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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 26 FEBRUARY 2013 VOL. 39 NO. 12

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Tuesday, 26th February, 2013.

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

PRAYERS

(MR. SPEAKER in the Chair)

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

THE CO-MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (MR MOHADI): I

move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 3 be stood over until all the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.  Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

RATIFICATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION FOR

THE SUPPRESSION OF THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM

THE CO-MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (MR MOHADI): I

move the motion standing in my name:

THAT WHEREAS Subsection (1) of Section 111B of the

Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that any Convention, Treaty, or agreement acceded to, concluded or executed by, or under the authority of the President with one or more foreign States or Governments or international organisations shall be subject to approval by Parliament;

AND WHEREAS the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe

now desires to accede to the United Nations Convention for the

Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism;

AND WHEREAS Article 25 of the aforesaid convention provides

for the deposition of instruments of ratification with the Secretary

General of the United Nations;

NOW THEREFORE, in terms of subsection (1) of Section 111B of the Constitution, Parliament resolves that the aforesaid Convention be and is herby approved for accession.

Let me prefix my remarks by saying the following, the Convention before Parliament seeks to oblige the Zimbabwean Government to accede and thereafter ratify the Suppression of the Financing of

Terrorism as was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations under Resolution 54/2009 of December 1999. To date, 180 countries have signed, ratified or acceded to this Convention.  The convention entered into force on 10 April 2002.

Zimbabwe is not a signatory to the Convention.  However, it has committed itself to work with the Financial Task Force (FATF) and the

Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to address its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies.  The fact that

Zimbabwe is a member of the FAFT, which is a mechanism under this Convention, made it mandatory that we accede to the mechanism under this Convention.  If we were not going to do so this February, we were going to be sanctioned because we will not have acceded to it.  The fact that Zimbabwe is a member of this mechanism under this Convention made it therefore mandatory that we accede to this Convention before the meeting of the FAFT, which as I have said, was supposed to be meeting in February.  This has since been done in Section 31H (5) of the

Constitution as amended, which states that, “in the exercise of this function the President shall act on the advice of Cabinet, except in cases where he is required by the Constitution or any other law to act on the advice of any other person or authority.”  This motion then formalises the procedure and we are out of danger.

The effect of the economic sanctions was that the country was not going to be able to transfer money outside the country or receive money from other countries.  The sanction was also going to have a negative impact on both regional and international trade that predominantly relies on money transfer.

The convention seeks to suppress the financing of terrorism and enhance international cooperation among member states in the fight against terroristic activities. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is this, that has brought me before this august House, so that what we have taken as the Executive and on the advice of the Cabinet, that the President has since acceded to the Convention; that this Parliament now debates the Convention and ratifies the same and then deposit the instrument with the United Nations.  I thank you.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH:  DEBATE ON ADDRESS

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

Question again proposed.

  1. CROSS:  Mr. Speaker Sir, during the weekend, in the districts of Makoni North and Headlands, two homesteads were burnt with the loss of one young child in Headlands.  These were both cases of politically inspired violence against ordinary citizens.  In the case of the incident in Headlands, it was at the homestead of a headman in charge of Village 55 in the resettlement areas.  This was the ninth such incident at his homestead which included the political rape of his wife.

I visited the homestead yesterday to meet the family and to console the parents.  I want to tell you that these are absolutely unspeakable actions by people who are connected to political parties.  I hope that this kind of incident is not going to become characteristic of the political campaign this year.  I am one of the people who can remember vividly the events in 2008 when 20 000 homes were burnt. These were not the homes of rich people, these were the homes of the absolute poor.  People who are completely defenceless and people who have no recourse.  The political thugs who were conducting these kinds of actions must stand condemned by this House.  Thank you.

  1. SPEAKER: Hon. Eddie Cross, I thought you were going to

also touch on issues that are of critical importance to your constituency however, it is up to you to what extent you want to debate under this motion.

  1. BHASIKITI-CHUMA:  I would like to first of all pay

tribute to His Excellency the President for presenting to this House a well balanced speech and giving direction as to what, as Members of Parliament and the nation, we should look forward to, to better our own people.  – [HON. MEMBERS:  Akambotaura] – Handina kumbotaura

[HON. MEMBERS:  Inaudible interjections]

  1. SPEAKER:  Order, hon. members, order, let us allow him to debate.
  2. BHASIKITI-CHUMA: Mr. Speaker, the President

highlighted the need to improve the status of our road network.  I am pleased that those of us, who ply the Masvingo road, can confirm that our two worrying points have since been rectified.  There was very big improvement.  I also pay tribute and give credit to the Prime Minister for hastening that.  I tormented him in this House and he assured us that he was going to do something and he did it.  We are very grateful for that.

We can see the Harare-Plumtree road; there is progress on this road.  I want to point out that in terms of planning, our BeitbridgeChirundu road is the most commercially active road.  I think those into planning should give it priority over any other road in this country. They need to dualise it so that there is less congestion and to avoid carnages along that highway.  The accident rate along that highway is quite high so much that there is need to consider prioritising and speeding up the dualisation of that road.

Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency pointed out the need for us as a nation to observe peace and to be united and focus as one people, defined by one national flag.  Mr. Speaker, I know that when the President speaks, he speaks to the rest of the nation.  It remains to us, to implement, to assist in actualising that dream and those expectations.

Mr. Speaker, it is sad that you could here in some incidences which could also even point to some of us hon. members instigating violence.  I think this is quite disrespectful of this advice given by our leaders.  It should start from us hon. members to preach and demonstrate peace and make sure that it happens every day.  I do not want to pick up incidences like Hon. Cross was now beginning to say because violence is bad wherever it is carried out.  Intra-party violence, it has the same condemnation with the one which is perpetrated against political parties.  We do not expect to see it in our country as we go for the Referendum and the General Elections. I urge those responsible for seeing to it that there is peace and order to bring to book all the perpetrators of violence.  They must bring to book those who instigate and those who carry out violence.  These people should face the wrath of the law.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to congratulate His Excellency for pointing out that they were still patiently waiting to see the finalisation of the Draft Constitution which was finalised.  I want to give credit to the three Principals for guiding our nation and allowing our nation to go for a Referendum on the 16th of March, 2013.  I think this is a very positive step towards rebuilding of our nation and positive development in our nation.

Mr. Speaker Sir, one of the most important points which His Excellency pointed out is that as a nation, we should be responsible for developing our own country.  We should not look elsewhere for the development of our country.  As I heard the news that we are running short of funds to carry out our Referendum and Elections and that plans were mooted to look elsewhere but suddenly wisdom prevailed.  Mr. Speaker, we are now looking for those funds within our own nation.  I think we should be proud of that.  We must give credit to His Excellency and his team of Principals in demonstrating that our solutions are home ground.  There is a lot of money in our country which we need just to tap and to put together in an organised way so that we finance all our activities.  I think we should bury this idea of trying to look elsewhere for funding because you would know that very small States with a population of less than two million are good at donating to us, when we know that resources in their countries are much less than  the resources in our own country. I want to thank His Excellency for demonstrating that as Zimbabweans we can solve our own financial problems.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to talk on the issue of voter registration.  Our people are patiently waiting to be registered.  As we go to these General Elections, it is important that every citizen of

Zimbabwe be accorded the right to vote. We have challenges in most of the communal lands, like Mwenezi, for instance, where I come from.  People travel for more than 100 kilometers to go to a district centre to go and register to get a certificate and a registration certificate.  This is quite strenuous, coupled with the fact that our rain season was not very good and people do not have the money to pay for transport costs.  Government should put quick measures to ensure that this voter registration is carried out at ward centres in each ward. This will go a long way in assisting our people to go and register in numbers.  We want it to be done in time so that by the time we go for any election, everyone who has the right to vote will be that chance to vote because you would have registered in time.  So, I still urge and ask the leadership in Government to ensure that voter registration kicks off in various districts and at ward centres.

Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellence pointed out that no one in Zimbabwe will die of hunger because of the drought.  This is a very noble gesture from His Excellence because it shows that there is concern to take care of the majority of the people who were struck by the drought period last, who do not have food.  This exercise is receiving very little attention from the GMB or the Government departments that are responsible for the carrying and delivering of food to various districts.  As I speak, in Mwenezi, people have gone for two months without food relief.  If those with the money to buy the food go to the GMB deport, they cannot even get one 50kgs bag of maize.  So, I think this is a worrying and very desperate situation which we urge Government to intervene and send grain to drought stricken areas where people are now starving to death.

I am happy that I am saying this when the Prime Minister is in the House.  I think he will take corrective measures to intervene in this matter because it is of a serious nature.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want to end by reminding the House that as a nation and as members, we should try and help two very important organs of our state which are functional at the moment.  These are the

JOMIC and the Organ of National Healing.  We should join and assist in their day to day activities as Members of Parliament.  We know that their duties are, a call for peace, that peace begins with me and that peace begins with all of us.  If we cannot urge our subordinates in different places, I think we can render JOMIC irrelevant.  It goes around trying to solve problems where they would have been created by violent prone individuals.

My last plea is to urge my colleagues to go and preach peace and the abstinence from violence.

  1. DZIRUTWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity.  I have not responded as early as I should have because

I was hoping to see some fruits bearing from the President’s Speech.  In

1980, I listened to the President’s Speech and we were all inspired as a nation.  Over the years things were changing.  When the President spoke, we were inspired to do a lot of things, gore remasimba evanhu, gore rezvakati zvakati.  We were all inspired, but the last speech was the same old speech.  It ceased to inspire me anymore, maybe the other members are inspired, but I am not any more.

The reason why I say so is that, I have the feeling that some warlords have long since disregarded what the President says.  He talks of peace but some of the people go to the Defence College and talk about soldiers meddling into politics.   The President talks about compassion and other members go about inciting violence.  So I am not sure whether the President is being listened to anymore.

When the President opens Parliament, we are supposed to get a cue on how he intends to see things happening but of late, that is not what has been happening in Zimbabwe.  Many times, he has talked about bringing as many Bills as 20 to Parliament and when we are through with that year; at most, maybe five or six Bills would have come to this House.  Nothing is happening according to the way he speaks.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the President spoke about no violence during the elections but violence is happening.  Just as recently as yesterday, when I was addressing a Constitutional meeting in my constituency, members from the President’s Office disrupted my meeting.  They do not even understand that the President and other Principals in this Government have given us explicit instruction to go and explain the Constitution to the people.  Members of the President’s Office go around disrupting meetings with impunity.  I have got a feeling that nothing is going to happen to them.  In our state, we are supposed to have everything but we have got nothing because no one is paying attention to the President anymore.  He talked about the road construction, but we have been waiting for three years for something to happen between the Beitbridge and Chirundu Road.  So far, the Plumtree to Mutare Road is undergoing some reconstruction but everyone in Zimbabwe would have expected us to start dealing with Chirundu/Beitbridge Road.  Something is not happening because you hear all sorts of silly excuses, I must say.  They would say there is litigation going on because a company called the Zimbabwe Highways had won the contract but they do not have the capacity; while people are still dying whilst people are squabbling about what should happen.

I would also like to talk about the general economic situation in this country where nothing is happening.  I want to assure you, I think other members in this House are facing the same problem that the people in Glen Norah do not have jobs and they are struggling.  They owe the City of Harare, ZESA, the schools and even the neighbours.  I too, am owing the City of Harare because I cannot afford to pay.  Despite what the President has said, nothing seems to be changing.  The Speech was made sometime in September and we are two to three months away from closing this Parliament but we do not have anything to tell our people.

Our people will say hon. members, what have you done as a Member of Parliament?  To be honest, we have come here and there was no consistence in the sitting of the House.  We sit for two to three days and we adjourn for the next two months before coming back.  It is so inconsistent and we were waiting for the inspiration but we did not see it.  Those who were inspired by the speech can raise their hands because for me, I was not inspired – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear].

The last item Mr. Speaker Sir, is on the issue of corruption.  We were all waiting to see at least one or two people getting arrested before going into the elections sometime in July, August or September, there about.  So far, besides the poor and old Mr. Madiro from Manicaland and I have a feeling that he is going to get away scot-free.  I do not think anybody is going to be arrested.

Mr. Mliswa I am told, who beat up one of our Members of

Parliament, a lady for that matter. People are not supposed to beat up ladies and nothing is going to happen to him.  When I say I was not inspired Mr. Speaker, I am speaking the truth and people in Glen Norah are still waiting for the inspiration from a man who used to hold the nation captive.  Mr. Speaker, I thank you.

  1. H. MUDZURI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  When we talk

about the Presidential Speech, we want to interrogate the effects of his speech.  I can walk this House through some speeches that were given by prominent people – some presidents and some prime ministers.  I can take an example of the Civil Rights Leader, Martin Luther King, he gave his I have a dream speech and his dream was later fulfilled and America was different because of the speech.

I take an example of Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain, he talked of I have my blood, tears and sweat but he inspired the nation to fight on in the Second World War.  I have J.F. Kennedy who was the President of America, when he said, “ask not, what the country can do for you but what you, can do for your country.”  Also that speech, two years later, a man was found on the moon.  It was just because of that inspiration.

Then we will say, if , let us look at the Speech by the President, we are saying what inspiration were we given, what fundamental change did the nation experience or what paradigm shift did we follow?  Yes, like what other members have said, in his speech, he preached peace.  He was against political violence which he always say these days “munorwirei?”. If I can quote him, but, that is the talk.  What is the walk?  What is on the ground?

We are worried and we are concerned that are we saying the

President says one thing to the left and does the other thing to the right?

Is it sheer hypocrisy, he feels sincere or there is gross indiscipline in the party?  Whichever, the nation is experiencing horrific events.  I can take an example of what the last speaker has said whereby the same party tasted their own poison when Hon. Mahoka was attacked at Zimonja Business Centre, when we are two/three weeks to go for our Referendum.  What message are we sending to the nation and to the President himself?

Mr. Speaker Sir, we also have the issue that has been referred to of Headlands.  What is surprising is that after such incidents, no one is arrested, which means is it lack of the will power of the ZRP which the President actually is the leader.  We know if the President should say something, the police should be active but alas, what do we get from the police?  They say their hands are tied

As I am speaking here, the Zimbabwe Republic Police can be renamed the Zimbabwe Roadblock Police since that is now their corebusiness.  They are now found after every two kilometers, there is a roadblock and they are now well known for corruption and for attacking the civic organizations.  They are now also well known for trivial things like banning a mere radio which is something which is not very new in this country.  It is something which was there long back and it is archaic – a radio.  Are we going to have peaceful elections or make informed decisions if we are going to operate in this way?

In his speech, the President also alluded to peaceful existence but our traditional leaders still are against co-existence of their subordinates like when one is supporting MDC and others are supporting ZANU PF.   Our traditional leaders are not yet weaned from the previous mentality, conditioning and conditions that they lived.  They still think that they are traditional leaders because of the blessing of somebody or some other party yet this is a thing that has to do with their families.  So, Mr. Speaker Sir, I think that the President, unless when he indicates right, he turns right, we are forced to think that he is just a hypocrite,  I thank you.

  1. M. SHOKO:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  Let me start by thanking the Principals to the Government of National Unity for preaching peace, unity and harmony in diversity.  In fact, that is as it should be.  We have as a nation travelled a very hard and arduous journey over the past four years.  It is a journey that was characterized by a lot of suspicion, mistrust which is sometimes real and sometimes just imagined but we managed to go on.  Unfortunately, we have, just as we talk about the Referendum and elections, began to see serious setbacks to our new found relationship.  In Chitungwiza, just last week, we had youths and other people trying to tell people about a rally that we wanted to hold on the 24th and of those people, seven were injured.  Of the seven, two had to be hospitalised, one is still in hospital to this day.

In fact, it looks like we have become a nation of deceitful people, very fraudulent and it looks like it has become a culture.  What a person says is not what a person practices during the day.  We all would condemn corruption - I have attended various meetings where the

President, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Deputy Presidents, Members of Parliament, civic leaders have condemned  violence and yet violence continues.  Perhaps we would want to know, who in Zimbabwe continues to have the audacity to defy the Principals to the Global Political Agreement and the GNU?  Who really is doing that?

Members have already spoken; surely, we do not expect that after the President has made it clear that in the nation we would not want to see violence.  Then we have people continuing to beat other people and nobody is arrested.  Has the President ceased to be Commander-inChief?  If he is still Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, including the police – surely, we expect some action of some sort.

Remember, this is what has brought on our nation, targeted measures that some people call, ‘sanctions’.  Surely, there is no nation that would want to trade, that would want to relate with a nation …

  1. SPEAKER:  Order, order.  Hon. member, please address the Chair.
  2. M. SHOKO:  There is no nation that would like to trade, that would like to have relations with a nation that beats its own people - that will continue to be a problem in this country.  Notice that after the consummation of the Government of National Unity, one would have expected an influx of foreign direct investment; that there would be local investment as well, but there is nothing that is going on.  Nobody is willing to invest in a country that is so violent towards its own citizens; where rights of citizens are trampled upon; where rights of citizens are blatantly ignored by the State.

We are very good at theories.  I believe Zimbabweans are excellent when it comes to theories, but when it comes to practice we fall far short – dismally short.  We have, as a nation, to change our attitude and try to do what we say we want to do - instead of saying one thing and then you do the other thing.  Indicating left and then you turn right; indicating right and then you turn left – this is the problem that this nation has.

We should be able, as a nation, to welcome other citizens provided, of cause, they observe our laws, but we cannot be seen to be discriminating against one nation.  It has become a global village; you cannot expect that we survive without the Chinese, that we survive without the Americans or the British.  We must have them; we must understand their fears - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] - yes, we must understand their fears, after we have understood their fears, we try to address those fears and then move together in a globalised village.

Mr. Speaker, it is saddening to note that four years after the consummation of the Government of National Unity, we continue to have people injured; maimed or raped and that without our police force taking any action.  I thank you.

  1. MAVIMA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to add my

voice to the President’s Speech, but firstly, let me state my total and utter disappointment at an hon. member who rose to state that the

President …

  1. SPEAKER:  Order, order. Hon. Dongo, order.
  2. MAVIMA:  Let me state my utter disappointment at an hon. member who rose to state that the President is, ‘a hypocrite’ by preaching peace and at the same time allowing violence to occur.  If he was not inspired by the speech, maybe it is his lack of understanding of the Queens’ language.  Some of us were very inspired and continue to be inspired by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe as he gives us direction now and again.  It is not his problem if you do not listen to what he says; it is not his problem if you do not implement what your leaders say.

The same can be said about the Prime Minister.  The Prime Minister spoke many times about peace, but we have also seen violence happening in his own party, but nobody has called him a hypocrite.  We should not discriminate based on partisan positions.  It is clear that the President, if it were a company, would sure be on the Board of Directors – which he is in this case when you take the Principals together.

It is not their duty to implement the policies which they articulate; there is an Executive which is selected by all the Principals.  In this case, we have a situation where we have co-Ministers of Home Affairs – Minister Teresa Makone and Minister Kembo Mohadi.  If I recall, I understand the Prime Minister, summoned the two sometime last week in order for them to explain certain activities/actions that affect their Department/Ministry which they head.  I would hope that as we go towards the Referendum, as we go towards elections that these coMinisters are truly made accountable for the Ministry which they head.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is one ministry which has two Ministers – unlike other ministries which only have one Minister.  Surely, these two should be able to control issues of violence in this country and not to shift the blame on one man. If and both ministers are unable to control,  there are always other arms of Government, the legislature and judiciary which should come in and ensure we do not have violence anymore.  Violence is an evil aspect of our society. It is an aspect that destroys the social fabric of society, something that destroys ubuntu bethu, hunhu hwedu. We should all condemn it in the strongest way possible.

We should be clear as to whom we apportion blame. As honourable members or as legislators, that is the most and first fundamental thing that we should understand. I would believe also that the Ministry of Finance should find the necessary resources to equip the police so that they are able to react as quickly as possible when incidents of violence occur, and not to expect the victims to provide the transportation when they are needed by those people.

It is unfortunate, Mr. Speaker Sir, that this debate has taken this long to be concluded. We would have hoped that as we edge closer to the Referendum and the elections, we would go as a united nation seeking once and for all, to eliminate the issue of violence.

  1. MUTSEYAMI: Good afternoon Mr. Speaker Sir and good

greetings to the House, hon. members. First and foremost, I need to add my voice with regard to the Presidential Speech by His Excellency. As parliamentarians, we have heard the Presidential Speech in this House. We heard it sometime in September and the President talked about the Constitution building which has come up with this Draft. The Draft now is to go to the people, to sell the whole thing so that the people will go for a Referendum on the 16th of March to vote yes, I presume.

I think it is anybody’s brain that this programme belongs to the parliamentarians and the idea of selling the COPAC Draft must be within the parliamentarians. That responsibility of telling the people, I think it has to be bestowed to parliamentarians. But, alas, we have had a situation whereby we are being advised to go to the constituencies, various constituencies to teach the people, to tell the people about what is within the Constitution so that the people will learn before they vote. There is no funding to that project for a maximum movement of parliamentarians to achieve results.

The President really emphasised the importance of the Constitution, but I am sure Government is forgetting the part of mobilising Members of Parliament to make sure they achieve results when they go out to the people, bearing in mind that whenever you need to travel, you will need fuel and everything with regard to the vehicle to move. You do not just necessarily move. We have had the Presidential

Speech then and the President was emphasising the issue of the Inclusive Government, that it must come up with an election. This election must be a non-violent election.

I remember the day the President made the speech, he was actually pounding on the table, and it should be about three times when he was saying no to violence. The President when he was saying this issue of peace, I saw the level of genuinety in the presentation. I believe he was sincere, but we have seen problems with regard to the lieutenants, especially in the security sector. When they are supposed to move the notion of peace, we have seen them going astray against the presentation done by the President in his Presidential Speech. I appeal to the President to look very carefully to his lieutenants, especially those to do with the security sector, as to whether they are really listening to the President or they are now listening to someone whom the President does not know.

On the Presidential Speech with regard to a free election without violence, I think that was a good move done by the President. We have seen other principals talking about peace. The Prime Minister, Dr. Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, has as well, emphasised the need to have a peaceful election which should be respected and endorsed by the international community  and respected by our SADC and the African Union as well. It is an election which should be blood free, an election which has the spirit of God in it.

The President must look at individuals, especially those who are purported to be belonging to his party. I would not know whether they are from his party or they have defected simply because they are not listening to the notion of peace. I appeal to the President to emphasise and to really knock sense in some security officers, to look at the issue of peace strongly for them to implement that process for everyone to listen, follow and make sure that peace is prevailing when we are going to a Referendum and when we are driving towards a general election.

I think it must be noted that throughout this country, we have seen quite a number of situations where violence has taken place. Though there might be pockets, but the matter of the fact is that, we have seen violence and as result, I appeal to the community at large, Members of Parliament and the Principals to emphasise the need for peace, violent free election and a violent free Referendum.

We have heard on Saturday of the demise of a boy, a 12 year-old boy who was burnt beyond recognition, belonging to a Deputy Organising Secretary of the MDC-T, Mr Maisiri in Headlands. His son was burnt beyond recognition and there is a high likelyhood that this burning of the house is purely politically motivated. I appeal to JOMIC and the leadership at large, to make sure that this kind of a situation does not prevail and does not go unabated.

I appeal as well to the police to investigate strongly, thoroughly, sincerely and to come up with the perpetrators and arsonists if they are there, for them to be brought to book and to be arrested, not for us to emphasise that, whenever we are raising issues of violence or those who died as a result of violence; we have had scenarios whereby the police would emphasise that let us not dwell on the bygones, this issue is to do with COPAC. This issue is to do with JOMIC and this one is to do with the Principals. If someone is dead as a result of having been killed by someone, it is a political case and it must be investigated. The perpetrators must be brought to book.  We have had situations whereby we have had Talent Mabika and Chiminya who were killed in broad day light and the perpetrators are well known but up to today, they have not been arrested.

We have had situations whereby we have had Tonderai Ndira who was taken from his house in Mabvuku and was killed. We have had the issue of Bakachesa and many others who have died as a result of belonging to a political party and most of them in 2008; it was as a result of belonging to MDC-T.  I appeal to the Police to be very much professional, apolitical and to be very much non-partisan to make sure that they implement their responsibility in accordance with the Constitution and the Service Charter.

In conclusion to the short contribution towards the Presidential Speech, the President spoke about the minerals that we have in this country. It is very clear that in Manicaland, at a place in Marange, in Chiadzwa village, we have had a sprouting of diamonds. So many companies have been opened there Madam Speaker. When we look at the originality of most of these companies, some of them are involved with managers who have dirty records and who were involved in dirty things.  Some of these companies are involved with people who have been known to be somewhere where they have been extorting funds, maybe in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

My appeal is directed to the Principals. They should look at the value of these diamonds and where they are coming from. If you look at Chiyadzwa area especially Marange, people there are suffering as a result of drought. There is food shortage and the roads are bad. We hardly have clinics there which are well equipped, whereas we have a lot of these diamonds. I appeal for them to prioritise the areas which have got those diamonds and make sure that these people benefit somehow from the minerals coming from their place.

Lastly, we have had pockets of drought in Manicaland. In the

Presidential Speech here, there was an issue of the Government Grain Loan Scheme meant to help the communities with regards to the drought, but we hardly have the grain and the majority of the people do not even have access to the grain. There is a promise that was made that there will be a Grain Loan Scheme which will be given to the people who will repay when they harvest in the next season.

This season is likely not to bring us a good harvest again due to lack of rains in other areas.  So, my appeal to the Principals is for them to look into this issue clearly with regard to the Grain Loan Scheme. If it is possible, which I believe is, they should approach the international community especially the World Food Programme (WFP) so that they can roll out a new programme to bring food to the people so that they can have something on their tables from the Non Governmental Organisations. It is not good for us to always thrive on pride whilst people are suffering of hunger and starvation.

We cannot appeal to the international community to bring us food on the pretext that we will give them the Grain Loan Scheme which does not come anyway. I appeal to the Ministers involved and the Principals to look into the importance of approaching the WFP inorder to attend to the drought prone areas where people are suffering so that they can give them food and make them survive. I thank you Madam Speaker and I thank the House for listening carefully to one of their colleagues whilst delivering a powerful speech. I thank you.

*MR. VARANDENI: No one is going to listen to an old man

because of his age although all of us here are saying he is the President. What pains very much is to see such an honourable man walking out of Parliament and being beaten outside Parliament and then nothing is being done.  When I go to my home area - Bikita – you will see that the Police Officers wake up so early to mount road blocks but they are not hunting for murderers.  In 2008, in my constituency, many houses were burnt down and many people were murdered, beaten, including me here. I was beaten.  It is very painful to hear that Hon. Mahoka was also beaten.

When I was coming from hospital, I came across Hon. Mangami and she said to me, “Where were you when you were being beaten?” Today, we see that happening to Hon. Mahoka. You will see that a murderer is a murderer. Now we are sympathising with Hon. Mahoka because it was men who beat her up. Maybe one would say even if she was in the wrong, you could not beat her because she was a woman. It is not like that.

What we are saying is, if the President has spoken, like in our party, if Morgan Tsvangirai speaks, we take heed. In ZANU PF, you will find that when the President speaks, everyone will be saying we are also Presidents so no one would listen to the other.

Honestly, if you look on where we came from in this country, we should not say we came from Zambia because I know where the Chimurenga struggle came from.  I was pleased by the names that the honourable has mentioned.   I know the names which were given to the people like Goreramasimbaavanhu. During that time, people worked for nothing and I am privy to that. We were saying the country is now ours and we can work for the country for no payment.

Coming to Gukurahundi, people were killed in Bulawayo and Matabeleland as a whole, but no one was arrested for the act. In 2008, there was what we called Jambanja, where instructions where given that you should not kill the Ndebeles because they were killed during the Gukurahundi but in fact kill the Mashonas so that we will have equal numbers and I always say that came from the Presidential Speech.  We know everything and we have it on record.

This is very painful because we now have 32 years with the President and we should respect him, especially considering his age and more emphatically, the members of ZANU PF.  However, no one listens to the old man and at the same time you do not want to change and look for another candidate. My father died when I was grown up and I know how notorious I was. I knew that even if he would try to run after me, he would not catch me. So, this is exactly what is happening and whatever the old man says, no one will listen to him because he will not be able to keep up pace with the young people.

I also really feel pained when the Police are interfering with the media when they are taking radios that are helping our people.  Radios that are made in Zimbabwe are also transmitting Studio 7.  Those radios that they are taking, are they only transmitting Studio 7?.  This shows that these policemen lack training.  Most of the policemen came through the Border Gezi training.

When I was growing up, I knew that policemen were trained to be wise and soldiers were trained to be fools.  In 1974, I could have joined the police force.  We were told that as a policeman, you had to be wise so that you are able to investigate.  Our police officers these days are coming from the Border Gezi training where they are fed with propaganda and after that they join the police force.  They do not know that they are supposed to investigate and then arrest people, they just arrest people.  They are only looking at their welfare, that they should be happy.  They are concerned about what ZANU (PF) has done for them.

As hon. members, I think we should unite when it comes to such issues.  We should sympathise with Hon. Mahoka.  I was really touched by what the other hon. member said, that with her light complexion, how someone could beat her.  If she was beaten on her face, she would be dark having remarks when she comes to Parliament.  If it was me, I was going to be deterred by her light complexion because I would not know where to beat.  The police force should leave the issue of radios.  We want all kinds of radios in the country because all radios can be tuned to Studio 7.  Most people rush to their homes when it is around 7, including the policemen to listen to Studio 7 because it is the only radio which tells the truth about what is happening in the country.  Even hon. members in this House listen to Studio 7.

Madam Speaker, what is worrying me is that if your blanket is stolen and you see someone using your blanket and you tell the police, they will tell you that you do not have proof.  Even if you show them the blanket, they will not agree.  Now we are all slaves.  In Bikita we say that if you spend a lot of time working at the courts, you will end up being a criminal.  People are no longer listening to the President now because he has stayed for long but everyone in ZANU (PF) is now saying that the country is ungovernable because there is MDC-T.   I have four wives and I speak to them nicely.  I remind them of the courtship days that when we were in courtship, I would look at your face, structure and everything.  When we fight, it means something is seriously wrong.  Hon. Members, let us look at ZANU (PF).  Things are not well, people are naughty and they do not listen to the President any more.

In conclusion, coming to my constituency, Bikita South, there is hunger because there is no rain.  Roads were destroyed, Hon. Mahlangu was there, he just drove for 20 kilometers and he thought he was in a jungle in the forest.  Maize coming from GMB is being directed to Ward 8 on partisan basis.  Before it gets there, the maize is given to ZANU (PF) members.  We do not know what is happening when the maize is dispatched from GMB.  It is only ZANU (PF) members who are getting the maize.  As Parliament, we should unite and listen to our President and Prime Minister, then our country will be one.

Madam Speaker, I have a grudge with the person who beat up Hon. Mahoka.  I am not happy because it reminds me of the day when I was also beaten.  I think that is the way that she was beaten.  The pain that I suffered, I can even visualize her in such pain, it is really sad.

*MR. SITHOLE:  I would like to thank you Madam Speaker for according me this opportunity to add my voice to the Presidential Speech.  I would like to start by talking about hunger.  If we look at provinces like Matabeleland, Masvingo, districts like Chiredzi, Mwenezi and Beitbridge, it is clear, we are all aware that these people lost their livestock especially cattle.  If we look at the rainfall pattern, you find that those people are in trouble.  The President spoke about the Grain Loan Scheme, I think that those people who are spearheading this programme should listen to what the President said so that people do not suffer.  In Matabeleland South - I constantly visit that area because we are neighbours with Masvingo, you find that people have nothing.  Those people who had 40 cattle are now left with only five cattle.  They do not have anything to sell to survive.

The President talked about the issue of drought relief grain loan scheme but if the there are no implementers, then there is a challenge.  In my constituency there is a place called Guluji, the people there do not have grazing land because of the rainfall pattern and they do not have food.  There is a woman that I know by name, you can see that this lady is really suffering, no food to feed her children, it is pathetic.  If a person is hungry, she will not be able to listen.  Hunger and starvation are the same because people will not be having anything.  Hunger is not good because it removes the dignity and morality of a person.  Madam Speaker, I think looking at hunger, looking at people who lost their livestock, the Government should come up with a plan so that people are given cows restocking programme.  If people are not given cattle as loans, it means that we will have hunger through out.

Coming to roads, the Government spoke of the plans to construct roads.  If you look at places down in Chiredzi there, you find that there are challenges.  You have listened from the radio and newspapers that there were cars that were swept away in Lundi River, people lost lives at Chilonga Bridge that is not the only place.  If you come from Zaka to Chiredzi, we have four people that were swept away by the river in the tarred roads.  You find that people are really in great danger. Areas like Chilonga Bridge need urgent  attention to avoid more lose of human lives.

Madam Speaker, I think what should happen is that if someone speaks, people should implement.  In the Bible, there is listening and doing.  Ministers should listen to what Government says.  This will really help us.  The President also encouraged us as Members of Parliament and the Chiefs that we should unite and teach people whom we lead; it might be in Harare, in the cities or in rural areas.  The way we are handling our resources, deforestation will be a problem in our country because we will be racing on the gifts that God has given us.

Coming to violence that others have talked about, to be truthful Madam, violence is no good to anyone.  It is not good to the person who has done it and to the person who has encouraged it.  Madam Speaker, violence does not help because all of us will suffer at the end of the day.  As leaders, starting with us in this House, I think let us do our part by teaching our people not to be violent.  Beating each other, it is a shame, it is painful.  It does not matter whether it is ZANU PF or MDC which is perpetrating the violence, or people who are not aligned to any party, because they are there.  In the end violence will just show that we are people who are uncultured, people who are disunited.  We should come together and unite.  I think the President in his Speech really spoke words of wisdom.

Madam Speaker, I know that there are some who are naughty because there are some beans which refuse to be cooked.  We have those naughty people as well, but we say those authorities who are supposed to make sure that the law has been followed, they should do it.  It might be in churches, political rallies and so forth, you must tell people that violence does not help us at all.

Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about energy.  Looking at fuel, the

President said there is something that is happening.  I want to touch on

Chisumbanje project. We have Committees that visited the area, the

Deputy Prime Minister also visited and he formed Committees.  Madam Speaker, if only we knew that the people in Chisumbanje are pained when they look at what is happening. They do not have jobs, food and field, to till because their land was taken by the Ethanol project.  I think we should come together.  It does not help us to say who came up with this project because now the project is there.  I think we should go for it.

Let us go behind this project because in the end it will benefit all of us.  It does not matter whether in Mashonaland or Masvingo, we know that the project is in Manicaland but this project is not for Manicaland people only but it is for the benefit of the whole country.

Madam Speaker, I just want to encourage the other hon. members that we should speak to our honourable Principals and Ministers that they should help us in this project.

Madam Speaker, I would also want to thank the COPAC Team concerning the Constitution.  The President talked and thanked people when he came to the Second Stakeholders meeting.  It showed that we are together, although there were some challenges here and there but as a nation we came up with one thing.  I would like to thank the leadership in COPAC, the Management Committee that they came up with the

Draft Constitution, now we have the final document which we are taking to the people.  I am just urging all the hon. members that we should talk to people without violence so that all the people will vote ‘yes’.  Looking at the Draft, I think this is the best paper that we have come up with.  If we lose this chance, we will not get it again.

Madam Speaker, the President also talked about the big conference which is going to take place in Victoria Falls between our country and Zambia.  I know there is something the Minister is doing in terms of our tourists.  What I want to touch on is what about the ordinary people, what are they going to benefit?  Is there a plan that communities surrounding will get help; either money or any ideas that at the end of it, at least they remain with something as a reminder that in 2013, this is what happened and this is where we are in terms of our wealth?

I think the biggest issue as Zimbabweans, what we should do is that we should say the truth and be united.  Unity is a very good thing.  People respect the words of elders.  If a person is old, he is full of wisdom.  If people do not listen, it does not matter who has spoken the words whether a child or a woman, a father or a pastor you just have to listen.  As a nation, we should respect one another because tomorrow, it will be you.  If you do not respect the person who is in authority now, tomorrow when you are there, people will not give you that respect because they will be having that in mind.  I just urge you that we should respect all our leadership.

With these words, I would like to thank you Madam Speaker, that we should spread the gospel of non violence because no one is perfect. You find that when it comes to violence, all of us are involved because some encourage it. So those who are beaten and those who beat others should not provoke each other.

  1. D. SIBANDA:  I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  2. CHEBUNDO:   I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume:  Tuesday, 7th May, 2013.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

  1. D. SIBANDA:  I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 6 to 8 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 9 has been disposed of.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

RESTORATION OF THE MOTION ON THE FIRST REPORT OF

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON MINES AND ENERGY ON THE

STATE OF AFFAIRS AT SHABANI-MASHAVA MINE ON THE

ORDER PAPER

  1. CHINDORI-CHININGA: Madam Speaker, I rise to wind up the debate on the Report of the status of Shabannie Mashava Mines which was presented to Parliament in 2011. Firstly, I would like to thank all those hon. members who made contributions to this debate who included, among others, Hon. Mudarikwa, Hon. Munengami, Hon. Cross and Hon. T. Khumalo.

Secondly, I would like to express the Committee’s disappointment with the responsible member of the Executive, namely the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs. He was assigned with the administration of the reconstruction of the State Indebtedness and Insolvency Companies Act by His Excellence, the President from the initial stage of reconstruction of the SMM,…

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order, order, Hon. ChindoriChininga.  Can you first of all move that your motion be re-instated on the Order Paper?

  1. CHINDORI-CHININGA: Madam Speaker, I thought we

had done that already.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I am told you had not.

  1. CHINDORI-CHININGA: We did that last week.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  You gave notice for that.

  1. CHINDORI-CHININGA: Madam Speaker, I move that the

motion relating to the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy on the State of Affairs at Shabani-Mashava Mine (S.C. 10, 2011), which was superseded by the prorogation of Parliament, be restored on the Order Paper in terms of Standing Order No. 43.

Motion put and agreed to.

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Hon. Chindori, if you want to

debate, you can then seek the leave of the House to do that.

  1. CHINDORI-CHININGA: Madam Speaker, I seek leave of the House to debate the motion.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

FIRST REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON MINES

AND ENERGY ON THE STATE OF AFFAIRS AT SHABANI-

MASHAVA MINE

  1. CHINDORI-CHININGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I

rise to wind up the debate on the Report of the status of Shabannie Mashava Mines which was presented to Parliament in 2011.  Firstly, I would like to thank all those hon. members who made contributions to this debate who included among others, Hon. Mudarikwa, Hon.

Munengami, Hon. Cross and Hon. T. Khumalo.

Secondly, I would like to express the Committee’s disappointment with the responsible member of the Executive, namely the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs.  He was assigned with the administration of the reconstruction of the State Indebtedness and Insolvent Companies Act by His Excellence, the President from the initial stage.  The two mines were placed under his purview for the reconstruction, but he made no attempt to respond to the issues or recommendations that were raised in the report.

The committee is further disappointed that the Minister of Mines and Mining Development who administered the Mines and Minerals Act and the Co-Minister of Home Affairs who administer the Prevention of Corruption Act, made no attempt to respond to the issues or recommendations that were raised in the report that relate to thier areas of policy administration.  The Co-Ministers of Home Affairs had a duty to respond to the issues raised in the report that touched on the Prevention of Corruption Act.  The committee, through its oversight responsibility, sought to contribute to the national discourse in finding ways to resuscitate the two mines.  The life of more than four thousand workers and sixty thousand people in the towns of Zvishavane and Mashava still hangs in the balance.  The committee gave the responsible members of the Executive more than one year to respond to the report but up to now, no feedback has been given.

Madam, Speaker, I believe the failure by the responsible Minister for  the administration of the Reconstruction of State Indebtedness and Insolvent Companies Act to respond to this report, lies in the manner in which the Standing Rules and Orders were crafted.  Standing Order

Number 168 states that, “at the conclusion of debate on a report of a Select Committee, the Vice President or Minister under whose portfolio the matters raised in the report fall, shall, in all cases provide a comprehensive response within a period specified by the Business of the

House Committee”.  This provision makes it mandatory for members of the Executive to respond to the reports of this House.  Unfortunately, the Business of the House Committee has not set any timelines in which members of the Executive should respond to Committee Reports.  This is a matter which the Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC) seriously need to look into.

Another weakness with this Clause is that, there is no sanction placed for the violation of this Clause.  In any normal, functional democracy, there should be checks and balances between the three organs of the state, namely the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature.  From the manner in which the Executive has responded to this report and many other reports, it appears as if Parliament cannot effectively hold the Executive accountable for its actions.  This is an unacceptable situation.  It is clear that, most responsible members of the Executive are aware of the Committee Reports on the Order Paper and it appears that they are willfully not complying with this Standing Order.  If the Standing Orders had timelines, it would be easier to charge members of the Executive who do not comply. If Standing Orders had timelines, it would be easier to charge Members of the Executive who do not comply with the regulations with contempt of Parliament.

In other countries such as South Africa, their Constitution makes it mandatory for members of the Cabinet to provide Parliament with full and regular reports concerning matters under their control. This includes responding to issues raised in Parliament.  At the same time, Parliament has the power to pass motions of no confidence on members of the

Cabinet who do not perform according to expectations or comply with

Standing Orders of Parliament.  This puts pressure on Members of the Cabinet to perform and to be more accountable to Parliament.  However, this is not the situation in this country.  Members of the Cabinet should be reminded of their constitutional obligations and respond timeously to the concerns that affect people at grassroots level which are raised through their elected representatives.

In conclusion, it is the Committee’s sincere hope that at some point in time, dialogue will begin between Government and Mr. Mawere to find a solution which will be of benefit to the workers, the communities of Shabani and Mashava as well as the economic development of the nation.  It is the Committee’s hope that the Executive will re-look at recommendations presented by the Committee and consider  repealing or reviewing the Reconstruction of State Indebtedness and Insolvent

Companies Act as part of legal adjustment to be done after the new

Constitution has been passed and enacted as the supreme law of the land.

Last but not least, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Committee wishes to express its concern over the lack of debate in this House by hon.

Members.  It appears there was a certain measure of hesitancy by hon. Members to make contributions on this Report.  Parliament records show that only five legislators made a contribution on the motion, yet the debate touched on a very important national resource, which has the potential to generate substantial revenue for Treasury and for the nation.

The Committee Members believe that there is no need to take a partisan stance on issues of such national importance.  After all, hon.

Members are protected by Section 5 of the Parliamentary Immunity and

Privileges Act.  It states that there shall be freedom of speech and debate on proceedings in or before Parliament and in any Committee and such freedom shall not be liable to be impeached or questioned in any court or place outside Parliament.  The institution has in place a law that protects and promotes the rights of all legislatures, including freedom of speech in Parliament.  Mr. Speaker Sir, it is imperative that MPs are encouraged to debate freely without any fear or favour because that is one of the hallmarks of any independent and democratic legislature anywhere in the world.

With those few words, I move for the withdrawal of the motion from the Order Paper.

Motion with leave, withdrawn.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

  1. D. SIBANDA:  I move that we revert back to Order No. 6         MR. CHEBUNDO:  I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEISO MOYO

  1.       CHEBUNDO: I move the motion standing in my name

that this House:

SADDENED by the tragic and untimely death of the Deputy

Minister of Agriculture. Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and Member of Parliament for Nketa Constituency, Honourable Seiso Moyo, WHO PASSED ON Thursday, 20th , December, 2012.

NOTTING that the loss shocked the whole nation in general and his constituency in particular, a dedicated, humble and down to earth leader.

NOW THEREFORE, this House conveys its profound condolences to his family, constituency, and party and the Nation as well as to all dedicated democrats.

EXPRESSES, its deep sorrow and sadness of the tragic unexpected

loss of life.

TAKES, this opportunity to celebrate the life of a man who rendered sterling human rights services to the nation.

  1. CHITANDO: I second.
  2. CHEBUNDO: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me

this opportunity to move a very important motion calling for this august House to put on record the celebrated life of a distinguished colleague, the late Hon. Seiso Moyo, Deputy Minister who passed on on 21st December, 2012.

The motion calls for this august House to take this opportunity to celebrate the life of a man who carried out sterling work on human rights and worked very tirelessly together with others to ensure that this is achieved in an independent Zimbabwe.

Mr. Speaker Sir, if one was to look and recall what the book of wisdom, the Bible, says, it says that when the children of God speak in unison about something, and when they write and read in agreement about an issue, and when they do not contradict, it means that that which is spoken and agreed on this planet earth, is also written in heaven.  God allows that.  That is if his children speak in unison over something that they are in agreement with.  What we are discussing here Madam  Speaker, is a life of Hon. Seiso Moyo, a distinct leader, a colleague and someone who excelled in his role of representing the people in such a way that we are all in agreement that he was such a character that deserved to be praised, recognised for the way he lived as an all rounder and as someone who worked very well with colleagues.

Madam Speaker, I want to recall and I have observed that when Hon. Seiso Moyo passed on, almost everyone who knew him spoke positively about him, regarded him highly of good things even as a family member and even within the religious fraternity, within the units that he served and here in Parliament, almost everyone spoke positively about Hon. Seiso Moyo.

Madam Speaker, there are times that within our African culture when someone was not as positive as Hon. Seiso Moyo, people are compelled to speak good about that person simply because we have a saying in our culture wafawanaka.  Even those that go to church, they know that pastors sometimes have torrid time trying to speak good about a person who was not good because of that.  But, it is different with Hon. Seiso Moyo.  Almost everything that we say and even those that spoke in private had every reason to state the truth, nothing but the truth of a man who he was.

Hon. Moyo was gifted, born in 1956, blessed with 5 children.  He lived a Christian life as was testified within the religious fraternity – for those that attended the funeral services here in Harare and in Bulawayo at the Lutheran Church.  Everyone who spoke, you would see that nobody stammered which shows that what was being said was true.

I said, many a time, when somebody speaks about somebody, just trying to glorify and say that somebody was good when that somebody was not good.  You will find that sometimes you stammer because you will be lost for words, you want to be creative to come up with words that praise somebody when that somebody was not worthy of that praise.  With Hon. Moyo, everyone that spoke about him was so smooth and flawless to the extent that you could see that one was speaking about the real life of a man that had done very well.

He was a true democrat, a Social Worker and a people’s representative.  He represented Nketa Constituency in this august House.  In Government, when he was appointed Deputy Minister, as witnessed by those that worked with him – they gave testimony of a man who he was.  Like I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, this Motion is calling for this august House to put on record and take the opportunity to celebrate a life of a colleague that did very well during the time that the Almighty gave him to be on this planet, earth.

In fact, the history of the struggle for a democratic country,

Zimbabwe cannot be complete without mentioning the role played by Hon. Seiso Moyo.  Hon. Moyo derived all these attributes from his professional background and qualifications.  He was a trained Social Worker holding a Diploma in Social Work which enabled him to work with the people in the various social organizations.  He held a Diploma in Non-Governmental Organization Management; a Diploma in Business Leadership; a Diploma in Personnel Management and a Diploma in Conflict Management – a very important field that needed someone like him to play a role in a country like Zimbabwe, where we have a lot of conflicts; political and social related.  He did that using that professional background of qualification in Conflict Management.  Hon. Moyo held several senior Executive positions in various organizations and was a Board member for several non-Governmental organizations including Africa Rehabilitation Institute and a Council for the Blind.

Mr. Speaker, on the political front – I think, I need to implore colleagues when we talk about history.  Especially history attributed to the work done by colleagues, sometimes it is difficult to try and hide certain things that happened during the life of that somebody – no matter how it would look or irritate others.  If you go to the political history that Hon. Moyo walked, obviously you will see certain things might ruffle the feathers of others, but the truth has to be told and recorded for the purpose of remembering our colleagues.

Hon. Moyo is a founder member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC T) led by Hon. Dr. Richard Morgan Tsvangirai.  He held several positions in the party including being a Provincial Representative for Matabeleland South Province. I personally got to know Hon. Moyo during the period that we term, ‘Pre-working People’s Convention’, in 1998. That time, I remember very well, I was the Vice Chairperson of the Central Region of the ZCTU – that is Midlands Province.  At the same time, I was the National Treasurer of the Zimbabwe Chemical and Allied Workers Union.  Hon. Moyo, coming from Matabeleland South used to team up with my then President of the Industrial Union, Reason Ngwenya and we met in Bulawayo for the first time.

I remember the first thing that I noticed of him, I noticed a real source, a level headed somebody when we were just discussing about general things, trade unionism and about how people live in Zimbabwe.  When we shared, we realized that we shared the same totem – we became connected very closely.  I remember when we were talking about the atrocities that we experienced – him in Matabeleland, me in Midlands.  Someone during their contribution to the Presidential Speech mentioned again that this country does not want to see what happened in the past – some of the actions were indescribable.  Those are the atrocities that we witnessed in Matabeleland and Midlands.

I said, Hon. Members, some of the things we might not be able to avoid mentioning them even when we are talking about the good works that were done by our colleague because history has to be recorded.  So, the intention will always be not to talk about issues that irritate others, but tell history as it were and as I knew the late Hon. Moyo.  As I met with him for the first time in 1998; we discussed with Reason Ngwenya and him; we touched on our experiences in those respective Provinces that we came from.

That time, I used to work for Sable Chemical Industries – the sole fertilizer producing company in Zimbabwe. I witness what people went through during the Gukurahundi era and I was a victim.  At that early stage, I used to support very well ZANU and ZAPU – the two leading political movements that liberated the country.  The mere experience of the atrocities in Midlands and Matabeleland that I was talking about with Hon. Moyo made me to loathe ZANU PF – I have to tell the truth.  I used to be somebody that really liked supporting those two parties, but because of what happened, what I went through, what I saw; those that we were talking about with Hon. Moyo.  I then said, no – I parted ways with them because I could not stomach the kind of inhuman activities that I saw.  I was connecting this with Hon. Moyo when we met for the first time in 1998.

Hon. Moyo loathed violence, I hate violence – whether it is intraparty; inter-party or tribal based.  Hon. Moyo felt the same.  After the

Working People’s Convention, Hon. Moyo in 1999 as a founding member of the MDC became a Member of the National Executive during the First Congress.  I also happened to become a member of the National Executive and we used to sit next to each other because we had imprinted our source and being Moyos – we were relating very well.

I recall the several gatherings that we had within our political party; you would rarely hear him speaking badly of a colleague.  Some of us would try to say this and that about certain colleagues – Hon. Moyo would not do that.  He was upright and upfront.  When he contributed, he would contribute positively on the issue on the table and that really made him somebody whom you cannot miss in terms of recognizing the role that he played.

Hon. Moyo was Secretary for Lands and Agriculture in the MDC; Secretary for Transport and later became Secretary for Elections to the time he passed on.  We shared a lot within the MDC.  When he was Secretary for Agriculture, I was Secretary for Health and we continued to relate very well.

The MDC-T family has been robbed of an asset and a hardworker member who held a very strategic position in the party. He was an extraordinary person, a political gentleman, a man of peace, but at the same time as I said earlier, he was a man of positive actions. He was a humble and selfless personality who managed to bring together people from all walks of life. This was demonstrated by the people as they turned out to give him the final farewell during the funeral services in Harare and Bulawayo. Those who were present will recall that we had almost all people from all political parties who attended and bade farewell to Hon.

Moyo.

Hon. members, you will recall even here in Parliament, I cannot remember a day that I heard Hon. Moyo heckling others. He was actually exemplary. The majority of us want to be known for heckling but that was not so with Hon. Moyo in Parliament. He excelled very well, and that we need to remember and emulate those actions. He worked very well in the Media and Information, Communication and Technology Committee which he chaired. I was talking to some of the members who shared that committee with him, they testified how humble the Chairperson was.

In the Ministry, Mr. Speaker, you will recall the good testimony that was given by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, VaNgoni

Masoka, and the substantive Minister himself, Hon. Joseph Made. Hon. Made put on record how he related very well with Hon. Moyo. How he was accepted in the Ministry and how Hon. Moyo was so hardworking for slightly more than a year that he was Deputy Minister in that Ministry. They all spoke very well and we all heard about the testimonies during the funeral services. If he had not done well, I believe strongly that they would not have spoken well about him. That is Moyo

for us.

In the religious fraternity, like I said earlier on, those who attended services in the Lutheran Church in Tshabalala, will testify how we heard that Hon. Seiso Moyo despite being a politician, never gave up Jesus. He preferred to walk with Jesus. I believe that is what made him to be what he was in this Parliament, not to say names against other colleagues, and to continuously work hard and excel.

I want to say Mr. Speaker, may the soul of the quiet giant rest in eternal peace. Hamba kahle Hon. Moyo. We will always remember you. We will always cherish and emulate how he excelled in this Parliament and we will be with him in our minds. God bless him.

* MR. CHITANDO: Thank you Mr. Speaker for according me this opportunity to speak about Hon. Seiso Moyo. Firstly, I would like to say that most of the things have been talked about by Hon. Chebundo. I thank him for moving this motion.

Looking at the life of Hon. Seiso Moyo, first he worked tirelessly for the people and second, the MDC-T. Secondly, we are going to talk about him looking at elections. Thirdly, we are going to look at his life concerning agriculture and livestock in this country.

If we remember very well in the 1980s – 1990s, that is when we had the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). That is when people lost their jobs. There was a lot of suffering and people had to adjust. You find that when others were adjusting, others were sitting pretty. During that time, that is when workers started fighting for their rights.

We find that Seiso Moyo is one of those people who rose up during that time. That is when we had strikes and stay-aways. What we should look at is that, that is when we saw something coming up from the police. That is when the use of baton sticks came up in the police force when they were beating people. Then we saw another group of people coming up. These were like the militia that when workers had engaged in strikes, then they would make them not do it.

That is when we see Hon. Seiso Moyo coming up. That is what made the formation of the MDC. That was when the MDC was formed.

That is when people came to Hillside at the Women’s Bureau and started discussing that we should say no to being beaten. That is how MDC was formed. If you look at that, you see that the first leadership, the interim leadership, you find that the name of Hon. Moyo was not there. There were the likes of Gibson Sibanda, VaMatongo, VaTsvangirai as Secretary General, Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Lovemore Madhuku and the likes. Hon. Moyo was below that. He rose up. He did not grab positions but he went through the proper channels.

One thing that I want you to understand about Seiso Moyo is that he was a humble person. He was so humble. Some of you would not understand where he got that from. He worked for so many years with the Jairos Jiri Association.  So he had that heart full of humility, mercy and love because he learnt that during his time with Jairos Jiri.

You know that Jairos Jiri came from Masvingo in Bikita. Seiso

Moyo used to tell me before we would start our meetings at Harvest House. He would ask me about places in Bikita and I asked him how he came to know all these places. He would tell me that he used to walk around together with Mr. Jairos Jiri and during that time, he learnt a lot of things from him. He said during that time that they would move around together, they would at times move around without money because they would say, “if birds of the air do not know what they will eat tomorrow because they do not have storehouses but they are given by God, we would also be provided for by the Lord. We would stay with people at Jairos Jiri without knowing about our fate tomorrow. Through faith, we would know that we would get food.”

Even religiously, he got that from Jairos Jiri. He is a person who learnt a lot and when he came fighting for the people’s rights, freedoms and democracy, he had an objective to redeem the people who were suffering. Seiso Moyo is a person who led the wing that dealt with elections. I was part of that and what I want you to see is that Seiso Moyo and MDC-T said the elections which we want to be held had to be mapped within given conditions. If the elections were not going to be held in a certain way that we had wanted, we would say no. Firstly, we would say if elections would be held, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which was agreed to by the Principals had to be fulfilled through words and deed. Everything that had been pointed out in that GPA had to be fulfilled. He is a person who really liked his country.

Secondly, when we discovered that our elections here in Zimbabwe were not fair and everybody who was involved in the elections would doubt the results because of rigging, violence and intimidation; there were many incidences of violence and also the media were not free. The platform was not level. This is what we were saying noting that given a choice to go for an unfair election, it was better not to go. That is what he would opt for. If you would hear the MDC-T leaders talking about elections, it had sprung from Seiso Moyo because he was responsible for spearheading that.

Everyone wants violent free elections. You cannot go for an election whilst you are threatened with death like what we have recently witnessed. A 12 year old boy being murdered! Mr. Speaker, because of the interjection, I said I have to show you something about the elections that we are talking about.

When we hear about houses being burnt, this did not start in Headlands. It is something that is dominant in our country. You will find out that it has started in Ward 15 of Masvingo Central. During the past weeks, they burnt the homestead belonging to Gava  Mutodho in the same manner. If you still remember when we went to comfort the victims of the 2008 torture, you noticed that when we arrived at a hospital, the Chairman in that area had been burnt in the same manner. This tells us that this idea of setting fire on houses during the day light is now impossible and these people are now notorious and real witches. We are saying you should discard this spirit so that we can go for elections in the same spirit of the electoral reforms.

You will find that the Minister of the Soldiers is saying that he does not want security reforms. Who is he to say that? This country does not belong to him but it is for all of us. Firstly, what you should know is that whatever we do, what have been said here on earth by the voice of the majority people will definitely thrive whether you like it or not. So, what we are saying about the security reforms is that we want the Soldiers to sit pretty.

We are not saying the soldiers should belong to any party either MDC or ZANU but we want them to leave in nice houses, to respect human rights and earn a decent salary. I do not know why they do not want security reforms. They are being misinformed and not being told what we really want. When we are celebrating the life of Seiso Moyo, let us tell them that everything hinges on the security reforms and once we have done that, then we are sitting pretty.

Let me go to the final issue. I have said Hon. Seiso Moyo was the

Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Firstly Mr. Speaker, the Inclusive

Government came but there are other Deputy Ministers who could not perform because they met Ministers who were not inclusive. The first point is that if you look at Hon. Made, he was the first one to say he wanted to join in being inclusive. He worked with Seiso Moyo until even if you would visit their Ministry, you would be told that this department was under Seiso Moyo. If you go to Hon. Shamu’s Ministry you will find out that it is not like that. If you go to Hon. Muchena’s

Ministry, you will find that it is not like that and it is the same with Hon.

Chinamasa’s Ministry together with Kasukuwere’ Ministry. There is no spirit of inclusivity and it is even worse if you go to Hon. Chombo’s Ministry.

What we are saying is that Hon. Seiso Moyo’s personality could be accommodated and there was someone who was also accommodative.

We want to thank their Permanent Secretary and the Minister Hon. Made. They saw the meekness which was in Hon. Seiso Moyo because you cannot do evil to a good person.

In conclusion, I would want to say our policy position as MDC on

Agriculture is not to remove you from the farms but our desire is that something should come out of the fields. Our desire is that you should send livestock meat to the Cold Storage Company and be able to engage in poultry farming so that we can have chicken on our tables.  One day I was moving around with Hon. Seiso Moyo in the industrial area, it was like a weekend because people were doing nothing.  The most challenging thing is that, in order for industries to function, farms should be producing something.  The industries are dead because nothing is happening there, we should start planting soya beans and not weeds.  Let us not just burn grass and cause deforestation selling fire wood.  We should grow maize so that our industries start functioning.  That is what was at the heart of Seiso Moyo.

Let us go for free and fair elections and after election, there will be 1million jobs and people would start working.  The land should create jobs.  Mashonaland province is for farming, we want people to create wealth through farming, that is what we are saying as MDC.  That is what Hon. Seiso Moyo was advocating for. If we all work in harmony like what Hon. Seiso Moyo wanted, all will be well among us.  What I am saying to the people of Zimbabwe is that, for our industries to start functioning, we should start thinking about elections, where you are going to cast your vote.  Thank you so much.

  1. ZHANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I want to add my voice on the sad loss of Hon. Seiso Moyo, a true gentleman par excellence.  I know that whenever a person dies, very few people say the truth about that person, they all say the good things.  I want to say, honestly, Hon. Seiso Moyo was a different person, he was a gentleman in all respects.  The very little I know about Hon. Seiso Moyo was through meeting him at Parliament and I did not know him for long.  However, for the little time that we knew each other, we had a very good friendship.  To that effect, people would be surprised that Hon. Seiso

Moyo died around 12 o’ clock the following day, hardly 12 hours after we had been together.

I used to go to Bulawayo and the only friend that I had was Hon. Seiso Moyo.  I would call him and we would meet, you would not have known that we came from different political parties, we were very apolitical. It was a pleasure when he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.  He used to call me and we would discuss a lot about agricultural policies and what needed to be done.  At all times, he would invite me to come and share with him information on agriculture.  He had some ideas and he fitted  very well within the ministry.  Unfortunately, he did not live to see his ideas through, his life was cut short.  I am of the opinion that, if he had stayed longer in the Ministry of Agriculture, the country could have benefitted from a better policy formulation, which would have resulted in a better agriculture outturn.

Agriculture is a very complex discipline.  As much as people would want farmers to perform, we cannot de-link agricultural productivity from access to markets.  You cannot go and grow wheat, go to a bank and withdraw some money on the assumption that someone would come and buy wheat without knowing the price.  The future of agriculture for this country will depend on contract farming, where a market is assured and a farmer is cushioned against his risks.  It is not the onus of an individual farmer to make sure that the state has got enough food. The onus is on the Government, through policies that are conducive enough for farmers to perform.

I think this House will take note of the fact that, so many farmers delivered maize to GMB in previous years but they were not paid.  That scenario will not encourage farmers to go back on the land.  It is important to note that, if we look back at the success of agriculture in

Zimbabwe, it was because of the policies which were there back then.  For example, there was an irrigation fund, which attracted a 5 percent interest rate over a 12-year period.  At the end of the day, people are encouraged to produce for the country.  I am sure that, if Hon. Seiso Moyo had been given enough life, those are the policies that he could have promoted in order to assist the country to move forward.

It is unfortunate that God loves good people alongside him.  If there is a ‘Gentlemen’s Lounge,’ where people wait when they die, I am sure Hon. Seiso Moyo is in that lounge.  He was a true Zimbabwean by reflection.  As much as we would want to spend our time on petty partisan issues, Hon. Seiso Moyo did not have time for that.  Therefore he promoted the good will of the country.  I want to implore hon.

members from both Houses that there is time for politics but we should also concentrate on nation building.  Politics and elections come and go.

I would also like to point out that no one loves political violence.  If anybody would put their mind to task and think seriously that, if you want to come to Parliament through spilling the blood of a person, then

God should forgive you - [HON. MEMBERS:Hear! Hear!] -  Elections come and go, but relations remain, therefore, it is everyone’s wish that life does not begin or end with Parliament.  Life begins and ends somewhere, so we should, by all means, try not to promote violence from every quarter.  We should encourage people to be peaceful at all times and we should tolerate different political opinions.

On that note, I would want to say, it is unfortunate that God takes those who are good and leaves those who are bad.  I want to narrate a speech by the late Hon. Eddison Zvobgo at a certain funeral.  He said that when God wants to take someone from a certain family, he does not consult the family.  If God would consult a family and say ‘today the turn of dying is in Mr. Sibanda’s family, can we sit and agree to who should die today,’ it was going to be a very tough task, he said.  I think we will end up saying iwe ndiwe usina zvauri kuita chimbofanoenda.  I am sure, if it was like that, Hon. S. Moyo could not have gone first before others in this august House- [AN HON. MEMBER: Waida kuti kufe ini?].  Mr. Speaker Sir, let me end by saying, I want to wish Hon. S.

Moyo’s soul to rest in eternal peace.  As I followed the debate, I think most of us have taken note of how people like Hon. S. Moyo should be emulated.  Thank you.

  1. R. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Let me take this opportunity to add my voice and my condolences to the Moyo family for the death of a pacifier, a conciliator, an epitomy of humility, a philanthropist, a social worker per excellence and a peace maker.

Mr Speaker, the person that we are talking about here was indeed a great man.  I would want to quote from Shakespeare that, “Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, some have got greatness thrust upon them”.  I would want to witness that the late Seiso Moyo was not only born great, he worked hard and achieved greatness.  He felt a person with whom humility was always abounded.  He never spoke ill of others, as a brother, he was always advising.  As a father, he was everloving, as an MP, he was all embracing, as a social worker, he felt pity for others and always wanted to help.

He lived his life that he had trained.  He worked in different spheres of society.  He worked in ZAPU as a youth, grew up in ZAPU, had his activism in ZAPU, went to social work, worked in the City Council and worked with the late Jairos Jiri.  In all that, you could trace and see that the man was always in the right and was always doing things that were helpful to society.  His mission was that of building.  To some of us as a brother, he taught us a lot.  He was never a person who would advise you to be vengeful or to speak ill of others.  If any, at any given time, he would advise you to first calm down, probably you would think about whatever you were thinking.  If you were thinking about anything, or if you were angry, he would tell you that there is always tomorrow and probably the next day, you may not be thinking as you are thinking today.  If ever it was something to avenge on anything, he would say, if you avenge, it will carry on and on and on.

I will not speak of the many other things that my colleagues have actually spoken about, but what I would want to say is that, if we had only a hundred of Seisos in this country, I think this country would move forward.  Such people that wish their country well, such people that wish their countrymen well, such people that want peace and such people that would never avenge.  Many people have always wanted things for themselves but Seiso wanted to share.  Even if you got to a restaurant – some of us had the time to get to a restaurant with him, sometimes he would insist that, “let us buy a plate of sadza and relish and eat together, we are a family, let us get used to the traditional way of sharing things.”  That was Seiso Moyo.

He was such a down to earth person, even after he had been appointed as a Deputy Minister.  Many a time he would phone and say,

“Let us meet in town, let us go out and do one or two things.”  That was Seiso Moyo.  He had time for everyone.  If you move around in Bulawayo, you go to the church people and the pastors, they would tell you that they had time with Seiso.  If you go to some clubs, social life, they will tell you that Seiso had time for them.  If you go to Jairos Jiri or the City Council, they will tell you that they saw Seiso Moyo, even when he was appointed to the post of Deputy Minister.  One wonders how he programmed his time, how he got all the time that he devoted to see everyone and to give company to all the people that he socialized with.

As we go for elections, we are now seeing the demons of violence.  If it were for people like Seiso Moyo, these demons would not be.  If there were people like him, then we would be a better people.  It is unfortunate as my colleagues have said that God also loves the best.  I think in the garden of flowers that are on earth, God looks around, picks up the best and also want to be with the best.  In Seiso Moyo, I say, my brother, lala ngokuthula.  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker.

  1. HOVE: I rise to also offer my deepest condolences to the Moyo family. I want to touch on aspects that other speakers have not spoken of.  I served with the late Hon. Seiso Moyo in the Public Accounts Committee.  It is during that stint that I developed a very close relationship with the late Seiso Moyo.   I got to know so much about him because our relationship extended beyond the Public Accounts work and went on to touch his family.  I got to know of the performance of his daughters in their education here as well as in South Africa and how the performance meant to him.  How much he valued the exploits of his daughters’ prowess in the academic world.  It touched me because most politicians normally are focused on the politics.  To Seiso Moyo, he had time for his family.  He always mentioned how he missed his daughters.  I recall one instance when I had been offered a World Bank sponsored trip to Tanzania, Dar es Salaam.  I happened to be occupied with the COPAC work which he was not seized with.  I offered that trip to him and he said, you know what Hon. Hove, you have given me the opportunity to also go and visit my daughters who are doing so well in

South Africa.  He said I have not seen my daughters for quite some time, I think this will give me the opportunity to visit them.  When he came back, he gave me a call and said “I do not know how I can express my gratitude to you,” such was a man who really loved his family.

Madam Speaker, I was shocked to hear of his passing on.  I had not heard of any illnesses that he had.  I just heard the man was no more.  I began to recall incidences whereby he would invite me for a cup of tea at his office when he had become the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.  Many people after getting promoted, normally change friends but that was not with the late Seiso Moyo.  He remained open and welcome to everyone.  He was not a selector of persons.  I am deep in sorrow and sadness to have lost such a colleague.

The other thing that I enjoyed was that in our discussion, he remained much focused. He was straight talking, he was not a person who mince his words, if something was not right, he would just say this is not right. The best way of doing things is this way.  Such was the man and it is true that God takes the best.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I am at a loss or words that can express how I feel about the passing on of Honourable Seiso Moyo.

I want to thank his family for raising such a fine gentleman. On things that I got in my interaction with the late Honourable Seiso Moyo, he told me a lot about his upbringing and the people he interacted with.  He was like cream; he had the best from his upbringing and the environment. He also enjoyed life and he wanted to share it with those who were close to him.  That is one of the things I remember him most about.  He was humane.  It is a big loss to us as Parliament, as a Party and as a nation.  He was just a good man.  He wished everyone well.  There was never a time you would find him angry or cross at an individual.  He was always in a jovial mood, ever smiling.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to have it on record that he is one such man I have enjoyed interacting with during his life time.  I want to say, go in peace and rest in peace; you will always be remembered and treasured.  I thank you Mr Speaker.

  1. SANSOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Seiso

Moyo died on Friday, 21st December, 2012 not Thursday the 20th

December, 2012.  I thought I should make that correction Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the mover of this motion for giving us this opportunity to celebrate the life of a good man, a polished gentleman, who understood and practiced the art of friendship, the art of comradeship.  He was a committed family man.  Whenever we met outside work, we would discuss family.   He would talk about his daughters and that what he wanted for them was the best education, nothing short of the best education for his children.

He was humble and down to earth.  Despite being appointed the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, he remained a man of humility.  We have seen people who, after they have been appointed ministers, no longer wish to associate with backbenchers and people like that. The late Seiso Moyo was not like that.   He had a pleasant personality and easy to work with.

On the political front, he was committed to the Party, determined to see positive change in this country.  He worked tirelessly to produce our document on candidate selection as Secretary for elections.  As a member of the national executive, he would be assigned various tasks and sometimes he would come to my province, Matabeleland North and would assist in conflict resolution.  He used to encourage team spirit amongst party cadres and Members of Parliament.

The late Seiso Moyo condemned violence and he encouraged team spirit.  Those who were at his funeral witnessed people from across the political divide who came to pay condolences to his family.

As a Deputy Minister, he was very passionate about his work.  One would think that perhaps he had formal training in agriculture.  Despite not having trained in agriculture, he loved his work and contributed immensely in the development of agriculture in his short stint in that Ministry.  Whether it was to do with cropping or livestock farming, he was best at everything.  I remember him encouraging me to go to a place called Pedistock where I witnessed drip irrigation and he encouraged me to practice that on my small piece of land.  I do not have a farm but at my rural home he came and said, with this small piece of land, you can produce a lot using this technology. Unfortunately, I was not able to implement that before his death but I hope that someday I will be able to carry on the work that he encouraged me to do.

I would like to convey my sincere condolences to his family.  May his dear soul rest in peace.  Thank you.

  1. MNKANDHLA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to say a few words about the late hero, Hon. Seiso Moyo. I would like to start by saying I met Hon. Seiso Moyo when both of us were pretty young man, that is in 1980, and that is when our friendship started.  You can see that we had known each other as old as Zimbabwe’s

Independence.  In the light of that, I can hear quite a lot that has been said by colleagues here.  They have summarised his life in those years they have known him.  I would like to say that is how the man lived his life.  You will be surprised that many, unlike most of us, when we meet here, what do we talk about?  It is mainly politics as if politics is the beginning and end of our lives.

The late Seiso Moyo used to talk about the realities of life.  I am sure you heard what Hon. Sansole has said.  I remember during the COPAC, he was one of the team leaders in my team; we covered the length and breadth of Matabeleland South well.  He would admire life in the rural areas.  He would talk about the need to have a rural home.  I do not know how many of us here take pride in our rural homes.

Remember, he was an MP for an urban Constituency, Nketa in

Bulawayo, but he never forgot his roots.  He came from a very dry area, Hunga, on the boundary between Beitbridge and Gwanda.  Hence he understood what the weather climate would do to rural communities.  Those of you, who know that place, know that it is in Region 5B, hence his interest in agriculture.  In addition to his training as a social worker, he was a man very down to earth.

As I have said, we used to talk a lot about our own rural homes and he would not admire those mansions.  He would say if you wanted a good life, just have a simple room for you and your wife to retire to, unlike some people here, like Hon. Matshalaga, who wants to put up double storey’s in rural areas.  He was a simple and down to earth person.  Another thing that I would like to tell you about him is his spiritual faith.  Every Sunday, he would find time to go and attend the Lutheran Church in Tshabalala and his other relatives would go to churches where English is the norm.  Seiso would however enjoy the traditional way of worshipping, showing that he was a down to earth person.

Mr. Speaker Sir, it would be unfair for me to complete this discourse without speaking in the language that he spoke almost 12 hours a day.

+Seiso was my brother in law, he was related to my wife and you would find that if I stay for sometime without phoning him, he would phone me and consult about the health of his sister and inquire why I did not phone him.  Whenever he came to my place, he would pass through the sitting room and proceed to the kitchen.  He was so sociable that he would open the pots on fire and take whatever food he wanted to eat.

He was a people’s man and was not somebody who would keep a garage.  He was not somebody who would promote hate.  I may take an example of the COPAC, he met different people of different political parties and yet you will find we have some people who would go and promote their political parties; but Seiso Moyo would talk about the nation and COPAC.

This House is much poorer without Seiso Moyo.  Matabeleland South is much much poorer without Seiso Moyo.  I would not like to say a lot about his family for I do not believe that anyone can replace a man of Seiso Moyo’s caliber.  He was an honourable man, honourable in the House of Parliament, unlike some members, who are only honourable here by title but when outside, they are not honourable at all.  I do not want to mention names Mr. Speaker Sir.  Some of us are only honourables by title like I have said and what we read on some faces here, you can see that the word honourable is a missnorma.  With Seiso, it fitted his face, it fitted his language, it fitted his dressing and it fitted his companionship, may his dear soul rest in eternal peace.

  1. NYAKUDANGA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also want to contribute on this motion that was moved by Hon. Chebundo.  The man we are talking of Mr. Speaker Sir, being a party cadre belonging to the ZANU PF, the MDC or whatever, does not mold the personality of a man or of anybody.  It took me time to know Mr. Seiso Moyo.  I did not know whether he is ZANU PF or MDC because of his behaviour.  He was not a man who shows off himself wherever he was.  He was a humble man, too good enough to be a man of other men.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want to conclude by saying, I used to joke with him when he became a Minister.  I would say that Minister, what are you going to do for me, I do not have any fertilizers?  He would say, young man, take it easy.  If it was someone, he would rebuff you but he was a man who could answer in a satisfactory manner, may his soul rest in peace.

+MR. MABHENA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for affording me this opportunity to pass my condolences on the passing on of Hon. Moyo.  We are mourning together with the family and Zimbabwe at large.  May I also take this opportunity to thank all the members who have made their contributions across the political divide talking of Hon. Moyo, a man whom we lived with and worked with.  Hon. Moyo was an honourable man, hero among heroes.  He was a man who was not choosy who to associate with people according to age, colour, class or creed but we saw that all the people, according to him were the same.

Hon. Moyo was a man who would give advice whenever you were with him.  You will find that with all of us in this House, whenever he would phone you, he would say how are you brother.  That was his favourate term when talking to people and there was no discrimination according to him.  He was a natural teacher.  My hope is that, if only we had members in this House who behaved like Hon. Moyo, Zimbabwe would be prosperous.  Zimbabwe would development at an alarming

rate.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the death of Hon. Moyo is a loss not only to his family but to the whole of Zimbabwe.  His constituency has lost an honourable man, even the religious organisations; have also lost out on the passing on of this man because he was not discriminatory.  We think of him, especially when we talk about his good works and I am sure if he was here, today, he would be carrying up the flag on the devolution because he wanted power to be passed on to the different areas or provinces.  Yes, I know that most of us go to churches.  We are religious but then, even if you are not going to the church as what some people do, you would find that he was a man who really could socialise with anybody regardless of their class, colour or creed.

Therefore, we all say, man of peace, rest in peace.  May the works which you carried out be carried forward for the benefit of the country of Zimbabwe?  I thank you.

*MR. VARANDENI: Thank you for affording me this

opportunity and talking about the Committee which he was chairing.  He was our Chairman who conducted business well and loved his fellow Committee Members.  Hon. Chebundo you raised this motion when some of the Committee Members were not in this House and they will really be pained to hear that the motion has been closed because they loved this man.

The Media Committee was a blessed Committee because you find that whosoever was in that Committee was promoted.  We started with Hon. Chimanikire and he was promoted to a Ministerial post.  Then next was Hon. Seiso Moyo who was promoted to Deputy Minister.  The next leader to lead that Media Committee is Hon. Chikwinya and we look forward that the trend would be the same and he is going to be promoted to a ministerial post.

Talking about the condolences of Hon. Seiso Moyo, he also had problems in calling my name and it took him some time for him to be able to pronounce my name.  I remember we had a trip to South Africa in 2010 and he chose me so that we could go together.  The other Members were Hon. Matonga, Hon. Chaderopa and Hon. Musumbu.

You would find that wherever we were, he would also be with us.

I remember when we went to South Africa, he made us to meet with members of his family who live in South Africa and we had a very good time which showed that we had a very responsible man.

When he was promoted to be Deputy Minister of Agriculture in 2011, the Company, Cottco Zimbabwe held a World Cottco Conference in Victoria Falls.  Cottco selected two members who are Hon. Varandeni and Hon. Mangami to go and represent the Parliament of Zimbabwe.  When we got to Victoria Falls, you know this big Conference, it was international and we had French speaking delegates and we had to use headphones so that we could hear what was spoken.   Hon. Seiso Moyo called us and said, I feel very happy to find that I am with my fellow members in this Committee and such a person is not easily forgotten especially with the way he died after a short illness.

We mourn together with his family.  We thank Hon. Blessing Chebundo for raising this motion so that we debate his motion whilst time is still available.  I am speaking representing Members of my Committee; unfortunately none of them are here.  We met with Hon.

Mangami in the I.C.T. Committee.

I plead with the Lord to give him a seat on His right hand because we know that as people who pray, we always say we want to go to heaven.  Our hope and trust is that, what has been said about Hon. Seiso Moyo is that he will definitely go to heaven.  I thank you Hon. Speaker.

  1. MADZIMURE: Thank you Mr. Speaker.  I also want to add

my voice to our sad loss and say to the family of Hon. Seiso Moyo that you gave us a giant and someone who was quite an effective communicator.

Hon. Seiso Moyo, what pains me most is that on the 20th, which was a Thursday, I spent one and half hours with Hon. Seiso Moyo at his flat here in Harare and we were not even seated but we were actually standing outside talking.  From the discussions that we had, I can see that we have a very big gap that he left for both the party and the

Government.

I used to talk a lot with Hon. Seiso Moyo and the time we started interacting a lot was in 2005, soon after our Party split into two.  We would go to Bulawayo to his house and we would sit and start talking for us to come to terms with what had happened.  The guidance that he would give was that guidance that came from a really seasoned person, a family man, a person who has gone through a lot and a person who had understood problems and how groups would break and how they would be build.  How the groups would break and how the groups would start again.  So, I learnt quite a lot and he was a patient man who could give time for things to settle and whilst they are settling, he would also be thinking about the future.

When he was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Seiso Moyo, I used to talk to him a lot and he told me how he had found the Ministry.  He said he was really amased by the reception he got and also almost a free rein that he got from Minister Made which is something I really appreciated.  I never thought I would hear a Deputy Minister telling me about his going to work under a Minister from another party acknowledging the fact that I have someone who has welcomed me and given me responsibilities to do.

He had a number of things that he had planned before he was even the Minister - the issue of the livestock programmes, especially in Matabeleland.  We all know that Matabeleland lies in Regions 5 and 6 and crops do not do very well. So, the majority of the people survive on livestock and he came up with a programme.  The programme had really taken off very low to the extent that what he started especially in Matabeleland South is something that I think it will also be quite difficult for it to suffer a natural death.  I just hope that those who were working with him will make sure that they continue.

He was also very effective in relating to the NGOs, the farmers’ organisations and also the scientists within the Ministry.  This I could hear from him explaining to me how he was doing it and the way he had managed to start representing the Ministry and the Government fully well at the international community.  There was a meeting which he was relating to me which he attended in Italy when we were trying to reengage with the Italians and the hostile reception that they got when they started discussing with the Italians.  This was because they were complaining about some of the farms which they had here in Zimbabwe under a BIPPA between Italy and Zimbabwe but the way he managed to manouvre and got something out of that meeting was quite amazing for someone who had just been appointed a Deputy Minister.  His boss Hon. Made was quite impressed that we managed to find our way out of that meeting.  So, we managed to find our way out of that meeting.  Hon Seiso Moyo is really a sad loss.

On the party side, the regulations and views that he designed to select our candidates – if one goes through that document, one will see a real person who knew what the party wanted to achieve out of a process.  He was fully aware of the Key Result Areas of what we wanted to produce and if any party should get hold of that particular document, I think, it would be one of the easiest documents to copy because it was a well put process to the extent that I pray for my party to have someone who will take full advantage of what Hon. Seiso Moyo had done and come out even a smarter person from the foundations that Hon. Seiso Moyo prepared.

He would share information, ideas and would also disagree with you, but still afford to smile whilst telling you that what you were doing was wrong.  Hon. Seiso Moyo, I just do not know how some of these things happen because even what we heard from the Ministry – those with whom he was working with.  Even the Secretaries could only shake their heads and say, ‘We had been given an amazing person; a person whom you could not identify with a party, but just identify as a Deputy

Minister’.  The very short period that he was in the Ministry, what he managed to do was something that a lot of Ministers and Deputy Ministers cannot do in the rest of their office tenures.  It only takes a moment for you to show your brilliance and perform – it does not need a lot of time to do that, if you cannot you cannot.  You may be in a position for 20 years, but your impact will not be recognized by the period you take whilst in the position, but the effectiveness of that first move that you do in your job.  So, that is what Hon. Moyo had achieved.

He was a real family man and was very proud of his daughters because very few of us have such brilliant children.  All the five are intelligent children and he was proud of them – they were also proud of their father.  So, it was a real loss and I just hope that all that we are saying about Hon. Seiso Moyo is something that we can try to emulate, do a little bit and leave some legacy.  A legacy that people can stand and say, ‘this is what he did’.  Hon. Moyo was not a thug, a violent person nor a person who wanted to make sure that he retaliates whenever provoked.  Even in a meeting, some insinuations would mean that he would have done something wrong, but even when a person provoked him - Hon. Moyo would wait for the opportune time when he would answer back, but in a way that would build relationships – not to destroy them.

To the family, I say, you gave us a son who left his indelible footsteps.  For the region, especially, the Matabeleland region regarding his understanding of the region – he had come up with real measures that needed to be taken to make sure that there is economic development in those areas.  The issue of subsidized stock feed is one area that we must concentrate on when we talk of the regions of Matabeleland and this was his passion - this was an area that he had identified.  I hope that whatever he started will not die and Hon. Moyo’s legacy will be remembered.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker.

+MR. MAHLANGU:  Thank you Mr. Speaker for this

opportunity that you have given unto me and to Hon. Chebundo for tabling this Motion.

To me, Hon. Seiso Moyo was like a father and more of my counselor.  He would look at you as more of his child, he was one person who was not stereotyped.  He was one person who was communicating with anyone regardless of who you were; he was able to counsel you and tell you that you are still young and urge you to go to school. He would always say that politics will come and go, but you, as an individual had to value yourself and put your career before politics.

Hon. Seiso Moyo is one person who loved everyone – especially us that come from Matabeleland.  You will realize that this debate is so painful and hurting to us for he was someone who was living in the new dispensation.  We could visit him even in his home and we know everyone in his home – we were very close to each other.

Hon. Seiso Moyo was not discriminative regardless of whether you were Shona or Ndebele.  You will realize that everyone that contributed to this Motion, moreso considering that the Motion was tabled by Hon. Chebundo – it shows that he was very close to everyone, even from the party.  We are so pained for losing such an Hon. Member and the gap that he has left is very difficult to fill.

Hon. Moyo, to us and even to the party, especially when we were looking towards the forthcoming elections – he was the person whom we had earmarked to lead us in the elections, but nevertheless, we accept that God gives and takes.  Moreover, Hon. Moyo to me, there was nothing that I was able to do alone because our constituencies were very close. So, every time I was holding ceremonies in my Constituency, he was Master of Ceremony most of the time.  On the 22nd, I had a Christmas party for my constituents.  I phoned Hon. Seiso Moyo to come and be the Master of Ceremony for the occasion, but he highlighted the fact that he was in Harare, but would be travelling on Friday for the party.

It was very painful for me when I heard that he was late on Friday and it was so painful to the people of Nkulumane Constituency when they heard of his passing on yet he was supposed to be the Master of Ceremony.  It was one thing that was saddening to everyone.  Hon. Seiso Moyo was one person that had so much patience with everyone.  I will keep reiterating what has already been said about Hon. Seiso Moyo.  I support all that has been said about him as someone that was very close and worked with him.

I started knowing Hon. Seiso Moyo when the MDC was formed, he was the first candidate for Beit Bridge; when there was so much violence, but he was able to stand in Beit Bridge for the 2000 elections.

Although he did not win, you realise that that is the time when we really needed men among men and he was able to stand up for change. Even when it came to his time of death, he is someone that we were working along with. His main aim and ambition was to see Zimbabwe being a better country and everyone having a better life and health.

Seiso Moyo wanted his own children to learn and have a better education, and even for children from his constituency. He wanted everyone to have a better education. He was working closely with the religious sector and schools in his constituency. Almost everyone that he was working with in his constituency was calling to comfort me on the sad loss of Hon. Seiso Moyo as he was very close to me and my constituency Nkulumane.

Even for someone who did not like him, it was difficult to show that you do not like him for he was a very down to earth man. He was not a violent person. He was able to bring people together. He did not like violence. I know I am one short tempered person. I know most of the times I lose my temper but every time in the national executive, I would sit next to Hon. Seiso Moyo, he was able to calm me down. He would always urge me that fighting is not the best thing. He would always urge me that fighting or raising my voice is not the solution. He would always remind me that if I get angry I have to calm down and talk in a way that would make me not be able to lose what I would have wanted to say. Now that he has left us, I really feel the gap.

This is why I am saying that Hon. Seiso Moyo to us, he was very very close to us. He made a difference in our lives. He is someone that we can say in a family you would have been happy to have had Hon. Seiso Moyo close to you. Hon. Seiso Moyo is one person who you could not understand very well because he was able to love everyone regardless of who you are. I realised that everyone who stood up to debate on the sad loss of Hon. Seiso Moyo was able to contribute so much about his good works.

They were always together with Hon. Sansole, even when they travelled, they travelled together. When Hon. Sansole stood up, I almost shed tears because they were very close. There is a song that I used to play in my car when travelling that says ‘Humble yourself before the eyes of the Lord and He shall lift you up’. It expresses that you have to humble yourself before God and God will lift you up. That was Hon. Seiso Moyo and God was able to lift him up. Every time he was down, Hon. Seiso Moyo was being lifted By God.

At the time of his death, he left us when he was now the Deputy Minister. When you humble yourself before God, God will always lift you up and create a space for you. With those words, I say Hon. Seiso Moyo, rest in peace. We will always remember you. We are so saddened by your death. With your loss and the space that has been created, we realise that there are footsteps that we have to follow. To his family, I want to say and urge the wife, Mrs Moyo, not to lose hope by losing her husband. Instead, she must gain strength knowing that Seiso was a man of the people regardless of his status. He was a good man. I really want to say, rest in peace my father.

+ MR. F.M SIBANDA: I thank you. On such an issue like this one, I want to urge everyone not to cry, instead celebrate the life of this man. We need to celebrate life, for death is always there. I am saying Chairman because he is a Chairman. One thing that we have to realise is that when Hon. Seiso Moyo left, he had written a document on how to select each other in our party for elections. When you read this document, you will realise that it is very clear. He states that where there is an MP you are not supposed to make violence.

I have so much pressure in my constituency and realise that everyone has left this august House to defend their constituencies. We realise that … - [MR. SPEAKER: Inaudible interjection] – Mr.

Speaker, I am doing this so that you can cheer up. The Transitional

Mechanism says that all the ministers, President, deputy ministers and MPs will dissolve on the midnight before elections. Some of us are here because we want the Constitution to pass and we do not mind to be in our constituencies.

One of the greatest musicians, Zex Manatsa, I know Hon. T. Khumalo is looking at me. I want her to hear what I am saying. The singer says, ‘Munhu akanaka haararame’. In our corrupt English I would say a good person has few days to stay. You realise that as the violent ones, we will stay for a very long time but those who are good, will stay for only 45 of the 56 days like Hon. Seiso Moyo. People like Hon. Bhasikiti, Hon. Chitando and Hon. Sibanda will stay to very old ages. I do not know how God created that. You realise that even the murderers will stay for 70 + 70 years or 140 years. What I am trying to bring out is that a good person will not stay for a long time. To those who will be good, you will live for only a few years.

To me, Hon. Seiso Moyo, I used to always meet up with him together with Hon. Reggie Moyo. I would always say to Hon. Reggie Moyo you are my niece and to Hon. Seiso Moyo you are my uncle. To everyone from the Moyos, my mother is a Moyo and I used to always play with them and say to Hon. R. Moyo, he was my niece and to Hon. Seiso Moyo, he was my uncle. Everyone is crying but I am happy that since he was my Uncle, I am able to even take over the wife. I know there is so much inheritance. Issues like cows, I will not take but the wife, I will be able to take care of her.  

I really want to thank all the Hon. Members from ZANU PF and I was asking what they are doing. I was urging them that when they lose someone from their party, we are able to mourn with them and when our late Vice President passed away, we were able to mourn with them. We realized that when we brought this motion everyone moved out. Hon. Zhanda was able to stand with us; we from Magwegwe North do not consider whether you are from ZANU PF or MDC-Green or from MDC.

In Parliament, people from ZANU PF need to be urged to join each other in mourning and we discover that people from our party are not laid at the Heroes Acre and when our President declares a hero, we realise that we always go with them even if we do not have a chance to put our heroes at the National Heroes Acre. Maybe next year after our elections, we will declare our heroes post humously, even Members from our party like Hon. Seiso Moyo who died and were not declared heroes. When I die, I urge everyone not to put me at the National Heroes Acre because we realised that most of the heroes laid at the Acre are thieves.

I myself have declared myself a hero because I know I am a hero because someone’s works speaks a lot. A hero should be someone who does good to everyone. Jairos Jiri who works too much for everyone is a hero but you will find that it was only Magadzire who was laid as a hero standing for farmers.

Last week we realised that a diplomat was laid at the Heroes Acre, someone that I do not even know or have ever heard of and that I do not even know how they were born. It is only because the President declared him a hero. Even us from the other party had to put our flags halfway because the President had declared him a national hero.

With our new Constitution, we will be able to sit down and declare them heroes post humously. We will make monuments to show that that person was a hero.

Who is Hon. Seiso Moyo? He was a multi-lingual. He could speak

Ndebele, Zulu, Venda, Sotho, would hear Kalanga, Xosa and would hear Shona and English. He was able to speak eight languages, which showed that culturally, when you hear someone’s language, you know their cultures also. If you hear Chewa, you will know even their ethics. So to have someone like this shows that he loved everyone because he knew Venda language and their culture, Zulu language and their culture. You will realise that in our august House, if you greet Hon. Members in Ndebele, they will tell you that they do not understand it. When you even go to our offices, even to mention Police Officers, when you ask for something, they will just stand up and look at you but for Hon. Seiso Moyo, he knew many languages.

Also, the Hon. Vice President John Landa Nkomo knew English, Kalanga, Shona, Venda and he knew even the Khokoi. I also know many languages like I highlighted last week. Someone who is called a Zimbabwean is supposed to know even Tshangani. You will understand that even the late Hon. Seiso Moyo knew Tshangani and up to today, they are still there and they are not yet staying well. I would like to urge all the Zulu people to come back home and we can try to do something better for them. Everything that was started by our late Hon. Vice President John Landa Nkomo, we can still do something about that. I do not want to say a lot today.

Hon. Seiso Moyo would make good policies and I want to join the

Hon. Prime Minister Tsvangirai in mourning him. We also know that Hon. Made will find it difficulty to getting a Deputy Minister. It will be difficult for him to be deputized. Hon. Tsvangirai appointed Hon. Seiso Moyo to be Governor in Bulawayo when he started the GNU because it was agreed that it was the place where everyone managed to win. We found out that everything just faded off.

Hon. Tsvangirai also nominated Hon. Benett and three years down the line, he was rejected because he is a white man. I do not know whether the white people who fought for this country are not recognised.

We have even Timothy Stamps who is also a white man. I realise that Hon. Made may not be able to be deputised and I feel sorry for him.

Hon. Tsvangirai was able to appoint Hon. Seiso Moyo before he even worked for a long time; he was taken away by death. I mourn so much with Hon. Tsvangirai, that agriculture is the main activity that makes us get food in our country.

I used to work with Hon. Seiso Moyo nicodemously and I have a good word that I found in Esigodhini where I come from. There are cattle there and we realised that most of our parents were able to bring us up using those cows. From Matabeleland, subsidies were done since 1980 and we are able to assist people. They are able to come up with something to feed their families from there. I advised Hon. Seiso Moyo on what exactly they were doing with the cattle. When I met with Hon. Angeline Masuku and Thokhozile Mathuthu, I spoke to them on what exactly they were doing since most of the cows from our late King Mzilikazi were taken away. I then asked on what they are doing to foster animal husbandry. When we spoke, Hon. Seiso Moyo highlighted that last year US$2 million was disbursed and now US$8 million was disbursed. He is one person who had also started working on cows. People who come from Matabeleland do not plough cotton or tobacco, but were helped to improve their cattle ranching.

I therefore urge everyone who is going to be appointed as the Deputy to come to me and ask how we were working. I am campaigning for myself and the Hon. Chairperson is there as well. I therefore want to urge everyone that we are not supposed to be just talking about cotton, tobacco or maize. We need to talk about places like Chiredzi, they need help. Let us talk about Kariba, that they want to do fishing - not 33 years of talking.  For 33 years, the same things are being given to the same people and they do not even pay back.  They are given grain loan and there is nothing that they are bringing back.  We in this august House have paid back the trucks that we were given.

During the funeral of Hon. Seiso Moyo, I was respected, I was the pole bearer.  I was holding the coffin from the front together with Hon. Madzimure.  I really felt so much pain, many at times I do not shed tears for granted, but I shed tears that day for I was carrying a hero who died before finishing his work.  This is what people from Magwegwe did for Hon. Seiso Moyo, 30 women came to cook and clean at his home.  I was happy to see even people from Nkulumane and Luveve constituencies.

Many Members of Parliament from all over the country converged to mourn the death of a hero.

In conclusion, I would like to say that, a good person will never last for a long time.  A good person does not live long on earth, may his soul rest in peace. Amen.

  1. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, a lot has been said about Hon. Seiso Moyo, but I feel I should also add my voice. I worked with Hon. Seiso Moyo from the year 2000. At the end of the day, Hon. S. Moyo was my political mentor and advisor.  He was a humble and cheerful man.  I remember very well that every time we came here in

Harare, Hon. S. Moyo would address us in Ndebele as abafana wami.  Whenever Hon. S. Moyo was happy, he would always say in Ndebele, lingapi abafana wami. When someone looks for you because he is happy or had something to say, to teach or advise, that means a lot to me.

Hon. Speaker, Hon. S. Moyo never changed colours.  We know a lot of politicians who change like chameleons.  They change from one colour to another.  Hon. S. Moyo was not like that, he was always himself, even when times were hard.  What I want to mention here is that, Hon. S. Moyo is one of those who made sure that this inclusive government is a success.  He made sure that there is food on our table and he wanted to see Zimbabwe back on its feet.  I and my colleagues would agree that Hon. S. Moyo is a true hero.  However, the problem here in Zimbabwe is that we do not have the definition of a hero.  When we talk of heroes, we associate them with those who were involved in the liberation struggle, without that, Hon. S. Moyo was supposed to be declared a hero.

It is really a pity to lose such great people.  He was a father to us and to his constituency.  Every time you met him, he would talk about his family, he would talk about Snini and about the girls. He would tell you what the girls are doing, the girls in South Africa and so on.  That alone showed how much passion he had for his family.  I also looked up to Hon. S. Moyo as a big brother to us.  He had a dream and he would share his dream with us.  His dream was to see Zimbabwe being led by one government.  His dream was to see our President from my party, Morgan Tsvangirai, being given the opportunity to rule this country, and going to the State House, that is not a secret.  Hon. S. Moyo would always talk about that dream.

Those are the people whom, when they depart just like that, it is really sad on our part.  That is why most of my colleagues here were showing how sad they are.  As Bulawayo province, it is sad that we lost Hon. S. Moyo, he was our master of ceremony in most of the functions which we held.  I remember on his funeral, we were stuck with some hon. members like Hon. Mhlanga.  We were taking each other to task and asking each other on who would lead his ceremony.  This shows how much Hon. S. Moyo was hard-working.

Hon. S. Moyo was an honest person, not even one day did I hear that he was corrupt or got involved in fights or scandals.  He was a nation-builder and a good organiser.  He will be greatly missed.  Mr Speaker Sir, I would also want to say to the family of Hon. S. Moyo, you are not alone on this loss of a hero.  As Zimbabweans, particularly as a province of Bulawayo including my constituency, Bulawayo Central, his constituency, Nketa, we have also lost a leader.  We are together with the family and we hope and trust that, wherever he is, his soul will rest in peace.

Hon D. Sibanda having left the microphone on.

  1. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, can you switch off your microphone.

*MR. RUTSVARA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for affording me this opportunity to make my contribution.  I would like to say thank you to Hon. Chitando and Hon. Chebundo for moving this motion.  I have heard a lot of things being said about Hon. S. Moyo.  I worked with Hon. S. Moyo.  I was young but you would find that, despite my age, he would accept my ideas.  I would get advice from him and I would also advise him.  We worked together as Members of Parliament.  One of his children was at a school in Gweru, at Anderson.  Whenever he went to visit, he would call me and we would go together.

He had a lot of interest in thatched buildings and he would go to those places to while up time.  Hon. S. Moyo was a natural teacher and I learnt a lot of things from him.  He was one of those people who encouraged me to be a polyglot or a linguist.  I can now listen and converse Ndebele with understanding because of the good teacher I had.  He also taught me to love my family. I also found that there were some things which were happening in my life such as complaining if a family member asks for school fees.  Through working with the late Hon. Seiso Moyo, I changed my attitude.  I remember at one time when my wife talked about the issue of school fees during the presence of Hon. Seiso Moyo and I said very bad things to her.  Hon. Seiso Moyo controlled my temper.  Because of such contribution, I say Hon. Seiso Moyo, fare thee well.  In my capacity as a member for Gweru urban, I feel I have lost and my people have lost.  We used to share a lot with him; he would come and share developmental issues with me.

My constituency is in the provincial capital of Midlands and we have a very big Government hospital.  When I was elected as a Member of Parliament, the hospital was in a sorry state.  I took Hon. Moyo for a tour of the hospital, the buildings were dilapidated and the mortuary was malfunctioning and the medical equipment was archaic.  He was moved by the state of the hospital and said that we should look for donations for the development of the hospital.  When you go there now, the hospital is looking good, it has been renovated.

He was a man who was very inquisitive about development in Gweru.  We also moved around the industry and saw the dilapidated industrial buildings.  It was his wish that these industries be revived for the benefit of Zimbabwe, the City of Gweru and the Midlands.  With those few words Mr. Speaker, I say Hon. Seiso Moyo, go in peace, rest in peace.  His death is not only a loss to the Moyo family but to Zimbabwe in general.  I thank you.

  1. C.C. SIBANDA:  I would also like to thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Chebundo and the seconder thereof.  I have come here to convey my condolences to the family of Hon. Seiso Moyo and to you

Mr. Speaker since he was a Member of Parliament.

Hon. Seiso Moyo was one of those rare species that you find in politics.  Hon. Seiso Moyo was a very good man.   I met Hon. Seiso

Moyo when I came to Parliament at the Official Opening of the Seventh Parliament of Zimbabwe and we became very close.  There is one thing that I realized from the man; he was very humble and honest.  He was a loving character.  Most of the people that met Hon. Seiso Moyo thought we were related.  To a certain extent, even some people in my Party thought we were of the same political party and yet I come from ZANU (PF) and Seiso Moyo came from MDC-T.  He was a very good friend of mine.  What I liked about him is that, he lived above party politics.  We had different opinions and yet we could live together and share a lot together.

When he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and

Mechanisation, I went to his office.  We discussed a number of issues pertaining to agriculture.  There I saw a man that really wanted to see agriculture in this country growing.  I even suggested to him that why can we not divide the country into different zones so that people ploughg different crops.  He talked about growing potatoes and he said that personally he liked maize meal but his family wanted potatoes and chips.  He was looking at the diversity of agricultural produce, that we cannot put a law to say let us restrict people from growing this or that because there are other needs from the consumers, the growing of potatoes as I have alluded to.

Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon. Seiso Moyo was a man that wanted to see agriculture in this country growing.  He told me about the programme that we had of drought relief in terms of humans and cattle as well.  He said that in Matabeleland there was need to make sure that cattle do not die from droughts and so Government must also provide drought relief for cattle.  That programme was rolled out in most of the areas in Matabeleland last year.  Those who come from there can testify to that effect.  That was coming from non other than Hon. Seiso Moyo.    Hon. Seiso Moyo was a man that wanted to see development in this country.  I started to understand my colleagues from the MDC after I talked to Hon.

Seiso Moyo because we shared a lot.

Mr. Speaker, there was a meeting that we were supposed to hold in Matabeleland where I even promised that I was going to offer a beast for that gathering.  All Members of Parliament from that region were to convey to strategise about the development of the provinces in

Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Bulawayo.  Hon. Seiso Moyo was the coordinator of that meeting.  Sadly, he has left us and now I do not know who is going to do it.  We were looking at the socioeconomic issues of the region and issues on why the region was lagging behind because it had seven years behind the rest of the country in terms of development looking at 1980 – 1987 at the Unity Accord.

Hon. Speaker, I was really saddened by the death of Hon. Seiso Moyo, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Mechanisation.  What made it more painful to me is that I learnt of his death when he was already buried.  It was sad for me, I was in the rural areas and there was no communication.  Surely to me, up to today when we are debating this motion, it is hard to believe that Hon. Seiso Moyo is no more.  Ngithi lala ngokuthula  Hon. Seiso Moyo. I would like to convey my condolences to his family and his Party.

*MR. MAKUYANA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the

opportunity to make my contribution.  I know we are running late but I would like to add a few things on the late Honourable Seiso Moyo.  I had experiences that definitely Hon. Moyo was a good man.  I remember the first time I met him.  He called me by name and I was very much impressed to see that there is somebody who has come all the way from

Bulawayo who knows me by name.  When I was facing problems in Parliament, he was one of the people who always supported and comforted me. He told me that there was going to be some sunshine at the end of the tunnel.

I feel the loss because the Deputy Minister is gone.  He had not yet performed as he had planned because he was so hard working. As soon as he was appointed the Deputy Minister, he moved right round the country familisarising himself with regions in the area.  He is one of the Ministers who was able to work fairly well with his Minister, which is very rare in many ministries, there are always struggles.

The late Seiso Moyo was a good man with good public relations. Whenever he had functions, he was always covered by the press such as the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation.  Besides his political affiliation, they covered him in all his functions because he was a good man.  I lost a friend, the country has lost a friend. I thank you.

+MR. SULULU:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  I also want to thank all the hon. members who have contributed before me about the late honourable Seiso Moyo.  I really want to mourn with others and that the late Hon. Moyo was a hero.  If only God could allow that all those who have left us be able to communicate with us.  I worked with Hon. Seiso Moyo in our Party.  We went to Matabeleland with Hon. Moyo, and would he loved everyone.

Hon. Sibanda said that Hon. Moyo speaks so many languages. He was a master of languages.  I was shocked when I went with him to

Matabeleland South, when he spoke to everyone and I also learnt to speak Venda because of him.  I used to say how are you to him in Venda and he would respond as well.  We used to communicate on our way from Bulawayo.  Most of the hon. members who have spoken before me have said a lot.  One thing that really touched me about Honourable Moyo is that before he left, he called me when I was in my constituency in Silobela and he said that I heard that you went to Pedistock - some have said that he used to work with Pedistock when he assistedspeople in things to do with irrigation.

Mr. Speaker, when he called me, I was shocked that a Deputy Minister called me when I am in my Constituency.  He used to highlight to me that you do not have anything to do with irrigation.  He told me that he was doing groundwork for my Constituency. He is one person who loved our country, Zimbabwe.  He was a national builder.  I heard that most of the hon. members highlighted that, he really put our country

first.

One thing that I loved about him is that every time we faced problems, he could come up with solutions.  He could find solutions for all problems we were experiencing as a Party. To me, he was a brother and a father.  In my Constituency Silobela, I told everyone that there is a Deputy Minister who wants to come.  I promised everyone that next year, 2013, a Deputy Minister would be coming here to teach you about irrigation schemes.  However, he has left us.

Therefore, I say that to our nation, we have lost a hero.  I therefore, say, to wherever he is sleeping, rest in peace.  I thank you.

  1. D. SIBANDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
  2. MAHLANGU: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Tuesday, 7th, May, 2013.

On the motion of MS. D. SIBANDA seconded by MR.

MAHLANGU, the House adjourned at Twenty Six Minutes to Seven o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 7th, May, 2013.

 

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