much.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My
supplementary is directed to Dr. Mzembi. I want to thank him firstly for the good job that he is doing for this nation as well as the Ministry. He is one of the few Ministers who give us information on what is happening. My question is on the issue of domestic tourism, which you mentioned. It is possible for people who have areas or communities for example where wars were fought that people can come and tour the areas. It is possible to get funding or to find partners or investors who can assist in this domestic tourism, I know you always assist but is it possible to get such partnerships.
*HON. ENG. MZEMBI: I want to thank the Hon. Member for
the question that he raised and I thank him for congratulating us for the work that we are doing in the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. I first want to enlighten this House that for us to progress in terms of tourism in this country as well as to also bring up domestic tourism in our communities and the liberation sites where the wars were fought – I want to let him know that firstly, we have agreed with our funders that we need to relook at the map of Zimbabwe and look at the tourism master planning that will show us new products that we are talking about. We will start with what you mentioned as well as the water bodies. Wherever there is water, there is tourism, tourism and water cannot be separated. There is nowhere where you get tourism and there is no water, whether it is abroad or here in Africa. As you come in as a tourist, the first thing you want is to bath and then all sports are conducted in water; including water sports such as boating and surfing, diving and agriculture. All these happen around those areas. So, we are doing the maps and we are plotting all the areas where there are water bodies. All those areas will be designated for tourism and all this is in the plan that we are drawing to redraw the tourism map of Zimbabwe.
On the issue of funding that is earmarked for such projects, yesterday Hon. Chinamasa, in Cabinet, noted 4 Ministries which he is going to channel money that is coming from AfriExim Bank. He said that money will also benefit the tourism sector. What I can tell Members of Parliament is that I do not have funds that will address each person’s constituency, but I have an office and you are aware of where it is, opposite Joina City. I have an open door policy. You can pay us a visit individually and give us projects in your constituencies. We have officers who will address this but we do not have teams to go and do that in your different constituencies.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My supplementary
question to the Hon. Minister is based on your tourism strategy that you spoke about. In it, do you have a deliberate place where you have placed the US$150 million infrastructure at Victoria Falls Airport in order to market that place; in order to optimally utilise it so that we do not have it becoming a white elephant. Also what is it in that strategy that you are doing to promote the uni-visa system, taking into account global best practices, such as the one in the Scandanavian countries, Germany and Switzerland that have formed seamless borders using one visa system. I thank you.
HON. DR. MZEMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank
Hon. Nduna for his question. He is asking a very important question -
“are we going to make optimal use of Victoria Falls Airport”; the intention is certainly, yes. How do we perceive it from our broad strategy for tourism development in the country? It is the game changer – game changer to the extent that I can share with Hon. Nduna that I have done benchmark visits to two other falls in the world. Igwazu which is bordered between Brazil, Agentina and Paraguay and Niagara
Falls, which is shared between Canada and the United States of America (USA). In both instances, I was able to establish that every square metre of the falls area in both Igwazu and Niagara is a cost centre of some sort. It must generate revenue that is predetermined and known, which is unlike our case.
I was also able to establish that the Niagara Falls, for example, is a US$30 billion economy between the USA and Canada whereas in our instance between Zambia and Zimbabwe, it is a US$1 billion economy. We were able to understand and agreed that the opportunity, going forward with the Victoria Falls, is actually in closing that gap between US$1 billion and US$30 billion. So, we have a US$29 billion gap. How do we close it? We close it through planting of infrastructure; starting with our gates; our ports of entry.
This is why, prior to the UNWTO General Assembly, we inspired this airport project so that it would go forward to receive and process more visitors between us and the Zambians across the border at Herikombula before development of the two new airport we were processing half a million visitors. We anticipate that Victoria Falls alone will process between 1.8million to 2 million visitors per year. If you combine the added on infrastructure from Zambia, we should be doing between 3 to 4 million visitors going forward.
If each visitor comes to spend in the Victoria Falls; our average spent for international tourism is US$1.2 per visitor. You can do your own computation and see how much US$1.2 times 4 million will give you. It is US$4.8 billion, which is bigger than the size of our fiscal budget, just coming through Victoria Falls alone. So, yes, we intend to make it active but I am not responsible for the signing up of airlines. It is done by another enabler Ministry. We are collectively looking at now, making sure that by the time we commission Victoria Falls Airport, we at least have five airline agreements that will activate and make this airport not redundant but active. I am aware of efforts that are taking place within the enabler Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural
Development. I thank you.
*HON. A. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My
question is directed to the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. He talked about religion and he said those religious groups always assist us. I see that they come in big numbers to attend their conferences here; can we not use religious tourism to improve our tourism sector?
*HON. DR. MZEMBI: Hon. Mnangagwa, I want to thank you for
that pertinent question. Most people that we see in religious sects, indifferent – this last weekend we saw a lot of them from PHD as well as from UFI. There is a difference between religious tourists and congregants who come to worship. Most are congregants; for us to say that person is a tourist, that person will have visited and spent a day in Zimbabwe and spend money paying hotel bills. If you visit from Masvingo to Harare just to worship and sleep in Harare, if we do not know the mode of transport you used and where you slept, we do not have the means to track whether you were a tourist.
We urge those people who come here to see prophets Magaya and Makandiwa to also register their lodges and pay the required taxes to the tourism sectors - the 2% levy as well as in the hotels where they stay. Those who come and stay with relatives for some time, they may be eight, there is no contribution to tourism. We are actually encouraging the religious sector to register these and for them to pay taxes. Firstly, from the buses and cars that they use to transport people, those should be registered and ensure that all cars that are extending hire services to the public should pay the intended taxes. We realised that they always ferry people using their buses, but they forget that once they start doing that they are already in our books in terms of remitting taxes.
For those who go and stay in the lodges they also need to pay and those who have built their own accommodation also need to register what they have built. We engaged them and they appeared to understand what we were talking about in terms of paying taxes. I have not seen them opposing that measure. So, we have embarked on a project to make sure that they register so that they pay taxes to
Government. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I thought I said that was the
last supplementary question. I am sorry, you may put your question in writing if you want some explanation from the Minister.
ENROLMENT OF NURSES BY TRAINING COLLEGES
- HON.P. ZHOU asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to explain why nurses training colleges continue to enroll nurses for training while the majority of graduates from these colleges remain unemployed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. MUSIIWA): Thank you. Nurse Training intakes have been already been scaled down by more than 40 %. It is true that about 4 000 nurses who completed training were not offered jobs by the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Many nurses have looked for employment in the in the private sector within and outside the country. although we have Currently, over 5000 nurses who have not been absorbed by the Ministry of Health and Child Care if it had been properly resourced would be able to take about 5000 if we have the funds were available.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care trains nurses for all health institutions in Zimbabwe including the private sector. The student nurses also form part of the workforce as they train. If training was to be stopped, more registered nurses would need to be employed as general nurses. If training is to be stopped completely it is not easy to restart.
Training is part of this nation’s human capital development. The demand to employ our locally trained nurses in the region and abroad is a testament to training human capital development.
*HON. MAPIKI: My supplementary to the Minister is that can it be Government policy that the nurses that are trained and are seated at home should be employed as village health workers than for them to get village health workers to assist people in communities.
*HON. MUSIIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Mapiki for raising that question. I may answer it in this manner, the registered nurse and the as village health worker are different in that the village health worker at the present moment is a voluntary worker. There is no money they receive every month except for the little allowance that they get. So we still say if money was available we would have employed the registered nurse than the village health worker.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I know that at some point we imported doctors from Cuba and Cuba gave us doctors for a very long time. At some point we also got labour from China. They exported their prisoners to this country. Would we not be able to think outside the box and also export our technocrats to other countries to places like Sudan, Angola and also in reciprocation to Cuba and also get remuneration for the same …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member Nduna. If
you want the Minister to answer, that is a separate question to what is obtaining here. You may put it in writing so that he can respond. I am told it is already on the Order Paper the question that you are trying to raise. So we will give the Minister a chance when we come to that question.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My question was to the Minister of Health. He has mentioned that we are training human capital is it not possible that as a Government we also have nurses that we put in a pool. We should also to engage other countries for our children to get jobs in those countries. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, before we
embark on these supplementary questions or whatever we need to ask.
Let us first of all go through the Order Paper and see if that question is not asked again. So you are asking a question that has been already asked on the Order Paper.
CONSTRUCTION OF CLINIC IN DZVAIRO VILLAGE
- HON. CHITURA asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to explain whether there are plans to construct a clinic in Dzvairo village which is under Chief Makoni.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. MUSIIWA): Thank you. Dzvairo Village is about 10 km away from the next Clinic (Tsanzaguru) which is in the urban set up that of Rusape Town Council. The Ministry has realised the need to construct a health facility in this area. In liaison with Makoni Rural District Council, the Ministry has plans to construct a Rural Health Centre in Dzvairo Village and a site has already been identified. The major challenge at the present moment is the limited fiscus space, due to the prevailing economic conditions. Once resources become available this project is a priority in terms of providing health infrastructure development in the
District. I thank you.
INCREASE OF LABORATORIES AT GOVERNMENT
HOSPITALS
- HON. CHITURA: asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to state whether the Ministry has plans to increase the number of laboratories at government hospitals considering that citizens are forced to seek laboratory services from private sector whose rates are beyond the reach of many.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. MUSIIWA): Thank you. The issue around Laboratory Services provision does not hinge on the number of current Laboratories only. Government has made effort to decentralise laboratory services through the introduction of point of care machines in rural health centres as well as clinics in the urban areas. This has seen an increase in the number of CD4 tests done on patients. In this view, Viral Load technology is also underway.
As for the existing laboratories, challenges have been found in terms of staffing due to frozen posts as well as lack of equipment and reagents. Most of the funding is currently from the Global Fund and it supports vertical programmes, namely malaria, TB and HIV. This leaves challenges in the diagnosis of non-communicable diseases like cancers, diabetes and other communicable diseases like Ebola, typhoid, diarrhoea diseases, etcetera. Therefore, a separate budget of these conditions needs to be availed to have the laboratories run at full throttle.
Increasing the number of laboratories is not the solution as the current tiered system can cater for the needs as long as the challenges are addressed. Currently, we have hundred and twenty six (126) laboratories in the country.
HON. MUSANHI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Minister, Bindura Hospital is running out of very essential drugs and what plans are underway in order for you to replace some of these essential drugs?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Order, where is it related to Question number 5. That does not arise and your supplementary question is not connected to the question that has been asked here.
HON. MUSANHI: I am asking about policy as to what are they going to do to replace essential drugs in essential hospitals.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. Please
resume your seat and reserve that question for next week.
SHORTAGE OF PATHOLOGISTS AT GOVERNMENT
HOSPITALS
- HON. T. ZHOU asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to explain measures the Ministry has put in place to address the shortages of pathologists at Government hospitals in view of the fact that there is currently one Cuban Pathologist who is based at Parirenyatwa Group of
Hospitals
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(DR. MUSIIWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker. Pathologists specialise in different sub-specialties such as Forensic Pathology, Histopathology,
Hematology, Microbiology, Chemical Pathology and Transfusion
Medicine. The University of Zimbabwe is able to train
Histopathologists who among other things are the experts who
diagonose Cancer. There are two Histopathologists in Bulawayo, one based at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and the second one based at Mpilo Central Hospital. These two cover the five provinces of
Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo, Midlands and
Masvingo. Harare has three Histopathologists who are based at Parirenyatwa Hospital and are responsible for training and service for the other five provinces of Manicaland, Mashonaland East,
Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West and Harare. While they can also handle minor forensic cases, the major ones such as murder and dfecomposed bodies require the expertise of a Forensic Pathologist.
Training is not yet locally available for the other sub-specialties. However, there is one Hematologist based at Mpilo Central Hospital and four in Harare who are lecturers with the University of Zimbabwe. They are planning to commence post graduate training as well.
The major challenge is the shortage of Forensic Pathologists and since 1980, the nation has relied on expatriates from India, Tanzania, Nigeria and now Cuba. We currently have three Cuban Forensic Pathologists in the service with two based in Bulawayo and one based in Harare. The nature of Forensic pathology is that it is a medico-legal specialty and the Pathologists have to testify in court on very contentious life and death cases such as murder. Zimbabwe’s legal system is adversarial in nature and the atmosphere in courts is very hostile. The outcome of that hostile due process is that none of the Zimbabwean Doctors have chosen Forensic Pathology for a career. Other jurisdictions have protected their forensic experts by creating the office of a Coroner who then creates a buffer between the Forensic experts and the courts.
Consultations between the Ministry of Health and Child Care, and the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs have been conducted over the last two decades. Cabinet then approved the enactment of a Coroner’s legislation to be spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in July 2014. As Ministry of Health and Child Care, we were promised by the Office of the Attorney General that the draft Coroner’s Bill would be ready for consultations by the end of December 2015. However, that did not materialise and we are still waiting.
Some of our doctors have expressed interest in taking up Forensic speciality and we have linked them with the University of Natal in South Africa since we do not have local training in Zimbabwe. However, that also is a futile exercise unless they are covered by the Coroner and we urge Parliament to assist in expediting the passing of the Coroner’s Bill.
POLICY COMPELLING EXPECTANT MOTHERS TO ENSURE
PREVENTION OF HIV FROM MOTHER TO CHILD
- HON. MAHIYA asked the Minister of Health and Child Care to inform the House whether there is any policy that compels HIV Positive expectant mothers to ensure that mother to child transmission of HIV is prevented.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(DR. MUSIIWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker. All pregnant women presenting to antenatal clinics to book their pregnancies receive group education sessions on pregnancy care including the benefits of one knowing their HIV status. This is what we call the group counselling session. In this session, women are informed that they can receive an HIV test at booking, but that is not mandatory. They are also informed that they will receive antiretroviral treatment for life “Option B+” if they test HIV positive. Those who do not wish to be tested are not forced to test. After the group education session, individual women then go on for consultation with the health care provider who offers the HIV test, to which women have the right to opt-out. Those women who opt-out receive more detailed counselling in subsequent visits to deal with some of the reasons why they may not wish to be tested in this particular visit.
Even taking antiretroviral treatment is a voluntary decision that a woman takes should she be found to be HIV positive, as some women may not be ready to take ART for life. Some women may want to concur with their male partners/husbands before taking antiretroviral treatment.
In the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV programme, acceptance for HIV testing is very high with 99% of pregnant women presenting for antenatal clinic accepting to test.
Among those who are found to be HIV positive, 98% are initiated on ART. However, relative to all established HIV positive pregnant women in need of ART including some who may not have come for the ANC, the country population coverage for ARVs for prevention from mother to child transmission drops to 85% and certainly there are about 7% of pregnant women who do not book for antenatal at all and therefore miss the opportunity for delivering HIV free children. These include women of certain cultures and certain religions and some who are limited from accessing care because of the distance to the facilities and some because of cost. Thank you.
IMPROVEMENT OF CANCER SCREENING COVERAGE
- HON. MAHIYA asked the Deputy Minister of Health and Child
Care to state the measures that the Ministry is taking to improve the percentage of cancer screening coverage which is currently less than 5% nationwide.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. DR. MUSIIWA): Thank you Hon. Mahiya for asking this question and it is another very pertinent question about the coverage of cancer screening. I want to alert this House that access to cervical cancer screening has greatly improved with most of the provincial hospitals now offering Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid Services. In addition to the provincial hospitals, supporting Visual Inspection with acetic acid programme, each province has at least three or more district/mission hospitals offering Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid Services. The screening is free of charge and is included in the routine duties of our Health Care Workers.
We also have a programme of prevention and control of cervical cancer that is being spearheaded by the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe. It has managed to provide psychological support to cancer clients and their families through individual family counseling and support groups to enable them to cope with their condition and to reduce stigma and discrimination. In 2015, the Association embarked on breast and cervical cancer education and screening outreach projects, 200km from the city of Harare. A baseline survey and an end line project evaluation was done (see results on www.cancerzimbabwe.org). This project saw 4 228 women screened for cervical cancer and 3 316 women being screened for breast cancer.
Partners in Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid programme include MSF Belgium which is running a Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid programme in Gutu District while MSF Holland is in Epworth. This is a positive development, especially bearing in mind that cervical cancer accounts for a third of the total cancer burden in Zimbabwe.
We also have a programme at Parirenyatwa Hospital where we have oncologists collaborating with the Breast Cancer Surgeon, Dr. Jenny Edge and Prof. Ken Boffard from Cape Town, South Africa. We are also training our Health Care workers under the Ministry of Health and Child Care through the oncologists in the identification of breast cancer and screening.
At Mpilo Central Hospital, we have a mammography machine purchased by the National Aids Council. The Ministry of Health and Child Care and their partners are training Health Care Workers on the use of this new machine. I thank you.
ADVERTISEMENT INVITING NURSES TO SEEK EMPLOYMENT
IN SOUTH SUDAN
- HON. MASIYA asked the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care:
- to state whether he is aware of the advertisement in the media inviting state registered nurses to seek employment in South Sudan;
- if so, can the Minister appraise the House of their employment benefits and allay fears that they may be exploited;
- to assure the House that the nurses will be safe from the civil wars in
South Sudan; and
- to indicate how many Zimbabwean nurses have taken this offer.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. DR. MUSIIWA): I would like to thank Hon. Masiya for asking this question. I think this is a topical question and most members wanted to find out. Well, both the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the South Sudan Embassy were not aware of the adverts in the media inviting state registered nurses to seek employment in South Sudan. This was only brought to our attention through the question in Parliament. If there are any advertisements to be done, this will have to be discussed by the Minister of Health and Child Care and the Health Services Board, guided by consultations at the appropriate levels.
However, I want to alert the House that as a Government and Ministry, we have over 5 000 nurses that we have trained and are not employed. So, we are at the moment negotiating protocols with four separate governments and one of them is South Sudan. Should the Government to government agreement be finalised, such issues with then be looked into with the advice of the Attorney General.
And to assure the House that nurses will be safe from the civil wars in South Sudan, this will be discussed with the South Sudanese Government at the appropriate time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through their embassies will be able to give guidance on security matters.
Since this is still work-in-progress, we do not have the exact numbers of nurses that have taken this offer. We are hopeful that once the agreement is in place, then we will be able to work with the numbers also taking into consideration our own requirements.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Hon. Minister, maybe for clarification. How would you then have the numbers when you are not dealing with this issue at the moment because that is the question here? You seem to have said you were not aware of the advert as a Ministry and you only got involved when this question was posed to your Ministry by the Hon. Member. Can you be clear because we do not want to end with a situation that we had with Kuwait.
If you could come up exactly with what your Ministry is doing.
HON. DR. MUSIIWA: The first part of the question was whether we were aware that there were adverts in the press and it is to that question that we said the Ministry was not aware because we had not been alerted that there were such adverts. However, at the moment if there were any adverts, they are not emanating from the Ministry because we do not have a government to government agreement with that of South Sudan. In the absence of such an agreement, it would then be not possible for the Ministry to give guidance. Thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: The Minister indicated that they are working on a government to government agreement. Could the Minister highlight to the House, how in those proposals you intend the country to benefit, financially or otherwise? How are you proposing to benefit as a country?
HON. DR. MUSIIWA: I want to thank the Hon. Member for
seeking this clarification. However, it would be a bit difficult to preempt the negotiations at this stage but suffice to say, as a country we have already committed resources in the training of the nurses. Any trained human resources, if they are not utilised, that training becomes redundant. So, we are going to benefit by making sure our human resources are committed, so that in future even when we need them and want to come back home, they will still be useable.
In any case, as I said, human resource is very important. In this relationship, we expect to get at least some remittance when they are employed outside the country. We are also hoping for a fair compensation from those Governments for the training costs that we incurred. This is normal practice. I thank you.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO) in terms of Standing Order
Number 64.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ON HARNESSING
BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
HON. DR. MATARUSE: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development on Harnessing Biotechnology for Socio-Economic
Development.
HON. MACHINGURA: I second.
HON. DR. MATARUSE: Thank you Hon. Speaker for giving me a chance to present a report of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and
Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development on
Harnessing Biotechnology for Socio-Economic Development.
Mr. Speaker Sir, please allow me to start by defining biotechnology. Biotechnology refers to any technological process which involves parts of living organisms or living organisms to produce new products or improve existing products. Biotechnology is one of the emerging technologies with a huge potential to empower people to attain food and nutritional security. It has been identified as one of the most promising tools that can bring about rapid and sustainable socioeconomic development in Zimbabwe.
In order to complement the role of biotechnology, the Zimbabwean Government has put in place an institutional framework for harnessing biotechnology to address challenges in agriculture, health, energy, environment, industrial development, employment and growing export receipts. However, despite the efforts of the Government in promoting biotechnology, many people are still not aware of opportunities and benefits presented by the technology.
It is therefore against this background that the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology
Development found it important to conduct an inquiry on the benefits and opportunities of biotechnology.
Objectives
In conducting the enquiry, the Committee was motivated to achieve the following issues;
To understand the role of the National Biotechnology Authority;
- To assess the benefits of the National Biotechnology and Biosafety to the nation and;
- To offer policy recommendations that might harness biotechnology for socio-economic development.
Methodology
In order to get more information on biotechnology, the Committee used the multi-pronged approach.
- The Portfolio Committee invited the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to explain Government policy regarding the use of Biotechnology in Zimbabwe.
- The Committee attended a sensitisation workshop on the 28th of March, 2014 at the Harare International Conference Centre. The workshop deliberated on Biotechnology and its applications, regional experiences in biotechnology and biosafety.
The Committee had an opportunity to tour the National Biotechnology Authority premises in order to understand the nature of projects being run by the Authority and the benefits of biotechnology and biosafety to the nation.
- The Committee received oral evidence from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development on the use of Biotechnology in Zimbabwe.
Findings
Submissions from the National Biotechnology Authority
- Biotechnology has been identified as one of the most promising tools that can bring about rapid and sustained socio-economic development in Zimbabwe. This has prompted the Government of Zimbabwe to establish the National Biotechnology Authority which is mandated with advising Government on all aspects of biotechnology and ensuring that biosafety and biosecurity measures are done in accordance with the provisions of the
National Biotechnology Act of 2006.
In order to complement the role of biotechnology, the Zimbabwean Government put in place an institutional framework for harnessing biotechnology to address challenges in agriculture, health, energy, environment, industrial development, employment and growing export receipts.
- In 1998, Zimbabwe set up a National Biosafety Framework; through the amendment of the Research Act to provide for the management of potentially harmful technologies and undertakings. In 2000, the Research (Biosafety) Regulations were developed and gazetted and the Biosafety Board was established. The National Biotechnology Policy was developed in 2005. The Government, through the National Biotechnology Policy agreed to allocate 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) towards biotechnology research, development, application and regulation. To reinforce the policy framework, a new law establishing the National Biotechnology
Authority (NBA) came into effect – the National Biotechnology
Authority Act of 2006 [Chapter 14:31]. The NBA Act of 2006
replaced the Research Amendment Act of 1998 and repealed the
Research (Biosafety) Regulations of 2000, whilst the National Biotechnology Authority replaced the Biosafety Board.
- Zimbabwe is a signatory to both the Convention of Biological
Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB). The
National Biotechnology Authority (NBA) represents the
Government of Zimbabwe at the United Nations Convention as the National Focal Point of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The NBA has established a Biosafety Clearing-House as one of the ways of fulfilling obligations of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. A BCH facilitates the exchange of scientific, technical, environmental and legal information on, and experience with Living Modified Organisms.
Although Zimbabwe has made significant strides in legal and institutional frameworks for managing and supporting biotechnology, many people are still not aware of biotechnology and its applications.
Limited biotechnology awareness may prevent the nation from realising the potential benefits and opportunities presented by the technology.
To date, awareness initiatives have seen policy makers, researchers and senior Government officials going to Burkina Faso in 2012 to tour Bt-cotton fields in Burkina Faso. Officials have also visited Malawi.
The delegation that visited Burkina Faso noted that farmers who grow Bt-cotton reported the following benefits; reduction of pesticide sprays from 10 to 2 per season, reduction of health problems from pesticides, increased yields, increased income, improved quality of yields and time and labour savings.
Biotechnology and indeed, other emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, nano-biotechnology, synthetic biology, etc, have impacts whose effects are being felt in the whole world. Already the origin of anthrax (Bacillus anthrasis), Ebola virus, and HIV/AIDS virus can be linked to biotechnology. These technologies are part of the future and deserve a special recognition by Governments, especially in Third World countries; otherwise we remain net importers of products and processes of these technologies. In Zimbabwe, for example, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are on the market whilst the Government has a policy that does not allow the growing of GMOs in the country.
These GMOs which are already on the market will continue to impact the environment systems, food production systems, pharmaceutical and biological warfare and bioterrorism issues. The sooner our government recognises this, the better, because necessary precautions will be taken.
The potential benefits from the use of biotechnology in Zimbabwe include:
- Medical biotechnology: A good health system is an important priority for all governments worldwide. It is also one of the fastest growing opportunities for employment in the medical research field. Zimbabwe is poised to benefit from new and effective vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tools that have been developed by the medical biotechnology for cancer, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. Current attempts to grow tobacco carrying the antibodies to fight Ebola virus are underway in other countries. Insulin tobacco is being grown to produce hormone insulin which treats diabetes.
- Industrial biotechnology: Industrial biotechnology uses enzymes and micro-organisms which are biotechnology products to make bio-based products in sectors as diverse as chemicals, food and feed, heathcare, detergents, paper and pulp, textiles and energy. Industrial biotechnology holds promise by avoiding the use of limited fossil resources as starting materials, but in some instances it competes with edible feed stocks. The predication on use of biotechnology stretching up to 2030 indicates an upward spiral use of biotechnology in bio-fuels from non-edible biomass (OECD, 2013).
- Environmental Biotechnology: The primary role of environmental biotechnology is to develop better approaches for sustainable development and for understanding processes in the natural environment. The driving force of biotechnology is the ability of microorganisms to utilize various carbon sources naturally occurring as pollutants. There is an increasing interest in environmental biotechnology owing to a worldwide need to feed the world’s growing population and issues to deal with maintaining a clean environment. (AU 3063, Report). For instance, with biotechnology, environmentally friendly products like plastics that are non-bio-degradable (that can disappear after being disposed due to dissolution through the sun’s heat) can be manufactured.
- Agricultural Biotechnology: Challenges facing our agriculture sector are predominantly low yields and cost of production (pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers). These challenges can be reduced when alternative agricultural technologies are applied. One such technology with a lot of potential is modern biotechnology. On the world markets, transgenic crops which have been commercially released include maize, soya bean, cotton, oil seed rape, sugar beet, alfalfa, pawpaw and squash. Virus resistance and herbicide tolerance are among some of the most common traits for these transgenic crops and the list is growing on daily basis (ISSA global report, 2015). The Government of Zimbabwe has a zero tolerance to GM crops and products but research has to be promoted. While on the other hand, other
Southern African Development Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa countries such as Malawi have also started Bt cotton field trials. South Africa adopted biotechnology 17-18 years ago growing 70% of its maize and 95% of its soya beans has greatly improved in its production and is now able to supply and feed its population more than what it used to do in the past before they adopted the use of biotechnology as well as producing surplus which they export hence earning foreign currency.
Are GMO Foods Safe?
- GMO crops are subjected to rigorous risk assessment before they are released into the market. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) all GMO foods which are available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not
likely to cause any health risks. In addition, to date there is no record of any effects of GMO foods to human health. These sentiments have also been echoed by other international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the European Commission, the French Academy of medicine, the American Medical Association and the American Society of Toxicology which have all concluded that GMO foods are safe for human health. Locally the National Biotechnology authority ensures enforcement of risk assessment procedures are done and they comply with regulatory requirements. Zimbabwe has managed to establish capacity for effective regulation and management of potentially harmful technologies and undertakings.
National Biotechnology Authority Operational Challenges
- The N.B.A has a number of challenges to be addressed for it to fully execute its mandate activities.
- National Bio-safety Reference Laboratory
- As a National Competent Authority, the NBA is mandated to establish a National Bio-safety reference laboratory manning all Bio-safety Levels from 1 to 4. A facility of this kind is currently lacking in Zimbabwe and its construction will give Zimbabwe the capacity to handle high risk category living microorganisms. It is important that Zimbabwe through NBA requires such a facility in order to be able to bench mark our test results with other biotechnology laboratories in the region and beyond. Currently, many analytical centres, research and academic institutions are relying on foreign laboratories for advanced analysis. NBA will generate income by carrying out various analytical tests (gene analysis, particle analysis, drug analysis and forensics) for our regional and local clients on a recovery basis. Furthermore, the laboratory facility will also offer training of good laboratory practices and for capacity building. Consequently, as a nation we fail to deal with cases of emergency that need research for instance
Ebola, if the Level 4 Reference Laboratory is not in place.
- The Committee noted that NBA is one of the few scientific and technological research institutions without an Institutional farm.
- The Committee also noted the lack of resources for establishing offices at all points of entry.
- The vehicle fleet available for surveillance and monitoring activities are more than 8 years old and needs to be replaced.
Submissions from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and
Irrigation Development
- The Zimbabwe Perspective on Agricultural Biotechnology.
- Agricultural biotechnology applications have been used and still continue to be around the world including Zimbabwe, in crop improvement and in production of bio-fertilizers and biopesticides. A good example of bio-fertilizer in Zimbabwe is that of the rhizobium inoculants technology for enhancement of biological nitrogen fixation in grain legumes (soya bean, cowpeas, groundnuts, sugar bean and pea) and pasture legumes (Lucerne, lab lab, sun hemp and velvet bean and alfalfa). The Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development has a factory in Marondera for manufacturing such bio-fertilisers. These biotechnological applications are derived from conventional biotechnology rather than from bio-engineering to create GMOs.
- Currently, Zimbabwe has varieties of various major crops developed using conventional biotechnology. Examples include those major crops such as maize, wheat, soya bean, cotton and tobacco. Zimbabwean institutions involved in conventional plant breeding include the Department of Research and Specialist Services (Crop Breeding Institute and Cotton Research Institute) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development; the Tobacco Research Board – a parastatal in the same Ministry; the Scientific and Industrial Research and
Development Centre (SIRDC) and private seed companies.
- Zimbabwe continues to achieve high genetic yields of crops using conventional crop improvement, aided by use of nonbiotechnological applications. The demand for Zimbabwean varieties has increased both in the SADC region and other markets in Africa. Seed Co. has used the opportunity of having good genetics to penetrate markets in 15 African countries with crop varieties bred in Zimbabwe and maize has taken the leading position in that expansion. Other smaller seed companies operating in Zimbabwe are also tapping into opportunities available in the SADC region to export seed of selected crop varieties. Genetic modification is relatively new technology and it is difficult to tell what the long term effects would be from eating foods produced from GM crops. Most developing countries do not have the means to produce GM food or monitor their impact on the environment. Researchers at New York University found that BT toxins from decaying stalks and residues of BT maize leached into the soil and stay there for nearly a year. The fear was that with more BT cotton in the soil, pests will develop resistance to it and growers of organic food crops would lose the use of natural soil born Bt for pest control. For Zimbabwe it is important to invest in key-agricultural drivers, inputs, irrigation, mechanization for increasing productive and production using the currently available good genetics.
A worst case scenario would be where conventional crop growers turn to more toxic pesticides due to pesticide resistance created in the environment by pesticide resistance GM crops. That would increase pesticide use rather than decrease it. There is also the threat that niche organic crops would be contaminated with GM crops from the drift of genetic altered pollen. This creates a dilemma for organic crop growers, to illustrate the point, the United States Department of Agriculture regulation for organic food crops and specifically prohibit GMO’s. The current debate and uncertainty surrounding bio-engineering GMO products makes it imperative for Zimbabwe to be cautious and keep the later out of food and field chains. Currently the genetic potential of national crop variety is good. There is also great potential to sell and select some of the indigenous franchise to de-completely productive for feeding animals.
Therefore, the issue of availability of affordable and accessible inputs should be the main pre-occupation for increasing productive productivity yields and quality of products at the farm level and for increasing the overall national crop and livestock production in the country. Investment in irrigation development would be another key driver for increasing crop productivity and production using the available genetics. If the later investment are dovetailed with investment in appropriately gradiated mechanism to suit various levels of farm sizes that exists in the country, both human food and livestock feed security will be greatly enhanced.
ZIMBABWE NATIONAL FARMERS UNION VIEWS ON
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Zimbabwe National Farmers Union recognizes and respects
Ministry of Agriculture’s policy which is clear that Zimbabwe is a non GMO country. The union views that about 29 biotech countries in the world, 19 are industrialized. Another 30 are importers of biotech products approving use of biotech products and 75% of the world’s populations live in these 59 countries.
The following are the Union’s view on biotechnology
- There is need to mount comprehensive participatory research trials on biotech agric projects to arm stakeholders with an adequate information base to support the anti biotech-agricultural stance.
- Biotech products be they imported, donated or grown, go a long way in improving household incomes and at times nutritional quality of staple foods but should be bio-safety and environmentally friendly.
- There is need to complement AU, COMESA efforts since there is evidence that these communities seek to strategise use of biotech agriculture to combat the drastic effects of poverty and malnutrition.
- It has a role to facilitate ascertaining domestic and functional biosafety systems that are international binding.
- Article 4 of the COMESA treaty calls for member state to establish a Customs Union that seeks to simplify and harmonise trade documents and procedures. In which case Zimbabwe becomes an active recipient of these products as international and local traders seek to maximise profits from our multi-currency basket.
- Our borders are porous and have been allowing the importation of
GMO’s
- The time is now to perhaps demystify the knowns and unknowns of Biotech Agriculture so that it is included in education curricula as Government policy.
- The Biotech Council of Zimbabwe plays a central role as a panel of experts to advise on issues relating to risk assessment and standardize a more transparent cost effective share on handling and managing Biotech Agric.
The farmers Union calls for comprehensive participatory trials so that there is adequate evidence for farmers to be able to do evidence based tests.
In addition, the Farmers Union also noted that risk assessment Committees are in place in all COMESA Member States to assess and ascertain the level of adversity in GMO products
The Vice President of the Farmers Union went to Malawi to see Bt Cotton trials and noted that the trials were meant to boost resistance on myotis bollworms and it will save the use of pesticides.
4.6 WORKSHOP RECOMMENDATIONS
It was observed that due to financial constrains, a few people had the opportunity to tour biotechnology fields hence a need exists to disseminate the information to a wider audience including policy makers, scientists and the general public. Awareness creation amongst senior Government officials and Members of Parliament is key because they form an integral part of the policy making process in Zimbabwe. In addition, they have the potential to create awareness amongst legislators and senior Government officials.
In view of the above reasons, the national Biotechnology Authority organised a one day workshop to create awareness amongst Legislators and senior Government officials.
After several discussions on how to promote adoption of biotechnology, the meeting came up with the following recommendations
- Need to have ‘seeing-is-believing’ tours for Legislators to countries which have adopted biotechnology.
- Need for Zimbabwe to work with regional bodies for financial and technical support.
- Need for Zimbabwe to support research and to solve problems so as to generate solutions using Biotechnology.
- Need for universities to produce students with industrial experience as well as entrepreneurial skills to promote innovation and biotechnology enterprises.
4.7 TRIP TO MALAWI
The Committee Chairperson had the opportunity to travel to
Malawi to see Bt cotton trials and noted the following:
- The BT gene is effective in controlling bollworm damage
- The test variety DP 486 BG II (yields twice as much as control released) varieties (IRM 81 and DP 486 NIV)
- Committee Observations
The Committee made the following observations:
- That the situation that prompted the adoption and implementation of biotechnology in particular Genetically Modified Organisms in Burkina Faso can be compared to the prevailing situation in Zimbabwe. These conditions include under population in agriculture and the ultimate result of failure to feed the ever increasing population in both the rural and the urban areas.
- Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) observed that biotechnology has the capacity to significantly meet or even exceed the needs of the rapidly expanding and increasingly urbanized population.
This can be supported by example of countries like Brazil, India, Iran, China and our own neighbor South Africa which has adopted biotechnology 17-18 years ago, growing 70% of its maize and 95% of its soya beans has greatly improved in its production and is able to supply and feed its population more than what it used to do in the past before they adopted the use of biotechnology.
- Despite a strong ‘no’ or zero tolerance to the adoption of G.M foods, the Zimbabwean market is flourished by products imported as processed and semi-processed made from G.M crops for example cooking oil.
- Zimbabwe has adequate and excellent legal framework on biosafety and biotechnology. However, we lack action in implementing those issues that are drafted on the paper.
- So much about biotechnology is accepted in Zimbabwe but GMOs in particular has been neglected and undermined and is not tolerated.
- The National Biotechnology Authority has not capacity to deal with other issues, hence the need to be upgraded. They need a farm for field trials and other experiments and a Level 4 Bio-safety Reference Laboratory.
- There is very little effort that is being exhibited in as much as research in the country, especially where biotechnology is concerned.
- The National Biotechnology Authority, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization, Irrigation Development are not complementing each other. They are not working together in as much as science and biotechnology is concerned.
- There is also poor labeling of GM products on the market, hence consumers or the general public are not in a position to distinguish between GM products and non GM products.
- Other technologies are not being fully adopted, for instance
Nano Technology.
- That is impossible to import GMO seeds at the moment because of the zero tolerance stance on GM products.
- It has been noted that there is not even a single animal that was developed through the use of genetically modified organisms especially for food hence rubbing off the notion that the market has been flourished by GM chickens and meat.
- RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee recommends that:
- The Government should fund the National Biotechnology
Authority to urgently establish the Biotechnology Fund for the purpose of promotion of biotechnology research and development and for training of skilled, competent and efficient manpower in the field of biotechnology. The fund could thus be availed to anyone whose undertakings could be calculated to promote biotechnology research. The country is lagging behind in the application of biotechnology, a field which has potential to contribute significantly to the socioeconomic development of the country (ZIMASSET).
- The Ministry of Lands should urgently allocate a Farm to
NBA to carry out research and confined field trials (CFTs by January 2016). It is a Bio-safety requirement that CFTs have to be conducted before a permit for research undertaking or a general release of biotechnology products into the environment is allowed.
- There should be the intensification of scientific research with the supervision from the National Biotechnology Authority and at the same time engaging students from Higher and Tertiary Institutions.
- There is need for construction of a level 4 laboratory for proper scientific analysis.
- There is need to conduct confined field trials of BT cotton, maize and soya bean.
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development and the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development need to work together for the agenda of BT Cotton, maize and soya bean research.
- There is need for policy review in order to fully embrace Biotechnology and Genetically Modified Crops in Zimbabwe in line with regional and international trends.
- There is need to allow the importation of GMO seeds by the beginning of 2016 (January) especially for research.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION
AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Mr.
Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE,
MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON.
- MADE), the House adjourned at Twenty One Minutes past Five o’
clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 7th June, 2016
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
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that I have received the Zimbabwe National Defence College Bill (H. B. 12A,
2015) from the Senate with amendments and in terms of Standing Order Number 138 (2), the Bill will be re-committed to the Committee of the whole House.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of privilege for Members of
the National Assembly, I am appealing to you Mr. Speaker Sir, that tomorrow after question time, can we have the Minister of Finance and Economic Development explain thoroughly what is going to happen in terms of the introduction of bond notes to this House. There is so much confusion out there that we parliamentarians are not able to explain – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – We are not able to explain what Government is doing. As representatives of the people, we really need a statement from the Minister of Finance and Economic Development on what is happening and what the Government intends to do. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I am not sure whether
you consulted your colleague, Hon. Mashakada.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I
consulted him, he is bringing in a motion to debate on this. My point is, we need an explanation outside the debate so that we will be able to debate with full knowledge of what the Government is planning to do. Out there, everyone is talking what they think and it is not clear what the Government policy is and what it intends to do.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: On a point of order Mr.
Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am
standing up – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members, can we
hold on please and observe some silence.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I am standing up on a
point of order. It is in connection with the report that was presented to this House on the issue of the young women from Kuwait. When I did second that report, we as women in Parliament sat down on the floor, unfortunately the following week I was not here. I continued to do so. I heard what you said that you did engage with my other colleagues when I was not here and I plead that, that action be put to a stop for the time being. What I would want to request as a ruling from you is that the Minister has still not come to the House to explain. Can you give a
specific time period for him to come and if he does not, we resume to our sitting in the House because it does not pay us to sit, go back and sit on the benches when he has not come. So, could we have a specific period from you Mr. Speaker Sir, to which he should come and address the House on the issue of the girls? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The point of order is accepted but as for
the actual specific date, I think that will be asking for too much. I can only say, we will write to the Minister and ask him to present himself in the next week. On the actual date, I cannot say. I thank you.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Hon. Speaker Sir, you did not rule on
my request.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Sorry, I beg your pardon. Yes, we will transmit the request to the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
HON. NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. On the
same note that Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga is talking about, Hon. Speaker, I happened to have gone on radio on this issue and the public was proposing that we should not be sitting in the House alone. We should also be sitting at Kuwait Embassy until the Minister responds
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, Nyamupinga...
Hon. Mupfumi having stood up.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Members, can we be familiar with our Standing Rules and Orders. Hon. Nyamupinga there stood up and I recognised her. Before I answer her, you stand up.
Please, can we be familiar with our Standing Orders. Hon. Nyamupinga,
I hear you but let us wait for the Minister’s response and then that will be supplementary action.
HON. MUPFUMI: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. MUPFUMI: There was a fatal road accident in Mutare where 15 people perished and the Government..
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, if you make a point of order, can
you refer to the Order, unless if you are raising the issue on privilege.
HON. MUPFUMI: I am referring to when a case is declared a national disaster and when we sit in Parliament, we should observe a minute of silence in respect of those who perished in the road accident.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mupfumi, approach the Clerks at
the Table and you will be assisted accordingly with procedure.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: On a point of Order. Mr. Speaker
Sir, my point of order is on the issue of the women who were in Kuwait.
There are so many things that are being said. I also want to emphasise...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member, we are not
debating that one.
*HON. MATAMBANADZO: It is not a debate Mr. Speaker. It is just a point of order. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Members, that side.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
ZANU PF CAUCUS MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: All ZANU PF Members of Parliament are required to attend a Caucus meeting at 0900 hours on Wednesday,
8th June, 2016 at ZANU PF Headquarters.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. RUNGANI: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 and
3 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 2 and the rest of the
Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. RUNGANI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th June, 2016.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CONSIDERATION OF AN ADVERSE REPORT BY THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE ON STATUTORY
INSTRUMENT NO. 24 OF 2016: INSURANCE
(AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2016 (NO. 18)
Fourth Order read: Committee Stage: Consideration of an adverse report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee on Statutory Instrument
No. 24 of 2016: Insurance (Amendment) Regulations.
House in Committee.
THE HON. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES:
Order please! Hon. Members order! Order! Order to my right. Order
Hon. Members! I call upon the Chairperson of the Legal Committee.
HON. SAMUKANGE: I want to report that the Minister who is responsible is the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. I have been in communication with him. He wants to consider our Adverse Report and because he wants to consider it, it is my humble submission that we allow him the opportunity to so. He might, like in the other previous cases - please can you hear me?
THE HON. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES:
Order Hon. Maridadi. I did not want to name you.
HON. SAMUKANGE: Now that you are quiet. Let me begin all over again. I am saying that …
THE HON. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES:
Order! You may proceed.
HON. SAMUKANGE: Thank you Mr. Chair. I was saying that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development who is responsible for the Insurance Bill, the Statutory Instrument that was referred to us is not present. I had been communicating with him. I believe he also communicated to the Chair. My proposal is that the debate be adjourned until the Minister has considered the Adverse Reports. We believe that Minister if he really considers the Report, the chances are that he will agree with us. I say so because the provisions that we considered to be adverse are those that are critical to the Bill, namely that it gives an insurance company the opportunity to raise funds …
THE HON. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES:
Order! You are to adjourn until the Minister comes.
HON. SAMUKANGE: I am told that I have to simply outline, but I thought that you are entitled to be justified, to know why you are adjourning. Now, my proposal is that we adjourn the debate until a further date or until the Minister has considered. I thank you.
House resumed.
Progress reported.
Committee to resume: Wednesday, 8th June, 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. RUNGANI: I move that Order of the Day Number 6 be
stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS ON THE STATE OF
PREPAREDNESS OF ZEC TO HOLD ELECTIONS
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Madam Speaker. I move the motion
standing in my name that this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the State of Preparedness of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to hold elections.
HON. MAWERE MUBVUMBI: I second.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a privilege of your Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliament Affairs to present to the august House a Report of the Portfolio Committee on the State of Preparedness of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to hold by-elections. Madam Speaker, while this report was prepared a while ago, I believe we will note that by-elections continue to happen in our country and they are also related to elections that are coming. It is important that this report be noted by the august House.
Madam Speaker, pursuant to relevant legal declarations by the Hon. Speaker, by-elections were proclaimed for Chirumanzu-Zibagwe and Mt. Darwin Constituencies for the 27th of March, 2015.
Furthermore, arising from the expulsion of some Members of Parliament by their political parties, 16 vacancies were created in the National
Assembly for the following constituencies; Dzivarasekwa, Kambuzuma,
Tsholotsho, Makokoba, Lobengula, Glen View South, Harare East,
Kuwadzana, Highfields, Mpopoma-Pelandaba, Pumula, Mbizvo, Dangamvura-Chikanga, Luveve, Hurungwe West and Headlands. These by-elections were scheduled for the 10th of June, 2015.
In view of the fact that Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution in 2013, your Committee decided to inquire into the state of readiness of the ZEC to conduct these elections. This arose as a result of the report by the ZEC Chairperson that there was no allocation in the National Budget for by-elections. In addition, the inquiry was necessitated by the fact that there has been no comprehensive alignment of the electoral legal framework with the Constitution since the last elections (2013), given the fact that some of the provisions under which the 2013 elections were conducted were transitional in nature and have ceased to have legal force or effect.
Your Committee, as part of its executive oversight role, is empowered to inquire into matters that touch on the credibility of elections that are conducted in Zimbabwe. The Committee to that end, invited the ZEC to advise and inform the Committee of its state of readiness for the then forthcoming by-elections in particular, and others that may be held thereafter. Indeed, as part of its inquiry process, the
Committee also invited the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, who is also one of the two Vice Presidents, Hon. Mnangagwa, to appear before your Committee for the same reasons. His Ministry administers the electoral law. The Committee invited the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN), the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) and the Elections Resource Centre (ERC) to get their views on the environment and conduct of the by-elections held on 27 March, 2015 and of ZEC preparedness in general. The Committee will deal with the evidence and submissions that it gathered and the reactions it got from these stakeholders.
METHODOLOGY
The Committee received oral evidence from the ZEC. The Chairperson of the Commission, the Hon. Justice Rita Makarau gave a briefing to the Committee on the 16th of February, 2015. An invitation was also forwarded to the Executive with a view to secure the evidence of the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. The Committee also received oral evidence from the Elections Resource Centre, and submissions from, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network on the 18th of May, 2015.
FINDINGS
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs:
As indicated above, your Committee sought the attendance of the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, as he administers the Electoral Act. We were however unable to secure the attendance of the Hon. Vice President. The Administration of Parliament advised that because there were certain unspecified matters pending in the courts, the subject of our investigation was sub judice.
Your Committee respectfully differs with the position adopted by the Administration of Parliament in that respect. Your Committee, as part of its oversight role, simply wanted to ascertain if the forthcoming by-elections would be in accordance with the dictates of the
Constitution, as well as regional and continental benchmarks for credible elections. That would have been achieved without infringing the rule against deliberating on matters sub judice.
Your Committee makes the finding that in this case, attempt to hold the Executive accountable with respect to their role of ensuring constitutional compliance of the electoral legal framework that they administer was scuttled unnecessarily.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
The Hon. Justice Makarau testified before your Committee. Below is a summary of some of the key issues that arose from her oral evidence. The electoral law binds the Commission to stick to the timelines that are automatically set into motion by an electoral proclamation. Consequent to the proclamation for the ChirumanzuZibagwe and Mt. Darwin West by-election dates by the President, the
Commission set about preparing for those elections.
The Commission, which as stated, received no budgetary allocation for by-elections, nor voter registration for this financial year, but all the same, requested a budgetary allocation of US$2 143 000 to cover voter registration, voter education, the conduct of the by-elections and the requirements of the police. They were however allocated US$1
473 000 for the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe and Mt. Darwin West
Constituencies’ by-elections. Notwithstanding this variance, the Commission did not anticipate shortfalls, as they had been addressed by a downward reduction in the daily allowances for officials. ZEC expressed hope that the money was not taken from the allocation of activities it had bid for and been allocated for the 2015 financial year.
ZEC still expected to receive disbursements from the previous year’s allocations, including outstanding dues to staff.
The ZEC had conducted voter education in the two constituencies between 21st and 27th January 2015 for the pre-nomination phase, and on the 10th of February, 2015 for the voter registration exercise. Some civic society organisations had participated in the voter education exercise.
Pilot voter registration exercise for the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe and Mt. Darwin West Constituencies was conducted by the Commission to ensure inclusion of those that turned 18 years after the last elections in July 2013, and those that had not registered. When other by-elections cropped, ZEC adopted the existing Voters Roll. Both seats would be contested, as the Nominations Court results showed. At the time the Committee received oral evidence, ballot papers were being designed for printing the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe and Mt. Darwin West Constituencies. Adequate ballot papers would be printed. The printing of the Voters’ Rolls for the two constituencies was anticipated after completion of the data capture process. The Commission would establish 85 polling stations in Chirumanzu-Zibagwe and 46 in Mt. Darwin West based on the 2013 Harmonised General Elections because of the applicable population density and geographical size. Changes could however be made in consultation with the candidates.
Authority to recruit civil servants had already been obtained by the Commission from the Civil Service Commission. ZEC would train these before deployment. The by-elections had received a fair amount of media coverage. ZEC had also conducted a political parties briefing for the by-elections at which the media was invited by ZEC. The ZERC transport fleet needed replacement and had become expensive to maintain owing to age and mileage covered. The Commission had been embargoed by CMED (Pvt) Limited, its traditional supplier of vehicles over an unpaid debt of US$3 million. In any event, the CMED fleet was in a deplorable state. Transport was therefore a major problem. The
Commission faced challenges with respect to the state of the electoral law, which has not been aligned with the Constitution. Most of its actions were subject to litigation. Parliament needs to urgently attend to this matter. According to the Chairperson, the Commission was well prepared for the then forthcoming by-elections. The two problems that it faced, vist he invidious state of the law and the transport due, were beyond its control.
The Elections Resources Centre hereinafter (ERC)
Mr. Tawanda Chimhini, the Executive Director of the ERC, gave evidence before your Committee. Below is a summary of the major issues which he raised;
Election observers from COMESA, AU and SADC, as well as some local organisations noted that the 31st July, 2013 harmonised elections were held under circumstances which to an extent raised accusations of malpractice and diminished credibility. Administratively, some key processes were fast tracked, and poorly resourced. Further, no
Voters’ Roll was provided until the eve of the election. Special voting was chaotic and media access was not equally distributed amongst the contesting political parties. Addressing these shortcomings remains of utmost urgency to the ERC. The ERC however, notes some of the progress made in the administration of elections by ZEC, in particular increased efficiency and relative increase in consultation with stakeholders.
The implementation of the pilot voter registration exercise comes out as one positive feature of the electoral landscape. Prior to this, 16 local authority by-elections had been held without voter registration and associated inspections of the Voters’ Roll as electoral best practices dictate. This had the effect of disenfranchising voters. The ERC therefore commends this effort of pilot voter registration in ChirumanzuZibagwe and Mt. Darwin West Constituencies, especially coming after strong advocacy by the ERC and other organisations. ZEC has improved commendably on the Voters’ Roll as access had been improved. It is important to keep the momentum and ensure consistent and access.
Electoral reform in Zimbabwe since July 2013 has been slow and inconclusive. There were hurried and ill-conceived amendments to the Electoral Act with views solicited from public hearings being ignored. Therefore, the electoral environment in Zimbabwe has been characterised by shifting and unclear parameters. Piece-meal electoral reform is inadequate, unacceptable and shortchanges the citizen whose quest for full expression and full expression and full implementation of rights has been ignored for too long.
ZEC is on record as saying that it is financially unstable and heavily indebted. This impacts heavily on its capacity to run elections efficiently and effectively. Delivery of a high quality, free and fair, credible election comes into doubt where resources are limited or largely unavailable. Further, the budget for holding elections appears to be too high. The average cost per voter in Zimbabwe is US$70 which is way above the regional average of about US$22 per voter.
The legal framework of elections in Zimbabwe is unstable and unclear. The Electoral Commission is constitutionally mandated to register voters. However, the Electoral Act is yet to be aligned to the
Constitution. While this process might be currently underway, it remains unclear as to the exact role to be played by ZEC in coming up with the proposed changes.
Little improvement was made to the voter education inadequacies experienced in the run up to the July 31 elections. This has been exacerbated by lack of finance making it difficult to roll out full voter education. Though ZEC made a call for collaboration in voter education with civil society for Chirumanzi-Zibagwe and Mt Darwin West National Assembly by-elections, it received little response as it was late, and was limited to two weeks. This resulted in voters missing out on an opportunity to cast their vote after failing to produce requisite documents, or heading to the wrong ward and sometimes not being
registered at all.
There must be clear recruitment procedures for posts in the Electoral Management Board. For instance, senior positions like that of the Chief Elections Officer were still held in an acting capacity basis. In addition, five police officers are found at each polling station. This has the effect of increasing election costs on the part of ZEC. The number of police officers around a polling station must be reasonable and not tantamount to intimidation of voters.
Voter registration time allocated for by-elections is inadequate.
ZEC is on average allocating 12 days after nomination, but the Constitution states that it must be continuous. In addition, little time for inspection is being allocated after the Nomination Court sits and voter registration is closed. In some cases, there is no Voters’ Roll inspection at all.
The political environment in Zimbabwe leaves a lot of room for improvement as the playing field appears to be still tilted towards the ruling party, ZANU PF. There is continued intimidation of would-be candidates and voters as evidenced by the Vice President Mnangagwa’s statements in the run-up to the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe by-election. These were widely covered in the media with little condemnation following the reports. In addition, electoral violence in areas such as Hurungwe has been widely publicised. So far, ZEC has remained silent on such pertinent issues. Apparently, ZEC lacks an investigating mandate on political violence which role resides with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
Media access for political parties is neither even nor equal. ZEC is struggling to ensure equal access to public media for parties and candidates contesting in elections.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN)
Ms Runyararo Munetsi from ZESN, gave the following submissions;
The major objective is to enhance the election process in
Zimbabwe in order to promote democracy and good governance in general as well as free and fair elections in particular whilst adhering to internationally acceptable standards.
There is need for improvement on ZEC independence. ZEC should report to Parliament. Reporting to the Minister, who belongs to a particular political party, compromises its neutrality.
Currently, civic society cannot conduct voter education without being invited by ZEC. The law must make it easier for all stakeholders to be able to conduct voter education, as recommended by AU observer mission.
Prisoners and those living in the diaspora should be allowed to exercise their right to vote in line with Section 67 of the Constitution.
ZESN is concerned about the high number of assisted voters. It implores ZEC to release statistics of assisted voters and make the process tamper-proof to allow citizens to exercise their right to vote freely. ZEC should also explore other ways to assist illiterate voters, for example, the use of ink by those who cannot write.
During its observation of the three by-elections held this year, ZESN noted that there was voter intimidation, intolerance through pulling down of posters and blocking voters. It noted that since ZEC is embarking on pilot voter registration, it requires to be monitored and needs adequate resourcing.
ZESN also observed that there is need for an audit of the Voters’ Roll and that it can be improved by including a photograph against each voter’s name as in Zambia. ZESN further observed that ZEC did not provide the Voters’ Roll three weeks before polling as required by law.
ZESN noted that ZEC does not have adequate resources for voter education, training of electoral officers, accreditation and security. The AU and SADC observers raised those concerns on the 31st July elections.
Observations
In light of the foregoing Mr. Speaker Sir, your Committee observed the following based upon the evidence received:
Elections are part of an electoral cycle. They are not an event. The level of voter education, which the Commission considers “fairly successful”’ was conducted in the context of elections as an event rather than as part of a cycle. It is highly unlikely that such voter education conducted in those circumstances would have the required impact.
Related to the above, voter registration in Zimbabwe is continuous, because it is also part of a cycle. Because of the failure of the Executive to conduct the alignment process of legislation to the Constitution, legitimate voter registration appeared to have been discontinued after the Harmonised General Elections of 2013. The voter registration conducted by the Commission in relation to the two by-elections was too close to the event to be treated as genuine and inclusive. The resultant Voters’ Roll in the circumstances is questionable.
At the time of the inquiry, the Voters’ Roll was not available, as it was under preparation. The Committee would like to have sight of the Roll in order to have a feel of the extent to which it has been updated. The Committee is unable at this time to give a clear opinion on the credibility of that Roll, and hence of the resultant election.
It is a matter of public record that the courts have been approached to determine the legitimacy of elections in the absence of alignments of the electoral framework to the new Constitution. The Executive has made a number of promises in that regard, but has been lacking on delivery. In the circumstances, the credibility of polls conducted under a legal framework, the electoral management body characterises as
“invidious” and potentially in violation of the Constitution cannot pass the test of a free, fair and credible poll.
While the Commission may be logistically prepared to conduct the by-elections, the whole process carries the stain of illegitimacy arising from the legal framework that is inconsistent with the fundamental laws of Zimbabwe.
Your Committee noted with concern the resurgence of violence in some constituencies towards the by-elections. Your Committee noted an increase in the distribution of goods during election time, which is tantamount to vote-buying.
Your Committee was unable to determine the source of the allocation of finances for the by-elections, given that no budgetary allocation was made for such.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Finally Madam Speaker, your Committee recommends that:
- All elections and by-elections be conducted in full compliance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of Zimbabwe;
- That the Executive moves with speed to ensure the entire electoral framework is consistent with the Constitution of Zimbabwe;
- That the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) be given adequate financial, technical and other resources to discharge its mandate and all its responsibilities under the Constitution, including the crafting of a credible voters roll.
- That ZEC be frank and candid in its condemnation of anything that reduces or sullies the credibility of elections. ZEC must issue public and strong statements on violence and make rulings pertaining to disciplinary measures for perpetrators of electoral violence. It must disqualify candidates or parties fingered in violence during election campaigns.
- The introduction of a biometric voters’ roll that is supported by the collection of biometric data and the electronic capturing,
processing, storing and publishing of voters’ roll should be expedited. This should be constructed in a cooperative manner taking stakeholder views on board;
- That ZEC must be properly staffed with human resources for all departments. With a looming national voter registration exercise, ZEC must be well resourced to recruit enough staff for the exercise;
- That voter education should be a continuous process. ZEC should institute a long term approach to voter education which also allows other non-state actors to contribute without unnecessary hindrances;
- Immediate introduction of mechanisms such as Braille should be put in place to assist visually impaired voters;
- ZEC must provide gender disaggregated information on elections and it must be effective in deploying scarce resources to maximum impact.
- ZEC must reduce the cost of election per voter to compare favourably with the region, because ours is US$80 per voter and in the region it is US$22.
- Treasury must set aside a supplementary budget for by-elections and voter registration as well as for its unmet needs.
- Treasury must disburse to ZEC its 2015 budgetary allocations so that it can do its work.
- Treasury must provide sufficient funding to ZEC so that it can pay all its creditors.
Madam Speaker, Your Committee is most concerned about the fact that the staff of ZEC has not been paid for a very long time, up to the time of the production of this report. Treasury must release money to pay staff of ZEC for its salary arrears from the previous year so that they stop using their own money. Treasury should also account for the operations of ZEC in a clear, transparent and accountable manner because we are unable to find out what the source of money for byelections was and this must not happen.
There must be a separate vote allocated by Treasury from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Madam Speaker, when this report was written, the decision had not been effected. However, we are happy to note that this has since been done in the last budget.
In conclusion, in making these recommendations, your Committee is painfully mindful of the economic hardships which make it difficult to implement all the Committee’s recommendations at once. However, your Committee is of the view that the Executive should immediately and the emphasis is on ‘immediately,’ take steps to improve the situation, particularly where it can be done at manageable costs. This is because the right to exercise one’s vote is of far reaching consequences that it cannot be sidelined on the account of the cost to the state. This will be so that all those Hon.
Members who are present, if they are re-elected or not elected, it will be done in a credible manner. Madam Speaker, so reports your
Committee. Thank you.
HON. MAWERE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to support the motion raised by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Majome. At the time of giving evidence, we were informed that ZEC had not received any budget allocation for by-elections or voter registration for 2015. However, the Government later on released the funding for the by-elections in
Chirumanzu- Zibagwe and Mt. Darwin elections. We still urge the Government to give ZEC its yearly budgetary allocation for it to update its voters roll. A journey without its preparation has its own ups and downs.
Madam Speaker, in my view, I suggest that there be ZEC offices registering voters and updating the voters’ roll throughout the year. There must also be mobile units to visit places in polling stations regularly for the purpose of updates to carry out these duties. ZEC district offices need to be equipped with vehicles and manpower.
However, I want to applaud ZEC for the activities they carry out during the same process because they work under difficult conditions.
On media coverage, some were covered whilst some were not, we do not know the reason. ZEC owes CMED about US$3million. I am not sure whether the money was paid up by Government or it still owed.
However, we still urge Government to pay up CMED the money. Finally, I would like to say ZEC are operating under difficult conditions and we kindly urge the Government to come to its rescue with a rescue package. I thank you for this short message Madam Speaker.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to add a few points to the debate on the motion raised. Firstly I would like to look at the suggestion by the Committee that the Executive scuttled being accountable to the Committee. I think that is a very strong conclusion to the extent that the administration of Parliament as presented by the Committee, wrote to the Committee advising that certain legal cases were at the courts. To then conclude that the Executive scuttles the work of the Committee in my view, is a very strong statement as presented by the Committee.
Madam Speaker, that aside, it is indeed important that the operations of ZEC be adequately funded. However, the ball lies squarely on this august House because annually, the budget passes through Parliament and it is our duty to look and assess the adequacy of the budget.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: My point of order is to the Hon. Member who is debating. He is speaking as if he is the Executive. We are addressing our concerns to the Executive and it is proper for him to address his concerns to the Executive so that it will answer. He cannot answer for the Executive. This august House sat and was told that there is no money and we are saying, despite that there is no money, ZEC needs to be funded. It is therefore not for him to debate on behalf of the
Executive…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I heard as though the Hon. Member was speaking the same things you are saying because he is not speaking on behalf of the Executive. Can the Hon.
Member resume his debate.
HON. KEREKE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Indeed, as a citizen and Member of Parliament, I hold my own views on behalf of my constituency, which views I am affirming. The issue of National Budgets Madam Speaker, the responsibility lies on us Parliamentarians, including the Hon. Eng. Mudzuri. When the Hon. Minister of Finance brings his proposals to Parliament, it is the duty of Parliament to then assess and look – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, we are in
Parliament.
HON. DR. KEREKE: ...... to assess the adequacy of proposed individual Votes. With specific reference to ZEC Madam Speaker, there is now a lesson with the benefit of hindsight to us as parliamentarians.
The Budget allocation towards ZEC must anticipate unforeseen exigencies and unforeseen expenditures because developments may happen. Some Hon. Members may get deceased and some developments where defections occur, other seats become vacant and unanticipated by-elections then crop up.
So, in debating the motion I put a suggestion that we assess future Budgets and attach what we can call unallocated reserves to certain specific areas of Government and public institutions – ZEC is one of them. We can budget accurately today’s requirements but to the extent other unanticipated by-elections crop up, that budget is thrown off the rails. We know as per our Constitution, there will be elections in 2018, perhaps the considerations for 2017 Budget should adequately cover preparations for ZEC because doing so for the year 2018 would again in many ways incapacitate ZEC.
Madam Speaker, there was also comments on the views as expressed to the Committee by ERC. My contribution thereto is that when we look at some entities and they put forth their public conclusions, their summaries and their observations, we need to take note that certain organisations come with pre-conceived mindsets. They come and look at our Constitution and they look at our Electoral Laws with a view that forever the playground is unfair. We need to be careful that we know which agencies we rely on. Madam Speaker, it is not every agency, not every institution which talks sense about our country. The assertion that the Electoral Laws are unfair, it is difficult for the opposition or other parties to win under current laws, to me it is chasing a mirage. In any election, there are winners and losers and usually those that lose will tend to say the playground is unfair – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Yes, as the Committee did mention, there is need to align certain of our laws, not just the Electoral Laws, but several other pieces of legislation need alignment to the Constitution. Again, it is the role of Parliament, as we discharge our oversight function on the Executive to ensure that that happens. I thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity.
HON. MANDIPAKA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I will be
very brief. I wish to congratulate the Committee for a brilliant enquiry in trying to ascertain the state of preparedness of ZEC. I would have loved to hear in the conclusion by the Committee that ZEC did a wonderful job under very difficult conditions. Why do I say so? The by-elections came and went through very well with those limited resources and in any event, the elections as a result of the by-elections were rated as very credible. So I wish to appeal to this august House to honestly support the role that ZEC is playing in Zimbabwe, given the meagre resources.
Madam Speaker, I am at pains to be able to define what we term distribution of goods tantamount to vote buying as outlined by the Chairperson of the Committee because when we go for campaigns, the idea of a campaign is to win favour with the people. So when you are campaigning you use all methods at your disposal to be able to be voted in office and you would find some political parties have the resources to be able to distribute to their people. It is only those little political parties which do not find favour with the people that cry foul when other bigger political parties distribute goods.
I would also want to support the view that has been brought in this House by Hon. Kereke. He raised a very fundamental point that we need to be wary of certain organisations in our midst that tend to want to say our elections in this country are not credible. We have been in elections for some couple of years and I want to believe that Zimbabwe is one such African country that is now experienced in coming up with credible elections and we should congratulate ourselves for that.
If we have organisations that have remained adamant and if we have organisations that are also proponents of the regime change, there is no way we can hear good comments about our elections. Suffice to say we have come of age and we must applaud ourselves as a country that our institution such as ZEC is very capable to conduct credible elections. I thank you.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to add my voice to a good report from our Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. It is important for this House to realise that it is a national duty to ensure that whatever we are doing is properly advised in a legal sense through this Committee. I do not think the Committee would come here to mislead this House and make sure that we do the wrong thing. When they bring in certain organisations to say an organisation has commented on an election, I think this House should take criticism as it is and work around to ensure that the correct thing is done. If there is nothing wrong with what has been done, it would be found in working progress but surely, we cannot continue to have a scenario where ZEC remains non-independent due to lack of finance. It owes three million dollars from the last elections. It cannot move as it does not have enough vehicles, it does not have enough equipment to use. It cannot do proper voter registration because of failure to have the finances.
I am saying this Parliament approves Budgets but there is a limit to what it can approve in the sense that whatever this Parliament might recommend is also subject to scrutiny by Central Government and
Central Government ultimately has final answers. It is also the duty of
Central Government which is the Executive to ensure that all urgent cases are taken care of. Democracy is expensive. We do not want to see violence in our elections. Some people are arguing that people use all means to win elections.
People like me, standing here, have been victims of serious violence and myself being a victim of violence from certain quarters within the system; I can prove today by taking you to my house to see live bullets which have been used on my house. I am not debating falsehoods; we can go and see them. I am just trying to say violence is not accepted. I am not debating about myself, I am debating about violence which I have seen. It is only those who have not seen violence who argue that it is not there and argue that the institutions which we are working with are not seeing the violence.
If you want to see violence, go to Mujuru’s house, you know how he died; he was burned to death and that is violence. So, when we talk of violence, it comes in all forms. We must not embrace any form of violence in our society. It must not be violence against women; it must not be violence against any voter.
Madam Speaker, this House has to recognise that …
HON. HOLDER: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. HOLDER: Thank you Madam Speaker – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members, I
cannot hear what the Hon. Member is saying.
HON. HOLDER: Thank you Madam Speaker. The Hon.
Member, in his debate, mentioned that if you want violence, go and see
Mujuru’s house. Does he have evidence because I do not want him to mislead this House?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you please
continue with your debate.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam Speaker. The issue
of voter registration is critical taking cognisance of the fact that there is an issue of biometric Voters’ Roll which has been considered and is likely to take place. It is important that ZEC takes its job from now onwards. If we are targeting elections in 2018 and we want them to be free and fair and want every person who is willing to vote to participate; it is important for this House to ensure that we ask Central Government to provide all the necessary resources and allow the independence of
ZEC to prevail.
I want to thank the Legal Committee for having advised this House I hope this House takes the advice and adopts the recommendations from the Legal Committee. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I recognise you, may I remind Hon. Members that when we are in this House, we do not attend to our cell phones. Also, put them on silence or switch them off because I do not want to send anyone out.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank the mover of the motion for their report but I want to put the practical perspective to this motion. The new polling station system, I think it is credible and I also allude to that fact in that there was a bi-election that occurred in my constituency in Ward 6, Chegutu West, where we annihilated the other parties. We took that ward from the Opposition and we then gained out of the 12 Wards that are in Chegutu West, a ward to make it 5 out of 12 Wards in the urban area, adding to the 3 Wards in the rural area to make it 8 out of 7. So, I want to congratulate the system and using that election that occurred in Chegutu West, it is now proved that it can work without any flaws.
In that same vein, I want to congratulate Mrs. Mariga for winning that council bi-election. I want to say the issue of the system that has now been put into place is efficient but more-so, I want to speak to those that are being disenfranchised, the so-called alien community. We might put in as much an electoral as is possible which is efficient but as long as we do not have the voters that are going to go and exercise their right to vote and being marginalised, being called aliens, being deregistered and being unregistered for that purpose and for that cause, we are not speaking to the needs of our local community.
Why do I say so? In Chegutu West in particular, there are a lot of people that are said to be aliens who are not being registered as voters because of the sins of their parents or the parents who came in and were said to be aliens and are said that they should denounce their alienship.
Mr. Speaker Sir, these people, as long as it is said that they have not denounced, have no right to participate in our electoral system, these are the same people who were born here. They were born in Chegutu West; they had their children, grand children and their great grand children here, zvizukurumvi. In the same vein, I want to make a clarion call for the Executive to make it easy for these people to go into the mainstream electoral system to be registered without any questions because the people that we are talking have just attained 18 years of age. It is 36 years after independence; these people we are talking about know no other country but Zimbabwe.
As long as these people are left outside the electoral system, we have an electoral system that is flawed, an electoral system that is not all inclusive. As long as these people are not given the God-given right to vote, which God given right was brought in by the war of liberation in 1980 which gave one man one vote; as long as these people are left in the fringes of life of the voting system, we are not doing our nation any justice, in particular Chegutu West. I know there a are a lot of people that have not been allowed to vote but who would want to participate in the voting system of our nation. As long as we do not change our laws to include these people, we are alienating those people that we are calling ‘aliens’. It is not for the good of this nation. As long as we alienate them at the voting system part, we are alienating them, including in the inclusion of the economic benefit of this nation. If our electoral system and if the Executive can be all inclusive and include these ‘so called aliens’ who know, no other country but Zimbabwe, we are going to benefit immensely, not only in our votes but also economically. I thank you.
*HON. PHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Committee for a job well done. They investigated ZEC and reflected that they got money to do their job well. We would like to thank them for the recommendations that they have given. Among the recommendations, there is one which relates to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), that the ZRP should be minimised at polling stations because they intimidate voters.
If ZRP intimidate voters then, they are not carrying out their duties well. They should be educated not to intimidate voters. We want many police officers at the polling stations to curb violence. There is a saying that goes, “it is only those who are crooks, who are afraid”. If they see the police, they run away because they are crooks. If you are not a crook, there is no need for you to fear the police. We need many police officers at polling stations to curb violence, reflecting on what is happening in South Africa today. People are shooting each other, parties engage in fights because of elections. We do not want such a scenario in Zimbabwe. So, our police should ensure that this does not happen.
Another good example is Kenya, they are shooting each other over an organisation similar to the ZEC situation. It means our Commission is doing a good job because there is no violence because of ZEC. You see that others are ululating because what I am saying is a fact.
The previous speaker also appreciated the polling based stations saying they have increased the number of voters. We want to thank
ZEC for introducing the polling station based voters’ register. We should encourage our people to go and vote. We have a challenge in our country of organisations that oversee elections and only mushroom when elections are due. These are the same organisations that give false information but the organisations that have always been in existence, overseeing elections now and again, give correct reports. These organisations, we term them ‘organisations in hibernation’.
Hon. Nduna also talked about aliens. We want that term to be removed totally from the vocabulary of Zimbabwe. I am a victim to the term ‘alien’. That is derogatory and should be banned. He also mentioned of sins of their fathers. I was referred to as an alien; my father never committed any sin. Most children are unable to obtain birth certificates because of that demonic name ‘alien’. So, it should be banned to enable children to obtain birth certificates. I have quite a number of things to say but for now, I rest my case.
HON. E. GUMBO: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise to add my
voice to the motion. I appreciate and understand that ZEC did a wonderful job under limited resources. We also need to look at why ZEC ends up with limited resources. One of the key things to undertake such an action is to plan forward. To plan forward means to anticipate what might come, but there was a lot of unanticipated circumstances in the case of ZEC.
I appreciate, the contributor mentioned the need to avail resources for very useful things; voter registration, education and making sure that people have the right particulars when voting time comes so that they can go and vote. It is very unfortunate that the resources that could have been directed towards some of those causes have been brought in by unanticipated situations that happened. Let us look at these by-elections; what is that, that forced us to have those by-elections. Who can anticipate that a political party will fire 21% of their Members of Parliament? We can anticipate people passing on but there were circumstances beyond the budget of ZEC or Government.
Let us acknowledge and say we plan for the normal, we do not plan for such abnormal things. I think it is totally unheard of. We also look back at the history of elections, in 2005 we had people who were elected for terms of five years and we had to go to elections after three years. Such things consume resources, hence the reason for this. We need to plan forward; we need to make sure ZEC is equipped for the normal. When abnormal things come like this, I think this august House should go back to the Central Government and request for a supplementary budget to fix this. As Parliamentarians, I think we have failed ZEC as well in that when unusual circumstances like the 21 Members of Parliament that went out, that had to force ZEC to go for by-elections; we did not come and ask for a supplementary budget from the Central Government. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS: Mr. Speaker Sir, it is not unprocedural for an Hon. Member to adjourn debate, it is possible.
However, I move that the debate be now adjourned. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th June, 2016.
MOTION
BLOOD SUBSIDIES IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC HOSPITALS
HON. NDUNA: I move the motion standing in my name that this
House;
COGNISANT that due to the prevailing economic challenges and high levels of unemployment, the vast majority of Zimbabweans have very limited disposable income;
AWARE that Section 76 of the Constitution makes access to health care a fundamental and inalienable right of every Zimbabwean and obliges the State to ensure that no person is refused emergency medical treatment in any health-care institution;
ALARMED at the prohibitive cost of blood in both public and private hospitals with a pint going for USD 140 on average which has made access to blood a preserve of the rich;
CONCERNED that the majority of Zimbabweans who require
blood transfusions, particularly in district hospitals and clinics, are succumbing to avoidable deaths owing to their inability to afford blood;
FURTHER CONCERNED that though emergency medical
treatment is a fundamental human right, health institutions are refusing to give needy patients blood without prior payment yet the cost is beyond the reach of many;
DISTRESSED that blood transfusion in district hospitals and clinics is only available for expecting mothers and is not extended to victims of accidents and trauma who account for 35% of the national blood requirements;
MINDFUL that blood distribution by the National Blood Service in Zimbabwe in 2014 marginally increased by 0.7% primarily due to depressed demand owing to the harsh economic conditions; DISTURBED that the price of blood in Zimbabwe does not compare favourably with the price of blood regionally;
NOW THEREFORE, call upon the Executive to:
- Subsidize the cost of blood to save lives by ensuring that it is available for all needy patients at private and public hospitals;
- To de-centralise the blood bank by establishing a blood bank at all district hospitals and clinics;
- To raise awareness on the importance of donating blood, particularly among adults who account for only 20% of the national blood donations yet use 80% of the blood so donated.
HON. MUDZURI: I second.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am going to be very brief. Mr. Speaker I see I rouse a lot of enthusiasm in my debate. I am talking about the issue of blood I need to give a brief background on what exactly blood is and what it does in person’s body and in somebody’s life.
As I stand here before you, blood is life. Blood carries the oxygen that we breathe and transmits it to the vital organs of the body. Without blood we would not be here. So if there is anything, I would pray and ask that Hon. Members in this House support me in this motion Mr. Speaker Sir because the prohibitive prices of blood in this country do not to make for a continued life. If there is a prohibitive price attached to the cost of blood we will all perish and we will not have any reason to live because we will not be able to breathe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to bring you to the issue of antenatal health, where expecting mothers get blood for transfusion for free in district hospitals, national hospitals and any other place. It is an act, or it was arrived at after observation that during birth there is a lot of blood that is lost by expecting mothers or during the time they are giving birth. It was observed that as long as we at that point do not give sufficient blood transfusion and sufficient help to those expecting mothers, we will not have an offspring Mr. Speaker Sir. We will not have any nation to talk about.
The history of blood transfusion arose during World War 1 where there was a lot of loss of blood and then the doctors at that time said to themselves how do we mitigate the effects of blood loss? They took blood from animals and tried to transfuse it to the soldiers that needed blood. This was a fatal transfusion process and then it was developed from there on until we got to have classified blood groups of which O+ which is my blood group is a universal donor to all people that are in other blood groups A and such like Mr. Speaker Sir.
The History of blood transfusion was for the purpose of saving lives and I stand here today and I say it is not a crime to make sure that the cost of blood here in Zimbabwe aligns itself to the cost of blood in the SADC region. The cost of a pint of blood in Zimbabwe is $140.00. How many people that need blood can afford $140.00 per pint? None!, in particular during the economic hardships that we are currently going through as a nation.
I also stand here as a Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Transport which Committee Mr. Speaker Sir speaks to issues of road carnage where we are losing about 5 lives per day through road carnage. The issue of road carnage involves those people and the issue of death involves those people that would have not afforded to get blood transfusion because they are expected to pay before they get blood transfusion because the health institutions are not directed to give blood for free.
My prayer includes adults who are basically 80% of the recipients of the blood that is transfused in this nation yet they are 20% of the donors. It also includes that we encourage adults to donate blood.
In that same vein, it encourages the executive to make sure that blood is given for free or it is subsidized to those that need it, in the same vein that it has been given to those expecting mothers in the hospitals. The reason I came up with this motion is that one day I attended a Combi accident in Chegutu where there were ten people that needlessly lost lives and we ferried those people to hospital. As you looked at those people, blood was gushing out.
Our bodies can only hold up blood if we lose about 15%, if they lose 40% blood of the 6 litres of blood that we have got in our body. At that point you nearly can lose life but 15% is allowable we can mitigate by giving them supplements so that they can, in a way revive their blood levels and at that point we are losing lives. As I watched those people ,the only notable and the only sane issue to do was to transfuse blood but we lost those ten lives because blood was gushing out.
It is my clarion call that we have a lot of money in various areas going as taxes and in particular as the Traffic Safety Council that is
12 ½ % coming from the Insurance Remittances for our automobile. Part of that money can be utilised to mitigate the effect of blood transfusion. It can be utilised to buy blood for those people that would want to get blood. I have said several times that if Hon. Members were to be involved in road carnage, and five people die each day, exactly in two and half months we will not have any Hon. Member in this House. This is how serious the issue of blood transfusion is Mr.
Speaker Sir.
We should speak with one voice and say to ourselves, because of road carnage, the accidents that are occurring in this nation and we cannot revive that life because some of it, we need blood transfusion.
We lose 5% of the country’s gross national product. As I have alluded to, we have in this nation a collision every 15 minutes and five people die daily. The issue of the need to give blood cannot be over emphasised. There are a lot of issues that we debate in this House.
I want to take you to Section 117 of the Constitution which confers on us as Parliament the power to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Zimbabwe. Peace and good order means nothing if five people are dying each day due to road carnage. If we can save part of those five people using transfusion, if we can save them by the laws that we make here, in particular, if we can enact a law that says there is going to be free blood to everybody that needs it, so that those that are involved in road carnage, road accidents and those that are injured, do not lose lives needlessly. We would be making laws for the good governance, order and peace of the people of this nation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to take you to the issue of the right to life. That is Section 48 of the Constitution. It says nothing but void if we do not make laws for the people’s right to life. As you go to the district hospitals, clinics and quasi-district hospitals, there is already an Act that speaks to blood being given to expecting mothers for free. We can converge and make sure that we also say Government should subsidise. The Executive should subsidise the cost of blood so that everybody that needs blood can get it for free in clinics and district hospitals.
Our people are dying because they have no blood. I have spoken so voluminously and ventilated that point to the effect that our people are dying because they have need for at least 40% of the blood that is in their body. I have said above 40%, there is no more life but there is still life if they lose 40% of their blood. So in a way, we are asking for the nation to give more than three litres of blood. We are asking for two litres of blood going down. I do not think that we will be asking too much Mr. Speaker Sir.
I spoke about the right to life. As I conclude, let us decentralise even the issuance of that blood. I come from a place where people walk 30 kms to the next clinic. As they get to that clinic, let us give them blood if they need it. I come from a place which is infested with snakes like pythons, cobras and black mambas, only to mention a few. These people that get these snake bites lose needlessly a lot of blood. As they get to clinics they need both the serum and the blood. I ask fervently and I make a clarion call that our people should not be left to die in the rural areas because they cannot get blood for free.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there are already organisations that are giving blood that is National Blood Transfusion Service which is a quasi private organisation. I applaud them first and foremost for existing. They are existing for a worthy cause. What I also call for is for Government to make sure they subsidise their operations so that they can at least bring down the cost of blood whilst we mitigate the effect of our people to give them blood for free. The issue that I alluded to earlier of accidents is within our control. Before we ask for blood Mr. Speaker Sir, accidents are within our power to avoid. There is a quotation that I need to make from the Australian Traffic Rule which says, “Road sense is the offspring of courtesy and the parent of safety”. This is because we are losing a lot of blood due to road carnage.
As I conclude, I want to say something on accidents. As observed by an American legislator Ernest Greenwood, who rightly observed accidents - and in particular highway accidents do not just happen, they are caused. So it is within our power as Zimbabweans, as a nation because 85% of road accidents are human error. It is within our power to avoid those accidents. As a result, the onus is upon us to prepare and prevent and not to repair and repaint. It is also my clarion call that as we go to August holidays Mr. Speaker Sir, at least there would have been a response for the requirement and the need to distribute blood for free. There would have been a response so that our people that give birth during that time are joined by those that need blood that would have been involved in road carnage.
In the same vein, I ask that all Hon. Members in their places of placements and constituencies, hold a minute of silence for people that have been involved in road carnage and road accidents during the past two weeks. We have lost more than fifty people that have succumbed to road carnages Mr. Speaker Sir. On that note, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity.
HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to
support the motion. It is great that Hon. Nduna has brought this motion in consideration of the crisis that comes in the country where a lot of people are dying due to shortage of blood. My worry is that the Minister of Health and Child Care can get advice from this august House. Blood should be made free. Donors of blood do not get paid. They are literally given Mazoe when they go to donate blood and they go away. I am not sure, through the medical field, why the blood ends up costing $140/$160 and when someone needs blood, it is not that they can help themselves.
This is an issue which the nation should consider to say, they cannot help themselves. There are a few people, yes that can go to private hospitals. Maybe in private hospitals, we can allow a certain prime price but in public hospitals and clinics, honestly we cannot call ourselves a people-oriented Government or Parliament if we cannot supply blood to those in need, especially women. I was just talking of a girl who was operated. She is 38 and has no relative who can help her. She is poor. She was found with cancer at Harare Hospital. She needed blood and they said she should find the $160 before she could be operated but she had no money. So a few people gathered a few dollars and she was operated on but what happened next.
After being operated, the hospital detains this girl from Friday up to date, the girl is still in hospital. She has nothing and you keep a person in hospital to say if you have no one to help you, knowing the dollar is not easy to get, let alone to get the blood and get the operation done. So, there are cases like this where the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services should be able to visit hospitals and assess predelivery and post-delivery of the service. We cannot sit back and say social services are about food and food for work. Social service is about delivering this good service to our people who should live longer and get these services. If need be, these are the people who should be subsidised by Government.
A woman after delivering might need blood because they lose blood then you ask that woman, as if she applied to be a woman and to deliver a child who is adding to the benefit of the country to say go and buy your blood. After she has bought that blood for such a high price, they are also detained in hospital to say you must pay when they have no money. We know that our rural people do not have money, even in towns. My constituency in Warren Park has destitutes there. Each case must be considered as it comes and ensure that certain people are given treatment. The worst thing I want to appeal to this House is to say, why should a hospital detain a patient after treatment? I challenge this Mr. Speaker Sir that you go to Harare Hospital and you find people in verandas. They discharge you and make you sleep on a verandah. Are
we doing a service to this country? We are not doing a service. We are actually destroying the same spirit we have given to say we are socially oriented and want to help people.
So I want to say the motion should actually come from the Minister of Health and Child Care to say how can we make blood cheaper? If it means everyone should pay an extra cent on fuel, let it be.
With all the roadblocks we have, if we can collect one day’s roadblock fees and pay for this blood, we will be able to help people. What are we doing with all the money we are collecting from motorists? I am in the Transport Committee and we are worried that people are being fleeced of money and nothing is going to help these poor people. So, this august House must agree that when a person needs blood, you are actually borrowing something foreign, you need it and it must be given like it is delivered by the person freely.
The Minister of Education must come with an instrument of ensuring that we have a way of giving blood and probably certain services to certain people, to some extent, free as already pronounced in the Constitution and our statutes of social welfare. I thank you.
*HON. E. GUMBO: I rise to contribute to this motion. I appreciate the need for blood as a life sustaining fluid. I agree to that and support the mover. I thank Hon. Nduna and Hon. Labode for bringing this motion. However, I would like to highlight that the motion is actually talking about two things and we must not go out of line. It is talking about the shortage of blood to give to patients and a cost. That is what the main thrust is there. I think we need to focus on why there is a shortage and why it is expensive. It is necessary but we need to get prepared.
On the other hand, it is a question of supply and demand. Is the supply okay? It is on the point of supply that I would like to touch on. I think we are misdirecting our efforts, like the last speaker said, to Government. This should take a community educational basis. We must educate people to donate blood so that the supply side improves. Yes,
Government can subsidise blood but if there is not enough blood, what then happens? They cannot subsidise a shortage. We need to make sure that the supply side is looked into. Why is the supply side low? Because of donor ignorance. If I asked Hon. Members of Parliament to show me their blood donation cards which is given when you donate blood, how many of you have got those? It must start here at home.
We cannot just be telling people out there to do it, let us take the initiative at a community level by donor education, appealing for more people to donate not just pushing to Government. Government has got no blood, it is the people who have got blood. It is us here. Government has no blood to give. Let us go to the community and the people, that is where the blood comes from – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections.] – I have got my blood donation card here and I can show you.
Getting on to the shortage side, why is the blood so expensive? The National Blood Transfusion gets blood from various areas and they must travel but if they travel to a far away place and the donors are few, the cost of blood will go up. If they travel to that place and the community mobilises itself to give a lot of blood from that one source, it will bring the cost down. That is one of the cost drivers in blood. The second cost driver for blood being high is the prevalence that if a lot of blood is collected and rejected after screening because of many illnesses among us, HIV infected blood which they cannot give, costs are incurred on collection but it is not given to the patients and the cost factor goes up. So what must we do about that? Those who know that their blood is not so good, go and get tested and know your status so you do not waste time donating blood that is not good. That is what we must do so we minimise the loss on the National Blood Transfusion Services. For those who might know that their blood is not so good but wish to make the blood available, sponsor a donor.
Finally, I would also appeal to this august House if we can observe a day when all members are available here to donate blood to the National Blood Transfusion and we set an example. We will tell the nation, listen and then take an example from us their legislators. Let us call it upon ourselves as the august Members of this House to call a day ‘Parliament Blood Donation Day’ and we do it. We can even bring ZBC to televise and educate our people. They will understand we are taking the lead. Mr. Speaker Sir, I hope you will give those who are in positions to facilitate such a service so that the Hon. Members can be given a day to donate blood. Imagine 200 of us, if we all donate one litre that will support a hospital for a long time. On that note, I want to thank you.
HON. DR. MATARUSE: I want to add a few words to this
motion which is a very important motion. First of all, I want to inform the House that it needs highly technical and specialised people to screen this blood for the diseases. We need specialist pathologists and in Zimbabwe, we have only one and that person cannot cover the whole country. Therefore, the issue of decentralising blood banks is almost impossible.
We also need highly specialised technologists, they used to be called third party technicians, which means we start with the lowest grade certificates, part two and then part three. They are highly skilled technologists and they are now given degrees and are called laboratory scientists. We really need highly specialised people to screen this disease.
Thirdly, we screen them of syphilis, HIV/AIDS, Zika and hepatitis. I am sure from television or records, it is now the number one killer and in Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDS has a lower rate of deaths than hepatitis. I will assure you that if we screen the people in this House, we might find out that 40% have hepatitis because during the Smith regime, we used to have a herf-gun which was used from one person to the next without being changed or cleaned and if one was infected, it would be transmitted to the next person. We have got a high level of hepatitis and we have to screen it. The cost of blood, despite that it is donated free, I am sure you will bear with me that the cost is around US$50 to US$60. As Parliament, we are trying to request the Government to take over the costs and pay for these ones. However, the cost is there. In short, I am sure I have updated you. Thank you very much.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): Thank
you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move that the debate be now adjourned.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 8th June, 2016.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE,
MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON.
- MADE), the House adjourned at Twenty-nine Minutes past Four
o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 19th May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 3
be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. D. SIBANDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. MARIDADI: On a point of order. I wish to bring to the
notice of this House a point of order that I have raised before. It is an issue of practice, process and procedure for this House. There are motions that have been sitting on the Order Paper for as long as I can remember and common practice is that when a notice to move a motion is given and the mover of that motion is not available on the day that the motion is meant to be debated, the motion should fall off the Order Paper automatically. A typical example is motion Number. 25 which was given by Honourable Shamu, to be seconded by Honourable Zindi.
This motion is now sitting at Number 25 and yet once upon a time it was sitting at Number 1. It has not been debated and as such I think it should fall off the Order Paper for two reasons. Firstly, it is becoming expensive that we continue to print paper for motions that are never debated and secondly, they are actually clogging the Order Paper. Madam Speaker, I appeal to you that some of these motions fall off if the movers are not here to debate them.
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA): Thank you
Honourable Maridadi for your clarification on the issue of your question. The issue that happens with motions is that if it has not been called out then we cannot remove it from the Order Paper but if it has been called out then it will automatically go. So, I remember the day when it was supposed to be debated, the mover of the motion came and asked for postponement on the Order Paper. As far as I am concerned, it has not been called out.
HON CHIMANIKIRE: On a point of order. I recall Honourable Shamu actually moving this motion and standing up to debate it. I stand to be corrected. I think Honourable Shamu is in the House, if he can actually clarify.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I think we stand guided by the
Administration of Parliament. So, we have to make sure the
Administration of Parliament, do their job to research on what exactly transpired. I think on Tuesday they will be having an answer.
Honourable Maridadi having stood up on another point of order. THE ACTING SPEAKER: Honourable Maridadi, we cannot
continue debating this issue. I have ruled on this issue and I said the Administration of Parliament will act on it and they will bring their response.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. MUSUNDIRE: Thank you Madam Speaker, I would like
to add my voice to the Presidential Speech which was delivered in this House. I am not going to debate on the initial speech that he gave before this House but I will debate on the speech that he asked his deputy, Vice President Honourable E. D. Mnangagwa to deliver to this House because I am told that the first one had a mistake.
The President brought a speech before us like what is expected as he was talking about the laws…
HON. SHAMU: On a point of order. I think that the Honourable Member has no right to question the leader of this country when he appoints and delegates his Vice President to come and deliver a speech on his behalf. It is on behalf of the President and it is the President speaking. I feel that the Honourable Member should withdraw that statement.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order! I would like to advise the
Honourable Musundire to remain focused on the response to the debate of the Presidential Speech. The speech was read and replaced. Please debate in line with the motion that has been presented.
*HON. MUSUNDIRE: The President in his speech spoke about the Bills that were going to be brought before this House. Looking at the Bills that he said were to be brought before Parliament, these are Bills that were supposed to come from the Constitution because when we made our own Constitution, we were supposed to realign the Bills and the laws to the Constitution, just like what we had agreed as
Zimbabweans. We voted and said that is what we wanted.
There were things that were problematic at that time we made the Constitution. There was a complaint that provinces were not being developed equally. We then agreed that we were going to come up with provincial councils. When we went for elections, we came up with the provincial councillors. It is now three years after that and some people have started campaigning for the 2018 elections, but nothing has been said or done in so far as the provincial councils are concerned, yet there are people who contested and they were elected as the provincial councillors who were supposed to be in office from then on up to 2018.
Those are things that are problematic to the country. Even the laws and the Bills that we are supposed to make in this country, when the leaders come to tell us about the law and even to talk about our own health, we should be moving together, talking together. He spoke about health and education. Minister Chinamasa came and also spoke about second hand clothes that were worn by whites in some other countries and they used to come here via Mozambique. He banned the importation of second hand clothes. We are supposed to debate these laws. You might be wondering why I am saying so. When we talk about our own health, let me say the President’s daughter went to deliver in Asia and yet we have hospitals here… [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Sibanda. Order Hon. Members! Hon. Murai, Hon. Tshuma! Hon Dorcus Sibanda, you are a Chief Whip. I will not allow this Parliament to turn into a circus. I will not allow that both from the right hand side and the left.
*HON. SHAMU: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
Yesterday, the Speaker said we should not talk about people who are not in this House and secondly…- [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Members from the left side! Hon. Murai, Hon. Members, can you please respect this Parliament and give Hon. Shamu time to say out his point of order. You have got a right to speak after I recognise you, only. So, may you please accord the Hon. Member opportunity to say what he has to say? If you have anything to say, you will stand up and then I will recognise you. I told you before; I do not want this Parliament to turn into a circus. So, I will take action if you continue with such behavour.
*HON. SHAMU: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is not allowed and it is not proper to start talking about someone who is not in this House, who cannot answer for himself. Secondly, a person is free to go and choose where ever they want to go for treatment. What the last speaker has said is not proper. He must withdraw that and he should never say that again. I thank you - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. Order, order! I need to respond to the point of order raised by Hon. Shamu first before I can take another person.
Hon. Shamu, I think it is true that we cannot continue in this Parliament to talk about people who cannot come and defend themselves here. It is not right. From both sides, whenever you are debating, let us try by all means to talk about people that can also defend themselves because you have got the right to freedom of speech and expression, but you should also try to control that so that we also accommodate those that cannot come and defend themselves.
Secondly, the second issue that Hon. Shamu has raised. After he has debated, if you have not yet debated the Presidential Speech, I will give you an opportunity to respond to what Hon. Musundire was debating.
*HON. THEMBANI: On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I wish to add on to what Hon. Shamu has said…- [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members from my right.
Hon. Member, I understand you want to give a point of order, but if it is in connection with what I have ruled already, we can go with the ruling.
If it is a different point of order it is okay…- [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
Order, order! If it is a different point of order it is okay, but if it is in line with what Hon. Shamu has already stated, then we have to continue.
*HON. THEMBANI: No, it is different. Madam Speaker, I
would like to make it a point that if someone is married, then it means they are under their husband and that has nothing to do with this House because these are people who have their own home. She has her own husband and that has nothing to do with this House… - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon.
Thembani. That is why I said I will give you an opportunity after the debate by Hon. Musundire so that you can get in to defend your side of the story.
*HON. MUSUNDIRE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am talking
before this House, it is not that I want to gossip behind the President’s back. I am talking about what he said to us all because there is a time when the President’s wife was away and he said she is away. That is what I wanted to talk about.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Musundire, I said you
can carry on debating the Presidential Speech. Do not talk about people who are not in this House.
*HON. MUSUNDIRE: I am saying if laws are made and if the President signs the laws and the Ministers bring up laws – I do not know what I can call it in Shona but in English it is called confidence. As leaders, we should lead by example. These are laws that should not only affect people in Bikita but they should affect everyone and not people from a certain area. We were told that second-hand clothes were banned but last week we saw those second hand clothes being distributed in Gutu. Where did those come from since we banned them? Why is it that some people are following the law and some are not? Laws are for everyone and we should all follow them.
Then coming to the issue of security, the President spoke about security in this House but at times you really wonder what happens with our security because we are looking for Dzamara, but we still have not found him. We wonder what is happening with security.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Serjent-at-Arms can you please assist Hon. Kuruneri. The Hon. Member needs assistance. We are very sorry about what has happened with Hon. Kuruneri. We all know that he is not feeling well and Parliament is right now taking the necessary action to ensure that the Hon. Member is assisted medically.
HON. MANGAMI: Madam Speaker, can I suggest that since he has got an Aide he should be allowed to come in and sit next to him because at times, even in Committees he needs assistance and some of us Members do not have the knowledge to handle him but the Aide is a nurse.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Members, I would like to advise the Hon. Member and also to make you aware that it is allowed in Parliament as it has already been approved. So the Aides are allowed to come in and assist them. Thank you for that because most Members will not be aware of their rights in Parliament.
*HON. MUSUNDIRE: We are very sorry about what happened to the doctor. I was saying that when the President came to address us he spoke a lot about security. When we talk about security, it should be there for everyone and it is supposed to protect even those who are demonstrating. If people are going to demonstrate, we know that they should inform the police if they are four or more. But if it is only one person, that person does not need clearance but can just demonstrate on his/her own, that is what POSA says. What we know is that if it is just one person, that person is treated like a donkey and accused of demonstrating without having informed the Police and yet it is only one person. I am saying for one person, there is no need for clearance. So when we talk about our own security, it should be security for everyone and not just for a few people.
When the Presidential Speech was brought before the House, there was one important thing that was not explained then but was explained later on and that was about our money, the $15 billion. This was a very important issue.
HON. MLILO: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon Member is supposed to debate the President’s Speech. Probably the speech was given so long ago that he has forgotten the contents of the speech because the things that he is describing now were never part of the Presidential Speech. [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] Fifteen billion was never part of the Presidential Speech. He has been talking about Itai Dzamara, he was never part of the Presidential Speech. I think he needs to stand guided accordingly and if he has no facts to debate on, rather he sits down and give others a chance. There is quite a long queue of people who want to debate here. Thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members, I advise you
to respect each other. It is important to listen to what an Hon Member will be saying because it will help you tomorrow. Sometimes you end up embarrassing yourselves, especially when there is national television and people do not understand what type of Members of Parliament you are. Please respect each other, when one speaks, respect his or her views.
I have heard your point of order Hon. Member. You were actually now also debating that motion. So, just allow him to finish his debate then I will give you an opportunity to respond to everything that he was debating in time.
HON. MAONDERA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. With all due respect, it has become a norm that those new Members of Parliament who came recently, I do not think they were taken for orientation, because of the vexatious and frivolous point of orders that they make. We urge this House to take them for orientation …
Order, order, Hon. Maondera, there
is no discrimination in this House, whether you came in this House 20 years ago, five years ago and someone came last week, you are just the same, you are representing the same people. You are not supposed to discriminate anyone on the grounds of when an Hon. Member came to Parliament.
HON. MAONDERA: I did not mean that Hon. Speaker. I said I came in 2013, and some of our colleagues came recently, I am not trying to belittle them…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Maondera, I have heard
your point of order and I am giving a ruling. Hon. Members, I said there is no discrimination on whether you came when, you are all Members of Parliament and you are equal. This issue of orientation that you are talking about will be dealt with, even those who have been here for twenty years; they still behave like they do not even know the Standing rules. This is what I have realised. Hon. Musundire, you may continue
– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
*HON. MUSUNDIRE: The President spoke about US$15 billion; US$15 billion is a lot of money. This money was known by all the people in Government. They knew about this US$15 billion that it was there. When they spoke about 2.5 million jobs, they knew that these jobs were going to be funded by the US$15 billion. They used to say that yes, there is money, money that we got from diamonds and they were campaigning that people should vote for them… Time limit
HON. MUDZURI: Madam Speaker, I move that the Hon.
Member’s time be extended.
HON. J. TSHUMA: I object -[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections].
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order.
HON. J. TSHUMA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. My point of order is that Hon. Musundire actually lied to the House, he said
2.5 million….
Order, order, Hon. Tshuma. When I
recognised you Hon. Tshuma I said is there any debate and I thought you were going to debate the Presidential Speech. If you want to speak, speak about the Presidential Speech – [AN HON. MEMBER: Akataura
kare.]
*HON. CHIPATO: Madam Speaker, you can check I did not debate. Firstly, I would like to thank our President Cde. R. G. Mugabe, he has people at heart. Now, coming to the issue of ZIM-ASSET that he spoke about, looking at what he has done in the rural areas, especially in Zaka-Masvingo where I come from; many hospitals were built. People used to walk long distances to go for delivery but now there are hospitals nearby. Since 1990, a lot of schools have been built. The President is knowledgeable; he knows that education is important. That is why he made sure so many schools were built. Especially us women, he is concerned about us. During the Smith regime we never used to have any form of national identity cards or even birth certificates but now we can afford to obtain birth certificates, we can even afford to get
passports. We can travel out of the country to go and buy things for resale.
I would also like to thank President Mugabe because us as women we are now here in Parliament. There were no blacks in this House long back but now because of President Mugabe, we are free. Today we can talk and debate even issues here in Parliament to assist our country.
Now, talking about roads, I would like to thank my President R. G. Mugabe for the work that he is doing. He has been going from here to there. There used to have dust roads but now those roads are tarred. I would like to thank him for that.
I would also like to thank the President, he is our President and I applaud him. He has people at heart. He does not mind how much we insult him. As it is now, there is a drought but he is going around trying to get us food. …
HON. MURAI: On a point of order Madam President. The Hon.
Members seems to be giving vote of thanks – [Laughter.]-
Order Hon. Members! This is why I
ruled before that most of you, even those that have been in this Parliament 10 to 15 years, do not understand the Standing Rules and Orders. You end up embarrassing yourselves in front of the public. Please, may you desist from such comments and abuses against women, especially when they are debating?
*HON. CHIPATO: Thank you Madam Speaker, for protecting
me from those who are ungrateful to what the President has done. The Hon. Member is going out but I wanted him to listen to what the President did for him. He is a President who has the people at heart. To those who are laughing and despising him, the President is out there trying to source food for them. They should be here thanking the
President. I will thank the President and I cannot stop thanking him.
I have heard them talking about going to schools, universities and all that but during the Smith regime, they never used to go to school. I would also want to thank those who went to war to liberate us as a country. Long back, there were few Hon. Members in the august House but now they are booing others.
HON. MATUKE: Madam Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. CHITINDI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 7th June, 2016.
MOTION
RESTORATION OF THE MOTION ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING ON
THE ORDER PAPER
HON. NYAMUPINGA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker.
I rise to move that the motion on human trafficking of persons in Zimbabwe, particularly the girls and young women, which was superseded by the lack of quorum be restored on the Order Paper in terms of Standing Order No. 152(1).
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker, we are beginning to see a trend of this House not being able to be constituted properly. Most motions are falling by the wayside on account of lack of quorum. It would appear that we need to find a permanent solution to the absenteeism of members for purposes of our business. It may actually entail looking at the fundamental cause or the root cause of the absence of Members of Parliament.
I have bothered to check with other members why they are not in the House when they are supposed to be debating. We are paid by the taxpayers to do this – [AN HON. MEMBER: They are attending public hearings.] – It is not about Committees. Most Members of Parliament, because of their working conditions are either vendors or are moonlighting – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Some are proper and pure dealers who spend most of their time either on their farms or mines. We want to deal with those things so that we are not going to have this kind of problem Hon. Speaker.
It is a very serious issue. These past two weeks, we had more than four motions that were terminated on account of lack of quorum. It is a disturbing trend. We have to give seriousness to business of Parliament. It is also wasting your effort and time, so I just thought it is an issue that we need to have the Speaker making the necessary intervention for purposes of the direction of the House. Thank you very much.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Member. It is a
constitutional right for the people and you as Members of Parliament that you must attend Parliament business. I put it upon your political parties. You are doing injustice to the people that voted for you and your political parties. I advise the offices of the Chief Whips to continue to whip Members of Parliament to attend Parliament business.
In terms of Parliament procedures, I understand Hon. Chamisa you are a member of the Standing Rules and Orders Committee. That is the platform where you should actually talk about these things and find ways and if necessary, amend to put more rules to make some kind of penalties to Members of Parliament who do not come to the House without any apologies or leave of the House, so this is what I advise. Take the necessary procedures. We leave it upon Members of the Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC) to set penalties for absentee Members of Parliament.
HON. NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Yes,
privileges and Hon. Members are believed to be absenting themselves from Parliament, but I do not think that is true.
Currently at Parliament, there is an element of different committees travelling for Public Hearings during Parliamentary sittings for the reason that Parliament does not have fuel to bring parliamentarians when Parliament is on break. I know from previous experience, even if we say experience does not count but to me, experience is never thrown away. What used to happen, whether we were on break or on weekends, that is when Public Hearings were conducted? If it is Public Hearings why do we have three to four committees at a given time? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] – This is what also causing this.
Again, why can Parliament not find fuel to facilitate committees to attend Public Hearings during recess? Zvanzi huyai mungobatanidza nepamunenge muchisita ipapo because Parliament haina mari. I think that also has to be looked into before we are tarnished that we are not attending parliamentary sessions. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] –
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Nyamupinga, order Hon.
Member, I have to respond to Hon. Nyamupinga. Hon. Nyamupinga, I appreciate your concern but when I responded, I was specific that Hon.
Members who do not attend ‘with leave of Parliament’. So, if you are in any committees or attending Public Hearings, you are part of Parliament because you are on parliamentary business. – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – At the same time, yes order, order Hon.
Members… – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Order, order Hon. Members, I think at times we also have to appreciate and accept what is happening in our country. We have financial challenges and Parliament is also affected because it is being funded by the same Government. We will send this concern again to the Parliament administration, through the SROC to make sure that they take the necessary steps to make sure that Members of Parliament attend Parliament sittings and fuel is available.
HON. MUDZURI: I just want you to add something that might
be of assistance. Yes, the SROC will sit and change rules but there is a reason why in the past parliamentarians were allowed to be absent for 21 consecutive days. There is a good reason why that was done but of late, we have discovered that Parliament has not gone deeper into the work of a parliamentarian.
I think the SROC and we must table a motion where we discuss the work of a parliamentarian. How he/she does it, some Members do not debate because they have no time to research. So when a certain motion is tabled, they have nothing to contribute, hence they would rather go out because they will just be seated. Parliamentarians need to have proper offices since Parliament is the third leg of Government. We are supposed to oversee the Executive but unfortunately when we want to do so, people think it is protecting the Executive when they are in Parliament. We must be overseeing them for the sake of the nation, hence the need for proper offices; an office where there is current research on what is happening in Government and we come here with facts and avoid wishy washy because we will have facts. I appeal to you Madam Speaker, that either we have a whole day of debating on what needs to be done for parliamentarians so that we hand it over to the Executive to say, this is what we need with the work of parliamentarians.
Yes, the country is experiencing financial challenges and
Parliament is most needed to work and oversee the rampant corruption.
When the President says $15 billion is missing, a lot is missing in that
Executive. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] –
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Members, we will forward
your concerns to the relevant authorities so that the issue of the welfare of parliamentarians is dealt with as it is one of the things that is affecting your performance. This includes the issue of offices for Members of
Parliament and resources for their constituencies.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: Madam Speaker, I move that Orders of the
Day Numbers 6 to 12 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. CHAMISA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY,
POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES ON THE MOBILE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR IN ZIMBABWE
HON. CHAMISA: I move the motion standing in my name; that
this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services on the Mobile Telecommunications Sector in Zimbabwe.
HON. MARIDADI: I second.
HON. CHAMISA: I intend to rush through the motion I have already indicated is before the House on the state of the mobile sector in Zimbabwe. This was supposed to have been tabled some time back but due to circumstances beyond our control and number of Orders that were before Parliament, we were not able to table it. Be that as it may, I wish to thank the House and you Chair for the time to go through this report.
This report looked at the mobile networks that we have in Zimbabwe focusing on the state of the mobile sector and the impact on the economic growth, appreciating also the challenges that have been faced in the sector, the relevance of the financial services and other over- the-top transactions that are taking place on the back of our networks. We also looked at the general recommendations that we are putting forward for purposes of improving the sector. Infact, this is where I am going to zero-in on most importantly, though I will just go through the report to touch on the various aspects that are supposed to be debated and worked upon.
In terms of our Committee, we held field visits to Net One, Econet as well as Telecel Headquarters. The purpose of our visits, apart from being entertained by our hosts, we had a good time just to enjoy the kind of work that is being done by our service providers. They raised a number of challenges that they are facing, particularly at Net One. You may be aware that currently they have had challenges with their books and this has necessitated the sending on forced leave of their Managing Director, Mr. Kangai. It is an issue that was highlighted to us. We also got to understand and know that Net One recently got a boost in the form of a loan from China Exim Bank and to that effect, NetOne has since grown its subscriber base although it remains the laggard of the mobile sector being the last one. It was the first to be born but the last one in terms of growth. Its growth has been standard for reasons that I am going to then highlight. They have since managed to set up 652 base stations across the country and having a combination of 3G and 2G technologies. They also have been operating since 2000 and this is what has given birth to the kind of trajectory we have seen that seems to be taking course in that network.
In terms of challenges, their turnaround has been hampered by the system of tenders. You may be aware of the fact that in technology changes are so supersonic and dynamic but the change has not been met with the attendant speed particularly with Procurement Board taking all those other processes. This has made it very difficult for NetOne to be able to then compete with other network providers that are in the private sector because they have to go through this bureaucratic red tape process for them to have certain tenders approved. It has been a challenge in terms of their rate and speed of innovation, creativity and also to be able to cope with the competition from other sector players.
You may also know that most state owned entities are positioned in a very difficult position when it comes to a conducive environment for innovation. NetOne has not received any capital injection other than by way of loans - the loans that I have already indicated. It has also emerged that –[HON WADYAJENA: Inaudible interjection]- Madam Speaker I require your protection. Honourable Wadyajena was saying please say that it is funding G40 [Laughter]. It is not part of my report
Madam Speaker. Thank you for protecting me.
Honourable Wadyajena walked out of the Chamber.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Honourable Members, I want you to
behave when you are in this House. There is a certain language that I do not accept here. Please concentrate on the work of Parliament and those who have said such things must withdraw all those things. I will not accept such things in Parliament.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Madam Speaker, the fortunate
thing is that he has withdrawn himself. I really appreciate and there is no need for us to then go to that one.
In terms of NetOne, they have serious constraints but particularly the short term loans that have very high interest rates and it is a very disturbing trend because their revenues are being squandered on account of roll outs of existing network infrastructure. Clearly this has impacted negatively on the viability of NetOne’s operations and also the scope of their development and advancement. They have indeed achieved quite a lot. For the first time, they have recovered from losses and they have transformed themselves into a profitable entity.
For example, in 2013, they managed to have profit and their subscriber base as I have already indicated has also increased. They have managed to do those switch centres that I have also indicated. They are expanding into the rural areas. In fact, their reach is more prominent and their footprint is more widespread in the country side. They have also launched a payment system called ‘One Wallet’ for money transfer services and also airtime top-up and utility bill payments. This I would say is a positive development. They have added value to our GDP and they have added value to our commerce and business transactions.
As regards Econet, the company was also set up way back. They have since grown in leaps and bounds. In terms of being a contributor, they have contributed to the Universal Services Fund (USF) to the tune of over $43m having been contributed to date since their formation. It would appear that their gravamen or complaint has been that they are the ones that are consistently and continuously contributing to the USF. Most of the other companies, they allege are not contributing. It is a matter that we raised with the Minister and he has since indicated that it is an issue that is being sorted out.
The Econet advised us that power supplies, although they have greatly improved, they continue to have a problem with power. This is why Econet has almost become a power service provider. They are almost competing with ZESA because the number of generators they have are almost able to power in the minimum 10 suburbs because they have huge and mega generators across the whole country. Only if these generators were to be pooled together, they would really enhance the kind of output we would have when it comes to power. They were complaining but it is a challenge of power supplies, an issue that they are dealing with. They have also said that they have become again a road builder because roads are very bad particularly in rural areas like Gokwe and Mhondoro. They have had to construct road networks to access the various base stations. They have invested a lot of money into road construction, particularly working with local communities. This has also taken a lot of their revenue to be able to do work that traditionally would be done by other department within Government.
They also indicated to us that in some instances, they have had to use helicopters to erect and set up base stations. Meaning to say that the kind of resources that are required are quite expansive and extensive and this has also militated against the smooth functioning of the company. They have exceeded their roll outs in terms of achievements. They also indicated that they have invested in excess of $1.2bn over the last 6 years. They have been a star company according to them. They have done very well. They have created jobs and they have supported downstream businesses in the economy, particularly the air time sellers, vendors on the streets, Ecocash merchants and agents, kiosk operators to more sophisticated suppliers of goods and services within the country.
To date, Econet indicate that they have a network of 22 000 Ecocash agents and 20 000 merchants who are activated to sell airtime complemented by over 1 500 air time vendors. In terms of Ecocash, they boast that they have transformed the financial landscape in Zimbabwe involving the quickest and most efficient money transfer service to date.
I am sure most of the Members of Parliament have benefited from Ecocash because it is a facility that is convenient particularly where you have the unbanked or under-banked in our country where you do not have the network that would ensure that banks on account of viability are there.
They are also helping to drive the value of the money platform in
Zimbabwe’s informal sector and they value their contribution at an estimated $2bn. Clients have also received salaries, made different payments of goods without necessarily handling cash. I would say in line with Minister Chinamasa’s request that we go “e”, they have taken the lead by making sure that Ecocash becomes the lifeblood and lifeline for most communities. Instead of people being in the queue at banks they are now online and they do not need to be in the queue, a big improvement and also a positive development. In addition to those partnerships, they have done some important synergies and networking handshakes with mobile transfer agencies across the whole world; Western Union, MoneyGram and WorldRemit to ensure that money is mobile and money is being transacted without any undue hardship.
They are also powering up Zimbabwe, making sure that they provide safe and affordable power to homes. Econet is part of the green campaign in which the company is investing in alternative energies, raising environmental awareness by alleviating the crippling impact of worsening power cuts on the service. They have also done things to do with improved security.
Their contribution in education - consistently helping, what they call the Basic Education Support, through what is called the Higherlife Foundation. Over the 12 months of 2015, 23 000 children from primary schools and tertiary schools were assisted with school fees. Since 2010, according to Econet, they have assisted more than 76 000 children through Basic Education Scholarship Programme. By bringing ICTs to various centres in the communities. They have also set up learning hubs through what is called Higherlife Foundation. Their Learning Hub is a dynamic learning environment to promote communication, collaboration and creativity.
They set up 28 Learning Hubs in Zimbabwe in more than 3 000 community centres, which is quite an improvement. They have also built synergies with suppliers, but they complain fundamentally that the over the top transaction services are reducing their revenue. Over the top transactions - this is whatsapp, skype, those other platforms that are done on the strength of the internet. They are able then to make calls without necessarily bringing revenue for the dialing that is supposed to be done.
So, they are complaining that those are wreaking havoc. They would want us, as Government, to try and legislate that area. We told them that it is not a helpful or productive arrangement. You need also to compete on those platforms by making sure that services are indeed developed to effectively help our customers and consumers.
In terms of Telecel, you are aware that Telecel was recently acquired by Zarnet. They have a switching capacity of about 4.5 million with subscribers connected to their platform being 4.7 million in which 2.3 million are active subscribers. They also have been grappling with shareholder issues. They have now since resolved the shareholder issues, hoping that this will pave way for the flying and flourishing of the company. They have also had challenges which are the high cost of borrowing due to the need to fund capital intensive investment. They are negotiating with vendors and other financiers to introduce more services.
Power supply – again, just like Econet it has been a big and major challenge. Traffic refilling is a major issue for Telecel. Traffic refilling is whereby there is termination of communication on certain networks without necessarily paying for the termination rate. It is a big issue for Telecel as it is a big issue for TelOne and the perpetrators feel that they have no sanction against them because sentences that are currently being provided are very low, especially for those that are operating without licences. So, it is a big issue to Telecel. It has been affecting Telecel in a big way and I suppose it does affect all the mobile network providers that are there.
In terms of achievements, they are saying they are the cheapest of the networks. They have also reduced all their rates by 40%. They now have telecash like other mobile service providers, with a density of about 3 600 approved agents and integrated to all the banks on ZimSwitch, but now ZimSwitch has problems - I am not so sure how that is going to pan out.
In terms of contribution to employment creation, they have contributed significantly with their roll out of network in the various centres across the whole country. They still have to spread it across the whole country so that they have a national footprint and a nationwide presence. Their base stations are also powered on solar and they need to improve.
Last but not least, are the recommendations that we are giving as your Committee, Hon, Members and Hon, Chair. The first one being the cost of ICTs in Zimbabwe, that there is need for the reduction of cost of ICTs in general, particularly the internet and the broadband services.
They are still on the high in the country compared to other countries in the region and indeed on the continent, even worldwide.
Going forward, voice call tariffs have actually been going down and this is what we hope is an issue that will be addressed through the necessary interventions by POTRAZ, the regulatory body and the referee of the ICT sector in Zimbabwe. So, the cost of ICTs is an issue that we really would want to be dealt with, also, the aspect of the quality of services of the ICTs. You know that our calls are terminating mid stream and our calls are not being monitored. We have not yet come up with a mechanism. In other countries, a mobile operator is actually deregistered on account of poor network services or poor quality of calls.
So, they attribute the problem to incessant interruptions in terms of power cuts, but POTRAZ is being urged by the Committee and indeed hopefully by Parliament, to constantly check on the quality of calls by putting in place a mechanism of checking the call quality, so that there is a percentage threshold that is permissible for quality in terms of calls from mobile operators, to ensure that customers get value for money. Also, our Committee urged operators to come up with a mechanism of making sure that they benchmark their standards against the standards of the world.
The third recommendation is on Universal Services Fund (USF), that the administration of the USF must promote the development of networks and provision of ICT services in unserved and underserved areas in a transparent manner and fashion. There must also be a maximum use of USF to broaden coverage, particularly in countries that are in remote areas so that we are able to then deal with situations in those centres. All Zimbabweans need to access services, particularly areas in Binga and Matabeleland South where they are enjoying better network from South Africa and neighbouring Botswana without necessarily enjoying services from Zimbabwe. That is a sad indictment indeed.
We have also recommended, in fact this one, we have already raised with POTRAZ, that we need USF funds to be audited. They have not been audited and accounted for by Parliament as is required by the statutes of our country. They indicated that they have been auditing, but we have not seen the reports as is statutorily provided for by the laws of our land. So, this is an issue we have said needs to be resolved.
The fund must also help postal and courier operators to be developed because they are now transforming into other platforms of providing e-services, so there is need for that USF to be spread widely and in a bold fashion. Infrastructure sharing is the fourth recommendation but there has to be a legislative framework for operators to share their sites, especially operators like ZESA, Transmedia, NRZ and local authorities. There is no need for competition on infrastructure but competition is supposed to be on services for the consumers and the customers. So, it is an issue, the model has not been adopted but there is need for consultation with various operators so that there is a model. You cannot have five trenches competing in the same direction. There has to be complementarity of effort on the part of operators so that we are able to have a sustainable and predictable model that is convenient for operators and the Government.
In terms of taxation on ICT services, the need to remove 5% duty on airtime to enable operators to invest more capital in capital investment programmes that have impact on employment creation and also revenue enhancement and contribution to the fiscus.
The Committee also recommended the removal of 25% duty on the handsets as it is not very helpful. These are some of the tax measures we would want the Minister to consider. In terms of mobile payment systems that are regulated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, there is need to have an integrated approach on mobile payment systems involving all operators. The Committee recommends the reduction of tax on mobile money so that the unbanked and under-banked are also included in terms of the financial inclusion strategy of the country. There is need to encourage adoption of mobile money by public utilities to enhance revenue collection and customer convenience. We need to reduce payment of money in cash, including even on the commuter omnibus so that we are able to be on the e-platform.
We are also recommending consumer protection, that there is need for sufficient legislation to deal with issues of cyber security, cyber bullying, data protection and revenge pornography. In case most of you Hon. Members do not know that the issue of revenge pornography is a big issue in Zimbabwe. If Hon. Mudarikwa was in love with a particular partner and exchange some very nice moments during the happier times, when the situation gets out of control you then find Hon. Mudarikwa posting those pictures out of vindictiveness and revenge. This is what is called revenge pornography. I just wanted to use Hon. Mudarikwa as an example, not that he has done it before, but there is also no guarantee that he will not do it, especially if there is no law.
So, there is need for us to make sure that there is legislation around the issue of revenge pornography in order to protect people. We do not post pictures of individuals invading elements of privacy because it is a very important element. I think you know what is happening on the social platforms, the abuse that people are subjected to. Currently we do not have laws to protect abuse of individuals in that regard. We are not advocating any over regulation. In fact, we believe that Government is best that governs least but it is important for us to also understand that those interests of certain individuals in terms of their privacy is a very important element to be considered.
Electronic transactions are also not covered, so there is need for a Bill to come for purposes of consumer protection. Data protection information can actually be shared widely and wildly and that can actually be a big problem. There is need for protection of data as a way forward. Laws need to be enacted to also deal with the importation of equipment which may be used to commit crimes. Zimbabwe is probably one of the few countries where there is no criminalization of people who are using computers for purposes of piracy, which is an offence. You can use it for domestic purposes but not for commercial purposes. We need to try and look at all those areas to fine tune our laws so that we are able to also promote talent. Macheso and Tuku do their music and when they are done, we must be able to reward that talent or intellectual property, so that ICTs are not used to shortchange intellectual property and promotion of talent. That is an area that requires urgent attention by Government so that the lacuna is cured.
In terms of base station roll out, local authorities are encouraged to relax by-laws to allow creation of registered kiosks in the designated areas for dealers and vendors.
In conclusion, the growth of the mobile sector in Zimbabwe has faced numerous challenges, a plethora of challenges – which are a result of lack of proper and effective legislation to protect both the consumers and the mobile operators. In fact, right now we have a grey zone in terms of legislation. There has been a lackadaisical approach on the part of Government and we raised this with the Minister who indicated that he is trying to expedite the process, to make sure that laws are put in place to protect consumers and operators so that issues are conducted in a proper fashion.
Let me end by saying that going forward, the mobile sector in Zimbabwe is facing some very serious challenges that would require effective Government policy and also legislative measures. We count on Members of Parliament to be able to then cure the problems that we are facing. I wish to call upon Members of Parliament to support our recommendations on the state of the mobile sector in Zimbabwe. I so rest my case Hon. Madam Speaker. Thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Members, can
you please give Hon. Cross your ears.
HON. CROSS: This is an incredibly important subject and we really need to listen carefully. For example, you can imagine the impact in our community, if all 1600 primary health care clinics had access to a doctor on a 24 hour basis in terms of investigating what is wrong with the patient, what can be done, the question of referrals, the question of medication and emergency assistance.
Madam Speaker, you can imagine in the field of education, how we can provide every child in Zimbabwe with access to the world’s greatest libraries, access to every book that was ever written, access to immediate research capacity, access to academic assistance with every subject that they are studying. We can do that for every child, irrespective of their ability to pay.
Madam Speaker, I could go on and speak mostly about the potential of this sector. If you look for example, at the question of tourism, if you want to promote tourism, you can do so from a laptop in your bedroom and you can do it on a global basis. When I listen to ZiFM and SFM, I understand they are streaming these two broadcast services on a global basis. When you are sitting in the studio, here in Harare, you can communicate with the entire world. Madam Speaker, that is an extra ordinary development and we are not using it. We are not even touching the surface.
Madam Speaker, in Indonesia today, 3G broadband is nationwide. It is available everywhere, provided by the Government. We have got to have strategies which will roll out 3G broadband to every citizen, everywhere. You can imagine the impact on people in remote rural areas, being able to interrogate the market for people, maize and cotton. You are being paid 30 cents per kilogramme for cotton in the Zambezi Valley and you can work out, you can simply go on the internet and you can see that they should be paying double that. This will empower ordinary people.
I can remember Madam Speaker, when I was Chief Economist of the Agricultural Marketing Authority. We were dealing with about a quarter of a million cotton growers. We transformed the payment system for cotton growers by simply adopting modern technology, so we were able to reach every single cotton grower at any time. We were able to pay them within 24 hours, giving them cash.
Madam Speaker, I think, as a nation, we neglect this area at our peril. If you want to see us walk in the future, it is going to be through the medium, through IT. I hope that the Committee in the House will pay proper attention to the development of the sector and bring to this House if necessary, private legislation to enable the growth of the industry and the development of this sector in this country. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MPARIWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. RUNGANI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 7th June, 2016.
MOTION
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
HON. MPARIWA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House take note and adopts 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 (S.C. 6. 2016).
HON. CHAMISA: I second.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, as I was about to pronounce my preamble due to the fact that this report may sound belated to the Hon. Members but none the less, when I go into the merits of the report, you find that the observations that were made even in 2009, 2010 and 2011 are still problems in various Ministries and parastatals, therefore the need for the Committee to actually pursue and actually intend to present this report.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) plays a pivotal role in analysing audited financial statements of Government departments
(Ministries), State Enterprises and Parastatals, and Local Authorities. The PAC, with the assistance of Clive and Associates, a registered accounting firm, analysed the Auditor General’s (AG) reports for the year ended 31 December 2013 covering Government departments that is, 33 Appropriation Accounts, 89 State Enterprises and Parastatals Accounts and 40 Fund Accounts. The Committee noted with concern that there is recurring of issues observed by the Auditor General (AG) since 2009 which could be an indication that Government is not taking the Audit reports seriously.
This report is therefore, a summary of the Auditor General’s findings, and the Committee’s observations and recommendations on the findings of the 2013Auditor General’s (AG) reports. Annexed to this Report is also appendix A and B which list entities whose accounts were being audited at the time the 2013 Report was tabled and those that had not submitted accounts for audit respectively in clear violation of section 35 (6) (b) of the Public Finance Management Act. The Committee expects Treasury to put in place measures to improve the audit environment by the June, 2016. This is critical in view of the current constrained fiscal space as public funds are being lost through poor management of public resources.
2.0 THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COMMITTEE
The key objective of the Committee as mandated by Standing Order No.16 and the Constitution in Section 299 is to analyse expenditure of Government to ensure compliance with governing frameworks. In specific terms, the objectives of this Report are therefore; to perform an analysis of the 2013 Auditor General’s Report on appropriation and fund accounts as well as parastatals; to perform a trend review of the key findings from 2009 to date, and to perform an assessment of the audited entities for the implementation of AG’s recommendations to findings over the trend period and to inform the governmental departments on the necessary action required to comply with the requisite government accountability, governance and transparency principles. The Committee also seeks to review and assess the key findings from 2009 to date because of the recurrence of the issues observed by the Auditor General.
3.0 METHODOLOGY
The Committee analysed the Auditor General’s Reports for 2013 on Narrative Reports on Appropriation Accounts and Miscellaneous Funds and on State Enterprises and Parastatals. It then sorted the findings from each year for comparison and trend. The most prevalent findings were categorised as major findings while the less prevalent were categorised as other findings. The Committee also analysed the audit opinions issued by the Auditor General per entity.
4.0 FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee observed the following major findings from reading through the Narrative Reports:
↘ Lack of good corporate governance;
↘ Absence or inadequacies of policies and procedures;
↘ Absence or weak controls relating to cash management;
↘ Inadequacies relating to management of assets;
↘ Poor inventory management;
↘ Fraud;
↘ Inadequacies relating to revenue management (and cost containment);
↘ Inadequacies relating to receivables management;
↘ Inadequate disclosure of related party transactions;
↘ Violation of procurement procedures;
↘ Non compliance with statutory requirement;
↘ Inadequate supporting documentation; and ↘ System variances.
Other findings were identified based on the levels of prevalence.
These included the following:
→ Going concern issues;
→ Operational inefficiencies;
→ Failure to implement Results-Based Management (RBM);
→ Management override of controls;
→ Absence of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and other agreements;
→ Inadequate project management processes;
→ Absence of strategic plans and other governing documents;
→ Suspense accounts;
→ Inadequate Information Technology general and application controls;
→ Lack of segregation of duties;
→ Inadequate management review and reconciliation;
→ Intermingling of funds; and
→ Non-submission of statutory and other returns.
4.1 An Overview of the Findings
4.1.1 A. Major findings
The charts below show the distribution of major and other findings for the year ended 31 December 2013 for the three different categories analysed. The distribution is based on the spread of the findings across the entities in each category. Therefore, appropriation accounts observations are expressed as a fraction of thirty-three (33), State enterprises and parastatals as a fraction of eighty-nine (89) and fund accounts as a fraction of forty (40).
Figure 1 - Appropriation Accounts Major Findings
From the diagram above, 61.3% of appropriation accounts had Management of Assets as a major issue and this translates 16% of the total issues. 58.1% of appropriation accounts also had revenue management as a major issue. In proportion to total issues this translates to 16% of the findings as well. 51.6% of appropriation accounts had issues relating to Management of Receivables and Inadequate Supporting Documentation and these translates to 14% each of the total issues. 35.5% had Procurement issues, 25.8% had Inventory Management issues while 22.6% had Cash Management and System Variances issues and these accounted for 10%, 7% and 6% respectively of the total issues.
Figure 2 - Appropriation Accounts Other Findings
1Note that the symbols below have been consistently used throughout this report and should be referred to whenever encountered:
- δ – Going concern issues.
- µ - Operational efficiencies (organisation inadequately staffed or equipped).
- κ – Performance management not performed (appraisals, work plans, training.
- α – Management override of controls (unapproved allowances).
- β – Absence of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), loan or lease agreements.
- Ω - Inadequate project management processes in place.
- £ - Absence of governing documents like strategic plan etc.
- ≠ - Suspense account (straight qualification).
- € - Inadequate IT general and application controls.
- π – Lack of segregation of duties.
- τ – Management review and/or reconciliation not done.
- ϻ - Intermingling of appropriation and fund accounts.
- η - Returns not submitted.
As shown in the chart on other findings above, the most prevalent issues were lack of Management Review and / reconciliations raised in 41.9% of the appropriation accounts which represents 22% of the total issues. This was followed by lack of segregation of duties raised in 25.8% of the appropriation accounts and represents 14% of the total issues. Absence of Service Level Agreements/ loans and leases was raised in 22.6% of the appropriation accounts as well as absence of governing documents such as Strategic Plans and each represents12% of the total issues. Intermingling of funds was raised in16% of the appropriation accounts and also constitutes 9% of the total issues. Lack of Performance Management (appraisals) was raised in 16% of the appropriation accounts and this represents 8% of the total issues.
Figure 3 - State Enterprises and Parastatals Major Findings
The Prevalent issue among parastatals was regulatory compliance which was raised in 69.9% of the entities and represents 15% of the total issues. This was followed by Corporate Governance raised in 60.9% and constitutes 15% of the total issues. Management of Receivables was raised in 56.5% of the entities and this translates to 12% of the total issues. Management of Assets was raised in 50.0% while Management of Revenue in 47.8% of the entities and each constitutes 10% of the total issues. Inadequate Supporting Documentation was raised in 39.1% of the entities while Cash Management in 37.0% and each constitutes 8% of total the issues Procurement was an issue in 34.8% and Inventory Management in 32.6% of the entities and each represents 7% of the total issues.
Figure 4 - State Enterprises and Parastatals Other Findings
Most prevalent issues among other findings were Absence of
Service Level Agreements raised in 45.7% of the entities and represent 25% of the total issues. Going Concern was raised in 37.0% of the entities and it constitutes 20% of the total issues. Inadequate IT General and Application controls was raised in 28.3% of the entities and this represents 16% of the total issues. Management Override of Control (unapproved allowances) and Operational efficiencies (organisations inadequately staffed or equipped) were both raised in 19.6% of the entities and each represents 11% of the total issues.
Figure 5 - Fund Accounts Major Findings
In relation to funds, most prevalent issues among major findings were relating to Management of Revenue raised in 51.5% of the funds and Inadequate Supporting Documentation raised in 48.5% of the funds and each represents 16% of the total issues. Management of
Receivables was raised in 39.4% of the funds and represents 13% of the total issues. Management of Assets and Management of Cash were raised in 33.3% of the funds and each constitutes 11% of the total entities. Policies and Procedures were raised in 24.2% of the funds and this represents 8% of total issues. Inventory Management and Fraud were raised in 18.2% of the funds and each represents 8% of the total issues.
Figure 6 - Fund Accounts Other Findings
Among other findings most prevalent issues were relating to
Management Review or Reconciliations not done (22%); Intermingling of appropriation and Funds accounts (19%); Lack of Segregation of Duties (16%); and Suspense Accounts (11%).
4.1.2 Corporate governance
Corporate governance findings were mainly related to state enterprises and parastatals specifically focusing on failure to constitute a substantive board, absence of board sub-committees, inadequately capacitated audit and other board committees, failure of the internal audit function to discharge its function as well as inadequate oversight of the audit committee in the management of the State Enterprise or the Parastatal. The Committee noted with concern that in cases where committees were constituted and a governance issue was raised, the observation was related to inadequate meeting frequency and hence failure to discharge appropriate oversight on the operations of the organisation. A prevalent issue in the year ended 31 December 2013 was that of failure by members of Boards to disclose interests in contracts leading to conflict of interest.
With respect to Ministries (Appropriation Accounts) and Fund Accounts, corporate governance issues pertained to inadequacy of the internal audit function or failure to disclose interests in contracts. It is worth noting that Ministries are also required to have audit committees and the issue had been continuously raised by the Auditor General to no avail.
Examples of entities falling in this category included Postal
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ),
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB),
Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), Net One, Health Professionals Authority and Powertel.
In the absence of a substantive Board, there is lack of effective strategy, management and supervision in the concerned entity. Where Members of the Boards or Management are acting on certain leadership positions, they hesitate to make major decisions and long term plans and where the internal audit function is inadequate, fraudulent activities may occur undetected.
4.1.3 Policies and procedures
The Committee observed that almost all internal control issues have an element of non-compliance with policies and procedures. The Members, however, separated the issue of policies and procedures where the Auditor General highlighted total absence of documented policies and procedures in an organisation.
This observation particularly related to State Enterprises and Parastatals and Funds where 27.1% and 24.2% respectively did not have certain key policies and procedures documented. Among the nonexistent policies and procedures were ICT policies and procedures (addressing disaster recovery issues, business continuity, security and other general and application controls), HR policies, Accounting policies and Risk Management policies. Minerals Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe and its subsidiaries, National Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe(NMMZ), Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe (AGRIBANK) and Midlands State University are some of the examples who were noncompliant with policies and procedures.
Unavailability of these policies has implications on State Enterprises and Parastatal. For instance, an entity may fail to identify and mitigate against existing and emerging risks in the absence of a risk policy. Again in the absence of an IT policy, the IT environment may be difficult to control as there will be no formal IT documentation to spell out what is expected from the information system users.
4.1.4 Cash management
Best practice requires that cash be banked within 24 hours from receipt. The Auditor General noted internal control violations with respect to timely banking. This violation expounded the risks of misappropriation of cash through fraud, theft, pilferage, cash rolling and other schemes. The risk was further amplified where the entity handled significant amounts of cash. All categories of entities reviewed had significant appearance of this observation with the highest prevalence occurring in Funds at 33.3%.Examples of entities were Harare Hospital,
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Allied Timbers Zimbabwe Ltd and Cod Storage Commission (C.S.C).
4.1.5 Management of assets
An asset is a resource embodying economic benefits. Assets which include items of equipment (motor vehicles, furniture, computer and other equipment) continue not to be appropriately managed. Specific observations by the Committee related to failure by organisations to maintain up to date asset registers, periodically verify assets, perform valuations and assess the impairment and residual values of assets. Also included under assets are investments (property, money market and equity investments).
Where assets had been damaged or disposed of, the Auditor
General noted that, in certain instances, Boards of Survey (BoS) and/or Boards of Inquiry (BoI) were not performed. These internal control violations were in contravention of section 49 of the Public Finance Management Act (Chapter 22:19) which requires public entities to keep full records of their financial affairs.
This observation was raised on several entities for example Postal
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ),
Allied Timbers Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Marange Resources (Private) Limited, Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) and Harare Institute of Technology.
If assets are not properly managed, theft may occur undetected and result in prejudicing the company’s economic resources. The company may fail to recover and replace their assets in the event that a disaster occurred if they are not insured.
4.1.6 Inventory management
The Committee noted instances where inventory was inadequately managed leading to pilferage and expiration of items. Grain Marketing Board, Forestry Commission and University of Zimbabwe are some of the entities where there were inadequacies in management of inventory. Liquid fuel and fuel coupons were the most affected in the year under review, leading to gross misappropriation of inventories. In cases where there is no accounting system of inventory there will be theft and fraud which may be difficult to detect.
4.1.7 Fraud
Fraud remained prevalent in a number of entities audited (coupled with management override of control). The Committee noted fraud cases distributed as follows:
- Appropriation accounts – 12.9%
- State enterprises and parastatals – 13.0%
- Fund accounts – 18.2%
For example, funds were embezzled from Ministry of Mines and Mining Development; Ministry of Health and Child Care; Ministry of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs- Prisons; Health Professions
Authority, Mines and Mining Development Fund, Special Gold Fund; Deeds and Companies Office Fund and Printflow (Private) Limited. In some of the fraud cases, there was manipulation of the source documents. Some of these cases were dealt with and the remainders of the cases are still under investigation.
The Auditor General further reported that unsupported payments were made and losses resulting from suspected fraudulent activities were incurred, involving amounts ranging from US$3,000 to US$3.5 million.
4.1.8 Revenue Management
Revenue management was also noted as a significant issue in the
Auditor General’s reports. In our analysis, where unnecessary expenditure and/or inadequate cost management occurred in an entity, we included this under revenue management. Cases in point are
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe
(CAAZ), Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED), and Petrotrade. The entities experience financial losses due to wasteful expenditure and this has the effect of downstream/negative effect on government’s budgetary system and planned operations.
4.1.9 Receivables management
Where there were issues around revenue management (receipting, management of costs, banking, pricing), the Committee noted that there were challenges with managing debtors or receivables. This led to revenue and receivables management being the largest combined contributors to the observations on internal control deficiencies for all categories of entities analysed. Overall, entities failed to manage their collections against receivables resulting in potential impairment of receivables, cash flow challenges and ultimately the going concern issues noted further in this report. Some of the entities that had failed to manage their collection against receivables are Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Cold Storage Commission (CSC), Netone (Private) Limited and Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Poor management of receivables impact negatively on the operations of the entities.
4.1.10 Related party transactions
The Auditor General noted cases where related party transactions were inadequately disclosed. This was in violation of the relevant accounting standards. Also included here were allowances paid out to executives and senior management against which no tax was levied as some were paid outside the payroll. Postal Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe is one of the entities that have a related party transaction.
4.1.11 Procurement procedures
Also prominent were weaknesses relating to procurement. There were specific violations to the provisions of Statutory Instrument 171 of
2002 (Procurement Regulations). Other violations were in relation to the tender procedures, with particular reference to sourcing of adequate quotations, splitting of invoices to elude the State Procurement Board and authorisation of transactions at inappropriate levels. The trend with regards to the frequency of procurement violations will be analysed further in this report. Examples of such entities include Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe (AGRIBANK), Mellofieldde Chemicals (Private) Limited and Zimbabwe Mining Development corporation (ZMDC). Procurement weaknesses have impacted on entities in a number of ways that includes financial losses due to procuring goods and services at very high prices. The environment is also conducive for corruption.
4.1.12 Regulatory compliance
Violations of regulatory and statutory requirements were noted pertaining to submission of statutory remittances to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), National Social Security Authority (NSSA), pensions and regulatory contributions to medical aid. Other examples are Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) which failed to comply with the procurement policy, National Railways of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Post (Private) Limited (ZIMPOST) which failed to comply with the VAT Act. Key violations noted for funds were with respect to fund constitutions. 69.6% of State enterprises and parastatals audited failed to comply with regulatory or statutory requirements citing viability issues as major reasons for failing to fund the payments. Entities experience financial losses due to penalties and fines which may be charged by regulatory Authorities. Further in this report we discuss the going concern issues in more detail.
4.1.13 Inadequate supporting documentation
Every transaction recorded in an entity’s accounting system should be supported by the appropriate third party supporting document e.g. invoices, statements, goods received notes or acknowledgement of receipts.
In the year under review, cases were noted where supporting documents was not availed to support transactions entered into leading to a scope limitation. Examples of such entities include Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), Allied Timbers Zimbabwe (Private) Limited and Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).
Under such environment fraudulent activities cannot be ruled out.
4.1.14 System variances
System variances relate to differences between the sub-paymaster general account and the public finance management system or underlying documents. Over the last six years the Committee has noted a material improvement in this observation which is highly commendable.
4.2Other findings
4.2.1 Going concern issues
Going concern relates to whether an entity will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future where the foreseeable future is normally the next twelve (12) months. The Committee observed that a staggering 37% of the state enterprises and parastatals audited and analysed had going concern issues. This was mainly due to the difficult operating conditions the entities found themselves in. The going concern challenges were notable from some of the following indicators:
- Negative capital position
- Incessant losses
- Net current liability position
- Increasing borrowings and payables
Examples of entities with going concern issues are National
Indigenization Economic Empowerment Board, Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC), Civil Aviation Authority and
Marange Resources (Private) Limited, Infrastructural Development
Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ), Cold Storage Commission (CSC) and National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
4.2.2 Operational issues
Coupled with the going concern issue above was the issue of operational inefficiencies where entities were failing to deliver value to the general citizenry due to inadequate resources. Resources in this case referred to equipment and staff among others.
4.2.3Results-based Management (RBM) implementation
The Government introduced a performance management tool for all Government departments to measure performance of staff in these entities. However, the Auditor General noted that this method of monitoring performance was not being fully implemented in ministries (16.1%), and state enterprises and parastatals (4.3%).
4.2.4 Management override of controls
Management override of controls, though analysed separately in this report, is a subset of fraud where management deliberately circumvents internal controls in place mostly for personal benefit. The Committee noted cases where management override of controls occurred specifically with regards to allowances granted to staff (especially management) without proper sanctioning either at board (state enterprises and parastatals) or ministry level (ministries). National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and Marange Resources (Private) Limited
are some of the examples of entities with issues of management overriding controls.
4.2.5Absence of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and other agreements
Lease administration was not being appropriately done in a number of cases noted as exemplified by the arrangement between National Oil
Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC) and Verify Engineering
(Private) Limited which was not supported by a signed lease agreement.
Loan agreements were also not drawn up for loans from Ministries to State Enterprises or Parastatals as exemplified by cases in the table below:
Lender | Recipient | Amount
(US$) |
Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructural Development |
National Railways of Zimbabwe | 5,500,000 |
Air Zimbabwe | 11,499,781 | |
Tel One | 4,000,000 | |
Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe | 10,500,000 | |
New Vehicle Security | Air Zimbabwe | 19,875,976 |
Registration Number Plate
Revolving Fund |
Figure 7 - Sample loans without agreements
4.2.6 Inadequate project management processes
Inadequate project management processes relate to when an entity would have received funding for a specific project or programme and yet fail to deliver on that project because resources are inappropriately allocated. Case in point is the Ministry of Health and Child Care where Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIP) were not implemented due to failure to prioritise fund allocations. The Committee observed that there are projects under the department of roads which were inadequately funded.
4.2.7 Absence of strategic plans and other governing documents
The Committee also noted instances where organisations were functioning without adequate strategic plans to govern operations or funds were operating without the fund constitutions. Such entities include National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and Mellofieldde Chemicals (Private) Limited. In the absence of strategic plan, Company activities may fail to align with its goals and financial resources may not be allocated effectively and efficiently.
4.2.8 Suspense accounts
A suspense account exists where accounts are out of balance or funds cannot be allocated to specific accounts. By nature, suspense accounts imply the inaccuracy of the accounts and in audit would lead to a qualification of the said accounts. In the year under review, the Auditor General identified cases where suspense accounts existed even though these cases are less prevalent.
4.2.9 Inadequate IT general and application controls
IT general and application controls are measures in place to govern how an IT system operates. The Auditor General noted instances where these controls were either non-existent or inadequate particularly in state enterprises where 28.3% of entities reviewed had that issue raised.
Netone, Cold Storage Commission and Telone are some of the examples of entities with inadequate IT general. With non-existence or inadequate IT generals systems may be vulnerable to fraudulent activities and unauthorised and intentional or unintentional changes to the application by employees may occur. There is also potential loss of data.
4.2.10 Lack of segregation of duties
A system of internal control works efficiently where there is adequate segregation of duties. The Auditor General noted instances where there was inadequate segregation of duties between initiation, custody, and authorisation. Examples of such entities are Forest Commission, Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe (AGRIBANK),Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) and Mineral Marketing Corporation (ZMDC). In cases where there is no segregation of duties errors and irregularities may go undetected. The environment is also conducive to fraudulent
activities.
4.2.11 Inadequate management review and reconciliation
Linked to point 4.2.10 above was the issue of inadequate management review and failure to perform reconciliations of accounts including bank reconciliations, reconciliations of the Sub-Paymaster General Accounts with the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) among other things.
4.2.12 Intermingling of funds
The Committee observed that the Appropriation funds were also intermingled with Fund resources instead of maintaining separate bank accounts and financial records for Funds managed by the respective Ministries. This was consistent with prior periods and continues to be an issue between Ministries and funds. Ministries are violating Funds Constitutions by using Funds resources to meet expenditures normally funded under the appropriation accounts. For example, Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development took funds from the Zimbabwe Community Development Fund; Ministry of Health and Child Care took funds from the Child Welfare; Ministry of Public
Service, Labour and Social Welfare from Disabled Persons Funds and
Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs from Prisons
Service Fund.
4.2.13 Non-submission of returns
The Committee noted with concern that returns were not submitted by 22.6% of ministries and 9.1% of fund accounts. These include asset certificates, results based management, losses of and damage to state property among other returns required per treasury instructions.
5.0 Trend Analysis
In this section of the report, the Committee analyses how each finding has trended since 2010 (appropriation accounts) and 2011 (state enterprises and parastatals). This is in an attempt to identify where improvements have been noted in terms of internal control findings while also identifying any items that could be deteriorating.
5.1 Appropriation accounts
The table and graphs below indicate the trends for findings pertaining to appropriation accounts. The general trend for key observations is upwards which shows a decline in key controls.
There was one significant improvement in system variances traditionally noted between the sub-paymaster general and public finance management system (PFMS). Of note are the following:
Figure8 -Trends for Appropriation Accounts
Figure 9 - Appropriation Accounts Major Findings (2010-2013)
Figure 10 - Appropriation Accounts Other Findings (2010-2013)
5.2 State enterprises and parastatals
The table and graphs below indicate the trends for findings pertaining to state enterprises and parastatals. The general trend for key observation is upwards which shows a decline in key controls. There were two significant improvements in policies and procedures and fraud.
Of note are the following:
Figure 11 - Trends for State Enterprises and Parastatals
Figure 12 - State Enterprises and Parastatals Major Findings (2010-
2013)
Figure 13 - State Enterprise and Parastatals Other Findings (2010-2013)
Please note that there is inadequate trend information for funds for us to prepare a trend analysis of the same. Current information is only for 2012 and 2013.
6.0 Audit Opinions
The Committee analysed the performance of entities audited by assessing the audit opinions issued. In assessing these audit opinions the Committee looked at the overall classifications for appropriation accounts, state enterprises and parastatals and fund accounts. The committee with the assistance of Clive and associates compared the audit opinions for 2013 in an attempt to interpret the quality of accounting in the public sector by category.
The Auditor General issues an audit opinion on every entity audited. This is highly informative for the users of the audit reports. In the past, a blanket opinion was issued for all appropriation and fund accounts while state enterprises and parastatals received different opinions per entity. The graph below shows the audit opinion comparatives.
Figure 14 - 2013 Audit Opinions
From the observation of the graph above, state enterprises and parastatals have the best performance in terms of quality of audit opinions with about 87% of the audited ones receiving clean opinions. However, this does not represent a complete picture in terms of state enterprises as there are some entities which had not produced accounts for audits. This graph should, therefore, be read with Appendix A and B which show state enterprises which were not included in this audit as they had not submitted accounts for audit and could sway the spread of audit opinions.
7.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Conclusion
It is disheartening to note the Auditor General since 2009 has been reporting on the same findings which is a clear indication that the recommendations made from year to year are not being implemented. If anything, the findings are deteriorating from year to year. The
Committee further noted with concern that since the enactment of the Public Finance Management of Act in 2009, Treasury has been reluctant to put in place Public Finance Management Regulations which will ensure effective implementation of the provisions of the principal Act. Most of financial misconduct in the public sector cannot be dealt with precisely in the absence of these regulations. The Auditor General and the Committee may continue to make recommendations but in the absence of consequences for certain actions or inactions by public officials, the status quo is likely to continue unabated.
As the 2013 and previous Audit reports demonstrate, Funds have become objects of abuse by Ministries and the intended purpose is not being fulfilled. Government should review the performance of the various funds and see whether they are serving a purpose as most of them have become an illegal source of additional funding for activities normally funded under the Appropriation Account.
The deterioration of findings by the Auditor General from year to year shows that Ministries are not paying heed to issues raised. Going forward, the Auditor General’s Reports should inform budget allocation to various Ministries. Ministries with outstanding audit issues should have their budgets cut as a measure to enforce implementation of audit recommendations. Below are specific recommendations on the findings.
7.2 Recommendations
RECOMMENDATIONS
7.2.1Treasury should
by end of June, 2016, come up with regulations providing specifically for various acts of financial misconduct.
7.2.2 The Executive must urgently, where applicable, constitute Boards and appoint senior Management with the requisite skills to run the affairs of state enterprises and parastatals as provided by the Corporate Governance Framework.
7.2.3 All Board Members must declare assets before assuming office and disclosure of interest must be made whenever necessary.
7.2.4 All Accounting officers must appoint Audit Committees by the end of June, 2016 in order to comply with section 84 of the Public Finance Management Act. Failure to implement this recommendation is a violation of the provisions of the Act which is punishable in terms of section 91 of the same Act.
7.2.5 All entities must put in place key policy documents such as IT,
Investment and Risk Management policies by the end of the June 2016. Failure to implement this recommendation by due date would be in violation of section 44 of the Public Finance Management Act which compels accounting authorities to establish and maintain effective, efficient and transparent systems of financial and risk management and internal controls. Such violation is defined as financial misconduct which calls for the appointing authority to institute disciplinary proceedings.
7.2.6 Failure to properly manage cash and receivables is a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the accounting officer and as such accounting officers failing in this regard should be dismissed in terms of section 86 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.7 All related party transactions should be reported at the time the transactions are concluded and failure to do so constitutes an offence which should be dealt with in terms of section 91 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.8 All allowances paid to executives and senior management should be reflected on the payroll and failure to do so shall be deemed an act of fraud punishable at law.
7.2.9 The Procurement function in other jurisdictions is decentralized to procuring entities while Procurement Authorities play a regulatory function. Government should speed up efforts under way to reform the public procurement law and ensure that the new regulatory framework is in place by June 2016.
7.2.10 Entities should remit statutory and contractual payments to NSSA, ZIMRA and Medical Aid contributions to avoid incurring penalties. In cases where such deductions are made and remittances are not made, the accounting authorities should be held responsible for any related costs incurred by the respective entity.
7.2.11 All Ministries and Parastatals should implement Results Based Management (RBM) as a performance measurement tool. Rewards should be linked to good performance.
7.2.12 All loans should have loan agreements in place and failure to have an agreement in place should be treated as an act of nonperformance which requires the appointing authority to take the necessary action.
7.2.13 All entities should have in place strategic plans which are linked to the Results Based Management. Failure to do so is in violation of section 46 of the Public Finance Management Act which should be dealt with as provided in section 91 of the same Act.
7.2.14 There should be proper segregation of duties, as lack of it may create opportunities for concealment of errors and material irregularities.
Where there are challenges, there should be constant supervision. 7.2.15 All reconciliations must be carried out on a monthly basis/timeously. Failure to carry out reconciliations should be treated as non- performance on the part of the accounting officers which should call for necessary disciplinary action.
7.2.16 Ministries should maintain separate accounts for Appropriation and Fund resources. Failure of which constitute financial misconduct which should be dealt with in terms of Section 91 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.17 Financial statements and supporting returns should be submitted on time and failure to submit should be a punishable act in terms of section 91 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.18 All fraudulent activities should be investigated fully and timeously to establish responsibility and ensure appropriate legal and administrative action is taken.
7.2.19 All instances involving the abuse or loss of state properties should be properly investigated and appropriate action taken in terms of section 12 of the Public Finance Management Act.
A. Accounts being finalised as at 31 December 2014
The table below shows entities whose audits were yet to be finalized as at 31 December 2014 as well as the periods that were being audited as at that date.
Numb
er |
Public Entity[1] | Year |
1 | Zimbabwe School Examination Council | 2013 |
2 | Agricultural Rural Development Authority | 2012 |
3 | Air Zimbabwe and its subsidiaries | 2010 |
4 | Allied and Health Practitioners Council | 2013 |
5 | Anti-Corruption Commission | 2010 |
6 | Bulawayo School of Hospitality and Tourism | 2013 |
7 | Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe | 2013 |
8 | Environmental Management Agency | 2013 |
9 | Grain Marketing Board | 2013 –
2014 |
10 | Great Zimbabwe University | 2013 |
11 | Lotteries and Gaming | 2013 |
12 | Medical Rehabilitation Practitioners Council | 2013 |
13 | National AIDS Council | 2013 |
14 | National Arts Council of Zimbabwe | 2013 |
15 | National Biotechnology Authority | 2010 –
2012 |
16 | National Income and Pricing Commission | 2013 |
17 | Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals | 2013 |
18 | Small and Medium Enterprise Development
Corporation and its subsidiary Liteford |
2013 |
Engineering | ||
19 | State Lotteries | 2009 –
2011 |
20 | State Procurement Board | 2009 –
2011 |
21 | Transmedia | 2012 |
22 | Zimbabwe Academic and Research Network | 2011 –
2013 |
23 | Zimbabwe Electoral Commission | 2012 –
2013 |
24 | Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration | 2013 |
25 | Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
and its subsidiaries |
2013 |
26 | Zimbabwe National Road Administration | 2012 –
2013 |
27 | Zimbabwe National Water Authority | 2012 |
28 | Zimbabwe Open University | 2012 |
29 | Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority |
2013 |
B. Accounts not submitted for audit as at 31 December 2014
The table below shows entities whose accounts were yet to be submitted for audit as at 31 December 2014 as well as the periods that were outstanding as at that date:
Numb
er |
Public Entity[2] | Year |
1 | State Procurement Board | 2013 |
2 | Anti-Corruption | 2011 –
2013 |
3 | Forestry Commission | 2013 |
4 | National Libraries and Documentation
Services |
2009 –
2013 |
5 | National Handicraft Centre | 2009 –
2013 |
6 | Zimbabwe Open University | 2013 |
I hope and trust that Members will find this report very beneficial and the Executive will also get to be busy in terms of the recommendations so that come 2015, all the entities will have submitted their accounts. I thank you.
HON. RUNGANI: Madam Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 7th June, 2016.
On the motion of HON. RUNGANI, seconded by HON.
KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Half Past Four o’clock p.m.
until 7th June, 2016.
[1] The table has been extracted from the Auditor General’s report, Report of the Auditor General for the Financial
Year Ended 31 December 2013 – Narrative Report on State Enterprises and Parastatals, p.347
[2] The table has been extracted from the Auditor General’s report, Report of the Auditor General for the Financial
Year Ended 31 December 2013 – Narrative Report on State Enterprises and Parastatals, p.348
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 18th May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
CODE OF ETHICS AND ASSET DECLARATION REGISTER FOR
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that the Code of Ethics for Members of Parliament that was approved by the Sixth
Parliament and the Draft Asset Declaration Register approved by the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders on the 21st of April, 2016 have been placed in Honourable Members’ pigeon holes. Members are requested to consider and submit their views and recommendations on the Asset Declaration Register for consideration by the Committee on
Standing Rules and Orders. Submissions should be made through
Counsel to Parliament’s office by Tuesday, 31st of May, 2016.
CHANGES TO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: Honourable P. Dutiro has been
nominated to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Lands, Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and on Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Honourable Chimwamurombe will serve on the Portfolio Committees on Higher and Tertiary Education and
Industry and Commerce.
THE HON. SPEAKER’S RULING
REMINDER OF RULING ON UNSUBSTANTIATED UTTERANCES THE HON. SPEAKER: Yesterday, the 17th of May 2016, during the debate on Human Trafficking, Honourable Maridadi alleged that he had evidence of some Members of Parliament that were complicit in the abuse of women. He however, could not produce the evidence at the material time and promised to submit it today. Previously, the Chair has ruled in this august House directing Honourable Members to desist from making unsubstantiated “allegations against other Members and Officers of Parliament or members of the public except by way of a substantive and clearly formulated motion”.
In his contribution to the debate, Honourable Maridadi alleged that he was in possession of evidence imputing that some Honourable
Members are accomplices to the recruitment of Zimbabwean women to Kuwait to work as slaves and promoting the abuse of women. He further alleged that an unnamed Member of Parliament owns a Night Club called the Private Lounge which is along Harare Street which promotes stripping of women to provide pleasure to patrons most of whom are men. When confronted to submit the names, Hon. Maridadi promised to avail the names to the Hon. Speaker today.
As a result, the Chair has noted with grave concern the persistence by some Honourable Members of Parliament to willfully disregard and defy lawful rulings made by the Chair in respect of adherence to peremptory constitutional provisions. By way of a reminder, and this being the last warning to the Members concerned and others, the Chair is again ruling as follows:
The Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act [Chapter
2:08] which guarantees the privileges of Members of Parliament, including freedom of speech is subject to the provisions of the
Constitution as the supreme law of the land. More specifically, Section 61(5) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that freedom of expression and freedom of the media exclude:
- incitement to violence;
- advocacy of hatred or hate speech;
- malicious injury to a person’s reputation or dignity; or
- malicious or unwarranted breach of a person’s right to privacy.
Accordingly and as aptly specified in section 119 (1) of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe,
“Parliament must protect this Constitution and promote democratic governance in Zimbabwe”.
Where Members make any allegations against any other Member or Members, that is relevant to the debate on the floor, they must immediately table the evidence to substantiate their claims. Any Member of Parliament who fails to observe this and other previous rulings may be liable for censure in this House or be charged with contempt. The previous rulings of the Chair clearly stated that “no Member shall be allowed to make unsubstantiated allegations against other Members or members of the public except by way of a substantive and clearly formulated motion”.
The ruling of the Chair does not amount to limiting the freedom of speech of Members of Parliament or gagging them. Any Member of Parliament wishing to engage in objective and constructive debate on an improper conduct of any other Member of Parliament should do so by way of a clearly substantiated separate motion accompanied with verifiable evidence in support of such a motion before the Chair can clear it. The Chair’s ruling provided for a procedure to be followed in conducting debate in this House should one raise factual allegations on any other Member of Parliament or a member of the public. This is an honourable august House where spurious allegations calculated to unjustly injure the dignity of others shall not be admitted under the guise of freedom of expression.
Therefore, pursuant to provisions of Standing Order 110(1) of the National Assembly:
“Any member who disregards the authority of the Chair or persistently and willfully disrupts the business of the House commits an offence for which he or she may be suspended from the service of the House”
The Chair wishes to emphatically state that all decisions and orders made by the Chair are binding on all Members of the National Assembly and have full force of law until such a time when they are amended, annulled or rescinded either by the Chair or a competent authority in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
In line with well documented parliamentary procedures meant to ensure the orderly flow of business, it is the duty of the Speaker to interpret rules impartially, to maintain order, and to defend the rights and privileges of Members, including the right to freedom of speech, subject to the law as well as the right of every person’s protection under the Constitution as stated in section 61(5) of the Constitution.
Consequently, all Members of Parliament must comply with the ruling which the Chair made in this House previously, failure of which serious consequences will follow.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker Sir. I am not so sure, Hon. Speaker that we are relying on the correct sections of the Constitution, particularly on this one.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you debating the Speaker’s Ruling?
HON. CHAMISA: I have no duty to debate the Speaker’s Ruling but…
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are out of order. Please sit down.
Can you sit down?
HON. CHAMISA: But Hon. Speaker, you are not going to have a situation like this. We are not students. We are your Members of Parliament. We have a duty. When you raise something that…– [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order!
HON. CHAMISA: Your conduct Hon. Speaker Sir, has to be consistent with our Constitution…– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Order! Can you please remove him.
HON. CHAMISA: It has to be consistent with our Constitution.
We cannot have that…– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- THE HON. SPEAKER: You disobeyed my order…
HON. CHAMISA: No I am not disobeying. You do not say things. We are not students. You have said something and constitutionally it is wrong.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Listen, I said you can go to court.
HON. CHAMISA: No. We do not go to court. This is
Parliament. It has its own jurisdictions…
THE HON. SPEAKER: I will remove you out of Parliament.
HON. CHAMISA: No, Hon. Speaker Sir. I will not accept this. If you want, do whatever you can – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.]-
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. DR. KEREKE: My question is directed to the Hon.
Minister of Agriculture. Mr. Speaker Sir, the harvesting period is now for farmers, both communal and large scale. We want to find out from the Hon. Minister the updated food security situation in terms of maize grain as well as policies in place for the ongoing 2016 winter wheat programme. Also, if the Hon. Minister could elaborate the procedure for accessing the food relief, the link between the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services and the Ministry of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MADE): I want
to thank the Hon. Member for raising the question on the updated situation in terms of grain harvesting. Mr. Speaker, I wish to confirm that indeed maize harvesting has started across the country. However, I want to indicate that the harvest is not to the levels that we can consider stopping the maize measures in terms of imports that have been put in place. The estimated imports still stand at the same levels as announced. So, all the activities relating to maize coming into the country are continuing. That is one major point.
The other one is on maize that is being delivered to the Grain Marketing Board. I am happy to indicate that currently the levels of deliveries to the Grain Marketing Board are substantial to the point that we are also able to use what is being harvested to mitigate drought in certain parts of the country. To date already, the Grain Marketing Board has taken delivery of 16 000 metric tonnes in the current season. I have also directed the Grain Marketing Board to take the maize at 13.5% moisture content where we normally take the grain at 12.5% moisture content. The prices obviously will be adjusted according to the moisture content levels. We have done this in order to facilitate the early deliveries of maize to the Grain Marketing Board. In terms of payment for the maize delivered, I am happy to also indicate to the House that the farmers are being paid as they deliver their grain to the Grain Marketing Board.
To this effect, already Treasury has released US$3.5 million plus
US$1 million, making a total of current releases to the Grain Marketing Board to US$4.5 million. The farmers are being paid as directed. This is also to enable the farmers who are harvesting maize to be able to start the winter preparation. Specifically on the winter preparations, we are going to support the farmers through this method of grain deliveries and paying those farmers to the extent that we anticipate that 25 000 hectares will be planted to wheat.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Leader of the House who is also the Vice President of the nation, Hon. Mnangagwa. Is it Government policy that different political parties are allowed to use school buses [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Chief whips from ZANU PF and MDC T approached the Chair.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I would
like to advise the House that we have had a discussion on the proceedings and we have come up with a way forward on what needs to be done. We have agreed that we will have a meeting with the Speaker so that we clarify the issues that Hon. Chamisa was raising. Myself, the Chief Whip and the Speaker will have a meeting on this issue.
Meanwhile, for the progress of this Parliament and for the sake of our Parliament, Hon. Chamisa will come back into the House so that we proceed – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
*THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): With respect Hon. Speaker, Hon. Chibaya asked a question. He is my brother and should not interfere. He asked whether it was Government policy to decide whether or not they can hire buses that they bought with their own money. It is up to the owners of the school to decide what to do with their bus. There is no policy that they should hire out or not their bus. These institutions can do whatever they want because these are their buses which they bought using parents funds. So they can do whatever they want.
*HON. CHIBAYA: My supplementary question to the question I asked is because we have had complaints throughout the country. I appreciate your response Leader of the House, Hon. Vice President Mnangagwa.
The reason why I asked that question is because I have heard complaints from schools throughout the country. I heard that ZANU PF is saying that all school buses should be used to ferry people during the million-man march, that is my question.
*HON. E. D. MNANGAGWA: Mr. Speaker, I heard that schools
all over the country went to Hon. Chibaya to complain, maybe they are waiting for this to happen. I do not know what position he holds for all schools to approach and complain to him.
There are also schools from where we come from but we have not heard of such complaints, but they have only gone to complain to Hon. Chibaya. Parents contributed to buy those school buses and if they have any complaints, they should direct their complaints to the relevant authorities and not just direct them to anyone.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Order, after some consultation with the Leader of Government business in the House, Vice President Mnangagwa and Leader of the Opposition, we have come to some conclusion which we have asked Hon. Chamisa to state, then I will indicate what must follow.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I just want to
start by saying that once there is intervention of the Office of Vice President of the country and also the Leader of the Opposition, my leader, I stand guided because we know that anarchy is the rule of every man but democracy is rule of rules. It is in that context that I wish to abide by the wisdom and guidance of the elders because that is what builds the nation.
I must say to you that the altercation was unnecessary, unfortunate and regrettable Hon. Speaker Sir. I hope that this is something that is not going to repeat itself and I commit that I am dedicated and committed as your citizen and a citizen of Zimbabwe to make sure that our rules are respected, orders of Parliament are respected but also democracy is respected. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order!
THE HON. SPEAKER: After Honourable Chamisa had
explained himself, I from the Chair direct that any Member who is not in agreement with the ruling of the Speaker in terms of a certain section of my ruling which says “the rulings that have taken place will stand until annulled or rescinded either by the Chair or a competent authority in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe”. In other words, any Member who disagrees with the ruling can appeal to the Constitutional Court – [MDC-T HON MEMBERS: Hmmmm] – Yes, Order, we have had in
other jurisdictions where the ruling of the Speaker was ruled against by the Constitutional Court. It is not something new and the Speaker or
Chair will abide by the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
So, it is not the end of the chapter at all. The Speaker can be wrong at times and the Constitutional Court can rule accordingly and that ruling will be accepted.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Vice President
Honourable Mnangagwa, the answer that he gave me that if complaints are only coming to Hon Chibaya then they cannot be rectified. My question is that I was elected in Mkoba Constituency to represent the people and to bring people’s concern to this House and bring them forth to Government for it to give me an answer. So, if he says that the complaints that are brought to him cannot be rectified, to whom am I supposed to direct my questions?
HON. E. MNANGAGWA: I am happy with the explanation that
he has given me because earlier on he had said the whole country but now he has said Mkoba Constituency and I agree with him. I answered and said the Government cannot give directives to schools. Government cannot tell schools to whom they cannot hire out their buses. It is up to the school to do whatever it wants to do. It is their bus from their community and it is the people in Mkoba who know that we bought a bus and they know that we will use our bus in this manner or that manner.
If only you had explained that this was a question from Mkoba but when you said the whole country then I said it is a problem if the whole country is now coming to you.
Hon. Murai and Hon. Sithole having put the Zimbabwean flag around their necks.
*HON. ZIYAMBI: On a point of order. My point of order is that there are two Honourable Members on the opposite side who have put the national flag around their necks. Is this what is now permitted in this House to wear flags around the necks and shoulders or they are trying to belittle this country.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Honourable Members, this is a
Zimbabwean flag, just put it down. Just place it down. I said place the Zimbabwean flag down. We have to treat it with some respect.
*HON. GONESE: On a point of privilege. I notice there are some
Honourable Members who are also wearing their flags. I notice
Honourable Langa has a pin with a Zimbabwean flag and there is an Honourable Member over there, he has a pin that has a Zimbabwean flag. Where is the difference because they are also flags? What is the difference between those on this side and those on the other side? Where is the difference with those wearing flags over their shoulders and those with flags on their jackets? Could you just explain to me where the difference is?
Hon Murai and Hon. Sithole left the Chamber with Zimbabwean flags around their necks.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Honestly, a flag that is hanging in cloth
is different from a flag that is a pin. Totally different. Honourable Gonese you can also put on that pin without any problems but the full flag of Zimbabwe carries national respect.
+HON. J. TSHUMA: My question is directed to the Deputy
Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. My question is a follow up to a question that I asked in this very House in February when we were talking about the assistance that Government can give to people suffering in urban areas. My question is that we are now in May and people in Bulawayo are starving and no food aid has been distributed. We were told in this House that they were also going to get food aid. I just want to know from the Minister what is causing the delay to take this food aid to the people in urban centres?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. MATANGAIDZE): Thank you
Mr. Speaker. Yes, the programme that the Hon. Member is alluding to has been tabled. It is the programme which we call Public Assistance. It is the modalities of that programme which is being discussed and needs to be tabled at this point in time. But yes, I will hasten to also say that when we now start the Food for Work Programme, clearly, areas in the urban settlements will be considered under that programme and we hope the constituency you refer to will be covered. I thank you.
*HON. SARUWAKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister on the Food for Work Programme. Some of these people who are suffering from hunger are over 70 years old and even up to 92 years old. The other vulnerable are the sick, the disabled and orphans who are unable to provide manual labour. How are those going to be catered for since they are supposed to work in order for them to get the food? How are they going to benefit?
HON. MATANGAIDZE: In settlements that I spoke about, where we have the Public Assistance Programme, are different from the rural settlements where we have the harmonised social case transfer. So, that is why I specifically addressed the Public Assistance Programme which applies to the urban settlements.
When you look at these programmes where you have labour prejudiced households which the Hon. Member is referring to, where they cannot offer labour, those are the people who are on our records for the initial assistance, but in instances where you find that the household, although they are food deficient but can offer labour, they will go on the Food for Work Programme that I spoke about.
HON. KHUMALO: My question is directed to the Minister of
Public Service, Labour and Social Services. I come from Matabeleland North, a province where almost a lot of schools still have temporary teachers. Recognising that last term we had a short school term, we expected that this term our schools would enroll teachers urgently at the beginning of the term.
We are having serious problems with our schools where a number of schools have not recruited these temporary teachers because a lot of qualified teachers do not want to go to our rural schools. So, my question to the Minister is, what is Government policy on the recruitment of teachers, particularly during the year, second and third terms.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR
AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. MATANGAIDZE): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. That question, I think is misdirected at this point. It should be for the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. They deal with the recruitment. Once the teachers have been recruited, they then come under our purview, into our portfolio. Can I suggest that the question be answered by the relevant Minister.
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Hon. Speaker and
especially for the words ‘if I can assist’. At the onset of the second term we expect that we receive an establishment control figure from our sister
Ministry, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. That establishment figure is what then guides us into the recruitment process because without that, we cannot recruit any teacher into the system. Happily, at the end of last week, the Public Service Commission which falls under the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services has issued the establishment control for us, so it means going forward now, my Ministry is able to identify teachers for allocation to specific schools, but the delay is really not an area of my
Ministry.
The second part of the question, whether temporary teachers should be deployed where qualified teachers do not desire to go and work. Ordinarily, of course we expect that qualified teachers are in front of the learners. Only in areas of exceptional difficulty, where the presence of qualified teachers is impossible, can we proceed to recruit non-teaching person to assist. The phenomenon of temporary teachers is a matter that we have now gotten to a point, at the junior school level, where we have now sufficient teachers to teach in our system, but at the infant school level and some of the specialised disciplines at A’ Level, that is where we still have some gaps. Otherwise, at the junior school level, we should have qualified teachers in front of our children. Thank you.
HON. KHUMALO: Hon. Speaker, if you phone Matabeleland North regional office today, you will discover that even those teachers who are supposed to teach the ECDs have been stopped and we expect that an ECD teacher should be conversant in the language that is spoken in Matabeleland. Is that a new policy that even qualified teachers who cannot speak that language, in this term, are supposed to be deployed in our schools? Thank you.
HON. DR. DOKORA: I have responded to a similar question on the floor of this House before and I have set out that it is preferable to have a qualified teacher in front of the young people even if they do not necessarily communicate in the indigenous language of that group of young people. That was the rationale of my Ministry sending a group of 322 teachers to undertake courses in Nambia, Chitonga, in Venda, in Chichangani, so that they learn the language as they teach because they already have the pedagogy, they are preferable to a straightforward young person coming with an O’ level certificate and saying they are teaching. We will be destroying the future of those young people.
Thank you.
*HON. ZWIZWAI: My question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate. The issue of quail birds is now problematic to quail bird farmers. I know the President once touched on the issue. The market is not functioning properly after the Hon. Minister went on TV and said that she had banned quail bird farming. She also said that people were saying quail bird eggs were treating a lot of diseases but a lot of people were surviving on quail birds, including the elderly in the rural areas. Now it is problematic because those farmers are no longer benefitting. Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): I would like to thank the Hon. MP who asked this question, Hon. Zwizwai. I am happy that the issue of quail birds has united the whole country. People were really happy about what I said; especially if you go on Facebook, you will see that people were really happy with what the Minister spoke about on the issue of quail birds. Let me just mention that there are two types of quail birds. Those that are tamed fall under Dr. Made’s Ministry and people can sell those. It is obvious those who want to import can do so and we are happy that people should go into business.
My Ministry deals with the wild ones. There are some people who are now going into our parks and being bitten by snakes and lions because they also want to be part of the quail bird farmers. Some of them have been arrested by rangers while some were almost shot. I am talking about the wild quail birds. These cannot be domesticated. You cannot keep them and give them food but they just have to fend for themselves or they will die. People were now going into the bush to hunt those birds and that is why we stopped them. We do not want the birds to be extinct. If we do get a report we will bring it forward. People should continue their business with the tamed quail birds. Thank you.
*HON. ZWIZWAI: Thank you Madam Speaker, I respect the
response given by the Minister, but the problem is that still it is not clear how people should go about their business, especially those who are keeping quail birds all over the country in Chikombedzi, Binga and some other places. There are eggs that can be found in the bush and those from tamed birds. What should they do with their eggs because we have not heard of anyone who has been arrested or that a docket that has been opened? What should we do then? What I would like to hear from the Minister is whether those who are keeping their quail birds in their backyards continue selling quail birds or not? [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection] This is very sensitive and we want to hear the answer.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, I have an appeal to Hon. Members. Let us listen to what the Minister is saying. If you are saying you do not want an answer, I do not think we can understand each other properly.
*HON. MUCHINGURI: I am putting the question back to him. We have wild fruits in the forest like mazhanje but I have never seen anyone taking that wild fruit to plant it at his own home. We also have buffaloes and other animals that live in the forest but we have not heard anyone who took them home to tame them. These wild birds have to be examined first by the department of wild life. So people should understand that because they can get diseases from them. That is why we stopped them because we still have to examine them to see if there are any diseases or not. Those who are keeping them in their backyards here in the locations, I said they are free to continue - but people hear what they want to hear.
HON. ZVIZVAI: I have a supplementary question to the Minister. In Kwekwe and Gweru, there are people who were keeping their quail birds and there are people who were arrested. Had the police been told that these are the wild ones and these are the tamed ones and how do they know the difference between the two?
HON. MUCHINGURI: I would like to thank Hon. Zvizvai for his question. We have not heard of cases that there are people who were arrested, if there are, we are very sorry about that, we would like to get information and investigate.
*HON. GONESE: On a point of order Madam President. There was a question of the difference between wild ones and the tamed ones, so that people might know.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Was that a point of order? *HON. GONESE: It was a point of order Mr. Speaker because she had not answered the question fully, she had answered part of the question.
* HON. MUCHINGURI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I think I
had already answered that wild quail birds, I said those are wild. If they are served with food, they do not eat, they are subdued because they are used to eat from the wild. This is what I was talking about that those wild ones, they cannot be fed. Maybe you can also assist us by trying to locate these people so that we can investigate about those whom you said were arrested. So, those from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development can assist by telling us whether those are the termed quail birds or they are the wild ones, because the wild ones cannot be fed, they will not eat.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms Standing Order Number 64.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have received a Non-
Adverse report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Special Economic Zones Bill, (H.B. 15A, 2016).
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
INCREASE OF BOREHOLES AND RESUSCITATION OF
EXISTING DAMS IN HWANGE WEST CONSTITUENCY
- HON B. MPOFU asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to explain plans in place to increase the number of boreholes and resuscitation of the existing dams which no longer hold water due to siltation in Hwange West Constituency.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you Madam Speaker. I
would like to thank Hon. Mpofu for the question. Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate administers a Water Fund which is financed by levies from raw water users. The Fund is taking time to accumulate substantial resources owing to reduced agricultural water use and refusal to pay by some farmers. However, when adequate funds become available in the Water Fund, needy areas in the country requiring boreholes such as the Hwange West Constituency will be considered for allocation of funds to drill boreholes by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate.
The Hon. Member may also recall that Government through a Belarus facility negotiated by Government will purchase several rigs which will sink boreholes throughout the country. In addition, the
Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate will continue submitting
PSIP bids for funding of rural water supply projects including for Hwange West Constituency.
On the drying up of dams, mainly small dams that are dotted across the country due to siltation, this is an issue which the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate is seized with. The Ministry through ZINWA is looking into the feasibility of de-silting these dams which have silted up. Each of the seven catchments has been tasked to do a mapping exercise of silted dams to be de-silted in the catchment this year. It is important to note that financial resources are required to execute such a programme and at the moment the Ministry is mobilising the required resources. However, Hon. Members are also encouraged to mobilise communities and development partners in their respective areas to also complement Government efforts in de-silting the dams.
Madam Speaker, a Committee has been set by Government in ZINWA to address drought mitigation issues. The Committee shall attend to emergency issues if funds are available under the anticipated US$1.5 billion drought mitigation fund. This Committee will look into the drying up of dams and come up with the appropriate action to mitigate on the silting of dams.
The Ministry together with other relevant departments like EMA,
AREX and local authorities, is carrying out awareness campaigns to educate communities on the need to protect our dams from siltation through:
- Good agricultural practices which, among other things include avoidance of stream bank cultivation. At this juncture, I wish to thank Government for putting in place an inter-ministerial committee to come up with a master plan which addresses the issue of proper land-use.
- Rampant deforestation especially in the dam basins and - Settlements on wetlands.
REVENUE COLLECTED BY ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT AGENCY SINCE 2013
- HON. WATSON asked the Minister of Environment, Water
and Climate to:
- State the total revenue that has been collected by the Environment
Management Agency since 2013.
- State how much of the funds have been used to improve the environment in Zimbabwe.
HON. MUCHINGURI: I want to thank Hon. Watson for the
question.
Madam Speaker, the Environmental Management Agency
collected a total of US$41 754 289 from 2013 to 2015.
EMA expenditure major operational activities are as follows:
Operational Activity | Total Budget
Expenditure 2013-2015 |
%
Budget Expendi ture |
US$ | ||
Awareness raising environmental commemorations such as World Wetlands Day, Africa Environment Day, National Fire Week, World Environment Day, Clean up Zimbabwe Campaign. | 360 000 | 3.5 |
Awareness raising radio and TV programmes and advertisements such as our Environment and Green World on SFM, World Cry on Star FM, Zvakatikomberedza on Radio
Zimbabwe, Mamas Moments on Power FM, Mai Chisamba Show, Green Studio TV programme and Built it TV programme. |
240 000 | 2.3 |
Print media and adverts in the Herald, | 45 000 | 0.4 |
Chronicle and Mirror Masvingo. | ||
Production of publicity material such as bill boards, posters, booklets, brochures, flyers, stickers and diaries. | 200 000 | 1.9 |
Environmental competitions such as schools debates, school projects and Tavatose / Sisonke art Exhibition. | 225 000 | 2.2 |
Environmental projects with communities on
wetland utilisation and protection, community livelihoods, ecosystems restoration, waste management and small grains promotion projects. Over 18 000 households implementing 659 community projects benefited from this support. |
337 068 | 3.2 |
Stakeholder capacity building and training including Rural District Councils. | 152 760 | 1.5 |
Environmental grants to local authorities. | 172 000 | 1.7 |
Environmental law enforcement activities such as compliance inspections, audits and laboratory capitalisation, as well as monitoring of the transportation and use of hazardous substances. | 11 496 744 | 27.5 |
Maintenance – buildings and vehicles. | 2 756 498 | 6.6 |
Environmental awareness, training and capacity building of stakeholders. | 10 376 074 | 24.9 |
Acquisition of office space for head office, provincial and district levels to create space for non-parastatal government departments and ministries. The Agency was given notices to vacate government buildings at | 7 626 440 | 18.3 |
provincial, district and head office levels. | ||
Total | 41 754 289 |
HON. B. TSHUMA: Thank you very much. Hon. Minister, I hear you on the millions that you have spent, mostly on administrative issues to do with workshops to capacitate stakeholders, advertising and such other expenditure. If I may give an example, from a constituency where there are many Chinese and indigenous mining companies that have actually savaged the environment, what I would want to find out is, how much of that budget goes to the actual business of rehabilitating the environment, if there is any?
HON. MUCHINGURI: Madam Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for his important question. I want to state that this is a new question which is coming up. I would request that he puts it in writing. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think the Minister would
not be able to come up with the amount that you need right now.
HON. B. TSHUMA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I take it for granted that what she has presented here is the whole spectrum of the budget. Therefore, what I want is an extract of the money that they have there. What component has gone to the actual business of rehabilitating the environment without her bringing new figures? From the budget that she has there, how much has gone to the actual business? THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can that be calculated now?
HON. TSHUMA: Yes, it can be extracted from the paper that she has.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Maybe if we can give her a
chance to calculate, but we want to proceed with other questions. Hon.
Minister, you can bring the calculations next week.
PLANS TO CURB HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT IN BULILIMA
WEST
- HON. NLEYA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and
Climate to state the Ministry’s plans to curb the human – wildlife conflict, specifically with elephants in Bulilima West, in view of the fact that an electric fence that borders the community was stolen and not yet repaired.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Madam Speaker, I want to thank
Hon. Nleya for the question requiring me to state my Ministry’s plans to curb the human – wildlife conflict, specifically with elephants in Bulilima West, in view of the fact that an electric fence that borders the community was stolen and not yet repaired.
The area that constitute Bulilima West covers both Dombodema and Maitengwe hunting concessions under Bulilima RDC and shares the boundary with Botswana, Hwange National Park and Tsholotsho RDC. There was a 46km boundary electric fence, which was donated by USAID from the Botswana boundary fence to Manzanyama River where Bulilima West shares the boundary with Tsholotsho RDC.
Madam Speaker, the electric fence being referred to covered the whole area of Maitengwe Concession, which is a habitat for wildlife. In the area protected by the fence, there was no human wildlife conflict cases reported up to 2006 when the fence was destroyed by the local communities.
The Bulilima RDC and the local leadership have carried out consultations in the last two weeks and resolved that a feasibility study on reconstruction of the fence be conducted. The RDC is to commission the study which will address all socio-economic and environmental aspects of such a fence.
The district has four CAMPFIRE game scouts who assist with problem animal control in the area. Ideally, there should be at least ten game scouts to adequately cover the area but funds have been limiting.
The RDC was allocated 14 elephants, six buffalos, two lions and two leopards among other species for the 2016 hunting season. Additionally, the district has allocated a further ten elephants as a supplementary quarter and this should help towards funding of the feasibility study, while additional funding is being sought for the repair of the fence.
In 2015, the district generated $68.995.00 from hunting, of which $53.000.00, which is 77% was from elephant. Fifty percent of the total income was paid directly to communities and used for the purchase of their equipment.
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority will continue to support CAMPFIRE in attending to reports of problem elephants and carryout awareness campaigns in the area. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. B. TSHUMA: My constituency borders the famous Hwange National Park. Villagers are from time to time terrorized by elephants. There are actual records of human beings eaten as late as December last year. Their crops are also eaten by elephants. Beyond the fence and the game scouts that you spoke of in your response, are there any other measures that you are taking to reduce human – wildlife conflicts in such situations?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, I
appeal to you to lower your whispers. Those who are at the back would like to hear the questions and the Ministers’ responses.
HON. MUCHINGURI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me thank Hon. Nleya once again for his …
HON. B. TSHUMA: On a point of order Madam Speaker, I am not Hon. Nleya but Hon. Brain Tshuma please.
HON. MUCHINGURI: I would like to thank Hon. Tshuma for
that supplementary question. The issue of human and wildlife conflict is a concern for my Ministry. It arises from a situation where sometimes there are no fences erected surrounding these wildlife areas but also an appreciation that people must always see value when they live with wild animals. These are dangerous animals and in that situation, as we have serious El Nino problems and drought, these animals tend to stray into areas where they will be looking for food and water.
The Ministry is trying to mobilise resources to be able to sink boreholes within the national parks so that we keep these wild animals, as much as possible, in the wild so that they do not continuously harass people. Sometimes we have also resorted to killing some of these deadly animals because they become a nuisance once they taste the blood of human beings and livestock. We are frantically trying, as much as possible, to also train game rangers within these areas so that they are able to protect themselves.
Lastly, I wish to state that national parks is also putting in place a system which will allow these villagers access to communication systems so that they are able to alert our game rangers who will respond with speed. I thank you.
HON. SANSOLE: Related to the question that was asked by
Hon. Nleya and the subsequent supplementary question, what is the role of CAMPFIRE funds in the control of these problem animals?
Further to Hon. Nleya’s question where he mentioned an electric fence, could a similar arrangement be made around Hwange National
Parks or the areas surrounding Hwange National Park to erect similar electric fences in those areas, particularly for the control of elephants and lions?
HON. MUCHINGURI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me also
thank Hon. Sansole for his question. He wants to know whether CAMPFIRE funds are being used to intervene in areas where there are these serious challenges of human and wildlife conflicts.
I want to state that CAMPFIRE programmes are designed to assist the people that live with these wild animals. They have their own committees because they are an authority unto themselves. CAMPFIRE programmes, National Parks, private conservancies and also the Forestry Commission are wildlife authorities, so we have four authorities. What happens within the CAMPFIRE programme is, they have Rural District Councils (RDCs), chiefs and villagers who constitute themselves into a committee. We do not have any jurisdiction over how they use their resources.
I know that through Cabinet, they were able to make a very strong decision that 55% of the funds that are generated should accrue to the communities and the rest will be used by RDCs to build their own capacity to assist these communities. We normally encourage the CAMPFIRE committees to recruit their own game rangers using these resources to make sure that they have adequate security. I thank you.
UPDATE ON WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH)
PROGRAMME
- HON. MASHANGE asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to update the House on the headway that the Ministry has made through the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme to address water and sanitation issues.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): The Rural Wash project is being implemented in 33 low WASH access and cholera prone districts of Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Masvingo, Midlands and Mashonaland West provinces. The project ends this June and has delivered the following:
- provision of access to improved sources of drinking water to 1 726 000 people in the 33 districts through the construction of 1 660 new boreholes and also rehabilitation of 8 200 existing water points including 32 piped water schemes;
- supported communities in the construction of 10 000+ household latrines, these are blare latrines in schools and clinics in the 33 districts;
- we reached out to 1 272 000 people with hygiene promotion messages to adopt healthier behaviour, especially hand washing with soap at critical times and;
- we also put in place the provision of sanitation facilities for the girl child, this is sanitary wear and hand washing facilities in 1 660 schools.
Having met these targets, we have just had a review meeting with UNICEF and the donors. We agreed to a low cost extension of the project to September to allow for further discussions and document preparation with a view to have a second phase of the project to cover the three outstanding provinces of Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central where Hon. Mashange comes from. I am sure our donors will see reason in covering the whole country as the drought and all the other effects of climate change are felt throughout the country.
In conclusion, I also want to say, our 33 districts together with the lead WASH ministries, namely Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Ministry of Health and Child Care, DDF and indeed my Ministry, each got a vehicle and computers to support WASH coordination and monitoring systems. I thank you.
HON. B. TSHUMA: In my constituency, I have come across road shows that are done by people on the WASH project. I am very happy to hear that they are out to sink boreholes and supply safe drinking water to citizens.
In my constituency, which is in Matabeleland North, where you said it is also covered and I have met them there. There is a village that has no water and they have to drive long distances to get water in other villages. What are my chances of approaching this WASH programme and getting a borehole and water piped to these people and how long can that take if I am to pursue that option?
HON. MUCHINGURI: Once again let me thank the Honourable
Member for that very important question. Apparently, I did not bring exactly the location of these boreholes but I would want to advise the Honourable Member that if he has critical requests, please do not hesitate to approach my office because water is life to us and we consider our services very critical.
SKILLED ASSESSMENT EXERCISE FOR WORKERS
WITHOUT 5 O’ LEVELS BY TELONE
- HON CHIMANIKIRE asked the Minister of Information,
Communication Technology Postal and Courier Services to state:
- whether Telone has carried out a skilled assessment exercise for workers who did not have 5 Ordinary Level subjects and explain the correlation between 5 Ordinary Levels and a skilled worker.
- whether Telone has carried out on – the – job training for employees in order to appraise them on new technological changes (c) who would pay for the Ordinary Level non – technical studies undertaken by the employees as in – service academic training.
- whether the exercise does not negate the ZIMASSET and STEM principles of skills training acquisition.
- whether the exercise that was carried out by Telone Management was not abrogation of the original contract of employment and victimisation of workers;
- Whether Telone offers skills in – service training since it has a technical college.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION,
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY POSTAL AND COURIER
SERVICES (HON. MLAMBO): TelOne has carried out a skills assessment exercise for the workers who do not have 5 Ordinary levels. In total, there are six hundred and thirty eight (638) employees who do not have 5 O’ level qualifications with the majority of them being in technical departments. While a lot of them have acquired basic technical skills through experience of interacting with the TelOne’s old technology such as analogue switches, the new trends in the industry owing to rapid technological changes require upskilling. This upskilling is digital and IP based and thus requires ordinary level qualifications as a bridge to the relevant training through the TelOne Centre for Learning or other institutions.
Globally and locally, trends are that voice business is on the decline while this market now requires internet and data services. These services require a certain level of intellect as opposed to fixed voice services of the past which required extensive manual work (installing wires upon poles and digging). This requires a high level of skills and it was noted that employees in technical department who have not completed five O’ levels were struggling to adapt to the new technologies.
This is not the first time this issue has been noticed. In 2005, the company approached employees without requisite qualifications to start upgrading themselves, starting with the basic ‘O’ level qualifications. In 2014 and 2015, the company conducted a skills assessment and this is where the statistics were established.
TelOne further benchmarked its human capital against that of other telecommunications operators such as Econet, Liquid and NetOne, who are leading in the market share for voice and broadband services. Below are the findings of the comparisons:
Telecommunications Sector Qualifications Analysis in Zimbabwe
Qualifications | TelOne | % | Econet | % | Liquid | % | NetOne | % |
Less than 5
O’ levels |
638 | 29.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3.8 | |
5 O’ levels | 377 | 18 | 58 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 3.8 |
A’ Level | 12 | 1 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2 |
Certificate | 451 | 21 | 100 | 9 | 60 | 30 | 47 | 10.4 |
Diploma | 465 | 22 | 356 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 131 | 29.0 |
Degree | 131 | 6 | 514 | 44 | 112 | 56 | 198 | 43.8 |
Masters | 46 | 2 | 84 | 7 | 20 | 60 | 37 | 8.2 |
Chartered
Accountants |
2 | 0.1 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.9 |
Total | 2, 122 | 100 | 1,163 | 100 | 200 | 100 | 452 | 100 |
In view of the above findings, it is incumbent on TelOne employees to embrace personal development for them to become relevant in the fast paced Information and Communication Technology Sector.
On the second part, 15 telecommunications workers with five O’ levels are now leading work parties as a result of the “on-job training” with the other 150 being given the responsibility to do installations and network repairs. Avondale and Highlands Exchanges are examples of successful on the job training programmes. However, those with five O’ levels exposed to the “on the job training” have been lacking basic understanding of commercial and business management principles and are really struggling.
On the third question, employees are given loans which are payable in six months under the company’s benevolent loan facility to try and upgrade their skills so that they continue on the job and assist TelOne in the end.
The fourth question on whether the exercise does not negate the ZIM ASSET and STEM principles of skills training acquisition, the exercise promotes both the ZIM ASSET and STEM principles in that ZIM ASSET talks of employment creations and TelOne took a conscious decision to preserve jobs for the concerned employees and at the same time encourage and gave them time to acquire science and technical skills at Ordinary Level and through TelOne Centre for Learning since 2005 which is in Belvedere.
To answer the fifth question, no, the exercise is a personal and skills development programme and does not in any way interfere with the rights and entitlement enshrined both in the employment contract and the Labour Act. TelOne is not the first employer to take this route and at Government level, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education now requires lecturers teaching at universities to be holders of doctorate degrees in their areas of expertise. Similarly, teachers who do not have mathematics at O’ level were being required to get that qualification.
With the high level of skills that are now in the country, TelOne cannot compete effectively in the market with low skills base that employees in TelOne have.
On the last question from that Honourable, yes, TelOne offers inservice technical training through short courses up to Diploma in Telecommunications level. Six hundred and forty (640) employees have undergone in-service training in areas such as Fibre Technology, Internet Protocol (non-technical), Internet Protocol Master class, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) – (technical), FTTH – (non-technical), Rigging just to mention a few. All these courses would require students to have a minimum of 5 ‘O’ levels inclusive of English and Mathematics or Science subjects. TelOne currently has 43 students who are studying towards a certificate in telecommunications and 10 towards a diploma.
HON. CHIMANIKIRE: Hon. Minister, while I appreciate that you gave the statistics of manpower levels in Econet, Liquid and TelOne, you then pointed out that TelOne has the lowest level of qualified technical personnel. Can you confirm or deny that all the personnel that are now working for Econet and Liquid were from TelOne, and is it not because of the income base that was uncompetitive that then workers left TelOne and joined Econet and Liquid. I thank you.
HON. MLAMBO: It is a combination of factors. Firstly, I said we are coming from a historical perspective where TelOne, NetOne and ZIMPOST if you remember, were members of PTC before the unbundling. So, this unbundling carried with it all employees. As the sector diversified and other network operators were created and to compete with the market, they offered lucrative packages to employees. Naturally, employees migrated to those new ones while as the legacy telecom companies coming out of PTC continued with old ways. These are the things that TelOne, NetOne and ZIMPOST are looking at through their programmes to revitalise themselves which are subjects of Portfolio Committees, which the CEOs have been attending to try and turn around these telecoms by offering what is also lucrative and attract highly qualified employees while they continue with these and try to train them. So, it is a combination of factors. I thank you.
HON. CHIMANIKIRE: With all due respect Hon. Minister, there could be a combination of factors but you will notice from my manner of questioning that there was a deliberate policy by management to allow workers to leave TelOne and NetOne because of uncompetitive salaries. Is it, therefore, necessary for management to relook at their salary levels? The so-called competition you are talking about is not only about technology, it is about remuneration to those that are providing the services. Is that not correct?
HON. MLAMBO: Once again thank you very much. The table I did not go through or perhaps it is the next question. The Hon. Member asked another question, perhaps you can wait until we get to the question which you raised which gives statistics on basic salaries and other allowances. You will realise that in fact, TelOne had to introduce those allowances to try and attract highly qualified employees. So, there was no deliberate policy to let people migrate from TelOne so as to cause the collapse of the institution. No, they are in fact doing the opposite and to some extent, overly doing so. Thank you very much.
IMPOSITION OF STAFF COSTS CONTAINMENT DECISIONS BY
TELONE
- HON. CHIMANIKIRE asked the Minister of Information, Communication Technology Postal and Courier Services to state:
- Why the TelOne Chief Executive Officer imposed staff costs containment decisions without negotiation between the workers’ union and management in view of the fact that salaries were agreed to through a collective bargaining process between the union and management
- Whether the nonpayment of 2015 bonuses was not a breach of the contract of employment for TelOne employees.
- Whether non leave accrual was not also a breach of contract of employment and conditions of service for TelOne since there was an agreement that was reached between the union and management.
- Whether the decisions made were approved by the Minister in view of the fact that the decision only affected subordinate employees and not the management.
- The policy measures the Ministry would take to remedy the actions that violated the Labour Act.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION,
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY POSTAL AND COURIER
SERVICES (HON. MLAMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker, it is in fact Question 42 because 41 is the one which we have just gone through.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is that so?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. MLAMBO): No, I stand corrected Madam
Speaker. On the first question, the 15% salary cut with the freezing of the 2015 bonus and leave accruals were not unilateral decisions by management. Management and employees collectively agreed on the 15% basic salary cut amongst other cost cutting initiatives as a strategy to address the staff costs to income ratio. The TelOne staff cost to income ratio was at 38% as of June 2015 against a shareholder prescription of 30%. TelOne management and staff (Works Council) looked at different scenarios, including terminating 320 employees to reduce staff costs in order to comply with the 30% threshold. The
TelOne Works Council, made up of management and Trade Union Members agreed on the following as special measures to avoid retrenchment:
- i) A 15% basic salary cut across the board; ii) Freezing of 2015 bonuses; iii) Freezing of accrual of leave days for the period August to
December, 2015 and
- iv) Freezing of occasional leave days.
In compliance with Section 25(5) and Section 25(6) of the Labour Act, the Works Council reached an agreement signed on 31 August, 2015.
Management has now come up with a productivity linked remuneration model, which encourages productivity for the employees to get back the 15% cut. The model starts with entry-level revenue of US$11.6 million and collections of US$7.5 million for the employees to get 5%. The model has been termed, ‘One team, one target, one bonus.’ This allows the employees to get back the 15% whilst at the same time remaining on the 30% staff costs to income threshold. Please find attached the Managing Director’s circular on the ‘One team, one target, one bonus’ initiative.
TelOne management paid an incentive of 5% of basic salary across the board in April, 2016 as a result of improved revenue and collections.
Management is encouraged by employees’ positive reaction to these incentive schemes as performance on the ground is visibly changing for the better.
Management also needs to highlight that, despite the 15% basic salary cut, TelOne has remained competitive in offering attractive remuneration for non-skilled and skilled workers up to supervisory level. Below is industry remuneration comparison for the lowest paid employees as of January, 2016.
Description | TelOne | Econet | Liquid | NetOne |
Basic Salary | 427 | 640 | 600 | 750 |
Transport Allowance | 56 | 0 | 50 | 0 |
Pension Contribution | 96.01 | 56 | 45 | 168.75 |
Medical Aid | 172.2 | 0 | 35 | 148.8 |
NSSA | 23.04 | 24 | 35.4 | 24.5 |
Group Life Cover | 13.59 | 17.8 | 19.12 | 22.17 |
Group Accident Cover | 0.64 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0 |
Zimdef Levy | 9.11 | 13.53 | 9.12 | 11.14 |
School Fees | 64.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
STD Levy | 4.78 | 7.71 | 2.75 | 5.63 |
Total | 866.38 | 762.24 | 797.29 | 1130.99 |
Question b and c were answered by this table and what remains is the fourth question. The Minister was consulted before the decision was implemented. Furthermore, the decision affected all employees including the Managing Director and all members of senior management.
On the fifth question, the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services has no say on issues to do with labour but would refer the affected to the relevant authorities. The Ministry does not micromanage the process of management but gives guidelines here and there so that it leaves the board and management to run their institutions. This is for the reason that we can come back and criticize him. If we micromanage their management, then we will have no mandate and power to criticize them when they fail, they will say it is your problem. I thank you.
HON. CHIMANIKIRE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I raised an
issue of suspension of leave accrual, which is a very clear abrogation on a contract of employment. Madam Speaker, there is no employee who does not accrue leave. There may be financial difficulties in a workplace but that is not legal. Fortunately, for the Hon. Minister, I have got documentary evidence to prove that there were no negotiations between the union and management. However, there was a written offer which was a take it or leave it, do you agree or not? If the Minister is not informed, I think he should be informed through his board that this was a unilateral action that was taken.
I did not ask the Ministry to micromanage, but it should manage through its appointed board in which its Permanent Secretary is also a member. It is not micromanaging but he is present in decision-making that was taken by TelOne management. As a result, I would like to put it on Hansard record that; there was a dictatorial attitude that was adopted by management. Letters were written, suspending leave accrual, letters were written indicating that if you do not have five ‘O’-
Levels in two years’ time, you should therefore agree to be removed from the employment register of that particular company. I would like to say it on record that I shall provide the Ministry with the documents that prove otherwise, that the responses given to this House are not correct. I thank you.
HON. B. MLAMBO: Allow me to correct a few distortions. Firstly, the Permanent Secretary, Engineer Kundishora is not a member of TelOne. It is the Principal Director who is a member, consistent with the guidelines which are there. Secondly, I personally had a number of meetings with the unions, when they appealed to us over this matter. I personally ensured that…
The Hon. Minister having been addressing the Gallery.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, I think you have to address the Chair, not to do a one on one with the Hon. Member.
HON. B. MLAMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I was saying
the other thing I wanted the House to be aware of is that, I personally had a number of consultative meetings with the Telecommunications Union. I advised them of the need to protect the employees by making sure that TelOne is viable and are required to take very difficult conditions and decisions. I advised that they negotiate positively with the management of TelOne for that to be achieved. That was done as a consultative process. It might be that the councils did not agree that consultations and negotiations were done. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
RESTORATION OF EFFICIENCY IN THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
SERVICE BY HARARE CITY COUNCIL
- HON. MAJOME asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to explain the measures taken by the Ministry to restore efficiency of the public transport service of Harare City Council to similar standards that were set by the Harare United Passenger Company of the 1980s?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Honourable
Member for asking the question. However, it may please this august House to note that the ZIM ASSET strategy is set to introduce mass bus transport system on all our urban roads with the intention to reduce the current dominance on the urban public transport sector by para-transit modes in terms of kombis. So far, efforts to implement the strategy have been through the following:-
Capitalising ZUPCO
The sum of $25 million ZUPCO-India Exim Bank bus loan deal, which is currently under negotiations is one step towards the implementation of the strategy by building capacity in ZUPCO. The deal will enable ZUPCO to procure 290 buses from ASHOK (Pvt) Ltd. 145 of this number will ply intra-city routes. ZUPCO has already sent a team of experts to India to inspect the bus specifications. The introduction of high capacity buses in urban routes is expected to drive out para-transit modes without legislating. That action will naturally reduce the number of kombis and illegal operators in the form of Mushika-shika on our roads and is expected to have a significant impact on urban traffic congestion.
Private Sector involvement through Public Private Partnerships
- Speaker Sir, a private company called A1 Metro Buses, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Harare and is currently having a trial run for the Harare-Mabvuku route.
- City of Harare is in the process of constructing holding bays so as to decongest the Central Business District. One has so far been built on Coventry Road in the Kopje Area and is now functional. This holding bay caters for kombis which use Copacabana rank. Three more such bays are on the cards.
- Introduction of shuttling services so as to get rid of illegal pirate taxis. So far 30 shuttle buses have been licenced to service Harare Central Business District.
Mr. Speaker Sir, these are some of the measures the Ministry together with the City of Harare are taking to restore efficiency of public transport service with the hope of surpassing the then standards that were set by the Harare United Passenger Bus Company of the 1980s.
POLICY REGARDING REGISTRATION OF COMPANIES 9. HON MANGWENDE asked the Minister of Small and
Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development to inform the House what Government Policy is towards the registration process of companies by the Ministry.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM
ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON.
NYONI): This question was answered by the Honourable Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development as is appearing in the Hansard, Vol. 42, Number 36 of Wednesday, 17th
February, 2016.
FUNDING OF CO-OPERATIVES IN GOKWE-KANA
CONSTITUENCY
- HON. O. NCUBE asked the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development to state when the following cooperatives in Gokwe-Kana Constituency will be funded:
- Manoti Cooperative;
- Njanje Cooperative
- Marirangwe Cooperative;
- Msala Cooperative
- Marapira Cooperative; and
- Mkoka Cooperative.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM
ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON.
- NYONI): The basic principle underpinning cooperatives as a business model is that members pull their resources together for the purpose of achieving a common goal. This nurtures a deep sense of ownership in the membership which in Zimbabwean context is in line with the policy of empowerment and indigenisation.
It is in this spirit that the Ministry does not fund cooperatives. However, cooperatives themselves being legal entities can source funds from institutions such as banks and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporations.
The Ministry also sources funds for cooperatives in the specific areas especially in the fishing, savings and credit sectors from development partners. This funding is not obligatory and is disbursed as and when it is available.
PROGRESS ON FORMALISATION OF THE SME SECTOR
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development to state the progress that has been made in formalising the SMEs sector and harnessing its contribution into the mainstream economy.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM
ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON.
- NYONI): The Ministry has encouraged SMEs to go into formal structures. For example, in Harare, local authorities partnered with development partners provided formal decent structures at the corner of Fourth Street and Jason Moyo Avenue. The Ministry has encouraged the registration of SMEs under the Public Business Corporation (PBC) which requires less stringent registration conditions.
The Ministry has encouraged SMEs to form associations, (for example the Small and Medium Enterprises Association). The Association in turn encourages its members to register or to licence under the relevant authority.
As we speak, the Ministry, with the assistance of the World Bank, has held consultative workshops in Mutare, Masvingo, Bulawayo and later in Harare to get views of SMEs on formalising and then we will produce a formalisation strategy to implement the ILO 2015 Resolution on formalising the informal economy. The strategy will recommend incentives for formaling the SMEs businesses and this should trickle down to revenue in the mainstream economy that is, the GDP.
STATUS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND
OPERATIONALISATION OF THE SME INCUBATION CENTRE
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development to give an update on the status of the establishment and operationalisation of the SME Incubation Centre.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. NYONI): The
Ministry received two batches of equipment from India in 2015, the first batch of five containers was received in March 2015 and the second batch in May 2015. Operationalisation of the Incubation Centre gained momentum during the past year, with all 25 sets of machinery received from India.
The department of Public Works was engaged to start construction works on site. However, work stopped towards the end of the year as the project ran out of money.
I am happy to report that Treasury has pledged $338 000 so that construction work can resume. However, cash support has been inconsistent.
We are projecting that the construction will be completed by end of
December 2016.
PROGRESS REGARDING CAPITALISATION OF THE SME
BANK (SMEDCO)
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Small and Medium
Enterprises and Co-operative Development to state the progress that has been made by Government in capitalising the SME Bank (SMEDCO) as envisaged in the 2016 National Budget.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. NYONI):
Capitalising the SME Bank
The Ministry approved the business plan for the micro-Finance
Bank which will be submitted to RBZ by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (SMEDCO) as part of submissions for a bank licence.
The process of selecting Board of Directors is currently underway. In an effort to mobilise capital requirements for the bank, the Ministry has been engaging a number of investors to take up equity in the bank as well as assist in the raising of funds.
SMEDCO has identified partners who will assist them in raising capital for the SME Bank. Documentation has gone through the
Attorney General’s Office regarding the memorandum of Agreement with the partners. The partners are expected to raise the initial $10 million dollars by July 2016.
ASSISTANCE TO LOWER GWERU COMMUNITIES ON
TRANSPORTATION OF FRUITS
- HON. MADUBEKO asked the Minister of Small and
Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development to state the plans that are in place to assist communities in Lower Gweru with transportation or caring of fruits in view of the fact that they are losing a lot of fruits due to transportation challenges.
THE MINISTER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT (HON. NYONI): The
Ministry provides a variety of capacity building programmes to promote market access for MSMEs including those in rural communities. Such programmes include:
- Training, especially on marketing and other business management skills.
- Facilitating market access through linkages.
- Food processing and value addition.
To assist rural communities involved in fruit and vegetable farming, the Ministry is also promoting value addition of fruits and vegetables so that farmers do not lose value of their produce in the event that they have failed to take their produce to the market while it is still fresh. This is done through drying, making tomato puree and pulp from fruits. As I speak, there is a course going on for the Mbare vendor market owners.
In particular, to communities in Lower Gweru, there is a cooperative at Maboleni Business Centre called Gifted Hands which is preserving fruits and vegetables through canning and drying.
The Ministry is also widening the scope of value addition through holding value addition technologies expo in districts where technologies to add value to agro-produce are exhibited. The Ministry would be glad to send experts and our officials to train the former Gweru Community.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE IN VICE
PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA’S OFFICE (HON. C. C. SIBANDA),
the House adjourned at Quarter to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 17th May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House of the following changes to Committee membership. Hon. MisihairabwiMushonga has been nominated to serve on the Portfolio Committee on
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Hon. Toffa will serve on the
Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care.
APPOINTMENT OF THE PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: Pursuant to the Chair’s ruling on
Tuesday, 16th February, 2016 that there exists a prima facie case of contempt of Parliament on the matter involving the former Executive
Chairperson of the State Procurement Board, Mr. Charles Kuwaza the
Committee on Standing Rules and Orders met yesterday the 16th of May, 2016 and appointed the Privileges Committees which shall consist of the following members, Hon. K. Kazembe as Chairperson, Hon. N.
Chamisa, Hon. J. Majome, Hon. F. Chasi, Hon. Dr. D. Shumba, Hon. J.
Toffa and Hon. Sen. Mutsvangwa.
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to recognise the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of students and teachers from Acturus High
School. You are most welcome –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-.
SECOND READING
PAN-AFRICAN MINERALS UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY BILL [H.B. 10, 2015]
First Order read: Second Reading: Pan African Minerals
University of Science and Technology Bill [H.B. 10, 2015]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the world is changing at a rapid pace driven largely by developments in science and technology. It has become evident that countries that are scientifically and technologically advanced become strong competitors on global markets and therefore generate income, higher wages and wealth. The African mineral industry has evolved largely as a producer for foreign export markets. The developed countries are focusing primarily on technological development programmes that emphasise value added and high margin products while encouraging developing countries mostly African, to remain primary producers of minerals. African countries must now embark on value addition to their minerals. Value addition of mineral resources cannot be achieved by labour intensive methods alone but rather via a technology based approach. Despite its enormous mineral resources, Sub-Saharan Africa has not been able to adequately harness its endowments for its sustainable development and this has been attributed to lack of skills, knowledge, technology, infrastructure for innovation and entrepreneurship. Africa needs world class research and development institutions in the mineral sector with linkages to the fabrication sector.
In February, 2001, the IMF Managing Director, Horst Kohler and World Bank President, James Wolfensohn travelled to South Africa to meet African leaders as a follow up to their commitment to the Prague 2000 Annual Meetings. During one of these meetings the then President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, lamented the knowledge deficit in
Africa to Mr. Wolfensohn. President Mandela went on to suggest to the
World Bank that world class African Institutes of Science and
Technology (AISTs) in Sub-Saharan Africa were perhaps Africa’s greatest need. Their focus is what is missing in our developmental system, that is post graduate education, research and innovation linked entrepreneurship.
In 2005, in January at the Fourth Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Abuja, the African Heads of State and Government agreed to establish four institutes of science and technology, one in Western, Eastern, Northern and Southern Africa. The African Institutes of Science and Technology are run by the Nelson Mandela Institution, supported by the World Bank…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! I recognise two Hon. Members
sitting on the floor.
HON. KHUPE: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker Sir. Last week a report was debated on the good work that you did by bringing back some of our girls from Kuwait and some of them are still not back home, so, it was resolved that until such time that all the girls are back home, women in this House will be sitting on the floor because it would appear as if this is where we belong as women. We belong down there. So this is the issue.
HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker, while you are still digesting, just a clarification. I just wanted to check, it would appear…
Women Members of Parliament make their way to sit on the floor.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members. Order, order! You had a point of clarification Hon. Chamisa?
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, in fact I have already seen that the women across the political divide seem to be doing the same thing. I was worried that it was just one side of the divide – [HON. MEMBERS: Are you a woman?] - I am also a woman on this issue. On this issue, we are together with women and some of us salute this kind of approach, Hon. Speaker Sir.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
On the day that I brought this matter before the House –[HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- If you could keep quiet. They are making noise so now people cannot hear. On the day that I raised this issue, people laughed at me and even you said that this matter has to come through the Committee. I had realised that this is an issue that had to be debated whether it was from the Committee or not because this issue touches on our children who are in Kuwait.
This is a serious matter that the Government has to take up, whether they went on their own accord or whether they were forced to go there. What I am saying is that Kuwait started war with America because they were saying people had violated their human rights, but now it is the same Kuwait that is taking our people through their embassy or through whatever means. Today Parliamentarians are seated down because they are protesting for the return of their children because if we do not talk about it here in Parliament that those children should be brought back, the Kuwait embassy should be called to come to this Parliament and explain why that is happening.
I just stood up in support of the women and other men who are talking about the women because we are supposed to talk about this issue here. The Kuwait Embassy should be called to come and explain. We have to tell them that we want our children. We cannot continue talking about this issue here while our children are suffering out there. I stood up to support these women and the children and they are supposed to pay. Kuwait is supposed to pay for enslaving our children.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Chair does appreciate the sentiments being demonstrated by the sitting down of Hon. Members, the majority of whom are our Honourable female Members. It is understandable that the feelings that they experience as mothers and husbands touches their hearts in terms of the ill treatments that our young female citizens have gone through, are going through not only in Kuwait but in other areas in the Middle East. Having recognised that and appreciating the deep feelings that this House, in particular the Hon. Members of the female gender, I would appeal to the Hon. Members that their current demonstration is recognised. However, for the smooth movement in the House, the sitting arrangement may create problems. Therefore, it may be against our Standing Orders, Section 76(1) and accordingly similar sentiments can be pronounced by way of a debate.
That debate will conclude, I believe, with recommendations that have already appeared in the report presented on behalf of the delegation that went to Kuwait by Hon. Paradza. We also have a notice of motion that will invite, I am sure, some debate under Order No 24 of today’s
Order Paper. Now, from the Chair and after some motion by one of the Members to move that Order No 24 be debated, in the context also of the report that has already been tabled by Hon. Paradza in this House, after the two motions have been debated and exhausted, remedial measures will be put in place if they are not already being put in place by the Executive to ensure that the outstanding numbers of our young female citizens in Kuwait and elsewhere are brought back in dignity. I will therefore appeal to the Hon. Members to resume their seats and debate the motion accordingly. I thank you. [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
May I allow the first Order of the day to be carried on by the Hon. Deputy Minister Dr. Gandawa then after that we will then revert to his two Bills which he has to talk to. After that we may then have our serious debate on the issue of our abused female citizens out in Kuwait.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): The African Institute of Science and
Technology is run by the Nelson Mandela Institute, supported by the
World Bank among other development partners. Currently, three African Institutes of Science and Technology have been established; namely in Western Africa, the African University of Science and
Technology in Abuja, Nigeria, which focuses on Energy and Petrol
Chemical Engineering. The second was established in Eastern Africa, Arusha, Tanzania, the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, which focuses on Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering. The third one was established in northern Africa in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, The International Institute of Water and Environmental
Engineering which focuses on Water Engineering and Environment. The fourth one was to be established in Southern Africa. Zimbabwe won the bid to establish the post graduate Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology (PAMUST) as a Nelson Mandela Institute of centre of excellence dedicated for the teaching and training of high caliber mineral professionals in mineral beneficiation and value addition for the African continent.
Zimbabwe has a vibrant mining sector with over 60 minerals, 40 of which are being mined therefore Zimbabwe’s successful bid was based among other factors on its strength on mineral endowments, a developing industry and also on the strong commitment that the leadership of Zimbabwe has towards education in general and the development of a world class institute for imparting knowledge on mineral beneficiation and value addition. Zimbabwe has well trained mineral experts that are sought after, the world over, and the country has the highest literacy rate in Africa. With its central location in a mining region of Southern and Central Africa, ease accessibility and a well developed infrastructure, Zimbabwe was judged to be the best candidate for hosting the Africa Institute of Science and Technology (AIST) in
Southern Africa. The Sixteenth Summit of the 19 Member Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), held from 23rd to 24th November 2012, adopted a decision to support Zimbabwe in its bid to host the African Institute of Science and Technology for Southern
Africa, in light of the country’s potential to be the COMESA centre of excellence in mining and mineral beneficiation.
3. The PAMUST Concept
The PAMUST will be established to provide very highly advanced post graduate courses and research, (Masters, PhD and post-doctoral) in mineral value addition primarily and principally. Secondly, programmes in the ancillary courses and research in geology, mining and extractive metallurgy will also be offered at a very advanced level as a necessary precursors to mineral value addition. Thirdly, PAMUST will offer advanced courses in research in business studies related to the minerals industry.
The PAMUST vision is to be an institute of the highest standing for advanced technology education in minerals. Its mission is to give the highest specialized instruction and to provide the fullest equipment for the most advanced training and research in all aspects of mineral science and technology and allied subjects, especially in its application and exploitation of African mineral resources for the maximum benefit of Africa.
3.1. PAMUST Academic Programme Areas
The university will focus on five major areas which are as follows:
Extractive Metallurgy | Materials Science and Engineering | Minerals Business Studies | |||
• Mineral processing:
• Comminution, sizing, concentration, dewatering • Hydrometallurgy: • Leaching • Solution concentration • Purification • Metal Recovery • Pyrometallurgy • Calcining or Roasting • Smelting • Refining |
• Materials technology
• Materials characterisation • Nanotechnology • Fuel cells technology • Foundry • Forging • Drawing • Gemmology • Value addition • Electroplating • Tribology • Corrosion and degradation of |
• Mineral Resources
Policy • Interpretation of Statutes • Environmental Law and Policy for Mining • Mining agreements • Mining and Sustainable Development • Minerals economics • Pricing issues • Hedge funds, Venture Capital Finance in Mining • International Mining Laws and trading |
|||
|
Electrometallurgy
Electrorefining |
•
• • |
materials
Steel making PGM catalytic converters Craft jewellery Metal fabrication Structural materials Ceramics Physical metallurgy Mechanical properties Electronic materials Advanced materials Materials for energy and environment |
|
Ownership models
Taxes and royalties, investment models Entrepreneurship, Management International Business Transactions Commercial dispute resolution in mining; Negotiations and Strategy |
Geosciences | Mining Engineering | ||
• Exploration geology
• Economic geology • GIS • Surveying • Geochemistry • Mining Geology • Geological Environment • Map interpretation • Soil science |
• Ore estimation
• Rock Mechanics • Engineering geology • Mine management • Mine design • Mine surveying • Drilling Engineering • Geomechanics • Hydrology blasting |
||
|
Structural Geology
Geophysics Remote sensing Sedimentology Mineral deposits Area selection Ore genesis Pegging Basin modeling Tenements Risks Mapping Platform cover Mineral evaluation Mineralisation events Ground based geophysics Electromagnetic geophysics |
|
Shaft sinking
Ventilation systems Mine safety Soil mechanics Engineering geology Mine project evaluation Slope stability Mining machinery Mining transport systems Production operations management Mine planning, mine design, mine modeling and simulation Ore estimate Surface mining Mine surveying |
3.2 PAMUST Academic Features
PAMUST will be established primarily as a state post graduate university offering Masters Degree courses and providing research at PHD and post doctorate levels. It will be a Pan African institute to serve a comprehensive array of needs in the mining industry for the whole continent. PAMUST vision is to be a world class institution with the most advanced facilities for teaching and training the best and brightest African students and serviced by world-class academics. Because of the needs of the continent PAMUST will aim to produce a critical mass of graduates, who will serve as lecturers and professors in colleges/schools of mines continent wide, man R&D institutions for value addition in various countries, provide leadership in industry and Government.
- PAMUST OUTPUTS AND EXPECTED IMPACT
4.1 Outputs
Establishment of the world class environment for research and technology development for the African mining industry with capacity to generate and apply knowledge for sustainable development will be a primary output. Linkages with the mining sector to utilize research to improve quality productivity and competitiveness for the African industry will be developed. Specifically, PAMUST will produce value- added human capital in form of Masters and PhD graduates with sound knowledge on mining development for deployment in universities and schools of Mines in Africa, minerals and materials Research and Development institutions, industry and Government.
PAMUST itself will be a depository of information on mining issues in the continent. Production of world-class PhDs within and relevant to problems and needs of the region and Southern Saharan Africa will increase and thereby reduce brain drain. Currently, about 500
000 Africans study abroad and about 30 000 African PhDs live abroad. This will result in the reduction of necessary levels, the numbers of expatriates employed in Africa, currently Africa employees about 150
000 expatriates at a cost of approximately USD 4.0 billion per annum.
Increased participation by African institutions in research on African’s minerals carried out by researchers from institutions abroad, and hence enhanced networking such institutions. Promoting research at the continent-wide level will involve a pooling of resources. This will limit costs for any given country, while increasing the benefits for all – especially the very small, low-income countries. Smaller countries that lack the human and financial resources to sustain excellence in institutions of higher learning will benefit greatly from this pan-African approach.
BENEFITS OF ZIMBABWE
PAMUST will immediately produce post-graduate academics who will fill the many vacant posts at Zimbabwe and Africa’s departments of geology, mining and metallurgy and abate severe shortages at these institutions.
PAMUST will seek to attract leading world experts, local and diasporan Africans to research on Zimbabwean and African minerals with a view to adding value to them with the creation of opportunities for downstream industries. With post-graduate dissertations and theses being carried out at the University, Zimbabwe will become a rich repository and a minefield of information on minerals to which the country will have a privileged, immediate and unrestricted access. This will be a strategic empowerment to Zimbabwe in the global minerals economics. The PAMUST will be uniquely positioned to leverage research funding to the country for training scientists and engineers as part of a continental strategy of manpower development for other institutions in the continent. The university will contribute immensely in the transformation of Zimbabwe from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy as a result of minerals value addition, value added products, downstream industries, business opportunities, employment creation, skills enhancement, and technology transfer.
Historically, a key methodology for human capacity development by African countries has been to send their brightest students overseas for studies, with the earnest hope that they will return and serve their countries. This, to some extent has been a successful model, albeit at a significant cost. Some of the students do not return at all, or come back to a frustrating mismatch between their training environment overseas and a non stimulating local working environment, rendering them less productive. PAMUST essentially seeks to be an institute on the African continent, whose teaching and R&D facilities are at par with the best in the developed world. Further, its teaching staff will be world class.
In this context, PAMUST will seek to attract, some of the brains across the globe to teach Zimbabwe and other African students. This will involve PAMUST being a key continental repository of international staff exchange programmes. The PAMUST model, which brings the best international brains, including retired professional, to teach and train Zimbabwe and African scientists on the continent , will rapidly accelerate Africa’s human capacity development, at a fraction of the cost of sending Zimbabwe and African students overseas.
HISTORY AND MOVES TO ESTABLISH PAMUST
- African Materials Research Society 6th Conference
(December 2011)
The 6th African Materials Research Society Biennial Conference held at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe December 11 – 16, 2011, focused on various research themes on materials. The conference attracted about 350 participants and over 270 papers. It was attending by leading materials scientists from universities across the globe. Over 90% of the papers presented dealt with mineral-metal-based materials, virtually all of which are found in Africa. At the conference, Zimbabwe was explicitly invited and encouraged by the delegates to bid to host the Centre for mining and mineral beneficiation and value addition.
Consultative Process within Zimbabwe (2012-2013)
In early 2012, the Office of the President and Cabinet set up a Committee to study the idea of establishing a postgraduate Pan African
University for mineral beneficiation and value addition in Zimbabwe.
The Committee comprised; Secretary for Higher and Tertiary
Educations, Secretary for Science and Technology Development,
Secretary for Mines and Mining Development, Secretary for Local
Government, Urban and Rural Development, Secretary for Public
Works, the Principal of the Zimbabwe School of Mines, the Vice
Chancellor of University of Zimbabwe, the Vice Chancellor of the National University of Science and Technology, the Executive Officer of SIRDC, the President of the Chamber of Mines. The Committee had several meetings and recommended that Zimbabwe should bid to host the 4th AIST dedicated to mineral beneficiation and value addition.
The consultations were broadened in March 2013 to interact with the
NMI mission that came to evaluate Zimbabwe’s bid to host PAMUST.
In addition to the institutions mentioned above, the Ministry of
Finance, Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe
Council of Higher Education, Bankers Association of Zimbabwe and Institute of Mining Research were also invited. Consultations and discussions with the NMI Mission were focused on PAMUST’s issues on academic programmes, governance, infrastructure and finances.
Engagement of the World Bank and NMI over PAMUST
In December 2012, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon.
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi (MP) wrote to the President of the World
Bank to register Zimbabwe’s interest to host the Southern Africa
Chapter of the Nelson Mandela Institution’s (NMI) African Institutes of Science and Technology (AISTs), to be called the Pan-African Minierals
University of Science and Technology (PAMUST).
In January 2013, the Acting Minister of Higher and Tertiary
Education, Dr. I. C. Chombo (MP), submitted Zimbabwe’s bid in January 2013 to the NMI Chairman to establish the university to be known as Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology
(PAMUST) which will be focusing on Mineral Beneficiation and Value
Addition. Subsequent to this bid presentation to the Chairman of NMI, NMI sent a mission in March 2013 to evaluate Zimbabwe’s bid.
Following the NMI mission in March 2013 to Harare to evaluate
Zimbabwe’s bid to host a Nelson Mandela Institution under the name of PAMUST, and following the formation of a new Government after the election in July 2013, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. W Chidakwa (MP) wrote in October 2013 to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, Chairperson to the Board of the Nelson Mandela Institution
(NMI) and coordinating Minister for the Economy and request of the
Government of Zimbabwe for NMI to work on the establishment of
PAMUST as soon as this was doable.
In October, 2013, the Chairman of the NMI responded to the Hon.
Minister of Mines and Mining Development expressing delight that
Zimbabwe was confirming the desire to establish PAMUST as one of
NMI’s centre to excellence and to indicate that two steps were needed to be taken. The first was the need for the Government of Zimbabwe to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NMI defining the terms and conditions that will apply to the status of an NMI centre of excellence.
The second step was the signing of Headquarters’ Agreement (also called Cooperation Agreement) between the Government of Zimbabwe and NMI defining the specific relationships and principles that PAMUST will enjoy and that will allow it to be able to work effectively to attract international talent and acquire the necessary tools required to carry out its mandate. A draft MOU between the Government of
Zimbabwe and the NMI has been reviewed by the AG’s Office and sent to NMI Board for their consideration.
PAMUST ACADEMIC GOVRENANCE ISSUES
PAMUST shall be an internationally recognised centre of excellence in the development of innovative sustainable, technically advanced solutions in the beneficiation and value addition of minerals, with its main operational base on the African continent. It shall offer postgraduate courses and study programes aimed at molding future leaders in technological innovation and knowledge-based development.
Recruitment of both students and staff shall mainly be from African continent on the basis of merit. English shall be the medium of instruction and also the language of academic, administrative, and most social and community activities that are part of the PAMUST experience.
8. PAMUST ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES
PAMUST will be established as a State university. The governance structure summarised below shall guide and oversee the establishment, growth and required development of this university. The Chancellor of the PAMUST shall be the President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe. A University Council whose membership is drawn from the African region will be appointed by the Chancellor. A Chairman of the Council of Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology, who is a person of international repute, with vast experience in governance issues of academic institutions.
The President of Zimbabwe will have the Appointing Authority for the first Council. The PAMUST will maintain a link with the NMI Board and utilise the services of the International Advisory Bodies in matters related to academic business (instruction curricula, laboratory development, etc), quality assurance, as well as advice on staff hire, recruitment and remuneration.
9. PAMUST INFRASTRUCTURE
SIRDC will allocate to PAMUST about 80 hectares of its land that is not earmarked for construction. More land for PAMUST, if and when necessary, will be allocated from State land that is contagious to SIRDC. Appropriate infrastructure will be built to the specifics of PAMUST master-plan.
SIRDC will allow PAMUST to start operating from SIRDC buildings, some of which will need finishing. The Building Technology Institute building and its pilot plant, the library building and the building currently housing Biotechnology Research Institute and Food and
Biomedical Technology Institute will also be made available for use by
PAMUST. These buildings can be renovated to suit requirements of
PAMUST.
SIRDC has analytical and testing equipment which PAMUST can
use initially. The Institute of Mining Research, which is nearby at the University of Zimbabwe has some equipment which PAMUST will also use. Residential accommodation for lecturing staff, students and visiting professors will be built at SIRDC on the land that is earmarked for that purpose. Other students and staff may be transported to and from the City of Harare. PAMUST will initially rely on infrastructure on SIRDC for internet, water, electricity, sewerage and clinic.
10. FINANCING PAMUST
Resources are going to be pooled from joint efforts of African governments, Government of Zimbabwe, Nelson Mandela Institution, World Bank and other partners.
The Pan African Minerals University of Science Technology is earmarked to commence operations using existing infrastructure and facilities at SIRDC. Additional research facilities and support shall be sourced on a need basis from local State universities and colleges.
PAMUST will start with modest student enrolment as the development of infrastructure proceeds. All along, the ratio of Master’s to PhD students will be maintained at about 4:1. It is assumed that it will take 10 years following its opening for PAMUST to reach its full capacity if resources inflow is as forthcoming as planned.
In order to leverage off the mining sector, targeted investment in human resources development and research and development is needed by the State and the mining companies.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology Bill, (H.B.10, 2015) be read a second time.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
ZANU PF CAUCUS MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: ZANU PF caucus meeting will take
place tomorrow at 0900 hours at the ZANU PF headquarters.
HON. GONESE: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. I am in
fact moving for the adjournment of the debate. The reason being that it has now come to my attention that the appropriate Portfolio Committee is actually out conducting public hearings on this particular Bill. I have not been aware of it. If I had been, I would have requested the Minister to defer the Second Reading speech. Be that as it may, I do not think we have lost anything in the sense that if the debate is adjourned, when the Committee has concluded its public hearings and they have presented their report, thereafter we can then have the general debate.
I believe Mr. Speaker Sir, that this is in line with our practices and procedures in similar circumstances. I think we did that with the Electoral Amendment Bill, whereby the Minister kindly acceded to our request as Hon. Members. I therefore request that this debate be adjourned to allow that Committee to present its report, which would generally guide us. Other members will debate with particular guidance from the Committee.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 24th May, 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. I
move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 2 to 23 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 24 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
HON. NYAMUPINGA: Mr. Speaker, I move the motion standing in my name;
That this House –
DISTURBED by the increase in cases of human trafficking of persons in Zimbabwe, particularly girls and young women;
ALARMED by the recent case of over 150 women who were
reportedly stranded in Kuwait after they were lured to that country by a syndicate of human traffickers, on the pretext that they would get lucrative jobs;
NOW, THEREFORE, this House resolves that:
- Government expedites investigations by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and ensure urgent repatriation of all the women who are currently stranded in Kuwait under slavery conditions;
- perpetrators of these heinous acts must face the full wrath of the law;
- the Ministry of Home Affairs must urgently conduct awareness programmes on human trafficking and educate the unsuspecting public, especially the youth about the dangers of human trafficking;
- that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should urgently write to the Kuwait Foreign Affairs Ministry requesting Kuwait authorities to ban the issue of Article 20 Visas which allows Kuwait employers to hire Zimbabwean citizens under slave conditions;
- that the Zimbabwean Embassy in Kuwait be allocated urgently sufficient financial resources to take care of the safe house, feeding and repatriation of the affected young ladies.
HON. NYANHONGO: I second.
HON. NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It is with a heavy heart that I rise to move a motion on human trafficking following the repatriation of around 53 out of 1000 women believed to have been trafficked to Kuwait. Not only Kuwait but to other countries like China, other Arab countries and including South Africa of all countries.
Mr. Speaker Sir, trafficking in persons is a form of modern slavery, threat of human security and a crime of humanity which must be condemned in all its forms. Human trafficking is generally understood as the recruitment and transportation of people by means of deception or force for the purpose of exploitation.
Article 3, Paragraph (a) of the Protocol on trafficking, Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons defines punishing in persons as recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Trafficking Mr. Speaker Sir, as evidenced in the definition has three constituent elements, the act, which is the recruitment, the transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons. Number two, means threat, use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception and abuse of power for what purpose? It is for the use of forced labour, slavery or similar practices, removing of organs and also sexual exploitation.
Let me say from the onset, that the issue of the girls who were trafficked to Kuwait did not start when Mr. Speaker brought the girls. It actually started on the 12th April, when your Committee on Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development invited the first nine girls who came back from Kuwait. We invited them to appear before the Committee but unfortunately we were advised, I think it is in the Standing Orders, by the Clerk that we are not supposed to publicise and make sure that it is known out there for the purposes that the cases were before the courts. Do we have these courts to suppress our girls? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] - Are we having these courts so that when someone commits a crime, they rush to court so that once it is before the courts no one talks about the case? I condemn that type of policy; whether it is a law, we are requesting your relevant committee to look at this law and do away with it because it now looks like it only started when the noise also started yet it had already started. I think whatever was said by these women was recorded in Hansard. Without covering themselves, they were brave enough to sit there and talk about the abuses that they went through in the Committee. I think there is need now that that the report be tabled before this House. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I will now move on.
Let me take this opportunity to thank you, I would have loved to read it in the presence of Hon. Mudenda, but all the same, let me take this opportunity to thank you for the role you played in the repatriation of our women who were stuck in Kuwait. Indeed, you played a fatherly role. When we met you at the airport, Mr. Speaker Sir, on the day that the women arrived, when I heard that they were coming, I took it upon myself to drive from my constituency to the airport to receive you and and the girls. Surely, when I saw the Speaker, I did not only see the Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe but saw a father, not only a father but a caring father … - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] – when I received the Speaker who was leading the delegation. We thank you indeed from the deepest parts of our hearts, we uphold you in the highest esteem Mr. Speaker Sir.
The role played by the Government, I would want to mention that when I say the Government, I want to single out the Embassy of Kuwait where the Ambassador was sitting with this problem for a long time. Writing to his Ministry, the Head Office and no action was being taken as no resources were being disbursed to him in support since he had become the safe house that was looking after the girls, those that had managed to escape from their so-called employers or sheiks who were abusing them.
We also want to acknowledge the role that was played by Mr. Wicknell Chivayo; for me, I think he did well and showed that he had gender compassion and respects the women of his country. We also want to thank the Young Women Christian Association which is led by our own Zimbabwean, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda. They also played a very pivotal role to assist the Speaker to repatriate the women. Their contributions would not have been possible had the Speaker not made the issue known and publicised. We are happy that the girls are back to their motherland.
I now want to proceed with the horrific ordeals that these girls
endured. I know that it was talked about when the report was tabled before the House but let us not mix the two. This is now a motion that is coming out of the report that was tabled by the delegation from Kuwait.
I think we will keep making noise like a bee in the Government’s ears so that we are heard. As we have seen, the women Members of Parliament have sacrificed to debate forever and ever sitting down until and when all the girls return to Zimbabwe. As we speak right now Mr. Speaker Sir, we even have contacts of the so called employers who have got our girls right now in the basement somewhere but I am surprised why the Government is not going to just have those girls leave that basement where they are being kept. Right now they are in there!
The ordeals shared by the survivors point to a level of torture and inhuman treatment that is unheard of. The young women went through horrific experiences of sexual exploitation. When we are talking about sexual exploitation here, allow me to say these three words in Shona. Vana vakaburitswa chimusana – being changed from one man to the other, ten men a day on one girl. One man is actually too much and how can one be having ten men in a day. They were reduced to being a “scud” at a beer hall where this one would drink and no one will clean the other person’s saliva. It goes to the next one, he drinks until the scud goes round ten people without wiping their saliva. This is what was happening to the girls.
They were not allowed to use soap to bath because it was said that their pores will close and they will smell because of the black skins. Mr. Speaker Sir, that level of slavery is unheard of especially in a country like Kuwait where they have signed and ratified the protocol on human trafficking. We do not want double standards where on the left hand, you sign and you are counted amongst those countries that have signed and on the right hand you are still perpetrating and violating the same protocol that you have signed. We condemn such countries.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Can the
owner of the following vehicle, ADI-9384 Ford Ranger, go and remove his vehicle which is obstructing other vehicles.
HON. NYAMUPINGA: Exploitation again was on forced labour.
The girls had to work from 4am to 2am. How do you work like that?
How do you work for so many hours only having a break of two hours?
Who knows what was happening on the break. The labour we are talking about from 4am to 2am was cleaning the house and doing all the maid chores but these two hours were also used for different chores as well. The lady of the house would go to work and ask the maid – there was no job description Mr. Speaker Sir, the girls did not know what exactly they were supposed to do. On the right hand they were maids they had to clean the house but on the left hand they were mistresses. When the lady of the house goes away, she would tell the maid that when daddy asks for anything do it for him. How do we have even women collaborating with their husbands to abuse other women?
Physical and mental torture induced on these ladies is unspeakable. If you have watched on television since this issue of girls is very topical in this country at the moment, I think it was last week when they were being interviewed and you heard that they were actually not being given food. They would only eat the food that was left by the family they were working for. Sometimes they would even go for days without food. Some would even end up taking food from the dustbins and eating but they were still expected to do their work.
It is important that sometimes because of the time bomb in this country of unemployment, it is difficult to talk about eradicating human trafficking even to Kuwait where we have had these horrific experiences, you will still find others who will still brave themselves to say they will go back to Kuwait because they are not employed. If we are not going to deal with the issue of unemployment, we are not going to nip the issue of human trafficking in the bud. We are dealing with symptoms here because even if we are going to ask any department to take awareness to the village level, or to whoever, they are going to ask them, if I do not do this, what is the alternative. I think the Government must come up with an alternative if we have to eradicate human trafficking.
The girls are not only being trafficked to Kuwait but also to China and Cape Town where we had a clip some months ago that went viral on the social media of our ladies who were being asked to eat what they have never wanted to eat but they had to do it because they wanted to survive. Do we want to reduce our women to that level? If we have respect for our women, I think we have to come up with a plan that will make them not want to go to these so called greener pastures. Thousands of women and children are being trafficked internationally and even here in Zimbabwe, far away from Kuwait. In this country, there is a lot of human trafficking. You find sometimes girls are confined somewhere, being trained as sisters of a church and they are kept in that room for months. They are not allowed to go out.
Who knows what goes in there? A lot of sexual abuse is happening. When I read about this, it only confirmed what I used to hear – what was quoted in The Sunday Mail of 15 May 2016, where this church called Apostolic Sect would bar girls from going to school because once they go to school, they would be enlightened. They have to remain unschooled so that they are trained as sisters. During training, there is a lot of abuse and also sexual abuse is happening.
I am surprised that we have an Inter-Ministerial Committee that was set up in 2015 and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary
Education is in that committee but this is happening that girls are not supposed to go to school. They are supposed to train as sisters. Mr.
Speaker Sir, I will table this article from The Sunday Mail. Trafficking in persons indicates that a database on human trafficking has detected human trafficking of human beings from 127 countries to be exploited in 131 countries. In Zimbabwe, this is rampant as girls and young women are brought from the rural areas to work in brothels as maids. If you were following electronic and print media, there was a brothel that ended up being closed where girls were being taken from the rural areas to go to these brothels and make money for the owner of the brothel. The same thing is happening with these girls who are in the streets. Some of them are not working for themselves. They are working for somebody else. When they are hired, they have to take the money and pay in to the person who brought them from the rural areas and they are given commission. There is need for the Ministry of Home Affairs as Chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee to take heed and make sure that the brothel owners are brought to book.
Mr. Speaker Sir, on that as well, I would like to speak on this clip in The Sunday Mail Leisure that this country is now issuing licences for strippers. That the country is issuing licences for strippers to strip. They go into a bar and strip off their clothes. This one that I have a clip here is called Private Lounge, somewhere there in Harare Street, where Harare Street starts, near the flyover that goes to Mbare.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when I got this information I had to go and sit there. I wanted to see it because I could not believe it. I understand the licence says they should just strip, but not strip including stripping their under clothes, but because they go in there, they are given beer and in the beer drugs are being put there and in the end they strip off everything and dance and start having sex on the stage. The Inter-Ministerial Committee should look at this. I will also table this clip Mr. Speaker Sir.
Africa and Asia have been predominantly used as sources of victims of traffic with Europe and the Middle East as the major destination of trafficking victims. A report on human trafficking titled
‘Extent of the Problem in Africa 2005’ established that 34% of African countries…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Can we
have less noise in the House, Hon. Members.
HON. NYAMUPINGA: That 34% of African countries are major sources of human trafficking to Europe, while 26% of countries mostly in East Africa are major sources of trafficking to Arab countries. On this one, let me also add that these girls or the women who are being trafficked, we have almost about 2000 or over 1000 that are roaming around in China as we speak right now. They were trafficked to China and some of them are now desperate and stranded in China.
Also, some of them, we have about 200 Zimbabweans and the majority of the 200 are women, are on the death row in China because they have been used by the so called Nigerians who are coming here, marrying them through an Act that we enacted in this House. They marry them and then ask them go to China to buy their wedding gowns. As they go to China to buy their wedding gown, they are given a bag, with a is called false bottom and in that false bottom, there are drugs packed in there. They are told when you get to China my friend is going to receive you and will show you the shops where you can buy your gown. She gets to China and the emigration and customs of China know that and these girls are captured and convicted.
Once that is done, the Nigerian will go and marry the next one. I do not know the game of changing names and whatever happens. I think also the Minister of Home Affairs, through the Registrar General, should also look at this. So, these women now - you know in China, they will tell you that once you bring drugs, its death penalty, almost 200 are on death row and of the 200, the majority are women.
What can be done? We need to revisit some of the laws, even some the laws that we included in the new Constitution that was ratified in 2013. There is need to do that, Mr. Speaker Sir. What do we need these Nigerian for? I have never seen many Nigerian women. I have only seen Nigerian men. They leave their wives in Nigeria there and they come and abuse our women here. I think the Government needs to look at that whether they have a Government to Government agreement where they look at these issues together and make sure that it is rectified.
The rise of globalisation and the widening gap between developing and developed countries, poverty, unemployment and lack of equal opportunities are factors to trafficking in persons. There is need to interrogate the global supply chain in human trafficking. We call upon the Inter-Ministerial Committee that we have not seen, that we only saw on the day they were having a press conference chaired by Home Affairs, to look into this issue and facilitate country to country agreements on the protection of migrant labour.
Why we are saying this Mr. Speaker Sir? We know that we are not going to stop our people from going out there completely. If we cannot stop them, then let us find a way to protect them so that wherever they will be, they will be protected. I understand Kuwait and Malawi have got an agreement, why do we not have our Government look at that and see if it is user friendly in this country or come up with their own home grown agreement? Just for the benefit of this House, I just want to give statistics on sexual exploitation - Middle East and Africa, 53%;
Americans 48%; East Asia, South Asia and the Pacific, 26%; Europe
and Central Asia, 66%. Forced labour, servitude and slavery like in
Africa and Middle East, 37%; Americans, 47%; South Asia and the Pacific, 64%; Europe and Central Asia 26%.
Mr. Speaker Sir, whilst I applaud the Government through what was done by the Embassy in Kuwait and commending the Government as well for enacting the Trafficking Persons Act of 2014 and constituting an Inter-Ministerial Committee on trafficking in persons comprising of the representatives of the Ministries and Departments of Home Affairs;
Public Service, Labour and Social Services; Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development; Health and Child Care; Media, Information and Broadcasting Services, but we have never heard anything being publicised; Education, there you are, the girls are not being allowed to go to school; local Government; Foreign Affairs, the embassy there is not resourced and he does not have cars to go around and pick these girls; the National Prosecuting Authority; Registrar General; Immigration; the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Financial
Intelligence Unit.
I however, note with concern that the Inter-Ministerial Committee has been silent until the recent cases of trafficking. Mr. Speaker Sir, we did not even know that it exists. At first, when we wanted to put notice of this motion before we stopped it allowing for the report to come in first, we were actually recommending that the Government come up with an Inter-Ministerial Committee, only to find out that it exists, but we have never heard about it. We have never heard what it is doing and we have never had awareness in any village, or any ward or in any city. No one knows what human trafficking is because sometimes when we think of human trafficking, we just think across borders
Mr. Speaker Sir, every member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee should play their part in addressing the problem of human trafficking. The Inter-Ministerial Committee should also look into issues of trafficking broadly as we are aware that a lot of trafficking is taking place in the country, intra-regionally and inter-regionally. I want to urge the Minister of Finance to prioritise the repatriation of the remaining trafficking victims in Kuwait, the IMO also to play its part. We do not want this issue of going to NAG for funding from other citizens when actually there are departments which are supposed to do that in Government. Also, the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) should frantically be there, providing funding to make sure that these girls still in Kuwait have got a safe place to stay in, food to eat and airtickets to bring them home. We do not want – once the girls are discovered, for them to spend another three weeks waiting, when they have already been traumatized and continue being traumatized, wondering when they will get tickets to come back home. For example, the girls that I was telling you about earlier, who are in a basement at the moment, their parents are being requested to pay three thousand dollars ($3000) for them to be released. If they want the contact number, I will table the number of that employment agent.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the course of justice should take its place. Most of the employment agencies and human trafficking syndicates have been identified but some are still walking scot free in this country. I want the Ministry of Home Affairs, to expedite the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators. We understand that the Zimbabweans who were taken to Kuwait as victims, some of them have turned themselves into employment agencies. They are now calling their relatives in the villages asking them if they know people who need employment and asking them to register them and forward their details. Those people are just registering and are very excited that they are going to work outside the country. We all know that anything to do with outside the country is exciting to our people.
So, I was recommending that these people, the likes of Hazel Muchaneta and Lorraine Nhapata who are running an employment agency in Kuwait, be repatriated home or else surrender their citizenship, that they are no longer Zimbabweans. As much as the Ministry of Home Affairs is going to deal with the local employment agents, we still have other employment agents that have surfaced also in
Kuwait. We are saying these employment agents should be rounded up. I have a list of names of these agencies, some were not registered as employment agencies but are individuals operating from their homes talking to someone in Kuwait, recruiting people and sending them there. But now they are threatening the victims and even if Home Affairs want to bring these people to book, the problem is there is no complainant. So, the laws should be there for the people and where is the law for the voiceless – those who have been threatened and are scared to go there? All these people will be freed because there is no complainant but it is not that they have not been perpetrating in the trafficking issue. They have been seriously in it but no one is reporting them. The Government is trying but the police will still throw away the case because there is no complainant.
It is a pity that some churches have been fingered in this human trafficking saga. Churches must remain focused on their core business and desist from such deals that violate the rights of other human beings. We understand that in these churches, people have prayer requests and some of them will write their requests on paper. While they are praying and holding their prayer requests, the agents are watching for those with job requests and after church, people are told that their prayers have been answered, there is a job in Kuwait. Mr. Speaker Sir, what I am saying also refers to that clip that I have already tabled for you.
Let me now come to the media, which has a critical role to play in sensitising citizens of these unscrupulous activities. I want to applaud the media for publishing various articles on the trafficking saga.
However, negative reporting should not be tolerated. Mr. Speaker Sir,
We do not tolerate things like this. I will read it out: ‘twenty-one more sex slaves arrive from Kuwait’. Is that positive? As much as they are reporting that twenty-one more have arrived but if we, ourselves are calling them sex slaves – we do not want and we do not need such negative reporting. Why is it that when the media is reporting anything about women, they always want to report in the negative. We are asking them to support us as women.
I have a caption from the Sunday Mail of 15th May 2016. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Country Director was talking about supporting the women who are stuck in Kuwait. This is only after the Speaker had done something and only after the Press Conference yet these stakeholders have just been sitting quietly. We urge IOM to make sure that these girls are brought back into the country.
We also urge the media not to do the type of reporting that they are doing now because it is uncalled for and it stigmatises the survivors. That is why at times you find that sometimes they do not want to speak out and remain with whatever information that could actually help in the future other women who would want to go to these greener pastures because once they say anything, the media will blow it out of proportion in a negative way.
Mr. Speaker Sir, after all I have said, I have made more recommendations to complement the recommendations that I had made earlier on when I gave notice of this motion. I am therefore recommending that:
- Government expedites investigations through its interMinisterial Committee and ensure urgent repatriation of all the women who are currently stranded in Kuwait under slavery conditions.
- Perpetrators of these acts must face the full wrath of the law.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs must urgently conduct awareness programmes on human trafficking and educate the unsuspecting public, especially the youth about the dangers of human trafficking.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should urgently write to the Kuwait Foreign Affairs Ministry requesting Kuwait authorities to ban the issue of Article 20 Visa, which talks about the Kadama, which stipulates that once you have been issued with this visa and you step into Kuwait, automatically you have become a slave and if you run away, you are actually convicted as a run-away-maid. So, we urge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to engage their colleagues in Kuwait.
- We were requesting Kuwait authorities to ban the issue of this Article 20 visa, which allows Kuwait employers to hire Zimbabwean citizens under slave conditions. I think they
can have a different visa altogether that is flexible and user friendly for the women whom they want to work for them. I have also added some recommendations that;
-There be political will and prevention awareness both formal and informal, coordination of countries through the creation of networks to discuss human trafficking, engagement of stakeholders and sharing of best practices [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –
- There is need to partner with the private sector in addressing trafficking. Value supply chain should respect the rights of women.
- Public-private partnership can create employment opportunities to avert trafficking, that is a time bomb.
-As a country, we need to develop a national strategy to fight trafficking. For example, Hungary has a national strategy to fight trafficking and have established safe houses for those concerned, state compensation for victims, training of officers and have a hotline number 24/7 and a toll free number. If we had a hot line we would have known that there were women stranded in Kuwait.
- Lastly, the Kuwaiti Government should be held accountable and compensate the victims of trafficking[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]. I thank you.
HON. NYANHONGO: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion brought by Hon. Nyamupinga, I being also a Committee member. It is so disheartening Mr. Speaker to hear that there are some Zimbabweans who are being taken as slaves in a foreign countries. To me, as a Government, we really need to be very serious about this matter and we have to sit down and take appropriate action against such practices being done in Kuwait. It is not Kuwaiti alone, as far as we understand, there are so many countries that are doing the same practice, especially abusing Zimbabwean nationals. To us, it is a serious matter.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to urge the Government to conduct some investigations to find out how many countries are doing this practice, especially to our people, Zimbabwean nationals. We need to be serious and I am saying this to the House that we need the Judiciary to play its role. I am of the opinion that this matter has to be taken to AU. The AU then will have to take this matter to the United Nations. We want some compensation. We want the perpetrators to be dealt with. The law must take its course because we cannot allow our people to be treated in that kind of manner in a foreign country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I also would like to urge the Government to make sure that some kind of awareness is made in all our ten provinces, rural and urban where we are saying our people must conscientised, they must be told that there are some people who are saying they have got some access, they will make them have access to employment in certain countries but it will be false information. So, I want to say the Government must go out, there, I do not know through which means but we must send a message in all our ten provinces to conscientise our women and young girls.
It is not only women and young girls, also our young boys are being taken in slavery again. For example Hon. Nyamupinga mentioned Cape Town in South Africa, a lot is happening. We are now aware of what is happening in Cape Town South Africa. We do not want to see this continuing. We have got our embassies out there who must be given a task to make sure that they have to look for our nationals who are being abused in this kind of manner. We do not like to continue seeing this happening. We have the mandate as the Government to make sure that we protect our people wherever they are, be it in America, United Kingdom and so forth. Wherever a Zimbabwean national is being ill treated in any country, the Zimbabwean Government must and it is our mandate to make sure that we protect our people.
So the Kuwaiti Government, yes, it is not alone - so many countries are doing the same practice but we have identified Kuwait and we have got proof that Kuwaiti is doing all these practices against our women. Like Hon. Chinotimba said earlier on, we want Kuwaiti Government to be answerable and to compensate. We do not know whether these women have been infected with STIs or what. So, we really need to understand - and that should say they have to pay, all the charges. Whoever has been infected with HIV, Kuwaiti Government must be responsible - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – this should come from Zimbabwe. We do not care about their big economies, we do not care about whatever they have, we want to protect our people. Ubuntu wethu, hunhu wedu isusu as Zimbabweans tomira tiri papi because of those practices that have been made in Kuwaiti and all these other countries which we have not mentioned.
What I am saying is, we really need some investigations to be carried out in all these countries which we have not mentioned. Action, action, must be taken! I thank you.
*HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Hon. Nyamupinga and the seconder Hon. Nyanhongo for bringing up this motion. I think you remember last week, we tried to talk about it and today we want to really talk about this. If you look at people when they go to Botswana, if you throw a stone, you find that you hit a
Zimbabwean, if you grow to South Africa, you throw a stone you hit a Zimbabwean because they are working there. Even in London, I am told that there is now a joke that if you open a door they call out in Shona that there is someone inside. Maybe that is so because we are people who know how to work, we are hard workers-but we should not find ourselves in slavery because of this.
I am saying this because in 2014, in this very House, we ratified the issue that people should not be ill treated, they should not just work and not be paid. I am saying this because we are a country, we have our own resources and if people could manage to get access to them, they would not go to such places as Kuwait. Hon. Speaker, may I be protected because I hear there is a lot of noise going on. This is a very important motion; otherwise we will go back and sit on the floor.
Hon. Speaker, if you look at this country called Kuwait, some of us do not even know where it is. People are suffering and that is why we hear of this place called Kuwait. There are no jobs. We have to do something about the issue of unemployment. People should be able to work and get remunerated properly; not to get bread because they have worked. If we do not address the issue of unemployment, we end up getting into slavery. Kuwait has an embassy in Zimbabwe and its people studied this country and realised that we are suffering. That is why they are doing this.
The people did not just go to Kuwait; they did not know about Section 20 on their visas. There is an agency that is benefiting from those people. There are Zimbabweans who are working hand in hand with people from Kuwait. We want to know the people who are running these agencies. We need to name and shame them and they should be charged. They must be brought to book.
The women and girls who went to Kuwait, some of them you cannot even look at them. Their private parts are swollen. One of the girls left a three months old baby but she cannot breastfeed because she was sucked by men out there. Some of them can no longer walk properly. They have scars and do not even know what happened to them. They were injured by elderly people. If you are scratched by a wire on your skin, you do forget that you have that scratch. It means they will have those scars until death.
Mr. Speaker, the laws of this country do not allow people to just leave the country. People do not go to Kuwait by bus, unless I am mistaken. If they go there by plane, how then do they leave? I do not think you fly there directly but you have to pass through other countries before getting there. As women, we should not allow ourselves to be treated like that. Even those who are working in South Africa are not being treated properly. Some of them do not have qualifications but others do have them. If we are taken as a country that turns a blind eye to such things, we will have problems.
Hon Speaker, Chapter 9:25 of the Trafficking in Persons that was passed in this House in 2014 should be looked into. Those who would be found guilty of this offence should be charged accordingly. People from Kuwait heard what happened last week and all the noise that took place. Did they ever ask for forgiveness? Did we do any wrong? I think we are the people in charge of ourselves. If people from Kuwait have not asked for forgiveness up to now, it means they are doing a lot. We were told by those girls who came back that they were not the only ones. There are others out there and some of them are in other countries. Is there any way that we can find out where those other children went to and how many they are. Those agencies know where they took our children to. Mr. Speaker, it is very sad for everyone in this House. We should support this motion and its recommendations. There are people who say that they can get jobs on the internet and things like that should not be allowed.
There is a boy who is my neighbour. He gave me his curriculum vitae and I was surprised because he is a graduate selling airtime. We want the informal sector to start working properly like the formal sector because that is where our graduates can go to. We must generate revenue so that we start treating our own people with dignity. We are being taken into slavery and people are made to do sexual acts with dogs; we are not happy about that.
I am happy that the Vice President has come into the House and he will hear this. Maybe he will take these issues to Cabinet. I thank you
Mr. Speaker.
*HON. MANGAMI: I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker, for affording me this opportunity to talk about this motion that has been brought by Hon. Nyamupinga. I will talk about three issues, mostly are recommendations and we need action. There is an Inter-Ministerial committee that is there. What is the mandate of this Inter-Ministerial committee? I think it is part of their duty to look into the issues of human trafficking and they should start doing what they are mandated to
Most people in Zimbabwe do not know what human trafficking is. It is being written in newspapers but it is not everyone who knows about this human trafficking. I urge the Government to make sure that there is awareness that people should not go to places that they do not know, to do jobs that they do not know. I know that jobs are hard to come by but we need to know. We should not just exploit labour to other places. The Government should be made aware even if someone is going to work on a farm.
Looking at South Africa where most Zimbabweans go to look for employment, the Inter-Ministerial Committee should look into that and discuss with the South African Government so that we would know where people are going to work. If they are working on farms, it should be known that they are working on farms for so many months and they are getting so much.
What is happening now is, if people go there and the employer does not want to pay them, he will call the police and say they are illegal immigrants and then people are deported. This is why I am saying the Inter-Ministerial Committee should work hand in hand with the South Africans and do it legally in order for them to work properly so that we are also aware that there are Zimbabweans that are working in South Africa, which is just nearby.
The law against human trafficking was enacted in 2014 but has seen things going wrong after two years of ratification. Maybe there is something that we did wrong or did not look at properly or maybe there is a definition that we need to relook at.
In conclusion, I know we do not have many jobs and a lot of our people go and work out of the country because you are treated with respect and dignity upon your return yet people will not be aware of the type of a job that you were doing. We now know that people want to go and work outside the country and that the country wants foreign currency. The Government should take steps to see how they can formerly export labour whether skilled or semi-skilled. I thank you for affording me this opportunity.
*HON. MAHOKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I will briefly speak on the motion that was moved by Hon. Nyamupinga, seconded by Hon. Nyanhongo. I think that we should start with our own backyard that is topical. There was reference to ADP that was mentioned in Mbare, if there is abuse taking place there, we should start with that area. As we are in this august House, action should be taken, our police sent there and the place shut down and not to hear that women have to undress and parade naked whilst the men watch. We should start from there and the action should be done now.
It is not only people in Kuwait but also in Zimbabwe where abuse is taking place in as far as girls and women are concerned. As we are talking, action should be taken and that place should be closed. I think if it is still open and nothing is done tomorrow, both male and female legislators should take action tomorrow. Men should also participate because they were born of women and brought up by women. So, tomorrow they also need to go and demonstrate against the closure of that bar. We should all go there, not attend Parliament and sit outside as demonstration that no action has been taken. We cannot sit in this august House and talk about things that we are not addressing, we should pity our girls and women. We know there are men out there who do not patronise this particular bar but they are taking the young girls and abusing them. When you see a single man attaining adulthood, who is he staying with in that house? Men should marry women and have wives at home so that they stop abusing young girls and taking them from their homes.
My opinion on the issue of Kuwait is that, as smartly dressed as we are as Honourable Members of Parliament we do not want to be sitting on this carpet. I think the Kuwait Embassy should be closed. We cannot come here, demonstrate and sit on the floor yet the Embassy is working and communicating with their people in Kuwait. They are the ones that are responsible for this human trafficking, so we need to close down that Embassy. The Embassy is actually making us a laughing stock because they have not proffered an apology and nothing has been done. So if we do not embark on any action then we are not doing anything; but if we close that Embassy, we will have started action.
Our second request is that 30 of our children should come to this august House and explain to us the trauma that they endured. If they woke up late or refused to perform the duties assigned to them, they were burnt with irons, I think as Zimbabweans, we need to take action. We cannot coexist with people who embark on such activities on the pretext that it is a foreign country. If a country signs certain conventions and protocols, they should live in accordance with what they proscribed
to.
In Zimbabwe, we are saying that our children who were abused and traumatised in Kuwait should be repatriated as soon as possible.
This process should be expedited because we know where they are. Mr. Speaker, if you were to hear of the experiences of these children that once they got to the airport in Kuwait, their bags and passports are confiscated and the girls are put into a basement then men come and have them auctioned for $10 000.00. The country is given a certain amount and the Kuwait President also gets a stake in it. Another one comes and is auctioned for $20 000.00. Children are also sold in that basement and we laugh about it as a nation, what are we doing? Are we afraid of the power and money that they have? We are not worried about that but want our children to return to Zimbabwe. This is why I am proposing that these children come and tell us their ordeals and we ensure that no children go to Kuwait.
I think that this is where sanctions should be imposed. We are not happy for our children to be taken to Kuwait. Those people who are recruiting children in Kuwait should be repatriated to Zimbabwe for trial and sentencing because they are Zimbabweans who are doing this. I think they should be sentenced to death because as long as they are there and alive, they will serve their sentence, be released and continue abusing the girls and promoting human trafficking. These people now have a lot of money and can use their money and influence to ensure lesser sentences. I think they should just be sentenced to death.
I also think that this august House should come up with action to be taken today. We are not supposed to go to sleep without taking any action. As you leave that Chair, Mr. Speaker, we need to take action. If we agree to go to the Kuwait Embassy at 0800hrs, that is what we are going to do. We also have an army that is also capable of doing that and we also have the well-trained Zimbabwe Republic Police to perform such activities.
I do not think that if Commissioner General Chihuri is conscientised on this issue and our position, it will take him time to arrange this. The Commissioner General of Police, Cde Chihuri is competent enough to conduct his duties, so we want action and we need to see that action to show that we represent the people who elected us and the world out there will see that we are representing them as they expect.
*HON. MARIDADI: Let me thank Honourable Nyamupinga for
raising this motion and I want to thank all the Honourable Members who have debated this motion. I also want to thank Honourable Mahoka for strengthening the recommendations.
In February, I got a phone call from one of the ladies in my constituency who told me that she was summoned by the agency to go to Kuwait and requested for $20 for visa and finger prints. I requested that I meet the agents and she said it was possible. She was meeting with these agents at a nightclub mentioned by Honourable Nyamupinga known as Private Lounge. I drove to Private Lounge and this girl later phoned me to say that those people refused to meet me because I told them I was coming with you. I advised her that if they refused that I meet them then there is no reason why you should go to Kuwait. Up to today she is grateful for the advice that I gave her not to go to Kuwait. At the Private Lounge, I got there around 4pm. What happens at Private Lounge is a sorry site. What pained me most was that - who is the owner? The surprising thing is that the owner of the Private Lounge is a Member of Parliament and the licence was obtained through fraudulent means. As Honourable Nyamupinga has said, as you get to Private Lounge, you find the girls are expected to undress and dance before men because they are given beer to drink and around 11pm, they completely undress and you see the Honourable Member who is the owner at the place. Like what Honourable Mahoka said, action should be taken and the Honoruable Member should be reprimanded and be told that we are closing down his bar. Normally when I speak, I am someone who is straightforward and I will not beat about the bush and I will tell him to close his bar.
I am happy that the Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe
Honourable Mphoko is here. If it is a British or American citizen who is beaten up, if he or she goes to their embassy, she sees the Ambassador there and then. The following morning the report will be before the Prime Minister, David Cameron. If a Zimbabwean is abused in countries like South Africa or wherever, as you get to the embassy and as they see that person through the CCTV, they start asking themselves what those Zimbabwean citizens want. If you tell them the abuse that you have gone through, what they ask is that what have you done for you to be abused.
We do not have representation for our children who are abroad at the embassies because the employees at the embassy do not treat them like human beings. That is why you find the media actually putting the headline like “sex slaves”. The editor writes about our children who were trafficked to Kuwait as sex slaves. That should not be happening Mr. Speaker Sir, this is a state owned newspaper that writes that. I think that is an issue that demands an apology from the state owned newspaper.
The other issue that we are talking about is the issue mentioned by Honourable Nyamupinga which is unemployment. The issue of unemployment is what is making our girls being trafficked. I have a cousin sister who sells various merchandise at Mupedzanhamo market. It was constructed by the City Council and a table costs $15. That area can have 100 people paying $15 per day. But an Honourable Member of Parliament who sits in this august House went to City Council and obtained 100 tables which he sublets at a cost of $200 per table. If you go to Mupedzanhamo market, you will not find anyone there who owns a table. The vendors pay $200 per table and then Honourable Maridadi takes $15 and pays to council. It means our people are not empowered. So we are disempowering our people. Those people who are doing that are here in Parliament well dressed in a tie and jacket and contributes to debates. The very Honourable Members who do this were voted by people in Mbare, Mabvuku and Mufakose. They are the ones who vote for us but we embark in such corrupt activities and yet that person was given a table for $15 which they sublet at $200. How can our children not be treated as slaves if we disempower them in this manner?
Those who speak say that charity begins at home. Honourable Nyamupinga talked about prayers in churches. You will have written your prayer request that you want a job and then you go to the pastor and the pastor prays for you. There are people in this august House who are members of the Executive who go to those churches with prayer requests and then they take those people to be maids. Some are Minister of this Government and we have evidence. Mr Speaker Sir, I only mention things that I have evidence on..
*HON. SAVANHU: On a point of order. I am requesting
Honourable Maridadi to mention the names of Honourable Members of Parliament who are taking tables and charging exorbitantly to vendors. I am the Member of Parliament for Mbare Constituency. If it is happening, I would want to know which Honourable Member is doing that. I think it is important that it be known who this culprit is instead of just saying Honourable Member.
*HON. MARIDADI: When I was growing up, I was told that if someone is unsettled by a situation, they know what they are talking about. What I am saying is that I have evidence because I have people who come from Mabvuku who told me that they pay $200. I went to the City of Harare and I asked them how much a table costs and I said I have someone who is paying $200 and the City of Harare said that was happening. That is why the City of Harare now has a strategy…..
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON MUTOMBA):
Honourable Maridadi you were requested that if you know the individuals, can you bring up their names.
*HON MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I will submit those names tomorrow because I have evidence. I want to submit the names – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] Mr. Speaker, I will bring the table numbers tomorrow, the names of people who are selling from these tables, the monies that they are sending to these individuals and the money that is being paid to the City Council. Just this past week, I had a programme in the constituency because City of Harare talked of listing those who are subletting. That is an issue that is before the council. So, I am talking about what I know.
Going back to the issue …
HON. J. TSHUMA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon.
Maridadi is coming with very interesting and good news here and as Parliament we want straight things. He said that he knows the Hon. Members who are doing such corrupt activities and we are trying to curb such behaviour. Can he say them now, otherwise ngavatomira kudebater kwacho. Ngavataure – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – because we want to know the individuals.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
He is bringing that tomorrow. I have ruled on that point. I am chairing and have ruled on that point.
*HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, you have made a ruling on the issue and I will follow your ruling. On the issue of our diplomatic relations with Kuwait, what Hon. Nyamupinga said is that the agents that perform these activities, once the case goes to court, nothing is done. The agents are there and we know them. The reason why these are not brought to book, I do not even know. If you go to Chitungwiza at 5 o’clock, by 5.30, you will have arrested them. I am not even aware why these people are not arrested and yet the victims actually say out the names of the people they dealt with.
On the issue of prayer requests for jobs, we always say that Zimbabweans are hard workers and that is why we are appreciated abroad, but are you aware of the fact that there are men who are also being treated as slaves abroad. There are men who are used as sex slaves as well. If you go to England and see the children from Zimbabwe who are living there, you will be surprised when you realise that they do not have anything. If they are to come back to Zimbabwe, they will not come back with anything because they are living in poverty.
So, Mr. Speaker Sir, we are saying that the issue of taking children to Kuwait, those are just symptoms. The root cause is the issue of unemployment. The unavailability of jobs is what is enhancing human trafficking. We realise that as people go abroad, for them to sell, they are beaten by the police. Today I was listening to the radio and there is a song called Hapana that says, ‘We went to school and have qualification but there is no employment, we have degrees but there is no employment, we can sing and dance but there is no employment’. The song is called ‘no opportunity’. If we were to listen to eat as adults, it really pains. Once you see children singing such songs, it is a sign that things are not okay in Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker, today as I was driving, a kombi driver cut in my way and I talked to him. The driver said, Hon. Maridadi, I was the President of ZICOSU which is a grouping of university students and he studied food sciences, but that young guy is a loader for kombis. He is a tout. If you go on the internet, a person with food science gets about US$22 000 but here in Zimbabwe that person is shouting Mabvuku-Tafara as a tout. Those people who are degreed are busy selling airtime but they are holders of BSc degrees in Computer Sciences from NUST and UZ but once they leave the university, they go and sell airtime. If I were to go to a 22 year old guy with a BSc degree, you know they get a profit of $2.50 and if I were to say to him, let me take you to South Africa to work in a restaurant where you will get R250, will he refuse. Obviously, he will not. So, let us deal with the root cause of the problem. There is no employment in Zimbabwe.
The second issue Mr. Speaker is that there is corruption. What corruption does is that the money which was supposed to go towards 50 families in Highfields –
*HON. SEREMWE: On a point of order, I think the Member is now out of topic, let us debate the issue of Kuwait – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections].
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you can
proceed with your debate. I think you are now winding down.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, where there is funding that can be used by 50 families in Highfields to embark on SMEs, it might be $100 000 from the Government; that money is abused by corrupt officials and people who probably live in Greendale. That is painful Mr. Speaker. If you go to a company, you find a Chief Executive Officer who gets $535 000 earned by one person. If you are to consider that amount of money…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think you are
departing from the motion. I think you need to come back and address the motion.
HON. MARIDADI: What I am saying Mr. Speaker is that what is making Kuwait attractive to our children is that if you were to give a Member of Parliament or Vice President Mphoko here $500 000, even the cats in Bulawayo will know what will have happened. But here, because of corruption, this money is consumed by one person. The second reason why people did not go to Kuwait and demonstrate is because of the diplomatic relations with Kuwait. Therefore, we do not need to affect our relations.
Lastly Mr. Speaker, when the Hon. Speaker went to Kuwait, he heard about the girls in Kuwait and he tried to engage the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs did not even come to the phone to talk to the Speaker. The money that was supposed to repatriate the girls was not available. This later came from an individual. This means the Government could not even get $50 000 to repatriate the girls back to Zimbabwe. That is not a good scenario. A point of order may be raised but that is bad. A country that is not able to protect its citizens is not a country. It was supposed to be realised that there are 21 girls who are in slavery and the Speaker of Parliament is requesting. If you look at the hierarchy of Zimbabwe, there is the President and the Vice President. From the Vice President there is the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chief Justice. However, the Speaker, the second person in the Zimbabwean hierarchy phones the Minister of
Foreign Affairs to discuss the issue and he cannot attend to the call. What is the Minister of Foreign Affairs doing if he cannot attend to the call?
For one to be a Speaker of National Assembly, he or she has to have a constituency and elected by the people. Parliamentarians also vote for the Speaker. It means the Speaker has a more direct contact with the people than anyone else. However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs refuses to address the issues raised by the Speaker. As a
Minister, you do not respect the Speaker and you were not even elected by the people but a proportional representative Member. Mr. Speaker, let me say, my time is almost up. Let me reiterate what was said. Even in ZANU PF there were others who used to write good assignments at university such as Hon. Mbwembwe, why not remove them and appoint other Members. The likes of Hon. Mabuwa should also become Ministers. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
*HON. SEREMANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The motion raised by Hon. Nyamupinga has deeply affected me. I was invited to a bar and I paid US$5 to enter this bar. You will be embarrassed to see what is happening in Zimbabwe. If you were to see what happens in this bar, you will never want to associate with a woman. When they start dancing, they will be dressed, after a while, they start stripping until they are completely naked. Let me tell you, those are issues that affect the image of Zimbabwe. I went there about two or three years back, these thugs bring embarrassment on our nation and affect our image. Our request is that we close this bar as soon as possible. I thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir.
*HON. MUCHENJE: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me an opportunity – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, do you want
us to chase each other out?
*HON. MUCHENJE: I thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity –
Hon. Maridadi having been talking to another Hon. Member.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Maridadi you debated
and now you are going to the other side to make noise.
*HON. MUCHENJE: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to raise my voice on this motion moved by Hon.
Nyamupinga on the issue of human trafficking. I want to start by saying that charity begins at home. Hubenzi hwechembere hwakatangira kumahumbwe. This means that everything has a beginning. As we face the issue of human trafficking, it begins with lack of employment opportunities.
We have good schools; most children are graduating from high institutions of learning. After graduating, our children are highly qualified and leaned and due to lack of employment opportunities, they begin to look for something to keep themselves occupied. There is a time when everyone feels that they cannot continue being dependent upon their parents – [HON. MEMBERS:Hear, hear.] - when these children begin to behave that way – there are no companies in Zimbabwe, we are dependent on our own informal businesses for our livelihood.
However, as we do our businesses, we are unable to work in a free environment because of being persecuted by law enforcement agents. Most people have their livelihood in informal trading activities. As Government, we should come up with a solution. We are opening so many universities. I will give an example of one of my children who was very intelligent but was doing naughty things, some of which I would never have imagined. Such a child will be very difficult to take care of.
I will switch on to the issue of beer halls which is being talked about. I will give you an example of one of my relative’s daughter. She completed her education and joined her mother who sells at the market until she quit. She was impregnated by a man who refused to marry her having given birth to two children. She began to dance in beer halls and I confronted her on why she had chosen to do that. She told me that she had given up on everything else and she wanted to take care of her children in terms of food and rentals. It is clear that the child I am referring to made a decision to sacrifice herself to abuse in order to survive because of the economic meltdown of our country.
On the issue of Kuwait, I am one of the members of the Committee on Women and Gender. It is true that these children went abroad because they were looking for sustenance. However, the fact is that our children are so much educated and they expect good employment opportunities. I remember one of the women saying that when she went to Kuwait, she was told that she would advance in her education but that did not happen. This goes back to the issue that the economic meltdown is what is making our children make such drastic decisions.
If you go to South Africa – I have been to East London in South Africa, there are boys engaging in menial jobs. One ends up telling themselves that it is better to earn a decent living than engage in criminal activities. At my age I look forward to retirement but the children who are the leaders of tomorrow do not have a future. If you look at the trauma faced by the girls who went to Kuwait, it has affected their lives.
As narrated by one of the girls who went to Kuwait, the
Zimbabwean Ambassador to Kuwait is denigrated, but here in Zimbabwe we leave ambassadors to do what they please. I want to agree with previous speakers who said that we cannot just sit back and look at what is happening. We need to take action and ensure that the embassy is closed because we cannot continue having our children being abused. As has been said by the others that we need to ensure that embassy is closed. The other pertinent issue is that when people continue to suffer in silence on activities by such countries such as Kuwait and China and all, it is difficult for people to talk. Also, some other powerful people are engaged in these trafficking issues and it is difficult to come out and say it out that so and so is engaging in trafficking.
Again, in this nation of ours when life is so difficult, I want to say that the issue of employment should be addressed by the Government. You know that Zimbabweans are very hard working. Where we are today, what is of challenge is that as mothers, when things become so difficult, we are the ones who are working. When I leave this august
House you would be surprised that I am an MP because I have to work. I have to go and work for a child who is 30 years old, whose husband is not going to work. I have to send my grandchildren to school because they are not working.
So, my request is that the Government should see to it that once children are educated, for all the educated children, they should leave school as graduates and be gainfully employed because it does not make any sense for us to continue moaning and yet nothing is being done. The issue is to address the bread and butter issues. You cannot tell a child not to go and eat next door when there is no food in the house. If a child is told not to go and eat next door, that child will definitely go because there is no food in the house. So, we should ensure that our economy recovers and jobs are made available. If we do not do that, our children will continue going abroad and will continue being abused.
Zimbabwe is experiencing economic problems. Even here in the homes, children are being abused. I have evidence of two girls who are going out to beer halls to go and be abused because they need to feed their parents. So, the issue is as Zimbabwe, we need to go and address the economic challenges in our nation, such that when a child graduates from university, he should go to work. Some of them go on their own to these nations.
I want to talk about a girl who is actually a stripper. She is an adult, but she does sexual dances in beer halls. A beautiful girl abuses herself with a bottle on the stage in bars. If such a girl is told that there is more money in Kuwait, that child is likely to go. So, as Parliament, as a representative of the people, we work with the people even in the areas where we stay, the girl child is the one who is most vulnerable. They are not only being abused in Kuwait, but they are also being abused here in Zimbabwe. So, we need to address the bread and butter issues. Once that is not addressed, the person has no choice.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I am going to be very short and precise. First and foremost, I want to aknowledge and thank the mover of this motion, Hon. Nyamupinga and the seconder thereof. I also want to thank you, Mr. Speaker and your delegation for emancipating the Zimbabwean children from Kuwait. Mr. Speaker, if I was Bob Marley I would sing for you, however because you made a ruling when we were debating the issue of the war shrines that there shall not be any singing in the House, you will not have the latitude and liberty of getting a song from me.
However, Mr. Speaker, what I need to also add my voice on is the issue that is currently bedeviling the economy. I have called numerous times for the criminalisation of those that call for sanctions for this nation. This is one of the issues that is currently having our economy in the state that it is in and we are now having what is called human flight which is going into bondage in human trafficking.
The second issue that I need to touch on is the issue of the Hon. Members in this House that should now know and be cognisant of the fact that they are not a third broken leg or arm of the State. They are a third arm of the State which should stand up to the challenge and make good laws for the good order and governance of society of this nation. Why do I say that? Mr. Speaker Sir, we have our economy skewed in the direction of the informal sector. This is where we have a lot of our money coming from as we speak, but in this House, we should take a stand to make laws that are skewed in that direction.
We should come out of the mindset of being historic in the way we formulate our laws because in that formal sector, it is now devoid of people. It is no longer the formal sector that we used to know. The industries are closed and now, we need to follow where our population has gone to. Our population has gone into the informal sector. The
RBZ Governor in his Monetary Statement alluded to the fact that we got US$684 million from the gold sector and 60% of that has come from the informal sector. Let us aknowledge the informal sector to keep our children and our girls in our society, otherwise we will keep having human flight and it has been caused by Hon. Members varikuita nhetemwa yekuisa mitemo iriright.
We should be aware that we are incarcerating our own people because we are not making laws for the good governance of our society. It is supposed to ring a bell, lest we engage in what is called self servitude. Zimbabwe is endowed with ubiquitous mineral wealth and 40 of those minerals we are mining them. What we need to do is to remove ourselves from the mode of corruption, collusion and nepotism. We need to engage in coordination, cooperation and networking and it starts in this House, lest we have our girls being trafficked to other nations.
Mr. Speaker Sir, what men can do, women can do better. These people that we are sending into slavery, they use both sides of their brain, unlike men who use one side of their brain. These people, if we utilise them optimally, we can gain a lot for this nation.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, who are the we who are sending these young ladies and also, can we stick to the prayer of the motion.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you for your guidance once again, Mr.
Speaker Sir. When I spoke of the we part, I was speaking to the Hon. Members that going forward, if we now make laws and we become steadfast and resolute that no matter what we want to pass as a law, let it be skewed towards the formally marginalized black majority who are going into slavery. Of all those girls that have been returned and those that are still in those countries, none of them are white. They might be light in skin complexion but they are not white but blacks. They have run away from the laws that support the white minority. Let us change these laws, so that they get skewed towards our formally marginalised black majority, so that they get to know laws in this country that support their economic emancipation. I will stick to the prayer Mr. Speaker Sir.
The last part of the prayer Mr. Speaker Sir, that the Zimbabwean Embassy in Kuwait be allocated urgently, sufficient funds to take care of feeding our girls and also repatriating them. This should not happen yesterday, today or tomorrow but it should happen immediately, as Hon Members have alluded to the fact that there are some of our girls that are incarcerated in bunkers, trenches and in the doldrums of Kuwait. With the cordial relationship that we used to have or that we are supposed to be having with Kuwait, I am quite sure that this is not an uphill task. We can get our girls back to this nation but when we get them back, these large mining firms that are holding mines for speculative purposes - let us get those claims and give them to our girls. Let us get back our girls, empower them using our God-given resources.
On that note, I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and God bless Zimbabwe.
+HON. MUDAU: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I am very hurt by this issue that has been raised by Hon. Nyamupinga. This issue touches on our children and our children are suffering. At times they go to South Africa or some other countries to look for jobs and they are ill treated. Talking about South Africa, people have come back having been burnt and at times their properties having been confiscated. Some of them do not have children because when they are there, they are told they should have children in their own country because this is not a country for them to breed children. At times they are taken by people who are suffering from other diseases and they transmit those diseases to our children.
They do not treat us like human beings.
If you were to go to Beitbridge now, you will find that there are girls who are always on trucks. They will board a truck to Ngundu and back. At times they will not be dressed properly and when you ask them what is happening to them, they will say that they are changing things. At times you do not even understand what it is that they are changing because it is just as good as walking naked. Now, people are sick all over. When people come from these other countries, they are sick and there is no one who is responsible for making sure that they are treated but as parents we are very hurt with what is happening. If there is a
way, let us find a way to rectify this and how we can punish those people who are doing that. If you were to think seriously as a human being that the same thing was being done to your own child, as a parent, I do not think you would be happy with that.
I do not have much to say but I am not happy at all about what is happening to our Zimbabwean children. Thank you.
HON. SHAMU: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise to contribute to the motion moved by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Hon. Nyamupinga. I feel that the House should take note of the fact that human trafficking is indeed a growing evil of major proportions. Human trafficking is a growing crisis around the world. Human trafficking is indeed linked to capitalism. I say so because it is an evil of human exploitation and capitalism is known for exploiting people, hence we say we should eliminate the exploitation of man by man.
Perpetrators of human trafficking and sexual exploitation know the law and they know how to cover their tracks, how to intimidate their victims and work with the system for personal gain. Statistics estimate that close to $32 billion dollars annually changes hands as profit amongst human traffickers in the world.
Hon. Members have raised a number of issues and what I will do is to zero in on what I feel we should do in Zimbabwe. What we need to do is to help combat human trafficking, taking lessons from our own experiences as Zimbabweans, learning from the experiences of others within the region and also looking at it from an international perspective. Harnessing the support of international organisations that are there to make sure that this world-wide evil is indeed combated and eliminated.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker Sir. I really want to appreciate Hon Shamu’s contribution and I am following very closely but there is an issue that was raised here and I am seeking the indulgence of you as the Chair to just clarify matters. There is this
‘private lounge’, which some Members were saying is being run by Hon.
Shamu. I just wanted to get the guidance and clarification.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Where is the lounge?
HON. CHAMISA: It is some notorious place; you have not been there Hon. Speaker, I can understand – [Laughter].
THE HON. SPEAKER: Where is the lounge?
HON. CHAMISA: In Harare Street.
THE HON. SPEAKER: In Harare Street, so what about that lounge?
HON. CHAMISA: May be it is unfortunate that you were not here when the debate was unfolding.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes.
HON. CHAMISA: It is a very serious issue that was raised by Hon. Members that this so-called lounge is being used as a centre for abusing women. The name that has come is to say it is being run by Hon. Shamu.
THE HON. SPEAKER: So, what is the point of order?
HON. CHAMISA: Just for him to clarify so that we are clear about what we are talking about – [Laughter] – Sure Hon. Speaker, this is a very serious issue and we just need clarity on this one.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. If I may, through you Mr. Speaker, inform the House that I do not own any kind of night club or pub in my business activities. In fact Mr. Speaker, it has a common feature in this House, of people casting aspersions on Hon.
Members of Parliament. I remember I was even, by the same Hon. Members on my right, accused of having been bought a vehicle by ZBC and yet that vehicle was one of the many vehicles that were given to Ministers through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The track record is there on paper - [AN HON. MEMBER: One of the many vehicles!] – So I am saying this Mr. Speaker Sir, so that we learn to speak the truth in this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – I am saying this Mr.
Speaker Sir, so that we continue to be Hon. Members of Parliament.
Without full investigations, you have no right to speak. I thank you Mr.
Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, I am not sure, who raised
the issue of this lounge.
HON. MARIDADI: I am one of them, I did not say it is Hon.
Shamu, I said it is owned by an Hon. Member who sits in this House. He also sits in this House but I did not say it is owned by him. It is a lounge where people do not want to get associated with because there are acts of….
THE HON. SPEAKER: I understand, but how did you know Hon. Chamisa that it is owned by Hon. Shamu?
HON. CHAMISA: This is precisely the reason why this matter had to be clarified and agree with Hon. Shamu. We want things to be straight – [Laughter] – and open. This is why I felt Hon. Speaker Sir, this matter has to be clarified. Most Hon. Members may not say it but they were whispering to say Hon. Shamu is the owner.
THE HON. SPEAKER: And you are one of them?
HON. CHAMISA: Well I heard, and this is why I am verbalising it. I am glad that he has clarified that he does not own because if he was going to be the owner, this is a very serious issue.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Okay, so, in future, let us not rely on whispering rumour mongers; let us get the facts. This House cannot be used under the guise of privilege to desecrate the character of other Hon. Members. So, if there were these whispers, they will have to stop because that is not how Hon. Members must behave. I thank Hon.
Shamu for clarifying the issue.
HON. MUTOMBA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker. When I was on the Chair, when Hon. Maridadi was debating, he alleged that there are quite a number of Hon. Members who are in this House, who seem to be involved in these dealings where some of these ladies are being recruited. After a challenge, he actually promised that he will bring the list of names tomorrow. I just wanted you to take note of that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. I hope the names will come
under strict authentication. Hon. Shamu, please carry on.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Having requested for Zimbabwe to ensure that we work very closely with international organisations, we must also accept the reality that in scientific analysis of problems, there is always a need for research in order for us to recommend solutions to problems. I do hope Mr. Speaker Sir, that the experience we have gone through will be scientifically analysed, information gathered and recommendations made so that the solutions thereof, will not only help Zimbabwe but will also be made part of a process of internationally combating the issue of human trafficking.
My second suggestion, and this is in support of the Hon. Member who spoke much earlier that there is need for an awareness programme to educate Zimbabweans on the different forms of human trafficking – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Mr. Speaker, we have human
trafficking in labour, sex trafficking, children trafficking and so forth. We have to educate our people so that they are able to recognise victims of human trafficking.
There should be a continuous programme that warns
Zimbabweans, educate Zimbabweans and creates Zimbabweans in their minds on how they can get trapped into sex or labour trafficking scenarios. I do hope that when we conclude this debate, as you earlier on said when we came into the House, that the recommendations will be taken very seriously and implemented for they say, ‘let us protect through prevention for prevention is better than cure’. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear].
THE HON. SPEAKER: May I please redirect Hon. Members to
stick to the prayer, which is in five sections, and not debate generally.
*HON. CHINANZVAVANA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Let
me take this opportunity to thank the mover of the motion and seconder of this motion. This is an issue that deeply concerns us. It is a painful issue and it hurts everyone who has given birth. No one wants their child to be abused or sent into slavery. Therefore, I want to thank you
Mr. Speaker that as you went there on official business, you realised that our children were in trouble and you took it upon yourself to bring them back home. We cannot bear our children to become slaves.
Before I go to the prayer Mr. Speaker, I want us to look at the root cause and make an analysis of what has caused these flights to the diaspora. Our local singer Oliver Mtukudzi sang a song that says
“Ongorora chikonzero chaita musoro uteme.” What has caused these children to engage in diasporan flights? As a Government, we are the ones with a problem. We are to blame Mr. Speaker Sir. When our children depart and go to neighbours to seek for food, it means there is somewhere I am lacking as a parent. It means I need to address my family issues to ensure that our children do not go and eat elsewhere.
Firstly, when a person is leaving their country, they are given a visa. There is a Ministry that is responsible for that. So, we should also look at why our children are going to the diaspora. Had they been given visas and for how long will they be gone. If that had been investigated before the children went, we should not have met this challenge. We should have known whether it was because of economic challenges or it was just to seek employment for sustenance. We should not sleep on duty Mr. Speaker.
After investigating the challenges that have resulted in this, the major problem is the issue of poverty. If there is poverty, one is forced to engage in anything because they do not have a choice. This results in abuse and people become sex slaves and can do some menial jobs that we cannot even mention. The sad thing is, recruitment is happening here in our nation. If our children were economically sufficient, they would not be going abroad. Our children are learned and the whole of Africa knows that Zimbabweans are learned. However, there is nothing for them to do after graduating. For example, nurses that we train in this country, after completing their diploma training, they end up sitting at home. They are trained to do medical duties and if they remain idle, that knowledge becomes irrelevant. In the end, a child becomes desperate and ends up engaging in anything to sustain himself or herself.
We need to come up with measures to economically empower our
children, even in the informal sector. If you look at the informal sector which is now the order of the day, is it looking for the girl child as well? The SMEs right now hold the economy of the country but as we look for funds, do we realise that we have children who are coming from university and do not have anything to do. Mostly, if girls face challenges, they engage in such activities. We need to come up with strategies as a nation in order to alleviate the issue of poverty and unemployment. We should start with women because it is said, educate a woman and educate a nation. Once we empower these girl children, they can look after their families and they will not abuse their bodies for sustenance. We need to find funding to ensure that our children become empowered.
Mr. Speaker, let us get rid of corruption. If there is corruption, we cannot develop. What caused economic meltdown was the issue of corruption. We talk of $15 billion that went unaccounted for. That is money that should have created jobs in this country. We have mineral resources that are of high value. It is said that money from diamonds is not known where it went to. When we talk to others they will tell you that there are sanctions. Where did the $15 billion go? The money was not accounted for after we had our minerals. How can we create jobs if there are such corrupt tendencies? We need transparency; if our mines were operating properly, our diamonds would be sold and it would enable us to open up industries and engage in value addition.
We have caused some of the problems. We cannot think of addressing issues that we created. So, we need to create sustenance for our children. I thank you.
HON. MUKANDURI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. First of all, I would like to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Nyamupinga and the seconder, Hon. Nyanhongo. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is a very tragic thing to hear in our life time that Zimbabweans are being trafficked into other countries, and in particular to Kuwait. It is sad because these are young girls and women who are supposed to be living a decent life at home. They are problems that we should accept that as a nation we must put our house in order. Nonetheless, these agencies and the Kuwait people have no right to abuse our own people.
I would certainly urge our Government that the Kuwait
Government, if it is colluding with these agencies to take our people as slaves, they must face an ILO sanction or a special paragraph where
Kuwait is mentioned that in terms of labour law, it is recruiting slaves.
It is happening within the Kuwait territory and the Government of
Kuwait cannot run away from that. They should explain as a
Government through our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also, the
Zimbabwean Government should put this case before the Human Rights Council in Geneva to say in this age, we still have countries that are recruiting people as slaves. It should be reported and a special rapporteur should be sent to Kuwait to investigate all these incidences. The United Nations should also take action against the Kuwait Government. We have to protect our people. We are parliamentarians and we were voted into office by these young girls and women.
Therefore, we should defend them whenever they are in problems.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I honestly want to thank you for the job which you did when you visited our embassy in Kuwait to sensitise and ensure that those girls who were in Kuwait were repatriated back. That was a victory to the people of Zimbabwe. We have our girls who are back in Zimbabwe and in their territory. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] – We feel that at least, they were liberated from slavery. We were saying William Wilberforce was the man who spearheaded the end of slavery but that was not the end as slavery is still going on in Kuwait.
I do not think that it is in Kuwait alone because when I heard but perhaps I could have misunderstood the presenter. She said that some of those girls who appeared before their committee were saying some of their colleagues went further to other destinations. That means not Kuwait alone but perhaps further in the region. I am not a racist and have met people from that region. They do not take us seriously and disregard our colour… - [HON. CHIMANIKIRE: Inaudible interjections.] – Yes, so we should take action. I understand there is an Inter-Ministerial Committee that was setup and it should do its work.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we want the Minister of Foreign Affairs, if he is part of that Inter-Ministerial Committee to come and furnish us with a full report of the activities of these agencies. We also have a duty to report back to our constituencies on what has been happening as people are now on Internet and have been calling to enquire whether this is true or not. We want the Minister of Foreign Affairs to come and discharge his duty. It is his sole responsibility as a representative of the Government of Zimbabwe and represents those people. Their interests are at stake and we must be united as Zimbabweans.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I just want to say that it would appear that we now have a new paradigm shift. The Members of Parliament on both sides of the House were solidly united on this issue. I think we should do the same on the problems that we have as a country. We have economic problems and should be united as Members of Parliament because the people who are suffering do not come from parents of ZANU PF or from MDC, they are Zimbabweans. We were elected to do our job here to make laws that are conducive for the economic development of this country. I can tell you that Zimbabwe is a rich country. God gave us abundant resources but what is happening? We are divided. – [HON. CHIMANIKIRE: Pa $15 billion apo!] –
In summary, I thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Nyamupinga, and share the committee’s sentiments. I thank you.
+HON. R. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, firstly I would like to thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Nyamupinga who is my chairlady. She is the chairperson of the Committee on Gender and
Womens’ Affairs. I would also like to thank the seconder of the motion,
Hon. Nyanhongo…
HON. MAONDERA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. We are
debating a very important motion and I think we need to proceed with a full quorum. It looks like there is no quorum for us to continue debating the motion. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
[Bells rung.]
An objection having been taken that there being present fewer than
(70) members, the bells were rung for Seven Minutes and a Quorum still not being present, THE HON. SPEAKER adjourned the House without any question put at Twenty Eight Minutes to Six o’clock p.m. pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order Number 56.
NOTE: The following members were present when the House adjourned: Hon. Bunjira R; Hon. Chapfika D; Hon. Chimankire G; Hon.
Chinanzvavana C.; Hon. Chitura I; Hon. Chiwetu J. Z; Hon. Dhewa M. W; Hon. Gava M; Hon. Kwaramba G; Hon. Makoni R.; Hon. Mangami D; Hon. Mangwende S; Hon. Maondera W; Hon Maridadi J; Hon.
Mawere R. N. S. Mubvumbi; Hon. Mbwembwe E.N; Hon. Mkandla M;
Hon. Mlilo N; Hon. Moyo Joshua; Hon. Mpala M; Hon. Vice President
- Mphoko; Hon. Mpofu R; Hon. Mtingwende T; Hon. Mudarikwa S; Hon. Mudyiwa M; Hon. Mukanduri S.T; Hon. Mutomba W; Hon. Ncube G.M; Hon. Ndlovu D.M; Hon. Nhambu B; Hon. Nyamupinga B.B; Hon.
Nyanhongo M; Hon. Nyere C; Hon. Rungani A; Hon. Shava J; Hon.
Sibanda K; Hon. Thembani S. Z; Hon. Tshuma J; Hon. Uta Kerenia.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 3rd May, 2016
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
CATHOLIC SERVICE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish
to inform the House that there will be a Catholic service tomorrow, 4th May, 2016 at 1600 hours in the Senate Chamber. All members who are Catholics and non-Catholics are invited.
INVITATION TO A PRESENTATION BY THE HUNDAH PROJECT
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have
to inform Hon. Senators that they are invited to a brief presentation by
the Hundah Project representatives on how they intend to work with
Hon. Senators in their respective constituencies, on Wednesday, 4th May, 2016, at the Courtyard from 0900 hours to 1200 hours.
INVITATION TO A DIALOGUE ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I also
have to inform the Senate that all Members of Parliament are invited to a dialogue on the Sustainable Development Goals jointly organised by the Office of the President and Cabinet and the United Nations Development Programme. The dialogue will be held at the Rainbow Towers Hotel at 0830 hours on the respective days.
Thematic Committees have been divided into 2 groups and will be attending as follows:
FIRST GROUP - Wednesday, 11th May, 2016:- Thematic Committee on Peace and Security,
Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment and
Thematic Committee on Millennium Development Goals.
SECOND GROUP – Thursday, 12th May, 2016:-
Thematic Committee on Human Rights
Thematic Committee on Gender and Development, and Thematic Committee on HIV/AIDS.
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have
to inform the Senate that I have received the Gwanda State University Bill, [H.B. 9, 2015] from the National Assembly.
REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL
COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I also
have to inform the House that I have received an Adverse Report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on Statutory Instrument Number 24 of 2016, published in the Government Gazette during the month of February 2016.
Further to that, I have received a non-adverse report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on all statutory instruments published in the Government Gazette during the Month of March 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. TAVENGWA: I move that Order of the Day,
Number 1 be stood over until all the other Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. A. MASUKU: I second.
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. TAVENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN A. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 4th May, 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. B. SIBANDA: I seek leave of the Senate that Orders of the Day, Numbers 3 and 4 be stood over until all the other Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 133RD ASSEMBLY OF THE
INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe
Delegation Report on the 133rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF SIANSALI: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 4th May, 2016.
MOTION
REHABILITATION OF WAR SHRINES AND RECOGNITION OF
DEPARTED WAR LIBERATORS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion calling for rehabilitation and maintenance of War Shrines.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 4th May, 2016.
MOTION
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT AS CHAIRMAN OF AFRICAN UNION
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to congratulate His Excellency, the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe and the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe for successfully leading the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) as Chairperson.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 4th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE 38TH
PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY
FORUM
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe Delegation Report on the 38th Plenary Assembly of the SADC-
Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to make my contribution on this debate because I have realised that there is silence in this House and we might adjourn the House without any business. I would like to thank the delegation to Namibia and also Hon. Sen. Mohadi for introducing the motion on what happened in Namibia in this House. I hope the Members of Parliament who attended this Conference – in most cases, we have noticed that there are a lot of problems which are presented in such forums, especially when we read reports introduced by Hon. Senator Mohadi and these are related to human trafficking. Human trafficking is a menace and a health hazard.
Some weeks back, we had some of our Zimbabwean girls who were lured by dubious employment agencies and promised jobs in some countries. On arrival, they were introduced into sex slavery and they had no means and ways of returning to Zimbabwe. Hence I feel that as a country we should have ways of fighting these diabolic spirits who lure people through bogus employment agencies and people fall into the trap.
I feel that it is up to Zimbabwe to work out ways of beating these crooks. We are aware that that jobs are difficult to get in Zimbabwe and employment is at its lowest, but let us scrutinise these advertisements when they are put across in the Press, we should verify as a State whether the jobs really exist in these foreign lands.
I sympathise with the young girls. We may look at countries like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait and think they are the most misrepresenting facts to girls in Zimbabwe but we are aware that such things are happening even in South Africa. Our girls are taken there with the promise of good and well paying jobs but when they get there, they are introduced into sex slavery. Their passports are confiscated and they have no free movement. I feel that as a country we should enact some legislation, scrutinise and find ways of beating these devious and bogus employment agencies that are out to fleece our innocent girls. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 4th May, 2016.
MOTION
TRADITIONAL CHIEFS MANDATE
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the role of traditional leaders.
Question again proposed.
*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, 4th May, 2016.
On the motion of HON. SEN. TAWENGWA, seconded by HON.
SEN. MAWIRE, the Senate adjourned at Ten Minutes to Three O’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 17th May, 2016
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 SENATE: I have to inform the Senate that I have received the Public Finance Management Amendment
Bill [H. B. 14, 2015] from the National Assembly.
MOTION
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS CENTRED ON
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for Government to implement the devolution of power as provided for in the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to debate the motion that was brought before the Senate by Hon. Ncube. It is a pertinent motion because it reminds the Government that there is a Constitutional mandate that there are supposed to be provincial assemblies that assist each other with counsel in various areas. The Constitution has not yet implemented this provision. It is important that we uphold the Constitution and do as what is provided for. I remember that when we came into the Senate, there were names of people who were supposed to be part of those provincial assemblies. I am surprised and I wonder what they think of the Government because up to now, they have not yet resumed office.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is aware of that and has the names of the provincial assembly members. What is Government going to do about it? Will these people be compensated or receive what is due to them, if the assemblies are not yet in place? We need to be transparent because the Constitution is the supreme law of the land which should be followed at all cost. There is a lot of legislation that has not been aligned to the Constitution. When will this take place? I have realised that the provincial assemblies would have been helpful in the sense that we are worried about the roads and the poor road network, if the provincial assemblies were in operation, they would have assisted in ensuring that the roads are resurfaced and addressed. They would know that in Manicaland, this is not in order, in Midlands, they would outline the situation in terms of what is going on there. So, this is an important issue that was raised by Hon. Ncube.
We need to ensure that the provincial assemblies come into operation as it is in the Constitution and I appeal to the Hon. Minister of Finance to expedite allocation of funds for the provincial assemblies or
Governments to commence operation and also that the legislation is aligned to the Constitution. With these few words, Madam President, I thank you for the time that you have given me.
HON. SENATOR D. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President
for giving me this opportunity to talk about devolution. Those who spoke before me emphasised the need of the establishment of the Provincial Councils. I also want to add on the issue of the development within the areas.
If devolution is established and those who are supposed to take office are there, even us Members of Parliament, being members of our Provincial Councils would be able to put some of the issues which we discuss at national level and also getting them from lower Provincial Councils. We feel it will develop our constituencies much better and faster because it will be our choices as the people who live in those areas.
For example, Chiadzwa in Mutare, if Chiadzwa had been run by people of Manicaland, and employed many of their people, even if they were part of the thieving of the US$15 billion which is missing; we know it was going to develop Mutare. The issue is if I am from somewhere, I take money from Chiadzwa and go and develop my own area. We should give opportunity to the people of that area to decide what to do with the money, not other people deciding for them and leave their area under-developed.
The other thing on the importance of devolution is that not only will people be taking resources for themselves, they will really think of their area. For example, in Bulawayo if we had mines, the income that would come from those mines would be decided by us. We would also be saying let us work hard and be like Harare. Now, it is the people of Harare who are still developing Harare. Let us give other people a chance also to develop their areas and be proud of their areas.
On the Zambezi Water Project, if there was devolution, people in Matabeleland were going to sit down and decide what to do because they are the ones in need of water. Maybe the Gwaai-Shangaani river would have been completed by now. The problem is they are not deciding for themselves; somebody is thinking of what should be done first. That project is taking a long time. So, the devolution of power is very important so that the local people benefit from the development in their area.
With those few words Madam President, I recommend that can the alignment of the laws be expedited so that people can think for the development of their areas. If I think of how much people talked about devolution during the COPAC, vanhu vemunzvimbo iyoyo vakafanira kubenefita from zviwanikwa zvemunzvimbo yavo. I will not forget that. That is why I think the Mutare people have been let down and we are letting down more people in their areas.
*HON. SENATOR CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. I
only want to add a few words on the motion that was moved by Senator Ncube. Firstly, this motion is not encouraging conflict among provinces because there are circumstances whereby it might end up creating conflict which can be tribal. That is not what the motion is about. The motion is reminding us that in the Constitution, people articulated what they understood by ‘devolution’. So, I want to say that we are not encouraging development on tribal lines because that causes conflict. What this motion is about is that we need to be aware that after elections we ended up with Provincial Ministers.
In my opinion, the Provincial Ministers are basically Provincial Governors. When I look at it critically, that money should have been used for Provincial Assemblies. Since we said we want Provincial Councils, the motion is saying we should have those Provincial Assemblies. I believe that the office of the Provincial Minister has a budget and that budget is using what we got from COPAC. It needs to be used for the assemblies that were put in place by people.
Madam President, as we speak, people in Matabeleland, this is an example, a few years ago they were talking of gukurahundi. Their opinion is that the present Government does not consider the development of Matabeleland, which is marginalised. This issue is reiterated now and again because the people of Matabeleland now have to see for themselves that development takes place. When they talk about certain issues, all they are saying is that they have their plans as the people of Matabeleland. What we are saying is that, we should give them the opportunity.
I have given an example of Matabeleland. What devolution means basically is for people in a particular area to identify their needs and decide on what to do for their benefit but they should always report to the Central Government. It is not like they are running a parallel Government. If it is about resource constraints, it can be budgeted for like what will happen with the Provincial Ministers. I thank you.
*HON. SENATOR CHIPANGA: Thank you Madam President.
I would like to add a few words on the issue of devolution. I am fully aware that it is within the Constitution, but I also understand that if we are to look at our leadership, to say that we need to sit down and have a federation for each region to run its own affairs and report to the Central Government, I do not see that as an ideal situation. There is also the idea that came out that if Chiadzwa had been run by the people in Manicaland; the General Managers and the others from Manicaland and that if they had abused the $15 billion, the situation would be okay because that would have assisted in building and putting in place universities. I do not think we can have a Government that we can influence each other to go and abuse funds and corrupt tendencies and do whatever we want.
I want to disagree with Hon. Chimhini that it seems like we are saying we tend to be separating regions on tribal grounds, but this is what devolution is talking about, considering our levels of politics. If we say those in Mashonaland should see to their own development, what it then means is that those in Mashonaland East will have their granite and develop their area before money goes to the central Government. All countries that are facing conflict in Africa, it is because of the fact that we see ourselves for-example in Manicaland, the Manyikas see themselves as the Manyikas and not the people of Zimbabwe. If you heard when the motion was moved there is that spirit of selfishness that if we are given that power, we can develop our own area. In the end you will realise that the money that is acquired will not go to the central
Government.
Madam President, you know that Nigeria attained independence in 1961 and up to now no one really knows the population of Nigeria. If you want to do a census, if the correct figure is revealed then people will not get what they want from the central Government. Up to today they are breaking up into smaller, separate states. In Nigeria it was from the state to the provinces. What they now want is an area for Moslems and this breaking up is continuing. In my opinion our country is very small for us to be arguing over the issue devolution. I do not dispute the fact that it is enshrined in the Constitution but my own opinion is that we are a very small country and we cannot have the same state as in Nigeria. So I do not think it is an issue to discuss devolution and having provincial councils or assemblies.
Madam President, what people should be aware of is that I believe that the people in this House are all learned. I am sure it is a fact that there is no money, they requested that the Minister should look for money but the truth is there is no money. The Minister of State does not have any staff. From my knowledge, the Minister of State is based in the Local Government offices and they do not have a budget for the Minister of State. Yes, it is true they were the former Governors but as mature people, we should conscientise people in the areas where we come from that the challenges they are facing are financial. We heard Hon. Chinamasa saying that yes, he has the will but finances are not available.
He further articulated that he does not have the power to take money and allocate it to Matabeleland, Mashonaland or Midlands because there is no money as well. I was thinking that as mature people and MPs we should get to the stage whereby we do not segregate ourselves on tribal or regional lines. We need to get to a stage whereby as Zimbabweans we should see to it that if there is money from
Chiadzwa, it should be used in the building of bridges in Matabeleland North or Mashonaland West because this is one country. As we are, if we encourage the issue of devolution, we will end up saying a region with more minerals than the other will demand autonomy until they complete their own programmes. That will create conflict that will lead to a civil war. I think it would be good for us to encourage that if it is in Matabeleland, let us unite and push for the Government to avail money to Matabeleland. Yes, someone alluded to Gukurahundi-it is true that when the conflict occurred Matabeleland lagged behind in terms of development. So when funds are being allocated to regions, more money should be given to marginalized areas such as Matabeleland. Not that devolution will address this, what will happen is that we will end up fighting over the funds because the money will be going to the chairperson of the province. That money will be inadequate to construct even a bridge and we will end up having quarrels and conflicts if we were to devolve.
There are regions that are lagging behind in terms of development. Let us all assist each other and decide as a whole in ensuring that we develop the area. This issue of the Zambezi Water Project that was mentioned; that should be a national issue, not just an issue for Matabeleland. That water will not only be going to Bulawayo but it is the development of Zimbabwe. All these years we knew that if you wanted to look for a job, if you were to go to Bulawayo that is where one would get a job because it was an industrial hub. If we were to resuscitate the development of Bulawayo to become the hub of industry, we will have developed Zimbabwe. For us to get a situation whereby we have the Chairperson of a province, and then the money increases and the money that comes from Zambezi Water project, industry will also be resuscitated. My request Madam President is that we should have foresight and not only look at the immediate. I thank you. –[HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I want to urge
Hon. Senators to read Hon. Senator’s motion so that when they stand to contribute they actually address the issues which were raised in that motion. It is an appeal; otherwise I will have to ask Senators to sit down because you will be talking about irrelevant issues.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Madam President I want to thank you
for giving me this opportunity to contribute. The issue of re-alignment of laws to the new Constitution is a very important one. Madam President, the country did a great job for two years whilst coming up with the new Constitution, it is now in place and it is very good; comparing it with other Constitutions in other countries, we have one of the best.
If you look at the Constitution, people have already said what they wanted, it was written by the people of Zimbabwe and the country at large. Right now as we speak, the country is listening to what is happening in the Senate. There are others who think what the people articulated should be thrown out through the window or should not be done meaning that it should just be omitted. However, Zimbabwe has very intelligent and clever people who see more than we do as
Legislators.
Madam President, this is water and the bridge, the Constitution was written, unless we intend to do an amendment. Right now, the Constitution stands as it is, as the supreme law of the land. There is no way to run away from what the people of Zimbabwe said. We are the representatives of the people of Zimbabwe and they should appreciate us together with the Hon. Madam President of Senate.
We should uphold what the people said in the Constitution. They requested that there should be Provincial Assemblies or Provincial Councils and this was put in writing. The reason they said that was because whatever happens in the province, the Provincial Assemblies are quick to react. It is like how the traditional chiefs operate, they are in their various communities and whatever they see and realise, the Government would have also seen that through them. So, now if we were to have Provincial Councils to monitor what is happening then the Government will be well advised.
The issue is that Central Government is not going to be removed, no one is going to be a threat to the Central Governments, as it is the one that runs this land. The Constitution of Zimbabwe will be read at the Central Government and it will monitor to see if devolution is taking place in Matabeleland, in Midlands or in Masvingo. There is no reason for us to think that we are a small nation such that all operations should be done from Harare, we will be shooting ourselves in the foot. We actually said our nation is now big and technology is well advanced, so we have even moved from the three official languages to 16. That actually shows that we are growing and as we are growing as a nation, let us not be scared of the growth that is taking place.
So Madam President, we should not talk about the Constitution, we should be asking ourselves if we are in line with the Constitution. If we realise that this is not working we will still amend and remove that law. We cannot say it is not possible and cannot be implemented, yet we have not even tried to implement it, we would have stolen the provision secretly. So, my request is that we follow what the people said they want which is now enshrined in the Constitution. That will also make us Hon. Members to be respected, we are here to do the will of the people. The will of the people is to have Provincial Councils or Assemblies, so that is what we need to do. I thank you.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: 18th May, 2016
MOTION
RESUSCITATION OF THE ZAMBEZI WATER PROJECT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
Resuscitation of the Zambezi Water Project.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Madam President for the
opportunity that you have given me. I want to say a few words concerning the motion that was raised by Hon. Sibanda. The issue of water is a very important because where there is no water, there is no development. It is true that nowadays we do not get a lot of rainfall, we realise that even if our soil quality is good, even if we have the best farmers but if there is no water; we do not look forward to good yields in order to meet the food and nutrition needs.
I want to thank Hon. Sibanda who brought this motion. We all know that the Zambezi Water Project is an issue that has been mentioned over and over again, but when people were talking about it, they also looked at how people live in those areas. Most people in
Matabeleland - if you look at the area, there is not much water.
If people were to get water from the Zambezi Water Project, they would get water to engage in agriculture. On the 7th of May last year, in the Committee that is chaired by Hon. Senator Mumvuri, the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security. We requested for an audit to assess the level of irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. We got a verbatim report from Hon. Made. The Committee gave us a very important insight. We looked at Bulawayo and realised that there are 32 water bodies through that report. In Harare, we have 50 water bodies, Manicaland 670 and
Mashonaland Central 763 water bodies that are there as we speak. In
Mashonaland East, we have 1000 water bodies, Midlands 1600, Masvingo 1000, Matabeleland North 600, and Matabeleland South 600 water bodies.
What it means is that these irrigation schemes, if we had enough rainfall, would irrigate 2 million hectares of land which is very important. If we look at Bhuruwayo, it has the least number of water bodies which are 32.
HON. SENATOR A. SIBANDA: It is not Bhuruwayo, it is
Bulawayo. –[Laughter]-
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Makore, you are not speaking in Shona. You are speaking in English and when you talk of water bodies, it is Bulawayo.
*HON. SENATOR MAKORE: I thank you Mr. President. I am sure if you understood what I am saying, you understood it. Considering this motion Mr. President, we realise that if the issue of water has been addressed, that of the Zambezi Project, it would assist us in bringing in a lot of water. The issue of food security is an issue that if a province is to produce enough food, it does not feed its own province, but that food is taken to the various areas in the country. This motion makes us reiterate that the Government Ministry that thought of this project did a good initiative.
We want this project to be completed in order to address the issue of food security. Mr. President, I do not want to say much, but what I am saying is that we have a lot of irrigation schemes in the country. We think that if people were to use irrigation schemes available, there is no reason for us to be found wanting in terms of food security. What it means is that we need to investigate what is happening in those areas that is affecting food security. Furthermore, we also need to ensure that those areas without water are addressed and they engage in irrigation.
With these words, I want to thank you.
HON. SENATOR B. SIBANDA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SENATOR MARAVA: I second.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th May, 2016.
MOTION
FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION CHALLENGES
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on malnutrition among urban and rural communities.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SENATOR SHIRI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank Senator Khumalo who raised this pertinent motion in this House that addresses the issue of nutrition both in urban and rural areas. On the issue of nutrition, for people to enjoy good health and engage in their work, they need to be well fed. Even when babies are in the womb, they need to eat and feed well. Children who are born and are said to be normal weigh about 2.5 kilogrammes and this increases as they grow. A child who gets all the nutritional needs performs better in school. That also includes us if we are healthy, we are able to think and go about our duties in the normal way.
We realise that in the rural areas, most people underwent programmes whereby the young women were conscientised on nutrition.
Every week a day was set aside for that conscientisation on the nutritional food that a child needs and the available food. That knowledge was good and adequate for the nutrition of their growing children. I realise that on TV, there was a programme in Kariba whereby a nutritionist was conscientising the nation on the status of children in the rural areas. They now suffer from kwashiorkor and they are not getting the required nutritional needs. Awareness may not be there but the food is not available and they can be given just sadza or porridge without anything added for nutrition.
In the past, the mothers were taught of ensuring that there is protein and peanut butter. Children would eat pumpkins and make what is known as nhopi and other various traditional foods for them to be well nutritioned. I realise that in urban areas, there is a new perspective and people now undermine traditional foods such as rupiza, maltabella porridge which is not difficult to grow. If there is little rainfall, these small grains are the ones that thrive in such climates. I have also experimented, ploughed a small area of these small grains and this is what I was able to harvest because of the limited amount of water. So, awareness is required to ensure that people look at the nutritional needs.
If you look at things like sorghum and rapoko, those crops do not need a lot of water and have high nutritional value because they are not refined foods. They also have a lot of roughage that is needed by our bodies. Such crops also have natural sugars and there is no need to add sugar if you do not want it. Now, in the urban areas, most people take refined foods such as Parlenta mealie meal, fresh chips and other foods that do not have any nutritional value. What we urge is that we as the leaders, as we meet the people in our communities, we should emphasise on the need of nutritional foods for the children. if there is a drought like what we are experiencing now, we should not only take maize but food like beans, kapenta and other food that add to nutritional balance because if children end up with kwashiorkor, it will affect them.
There is also awareness that is needed for parents in rural and urban areas. The issue of the environment, where a child is raised is important. The environment affects a child if there are no hygienic conditions. A child can have diarrhoea or other diseases because of the unhygienic environment. Most of the children who lose their lives fail to get food with a nutritional value to build their bodies. As a result, they become weak and when they are weak and are affected by a particular ailment or disease, it quickly affects them and they die.
There is also a programme that has been embarked on, on school feeding. The children will be given nutritious food, before they used to give us mahewu with nutritious value. As we were growing up, we were also given milk and buns but today, because of the different social background, some people come from very poor families such that children go on empty stomachs and return without eating anything. This actually affects their performance. What we urge is that in this era of unemployment, economic challenges and where money is difficult to get from the banks, let us have alternatives such as farming to ensure that our families are well fed. The farmers we cannot say that they do not have the knowledge but they have little knowledge and need more capacity building on diversification of crops and also on nutritional needs, and should therefore engage in farming of other traditional foods such as muboora .
I was also concientised that it is good to have a schedule of meals for the week such that even the father knows what the family should have on a particular day. This should be a variety of foods to build the body with nutritional values. Today, the different dishes, especially traditional ones, should be emphasised and promoted because those are the foods that improve the nutrition of the children. We might talk about the issue of nutrition now and again, but what we want is we want to keep encouraging others that even those who are well nourished need food with the proper balanced diet. Some have the food but cannot prepare the food, there is also a gap and they need capacity building in how to cook the food. If food is not cooked properly, it can also affect children’s nutrition.
So, programmes should be done in our various constituencies to ensure that the issue of nutrition is addressed and that concientisation should be ongoing. We need to educate our people that nutrition is important and also outline the correct amounts as well as having a balanced diet in the different available foods. I want to thank the seconder of the motion on nutrition. If we look at ZIM ASSET, that is actually what it promotes, for us to grow everything that we use. For us to be strong, good looking, well dressed and healthy, it is because of the food. As a nation, we need to promote this and promote the issue of nutrition and also, for our children to grow up healthy and well nourished. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 133RD ASSEMBLY OF THE
INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe
Delegation Report on the 133rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU).
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: Wednesday, 18th May, 2016
MOTION
REHABILITATION OF WAR SHRINES AND RECOGNITION OF
DEPARTED WAR LIBERATORS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion calling for rehabilitation and maintenance of War Shrines.
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: Wednesday, 18th May, 2016.
MOTION
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT AS CHAIRMAN OF AFRICAN UNION
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to congratulate His Excellency, the President, Cde. R. G. Mugabe and the Government of Zimbabwe, on successfully leading the African
Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) as Chairperson.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI:Thank you Mr. President. I rise to support the motion which was introduced by Sen. Chief
Musarurwa and seconded by Sen. Mavhunga. Most of the people who have spoken before me commended the success of the leadership of His Excellency in the past year.
I just want to emphasise a few points on his leadership of the AU. First of all, it was befitting that he led the AU because he was one of those who witnessed the formation of the organisation way back together with the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Haile Selassie and others. Therefore, it was befitting that he took a turn to lead this organisation. Above all, His Excellency, President Mugabe depicts certain qualities or characteristics, which made him to lead this organisation successfully. I will point out some of them.
His Excellency believes, Africa is for Africans and that is one of his characteristics which made him to be a successful leader. He believes that Africans should benefit from the African
Continent’s resources. He speaks for all other Africans, those who admire him and those who do not. However, he makes his point very clear.
During his leadership, he managed to introduce the concept of ZIM ASSET in the African Continent. He urged and appealed to the other leaders to adopt one of our four clusters, value addition and beneficiation. He urged them not to export raw materials without adding value.
The other characteristic is that he believes that Africans should solve their own problems where necessary, if not all the time. During his tenure, he competently handled the civil conflicts in Lesotho and Madagascar and there is now relative peace in those states. He carries liberation credentials; we all know that he fought the liberation war of this country and came to lead this country and he is still the President. He is admired for a strong character which makes him a good leader and a powerful negotiator; he does not budge when he makes his stand. He wants the West to agree on the Zimbabwean or African terms, not their own terms.
Another characteristic is that he exposed some of the hypocrisy of the Western and other nations, especially the
International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC mostly targets African leaders. The President told the Kenyan President not to even attend the court session in the Hague because there are other people who have crimes which have not been tried by the ICC. I think that gives a mark of a Statesman who speaks his mind clearly on such issues.
The case in point is that of the former President of the United States of America, George Bush and Tony Blair of Britain; their activities in Afghanistan, Libya and other countries where no one raised a finger about that. However, only President Mugabe can do that – [HON. SENATORS:Hear, hear.] – He also believed and he still believes in African potential, that the African people have the capability, mentally and physically, coupled with the natural resources around them, to build their own economy. This can only be done if we channel them well and we can progress. We should not let the resources be taken outside our borders and be used by outsiders. The President also believes strongly on the issues of environment and climate change. During his tenure, he attended several fora on climate change and environmental development. Those qualities made him a better leader than someone who does not appreciate those issues.
The other characteristic or attribute which I can mention is that he opposes non-African practices, especially the gay and lesbian practices. He is very vocal about that and he does not give in – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – We all support that. It is not African. During his tenure, he managed to influence other leaders to follow that and speak vocally against that. An example is the President of Uganda, Yoveri Museveni, he came out in support of our President to say that this practice is not African. He indicated that even if it means we do not get support from the West because we have banned gays and lesbian practices, it was not an issue. The other one was the Gambian leader who also appreciated the stance by the President.
The other attribute is that the President is a practical Pan
African. During his tenure, the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation’s Conference was successfully held in Victoria Falls and it was a success. In his farewell address to the AU in Ethiopia recently when he was relinquishing the Chairmanship, His
Excellency demanded the reform of the United Nations Security
Council. He stood his ground and said, he urged the United Nations to introduce more African states into the Security Council so that they can also occupy seats.
We are a very big continent but we are not represented at the UN Security Council, he challenged that the current position is not fair and he said that. The continued attendance he said, by the main over 55 states at the UN General Assembly each year have become just a routine and useless because they have no voice in their own affairs. It is a case of where the destiny and the interest of the majority are determined by the minority who yield all the power at the expense of the majority who have got the membership to determine the course of the organisation.
For that pronouncement, he was given a standing ovation during his address in Addis Ababa, everyone was there to see that he was talking sense. While I am on that one, it takes only people to be convinced that we have got a good leader who led the AU and who is leading us. Others already admire our President to say if we can just borrow him for just a month, he would change everything in our country. –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- that is what they say. I want to be heard in silence please. All these successes were achieved through His excellent qualities stated above and have earned our nation great pride.
I was just concluding I said all these successes which I have mentioned above have been achieved through his excellent qualities that I have stated and our nation has earned great pride through that. For the effort and sacrifice, we as a nation are very grateful for the President’s leadership and wise counsel which he offered during the tenure of the
- I want to thank you. –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Mr. President for giving
me this opportunity to congratulate our Head of State and Government. I want to start by thanking Hon. Chief Musarurwa for raising the motion which was seconded by Hon. Sen. Mavhunga. Mr. President, I want to thank President Mugabe for the great work and for a job well done. He is not the first leader of AU as he was chosen as the Chair of AU; he saw it necessary to leave a mark at the AU and that is what makes us proud as Zimbabweans. The President diligently performed his duties which was a good reflection to all countries and all countries were pleased with that and this gives us great pride.
As Hon. Sen. Mumvuri has said, there is a lot that was achieved in various countries during the President’s tenure of office. Even us as Zimbabweans, we witnessed a lot of issues that he sheared with other countries. We as women were also represented during his tenure of office. So, at this time we want to congratulate the President for the job well done which left a legacy and a mark because such a leader is a leader with wisdom and was able to influence the countries of Africa.
During his period of tenure, us as Zimbabweans and other countries in Africa were able to learn a lot, which helps us as African countries and which gives us great pride as Zimbabweans.
I want to say President; congratulations for the legacy that you left through a job well done during your tenure of office as the Chairperson of the AU. We want to thank the President that he brought us pride as the children of Zimbabwe.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank
you Hon. Sen. Matiirira.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MOHADI: I second.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE 38TH
PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY
FORUM
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe Delegation Report on the 38th Plenary Assembly of the
SADC-Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
SENATOR MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank
all the people who contributed during this Report. It was a very important Report and really some other people may be did not understand what it meant. For those who had to take their time and do some research, I would like to thank them; especially, my first thanks goes to Hon. Machingaifa who seconded this Report even though he is not a member of SADC, but through his understanding, he had to contribute a lot. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Makore, he also contributed on this motion, not forgetting Hon. Chimbudzi as well as Hon. Sen. Ncube. You should feel that I have realised that even though you are not members but you understood what we were talking about.
Mr. President, in future I just want to urge members of this august House that if ever a Report is brought, not only the SADC Report but any other Report, they should do some research so that they become used to what will be taking place not only in Zimbabwe but elsewhere.
With these few words, I move for the withdrawal of the motion.
Motion, with leave, withdrawn.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate in reply to the Presidential
Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Mr. President. I rise to debate the motion on the Presidential Address which was introduced by
Senator Tavengwa and his seconder. It is quite some eight or so months back when this address was made and now I want to debate it after some activities have taken place.
In his address to Parliament, on the occasion of the Official Opening of the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe, which was on the 16th September 2015, His Excellency outlined several measures that were to be introduced, debated and implemented. Some of these are underway and they are going on. Among them was the education sector in which the President said, “The provision of quality education remains a key priority on the national development agenda”. The entire primary and secondary school curriculum is now being revised as we all know to render it or to render the country’s education system to become appropriate for the current needs of the country and our aspirations and future development of this nation.
Now, in line with this development which is going on, the line Ministries have embarked on the development of the new curriculum which is now at an advanced stage and we want to appreciate that. Part of the new curriculum has introduced the National Pledge. In my view, it transcends all political, religious and ethnic divisions, it embraces everything. I therefore, see nothing wrong with it. In fact it does not take away any commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ and it was taken from the preamble of the new Constitution.
Briefly, I want to summarise what the preamble says. It expresses and acknowledges colonial injustice, honours the sacrifice of men and women who fought to overcome the injustices. It also looks to the future with a resolve to live in a democratic society; based on the rule of law, hard work, respect for the employment of the fundamental human rights and freedoms, unity and natural resources and attain prosperity for all citizens of this country. That is a summary from the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The past few weeks, there has been debate going on either for or against the Pledge, I am adopting a positive attitude to try and convince the Senators why we should adopt the National Pledge. Having read through it myself, the National Pledge does not contain any wording which tries to usurp the authority of Christ in every sphere of our lives.
Mind you, I am acknowledging that we are 90% Christian in Zimbabwe and that keeps us united. Go to other countries, you find that where there is division of religion, there are conflicts, endless ones; Moslems on the North and Christians on the South, it goes on and on. Here, we are lucky, although I am acknowledging the existence of other religions but I want to pray that Zimbabwe remains as it is, as Christians.
Mr. President, the Bible itself does not forbid the pledging of allegiance to our nations and their sacrifices at all. The Bible actually states that where there is no vision, the people perish, we must have a vision. This National Pledge is trying to give us a vision. It is therefore in line with this philosophy that we have crafted as Government in this pledge.
The National Pledge, in all fairness, is derived - as I said, from our Constitution which was unanimously adopted in 2013 by more than 90% of the population of Zimbabwe. It was basically extracted from the
Preamble, as I said, of our Supreme Law of the Land. The National
Pledge is a formalised promise, there is nothing wrong in making a promise which our children are asked to make at the start of each day before they start their work. Commitment and dignity to hard work and honesty sound very noble in all aspects and indeed makes the pupils focused throughout the day when they are working at school. The Constitution directs the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to promote public awareness of the same Constitution in its programmes and therefore this Ministry is doing exactly that.
The National Pledge aims to enable the children and all of us to respect the sacrifice of fellow Zimbabweans who participated in lost lives in pursuit of the liberation of this country, whose independence we enjoy today. This is why we are seated and debating in this august House, otherwise we might not have been there.
In a similar fashion Mr. President, I want point out that about a decade ago, Solom Mutsvairo, an educationist and author wrote words to the Zimbabwe National Anthem. The words which are therein clearly reflect the nation’s brave sacrifice for its land, fought for independence and fills many of us with emotions when we are singing the Anthem. So in a similar fashion, we are saying the point is that there was no furore then when it was written but now suddenly, people are objecting to some of the text in the national pledge but these are similar. Pledging allegiance to the flag is but a form of paying respect and honour to our country as we are commanded to do so.
The fundamental aspect of the national pledge is not only peculiar to Zimbabwe but is also found in many other countries across the globe. For example, our neighbour the Republic of South Africa, United States of America, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Singapore and many others. In fact, the UK Anthem or national pledge offers allegiance to the Queen directly who is a person and not even God.
So I am saying to these people, let us approach the issue of national pledge with rationale and see the similarities and the good of it. Before I conclude, I am proposing that in the near future, we should all learn the national pledge and fuse it into the prayer which is read out in this august Senate so that it makes meaning. It has got less strong words than the National Anthem. So, I see nothing wrong about this one. These are some of the developments which the President announced that they must go on and be implemented.
Before I sit, I would like to say the other development in education is that the two line Ministries have also come up with the STEM Project which we all know. It is geared towards producing experts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and in turn, which can develop this country economically. The STEM Programme which is being done at the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development for those people to concentrate on Science subjects, and STEM is an acronym of the subject I have mentioned here.
So, we should get ourselves acquainted with it and try to encourage our children to adopt science subjects. Otherwise, we are building universities which are Science oriented but we do not have the candidates to enrol there if we do not teach them from primary and secondary level. I thank you Mr. President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th May, 2016.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA,
INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN.
MATHUTHU), the Senate adjourned at Four Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 19th May, 2016
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: My question is directed
to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, Hon. Mupfumira. I want to be enlightened. What legislation is in place for pensioners? At what age are they entitled to their pension? Moreover, which are the measures you have in place as a Ministry, that if a person attains pensionable age or has not yet reached the pensionable age, can be assisted for sustenance? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): Thank you
Madam President. I want to thank Hon. Senator Chief for a very good question but I think it is a very important question which requires detailed and factual information. I request that the question be put in writing so that we can attend to it in detail. I thank you.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SANATE: I hope that Hon.
Senator Chief will be advised accordingly.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President. I had a follow up question and I do not know whether Hon. Minister Mupfumira can answer. Hon. Minister, we see our pensioners staying for more than a week waiting for their pensions. What policy have you put in place, so that they can actually just go and collect their money without waiting for long? I am from Zvishavane, we have pensioners who come from Mberengwa, they stay in Zvishavane for a week. It is US$5 to and from Zvishavane and they only get about US$20.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): Thank you
Madam President. I want to thank the Hon. Member for posing that question. We are all aware at the moment of the liquidity challenges facing us as a country. Treasury has a challenge almost every month, trying to meet the requirements including payment to our pensioners. Under normal circumstances, the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development would inform the Public Service Commission and the
Ministry, if there are any changes to the payment for wages and salaries.
If we are informed, we would pass on the information to our pensioners. I have noticed with concern that there have been incidences where the pay dates have been changed at the last moment without adequate time for us to inform our pensioners. It is regrettable, however, we are taking some action to advise and inform the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to ensure that any changes must be communicated well in time so that the pensioners do not waste their money coming and having to wait for long. It has happened and it is something which we will actively pursue with the relevant Minister, otherwise we would have our normal dates but because of the challenges that we are facing it happens sometimes we cannot pay on the due dates.
HON. SENATOR TIMVEOS: I want the Hon. Minister may be
to look at this closely, since these pensioners are coming for something like US$20, can the Hon. Minister look into this, is it really worthy for our pensioners to leave their homes just for that little money. Should it not be noble for the Hon. Minister to review this and make it worth travelling for and wait for so long?
HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Madam President. The
Ministry and the Public Service Commission is seized with that issue and we are looking at other ways of payment, including using cellphone service providers. We are in the process of getting bio-metric data so that we confirm the people who are really living and surviving and we want to come up with a situation where people would be able to use even plastic money in their areas they live instead of travelling to get that payment.
HON. SENATOR CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you for the
quality and factual answers, we are getting from the Minister. Hon.
Minister, are you considering further policy measures in view of the fact that the plastic money you have referred to is being abused by some business people. When they see that the pensioner cannot withdraw money from the bank, they can use that plastic money to buy from the till. They would say you can buy on condition that you buy goods worth half of your monthly pension and we would give you change in cash. So, if you earn US$200, they would say buy goods worth US$100, then we will give you change in cash. They force you to use half of your monthly pension into groceries which you do not need. Is there any policy to protect pensioners? Thank you.
HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Madam President. I
want to thank Hon. Chief Charumbira for a very important question and challenge. Obviously it is illegal for any conditional selling. If it is brought to the authorities’ attention, it will be dealt with accordingly and the relevant Ministry should be advised. The plastic money I was talking about is like your visa cards and so forth because we are moving away, like everywhere else in the world, from using cash or transporting cash and we are saying we need to get everybody on board, including people in rural areas to be able to have that plastic similar to a visa card. But that which you are talking about is abuse and should be reported to the relevant authorities. I thank you.
HON. SENATOR MUSAKA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Information Communication
Technology Postal and Courier Services. As a matter of policy, Hon. Minister, how many post offices should each constituency or district have. The point in question being Mhondoro-Ngezi Constituency in
Mamina is very far from Kadoma. Muzvezve Doneni is quite far from Kadoma where people have to track, Sanyati, equally the same. It could be prudent if they go to Nyimo. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER
SERVICES (HON. MLAMBO): Thank you very much Madam
President. Unfortunately the question belongs to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Post Offices fall under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, not ICT. So, can it be properly directed?
HON. SENATOR CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President.
My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and
Social Services. The NSSA Bank, where is the money coming from? Secondly, what guarantees have been put in place so that, that money is not put to waste, given that many banks are collapsing. What would happen if we are using people’s money in terms of pensions? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): Thank you
Madam President. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the very important question. Yes, we have a Building Society, not a bank to assist the low to middle income earners and a lot of our Zimbabweans, who cannot afford mortgage. For us to get a licence, we have to go under very vigorous checks by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. We think we have had enough test done, quality checks to ensure that we have both the competence in terms of human capital, equipment and technology.
Government being the major shareholder through NSSA, our interest is to make sure that we have delivered houses to the masses and secondly, as NSSA they want to make sure that their investment into the Building Society gives then adequate return. There are systems to ensure that we will make the delivery available to most people. Secondly, we have got systems to ensure that we have corperate governance. We make sure that corruption is avoided and we will do our best through the systems which are there to ensure that the money is not abused. Some of the money will be coming from the people, the depositors themselves who will then be able to get the loans from the
Building Society. So we have put in systems through NSSA, through the
Building Society’s board and the people whom we believe are competent. We want to make sure that we avoid what has happened in the past and the money is used for the purpose for which we intended such housing delivery and a benefit for NSSA to invest for future generations. For all of us here, we need to have good investments so that at the end when we retire later on, there will be something which we can fall back on. We also want to make sure that we are all aware at the moment people are getting $60.00 a month it is not livable pension. How do we get NSSA to get to a situation where we give people livable pensions? It is through good investments and we believe this is a good Investment. We will take note of any possible challenges which might came through people and we are aware of what has happened in the past.
I thank you – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. Can the
Minister tell the House what capital injection was put into this Building
Society? I thank you.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: That is not a
policy issue really.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President. My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs Dr.
Chombo. I would want to know what Government policy is concerning the duties of the ZRP. If you look at the situation with regards to
Combis. There is chaos and there is a serious jam in the CBD and the
Combis are all over as well as the small cars popularly known as Mushikashika. We want to find out what is Government policy concerning this as Home Affairs as well as in partnership with the City
Council.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): Madam President, I am very delighted to see you. I want to thank Hon. Sen.Chief Musarurwa for his question. It is true that Harare, in particular Combi drivers and a new breed of Combis – very small cars with four to five doors which are loaded with five/six/seven people is very unsafe and insecure. They are beginning to ply city roads. To make it even worse, they are behaving like Combis/Taxis taking away functions of commercially registered taxis/Combis. These vehicles have not been inspected or checked or certified to be on our roads. Sometimes, they are driven at very high speeds in order to get passengers. This is distorting and confusing the public in terms of how they arrange their trips and plans. The police are equally concerned because these vehicles are supposed to be registered by the City of Harare. They are just popping up everywhere, especially Japanese made little Toyatas, Ipsum and so on and the police are very concerned. We have also noticed when they are driving and if there is pressure on the roads they will use the other side of the road which is the wrong side of the road. Police are equally concerned and they are going to and we will continue to arrest all law breakers but because of the numbers, sometimes the police are not there. We really want to urge the motoring public, the police within the City of Harare to observe the rules of the road so that we can bring sanity to our beautiful city.
We had a meeting last week with the Commissioner General on this matter and I am sure there is going to be blitz very soon so that we check all these cars as to what they are doing in the city centre. Some are used as selling points for cellphones, radios and even clothing. So really, the police are on your side Hon. Sen. Chief Musarurwa and they are doing what they can. In the next few days there will be a blitz to make sure that we bring sanity to our City in particular the City of Harare –
[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you
Minister.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. Minister, how do you regulate the number of road blocks per km? What is the purpose of them? Have you revised the strategy, seeing that you breeding are corruption by the issues that are written brought in the newspapers of bogus policemen and some of them manning road blocks? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): Madam President, thank you again for giving me a chance to respond to the matter raised by Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa. The issue of police and road blocks has been with us for quite some time now. The police are doing a wonderful job under very difficult circumstances and I will be the first one to admit that out of all the 50 000 police officers that we have, some of them might not be forthright as you and me would want. Last year, we dismissed 320 police officers for stealing and abusing their offices at road blocks and other offices. So the police is keen to clean up those police officers who are contravening the laws that they are supposed to uphold.
To give you a little bit of comfort in terms of the activities on the road blocks. Road blocks are a legitimate exercise to make sure that the cars that we were talking about, the mushikashikas and illegal Combis are controlled. We also have a lot of cars that have recently come in, either stolen from Mozambique, Zambia or South Africa plying our roads. So, it is our duty to make sure that we apprehend the culprits. However, there are also other cars legitimately bought, but those have avoided paying tax at the boarder or have not yet been properly registered, that are plying our roads. So we want all those motorists to be accounted for.
There is also another development on speed; we now have automatic cars that people are buying and they are driven at very high speeds so the need for the roadblocks is there and I have sufficiently justified it. However, there are issues in terms of the collection of fines on the spot. This has been raised; people are concerned about this that maybe some of the money is not reaching the Treasury as it is supposed to be. I want to inform this august House that there is actually a circular in Government whereby roadblocks will be manned by satelite so that from an office in Harare you can see what is happening at a roadblock in Tsholotsho and you can pay using the methods that the Hon. Senator has been talking about such as the cell phones. There will not be any cash that will be exchanged; therefore the temptation for police officers to steal money will be reduced. So, I am really on your side, the issues you have raised are legitimate and give it a couple of weeks, it will be a thing of the past. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. Minister, we are very happy with the Building Society that will help the low income earners. What about pensioners who also contributed to this bank, what programme is there to enable them to build their own homes as well?
*THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): I want to thank
the Hon. Senator for her question. Money is not given for free. Those people who are going to be given loans should be eligible to pay it back, because the maximum period should be 25 years. So, we will examine each individual and see if they are able to pay it back. If it is so, that person is given the loan but we cannot give a loan to someone who will not be able to pay it back. Like what I have said in the beginning, we want to invest so that we are able to fund the bank 25 or 50 years from now. So anyone who is able to pay back and meet the required conditions can get the loan. If that person is a pensioner and has other sources of income that will prove he is able to pay back the loan, we can look into that and he can be considered as an individual.
However, the major issue is whether the person eligible for the loan is able to pay it back. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: thank you Madam President. My question
is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. What is Government policy concerning the distribution of food to people with disabilities and the aged in the rural areas? I have asked this because there are rumours that the people are paying $3 or $2 for each bag of maize that they are receiving.
*THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): I would like to
thank the Hon. Senator for that pertinent question. I am sure we are all aware that His Excellency, declared this year a disaster because of the drought situation we are in. I want to inform the Hon. Senator that despite the drought; my Ministry is responsible for the vulnerable groups and this includes those living with disabilities, the orphans, widows as well as the aged and those who are chronically ill. So, we already know what happened to them, whether there is drought or not. Those are the people we cater for in terms of welfare.
So, what happens is that we have 10 Provinces in our country; we have committees that are composed of various Government departments,
NGO’s as well as local leaderships, they are the ones who sit down and assess the needs from Province to District to Ward in order to determine who is vulnerable. So, we use those figures that are provided by ZIMVAC. ZIMVAC gives us figures of vulnerable people in the country. Annually, when we plough our fields and engage in farming, there is what is known as the first crop assessment which shows the level of yields. The second crop assessment shows how we are progressing and then after the third crop assessment, the different Ministries and groups sit down to check where assistance is needed in terms of the vulnerable by Province, District and Ward. Those are the people we always assist with public assistance. What happened for instance, last year when ZIMVAC did the assessment, 1, 5 million were recorded as needing assistance or 330 000 households.
However, as we progressed and because of the drought the figures increased up to now, it has already doubled. There are about 4 million or more of people who need assistance. So, what happened for those people to be assisted is that those vulnerable that are already there, as well as the new vulnerable groups, they have drought committees at Provincial level, District level, Ward level and also at village level, who look into the issue to ensure that if there is food need, they look at the vulnerable by district and ward. So the way food is allocated is done through the numbers that we have.
Right now, the numbers of people needing assistance is quite high, that is why as a Government we came up with the food for work programme. What happens now is that they have to work on projects that assist the communities. Now, the vulnerable that I have talked about as is always the case. We now have maize and we have enough to cover for three months but there are also measures to ensure that we receive more grains from other countries. The challenge that we have is that the whole of Southern Africa is faced with hunger and poverty, so we cannot go to Malawi, neither can we go to South Arica. In Malawi they have also declared this year a national disaster because of drought, so we are sourcing maize from Argentina and other countries, but as I stand here, what I know is that in all provinces, there is distribution that is happening. I get a report of the distribution that is taking place. We have registers. This is the same process that we want to do about the plastic cards that I was talking about of bio-metric data. It will ensure that no abuse is done and we are looking into it. For now, all the vulnerable groups that fall under my Ministry are well assisted. Thank you.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I do not know
about those who do not belong to the Minister.
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. Minister, sometime ago we heard that there was a judgement over the issue of spot fines, and that the judgement from what I read, was that it was an illegal exercise. Is it your policy as Ministry or Government to continue to defy judgements by judges of this country? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): Thank you Madam President. I want to thank Hon.
Chipanga for his question in which he kind of wants to imply that the police are not law abiding citizens. The duties of the police are to enforce the rules and regulations of our country and to enforce to make sure that all others comply. It is also incumbent upon them to be the first compliant ones. I am unaware of the matter that he is raising, but I am going to check. If it is true, we will comply but as I speak, I am not aware of it. I have just heard about it now. I will check and give this august Senate an appropriate response next week. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President, for
giving me this opportunity to pose my question. My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Dr. Chombo. We find it very difficult for MDC T to be given clearance to hold a peaceful demonstration in Zimbabwe. Each and every time we apply for clearance to go for a peaceful march, we end up at the High Court. Why do we do that Minister? Is that the policy that applies to your Ministry and then we get permission from the High Court? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): Thank you Madam President. I want to thank Hon.
Komichi for his question. He sat quite close to the former Minister of Home Affairs for some years. On the issue of demonstrations, we have a law as a nation that if you want to embark on a demonstration, you go and seek clearance from the Head of Police in your community. You explain when you want to do it as well as the number of people, for them to ensure that there is smooth flow of traffic as well as the citizens who are not concerned with the demonstration. They also consider whether the demonstration will not bring about violence. That is what is considered by the Head of Police in your community in determining whether you should proceed or not. That does not come to the Dispo or
Propo or the Ministry, but it is a communal issue.
The most important issue is that some of our colleagues from
MDC, whether it is T, N or whatever MDC or even Zimbabwe People First, for that matter, it is important that you seek clearance in due time for you to be granted permission in due time. Hon. Mupfumira also requested without due time, but we did not clear her. She wanted to march to celebrate the bank that she opened yesterday, but she did not give adequate time to determine how many people will take part. The
Head of Police said, ‘you had been given clearance, but we have realised that it will disturb the flow of traffic from 7.30 am’ and Hon. Mupfumira complied with the police on the decision.
There is a tendency that occurs especially amongst seniors in the MDC T in that they wait until the end of day around 3.45 pm and they end up saying they have not been cleared. Why not do it in due time? Hon. Komichi, on the other hand is trying to say that I allow ZANU PF to conduct its processes and do not clear the MDC, but the point is even ZANU PF, Hon. Mupfumira was denied clearance yesterday. So, I want to advise Hon. Komichi that he should give himself 10 days in planning his demonstrations so that there is enough time.
Recently, when they went on a demonstration, they ended up looting in the supermarket and engaging in violence with people around that area and hitting them with shovels. Madam President, what I am saying is that if we seek clearance in due time, we can get it.
Demonstrations are our democratic right; but in doing the demonstration if you engage in violence, it is also a democratic right to be arrested by the police. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: We heard what you said Hon. Minister.
What if MDC T requests the backing of the police to be there and assist in terms of security, will you allow that?
HON. DR. CHOMBO: Thank you Madam President, we will
definitely provide security to ensure that no violence occurs.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President. My
question goes to the Minister of Home Affairs. Hon. Minister, I noticed that you arrested those people who engaged in human trafficking of women and girls to Kuwait. I do not think it is enough for you to just arrest them. I want to know what measures or policy you have in place that such trafficking is brought to an end because in this country, it is now a serious crime that is rampant in Zimbabwe. What policy have you put in place to ensure that our children are not trafficked to other countries? It is not only Kuwait but I hear also China, Brazil and other countries, and our children are going there. What policy do you have as a Home Affairs Ministry to ensure that our children are not trafficked and forced in to slavery in these countries?
*THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): It is true, it is a painful and AN embarrassing situation for someone to be trafficked to another country without information on where she will be working. As she gets there, her passport is taken away and stays there while she is forced to work long hours being treated as a slave. That is what happened to our girl children who went to Kuwait.
This is not to say we did not have legislation.
Two years ago, the Government passed the Human Trafficking Act and realised that it is a very important issue. Those people who engage in human trafficking are using their offices to ensure that the documents are obtained for one to go out of the country or their own premises to facilitate human trafficking. This happened without our knowledge. So, when the Government became aware of it, the Government then investigated and realised that there are more than 32 people who are engaged in this. Some are in Kuwait and others within the area but around 20 of them are here in our country.
Together with the ZRP, we arrested them because they engaged in criminal activities. That is the duty of the police to ensure that they are brought to book. We have about seven who are on the run. No matter where they go, we will still apprehend them and bring them to book because of the trauma they have caused to our children. A Committee is there that is chaired by Home Affairs and was put in place by the
Government. We work together with the Ministry of Labour and Social
Services, Women Affairs, Foreign Affairs, the President’s Office as well as the police. The Committee also works with the United Nations Office on the drug situation in South Africa. It also works with IOM Chief of
Mission who is here.
Yesterday and today, there was a meeting on how this matter can be addressed. So, you will hear of the report on television. This is what is known as the National Action Plan on how we can publicise and raise awareness in the country because a person will have been called to come and work. It is his right to go and do that but you realise that for these low paying jobs, there is a challenge. If it is an issue of teachers at universities, nurses and doctors, in most cases, what they have agreed in the contract is fulfilled, but in these low paying jobs whereby one thinks a favour is being done, where health certificates and police clearance is forged, is where the serious challenge is.
There is going to be a serious campaign to educate Zimbabweans that these issues are also taking place and are occurring in Zimbabwe. We used to hear them happen in neighbouring countries. These issues have people who are behind the scenes who are international criminals and are syndicates. They work behind the scenes and that is why we work with Hon. Mupfumira. We do not want the victims to be known or even their faces to be shown because they might be in danger from those syndicates. So, we want to thank the police for apprehending these criminals, bringing them to book and ensuring that it does not happen again.
Here as Members of Parliament, when we go back over the weekend to our constituencies to give feedback, let us go – inform and educate people that if they see an advert that is attractive, especially for housemaids, they should enquire the authenticity of this from the police. We also said to Hon. Mupfumira, that we need a bilateral agreement with countries that want to recruit Zimbabwean labour so that we know where our children are going to work. We are taking serious and strong measures to this particular issue. We also went to the Embassy of Kuwait and requested that they stop giving visas to Zimbabwean people; and that they give us a record of all Zimbabweans who have gone to Kuwait in order to check on them. So, I think our Government is on its feet trying to address the issue. Some of the girls returned today, by the way.
*HON. SEN. MAKONE: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. Minister, I recall you saying at one time that no one should be affected and die because of hunger. The President, His Excellency Cde. R.G. Mugabe reiterated that same message that no one should die of hunger. My question is that in some areas, food relief is being distributed along party lines. How can we as Members of Parliament bring this to you in order to address this issue which is in contravention of Government policy?
*THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND
SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA): I want to thank
Hon. Makone for her question. As I said earlier on, as a Government, we have committees at provincial, district and ward level. When registration is done, no one is requested to bring a party card. A person comes as an individual and as a Zimbabwean. As a Government, we said we do not need to politicise food aid. We do not just represent our party but we represent everyone, we stand for Zimbabweans. Government policy is that everyone who is affected by hunger and is registered should be given food. If there are those who are giving food and segregating others – I know there are some who do not follow what the policy stipulates. I am saying we need to be alerted on what is happening so that we address the issue. Government policy is that everyone who is eligible to food aid should get food. If there is an area that is known, I urge Hon. Members to bring these issues to us or go to the Social Welfare office in your area so that we address the situation and bring to book those who are not following Government policy. Thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
HON. MUMVURI: I move that time for Questions Without
Notice be extended.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: In view of the
fact that most of the Ministers are not here this afternoon, we will extend by 10 minutes.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. Hon. Minister, besides political gatherings, I think the House and the nation may be happy to know what other gatherings must be notified to the police before gathering. I also want to ask whether the notification is meant to apply for permission or it is a notification to the police. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): Thank you Madam President. All gatherings should be notified to the police in advance so that they know. This is done so that the police can protect you from unscrupulous elements that might want to disrupt your meeting, it is your right. It is also done in order to avoid double booking where two groups book the same venue. Groups like the
‘million men march,’ which will be held next week also have to make a booking and they have already done so and permission was granted. They always have to do it in advance. If people do it in advance, it usually works out very well. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Hon. Gandawa. A few days ago, the Committee on HIV/AIDS visited colleges with the intention of fighting against the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the administration of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). We noticed that most health institutions in colleges and universities are sub-standard except for the University of Zimbabwe.
What is Government Policy in terms of fighting the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in colleges and universities? We are now calling these places key population areas because there are other universities which are notorious in terms of this issue. What is Government doing in terms of upgrading the health centres in these colleges and universities in order to allow students to have access to health facilities without being exposed to stigmatisation. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. The Government of Zimbabwe respects and upholds health and education. Wherever an institution such as a university or college is established, it is mandatory to have a clinic in place. However, within Government, we have what is known as division of labour.
Our Ministry is concerned with the academic side mostly, but we work with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. It is the Ministry of
Health and Child Care’s mandate to ensure that the clinics are adequately provided. They are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. There are also other organisations such as the National Aids Council (NAC), which we give the opportunity to get into the tertiary institutions to give awareness to children on HIV/AIDS and other health services.
Despite that, there may be challenges here and there, but what we encourage is that the clinics should provide adequate health care. We also engage surrounding hospitals so that they assist in giving awareness on how children can access medication. We are in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to address the situation in our colleges. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to come back again. I have to recast my question, perhaps the Hon. Minister did not capture what I was asking about, I am talking about courier services. I understand the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was divided into two sections, the banking section or the finance and the courier service is still with them. So, my question was directed on the courier services in terms of the structures…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Ask the question
Hon. Member, time is running out.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you, I think the Minister has captured what I am asking.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER
SERVICES (HON. MLAMBO): Thank you very much Madam President. On many occasions, we realise that many people do not understand the differences. This is why it is important to clarify.
Yesterday, I was answering questions in the Lower House where many
Hon. Members kept on referring to the then Posts and
Telecommunications Corporation, which was operating during the 1990s. It was unbundled and paved way for a number of entities. The then POSB unbundled into two, to form a bank, which is under the purview of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. It also resulted in what we call ZIMPOST right now, which have many responsibilities, one of which is to post letters.
It is no longer the Post Office in the original context, this is the point I wanted to make so that Hon. Members understand the difference. ZIMPOST has many responsibilities and business lines. Posting letters is one of the smallest line and it is actually dwindling by the day as internet is becoming more and more the medium of communication from one person to another. We have about 230 ZIMPOST outlets and
Zimpost outlets throughout the country but no longer operating as we are in the process of converting these in what we call Communication Information Centres, so that we bring the modern technologies to assist people in those areas but his concern I guess is that how many in each locality should these ZIMPOST be. We encourage, funds permitting, that they must be a walking distance to each one and that is the aspiration; so that our communities are not strained to go to a service centre. This is what we would want to do. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order No.62.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
MEASURES TO PROTECT HUMAN BEINGS FROM
CROCODILE ATTACKS IN MAZOWE RIVER
- HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA asked the Minister of Environment
Water and Climate to explain whether there are any measures the Ministry is instituting to protect human beings from being attacked by crocodiles in Mazowe River.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you Madam President. I
would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mavhunga for the question requiring me to explain whether there any measures the Ministry is instituting in order to protect human beings from being attacked by crocodiles in Mazowe River.
Madam President, the issue of crocodile infestation in our water bodies such as Mazowe River is now a grave national concern which we are currently seized with. In order to demonstrate the seriousness we attach to this challenge. Hon. Dr. Chombo presents these cases to Cabinet every Tuesday. My ministry is mobilising resources for capturing and translocation of some of these problem animals which include crocodiles. Just to highlight to Hon. Senators how grave the problem of human crocodile attacks is nationally; Zimbabwe Parks and Wild Life Management Authority provided the following statistics covering the period January to March 2016. The nature of the problem is that there were 29 Reports that were received from Mashonaland Central. Cases that were attended were 20, the number of animals and these are crocodiles that we killed were 5. People that were injured were
2 and those that were injured were 5. Livestock, cattle 3 were killed and
2 goats were killed.
The areas where these reports on crocodile attacks were received mainly are in Bindura, covering Mazowe River. Some few were in Chipinge, Mutirikwi, Billy dam and Kariba. In complementing Government efforts to address this fast growing national challenge, I would want to appeal to Hon. Members to work very closely with our ZimParks in intensifying awareness campaigns in their various constituencies. The targeted awareness campaigns should focus on the dangers associated with fish mongering, illegal alluvial mining, crossing at undesignated points as well as herding cattle near crocodile infested water bodies.
In conclusion, Madam President, I urge Hon. Members to make full use of the ZimParks programme of animal control unit situated in all provinces across the country whose sole mandate is to address human wild life conflict through killing, removing or relocating the problem animals. We urge members of the public to also work closely with Government departments and traditional leadership by reporting problem animals to them for onward relay of the messages to Parks or
Mozowe district for attention and control. I thank you Madam President.
–[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.[-
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: The Deputy
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development Dr. Gandawa.
CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO DECLARATION OF
MISSING PERSONS AS PRESUMED DEAD
- HON. B. SEN. SIBANDA asked the Minister of Home Affairs to explain at what point and under what circumstances a missing person is declared dead or presumed dead and the process of issuance of death certificate.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GANDAWA) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR. CHOMBO): Thank you Mr. President. In terms of Section 3 of the Missing Persons Act Chapter 5:14, any person (preferably a relative) may apply to the Clerk of Court for an order of presumption of death. It is a requirement that a report be made to the police regarding the fact that the person concerned is missing before approaching the court.
When an order of presumption of death has been issued by the Magistrate after due inquiry in terms of Section 5 of the Act, the order will then be sent to the Registrar General by the Clerk of Court. Another copy of the same will be taken by the applicant to the Registrar of the District where the court is situated for registration of the death and issuance of the desired certificate. This is applied in terms of section 10 of the Act. I thank you Mr. President.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA) Mr. President, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 7 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 8 of the day has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
RECOMMITAL TO COMMITTEE STAGE
ZIMBABWE NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY BILL, [H.B. 12,
2015]
House in Committee.
On Clause 2:
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): I move the amendments standing in my
name that on page 4 of the Bill, in line 15, in the definition of
“Minister,” delete the words of the “Minister Defence” and substitute with “the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and
Technology Development”.
Amendment to Clause 2, put and agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee
MOTION
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS CENTRED ON
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for Government to implement the devolution of power provided in the
Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SIBANDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed.
Debate to resume: 7th June, 2016.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT
NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I have received a Non-
Adverse Report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the
Zimbabwe National Defence National University Bill [HB 12A, 2015] .
CONSIDERATION STAGE
ZIMBABWE NATIONAL DEFENCE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
BILL [HB 12A, 2015]
Amendment to Clause 2 put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
ZIMBABWE NATIONAL DEFENCE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
BILL [HB 12A, 2015]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Mr. President, I move that the Bill be read
the third time.
Motion put and agreed.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER
AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GANDAWA), the Senate adjourned at
Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday the 7th June 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 12th May, 2016
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
CHANGES IN THEMATIC COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the Senate of changes in Thematic Committee membership. Hon. Sen. Mapungwana will serve on the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS and the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
*HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. Hon. Minister, a few days ago, the media was awash with the issue of quail birds. What is the Government’s position as regards the trade in quail birds? Thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE,
MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Madam President. I
would want to thank Hon. Sen. Chipanga for this question. In response, I would say indeed it is true that the media was awash with the issue on the quails and the Government had banned the sale or the breeding of quails. I would want to say that I have not heard from the Minister or seen a statement from the Minister, Hon. Muchinguri, but I heard through rumours. The Minister categorically denied saying that and I would want to believe that she may have been misquoted. What she was saying was that, if there are people who were stealing eggs and quails from the national parks, that was unlawful. The law in as far as the breeding of quails is concerned on farms and at homes, the current quail birds that are in Zimbabwe, Government is urging people to go ahead and breed these quails but that they should do it in a normal way. Our branch of Veterinary Services would want to assist those that are into breeding of these quails so that they can breed healthy birds which lead to better health for the consumers.
I would not want to believe that it has no food value. If it did not have food value, those that are consuming it would have since forgotten about it. The ZIM ASSET cluster on food security encourages those that are breeding quails to do so. Please, spread the word to your respective constituencies that Government’s intention is that, people should continue breeding the quails in a proper manner. I thank you.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam President. I
would like to ask the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education whether it is correct that rentals or charges for use of tertiary institution facilities by Christian churches are being accelerated at an affordable rate. Also, whether it applies to all tertiary institutions or it only applies to other lower institutions of learning?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
( HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you Madam President. I will try to respond to the Hon. Senator’s question but I feel that the question is a bit not specific because he seems to be trying to point out to a specific institution, he has generalised. I would be glad if there is specific institution or I will just respond in general?
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: In general.
HON.DR. GANDAWA: Thank you Madam President. Not only
churches, even individuals seek to hire facilities from colleges and universities and the agreement is between the institution and the church concerned. The services that they want to host; it might be a wedding, a function or a church service – the agreement is between the institution and the person who wants to hire the services. So, there is no standard price for all institutions that they agree on because it depends with the function – how many hours and days you want to use the facility for. It is the agreement between the institution and the person who wants to hire the services. Suffice to say that, we have auditors then who will follow up in these institutions to see if those funds; because the funds are meant to assist in repairs and maintenance of the institutions. So, the auditors will then want to find out how much money is being paid or charged to an institution or to an individual then they audit the use, but the charges or fees vary depending on the function and the person who is hiring the facilities. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: My question is directed to the Deputy
Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services. Is it Government policy that the ZBC/TV tends to cover extensively, activities of certain few Committees of Parliament at the expense of others, even to the extent of going to produce a documentary?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, MEDIA
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
It is not Government policy to be selective when covering Committee meetings. Thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: I want to believe there is co-operation between our country and Egypt. Currently, Egypt is advertising scholarships in the newspaper, but one of the conditions is that people have to go for HIV/AIDS testing. I want to believe in my view that this could be segregatory. What is your comment?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order Hon
Senator. You do not ask for a comment but you want advice, which arises from the policies of his Ministry.
HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. What is Government policy on that?
HON. DR. GANDAWA: It is indeed true that Egypt requires
HIV/AIDS tests done for individuals who intend to take courses in their country. It is not only Egypt that does that but many countries do the same. There have been problems that have been associated - it is not segregatory per-se but there have been problems with sending students with specific conditions, especially HIV/AIDS that the country has encountered. So, they are trying to curb such incidences. Even when we are travelling to China, there is a requirement that you are tested but they do not publish the results. You go and have the tests on your own and you do not publish the results. Should your results come out positive, you keep the results and withdraw from the course. Also, the duration that the students stay in Egypt is almost four to five years depending on the programme that they are taking. If they are taking a non- English taught programme, it will take the first year to learn the language that they will use for the instructions. So, a period of five years, if your health is not alright, will compromise even your learning. That is the reason why they are doing that. There are times when we feel that these conditions for scholarships for those students in our country that can meet the criteria should benefit and those that cannot meet the criteria will then be assisted by other countries that do not have that kind of policy or regulation or they study locally. Thank you.
*HON. CHIEF DANDAWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development. When do you think you will be able to upgrade our road from Chief Mora’s area in Binga? They are having problems because buses can no longer access that road. When we go onto the map, it is shown that the road is tarred yet on the ground it is a gravel road.
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR GUMBO):
May I kindly advise the Hon. Senator Chief that once he has become specific, he has to put his question in writing so that we can consult our records and see when that road is due for maintenance. However, it is Government policy that roads should be constructed though they may not be timeously constructed because of lack of funds. Some roads are either funded by the Province or by the Department of Roads. So, I would urge you to put your question in writing so that I will be able to inform you whether it is going receive attention this year or not. Thank you.
HON. SEN. SINAMPANDE: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. Hon. Minister, could you kindly assist Matebeleland North. When are you going to put a teacher’s college in Matabeleland North? I will keep on asking this question.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): I want to thank the Hon. Senator for repeatedly asking the same question. Government policy on establishing a university per province was of priority to Government and we are close to completing that policy by finalising the establishment of the Gwanda State University and the Manicaland State University. We are now moving forward to start to pursue establishing a polytechnic and a teachers’ college per province. Suffice to say that, we have Matabeleland North and Mashonaland West, which are the two provinces that do not have a teachers’ colleges as well as polytechnics.
Coincidentally, my Minister, Professor Moyo comes from Matabeleland North and I come from Mashonaland West. So, the Hon. Senator must be surely assured that it is an issue that is also on our hearts, to ensure that we have a polytechnic and a teachers’ college in these two provinces.
However, what happens is that polytechnics, teachers’ colleges and universities are national institutions. They are not owned by a province but they house a national institution. That is why we take people from Matabeleland North to enroll in Bulawayo, Manicaland etcetera. We have since put in place – by last week, during the Trade Fair, we engaged Hwange Colliery. They have a training centre that they are not using, which we intend very soon to turn into a teachers’ college so that we have a teachers’ college in Matabeleland North. We are also engaging with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development to put a centre at Trelawney where we think we can also house a teacher’s college in Mashonaland West. If we do that, we would have completed the Government policy in having a teacher’s college, a polytechnic and a university in every province. I thank you Madam
President.
HON. SENATOR SHIRI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Minister, may you explain the measures the Ministry has in place to ensure that tourism is accessible to persons with disabilities. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVU): I would like to
thank the Hon. Member for asking this very crucial question which ensures that Government policy with regards to tourism is indeed inclusive. Hon. Senator, I would like to state it clearly to you that it is Government policy that every member of society in Zimbabwe, including people living with disabilities, benefit from the tourism facilities in and around our country. We have currently completed our tourism master plan which seeks to clarify, synchronise and consolidate issues around tourism development infrastructure. So, we are working with the Hotel Association of Zimbabwe, including the Zimbabwe Council of Tourism, to make sure that existing facilities are easily accessible to people living with disabilities. They work with them and also new projects are taking that into consideration.
I would like to thank the Hon. Senator and go further to say that we are also inviting people living with disabilities to participate in the tourism sector in as far as economic empowerment is concerned. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SENATOR MARAVA: My question goes to the Hon.
Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development, Dr. Gandawa. Hon. Gandawa, the students who are from teacher’s colleges receive a small allowance from Government when they are on teaching practice. This is not the same case with students from universities. Actually, it is the opposite. The students from the universities are made to pay a full fee while they are on teaching practice. Why the discrimination? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you very much Madam President
and I want to thank the Senator for asking the question. The students from the teacher’s colleges, when they are on teaching practice they will be in charge of a class while being assisted or mentored by an experienced teacher and they are paid by the Civil Service Commission as Government policy.
When students that are in university are supposed to go on attachment, we call it industrial attachment, where they are going to work in an organisation and it is the organisation that they are working for that is supposed to pay for their remuneration or allowance. We do not have control over the organisations that attach these students. The students have to look for attachments to a specific organisation and work there and get an allowance. We encourage these organisations that take our students to assist them or pay them amounts that will allow them to continue to be able to come to work while they learn. But it does not stop there, they are learning and the lecturers from the universities must always attend to them or assess them. We understand though and it is a matter that we are seized with, that we are looking at to see how much it costs the university or the institution to attend because they continue to give them practical assessment.
We want to see how we can assist the students so that they are not paying as much as you are saying - full fees. Currently, the policy says they are students. They must pay the full amount for a semester because they are going to be assessed during the semester. It is a matter that we are looking at. The students themselves have presented this matter to us when we were in consultations with them and we feel there is a case for us to look at. There is merit in the case, to look at it and review.
We are currently taking up a comprehensive review of all our policies in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and
Technology Development and I believe that issue that you have raised, Hon. Senator, is very pertinent and it will receive due attention. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SENATOR MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President.
My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Tourism and
Hospitality Industry. Minister, on the ZIM ASSET, on domestic tourism development, you have strategies of raising awareness on civil servants visitor scheme and other strategies that you wrote down here. I would like to know is that yielding any fruits seeing that the civil servants at times, they are not getting their pay on the correct dates? So how are you going about it?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. A. NDLOVU): I would like to
thank the Hon. Senator for raising this question which is critical in as far as our role as Government in improving employer-employee relations is concerned. She is correct that Government introduced the scheme in the ZIM ASSET as stated, but as you know, the Public Service Commission is responsible for conditions of service for the whole civil service, so we are in the process of seeing how we can make this programme work, also recognising that this scheme requires civil servants to contribute on a monthly basis towards their vacation. Noting, Madam President that a holiday is not something that we can impose on an individual, so we are still waiting for public service to agree on how exactly we will make the system work, but it is Government’s wish through this policy on domestic tourism that we are able to instill in our people, a holiday culture because a holiday, in our view, is very key.
We need Madam President to also be able to measure national growth happiness and not just GDP. So it is the wish of our Ministry that we are able to motivate the civil service through this scheme in a way of promoting domestic tourism. I would also like to share with the august Senate that it is Government’s wish that Hon. Senators can help us in their constituencies by encouraging our people to visit tourism sites in all our constituencies because when we take a closer look, almost every constituency has something which is a tourism attraction. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SENATOR MANYERUKE: My question is directed to
the Hon. Minister of Agriculture. How far are the preparations for the winter cropping of wheat?
THE DEPUTY MINITER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Madam President. I thank the Hon. Senator for the question as regards the government programme for the growing of the winter wheat. I would want to say that this is not an annual event. It is Government policy that winter wheat will grown every year through irrigation. Those that can irrigate are urged to grow wheat. It should not be the Government’s responsibility to fund winter cropping of wheat. Government allowed contract farming so it has encouraged those that are into contract farming to go and encourage farmers to put their fields under winter wheat. We do not want an ad hoc programme of winter cropping but a permanent arrangement where it is known that Government encourages the growing of winter wheat.
The Government has set $500 per tonne as the price for wheat. It is a good price which is exceptional to Zimbabwe. This is to try and incentivise the farmers to grow wheat because if we grow a lot of wheat we cannot export it at $500. The same applies to the $390 per tonne for maize. This is a subsidised price that the Government is using to incetivise farmers to grow maize as well as wheat but our farmers are failing to do that. The Government has put these incentives because of offering such a good price to farmers so that they can be encouraged to grow those crops. It is a policy that is there and we urge those that are into contract farming to make arrangements with the farmers so that this wheat can be grown. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam President. I would like to ask, the Government is encouraging people to grow wheat but we are aware that there are plenty of dams but there is no irrigation equipment, how are they going to do it? How much is the Government getting involved in making the dams useful for winter ploughing?
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Madam President. Thank you Hon.
Senator for the supplementary question. I think let me state that it is very unfortunate that everybody or every farmer is looking forward for everything to be done by the Government, which is very unfortunate. It should not be like that. In actual fact, if you want to look from a policy point of view when the land allocation started, A2 farmers had to exhibit that they had the capacity to carry on the financing of the operations at their farms. That should be the case. Even though that is the position, the Government has come out with various measures including the facilities, for example the Brazilian facility, to come out with irrigation equipment to assist those farmers. From a Government point of view including as well, under the Cabinet Committee chaired by the Hon. Vice President, the Government has put in place to make sure that wherever there is water available that water must be used under the arrangement put by the Government.
We would also want to encourage as I said that Government ultimately is not the final user of wheat and therefore I think the system of where the Government has admitted the system of PPPs and the system of contract farming, we would also encourage the users of the said product to come and also team up who have farmers with water so that they can produce wheat or maize. A good example is the current arrangement between ARDA and TREK which is bearing fruit I think in
Matebeleland in Maphisa, and in Kadoma. That is how the Government is encouraging the involvement of the private sector into producing the necessary food for the country. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Following from the original question, the question is does the Government know or have any figures as to how many hectors are ready for winter wheat? Not that we want know who but how many? Thank you.
HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Hon. Senator for the follow up question. I think it is too early for the Government to have come out with a figure at the moment of hectors that have been committed to winter wheat because the growing period is from 1st May to the end of the month. That is what is encouraged by the Government in order to achieve the necessary yields. Therefore, as of today, 12th May, is in middle and people are still planting, the aim of Government from a policy point of view is to grow enough for our country. At the moment we cannot come out with a figure because farmers are still planting the wheat.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: May I humble
remind Hon. Senators to please pose policy questions to the Ministers. You want to know the policy on a certain topic which is of concern to you and your constituents. If I ask the Minister of Transport when the Mubayira to Chegutu road is going to be completed, that is not a policy question. When you pose questions, it is not just for you benefit. It is also for other Hon. Senators’ benefit and mind you, this will come out in the Hansard, so eventually it will also benefit your constituencies. Let us pose policy questions. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Media and Broadcasting Services, Hon. Sen. Mathuthu. My question seeks to find out the policy as related to the coverage of political parties in the broadcasting services. Perhaps you can articulate the policy as it stands because we need to see the democratic approach into the coverage.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION
AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I want to thank the Hon. Senator for such an important question. The policy is we cover all events whether political or otherwise. We have had instances when some parties chase the ZBC…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, the
objections are really not reasonable.
HON. SEN MATHUTHU: Thank you Madam President. I was
saying they are some instances where some political parties do not want to be covered. Thank you.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to advise
the House that we now also have the Minister of Information,
Communication Technology Postal and Courier Services, Hon.
Mandiwanzira as well as the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Hon.
Mabuwa.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: Supplementary, my question has not
been answered. I want to find out on a policy position, what is the policy position as regards covering of the political parties?
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Madama President and I
would like to thank the Hon. Senator for the follow up question. The Government position is that all events where ZBC and the print media are invited to cover, they covered unless if the Hon. Member has a specific instance when ZBC was invited and they never attended. The policy is that every event, when we get invited, we cover the event.
Thank you.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: My question is directed to the Deputy
Minister of Agriculture (Livestock). As a matter of policy, the newly donated equipment to the co-operatives, are they supposed to be dumped there, no assistance in assembling them is given. I have a specific issue in Chakari; former Morrison Range, Chiwirirano cooperative, they have enormous difficulties in assembling the equipment. They are asking us to assist in hiring a crane. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Madam President. I
want to thank Hon. Sen. Musaka for the question and I do not think the equipment was donated. Beneficiaries were identified on the basis of their capacity to use and ability to pay. That equipment is supposed to be paid and it has to be paid back. Therefore, it is in the interest of Government and the Ministry of Agriculture in particular, to make sure that the equipment is put to use and is productive; it is viable to afford those beneficiaries to pay back the equipment. Since he has mentioned something in particular, it is not policy that the Government will go there and dump the equipment without assembling it and also making sure that it is tested and it is working. To an extent again, even to where there is a deficiency in terms of those farmers ability to use that a personnel from the Department of Irrigation and Mechanisation is attached to that project to make sure that the project is working.
I will liaise with you Hon. Sen. Musaka and make sure that a follow up is made so that the equipment works. I thank you.
*HON. A. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam President. My question
is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock). We were at the Trade Fair recently and I observed that there was no livestock. Is Government failing to curtail foot and mouth in Zimbabwe? That is the reason why beasts were not at the ZITF.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Madam President, I
have heard the question but if I can be allowed to respond in English.
Yes, admittedly there were no big numbers of livestock at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. The animals which were there were already fattened cattle which were ready to go for slaughter after the exhibition.
The issue of foot and mouth, yes it is prevalent in most of the Matebeleland provinces. What we actually have done and what we intend to do, is that we do not want to rely on vaccinating cattle as a way of controlling foot and mouth. We also want to bring certain measures to make sure that we reduce the amount of vaccinations because vaccinations are not for free; they cost us money and we buy them from Botswana vaccine factory.
We also do not want to centralise the marketing of cattle, which will then make it possible for the spread of foot and mouth. There is an element of outbreak of foot and mouth that we can deal with at a certain centre and then there is an element of spreading of foot and mouth, that is what we do not want to do. As a result, what we are encouraging is the auctioning of cattle to take place including the establishment of feedlots at a place where the cattle are being produced, so, that the small scale farmers do not have to bear the cost of transporting cattle all the way to Bulawayo and if they are not sold, they transport them back again resulting in the spread of foot and mouth.
So, these are the new measures that we are putting in place to make sure that we restrict the amount of movement from one district to another and make sure that the auctioning and fattening of cattle is done there. Even our negotiations with the International Animal Health at the moment, recognises that we have to make sure that we quarantine and fatten the cattle where they are. If they are there for fourty-five days, they can even be certified to be exported because we would have widened and made sure that there is no diseases outbreak.
So unfortunately yes, I have had various meetings in Bulawayo, to do with auctioning of cattle at the Bulawayo International Trade Fair. We have since established that it is not for the benefit of the small scale farmers but it is for the benefit of those established auctioning companies. They want cattle to come to them not them to go and look for cattle where they are. Unfortunately, we are not going to do that. We want to decentralise the marketing, auctioning and fattening of cattle to where the production is taking place.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock). What is Government policy to ensure that the farmer does not suffer twice; firstly, by planting and rearing the crops and secondly, to realise payment for the crops that day? Has that been put in place? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): I am not sure of what particular crops the Hon. Senator is talking about. The Hon. Sen. has referred to the term ‘produce’ and she is not being specific. It could mean crops, animals, quails or livestock. What exactly are you making reference to?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: She was specific.
HON. ZHANDA: Madam President, yes but there are certain crops that are grown like soya beans which obviously as a Ministry, we are not the buyer of the last resort. We are buyer of the last resort in terms of maize. However, I can explain that the maize price which was set by the Government was a floor price but the commodity itself…
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: On a point of order Madam
President. I asked in Shona.
*HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Madam President, my apologies to
the Hon. Senator. I was saying that crops such as soya beans are not bought by Government as buyer of last resort as is the case with maize. Government set the floor price for maize but if the farmer has not found a market because the Government has opened up the selling of maize, the parties can agree on a price. If the farmer is not happy with the price, they can go to GMB where the Government has set a price. At the moment, the Government is dealing with maize. We are putting in place procedures to ensure that farmers are timely paid within the shortest possible time. Those that received their payments late last year were eventually paid. The Government is concerned about the late payment to farmers. Once deliveries have been made, farmers should be paid immediately. I believe we have put in place such measures and it is going to take a very short time. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President. My
question is directed to the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment. Do you have a specific policy in place in your Ministry which allows you to parcel out projects that are intended for those youths who have got disabilities in the community?
If you have them, how many have you funded so far? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT,
INDIGENISATION AND EMPOWERMENT (HON. TONGOFA):
Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank the Hon. Senator for the very important question. We have got what we call ‘vulnerable groups’ in the Ministry. The vulnerable groups that we talk of are the youths, women and the disabled persons. We are very much sensitive to the disabled group but we do not have projects; we just take projects and give them more priority if they come to the Ministry for funding. However, we do not have specific projects for them. They bring their projects and we give more priority to their issues. In a nutshell, that is what I can say with regards to the funding of the disabled people. I thank you.
HON. SEN. JUBA: Thank you Madam President. My question
goes to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. In Matabeleland North, we have a place that is dry and elephants are giving us havoc. I do not know how you can help us in order to cope with those elephants so that we can have food.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon. Senator,
whom did you direct your question to?
HON. SEN. JUBA: The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hon.
Zhanda.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Hon. Senator, I have heard your
question pertaining to the issue of marauding elephants that are destroying your crops. In our Ministry, we are disturbed that your crops are now being destroyed by elephants. They fall under the purview of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate. What I would want to point out is that the areas that border conservancies had fences that separated animals from the people. However, the fences were removed as there is now conflict between the people and the animals. This has also resulted in the loss of human lives and others like you are having their crops destroyed by elephants. We urge the Ministry to maintain the border fences so that animals and people can live together harmoniously.
I thank you.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: How can the
Ministry help the farmers who are near the conservancies to increase their yields? That was also one of her questions.
*HON. ZHANDA: Thank you Madam President for reminding
me on the second part. The Ministry has a department of Agritex, which has extension officers that are found in the communities, whose duty is to enlighten people on how to realise better yields. With regards to animals, we have a department of Livestock Production. They also teach people on how to farm livestock so that animals can reproduce annually. We also have the Veterinary Services Department that deals with dip tanks and the treatment of animals so that we do not lose our cattle as a result of diseases. They are also into dealing with foot and mouth diseases.
However, if you are talking about a specific crop, I would urge you to use Government Extension Officers in your communities. Government Extension Workers are your servants. You should be served by them. The problem that I find when I go for field days is that people are urged to come and attend field days so that information and knowledge on how to have better yields can be imparted, people shun to attend them. I urge people to attend field days because they are good in educating people. Our extension officers do not have transport to reach areas that are far from where they operate from. We are even looking at a situation where we could have motor cycles or bicycles to ensure that they cover a lot of distance. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
MADAM PRESIDENT, in terms of Standing Order No. 62.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
PAYMENT PLAN ON CLEARANCE OF DEBTS FOR
SERVICES RENDERED BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES
- HON. SEN. CHIMHINI asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain the payment plan the Ministry has to clear its debts for services rendered by local authorities to Government ministries to enable them to improve service delivery and pay staff salaries.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON.
CHINAMASA): As at 31st March, 2016 Government owed local authorities US$36.8 million for rates and water services as per the attached Annexure ‘A’.
- The major creditors are:
- City of Masvingo – US$16 671 786;
- City of Harare – US$16 499 618;
- City of Bulawayo – US$1 940 044.
- Government ministries’ debt to local authorities for the period 2013 to 2015 stood at US$17 – US$19 million as shown in the table below:-
Debt Evolution | |||
Local Authorities |
2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
$18 504 639 | $17 420 281 | $18 432 464 |
- Major debtor ministries and departments are as follows:
- Zimbabwe National Army and Air Force of Zimbabwe;
- Zimbabwe Republic Police;
- Government health institutions; and
- Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
- Arrears to local authorities are mainly on account of the mismatch between consumption and ability to pay, given our limited Budget capacity.
Year | Annual Billing | Budget Provision | Payments |
2013 | 25 067 024 | 13 063 400 | 39 546 711 |
2014 | 22 750 260 | 11 763 000 | 35 843 519 |
2015 | 19 504 482 | 13 370 000 | 13 448 584 |
- The above Budget constraint notwithstanding, Treasury has and will continue to progressively reduce line ministries’ and departments’ arrears to local authorities by knocking off outstanding tax obligations against these arrears.
Local Authority | Amount Owed |
- Furthermore, Treasury is collaborating with both Government ministries and departments and local authorities on mechanisms of managing the consumption of water services, cognizant of structural infrastructural leakages and institutional wastage.
- Cognisant of the core mandate of local authorities in terms of service delivery to communities, Treasury will continue prioritising payments to local authorities within the available budget capacity.
City of Masvingo | 671 786 |
City of Harare | 499 618 |
City of Bulawayo | 940 044 |
City of Mutare | 140 |
Bindura Municipality | 605 |
Victoria Falls Town Council | 136 |
Chitungwiza Municipality | 521 |
Kwekwe City Council | 696 |
Chegutu Municipality | 322 |
Kariba Town Council | 426 |
Ann
exur
e
‘A’:
Loca
l
Auth
oriti es
Outstanding Bills as at 31st March, 2016
Municipality of Redcliff | 96 053 |
Hwange Local Board | 62 321 |
Lupane Town Council | 57 360 |
Rusape Town Council | 49 099 |
Mvurwi Town Council | 21 205 |
Total | 36 792 333 |
ABANDONMENT OF CHINAKA BORDER POST IN
HONDE VALLEY
- HON. SEN. CHIMHINI asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to:
- explain reasons for the abandonment of the Chinaka Border Post in Honde Valley which was constructed in 2002 and since then has been deteriorating;
- give the total cost of the infrastructure (the border post) and how Government intends to recoup the funds spent on the project.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA) on behalf of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON.
CHINAMASA): (a) Hon. Senators would be aware that the Chinaka Border Post was constructed in 2002 as an immigration crossing point that only facilitates movement of people. In terms of the Ports of Entry and Route Order, it is not designated as a Customs Border Post and as such ZIMRA has never been present at the Chinaka Border Post.
(b) You will also be aware that the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works was responsible for mobilising the resources for the construction of the facility. ZIMRA had no resource input towards the construction of the border post. Any questions regarding the cost of construction of the border post should thus be directed to the relevant Ministry.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Madam President, I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 to 8 be stood over until Orders of the Day, 9 and 10 have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
MANICALAND STATE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
BILL [H. B. 8, 2015]
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Reading of the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Bill [H B. 8, 2015].
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave, forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
MANICALAND STATE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
BILL [H. B. 8, 2015]
Senate in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 34 put and agreed to.
Schedule put and agreed to.
Senate resumed.
THIRD READING
MANICALAND STATE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
BILL [H.B.8, 2015]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Mr. President, I move that the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Bill, [H.B.8, 2015] be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
.
SECOND READING
GWANDA STATE UNIVERSITY BILL [H.B.9, 2015] Tenth Order read: Second Reading: Gwanda State University Bill
[H.B.9, 2015].
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Mr. President, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development seeks approval for the establishment of the Gwanda State University through an Act of Parliament and provides for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The establishment of the Gwanda State University is in fulfillment of Government policy to have a State University in each province of Zimbabwe.
Background
There is no State University in Matabeleland South Province. To address this deficiency and pursuant to the stated Government policy in 2006, a Foundation Steering Committee to spearhead the establishment of a State University in Matabeleland South Province was appointed.
Findings of the Steering Committee
The Foundation Steering Committee held several meetings between
2007 and 2009 and made the following recommendations:
- That the agreed university should be located in Gwanda, the town being the Provincial capital of Matabeleland South.
- The site is an 87 ha piece of land adjacent to J.M Nkomo Polytechnic, to the South and the Gwanda – Beitbridge road to the East. It is located on a hill that will require landscaping for the construction of buildings. Adjacent to the university site is a farm that has been reserved for the university. The site is easily serviceable with respect to water and electricity (Gwanda has so much water that it even supplies Bulawayo).
- The Incubation site will be the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and at the disused Epoch Mine which is under refurbishment by NUST. The university administration
will initially be accommodated in Gwanda town at buildings offered by the Ministry of Local Government Public Works and
National Housing.
Justification / Rationale for Establishing the University
- The Policy to establish a State University in every province is one of the ways to broaden access to university education in Zimbabwe. While this policy was mooted before the ZIM ASSET blue print, it resonates with ZIM ASSET objectives under the
Social Services and Poverty Eradication Cluster.
- Matabeleland South agricultural and mineral economic activities need to be fully exploited. Human capital development and technology are key success factors for the socio-economic development of the province. Therefore, a State university in the province would facilitate and enhance such development.
- A State university in Matebeleland South would also help reduce the current migration of high school graduates and youths to South Africa and Botswana for menial jobs. Such youths, presently, are the role models for children in Matabeleland South province
because they come back seeming to be well-up and impress the young generation. Thus, Zimbabwe takes seriously the obligation to empower the youths with education and skills for the formal market and self-employment. Therefore, this new institution will contribute in this respect, not only to the province but to the nation as a whole.
- Gwanda State university, like any other university, will run community projects for the local people, create and expose knowledge about the rich heritage and resources in the province.
Niche / Objectives of the University
The key objectives of the university will be:
- Animal and veterinary sciences;
- Irrigation Engineering and Management;
- Mining Engineering; and
- Environmental Engineering and Ecosystem Restoration.
The Animal and Veterinary Sciences and Mining Engineering are proposed to be the initial programmes of the university. However, other programmes would subsequently be included since the aim is to create a comprehensive State University without compromising the niche areas.
Irrigation Engineering is important for attaining food security and self-sufficiency in the region. Thus through irrigation, Matabeleland South can be transformed to a thriving, productive region and selfsufficient in food.
Mining Engineering is also a major activity in the province, hence the need to train experts in this field in areas of geometrics, surveying, metallurgy, environment engineering among other relevant disciplines.
Meteorology is one other relevant subject to the environment since the region is prone to incessant droughts. Therefore, it is imperative to establish research and early warning systems to equip farmers for purposes of food security and poverty eradication planners.
Zimbawe is rated as one of the leading nations in Africa, in education in general as well as higher education. It is not only desirable, but more importantly imperative, for Zimbabwe to maintain this position. The establishment of the Gwanda State University in Matabeleland South is one of the ways to ensure access to university education in Zimbabwe.
Mr. President, I move that the Gwanda State University Bill
[H.B.9, 2015] be read a second time.
HON. B SIBANDA: First of all, I would like to thank the Minister and complain a bit that, if we are to do a second round of universities, can we start with Gwanda because we are not happy to be always the last. Secondly, I believe that we must prepare fertile ground work in order to ensure that the engineering you have been talking about is realised in Matabeleland South. The reason I am saying this is because I recently did a survey to establish the number of schools that have science facilities in one constituency and realised that there are only two schools out of about 15 schools that have adequate science facilities. What this means is that we are establishing an Engineering Faculty in an area where science education is non-existent. So I am urging you as the Minister of Secondary and Tertiary Education to ensure that we have secondary schools with science facilities. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Mr. President. I wish to thank the Minister for at last bringing the Matabeleland South University Bill to the Senate. I wish to share with this Senate that I remember that some meetings that I attended on the initial stages of the mooted idea of the university, the person who was Governor was Hon. Masuku. With this university, she really was trying in every meeting to make sure that it is done and I think it is her university.
Mr. President, the Minister touched on the agricultural thrust that is going to be assisted by having graduates from this university and experts in the mining area. He also touched on the issues of the youths going to neighbouring countries trying to get employment. I think that at one time, during the presentations that were given by the veterinary services, he mentioned that the province had more donkeys and dogs than any other livestock that indicate the wealth of a province; livestock like cattle, goats and sheep.
I do not think that it is the problem of our youths going to neighbouring countries because I feel that the youths go there because they have no hope in getting any means of livelihood in that province or in our country. So we need to train them and create jobs so that after they are trained in veterinary services, they do not tend to rely on selling juice cards on the streets. I really wish that the university would train and get the jobs for these people that we have trained; otherwise, they would still continue going to neighbouring countries like Botswana. Botswana is involved in so much agricultural activities that it would take our graduates if we do not create employment for them for they thrive on agriculture. I wish to thank the Minister for bringing the Bill at last to the Senate.
HON. SENATOR KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. President, for
letting me debate on this Bill. Thank you Minister, for coming with the idea of a university in Matabeleland South. My major interest is that universities are created and we are coming up with programmes where our children are likely to be employed and not employers.
We have mentioned that in Maphisa there is water and there is a dam. That means food science can be taught to the children of this new university and that would mean these children can be independent and make different types of food themselves than being employed. Textile science would mean they can create material and make clothing which we can wear like what you see - self made. That was because I did textile science and food science.
During the time of hunger; remember when everyone was suffering in 2000 because of the economic meltdown, we who had our practicals lived better. We could still do certain things for ourselves and sell when money was not available. We are always thinking, ‘so that they are employed, so that they are employed’. Can they be self employed and live on their own? That is my point. Esigodhini has agriculture. We can come up with what they can do for other people and not to think of what they are going to be doing for someone else so that they can earn a living. Thank you, Mr. President.
HON. SENATOR MASUKU: Thank you Mr. President. I would
like to thank the Minister for bringing this very important Bill to this Senate. Mr. President, this Bill, I think it has been long overdue, realising what the Minister just said about the formation and appointment of the committee, around 2009 and before that, where a lot of ground work had been done. I would like to thank the people of Matabeleland South for the commitment and the cooperation that they showed in actually spearheading the establishment of the Gwanda State University.
I would also like to thank Mwana Africa, a consortium that actually donated land to Government for Epoch Mine which really gave people of Matabeleland South confidence that it is not only the people of Matabeleland South who are concerned about the education of their children, but it is people from elsewhere. This donation actually gave the people of Matabeleland South a lot of encouragement because, unlike in other areas where universities are housed in other provinces when they start, the Gwanda State University was housed though at NUST, but our operations were to be started at Epoch Mine which is in the Matabeleland South Province. That really helped to encourage the people to work hard.
Having said that, Mr. President, I believe that the young people of Matabeleland are known for migrating to neighbouring countries and that is one of the things that was actually discouraging them that maybe, even if they qualify to get into universities, they could not get into those universities, not because they come from Matabeleland South, but because not everyone can get a vacancy whenever one applies. So, as a university which is a national university because a state university is a national university, it will still encourage them that at least there is a university in the province. I believe that the quota which has to come from the province has to be met. For that to happen I still encourage the people of Matebeleland South to work hard so that they do not only wait for the Government to upgrade the secondary schools that there be science laboratories. It is part of the Zimbabweans to see that they develop the education of their children and I would urge the people of Matebeleland to work hard towards upgrading the schools. They can contribute to that I do not doubt that because when we were campaigning for the Gwanda State University a lot of work was done in form of actually donating labour and all the other things. I believe that of the schools that do not have science laboratories communities can actually chip in so that the Government can come in with the equipment. I am saying that from experience Mr. President because when I was a Member of Parliament in the 1990s people in Luveve actually set up the structure of a science laboratory, they worked towards that and that brought the Government in and encouraged the Government to see that people had worked hard and came in to help. I would like to urge the people of Matebeleland South to work towards that.
Mr. President, I have said Gwanda State University is a national university, not only for young people, even for old people. When we grew up we heard old people saying, “ukufunda kakupheli” and I believe that a lot of old people will also be encouraged to get into this university. Mr. President, I am happy that at the moment there is something that is going on at Hipock Mine. I want to thank the Minister because the Government has done a lot to see that even before the ground breaking of the university there are studies that are going on in mining engineering and agriculture I should think so. I want to thank the Ministry for that.
Mr. President, finally, I would like to say if people of Zimbabwe work together to see that when it comes to development they are one, they can differ in other things but when it comes to development because development is not for a particular person. Development is for the nation and for the good of our children and our great grand children or whoever, we have to work hard towards the development of education in our and thus we have to assist the Government to see that some of these programmes, we are part of them. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. CHIEF GAMPU: I thank you Mr. President. I would like to also contribute but a little on this motion which has been moved by the Minister. I thank the Minister for bringing this beautiful matter before this House. I have observed that Gwanda State University also affects me as someone from Matebeleland South. I have people under me whom I lead in Matebeleland who I believe will be helped by attending this university. I am also encouraged because I have to tell them not to go to South Africa get educated so that tomorrow you can lead a better life through education. At present the world needs people who are educated, it is easy to talk to these children now and encourage that let us be educated and register in these universities. People used to ask that since we do not have a university here in Matebeleland south but now it will be easier for me to convince them to go into the university because this university has been made for them.
I thank the Government for having this idea. I know people used to debate why we were not having a university and now it is good and better because it is not there. Children will not be going to South Africa; they will be helped by going into the university. As a chief, I am encouraging them to be there at Gwanda State University which is now available. We should use it. It should not be discriminatory that people from other places are not allowed, it should be a national university which carters for everyone, old and young; all that will cartel some of the debates that we did not have a university. It is now our university let us accept. I thank the Government for that. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank
Hon. Sen. Sibanda for his contribution and indeed it is true that we need to collaborate with the sister Ministry of Primary and Secondary
Education to make sure that we have facilities in our secondary schools.
We discovered this when we embarked on the STEM initiative that the Matebeleland North has the little number in terms of the number of science students, followed by Mashonaland west and the third is Mashonaland South. It is a concern that we now seized with and we are sure if we work together we should be able to put up at least science laboratories to make sure that the students that we want to do the engineering courses be it engineering irrigation or mining, get to use those facilities.
I also want to appreciate and thank Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa for her contributions. By establishing a university in an area, it will come up with the creation of employment and jobs. You will find, like I studied in Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is a town that came out of Stellenbosch University. You will also see even in Masvingo now the economic activity has improved because of the university that is there. We also appreciate and think that once this university in Matebeleland South is functioning at least the local children are also able to be employed in areas that come up with the university.
I want to thank Hon. Sen. Khumalo also for her contribution. The emphasis on saying we need to create employers rather than creating employees. If we train our people in practical work they are then able to create employment for our people whilst they also produce in the areas. She mentioned the food science and textile science which are very critical in our economy. We will take note of this and incorporate these programmes in the university. I want to appreciate and thank Hon. Senator Masuku for the work that she already done. I regret that it took so long for this Bill to come through but at least finally the Bill has come
– [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear]. I want to also appreciate that Mwana Africa, as she mentioned gave us Epoch mine since the university has been operating from NUST.
I want to inform this House that three weeks ago when I attended a conference at NUST, Dr. Mangena who is director in charge of this university came to me and said everything else has been refurbished at Epoch mine, we are only seeking for US$50 000 to be able to put up electricity and water. Once we get that, we are ready to start operating from Epoch Mine. I asked them to write direct to me for the US$50 000. I told them that I will give you the US$50 000, they did not believe it. So they wrote and last week I received the request for the US$50 000. I discussed with Minister Prof. J. Moyo and said I promised them and we must give them. We then managed to give them US$262 000 – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – To make sure that at least they will work on the university and start to operate from there.
It was a way of showing commitment to make sure that at least the university must start operating from there. Hon. Sen. Masuku also mentioned that a quarter of the students should come from the local community. This is a policy that we have so that a quarter of the local community must be from the province that houses the university while we appreciate that the institution is a national institution. She mentioned something that is very pertinent also to say that the local community must assist in putting up infrastructure. If we wait for Government, sometimes it takes time because there are a lot of things that happen in the system, so I also want to encourage and say in our communities, let us encourage the communities to take these institutions as their institutions and assist in developing the infrastructure.
I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Gampu for his contribution. We are happy that this university in Matabeleland South will help a lot of children not to go to South Africa. The university caters for young and adults people, so that they learn how products are done and benefit. All the people from that community should help so that the work at the university progresses well. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: With leave; forthwith.
COMMITTEE STAGE
GWANDA STATE UNIVERSITY [H.B.9, 2015]
Senate in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 34 put and agreed to.
Schedules 2 to 31 put and agreed to.
Senate resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave; forthwith.
THIRD READING
GWANDA STATE UNIVERSITY BILL [H.B.9, 2015]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): I move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA,
INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN.
MATHUTHU), the Senate adjourned at Twenty Seven Minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 17th May, 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 10th May, 2016
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: In terms of
Section 39 (7) (a) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has notified the Clerk of Parliament of the nomination of Hon. Sen. Tabeth Murwira as a Senator. Hon. Murwira is a registered voter in Ward 17 of Manyami Rural District Council in
Seke, was nominated by the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party to fill in the vacancy that occurred in the Senate following the recall by ZANU PF party of the incumbent member, Hon.
Olivia Muchena on the grounds that, she had ceased to be a member of that party. Hon. Sen. Murwira was duly appointed Senator for
Mashonaland East Province with effect from the 29th of April, 2016.
Section 128 (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 before the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament.
I therefore call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the oath of a Member of Parliament to Hon. Sen. Tabeth Murwira.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. SEN. TABETH MURWIRA subscribed to the Oath of
Loyalty as required by the Law and took her seat –[ HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.]-
ENGAGEMENT OF A PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANCY TO
CONDUCT A BASELINE SURVEY
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to inform
Members of Parliament that, Parliament of Zimbabwe engaged a professional consultancy to conduct baseline surveys in the following areas:
The legislative analysis, economic literacy, human rights and rule of law, environment and climate change, gender issues and committee specific issues. The baseline surveys will form an objective basis for planning various interventions and capacity building programmes for Parliamentarians. They are also a principle tool for identifying areas which require immediate intervention in the short to medium terms. The identified gaps will then be used to motivate the mobilization of resources for various development initiatives as well as capacity building. In this regard, Members of Parliament must cooperate fully with our consultants through completing the questionnaires that are being distributed by the secretariat as well as returning the same to the secretariat. The process of gathering data will end on 31st May, 2016. I am appealing to all Members of Parliament to take this process seriously as to date, the cooperation has not been very positive.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, MEDIA AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 and 2 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, MEDIA AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
REALIGNMENT OF LAWS
HON SEN. S. NCUBE: I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
COGNISANT that Parliament must defend the Constitution at all times;
ACKNOWLEDGING the current Executive had endeavoured to align some of the Acts to the Constitution at a painstakingly slow pace;
DISMAYED that the current progress in the devolution of power at various levels may not see the dawn of a new day;
CONCERNED that no meaningful efforts have been embarked to ensure the constitutional requirements are met to devolve central power to the provinces particularly on local and the corporate governance issue;
ALARMED that the wishes of the general populace of Zimbabwe are short changed by such indifferent attitude by the Executive;
NOW THEREFORE, calls upon the Executive to;
- set a time limit for devolution issues to be urgently addressed for the benefit of the Nation;
- commit itself to the dictates of our Constitution and observe that it is the Supreme Law of the land.
- set aside resources to carter for the devolution of power in the respective Provinces.
HON. SEN. A. SIBANDA: I second.
HON SEN. S. NCUBE: Noting that Section 2(1) of the Constitution provides for the Constitution as the supreme law of the country, therefore there is need to speed up the realignment of laws that are not consistent with the Constitution.
Madam President, our residents are very informed that the provisions of Section 2(2) which are imposed by the Constitution are binding on every person, natural or juristic including the State and all
Executive, Legislative and Judicial Institutions and agencies of Government at every level.
Therefore, I want to concur with the residents of Bulawayo whom I represent that as Parliament, we are failing to fulfill our mandate of making laws for the good governance of the nation.
Section 3 (3) (l) under the principles of governance, clearly states that the State has to ensure the devolution and decentralization of Government powers and functions.
Challenges being faced
- Local Authorities Budget Approval
Section 264(f) provides as follows: “to transfer responsibilities and resources from the national Government in order to establish a sound financial base for each Provincial and Metropolitan Council.”
Most of our local authorities are operating without a 2016 budget, as a result they are forced to adhere to 30% salaries and 70% service delivery, which the Central Government is failing to attain. I strongly concur that there is need to cut costs but we also must admit that the economy is in doldrums; hence our poor residents are failing to timeously pay their council bills.
The responsible Minister, because powers are not yet devolved, is delaying the budget approval, thereby crippling the operations of local authorities in implementing what would have been proposed. There is need to urgently address this challenge.
- Local Authorities 5%
It is the public domain that Treasury disburses 5% of the national fiscus to the 92 local authorities to be used for service delivery. Madam President, our 2016 Budget stands at $4 billion hence if $200 million is given to these local authorities, such resources will go a long way in alleviating some of the challenges being faced by the citizens of Zimbabwe.
When local authorities make follow ups on the utilization of this money, they are told that there is no enabling Act of Parliament to release the required funds. It is incumbent on us to prioritise devolution for the sake of service delivery.
- Setting up of Metropolitan Councils
Section 267 provides that there shall be Bulawayo Metropolitan and Harare Metropolitan Provinces and Section 260 also provides that for each Metropolitan Province, there is a Metropolitan Council.
Section 270 - functions of Metropolitan Councils provides as follows:
- Planning and implementing social and economic development activities in its province.
- Coordinating and implementing governmental programmes in its province, for example, food aid where there is no rain.
- Monitoring and evaluating the use of resources in its province.
- Exercise any other functions including legislative functions that maybe conferred or imposed on it by an Act of Parliament.
An Act of Parliament must provide for the establishment, structure and staff of Provincial and Metropolitan Councils and the manner in which they exercise their functions.
Section 269 (1) (e) – As Senators, we are supposed to sit in their Metropolitan Councils but because of the absence of devolution, this will remain a dream. Furthermore, because of company closures in Bulawayo and around the country, this can help create employment for our people.
Whenever appropriate, governmental powers and responsibilities must be devolved to provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities which are competent to carry out these responsibilities efficiently and effectively.
Therefore, I note with concern the appointment of resident Ministers, it was very unconstitutional. Residents of Bulawayo fumed, airing that it was a serious violation of the Constitution which is the supreme law of Zimbabwe. So devolution in this regard will help the operationalisation of Metropolitan Councils
- The recent attacks on Local Authorities.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe supersedes an Act of Parliament and therefore, the local government Ministry is using the Urban
Councils Act which is inconsistent with the provisions in the
Constitution. We are then faced with a lot of discord, which then affects the peace and tranquility in our Local Authorities.
Madam President, it is my hope and prayer that let us prioritise the realignment of our Constitution to enable the running of our Local Authorities efficiently and effectively. I thank you.
HON. SENATOR B. SIBANDA: Mr. President, I stand to second the issue raised by Senator Ncube. I will endeavor to concentrate on one issue of the debate and that is purely the devolution of power to the region. It must be accepted that the people of Zimbabwe spoke wide and loudly during the Parliamentary hearings in preparation for the new Constitution, that they desire power to be devolved from Harare which they perceive as bambazonke and distributed to the various regions.
Taking into account the desires of the population and taking into account that every political party in this country does publicly tell us that they listen attentively to what the people desire. It is therefore imperative that the Government should have treated the subject as a priority in view of the input from the people. Maybe the benefits are either not understood or are misunderstood. I want to emphasise that throughout this country, there is perceived or real perception that development is not equitably distributed and it is through devolution of power that resources will be equitably devolved or distributed.
Secondly, it is easier in a devolved system for the Government, the Local Authorities, to tap into the input that people have at their own level. I have actually been surprised by the useful suggestions that come from the grassroots and as we expedite the devolution of power, the more we will gain as leaders in this land as we interact directly with the people that run lives at the lowest possible level.
The other consideration is that we normally look at Government and see Government systems in general the world over, as inefficient. The inefficiency comes from the size of the bureaucracy. The bigger the bureaucracy becomes, the more there is demand for communication and the more there is lost information. Therefore, the system tends not to be responsive and it is my submission, Mr. President that the more we devolve power, the more responsive Government institutions will be.
In saying so, I finally urge the Government to seriously consider and effect the speeding up of the various relevant legislation for the devolution of power. I thank you Mr. President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (SENATOR MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
RESCUSCITATION OF THE ZAMBEZI WATER PROJECT
HON. SENATOR B. SIBANDA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
NOTING the declining rainfall pattern over the years in Zimbabwe more especially in the central and southern regions;
AWARE that this phenomenon is likely to persist into the foreseeable future;
CONCERNED that the people’s livelihoods, agricultural, industrial productivity and wildlife survival will be negatively affected by the scarcity of water in future;
NOW THEREFORE, this House calls upon the Government to resuscitate the Zambezi Water Project through:
- Committing specific budget allocations towards the project each financial year;
- Identifying internal and external partners to team up with ; and or
- Seeking partners for the build, operate and transfer option in order to hedge the nation against impending calamities.
HON. SENATOR TIMVEOS: I second.
HON. SENATOR B. SIBANDA: Once again Mr. President, I
take this opportunity to thank you for giving me this opportunity to raise the issue of the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project in this august Senate. In doing so, I take into account the various United Nations resolutions and declarations on the subject of water. I also take into account our own Constitutional obligation that requires the Government to ensure that citizens are provided with adequate water.
My concept of citizens, which might sound odd, includes people, animals, crops and industries within the confines of the national State. The idea to tap water from the Zambezi was first mooted in 1912. That is even before my own father was born and for over a century, nothing material has been done by the various governments that have ruled this country. I also take into account that millions of cubic litres of water from the various water bodies of Zimbabwe are lost into the India Ocean and I am saying part of that water is our water and it is in our interests as a nation to conserve that water for better use.
I take into consideration that a small kingdom like the Kingdom of Lesotho has decided to spend approximately US$3 billion on building its water reserves. I think that shows commitment and futuristic thinking.
It therefore boggles my mind that for over a century, the requirement for water has remained a pipe dream. In a way, that says to us as black people and as Africans that we are prepared to be managed by nature and not very prepared to manage nature ourselves.
Can we proceed and look at the current genesis of this water project. The current genesis of this water project is the ordinary people of Matabeleland, and specifically the residents of Bulawayo who sought to manage the challenges they face. The question I asked is who can stand against the wish of the people? Is it necessary to frustrate that strong desire from the citizens of this country. I hope the Bulawayo people and the people in Matabeleland, including the Midlands in general will not judge us harshly in future for delaying an honourable dream. Mr. President, the objective of this project was “to put an end to the perennial water shortages bedeviling the Matabeleland, parts of the Midlands and Bulawayo in particular, which used to the industrial hub of the nation.”
I have been searching around trying to look for a more noble objective. This is a dream that is noble and respectable. I consider this a singularly strategic project in my opinion. It is more strategic than putting up a Parliament building and relocating from Harare to Mt. Hampden, but it not receiving the strategic implementation that it deserves. I ask why, why and why? Even after the Government has inherited the project and facilitated the formation of the Matebeleland
Zambezi Water Trust and started the construction of the GwayiShangani Dam, what has happened?
I acknowledge that even the ZIM-ASSET, which I consider moribund at this stage, appears to define the project as a priority. My concern is, a priority project must be funded, and so far I do not see the funds that are supposed to deal a priority project
The Chinese loan, sometime in 2012 the Government advised the nation that they had secured a concessional loan of $1.2 billion at a very concessionary rate of 3% and payable over 25 years. I consider that a beautiful financial deal but I am also worried that the financial deal has not seen the light of the day. I am not aware that there have been answers to what happed to the financial deal.
However, what I know is that three four years later in 2015 the same Government was heard looking for other funding, for the same project. We have not had an answer to the first funding now we hear we are looking for second funding. The question I ask once again and the question raised is, what happened to the Chinese deal of 2012? Did it expire with the Government of National Unity? Did the deal refuse to pay the 10% chiwoko muhomwe? Did the people of Matabeleland turn around and say they no longer need that project? I think we deserve an answer and as a resident of Matabeleland I have not seen that answer.
Alternatively, has Government forgotten its commitment?
I submit Mr. President that after 36 years of doing the same job, you are prone to forgetting and I suspect the Government might have forgotten. Secondly, has the Government decided that that region does not require the attention that it should get? I think the government must come clean and give us the reasons.
Just in case people ask the estimate value of the Matebeleland water project, I want to deal with the output that will be derived from the completion of that project. One of the very first is water into Bulawayo and an obituary to nature managing our lives and Bulawayo will be back into life again. The second derivative would be a sixty kilometre wide corridor buzzing with agricultural, industrial, wild life and housing projects. What else does this nation need except something vibrant? I also expect that the provinces of Midlands and Masvingo would derive benefits from that project. I know and understand that up to 4 million lives of Zimbabweans would derive a livelihood directly and indirectly from the implementation of the Project. I also know that the project will turn Matebeleland into a formidable industrial and financial hub of this nation.
The question I ask is this Government keen or prepared to see that region attain that status? From the experience I have, my answer is no. I think people would have a problem with Matabeleland being turned into the financial hub of this nation. If Government has different answer to mine, let us see action that will convince us that our perception is wrong.
I have a few suggestions for Government for them to show commitment. I have been advised previously that it is not good to criticise and criticise and not offer solutions. I hope the solutions I am offering will not be difficult to swallow. My first proposal is that Government should commit 10% of annual revenue collections, not budgetary figures to this project. I also believe that anything less would be unreasonable, considering the lapse of time. Remember, Martin
Luther Jr. has advised that ‘if you cannot fly, then run. If you cannot run then walk. If you cannot walk then crawl, but whatever you do keep moving.” What I am asking this Government to do is to keep moving with regard to the Matabeleland Zambezi water project. To be honest, I do not mind the pace, but I want to see movement. I believe that when you are stagnant, you are as good as dead.
Secondly, I urge the Government to speedily find partners to co sponsor this project. I think that is the in thing today, very few people go it alone. The PPs approach is a quite ideal. Thirdly, the Government should consider a BOT if they cannot do any of the others. Mr. President, I also offer the best solution to the lack of finance which I understand is the source of non-movement with regards to the Zambezi water project. I suggest that the Government must find the culprits that stole the $15 billion worth of diamonds funds and any other funds that have been looted, out of that take $3 billion and allocate it to the Matabeleland project in order to complete this project and at the same time atone for its sins that have been committed in that region before.
I am aware that after 36 years the Government might be tired and fallible human being would be tired. I have therefore invested effort trying to help the Government out and have another suggestion. Besides solving the water challenge in the Matebeleland region, such action of recovering the $15 billion and allocating $3 billion to the project would solve a huge migraine headache for the Government, the creation of 2.2 million jobs. They would suddenly find that they are able to create 2.2 million jobs. However, as we create those jobs, let us remember that the people of Matebeleland have a right to employment for projects in their region. I say so Mr. President because many a time I have seen projects being implemented in the region and labourers are coming from elsewhere. I have no objection with technical people coming from elsewhere but it is annoying when people from the locality are unemployed and general labour is coming from somewhere.
I also suggest Mr. President that proper money be found to pay these people so that they are not burdened with either bond coins or bond bearer’s cheques. In case I am not putting the relevant responsibility on the people of Matabeleland, I call on the people of Matabeleland and the Midlands to stand up together and claim their economic space. The rest of Zimbabwe I believe will assist them in their endeavor, because today it is Matebeleland and tomorrow it will be Manicaland and Masvingo. Unless the people do that, I must be understood properly, I am talking about the people of the region claiming their economic space. Unless we do that, they will go through the experience, “no pain, no gain”. Madam President, earlier this year the Vice President E. Mnangagwa did indicate that Senators are entitled to Ministerial response to their motions. If I am procedurally correct, I would request that a Ministerial response to this motion be given because in my opinion, a mere adoption by this august House without subsequent Government action is a technical knock-out on the mover, especially on such a practical issue.
Mr. President, with those words, I do not want to call them few but I hope I have touched a number of hearts. I hope it is understood that when I talk about the region, I am not making a tribal statement! I am taking a national perspective which happens to affect a specific region which may coincide with specific languages. I thank you.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President, for giving me
this opportunity to add my voice to this very important motion. I also want to thank Hon. Sibanda for bringing this motion to this august
House. As our Constitution’s commitment to fundamental human rights and freedoms, confirms, every person has a right to safe, clean and portable water. This is not merely a commitment to ensuring individual consumption of water and consistent with the values of the Constitution of the land.
The role of water Mr. President, in the broader eco system can be considered foundational. Every person has a right to environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being. Also, to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation. Also, promote conservation and secure ecological sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting economic and social development. This is the rationale of the Zambezi Water Project.
Fresh water is a basic natural resource that sustains life and provides for various social ecological and economic needs. Water is an integral part of the environment and its quantity and quality determine how it can be used. Safe drinking water and good sanitation practices are basic considerations for human health.
Water for food security, energy production and other economic activities is made readily available through expanding in a manner that does not excessively deplete ground water, irrigation and river system extraction. So, there is need to prioritise the Matebeleland region which has …
HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: On a point of order Mr. President,
the Hon. Senator is reading.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: Order, Hon. Senator, please
do not read.
HON. TIMVEOS: Mr. President, I am referring to my notes because this is a very important motion.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: Please refer to the notes not
reading.
HON. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President. So, there is need to prioritise Matebeleland region which has had challenges of water for several decades through the Zambezi Water Project. Definitely, Government needs to set aside funds for the completion of the Zambezi Water Project. I actually agree 100% with Hon. Sen. Sibanda that cosponsors should be found so that this project is actually resumed. Matabeleland region is suffering, the industries have closed. Bulawayo used to be known as Kontuthu Ziyathunga but there is now nothing like that. If the Zambezi Water Project had to be resumed and become a reality, Bulawayo will be definitely full of activities with our people earning a living in irrigation, farming and industry.
In Zimbabwe, we have many good documents but it is zero when it comes to implementation. Let us make the Zimbabwe Water Project a reality and not just a dream. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU):
Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume, Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION CHALLENGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on malnutrition among urban and rural communities.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. NDHLOVU: Thank you Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to debate on the motion moved by Hon. Sen. Khumalo on the importance of food that is important for the body. We know Mr. President, that every person has a right to food. Without food you will not have the energy to do anything. We should eat nutritious food for us to grow. We can only get good food from farming. People in urban areas buy food from supermarkets. In these supermarkets, for instance, vegetables sometimes overstay and will no longer be good for the body.
Food which is good for our bodies is the food that we grow on our own in our gardens. We have yards with houses which are big, where we are able to produce fresh vegetables. People in the rural communities eat nutritious food. If you compare a child from the rural community with the one from the urban community, they are physically different. In rural areas, a child wakes up putting on a short only and without putting a shirt. That child does not cough but those we have here in towns, it is very easy for them to suffer from flue. It is because of the food that we consume here in towns. We grew up eating nutritious food and our bodies are physically strong. You will find that at home, our grandmothers would have melons. If you remove pumpkin seeds and roast them, children would eat them as food but today, children will not eat that. Children should be taught to eat what we used to eat back then.
I remember there is an Hon. Member who moved a motion on food. When we talk of body building foods, we do not talk of expensive food. It is food that we can manage to raise on our own without spending any money. What I request is for the Government to put irrigation schemes, particularly in dry regions. Irrigation schemes should be resuscitated; we have big irrigation schemes but they are no longer functional. People should be encouraged to work in those irrigation schemes and they will realise a lot of food from there. We get mealie-meal from maize and other small grains but people should grow various crops.
I feel pity for the children that we stay with. They will not agree to eat basic food. What they want is beef and chicken. If you cook dried vegetables, children would opt to eat sugar as a relish, as a result their bodies are not strong. They are susceptible to all diseases. It is because of the food that they eat which is not good for them. Our original food from our gardens is quite good and important. I feel pity for those who rent houses because they do not have space to put up their own vegetable gardens. Some have space and sell to others so that we can manage to have body building foods.
There is an Hon. Member who talked about water. Water is life and our agricultural gardens should be watered with portable water because it gives life. With those few words Mr. President, I thank you. *HON. SEN. GOTO: Thank you Mr. President. I would want to
support the motion. This reminds us of our past that we had forgotten. It is more like an awareness campaign on our nutrition and this is under the cluster of ZIM ASSET. It is good that we discuss such issues. We should check and see where we are today. I believe that we are ahead.
It is only that we have had drought or difficulties with the rainy season. Most of us in this House are fit and strong. None of us appear like our colleagues in Somalia and Sudan and we thank God for that. Whether there is good rain season or not, those that have irrigation are able to harvest and we are able to grow food that is good for our health.
Diseases that are caused because of lack of balanced diet are now a thing of the past. We are growing what we have. We now have quails and mice. We should eat that for protein. When we talk of a balanced diet, we should have a balanced diet from the resources that we have. We thank our Government; through the Social Welfare, it is assisting those less privileged and the majority of them are healthy. They do not have any problems. They have chickens and everything else. We only pray to God that we be able to have a better rainy season.
I am happy because Hon. Khumalo always talks about these issues in the Thematic Committee on Health and I support her. When you have a balanced diet, it becomes balanced because you would be taking carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, et cetera. We are able to grow such foods. We should work hard. Nothing is ever received on a platter, you have to work hard. If I were a father, I would give a newly married inlaw a cock, hen and a basket full of grain so that they are able to work hard.
In local hotels, they offer buffet and people just take sadza and meat, leaving out vegetables. They do not take traditional foods such as caterpillar and termites. The two are the same because they give protein. One should be able to discern the differences of the food types that one should take in order to have a balanced diet. Hopefully, all of us are going to have a balanced diet.
ZIM ASSET wants us to work hard. We can do zero tillage and we can do better than someone who tills using a plough. I support you Hon. Senator. I thank you.
HON. SEN. D.T. KHUMALO: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 133RD ASSEMBLY OF THE INTER-
PARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
Zimbabwe Delegation Report on the 133rd Assembly of the InterParliamentary Union (IPU) held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 17th to
23rd October, 2015.
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, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
REHABILITATION OF WAR SHRINES AND RECOGNITION
OF DEPARTED WAR LIBERATORS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion calling for rehabilitation and maintenance of War Shrines.
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, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT AS CHAIRMAN OF AFRICAN UNION
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to congratulate His
Excellency, the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe and the Government of Zimbabwe on successfully leading the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) as Chairperson.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: I move that the debate do
now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE 38TH
PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY
FORUM
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe
Delegation Report on the 38th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
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, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
TRADITIONAL CHIEFS MANDATE
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the role of traditional leaders.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON.
MATHUTHU), the Senate adjourned at Twenty-five minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 11th May, 2016
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
COLLECTION OF THE EIGHTH PARLIAMENT 2016 CHARTS
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: May Hon.
Senators please collect their copies of the Eighth Parliament 2016 charts from the Public Relations Department at Pax House, third floor, in office Number 4, South Wing.
COMMITTEES INVITATION TO THE SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS DIALOGUE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I would like to
remind the following Committees of the Sustainable Development Goals dialogue organised by the Office of the President and Cabinet and the United Nations Development Programme to be held tomorrow at the
Rainbow Towers Hotel at 8.30 a.m. That is; the Thematic Committee on Human Rights, the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development and the Thematic Committee on HIV/AIDS.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): Thank you Madam
President. I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 and 2 be stood over until the rest of the Orders have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: Thank you Madam President. I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. A. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS CENTRED ON
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on the call for Government to implement the devolution of power as provided for in the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN S. NCUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
RESCUSCITATION OF THE ZAMBEZI WATER PROJECT
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the resuscitation of the Zambezi Water Project
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN B. SIBANDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May 2016.
MOTION
FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION CHALLENGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on malnutrition among urban and rural communities.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: I feel it is very important to take this motion raised by Hon. Sen Khumalo seriously because the future of this country depends on it. It has an impact on the inheritance of our children. It has issues that have to do with the core of the Zimbabwean’s life. We need to leave a very good legacy. So, we should put our heads together and ensure that we leave a decent inheritance for our children, so that our country can compete with other states. A lame economy starts at the time that the country is conceived and an economy of a country needs to be looked after so that the children will have to inherit this inheritance with provisions in abundance. So if we come up with a weak economy, our children will not enjoy the inheritance. As a country, we urge Government to step in. I was quite happy when Government mentioned that it would take steps to ensure that children at school are now going to be fed. But you know our Government, all is about talk shop. We are very good at talking but poor in delivery.
THE HON. PRESIDENT: Order Hon. Senator. You are an Hon
Member so you should also make honourable statements.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you Madam President but the
crux of the matter is that we are very poor economically because we do not have sufficient resources. No-one can argue that we are a poor country caused by several reasons, some of them being self inflicted. The future of this country requires that everyone looks at it holistically and we blame each other wherever we are at any time of the day. We should continuously ask ourselves on a daily basis what we would have done for the children because the future of our children rests on us. We do not want our children to be mourning at our graves and insulting our graves for having left them no legacy to speak of. When a child is born, he/she requires nutritious food for nourishment. The food should also be enjoyed by the child. At the moment, if you go around most households, there is barely any sadza, bad as it is in terms of taste on its own without relish people cannot access it. Sadza is only good when you have good relish. We should self introspect and be honest with ourselves. Sadza is our staple food and there is not much in it except the starch. It is important that at the moment we should be talking of an improved staple food for Zimbabweans or the elementary food that people are doing without.
We should put our heads together. Government did us well and declared a state of disaster but because of our lack, we need the help of the entire world. We cannot just be extending the begging bowl all the time but should be self resilient and also try and assist ourselves so that others can come in and help us. Even finance companies, if you do not show them that you have raised the initial capital, they will not support you. We should behave in the same manner. We should be resilient and ensure that our Government is not blamed. We should do away with the cancer of corruption. I do not know what type of traditional healers or n’angas we should consult to eradicate this cancer. What is bad Madam President is bad. We should try and look down upon it.
If a child was to grow up and go past secondary education, the majority do not go to university but those that go, despite not having enough good food to ensure that they will have a balanced diet for them to grow up strong, you may have a child with very disturbing features, big head, short or thin. Whatever level those children will attain, they will not perform like those others who have been properly nourished. The same applies at high school because of lack of resources. I urge ourselves to put our heads together as a Government because our Government should pull up its socks and ensure that human beings are properly developed. It is a different ball game altogether as opposed to the development of mines and other forms of productions that our economy requires. The greatest asset that we have which we should develop is human. The human asset is important.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: On a point of order Madam President, maybe I am mistaken but I have observed that the Hon. Member has transgressed from the motion that was moved by Hon. D. T. Khumalo. She talked about nutrition at all levels. The Hon. Member is now talking about mining equipment and the acquisition of mining equipment. I believe he is lost.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: On talking
about nutrition, I think he is on the right track. May I plead with the Hon. Senator, you have gone ballistic.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: The problem that we have Madam
President…
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Well, I do not
want you to stray. Talk about nutrition and the effect of nutrition on children. Yes, continue in the same vein.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Maybe it is be because I am speaking in vernacular. Maybe she wants to hear me speak in English.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: No, she is
hearing you. You were straying.
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Any form of food Madam President -
the Hon. Senator did very well. Even a 99 year old or 100 year old will enjoy the food. That is why I am saying, where do we start in ensuring that we have good nourishing food because if we start on the right track for us to be able to travel in the proper gear, we will not have any problems. That is the issue at hand.
Charity begins at home and it should start with us doing this to our children so that this culture becomes inculcated in them and it becomes a way of life for them. Most of the food is not expensive. It is natural food. In our area, we have very cheap food which is responsible for body building. We have some insects called Harurwa. It builds brain power. If you have not seen that, Madam President, it is important that Members of Parliament become familiar with this type of insect. Well, I will bring them.
Madam President, nutritious food should not be only available in supermarkets like TM and OK. In the communal lands, crickets and mice are responsible for building our bodies. We should teach our children the food elements that are found in these foods such as proteins and others so that when they do not have funds from the bank, they will still be properly nourished because of the body building foods that they will be consuming.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: You run the risk
of having a lot of point of orders. Where has the issue of banks crept in?
*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Before another point of order is raised
Madam President, I want to thank you.
*HON. SEN. BHOBHO: Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank the motion by Senator Khumalo. We are happy with this motion where we are all contributing, but I would like to thank the previous speaker, that his explanation is very good, if we listened very carefully. His debate has touched me that at the time when we were born, the type of work that we were doing was nutrition based and we used to look after those children that were underweight.
Those that were born after independence would want to thank those that liberated us because at the time that we attained our independence, a lot of people were taught about nutrition and children were sent to school. Thank you Senator. If you go around the country, it is very rare to see children that at suffering from kwashiorkor and undergoing feeding at the hospitals.
In our communal lands, people now understand. Even in towns, we used to have a list of children that were malnourished, but now it is a thing of the past. A malnourished child cannot develop properly. There are difficulties in that child growing up and it affects their mental capacity. We should thank ourselves for having done well as a Government. If we have excelled in that area, we should give ourselves a thumbs up. Men used to run away from us if a child suffered from kwashiorkor as they would be urinating uncontrollably, including everything else that comes with it, but because we have learnt and our President is educated, he has liberated us. It has opened up our minds and we were taught how to look after that child from the time of conception up to the time the child grows up.
I am glad that we are a prosperous country. He talked about things that we acquire from the communal lands. We should work hard. Let us work. There is very little in the form of hunger in Zimbabwe. We are the eyes of the Government. We come from various areas. There may be want in your area, but others might have it in abundance. So as committee members, we should report that a certain area is backward and people can be sent to go and alleviate that problem because to say that there are some people who are failing to access food to ensure that their children are properly nourished, it is because there are grown up men who are not using their hands to work for themselves.
Women are not aging fast because they are having good food. The same applies to men. This is a good motion. It has encouraged us and we thank our president who gave us the knowledge. God should look after him until time immemorial. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Madam President for
giving me the opportunity to debate on this matter. I would like to thank Senator D. T. Khumalo who raised the motion, seconded by Senator Makore which is on nutrition. This is an important motion because it is appealing to Government to ensure that it disseminates sufficient information to community leaders as well as Members of Parliament to reduce the incidents of malnutrition. As Government, we are being urged to give information. Are we doing that?
Madam President, I want to inform you that the issue of nutrition is important. A lot of diseases are caused by malnutrition in this country and other countries. I want to talk about obesity. I heard yesterday a certain Hon. Senator who debated saying that those of us who are obese means that we are having good food. Obese as I am, it is not good because two weeks ago I had difficulties in breathing. The doctor told me that I was suffering from blood pressure. I then wondered where this high blood pressure was coming from because I am not distressed or stressed. The doctor informed me that I was too fat and that I need to cut out on fats and that I should take a lot of vegetables and I should cut down on red meat. Beef is not good, even chickens that we are consuming these days have chemicals. Genetically Modified foods are now abundant on the market. It is the duty of the Government to inform Zimbabweans that we have Genetically Modified Organisms that are on sale and that we need to reduce our intake of those foods. It is no longer like the time that we used to have natural foods. A lot of people in the rural areas are healthy because they are in the communal lands and they lack cooking oil. They have very few portions of meat. We think that we should have a glut of meat on our plates, for example, having a big portion of T-bone steak. Gout is caused by the consumption of excessive red meat. Red meat is not good for one’s health. Meat on its
own is not good enough.
The traditional chicken normally referred to as a Roadrunner is good enough. You should not spoil your husband by giving him too much meat. You are slowly but surely reducing your loved one’s life by giving them too much meat. In terms of our children, I have a child who is ten years old. If you give that child rice, chicken and vegetables, the child will have rice and chicken and will not eat vegetables. They laugh at my child because the child is too fat. They laugh at him because he is not consuming vegetables. When I admonish the children to have vegetables they grudgingly accept that. We should not be too westernized.
Diabetes and other dieses are now on the high. I did look at it and observed that by removing a lot of salt, sugar and sugary foods – one would eliminate diabetes. Raw salt should not be taken; the salt should be boil in the mix. A lot of Zimbabweans are ignorant of that fact. These days I watch Zee World Channel which on the Indian bouquet on the DSTV. They have adverts for fruits and they advise that one must eat fruits and vegetables which they advertise hourly. Spices and such other things should be taken. The Indian diet is very healthy and I believe that we should emulate them.
This motion urges governments to educate people so that diseases like high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes should be treated. I was treated of cancer but I fear that it might re-occur. When I talked to doctors and researched further on how I came to be suffering from these dieses, they told me that it was because of my lavish lifestyle. By living a lavish lifestyle I was shortening my life. We need to educate our populace that we should go back to having beans and cut away fats and cooking oils. We should have fruits and vegetable. Those that are into farming it is good; whatever it is that you have grown, you are aware of the chemicals that you would have used; rather than using commodities that you do not know what chemicals have been used in growing them, specifically imported foods from other countries.
If you look at South Africans, their shape, they are so round so and big because of Genetically Modified Organisms foods. We have to fight GMO and they should not come into this country because the Government will waste a lot of money on these GMOs and lot money trying to fight diseases. There are others who hardly can afford a plate food on the table, these are in the majority. We should look into it and ensure that our children have enough nutrition. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President. I want to add a few words to such a good motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Khumalo which says that the food that we enjoying should be nutritious and that it should be good for building our bodies. We should not just take any food for the sake of eating. We should take our food in moderation and ensure that we are properly nourished. I reiterate once again that Hon. Sen. Khumalo, you have done well by this motion and you have recognized that as chiefs we need to ensure that our subjects eat good food. I want to thank you because of that reminder so that we cognizant of this fact at all times.
Let me hasten to say that Mr. President, if you look closely, people in the communal lands are healthy. Look at me and my body. We eat to live and we have a balanced diet which ensures that we remain shapely.
If you look at me, you would want to believe that I am a twelve year old. I once told my brother that a chief is but just a chief but you see that my body, I am quite young. Those are in the know, in the National Assembly, when we used to play football, I would run. It is because of the diet that I eat. It is a balanced diet and not glut of food.
In the communal lands, we have round nuts, roasted maize, wild fruits in the like of tsombori, nhunguru and matohwe. I could name a lot and a variety of these wild fruits that our elders used to show us as children that we should partake of. We are never used to live on sadza alone as is now the case in the urban centres. Our elders used to observe this and we are still observing the tradition of ensuring that whenever we have meetings with ward and village assemblies, we encourage our subjects to eat balanced diet. Nutritious food is important, especially to women when they are expecting. It is important that expectant mothers are taught on the type of foods that they should take; in order to ensure that they deliver a healthy bouncing babies.
Mr. President, we want as Zimbabweans to be seen as a country that has healthy people. Looking at our Army, if they fail to get a balanced diet, they will lag behind in terms of training and will not develop properly. If you look at the Police Force, recently we were at the National Sports Stadium on Independence Day; you would observe that the manner in which they were doing their drills, they were fit because of the balanced diet that they enjoy.
I have decided to add a few words on this motion, but Mr. President Sir, I would want to say that if one has risen to debate a motion, as Chief, I would say that it is good for you to debate. We should hear the peoples’ views. This is what we have come here to hear rather than come and sit. The Chair says, is there any debate? No one debates - is there any debate? No debate and motions are run through. When one stands to speak, we try and raise points of orders to deflate the speaker – [HON. SEN. MARAVA: Taurai Mambo] – Words should not be put in the Chief’s mouth] - We should not stifle debates but should allow debates to go on, on these motions.
As a House, I urge us to debate these motions because this is the reason why we came and we should not go and gorge ourselves with junk food that we have left in the hotels, misusing Government funds without corresponding work being done. All Hon. Senators who have not debated on these motions Mr. President, I challenge them to stand up and speak on them.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: On a point of order Mr. President. As Senators, we are very responsible. We seem not to respond to certain motions; it is a sign that most of these motions have long stayed and majority of us have debated on most of the motions. It is not true that
Senators come here just to waste time and money of the Government.
We are very responsible. In fact, that point must be withdrawn. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MUSARURWA: I want to thank Hon. Senator
Makore, for reminding me that the majority of the motions have been debated and that I should withdraw. The point that I would want to reiterate Mr. President, is that Hon. Senator Makore should check on the ones that have not been debated and should debate …
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: The
topic of the motion is about nutrition, not about motions.
*HON. SEN. MUSARURWA: Thank you Mr. President. I
believe on the issue of nutrition, those that have ears have heard. Thank you so much, I rest my case.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Mr. President for
giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion, which I support.
The motion was raised by Hon. Sen. Khumalo, seconded by Hon. Sen. Makore, which urges our people to have a balanced diet so as to avoid malnutrition and that we should have natural foods. This is an important motion. I recall our President, His Excellency Cde. Robert Mugabe, he said he does not take any of these fancy foods, but takes straight-run ealie meal, dried vegetables from peas, leaves and straight run sadza that is properly boiled.
This issue is very important, but for it to be raised in this august House, it shows the gravity and importance of the motion. We have a kitchen where we come from. Once the lady of the house has come up with such food which is going to be consumed, it is her prerogative to inform the family that we should have pumpkins or other foods such as mapudzi. You take the seeds from these pumpkins that come in various forms so that they can be further processed and used as part of the cooking oil for cow peas. We should have other natural foods such as bonongwe, sunha or nyevhe which build our bodies. We should not accumulate a lot of fats in our bodies. We need to have healthy bodies.
On that same vein, Mr. President as we were growing up, each home had an area reserved for the court which is called a dare. In these dares or mupandas, traditional foods would be consumed, but that was lost at the advent of independence. To those that have a lot of money, this is not an excuse for one not to have traditional foods. No matter how educated one becomes, and how well good you are when speaking the
English language, it does not mean that you despise traditional foods.
We used to have clubs where women were taught about these nutritious foods. They would impart knowledge gained from these clubs to their families and would talk about the values of cassava. Cassava leaves could also be processed as a vegetable and as a result, people had well built bodies. This is an important motion for us to understand as has been earlier on said by the previous speaker. Once this issue has been raised in this august House, it is part of our duties; when we go to our communities we should impart the same knowledge to our constituents. We should go back to our roots and use natural foods. The ‘jiggies’ that children have these days is junk food. Those that produce the ‘jiggies’ have said it is junk food. Our children are now addicted to these ‘jiggies’ but they are not nutritious. They have a lot of fats, they are sweet and leave behind things that affect the body.
It is my wish Mr. President, that this should not be a talk show but that women who are in this august House have responsibility because they are the ones who prepare our meals. They should prepare our meals in accordance with these traditional foods that we would want. They might have forgotten about it but we will remember it and they should know how to process it. If we stick to our natural foods, we will be on the right track. We should not lose our way. There was a song that says, ‘children used to be fed on milk only but when the father came home he vomited pieces of meat.’ The children exclaimed that we are being fed on milk and vegetables, where is our father getting the meat from?
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: On a point of order. The Hon.
Member said we have a responsibility to cook them correct food. I do not know whether we are his wives.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Mr. President. I am
respecting women because they are the ones that prepare our meals. They are the ones who teach children how to cook. As the father, I cannot tell my wife what to cook. I have given them the freedom of the kitchen to prepare the meals. If I am giving a woman her due respect, I do not believe that I have erred – [HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Inaudible
interjections.] –
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Hon.
Member, we have gone past that issue. May the Hon. Member continue.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: As Zimbabweans, we should go
back to our traditional ways and eat nutritious foods which enable us to work hard; we should not be seen sweating within a short time. If we have a lot of fat, we cannot run long distances. If I was to compete with these youngsters, they would leave me toy-toying when they will have given up because I do not eat fatty foods. I use peanut butter and roasted seeds. That is all what nutrition is all about. Thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. JUBA: I would want to add my voice on this motion. I am seeing we are being by-passed by our grandmothers. Children should eat porridge that is thoroughly cooked. These days, children are being given undercooked food and we see malnourished children with thin legs and big heads. Food should be thoroughly cooked. We used to eat our traditional dishes and that is how we grew up. Our grandmothers were knowledgeable. Even if I stay without a jersey, it will have no effect on me. I started going to the hospital when I gave birth because my body was strong.
If you put children from the rural areas and those from urban areas together and make them compete, you find that the rural child will excel. Some urban children are obese and that is not healthy. Children in the urban centres are not all that strong because of the food that we give them. Some of the food is not valuable for them. When I was affected by diabetes, they wanted to give me sadza prepared using refined mealie-meal but I said no, I cannot take that. Now, my diabetes is down.
My grandfather would carry a basket on his head and pick traditional fruits. I would eat those fruits. Our bodies were strong and we did not have problems with head-aches. I remember when I was injured at school, my grandfather said the wound would heal. He simply used water to clean the wound because the body was strong. If you give your body the wrong food, it becomes lethargic. I therefore request
Hon. Members to teach the young generation to thoroughly cook food. We are burdening our Government by not teaching our children that food should be thoroughly cooked and that they should eat the right foods. We should take care of ourselves and protect the younger generation as well. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Mr. President. I also rise to add a few words on this debate that was raised by Hon. Khumalo. It is an important matter in our country. It is all about nutritious food, which ensures that we enjoy a healthy life and that we do not become prone to diseases. I would want to thank you for raising this important motion. This matter has been debated and there may not be any need to belabour the point on the issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as compared to natural foods. This august House has seen it fit that traditional foods that we have is the way to take.
We have Government departments, such as the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. Farming of beans and other nutritious foods is known. We have workers who are in these Ministries, such as
Agricultural Extension Workers. Now that we have realised that this an important issue that has been mentioned several times, yet it appears there are others from the lower ranks that are resisting this issue of promoting traditional foods which has led to people consuming foods that have led them into suffering from diseases.
We should now go and inform the officers in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and Agritex so that they carry out these duties, enlightening our people on the ground to appreciate the importance of having a balanced diet, based on natural foods and know the merits and demerits of every foodstuff and also appreciate the consequences of ingesting such food stuffs. It has become just a talk show, His Excellency President Mugabe addressed the issue of these food stuffs and reference has even been made in terms of ZIM ASSET in cluster one, in terms of Food Security that we should have good natural foods.
We urge our Agritex officers and those in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, in conjunction with Parliament to ensure that information is disseminated to the populace. I raised these issues in support of the two Senators who tabled this Motion. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 133RD ASSEMBLY OF THE
INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on malnutrition among urban and rural communities.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. T. MUZENDA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
REHABILITATION OF WAR SHRINES AND RECOGNITION
OF DEPARTED WAR LIBERATORS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion calling for rehabilitation and maintenance of War Shrines.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. T. MUZENDA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY
THE PRESIDENT AS CHAIRMAN OF AFRICAN UNION
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to congratulate
His Excellency, the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe and the Government of Zimbabwe on successfully leading the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as Chairperson.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN CHIEF MUSARURWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE 38TH
PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY
FORUM
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe delegation Report on the 38th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. T. MUZENDA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
MOTION
TRADITIONAL CHIEFS MANDATE
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the role of traditional leaders.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President for giving me
this opportunity to briefly debate on the motion that was tabled by Hon.
Sen. Mawire on traditional leaders.
Mr. President, others have debated before me on this matter. We are saying that the authority of the traditional leaders should be restored as our current traditional leaders are no longer being respected. You will find that in a particular region the traditional leader is no longer accorded the respect he/she used to have. We know that the traditional leader is the custodian of traditional values. When you are passing through the homestead of a traditional leader, you should do so respectfully yet it is no longer like that as they are now considered like ordinary people. These are the traditional leaders that we used to have and no longer like ours that are elected and expire. We should respect our traditional leaders by according them their authority and dignity.
In their jurisdictions, there are laws whereby traditional leaders will not allow certain things to be done. I come from Gwanda under
Chief Mathe and when Chief Mathe was there, we were still very young. My grandfather was part and parcel of that traditional leadership and people would dress properly when appearing before the chief. When you commit a crime and you are advised that you are going to Chief Mathe, you will know that there is something rare you are going to meet. Even today, petty thefts like stealing chickens and goats are taken to the courts and not to traditional leaders.
Now the traditional leaders do not know their function. Some of us undermine the authority of our traditional leaders. You will find that you come from Matabeleland South and go to another region, for example to Matabeleland North or Midlands. I will go to another traditional leader to approach a traditional leader from another region. When I go to him, I do not tell the truth that I have been taken to a traditional leader and then my traditional leader will discover that this person has moved to another region. Let us respect our leaders.
If you are transferring from one point to another, the first person to approach is the traditional leader so that he knows that there is a person like this who comes from this particular area and this person is looking for this. You do not give yourself a place without being given a place by the traditional leader. No, we should not allow that. Councillors have now surpassed the traditional leaders. Traditional leaders are now below the Councillors.
So we are saying the Government should agree with us – traditional leaders should be given back their powers so that people can live amicably in their regions as has been happening before. I thank you Mr. President Sir.
+THE HON. TEMPORARY PRESIDENT (HON. SEN.
TAWENGWA): Thank you Hon. Senator.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA), the
Senate adjourned at Nineteen Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 5th May, 2016
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (SEN.
TAVENGWA): In terms of Section 39 (7) (a) of the Electoral Act, [Chapter 2:13], The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), has notified the Clerk of Parliament of the nomination of Sen. Victor Mapungwana as a Senator. Hon. Sen. Mapungwana, a registered voter in Ward 9 of Mpopoma, Phelandaba in Bulawayo, was nominated by the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T) Party, to fill in the vacancy that occurred in the Senate following the recall by the MDC-T Party of the incumbent Hon. Sen. Matson Hlalo on the grounds that he had ceased to be a member of that party.
Hon. Sen. Mapungwana was duly appointed Senator for Bulawayo
Province with effect from the 29th of April, 2016. Section 128 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that before a Member of Parliament takes his/her seat in Parliament, the Member must take the Oath of the Member of a Parliament in the form set out in the Third Schedule, Section 128 (2) which states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. SEN. VICTOR MAPUNGWANA subscribed to the Oath
of Loyalty as required by the Law and took his seat -[HON.
SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON. SEN.
TAVENGWA): On behalf of the Senate, I welcome Hon. Sen. Victor
Mapungwana.
CREATION OF A WEBMAIL OF ADDRESSES
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON. SEN.
TAVENGWA): I would like to remind Hon. Senators that the ICT Department has created Webmail Addresses (Email Addresses) for them. This will enable Hon. Senators to receive mail and documents electronically from Parliament. This facility is effective as from Tuesday, 15th March, 2016. The Hansard and Votes and Proceedings are being sent to Senators who have registered with the ICT Department.
The process for configuring passwords is ongoing at the ICT Desk at the Members’ Dining Room at 12.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. during sitting days.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. A. MASUKU: Mr. President, I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 to 5 be stood over until all the other Orders have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION CHALLENGES
HON. SEN D.T. KHUMALO: I move the motion standing in my name:
That this House:
NOTING that the first cluster in ZIM ASSET is food security and nutrition and addresses challenges of food insecurity and under nourishment;
CONCERNED that despite Government efforts to prioritise its programmes and projects to address the country’s economic challenges, malnutrition is taking its toll among the urban and rural communities;
FURTHER CONCERNED that children of school going age are the most vulnerable as they easily fall victim to starvation thereby impacting negatively on their ability to effectively comprehend their lessons, a situation which creates nightmares for teachers;
COGNISANT that poor nutrition affects health of individuals and communities and retards economic growth and health standards;
ALARMED by lack of awareness on basic nutrition, even among leaders who do not appreciate the consequences of undernourishment in economic development;
NOW, THEREFORE, resolves that Government provides adequate information to community leaders including Members of Parliament on how to reduce incidents of malnutrition among children and adults in the country.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I second.
HON. SEN. D.T. KHUMALO: Mr. President, as we can see, the
Government of Zimbabwe takes priority in the issues of food security and nutrition as it is spelt out in the ZIM ASSET. However,
Government also has a national food and nutrition security policy with the goal I would like to read, “To promote and ensure adequate food and nutrition security for all people at all times in Zimbabwe, particularly amongst the vulnerable.
This policy is a noble idea and no one can dispute that policy. In the Government’s ZIM ASSET programme plan, Food Security and
Nutrition is number one target of the four pillars of the plan.
Government has been known to provide seed for maize and small grains. These are budgeted for and discussed as though they can end food and nutrition problems. A lot is said about food security and nutrition, yet very little is being done about the other part which is nutrition security. The issue which is discussed is about food security.
Nutrition has a major effect on young children, the elderly as well as expecting mothers. Inputs are given for the grains and talked about as if once these grains are provided, the nutrition of the nation will be solved. The nutrition part of the first pillar of the ZIM ASSET needs to be understood and promoted accordingly. Nutrition is the major health promoter as food can be available and people can consume it in a non- health promoting manner if people are not informed. We learnt to despise our traditional way of eating food and acquired new foods and new habits of eating because of the changes in the food availability. However, the issue is that we are concentrating more on the food and not on the nutrition aspect of the food and nutrition security pillar.
Government is also trying to redress the wrongly acquired eating habits. This means that ordinary people will think that it will be important to just eat the maize and the small grains because the Government is not emphasising on other aspects which should accompany the small grains and the maize. In the 2016 National Budget Statement, page 48, the Minister of Finance has set aside funds to support the growing of maize, wheat and other small grains in order to improve food security and nutrition. Eating of these alone, particularly for the young children less than 59 months old will result in them developing big stomachs. Eating of bulky food results in stunting.
Therefore, when the Government is distributing funds, it should also provide funding for other components. If Government cannot provide for the funding for other components, can there be written information provided to the communities that they are to seek for the other ingredients which have not been mentioned, such as peanuts, beans and so forth? Traditionally, there was no problem of educating people because it was known that when you eat maize, you should eat with kuinkobe which is a mixture of beans and peanuts. Those who were lazy could only eat uhayezi or the whole maize. In Ndebele there was a song to ‘haye’ these people sengazeni lale uhaye ezimama ingigikhona lomungigikhona, so that people should not eat the whole grain alone. It has to be mixed with other things.
There should be other food stuffs to accompany the grains so that our children are not stunt. Stunting means short for age. The current Government talks over and over again about maize and small grain, as if that will mean problem solved. As there is no information being parcelled with this group of seed, people might think eating these foods is enough for health. Our traditional parents taught us better in the eating habits than what this Government is doing. These starchy maize and small grains alone are not the answer to our nutrition. We have to relearn some of the good eating habits of food mix.
Madam President, nutrition is about food choices and food mixes including peanuts, beans and vegetables, just only the eating of starchy maize and small grain foods. The children’s stomachs are too small to eat enough for energy, growth and health from the said starchy food. That is what I am saying is missing in the Budget. It is lack of nutrition discussions within the ZIM ASSET. There is no mention of the need for other foods to complement the hailed starch maize and small grain.
It is surprising that the Government does not see the tools to help them succeed. Most of the members of Parliament in here may want to promote nutrition with the influence which they have. They need to be given nutrition information. We are here and we usually address communities on different issues and if we had packaged material with information on food and on how to eat healthy, we would pass it on to them. Our children do not know inkobe, the mixture of maize, amazambane and cow peas; or uhayezi. Traditionally, we had small grains, round nuts, peanuts and cow peas. As can be observed there was no great variety to confuse people’s choices.
There was no polishing of food as at present. The mixes were very few and very nourishing. Mixes were of small grain and peanuts and groundnuts or cowpeas were a must. Teaching of a good diet was not necessary because the mixes were just quite right. Nutrition is about mixes. In some places there is so much variety of food that many people are not sure how to mix to have a good healthy diet. In other places, there is nothing and people need to be informed how to use the little or the abundance they have. The abundance causes ill health, just as the meagre also causes poor health. People are only thinking that it is important to have maize and the small grains. Therefore, we will continuously have stunted children and sick people.
Members of this august House, Mr. President, are always in the communities, addressing them. They should be seen to be supporting the health of their constituents. Nothing is a pillar of health as nutrition.
Commitment 6 of the Food and Nutrition Policy says ‘ensuring national integrated food and nutrition security information system that provides timely and reliable information on food and nutrition security situation’. It continues to say ‘disaggregation of information by district and gender…’ in order for informed decision making. For whom Mr.
President, if not for MPs who make laws and discusses budgets?
Mr. President, each Member of Parliament belongs to a district or province. Each member of this august House needs a better nourished community in his or her constituency or area and therefore why not provide them with information. Each member needs to improve the nutritional status of the children, expectant mothers, men, women and youth of their constituencies. The information should not be left in the offices, neither in the Ministry of Health nor of the Ministry of Finance because I understand the nutrition programmes are coordinated there.
Members Parliament therefore need some packaged nutrition information or to be given knowledge on how to improve the nutritional status of their people and themselves.
Commitment 7 of the National Food and Nutrition Policy states that ‘Government to enhancing and strengthening national Capacity in the Food and Nutrition security, primarily through supporting and reinforcing local communities capacity and responsibility for Food and Nutrition security’ . Mr. President how can local communities be capacitated without the involvement of the Member of this august house? Each member of this house addresses communities once or twice a month. Each MP must be able to encourage the communities to take their children for weighing or encourage expectant mothers to go early for maternity registration for safe delivery. Each Member of Parliament must be able to encourage their community to feed children more than 4 times a day with the right mix.
In the Zimbabwe National Nutrition Survey of 2010, 35% of rural
06 – 59 months children were stunted with an average of 33.8% nationally. The study by Women’s University 2014 indicated stunting of 33% in rural and 27% in urban areas, giving an average of 30% nationally. This is unacceptable and must be reduced Madam President, and every MP must know how to do so as to help their constituencies. We are a country that boast of being educated with more than 95% literacy rate but cannot feed its pregnant women and under-five year’s children better; Not forgetting that children must be fed in school to make schooling useful and not wasting teachers’ time on sleeping hungry children. We are not nutritionists; therefore, we need to be given information so that we are confident to talk to the public on what should be eaten and on how we should eat and so forth.
The survey which was done in Zimbabwe in 2010 found that 35% of the rural children, 0 to 59 were stunted. Other poor countries have
25% and we have 35%. The study done by Women’s University in 2014 indicated that stunted growth was 33% in rural areas and 27% in the urban areas giving an average of 30% in a country of 97% literate people. We need to fight together and we can achieve it. We need to be given information so that we fight this. This is an embarrassment to the country of Zimbabwe with the education literacy rate we say we have.
Adult working capacity is reduced when people have been malnourished as children. Therefore, if we want to have a continued good working capacity of Zimbabweans, we need to feed them properly while they are still young. WHO says malnourished people have 30% reduced capacity to work when they grow up. This may be why we are not going very far as Zimbabweans. We are educated but as you can see the economy is very poor. It could be because we did not have enough food as young people. –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-
In 2011, Zimbabwe accepted to be part of what is called scaling up nutrition or Sun Movement. The Sun Movement, which Zimbabwe joined in 2011, says ‘the nutrition is not just to be run by one Ministry of health and Agriculture’ it has to be a multi-sectoral approach including the different Ministries as well as the NGOs. If the Government can agree to work with the NGOs and other Ministries, why not us the
Parliamentarians. Most of us are not even aware of that agreement. We are part of the sun Movement. The Sun Movement came up with the agreement that all countries should look after the pregnant women for about 1000 days and other areas have been reached by this information. How do we look after a child for 1000 days? From conception that means you look after the mother and the child until the child is two years old. –[HON. SEN. Hear, hear.]- All that has to be known. If we do not know as MPs, I can say if you think you are pregnant can you please go and visit the doctor so that you do not bear a malnourished child who is under weight or less than 2 kgs. Each one of us has the ability to do that but we are not given the information. We need to know that information when we are addressing mothers who are pregnant and those who are getting married to look for services so that they do not bear children who are below 2.5 kgs. We should ensure that our Zimbabwean children are born with the right weight. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture must give us information so that we can talk about this nutrition issue.
Mr. President, since then we agreed to be part of the Sun Movement all of us here. I am asking on your behalf. Can you also demand on our behalf that we have that information so that we are not an embarrassment when we go to the people? Economically, without nutrition the economy does not grow. Malnourished people are not able to work, and produce. Therefore, economic development will not take place –HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- Malnourished people cannot work effectively. It is not me who is saying that. Therefore, can people be given food and we should not choose and say I am going to give those who are my party members and the rest I will not. –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- We are to give everybody the food, so that even the non-party members can help in the development of this country not only the few people who are members of the party that has the control of the food. Therefore, we need to understand that for nutrition to be a success, we need people to be employed. Mining factories and the 2 000 000promised jobs must be there so that people work and get food. Without working communities those in the urban areas will not be nutritionally health and they will not be able to produce and will not have the strength to work. We need people to understand the effects of nutrition to economic development.
Firstly, if they were young they will be 30% less productivity. If they are old and they are not able to work and buy themselves food they will be weak and sick and will not be able to work properly. Therefore, at the present moment there is a challenge which is just creeping in. those who are working can they have their money from the banks? Can the Government ensure that we get our money from the banks?
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order! Order!
Could you please stick to the motion before I ask you to sit down? You are no longer within your motion
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Nutrition, you cannot buy food without money? How do you survive? That is proper nutrition.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I said order!
Okay. Could you wind up your debate please?
HON. SEN KHUMALO: Thank you Sir. Without money if you are working and you put your money in the bank and you cannot get and you cannot buy food and that is understood. I am saying this Mr.
President, we need the House at large to be told about their BMI (Body Mass Index) so that when we eat we can control ourselves. We can see that our BMI is not correct and we can help people when we are going out there and talking to them to understand what their BMI. BMI is weight divided by squared height then you would know. If your weight is more than that you are obese. So you need to eat properly so that you are not obese –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- Each one of us needs to know so that we can help our community.
Mr. President, thank you very much. I would like to say that
Zimbabwe signed and agreed that by 2020 stunting will be reduced by 30% from what it was in 2015. We will have reduced our low birth weight by 2020 by 25%. We will have reduced anemia from women by 40%. We can only do this when we are given the information by the
Ministries which are responsible for nutrition. Remember the Ministry
of Health and Child Care is responsible for nutrition. The Ministry of Health and Child Care can only be responsible for nutrition when all the other Ministries have failed to do their duties. The Ministry of Labour or the Ministry of Economic Development will have failed in the industry to provide money for people to buy food. Ministry of Agriculture will have failed to produce enough food for people to eat properly and live. We will go to the hospitals when we are not eating properly. If we eat properly our health is improved and we will live longer if we are not over-eating or eating less. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MAKORE: I stand to second a motion moved by Hon. D.T. Khumalo that of food nutrition. Generally, it is a concept that if you eat a mountain of sadza consistently, you are not helping developing exactly the health that is expected. It is a norm. When we grew up we knew that people do eat sadza. We did not know exactly that there are other elements that are short from within that sadza. I want to support the motion on the basis that we can encourage our society to grow these small grains rather than perhaps to individually go and look for them under such very difficult economic conditions.
The small grains that are common and which are so nutritious namely; rapoko, rukweza. I am a farmer myself and do farm rapoko. If you want to buy from me I can provide – [laughter] – but at a very small scale. Generally, rapoko is nutritious and it is not only rapoko. You can even grow mapfunde and other small grains such as bean. I think farmers are very conversant with beans and they grow beans. Generally, the concept is we can manage from very small resources if encouraged to grow such small grains. In fact, the policy is there but what we need is that people themselves should be very initiative to grow such very small grains for nutritional elements that have been mentioned from this particular motion.
It is true Mr. President that because of the economic difficulties, we Africans can no longer afford, especially in Zimbabwe to go and buy because they are there in our markets but because we do not have sufficient funds, we hardly can buy them. This concept is good especially for women themselves. You are the biggest percentage of our population and you are mothers. In other words, as fathers, we are encouraged by the women. I do not know whether in your families whether women like the maDube that I have tells you that father, you must buy A, B, C and D.
I must say in our programmes we have to be serious because the farmer must feed himself first before he feeds others. Even the family must feed itself first before you sell all your crops somewhere else. Genuinely, it is encouraged that at least families grow nutritious food for their families rather than for the market because it has become a norm that even if you have about ten tomatoes, you sell all of them and remain with nothing. That concept Mr. President is bad. All we are encouraging the nation is that they have to grow a habit and change the system of growing maize alone, and shift to small grains.
I do appreciate that the majority will contribute to this motion on the basis that it will make our nation stronger. It is true it is an element of truth that thin or very hungry, starving people can hardly produce anything because you will be ill. So I want to thank you very much
Senator for this motion you have introduced in Parliament. Thank you.
HON. SEN. D.T KHUMALO: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SENATOR MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 5th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 133RD ASSEMBLY OF THE INTER-
PARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe Delegation Report on the 133rd Assembly of the InterParliamentary Union (IPU).
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF SIANSALI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. SIBANDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 5th May, 2016.
MOTION
REHABILITATION OF WAR SHRINES AND RECOGNITION OF
DEPARTED WAR LIBERATORS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion calling for rehabilitation and maintenance of War Shrines.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SENATOR MLOTSHWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 5th May, 2016.
MOTION
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT AS CHAIRMAN OF AFRICAN UNION
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to congratulate His
Excellency, the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe and the Government of
Zimbabwe on successfully leading the African Union (AU) and
Southern African Development Community (SADC) as Chairperson.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SENATOR MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 5th May, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE 38TH
PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY
FORUM
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Zimbabwe
Delegation Report on the 38th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: I want to add a few words on the motion which was put forward by Senator Mohadi. We are really grateful that she went on our behalf, came back and presented a report in this Senate. We also want to thank her for going to Namibia and taking our report with her.
I want to touch on the issues of women that she came across. I saw on television the Honourable Speaker of Parliament coming back with women who were being treated as slaves in Kuwait. We want to applaud him for that. The Zimbabwean women went there unknowingly. They thought they had clinched lucrative jobs. These are some of the issues that we should look at and as senators, we should tell people in our constituencies the truth that there are no jobs out there. I want to thank Senator Mohadi for her contribution there and this has led to the repatriation of our children back home because all their belongings and travel documents were confiscated and they were subjected to inhuman treatment.
I think more opportunities should be given to women parliamentarians so that they go to SADC meetings to meet and exchange views with others and deliberate on such issues because they are troubling us in Africa. I think it is the men who lie to women and promise them jobs when in fact there are no jobs. Since we are burdened with all these issues, I think we should help people in our various constituencies. I want to thank Senator Mohadi for representing Zimbabwe at the SADC Plenary Assembly.
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, 5th May, 2016.
MOTION
TRADITIONAL CHIEFS MANDATE
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the role of traditional leaders.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: I want to add a few words on this
motion relating to the role of traditional leaders. Firstly, Mr. President, I want to say that what I am going to say here does not apply to this new crop of chiefs that we have who are still young.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: On a point of order. I
want to caution the Honourable Senator that there is no chief who is young. A chief is a chief. It is not about age. It is like Jesus Christ who was born a king and became King of Kings. So a chief is a chief. I thank you.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you for
elaborating on that issue.
*HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: I am sorry because I have used the
word “young”. I think what I wanted to say was that the new crop of traditional leaders. First of all I will start by saying that long back….
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Mr. President, I think the Honourable Senator should read the motion and debate according to what is written in the motion. The motion does not mention the type of chiefs we have today. A chief is a chief. I thank you.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Honourable
Senator, a chief is a chief.
*HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: I want to say that someone stood up
and said I am a princess. If you say a chief is a chief, it is a well known fact that they are chiefs. What I wanted to clarify is that this motion is very pertinent because it was crafted in line with how chiefs are treated in our country. What I want to say is that, it would have been good to trace how it all started when they lost their respect. That is why I had started with a word of caution that these are not the chiefs of yesteryear.
The chiefs back then, such as the likes of Chief Chirau and Chief Nduna belonged to political parties but the chiefs that we have these days are not leaders of political parties. That is why I had said they are not included but if you say you want to be included, I will tackle it from that angle. Mr. President, what I want to say is that if you look at the Traditional Leaders Act of 2001, you will realise that that is where the chiefs started receiving their powers back because their powers had been usurped long back because of what I have alluded to. After independence, there were VIDCOs which were put in place to help the chiefs.
Let me go back to the Traditional Act 2001. It says a chief is the leader of his area, even in the resettlements. What this Traditional Act left out is that resettlement areas which we have were formerly for white farmers and they had said that there was no black chief who was supposed to preside over the white farmers. I think this House should look at that because it is now involving the issue of boundaries. That is where we are lagging behind. There are areas which are known as Sen.
Chief Musarurwa’s area, but when you go to the law, there is no mandate that Chief Musarurwa is supposed to preside over that area.
The area where I come from, you find that chiefs are fighting over boundaries because it was not rectified from that time up to now. What I want to say is that this House should help the chiefs where they are really having problems because they do not have resources to use. For example, chiefs board buses. That is what they used to do, but these days chiefs should be given cars, even if they are small vehicles, at least they should be provided with vehicles to do their errands rather than boarding buses. I think that is what we should look at. What we should do as the Senate is to urge the Government to put in place a budget to cater for the chiefs’ needs.
I listened and I heard some people saying that when they get into power, they will look into that. I do not think there is much that needs to be done. They only need to be resourced. We know that in the rural areas, the chiefs preside over dare. Where I come from, we sit on stones and that is what we know and it is traditional. What we should be concerned with is their getting to that place, the court.
There is another issue that chiefs are now going to church. If I did not get it properly you should correct me. I do not see anything wrong because that person is the same person involved in politics, Christianity and is also a traditional man. If we say that chiefs are restricted, I think we are just making things difficult. Long back, there were no churches. So, a chief would just be doing traditional things. If you look at this new crop, they do not smoke snuff. –[Laughter]-
Mr. President, let me say I really support this motion, especially where it says let us see that our traditional leaders are given room to do their job by presiding over people. This is because many crimes that are committed in the rural areas, they need the chiefs, like on matters of the avenging spirits. If you go to the court and you say avenging spirit, the judge will ask what you mean by avenging spirit, because it is not in their culture, especially if they are white. Even those people presiding these days, they do not know how to handle those issues and so, we should leave that to the chiefs. They are also straightforward issues like committing murder. A magistrate can preside when it comes to that issue of someone going to prison because we do not have prisons in the rural
areas.
In conclusion, I really support this motion saying we should be able to come together and look at how we can resource our chiefs so that they cannot be seen boarding buses. They should also preside over all the issues and those which they cannot preside over, will present them over to the magistrate. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 10th May, 2016.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU seconded by HON. SENATOR MARAVA, the Senate adjourned at Twenty Eight Minutes past Three o’clock pm until Tuesday, 10th May, 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 12th May, 2016
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
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House of the following changes to membership of Committees: Hon. Goche will serve on the Portfolio Committees of Foreign Affairs and Defence,
Home Affairs and Security Services; Hon. Mudyiwa will serve on the Portfolio Committee of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services; Hon. Chasi will serve on the Portfolio Committee of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Hon. Muzondiwa moves from the Portfolio Committee of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture to the Committee on Health and Child Care.
COMMITTEE STAGE
PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT BILL
[H.B. 14, 2015]
First Order read: Committee Stage: Public Finance Management
Amendment Bill [H. B. 14, 2015].
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 7, put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendment.
Third reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT BILL [H.B 14, 2015]
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I now
move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
COMMITTEE STAGE
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL (H. B. 15, 2015)
Second Order read: Committee Stage: Special Economic Zones Bill
[H.B. 15, 2015].
House in Committee.
On Clause 1:
HON. CROSS: I think with the insertion of a new Section on Section 59 proposed by the Minister, the title of the Bill should be broadened to include this Section because it relates to an amendment to another Bill which is not included in this Bill. In my view the long title of the Bill should be amended.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): It is in order as it is Hon.
Cross. Any Bill can amend in a small way, not substantive any provisions of any Act of Parliament but it must not be substantive and when we come to this amendment, you will realise it is a very small issue where the Board of the Infrastructure Bank currently is, I think at
15 and we think that is too unyielding and we are reducing it to nine.
So, I would want you to appreciate that understanding.
Clause 1, put and agreed to.
On Clause 2:
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I move the amendments
standing in my name that: On page 4, in the definition of “Minister”, delete the words, “the Minister of Finance and Economic Development or any other Minister’ and replace them with “a Vice President or
Minister”.
Amendment to Clause 2, put and agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, put and agreed to.
On Clause 3:
HON. CROSS: There is an amendment to Clause 3, relating to the reports of the authority, section 21. Mr. Chairman, the amendment which the Minister is proposing to this particular Clause refers to the
Annual Report. In fact, there is no reference in this Bill to an Annual Report of any kind. The reports of the authority are general reports of the authority, and I thought that was the intention of the Committee to propose that if any reports are received by the Minister from the authority they should be tabled in the House.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Chair, it is better handled when we come to Clause 21. Currently, we are dealing with Clause 3 not 21, we are going section by section. The Chairman was on Clause 3 and there is no amendment to Clause 3 but as you rightly pointed out, we had made a mistake that it was amendment Clause 7 when in fact it should be Clause 21.
Clauses 3 to 20, put and agreed to.
On Clause 21:
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Chairman, I move the
amendment which is on notice of amendments but which has been wrongly designated as section 7, disqualification for appointment as members, that on page 10 of the Bill, in subsection 2 of Clause 21, delete the words “the Minister may lay a report submitted to him or her by the Authority before Parliament.” and insert the words, “The Minister shall table before Parliament every Annual Report submitted to him or her by the Authority.” The correction should be Section 21 (Reports of Authority) if that correction is made I therefore, move the amendment standing in my name under that caption. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
HON. CROSS: Mr. Chairman, I just want to raise the point that the question of an Annual Report is never mentioned in the Bill anywhere else. In fact, the import of this particular clause in the original draft, before amendment was that the Minister may lay any report of the authority in front of Parliament. What the Economic Affairs Committee wanted in this particular Clause was that all reports of the authority should be brought to the House by the Minister. I do not know whether he is prepared to amend this particular Clause slightly.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): The Hon. Member, I think
generally, otherwise this House will be inundated, if every report that I get to ZIMRA, you ask that I table it here the point is that the reports of any parastatal, in this case the authority will be on an annual basis covering the activities of that authority over the period of 12 months. That I think is what should oblige the Minister to submit to this House for debate, but not every 2 months or so. I do not think that is fair even to the Minister or even to the authority. So I would want to insist that the amendment remains as we have put it here that the Minister have an obligation to submit to this august House Annual Reports of the authority. I thank you.
HON. CHIRISA: Thank you Mr. Chair. I think there is some misunderstanding, I do not know. What the Hon. Minister is saying is the annual audited financial reports those are annual reports but what Hon. Cross is talking about is the narrative reports that are supposed to come to Parliament quarterly. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): My apologies I did not get
the question.
HON. CHIRISA: I was saying Mr. Chairman, what the Minister
is saying are annual reports. Are those audited financial reports that are brought into Parliament annually? What Hon. Cross is asking for is the narrative reports that Ministers and parastatals are supposed to bring to
Parliament quarterly, that is the case.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMSA): Under the Public Finance
Management Act, all financial statements of parastatals are tabled through Parliament, so there is no need to make that provision again in this Bill, because all parastatals are obliged to lay their financial statements before Parliament. Yes, the only problem that is there which we are trying to address both at Parliament and at the Ministry is when those reports are laid before Parliament, they are not scrutinized. It is almost like just it is a formality - in your pigeon holes, you have hundreds of those reports but no one takes notice, no one raises a motion, no one has analysed them and even to study them. That is the problem now that we need to address, so as to enhance the oversight role of Parliament but clearly, every parastatal is required to table its financial statements, but no one reads them, and it was happening not just here, but also at the Treasury.
Amendment to Clause 21, put and agreed to.
Clause 21, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 22 to 28 put and agreed to.
On Clause 29:
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA) Thank you Mr. Chaiman. I
move the amendment standing in my name that on page 12 of the Bill, in sub-clause 2 of Clause 29, delete the words “on payment of the prescribed fee, if any.”
Amendment to Clause 29 put and agreed to.
Clause 29, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 30 to 33 put and agreed to.
On Clause 34:
HON. MUKUPE: On Clause 34, I think we felt very strongly about the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe. This Clause says that the Minister has got about sixty days to come back on any appeal that would have been put across to him. The feeling is that sixty days is just too long. We are trying to shorten the period that papers do turn around. So, if we can reduce those sixty days. The feeling was that let us make it five days, but if five days is too short, can we have it at least at thirty days?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Chairman, I have no
problem. We were trying to make it more flexible for people who are aggrieved and to give them adequate time to prepare their papers and to carry out the necessary consultations with their legal practitioners. But, if the august House feels that we reduce it to thirty, I agree. So, in that event Mr. Chairman, I move that in Clause 34, sub-clause (2), we delete the word “sixty”, and substitute it with “thirty”.
Amendment to Clause 34 put and agreed to.
Clause 34, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 35 to 39 put and agreed to.
On Clause 40:
HON. CROSS: Mr. Chairman, there is a spelling mistake in
Section 40(b). The reference to activity “with” a Special Economic Zone. It should be “within.
On Clause 40:
HON. CROSS: Clause 40 (1) (b), there is a spelling mistake. It should not be with, it should be within.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I thank the Hon. Member
for drawing that to our attention. Accordingly, I move that an amendment be moved in Clause 40 (1) (b) by deleting the word with and substituting with the word within.
Amendment to Clause 40 put and agreed to.
Clause 40, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clause 41 to 55, put and agreed to.
On Clause 56:
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you very much Hon. Chair. For the record, I stood up during the report of the Committee on Finance when this Clause was put across to say that the application of the Labour Act should not apply on the Special Economic Zones. Hon. Chair, I note with concern when we have laws that we can deliberately violate or put aside simply because we want to please investors at the expense of our own human beings. Hon. Chair, workers are human beings, they should not be slaves and for the record, I want it recorded that I am opposed to the provisions of Clause 56.
I am disheartened that at a time when we talk about decent work, it therefore means that workers in the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) have no rights at all. They cannot have decent wages; any employer can treat them the way they wish. We do not need to copy because from the report it even says that is what is applied elsewhere. Do we need to just copy what is applied from elsewhere simply because we want to fast track this Bill and violate the rights of the workers? As
Parliamentarians, let us be reminded that we have a duty to protect and serve the voiceless people who cannot represent themselves but have sent us to Parliament to legislate laws that are user friendly to both men and women. Thank you Hon. Chair. I do not agree with the provisions of Clause 56. Thank you.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Hon. Chairperson. As
much as I understand that it is important that we attract investors, it is also important that we strike a balance between attracting investors and protecting workers’ interest. I strongly believe that if we look at the Act, there are so many incentives which will attract investors apart from the Labour Act not applying in Special Economic Zones, for instance, the tax holidays.
What it means is that if the Labour Act is not going to apply in Special Economic Zones, what it means is that workers will be harassed and victimised. As alluded to by Hon. Mpariwa, they will be hired and fired any time, their wages will be low and they will work for longer hours. Hon. Chairperson, we appeal to the Minister that it is important that he strikes a balance between attracting investors and protecting workers’ interests. The Labour Act must apply because without it, there is no other instrument which is going to protect the workers. They will just be there as workers. We are appealing to the Minister so that he considers the issue of making sure that the Labour Act will apply in
Special Economic Zones. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Hon. Chair. I stand as a mover of this motion. One of the issues that is in the Special Economic Zones and brings it to life is employment generation. The nation can benefit immensely from these Special Economic Zones through taxes such as PAYE because of the multitudes that will be employed in that sector. What I want to expand on is the issue of our current labour laws. They do not compensate effort. They are basically skewed towards payment for somebody who is present. When you visit places like the United Kingdom, those who have worked there will tell you that they are engaged in what is termed moonlighting, they hop from one job to the other and are paid for production. Mr. Chair, what I want the Minister to understand is, if we continue to be moribund in the manner that we approach the issues to do with workmanship, we will shoot ourselves in the foot in terms of investment. It is my fervent view that the issue to say, we are suspending labour laws should not sound like that. We should have flexible labour laws inside the special economic zone, in so far as employment, production and investment are concerned.
It is my fervent view that, let us not impede upon investment by sticking on to the archaic, historic, flout and legacy flout laws that we currently have in this nation. Let us have investment coming in, premised on the point that they are going to be attracted by labour laws that protect or that recognise compensating effort. I believe in all honesty, no business person in his rightful sense, will want to go and invest where they are paying for mediocrity; where they are paying for somebody that is going to attend. Let us not be in reverse mode if we want to attract investment. I thank you.
HON. MUKUPE: Thank you Mr. Chair for recognising me.
There are a couple of things I think I would also want to bring out to the House concerning this issue of the suspension of labour laws as well as indigenisation. I must say I am very much supporting the issue that labour laws and indigenisation should actually be suspended in these zones. The issue that Zimbabweans are going to be turned into slaves, I think it is mere sensationalisation because I would want to believe that from our Constitution, there is a thing called ‘the Bill of Rights’. There is nothing that is saying that the Bill of Rights is actually being suspended as well.
So, it means our people will continue being afforded their rights as individuals. The other thing that I would also want to make clear to the rationale why we are actually supporting this, is that if you are going to suspend the labour laws as well as indigenisation, what you are actually doing is that you are creating a level playing field for domestic firms and our goods are actually going to be able to compete on the global market. We will actually end up having a situation where we are not necessarily becoming recipients of dumped products like toilet paper and other things that are dumped into our markets.
The other thing that is also important is that, by the establishment of these SEZs, we are actually creating a lot of jobs and we are doing so in terms of the low skilled labour force that we have and that should go a long way in terms of meeting the 2.2 million jobs that we want to create.
The other thing that is also important is that by the creation of these SEZs, the suspension of labour laws and the indigenisation is that we are going to reduce the pressure that we are having in the metropolitan areas. At the present moment, you find that every other person who is thinking that the minute they finish O’ levels or whenever they finish schools, everyone is rushing to Harare or Bulawayo. If we are creating these special economic zones in the areas in which you have got certain specific advantages that you have, be it a tourism zone or be it a zone yemakorokoza or whatever it is, you are keeping the people in their areas. There is no need for people to be able to come to the metropolitans.
I think the last thing that is really important is that we are all complaining about the high cost base of all our manufacturing companies. We need to bring down the cost of doing business and the transaction costs. This will actually go a long way in terms of making sure that our goods that we are going to be exporting are actually going to be very competitive. I thank you Mr. Chairman.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much Hon. Chair. I was
looking carefully at Clause 56, and I know that there is a saying that says
“the horse is always equal to its strength”. I have always appreciated the Minister’s robustness and kindness in appreciating the force of logic as opposed to the logic of force. It is in that context that I would kindly ask and urge the Minister to have regards to Section 65 of the Constitution.
I am very livid to support Clause 56 in the context of two aspects. The first one is the issue of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The second one is the issue of public policy and what we call public morals. I would submit that clearly, this clause is contra bonos mores. When I say that, I mean it is contrary to good morals; it is also contrary to public policy.
I will motivate what I am trying to say Hon. Chair, if you have regard to Section 65, every person in Zimbabwe which is a constitutional right has the right to fair and safe labour practices and standards and to be paid a fair and reasonable wage. The obligation on the State on all non-State actors even private player within Zimbabwe, including investors, is to respect certain rights. Those rights are embodied or enshrined in the Labour Act. Now I do not think that to then argue or to then legislate against the Constitution is sustainable. What we are not doing is to legislate against the Constitution. We cannot take away a right that has been given by the Constitution through an Act, it is unconstitutional. I would submit that what we probably need to do, instead of having a ‘catch all approach’; an omnibus approach, we may need to then look at a way of not just attacking the Labour Act in toto but then having specific aspects that do not affect the rights of workers.
I would say constitutionally and speaking from a stand point of the superior law of our land, we cannot have the inferior law trying to negate and undermine what has been endorsed and given by the superior law [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection] – yes, yes, it is a very serious issue that has to do with how we respect our own laws. The better view would have been to then go the Labour Act and then negotiate with the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social
Services to try and deal with the aspect from that end.
I have made the point that clearly this is contrary to public policy. Public policy dictates the protection of members of the public, particularly against other strong forces within and without Zimbabwe.
Our pursuit of capital cannot be done at the expense of our own people. We cannot be like other countries that are so determined to see the sweat and blood of their citizens just to make sure that there is capital. We need to protect our people and to protect our people, there is an Act that is already there, that Act has to be respected and it cannot be overthrown through an Act of Parliament like what the Minister intends to do. I would say those are the two points I just wanted to make. Thank you very much.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Hon. Chair, for allowing me to contribute. I was debating with the Hon. Minister earlier on, to say Special Economic Zones are meant to give incentives for investors to come but no incentive whatsoever should be allowed to tamper not even to contemplate tampering with the Bill of Rights, chapter four of the Constitution. We can allow tax concessions, we can allow reduced duty importation - that is fine, but the contemplations in the Section as proposed to suspend Labour Laws, I can understand Indigenization. Labour Laws, Mr. Chair, because it does not affect the Bill of Rights, I will be specific, let us not be emotional about this. Let us not formulate laws that violate the Constitution, it is very important
The first Section, chapter four requires that there be no discrimination, the principle fundamental right of non-discrimination. It gives the Constitution an alphabet of what aspects are regarded as discriminatory. Mr. Chair, when you have an enclave in your society where laws created for the common good by Parliament do not apply - picture this Mr. Chair; I am the same person, I wake up, I am a craftsman maybe I fix electricity. In the morning I am fixing electricity at Delta then my company in the afternoon is called into the Economic Zone to fix electricity, all of a sudden, my rights have been stripped off – the same person.
The contemplations in the drafts are ultra vires the Constitution also because Section 51 requires that we put laws that respect human dignity. Human dignity is a fundamental right, where Labour Laws have been stripped off completely from applying to an individual, so that the Minister concerned just agrees with the investor on how to discipline you, how to fire you. Everything else, every other protection given to the worker by the Labour Laws has been stripped off. It violates, without doubt in my mind, Section 51 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
There is Section 68 of the Constitution which talks about Administrative Justice. In other words the contractual relationship between the employer and the employee has to be undertaken under the framework of Administrative Justice. Even the vertical relationship between the State and workers in the Special Economic Zones has to be administered under the principle of Administrative Justice. When you suspend the Labour Laws for companies that are in the Special Economic Zones, you would have automatically without doubt, removed the guaranteed protection to all employees in the Special Economic Zones from the right to Administrative Justice which says, where the aggrieved party, which is quite usual and normal for a company and its workers to have disputes, these things happen - but if you say the Labour Laws do not apply, it will be difficult to guarantee if not impossible Administrative Justice on the relationship between that company and the person as an individual.
There are several other Sections of the Constitution that are violated, the Right to private property - which is indirectly on the relationship between a company and the person in respect of personal effects in the office and so on. So, my recommendation very humbly, is that let us not be regimented on the overall goodness of the policy intention into then violating the Constitution to please investors. I want to speak very strongly and urge the Hon. Minister to re-consider that particular Section. The Indigenization, Hon. Chair, that one is debatable; we can be subjective about it but the requirement for fulfilling Chapter Four of the Constitution is not a debatable issue, it is an absolute imperative that we keep the Constitution.
I want to close my comments by quoting Section 86 of the Constitution which talks about the conditions under which the rights can be tampered with but within limits. Section 86 of the Constitution says, “Under a State of emergency then within certain limits, certain rights can be tampered with”. Let us say there is a war that is breaking, the state of emergency is declared then people’s homes can be entered into, people being asked to vacate. It is a war situation but the same Chapter, specifically says, “No law, practice or custom shall violate the individual rights as stipulated in chapter four”. So I really want to say Hon. Members let us not create a law that violates the Constitution. I thank you.
HON. M. KHUMALO: I want to support the Provision because
if you read Section 65 of the Constitution, if you want to be a solder, do not go and join the security forces because there are special exceptions that do not give you the right like every other labour force. This is a Special Economic Zone area; it is not an economic zone only. It serves the needs of special exporters. If you are an exporter who does not want to enjoy the provisions that apply to Special Economic Zones, do not get there. If you are a labour force; an employee who does not want these special Sections of this Act to apply to you, do not get recruited there.
Section 56 of the Constitution says, “Freedom from forced or compulsory labour”.
The Special Economic Zones looks like there are some benefits, and some holiday benefits in it. It says, “No person may be made to perform forced or compulsory labour”, which means when we are in a special zone area, there are certain benefits that apply.
So, those who do not want to have their rights treated against the labour law, those who do not want the Indigenisation Law to apply, let them not get there because there are other zones that allow you to get employed in terms of the Labour Act. So, I want to support this Section of the Bill Mr. Chair because it is targeted to make sure exporters enjoy these benefits. The Labour Law will delay the activities of the Special Zone area. So we want to avoid those delays and please do not get employed there if you want to avoid being forced to follow the rules that apply in the Special Economic Zones. I thank you.
HON. SARUWAKA: Thank you Hon. Chair. My contribution on
the controversial suspension of the Labour Act operating in the Special Economic Zones and the suspension on the indigenisation provisions. I would like to say yes, for the indigenisation provisions, I am happy that they are suspended, not only in the Special Economic Zones but everywhere else in the country. We do not need those.
Coming to the suspension of Labour Laws, I want to say if you look at the Chiadzwa operations, we had the operations happening in
Chiadzwa where to a certain extent that area was treated like a Special Economic Zone. There are so many stories of labour abuse that happened in that area. I am afraid, Mr. Chair, to say as a country we become so desperate as to sacrifice our own labour force for the purposes of saying we are going to benefit as an economy yet we have had many situations where people who came in the economy never really did anything to the benefit of the nation. So, I am trying to say what are we sacrificing to get in return? What are we really getting out of it? The Chiadzwa example will really show you that the balance sheet for that operation left us in the negative. So, I personally would not support a situation where we sacrifice our own labour force.
Secondly Mr. Chair, I want to say currently Zimbabwe’s formal employment is so low. Figures differ but I want to believe figures that put our formal employment at below 5% and for someone to think that the Special Economic Zones would be open to only those people who are willing to go there. More people in Zimbabwe are unemployed and would naturally want to get employment. By wanting to get employment, it does not mean that they are available for abuse. As a country we must always make sure that we protect the interests of the locals because you would find that when you suspend the Labour Act provisions, it is not the foreigner who is going to suffer. You are sacrificing your own people and I do not foresee any reasonable Government really supporting a situation where we can sacrifice our own people.
I will tell you Mr. Chair that capitalists by nature can be very cruel and if we allow them to do as they wish with our people, you can be guaranteed that you might not be able to control them in as far as the amount of trampling of the rights of our employees are concerned. The simple example is, where our girls went to Kuwait for employment. We might import the same conditions that were exposed to our girls and have the little ‘Kuwaits’ in Zimbabwe where our own people will be suffering at the hands of the so-called foreigners and investors. So I vehemently disagree with the Hon. Minister in as far as this provision is concerned.
I believe any investor who really wishes to prosper must put the interests of the worker ahead of everything else. A happy worker will produce and not sabotage any operation. So it would be sad for us to believe that we need workers who do not have rights for the operations of an investor to succeed. I want to believe it would be best if we actually insist that those who want to operate in Zimbabwe, first and foremost, really respect the rights of the workers because we cannot afford to have our own people being abused any further. That is my take and I thank you for giving me this opportunity.
HON. CHASI: Thank you Mr. Chair. First of all I would like to make the point that it is common practice in drafting of legislation to arrange the law in such a way that certain laws or sections of laws do not apply to a particular situation. So, this is not anything new. It is something that happens every day. Mr. Chair, I would like to draw the attention of this House to the architecture of that section. Section 56 creates a situation where there is suspension of the two laws that are under discussion here. The concept and logic of it is to present an opportunity to the investor to negotiate the terms, conditions and rules that apply to a particular economic zone.
The speakers before me have, I think, completely ignored the provisions of subsection 2 of section 56 which states, “The authority may, in consultation with the Minister responsible for the administration of the Labour Act provide rules for conditions of service, termination of service, dismissal from service, disciplinary proceedings that apply within every Special Economic Zone”. So, whereas the first subsection has suspended the application of the two laws, the second subsection gives an opportunity for investors in a particular Special Economic Zone to negotiate the terms.
Now, what rights are contained in the Labour Law? The Labour
Law will contain rules pertaining to conditions of service. The Labour Act will contain rules pertaining to termination of service. It will also contain rules pertaining to dismissal from service as well as disciplinary proceedings that are supposed to apply within the Special Economic Zone. So, I would say that given the provisions of Section 56 (2), there is an opportunity for an investor to negotiate with the authority and come up with rules that affect the various areas that I have spoken about. The interests of the workers are catered for because this negotiation is done with the consultation of the Minister and quite clearly, the authority and the Minister will have to come up with agreements that are within the purview of the Constitution. So, all the rules that Hon. Kereke has spoken about will be taken care of at that point when this negotiation takes place.
I think it is very important to understand that if we want to attract investment and we say our labour laws are rigid, we are unlikely to get people that will want to come and work with us. So this section is creating an opportunity for negotiations around a very key area of investment. I want to say that the section as it is by and large, proper and correct. It may be amplified by making it a requirement that the negotiation must take place as opposed to making it optional. So, one could suggest an improvement in sub-section (2) to say ‘The authority must…’ as opposed to ‘may’. I thank you.
*HON. MAONDERA: Thank you Mr. Chairman. What surprises
me is that the Minister wants us to remove some of the labour regulations within this new amendment, but my belief is that workers who are under Chinese projects are highly abused. They are physically assaulted and what makes me wonder is how much suffering; how much assault will they go through when we introduce this law which suspends the regular regulations on workers?
We find that when people are working for employers such as the
Minister in ZiFM or in Chegutu for Nduna or grind stones for
Mudarikwa in Mutoko, workers will be abused. My observation is that, those Members of Parliament who are calling for the suspension of regular protective labour laws are oppressors who are afraid of losing out if these labour laws are removed, especially Special Economic
Zones. What surprises me is that this law is being promulgated by Hon.
Members who are saying they are freedom fighters, who went to war to liberate the people of Zimbabwe. Why are they re-introducing these oppressive laws?
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Mr. Chair. I do not intend to
hog the opportunities to discuss this matter. But, the contributions by Hon. Chasi and my other fellow Honourable who quoted Section 65- Section 65 (1) says, and this is the Constitution. I can confirm it is in
Chapter 4, which Chapter cannot be violated by any law. It says, “Every person has the right to fair and safe labour practices and standards and to be paid a fair and reasonable wage”. Section 68 says, “The right to administrative justice” mapabata ipapo?
The suggestion by Hon. Chasi, that we only improve the section to say, ‘the Minister may’, we then change it to must. Suspension of the labour laws, the mere fact of suspending the labour laws contrary to what Hon. Chasi said that, it is not a new thing to exclude certain areas in a piece of law, except here we are talking of human beings. You can exclude tractors from paying duty; chemicals from paying import duty in your laws but when it comes to human beings, you cannot be selective about a segment of people on whom human rights apply and another segment on whom human rights are suspended. That cannot be constitutional.
So, it is on the basis that suspension of the labour laws violates several sections of Chapter 4. As Parliament, we are not supposed to pass laws that violate Chapter 4. That is my point.
HON. B. TSHUMA: Thank you Mr. Chairman. My humble
contributions will also be on the line of Hon. Kereke. While we do anything, let us understand the essence of this august House. The first prerogative of our duty is to safeguard the very same people that we represent when we come here to Parliament. We are Members of
Parliament because we are voted for to come here and represent people. Now, if we find ourselves being caught up in trying to resuscitate the economy or in trying to come out of our doldrums, and then sacrifice the very same people, we might be judged very wrongly in future.
What I want to believe is that, as much as we want to make it look lucrative and easy for people to come and invest in our country, let us not do it at the expense of our people. Let us try and come up with ways of trying to make sure that once the investor comes; yes with the money that we desperately need, let us not sell our souls to the devil because that is exactly what we are going to do. To be honest with you, I always want to ask our Finance Minister what is the exact value that China is bringing to Zimbabwe. I am not seeing it at all. I know that but I am just saying those people are abusing our people down there. I have got proof to that because some of them operate from my Constituency. People always come to my office every time complaining about the behaviour of the Chinese.
Now, Bulawayo is being earmarked as one of the Special Economic Zones, and those people will now have the liberty to do as they please. Here, I am talking merely because I have got people who send me from my Constituency, to say represent us. So, let us make laws that will protect those same people. Everything else, I agree, but when it comes to people aiwa. I want to definitely differ to say, let us protect our people, that is our mandate as this House. I thank you.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Chair. We have a duty to
knock sense into the head of a sensible Minister and Hon. Chinamasa is a sensible man. We have no reason to doubt that he will be sensible enough to see that this clause is a decimation of the Constitution. The problem is that as Parliament, we are also bound by this Constitution. In terms of Section 119, the role of Parliament, we are supposed to protect this Constitution. We have a duty to protect it. Yes, the Minister can choose to tamper with it but we have to protect the Constitution, even against the Minister. We are now saying to the Minister, you have a duty to protect your people.
IMF, Britain whose institutions/ investors may come with a sweetener and give you a sweet, but please resist the sweet and protect your people. How do you protect your people? You protect your people by removing Clause 56. I was just looking at the Labour Act. The Labour Act has certain rights. It has rights of young people. Now, if you are going to get rid of the Labour Act, you are simply going to subject even young people at the age of 6. They are going to be taken for child labour.
I know the Minister used to understand these things before he became an employer in Headlands. Now, he is a problem because he is an employer. He was telling me that when I used to be with you, we did not have problems but now he is an employer. He cannot understand that we still need to have that responsibility of protecting our people.
This is servitude and a slavery clause. This is a slavery clause Hon. Minister. We are taking back our people to servitude; we are taking back our people to slavery; we are taking back our people to Rhodesia.
This is a Rhodesian clause - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
This can only be inspired by the ghost of Ian Smith and the sell outs. Why should we take upon ourselves to have the sell outs influencing our laws? Why should Smith smile in his grave to say, I have my friend Hon. Chinamasa, why Hon. Chinamasa? Hon. Chair, this is a very serious issue. It is about the rights of our people –[HON.
CHINAMASA: You are talking about it three/four times before I reply.
I need time to reply but why stand up saying so many times and repeating the same things?]- You will reply Hon. Minister. Logic is sufficient enough to be repeated. Hon. Chair, I am a firm believer in the liberation struggle. Part of the reason – [HON. CHINAMASA: I know you are not.]- Hon. Minister, why are you undermining our liberation? Why are you taking away; why are you affecting and attacking our liberation? Why then do you want to take us back to colonialists?
Okay Hon. Chair, revolutionaries would never support such a clause and I know that Hon. Chinamasa is going to see the sense of the Hon. Members. This has nothing to do with him as an individual but it has all to do with what we want to see for our country. What we cannot do is to keep quiet and be silent when there is a decimation of the Constitution. We cannot be accompanying the Minister to the slaughter house of a Constitution.
We need to make sure that we stop the Minister mid-way and say, there we should not go. We have a duty in terms of this Constitution to support, to defend and to protect the Constitution. These provisions are very important. What we cannot do is sit and say we are overthrowing an Act of Parliament. We are overthrowing laws that we passed in this Parliament simply because we want to serve the interests of the capitalists or the investors. At no point in time, should we serve the whims and caprices of investors, their interest at the expense of our people. We have a duty to protect the weak, indigent, unemployed, and we have a duty to stand up as a people and say, when this matter came, Hon. Chinamasa wanted to introduce this law and we knocked some sense into him. He realised that being an employer is not being everything.
THE TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON: Address the Chair.
HON. CHAMISA: Okay Hon. Chair. Let me attack the clause – and leave the Minister. The clause is unconstitutional, anti-liberation, against our people; it is an anti-people clause. The clause is taking back our people to slavery. The clause is unAfrican and it is something that we must all stand up across the political divide and say this is not a good clause. It is not good for us. Yes, we may be poor but we still have our dignity – [AN. HON. MEMBER: Yes] - unemployed but we still have our dignity. We cannot allow our dignity to be stripped off simply because we are being told we are poor. Thank you very much Hon.
Chair – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Chairman, I thank
Hon. Members who have been very emotional, very strong on a motion and very little on substance – [Laughter]- but I still welcome their contributions because they are seeking to politicise an otherwise very straightforward matter. I think this House needs to understand that at our peak we used to employ two million people and as we speak, it is half a million. We need to understand the extent of our economic situation if we are to get out of this situation. The economy has been informalised, which is making it difficult to collect revenue. So what we are talking about here Mr. Chairman, is that we need foreign direct investment. I know a lot of colleagues have been arguing that we do not need foreign direct investment. We need foreign direct investment. We need technology. All our industries whether you are talking about Bulawayo, Gweru, Harare, Kwekwe, Kadoma, Mutare, Rusape and Masvingo – the industries are down, yet we spend the whole afternoon talking about that we do not need foreign direct investment because that is what it comes down to. We are basically saying we do not want to create an environment which is conducive for attracting foreign direct investment.
This country needs foreign direct investment and what we are saying through the establishment of these Special Economic Zones, we want to attract technology back into the country. We want to attract capital back into the country. We want to attract managerial skills back into the country. We want also to promote value addition when those companies come into these Special Economic Zones, they will use our resources and value-add and we will be able to be an exporter of value added commodities unlike currently where in fact, we are an exporter of raw materials. I want it to be understood that our situation is bad and we need to craft measures that take us out of this situation. We do not need to be emotional about it. We do not need to politicise these issues.
Now, if you look at Section 56, you know people have not read it and even the lawyer, Hon. Chamisa decided not to read it – [HON. CHAMISA: Ahh]- The section is very clear. The labour law will not apply, then in subsection 2 it says, “The authority, with the approval of the Minister responsible, will craft rules to deal with the special conditions in the Special Economic Zones”. It says so. Now, when only those rules are made will you be in a situation to attack whether those rules violate the Constitution. Before the rules are made, this is merely speculative discussion, speculative debate. Late the rules be made and then see whether or not those rules violate the Constitution. As of now, this discussion is just speculative, emotional, and vindictive in fact.
Let me basically deal with the issues. Hon. Mpariwa – there is nothing in this clause which says rights in the Constitution are going to be violated. There is nothing in this clause which says employees employed in the Special Economic Zones will not receive decent wages nothing. As I mentioned, the rules are going to be made which will, to the extent possible, introduce flexibility for those who are going to locate into these Special Economic Zones. Until those rules are made, you have no platform, no basis for discussion. When the rules are made, you can then come and through the PLC, say that they violate the Constitution. For now, this Bill passed through the PLC and there is no violation. So do not talk as if there is a violation. It is just in your view because you do not want employment creation in this country –[AN.
HON. MEMBER: Vaudzei]-
Hon. Khupe when we debated this clause, the point you raised about striking a balance is what came in and it is what produced sub- clause 2. We said, let us have rules and we cannot have an open ended situation. We must have rules which are specific to Special Economic Zones and these we will debate with any investors who are going to come. In fact, we envisaged that the investors will come and the wages will be higher than in the territory. They are now outside the zones. What we want is to focus on exports, foreign currency earnings, attracting new technology and capital. The talk here seems like we do not need capital, and then there is an attack on capitalists and so on.
Please bear with me that we need capital. It can come without violating the Constitution and the rules will be made so that it does not violate the Constitution. Let us not be emotional about it.
Thank you Hon. Nduna for your support for the Bill. I want to say that you raised the issue of workmanship. Basically, we are talking about skills development. What we envisage if we are able to attract investors into the Special Economic Zones, through employment in those zones, skills technical and managerial, will spill over into the territory which is outside the zones. That is how we empower our people. They will then go out to start their own businesses because they have been working in those special economic zones. You ask those countries in particular China. China is now able to start industries that compete with industries that were established by foreign investors, and you can go right across whether it is making tractors or Mercedes Benz. They make a Mercedes Benz under a different name because the investor came and was working in the Special Economic Zone. – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inonzi
Mercedes Benz] - Ah, whatever. – [HON. MEMBERS: Laughter]-
Hon. Mukupe, I thank you very much and I want to emphasise in particular that when workers go into the Special Economic Zones, you can say that they are agreeing in terms of skills development, but we hope that in three or five years time, they will have gained the necessary skills that will benefit the wider economy. That is the intention of these
Special Economic Zones. As he mentioned, the idea is that we establish Special Economic Zones and I have in the past indicated the areas where we have intentions to establish Special Economic Zones.
Let us take the Lupane/Gwayi area where we think that this will be a Special Economic Zone for petrol, chemical industries and fertilizers. This will make that area a hub of growth, genuine growth, not just the previous Growth Points where it was more or less, there is no economic activity around and we seek to set up a Growth Point. This time, it will be centred on a natural resource that we want exploited. In the Gwayi/Lupane, it is natural gas and coal. We can consider making fertilizer from coal, diesel and making fertilizer from natural gas. That is what the intention is about. When you get that investor to come, we will negotiate special terms why he should be in that zone. It is from there that the Minister responsible for Labour will be able to make rules which provide that the environment is conducive for that investment.
Hon. Chamisa, I wish you could –[AN HON. MEMBER: abuda]- He runs away because he has no legal basis. He tried to argue like a lawyer when in fact, there is no legal basis at all. There is nothing in this Clause violating the Constitution. When the rules are made, it is up to this House to examine those rules which should be applicable within the zone as to whether, and in what respect they violate the Constitution. There is nothing, which is why I am not surprised that he has disappeared from the House. This Clause does not make reference to any fair wages or to anything. It merely says rules will be made for conditions that are applicable.
I want to emphasise that when those rules are made, it is for this
House to determine whether there are in violation of the Constitution. He talked about morality and so on. As it turned out, he was just emotional in order to make a political point. I have been at pains Hon.
Members on both sides of the House. The problem about our country is that we have politicised every discussion, and when we politicise the economy, we are creating a disaster for our country. We should not politicise things. At the end of the day, it will affect all of us. It does not matter on which side of the divide you are. It will affect all of us.
I think the argument that I have made is also applicable to the contribution of Dr. Kereke. The logic is that the Constitution is very clear and there is nothing violating the Constitution. The problem is that you have not decided. You have been very selective in your reading of the Section. You read only subsection (1) and you do not read subsection (2), and subsection (2) is very clear. Rules are going to be made. The rules have not yet been made – [AN HON. MEMBER: Why putting a
“may”?]- I have no problem if you want a “must”. If that is the case, I have no problem whatsoever, but I am very clear that the rules have not yet been made. So, if you want, we can do so, so that it is not permissive. I have no problem because some rules have to be made and it is us now to determine whether those rules basically violate the
Constitution or not?
Thank you very much Hon. Khumalo for supporting the Bill. Hon.
Saruwaka, you have no basis, moral or legal to oppose this Bill. Hon. Chasi, I thank you for clarifying. It is not fair to anybody for people to do selective reading. You read and only take, and argue on the basis of sub-clause (1) and you completely ignore sub-clause (2). You completely ignore that the rules are not yet in place and then you go on to argue as they say in English. ‘You give a dog a bad name and you go on to hang him’. That is exactly what this debate has been about.
The same argument Hon. Chuma, I want you to understand that there is no violation of the Constitution. The rules are going to be made. When the rules are made, it is up to you to say in what way they are violating the Constitution. We want that flexibility. We want these zones to be unique and to be distinct from the rest of the territory for the reasons that I have mentioned. I will not want to stop what we are planning for Bulawayo because we are misunderstanding a provision of the law.
With that remark Mr. Chair, I think I must concede that in subclause (2) of 56, we delete the word “may” and we put the word “must”. I also want you Hon. Members to know that when we say in consultation, it means with the approval of the Minister. So, if I could delete the “may” and substitute with the word “must”. I so move Mr.
Chair.
HON. MPARIWA: Mr. Chairman, I call for the division of the
House.
[Bells rung]
House divided.
AYES 75: Hon. Beremauro G, Hon. Chakona P, Hon. Chasi F,
Hon. Chibagu G, Hon. Chigudu M, Hon. Chikuni E, Hon.
Chimwamurombe A, Hon. Chinamasa P, Hon. Chingosho C, Hon.
Chitindi C, Hon. Chitura L, Hon. Chivamba K, Hon. Dhewa W, Hon.
Dziva T. M, Hon. Gezi T, Hon. Gumbo S, Hon. Goche N. T, Hon.
Guzha K. N, Hon. Haritatos P, Hon. Holder J, Hon. Hungwa G, Hon. Kachepa N, Hon. Kagonye P, Hon. Kaundikiza M, Hon. Kazembe K, Hon. Khumalo M, Hon. Kwaramba G, Hon. Machingura R, Hon.
Madanha M, Hon. Mahiya M, Hon. Makoni R. R, Hon. Makunde T,
Hon. Makweya M, Hon. Mangami D, Hon. Mangwende S, Hon. Mapiki J, Hon. Masamvu L, Hon. Matangaidze T, Hon. Matimba K. M, Hon.
Matiza B. J, Hon. Dutiro P, Hon. Katsiru L. L, Hon. Shava J, M, Hon.
Nhambu B, Hon. Mawere M, Hon. Mbwembwe E, Hon. Mkandla M, Hon. Mpala M, Hon. Mpofu B, Hon. Mpofu R, Hon. Mpofu S, Hon.
Mtingwende T, Hon. Moyo J, Hon. Makari Z, Hon. Gangarahwe G,
Hon. Mufunga A, Hon. Musanhi K. S, Hon. Mutomba W, Hon. Ncube
- M, Hon. Ncube H, Hon. Ndhlovu Annastancia, Hon. Ndoro L. F,
Hon. Nduna D, Hon. Nhema C. F. D, Hon. Nkatazo M. M, Hon. Nyere C, Hon. Paradza K, Hon. Hon. Phiri F. P, Hon. Porusingazi E, Hon.
Shongedza E, Hon. Shumba K. D, Hon. Tshuma J, Hon. Uta K, Hon.
Zemura L, Hon. Zhou P.
NOES 22: Hon. Bunjira R, Hon. Chamisa N, Hon. Chirisa F, Hon. Cross E. G, Hon. Dube S, Hon. Khupe T, Hon. Majaya B, Hon. Majome F. J, Hon. Maondera W, Hon. Maridadi J, Hon. Matienga M, Hon.
Matsunga S, Hon. Mguni N, Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga P. M, Hon. Mpariwa P, Hon. Muchenje M. S, Hon. Munochinzwa M, Hon. Musundire A. L, Hon. Ndlovu N, Hon. Saruwaka T. J. L, Hon. Sibanda
L, Hon. Tshuma B.
Tellers: Hon. Dziva and Hon. Mpariwa
THE TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (HON.
MARUMAHOKO): Order, order Hon. Members! Order in the House.
The results of Clause 56, I have 22 Noes and 75 Ayes.
Amendment to Clause 56 put and agreed to.
Clause 56, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 57 to 58 put and agreed to.
On New Clause 59:
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Chair, I withdraw the new section which was to become Section 59.
New Clause 59 put and withdrawn.
On Schedule (Section 19):
HON. CROSS: Mr. Chairman, I just want to point that in the
Schedule, Item 17 to 22 provides the authority with the right to give very generous conditions of employment to their staff. I want to raise with the Minister the fact that these clauses have been abused in many cases. I seek his assurance that he will keep an eye on any abuses that might occur as a result to the adoption of those particular sections.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I give that assurance,
generally these are part and parcel of many conditions with most employers. They give staff loans, they help staff with mortgage lending or borrowing. They help staff with purchase of cars and generally to make the conditions of the employees more comfortable. We will keep an eye as we have been with a lot of parastatals. You remember that we did an exercise to see generally what boards of parastatals were paying to their staff. We have had to come in with interventions with a view to reducing to reasonable levels. So, I take your point and will keep an eye.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO KUWAIT
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Madam Speaker, a
Parliamentary delegation went to Kuwait and the delegation would want to present their report on that visit and to seek the leave of the House to do so without giving notice. I therefore, move and seek leave of the
House to suspend the provisions of Standing Order Number 68, to allow Hon. Paradza to present the report of Zimbabwe Parliamentary delegation on the bilateral visit they made to Kuwait from 25th to 29th April, 2016 and to do so without notice. I, so move Madam Speaker.
HON. PARADZA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I move that the
House takes note of the Report of the Zimbabwe Delegation on a
Bilateral Visit to Kuwait, held from 25th to 29th April, 2016.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I second.
HON. PARADZA: Mr. Speaker Sir, let me start with the
introduction.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Bilateral Visit to Kuwait was undertaken from 25 to 29 April 2016. The invitation for this visit was made on 12 October 2015 by the former Ambassador of the Republic of Kuwait to Zimbabwe, H.E
Mr. Ahmed Al Jeeran inviting the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda to lead a Parliamentary delegation to Kuwait.
1.2 The Speaker was accompanied by the following Members
and Officers of Parliament:-
Hon. Enos Musakwa, Chief Musarurwa, Member of Parliament;
Hon. Kindness Paradza, Member of Parliament;
Hon. Priscilla Misihairabwi - Mushonga, Member of Parliament;
Hon. Sabbina Thembani, Member of Parliament;
Mr. Frank Mike Nyamahowa, Director in the Speaker’s Office;
Mr. Robert Sibanda, Security – Aide to the Speaker; and
Mr. Cleophas Gwakwara, Principal External Relations Officer and Secretary to the Delegation.
1.3 From the onset, let it be known that despite the unfortunate incident of distressed housemaids encountered on arrival in Kuwait City, the main focus of this bilateral visit was to exchange best practices between the two sister Parliaments and the invitation was at the behest of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait H.E MarZouq Ali alGhanem. Therefore, let it be clear that our visit was not a rescue mission for the 32 distressed maids.
1.4 The issue of the distressed maids only surfaced during a briefing session by the Zimbabwe Ambassador to Kuwait, H.E. Mr.
Mark Grey Marongwe who advised the Speaker of the National
Assembly and his delegation that he had a desperate situation at hand. This is when the delegation found it necessary to intervene and assist in the repatriation of those unfortunate young ladies who had fallen victims to a human trafficking syndicate of criminals operating between Harare and Kuwait City. The delegation took a stand and resolved to formally raise this issue, through diplomatic channels, with the relevant authorities in the Kuwait Government. This was subsequently done at the meeting with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah, who, during the visit, was the Acting Prime Minister.
1.5 Hon. Members this is indeed the context that this report must be understood. This matter shall be dealt with in greater detail, later in the report.
2.0 BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE STATE OF KUWAIT
2.1 Kuwait has known the consultative system (Al-Shoora) since 1920. The First State Consultative Council in the region was formed during the reign of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The first elected Legislative Assembly was formed in the country in 1938 which consisted of 14 members. Though it was short-lived, it speaks volumes of Kuwait's serious attempts to create democratic institutions way back in the 1930s.
2.2 Modern Parliamentary life in Kuwait began on June 19, 1961 with the elections to the Constituent Assembly. This was followed by the first session of the National Assembly held on January 29, 1963.
2.3 Kuwait is a small country but has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world and relatively open economy with crude oil reserves of about 102 billion barrels, enough to last for more than 100 years, representing about 7% of the world reserves and the third in the world after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
2.4 Petroleum accounts for nearly half of the GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 95% of Government income. The Kuwait Government has committed to increasing oil production to 4 million barrels per day by 2020. It is trite to note that the fall in global oil prices has affected the economic growth of this nation. However, its currency, the Kuwait dinar, is the highest valued currency in the world with US$100.00 equivalent to KD30.00.
3.0 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF KUWAIT
3.1 The Kuwait National Assembly is made up of 50 elected members. These are elected for a four-year term through a secret ballot. The legislative term may be extended by law in times of war or may be cut short if the Assembly is dissolved through a decree. If that happens then general elections will have to be held within two months from the date of dissolution. Voting is done by those over 21 years and Parliamentary candidates are strictly Kuwaitis who are above 30 years old. The country is made up of five constituencies which are required to elect 10 MPs each to make a total of 50 members. Every MP has a right to initiate bills while Parliament approves State budgets and has an oversight role over the Executive.
3.2 Kuwait Parliament has the power to institute a vote of noconfidence against a Cabinet Minister forcing him/her to resign. The Assembly can also choose not to co-operate with the Prime Minister and when this happens the matter is taken to the Amir who may either fire the Prime Minister and appoint a new Cabinets or dissolve Parliament leading to the holding of fresh elections.
3.3 The Kuwait Parliament has Standing Rules Orders and Portfolio Committees that are almost similar to those of Parliament of Zimbabwe.
3.4 The current Kuwait Parliament was constituted on August 6, 2013 and has no female Members of Parliament, except for one Cabinet Minister appointed.
4.0 MEETING WITH HON. FAISHAI ALSHAYA, MEMBER OF
PARLIAMENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE KUWAIT–
ZIMBABWE FRIENDSHIP COMMITTEE
4.1 On arrival, the delegation was hosted for dinner by the Chairman of the Kuwait-Zimbabwe Friendship Association who reiterated the need to continuously engage with each other bilaterally and further strengthen cooperation between the two countries through bilateral exchanges.
5.0 MEETING WITH THE HIS HIGHNESS, THE AMIR,
SHEIKH SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-JABER AL-SABAH
5.1 The delegation paid a Courtesy Call on His Highness, the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Ruler of Kuwait. In his remarks to the Amir, our Speaker, Hon Mudenda conveyed fraternal greetings from the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, Cde R. G. Mugabe and the people of Zimbabwe. He expressed gratitude for the warm welcome the delegation had received from the friendly people of Kuwait. Hon. Mudenda briefed the Amir, the purpose of the visit, which was mainly to learn, exchange notes on Parliamentary affairs and cement the already solid bilateral relations which exist between the two sister countries. The Speaker of the National Assembly also briefed the Amir about the prevailing drought situation that has ravaged the Southern Africa region, including Zimbabwe.
5.2 Zimbabwe and Kuwait enjoy cordial relations since 1980 when diplomatic relations were established between the two countries. Hon. Mudenda noted that these relations were further strengthened after the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 when Zimbabwe played a leading role at the United Nations in condemning the invasion.
5.3 The Amir responded by conveying a goodwill message to President, R. G. Mugabe and the friendly people of Zimbabwe. He underscored the fact that he “adored” His Excellency, President Mugabe very much. He revealed to the delegation that he had bought a piece of land in Zimbabwe during his last visit here and he expressed his willingness to come to Zimbabwe and “occupy” that land and possibly claim “citizenship.” The Speaker promised the Amir that his land will be preserved but urged him to set up some structures on that piece of land. 5.4 The Kuwait Ruler then extended an invitation for President Mugabe to undertake a State Visit to the Gulf country, although the official invitation was to be done through the normal diplomatic channels. The Speaker has since conveyed this message to H.E., the President R. G. Mugabe.
6.0 MEETING WITH H.E SABAH AL KHALID AL SABAH, FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
6.1 Within the Amir’s palace, the delegation met with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs who pointed out that the visit was historic in that, it was coming soon after the 25th Anniversary of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. He applauded the bold stance taken by Zimbabwe against the Iraq invasion in 1990 when Zimbabwe was the rotating Chair of the Security Council.
6.2 The Kuwait Foreign Minister impressed on the delegation that his country was still waiting for the activation and subsequent ratification of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreement (BIPPA) which the Kuwait Government signed on 7, March 2000, while Zimbabwe has not. Both parties were in agreement on the need to move with speed and ratify this agreement, with the Hon. Speaker promising to raise the matter with relevant authorities back home. The Foreign Minister, who is also Chairman of the Kuwait Fund, emphasized that the signing of this agreement was necessary as it protected Kuwait Investments in Zimbabwe and would unlock other investments opportunities between the two nations.
6.3 The Minister said while Kuwait was willing to continue funding projects in Zimbabwe – five projects, so far, however, the two countries needed to sit and resolve the loan repayment plan. This was important as Zimbabwe would also benefit from the proposed US$1 billion project financing facility in Africa pledged by the Kuwait ruler during the Africa-Arab Summit in 2014.
- Through the Kuwait Fund, Zimbabwe embarked on the following
projects:-
- The Mhandamabwe-Chivi-Tokwe road project which was completed and commissioned;
- The Hoyuyu- Nyadire and Copper Queen Resettlement Projects still being implemented.
- The Bulawayo- Nkayi Road project which is still outstanding whose funding was withdrawn due to lack of a loan re-payment plan.
- The Electrification of the Harare-Gweru Railway Line.
- The Rehabilitation of the Zhove Irrigation Scheme.
- The construction and equipping of two district hospitals and the building of two hydro-electric power stations.
- In response Hon. Mudenda assured the Kuwait authorities that the protection of investments was well anchored in the New Constitution of Zimbabwe and that the Indigenisation policy had now been fully clarified by H.E the President in a recent Presidential statement. In this regard, the Speaker then handed over to the Deputy
Premier, President Mugabe’s statement and stressed that Parliament was ready to ratify the bilateral agreement between Zimbabwe and Kuwait.
- Mudenda also explained that the non-payments of loans was largely due to sanctions and other restrictive measures imposed on Zimbabwe resulting in the banking sector unable to access offshore loans. This has resulted in the static growth of the domestic economy. He, however, assured the Deputy Prime Minister that Zimbabwe will service its debt as soon as possible for it to access more loans from the Kuwait Fund.
- To show that Parliament was serious in helping to attract foreign direct investments, the Speaker also told the Deputy Prime
Minister that after the Kuwait visit, a big Indaba was to be held in
Bulawayo to discuss the “ease of doing business” through the alignment of investment laws to be in tandem with the Constitution.
- Already the Government has made the following initiatives to show its seriousness in creating a conducive investment platform:-
- Zimbabwe has tabled a Bill creating Special Economic Zones. It is envisaged that Companies that will take advantage of the Bill when it becomes Law will enjoy tax holidays and other
incentives; and
- The Government is also creating a One-Stop-Shop to remove any hassles for investors.
- The Speaker of the National Assembly also inquired from the Deputy Prime Minister, if it was possible for the Parliament of
Zimbabwe to access the Kuwait Fund in-order to equip the proposed
Budget Office with computers, equipment and other accessories. This Office will be a repository for analysis of all laws that relate to investment, including unpacking all documents and other statements from the Office of President and Cabinet and other Government Agencies.
- This Office will also print documentation for distribution to the public. In response, the Deputy Premier, who is also head of the Kuwait Fund, urged Parliament to make a formal proposal and submit the request through the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Kuwait for consideration.
7.0 MEETING WITH THE SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: HON. H.E MARZOUQ Ali Al-GHANEM AT
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, KUWAIT CITY
7.1 Hon Members, your delegation visited the National Assembly of Kuwait, which is an imposing building in the Al-Keblah area of Kuwait City. During this visit, the Speaker Hon. Adv. J. F. Mudenda reiterated the warm hospitality extended to his delegation by their hosts. He emphasized the existing cordial bilateral relations between the two countries, dating back to the early 1980s when the two nations established diplomatic relations. He explained that, in modern day Parliamentary Diplomacy, Legislatures need to continuously exchange notes on mutually beneficial issues. Parliament of Zimbabwe was keen to learn about the functions of the various Committees which were unique to the National Assembly of Kuwait.
7.2 As mentioned earlier, the Kuwaiti National Assembly is made up of 50 members. The legislative term is divided into annual sessions which are of no less than eight months' duration. The delegation had an opportunity to attend a live Parliamentary session for about 30 minutes, where MPs were complaining about the poor state of some road networks.
7.3 During the meeting, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait, explained the functions of the following Committees which are a beacon in the Kuwait Parliamentary democracy:-
- Committee on Petitions and Complaints:- This Committee deals with petitions and complaints submitted to the National Assembly by the citizens which, according to article no. (156) of the Rules of Orders examines them and takes final decisions in accordance with their seriousness and importance.
- Priority List Committee:- This Committee prioritizes legislation to be debated in Parliament and sets the agenda for business in the House, in the process resolving any disagreements between parties before legislation comes up in the House for debate. In this regard, the current Parliament has passed a record number of Bills because most of the contentious issues will have been dealt with previously by this Committee. Since its inception in 1962, this current Parliament has passed a record number of Bills due to the cleaning process that is done before legislation comes before the House.
7.4 Among other best practices, the Speaker of the National Assembly meets weekly with the Prime Minister to discuss matters of mutual interest. The relationship between the Executive and the
Legislature thus can aptly be described as “full independence with full cooperation.”
- E. Al.Ghanem noted with concern the need to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) which he described as a creation of the West. ISIS recruits, were mainly from the youths who continue to fall victims to religious propaganda. He believes the Palestinian question which remain unresolved to this day was fuelling terrorism in the Middle East. It was therefore, necessary to resolve the two-state existence between Palestine and Israel as a way of ending terrorism in that part of the world.
- The Speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait then impressed upon our Speaker, Hon. Mudenda to support the motion to be moved at the next 135th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union calling for the suspension of the Knesset (Parliament of Israel) from IPU until such time when President Netanyau’s Government ceases to carry out acts of aggression against defenseless Palestinians. The National Assembly of Kuwait has already solicited widespread support from other countries on this motion. Hon. Mudenda concurred with his counterpart noting that Zimbabwe was ready to support that motion as Harare was against any form of oppression.
- Mudenda later invited his counterpart to visit
Zimbabwe on a reciprocal visit at a mutually agreeable date.
8.0 MEETING WITH HON. HIND AL-SUBAIH, MINISTER OF
LABOUR AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT AFFAIRS
8.1 The Zimbabwean delegation also met with Kuwait’s Minister of Labour who also doubles as Minister of State for Planning and
Development Affairs and the only woman in the Cabinet who outlined her duties and responsibilities as;
- Planning of 5 year Mega Projects which began in April 2015: in all there are 29 mega projects at different stages of development.
- These projects are meant to address a range of challenges and economic imbalances facing Kuwait. The aim is to institute reforms by removing the imbalances in the economic sector through a free reign to the private sector to play a bigger role in development. This is done by the implementation of such mega projects;
- Some of these projects include KD 1 billion ($3,3 billion) metro project and KD 8 billion ($27 billion) rail project to link the five partners of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as a media city; privatization of some public schools and cooperatives and University; further development of the controversial Mubarak Al Kabeer Port on Boubiyan Island.
- The Labour Ministry also supervises the “People’s Shops” which are managed by the community for the community.
- Her Ministry is also in charge of cooperatives for women, the unemployed, and the elderly as a way of contributing to the economy without burdening it;
- Kuwait is a rapidly developing country and because of this, it requires a huge skilled labour force. The Embassy of Kuwait in Zimbabwe was tasked to liaise with their Zimbabwean counterparts, to put structures in place and ensure that there is recruitment of appropriate labour to work in Kuwait. She said Zimbabwe, as a country, needs to explore the possibilities of exporting labour with the requisite skills and qualifications to assist in the construction industry in Kuwait. At the moment, there are a few professional Zimbabweans working in Kuwait. Those professions that are in demand in Kuwait include Accountants, Engineers, Doctors and Nurses and other specialized fields.
- The Zimbabwean delegation applauded Hon. Al- Subaih for being the only woman in the Kuwait Cabinet.
9.0 MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, Dr.
BADER HAMAD Al-ESSA
9.1 At this meeting, Hon. J. F. Mudenda outlined Zimbabwean
Government’s initiative aimed at promoting the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science subjects in secondary Schools in order to boost Zimbabwe’s technological advancement. The focus on sciences will not necessarily neglect the arts. The following observations were made during the meeting;
- Kuwait is prepared to receive up to 100 Zimbabwean students
each year to study sciences, under scholarship, at both State and Private universities. Only two Zimbabwean students are currently studying in Kuwait.
- The entry level would be a minimum of 12 points at “A”
Level.
- The Kuwait Government was willing to also offer
scholarships to university teaching staff wishing to further their academic studies through staff development programmes.
9.2 Hon. Mudenda confided with Dr Hamad Al-Essa that the partnership with Kuwait will augment the current Presidential Scholarship in Zimbabwe which mainly targets Universities in South Africa.
10.0 MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
ISSUES, DR ALI SALEH Al- OMAR
10.1 Hon. Members, our delegation met with the Minister whose Portfolio also includes Agriculture and the Environment. The following observations were made during the meeting:-
- The Kuwait Minister reiterated the importance of an existing healthy relationship between the Executive and the Legislature;
- In terms of environment protection, Kuwait is actively involved in climate change monitoring and is advocating for a clean environmental management systems which include the use of solar energy and investment in wind farms; and
- The delegation urged the Kuwait authorities to find ways of boosting trade and investments between the two countries through barter deals involving the exchange of food for oil.
- Up to 67 percent of Kuwait food are imports. The Kuwait Government, through its investment fund, was asked to invest in the construction of accommodation structures at State Universities here in Zimbabwe and science laboratories in Secondary Schools.
- Hon Speaker Mudenda gave an assurance that Kuwait’s investments in Zimbabwe would be protected through a bilateral agreement.
11.0 MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
MINISTER OF OIL: HON. Mr. ANAS KHALED Al-SALEH
11.1 The Minister outlined the Portfolios that fall under his purview, which include the following:-
The Treasury; The Public Pension Fund; Taxation Department, Public Property; Accounting; Kuwait Investment Agency;
Management of Reserves; Customs; the Anti-Money Laundering Unit; Legal Department, Central Bank of Kuwait; Oil Production and Refineries.
11.2 The delegation was briefed that Kuwait had oil reserves of about 100 billion barrels, which is about 10 percent of the world’s total oil reserves. Hon. Members, please note that in some instances, oil is only five meters deep!
- Kuwait boasts of being the largest supplier of jet fuel in Europe, especially for Italy;
- The country has a thriving Sovereign Wealth Fund, which receives 10 percent allocation from the budget each year. Kuwait Investment Agency (KIA) was founded on 23 February 1953 to manage the funds of the Kuwaiti Government in light of financial surpluses after the discovery of oil. KIA is the world's first and oldest sovereign wealth fund;
- KIA manages the Kuwait General Reserve Fund, the Kuwait Future Generations Fund, as well as any other assets committed by the Ministry of Finance. To put KIA's size into perspective, the Kuwait Future Generations Fund has 15% of annual oil revenues added to it. Zimbabwe can learn from the investment fund noting that the country also has abundance in its mineral resources; and
- The Kuwait budget focuses on developmental needs which include public services, education, health, social services and security. Kuwait’s annual budget is about US$35 billion.
12.0 MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF ELECTRICITY;
HON. AHMED KHALEB Al- JASSAR
12.1 Hon. Khalib Al- Jassar outlined the strategic initiatives that have been made by the Kuwait Government to improve national reserves in renewable energy which include the use of Solar and Sea Water.
12.3 Kuwait has no sources of fresh drinking water. The country relies on the expensive process of distilling sea water for domestic consumption. Because of water shortages, the country has set up water reservoirs across the country with the capacity to last up to three months in case of machinery breakdowns or other unforeseen disasters.
12.4 The processing of water combines desalination of water and production of energy at the same time to achieve efficiency. Kuwait was the first country in the world to adopt desalting sea water for fresh water. It was also the first to use the multi stage flash (MSF) desalting system in its present design since 1960. Prior to that, the country’s population used to travel to Iraq in search of fresh water. 12.5 Kuwait is also exploring other forms of conserving energy which include load shedding, pushing up tariffs and allowance of Public Private Partnerships (PPP). Up to 70 percent of electricity is consumed by air conditioning due to excessive heat. The focus now is on solar energy. Kuwait’s national requirement of 15 000 megawatts or 90 percent of the energy, are generated by huge diesel-powered generators, a system that is both expensive and unsustainable. An experiment is in progress to have a complete shift from diesel-powered to solar energy.
12.6 The Ministry of Water and Electricity is in the process of unbundling the entire ministry into SBUs which include:- Generation, Networking and Distribution, a similar to our situation here at home.
The main aim is to have 15 percent of energy coming from solar in Kuwait by 2030.
13.0 CONCLUSION
13.1 The delegation expresses gratitude to the Government of Zimbabwe for arranging the visit in a short space of time and under a very constrained resource envelope. Special gratitude also goes to the Kuwait Embassy in Harare and our Embassy in Kuwait for arranging and co-ordinating this very successful visit.
14.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
14.1 Parliament of Zimbabwe should convey the message of goodwill from the Ruler of Kuwait, His Highness Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to His Excellency, President R. G. Mugabe and extend the invitation for him to visit Kuwait on a State Visit.
14.2 Zimbabwe to engage the Kuwait Government vigorously on renegotiating terms of payments for already advanced loans drawn from the Kuwait Fund.
14.3 Parliament to make a follow up on the prospective scholarships that can be extended to Zimbabwe by the Ministry of
Education in Kuwait. This should be done through the Zimbabwe Embassy in Kuwait.
14.4 Parliament of Zimbabwe to make a formal invitation to the Speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait to visit Zimbabwe on a mutually agreeable date.
14.5 Parliament of Zimbabwe to make a formal follow-up for job opportunities being offered in Kuwait noting that massive construction work is being undertaken in that country.
14.6 There is an urgent need to make a follow-up on the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) which needs
to be ratified.
14.7 Parliament to learn from best practices in budgeting which include the rationalization of fiscal policies and the preparation of a development budget that meets the needs of citizens for public services, education, health, social services and security. In addition, Government should provide the necessary funding for the implementation of important projects, including infrastructure and public utilities.
14.8 Zimbabwe needs to tap knowledge on the efficient and clean use of renewable energy as demonstrated by the long term plans being instituted by the State of Kuwait.
14.9 Zimbabwe needs to table its proposals under the US$1 billion pledged by Kuwaiti Government in project financing for Africa.
PART B
1.0 THE CASE OF DISTRESSED MAIDS STRANDED IN
KUWAIT
BACKGROUND
1.1 As mentioned earlier, on arrival in Kuwait, the delegation received a horrifying report from our Ambassador that up to 32 distressed Zimbabwean maids were stranded in Kuwait. This group was just part of a larger contingent of hundreds of young Zimbabwean girls who were lured to Kuwait since June 2015 under the guise of landing lucrative job opportunities and good living conditions. These women fell victim to well-co-ordinated human trafficking syndicates involving local criminals and those in Kuwait. In some cases, some of the maids who had gone to Kuwait earlier were being used as baits to lure their friends to Kuwait, in the process creating a vicious circle which exploded as from February this year. There are about 350 000 domestic workers in
Kuwait, most of whom are from Philippines, Bangladesh, India and Africa.
1.2 Agents in Zimbabwe working in cahoots with their criminal counterparts in Kuwait identify and supply the maids. Unsuspecting young girls are taken for HIV tests and those who are negative are then promised lucrative job opportunities in Kuwait – ranging from high salaries, free air tickets and free accommodation, including the opportunity of changing jobs. It is only when they arrive in Kuwait do they realize that they have sold themselves into slavery through the country’s Kafala laws which gives Kuwait nationals powers to enslave or own foreign nationals working for them as domestic workers.
1.3 The Kafala system forces anyone holding a section 20 visa, mostly women, to lose their freedoms upon landing in Kuwait. They are then sold for anything between US$2 500.00 and US$3 000.00 to anyone who needs a house slave. The maid is not free to leave until after two years, when the contract expires. Apart from sexual abuse, most of the problems they also encounter include long hours of work, beatings, starvation and low or non-payment of wages, including being on perpetual house arrest.
1.4 To avoid questioning at security check points at Harare International Airport, some of the women -the delegation has been told, now use Botswana and South Africa as exit points before flying out to
Kuwait.
1.5 Statistics provided by our Embassy in Kuwait showed that around 190 visas were issued by the Kuwait Embassy in Zimbabwe as from July 2015, with 90 girls still to enter Kuwait.
1.6 The Embassy with assistance from well-wishers, family and friends, was able to assist in the repatriation of 44 maids who had run away from their prospective employers, complaining of various forms of abuses. However, to secure their release, relatives of the victims have had to fork out between $1 500 and $3 000 to compensate the “sponsor” for the cost of the air tickets, the agency fees and examination fees.
1.7 It was after this briefing from Ambassador Marongwe that Hon. Speaker and his delegation took a position to raise this issue with the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Sabah
Al Khalid Al-Sabah, which he did. The delegation is grateful to the Kuwait authorities for acting with speed in clearing the girls and facilitated the release of the two who were in prison.
1.8 On April 30, the Speaker and his delegation arrived in Harare with the 32 young women and handed them over to Government through the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. Prisca Mupfumira. In attendance to welcome the girls at the Airport was the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and his
Deputy, Hon. Edgar Mbwembwe, Minister of Health and Child Welfare,
Dr. David Parirenyatwa and Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon. Nyasha
Chikwinya, including the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women’s Affairs, Hon. Biatta Nyamupinga.
1.9 Hon. Members may be interested to know that our innocent women are lured by private agents who benefit from their trafficking. While countries like the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have agreements with Kuwait that allows a labour exporting country to benefit from taxes, Zimbabwe does not have such an arrangement with Kuwait.
1.10 During the time of this visit to Kuwait, Malawi and the Philippines were also repatriating their own citizens back home who had fallen victims to similar abuses. A total of 143 distressed Overseas
Filipino Workers were repatriated home by their Government which had to charter a plane for that purpose. Up to 300 more Philippians were waiting repatriation.
1.11 It is important to note that some African countries have since blocked the issuance of Kuwait visas under Article 20. South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana and Sierra Leone have since banned their nationals from migrating to the Middle East as domestic workers. Now these syndicates, taking advantage of the economic situation in Zimbabwe, have turned their focus on us and were recruiting our desperate young girls, some even degree holders.
1.12 Hon Members may be interested to know that one girl was so traumatised from the abuse to an extent of being mentally-challenged up to this day. The girl is currently under the care of the Department of Social Welfare. While in Kuwait, the girl could not access medical help because hospitals there refused to admit her because she had no identification particulars on her as her passport had been confiscated by her employer who refused to release it without compensation for the money he had initially paid to an employment agency. Such was the distressing nature of cases in Kuwait.
1.13 The situation had become so untenable to an extent that the Zimbabwe Embassy in Kuwait was finding it difficult to support the escaped maids in Kuwait. The influx of the run-away maids on daily basis meant the Embassy was now working full time carrying out rescue missions for our girls.
What was disturbing, however, was that despite several appeals to Head Office for help, the Ambassador did not receive any response. The only response he got from the Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Joey Bimha, was on April 1, 2016, informing the Ambassador that the Ministry was unable to help in any way, effectively telling him that he was now on his own.
1.14 The delegation would like to commend our Speaker for his robust intervention and for taking a firm stance to ensure that the 32 distressed maids were cleared by Kuwait authorities and return home together with the delegation. This was achieved. Also the delegation would like to thank a local businessman, Mr. Wicknell Chivhayo who paid for the women’s return air tickets to Zimbabwe. It must be pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to assist these distressed women with airfares, citing budgetary constraints.
To buttress this point let me just read letters from the Ambassador so that we are complete. First letters were written way back in
November and this was on the 3rd March 2016 to the secretary of
Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bimha. Reference, Maid Influx in Kuwait – this is our Ambassador Marongwe writing: We refer to all our previous communications reference ZKWT/CON/2 dated 20 October 2015 and ZKWT/CON/7 dated 24 November 2015, respectively. We also acknowledge your response ref B/117/60 dated 1 December 2015 on the above subject.
The maids issue escalated to unprecedented levels, with more than ten distress calls per day made to the mission. From the 15 maids we reported in our first letter, number has swelled to more than a hundred. Apparently the increased inflow is a result of the many labour agents that have mushroomed in Zimbabwe. Some of the maids themselves also act as agents, creating a vicious circle that we fear could lead the countries’ name being brought into disrepute.
Agents in Zimbabwe supply their counterparts here with maids. Unsuspecting job seekers are promised lucrative job opportunities, offering high salaries, free air tickets and free accommodation. Only when they arrive in Kuwait do they realise that they have sold themselves into slavery. These maids lose their freedoms upon landing in Kuwait. They are then sold for approximately US$2 500 to anyone who need a house slave. The transaction is not illegal in Kuwait, though back home we would call it human trafficking. The maids are not free to leave until after two years, when the contract expires. During the two years the maid is locked away, the employer may do whatever he or she deems fit, without government interference. Most of the problems they encounter include long hours of work, beatings, starvation, sexual abuse, and low wages, over and above the house arrest.
The Mission visited some African Embassies to try to benefit from their experiences. It would appear no agreements exist between these countries and Kuwait. The maids are lured by private agents who benefit from their trafficking. A few countries including the Philippians, India and Bangladesh have agreements that allow the labour exporting country to benefit from taxes. Ethiopia, Ghana and Sierra Leone have since banned their people from migrating to the Middle East as domestic workers. This is why agents in the Middle East are turning to Southern Africa where awareness about the way unskilled job seekers are treated has not been raised.
There is need to spread awareness so that all unsuspecting job seekers are not duped into this forces labour system since these agents are now boldly advertising in local newspapers and television. Security staff at our airport has been casually informing those leaving the country to notify the Embassy of Zimbabwe as soon as they sense problems.
Under the current circumstances, the Mission has very little to offer as the agents demand a refund on expenses totaling US$3 000 minus the ticket needed to return the girl home.
In view of the above the Mission would like to make some recommendations as follows:
- All maids coming to Kuwait require a police clearance certificate. The police could be concientised to deny anyone who wants to use the certificate in Kuwait until verification is made with the Mission to weed out those lured to be maids under false pretexts.
- Kuwait has various types of visas depending on profession. Maids fall under Visa 20. The Mission could be instructed to write to the Kuwait Government, banning all Visa 20 requests except those recommended by the Mission.
- Newspapers and electronic media could also be concertised so that they do not publish these adverts. This is the letter from
Ambassador Marongwe.
Let me take a response which came on the 1st April from
Ambassador Bimha – Attention Ambassador M.G Marongwe, Ref: Urgent repatriation of an ill distress Zimbabwean Maid, the one that I have talked about who is now mentally ill.
Your minute ref: ZKWT/CON/7 of the 31st March 2016 refers: while I do appreciate the seriousness of the situation and the need for swift action to remedy it, the reality, Ambassador is that we have no money.
Of late, we have been engaged with Treasury on a daily basis regarding SOS messages we have been receiving from Missions to no avail. Just a few hours ago, we were advised that there were no funds available.
We will forward this request to Treasury but the chances of getting anything are slim.
I am sorry that the Ministry cannot address this serious situation without assistance from Treasury.
So, as of today Madam Speaker, the news we have just received is that 21 more maids are arriving tomorrow at 0530 hours aboard Emirates and the money has been provided by the International Organisation for Migration, an organisation which deals with migrant, labour and refugees, not the Zimbabwean Government.
2.0RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE MATTER
In view of the above, the delegation would like to make the following recommendations: -
2.1 To obtain a work permit visa for Kuwait a police clearance certificate is required. Therefore, the police must be instructed to deny the issuance of such certificates to all young girls wishing to travel to Kuwait and any other Arab countries without relevant educational or professional qualifications.
2.2 Kuwait has various types of visas depending on a specific profession. Maids fall under Article 20 of their visa regime. The delegation recommends that the Speaker of the National Assembly writes an official note to the President appealing to him to request the Kuwait Government to ban all visas issued under Article 20 in relation to Zimbabwean nationals. It is important to reiterate that the trafficking of young girls is done by some criminal elements in
Zimbabwe and Kuwait and has no direct link to the Kuwait
Government.
2.3 Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, must set up an ad hoc Special Fund to assist in the repatriation of young Zimbabwean women still holed up in Kuwait and other Arab countries.
2.4 Government must carry out investigations to establish the exact number of young Zimbabwean girls who have travelled, between June 2015 and April 30, 2016 under Article 20 of the Kuwait visa regime. A formal request must be submitted to Kuwait Authorities to assist in locating all those maids who have not been accounted for.
2.5 Newspapers and electronic media could also be instructed not to publish the advertisements which source for maids in Kuwait.
2.6 Awareness campaigns must be mounted by Government, Parliament, Women and Human Rights activists discouraging young Zimbabweans from being lured to work in Kuwait as housemaids.
2.7 All local agents who assisted Kuwait human traffickers must be brought to book.
3.0 EMBASSY STAFF WELFARE IN KUWAIT
3.1 Our Ambassador, Cde. Marongwe painted a gloomy picture on the situation at our Embassy in Kuwait which is similar or worse than what is prevailing in other Embassies dotted around the globe. He told the delegation he was humiliated when he was summoned, on 22 February 2016, to the Kuwait Foreign Affairs Ministry over outstanding rentals after owners of properties occupied by Embassy staff had approached their Government for redress. The rentals are seven months in arrears and landlords were demanding immediate evictions.
3.2 Rentals for the Official Residence and Chancery, which are due every six months, were now four months in arrears. The Kuwait Government, in terms of their laws, have no option but to support their citizens.
3.3 In all rental arrears accrued currently stand at over $130 000.
Apart from threats of possible evictions, the clinic providing Embassy staff with medical care is also threatening to cut services due to an outstanding debt of $1 700 while the telephone bill is $2 000 in arrears and these could be disconnected anytime. It was distressful to note that one of the Embassy Staff almost had his wife detained after giving birth due to failure to pay for the hospital bills. It took the
Ambassador's personal intervention for the woman to be released.
3.4 Another burden is that of salary arrears of up to $25 000.00 for the locally-recruited staff, who have not been paid for over three months.
3.5 Meanwhile, the Ambassador and his three other home-based support staff are collectively owed more than $275 000 dating back 15 months ago from July 2014 to August 2015. Now these four receive their salaries through the Salary Services Bureau in Harare.
3.6 To add salt to injury, the Public Service Commission, with effect from May 1, 2016, downgraded the Conditions of Service for all diplomats manning our Embassies abroad with monthly allowances for Ambassadors, Ministers Plenipotentiary and Ministers Counsellors reduced by 25 percent, and 22 percent for Counsellors, First and Second Secretaries while Third Secretaries had theirs cut by 18,5 percent.
3.7 Among other raft of cost-cutting measures, Treasury will pay a maximum of US$1 340.00 as school fees in secondary schools and US$560.00 for primary education, while rental ceilings for staff accommodation has been set according to rank with mission staff directed to join group medical insurance schemes wherever they are stationed or make arrangements with Premier Service Medical Aid Society back home for a similar package.
3.8 Ambassador Marongwe has since written to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joey Bimha, pointing out that in the event that the Government was failing to sustain its foreign missions, consideration should seriously be given to strategically “scale down (because) quitting while you are still ahead is not the same as surrendering.”
3.9 Ambassador Marongwe was also bitter that when his wife died in Kuwait in June 2015, Government failed to assist him financially in repatriating the body home and had to borrow from the Bank of Kuwait to pay for airfares, embalming and other expenses.
This is despite the fact that Treasury owes Ambassador Marongwe
US$127 000.00 in salary arrears.
4.0OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS
- Treasury must avail money and pay off all outstanding salary and rental arrears for our diplomats serving in foreign missions.
- The Executive should consider cutting staff or make a bold decision and close down those embassies where there is no business benefits accruing to Zimbabwe as the focus is now on attracting Foreign Direct Investment. I submit Madam Speaker.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I think my colleague
has done a good job of giving you the broader view of the report. I am just going to speak on two or three issues just to give some emphasis. The first one is to speak to the issue that, for all intense and purpose, this was a bilateral visit. I think one thing that you notice from the issues that come out from the meetings is that there is a role for Parliament in bilateral engagements. What is unfortunate is that we have got only one Deputy Minister here. The Ministers are not here to listen to the things that are being discussed which they are supposed to follow up themselves.
The reason why we are not moving as a country is that of the three Arms of State, there is one that is not taken seriously and we have raised this over and over again. Because you do not take it seriously, you do not use the opportunities that are available to push for certain things. If you look at the things that we got as part of the Speaker’s delegation in this process, if the Executive took it seriously, they would have a lot of milestone, but they are not here because as far as they are concerned, Parliament does not matter. So, it does not matter how many bilateral meetings we are going to have, nothing will happen because the Executive has not put it in its mind that when they engage the international or any other community, it is important to bring with you the Legislative Arm because it can make a difference.
So to link that point Madam Speaker, to what happened with the distressed maids, like Hon. Paradza has said, the delegation had not gone for the distressed maids but when we got there we found that the
Ambassador was in serious distress. This is an Ambassador Madam Speaker, who had just lost his wife sometime in October/November,
2015 to breast cancer and it had been a traumatising experience for him. This is an Ambassador Madam Speaker, and I have to bring this point because he was very bitter about it; who has been part of the liberation struggle and who feels that he is being treated so badly in spite of the role that he played in this country.
Madam Speaker, just to go back to the point around the role of Parliament, we realise we have a crisis and as a delegation we sat to discuss. I must thank the Hon. Speaker because he was amazing. There is nothing that he did without communicating with the delegation. The first thing that we had to decide was, ‘ we have come here on a bilateral mission and to seek for assistance, do we raise the issue of vana vedu from Zimbabwe and perhaps, mess up our bilateral conversations and lose whatever resources that we were likely to get’. As a delegation, some of us were literally in tears. All of us decided that if these people were going to say, get out of this country we do not want to if these people were going to say, ‘get out of this country, we do not want to talk to you’. We have to deal with the issue of the distressed maids.
Let me make you understand that there were two issues. The first issue was to do with resources to get those young women out of Kuwait. The second one was that even those girls that had resources, you could not get them out of Kuwait because they would be blocked upon taking them to the airport because they were now somebody’s slaves. When a slave runs away, you report them, therefore they cannot leave the country. So in your mind and for some time, it would not make sense to me because I thought you can run away and go to the police. You cannot run to the police because your owner is the one that runs to the police to report that my slave has run away. So we had to find a way of diplomatically opening up that space so that they could leave Kuwait. Otherwise even for those that could leave even if we had money to buy tickets for them, we still could not get the young women out of Kuwait.
This is where I want to get to the point about why as Parliament we need to be angry and upset. We now have this problem, we agree. We are angry because the Ambassador said, “I have been talking to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and getting no joy in terms of dealing with the diplomatic issue, dealing with the visas and the help with resources”. Remember, this is an Ambassador who is now living on his own, he is now single.
First when these girls run away, they come and live with the Ambassador in his house. He is the one who has to deal with whether they are having their menstruation … [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] – who needs sanitary pads? I am telling you the reality! I am telling you the reality! He is the one that has to talk to all of them on whether they have been sexually abused or not. So, he has become a counsellor cum mother, everything in one…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Member.
Hon. Members, is there any need of kubhonga because of this issue? – [HON. MEMBERS: No!] – Hazvisi kukubataiwo mwoyo here? - [HON.
MEMBERS: Zviri kutibata!] - You may proceed Hon. Member.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Madam Speaker,
literally this man is the one who has taken the responsibility for doing this. Fortunately and I have to say this because some of the people are never acknowledged. The wife of one gentleman, who is operating as the Deputy Ambassador, again a young woman, is the one who literally became almost like an adoptive mother to these girls. The Ambassador would then say when I am dealing with some of these sensitive issues, may you please be the one who talks to these young women?” Literally, the Embassy had to find a way on their own, with absolutely no support, to organise themselves and see what would happen. When they wanted to make a rescue, you know a young woman would desperately call the
Embassy, “I am somewhere but not sure where”. The Embassy would look at the number and identify the location and say, “When you are going to throw litter out, I am going to be driving around that area. Just go out, do not pick your passport’, so many of the young girls had no passports on them. ‘Do not pick up anything, just walk and jump into the
car’.
So, he would be doing his own rounds and because this is a cartel, like a $15 billion thing, remember it is not just about Zimbabwe. It is about East Asia and West Africa, you know I love $15 billion, it is close to billions of monies that are in the cartel. So, even the risk that you are taking is massive because anybody who is seen as working against the cartel can easily be killed because you are messing up. This is a lot of money if you are going to be selling somebody for $3 000.00 and you have a 1000 coming in, you are making good money. So, they are being put at risk of doing this.
The delegation heard of this whole story and was now trying to see what they could do at a diplomatic level. All we needed from here was the accession that we would get the tickets and make a proposal. We now have a Civil Servants Travel Agency. When people are travelling now and there is no money, the Civil Service Travel Agency does that. We called in to request for 32 tickets for the young women because the Speaker had taken a position to say, ‘give me my children, I am not leaving without them”. That is literally what he said in the meeting, ‘All I am asking is – give me my children so I can go with them’. We called here and the answer was, ‘we have no money’.
What made it worse was that you have a whole Speaker of Parliament, who is like number three at State level. As a Minister, you do not even have the decency of saying, ‘may I speak to the Speaker?’, so that you have a conversation with him and be briefed on the problem. No one did that because no one cared and as a whole nation of Zimbabwe, we are not embarrassed that we are now being reduced to asking an individual like Chivhayo to buy the 32 tickets. Does it not embarrass us? We think we can continue to pretend that we are running a country when we have to resort to one person to do something like that. For me, it is not about the fact that you do not have money but that you are not prioritising what is important. You have been informed that these children are going through hell.
I call them children because Hon. Majome was telling me not to call them girls. You know, when you are an older person and you see these people, what you see are your children, your babies. When I called one of them, she was in mid-speech and I asked if she could run away. She said, ‘Okay auntie Priscilla, I think I can…’, before somebody snatched the phone away from her. What I felt was not impersonal because it was like my own child/baby because I did not know whether she was now going to be beaten up or not.
So you are thinking the same level of urgency that you have is the same level of urgency that is at home. But no, people carried on with their business, life went on; those that were travelling did so and those returning from travels did so. As far as they were concerned, we could have been stuck in Kuwait and no one would have cared if we had not tried to seek assistance. I must confess that I am one of those people who had serious issues with Chivhayo but when people said,
‘Chivhayo’. I did not care where the money was coming from and would have consented even if an Arab man had sought to spend ten minutes with me in a room so that we could have money to buy the tickets… - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, Hear.] – because I was at the point where I would do anything to get money for those girls to return home… - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – That is the level at which I was. You know the level where you sell yourself in order to be able to bring these girls home?
We are not going into intricacies that these women shared with us because the problem is, the more we talk about it, the more they are having problems in their own homes. Some of them left young husbands and right now are being told, ‘you went and somebody was sleeping with you in Kuwait, so I do not want you anymore’ and others left were from broken homes where the stepmother was happy they had left for Kuwait. Now you are returning with nothing to your name. We will not go into details but the stories that the young women were sharing were horrendous.
We come back, this is what makes me angrier, and Hon. Paradza spoke about the entire delegation that was at the airport. I had arrived on an earlier flight and thought I would be able to brief my counterparts before the arrival of Mr. Speaker’s delegation. It was now an executive affair as Parliament was nowhere to be seen. I was trying to say, can we sit down because I think there are certain things that we need to arrange.
Not the Ministers, but the officials were the ones who were literally looking at me and saying, ‘we are still talking to the Ministers, what do you want?’ I was like, even these Ministers were not in Kuwait; I am the one who was in Kuwait, so I can tell you what to do. It became an executive affair. I must thank Minister Mupfumira because she was able to involve Hon. Biata Nyamupinga and myself into the conversations of what would happen when the young women come in, but for me it was a clear attitude. The Executive had an attitude. First, it was like what were you doing anyway dealing with those people in
Kuwait. It had nothing to do with Parliament; this is an Executive job. An Executive job from someone who was getting these letters day in and day out and not doing anything about it. An Executive job from people that were being told day in and day out that this is what is happening and ignoring. All of a sudden now, because we have brought the young women, we are very responsible, now we are there as the Executive and we do not want anything to do with Parliament.
I think it is an attitudinal problem and we need to deal with it as Parliament. We are either equal partners in this State, where Parliament is taken seriously and is respected for its role or we are not because that whole behaviour and attitude that was displayed at the airport, even when we came back, leaves a lot to be desired. This is why I said both from a bilateral point of view; the attitude is that Parliament has no role in dealing with bilateral issues. Even when Parliament does something that is commendable, no one cares. Even the way we engage and relate with our Speaker, I think people relate better with their follow Ministers than they relate to the Speaker. They think the Speaker is just perhaps a Permanent Secretary whom they can treat in whatever manner they want
to treat.
Madam Speaker, I want to support the recommendations that have come here, but I am tired of repeating the same story around foreign affairs. Either President Mugabe takes us seriously about what we have said about foreign affairs and sees what he can do. For example, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs is never here in this House. He is not the President of this country, he is not. So, where the President is going, he does not necessarily have to go all the time. He should be sitting in his office and dealing with some of these particular issues that happen. He should let Hon. Mbwembwe go because this is why we have a deputy so that he can deal with some of these issues.
If that cannot happen, then President Mugabe has to shift and change and say, let me do some changes and have a new Minister of
Foreign affairs – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, I know
it is touching you, but we are in Parliament. You will have your own chance of standing up and debating. So, we want to hear what the Hon.
Member is saying.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: So, I am making that
proposal. Either he just goes, we have a new person or we change the way we do business, and he sits here and deals with the needs of his
Ministry because this is not working. Every day we have, ‘this embassy, that embassy’. We cannot continue to be saying that story over and over again.
Secondly, we need to find a way of dealing and making sure we buttress that particular embassy until they are able to deal with this maid issue. We need to send either one or two officials from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services to go and be at the embassy and make sure that they are the support system and that they are resourced to be able to do so. As my colleague has said, we need to cancel that Chapter 20.
Madam Speaker, in Dubai they have the same thing around maids, but when maids come, they are registered first with the Ministry of
Labour. They sign a contract and if they are abused they can go to the Ministry of Labour in Dubai and be protected. So, it is possible for us to have those kinds of discussions with Kuwait. Like my colleague said, I did not find the Kuwait Government being part of this process. Of course, there may be legal laws they need to change, but I found engaging with them can make a difference, so we can make a difference.
Lastly, the agents are walking free in Chitungwiza and in
Marlborough. They are even boasting as it is. We have a Human Trafficking Act. They should be arrested as soon as possible so that we show people that things are going to change. In conclusion, because this is something that has touched my heart and I am angry about, for me there was no man that was part of their group. It is young women, pretty and slim. It is as if there is a profile for what kind of woman she has to be. If we are not going to be serious and we are not going to implement the recommendations that we are doing, I have no business sitting on these chairs and pretending that I am a Member of Parliament who is equal to every other person in this particular room. With effect from today and I am inviting my other sisters, I am not sitting on these chairs. I am sitting on the floor because that is where I belong as far as Zimbabwe is concerned, until they are able to recognise the rights of young women and do something about those children that are left in Kuwait so that all of them can come home. I will sit on this floor Madam Speaker, until such a time it has been done and its starts now. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I would have wanted us to sing a song – ‘Mumbengegwi must go’, but in the interest of time…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, you are out of order
Hon. Member.
*HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to
start by singing a song.
Hon. Members broke into a song – Ndinoshamiswa Kwazvo.
*HON. MPARIWA: Hon. Speaker, I am not going to make a lot of contributions on this issue because everything has been clarified in the report, but the source of all these problems is the lack of jobs in the country and this is mainly affecting women. I am told that in the report, of course it was not put in detail, but members of this delegation who went to Kuwait from the Parliament of Zimbabwe made a contribution of US$100 so that they could be able to buy a return ticket for one of these fugitives and this shows the commitment of the people.
I also want to thank the head of the delegation, the Speaker of the National Assembly. Now, the Parliament has become a poor cousin of the State and they are not given the treatment and respect which is due to them, because if the Speaker was given that respect due to him, he would have raised funds to repatriate these destitute children. The problem in this country is that we have people and when they donate some money we really feel happy and elated about that, but my feeling is that we need to put aside a fund which will be for doing these assignments such as these tickets.
During my tenure as the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services and visiting outside, there was a sorry sight on our machine because they were under-funded. As far as I am concerned, I think we need to put more money in our budget allocation to Ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public
Service, Labour and Social Services.
I also support the notion that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Mumbengegwi should be a part of this discussion, but unfortunately, he is never here whenever discussions are held. We would also like to thank our Ambassador in Kuwait, Hon. Diplomat Mark Marongwe because of the sterling job he has done in taking care of these destitute maids in Kuwait. He is someone who is recently widowed, but has taken care of all those people. I would also want to thank you for the support given to these embassies
I do appreciate that there is a lack of jobs in the country but we do not have to dehumanise ourselves by taking menial jobs in countries such as Kuwait as women. This is disgraceful for a country like Zimbabwe which is held highly in educational circles, that we are demeaning ourselves to an extent that you go to sexual slavery in Kuwait. We need to have industries revamped so that we have these things sorted.
We have a motion on our Order Paper which looks at some of these issues. I am sure with this background, we will include this issue.
Let me talk about this delegation. We have a Women Parliamentary
Caucus of which I am the Vice Chairperson. We also have a Gender Committee which is chaired by Hon. Nyamupinga but when we are in those gatherings, we do not talk on partisan lines. When we are going to welcome such people at the airport, I feel that all of us should go and talk to those returnees so that we may conscientise these people. When the delegation was going to Kuwait, it was a balanced delegation but going to welcome those returnees, partisan politics creped in.
I want to thank our Ambassador in Kuwait and I also want to thank the Committee led by the Speaker which scrounged in supporting these destitute maids in Kuwait. I would like to further urge this House to support the recommendations which have been put forward. Also, we would be very happy if the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Mumbengegwi could come and make a contribution on this issue. I thank you.
HON. DZIVA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker for giving
me this opportunity to add my voice on the report that was presented by the Hon. Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Paradza. I would like to thank you for the feedback that you have given us. You have always been doing that and we appreciate the work that you are doing. Let me also thank the Speaker of Parliament who was the head of the delegation for doing such a good job of consulting the Members of Parliament when he is outside the country and making decisions that are very positive towards Zimbabweans that are also outside the country. I really want to appreciate him, his work and the support that he is giving on international trips – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - The issue of relations with the Parliament of Kuwait, we had a good rapport and we wish to continue to have those relations strengthened. Thank you so much Parliament of Zimbabwe!
I want to go straight to the issue that has touched me as a woman, the issue of human trafficking. As a country we have to condemn human trafficking, this is wrong. It is affecting women especially young people. Even young men are also affected but in this matter, we have seen in relation to Kuwait, it is affecting women. We are not going to be apologetic but to say that our Government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs which also deals with women issues, must take a clear position of condemning acts of human trafficking that are happening from Zimbabwe to Kuwait.
The issue of the people that are facilitating this human trafficking, as I have heard from the report, it shows that these people are there and they call themselves agents - agents of what? Agents of evilness. I think the courts and Parliament must enact a strong law in the form of a Bill that will make sure that these people are answerable to the law of Zimbabwe. This is the time that we can make an amendment to the Bill so that it can be effectively implemented. I think it is important as well for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, like all the Hon. Members have spoken before that, they must take these issues seriously.
Madam Speaker, these issues are not only affecting Zimbabweans but they are affecting other countries. Like you have heard from the report that even the Philippians in Kuwait, they are also being affected, the Malawians and so on. Let me say that, as much as we are talking about Kuwait, human trafficking is happening even to people that are being taken to other countries in Europe and even here in Africa for greener pastures and for better salaries that they are being promised and everything else. Only when you arrive there, you are surprised and you are already a prostitute or a slave.
So, I want the women of Zimbabwe to join hands with us especially the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus to take an active role, to make sure that we speak against human trafficking. We presented a report from the Inter-Parliamentary Union of the 133rd
Assembly that was held in Geneva. To my surprise, we never heard Members of Parliament supporting that report. It is important when these international Acts and decisions thereon, when they come to
Parliament that we support and decisions are made.
I also want to add that as Parliament, we are not supposed to react to situations. We are supposed to make laws before these things happened. It has also happened here in Parliament with the issue of the
Labour Act where we then had to act after employees had been affected
– [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - As Parliament, we must take a position of protecting our people. Let me also add to say as women, let us continue to be united on issues that are affecting us. Let us also make sure that we support our Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament for all that they will be doing – (Hon. Maridadi having joined women sitting on the floor) - Thank you very much Hon. Maridadi for joining women – [Laughter.] – So, finally, I just want to say that the report that was presented by Hon. Paradza is a good report. The Government must also take into consideration the recommendations that have been made. I support the recommendations and the Ministry must take action. I also want to thank the Deputy Minister, Hon. Mbwembwe who is here to hear us as Parliament. Thank you so much for supporting this move.–
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Let me end by saying women of Zimbabwe, it is our opportunity to make sure that we stand. We have an embassy of Kuwait here. Let us go and speak to them so that something is done that will not jeopardize our diplomatic relations with Kuwait. I thank you very much.
HON. KWARAMBA: Madam Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. MANGAMI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 17th May, 2016.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (HON. MBWEMBWE), the House adjourned at Twenty
Five Minute past Six O’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 17th May, 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 11th May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
BASELINE SURVEY
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that Parliament of Zimbabwe engaged Professional Consultants to conduct baseline surveys in the following areas:
- Legislative Analysis;
- Economic Literacy;
- Human Rights and Rule of Law;
- Environment and Climate Change;
- Gender Issues; and
- Committee specific issues.
The Base-line Surveys will form an objective basis for planning various interventions and capacity building programmes for parliamentarians. They are also a principle tool for identifying areas which require immediate intervention in the short to medium term. The identified gaps will then be used to motivate the mobilisation of resources for various development initiatives as well as capacity building.
In this regard, Members of Parliament must cooperate fully with our Consultants through completing the questionnaires that are being distributed by the secretariat as well as returning the same to the secretariat. The process of gathering data will end on the 31st May, 2016. I am appealing to all Members of Parliament to take this process seriously, as to date, the cooperation has not been very positive or encouraging.
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also with to inform the House of the following changes to the Committees’ membership:
- J. Makonya has moved from the Portfolio Committee on Education, Sports, Arts and Culture to the Portfolio Committee of
Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment; and
- T. Banda has moved from the Portfolio Committee on Education, Sports, Arts and Culture to the Portfolio Committee of
Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.
May I appeal to the Chief Whips that please reduce these transfers for purposes of stability in Committees.
HON. CHAMISA: Mr. Speaker Sir, just a vexing question of procedure. Yesterday when Parliament adjourned it was on account of the absence of quorum but when the House adjourned, I still had the floor and my debate had to be cut halfway. I searched long and wide in the rules, it would appear that, that kind of a situation creates a bit of a problem in terms of the direction that you may give whether or not I still have the floor. I checked with the Clerk, he referred me to a rule, which rule is absolutely not catering for the kind of situation we have. So, if you may guide us accordingly, Hon. Speaker Sir?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Which rule?
HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker Sir, I had been informed by our
technical team that the motion falls away, which obviously is not the case. The motion does not fall away, unless it is a motion of urgent public importance. I just wanted clarity because they had referred me to Rule No. 72, which obviously, is something that I – but 72 speaks to questions and even the interpretation of those questions…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Generally, you are allowed to complete
your debate at the next sitting.
HON. CHAMISA: What is motivating this submission I am
making is because I have been told that the motion falls away and I said I am making a motion. Mine is a contribution, it does not fall away, I have to conclude what I had started.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The question is simply superseded by the quorum but that does not stop you from carrying on with your debate at the next sitting.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much, this is the sitting, so I just wanted to be guided that when the debate comes, I will still have the floor. Thank you very much for that assurance.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, but today is your Question Time
and at the next sitting when the motion arises, then you can complete your debate.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. M. R. N MAWERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Dr. Undenge. Hon. Minister, is your Ministry aware of a Service Station which is located less than 100 metres from ZBC in Mbare, which is a national broadcaster and a vital installation. There are a lot of consequences which will happen. Is your Ministry aware of that, and what are the checks and balances you are taking on ZERA?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, your question should
have been on policy. What is the policy of the Ministry, but the way you have phrased it, it cannot be a policy issue.
HON. M. R. N MAWERE: I stand guided Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, you can bring it under Written
Questions.
HON. CHIMWAMUROMBE: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. My
question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development. Hon. Minister in your making of contracts and BOTs in regards to the roads, are you considering the refurbishment or installment of the peripheral or side fencing of the roads. Their absence has caused a lot ….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, ask a policy question Hon.
Member.
HON. CHIMWAMUROMBE: What is the policy on the repairs
on the perimeter or side fencing along the roads?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I am on record in the august House, stating that as we do the roads from now on, we will be doing perimeter fencing and I also even went on to say when we do the new roads, we also be targeting villagers along those roads to give them the responsibility to look after their animals. Also that the animals for the farmers along the roads will also be tagged so that – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can the Hon. Minister be
heard in silence, otherwise we cannot follow the debate.
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you Mr. Speaker, so that whenever
an accident occurs and an animal is identified, we can then be able to trace whose animal it is and make that person responsible for that accident. So, it is true that whenever we are going to be constructing new roads we will be doing some perimeter fencing. It is policy that I stated in the House. I thank you.
HON. MUKUPE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Chinamasa. I am seeking to get policy clarification on the 5% bond incentive scheme. I would want the Minister that the 5% incentive scheme, is it going to the final traders of the goods that have been exported out of the country? Is the 5% incentive scheme going to go to the producers of the goods that are going to be exported? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Thank you very much and
I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. He is seeking clarification on the measures announced by the Central Bank Governor with respect of the 5% incentive. The short answer is that, we are targeting producers who are producing for exports, not middle people. So, in this regard, I can, as an example, we are talking of the gold miners; tobacco farmers; those who are going to earn foreign currency for this country will stand to benefit from the 5% incentive. I thank you
Mr. Speaker.
HON. MUKUPE: My supplementary question is that, so in the instances of makorokoza or tobacco farmers, are they going to be paid at the auctions or at the meals. Is that going to be the case?
HON. CHINAMASA: I am sure the Hon. Member will know that,
that is a matter for detail. The principles and the policies to reward producers who produce for exports, this is with a view to addressing our balance of payment and also re-orientate and get balance between imports and exports but for now I will say they will be paid through the banking system.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. CHAMISA: Supplementary!
THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you serious that you want a supplementary?
HON. CHAMISA: I am very serious.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is the last supplementary?
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much. I think just as a question that is arising from what has been asked by the Hon. Member, considering the fact that Hon. Minister, the Governor is not the
Government he is part of the Government. Considering the fact that the
Governor is not the Minister, is the policy that was announced by the
Governor lawful? Considering the fact that the Public Finance
Management System and the Act itself is very clear about what the
Minister is supposed to do and what the Governor should do. The
Minister is supposed to come to Parliament if there is any borrowing. Now we understand that the Bonds are coming on the back of US$200 million which is a borrowing in itself and that raises some legal issues. Not only that, the Minister is the only one who is supposed to then come to Parliament with such a measure, and not the Governor. Now, under these circumstances where there is an apparent illegality, what is the view of the Minister?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): To start with the question is not arising from the initial question. I will answer it all the same because you raise pertinent issues that require clarification. If I were at a
ZANU PF rally I will say ‘Pamberi nekunzwisisa, vasingazive ngavadzidziswe’ -[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- First I want to underscore the point that the fiscal and monetary policies work very closely together, we work hand in hand.
We both appreciate each other’s boundaries as fiscal and also the boundary that delineates the monetary activities. That is very clear, but we work very closely. Now, the issue you raise is that you must not forget that what triggered the measures announced last week was a cash crises. Cash to do with monetary authorities. If there is n money in the banks, it is not the Minister who should announce measures to deal with those issues, it is the Governor because he is dealing with the financial system of payment.
That exactly is the Governor did and in respect of those measures they come after fullest consultations between monetary and fiscal authorities. I decided and I have basically, restrained myself from coming into this issue because it is a purely monetary issue. I did not want it to be politicised. It is very important that people look at those announcements on their own merits and not as if it is a political measure or political maneuver. So please bear in mind - as to the last question with respect to whether it is a loan or not. The Bond notes are not yet printed ,it is just an announcement. Whatever, aspect of the measures require me to come to this House, I will come - but there are also some of those measures where we are not required to come to this Parliament. We shall act completely within the remit of the Governor – first of all you need to understand that facility is an overdraft and we do not come to Parliament for overdrafts. The central bank is a Bank they get lines of credit, on an overdraft, we do not come to Parliament here for overdraft authorization but if it is necessary we will come and there will be no problem.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order. The Minister is the one ndiye ati pamberi nokudzidzisa vamwe ndiye anoda kudzidziswa panyaya iyi. I would appear that they need help. It is clear that when you are borrowing you have to go in terms of part 4. Minister you are a legal practitioner, who is a Minister and you understand …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Address the Chair.
HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker Sir, the Minister is very clear about what the law says and he agreed with me and I am surprised that he is giving a contrary response. He was in agreement with me that certain things were done illegally and unlawfully [HON. CHINAMASA:
No I never agreed with you]- you did. [Laughter]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can we clarify the issue.
HON. CHINAMSA: Mr. Speaker Sir, no illegality has been committed and I must emhpasise this. No unlawful action has been. Whatever the Governor has done has been done within the law. It is up to the Hon. Member, if he feels that any of those measures can be challenged in court, we will meet there. -[HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: No supplementary! We have had enough supplementary questions.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: On a point or order.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You do not make a point of order when I have ruled that there is no supplementary.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: It is different.
THE HON. SPEAKER: If it is different you are out of order. A point of order on what?
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker I believe that the issue that is being answered by the Minister.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are out of order and you cannot
follow that and the debate is closed.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Professor
Mavima. Prof. what is the Government policy regarding the recently
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order there are no Profs here you address the Chair. -[Laughter]-
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Hon Speaker. Hon. Professor Mavima Minister, what is the Government policy regarding the issuance of teachers with uniforms?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Order! Your question is very vague Hon. Member. What type of uniform?
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question to
him is there any policy to give a dress code to teachers in the country to wear when they are going to work like uniforms.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND
SECONDARY EDUCATION (PROF. MAVIMA) Thank you Hon.
Speaker Sir. There has always been a dress code for teachers which is to say that they should dress formal as formally they go before the learners in our schools. His reference to uniform I do not know where it is coming from but our teachers should be properly dressed formally that is the position of our Ministry. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. CROSS: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Minister is it Government Policy to promote Ministers to defy orders from the High Court on the grounds of constitutionality. I refer to the case of Gweru where the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing has refused twice to accede to orders given by the High Court on the basis of the unconstitutionality of his actions?
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon. Member is asking whether it is Government policy to say Ministers should not obey courts. No, there is no such policy. I will repeat no, there is no such policy. He goes further and mentions a particular incident whose details I am not aware of. The best thing he should do is to quote those facts and present them to the appropriate Minister whose facts relate to. That will be given an appropriate answer because the facts will be dealt with by the appropriate Minister. As to policy, let me assure him that there is no policy by Government that Ministers should disobey court orders.
HON. CROSS: Mr. Speaker Sir, in June last year, the Minister of
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing suspended the
Council in Gweru. We subsequently took him to court and the Gweru
Courts ruled that the action of the Minister was unconstitutional and the Council should return to work. The Minister then appealed the decision to the High Court. In the High Court in Bulawayo, this matter was heard in March, and an extremely strong judgement was issued by the High
Court in Bulawayo against the Minister ordering him again, that the
Councillors should be permitted to go back to work.
Instead, the Minister has appealed the issue to the Supreme Court.
Both of these judgements were absolutely clear. I can provide the Minister with a copy of the judgement in Bulawayo. In addition to ruling in our favour, the Judge gave us penalty financial costs against the
Minister. This is a complete waste of the Supreme Court’s time. It is costing us thousands of dollars as a country to conduct these hearings. Are we going to permit this kind of activity? Surely adherence to the Constitution is a simple straight-forward matter. This matter is open and shut and I just want to know the views of the Minister?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, just a point of clarification before I call upon the Hon. Vice President. Is it correct to say the matter has now been referred to the Supreme Court on appeal?
HON. CROSS: Yes Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): I thank the Hon. Member for being honest that the matter has been referred to the Supreme Court which I did not know. This is why I said facts that are related to a particular event or court process, it is better to put such questions in writing so that people can peruse. The fact that the matter is in Supreme Court, in terms of the law, -[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjection.]- Yes, I know you are an economist but if you were a learned Member of Parliament, then you would know that it is subjudice. I thank you.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, I wish to recognise the presence
in the Speaker’s Gallery of students, journalists from the Christian
College Southern Africa (COSA). You are most welcome to Parliament.
HON. MACKENZIE-NCUBE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My
question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. There are technical reports which indicate that the Kariba Dam wall is progressively getting unstable. What measures or policy measures are you putting in place to make sure that we avert a national disaster?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER
DEVELOPMENT (HON. UNDENGE): Mr. Speaker Sir, let me thank
the Hon. Member for asking such a vital question. I should point out from the outset that we do have a bilateral organisation called the Zambezi River Authority which oversees the safety of the Dam, the use of the Zambezi River in terms of livelihoods of the people who live around the dam and power generation. They continuously monitor what is going on there and the safety of the dam etc. What is currently underway is to repair what we call the plunge pool. Funds to that effect have been secured so as to ensure that it does not retreat towards the dam wall. Otherwise, let me tell the Hon. Member not to worry too much because everything is being attended to continuously. I am also the current chairperson of the Zambezi River Authority which I co-chair with my colleague in Zambia. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. WADYAJENA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Another
national disaster engulfing the Energy Ministry is corruption. I want to find out – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - So, I want to find out the
Ministry’s position regarding corruption. Thank you Mr. Speaker –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, while the question has got some
good intention, unfortunately it does not arise as a supplementary question.
HON. GAVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. I understand the 99 year leases are now bankable. What is the policy regarding the transfer of the 99 year lease?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to
thank the Hon. Member for his question. In order to enhance agricultural productivity, we have been taking a host of measures with respect to the land issue and some of these measures include fixing the new boundaries of land that was acquired under the Land Reform Programme. We acquired about 15 million hectares of land, which was cut up into small pieces and over 350 000 households benefited under the A1 and about 16 thousand to 17 thousand under the A2.
The exercise that is before us is to fix those new boundaries. We got seed money from the European Union (EU) and technical advice from UNDP. All this is preparatory to issuing security documents to A1 farmers in the case of A2 99- year leases. The discussions with the
Bankers’ Association, with respect to incorporating collateral features into the 99-year leases are complete and we are now finalising that document. So, yes, we are going to have 99-year leases which will be transferable and can be used for securing loans from commercial entities. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. GAVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Are we not reversing the land reform because those with money are the former colonialists?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. The supplementary
question does not arise.
HON. MURAI: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. My supplementary question is, what is Government policy regarding farmers who, after selling their tobacco are failing to access their money? They are limited to US$100 or US$500 per day. They are spending a number of days here in Harare – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Members, can you be serious in your debate. Any supplementary question must arise from the previous and original question. That question is out of order.
HON. CROSS: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the
Minister if these new documents for security will be available on the open market. Can we buy land through the open market as a result of this?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Again, the question does not arise because the leases refer to acquired land already.
HON. CROSS: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. That is not the import of my question. Mr. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. What is your clarification?
HON. CROSS: Mr. Speaker, these new documents relating to land occupation or land ownership are of no value to a bank unless they can subsequently sell the repossessed asset on the open market. It can only be used as collateral when it is available for sale if the bank repossesses the property in question. I am asking the Minister, will these documents be marketable on the open market?
HON. CHINAMASA: Mr. Speaker, I thank the Hon. Member for that supplementary question. What the Hon. Member needs to know is that, who owns agricultural land is already in the Constitution, you have to be a citizen. So, to the extent that the open market he is talking about is the citizens of Zimbabwe, the answer is yes.
HON. P. D SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question goes to the Hon. Vice President and Leader of Government Business in the House. Hon. Vice President, in terms of Section 104 (3) of the Constitution, the President is entitled to appoint at least five Ministers outside Parliament on the basis that they possess skills that are not available in Parliament. What policy measures has Government put in place to ensure that these constitutional provisions are not abused by the occupant of State House? Thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I think the Hon. Member has prefaced his question properly, that the Constitution gives the President the prerogative to appoint the persons as mentioned. There is no provision which compels Parliament to compel the President to appoint.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. This is an important national question, which in the interest of transparency by Government, has to be answered. The Hon. Vice President says, the Constitution provides that the President appoints as he wishes. That is not the provision of the Constitution. The Constitution says, he appoints outside Parliament because those people have got certain skills which are not available in Parliament. Therefore, we are saying, there is strict
guidance…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you address the Chair.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: I am addressing the Chair. I am saying the President does not appoint as he wishes, he appoints because these people have got certain skills which are not available in Parliament. Therefore, what we are trying to ask the Hon. Vice President is, are there any policy provisions to make sure that the President, whoever occupies the Office of the President does not go beyond the provisions of the Constitution? Mr. Speaker, I think it is an important question that the
Hon. Vice President has to answer.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I was going to rule you out of order because you do not mix up policy and constitutional provisions. I do not know what the Hon. Vice President will say.
HON. MNANGAGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I have already adequately answered him. He says Section 104 Mr. Speaker Sir, reads as follows
“Appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers:
- The President appoints Ministers and assigns functions to them, including the administration of an Act of Parliament or any Ministry or department, but the President may reserve to himself or herself the administration of an Act, Ministry or department.
- The President may appoint Deputy Ministers to assist any
Minister in the exercise of his or her functions.
- Ministers and Deputy Ministers are appointed from among
Senators or Members of the National Assembly, but up to five chosen for their professional skills and competence, may ‘not must’ may be appointed, from outside Parliament.
- In appointing Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the President must be guided by considerations of regional and gender balance.
- Ministers and Deputy Ministers who are not Members of Parliament may sit and speak, but not vote, in the Senate or the National Assembly.
- Before taking office, a person appointed as Minister or Deputy Minister must take before the President the appropriate Ministerial oath in the form set out in the Third Schedule”. So, that answers your question.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Hon. Speaker, that brings out a supplementary.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Sibanda, you rose
and I did not recognise you. You must respect the Chair and for that disrespect, I am asking you to get out of this House – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear] -
*HON. MUCHENJE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question
is directed to the Leader of the House who is also the Vice President.
What is Government policy regarding what was said by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, that Zimbabwe is sourcing for food to feed the hungry people in the country? The distribution is done on partisan lines favouring ZANU PF cadres.
*THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I heard the question which was asked by the Hon. Member and I repeat, the member is talking about rumours which emanated from a member who is based in the United Nations. When Zimbabwe has been given enough food, nobody should die of hunger in Zimbabwe. The Government works hard so that nobody in Zimbabwe dies of hunger. The Hon. Member has the audacity to say, when feeding these people, the food is distributed on partisan basis and those who belong to the ruling party are favoured.
My response is that this is false. When we distribute food to Zimbabweans, they are given on their rights and on merit. Food is given according to the wards and villages. The residents of those wards are the people who select the vulnerable groups and the list which is compiled determines who receives food assistance without partisan alienation. We know that as Zimbabweans, we had the negative weather of El Nino and there is hunger. I chair the Cabinet Committee on Food Sustenance and we are sourcing for food, enough to feed all the hungry people in Zimbabwe. We have lots of sheep which are dogged in Mozambique in the ports of Maputo and Beira. The food is targeted at the people of Zimbabwe.
I will repeat, nobody in Zimbabwe will die of hunger because of the El-Nino induced drought. We have a quick reaction system which will fast track the food to areas of need. Our Government is a responsible Government; it does not work on rumours.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Member, please
you should know that this Parliament does not operate on rumour mongering, but if you have evidence of people who were denied food because they belonged to some certain political party, you are free to bring the names to the Leader of the House for action.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question
is directed to the Hon. Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services. Hon. Minister, what is the national policy on tele-medicine and its implementation programme in Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON.
MANDIWANZIRA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, and let me thank Hon. Mudarikwa for a very important question. There are two components or two elements to the question; one is medical and the other is technology. In terms of the provision of technology to allow for tele-medicine, Zimbabwe is working on various initiatives through the Ministry of ICT with the support of the International
Telecommunication Union which has provided a grant to link various provincial hospitals to each other.
There is also a private initiative that was started by a doctor in Nyanga, who is the District Medial Officer for Nyanga, Doctor Jokwiro, who has connected various clinics to the district hospital in order to do consultations with people from the various clinics in the various wards. From a technological point of view, there are various technologies that are being looked at by the Ministry and of course, the Ministry of Health and Child Care is equally very keen to ensure that the technology is available in order for it to deploy health services. The policy is that we must promote it and we are looking at various technologies to promote it. I thank you.
*HON. NDUNA: Thank you very much. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. F. Moyo. What is Government policy regarding the large scale miners – especially in areas like Mutoko or other mines dotted around the country? The question is, when these miners have mined their ore, the area in which they are operating from should also benefit from the minerals which are found in those areas. The areas which they operate from should have good, as tarred roads. We realise that they should also be responsible for refurbishing and constructing good roads for the benefit of the community they operate from.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINERALS
(HON. F. MOYO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. This is a very good and pertinent question. As Government we do not have a policy compelling miners to surface the roads in those areas where they operate from but the existing policy is that miners are expected to look at the infrastructure in the areas in which they are operating from and this includes roads, dams and bridges since they use these roads. We have not set down the guidelines as to what extent these miners should refurbish, repair and construct this infrastructure. This benefit is also dependent on the profits and amounts through the mining in these areas.
We also look forward to a harmonious relationship between the community and the miners but the Government has no policy of forcing miners to tar roads. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Chinamasa. Mr. Speaker Sir, we observe that Zimbabwe is hemorrhaging from externalisation of funds. What is Government doing regarding foreign supermarkets such as those from Botswana and South Africa? We look at supermarkets such as Choppies and Pick n Pay, what is Government doing to avoid financial hemorrhaging? As stated by Hon. Chinamasa that if we are at a rally we would be saying down with Choppies supermarket – [Laughter] –
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, it is a
policy that those who are ignorant of the law should be educated. If you had listened to the Monetary Statement by the Central Bank Governor, you would have picked up measures which are addressing reducing the import bill. The issues you are raising are to do with importation and the measures which we announced are to reduce importation of goods which are locally produced. We are addressing that issue through a number of measures. Firstly, we look at the tariff so that we make it high enough to discourage any would-be importers so that when the goods land in
Zimbabwe, they are more expensive than locally produced goods.
Another measure that was also announced was that from now on, the foreign currency is going to be dedicated to procuring a priority list of products and this is through moral suasion, the discussions have been undertaken between the Central Bank and the commercial banks. They will have a priority list of goods which can be imported into the country and only those which are not important will clearly be at the very bottom of that list. So, through a combination of those measures, we believe that the Import Bill should go down, that both supermarkets and
Zimbabweans also are encouraged to use locally produced goods which by the way, are of very high quality. There could have been temporarily a problem about the cost of production leading to high prices, but the products now produced are of very high quality and compete globally.
So the short answer to your question is, the issue of importation of goods which can be locally produced is being addressed through a number of measures. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Hon. Speaker and thank you to the Hon. Minister but my question is that Choppies is foreign owned. So all profits go outside Zimbabwe, why should we have people coming from South Africa to run Supermarkets? We do not need any special skill to run supermarkets, that should be the preserve of Zimbabweans, and not people coming from abroad. Thank you.
HON. CHINAMASA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I get the impression that the Hon. Member is becoming very personal. At first he mentioned two supermarkets, Pick n Pay and Choppies and just now he has just forgotten about Pick n Pay, but I will answer the question though.
Firstly, I am not aware that Choppies Supermarket is foreign owned. Clearly I am not aware. I am also not aware of the content of the stock whether what percentage is locally procured and what percentage is imported. I am aware though, that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce have been going through various shops especially supermarkets, to determine the local content of what is being sold in those shops. I believe that local content has increased to what it was last year.
A lot of supermarkets are very conscious of that fact. You may also need to know Hon. Member, through you Mr. Speaker Sir that the clarification by His Excellency of the indigenisation framework is precisely addressing the point raised by Hon. Maridadi. As you may know the policy states that the retail sector is reserved for indigenous people. Any foreigner to enter that sector must do so under a special dispensation which will include as we go forward, insistence on our part as Government that the investor into the retail must have out growers and must be able to source locally. Where those factors are satisfied, I am sure that a special dispensation can be given to foreigners or to foreign investment which come into the reserve sectors. In this case, I will be quite happy to give a licence for a foreign investor into the retail sector where that foreign investor is going to procure everything, 90% locally and also to have out growers. So, the principle is very clear but the implementation will take time.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: My question to Hon. Chinamasa is, is it
possible for him to coin the bond notes so that we have $1, $5 or $10 bond coin because we have noticed that the people are not interested in bond notes but they would rather have bond coins – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - So, if we could have bond coins in various denominations, people will be very happy. The Minister of Finance and Economic Development and the Reserve Bank Governor should be looking at making $20, $50 and $100 bond coins and people will be very happy because they will have been given the monies they want, bond coins not bond notes – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, that supplementary
question does not arise.
HON. J. TSHUMA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I think that some of our Hon. Members here are not taking this House seriously
– [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Mr. Speaker Sir, what Hon.
Munengami has done is a cause for him to be thrown out of the House so that they are serious - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – You see what I am talking about Mr. Speaker Sir. This is supposed to be an honourable House and an Hon. Member but you are behaving like thugs. This is thuggish behaviour and you must throw these people out –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Can we have serious points of order - – [HON. MEMBERS: Yes!] – [AN. HON. MEMBER: You are provoking the Speaker] – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Gara pasi iwe Chinotimba, wakuda kuzodzingwa naSpeaker manje.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Mr. Speaker, my point of order is I asked a relevant question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development but I am now surprised as my question was not answered, but you are following the guidance from the opposition who have told you that my question is irrelevant – – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – and you have followed them – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections] – [AN. HON. MEMBER: Unotungamira
Advocate iwewe] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Musachemere chigaro chamambo.
HON. SITHOLE: My supplementary question on the issue of externalization to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is relating to the statement that was issued by the Government through his ministry, specifically through RBZ that they are introducing the bond notes in order to curtail externalisation of the currency that we have. My supplementary question is that since the money in terms of the bond notes that they want to introduce, is actually bonded to the loan that we got from Afrexim which is $200 million. What policy measures have they put in place to ensure that they do not print in excess of the $200 million?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker, in answer to
the Hon. Member and I want to thank you for your question but I
thought that Hon. Chinotimba was misunderstood – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] – He was – [AN. HON. MEMBER: The
Speaker has already made a ruling. You are not the Speaker] – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Minister, I had ruled – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – Order, order and I have discussed with Hon. Chinotimba. It was a question of rephrasing his question and I
said I would give him the opportunity to rephrase his question accordingly. So, if you could kindly answer the question.
HON. CHINAMASA: I want to thank the Hon. Member but to
highlight that the extension of the bond coins has been clearly misunderstood. The introduction of the bond notes is merely an extension of the bond coins regime, nothing new and I think that needs to be underlined again and again. The bond coins were supported and are supported by a $50 million facility with Afrexim Bank. In order to do the notes, it is now a $200 million facility. There is nothing that has changed.
To answer the specific question about his suspicion that we could print beyond $200 million, what you need to understand is that the bond coins will be part and parcel of supporting exporters. Those who export, as an incentive would be given that 5% that is how the money is going to be used. So, it is not going to be a reckless exercise, I assure you. So, first of all, I want you to understand. The rationale of those opposing bond notes, I cannot understand it because they are no different, except that one is a coin and another one is a note. The only other difference is that it is now going to be a US$200 million facility and not US$50 million facility. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: My question was not responded to. My
question to Hon. Chinamasa, is we have realised that people are not interested in the unveiling of the bond notes but they would rather have bond coins in different denominations, from one dollar up to hundred dollars. This is what they want. We have people planning to have protest marches against bond notes, so please give them bond coins. I thank you.
*HON. CHINAMASA: Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to the question raised by Hon. Chinotimba, the Member of Parliament for Buhera South Constituency, but I beg to differ from his opinion that people do not like bond notes. My feeling is that people need an explanation on the use of bond notes as opposed to bond coins. We have bankers and retail associations who have said they welcome the bond notes and this shows that the bond notes are a favourite. The problem is, we have some small fish that are not well versed in financial issues who are rejecting these band notes. This is not their problem; it is because they deal in small finances.
The question is, is it possible for us to have different denominations of bond coins, from one dollar to a hundred dollar coin. Hon. Chinotimba, this is a problem because if you have these coins you will need some form of transport to go and buy bigger items because of the weight of the coins. I thank you.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My
supplementary question to the Hon. Minister of Finance, Hon.
Chinamasa, regarding the bond notes is – is this not retrogressive? Are we not going to have problems of shortage of goods from the supermarkets because people will not be comfortable using these bond notes. Is this not going to scare away potential investors from abroad because they will get a feeling that we are going back to the 2008 period and this may destabilise our economy?
*HON. CHINAMASA: I thank the Hon. Member for the
question. Let me assert that there is no problem of retrogression in the economy of the country. The measures we have taken are going to improve the economic situation of the country and we are following a path which is developmental. To tell you the truth, I am now having sound sleeping because I used to have sleepless nights thinking of the finances and the economy of the country.
Let me explain further, the root cause of the cash crisis, the problem is caused by the appreciation of the value of the US dollar which we do not print; we import it. We have noticed that the value of the South African rand is depreciating. As a result, people now favour doing business with Zimbabwe because they get US dollars and we are now suffering because of the value of the rand versus the US dollar. It is now expensive for people to come into the country and the tourism sector has been affected. Consequently, we now have fewer people coming into the country because the value of the US dollar versus the rand is now skewed. If we were able to re-print the US dollar, we could be able to determine the value. Road blocks have nothing to do with
this.
We have been having a problem in receiving people who wanted to come into the country because we get US$2 billion coming into the country, but tomorrow it will be externalised. Now, the Reserve Bank Governor, Mr. Mangudya is working on ways of fighting illegal externalisation of funds.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this
opportunity to ask. I want to direct my question to the Leader of
Government Business, our esteemed Vice President who is also the
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Mr. Speaker, exactly a year ago, the Hansard will recall that I asked the Hon. Vice President why there has not been a single tabling of any report of any of the Independent Commissions established in terms of Section 12, to this House despite the very specific provisions of Section 323 of the Constitution that provide that each year, no later than March of every year; today we are now in May, each Independent Commission shall present through the respective Minister, its annual report and other report.
My question is, why – and last year the Vice President indicated that it was now going to happen but not a single Commission has yet presented its report. So my question is, is it Government policy to ensure that Independent Commissions do not table their annual reports in this august House despite the Constitution and despite also his promise or even any other report in addition to the annual report. I thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It is correct that in terms of the Constitution, the Independent Commissions must submit annual reports to Parliament. Last year, they were not able to do so because of various reasons in terms of resources.
This year, two have so far submitted their reports which pass through me for Parliament. That is the Human Rights Commission which have since submitted their report because I have to table the report and before I table the report, I must go through it. The Judiciary Services Commission (JSC) have done the same and the ZEC has also done so. The two that have not, is the Gender Commission and the Anti Corruption Commission. Currently, they do not, have the capacity to do so I believe they will do so next year through their respective line Ministries but these ones I have mentioned have since submitted their reports which I will table in Parliament very soon. Of course, in terms of the Constitution, they are required to do so by March of the following year. I am putting pressure to them that in future, they must make sure they comply and table the reports before March. I thank you.
HON. MUNENGAMI: I propose that we extend Question Time Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I first recognise you. You
cannot just start speaking.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Okay Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I recognise Hon.
Munengami. That is the process.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I propose
that we extend the time for Questions Without Notice.
HON. MATUKE: I object because we have many questions lined up – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Because there is an objection,
we proceed to Questions With Notice.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
GROWTH POINTS AND SERVICE CENTRES
1.HON MAWERE asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain to the House when the Ministry would declare more Growth points and service centres, in terms of the Sales Tax (Deliration of Growth Point Areas, Service Centre) Notice 1987, so that interested persons may apply for title deeds in areas like Chivamba and
Vesa.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon.
Members would be aware that the Sales Tax Act was repealed with effect from 1 January 2004. The Act was replaced by the Value Added Tax Act, Chapter 23:12.
Consequently, the tax benefits that accrued to businesses operating in Growth Point areas were repealed. In view of the repeal of the Sales
Tax Act, there is no legislative provision to enable Treasury to declare
Growth Point Areas or Service Centres. I thank you – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
CONSIDERATION OF THE JULY TO JUNE FINANCIAL YEAR
- HON. MAWERE asked the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development when the Ministry would consider the July – June
Financial year in view of the persistent El Nino induced droughts.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I take note of the Hon.
Member’s proposal. Hon. Members may recall that the Government of Zimbabwe adopted the fiscal and financial year which is in tandem with the calendar year with effect from 1998 through the presentation of an
18-month Budget, covering the period July 1997 to December 1998.
The change-over of the fiscal year was and continues to be premised on the need to make projections on social and economic statistics more meaningful since most of the data are published on a calendar year basis. This also supports the analysis of social and economic indicators and other variables.
The ability to adequately support agriculture from the planning stage to the purchase of agricultural produce, as well as mitigate against natural shocks such as the El Nino induced drought, is largely dependent on the strength of the economy and our public finances as opposed to changing the financial year.
The thrust of all our efforts, therefore, should be to stabilise and grow the economy, and in so doing, improve the ability of the economy through the National Budget, to respond to the ever-persistent droughts.
Additionally, our Constitution as well as the Public Finance
Management Act, allows the Minister responsible for finance to table a Supplementary Budget for the purpose of funding unforeseen and/ or inescapable unbudgeted expenditure demands that may arise such as the current El Nino induced drought, the expenditure that we are now incurring in order to import grain. That was not factored in the 2016 Budget and if at all, not to the same extent as it now then turned out when we realised that we were now undergoing the severest drought in living memory. I thank you.
*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My
supplementary question is, the Hon. Minister has responded saying there is going to be a fund to finance agriculture. We are faced with EI Nino induced drought and in winter, we are facing problems especially in wheat agriculture. As far as we know, wheat can be used in any meal and it is the quickest way of making food in the homes and industrial sites. Can you tell this House what steps you have put in place so that we have wheat programmes in place? I thank you.
HON. CHINAMASA: I think the Hon. Member should
acknowledge the contribution by Government to achieving economic growth and more agricultural production. We have in successive years supported agriculture, especially with respect to the input supply scheme to small scale farmers, who in the main are the producers of the maize. They contribute immensely to the production figures for maize, so we have been supporting them. The problem of course in the past and as it is in the present, is that there is minimal irrigation development. Our focus now, taking advantage of the drought, is that we should enhance the development of irrigation, not only to communal areas but all over the country. There are measures and policies in place which we are implementing to achieve that.
We have also Madam Speaker, if the Hon. House will be aware, we undertook as Government to give free inputs to the cotton industry. We started the 2015/16 season but I hear that the drought could have affected what could have been a very good output. We have promised to do so for the next three successive seasons; that support to the cotton sector by giving free inputs. We have never supported the growing of wheat, not directly by Government. We have on our part, encouraged the banking sector to give that support and I am aware that support is being given. What I can only guarantee is that if those farmers can gain credit from commercial banks, if they grow wheat and I am encouraging them to grow wheat especially those who have water. We can guarantee timeous payment of any wheat output from the winter wheat programme just like we are guaranteeing timeous payment for any maize that is delivered to GMB. As you know, at the moment we are importing, we are going to give priority of payment to those farmers who deliver their maize to GMB and we want to guarantee that we will make timeous payments. I thank you Madam Speaker.
POLICY REGARDING REPLACEMENT OF LOST VEHICLE
REGISTRATION PLATES FOR FULLY LICENCED VEHICLES
- HON. GWANONGODZA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House the policy regarding the replacement of lost vehicle registration plate, for a fully licenced vehicle?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. GUMBO): Thank
you Madam Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Gwanongodza for asking this very important question for which I think many members might benefit from, because it relates to what affects most of our people. Hon. Gwanongodza is asking me to inform the House the policy regarding the replacement of lost vehicle registration plate for a fully licenced vehicle. The new vehicle registration number plate was introduced on the 1st
March, 2005. Before its adoption, wide consultations were made and to date, we remain satisfied that the new arrangement has largely lived up to our original expectations.
Since March 2005, if a registration number plate for a fully licenced vehicle is either lost or damaged, the vehicle registered honour is expected to make a formal report to a nearest police station before submitting an application for a replacement of vehicle registration documents. A formal police report should accompany such an application. The vehicle’s registration book and a surviving number plate should be surrendered to the registering office as part of the application requirements for a replacement set of vehicle documents. To conclude the said transaction in the case of a motor vehicle, a fee of US$160 is payable, while for a trailer or a motor cycle, the registered honour pays US$140.
The vehicle concerned will then be issued with a new set of vehicle registration plates and book depicting a completely new registration mark and number than what was allocated before the loss or damage of the original number plate. Thereafter, if the concerned vehicle still has a valid licence, the motorist armed with a new vehicle registration book may approach any vehicle registration licencing office with a request for a replacement licence disk bearing the vehicle’s new registration
number.
The logic is that once a specific number plate has been declared lost, it has already been compromised in that it may be abused if it gets into the wrong hands hence, issuance of replacement number plates with the same registration number is considered as unnecessary risk. Before the introduction of the new number plates, some motorists were infamous for holding number plates in a bid to run several vehicles on the same registration number. Such motorists would mislead authorities that their vehicles front or rear number plate got lost. They would then be given plates bearing the same number as the reportedly lost ones.
Before long, they would be holding two or more sets of number plates with the same registration number. One for a properly registered vehicle and the rest for improperly registered vehicles. This tendency therefore, allowed for not only unintended duplication of registration numbers, but the use of unregistered vehicles while displacing clone number plates on our public roads. It was therefore possible to have three or more vehicles with the same number plates which create security concerns.
The current policy of discarding continued use of a registration number whose number plate is declared lost by the registered honour is meant to effectively prevent previous challenges of having more than one vehicle running on our public roads on the same registration number as a result of misrepresentations by dishonest motorists. I must however, add that my Ministry is currently reviewing the cost of the number plates with a view to making it more affordable.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Hon. Chair. Hon. Minister I agree with you that the cost is a bit on the high side. I also want to suggest that you do not only look at reviewing the price of the new number plate downwards. Is there a way you can also make the review of the whole new number plate system with a view of putting some identification mark that would not be paid for in the event that you lose a number plate? What is happening presently is that people are now tempted to take number plates that are complete from other vehicles onto the vehicle that has lost its number plates avoiding payment of the amount that you have spoken to.
So my question is would you also not look at putting in an identification system which is devoid of any payment that is not only permanent, that semi-permanent but that is permanent in the event that you lose ...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your question is heard Hon.
Member because you are repeating.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Chair.
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker. The question is
heard but not understood. I do not actually get the gist of the question. It is totally difficult for me to understand. May be the Chairperson of the Committee can want to put it in writing then I can understand it.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think so and I was just about to say that the Hon. Member can go on and on and if the Minister cannot hear it, why do you not put it in writing so that the Minister has enough time to research and give you enough answers.
HON. SARUWAKA: My supplementary question to the Minister is
I am happy that he said they are going to review the price downwards. Do you have an idea of when that process is going to happen? Are we going to see a review this year, next year or 2018? Is it going to happen soon because certainly, we are worried about the high cost?
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Saruwaka for that question. That is what we are mandated to do, to listen to what the public says and react and in most cases, very favourably to what the people ask for. There have been complaints that people are complaining that the amount that is required for the replacement of number plates is too high and we are already working on it. When we do that, we will still have to come back to Parliament and have everything gazetted in the interest of the public, but we are working on it right now as we speak. I thank you.
HON. SANSOLE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I understand the justification by the Minister for issuing a new number to replace a number plate that has been lost. What is the justification for changing the number or issuing a completely new number in the event of a vehicle being sold? There is no risk of the number being used on several vehicles because it has not been removed from the vehicle.
HON. DR. J. M. GUMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Sansole for that follow up question. The reason why there is need to change the number plates when a vehicle has been disposed of by somebody and bought by someone else is that, when you still own your vehicle, you have committed some offences. Maybe you stole somewhere and people are looking for you, you were using that car and the number plates were recorded or something happened whilst the car was registered under your name. You might not have been meeting the licence requirements or other fees that you were supposed to have paid. If it is bought by the second person, the new buyer will be entitled to meet the costs which you incurred. So, there must be a cut-off point of saying by this time, it was no longer Hon. Sansole, it was Gumbo so that you give Kesari zvaKesari, Judasi zvaJudasi. I thank you.
TARRING OF MBERENGWA-WEST NICHOLSON ROAD
- HON. P. ZHOU asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to state when the Mberengwa-West Nicholeson Road will be tarred considering that it is the shortest route to
Beitbridge.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. M.
GUMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Zhou for asking this question. Madam Speaker, West Nicholeson Road is a 61.3km road with 13.6 surfaced in 1998. The project is stalled because of funding constraints. The Ministry is now pursuing the engagement of the private sector in road construction and rehabilitation through publicprivate partnerships or through Build-Operate and Transfer concessions.
Mberengwa West Nicholeson is one of the projects on this project by the Ministry. That is the answer that I can give to the Hon. Member. I thank you.
REHABILITATION OF NEMBUDZIYA-TCHODA-MASHAVA
ROAD
- HON. MAHIYA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to state when Nembudziya-Tchoda-
Mashava Road will be rehabilitated.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. M.
GUMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. Tchoda Road is a 20km long road. Being part of the Gokwe-Tchoda Road, the section in question has not been attended to for some time because of inadequate funding. Hence, it is in a bad shape. The road section is going to be attended to by the end of this year. We have already included it on our work programme. I thank you.
COMPLETION OF SURFACING HEADLANDS TO MAYO
ROAD
- HON. CHITURA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to state when the Ministry will complete the surfacing of the road from Headlands to Mayo.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. M.
GUMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. Mayo road is 112.2km long with 18.2kms surfaced in 2002 to 2005. This surfacing project was stalled because of funding constraints. The Ministry intends to resume construction when the funds occur and we will be attending to that road by the end of this year. I thank you.
PROGRESS ON COMPLETION OF RENOVATIONS AT
VICTORIA FALLS AIRPORT
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to state the progress that the Ministry has made on the completion of:
- The renovations at Victoria Falls airport;
- Mabvuku road over rail bridge; and
- Engagement of investors for the dualisation of the BeitbridgeHarare Chirundu highway.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. M.
GUMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. On project number one,
Victoria Falls Airport; Madam Speaker, the US$150 million project, financed by a China Exim Bank concessional loan facility is progressing well and overall progress to date is that the runway, the terminal building respectively and the air control tower were completed and are now in use since December, 2015. The conversion of the old terminal building into a domestic terminal has now commenced. This, together with a bigger fire station and expanded car park, should be completed by
31st May, 2016.
He wants to know again on the Mabvuku road over rail bridge.
Madam Speaker, the Mabvuku road over rail bridge is almost complete.
The construction unit is working on the deck, which is now complete. The construction of the bridge approaches is in progress and is due for completion by the end of May.
He also wants to know about the engagement of investors for the dualisation of the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu highway. Madam
Speaker, as already announced by His Excellency, the President on Independence Day on the 18th of April, 2016, a financier and a contractor has been identified to construct this road. The project reviews and negotiations for final contract signing are in progress. We expect to commence actual construction before the end of this year. I thank you.
PROGRESS ON RESUSCITATION OF THE NATIONAL
RAILWAYS OF ZIMBABWE
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to apprise the House on the progress that the Ministry has made in courting investors to resuscitate National
Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. M.
GUMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Ministry has been pursuing the recapitalisation of the NRZ. The full recapitalisation of the NRZ requires about US$635 million and negotiations with potential financiers are in progress. Hon. Members will appreciate that negotiations involving such amounts are very delicate as one is bound by non-disclosure agreements. I therefore plead with this House that, in the national interest, my Ministry is allowed to handle those negotiations outside the glare of the public. I will make a Ministerial Statement in due course.
REGRAVELLING OF MABOLENI TO CROSSROAD ROAD
- HON. MADUBEKO asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to state whether there are plans to re-gravel the road from Maboleni to Crossroad in Lower Gweru.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. M.
GUMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. My Ministry would like to regravel the road from Maboleni to Crossroad in Lower Gweru and many more roads in other constituencies, but is unable to do so because of funding constraints. My Ministry is only able to get these roads to make them trafficable until funds become available.
ZINARA VEHICLE LICENCE PAYMENT SCHEDULE
- HON. MAJOME asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to avail to the House the payment schedule by ZINARA from the time it took over vehicle licence collection in 2009 to 2015 and to further state:
- how much was collected from Harare Municipal area in vehicle licence fees;
- how much was disbursed to Harare Municipality and when; and other municipalities in comparison to rural local authorities and the proportion thereof as well with due regards to the needs of
Harare Municipality which has to repair its roads;
- the criteria used in disbursing monies to local authorities;
- how much money is owed to Harare City Council and when it will be paid?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. GUMBO):
Thank you Madam Speaker. This question has been on the Order Paper for a long time and we have been providing the answers, but we have not been given the opportunity. I would want to thank Hon. Majome for having been this patient.
- Madam Speaker, ZINARA has a unified vehicle licencing system that is not limited to collections for a particular municipality’s jurisdiction, hence it will be difficult for us to ascertain at any period, the collections per sitting. However, ZINARA and CVR within my Ministry, are currently working on the integration of the two data bases so as to come up with the actual vehicle population for budget planning.
- ZINARA disbursed a cumulative figure of US$9 292 072
during the period 2009 to 2015. Listed below are the disbursements made to the City of Harare from 2009 to 2015.
YEAR | VALUE OF DISBURSEMENT IN US$ |
2009 | 654 0337.00 |
2010 | 2 355 987.00 |
2011 | 2 350 000.00 |
2012 | 2 000 000.00 |
2013 | 983 0393.96 |
2014 | 200 000.00 |
2015 | 1 402 692.00 |
TOTAL | 9 292 072.96 |
- CI) The criteria for disbursements include the following:- (i) The Council gets an annual allocation from ZINARA:
- The Council prepares a programme of works and submits to ZINARA for funding.
- The Council receives a quarter of each annual allocation from
ZINARA.
- The Council implements the project of or works.
- The Council acquits for funds received from ZINARA.
- The Council received the next quarter allocation after completion of the acquittal process.
C2 Disbursement to road authorities are determined by the following.
- Council road network.
- Road conditions.
- Road classes, that is regional, secondary and local.
- Road traffic.
- Cost of maintaining each class of road.
- Cost of intervention.
The Hon. Member still wants to know how much is owed to
Harare City Council and when it will be paid.
d). As I have already stated, this answer was prepared as at the end of December to the City of Harare for the SADC assignment as at 31st December 2015, the amount owed to City of Harare for the SADC assignment was US$1 659 883.00. The plan per ZINARA debt liquidation strategy is to pay it off in year 2016 as follows.
MONTH | AMOUNT |
February 2016 | 300,000.00 |
March 2016 | 300,000.00 |
April 2016 | 500,000.00 |
May 2016 | 100,000.00 |
June 2016 | 100,000.00 |
July 2016 | 59,883.30 |
TOTAL | 1, 659, 883.00 |
HON. MAJOME: I thank the Hon. Minister for answering this question but I note that he said that – if I got him correctly ZINARA is unable to tell how much money it got from which locality. May I ask the Hon. Minister if he is aware, I suppose as a resident and Member of Parliament of Harare, on behalf of the people that I represent, they were entitled to know exactly how much money it is that they have contributed for their roads because they are not getting the money back.
How can this be remedied?
HON. DR. J. GUMBO: In reality, all local authorities regarding the collection of vehicle licencing are getting far much more than they would have been able to collect whilst collecting on their own. The point is that Parliament and Government came up with ZINARA.
ZINARA has got a mandate which was given by this House out of an Act by Parliament that they must collect fees or licence fees for all vehicles in the country. This is the reason why in this House, towards the end of last year, we had a debate as to how many vehicles have been licenced and how many have not been licenced.
It is because all the vehicles have been put together and therefore, collection is done for the country and after that collection and also in proportion of the size, as I have already stated in one of the answers that I have been giving to Hon. Majome, the volumes of vehicles that you find in Harare, the number of roads and how the damage is caused in Harare, you find that the City of Harare gets more money than any other authority. It is because of that recognition.
The question is, I hear that the people of Harare would want to know how many vehicles they have got. Maybe, the other question would have been, how many cars do they know they have got? You can see that they whole thing becomes like ‘I do not know’ which route to follow? I think as Parliament and as Hon. Members of Parliament, we are the ones who came up with this law that put up ZINARA so that we collect this money together and distribute it.
ZINARA would not have a problem, if there was going to be an identification to say these cars with these numbers are Harare cars, so you collect on our behalf. It would have been easier just to give which local authority what is due to them. It is a very difficult question, I understand it; I would also want to ask the same - what is happening to Mudzi Rural District Council, how many cars they have in Mudzi, how many cars they have in Zvishavane, Mutare or Chipinge, things like that. I think it would make our work very difficult. I think if we can accept what is happening now.
What we must come up with is to say towns as big as Harare, because of the volume of cars in Harare, they should actually be given a bigger share because they look after roads that cover a very big distance and there are always bigger numbers of cars that ply those roads. I take the thinking behind it, but I also have a problem of how we can apply it in order to come up with what our people in Harare would want to see us do. I thank you.
RESTORATION OF EFFICIENCY IN THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
SERVICE BY HARARE CITY COUNCIL
- MAJOME asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain measures taken by the Ministry to restore efficiency of the public transport services of Harare City
Council to similar standards that were set by the Harare United
Passenger Omnibus Company of the 1980’s
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Madam Speaker, this question must be directed to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. I thank you.
STATUTORY INSTRUMENT FOR NEW TRAFFIC SIGNS
- MAJOME asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to inform the House:
- what statutory instrument was used for the strange new traffic signs such as white triangles with black borders, hexagonal, red stop signs and road markings such as continuous yellow lines at the shoulders of roads that are being marked mainly at toll gates and to state when it was promulgated into law;
- to confirm whether this is promulgated in terms of Section 39 (2) of the Roads Traffic Act (Chapter 13:11);
- to further explain what the Ministry is doing to avert the confusion arising from such signs particularly for learner drivers and old drivers who are unfamiliar with the strange new traffic signs.
- how the Ministry proposes to resolve the law enforcement dilemma of traffic regulatory signs that appear not to have the force of law, i.e. of the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 13:11)
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO): I
want to say that these questions are very important for all our Members of Parliament to understand because there is a change of what Hon.
Majome is quoting that is this rapport with other SADC countries.
Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe is a signatory to the SADC Protocol of Transport, Communication and Meteorology of 1999. Article 6 (11) of the Protocol states that:-
- Member States shall cooperate in harmonising traffic operations management and for this purpose, Member States shall take steps to adopt and implement harmonised and minimum standards in respect of:-
- Traffic signs including traffic signals, road signs and markings;
- Rules of the road;
- Speed limits appropriate to road design;
- Driving signals; and
- Driving hours.
- Member States shall develop, adopt and implement a harmonised system of road traffic signs; and
- For the purposes of developing harmonised rules of the road, Member States shall consider accession to the UN Conventions on
Road Traffic of 1949 and 1968.
The Ministry of Transport started the process of adapting the SADC signs into our law as far back as 2001. The new signs have now been gazetted under Statutory Instrument 41 of 2016, Road Traffic Signs and Signal Regulations.
However in the meantime, new roads have been constructed and the Ministry decided that it would be wasteful to put new signs which were not SADC signs since these would need to be changed soon after gazetting of the SADC signs. An example is the Plumtre-Mutare highway that was funded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
The use of the SADC signs on the infralink project was done in anticipation of speedy gazetting of the signs which however, delayed the reasons beyond my Ministry’s control.
However, now that gazzeting has been done, the Ministry will embark on an awareness campaign to educate the public on the new signs and their country-wide installation. This, in our view, will avert any confusion arising from the new signs, particularly on the part of learner and old drivers. The issue of enforcement has therefore fallen away because of the existence of this legislation.
In addition, we have already started the campaign to educate Members and even now to start teaching our new drivers using the new signs. I think the programme will actually explain most of the fears that the Hon. Member has been able to ask in the House, which by the time she asked, the legislation has not been gazetted and it would have appeared like everything that was on the road was in our minds also illegal, but I think it is now taken care of. I thank you.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Hon. Speaker and the Hon. Minister. Is the Hon. Minister aware that since the new stop signs were installed on the roads, which replaced give way signs that the Zimbabwe Republic Police are literally hiding behind corners and waiting to pounce on motorists who are not expecting stop signs on familiar roads, and issuing them with tickets causing a lot of mayhem on the roads; what is the Ministry doing about that because of the lack of coordination of the gazetting as well as the public awareness campaigns? What is the Ministry doing to avert the suffering of the motoring public on this?
HON. DR. GUMBO: I am aware that we have had reports of such incidences. It is even the same like the use of different tyres on a vehicle but it only shows that at times, dissemination of information to those who are supposed to be enforcing, at times it is not well coordinated. That could be a problem that we have to address in Government but I cannot deny the fact that this is what has been happening. Like I have already said, we are now on a drive to educate the public. The public will also include ZRP so that they can understand the new signs and how to deal with situations when they arise. I think I cannot deny the fact that there are problems and we have to address them as we educate our people. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: There are those signs Hon. Minister that we are already using and are not different from SADC. Why is in not possible to just do a facelift and have them because most of the roads in the rural areas, either there is no road or the whole sign is completely defaced. Why can we not start by just installing those because they are not different from SADC?
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you very much Madam Speaker and
I am happy that I am talking to a former ministers and they do understand the problems that we have. The new signs were put at some other places and when people woke up, they said what are these strange signs we find on the roads and they pulled them. To have the new and old signs, this is why we actually then took a back seat and then said, let us first of all educate our people and then come up with new signs. I hear you Hon. Gabbuza when you say why not just maybe use the old ones. It is not something we had thought we would do but we are supposed to be coming up with new signs that have been gazetted under the SADC Protocol, for which we are now a member. I get the point, where we can save why not save but it must also be conforming. We will look into that. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Hon. Minister, seeing that the entry point is Traffic Safety Council. This is where we get the provisional licences through the Highway Code, would it not be prudent to quickly repeal the Highway Code so that our kids that are currently getting their provisional licences can get them fully aware that the signs have
changed and are now in adherence to what is obtaining in the SADC Protocol and norms?
HON. DR. GUMBO: I take the suggestion and I think our mistake, me and my Deputy will have to bring – the Highway Code is already out. I think it is important from what the Hon. Member is saying, that we bring copies for Hon. Members of Parliament so that they will be aware. So, I will be asking my Deputy to make sure that tomorrow in the afternoon, he can arrange with Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe that we are given those Highway Codes for Members of Parliament – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]. I thank you.
HON. MAJOME: Madam Speaker, I have been waiting for these answers since last year and I am glad that I am getting a chance to pose them. I ask Hon. Members to bear with me. My last supplementary question is that, I noticed on those new and strange traffic signs that are there, they are affixed to the ground by wooden poles. Previously, there were metal or concrete poles. How durable are those poles are they treated? What if they are eaten by termites and I have already seen some of them being smashed by motor vehicles. Is there any plan or means to actually replace the road traffic signs and how durable are they, particularly the wooden poles that are being used on them?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Minister, Hon. Members I can see that you are busy talking amongst yourselves. These questions and answers will help you very much to understand what is taking place. You wonder where these questions are coming from. Someone just drives and does not even check what is happening to the signs and so forth. This is where the answers are coming from. So it will help you Hon. Members to help the constituents out there.
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank Madam Speaker. I cannot thank you more because I thought I did preface my answer by saying the questions asked by Hon. Majome are very important for all of us. Let us be serious about them and this is why we are going to be bringing in the Highway Code so that Members of Parliament can each get a copy tomorrow.
Like I said earlier on, those were temporary installations. We will be coming up with permanent ones because we cannot use wood because some people can even take the wood and use it to make firewood. So, we will be coming up with more durable installations.
PURCHASE OF A320 AIRCRAFTS
- HON. WATSON asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to state the following in view of the deplorable financial state that Air Zimbabwe is in;
- (i) The purchase of A320 Aircrafts;
- Whether they are brand new or second hand aircrafts
- The source of funds used for the purchasers;
- The seller and purchase price of the aircraft.
- Explain the justification for purchasing new aircrafts that are seldom used to fly local and regional routes and despite being more fuel efficient incur loan repayments or leasing as well as higher depreciation charges.
- Explain why Air Zimbabwe chose to purchase Airbus A320 and not cheaper and more fuel efficient turbo – charged aircraft model.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Madam Speaker, the aircrafts were not purchased but are being leased from China Sonangol since 2012. These were part of efforts by
Government to support the turnaround process of Air Zimbabwe.
You also want to know whether these were brand new or second hand aircrafts. The aircrafts were not brand new as they have been operating elsewhere. However, they are still relatively younger than our current fleet.
On the source of funds used for the purchases, Madam Speaker, the aircrafts are being leased and not purchased and as they operate, they pay the lease fees. The question therefore does not arise. In addition, the aircrafts are on a dry lease from China Sonangol at US$200 000.00 per month per plane.
For the justification Madam Speaker, the A320 is a medium range aircraft and is adequate to cover the medium range operations projected by Air Zimbabwe from a strategic point of view. Aircrafts are by nature designed to efficiently serve a particular market, depending on the distance. It, thus, becomes uneconomical and not ideal to deploy small aircraft on hire on regional or international routes, despite its fuel efficiency.
Lastly Madam Speaker, whilst fuel is the biggest cost driver in aviation, it is not the only variable used in determining suitability of an aircraft. The airbus A320 is ideal for the regional routes and the aircraft is fuel efficient. It is certainly not ideal to deploy a turbo-engine on a route where you are competing with four other airlines using jet propelled engines and very modern aircraft. Passengers will simply opt for the faster and less noisy options. I thank you.
HON. MUTOMBA: On lease rentals that each plane is paying $200 000 per month, if that is correct. Are these planes able to generate sufficient funds to cover for the rental fees and make a return to Air Zimbabwe?
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker and Hon.
Mutomba for asking that question. Aircraft business is very intricate and it is a business that at this present moment is not doing well the world over. The question that you ask is that under normal circumstances when business is doing well, the aircrafts can then be able to make those repayments. The fact that a contract of $200,000 was agreed upon meant that by that time, it was possible to meet the repayments but as of now, like I am putting it, not only Air Zimbabwe but the world over, the aviation industry is finding it very difficult to make ends meet. I hear your concerns but at the same time, you have to make a decision to pull out or remain in the business. So, we have remained in the business with those payments that we have to make.
[Time Limit]
HON. MPARIWA: In view of the fact that the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development and others who have questions standing on the Order Paper are still here, I move for the extension of time by 30 minutes.
Motion put and agreed to.
HON. CROSS: My information is that these airbuses were purchased with diamond money from Marange. In fact, it was linked with a company – Mbada Diamonds and the company China Sonangol International is linked to the Chinese businessman Sam Pa/Senpai. I therefore would like to ask the Minister if he has examined in detail the circumstances surrounding the dry leases that were entered into by Air Zimbabwe of leasing these aircrafts. If he has not done so, will he do so and take care to examine those aspects and to check whether the contracts are competitive in terms of the global market.
HON. DR GUMBO: There is one thing that I thank myself for
and that is only that on things of public interest, I do not lie but say it as it is. So, regarding these two aircrafts we are talking about Hon. Member, with all due respect Madam Speaker, they were not bought by diamonds money. I am 100% certain. I have got the contract and the person you are talking about, Sam Pa, did the negotiations but only on behalf of Sonangol. They are actually pestering us for the payment and I have the overdue account of the repayments that we have not been able to meet. This is why my response to Hon. Mutomba was that it is either we can pull in or pull out because I know we owe the company the money payable at $200,000 a month. So, clear your mind and believe me because I am saying the truth as it is.
HON. CROSS: I just pointed out to the House that Sam Pa is in prison in China, accused of externalising more than $20 billion dollars in foreign exchange from Angola and Zimbabwe. What I have asked the
Minister is, if he is satisfied that this contract is competitive in the global market. If it is, I have no query or question.
HON. DR GUMBO: The answer that I have given is that when
the deal was sealed, by that time that price was competitive and I have also stated that at this time, as we speak, business in aviation is bad and we are not doing well. So, that is the reason why we are failing to make payments otherwise at the time the deal was sealed, the arrangement was good and acceptable. However, the history of Sam Pa owing money and so forth is something different. The issue that I am seized with is the issue of the two aircrafts which are on lease at the amounts that I have stated and we are in arrears to repay the dues that we are supposed to be paying to that company that gave us those two aircrafts, which were negotiated with the same person the Hon. Member is talking about, Sam
Pa. I thank you.
REPLACEMENT OF OBSOLETE PLANES
- HON. WATSON asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to explain the Ministry’s plans to replace the several old, fuel and cost inefficient planes that have also been unreliable with instances of under carriage failure but are used consistently on local and regional routes.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR GUMBO):
Madam Speaker, the solution to the problems raised is through capitalization of the airline. However, due to the limited fiscal space, my Ministry, as guided by Cabinet, is in the process of engaging a strategic partner for the airline.
Madam Speaker, Hon Watson asked this question a long time ago and was not responded to. This answer was enough for then but for now, I want to let you know that yesterday, Government gave us the go ahead as a Ministry, to negotiate and engage a partner to partner Air Zimbabwe. So, we have already started the process of engaging a partner because on our own we cannot pull through. I thank you.
REPAIR OF KANA BRIDGE IN GOKWE-KANA
- HON. NCUBE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to state when Kana Bridge in Gokwe will be repaired.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR GUMBO):
Madam Speaker, The Kana pipe culvert (bridge) at the 4.6km peg, on the loop road Lutope, collapsed in early 2015. The Ministry has so far managed to have the pipe culvert units in place to repair the culvert crossing. What is outstanding are financial resources to procure cement and wages for contract workers. The culvert will be repaired before the end of 2016, as soon as we receive our second quarter disbursement from ZINARA. I thank you.
AIRPORT TAXES COLLECTED BY THE CIVIL AVIATION
AUTHORITY OF ZIMBABWE
- HON. WATSON asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to state the amount of money collected by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe in airport taxes, since it took over the collection from Air Zimbabwe. How much of the funds raised have been spent on infrastructure at Joshua Mqabuko airport in light of the Transport Committee’s report on safety issues.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR GUMBO):
Madam Speaker, CAAZ started collecting the passenger service and IDEF fees on 11th November, 2014. To date, which was the date when you asked your question and I have not been able to update, the total sum collected was $5,154,910.
Madam Speaker, Joshua Mqabuko control tower requires US$9 million and so far, the authority has paid US$5.2 million of which
US$3.2 million has been committed towards capital projects such as the ATC simulator, Harare Sewer Project, Harare baggage handling equipment, purchase of utility vehicles, refurbishment of the fire tenders and the integrated security system. It is therefore clear that the rate at which collections are being done, we cannot raise the resources required for the tower among other security and facilitation demands. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Given this scenario Minister, you have allotted the US$5.2 million to the tower, which tower is critical because it has to offer man-machine interaction. There has to be a line of sight between the aircraft and the air traffic controller. When, in your view, do you think you will allocate the remaining amount of US$3.2 million or US$4 million to complete this tower before we have an imminent disaster at that airport?
HON. DR. GUMBO: I want to thank Hon. Nduna who is the Chairperson of that Committee for that concern. I want to assure him that your concern is also our concern. Like I said earlier on, there are discussions which we are undertaking with some suitors in order to assist us in the problems that we face at Air Zimbabwe. That issue is one of them, so we are addressing that and we would want to see it addressed as soon as possible.
I cannot off-hand tell you where we are going to get the money for now because we are looking for the money and we are trying to find those who can assist us in order to meet that shortfall so that the work can be completed, but we are doing something about it. It is only that as a country, we are all aware that finances are our biggest challenge at the moment. The projects are there. We would like to see ourselves do the projects, but we have that financial handicap. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: As a reminder, Members of
Parliament are not allowed to use their cell phones in the House. So, you can put your phone on silent or switch it off. Thank you.
SURFACING OF RUSHINGA-CHIMHANDA ROAD
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain why the Ministry is not surfacing the Tiger Reef-Nkayi Lupane road that shortens the distance from
Harare to Hwange.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Madam Speaker, the road from Kwekwe to Nkayi is 86.2km long with 72.5km surfaces and a gravel section of 14km. The Ministry is unable to surface the remaining 14km between Kwekwe-Nkayi and Nkayi-Lupane road because of funding constraints. We are however, putting the project on tender for a build, operate and transfer concession. It is our hope that the project will have investors prepared to surface the remaining portion.
What I can explain to the Hon. Member, Madam Speaker, is that we are looking at that road. There are certain roads that you will be seeing advertised in the very near future. Maybe, as soon as next week, you can see that one of those roads is advertised because really, that road gives us a very shorter route from the Midlands and Mashonaland provinces right to Hwange and Victoria Falls. So, there are plans for us to tar that road and any other roads in that area. So we are looking into it, but the answer for this question was written or made before the new developments I am talking about. Thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Madam Speaker, the reason why this road is in that state is because of mines such as Hwange Colliery and those trucks have trafficked that area to a standstill. Now they have to go the longer route through Bulawayo up to Harare. Would it not be prudent for you to immediately be embedded with these miners in order so that they capitalise on the rehabilitation of some of these roads?
Your position is not enviable. I do not envy you at all. Why would you not immediately talk to these mines so that they can reduce some of the responsibilities that you have in order to deal with some of these trunk roads?
HON. DR. GUMBO: I want to thank Hon. Nduna. His views are welcome, but I am speaking from a position of Government, what we are doing as Government. Like I have already stated in my letter, I said BOT or private participation. That actually refers to the category of the people the Hon. Member is referring to, so they are also welcome. That is why I said we are going to be advertising for these roads and when we do so, we state that we accept PPP arrangements or BOT arrangements and that takes care of what the Hon. Member is talking about. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): On a point of order,
Madam Speaker. I thought the extension of the question time was just to allow the Hon. Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to exhaust the list of questions posed to him. I therefore raise the issue that
Question Time be considered closed.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, when we
agreed to the extension, it was stated 30 minutes. So we still have about 12 minutes to conclude the extension time.
PROGRESS ON FINALISATION OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE
TOKWE-MUKORSI DAM
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Change to state the progress that the Ministry has made to finalise the construction of the Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Thank you Madam Speaker.
Government has mobilised all the necessary resources required in order to complete the dam which is at 95% completion stage. The contractor has already mobilised back on site essential expatriates experts, all the necessary papers, while all renovations to the camp have been completed. In addition, all the power supplies have also been restored. Meanwhile, Government is mobilising external funds to deposit into the contractor’s foreign account so that the contractor is able to buy dam instrumentation equipment and materials that are not locally manufactured.
However, work on the dam has started and it is hoped that the dam will impound water during this coming 2016/17 rainfall season. Our hope is that the negative impact of climate change which manifested into drought and floods this year will be a thing of the past. When the dam is fully operational, we are expecting that 25 000 hectares will be put under irrigation. Government, through the relevant line Ministry is already seized with this work in putting together a plan of action to be implemented immediately the dam is completed. I thank you Madam Speaker.
STEPS TO ENCOURAGE OPTIMUM UTILISATION OF
UNDER-UTILISED WATER BODIES
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to state steps the Ministry is taking to encourage optimum utilisation of under-utilised water bodies, among them Biri and
Mazvikadei dams.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): Madam Speaker, in order to
improve the uptake of water for irrigation from Biri and Mazvikadei dams, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate in collaboration with ZINWA, is implementing the following strategies:
- Actively participating in the Government’s Emergency Irrigation rehabilitation programme aimed at mitigating the impacts of erratic rainfall.
- Rehabilitate pumping equipment to improve access to irrigation water by farmers at irrigation schemes with broken down pumps.
- Increased awareness on the reduction of raw water prices for small and medium scale farmers to encourage irrigation by these farmers.
- They are also considering in collaboration with ZESA, adopting seasonal billing of farmers to reduce the burden of paying for water and electricity before they sell their produce.
- Engage stakeholders such as ARDA to ensure quick win projects are implemented at non-functional irrigation schemes.
Madam Speaker, we are also working with our counter parts in the Ministry of Agriculture and Mechanisation to encourage our farmers to produce crops using irrigation to mitigate against climate change effects that result in low or poor rainfall. The farmers are also encouraged to take the initiatives to start irrigation schemes where there is available raw water.
HON. MUSANHI: Given that the price of water to the farmer is very high, what is the Minister doing to try and encourage farmers to use the raw water in water bodies.
HON. MUCHINGURI: Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to
thank the Hon. Member for that very important question. Suffice to say that last year Cabinet decreased the water tariffs together with environment impact assessment tariff fees. The matter was presented here in Parliament by the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development during his budgetary processes. If the Hon. Member requires me to submit the same information, I would be more than happy to do so. I thank you.
REVIVAL OF SHAGARI DAM
- HON. MADUBEKO asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to state the plans in place to revive Shagari dam which burst some years ago resulting in the non-functioning of the irrigation scheme in this area.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): My Ministry through ZINWA,
has identified a number of these small to medium sized dams which are located in various parts of the country and require attention like the Shagari dam.
Over the years, periodic inspections and maintenance on dams were being carried out through funding provided by Treasury. Due to the funding challenges, ZINWA has not been able to carry out this obligation as provided for under the Water Act.
In view of the funding challenges experienced by Government, the Ministry through ZINWA, has now introduced the user pays policy. The principle behind the policy is to allow ZINWA to carry out dam safety inspections as well as to do the required maintenance or repairs through revenue collected from the users that include industry, mining companies, irrigators, including farmers, et cetera.
However, there has not been any funds being realised at the moment, and ZINWA has since embarked on an awareness campaign to educate water users on this policy. It is hoped that this exercise will yield positive results and funds realised will then be used to attend to such dams like the Shagari dam. I thank you.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
POLICY ON ISSUANCE OF LOST VEHICLE REGISTRATION
NUMBER PLATES
- HON. D. TSHUMA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to state Government policy on the issuance of a lost vehicle registration number plates in view of the fact that the re-registration process is cumbersome, expensive and time consuming.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
This question is similar to the one in number three by Hon.
Gwanongodza, which I have already responded to.
COST OF CONSTRUCTING THE HARARE AIRPORT ROAD
- HON. B. SIBANDA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to: (a) state how much it has cost the Government to construct the Harare Airport road. (b) explain the reason for the delays in the completion of the same?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO): It
did cost Government US$15, 8 million to construct the Airport road up to the stage of commissioning. The completion of the remaining works has been delayed because of the delays in the supply of construction material. Efforts will continue to improve progress and completion is expected by the end of May, 2016. I thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE BULAWAYO-NKAYI-GOKWE
ROAD
- HON. B. SIBANDA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to: (a) explain why it has taken over 20 years to construct the Bulawayo-Nkayi-Gokwe Road. (b) state whether the construction of the said road is a priority project or not?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Mr. Speaker Sir, it has taken 20 years because of the unavailability of funding. The above project is a priority because it links Nkayi and Gokwe which are active cattle producing and cotton growing. You will recall that some work was actually done on one of the bridges,
Mbembezi, in 2015. I thank you.
UTILISATION OF BITUMEN TAR DRUMS AND QUARRY
STONES AT MAITENGWE BORDER POST
- NLEYA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to explain whether there are any plans in place to utilise the bitumen tar drums and quarry stones left at
Maitengwe Border Post.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. GUMBO):
The stone aggregate and drums of bitumen at Maitengwe Border Post are for the surfacing of the Maitengwe road leading to the border post. Government ran out of funds to complete the project. These materials will be utilised when funding to develop this road is availed.
REHABILITATION OF ROADS IN BULILIMA DISTRICT
- NLEYA asked the Minister of Transport and
Infrastructural Development to state when the roads in Bulilima District will be rehabilitated in view of the damage that has been caused by the recent heavy rains to the roads.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. J. GUMBO):
The roads in Bulilima District are in a fair condition as compared to other districts. They however, require light grading to make them very good in terms of trafficability. I want to assure the Hon. Member that the roads will be attended to as equipment becomes available. I thank you.
SURFACING OF RUSHINGA-CHIMHANDA ROAD
- HON. MASHANGE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to state when the 4.5 km portion of the
Rushinga and Chimhanda Road would be surfaced?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Mr. Speaker Sir, Rushinga- Chimhanda Road is 16 kilometres long with 11 kilometres of this road surfaced during the period 1995 to 2009. Five kilometers of the road is still gravel. My Ministry, through the Department of Roads, keeps grading the gravel section to make it trafficable and it was last graded in March, 2015.
Given the current budgetary constraints, the Ministry has no immediate plans to surface the remaining 5 kilometres. However, when funding levels improve, the road section will be upgraded to surfaced standards. I thank you.
ESTABLISHMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER
TRAINING COLLEGES IN MATABELELAND SOUTH AND
NORTH
- HON. D. TSHUMA asked the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development to explain whether there are plans to establish secondary school teacher training colleges in Matabeleland South and North Provinces, in view of the fact that the whole of Matabeleland region has one teacher training college situated in Bulawayo.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GANDAWA): I wish to thank Hon. Tshuma for his question and to acknowledge his interest in higher and tertiary education, science and technology development in general, and particularly his interest in the distribution of teachers’ colleges in the country.
Mr. Speaker, there are 15 tertiary institutions specialising in teacher training in the country. These are Madziwa, Masvingo
Teachers’College , Mogenster, Morgen Zintec, Mary Mount, Nyadire,
Mkoba, Seke, United College of Education, Joshua Nkomo, Gweru
Polytechnique, Bondolfi, Belvedere Technical Teachers’ College,
Hillside and Mutare Teachers’ College. Out of these, Madziwa,
Masvingo, Mogenster, Morgen Zintec, Mary Mount, Nyadire, Mkoba,
Seke, United College of Education, Joshua Nkomo and Bondolfi
Teachers’ college specialise in training teachers for primary education while Belvedere Technical Teachers’ College, Hillside, Mutare and Gweru Polytechnic specialise in producing teachers for secondary education.
Manpower Planning and Development Act (Chapter 28:02) provides that a teachers’ college should be established when it becomes necessary. In this connection, the Ministry agrees with the input of Hon.
Tshuma’s question that there is a need to review the capacity of our tertiary institutions, especially with reference to teachers’ colleges.
Against this backdrop, and from the point of national policy, the position is that each province should house, not have, but at least house one State university, one teachers college and one polytechnic.
Mr. Speaker, I have distinguished housing from having because higher and tertiary education institution, such teachers colleges, are not provincial but national assets. State universities, polytechnics and teachers colleges are, by definition and purpose, national institutions.
The colleges are national colleges with no provincial boundaries as regards catchment areas for recruiting student teachers. They are also specialist colleges, hence they recruit according to their areas of specialisation. For example, Belvedere Technical Teachers College and Gweru Polytechnic, train technical and vocational secondary school teachers. Mutare and Hillside train teachers for languages and sciences. So, it is more of what the prospective teacher want to train in, that determines the college to enroll with than the location of the college.
As Hon. Tshuma may be aware that at independence Government sought to increase access to education at primary level, this subsequently increased the demand for secondary education, resulting in the establishment of Belvedere Technical Teachers College, Chinhoyi
Technical Teachers College and the transformation of Mutare Teachers’
College from a primary teachers’ college to a secondary teachers’ college. Chinhoyi was later transformed into a university and was replaced with Gweru Polytechnic which is now a polytechnic with a teacher education division.
Given the foregoing, I am happy to advise Hon. Tshuma that the
Ministry is reviewing the state and capacity of the country’s tertiary institutions to ensure that each province houses at least one State university, one polytechnic and one teachers college. I thank you.
COMMUNICATION TO PARLIAMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF
ZIMBABWE DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL DISASTER
DUE TO EL NINO
- HON. CHIRISA asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to explain why he has not communicated to Parliament about the President of Zimbabwe, Cde R.G,
Mugabe’s declaration of the state of national disaster due to El Nino phenomenon - induced drought which he made on the 2nd of February
2016 as espoused in Section 28 of the Civil Protection Act [Chapter
10:06]
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is true that the President of Zimbabwe, Cde R. G. Mugabe declared a state of national disaster due to the El Nino induced drought which he made on 2nd February, 2016 as espoused in Section 28 of the Civil Protection Act (Chapter 10:06).
Given the magnitude of the El Nino phenomenon induced drought, the issue has since been escalated to the level of the Vice President, Cde. R. D. Mnangagwa who is deputised by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation. With your indulgence Mr. Speaker Sir, I kindly request that the issue be referred to the Leader of the House.
LAND FOR EXPANSION OF CHITUNGWIZA CENTRAL
HOSPITAL
- HON. TARUSENGA asked the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing to explain to the
House;
- why part of the land that was reserved for the expansion of
Chitungwiza Central Hospital was turned into residential stands for
Chitungwiza Municipality Administration staff;
- the measures that the Ministry would take in view of the fact that Chitungwiza Central Hospital has run out of land for expansion.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for asking the question. However –
- The operative layout of Chitungwiza Hospital never had land reserved for Chitungwiza General Hospital besides the existing hospital stand.
- The adjacent land to the south of the hospital was reserved for primary and secondary schools, being stands 12082 and 12084 respectively.
- After noticing the inadequacy of land at the General Hospital and after a request from the Hospital Council offered Chitungwiza Hospital, the two school sites without changing their use as per procedure.
- For unknown reasons, Council and without informing Chitungwiza General Hospital, created 124 low density stands measuring 1 000 square meters each on the whole of stand 12084 and part of 12082
on 9th June, 2010 without again changing use of the school stands to residential.
- From a total of about nine hectares, only three hectares were left.
- On 22nd February, 2012 the then Minister of Local Government,
Rural and Urban Development appointed a special Investigation Committee within the Resuscitation Team of Chitungwiza to look into the allocations, change of use, subdivision and repossession of stands within the whole of Chitungwiza, which report identified the illegal change of use of stands 12084 and 12082, Zengeza 4; amongst other issues.
- The Special Committee recommended that the lay-outs of the created stands be formalised under Section 40 (3) of the Regional Town and Country Planning Act (Chapter 29:12 (1996)) considering that the stands had been fully developed.
(b) Mr. Speaker Sir, the following are the measures:-
- The three hectares left after the creation of 124 residential stands has since been occupied and fenced off by Chitungwiza
General Hospital as part of its expansion area.
- There is no other developable vacant land adjacent to Chitungwiza General Hospital, meaning they have to make do with what is now available.
- It would be prudent for them to start thinking of developing upwards especially for uses that can be accommodated upwards
e.g. walk-up flats for students and staff.
Land that can be made available is amongst the six farms in
Nyatsime but this land is way too far from Chitungwiza General Hospital, making any suggestions to their allocations too costly for their day to day running.
SUBSTANTIVE TOWN CLERK FOR BULAWAYO CITY COUNCIL
- MASUKU asked the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing to state when Bulawayo City
Council is expected to have a substantive Town Clerk.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Mr. Speaker Sir, Bulawayo City Council is in the process of recruiting and an advert for the post will be flighted as per the Ministry’s directive.
STANDS FOR THE POOR AND VULNERABLE RESIDENTS OF
BULAWAYO
- MASUKU asked the Minster of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing to state the Ministry’s efforts to avail affordable stands to the poor and vulnerable residents of Bulawayo, in view of the fact that the cheapest residential stands measuring 200m2 cost US$5000 and are purchased by the same people using different names.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for posing the question and affording me latitude to respond.
The Ministry, through the National Housing Delivery Programme, set the provincial targets to be attained by all stakeholders nationwide, Public and Private Partnerships in housing delivery included. The
Ministry acts as facilitator in meeting the targets and as for Bulawayo
Metropolitan Province, a target of 15 000 is earmarked by December
Local authorities as stakeholders are the decentralised local planning and housing authorities in their areas of jurisdiction and have their own housing policies, which of course are premised on the
National Housing Policy for sustainable housing development.
The price of stands and houses depends on the prevailing market forces (supply and demand) as well as the cost of delivering the product, among other considerations. Bulawayo City Council maintains its own housing waiting list as enshrined in the National Housing Policy and it is our expectation that the waiting list is constantly updated and that Council adheres to the waiting list at all times for allocations. However, the Ministry has no direct control on how they utilise that list.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMEN (HON. MINISTER CHINAMASA): With the leave
of the House Madam Speaker, I move that the rest of the Orders of the Day, be stood over until Orders of the Day, Numbers 44 and 45 of the
Day, have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL [H.B. 15, 2015]
Forty Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
Second Reading of the Special Economic Zones Bill, (H.B. 15, 2015).
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA: Madam Speaker, I rise to
respond to the contributions made by Hon. Members during the Second Reading of the Special Economic Zones Bill, 2016. I feel humbled by the overwhelming support that all those who contributed gave to the Bill. Now, I want to take the opportunity to respond to the contributions.
I wish to thank Hon. Members for the opportunity to respond to various issues they raised, which I found very valuable and enriching. I will respond firstly to the issues raised by the Chairman of the Portfolio
Committee on Finance and Economic Development. I am grateful to the Chairman and his Committee for the tremendous work they put in preparing their report.
With respect to paragraph 3.1 of their report on new authority, the Committee is proposing that the Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) be responsible for overseeing the Special Economic Zones as opposed to setting up a new authority, which would lead to avoidable costs being incurred by the Government. My response Madam Speaker is that,
Section 7 of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority Act, does indeed allow
ZIA to handle investment promotion strategies. The issue of Special Economic Zones is quite specialized and in order to get optimal value out of this policy, there is need to be focused in our approach towards Special Economic Zones. For that reason, I would like to have a dedicated body dealing with Special Economic Zones and therefore would like to return the institution structure in the Bill.
With respect to paragraph 3.2 of the report, to do with the recommendation that regional representation be adhered to as provided in Section 18 of the Constitution. I thank the Committee for this suggestion which I am very much alive to, and it will be taken into account when composing the Board of Directors of the Authority.
With respect to paragraph 3.3 to do with appointments of members with criminal record, the Committee recommends that such people with criminal record should not be eligible for appointment to the board. Madam Speaker, one needs to give consideration to the fact that if this is left open ended, even people who have previous convictions for what we consider as politically motivated convictions before independence, would be ineligible. In addition, a key principle of our criminal law is that persons who commit offences should be rehabilitated to the extent possible. Equally, a person whose criminal record may extend beyond five years could well not have reformed so that the period of five years serves as a guide to the appointing authority in determining persons suitable for appointment.
With respect to paragraph 3.4, to do with consultations amongst stakeholders prior to establishment of zones, the Committee is proposing that stakeholder views be obtained prior to the establishment of respective Special Economic Zones.
Madam Speaker, necessary consultations with stakeholders will be made with respect to paragraph 3.5 to do with validity of decisions and acts of board. The Committee takes the view that a decision taken by a meeting without a quorum should not be implemented and this will be in line with good corporate governance. My response is that, the rationale of this provision is to protect the investing public whose matters would have been decided by a board and to avoid rendering decisions affecting the investing public from becoming a legal nullity unnecessarily. For this reason, I would like to propose that this clause be retained.
With respect to paragraph 3.6, reports of the authority, the Committee recommends that it be mandatory for the Minister to lay before Parliament, reports made to him by the authority. My response is that I am agreeable to this proposal and I am going to submit an amendment so that I am able to lay an annual report of the authority in line with common practice, and not necessarily every single report that the authority may present before the Minister.
With respect to paragraph 3.7, application for investment licences and developers’ permit, the Committee is recommending
decentralisation of the licencing processes to places outside Harare and additionally, the use of electronic means such as a website to facilitate for easy and cheap access to documents and services associated with processing of licencing and permits. Madam Speaker, this is a good comment. Whilst the authority might not be able to afford setting up administrative structures across the country, I am agreeable to the use of electronic means to make for easy and cheap access to relevant documents and other services associated with processing of licences and permits.
Madam Speaker, with respect to paragraph 3.8 of the Committee’s report, dealing with consideration of applications for investment licences, the Committee is recommending that applications for investment licences to manufacture on the basis of import substitution should be included under Section 25 of the Bill. This matter is already provided for in Clause 25(b).
With respect to paragraph 3.9 of the report, to do with register of licences, the Committee is recommending that inspections of the register be free and the information regarding the same be made available online.
This recommendation is acceptable.
With respect to paragraph 3.10 of the report, appeals to Minister, the Committee is recommending that the period within which to lodge an appeal with the Minister be reduced to five working days from the current 60 days. Madam Speaker, this provision seeks to allow aggrieved parties reasonable time within which they may lodge an appeal in line with the right to administrative justice as enshrined in our Constitution. Five working days may be insufficient for a party and its lawyers to properly construct and lodge their appeal. Nothing in that provision bars any aggrieved party from lodging their appeal earlier if they so wish, but for the law to fail to accord reasonable time within which a party could appeal, would run contrary to the requirements of administrative justice.
Madam Speaker, with respect to paragraph 3.11 to do with preservation of secrecy, the Committee has inquired into the rationale behind Section 54 of the Bill which deals with preservation of secrecy. The response is that the authority will be dealing with matters of commercial interest and matters of a proprietary nature, for instance, including reviewing business plans of competitors and it would be undesirable for such matters to be disclosed and to be in the public domain. This would deter investors from disclosing information to the authority.
With respect to paragraph 3.12 of the report, dealing with Chapter 28:01 and 14:03 as to whether they would apply, the Committee makes the observation that this provision is in line with the practice of Special Economic Zones throughout the world and contends that this provision should stand. I agree with this position. This clause will remain as part of the Bill.
Finally, with respect to the report of the Committee, on clauses on
Clauses 57 to do with regulations and 58 dealing with special grants, Madam Speaker, the Committee rightly urges the speedy promulgation of regulations to the Act and that the incentive package be prescribed in the early stages.
I now turn to questions raised by various Hon. Members concerning provisions of the Bill. Hon. Dr. Shumba, I want to thank you for your question on whether investors will be treated fairly should they decide to carry on business in Zimbabwe. The answer is fair treatment of foreign companies operating in our country does more to attract and retain investment in a country than even fiscal incentives.
Equitable treatment of investors is a key tenent of the operating environment in Zimbabwe and Government is committed to maintaining that, going forward. Hon. Members will be aware that most investors, depending on which country they hail from are protected under Bilateral
Agreements on protection of investments between their country and
Zimbabwe. Hon. Eddie Cross, I wish to thank you for your comment. You also point out to the need to expedite the process of bringing in the incentive package and I share that sentiment with you, and I can confirm that is this is in line with the plan of operationalising the Special
Economic Zones. You also as did Hon. Maridadi and Hon. Nduna in part, also spoke about the issue of infrastructural shortcomings that could be an impediment to business and industrial activities in the designated zones, which is a concern that we all share.
The bottom line Madam Speaker, is we have to start somewhere and begin to develop our country one initiative at a time, one step at a time. We believe that Government and the private sector should work together towards this common objective. Hon. Maradidi mentioned two problems. The first to do with bureaucracy and the second, corruption. These will be addressed in turn. With respect to instutionalised structure proposed under the Bill, this is designed to respond to investor applications and related requests expeditiously. The goal is to create a central authority where all questions that have to do with investments in Special Economic Zones will be dealt with. The second issue concerning corruption which issue was also raised by the Hon. Chakona, Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga, as pointed out by Hon. Mudarikwa, there is absolutely no space for corruption in this country. This problem needs to be addressed in the most decisive way possible by all of us. It is not one individual’s responsibility to clean up our country of corruption but it is all our collective responsibility to do so.
However, we cannot stop improving our policies and investment climate because of concern over corruption. These are issue that we have to tackle simultaneously. Complacency will be a greater sin than corruption. Hon. Khupe raised two points concerning the application of the Labour Act and the Devolution of Powers to benefit local authorities.
On the issue of non-application of the Labour Act, it is the Hon.
Member’s view that workers will be victimized, harassed, beaten, hired and fired at any time, work for long hours and subjected to so many things without any form of protection.
Hon. Mupariwa also suggests that this provision will have the effect of violating workers rights. Madam Speaker, Clause 56 (52) makes it clear that rules will be put in place for conditions of service, termination, dismissal from service and disciplinary proceedings, which rules will be set in consultation with the Minister responsible for the administration of the Labour Act. So, there will be regulation, but we have to give special treatment to Special Economic Zones for the reasons that we all know.
Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga raised the point that the Bill should provide for regional representation on the board. That is consistent with the Constitution and I have already dealt with that matter when I responded to the report of the Committee. Hon. Chakona proposes that ICT be prioritised and policies be put in place to encourage its growth across the country.
Madam Speaker, ICT is a critical driver of economic growth as the Hon. Member points out. I agree that policies targeted at enhancing our ICT infrastructure should be put in place. ICT lessens the cost of doing business and improves the convenience with which it is carried out. Hon. Misihairabwi-Mshonga again took the view that the ten year period of validity of licence as provided in Section 27 of the Bill is too long. Making an investment in a foreign country is oftentimes not as straightforward as it would seem. Serious investors take a long term view of their investments, not short term. They want certainty, we need to treat businesses well as we are competing with many other investment destinations. There is no real benefit to an investor sitting on a licence. They stand to lose out on market opportunities. We should desist from any forms of unnecessary compulsion and should not be fostering an environment that encourages investors to take short term opportunistic views on the country because of our policies.
The Hon. Member also raises the issue of compulsory acquisition of land, as provided for in Clause 35 of the Bill which makes cross reference to section 71 of the Constitution. Section 71 of the Constitution protects property and provides that no acquisition of property is permitted in Zimbabwe unless acquisition is in the public interest and adequate compensation is paid upfront by the acquiring authority.
This is not a provision peculiar to this country. From a policy perspective, Zimbabwe has no precedent of acquiring property from anyone, other than rural agricultural land. We have no intention of acquiring any person’s property in the future. With that response, I now move that the Special Economic Zones Bill, 2016 be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I propose to make amendments arising from the debate and also amendments which I had. So, if the matter could be deffered to tomorrow. I therefore, move that the debate do now adjourn.
Committee Stage, Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
SECOND READING
PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 14,
2015]
Forty fifth Order read: Second Reading: Public Finance
Management Amendment Bill, (H. B. 14, 2015)
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Madam Speaker, I stand to introduce the Second Reading: Public Finance Management Amendment Bill, (H. B. 14, 2015). Madam Speaker, one of the key objectives of the Government as enunciated in the the new national Constitution, is to ensure transparency and accountability in all financial matters. Hon.
Members will be aware of recent reports by the Auditor General highlighting concerns with respect to the management and accountability for public resources. Hon. Members have also highlighted at different for a, their frustration over their apparent lack of response by
Government to these important issues raised in their Auditor General’s reports.
Madam Speaker, the Public Finance Management Act, Chapter 22:19 confer on the Treasury the responsibility to exercise general direction and control over public resources. To enable my Ministry to effectively discharge this mandate, it is necessary to develop and implement systems that ensure the effective use of and proper accountability for public resources. In this respect, strengthening the governing statute is critical to provide the necessary anchor for such systems.
Madam Speaker, in pursuance of the above objective, my Ministry is proposing the review of the Public Finance Management Act to further enhance the financial management provisions through the Bill that is before this august House for Hon. Members’ consideration. The Bill seeks to address concerns over public entity’s management of public resources by strengthening the sector Ministries and Treasury’s financial oversight of those entities. The amendment seeks to enhance the governance arrangements over public entities and statutory funds.
The proposed amendments Madam Speaker, pursuant to that objective, it is proposed that Section 10 be amended to clarify the powers and responsibilities of accounting officers with respect to public entities and statutory funds under their Ministry’s purview as follows:
- Responsibility to ensure that every public entity or statutory fund under each Ministry’s purview has systems in place for planning, allocating, budgeting and reporting on the use of public resources and that public resources are safeguarded against loss;
- The requirement for accounting officers to review the recurrent and capital budgets of every public entity/fund and make recommendations to the appropriate Minister and the Minister responsible for Finance on the approval of such budget proposals;
- The mandate to order investigation into the affairs of a public entity or a statutory fund under the accounting officers Ministry;
- The power to call upon an accounting authority to provide explanations on issues affecting the public entity or statutory fund;
- The authority to give direction which the accounting officer deems necessary for the efficient running of the public entity of statutory funds.
(b) Section 46 Madam Speaker, is to be amended to require all public entities to submit annually, corporate and financial plans to the accounting officer and the Accountant-General before the start of the financial year. The information will facilitate effective monitoring of public entity operations by the supervising Ministry and the Treasury.
Section 47 Madam Speaker, is to be amended to make it mandatory for public entities to submit their budgets to the appropriate Minister for approval not less than three months before the start of the financial year. The proposed provisions further compel the supervising Ministry to check for and ensure consistency of the annual corporate plans and budgets of public entities with the financial policies set by Government. These provisions will ensure that the deployment of resources by public entities is in line with Government policy and targets their co-mandates.
Madam Speaker, with respect to Section 49, this section is to be amended to incorporate a provision requiring public entities to submit quarterly financial statements no later than 21 days after the end of the respective quarter. The introduction of the quarterly reporting requirement will substantially enhance the monitoring of their functions.
A new Section 51(a) is to be inserted to clarify the separation of roles between the supervising Ministries and public entities consistent with good corporate governance principles. The clause further provides for offences and penalties for contravention of its provisions. Section 82 is to be amended to include provisions that compel public entities to implement audit recommendations within timeframes agreed with the
Auditor General.
In conclusion Madam Speaker, as I indicated earlier on, the proposals we are making in this Bill are critical to allow for the effective discharge of the mandate vested in my Ministry to manage public resources. I therefore urge members of this august House to support these proposals to enhance the effective management of/and accountability for public resources for the good of the nation.
I, therefore, move that the Public Finance Management Amendment Bill 2015, (H. B. 14, 2015) be now read a second time. I thank you.
HON. CROSS: Madam Speaker, the Committee responsible for
Finance and Economic Development has considered this draft
Amendment Bill and conducted public hearings in 6 centres in Zimbabwe. This Bill was examined by the general public and we received questions and points of view on it. I want to report to this
House that the Committee as a consequence, has no objections to the
Bill in its present form and we are extremely satisfied with its contents.
We wish to recommend to the House its adoption without amendment. –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Let me applaud the
Minister in bringing this Bill to the House because many a times Hon.
Speaker, you would find that most of the reports from the Public Accounts Committee that I chair, have several points that the Minister is trying to pay attention to. I would want to believe that with such kind of a Bill and reaction from the Executive, it is the kind of attitude that we expect from the Executive. I want to thank Hon. Minister Chinamasa for bringing such a Bill and I want to believe that in future, let us work together, let us tour the line.
However, I did not hear the factor in terms of the composition of the boards. This is because boards are overstaying without any changes. For example the GMB Board, you would find that board members are not declaring interests in terms of the requisite of the Public Finance
Management Act. I would want to believe that in his wisdom, the Hon.
Minister would be able to supervise and monitor on whether the composition of boards and the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act are adhered to. I would also urge him to go back to the reports of the Public Accounts Committee in terms of recommendations that we have made several times and also that we have got a pending motion Hon. Minister, in terms of the performance of parastatals and State enterprises that is already on the Order Paper. If so, then the recommendations can also be implemented. It will actually improve the functions of Government and safeguard the resources that are so much needed in the nation. Thank you Hon. Minister.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I just have additions to make. Firstly, I would like to applaud the Minister for bringing up these amendments. Madam Speaker, I want to give this suggestion, that the accounting officers who are being spoken about should not be in acting capacities. If you are in an acting capacity – usually, an accounting officer is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that department. The parastatals that I heard of, a lot of the CEOs have been in acting capacity. However, of late, I have seen that they are now in substantive positions.
It is my fervent view that in the very instant that the accounting officer becomes acting, for that period the provisions of the Act are suspended because they might take it upon themselves to weed the department of those people they might perceive as competitors to his position. So, the issue of acting positions in accounting officers should also be dealt with in this regard.
In Section 82 that you alluded to, I applaud you Minister because more often than not, the Auditor-General’s reports are just a mere talkshow and we have never seen any teeth as an outcome of the AuditorGeneral’s report.
Going forward, you have also alluded to the fact that there are going to be sanctions of some sort in some sections. So, I really applaud you for bringing up this Bill and I say, this might be a beginning of the future. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Madam Speaker, I want to
thank Hon. Members for their unqualified support for the Bill. I want to assure them that naturally, we cannot achieve what we want to do over night. However, we have started taking concrete steps to make sure that we give serious attention to reports of the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor-General so that we can address any shortcomings. This is how we are able to improve our systems. As we receive this, we are told about these shortcomings, we must take corrective action.
I want to assure Hon. Members that my Ministry is very much dedicated to that task. You will recall Hon. Members that, in my 2016 Budget Statement, I said that we are going to create and we have already created dedicated units under the Accountant-General’s Office. Two units, one is basically to peruse the reports from the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor-General and recommend to the Minister what corrective action to be taken. There is also need to recommend to the Minister that, in some cases, these reports are not necessarily correct, the conclusions may have been reached on the basis of incomplete information. However, we should be able to come to this House and say; yes there was this recommendation, but on our further investigation, there is practically nothing to the matter.
The other unit is basically – accounts are produced by State enterprises, so far no one has ever bothered to read, analyse and see them; on the face of the accounts themselves, a story should be told and we now have that unit which is basically going to be reading all those reports and highlighting issues that need to be followed up.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to say that this morning, we did a ground-breaking event where Post Office Savings Bank, which comes under my Ministry insisted that they should have an Annual General Meeting that is open to the press. We had some two and a half hours today where they were making a presentation of their accounts. As a representative of the shareholder, I was posing questions and asking. These are some of the steps that if we have transparency, all the issues that Hon. Maridadi worries about on corruption will be minimised.
Corruption always thrives in secrecy, where everything is hiding in the curves and so on. However, where everything is open and is being interrogated, there will be less. I am happy that, I think the board members and even the management of POSB were very pleased with the exercise because it puts them on their toes. In the process, it also brings job satisfaction because no one really wants to come to work to be corrupt. If you put systems that prevent them from corruption, I think they will be happier with their families. There will be no fear of being arrested or being exposed and so on. I would very much want to thank Hon .Cross, Hon. Mpariwa and Hon. Nduna for their support. It is a process and we are going to work very closely with accounting officers of line ministries.
The fear you raised Hon. Nduna, about accounting officers in an acting capacity, clearly in any structure, at some stages you cannot avoid some people having to work in acting capacities. Resignations and deaths occur, so there will be, at one point or another, a person working in an acting capacity. That, you cannot avoid. Madam Speaker, with those remarks, I move that the Public Finance Management Amendment
Bill (H.B. 15, 2015) be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: Thursday, 12th May, 2016
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA), the House
adjourned at Five Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 4th May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKER’S GALLERY
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, I recognise the presence in the
Speaker’s Gallery of members and officials of the Parliamentary
Commission of the Parliament of Uganda led by Hon. Ronald Regan
Okumo. You are most welcome – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
CREATION OF A WEBMAIL OF ADDRESSES
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to remind Hon. Members that the ICT Department has created a Webmail of addresses for them which enable Hon. Members to receive mail and documents electronically from Parliament. This facility became effective from Tuesday, 15th March 2016. The Hansard and Votes and Proceedings are being sent to Hon. Members who have registered with ICT Department. If you have not registered, you will receive nothing. The process of configuring passwords is going on at the ICT desk at the Hon. Members’ dining room
from 1200 noon to 4.30 p.m. during sitting days.
SEMINAR ON THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS IN ZIMBABWE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that the seminar on the Ease of Doing Business in Zimbabwe which was earlier on postponed is now scheduled for 5th - 8th May 2016, at the Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel. Buses leave for Bulawayo at 1100 hours, on Thursday, 5th
May, 2016. Members of the following Committees are expected to attend:
- Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development;
- Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce;
- Portfolio Committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment;
- Thematic Committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment; and
- Selected Members of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs.
THE HON. SPEAKER’S RULING
HON. MUDARIKWA’S POINT OF ORDER ON THE LOCKING OF
EMERGENCY EXIT DOORS AND GATES AT PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yesterday, there was point of order raised by Hon. Mudarikwa regarding the locking of emergency exit doors and gates at Parliament. It is true that the doors are locked for security reasons. If all the emergency exits are kept open, it will compromise the security of the building. Our security continually assesses the security and safety of the building. In the event that a security threat is detected requiring that the building be evacuated urgently, the doors will be immediately opened to allow people to leave the building. The personnel with keys to the doors are on standby 24 hours a day to react to any security threat. The same applies to the emergency gates in the car park.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
*HON. MAPIKI: My question is directed to the Minister of
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. May he tell
this august House what programmes they have in place for winter wheat and winter maize since the country is facing starvation?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE,
MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT
(CROPPING) (HON. MARAPIRA): I thank the Hon. Member for asking the question. Our plans regarding wheat farming for A1 farmers are; we are giving them assistance and we expect that in respect of summer maize, they will go back to plough winter wheat after harvesting. The same applies to A1 and commercials farmers in Chiredzi which is in the hot region; we expect that those with fields will plough winter maize. Thank you.
HON. CHIMEDZA: I would like to find out from the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon Chinamasa, when the debt to Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) will be paid up. We understand that now there is a new CEO at PSMAS but Government, from 2014 and before, owes PSMAS $94 million. From 2015 to date, contribution for employees amounting to $15 million is owed and owed employee contribution is $60 million. So the bulk debt that Government owes PSMAS is $169 million.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON CHINAMASA): I am aware that
Government owes PSMAS employee contributions but I am not aware of the exact amount. So, I cannot confirm or deny whether Government owes the $169 million. As to when it will be paid, we have now started meeting the contributions from March and I think that these payments will be sustained. [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, there is too much noise. Can the Hon Minister be heard in silence please? Hon. Chibaya, are you listening to the Chair.
HON CHIBAYA: Yes Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
HON. CHINAMASA: I was saying that we definitely owe
PSMAS money in terms of arrear contributions. I am not in a position to give the august House the exact figure but on our part, we were reluctant to pay to a corrupt administration because it was like putting money into a bottomless pit. So we insisted that they should restructure the management, which I believe there has been a very good attempt to do. So, from March we started making payments to PSMAS but with respect to arrears, we are going to enter into arrangements to pay them over time. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: From the Hon Minister’s response, it
would appear that this question needs to be put in writing so that a detailed response can be made.
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Hon. Speaker Sir. My point of order is a Constitutional point and a point to do with the good hygiene of Parliamentary debates and Parliamentary proceedings and processes. In terms of Section 141(a) of the Constitution, Parliament must, underlined- meaning to say that it is not may but is peremptory. Must is an obligation on Parliament to make sure that we facilitate public involvement in all legislative processes and the processes of the committees. Why am I raising this Hon. Speaker Sir? This is very important. I know Hon. Chinamasa …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please address the Chair.
HON: CHAMISA: I address you Hon Speaker Sir, the Minister was behaving in a thuggish manner.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, address the Chair.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you for protecting me against thuggery. Thank you very much.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, may the Hon. Member withdraw
that statement thuggery?
HON. CHAMISA: Yes, I seek to obliterate that statement. My point is to do with the coverage of Parliamentary debates. You are aware that we had a resolution here in Parliament, your resolution Hon. Speaker Sir, and you actually had an agreement which we got about debates being covered. This is not to benefit any one political party but the people who elected us. I can tell you that if you go to the rural areas, people want to understand what Parliament is doing, but you will find that there is no reason that has been given why debates are not being covered Hon. Speaker Sir. If it is a question of ZBC not being able to cover or Parliament not being able to cover, we need to hear from you because we want to take certain positions, not just as Parliamentarians but from a Constitutional point of view.
There are issues that arise. We are custodians of the Constitution and we are supposed to defend the Constitution as Parliamentarians and as Parliament. So, we cannot be at the centre or forefront of mutilating this Constitution. It is not our problem Hon. Speaker Sir, that Ministers do not have answers. If they do not have answers they should simply come and explain then go back and research instead of saying we cannot have these debates covered in a particular manner. So I am raising that as a point of order Hon. Speaker Sir, hoping that you will be able to address this issue. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. The point of order is noted and indeed, it is a constitutional provision which must be respected. I am advised that the crew that was supposed to come here was covering an international event of the African Capacity Building Conference. I am sure they will be here any time, otherwise the point of order is taken.
Secondly, radio is covering…
HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker Sir, if you may call the House to order, we cannot hear properly. It would appear some ministers are making noise.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Member is right but I am not
sure of his focus. I was saying we currently have full live radio coverage except for ZTV. We appreciate that point of order. Thank you very much.
An Hon. Member having stood up to raise a point of order.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, this is question time, I am not allowing any points of order.
HON. DR. LABODE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question goes to the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care. As you are aware Mr. Speaker, the Public Health Act has been under review for the past six years, I wanted the Minister to inform this House when we should expect the bill to finally come to Parliament or we have another six years to wait. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
(HON. DR. MUSIIWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for asking this question. It is indeed true that the Public Health Act is due for review. I want to promise this House that within this Session, we are bringing it to the House. Thank you.
HON. M. KHUMALO: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. My
question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture, I see the Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Livestock) is here. The question refers to the recent ban of quail birds. Our farmers in the rural areas are rearing these birds, but there was an ultimatum by the Ministry that the rearing must stop. What is the Government policy on the quail birds?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I am reliably informed by the Minister involved, that the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate withdrew the ban. I think there could have been a misunderstanding because domestication of quail birds rests with the Ministry of Agriculture. We are the only ones in terms of the Department of Veterinary Services, that can issue the ban in terms of whether they are suitable for consumption or not.
However, it was the issue of hunting the quail birds in the bush, obviously, it could have been related to the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate. I am reliably told that she has since withdrawn the ban. I thank you.
*HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. On the issue of the Quail birds – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection] – uri chihuta here iwe] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. This will be a second time asking an Hon. Member to address the Chair. Ignore digression please. Thank you.
HON. CHAMISA: My question to the Hon. Minister is to do with the policy inconsistencies. Is this not a reflection of yet another case of inconsistency within Government? We have heard about STEM, we heard the other Minister speaking to STEAM, now we are hearing something about the quail birds. Are you saying that they were not banned? The Minister of Environment issued a press statement and now we are hearing the Deputy Minister saying she never said that. Is this not further evidence of a Government that is becoming expert in double speech? They say one thing and do a different one, they indicate left but turn right. Can you address us on that issue, Hon. Minister?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, could you clarify the difference between the policy on hunting and that on domestication, I think the Hon. Member did not understand.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
(LIVESTOCK) (HON. ZHANDA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. In
actual fact, I had answered the question, but on the basis of hearsay because I was not privy to what the Minister said. If anybody was privy to what was said by the Minister, it was through the media and that is not a policy. At this juncture, I might want to ask if the Hon. Vice President can respond to the question because it relates to policy inconsistencies in Government and not the issue of Agriculture. I thank you.
*THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Hon. Speaker, if the Government has put in place a legislation on something which is or is not permissible, there is a procedure that is followed. Hon. Chamisa should understand that by now. However, he goes on to say that and yet he knows the procedures even with the knowledge that if the Government bans something, it is gazetted. There is no policy that is publicised only through the media, Government Policy is in written form. What he has not understood is that there are two types of quail birds, there are those that are allowed in this country and those who domesticate them and sell the eggs are doing
it legally.
Members of Parliament can also engage in such projects, but what is not allowed and was not understood by the Hon. Member is that there were others who are moving around the wild life taking away quail birds’ eggs, we are not happy about that. There is a way of rearing quail birds commercially, carrying out your quail birds’ project and selling to hotels, but we do not allow people to poach quail birds in the National Parks. That is the issue, so we are simply making everyone aware so that our nation develops. There is no policy that has been put in place in
Zimbabwe that quail birds’ projects are not allowed. The birds are very delicious, we enjoy the quail birds. Thank you.
+HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you Mr.
Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Hon.
Chinamasa. We have realised that there is a cash shortage in the banks.
If the use of the United States Dollar (USD) is problematic, is Government amenable to use the rand as legal tender? Children have faced problems going to school. Can you address that issue as a matter of urgency because people are facing problems doing their day to day business?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker, I want to
thank the Hon. Member for her question. She raised the issue of cash shortage and I hope she will bear with me and the House will also bear with me if I give a little bit of background before I come to answer the specific question.
The issue is that yes, there is a problem of cash shortage but I want to say that to every problem, the flip side is a solution and an opportunity. It gives us an opportunity to sort out and restore the multicurrency system. What has caused the cash shortage is a combination of factors some of which are to do with the appreciation of the USD, the depreciation or devaluation of the currencies of our neighbours, the high cost of our production, high imports and low exports. All that combination of factors has caused a higher demand on the USD than was the case.
I will give an example that in 2013, currencies which were circulating in Zimbabwe were something like 60% USD and 40% South African Rand (SAR). Progressively, the SAR circulation in our economy has been declining to a point where last year, it came to zero.
That factor increased the demand on the USD.
We also know that we are using the USD to finance domestic transactions that is; paying wages, buying mazhanje, tomatoes. A USD generally is a reserve currency. Most countries have vaults to keep USD as reserve currency. In our situation, it is not only a reserve currency and a store value but also we are using it to finance petty domestic transactions including importing trinkets. That totality of the factors that I mentioned has caused a squeeze on the USD currency.
As I am speaking, the Governor of the Reserve Bank will be announcing a raft of measures in order to address that issue but primarily it is intended to restore the multi-currency system. When we introduced the multi-currency system, we mentioned that it was a basket of currencies; the Euro, Yen, Rupi, SAR, Botswana Pula and so on. What we are trying to redress now is that the dominance of the USD, which is now making our economy a uni-currency regime and not a multicurrency regime. The measures will seek to increase the circulation of rands or Euros in our economy so that the burden on demand is shared amongst many currencies.
I want to thank the Hon. Member once again for her question because it gives me an opportunity to explain that while it is indeed a crisis, for us it is an opportunity to move forward. After the implementation of the raft of monetary measures to be announced this afternoon, I can see that there would be a very smooth trajectory on growth. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MAJOME: I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you
Hon. Minister of Finance for your response.
My supplementary question is; is there any truth or correctness in the understanding among a lot of economic analysts that the real cause of the shortage of currency is because of the Government going into the money market and mopping up liquidity in the form of treasury bills (TBs). Is there any truth? And if there is not, what is Government doing in order to allay that fear? Does the Government have money to pay back and to support that?
HON. CHINAMASA: Clearly, there is no truth to the fact that the cash shortage is caused by the TBs that we have been issuing to finance some Government programmes. There is no truth. The truth is what I have given you. For as long as we import more than we export, for as long as we are using a currency which is appreciating when we have neighbours whose currencies are depreciating, we become a mopping house. People come to mop our USD and when we consider the issues about illicit financial flows, it means that any USD we bring even if we bring into the market USD2 billion, it will soon vanish because people want USD as a store value.
I want to assure the Hon. Member that there is no truth in what she has said. I also want to say that we have faithfully honoured all TBs and all debt instruments when they come to maturity. We have never heard the market complaining except people who are not even subscribers to those TBs. Those are the people who complain. Those who are subscribing are quite happy with the manner that we have been running the show.
HON. BHEBHE: My question is directed to the Minister of Local
Government.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, I thought you wanted to ask a supplementary question.
HON. BHEBHE: No, it is not a supplementary.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, in view of the
Minister of Finance’s answer, is it therefore a prudent idea to continue housing regional trading giants who are continuously siphoning that short US dollar back to their country such as Pick n Pay, Choppies and so on? They are selling South African Products and taking even more money back to South Africa – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Especially Choppies inogara yakaitwa official opening].
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I want to thank the Hon.
Member for the supplementary question. Among the measures that the Governor is going to announce, they will include a priority list for use of the hard earned foreign currency. In other words, there will be a priority list of goods which can be imported using our foreign currency. So, I think that once that priority list is implemented, I am sure that the problems you mention will become less and less.
Basically the priority list is going to say with respect to banks; give priority to importing fuel, machinery and essential goods and commodities. I am talking of raw materials not trinkets, not dollar for two shoes. So that essentially is what is going to be proposed.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development. One of the measures which was welcomed by our market was the debt resolution strategy prefixed as the LIMA Strategy. May the Hon.
Minister give an update in terms of the policy position on how far the LIMA programme has gone, when can we expect to see the fruits? We believe it will help a lot in our financial market.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, we are a
member of the three multilateral financial institutions and we owe them money. According to their rules, we cannot secure new funding or enjoy the benefits of our membership unless and until we clear our arrears. We fell into arrears in 2000, we had not been paying. Now, we entered into a Staff Monitored Programme and the clearance of arrears was dependent on us meeting the staff monitored targets. This, we have done, an IMF mission came to the country February/March, assessed whether we had met our target for end of December last year and it concluded that we had indeed met our targets.
The team also did Article 4 consultations and they were reasonably satisfied with the economic direction that the country is taking, in particular the reform agenda. In fact the mission was pleasantly surprised that they were reforms that we were undertaking which were outside the Staff Monitored Programme. Of, course we explained that we do these reforms for ourselves and not to please the IMF. The meeting on Monday of the IMF board received a report from the mission as well as a report on the Article 4 consultations. I am happy to say and this has been communicated to me yesterday, Tuesday, 3rd May, 2016.
I am happy to say that the IMF Board was satisfied with
Zimbabwe’s performance. So, the coast is now clear to implement the LIMA strategy for clearance of arrears and we are expecting that from now on, the necessary documentation will now be done. The necessary written commitments will now be sought and given and that the multilateral institutions boards will meet September, October or thereabouts to approve the strategy. But alongside the clearance of arrears Mr. Speaker Sir, we are negotiating a new financing programme, to support and finance those sectors of our economy which if supported and financed, will have a transformative impact in our economic recovery.
These factors are basically what is laid out in the ZIM-ASSET document. In respect of productive sectors, we are talking of agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and so on. In the case of infrastructure, we are talking about power, roads, railways, water and ICT. So, Mr. Speaker Sir, in short answer to Hon. Kereke, we are on course. I want to appeal to Hon. Members on both sides of the political divide to support the strategy without respect to political affiliation. We, should, on economic issues, speak with one voice in order to restore and build confidence in our economy and in our country.
HON. DR. KEREKE: I want to find out on the issue of ZIDERA
and the binding constraints it gives on multilateral organisations like the IMF, the World Bank. Is it not fact that for as long as ZIDERA is a statute that is active, it is not possible that the IMF, even if Zimbabwe clears it arrears, will be able to give loans to Zimbabwe - particularly in view of the fact that what Zimbabwe owes the IMF; technically Zimbabwe has paid because the IMF is holding our money which will more than offset what we owe them.
HON. CHINAMASA: Normalisation with the United States of America remains a problem and it is problematic, that I must admit. But we continue to engage them, almost every time we go to these meetings, we have been engaging the State Department and United States Treasury. Not only about seeking their support for our debt clearance strategy but also appealing to them to lift the sanctions. Just before I went to the annual meetings, the United States slapped sanctions on our fertilizer companies, which basically is a direct attack on our agriculture. So, I recognise it is a problem but certainly we will do whatever is in our power to find ways around it.
What I think Mr. Speaker, the House needs to know is that the
United States, whilst being the biggest shareholder, has no right of veto. It has not right of veto to any decisions that the board may want to take on any of these. So, its influence is through moral suasion. So, we are trying our best to talk to those who are supporting us who are friends of the United States, so that they can be more supportive. I thank you Mr.
Speaker.
*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. Last time you explained that the police can access people’s accounts and get money from them. However, the law of the land says that the police are there to arrest offenders and the courts are there to pass sentence. Why are the police taking the law into their own hands without following the procedure?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, this is question time;
you just ask straightforward questions. We expect the Hon. Ministers to respond accordingly. Please ask your questions directly and use one language.
*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is, which law is being used by the ZRP to access money from people’s personal accounts? The police should inform members of the public of the crime committed and the person should go to court. What is Government policy concerning that?
*THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (HON. DR.
CHOMBO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. I thank the Hon. Member for his question. The question is very pertinent such that I need to go and look at the legislation that is available, investigate more on the issue and submit a written submission in response to the question. Thank you.
HON. BHEBHE: Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
We are aware that the country has a housing backlog estimated at over 1.5 million. Recently, you were on the news canvassing for 20 000 stands that you are going to distribute on partisan lines. Is it not prudent for the Minister to encourage the Government to allocate proper land to fulfill the waiting list of 1.5 million?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I would want to thank Hon. Bhebhe for a good question. First and foremost, we are not distributing or let alone having people access stands on the basis of their political cards. We want to ensure that all Zimbabweans where possible, have housing opportunities – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
Mr. Speaker Sir, the housing waiting list by city authorities has been very disappointing, if I have to say it. For a very long time,
Government has been making land available to the city authorities. However, if you see the records by city authorities, most of the land was distributed to land barons and cooperatives, to the extent that many of the people who accessed the land did not pay for the land even to the city authorities. We felt this process or system can no longer be acceptable. We have authority within Government; the Urban Development Cooperation which is charged with ensuring that we develop housing and house our people. We are going for a transparent process, – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - a system that will ensure that the majority of our people has access to land.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it would have been my desired route to work with the city authorities and give them land but some of them have publicly said they do not want the land, with 100 000 people on the waiting list. I cannot force cities which have said that publicly and I can quote
Bulawayo Mayor. He said the 100 000 people on the waiting list is not an issue. How can 100 000 people be not an issue to a city father? We are saying we will move into Bulawayo and ensure that we give land to the people; irrespective of their political persuasion, we are going to house them. I thank you.
HON. BHEBHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It is on record that
Bulawayo City Council has applied for land in Umguza through the
Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. That application has not been approved to date but the same Minister is coming up with a partisan list that expressly said 20 000 stands, that he addressed at a rally. What effort is he making to ensure that he reduces the 100 000 and not creating yet another list against the local authority list?
HON. KASUKUWERE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon. Member can
favour me with the application from City of Bulawayo to my Ministry. I will be glad to receive that. I can also assure him that Bulawayo City Council has a lot of land under its control, including farms which they have been lazy not to service and give to the people. Right now as we are speaking, there is land that has been taken by their senior party officials in Bulawayo, including the race course. The land has not been allocated to the people but individuals in a corrupt manner. We cannot accept that – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
*HON. PEDZISAI: Thank you. My question is directed to Hon. Minister Kasukuwere. What is the Government policy concerning the acquisition of land that is in a private property in the urban areas and farming land in connection with the issue of housing. What does the law say concerning private property land in urban areas?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question that he has raised. Let me say that Government policy is clear, if land is privately owned, it is private property. I am not sure whether the Hon. Member was saying that is it wrong to invade someone’s private land, was that the question?
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order! Mr. Speaker, we
appreciate the fact that the Ministers have to give responses to the Members of Parliament after questions are raised but I think the Minister should be brought to order because he said that the Hon. Member is an invader. We do not want the factionalism in their party in this august House. We do not care whether people are Lacoste or G40; we do not want that Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Minister of Local
Government, National Housing and Public Works talked about invaders not Hon. Members as invaders.
HON. PHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I simply want to thank the
Hon. Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing for indicating that he is more transparent than the previous Minister.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! It is not your role Hon. Member to be judgmental. Can you withdraw your statement and ask your question.
HON. PHIRI: I withdraw Mr. Speaker. Hon. Minister on the land issue and other issues pertaining to the purview of your Ministry, it is perceived that you are interfering too much, you are micromanaging...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Can you please ask the question?
HON. PHIRI: Mr. Speaker, that is my question.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No ask the question.
HON. PHIRI: Hon. Minister why are you micro-managing Local
Authorities as if you are leaving in the pre-2013 era, when a new Constitution had not been brought into place? Why are you not coming up with a new piece of legislation that complies with the provisions of the new Constitution?
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is not a supplementary question.
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary
question to the Minister of Local Government with regards to the issuing of land to the youths is that; are the youth going to be given title deeds? Secondly are the youth going to be economically empowered for them to manage those stands? Also, does the City Council have the capacity to service those stands that they are giving to youths that do not even have one dollar today?
HON. KASUKUWERE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for her question. Hon. Member, we must empower our young people whether they have no resources or they have, it is their right as Zimbabweans. Secondly, when we are fighting poverty and this is the commitment by our party to fight poverty amongst young people of this country – [HON. CHAMISA: Party yako ichii urikuda ku former another part] – ZANU PF!
So, we will not hesitate, Mr. Speaker Sir, to ensure that we go the full length and help our young people to access title deeds where they have satisfied the requirements, they will get them. Why should they build homes and not have access to title. We are doing it because we know that this is about their livelihood, it is about their future, they must be secure and that is what we are doing.
In the process, Mr. Speaker Sir, our young people will also be engaged; I can give you the example of Caledonia which we are rebuilding, and we are working hard on. The young people there are working but they are also paying in a small way for the stands that they have. So, we believe this is an opportunity to empower our young people at the same time giving them an opportunity to work for themselves.
HON. MALABA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Seeing that our Local Authorities are failing to rehabilitate the roads in all our cities – [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection] - I come from Bulawayo and I know what I am talking about. Hon. Minister what is the Government policy in terms of ZINARA managing the roads, will it be a prudent idea if ZINARA would even manage the roads in the towns just like what ZESA is an electricity authority?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Malaba for that question which gives me an opportunity to explain what ZINARA is doing and what local authorities should also be doing, ZINARA is just a funder which collects money and disburse it to road authorities which are urban or city councils, rural authorities, DDF and department of roads. You are insinuating that ZINARA should be the one to collect and again work on the roads or rehabilitate the roads. You are forward looking but the situation as it is at the moment is that ZINARA is contented by the work that the road authorities are doing. Some very important work is being done by local authorities. For instance, the Bulawayo City
Council that you are talking about are the best in the country … - [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, Hear] – in utilising the funds that are disbursed by
ZINARA. I would actually urge all local authorities, urban, rural and
DDF to emulate the City of Bulawayo.
Whilst you are of the opinion that maybe we should engage ZINARA to do the work that local authorities are doing. I would say, local authorities must emulate those local authorities that are using the funds that are disbursed to them in a very successful way that satisfies our people. If you look at Bulawayo, I say they are the best because they have already started using the money that was disbursed to them to employ youths and go about patching the roads. I thank you for your question.
HON. MALABA: I know that the Minister was in Bulawayo recently for a seminar but he attended a stage-managed… - [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order.
HON. MALABA: He attended a stage-managed programme in
Makokoba…… - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order can you ask the supplementary please.
HON. MALABA: Thank you Mr. Speaker that is exactly where I am going. My question is, the roads in Bulawayo are in a deplorable state. I am talking about the roads in the eastern and western suburbs.
They are terrible despite the fact that Bulawayo was given funds by ZINARA to rehabilitate the roads.
Therefore my question to the Minister is, who now supervises the usage of those funds? Is it ZINARA or the Ministry? Last year
Bulawayo City Council was given … … - [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections] – Hon. Speaker, I am saying last year, the Bulawayo City Council was given $870 000.00 by ZINARA and the uptake was only 55% of those funds yet the roads are in a deplorable state. Who is policing the City Council and ensuring that they are properly utilising the money to rehabilitate those roads?
HON. DR. GUMBO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not know
about stage-managing but what I know is that I visited work in progress when I got to Bulawayo not just in Mzilikazi but across the town both the low and high density areas. I can also confirm that we were also given a list of some of the very bad roads in Bulawayo.
I agree that the City Council cannot maintain all the roads at the same time. It is a process that has to take a long time. The important thing that everybody knows and most people have been to the Trade Fair, just facts and nothing else. Bulawayo City Council has got the best roads in the country and I believe they are using the money that we disburse to them correctly. I am urging all urban authorities to emulate what Bulawayo is doing. Harare is also trying and I cannot expect them to have rehabilitated all the roads at the same time. Let us accept that work is being done.
My point to Hon. Malaba is that whilst he might have a place in Bulawayo that has not been attended to, it does not mean that they are not doing their work. Bulawayo City Council are doing their best and will continue to do their best because we also disburse funds after they have acquitted what we will have allocated to them. We also have a process of verifying that the money has been properly utilised, that is the supervision that we do.
So, ZINARA cannot supervise and the … - [HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, Hear] – whilst ZINARA supervises through audits, we also ensure that the money has been properly utilised by making follow-ups. I thank you.
+HON. MLILO: My question is directed to the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing. Minister, what is Government policy on hiring people in the wards particularly those engaged in grass-cutting?
*THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC
WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. KASUKUWERE):
Thank you Mr. Speaker, the question that was raised by Hon. Mlilo concerns workers in the urban areas especially those engaged in grasscutting. These are public works that are being done and as a Government, we look at Councils who have the responsibility of collecting rates.
He may be talking about Cowdry Park, the residents of this area should ensure that Council employs youths from these areas to do the work to ensure that they keep their city clean. I thank you.
+HON. MLILO: Thank you for the response Minister but what is transpiring is not making everyone happy as there is subjective hiring of people yet we have Residents Associations. Why is the hiring of people not involving the Councils so that it can be conducted in a transparent manner instead of hiring people at MDC rallies?
*HON. KASUKUWERE: I thank Hon. Mlilo for the supplementary question that is looking at the conduct of people who employ workers. There are quite a number of issues raised in doing the work. My request is that when youths are being employed, let us give the people of Zimbabwe, it is sad that in the urban areas when the councillors recruit workers, they only take those people that they want and employs them. I hope that the issue that was mentioned of Bulawayo, if that is what is happening there as the Hon. Member has said; we will investigate and find out what is happening. We will assist the Council to address the issue to ensure that there is transparency in the employment of people. I thank you.
*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. There are NRZ employees who have not received any salaries for the past 15 months. As a Minister what are you doing about it because it is affecting the economy as a whole, because there is nothing that is taking place at NRZ? I would want to know as the Minister is doing to ensure that the workers at NRZ are able to fend for themselves and earn a decent living. I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. J. GUMBO):
Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Chibaya for the question that he has raised. It is a question that affects a lot of people here in Zimbabwe as well as families. It is true that the National Railways of Zimbabwe employees have not received their salaries for the past 15 to 16 months. What has been happening over this long period of time is that the workers were engaging with the management to ensure that they get at least a little of the money.
Those who occupy top management were being given $700 and those at the lower ranks were given about $175 per month. The challenge right now Mr. Speaker Sir, is that those who were giving work to the railways for example Tongaat Hulett have stopped working with NRZ. Other companies such as ZIMASCO folded and ZPC has also stopped engaging NRZ, which means that the little money that NRZ was able to get and the that the agreement that had been reached of them getting a little of their salary is not longer available.
The Hon. Member went on to ask what we are doing as a Ministry, we are requesting the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development headed by Hon. Chinamasa that those who were indebted to the NRZ companies like ZISCO, ZIMASCO, Makomo, ZPC, Tongaat Hulett and GMB, to give us Treasury Bills in order to assist us in paying these workers. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has agreed to this and we got about $3 million that we have managed to
pay the NRZ workers. We have paid them at least $3 million and we are requesting that they should come back to work and to continue working for the Government by bringing in produce from GMB.
As Government and as a Ministry, we also engaged in talks with other companies. I cannot divulge which companies - but we are talking to them in order to finance the NRZ in order resuscitate the NRZ industry, the railway lines, the locomotives as well as resuscitate signalling so that the employees work in a conducive environment without being prone to accidents. What we request is that NRZ workers understand what we are going through for what we are planning right now, we would want them to understand what we are doing as Government. Our aim and hope is that they remain employed. We know it is difficult to go to work without earning a salary but we asking them to bear with us as Government. I thank you.
*HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, my supplementary question is, what are you doing about the suggestion that came that NRZ has scrap steel that can be sold. If this scrap steel is sold it will bring in a bit of funding that will assist in the paying of salaries for these workers.
Furthermore, as we look at this scrap steel, there is an issue of copper wire that was stolen from Gweru to Bulawayo which was for the electric train. Copper wire, we are talking of thousands of kilogrammes, if this is sold that will also raise quite a lot of funding to sustain the workers at NRZ. I thank you.
HON. DR. J. GUMBO: I thank the Hon. Member for giving me more ideas and insight. Mr. Speaker Sir, these are some of the ideas that we are using. What we are doing in terms of scrap metal that he has mentioned, we have plans to dispose of it to raise funds. We wanted to do it in a transparent manner. We said we want to invite tenders to see who can buy the scrap. That is what we are doing with the scrap metal in order to assist the workers as well as the copper wires that you mentioned about. We are in the process of finding out which can be used and which we sell in order to raise money to assist the workers at NRZ. I thank you.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Minister of Finance and Economic Development, the question is directed to you if you could kindly follow
it?
HON. MUDARIKWA: My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development. What is the national policy of Zimbabwe in as far as the use of plastic money is concerned?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I want to thank the Hon.
Member for his question. Our problem which was raised earlier by Hon. Misihairabwi–Mushonga is to do with shortage of cash which is caused by the fact that all of us walk with thousands and thousands of US$ in our pockets and bags. People buy cars, go to put a deposit to buy cars and they take cash with them to buy cars. Even to buy a house they go and pay $20 000 to $30 000 deposit in cash. All that means it is cash outside the money system. Sometimes the money spends two weeks under the pillow.
The strategy and policy is to encourage the use of plastic money so that it can be done electronically. This is also helpful because we have an educated population and we think that we can cope and be able to adapt to the use of plastic money. Therefore, the policy is to encourage, and I would want to call on all Hon Members to also try to use RTGs when they are doing transactions and not to withdraw cash from the bank. Thank you.
HON. SITHOLE: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Dokora. Is it Government policy to impose the national pledge and the cancellation of Scripture Union in all schools without passing through Parliament as enshrined in the Constitution on Section 13, read in conjunction with Section 194?
THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Thank you Mr. Speaker. I
will be seeking your indulgence to make a Ministerial Statement on the national school pledge. Then, the second part of that question relating to the Scripture Union – the scripture unions themselves know that they are not banned from schools and they know precisely what they should be engaging in when they go to the schools. Thank you. [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order; Hon. Mutseyami, order please. We cannot allow supplementary questions because the Hon Minister has promised to make a Ministerial Statement. After his ministerial statement, you can then seek clarification.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
HON. D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I propose that we extend the time for questions without notice by 10 minutes.
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I object.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY
LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received from the Parliamentary
Legal Committee Non-Adverse reports on the following Bills: The Public Finance Management Amendment Bill, (H. B. 14, 2015), the
Pan-African Minerals University of Science and Technology Bill, (H. B.
10, 2015) and the Minerals Exploration and Marketing Corporation Bill,
(H. B. 11, 2015).
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
TOURS OF PROVINCES BY THE FIRST LADY
- HON. CROSS asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development whether the recent tours to the provinces by the First Lady were catered for by the State, and if so, to state the expenditure incurred and also if the Minister could report to the House the extent and justification of such expenditure.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): The short answer to the
Hon. Member’s question is that the cost of the logistics or movements of the First Lady, Dr Grace Mugabe to meetings, falls within the budget of the office of the President. It is not feasible to isolate such costs from the overall costs or budget of the office of the President. Thank you. HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Hon Minister, in view of your response to question number one, is it Government policy that funds that are set aside for Government activities be utilized for political activities.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I do not see the question here relating to
political activities.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: The question by Hon Cross was whether the recent tours by the First Lady were funded by the State. Everyone who knows the First Lady’s tours knows that they were political tours. The fact that Hon Cross did not specifically state - the First Lady’s political tours does not mean that we cannot find out; like the Hon Minister has responded that indeed the tours were funded from State coffers. My question then is, if it is Government policy to utilise State coffers to fund political activities?
HON. CHINAMASA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon Member is just
trying to split hairs. When the First Lady travels, sometimes they travel together with the President and I do not know whether for that event he would want me to separate the cost for the First Lady flying in the helicopter with the President. Sometimes the President will delegate her to do his work and at times charity work and so on. Clearly, I do not see any rationale for trying to split hairs. The point is that the First Lady sometimes helps the President in discharging his Government duties. You cannot separate the political from the official. In the same way that the President, when he travels, he is travelling as the President of the country but also as leader of ZANU PF. I have never been asked at any time why he has travelled in a helicopter as leader of ZANU PF because he cannot separate his leadership of ZANU PF from his leadership of the country.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. I think my question is very simple and straightforward and is not splitting any hairs. If it is the feeling of …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, you do not raise a point order. You should have raised a supplementary question. I think the answer has been quite clear.
PROGRESS ON SETTLING OF REGIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL DEBTS
- 2. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development to update the House on the progress Government has made to settle regional and international debts with particular reference to:
- The US$111 million owed to the International Monetary Fund;
- US$601 million owed to the African Development Bank; and
- US$1.1 billion owed to the World Bank.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank
the Hon. Member for his question. My response is as follows:
- With respect to the US$111 million owed to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), as of today, our arrears to the IMF amount
to about US$109 million. The figure has been declining because of the token payments we have been paying since 2013. The exact figure also fluctuates depending on the US$, the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) exchange rate. At the same time, our reserves with the IMF amount to US$130million. This means our reserves with the IMF are more than enough to pay-off the arrears.
- US$601million owed to the African Development Bank (AFDB); Let me inform Hon. Members that the AFDB set aside resources to write-off arrears with Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe and these resources were to be accessed on a first come first saved basis. The dead-line for use of these resources is December 2016. This is why we are accelerating the re-engagement process, ahead of the other countries so that 100% of these resources are used to writeoff Zimbabwe’s arrears, which would be debt forgiveness. The mechanics of the write-off is being facilitated by the Afreximbank.
We need therefore to acknowledge with appreciation, that the
AFDB will write-off our debt and that Afreximbank will facilitate that write-off.
- US$1.1 billion owed to the World Bank. The World Bank Group did not set aside resources to write off debts to Zimbabwe. We are therefore, having to raise our resources or borrow these resources. Discussions are underway, spearheaded by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, with friendly countries and some financial institutions to raise the money. I will update members when we reach an agreement. We are aiming at getting a soft loan with a long grace period and more time for repayment.
MEASURES ON REDUCING TRADE DEFICIT
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain the measures that Government has taken to reduce the trade deficit which has gone up in the last two years from US$2.7billion in 2014 to US$2.9 billion in 2015.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank the Hon. Member for his question. The country’s trade balance has remained negative since 2014. A trade deficit of about US$3.3 billion was recorded in both 2014 and 2015 as a result of both exogenous and endogenous factors.
Exogenous factors primarily related to a drop in international commodity prices, particularly of minerals, which comprise the bulk of our exports. The appreciation of the US dollar against a number of our trading partners’ currencies also stimulated imports demand by most Zimbabwean entities.
On the other hand, endogenous factors evolved around low productivity in most of our productive sectors against a background of high production costs, utility bottlenecks among a host of other factors constraining production.
As a result, growth in exports have lagged behind that of imports translating into consecutive trade deficits.
The table below shows exports and imports for 2013 to 2015
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
Imports | 4,139 500 000 | 6,379 758 000 | 6,002 596 000 |
Exports | 8,005 300 000 | 3,063 736 000 | 2,704 095 000 |
Trade Deficit | 3,865 800 000 | 3,316 021 000 | 3,298 500 000 |
Source: ZimStat
In addition, the huge errors and omissions also reflect leakages or unrecorded exports and other inflows which affect the trade balance.
Measures to Reduce the Trade Deficit
Government has always prioritised a sustainable trade deficit in order to contain unsustainable outflows. This is more important under an environment which relies on the use of external currencies for liquidity and day to day transactions.
Accordingly, the following measures are under implementation to manage the trade gap with the objective of stimulating exports while containing non-essential imports.
Import Duties
Over the years, since 2013, Government has been reviewing import duties for goods and services with a view to containing imports. The objective was to ensure a level playing field which also protect and promote the local industry while observing the SADC Trade Protocol and Industrialisation Strategy. The affected sub-sectors include, foodstuffs, furniture, electrical, clothing and footwear among others. The rationale for the respective tariff adjustments were also meant to fight dumping.
Duties on Capital Goods and Raw Materials
In addition, Government has also been taking a deliberate move to reduce duties on capital goods and raw materials in support of our industry in order to reduce their production costs and hence improve their competitiveness.
Mobilisation of External Lines of Credits
- Mobilisation of external affordable lines of credit aimed at improving productivity and competitiveness has been prioritised in support of our industry. These include the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund, Zimbabwe Economic and Trade Revival Facility, PTA and Afrexim Bank Facilities among others. This is ongoing and the impact has been positive on benefiting industries.
Investment Attraction
- Creation of conductive business environment that attract the much needed investment of our ailing industry is also a priority. Hence, Government through coordination of the OPC has been spearheading the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Reforms. These relate to:
- Starting a Business;
- Paying taxes and trading across borders;
- Getting credit, and resolving insolvency;
- Enforcing contracts and protecting minority investors; and - Registering property and getting construction permits.
Other Measures
- Other measures in support of the above include;
- Promoting local procurement, so as to support local industry and hence reduce imports for those goods and services which can be availed
locally.
-Buy Zimbabwe Campaigns – encouraging and requiring all
Government to buy goods and services locally so as to promote local industries.
-Promotion of Special Economic Zones and already a Bill is before this august House, to attract investments particularly for exporting industries.
- Lastly, support for SMEs through various facilities because
SMEs are going to be the engine for growth and exports. I thank you.
IMPORTATION OF GOODS PRODUCED LOCALLY
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain the legislative measures that the Ministry has put in place to ensure that the country does not continue to import goods which can be produced locally, namely; grain, chemical and pharmaceutical products.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Thank you Mr. Speaker
Sir. I outline below in summery some of the measures that were undertaken by the Ministry for the sectors in question.
The issue of pharmaceutical products, strengthening and promoting the local production of pharmaceutical products is one of the strategies under the Social Services and Poverty Eradication Cluster of ZIMASSET. Cognisant of the fact that the pharmaceutical industry was facing unfair competition from imported cheaper products, the
Government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, provides a rebate of duty to approved pharmaceutical companies on essential imported raw materials and packaging materials used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products.
Currently, nine approved pharmaceutical manufacturers are benefiting under the facility whereby essential raw materials and packaging materials are imported duty free. For more information with regards to the facility, Hon. Members are requested to refer to Statutory Instrument 179 of 2014, which became effective on 1st January, 2015.
This rebate reduces the cost of production, thereby enhancing competitiveness of locally manufactured pharmaceutical products. The improved competitiveness of locally manufactured products eased importation of pharmaceutical products by about 10.4% between 2014 and 2015.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of grain and chemicals, customs duty, a fiscal tool that can be used by the Ministry, remains low, ranging between 0% and 15% on the bulk of products in view of the fact that the products are of a strategic nature and are also used as inputs in the production process.
However, grain and chemicals require import permits to be imported into the country as a way of minimising importation of such goods. For instance, with respect to grain, permits are not issued when the country has a good harvest.
In conclusion, the control of importation of goods in order to curb trade deficit requires collective effort from various Government
Departments. It is also important to note that policy intervention by the
Government in general and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, in particular, is guided by representations from affected industry.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development continues to implement policies that support local production. To this end, the Hon. Member of Parliament in conjunction with the stakeholders concerned, should take advantage of the budget and submit comprehensive list of the affected locally produced products for possible policy interventions.
THE HON. SPEAKER: In terms of Standing Orders Number 64
(7), the Hon. Member is allowed to ask not more than four questions. So, can the Hon. Minister submit at the Clerks Table answers to questions Numbers, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Thank you very much for
that clarification of the Standing Order -[Laughter]-.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
MEASURES TO REDUCE GOVERNMENT’S CURRENT
ACCOUNT DEFICIT
- HON. K. SIBANDA asked the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development to explain to the House the measures that the
Ministry has in place to reduce Government’s current account deficit that constraints economic growth potential as caused by illicit financial flows.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir.
- Firstly I thank Hon. Sibanda for the question. Let me clarify that it is the country which can incur a current account deficit and not the
Government.
- The country’s current account balance has remained in negative territory. A current account deficit is about US$2.1 billion and US$1.5 billion was recorded in 2014 and 2015, respectively, emanating from both exogenous and endogenous factors.
- Exogenous factors primarily relate to a drop in international commodity prices particularly minerals which comprise the bulk of our exports, namely chrome, platinum, gold and nickel. The appreciation of the US dollar against a number of our trading partners’ currencies also stimulated domestic demand for imports over local products.
- On the other hand, endogenous factors evolved around low productivity in most of our productive sectors on the back of high production costs, utility bottlenecks among a host of other factors constraining local production.
5.The situation is worsened by illicit financial flows such understating of exports, overpricing of imports and tax evasion, among others. This results in a huge import bill being financed by externalized funds vis-à-vis understated exports causing a huge current account balance.
- The Governor of the Reserve Bank in his 2016 Monetary Statement, reported that US$684 million was remitted outside Zimbabwe or externalized by individuals in 2015 under the auspices of free funds for various dubious and unwarranted purposes.
- The externalisation was done through remittance of donations to oneself, offshore investments, externalisation of export sales proceeds by corporates through individual accounts, leading to pervasive tax evasion and externalisation.
- Consequently, the Central Bank has put in place measures to improve transparency in the utilisation of scarce financial resources, to close the gaps and loopholes arising from inconsistencies and inadequate enforcement of rules on financial transparency and accountability.
- These are summarized as follows (full detail of the measures is in the
2016 Monetary Policy Statement):
- Getting rid of free funds pseudo foreign exchange classification;
- All suspicious transactions as generally reported by financial institutions under the Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) will now be reported to RBZ before processing of the outgoing transactions by financial institutions;
- Promotion of plastic money and bank transfers to minimise the unnecessary burden on consumers of carrying and paying in cash;
- Financial institutions are encouraged to observe strict customer due diligence, know your customer principle and high level consciousness to ensure that all local and cross border transactions are monitored;
- Monitoring the operations of offshore related companies;
- Registration of service agreements by state-owned enterprises;
- Penalties for non-compliance to financial institutions found to be in complicity by systematically turning a blind eye to any suspicious transactions or any of the prudential measures.
- These measures are in addition to fiscal measures in place such as import duties to reduce imports bill. Low duties on capital goods and raw materials to boost local production to stimulate exports, among others, in order to reduce the huge current account deficit.
INVOLVEMENT OF CHINESE NATIONALS IN DUTY FREE
IMPORT SCAM
- HON. MARUMAHOKO asked the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development
- Whether he is aware of a duty free import scam involving Chinese Nationals Duan Denghong and Peiming Yang who have both been sentenced to ten months in prison.
- To explain how the two ended up importing vehicle spares using the Ministry of Defence’s name and obtained duty free certificates used to clear the spares while they had visitors’ permits.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank you very much for this question. The case that has been brought to my attention relates to some Chinese nationals who were apprehended by police due to breach of immigration laws. I am further advised by ZIMRA that they were sentenced to ten months in prison.
With respect to the second part of the question, ZIMRA has advised that it was involved in the investigations of allegations of abuse of duty free certificates. After verification, it was established that proper clearance of the spare parts was done, hence there was no abuse of duty free certificates in this case. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. P.D. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, you are indicating that there was no abuse of duty free certificates. Can you explain how two Chinese nationals managed to import duty free on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, if in your own investigations or investigations by ZIMRA, there was nothing wrong with that? Does that not compromise the institution of Defence? Thank you.
HON. CHINAMASA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am not aware of the allegations that the Hon. Member is making against the Ministry of Defence. What I am reporting is the information that has been given to me by ZIMRA. There was an allegation of importation of spare parts duty free and abuse of duty free certificates. ZIMRA informed me that they investigated and we were satisfied that there was no abuse. If the Hon. Member has information to the contrary, I will be very much happy if that information can be given to me so that I can do my own independent investigations. If ZIMRA is lying to me, it is a serious matter. It means obviously that they may be covering corruption. So, I would want to establish whether there has been corruption or not. I am open to any information that will establish that there was corruption.
HON. P.D. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I think when the Hon. Minister is saying that there was no abuse, he needs to explain further. By ‘no abuse’ are you saying the investigations proved that the two Chinese nationals did not use the Ministry of Defence as a cover for them to import the car parts duty free?
HON. CHINAMASA: Due to the fact that I did not have the information that you have, I had no reason to probe further beyond the answer that I was given by ZIMRA. So, if there is any information that is outside the brief that I was given by ZIMRA, please make that information available to me so that I can follow it up.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Thank you Hon. Minister. I think Hon. Sibanda, you can put the questions that were not answered by the Minister in writing.
HON. P.D. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker, I think what is needed here is simple clarification. Question 13 is quite clear. Let me go through it again. Part (b) says ‘to explain how the two ended up importing vehicle spares using the Ministry of Defence’s name and obtained duty free certificates used to clear the spares while they had visitors’ permits.’ I think it is very clear. What is only required Mr. Speaker is to explain what he was told by ZIMRA. Did ZIMRA tell him that the two Chinese did not use the Ministry of Defence’s name or they did not import the car parts, rather than to simply say there was no abuse? I think the
Minister should come out clear.
HON. CHINAMASA: Do not misinterpret what I said. I said the information I have from ZIMRA is that there was no abuse of the duty free certificates. However, if you have information which shows that there was abuse, please let me have that information. I do not think I can be clearer than what I have just said. I am giving you the clearest answer that anyone can give to anybody. Give me the information and I promise I will follow it up.
GROWTH POINTS AND SERVICE CENTRES
- HON. MAWERE asked the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development to explain to the House when the Ministry would declare more growth points and service centres, in terms of the Sales Tax (Deliration of Growth Point Areas, Service Centre) Notice 1987, so that interested persons may apply for title deeds in areas like Chivamba and Vesa.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not have answers for question 14 and 15, the questions came very late. If those questions could be stood down and deferred to next week.
REVIVAL OF KAMALALA DAM IN HWANGE EAST
CONSTITUENCY
- 16. HON. MKANDLA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to inform the House the Ministry’s plans to revive Kamalala Dam in Hwange East Constituency which dried in 2013 due to siltation.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): I want to thank Hon. Mkandla
for the question.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the drying up of dams, mainly small dams that are dotted across the country due to siltation is an issue which the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate Change is seized with. The Ministry, through ZINWA has identified 5 dams in each catchment which have silted to start the desilting of these dams. I am glad to say that Gwayi Catchment have included Kamalala dam for the programme.
As the Hon. Member might recall, the desilting programme was launched some time last year and as I speak, we are working on Chimhanda dam, which too has silted. In order to speed up the desilting process, we are calling upon our Hon. Members to mobilise communities to support our limited machinery (draglines) to provide manual labour in the desilting programme. This can be part of the public works programme or food for work programme.
Government is further expecting more equipment from the Belarus facility - which equipment, I am sure ,will accelerate the speed of implementation of the disilting programme.
Finally, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry together with other relevant department like EMA, AREX, and other Local Authorities are carrying out awareness campaigns to educate communities on the need to protect our dams from siltation through:-
- Good agricultural practices which, among other things include avoidance of stream bank cultivation.
- Rampant deforestation, especially in the dam basins.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER
ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that
the House will adjourn today until Tuesday 10th of May, 2016 to enable relevant Committees to attend to the Ease of Doing Business Seminar in
Bulawayo.
THURSDAY COMMITTEE MEETINGS
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: All Committee meetings
scheduled for tomorrow Thursday 5th May 2016 will meet as scheduled.
ASSISTANCE TO VILLAGERS OF SIALWINDI IN SILEWU
WARD
- HON. M. MKANDLA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to explain why government was not helping villagers of Sialwindi in Silewu Ward by providing required equipment/machinery to construct a dam because villagers are using shovels to dig.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): I want to thank Hon. Mkandla
for the question.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Government, through the Ministry of
Environment Water and Climate and its departments has plans to build a dam in each district, including Sialwindi in Silewu Ward. Due to the current financial challenges being experiences in the country, this has not been fully achieved.
While Government is awaiting the delivery of earthmoving equipment procured from Belarus which is being facilitated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, It is common cause that we have to use available resources. As soon as delivery of the construction equipment is done, plans are in place to ensure that communities such as Sialwindi are immediately supported.
While this is on-going, I wish to submit to Hon. Members here, Mr. Speaker Sir, to also take the initiative to mobilise funds from friendly development partners to carry out these projects to complement Government efforts. ZINWA our parastatal and the department of Water resources, planning and Management under the Ministry can complement by providing the technical designs, the surveys and supervision of construction of such dams. I thank you.
CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS IN BULILIMA WEST
CONSTITUENCY
- HON NLEYA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to state when the Ministry would construct irrigation dams in Bulilima West Constituency.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): I want to thank Hon. Nleya for
the question which is not very different from earlier submissions.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Bulilima West Constituency is in natural region IV, which receives minimal rainfall. Due to climate change, the rainfall pattern has worsened. It is therefore necessary to have irrigation schemes to supplement Summer rains and also to enable Winter cropping.
Government through the Ministry of Environment Water and
Climate and its departments has plans to build a medium to large dam in the Bulilima West area. This will serve several constituencies by putting in place conveyance systems. However, I wish to add that due the topography of Matabeleland South in general, sites for dam construction are limited.
Government has procured construction equipment from Belarus and is awaiting delivery. As soon as we take delivery of the equipment priority will be given to drought prone regions to make sure dams are constructed. Needless to say, climate change is here to stay and the need to secure water in order to ensure food security is obvious; the food water nexus will need to be respected. I thank you.
HON. PHIRI: On a point of order! Can I ask the Minister a supplementary question where the initial questioner is not present, that is question 19?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No, you may not.
DETERIORATION OF LIVING CONDITIONS AT THE
GENERAL BARRACKS AND SINGLE QUARTER HOUSES IN
KADOMA CENTRAL CONSTITUENCY
HON. PHIRI asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to state the measures Government is taking to stop the deterioration of living conditions at the General Barracks and Single Quarter houses in Kadoma Central Constituency.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for asking the question. However, the General Barracks and Single Quarters in Kadoma were constructed around 1940 and were meant for single people but due to homelessness and high demand for accommodation in Kadoma, these General Barracks are now being occupied by families and the living conditions have gone bad.
The structures belong to Kadoma Municipality and tenants are paying $24.00 per room per month as rental. Maintenance of such is also being done by the local authority.
Following a survey that we conducted together with council in 2010, it was recommended that these families be relocated to alternative accommodation to pave way for demolitions and subsequent construction of entirely new structures.
The following are the measures being taken;
- Government liaised with Council so that the General Barracks residents are given priority when allocating stands at Victory Park.
- Under the Government urban renewal programme, the Ministry has entered into an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with a Chinese company (Chinese Huashi) for the construction of high rise buildings or vertical expansion with a total of 20 000 units as part of the urban renewal programme. Under this scheme Kadoma is also going to benefit and first priority on allocation will be given
to the tenants currently occupying the barracks. This programme takes advantage of existing services such as sewer and roads to embark on densification although there is need for infrastructure upgrading. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: Would the Minister know if this facility also caters for Chegutu, Ward 5 in particular which also has similar structures such as those that are in Kadoma. As he has alluded to the fact that this facility, in particular, takes care of sitting tenants in Kadoma. Would he care to expound and tell this House if it also takes care of Chegutu?
However, if he is not aware of that, he can come and inform the
House in the future that it also encompasses Chegutu.
HON. CHINGOSHO: I want to thank the Hon. Member for
asking that question. First priority, as I indicated, is going to be given to the Kadoma residents. If there is going to be extra space, those in Chegutu will be accommodated. After the Kadoma programme, the
Ministry is also going to move into Chegutu. I thank you.
PROGRESS ON ESTABLISHMENT OF A HOUSING FUND
FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing to state the progress the Ministry has made in establishing the housing fund for civil servants which is expected to result in the construction of low-cost flats in Dzivarasekwa, Waterfalls and Tafara.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.
CHINGOSHO): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Home Ownership Scheme launched in November 2015 is a housing delivery approach that augments other existing programmes and is meant to benefit the low income earners and civil servants alike.
The Home Ownership Scheme involves the construction of decent and affordable high rise, low income flats at Dzivarasekwa Extension and Tafara flats projects through the Public, Private Sector Partnership approach. The Dzivarasekwa Extension site will avail a total of 464, two and three bedroom units while the Tafara site will avail 948, two and three bedroom units.
To date, all preliminary works have been concluded and the two financial institutions we are working with are finalising preparations to go onto the market to raise the requisite bond to finance the projects.
On their part, qualifying applicants will soon be advised to channel the requisite monthly payments through one of the partnering banks.
The success of the pilot projects will trigger replication throughout the country. I thank you.
STEPS TO REDUCE HOUSING BACKLOG
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing to inform the House on the steps the
Ministry is taking to reduce the housing backlog which stands at about
1.25 million units.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (MR.
CHINGOSHO): Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for affording me the opportunity to update the august House on progress to date in addressing the issue of the housing backlog. As you may recall, last year I reported that in 2014, the Ministry facilitated the delivery of 56 766 residential stands/housing units by all actors, local authorities included, country wide which was well beyond the ZIM
ASSET target of 25 000 units annually, translating to 125 000 units by 2018. I am happy to report that in 2015, the Ministry repeated the same feat by facilitating delivery of 141 217 residential stands/housing units.
The Ministry’s target goes beyond the ZIM ASSET and is attained through the following assigned provincial targets:
Harare 105 935
Bulawayo Metropolitan 15 100
Mashonaland Central 16 760
Mashonaland East 11 776
Manicaland | 21 830 | |
Matabeleland South | 12 500 | |
Matabeleland North | 28 772 | |
Mashonaland West | 23 819 | |
Masvingo | 20 269 | |
Midlands | 56 582 | |
Total | 313 287 |
The above targets will be attained through the adoption of the various tried and tested housing delivery modes by the various actors, chief among them being the Public/Private Partnerships and direct local authority and Ministry interventions through requisite construction units.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ADDITIONAL MEASURES INTENDED TO REDUCE
EMPLOYMENT COSTS
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House on the measures that Government has in place, besides the Civil Service audit, to further reduce employment costs from the current 22.7% of our Gross Domestic Product.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA):
- The Civil Service audit undertaken by the Public Service Commission was out of concern by Government over the sustained disproportionate share of resources going towards costs (over 80% of total expenditures and around 20 – 22% of gross domestic product).
- In my 2016 National Budget Statement, I advised that the 2016 employment Costs budget of BUS$3.191 billion embraces annual savings of US$170.4 million will arise from the implementation of the Cabinet approved Public Service establishment rationalisation measures, which emphasise on:
- Eliminating duplication of functions within and across
Government Ministries and departments;
- Rationalising line Ministries’ structures for cost effective service delivery;
- Withdrawing financial support from non-core services.
- I am pleased to inform the August House that implementation of these Cabinet approved measures is progressing well and the majority of the targeted monthly savings of around US$14 million have already been realised.
- The above notwithstanding, the resultant projected employment costs outturn for 2016 at around US$3.15 billion, which embraces the afore-mentioned savings of US$170 million as well as payment of 2015 employment costs obligation, mainly related to 13th cheque payments, still accounts for a disproportionate share of resources.
- To complement the audit undertaken by the Public Service
Commission, Government, through the Health Service Board and the Judicial Service Commission, is currently undertaking similar audits in the health and judicial sectors.
- In this regard, material additional savings are envisaged.
- Members may need to recognise that additional structural and policy based measures, beyond the afore-mentioned audits are inescapable if we are to create additional fiscal space through further rationalisation of the Public Service wage bill.
- Accordingly, the Hon. Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and myself through the Service Commissions are continually engaging and will be submitting to Cabinet additional measures for its consideration and approval.
CLEARANCE OF DEBTS OWED TO WHEAT FARMERS
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to state the period the Ministry intends to clear the debts owed to wheat farmers.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, agriculture remains the anchor of our economy. Government priority is therefore, aimed at ensuring that we incentivise our farmers to increase agricultural output and productivity through among other things, timeous payment for grain deliveries to GMB.
It is pleasing to note that Government has cleared all outstanding payments to farmers for wheat deliveries as at 31 March, 2016.
IMPROVEMENTS IN OUTPUT AND PERFORMANCE BY
COMPANIES THAT WERE RECAPITALISED BY GOVERNMENT
8 HON. NDUNA: asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House how his Ministry will ensure that companies that were recapitalised by Government such as, Hwange Colliery Company experience significant improvements on their output and performance.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the
performance of our public enterprises remains a priority of the
Government. As Hon. Nduna rightly noted, my Ministry has a legal mandate through the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) to ensure that public enterprises perform to their optimal level thereby enhancing their contribution to GDP, reduce their dependence on the fiscas, and improve service delivery and accountability. In particular, Section 46 of the PFMA requires that all the accounting authorities for every designated public enterprise submits to the accounting officer of the appropriate Ministry and to the Accountant-General, at least 30 days before the start of its financial year:-
- A projection of revenue , expenditure and borrowings for that financial year in the prescribed format; and
- an annual corporate plan in the prescribed format covering the affairs of that designated corporate body, including its subsidiaries, for the following three financial years, and such plan shall include targets, outputs and outcomes.
This provision allows my Ministry to evaluate and give recommendations regarding State Enterprises and Parastatals (SEPs) plans and budgets before they are implemented thereby improving on their performance and output.
Notwithstanding the budgetary constraints, Treasury will continue to prioritise the recapitalisation of public enterprises in order to turnaround their fortunes. As you are aware, these recapitalisation initiatives should be monitored in order to achieve their intended objectives which are performance and output improvements. As you will recall, in my 2016 National Budget Statement, I outlined some measures that I would put in place to enhance this performance monitoring mandate through capacitating the Accountant-General’s Department and the State Enterprises Restructuring Agency (SERA) under my Ministry.
In addition, my Ministry is spearheading the parastatal performance audits that will inform on the need to institute various intervention measures that include among others, turnaround strategies, rationalisation, reorganisation, restructuring as currently being considered on a case by case basis by the Cabinet Committee on State Enterprises Development chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
Finally, Government has intensified its stance towards ensuring compliance to good corporate governance practices by all public entities. The major focus on this being the signing of performance contracts between the Board and Chief Executive Officer and also between the Board and the line Minister to ensure that performance targets are set and achieved.
With Special regards to Hwange Colliery Company, I would recommend that further details could be provided by the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. W. Chidhakwa.
STATUS OF THE NATIONAL DIASPORA POLICY
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to update the House on the status of the National Diaspora
Policy.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA):
- Speaker Sir, this issue falls under the purview of the
Ministry of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion.
- I am informed that that the Ministry has concluded drafting the policy and has in January 2016, submitted it to Cabinet for approval through the appropriate channels.
- Once approved, structures will be put in place to engage the diasporians in a more formal manner to enhance their participation in the national development process through remittances, direct investment, philanthropy and skills transfer.
- As part of the process of cementing the engagement process, Government through the said Ministry, will undertake engagement workshops in South Africa and UK. This will be followed by similar workshops in the US, Australia and New Zealand where we have concentration of our nationals.
INTEREST RATES CHARGED BY THE RESERVE BANK IN
CONJUNCTION WITH LOCAL BANKS
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inform the House whether the Ministry has ascertained the interest rates charged by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in conjunction with the local banks on the US$1 billion financing of crop and livestock production during the 2015/2016 agricultural season.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): I would like to thank the
Hon. Member for his concerns regarding the financing for agriculture. It is true that in the 2016 National Budget Statement, I informed the nation that the banking sector had set aside about US$1 billion for financing of crop and livestock production during the 2015/2016 agricultural season. In this regard, I advised farmers to approach their individual banks to access the financing.
The interest rates charged by banks vary, depending on the cost of funds of the bank concerned and the risk profile of the farmer.
However, I wish to assure the Hon. Member that the interest rates that are being charged by banks for agriculture fall within the interest rate guidelines that were agreed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (ZBZ) and the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) in July 2015 as follows;
Interest Rate Guidelines
Category | Lending Rates % |
Lending to Productive Sector /Agriculture | |
Prime Borrowers with Low Credit Risk | 6 – 10 per annum |
Borrowers with Moderate Credit Risk | 10 – 12 per annum |
Borrowers with High Risk | 12 – 18 per annum |
As stated in the RBZ Governor’s 2016 Monetary Policy Statement, the banking sector has largely adhered to the guidelines with banks having adjusted their lending rates for both existing and new customers by the 1st October 2015. However, RBZ noted that the banking sector needs to reduce bank charges and default interest rates.
Information from the market supports the view that lending rates in the market have generally declined to levels that have been agreed upon by the RBZ and BAZ. Whilst banks are being urged to align their default charges to the interest guidelines, farmers on their part are encouraged to honour their obligations to avoid the default charges.
Thank you.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMODITY EXCHANGE
- HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to state the progress that has been made so far by the Ministry to establish the commodity exchange which will serve as a marketing hub for farmers.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHINAMASA): Mr. Speaker Sir, following
the disbursement of US$500 000 in May 2013 the ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development (MAMID) constituted and Interim Management Committee with representation from Ministries of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development; Finance and Economic Development, the Attorney-
General’s Office, the Agriculture Marketing Authority Office of the President and the Grain Marketing Board to spearhead the operationalisation of the Zimbabwe Agriculture Commodity Exchange. The Committee undertook the following activities:
- Conducted a study tour of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange in June 2013 with a view to learn and appreciate the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange Model.
- Developed a detailed implementation of matrix for the Zimbabwe
Commodity Exchange facility in July 2013
- Established the Secretariat to oversee the day to day running of the programme in August 2013
- Registered the Zimbabwe Agriculture Commodity Exchange
(ZIMACE) with the Registrar of Companied and developed the
Memorandum of Principles for the Exchange for use by the Attorney-General’s Office in preparing the Bill and the Act for the establishment of ZIMACE in 2013.
- Acquired a project vehicle, furniture, equipment and provided for operational expenses for the Secretariat to the tune of US$217 459 leaving a balance of US$282 541 in 2013.
- The Secretariat attended a capacity building programme in Information Technology system for a commodity exchange in India in January 2014.
- Developed and finalized in consultation with the key stakeholders in the private sector a model for the operationalisation of a Warehouse Receipt System, which is one of the critical components for the operationalisation of the commodity exchange in 2014. Work is already underway to develop the rules and regulations of the Warehouse Receipt System.
- Indentified about 26 GMB depots as designated warehouse for the
Warehouse Receipt System in 2014.
- The Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation
Development approved the Memorandum of Principles for the
Commodity Exchange for consideration by Cabinet in 2014
- In his Maiden Budget Statement for2016, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development directed that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development oversee implementation of the
Commodity Exchange.
MANAGEMENT OF GONAREZHOU NATIONAL PARK BY THE
PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEVELOPMENT AND FRANKFORT
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF GERMANY
- HON. MASIYA asked the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate to;
- Apprise the House on the type of agreement in place enabling the joint venture of the management of Gonarezhou National Park by the
Parks and Wildlife Development and Frankfurt Zoological Society of
Germany, and to further state how long this agreement will last;
- To state whether the Ministry has plans to form a Trust with the Frankfurt Zoological Society of Germany, if so, to explain the policy constraints that are delaying the signing of the contract;
- To state whether the community is also involved in the forming of this Trust in view of the fact that Gonarezhou National Park is the community’s natural resource;
- To state the benefits that would accrue to the community in the event that the Trust is operational.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND
CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI): I want to thank Hon. Masiya for
the question in four parts, requiring me to explain the agreement between our Parks Authority and the Frankfurt Zoological Society of Germany.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in response to part of the question, on the 12th of
July, 2010, the Government through the Ministry of Environment and
Natural Resources entered into a 10-year Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) for the management of Gonarezhou National Park (GNP). The agreement therefore terminates in July, 2020.
FZS is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), registered in
Germany (Registration Number VR 5228), with its headquarters at Alfred Brehm Platz 16, D-60316 Frakfurt 1, Germany. It is also registered in Zimbabwe in terms of the Private Voluntary Organisations Act [Chapter 17:05]. It is specifically dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and the natural environment, including the practical conservation of wild flora and fauna, landscapes, water, soils and other natural resources.
The objectives of the MOU were to, among other things, develop, implement and monitor natural resources conservation and protection programmes in the GNP and to jointly develop, ratify, implement, monitor and periodically revise a General Management Plan for GNP which forms the basis of all conservation activities therein. The General Management Plan was adopted by the Ministry in 2011.
The support of FZS included;
- Logistical support to GNP, especially land, water and air transport, radio communication, supply of field equipment, supply of uniforms and office equipment;
- Provision, where appropriate, of technical expertise, i.e. professional staff, technical advisors and consultants;
- Applied research;
- Conserving and protecting the natural resources, including wildlife of GNP and the Greater Limpopo Trans-Frontier Conservation
Area;
- Infrastructure development and maintenance;
- Natural resource assessment and monitoring, including animal numbers and vegetation change.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in response to part (b), before the expiration of the MOU, the parties decided that the money coming into GNP by means of the MOU was not enough to ensure self-sustainability of
GNP. It was noted that the MOU did not provide for the real unlocking of the full potential of the park and there was need to come up with a system or model that would ensure that more money would come to the park through joint efforts by the parties and other funders.
After consultations and further negotiations, a new partnership model for GNP was agreed upon in the form of a Conservation Trust with Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA), with FZS being the founders. The objectives of this partnership are;
- Delivery of effective and efficient management of GNP
- Building financial sustainability of GNP through the development of additional revenue streams and further investment, e.g tourism, which was not covered in the original
MOU.
The new partnership involves PWMA and FZS jointly setting up a Trust, the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust (GCT) and transferring the management mandate to the Trust. The Trust is an independent entity, capable of suing and being sued in its own name. The Board of Trustees consists of members seconded from both parties. The GNP will be managed by a management committee which consists of employees seconded from the PWMA. The Trust has a lifespan of 20years from date of signature. On termination of the Trust, any assets left will remain for the use of GNP.
The Trust will raise more than US$40 million for the GNP during the period of its existence. Conservation is an expensive undertaking that ordinarily requires Government funding due to the social nature of research and community service activities. Parks therefore requires funding that is sustainable, hence the need to transform the nature of the agreement with FZS in order to attract commercial revenue.
There are no policy constraints delaying the signing of the Trust.
However, due diligence has to be undertaken to ensure that the Authority is not in any way short-changed so that the new model benefits the country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in response to part (c), the communities are not involved in the forming of the Trust as G NP is administered by PWMA.
The communities are already benefitting through Malipati Safari Area, which PWMA has leased to them for hunting purposes through the
Community Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources
(CAMPFIRE)
Finally, in response to part (d), Mr. Speaker Sir, the communities will however benefit from the Trust. It is envisaged that the development of the park will increase the participation and benefit surrounding communities as follows;
- Communities will continue to receive revenue from hunting conducted in Malipati area and Sengwe, which are currently under the Chiredzi Rural District Council;
- Increased employment opportunities;
- Harvest of thatching grass projects
- Reduced human-wildlife conflict;
- Development of Private-Public-Community Partnerships with respect to key future tourism developments in the Park and adjacent communal lands, generating direct financial benefits to communities as well as stimulating job creation and skills development;
- Improved natural resource management initiatives in adjacent communal lands and development of structured, sustainable resource use partnerships between the park and communities, resulting in enhanced food security and livelihoods options;
- Implementation of targeted conservation education initiatives for schools, community groups and traditional leaders;
- Reduction of human-wildlife conflict through implementation of cost-effective mitigation plan, making use of a range of mitigation measures and techniques;
- Development of the GNP in order for it to fulfill its potential to become a significant economic driver in the South East
Lowveld.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by THE HON.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. GONESE: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 4 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 5 has been disposed of.
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RESTORATION OF THE MOTION ON THE REPORT OF THE
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LANDS, AGRICULTURE,
MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT ON THE
ORDER PAPER
HON. CHITINDI: Mr. Speaker, I move that the motion on the
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development on cotton production in Zimbabwe which was superseded by the end of the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament be restored on the Order Paper in terms of Standing Order No. 152 (1).
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 6 to 27 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 28 has been disposed
HON. MUKWANGWARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE DELEGATION TO THE FIRST
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE AFRICAN
PARLIAMENTARIANS’ NETWORK ON DEVELOPMENT
EVALUATION (APNODE)
Twenty-Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Delegation to the First Annual General Meeting at the African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE).
Question again proposed.
HON. CHAPFIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The APNODE
Report which I presented at the previous sitting, sought for the establishment of an APNODE Chapter. This is an African
Parliamentary Network on Development Evaluation. We are going to be hosting the Annual General Meeting and the Speaker supported the request from the APNODE executive or board when we went together to
Cote d’Ivoire last year. Zimbabwe will be hosting the AGM last week of July this year or the first week of August this year. Therefore, I rise to propose that the Report be adopted for the establishment of an APNODE Chapter in Harare and the hosting by this Parliament of the AGM. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I now move that the motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe
Delegation to the First Annual General Meeting at the African
Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE) be adopted.
HON. CHITINDI: I second.
Motion put and adopted.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND CLIMATE (HON. MUCHINGURI), the House
adjourned at Four Minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 10th May, 2016.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 3rd May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
INVITATION TO A DIALOGUE ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that all
Members of Parliament are invited to a dialogue on the Sustainable
Development Goals being jointly organised by the Office of the President and Cabinet and the United Nations Development Programme.
The dialogue will be held at the Rainbow Hotel and it starts at 0830 a.m.
Committees have been divided in to two groups. The first group will attend on Wednesday, 11th May, 2016 and the second group will attend on Thursday, 12th May, 2016.
Those attending on Wednesday, 11th May, 2016 are as follows:
- Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development;
- Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment;
- Education, Sport, Arts and Culture;
- Media, Information and Broadcasting Services;
- Peace and Security;
- Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment;
- Millennium Development Goals;
- Mines and Energy;
- Transport and Infrastructural Development;
- Public Accounts;
- Health and Child Care;
- Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry;
- Higher Education, Science and Technology Development. Those are the Committees attending on Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
Thursday, 12th May, 2016 - these are the Committees:
- Human Rights;
- Public Service, Labour and Social Services;
- Finance and Economic Development;
- Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier
Services;
- Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs;
- Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services;
- Foreign Affairs;
- Industry and Commerce;
- Gender and Development;
- HIV and AIDS;
- Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation;
- Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development;
- Local Government, Rural and Urban Development.
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the house of the following changes to membership of Portfolio Committees. Hon P.
Sibanda has moved from the Public Accounts Committee to the
Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development. Hon. F.
Chirisa has moved from the Public Accounts Committee to the Portfolio
Committee on Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development and Hon. M. Matienga has moved from the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality Industry to the Public
Accounts Committee.
HON. MUDARIKWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to find out whether we are safe, with all the digging that is going on out there. All the vehicles in the car park are all reverse parked meaning there is something amiss because that is abnormal parking that we see now. Secondly, I checked the emergency exits of Parliament and found that they do not conform to the national regulations. They are locked with locks and if there is an emergency people are supposed to just run and open the doors but they cannot because all the two emergency exits are locked with locks that we use in the villages (zvihuri).
THE HON. SPEAKER: Let me start with the question on digging and why you have been asked to park in reverse. There was some anticipation of a possible explosion following a leakage of fuel from underground. That leakage has now been addressed and is now under control. So, it is a precautionary measure to ensure that in case a fire breaks out, Hon. Members will be able to save their vehicles
accordingly. As for the emergency exits, I will check and report back to you tomorrow.
HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I have a point of order and for the purpose of that point of order I brought you a Hansard of the 12th April, 2016, if you can allow me to hand it over whilst I read the one that I have got.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The point of orders must relate to Privilege and Standing Orders.
HON. NDUNA: Yes Mr. Speaker on a point of privilege, I rise with my point of order. Allow me to hand over the Hansard of Tuesday the 12th April 2016, so that you can make a ruling.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you present that Hansard to the
Chair. Do you want the Chair to start fumbling with the papers in the Hansard?
HON. NDUNA: No, not exactly Mr. Speaker. It is just four pages that I want to make reference to in the Hansard.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What page is it?
HON. NDUNA: Page 4473 Mr. Speaker. The Bill (HB:8.2015) presented by Hon Gandawa, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, as he responds he is attributed to that debate as Professor Mavhima on page 4527. On the second Bill, Gwanda State University establishment page 4541 he is attributed as his name Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: May I interrupt you Hon Member that is
not a point of order. If you have any corrections, please bring them to the attention of the officers because what you are reading is an unrevised report.
HON. NDUNA: Sorry Mr. Speaker, there is an expense that has gone into the printing of this Hansard. So, I was of the opinion that you make a ruling so that there is…
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have ruled that any corrections to the
Hansard must be brought to the attention of the Clerk.
HON. CHAMISA: In terms of Order No 61(1) (l) we are supposed to have an Order Paper as part of our daily routine of business. It would appear that we have run out of Order Papers but the issue is not to do with just running out of the Order Paper, which is purely an administrative issue, but the issue has to do with the Parliament being compliant with the E-dispensation. Why are we not having an E-Order instead of an Order Paper? What do I mean? I am using the word paper because it is supposed to be an E-Order and note a paper.
We are supposed to have a mechanism of allowing Members of Parliament to come with their own laptops, if Parliament is not able to provide us with laptops so that we are able to access the orders or key documents within Parliament electronically. Across the whole world now, Parliaments have moved into the E-Legislation and E-Parliament platform. We seem to be lagging behind. Maybe Hon. Speaker Sir, you may need to consider this, because this is what is going to make your
MPs global Parliamentarians. Thank you very much.
THE HON SPEAKER: I hear you Hon. Member. For today, I need to find out why there are insufficient Order Papers. -[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible Interjections]- Order, Hon. Members. There has been some administrative miscarriage, which is being rectified now. As for the E-order, let me refresh your memories. Before we broke for the 10-days recess, we had asked all Hon. Members to provide us with their e-mail addresses. Before we went for the short recess, if I recall very well, there were only 193 Members who had submitted their e-mail addresses. May I appeal to Hon. Members to submit your e-mails and we will comply accordingly.
HON. ZIYAMBI? Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise on a point of privilege. I want to thank you and your delegation. You went to Kuwait to investigate and rescue our girls who had gone there and were subject to trafficking. One of the functions – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – I think it is you and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Hon. Paradza. One of our functions as legislators is that we are representatives of the people and the gesture that you showed by going there and bringing our girls back is highly applauded and we want to thank you as Parliamentarians. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: While the Chair – Hon. Chakona there and your colleagues, while we appreciate your complements, let me put certain facts straight. I led the delegation on invitation by the Speaker of the National Assembly in Kuwait. It was not our mission to go and rescue those unfortunate young ladies. Secondly, the Speaker does not lead the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I was leading a delegation of Members of Parliament and I think the papers were mischievous to suggest that Hon. Paradza was the co-leader of the delegation. That was very unfortunate.
When we got there, on our bilateral visit to exchange best practices with the Kuwait Parliament, it was then that we were advised by our ambassador of the desperate situation in which those 32 young ladies found themselves. Our going to Kuwait had nothing to do with rescuing those 32 unfortunate ladies. However, after being told the horrendous stories that had taken place, affecting those young ladies, the delegation then decided that we would not come back without those young ladies. We took a stand, which was accepted without question by the authorities from the Kuwait Government, led by the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. That is the context that we must understand the situation. At the same time, that is not to suggest that we regret having brought those children, we do not. We thought we tried our best to salvage the situation. Thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]
–
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: My point of order Mr. Speaker, can the Kuwait Government not do something because these young ladies were treated like slaves? Can Parliament not do something so that we can demand payment for the slavery activities that these young ladies were subjected to? Is there no need to claim compensation from the Kuwait Government? I once read an article where Britain was ordered to pay compensation for some people in Kenya for slavery. Our children were used as slaves and they were involved in evil deeds. Can something not be done about it – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – I am sorry that people do not appreciate what I am talking about. They do not appreciate the fact that people went through a lot of suffering, especially those that are on the other side – HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - Hon. Speaker, May you please protect me. Whether they ask me to present a motion or not, these ones are failing to ensure that our road system is smooth and we are driving in pothole-riddled roads –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. In terms of the rules, you do not debate a point of order that has been raised by another Member, that is number one. Number two, the delegation will present a report here and the recommendations shall arise from that report. So, it will be premature for the Chair to even debate what the report is going to say. Let me warn Hon. Members, if you have got some grievances, can you bring them through your Chief-Whips, otherwise you spend a lot of time on points of order.
CATHOLIC SERVICE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that there will be a Catholic Service tomorrow, the 4th of May, 2016 at 1200 hours in the Senate Chamber. All Members who are Catholics and non-Catholics are invited.
SECOND READING
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL [H.B. 15, 2015]
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Reading of the Special Economic Zones Bill [H.B. 15, 2015].
Question again proposed.
HON. CHAPFIKA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise to present a report on the Special Economic Zones on behalf of the Committee on Finance.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 On 23 November 2015, the Special Economic Zones Bill was gazetted. The Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and SEZ Authority among other matters. This development is commendable as it is one of several efforts being implemented to attract investment in the economy. Other countries such as India and China have made significant economic breakthroughs by establishing SEZs. For example Shenzhen, Zhuwai and the coastal port cities have contributed significantly towards the success of the Chinese miracle.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
2.1 This report is a product of various meetings including a briefing session with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to unpack the essence of the SEZs. The Committee also managed to conduct public hearings in line with Section 141 (b) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which provides as follows:
“Parliament must ensure that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by Parliament, unless such consultation is inappropriate or impracticable”
2.2 The public hearings were held from 11 to 16 April 2016 in Harare,
Mutare, Masvingo, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls and Kwekwe. The Committee expresses its sincere appreciation to all stakeholders who attended and participated at the public hearings and those who made written submissions.
3.0 THE COMMITTEE’S OBSERVATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee and stakeholders who participated welcomed the
introduction of the Bill, as it is a tool for the promotion of both local and foreign investment in the country. In general, expectations were high that the Bill would have provided for the demarcations of the SEZs and the incentives that go with investments in the declared Zones. Participants at the public hearings, particularly those in Victoria Falls expressed great difficulty in discussing the provisions of the Bill in the absence of such information. The Committee and the public, therefore, eagerly await the publication of the regulations. The Bill is recommended to the House for approval subject to the following issues being seriously considered by Minister of Finance and Economic
Development.
3.1 A new Authority
There was strong representation at the public hearings on why it is necessary to establish a new Authority and Board in view of the current economic situation. It was suggested that the Zimbabwe Investment Authority could be used with slightly amended responsibilities and the necessary powers to implement and service the new Bill. It was pointed out that the creation of the Authority would require funding for fees and charges and that these, in themselves, might become a disincentive.
3.2 Constitution of the Board
The Committee urges the Minister to consider regional balance when appointing members to the Board to ensure that its membership complies with the founding provision of fair regional representation enshrined in Section 18 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
3.3 Disqualification from appointment as a member
Sub section 7 (d) disqualifies a member from appointment to the
Board on the basis of a conviction within a period of five years immediately preceding the date of appointment. It is the Committee’s recommendation that anyone with a previous criminal conviction should be disqualified from holding office. Considering the rampant abuse of public funds, abuse of positions and failure by appointed members to practice good corporate governance, such a stance would sent a clear message to all Zimbabweans that it’s no longer business as usual and call upon those appointed to maintain good corporate practice. In addition to the above, the composition of the Board should comply with the current Corporate Governance Code as amended.
3.4 Establishment of Special Economic Zones
The Committee is of the view that whilst it is a function of the Special Economic Zones Authority to declare any area or premises to be a Special Economic Zone, amend, add or abolish any Special Economic Zone, it is essential that all stakeholders must be consulted before such decisions are made. This would be consistent with Section 13 of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe which calls for the involvement of the people in the formulation and implementation of development plans and programmes in their areas.
3.5 Validity of decisions and acts of Board
Section 15 provides for the validation of decisions of the Board arising out of meetings that do not have a quorum or are attended by Members of the Board who are disqualified as a member at the time of the meeting. Your Committee notes that this clause may be in violation of the rules of good governance and must be deleted.
3.6 Reports of the Authority
The Committee observes that while section 21 of the Bill makes it mandatory for the Authority to submit reports to the Minister, the
Minister may or may not lay a report submitted to him or her by the Authority before Parliament. The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to make it mandatory for the Minister to lay the reports before Parliament. This would ensure transparency and accountability.
3.7 Application for investment licences and developer’s permit Sections 23 and 24 provide for the application for investment licences and developer’s permits. Participants at the hearings raised concern with the centralization of the licensing processes in the capital city. They, therefore, called for decentralization of the Authority’s offices to the provincial capitals of the country to afford them easy and cheaper access to relevant documents and other services associated with the processing of licenses and permits. In addition to the above, the Committee recommends the use of a website and agents as alternative measures to address the concerns of the stakeholders.
3.8 Consideration of applications for investment licenses
The Committee recommends that applications for investment
licenses to manufacture on the basis of import substitution should be included under Section 25 of the Bill.
3.9 Register of licences
Section 29 (2) of the Bill provides for the inspection of the register of licences which may be at a fee. It is recommended that the inspection should be free of charge as imposing a fee may limit access to such important information. Such information should also be available on line in keeping with the E-government and transparency.
3.10 Appeals to Minister
Section 34 (2) of the Bill stipulates that the Minister may act on an appeal by a person aggrieved by the decision of the Authority within sixty days of an appeal being noted. The Committee strongly feels that the prescribed period is too long and should be reduced to five working days, consistent with the current Ease of Doing Business initiatives in
Zimbabwe.
3.11 Preservation of Secrecy
Section 54 of the Bill provides for preservation of secrecy and the penalty for disclosing information coming to the knowledge of persons employed to carry out provisions of the Act or persons that examine documents under the control of the Authority. The Committee seeks justification for the rationale for this provision as it feels such a provision may promote corrupt practices.
3.12 Chapter 28:01 and Chapter 14:33 not to apply
The Bill seeks to exempt the application of the Labour and Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act. The stakeholders expressed reservations with the exemption of the two Acts. They felt that this exemption contravened Section 65 of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe which guarantees the rights of workers and that indigenous
Zimbabweans should benefit from the establishment of the Special Economic Zones. In line with the practice in SEZ throughout the world, the Committee recommends that the exemption should stand.
3.13 Chapter 57 and 58
Sections 57 and 58 relate to the Ministers making regulations and prescribing general fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to licenced investors. The Committee appreciates that until the regulations and incentives are provided, it is almost impossible for firms to make plans or to respond to the promulgation of such Zones in any meaningful way. The Committee, therefore, urges the Hon. Minister to treat the publication of the enabling statutes as a matter of urgency.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The Committee had a fair and constructive engagement with stakeholders on the SEZs Bill and therefore submits the above recommendations for consideration and approval by the House. THE HON. SPEAKER: Before I call for further debate, there is a vehicle, Registration Number ADQ 7906, it is blocking other vehicles, will the owner please attend to that vehicle.
HON. DR. SHUMBA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I would like to
start by thanking Hon. Chapfika for his incisive report to the Committee. I will raise few pointed issues in respect to this Bill, its practicality and how to implement practical aspects of the Bill. This is to ensure that we are all reading from the same script and are faced with challenges that we were faced with and are able to mitigate.
Mr. Speaker, one of the things that ought to be addressed clearly is the ease of doing business. I believe that this was one of the main issues that was debated countrywide by the various parties that contributed to the public hearings. I believe Mr. Speaker, that if we are going to be serious as a country, we ought to be serious about today, tomorrow and the future of ourselves and those that will come after us. What we legislate today is important. It is well and fine to have these Special Economic Zones but if we are not clear about processes; the issue of selecting the industries that will participate, the beneficiaries and the interventions of the State will remain skewed.
Mr. Speaker, the issue of corporate governance has been emphasised by Hon. Chapfika. We ought to be serious that we do not continue to make this a talk show and ensure that we deal with issues of effectiveness. There is need for effectiveness, effectiveness that brings investor confidence to our community and market and to ensure that the Special Economic Zones are taken seriously. The effectiveness is not just about defining these Special Economic Zones. It is also having corresponding protective and remedial processes, beginning with those investors - in cases of dispute, which is inevitable in any business transaction. Are they going to be heard with fairness?
In cases of corruption Mr. Speaker, are we ready as a country to deal with this decisively? The President is on record, the Vice President is on record in dealing with these issues. Now, if we go on and start implementing the Special Economic Zones, we ought to have these legislative frameworks operative to ensure that the investor confidence is there. There is need for the effectiveness of policing, monitoring and also having clear and fair judicial outcomes for parties that are seeking remedial interventions, protection of locals or even joint venture partners who are going to be investing in these areas.
Mr. Speaker, we are faced with currency challenges right now, it is obviously against the grain of the Bills that we are pushing. We need a road map that is sign posted so that we are clear in our expectations that when we invest in these Special Economic Zones, clearly as an entrepreneur, what you expect is to have a return. The practice of Treasury Bills being issued left, right and centre without a clear retirement policy of those TBs is eroding the confidence in the financial sector.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the business people, especially the indigenous players are going to find it very challenging to raise local capital for the purposes of investing in the Special Economic Zones, for the purposes of unlocking additional value. So, we ought to look at that and to have a proper, clear management of leakages of finance in this country. A lot of money is making its way out of our borders through illicit means. That will continue to hamstring the consumption capability of the local market. That should be a defined area where the local entrepreneurs can reasonably predict for them to be able to have effective business outcomes.
Mr. Speaker, those are the few observations that I had, that I believe will be hindrances to us effectively owning the processes of our Special Economic Zones. Thank you.
HON. CROSS: I think this piece of legislation is a valuable addition to the stable of legislation available to us as a country for stimulating our economy. It basically provides for us to create special zones where we set aside restrictions which otherwise prevail in the rest of our economy and where special incentives can apply. The objective is to attract foreign investment and to give freedom to those foreign investors within those zones with security. I could not agree more with the comments of my predecessor in this debate. I think this is a starting point.
The legislation itself is basically sound, I think if the Minister tweaks it, we can give it our full endorsement, but it is just the beginning of a process. Once he has this legislation in place, it is like a coat hanger, it is just a frame. You have got to now hang a suit on it, and the suit will come in the regulations which provide for the incentives within those zones. That is going to be critical to the success or failure of this initiative.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we must also remember that this does nothing to address the problems we have as a nation in the fields of infrastructure. People investing in the Special Economic Zones are still going to have dysfunctional railways, unstable electricity supplies, relatively high costs of doing business.
Mr. Speaker, I want to draw your attention to a recent World Bank Report on the cost of doing business in Africa, where they highlighted that the average cost of transit from a country like Zimbabwe into the world market for both imports and exports is three times the cost in Asia and more than double the cost of the United States and Europe. Those are the kind of issues that we have to address if we are going to make this initiative a success. Otherwise, it would be a dead letter.
Mr. Speaker, I hope that when we approve this piece of legislation, we will not think that we have done our job, that we can now relax and get on with our lives and hope that this will resolve some of our problems. That will not be the case, because once this piece of legislation is in place, we have an enormous amount of work to do. I hope that as legislators, we will tackle that systematically and dismantle the things that are creating these high costs for us and preventing us from becoming internationally competitive. Ultimately Mr. Speaker, that has to be the goal; not Special Economic Zones but making Zimbabwe competitive on the global stage. Thank you.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to add a few thoughts to the debate on the important subject of …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Members, can we reduce
our whispers please so that we can follow what is being said and therefore be able to direct the proceedings accordingly.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to
slightly differ from the previous speakers. The subject of Special Economic Zones touches on a field our country has more or less ploughed sometime ago. We tried a similar policy framework and at that time it was under the name Export Processing Zones. The idea was that we ring-fence certain productive sectors, whether by industry or geography. We then give them certain advantages in the hope that those advantages given, like tax exemptions on labour, certain allowances for importation of raw materials at low thresholds of duty, would activate those producers into producing and exporting more, as was expected - the country enjoying greater inflows of foreign currency.
The danger which I want to urge Hon. Members to look at is that policies based on piece-meal sunspots, in other words, if you have a field, there are clouds but there are certain pockets of the field where the sun shines and you say let us concentrate our seeds there for greater harvests. They do not make for macro-economic stability. It tends to lead to what is called the Dutch disease where policies are targeting at an enclave, hoping to stimulate the whole economy.
My view Mr. Speaker Sir, is one of the need for us to …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Kereke, do you admit that you are a member of that Committee, chaired by Hon. Chapfika?
HON. DR. KEREKE: It is true Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I would want you to refresh your
memory on the direction that is given by our Standing Orders, that any report that is presented by a Committee is a report that has been arrived at through consensus. Therefore, you cannot be seen to be opposing your own Committee. Your views should have been expressed during Committee so that they become part and parcel of the Report. To that extent, I cannot allow you to differ with your Committee.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank you for that guidance. When the Committee deliberated I was at court, defending – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I am sorry, I was defending my right to liberty but I stand guided by you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! The Hon. Member should
not try to contest the Chair. It is up to the Hon. Member to take responsibility after his court cases, to come to the Chair to find out what the conclusion was in terms of that report and be guided accordingly. So, your absence is not an excuse. You should have read the report before coming here to debate.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to add my voice to the debate currently going on in this august House. I want to support the concept of the need to establish Special Economic Zones and indeed in support of the Bill. Whilst it might be true Mr. Speaker Sir that the concept as far as Zimbabwe is concerned, might not be necessarily entirely new, but it had a different name. It was established as the Export Promotion Zones and not Export Processing Zones. However, the Minister has been very clear Mr. Speaker Sir, in what he is endeavoring to do through the Bill. What we want to see happening in Zimbabwe is to see ourselves attracting more Foreign Direct Investment; investment that will ensure that we grow our economy domestically.
Secondly, this Bill is aimed at ensuring that we generate more foreign exchange by boosting exports. We talk everyday of value addition and wanting to increase the production of our raw materials. We would like to see that production of more raw materials and value addition, supporting the growth of this economy. Therefore, through the
Special Economic Zones, we are creating a platform where the indigenous companies will also be able to collaborate with the foreign companies, so that we can be able to harness the import technologies that those countries have.
Mr. Speaker Sir, through the Special Economic Zones and the Bill itself, we are going to see a change in this country. We will create industrial corridors that will generate more employment for our people. Mr. Speaker Sir, this concept has flourished in many countries in the world. I agree with Hon. Chapfika who pointed out that this policy has been successful in countries such as India. Many more other countries have introduced Special Economic Zones and successfully steered them to the benefit of their economies. Brazil, Jordan, Kazakhstan, the Phillipines and Arab Emirates are good examples.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker Sir, I do hereby add my voice and would like to thank the Minister for moving the Bill which I hope for example, for us in the area of Chegutu, will see benefits accruing to our area especially as far as platinum is concerned. We all know that platinum plays a very big role in supporting industry in many facets including production of catalytic convertors that are used in cars. We import vehicles every year. South Africa is leading in the producing of catalytic convertors which could be produced in Zimbabwe through implementation of the Special Economic Zones policy. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: I think the topic makes very interesting
reading and it calls for very interesting debate. As a country we run the risk of missing the trees for the woods. There is a general feeling that the moment we declare a place a Special Economic Zone, then manna starts falling from heaven. You have people coming in to invest, the laws of the country will remain the same because specifically Special Economic Zones means that these are special enclaves that have been created that then ignore the general laws of the country, and specific laws have been set up for the Special Economic Zones and so on.
Tariffs have been relaxed, visa regimes have been relaxed and everything, but we have two fundamental problems in this country. We have a problem of red-tape, bureaucracy and bureaucratic bundling, for the past six months we had a whole Minister of Indigenisation going at a tangent, reading the indigenisation law and interpreting it in a wrong manner and he had his Cabinet colleagues telling him that you are missing the point but he was so adamant.
The second problem we have is the one for corruption Mr.
Speaker. It is so deep rooted, you can create all the Special Economic Zones that you want but as long as the core of this country is corrupt, those Special Economic Zones will not function. For example, we have ZIMRA, when you create Special Economic Zones; you are not going to create a special ZIMRA to deal with those Special Economic Zones.
They are the same officials at ZIMRA that will be servicing the Special
Economic Zones; look at the rot at ZIMRA today. The rot at ZIMRA, Mr. Speaker, will make you puke and those are the same people who will have to service special economic zones. The whole country, if you look at the state of our economy, the whole country of Zimbabwe must simply be declared a Special Economic Zone because the whole country needs special laws, needs to be a special economic enclave. You cannot take a geographical area like Mutare and declare it a Special Economic Zone when the whole country is in this state.
As Hon. Cross said, when you declare a Special Economic Zone say Chegutu for example, the roads that we have in Zimbabwe will still have to service Chegutu, the potholed roads. The railway network that we have in Zimbabwe will have to service those Special Economic Zones. We have a railway system which is not functional. Electricity that we have in the country will still have to service those Special Economic Zones and electricity in Zimbabwe is intermittent. Electricity is not reliable and that is the same electricity that will service the Special Economic Zones. I do not know what you will have to do because when people are coming to invest in a country they are looking at a number of things that is the availability of electricity, water and investment laws. Yes, you can come up with good investment laws, how about other things like water, electricity, and backbone infrastructure like roads and railway – what will you do with those because they are in a state of disrepair, they are dilapidated, what are you going to do with the special economic zones?
Mr. Speaker, I think we have a tendency in Zimbabwe of coming up with these nicely packaged terms, nicely packaged documents which are a problem to implement. I do not see how the special economic zones should be implemented. What we need to deal with first and foremost Mr. Speaker is the issue of corruption, at institutions that service the country, institutions like ZIMRA, let us deal with corruption at ZIMRA. Let us deal with the problem of electricity, this problem of electricity in Zimbabwe is not because ZESA is not able to generate enough electricity but it is because of corruption. Look at the tenders that ZESA have given to people, people without even a cent. ZESA has given tenders worth 400 million to people of dubious background and dubious character.
Mr. Speaker, as long as we have not dealt with the issue of corruption we can talk in very glowing terms about special economic zones but as long as the corruption that we have in this country is as it is, it will not work.
The other problem that we have in this country is that of a blotted bureaucracy. We have too many Ministers who are not doing anything.
As a result, you have Ministers running into each other’s paths. You have a Minister of policy implementation, Minister of economic whatever, you have a Minister of special investments, you have a
Minister of Finance and Economic Development, and you have ten Ministers who are basically doing the same type of job. In the creation of Special Economic Zones, you will have the Minister of Indigenisation saying no - this falls under my purview. You will have the Minister of
Policy Implementation in the President’s office saying this falls under my purview. You will also have the Minister of Finance saying this falls under my purview and Industry and International Trade and so forth.
You have so many Ministries trying to do the same thing.
What I thought the Committee would recommend is that firstly, let us streamline Cabinet and say which Ministry deals with what then we will not have a problem where Ministers speak at cross purposes, where there is inconsistent in policies because Ministers are interpreting laws wrongly. When we have done that, then we have everything falling under one Ministry for argument sake, Ministry of Finance. It will be easier for the Ministry of Finance to then start coming with laws that govern Special Economic Zones.
Mr. Speaker, I think those are the thoughts that I had; issues of redtape, issues of corruption and issues of foreign direct investment. Creation of Special Economic Zones is not going to bring foreign direct investments. Creation of Special Economic Zones on its own will not bring foreign direct investment because the people also want to look at other things in that country. This foreign direct investment is a special zone within a current and it is subservient to the main laws of that country that is what we must understand.
So, Mr. Speaker the whole of this country needs to be Special Economic Zone, we must deal with issues of corruption, infrastructure and you must deal with issues of red-tape.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The issue of
special economic zones has been brought about by the Ministry of Finance as a way to bring FDI into Zimbabwe. It is one way of creating employment for our people. Our youth are going to be employed; this is a direct challenge to this august House so that we improve the ease of doing business. We are here, people come here, I brought some people from Yugoslavia who wanted to start a hotel business and they had to face 85 licences before they opened the door, 85 different statutory fees. I can mention a few, they had to pay the council, Environment
Management Agency (EMA), the Engineers Association, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), liquor license, casino license, parks license, Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), radio and television licenses, CID license for firearms and the tourism levy and other various duties including fuel levy. I can mention many but this is just a way for this august House to scrutinize the way that business is done in Zimbabwe.
Different Committees of Parliament must state their requirements. In our Committee, we cannot have this. For example, if there is an economic zone in Beitbridge that employs a thousand people. There is immediate benefit to the country because there is consumption. If there is a bakery producing a thousand loaves, it is an additional thousand loaves. If it is a service station that is selling a thousand liters a day, maybe it is an additional 500 liters. This is what we are looking at because there is no economic activity where there is no consumption.
We must not concentrate on negatives; we are part and parcel of the problems. We are discussing the special economic zones yet some members are sleeping and others going out. When this Bill is enacted, everybody will start asking what happened. Everybody has a constituency with massive unemployment. We are all putting on suites that were manufactured in other countries in special economic zones… - [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections] - Now that it is coming to your own country, you are saying, no to it. I know some of the hon. members are complaining but the time has come for you to realise that we have a responsibility to the electorate in terms of creating employment. You have your own employment, allow other people to be employed as well. We cannot be so cruel and jealousy - [AN HON.
MEMBER: Inaudible interjections] –
Mr. Speaker, I need your protection because some of the hon.
members who are shouting at me are dreadlocked…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):
Order, order may we please have silence in the House hon. members.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Some of the Hon. Members are
dreadlocked and are associated with violence.
The other thing is that the nation needs to be adequately resourced. In my Constituency Mutoko, if we had resourced farmers, who are producing tomatoes., we would make Mutoko a special economic zone and all the farmers outside will be supporting that factory by bringing their produce. Our youths will be gainfully employed. This is simple economics because there is an activity taking place. We cannot continue the way we are.
I would like to thank the Minister of Finance and Economic Development because this is the best thing that he has done which is going to benefit Zimbabwe. Yes, people are saying economic zones are corrupt but we must fight corruption as an august House. We know who is corrupt. Let the different Committees call those corrupt people and take them to task to account for everything. When people come to our Committees, we do not ask them anything and some hon. members do not even attend Committee meetings.
It is important that as hon. members, we are accountable to the electorate and denounce sanctions that have caused untold suffering to our people… - [AN HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - Yes, they have caused untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe. Those who claim that there are no sanctions are accomplices, part and parcel, agents of imperialism and all those running dogs will disappear. I thank you.
HON. KHUPE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I would
also like to add my voice in regards to the report that was presented by Hon. Chapfika. In adding my voice, I would like to raise two points.
The first point that I would like to raise has to do with Section 56 of the Bill which states, ‘…that the Labour Act shall not apply in relation to licensed investors operating in a Special Economic Zone’. Mr. Speaker Sir, a caring Government is supposed to protect its workers and its people. For the Act to then state that the Labour Act should not apply means that workers will be victimised, harassed, beaten, hired and fired at any time, work for longer hours and subjected to so many things without any form of protection.
The general feeling wherever we went was that the Labour Act must apply in relation to licensed investors operating in a Special Economic Zone if we are serious about protecting our own workers and people as a Government - it must apply.
The second issue has to do with devolution as per Chapter 14 of our Constitution which states that power must be devolved to local communities. The general feeling was that these special economic zones must be established in every province so that local communities benefit. Once they are established in every province, people from those local communities must be employed and not people who are going to be imported from other places. In the majority of cases we have seen that when investors come, instead of employing local communities, they start employing people from other places or provinces.
The other thing is that they must buy their raw materials from the local communities in that particular province as this will ensure that local communities are also empowered. Mr. Speaker Sir, these are the two issues that I wanted to raise but more importantly, the Labour Act must apply because we do not want our workers to be victimized, harassed, hired and fired, paid low wages or beaten. We have had instances where workers have been beaten without any protection.
Workers must be protected all the time. I thank you.
*HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the
Committee that went on public hearings concerning the Bill that is before the august House.
Let me start by saying that the history of the Special Economic Zones Bill reminds a lot. In 1995/96, when I was still with the labour movement, there were export processing zones that did not bear much fruit due to challenges to the workers. I was also touched by the fact that if the country has a certain law and we, as the custodians of that law decide to ensure that it does not apply to certain people what are we doing?
In our pigeonholes there is the Labour Act that is coming to this august House for amendment because it was realised that there are provisions that protect workers that are not enshrined. We are mentioning this issue because we have an International Labour Organisation that Zimbabwe is signatory to. We attend conventions every year where we discuss and update them as to what we will be doing in our country.
I had challenges and problems when I was the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. Now I realise that we sit in this august House and agree that we should ensure that the Labour Act does not apply to the Export Processing Zones. We are now regressing instead of progressing. I do not agree with this at all Mr. Speaker, if we are to violate the workers’ rights, I do not agree with it. The rights of the workers must be observed.
What we want is that people should be able to work and be given protective clothing but what more in a situation whereby we are told the law should not apply. What we expect is for people to be well paid and also to be able to sustain themselves. What we are talking about Hon. Speaker is that we should put the Constitution aside and see what we can do as a country. I think we should follow the legislation that is there. When it comes to addressing the issues of rights, we should look into
that.
The last point Hon. Speaker is on the constitution of the Board that will represent the Special Economic Zones. My hope from my experience Hon. Speaker is that the board should also be gender balanced and the women in the board should also be qualified. We are advocating for gender balance. If there are five members are wanted, at least two of them must be women.
Lastly, Hon. Speaker, my appeal is that I see a number of things that are affecting the issue of the economy. When it comes to human resources, my hope is that if possible the two Committees should have sat down whereby they will address the issue of workers and the issue of the economy. These two Committees would present the Bill, giving the views from their various fields. I thank you.
HON. CHAKONA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise to contribute towards the Special Economic Zones Bill whose report the Chairman of the Committee has also presented. There are just a few observations that I want to highlight. First of all, I think we should appreciate the good work that has been done by the Minister in trying to be innovative to bring in Special Economic Zones for purposes of actually creating employment and attract foreign direct investment. That should be applauded on its own.
The report that has been presented by the Chairman speaks volumes of what they are expecting in terms of the Special Economic Zones. So I think what we just need to do is to add something that actually buttresses the Bill itself so that the establishment of the Special Economic Zones becomes a reality and also those that are going to participate in the establishment of the Special Economic Zones or the participants there, would find it attractive to come and participate.
First of all Hon. Speaker, the establishment of proper ICT infrastructure is one of our biggest setback in this nation where anybody coming from other countries to invest in this country finds it very difficult to do business where ICT infrastructure is not up to date. I think what we need to do as a nation is to ensure that our ICT infrastructure is in line with international standards. For example, the establishment of fibre network is now a common phenomenon in most countries, especially those that are even around Zimbabwe.
We find we are actually at a stage when we are really at a prime stage of establishing proper fibre network in this country. Again, our own voice and data services are so inadequate and also not up to standard such that most investors find it very difficult to actually do business in this country. I believe the upgrading and the roll-out of proper ICT infrastructure in this nation will go a long way in attracting investors to come into this country. Therefore, Hon. Speaker, it is imperative that as a nation we adopt a relaxation of duty and other levies and taxies on ICT equipment that is coming into this country.
You would also realise Hon. Speaker that establishing a land line to those Special Economic Zones would be very difficult because there is no infrastructure that supports that. Every person who comes to do business here will have to rely on mobile telephones, whereas when you are doing business that becomes very expensive. That why the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe is very high. We need to put up infrastructure that enables business and communication to be cheaper and those are the fundamentals that we need in this country.
Hon. Speaker, we realise people talk about corruption but everybody in this country has a role to play in the diminishing or eradication of corruption in this nation. We all have to play a role; every Zimbabwean have a role to play in making sure that corruption is eradicated. Whilst we speak about corruption, we have not seen any blueprint that actually says so and so is doing this. For us to blacklist our country as a corrupt nation as if it is something that [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – Hon. Speaker I need your protection.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Silence in the House.
- CHAKONA: Hon. Speaker, we want to be very clear as a nation. We cannot stand up in this Parliament every day and talk about corruption, when in actual fact we do not even have a thread of evidence to show that whatever we are talking about is correct. Mr. Speaker, I am a Zimbabwean, I live in this country. We need to be Zimbabweans first. If you go to other countries – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members can the Hon.
Member be heard in silence please. Please continue.
HON. CHAKONA: Mr. Speaker, I am speaking as a Zimbabwean. This is my country; I have got brothers, sisters and children who need employment. For us to continue scaring away investors in the name of corruption, I think we are driving our country to certain levels that are unacceptable in this continent. If you go to other countries, there are other countries where corruption is naked, you find it in the roads, immigration and customs and so forth; but their nationals when they speak in Parliament, they never talk about that corruption, and they never say anything about that. In this country, we speak as if this is the most corrupt nation in the world, it is not like that.
Hon. Speaker, let us speak with one voice – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – we are saying if there are any instances of corruption, let them be brought out, let us write, let us come here and debate issues of corruption openly – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order in the House. Hon. Members, can the hon. member be heard in silence please. If you have got a different opinion, please I will give you the floor to contribute whatever you have got. Please continue Hon. Member.
HON. CHAKONA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. We are talking about establishing Special Economic Zones and Mr. Speaker it is important as a nation that we speak with one voice for the benefit of the generations to come; for the benefit of generations that are finishing school today and those children that are coming out of high school and tertiary education, for them to get employment. Mr. Speaker this is our country, this is our nation. We need to support ideas that are constructive to this nation. We need to support Bills that come to bring about the so-called employment that we are all crying for in this nation.
This Bill is doing exactly that and we need to support this initiative.
Any other country in southern Africa is crying for foreign direct investment and Zimbabwe, as we speak right now, we are the only country that has got the least foreign direct investment in sub-Sahara and we cannot continue in this mode. We need to do something so that this country can also attract people to come and investment. This initiative that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development has taken is an act in the right direction for us to actually ensure that industries are developed in the right areas of our country and economy. I presume this is precisely what we want to see. I thank you.
HON. MARIDADI: My point of order is that the Chairman of the Portfolio Committee is sleeping; he has just woken up, maybe he did not want to listen to what Hon. Chakona was saying. He was sleeping.
HON. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I will start my debate
by debating both the report of the Committee and the issues that are raised within the Bill. The first issue that I would want to raise is the issue that was raised in the Committee report around regional representation. I totally agree that we should be guided by the Constitution that speaks about regional representation. This links with what Hon. Khupe raised, which is the issue of how communities can benefit from the Special Economic Zones.
If there is no representation on the board from people who are coming from those particular areas, then all the issues that are dealt with, because that particular board is the board that is responsible for the issuance and withdrawal of licences. I think the drafting of that clause in the Bill should even be more precise to say we should at least have a person who comes from each of our ten provinces. This is so because if you generally put a generic phrase like saying, it should show regional representation. Regional representation can mean anything. You can have four. So, let us have a situation where we are specific so that we know that Matebeleland South, Matebeleland North, Midlands, Harare, Masvingo and so on, has a person who is sitting on the board because we are tired of a situation where things around boards are dominated by a particular place and ethnic grouping. So, can we be clear in terms of the crafting of that issue.
The second one that was raised and I agree with the Committee report is to do with licence fees. Mr. Speaker it is critical that we say there is no licence fee when you are making an application. I raise that issue Mr. Speaker Sir because we saw this with the issues around diamonds and gold. For diamond polishing, people were being asked to pay $10 000 for you to get a licence. Which other Zimbabwean person will be able to raise $10 000. So, I think that registration fee in itself becomes discriminatory. It means those that have money are the ones that will continue to access some of these areas that we are talking about.
I want to go back to the issue of the Bill itself Mr. Speaker Sir. Section 14 of the Bill speaks of the issues around disclosure of interests by members of that Committee. This is linked to what Hon. Maridadi raised and I am a bit disappointed Mr. Speaker that we can sit here as Members of Parliament and think that it is okay for us to push the issue of corruption under the table. We are the ones who are supposed to be saying let us deal with the cancer of corruption. Hon. Mnangagwa launched an issue around corruption, a long conversation with the Judiciary. I am not sure what we are saying if a Vice President is saying something around a policy issue on corruption and we in Parliament are saying no, let us not talk about corruption. It confuses even the nation because now they do not know if we are pro-corruption or anticorruption.
I think we need to be specific around issues of disclosure of interest. The disclosure of interest should not just be in terms of a board member wanting to apply. It should be anybody who has been chosen as a board member declaring what they have first before they sit on this. This issue of disclosure Hon. Speaker, we are the only Parliament that is resisting the disclosure of assets. People come to this Parliament putting on tennis shoes but within two years, they are beginning to put on these wonderful shoes that are bought for $2 000 a pair. We need to begin to say, ‘you did not have a shoe when you came here, where did you then get enough money to go and buy a pair of shoes because we know what your assets are’.
So, this particular board should be the beginning of that declaration of those particular assets. It should not be just disclosure of interest as far as you are applying for something, it should be saying you want to be a member of this board, disclose all your assets and interests because we know that the issues around investments is where a lot of people are getting money. People have said it, even the President himself has at one of the public indaba, mining issues that were held in Victoria Falls about three years ago, he admitted that in conversations with the former President Mbeki, had been told that Ministers would say to an investor give me so much money so that I can allow you to invest. So, if there is a board that is responsible for doing this, we need to make sure that board is dealt with.
I want to deal with Section 27, which is the period of validity of licences. It says in the Bill that you are given a period of 10 years from the date of issue. Mr. Speaker, I think that is unacceptable. We are going to have people that will begin to speculate. Ten years is too long a period for somebody to set up. What are you doing in 10 years? At least at the very essence we should begin to see something in a matter of 12 months. We are not saying do the entire development, but at the very least, begin to say that you are genuine in putting an investment. So, this particular period of validity of licences, I think is unacceptable.
So is the renewal which is in Section 28. Somebody can actually hold on to a zone for more than 20 years in effect. Section 27 as read with 28, it actually means that at 10 years I can then apply, I do not develop or bring any investment. I do nothing and I then go back to the board, pay a fee and my licence gets renewed. So, for 20 years, I could be sitting without doing anything. I think it is crazy. We cannot be waiting for 20 years for investment to happen. If within 12 months you have not shown an interest in doing so, you are not serious.
Then Section 35 Mr. Speaker is what worries me even more. Section 35 is talking about protection from compulsory acquisition of property. If you look at this particular clause Mr. Speaker, when you read it without starting by ‘except in accordance with a law’, you would think it is a beautiful clause, because it is seemingly protecting anyone who has got an investment from compulsory acquisition. But because it then says “except in accordance with the law which complies in all respects with Section 71 of the Constitution”, if you go back to Section 71 of the Constitution, it is basically giving a right to compulsory acquisition. What you are saying is that whoever goes into a Special
Economic Zone can wake up tomorrow morning and they can invoke Section 71 and you can have acquisition of whatever property is there. If you read that any law, it means that Section 72 would also apply and Section 72 is speaking to the rights of agricultural land because we seemingly are assuming that Special Economic Zones only relate to manufacturing.
If Special Economic Zones also relate to Special Economic Zones that speak to agricultural things, then it is worse because it means I can get a piece of land, begin to do agricultural things, you come back and invoke Section 72, you take that land away from me and there is no investor who is worth their while who will come as long as your section that you have put in Section 35 says “except in accordance with any law which complies with Section 71 and 72”. It would mean that at least for this particular thing if it is going to work, then it must be exempted from Section 71 and 72 of the Constitution, then it makes sense.
What is interesting is that you come and say the Labour Act shall not apply. You say the Indigenisation Act shall not apply which some of us are happy with but you then in the same essence are saying in terms of compulsory acquisition we still want Section 71 and 72 to work. You are defeating the whole essence of your Special Economic Zones. I want to come in as an investor and I want to know that my investment is protected. That is the basic thing that I want.
If you are going with this Bill with Section 35, we are wasting our time. We can celebrate that we have a Special Economic Zone Bill but in the context of Section of 35, there is nothing that we have done. It is important that Section 35 clearly states that for purposes of Special Economic Zone, things will not be compulsorily acquired. If you were to say that then it would work because you already have created exemptions elsewhere. That exemption would make sense and in my opinion that is the exemption that makes sense. All these other exemptions can stay but the exemption around acquisition means absolutely nothing. This Bill means nothing as long as Section 35 is crafted and drafted in the manner that it currently is.
HON. NDUNA: I want to applaud the Minister for bringing this
Bill to Parliament. I also want to applaud the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee that presented the report, Hon. Chapfika. I also want to alert you Mr. Speaker Sir, and bring to your attention the issue that I am the mover of the motion on Special Economic Zones. Exactly before one year has passed this Bill has come to Parliament and I applaud the Minister for doing that. I moved this motion on the1st of September, 2015 and before I go out of Parliament, I am more than elated that a panacea for deindustrialisation has finally come to Parliament.
It is also captured in ZIM ASSET and the more we start implementing what is in our blueprint , the more we come to the party. It is the more we are putting our money where our mouth is. We are behind in terms of implementation of Special Economic Zones. As we speak in the SADC region we have Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius who have expeditiously implemented the issue of Special Economic Zones. As I have alluded to, the Special Economic Zones can reverse deindustrialisation. I called in my motion during that time for expeditious implementation and crafting of Special Economic Zones which speak to geographical locations and emancipating our own economy utilising our God-given natural resources and policies for the good of this nation.
I am happy today that we have finally come to the party. In most developing economies that I have alluded to, the Special Economic
Zones have been established. I want to start off by saying the Special Economic Zones can only come to the fore in terms of optimum implementation and success if we accompany them by good laws. If we repeal some of our draconian, historic and archaic laws that are fraught with legacy oriented faults. The issue that quickly comes to mind is the issue of the Companies Act Mr. Speaker Sir. If we are going to implement Special Economic Zones in Chegutu, Gweru, Kadoma, Bulawayo and Harare where it involves the issue of the textile industry, we are looking at David Whitehead, National Blankets and a plethora of textiles industries up to Chitungwiza, we then need to change our
Companies Act, which gives unfettered access to the judiciary manager.
The Companies Act is too open ended when it comes to what is supposed to be implemented by the judiciary manager, in particular when a company is under judiciary management such as David Whitehead, you will find that after the judiciary management there is an open ended modus operandi for a judiciary manager in the Companies Act, power being given to him by the Act. By the time that company is removed from judiciary management, it will be a shell because it would have been stripped of its assets in order that the judiciary manager can pay himself.
I say this with a heavy heart cognisant and alive to the fact that some of the companies that we are trying to make sure that we ward off deindustrialisation are under judiciary management and one particular one that quickly comes to mind is David Whitehead which is under judiciary management. If we do not save David Whitehead as we speak, when we want to enshrine or encase it in the Special Economic Zones geographical field, we will just be encompassing an asset, which estate asset has no machinery. It has been robbed of its assets because of illicit outflows and asset stripping which will have been conducted by the judiciary manager empowered by a moribund, historic and legacy fraud Companies Act.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to immediately bring you to Section 45 of the Special Economic Zones Bill. It speaks to the insurance business. Recently we brought the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development to Parliament to give us a ministerial statement regarding twelve and half percent remittances of third party insurance that were supposed to be remitted to Traffic Safety Council. If we are not careful, the people that are regulating some of these industries, as long as they lay back and do not bring to this Parliament the laws in those Acts that need to be repealed, we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not complementing this Bill.
This Bill is a very good piece of legislation but without such complementing Acts and Statutory Instruments, we can kiss the issue of good implementation good bye. I have touched on the insurance business as an example so that you can see what I speak to regarding the issue of complementing Acts. In relation to Section 51 of the same Bill, it speaks to vessels in relation to Special Economic Zones. What comes to mind is the issue of inland waters control.
I was at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair and I held one of the Acts that is presided over by the Minister who is under our Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure. It speaks to the inland water control mechanisms of that board. The inland water control is like the VID of the waters. Looking at that Act, it was established in 1951 as a preserve of the powers that be at that time. It is even written Rhodesia. As long as we do not repeal some of these Acts, we cannot complement optimally and expeditiously the Bill that is before us.
This one speaks to the vessels in relation to Special Economic
Zones. It also speaks to the harbours, docking and the jetties within the Special Economic Zones. When we talk of the harbours in relation to the Act that I was holding that was established in 1951, there are no harbours to talk about. The harbours had been taken over by the local authorities, rural district councils and town authorities. They have been sold to those that have money and there are properties overlooking the waters or the lakes Mr. Speaker Sir. So, this has been written without taking cognisant of that fact. We need to look at our Acts optimally and quickly to change those Acts so that they complement the issue of Special Economic Zones.
The issue of Special Economic Zones Board is a serious matter. It is far better than the board on Anti-Corruption Commissioners who came to Parliament and were recruited. The issue of Special Economic Zones Board, besides being brought to Parliament for recruitment, appointment and rectification, they should also fall under the same ambit of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority. I think establishing another board is akin to establishing another parastatal. We need to bring it
under the umbrella of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority so that we are not reinventing the will. They are not utilised to their optimum level.
So let us not reinvent the will. Let us make sure that we complement their efforts by giving them more work. Otherwise, they are just there seated and being paid for nothing at a time when our economy is so short of every dollar that it needs. Mr. Speaker Sir, this nation has to be alive that if we are not repealing some to the draconian laws to support this Special Economic Zone Bill, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Hon. Shamu spoke of the establishment of Special Economic Zones in the Chegutu corridor that also talks of the establishment of a capitalytic converters industry that makes sure that we create jobs for those that are going to be creating the capitalytic converters in those industries.
As long as we do not repeal the Acts such as the Mines Act, because we have seen that the artisanal miners and small scale miners cannot steal. It is not them that are responsible for illicit outflows for our mineral wealth that is currently going out of the country. It is not them that are taking money from the bank and exporting it out of the country. If at all the Reserve Bank Governor, out of the US$684 million gold deliveries to Fidelity that have gone to RBZ, he alludes to the fact that 60% of that has come from artisanal miners and small scale miners. Let us complement their efforts by repealing those laws to complement the Bill on Special Economic Zones.
Mr. Speaker Sir, if we do not repeal the Mines and Minerals Act, the Gold Act and the possession of precious minerals, we are shooting ourselves in the foot in that all married people in this House are criminals. They are criminalised because of the Mines and Minerals Act and the Gold Act which criminalises their possession of gold. This is gold without a licence. So we should be aware that when we talk of repealing some of these Acts, it is also for us as it is for the small scale miners and for the majority of Zimbabweans. These laws were enunciated in 1951. As long as we do not repeal them, we are criminalising all the Hon. Members who have gold rings on their fingers.
The issue of infrastructure development is vital. As we lure foreign direct investors into our nation, they will come in and help us establish infrastructure, road network, utilities and power generation second to none. I say so because the issue to do with road carnage in our country cannot be over emphasised. We have got five deaths on our road every day. As long as we do not establish the Special Economic Zones, we continue to have them. If I can put you into perspective, five deaths per day speaks to this House, the National Assembly Members who are all going to perish within two and a half months, assuming it were us who were perishing on our roads. So, we need to establish infrastructure second to none so that this House is not robbed of Members of Parliament. We are lucky that it is not us who are dying but someone else. I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I will continue to say let us complement the Special Economic Zones Bill by repealing some of the draconian Acts. I also want to thank the Minister for bringing it to the
House whilst I am still a Member of Parliament. I want to thank you
Mr. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN VICE PRESIDENT
MPHOKO’S OFFICE (HON. KANENGONI): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
An Hon. Member having stood up to debate.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you approach the
Chair.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: 4th May, 2016.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE IN VICE
PRESIDENT MPHOKO’S OFFICE (HON. KANENGONI), the
House adjourned at Eighteen Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 14th April, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER: The House is not properly lit and I thought by the time I came back, the electrical gadget would have been fixed. We will try to make sure that we have sufficient lighting, particularly towards the back there. It does not look nice. Kindly bear with us as we try to look for the required funding to ensure that corrective action is taken.
[Cellphone rings]
THE HON. SPEAKER: Whose phone is that? Please before you come to the House, can you make sure that your phones are either switched off or they are on silence?
ERROR ON THE ORDER PAPER
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to draw attention of the House to an error on today’s Order Paper where the Notice of Presentation of the Pan-African Minerals University of Science and Technology (PAMUST) Bill (H. B. 10, 2015) should be by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and not
Mines and Mining Development.
FIRST READING
PAN-AFRICAN MINERALS UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY BILL [H.B. 10, 2015]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA) presented the PAN-African Minerals
University of Science and Technology Bill [H.B. 10, 2015].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
FIRST READING
MINERALS EXPLORATION AND MARKETING
CORPORATION BILL [H.B.11, 2015]
THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING
DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDHAKWA) presented the Minerals
Exploration and Marketing Corporation Bill [H.B. 11, 2015].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
RECOMMITTAL TO COMMITTEE STAGE
GENERAL LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 3B, 2015]
First Order read: Recommittal – Committee: General Laws
Amendment Bill, [H.B. 3B, 2015].
House in Committee.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Chairman, I move the amendments standing in my name;
On Part XX of the Schedule,
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]
- On page 22 of the Bill line 41 delete “section 195A” and substitute with “section 196(1)”.
- On page 24 of the Bill line 18 delete “subsection (3)” and substitute with
“subsection (2)”.
- On page 24 of the Bill line 20 delete “(3)” and substitute with
“(2)”.
- On page 22 of the Bill after line 17 insert a new section as follows—
“15(1) By the repeal of section 96.”
(2) By the deletion of the word “criminal defamation” in the Second, Fourth and Fifth Schedules.
Amendments to Part XX put and agreed to.
Part XX, as amended, put and agreed to.
On Parts CVII, CIX, CXII, CXIII, CXIV, CXV, CXVI, CXVII and
CXVIII of the Schedule:
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Chairman, I move the amendments standing in my name that;
- On page 54 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CVII.
- On page 55 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CIX.
- On page 56 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXII.
- On page 56 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXIII.
- On page 57 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXIV.
- On page 57 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXV.
- On page 58 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXVI.
- On page 58 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXVII.
- On page 59 of the Bill, by the deletion of PART CXVIII.
Amendments to Parts CVII, CIX, CXII, CXIII, CXIV, CXV, CXVI, CXVII and CXVIII put and agreed to.
Parts CVII, CIX, CXII, CXIII, CXIV, CXV, CXVI, CXVII and
CXVIII, as amended, put and agreed to.
On Part CXXVI:
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): Mr. Chairman, I move the amendments standing in my name;
Traditional Leaders Act [Chapter 29:17]
On page 63 line 33 of the bill delete subsection (4) and substitute with-
“(4) Subject to this section and to subsections (5), (6) and (7), the Chiefs Council as it is constituted on the date of the dissolution of Parliament continues in office and to function as such until a new Council is elected in terms of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13].” Amendments to Part CXXVI put and agreed to.
Part CXXVI, as amended, put and agreed to.
Schedule, as amended, put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
GENERAL LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 3B, 2015]
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,
LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.
MNANGAGWA): I move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
COMMITTEE STAGE
GWANDA STATE UNIVERSITY BILL [H.B. 9, 2015]
Second Order read: Committee Stage: Gwanda State University
Bill [H.B. 9, 2015].
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 34 put and agreed to.
Schedule, Section 2 and 31 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
GWANDA STATE UNIVERSITY BILL [H.B. 9, 2015]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
(HON. DR. GANDAWA): I move that the Bill be now read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. CHASI: I move that Order of the Day Number 3 be stood
over until all the other Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. MAHOKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, I am sure you have the Order Paper before you. Right, the time that has lapsed for this motion is thirteen hours eleven minutes and this is a debate on the Presidential Address. We are short of thirteen more hours to conclude debate on this motion. Now, I did not see anybody rise to debate and yet Hon.
Members have said they want to debate. My question is where are you? Where are you? Ha-a! We cannot keep on printing and increasing costs where Hon. Members must rise and debate. We have our minimum hours that are required in terms of our Standing Orders and we conclude debate on that motion.
I hope as they say in Shona, chiri mumusaka saka chinozvinzwira. I was going to mention certain things but I am saying chiri mumusaka saka chinozvinzwira. Kumwe uko munoti imimi hatipihwi mukana wokudebater. Hezvo ka! Hezvo ka! Muri kupi? Where are you? Lingapi! I hope you take note of that. We cannot be having motions on the Order Paper continuously and we do not conclude. I am asking the Whips to whip the Honourable Members.
HON. RUNGANI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 3rd May, 2016.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe.
HON. RUNGANI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 3rd May, 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. RUNGANI: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 6 and
7 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 8 has been disposed of.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Again, I make an observation on Notice
of Motion Number 6. It has been sitting on the Order Paper for too long now. Is Honourable Shamu here? He is not there. If he does not want to debate it anymore, then it should be expunged from the Order Paper.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LANDS,
AGRICULTURE, MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION
DEVELOPMENT ON THE OPERATIONS OF ARDA AND CSC
HON. CHITINDI: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development on the operations of the Agriculture and Rural Development Authority
(ARDA) and Cold Storage Company (CSC).
HON. RTD BRIG GWANETSA: I second.
HON CHITINDI:
Introduction:
The national economic blueprint, Zimbabwe Agenda for
Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation identifies agriculture as the backbone of the economy and the need to restore the sector to its former glory as the bread basket of Southern Africa. This is further buttressed by the Ten Point Plan highlighted in the 2015 State of the Nation
Address to Parliament by His Excellency, the President, Cde R. G.
Mugabe which calls for the revitalisation of agriculture. This can be partially achieved through reforming under performing state owned entities such as Grain Marketing Board, CSC, Cottco among others.
The Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development resolved to conduct an inquiry on two key state owned companies that have been under performing namely CSC and ARDA in order to understand the binding constraints and the opportunities in agricultural productivity. The objectives of the inquiry were as follows:
- To assess the state of operations at ARDA and CSC;
- To identify challenges being faced and their recapitalisation plans; To offer policy.
- Methodology
- Oral Evidence Session
- On the 30th June, 2015, the Committee conducted an oral evidence session with Mr. W. Mbona, the General Manager for ARDA and his management and with Mr. N. Chinogaramombe, the Chief Executive Officer for CSC and the Board of Directors were also in attendance. The oral evidence session focused on the state of operations, challenges being faced and their recapitalisation plans respectively.
- Study Tours
- The Committee conducted a study tour and a verification exercise of the ARDA Estates and CSC premises from the 7th –
11th of August, 2015. The Committee visited Nijo Estate, Doreen’s
Pride Estate, Antelope Estate, ARDA Sanyati, CSC Harare, CSC Kadoma, CSC Gweru and CSC Bulawayo. This visit proved valuable as the Committee witnessed first-hand the challenges both policy and administrative that CSC and ARDA faces. We wish to extend our utmost thanks to UNDP for their assistance.
- Workshop
- The Committee further conducted a capacity building workshop from the 24th – 27th September, 2015 at Golden Peacock, Mutare to discuss, among other issues, the Agricultural Financing in Zimbabwe, Livestock production in Zimbabwe, Agricultural Commodity prices and Market systems, progress made towards fulfillment of ZIM ASSET Cluster No. 1, Food Security and Nutrition as well as a historical overview of the performance of the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe. Presenters included the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Dr. Made, Permanent Secretary for Agriculture, Mr. J. Chitsiko, among others. The capacity building workshop afforded the Committee an opportunity to seek clarifications and share ideas with the Agriculture Authority. Again, the Committee extends its gratitude to UNDP for the adequate financial assistance.
- FINDINGS
- Cold Storage Company (CSC)
- CSC was established in 1937 in terms of the Cold Storage Commission Act, with the mandate of procuring, processing and marketing beef, lamb, goat and related products. Government is the only shareholder in the company and owns three abattoirs in Chinhoyi, Bulawayo and Masvingo. The company was commercialised in 1995 and also owns a canning and a tannery subsidiaries, both which are located in Bulawayo. The canning company is not operating because of lack of inputs from the parent company. The tannery is currently under judicial management.
- Operational Performance of CSC
- The Committee was informed by the Board of CSC that since 2009, the company has been operating at less than 10% of its capacity. Out of a total of about 77 000 national slaughters in the first quarter of 2015, CSC only slaughtered about 5 000, which represents 7.3% of the total. Currently, the company has a total national herd of 792 cattle. The company’s dismal performance is attributed to a number of factors, and the major one being lack of capital.
- Financial Position of CSC
- The Committee was informed that CSC posted a loss of
US1.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. The company owes over
US$28 million to its creditors, mainly to public utilities such as
ZESA. Employees are owed about US$3.5 million for wages and the company has had some of its assets attached by employees over outstanding wages. The company is paying its salaries and other expenses from revenue generated from leasing of some of its properties. Furthermore, the company has been unable to borrow from local financial institutions due to the high interest rates and short term financing facilities, which make it difficult to service loans.
- Turnaround Strategies for CSC
- In the last decade, CSC has been suffering from severe under-capitalisation and required US$83 million to commence its operations. A few investors have shown interest in partnering with the company, which include Royal Ostrindo, when in 2009 it had offered an investment of US$57 million with the Government retaining a 50% shareholding. Unfortunately, the investor withdrew after delays in the approval of the investment. The Committee could not get adequate reasons for the collapse of the proposal, because it failed to meet with the Minister after repeated invitations to attend the Committee’ Sessions. Currently, CSC is negotiating with another investor known as Alternative Initiation for Development of Africa, who plans to inject a capital of US$80 million. However, the Committee is concerned that this agreement may fail again, because Government seems to have taken a lackadaisical approach in handling potential investors keen on investing in CSC.
- The company further informed the Committee that it intended to mobilise funding internally through the disposal of some of its assets that were lying idle. The assets have an estimated value of US$4.5 million. CSC made this proposal to Government in 2012 but the disposal plan has not been approved pending a forensic audit. Whilst the Committee agrees that a forensic audit should be conducted, the process seems to be taking long with adverse effects such depreciation in value of some of the company’s assets as well as the ballooning of the CSC debt due to interest charges. The Committee had an opportunity to visit some of the properties earmarked for disposal in Harare, Kadoma and Gweru and noted with disappointment that some of the assets, such as the Kadoma branch had greatly depreciated in value after being gutted by fire.
- The Committee noted with concern that there was a lack of dialogue between the Board and the Minister of Agriculture, who is supposed to give policy direction to the company, in line with Section 31 (1) of the Cold Storage Commission Act. The Committee was informed by the Board that since its appointment in 2011, they have never held any meetings or discussions with the Minister. This has the potential to jeorpadise any turnaround strategies being proposed for the parastatal.
- Severe Competition from Private Abattoirs
- The beef and livestock industry was liberalised in 1992 and it is estimated that there are over 600 registered and unregistered abattoirs and slaughter poles. In 1992, CSC dominated 50% of the market share and by 2002; this had declined to 6% especially after the suspension of exports to the European Union (EU). The Committee noted that CSC has huge infrastructure which incur large overheads costs in the form of electricity and water. This makes CSC uncompetitive against the small private abattoirs. On average, the electricity bill for CSC per month is US$$35 000 irrespective of the volumes traded whilst that of a private is about US$5 000.
- Secondly, most private abattoirs are located on farms and pay lower rates to Rural District Councils (RDCs) whereas CSC operations are located in major towns where urban authorities have higher tariffs than RDCs. The Committee was also informed that there are different hygienic standards that are applied on CSC factories and on private abattoirs. CSC factories are categorised as class A, whereas private abattoirs are under category B or less, for example, an abattoir of CSC requires 62 people to be on the factory floor regardless of the volume while a private abattoir requires only 10 workers for the same service. In order to remain functional, CSC offers slaughter services to third parties and in order to attract business, it had to reduce charges to the level of private abattoirs, but customers prefer to slaughter at private abattoirs because the is a low risk of condemnation of the product. At the same time, private abattoirs are unable to fully observe veterinary regulations in the movement of cattle and this poses a challenge in containment of food and mouth outbreaks.
- Furthermore, private abattoirs were not willing to work with CSC and there seems to be an acrimonious relationship between the two institutions.
- Beneficiation and Value Addition
- The Committee was informed that CSC has the capacity to obtain full value of its bi-products from the slaughter process, such
as hides, heads and hooves, tallow, blood, bones and condemned carcasses. Private abattoirs are unable to provide some of these services, especially the disposal of blood and condemned carcasses. Some of these bi-products are critical for the growth of downstream industries, such tallow which is used for soap manufacturing, hides which are used for manufacture of leather products. The entire value chain has the potential to create more jobs and wealth for the country.
- Suspension of the Export Quota
In the past, CSC had access to offshore loans made possible through exports to the European Union. However, these credit lines were suspended after the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. The Committee was informed that the major advantage that CSC has over private abattoirs is that it has the requisite infrastructure with capacity to export beef to the EU. Currently, there is huge demand for Zimbabwean beef in the EU market.
Re-building of the National Herd
The 2015 Mid-year Fiscal Review Statement highlights that approximately US$1.7 billion is required to finance crop and livestock farming. About US$1.3 billion is for crop production and the balance of US$400 million will, in essence, be for livestock. CSC is the appropriate institution to spearhead the re-building of the national herd of cattle which currently stands at 5.4 million. Private abattoirs tend to operate in serving their own interest whereas CSC should have national interest as its focus.
Pricing Model in the Livestock Sector
The Committee was informed that the four dominant private players, that include Montana Meats, Surrey Meats, Bulawayo Abattoirs and Koala Park Abattoir behave as a cartel, where they manipulate the price of livestock on the domestic market. These private players do not bid against each other as a way of pushing CSC out of market. This is further compounded by the fact that the local market is more interested in the cost of the product rather than quality, due to lack of disposable income among the general populace.
The most disadvantaged group are the farmers who do not get full value for their livestock. The Committee, through written submissions for interested stakeholders, was informed that the industry should introduce a pricing model that takes into account the grade and weight of the livestock. Cattle should also be traded through an auction system like in South Africa and Namibia, thus ensuring there is price fairness on the market.
Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA)
ARDA was established under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority Act with the mandate of planning, coordinating, implementing, promoting as well as assisting agricultural development in Zimbabwe. The entity owns 21 estates which are located in different ecological regions of the country. The State-owned enterprise has been experiencing mixed fortunes because out of its 21 estates, only 12 have secured funding under different joint venture agreements.
Estates under Joint Venture Agreements
The 12 estates that are under joint venture agreements include:
Chisumbanje, Middle Sabi, Katiyo, Mkwasine, Sisi, Nandi, Faire Acres,
Jotsholo, Antelope, Ngwezi, Sedgewik and Doreen’s Pride. The Committee managed to visit Doreen’s Pride estate in Kadoma district and Antelope Farm in Kezi, under Matobo district. Both estates are under one investor known as Trek Petroleum. Doreen’s Pride was officially commissioned in 1986 and has over 9 000 hactres of land, of which 270 is irrigable. The authority entered into a joint venture agreement with Trek Petroleum and at the time of the Committee’s visit, the investor was in the process of installing centre pivots and irrigation infrastructure in preparation for the summer cropping season.
The estate had begun intensive livestock farming and has imported over 600 different types of cattle breeds from Namibia. Currently, the farm employs 12 permanent and 78 seasonal workers, largely drawn from the local community. The estate management indicated that there was high morale amongst the workers following joint venture agreement. The joint venture agreement is 40 to 60 percent in favour of Trek Petroleum and will last for a period of five years. Some of the challenges at the farm include the lack of electricity for irrigation purposes and the risk of farm invasion by illegal mining operations. The estate has lost part of land to illegal miners.
Antelope farm is situated in Kezi and also entered into a five-year agreement with Trek Petroleum. The Committee had an opportunity to witness wheat planted on 690 hectares of land. The wheat was almost ready for harvesting and had already secured a buyer. The Committee was informed that plans were in place to expand the estate to 3 000 hectares of land and 150 hectares from the total hectarage will be reserved for out grower schemes, as a way of empowering the local communities. The out-growers will receive assistance in the form of surety for loan applications, sourcing of markets as well as tillage and irrigations services. The estate relies on both flood and overhead irrigation schemes and derives its water from Antelope dam.
From the time of investment, in February 2015, the estate has employed over 150 people largely drawn from the local community.
The major challenge faced by the estate is unstable power supplies from ZESA, meant for irrigation purposes. The farm has the capacity to grow crops throughout the year, such as wheat, cotton, maize, soya beans and sorghum. The estate also plans to add value to some of its produce such as maize for sale to the local community. The Committee noted with appreciation that there was intensive production and high morale at the farm, in light of the joint venture agreement.
Estates wholly owned by Government
The estates that are being wholly managed by Government include: Balu, Sanyati, Muzarabani, Mushumbi Pools, Nijo, Katiyo Main Estate, Rusitu, Magudu and Kairezi. The Committee had an opportunity to visit two of the estates, namely Sanyati Estate located in Sanyati and Nijo Estate located on the outskirts of Harare. The two estates are in a sorry state with dilapidated infrastructure and machinery. Both estates have rich soils and are strategically located in terms of access to key institutions within the agricultural sector.
On the visit to ARDA Sanyati, the Committee noted with concern that there was no visible security at the premises and most of the machinery and equipment at the farm was being vandalised such as centre pivots, irrigation pumps and transformers. It was evident that there was gross negligence and undue care over Government assets. There has about 1 600 hectares of land, of which 800 is irrigable with a capacity to grow crops such as wheat, maize, cotton, soya beans and sugar beans. The estate also has 85 herd of cattle, most of which are affected by common livestock diseases. The cattle are not getting adequate veterinary services, hence the poor health. The Committee further noted with concern that the local community is bitter about the unproductive estate and its poor management. This may be attributed to the fact that the estate owes wages to over 100 employees, dating back to 2012 when the farm ceased operations. Furthermore, the estate has assets such as houses which are being occupied for free and yet revenues can be raised through rentals in order to pay outstanding salaries. The estate urgently needs an investor to kick-start its operations. The estate has good soils and a nearby source of water for irrigation.
On the visit to Nijo, the Committee was informed that the estate was in the process of securing a partnership to boost productivity. The farm is located on 1 000 hectares of land, of which 420 is arable. the farm has both crop and livestock production. The crops grown at the farm include commercial and seed maize, commercial and seed soya as well as horticulture. The estate also has small herd of dairy which supplies milk to the local community. The major challenge at the farm is that it does not have adequate sources of water for irrigation purposes. The farm relies on borehole water and most of the boreholes have low capacity due to competition from the nearby human settlements. The farm had its electricity transformer vandalised hence affecting its horticultural production.
Furthermore, the farm does not have adequate security, hence is vulnerable to theft of its produce and assets. During the Committee’s visit, it noted that the estate had experienced acts of arson, where a sizable portion of its field with maize ready for harvest having been burnt. The estate also faces the possibility of losing sections of its land due to the expansion of City of Harare and the fact that most of the estate largely remains under-utilised. There is a high possibility that certain portions of the estate will be annexed either by legal or illegal land developers.
COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS
Cold Storage Commission (CSC)
- Whilst the Board and Management of CSC are keen on revamping the operations of the company, there does not seen to be the same zeal and commitment by the Executive because one potential agreement collapsed and the current proposal is threatened with the same fate of lack of interest from the
Ministry.
- There is a lack of collective responsibility between the Board and parent Ministry. The Minister is supposed to give policy direction in line with section 31 (1) of the Cold Storage Commission Act, but there has never been a meeting between the Minister and Board since 2011, when the Board was appointed. The result is that any turnaround strategy or proposal has a high risk of failure.
- There is a high possibility that private abattoirs are selling meat that does not meet health and safety standards. As a result consumers may be exposed to eating meat and related products that are not safe for human consumption.
- A cartel has developed within the trading of cattle and marketing of meat and related products locally. The cartel comprises of family owned businesses with self-serving interests. In the process, vulnerable livestock owners are being forced to sale their cattle at sub-economic prices. CSC does not have the capacity to compete with them or bring sanity in the trading and marketing of meat and related products on the local market.
- CSC has the potential to create more jobs and wealth, through value addition of the products from the livestock sector, such as leather products and canning of beef and related products. This
is in line with the ZIM ASSET cluster of Beneficiation and
Value Addition of the country’s natural resources.
- The executive seems to have neglected its investment into CSC and needs to take urgent measures to address this matter.
- Key players within the livestock sector, such as private abattoirs are excluded from decision making bodies such as CSC Board. They are needed to provide their knowledge and skills in enabling the country to re-build the national herd and resume exports to the European Union and elsewhere.
- CSC infrastructures is deteriorating at an alarming rate, in
Kadoma it has reached a dire situation.
- CSC owns a vast number of movable and immovable properties that are lying idle and run the risk of further deterioration.
AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPME/NT
AUTHORITY (ARDA)
- There is vast difference between estates under partnership and those still under ARDA, with the latter exhibiting productivity and the former in a dire situation.
- The Committee witnessed hostilities towards ARDA Administration by local communities in Sanyati, and such tendencies have the potential to scare away potential investors.
- Without joint venture partnerships, both Nijo and Sanyati, will remain unviable.
- Government assets are not properly secured at both Sanyati and Nijo and are prone to theft, arson and vandalism.
- Relations between ARDA and the local community in Sanyati are very volatile and these need to be mended before a new investor comes into place.
- Estates with joint venture agreement are set to make meaningful contributions towards agricultural productivity and food security.
RECOMMENDATIONS (CSC)
- The Executive must finalise CSC joint venture agreements in the earliest possible time, by June 2016, a partner should be indentified and appointed, to avoid unnecessary delays which might cause another investor flight.
- The Minister and the Board must convene a meeting within two months (April 2016) after presentation of this Report to iron out all the issues and report to Parliament on the progress made.
- The Executive should give a time-frame within which to conduct a forensic audit. This is critical in order to arrest the depreciation in value of some of the company’s assets. A maximum of 3 months should be enough for a forensic audit.
- A regulator, in the form of a revamped CSC is required to control the trading of cattle on the market to protect vulnerable farmers. A state regulator is needed to protect the general public from consuming meat and related products that may otherwise be condemned.
- A fair pricing model should be introduced to enable farmers, especially those in the communal areas, to get full value for their livestock. The pricing model should be based on grade and weight.
- Meanwhile, CSC should be authorized to dispose unnecessary immovable and movable assets so as to recapitalise and upgrade the cattle herd in their estates. This will also improve their bargaining power with the investor.
- CSC Board should include members from the private abattoir, to provide knowledge and skills in enabling the country to rebuild the national herd as well as build synergies between private players and the public institution.
AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPME/NT
AUTHORITY (ARDA)
Estate under joint ventures are proving to be the panacea to food security through improvements in productivity, ARDA should be applauded for establishing joint ventures.
The Government should ensure there is adequate security at its ARDA farms to avoid vandalism and theft of its assets. (this will also improve their bargaining power with the investor).
ARDA should try to lure investors to start joint ventures with those estates that are still wholly owned by the Government within six months in order to boost productivity and improve food security.
The new investors on ARDA estates should be encouraged to source their inputs from local manufactures to boost the local industries.
Local communities should be involved and educated on the importance of the joint ventures as a strategy to minimise disturbances on productivity through land ownership disputes.
CONCLUSION
CSC and ARDA play a crucial role in guaranteeing the food security in Zimbabwe. In line with the 10 Point Plan, the two parastatals should be encouraged to venture into Private Public Partnership (PPP) as a strategy to recapitalization. Outstanding achievements can be noted on estates that ARDA has entered into joint venture such as Doreen Pride with Trek Petroleum. Efforts should be intensified so that all ARDA estates are revamped and productive through PPP. CSC remains in a dire situation with most of its infrastructure deteriorating at an alarming rate. CSC and other agricultural parastatals a priority so as to achieve food security.
HON. GWANETSA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me the opportunity to make the contribution on what has been raised by the Chairman of the Committee on Lands Agriculture and Irrigation
Development. Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabwe is well known in Southern Africa as the breadbasket of the region. This is due to the expertise in agriculture exhibited by the people of Zimbabwe. We are also good at animal husbandry but when we moved around as a Committee, we visited areas which has CSC and ARDA. We noticed that four of these areas especially ARDA was the best farm in that area and this is where we are supposed to get expertise because that will be taken from ARDA in that they are experts.
On the other hand, the CSC is an organisation which is an expert in animal husbandry and we therefore expect these farmers in husbandry can go and get ideas from CSC. What we witnessed and what we saw in those areas did not show the importance of these CSC. I am going to talk about the areas and institutions that we visited and within the CSC animal husbandry. We started by visiting Nijo which is near Harare and in ecological region 2. This is a rainy area and there is a ready market even if you want to grow maize.
What we saw there was very pathetic Mr. Speaker. A lot of equipment such as tractors has been vandalised and hence could not be used and they were beyond repair. This is machinery which was acquired by Government. We also realised that the workers in that area were just staying there and not doing anything because they have not been paid for quite some time. There are people who are dejected, there are workers who have no zeal to work because of non-payment, yet we are talking of ARDA which has a good rain season and good rainfall but unfortunately, no one is utilising that natural facility.
The second institute we visited was Doreen Pride. We realised that at Doreen Pride, there was development because of the joint venture with Track. Tractors were busy on the land and the animals which had been imported from Namibia were doing very well and if we continue on that trend, Zimbabwe is going to develop.
The third area we visited was ARDA Sanyati. ARDA Sanyati is very poor. All the equipment on the farm was vandalised. Not only that, but there was not even a single ARDA worker in that area. We realised that there is a perennial flowing river which is Sanyati and the water in this river is now getting bad because of under utilisation. The ARDA farms are now lying fallow. They are derelict and whoever is going to start any agricultural venture is going to start afresh because it now resembles a forest and yet we should be getting farm produce from that area. Unfortunately, we are inviting hunger into Zimbabwe. We are saying pay us a visit and yet we can utilise that facility.
The Chairman of the Committee is calling for joint ventures to come and join ARDA in Sanyati, but it is going to require a lot of money to revive this area. The last area we visited under ARDA was Antelope and this was a place which had a lot of development. We are very proud of it because of the joint venture which was going on there. I am very glad because even when the Chairman of ARDA, Mr. Bezel Nyabadza was using that place, he was very proud of it and the progress which was going on there.
Let me now turn on to animal husbandry. Your Members of Parliament, Mr. Speaker, nearly died of heart attack because of what they witnessed when they went to the Cold Storage Commission in Harare. There was a lot of grass and by coincidence when we got there someone started a veld fire which nearly choked us to death. This was because of the neglect that was going on there. We later discovered that the Cold Storage Commission premises were now being utilised by small scale business persons. You cannot even tell that this was the pride of the nation, the headquarters of the Cold Storage Commission is in a sorry state to say the least. Cold Storage Commission in Harare is in a pathetic situation and it is dying slowly. We cannot talk of development in that area. We would have expected to have been invited to a meal. Instead of feeding on class 1 beef, we ate something which resembles dark meat. It only shows that everything has gone to waste.
We then visited the Kadoma Cold Storage Commission. Mr.
Speaker Sir, as a nation, we have to be very serious because the Kadoma Cold Storage had been let out to an individual. We realised that when this tenant had fallen out of favour with the powers that be, he was an arsonist and burnt down the structure there and it was in a state of advance neglect and destruction. We then paid a courtesy call on the Cold Storage Commission in Gweru. This is where 9 000 tonnes of beef were exported to the EU, but what is happening currently is that fish is now being sold there. This is not only fish from Kariba but fish imported from other countries. It only shows that we are now lacking patriotism. We do not even know that it is the Cold Storage
Commission of Zimbabwe by allowing it to lie derelict and fallow. This was our foreign currency earner from Gweru because we had a lot of beef being exported to EU. Now, it is in a state of neglect. I remember in your case, Mr. Speaker Sir, when you were headmaster, I am sure you would have gone there and whipped people into line because of such neglect.
The last stop and Cold Storage Commission which we visited was in Bulawayo. This is a cattle country and during its hay days 800 cattle were slaughtered a day. When we visited this area, I am sure the officials had been informed that the Portfolio Committee was paying a visit; they had 37 cattle lined up for slaughter just to show that they are capable of doing something in that place. One is left wondering when was the last beast slaughtered in that place where 800 beasts were slaughtered a day and now we are talking of 37. This shows a lack of care and patriotism.
When we said we wanted to have a meeting with the board members, they were not prepared to come and meet with us because they were ashamed with the indiscipline and the lack of structures in those areas. We embarked on a land reform programme and we said
Government was going to be the leader in the agricultural sector and development. It shows that as a country we have failed, as a country we are let down and as a country we should be ashamed of ourselves.
We are saying both board members in ARDA and the Cold Storage
Commission, had no linkage. There was no synergy with the mother Ministry and it shows they were working without any direction and leadership from the Ministry. Hence, to quote from the bible, ‘the children were punished because of the sins of their forefathers.’
The Chairman mentioned that from the year 2011 to the time that we visited these places, the bodies of these two institutions, the Cold Storage Commission and ARDA had never had a meeting with the parent Ministry and in such a situation there is no progress. As members of this Portfolio Committee, in our role of oversight, we have to tell the truth as it is. It may hurt but let us say the truth. There is no development.
From my background as a soldier, a soldier marches on his stomach. How can I, as a soldier, march or operate without any food.
We can only be a healthy state when we have beef which is slaughtered under sanitary conditions, but we are in a sorry state. We are acquiring combine harvesters, tractors and any other agricultural equipment, but unashamedly we are taking it to waste. We are a shame, we are a disaster. We need to get some light into whatever it is we are doing. I thank you.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for
giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on the visits we had as a Committee on Agriculture. We visited these areas, ARDA Estates and the Cold Storage Commission institutions.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in this country of Zimbabwe with the climate change which we are currently experiencing and El Nino instituted drought and looking at the ARDA estates, they are supposed to be our survival kit. They are supposed to supply us with nutrition in the country because we are lacking food. When we look at the operations of ARDA, these people were given land in the most fertile areas and with the best rainfall in those climate regions. What was happening when Government was allocating that land, they looked forward to having bumper harvests.
There was a lot of administration given to those places but unfortunately, the prevailing condition is that nobody cares or is worried about the irrigation equipment, tractors or even the animals in those areas. Nobody cares a cent or hoot. All these things are lying to waste. They are deteriorating and I have never heard of anybody who was arrested because of misuse, destruction or selling these things illegally. The number of hectares allocated to ARDA in our country, especially when we look at the induced drought caused by climatic change through El Nino, ARDA was supposed to be the leader in supplying maize and food because they were the shining star of the country. We also discovered that there was a lot of corruption and when we talk of corruption that is the centre and mother of corruption. The officials in those areas are personalising ARDA estates and running them as personal portfolios. People are now building empires in those areas using ARDA for their personal benefits. They are not even thinking of the development and benefit to the country, especially in areas which are in regions 6 and 7, if ever there are any such regions.
The ARDA estates which are supposed to be leading and spearheading by example, unfortunately, are doing nothing. They are neglected. Even the proposed ZIM ASSET cannot come to fruition with such attitude displayed by ARDA.
Mr. Speaker Sir, with the God-given opportunity you have, may you keep on looking for funds so that your Portfolio Committees can play their oversight role by visiting the many areas in the country because what we later discovered was that, when you pay an in situ visitation, you really have a firsthand experience. You play oversight role in a proper manner because we realised that table management and desk research is giving false information and data. We have to be on the ground.
Our Government had a foresight by putting all these plans in the Cold Storage Commission. Government had good intention because not only was land given to ARDA in the best soils and rains in the area but equipment was also given, including irrigation equipment and tractors that were supplied to these people. As I speak, my heart is bleeding with pain because the equipment has been vandalized. When we went to … *THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Member is advised not to code switch. Use your language of preference.
*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for the
advice. I will continue making my contribution in my mother tongue which is Shona. Mr. Speaker Sir, we would want to ask for your assistance in that the inventory of these ARDA Estates is carried out so that we take into account all the properties and the inventory which was given to each of these ARDA Estates. Where is this equipment? Where has it gone? Who took it? Who was responsible for the distribution? Who is the current owner because the Government ploughed a lot of money into the ARDA Estates?
I will now turn to the Cold Storage Commission. The previous speaker did talk about the Board of Governors in these areas. In these boards, you find there is only one female board member. In one of them, there was only one member who showed that she was very intelligent and proactive. This shows that if we can have more females in these boards, there will be development. I will talk about what really touched me and I was very emotional about it.
The equipment in the Cold Storage Commission is very expensive and needs expertise in operating. It should be taken care of but it has now gone to waste. To use blunt language, it has gone to waste and it will take us time to resuscitate the operations of these machines.
Machines need to be maintained and serviced. We are asking you Mr. Speaker, to have space so that when we have individuals who want to rent State institutions, there should be a careful selection. The individuals should be clearly vetted, have their CVs and backgrounds so that we know when we are giving somebody an institution and the corresponding equipment, there is going to be development. I call upon the Government to go on a revival mission of the equipment in these estates so that we can progress and develop according to our ZIM ASSET.
We realised that the care given to the equipment, especially looking at the hides which are kept at those places, there is poor management and administration of the hides. As a result, when they go for sale, they fetch poor prices. We know in the past, we used to benefit by selling by-products from the slaughter of cattle in the cattle industry. Therefore, when we look at beneficiation and value addition, we need to have a rethink. Let us go back to the drawing board and look for ways of going on outreach programmes and on-site visitations so that we have firsthand information. We also need to do follow ups because if you only go once and then come back, people will relax and say they are not coming back. Mr. Speaker, look for funds so that we can go back and resuscitate those ideas.
HON. CHASI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following on the report that we had on GMB, I think the gears have gone up in terms of the levels of irresponsibility and neglect of Government property. This is extremely shocking to such an extent that it is unbelievable. I want to start my contribution by dealing with governance issues. I think the Executive must be deprecated in this instance for taking the period that we are being told about to say since 2011, there has been no contact between board members and the Ministry. I do not know whether Parliament must actually descend into the arena and go and run these institutions. How does Government know what is happening if there is no interaction with the board? In that vein Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Parliament for the hands-on approach that has been taken. It is clear that these outreach programmes help us to understand precisely what is happening.
The law through the Public Finance Management Act has provisions that allow Government to deal with people that act in as irresponsible a manner as we are seeing here. There is absolutely no point in trying to attract investors to some of these institutions unless we have sorted out management and governance issues that affect these entities. The Ministry must take active interest in the parastatals that operate under it. This seems not to be happening at all. The level of depreciation of Government property that we are seeing in the pictures here is unprecedented. The fact that people could be producing maputi at some of these premises like CSC is on its own evidence of the great… HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order. My point of order is that and I am sorry for a bit of digression but I am extremely concerned that some of us are ICT savvy and we research on statistics because this is a very important report that is being presented. We are researching on statistics that are around the historical bit on CSC, I do not know who, from the people who are in the gallery, took pictures of some of us and then they have posted on Twitter that Members of Parliament are on WhatsApp. They are misleading the world that we are on WhatsApp, we are frivolous and we are wasting taxpayers’ money. This cannot be accepted Mr. Speaker Sir because I actually discussed with Mr. Speaker that I want to use my gadget to research.
Now when you mislead, you tell the whole world that Members of Parliament – and they have taken Honourable Chasi. They took some Honourable Members from that side and some Honourable Members from this side. It is not good. This is a very serious issue. It has been posted on Twitter under “Open Parly”. I get to receive it because I receive all the highlights and signals of tweets that have been posted about myself. If this could be dealt with, we cannot accept this.
Somebody who is posting on “Open Parly”, it is abuse of platforms and it has to be dealt with.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO): I
find it very difficult in the first instance as Members of Parliament, we are not allowed to use our gadgets as we sit in this House –[AN HON MEMBER: We are allowed]-. I am just going through what you have said. But if the Honourable Member has approached the Chair and sought permission to do his research while he is seated within this Chamber, then it is definitely something else. Overally, we are not allowed to use our gadgets when we are seated here. I will check with the Hon. Speaker whether that permission was granted. If not, definitely we cannot use gadgets when we are in Parliament. If you want to do your research, there are other places where you can do that and come back and debate. I still have to check with the Speaker and then hear what he says then I will come back to you.
HON. CHAMISA: Yes, but I hope you check with your rules. We are allowed to use ICT gadgets in this House if it is related with debates. If it is to do with debates, the rules are very clear. We are allowed. So your ruling has to be sensitive to that, because this is a very serious invasion, not just of privacy but also of privileges of Parliament. It is a serious issue.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKR: I hear you and let me check with the Speaker who has been here and I will come back to you. You may proceed Honourable Chasi.
HON. CHASI: I was getting to the point where I was talking about attracting investors and I think that any efforts to attract investors to the entities that we are talking about today will not help us at all. I want to urge Parliament to take action on this matter. The law is very clear. Those people that are responsible for Government property whether it is money or other property have a responsibility to look after the said property. There seems to be completely no interest in carrying out that responsibility at ARDA and CSC. What is most disconcerting about all this, is the fact that the relevant Ministry does not seem to be concerned or interested in Government property.
We have been told that there is no security at these premises. People are doing what they want. There are incidences of arson which go uninvestigated. Property is just dealt with in the manner any individual wants. Quite often we blame sanctions for some of our troubles and I think it is high time that we should now look at how some of our own people are the greatest saboteurs when it comes to Government property. The evidence is there in the pictures. It is quite clear that the management both at the Ministry and at the relevant parastatals have completely abandoned the responsibilities that were given to them and something has got to happen. Some people have got to be made to pay for the waste that is going on. The law is there and it must be applied to set an example to anybody who has the responsibility to run Government property and premises. I thank you.
*HON. MAHOKA: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on a motion raised by Honourable Chitindi on a very important topic. We also observe that the Portfolio Committee has shown that development can only come into Zimbabwe through agriculture and Zimbabweans went to fight a liberation struggle because what they wanted was land and agriculture would lead to the development of the country.
The previous speakers mentioned that since 2011, the boards which were installed then had never held any meeting with the parent Ministry to give them direction and views of the state of these companies. What I have observed is that we only have one problem and the problem is that the Minister has no money to go to the premises which are under his ambit to observe what is happening in those institutions. My suggestion is that an amount of $5 should be deducted from each of the Members of Parliament and the funds will be used by the Minister to visit the many facilities and institutions under his ambit.
We may continue talking whilst the country is going to destruction.
We thank the Committee on Agriculture which has made the observation that the country is going through a very lean spell and so, by dedicating this $5, people will know that we are responsible representatives. What pains me most is that a lot of money is used in buying equipment which is let down by people underutilising it. We heard the last speaker talking on lack of irrigation in ARDA Estate Sanyati, and yet Sanyati River has a lot of water. When we listen to our media, television, radios and papers, we are told of the acquisition and the importation of farming equipment which comes into the country but, this is distributed to ARDA which does not fully utilise this equipment, instead of giving it to capable farmers who will fully utilise it.
We thought that ARDA was going to be the breadbasket of
Zimbabwe. ARDA should be filling the granaries of Zimbabwe but alas!
ARDA is in a sorry state. It is being destroyed. We are only talking of ARDA in nominal terms when in actual fact, it is poor. It is destroyed and non-existent, to say the least. If I do not have such equipment and yet Government equipment is put to waste, destroyed and vandalised. Arsonists are at work. I think this is putting the country to shame. We are telling each other falsehoods when we say Zimbabwe has no money.
My observation is that Zimbabwe has money but it is poorly utilised. Money should be allocated, giving priority to necessary infrastructure. When the country imports farming equipment and gives 200 tractors to ARDA, and these tractors are vandalised, stolen and burnt down, we are doing a disservice to ourselves. I once visited a place called Munetsi in Masvingo. There were tractors which had gone to waste and the iron had rusted and you could not even tell whether this was once a tractor or what. What was happening was that the workers or any passersby would slaughter a beast for individual consumption, not for the State.
As far as I am concerned, my suggestion is for us to do away with ARDA. Let us cancel it out of existence. Let us devastate it because it is only there to destroy the funds allocated by Government. They are a waste and they are doing us a disservice. Let us do away with such institutions or if you want to continue with them, let us choose new boards of governors. The Committee has also told us that there are some fields which are let out to those willing individuals and institutions. You need people who will utilise these facilities without looking for partners. You ask yourself, what is this partner bringing in which is lacking in ARDA? The institution of ARDA is fully equipped with enough brains and all the people who are there.
We are saying the people who are leasing ARDA and Cold Storage institutions are friends of these board members. So as a nation, why should we suffer when other people are benefitting from ARDA? The workers of Parliament are in a poor state. They cannot even afford descent clothing and yet ARDA Estates are misusing the funds. Mr. Speaker, I think as Government, we need to put our foot down and work instead of waiting for the benefit of individuals. We need to do something and let us take corrective measures. Let us not support these people who are corrupt.
The pictures on our screens are showing us the equipment which was allocated recently by the Government. What happened to the equipment which was issued in the past, we did not see it. Who took it? It means some individuals benefitted from this equipment. When new equipment was brought in, they took the old equipment for their own individual needs. When we came in, equipment was allocated. We need to make a follow-up. Where is the allocated equipment, who benefitted, and what are they using it for?
We also need to assess the partner who is coming to join ARDA and Cold Storage. What is the partner bringing in, what capital and what expertise are they bringing in? This is because as Parliament, we need to put a recommendation that we remove these board members and elect new ones because the current board is benefitting corruptly. I would like to say all the board members of agriculture should be removed. I also beg that these new boards which will be appointed, more women should be put into place. We have seen women doing wonders, especially in the way of liberation; women did a lot of work. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear]-
My proposition on the ratio is that for every two men, there should be seven women in the board and that way, we will have progress. What is obtaining is that men by nature, are a failure because they do not become pregnant and give birth and feel the pains of birth. They just see things coming to their benefit. What happens is that if a Minister is appointed to a Ministry, he appoints a board which is made up of his relatives, friends and cronies. We need to have people on the board that can be controlled by the Ministers. If these people are not related to this Minister, they will be arrested if there is an audit which incriminates them, but if these Ministers put their relatives into the board, friends and cronies, they will not punish them.
I plead with the Ministry that this status that is given to ARDA, we should see our granaries, our national silos in the Grain Marketing Board being filled with grain from ARDA. We were told of Kadoma. I also come from that province. We have problems with our children whom we educated but, they have no jobs. That facility of Cold Storage in Kadoma is given to an individual who then burns down that institution because of misunderstanding. We have kombi crews utilising those facilities and underutilising them. The Cold Storage in Kadoma was a well intended facility which was supposed to bring development into the area but it is going to waste because it is underutilised.
We have a lot of engineers in the country of Zimbabwe. My question is what are these engineers doing to develop Zimbabwe? They should be coming into such institutions as ARDA and Cold Storage, and utilise these facilities for the benefit of Zimbabwe. We have agricultural experts and some of the graduates do not seem to give us confidence in that they can make progress. We all know that some of graduates are only theoretical graduates but we now need practical graduates. Mr. Speaker Sir, I am glad that you have seen that the Committee on Agriculture is an important Committee in the country and you allocated it funds for their oversight role. Therefore, it should be allocated more funds so that it moves around areas they play the oversight role and see what institutions are doing.
We cannot play our oversight role whilst seated in Parliament when people managing those institutions are corrupt and awarding themselves a lot of money. We cannot take pride in that. We have summoned the Minister to appear before the Committee and we are seated and there is nothing going on. We need to go out there and make physical examination so that we do not rely on second hand information and rumours. We need to develop Zimbabwe.
Talking of our properties, if you have cattle in some farm and you do not visit the farm, the herdmen will mistreat those cattle and sell them for their own benefit. You need not to be an armchair farmer or cellphone farmer. Visit your farms.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabwe is languishing in hunger when we have lots of equipment being imported into the country, some from as far as China and Brazil. These equipments are allocated to people who are misusing them resulting to sorry state in the country. I am now appealing to whoever is distributing the machines and tractors that they should be allocated to bonafide farmers who will do justice to Zimbabwe. For example, if we have 2 000 farmers, give them enough equipment and support and they will fill up our granaries. It is shameful that Zimbabwe is now importing grain from Malawi and Zambia, yet we are practical people. We may not be degreed in farming but by nature, Zimbabweans are hard workers. If these tractors being allocated to
ARDA are allocated to A2 farmers and are given a target to fill up the Grain Marketing Board silos, I tell you, these silos will be filled and feed
Zimbabwe.
We have also agreed as Parliament that all the boards under the Ministry of Agriculture should be dissolved and have new appointments.
I thank you.
HON. KANHANGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. From the
foregoing discussion, it can be deduced that there is a serious deficiency of corporate governance and a serious deficiency of management in these two parastatals. Starting with the boards – the appointment of the boards should be based on competence and ability to direct operations of the parastatals. The line Minister must be made accountable because it is him who appoints the board and the board appoints the management. He must be taken to task or even questioned by this House on this sorry state of affairs that is prevailing in the two parastatals.
Coming to the appointment of the management, I think, Mr. Speaker, due diligence must be done in appointing who is going to lead which parastatal. I do not believe that we need a qualified man like a doctor to run ARDA. I do not think we need a doctor to run CSC – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – What we need are probably, at the highest level, we can have an agronomist, somebody who has been trained in running a farm, to be able to run any of these two parastatals. If you go to the offices of these two parastatals, what you will find are beautiful vision, mission statements et cetera. What do they mean to us? We are looking for productivity. We are not looking for these beautiful pieces of paper which are meant to entice you when you get there.
We need to make sure that management, if appointed, must work on targets which are given to them by their boards. There should be constant reviews of these targets, probably on quarterly basis or on an annual basis and so on, so that we improve productivity. If we have put all that right, the management, the boards et cetera then, let us resource these two parastatals. I believe they have a role to play and if well run and well resourced, they can deliver. I thank you.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me an opportunity to add my view on this report. Before I say anything Mr. Speaker, I would want to applaud your Committee for a very fantastic report that they have given, which is quite constructive and comprehensive towards making sure that this country develops. I also have noted some worries that have been highlighted by most of my colleagues that have debated earlier on.
The first concern that I note Mr. Speaker, is the nature of attitude of Government towards its entities which are supposed to be national assets that produce wealth for this country. Mr. Speaker, to hear that we have got an investment of Government in the form of ARDA and in the form of CSC, where a Minister has the audacity to appoint a board but still stays for close to five years without interacting with that board, is quite worrying. It is like an investor who takes his money, throws it into a project and does not go back and look at what is happening to that project. Honestly, with that kind of attitude is that? One wonders whether this country can be developed by Ministers who act in that kind of manner.
One wonders Mr. Speaker, what the Ministers will be busy doing, to the extent of neglecting a key component of their ministerial responsibility. Our expectation and that of the nation is that when a Minister is appointed to a certain portfolio, that Minister should be hands on, in terms of ensuring that everything that falls under his portfolio is being looked after and catered for and he must be supervising it. If we have got a Minister who appoints a board and does not follow up to see what the board is doing, it means that the lack of seriousness by the Executive means that the management of the boards of these parastatals are on a free play. Since they also know that they are not made to account because you can only account if someone is supervising you. If you have a Minister who appoints a body and leaves it to run things as they wish without going to supervise them, then you are assured Mr. Speaker that there is nothing that is going to come out of that kind of an entity.
These entities in my view are not only key because of their socioeconomic positioning in the country but also they play a significant role in the production of agricultural products in this country. Not only do they improve the GDP of the country but also the welfare of the majority of the people of this country. If you have that kind of entity which is also drawing money from the fiscus and tax payers going on for years operating without any profit, Mr. Speaker, I do not think or see us going anywhere as a country. In fact, this situation that your Committee has highlighted in these two entities is an indication and a reflection of the state of all our parastatals. I do not think it applies to these two parastatals but it applies to almost all the parastatals that we have in this country.
I do not see any reason why a parastatal that is doing business can fail to make profit when other entities in the same area of business are making profit. It is also sad that Ministers do not feel obligated towards ensuring viable operations in the bodies that are under their control. I do not know whether it is because our system does not make Ministers directly accountable to the people or what, but it is quite worrying that a Minister can neglect a board that is under his Ministry without taking care for it for that long. What is worrisome Mr. Speaker Sir, is that when you look at the Minister concerned, the Minister that oversees these two parastatals that have been highlighted by your Committee, I believe he is one of the Ministers appointed in terms of Section 104 sub section 3 of the Constitution. He is not an elected MP; the President appointed him because he possesses certain special qualifications which made him to then come into Cabinet.
Therefore, if that person was appointed on the basis of possessing special qualifications, we begin to question whether these qualifications are really there if this person is failing to supervise parastatals that are under his Ministries. If you look at Section 104 sub-section 3, it says the President can appoint 5 people outside Parliament because those people have special qualifications which are not present in Parliament.
So the assumption is that Hon. Made has got special qualifications that are not found here in Parliament. Those special qualifications should be reflected in the performance of CSC and ARDA. What we are seeing is the opposite such that one would say it would have been better if the President had simply come into Parliament, appointed a farmer who is an MP to go and run that Ministry, otherwise things would have been going on very well than what is happening currently –[HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
So it is my view that Hon. Made owes us an explanation especially after the presentation of this report by your Committee. He owes this nation an explanation and therefore, I believe that this Parliament should make him to come and explain not only to Parliament but to the nation why he has neglected CSC and ARDA by not supervising them in the manner that the Committee has reflected. I believe that Minister Made should be summoned to come before this Parliament and explain why he has acted in the manner that he has. Leaving without coming to explain will put the name of the President into disrepute. Like I indicated the President appointed him because he is said to possess special skills and those special skills now are not being shown by what we are seeing and the report that came from your Committee.
People are going to begin to question why President really appoint him because he has got the special skills or what. So Minister Made has to come and explain why he is failing to do what he is supposed to do –
[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I really
appreciate your indulgence realising that the time is up but this is one of the best reports we have ever received. It is very candid. I am sure you will remember just about some few weeks ago we had a good report from Foreign Affairs and it does not end there. We continue to have good reports; powerful, effective reports. Here is our problem; and this is what we must resolve as Parliament. Very good recommendations but no follow up. Very good conclusions, no executions and we are simply being ignored as Parliament [AN. HON. MEMBER: Yes.]- We need to come to a point in time if we say a Minister is not performing, a parastatal is not performing, not only should we just haul and shout to say they should come here. We must give them specific time lines to execute certain things. If they fail to come within those time lines
Parliament must have teeth not just to bark but to bite. –[AN. HON. MEMBER: Yah!]- we must bite those who are not performing if we are to save institutions in this country.
My plea Hon. Speaker Sir, is to say let us review the rules of
Parliament to make sure that we have power not just to summon Minister -[AN. HON. MEMBER: Yes.]- But in our exercising of our constitutional mandate of oversight, let us bring measures and censure on Ministers and parastatals that are not performing. So how do we do it? Let us go back to our Standing Orders and Rules. Let us go to the Public Finance Management Act. Let us go to the Privileges and
Immunities Act and give Parliament power to bite and consume Ministers who are not performing; to bite and consume parastatals that are not performing. To bite and consume those that are wasting tax payers’ money –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- that is the only way we are going to have an effective Government, an effective State and an effective country.
How do we do this and look at the money that we spend Hon. Speaker Sir? I looked at the recommendations, beautiful recommendations if we were just to implement two or three of the total recommendations that are here our country will be different. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- We are simply ignored and we are reduced to being a talk show. We are simply taken as providing lullaby to the Ministers. We are simply giving them some sweet music and entertainment but we must draw a line in the sand as Parliament. Let Parliament be effective. This has nothing to do with parties; it is all to do with our country –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- We must do things that are supposed to be done Hon. Speaker Sir. I want to thank you. I will not waste a lot of time and I have seen that a lot of issues have been raised. We are united as a people and as a Parliament to have an effective country because a good country is not good for a party but for all of us and it is good for citizens and this is what we want. I thank you.
–[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MANICALAND
PROVINCE (HON. CHIMENE): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 3rd May 2016.
On the motion of THE MNISTER OF STATE FOR
MANICALAND PROVINCE (HON. CHIMENE), the House
adjourned at Twenty Minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 3rd
May, 2016.