- Version
- Download 47
- File Size 306 KB
- File Count 1
- Create Date October 2, 2018
- Last Updated November 17, 2021
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 02 October 2018 45 07
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 2nd October, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEE ON STANDING RULES AND
ORDERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: Section 151 (1) of the Constitution provides that Parliament must appoint a Committee to be known as the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders for purposes of supervising the Administration of Parliament, formulating Standing Orders, considering and deciding on all matters concerning Parliament and exercising any other functions that may be conferred or imposed on the Committee by the Constitution or by Standing orders or any other law.
Section 151 (2) of the Constitution provides that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must consist of the Speaker and the President of the Senate and the following Members of Parliament;
The Deputy Speaker,
The Deputy President of the Senate,
The Minister responsible for Finance and two other Ministers appointed by the President,
The Leader of Government Business in each House,
The Leader of the Opposition in each House,
The Chief Whips of all political parties represented in each House,
The President of the National Council of Chiefs,
Two Members who are not Ministers or Deputy Ministers, one being a Senator appointed to the Committee by the President of the Senate and the other being a member of the National Assembly appointed by the Speaker.
In terms of Standing Order No. 13 of both the Senate and the National Assembly Standing Orders and the provisions of Section 151 of the Constitution, I therefore, inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders shall consist of the following:
Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Mudenda, the Speaker of the
National Assembly and Chairperson;
Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, President of the Senate and
Deputy Chairperson;
Hon. Tsitsi Gezi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly;
Hon. Rtd. Lt. General Michael Reuben Nyambuya, Deputy
President of the Senate;
Hon. Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance;
Hon. Oppah Chamu Zvipange Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of
Defence, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs;
Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of Government Business;
Hon.Tabitha Khumalo, Leader of the Opposition;
Hon. Pupurai Togarepi, ZANU PF Chief Whip;
Hon. Prosper Chapfiwa Mutsenyami, MDC-Alliance Chief Whip;
Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira, The President of the National
Council of Chiefs;
Hon. Sen. Tsitsi Muzenda, appointed by the President of the
Senate and Hon. Royi Billah, appointed by the Speaker.
Section 151 (2) (i) of the Constitution, also states that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders shall also be comprised of eight members who are not Ministers or Deputy Ministers, four being elected to the Committee by the Senate and for being elected by the National Assembly. The membership of the Committee must reflect as nearly as possible the political and gender composition of the combined Houses of Parliament.
We have now received eight names, six from ZANU PF and two from MDC-Alliance as follows;
Hon. Sen. Sydney Sekeramayi; Hon. Sen. Tambudzani Mohadi; Hon. Sikelela Gumbo; Hon. Mathew Nyashanu; Hon. Marian Chombo and Hon. Spiwe Mukunyaidze.
MDC Alliance – Hon. Sen. Morgen Komichi and Hon. Innocent
Gonese.
The nominations comply with the requirements of Section 151 (2) (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I therefore declare them duly elected to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. I also wish to inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders will have its inaugural meeting on Friday, 5th October, 2018 at 1000 hours in Committee Room No. 4. All Committee members are expected to attend.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. CHIKUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker and a very good afternoon to you all hon. members. I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on the motion on the Presidential Speech which was raised by Hon. Kwaramba.
I am grateful for what His Excellency Hon. Mnangagwa said. I applaud and congratulate him for a resounding victory in the elections. I
am also grateful to the women of Manicaland who elected me back into Parliament. I would like to thank His Excellency on the issues that he raised concerning the new Zimbabwe which he is now leading.
His Excellency spoke about agriculture. He said that agriculture is the backbone of our country. We have five regions in Manicaland where timber is produced, we cultivate wheat, small grains and other things. There are many minerals which include gold and diamond in
Manicaland. What the President said is economic zone – that is what we are in Manicaland especially on crops and minerals.
I would like to thank the President because he said that schools and health facilities will always be upgraded. On schools, I was impressed that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which was allocated to all hon. members to develop our constituencies has been very effective. It has developed our constituencies to a greater extent, though it may seem insignificant, but it will alleviate the burdens for parents in paying building funds in schools. State of the art toilets were constructed in my constituency; several schools were repainted; teachers’ homes were electrified and we managed to increase our animal dips. In terms of education, we hope to make further developments with the next Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation so that it benefits everyone including the completion of several church buildings, soccer pitches, et cetera.
In terms of the health sector, as was alluded by His Excellency the President, in conjunction with the Bill that he mentioned in his address that includes the abolition of early child marriages, this is also linked to health hence should the Bill be properly debated and tabled, it will be major milestone for women - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - Men can always migrate to other countries once they impregnate teenagers to the detriment of the abused child. We are also elated by the First Lady’s positive stance on the eradication and treatment of HIV. I thank you.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
ZANU PF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, please switch of your microphones. I have just received another announcement here, I wish to inform the House that the ZANU PF Women’s Parliamentarians are invited to a meeting to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 3rd October, 2018 at ZANU PF Headquarters at 0900hrs.
HON. A. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. First, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency the President, Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa for the victory that he scored on the 30th July, 2018 harmonised elections.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to note that the address given by His Excellency was as audacious as it was consistent. Indeed, over the last nine months, the President has consistently provided and preached a message calling for the need to build a united, peaceful and prosperous
Zimbabwe. I want to say that over these same nine months, the people of Zimbabwe listened, watched and what they saw was the most amazing affirmation of their hopes in the leadership of His Excellency. They saw him walk the talk and because of that – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – the people of Zimbabwe believed and this is why they gave him the resounding victory on 30th July, 2018 – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, in his address, His Excellency made it very clear that there is need to reintegrate Zimbabwe into the community of nations; that there is need for Zimbabwe to strengthen, increase the scope and diversity of its international partnerships and indeed to date, it can be said that the robust policy signals that he sent out are already bearing fruits as we have seen in the heightened interest from international investors whether they are coming from the east, west, north or south.
His Excellency also made a very unequivocal statement that agriculture remains a key driver in the resuscitation and growth of our economy. Mr. Speaker Sir, I come from Mberengwa South
Constituency, a much challenged agro-ecological region five. Therefore, the issue of food security and nutrition are of paramount importance and concern to my community. The President’s message therefore, on agriculture’s modernisation and mechanisation has given us a lot of hope that at least the 744 hectares that we have for irrigation in the district with the potential to benefit 1 738 households will finally be fully operationalised – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
He also gave us a key message on mining, again showing his total commitment to the revival of this sector and the people of Mberengwa South are excited about this. We are a constituency that is very rich in a diverse basket of minerals including tantalite, chrome, emeralds, et cetera. It is very important for us and is of particular interest that finally, with the kind of emphasis that he put and focus he has put on the mining sector – this will see the reopening of some of the mines that are lying fallow and idle. It is on record that some of these mines like Inyala and Rhonda mines have the highest grades of chrome ore that is very competent indeed in the market. We are therefore looking forward that our youth and women are going to benefit from the tribute system that is accorded to the sector.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President dwelt at length and with emphasis on the performance of State owned enterprises. State owned enterprises in successful countries are supposed to be centres of high performance. They are supposed to be the most innovative places in the sector within which they operate. We, therefore, are very encouraged by the message by the President that underlined the need to have competent and accountable boards, where governance systems and structures are allergic to corruption and where there is more value creation than what we presently see, which is more of value destruction.
The legislative agenda that was outlined by the President was both comprehensive and holistic. I want to particularly dwell on the establishment of a Zimbabwe Media Commission. Indeed open media spaces are completely in line with the President’s unrelenting focus on deepening democracy. Indeed multiple media channels will afford opportunities for different voices to be heard but most important is that these open media spaces would be judged by the degree to which they will allow the use and development of the 16 languages that are recognised by our Constitution. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Open media spaces would be judged by the degree to which they will add to the growth of output from our local creative industries. They would be judged by the degree to which therefore, they contribute to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product and of course to the growth of skills in that sector. Most important in this era is that open media spaces; more channels whether they be television or radio stations, will not be enough. It does not matter what number they are, the most important thing is that they will be able to give different offerings that can be afforded by their efficient and swift adaptation to today’s information, communication and technology industries. I thank you. *HON. SHAVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this
opportunity to debate on this motion. Firstly, I would like to congratulate our President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa for his resounding election victory, which shook the entire world. I would also like to thank the women of Mashonaland West Province for voting again for me to be here the second time around.
Going into the speech that was delivered by His Excellency the
President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa concerning agriculture, he dealt with Command Agriculture. He mentioned that our farmers were given seeds on time. What remains now is for them to wait for the rain season. I would like to thank the President in his address for what he mentioned in terms of road construction. In the district of Kadoma where I come from, roads in that area no longer have potholes. They have been repaired and potholes are now a thing of the past. We are grateful that the KadomaSanyati road up to Gokwe is now under construction. We therefore urge the President to ensure that these people speed up the construction so that they will not be destructed by the rain season.
I would also want to thank the President about the boreholes that were sunk in Kadoma where I reside. Clean quality water is now being received by the residents. We urge him to continue in that regard; thank you so much ‘Shumba’, the President’s totem for what you are doing.
However, we urge the President to increase the number of boreholes in Kadoma so that people do not spend a lot of time in queues fetching water or travel long distances to reach the nearest borehole. The people of Mashonaland West Province are quite grateful for the good job that he is doing.
I am also grateful on the issue of hospitals. I say this from the depth of my heart and from the people of Mashonaland West, specifically Kadoma that the President has renovated Kadoma General Hospital. The renovations were of first class status such that if a patient arrives at the hospital, he would recover without receiving any medication. I however, urge our father of the lion totem to continue in that state so that our children who work in the health sector maintain the good heart that they portray now. We urge him to construct new hospitals in rural areas so that patients will not travel for long distances to seek treatment…
HON. MURAI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. The Hon.
Member isspeaking like she is giving a vote of thanks, she is no longer debating the motion – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! When the motion was
moved from the Chair, if you listened very carefully, part of it says ‘and beg leave to offer our respectful thanks for the speech’. So, the Hon. Member is within the dictates of the motion.
*HON. SHAVA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I was thanking the
President for his deeds in my constituency. I was talking about hospitals and I was urging the President to increase the number of hospitals in communal lands so that patients do not travel for long distances before receiving medical attention. I also thank the President for the free maternity facility for pregnant women. We are witnessing this in practice and children that are below the age of five are being treated for free, especially in Mashonaland West. We are grateful to the President for a job well done. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. GARWE: Mr. Speaker Sir, let me start by congratulating you for being elected to lead this House for the second time. I also want to take this opportunity Mr. Speaker Sir to say makorokoto kubato reZANU PF randinobva naPresident wedu nekuhwina maelections – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] .
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency set the tone for our development agenda in his State of the Nation Address. For us to develop this economy or turnaround the economy, we need to put our focus on infrastructure development. I come from the construction industry and have been in that industry for the past 30 years. I have read widely about the construction industry and how other countries like China and USA have turned around their economies using the BOT environment.
I want to thank our local authorities and Ministry of Local Government for I see the refurbishment of roads in all our cities and towns. However, the contractors that are being employed in that refurbishment programme are not local contractors. They are only wearing local clothing but they are not local contractors. We need to be aware of the suffering of our people who are in the construction industry. The contractors, engineers and architects are not involved in the turnaround or refurbishment of these roads and designs of the same roads and bridges. We are not creating adequate employment for our skills because the people that are being used are foreigners. For as long we continue to focus on employing foreigners to refurbish our roads Mr.
Speaker, the unemployment problem will not be addressed.
We need to pay attention to the need of creating employment for our skills. We have got at least 5 000 children coming from universities every year and they need employment. As we focus on turning around our economy, I want us to look back in terms of attracting the skills of Zimbabweans that are in the diaspora. They want to come back home and participate in the turnaround of the economy, yes they want to come back home, however Mr. Speaker Sir, it is our duty as Zimbabwean here, particularly the honourable members in this House to set the legislative agenda that ensures those skills come back home. What do they need to come back home? They need the facilities that they are enjoying out there to be here. They need access to affordable finance for them to be able to buy houses, cars and borrow money from banks at reasonable interest rates. We need to look into that.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I remember very well in 2008 the then Minister of Finance Hon. Biti in one of the workshops that we attended, he said we cannot turnaround the economy if we do not pay particular attention to retooling our young kids, engineers and architects. That is what the Government of Zimbabwe wants to do. That is what the Government yavaMnangagwa is now focusing on doing to ensure that our skills are back. We need to recruit – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Members, can we respect the dignity of the House and lower your voices.
HON. GARWE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the President set the tone for our development agenda and I want to repeat that statement. The agriculture command programmes have benefitted our constituencies. I come from Murewa North Constituency and we are benefitting immensely in terms of command cropping, livestock and fisheries and I want to thank the President for setting that tone Mr. Speaker Sir.
We have schools and clinics that have been in our constituencies. The people from Murewa North Constituency have got a lot of primary and secondary schools that have been built. Children are no longer walking 25 – 30 km like they used to do a long time ago. We want to thank the President for ensuring that every child has got access to facilities like education, health et cetera.
In conclusion, the people from Murewa North Constituency and the whole of Mashonaland East are quite happy to continue to be part of the Presidential Input Scheme that the President is focusing on. Our people are benefitting in terms of fertilisers and seeds, and we are already preparing for the new season. Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank you.
+HON. NKOMO: I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity that you have given me to debate in this House. I am going to debate on an issue that was raised by the President in this august
House. I would want to thank him for having won the elections on the 31st July, 2018 and thereby becoming President of this country ushering in a new dispensation, a new Government. As an august House, we saw it fit to elect Hon. Jacob Francis Mudenda as the Speaker of this National Assembly, deputised by Hon. Tsitsi Gezi. I thank you.
In his speech the President talked about the need for having more schools so that children can learn well and that the type of education in the communal areas should be the same as in the urban areas. Our children in the communal areas should be able to do science subjects that are being done in urban areas. Those houses that are built for teachers in the communal areas should be fit for teachers so that they are happy to work in rural areas.
I would also want to thank the President for he set an agenda of certain Bills that we are supposed to pass as an august House. We need to craft a Bill that will protect our environment. People should not cut down trees unnecessarily. We need to craft these laws so that we bring development in Zimbabwe. We should enact laws on local governance development and devolution. We need to develop our constituencies and as Parliament, we need to enact laws which will be used by local authorities in running their districts. When these local authorities are empowered, they will be in a position to improve conditions through the construction of health centres such as clinics. At the moment, these health institutions are far apart in such a way that people have to travel long distances to access these services. Our wish is that each ward in these rural areas should have its own clinic for easy access by the residents.
I will now turn my attention to the devastating cancer chronic disease especially in women. The main reason why this disease is spreading so fast is that women do not have easy access to health institutions for early detection of cervical or breast cancer. When these institutions are established in such a way that residence have easy access, there is also need for the supply of technology to detect cancer. We need laboratory facilities in our areas. At the moment people are spending lots of monies travelling to these health centres which are far away and also paying for treatment.
The President also urged us to enact a law which will replace the archaic law on Forestry Commission. At the moment people are resettling in these forestry areas. People who are resettled in these areas are not allowed to cut down trees, as a result when they are ploughing, they find ways to circumvent get around these trees. Unfortunately, the education department then allowed villagers to cut down trees so that they can be used as benches in classrooms. We need to craft an Act which will lead to the peaceful core-existence of resettled villagers and the forestry farmers.
The President also urged us to be comprehensive in our debates when making laws. When laws have been made, they should be implemented because in many cases these laws are simply passed by Parliament and just die a natural death without being implemented. These Bills include the Budget Bills where the recommendations are not implemented for the benefit of the country.
The President talked about the protection of the girl child from early marriages. In most cases, these early marriages are caused by the fact that secondary schools are far apart as a result when a young girl has gone through grade 7, she cannot afford secondary education and because she has an idle mind, she rushes into early marriage because of circumstances. As members of this august House, we need to promulgate legislation which prohibits marriage of a girl who has gone through grade 7 only without proceeding to secondary education which should be compulsory. In that way, we will protect the girl child from early marriage. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: There is a vehicle registration number AEV 8959 blocking other vehicles.
HON. JOOSBI: I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the opportunity to present my maiden speech to this august House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - Before I commence my speech, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible
interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, please carry on.
HON. JOOSBI: I would like to start from the beginning again. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the opportunity to present my maiden speech to this august House. Before I commence my speech, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud and appreciate His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, Cde E.D Mnangagwa for his outstanding delivery of the State of the Nation Address during the Official Opening of the 9th Session of Parliament.
He paved way to real economic development through unity and peace. He also committed to eradicate the Cholera outbreak which has since significantly declined. He also vowed to eradicate corruption and the onus is now on us as citizens to work together as we instill investor confidence within and beyond our borders. In short, from his speech, I learnt that the economic recovery of Zimbabwe is also in our hands as Zimbabweans and we have a crucial role to play in the development of our sovereign nation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to then start my maiden speech. I will focus on introducing my constituency to everyone as most people are not aware of its existence. Mwenezi East is a district situated in Southern Zimbabwe. It is bisected by the Mwenezi River and the A4 highway, the main thoroughfare that connects the town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, to Masvingo. Rutenga is the de facto capital of Mwenezi District. Mwenezi derives its name from the Mwenezi River, which provides irrigation water to the sugar cane plantations in and around Mwenezi and is fed by Manyuchi Dam.
Mwenezi East Constituency is in Mwenezi District. It has a population of 78 403 (As per Census 2012 – Masvingo Provincial Report, page 128. In 2014, families residing near Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam were affected by floods and resettled in Chingwizi, Nuanetsi Ranch. Three thousand and twenty households were resettled, increasing the population of Mwenezi East.
Mwenezi East Constituency is comprised of 8 wards covering a distance of about 190km from Matibi to Chikoko. Rutenga, the capital of Mwenezi, situated 150km from Masvingo along the MasvingoBeitbridge Road was acknowledged a port of entry during the US$5.1 billion 2018 national budget presentation.
To date, Rutenga has remained an underutilised transport junction, despite being strategically linked by road and rail to major towns such as Beitbridge, Chiredzi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Harare via Masvingo and
Bulawayo. It is also linked to Mozambique via Sango Border Post. Mr. Speaker Sir, I would also like to thank the President for assisting us and giving us the funding that has assisted us to put school desks in our schools and we managed to resuscitate many other things that assist the locals of Mwenezi East.
Rutenga now has an opportunity to grow and contribute to the GDP of the country after being declared a port of entry thus the beginning of a “Greater Rutenga”. The Mwenezi Rural District Council is working towards upgrading Rutenga into a town, making provisions for factories, industries, shopping malls et cetera. Despite Rutenga being the capital of Mwenezi, the main administrative offices are located at Neshuro Busienss Centre, 47km from Rutenga and the main police station, the administrator’s office and some Government offices are located in Mwenezi. We hope that by the time the Greater Rutenga masterplan is finalised, these offices will be centralized in Rutenga to make it convenient for all in Mwenezi ti access these offices.
Education
As in other rural parts of the country, the schools in Mwenezi are government run, although some have historical links with missionary
Christian denominations. The fact that all secondary schools (other than Lundi Christian School) were established after independence - is testimony to the marginalisation of the district and the ‘catching up’ it needs to do. Though Zimbabwe has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, in some Mwenezi communities, the rate is as low as 50 percent.
There are notable schools in Mwenezi but not all villages have secondary schools. Some students, especially those villages along
Mwenezi River, below the main wall of Manyuchi Dam, and in the recently resettled areas, have to walk long distances of 8km to 15km to school. This state of affairs discourages students from going to school, instead opting to cross the border and go to South Africa. Education infrastructure in these areas needs to be improved so as to improve on the pass rate and staff turnover. On education, the following are current statistics:
| Schools | Registered | Satellite | Number of
Pupils |
Number of Teachers |
| Primary | 46 | 81 | 56 972 | 1 214 |
| Secondary | 23 | 22 | 12 541 | 498 |
| Total | 69 | 103 | 69 513 | 1 712 |
Education: Current Project
The construction of Nyuni Primary and Secondary Schools in
Mwenezi East Constituency is a project funded by Opec Fund for
International Development. The project is at its implementation stage. The model of construction is said to come complete with all amenities, science and computer laboratories, furniture and standard teachers’ houses.
Health
Public health care is delivered at four levels meant to function as a referral chain. The entry level includes rural health centres, rural hospitals and urban clinics. Hospitals exist at the first referral level, provincial and general hospital at the second referral level. The third referral level includes central and special hospitals.
Most health care facilities in the district are owned and run by the government’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, although local communities are involved in the management of clinics. The main referral hospital is Mwenezi District Hospital at Neshuro. The Catholicrun Matibi Mission Hospital to the northwest (bordering the Mberengwa District), also acts as another referral hospital. Several poly-clinics are scattered across the constituency offering primary health care.
At present, we have two hospitals and eight clinics in Mwenezi East Constituency. The health sector is currently facing the following challenges:
- Equipment - Equipment at hospitals is obsolete, for example washing machines, driers, industrial irons, stoves, ovens, dish washers, et cetera.
- Vehicles - No enough funds to service hospital vehicles. Due to the terrain, these vehicles operate and the total radius they encompass, they need to be serviced often. Unfortunately, the cost is high and funds do not match the expenses. Mwenezi District Hospital, one of the hospitals in Mwenezi East has a total of four ambulances and currently operating with two ambulances; the other two are currently going through repairs. An ideal situation would be if the hospital could have about six to seven ambulances, so that when a vehicle is booked for repairs or service, there are enough vehicles remaining at the hospital.
- Water – there is currently no consistent supply of water at the hospitals from ZINWA, and some clinics in the constituency have challenges of water shortages and no electricity.
Infrastructure Development
The district is serviced by a network of mostly gravel roads. Apart from the A4 highway, all other roads in the district are of macadamized gravel roads (constructed by compacting into a solid mass layer of small broken stone on a convex well-drained roadbed and using a binder for the mass). During the rainy season, despite the best efforts of DDF, they get washed away. Some of the vital bridges destroyed during cyclone eline in 2000 are yet to be repaired, e.g Mucheni Bridge which at the time of evaluation in 2013, the cost of repairs was $236 000. The primary mode of transport is by donkey cart.
Economic Development
The district’s main employers are sugarcane plantations, all connected by a railway line from Bulawayo. The cattle ranchers, before the influx of commercial farmers in 2000, used to employ many people. Many people are also employed in the civil services and National Railways of Zimbabwe. The people in the constituency and the district as a whole had always trekked to the mines of South Africa. However, the number of migrant workers has increased in recent times due to the economic recession that Zimbabwe has been going through. Few young people remain in the villages across the constituency, preferring to take their chances in South Africa working on menial contract jobs.
Mwenezi East Constituency has many service and business centres of varying sizes and economic vibrancy. Among these, Neshuro, Sarahuro and Rutenga are noteworthy.
Agricultural Development
Mwenezi East lies in region 5. The district is prone to droughts and experiences low annual rainfall. The majority of households in
Mwenezi East depend on agricultural production like livestock rearing. The climate in this region is suitable for cattle and goat farming. Aquaculture can also be introduced to enhance food security in this area.
BJB (Tinnor, Tiperray, BJB Estates) is in Mwenezi East Constituency. They are self contained plots of 90 hacters each. There are 346 households in BJB. The soil in that specific area is good deep black soils which are good for irrigation. Water can be drawn from
Runde River and connect continuous pipe lines from Masangula into BJB through Mawiriwiri. Currently, there is crop production in the area and the farmers in this past financial year supplied GMB with a lot of grain. With irrigation, better harvests will be a guarantee.
In Section 65 of Mpapa, there are 17 farmers, each farmer with an average of 50 hactres. Sugar cane production is the main activity, utilizing water from Mutirikwi and Tokwe Murkosi Dams though a pump station at Runde Bridge.
Year ending 31 March, 2018, GMB recorded to have received the following in Mwenezi: white sorghum 393 107 tonnes, red sorghum
10 576 462 tonnes, yellow maize 79 450 tonnes, white maize 3 149 875 tonnes, millet 11 314 932 tonnes and ground nuts 52 tonnes.
Increasing irrigation programmes will see these figures rising, and Mwenezi playing their role in contributing to the GDP of our country. Manyuchi Dam is another source that can be used to increase irrigation schemes in Mwenezi as a whole. Its maximum capacity is 307 368 million litres.
Social Development
Residents from Tokwe Mukorsi area were resettled in Masangula as Phase 1 of the resettlement programme. Six hundred and fourty households were resettled, each household receiving four hactres of land. In 2014, the remaining residents in the Tokwe Murkosi area faced floods and were also relocated to Chingwizi Area as Phase 2. In Nuanetsi Ranch, in Mwenezi East Constituency, 3 020 households were resettled there, one hactre (without grazing area) was allocated to each household. Boreholes were sunk but a few are yielding across the Chingwizi and Masangula, hence the reason for water shortages in the area.
Up to date, 1 482 households have been fully compensated, 1 651 households have been compensated 20%, and the rest are still to be compensated. A total of $7 545 339 has been paid towards compensation and a balance of $5 885 268.15 is still outstanding.
Schools in this area are mostly satellite schools. There is one polyclinic and because of the long distance (Over 120km) to Mwenezi District Hospital, patients travel to Chiredzi to get medical care from the hospital.
Achievements:
Mwenezi East Constituency Development Office was launched in September 2017, in Rutenga. Since the inception of this office, the following has been achieved so far.
- Repairing two ambulances at Mwenezi District Hospital that had been broken down for almost two years.
- Supplied garbage bins in Rutenga and Neshuro Business Centre.
- Donating balls for soccer and netball, and sports attires to schools.
- Assist with refuse removal in Rutenga.
- We have established a community assistance facility at our constituency office that assists with transport, food and other logistical inputs for functions like funerals, sports events etc.
- Managed to get an investor to open a bakery in Rutenga since bread is a scarce commodity in Mwenezi, bread is normally transported from Masvingo.
Under the Constituency Development Fund projects, the following projects were undertaken:
- Supplying 266 x 3-seater desks to 26 satellite schools in Mwenezi Constituency.
- Constructing road culverts worth $20 000.
- Repairing Dip Tanks.
We are currently preparing to launch a Mwenezi East Goat Association project. We recently imported five Boar-Goat rams to kick-start the project. We aspire to improve the breed that already exists in our area through cross-breeding. We intend to offer training to goat farmers in Mwenezi on Goat Management and Husbandry under this project. The aim of this project is to make goat farming in Mwenezi profitable for the farmer and thereby contributing to the GDP of our country as the goats can be exported to gain revenue for Zimbabwe.
Unfortunatley, on Monday 14 May, 2018, Mwenezi East Constituency was hit by a hailstorm. Forty households in Ward 7 and 140 households in Ward 13 were affected. Houses were razed to the ground and grain was lost. Livestock was also lost.
In conclusion, Mwenezi has been left behind in almost all developments. Fortunately with Rutenga becoming a dry-port, an opportunity has been availed for Mwenezi as a whole to participate in the economy of the country and be on the map. Investors are welcome to come and invest in this new venture in Mwenezi.
HON. SVUURE: Let me start by thanking you for according me
this opportunity to just add my voice in a very brief manner to the motion that was raised by my fellow Hon. Kwaramba. Madam Speaker, I rise to give this speech to add my voice like I said to the speech that was given by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe on the occasion of the Official Opening of the First Session of the 9th Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe. I would want to thank the President for the speech whose theme resonates very well with the aspirations of the generality of the people of Zimbabwe.
The speech was so inspiring and pregnant with hope for the expectations of the people of this great nation of Zimbabwe. It illuminated the hope of many as it centered on the economy more than anything else. He gave practical and fundamental deliverables and this was delivered so clearly as was set before this august House. The task set before will with no doubt unlock the economic potential going forward. The Bills that the President set out for this Parliament are sacrosanct in shaping the destiny of this nation and fulfilling the vision of making Zimbabwe a middle income economy by the 2030.
The Bills that have been set before this Parliament for debate happen to be the master key to the revival of the economy of this great nation of Zimbabwe. The President spoke on a lot of Bills. He touched on agriculture. I cannot over emphasise what the President said because the fruits of his move and initiative on the agrarian sectors are so clear for us to realise. Our Grain Marketing Board across the provinces, most of them are full to the brim as a result of the President’s initiatives on agriculture.
The President touched on mining as one of the key economic drivers. He touched on the need to realise the small scale artisanal mining sector as a major contributor to this country. I would also want to add my voice that his realisation of that sector will go a long way in the improvement of the economy of this country. At this moment, I would want to as I should have done when I started to thank the people of my constituency. I thank the Zaka Central constituents for voting me into this position.
So, the region which I represent is one of the dry places but I am glad to appreciate the fact that the President alluded to the need to fully utilise the resources that we have in our constituencies. My constituency is one of those that are privileged to have water bodies and his speech alluded to the fact that the resources that are available in not just my constituency but a lot others here are going to be utilised to the maximum for the realisation of the full potential of those respective constituencies.
I would also want to appreciate what the President said on employment creation. Employment creation in the mind of many is seeking employment on an established organisation, but I would want to thank him, for bringing to realisation that employment creation is also putting one’s skills in a profitable manner. I would want to thank the President for making this House realise that employment is the application of one’s skills in a profitable manner. If we realise that application of our skills in a profitable manner, I would want to urge our young and our women in the various constituencies that we represent that we should arise.
Going forward, because of the little accorded to me, I stand here Madam Speaker excited by the fact that we have been made stewards of what the President desires to deliver to this nation. I therefore want to urge my fellow honourables in this House that we fully move with the vision of our President, and that we support him in his endeavour to turn around this economy. We want to stand with him and repeat what he has continued to speak and acknowledging what gets spoken about repeatedly gets to happen. Our President continues to speak about economy and pushing economy ahead of politics is what I would want to advise our fellow MPs in this House.
It is only that way that we will honestly be his stewards and that we will honestly represent him in the manner that he desires in the constituencies that we represent. May God bless our President.-[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Like the biblical Nehemiah, I would want to use us to arise and go out there in our constituencies and begin to rebuild the nation of Zimbabwe. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MPAME: Madam Speaker, allow me to thank the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, the President, on the occasion of the Official Opening of First Session of the 9th Parliament of Zimbabwe. Allow me to thank my constituents that reposed their trust in His Excellency and myself and for their resounding thumping victory. I assure them that I will work hard to bring a positive change to their livelihoods. I trust that as Members of this august House, we shall as His Excellency implored in his speech, collectively put our shoulders to the wheel in rebuilding this great nation of Zimbabwe.
Madam Speaker, as His Excellency has remarked, I quote,
“Parliament is a sacred institution and it is therefore incumbent upon us to work tirelessly as servant leaders to deliver a more prosperous
Zimbabwe”. I therefore, urge fellow members of this august House to note that Parliament can and should never be used as a platform for political grandstanding to pursue personal vendetta under the guise of Parliamentary privilege. Madam Speaker, His Excellency set the tone for the Session of this Parliament to consider amongst other Bills, the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill. The passage of the Bill is long overdue and I trust that the deficiencies that were raised when it was returned to this House shall be addressed and that implementation on the ground can take place.
Zvishavane-Runde Constituency I represent is endowed with numerous natural resources such as chrome, gold, diamonds and limestone. There are small-scale miners, artisanal miners working alongside established large-scale miners like Sabi and Jena. As part of the broad based empowerment initiatives, it is necessary that mining title in the form of leases, even tributes be strengthened in the new mining regime to all players. Where large scale miners are not fully utilising their claims, it is economic, prudent and just that such claims or portions thereof be offered as tributes or leases to the small-scale artisanal miners as cooperatives and not as individuals so as to efficiently utilise resources for broader empowerment.
Madam Speaker, I commend the initiative by His Excellency, the President on pursuing an industrialisation agenda for the development of agro-based industries along the various agro value chains such as cereals. I look forward to the execution of this agenda. In line with the natural farming regions or various constituencies, in particular in my constituency, small grains perform better and it will be beneficial to create value chains that support small grain production and beneficiation. Manufacturers of local or opaque beer such as Delta could receive incentives from Government to fully utilise and set up plants in dry farming regions such as my constituency. This is a winwin situation for both communal farmers and industry.
Madam Speaker, Government has initiated Command Livestock and the majority of my constituents have applied for that programme. Unfortunately, it appears that only those who have or own cattle are considered for loans. It would be prudent and appropriate to also consider those who have never owned any cattle. Madam Speaker, I thank you for the time you have granted me. I thank you.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
INAUGURAL MEETING FOR THE COMMITTEE ON
STANDING RULES AND ORDERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would like to inform the
House that the first meeting of the Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders will be held tomorrow, 3rd October, 2018 at 0900 hours in
Committee Room No. 4. Kindly note that this announcement denounces the earlier one made at the beginning of the session in connection with the same subject matter.
APPOINTMENT TO THE COMMITTEE ON STANDING
RULES AND ORDERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I also wish to inform the
House that Hon. Dr. Gumbo, the Minister of Energy and Power Development has been appointed a member of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.
HON. MUCHIMWE: Madam Speaker, I honour you for allowing me this moment to express my profound gratitude to thank His Excellency for his effort to drive a very successful election which he won resoundingly in the just ended harmonised elections. I am so prospective that in 2023, he will treble this success. May God be on his side. Allow me Mr. Speaker Sir, to enlighten the House that – [HON.
MEMBERS: Havazi Mr. Speaker Sir. NdiMadam Speaker Maam.] - Allow me Madam Speaker Sir, to enlighten the House that the vision of our President is indubitably uncontested. Mr. Speaker Sir, Madam Speaker Maam, may I call now for his attention......
HON. KARENYI: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. KARENYI: Madam Speaker, he is referring you as Sir –
[HON. WADYAJENA: But he corrected himself, he did.] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – She has to rule. She will rule my friend.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order. May the Hon.
Member continue.
HON. MUCHIMWE: Madam President, we are new Members of
Parliament and to know a situation you must practice, so I am practicing.
I now call for his attention to be focused in Mutare West Constituency, an area rich in diamonds and pave way for the local people to access employment there. Madam Speaker, I will further praise the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for allowing all local churches to worship in a free environment – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. May
you allow the Hon. Member to be heard in silence please?
HON. MUCHIMWE: The economic stimuli stipulated by His Excellency is continuing to show significant impact in the areas affected by marginalisation for quite a long time.
Madam Speaker, my growth point is already receiving tarred roads on all avenues – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members
HON. B. DUBE: On a point of order, Madam President. We cannot hear what the Hon. Member is saying. He is not opening his mouth. I do not know whether he is learning to be salad or what. We cannot hear what he is saying.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May the Hon. Member
continue.
HON. S. SITHOLE: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I think it is God given for him to talk the way he is doing – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, order.
May the Hon. Member continue.
HON. MUCHIMWE: Madam Speaker, the economic stimuli
stipulated by His Excellency is continuing to show significant impact in the areas affected by marginalisation for quite a long time.
Madam Speaker, my growth point in Marange is now already receiving tarred roads on all avenues. Thank you E.D. In full E.D might mean economic development. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NKANI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me start by congratulating His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Commander-in-Chief and the First Secretary of the ruling party, for his candid victory in the July 30 Harmonised Elections. I say makorokoto, amhlope to him. In the same vein, I would like also to congratulate you for being elected Deputy Speaker of this august
House.
Madam Speaker, coming to the gist of my contribution, as enunciated by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, in his State of the Nation Address in which he pronounced the importance of revamping our economy through the following elements; namely unity, free environment for business, corruption free environment, development, re-engagement - both regional and international, job creation and others for the purpose of convenience, Madam Speaker, let me categorically centre my contribution on unity and re-engagement. Unity forms a firm basis and foundation for a conducive environment for economic growth and development of our beautiful country thereby enabling our Government to fulfill the people’s aspirations. Our President has made tremendous efforts towards uniting the people of Zimbabwe by the capacitation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to execute its constitutional mandate and deal with pre and post independence era conflict issues, and the recent appointment of a commission to look into the post election violence of the July 30 Harmonised Elections.
His Excellency spoke about the need for Zimbabwe to reopen the global business. There is no way Zimbabwe can survive in isolation; we need to trade with other regional and international partners. We need foreign currency to buy essentials, for example raw materials, fuel and so on, hence Zimbabwe is open for business mantra loudly pronounced by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E. D.
Mnangagwa.
As much as our workers both in private and public sectors would need better salaries and good conditions of service, it is undoubtedly that we are surviving from a thinner fiscal space in our country. Our income versus expenditure requirements are a mile apart thereby a timeous and well calculated move by His Excellency to woo investors to bring fresh capital into our economy and other relative organisations like the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and African Export and Import
Bank.
In conclusion, let me implore my fellow Hon. Members of Parliament to advise their electorate in their various constituencies to be patient, peaceful, hard workers and hopeful as we will soon start enjoying the fruits of our economic revival being spearheaded by His
Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. KWARAMBA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. S. SITHOLE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 3rd October, 2018.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND WAR VETERANS (HON. MATEMADANDA), the House
adjourned at Two Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.