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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 18 OCTOBER 2023 VOL 50 NO 8

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Wednesday, 18^th October, 2023

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

PRAYERS

(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER

APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS

          THE HON. SPEAKER:  May I start with apologies from the Executive; Hon. Dr. Gen. Rtd. C. G. D. N. Chiwenga, Vice President; Hon Soda, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. Dr. P. Kambamura, the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. Amb. Dr. Shava, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. T. Moyo, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education; Hon. Mhona, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development; Hon. D. Garwe, the Minister of Housing and Social Amenities; Hon D. Marapira, the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Hon J. Ncube, the Minister of State for Bulawayo Province.

APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEES

          THE HON. SPEAKER: The Clerk and his senior staff have compiled detailed list of Committees. The list is very long. I shall submit it and it should appear in the Hansard. So, please if you can check with the Hansard tomorrow.

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services: Hon. Chokururama J., Hon. Guyo P. , Hon. Hamauswa S. , Hon. Kwidini S. , Hon. Mambiripiri G. , Hon. Marange N. , Hon. Matema S. , Hon. Mavhunga M., Hon. Moyo D., Hon. Moyo F., Hon. Musweweshiri B., Hon. Muzondiwa E., Hon. Sagandira P., Hon. Samambwa E. , Hon. Shamu W., Hon. Siziva G. , Hon. Matewu C—to be Chairperson

Environment, Climate and Tourism: Hon. Kambuzuma C., Hon. Chikombo W. , Hon. Bajila D., Hon. Chinazvavana C. , Hon. Dambudzo B. I., Hon. Hadebe J., Hon. Hamauswa S. , Hon. Kanupula T. , Hon. Makope M., Hon. Mugomo M. , Hon. Murombedzi M. , Hon. Mutana T. H. M., Hon. Mutasa O., Hon. Ndlovu N. , Hon. Ngwenya S. , Hon. Nhari V., Hon. Nyakuedzwa A. , Hon. Shongedza E., Hon. Spencer T., Hon. Zemura L., Hon. Zhou P., Hon. Zhou Tafanana, Hon. Ziki R., Hon. Zvaipa I., Hon. Mamombe J—to be Chairperson.

Mines and Mining Development: Hon. Chikomo T. , Hon. Chivero A. , Hon. Chokururama J. , Hon. Gava A. , Hon. Gono E. , Hon. Guyo P., Hon. Karumazondo T. , Hon. Kudhlande P. , Hon Kuka J., Hon. Mazingaidzo L., Hon. Mahachi A., Hon. Makumire R., Hon. Mapfumo F. W. , Hon. Matinyanya M. S. , Hon. Maunganidze N. , Hon. Moyo F., Hon. Mpasi J., Hon. Musweweshiri B., Hon. Muzondiwa E., Hon. Nhatiso D, Hon. Nyevera J., Hon. Samambwa E. , Hon. Samson A., Hon. Tavaziva G. , Hon. Tobaiwa J., Hon. Zhou Tsitsi., Hon. Matangira R—to be Chairperson.

Health and Child Care: Hon. Bajila D., Hon. Chakukura A., Hon. Dumbarimwe T., Hon. Hlatywayo C., Hon. Kapoikulu S., Hon. Karimatsenga Nyamupinga B., Hon. Kwidini S., Hon. Mahlangu S., Hon. Matsunga S., Hon. Moyo F., Hon. Muchemwa W., Hon. Mukuhlani T., Hon. Murwira T., Hon. Mutandi G., Hon. Muwodzeri T., Hon. Ndlovu N., Hon. Ndudzo P., Hon. Nhari V., Hon. Pindukai T., Hon. Shongedza E., Hon. Tobaiwa J., Hon. Zhou P., Hon. Ziyambi S., Hon. Molokela D.—to be Chairperson.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs: Hon. Chikombo W. , Hon. Chikomo T. , Hon. Chakukura A. , Hon. Gumbo A. , Hon. Kangausaru C., Hon. Mahere, F., Hon. Maunganiso T. D. , Hon. Matambo J., Hon. Matema S., Hon. Mavhunga M., Hon. Mpasi J., Hon. Mudowo T., Hon. Mureri M., Hon. Musiiwa R. , Hon. Ndudzo I., Hon. Nkomo M., Hon. Samkange J., Hon. Shiriyedenga E., Hon. Zhou Tsitsi., Hon. Zvobgo E. , Hon. Mutodi E—to be Chairperson

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing: Hon. Butau David, Hon. Chibaya A., Hon. Chimbaira. G., Hon. Chiwa D., Hon. Cumanzala F., Hon. Gava A., Hon. Gumbo A., Hon. James B., Hon. Jonga W., Hon. Kanupula T, Hon. Kambuzuma C., Hon. Madzimbamuto W., Hon. Mahachi A., Hon. Makombe J., Hon. Makumire R., Mavhudzi D., Mutana T. H. M., Hon. Nhatiso D, Hon. Ndebele M., Hon. Nyakuedzwa A., Hon. Nyevera J., Hon. Mandiwandira S—to be Chairperson

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development: Hon. Bonda J., Hon. Chagwiza S., Hon. Chinodakufa 1., Hon. Dube F., Hon. Dube P., Hon. Jimu L., Hon. Karikoga T., Hon. Madzimbamuto W., Hon. Maseko S. , Hon. Masuku E. , Hon. Masvisvi D., Hon. Matangira R., Hon. Mhuri W., Hon. Mundungehama S., Hon. Murambiwa 0., Hon. Mutana T. H. M, Hon. Ngwenya S., Hon. Njanji M., Hon. Sagandira P., Hon. Sakupwanya S., Hon. Sihlabo V., Hon. Sithole J., Hon. Sithole S., Hon. Tasikani I., Hon. Zevezai C., Hon. Zhou Tafanana., Hon Maburutse S—to be Chairperson.

Public Service, Labour and Social Services: Hon. Chibaya A., Hon. Chihota C., Hon. Dumbarimwe T., Hon. Jaravaza M., Hon. Kuka. J., Hon. Magomo C., Hon. Makaza D., Hon. Mamombe J., Hon. Matambo J, Hon. Matara T., Hon. Maunganiso T. D., Hon. Mavhudzi D., Hon. Mpofu R., Hon. Sibanda L., Hon. Sithole J., Hon. Zemura L., Hon. Zevezai C., Hon. Mashonganyika D—to be Chairperson.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade: Hon. Bvute Obey, Hon. Chagwiza S., Hon. Chikomo S., Hon. Chimbaira G., Hon. Chinanzvavana. C., Hon. Dhanzi A., Hon. Hlatywayo G., Hon. Jere F., Hon. Kudhlande P., Hon. Majaya. B., Hon. Makwiranzou C., Hon. Mandiwanzira S., Hon. Mangondo N., Hon. Matinyanya M. S., Hon. Moyo P., Hon. Moyo S., Hon. Mudumi B., Hon. Mugomo M., Hon. Munemo L., Hon. Muwodzeri T., Hon. Ngadziore T., Hon. Nguluvhe A., Hon. Raradza E., Hon. Samson A. , Hon. Shiriyedenga. E., Hon. Ziki R., Hon. Shamu W. to be Chairperson.

Public Accounts Committee: Hon. Bvute Ozias, Hon. Chidziva H., Hon. Chiwanza C., Hon. Dhliwayo L., Hon. Hlatywayo C. , Hon. Kangausaru C. , Hon. Maburutse S, Hon. Makombe J., Hon. Mangondo N., Hon. Maphosa W., Hon. Markham R., Hon. Masvisvi D., Hon. Matewu C., Hon. Mudumi B., Hon. Mugwadi T., Hon. Mukungunugwa G. H., Hon. Mushoriwa E., Hon. Mutodi E., Hon. Mutokonyi V., Hon. Mutseyami P., Hon. Ndudzo I., Hon. Ndudzo P., Hon. Njanji M., Hon. Nkani A., Hon. Taruvinga F., Hon. Ziyambi M. K., Hon. Hwende C.—to be Chairperson.

Defence, Home Affairs, Veterans of Liberation Struggle and Security: Hon. Chibagu G., Hon. Chikwinya N. E. G., Hon. Chimbaira G., Hon. Kaitano K., Hon. Khupe T., Hon. Machingura R.,

Hon. Mazingaidzo L., Hon. Madzivanyika C., Hon. Mahlangu S., Hon. Makumbe T., Hon. Maoneke E., Hon. Mashonganyika D., Hon. Mudzingwa L., Hon. Mungani S., Hon. Murwira T., Hon. Musanhi K., Hon. Mushoriwa. E., Hon. Nyamuronda. R., Hon. Sakupwanya S., Hon. Sithole S., Hon. Nguluvhe A. —to be Chairperson.

Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development: Hon. Buka F., Hon. Chari R., Hon. Chibagu G., Hon. Chikwinya N., Chitsamba J., Dube F., Hon. Gava A., Hon. Kabikira B., Hon. Matinenga M., Hon. Matiza M., Hon Maburutse S., Hon Makaza F., Hon. Molokela D., Hon. Moyo P., Hon. Moyo S., Hon. Mudzingwa L., Hon. Mukwada M., Hon. Sibanda. M. C., Hon. Ndebele S., Hon. Nyandoro B., Hon. Nyelele L., Hon. Mutandi G—to be Chairperson.

Transport and Infrastructural Development: Hon. Bonda J., Hon. Buka F., Hon. Ganyiwa B., Hon. Gumede M., Hon. Hakata G., Hon. Hwende C., Hon. Jimu L., Hon. Karenyi L., Hon Karimatsenga-Nyamupinga B., Hon. Karumazondo T., Hon. Makwiranzou C., Hon. Maoneke E., Hon. Mhuri W., Hon. Monga S., Hon. Muchemwa W., Hon. Mudekunye N., Hon. Mungani S., Hon. Musanhi K., Hon. Mutasa O., Hon. Ndebele M., Hon. Nyabani T., Hon. Sihlabo V., Hon.

Tasikani I., Hon. Tavaziva G., Hon. Tsvangirayi R., Hon. Kaitano K. to be Chairperson.

Higher Education, Science and Technology Development: Hon. Ganyiwa B., Hon. Gumede M., Hon. Guyo P., Hon. Jaravaza M., Hon. Karenyi L. M., Hon. Machingura R., Hon Mugwadi T., Hon. Makaza F., Hon. Makope M., Hon. Makuvire J., Hon. Marashe S., Hon. Masuku E., Hon. Matema I. D., Hon. Mhetu Z., Hon. Ncube M., Hon. Ndlovu N., Hon. Ngadziore T., Hon. Nyandoro B., Hon. Sibanda C.M., Hon. Mahere F. to be Chairperson.

Primary and Secondary Education: Hon. Butau Dzidzai, Hon. Chihota C., Hon. Chitsamba J., Hon. Gutsa D. , Hon. Hakata G., Hon. Majaya B., Hon. Maringazuva P., Hon. Marupi O., Hon. Matara T., Hon. Monga S., Hon. Mukomberi T, Hon. Mundungehama S., Hon. Musiiwa R., Hon. Muwombi J., Hon. Ndebele S., Hon. Pindukai T., Hon. Shiriyedenga E., Hon. Thompson B. T., Hon. Zvaipa I. Hon. Zevezai C, Hon. Murambiwa O.—to be Chairperson.

Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training; Hon. Chaimvura N., Hon. Chikomo S., Hon. Chivero A., Hon. Cumanzala F., Hon. Dhanzi A., Hon. Gutsa D., Hon. Marashe S., Hon. Maunganidze N., Hon. Moyo D., Hon. Mudowo T., Hon. Mushipe T., Hon. Ngadziore T., Hon. Raradza E., Hon. Sibanda Lovejoy, Hon. Tompson B. T., Hon. Zvaipa I., Hon. Ziyambi M. C.—to be Chairperson.

Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture: Hon. Bonda J., Hon. Butau David, Hon. Chaimvura N. , Hon. Chakukura A., Hon. Gono E., Hon. Gumede M., Hon. Gwangaba S., Hon. Jere F., Hon. Kwidini S., Hon. Linyani M., Hon. Matsunga S., Hon Mpofu R., Hon. Mukuhlani T., Hon. Ndlovu N., Hon. Nyelele L., Hon. Taruvinga F., Hon. Chiwanza C.—to be Chairperson.

Industry and Commerce: Hon. Chiduwa C., Hon. Chinodakufa 1., Hon. Chiwa D., Hon. Hungwe T., Hon. Kabikira B., Hon. Kademaunga M., Hon. Karikoga T., Hon. Linyani. M., Hon.Mapfumo F. W., Hon. Matiza M., Hon. Muringazuwa P., Mazhindu B., Mugidho M., Hon.  Mhetu Z., Hon. Mhangwa L., Hon. Mugwadi T., Hon. Mureri. M., Hon. Musweweshiri B., Hon. Mutokonyi V., Hon. Ncube M., Hon. Ndlovu N., Hon. Samson A., Hon. Sibanda. Lovejoy, Hon. Mudekunye N.—to be Chairperson.

Information, Communication and Technology: Hon. Bvute Obey, Hon. Chigumbu D., Hon. Chinanzvavana C., Hon. Ganyiwa B., Hon. Gwangwaba S., Hon. Magomo C., Hon. Makaza F., Hon. Makuvire J., Hon. Mapiki J., Hon Maseko S., Hon. Mazhindu B., Hon. Mpofu R., Hon. Munemo L., Hon. Murombedzi M., Hon. Ncube M., Hon. Ndlovu B., Hon. Nyabani T., Hon. Kapoikulu S.—to be Chairperson.

Energy and Power Development: Hon. Butau Dzidzai, Hon. Chari R., Hon. Chigumbu D., Hon. Makumbe T., Hon. Mambipiri G., Hon. Maphosa W., Hon Marashe S., Hon. Mapiki J., Hon. Marange N., Hon. Marupi O. Hon. Moyo F., Hon. Mpofu R. A., Hon. Mugidho M., Hon. Mukungunugwa G. H., Hon. Mukwada M., Hon. Mungani S., Hon. Ndlovu B., Hon Sibanda Libion, Hon. Shumba T., Hon. Tshuma S., Hon. Mhangwa L.—to be Chairperson.

Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion: Hon. Bvute Ozias., Hon. Dhliwayo L., Hon. Dube P., Hon. Hungwe T., Hon. James B., Hon. Kademaunga M., Hon. Khupe T., Hon. Madzivanyika C., Hon. Markham R., Hon. Mukomberi T., Hon. Mpofu A. R., Hon. Mushipe T. T., Hon. Mutseyami P., Hon. Muwombi J., Hon. Ncube M., Hon. Nkani A., Hon. Nkomo M., Hon. Nyamuronda R., Hon. Shumba T., Hon. Sithole G. K., Hon. Tsvangirayi. R., Hon. Zhou Tafanana, Hon. Zhou Tsitsi, Hon. Ziyambi S., Hon. Zvobgo E., Hon. Chiduwa C.—to be Chairperson.

Parliamentary Legal Committee: Hon. Gumbo A., Hon. Mahere F., Hon. Mutodi E., Hon. Samkange J., Hon. Zvobgo E., Hon. Ndudzo I.—to be Chairperson.

CHANGES TO MEMBERSHIP OF INTERNATIONAL STATUTORY BODIES

          THE HON SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders (CSRO) has revised the membership to International Parliamentary Statutory bodies as follows:

Africa Parliamentary Union

Hon. T. Gezi, Hon. T. M. Karumazondo, Hon Sen. Chief. Makumbe, Hon. S. Matsunga.

OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and EU Africa Parliamentary Assembly

Hon. Gen. (Rtd.) Nyambuya, Hon. P. Moyo, Hon. Adv. Madzimbamuto

          Pan-African Parliament

Hon. Chief. F. Z. Charumbira, Hon. P. Togarepi, Hon. Tafanana Zhou, Hon. E. Masuku, Hon. J. Hadebe.

          SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF)

Hon. T. Nyabani, Hon. M. Mugomo, Hon. Chief Matsiwo

Hon. L. Karenyi, then there will be a nominee from the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Women’s Caucus, to be advised. I think they are meeting tomorrow to elect that caucus in the Government Caucus Room at 1000 hours tomorrow.

          Association of Senates, SHOORA, and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World (ASSECAA)

Hon. Dr. M. Bimha, Hon. P. Mupfumira, Hon. J. Z. Timba, Hon. Sen Chief. Dandawa.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

          HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care and in his absence, I will redirect my question to the Leader of the House. 

          THE HON. SPEAKER:  Why do you not allow the Chair to redirect the question accordingly?

HON. TAFANANA ZHOU: Okay, you can redirect me Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Ehe, ndichiripo.  Please proceed –

[Laughter.] -

HON. TAFANANA ZHOU:  Hon. Speaker, what is Government position regarding the targeted approach funds which were channeled to strengthen our primary health care and RBF funds which were channeled to primary healthcare as well?

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFARS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI):  Thank you Hon. Speaker. Can he explain further what exactly he wants to know about those funds?  It is not very clear what he wants to know.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Hon. Zhou, please amplify your question.

HON. TAFANANA ZHOU:  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.  RBF funds was a programme which was assisting our primary healthcare.  They were given a figure when they do deliveries at institutions like clinics.  They are no longer being given that money.  What is Government’s position regarding disbursing those funds?  Thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  When you say deliveries, you mean of goods or of children?

HON. TAFANANA ZHOU:  Thank you Mr. Speaker, of children.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFARS (HON. ZIYAMBI):  Mr. Speaker, the fund, to my knowledge, has not been existing over the last three years.  If he can put that question in writing so that we can investigate the circumstances surrounding that fund and the Minister will then come and explain the background, as to what happened concerning that particular fund.  Off head, I cannot give a definitive answer as to the status of that fund.  I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Hon. Zhou, are you so guided?

 HON. TAFANANA ZHOU:  Yes Mr. Speaker Sir; or we can wait for the Minister to come to the House.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  No, when you say you are so guided and you say yes, you cannot give an alternative, just write your question as advised and the Minister will respond accordingly. 

+HON. NKOMO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  My question is directed to the Minister of War Veterans.  Last year, there was a programme of vetting those who engaged in the liberation war, especially the war collaborators.  How far have we gone with that programme so that we finalise that process?

*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WAR VETERANS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE (HON. SEN. MAVUNGA):  Thank you very much for such a pertinent question Hon. Nkomo.  Before the new law, the war veterans who participated in the struggle are the only ones who were recognised, but those who assisted like collaborators, detainees and those who went and were not trained, were not covered. After COPAC, with the new Constitution, Zimbabweans spoke and suggested that war collaborators, those who were not trained and those who were political detainees should be recognised.  This culminated in a situation where, through the War Veterans Act, which recognised all veterans with the new law, others were also covered.  This was covered in Chapter 17:12 of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Act. 

In this Act, everyone is recognised, so the issue now is the implementation of the new law. In implementing, a database of every stakeholder was created, and having done that, the vetting process followed.  The reason being that it is not difficult to determine war veterans who were trained, but for war collaborators, political detainees, there was need for collaboration and confirmation by those who served together with the beneficiaries.  This shows that a large number was left out in the vetting process, and we want to continue with the vetting process.  The number of people is around 99 000, so we cannot just leave that number like that.  There is need to carry out the vetting process and complete it. 

As we approach the annual budget, as a Ministry, we anticipate to receive money to cater for that.  For them to be recognised, we need to complete the process.  I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Is it clear Hon. Nkomo, did you understand?

HON. NKOMO: Indeed, I understood Mr. Speaker Sir.

+HON. MARUPI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education regarding the state of affairs concerning teachers. We find that teachers who cannot communicate in local languages are deployed to teach in communities, particularly at elementary level Grade 1.  I thank you.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. If I got him correctly, he is asking about teachers being deployed in areas where they are not fluent in the mother tongue of that area, is that correct?

THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, that is correct.

 HON. Z. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Indeed, the Ministry now has a policy of ensuring that, that should not happen. You cannot send a teacher to teach Grade 1 or ECD classes when they do not understand the particular language. The thrust is now that even the learners in ECD must be taught in their mother language and as they progress, you introduce the other languages. If something like that is still happening, I think it needs to be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities for corrective action to be taken. I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Professor Murwira, opezulu. I think the other side of the coin will relate to the training of teachers. Perhaps you may complement the response of the Leader of Government business. Thank you.

THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I wish to thank the Hon. Member for this very important question. You would know that since 2019, the policy for training teachers is now requiring all enrolled teachers at a Teachers’ College to learn three more languages other than their own. What this means is that a person or a teacher who graduates at the Teachers’ College is able to operate in areas where they are competent in terms of language, but what we are also doing is to increase the pool of Zimbabweans who are multilingual. It therefore means that this question, as we go into the future, will not become a question. I thank you.

*HON. P. ZHOU: My supplementary question is, how many years should teachers spend after training before their deployment because we have noted in the past that there are a lot of teachers who are trained and then they go spend a number of years without being deployed? Thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: You train them, but they are not employed. What is the response Hon. Minister Murwira?

HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. What we know according to our training schedules is that Zimbabwe still has a shortage of trained teachers. The issue which is there is the issue of posts that are released in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that are funded by Treasury. As we speak, the last time we checked, we had around 15 000 to 20 000 vacancies and the teachers that we have trained are less than that in terms of the ones that have not yet been trained. However, there is also another thinking of saying I would rather be staying at home trained than staying at home waiting for nothing to happen in future, because when that position arises and you are not trained, nothing happens to you. So, it is a double-sided issue.

 We will continue training Zimbabweans, but one of the most important things that we have done also is what we call the graduate employment programme. This means that graduates form consortiums like innovation clubs where they can put ideas together to start a school, but we fund the construction of those schools using what we call the Integrated Skills Outreach Programme. We have started doing that with colleges in Chiwundura. This year we have started constructing a school called Gangaragwe School. This is a school where our graduates that have graduated at Mkoba Teachers’ College will teach themselves as a consortium because Zimbabwe still has a shortage of about 3 000 to 4 000 schools.

It means that there is still need for many places for teaching. Section 75 (2) of the Constitution says, “any individual can found a school”. It might not be the term called ‘found’, but can actually have a school, and we are using that section to have our graduates start their own schools. We are providing the finances so that we can expand more schools in terms of the private school establishment. We believe that this will reduce the pressure at the available schools by doing this new approach to construction of schools. Our students from polytechnics and so forth are the ones who will build the schools while our trained teachers will teach at those schools. Parents would then not be inconvenienced by queuing for the few places available against a background of high demand. We believe that this will bring dignity to our people. I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for your citation Hon. Minister. I cross-checked your citation, it is quite correct.

HON. S. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I just want to know what is Government position with regards to brain drain as a result of those that have been trained yet are not employed?

HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  Zimbabwe will continue training its people. We will train people and we are also changing the philosophy of why we go to school.  We go to school to be trained to be able to do what we were trained for.  We go to school in order to be able to use our knowledge and skills and attitudes to start new enterprises.  We go to school not to be used by the ones who are already established in industry.  We go to school in order to use ourselves to work for ourselves. 

          This is a deep philosophy which diverts from the philosophy of going to school to be employed by the colonial master, kuzvishandira, kwete kushandiswa.  It therefore means what we are talking about in terms of brain drain, sometimes people call it brain drain.  Brain drain assumes that the pot which is cooking people has stopped cooking.  We will continue cooking our people in our higher and tertiary education institutions.  Hativapedzi, ticharamba tichi trainer vanhu to the extent that these days what they call brain drain is actually brain circulation because we can still use our people wherever they are. 

          Sometimes we have been confronted with a question which says, why are you training them when they are going to the streets?  They will not go to the street when they have the correct design of education.  When the education trains them how to be able to make things; how to be able to form industries and how to be able to work for yourself, whereby our duty will be how to provide them with the correct policy environment so that they are able to do so.  Also, how to provide them with the venture fund so that they have the finances.  So, it tells us of a whole new philosophy of how we want our country to be today and into the future.  We shall not construct people who work for other people.  We will construct people who work for their country, for themselves.

          It means therefore, that the question of employment and unemployment is going to change completely as we go into the future.  Taigadzirirwa macolonial industries.  Ikozvino tava kuzvigadzirira isu.  Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo.  Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. I thank you.

          *HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Mr. Speaker.  My supplementary question to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education is that in countries like Cuba, they trained doctors and send them to Africa.  They also trained teachers whom they send to Rwanda and Sudan.  So, as Zimbabwe, looking at our educated children who are loitering, can we not find opportunities for them so that we earn foreign currency through that?  I thank you

          HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker.  I think I have gone deep into philosophy.  We, Zimbabwe, with its high level of education which we are actually even increasing so that it becomes higher, we believe that we will become a source of export of expertise into the world.  We have started this organised way of doing things with Rwanda and we believe we will be able to do it even more.  We are in talks, for example, with neighbouring countries about this kind of approach whereby our people can be of use to those countries but also of use to us because we are basically exporting expertise.

          So, what the Hon. Member is saying is very useful and very important and we agree because this is our policy.  That is why we were saying we should no longer talk about brain drain.  We talk about brain circulation.  We will be able to train our people so that they are useful to us either locally or elsewhere and they will be able to do things and be able to be useful to the country.  This idea, as we go into the future, is very important so that the debate of being employed and employ, and working and working for someone becomes a completely different issue.  Thank you.

          *HON. KARIMATSENGA-NYAMUPINGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  My supplementary question concerns the issue of language barrier.  We have children who do not go to school because they cannot communicate with others in school.  They are deaf and dump.  What is Government policy with regards to those children so that they can be able to learn alongside other children who are not deaf and dump and not to be isolated in their own learning centres?

          HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  We are in the process of making sure that we have total inclusion in the education system, leaving no one and no place behind.  Zimbabwe has no brain to waste.  We do not have that luxury to have any brain to waste.  To this end, the Constitution talks about all the national languages that we have, including Sign Language and Braille.  The policy now is to make sure that we have the capabilities that are necessary to enable us to teach all those kinds of languages.  Our teachers’ colleges now, like United College of Education and Mutare Teachers’ College have been pioneering in this endeavour of inclusive education.  We believe that we have to continue and even amplify and quicken the pace at which we are doing this in order, not only to comply to the Constitution but to be useful as a system of education.

          The policy is that we will continue making sure that we enable training in all languages including Sign Language and Braille.  We have so far developed what we called MSU National Language Institute where we are in the process of building capabilities to translate learning materials in all languages, including translating Science and Scientific literature into our local languages so that learning becomes easier for people who are differently abled.  I thank you.

          THE HON. SPEAKER: The significance of the question if I understood it well; you have these disadvantaged children in a particular area. Will they be able to attend classes despite their small numbers in that particular area?  What policy is there to harness such types of disadvantaged pupils?

          HON. PROF. MURWIRA: I think the most important issue as you say is that we want to make sure that in terms of inclusive education which is Goal Number 4 of the SDGs, we should be able to make sure that they go to school. However, first of all, we need teachers who are able to do that. So, we have tackled that at a systemic level by making sure that we teach inclusive education, but in terms of particular cases, it would be very important that as a Government, we ensure that education is available for differently abled people – that is the policy. 

          In terms of implementation and the speed of implementation, this is where we still need to do a lot of work, but the policy is clear, and the deeds have to be more amplified.

          +HON. E. MASUKU: My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. What is the Government’s policy on the elderly accessing seed for Pfumvudza/Intwasa, because they cannot go for collection themselves?

          *THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Government policy is that the elderly, the vulnerable and child-headed families should be prioritised.  In fact, they are the ones who should first receive the Pfumvudza/Intwasa inputs. 

There is a way of distributing these inputs to the vulnerable groups. The first thing is that in every community, the village head is responsible for training farmers and community members on Pfumvudza/Intwasa using his field.  Secondly, he identifies the elderly and the vulnerable as well as child-headed families, which is why village heads sit in the committees which distribute these inputs.

          So, if you have information regarding those who have not benefited from Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme, my mobile number is 0772 169957.  As Hon. Members of Parliament, you are free to contact me whilst on the ground and I will certainly assist you.  Thank you.

          +THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Masuku, have you understood the Minister’s response?

          +HON. E. MASUKU: Yes.  However, on the same note, when these Pfumvudza/Intwasa inputs are distributed, we need assistance in transporting the inputs.  So, does the community pay for transportation or Government would have paid?

          *HON. DR. MASUKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I also thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question regarding the distribution of Pfumvudza/Intwasa inputs.

          Right now, we are busy preparing for the distribution of fertilizers and other inputs for this year.   We are going to distribute herbicides to every household, which will be used when our crops begin to grow instead of the traditional way of cultivating. The rest of the inputs and the money for transportation are already catered for, we have engaged transport operators who are going to be transporting our inputs from the factories to the GMB depots.  We also have money for transporting from the GMB depot to every other depot, so every farmer collects their inputs from their ward. No farmer should pay for transportation at ward level.  The Councillor is the Chairperson who is responsible for distribution, and the local traditional leader will deploy someone who will assist the councillor. If there are a number of households in that community, then the village head knows everyone in their community and they are going to be involved in the distribution. The Secretary of the Committee is an Agritex Extension Officer and the headmaster of the nearest local school will consolidate the database of the ward. This is the list which will be submitted to GMB clarifying all the needs of the community, whether it is herbicides or any other input. The inputs will be distributed accordingly.

          We also suggested that we want a young person and a woman from that community to be involved, so this is all inclusive. We do not want to leave anyone out, but if there is a specific area which you know has not been done, please kindly submit the name of the area then I can rectify that before end of the day.

          +THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Member, did you understand?

          +HON. MASUKU: Thank you, I would leave the rest to others.

          +THE HON. SPEAKER: The most important thing is that if it is not happening, please communicate with the Minister and submit that information.

          +HON MASUKU: Indeed, the Hon Minister explained, but it is not happening in our communities because he has said it in this august House, that we are going to explain to the people that this is what the Hon Minister has explained.

          *HON. MATANGIRA: My supplementary question is; what was the circular given to Agritex and other stakeholders so that the elders and disabled benefit. I thank you.

          *HON. DR. MASUKA: I want to thank the Hon. Member for that question which seeks clarity. I believe maybe you did not understand me. Let me repeat what I said. Regarding the elders, disabled and child headed households who are being left out, I said these should benefit and be given inputs. I did not say that they must not be given. That is why I said let us dig holes, let us find grass for mulching and work on this. That is why I involved village heads who know their communities and the headmaster who knows what is happening in the village. These are people who would say that we are going to assist the vulnerable.

          Then I explained that this is Government policy. So, when you say Agritex Officers are saying something else, no that is not Government policy. What I said in this august House is Government policy. I also said that when you hear someone saying that an employee of Agritex or any other person who is working for Government, that person is not Government. Let me repeat that my number is 0772169957. Please do not call, just send an SMS. You can even send a message whilst we are still here.

          On the same issue, stealing Presidential Inputs should not happen. From Ministers to other junior officers, this should not happen. What is meant for the people should be set aside for the people. I thank you.

          *THE HON. SPEAKER: I thought Hon. Minister, you were going to say that the biggest circular is you the Members of Parliament. As representatives of the people, go and give this feedback to the people.

          *HON. MAHACHI: My supplementary question to the Minister of Agriculture is, what is Government policy concerning other Government departments? I heard what he said concerning Pfumvudza Programme, but there are other Government departments which are requesting people to pay $1 so that they can have their inputs transported. Where I come from, there was a meeting by the District Administrator and they agreed that transporters are not able to ferry the inputs because the money that they are paid by GMB is not enough, hence there is need for each and every farmer to pay a $1 so that their inputs can be transported. What is Government policy concerning this issue?

           *HON. DR. MASUKA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  If he had told me before we came here, I would have called the police.  What you need to do is to use the number that I have given you. Just call that number. 

          *HON. TSHUMA: From what the Hon Minister has said, GMB does not have vehicles but it invites those with vehicles in a certain area to come and do the job of transporting seed and fertilizers from their depots to farmers. The problem comes on the amount of money to be paid to these transporters; it is very low.  For example, the amount of money to be paid to transporters was pegged in June this year. From ten kilometers to a certain kilometer, this amount of money will be paid per kilometer per tonne.  This is where the problem is emanating from. To avoid this problem Hon. Speaker, the Ministry of Agriculture when they are paying money for inputs must peg the monies in USD so that when the transporters are being paid, they get their payments while they are still valuable.  It takes three, to five months before payments are done.  When offered another job, transporters refuse to do the job. That is the problem we are facing Hon Speaker Sir.

HON. SPEAKER:  Hon Minister, the Hon. Member is saying, what can we do?

          *HON. DR. MASUKA:  The area of Gokwe is different from other areas because of bad roads.  For example, areas up to Chief Nenyugwa, we used to send Government cars for transportation of inputs to farmers. Currently, we are in the midst of buying lorries for GMB. The first batch of these cars are expected to be delivered before the end of April next year. We are going to increase the cars so that GMB will be able to transport grain and inputs on its own without engaging private transporters. We are saying transporters within a certain area where transportation need to be done are the ones who must be given the business of transporting inputs. If it is the issue of the amount of money being paid by GMB that it is too low and when the transporters get paid the money will be eroded by inflation, it is an issue Mr. Speaker Sir, I am going to raise with GMB and see how best we can help each other. In the next two weeks, as a Ministry, we will need a large number of lorries for transportation because that is when we start to transport inputs from GMB to different communities.  I am going to discuss this issue with the GMB Board to solve the issue of payments to transporters and to make sure they are paid in time and farmers receive their inputs in time. Thank you. 

          THE HON. SPEAKER:  Before we proceed, I want to make an observation that it is my hope that this demonstration of commitment - the 10^th Parliament appears to have been favoured with the highest degree of attendance by the Hon. Ministers and their Deputies - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – It is my hope that this demonstration of commitment to Parliamentary work will be sustained, not only for today but for the future. 

          Having said that, I encourage some of the Hon. Ministers who came after the prayers, others after thirty minutes, after we had started, please try your very best, I know you are very busy people to be here as we start proceedings.  Well done Hon. Ministers – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

          There was a request by Hon. Zhou.  Hon. Zhou had asked a question earlier on and the Hon. Minister of Health had not arrived.  With your indulgence Hon. Members, can he ask that question now because he seems to be burning.  Hon. Zhou, can you proceed.

          HON. TAFANANA ZHOU:  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.  My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care.  What is Government policy on Result Based Financing programme that was making health service in the country accessible resulting in removing user fees; it was focusing on mothers and children.  Thank you.

          THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MOMBESHORA): I want to thank the Hon. Member for asking that question.  Unfortunately, I cannot give precise details concerning the question.  I would need to give the Hon. Member proper details.  It used to be practiced but there was a bit of complications in the administration of that fund.  I want to give correct details to the question, with your permission, I will bring the answer next week, if you allow me Sir. 

          THE HON. SPEAKER:  Thank you Hon. Minister.  In any case, your response Hon. Minister is exactly the same with that of the Leader of Government Business who had requested the Hon. Member to write the question to allow the Minister to do some research as you correctly said and come back and present a researched paper on the question. The Hon. Minister of Health, I think mwana we n’anga.  – [Laughter] –

*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. I want to ask that since there is climatic change and this year, we are facing Elnino, what is Government policy concerning bringing transformers to revive irrigation schemes and also the disbursement of small grain seeds and selling of fake seeds?

*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also thank the Hon. Member for asking a pertinent question. Let me start by addressing the last question which he asked about fake seeds. This issue is about corrupt activities which are being done by certain individuals and it needs the Minister of Home Affairs to address it by arresting the culprits. Farmers must also buy seeds from reputable seed producing companies. They must not buy seeds from unregistered dealers. Some of these dealers put washing powder or other unrecommended chemicals so that their seeds appear legit.  It is important for farmers to buy seed from reputable dealers because their seeds are well protected from worms and other diseases during planting and growth.

The second question which the Hon. Member addressed as the first question is about the preparation of this farming season where as a country, we are expected to experience Elnino and when we are going to receive normal to below normal rainfall. Firstly, it is about the farmer to know that now there is climate change. Mr. Speaker, those who work with farmers, the Agritex Officers must educate farmers about the issues of climate change in their different communities.

Secondly, we must know that with or without rainfall, we must harvest and we must have enough food, hence this idea is being done in two ways. At household level, how are we going to have enough food? At household level we introduced Pfumvudza/Intwasa. We dig holes and when rain comes, it fills these holes and we put manure then add fertilizer for the neutralisation of the soils. We then do mulching to protect the moisture during sunny conditions. We started this programme since 2020 and the tonnage increased. Those who were farming and not following Pfumvudza/Intwasa, their tonnage was extremely low. Pfumvudza/Intwasa helps a lot at household level. This year we have improved on Pfumvudza/Intwasa by introducing chemicals for weeding because men and women were facing hard times on weeding. Right now, the President said we must give weeding chemicals and spraying tanks to each household. This will prevent the weeds from competing with our crops.

A farmer must plough their crops according to their agro-ecological natural region not according to their preferences. If you want sugarcane while you are here, it is not feasible, but you have to get sugar from Chiredzi. If you want bananas, you must get them from the area where they are being produced.  As Government, we must help farmers by disbursing seed according to the agro-ecological region. This season we are going to distribute seed according to regions. Those farmers in natural region 4 and 5, Government is not going to give maize seed, but small grains like sorghum, millet, cowpeas among others. In the event that a farmer in natural region 4 or 5 is used to consume mealie-meal from maize, there is a programme which was launched by Government where GMB is going to bring maize to farmers in this region and exchange with their small grains.

At community level, we are doing Zunde raMambo. The village Head, we will provide him or her with more seed and land compared to those received at household level. In the case of drought, community members request for help from the village head. The amount of inputs and land continue to increase in number and size up to the chief. If the village Head does not have enough food for the people, they will request from the chief. If the chief does not have enough grain, they will approach GMB. That is why we decided to improve strategic grains to 1.5 million metric tonnes.

On irrigation, we must utilise water from all dams and increase irrigation hectarage to 350 000 hectares. If there is rainfall or no rainfall, and if we plant under irrigation, we will be able to reach our target of 2.2 million metric tonnes of maize so that we have enough food security in the country. All those things are what we are doing as a country even if there is rainfall or no rainfall.  Right now, we have a motto in the ministry - what we call Enough Food Security everywhere.

* HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Hon. Minster. My supplementary question was not answered properly. I want clarity on my first issue of fake seed. The minister said the issue of eliminating fake seed in the market is for Minister Kazembe to attend to by arresting the culprits. The Minster of Home Affairs does not arrest someone from nowhere, but it starts by investigations. They do not arrest without proper investigations. I want to know if there is a taskforce, which is going around looking for fake seed in the shops. If there is fake seed in shops, the issue is now reported to Minister Kazembe so that the culprits will be arrested. Thank you.

          * HON. DR. MASUKA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question.  I said that fake seed starts with the farmer.  When you buy your inputs, know where to buy genuine inputs.  We have a seed certification scheme where the quality is determined before seeds are taken to the shops.  The germination percentage, type, quality and all these things are done through the grading process, but those which are sold anywhere else, this is something else and it is up to us as Government to work with police officers to prosecute people who cheat others.

          Then regarding transformers, I just alluded to that talking about irrigation and it is not about transformers only, but irrigation done through the dams, boreholes and pipes that are used or the irrigation equipment.  This is where we are enhancing the quality and the efficiency.  Other issues like transformers, the relevant Minister is here, he can expand on the issue of transformers.

          Lastly, this is quite a challenge, when we say we are 15.1 million in Zimbabwe, it does not mean that there are 15.1 households.  In the rural areas, we have 1.8 million households.  The people we distribute to are around three million, which means probably there is a young man in a family who has responsibilities, but who does not have his own home.  So, what is transpiring is that we have three million beneficiaries out of 1.8 million households.  This is 62% of the population. The other 38% is in urban areas.  In towns, the President said that from this year, because there is hunger even in urban areas, those who find arable land can be assisted with inputs for peri-urban farming. That would be around 500 000 beneficiaries.

          For the rural and urban populace which benefits from Government, it is 3.5 million, constituting all the people who are in need of inputs.  That 15.1 million includes even day-old children.  I thank you.

          HON. MURAMBIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.  My question is directed to the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities.  What is Government policy with regards to the assistance of those whose properties have been destroyed by natural disasters such as storms, floods, et cetera? Thank you.

          THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMMENITIES (HON. SIMBANEGAVI): Thank you Madam Speaker.  I would like to thank Hon. Murambiwa for that question.  I think the question should be directed to the Minister of Local Government.  However, the Ministry of National Housing, in terms of accommodating those who would have been affected by natural disasters, we have a policy whereby we can also allocate some Government flats and other accommodations to disaster victims.  For example, we have houses in Binga that are under construction that we will allocate to the people that would have been affected by disasters in that area.  We are also constructing flats in Dzivaresekwa which are also going to be strictly allocated to people that have been affected by floods, here in Harare.  Thank you.

          HON. NGWENYA: Thank you Madam Speaker.  Still concerning those floods, what is the policy position of the Ministry concerning – because she actually referred to houses that would be built or are being built but at the moment, many people have been affected as we speak, by these winds and floods?  What is the Government position concerning those people who have been affected before?

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: May be that question can be directed to the Minister of Local Government.  If he is not in, the Hon. Leader of Government Business can respond.

          THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI):  Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.  I was looking at Hon. Moyo, you know he is an expert in that area because he has been in Local Government for a long time.  I will just give a brief answer to that on the Government policy.  With your indulgence, if you agree, I will refer to Hon. Moyo.

          Basically, if we have a disaster, the Government has a Civil Protection Unit (CPU) that will be activated and it will assess the damage and recommend the help that is needed.  Government will then be able, at that juncture, to mobilise resources towards what the CPU would have recommended on the basis of the disaster that would have happened.  I thank you.

          THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. JULY MOYO):  Thank you Madam Speaker.  I want to thank the Leader of the House for allowing me to supplement his answer.  Madam Speaker, we have a contingency plan which is drawn and led by the Civil Protection Unit in the Ministry of Local Government.  Every year, they make sure that by September, they plan in terms of how to deal with climate change-induced disasters which can be in two parts, either floods or drought.  This can spread to not just people but also affecting animals and other economic sectors of this country. 

          So, that plan has several components. The first one is obvious, we do not want to lose life.  If people survive a storm or a disaster like what we have had, then the issue of properties can be addressed in several ways. For the houses that are destroyed, which the Hon. Member has asked about, there is a quick reaction that can be done by either the Civil Protection Unit or the department of Social Welfare to provide tents.  Right now, those two organisations are already working so that we can see whether we can provide tents.  The tents are not made in Zimbabwe, so normally the Civil Protection Unit is empowered to work with donor agencies that are part of the civil protection system of this country.

 Therefore, that is what is taking place and I know that a number of Members of Parliament will be concerned because disasters have already happened.  The speed with which we do it definitely depends on the responders.  The responders are also organised in such a manner that at the provincial, district, ward and village levels, including the traditional leadership and the councils, have to inform.  However, Members of Parliament have the advantage that their voices are thicker or thinner and they reach central government much faster. I thank you.

          *HON. TSHUMA: Thank you, Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to direct my question to the Minister of Local Government.  Last year, we experienced Cyclone Freddy which had thunderous rainfall that damaged schools, roads and other infrastructure.  Those in the rural areas were affected and they…

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, what is your question? 

          HON. TSHUMA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.  Let me rephrase my question.  What are you doing as a Government, to correct the impact of natural disasters where you find some dams and some schools that have roofs damaged seeing that the rains have come?

          HON. J. MOYO: Thank you, Madam Speaker.  I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question.  The plan is to make sure that we save lives first. The last two days, there have been a lot of reports of houses damaged.  Fortunately, we have not heard of any deaths. 

          So, the next thing that the Government policy says is that once people are not dead, they should be given immediate relief and the first relief that we try to give is shelter and food.  At the moment, both the Civil Protection and the department of Social Welfare in conjunction with National Housing come in for resilience. 

Relief is when we say that people should be given basics like shelter and food, then the rest is something that we need to figure out how people can assist themselves.  Different line ministries however, come in through the Civil Protection Unit and this is done after the basics have been done like shelter and food.

          Furthermore, some of the corrections need bigger investments and quite large amounts of money which need a bit of time but this is what we desire as a Government to look at such issues.  As Members of Parliament, let us assist our people as soon as possible, schools need to be attended to promptly.  When we think of what should be done in schools, then in some cases, we need to provide tents whilst we are rebuilding the schools.  For instance, after Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, we had some learning and living tents during that transitional period when we were working on restoring their livelihoods.

          Even in the case of artisanal mining, school children survived in that school after artisanal miners were mining under the school.  Over 1000 people were affected and living in tents.  So, the Ministry of Health and Child Care, and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education are also involved.  So, it depends on what has happened but we prioritise saving lives and providing food and other basics for the people.  I thank you.

          HON. MUTANDI.  My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care.  What is the Government policy on medical doctors who refer patients to their private surgeries? For example, expecting mothers are referred to their private surgeries when in actual fact, medical assistance can be rendered at Government hospitals.

          THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILDCARE (HON. DR. MOMBESHORA): Thank you, Madam Speaker.  Let me also thank the Hon. Member for asking that question.  First and foremost, there is a distinction between Government and private.  Those patients who are admitted in Government hospitals are supposed to follow treatment protocols in Government hospitals.  However, we understand that some doctors who are working in Government hospitals have got private practice. It is allowed at a certain level, especially the consultancy to have private practice, but it is not allowed to transfer patients that you have seen in Government to your private practice; unless the patient has insisted that they no longer want to be treated in a Government hospital. 

          When such cases arise, the patient is requested to put in writing that they are leaving Government hospital against medical advice to go and get treatment elsewhere.  So, my advice is that when such cases arise, where a Government medical practitioner is referring a patient to his private practice, please let us know so that appropriate and disciplinary action can be taken. I thank you.

          *HON. NYABANI: Thank you Madam Speaker.  My supplementary question is that the Hon. Minister said that doctors are allowed to work for Government and also have their own surgeries. What I want to know is that teachers are also Government servants, but they are not allowed to do extra lessons whilst doctors are allowed to work both in Government hospitals and their own surgeries, why are teachers not allowed that same privilege?

          *THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Nyabani, teachers and doctors occupy different professions.  Teachers belong to the Ministry of Education and doctors belong to the Ministry of Health.

          *HON. NYABANI: All are Government workers, or maybe, I will direct my question to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Why are others allowed to work for both Government and private whilst others are not allowed?

          *THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Nyabani, that will be a new question and if you want to ask a new question, I will give you the floor.

          HON. MUKOMBERI: Thank you Madam Speaker.  My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.  What is Government position with regards to the mushrooming of …

          Cellphone rings.

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Members, please may we switch off our phones.         

          HON. MUKOMBERI: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education and the question is what is the Government’s position with regards to the mushrooming of unregistered learning centers especially in growth points and in urban centers?

          THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Hon. Speaker, may I ask the Hon. Member to repeat his question.

          HON. MUKOMBERI: Thank you Madam Speaker, my question is, what is Government position in tandem with the mushrooming of illegal or unregistered learning centers, some operating on residential backyards in urban centers and in growth points?

          THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA):  Thank you Hon. Speaker, I wish to thank the Hon. Member for asking that question.  Government policy is against illegality of any form.  In this case, the setting up of illegal schools or learning centers as the Hon. Member has said is illegal, therefore, our policy is against such.  Although, as we said, section 75 (2) of the Constitution allows the setting up of schools, it does not allow for setting up of illegal schools and I think the following section says ‘Government is mandated to close those schools that do not follow the standards as set out in the same Constitution’, I thank you.

          HON. NDUDZO: Thank you Madam Speaker, my question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Minister is not in.

          HON. NDUDZO: In that case, I will use my opportunity perhaps to ask a question to the Hon. Minister of Agriculture if I may be allowed.

          The Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Hon. Ziyambi) walked into the House.

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You may ask your question now; the Leader of Government Business is back.

          HON. NDUDZO: I am indebted Madam Speaker; I will revert to my originally intended question.  My question is on the Government’s interventions, the policy interventions that we have in the conversion of what are presently satellite and makeshift schools that are largely found in the resettlement areas, where we have converted disused barns, we have made makeshift temporary structures and we have converted them into schools. With so many years having elapsed without actually converting them to proper schools where there is adequate infrastructure, facilities and amenities that will make sure that there is a proper environment conducive for learning unlike the current set up where ….

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Ndudzo, ask your question.

HON. NDUDZO: My question is what are the policy interventions of converting satellite schools into actual schools? I thank you.

          THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. Z. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam Speaker.  I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. Madam Speaker, the policy of Government is that, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education can identify schools that they then can motivate for them to be built. What we have also done recently when the Second Republic came into place is, we now have devolution funds where we are saying Central Government should refrain from identifying projects and telling communities. Rather, the communities must identify the projects and through the devolution funds, build whatever they want. Through that avenue, communities can identify a school where there is a barn that has been converted to a school and come up with a plan to have that school built through the devolution funds and their Ministers of State. Then, that can also be done. Government has built a lot of schools in recent years. I do not have the figures at hand, but I can request the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to avail the number of schools that have been built. However, we are now doing it in two ways like I alluded to Madam Speaker. I thank you.

*HON. MUNEMO: Thank you Madam Speaker. Good afternoon Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is, in line with the heavy rains that were experienced a few days ago, some learners failed to attend their examinations as the rivers were flooded. There are also school headmasters and teachers who failed to collect examination papers in time for learners to sit for their exams because of the flooded rivers. What is Government policy concerning such incidences? I thank you.

*HON. MURAMBIWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

*HON. MURAMBIWA: My point of order is that the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is here in the House. There is no need for the Leader of the Government Business to labour when the responsible Minister is here. I thank you Madam Speaker.

*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Murambiwa for the alert. Some of the Ministers are still new and we are not yet familiar with them. Thank you.

*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. GATA): Thank you Madam Speaker. In response to the question that has been asked, yes, the Ministry is aware that there are some schools that could not collect their examination papers because of the flooded rivers. The affected schools will liaise with the head office so that the children are accorded time to write their exams. I thank you.

*HON. MUKOMBERI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is a follow up on the response by the Deputy Minister. The Minister told the House that the affected learners will be accorded time to write their exams, but the other candidates would have sat for their exams. Are the affected learners going to have a different examination from the one that was written because the questions would be now known to everyone?

*HON. GATA: I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. We know that the river would not be flooded for maybe three days. So, arrangements will be made for the affected learners to have their exams during the exam period.

HON. MUTOKONYI: Thank you Madam Speaker and good afternoon. My question is directed to the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise. The latest ZimStat figures state that 46% of employment in Zimbabwe is in the informal sector. What is Government policy to ensure that the Government realises the relevant or regulatory taxes from that informal sector? Thank you.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (HON. MHLANGA): Thank you so much Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for posing that pertinent question. My answer to that is that at the moment, the micro, small to medium enterprises stand on a few pillars, about 12 of them. One of the pillars is the formalisation of that sector so that it begins to make meaningful contribution to the economy of this country. We also know that the micro, small to medium enterprises are making a contribution in terms of GDP goods and services that they are producing for the country.

We think that in those pillars, one of them being formalisation, we should be able to get to a situation where our micro, small to medium enterprises are also contributing to the Government’s economy through taxes and all the contributions that business is supposed to make in order for Government to tick. I thank you.

HON. MANGONDO: Thank you Madam Speaker. I bring you fraternal greetings from the people of Murewa South. My question is directed to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Hon. Minister, in view of Zimbabwe’s commitments in terms of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, what progress has the Ministry made in terms of accessing international climate funding?

          THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE AND WILDLIFE (HON. M. NDLOVU): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.  I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the question.  The Hon. Member highlights that as a country, we have also deposited our nationally determined contributions which are commitments towards reducing our greenhouse gas emissions which is a global collective responsibility.  As a country, Zimbabwe submitted its NDCs with a clause that these will be subject to accessing climate financing.  I wish to highlight that this has continued to be a major setback globally because as a continent, through our African group of negotiators, we have said that all our climate actions depend on the availability of financing and there is not much progress, particularly friendly developed nations.

 We are primarily responsible for the climate change we are experiencing today and we continue to negotiate as we will be doing the same end of November in the United Arab Emirates hoping that out of the conference this year, there will be a firm commitment to avail funding for climate action.  I thank you.

Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON.  DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

DEPLORABLE STATE OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

          THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE AND WILDLIFE ( HON. M .NDLOVU): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to address the august House on a critical matter of national importance, which is the deplorable state of solid waste management across the length and breadth of our country, virtually in all local authorities, be they rural or urban, but more pronounced in urban areas.  Our streets are infested with all kinds of waste streams from Pet and glass bottles, paper, plastic, light bulbs to diapers and medicinal waste, to mention but a few.  Illegal dumps have become the norm and in some cases, they sit right in the middle of the road in high density areas.  In Harare Metropolitan Province, we have so far made over 2 000 illegal dumps and still counting.  Drainage systems are clogged overflowing with litter.  Sanitary lanes are now dump sites.  Our highways are strewn with litter.  This is the sad state of waste management in our citizen towns. 

With this state of affairs, it is not surprising that year in year out we are now experiencing cholera and typhoid outbreaks.  We are, to a large extent, responsible for the crisis we find ourselves in as a people.  I wish to highlight that over the last five years, the 2^nd Republic has instituted various measures in pursuit of a clean Zimbabwe.  Among this is the National Clean-up Programme launched by His Excellency the President, Dr. E. D Mnangagwa in December 2018.  The programme, using the rationale of moral suasion, urged all citizens to clean up their environment between 8am and 10am on the first Friday of every month.  Various institutions and other stakeholders took heed of this initiative.  Our local authorities, mostly urban, have been penalised countless times for failure to collect waste as well as failing to clear illegal dumps.  Notable strides have also been made towards waste management through recycling efforts.  Locals at the Environmental Management Agency indicate that there are more than 72 recycling companies that recycle 20 000 tonnes of waste every month.  While the above efforts are acknowledged, the sorry state of both our urban and rural environs clearly show that more has to be done to attain a clean and safe environment. 

I wish to advise that the main import of this ministerial statement is to update Parliament and the nation at large on the measures that Government has approved to curb the unsustainable accumulation of waste.

First, is that a Statutory Instrument being promulgated to make National Clean-up Programme compulsory for Government ministries, departments and agencies, local authorities, the business sector, vendors, retailers and manufacturers.

Second, that local authorities should localise this Statutory Instrument by promulgating relevant by-laws. 

Third, that fines collected by local authorities from residents with respect to waste management be ring fenced in order to ensure that these authorities do not divert the funds to other uses and EMA will be supervising the usage of these funds. 

Fourth, is that deterrent funds for public littering will be introduced and enforced and repeat offenders charged with no option of a fine but given mandatory community service.

Fifth, is that road and rail authorities be compelled to ensure that road and rail servitudes are litter free and to undertake regular clean-ups along servitudes and at lay-bys. 

Sixth, that public transport vehicles that dump waste along roads shall be fined up to level 8 with respect to transport operator or owner also being liable. 

Seventh, that all political parties should be compelled to mobilise their constituents to remove their campaign materials from the environment and that it is properly disposed of with the assistance of local authorities. 

The last critical intervention is that massive awareness and education programmes be undertaken starting with a relaunch of the national clean-up programme in order to imbed a mindset against littering and general disorder. 

It is therefore important that this esteemed institution, the Parliament of Zimbabwe, takes a leading role, particularly for my colleagues, Hon. Members of Parliament, to lead our respective communities in cleaning the environment and more importantly, in making sure that adequate measures are put in place to ensure that the environment continues to be clean.  No effort will be spared in making sure that our local authorities play their part in garbage collection and general waste management. 

Madam Speaker, our people deserve better than they are getting from the city authorities.  I thank you.

*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am happy with the statement that has been brought forward by the Hon. Minister. I would want to know what measures your Ministry, together with the Ministry of Local Government, has put in place in terms of action that will be taken if garbage is not collected so that we know that councils will be forced to collect refuse regularly because we see litter everywhere.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would want to take this opportunity to introduce Members of the Speaker’s Panel who are going to take turns to Chair during this session and I will start with Hon. Machingura – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

*HON. P. ZHOU: I want to thank the Minister for the statement he delivered on this very important issue on refuse which is a hazard. We notice that our councils are not collecting garbage even from public places like bus terminuses, locations and so on. I note that there is a law that needs to be crafted to deal with the issue of garbage. So, as we craft this law, is the law also going penalise these councils also or just the public found littering so that councils also do their job?

HON. NGULUVHE: A suggestion to the Minister; is it not possible Minister that we ban the usage of these plastic papers because in other countries, they banned the usage of these plastic papers, especially the bags from supermarkets just to reduce plastics everywhere. We should also make sure that only khaki papers are used.

*HON. MANGONDO: I heard that Cabinet agreed that there should be a law that forces all councils to clean up all areas every month on the Clean-Up Campaign Day. We know that cleanliness is next to Godliness, but our problem even though we have a lot of laws, our challenge comes on implementation whereby laws are not respected. So, my question to the Minister is, what exactly are they going to do to ensure that our laws are upheld in the form of having people who will enforce laws to do with littering such as environmental enforcement law officers?

HON. MAPFUMO: My question to the Hon. Minister is regarding political parties’ campaign material that he said should be removed. What is the policy of the Ministry regarding some campaign material that was used and now seems permanent, specifically by the opposition? They have defaced mountains by using spray paints right on top of the mountain. How is that going to be cleaned up? Is there a particular law that mandates them to do so? Lastly, to avoid doing the same job twice in the highways, we have seen Intertoll  picking litter alongside the roads. Most probably, if they are allowed and advised that it is not litter for them to actually deface those posters. Most probably they are afraid that they are not allowed to remove them from the side of the roads. If they are allowed, then we save ourselves doing the same job twice.

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE AND WILDLIFE (HON. M. NDLOVU): I humbly thank the Hon. Members for the critical areas where they are seeking clarity. On the first question, I would like to assume Hon. Nyabani was referring to Harare, but perhaps it applies to other urban areas although my response might be slightly different for Harare.

For Harare, Hon. Members might recall that His Excellency, the President, in August, declared a state of disaster for the province, that is all the four local authorities, which then gave us the mandate as the Ministry through EMA, to come in and address the challenge that we are facing. This is why in my statement, I highlighted that we have mapped more than 2 000 illegal dumps. This was part of the process.

What we have realised is that out of the 42 refuse compactors that the city has, only five are operational. Clearly, they have no capacity to collect waste, which is why the waste is accumulating. While 42 may not be adequate, we believe that the City of Harare should be having not less than 150 such. We prioritised getting these waste compactors back on the road and we are utilising their devolution Funds. We have made arrangements with CMED to repair these waste compactors. It is a process that has been awaiting Treasury support which we are almost on the brink of getting. We will be seeking authority to extend the state of emergency so that we assist the city, clearly they are failing. It is our people who are bearing the brunt of these inefficiencies.

On the law to penalise councils who are not doing their job, I have highlighted that we have given them so many fines for not collecting waste and for not clearing dumps, but we need to address capacity issues. If, as a country, we are to collectively deal with the issue of waste, penalties are there and we will continue to penalise them. More importantly, the intervention we have made now is that if the local authority is collecting, for instance 10% of the total bill relating to waste management, that amount has to go to a separate account and they have to account for what they would have spent it on. It does not make sense that a local authority like the City of Harare can have just five refuse compactors working. Somebody has not been doing their job. They could not account so far, what they have been spending the monies collected from waste management on. Therefore, we have said, we need to supervise and know that these monies are spent in managing waste. Our principle has been that the polluter pays and if the residents have paid, they deserve to get a service.

Hon. Nguluvhe has touched on the possibility of banning plastic. This was discussed at length. It is true that there are countries that have banned plastic because plastic is not bio-degradable. It can stay in our environment for centuries. It is a process that we are engaging in. We want to make sure that our industry is ready for this, but we are certainly beginning the process of discouraging its use. Added to this, we will be engaging the manufacturers of PETs, which is another emerging disaster and making sure that they put an incentive for people to pick those PETs just as Delta has been doing with the bottles.

As I was growing up, I knew that if I was broke and had three bottles, I could get something from the shops. We will be engaging the manufacturer under what we call the ‘extended producer responsibility’ where they need to follow their product, and if I can get 10 cents for picking one bottle of water from PEPSI, then I know if I have ten of them, I have a dollar. This is the approach that we will be encouraging them before compelling them to do.

We have been discussing the issue of environmental enforcement officers, these have to be from the local authorities. I have observed in major metropolitan provinces that when you park your car, hardly three seconds pass before somebody comes in the CBD to check if you have a parking disc. Surely these officers can be deployed to also monitor people who are throwing litter and just to monitor environmental compliance, our CBDs will be very clean. I think we have to be very firm and tough and our penalties have to be felt. In fact, I have said we need to explore the possibility of making it mandatory for those repeat offenders to wear those bibs and we will be writing in front that “I was throwing litter” and at the back “now I am paying the prize”. If that is made a policy, that embarrassment along will be a deterrent measure. That is our view.

An Hon Member having entered the Chamber without bowing

          THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MACHINGURA): The Hon. Member who has entered, please bow.

          The Hon. Member complied.

HON. M. M. NDLOVU: On the political campaign material, ordinarily this is a law that should be housed within ZEC. We engaged them because of our concern on what we are seeing on the environment. It was clear that this issue was completely omitted in the law, which is why they requested for now, that we issue a statement to political parties, but they will be instituting amendments to the Act to make sure that the political parties have a responsibility at law to clear their campaign material post the election.

          We have engaged the road authorities through the Ministry of Transport to make sure that they take care of the road servitudes. When one wants to put a banner on the road, they are happy to collect the funds for that. So, we have said they should maintain our roads, be it highways or even local authority roads. So, they will urgently be reviving what they call maintenance units. The Intertoll is a maintenance arrangement as well. They will be resuscitating the maintenance units and each unit will be assigned roads that they will be monitoring and making sure that we are clearing litter. We are concerned that where we have our police road blocks, we are also seeing the emergence of litter dumping. We have also engaged the Ministry of Home Affairs to make sure that as a nation, we collectively address this issue which seems to be getting out of hand. I thank you.

          HON. TOGAREPI:  I hear what the Hon. Minister is saying, but there are some observations that I have made. When a company or business fails to look after the environment, be it health or litter, EMA issues a certificate or closes that shop. Now, we have these local authorities, I was wondering if the Minister can clarify whether they have powers to close such type of local authorities that they have failed because if you charge them, it is the same ratepayers who pay. So, it is not going to pain them. If you can look for some powers to close them so that we can replace them with better councils.

          +HON. M. NCUBE: I need further elaboration from the Minister. What is your department doing on making our environment more safe and clean? Most of the departments do not take the clean up campaign as a serious exercise which was deemed necessary on each first Friday of every month by the President. For example, a building with more than 100 workers, when the clean-up campaign day comes, you find that only about five or ten workers out of the 100 are the ones that are concerned to carry on with the President’s programme. What are the measures which can be put in place to make sure that we enforce and comply with the President’s statute of the clean-up campaign?

          We want to keep our places clean and make sure that we remove all the rubbish from our premises on every first Friday of each month. I thank you.

          *HON. MAPIKI:  Thank you Hon, Speaker. I want to congratulate you for being part of the Speaker’s Panel.  We want to expose people who are responsible for littering.  It happens in other countries but the issues of human rights come to play.  I think that on Municipal officers’ duties, there are some shortcomings.   I think that the Ministry needs to do a thorough research because in countries like China, there is a big population; we would expect them to be struggling with the issue of littering but they use the plastics for other important purposes. 

          Mr. Speaker Sir, if you look at turning plastics into fuel, then they make sure that it is inflammable also.  I think it can also help us that we recycle the plastic material and introduce the machinery that recycle plastic and make sure that the machinery is duty free.  We have got agreements or memorandums of understanding with India.  We can get these machines from India and they can be  put at poly institutions and we make sure that every institution’s first point of call is to take these plastics and feed them into the machines so that they can recycle the plastics. 

          We have had a lot of laws especially of clearing the broncleer but the arresting powers are limited.  In China, they are manufacturing plastic products. If they have card boxes, they recycle to chalk boards.  We urge the Government and the Ministry of Environment to come up with a policy that can have a solution to this issue.  The issue of arresting is just a pill but we want to go to the root cause of this problem.  Thank you.

          HON. MUNEMO: Hon. Minister, what is your policy on such local authorities who are defying the orders of using the sunshine charges because they are continuing charging the residents but the residents are not receiving their service? This has been done for years.  What is the policy on that?  I thank you.

          +HON. S. SITHOLE:  Hon. Minister, my question is that this day that was set aside by the President for clean-up campaign, we have cleaned and campaigned tirelessly for the past few years.  My suggestion is,  is it not better that we declare  it a public holiday so that on this particular day, people do not work but they will just be cleaning?  People who own shops and other institutions are the ones that are a problem.  The litter is coming from the big shops and people from the surrounding communities.  The shop owners will be busy attending to their shops where this litter that is troubling us is coming from.  Why do we not make it a public holiday? 

          I think as a Ministry, you should approach the President and inform him that we have campaigned for such a long time, now we want to make it a law and we rename it ‘public holiday or disaster’.  We should close our shops probably up to 1400 hours so that we will be able to clean our environment.  What we are witnessing is that there are laws that are being enacted but people do not obey the laws.  I suggest that we close shops in the morning up to 1400 hours whereby we will be busy cleaning. I thank you.

          HON. M. NDLOVU:  Mr. Speaker Sir, I wish I had the powers that my Chief Whip wishes I had.  I can say possibly, first quarter or second quarter of 2024, we will be bringing the EMA Amendment Bill, and I pray that my esteemed Hon. Members of Parliament will debate this issue so that we have a piece of legislation that allows Central Government to intervene when there is apparent failure on service delivery as we are witnessing currently in urban areas. 

          Hon. Ncube was essentially talking about making the clean up programme compulsory for all Government ministries, departments, local authorities and all businesses under them.  We are even going further to our villages, communities and our rural service centers although these will be supervised by local authorities.  I am sure it was an omission Mr. Speaker Sir, that accounting officers in these institutions will be held accountable for non-compliance.  If it is a Ministry, that is the Permanent Secretary, if it is a parastatal, it will be either a CEO or Director General, a council CEO in the case of a local authority. This is to make sure that we hold the highest employee position in that institution accountable.  We believe that this will go a long way in making sure that there is compliance. 

We are exploring through the by-laws, the possibility of having punitive fines for shops where there will be litter in front of their doors or in front of their working spaces.  It needs a lot of introspection on the part of local authorities because there is already a dispute in terms of who owns the space in front of the shop; it ordinarily belongs to the local authority and not the shop owner.  We want to make sure that we go beyond these miner obstacles and make sure that people take responsibility. Those who might have travelled to other countries – I know of Dubai for a fact that for one piece of paper in front of your shop, you will pay a heavy fine and rarely would you see any litter anywhere within that area.

I think we need to have two approaches, one to persuade and another where we are very firm. On the issue of recycling, I am welcome to do more research. A lot of research has been done. I am sure if you remember in my statement, I highlighted that we are already recycling almost 20 000 tonnes of litter every month. However, that is not at the rate of our generation of the same waste, we certainly need to do more. I think it is more of a question of attracting investment.

I want to believe that equipment for recycling is duty free, but let me not affirm this position. I will also have to verify and if not, to urgently engage the Minister of Finance so that we encourage investment into this critical sector. For local authorities, we have not been empowered at law to follow their expenditure on what they collect for waste management, which is why this Statutory Instrument is introducing the ring-fencing of funds. It is the first time that EMA will be able to directly supervise the utilisation of funds collected for waste management, and the local authorities will now be able to be transparent to its rate payers.

On the suggestion that we make clean up day a holiday, it will not be an easy one. I can assure my Hon. Members here that the President wants this country to work. I think businesses should see cleaning as part of their business. They should know that they cannot operate in this country under a dirty environment. Two hours of the first Friday of the month between 0800 hours and 1000 hours has to be devoted to this clean up. I am sure my Hon. Members here will report to this Parliament that the measures we are taking in the next two months are beginning to bear fruit and that they have seen strong visibility of our people cleaning. If there is need to continue to improve on the programme, we are at the disposal of this House and we will come back and have this matter discussed further. I thank you.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move that Order of the Day Nos. 1 and 2 be stood over until Order of the Day No. 3 has been disposed of.

HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS

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

Question again proposed.

HON. MATEMA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me, as my point of departure and with your indulgence, pass my condolences to the family that fell victim to a bolt of lightning on Monday evening in Buhera Central Constituency. That is the Hara family which lost four children; Mavis aged 11, Melinda aged 9, Michael aged four and Milford aged one year nine months. May their dear souls rest in peace. To the surviving parents, Mavis and Happison. It is my prayer that the Lord will grant them the fortitude to accept and to deal with this unfortunate incident.

Madam Speaker Ma’am, I want to congratulate the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on the occasion of his re-election on 23^rd August, 2023  on the back of a free and fair election, finding expression in the absence of a court challenge that we were accustomed to in the previous elections. I further congratulate the President on the victory of the people of Buhera Central Constituency and on my own victory occasioned by a clear and bankable campaign programme, birthed and mothered by the President on account of his clear, astute, forward focused, forward leading, forward looking, strategic transformational and servant leadership – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – without which my victory would not have crystalised into reality.  The President taught us to serve and to collapse on alter of humility in our line of service, burdened and genuinely disturbed by the state of affairs in the areas that we serve.

          Madam Speaker Ma’am, I am convicted to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the President delivered and I celebrate the clarity of thought and the direction of travel, which I have no doubt will see my constituency and Zimbabwe at large going up the scaffold of development that is sustainable in the context of the sustainability triangle.  That is in the context of our society, economy and environment, notwithstanding the volatilities, uncertainties, complexities and ambiguities that are inherent in our operating environment.

          One of the areas that got to my attention from the SONA relates to climate change.  Climate change must be seen for what it is, for it is an existential threat, a threat in existence of human kind.  On account of the causes of climate change, two schools of thought, one that says climate change is a result of natural systems while the other says climate change is a result of how we interface and interact with the environment in terms of carbon emissions.  We should locate the climate change discourse with respect to its impact, both at the primary level and secondary level, with respect to the direct impacts and indirect impacts.

          We should also locate that within the context of sustainable development goals.  I would want to thank the President, in his presentation in the State of the Nation Address, he referred to the role that industry must play with respect to climate change; the role that industry must play with respect to energy, because climate change impacts on all those areas.  The President was very clear that business must come on board in terms of supporting energy through the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).  With the target of 1000 megawatts, IPPs are supplying less than 5% of that target, which is 1 000 megawatts.

          As a country…

          Hon. Ziyambi having approached the Chair.

          THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. S. CHIKOMO): Order Hon. Member.  You can go ahead.

          HON. MATEMA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, post the Climate Summit of 1992 in Brazil commonly known as the Rio Declaration which was followed through by a declaration in Kyoto, Japan, popularly known as the Kyoto Protocol, followed up in Paris by the Paris Agreement, which gave birth to the Conference of Parties, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, we are therefore, in that regard as a country, obligated to play our part and play our role with respect to reduction in carbon emissions.

          An Hon. Member having entered through the door which is not permitted.

          THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, you cannot use that door.

          HON. MATEMA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, as a country, we are obligated to play our part in terms of reduction in carbon emissions by virtue of having signed the Paris Agreement.  In that regard, within the context of the sustainability triangle, Goal Number 17 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) speaks to partnerships to achieve the other 16 SDGs.  So, Goal Number 17 becomes the anchor goal to achieve the other goals.  In his presentation, the President made reference to the role that we need to play as individuals.  The role that we need to play as business, as non-State actors or as Government.

          It is against that background therefore, that this 10^th Parliament should work tirelessly in terms of crafting laws that are consistent with the direction that we are taking on account of the obligation that we have on the basis of the Paris Agreement and the Conference of Parties.  It is important that we must have a smart grid-riding on modern technologies so that we maximise on power generation, power transmission, power distribution and the retailing of the same.  Smart technologies and fibre should support datafication of rural areas and therefore, supporting the growth of rural and local economies.

          It is also important that I submit that climate change should be seen as a human rights issue on account of the many rights that it impacts in terms of food production, in terms of our access to health, in terms of our right to housing and even in terms our self-determination.  This is the reason why SDG 13 speaks about climate action to achieve climate justice in our fight against climate apartheid.  Climate apartheid is occasioned by the role that the Global North is playing in terms of carbon emissions.  As Global South, we are contributing very little in terms of pollution of the environment, contributing very little in terms of climate change and contributing very little in terms of global warming, but we feel the greater part of the impact of climate change.  So, in terms of the obligations that the Global North made on the basis of the Kyoto Protocol, we should, as Parliament, make the noise that is possible, and craft laws that will force the Global North to make do with their obligations.

          Madam Speaker Ma’am, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe spoke about climate proofing with respect to agriculture and his acknowledgement of climate change impacts.  This Parliament must be seized with mitigation and building adaptive capacities towards resilient economies and societies from a perspective of ecosystem services. 

          The President spoke about sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.  It would be quite obtuse of this Hon. Member not to speak about sanctions during this anti-sanctions month as we draw towards October 25, which is our anti-sanctions day – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – This Parliament must look at sanctions for what it is.  The illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe are a human rights issue in more ways than one. As they have infringed on the human rights of ordinary Zimbabweans, the capacity and potential of Zimbabwe to realise upward mobility have been curtailed in many respects. 

          However, Madam Speaker Ma’am, I must hail the President for his decision and for taking a bold decision to look inward for homegrown solutions.  The Harare-Beitbridge Road is a smart example of the bold decision that the President took looking at internal resources that were mobilised.  To this extent, the Harare-Beitbridge Road is almost complete on account of internally generated and internally mobilised resources.  We do not owe any foreign Government even a penny and we must celebrate a bold decision that the President took.

          Let me, in conclusion, thank the President, Dr. E.D Mnangagwa for their swift response to a cholera outbreak in Buhera, in particular Buhera Central where many lives were saved.  Madam Speaker Ma’am, I call this august House to amplify the anti-sanction calls, let us continue to beat the anti-sanction drums louder and louder.  Let us, in our collective wisdom, do the needful and crystalise into reality that which the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa set out to achieve through the State of the Nation Address.  I thank you.

          *HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.   I would like to thank you for winning and for being appointed to the Speaker’s Panel.  I would like to congratulate His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for protecting the Constitution. When we look at the Constitution, what he delivered on the State of the Nation Address shows that he reveres the Constitution.

          The SONA address clearly shows the three arms of the State, that is the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary protecting the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

          I want to congratulate the Mashonaland Central constituencies which performed extremely well during the elections.  I also want to congratulate the Shamva South Constituency, we performed better than the rest of the provinces.  In Mashonaland Central, in terms of protecting resources and our destiny as a people, we performed very well.

          Madam Speaker Ma’am, Shamva South, when looking at other presidential candidates like Prof. Madhuku, Mr. Mwonzora and other candidates, they could not even perform like what Shamva South did.

          I would also want to sympathise with Palestinians, yesterday a hospital with small children, 500 children was bombed and today thousands of Palestinians   have died. On that note, let me also sympathise with the Moroccan people where we find some people who are going through challenges in that particular country.

          I would want to thank Hon. Nguluvhe for raising an issue that is quite pertinent.  What really touched me on that issue is that he spoke about drugs that have affected the whole country.  You find that women are now living like widows whilst their husbands are alive.  We have some illicit brews and drugs.  We have one which is called kambucha which comes from Zambia…

          THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member! You can only produce evidence after being authorised by the Chair.

          *HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.  We have quite a worrying issue, an issue of concern.  The boiling of diapers by the youths who consume water extracted from boiled diapers is dangerous because they will be intoxicated.  

          Madam Speaker Ma’am, we have the spinal cord, I do not know what it is called in Shona.

          THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. CHIKOMO: Order! Hon. Member, some are saying the correct word is musana.

*HON. MAPIKI: Thank you Madam Speaker.  The backbone has muscles that enable a person to move and also to see whether the person that is near them is a woman or not.  So, if these muscles come into contact with drugs, let us say alcohol content of 2%, the nerves will become loose if the person continually abuses drugs.  As a result, if you are to greet that person, it will take them long time to respond as they will merely spend a long time staring at you because the veins would have become loose, as a result they will be malfunctioning. It will only be the next day when the victim of drug abuse will realise that someone was greeting them, so, they will now extend their hand in response to the greeting. 

It can also happen at night that the same veins will not be able to connect when the wife requests for her conjugal rights, so, the veins will take longer to function.  It may take two days for the veins to properly function.  So, as a result, the family becomes disjointed as the man will respond to his wife’s request when the wife would have already gone to Bulawayo to buy some wares.  These are the effects of drug abuse; divorce cases are on the increase because men are failing to perform their conjugal duty due to drug abuse.   

A lot of the alcohol that is on the market in Zimbabwean shops is illegal, let me show you the evidence…

Hon. Mapiki showed the House a bottle of alcohol.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. CHIKOMO): Order, you can only show the evidence if the Chair has permitted it. 

*HON. MAPIKI: I stand guided on that point.  Let me also reiterate that the Constitution talks of security, provided by armed forces as well as food security. We also secure our country from poverty and drug abuse.  We have a lot of countries that are dumping their drugs on us, some from as far as Asia, because there is easy market for United States Dollars in Zimbabwe.  We also have drugs coming from countries such as Mexico, Afghanistan and our neighbour Zambia which is notorious for supplying skin lightening creams.  It is another evil that has caused skin Cancer. The majority of women and men in Harare have light skinned faces with the rest of their bodies being very dark due to these creams. 

So, it will then become difficult to know whether they are talking to white or black people, hence one wonders if they are talking to an American or an African.

I therefore, urge the Government to come up with stringent laws that bar the use of illicit alcohol and skin lightening creams.  Anything with alcohol content above 2% should not be sold over the counter.  The sale of an elicit brew popularly know as kambwa at dollar for two, which has 65% alcohol content should not be entertained at all, more so, when opaque beer only has 4% and is sold at a dollar each. 

Madam Speaker, we are no longer sure of where the West is going to end in its efforts for regime change in Zimbabwe. You will recall that the Deputy President of Zambia was the leader of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) and he gave a damning report as he was furthering the interest of the West. As Zimbabwe, we could have walked into a war unaware, which is coming in the form of drug abuse by our children who are below the ages of 15, as they now abuse crystal methyl and other drugs.  As a country, we must put our heads together and tame this challenge. 

There has also been an advent of drinks whose alcohol content is understated and comes from other countries via Zambia as a distribution point.  Our customs and excise officials should be vigilant because a few days ago, Zambia gave a communique to the fact that a Kambucha drink which was being sold in Zimbabwe did not have 0.005% alcohol content, but instead had 8.5%.  This has led to members of the Marange Apostolic Faith inadvertently drinking alcohol due to this misleading information.  Baby pampers are now being dumped everywhere, this makes it easy for them to be abused by people who smoke a by-product made out of the material of pampers. 

We now have an environmental challenge as all these pampers are being dumped into Lake Chivero which might have led Members of Parliament to abscond because they will be under the influence of the substance that would have been dissolved in the water that they would have taken from this source. I therefore, conclude that the madness that we witness of people that speak ill of their country is being caused by these environmental issues which are not being properly managed.

As regards value addition as stated by His Excellency, the President, Madam President, we have 300 000 tonnes of ivory in Zimbabwe and we are on Appendix 2. We are not allowed to dispose or sell the ivory. When you sell it, it can give you USD200, but for trophies we can get USD eight thousand. You remember at one point, we were not allowed to sell diamonds and were supposed to join the Kimberly Process, but this could be done in ivory selling. When we go back to diamonds, you find that this is what was obtaining. When you sell the raw product, you will get less money, but when you sell the processed product, you will get more money.

The President also spoke about small to medium enterprises. This is what we are left with as Zimbabwe. When you look at councils, they are persecuting small to medium enterprises despite creating enough infrastructure for them. China managed to do that for their people. They constructed skyscrapers for recycling papers, buildings which house vendors and small to medium enterprises. The council is said not to have money, but they have money to evict and persecute small to medium enterprises. This is what we are saying that as black people, as Zimbabweans, we have seen it in Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda and in other countries. The small to medium enterprises do not refuse to close their shops, but they work towards developing the nation, like irrigation.

There is need to enhance irrigation projects. You will find that 200 litres of water in Israel can irrigate one hectare using drip irrigation. You would find that when we use such, we can be able to irrigate properly. Sometimes you might need a drum and a half using drip irrigation. As Zimbabwe, we need to embrace that technology. Looking at the fertilizers and the herbicides that we use, some like urea do not evaporate, but they accumulate in the atmosphere and disturb the ozone layer.

With regards to the issue of dry areas like Hwange, it is important to plant mangoes and other fruits so that we can extract juice from such areas and do beneficiation of such products. I want to thank His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for introducing factories which can process amarula, mawuyu in Mashonaland Central and tomatoes in Mutoko and other areas. Madam Speaker, let me say that, like what the President said, we need to unite, work together and work hard as MPs and Ministers. It is up to us to work together because the nation is built by its owners. I thank you.

HON. NJANJI: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me add my voice in response to the SONA delivered by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa on the Official Opening of the 1^st Session of the 10^th Parliament. Before I go into the intricacies of my speech, let me start by proffering my congratulations to His Excellency for the majestic victory in the just ended free, fair and credible peaceful elections. Furthermore, Madam Speaker, let me also extend my profound congratulations to you Madam Speaker and the Hon. Speaker for being elected leaders of this august House, congratulations.

His Excellency highlighted in his SONA Address that Parliament should be, ‘an institution of peace building, hope, national development and the entrenchment of constitutionalism and deepening democratic practices in our country’. I am therefore indebted to faithfully represent the people of Mazowe Central who elected me to this august House. Madam Speaker, to that end, I would like to acknowledge the fruitful works that have been realised through the implementation of the NDS1 in infrastructural development. Major highways, border posts, ports of entry and airports have been given a world-class touch of modernity in light of Vision 2030.

In the same vein, under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP), we have realised the improvement of road network with Mazowe Central not being an exception. Madam Speaker, under the able visionary leadership of President Mnangagwa, the nation has remained food secure despite the ravaging effects of climatic change. The climate proofing way of farming, Pfumvudza has driven hunger away from millions of households. The welfare of communal farmers has remained stable despite threats posed by the new weather patterns. Thanks to pfumvudza. A crucial factor in the success of this programme is Government’s reliable consistent and timely availing of farming inputs to farmers. Mazowe Central is largely comprised of communal farmers and through Pfumvudza, the majority of them have remained food secure and managed to send their children to school using surplus proceeds from the harvests.

Madam Speaker, walking the talk in his mantra that no one and no place should be left behind, President Mnangagwa, under the Second Republic, has seen it that everyone has got access to education and medical services. Thanks to the successful implementation of devolution. Several schools and clinics have been built through devolution funds, and this is testimony to all inclusive policies by His Excellency towards development trajectories. Madam Speaker, it is undoubtable that President Mnangagwa is making notable strides in fulfilling Vision 2030. This is true…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Members by the door there. You can go ahead Hon. Member.

HON. NJANJI: Thank you Madam Speaker. It is undoubtable that President Mnangagwa is making notable strides in fulfilling Vision 2030. This is true if one appreciates the ending of water woes through the Presidential borehole drilling scheme. Access to clean and safe water remains a basic need in both urban and rural areas.  Larger parts of the country’s marginalised areas have perennially been stuck with water challenges with people and livestock engaging in warfare especially during the drought season.  With a national target of 35 000 boreholes, water challenges will be the least of our worries as a country. 

Let me draw this House to the greatest strategy of our time - drugs and substance abuse.  There is no doubt that the scourge is a life threatening hazard destroying the moral facets of our communities with the youths forming the majority of the victims.  I would want to appreciate the burden placed upon our shoulders as Parliament in expediting the amendment of the National Youth Bill.  As His Excellency said, “the Bill provides for mechanisms to facilitate mainstreaming of youths in social, economic and political spaces as well as the sustenance of vocational training centres as hubs for local communities”. 

Madam Speaker, more-so, I see light in expediting of the Sports, Leisure and Recreational Bill which might proffer numerous opportunities to our youths.  I would like to recognise the main strategies that have been implemented for us to tackle this elephant in the room.  More-so, I would like to commend the SONA presentation for its attention on the welfare of women.  Women remain the pillars of our society and there are many homes being headed by women in the absence of fathers due to various causes.  Empowering women is empowering the community. Therefore, I applaud the 2^nd Republic’s stance on unveiling the Women Empowerment Bank in various programmes.  This establishment of village of agro-business unit should also encompass women, thereby creating a pool of opportunities for them in the agricultural sector.  

Madam Speaker, let me add that the acceleration in the reviewing of SMEs Act will aide women in business start-ups.  Therefore, such highlights by the President, Dr. Mnangagwa, in the SONA are welcome as they project hope for the welfare of women as many of them are self-employed in the informal sector.

Lastly, let me acknowledge the selfless service being rendered by His Excellency Cde. President Mnangagwa in the transformation of Zimbabwe towards achieving an upper middle income economy, Vision 2030. The strides made so far are very commendable.  If we achieve unity of purpose as legislators and work towards the fulfilling of each and every tenet raised in SONA, we will surely see the Zimbabwe we want.  Hence the mantra nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, igonamatirwa nevene vayo.  I thank you.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Just for courtesy, I will introduce myself.  My name is Hon. Sheillah Chikomo of Mwenezi East Constituency and it is a very great honour to be accorded a chance to lead this panel.

HON. KANUPULA:  Thank you Madam Speaker. Firstly, I would like to congratulate the President, Cde. E. D Mnangagwa for his re-election.  I would also like to congratulate all MPs who made it through as all of us rode on the successes of His Excellency, President E. D Mnangagwa which he achieved in his first term in office. 

The people of Harare South have mandated me to come to this august House to represent their interests during the five year tenure.  We are grateful to the Government of Zimbabwe as people of Harare South for the construction of Simon Mazorodze interchange which reduces traffic congestion and beautifies our constituency.  We note that the SONA by His Excellency the President is realistic on several fronts.  That he is constructing roads in Hopley township and the face of that settlement has been dramatically uplifted in line with Vision 2030.  We will ensure maximum regularisation of Hopley settlements so it matches with the infrastructure His Excellency has established in Harare South.  In advancing the health situation, the government has constructed Stoneridge Clinic in Harare South.  The present SONA clearly reflects an expansion of these institutions country-wide. 

On job creation, the mantra nyika inovakwa nevene vayo is a true philosophy that has touched the grassroots.  The Mbudzi interchange has employed more young people from my constituency and other surrounding constituencies including Churu and Hunyani constituencies. 

Madam Speaker, my constituency has its own problems which from the vision applied in the SONA must be resolved.  We seek to transform the housing situation in Harare South by embarking on unconditional organisation in Hopley, Alston, Eyecourt and Stoneridge with title deeds being issued in all areas with dispensation certificates in the same manner His Excellency did in Epworth.  Erratic water supplies is another challenge in my constituency which is expected to be resolved.  His Excellency and the Government are in the process of constructing Kunzvi Dam to deal with this matter as outlined in the SONA.  We expect urgent completion of this dam to resolve the challenges which are being faced by the people of Harare South. 

As I conclude Madam Speaker, Hopley township has phases which were established under the Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle Programme.  We expect that area to be electrified during my tenure in line with the President’s vision.  I intend to assist urbanites in the resolution of land acquisition challenges affecting several people in the southern region, particularly Harare South, Churu, Hunyani, Epworth South, Epworth North constituencies and all peri-urban areas in Harare Metropolitan Province.  We will push the Vision 2030 and advance our people’s lives.  I thank you. 

HON. M. NCUBE:  Madam Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate on the State of the Nation Address delivered on the Official Opening of the 10^th Parliament by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Cde. Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa on 3^rd October, 2023.

Before I make my contribution, allow me to firstly congratulate His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa on winning the 23^rd August, 2023 harmonised elections from which he got another five year mandate to lead this nation. Also, allow me to thank His Excellency for his astute leadership on holding a very peaceful, non-violent, free and fair election. This speaks volumes about his dedication and capabilities to lead our country to an unprecedented level of sound progress and prosperity. The people have spoken and given ZANU PF a fresh mandate to serve the nation as it is indicatively clear that we are the tried, tested and trusted party. Congratulations! Amhlope! Twalumba! – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

May I also take this opportunity Madam Speaker to congratulate you and the Speaker for your re-election as the presiding officers of this august House. Twalumba! Congratulations! Amhlope! Makorokoto to you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

Allow me, at this juncture, to reflect on the SONA addressed by His Excellency. The President commenced his speech by congratulating all of us for securing the mandate to serve our people for the next five years. We could not have secured that mandate if we did not have Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa as our number one. Our mandate came as a result of the trust our people have for the President, Cde Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa and this trust comes from his hard work in transforming the lives of our people in his first term of office. In this regard, I thank the President for making our constituents trust us to lead them for the next five years.

Madam Speaker, the President touched on a number of projects and the progress so far made by Government since the beginning of the new dispensation. However, I would like to touch on a thorny issue which His Excellency touched on in his address, the increase in drug and substance abuse, especially among the youth. Drug and substance abuse is on the increase and this has become a cancer in our community. Our future generation is being wiped out while we watch. It is the wish of every parent to be buried by his or her children or grandchildren.

Alas, these days we are burying our kids ahead of us. It is a war and a national security issue which every responsible Zimbabwean must start combating now. The number of murder cases committed by our youth is alarming. Mental cases amongst youth is also a cause for concern. The number of suicides committed by youths due to drugs is also alarming, no one is safe. We are no longer safe as long as our children are not safe. What is more astounding is how the old and respected people are into producing, smuggling and selling these toxic drugs.

I was recently reading a story Madam Speaker, about a prominent footballer, Paul Pogba who has just been suspended from playing football because of drugs. Surely, if the drugs can ruin the career of a prominent player, what more about our kids in schools? I appreciate Government efforts in coming up with the Ministerial Taskforce to deal with the issue but as a nation, we need to tighten our laws and work together in fighting this cancer.

Madam Speaker, the President also touched on infrastructure and developmental projects that have taken place in our country. We have seen tangible evidence on power generation improvement following the commissioning of Hwange Power Station Units 7 and 8. We have seen the rehabilitation of the road network and the upwards growth trajectory in the tourism industry among others. We have seen our mining sector registering significant growth in the past five years, from USD 2,8 billion to USD12 billion to date.

Tsholotsho South District is one of the districts which will be benefitting very soon. We have witnessed a lot of activities which are happening in the constituency. Sooner or later, it will be a mining hub as we have seen giant mining companies around the district prospecting minerals such as gold, diamonds and so on. We have a huge potential as a constituency for unparalleled growth if our resources are meticulously managed and utilised.

We have vast mineral resources such as gold which lie untapped and will certainly contribute to our economic growth with adequate support and good management of such wealthy. Our artisanal miners who are working tirelessly on the ground need to be better organised so that whatever they get is channelled to the market for the benefit of the State as compared to the reaping of such proceeds by greedy individuals who end up not remitting to the State. These are some of the leakages that need to be timeously plugged if we are to realise meaningful economic growth as a country – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

Madam Speaker, His Excellency the President in his SONA went on to outline the legislative agenda where he alluded to a number of Bills that this august House will be seized with, singling out some archaic laws that have to be repealed and those laws that need to be amended or reviewed. It is therefore our duty to ensure that these pieces of legislation are expeditiously considered in this august House.

          Coming to my constituency, I have to thank most heartedly, the sterling developmental measures that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development embarked on in the construction of the 15 km Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road. Government should avail more resources to complete the remaining kilometres. Resources permitting, I implore the Ministry to also consider Tsholotsho-Chefunye-Bulawayo road rehabilitation. This will definitely go a long way towards opening up my constituency for massive development.

          Section 264 of our Constitution speaks to devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities in order to enhance local people participation in the exercise of State powers and making decisions on matters affecting them. It is in this regard that the President spoke about the increase of resources disbursed towards devolution and decentralisation programmes, giving priority to projects which improve access and quality of education and health. Devolution funds have empowered the people of Tsholotsho South through their local councils, as the President’s mantra goes; ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo. As a constituency, we have constructed clinics, schools and dip tanks using these funds. I support the President’s call to increase devolution allocation as more funds are needed in Tsholotsho South to construct Nanda and other community dams in Wards 19, 16, 11, 10 and borehole rehabilitation across the constituency. These dams will enhance and guarantee agricultural productivity and improve incomes and the livelihoods of our citizens since our major economic activity is agro-based, suffice to say we have potential for agricultural production and we thrive to be the bread basket for Matabeleland North Province. In this regard, we stand to gain a lot from our agricultural produce where our farmers have the potential to provide food security for the whole district, hence we have witnessed a number of farmers at agricultural shows getting first prizes. I also thank the President for coming up with the Pfumvudza/Intwasa scheme which has seen most of our households benefitting.

          The President showed commitment in liberalising the airwaves by opening 14 community radio stations around the country. In his book Decolonising the Mind, Ngugi wa Thiongo says “Language, any language has a dual character; it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture”. There are no better ways of promoting and advancing the use of all languages, let alone creating conditions for the development of these languages besides creating a platform where the users of these languages can openly and freely use the language and culture. I want to thank the President, Cde E. D. Mnangagwa and the Second Republic for opening the airwaves in these areas, as his mantra goes, leaving no one and no place behind. By commissioning radio stations in less developed areas, our Government is therefore making it a point that everyone gets informed and be heard in his own language. This project has not only enabled access to information, but created employment for our young people in the country.

          Tsholotsho has serious mobile network challenges, especially Wards 10, 14, 15, 20, 18, 12 and 16 in the resettlement areas. In these wards, they use mobile networks of neighbouring countries like Botswana and South Africa.

          Our President spoke about transformation and modernisation of our infrastructure as well as Heritage Based Education 5.0 Model. I would like to thank the President for the donation of 30 laptops in some schools in my constituency. This will enable our learners to be part of the global village, ICT village. We have witnessed the construction of milestone projects like the Tsholotsho School of Nursing which is at 80% and currently enrolling 22 students per intake. I urge Central Government to put more funds for the completion of this game changer project in Tsholotsho. Its completion will be significant to the President’s industrialisation of rural communities.

          The Second Republic, through the President E. D. Mnangagwa, has recognised our people, the Khoisan community, by constructing a school and clinic in their locality. They are now learning their language and being considered for employment in the civil service. I thank His Excellency the President, Dr E. D. Mnangagwa for issuing national identity documents and birth certificates to the Khoisan and the installation of the Khoisan Chief, which is a way of integrating the Khoisans into the President’s vision of leaving no place and no one behind. This will also assist them to preserve their culture through their structures.

          My constituency has part of the wards in the resettlement areas which have not been developed like others parts. I urge Government to put more resources on the infrastructure development in the areas such as Ward 12 Nhlabathi which is under the Forestry Commission land, hence the need for formalisation as well. Wards 14, 16, and 17 need water, schools, clinics and road network.

          The President has shown us the framework and roadmap which we at the Tenth Parliament should follow to achieve the National Vision 2030. Let us all put our hands on the deck.

          Allow me Madam Speaker to thank the people of Tsholotsho South for voting for me as a woman. I respect them for that and promise that I will deliver. Once again, thank you Madam Speaker for affording me this opportunity to debate the President’s Speech. Thank you, Siyabonga, twalumba, tatenda.

          HON. DHANZI: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to speak in this august House. My name is Auxilia Dhanzi representing Masvingo Province Women’s Quota. Firstly, I would like to extend my greatest felicitations to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr E. D. Mnangagwa for a resounding massive win in the 2023 harmonised elections. An election which has proven practically as one of its own to be the most peaceful election in the history of African elections. Thank you Zimbabweans for that.

          In the same manner, I would like to also congratulate Mr. Speaker Sir, on his reappointment and the Deputy Speaker as well.  Notwithstanding the Hon. Members who made it in this 10^th Parliament, it is a great honour for me to serve in this House alongside my elected colleagues.  I would like to believe that everyone here is dedicated to the same cause, unprecedented growth and complete representation to the people who voted us in.  Let us all persistently strive for our country’s ultra-development as mentioned by His Excellency, E. D. Mnangagwa in his SONA speech. 

          Madam Speaker Ma’am, I want to thank His Excellency the President for his leadership in implementing the quota system.  Both the youth and the women quota have immensely improved. Now there is gender balance and equal representation in this House as one of the most important aspect reinforced by principles of democracy and seeing a balanced gender makes me happy. 

          I would also like to address the subject matter covered in His Excellency the President SONA speech.  I applaud the youth Bill and I am keen on its adoption and implementation.  I support that the Youth Bill is a tool designed to slay the beast of the day known as drug substance abuse as supported by his speech.  Madam Speaker Ma’am, what we see everyday in our communities due to the abuse of drugs by the youths will assist us and these young ones need special attention in so far as the Bill will assist young people in regaining their bearings in the true spirit of progressive, advanced life.  I suggest harsher punishments to drug dealers.  Actually, they must never again see the light if we are to completely eradicate drug use in Zimbabwe.  The Bill is equally entwined with the Sport, Leisure and Recreation Bill which aims to create an environment that facilitates the delivery of sport and recreation will shift youth attention from substance abuse.  Madam Speaker, towards issues of substance development, youth should not be the missing link in this cycle of growth according to the nyika iinovakwa nevene vayo mantra. 

Last but not least Madam Speaker Ma’am, peace should reign as stated in the SONA speech.  I agree with His Excellency the President and thank him for raising such an important issue.  This institution should be the one that fosters democracy, constitutionalism and national development not one where the people can demonstrate and do not care about the interests of the people who supported them.  With these and those, I have put my prayers.  I thank you. 

*HON. ZEVEZAI:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker on their re-election.  I also want to congratulate all Members of Parliament who were recently elected to this august House.  I also want to congratulate myself for making it as a Member of Bikita East and the confidence that the people of Bikita East placed on me.  I would like to thank all the Zimbabwean citizens for voting for His Excellency the President, Dr. Mnangagwa and for the returning of the country into such good leadership. 

I want to thank His Excellency the President for all the work that he is doing especially in road infrastructure development. He is doing a good job and I am grateful for that.  I am also grateful for the dam construction that he has undertaken.  I would want to thank him for that. 

Madam Speaker, may I also urge places like Bikita East to also have a lot of dam constructions because this is region 4 and 5 which has rain challenges.  It is my fervent hope that when dam construction is being considered, Bikita East is also going to be considered.  Bikita East is also benefitting from the Presidential inputs schemes and this has developed the lives of the people in my area.

 I applaud the sentences that are going to be imposed on drug abusers and also drug manufacturers such that there will be deterrent sentences.  I also urge that there be a construction of a place for children who are under 15 so that they have recreational facilities that they keep themselves occupied.  Hence, they will not be prone to drug abuse.  We want to thank the President for his programme with the youth that wherever there is mining that the youth be given a quota so as to occupy themselves. The youth are our future, the development of our country is in their hands.  Thank you Madam Speaker.

HON. SAMSON:  Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me the opportunity to add my voice on State of the Nation delivered by the President.  First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the Hon. Speaker and his Deputy for being retained as Presiding Officers of this august House respectively.  I also want to congratulate you for being elected as a member of the Speaker’s Panel.  Whilst I am still on this trajectory, I would want to heartily congratulate our President for being re-elected President during the recently held harmonised elections where he scored a resounding victory which has never happened before.  I am grateful for that.

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate all the Members of Parliament who emerged victorious and made it to this august House.  I also want to congratulate myself for being afforded the opportunity to be retained as a Member of Parliament. 

I now turn my mind to what His Excellency the President said in his State of the Nation Address as regards the issue of irrigation. So, because of the dams that were constructed, when I cast my mind to the constituency where I come from, we now have a very big dam Tokwe-Mukorsi that is in Masvingo Province. We are grateful because it holds a lot of water and people are going to have a lot of projects as a result of the irrigation schemes. Therefore, as it starts working, the people that should be in irrigation schemes are going to emerge victorious and by so doing, we will eradicate hunger in Masvingo Province.

          I want to thank His Excellency, President E. D. Mnangagwa over the issue of drilling numerous boreholes numbering up to 35 000. This means that as a woman representative, I am quite happy about the programme that His Excellency, the President enunciated. I recall that in Chiredzi East where I hail from, if we talk of areas of Humani and Ankers Masapati, they do not have a lot of boreholes. When these boreholes will be drilled, I believe that they will drill some in those areas.

          I will again look at Chiredzi North which was a farming area, it is a dry region. If I envisage that because of the President’s programme, we are going to have water in areas such as Ward 17 where there is inadequate water. As a woman representative and on their behalf, I am quite proud that women who voted me into this position are going to get water for irrigation of their cash garden products so that if they have these market gardens, they will sell their produce such as vegetables, onions and tomatoes. As rural dwellers, they will raise funds that will be able to sustain their children by buying them stationery as they go to school.

          Furthermore, I would want to thank His Excellency, the President for the project Pfumvudza/Intwasa. If I look back at Chiredzi where I come from and if you were to look at the holes that were dug in this area, they are well-done so that one might lose control of their vehicle and veer off the road admiring the beauty in which these holes were dug. I am glad that the people in the communal lands have gladly accepted the Pfumvudza/Intwasa project. With the recent rains, people have already started planting small grains and they are going to germinate as a result of these rains that have fallen.

I would also want to thank His Excellency for the road infrastructure that has been improved. A typical example is the Beitbridge or Chirundu Road which is now very good. Ever since I grew up, I had never seen road construction, but my first experience was this particular road. It made me realise that our President was on to a very good project. A lot of people lost their lives because of road traffic accidents because the road was not wide enough, it was too narrow. If you now look at this particular road, people are now reckless and dying as a result of the goodness of that road and also because of over speeding.

They will be enjoying the good state of the road and they end up veering off the road. I therefore want to thank our President, His Excellency, for all the respect that he has bestowed on women. He respects us as women. We are grateful that  to be in this august House, it is because of the quota system that was granted to us by the President so that we could represent women on this quota system without contesting against men.

The President observed that if we were to contest against men, they would emerge victorious because men have more money than us women. It did not end there because the President went further down. He also introduced the proportional representation for women councillors. As women, we should be grateful for what the President has done for us. He is trying the best he could to empower us as women.

Therefore, Madam Speaker, I cannot conclude my debate without thanking women who voted for me to be their representative. I would like to thank the women of Chiredzi North, East, West and South for electing me to be their representative once again. Therefore, I am also hoping that I will be able to discharge this responsibility thrust on me very well so that they can, in the end access potable water and good schools that are nearby so that children from ECD do not walk long distances, hence they will be able to go to these schools on their own.

Finally, Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Government for the devolution funds that we are receiving in the constituencies. I urge the Government to increase the amounts that are being disbursed because where I come from in Chiredzi, there are a lot of competing interests in that particular area, such as clinics that were not completed in terms of construction. It is our wish that these clinics could be quickly completed so that the residents can benefit.

There are also areas where learning centres are being built which can easily be accessed by ECD grades because they are still young. As a woman representative, I will be happier if these things could be quickly concluded. I therefore want to thank you Madam Speaker for the opportunity that you have granted me.

          *HON. SAMAMBWA: Thank you Madam Speaker.  Let me start by congratulating His Excellency, Hon. Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for emerging victorious during the harmonised elections of 23^rd August, 2023.  He won this undisputed elections resoundingly.  I would also like to congratulate the Members of Parliament that were elected by the constituencies to come and represent them in this august House, although some of them default attending Parliament. Let me also congratulate the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Mudenda and Hon. Gezi, his Deputy and all Members of the Speaker’s Panel.

          Without wasting time, because I can see that a lot of people are no longer attentive, let me quickly go on with my speech so that people listen.  Let me talk about what His Excellency said in terms of devolution.  His Excellency said that the funds should be increased.  Once these funds have been increased, our areas are going to be developed; schools, clinics and even the quality of water that we are talking about will be improved because the projects will be closer to the people as a result of more money being set aside.  I will give an example of the little money that I was allocated for devolution in Zhombe. We managed to construct schools, hospitals, clinics and boreholes.

          His Excellency the President talked about electricity. A few months ago, I went to South Africa.  South Africa is in a sorry state in terms of load shedding.  A lot of generators are being used now.  People here are not grateful about what we have.  They do not see what is happening in other countries.  These shortages have become the norm in other countries. Our President did well.  He planned well and ensured that we do not run out of electricity.  I come from a rural constituency. We have electricity in our rural schools, clinics and even in homes.  This is as a result of the leadership of Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa.  

          Let me talk about road development and infrastructure.  Our roads were very bad and were in a pathetic state, but even a blind person can feel that the roads are now very smooth. Those that have recently been constructed are excellent and others are yet to be constructed. A lot of money should be set aside for road construction. They have also gone into urban areas because our councils are failing to maintain these roads.

          Let me talk about the issue of boreholes.  In the communal lands where I come from, where there is no water, there is no life.  Where there is no water, it is a problem for the women. If there is no water, women lose weight because of walking to fetch water every day.  The boreholes that have been drilled are going to ease pressure on women. I know most of us here are from urban areas.  There may be four or five Members of Parliament that are in the urban areas.  In the rural areas, life is sustained by boreholes.  I really appreciate the President and his understanding that water means life.  People and livestock all depend on water.

          Before I take my seat, let me talk about mining because we are sustained by mining in our constituencies.  If you do not have a mine, as Members of Parliament, you should not win the constituency, we compete because of money.  His Excellency the President touched on the issue of mines. Mines are what remain for us to sustain ourselves.  There could be other areas that could sustain our economy, but with mining included.  Therefore, we urge that mining be granted loans specifically for young miners because we are only left with farming and mining for sustenance.

A few years ago, we had hunger in this country, bread was expensive because we used to import wheat.  I am grateful that His Excellency the President has now constructed several dams which enabled farmers to produce enough for the nation.  I thank you.

          HON. TSITSI ZHOU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.

          HON. KARIKOGA: I second.

          Motion put and agreed to.

          Debate to resume: Thursday, 19^th October, 2023.

          On the motion of HON. TSITSI ZHOU, seconded by HON. M. NCUBE, the House adjourned at a Quarter to Seven o’clock p.m.