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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 10 May 2016 42-56
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 10th May, 2016
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER
THE HON. SPEAKER: On the 4th May, 2016, Parliament of Zimbabwe received communication from Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission on the election of the following member of ZANU PF Party as member of the National Assembly with effect from the 24th April,
2016, Hon. Patrick Dutiro representing Guruve South Constituency.
Section 128 – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – My good ladies there, Section 128 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in
Parliament, the member must take the Oath of a Member of Parliament
in the form set out in the Third Schedule. Section 128 (2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament, I therefore, call upon the Clerk of Parliament to administer the oath of a Member of
Parliament to Hon. Patrick Dutiro.
NEW MEMBER SWORN
HON. PATRICK DUTIRO subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the Law and took his seat – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
REMINDER TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
DIALOGUE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to remind the House of the dialogue on the Sustainable Development Goals for all Members of
Parliament scheduled for 11th and 12th May, 2016 at the Rainbow
Towers Hotel and starting at 0830 in the morning.
The following Committees are supposed to attend tomorrow, Wednesday 11th May, 2016.
- Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development
- Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
- Education, Sport Arts and Culture
- Media, Information and Broadcasting Services
- Peace and Security
- Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
- Millennium Development Goals
- Mines and Energy
- Transport and Infrastructure Development
- Public Accounts
- Health and Child Care
- Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality Industry
- Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development.
These are the ones that are attending tomorrow morning.
On Thursday, 12th May 2016 these Committees are supposed to attend.
- Human Rights
- Public Service, Labour and Social Services
- Finance and Economic Development
- Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier
Services
- Youth Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
- Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services
- Foreign Affairs
- Industry and Commerce
- Gender and Development
- HIV/AIDS
- Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation
- Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development
- Local Government, Rural and Urban Development
ERROR ON THE ORDER PAPER
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to draw your attention to an error
on today’s Order Paper, where the date for the last sitting is indicated as
3rd instead of 4th May.
WITHDRAWAL OF MOTIONS FROM THE ORDER PAPER
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to advise Hon. Members whose motions have exceeded 21 days on the Order Paper, that their motions will be withdrawn, should they fail to wind up their motions by Thursday, 12th May 2016.
COLLECTION OF MEMBERS’ CHARTS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also wish to inform Hon. Members that
they are requested to collect the charts for Members of the Eighth
Parliament of Zimbabwe, from the Public Relations Department, Office Number 4 at Pax House. Please make sure that you collect your own copy which is in fact a souvenir for you for the Eighth Parliament.
HON. NDUNA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. It is a point of order on a matter of privilege. Mr. Speaker, allow me to address you, given your announcement about motions that are on the Order Paper. It is my view that from the day that we have debated these motions to today, where you have given your announcement, we have not been able to get the Executive to come and give responses to those motions.
It is my humble request Mr. Speaker, that in the same vein that you have pointed out that you are going to have these motions being withdrawn from the Order Paper, may you extend the same request to the Executive to come and respond to these motions so that they do not get to be withdrawn from the Order Paper, without having response from the Executive.
In our different capacities and offices, we are trying to get the Executive to come and respond to these motions. I ask you humbly that you ask the Executive to come and respond to these motions before we wind up. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Administration will compile a list of those motions and will make sure that the Hon. Ministers respond before
Thursday.
HON. NDUNA: I am humbled Mr. Speaker Sir. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you humbled or indebted?
HON. NDUNA: I stand guided Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
SECOND READING
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES BILL [H.B. 15, 2015]
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second
Reading of the Special Economic Zones Bill [H.B. 15, 2015].
Question again proposed.
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. CHITINDI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Orders of the Day,
Numbers 2 to 6 be stood over the rest of the Orders of the Day on the
Order Paper.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I raise an objection Mr. Speaker on the grounds that we have not been consulted because I have a motion that I am prepared to debate today. It has been sitting on the Order Paper for as long as I can remember. I am prepared to debate it so it has been stood down without my concurrence.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Pardon! You settle it with the Chair because you made a complain to the Chair.
HON. MARIDADI: The matter has been settled.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Okay. So, you withdraw your point of
order. Okay say it.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker Sir. I withdraw my objection.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Okay thank you. Right, order!
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Members, we are supposed
to be 270 here, and this debate has only carried not more than 13 hours. I look both to my right and left and nobody is standing up to debate, yet some of you have been saying you have no time, you are not given time to debate and here is an opportunity to debate and nobody is rising.
What does that tell the Chair? Order! I address myself to the Chief
Whips that this matter be raised in your Caucuses.
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. CHIBAYA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 11th May, 2016.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY
THE PRESIDENT
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, the President of
Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. MHLANGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to wind up debate on Motion on the State of the Nation Address that was presented to this august House by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Cde. R. G. Mugabe – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I begin by thanking all Hon. Members who gave candid contributions as regards the State of the Nation Address.
Mr. Speaker Sir, corruption and nepotism were singled out by Hon. Phiri, Hon. Maondera, Hon. Muderedzwa, Hon. Murai, Hon. Mandipaka and Hon. Mawere as vices that will hinder the success of the Ten Point Plan contained in the State of the Nation Address, if left unchecked and unpunished. In the realm of agriculture, Hon. Mapiki, Hon. Mutseyami, Hon. Mangami and Hon. Nduna anchored their debate on strengthening our irrigation capabilities and harnessing of water as well as putting to good use the irrigation equipment that was availed by our Government in support of the revitalisation of agriculture and its value chain.
Hon.Mupfumi, Hon. Murai and Hon. Phiri also shifted their contributions to local authorities as these provide essential services to the general citizenry and if provided for effectively and efficiently, it will subsequently raise the standards of living for our people. The removal of sanctions was also brought into focus as it was viewed as a hindrance to the Ten Point Plan with both Hon.Muderedzwa and Hon. Mandipaka expressing their desire to see us as Zimbabweans lifting our country high, as opposed to demonising our country on the international arena.
On the aspect of the Ten Point Plan itself, Hon. Maondera rightly points out to a general belief that is held by none other than ourselves that we are good at putting up these plans, but fail at the implementation stage. A thing to note here is that the Ten Point Plan to a large extent addresses this fear as it is a more simplified, and also a workable document that helps to operationalise and put action as regards our economic blueprint, the ZIM ASSET.
Hon. Mawere, where State Enterprises are concerned, lamented the huge perks that Executives of these companies get which do not correspond to performance and ultimately the profits they make for these companies. An important aspect to note in Hon. Mawere’s contribution is the fact that as legislators, we must continue to strengthen our three roles in order to bring checks and balances to the Executive. Hon.
Muderedzwa’s prayer was also that as Government, we prioritise infrastructure development such as energy in order for us to help reduce poverty and to a large extent, arrest the rural-urban migration and also help to balance development in terms of rural and urban set ups.
Finally, a point to note from Hon. Cross’s contribution is that as we undertake the Ten Point Plan, we should be cognisant of the challenges that we are facing as a result of the drought situation. So, there is need for us to revise our expectations in terms of driving the Ten Point Plan and that resources and efforts will not go to these priority areas.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for giving us direction and guidance as regards our developmental path. I now move that the motion be adopted:
That this House conveys its profound gratitude to His Excellency, the President Cde. R. G. Mugabe for addressing a joint sitting of
Parliament on the State of the Nation.
Expresses its commitment to and support for the views contained in his address; and that a respectful address be presented to His
Excellency the President, informing him of the sentiments of the House.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move that we revert to Order of the Day, Number 6, before we proceed to other Orders of the
Day.
HON. MANGAMI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CONSIDERATION OF AN ADVERSE REPORT BY THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PEACE
AND RECONCILIATION BILL [H.B. 13, 2015]
Sixth Order read: Committee: Consideration of an Adverse Report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the National Peace and
Reconciliation Bill, (H. B. 13, 2015).
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN VICE PRESIDENT
MPHOKO’S OFFICE (HON. KANENGONI): Thank you Mr.
Speaker Sir. I rise to move for the withdrawal of the National Peace and
Reconciliation Commission Bill (H. B. 13, 2015) pursuant to Standing
Order Number 157. The reasons are that after receiving an Adverse Report on the Bill, the Ministry has decided to consider those issues that were raised and then we will resubmit the Bill at a later date.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order of the Day Number 6 is discharged in terms of Standing Order Number 157.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Just to take this opportunity to appreciate the Hon. Minister’s attitude and indeed, the
Government’s attitude that they are able to see the wisdom of Parliament and act accordingly. It is a very good thing, we are impressed. Hon. Minister, may you continue to be that impressive – [Laughter] – it is a very good thing. Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. This is the attitude we expect from Government. When they feel that something is amiss, they are able to also listen to the Legislature. That is what a normal democracy should be like and that should be appreciated. Thank you very much Minister. I can provide supper for you. Thank you very much.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MATUKE: Mr. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day
Numbers 9 to 11 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day are disposed of.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
DISHARMONY AND POLICY INCONSISTENCIES IN THE
EXECUTIVE ARM OF THE STATE
HON. MARIDADI: I move the motion standing in my name that;
This House;
ALARMED by the disharmony in the Executive arm of the State which manifests in policy inconsistencies and disharmony;
Worried that the disharmony and the policy inconsistencies do not engender a conducive investment climate which the country so badly needs;
FURTHER WORRIED that all this is happening at a critical time when the country needs harmony and unity of purpose from all stakeholders in particular the Executive, as we grapple looming hunger and starvation induced by the effects of the climate change:
NOW, THEREFORE, resolves that: There must be harmony and
policy consistency in the Executive in order to attract investment and promote economic growth.
HON. CHAMISA: I second.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. The Bible, a copy
of which I am holding here, talks about three types of fluids that a human body emits when put under certain conditions. I will not get into the biology of it, but suffice to say that blood, sweat and tears are those three fluids.
Mr. Speaker, the nation of Zimbabwe was found 36 years ago
upon the blood, sweat and tears of our brothers, fathers, mothers and sisters. In 1980, the Prime Minister elect of this country, Cde. Robert
Mugabe gave a speech in which he spoke about embracing our erstwhile enemies during the struggle and reconciliation. It was a profound speech in which he said, ‘let us turn our guns into ploughshares.’ He was calling upon the nation of Zimbabwe to be a nation of people that forgive each other, hard workers and honest people.
Mr. Speaker, without love, there is no harmony and there is no progress. It was a very profound speech by the Prime Minister elect who is now the President of this Republic. The reason I am saying this Mr.
Speaker, if you go to my motion – the reason I am standing before this House today is that; I am alarmed by the disharmony in the Executive arm of the State, which manifests in policy inconsistencies.
I have newspaper cuttings but, the reason I did not bring the newspapers is that I could have filled this room and Members of Parliament would have no place to sit. I have brought several newspaper cuttings, which I have reduced here. I have more than 25 newspaper cuttings which attest to the disharmony in the Executive, which then manifests in policy inconsistencies and results in flight of capital and absence of foreign direct investments.
I have a few quotations here; T. H. White said that, “The destiny of men is to unite not to divide, if you keep on dividing, you end up as a collection of monkeys throwing nuts at each other out of separate trees.”
Mr. Speaker, Vera Nazarian, a writer whom I respect a lot says, “A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent, then all that will be left are soloists. Do not let the loud few determine the nature of the sound, it makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.”
Mr. Speaker, the latest of what I am saying, came as a result of a stand-off between the Minister of Finance and Economic Development and the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment. The Minister of Finance and Economic Development was saying one thing and the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment was saying another thing. The sum total of that disharmony was that investors whom we need badly in this country, did not know what to do and they held back.
Mr. Speaker, capital is a coward, it will not come into a place where there is disharmony, and it will stay away. What we need to placate this country from this economic malaise is foreign direct investment and it is agreed across the political divide. Everybody from the Head of State to the last man on the streets of Harare agree that what we need to placate this country’s economic problems is foreign direct investment. Foreign direct investment will not come when the gentleman, who is a member of the Executive who is in charge of economic planning, is saying one thing and another gentleman who sits in the same Executive Committee meeting, which is chaired by His
Excellency, says another.
I was so hurt Mr. Speaker when it took the President, the Head of State and Government to give a statement in the newspaper, to say this is the correct position of indigenisation. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment should have had the decency to resign. In other jurisdictions, he would have resigned because when the President gives you a piece of job to do, he must not come after you to supervise you every time. All he needs to do is sit in Cabinet and get reports, but if the President comes down to issue a statement because a Minister confesses that in the past 12 months, ever since I was appointed, I was interpreting the Indigenisation Policy wrongly; when you have a whole Ministry which is favoured with lawyers and bureaucrats who are schooled to give you advice.
What it means is that, either the Minister was being misinformed or the Minister himself is not up to the task. The most sincere thing to do is to resign. Why do you want to wait for the President to fire you? Maybe the President is not a man of that nature of firing people, but if you mess up the way the Minister messes up, I think he must do the honourable thing and resign. I call upon Hon. Minister Zhuwao, a man whom I think is of very high intellect that, you messed up and the next thing that you must do is to resign. I will put that aside.
I go to another newspaper cutting here reported on the 19th of
February, 2016, ‘Small to Medium Enterprises Minister, Stembiso Nyoni has blasted Local Government Ministry, headed by Saviour Kasukuwere for encroaching into her portfolio by announcing a ban on Housing Cooperatives. One of the biggest problems we have in this country Mr. Speaker is housing. The housing list in the City of Harare stands at more than 200 000. What it means is that there are more than one million people in Zimbabwe who are on the housing waiting list but those are not all the people that need houses in Zimbabwe. There are millions upon millions of people that need houses. Then, we have two Ministers who sit in Cabinet every Tuesday. The Cabinet is chaired by the President of the country and we have two Vice Presidents in attendance for good measure and still there is disharmony. One Minister says we have banned housing cooperatives and the other Minister says, we have not banned them, and then you say what is going on?
One Minister calls for a press conference in her office to say, we are going ahead with housing cooperatives and another Minister calls for a press conference in his office to say, we have banned housing cooperatives because of whatever reasons.
Mr. Speaker, I will move from the fight between Hon. Sithembiso Nyoni and Hon. Saviour Kasukuwere and move on to something else. I have here text messages that were sent by a Cabinet Minister, who unfortunately has just been fired Hon. Chris Mutsvangwa and one Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Media and
Broadcasting Services who happens to be the spokesperson for the President, the first citizen of this country. This man is Press Secretary for the first citizen of this country; one is sitting in his house at 2100hrs and another citizen is also sitting in his house at the same time and they are exchanging text messages.
Mr. Speaker, these text messages are exchanged from 2100hrs to 0200hrs the following morning and you are saying these are people who are using Government cell phones and Government money to insult each other, for crying out loud this must not be allowed. A senior public servant and a Government Minister, busy insulting each other on a social platform using gadgets that have been provided for by the tax payers, by my old mother in Mabvuku who is 82 years old, a tax payer.
The following morning, the senior Government official drives his vehicle which was bought for US$120 000 using my old mother’s tax and the Minister is driving a Mercedes Benz limousine bought for US$120 000 at ZIMOCO, using a Government driver and a Government aide in attendance, going to the office and yet the previous night they were shouting at each other as if that has not been bad enough. The following day, one is sitting in his office and the other is sitting in his office, they continue – [AN HON. MEMBER: During working hours] – during working hours.
Mr. Speaker, this is time paid for by vendors. This is time paid for by unemployed people in Mukumbura; this is time paid for by people who are fishing in Binga. Ministers, one is wearing a suit; they brushed their teeth in the morning to come and exchange messages of insulting each other and on Tuesday, they sit in Cabinet. I was saying to my son, because he was saying why are these people behaving like monkeys. I said, I do not even understand why? - [AN HON. MEMBER: To be like a monkey and behave like a monkey are two different things] – I am not saying people are monkeys, I am saying the destiny and I will repeat my quote, ‘the destiny of men is to unite not to divide’. If you keep on dividing, you end up as a collection of monkeys..
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, did your son really say that or you are putting words in his mouth because that language is not acceptable?
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, my son is a third year economic student in South Africa and he is very savvy like me; he takes after me. My son and I do not exchange messages; do not talk on the social platform like monkeys but we talk like human beings at home.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Whatever you exchanged
between yourself and your son, if it is a language that is unparliamentary you cannot bring it here in the House.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you withdrawing that statement to say monkeys?
HON. MARIDADI: To say monkeys? I withdraw the monkeys
Mr. Speaker – [Laughter] - Mr. Speaker, I now continue, in the Newsday published on the 21st of May 2015, I went to the internet; it has
701 views. “I am the biggest thug in ZANU PF” says Kasukuwere.
Saviour Kasukuwere, the Party’s Political Commissar who described himself as one of the biggest political thugs in ZANU PF yesterday warned that more heads are still to roll in ZANU PF and more purges are looming as a new weave of factionalism threatening to ravage the former liberation movement. He was addressing a rally in my constituency in Tafara-Mabvuku and I will leave that.
I will go on to the next one, Jonathan Moyo jumped the gun...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, can you be guided by Standing
Orders and desist from reading from newspapers, just get the idea.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, thank you for the guidance. I will not read from newspapers but, am I allowed to read from adverts that were published by either those people concerned or by the ministries.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, refer.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. There is an article here which says, “Hon. J. Moyo jumped the gun”. This article is attributed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr.
Lazarus Dokora pertaining to STEM. He said that STEM was not a Government programme and that the Minister was getting excited in talking about STEM. The Minister in response, put an advert in the newspaper in which he said, there had been discussions between the
Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and that STEM was a programme of Government that was discussed at Cabinet and passed at Cabinet.
The last time the Minister came here, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Prof. Jonathan Moyo came here and gave a statement and we thought we had the last of the standoff between the two ministries. Just last week, the
Sunday Mail carried an article offered by the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development in which he spoke about STEM and the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Prof. Mavima responded. The standoff between the two gentlemen was very nasty and adverts were flighted on radio and national television to set the record straight but Mr. Speaker, here is my problem. STEM is meant to be a Government programme and we understand when a Minister goes out there to announce that there is a new Government programme, the assumption is that it has been discussed in Cabinet and that Ministers have agreed on it. If there are any problems, they have dealt them in Cabinet and when they go out there, it is now a Government programme.
No sooner had the Minister made an announcement on STEM had
another Minister who sits in the same Cabinet stands up to say, no it is not a Government programme. We are saying to ourselves, here is STEM which is affecting all our children who are going to school and yet Ministers are bickering on it, what is going on? Should it again take the President to issue a statement to say this is the position concerning STEM, I will leave that Mr. Speaker and go on to the next one.
I have a quotation here Mr. Speaker which says, “I am a strong individualist by personal habits, inheritance and conviction “but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognise that the State, the community, the citizens acting together can do a number of things better than if they were left to individual action.” Mr. Speaker Sir, my prayer is that Ministers when they disagree on things must sit down and talk about them behind closed doors and when they go to the nation, they go with one voice.
The fight between Ministers do not impress anybody because ZIMRA has reported that there has been a fall of 3% of their revenue collection. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union reports that 4 000 jobs were lost in the month of May alone. Ministers are busy talking about things that do not give value to people, issues like the issue of quail birds, the National Pledge, issues that do not bring bread and butter to people’s tables. There are issues that we must talk about, issues that affect this nation; the issue of corruption, for example at ZIMRA. The issue of corruption at ZIMRA Mr. Speaker, where the gentleman who is charged with collecting money from Zimbabweans does this – I have a document where five senior officials from ZIMRA got US$120 000 each to import vehicles. ZIMRA is not a bank and has no business giving people loans. All ZIMRA must do is guarantee loans and those transactions should be done by the bank. However, here is an organisation whose job is to collect money. They collect money from poor vendors, poor people and what do they do – they advance US$120 000 to each one of them. As if that is not bad enough, they go and import vehicles. We talk about capital flight, about money being externalized, when five officials at ZIMRA get US$120 000 each, that is about half a million dollars and they use that money to import vehicles. As if that is not bad enough, they come and declare the vehicles as undervalued. This paper here which is an authentic document from ZIMRA, each one of the five officials declared that each of the vehicles was bought for ZAR250 000.
Mr. Speaker, if you calculate this amount, it means that each vehicle was bought for R21 000. It means the State was prejudiced of income of almost US$99 000 and this is being done under the nose of the man who is in charge of collecting money, Mr. Gershom Pasi. As if that is not bad enough, Mr. Gershom Pasi himself imports a vehicle, a Toyota VX V8 –[HON. ZWIZWAI: Ziguru guru riya] – [Laughter]- That vehicle is worth about US$170 000; he comes to Zimbabwe and registeres it as a Toyota Raum which cost US$900.00. Here is a vehicle bought for US$170 000…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! May I guide the Member,
This particular matter is before the courts and therefore, it is sub- judice.
We cannot discuss it.
HON. MARIDADI: The one that I spoke about which concerns
five people is in the courts but the issue of Gershom Pasi is not yet in the courts; he has not been arrested. So I still wish to talk about the Toyota
Raum and the Toyota Prado.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please stick to your motion.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, I sympathize with your
invidious position. I have put you in a very difficult position because you cannot just keep quiet when I am tearing apart corruption. Mr.
Speaker, I will continue.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! What invidious position is it? I
said carry on, there is no question of invidious position.
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you. We are trying to cut off the monotony and bring some light hearted moments to this gloomy debate. Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that you must deal with in this country is the issue of corruption. It is the one issue we must deal with.
Still talking about disharmony in the Executive, just last week, which I have on my phone here and whenever I am too excited and I want to get depressed, I go to that site where there is a gentleman who calls himself Acie Lumumba who talks about corruption in Government. Mr. Speaker here is a gentleman who was appointed as Chairman of some youth group and a few weeks later, he was dismissed for corruption and he says no, you are pointing at the wrong man – it is not myself who is corrupt. The person who is dismissing is the one who is corrupt and is actually not fit to hold public office and he was talking about Minister Zhuwao. It is a public record, I can play it for here – I have three such videos which I have received from Members of
Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, when you get somebody who is a senior ruling party official saying another senior ruling party official is not fit to hold office, it is cause for concern. There is something wrong, it is not coming from the Opposition, it is not coming from vendors; it is not coming from farmers, it is coming from people within the ruling party. I am worried and I am sorry I continue to refer to my son because I talk to him quite a lot…
HON. MLILO: My fellow Member of Parliament is
misrepresenting facts; Acie Lumumba is not a senior rank official in
ZANU PF. So as such he cannot say two senior ZANU PF officials –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- Can the Hon. Member stand corrected or to get better information, he can come and join ZANU
PF and find out the level which Acie Lumumba is in.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order!
HON. MARIDADI: I will go to parastatals and I will come to the
Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill. Mr. Speaker, we have more than
75 parastatals in this country. The Hon. Minister of Finance and
Economic Development is actually on record saying that, prior to
Independence and into independence, parastatals contributed 40% of GDP. Today Mr. Speaker, parastatals are the nudes around the Minister of Finance’s neck. There is not a single parastatal which is not in the red - National Railways of Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe, ZBC, CSC and all of them.
Mr. Speaker, I will go straight to the Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill because it also talks about inconsistencies in policies and disharmony in the Executive. The Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill which was passed by this Parliament, three quarters of the debt that was assumed by this State with the approval of this Parliament, is yet to be verified. We do not know how much people borrowed; we do not know what what that money was used for. It is yet to be verified and yet this Parliament has passed that Bill and it is now a law. $1, 3 billion Mr.
Speaker …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Your debate now is misdirected Hon.
Member. Can you stick to your prayer where you are asking for harmony and policy consistency in the Executive. We long passed debate on that Bill, so you cannot debate on it.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, my prayer - because if you look at my motion, I said that, “FURTHER WORRIED that all this is happening at a critical time when the country needs harmony and unity of purpose from all stakeholders in particular the Executive, as we grapple looming hunger and starvation induced by the effects of climate change”. Mr. Speaker …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, that is not your prayer. Your
prayer is the last paragraph.
HON. MARIDADI: Yes, my prayer is the last one and I am coming to that. “NOW, THEREFORE, resolves that: There must be harmony and policy consistency …” I am going to come to that in the conclusion but in the meantime, I want to tackle now the issue of climate change and the looming hunger.
Mr. Speaker, you deal with the issue of hunger when you have money. If you have no money you cannot deal with the issue of hunger. The reason why I am talking about corruption at ZIMRA is because it is money that will be collected by ZIMRA that will be given to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development for him to be able to import maize, grain or food subsidies. That is why I am talking about corruption at ZIMRA, otherwise I have no business talking about corruption at ZIMRA.
Secondly Mr. Speaker, the reason why I am talking about parastatals is because parastatals are at the core of Government service delivery. The reason parastatals were formed is because they deliver service to the people on behalf of Government and parastatals should do so profitably. That is why I am talking about parastatals, otherwise I
would …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, where are the policy
inconsistencies about parastatals? That is what we want to hear.
HON. MARIDADI: I am coming to that now. Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons why some of us did not want to vote or did not want the Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill to pass is because of what is happening in the parastatals and also what happened with the mechanisation money. That is one of the reasons why we did not want to vote for that and I will come to the policy inconsistencies.
Mr. Speaker, the reason why there is hunger and Government cannot feed its people is because Government is carrying a debt of $1,3 billion internally. For that debt to be extinguished, money must be collected in taxes. For money to be collected in taxes, ZIMRA must be playing ball, but if there is corruption at ZIMRA and they are failing to collect taxes, it means Government is not able to extinguish the internal or external debt and people will go hungry. That is why I am talking about all this.
Mr. Speaker, I want to then go on to the issue of my prayer. In my prayer, one thing that will bring policy consistency to this country is one; let us not have many ministries. Ministries of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment; Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development; Economic Planning and Policy Implementation - all those ministries must be disbanded and become departments in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. When they become departments in the Ministry of Finance, it means there is one Minister. All these other people working in those departments will simply be feeding information and giving advice to the Minister. When it comes to pronouncing policies, it will be one person making policy pronouncements.
The reason there is policy inconsistencies Mr. Speaker, is that we have many Ministers without a lot of mandates and at the end of the day, they are stepping on each other’s toes. That is why there are policy inconsistencies because when Hon. Zhuwao was basically saying, ignore the Minister of Finance and Economic Development because he does not know anything - it is a headline which is here. It says, “Zhuwao: investor rules unchanged, ignore Chinamasa” in a press conference. I will not bother you by getting into the details of that press conference. If he were a director in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, he would not have called for a press conference. He would have gone to the Minister to seek clarity and the Minister would have told him how the indigenisation law is interpreted and he would have gotten out of the Minister’s office wiser. The Minister would have made a pronouncement as one Minister. But then, we have five people talking about the same policy differently, so there is inconsistency.
My first advice is that we must disband many ministries and come up with one Ministry of Finance and in any case, Minister Chinamasa is doing a very good job, he is a very sober Minister. He is very honest and
I think he should preside over the Ministries of Small and Medium
Enterprises and Youth and Indigenisation, and all those other ministries.
Secondly, it is the prerogative of the President to appoint Ministers but I think the nation must play a role. When these Ministers are being employed, I think people out there must play a role as they do in other countries like what they do in Kenya. The President will announce names of those that he wants to appoint and Ministers go live on television and get interviewed. When you interview Ministers live, you are able to tell the calibre of the person that you are engaging. What must happen is that people must have an input into the appointment of
Ministers. The President must then go out and say, I want to have 15 or 20 ministries and these are the ministries. Those that are interested in the job must apply and their CVs put in the newspaper and they get interviewed by the members of the public. If they are interviewed by the members of the public Mr. Speaker, we will not have people that get into Government who are not equal to the task. That is my recommendation –
[AN HON. MEMBER: Wakuda kuchinja Constitution?] -
The Constitution can be changed. The Constitution is not cast in concrete and every person who has a brain above his shoulders will know that a Constitution can be changed. Constitutions can be amended. I think I have said enough about the fighting of Ministers. I have said enough about how it then ends up being policy inconsistencies. I hope that the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education will come and give us a statement. I am hoping that when the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education gives us a statement on STEM, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is going to accept that statement and say things in support of that statement. I think the Ministers …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, I think you were out of the House
when the Minister you referred to, that he should give a statement; in fact, he has given that statement in this House. Perhaps you were absent.
HON. MARIDADI: I was here Mr. Speaker. You mean Prof.
Jonathan Moyo? When Prof. Jonathan Moyo gave a statement Mr. Speaker, I was here and I stood up to respond to the statement. What is worrying Mr. Speaker, is that after the Minister gave his statement which is about four months ago, just two weeks ago, the Deputy
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education wrote an article in the Sunday Mail on STEM. The following day, Prof. Mavima responded to say no, that guy does not know what he is talking about after the Minister had given a statement.
THE HON. SPEAKER: So, which Minister do you want to give a statement?
HON. MARIDADI: I am saying the two Ministers – [Laughter] – must sit down and come up with a statement …
THE HON. SPEAKER: One statement?
HON. MARIDADI: One statement on STEM. When I say the two
Ministers and I mean their deputies. Mr. Speaker, these are not Mickey Mouse Ministers, I am talking of two professors; Prof. Jonathan Moyo who is the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Prof. Mavima who is the Deputy Minister in the other Ministry and Dr. Dokora who has just obtained his PhD, I am not sure from which university but he has a PhD all the same and Dr. Gandawa. So these are people who know exactly what they are doing. When they write their statements to the media, their statements are full of a lot of English. They write a lot of English to the media castigating each other, yet in the meantime my grandmother in Mabvuku is saying STEM is supposed to be a straight forward programme of Government. Why are these educated people, doctors and professors busy tearing each other to pieces and in the meantime people are confused out there. So, I think the two doctors and the two professors should sit down in a room and come up with a statement which is not full of English; a statement with simple English to say do we go ahead with STEM or do we not go ahead with STEM.
Then they give the nation direction.
My prayer is that the President reduces the number of Cabinet Ministers so that at least people have something to do. When people have nothing to do, they keep throwing stones at each other and the Ministers must reduce the amount of English they speak. That will help us. I thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank Hon. Maridadi for moving this very important motion and I of course thank Hon. Chamisa for standing in as my proxy in seconding this motion.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise here to support vehemently the motion by Hon. Maridadi that expresses deep and grave concern with the unhappy state of affairs in the house of Zimbabwe. The house of Zimbabwe is indeed a house that is fighting unto itself. Things are not well in the house of Zimbabwe. If it were indeed a domestic setting, nothing would come out of that house. You would not be able to even put meals on the table; you cannot send children to school; you cannot even lock the door because everybody is arguing about who should do it and who should not do it.
I thank Hon. Maridadi as I said for raising alarm about the unhappy, disorderly and chaotic state of the house called Zimbabwe because of the actions of the Executive arm of Government. It is the responsibility of this august House to cause the necessary Ministers and the arm of the Executive to take seriously their mandate and their responsibility that was given to them by the people of Zimbabwe.
Indeed they should take the people of Zimbabwe seriously and take their duties seriously and move in unison in order to rescue this country that is in a bad shape.
Madam Speaker Maám, I want to support Hon. Maridadi’s motion that indeed the Executive must speak with one voice. If they cannot think with one voice, it is understandable, may it comes with the dynamics of the very toxic party politics we have, but they must speak with one voice. I rise to make three points - [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members,
can the Hon. Member be heard in silence?
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to support
Hon. Maridadi’s motion by also reminding the august House that the need for harmony and cohesion in Government is not only a nice thing to do; a good thing to do or which is it only necessary for investor confidence but it is actually something that is of fundamental constitutional importance. Ministers of the Government and the
Executive, by speaking and by being at sixes and sevens, are actually violating our Constitution and this august House must call them to order. I will explain why I say that and also proffer other examples in addition or similar to the ones that were offered by Hon. Maridadi to indicate the state of confusion that is in the Executive arm of
Government.
Lastly, I will end my debate by suggesting or even issuing what maybe called a warning or even a threat to the Executive for them to put their house in order or consequences that are created by the Constitution can actually fall upon them. I will say that the examples that were given by Hon. Maridadi that show that Government Ministers, either by themselves, are showing disharmony, they clearly do not each other. A lot of them clearly show that they cannot stand each other but Madam Speaker they are required to be mature enough to conceal that and show a common face to the people of Zimbabwe.
It is not only Ministers amongst themselves; it is sometimes
Minister and Deputy Minister against each other, either in the same
Ministry or across different Ministries. It gets worse; sometimes it goes even to a lower level. There are agencies of Government, of the State that operate at lower levels, that is the parastatals. There is ample evidence all over the Zimbabwean terrain that show that certain parastatals or Government agencies themselves, are actually going against the policy and the programmes that their parent Ministries or other Ministries are showing.
Finally, this policy inconsistency is also being manifest in the policies themselves that are being crafted by Government. While I am here, I do not know whether I can say it is the policies. Sometimes it is actually the lack of policy; the Government failing to formulate policy articulate clear policy on exactly what it is that it intends to do. If the Executive continues along this path, it continues to show that Zimbabwe is leaderless and radar-less. It is not only frightening for investors only, but also for the citizens of Zimbabwe who are languishing in poverty and hunger as we speak.
In terms of the Constitution Section 9, all agencies of Government including the Executive must show us good governance. It requires that they must be accountable and transparent. Madam Speaker, once you get people who are disagreeing with themselves publicly, one Minister says this, the other Minister says something else, it becomes very difficult to hold them to account as Members of Parliament. The example of the STEM issue is a very good case study showing that things are not well at all in the Executive.
Also, it is really sad to note that by the Executive’s failure to show consistency and to agree with each other in public; they are actually contributing to disharmony and disunity in this country. They are now a threat to the peace of the country that is required by our national objectives of peace, unity and stability. There cannot be any bigger example of instability than to see Government Ministers shouting at each other in public; in the media; on the streets; wherever it is. That does not augur well, that is not stable at all. It communicates clearly that there is trouble in the land.
I would like to remind Hon. Ministers of their responsibility again in terms of the Constitution. When they speak and attack each other publicly like this STEM circus that we have seen between the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, the Minister of Education, the Deputy Minister and the whole circus, they are actually forgetting that they have a responsibility in terms of the Constitution and this is very serious Madam Speaker, to be accountable individually and collectively. They seem to have forgotten, a lot of them that once they took that oath of office to be Cabinet Ministers, they become collectively responsible for the sins even of their fellows and they must not wash their dirty linen in public.
The failure by Cabinet Ministers to abide by this responsibility in the Constitution is cardinal; we must not take it lightly. I would like to urge Hon. Members to not accept it because they come here, they display, I beg leave to use the word ‘tomfoolery’ because it applies. An Hon. Minister would rise to answer a question here, Question Time has become a circus and a sad tragedy of the state of affairs of Zimbabwe. A Minister will rise here and make a statement; another Minister will rise and oppose that personally, even politically right here in the august House.
I want to hasten to say that, that is actually even also disrespectful to this august House, that Ministers come here and they fight and pick their fights here in public when we Members of Parliament are here to consider, with seriousness the issue of how we can exercise oversight over them and assist our country to get out of the dire straits that it is economically. I want to also relate to a few examples that are of concern to me in this issue of policy inconsistency.
We have seen the issue of police road blocks. If I was to get out of this august House and travel, for example have for example, to Chitungwiza – which is less than 30 km away. Madam Speaker we will be accosted by no less than 5 police road blocks. We are a country which has witnessed the Minister of Finance and Economic Development coming to this august House here and explaining ad nauseam the thrust of the Executive in terms of the economic re-growth and regeneration. Explaining that tourism that the tourist sector is one of our key areas, even in terms of the ZIM ASSET programme that the Government self purports to implement.
Madam Speaker, if a small distance of 30 km can get 5 road blocks, imagine what would happen to a tourist who wants to travel let us say from South Africa enters through the Beit-Bridge border post and go to maybe Mana Pools. It is nothing short of a scandal, the very fact that the law enforcement arm of the Executive can actually at every few meters mount a road block to stop traffic, that really annoys and disturbs anyone who comes. This is another example Madam Speaker of that policy inconsistency. If the Executive is serious about generating and supporting for example the tourism sector, it had better make sure that those road blocks that are harassing motorist daily are removed from our roads. No visitor wants to be delayed by being asked all sorts of questions every 2 metres.
Madam Speaker, just a few weeks ago, the Portfolio Committee of
Justice that I Chair was on a road trip on the National Peace and
Reconciliation Commission Bill. We travel from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls and we saw in that distance and it is distanced of about 400 km. there were more than 10 road blocks in that particular area. The Government must really come clean even with their on ZIM ASSET seems to be something they are not committed to if other sectors of that same Government seem to undermine it.
I do not want to talk about the issue of Quail Birds. Unfortunately, they have become something that has haunted us as society. Just last week here we saw a recantation by the Leader of Government Business in the House of a pronouncement that had been made by another Hon. Minister on whether or not the Quail had been banned. Madam Speaker, that is clearly not acceptable and that must not be done in this House. I can also even proceed to talk about the STEM issue but from a different angle. The Hon. Minister of Education came to this august House and presented to us a Policy Blueprint for education. Another day this issue of taking money from the Manpower development Fund to fund Science subjects. Once we also even do that, have we even started provide the basic State funded education that is required by the Government to do in terms of the Constitution?
Madam Speaker, just last week if our thrust again is on STEM, and I agree with Hon. Maridadi that these Hon. learned educated Minister must combe to this august House and tell us exactly what they think. If you come through the Press Statement of the Governor of the RBZ of last week, where he was issuing his statement about his well-meaning strategies to contain the cash shortages. There is a part where he deals with preferences for remittances of foreign currency or the US$ out of Zimbabwe. There are three priorities. The first priority is clearly those companies that import raw materials and export materials and there is second tier and a third tier.
Hiding somewhere quietly in the third priority list is a group of people who are the young people of this nation that is students who require to go and study abroad. It is no open secret Madam Speaker, that in this august House the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Hon. Muchinguri, when she was Minister of Higher Education did announce the Government’s plan to scale down on expenditure on State Universities and announced that State university must now fund themselves. Anyone who visits or who has a relative or a child or anyone who goes to a State University knows the deplorable state of affairs. It is no secret that a lot of children are moving out of this country to go and study outside, which interestingly include, mainly the children of those highly placed members of the Executive who do not go to our State Universities because they know the deplorable state they are in.
In that list the Governor of the RBZ indicates that the third priority of accessing the US$ to pay outside is for the educational fees of existing students outside the country. Now, my question Madam Speaker, if we are truly committed to education and if we indeed we are committed to Science Technology and Mathematics Education. How is it that the monetary policy that would have been issued effectively means that only those Zimbabweans students who are presently enrolled at universities will be able to access their fees to be paid? What happens to students who are not able to fit in to this STEM programme or may be who also want to go to other universities to study Science, Technology and Mathematics?
Clearly, because they are not yet enrolled at this point in time the Governor pronounced his policy, they will not be able to access school fees to pay to their universities and this includes those who are in Form
Four today and those who are writing their ‘A’ levels. These policy inconsistencies come at a cost to even young people who are not able to sit in his House. I would hope that this august House hears and even the Executives hears Hon. Maridadi speak that those Hon Ministers must come here and explain to us what exactly what they mean. Do they want there to be education? Do they want there to Science and Mathematics education?
The issue of the media is another very confusing arena in this country. we saw again the Minister of Media and Information coming here sometime, and giving a Ministerial Statement on the migration of Zimbabwe to the digital broadcasting. We all know Madam Speaker, that once you migrate from analogue broadcasting to digital broadcasting, you no longer need to request for subscriptions, that is what he said. It has been more than a year since that Hon. Minister told us that that is what the Government is doing. If you go outside in any road you continue to see people wearing brightly coloured bibs written ZBC Licence Inspectors. If indeed the Government knows what it is doing and if indeed it is serious that it wants to catch up with the rest the world and migrate to digital broadcasting, why is ZBC still collecting listeners’ licence, because that clearly not consistent with digitalization? This cannot be allowed to continue and this august House cannot continue to watch these strange things going on.
I want to give an example and my example will be a very sad example that was almost tragic. We heard in the media that the
Prosecutor General of Zimbabwe announcing that there is nothing wrong with children being married off. It was in the media, it was absolutely in the public arena. He indicated that yes, its good for girls to marry because they have nothing else to do and it keeps them occupied. It is really shocking, because even the law, Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act that this august House passed in 2006, makes it a criminal offence to marry off children.
At the same time, the same Government has a Gender Policy and National Strategy to end gender based violence, that also includes fighting against child marriages. There was a motion that child marriages are not going to be tolerated in Zimbabwe anymore. So, how does it happens that on one end the law enforcement officials through the Prosecutor General think that there is nothing wrong with child marriages? That means the police do not arrest people that are going that way. Even the wife of His Excellency the President of the Republic was once a guest speaker at a celebration of International Woman’s Day and she, being a guest of honor – I do not know whether she was invited as a party official or not, but anyway she was the Guest of honour at celebration of 16 days of gender based violence and she indicated that child marriages are not permitted in Zimbabwe. Once she assumes that podium, it means that is Government policy, but we have a Prosecutor General who is saying that it is okay to marry children. Madam Speaker, this cannot be allowed to continue.
I will not proceed to indicate that I share the fear that Hon. Maridadi has, that if our Executive continues to show that it is at sixes and sevens, he has talked elaborately about the indigenisation policy. Madam Speaker, even this whole business that the Government did of clamping down and closing diamond mines at Chiadzwa, it is extremely perplexing. It shows utmost confusion that on one minute under cover of the Government, they allowed all sorts of...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Majome, your time
is up.
HON. MAJOME: Madam Speaker, as I indicated, I explained that
I want to end by giving advice or a warning to the Executive that if indeed in terms of the Constitution, the Government continues to show policy inconsistency and confusion, I think it might very well be good cause to pass a vote of no confidence in the Government in terms of Section 109 of the Constitution because a Government that is quarrelling with itself or contract itself is worthy of ...
[Time Limit]
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Majome, your time is up.
HON. MAJOME: Thank you Madam Speaker. So, if the
Executive does not do so, it is liable to a vote of no confidence that is not allowed in this House.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, your time is up!
HON. MAJOME: Yes, I am concluding Madam Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you, you may sit down
now.
HON. MAJOME: That there will be a vote of no confidence in the Government if it does not get its House in order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Are you challenging the
Speaker?
HON. MAJOME: Thank you.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me
the opportunity to contribute to the debate introduced by Hon. Maridadi and seconded by Hon. Majome. Firstly, I want to say the role of Parliament is to ensure that we play an oversight role on Government. In discharging that oversight role, we need to make reference to the Constitution. I was very pleased to see Hon. Majome making reference to the Constitution and the same Constitution allows for freedom of conscience which is part of our society that allows for free discourse, expression of thoughts without fear or favour.
So, when we see the structures of Government discussing and debating issues, let us not take that to mean that there is confusion or disunity. In fact, it means there is a healthy discourse within the structures of Government. It means there is freedom of speech and expression regardless of office. I want to say the media is also at liberty to exercise their interpretations on the information that they would have gotten either through press conferences or through their presence in
Parliament. They then express their views in the manner they do but that cannot be taken as reason for suggesting or even thinking of passing a vote of no confidence on a Government duly elected.
When the basis is deriving from media reports, I think it will be misinterpreting the spirit and letter of what the Constitution contemplates and what the Legislature contemplated through the
Constitution. There were a series of examples that were given by Hon. Maridadi in support of his motion. I want to say and this is by way of advice, that as a society let us not be divided by what we read in the media. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Let us not make conclusions by what we read on the internet and then take it to be policy.
The machinery of Government is multifaceted Madam Speaker. It
comprises institutions that are not just in Harare, but the tentacles are countrywide. For us as the august House to be driven into conclusions that are based on what a single journalist would have written in a newspaper or over the internet, in my view, it will not be a consistent approach of assessing the performance of our Government. Having said that, I want to say it is tried and it is common cause that in any House or any institution, the issue of harmony creates success. I think it is common cause that if it is a school, there is need for harmony at that school. If it is a Government, there is need for harmony. Same with
Parliament, we have Standing Orders that must be followed.
It is really common cause that harmony creates prospects for better success. The examples given by the Hon. Members who introduced the motion, in my view have weakened the strength of an otherwise good motion. The call for harmony and policy consistency, those are the quintessential ingredients to any successful macro-economic management environment. We cannot reduce that very important motion to clashes of personalities and conversations between and among people.
By policy consistency Madam Speaker, we want to say the activities and the pronouncements of the Central Bank, are they consistent with the pronouncements by the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Development, Ministry of Industry and Commerce and so on.
That is the consistency that creates macro-economic stability. Persons
can agree in words but if they differ in implementation, it does not bring macro-economic stability.
So, I want to say this motion is very relevant. It is a motion which calls for congruency in policy. I want to say the congruency should be more on implementation. That is what this House should focus on when debating this important motion to say when we look at fiscal policy, how is it being implemented. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is implementing, Central Bank is making announcements. As those policies are being implemented, are they consistent?
I think that is a valid point which must pre-occupy this august House. I want to say in terms of our fiscal management, in the area of linking our resources to the needy areas, we need to be more consistent in our implementation of policies. I think it took an extended period for the consolidation of the diamond sector to come through, which is an area which explains some of the cash shortages that we are seeing in the market.
Madam Speaker, the issue is that the intention of the policy was not translated in good time in terms of implementation of that consolidation. As a country, we lost time and an opportunity to earn income, which is now filtering through the banking sector where cash has now become a source of socio-economic instability. However, we are pleased that Government is making efforts to try and extinguish the stresses that are there in the monetary sector.
Madam Speaker, there were presentations to do with how there is a possibility for the Ministers to be too many and therefore, it could mean some are in departments of others. I want to say, let us make reference to our Constitution. There is political activity, meaning individual political parties seek political office. There are elections held and the victors in that process have the liberty to form a Government in the structure that they deem fit to carry the country forward. The issue of what size is the correct size of Government, I think it cannot be taken as reason for bringing discourse. People are bound to have different opinions and views and that is healthy for a society. Even in churches, one deacon from one province may differ from the other and even in other institutions. That does not necessarily mean that, that organization ought to be condemned.
Madam Speaker, I clearly see a distinction of roles, functions and mandates on the Ministries of Finance and Economic Development,
Ministry of Youth Development Indigenisation and Empowerment and Ministry of Industry and Commerce; there can be no obscurity as to the distinct roles that they play as per the mandate that they have been given.
Madam Speaker, there was also a suggestion proffered for the
House to consider and debate on, that Ministers’ appointments be subject to public input. I respectfully beg to differ; the Constitution is very clear. Ministers are appointed and they serve at the pleasure of the Head of State and the President of the country. Under our circumstances, the President was duly elected under the Constitution and he exercised his Executive authority to appoint Ministers who are serving in our Ministries.
Yes, there was a contribution that the Constitution can be varied at any point, that again – there are procedures of doing so and it is the right of every Zimbabwean to change any section of the Constitution in order to meet their expectations, but the process is very simple. The Hon. Member would give a notice, make the suggestions, but to then suggest that we vary at the implementation stage, due processes that are deriving from the Constitution, it will be ultra vires to the Constitution and unlawful. However, as ideas we can discuss, but to then suggest that Ministers are interviewed publicly before appointment will be in conflict with our Constitution.
Madam Speaker, I want to say, the diversity of our nature as human beings is everywhere. Even in some political parties, a leader of one political party may see other junior members as shadows threatening him. Others would say this one is running away from shadows; it is a healthy discourse in our society where we differ in views. To take differences in opinions to mean that a House is in conflict is not a thing that can be a source of attacking a legitimate Government that is doing everything possible to make the lives of our different constituencies more palatable.
Madam Speaker, let us not take the current difficult circumstances away from the reasons and sources of those difficulties. Let us not take…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA): Order. Hon.
Kereke, you have five minutes left.
HON. DR. KEREKE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I was
winding up to just say, let us look and focus our debate more on substantive issues. The call by Hon. Maridadi for policy consistency is a very noble call. I want to recommend that we stir the debate on isolating areas we feel the policies are not consistent. Let us see how we can buttress them to be consistent and move away from discussing personalities and these factions. Madam Speaker as I was walking, someone passed a comment. The belt I am wearing has a crocodile shape and someone said, ‘why are you putting on that, which faction are you?
Let us not talk about factions in our country. Thank you Madam
Speaker.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I just want to thank Hon. Maridadi for this very important motion. The motion is very important because of the simple reason that everything stands or falls with policy, leadership and consistency. Why consistency? Consistency are the signals that you send to investors, to those who would want to come and invest their resources in our country. Consistency is that which you even give to the citizens to believe in a Government. When you indicate left and turn right, when you blow hot and cold, you are confusing those who are supposed to be your subjects; your citizens who are supposed to be creatures of your Government.
I listened carefully to Hon. Kereke when he said…
HON. MUPFUMI: On a point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order
Hon. Mupfumi?
HON. MUPFUMI: There is no quorum – [HON. MEMBERS:
Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. The
Hon. Member has given a point of order on the issue of quorum. I will allow the Parliamentary procedure to follow.
[Bells rung].
Hon. Tshuma J. having walked in after the doors had been closed.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Tshuma, can you
please go back because I had closed the doors.
An objection having been taken that there being present fewer than (70) members, the bells were rung for Seven Minutes and a Quorum still not being present, THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER adjourned the House without any question put at Twenty Eight Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order Number 56.
NOTE: The following members were present when the House adjourned: Hon. Beremauro G; Hon. Bhebhe A; Hon. Chakona P.M; Hon. Chamisa N; Hon. Chidakwa S; Hon. Chigudu M; Hon. Chikuni E;
Hon. Chipanga K; Hon. Chirisa F; Hon. Chitindi C; Hon. Cross E. G;
Hon. Dube S; Hon. Dotiro P; Hon. Gabbuza J. G; Hon. Gangarawa G; Hon. Gava M; Hon. Hungwa G; Hon. Kadungure D.A; Hon. Kaundikiza
M; Hon. Kazembe K; Hon. Kereke M; Hon. Khumalo M; Hon.
Kwaramba G; Hon. Mawere V.M; Hon. Mbwembwe E. N; Hon.
Mkandla L; Hon. Moyo Joshua; Hon. Mpofu B; Hon. Mtingwende T; Hon. Mudarikwa S; Hon. Mudzuri E; Hon. Mudyiwa M; Hon. Mupfumi I.F; Hon. Mutezo M; Hon Mutomba W; Hon Ncube Harris; Hon.
Ndlovu N; Hon. Ndoro L. F; Hon. Nduna D; Hon. Nhambu N. G; Hon.
Nhema C. F. D; Hon. Nkatazo M. M; Hon. Runzirwayi J. M; Hon.
Samukange J. T; Hon. Saruwaka T.J. L; Hon. Shongedza E; Hon. Sibanda D. P; Hon. Sithole G. K; Hon. Tshuma J; Hon. Tsomondo T;
Hon. Uta Kerenia; Hon. Zemura L; Hon. Zhou P.