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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 02 NOVEMBER 2021 VOL 48 NO 5
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 2nd November, 2021
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
COLLECTION OF 2020 STANDING RULES AND ORDERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to remind Hon. Members to collect hard copies of the Ninth Edition of the 2020 Standing Orders from Journals Office in Room 101, First Floor Parliament Building. Hon Members should note that soft copies of the same have been circulated through their emails.
PETITIONS RECEIVED FROM COMMUNITY PEOPLE IN MIDLANDS PROVINCE AND MS. T. CHURU OF YOUTH ALLIANCE FOR SAFER CITIES
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that on 28 October 2021, Parliament received a petition from Community People in Midlands Province, imploring Parliament to liaise with the relevant Ministry and enable the Women Affairs Coordinators to be provided with motor cycles in order for them to effectively execute their duties.
The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
I also wish to inform the House that on 28 October 2021, Parliament received a petition from Ms. T. Churu of Youth Alliance for Safer Cities, beseeching Parliament to enact legislation to lobby for the representation of the youth in Zimbabwe.
The petition was deemed inadmissible as it did not comply with the statutory requirements in terms of Appendix E, Section 3 (a) (iii) of the Standing Orders.
HON. MARKHAM: I rise on a matter of national interest on the issue of Special Drawing Rights for the money granted to us by IMF. I request the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to be asked to bring to us a statement as to how he intends to use the money and what his priorities are. I do understand that it is covered in the Budget. However, I believe for the benefit of the nation and in particular the House, we need to understand what his priorities are with this money. I thank you.
THE HON.SPEAKER. Were you at the Pre-Budget Seminar Hon. Markham?
HON. MARKHAM: Yes I was Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Right through!
HON. MARKHAM: Yes, I missed the first morning because I was travelling and we came in at lunch time.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Minister of Finance and Economic Development indicated that he would definitely indicate how the money will be used. Secondly, in my keynote address I also indicated to the Hon. Minister that he must come to Parliament and indicate how best the funds will be disbursed. In his summary of responses, he also indicated that he will favour the National Assembly and Senate on how the funds will be disbursed according to sectors. So that was stated already and we are expecting that to happen, either during the Budget presentation or prior. Thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. A very good afternoon to you Mr. Speaker and I hope you had a restful weekend after a successful Pre-budget Seminar.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me first of all thank you and your panel for leading from the front in terms of the Pre-budget Seminar. You certainly set the tone in your keynote address, that is the reason why we are on fire because we had to just go by what you said. It was successful, rejuvenating and very educative. I am hoping that something does come out of it and we have to see through what was agreed. I think the Minister of Finance and Economic Development was there throughout and I am sure him being the key player in ensuring that the economy is turned around, he will try to do things as we had asked. So really a big thank you Madam President of the Senate as well, and your staff.
Secondly Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to indulge Parliament to issue or come up with the remuneration for Members of Parliament in comparison to the SADC region. I think we are being misunderstood because we have not been able to put something through the bench- marking which Members of Parliament have done to the electorate, to the citizens of this country, that in other countries within SADC, this is how Members of Parliament are remunerated. They will probably understand where we are coming from and realise that Parliament is critical in their aspirations, and will remain the hope for their aspirations. So it would be quite important if we could educate our citizens in terms of that.
Lastly Mr. Speaker Sir, I would really like to thank the...
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are allowed one.
HON. T. MLISWA: I am done now Mr. Speaker Sir. It is good to see the Acting President in the House, but I do not know where the other Ministers are. I think God has been listening to my prayers that I was hoping one day the President comes, but today the Acting President is here to see for himself that there is no Minister who is here and today is Government business.
His Excellency, in the SONA address, was very clear about the Bills being moved. We do not move the Bills. It is the Ministers who push for the Bills. So when we are behind with the Bills, it is the Ministers who are not here to execute their mandate. How busy are they when the Acting President is here? I am glad God answered my prayers, the Acting President has seen we are ready to do our part. Thank you very much and God bless this country.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We are happy that the Acting President is here with us. In addition to what you said Hon. Mliswa, the Acting President was here not on time but in time and he witnessed the procession of the Presiding Officer. Your Excellency, you have seen for yourself, even the Leader of Government Business came after you which is very disappointing because he should be here right from the start to consult as to certain procedures with the Chief Whip and the officials of Parliament, including myself. So you have set the bar very high, Your Excellency, and I hope the Hon. Ministers who are not here - there is no Cabinet today, so there is no excuse really for them not to be around.
There is a notice of presentation of a Bill by the Hon. Minister of Health and Child Care who is also our Acting President.
FIRST READING
HEALTH SERVICES AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 8, 2021]
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. RTD. GEN. DR. CHIWENGA) presented the Health Services Amendment Bill [H. B. 8, 2021].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr Speaker Sir, allow me to just make one comment. Mr. Speaker, ministers are required to come and …
THE HON. SPEAKER: They are what?
HON. ZIYAMBI: They are required by the Constitution to come and respond to questions on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Senate. However, it is not a strict requirement that every other day, they must be in the House. Otherwise, the business of Government will not be able to proceed smoothly. I am sure even those who were in Government that particular time will know that if you strictly say that from Tuesday to Thursday, all the ministers must be in the House, there will not be Government business that will proceed but on Wednesdays, in here in the National Assembly and Thursdays in the Senate, the Constitution is very clear about that.
So pardon the ministers Mr. Speaker Sir, for not being here today. It is not because they are in contempt of Parliament but it will make the situation unattainable. I thank you. – [HON. T. MLISWA: Wednesdays they do not come. I do not know why you are responding.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! May I refresh your memory Hon. Leader of Government Business. Section 107, “Accountability of Vice Presidents, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, (1) subject to this Constitution, every Vice President, Minister and Deputy Minister is accountable, collectively and individually, to the President for the performance of his or her functions.
(2) Every Vice President, Minister, Deputy Minister must attend Parliament and parliamentary committees in order to answer questions concerning matters for which he or she is collectively or individually responsible.”
The Hon. Ministers on Tuesdays, as soon as Cabinet is over, they have always come here in spite of the fact that it is Cabinet day. So I totally disagree with you and where the Ministers are on Government Business, they will proceed accordingly and I do not think that all of them are on Government Business. They have come on Tuesdays, soon after Cabinet. So I do not think that we should argue on that one and obviously on Wednesdays and Thursdays, they are expected to come and answer questions accordingly. May you proceed with your statement?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. So I think you must proceed also to request a list of Ministers who are absent from Monday to Thursday because my understanding of what you read is not what you are saying …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Minister, you do not argue with the Chair. Thank you, proceed with your statement. – [HON. T. MLISWA: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker, he is not the Chair and I put it to you that I am allowed to disagree with you in a manner that is … - [HON. T. MLISWA: No, you are out of order!] – I am allowed to disagree with you because the section that you read…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, can you proceed with the business of the House?
HON. ZIYAMBI: But Mr. Speaker, what you say to me, you must say to everyone … - [HON. T. MLISWA: You are the Leader of Government Business!] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa! – [HON. T. MLISWA: I am sorry.] – Can you allow the Hon. Minister to proceed with the business of the House?
MOTION
LEAVE TO MOVE FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 5, 2020]; POLICE AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 2, 2021], COPPER CONTROL AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2021], PUBLIC FINANCE AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 4, 2021] AND THE GUARDIAN OF MINORS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 7, 2021] ON THE ORDER PAPER
HON. ZIYAMBI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I seek leave of the House to move that the following Bills which were superseded by the end of the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament be restored on the Order Paper at the stages that they had reached: - (i) Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Bill; (ii) Police Amendment Bill, (iii) Copper Control Amendment Bill, (iv) Public Finance Amendment Bill and (v) Guardian of Minors Amendment Bill. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of Order Mr. Speaker Sir! These are five Bills which are from the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament and we are at the Fourth. What was the reason for them not to have been seen through? Is that not evidence that the Ministers were not here to do it and they were sleeping on duty? Maybe the Leader of Government Business, since he is really determined to defend them, can tell us why the Bills did not see the end of the Third Parliament? They lapsed to show that there was nobody pushing them. So where was he to tell them to push them according to his mandate? It is important for him to tell us because we cannot continue having a situation where we are pushing Bills; we have more important things to do.
The President, in his State of the Nation Address was very clear. So an explanation from the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is sought in that regard. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, can you follow your Hansard and you will find the reasons there in terms of the processes.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RESTORATION OF THE ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 5, 2020]; POLICE AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 2, 2021], COPPER CONTROL AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 3, 2021], PUBLIC FINANCE AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 4, 2021] AND THE GUARDIAN OF MINORS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 7, 2021] ON THE ORDER PAPER
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move that the following Bills which were superseded by the end of the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament be restored on the Order Paper at the stages that they had reached: - (i) Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Bill [H. B. 5, 2020]; (ii) Police Amendment Bill [H. B. 2, 2021], (iii) Copper Control Amendment Bill [H. B. 3, 2021], (iv) Public Finance Amendment Bill [H. B. 4, 2021] and (v) Guardian of Minors Amendment Bill [H. B. 7, 2021]. I so submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to debate on this very important motion on the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa. This is the Fourth State of the Nation Address since the dawn of the Second Republic.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Hon. Mutambisi and Hon. T. Moyo who moved and seconded the motion respectively. My analysis of His Excellency the President’s address shows me that he was exhorting the nation to be futuristic and look forward to a brighter future.
Mr. Speaker Sir, why do I say so? The answer lies in what His Excellency the President said and I quote ‘The increased number of young people undertaking thriving farming business throughout the country is applauded. This new crop of young farmers assures us that the land we fought for will remain in safe hands for posterity”.
Mr. Speaker Sir, for the youth of today to inherit a prosperous Zimbabwe tomorrow, we need to guard jealously the freedom and peace we enjoy today. In order for us to and I quote “continue to realise unprecedented milestones and successes against all forms of adversity”, we must, as a nation, condemn unreservedly tribalism, regionalism and racism. Let us be reminded of the wise words of the Late President of the People’s Republic of Mozambique Samora Moses Machel who in his speech delivered in Harare in 1980 said, “to ensure national unity, there must be no Shonas in Zimbabwe, there must be no Ndebeles in Zimbabwe, there must be Zimbabweans. Some people are proud of their tribalism. But we call a tribalist a reactionary agent of the enemy.”
Mr. Speaker Sir, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America once gracefully said “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” The world today has billions of people - Zimbabwe has over 15 million people. Every one of those people has his or her own uniqueness. Each and everyone has opposing views on fundamental aspects of life. Normally dissimilarities create divisions and sometimes conflict. However, what we tend to forget, which is what His Excellency the President is trying to remind us of, is that we will have one goal for the betterment of our country and its people. This is what brings forth unity.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President’s State of the Nation Address is calling on us as a nation to create an environment in the country where the youth thrive and develop through provision of quality service and opportunities that help them to further contribute their unique aspirations, energy and ideas.
Without unity, there is no growth, without unity, there is no integrity, without unity, there is no freedom and without unity, there is no patriotism. His Excellency’s State of the Nation Address is thought provoking. He outlined what he expects us to achieve as Parliament. In other words, he was addressing all Members of Parliament and the nation as a whole.
Mr. Speaker Sir, no team has ever won a game without team spirit without a united front. We all want our national football team the Warriors to excel. We all want our national women’s football team the Mighty Warriors to excel. We all want our national U19 football team, the Young Warriors to excel. We all want our national cricket team the Chevrons to excel. We all want our national women’s cricket team the Lady Chevrons to excel. We all want our national rugby team the Sables to excel. We all want our national women’s rugby team the Stables to excel.
We must, as the people of Zimbabwe in our independent capacities, practice what it takes for our country Zimbabwe to win.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa commended us as a nation for the unity and fortitude we displayed in the fight against COVID-19. Let the same spirit prevail in our fight against corruption and the implementation of all Government programmes. Let us work together as we build Zimbabwe brick by brick. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have been given a list here by the Hon. Chief Whip - the next person to contribute is Hon. F. Musikavanhu.
Hon. Musikavanhu not having t responded.
HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. May I take this opportunity to add my words on the motion moved by Hon. Mutambisi on the President’s State of the Nation Address.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I add my voice by acknowledging the President’s address with respect to what our country has achieved so far. The President’s call for the trajectory that our country is on with respect to economic growth and at 70.8%, is a reflection of what the Government has done in terms of progressing towards Vision 2030.
In his address, we acknowledge what he said in terms of what is happening in industry and commerce. Recently, we have witnessed expansion and recovery of some factories that had closed and in addition, we have some that are opening now, including the Amarula Plant that was opened in Mwenezi recently. Going around town, we see a lot of activities that are going on which is actually buttressing what the President said about industrial activity and recovery of those factories that had closed up.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President talked about the production of cotton that is going on. However, our farmers need support. In my constituency where I come from, there is an outcry of people who have grown cotton but have gone for some time without being paid. We have heard that this time the Government has prepared some payments, we urge Government to continue paying farmers so that we can continue to witness the growth in the production of cotton as said by the President in His State of the Nation Address.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Government has embarked on road rehabilitation and I am very glad to say in my constituency, we had roads that had gone for a long time without maintenance, to a point where we could say there was non-existence of the roads, but thanks to the Government, works are now ongoing in terms of repairing those roads and opening up those that had closed. This is enough evidence that Government is making a lot of effort in ensuring that we are being led to attain the Vision 2030 that was announced by the New Dispensation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is also the issue of the devolution funds. In terms of devolution funds, Government is implementing the constitutional provision which requires decentralization of decisions in terms of development for the people. In my province and particularly in my constituency, we have gained a lot in terms of development. We have seen clinics being constructed and others that have been dilapidated being repaired.
We have also seen some roads being constructed by money allocated to rural councils and that is enough evidence that the devolution agenda is making an impact.
There is the issue of the Disaster Risk Management Bill which has been highlighted in the State of the Nation Address. The country has experienced a lot of disasters with respect to Cyclone which have impacted many of our communities. I am glad that the State of the Nation Address touched on that one because where I come from in Chipinge, cyclones have destroyed infrastructure. I thank you.
HON. S. K. MGUNI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir for allowing me to add my views on the motion which was moved by Hon. Mutambisi and seconded by Hon. Moyo, on the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa.
It is my singular honour to deliver my speech which shall be premised on this SONA as delivered to this august House on the 7th October, 2021 by His Excellency the President of the land of Zimbabwe and the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. Let me humbly take this opportunity to thank you for giving me this privilege to deliver my noble speech.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me also congratulate our President for delivering his landmark address opening the Fourth Session of the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe. Progress is possible and inevitable. A better Zimbabwe by 2030 is well within our reach if we work together. Indeed, it has been an unprecedented year. Thousands of our dear people around the country perished from COVID-19. Millions more felt the shocks of a global economic crisis and still the pandemic rages with ever more contagious and severe variants spreading around the globe. In so many ways, the pandemic has tested our optimism, motivation and intellect.
Under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, we have witnessed breathtaking innovation, accelerated progress in addressing fundamental issues of health and climate change. Our President has championed for a lasting solution in sustainable development goals in the country with great speed and self determination. For sure, brick by brick we shall build Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I salute our President for always chanting the words of peace, unity and harmony, and growing the economy by 7.8% during the current year can never be over-emphasised. Declaration on farming as a business philosophy has seen the Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme coming into a major success and increased the strategic grain reserve to 1.3 million tonnes.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President said the Government’s target of building a USD 12 billion mining industry was within sights amid sustained production growth and may be exceeded by the year 2030 deadline. The mining industry target dovetails into the Government’s vision as espoused by President Mnangagwa, of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle income society by 2030. Our visionary leader has seen traffic logjams, especially during peak hours and he has prescribed major roads construction on many roads in the country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, on the legislative agenda, under the leadership of His Excellency the President Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, it is pleasing to note that only 42 statutes remain to be enacted under the alignment process.
With these few remarks Hon Speaker Sir, allow me to rest my case. I thank you.
*(V)HON. MARIKISI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to a motion raised by Hon Mutambisi and seconded by Hon Moyo. I want to thank our Head of State and Government Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for the SONA that he gave in Parliament which was aimed at developing our country for us to achieve Vision 2030.
On agriculture, he mentioned about Pfumvudza and this programme has brought food security in our communities and has assisted eight million people in our country. I want to thank the Government for the good leadership that our President has. The challenges of water were raised in the State of the Nation Address and more boreholes will be drilled to ensure that there is clean safe water in our communities. I also want to applaud the building of dams, especially where I come from; there is a dam which is going to be opened next year. I want to thank the President because he is not a leader who favours one group over the other.
I also want to thank him on what he mentioned about the health sector, that a number of hospitals will be built. He is a person who loves his people. I applaud him for handling the COVID pandemic in a way that saved a lot of lives. I also want to thank him for the road rehabilitation in different areas. The roads have not been rehabilitated in so many years but I want to thank the President who is a listening President because he has assured us that road rehabilitation takes place as well as making sure that bridges are built. The President is a man who loves his people and he is assisting us including the cotton farmers. They did not get their money but I know that the President will look into their issue.
More boreholes need to be built so that each village can have access to a borehole and clean water. I thank you Madam Speaker and let me leave this time for others to debate.
(V)HON. RAIDZA: I wish to add my voice to a motion that was moved by Hon. Mutambisi, seconded by Hon T. Moyo on the State of the Nation Address that was delivered by His Excellency, our President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa. I just want to comment on the wise words that he encouraged as the citizens of Zimbabwe, that Zimbabwe can only be built by us Zimbabweans. He encouraged us to have commitment collectively and individually so that we can rebuild our country. He always says in Shona that ‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’. Those were some of the wise words that he encouraged us to take very seriously as Members of Parliament.
He encouraged us to shun polarisation which does not help anyone in this country. If we remain polarised, it means we cannot move forward. He encouraged us to have that unity of purpose as we all have one Zimbabwe. We do not have two Zimbabwes but we only have one Zimbabwe as Zimbabweans.
I also want to commend our President on the great work that he is doing on the economic front. We have seen him and the Government getting thumbs up even from some international organisations. We have seen that our economy was projected by some doomsayers that we are on the negative trajectory but some international organisations gave us a positive rating such as 7.8% as the growth of our economy, which is very encouraging. IMF managed to give Zimbabwe some special drawing rights so that we can get an additional liquidity as a country to the tune of around $961 million which is a sign of confidence in the administration of His Excellency. We are forever grateful to the support that our Government is getting under the able leadership of His Excellency our President Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa.
When we look into agriculture, we are seeing that it has been proved that agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. We are seeing that many of us now want to get involved in agriculture. Why, because of the support and the attitude that His Excellency has shown unto us that it pays to be in the agricultural sector. We are seeing our women and our young people that we are all having something to do with agriculture. For instance, we have an example of the high yielding maize in the 2020/2021 farming season. Almost everyone was doing something that was giving him or her money in maize planting. Above getting some income, we are realising that also our grain reserve has increased as it was mentioned by His Excellency.
So we are seeing a number of things happening in the agriculture sector. It was because of the wise decisions that His Excellency has taken even to support agriculture through the private sector led ways, we are seeing a number of things happening in that sector. It is because of his wisdom to see that for our economy to grow, we need to involve our private sector. We are seeing the coming in of CBZ. We are seeing a number of private players. With this agricultural strategy that our President is implementing, we are seeing real results on the ground. Even in my constituency, I have seen something that has never happened before in the past 20 years where our old people are also getting an opportunity to deliver maize to the GMB. These were some of the things that they have never seen since time in memorial. These are some of the results that are being seen on the ground and they are also getting money.
You know these rural farmers that we represent, getting even one or two tonnes to GMB and they get their $60 000 is motivating and the money was being paid on time and inputs coming on time. This is very good encouragement and initiative from His Excellency. So we want to encourage him to continue doing the same in the foreseeable future so that our farmers will continue to love tilling the land and to work on the land because they know that it pays to work very hard on the land. This is the only way that we can develop our economy. As our President always talks about production, without working on our productive sectors or without producing, we are doomed as a country. So his words of encouraging us on production are yielding results on the ground and even within our constituency like my constituency in Mberengwa East.
I also want to comment on the issue of COVID-19. We know that COVID-19 slowed down a number of economic activities in our country, but in his wisdom as well, His Excellency our President Cde Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa has brought in a number of measures, amongst them lockdowns which some of the people were feeling were hard about, but it was all good for us as the citizens of this country. We have seen what has been happening in other countries. It was so devastating but the grace of God was upon us as Zimbabwe under the able leadership of His Excellency that we managed to pull through the lockdowns and he also brought in vaccines that we all embraced as a nation. Of course, we had a few people who thought that maybe the vaccine was not good, but he continues to press on to say for us to open our economy or sectors in our economy, we need to get people vaccinated. So for us, it was a big achievement from His Excellency and we want to continue encouraging him to come up with more strategies to make sure that we reach the herd immunity as a country so that we will not have problems in the future.
We are forever grateful that our economy, schools and industries have opened and even some people who were not coming to work because of COVID-19 are now starting to come through. I always encourage people in my constituency that we all need to get vaccinated. We are continuing to push hard in our constituencies in supporting this noble idea from our President that people must get vaccinated. We are supporting all the Government structures in our constituencies to make sure that all our people are vaccinated. As of now, we have moved in even to the extent of making sure that each village head has his people vaccinated through coordination through our Government structures that we have in the constituencies.
I will quickly come to the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme. We are so exited we have seen it. It started with our major roads. We are seeing great work being done there through the wisdom of our President on the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme, but in our constituencies, as well as in Mberengwa East Constituency, I am seeing some roads that are ERRP. So we are saying Zimbabwe will never be the same again when it comes to access to our roads. All things are working together for the good of our country. In Mberengwa East, we say the road is our economy. When the road is good, we know that many areas of our economy will get opened.
The other issue that I wanted to thank His Excellency that he touched on in his SONA is about the war veterans. After the passage of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Act, we have seen a lot of work that has been put by our President to take care of our war veterans, the people who have liberated our country, who have fought for this country to be where we are. We are forever grateful. Even as of last night, we have seen our Minister of Defence and War Veterans launching the board for the company of the war veterans. These are all positive works that His Excellency is doing. We want to encourage him to continue in the same trajectory to make sure that our war veterans are supported. We are forever grateful for this kind of initiatives because if we look at all these projects that he is saying are supposed to be done for the war veterans, he is looking at sustainability of these projects so that the war veterans will create incomes for themselves through these investment vehicles.
The other issue that was also equally important was on the performance based contracts for the Permanent Secretaries. This is an indication that it will not be work as usual for our Government officials. They are expected to be delivering and this is one of the measuring tools on the performance of each individual and our President promised that this will move into the local authorities and parastatals. So we will be very grateful to see our CEOs in parastatals and in our local authorities signing performance based contracts because the current performance, especially on our parastatals, we expect them to be contributing to our economy, but that is not happening at the moment. Not many of them are contributing. Some are not because I think it is all about governance issues. So these performance based contracts will address such areas so that our parastatals will start as well to contribute to our economy. They must not always look to get support from the fiscas. We can see that they have got potential to create or to contribute to our economy.
On the local authorities, we have seen that there is so much money for devolution that has been pumped in. So without these performance based contracts, the idea and the expectation of the citizens and the vision that our President is having might not be realised because of the performance of some of these bosses in these entities. My encouragement is that they need to move with speed to make sure that everybody is accountable for his or her actions, everyone is delivering on the expected mandate.
The last one is on the engagement and reengagement efforts by His Excellency. We are seeing these efforts being rewarded. We are seeing many of the countries who did not want to work with Zimbabwe coming on board. We are seeing a number of investments coming in. These are all initiatives by His Excellency. Even as of yesterday, we have seen the social media and other media outlets awash with what was happening in Glasgow. We want to congratulate His Excellency that some of his efforts are being rewarded, they are bearing fruits to our nation and as we all know that Zimbabwe is not an island, we need to work with other nations and we support His Excellency on these initiatives. We have seen he has been meeting some other Heads of States especially from Europe who were welcoming our President. So we are excited.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity you have given me. I support what our President has said even on the legislative agenda for us as Parliament as we have an expectation from the citizenry that we need to finish the realignment of our laws and I think all these works are achievable. Thank you very much Madam Speaker and may God bless you. Thank you.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KHUPE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 3rd November, 2021.
On the motion of HON. MUNETSI seconded by HON. DR. KHUPE, the House adjourned at Twenty Nine Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.