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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 21 MARCH 2018 44 50

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Wednesday, 21^st March, 2017

The National Assembly met at a Quarter­past Two O’clock p.m.

PRAYERS

(THE ACTING SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING SPEAKER

INVITATION TO A MULTI­STAKEHOLDER CONVERSATION

THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO): I wish

to inform the House that the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa had invited Chief Whips, Committee Chairperson and the Chairpersons of the Women’s Caucus to a multi­stakeholder conversation with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. The dialogue session which was due to be held on 22^nd March, 2018 at Rainbow Towers has been postponed to 9^th April, 2018 on account of the fact that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is away on official duty.

HON. MLILO: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am a bit worried about the poor attendance of the House, especially today from colleague Members of Parliament from the MDC­T party. I therefore would like to urge your humble office to engage their Chief Whip to encourage them to attend Wednesday sessions as this is our day when we deliberate and present our questions to the Minister. I know we are in the pre­election period but our House has not yet been dissolved. May you please encourage the Chief Whip of the MDC­T party to encourage Members of Parliament to attend? Thank you.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order please. Your point is taken and we will engage the Chief Whip on that.

HON. NYANHONGO:  My point of privilege is that I have observed we have taken too long without holding any caucus meeting and I am requesting through you Mr. Speaker Sir, so that we have sometime whereby we can have this caucus meeting.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, the caucus you are

referring to, is it a Joint Caucus of Parliament or caucus of the party.

HON. NYANHONGO: I mean the Party Caucus – [HON.

MEMBERS: Ah!] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order please! Hon. Member, you should have referred that one to your Chief Whip.

HON. MAJOME: Mr. Speaker, my point of privilege concerns the frequent habit of Cabinet Ministers absenting themselves from the

House, particularly on a day when they expect that we must target them. For now, there are four Hon. Cabinet Ministers in the House and we have not heard from you Mr. Speaker Sir – [HON. MEMBERS:

Inaudible interjections.] – Can I be protected Mr. Speaker Sir? I have the privilege to address this House.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order at back, what is the excitement about?

HON. MAJOME: Mr. Speaker, may I have your protection and specifically to remind Hon. Members that they have no right to tell me to shut up and to sit down because I was elected. I have a right to speak in this House and they are not the Speaker.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: You are protected, you may go ahead.

HON. MAJOME: My point of privilege pertains to the habitual absence of Hon. Ministers. When we began this session, I was expecting possibly to hear from your good self, may be notices that certain Ministers applied for leave and they have been none, and we have gotten straight into the business and there are only four Hon. Ministers. Even then, may you Mr. Speaker Sir rule on that? What is happening to Ministers? Have they resigned or they have forgotten that it is their duty to come to the House in terms of the Constitution to answer to us unless they have very good reasons. Also, who is the Leader of the House at the present moment because there are questions of national importance that we would need to pose.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Majome but I have

got apologies from the following Ministers. I am sure they are in the company of the President:  Hon. Dr. J.M. Gumbo, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development; Hon. Rtd. Lt. Gen. Dr. S. Moyo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co­operation; Hon.

Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Hon. Bimha, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development and Hon. Dr. Mpofu, Minister of Home Affairs. I have received apologies from those Hon. Ministers. I am also informed that the

Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Chinamasa is in

China on Government business.

HON. MAJOME: On that note, may I proceed to firstly ask who the Leader of the House is since Hon. Ziyambi is not around. My further question is ­ what is it that your good office is going to do about the Ministers who did not seek leave of the House because you read a list of Ministers that is shorter than the list of Ministers who are not here and who we have not heard about because the Standing Rules and Orders are specific as to what should happen to Ministers who did not seek leave of absence.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: On several occasions, this same issue has been raised in this Parliament and the Chair has taken it up with His Excellency the President, so we are waiting to hear what action he is going to take.  Unfortunately, at this point in time, we do not seem to have the Leader of the House but you may pose your questions to the Ministers who are in the Chamber.

HON. NDEBELE: I also rise on a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir.  Something is worrying me about the Gwayi­Shangani dam.  A Russian Mining Concern has been given a concession and that coal mining concession is anticipated to exist…

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Member, order.  Can you approach the Chair please?

Hon. Ndebele approached the Chair.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

HON. NDEBELE:  My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development.  What policy position informs the licencing of Liberation Coal mine to start mining in the Shangani­Gwayi area yet clearly, a mine cannot co­exist together with a dam?

THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHITANDO):  The Hon. Member is

referring to the commencement or proposed commencement of mining by Liberation Mining in the Gwayi area.  The concession in question is about 16 000 hectares.  It is true that one side of that concession is close to the dam.  What has happened is that there has been an evaluation by

EMA and interrogation of the mining plan.  In the interim for the commencement of operations, the pit which has been designed is designed at the furthest point in the 16 000 hectares which will not interfere with the dam. As that pit is developed, there will be a comprehensive environmental and mining plan to ensure that there are not effects on the dam.

HON. NDEBELE:  I therefore wish to invite the Minister of

Mines and Mining Development together with his colleague, the Minister of Environment and Water and Climate to present to this House a Ministerial Statement because when I look at the issues, I realise that that particular mine ­ in certain sections will be mining at the throwback of Gwayi­Shangani Dam.  I do not need to underline the importance of that dam to the people of Matabeleland, Midlands as well as Bulawayo.

I therefore implore the Minister to bring for interrogation in this House a Ministerial Statement because part of that mine is certainly going to be under that dam and acid cannot be prevented from spilling into the dam and EMA does not have the expertise nor the technology to monitor attempts at mitigating such spillage.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Minister, are you comfortable with bringing in the Ministerial Statement?  I am sure you have to.

HON. CHITANDO:  The concerns by the Hon. Member are

genuine and noted.  That is why I said that in the 16 000 hectare land, mining will start where there is definitely no interference.  Any further mining beyond the pit which has been designed at the moment will be backed by a comprehensive environmental management plan.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Are we in agreement that you are going to make a Ministerial Statement?

HON. CHITANDO:  Certainly Sir.

HON. MLILO: My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.  What is

Government’s plan of fully availing services for the Garikai projects that in our ten provinces seeing that in provinces like Bulawayo, where we have got the biggest Garikai project – up to now, there is no sewer service and running water?  Above all, there are no traversable roads.

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC

WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J.G. MOYO):  Mr.

Speaker, we are looking at all the housing projects that have taken place in the country where we feel that they are not equipped with water, sewerage and other infrastructure that goes with proper service delivery. To that extent, we have called for a meeting of all the local authorities that are affected.  They will be meeting tomorrow and Friday in Kadoma so that we can map out an investment programme so that we can upgrade them.

We are not just looking at Garikai houses but all the housing that has taken place and are unplanned throughout the country.  In Bulawayo as you indicate, in addition to the Garikai built places, there are 15 others where there is no infrastructure that will require a better housing project if it was properly planned.

HON. MLILO:  May you kindly outline the current handover details that are there between the Government and councils, particularly in Garikai projects.  I am asking this because for development purposes, you find councils like Bulawayo City Council neglects the Garikai project because it is a Government project and they say Government handed over the project when it was under­developed and they expect to therefore service the land fully.  I thank you.

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. MOYO):  Mr.

Speaker, all development that occurs within a local Government area can be developed by private sector, Government or the councils themselves. The responsibility for continuing to run those housing projects first have to lay with the local authority for services and if the infrastructure has been put by the developer, yes the local authority still takes over the running of those local authorities.  Those are the issues that we want to examine because a lot has happened and councils have allowed developers in a lot of cases to build without proper inspection and hand over.  Those are the issues that we want to examine and see what problems exist in each of the local authorities.

In terms of who ought to run the areas?  There are grey areas obviously where something has been built and is not within an urban local authority, is at the border and is in the rural district council area and there has been dispute as to who ought to run that area.  Those are the things that we can iron out.  Fortunately, both in the Rural District Councils Act or the Urban Councils Act or the Urban Development Corporation Act, there are provisions that we can use so that we can make sure that it is under some jurisdiction.  This is what we will be clarifying to the councils so that we can give them the legal backing to run those areas that have been built up.

HON. HOLDER:  My supplementary is ­ can the Hon. Minister elaborate regarding areas such as Shabani­Mashava Mine where mines are shut down but council does not deliver services in terms of sewer reticulation in that area?  Can he elaborate more on whether Government has a policy in place so that council takes over that facility since we have a lot of citizens who are staying in those areas and the mines have shutdown.

HON. J. MOYO:  There are a lot of mining compounds that were run by mining concessions and those have not been handed over to local councils.  We have been encouraging mines to say, why do you not do the business of mining and let the residential accommodation be run by the local authorities concerned?  A lot of these old mines like ShabaniMashava Mines, the local authority has not taken over the housing or the services in those areas.  What we were afraid of is what you are now describing Hon. Member, where a mine is now in trouble and all of sudden the people are still living there with no services in terms of refuse collection, sewerage and water and that is what we were trying to avoid.

So we will continue to negotiate with mining concessions to let the local authorities to take over the running of the mining compounds as far as residential accommodation is concerned and they can concentrate on the mining.  That happened in some areas way back in the 80s where the mining concessions actually gave back to the local authorities to run the residential areas. In a lot of mining compounds, that has not happened but we will continue to persuade and discuss with the mining concessions so that they can handover.  I thank you.

HON. MAJOME:  My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Hon. July Moyo.  Hon. Minister, is it Government policy for the Government to increase the density of the population in suburbs where the infrastructure that the suburbs were designed for has not improved and the population already in the existing houses is much bigger maybe about three times bigger than the infrastructure that those suburbs were designed for?  Is it

Government policy to do that regardless?  I thank you.

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC

WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO):  Thank you Mr. Speaker, I thank the Hon. Member.  She is definitely asking me something that is not Government policy to densify the urban areas whether low or high density areas where services are already under pressure.  If anything else, we would want to make sure that the infrastructure that is put in an area is consistent with the settlement that has been planned in that area but we know that has not happened in many areas.

Councils are aware that when they have their local plans approved by the Department of Physical Planning or myself, it should be them who supervise development control and that development control will ensure that unplanned additional accommodation is not erected.  I

applaud those councils that make sure that if there is a stand of 200 m^2, that is supposed to have a piece of residential accommodation that is approved.  After all, all the structures that ought to be built on a stand are approved, if there is any extra structure that the local authority together with the property owner make sure that the structure is not there – that is Government policy.  We do not want councils or individuals to violate the law.  I thank you.

HON. MAJOME:  My supplementary question is ­ why therefore is the Ministry of the Hon. Minister in Mabelreign, Harare West in particular taking land that is called, greenways that has not been settled on and parceling it out by creating residential and church stands, et cetera by allocating it to people yet it was planned to remain like that yet the infrastructure is struggling?  Why is his Ministry doing that and also on wetlands?

HON. J. MOYO:  The Hon. Member is now being specific and I do not have the figures or knowledge about what she is talking about.

THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO):  Hon.

Member, you can put that question in writing so that the Hon. Minister can research and come back to you.

HON. MANDIPAKA:  My question is directed to the Minister of

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services (Hon. Amb. S. K. Moyo). Hon. Minister, as the country moves closer to our free and fair harmonised elections, what media policy has Government put in place to ensure that journalists are not attacked especially those from the public media as they cover opposition elements more­so in the MDC­T?

THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, MEDIA AND

BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. AMB. S. K. MOYO):  Mr.

Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for his question.  We have stated and the President Himself, His Excellency President E. D. Mnangagwa has spoken very eloquently against any form of violence, pre or post elections.  We are not condoning any form of violence, not only as regards the opposition but as regards everybody in the country. We are a free and independent country and we want to be certain that we abide by what has been pronounced very clearly by His Excellency the President.  So, the violence or any attack whether on journalists or anyone is totally anathema to our dictates.  I therefore, want to appeal to all Members of Parliament wherever they are, please let us preach the same language and let us also sing from the same hymn book and that is; no violence of any kind on anybody throughout the country.  I thank you Mr. Speaker.

HON. MLISWA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  My question is in line with free, fair, credible and non­violent election.  What is the State owned media doing to also cover political parties who are not ZANU PF even independent members like myself who have already started campaigning before the ruling party? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order.

HON. AMB. S. K. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for his question and I want to remind all of us that it has recently been announced that His Excellency the President will be meeting all leaders of political parties.  This is where we want to thrash out the issue that the Hon. Member has raised.  What I can assure you is that there will be openness and people will have access to the media in all forms.  Certainly, we must all agree that freedom also goes with responsibility and therefore I believe that when the time comes, whoever takes to the airs will also be cognisant of the fact that he or she has got a responsibility because there is no freedom which is just free and therefore entertaining any form of irresponsibility. I thank you Mr.

Speaker.

*HON. SITHOLE: My question is on the issue of the media. What measures have been put in place for television and radio coverage to cover all political parties? Whenever we view television, we see the same thing like what happened during the time of Dr. Amai Mugabe, the same is now prevailing.  When is the change going to come in that regard? I thank you.

HON. AMB. S. K. MOYO: Mr. Speaker, I believe the question is the same as the one asked earlier by Hon. Mliswa.  The only difference is that his is in Shona and the other one was in English and therefore, I stand by my answer Mr. Speaker Sir.

*THE ACTING SPEAKER: Had you not heard his response?

HON. A. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, I just want to check with the Minister what Government policy on the issuance of radio licence is.  A few weeks ago, ZBC opened a new radio station in Bulawayo and I am sure it is not lost to us in the opposition that this is yet another ZANU PF mouth piece.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Is that a supplementary question or a new question?

HON. A. NDEBELE: It is arising from the first question on licensing.

HON. AMB. S. K. MOYO: Mr. Speaker, as far as I know there is no party which owns a radio or television station.  If there is, I would want to see that evidence because I do not think they are allowed, if at all it is used as a national instrument to favour one side.  I would want to see if there is any proof to that effect. I thank you Mr. Speaker.

HON. A. NDEBELE: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

HON. A. NDEBELE: That clearly is not where my question lies. If I may repeat for the benefit of the Minister; my question is ­ what is Government policy on the issuance of radio licences?  A few weeks ago in Bulawayo, ZBC opened a new radio station and there was no public call or an advertisement to say there is a taking for a radio licence.  So, I want to find out what Government policy is in respect to issuance of radio licences.  The Minister is digressing – [HON. NDEBELE: The

Minister is lost] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, can you withdraw that.  Hon. Member, I have given you the opportunity to ask two supplementary questions.  Can you withdraw the unparliamentary language.

HON. A. NDEBELE: I wish to withdraw that which is not parliamentary.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you say exactly

what you said, the words that you said.

HON. A. NDEBELE: I was of the assumption the Minister was

lost ­ I withdraw that.

HON. AMB. S. K. MOYO: Mr. Speaker, I want to state that in terms of licences, there were a number of advertisements made in various papers sometime back and if the Hon. Member missed those advertisements, it cannot be my fault but certainly there were advertisements in the paper about these licences.  People applied in numbers and I cannot go beyond that.  I thank you.

HON. A. NDEBELE: But this one was not advertised.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I will not allow you, hold on [AN HON. MEMBER: Point of order.] – Order, how can you say point of order when I am still speaking? Hon. Ndebele, the Minister said it has been advertised.

HON. A. NDEBELE: It was not. This station is three weeks old –

[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order please!

HON. PHIRI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.   My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and

National Housing.

In most of our local authorities ­ the old towns and cities, we have residents who are staying in houses where they are using communal toilets and also families of three or four in a room, what is Government’s policy in as far as alleviating these families from these bad conditions. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC

WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO):  Mr.

Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon. Member.  There are a lot of our people who are living under extreme conditions of pressure from lack of adequate accommodation, crowded accommodation and dilapidated accommodation.  Some of it dating way back to the early days of colonialism.  Government is very aware of this situation and we are saying, as we plan ahead, the President has said, let us have a command housing programme which does not only look at housing expansion in new areas but looking at old townships or old areas where our people lived and see how we can uplift that housing pressure.

We are almost advanced in planning for the launch of a housing programme that will take care of not only the new houses but, also concentrating on building flats so that we do not continue to gobble arable land.  Also at the same time, looking at those old areas and see whether we can go and either put flats so that we can build better and more accommodation in areas that are restricted without too much expansion.  We think that once we do that, we also will lessen the pressure on sewerage and on water supply because we are not expanding.  The way we were now building our accommodation just expanding too far, the local authorities cannot afford to pay for the services.  So, I want to thank the Hon. Member for raising this issue which Government is looking at very seriously in order to alleviate the problems that our people are facing.  I thank you.

HON. PHIRI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I want to thank the Minister for his answer but, it is short of time.  When exactly do we think this is going to happen because the situation that we have in these areas is very, very serious, especially if we have a disease epidemic?

HON. J. MOYO:  I want to assure the Hon. Member that we are putting all efforts in order to start this command housing programme that the President has tasked us to do and it is part of our 100 days which we have now already submitted in terms of plans but until it is launched, I cannot give a timetable as to exactly when we will be alleviating all these.  But, let us not also forget that every city, Kadoma included, Bulawayo, Masvingo and Mutare, where you have had all these old accommodation, some of which we call misana yenzou, we need to pay attention to that.  We are talking to all the local authorities as we have done, we have said to every local authority, as you come up with your programmes for the new housing projects that you want to embark on, do not forget about all these areas where dilapidation has taken place. So, we are paying attention to it and we will be announcing our timetabling of implementation once it is launched.  I thank you.

*HON. ZWIZWAI:  Thank you Hon. Speaker.  After thanking the Minister for his response, my question is that, when we look at our people, they are having difficulties with funds with regards to accommodation.  Some other countries like America and Canada build their houses using wood and these houses are built in a very short space of time and they are cheap.  All the houses that you see on television in America, they are built from wood.  When is our Government going to be bringing on board houses that are going to be built out of timber and these timber houses can be built inside two weeks and the family can live comfortably in such a house?  I thank you.

*HON. J. MOYO:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  I want to thank the

Hon. Member.  We have very little in the form of timber.  Let me repeat Mr. Speaker, that we have very little in the form of timber.  I am saying so because I once worked with a bias towards tree programming and that is why we are now asking people to grow trees annually.  We have very few trees in Zimbabwe.  In America and Canada, they have plenty of trees as compared to the ones that we have in Zimbabwe.

For building purposes in Zimbabwe, if we were to look at the cost of the price of bricks for construction instead of using wood, we will build structures that are much cheaper from bricks as opposed to timber. We use timber mostly for roofing trusses but if you look at the amount that goes into the construction of the building, you will observe that the roof costs a third of the entire building in terms of costs because timber is very expensive when compared to bricks.

I am in agreement that they may take a shorter period if construction was going to be done using wood, but in America, if you are a builder, you are taught to do carpentry.  In Zimbabwe, we teach people to lay bricks as brick layers.  So, for us to have the form of training for everyone to train as a carpenter, it will take us a lot of time when on the other hand, we have the land and the trees that can be used for purposes of timber and trusses and the wood that is used for construction is in Manicaland.

In areas where certain Hon. Members come from, there is not even a single board or timber that can be used for construction.  I thank you.

*HON. MLISWA:  My question arises from the fact that there are some people that are living in council houses that have dwelt in those houses for a long time.  They are waiting for their pensions to be processed but they are now being evicted.  What is the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing going to do to such affected tenants?  They are not being given their dues so that they can buy the houses, but they are being chased from those houses.  Why do they not simply sell these houses to these occupants, to these persons because they are owed their monies in the form of pensions?

This is quite rife in Norton where I reside.  The people are not willingly defaulting, but it is because the Government is not paying them.  They do not have lawyers and as a result, they are being evicted from these houses.  What is Government going to do about it?  I thank you.

* HON. J. MOYO:  Thank you Mr. Speaker for the question that has been posed, but for me to adequately address this question because he has talked about Norton which is specific, could I be given time to go and research on what exactly is going on in Norton and come and give a fuller answer so that we can assist each other with the local council.  I thank you.

*THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order.  Mr. Mliswa, you are now

talking.

*HON. MLISWA:  We are discussing about the letter I am going to write to the Minister.

*THE ACTING SPEAKER:  You are not going to write a letter.

You write a question to Parliament’s Paper’s Office and deliver it there.

HON. GABBUZA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  My question goes to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development.  Hon. Minister, end of last year, the then Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development promised this House that fees for tertiary students who are on attachment were going to be reduced after there was a serious complaint that these fees are not supposed to be the same as a student going to school.  So, the Minister promised that the Ministry was working on that policy. How far have they gone with the policy?  When are we likely to see fees reducing for students who are on attachment?

THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY

EDUCATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA):  Hon Speaker I wish to thank the Hon.

Member for the question.  Since inauguration on 4^th December, 2017, we have been studying this issue with two objectives.  Firstly, looking at the operations of the universities and colleges in terms of what they need since they are no longer receiving Government grants and secondly, on the burdens on the students and guardians as well as parents in terms of fees.  Also looking at the issue that students who are on attachment need transport , food and they basically need money to operate during that time because some of the attachment places do not offer any attachment stipends.

Based on this, our conclusion was that fees needed to be reduced in such a way that they make universities and colleges continue to operate but at the same time, reduce the burden on the parents. So, we reduced these fees by 40% and they are now 60% of what was being asked for.

This policy was enunciated and a press statement was made on 7^th

March, 2018.

HON. WATSON:  I thank the Minister for his answer.  I thank him for his previous statement.  He created expectation amongst students.  However, Mr. Speaker, students have enquired at universities and universities are yet to implement his decision.  When will that happen?  Thank you.

HON. PROF. MURWIRA:  Thank you Hon. Speaker.  The

question is now a management issue.  However, the policy is very clear that fees are going to be reduced and we have reduced them.  They have been implemented and for those places where they have not been implemented, they are going to be implemented.  I do not think there is any alternative to this policy position.  Thank you.

HON. GONESE:  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker.  My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister emanates from his response wherein he indicated that when the students are on attachment, they are not receiving any stipends from the institutions, organisations or employers concerned.  However, Mr. Speaker, in the past, there was a provision that ZIMDEF was going to pay students on attachment.  I do not know why there has been a departure from this policy position which used to be obtaining in the past.  Can the Hon. Minister explain to this august House why that was stopped?

We understand that ZIMDEF was awash with money a few months ago to the extent that it was used to buy bicycles and other trinkets in Tsholotsho and also to buy fuel for members of the Youth League of ZANU­PF.  So, can the Hon. Minister explain to us why there was a departure from that position where ZIMDEF used to chip in and assist in the payment of students who are on attachment?

HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker.  Thank you Hon. Member.  There has not been any departure when it comes to stipends.  In actual fact, there has been an improvement.  I am not competent to comment on the issue of ZIMDEF money being used for fuel.  I want to start on the substantive issue that I can actually answer on.

We have provided for this with ZIMDEF after the forensic audit. We are still doing a forensic audit.  It is with the Auditor­General at this moment.  In our budget for ZIMDEF this year, there is provision for stipends for students on attachment. I also want to say that this position was not obtaining before. It was only obtaining for students at polytechnics. So, we are saying we are actually starting a new movement in this area whereby we are going to make sure that all our students in higher and tertiary institutions on attachment are going to be supplemented with stipends.

I only had not answered it on the other because I thought it was a different question. So, I am going to answer it as a different question. Basically Hon. Member, it is true that our centre of attention as a Ministry is the students, nothing else and we try to make sure that everything has to centre on the welfare of our students. If we do not train them well we will not retire well. So, we are going to take care of them in the best way possible in an economy. Thank you.

HON. SANSOLE: I would like to find out from the Minister of Mines and Mining Development how far Government has gone in resolving the matter regarding the demonstration at Hwange Colliery Company by the spouses of workers. I understand that the Leader of Government Business made an undertaking to ask the Minister to issue a Ministerial Statement on that matter.

THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHITANDO): I would like to thank the

Hon. Member for that question. There were indeed issues or demonstrations by spouses of employees at Hwange Colliery.

Following intervention by the Minister of Labour, Hon. Kagonye, those demonstrations are no longer there and interface is underway to pursue matters which had been raised between the concerned parties.

HON. B. TSHUMA: Hon. Speaker, just as a matter of fact and by way of giving you information what the Hon. Minister just presented here is false. The true position is that there have been Ministers who have gone to Hwange and what they have said has been rejected by those women and the demonstration is continuing. They have pitched up a tent and it is still there right now. If you want I can ask someone to send a picture or even video by Whatsapp. We can have it here. This is not true what the Hon. Minister is saying.

HON. CHITANDO: Mr. Speaker, if the demonstrations are still on­going and I would not say what the Hon. Member is saying is not true, it is against the spirit in which the discussions and conclusions took place between representatives of the women and the Minister of Labour. In terms of those discussions, there were certain undertakings on both parties. The first undertaking from the group of women was that they would stop demonstrating and the undertaking on the part of Government was to look into their issues which is being done, and we are going to revert to them. Should they have continued demonstrating, then it is certainly an act of bad faith in terms of the agreements made. I thank you.

HON. MLISWA: On a point of clarity Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Mines and Energy during its tour did meet these women and they gave us a petition which was very reasonable. I think what is important and the last when we brought this issue up, there was an undertaking that this issue would be brought up with His Excellency and the question here should be ­ and I remember saying that the shoes of the Ministers are too small for this. It needs His Excellency so has this matter been taken up with His Excellency? Mr. Speaker, the point is that we end up as legislators being told that we lie. I think people must have trust in us when we say we are going to represent them, regardless of where it is ­ has this matter been taken up with His

Excellency? The Minister must respond to that and if not, he must see

His Excellency then respond back because it is a matter that requires the

Presidium.

HON. CHITANDO: I note and thank the Hon. Member for his comments but once again like I said, the matter is receiving due attention and in terms of the agreement made between the representatives of the women and the Minister of Labour, Government will revert to them sometime this week. I thank you.

THE ACTING SPEAKER: The owner of vehicle registration number ADE 3192 is obstructing other vehicles. Can you go and remove the vehicle please.

HON. P. D. SIBANDA: My supplementary question is ­ unless if I have not being tracking this issue for some time, what is

Government’s problem with doing what an investor is supposed to do in any company to ensure that the company is revived and those workers who have not been paid for the last five years when Government has actually been getting money from this same company. So, what is the problem with Government making an undertaking to put money, an investment into its own shares in the company so that the company can begin to operate once again and be able to pay those people the dues that they have been waiting for the last five years.

HON. CHITANDO: I thank the Hon. Member for his question which I will respond to but also at the same time clarify a few issues. First and foremost, this is not a Government owned entity. Hwange

Colliery is quoted on the Zimbabwe and London Stock Exchanges and

Government is the single largest shareholder. That is the first thing. So, I think let us first clarify that point. Government is the single largest shareholder, owning 37% of the shares.

The second issue is to state that despite the 37% shareholding ­ were it not for interventions by Government, Hwange would be down and under by now. The third point, because in terms of the scheme of arrangement which was entered into last year, Government despite it being the 37% shareholder, funded all the capital which was required in terms of that scheme.

The Hon. Member is quite right that if you look over the period of the last five years, the employees have gone through a lot in terms of unpaid salaries which totaled 33 months. What is important though is to look at what is the way forward in terms of the recovery of Hwange Colliery Company. There is a scheme in which (1) the employees are being paid their backlog of salaries and (b) there is a clear turnaround policy which entails commencement of underground operations in May and commencement of coke operations by the end of the year.  This is on the SCGC battery and then commencement of coke operations on the main auto­Simon Cavs battery­ all these initiatives will see Hwange going into positive cash flows and serving its debts and obligations which have accumulated over the years and also timeous payment of creditors and employees.

HON. B. TSHUMA:  I follow the very good English by the Hon. Minister of Mines and Mining Development and the eloquence on technicalities to do with mining, shareholding and other issues to do with the mine.  I realise off the cuff that the Hon. Minister is a former Chairman of the Hwange Colliery Company.  He, in fact presided over the mess before he crossed to the Executive.  According to the way we do business if we follow our Companies Act, Corporate Governance and other enabling legislation, the proper thing for the Minister to do is that where Hwange Colliery is concerned, he should recuse himself because he is conflicted.  Now he comes here to speak good English instead of paying money – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] ­

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, order Hon. Member.  I do not think that is proper – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

Order, order please.  The Minister has been appointed as the Minister of

Mines and Mining Development, even though he – [HON. MEMBERS:

Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order.  He now has a different portfolio.  There is nothing that can stop him from answering questions.

HON. P. D. SIBANDA: On a point of order to do with what Hon.

Tshuma has just raised – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  I have ruled him out of order.

Hon. P.D. Sibanda having insisted on giving his point of order.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Can you sit down?  I said he is out of order and therefore you cannot speak on that. Please take your seat.

HON. HOLDER:  My question goes to Hon. S. K. Moyo – [HON.

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:    Order Hon. Members, let us hear the Hon. Member on the floor.

HON. HOLDER: My question is directed to S. K. Moyo…

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order, order.  You do not address a

Minister as S. K. Moyo.  You say Hon. Minister.

HON. HOLDER:  There is a lot of noise here and I cannot hardly hear you ­ [AN HON. MEMBER: Gara pasi.] – Handigare pasi.  Hausi Speaker iwewe.  Hon. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Hon.

Minister S. K. Moyo – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members on my right

there.

HON. HOLDER:  My question is, why does Government fail to react to media reports where Hon. Chamisa is being regarded as

President ­ which is causing a lot of confusion – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – instead of President of the MDC­T or the opposition and I can quote today’s paper which states that ‘it is befitting that the President Chamisa’ – instead of president of the opposition.  I want to know why Government does not react to these things because it is causing a lot of confusion – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, order please!  You are out of order.

HON. D. SIBANDA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir…

Hon. Holder having stood up.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Hon. Holder, can you take your seat.

HON. D. SIBANDA:  The Hon. Minister of Health and Child

Welfare was here briefly and vanished.  Maybe you highlight on where he has gone to because we still have questions for him – [HON.

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, order please!  The Minister of Health and Child Welfare came to me and indicated that he was just walking out and he is coming back.  He has gone out to see somebody.

In any case, he is coming to make a Ministerial Statement.

Hon. Holder having stood up.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Hon. Holder, can you just resume

your seat.

HON. HOLDER:  On a point of order…

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Hon. Holder, can you just resume

your seat.

HON. HOLDER:  Point of order Mr. Speaker

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Resume your seat, please.

HON. D. SIBANDA:  Our concern is the time because it is moving.  Questions without notice…

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Let us give him the benefit of doubt.

He is coming back.  He told me that he is coming back.

HON. D. SIBANDA:  I propose that we extend time because we have got a lot of question for the Minister of Health and Child Welfare.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Time is not yet up.

HON CHIMANIKIRE:  Last week I asked a question to the Hon.

Resident Minister of Metropolitan Harare, but I was re­directed to the Minister of Local Government.  Hon. Minister, in Mbare we have a stretch of shops…

HON. HOLDER: Point of order…

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  What is your problem?  I have asked…

HON. HOLDER: My point of order is under privileges and immunities. I asked a pertinent question and it has not been responded to.  No one has said anything…

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  I ruled you out of order.  Can you resume your seat?

HON. HOLDER:  What I was saying Mr. Speaker is …

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  May you resume your seat or I will

send you out.

HON. HOLDER: Out of order ndabva ndadii?

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Take your seat

HON. CHIMANIKIRE:  Hon. Minister, there is a stretch of shops that were constructed along the Masvingo road.  This is as a result of – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Members.

HON. CHIMANIKIRE:  This is as a result of a pact between Harare City Council and a Lebanese construction company.  However, the shops have remained a white elephant simply because the rentals are too high.  What is Government policy or interventions where quasi­

Government – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Members at the back.

HON. CHIMANIKIRE:  What is Government policy or interventions where quasi­Government entity­like the Local Government and the City of Harare.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Hon. Matambanadzo and company there!  Hon. Matambanadzo!

Hon. Matambanadzo having risen.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  I am not asking you to rise.  I am saying you are making noise at the back.

HON. CHIMANIKIRE: A quasi­Government arrangement was entered between City of Harare and a Lebanese Construction Company. As a result, there is a line of shops along the Masvingo road that have remained unused because of high rentals.  My question is, what is Government policy or intervention when it comes to issues whereby a private investor who has entered into a contract with a quasi­

Government entity which is City of Harare ­ is failing to utilise what has been agreed between the two parties because of high rentals. Is there any Government intervention that is planned to ensure that there is utilisation of those premises?

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC

WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO):  I want to

thank the Hon. Member for his question but the Hon. Member has given me a specific area and a specific contractual arrangement between the City of Harare and a private company, if he can furnish me with a written question, I certainly will investigate and bring him an answer so that I become quite clear as to what has taken place.  I thank you.

HON. CHIMWAMUROMBE:  My question is directed to Hon. Minister S. K. Moyo.  What is Government policy on the languages that are used for broadcasting?  I am asking this with regards to the new

Khulumani FM in Bulawayo where seven languages are being used? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, order there is a lot of noise in the House.  Did you hear that question Hon. Minister – [HON. S. K. MOYO: No, Mr. Speaker Sir.] – Certainly not, there is a lot of noise in the House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

HON. CHIMWAMUROMBE:  My question is directed to Hon. Minister S. K. Moyo.  What is Government policy in regards to the languages that are used in broadcasting?  This is in regard with the new Khulumani FM in Bulawayo where seven languages are used.  I understand we have 16 national languages in our Constitution and the major ones being Shona and Ndebele.  In Khulumani FM, they are using seven and leaving out Shona which is also one of the major languages. Is that not dividing people by having other languages being spoken and leaving out the major languages? – [HON. MAONDERA:  On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker, he is misleading the House!] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  I have not recognised you, you are not the Minister.  Are you a Minister now? – [HON. MAONDERA:  He is misleading the House!] – That is not your responsibility, let the Hon.

Minister say that not you.

THE MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND

BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. AMB. S. K. MOYO): Mr.

Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Member for his question.  We have no provision as regards policy for any language discrimination.  All the languages reflected in our Constitution are equal.  Therefore, if there is any such situation which I am not aware of and was not aware of, it is a matter which obviously I will need to investigate and find out why.  As for now, the policy is very clear and I hope that gives the Hon. Member some comfort in the sense that I will indeed investigate this development.  I thank you.

*HON. THEMBANI:  My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.  What is Government policy as regards the paying of licences?  We talk of business people who own a bottle store, grocery and butchery and these are registered under one name.  We are now seeing that you have to bring all the fees for the three shops but now they are saying each shop should pay separate fees.  For example, when you want to pay for a butchery, you are told to bring the full amount for all three enterprises that you are running yet we have a financial crunch in the country.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Order, order, Hon. Member, if you

could put that question in writing then the Hon. Minister will conduct his investigations and then come to respond in the House.  I thank you.

HON. E. GUMBO:  Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you for recognising me.  I would also like to make a comment first that we realise that the Minister of Mines and Mining Development has left when we had questions to pose to him.  Maybe if that could be noted, we fail to get him at his Ministry.  I do not know when we can pose these questions to him?

My question at the moment is directed to the Minister of

Information, Communication Technology and Cyber Security.  I would like to know Government policy in relation to establishing of POTRAZ boosters in the country given that there are big envelopes of the country without communication at all?  How long does it take for people who have applied for those boosters in the area to get a response from his Ministry?

THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY AND CYBER SECURITY (HON.

MANDIWANZIRA):  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, and let me also thank the Hon. Member for the question.  Government policy on POTRAZ is that POTRAZ is a statutory body.  It is the regulator in charge of supervising and regulating all the telecommunication, postal services and related companies in this sector.

They also have a responsibility to manage what we call, the Universal Services Fund.  The Universal Services Fund is contributed to by all telecommunication service users each time they pay their bills. The objective of that fund is to ensure that there is investment of telecommunication infrastructure or services in areas that are unserved or under­served.  So the areas that the Hon. Member has just spoken about are areas that the Universal Services Fund should look at in terms of investment.  I can tell the Hon. Member, through you Mr. Speaker Sir, that there is a project that is currently being worked on by POTRAZ to the tune of US$250 million where the intention is to build more than 500 mobile phone towers that should be shared by all network operators in areas that are underserved.  That is the responsibility to the extent of

POTRAZ but we also expect that licensed operators must not just put up infrastructure in urban centres because they also have a responsibility to serve those Zimbabweans who do not reside in urban centres.  So we also expect that their investment goes to areas that are unserved or under­served.  I thank you.

HON. E. GUMBO:  The second part of my question was not answered.  Applications have been submitted to the relevant Ministry applying for boosters in these big envelopes and obviously we would like to know, for example the Dwala area in Gwanda Central, Beitbridge area covering those areas has been applied for a long time.  I would like to know when applicants should expect to get a reply on such issues from his Ministry.

THE ACTING SPEAKER:  Hon. Member, if it is a particular area, I am sure you will have to put it in writing so that the Hon. Minister will go and look at it.­ [HON. TSHUMA: Supplementary question!] ­ You do not just walk up and say, I have a supplementary question.  I have to recognise you first.

*HON. SARUWAKA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  My question is directed to Hon. Mushowe.  – [HON. TSHUMA:  But I have a supplementary question Mr. Speaker Sir!] –

HON. J. TSHUMA:  My supplementary question is ­ I wanted to find out what is the Government policy regarding the services that we are talking about in the follow­up of the provision of those services?  As I speak, if you take your Econet line, you cannot communicate at all.

So, what is happening in the sharing agreements and stuff like that? What is Government policy to follow up so that we are given proper services, mari dzedu dzirikungodyiwa, ukangobata phone money is charged but there is actually no service at all.  So, what is Government policy to follow up on that and make sure that these people do not shortchange the people and we get proper services?  I thank you Mr.

Speaker.

HON. MANDIWANZIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the Hon. Member for a very important question.  Government policy is very clear; POTRAZ which licences all network operators has a minimum standard that they expect from all operators in terms of service delivery to their subscribers.  If those minimum standards are not met, the operators are penalised.  We have had a problem that for a long time, the regulator was treating the operators with kid gloves.  There was not enough supervision and follow through to make sure that the operators are performing to the extent of the guarantees they have given in their licences.  Now, I must say that we are very glad as the Ministry that POTRAZ is beginning to show its teeth.  Just two weeks ago, Net One was fined by POTRAZ for delivering power service on its One Fusion product to consumers who had loaded data in their gadgets or devices but this data was not to the extent that the operator had promised.  So, they were fined and were also asked to compensate subscribers that had been affected.  So, we will take this matter up as raised by the Hon. Minister to make sure that the continued loss of data or credit in people’s phones is actually compensated.  What is important is that those that are affected must go and report their specific cases to POTRAZ so that POTRAZ can take specific action. Without that reporting, if people just complain in their houses or offices, POTRAZ will not be able to assist them to the extent possible.  They must report to POTRAZ so that they can create a list of cases that they can take up with the operators.  I thank you Mr. Speaker.

Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE ACTING

SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

RBZ LOAN BENEFICIARIES IN KADOMA CENTRAL

CONSTITUENCY

1. HON. F. PHIRI asked the Minister of Mines and Mining

Development to inform the House the RBZ loan beneficiaries in

Kadoma, especially Kadoma Central Constituency.

THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY AND CYBER SECURITY on behalf of THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVEOPMENT (HON.

MANDIWANZIRA): The administration and allocation of the RBZ loans is being done by the RBZ in conjunction with Fidelity Printers and

Refiners; both of which fall under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. The question that the Hon. Member asked has since been forwarded to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development who are handling this issue.

HON. MAJOME: On a point of privilege Madam Speaker.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA): What is your

point of privilege?

HON. MAJOME: Hon Speaker, questions 7 to 11 on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, His Excellency the President of Zimbabwe appointed a Deputy Minister to that Ministry.  While the

Hon. Minister is absent, surely in the interest of respect for the people of

Zimbabwe that we represent, the Minister should be able to send his

Deputy Minister to come and present the question failing in which he should respect the House by possibly requesting a fellow Hon. Minister to come and deliver his answer.  May I know why this has not happened?  My questions are very old questions, they have been there and previously he came to try to answer them verbally but he was admonished by the Speaker and then he went away.  He has gone for good.  Where is his Deputy Minister or other Ministers?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The point raised by Hon.

Majome is very relevant I did not see any apology from the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development.  I will communicate to the Cabinet so that they will also speak to the Hon. Ministers responsible to take parliamentary business seriously for them to come and answer these questions.  It is very important for the Hon. Minister to respect the

National Assembly.

HON. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, we have only got 4 or 5

months left before elections, I think this is the time for people to shine, even Ministers to be seen working.  We are already in the old dispensation; the same habits that they had with the former President, they are still doing that and they say you cannot teach old dog new tricks.  Honestly speaking, we cannot have this situation when the economy of the country is – we need to know and they must report to us on the 100 days.  Has it progressed well, has it not progressed well? This Parliament continuously and the Chair has always warned the Ministers with impunity but they ignore.  We have got senior Ministers here who we appreciate, Hon. Amb. S. K. Moyo and Hon. J. Moyo, who are seasoned, but economic issues need the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to be present.  He is not here, he is now behaving like the special advisor to the President; he is being sent to the UK when the House is on fire.  Zimbabwe is on fire economically, the queues are still there, and then how are they going to answer to the people about the queues considering elections are near?  He has been given a job by the President to address issues from an economic point of view.  For as long as the queues are getting longer, there is no address on the economic issues.  We need him to respond to such issues because we are under pressure as Members of Parliament.

It is important that the Chair and Parliament shows that it has teeth, we are disregarded and disrespected by Ministers and it is about time that a decision is taken moving forward.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I acknowledge

what you are saying.  It is important but in respect of the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, he has given an apology.  He is out of the country on national duty but for the Deputy Minister, I did not see his apology. I have appealed to senior Cabinet Ministers and as

Parliament, we are going to write an official letter to the Deputy

Minister to remind him of his duties in Parliament.

HON. SARUWAKA:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  In light of the

absence of the Ministers to respond to these questions, I had initially requested that we continue with Questions Without Notice.  You would have noticed that since we started, no question has been responded to. Can you then please kindly reconsider my request that we revert to Questions Without Notice so that we can deal with the Ministers who are present.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Hon. Saruwaka, you have not

raised your point of privilege in time.  So according to Parliamentary procedures, we cannot go back now and at this stage, we have to finish the Questions With Notice which are on the Order Paper.

SUBSTANTIVE TOWN CLERK FOR THE CITY OF HARARE

17. HON. MACHINGAUTA asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to state when the City of Harare would have a substantive Town Clerk.

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC

WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO): Thank

you Hon. Speaker.  I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question posed.

Madam Speaker, let me start by thanking the Hon. Member for asking the question.  However, let me inform this august House that Section 135 of the Urban Councils Act provides that the Local Government Board shall interview every person whose name has been submitted to it by a council in terms of this Part and may,

1. approve a person recommended by the council concerned or
2. refuse to approve any person recommended by the council concerned.

Subsection 2; where the Local Government Board has refused to approve a person recommended by council, it shall give its reasons there in writing to such council.

• where after a period of two months has elapsed since the Local Government Board notified the council of its refusal to approve a person for appointment and the council fails to recommend any other person who meets the approval of the board, the board shall submit a report to the Minister setting out the full details of the matter for his consideration.
• the decision of the Minister or on any matter referred to him in terms of Subsection 3, shall be final.

Madam Speaker, the recruitment of the substantive Town Clerk for Harare by City Council has taken longer than expected as the recruitment process has been marred by irregularities.  The first attempt to recruit the substantive Town Clerk after the retirement of Dr. Tendai Mahachi experienced a major setback when Council violated Section 135 of the Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15 which require that council should submit a list of at least three nominees recommended by council to the Local Government Board.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, order Hon. Members.

Can the Hon. Minister be heard in silence please?

HON. J. MOYO:  I repeat Madam Speaker.  The first attempt to recruit the substantive Town Clerk after the retirement of Dr. Tendai Mahachi experienced a major setback when Council violated Section 135 of the Urban Councils Act which requires that council should submit a list of at least three nominees recommended by council to the Local Government Board for further interviews.  The second attempt to fill the same post saw Council submitting three nominees to the Local Government Board who unfortunately, failed to meet the minimum requirements as determined by the Local Government Board.  Council was then requested by the Local Government Board to submit a list of all the candidates that it had interviewed to allow the Board to interview the same and identify a possible candidate to fill the post.  The Local Government Board has recently written to the City Council explaining why they could not appoint a substantive incumbent from the list that it submitted to them.  We now await Council’s reaction to this communication.  I thank you Madam Speaker.

*HON. MACHINGAUTA: Thank you Madam Speaker.  My

follow up question directed to the Minister is; if we go and consult with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, if we follow the Constitution on Chapter 1 on Section 2 – we are informed that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.  On the Sixth Schedule, Part 2, we are told that the Constitution comes as soon as that President has been put in place.  That means, it is supreme to what is going on.

In Section 264, it talks about dissemination of power to local authorities.  We then talk about revolutionarisation and devolution – we are told that local authorities are empowered to take corrective action and we are saying, when the local authorities appointed Mr. Mushohwe, it was according to the laid down regulations and what the Minister is saying is not in the Constitution.

I am saying to the Minister, even if we said the Local Authority has not followed what was wanted, I have observed that when we removed the President, we discovered that the President was removed by the then Vice President because he had not been following what was in the Constitution.  Therefore, the Minister should leave his office because our Constitution is very clear on who selects members and officials of these local authorities but to my surprise, the Minister is going contrary to the Constitution.  I thank you.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Hon. Machingauta, are you

asking a question or you are instructing the Minister.  If you are asking a question, the Minister has already responded.  Maybe Minister, you may feel you want to add something on what you have already said.

*HON. J. MOYO:  Madam Speaker, I have understood what the Hon. Member was saying, setting out his arguments on whether I was usurping the powers of the Constitution and abused them to my own benefit because as far as he is concerned, the Local Government Board is not in the Constitution.  Therefore, it should not be performing its duties but the Section of the Constitution which I used is part of the Constitution of the country.  When these two sections are contradicting, we should refer this to the Constitutional Court which may correct the anomalies and the judgement which we raised was according to the current Constitution.  We are saying, if a local authority like Harare has done something which is against the Constitution, we say the Council should refer the names of the recommended candidates who are three who were given to the Board and then the Board will then decide on the reasons why they are rejecting those people.  The Local Council Board examined the three candidates and told the council why they had disqualified those members.  It is up to the local authority.  They should come to me and I will know what other steps to take because as of now, they are still silent.

HON. MACHIGAUTA:  Supplementary.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Hon. Machingauta, let me

clarify.  The Minister is saying there is an Act which talks about the Local Government and this is supposed to be followed by the board which has been mentioned, but if you feel that there is some kind of contradiction between the supreme law of the country which is the Constitution, please forward your argument to the Constitutional Court and proper judgment will be done and even the Ministry may be sued.

*HON. MACHINGAUTA:  Madam Speaker, I understand what

you are saying, but I am saying the Local Government Board, was it not content with what had come out because the previous Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing had talked about the misunderstandings which were there and they ended up talking about Hon. Dr. Mashakada and they were saying Hon. Dr. Mashakada did not qualify because there is no response which has been given and I am saying that is the reason why Hon. Dr. Mashakada came third.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  I will allow the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to clarify what you have raised, especially regarding the case of Hon. Dr. Mashakada.

HON. J. MOYO:  Madam Speaker, I have not been given any names, whether it is Hon. Dr. Mashakada or any other person.  This has never occurred to my operations.  I am still waiting for the names.

HON. MAJOME:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  My

supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is, Hon. Minister, is it not your responsibility to bring to this House a Bill that actually abolishes the Local Government Board because it is no longer consistent with the Constitution?  I ask this because we received a promise and an understanding that this Government is serious about implementing the Constitution.

So, if matters need now to be resolved in the Constitutional Court, has this Government in this new dispensation abdicated its responsibility and jettisoned it to the Judiciary so that the Judiciary is the one that now starts implementing the Constitution because the President promised.  In fact, we removed the former President because he was not implementing the Constitution and there has been a promise that the laws, the practices and the conduct of Government is now going to be aligned to the

Constitution.

So, the Hon. Minister is telling us almost as if, if we want the Constitution, we go to the court, but in this Government, we do not expect the Constitution to be implemented.  Is that the case?  Why does he not bring to Parliament the long awaited Bills to bring local governance in sync with the Constitution?  Why should we go to the court?  Is that the job of the Constitutional Court to do the work of the

Executive?

HON. J. MOYO:  Madam Speaker, I am implementing a law that was passed by this Parliament and the Bill that the Hon. Member is referring to certainly will come before this august House and I am not sure that it takes into account the fact that if the Bill comes without fail, the Local Government Board will not be in there.  Let us debate it when it comes because we believe that what we are doing and what we are implementing is within the law.  I thank you.

HON. MURAI:  My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is that due to the unavailability of the Town Clerk, the City of Harare is failing to perform well.  What plans do you have to make sure that the employees of the Harare City Council are paid because they are not being paid and have got arrears dating back to 2017.  Do you have any plan to make sure that the Harare City Council employees are paid? Thank you.

HON. J. MOYO:  Madam Speaker, I share the sentiments of the Hon. Member.  We are all unhappy when Harare City Council employees are not paid and the reason cannot be because they have no

Town Clerk.  The reason must be in the total management of the City of Harare, which you are very aware is composed of members that were elected by the people of Harare and the people of Harare, when they realise that their councillors are not performing, they will deal with them in the normal way that is correct – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] but otherwise we share…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Members.  Allow

the Hon. Minister to respond to your questions.

HON. J. MOYO:  Otherwise we share and we sympathise with the workers that are in Harare as any other workers that ought to be paid and we have gone to all the cities and analysed to them what they need to do in order to pay their workers properly and the rest of the matter rests with the city councillors and the management of the councils, but it cannot be a matter of one person who is called the Town Clerk.  It has to be a corporate responsibility by all the councillors.  Thank you very

much.

*HON. SARUWAKA:  Thank you.  My supplementary to the Minister is, are workers of the City Council paid by councillors or they are paid by the administration led by the Town Clerk so that Harare is properly administered and administration of Harare City Council is under the Town Clerk and not the Ministers?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Your question has been

answered in full, so there is no need for the Minister to respond.

REPAIRING OF ROADS IN BUDIRIRO CONSTITUENCY

18. HON. MACHINGAUTA asked the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to state when the following roads in Budiriro Constituency would be repaired.

• High Glen through Mic­Jop Shopping Centre up to Budiriro 3 turn off.
• Budiriro 5 OK turn off up to Current Shopping Centre; and
• Current Shopping Centre up to Ngungunyana Housing

Cooperative.

THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC

WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. J. MOYO):  Madam

Speaker, let me inform this House that the City of Harare is carrying out a comprehensive road rehabilitation programme supported by ZINARA and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.  The first project is concentrating on the CBD area covering the area bounded by Kenneth Kaunda, S. V. Muzenda, Herbert Chitepo and Rotten Row.  The road will be overlaid with asphalt and properly marked and that is going on.

The second aspect, the second phase and the third phase of the 100 day programme by the City of Harare will see the rolling out of the programme to the suburbs of Harare which include the areas that the Hon. Member has referred to and I think these are areas in his Constituency.  We are almost through with the first 100 days and I expect that the city council will roll out this to the places that he has mentioned.  I thank you.

*HON. MACHINGAUTA: My supplementary question is that we were informed by the Minister of Transport that funds were given to local authorities to repair roads in areas like Budiriro where there are lots of potholes. Since the monies have been given to the Ministry, why is the Ministry not carrying out the repairs on the roads because we know money has already been disbursed to these constituencies? What pains me is that motorists in these areas have problems and their cars are breaking down yet these potholes should be repaired. Actually, they are no longer potholes, we refer to them as fish pond holes.  May he please give us the date as to when the job of repairing these roads will

commence.

*HON. J. MOYO: At times I am very surprised by some of these questions. Local authorities are given funds directly from ZINARA. The money does not come via the Ministry but the Ministry just plays an oversight role on the local authorities as to whether the funds allocated for roads are used according to the disbursements. When these local authorities have been given the funds, they then give us the way the monies have been spent after the expenditure has been done. What I know is the Harare City Council together with the councilors has worked out a plan on the repair of these roads. They had an agreement that since the funds have been disbursed, the first stop would be on repairing the roads in the Central Business District. From town, they will move to the respective areas, – [HON. MACHINGAUTA: Inaudible interjections.] – especially when we talk the 100 days.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Machingauta, please be

informed that you are not supposed to interrogate the Minister who is responding to your question.

HON. J. MOYO: When the local authorities have made a plan on the expenditure of the monies forwarded to them. the local authorities are not making assumptions but are working on their budget according to the allocated funds and we have to check at the end of the day the progress which has been made after the expiry of the 100 days. We want to check whether they will have followed the process of repairing the roads in the CBD. When we are through with that, they will then go to their second priority in the locations and suburbs. When councils have been given money by ZINARA it is up to them to utilise those funds accordingly.

HON. MAJOME: What is the Minister doing to make sure that the money that all the road users that pay for vehicles licensing get more efficient and direct value for their money? You have just answered Hon. Machingauta telling him about the route that the money goes; from ZINARA to the local authorities like Harare. We want to find out whether they start with the city and so on. My question is what are you doing to assist in order to make sure that the money that the road users are paying in licence fees goes to the councils directly so that these long and winded trips do not happen?  I ask because I have a motion on the Order Paper  and there are roads in my constituency. Marlborough Drive was stripped of the little tar it had. Gilchrist was stripped as well as Lauren Drive and up to now the funds, it looks like they have run out. What are you doing Hon. Minister to please assist to ensure that the councils get that money directly, including even roads like Goodhope. What are you doing to ensure that the money that is made available even by motorists goes directly to the councils so that the money comes quickly back to the roads because motorists are paying for it and our roads are getting worse?

*HON. J. MOYO: Thank you for the question. I stated that when money comes from ZINARA, it is given directly to the local authority which then sets up its priorities on which roads to start with. They work in consultations with the people who are responsible for the construction of those roads. We have situations whereby the local authorities may use its own staff and equipment or they may hire out services to other experts to work on those roads –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Minister, the

question asked by Hon. Majome is why can we not have the taxes paid by motorist paid directly to local authorities because taxes are taken through ZINARA then disbursed to the local authorities.

*HON. J. MOYO: If any local authority collects those taxes, they are breaking the law because the Constitution says the licence fees and fuel use levies should be collected by ZINARA. When ZINARA has collected the fees and levies, it will then disburse to the road authorities in the country. The first road authorities are national roads then comes local authorities and third is the DDF. I am talking about what is in the Constitution.  When the money has been collected by ZINARA, ZINARA disburses these funds according to these three authorities and they are given according to their needs. If these authorities are given these monies, they will state the roads they want to repair and the Government in its oversight role will make a follow up, checking as to how the funds have been used.

HON. MAJOME: My point of privilege is that the Hon. Minister has just said there is an Act of Parliament that provides that money that is paid by motorists goes to ZINARA vehicle licensing fees. I say this with the greatest respect to the Hon. Minister that it is in fact not so. I say this because I have a motion on the Order Paper that is actually number 26.

I have researched this issue around what happens to our licence fees and I wanted to find out what it is that gave authority for motorists licence fees to be paid to ZINARA. I thought there was a law but there is nothing. There is no Statutory Instrument but it was just a decision taken in Government offices to say motorist licences that we pay are now paid to ZINARA. There is in fact no such law. It is a decision that Government. So, my question is that why do we not just unmake it so that the money goes directly because this long route, there is no such law that says that with respect to the Hon. Minister. I thought I would raise that point.

HON. MLISWA: I hear what the Hon. Members are saying. The issue at hand when the Minister of Transport went around in the provinces and in Mashonaland I was invited with other Members of

Parliament and councilors to be there. The money goes to ZINARA and ZINARA gives the money to the town council which then finds a contractor who does it – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members.

HON. MLISWA: I have the floor. The point is and what I am trying to assist, the new rule is that there is no road which the council can come to without the Member of Parliament appending their signature. So, if you are doing your job in your constituencies like we do, you must append your signature to all the roads. For example in Norton, there is no road which is done without my signature. So go and do the work on the ground – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible

interjections.] –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members.

the question to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is, is there legislation around the system of how money is paid from the citizens to ZINARA. Hon. Minister of Local

Government, can you please clarify on that one – [HON. SARUWAKA:

If you are not sure you can say I will go and research] – Order Hon. Saruwaka!

HON. J. MOYO:  Hon. Speaker, I am absolutely clear in my knowledge that the ZINARA Act is the one which created those three or four road authorities and it is out of that Act that they are collecting money on behalf of those road authorities.  If it is contrary to what I think and the Hon. Member has an Act which is contrary or lack of that

Act, I stand advised.

*HON. MACHINGAUTA:  The Hon. Minister has not well answered some of the questions that I asked –[HON. MEMBERS:

Aaah!] –

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Machingauta.

May you please ask the question?

*HON. MACHINGAUTA:  From the way the Minister has

answered the question that I asked, not everything is very clear.  I am therefore requesting that the Minister brings a Ministerial Statement explaining how much money was disbursed to the City of Harare by ZINARA and which roads did they construct or repair specifically focusing the roads in Budiriro that I highlighted in my question.  He should also tell us how the accounting officer or Town Clerk is using funds allocated to him so that people will not complain –[HON.

MLISWA:  ZINARA is the one to answer that question.] ­

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Mliswa ­[HON. MACHINGAUTA: Inaudible interjections] – [HON. MLISWA:

Sekuru, sekuru….] ­  Hon. Mliswa and Hon. Machingauta, order in the

House.

Hon. Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National

Housing, what is your position on the proposal by the Hon. Member? –

[HON. MACHINGAUTA: Inaudible interjections.] ­

Hon. Machingauta and Hon. Mliswa exchanging words.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Hon. Machingauta and Hon. Mliswa can you behave yourselves.  The Minister is here… ­[HON. MLISWA: Horait sorii sekuru, sorii sekuru.] – Hon. Mliswa, can you please withdraw your statement, there are no sekurus in the House.

HON. MLISWA:  Sorry Hon. Member.

*HON. J.G. MOYO: Madam Speaker, I have taken note of what the Hon. Member is requesting.  I have indicated that the money that ZINARA disburses is the purview of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.  They only tell me where they would have disbursed the money.  When the money is within the hands of councils, I will then make a follow up on whether the money has been used accordingly.  The best person to ask on the allocation of the money is the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.  He will give you all the figures with regards to the 92 local authorities.  If there is something amiss on how the local authorities used the disbursed funds, that is when you can come back to me so that issues are corrected.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  With the response that the Minister of Local Government has given, we are going to ask the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to bring the evidence before the House may be through our pigeon holes so that we have information on how much money was allocated to each local authority across the country.

ADEQUACY OF ELECTRICITY POWER SUPPLY

22. HON. UTA asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to explain to the House, measures being taken to ensure adequate electricity power supply in the country.

THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER

DEVELOPMENT (HON. S.K. MOYO):  Mr. Speaker Sir, I would

like to assure the House that the Ministry of Energy and Power Development is putting in place measures to curb electricity shortage in the country as follows:

1. The Ministry’s parastatals Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is working on increasing its generation capacity through:­

Addition of 2 x 150MW generators at Kariba South Power Station.

One generator has already been completed and is already contributing 150MW to the power requirements.  The second generator is expected to be commercially available by end of March 2018.

Improving reliability and increasing capacity at Hwange Thermal Power Station through overhauls and maintenance.  The power station used to generate on average three generators but has now improved to generate on average four to five generators.

Addition of installed capacity of Hwange Thermal Power Station through addition of 2 x 300 MW generators.  The project has reached financial closure and is awaiting the first drawdown so as to commence.

The project is expected to take 42 months once it commences.

Capacity for Harare Power Station is scheduled to increase from 40MW to 120 MW through a re­powering exercise.  The requisite contract has since been signed.

2. The Zimbabwe generation side has since been liberalised to allow for private players. ZETDC is negotiating Power Purchases Agreements (PPA) with several private players and if the projects sail through, this will add to the country’s internal generation capacity.
3. To bridge the gap between now and when various generation projects come to fruition, Zimbabwe is using power imports from neighbouring utilities to augment power supply in the country. We are importing about 300MW from Eskom and about 50 MW from HCB, that is the Cabora Bassa.  ZETDC is in constant liaison with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to ensure that foreign currency payments for the imported power are made.  This will ensure long­term relationships and continued trade between ZETDC and the various utilities.  Last but not least

Madam Speaker,

4. as for the rural areas, the Government of Zimbabwe established the Rural Electrification Fund in 2002, with the mandate to facilitate rapid and equitable provision of sustainable energy services in all rural areas of Zimbabwe. To date, over 9 000 rural institutions and community groups have been electrified.  However, to ensure universal access to sustainable energy by all rural communities in Zimbabwe by 2030, the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, through the Rural Electrification Fund, has developed a Rural Energy Master Plan to allow systematic, cost effective and well co­ordinated provision of energy services in all rural communities in Zimbabwe.  I thank you.

HON. WATSON:  Some time ago, I brought up Hon. Speaker, with the Hon. Minister’s predecessor the use and the development of methane gas which is in vast quantities in the Lupane, Lubimbi area. Your predecessor laughed at that suggestion and the idea, however after that, it was raised at a Pre­Budget Seminar by Hon. Mudenda himself as he comes from that area as a possible cheaper solution and a less environmentally damaging solution than the development of the Batoka Gorge.  Can the Hon. Minister tell me if his Ministry and ZETDC have actually examined that possibility in order to create cheaper, more accessible clean power for Zimbabwe? I thank you.

HON. S. K. MOYO:  Thank you Madam Speaker and I thank the Hon. Member for her supplementary question.  What she just said is very true.

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

CEDING OF ZIMBABWE MINING DEVELOPMENT

COMPANY HOUSES TO THE FORMER AND CURRENT

EMPLOYEES OF ELVINGTON MINE

2. HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Mines and Mining

Development to state measures being put in place to cede the 300 Zimbabwe Mining Development Company ward 10 houses to former and current employees of Elvington Mine in Chegutu, in accordance with the agreement entered into by the mining company and employees more than ten years ago.

THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHITANDO): Mr. Speaker Sir, Elvington Mine acquired land in Chegutu town to build houses for the employees in 1978.  The agreement on acquiring the land between Elvington Mine and Chegutu Town Council is not clear to this day.  I am advised that Elvington Mine still maintains that the mine paid for the land in full and now fully owns the houses.  On the other hand, Chegtu Town Council makes a claim that the land was not paid for. They claim that there was an arrangement that after 12 years the mine would cede the houses to the council.

Efforts to find the agreement from Elvington and the Chegutu Town Council have proved futile since 2009.  The two parties have also been engaging and failing to find each other since then.  Because of the stalemate, the ex­workers and current workers occupying the houses are refusing to pay rentals to Elvington or vacate the houses.  I am advised that there was never an agreement between the mine and employees to the effect that the employees will be given the houses.  Furthermore, the ex­employees occupying the houses are not owned any money by the mine.  The matter is before the High Court.

PLANS TO GIVE FORMER BROKEN HILL PROPRIETARY

(BHP) COMPANY LIMITED HOUSES IN MUVOVO

DISTRICT TO FORMER EMPLOYEES

3. HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Mines and Mining

Development to;­

1. State whether there are plans in place to give former Broken

Hill Proprietary (BHP) Company Limited houses in Ward 11 in Muvovo district in Chegutu West Constituency to the former employees of the BHP, now ZIMPLATS;

1. Clarify the position of the Zibagwe Trust which is claiming ownership and rentals of houses by the former BHP employer to the employees;
2. State the amount left to the Zibagwe Trust in monetary terms, for the benefit of the former employees.

THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHITANDO): Mr. Speaker Sir, the houses

in question are for the Zebakwe Trust.  They were ceded to the trust under a Government and Zimplats memorandum of agreement which enabled the issuance of the Zimplats licence to operate in year 2000.

The current status is that the Zebakwe Board of Trustees is in discussion with the tenants in Movovo and Katanga on the possibility of a rent to buy agreement for the houses.  The Ministry will be in touch with the parties to ensure this is speeded up.

1. As already indicated, Zebakwe Trust is the de­facto owner of the houses, through the donation from Zimplats. There is a pending finalisation of a Capital Gains Tax issue, once solved, will see transfer of the houses in the name of the trust.  Once again, my Ministry will be in touch with stakeholders on this issue to ensure it is speedily resolved.
2. The amount donated to the trust was not intended directly for the benefit of former BHP employees but for the communities in which BHP operated. I am advised that the current balance on the US$1 million donated is US$500 000.00.  This has been ring­fenced by the board which is using the funds for community based projects such as the

Chegutu sewage reticulation plant and borehole drilled at St Eric’s

Primary School in Norton.

The board recently introduced a school fees benefit scheme for disadvantaged children in the communities of Chegutu Municipality, Norton Town Council and Selous rural area.  The selection of the beneficiaries is being done in conjunction with the Department of Social

Welfare to identify those in urgent need.

The work of the trust is currently constrained by limited rental income as some sitting tenants are defaulting rental payments much to the prejudice of affected communities who must collectively benefit from the trust.

I wish to inform the august House and the Hon. Member that the

Zebakwe board has audited statements for all its operations

METHOD OF MINING USED AT RIOZIM MINE

4. HON. NDUNA asked the Minister of Mines and Mining

Development to:­

1. State the method of mining being used at RioZim Mine in Eiffel

Flats, Kadoma;

1. Disclose the amount of gold being produced on a monthly basis;
2. Indicate whether the Ministry would consider relocating the residents, school and a hospital that are near the mine in view of the fact that blasting activities have devastating effects to both humans and property; and to further state whether the Ministry would consider terminating the operations at RioZim until relocation of people is carried out.

THE MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING

DEVELOPMETN (HON. CHITANDO): Mr. Speaker, I believe what

the Hon. Member is referring to is the Cam and Motor Mine where the method of mining used at the Cam and Motor Mine is open pit mining, using drilling, blasting and hauling processes.

1. Based on 2017 figures, the average gold production is about

79.27 kgs per month.

1. Let me begin by highlighting that it is not the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development that is obligated to relocate residents from mining locations. Relocation exercise is between the project owners and the affected parties. However, from a regulatory point of view, the Ministry ensures that the mining operations are safe for employees and residents.

Cam and Motor embarked on a relocation exercise at the onset of their operations which has phases 1 to 5 beginning with the most affected residents and property owners, to the least affected.  The relocation exercise is ongoing as the project expands.  The sticking point had been the hospital and some residents who were taking the company to court.  To date, the mines have identified land for relocation of the hospital.  In this regard, the mine is funding refurbishment of some premises identified by the hospital for use as a temporary relief whilst waiting for completion of the new hospital at the relocation site. At the same time, the mine is engaged with some residents who have resorted to litigation in the courts of law. In the meantime, the mine’s blasting operations are being monitored by the Ministry to ensure safety to both human and property.

*HON. MAJAYA:   On a point of order Madam Speaker, we no longer have a quorum in the House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible

interjections.] –

THE ACTING SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA):  Order, order, the

Hon. Member has raised a point of order on an issue of quorum.

Therefore, I will allow the procedure of Parliament to take place.

[Bells rung]

Notice having been taken that there being present fewer than 70 members, the bells were rung for Seven Minutes and a Quorum still not being present, THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER adjourned the House

without question put at Thirteen Minutes to Five O’clock p.m. pursuant

to the provisions of Standing Order Number 56.

NOTE: The following members were present when the House adjourned: Hon. Chibagu, G; Hon. Chikwinya, N; Hon. Chitindi, C; Hon. Damasane, S. A. E; Hon. Dhewa, M.W; Hon. Dube, S; Hon.

Dziva, T.M; Hon. Gangarahwe, G; Hon. Gezi, T; Hon. Gumbo, E; Hon.

Guzah, K.M; Hon. Holder, J; Hon. Hungwa, G; Hon. Kanengoni, T.R;

Hon. Kanhanga, E.W; Hon. Kaundikiza, M; Hon. Kazembe, K; Hon.

Madzinga, P; Hon. Majaya, B; Hon. Majome, F.J; Hon. Matambanadzo,

M; Hon. Matimba, K. M; Hon. Matuke, L; Hon. Mlilo, N; Hon. Mliswa,

1. T; Hon. Mpofu, B; Hon. Mpofu, M. M; Hon. Mugidho Machirairwa;

Hon. Muguti, R; Hon. Mukwangwariwa, F.G; Hon. Mukwena, R; Hon.

Munochinzwa, M; Hon. Muponora, N; Hon. Musabayana, D; Hon.

Murai, E; Hon. Ncube, G. M; Hon. Ndlovu, N; Hon. Ndoro, L. F; Hon.

Nhambu, B; Hon. Nhema, C. F. D; Hon. Nleya, L; Hon. Nyere, C; Hon. Passade, J; Hon. Rungani, A; Hon. Sansole T.W; Hon. Saruwaka, T. J.

L; Hon. Savanhu, T; Hon. Shava, J; Hon. Sibanda D.S; Hon. Sibanda Prince Dubeko; Hon. Sibanda, K; Hon. Tshuma, J; Hon. Uta Kerenia;

Hon. Vutete, M; Hon. Watson, N. J; Hon. Zhou, P.