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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 13 JUNE 2024 VOL 50 NO 60
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 13th June, 2024
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on a point of national interest which has become of concern to me as it should be to this august House. Firstly, I must commend the Second Republic for the ongoing rehabilitation of critical infrastructure such as roads across Zimbabwe. However, while these have been remarkable strides meant to propel Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by 2030, I am very concerned by the rampant vandalism of critical road infrastructure such as bridges, railways and road signage. I have noticed that there are some rogue elements that vandalise and steal the balustrades. This has not only compromised the integrity of these bridges, but has also placed thousands of people who use them at a heightened risk. In this regard, it is imperative that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, in partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, urgently implement measures directed at; firstly, protecting these bridges and key road infrastructure and for the balustrades, use alternative material that do not attract those that are vandalising bridges. Secondly, arresting the criminals that continue to destroy our infrastructure. I thank you Madam Speaker.
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MAUNGANIDZE): I ask the Hon. Member to bring a motion for debate in the House on Wednesday. I thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to thank the Second Republic for the maintenance and construction of roads that they are doing. The roads are being done very well and I want to applaud that. My concern is that I visited Mbare-Musika; people are selling their wares in the roads. I also visited Eastlea and council workers are moving around in civilian clothes. You find that only one person will be wearing a uniform. They will be confiscating vendors’ wares and leaving the vendors with nothing. They even arrest them after confiscating their wares, council workers are now thieves. The Committee on Local Government must investigate this issue, especially in Mbare. If you go to Masvingo, Rushinga, Bindura and other small towns, the towns are clean and organised. I am appealing that the Committee on Local Government visit Mupedzanhamo and see what is taking place there. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members on my left, please be quiet. I thank the Hon. Member for raising such an important matter. I kindly request you to bring a motion for debate and proffer recommendations to the Minister.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I rise on a point of national interest. I am concerned by people who just boast about their wealth that no one can account for. A lot of people are just splashing their wealth sometimes using social media boasting about their wealth. Some will give people gifts like what NGOs do, but we are seeing this being done by ordinary people – [HON. MEMBERS: Chivhayo.] – This is being done by one or two people. Some are saying that they are connected to the Executive. I now want to know from the Hon. Minister, if these people are paying taxes. I also noted that in one of our neighbouring countries…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Hamauswa, that is not a point of national interest you are raising, please sit down.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: What is it then Hon. Speaker?
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, Hon. Hamauswa, please sit down.
*HON. HAMAUSWA: I respect…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Hamauswa, can you please sit down, we need to procced with business of the House. Please, sit down, that is not a point of national interest.
*HON. MAMAUSWA: I wanted to thank you for your wisdom for giving me guidance in case of tomorrow. I want to know what it is called…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Hamauswa, are you defying my order?
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on a point of national interest. During the Fifth Session of the Ninth Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe, there was a National Budget which was done and in that National Budget, an allocation was set. Then the life of the Ninth Parliament came to an end but the CDF was never disbursed.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Mutseyami, I think you
raised this point yesterday - [HON. MUTSEYAMI: I was granted to raise it today.] – Alright, you may proceed, apologies.
HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Madam Speaker. During
the Tenth Parliament, in its First Session, a budget allocation was done for CDF but up to now, the money has not been disbursed. We now have two allocations which have not been released for constituencies, inclusive of constituencies which had Members then who have since left Parliament. We have two outstanding CDF allocations for 210 constituencies. My prayer to you Madam Speaker is for the Hon. Minister responsible for Parliament, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, to help the situation by pushing the Ministry of Finance for Treasury to allocate CDF for the two consecutive Sessions which have not been disbursed.
Secondly, take note that in the Fifth Session, the money
allocated then, regardless of the projection of rates and inflation, was supposed to be equivalent to USD50 000. The money which was allocated for the First Session of the Tenth Parliament is an equivalent of USD50 000. This means constituencies are owed an outstanding of USD100 000. It is my prayer, so I submit - but let it be considered and be addressed as a matter of urgency, like yesterday. I thank you.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: We ask the Administration of Parliament to look into the matter. Thank you.
HON. DR. MUTODI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I wish
to raise a point of privilege with respect to proceedings on Tuesday in this august House. I unfortunately used the word ‘incompetent’ referring to an Hon. Deputy Chief Whip who had mistakenly omitted my point of privilege. I think given the point in limn, or
the subject in limn, the word ‘incompetent’ does not meet the
decorum expected in this House, especially referring to a senior Parliamentarian in her first term of election in office. I believe respect, tolerance and dignity are at the fulcrum of this august House, hence I wish to unreservedly withdraw the statement made as afore described.
Having said this, I wish to remind this House that point of privilege takes precedence over the other motions of the day as stated in Standing Order Number 72 (b), as read with Standing Order Number 73 of the Standing Rules and Orders. According to the Standing Rules Number 73, notices of motion must come after points of privilege with which have been disposed of.
As I conclude my point of privilege, I wish to state that there are instances where Members attend this House and sign attendance registers, only to be marked absent when the record of proceedings is finally produced. I say this in relation to the proceedings of 30th May, 2024, in which I was present in this House and had to present my Committee Report on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill, after the Hon. Minister of Justice had requested for the Second Reading of the Bill. In spite of my attendance and participation, the record of the proceedings indicated that I was absent and I have put this to the attention of the Government Chief Whip. I hope that the Serjeant-at-Arms Department will take corrective measures towards this matter. I thank you.
FIRST READING
PARKS AND WILDLIFE AMENDMENT BILL [H.B. 1. 2024]
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE AND WILD LIFE (HON. NYONI) presented the Parks and Wildlife Amendment Bill [H. B. 1, 2024].
Bill read the first time.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 5 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 6 has been disposed of.
HON. NYANDORO I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE JOINT PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE ON THE 2024 MONETARY STATEMENT
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Joint Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion and Industry and Commerce on the 2024 Monetary Policy Statement.
Question again proposed.
HON. CHIDUWA: They are still debating Madam Speaker.
The Acting Speaker having called upon Hon. Chiduwa to take the floor.
HON. CHIDUWA: Hon. Madam Speaker, I think Hon. Members are still debating.
HON. KANGAUSARU: Thank you, Madam Speaker Ma’am for giving me this opportunity to debate on the report of the Joint Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion and Industry and Commerce on the 2024 Monetary Policy. Firstly, it is a general principle that monetary policy objectives include maintaining price stability, controlling inflation, stabilising the financial system, and promoting sustainable economic growth. The 2024 monetary policy as presented in the report by Hon. Chiduwa, was crafted addressing the same objectives. Let me remind this House that the objective for our current Monetary Policy is for our beloved country to have a solid and stable national currency, a stable and sustainable exchange rate, confidence restoration and to achieve macroeconomic stability. At Global level, the International Monetary Fund welcomed Zimbabwe’s introduction of a new bullion-backed currency as an important step towards achieving stability in our country. That alone Madam Speaker, shows the solid policy stance taken by the RBZ establishing a functioning currency after previous efforts amid hyperinflation and collapsing foreign exchange values.
The introduction of Zimbabwe Gold currency (ZiG) which is backed by a basket of minerals, mainly gold and foreign currency reserves shows the will that we have, as a country, to have our own stable currency. No country can develop Madam Speaker, without its own currency. Surely, we need to have our own currency. Madam Speaker, the three main functions of money are (1) a medium of exchange (2) store of value (3) unit of account. The ZiG which is backed by assets as defined in the Monetary Policy has a defined intrinsic value which shows that apart from being a medium of exchange only, it is a store of value. Generally, gold is considered a safe haven investment during downturns and financial crises because of its long history of use as a store of value. The policy direction of having our own structured currency is a solid stance towards building our country, towards attaining vision 2030.
Truly speaking, what matters to the business community is currency stability to facilitate planning. Costing and pricing decisions are always difficulty in an inflationary environment. Assessment of business profitability is also another challenge. The ZiG is expected to afford the business community a relatively stable currency to facilitate long term planning. The policy indicated that 78% uptake share of gold coins was by corporates suggesting that there already is a buy-in to a gold backed currency. Further to that, is value preservation. Madam Speaker, value preservation is a key consideration to the citizens. The chase for the US dollar in the parallel/illegal market attests to the desire to preserve value. The pronouncement by His Excellency Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, on the availability of gold to back the currency was crucial in bringing comfort and confidence to the transacting public.
In the past Madam Speaker, we have noticed that although the introduction of Bond Notes was backed by US$200 million facility, the cumulative printing of money caused fast depreciation of RTGS$. Now, the proposed new policy measure means that ZiG will only be printed in tandem with increase reserves. Money supply policy thrust ensures that reserve money growth is contained within the limits of growth in gold and foreign currency reserves. So hypothetically, this arrangement restricts the ability of RBZ to print ZiG willy-nilly. If this holds, the gold-backed ZiG will become a stable currency, thus clamping ongoing rapid dollarisation of the economy.
Let me turn to the willing-buyer-willing-seller policy proposal Madam Speaker. Previously, the country used to have the auction system which has been replaced by a refined interbank foreign exchange market under a willing-buyer-willing-seller trading arrangement. We can all agree in this House that this policy development brings in a transparent price discovery mechanism in the interbank market. The policy further proposed to fund the willing-buyer-willing-seller mechanism using the 25% surrender proceeds from exports. The willing-buyers-willing-seller trading arrangement is an attempt to boost confidence in the economy. In the past, we have seen that the variation between the auction rate and the parallel market rate was also a potential source of arbitrage. The idea of transparency and a floating exchange rate has long been requested and if fully implemented, it could combat the currency volatility.
An increase in demand for a particular currency will increase the value of the currency. The fiscal policy measure of starting to create demand of ZiG through mandatory requirement for companies to settle at least 50% of their tax obligations in ZiG is a welcome move. The demand for local currency to pay taxes impacts exchange rate positively. This can lead to limited exchange rate volatility. The monetary policy statement indicated that more than 80% of transactions are taking place in foreign currency, and the local currency only covers 20%. Given such a situation, it definitely means that we cannot at one go have all taxes paid in ZiG or all commodities paid in ZiG. We need to have a step by step process to move the local currency coverage from 20% to at least say 30% by 2025, 50% by 2026 and 70% may be by 2027. Such a step by step measure will guarantee success.
The 2024 Monetary Policy proposed to alleviate bank charges which have been a thorn in the flesh for the general public. For instance, the farmers who get paid say once a year will get their accounts debited through what they call bank maintenance or service charges. Farmers will find their accounts deep in negative balances, meaning part of their income will just go to the servicing of the debt. Banks have been making huge profits through bank charges. The proposed measures restricting banks from charging individual bank accounts with a conservative daily balance of US$100 and below or its equivalent in ZiG for up to 30 days is firm and shows commitment to promoting financial inclusion and reducing unnecessary costs to the people of Zimbabwe. High bank charges levied on both foreign and local currency frustrate depositors. Consultations with the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe brought to light that large chunks of income by banks is being derived from service charges as opposed to interest on loans. Alleviating bank charges is a commendable policy move by the RBZ as exorbitant bank charges have increased the opportunity cost of maintaining a small account, discouraging potential savings and pushing poor citizens from formal banking channels. However, more must be done to reduce excessive bank charges that have become an albatross in fulfilling the National Financial Inclusion Strategy launched way back in 2016.
As I conclude, we have our legislative role bestowed upon us in Section 117 of our Constitution. We need to close all the gaps that may be used by speculators. Chief among all is curbing illegal forex trading in line with our Exchange Control Act. The Act which was passed by Parliament prohibits illegal monetary dealings. The premium offered by money changers is lucrative to the public, but at the same time causing depreciation of our currency. Last week, our neighbour Zambia, introduced a Statutory Instrument banning illegal forex trading. Such a decision shows their commitment to make their Kwacha strong. So, why is it shocking in Zimbabwe to preserve the value of our ZiG?
In conclusion, the announced 2024 Monetary Policy Measures aimed at stabilising inflationary pressure and exchange rate volatility will help calm markets, which have been in turmoil for some time. More importantly, this arrangement of backing the ZiG with reserve assets has excellent potential to bring a lasting solution to our currency challenge. Once we have our stable currency, we can power industrial production, create a conducive environment for investment and in turn, improve the livelihoods of our citizens. At this juncture, I can assure the nation that with the ZiG, we will make it. Let us embrace the new ZiG. ZiG bho, I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate the joint report done by the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Investment as well as that of Industry and Commerce. This is in respect to the first Monetary Policy as pronounced by the new Governor Dr. John Mushayavanhu. Madam Speaker, I needed to preface my debate in respect to this report and the Monetary Policy that was so presented, by looking into the historical perspective and where we are coming from as a nation. Everybody everywhere in this world and especially in Zimbabwe, deserves to have a stable currency, a currency that you can actually plan and do your things knowing that the value of your currency will not change in the manner in which we have found ourselves as a country in the past few years. A currency should meet the basic tenets of money which are the store of value, the medium of exchange and once a currency loses those, then we create a problem.
We are a country that moved away from our Zim Dollar in 2009 to the multi-currency. We then gradually went into the RTGs and then changed again to the multi-currency era and now we are in a new set-up where we still have the multi-currency, but the Governor has come back and said he has come up with a new currency for Zimbabwe which is the gold backed currency. If we analyse and look at it, I want to say that the previous Governor of the RBZ, Dr. John Mangudya and even the current RBZ Governor, Dr. John Mushayavanhu, Dr. Mangudya was the CEO of CBZ and he had run that bank very well and Dr. John Mushayavanhu comes with a history of having run the FBC bank in a very good way. So, in a way, it will be wrong to then fault the Governors in their individual capacities because when it comes to the capacity of corporate governance, I think they did prove that they can do it. But, there is something that I think is an elephant in the House, where we then find ourselves getting into trouble. One of the major challenges that we face is that our Monetary Policy has not been in sync with our fiscal policy and this has been a problem. One of the major challenges that you then see even when the new Governor introduced the new currency, there was a lackadaisical approach first by the RBZ as an institution and also even the Fiscal Policy authorities. We knew way back because the President had indicated that we were actually moving into the trajectory of bringing ZiG currency as early as February. But guess what Madam Speaker? We reached a stage where the new currency was introduced, but there were no bank notes or coins to support that. Even in terms of publicity, it was so poor compared to the standards that were set by RBZ previously when we had these currency reforms under the former Governor, Dr. Gideon Gono. There was that slow start which created a problem when the new currency was introduced. But more fundamentally, the Fiscal Policy, I think we should have had the Minister of Finance coming before the august House to quickly come up with credible fiscal policy interventions and not this question of the Minister saying he will wait for the Mid-Term Fiscal Review to then come up with some complementary fiscal policy. I do not think it adds up to the support that is needed when you are introducing a new currency. What we have at the moment, which I think is dangerous is that we have a situation where we now literally rely on the police enforcement to ensure that the parallel or black-market rate does not run amok. Right now, we have a legal challenge which will create a problem. How then do we make sure that our currency remains strong? We need to make sure that the Government should live to its word. We need to make sure that printing of money should be stopped. We need to make sure that Government lives within its means. As long as the Government does not do that, then we will actually have a problem with ZiG. It will just be a question of time. We also need to make sure that Government’s activities should move towards the use of ZiG rather than a question of having most of its services being in US dollar or other currencies.
If the Government has confidence in its currency, surely the industry and commerce and all other individuals will also have confidence with the ZiG. I want to give credit and say that if the announcement by the new Governor is supported by the Government, then I think we will reach a certain stage. However, if Government does not support the new Governor’s initiative, then we will be back to where we started.
In addition, one way we will find ourselves back there is when we have policy inconsistencies. This august House needs to make sure that even when the Minister of Finance comes in this House for his mid-term fiscal policy review, we need to make sure that he is coming up with complementary efforts that supports ZiG. If we do not do that, then we will go back into the problem that we faced in 2019 where the Minister of Finance had to come back and tell us that RTGS was no longer equivalent to 1:1. We are aware that Government had announced that we are in a multi-currency regime for the next 4 and half years. Right now, we should be having a clear roadmap in terms of making sure that we will have our own currency and this US dollar and multi-currency will go away. The roadmap cannot just be a roadmap without sign post and milestones. We should be knowing that by such a period, we will have reached a certain stage. At the moment we do not seem to be having that signpost and mile stones that have been set by
Government.
The RBZ on its own cannot do much. It all has to be dependent on the Government activities and which I think we will be crucial. The other thing which is crucial is that according to the Governor, he said around 85% of our transactions at the moment are actually in multi-currency. The major challenge that we need to tie up is how does parallel market happen. It happens when you go to a bank and you want to do a legitimate foreign transaction and then you fail. We need to make sure that the processes done by RBZ in terms of making sure that monies that should be availed to the market is done in a transparent manner. We are actually glad and happy that at the moment, the auction rate has been removed because it made some people rich. They would go to the auction rate, get the money at a discounted rate, take that money and use a portion of that money to import one or two things but the bulk of the money would be poured into the parallel market. Such a situation that creates arbitrage opportunities should not be allowed to exist and this is what we need. We need to make sure that we cut all arbitrage opportunities for our people. We need also to make sure every time all the Portfolio Committees in this august House try by all means in their review of the various ministries to ensure that when it comes to the ZiG promotion, are we supporting it in the ministries in the manner in which that they will be doing issues.
Currently, we have a situation where we find even if you look at ZESA how they converted into ZiG, their conversion model is faulty resulting in a situation where people are now overpaying when it comes to payment of ZiG. This is primarily so because the conversion was not done properly. It is also important that the Ministry of Finance should ensure that the conversion and some of the mistakes that happened during the conversion from the RTGS to ZiG are corrected because we do not want to create a problem which may then haunt us a nation.
Having said that, I want to say that we need to see the ZiG succeed. One of the major challenges that we have actually seen is that most people in this country, the pensioners, insurance policy holders who contributed to Old Mutual and Southampton Insurance lost all their savings. Even Members of Parliament who have served very well in this august House, some of them are living on a pension which is very small, primarily because the money they are getting as pension pay outs does not afford them to live a life that is worth of a Member of Parliament - worth of a civil servant who has given his or her best service to this country. Government needs to go back and relook into the welfare of those pensioners because they are living a terrible life as if they never worked during the course of their life and the fault was not theirs. It is not that they did not save, they saved and invested but as leaders of this country, we failed them.
To that extent, it is important that Hon. Members make sure that all pensioners’ policies live so that the ZiG will not go back to the history of the RTGS or former Zim dollars which became obsolete. We want ZiG to prosper and Zim dollar to be there so that our future as a country may be in a position to move forward.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING SPEAKER
HALF DAY WORKSHOP ON 2022 CENSUS
THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MAUNGANIDZE): I wish to inform the House that all Members of Parliament are cordially invited to a half day workshop jointly organisd by Parliament of Zimbabwe and UNICEF. The half day workshop will take place next week on Thursday, 20th June, 2024 in the Multi-Purpose Hall at the new Parliament Building, Mt. Hampden. The programme will start at 9 o’clock. UNICEF will jointly present with ZIMSTAT the provincial and district census that are profile to Parliament. The workshop will enable the Members of Parliament to appreciate the results of the 2022 population and housing census, particularly the social status of citizens at district level. This will ensure that Members of Parliament effectively perform their oversight role. Please join us for this informative and engaging event. I thank you.
HON. MABURUTSE: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice in this debate. I have a few words to contribute to this debate. The Ministry of Finance must embrace the ZiG first such that everyone else will follow suit. We cannot have a situation where the Government is pushing everybody to embrace ZiG whilst the Government is not accepting the ZiG itself. It could be workable if the Ministry of Finance can allow people to pay their duties in ZiG. The moment that is allowed, you will realise that everyone else will be running looking for the ZiG thereby making our own money strong.
On the industry side there is the 25% exporter surrender value which exporters are in our local currency which is the ZiG. That money will act as a reserve money which the exporters cannot use anywhere. This is because they cannot even pay that 25% electricity using the ZiG, they cannot pay duties for the imports that they are making. By not allowing the payment of duties and other utilities in the ZiG, companies are honestly failing to grow. So, I think it is a thing which we would want to advise the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, to look into it seriously such that our ZiG could remain stronger. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would want to thank Hon. Members for the robust debate, development-oriented debate that was very honest. I think the honesty that was displayed by the Hon. Members is because we all want our country to succeed and the success of our country is also dependent on us as Hon. Members to be able to tell each other the truth. I think this is what the Hon. Members have done.
As I close this debate, let me just touch on the highlights of what was presented by the individual Hon. Members. The motion was seconded by Hon. Madzivanyika and Hon. Madzivanyika was of the view that the ZiG, since it is backed by an asset, one should be able to convert the ZiG in exchange for the underlying asset. If you remember our currency, we used to have this thing which was written ‘pay the bearer on demand’. This is what he was referring to. He said there is need for us to create trust in our currency. He also raised the issue of divisibility and this is an issue that I also discussed with the Governor some two days ago to say people are struggling to get change.
It is very difficult for small transactions because we do not have coins. This is what was proffered by Hon. Madzivanyika to say there is need for us to have coins. There is need to address policy confidence through policy certainty. The ZiG should be the currency of choice and I think this is what has been brought out even now by Hon. Maburutse to say we should be able to use the ZiG, not only for specified services but for all local goods and services. Hon. Madzivanyika also said there is need for us not to focus on QPDs only, but also to consider the payment of PAYE, Value Added Tax and withholding tax, all these should be paid in the ZiG. The 25% surrender value for exporters is like a reserve now which the Hon. Member said because the surrender is failing to get a home. He then proposed that there is need for us to make sure that we also pay our bills, ZESA, water and duty using the 25% surrender value.
Hon. Mukomberi reiterated that the ZiG is a structured currency which is supported by gold, forex reserves and other precious minerals and it is very critical that the Hon. Minister repeals S.I.118 so that there is uniformity in the exchange rate and I think this was already done by the Hon. Minister. On the issue of us not using the police to police the policy, Hon. Mukomberi said there is need for us to make use of the policy to ensure that there is compliance and I think these are the highlights from Hon. Mukomberi.
Hon. Hungwe said let us give the ZiG time. It is a new currency and stability is gong to be brought about dependent on the behaviour of economic agencies and he said let us support the ZiG. The banks and the industry should support the ZiG and on the QPDs, he supported the idea that the QPDs should be paid in local currency and let us ensure that the bulk of the transactions that are done for locally produced goods should be done making use of the ZiG. He then lamented the shortage of point of sale machines and proposed that all supermarkets and all transacting entities should have point of sale machines and also propose the use of plastic money.
He also touched on the need for our banks to review bank charges downwards as a way of promoting financial inclusion. I think this is an area that has been mentioned by a number of our debaters. I transition to the submission by Hon. Tsvangirai who applauded the closure of the Dutch auction system and said the willing-buyer-willing-seller is going to promote the usage of the formal systems because the Dutch system was promoting the arbitrage and thereby distorting the value of the local currency.
He then said the market based pricing brings sanity in the market and also said all goods and services should be payable using the ZiG and I am sure this is a point that is coming out from all the Hon. Members. He also said the policies should entrench and promote financial inclusion, especially among the youth.
The submission by Hon. Mangondo; there is need to promote the use of the ZiG and RBZ should go on a ZiG sensitisation programme so that we are all aware of the existence of the ZiG. Companies should follow on the production of exportables to strengthen our currency. On this note, Hon. Mangondo was saying in order for us to strengthen our currency, it lies when we produce and I think this is very critical. He also lamented the issue on bank charges and said there is need for our banks to review bank charges downwards. The submission by Hon. Matinenga; she said the Hon. Minister and Governor should walk the talk on policy implementation and I am sure this is something that is coming out from all the submissions that are before us, once there is a policy proposal, we need to follow through as proposed.
Hon. Sakupwanya said there is need for exchange rate and prices stability and with stability comes confidence and I think this is very critical. He then implored on citizens to make use of the ZiG as a store of value. He said there must be a deliberate move by the Government to pay for council rates, electricity and other services to create the demand for the ZiG and I am sure this is what is coming out. He also said there is need to relax regulations on the operations and opening of Bureau De Changes. This will ensure that the unbanked remote areas have access to financial services, especially in cases where they are supposed to have access to forex. Again, he mentioned the issue of bank charges being too high.
Hon. Zhou said let us promote the use of the ZiG, it should be able to buy all goods and services in the country. We should be able to pay for passports, duty and there is need for swipe machines. I think this is what the other Hon. Members said. She also said the ZiG should be made available in the market and we have noted that. As of now, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has been drip-feeding the availability of the ZiG. What is coming from the Hon. Members is that we need the availability of the ZiG on the market.
Hon. Nyakuedzwa said, let us have confidence in our currency and I am sure this is what is coming. Hon. Kangausaru, there is need for us to have our own currency and this is what we have embraced as Zimbabweans. The ZiG should now perform the true functions of money as a store of value and as a medium of exchange, but what is critical is currency stability. The willing-buyer-willing-seller would provide competence in the market and has dealt a blow to the arbitrage that was going on. You also lamented on high bank charges that banks push ordinary depositors out of the formal banking system, thereby limiting the ordinary people on the Government policy of financial inclusion.
Hon. Mushoriwa mentioned that the monetary policy should be in sync with the fiscal policy. He also said the publicity that was done by the Government and RBZ was inadequate and he then implored that there is need for the Minister of Finance to immediately announce the complementary fiscal measures. He also reiterated that there is also need for Government to support the policy announcement by RBZ Governor, especially on the usage of the ZiG by ministries, departments and Government agencies. The ministries and Government agencies should support the ZiG and use the official conversion rates as announced by the RBZ Governor. All in all, he said he would want to see the ZiG succeed.
Hon. Maburutse said Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion must embrace the ZiG before anybody else, and as the principal Ministry, it should lead by example by making use of the ZiG. Government departments should be the first to embrace the ZiG. In that, he said all duties should be paid in the ZiG. On a closing note, Hon. Maburutse said on the 25% quarter surrender value, it now acts as reserve money as it is now failing to find a home. Due to that, he then said his proposal is for all goods and services to be paid using the ZiG. So, this is a summary of what was submitted by the Hon. Members and I would want to thank the Hon. Members for the contributions that you made towards the joint report that was done by the Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion and the Committee on Industry and Commerce.
Hon. Members, Hon. Speaker, I therefore, propose that this House adopts the report of the Joint Committee on the 24 Monetary Policy Statement. I thank you.
Motion that this House considers and adopts the Report of the Joint Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion and Industry and Commerce on the 2024 Monetary Policy Statement, put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that we revert to Order of the Day Number 7 on today’s Order Paper.
HON. KAMBUZUMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATIONAL CADASTRE
SYSTEM TO THE ZIMBABWE NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL
AND SPACE AGENCY
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the establishment of the electronic Cadastre and mining Cadastre systems.
Question again proposed.
HON. I. NDUDZO: Thank you Madam Speaker. Firstly, let me thank Hon. Mhuri for bringing to the House such a motion of strategic national importance. Madam Speaker, simplified national Cadastre system entails having in our nation, a consolidated land registration system that is electronically auditable and available. It would enable our nation to be able to account for each square inch of the 40 million hectares that constitutes the nation of Zimbabwe, which is about 400 000 km2, in the total land area of this beautiful nation called Zimbabwe.
It is a no-brainer that we need it as a matter of utmost urgency and priority, to have a national Cadastre system that encompasses our land and our mining rights. If you look at the cost benefit analysis, you will realise that we stand to immensely benefit as a nation when we have a consolidated land registration exercise. Within the precincts of the limited time that I have to debate, I will endeavour to motivate on some of the advantages that tend to accrue to our nation if we expedite the registration and consolidation of our land and our mining rights.
Firstly, it is not possible to plan when you cannot properly account what you have in your custody and what you have under your control. The future of this country requires meticulous planning because we know that land is a finite and an inelastic resource. The land that we have is an inheritance which we bequest from our forefathers, which we must also bequest to generations to come. We must be able to pass it on in an orderly and organised manner. That can only happen when we have a consolidated national Cadastre registration system.
I would further submit that when land is not registered or when the registration of land is not clear, it renders that land bad capital because we know that the value of land is not just any physical occupation and use. It is also on the bankability and the transactions that you are able to carry on the basis of the registration, title and whatever certification you may have, which is accorded to a particular piece of land. As things stand, you notice that in the majority we have in this country, we still have unclear registration which is why we always have a lot of disputes surrounding ownership, control, use and other functions of the land which we have in this country. Having this national electronic cadastre system will not just help us ameliorate those disputes, but will enable us to also strengthen our national balance sheet. When we have land which is dully registered and properly accounted for, we are able to know the true value of the land which we have in this country. In respect of mineral rights, we will know the true value and it can become an easy basis for us to be able to explore, conduct national exploration and even know the true value of the minerals that lie beneath the land that we live on.
Madam Speaker, it is my submission that carrying into effect the motion as proposed by Hon. Mhuri will actually enable us to have an end to the multiple disputes that are bedeviling our dispute resolution forums.
As things stand Madam Speaker, we have infinite numbers of disputes between miner to miner. We have a lot of problems if you go to the Ministry of Mines where every day a lot of time and resources are wasted trying to find out who actually owns which piece of mining location and who has got superior rights to the other because as things stand, the current manual system is susceptible to abuse and manipulation. We also have miner to farmer disputes because if you look at the land legislation that exist in Zimbabwe through the Land Acquisition Act as Amended by the gazette Land Consequential Provisions Act, you find that it says certain things in respect of use of land. These things are not always aligned to the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act which gives priority rights to miners.
Having Consolidated National Cadastral Survey System will also enable us to mop up and clean our legislation so that there is clarity as to which rights takes precedence over which other set of rights. Even in the communal areas, we have disputes that are so difficult to resolve. We have disputes between Chiefs, the boundaries which area lies under which chieftainship is a common dispute. Madam Speaker, the difficulties and differences between headman, even the difficulties and differences between respective village heads, where does my village end and where does the next village begin. It is a real issue which often finds expression in disputes that come even before the courts or sometimes where people end up resorting to self-help to resolve such disputes. If the motion is carried into effect Madam Speaker, we will come to a situation where it should be possible at the click of a button to be able to scientifically and empirically establish the bounds of each respective village or each respective piece of communal land. That will also assist even in terms of planning and in terms of allocation of land- use.
Madam Speaker, it is also my considered view that having a proper land registration system that is easily accessible to everyone will be quite pivotal in promoting investment in our country. Investment is like water it falls gradient – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] Very rarely will someone be motivated to invest their resources and capital in a place where there are potential disputes because there are difficulties in ascertaining ownership control and use of land. When you compare the so called developed nations versus the developing nations, you will see that one of the major distinctions that exist is that in the developed world there is accountability and there is registration. There are also records that define who owns each small inch of land. So you look at a small country and with respect like Belgium, you find that a country perhaps without any mineral rights, a country even without a favourable climate but when you look at the value of their land - even though it is perhaps a very small fraction of Zimbabwe. Their land has got more value because of the registration process that consolidates ownership title and land use. That is what, in my respectful view, we mut be able to pursue.
Madam Speaker, it is not just about foreign direct investment but it is also important in attracting and retaining local investments. We want a nation where the natives of the country are so proud to go out and earn capital elsewhere and find Zimbabwe as the most attractive investment destination. Things will be so orderly and it should be possible for you to ascertain the use and functions designated for each piece of land that exists in this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –
Madam Speaker, you can imagine that as things stand, we have had incidences where even people who have title deeds have been susceptible to fraud. You are aware of people who have illicitly been able to actually transfer land belonging to another person by hook or crook. They are able to go to the Deeds Registry’s Office and are able to come up with title deeds that transfer property and you find yourself being evicted from a property which you actually own. You can imagine what the situation is like in respect of land which is not consolidated on a national registration cadastral system.
Having a national consolidated land cadastral system will enable us to plug all the loopholes and eliminate all the current infractions in land theft, land barons and other excesses that do not augur well for the Zimbabwe that we all want to be proud or to be associated with – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] - It is therefore my respectful submission Madam Speaker that as the National Assembly, we need to fully support the motion by Hon. Mhuri. We must be able to do everything possible to make sure that there is priority in funding the exercise and that when the exercise is completed, we then utilise the system that emanates from that exercise to be able to actually clean-up all our land legislation. Right now, you have the Deed Registries Act, it says one thing, the Town Country Planning at Regional Act is saying a different thing, I have already mentioned the other pieces of legislation.
Lastly Madam Speaker, one of the challenges we have as things stand in our country is that even when land is designated as State land sometimes you actually find conflicts between different Government agencies in respect of the same piece of land. I will give you an example in context, if you look at the Forestry Act, it designates certain pieces of land largely in the Eastern Highlands As most suitable for forestry. You realise that within demarcated forests you actually have people who are moving in there invading that land trying to use that land for other purposes. Zimbabwe is strategically blessed as one of the few countries in the world where we can actually have commercial forestry.
Madam Speaker, that land must be properly preserved, reserved and always protected for that purpose even though it will be owned by the State. The same can be said even of the land which we have set aside for parks and for the sanctuary of wildlife. You actually find that we have incidences where certain people try and actually appropriate part of that land because these issues are not as clear and as consolidated as there would be in the after mark of the implementation of the motion as proposed by Hon. Mhuri. It is for those reasons that I urge this august House and I urge everyone present to put everything that they can in supporting this motion. I so submit and thank you.
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I also rise to support the motion moved by Hon. Mhuri with regards to the issue of the mining Cadastre. We have seen a lot of corruption, particularly in the local authorities with regards to this issue of land ownership. It is a fact that once the system is availed on a national approach, such kind of inefficiencies will be avoided. Madam Speaker, we have also witnessed that…
HON. DHLIWAYO: On a point of clarity. I wanted to find out - I heard Hon. Mutokonyi saying a mining Cadastre system. Is it a mining Cadastre or it is a national Cadastre system?
HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you for that. Yes, it is a national Cadastre system. I have just been reading something on mining Cadastre system. Thank you for that. I am very happy that we have got Hon. Members who will be listening attentively. I have looked at the issue of transparency. Once the national Cadastre system is on board, we are going to eradicate a lot of issues that deal with red tape where we have witnessed a lot of bureaucratic excuses in the offices with regards to issues to do with mining, land and many others. The coming in of this system, even in management, we say the system follows the structure. The structure will then make sure that any of these challenges that have been witnessed before will be a thing of the past. I remember some time ago, I read the report on the National Peace and Reconciliation. The report had a lot of issues with regards to disputes. Most of these disputes were coming from mining, farming, rural communities and land regarding ownership. So, this will then buttress the issue and the disputes will be minimised because the system will be addressing them and managed at national level, thus eradicating all these disputes. We have also observed, particularly in the rural communities, the disputes amongst the chiefs. It is a good approach to have this system as it is going to ensure that the country - the Zimbabwe that we want is managed in a proper and transparent manner.
In economics we know that there are factors of production, and land is one of the key factors of production. If we want to talk about productivity, we can only be productive on land that you are sure of the ownership, particularly when you come to investment, you will have to be sure that the investment that you are getting into, the land ownership is very clear. The coming in of the Cadastre system will actually favour and increase productivity with regards to long term investments. We have also noted that in terms of infrastructure development, quite a lot of infrastructure development is being called for and driven in the national development policy. This infrastructure development also has to be done on properly accounted for land in terms of ownership. This will then drive the economy. We are now talking of economic growth, which is done productively on the land that is rightly and correctly owned. That is very important for us as a nation to have this system in place for continuity.
We also look at the issue of ease of doing business. Zimbabwe is open for business and the ease of doing business is also enhanced in our legislative laws regarding the same issue. We then need to ensure that we align our policies and our legislative laws to the new Cadastre system so that it drives the business in terms of the ease of doing business and consequently few litigations due to issues that may arise. Madam Speaker, without wasting time, a lot has already been debated by other Hon. Members. I do submit and also buttress the motion raised by Hon. Mhuri. I thank you.
*HON. MACHINGURA: Madam Speaker, I just wanted to say if people do not know the amount of the things that they have, how will that assist us? If this Cadastre system is capable of showing the minerals that we have underneath the ground, such minerals like copper and lithium, we can be in a position to plan our things properly. Whatever it is that we do, we should ensure that we are able to leave this for our children. If we are going to have diamonds and we finish them all and have all the minerals extinct, our children will be left with nothing. We need to be sure of what we have. The Cadastre system will tell us the number of minerals that we have and it will do us a lot of good if we call people that come in and we will be able to tell them the quantities of gold that we have. If we have no idea of what we have, we will remain with nothing. I want to tell you that what is happening in the communal lands, we have some issues. There was a person who was given a place to reside on. Then a snake came and he killed it. A second snake came and he killed it. When he went for a beer drink, he was asked if he had seen the two letters that had been sent to him. So, the disputes on land issues that are happening on the ground are unbelievable. This Cadastre system will assist us in terms of the pegs in terms of properties. The issue of proper boundaries has a lot of disputes. One person will encroach into another’s property and because of that, people are having disputes. The Cadastre system will be able to designate and show where Machingura’s property starts and ends.
In towns, on the issue of land for residential purposes, there are some stands that they hide and leave unallocated and when they report progress to someone who does not know much about the issue of land, they report fewer stands than those that exist and those unallocated ones are the ones that will be corruptly sold to people, yet they will have been planned at the same time. The same applies to what is happening to farming land. When people go to peg the land, they also do not account for all the land available. A Cadastre system that shows us the boundaries and what we have underground does us a lot of good. Also when we invite investors, we are able to tell them the quantities of gold that we have. If we do not know, we will remain with nothing. I want to tell you what is happening in communal lands. We have some issues. There was a certain person who was given a place to reside. A snake came to his homestead and he killed it. A second snake came and he killed it again. When he got to a beer drink, he was asked if he had seen the two letters that were sent to him. The disputes on land are numerous. The cadastre system will be able to guide us in terms of pegs of our properties. The issue of property boundaries has a lot of disputes. People encroach into each other’s farming lands and because of that, people are having a lot of disputes. So, the cadastre will be able to designate where Mr. Machingura is and anyone else’s property is.
When the technical departments at urban and rural councils plan for residential purposes, there are some stands that they reserve unallocated. When they report progress to the CEO who is not well versed with the land allocation, they then later sell these stands corruptly to people. This is what is happening with land that is reserved for farming. When people go to peg the land for farming, they leave behind some other land that is not allocated. That is why you see people appearing from nowhere having pieces of land. If we have a cadastre system, then people will be able to know that there are certain things that have been planned.
I just stood up to support the motion that was moved. If you look at ZINGSA that they are talking about, you will see that there is a lot of scientific gadgets used to produce master plans for areas such as Tokwe-Mukorsi. They are not the ones that keep these master-plans but they do work on behalf of other groups. Recently, they launched ZIMSAT 1 which gave out accurate information pertaining to land pegging. Soon after independence, we had five agricultural regions. But when ZINGSA came they revised all this and we now have agricultural regions like 2 A and 2 B. They modernised and came up with a new map which shows what we are doing. I want to support the cadastre system because it will help us in a lot of things and ways. I thank you.
HON. MHURI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. BAJILA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 18th June 2024.
MOTION
LEGISLATION TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PREVIOUSLY MARGINALISED LANGUAGES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
*HON. JONGA: First of all, I want to thank Hon. Bajila for moving this motion. When the war of liberation was fought, there was no other way where you could use any other languages apart from our own mother tongue as we had to plead with our ancestors to lead us to victory. We would do that using our mother tongue which would be understood by ancestors.
These languages have now been suppressed to the extent that a lot of people no longer understand their languages. I take for example places like Chiredzi or Chipinge, there is Tonga and Shangani. Such areas are appearing as if they were out of Zimbabwe because these were minority languages. If these minority languages are taught throughout the country, harmony, peace and unity among the people would be enhanced because our children can have inter-marriages. For example, if my daughter is married in Beitbridge, I will be helped by being able to speak Venda and Ndau. I had a problem with my daughter who secured an internship in Bulawayo and I asked why she was reluctant to go. She said she was unable to converse in Ndebele. There is a serious problem if children do not learn our languages because if she had learned Ndebele at an early age, it would have been easier for her to learn and speak the language. I urged her to go and learn whilst she was there because she is still young.
If we encourage the use of our local languages, it will be easier, for teachers will get jobs. We have sixteen official languages so if a lot of teachers are going to be recruited to speak these languages, we further encourage that those in the Ministry of Education should now say as a requirement instead of English and Maths being one of the compulsory requirements that should not apply to Zimbabwe. If you go to Botswana they place a lot of importance on the Tswana language. I attended a workshop for the people that had come from Belarus, Members of Parliament who were there so that the investors who came could not even utter a single word of English. There was an interpreter - that means they place little importance on their own mother languages. However, in our country we place a lot of importance on our oppressors or colonisers. Some of the problems that we have in this country are caused by using the wrong language. The people in the era of Mbuya Nehanda could understand English. There are also those that use sign language and if sign language was taught in schools, it would help those that use sign language. In the majority of cases, it appears as if they are marginalized because there are few people who understand sign language and also practice it.
If they are given a chance for this sign language to be taught in schools, it would become easier for them. The more we speak our language, the more we enhance and conserve our culture and our tradition. I know that in Mt Darwin West where I come from when one arrives at a homestead, before they greet you, they give you some water to drink, this is because visitors could be thirsty or lose consciousness as they arrive, hence the water treatment first and when you greet each other if it is a girl anotyora muzura. I believe Hon. Chibagu will agree with me on that point in terms of our culture in Mashonaland Central. It is important for us to teach and to know our language so that we can maintain our culture, way of life and our traditions. We will know that we are people in our land which is our inheritance, Zimbabwe.
*HON. GANYIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Let me get into the motion despite the fact that I have left behind the researched documents that I had prepared. I want to contribute to this motion that was brought by Hon. Bajila because no man can embrace a baobab tree alone. Let me also play my part. The motion before us if not properly handled, will be an exercise in futility. Why do I say so, yes, the issue of teaching languages and their being practiced in Zimbabwe and their diversity is important, it cannot be considered important if we just encourage the teaching of these languages only without looking at other issues why we have languages as human beings.
Why did I say if we only confine ourselves to languages it will be an exercise in futility, it is because we would have left a number of things that are part and parcel of the social economy of the people. We should not leave out the practices of culture and the manner in which we craft our laws according to tradition. Why did I say the one that writes and gives you what to read is the one who controls your mind in the economy and politics and everything, even religion?
If you look in this august House, the way we dress - we must dress appropriately. Even if we advocate for the learning of our languages, if I am forced to be wearing a jacket and tie, it means this is an exercise in futility. Even if we look at the curriculum and syllabuses that we have in our schools up to university level, we will reach that far but we would have already left behind our culture and our languages, learning Roman and Dutch Law.
I believe that such practices cannot be learned in our language, that is why they say that we should learn using foreign languages. I remember when others said that they were cheated in an election, it was because we had certain vocabulary that we imaged, which we could not understand because it was said in Roman Dutch.
Madam Speaker, I was saying that the issue of languages was being debated in a very good manner and unites the people of Zimbabwe. I thank you.
HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Is this part of the motion? - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you for your point of order Hon. Hamauswa. It was just an example.
*HON. GANYIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for protecting me. The guilt is always afraid. Let me proceed with my debate, if the spear had entered too strongly, it becomes difficult to remove it. What I want to bring out clearly is that let us look at all things if we want to be proud of our languages because our languages have certain hidden things that we keep secretly so that they protect the way we live. This will protect us because even our enemies may not be able to know what exactly we will be talking about.
From the educational background, if you see a parent looking for a place for a child, what they look for is the official language being used there. That is the yardstick that they use of how pupils learn at a school. There are other schools which are strict in using English and are strictly English speaking environments, meaning at that no Shona is allowed at that school. You can also observe that when we gather as families, a child who breaks Shona is given a higher place. That one who would have broken English is circulated on social media and is said to be dull. Then you would ask, dull in what sense? It is said he who gives you what to read and what to learn controls the minds of people in everything.
I will move a few steps, even in our courts, we are supposed to have judges wearing wigs, bearing in the manner in which we do our things. In fact, the way we are sitted, should be having lion skin that would even frighten those who would be trying to disturb me from debating. When we are looking into the issue of promoting our languages, we should look at all things holistically, in terms of the economic development, social and law making. The manner in which our law-making process can be done in this particular House, where we are coming from in terms of our culture, social, economic and the people that we lead in this august House, coupled with the languages that we are encouraging that they should be taught.
Furthermore, that they be used as the mode of communication in the syllabi and curriculum that they are learning. That is the only way we can win from the problems that we are currently facing. If that is not done, it would be an exercise in futility. With those few words, I have played my part. I thank you.
HON. BAJILA: On a point of order. You are raising a third speaker on your right. The ratio is 2:1.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: I am using a ratio of 3:2. Thank you.
HON. BAJILA: Why Madam Speaker? Why? The ruling is, the ratio if 2:1, that is what two thirds is all about. The ratio you are using is two fifths.
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Okay Hon. Bajila.
The Acting Speaker having recognised Hon. Nyelele, - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Members, order!
HON. HAMAUSWA: Whenever we raise an issue of ratio, the Speaker who is there will always correct…
THE ACTING SPEAKER: What is the inconvenience Hon. Hamauswa? – [HON. HAMAUSWA: It is the second time for you to reject a point of order, which is correct on the ratio. Whenever we raised it, it was promptly corrected, not to say can we break the rule, then we correct after breaking. When a Member raises a point of order, it would be good to correct, so that we feel part and parcel of this House…] – Thank you Hon. Hamauswa. – [HON. HAMAUSWA: We will feel that we are no longer part and parcel of this debate, which is unfortunate for this House. I therefore, request that you revert to the correct procedure, which we agreed in this House.] – Alright, I have heard you.
∞HON. NYELELE: Good afternoon Madam Speaker. Thank you for giving me this time to add my voice. We should encourage the use of native languages because it unites us. It also brings us together to have peace and harmony. I want to thank my elder Hon. Bajila who brought this motion that we are debating in this House so that we share views on what we can do and help each other to be proud of our 16 languages. In Zimbabwe, we have the Chinese that built this Parliament; when we meet them in corridors, they will be speaking their Chinese language yet we will be busy conversing in English.
I therefore encourage that we should use our languages, those who speak Venda, Nyanja, Xhosa should speak freely. More-so when we speak with our grandparents using our languages, it makes us understand and respect each other because certain English words are disrespecting. Therefore, I should speak in the local language whereby we understand each other even with our parents and our elders unlike English where we hug each other, which is not our culture. Let use our languages.
Madam Speaker, I am also requesting that in all that is written, let us use indigenous languages. They say English is an instructional language, but we should also use other languages. I thank you.
∞HON. CUMANZALA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, good afternoon. I am very excited that today I am using my language, the Tonga which is a sweet song. Firstly, I want to thank Hon. Bajila for the great work that he did by coming up with this motion which brings together the people of Zimbabwe. Some can undermine this issue but from my perspective, I think that it unites our country because it is very essential for national building.
Also, I want to thank the Government of Zimbabwe which saw it befitting that all languages that are spoken in Zimbabwe, which include Venda, Kalanga, Tonga, Nambya and others that I have not mentioned that they should be called national languages. This is because this country is composed of Zimbabweans who speak different languages. Therefore, if you take into consideration the Chiefs who come from the Kalanga area in Plumtree, when they were giving their submissions to the Portfolio Committee, they were saying that the ancestral spirits of Zimbabwe do not listen to English. It is because when you are praying to the ancestral spirits, you speak all the native languages so that all the ancestral spirits can listen to us. For this country to be a successful country, we should respect all the people who came here, the Khoisan, whether we like it or not. The Khoisan are the first people to come into Zimbabwe. Other languages came after the Khoisan. It is as if I am being proud of ourselves but the Tongas were also the first to be in Zimbabwe, which translates to say there should be a way of appeasing our ancestors.
The motion by Hon. Bajila is that all these languages should be taught in different parts of our country. For example, in the Venda speaking area, if Ndebele is being taught and also other languages, it unifies those people across the country. It will not cause discrimination to say where do you come from, are you Tonga by tribe, are you Shona, but what is important is that we should be taught those languages. I myself was taught by Ndebele speakers and Shonas. They were teaching me Tonga as well as Shona in Kariba. It is possible that anyone can learn a language even if you come from somewhere. It brings us together and gives us that pride that we are Zimbabweans and then we can learn to tolerate each other.
We know that Government is doing a lot and of course, our Constitution is clear on the Education Act but there is a lot that needs to be done so that this motion brought by Hon. Bajila becomes successful. What should be done Madam Speaker to improve this? The Education Act should be amended so that it can unify people and find a way of how these languages can be taught. In the Education Act, it says the 16 officially recognised languages, which means the law is not binding.
It should have a term that is binding. In Zimbabwe we have what we call Masvingo Language Centre, the Midlands State University for languages, they are doing great work. We are grateful to the Government for bringing such an initiative, but they should go an extra mile, especially in terms of resources being given to these centres so as to have more human resources who can be promoting different languages. We as Tongas are happy because Tonga is being taught in schools from grade one to seven, form one to form six and at universities and colleges. Tonga is now there but other languages like Xhosa and Venda still have a long journey, including the Ndaus and Changanis. Resources should be put in teacher training institutions and universities that promote languages and produce mainly teachers for those languages which include aspects like culture and traditions of those languages. Resources should not be for centres for translating documents into these languages. Hon. Members, here in Africa, there are some arrangements that have been made to promote languages. Some of these programmes include a policy guide which was well accepted and received by African Ministers of Education in Burkina Faso in 2010. This encourages all African Governments to empower our people with their local languages, which means that as Zimbabweans, if we are to follow Hon. Bajila’s vision, we can be identified as an example in the global world that we promoted our languages in our schools and everywhere across the nation. We know that there is a lot that needs to be done.
The other issue is the Languages Bill. The parents and the Ministry came up with the Languages Bill in 2020. This Languages Bill has principles, justifications and values that if we can follow, can be implemented through the Education Policy or the Amendment to the Education Act because the Languages Bill itself gave birth to the Language Policy. The Language Policy is one area that our Government should look into. I know that in the past three weeks one Ministry had set down to look into the Language Policy. This is the starting point that we should follow as Zimbabweans who are looking forward to building and developing our country so that in future our nation can celebrate its differences and diversity. We cannot celebrate our diversity if some of our languages are not being empowered and taught in schools. Hon. Members, I think our Language Policy should come out clear that all languages should be taught in schools. For example, which language in Binga can be taught besides Tonga then here in Harare in Mashonaland which languages should be taught besides Shona. If you ask a child from Buhera, he/she will tell you they can only speak Shona and English. That is not their problem because the children were not exposed to speaking other languages that are in Zimbabwe so that they can interact with other Zimbabweans. The same applies with a child who stays in Tsholotsho who when he comes to Mashonaland cannot converse in the Shona language. Therefore Hon. Members, I consider that this motion is a non- partisan motion. Let us come together and build our country as Zimbabweans. In those few words Hon. Speaker, I want also to thank those who made it possible that our language can be spoken in this House, it is one of the best languages I have spoken. Thank you Hon. Bajila and Hon. Speaker.
HON. MATARA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for according me this chance to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Bajila on teaching and learning of local languages. Mr. Speaker Sir, if we look at our cultural preservation it is through the learning and teaching of our local languages that our cultural heritage and cultural awareness is promoted. Teaching of the local languages improves academic performance since learning in mother tongue helps students perform better academically and reading and writing skills. Mr. Speaker Sir, teaching of local languages increases success to students who may struggle with dominant languages. Local languages instruction foster community involvement encouraging parents and elders to assist and participate in their children’s education. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is through the teaching and learning of local languages that they aid empowerment and pride to learners. Speaking and learning in one’s mother tongue instils a sense of pride. It gives identity and empowerment. I so submit.
+HON. MACHANGU: Thank you for the time afforded Sir, good afternoon Hon. Speaker. I also want to thank you for this motion which was brought by Hon. Bajila. It is a good opportunity for me to speak in my mother language, my original language and my home language. We are being encouraged to use our own languages so they should also be used in the education system. I also want to go deep and point out where our problem is. What I have observed is that we are saying that teachers should teach the learners in the language of that area yet the teachers themselves do not know the indigenous language of that area. Our education system is seen as the problem. My prayer is that the curriculum of the teacher be the first one to be changed so that the teachers are taught the indigenous languages at the teachers college then they can come down and teach our learners well equipped in those indigenous languages. As teachers, they can speak more than three indigenous languages because when someone wants to go outside this country they are encouraged to learn German, if they are going to France they are told to learn French and they learn that language. There should be a policy that teachers should learn our languages in colleges. I am Ndebele and I speak Ndebele. I should be encouraged to learn two languages so that when I am deployed to go and teach at a school where they speak Shona, I can converse. I will give an example, this problem touches me very much. There is a school that has 12 teachers and nine of them cannot speak Ndebele, only three can. How are these learners going to succeed in their examinations?
In Ndebele we greet our elders as livukile as in plural. One of the teachers gave an example of ekuseni meaning in the morning. That is his understanding because when you greet an elder like livukile, it is wrong. In the afternoon we say litshonile and then the teacher changed it to emini because that is his understanding. I thank Hon. Bajila very much because this motion should be looked into deeply.
Last week I was in the constituency and I was going around hoping that the person I was travelling with can converse in my language, but that person just looked at me as a sign that she could speak the language. I could not speak deeply in my Ndebele which should not be the case because if I had done that, it was like segregating. When people come to Mashonaland, they should converse well in Shona and when they go to Beitbridge, they should say ndaa, when they go to Triangle, they should say avuxeni, when they go to Binga they should say mwapona, when they go to Hon. Bajila’s place they should say mabuyani. It should go on like that nicely so that we can talk to each other in our languages.
I have a grandmother who when I get home, she will ask for a newspaper Umthunywa or Kwayedza because the papers are written in a language that she understands. If I take a newspaper written in English, she will not understand that but when you give her Umthunywa or Kwayedza, she will understand it. It is very important for the language of that area to be taught, but some take it lightly. This same issue has disintegrated our nation. I was given homework by my child to say what is a young one of an elephant and someone said it is a calf. The child was marked wrong because it was in Ndebele. Some of our people are not proud of our indigenous languages and they regard these as inferior.
I was privileged to stay in different areas of Zimbabwe. I stayed in Matabeleland, Mashonaland and Plumtree and I learned these languages because I was willing to learn. Someone may stay in an area for about 10 years, but cannot speak any of the words because he would be undermining or would not want to associate him with that language. Do not be surprised because I may speak as if I am angry, I am just disappointed. I am angry about the situation where teachers are coming, but they continue failing to learn these languages. Those who are in charge of teachers’ training, when they deploy teachers to Nkayi, they should consider whether that teacher will speak in that language. When a teacher is taken to Venda land, will he learn the Venda language because it is so painful that the teacher will be teaching in English which may not be understood by the learners?
Long back at school, we used to be punished for speaking in vernacular language. We were sent for punishment for speaking in our mother tongue because they would prioritise English as superior. How do you punish someone for speaking his mother tongue? I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate since the His Excellency said a nation is built by its owners using indigenous languages.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): Thank you Hon. Machangu for that forceful debate. It has reminded me, at one stage I heard that the former President of Malawi Dr. Banda was in the presence of the Europeans and he was speaking in English. He got somebody to interpret to his people. He said a statement that I want my people to be free, free and free. The person who was interpreting said ndifuna kuti antu anga akare atatu atatu. So, you can see what that means.
+HON. ZEMURA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I do not speak Ndebele. I only want to thank you for the opportunity that you have accorded me and also to applaud Hon. Bajila the mover of the motion. The issue on the table is a very big issue. It is quite sensitive to me because I relocated from Bulawayo to Mashonaland as a teacher. I faced a lot of challenges but it did not take time because l was teaching Grade One (1).
The issue whereby an individual speaks only one language in a big country like this one; during my certificate, I used to have Ndebele, Zulu and English, but when I came here, I said I wanted to work. Then I was deployed to a school whereby all the people could speak Shona. I was happy because it made me learn Shona so fast.
Hon Speaker Sir, the issue of learning different languages is very good. It is quite important even if you go to training. I am one of the people who went to the United College of Education in 1968 when it started. We were a mixture of Shona, Ndebele and Kalangas. All the people could speak different languages. We would each get an opportunity to stand and debate in the mother language. That actually made us to learn all the different languages.
When going to a Grade One, class it was quite interesting. Those young ones would gather around you because you were failing to speak their language not knowing that they were actually teaching you their language. I learnt the Shona language through teaching Grade Ones. Young pupils were actually happy to come and interact with me because they knew I was breaking their language every now and then. As a trained person, I used to go back home and read books so that I could understand when comparing words. For instance, how to say mother in Shona.
You will not face any challenges when you have the zeal to learn any language. Right now , I cannot debate in Ndebele. Why? Simply because I then adapted to Shona. That is where I got married and they actually appreciated me being their in-law. They all know that I am a pure Ndebele and they are not afraid of voting for me simply because I know the Shona culture and everything.
So these languages that we speak in this House, Hon. Speaker Sir, teach us a lot in our communities. Even in schools, I never saw a parent who came to ask a lot of questions like why is it that my child wrote this way? This was so because I had my own researchers, colleagues who I would ask for assistance and they would query if I was capable of teaching Shona. All four classes were given one exam paper and my class would always excel. . Why? Simply because I had a calling to say, I do not want my children to be underestimated by other classes. To date , I still meet a lot of my former students in the streets of Harare who actually acknowledge me as their former teacher. Why? Simply because I took learning and teaching and then it became something important in my life. Such things depend on how you take them.
Now that we are politicians how did we take it to become politicians and for people to vote for us into this august House? This is just the same as teaching in a school while coming from a different tribe on how best to learn their language. I am simply saying we need such languages to be taught in all schools and people must not say, you are a Ndebele then you have to go to Matabeleland, and now that you are a Shona person you have to go to Mashonaland. That makes us mix and mingle in our culture and heritage. Like right now, I am not actually afraid to be in the Zemura family. Why? Simply because I am now the most respected person.
Other fellow colleagues of mine in that areas now respect me as a much respected politician in their area. We must not be afraid even if you are taken to Plumtree. There is nothing that you can fail to understand. You have to mix that language from Plumtree. They speak in their language. You speak while at home then you mix and understand everything. Let us avoid subdividing our country to say this is Ndebele, Kalanga and Manyika. All these things, it is very easy. We need all those children to learn. When learning they have to learn all those languages. They have to understand and be capable of writing such languages. Imagine you teaching a grade one pupil and then that same child comes top of the class but you cannot speak Shona. Why? Simply because I was now utilising the syllabus. I was actually learning while the children were learning then we went together.
Let us teach these children so that they understand more than one language. In Nkayi we know only one language. Here in Mashonaland we have Shona, Ndebele and Zezuru. Just call me in your area. I will come to your area and then I will become a headmaster in your area, even Kalanga area, even in Masvingo. There is nothing that I am unable to conjoin on the issues to do with language. It is easy for children to understand those languages.
I was very happy when I heard Hon. Bajila raising this issue. The only thing that did not make me happy was that of deploying Ndebele people in Matabeleland, Shona people in Mashonaland. Why are we dividing? We are now dividing our country. Let us avoid such. Let us make sure that our children learn all the languages in schools through those teachers, through those children teaching even those teachers because those youngsters are the best teachers for us to understand. I got to understand Shona very fast because I was teaching grade 1. I taught grade 1 for 10 years which then gave me the power to become a public speaker. It is now easy for me to speak even Shona even if you listen to my speech regardless of me being born in Nkayi. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.
*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Zemura for your speech.
HON. LINYANE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity to debate on the motion moved by Hon. Bajila, calling the Government to promote the teaching of Zimbabwe’s local languages in schools. The only recognised languages are Shona, Ndebele and English. The State must promote and advance the use of all languages used in Zimbabwe. According to the Constitution of Zimbabwe, it provides that the State must promote the use of all languages in Zimbabwe, including sign language.
The speakers of unrecognised languages feel that their language and culture are invisible in the society, which can lead to low self-esteem and loss of cultural identity. They may experience stigma and discrimination, which can lead to social isolation and exclusion. They face difficulties in accessing education as schools may not offer instructions in their language.
The State could consider implementing some of the following strategies: Inclusion in education and making sure that all languages are in the curriculum, that teachers are trained on how to teach and support learners in these languages, media and public communication, ensuring that all official communications and media broadcast are available in all languages, including sign language; cultural events and festivals, organising events and festivals that celebrate and promote the different languages and cultures of Zimbabwe and school competitions and also create language quotas.
Legislation could require a certain percentage of Government communication, media broadcast and educational material to be in the previously marginalised languages. Also allowing for the teaching of numerous non-official languages in Zimbabwe’s education system can have several effects on the people of Zimbabwe. Enhance cultural understanding, exposure to foreign languages can broaden people’s understanding of different cultures and ways of life which can promote greater respect and tolerance, improved employment opportunities knowing a second or third language can make people more employable, particularly in areas such as tourism, international business and translation.
In conclusion, amending Section 62 of the Constitution Act to include other officially recognised languages in schools could be an important step promoting and protecting these languages. It would ensure that they are taught in schools on the equal footing with Shona, Ndebele and English and that learners are also able to develop proficiency in their languages.
Mr. Speaker Sir, some key considerations in these amendments could include defining which languages would be recognised as official in schools. Also developing curriculum and teaching materials for these languages, training teachers on how to teach these languages effectively and create condition for the development of those languages. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): Thank you for your debate. You stated that there are only three recognised languages in the country and you mentioned English, Shona and Ndebele. Was that correct?
HON. LINYANE: I said the mostly spoken languages…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: If you said spoken, that is right but I think I heard you saying the languages that are official are these ones. Thank you if you have corrected it.
HON. SAMAMBWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me do it a bit faster because all these Hon. Members are complaining that they want to go home. I would like to address the issue on the table which was tabled by Hon. Bajila. The issue to do with local languages. Our languages are the ones that maintain or keep our heritage and culture. I would like to give you an example. We have lost a lot as a country simply because we take it to say a child who knows whatever he knows and then they demand English.
This Parliament here was built by the Chinese, but no one speaks English. Everything that they have here, they call it in their Chinese language. That makes us lose a lot of children with a lot of knowledge trying to praise one person. When I went to one of the meetings, people were speaking in English and the chiefs said why do you want to make a foreigner happy whilst oppressing our local citizens.
Let me simply say this local language of ours has got to be respected. It makes people know who they are, where they came from, where they are going and where they are at the current state. If you look at it, a lot of young generation now speak in English, the type of English that they speak when we were under colonisation. Those colonisers used to speak English and up to now, you will see that people are still speaking in English. If you go to China, the Chinese President will never speak English and the same applies to the Russian President. This is because they respect their culture. I am kindly asking for all of us as black people, as Zimbabweans, to respect and continue to teach our local citizens our local languages.
If I take those youngsters and ask what their totem is, they do not even know. As elders, we are also going the wrong way teaching those children English. I am kindly asking all children to be taught on their history and be taught on speaking their mother language. Way back, I used to look in these roads of ours. A lot of vehicles that are in this country are manufactured in Japan, but you never see all those Japanese speaking in English.
When we buy those vehicles, we will try to speak English and will never be able to manufacture our own vehicles because we are using English. Technology is found in China most of it, but they speak in their local language. I am kindly asking for other children of ours who are very much talented, but are under pressure or oppression because they will be forced to speak in English. Whenever they want to be employed, they will be asked to provide 5 Ordinary Levels including English as if that child is about to be employed to work for the whites. Even if you look at those people who take cattle into their dip tanks, they are being asked to pass 5 Ordinary Levels including English.
We kindly ask for these people to ensure that whenever they are going to those rural areas or local leadership when they have these chiefs or headman, they will never lose their culture. I am asking us black people to avoid leaving our Shona language. Let us continue using our local languages and stop praising those foreigners. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Samambwa. When you stood up you said you wanted to present a short speech, now that you are speaking something which is very good, do you still want people to go home?
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you for this opportunity Mr. Speaker. Our languages are what defines us. I would like to thank the mover of this motion Hon. Bajila for raising this motion in this House, about the use of indigenous languages. We do not need to differentiate our language from our culture because it defines who we are.
I have realised that in a country like South Africa, anyone in this country is free to use their language, an indication that they respect their languages equally. No language is given first preference to the other. In the teaching of these languages, we need to ensure that the teacher who will be teaching these languages, especially teachers of our kindergartens, need to be trained to teach these children their first languages. Languages that are being spoken nowadays have more of slang because of the mixture of different languages in the societies where we come from. So, we need to have language specialists who will train us how we use languages accordingly.
Another issue that we need to look into with regards to language training in schools is to ensure that text books to be used need to be written appropriately and we need to see to it that textbooks for specific languages are sent to specific speech communities. We also need to ensure that each and every teacher sent to a school in a particular speech community is able to teach that particular language spoken by those speech communities. They need to ensure that the teachers can speak at least one of the languages spoken in those communities, apart from English so that they can converse with people from these speech communities as well as students.
I would like to thank the mover of this motion Hon. Bajila as we look into the aspect of us agreeing on this motion for the development of our country. Thank you.
HON. BUTAU: Hon. Speaker, I strongly believe that promoting and teaching languages is essential for our cultural heritage, identity and community development. Local languages are the fabric of our society and it is our responsibility to preserve and pass them on to our future generations. I tender the following points in support of this motion;
- Cultural preservation, local languages are vital. Part of our cultural heritage and by teaching them will ensure the continuation of our unique customs, traditions and beliefs. Language is the carrier of our culture and its loss would mean the erasure of our history and identity.
- Improved cognitive abilities; studies have shown that bilingual and multi-lingual individuals have enhanced cognitive abilities including better memory, problem-solving skills and multi-tasking capabilities. By teaching local languages, we can improve our children’s cognitive development and academic performance.
- Community empowerment; local languages are the key to community empowerment. By promoting and teaching them, we enable our people to communicate effectively, access information and participate in decision making processes. This leads to greater community engagement, social cohesion and economic development.
- Language diversity and richness; local languages are rich in unique expressions, idioms and metaphors that enrich our linguistic diversity. By preserving and promoting them, we contribute to the world’s linguistic heritage and foster cultural understanding and appreciation.
In conclusion, let me conclude by saying promoting and teaching
local languages is crucial for our cultural preservation and cognitive development, community empowerment and linguistic diversity. Let us embrace and celebrate our local languages and ensure the continued vitality for generations to come. So, I submit.
HON. MUNEMO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to say good afternoon to you Hon. Speaker Sir. Thank you for according me such an opportunity to debate on the issue to do with indigenous languages.
Hon. Speaker Sir, I am one of the persons who is touched after these learners fail to pass their English then they are told that they have nowhere to go. A lot of colleges to do with education here, if you do not have English, you are not allowed to enroll with them. This is just the same as what was fought for by our forefathers. They fought for this country and we have to do the same with our culture. If we simply say English is the only requisite for one to pass on to colleges, we are still under oppression.
One of the things that worries me is, if one speaks in English, if he/she breaks it, we laugh at that person. When a person from Nigeria or India comes here and speaks in English, then he/she breaks the language, we listen attentively trying to figure out what is it that person is trying to say.
As Zimbabweans, we simply say that those who speak broken English are not actually motivating each other. I still remember one person who said, if you know your other language and then you know an extra language, that is being rich. If you know another language, then failing to know your mother language is being poor. When we wrote our Ordinary Level examinations, we were asked to make a choice, you could write Shona using English in that exam. I never saw anywhere where it was written that one should respond to English using Shona. That is oppression.
We see our children failing English and they say you cannot go anywhere. They finish first year, second year and third year failing English. Those who are saying they fail are us the parents. This goes to an extent whereby the girl child ends up thinking of marriage. Who is oppressing those children? We are trying to say girl child, boy child while we are oppressing them. We are still relying on that law of oppression. Let us kindly move away from that.
I am kindly asking the Minister of Education if he is listening while I am debating now, they have to try their level best as fast as possible to say if children fail Shona and pass English, they have to proceed to tertiary education. Even if they go to Belvedere Teachers’ College or Madziva Teachers’ College, they should continue with tertiary education while supplementing English. Examinations in Geography and Science are all written using English and they would have passed those. In this country, when one fails only the English language, it is said you cannot go anywhere. It does not augur well with me.
I am kindly asking the Minister to critically analyse this. Many children are not doing anything in rural areas simply because they failed the English language. Those are the same people whom we fought for during our liberation struggle – [AN HON. MEMBER: House ngaichiite adjourn, tinoda kunotora macoupon.] -
Let me express this, those coupons are waiting for us. Hon. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank you for the time you have accorded to me and I say it is actually good. Even if Hon. Bajila speaks in English, I do not understand what he is saying. I speak in my local language Shona using idioms and then he fails to understand. It is very good for me to say as the Ndebele speaking people, we learn Shona in Matabeleland. Those in Mashonaland should also learn Ndebele and this will simply show that we are children from the same country. I do not want to continue debating. Members will not actually continue listening to me. I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for this issue but I am kindly asking for sudden change in terms of languages. All people should be multi-lingual. I thank you.
HON. BAJILA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. KARIKOGA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 18th June, 2024.
On the motion of HON. KAMBUZUMA, seconded by HON. NYANDORO, the House adjourned at Twenty-Three Minutes past Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 18th June, 2024.