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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 15 JUNE 2023 VOL 49 NO 50

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Thursday, 15^th June, 2023

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

PRAYERS

(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)

          *HON. CHIDZIVA: Thank you Hon. Speaker.  My point of national interest is that we are about to experience hunger as a nation.  A lot of farmers sold their produce and were paid in RTGS.  Due to this high inflation, the amounts they were paid lost value.  We are now faced with hunger.  Even in urban areas, people are living under the poverty datum line because of inflation.  I am requesting that the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development be called and explain to the House how he is going to solve this issue of inflation before the House adjourns for elections.

          *THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): I thank you Hon. Chidziva.  I want to advise you that the same issue that you raised was raised again last week. I talked to the Hon. Minister of Finance about this high inflationary environment.  We are waiting for the Hon. Minister to come.  You however alluded to the fact that we are nearing the end of this session, I want to assure the House that the session will not end before he gives his speech.

          *HON. NKANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My point of national interest is that Home Affairs ministry’s office is issuing paper national identity cards.  If you visit the passport office, they require a plastic or metal national identity card.  I am pleading that the material to procure plastic be sourced so that people will not be turned away at the passport office. Another solution is that the Government must intervene so that paper national identity documents must be accepted at the passport office.  I thank you

          *THE ACTING SPEAKER: The Minister will be informed accordingly because this is a very important issue that you have raised.

*HON. MUDARIKWA:  Thank you Hon. Speaker.  My point of national interest is on cotton farmers.  They do not have the bales to bale their cotton and those who have managed to sell their cotton have not been given their money. We are now asking the Hon. Minister of Agriculture to come and explain to this House regarding this issue as we are preparing for the next season. The Hon. Minister must come to the House on Tuesday to explain.

*THE ACTING SPEAKER: We will try by all means to alert the Hon. Minister about this issue.  Lastly, you said that you want the Hon. Minister to come on Tuesday, I find it easier that he comes on Wednesday so that he can answer to this question during question time. If he does not come, the Chief Whip is here, he will pass on the message to him so that he can come.

          HON. I. NYONI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  My point of national interest is on the fees paid for private boreholes collected by ZINWA.  Of late, we have seen ZINWA enforcing Statutory Instrument No. 206 of 2001.  They have been moving around many suburbs particularly in my constituency.  We are looking at Waterford, Riverside, Hillside and other suburbs.  They have been collecting US$50 for boreholes, some which were drilled more than 40 years ago.  We know that as per the Statutory Instrument, it is within their right to enforce that kind of legislation. 

          However, we are also aware that there are current water challenges in most areas including Harare, rural areas and other towns.  The boreholes that are drilled by these individuals play a major role in reducing the problems of water shortages.  When there is no water or there is dirty water, we know that there are challenges of diseases such as cholera and other diseases.  It is therefore my prayer Mr. Speaker Sir, that the relevant Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement relook at this Statutory Instrument with a view of doing away with these fines and the annual fees of US$50.  Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 

          THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Thank you very much Hon. Nyoni.  Like I said to Hon. Mudarikwa, the point that you have actually raised is very important.  I would suggest that you direct a live question to the Minister on Wednesday so that he can respond.  That is my suggestion but Hon. Chief Whip, you have heard the issue. 

          HON. MADZIMURE:  On a point of order Mr. Speaker.

          HON. TOGAREPI:  We have had the required number.

          HON. MADZIMURE: It is not about the number of people but it is the time that determines.

          THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Yes, Hon. Togarepi, you can go ahead.  Hon. Madzimure, I did not recognise you, may you switch off your microphone, please.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

          HON. TOGAREPI:  I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 9 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 10 has been disposed of. 

          HON. TEKESHE:  I second.

          Motion put and agreed to. 

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS

          Tenth Order read:  Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.

          Question again proposed.

          HON. MADZIMURE:  On a point of order Mr. Speaker.

          THE ACTING SPEAKER:  No interruption when the Speaker is actually addressing the House. Hon. Togarepi, you have the floor.

          HON. TOGAREPI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank Members of this House who debated on the motion on SONA.  I would like to appreciate issues that were raised by Members regarding the Presidential Speech.  I would also want to thank the Ministers who came to answer to issues that were raised by Members of this House.  I therefore Mr. Speaker, move for the adoption of this motion.

Motion that a respectful address be presented to the President of Zimbabwe as follows:—

May it please you, your Excellency the President: We, the Members of Parliament of Zimbabwe, desire to express our loyalty to Zimbabwe and beg leave to offer our respectful thanks for the speech, which you have been pleased to address to Parliament, put and adopted.

HON. MADZIMURE:  On a point of order Mr. Speaker.  As we all grow up, we need protection by the State and we need the State to take care of us.  As I am speaking today, our pensioners are getting 40 000 and they are actually dying.  The issue that I am raising here Mr. Speaker is a point of order. I just want you to take note of this one.  Our people are travelling more than 50 kilometers to go and get their pensions which is now around RTGS20 000 to RTGS50 000.  It is the responsibility of the people of Zimbabwe to look after the old. 

Mr. Speaker, if we do not take action as soon as today to protect the old, to respect the work that they did to build this nation, our children are going to spit on our graves.  We must ensure that we have a fixed amount in US dollars for our people so that they can survive…

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, Hon. Madzimure, that is not a point of order, that issue was supposed to have been raised as a point of national interest.  

HON. MADZIMURE: Marambaka Mr. Speaker? 

THE ACTING SPEAKER: No, handina kuramba Hon. Madzimure, time yanga yakwana. Ndizvo zvangoitika chete. Ndingagokurambirai kuti zvaita sei Hon.? If you take it that way, I am sorry about that.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

          HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that all other Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 17 has been disposed of.

          HON. TEKESHE: I second.

          Motion put and agreed to.

          HON. HWENDE: Hon. Speaker, yesterday we raised the issue that caused this House to suspend the rule that we suspended so that we can deal with urgent government business, and correctly, you ruled that we failed to raise the matter at the point when the other orders were suspended. So, I am standing up today to raise an objection that we need to deal with urgent government business that caused us to suspend the rules. As you might be aware, yesterday was supposed to be Question Time. We did not get an opportunity to question the Executive because we agreed that we must suspend everything and deal with government business. I would want us to deal with government business Hon. Speaker Sir. Thank you.

          THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you. As you can see, we do not have Ministers on our right. So, for us to get into government business with no Minister, it means it is not workable. That suspension was done not to stop Parliament from doing other Parliament business. We only did that to accommodate government business as long as the Ministers are present, but since there is not even one Minister in the House, I plead with you Hon, to let the business of the House go ahead.

          HON. MADZIMURE: Mr. Speaker, when you plan and make decisions to suspend the rules on the understanding that we have got government business, it is respectful for those who will have caused the suspension to ensure that urgent government business is brought to the House. You do not just suspend business assuming that you are going to bring urgent government business. It is poor planning and for us Members of Parliament, we come here purely because we understood the importance of suspending business is because there is urgent government business. So, when you suspend and you do not come, there is not a single Minister, even to come and present ministerial statements that they have been bringing and banking and there is none of them, it is not proper.  That is not respecting you the Chair. They are behaving like there is no order in Parliament. It is very wrong for us to continually say we suspend rules because we have got urgent government business when there is no urgent government business. It means it is simply disrupting the smooth running of the House. Can the Leader of the House from the Government side explain why they are continuously suspending rules when there is no business?

          THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Madzimure. The point that you have raised, I think it is becoming too academic. We are facing a desk which is supposed to be occupied by Ministers. There is not even one Minister. We are now appealing to the Leader of Government business to respond. The Leader of Government business is not here. I do not think you would want me to leave my chair now to go and hunt for the Ministers to come. So, it is becoming too academic. Could you allow the House to move ahead with Parliament business?

          Hon. Gonese having stood up

          THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Gonese, I did not recognise you and I am not aware you are here.

          HON. GONESE: I have not said anything, I am just standing.

          THE ACTING SPEAKER: No, I did not recognise you. Hon. Members, we have come here to do Parliament business. Yesterday I think it took us more than an hour heckling and there was a lot of commotion and nothing was done. Would you want us to continue in that spirit? We are here like you are rightly saying that we are here to do business. I think the motion that was moved earlier on, that is government business and now because we do not have any Minister here, how can we continue with government business where there are no Ministers? What are you implying? – [AN. HON. MEMBER: Where are the Ministers?]- This is why I said it is now too academic. We are seeing that the Ministers are not here. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]-

          HON. GONESE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I appreciate your position and that you are in an invidious position but having said that, I think that first and foremost, the Hon. Minister who moved for the suspension of various Standing Orders in order to accommodate government business should have the courtesy to come to the august House to indicate whether that government business which they deemed to be urgent has already been concluded. The way we are operating does not do justice. Firstly, to the people of Zimbabwe in the sense that we sit and have Bills being rushed through at the last minute when in fact we have all the time in the world. If you look at the Electoral Amendment Bill, which is a Bill which could have been passed timeously, but the Hon. Minister had been playing a game of hide and seek. It also applies to the Mines and Minerals Bill. We are dealing with some Acts of Parliament which are there.

          At this point in time, I believe that it cannot be business as usual. The Government Chief Whip can move a motion that the suspension be lifted so that if it comes to Wednesday, we can then have our question time so that Members of Parliament who represent various constituencies are in a position to articulate issues and to ask questions on matters which are very important to our country.

          We can also have Members of Parliament who have got motions which are still outstanding to prepare adequately because all of us have been under the impression that we are coming here until such time when urgent Government business for which the Standing Orders were suspended has been disposed of. Members of Parliament prepared meticulously for the debate on the Bills which are already before the House, only to find that the Ministers are AWOL.

          I propose that – we do not want this House to be a talk shop. We want a situation where when we have made suggestions, we implement them so that henceforth, Members of Parliament are aware that we have our normal order of business. If it is a Wednesday, Question Time and Private Members Business taking precedence and Hon Members prepare adequately.

          THE ACTING SPEAKER: I have heard you loud and clear.  The most unfortunate thing about the point that you have raised and suggested is that your suggestion is becoming so procedural to ask our Chief Whip to suspend an order that was placed by the Minister. –[HON. GONESE: No, no,]- I have ruled Hon Gonese. We cannot debate. I have already ruled.

MOTION

REPORT OF THE JOINT PORTFOLIO COMMITEES ON ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY ON THE BENCHMARK VISIT TO SWEDEN

          HON. MUSARURWA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Report of the Joint Portfolio Committees on Energy and Power Development; and Environment, Climate and Tourism on the Benchmark visit to Stockholm, Sweden held from 18^th to 25^th February,2023.

          HON. GABBUZA: I second.

          HON. MUSARURWA:

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The joint Portfolio Committees on Energy and Power Development and Environment, Climate and Tourism embarked on a benchmark visit to Stockholm, Sweden from 18^th  to 25^th  February, 2023. The delegation comprised Hon. G. Gabbuza, Chairperson of the Energy and Power Development Committee and leader of the delegation,

• E Musakwa, Energy and Power Development Committee Member,
• S. Dzuma, Energy and Power Development Committee Member,
• N. Tsuura, Energy and Power Development Committee Member,
• W. Y. Musarurwa, Chairperson of the Environment, Climate and Tourism Committee,
• E. Shirichena, Environment, Climate and Tourism Committee Member,
• J. Munetsi, Environment, Climate and Tourism Committee Member,
• C. Maronge, Environment, Climate and Tourism Committee Member,
• N. Samu, Chief Director, Parliamentary Programmes;
• T. Makunike-Kanjanda, Committee Clerk and
• J. Mazani- Committee Clerk.

African Development Bank under the Institutional Support for Governance and Public Finance Management Project funded the benchmark visit to Sweden. Her Excellency, the Ambassador of Sweden, Hon. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga played a pivotal role in facilitating the meetings and tours with all the Swedish institutions visited by the Parliamentary delegation.

 

2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE BENCHMARK VISIT

The main objective of the visit was to benchmark on the measures that the Swedish Government adopted to promote and develop its renewable energy mix with a long-term view of a net-zero carbon emission by 2050.Understanding the renewable energy mix initiatives helps Members of Parliament to enact laws and make regulations that require public investment and incentivise private investment in green infrastructure. More specifically, the delegation sought to;

1. Understand the strategies that were used by Swedish energy players to increase energy supply and contribute to access to modern energy,
2. Appreciate how the Swedish Government collaborated with its research and development institutions with respect to sustainable consumption and production in addition to waste energy initiatives,
3. Learn Swedish best practices in lithium battery manufacturing and
4. Take advantage of the Swedish model of creating co-working space for entrepreneurs trying to solve social problems such as pollution and climate change.

3.0 METHODOLOGY

In order to get an in-depth understanding of the issues under discussion, the delegation held short briefing meetings with the management of the institutions. After the meetings, the delegation would embark on guided tours of the premises visited. During these meetings and tours, the delegation shared their experiences and sought further clarifications in order to conceptualise the issues.

          Places Visited by the Delegation to Achieve its Objectives

The delegation held meetings and toured the premises of the following institutions in Sweden;

1. Absolicon, the delegation learnt about a Robotised Production Line for solar collectors,
2. Riksdag (Swedish Parliament), the delegation met their counter-parts in the Industry and Commerce Committee and the Environment Committee,
3. Swedish Environment Research Institute called IVL to understand the energy and environmental research initiatives including the collaborations between the institute and its major stakeholders,
4. The Stockholm Royal Seaport, the delegation learnt a lot about the concept of sustainable cities using five strategies to develop a vibrant city,
5. Northvolt, the delegation learnt about lithium battery manufacturing and sought partnership opportunities on the production of lithium batteries,
6. Norrsken Foundation, to learn about the Swedish model of creating a co-working space for entrepreneurs,
7. EKOGAS, the delegation tour the biogas plant that uses food waste to produce methane gas and biogas fuel, and
8. Gastrike atervinnare, a recycling company that specialises in green business and sustainable waste management turning waste into value.

 4.0 FINDINGS

4.1 Strategies Used by Swedish Energy Players to Increase Supply and Access to Energy

The delegation learnt that Europe and China were competing for the available limited Liquid Petroleum Gas. As a result, United States of America was becoming the world’s leading gas supplier of liquid natural gas as Europe lacked Liquid Petroleum Gas regasification facilities. The European Union was depended on gas import from Russia which constituted around 45% of its gas requirements. However, the Russian-Ukraine crisis had affected the supply chain and tremendously pushed the gas prices up. Thus, the adoption of renewable energy became a viable alternative in Sweden to solve such an energy crisis. The delegation was informed that the Swedish energy sector was supported by public and private financing. The production and transmission of power in Sweden was both owned and run by separate companies.

          The delegation found out that after Germany, Sweden was the second country in the world to be fossil fuel free country and was one of the leading countries with effective climate laws. The delegation realised that it had taken between 10-15 years for Sweden to transition completely from fossil to clean energy solutions. Sweden’s energy mix consists of 50% hydro, 25% nuclear and 25% biomass, solar and wind. The country produces around 160-170 terabytes of power annually. Sweden mainly relied on the use of an integrated energy system approach and exports excess power to neighboring countries such as Finland, Norway and the Baltic Islands which make up its power pool.

          Absolicon is a private energy player in Sweden that invented a solar thermal collector which is used to produce heat directly from the sun that can be used by industries and other consumers instead of using electricity for heat production.

The following were found to be advantages of using solar thermal collectors;

1. If the robotised production line is installed in Zimbabwe, the solar collectors would easily promote local industries,
2. The solar collectors could relieve pressure from the main power grid,
3. Absence of electrical power instability problems,
4. Solar collectors withstand all weather conditions, and
5. They can be installed easily.

The Committee learnt that the gas crisis triggered by the Russian-Ukraine war had forced most European countries to revert to the use of thermal power plants for heat production as their cold weather compelled them to rely heavily on energy.

4.2 Sustainable Waste Management and Waste-to-Energy Initiatives in Sweden

Sweden implemented what it termed a “climate stop” government funding to promote fossil fuel free projects around the country. The delegation found out that most European Union countries preferred to reduce, recover and recycle waste to the use of engineered landfills. The delegation also found out that there was a company called ECOGAS that specialised in the production of energy from organic waste. The company produced about 2 200 gigabytes of thermal electricity from biogas. It operated twelve recycling yards and had forty vehicles used for waste collection. The company collected sorted organic waste from households in compliance with the law introduced in 2005 that banned the mixture of waste in one disposal bag. Residents were fined for failing to sort out their waste. The delegation learn that the company had an effective customer service center which was responsible for tracking waste collection from residents as well as refuse collection fees. The main responsibilities of the company included;

1. Collection and treatment of household waste;
2. Regional waste management planning;
3. Dissemination of information to the public; and
4. Development of local regulations and refuse collection fees.

4.3 Collaboration between Swedish Government and Research and Development Institutions

The delegation found out that the Swedish government works with the Swedish Environmental Research Institute called IVL. The Institute deals with the research for all the sustainable development goals and was founded in 1966. The delegation learnt that funding for sustainable waste management and energy efficient research projects came from the European Union rather than the Swedish Government. As a result of these research initiative, Sweden was leading in the adoption of renewable energy mainly due to the investment in issues such as behavioral change and effective legislation. 

          The following were some of the steps taken by the Swedish government to encourage the adoption of renewable energy;

 

YEAR	LEGISLATION INTRODUCED IN SWEDEN
1991	Municipal waste planning became compulsory
1994	Introduction and enforcement of Producer responsibility
1999	Introduction of Landfill tax
2002	Ban on landfills for combustible waste
2005	Ban on landfill for organic waste
2009	National target the recycling of food waste.

 

Through their current waste management system, Sweden had an energy recovery potential of 90% from its waste. 65% of this is meant for heat produced, 25% is electricity while only 10% constitutes energy loss. Sweden incorporated a curriculum on waste management in its education system starting from kindergarten stage, as a way to cultivate a positive behavioral change. The curriculum included the use of colour coded waste disposal bins to ensure the sorting of waste from source to the final disposal.

 4.4 Sustainable Cities and Communities

The delegation found out that the development of Stockholm Royal Seaport in Sweden was primarily based on SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, although it worked actively across all the goals. The Stockholm Royal Seaport contributed locally to achieving the SDGs and create synergies and leverage effects between economic, environmental, and social sustainability. It was managed by five municipalities in collaboration with land developers. The delegation learnt about the concept of sustainable cities using five strategies to develop a vibrant city and this concept was first launched in 2009. These strategies were participation, consultation, letting nature do the work, accessibility and proximity. The delegation learnt that the city was built with vacuum waste inlets for waste collection as a mechanism for waste management. The waste was being used to generate heat which caters for 130 000 households in the area.

 

4.5 Swedish Best Practices in Lithium Battery Manufacturing

The delegation visited the biggest battery manufacturing company in Sweden called Northvolt. Northvolt was founded to enable the transition to a decarbonized future by supplying sustainable lithium-ion batteries. The delegation found out that the Company specialized in battery manufacturing and focused mainly on the automotive sector, industrial sector as well as energy storage and portables. It was the first European based company to manufacture clean energy batteries that promote low carbon footprint. The delegation learnt that the company used fossil fuel free materials to manufacture its batteries. Although the company targeted to use 50% of recycled materials by 2030 as part of promoting a circular production in the country, the delegation found out that the key focus areas it used to sustain the strategy to produce greenest batteries were anchored on sustainability, manufacturing, supply chains and emission reduction. The delegation learnt that the company purchased its raw materials such as lithium, magnesium, nickel and other compounds from countries that had sustainable mining practices as well as compliance to ethical standards.  It also learnt that the company manufactures 300KV batteries with a lifespan that averages around eight to ten years because of the rich quality of the raw materials used in the production.

 4.6 Swedish Model of Creating Co-working Space for Entrepreneurs 

The delegation visited a start-up hub in Stockholm that houses more than 300 entrepreneurs called Norrsken. Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation had helped social tech entrepreneurs in Africa and elsewhere to solve societal and environmental challenges by investing in their ideas financially. Start-up hubs played an important role in the development of the tech ecosystem. They foster innovation for tech start-ups. They help the businesses scale and achieve their goals by offering them with working spaces, electricity, internet connectivity, and other infrastructure, incubation programs, business advisory and legal services as well as other forms of assistance.  The delegation learnt that the start-up hub was founded in 2016 in Stockholm. It had developed two other sites in Barcelona and Kigali. The hub offers offices for the upcoming entrepreneurs to use for one and half years before being released into the world to implement and grow their innovative ideas. The company has an open-door policy to potential entrepreneurs and often work on environmental sustainability issues.

4.7 Zimbabwe Sweden Relations

The delegation learnt that under the engagement and re-engagement policy, relations between Zimbabwe and Sweden had improved immensely. As a result, Sweden had already presented an opportunity for Zimbabwe to learn the best practices relating to energy transition from fossil fuels to green energy. The visit by the delegation from Parliament would help the re-engaging process through shaping the two countries perceptions.  

4.8 Challenges Observed at the Embassy

The delegation noted the main priority issues to be addressed at the Embassy as follows:

• Zimbabwe to Sweden Embassy has only five employees. Given the Embassy’s territory, the delegation observed that the Embassy was short-staffed and the current employees would end up performing certain duties outside their designated roles. It was noted that there were no security officers manning the Embassy residence in Sweden.
• The Chancellery had been housed at its current location since 2002, but it was working on relocating to a more spacious location by the 31st October 2023.
• The delegation noted that at the Embassy, the Swedish local employees at the residence were remunerated higher than the Zimbabwean employees, for instance, the chauffer was being paid an equivalent of US$4500 per month.
• Sweden is generally a very expensive country and the budget allocations were not adequate to cover most of the expenses incurred by the Embassy. For example, hosting of delegations and the payment of services of consultancies at the Embassy.

5.0 OBSERVATIONS

The following were the observations of the Committee; 

1. Sweden industrial sector was the primary consumer of electricity required for heat production. Similarly, Zimbabwe’s industrial sector consumes approximately 58% of electricity for heat production.
2. Sweden does not have abundant sunshine as most of its winter months are cloudy and snowy. Zimbabwe, despite its vast solar energy potential, is one of the countries that utilises thermal electricity for its industrial heating requirements. Zimbabwe has a huge potential to invest into the production of black metal sheets that were used to manufacture solar collectors in Sweden.
3. The solar collectors could be an immediate win for the Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector through tobacco curing if the Forestry Commission as well as the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board could embrace the solar thermal collector project.
4. It was encouraging that, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) had started negotiations with Absolicon for the supply of a robotized solar collector production line. Although this is the first time Absolicon has ventured into such an engagement with any government power company. ZESA, Absolicon had embarked on a pre-feasibility study program where Absolicon would provide skills transfer for the robotized solar thermal collector production line.
5. Sweden’s concept of sustainable consumption and production and waste management through sorting of waste could be very beneficial if implemented together with the devolution thrust. Sustainable consumption and production dovetails neatly with the concept of urban renewal as the national gears towards the new city in Mount Hampden. Private land developers would be invited to bring tenders for their sustainable land development plan.
6. The delegation observed that Northvolt purchased its raw materials such as lithium, magnesium, nickel and other compounds from countries that had sustainable mining practices. Zimbabwe could take advantage of this benchmarking visit and establish partnerships, through the Zimbabwean Embassy and the Sweden diaspora community, for lithium battery manufacturing in line with what was observed at the North Volt Company. A fully fledged delegation from the Executive could be established to engage Northvolt to open a lithium battery manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe.

 6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 

The delegation recommended the following;

1. The Ministry of Energy and Power Development should develop policy initiatives that promote solar thermal solutions to ensure energy security for industries, reduce CO2 emissions and fossil fuel dependency by December 2025. Investment start-up capital should be granted to the private sector in order to revive the energy sector.
2. The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development working with the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) should ensure compliance to policies that attract and promote foreign investments and business opportunities to develop partnerships with companies such as Northvolt by December 2025.
3. The Ministries of Mines and Mining Development and Industry and Commerce should collaborate, value add, integrate lithium-ion battery value chain and recycling in their operations by December 2025.
4. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce should engage technocrats to support the innovative capacity within the research and academic fields to come up with ideas that promote sustainable waste management strategies and circular production by December 2025.
5. The Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises should organise a benchmarking visit to Kigali, Rwanda to learn about the Norrsken incubation hubs for potential entrepreneurs by December 2025.
6. The Ministries of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry should review the existing legislation and identify gaps for amendments using the Swedish environmental law as a model by December 2025.
7. The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works should formulate a masterplan that supports the development, construction and implementation of sustainable cities concept by December 2025.
8. The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry should begin awareness campaigns on the sorting of waste, establishing points of refuse collection and disposal and implementing a legally binding extended producer responsibility by December 2024.
9. Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should continue to mobilise and disbursement of necessary resources the support the work of Zimbabwe Embassies by January 2024.
10. Treasury should increase the budget allocation for the embassy to cover all the expenditure requirements. The salaries of the Embassy staff should be increased to above the Swedish poverty datum line and payed timeously. There was need to increase the staff compliment at the Embassy to include a trade attaché and consular by January 2024.

7.0 CONCLUSION

The benchmarking visit helped the delegation to realise numerous approaches that could be adopted to improve our renewable energy mix and waste management practices in the country. It has also opened avenues of Parliamentary partnerships in the various sectors visited. Thus, a series of inquiries into the concepts of solar thermal, sustainable cities, sustainable consumption and production, circular production and the manufacturing of lithium batteries have to be embarked on. These inquiries, among others will assist in finding lasting measures that not only encourage industries to adopt more sustainable production practices but make producers responsible for the disposal of post-consumer products after the end of their useful life. 

          HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I am going to touch on what I feel are interesting points and I want to thank the presenter of the motion.  In one meeting Hon. Speaker, with the Swedish Parliament and the Portfolio Committees on Energy and Environment - because this country is so modernized that almost everything including doors are operated by electricity, you do not use hands for operating many things, no cash is used, it is all swiping - one of our members said, how come our country is very much into electricity, so what happens when there is load shedding? 

The Chairperson of that Committee had to ask what load shedding was.  The Chairman said I saw that in South African when I was a tourist, that is the time when there was no electricity.  Every one of the them asked what would have happened to the electricity, where will it have gone?  The other Hon. Members said, in this country, ever since I was born, electricity is always there; what does this tell us?  This is a country where they have excess energy and I think it is something worth learning.  They have all sources of energy, solar, wind power, to the extend that they are even extending to other parts of Europe, they do not know load shedding.  So, these are very interesting issues that as a country, we need to really learn and that it is possible to have no load shedding.  Their debate now is about destroying large hydro electricity power stations. The argument is mainly being pushed by the environmentalists. They are saying when you put a dam to generate electricity, you are disturbing the ecosystem for the fish since they are not used to too much water.  So, the argument now is, instead of producing electricity from large water bodies they are saying small water bodies undisturbed will generate electricity on the flowing as is without putting too much disturbance, and putting up big dams.

          We said in our country we are busy struggling with very big dams, Tokwe-Mukorsi and others and here is a country that is telling us that it is not good for the environment, let us have several small hydro power stations.  It is possible because if you go to Honde Valley, a similar project was done about four small power stations generating about eight megawatts, it is a possibility and most of our rivers, it is a possibility that we can generate little energy but on several positions without disturbing the environment.  So, this was something that was eye opening to us and quite clearly as we move forward in development, this is the next debate where people will now be saying, away with big dams.  Let us have small dams and generate from small dams.

          This also helps when there is a problem, instead of switching 700 megawatts or 750 at Kariba, when there is a problem, you simply switch off 20 megawatts at one position without disturbing the whole grid.  So, those are issues that as a country I think we must look at.

          Another interesting thing is the way they have separated electricity for powering and heat energy.  What do we do in many jurisdictions? We generate electricity at Hwange and Kariba and that same electricity, we use it to produce heat, hot water for bathing, cooking, et cetera.  In that country they have tried to separate the two. Heat is generated on its own. We were actually privileged to manufacture one of the solar concentrators. They manufacture concentrators which will concentrate all the heat and heat up water for schools so that a boarding school or a big hospital does not have to depend on electricity for heating, they just use that solar concentrator. This is what ZESA had encouraged them to visit and buy that technology because it is possible.

          It will remove a lot of heat plants from the national grid, electricity is generated for light and other straight things that need electricity but for heat, they use solar.  There are many institutions even cities, water hot water for is generated and then piped straight to all households without having to waste electricity.  The way they manage refuse, there is money in refuse - that is what we learnt. 

We wondered how we are so stupid not to utilize these basic things. There is nothing very special and Sweden, it is just basic technology that they are taking advantage of.  We actually have more refuse at Mbare than they have in their cities and how do they make use of the refuse? They separate it into four, plastics are put separately, digestible things from food and food outlets, anything that is left over food is what they ferment and produce energy like petrol, methane which they use to power all their public transport.   Buses there run with fuel from refuse.  So, the refuse that we are throwing around can actually be converted into petrol or diesel which they use for buses. 

If you go to Nandos, how much food has been thrown out, all that food can be converted to fuel to run buses.  The plastics, we have a lot of plastics thrown around, scuds and coke bottles, all that could be recycled and used to produce these poly pipes.  We have companies in this country that are producing poly pipes.  There is Horizon in Ruwa and two more in Graniteside.  When they want to produce the poly pipes which we need for irrigation, what do they do? They import the recycled plastics from South Africa instead of making use of the locally available; it is simply taking used plastics.

          So, these are opportunities that we are throwing and one other interesting thing, many of us have a lot of timber, chairs that we no longer need even in this Parliament. So what they do there, they are very organized. When you do not need these antics, they are taken to that refuse point and NGOs where new people who come into town and have no furniture get that for free.  When they no longer need these things they also return.  That is very basic and simple but most of us keep these old chairs in the backyard or it is thrown away.  We need that kind of system.  The way they sort plastic or refuse is to the advantage of their country and it is really helping them. 

          The other thing about how they manage refuse, here we have a principle through EMA that the polluter pays but people are polluting and nobody pays for the pollution.  What they do there, it is the duty of the manufacturer of a container, if for example Delta manufactures those scuds and the super containers, they are asked what are you going to do to make sure that your plastic containers do not pollute the environment?  They have programmes where at every station you take that plastic, go and sell it and it is big business for unemployed people.  You take the plastics and go and sell and the companies that produce the plastics have to write on the container that if you return this, it is a dollar or cent and people make a living out of that. That is one thing that we must be doing in this country instead of allowing these big companies to produce plastics and throw all over. You have to come up with a programme on how you will make sure your container which you are manufacturing, to carry whatever product you have, how it will be disposed without polluting the environment.  I think these are very interesting take homes which do not need a lot of money, low hanging fruits which if we were serious as a country, we will not only cleanup Mbare but Mbare will be clean and other surrounding cities. 

          The combustible refuse, that which burns, goes to a power station to generate about seven to eight megawatts of energy which can run the whole of Harare.  You can imagine a power station using thrown away litter, things that burn.  You are not only cleaning the environment but you are also taking advantage of that dirty to produce energy.  This does not need a lot of money Mr. Speaker.  The refuse we have just needs a bit of shrinking and commitment.  These are the things that I thought I will bring to your attention and hopefully those who are listening and have the powers to do these things must seriously look at this role model.   

          Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Speaker for facilitating this trip.  I think the tour was almost a flop, she will agree with me but they had to run around and the development partners then assisted and the Zimbabwean Embassy in Sweden.  It is led by one of us Her Excellency Misihairabwi-Mushonga.   She is really doing a wonderful job.  All the delegations, I think we were about three coming from Parliament, they were all being exposed to all over, things happening, Education Committee and she does not rest.  Her five staff members were assigned to run around and make sure trips are organised, people are exposed because she was equally worried that let us learn from basic things which do not even require a lot of money.  With those few words, I would like to thank you very much. 

          HON. MUSAKWA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I would like to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Musarurwa on the benchmark visit on renewable energy and the Swedish system.  I think it was a big eye-opener and thanks to the support of Parliament and its leadership that this was realised.  Mr. Speaker Sir, you learn a lot from others, especially the separation of heating energy from known other uses of energy such as light and other industrial uses.  There is a big saving and what is important is that Zimbabwe is…..

          THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, Hon. Musakwa, may you connect your gadget please.

          HON. MUSAKWA:  Yes, I think the network is playing up here Mr. Speaker, maybe let me come to the front.  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I was just mentioning that it is important to learn from others as far as energy uses are concerned and using them in the most beneficial and profitable way.  From Sweden, you can see that there was a serious attention to separate heating energy from the other energy uses such as lighting and the other industrial uses.  There will be a big saving in that.  You find that they are struggling to collect heat and we have an abundance of all the ingredients necessary such as the abundance of sunshine and the abundance of lithium.  They are setting up the biggest lithium energy battery plants there and yet they have very little or no lithium at all and we have got both. 

          Mr. Speaker, I think our leadership was very positive in letting Parliament appreciate what is going on because even Sweden, their Parliament had to go on a programme of legislating a lot, starting from the year 2000 coming upwards.  They were legislating a lot like the use of responsibility of the producer on their own recyclable waste.  It was made into law and also the economic use of energy heating and the other forms.  It was made into law.  There is a lot of cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Energy where we believe we can also learn a lot from that experience.  I think, Mr. Speaker Sir, it is very important and we must take this initiative very seriously.  Despite our abundance of coal reserves and all that, if we maximise on the energy we get from the sun, we can also prolong the life of our thermal energy and have a healthy blend where we control emission but at the same time maximising the use of our resources. 

          Once again, I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for this opportunity which I greatly appreciate.  Thank you.

          HON. MUNETSI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this chance to add my voice to this trip which we undertook to Sweden.  I just want to make a few remarks and probably first of all, add on to what Hon. Gabbuza said about electricity and load shedding.  Like he said, there is no load shedding in Sweden, not at all.  The duty instead, for those who work in the electricity industry, is to regulate overloading to certain companies.  They regulate that they do not get too much electricity because it is in abundance. 

          Also, what he has left out is that the small dams that he spoke of, the explanation was we use the same water to generate electricity more than ten times.  It generates electricity here, it goes to another small dam, it generates electricity, the water flows to the other dam and it continuously generates electricity just like that more than ten times.  Small dams in one river can be 15 and the small amount of electricity that is produced is fed into the grid.  So, you will discover that the same amount of water produces electricity several times and that power is fed into the grid.  It was something that I began to think of rivers in my country where water is flowing and going to the ocean for nothing.  Several volumes of water are flowing. On the point of refuse collection like what Hon. Gabbuza was saying, it is so fascinating when you get to the company. It produces fuel for all buses in the city and it produces methane gas, fertilizer - both liquid and solid from the refuse that we throw away; bananas and whatever garbage you throw away. They just collect it and bring it there. When you get into the factory where it is being processed, it is so smelly and it is hot and several things happen there which we cannot explain.

          When you see where they load the garbage and where it comes out, it is a shock. It is something different when it is coming out there. It is liquid and solid fertilizer, methane gas, fuel and nothing is lost. The remainder is just manure which they sell.  You rarely see a piece of paper along the roads in Sweden. If you throw litter and you are caught, the penalty is heavy and you will not like it. If you do not send litter to the company on a prescribed day which you said you are going to send litter there, they make a follow-up to say where is your litter. If you mix plastic and food stuff, they will take the litter back to your place and you pay a heavy penalty and they ask you to sort it and bring it back.

          There is a lot that happens in Sweden. When you take litter to those companies like what Her Excellency, the Ambassador was saying, she said all the money that they use for breakfast is from litter. They sell litter and they get money and that is the money they use to buy bread and everything for their breakfast. So litter there makes one money when here we are busy throwing it away. It is quite an eye opener. If you would visit Absolicon, that company which they are talking about, one thing that I discovered which they do not use much and which they have no use of in that country is snow. They have plenty of snow and it is all over.

          The sun is so far away and they use those heat collectors from the sun which is very far away. You just see the sun going and it goes like that, but they collect that small amount of heat and use it in big factories to warm up everything. They do not use electricity. That is the reason why they have plenty of electricity and they also export electricity to neighbouring countries. You rarely come across any place which is being polluted from cars, not in industries or factories. It is just clean and very smart.

          I want to talk about this lithium battery company. The way we discussed with them, we mentioned there is plenty of lithium in Zimbabwe and they said it is one place where we can open a big factory to manufacture lithium batteries and also buy lithium from our country to their country. We said to them, if you can probably come up to some other companies in the country which make batteries, and then you form an association with them and find out how you can start to make lithium batteries. They do not have lithium in Sweden but they import it. If you get to the company where they do lithium batteries, it is a wonder as if it is just being got from behind the building and coming into the factory when we have so much of it here, but is not being used. That is one area which needs to be explored.

Sweden makes a lot of sales from the batteries that they pack in their country. They make a lot of sales from planting the heat collectors in other countries. Like they said, they would want to do that here in Zimbabwe. They are already doing a plant in the two countries in Africa where they are doing some plant of that sort. When we mentioned that it is rare in Zimbabwe not to see the sun – the sun is always there and to them it is a wonder. For the days we went there, we saw the sun maybe two, three days only. It was just cloudy.

Having those people coming to Zimbabwe and putting up some industry of that sort would be quite beneficial to this country. Let me end by saying, the startup hub which the Hon. Chair spoke about, I do not know how many offices are there. Startup hub is meant for someone to go there and get information on how to start a business, a company or whatever you want, you get that information there. You meet a group there and another group there discussing on what to do, how do we start that et cetera. When you have the information, you get there and they can associate you with people of that nature and from there, you start up your business.

It is also an information centre for jobs. There are several areas where they need some people. You get that information from that start up hub. It is a building with several offices and it is very interesting. I would not want to speak about the Embassy. It has already been spoken about that we need to increase staff and pay them well and probably change the offices because their offices are very small. I want to thank the Chair and the seconder of this motion. Thank you.

          HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I just want to add my voice in practical terms on the report by Hon. Musarurwa on the benchmark visit, seconded by Hon. Gabbuza and indeed, Hon. Munesti and the other Hon. Members. I want to bring the report closer home. In terms of implementation of benchmarking, because the whole purpose of benchmarking is to use that as a platform to enhance our own visibility or aptitude in the same field that is being spoken to and about.

          First and foremost, I should make it very clear that the countries we are talking about, Sweden included, are not endowed with the ubiquitous amount of mineral wealth such as the wealth that we are endowed with. They just beneficiate and value add to what we have. We have a copious amount of water, even though we are land-linked and we do not have a sea to our name. We have things minerals like uranium -  if we beneficiated just a ball of uranium, we could kiss our problems of energy and electricity goodbye.

          I have a table Mr. Speaker Sir that talks about the fuels that we have as a country. We have fossil fuels 39.9% and nuclear power 0%. This is where we can have nuclear power en masse if we value added just a ball of uranium. Solar energy we have 0.1%. We have nearly 365 days of exposure to sunlight here. I hear Sweden has frozen weather conditions whereas here we have solar energy which is not being utilised. Wind power, we have 0%. Water power 65.3%, tidal power 0%, geometrics 0%, and biomass 1.7%. There is a lot that is being said about biomass and a lot of emissions from garbage that we could tap into. It is my thinking that we can use the advantage that we have to make sure that we use what we have to get what we want.

We have a deficit of energy. However, the Second Republic has gotten us to more than 1 700 kilowatts whereas in winter we have about 2200 kilowatts peak period. This is what we require as energy but currently we have no deficit, assuming there is no winter period. We have no deficit in terms of average usage or need of power. You will attest to that. The past few days you have seen that we have no noticeable deficit. We use energy even to boil mazondo. It is the only country south of the Sahara that uses electricity to cook mazondo or trotters. Everybody else has migrated to gas. It is because of the Second Republic which has made sure that we have Hwange 7 and 8 which have come on stream. Our all-weather friends have made sure that we use our fossil fuels for thermal power stations in Hwange. We applaud that. Further to that, we can utilise – Harare City Council has the other party CCC, MDC - otherwise they have refused that Pomona dumpsite be used as a landfill that can produce energy. Land fills are a panacea or antidote to some of the deficit that we have in terms of energy generation. It is a clarion call that I make now vociferously that let us embrace land fills and make sure that the issue of Pomona dumpsite comes to its conclusive determination in terms of both utilisation and also production of energy. There is energy that can be produced from garbage.

The mover and the seconder of the motion spoke so eloquently about that. When it comes to issues to do with effective and efficient utilisation of the resources that we have to get energy, my ear is on the right side. I am quite alive to the suggestion and recommendations that was specifically the reason why they went to Sweden. By any stroke of imagination, you cannot go to Sweden by bus. They had to fly on a visa and it is not a pittance but a lot of money that was utilised for such a visit.

Coming back home, how then can we mirror this visit to our present circumstances. How can we use Sweden as a pedestal to enhance our ability and visibility using what we have? Here is an opportunity now to embrace one another and get the CCC and MDC to come also into Vision 2030 and see what we can utilise from the visit in order to complement and augment vision of His Excellency the President, Cde E. D. Mnangagwa. We have seen now that using the fossil fuels and using what we have – Hon. Gabbuza spoke about Batoka Gorge which is a joint operation between Zambia and Zimbabwe. He just spoke of us but we have the World Bank and African Development Bank wanting to fund the Inga Dam which is going to produce 10 000MW indeed for Zimbabwe and also for the rest of Africa. Here is a visit that has shown us that there is no reason to continuously have dams everywhere but to utilise small little hydro enterprises in order to produce energy en masse.

There is a reason why they went to Sweden. The reason I want to say it here and now. It is in Isiah 6:1, ‘In the year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord…’ Here is an opportunity to use that visit to enhance our aptitude and ability as a nation to get what we can from what we have; to have what we want from what we have.

As I conclude, I also want to say the issue of energy should not be underestimated. We have Southern Africa Power Pool in Mazowe and as long as we have copious amounts of energy, we can also put it into that  pool so that we can serve other countries such as South Africa. Who ever thought one day we will be giving energy to South Africa? Here is an opportunity and I see from the table that I have that we export about 51MW of our power and here is an opportunity because of what we have as resources to then also help the countries around us, in particular the frontline States, Mozambique included.

I want to harp on the point that our resources need to be beneficiated.  I applaud His Excellency for putting a screeching halt to the exportation of raw materials, or rather raw minerals without beneficiation and value addition - our PGMS, that is the platinum group of metals.  There is no reason why we should continue to export the same.  We can produce what we want from there, especially platinum.  These catalytic converters, Mr. Speaker Sir, every automobile uses catalytic converters.  It is used to most probably have the environment cleaned.  The fuel goes through the catalytic converter.  By the time it comes out of the exhaust, it has been cleaned.  Every automobile, as long as we are using fossil fuels, needs a catalytic converter.

          Coming back home to the issue to do with lithium.  Who does not know Elon Musk?  He is busy producing electric vehicles.  We heard the report, he is pregnant with a lot of issues to do with the modern day technology of lithium batteries that are going to see us move with the times in terms of electric vehicles.  Everyone is born of a woman Mr. Speaker Sir.  When we hold our clenched fists like this, it is called potential.  When we unleash that potential, it is called kinetic energy.  Here is an opportunity to kinetise our energy by utilising what we have.  We should not export lithium in its raw form, but have a factory like the innovation incubation hubs that they spoke to.

          Go to the University of Zimbabwe.  As we speak, there is an innovation hub in tandem, in sync, in collaboration, in coordination and network with education 5.0 which has been enunciated by His Excellency, Cde Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa.  Here is an opportunity to use our minerals, particularly lithium.  They spoke so vociferously about lithium but we are calling upon the Elon Musk of our time, if he is listening to this, I know he is going to download this debate and hear that this Hon. Member from Chegutu West Constituency, close to Patricia Nyamadzawo, Sarah Chikukwa, Marjory Ruzha and Million Daniel, was talking about the lack of exportation of lithium in its raw form.  He needs to come here and establish a factory so that we can export the batteries in their huge amounts, in their value added form.  

Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to vociferously, effectively and efficiently put across and help amplify the contents of the report by Hon. Musarurwa, of the bench marking visit to Sweden.  I can picture myself having been in Sweden but the issue that was embedded in this report was tutelage, value addition and beneficiation and His Excellency has seen all through this thin veil of political machination of exportation of raw material and has brought it to a screeching halt and I want to thank him.  I want to thank you also Mr. Speaker Sir.

HON. TOGAREPI:  Mr. Speaker, I did not come here to debate but definitely to appreciate.  Hon. Members, the way you articulated what you met in Sweden, I really feel we need as Parliament to encourage these Hon. Members to produce a report, invite the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, ZESA and any other stakeholders to meet with these people. The information they have is critical for our country and most of the things that they witnessed in Sweden can be done in Zimbabwe.  I think this is one of the best study visits or reports that we have seen since the beginning of this Parliament.

You really need to take this report seriously because it answers to the challenges that we have in terms of energy in this country.  Answers are there and we have the resources.  I never imagined that we can use waste from bananas to come up with fuel.  My thinking was, we need to dig a hole, get oil down there and start getting some form of fuel to run, either it can be a factory or a car and so forth.  What you have done is, you have opened my mind.  Mr. Speaker, this is critical.  I think this is a report that should not just go.  It needs more interrogation together with stakeholders like the Ministry of Energy and Power Development and institutions that are run by Government that deal with energy issues so that we can run as a country and reduce our exposure to unnecessary costs when we can use valuable resources to improve our energy needs.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  I just want to add on top of what you have just said Chief Whip.  Thank you very much to the Committee that went to Sweden.  This is something that is alive.  What you have come up with, what you have brought from Sweden is real.  I am just asking you that you should not put a full stop on this. 

I would suggest, like what Hon. Munetsi said that you got quite a lot of assistance from Mr. Speaker, I think this must be your first port of call.  Of course, we will also do our own duty, Chief Whip, to highlight the report.  This is pregnant with real, simple and practicable issues that can be implemented with not a lot of money. 

Thank you very much.  I am pleading with you Hon. Munetsi, Hon. Chair, Hon. Gabbuza that do not put a full stop on this.  You need to meet outside this House with the Chief Whip so that  you can arrange a programme to visit the Hon. Speaker and the Minister because some of these things that you have actually said in this House will end up in the Hansard with no action whatsoever, but if you can actually go there to ask for these people from the Ministry of Energy and Power Development so that they can second people to Sweden to go and learn some of these easy things to implement, Zimbabwe can move.  I just want to complement and to add on top of what our Chief Whip has actually said.  Let us not put a full stop but a comma.  I would appreciate.  Thank you very much Hon. Chief Whip.  I hope that what we have said will be articulated accordingly.  Thank you.

HON. TOGAREPI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  I move that the debate do now adjourn.

HON. MUNETSI:  I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Tuesday, 22^nd June, 2023.   

MOTION

ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE

          HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the House do now adjourn to the 22^nd of August, 2023.

          HON. TEKESHE: I second.

          Motion put and agreed to.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING SPEAKER

SUSPENSION OF COMMITTEE BUSINESS

          THE ACTING SPEAKER: I have got an announcement to make.  Following the adjournment of the House to 22^nd August, 2023, all Committee Business is accordingly suspended, effective 15^th June, 2023. 

The House accordingly adjourned at Six Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until, Tuesday, 22^nd August, 2023.