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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 14 JUNE 2022 VOL 48 NO 52
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 14th June, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that I have received a Non-Adverse Report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Institute of Loss Control and Private Security Managers Bill (H.B. 5, 2022).
PETITION RECEIVED FROM THE ZIMBABWE CONFEDERATION OF PUBLIC SECTOR TRADE UNIONS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that on Wednesday 1st June, 2022, Parliament received a petition from the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions requesting Parliament to exercise its legislative function of aligning public service laws to the Constitution by engaging the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare as a way of effectively ensuring strict adherence by Government agencies to their mandate.
The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
CHANGES TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House of changes in the membership of Committees as follows:
Hon. V. Ndebele and Hon. F. Nyika have both been appointed to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Higher and Tertiary Education and Primary and Secondary Education.
Hon. M. Chinyanganya has moved from the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education to the Public Accounts Committee.
Hon. Sibanda, are you saying Hon. V. Ndebele and Hon. F. Nyika are both from MDC-Alliance.
HON. L. SIBANDA: Yes, they are MDC-Alliance members.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is not clear to me whether both are going to serve on these two Committees concurrently or they are going to serve respectively in the order of their names, which is which, are you saying both of them are going to serve in the two Committees?
HON. L. SIBANDA: Yes.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have a request here to make a statement on a matter of national interest.
HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My point of national interest emanates from a provincial hero’s funeral which was held in my Constituency on Saturday. A business colleague by the name Michael Nyamusamba was declared a provincial hero, I attended the funeral. I was surprised to see at the hero’s funeral that there were slogans and regalia. I thought heroes are above parties. What really surprised me is that the funeral takes place in my Constituency in Rusape and I was never acknowledged. Some MPs from other constituencies were acknowledged, given chairs to sit and they were sitting in the shed. I stood in the sun yet I am the MP of the place. My question is, should a hero’s funeral be taken on party grounds? – [Laughter.] – These people think using their legs, they do not really think. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, withdraw that statement.
HON. TEKESHE: With all due respect Mr. Speaker, I can withdraw the statement but the way they are behaving; they really behave like they are using their legs.
THE HON. SPEAKER:You cannot withdraw the statement conditionally.
HON. TEKESHE: I withdraw Mr. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Wind up, your minute is getting over.
HON. TEKESHE: Can you please indulge me because this is very important, for it is a national thing. The one I defeated was acknowledged. The next door Member of Parliament was acknowledged; they gave them chairs. So, if ZANU PF loses elections, does it mean there would be no heroes and war veterans? We need to respect these people as a nation. I am standing here because of those people. So, when I attend that place, I should also be respected as a Member of Parliament who was chosen by the people. We are where we are – yes they can say bwa, bwa but we are where we are because we fail to respect each other.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I get your point.
HON. TEKESHE: Mr. Speaker Sir, just a second.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Ok wind up, your minute is over.
HON. TEKESHE: We are where we are, our economy, our politics because of this attitude of big brother who is a bully. The way they are bullying me is because of that. Why can you not take a page from Odinga and Kenyatta who came together? That is politics, nothing else but the nation is what we want. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -MR. Speaker, the way these people are behaving, I can start doing that as well here.
THE HON SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members. There is no specific guidelines in terms of how the public should conduct themselves in terms of carrying out proceedings for the burial of a lost member who might be a liberation hero or a liberation war hero. We no longer have provincial but we have liberation hero or liberation war hero. As to the dress code, that has not been defined in any Act including the Heroes Act, and also in terms of the Hon. Member not being recognised, it could be a question of whosoever was director of ceremonies there. It is a matter that was very local in a sense. In any case, there was no harm in recognising you as the Member of Parliament for the place. So let us have a code of conduct in the law, which you must make yourselves as the august House. Then that law will have to be followed accordingly. At the moment we do not have anything in the Heroes Act in terms of the dress code. I thank you.
HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. If you were in my shoes, Speaker of Zambia, President….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Please do not be emotional. I said there was no harm in recognising you and I do not know the circumstances of this particular instance, but there is no harm in recognising you.
An Hon. Member on virtual having continued commenting.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you stop your comments please?
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I move that all Orders of the Day be stood over until Orders of the Day, Numbers 37 and 31 have been disposed of, in that order.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE HELD IN GLASGOW
Thirty Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Question again proposed.
(v)HON. MUSARURWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I rise to wind up this motion. I would like to thank Hon. Members who contributed to the motion on our visit to Glasgow. Hon. Speaker, it was debated by Hon. Members that climate change is a very topical issue and attracted interest from quite a number of Members. I would want to move that the motion on the Report of the Delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference be adopted. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Just before I ask for the adoption, can you enlighten me on whether the Hon. Minister of Environment responded to the report?
(v)HON. MUSARURWA: No, he has not. It was a take note report Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES ON BENCHMARKING VISIT TO RWANDA
Thirty-First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services on the Benchmarking Visit to Rwanda.
Question again proposed.
HON. CHINHAMO-MASANGO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Members who contributed towards the ICT report. I really liked the idea of ICDL. It is a way to go and should be looked into. The removal of human contact which was brought in as a country in trying to fight corruption, we will only be able to achieve that if there is less human contact.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move that the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services on the Benchmarking Visit to Rwanda held from 10th to 15th October 2021be adopted. Thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that we revert to Order of the Day, Number 26 on today’s Order Paper.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
CONDEMNATION OF PEOPLE WHO CALL FOR UNWARRANTED SANCTIONS ON THE COUNTRY
HON. TOGAREPI: I move the motion standing in my name;
That this House-
ACKNOWLEDGING that Zimbabwe is a multi-party democracy that accommodates divergent political views from all parties in the country;
COGNISANT that such tolerance of all views by Government is not a sign of weakness but the pillar and cornerstone of goodwill as envisaged by our peace loving people all over the country;
NOTING with disdain the deplorable and potentially explosive political gimmicks by forces of negation who always vilify the Government and have the audacity in their stunts to advocate for the perpetuation and perpetration of very illegal and retrogressive sanctions on their own motherland by foreign governments;
CONCERNED that each time the country gears for elections, such political malcontents rear their ugly heads and start speaking with forked tongues wherein they advocate for sanctions on one hand and still want to participate in fair and free elections on the other hand without any repercussions for their unpatriotic and destructive utterances and calls for the tightening of sanctions;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon this House:
- To condemn in the strongest of terms such people who have nothing to contribute to our nation other than to call for these unwarranted sanctions on our country.
- The banning of holding of Government Office positions by those who continue to advocate for sanctions against the county and yet still continue to enjoy benefits from such responsibilities.
- The banning of the swearing into office of anyone advocating for sanctions against the country.
HON. NGULUVHE: I second.
HON.TOGAREPI:Thank you Hon. Speaker. I move this motion aware that in 1980 when we attained independence, there were issues that the people of Zimbabwe demanded and wanted to enjoy as equal citizens of Zimbabwe. There was the land issue and also there was the one-man-one-vote. At independence, we won the one-man-one-vote and every Zimbabwean, despite colour, was given the right to vote. So, every Zimbabwean has the freedom to participate in the political activities of this country freely but not in a way to disadvantage or destroy the unity of our people.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we have seen in the politics of this country new opposition parties. From independence, we had opposition parties but at the advent of the 2000 period, we saw many political parties largely sponsored by the West coming on the political scene with different political agendas, that of destabilisation, fights and violence. That culture of politics has been staying with us for a long time. We also realised over the years from that period that hate politics has come through the same sponsorship of the enemies of Zimbabwe. We then realised that some also go to the extent of manufacturing lies, misrepresenting events in Zimbabwe, destroying the image of the country through unfounded allegations. That has destroyed the cohesion within our society.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this situation has persuaded me to say we need to deal with those who want to disturb the democracy that we have. Those who want to see us as Zimbabweans fighting our own country, disturbing the development of our country must be dealt with through various laws of this land. In my view, if somebody wants to fight his country, subject his people to sanctions for example and lies about happenings in our country to the extent that one would misrepresent facts that will then see Zimbabwe being seen as an unsafe country - it is time that we have laws that will deal with such people.
Mr. Speaker, it is my proposal in this motion that such people must not be allowed to hold office. If somebody lies about this country, lies about the politics of our country and it is discovered and verified that this person was doing it for politics, that person must be denied a right to participate in the politics of this country. We need some laws in the country for people who claim to be politicians because politicians must be people who would want to see this country moving forward. Politics and development go hand-in-hand, but if you are a political leader who would then want to lie about your country, go about blacklisting your country, the leadership and the people by asking for sanctions, you are not a good person for this country. You cannot come back and say you want to run that country in a political office like Government being a councillor or Member of Parliament whilst you were saying things that destroyed the image of your country. We have such people who would go to other countries, look for enemies to come to Zimbabwe, and telling donors not to donate anything to this country. We have political parties who claim that without them, there is no politics in Zimbabwe.
We have political parties who, if they lose elections, they will say elections were rigged. They will only accept elections where they have won. Such people are not good politicians, if I am a politician and I go for elections and lose, I should be civil enough to accept defeat so that when I come tomorrow and win, the same person who I once lost to must also accept that somebody has won. We have a culture that is being developed in this country where some people always oppose and create situations. If there are international events like CHOGM in Rwanda, that is when you start hearing stories, people manufacturing stories that will see Zimbabwe being labeled for things that we may not have done, even when there are only investigations. They do not listen to that, they take legal issues into politics, criminal issues into politics. We have characters who paddle lies and they claim to be political leaders.
Madam Speaker, it is my strong view that those people who are politicians today, who are leaders of political parties, who are religious leaders; you also see some people who claim to be Pastors are Reverends getting into politics to tarnish the image of the country. When we have characters like that, they should be laws and one of those laws is the Patriotic Act. People who can go around the world demonising their country then come back to enjoy the same benefits from a country they are trying to destroy must face the music. They will remain citizens of this country but they cannot hold political offices after the people of Zimbabwe have suffered.
People have gone around telling donors not to support the health sector of this country and the consequence now is that people are dying in hospitals because of lack of medication because of somebody who has gone around saying do not support the Government of Zimbabwe. Such characters when they come back to say they want to lead this country, are not good for us because these are missionaries and we cannot allow them to do this.
Laws must be put in place to defend the people of Zimbabwe from political vampires, those who believe that when they are in politics, everyone else must suffer if they are not voted into office. We have characters that live all their political life dealing with people or trading people’s pain. People are suffering and once people suffer, they are okay with that, they start building that in order for them to receive money from donors. We are going for an election and the horses have already bolted, the whole game has started and we need just to stop this through enacting of laws.
We need to come up with laws that will defend the people of Zimbabwe so that politics is not used to make people suffer. So, it is my view Mr. Speaker, that a law must be enacted that will defend the people of Zimbabwe, a law that will ensure that when we are dealing with politics, it is a level playing ground, nobody uses the pain of the people of Zimbabwe and nobody must make us suffer for him to get into political office. The issue that I am raising is, it is time that we are an orderly society where the politics of lies and the issue of people going around the world lying about their country must come to an end and people who lie about their country must pay for it.
Madam Speaker, it is my view that as Parliament, as the Government of Zimbabwe, it is time that we deal with such political malcontents. We need to deal with them and the law must come to protect the people of Zimbabwe against those political missionaries. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NGULUVHE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise just to second the motion moved by our Chief Whip. Yes, in 1980, we got independence after our forefathers wedged a bitter struggle. Unfortunately, when we got our political independence, not all of us got our minds liberated. Some of us did not understand that we were not only fighting for political power but for the rights as stipulated in the Bill of Rights to decide on what to do and on how one wants to be ruled.
I think the mistake which was made in 1980 was - I would like those of us who took part in the struggle, who before were given a gun first had to go under a tree and were taught thoroughly what we were fighting for.
So when we got our independence, but because some people wanted to be in power and we had defeated the people who did not want to relinquish that power, especially when we decided to take our land which was their source of income, they then discovered that they could not just easily leave that. Our people were united in 1980 when we took our independence but we should have continued to teach them why we should have continued to be united as a people. We should have continued to tell them that if we have differences as people, we must sit down as Africans and resolve our problems amongst ourselves, not to wait for someone to come from outside to tell us how to resolve our differences.
This is the reason why for whatever reasons some of our people because they wanted power decided to collaborate with erstwhile colonizers and that brought us to the sanctions. I still believe there is a need to pass a Patriotic Bill. In other words, we have to be patriotic to our country. We may have our differences, but when it comes to defending the interests of this country, we must be one. I do not want to mention one country but you will be surprised one super power, once you go out of their country - you cannot denounce the foreign policy of that country even if you are a former president of whichever party. Once you do that, you will be prosecuted.
There is need for us as the National Assembly to come up with a law which gives us parameters that we as a people, there are things which bind us together which we can resolve as a people together, not to go and look for an outsider to come and influence what is taking place in this country.
So, I agree with the Chief Whip; why should someone go and ask that people should impose sanctions on us? We all know that we can pretend, ZIDERA did not just come, the Americans did not just come to say we are putting sanctions on you, it is our people who actually went to America and asked for ZIDERA. Then one wonders why we did ask for ZIDERA. It was because we had taken the land, the land which we were fighting for over 100 years. So I totally agree that there is need that we come up with laws which bind us together that we cannot denounce our own country. Definitely, you cannot sacrifice the people to suffer in order for you to get to State House.
I do not know if the lawyers in this country can assist us to come up with a law which says if you are found guilty you are not supposed to hold such an office. I thank you.
HON. R. R. NYATHI: I also want to add my voice on the motion that has been raised by Hon. Togarepi, seconded by Hon. Nguluvhe. Madam Speaker, the topic has been spoken in this House several times. I remember some other time, I stood up to speak on this motion and the late Hon. Alum Mpofu spoke about it and it was debated in full.
However, my surprise is, why is it that the law is not being set? It is also critical for us to note that when Zimbabwe became independent, Zimbabwe did not come on a silver platter. All of us seated here have got brothers and sisters who passed on during the war of liberation. As a result of that we know that there are several members that are lying out there and some stand unburied even today because they wanted us to be independent so that we can rule ourselves, run our own affairs, be in a position to determine our destiny and that we will be in a position to take back our land and use it productively as we are doing today.
So I want to second the motion and say the issue of coming up with a Bill to say anyone who speaks against his country to the detriment of the country and our people; that person is not fit for any office of leadership. I therefore, stand to second that motion that may that Bill be enacted, not now but as soon as yesterday. I thank you.
HON. B. DUBE: (Part of speech not recorded due to power outage.) Madam Speaker, I am sure we are having a connectivity challenge and I do not know whether we will wait for it to connect?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You have to wait for the connection for the benefit of those who are on virtual. You can now continue Hon. Dube.
HON. B. DUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I am sure I am now connected.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, you are connected.
HON. B. DUBE: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I love the first part of the reading of this motion that it is acknowledging that Zimbabwe is a multiparty democracy that accommodates divergent views of all parties in the country. What this implies is that we must understand that Zimbabwe is not a choir where everyone must sing to one tune. We must understand that the nation is made up of different people who have different views but at the end of the day, what we must all agree is that Zimbabwe is the only home that we have especially for some of us. I do not have any other country that I wish to belong to except Zimbabwe. I assume that every other Zimbabwean has that same belief that Zimbabwe is the only home that they have.
If we agree on that, the point then becomes how we administer our politics. Our politics must be administered with tolerance, which means that we must be able to tolerate different political views and political parties as a starting point. If we agree on that, it means we have a shared view. What is the problem in Zimbabwe currently is that there is no nation that was built since 1980. After1980, we managed to build a country and we managed to define boundaries, but we did not manage to build a nation based on values and principles, which is why our politics has a lot of violence. Our politics has a lot of hate speech as even my Chief Whip was indicating and someone was clapping hands and celebrating that an MP was ignored and denied a chair during a national function of the burial of a hero.
If you are doing that, at what point do you expect that same person to cooperate with you when you do not regard them as human beings like you and a national leader like an MP cannot be acknowledged at national events and cannot be respected by anyone. The main challenge that we have in Zimbabwe is a majority of Zimbabweans especially politicians. They love their political parties more than the country Zimbabwe. The people that I have seen in my political journey love their political leaders and their Presidents at political party levels more than they love their country so that even if that person is wrong and messing up, they will not be in a position to say yes or no. So the problem that we have cannot actually be regulated through the Patriotic Bill because patriotism is not a concept that you can regulate through legal processes. It is an attitude that one has towards their country. How do you cement patriotism, make everyone feel that Zimbabwe is their home? Allow everyone to enjoy even when people come for Independence Day celebrations, acknowledge me as an MDC person when I come there. Accept that Zimbabwe has ZANU PF which is present at the Heroes Acre every time when you are burying a hero. Also acknowledge that Brian Dube can come there as a member of the MDC and still is a member of Zimbabwe. Accept when you see Happymore Chidziva coming there and say this person is from CCC and is here and a Zimbabwean. That way, you would not need to then regulate anyone.
The reason why people end up possibly doing what the Chief Whip was saying, trying to do things through unorthodox means, is because of the intolerance that is there that makes people end up going for other methods of trying to get their voices heard. If you cannot be heard in your own country, you may end up thinking that audience from outside may be relevant. What I believe in is national dialogue. Let us agree that we need to dialogue as political actors. We need to dialogue as national leaders. We need to understand each other. I must know Hon. Chinotimba better than what I read in the newspapers. I must be able to understand a war veteran. I was not there during the war of liberation. If I was alive and grown up, I could have gone to war but I did not. I must only hear from him and respect him. The reason why I end up failing to respect a war veteran is because I only know the other side of a war veteran possibly who was doing a ZANU PF slogan. In that case, when I see a war veteran, I see a ZANU PF member yet I am just supposed to see my liberator.
We must be able to separate especially our war veterans who fought for us all. They did not fight for ZANU PF neither did they fight for ZAPU. They fought for Zimbabwe. When I ask my elders at my home, they tell me that they actually did not do much of these slogans that they are doing now. They were just focused on the nation. I am wondering where we lost it. We only lost it when we got criminals around our leaders who want to exploit political processes for personal gain. These are the ones who are misleading our leaders and causing our leaders to be intolerant. The undeserving leaders that we have in the county both in the ruling party and in the opposition, those people who are there not on merit but because of praise and worship of leaders are the ones who are giving us problems because they are intolerant, rude and they have ideological concoctions. What they intend to do is different from what Zimbabwe was established to do.
My point is that let us dialogue as a country and agree on a national vision and Zimbabwe we want. Include the churches, civic society and all political players including those that you call minority political parties and come together and agree that even when we are going for elections, we are going for elections because there are prescribed number of positions that are there but not that we are going for war. An election is more like a war in Zimbabwe where someone can die because they want to choose who to vote for someone. My idea is that these political leaders that we have today must swallow their pride from across the political divide and understand that they have a responsibility not to incite their followers and supporters not to be insulting other people and agree that different as we are, we remain Zimbabweans. Different as we are, we have a responsibility towards this country. This county is the only home that I have and I do not want anyone to undermine me. I belong to the political party that I chose, MDC that is what I want and that is what I believe in. No one from any other political party, be it ZANU PF or CCC must demonise me for my choice that I have made because it is me. They must follow their party and seek support without undermining the other. This is the problem that we have.
Relating also to the issue of sanctions, I think the main challenge that is there is that it has been used to explain away some failures by Government which is why at a personal level, I believe that those sanctions must be removed so that those who fail, will fail whilst we know there is failure because this person is a thief, they committed corruption. Currently the challenge that we have is that people are explaining away their failures on the basis of the so called sanctions. Everyone comes and says, why are we failing to do this – they cite sanctions. I believe they are not good for anyone and they are being used to blackmail my party falsely because some people have actually tried to lie that MDC called for sanctions. In my view, I believe that they are not necessary and do not serve any purpose except to allow some incompetent people to explain away their incompetence. Let us have them removed and at the end of the day, let us have a political dialogue where every Zimbabwean would agree on what is best for this country. What is best for this country is to elect Members of Parliament, councillors and President on merit and not using these unorthodox means of violence and blackmailing and lying that certain people are not patriotic and certain people are. Patriotism is an element that is inherent in every human being and naturally every Zimbabwean loves their country.
Madam Speaker, thank you for this opportunity. I spoke with a high voice because I am actually angry when I speak about these things because I do not see the promises of Independence and the liberation struggle being fulfilled in our time. It is our responsibility to make sure that we correct certain wrongs. I thank you.
*HON. DUTIRO: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on the motion raised by Hon. Togarepi - the issue concerning patriotism and those who do not care about Zimbabwe and look down upon their country whereas they have the opportunity to solve their problems in their country and unite. It is not good moving to other countries and put sanctions so that we suffer as a country. The problem is every time we have elections; we do not do that in unity. The greatest problem we have is that some of us do not understand democracy. Democracy does not start at national level but it starts in each and every political party. If the political party does not know what democracy is, it is hard for them to understand democracy at national level.
We must have elections in our political parties. A political party must have elections so that they understand what democracy is. Therefore, we are saying political parties must exercise democracy. Currently, Zimbabwe belongs to SADC which has principles and guidelines for holding elections. Therefore, those political parties who contest without democracy must not contest elections because they do not understand democracy at national level. As a result, they end up resorting to violence. SADC is the one which supervises elections in Zimbabwe and last year we had elections and SADC was leading because we are a signatory to SADC but you find that some people opt to go abroad to report their cases instead of reporting to SADC which is closer to home.
Madam Speaker. I am saying that if a political party does not have internal democratic process, it must not contest national elections. I thank you.
+HON. R MPOFU: I want to support the motion that was raised by Hon. Togarepi and the seconder. The motion is quite emotional because as we are here in this House with my fellow Hon. Members, we need to have ways that unite us and understand our background, where we are currently and where we are going. You find that there is no one who is concerned about this. Even though people want to discuss some important issues, they just put political issues that disturb the debates. People do not understand that there is a lot of conflict and that blood was shed for us to have peace. If it was not ZANU and ZAPU, Smith and his friends would still be in charge of this country.
People should know that they fought for this country so that we have a free country, and they should understand that everyone is now liberated and free to choose his political party but you find that someone in this country is busy undermining the ruling party, saying that they are failing - since 1980 they did not do anything. When the whites left they saw that they messed and they left it in that condition. Where do you expect us to get the money from? Food is expensive for everyone; it does not choose that this person is from this party. The unaffordability of commodities now needs all of us to put our heads together and understand. Some of us are advocating for the lifting of sanctions while others are going behind our back supporting these sanctions.
Madam Speaker, even if you were just preparing food for the liberation fighters, you also fought the war. We are here because we were elected by the people so that we can represent them. We are not here to fight always but we are here so that we unite our people. We are supposed to advocate for the sanctions to be lifted. Regardless of the fact that I cannot see you with my eyes but I see you in my spirit that we are one. We need the British to lift these sanctions, what have we done wrong, what have our children done? My spirit is really troubled that we cannot unite and unity is a small thing that we can do and develop our country. Even if you come in power and lead, how can you lead people when there are sanctions? Let us fight together as a team so that sanctions can be lifted, sanctions must go! – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – We are just one. If I was able to see; I was once someone who could see but if I tell you what happened to my eyes you will be shocked. There are people who removed my eyes. I do not hate anyone, we are all friends here but my issue is on sanctions, that sanctions must go. Regardless of the religion that you believe in, either you are from an African religion or Christian religion, please let us pray that sanctions should go. If we are not united we are not going anywhere. Thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. SEWERA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I support the motion raised by the Chief Whip and the seconder. Before I speak further, I would like to say I support the theme of this motion. There must be a law in place for people who go around advocating for sanctions going outside the country to do that, they must be prosecuted. Let us not forget that our country Zimbabwe came after a protracted struggle, after liberating this country through war.
Madam Speaker, the people who were defeated still exist up to date. We are not saying we do not want the opposition in this country but we want to say we want a home grown opposition. There are a lot of opposition parties in several countries, be it in Britain, there are Conservatives, Labour Party; we have never heard any of those people calling for sanctions that bring hardships towards the citizens of that country. So Madam Speaker, considering the history of this country, there is an issue pertaining to those political parties. Some of them are not political parties, they are political clubs without an ideology, without a history, they are people who are just being given money. We end up fighting amongst each other whilst we are Zimbabweans yet they are simply exacerbating internal fights so that they effect regime change. We see them doing that on social media; they always say that if ZANU PF falls, we will remove people who benefited from the land reform. People who benefited from the farms are locals because we fought for economic independence, not only political independence. That is why they go around looking for their puppets. This country will not go anywhere. As a result, all these children who are going around selling out, we must have a law that persecutes such people. We know all of them and where they went calling for sanctions. The law must be put to apply in retrospect from the time ZIDERA was enacted. With those few words, I am saying that this law must be put in place like yesterday. I thank you Madam Speaker.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I also want to add my voice on this motion raised by Hon. Togarepi, supported by Hon. Nguluvhe. My view is, the law may be in place but I do not think it can solve everything because it can be selective. If you look at what happened in 2008, there is a law that says no one must be murdered, yet people died and no one was persecuted. What I am trying to say is, on our own, we must find each other, be it as political parties; yes we may put laws in place against people who called for sanctions and the like but we must unite as Zimbabweans.
This ‘big brother’ syndrome whereby whatever is done by ZANU PF is acceptable and condemnation of what is done by opposition parties. If you hear what I say as my concern, it is that I am a Zimbabwean. From what I said, I cannot be denied a seat because I am a Zimbabwean, so who will protect me? I saw some people accepting that it was okay that I was denied a reserved seat at the National Heroes Acre. Going there is because I support the idea of celebrating that hero, that is what I was talking about here. If that was not the case, maybe I would have been executed. The whole idea is, let us be patriotic. Let us support what is good and let us all condemn what is bad regardless of which party… [Part of speech not recorded due to power outage] –These are animals. When you were talking, we were quiet. Now you want to respond because I am talking, you are an animal.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Tekeshe, withdraw your words where you said these are animals.
*HON. TEKESHE: Madam Speaker Ma’am, these are animals but I withdraw. Their behaviour resembles that of animals. However, I withdraw Madam Speaker that these are animals. So, what I am saying is, we can do as if we are joking here but this motion that was brought by Hon. Togarepi is a very good motion but it must consider both sides. I also must have rights of being respected in this country. If I fail to have coverage where I do good things and then I am denied a place to sit at the National Heroes Acre, what do I do? I end up going to Studio 7 and I am labeled a sellout. So, what must I do? I must be given acknowledgement where I do good. Let us all unite regardless of political affiliation.
The other thing is, as Zimbabweans we are always in election mode. From the day the election ends up to the next election, we are always in election mode. After elections, let us unite and relate with each other properly. Do not forget that this ZANU PF will one day be out of power. Hon. Mliswa said to Hon. Chombo some time ago, ‘refurbish these jails because one day you will be an inmate’. Indeed that came to pass. So, do not always say things that are said by opposition Members are bad simply because they come from the opposition. We need to also acknowledge that I was wronged when I was denied a seat. So, what I am saying is; yes that law is good but let us not rush to condemn the ones who called for sanctions. So what do you expect me to do? I end up doing that because here I am not accepted.
When Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai united, this country progressed very well. So, if you deny me access, I will go my own way whilst you go your own way. Our economy suffers as a result of that because we are not united. Some people prioritise political gains not the country. - [Part of speech not recorded due to power outage] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: He is giving examples; he is not debating about heroes.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Madam Speaker for protecting me. That is exactly what we must do in this House. Thank you Madam Speaker, you have protected me very well. This is our country and we should not denounce our country but the big brother should work together with the young brother instead of becoming a bully because the whole House turns into bullies. This one bullies the other and the other will bully the next.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Tekeshe, stick to one language.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Madam Speaker. So, we need to unite and move forward as one country. I thank you.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, I stand to also add my voice on this motion that was raised by Hon. Togarepi, supported by Hon. Nguluvhe. The main message that is being debated here is, I was where I was, watching Americans and there was a court session that emanated from the matter of the riots that took place at the Capitol. What they were saying is what happened is not acceptable in that country. Even where I am here, I am not allowed to go to America. They are chasing every black person in Britain and so on because they are saying they went there illegally, yet they are everywhere in African countries. The point that I want to make is, whose country is Zimbabwe? Who is supposed to protect this country? It is the people. When we quarrel in this country, it is better for us to face each other instead of inviting foreigners. Why are you calling that foreigner an outsider? What do you want that person to do?
It is not about quarreling or trying to say it is because I was not recognised at the Heroes Acre. The issue is on someone who goes outside insulting his or her father. What type of a person is that? That is the real issue. We are supposed to be honest and truthful. Right now, the country is no longer playing soccer because someone went outside the country and said Zimbabwe is not supposed to play soccer. Someone goes and says that soccer must never be played as long as I am not the leader.
I heard the President of CCC saying we left everything, be it slogans and the headquarters under Mwonzora. He was implying that they left the issue of sanctions with Mwonzora, yet Mwonzora announced that he is calling for the removal of sanctions. What we are saying is we expect CCC to start afresh and call for the removal of sanctions. In brief, we are saying the sanctions must go.
Madam Speaker, the whites that we fought against never run short of plans. As we speak, they went to Zambia and Botswana and put their bases. Their intention is not to protect Zambia or Botswana. Does Zambia not have its own army? All they want to do is to re-colonise countries led by the blacks. Let us put a law and say we do not want American soldiers here. Look at what they are doing. Right now, they are murdering each other. They want to come back bit by bit. What they want here is to put their puppets. If my favourable Honourable wins, it simply means their puppet has won. What we are rejecting are puppets. We want real people, black owners of this country and not people who are manipulated and told what to do. A black man who is called general manager will be a sellout. No black man gets high office when he is not a sellout. Let us unite, be it opposition or not. All those people who compete for posts should say the truth that indeed the sanctions must go.
If CCC wins, we will keep quiet. There is no need for us to go out and demonstrate. That is what we are refusing. Let us unite and the sanctions must go. Let us not insult each other. How we relate here is different from how our people relate. With this Hon. Member from Harare Central, we talk with each other. If he sees me, he runs to me but when they go out, they tell the people that we are not in good books. Let us teach people good things. Let us teach them to stop violence and to guard against the whites who want to re-colonise this country. Sanctions must go, regardless of which part competes or seeks elections. If they vote, let it be peaceful. What we are saying is, if there is anyone who goes out there to call for sanctions, we must know that the person is not a patriotic Zimbabwean and is not one of us. That person must be arrested and imprisoned.
This motion is not about going to the Heroes Acre and fail to be recognised. CCC must first of all accept that there are heroes. They must accept that this country was liberated by heroes. It did not just come on a silver platter. It came after shedding of a lot of blood. If they do not accept that, what platform do they want to be given when they do not accept that this country came after a protracted struggle? They go about saying this country must be returned back to the whites and they also say take it back to where it was tied so that we can untie it. They say farms must be given back to the whites, so what respect do you want to be given? No person who speaks ill of this country must be respected, this is very bad.
*HON. TEKESHE: On a point of order Madam Speaker.
*THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. TEKESHE: My point of order is that the Hon. Member is encouraging hatred amongst Zimbabwe instead of motivating people to live peacefully.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Tekeshe, Hon. Chinotimba is just giving an example that anyone who speaks ill of his country must not be respected. He did not insult anyone. Hon. Chinotimba, please proceed.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: I thought they wanted to accuse me of insulting the president of CCC party.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chinotimba, debate the motion.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: What I am saying is that sanctions must go; the country is being destroyed by sanctions. Anyone who imposes sanctions on this country must face the law and that law is long overdue - so that we live peacefully and well in this country. I thank you.
(v)HON. SIBANDA: On a point of order Madam President.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Sibanda, I recognize you, I will choose two or three from ZANU PF and then choose from other parties as well. Your turn will come.
HON. MUDARIKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I want to thank the mover and seconder of the motion. The motion we are facing has a historical context where we were oppressed as Africa for over 500 years. The historical element where we were oppressed really also requires a lot of education, even when Hon. Members are elected, they must come for orientation to understand where Africa is coming from. During the slave trade, there were some Africans who were slave hunters and during the rise in African Nationalism, in Congo, there was Morris Tshombe, they killed Patrice Lumumba; that concept, that desire to be associated with our colonizers, that desire to be associated with Europeans does not come out of many of us very easily. It was from the political side to the religious side. I remember when I wanted to be baptized they wanted to give me another European name so that when I die, I go via Europe to heaven. I said no I will remain Simbaneuta Mudarikwa. We went through a very difficult time; even those who were taken as slaves had to be baptized first. The first ship that took slaves across the Atlantic Ocean had a religious name.
All those things compounded on the minds of our people; you will have a person who has no direction, Bob Marley says a person who does not know his role as a patriot of a country is a cabbage in the society. A cabbage lives for four days then the next thing it is rotten. This is the situation we are facing. Our education syllabus requires to be overhauled so that our people can understand where we are coming from. We live in a very difficult situation even when we go around the way we speak English, some speak English more than Prince Charles.
What I am trying to say is, even the country of Zimbabwe, how it came about; it was a property of Cecil Rhodes. We were ruled by a company for 34 years. Cecil John Rhodes with his BSAC (British South African Company) was in charge of this country, Zambia and Malawi. So that process of being owned by a particular company has some Cecil John Rhodes’s ideology in the mindset of some of our people. We had a difficult situation as Zimbabwe and after 34 years of being ruled by Cecil John Rhodes, we then moved into a situation where colonialism was now instituted through different institutions and had to deposited in the minds of our people. The concept of people running away from Zimbabwe going to other countries and saying please give Zimbabwe sanctions is criminal. The Patriotic Act must come in as soon as possible. It is criminal in the sense that sanctions were even issued outside the United Nations. The sanctions were issued outside the United Nations. Sanctions were issued outside the normal, United Nations as a convention. The 1945 Convention of the United Nations does not allow our country to go to another and issue illegal sanctions. So it is something that is criminal and it must be put to an end. This is the type of politics and in political language it is called politics of discontent. Let people suffer, and then they will uprise. The nation is not moving economically whilst we are cutting ourselves into pieces. So, it is very important that we realise the importance of managing a country.
As Parliament, we make laws for the good governance of this country. So, there are people who want to be out of Zimbabwe, the laws must be put in place; those people must never be issued with passports. We cannot have such a situation whereby one bites the hand that is feeding them.
Mr. Speaker, the element of finance, the element of money going round and being abused for different political parties - the Government of Zimbabwe has done very well by creating the Political Parties Finance Act where political parties that have done well are given money by the Government. So, why do you want to look for money outside when you are paid on the basis of the pro-rata performance of your political party?
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for allowing me to contribute and also thank Hon. Members, they were silent when I was contributing because when I am contributing, I am a former Minister and I have value in what I say.
HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Togarepi who has brought up such an important motion, seconded by Hon. Nguluvhe.
Hon. Speaker Sir, when Zimbabweans decided to fight for their liberation, they did so out of love for their country. They were not just fighting but they had love for their country. This was enshrined even in the songs which they sang - “Nyika yedu ye Zimbabwe ndimo matakazvarirwa”. That was a sign that they loved their country, whether they were in Zambia or in Mozambique, they would not sing about Zambia or Mozambique, those were just bases that were helping people to fight the struggle.
Hon. Speaker, the syllabus for those who fought for this country, who went out of the country to fight for Zimbabwe, started with national grievances. Under national grievances, the major and topical issue was the land issue and you will actually realise why we got punished because we wanted our land. The moment we got that land, then we were punished. However, those who want to go out and make us to be punished even more deserve to be punished as well.
You will find Hon. Speaker Sir, that people who want to make sure that where we are trying to reconcile within ourselves as a nation, they continue coming creating misery, opening up wounds even those that were actually brought into our people many years ago. They want to make mileage through talking about such issues. They do not feel like wanting people to reconcile so that we can have our own country going on well in all spheres. We still have a challenge within ourselves where you find some people have no ideology which they are following. They are just doing things out of no ideology, without even understanding what our people want.
Hon. Speaker Sir, we cannot fail to get a definition of patriotism as Zimbabweans. We are very educated people, we can define patriotism in line with what Zimbabwe wants and that definition is going to come up. Why should people feel patriotism is hard to define when people are there in Zimbabwe and we know what we want as Zimbabweans?
So, it is very important that we have a Bill that has to do with patriotism in our country so that our country is going to flourish and our people are going to run away from some of these hatreds that are published time and again. Some continue repeating even an error that happened in 1980, they are talking about it and they continue to talk about it so that it makes sense when there is no sense. So, we must learn to make sure that we are fighting for a country; we want a country that is going to be made up of people who are united, people who do not want to go out and look for our enemies and continue dividing us.
HON. KASHAMBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for affording me this opportunity to debate such a critical motion raised by Hon. Togarepi about patriotism in Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, that is an important Bill because as we can see right here in Zimbabwe, right now in Parliament, this whole bench is empty. It is empty because of lack of patriotism. The Hon. Members of CCC are in my constituency right now in Seke, Nyatsime, demolishing people’s houses, burning some of them all because of lack of patriotism. They are now politicising everything that happens in this country.
They have politicised the passionate murder of Moreblessing Ali. I come from the very constituency, I have been there but because of lack of patriotism, Hon. Members from this august House and some of them prominent lawyers are misleading the nation by distorting the information that is on the ground. Now people have been incited so that they turn against their Government, which is lack of patriotism and such lack of patriotism will cause distabilisation of our economy and distabilisation of our currency because people want to prove to their handlers or whoever that they can change and they are bringing regime change. Mr. Speaker Sir, because of emotions and what is happening in my own constituency, it is being spearheaded by my own colleagues in Parliament, some who are prominent lawyers in this country. I cannot speak much but maybe to raise an immediate motion that the issue of violence in this country as we go towards the harmonised elections must be debated exclusively. Thank you.
(vHON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to add my voice to the motion that was raised by the Government Chief Whip, Hon. Togarepi. I would like to start off by saying we are all Zimbabweans before we are any political party, religion and so on. As I listened to the debate brought about by Hon. Togarepi, I could not but help feel a sense of bullying. The citizens of Zimbabwe are going through a very difficult time right now and they expect us to be debating on issues of substance that were taken out of the situation we are in right now.
I do not see how our country is being affected by action and how it affects our production, and our progressiveness. If you look at the fact that our country is one of the richest countries in the world, when you look at the amount of minerals we have, per capita is there. What anybody has to say should not even affect us in the slightest. What we are lacking to do is actually find the pitfalls of our issues and in my humble opinion, I believe that we should be debating issues of corruption. Corruption is so rife and it is unbelievable.
We see it and these are people that should be brought to book and those are the people that should be thrown into jail. We do not want such people to be running our country and that is what we should be talking about. When Hon. Togarepi was talking about people going and speaking about the country, it felt so childish and it reminds me of the situation when we were young and in Ndebele we say ukabibele likamama wami lami ngizakaba ibele likamama wakho...that kind of thing ...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Sorry Hon. Toffa. I do not think it is proper and parliamentary the way you seem to be castigating Hon. Togarepi. I do not accept that, can you withdraw that statement. Just continue with your facts.
(v)HON. TOFFA: Which one Mr. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Earlier on you said he was sounding like he is bullying and now you are coming back saying that it is childish. I do not think it is parliamentary. It does not need any clarification and what I am ruling on is what you have just said.
(v)HON. TOFFA: Okay for progress’s sake, I will not argue with you. I will withdraw the fact that I said it is childish. Mr. Speaker Sir, the other day there was a debate in the House, some Hon. Members were reporting on the United Emirates Expo and if you look at how that country is progressing and how well they have done and the fact that they have to import almost every single thing that they use, whereas we have everything exporting intellect and yet we are saying, I do not know whether it is wrong to say what Hon. Togarepi said that we are saying do not help Zimbabwe as though we are destitute. We are not destitute but we just need to manage our resources well.
I look at countries such as Switzerland and in that country no woman is allowed to go to work until the child is six years old. That country has no water. I asked them how they were doing so well. They have got one mineral which is waters and their brains. We are not lacking in that but we find ourselves huge on corruption. We seem to be encouraging corruption because nobody is brought to book. You find small fish for example former Minister Kagonye who has been imprisoned. If she did wrong, she should be. There are people that are smuggling gold and diamonds and look at our resources, they should be going back into our country. Our mining sector - when we go out for public hearings in the bushes of Zimbabwe, we see a hive of activity going on, but it is not turning out to something tangible but we should be the Dubai of Africa. We are attracting the attention to Zimbabwe because what we are doing is infringing on the rights of expression. Our Constitution on Section 60 talks about freedom of conscience.
Every person has the right to freedom of conscience including freedom of thought, opinion, religion, belief, freedom to practice and express these in private or public. We say our constitution is the supreme law of the land and here we are - our Government Chief Whip is talking about taking away those rights. As Government, and as Parliament, we should be leading by example and what we do should be cascading down to our communities, our constituencies and to our young people. Our young people do not even know why they have to vote. They do not want to register to vote because they do not see why they should do it because all we do in Parliament is see how we can fix each other up. So that is what we are teaching our young people out there.
As much as I said we should be patriotic, that does not mean that we should be vindictive. Patriotism means that we should look at how we can progress our country and how we should support one another and to see where things are wrong.
Part of speech not recorded due to power outage.
*HON. PRISCILLA MOYO: I support the motion raised by Hon. Togarepi, seconded by Hon. Nguluvhe. This motion is a very painful one if you look at it. As a country, we go through a lot of suffering because there are some people who are not even thinking about what is happening in this country. They are just concerned about their selfish ends. A lot of people talk about sanctions but they do not understand what they mean. What sanctions simply mean is that if you want to sell goods to any of the countries that has imposed sanctions on you, you cannot sell to those countries. You have to sell through middlemen. It means you cannot get the benefits that you are entitled to.
Sanctions destroyed this country because even a bank cannot allow you to open a nostro account from which you can get a visa card. How can one operate? If you want to travel, you cannot do that and this is because of sanctions. Some of our people here in Zimbabwe went abroad to beg for these sanctions. There are people who are involved in domestic violence, be it at beer halls; those fights are attributed to this country or the ruling party. One party attributes all those negatives to someone and there is one party that does that. We must unite and work together as a country. If there are people who oppose, they must oppose something that is relevant to this country. We do not want people who are sent to cause commotion, violence and chaos in this country and calling for sanctions after twisting issues.
There is rule of law in this country. If you do something wrong you will be arrested. You cannot break the law and expect not to be arrested simply because you belong to a certain political party. I support the motion raised by Hon. Togarepi that there be a law that penalises people who go around calling for sanctions. We must also have a law that says anyone who wants to lead people must be compassionate to the people that they lead and not lead people whilst you do not care about their lives. There must be a law that prosecutes anyone who speaks ill about their country. Some of those countries like United States have such laws. Nobody goes outside America and speaks ill about their country. Let us speak good about our country. If there are things that go wrong, let us correct them properly and not call for sanctions upon this country. I do support this motion.
*HON. NYABANI: I would like to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity to debate on this motion brought by Hon. Togarepi and seconded by Hon. Nguluvhe. This motion has come at a right time according to my view because when you see chickens fighting and you find a wild cat chasing after those chickens, what it is simply trying to do is to separate them so that it can devour one of the chickens. These sanctions brought about by America were imposed because we took back our land. We are children of one family fighting and someone decides to go to America which has caused all this suffering where people do not have water and medicines in hospitals. Where I come from, we consider such a person a lunatic who needs mental treatment. How can a person support an enemy who has been fighting against us for all these years? Asking assistance from an enemy to mediate in the internal affairs of one’s country is wrong.
According to me, that law must be enacted. There is no household that has no rules. Even a burial society has rules. When you put rules at home, it does not mean that you do not like your children. You want them to behave properly. So, that law does not mean that it is destroying someone. It is supposed to put order. That law is long overdue and it is meant to nurture them properly. Such rules are meant to ensure that children behave in a proper manner. We do not want to see people shedding crocodile tears here. With those few words, I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: It is unfortunate that the virtual platform is gone, but I would like to thank Hon. Members who debated on this motion. I want to thank them that they have debated very much aware of the needs of people of Zimbabwe to be loyal and patriotic. Mr. Speaker Sir, maybe I should say that the Government, through the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, must help us to come up with this law - a law that will ensure that the people of Zimbabwe protect the interests of their country more than personal self-centered interests. After having said that Mr. Speaker, I move for the adoption of this motion.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I move that we revert to Order of the Day, Number 17.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Seventeenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. MASVISVI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am Hon. Daveson Masvisvi representing Gokwe Central Constituency. Mr. Speaker Sir, I am so delighted to present my maiden speech in this august House.
Gokwe Central Constituency is made up of two segments. First being Gokwe town with six wards and rural with four wards – both with an estimated population of 120 000 people combined.
Mr. Speaker Sir, may I take this opportunity to thank our President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa for his visionary leadership and mantra, ‘no one and no place shall be left behind’.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as a new Member of Parliament, I want to testify on unprecedented developments in my constituency through devolution and Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programmes (ERRP). To date, Gokwe Town Council has received millions in devolution and ERRP programmes. The money has been utilised towards public institutions, infrastructure, and road development. The majority of the projects are at 90% level of completion. The major accomplishment by Gokwe Town Council through the devolution funds has been the construction of a state of the art polyclinic which at full capacity will employ 30 nurses and four doctors while assisting thousands of people in Gokwe Town with health service delivery and thus reducing pressure from Gokwe District Hospital and surrounding clinics. Gokwe Central Constituency will forever be grateful to the President, Cde. Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa and his Government for introducing devolution funds.
The rural wards of my constituency are also benefiting through devolution and ERRP funds. Major accomplishments of Gokwe South Rural District Council have been acquiring of earth moving equipment including a grader, front-end loader, and two tipper trucks using devolution funds. The equipment is being employed to construct and rehabilitate road networks across the constituency. Roads to traditional leadership homesteads and other key Government institutions like schools and clinics will be rehabilitated to be more trafficable.
Mr. Speaker Sir, under water and sanitation in Gokwe Town, we rely on underground water supply instead of dams. Persistent load shedding is negatively affecting ZINWA operations of pumping water from underground and to our residents. Unscheduled power cuts have on several occasions caused breakdown of pumps leading to prolonged dry spells in town which is a potential health hazard to our residents since they are forced to seek water from unprotected sources. Gokwe Town Council has started drilling and equipping solar-powered boreholes to improve the situation. As a Member of Parliament for Gokwe Central, I want to appeal to ZESA to manage load shedding in Gokwe Town to allow the continuous pumping of water by ZINWA.
Mr. Speaker Sir, my rural wards depend on manual boreholes. In the four wards in my constituency, there are 94 boreholes – 54 are functioning and 40 are either on mechanical breakdown or have collapsed and hence need flushing. There are several schools and clinics in my constituency without a nearby reliable source of clean water, hence competent civil servants continue to shun such institutions. It is my humble plea that Government continues to drill more boreholes and rehabilitate those that are not functional to ensure that everyone has access to clean water from reasonably closer distances. Ideally, if resources permit, more boreholes should be turned from manual to solar-powered since we always have intense sun heat in my constituency. There is also need to capacitate DDF so that all broken down boreholes are attended to quickly to reduce the down time of most of the boreholes. Mr. Speaker Sir, some areas need small dams to water animals including livestock. I appeal for assistance to construct at least a dam in each of the four wards in my constituency.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in terms of agriculture, we applaud His Excellency the President, Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa for assisting communal farmers with Presidential Input Scheme in the form of Pfumvudza for crops and Presidential Tick Grease Scheme that has largely saved our livestock from tick borne diseases. Gokwe’s economy is largely agro-based hence support to agriculture is a gesture that is well appreciated by many in my constituency. I call upon the Government, through COTTCO, to do value addition and beneficiation of cotton through the establishment of cotton seed processing and weaving factories. Gokwe districts, being north and south, are the largest cotton producers in the country, and extending value addition means creation of employment, and other opportunities for people in my constituency.
Mr. Speaker Sir, on education, we have critical shortage of learning institutions in my constituency. In urban wards, we have four high schools and four primary schools. It is my desire that we have an additional three high schools and three primary schools to match the demand for places at schools, more so in the rural wards, we need an additional three high schools and three primary schools. All schools in my constituency require increased specialist classrooms, ordinary classrooms, staff houses and improved sporting facilities. We also have shortage of teachers in both primary and secondary schools. I will be glad if more qualified teachers are deployed to Gokwe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I appeal for food assistance at schools as the majority of our learners are likely to go to school on empty stomachs as drought has negatively affected the 2021/2022 harvest. Even our communities now need drought relief support. Mr. Speaker Sir, we were not spared by COVID-19 lockdown induced closure of schools resulting in multiple dropouts due to early child marriages, loss of interest in school whilst some went for gold panning. I am working with stakeholders like the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, social development departments, police and other progressive non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) to drive the young people back to school to create a bright future for them.
Mr. Speaker Sir, regarding the land issue, Gokwe has no white-owned large scale commercial farms. During the Land Reform Programme, people from my constituency did not benefit. There are a lot of people who desperately need land and some of them have settled themselves on private owned small-scale commercial farms of Chemagora and Mapfungautsi forest. It is my desire that following the recent land audit, people from my constituency be considered and get priority in land allocation.
Lastly Mr. Speaker Sir, as a Member of Parliament, I lament the dreadful effects of sanctions on our economy and call upon those who called for them to do the honourable thing and demand for the unconditional removal of the cruel illegal sanctions to allow our country to move forward. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th June, 2022.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 18 to 29 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 30 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ON THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION POLICY (IEP) AND BETTER SCHOOLS PROGRAMME – ZIMBABWE (BSPZ)
Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education on the Inclusive Education Policy (IEP) and Better Schools Programme Zimbabwe (BSPZ).
Question again proposed.
(v)HON. A. NDEBELE: Mr. Speaker Sir. On a point of order, I just want to say something relating to the rules.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What rules would you want to check on Honourable?
(v)HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. At the height of the lockdown, it was an established rule that whenever the internet connectivity went down, debate inside the House will stop immediately. I remember on two or three occasions the House had to adjourn on the basis of loss of internet connectivity. I realise that today we had three glitches in that regard but debate seems to have been going on full swing in the House. I just want to check with you Hon. Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much for your point of order. What was actually happening is that the internet was cutting off briefly and then coming back, so we could see the technicians were busy working on the internet and we continued hoping that the internet would be restored and here we are, the internet has been restored and business of the House has to continue.
(v)HON. NDEBELE: Mr. Speaker Sir, the cutoffs were not brief. Those Hon. Members who are on the virtual platform were disadvantaged. As you can see, people like Hon. P. D. Sibanda were on the waiting list when they wanted to come back, you told them that their time was up, so they were prejudiced.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I never stopped Hon. Members in connection with the lapse of time. It was only that there was a disconnection of internet and when it came back, I called Hon. Toffa who was on that waiting list. Unfortunately, the internet had to cut off and we reverted back to the House. Anyway, your point has been noted Honourable.
(v)HON. NDEBELE: Thank you.
*HON. MUTAMBISI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity to also add my views on this motion after taking our tour with this Committee and receiving a petition about BSPZ. It talked about inclusive education by BSPZ.
I will dwell much on BSPZ. Where we went, we met a lot of problems as well as complaints. We discovered that we had a lot of complaints from people about the misuse of the funds they contribute to BSPZ. It is supposed to contribute to the development of the school. They complained that they are the ones who contribute financially yet they do not have their inputs in terms of ideas. They are requesting that they should be given an opportunity to air their views. They are only told of how that money is spent, be it constructing a house or anything else yet they are not given an opportunity to suggest how the money can be spent. So we also concur that the parents should have an opportunity to air their views on how that money should be spent.
We have realised that the new curriculum has this CALA and many people do not know much about it. We are suggesting that this money that parents are contributing towards BSPZ should be spent on empowering or further training of teachers so that they are able to understand how this CALA should be undertaken. We realise this fund is administered only by those in the Committees or the PSI yet the parents need to also contribute.
We realise that as a country, we want this development in terms of the education infrastructure, but we are not yet prepared to implement the new curriculum. Even the teachers do not seem to fully understand what they are supposed to do. So as a Committee, we suggest that Government should ensure that in all the teachers’ colleges in this country, there must be a compulsory subject whereby each and every teacher, before they graduate, must know how to handle braille when they meet children living with visual impairment or sign language for those who use that. Every teacher must be empowered to cater for the children living with different disabilities or special needs.
Yes, we realised that indeed in our schools, our children must be educated, they must go to school together with children with special needs but some parents are keeping their children in their homesteads because they are not able to take them to school. We also request for the provision of wheelchairs because parents cannot carry their children on their backs to school. We also suggest that we have special infrastructure for children with special needs such as access to ablution facilities. Our schools must be adapted to be user friendly for children with special needs so that they get all the required facilities.
I would like to thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to add my views on the tour that we carried out. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 15th June, 2022.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. TEKESHE, the House adjourned at One Minute past Five o’clock p.m.