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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 25 September 2018 45 04 2
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 25th September, 2018
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
VISITORS IN THE SPEAKERS GALLERY
THE HON. SPEAKER: I recognise the presence of Hon. Justice Dr. Patrick Matibini S. C., Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia and his Staff in the Speaker’s Gallery. You are most welcome – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
INVITATION TO A BREAKFAST MEETING
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the Women Alliance of Business Association in Zimbabwe (WABAZ) is inviting all Women Parliamentarians to a breakfast meeting on Thursday, 27th September, 2018 at 0730 hours at the Rainbow Towers Hotel. The bus will leave Parliament building at 0715 hours.
You are requested to confirm your attendance with the Zimbabwe
Women’s Parliamentary Caucus Secretary in Room 181, Parliament Building or on extension 2110.
INDUCTION SEMINAR FOR HON. MINISTERS AND DEPUTY
MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: All Hon. Ministers and Deputy Ministers are invited to an induction seminar on parliamentary business to be held on - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order!
Order! Order. Hon member can you take your sit properly? All Hon.
Ministers and Deputy Ministers are invited to an induction seminar on Parliamentary Business to be held on Thursday, 27th September, 2018 in the Senate Chamber, Parliament Building starting at 0830 hours.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you. Mr. Speaker Sir, I move the motion standing in my name that a respectful address be presented to the
President of Zimbabwe as follows:-
We the Members of Parliament of Zimbabwe, desire to express our loyalty to Zimbabwe and beg leave to offer our respectful thanks for the speech, which you have been pleased to address to Parliament.
HON. MUSABAYANA: I second.
HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for affording me this opportunity to debate the State of the Nation Address by the
President. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate His
Excellency the President for emerging victorious in the 2018 Presidential Elections that were a departure from the violence that previously characterised our elections before his ascendance - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – The free, fair and credible elections will go a long way in restoring long lost international confidence. Congratulation, makorokoto, amhlophe!
Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to also congratulate all of us for making it to this Ninth Parliament. Let us all remember that it is the people who gave us the mandate hence we should work tirelessly as servant leaders, to steal from his Excellency’s words.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President, in his speech alluded to the incident of violence that occurred on 1st August, 2018 and being the peaceful man he is, he has set up a seven member commission of enquiry consisting of eminent persons who were sworn in on Wednesday 19th September 2018. These people are going to investigate, report and make recommendations so as to put closure and finality to the matter.
HON. BITI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker, the Hon Member is not making a maiden speech. She is not allowed to read, she is reading.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, she can read her speech because she is moving a motion. Thank you, carry on.
HON. KWARAMBA: Mr. Speaker Sir, as highlighted in his speech concerning the need to revisit all MOUs signed with other governments which are lying idle, I totally support that these be revisited urgently so as to ensure that as a country, we benefit from the reengagement efforts as we are part of the global community and will hence benefit from these agreements. This, I believe, is the first step towards micro-economic stability, creation of fiscal space and access to foreign currency. Without this, our efforts to put the economy ahead of politics will not bear fruits.
I also agree with his Excellency that the multi-currency system be continued with until all economic fundamentals are positive as the rushed return to the Zimbabwean dollar will result in its being eroded in value, so long as the negative economic fundamentals are not rectified. It is also of paramount importance to some foreign exchange facilities that will cover our imports, like the $500 million sourced through the RBZ. Building 3-6 months of import cover will go a long way in covering our imports and eliminate shortages in the economy.
Mr Speaker Sir, His Excellency is advocating for the prudent use of public resources, responsiveness, accountability as well as timely, impartial and equitable delivery of goods and services to our people.
Truly, there has to be a paradigm shift from what we used to experience in the First Republic. I will take this opportunity as a legislator to throw my weight behind His Excellency in his fight to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and bottlenecks. His Excellency made the clarion call to State Enterprises to start being profitable. Heads should roll in these parastatals and it should be emphasised that their duty is to help Government raise funds and not vice-versa. They should deliver and not continue to drain the fiscus. They should justify their existence. Corrupt practices should be nipped in the bud if parastatals are to add value to the economy. Tough and stringent measures have to be put in place to deal with parastatal heads that do not produce results. Such behaviour by parastatal heads is tantamount to throwing spanners in the work of His Excellency, the President. His efforts and ours will not bear fruit when we have saboteurs in the systems that go unpunished.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me also commend His Excellency for his efforts towards creating a business friendly environment. Efforts to market Brand Zimbabwe should be made in tandem with the ease of doing business and ensuring that our licensing requirements are not too stringent as this cultivates corruption.
Mr. Speaker Sir, agriculture being the mainstay of our economy, the President has restructured the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. He is encouraging the use of our water bodies throughout the country. The Ministry of Tourism has been given fishlings for example in Tokwe-Mukorsi. Funds have been set aside to construct major dams e.g. Kunzvi dam in Mashonaland East. Through Command Agriculture, farmers are being issued with inputs. I would like to commend the President for providing inputs for this season timely. Farmers are being encouraged to harvest water and where there are dams, irrigation is being encouraged. Command livestock and command fisheries have been introduced to help resuscitate our economy. Thank you President Mnangangwa for introducing command. You have improved the livelihoods of our people. - [HON. MEMBERS; hear, hear.] - We have noted an increase in the production of maize, wheat and cotton and small grains in areas which do not receive enough rainfall. Also, what is very pleasing is that payment after delivery of maize to the GMB only takes three days. There will not be hunger again in Zimbabwe. Arrangements have already been made to counter the Elnino phenomenon by the Minister of Lands, Cde Perrance Shiri. May I also commend efforts to modernise and mechanise our agriculture. This will go a long way in improving agricultural profitability and this will feed into agro based industry along the various agro-value chains as propounded by the His Excellency.
The President also talked about devolution, where power is going to be devolved to local communities. These communities know what they want, hence they are going to work in their provinces to take charge of resources found in their areas. For example, in Mashonaland West we have a tomato factory in Norton. In Mutoko there is black granite therefore the onus is on provinces to work on their diverse economic activities to increase their GDP.
His Excellency has promised modern education and health infrastructure. We have seen the purchase of dialysis machines and the introduction of free dialysis in our major hospitals. Dialysis costs were out of reach for many kidney patients hence we would like to say thank you, to our caring President. - [HON. MEMBERS; hear, hear.] - My wish is to have these machines in all provinces to ease pressure. May I take this opportunity to thank the First Lady, Amai Mnangagwa for complimenting His Excellency’s work by spearheading cervical cancer awareness and treatment. Most of our women were dying from cancer but they are now being diagnosed and treated before the cancer reaches alarming levels. Amai should be commended for sourcing machines through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President touched on Bills that should be debated in this House which are supposed to be aligned to the
Constitution. I would like to comment on the Mandatory Sentence for
Rape and Sexual Abuse Bill which shall be considered by this Parliament. Rape on its own is murder, hence I would like to suggest that a stiffer sentence like life sentence be considered. I think by the time this Bill comes to this august House, Hon. Members will debate seriously and make proper recommendations.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the President lamented the current outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid in some parts of the country. People continue to die. It is pleasing to note that the private sector has come in to assist the Government with various amounts of money so as to curb this menace. His Excellency has visited the affected areas to assess the extent of the damage. On his visit, he promised one affected Form 3 student educational assistance until he finishes his education. Thank you my President for putting health issues first.
Lastly, we have noticed wanton increase of prices of goods in shops which has reached alarming levels. You wake up to find the prices of basic goods gone up. It is my fervent hope that the Consumer Protection Bill be quickly put in place to protect consumers from unfair trade practices.
Let me conclude by calling all legislators across the political divide to unite and work towards building Zimbabwe, and uniting behind His Excellency in his efforts to restore the pride of our nation –[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – United we stand! Divided we fall! I thank you.
HON. MUSABAYANA: Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to start by thanking our heroes of the First Chimurenga and First Umvukela who fought hard for this nation to be where it is today. Today, we enjoy our independence because of the hard work that they did. Allow me to thank the heroes of the Second Chimurenga who were led by the ZANLA and ZIPRA forces who worked so hard to shape this nation to be where it is today. I look at it as an incarnation of the spirits of the First Chimurenga that was passed on to the heroes of the Second Chimurenga.
I also feel honoured to second the motion raised by Hon. Kwaramba who was responding to the State of the Nation Address delivered by His Excellency, Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa who is the first President of the Second Republic – [HON MEMBERS:
Hear, hear.] - As an analyst, when I looked at the President’s speech, there is one single compelling issue that he touched on and this issue really touched my heart; his strategic vision of targeting per capita income of $3500 by year 2030. This vision will raise this economy into a middle income economy. When our nation gets into a middle income class, its means the welfare of our society, people and rural communities will also be upgraded.
The President did not only highlight where he wants to take this nation which is the promised land. He also did point out to at important roadblocks and detours that need to be removed, lest our…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Hon Member holding a chair, no
more chairs inside. There should be one line so that there is free passage there. Hon. Members sitting on my right, can you please stand up and have one line there.
HON. MUSABAYANA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I was saying our
President has shown that he is really a strategist by showing us that, not only does he have a strategic intent of landing this nation into the promised land but he highlighted all the possible challenges that we may face as we cross into the promised land which are issues to do with the opportunities that we have as a nation or the enablers that we have. These opportunities are trapped in our minds which need to be exploited efficiently and effectively. These opportunities are in the agricultural sector, the tourism sector and the human capital resource. Not only that, we also have the social capital of relationships that have been created through the engagement and re-engagement.
Mr. Speaker Sir, these roadblocks need to be dealt with for us to be able to get to the Promised Land, and in order to increase productivity in this nation for us to be able to raise the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of this nation, we need to take these roadblocks and detours seriously, so that pathways are created into our economy for us to be able to maximise output from resources.
The roadblocks manifest as poor infrastructure in terms of our roads, poor infrastructure in terms of water and sanitation and our Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems or infrastructure which is lagging very far behind the global standards.
We also have challenges that His Excellency the President highlighted. These manifest as red-tape in the operation of government, inefficient bureaucracy and poor work ethics among others. These are likely seen in the public sector and this can militate against the ease of doing business.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the President is talking passionately about Zimbabwe being open for business. We cannot be a nation open for business unless and until issues of competitiveness are dealt with. Mr. Speaker Sir, these issues are critical because we cannot be competitive on the international market unless our products are properly priced. These issues further boil down to products quality and cost of production.
We also have laws that are archaic and these laws makes it very difficult to achieve the required ease of doing business in our nation and with other foreign nations.
The President also highlighted the issue of corruption, lack of constitutionalism and the culture of unjustified profiteering which has become a culture among our citizens.
Mr. Speaker Sir, if you look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, he starts with food security and shelter as the basic requirements for a human being to live comfortably. Our President also looks at that when he talked about the issue of water borne diseases which have affected people. The diseases include typhoid and cholera. Therefore, the issue of access to clean water has to be dealt with. This is also enshrined in our Constitution that requires that every citizen has access to clean potable water. Sustainable Development Goal Number 6 also alludes to that.
Our President showed that he is a responsible citizen and good leader by assenting to the Public Health Act to ensure that these issues are dealt with once and for all and within a sustainable framework. Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to thank the new dispensation because it ensured that most citizens have access to clean potable water. The dispensation has availed drilling rigs in every province. These will go a long way in ensuring that we have access to clean potable water especially in rural communities.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this issue of access to clean water is very important to our citizens….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Order, Hon. Member, just refer to your notes.
HON. MUSABAYANA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The issue of
clean potable water is very critical especially to our rural communities and also to our unsung heroes of the Third Chimurenga who are the A2 and A1 farmers. Most of these people do not have access to clean potable water. For example in Hwedza alone, we are looking at more than 84 villages without access to boreholes and clean potable water. We also have schools which number beyond 30, without clean potable water. Mr. Speaker Sir, not only do we have to use these boreholes for drinking water, but they also go a long way in improving infrastructure for our irrigation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to thank the President for the new dispensation because in this new dispensation, he has introduced Command Agriculture in tobacco. Command Agriculture in tobacco has actually moved the level of production of tobacco in this country to a higher level. The level has surpassed the 1999 level which has never been achieved during the time white commercial farmers were still farming in this land. Command tobacco has actually vindicated the Land Reform Programme because it has shown that if our farmers are given enough financial support, they can surpass the production levels that were achieved during the time the white commercial farmers were still very active in our farms.
Another roadblock that was highlighted by the President is the issue of accelerating ICTs infrastructure development. ICT infrastructure is one of the key enablers of development. Mr. Speaker Sir, if you look at nations like Singapore and Rwanda, they are now shining examples of economic development. This is so because they have harnessed ICTs as a strategy for development. They are not just using ICTs as a tool for development alone but they are also using it as a strategy for development. This year Rwanda is actually hosting the Smart Africa Forum and in that they are focusing on issues to do with ICTs.
In terms of access to ICTs, we are ranked lowly. We are on number 133 out of 175 countries and this is a bad index position. Therefore Mr. Speaker Sir, we need as a nation to focus and deploy resources into the ICT sector. I also suggest that we increase the ICT envelop when we do our National Budget so that our ICT industry develops. ICTs go a long way in improving employment levels in our country and we can also use it for the efficient running of our country. That is possible if we introduce e-governance and paperless offices in all our government departments.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the issue of ICTs is also important in our rural communities. If we look at constituencies like Hwedza North, we only have three cellular network base stations and most of the wards do not have access to broadband and cellular networks. That isolates such wards from the rest of the world. As we get integrated into the global arena or market, the challenge that we have in terms of the ICT platforms we are operating on, is that we are behind and we will not be able to compete. Therefore, we need to focus on this area.
The President also highlighted the issue of Cyber Crime and Cyber Security Bill. It is sad Mr. Speaker, that this Bill is still outstanding because in the Eighth Parliament we enjoyed a number of lunches and allowances trying to work on this Bill. I do not know what happened because we never saw its life in the Eight Parliament, but I am glad the President has highlighted it because this is a very important Bill.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the world over, over $600 billion was lost through cyber crimes in 2017 alone. That is a scary figure and we do not want that to affect our nation. We also have cyber crimes that are now crippling certain nations. We know that Ukraine’s energy sector was hacked and when it was hacked there were serious challenges in that country which almost brought anarchy to the nation. So, issues to do with cyber crimes and cyber security Bills should be treated with the urgency that they deserve.
Mr. Speaker, we also need to look at issues to do with corruption. The world over we are losing more than $2 trillion that is to say in 2017 alone the world lost $2 trillion due to corruption. This shows that corruption is a serious bottleneck, is a serious roadblock that we need to deal with. The issue of corruption needs to be treated with the urgency that it deserves. At the moment, Zimbabwe is ranked 159 out of 190 economies in terms of corruption perception index.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this is bad and we are viewed in bad light in terms of being a lucrative investment destination. We know what happens with corruption. The issue of corruption is that it is actually an inhibitor to foreign direct investment. Corruption will increase the cost of investment because in the process of trying to invest in a nation, you have to grease some people’s hands or pockets and in the process a lot of money is lost that will affect even the return of your investment.
The other challenge with corruption is that there is no guarantee that if you are involved in a corrupt deal or you pay the greasing fee, you will be able to consummate the deal. So, for us to support the
President’s mantra that we are open for business, we have to deal with the issue of corruption, but when we deal with the issue of corruption, Mr. Speaker Sir, we need to ensure that there is a framework that is in place, a framework, policies or laws that ensure that all those people who are found guilty are actually taken to jail. I am glad the President has set up or committed judges that are focused on dealing with corruption. I believe there are three courts in Bulawayo and also five courts in Zimbabwe that will be dealing with corruption.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when we are looking at the issue of corruption, I think our police force needs to be trained on how to handle or investigate issues of corruption because if the police are not trained or do not have the capacity or the competence to deal with matters of corruption, it will be very difficult to prove some of the cases before the courts of law. This is why we see some of these people going scot free even after being charged or are alleged to be corrupt.
Mr. Speaker Sir, finally, I want to thank the President for talking about or addressing the currency issue that has been challenging our nation for a long time. I believe he addressed it in the right context that the challenge that we have is not to do with the bond note and it is not to do with the currency that you are using. The challenges that we have in this economy are underlying fundamental issues to do with productivity, issues to do with the way we do business in this country. I think we need to refocus on issues of productivity because if you are productive as a nation, we will be able to create surpluses even within our own communities. If every community creates a surplus, it means we will be able to create a surplus in our nation and when we have surpluses, we will be able to export to other nations.
We also need to deal with the culture in this country; the culture of this love for imported goods.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member can you wind up, your
time is up.
HON. MUSABAYANA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. We need to learn to buy Zimbabwe. If as a nation we learn to buy Zimbabwe, to focus on learning to buy our locally produced goods, then it will reduce our demand for foreign goods. If we deal with that issue then…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! I said wind up.
HON. MUSABAYANA: Mr. Speaker, as I wind up, allow me to thank our President, President Emmerson Mnangagwa for delivering a resounding victory to ZANU-PF as a party. Mr. Speaker, it was not easy with a free and fair election to have two thirds majority in Parliament –
[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order.
HON. MUSABAYANA: So, I would like to thank our President for his hard work. I thank you.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to support what was said by the mover and the seconder of the motion. Let me start by thanking our President for the speech that he gave in Parliament. What he said is reflective of a good President. In Africa as a whole, we have Presidents who speak, but the way our President spoke, was a reflection that he is a person with wisdom and has the views that are good that will push the country forward.
We want to thank him for delivering such good speech. If someone starts his speech by thanking the opposition and then later on his own party, appreciating the calmness and the free and fair atmosphere or environment in which elections were held, what do we say of such a President? So, I also want to thank the nation for the peace and tranquility that prevailed during elections. I am sure everyone will agree with me that we used to have elections marred by violence, but the recently held elections were elections whereby the opposition did not have any convincing evidence in court – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- because they were also appreciating the peaceful environment that prevailed during the elections.
I hope that as Zimbabweans, we will be able to maintain such an environment and other countries can learn from us. The peaceful environment during elections brought in a lot of tourism. After the elections, the number of tourists increased compared to other periods before the elections. I want to thank him for the peaceful environment that prevailed during elections. I know there are some who do not appreciate and enjoy the peace and tranquillity that is there but the
President reiterated that there was peace and tranquillity after elections. The President also talked about demonstrations that occurred after elections where six people lost their lives.
Mr. Speaker, we are not happy and do not like such a situation whereby people entice the youths who do not have jobs to go and demonstrate just for them to get into power. The issue of Kenya that wanted to take place in Zimbabwe is not a good thing, especially after the elections. I was not happy about it because the way we had won the elections was outstanding but you find people using the youth to go into the streets to and demonstrate. We should go and inform our supporters of the results after the elections – if we lose, we should tell them we have lost and not entice them to go and demonstrate in the streets. We are here as representatives of the people....
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Member, please do not dwell much on that issue because there is a Commission that was set up to look into that. Let the Commission do its work and do its investigations. I thank you.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. That is what I wanted to talk about, the setting up of the Commission. We want to thank the President who put in place a Commission to investigate the post election violence.
The President also talked about the issue of health. He said that our country needs to have good health facilities and we realised that all areas – yesterday I was talking to the leaders of Harare and I told them they are now adhering to what should happen in Zimbabwe. I told them that our country cannot be a country of selling tomatoes. When the President talked about removing informal traders, people say that there are no jobs and they do not look at the issue of health. We want the health issue to be dealt with. As Parliamentarians, I urge us to be united so that the country or Harare where we reside when we come from our different constituencies remains clean. When we were travelling from different areas to come to Parliament, it will take us three hours. We want to thank the President and we support him that health should be there. We want to thank those that are cleaning the city, especially the Opposition, they have tried to clean up the city. They should continue doing the good work and ensure that Harare does not become a tomato market. We do not want that.
On the issue of corruption Mr. Speaker, corruption has become a cancer. Corruption should be brought to an end. Corruption – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Please listen and lower your voices. May you whisper? Hon. Zwizwai, just control yourself a bit. Thank you.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Corruption Mr. Speaker, everyone is involved in corruption. Most of us are engaged in corruption in one way or the other. Some people just want to talk about individuals engaging in corruption but they do not look at themselves. Corruption is not only defrauding but corruption is also evident if someone says that the vendors or informal traders should continue to sell their wares from the streets. That is corruption because we are saying it is not healthy but we want them to stay there, that is corruption. We want to stress that such corruption should end. Corruption again comes in the sense that when someone is speaking very sensibly and doing good work, you will hear people making noise, like I am doing, that is corruption. Corruption is not only involved where there is money but also where one is saying a lot of sense and people are booing him. There is corruption that is evident in demonstration, there is corruption that comes through fraudulent activities. Even the demonstrations that happened when the President was delivering his Speech and MPs walked out, that in itself is corruption – [Laughter.] –
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Chinotimba, we do not want jokes in this House. May you please stick to the speech, not to be cracking jokes as you debate. Let us respect this House.
*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I am talking about corruption and people may think that I am joking but as I am saying, you once said that when we come to Parliament to discuss business, we should not fear. So, I am talking of corruption and where it comes from.
The President also talked about Bills that when we come to this august House, the Ministers should push the Bills so that we pass them. We want the Bills to come through and for them to be passed especially on the issue of devolution so that development can take place in the provinces. In my area, there is a lot of hunger and poverty but we have a lot of resources. The President emphasised that these Bills should be brought to Parliament for developmental purposes and he said that we should not look at partisan politics but work together as Members of Parliament from either party. That is an issue that people in this House should understand.
Elections have come and they have gone and what we want now is to push the agenda in terms of development four our country. What is it that has made our country remain so backward? Let us work together and articulate issues to end these economic challenges as one and not to behave like we do not know what we are doing. So, these are the words that I want to add that the President of Zimbabwe Hon. Emmerson
Mnangagwa is a President given by God. We have not seen such a
President before - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Mr. Speaker Sir, we want to thank the President for his bravery and we want to thank all of you who voted for the President. Some of us might not have voted for him but many of us voted for him. Romans 13 says that, the king or the leader of a nation is chosen by God. He is anointed by God. Even if people can complain and say a lot, as long as God has put him there, no one has the powers to remove him. So, I want to thank you with these words that God will protect the life of our President, Cde. Mnangagwa who has gone out to tell the world that they should come and work in Zimbabwe since Zimbabwe is open for business. Let us thank him that he is a President of the people who was voted for by the people – whether you like it or not, he is going to be the President for five years. I thank you.
HON. MHONA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for affording me
this opportunity. Let me thank the mover of this motion, Hon. Kwaramba for coming up with such a noble motion. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to congratulate His Excellency, Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa for a resounding victory on the 30th of July, 2018. Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for coming for a second term – you are a repository of knowledge. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
I also want to congratulate the rest of the Hon. Members here present for coming to this august House and I take this opportunity to thank the people of Chikomba Central who actually voted me to come for a second term in this august House. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to mention about Chikomba Central that as a constituency, we have a relationship that is sui generis – it is specific and special in its own way. The idea of us as parliamentarians to fulfill the desires and the wishes of our people cannot be over-emphasised. I want to say to this august House that the 2018 elections has gone and we now need to build Zimbabwe. Mr. Speaker Sir, the idea of us here in Africa, I wanted to say, we have one problem whereby if we run a race, it is given that there is a winner and a loser. In most cases, you will find that there is a spirit of denial and individualism whereby if someone wins, it is a taboo that there is no handshake to say, here you have won. I am saying let us embrace this spirit as Africans to say, whenever one succeeds, let us congratulate that person. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is prevalent even within the intra-party politics where we talk of the primaries – this spirit is quite prevalent there and also inter-party politics whenever we come to the general election. This affirms an assertion by one of the renowned authors, Jean Wilkes that “as long as leaders worry about who sits at the head table, they have little time for the people they are called to serve”. We do not see opportunities for services while our eyes are fixed on competition.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency President E. D. Mnangagwa talked about prioritisation of economic development in order to eradicate poverty by 2030. According to Mahatma Ghandi, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world”. The issue of corruption has become cancerous as alluded to by a number of speakers who have deliberated on that aspect and it is my humble plea that as the law makers, let us come up with a punitive measure or legislation to nip this in the bud once and for all for a better Zimbabwe, for ourselves and for posterity.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency also highlighted a number of pertinent Bills to be tabled in this august House and from your wise counsel, the onus is on us the parliamentarians to execute with speed in ensuring that these Bills become law. Inter alia, the Bills to be tabled in the House, there is the Rural District Councils Bill which gives greater autonomy to the rural councils as enshrined in the supreme law, the
Constitution and this is long overdue Mr. Speaker Sir. There is also the
Traditional Leaders’ Act which has to be amended in accordance with the Constitution so as to bring about the provincial council element and this is a welcome Bill. This will be anchored by the Public Finance Management Act which has to be amended in order to avail resources to these Bills in order for them to become law.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this comes under the purview of one of the most important Committees, which is the Finance and Economic
Development Committee and it is buttressed in Section 18 (2) of the
Constitution which states that, “the State and agencies of the State and Government at every level must take practical measures to ensure that all local communities have equitable access to resources to promote their development”. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is peremptory and it is a must. So, the funds have to be availed in order to fulfill these obligations.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency also touched on the need to act in the national interest and preach the gospel of peace, love, harmony and unity and hard honest. This is well articulated in our preamble of the supreme Constitution which talks of ‘… to commit ourselves to build a united, just and prosperous nation, founded on values of transparency, equality, freedom, fairness, honest, and the dignity of hard work’ and this will also uphold ubunthu/hunhu as enunciated by His Excellency, history will judge us harshly should we renege on the sacrosanct duty to uplift the livelihoods of our people. Verily, to underpin this statement by His Excellency Mr. Speaker Sir, it is incumbent upon us as
Parliamentarians to know when to exit. This also applies to every leader Mr. Speaker Sir. I might not be popular or famous in this regard, but it is very important and imperative for leaders to know the time to exit office. As mandated in our Constitution, the President is actually mandated to have two five-year terms, making it 10 years in office.
With your indulgence Mr. Speaker Sir, once again, it is my humble request to say, let it be the time as parliamentarians to start thinking seriously about this notion, to say why can we not serve two terms as parliamentarians so that as the President exits, we also exit and allow new minds to come into effect and serve our people – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members.
HON. MHONA: Mr. Speaker Sir, it is common within us that we
want to die in office but at the end of the day, we do these things for the future generation. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to conclude – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May you lower your voices
Hon. Members. Thank you.
HON. MHONA: Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to conclude by quoting
one of the letters or one of the prophets in the Bible by the name Paul, when he was speaking to the Corinthians, 1Corinthians 1:10. It reads, “I appeal to you brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you will be perfect, united in mind and thought.” Surely, this is the gist of the speech of His Excellency, that there be unity in this august House for the betterment of the people of Zimbabwe in general and to embrace a modus vivendi, which is a lifestyle of the people of Zimbabwe. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MLISWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. First of all, let me – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can the Hon.
Member be heard in silence please.
HON. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker, let me thank the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Adv. Jacob Mudenda for listening to Members of Parliament in terms of the change of venue today. I think it is important for us to thank him because certainly the situation was not conducive yesterday. As a result, we made an appeal to him and he responded to it in a manner which is befitting for Members of Parliament. So, if you can extend my thanks to him on behalf of all Members of Parliament, I am sure they agree.
Secondly Mr. Speaker, let me thank the people of Norton Constituency who have exhibited a great mind of independence. With the politics of this country which is so polarised, you would not think that an independent Member of Parliament would garner so many votes amounting to16 850 and 7 850 MDC Alliance, well done and then ZANU PF, 4 250, well done. I say this because it is unprecedented that a constituency would give such support to one who does not belong to a party but mainly because of the progress that they want to see for themselves. It is a lesson to many political parties in this country that the people’s welfare, concerns and development initiatives are the core for them and not the power in the political parties.
I am hoping that lessons are drawn from Norton Constituency. I am sure they have been drawn because before that, the opposition MDC had claimed that their victory was a result of their support. However, they were proven wrong in this election. Equally for the ruling party, lessons must be leant that when you expel people without – [Laughter.] – real reasons, you also suffer immensely. The ruling party paid dearly for the factional fights and the opposition paid dearly for not telling people to register and to vote. I am sure now they will participate in every by-election so that they practice because you cannot win a final without being in a semi-final.
It is important that I also commend the people of Zimbabwe across the political divide for the elections of 2018, which I think spoke a lot about the young people who participated immensely in determining their future. It is not a secret that the young people of this country, because of unemployment and suffering decided to now exercise their right. The most important thing is for the leaders of this country to be cognisant of the fact that the numbers will grow if nothing is done to respond to the needs of the young people. All they want at the end of the day are jobs and a better life and whoever offers them that is the person that they will support.
It is important to also congratulate, first of all, Advocate Chamisa – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I congratulate him as a brother in that he participated in an election and did extremely well although he lost – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - It is important that I reiterate the fact that it is a first time ever in this country where a young person takes part in an election and garners so many votes. If I were him, I would use that as a foundation to start working towards 2023. I think it is important that he is commended for that and the MDC
Alliance for coming in their numbers to be able to do that – [HON.
MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can you listen to the Hon. Member.
HON. MLISWA: They must also be commended in that, they did well in penetrating the ZANU PF strongholds, which illustrates a free and fair election in that ZANU PF strongholds were never touched but the MDC Alliance managed to penetrate and get a lot of votes. I wish they had taken heed of what I said to them before, that you start this game earlier than late. I think all politicians must know that you need to work the moment that you are in office.
However, it is also important to commend ZANU PF for the urban votes that they got; I think in Harare Province, they got a lot of votes. The pre-election environment, whether you like it or not, was extremely peaceful, there is no way that you can take part in an election if the conditions are not conducive.
I think all parties are to blame for their failure because there were impositions, there were factional fights which I hope they can go back to the drawing board and all learn from that. I am talking about all parties across the board. If you look at the margins which were there, clearly, it was because they had put the wrong candidate, they imposed the wrong candidates and because of the factions in the MDC-T, they had the Thokozani Khupe issue which affected them. Again, ZANU PF had become a gamatox issue and had the G40 issue and so forth. I think I am the most qualified to talk about that because I am not in any of the political parties. So, I am sure it is important for Members of Parliament to also learn from me because I benefitted immensely from the faction fights of MDC and ZANU-PF. Like I said, I always await the primary elections when people are disgruntled and I cast my net and catch the biggest breams ever in town. They must continue fighting so that the independent candidates remain live.
I say this in view of the post election situation. Certainly it is something which is unfortunate for the country and I think it is best that the decision that His Excellency Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken in appointing a Commission of Inquiry certainly helps us to get to a logical conclusion of this. Those bodies lost, whether we like it or not, certainly do not do us any good as a country and I think it is important that lessons are learnt in terms of statements which some of us politicians make before elections. I think we must think of the people first. We must not be reckless in what we say because people’s lives are important. Those lives that are gone will not come back and I think it is important for us to introspect the cause of that. I think it is also important that the Government takes a certain position to ensure that the deceased’s families ...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, I think the Hon. Speaker cautioned Hon. Chinotimba when he wanted to dwell so much on that issue because there is a Commission of Inquiry that was instituted.
HON. MLISWA: I remain guided by you Mr. Speaker. Let me
go to the issues that the President spoke about and also to congratulate His Excellency, Cde. Emmerson. Dambudzo Mnangagwa, for the victory. I do not think there will be any other ZANU-PF leader who will be as democratic as him. I think ZANU-PF has a lot to learn from Emmerson Mnangagwa. He was so democratic that he was prepared to even lose the election and there is no way that ever before since 1980, we had an election so close. I think it is also important for this House sitting here to ensure that institutions that run elections – it is up to us in this House to make sure that they do what we want at the end of day. I think we have an opportunity in this House to ensure that if we are not happy with ZEC, we are able to debate and change whatever laws we need to change so that ZEC becomes a better animal in terms of running elections. So, the onus also lies upon us Members of Parliament. I hope we will not be asleep and wait for elections to happen then talk about ZEC when elections have happened. This is the time to talk about ZEC.
This is the time to correct what ZEC did not do which was proper.
I want to also talk about the new dispensation administration that the President has shown. Never did I ever think that Government would have so many young people, unknown politicians who are now in office. It talks about the new dispensation. We had a situation where Ministers would be recycled left, right and centre. We had Ministers like Obert Mpofu who was the obedient son to the former President Mugabe.
Today, he is no more because the President wants to move forward.
That talks a lot about what he intends to do. You had die-hards like Patrick Chinamasa who certainly were die-hards in their own way but they are no more in the party. I always say this to my colleagues in ZANU-PF; I am talking about the Government and not the party. They are no longer in Government and the party is not the Government, we must understand that. We must understand exactly the role of the President in trying to send a message clearly to all Zimbabweans – even to the young people that there is room for you to be able to understand the new course he is shaping.
The aspect of corruption remains an issue. I look forward to the day the President will arrest Ministers while they are in office. Arresting Ministers out of office does not mean anything. We want Ministers while they are in office, when they are corrupt to be investigated and be suspended. Corruption can no longer be a situation where we talk about it and we do nothing about it. We have commission of enquiries put up and the mere fact that the President has got the Zimbabwe AntiCorruption Committee (ZACC) and then appoints his own committee to investigate corruption only shows that ZACC is corrupt and is not fit to investigate. Otherwise why would he then have another parallel investigating arm when ZACC is there? The likes of Goodson Nguni are not credible to be able to be running such institutions. We have people like former Attorney General Gula Ndebele, Justice Chinhengo who we just had who are able to understand the law, look at the case and be able to do that. The credibility of the Anti-Corruption Commission is the one that will talk to people whether the President is serious about corruption or not.
Also, there are other Ministers who came back into power yet there are institutions like NSSA – Hon. Mupfumira having allegations on corruption. To me, we need to be very clear. If the board chairperson of an institution which a Minister appoints is corrupt and the Minister does not report that they are corrupt, the Minister cannot be exonerated but must also be arrested because he/she appointed the board. We cannot separate the board and the Minister. So we are basically playing games. Any Minister who is sleeping on duty and appoints a board which is implicit and does not do its job, the Minister is responsible for appointing the board and as such, is the first to be accused and the board becomes the second accused. This is what we want to see. We cannot be playing games and having to protect people because of who they are. When you look at NSSA, the pensioners have suffered immensely in this country yet there are so many deals which are happening with NSSA.
There is also the issue of the land barons, some of whom are in this House. In Norton, we have Hon. Cuthbert Mupame who is implicated in the Kingsdale issue. We have Hon. Cde. Killer Zivhu, who is implicated in the Galloway issue. I speak about this with a heavy heart because these people have made people of Norton suffer. The cholera that we talk about today is a result of land barons who have gone and built more stands without complying with the master plan. Every town has got a master plan and if you look at it you give people land who are the land barons to build but they do not build any infrastructure to augment the new houses which are being built. That cholera which is there is a result of the land barons who have been given land and not only that, but they are the same land barons who were sponsoring the G40, but I see them in this House again.
At times I wonder what really happened to the party. Where are the eyes of the party? They created so much division in the country. They were the ones supporting the former first lady but today I see them here. I wonder - where was the ZANU-PF vetting system in terms of elections to stop these criminals from coming here? When another faction comes, you know where it is coming from. You failed to stop them at the end of the day. The reason why I talk about the factions is because they have played a part in this economy not taking off. The only thing that the ruling party did in the Eighth Session was to just fight and fight. There was no progress at the end of the day.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you be
reminded that you need to wind up your debate.
HON. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I talk about the aspect of corruption because it is an issue and it is quite sad that some of the issues to do with the Land Commission was set up by the President to look into the land barons. But, I then asked myself – how will the Land Commission be able to investigate other Members of Parliament when they are also part of that investigation? It says a lot about what we need to do. I also talk...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Sorry Hon. Member, it is not
parliamentary language to call other Hon. Members in this House that they are criminals. Do you have evidence? Maybe you need to change that language because he is also an Hon Member in this House. I thank you. You may continue.
HON. MLISWA: Sorry, I say this because I have written and they are part of the investigation of what is going on in the Land
Commission. So there is evidence that I have written to the authorities in this country and Hon. Cuthbert Mpame was brought before the courts as a result of the Kingsdale issue. So that evidence is there. I would not talk about something which has not gone before the courts and so forth. They are being investigated with the Land Commission. My question is - how fair will the investigations be now that they are Members of Parliament? This is an issue of corruption that I am talking about that at times we need to be very clear in terms of that.
I also want to talk about the issue of bureaucracy in Government. The President was very clear and I think that the Government has not changed its ways of doing things. The President is much ahead of
Government. You can see that there is so much bureaucracy still in
Government. It seems that people still have the DNA of the former President Robert Mugabe in terms of how they work and all that, yet the new President is very clear about how he wants things to perform. The onus is on the new administration, the Ministers - to appoint people around them who will be able to align themselves to the vision of the President which he has shown by appointing them. We are hoping that there will be a truly new dispensation because for as long as Government is not performing - Government institutions have got to perform he mentioned that.
The ZRP are trained to investigate; Homicide section can do armed robber cases, CID can do frauds but we never hear of ZRP arresting anybody for corruption. We hear of ZACC arresting people for corruption. ZACC does not have the capacity that ZRP has. ZRP has stations around and they have a training centre, but you wonder what these institutions are doing in terms of ensuring that they are up to a lot of things. It says a lot again in terms of how the training goes in terms of the crime which is there. Hon. Musabayana spoke about the cyber crime which is highly sophisticated. As a result, we also need to find people who are able to deal with white collar crime and I do not know how far we have gone in terms of introducing that.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Command Agriculture has done well and I do not think there is any better person than the Hon. Sen. Chief Air Marshall Shiri to be able to run that. He is a farmer himself. He is a military person and being a military person, he needs that discipline which was lacking in the Ministry of Agriculture for things to be done and already we have got results which are there. I believe that in the appointment of Hon. Sen. Shiri from an agricultural point of view, this is probably one of the best appointments which have been made. I have no doubt that results will be produced for a man who is well trained.
In terms of the country’s resources of lithium and coal bed methane, it is a bit unfortunate that some of our resources that we have seem to be taken away by people who are not Zimbabweans. I wonder that the indigenisation and empowerment seems to have been forgotten but the locals need to benefit. What is in it for Zimbabwe at the end of the day? We cannot be excited by people who come in to get our resources yet our people continue to suffer. There must be a local content or percentage for the people in these areas so that they benefit. Finally in terms of devolution, I think it is the way to go and I am hoping that it certainly complies with the Constitution in terms of the requirements. We had Provincial Councils elections which were held and devolution will talk a lot about how provinces will grow from an economic point of view.
I want to thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity and equally congratulate all Members of Parliament across the political divide, to say let us work for the country and I am hoping that you do
not stick to the whipping system but if you are whipped, you must let me know; I will be able to support you. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! If there is any Hon.
Member who has misplaced his or her keys, can you please kindly go to the Clerk’s office.
HON. MUDARIKWA: First of all Mr. Speaker Sir, let me convey to you fraternal greetings from the heroic people of Uzumba Constituency and to you Mr. Speaker Sir, I say victory remains in the pocket of the people of Uzumba Constituency.
Let me begin by thanking His Excellency, Cde Mnangagwa for introducing peace in Zimbabwe. John 14 verse 27 says “When Jesus Christ was about to depart, he said I leave to you peace and I give peace unto you”. This is what Cde Mnangagwa has done to the people of Zimbabwe. He has brought peace and he also brought very peaceful elections. Peace is always associated with having enough food. When you are hungry or even when you are sleeping you do a lot of snoring because there is no peace in hunger.
The command agriculture has brought enough food for the people of Zimbabwe. We have small grains and artificial insemination for goats and sheep – so food is available. When there is a lot of food there is also peace. I also want to thank everybody who participated in the just ended 30 July election. Before and after the elections there was peace. Those who lost the elections, yes they can complain but you must always learn from your mistakes and those who believe in magic can come to our constituency and I will show them where they can get a medicinal formular of winning elections using some traditional medicine so that you can continue winning the way I won in Uzumba Constituency, as the way ZANU PF won in Uzumba Constituency, as the way His
Excellency Hon. Mnangagwa won resoundingly in Uzumba
Constituency – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
We are a product of the revolution and ZANU PF is the general manager of the revolution which Hon. Mnangagwa as the Commanderin-Chief of the revolution. It is only proper, fit and suitable for the people of Zimbabwe to salute our Commander-in-Chief through our vote. We voted resoundingly and this victory will continue until donkeys start having horns.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for coming back and being elected as our Speaker. We have the headmaster Hon. Adv Mudenda. He is the right man for the job. You are also the very right person for the job because the people of Buhera North accepted you and we have also accepted you to be part of the Speaker’s Panel. What is only left for us is to celebrate and dance for these positions because it is part of our tradition that whenever there is victory people must celebrate. Even in the Bible, it is written that whenever there is anything that is there we must celebrate. So, celebration is part of our culture and it is also part of our religious culture. So the two things must co-exist.
Uzumba Constituency had a great blessing by His Excellency when he was the Vice President. He opened Hombiro Clinic for us. This is a clinic which is part of the community work done by the people of Uzumba. They provided the bricks and cement. We are our own liberators. We will fight our own wars against hunger, ignorance, poverty and disease. The construction of Hombiro Clinic was there and is there forever to set out in the battle lines against hunger, poverty, ignorance and disease.
The victory of Hon. Mnangagwa is the victory of everybody because it brought peace to Zimbabwe. It brought development.
Everybody is coming to Zimbabwe as his mantra is ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ but when we talk of Zimbabwe is open for business, we must also be having our own business so that when time for elections comes, we are not professional beggars. We must be able to provide some money from our pockets not to be begging every day. Investors can come when we as legislators are business people and involved in one way or the other in the form of business.
As legislators, we must never admire poverty. Poverty is the name of the people and we must continue to fight against it but how do we fight against poverty when as legislators we are not involved in any form of business at any given time. We must start now to have a Business Advisory Council or Panel at Parliament where we can invite people from the private sector to assist Hon. Members to be business. Educate them on how they can start their own business because time will come when the people will give you their back.
When you lose elections, we do not want you to die. It is so sorrowful when you meet somebody who has lost elections, it is as if somebody has lost a wife and kids but he has just lost an election. He is so depressed and some end up in hospitals or some go to the apostolic churches. This must come to an end and it happens like that because we will be poor. We must never admire poverty.
The other thing Mr. Speaker Sir, this august House must provide laws which must ban the securitisation of accommodation as part of security for any business because when that business collapses, the family loses their accommodation. Interest rates which are being charged by banks are out of this world and unacceptable. They have destroyed everybody left, right and centre, and that is why you see that there are a lot of adverts for houses on sale day-in day-out.
Also as Hon. Members, we must not fear to borrow. We must continue borrowing but borrowing at fair rates not the current rates.
What surprises me is that many people are scared to borrow for a business but they have borrowed a wife because they have not finished paying their lobola. So, why are you scared of borrowing for your business when you have a wife whom you have not finished paying lobola for. Even the wife is also scared of borrowing yet she is part and parcel of this credit arrangement which is not coming to an end. It gives us a challenge as leaders. If we are leaders and we are not in the forefront of economic development, then what are we? We are not leaders we are parasites. It is a situation that must be addressed.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank Hon. Mnangangwa for providing education. Uzumba Constituency has 28 primary and 28 secondary schools. We have no primary school which has no secondary school. We have one vocational training centre. Our desire now is to have a vocational training centre in every ward. Government has invested a lot in education but we are not reaping the fruits of our investment in education. Vocational training centres are there now to provide relevant
skills.
The value chain in agriculture must include everything, that is processing of food such as maize meal, maheu, brewing of beer using the agriculture value chain because our youths, Mr. Speaker Sir, have gone to the dogs because of musombodhiya. There is a lot of alcohol and substance abuse that is taking place in this country. It must be corrected.
Time is not on our side.
The ease of doing business as enunciated by His Excellency must come to a reality because the current situation is; I had some investors from Yugoslavia who came to Murewa and they were basically required to pay 48 statutory fees before they could start their business. The fees were to council, ZESA, EM, licence for VID and ZBC for every room even if there is nobody sleeping in that room you still have to pay. That is unacceptable. Saloon licence. They wanted to keep animals and National Parks wants a licence. They have to protect with firearms and had to pay for firearms certificate, a lot of things that they have to pay. That is unacceptable in business. In the mining sector there are also about 40 licence fees that we have to pay.
Mr. Speaker Sir, yes when the Mines and Minerals Bill comes to
Parliament, we must also amend the Precious Minerals Act because the Precious Minerals Act does not allow me to just hold a piece of gold. They will say no, it is illegal. How does it become illegal when it is in my field? Some people picked up a big piece of gold while digging a grave and were scared to pick it up because there were some police people there who wanted to arrest them. This is unacceptable. We must create a situation - because gold is a result of the Munhumutapa
Kingdom. Munhumutapa Kingdom became popular from here to China, India, Egypt up to Capetown because they were producing gold. We are the descendants of Munhumutapa and must benefit from the gold that is here in Zimbabwe. So, ease of doing business is very important for us.
The victory of Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa was basically there to fulfill the desires, ambitions of Operation Restore Legacy. This is the victory that has changed and transformed the lives of the people of
Zimbabwe. Mr. Speaker, yes anytime when you say anything, there are those people who say what they want but the Bible teaches you to pardon them because they do not know what they say – [Laughter.] –
I appeal to you Mr. Speaker Sir, that the august House should ban the importation of vegetables because people from my constituency use their own money and resources to produce their own vegetables but when they come to Mbare, they start to compete with vegetables imported from South Africa. This is unfair. We cannot develop when certain sections of our country remain poor. Poverty now is like the Priest in the rural areas. We must arrest that poverty through agriculture production. Production of vegetables in communal lands is critical. It also provides for a nutritional base.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am pleased the Deputy Minister of Health is here. fortification of food is now there through a statutory instrument but in rural areas it is not there. They must also create a statutory instrument that introduces bio-fortification of food in rural areas so that the nutritional level that assists in the development of the intellectual level of a particular individual is put in place. Those who do not understand what I am saying, we can discuss this outside and I will share with you my vision of biofortification.
I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, Uzumba Constituency went through a sad moment. We lost Douglas Vambe, the man who beat those drums for jerusarema and he beat drums for the news. We lost him and he was buried in Uzumba Constituency. We are having a memorial service for him which will run for the whole weekend. We will beat drums to salute his contribution in our cultural development – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Uzumba Constituency is never left behind, in terms of music. We have Jah Prayzah, he is from Uzumba, where we have kutonga kwaro gamba, which is music synonymous with Operation Restore Legacy; he is a product of Uzumba. We also have Andy Muridzo, who is an upcoming artiste but moreso, we have got Cde Murehwa, his name is Zvichakutambudzai Gawaza, the man who sang sendekera mukoma Chakanyuka, zvinogumbura kwazvo. This music was like the vanguard of all the music during the times of our revolution.
Mr. Speaker Sir, revolution is a product of people with a clear mind; a clear vision of people who know what they want but with a clear vision you want a leader like Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa, who has a clear vision; who has a direction; who knows where he wants to take the people of Zimbabwe. Our President His Excellency Hon. Mnangagwa is our Joshua, he is now taking us into the land of milk and honey – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Mr. Speaker, I can see that your light is on but for the interest of time and that of Hon. Members who are here who have not debated, let me thank everybody in this august House. Those who were listening; those who were sleeping were not snoring. At least I was heard in silence and those that were laughing I did not hear your laughter from here, I only saw your smiles and white teeth. Whatever you say, I appreciate, you gave me the energy; the zeal to go forward and continue to consolidate our revolution. All the people who are going to speak after me must realise that we are now in Zimbabwe; a second Republic ready to deliver to the people of Zimbabwe.
Let me salute you Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. May God bless you abundantly? Thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: My name is Hon. Tererai Moyo from Gokwe-
Chireya Constituency. I will make a few remarks, especially on the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President. Firstly, may I take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency and ZANU PF for winning the elections resoundingly – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
I also want to start by applauding the President for a well thought out, well researched, rich and insightful speech that he delivered last week. He talked about Zimbabwe becoming a middle income country by 2030. What that means is that we are considering things like per capita consumption and income per capita. These are two different things, as an educationist, I will try to explain on how you calculate income per capita. Income per capita simply means you are dividing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the total population, and then you will get income per capita. That means it is envisaged that by 2030, per capita income will be 3 500. So for us to realise that goal, we are in it together as Zimbabweans; speaking the same language as Zimbabwe. It means we need to mechanise our agriculture. We also need to modernise our industries.
Now, how do we mechanise our agriculture, I will refer to my
Constituency, Gokwe-Chireya, we have engaged Cotton Company of Zimbabwe. At the moment we have already started tillage programmes where they are tilling land for our farmers for free. That is in line with the vision of His Excellency the President Hon. E. D Mnangagwa.
I will also comment on the dream of my President of per capita consumption. Per capita consumption, you are looking at the value of consumables in a country. You calculate the value of all consumables and divide that by the total population, then you come up with per capita consumption. So, we are saying by 2030, Zimbabwe will be a middle income country.
I will talk about his vision in his domestic policy. In that statement, he was specific on his domestic and foreign policies. I will touch on his foreign policy ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ engagement and re-engagement. I became a victim of Zimbabwe’s isolation in 2014 when I got a place and I went to the University of Leads to do a PhD. I could have become a beneficiary of Commonwealth Scholarships but when you consider all Zimbabweans, even now they are not eligible to apply for Commonwealth Scholarships. So, the stance that has been taken by our President Hon. Mnangagwa, I really want to applaud him and it is highly commendable. Zimbabwe, as soon as we are re-admitted into the Commonwealth Club, it means Zimbabwe is eligible for those scholarships.
I will move on to the issue of clean water in Gokwe-Chireya, may I commend the New Dispensation for purchasing what we call rigs.
These rigs are machines which can drill up to 1 000 litres underground.
As I speak, the rigs are in all provinces in Zimbabwe. In the Midlands
Province, we have witnessed boreholes that have been drilled in GokweKauyuni in Chireya. I think chiefs and schools are going to be beneficiaries of these boreholes that are going to be drilled in my constituency. To also realise the dreams of our President, issues of education and health are also important and indispensable. We are making efforts as a constituency to ensure that we have modernised our schools in terms of provision of electricity.
In this case our major thrust is on provision of solar power, especially to rural schools where we are in partnership with members of our Constituency Development Committee to ensure that we have electrified schools and clinics. That will be very important, especially in ensuring that there is quality education. With those remarks, Mr.
Speaker Sir, I thank you.
HON. MGUNI: Mr. Speaker, I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. KWARAMBA: I second.
Motion put agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 26th September, 2018
On the motion of HON. MGUNI, seconded by HON.
KWARAMBA, the House adjourned at Seventeen Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.