[featured_image]
Download
Download is available until [expire_date]
  • Version
  • Download 32
  • File Size 347 KB
  • File Count 1
  • Create Date July 16, 2015
  • Last Updated November 12, 2021

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 16 July 2015 41-55

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Thursday, 16th July, 2015

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

PRAYERS

(THE DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE DEPUTY SPEAKER

NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE

PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I have received Non-Adverse Reports

from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the following:

  1. Debt Management Bill, (H.B. 1A, 2015);
  2. All Statutory Instruments gazetted during the month of May 2015.

INVITATION TO A BREAKFAST MEETING

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has invited the Portfolio

Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services and the Parliamentary Legal Committee to a breakfast meeting on Friday, 17th July, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel from 0700 hours to 1000 hours.  The purpose of the breakfast meeting would be to assist in strengthening the

Committees’ oversight role and issues of statelessness and citizenship in Zimbabwe.

COMMITTEE STAGE

ZIMBABWE GENDER COMMISSION BILL [H.B.8, 2014]

First Order read:  Committee Stage:  Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill, (H.B.8, 2014).

House in Committee.

          A                                    t215225                                  16-07-15

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Thursday, 16th July, 2015

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

PRAYERS

(THE DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE DEPUTY SPEAKER

NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE

PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I have received Non-Adverse Reports

from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the following:

  1. Debt Management Bill, (H.B. 1A, 2015);
  2. All Statutory Instruments gazetted during the month of May 2015.

INVITATION TO A BREAKFAST MEETING

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has invited the Portfolio

Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services and the

Parliamentary Legal Committee to a breakfast meeting on Friday, 17th July, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel from 0700 hours to 1000 hours.  The purpose of the breakfast meeting would be to assist in strengthening the

Committees’ oversight role and issues of statelessness and citizenship in Zimbabwe.

COMMITTEE STAGE

ZIMBABWE GENDER COMMISSION BILL [H.B.8, 2014]

First Order read:  Committee Stage:  Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill, (H.B.8, 2014).

House in Committee.

          Clause 1 put and agreed to.

On Clause 2:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA):  I move the

amendments standing in my name that;

On page 4 of the Bill, in subclause (1), insert the following definitions after the definition of “Chief Executive Officer”:

“gender” means the roles, duties and responsibilities which are culturally or socially ascribed to women, men, girls and boys;

“gender equality” means the equal enjoyment of rights and access to opportunities and outcomes, including resources, by women, men, girls and boys;

“gender equity” means the just and fair distribution of benefits, rewards and opportunities between women, men, girls and boys;

“gender mainstreaming” means the process of identifying and resolving gender gaps, and making the concerns and experiences of women, men, girls and boys integral to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all spheres so that they benefit equally”.

On page 4 of the Bill in subclause (2) of Clause 2 delete in lines 44 and 45 the words “In this Act, “systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality” means any barrier, practice, custom, law or other impediment prejudicial to the achievement of gender equality, including equality of opportunities and outcomes in the following spheres of activity or sectors of the society or economy” and substitute “In this Act, “systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality, gender equity or gender mainstreaming” means any barrier, practice, custom, law or other impediment prejudicial to the achievement of gender equality, gender equality, gender equity or gender mainstreaming including equality of opportunities and outcomes in the following spheres of activity or sectors of the society or economy (whose itemization here is not to be taken as exhaustive or as limiting the generality of the foregoing)”

On page 5 of the Bill, delete paragraph (f) on lines 13 and 14 and substitute the following paragraphs –

“(f) in the sphere of family law (including marriage, divorce, custody and guardianship), children’s rights, succession and inheritance;

(g)     any other sphere or activity specified by the Commission in pursuance of its constitutional mandate”.

Amendment to Clause 2 put and agreed to.

Clause 2, as amended, put and agreed to.

Clauses 3 and 4 put and agreed to.

On Clause 5:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA):  I move the

amendment standing in my name that;

On page 6 of the Bill, delete in line 11 the phrase “system barrier prejudicial to the gender equality” and substitute “systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality, gender equity or gender mainstreaming”.

Amendment to Clause 5 put and agreed to.

Clause 5, as amended, put and agreed to.

On Clause 6:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA):  I move the

amendment standing in my name that:

On page 6 of the Bill, insert in line 7 after subsection (6) the following sub-clause and renumber the subsequent paragraphs accordingly –

“(6) an aggrieved person, may in accordance with the Administrative Justice Act [Chapter 10:28] (No. 24 of 20040, appeal against such certificate, and the court hearing the appeal shall treat any evidence or documentation subject to the certificate in the manner specified in section 8 (“Discretion to refuse or to restrict supply of reasons”) of the

Administrative Justice Act [Chapter 10:28] (No 24 of 2004)”

Amendment to Clause 6 put and agreed to.

Clause 6, as amended, put and agreed to.

On Clause 7:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA): I move the

amendments standing in my name that:

On page 7 of the Bill, delete the introductory words, “If, after conducting an investigation, the Commission is of the opinion that the investigation has revealed any systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality, it shall report in writing to the Minister – “ and substitute “If, after conducting an investigation, the Commission is of the opinion that the investigation has revealed any systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality, it shall, after having informed the Minister in writing, report to

Parliament on –“

On page 7 of the Bill, delete in line 35 the phrase “systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality” and substitute “systemic barrier prejudicial to gender equality, gender equity or gender mainstreaming”.

On page 7 of the Bill, in paragraph (c), delete in line 35 the phrase

“gender equality” and substitute “gender equality, gender equity or gender mainstreaming”.

Amendments to Clause 7 put and agreed to.

Clause 7, as amended, put and agreed to.

On Clause 8:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA):

On page 8 of the Bill, insert the following proviso to subclause (1):

“Provided that the venue of the Gender Forum shall rotate annually through every provincial centre of Zimbabwe in such order as the

Commission shall determine”.

On page 8 of the Bill, in subclause (3), insert the following paragraph after paragraph (c):

“(d) receive reports from the subcommittees (if any) constituted in terms of subsection (4).”

On page 8 of the Bill, insert the following proviso to subclause (3), the subsequent clauses being renumbered accordingly:

“(4) To assist the Pre-Forum Committee in discharging its terms of reference the Commission may constitute a subcommittee in every provincial centre of Zimbabwe chaired by a member of the Pre-Forum Committee.

On page 8 of the Bill, delete in lines 34 and 35 subclause (4) (now subclause (5)) and substitute the following subclause:

“(5) Paragraph 7 of the First Schedule applies to the appointment and meetings of the Pre-Forum Committee, and to any subcommittee constituted in terms of subsection as if the Pre-Forum Committee and subcommittee were committees of the Commission”  Amendment to Clause 8 put and agreed to.

Clause 8, as amended, put and agreed to.

Clause 9 put and agreed to.

On Clause 10:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA):  I move the

amendments standing in my name that;

On page 9 of the Bill, delete in line 18 the phrase “in consultation with the Minster” and substitute, “after consultation with the Minister”.

On page 9 of the Bill, delete the proviso to subclause (1) from lines

22 to 24.

On page 9 of the Bill, delete in line 25 the phrase “Except with written authority of the Minister”.

Amendment to Clause 10 put and agreed to.

Clause 10, as amended, put and agreed to.

Clauses 11 to 19 put and agreed to.

On First Schedule:

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, GENDER AND

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MS. CHIKWINYA):  I move the

amendments standing in my name that;

On page 13 of the Bill, delete paragraph 3 from lines 16 to 23 and renumber the subsequent paragraphs accordingly.

On page 13 of the Bill, in paragraph 4 (now paragraph 3) from lines

27 to 29 delete the phrase “one month after the date he or she gives notice in writing to the Minister of his or her intention to resign his office or after the expiry of such other period of notice as he or she and the Minister may agree” and substitute “one month after the date he or she gives notice in writing to the President or in the case of the CEO to the Chairperson, of his or her intention to resign his office or after the expiry of such other period of notice as he or she and the President or Chairperson, as the case maybe, agree.

On page 13 of the Bill, in paragraph 4 (now paragraph 3), delete subparagraph (2) from lines 39 to 44 and renumber subparagraph (3) as subparagraph (2).

On page 13 of the Bill, in paragraph 4 (now paragraph 3), delete in line 45 the word “Minister” and substitute “President”.

On page 14 of the Bill, in paragraph 5 (now paragraph 4), delete in line 5 the word “Minister” and substitute “President”.

Amendments to First Schedule put and agreed to.

First Schedule, as amended, put and agreed to.

House resumed.

Bill reported with amendments.

Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS

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

Question again proposed.

  1. E. GUMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the

opportunity to contribute to the Presidential Speech.  In his speech, His Excellency, the President touched on the need for us to focus on our economic blueprint, ZIM ASSET.  It is on this respect that I would like to contribute on the issues which have been brought up; the pillars of our economic development plan.

On the pillar of health, I would like to point out that Government has taken a lot of measures; clinics have been opened but we still feel a lot needs to be done.  We are also looking at community initiatives that need support, where communities can build clinics.  We realise that there are bureaucratic delays from the Ministry of Health and Child Care to allocate land and approve facilities where communities are now taking a chance and a challenge to provide health facilities in the local communities.

ZIM ASSET also points to communication as a good requirement for any development of the economy.  It is in this respect that I must congratulate POTRAZ for putting a lot of boosters in the country and for the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services for bringing the law that requires all the operators to share facilities.

However, I would like to point out that in areas where POTRAZ has put boosters, some over a year, we realise reluctance of the main mobile operators - Econet and Net One to provide facilities. In my constituency, Gwanda Central, we have two boosters, one at Hale put a little bit over 18 months, which up to now has not been taken by Econet or Net One to provide essential services to the community for mobile telecommunication, internet and other services that are required – [HON.

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! Can the hon.  member be

heard in silence?  If you feel like not listening to the speech, just keep quiet.

  1. E. GUMBO: Thank you Madam Speaker Maám. It is also pointed out in the ZIM ASSET, that the need to getting our political power is paramount to the development of the country and its economy. Power is a key driver of the economic development.  To this end, I must thank our Chinese friends; our all time; all whether friends for coming up and sponsoring us in the Kariba Extension Power Station and the Hwange Power Station Units 7 and 8.  This is something that we commend.

However, we realise that lack of capital to construct power stations will always be a problem.  It will delay development of the power industry.  However, I appeal to Zimbabweans to also take initiatives that will help the power supply of the country.  For example, in the South

Western areas of this country, solar geysers could be a problem to release a lot of power that can be used elsewhere in industry.  This country spends around 300 megawatts in heating water only.  We can imagine if that was substituted with solar power, power givers, that energy could be used elsewhere, where it is needed. However, above all, the 300 megawatts of a power we use to heat water is the equivalent of a power station.  We talk about constructing solar power stations, some of it is within my constituency of Gwanda.

I think it is a noble idea if as Zimbabweans or this august House, we care and pass a law that allows ZESA to force each and every household in the areas that are prone to solar energy to install these solar heaters and save energy.  In short, if 300 megawatts was put into geysers in the southern or western parts of this country, Zimbabwe could have easily funded a 300 megawatt power station without the outside world.  I believe that this is a noble idea as it is a win-win situation.

We could empower the power authority, ZESA, to install geysers and the owners of the houses could pay a nominal sum of money to the company deductable on their bills on a monthly basis, let us say US$10 to

US$15.  This in turn is not an expense even to the user; he is liable to save more than $15 per month for heating his water.  So, we say that is an advantage. Let everybody be a winner.  The money we would have paid for ZESA would have saved power; we are now using solar energy.  The solar energy comes to you on noble easy to pay terms, you only saved electricity.  What you saved on electricity is what you pay for the geyser.

We are also looking for infrastructure and utilities on the ZIMASSET, we appreciate what Government has done in collaboration with the private sector in constructing the Plumtree to Mutare highway, it is a very noble idea.  We need to thank the ministers and authorities who handled that so well – [HON. WADYAJENA: Inaudible interjections]

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Wadyajena, I do not expect that to come from an hon. member.

  1. E. GUMBO: On infrastructure utilities, we realize that ZIMASSET called for local communities to contribute towards the infrastructure development of the areas. To this end, we realize that local communities initiatives face significant challenges of lack of technical support from Government Departments and Ministries. There are a lot of small donors who put up cement to construct local bridges in some areas.

However, when we call on Government Departments to come and give technical expertise, this has always not been forthcoming as early as we would have liked, to the extent that local communities at times feel disheartened and discouraged.  We therefore call for Government to look into this and the relevant ministries to go and support initiatives by local communities.

It is also in the same vein of infrastructural development that we look at very viable national projects that can be almost self-funding that are being delayed through bureaucratic regulations and also some illegal local companies that are taking Government to court.  For example, the Beitbridge-Masvingo – Harare-Chirundu Road, we have heard that the road is viable, it is self funding.  Why is it not being constructed?  This is a key to ZIM ASSET.  Local infrastructure and transport is obviously quite necessary and we believe speeding up this road construction would be a big game changer in our economic performance.

ZIM ASSET has touched on value addition as well.  Value addition on its own takes a long time because we must develop industries and get them there.  However, there is another synergy to value addition, which is import substitution.  We must learn to substitute what we are importing.  There are industries in this country; alluminium industry is in Harare here, a subsidiary capable of producing all the aluminium requirements for this country, that has been allowed to close and we are flooding our country with cheap alluminium from elsewhere.

I think if we focus on our import substitution, support our local industry like the alluminium industry, which is a Government subsidy, we will go a long way to access the money.  We are also calling for positive measures to support re-pooling of our industries to produce goods competitively.  I think if we go back to our old industries, try to produce in the old ways, we might be able to compete.  Therefore, we are calling for Government to look at relaxing laws, especially on importing capital goods for re-pooling our industry for us to be competitive.

We are also calling for punitive measures to restrict unnecessary imports.  We have got a lot of produce that come into this country, consuming huge amounts of money where we can easily produce.  As Zimbabweans, we are farmers at heart, everybody here is a good farmer, whether it is in your yard, plot or own piece of land.  Zimbabweans have got a passion for farming.  I think our farming industry need to be protected with matching terms from Government.  Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity give my views.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Vehicle Nos. ADE or AOE1022 White

and ADI9025, ADL0749 are blocking others.  Can the owners of these vehicles go outside and remove them.

  1. CHIKWAMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  2. MPARIWA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st July, 2015.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

  1. GONESE: I move that Order of the Day, Numbers 3 and 4 be

stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.

  1. MPARIWA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

REPORT OF THE DELEGATION ON THE HIV/AIDS LEARNING

AND EXPOSURE STUDY VISIT TO KARNATAKA STATE, INDIA

Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the delegation of the HIV/AIDS Learning and Exposure Study Visit to Karnataka State, India, 10th – 14th November, 2014.

Question again proposed.

  1. CHIKWAMA:  I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  2. KWARAMBA:  I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st July, 2015.

MOTION

HARMONISATION OF THE MINES AND MINERALS ACT AND

THE LANDS ACQUISITION ACT

Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to harmonise the Mines and Minerals Act and the Lands Acquisition Act.

Question again proposed.

  1. CHIKWAMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  2. ANASTANCIA NDHLOVU:  I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st July, 2015.

MOTION

PEOPLE-CENTRED DEVELOPMENTAL POLICIES AND

MEASURES ON IMPROVING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the deteriorating social and economic conditions in the country.

Question again proposed.

  1. MARIDADI:  Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for recognising me.  Time has come Madam Speaker, to ask ourselves very difficult questions that require a lot of soul searching for us to get answers.  We must be able to acknowledge our shortcomings as a people and also

say what our strengths are and be able to leverage on those strengths for the greater good of all of us.

I want to point out from the outset that no one has a monopoly to patriotism and there is no Zimbabwean who is more important than the other.  We are all equal.  Our approach to this unprecedented economic tailspin in the history of this world requires that we do not approach it as business as usual.  The mover of this motion prays that Government must then start to dialogue with all stakeholders and the international community and come up with people centred developmental policies and measures.  Among other things, the mover of the motion prays that we must stop corruption, increase domestic production, improve on domestic and foreign direct investment and that we must prepare a sustainable debt management strategy.

Mr. Speaker Sir, a country’s economic growth is usually indicated by an increase in that country’s gross domestic product (GDP).  Basically, the model that is used to measure gross domestic product is that, you look at the aggregate of the country’s output and then you come up with the gross domestic product.  Hence, there is economic development which looks at the quality of life and the human development index.  At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development focused at a growth of 6% with 4% inflation.  Since then, we have seen the country’s leap into deflation and prices declining by the day.

I want to just look at some historical factors that are of interest to debating this motion.  In 1980 at independence on the 18th of April, our highest denomination was a ten dollar note and that ten dollar note, its value in relation to the US dollar was about 9.80 Zimbabwe cents.  It means that the Zimbabwe dollar then was stronger than the US dollar.  Twenty eight years later, our highest denomination was a quintillion with a face value of less than one US dollar.  Two years after that, our currency ceased to exist and today, we use the US dollar – talk about sovereignty.

I want to give you the trends in the manufacturing sector since 1930 to this year so that you will get to understand the background before I get into the meat of my discussion.  The GDP in 1992 picked at 26.9%.  Manufacturing as a contribution to GDP was 26.9% but when the country started collapsing, in 2002 it declined to only 7.2% of GDP.  That is the percentage of manufacturing to GDP. Various Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries manufacturing sector survey suggested that the industrial capacity utilisation declined sharply from 35.8% in 2005 to 18.9% in 2007 and today it is below 10%. So, capacity and utilisation in industry and commerce is below 10%. We must also acknowledge that during the

Inclusive Government between 2009 and 2013, the country picked a bit. Capacity utilisation in industry and commerce was at about 40% and it picked at 44% in 2012 and now it has started declining. In 2004, 80% of jobs in Zimbabwe were in the informal sector and in 2011, 86% of the economy has been informalised.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to take you back to 1985 so that you see what we have done to this country. Between 1985 and 1986, the manufacturing sector was responsible for just over 25% of GDP with net output valued at $2.5bn. Z$2.5bn was equivalent to US$1.5bn. What it means is that the Z$ in relation to the US$, with US$1, you got just about Z$1.75. The Z$ was very powerful. In 1985, export of manufactured products totalled Z$726m which was equivalent to US$450m and contributing to about 50% of domestic exports. Over the two year period 1983 to 1984, 18% of total gross fixed investment originated in the manufacturing sector valued at $215m for each year. In 1987, Zimbabwean exports were 33% of GDP. In 2008, exports only contributed to 9.9% of GDP. There was a decline of more than 22%. The country recorded a low of $156.41m in March 2014. In January of 2015, Zimbabwe exported just $231m worth of goods. In March of this year, exports declined by 27.6% to only $180.88m.

When you talk of FDI in 2014, South Africa attracted $5.7bn, Zambia attracted $2.5bn, Mozambique attracted $4.8bn and Zimbabwe attracted $560m. Not only that, but $73m of that $560m took flight. What it means is that Zimbabwe in 2014 attracted less than $460m in FDI. There are a number of indications which talk about the stress of our economy – bank failures, declines and sales of primary consumer goods and reports of company failures. I think people in formal employment are about 500 000 and half of those are employed by the Civil Service. What it means is that industry and commerce in Zimbabwe employs less than 250 000. A country of 13m people has less than 250 000 people employed in formal employment. Everyone is either a vendor or doing some other things.       I want to talk about industry by industry and different sectors of the economy starting with industry going to agriculture, industry and commerce and then talk about tourism. The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry was here talking about how the country would be revived through tourism. Botswana with a population of 2m people attracted 1.2m visitors and Zimbabwe attracted only a quarter of those people. Remember, Zimbabwe boasts of having one of the only seven natural wonders of the world, the Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe has been favoured by even creation because the Victoria Falls is situated between Zimbabwe and Zambia, but if you want to see the Victoria Falls you must come to Zimbabwe and yet there are more people visiting Zambia to look at the Victoria Falls than people who are coming to Zimbabwe to look at the Victoria Falls. When you look at the Victoria Falls from the Zambian border, it is like looking at a person from behind and yet people do not want to come to Zimbabwe to look at the Victoria Falls from the front.           When you talk about FDI, you talk about companies like Essar. Essar signed an agreement with this Government in 2009 and Essar has put $900m into this economy but up to this day, Essar has not been able to operate because of bureaucratic bungling. Whenever a company is coming to invest in Zimbabwe, the first question they ask is - how far have you gone with the Essar deal? The answer is that Essar is not able to operate because of bureaucratic bungling.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the indigenisation policy has not done anything to attract investment, if anything the indigenisation policy has caused investment flight. According to the World Bank’s recent “Doing Business

Indicators”, Zimbabwe slipped from position 157 out of 185 countries to position 173. One of the few countries which Zimbabwe is better than in Africa is South Sudan. What it means is that when you come to Zimbabwe, it takes you more than 6 months for you to be able to do an investment and yet when you go to countries like Rwanda, it is known that 800 000 of those people killed each other in 1994. When you go to Rwanda and you want to invest, it takes you 48 hours for you to be able to do an investment in Rwanda and yet in Zimbabwe it takes you more than 6 months.

The President of this country went to China to attract investment and when the Chinese were coming to Zimbabwe to follow up on those investments, they were deported at the airport. What it means is that the country’s policies are not talking to each other. Government is broke and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development talked about Treasury

Bills, no one will touch Zimbabwe’s TBs because Government is broke and it is not able to fund them. What we know is that when those TBs mature, Government will advocate for their rolling over because it does not have money to fund the Treasury Bills when they mature. Government cannot do anything about it because it is broke. The financial sector which is meant to be the bedrock of economic recovery, because it is the conduit through which economic transactions take place, the financial sector  has been in a perpetual state of collapse ever since 2004 and the latest banks to collapse were AfrAsia Kingdom. What it means is that the financial sector is not able to lend money to the productive sector because it is sneezing.     The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is still not the banker of last resort because of their balance sheet. The Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill which is soon to become an Act is actually crafted in a way that it must clean the RBZ balance sheet. What it means is that the RBZ cannot use monetary policy to stamp our economy because we are not able to print our own currency. We cannot use the monetary policy to improve our fiscal space because the money that we are using is not ours and we are not able to print it.

I spoke about FDI and the money that has taken flight out of Zimbabwe. We are experiencing capital flight. A huge international conglomerate like Rio Tinto divested out of Murowa Diamonds and Rio Zim. When you talk about the Look East Policy, Zimbabwe has a tendency to cut and paste but what we know is that when China were improving their economy, they adopted what they called “Socialism with Chinese

Characteristics”. What it means is that, even when you look at the Chinese or the Tigers of Asia, you must look at peculiar characteristics that are prevailing in Zimbabwe and use those peculiar characteristics and that is how you can craft our own economic policy going forward. You cannot cut and paste the Chinese scenario and hope that it will bear fruit for Zimbabwe. It will not. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to talk about the way Government is run.  Ever since 2013, we have numerous Cabinet reshuffles, numerous ministers have been fired and numerous ministers have been reappointed.  What it means is that there is no continuity in Government and firing of ministers and reappointing others almost on a daily basis is becoming a circus.  I was waiting in this House for Hon. Matiza to come so that I congratulate him for being appointed the Minister of State in Mashonaland East Province, before I could congratulate him, he has been fired and yet he had been appointed barely three months ago.  Mr. Speaker, we cannot have a country where at the stroke of a pen or every morning you wake up, there is a Cabinet reshuffle, it does not work like

that.

Mr. Speaker Sir, our country has the biggest Cabinet, 75 in all.  Our Cabinet is so huge, a country of 13 million people has a Cabinet of 75 people and yet when you look at South Africa, a country with five times our population, a country with 52 million people has a Cabinet of 28.  Even if you look at the United States, a country with 320 million people, it has a Cabinet of 15 people.  What it means Mr. Speaker is that when

Cabinet is appointed and reappointed, it makes it very difficult for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to plan.  When Ministers are appointed, each Minister must get an executive vehicle a Mercedes Benz E300 which at ZIMOCO is valued at US$120 000.  Again, our Ministers are now getting Range Rover Vogue, the ones our Ministers are driving is worth 296 000. Not even the British Prime Minister David Cameron drives a vehicle of that expense and yet these vehicles are manufactured in the United Kingdom.  Where do you get that kind of money to buy that kind of a vehicle in a country with a Budget of less than US$4 billion?  I am giving Britain as an example, it has a GDP of 3.5 trillion and our GDP is 8 million and yet our ministers drive Range Rovers, each one valued at US$296 000, that is a luxury that we cannot afford.

Having said all this, I want to talk about ZIM ASSET.  When ZIM Asset was announced; we were told ZIM ASSET was the economic blue print that will deliver the economy of this country.  I want to point out that ZIM ASSET needs US$35 billion for it to realise its full potential.  ZIM

ASSET does not have a finance mechanism of its own, it is said that ZIM

ASSET must get money from the national Budget and then the national Budget gets money from ZIM ASSET, so which is which?  It is a chicken and egg situation.  So, ZIM ASSET as a blueprint for the economic recovery of this country is dead in the water, we cannot talk about it.

Mr. Speaker, whenever members stand up to debate in this country, they talk about beneficiation, value addition and it sounds like a record stuck in a groove.  Those countries that have benefitted from beneficiation like South Africa, have a beneficiation policy.  Zimbabwe does not have a beneficiation policy.  How do you even start to beneficiate when you do not have a policy?  Zambia which beneficiates its minerals has a beneficiation policy, Malawi is in the process of coming up with a beneficiation policy.  You talk about beneficiation and yet we do not have a policy.

Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that is raised in this motion is the issue of corruption. I want to say if we deal with corruption as once said by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe that if we deal with corruption, we have dealt with 75% of the country’s problems.  Here is what I mean Mr. Speaker - Government gives service delivery via state enterprises and state enterprises are Government companies that are formed to partake in business and they must declare a dividend to Government.  There is no single parastatal that has declared a dividend to Government since 1985.  All parastatals make a loss and they go back to Treasury for bail.  I will give you an example of just four parastatals, the National Railways of Zimbabwe.  It is supposed to be the prime mover of local as well as exported bulk goods; it has a net current liability of US$131 million as of 31 December, 2014.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the parastatals made a cumulative loss of US$236 million and the Auditor General said the National Railways of Zimbabwe cannot be regarded as going concern. What it means is that the National Railways of Zimbabwe is technically insolvent. If it was owned by an individual, the National Railways of Zimbabwe should be under curatorship or judicial management.   The National Railways of Zimbabwe has not been able to pay salaries in the past two years.  What it means is that the employees of the National Railways are owed salaries going back to two years.

Let me talk about the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe.  Mr. Speaker, CAAZ duty is to promote safety, regular and efficient use and development of the aviation industry and also advising Government on all matters relating to domestic and international civil aviation, it is also in the red.  CAAZ current liabilities exceed current assets by US$155 million and this was end of 2013.  In addition, the authority also incurred a net loss amounting to US$14 million for the year ended 31 December, 2013.  The accumulated losses rose to US$97 million in 2012 to US$112 million in 2013 representing, a 15% increases in loses in the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe.

Moving on to the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation

(ZMDC), ZMDC is an arm of Government that participates in mining on behalf of Government.  We are told that mining is what will deliver this country.  I do not know how this is going to happen when ZMDC, which is wholly owned by Government has a working capital deficit of US$128 million as of 31 December.  This was despite revenue coming from diamonds, and again when Hon. Chinamasa presented a statement this year, he did not make provisions of inflows coming from the diamond sector.  What that basically means is that alluvial diamonds are exhausted.

ZMDC’s financial statements did not include the corporate subsidiaries which are struggling, subsidiaries like Shabani and Mashava

Mine, where it holds 17% shareholding, Todal Mine 40% and J’nan 50%.

Mr. Speaker, just yesterday, a Government Minister was talking about

‘Government wants to participate in Telecel Zimbabwe using Zarnet, a company which is on the brink of collapse and the Minister said it is one way of making Zarnet profitable.  Mr. Speaker, Telecel is a profit making company.

If you look at Government history in business, it is in shambles, ZMDC has collapsed.  All mines in which Government has shareholding have collapsed for example Shabane Mashava Mine, Murowa Mine, Global Platinum Resources and Rash Chrome Mine, and Government has a shareholding in that.  Mr. Speaker Sir, ZMDC incurred a total loss before tax of US$26 million last year and its liabilities exceed assets by US$127 million.  Mbada Diamonds which sponsored soccer in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and it is owned 50% by this Government, posted a loss last year of US$49 million.  That was last year whereas in 2012, the same Mbada diamonds is said to have made a profit of US$56 million, very interesting.  Current liabilities of Mbada exceed current assets by US$89 million and Marange Resources which is 100% owned by Government is technically insolvent and it has a staggering US$74 million in debt.

Mr. Speaker, the picture I paint here is very gloomy.  We talk of land, Zimbabwe’s land is of no value, because no bank can give you money on the basis of land.  99 Year Leases are not bankable, you cannot go to the bank, looking for money and tell them that you have a 99 Year Lease, they will tell you to go away.  What it means is that we have the wrong policies.  It will take the stroke of a pen, just one afternoon, the

President makes a statement that people must get title deeds and

Zimbabwe’s economic value will shoot through the window, because what that would mean is that every farm will become bankable.  A person with a title deed will be able to walk into a bank and access capital and go back to the farm.  How do you expect Zimbabwe to be of value when everybody who is sitting on a piece of land has no security of tenure?  It is of no use to get a piece of land which you cannot work on or a piece of land which you have no security of tenure for.  It is the same land that we have invaded that was used by white commercial farmers to make Zimbabwe the bread basket of Southern Africa.  It is the same climatic conditions and yet Zimbabwe is a basket case.

All that I have said points to one thing, which is leadership.  We can talk about corruption, a collapsing economy and vendors on the streets of Harare but all these things point to lack of leadership in this country.  This country is operating on auto pilot.  There is no leadership.  True leaders would stand up and say, why is it that in Zimbabwe we have more people on the streets of Harare selling wares than we have people employed in the formal market?  That is what leadership would say, but there is no one asking that question.  Time has come for us to ask ourselves difficult questions.  The issue of vendors cannot be solved because the problem of vendors was created from the highest office.  We have people that are not in Government who make irresponsible statements that are an albatross on the necks of Zimbabweans.  If somebody wakes up one morning and goes out there and says everyone can become a vendor without even consulting those in Government, we have a problem and those that are responsible for running this country must stand up and say this is not the way things are done.

The only way to solve the issue of vendors is, if somebody stands up and say, you 200 people, leave this road and go and get employment in that company.  If that does not happen you cannot solve the problem of vendors.  Vendors were created by this Government and the problems we have were created by this Government, therefore, this Government cannot offer a solution.  So, this nation is saying that Government must call upon stakeholders to come together and craft a policy that will get this country out of this mess.  Government on its own cannot do it.  Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Minister of Local Government who is now Minister of Home Affairs was here.  He made a statement going into the elections of 2013 for all money owed to local authorities to be scrapped.  That decision alone, without consulting the Ministry of Finance, took local councils 15 years back and what this means is that a person who was paying his rentals on a monthly basis now does not pay for fear of losing out in 2018, because the Minister influenced by politics will make another statement for all outstanding amounts to be cancelled.

This Government must start to be responsible and corruption must be dealt with from the highest office.  The President must make a statement and the only way he can do that is to get one of his ministers involved in corruption arrested.  We know the ministers involved in corruption.   In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, the point is, this country needs new leadership and we must get that new leadership now.  I thank you.

  1. SHAMU: I want to start by thanking Hon. Mashakada for moving this motion that we are debating. The call that was made with regards to the issue of patriotism is indeed noble and I do agree with him.  However, patriotism means love for our ancestry.  Patriotism calls for that culture where one has to have unmitigated love for their homeland.  We must be prepared to offer the highest sacrifice in life in order for one to defend the interests of their own country.  In other words, what Hon. Mashakada said as he was presenting his paper was agreeing with the fact that, let us all be reminded that Zimbabwe was born out of an arduous protracted struggle that saw many gallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe perishing in order for us to be liberated, so we can speak as we do in this House today.

I would like to thank His Excellency, Cde. R. G. Mugabe for the leadership that he gave to this country in order for us to be free.  I would also want to thank his brother, in the struggle, Cde. J. M. N. Nkomo for their revolutionary leadership that gave birth to Zimbabwe, a country we are proud of.  I am underscoring this point because I have listened to a number of speakers here, getting to the extent of denigrating the very revolutionary leadership that made it possible for them to be able to stand in this House and speak as they do.  They forget where we came from and therefore, let us always be reminded that patriotism is a non negotiable principle.

I now want to come to the issue of economic growth.  I believe that economic growth should never be discussed simplistically.  Our views on economic growth in Africa and in Zimbabwe in particular, should always be informed by the revolutionary theories of such great revolutionaries as the late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.  He did say that “we must find an

African solution to our African problems and this can only be possible if there is African unity, for divided we are weak but united we could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world”.  If we take what he said and superimpose it on what is happening in Zimbabwe today and ask ourselves, are we holding onto that spirit which brought about virtually the independence of Africa today, we find ourselves asking questions because some amongst us, do not believe in that principle and therefore, they need to be educated in order to understand where we came from and where we are and where we want to go.

Mr. Speaker Sir, that then of course, is what should really guide us as Zimbabweans. When we speak or seek resolutions to our problems, those solutions must always be based on the realities of our own countries, our own societies, and the aspirations of our own people. Now, if you look at Zimbabwe today, it has truly come of age. We have in our hands our freedom. We are indeed masters of our political destiny. –[HON.

MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-

We now have a reputation as Zimbabwe of resilience, survival and being able to deliver the desires, the aspirations of our people against unprecedented odds. Zimbabwe is one country that everybody agrees today that we are the most indigenised and empowered country in the developing world. –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Here, I must underscore our appreciation to the policies of ZANU PF –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Why do I say so? I say so basing myself on empirical evidence.

Let us look back, from the year 2000 to 2013 when we embarked on the land reform programme. In that decade we saw 12 117 000 hectares of land being liberated. That land was in the hands of 3 500 beneficiaries, of colonialism and the illegal racist regime of Rhodesia. The 12 117 000 hectares were resettled by 276 000 households. Statistics show that process created 1 million jobs. Thanks to ZANU PF, thanks to the leadership of His Excellency, Cde. R. G. Mugabe.

Here, we are talking of positive policies which we should honestly and genuinely embrace. We talk of the look east policy enunciated by His Excellency, Cde. R. G. Mugabe and what do we see today? We see testimony of how correct he was, not only in terms of Zimbabwe, not only in terms of Africa, but in terms of the world. Last week Mr. Speaker the BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, were attending a meeting in AFA in Russia, strategising on the establishment on a BRICS Development Bank as an alternative to the existing United States dominated International Monetary fund and the World Bank. Now, where was this happening? In AFA and where is AFA? In Russia and where is

Russia, in the East. Who says look east, it is President Robert Mugabe.

Who is in the East, the BRICS countries are in the East. – [HON.

MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-

Mr. Speaker Sir, where is the headquarters of the BRICS

Development Bank? In Shanghai, and where is Shanghai, in China. Where is China? In the East and not in the West, $100 billion was put into the bank. That money will finance infrastructure projects. This is but only the beginning of a new world economic order. Historically, President R. G. Mugabe propounded this policy for over 15 years. Today we are seeing reality, not only in terms of Zimbabwe, but in terms of the world at large through the BRICS countries.

I want to go back to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and what he said in 1961 in his I freedom speech. He said “Although most Africans are poor, our continent is potentially extremely rich. Our mineral resources which are being exploited with foreign capital only to enrich foreign investors range from gold, diamonds, uranium and petroleum. Our forests contain some of the finest woods to be grown anywhere. Our cash crops include cocoa, coffee, rubber, tobacco and cotton.

As for power which is an important factor in any economic development. Africa contains over 40% of the potential water power of the world, as compared with about 10% in Europe and 3% in North America yet so far, less than 1% has been developed. This is one of the reasons why we have in Africa the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty, and scarcity in the midst of abundance.” That is Kwame Nkrumah Mr.

Speaker, speaking in 1961.

Hence in his wisdom, His Excellency, President R.G. Mugabe said, we need to go back to the principles of the founding fathers of the

Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now the African Union (AU).  In Zimbabwe, we need to embrace that thinking in order to genuinely move our country towards completing the road that we started that will assure us of total freedom, which means political freedom enhanced by economic freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure there are some amongst us who have studied the theories of people like W. W. Rostow, his five stages model of development.  We must be aware that if we follow what the West is saying to us about how to develop our country, it will take us three hundred and five years to get to where the capitalist developed countries are now.  Three hundred and five years, if you calculate, following the steps that they went through and you want to pretend to be ‘a know it all’ in order to please them, it will take us three hundred and five years to reach the stage that they are at now. Will they be waiting for us to catch up?  No! Therefore, we need home-grown solutions in order for us to be able to develop our economy as we wish.

Some have spoken within this House challenging the current dispensation.  They spoke of how Ian Smith was able to survive the so called sanctions. Mr. Speaker, we forget that the Ian Smith regime was basing its survival on exploiting the people of Zimbabwe.  We forget that those who worked in the factories were being paid pittance; those who were working on the farms were mere farm labourers whose remuneration was next to nothing; mine workers would sweat for pittance and domestic workers lived from hand to mouth.

Mr. Speaker, if you were to go into a butchery to buy meat you would be advised to buy ‘boys meat’.  Boys poor quality meat was what was earmarked for the indigenous people of this country.   At that time, multi-nationals continued to support the Ian Smith regime breaking the United Nations sanctions …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order.  Hon. member,

you are left with five minutes in which to conclude your debate.

  1. SHAMU:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  The Western capitalist countries supported the regime here and yet we, the people of Zimbabwe who liberated our country, find the same western countries refusing to support us. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Fighting us day in and day out and imposing illegal sanctions that are not recognised by the

United Nations. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

So, the road to take for our economic recovery can only be realised if we are united; united and bound by principles of a revolution as espoused by revolutionaries and not reactionaries, espoused by those who believe in themselves and not those who believe in being told what to do by the western capitalist countries, who are told to jump and they ask, how high?

We say, no, when they say jump, I ask why should you ask me to jump?

I was speaking to Hon. Chapfika with regards to a gentleman I met last week, Mr. Caleb Fundanga, the President of the Institute for Finance and Economics and current Executive Director of the Micro-Economic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa who is now based in Zimbabwe.  I was very impressed when I listened to his views on how Africa should manage its debts.  Hon. Chapfika, Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance, has to meet him on Monday so that they can discuss African solutions to our African problems.

I am mentioning Mr. Fundanga’s name, Mr. Speaker because I also came across a publication reporting on a visit to Norway where he went with a delegation that included the Permanent Secretary for Finance and Economic Development Cde. Willard Manungo and the ZIMRA Commissioner General, Cde. Gershom Pasi to see how the Norwegians   managed their natural resources.  That is the positive position that we need to take instead of refusing to accept that our former colonisers will never be our friends today – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to conclude by underscoring what Dr. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah said and what His Excellency the President, who is a disciple of Kwame Nkrumah has often reminded us that our political independence without economic independence is meaningless.  This can only be achieved by people who are united and I hope that the definition of the patriotism that Hon. Mashakada spoke about will be defined correctly.  I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  I would want to remind hon.

members that in terms of the new Standing Orders, members are now expected to debate for 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes.  That means that you have lost 10 minutes of your debating time in terms of the new Standing Orders, so be guided.

  1. MANDIPAKA:  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir, I will

start my debate in this fashion.  Let me congratulate Dr. Hon. Mashakada for bringing forth this very important motion that is speaking about bread and butter issues.  I would want to congratulate him for thinking about this motion and bringing it to this august House.

Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to say that if this august House was a court of law, I would safely tell Dr. Hon. Mashakada that he was approaching this motion with dirty hands. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - Why do I say so?

The worst thing that we ever had in this country and the worst

Government that we have ever had in this country was the Government of

National Unity (GNU) … - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - We wasted a lot of time entertaining proponents of regime change.  I am uncomfortable Mr. Speaker Sir, at the height of double standards and hypocrisy by MDC.  I am disturbed Mr. Speaker Sir that the same people who called for sanctions to destroy the Zimbabwean economy are the same people who pretend to want Zimbabweans – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I am terribly disturbed.  This is the worst opposition that we have ever had in this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - It is the worst opposition that has colluded with an enemy and called upon sanctions for

Zimbabweans to suffer – [HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear.]

I would call upon Zimbabweans not to be cheated by such an opposition.  I would call upon Zimbabweans not to vote for such an opposition because this is the kind of opposition that has destroyed Zimbabwe and they continue to destroy the country by peddling falsehoods and by denigrating His Excellency, the President of this country.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to call upon the international community to remove sanctions upon the President of this country; to remove sanctions on the First Family of this country so that the economy can move forward – [HON. MEMBERS:  Inaudible interjections.] – Mr.

Speaker Sir, I have high respect for academic doctors in the mode of Hon. Mashakada.  He managed to define patriotism but there is something that he left out because if you are a patriot, you love your country.  You go further Mr. Speaker Sir, even to shed your blood for its sovereignty but the kind of opposition that we have is that kind of opposition in the mode of traitors and sell outs and they have done much damage to this country.

I want to challenge the leadership of MDC to come in the open and apologise to Zimbabweans for having destroyed this economy – [HON.

MEMBERS:  Inaudible interjections.] – the number of vendors that we see is because of MDC.  Mr. Speaker Sir, let me go back to 1999 when MDC- T was formed.  Commercial farmers who were disappointed that we have taken our land congregated and – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – The suffering that we endure even here in Parliament is because of this opposition.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I am really surprised that these people would want to come in this august House and talk about the economy of this country.  Illegal economic sanctions, economists estimate that about $42 billion could have accrued to this country within the last 10 years if it were not for sanctions.  It is treachery and treason Mr. Speaker Sir, for people who are indigenous Zimbabweans to collude with enemies so that the economy is destroyed.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I will stop at nothing but I would want to indicate in my debate that there is need for reform in the MDC.  MDC needs to indigenize if it truly represents the interests of Zimbabweans.  So, there is something wrong with our opposition politics in this country and it has contributed negatively to the economy.  Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to state that for colluding with our erstwhile colonizers, you have become enemies of the people; for colluding with the Westerners, opposition MDC has become the first enemy of the people of Zimbabwe.  I will assure you Zimbabweans are not foolish and are well aware of the damage that you cause in this country – [HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear.] – When the last speaker from the opposite side spoke, he spoke like a clean, clear and vigorous proponent of regime change agenda.  We are alert to the fact that you will continue to propose change of leadership but I will tell you,

Zimbabweans are not foolish.  They are fully behind the leadership of Cde. Robert, Gabriel Mugabe – [HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear.] – because he was able to distribute land to the majority of the people to improve the well being of the people.  That was a big score to the current Government.

  1. MPARIWA:  On a point of order Mr. Speaker.  I believe that we have had enough of the abuse from the hon. member.  Can he revert back to the motion – [HON. MEMBERS:  Inaudible interjections.]

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order hon. members!

Hon. member, you may resume your debate.

  1. MANDIPAKA:  Mr. Speaker Sir, there is no abuse

whatsoever.  We are speaking facts as they are.  If they call it abuse, what more abuse the hon. member from the opposite was denigrating our President in our presence in this august House.  What more abuse would you want?  This is no abuse at all, allow me to continue.  Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabweans are peace loving people, they respect human rights, they are literate and aligns to the machinations of the enemy.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank Hon. Mashakada for making interesting revelations.  In his own words, Dr. Mashakada said we cannot continue to groan on something, meaning sanctions that have already happened; he was very correct.  This nation cannot continue to groan and that is why the Government in its wisdom has crafted the ZIM ASSET document. The ZIM ASSET document is not talking about $35 billion as earlier on alluded to.  ZIM ASSET is talking about us using available resources and beneficiating on those resources so that we improve the lot of our people who were paralyzed by sanctions – [HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear.] - That is what ZIM ASSET is talking about.  ZIM ASSET is not talking about British money, Foreign Direct Investment but is talking about using our own resources to enrich our own people.

Some people from the opposite side might suggest that we should not talk about sanctions.  We will continue to talk about sanctions for as long as we live because they did quite a lot of damage.  We might forget Mr. Speaker Sir, but we will always remember that there were people who called out for sanctions.  Before the sanctions, our economy was stable, until Hon. Maridadi managed to enlighten us on the situation that was there in 1985 to the 1990s; things were stable.  Our economy was alright, but with the emergence of the Western sponsored opposition politics, we started to get problems.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to prescribe what this nation can do to improve on our economy.  The economy that we are talking about is the wealth, resources of a country and production within industries.  What I am going to propose is that for us to attract foreign direct investment, we need to build confidence with outsiders.  We need to remove the perception, the dirty patch, the false patch that was given to this country –

HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

If we remove that and market ourselves as a proper, fair and peaceful destination, then our foreign direct investment is going to come.  But, for as long as we have long mouthed people amongst ourselves, who connive and act in cahoots with enemies, the economy is not going to improve.  No investor is going to come.  So, we need as a country to make sure that we make amends on that patch. I am not moved by the squabbling that is taking place on the opposite side.

The media should play a fundamental role to write developmental stories.  Once the media does that; once the media portrays Zimbabwe in good likes, we are going to attract investors.  So, I call upon the media this afternoon to play a fundamental role.

Corruption Mr. Speaker Sir, is cancer.   We need, as a matter of urgency, to make sure that we tackle corruption head on.  If we do not tackle corruption head on, we are adding salt to an existing injury.  No matter what it takes, we need as a country to adopt good corporate governance so that we improve in our systems.

I would also want to challenge Parliamentary Portfolio Committees as we conduct our oversight roles, to at least be thorough and ensure that institutions and ministries perform to expectations.  Let us commit ourselves to maintain close economic ties with countries in the BRICS.  That is Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.  These are countries that are friendly to Zimbabwe.

I would also want to urge our nation to make sure that we have an efficient and proper collection of taxes system that we employ in this country.  In other words, as Zimbabweans, we should be able to pay our taxes.  We also need to live within our means.  We need to save money and keep debt levels low so that we do not go out of bounce.  Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabweans are encouraged to ensure that they consume local products and make sure that the products that we grow in this country are competitive with the international market.

Lastly, those who assisted to nicodemously craft ZIDERA should stand warned, that what they have done is treacherous.  What they have done is criminal and our people have suffered because of their machinations.  I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Let me agree and also thank our colleague Dr. Mashakada for having moved this motion.  Let me also agree with Hon. Mandipaka, that just as he speaks about people approaching this House with dirty hands, perhaps he also should pay back the money that he was being paid by the Smith regime when he was a policeman – HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

He certainly did not go to the war.  Let the true war veterans stand and talk about going to war.  This is why we can let Hon. Shamu speak, but you cannot speak about going to war when you were being paid by the Smith Regime – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]  – Mr. Speaker, let me start with the issue of women.  You must be surprised why women are not debating this motion.  If anybody looked and listened at what is happening in this House, they would assume it is a House of males only and not necessarily females.  I think we need to understand why it is difficult for females to engage in this debate.

We are tired of men that want to listen to their voices; men that give us no solution; men that have failed to be men because we have been reduced to women who are now buying second hand panties because these men have failed to be the men that we knew of; the men of yesterday. – HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – It is like this because we have allowed men to continuously lead us.  They have all been a failure, whether it is in the household, in the nation or elsewhere.  Perhaps it is time that women themselves should say it is enough.

  1. HLONGWANE: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I am such a good man. I do not know why she is blanketing me along with everybody else.  She should not do that.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: With the exception of

Hon. Hlongwane – [Laughter] – I have four issues that I want to raise which I do not think I have heard are as part of this discussion.  Mr.

Speaker, we make assumptions that the economy is just an economy.  What we see with the economy is but a symptom of a lot of other problems that are underlining the kind of problems that we have.  Today, I want to deal with those issues that are usually referred to as ‘the elephant in the living room’ because we are afraid of talking about it.  We think we will be labeled in a certain way but I think until we begin to grapple with these issues because most of the countries have had to deal with these issues directly, we need to deal with it.

The first issue that I want to deal with is the issue around ethnicity, the politics of ethnicity. You can only push a country if everybody feels they are part of that nation.  We have gotten to a point in this country where we do not feel bad about calling each other a minority group.  There is no minority group but are marginalised communities.  There are marginalised communities because we continue to refuse to put them at the centre of where things are happening Mr. Speaker.  Unfortunately, each time you raise this issue, it is turned around to be a leash of tribalism.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I brought a motion here that was speaking about the issue around representation in parastatals and the problem that arises with that representation.  Before the week was over, what happened?  In Lupane, when we were now appointing a Vice Chancellor, who do we pick?  We pick somebody who is coming from Mashonaland to become the Vice

Chancellor of Matebeleland – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]

  1. MUDEREDZWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. With due respect Mr. Speaker Sir, I thought the hon. member is being guided by the motion by Dr. Mashakada. The issues she is raising are very far away from the motion; let us discuss the economics of this country.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You may continue hon. member.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Mr. Speaker Sir, you will

have to begin to pick your people up.  There is no economy that has ever succeeded when you have a people who do not feel to be part of that economy, it has never happened.  This is why I started by raising the issue of the fact that, the silence of women in here should be a cause for concern.  It means that they are completely out of this debate and feel that there is no point in raising it.

The issue of the politics of ethnicity is a reality in this country and if we do not deal with it, we will continue to have problems.  It is not by accident and the President of this country has continued to speak about it.  He has continued to speak about places like Bulawayo for example, being dead economically.  Where he has not gone that far, is to begin to say, but why is it dead?  It is dead because those people in that particular area do not believe they are part of this country, they do not believe they are part of Zimbabwe.  It is not only in Bulawayo, it is places like Masvingo and Manicaland.

When we begin to have one particular class of people who think that they are the only dominating tribe or class in every sphere of everything that goes on, then we have a problem Mr. Speaker Sir.  Until we deal with the issue around ethnicity, we have a problem.  Our problem as Zimbabweans, and I look around all these people, when we are walking out - I have only called you hon. members because you love being called hon. members.

However, I have never heard President Mugabe call himself, His Excellency, he calls himself Robert Gabriel Mugabe, but people here are so desperate to be called honourable, so I will call you honourable.  It is sad that you want to be called honourable in an economy we have right now – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – The hon. members that are sitting here when you go out there – if it is about challenging a particular person like we now have and removing him from a farm, they use none other than the issue of ethnicity.  Even if you are here in Mashonaland, somebody has a farm in Mashonaland West, that person will be thrown out because they happen to be Karanga.  If you have a farm…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order hon. member.  I had let the hon. member to continue debating out of the subject.  May you please speak to the motion.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: I will go to point 2.  Mr.

Speaker Sir, the other elephant that is in the living room, which was raised by Hon. Mashakada in his motion, is when he calls upon the discussion and dialogue that is needed between stakeholders.  We cannot ask stakeholders outside to begin to have a dialogue when we are failing to have a dialogue amongst ourselves here in this House.  You cannot ask people to do that.

I know that my other colleague raised the issue about how much we failed as the Inclusive Government.  It is his opinion and I will let him carry it.  However, one thing that I can tell him is that, it was only during that time where you could tell that there was dialogue in Zimbabwe.  You may have failed anywhere else, but we had dialogue.  The unfortunate thing that has happened and which is why I keep going back is the fact that women are tired of speaking because they see no point in raising it.

I was fortunate enough to sit for about 41/2 years with this man that we call Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe.  He would give as much as he got, he was not a man to run away from dialogue, you could disagree or agree or he would compromise to the point.  What has happened right now is that we have a President in captivity, a small clique of people as if they own him.  When President Mugabe is at Munhumutapa, he is a President of everybody else; he is not a President of ZANU PF.  He becomes a

President of ZANU PF when he is sitting at the ‘Shake Shake Building.’

Until he is able to listen to the voices of those that do not say things he want to hear, he will not understand the kind of issues that we are talking about.  I have no idea who is protecting the President from coming here so that he can hear the pain and hurt.  I know that he has such capacity to answer for himself.  If there are people who are denigrating the

President of this country, it is the people who are on the ZANU PF bench.  You are refusing him to give the capacity that I know he has, let him come here and address the House.  Let us raise the issues around the economy, let us have dialogue with him and let him be able to respond to the issues that are being raised in this House.  These people that he enacts and they feel that they are able to do his job, they do not.  They are busy gossiping, lying, playing politics – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – we want him to come here and be able to know what is happening in this country.  We need to talk about it.

The reason why the economy is not happening, I can speak for myself.  I have had investors come to this country and they have been shoved from one corner to another until I have had – I think you have probably noticed when I am sitting here, I am literally running back and forth onto that bench.  The reason why I am running to that bench is that, I am trying to say, is it possible for you to come and see somebody who wants to open a cement firm, or to come and do this and that.  This is because we have such blockages and people cannot go in.  A secretary when you want an appointment with the Minister will ask for a phone,

‘please can you bring me a telephone next time when you come.’  They cannot get into the gate.

If I were to ask, I probably got one year, because I have been told about certain people who have been asking for money so that they can bring investment in this country and I can name them.  I have been requesting for an appointment so that I can sit and say Cde. Robert Mugabe, bring so and so here and I sit here, so and so has been asking for US$10 million from this person, but the ‘gatekeepers’ are there.

During the Inclusive Government, it was easy because as he was going out, I would immediately follow him and I will sit there and say, do you know that Minister so and so was asked to facilitate investment by investor so and so and he did not.  The good thing about him is, he would immediately pick up his phone and say please come to my office and it would be dealt with.  But now, you have closed those that are able to speak and it is deliberate.  It is a clique, a baron, a team and it is people who have decided that this is what they are going to do to their President.  It is unfortunate that no one even gets him to read the Hansard so that he can know.

If you were to put a box outside there and say to the people of Zimbabwe, there is no policeman who will see you, please indicate how you feel about this Parliament, none of these people will stand up and have the pride of saying I represent Zimbabwe because the people are sick and tired.  They think that we sit here because we want fuel coupons and cars because this is what they hear.  Wednesday is a joke and I hope that Mr. Speaker, one day you would not come here and sit on that chair.  You would go and look for a television set and watch what would be happening here.  It is disgusting and sad to think that when you are walking there and people are saying to you honourable they mean it.  They could clap all of us because we have done absolutely nothing on their behalf other than screaming, shouting and talking about how bad the other person is.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the last part that I want to deal with is, I am sick and  tired of people who say that they do not kneel in front of white people, yet everyday their minds, brains and everything that exists in them is about kneeling in front of white people.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I am glad that you are sitting there because you used to be my deputy in the Ministry of Regional Integration and International Trade.  You know that one of the things that we used to talk about is that, we can pull Africa and we can pull Zimbabwe up just by trading amongst ourselves.  Just by intra-trade between Africans themselves.  We do not need to be trading with the United States of America.  They can close us up if they want to and we can trade amongst ourselves.  We have signed SADC protocols which basically say if you have grown something 100% in this country, you can take it and go across the border and sell it there.  That is whether inyimo, ngamazambani or anything, you can go across the border and we can trade.  We have not concentrated on our own Africanness and our own trade because we are busy thinking that the white person is going to come from somewhere and save us.  There is no white person who wants to save us because he is busy doing EU business and the Arabs are busy doing

UAE business.  Why should they be coming to Africa to save you if here

as Africans we have failed to do so?  As we sit here right now,

Matabeleland South is supposed to have the internet thing that goes down because it is at the heart where as Zimbabweans, we have the power pool and the power exists here in Zimbabwe.  The action to anything that is in the region is through Beitbridge.

Mr. Speaker Sir, tell me because you would know more than me – how much we fought to try and get Beitbridge done.  Why is Beitbridge not done?  It is because somebody has not got a cut out of the investors that want to come and do Beitbridge.  I do not know for how long we have done that.  If we were to do Beitbridge today, and do the one-stop border post, it would change the economy of this country.  You and I went and did one-stop border post at Chirundu and it took us a maximum of three weeks and it became a one-stop border post.  People have stopped going through anywhere else because they find that Chirundu is better.  But, Beitbridge will never open because there is somebody who thinks that they need a $5 million cut for them to agree for somebody to come here.

Contracts are cancelled back and forth.

So Mr. Speaker Sir, until we are clear that we are Africans, the destiny is in our hands and this is about us and not about the white person coming to save us, we will continue to sit here and shout at each other.  I am not white, I am black, I want to be fat and look good because fatness is a Zimbabwean culture and you look good as such.  I want nothing of the whiteness of anybody.  So, if somebody stands up and begins to insult me about my being white, it is your problem and not mine because I am clear that I am African.  It is just that the sad thing is that I am being closed from the space where I can go and tell the man who is the President of this country kuti tatambura please.  We are in trouble.  Tatambura nevanhu venyu who pretend to be angrier than you because they do not want you to come so that I can tell you the truth.  Let us open up his place for a week and tell him exactly what is happening and you will see what will happen to this economy.  I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  May I recognise Hon. Bunjira

because you have been doing a lot of talking.

*MS. BUNJIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution and especially being handpicked when I had not lifted up my hand.  I would like to thank Hon. Mashakada for moving the motion and Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga who said something which really touched me.

We are debating the economic crisis in our country and this is a mega problem.  Some people who were making contributions were dwelling on sanctions but we are saying as Zimbabweans, we are able to stand on our own.  Our country is endowed with lots of natural riches which we were given by the Lord - the minerals, the water and whatever that we want.  Therefore, sanctions are of no consequences.  Hon. MisihairabwiMushonga stated a fact when she said; there are some people who are denying the President the chance of coming to respond to our queries and advice because he holds the key to the country’s success.  Instead of us mourning about the sanctions, the American dollar or whatever, what we need to do is have an intra-Africa trade because of what we have.

We are also talking of hunger and starvation in the country but, there is no need for people in Zimbabwe to suffer from hunger, because we are a country which is endowed with lots of capabilities and we would be growing enough foods for feeding the people.  That is why we are pleading with those people who were re-allocated land to utilise the land which was given to them.  It should not be used for prestigious purposes.  We should be consuming Zimbabwean products.  We would be getting our own groundnuts, hence extracting our cooking oil from them.  I keep on saying that people of Zimbabwe are a blessed lot.  We are destroying our economy because we lack creativity and people should not be dying of hunger in Zimbabwe if we were creative and united. I thank you.

*MR. MAPIKI: I thank you for according me this opportunity to make my contribution on the motion raised Hon. Dr. Mashakada. I also wanted to jokingly ask whether he is Dr. Mashakada, the musician. This is a very good motion especially when I looked at the various aspects of it with particular emphasis on the financial problems in some countries in Africa and Europe. I can give an example of Greece which has been bailed out for the fourth time. This time, the EU countries are looking at ways of resuscitating the economy of Greece. In the same vein, Italy is also faced with the problem of illegal immigrants from Africa.

As a country, we have not failed as some people are suggesting. If a country is declared insolvent, that is when it is put on the agenda of United Nations so that donors can bail it out. We notice that having gone through that process, some countries are destroyed forever because of that. When we talk of patriotism we are talking about a person who is proud of himself and herself and is prepared to  die for his or her country just like what happened during the liberation struggle. We can take a good lesson at the sacrifice rendered by the freedom fighters of this country when they went to war, no amount of money can match their contribution. They did not go to war to have a good life but they were fighting for their country.   I remember, I used to work in a textile factory and I would observe that pregnancies which were conceived in June would begin to show in October. If a person is mistaken, he or she might think that these pregnancies were conceived in October but that is not the case. It is a gestation period. I am saying that the issue that we are grappling with today started long back.  In 2005, this country was seized with numerous stayaways. These stayaways were conducted in such a manner that people stayed from work and stayed at home. Hon. Mashakada talked about deindustrialisation and I want to say that we have some machines in the industries which are not even supposed to stop for a short period. If that machine stops, it is destroyed forever.  When people were asked to stayaway because of these sanctions, people stayed away and the machine was broken down. During that period, we also had people breaking into shops and stealing the machines for their own selfish ends. That is when de-industrialisation began to take place.  In all the big industries like Hwange and Shamva Gold Mine, we noticed that nobody was going to work. When you talk of gold mining, if people do not go to work for a day, the mine is filled with water and that causes de-industrialisation.  As the mover of this motion is a doctor, he should have been aware of the effects of stayaways. They were encouraging stayaways from industries and not staying away from home.   Like I have stated, this led to the destruction of the equipment. We also had another phase in our lives where we were told of the final push. This was aimed at removing the elected President so that we install a President of some people’s choice. That process also led to the de-industrialisation.

We then came to the Government of National Unity (GNU) which was given a lot of names because nobody would tell whether it was coming or going. It was a two-headed monster. When we look at the board of directors who are corrupt, we will find that they were elected during this period. We go to organisations like ZESA which was superintended by

Mr. Mangoma and Mr. Biti was the Minister of Finance. We had lots of nepotism and cronyism in the board of ZESA. This has tended to haunt Mr. Mangoma up to this day because he is being called to come and testify against allegations of cronyism. We were also told that the then Prime Minister had his house constructed for $3m. If we were to take that money and get $1m to buy equipment for industrialisation and another $1m for capital and then take the other $1m and go to China and buy some computer hardware, we would really re-industrialise our country and resuscitate our industry but this kind of an amount was being used to build somebody’s house and that is really unfair. The problems which we are faced with as a country were caused by the people in the Government of National Unity.

We had a health fund which was put aside for health institutions, that money was not given to the ministry but it was put as a special fund somewhere to be for some other purposes. Unfortunately, nobody can give an account of the money which was put into that fund. Nobody is prepared to tell or give an account of what happened to that money.

We can also talk of the DDF. There was an  amount of money which was taken from that fund and these monies were used for other purposes other than what they had been set for. When you look at who was responsible for the finances at that time, we know that it was Mr. Biti. Even in the allocation of funds, there was favouritism, cronyism and corruption because monies were given to undeserving cases. We are saying all the boards which were appointed at that time including the Anti Corruption Commission, even if it was removed, they were still getting benefits and yet they were no longer employed.

I saw Hon. Mashakada was very much worried about what was happening because he knows that all these problems began during the Inclusive Government. What really puzzled me was, was he not aware of the problems faced by the country? Was he not aware that he was part of the administration and that is where our problems emanated from?  As of now, we are saying let us forget about the past, let us reconstitute these boards and  we want the board of directors  to be appointed into the boards according to their capabilities, professionalism and what they offer into the institution and not just appoint as a form of gratitude.  When we are talking about employment, we are not talking about whether you are employed or whatever it is.  We are talking of small to medium enterprises, referring to the vendors, SMEs, micro, small to medium enterprises, the micro, part of it is that we are talking of people like vendors who only want to go and trade whatever they find.  Looking at small enterprises, we are talking of people who can employ two to ten and then big enterprises, we are talking of 10 to 70 people.  Worldwide, the economy is now centred on small to medium enterprises but when our leaders or the doctors who are giving us these solutions from what they got from their education; they were told that the only person who is said to be employed should be employed by a big organisation or a big institution.  If you are self employed, you are not regarded as employed. But when you look at countries like Ghana, India, you see computers being manufactured and repaired in villages.  Every morning you come to the market place, you find that there are vehicles with loads, transporting goods from the villages to market places.

Now I will talk about how the employment structure came to be, especially looking at the informal trade.  What happened was that we were told that whatever is done by an African is informal but what is done by a white person is formal.  This institution made the study last year, looking at the SMEs taking into account the logistics, how many small enterprises, they were 8 million.  They also realised that there is an amount of US$8 billion dollars which is circulating in the country but it is not going to the banks because the banks are looking down upon these small enterprises because they are saying they are informal.

Mr. Speaker, if you were to go to areas of SMEs like Siya So, in Mbare, Harare, they have a lot of monies.  Let us look at these people and the jobs they are doing and the people I am talking about are those people who are doing carpentry and motor mechanics.  If you go to mining, we have the artisanal miners; these are some of the people who can employ people about one or two.  In my Constituency, we have got 3 000 small scale miners and they employ about five people each.

So, as ZANU PF, we said we are creating employment, how many people have we employed, in my Constituency, we have 3 910 small scale farmers.  These miners have employed other people.  Let us look at how these people are surviving and how many jobs they are creating.  We look at the employers’ side for creating these small enterprises and the people have been employed. I may go further; in agriculture and talk about sugarcane and Tanganda where we have people working on tea plantations and sugarcane.  As a result, we have not yet fully accepted that informal sector as a form of employment but that is creating employment.  I can talk of a rural set up in my area, I have herdmen who look after my cattle and that is creating employment. Therefore, we need to look at that and say we need to create employment.  That is why I was very much worried when Hon. Mashakada said we have not been able to create jobs, he was looking at it with a narrow view.  He did not observe that these small to medium enterprises people are being employed, they may not be in thousands.

Therefore, we feel we are on target and these are signs that the economy of

Zimbabwe is doing well…

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order, Hon. Mapiki,

please wind up your debate within the next three minutes.

*MR. MAPIKI: The most important aspect I want to mention is that we need to talk about the money.  We have a lot of money in Zimbabwe. If we look at the type of houses which are being constructed in Zimbabwe, for example in Borrowdale, we have people who are building a US$300 000 house but we need to persuade these people to use that money and invest in business instead of just building a house.  We have people who have a lot of monies but they think about these houses and posh cars which then does not create employment in the country.

They talked about title deeds - we saw that in Kenya, people were given title deeds and the machinations of the Western countries realised that they could reclaim that land since somebody had been given a title deed.  They reclaimed the land by going to those people and buying it off or lending the money so that they could reclaim the land.  He also talked about the sanctions, countries like Syria, Iraq, these countries had sanctions imposed on them.  We had an office of asset foreign control, the main function of this board is to examine every investment which has to be done in a country under sanctions.  They see if it is worth to invest, if it is not worth to invest, they stop the investment.  They have meetings which are held in Brussels, we have countries like Britain and America, who want to come to Zimbabwe, a land of milk and honey.  They want to create chaos so that they can come in terms of creating peace.  We had a diplomat under the name of Dell who wanted the economy of Zimbabwe to be destroyed.  We should be aware hon. members that we have some of us here, who want to destroy the economy of Zimbabwe so that we will get some relief in the form of the Americans coming in to resuscitate our economy and yet they are recolonising us.

  1. CHIKWAMA:  I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  2. NDUNA:  I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Tuesday, 21st June, 2015.

          On the motion of MS CHIKWAMA seconded by MR.

MUKWANGWARIWA, the House adjourned at Quarter to Five o’clock

p.m. until Tuesday, 21st July, 2015.  

           

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment