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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 06 October 2015 42-09

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Tuesday, 6th October, 2015

The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.

PRAYERS

(THE DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE DEPUTY SPEAKER

DEATH OF HON. THAMSANQA MAHLANGU

          THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  It is with profound sorrow that I have to inform the House of the death of the Member of Parliament for Nkulumane Hon. Thamsanqa Mahlangu who passed away yesterday morning in Bulawayo.  I invite hon. members to rise and observe a minute of silence in respect of the late hon. member.

All hon. members stood in silence.

 

VALIDATION OF THE WOMEN’S PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS

STRATEGIC PLAN

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I would like to inform all members of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus that they are invited to a meeting to validate the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus Strategic Plan, on 7th October 2015, at a Quarter to Nine o’clock a.m, in the Senate Chamber.

CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I wish to draw the attention of the House to changes to Portfolio Committee membership as follows:

  • K. Uta will serve on the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development.
  • M. Mudyiwa will serve on the Portfolio Committees on Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development and Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
  • J. Moyo will serve on the Portfolio Committees on Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development and Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
  • E. W Kanhanga will serve on the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services.
  • T. Savanhu will serve on the Portfolio Committees on Transport and Infrastructural Development and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
  • T. Mudambo will move from the Portfolio Committee on

ICT, Postal and Courier Services and serve on the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

  • S. Thembani will serve on the Portfolio Committee on Media and Broadcasting Services.
  • N. Kachepa will serve on the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care.

 

TABLING OF REPORTS FROM THE AUDITOR-GENERAL

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I wish to bring to the attention of the House that Section 12 of the Audit Office Act Chapter 22:18 states as follows “Any report transmitted in terms of Section 10 or Section 11(a) to the minister or (b) to the appropriate minister shall be laid by the minister of the appropriate ministry as the case maybe, before the

National Assembly on one of the seven days on which the National Assembly sits, next after he or she received such report.  Where the minister or appropriate minister fails to lay any report before the National Assembly in terms of subsection (1) within the period specified therein, the Auditor General shall transmit a copy of such report to the

Speaker of the National Assembly, for the Speaker to lay it before the National Assembly”.

On Friday 2nd October 2015, the Auditor General submitted the report of the Environmental Monitoring of Mining Operations by the Environmental Management Agency under the Ministry of

Environment, Water and Climate in terms of the Audit Office Act.

I am being advised that the seven days are not yet over so I think the Minister can bring the report.  So we can wait until the seven days.

*MR CHINOTIMBA:  On a point of order Madam Speaker, I

would like to highlight that here in Parliament we are still using furniture that was used during the Smith regime and was used to recognise the queen.  Even the Mace and the gowns are the same that were used then.  Can we not change and show the nation that we are now independent.  In place of the Mace we can put something depicting Mbuya Nehanda or the liberation fighters and the gowns can be designed differently.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Hon. member, at the moment I think

what you are saying is very important but if you have issues you have to raise a motion so that we debate and the House agrees what you are saying.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

  1. GONESE: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 4 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
  2. MARIDADI: 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.

  1. J. TSHUMA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me

this opportunity to also add my voice to the debate that is pending in this House. I want to begin by thanking Hon. Mutomba and Hon. Dziva for having moved this very important motion. Before I go any further Madam Speaker, may I take this opportunity, on behalf of my constituency, Pelandaba- Mpopoma Constituency and indeed, on my own behalf, to pass my sincere condolences to the Tsogorani family first that lost their dear beloved mother and sister. Also, on that same note, may I also pass my condolences to the Mahlangu family in Bulawayo where I come from, for the loss again of another hon. member, Hon. T. Mahlangu. Indeed, may their dear souls rest in eternal peace.

Madam Speaker, I also rise to add my voice to the current debate that is in line with the revolutionary address by His Excellency, the

President of our beautiful nation, Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe

Defence Forces and the current Chairman of the African Union, Cde R.G. Mugabe. Indeed in him, we have a true visionary leader and always, he demonstrates his willingness to be the voice of the voiceless. This was witnessed at the just ended United Nations Summit where the President again scored a first by standing up for Africa, by demanding that Africa be heard and Africa must have a seat in the Security Council because we are also a continent and a people of note.

Coming back home, it all began with the 10-point plan that our dear President addressed to us here during the State of the Nation

Address and then, the Official Opening of the Third Session of this Parliament. His Excellency has set the ball rolling. Once again, he has set for us a high standard to follow and my question is; are we going to live up to it or we will fail him again as we did in the First and Second Session of this Parliament. Over 21 and 19 Bills were put before this

House, but only a fraction of those Bills were ever presented in this House and actually debated on. This to me, is a sign of failure because we are busy crying out and loud saying that we are not aligning laws to the new Constitution, but here we are, 21 and 19 Bills that the President had put before us but only about nine of those Bills were put before us. I really wonder why we are doing that and where that will take us to.

Allow me Madam Speaker, to indulge my dear hon. sister, I cannot see her today, Hon. Khupe. I heard the other day when she was addressing the House saying that, the President’s speech did not address the bread and butter issues. I asked myself if she was reading the same speech – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – that the President gave us because if you read his speech, you will know that the President addressed all the pertinent issues – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –  I can tell you Madam Speaker, this is the sort of behaviour that really brings our country down – [HON. MEMBERS:

Inaudible interjections.] –

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

  1. J. TSHUMA:– [MDC HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible

interjections.] - Why are we heckling at each other?  Why are we not taking Parliament business seriously?  Why are we not taking the issues of the nation seriously? Do you think that heckling at each other is going to resolve the problems of Zimbabwe? – [MDC HON. MEMBERS:

Inaudible interjections] - Do you think that talking in loud voices is going to resolve our economic issues? – [MDC HON. MEMBERS:

Inaudible interjections] - That is not being serious and honourable at all … – [MDC HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - If you want to be honourable, then you must learn to listen … – [MDC HON.

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – Learn to open your ears and not shout … – [MDC HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order, order hon. members, if the

hon. member is saying what you do not like, you will have your own chance to stand up and say whatever you want in this House.  May the hon. member please be heard in silence? – [AN HON. MEMBER:  He must address the Chair!] – Address the Chair, hon. member.

  1. J. TSHUMA:  Thank you very much Madam Speaker, for protecting me from people whom I thought were honourable and would want to listen to my point of view so that we may do the same when their turn comes.  That is the only way that Zimbabwe is going to move forward.

As long as, we the hon. Members of Parliament here behave like school children …– [MDC HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – then I do not know where we are heading to.  – [MDC HON.

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - I shall continue anyway. – [MDC

HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –

*MR. CHINOTIMBA:  On a point of order Madam Speaker, we are mourning our fellow member Hon. Thamsanqa Mahlangu.  I am requesting hon. members to conduct themselves in a proper manner.

Thank you.  – [MDC HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –

  1. J. TSHUMA:  Madam Speaker, His Excellency the

President, in his address when he placed the Bills that we are supposed to consider as a House, out of twenty-one of these Bills, fourteen of them are actually meant to look into the issues of our economy.  If we all were to seriously consider and pass these Bills, they would set the tone of our economical turn around as a country and this requires collectively coming together and being together.

I will look at the first one, His Excellency the President touched on the issue of the Special Economic Zones.  I will relate this to my constituency in Bulawayo, Pelandaba-Mpopoma and Bulawayo as a whole.  We have all known that Bulawayo has always been referred to as, ‘Kontuthu ziyathunqa’, but all that has died out.

Now, if we really were to come up with this Special Economic Zones Bill and pass it, we would be able to attract companies that will come to Bulawayo and set up industries so that we can get our people to be employed again because Bulawayo, unlike other provinces, relies on employment.  We do not have land to till but rely on employment and if this Bill is passed, the people of Bulawayo will be employed again.

I would also like to thank the President, for touching on educational issues.  When we come to the issue of education, I want to bring the House back to the issue that I once spoke about.  We have the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo.  If we look at that university, it is supposed to deal mainly with science education.  Thus, even the thrust when it began, was on a 70 -30% kind of a rationale basis but now, if you look at it on a serious note currently, the  Government does not have enough resources to capacitate NUST to do that as the institution does not have laboratories.  I am a current student of NUST and to be honest with you, it is very appalling as the buildings are dilapidated and the laboratories are not in place.

So with the Bill that is coming in, I wish Government and the Executive could seriously look into these issues. The other day, I was speaking to one of the lecturers at the NUST and he was telling me that they have a sister university called, University of London who are willing to donate science equipment and all that we have to pay for are the flight charges.  When the equipment comes, realistically we can have some of it channelled towards our secondary schools in Bulawayo as they do not even have science equipment.  So, how do we now have a system whereby we want to feed into the university when our high schools do not even have the requisite equipment in order for them to teach science subjects productively?

It is my wish and prayer that maybe, through the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, we say that NUST is presently enrolling about 7 000 students and if we compare it to Midlands State University which stands at 23 000 students, this disparity is caused by the issue of Government locking down NUST and saying, no, you cannot increase your commercial subjects.

I would love us to look at this holistically and say, fine, when the going gets tough, let us get a bit tougher as well.  In the meantime, why do we not increase on the commercial subjects so that NUST can enroll more students and by so doing, they will be able to have money to run their current programmes?  If we introduce degree programmes like Law (LLB) and other such subjects, we will be able to attract people to come to NUST and increase its enrolment.  Once we do that, we will have capacitated it for now until our situation is resolved and permits us to revert to the 70 - 30% enrolment.  We need to have a way forward all the time as that is the only way we are going to be better people, the only way we will serve in this House and live to say we have done something positive and not destructive.

I will now turn to issues of health, His Excellency the President adequately reminded us of his vision on this subject.  I will take the House back to Bulawayo again; we have Mpilo Hospital where we saw headlines in our local newspaper, The Chronicle, about corrupt activities that were happening.  Board members engaging in clandestine deals, companies supplying ghost invoices; by this I mean an invoice that comes without any goods but the non-existent goods are paid for.

Now, I am saying to myself, this is the same thing that has resulted in hospitals acquiring expired medication to the detriment of our own people.  What are we doing as Parliament because we play the oversight role?  Are we properly looking into those issues and what is the Ministry of Health and Child Care doing?  We need to wake up to that call because we need to be serious as these are our people.  They may be relatives to any of us and when they die, it will be very worrisome and sad indeed.  I want to applaud His Excellency the President, for coming up with such issues so that we seriously look into them and be able to note what we are doing for our people.

Madam Speaker, the other day I was shocked when I saw an ambulance without tail-lights and with one head-light and I said to myself, God this is the vehicle that is supposed to ferry me to hospital when I am sick or when I am critically ill or involved in an accident, but the same vehicle is not being properly maintained.  Are we being serious about these things?  Are we going to sit down here and heckle each other instead of looking at such pertinent issues and solving them? We need to solve that, and this is not an individual effort but a collective one.  If ever we want to bring Zimbabwe to where it should be, it must be you and me, both that side and this side.  Never ever shall we say it is left for the other side because that would be a sign of failure and we will not condone that?

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon. member you are left with

five minutes.

  1. J. TSHUMA:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  I will now

address the issue of Ekusileni Medical Centre.  This hospital was a brainchild of the late father of the nation, Dr. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, but after all these years and after NSSA poured in millions and millions of dollars to construct that hospital, it is so disappointing to note that up to today, that hospital is still not functional.  We were told about a company called Phodiso from South Africa that had come and it would have brought all the equipment and money that was needed for that hospital to come up.  Somehow again, somebody somewhere is stopping that project from taking off.  This tempts me to actually then borrow from Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga who would start to think of marginalisation, though I know that it is not.  It is not real but Madam Speaker, why is that hospital not functional today?

I have a doctor who I know personally who is called Dr. Jeff Moyo who actually went to Singapore.  He even went to the UK and to Dubai and he spent over $30 000 studying the subject of fertility.  We were going to be one of the first African countries after South Africa to have a fertility centre here where people can do fertilisation through tubes.  He spent all that money in readiness to come and work at that hospital but up to today, nothing is happening and I am asking myself, are we really taking these things seriously?  Are we really sure that we want to develop our nation collectively?  If our answer is yes, I think that it is high time and it is necessary that as a House, we come together with a vision to say, ‘One Zimbabwe’ and that is the only Zimbabwe that we have because we will never have another Zimbabwe.

In conclusion Madam Speaker, may I quote from the Holy Bible –

1 Timothy 5, verse 8.  It says, ‘But if any provide not for his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel’.  This I am saying to all of us here.  Our own President, if I may quote in verbatim, said, “May I remind all hon. members of this august House of the need to always conduct business in a manner that does not erode the stock of trust reposed in us by the electorate.  We indeed carry on our shoulders the hopes and aspirations of our people.  Let us channel our collective energies towards the development of our country guided by our economic blue print, the ZIM ASSET”.  Madam Speaker, if you read from what the President was saying, he was inviting us to come together and be like a soccer team.

I remember just this last weekend Madam Speaker, as a parting note, a very terrible incident which happened but it showed me something about life.  We had a team called Arsenal which had good defenders that passed on to their midfielders and strikers and they beat my team Manchester United 3 – 0.  If as legislators here learn that we are the midfielders, let us pass the through- pass properly to the implementers so that policies are guarded accordingly and are acted upon.  I thank you Madam Speaker.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY SPEAKER

ZANU PF PARTY CAUCUS MEETING

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order, order.  All Zanu PF Members

of Parliament are requested to attend a caucus meeting at Zanu PF

Headquarters at Ten o’clock a.m. tomorrow.  This message is from the Chief Whip.  Thank you.

*MRS. MANGWENDE: Thank you Madam Speaker.  I want to

thank the movers of this motion, Hon. Mutomba seconded by Hon. Dziva.  In his speech, His Excellency the President talked about several issues but I will confine myself to the prevalence of rape cases.   These rapists are even raping children as young as ten years old.  Rape is akin to murder, so these rapists deserve deterrent sentences of even up to 40 years.  Men are deliberately raping young girls and society should frown upon this because in the past, people used to walk naked and they could even swim in the same swimming pool nude and no rape took place.  I urge that there be a mandatory sentence of 40 years imprisonment with labour for any rapist who perpetrates the offence against ten year olds.

I find rape to be very repulsive, for example, the one that was committed by the guard at the Les Brown Swimming Pool who raped an 18 year old girl twice under the guise that it was too cold for her to swim.  As all hon. members in this House, we should speak with one voice deploring rape.

Madam Speaker, on the issue of health, if it were possible medical aid societies should be able to pay service providers.  We do not want to see the current trend like at Westend Hospital where you are made to queue to receive treatment as if you are at Harare Hospital.  I urge the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to ensure that once our contributions as civil servants are deducted, they be remitted to the relevant authorities so that we can then access the treatment that we rightfully deserve.  I thank you.

  1. P. MASUKU:  Thank you Madam Speaker, for affording me

this opportunity.  The President spoke about acceleration of the alignment of laws into the new Constitution but sadly, the process is very slow.  Madam Speaker, as the nation celebrates that we have a home grown Constitution, it is so sad that the Government is reluctant to expedite the process.   

It is notable that people are still waiting for provincial councils to be established.  Madam Speaker, as we speak now, we are in the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament without setting up these provincial councils.  In my view, people are going to judge us as dishonest people.  People spoke; what is provided in the Constitution, are the wishes of the people which we are supposed to observe and which the Government and the legislature should implement.  Madam Speaker, I therefore appeal to the Executive to have the political will to implement the provisions of the Constitution.

Madam Speaker, the President spoke about the provision of quality education as a key priority to the nation’s development.  I agree Madam Speaker but as we speak right now, we still have our pupils travelling very long distances in order to have access to education.  We also have a situation in our constituencies where schools are overcrowded and when they are overcrowded like that, parents are even forced to look for schools for their children elsewhere, with the situation that we currently have in the country of unemployment further burdening parents and guardians on transport costs.

Madam Speaker, as enshrined in our Constitution, education is a right to our children but as we speak now, those parents who are not employed cannot afford to pay school fees and examination fees.  I wish the Government should take note of that and do something about it.  On the same note, people are paying taxes; businesses are paying taxes to Government, these taxes should go towards assisting those who are not employed, social welfare should be capacitated in order to assist our people who are not employed.

Madam Speaker, on the issue of corruption – it has been said that corruption is bad but it looks like it is becoming a talk show because our people want to see results and action.  They do not want to hear anyone talking about corruption, they know that there is a high level of corruption in our country but they want to know what we are doing as a nation about it.

Madam Speaker, on the issue of health, the health sector is compounded with numerous challenges.  There is no medication in our hospitals, there is poor food quality – somebody who is sick is just given sadza without relish.  It is so sad, where we are expecting our people to get life in those hospitals but people are made to acquire almost everything in those hospitals.

Furthermore, what is disturbing is that when our people are discharged, there is overwhelming pressure on people to settle their bills yet we are all aware that with the high levels of unemployment, where are they are going to get that money?  I am appealing to the Government to look at this issue like in the case of Mpilo, UBH, we have heard of cases where when patients want to be discharged, they are told to pay half down.  It is so sad, I am again appealing to the Government to be so serious about this thing and it has to take care of its people because that is the role of Government. Thank you.

  1. MUDARIKWA: Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for

allowing me to present my response to the Address by His Excellency the President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe.  I would also want to thank Hon. Mutomba for his response.

The issue at stake which I want to deal with is the ease of doing business.  How do we fare as a nation when we want to do business and what is business? Business is the ability of converting resources for your personal benefit and national benefit.  As a country, we have put certain laws that make us admire poverty – when you admire poverty; you are a victim of your own ignorance.  Statutory Instruments in this country are now being used to amend the Principal Acts.  We have minerals in this country where everybody who is able-bodied will be able to do something on those minerals but they cannot do anything because of the challenges that I am going to explain now.  For example, Statutory Instrument 56 of 2014 sets a figure of US$4 000 to be paid by somebody who is a prospector.  If you want to register as a prospector, you must pay US$4 000 which is equivalent to R5000 and yet the same situation in South Africa, you only pay R500.

Then there is special prospecting licence for a particular area, again the figures are unheard of, you pay US$5 000.  We have got diamonds in this country and they will never be put to use because nobody will ever come and mine diamonds here, unless that person is partnered with ZMDC.  However, we want independent diamond miners; they have to fork out US$1 million to get a licence.  This money is paid to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.  When you want to export; export brings new money to the economy.  You will have to pay an export licence of US$10 000 per quarter, which is US$40 000 per year and then there are these people who are milling gold serving our communities by mining gold in rural areas.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon. member!  I would like to

remind hon. members that if you are in this House, you are not supposed to attend to your cell phone.  If I see any one doing that, I will not hesitate to send them out.  At least, if you want to be listened to when debating, then listen to others whilst they are debating.  Please respect others so that you will be also respected.

  1. MUDARIKWA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker. In

West Africa, when I went to Ghana, gold panning is taken as an issue that has to do with human rights because it is a poverty alleviation programme. How do we alleviate poverty? The first thing is to look around for resources that are available for our people to use, and that is gold. So, all these things do not come to Parliament, they come via Statutory Instruments. I am just giving you the critical ones. Mining involves explosions. If you want to store explosives at your mine, you must pay US$5 000.00, a licence just for keeping explosives. All this money does not go to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. After you have paid all this, in the event that you have discovered the minerals in

National Parks, there is an element of double taxation.

The National Parks, Statutory Instrument 79 of 2015, Small Scale

Active Miners; for them to get a mining permit, for example in

Mupfurudzi Game Park, they have to pay US$4 000.00. Who can afford US$ 4 000.00? If you are to convert it into mombes in the rural areas, how many mombes do I have to give to Government for me to start mining? The issue that we also have to deal with as legislators, because

His Excellency, the President emphasised on the ease of doing business.

There is an element Madam Speaker of double taxation. Statutory Instrument 72 of 2009, what it now demands is that there is a shortage of electricity in this country. You will now import a generator to augment your electricity. EMA comes and say you have to pay for the emission of that generator, something like US$9 000 per quarter, which is US36 000.00 per year and yet when we import diesel, there is carbon tax which amounts to 0.013% of the amount of diesel that you have imported.

The same EMA issued out a licence for me to carry fertilizer to the mine. They now categorise fertilizer as a hazardous substance. Since when has ammonium nitrate been a hazardous substance? I started seeing it when I was a small boy. It was there but it is now being categorised as a dangerous hazardous substance. You have to pay a permit of US$500.00 and also pay another storage permit of US$600.00. What we are looking at is how do we get investors coming into a country where left, right and centre, you continue paying? The idea of establishing a business is to make profits. All this money is not regulated. These are some of the problems, the ease of doing business. As Parliament, we must have a situation where certain Statutory Instruments yes, have to come to the legal committee, but they must also go to the relevant committees that deal with that particular area.

Madam Speaker, His Excellency the President, on the 22 Bills, 14 of them are all economic Bills, which shows the desire and the need for economic development in Zimbabwe. It is our duty as hon. members to look at these things. Bills must not just pass through Parliament. We must look at them in different committees and see where our people are being disadvantaged. We must also look at the immediate benefits for the people of Zimbabwe. Economy is not about foreigners, it is about the Zimbabweans. In the struggle, we used to say none but ourselves. We are our own liberators. We must also be our own economic liberators.

All of us here must be saying I am doing something, am producing maize and I have got two dairy cows. I hear people are crying that things are tough. Yes, zvinhu zvaoma. We agree that things are expensive but in that process of expensive things in the cycle, what are you coming up with? What are you holding and say this is my product as Simbaneuta Mudarikwa and I want to sell it at this price. Those are the issues that we look at. Economic development is about collective responsibility. The other thing Madam Speaker that I have always mentioned in this august House is the propensity by our people of wanting to import. We have imported everything left, right and centre. We import tomatoes, sweet potatoes, magogoya and everything yet we have people from

Mashonaland East, UMP, Mudzi, Mutoko, Seke, Chinamhora and Goromonzi who are producing equally better tomatoes than those coming from South Africa.

The disadvantage that we now have is that we have a strong dollar. Our dollar is working at US$1 is to R15. So anyone from South Africa comes and brings tomatoes to Mbare/Musika and sells them for US$1, has got R15. To him, he has made money. He removes R5 for transport and he remains with R10, which is a lot of money. But, our situation is different because of many hangers-on. It is now very difficult for our farmers to come from the communal lands because they have to pay a $1 which is R15 for transport. They expect to sell the same box of tomatoes at US$3 but, US$3 is R45. So we have a situation because the rand is weaker every day. The people in South Africa now prefer to sell most of their commodities. We must be able to control our borders because you cannot come from Zimbabwe and sell something in South Africa, they will not accept it.

All these supermarkets which are importing products from South

Africa, my good advice to them is that they must also import customers. They must bring buses of people from South Africa to come and buy from them. We have agreed with our people, one of the major vegetable importers which have opened shops all over Harare. We are going to organise a demonstration. Our people are going there to beat drums over night, putting tomatoes at the gate so that they can see that we have the capacity to produce these vegetables. Money must not be allowed to leave this country when we have got the things.

The other thing Madam Speaker is that it is so important that Zimbabweans as a nation, work together to achieve certain objectives that benefit everybody. We must not be seen as hon. members when things that relate to the economy are being discussed, we just take things easy. Poverty must be your number one enemy because when you are poor and have no money in your pocket, if somebody says hey, you will say ah! Inini here, because you are not settled. So as hon. members, we must try our level best to do what His Excellency, the President is encouraging us to do to deal with these 14 economic Bills  for the benefit of this country, for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe because the only way we can add value to our products is to make sure that the little bit that we produce is protected.  There is nothing that is known as free trade.  Free trade areas do not exist because I tried to export tomatoes to South Africa during the difficult times and the South African Government told me that they would not allow me to bring tomatoes into their country because they also had farmers who were producing tomatoes.  The Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce must never at any given time issue permits to import vegetables only.  If there are no vegetables, let us not eat vegetables then we create a demand and a price.  In economics, they say the more the demand then the price of the commodity increases, thereby benefitting our farmers.

Finally, there is the issue of GMB and our banks.  GMB takes maize from the farmer but does not pay the farmer.  How does it expect the farmer to go back to the field?  I went to Mutoko for a funeral and though I am no longer a Minister, they still call me Minister.  They were saying the Minister has arrived. - [Laughter]

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. member, you are left

with 4 minutes.

  1. MUDARIKWA:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  The honour

of being a minister Madam Speaker, I will never turn it down because once a minister you will always be a minister.  They felt a senior Government official had arrived and their message had to go through to him.  I was ready to accept their message and with your indulgence Madam Speaker, allow me just to sing what they were saying. They sang dzimba mbiri dzandakavenga mhanduwe, GMB, GMB nebank.               

-[Laughter]

So, they were expressing their anger on what GMB and the banks are doing to them.  As a nation we must also realise that those people out there are 80% of our population and they also need money.  When the money is available, we must ensure that the rural areas access the money first, so that they benefit.  We must also have a process in place of securitizing.  We have 5 million cattle in Zimbabwe and if we insure all the cattle, we can use that as collateral.  Everybody will be able to borrow a minimum of US$5000 and then the nation can move forward.

We do not want a situation where we have a corner with rich people and another corner with very hungry people.  I do not believe in witchcraft but when you are enjoying yourself while you have a very poor neighbour and every night you dance to music and when you fry the aroma goes next door, obviously they will try something to deal with you.  This is because there is no economic democracy, which can only be addressed by allowing our people to participate fully in the economy.  His Excellency has laid this down to us as hon. members and it is our duty to map the way forward so as to benefit our people in our constituencies and in Zimbabwe as a whole.

I want to say thank you very much to those who were listening and to those who were not listening but were on their phones because they never disrupted my speech.  Thank you very much.

  1. CHAKONA: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to

debate on this motion by Hon. Mutomba.  Firstly, I would like to express my condolences to the Mahlangu and Tsogorani families that lost our dear honourables.

I would also like to thank the President for addressing us and for his astute leadership of this country.  In his address, I have a few things that I feel need to highlight.  Firstly in terms of health, because of the sanctions that this country is experiencing, the health sector is heavily under-funded.  I would like to mention that most health care facilities are running short of medication and equipment mostly to carry out certain tests that are specific to certain diseases.  I would like to mention that I lost my mother at Ndanga District Hospital just because they did not have a glucometer, which under normal circumstances costs US$60 here in Harare.  If I had access to buy that machine at that point in time, I could have saved my mother’s life.

I also lost my own son almost at the same time just because a hospital failed to test his CD4 count.  These are practical examples that we see in the health sector and this is continuing on a daily basis.  If you visit Parirenyatwa or Gomo (Harare Central) Hospital right now, it is exactly the same thing.  We are losing lives; people who are supposed to be alive are dying.    My proposal is that at every Government hospital, if it is possible, let us allow private people to set up pharmacies so that whatever is not available at the hospital, at least somebody can rush and buy that at the pharmacy and save a life.

The President spoke about the construction of a hospital for veterans of the liberation struggle.  However, this hospital is going to be based here in Harare.  If you look at it, our war veterans are dotted throughout the country and my proposal is that at every district hospital, we set up a ward which specifically looks after the interests of the war veterans.  I say so because most referral hospitals have a ward for the military personnel, which means if a soldier falls ill he/she is admitted into a military ward.  I am proposing that we use the same facility for the veterans of the liberation struggle.

One other thing that I have also noted is that as much as war veterans are getting pensions for their role during the liberation struggle, the collaborators and some detainees are not receiving anything to that effect.  I am therefore proposing that in line with the new Constitution which now recognises the three arms of our liberation struggle, that is the war veterans, detainees and the collaborators as veterans of the liberation struggle, that they also receive a token of appreciation by way of a pension for their role during the liberation struggle.

Madam Speaker, I come from Masvingo province and I drive every week to Masvingo and to my constituency in Zaka.  Veld fires are basically wreaking havoc on an annual basis and this menace is continuing unabated.  I saw this other day that anybody who starts a veld fire should be sentenced to 5 years compulsory imprisonment without an option of a fine.  However, since I have seen these veld fires developing at any stage, I have never heard of anybody who has been arrested and tried despite the rampant commencement of these fires destroying vast tracks of land, vegetation, animals, people and also sustainable livelihood of people. In that regard, I would like to call upon the

Environmental Management Agency (EMA) to do something to stop this ecological catastrophe that continues to destroy our environment.

Mr. Speaker, we have got a very sound policy in education which stipulates that no child failing to pay school fees should be sent back home. However, in my constituency only 25% of the pupils pay school fees. Last night, I was watching television and I saw Hon. Beremauro at a school, and it was reported that only 33% of the pupils at that school pay school fees. I would like to call upon the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to find something that they can do to encourage parents to pay school fees. There is no development in schools with a lot of hot-sitting, infrastructure dilapidation; a lot of school’s roofs are blown off especially during the coming season where a lot of schools may lose roofs simply because of lack of maintenance and the only way schools can be maintained is when fees are paid, and headmasters have access to funds to maintain infrastructure as well as expanding that same infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I said I am from Masvingo Province. We have the Beitbridge-Chirundu road, which has been on the cards for a long time. I am glad that the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development responsible for roads is in this House. On a weekly basis, as we drive to

Masvingo, we see and experience a lot of accidents and it is by the grace of the Lord that none of the Members of Parliament has actually been involved in an accident over the past three years that we have been coming here. However, I would like to over-emphasise that the dualisation of this road Mr. Speaker Sir, is a must and it is actually way behind schedule.

I also noted that whilst ZINARA is doing a sterling job in disbursing money for road maintenance to rural district councils, citing as an example our own rural district council, we have a total of about

140 000 kilometres of dirty road in my constituency. When I calculated the diesel that is required to grade those kilometres, it comes to 7 500 litres. When you translate that in momentary terms, it works out to slightly above $8 000. So far, our rural district council has received $48 000 from ZINARA. If I divide this by four constituencies in our district, it works to $12 000 per constituency. I want to tell you Mr. Speaker that half, if not less than a quarter of that money, has actually been disbursed towards road maintenance. In that regard, I am calling upon ZINARA to look for a better way of actually dealing with road maintenance, instead of giving that money to rural district councils because I believe they are not putting that money to good use and I think there is a better way of doing it.

Mr. Speaker Sir, there is an issue to do with network coverage when it comes to ICT. The ICT sector is the fastest growing sector in the world including Zimbabwe. In that regard, people are now using more and more modern methods of communication for several uses such as communicating, for monetary transactions, purposes of downloading or accessing information for educational purposes, business, medical and et cetera. However, I am from a rural constituency where certain areas in my constituency do not have access to network and it could be any of the three network operators. However, we also have the Universal Services Fund (USF) which every network operator subscribes to POTRAZ so that the money can be used to build towers for use by network operators in such areas as my constituency. For the past three years or even before I became a Member of Parliament, we have not seen one tower constructed using USF in our district. I do not know about other districts. I am therefore calling upon POTRAZ to do something in terms of rolling out base stations using the Universal Services Fund so that rural communities can also have access to network and ICT services.

Whilst we are on that sector Mr. Speaker, the ICT sector worldwide, governments are doing everything possible to put legislation and statutory instruments that promote the growth of the sector as it is the fastest growing sector as we speak. However, here, there is no engagement between players and Government so that the enabling legislation, as well as statutory instruments can be put in place so that it promotes the growth of that particular sector because it is the fastest growing and is supposed to be creating more employment.

Unfortunately, as we witnessed a few weeks back when the notorious three months notice judgment was passed in the High Court, a number of network operators actually had to downsize instead of increasing labour. This is all as a result of the kind of legislation or policies that we are putting in place which are not user friendly to the ICT sector. I am therefore calling upon this Third Session to look closely at the policies or laws that may affect the ICT sector so that it grows instead of shrinking.

One good example Mr. Speaker Sir is the reduction in tariffs, which is a welcome development to users but however, it needed to be in line with operational costs which are prevailing at this point in time and also the emergency of OTT services that are actually dominating the ICT sector at the moment. At the same time, we also needed to take cognisance of the developments that are taking place in the ICT sector worldwide.

My constituency lies in region 5 and 6, and last year we had below normal rainfall which resulted in a number of families harvesting very little and in some instances, nothing at all. At this stage, as I am here right now, a lot of families have run out of food and we are therefore calling upon Government to basically look, especially at the vulnerable groups and the under privileged so that they have access to food to avert starvation in our constituencies.

Mr. Speaker, I watched with a lot of excitement the Labour Act as it passed through this Parliament. I did not have an opportunity to debate on the motion. However, since it was mentioned by the President and in his own words he said, we did not extensively consult the employees and the employers.  I believe the issue of employment is one that is between an employer and an employee and we needed to take our time to listen to these two groups so that we come up with a conclusive and effective labour law.

Mr. Speaker, Botswana, South Africa and Zambia are our neighbours …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order hon. member,

you are left with five minutes.

  1. CHAKONA:  Thank you, I believe we needed to scrutinize our neighbour’s Labour Acts so that we come up with a hybrid that addresses the needs and requirements of the employer as well as the employee, et cetera.  So I believe that this has to be revisited.

Mr. Speaker, in my province we also have the Chingwizi crisis and

I stand to believe that most of the resolutions to this crisis hinge around Government that is not availing land and facilities for the final resettlement of those people.  I am calling upon Government, at this stage, to really look at the plight of the people in Chingwizi who are more than suffering.

In conclusion Mr. Speaker, the word ‘sanctions’ has been spoken on several occasions and others have also come up with different terms to describe this animal called sanctions.  I believe at this stage, in this Third Session of this Parliament, it is time for the people of Zimbabwe to once upon a time speak with one voice.   We have felt, seen and realised the effects of sanctions as they have ravaged through this economy and country.  A lot of our people are now suffering as a result of sanctions.

Mr. Speaker, we are having problems in the health and manufacturing sectors.  A lot of hon. members have been talking about reviving the Bulawayo industries but even if we are to revive industry, how are we going to run it without electricity?  How are we going to run it when there are sanctions around us?  How are those people going to trade internationally when there are sanctions around them?   I hear a lot of members from Bulawayo making so much noise about the revival of industry.  The revival of industry can only be effected when sanctions are lifted and are not part of this nation.

It is my final call that as Members of Parliament, let us speak with one voice on this matter that is supposed to unite us as the people of Zimbabwe.  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA:  On a point of order Mr.

Speaker, I understand the air conditioning system is not working and if you look around this room, there is not even one window, there is no ventilation or anything.

May we therefore, ask that at least the doors be opened, otherwise we literally are going to faint because it is just not possible.  There is absolutely no ventilation at all and these windows cannot be opened.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  I do not feel like we do not have enough air flowing into the room. – [MRS. MISIHAIRABWIMUSHONGA: Inaudible interjection] -  Alright, we will look into that

later.

MRS. RUNGANI:  Mr. Speaker, I move that the debate do now

adjourn.

  1. CHIRISA:  I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Wednesday, 7th October, 2015.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

UPDATE ON CURRENT POWER SITUATION

THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER

DEVELOPMENT (DR. UNDENGE):  Thank you Mr. Speaker, may I

take this opportunity to address the House on the current power situation.

Mr. Speaker Sir, hon. Members of Parliament in this august House are well aware that the country is facing power shortages and this has been a phenomenon since 2004.  Most of our power is supplied by

ZESA Holdings which runs five power stations.  These are namely

Kariba South Hydro Power Station which generates 750mw; Hwange Thermal Power Station with an installed capacity of 920mw and three small plants which are Harare Thermal Power Station; Bulawayo Thermal Power Station and Munyati Power Station with a total installed capacity of 320mw.

Hon. members, the three small thermal power stations were commissioned between 1946 and 1958 and have since reached their designed life.  They are now in a deteriorated state with most of the plants requiring either life extension measures or complete replacement.  It will be recalled that at one point all three were once decommissioned only to be refined again.  This is why we have decided to refurbish them.  The last unit at Hwange was commissioned in 1987 and hence, is more than 25 years which generally is the designed life of thermal power plants.

You should therefore, understand the frequent breakdowns which we experience at the plants although of late, this has drastically worsened.  Hon. members, the power demand reached a historic peak of 2200mw in 1996 and fortunately, during those days we could easily import from the region and we met this demand.  Our maximum demand is therefore more or less around 2000mw and this is achieved only in the winter period when there is increased demand for heating as well as irrigation of wheat.  Our current maximum demand is around 1610mw due to low capacity utilisation in industry and mining compared to 1996.

The prevailing situation at Kariba was predicted around April, this is the month when the lake is filled to its maximum capacity.  The Zambezi River Authority which manages both the lake and the dam on behalf of Zimbabwe and Zambia alerted the two governments of the low water flows into the lake and the need to sparingly use the water.  It should be noted that the catchment area of the Zambezi River spurns up to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and hence, the water flows are not determined by our own rainfall patterns alone.

To this day, water is still flowing into the Zambezi river from the north but we are drawing more water than what is flowing in, hence the continued decline in the water level.

Hon. members, we did not ignore the recommendations of the Zambezi River Authority.  As we were approaching the high demand winter period, we took a conscious decision to run the plant at full capacity in winter and then reduce the power output after this period so as not to drastically disrupt the winter crop.  I gave weekly briefings on the water situation at Kariba to Cabinet.

Mr. Speaker, scheduled maintenance works at Hwange were also suspended during winter.  Load shedding was therefore very minimum in winter and you are all witness to this.  The prolonging of scheduled maintenance at Hwange, however came at a cost which we are now experiencing.  Now that we are past the high demand period, we have reduced the water consumption to allow for an average generation of 475 mega watts at Kariba.  At this generation level, we will not surpass our allocated share for the year 2015.  The suspended maintenance works have been re-scheduled such that as I speak, Unit 1 at Hwange Power Station has been out for more than a month to allow for the critical maintenance work.

The unit should return to service in the next two weeks.  Barring the unpredictable breakdowns – we expect to have five units at Hwange running most of the time giving us an average of 600 mega watts.  The expected supply will average 1 195 mega watts inclusive of the usual 70 mega watts from the small plants and the same 50 mega watts which we import from Mozambique.  The capacity shortfall at peak will then be 400 mega watts.  However, we have some unavoidable contractual export obligations of 80 mega watts to Namibia.

Hon. members, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is clear from the above facts that load-shedding is unavoidable.  The intensity however depends on the performance of Hwange Power Station.  We are now working on a raft of measures for us, at least to revert to the winter period loadshedding schedules.  The measures which we are taking include the following:-

  • Generation of power at the four thermal power stations, particularly at Hwange Power Station must be maintained at very high levels so as to supplement the limited generation at Kariba Hydro Power Station.
  • Noting that there are some large users of power such as Mimosa, Unki, Zimplats, ZIMASCO, Zim Alloys and Afroshin et cetera, these are to be asked by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority

(ZESA) to drop load by up to 25% on the basis of existing contracts.  It would be up to these large power users to decide on which areas of the operations to load-shed.  This is expected to yield 25 mega watts.

  • We will also ask other departments including of course, ZNA and ZRP to load-shed what we call non-critical and residential loads at the institutions so that we share the burden.
  • We will also undertake increased power saving awareness campaigns for commercial offices and premises, Government buildings and schools so that they switch off as befits the current situation.
  • The 40 mega watts which we are currently availing to Sable Chemicals, we are going to divert it to other users. This alone, if we take such a measure, we are going to reduce Harare’s load-shedding to about six hours per day compared to the current 18 hours.  So that is going to be drastically reduced.
  • Speaker Sir, it is conceded that the local production of ammonium nitrate would stop as a result of this action. The product will have to be imported.  Let me point out at this juncture that energy sector is a liberalised one.  We also encourage our big companies to also import power wherever they can source it from, being operating in a liberalised market.
  • We are also going to distribute or share the load-shedding equally, for example, in the CBD areas; we have noticed that if we have a roll-out of 30 minutes black-outs, we are going to save a lot of power that way without disrupting any life.
  • We are exploring the possibility of importing emergency from the region. In fact, we are negotiating in the region.  There is what is called ‘the day-ahead market’ where we can arrange excess power using what we call the Southern African Power Pool of which we are a member; and that Southern African Power Pool is going to extend to East Africa as well.
  • The next measure which we encourage is the switching off of geysers during peak demand period using the ripple control system and we reckon that such a measure will save and release 42 mega watts into households and industry. Perhaps, most of you were not aware of this and being Parliament, you have the privilege to know.  In the 1980s, ZESA at peak demand had a system of just switching off your geysers without you noticing anything.  We call it ‘the ripple control system’, but of course now the gadgets at most homes have expired.  So we are going to install such systems so that during those peak periods, we switch off the geysers for a short time and it will not affect your daily lives.
  • I have already talked about the South African Power Pool and the day-ahead market. Speaker, you may be aware that on the 30th September, we launched the solar-geyser water heating system in which there are plans to replace existing geysers with solar powered geysers.  That is for all the existing households.
  • For new housing developments we are going to make it mandatory that they should be installed with solar geysers. This is a widely practiced system, Mr. Speaker Sir, if you go to Johannesburg, when you leave the Airport; you find that every household is installed with a solar geyser.  This system alone is going to save 300 megawatts by the time it is completed and that is equivalent to building a new power station, it is equivalent to what we call a virtual power station.
  • The beauty of this programme is that as we install the solar geysers, you will be actually taking the load from the national grid. In the first 6 months, when we start implementing the programme, we can move up to 30 megawatts which we will save. By the end of the first two years, we reckon we would have saved even 100 megawatts.  By the time we complete the programme, we would have saved around 300 megawatts.
  • Speaker Sir, you will agree with me that energy is the main enabler of the ZIM ASSET goals; we are therefore making every effort to increase its availability. The measures I have alluded to above are immediate measures.  We have also identified medium quick win projects which we are vigorously pursuing and are well on the way to being implemented.  These measures should add up to 340 megawatts to the national grid within the next 36 months.  The first one includes the re-powering of the Bulawayo Thermal Power Station where the Government of Zimbabwe has already secured a line of credit valued at US$87 million dollars from the Government of India.
  • The re-powering works will add 60 megawatts into the grid and will take 24 months. We also have the Harare re-powering projects which will costs US$70, 2 million and of course, we were expecting financing from the India Exim Bank.  This project will take 24 months to complete and it will add 90 megawatts to the national grid.  The Munyati re-powering project went to tender and adjudication is currently taking place, the construction period will be 24 months and it will add 70 megawatts to the national grid.
  • Speaker Sir, we also have the Mutare emergency peaking plant which will run on diesel or gas, it is a peaking plant which will be operated at peak demand and it will produce 120 megawatts. The project costs will be US$92 million. The company which won the tender is doing final negotiations with ZESA so that it commences the construction.  The construction period is going to take about 18 months.
  • In addition, Mr. Speaker, the nation is already aware of the Kariba

Hydro Power Station, of which work is under way to build two new 150 megawatts units.  This will add 300 megawatts to the national grid; we expect the first unit to be completed by the end of 2017, and the second unit, in early 2018.  I think hon. members here, some of you may have witnessed the ground breaking ceremony when it took place in 2014.

  • We have the Hwange Thermal Power Station extension which will comprise unit 7 and 8. Each unit will produce 300 megawatts and the total will be 600 megawatts.  There is also the Gairezi small hydro power plant in Nyanga which will produce 30 megawatts.  Let me also take this opportunity Mr. Speaker Sir, to talk about the BATOKA Hydro Power Plant.  This is a project being jointly implemented by the Government of Zimbabwe and the Government of Zambia.  Feasibility studies have been done and we are now moving to the next stage of securing the contractors and the associated funding.  The total generation, the power output as I said will be 2 400 megawatts to be shared equally by the two respective countries.
  • As Government policy, we also encourage the private sector to participate in power generation under what we call Independent Power Producers. You can become an independent power producer, then sell your power to ZESA to the national grid; you will negotiate a power purchasing agreement with ZESA.  So, anyone is free here to

go and produce electricity, sell it to ZESA, which is one way of alleviating the power shortage.

  • We have a series of people who have expressed interest to produce electricity under Independent Power Producers. The first one is the

600 megawatt project by China Africa Sunlight at the confluence of Gwai and Shangani Rivers.  The other one is the 600 megawatt plant proposed by Southern Energy Thermal Power Station at Hwange; the other one is the Lusulu Thermal Power Station proposed at Binga.  Of late, we have the Lubu Thermal Power Station again in Binga proposed by Sable Mining and a company from China called City.  Then we have 2 400 megawatts at Sengwa Thermal Power Station in Gokwe, this is a private sector initiative.

  • Apart from these mega schemes, we also have small hydro independent power projects. We have Pungwe B scheme which is already producing 15 mega watts but because of the water levels which are low in the dam, they are producing less than 4 mega watts.  We also have Pungwe A, it produces 3 mega watts; there is also Duri and Nyamhingura.  So, we encourage our investors to utilise the various rivers dotted around the country to produce power.  In fact production of power is one of the lucrative sectors to invest in.

Mr. Speaker Sir, one way of reducing demand is to use the available power more efficiently, all sectors of the economy to use energy efficiently so as to reduce demand hence lessening the burden of load-shedding. As Government, we have adopted the following measures to reduce power demand now and in the medium term. The first measure we have banned the inefficient incandescent lighting, serving lighting. I am not talking about the Manicaland Air force Mom Hindi. So this will save 70 megawatts.

Mr. Speaker, incandescent lighting is one of the most inefficient systems and we have moved away from that technology to new technology. For example, led lights this saves electricity up to 70%. That simple switch on its own, cumulatively, we are going to save 70 megawatts. Another measure is developing energy efficient regulations for industry, mining, agriculture and the commercial sector. The other measure is that we are encouraging and promoting the use of LPG gas for cooking in order to conserve power…

An hon. member having passed between the Chair and the hon. member speaking.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, hon. member, you may

not cross the line between the Speaker and the Chair.

  1. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker, perhaps Zimbabwe is still one of the few countries which is relying on cooking using electricity energy. Most countries now use gas for cooking. That is why we are promoting the use of LPG gas. Zimbabwe also has enormous solar energy potential which if exploited, can supply approximately 10 000 gigawatt hours of electrical energy per year. We are looking at the potential, just looking at the sun, it is a God given resource when you measure the energy it can produce, that comes to 10 000 gigawatt hours.

Mr. Speaker Sir, Cabinet has taken a decision to increase the use of solar energy for electricity as well as provision of heat. The energy regulator has licenced a number of IPP solar projects with a total installed capacity of 150 megawatts, which are at various stages of development. In addition, the Government intends to install 300 megawatts of 100 megawatts each in Gwanda, Insukamini and Munyati. However, it has been two years and no tender has yet been awarded due to the bureaucratic processes at the State Procurement Board. I have since sought the authority of Cabinet to assess the technical and financial capacities of the tendering companies so that we short-list them and I go back to Cabinet with recommendations so that Government can take a decision.

Mr. Speaker, last week I left Parliament to prepare for the launching of the Solar Water Heating Programme. Water heating has been identified as one of the major components of electricity consumption. If you look at your bills, you find that you pay 40% for the electric geyser which you are using. That is why we have embarked on this programme of putting in solar geysers. It will benefit the consumers, ZESA and the country in the sense that we are going to save electricity and divert it to other areas where it is needed most.

I have also directed ZESA Enterprises to start on a programme to produce geysers. We are not going to have monopoly in the production of geysers. We want more players. There are already other players producing geysers, but because we are embarking on a massive programme, I have directed ZESA so that it also produces the geysers. I have decided to brief the House on the power situation in the country so that hon. members here present are well versed on the situation and go and take this information to their constituencies for the benefit of both the benign and the malign so that everyone in the country is well informed on what the current power situation is. I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-

  1. GONESE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I would like to begin by saying at least the Minister has now come to this House. We have been expecting him for quite a long time to clarify these matters, and as we usually say, it is better late than never. We are happy that he has finally come. I want to get some clarification from the Minister. Firstly, I would like the Minister to clarify for us if Government was informed by the Zambezi River Authority as long back as April? This is because I was told that as the Minister, he was reporting to Cabinet on a weekly basis but it appears that Cabinet or Government did not take any contingency measures to avoid the catastrophe that has now befallen us.

Secondly, why did the Executive feel that it was not necessary to sensitise members of the public about this impending crisis? I do not know whether it is manifestation of the fact that we want to have crisis management because all of a sudden, just like an electric shock, members of the public and ordinary residents suddenly found themselves without electricity for up to 18 hours a day. I wonder as to why Cabinet did not think it necessary to sensitise members of the public that this is the catastrophe that we were facing?

I would also want him to clarify for us what the cost benefit analysis of exporting 80 megawatts to Namibia is. I know there is a contractual obligation but if the Minister can explain to us what is the benefit to the nation which made us to enter into that contract when we do not have enough power for our own purposes and even if the time when that contract was entered into, we probably did not have capacity to satisfy our own demand. More importantly, I would want to get some clarification as to the modalities regarding the replacement of electric geysers by solar geysers because I recall that the Permanent Secretary at one point in time, had indicated that the geysers were going to be banned, and he threatened that it was going to be as soon as this week. So the Minister can enlighten us as to how Government intends to replace those electric geysers with solar geysers? Is there going to be compensation for members of the public? Also if the Minister can also tell us if there is any truth to reports that His Excellency, the President has suggested that industries should operate at night? I do not know how that would work out. The Minister can clarify as to whether that is Government policy for industries to work at night. Those are the issues that I would want the Minister to clarify.

THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER

DEVELOPMENT (DR. UNDENGE): Thank you Mr. Speaker.  I

already have six questions which have been asked by Hon. Gonese.  Let me take them one at a time.  I welcome questions on energy.  As I said earlier on in my statement that energy is critical to the success of the other ZIM ASSET goals.  Let me correct one point.  We got aware of this issue that the water levels are dropping at Kariba through the Zambezi River Authority.  We were quite aware of that as long back as April because in April that is when the water levels start rising.

Mr. Speaker Sir, when I was appointed end of December because I have been there I think for about nine months now, we sat down and took a conscious decision.  We said that let us allow our people to have enough power in winter because winter is the period when we need electricity most – [AN HON. MEMBER:  What for?] – for irrigation and for heating our homes.  So, we agreed with the Zimbabwe River Authority to scale up production only in winter; then after winter to scale downward.  That was the plan and I was expecting hon. members to commend me for the steady supply of power in winter – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] - having done that, we are now in this period and we have taken these measures so that we continue to have a steady supply of power.  After we implement these measures, the cumulative effect is to reduce load shedding to four to five hours compared to where it had gone to.  These are immediate measures which we have embarked upon – [AN HON. MEMBER: Do you have the capacity?] – Mr. Speaker Sir, I am here to announce what we are doing and our team will work flat out and the results will be noticeable.  The reply to the hon. member’s question is to wait and see.

As regard to the fact that we have not been informing the nation, I wonder Mr. Speaker, how many hon. members here have televisions in their homes – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – there is always electricity alert bulletin which comes on television informing members that the water levels at Kariba are low.  Mr. Speaker, to be honest, I think hon. members do acknowledge that ZESA has been regularly publishing load shedding schedules even in newspapers – [AN. HON. MEMBER: Hakuna magetsi.] – if you do not watch television, do not tell me that you do not buy newspapers  - [AN HON. MEMBER: Hatina mari, hasila mali] - because there are these load shedding which are constantly published.

Of course, we do have contractual obligations with NamPower and sometimes when we have a situation of low generation, we do not export to them.  This is a contractual obligation, remember, it was Namibia which came to our rescue when we needed to refurbish Hwange Power

Station.  At one time, power generation at Hwange had gone down to 100 megawatts and it has been averaging between 400 and 600 megawatts over the past year.  The reason why power at Hwange Station had gone down is because the World Bank which was providing finance for the refurbishment for the maintenance of the Hwange Power Station stopped doing that after imposition of sanctions - [ HON. MEMBERS:

Inaudible interjections] ….

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order hon. members.

  1. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker, I have briefed people on the power situation and those are the facts I am stating to the House.

Let me now move to the second issue.  The modalities of geysers, I said in my statement that we are going to have four to five year programme of replacing existing geysers.  We are not going to ban geysers but what we have made mandatory is that for new housing developments, solar geysers must be put on them.  For existing electric geysers, we are going to have a programme where we will install them on a monthly basis until at the end of the four year programme.  Again, we have identified the Zimbabwe Bank, ZB which is prepared to offer loans – [HON. MEMBERS: To who?] – well to consumers.

Mr. Speaker, it is a simple scheme, the way it will work is that ZB will work in conjunction with ZESA, ZETDC and consumers.  If you want a geyser to be installed, you sign a loan and the amount which you used to pay for the electric geyser is the amount which you will divert to pay the loan until you finish that.  So you will not feel anything – [HON.

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - ….

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order, hon. members

on my left, if you continue making noise, I will not give you a chance to debate – [HON. T. KHUMALO: It is okay, it is okay, it is our right to debate] –Hon. T. Khumalo, let it be your last time to shout.

  1. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I said earlier on that the solar geyser market; the energy sector is a liberalised market. If you have your own cash, you can go and buy your solar geyser, install it at your house but we came up with a scheme to help those who do not have cash. The scheme is to help those who may wish to have a loan, we are going to enter into an agreement with ZB which you will sign a loan agreement with, the geyser is installed and you will pay gradually.  The amount of money which you were paying for your geyser which is 40% of your electrical bill will then go to pay for the loan so you will not feel anything.  That is for those who do not have cash – [HON. T.

KHUMALO: Ungakweretesa vanhu vakabuda mabasa 2008] – Those

people with installed geysers, they want to buy the geysers on their own.

Mr. Speaker Sir, a question was asked about industry.  There is a question on whether industries should operate at night.  It is a known fact Mr. Speaker that there are some industries which operate 24 hour shifts with those who operate at night this is encouraged. Some industries can decide to have greater production during the night when the supply of power is more steady than during the day. With these measures which we have taken, as I said, they are going to reduce load shedding to about 6 hours. I see no reason why companies cannot operate except those who want to have shifts –[AN HON MEMBER: When?]- You are asking that question for the second time and I am giving the answer for the second time  - wait and see! I thank you Mr.

Speaker Sir.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Let me join my

colleague in thanking the Minister for at least making sure that he does come in and we can engage on some of these things. I will not repeat what my colleague has raised. I am just going to ask a few questions for clarification.

The price of gas is quite expensive. What is it that Government is doing in the short term to ensure that those people that are going to be operating on renewable energy can afford because the LP gas that you are talking about is out of reach. You buy a small little tank and it costs about $25? What is it that Government is going to do?

Linked to that issue around gas and the issue on solar panels is  what is it that Government is doing in terms of importation of those things by individuals because as you go through the border right now, you are still being charged tax for anything that is a gas stove and anything to do with solar. A lot of people can buy solar panels because we do not have companies that are actually in the business of making solar panels, the only place you can go and buy is to buy from outside. In the short term, given the crisis that we do have, what is it that you are going to do?

The last one is to do with the issue of the scheduling of the load shedding. I hear you Minister in saying there have been adverts and yes some of us have seen those adverts in the paper but nothing about that schedule makes sense anymore. For example, you will find that different areas in a particular suburb – if you are staying in Borrowdale  and the other one is staying in Colne Valley, you can have a situation in which the other side of Borrowdale  is literally going 18 hours without electricity and the other one is cut down to about 9 hours or so. What is it that is happening around that particular scheduling because it does not deal with issues of equity? It is not clear.

Secondly, you cannot follow it through. Interestingly the smaller towns seem to be doing much better. I know that Gweru for example sticks to their schedule. Harare is not. What is the problem in sticking to a particular schedule and say these particular individuals will not have electricity during this particular time and these ones will have electricity during that time.

What is the issue around Saturday and Sunday? Industry does not work and it is not operating on weekends and yet you are still having the same periods that you have for 18 hours that you do have even when it is within the week. Those would be the issues that I would want  clarification on.

  1. UNDENGE: Let me commend those hon. members who

attended the launch of the Solar Water Heating Conference on the 30th of September 2015. All these issues were under the spotlight and we all agreed that we should encourage local production of solar geysers so that we beneficiate our resources and create employment because this is going to be a massive programme. We already have companies locally which are manufacturing solar geysers but the production capacity is still limited compared to the programme which we are embarking upon, hence my intervention to direct ZESA Enterprises to embark on production of solar geysers. I think we all want to promote local industries and such a big Government programme should be premised on local production.

The load shedding schedule which is there now will soon be a thing of the past –[ AN HON MEMBER: When is soon?] – These measures are immediate which are already being implemented. If you noticed in my presentation, I had immediate measures, short term measures, medium term and long term. That is how planning is done. Perhaps you will also notice that I have been more of a man of action than a talkative because I am coming with measures which I am announcing to hon. members here.

MRS. WATSON: Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you very much for acknowledging me. I would like to mention to the Minister that those of us who read The Herald last week got all that information. It is high on theory and low on facts –[HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- Mr. Speaker Sir, I believe that this is common cause that this is a national crisis and we should debate it to the fullest extent of our ability. The Minister was low on facts to do with thermal power stations that require water.

I think it is common cause that the power in this country is a national crisis. You have talked about ZIM ASSET on one hand and you have also talked about asking certain mining industries which have contributed to the growth of this country to reduce their power consumption. It does not make sense. You are high on theory, low on fact. Thermal power stations are in your short term plan. They require water.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your question?

MRS. WATSON: That is my question. Can the Minister please give us the facts? –[HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- my question is that could the Minister please give us specific facts with regard to the water consumption of thermal power stations which are his short term plan, when we are about to have a drought, when we already know that Kariba is struggling  - what is his short term plan? There are a lot of theories in what you have said but no facts. It is all very well to talk about installing solar geysers. What do they cost? Is it possible for the residents and citizens of this country in fact to afford them? There are no facts in what you have said, only theory. Your short-term, medium-term plan actually has holes in it.  There is also the question of how is the …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Watson.  Be clear

with your questions.

MRS. WATSON: How has the Minister explored the coal bed methane gas which is in Lupane?  Would that not be water efficient power source that would bring employment to a debilitated region very quickly because it is by the national – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –

  1. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I think some of the issues which the hon. member is asking have already been addressed in my speech.  Perhaps she was not listening carefully; I will give her a copy of my speech.  For example, she is asking about the cost and affordability and I have elaborately spoken about that when I said that there are those who cannot afford the geysers.  Financial schemes will come up, of which the money which they would have been paying for the electric geysers will be the amount they will pay for the geyser loan and the difference will be unnoticeable.  There is no better scheme than that.  Those with sufficient cash can go and buy your geyser and install.

The issue of whether we were not aware that the water levels at

Kariba are going down, I said we were fully aware of that and we planned that.  During winter, we will keep a steady supply of power to the nation and we will cut down during the summer period.  We are now taking these measures in order to alleviate the situation.  You were talking about other forms of gas, methane gas – that has been talked about ever since I can remember.  What is more immediate is to harness renewable energy, the sun, the hydro power which we have.

For methane gas, there are experimental programmes by private sector players which are installing the gas.  As I said earlier on, in the energy sector, you are allowed to go and invest and produce electricity.  Government is playing its part, you should also play your part as private investors to produce gas and conserve energy.  I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

  1. MARIDADI: I wish to join other hon. members in thanking the Minister for finally coming to Parliament to appraise the nation…

Hon. Misihairabwi – Mushonga having been speaking to another hon. member.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Misihairabwi –

Mushonga.

  1. MARIDADI: To appraise the nation on what is happening.  Mr. Speaker, when Ministers come to Parliament to give a Statement especially on something as crucial as the power situation, I think it is very important that Ministers speak from a factual point of view.  Mr. Speaker Sir, the energy sector is one sector that I follow constantly because I am an interested person in the energy sector of the world.

There is an energy crisis in the whole world, but you are not telling people the truth and you know it.  The Minister is…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order hon. member.  I think it

is un-parliamentary to say the Minister is not telling the truth.  May you withdraw that statement.

  1. MARIDADI: I withdraw. It is insincere for Government to start talking about small thermal power stations of Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati and the Minister knows it.  It is uneconomic to run those thermal power stations and…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Maridadi.  I have

given you a chance to ask a question, so be precise and to the point.

  1. MARIDADI: Hon. Minister, I want to ask you, you spoke about the three small thermal power stations, Harare, Munyati and Bulawayo and the amount of money that you are going to inject in resuscitating those small thermal power stations.  You speak about everything else but you did not speak about the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).  One of the biggest inputs into those small thermal stations is coal and we know the problems with NRZ. That is question number one.

Secondly, you spoke about Batoka, Mr. Speaker Sir, Batoka requires US$3billion and when it is completed, it will generate only 800 mega watts to be shared between Zimbabwe and Zambia.  There is no financing mechanism in place as we speak.  Batoka is a green-field project and it will take no less than seven years…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your question?

  1. MARIDADI: My question is, why should the Minister talk about Batoka when we are in the middle of a crisis? Batoka will take six to seven years for us to realise the fruits. Thirdly, the Minister knows as much as I do that Kariba Power Station is not a base-line power station, it is for picking up load. You are telling us about a generation project in Rusape for picking up load and yet you know that Kariba itself is for picking up load and not for base-line load.  Hon. Minister, I want you to explain to the nation why you are not telling the nation that; because we have a problem of water in Zimbabwe, we can never have a hydropower station that is for base load and Kariba is one such.

Fourthly, Hwange Power Station has always had a problem from the time when that project was conceived in 1972.  If the Minister does not know that, I do not know what he knows.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  What is your question?

  1. MARIDADI: My question is, why should the Minister come here and tell us about what is happening at Hwange when he knows that Hwange can never be reliable?  Hon. Minister, tell us about other measures…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! Order hon. member.

Minister, the last question does not arise.  May you answer the other questions?

  1. MARIDADI: I think it arises Mr. Speaker.  With all due respect Mr. Speaker, I think that question arises.
  2. UNDENGE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  The issue of the small thermal power plants, we said that they have been refurbished.  In the energy sector, the usual life of a plant is about 25 years and it can be extended.  What we are doing with the small thermal plants is to repower so that we increase the power generation.  For example, the repowering of the Bulawayo Thermal Power Station will make an additional 60 mega watts.  The repowering of the Harare project, we are going to produce an additional 90 mega watts and Munyati will have an additional of 70 mega watts.  These will take less than two years to complete and we will add a cumulative of about 240 mega watts immediately.

I have spoken about immediate measures, short-term, medium to long term.  The repowering and refurbishment of these thermal plants is medium term because it takes 24 months.  The Batoka project is a longterm project. He based his figures on the old projection of 1600 mega watts; it has since been revised to 2400 mega watts.  He has some knowledge in terms of the energy sector, but perhaps he is not up to date with what is happening.

I think this is the thrust; I have outlined to the nation the immediate measures which we are taking now, what we call reaping immediate fruits.  I have also outlined the short-term measures which we are taking and the medium to long term.  We must also look into the future demand and needs.  Mr. Speaker Sir, again his facts are actually wrong. The Hwange Power Station was not built in 1972. The first phase was built between 1983and 1986 - 1and 2; the other units it was first mooted in

1972 but it was not built …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Minister, speak to the Chair –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

  1. MANDIPAKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to find

out from the Hon. Minister; given that at one time we heard the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Tsvangirai saying cut water, electricity and fuel. Do you rule out the possibility of sabotage in the levels of the water that is pumping electricity?

  1. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the purpose of a

Parliamentarian is to come up with measures, laws and to promote issues which would make life better for our people. I do not think we exist as Parliamentarians to punish our own citizens.  We are there to make life better for the Zimbabwean people. If anyone who is a politician goes against that grain, then that is contrary to the bona fide existence of a politician. I thank you. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, I will give a chance to

Hon. Mlilo and Hon. Majome and then questions are over. I thank you.

ENG. MLILO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, ..

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to understand what basis your ruling based is upon, to say that you will only give certain Members of Parliament an opportunity to ask questions on power? Are you intimating that my constituency has got nothing to do with the problems of power in this country such that I can stand up and want to ask a question and then you rule me out? I want to understand that Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order hon. member, you

should bear in mind that we only give a few questions and it is at the discretion of the Speaker. So, I have made a ruling and that ruling stands.

  1. D.P.  SIBANDA: Where do we draw that Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. may you take a seat.

  1. P. N. SIBANDA: In terms of what section Mr. Speaker, do we draw that?

THE TEMPOROARY SPEAKER: You take your sit.

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: No, no, I will not take my seat Mr. Speaker Sir, my Constituency is waiting to hear these questions about power and therefore, I am not going to take that. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-

Where do you draw that power from Mr. Speaker Sir? –[AN HON.

MEMBER: Chisarai.] –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order hon. member, take your

seat.

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: I am a member of this House and I am entitled to air my opinion and therefore …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Sibanda, may you

take a seat.

  1. P. N. SIBANDA: No, no, Mr. Speaker Sir, I think Mr.

Speaker, you are not above the law, the Standing Orders and you need to justify your decision based on specific orders. You do not have to just make an order just because you are the Speaker. You need to satisfy me because I represent a constituency.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Sibanda, resume your

seat. If I make a ruling, it has to be respected. I have made a ruling and it is final.

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: What is the basis?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are only given a few

questions to ask the Minister …

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: Where is that coming from Mr. Speaker Sir, I have got a right - No Mr. Speaker, I think we do not need to abuse whatever powers …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I have told you, I have made a

ruling. May you please go outside.

  1. D. P. SIBANDA: What is the basis of your ruling?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May you take him outside.

  1. D. P. SIBANDA: I am going but what is the basis of your ruling?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I have allowed enough

questions and I may not continue.

  1. D.P. SIBANDA: No, no - enough questions from Binga! Did you get any questions from Binga?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May you please leave the

Chamber?

  1. D. P. SIBANDA: I am not leaving this House until I get; justification [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]-

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May you leave the Chamber

[AN. HON. MEMBER: Nyararai mhani.]-

Mr. D.P. SIBANDA was escorted out of the Chamber  by the

Sergeant-At-Arms.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, when you stand

to respond, please stick to the question and be precise with your answers.

ENG. MLILO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity of giving my view with regards to the report that we have just received from the Minister of Energy and Power Development. Yes, the Minister of Energy and Power Development has got a very busy job right now in the sense that the crisis that we have is a bit catastrophic for the country. We would like to thank him for making time and coming to answer our questions here. We all know and are all aware that in Zimbabwe, we have water crisis.

THE TEMPORARY SPKEAKER: Order, what is your

question?

ENG. MILO: My question Mr. Speaker Sir, is with regards to the roll-out of geysers. The price that might be there is a bit too far for the reach of many. What plans has the Ministry and the Minister put in place for mass rolling-out these geysers? If you look at our neighbours in South Africa, when they had a similar problem they were actually rolling out those geysers for free. What incentives are you going to give to the consumers for them to at least go and partake these geysers as a means of reducing power usage? I thank you.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, I think that question has

been dealt by the Minister.

  1. MAJOME: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for coming finally to Parliament to account to Members of Parliament about the crisis of power. I want to ask the hon. Minister firstly that, will his ministry and the Government now prioritise energy technology transfer from our friends the Chinese instead of prioritising military technology transfer like we have been doing. We have the Defence College there that I think Zimbabweans do not need to light up their houses. Will you now prioritise energy technology transfer from the Chinese because they are the leaders in the world as far as solar technology is concerned in terms of making it affordable? Will you prioritise that technology transfer for us to get cheaper solar power in terms of the needs of Zimbabweans and not military technology?

Secondly, are you going to rule by decree in terms of banning incandescent light bulbs and geysers? Are you thinking of issuing statutory instruments or legislation since you have been talking about banning and yet we are a society that prioritises the rule of law.

Thirdly, in this difficult crisis of loading shedding, why is it here in

Harare, I represent Harare West Constituency that has got Ward 41 and Ward 16, Malbereign, Marlborough, Bluffhill, Westlea and so on. We have those power cuts but people who live in Highlands never experience power cuts. They actually wonder what kind of country we live in. why is the load shedding schedule preponderant in other areas. What is so special about people in certain areas like Highlands? Why is it unfair?

Fourthly, is the hon. minister going to actually sit down with stakeholders who are affected by this big crisis of power in order to mitigate the very serious losses and the accidents that are happening in households and so on? Also, to look at areas, that is, to see how this severe power outage is affecting schools, hospitals or also even security and safety of residents and the muggings that are going on as well as the fires that are starting in houses when power surges come back and houses are being burnt. Is the hon. minister going to have a plan to actually call for a stakeholders meeting for the key areas that are affected by this very unusual crisis?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, question three

does not arise. You dealt with geysers extensively. You may answer the rest of the questions.

  1. UNDENGE: Well, she has asked a very pertinent question that we do have some areas – [MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA:

But I asked you that question.] – Mr. Speaker, she is putting too much attention on me -[Laughter.]- I seek your protection. She has mentioned a very pertinent point, for example, that we tend to have some areas with less load shedding hours. The policy is that there are critical institutions like hospitals and security areas which are not supposed to be cut-off from power supply. It so happens that we have some houses or areas where that supply line to a hospital or security area passes through. So, they cannot be cut off because the ultimate goal is to make sure that there is constant power supply to the hospital or area which must receive electricity. That explains that.

My presence here and the measures that I have announced is to make sure that we cut that load shedding from the current hours to about four or five hours. So, that heavy load shedding we are experiencing becomes a thing of the past. Those are the measures which we are immediately working on and the results will be seen soon.

  1. MAJOME: Order, Mr. Speaker Sir. My other questions were not answered.
  2. UNDENGE: Mr. Speaker Sir, she is talking about a stakeholder meeting. We always invite stakeholders to our meetings, for example, when we launched the solar geyser programme, we invited everybody in Harare, people from Harare Residents Association, Members of Parliament were invited and we even advertised in newspapers. It is at such fora, but if she wants us to come and meet with people in her constituency, that is why I have addressed Parliament and in my concluding remarks I made it clear that I want our Members of Parliament to be informed so that when they get back to their constituencies, they will inform the people there. I must admit and apologies Mr. Speaker Sir, that I do not have the time to visit every constituency in Zimbabwe. How many constituencies? About 300 or so, I do not have such time, but you as representatives of the people you are now in the know, you go back to your constituencies and arrange such meetings with your stakeholders explaining that, this is what the Minister of Energy and Power Development has announced and has said these are the measures which he is taking. That is why you exist here as a parliamentarian.
  3. RUNGANI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  4. DZIVA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Wednesday, 7th October, 2015.

On the motion of MS. RUNGANI seconded by MR. J. TSHUMA,

the House adjourned at Two Minutes past Five O’clock p.m. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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