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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 27 JULY 2021 VOL 47 NO 69

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Tuesday, 27^th July, 2021

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

PRAYERS

(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)

TABLING OF REPORTS

FAMILIARISATION TOUR OF SIX BORDER POSTS

                     THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): I rise to give a response by the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development on issues that were raised by the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and

Economic Development’s familiarisation tour of six border posts.  The tours were done in June to July 2019.  So, I lay the report.

THE ZIMBABWE INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

(ZIDA) ANNUAL REPORT

                     THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I seek leave of the House to table the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) Annual Report for 2020.

Section 43 (1) of the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency Act [Chapter 14:37] mandates the Chief Executive Officer to submit to the Minister an annual report on the operations of the agency as soon as possible.  The Act in Section 43 (3) (a) further empowers the Minister to table such a report before Parliament every year.

In line with the aforementioned provisions of our laws, I now lay the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) Annual

Report for 2020 before the august House for consideration.  I thank you.

SPECIAL REPORTS OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE

ZIMBABWE REVENUE AUTHORITY AND THE PEOPLE’S OWN SAVINGS BANK

                     THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): I seek leave of the House to

table the special reports of the Auditor General on the Zimbabwe

Revenue Authority and the People’s Own Savings Bank.  Section 6 (1)

(b) of the Audit Office Act mandates the Auditor General to carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with any Ministry, public entity, local authority, designated corporate body, statutory fund or other body which has used public resources in discharging its functions.

The Act further empowers the Auditor General to appoint a person registered as a public auditor in terms of the Public Accountancy and

Auditor’s Act [Chapter 27:12] to carry out an economy, efficiency and effectiveness audit of the operations or specified operations of a designated statutory body and report the results of the audit to the Auditor General.

Section 12 of the statute requires that any special reports transmitted to an appropriate Minister shall be laid by the appropriate Minister before the National Assembly on one of the seven days on which the national Assembly sits next after he or she has received such a report.

Mr. Speaker, in line with the aforementioned provisions of our laws, I now lay the special reports of the Auditor General on the

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority IT audit, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Forensic Audit and examination of the agency banking relationship between the People’s Own  Savings Bank and the Zimbabwe Posts (Private) Limited before this august House for consideration. I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: I made the following observations; the

first report that you tabled on familiarisation tours to border posts response in 2019.  As a lead Ministry, we expect you to lead by example, to table your reports timeously.

Second observation, which I think was brought to your attention by the relevant Committee is that in terms of the Audit Act, you are supposed to appoint a board to superintend the operations of the Auditor General.  That board is not in place as yet, so if you could be pre emptive and ensure that you start doing something before the Committee gives you such a direction.

HON. NGULUVHE: I rise on a matter of national security

interest.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to, through you, ask the Minister of Home Affairs to give a response to the report which was tabled in this House by the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs.  Despite being written to twice, they have not yet come to respond on the petition of the

Chikunda language to be allowed as an official language.  I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Why have you not summoned the

Minister?

HON. NGULUVHE: Mr. Speaker Sir, through your office, two

letters were written to the Minister, but they have not responded yet.

THE HON. SPEAKER: I am saying why did you not issue

summons against the Minister? That is the power that you have as a Committee. Issue them with summons.

HON. NGULUVHE: I have taken note of your advice Mr.

Speaker Sir.

      HON. MOKONE:  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir I rise

on an issue of national importance.  The cases of corona virus continue to sky rocket nationally and Matabeleland South, particularly Beitbridge Border Post and Gwanda Town are not an exception.  Mr. Speaker Sir, the statistics as of yesterday show that the province is now a hotspot.  In an effort to minimise this, I therefore plead with the Ministry of

Health and Child Care to scale up COVID-19 awareness and vaccination programmes in hotspot areas whilst bearing in mind that the decision to vaccinate is voluntary.  I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Thank you.  Why do you not enhance

your recommendation by way of a question tomorrow, to the Minister of

Health and Child Care so that we can have some conversation with the Hon. Minister? – [HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Zve voluntary tichazvibvisa!] – You what?  I did not hear that. – [HON. MPARIWA:  He is saying that we are going to remove the voluntary component.] – I see.

HON. DR. KHUPE:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a matter of national public importance.  Mr. Speaker Sir, two weeks ago, Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu passed on.  He was a renowned journalist, a freedom fighter and a senior citizen.  Sadly Mr. Speaker Sir, I did not see where he was recognised for the role that he played for the nation and for the communities, particularly of Matabeleland.  I thank you.           THE HON. SPEAKER:  We totally agree with you on the

assessment of the sterling work done by the late Cde. Saul Gwakuba.

Quite often, Honourable, why are you standing up while I am speaking? – [HON. NDUNA:  I am sorry Mr. Speaker Sir.] – He is from Matabeleland South and the leadership from Matabeleland South normally should have spoken by writing to the Executive requesting for the status as a formality but there is no doubt about the contribution of the late Cde. Saul Gwakuba – there is no doubt.  He was one of the pioneers of the liberation struggle.

He was one of the early recruitees who went outside this country to fight for our liberation.  It is a matter that I think you should raise with the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage tomorrow so that we get an explanation on whether a letter was written or not.  If it was written, why was he not recognised?  Thank you.

HON. NDUNA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a matter of national importance as it relates to accommodation and housing.  I seek your guidance Mr. Speaker Sir as it also relates to the alignment of Acts of Parliament to the Constitution.

Mr. Speaker Sir, in the Eighth Parliament, we had the General Laws Amendment Bill that consequentially, when it came to Parliament, aligned 148 pieces of legislation to the Constitution which is the

supreme law of the land.  My point of departure is that one as it relates to your Members of Parliament and the august House.  How do you perceive or guide us in our role in terms of aligning pieces of legislation or Acts of Parliament with the Constitution, aware that our Constitution is open-ended in terms of alignment?  It is different from the Kenyan one which gives timelines.

Mr. Speaker Sir, we have a housing backlog of two million houses and our issue is relating to Section 72 (7) (c) of the Constitution.  If we do not get guidance as to how we can align the Urban Councils Act, for arguments sake, with the Constitution as Parliament without waiting for the Executive to proffer some Bills that are going to reduce that housing backlog according to that Section 72 (7) (c), that speaks to the assertion that the people of Zimbabwe should be enabled to assert their right to land without any payment. Mr. Speaker Sir, if we do not align pieces of legislation with that side of the Constitution, we are going to impede on the reduction of the housing backlog.  How, Mr. Speaker Sir, do you guide Parliament in so far as it relates to us, our conduct in alignment of laws to the Constitution?  I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  In Shona they say, kurova imbwa wakaviga mupinyi.  Thank you Hon. Member, I will explain what I mean by that.  You want to focus on how the Chair or the

Administration of Parliament should help in the alignment of laws.

The Standing Orders are very clear. Standing Order Number. 28 gives power to the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC) to work with the Law Development Commission in amending or aligning the laws and in the process of aligning any piece of legislation, you are therefore also likely to amend that piece of legislation.  To be specific, Standing Order Number 28 (2) (d) guides you and all Members of this House. If you have got any concerns that require the amendment of any piece of legislation or the review of an existing law, you approach the PLC who must work with the Law Development Commission.  It is there in black and white in your Standing Orders.

Secondly, you can move a motion asking the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, in this particular case, to set the process of amending the Urban Councils Act as you so wish and as you so see in your interpretation of the Constitution.  No one is stopped from putting forward a motion in that respect.  So the ball is in your court Hon. Member and in the court of all Hon. Members. Hon. Deputy Minister, I forgot to correct you. The Audit Act speaks of the House of Assembly. It is also your responsibility to amend that piece of legislation because in terms of our Constitution, we have the National Assembly, no more the

House of Assembly.

HON. NDUNA: I want to thank you Mr. Speaker for your guidance.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Usaviga mupinyi, rova imbwa –

[Laughter.] – [HON. NDUNA: Inaudible interjections] –

HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker, with due respect, I did not

intend to rise or contribute to this session of privileges or matter of national interest but it is out of your remarks that I want to say that the issue that you brought up is pertinent. However, I think we also have to ask ourselves; do the Chairpersons and Committees understand their roles? The reason why I say this is Parliament has got a lot of powers but I think that the powers are not used. You, in the Eighth Session when I chaired the Mines and Energy Committee, set precedence that there is no one who cannot account to Parliament. Even the former late President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, with your guidance and that of the Clerk, when the issue came of the diamond inquiry that he spoke about the $15 billion and we wanted to know –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Are you debating now or seeking

clarification on my response?

HON. T. MLISWA: What I am trying to say is that with the powers we have, we seem powerless because I think the Chair has also let us down in terms of the Executive. I spoke to the Chief Whip to say the Speaker spoke about the response to the State of the Nation Address, did you write a letter to the Ministers. He said, yes we did. I said how come last week they were supposed to be here to respond but if I am not mistaken, only one Minister did that. The rest did not. So, we then become powerless because we cannot then do anything. I think Hon. Nduna, the Minister of Local Government and the aspect of devolution funds being disbursed, you know I brought it up from Victoria Falls to here but why are we continuously disbursing devolution funds without the Provincial Councils being in place? The response was supposed to come but it never came.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Member. What is your point

of clarification to my response? Do not start debating general issues.       HON. T. MLISWA: My point of departure here is that the Chair is letting us down and not whipping the Executive in line. We are powerless and can only do so much to the Executive. May the Chair, the Hon. Speaker and Leader of the House, start using the powers bestowed on him to put the Executive in order? We cannot. They will be whipped if these Chairpersons start to bring any Minister to account. You know the rules in terms of Section 129 (1) (k). So because of that, it is only the

Speaker who has the ultimate authority to put everyone in order.

For now we are powerless Mr. Speaker. Tiri vana vari kungotarisawo baba kuti vachaitawo chii kune vamwe vana. It seems some children are favoured more than the others. We just feel that we should fold our hands, watch and wait for the father to do something.

Like me as Hon. Mliswa, I just stand and watch toita kunge tinopenga.

It is my plea Hon. Speaker that you should not treat the Executive with kid gloves. We have now reached our end and may we then start from where we failed.

THE HON. SPEAKER: I was going to say thank you very much

my child but the Hon. Speaker does not have powers. It is the Constitution that we apply and as far as I know, I was not here part of last week but at the time when I left, there were about eight Ministers who were going to respond to the SONA. Am I right Chief Whip – [HON. TOGAREPI: Yes.] – Yes, and many more are going to do so.

Also, response to the reports of Committees, again there is a line up of the Hon. Ministers and Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is one of them. They have started.

I am hoping that all the reports will be responded to after the Clerk of Parliament writes to each and every Minister indicating which Parliamentary Committee report they have to respond  to. So, they are all lined up and the Chief Whip is whipping them to present those reports here. Your concerns are not misdirected, but perhaps it was a question of speed with which the Hon. Ministers needed to respond. You still remain powerful as an institution of Parliament so do not denigrate yourselves and say you have no power. Your power rests with the Constitution and not as an institution alone but the Constitution itself does confer the powers that you confer in Committees – [AN HON. MEMBER: There is no power.] – Who is saying there is no power? If you have no power and you feel powerless, why do you not resign and take up farming?

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Order of the Day, Numbers 1 to 12 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 13 has been disposed

of.

HON. MPARIWA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

REPORT OF THE BILATERAL VISIT TO TURKEY BY THE

SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE, HON. ADV.

J.F.N. MUDENDA AND THE PARLIAMENTARY

DELEGATION OF THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND

INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMITTEE

HON. SHAMU: I move the motion standing in my name that this

House takes note of the Report of the Bilateral Visit by the Speaker of

Parliament of Zimbabwe, Hon. Adv. J.F.N. Mudenda and the

Parliamentary Delegation of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Committee from 3^rd to 11^th July, 2021.

HON. C. MOYO: I second.

HON. SHAMU: Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a report on the very important visit that you, yourself Mr. Speaker led.

        INTRODUCTION

Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, led a Parliamentary delegation on a Bilateral Visit to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from the 3rd to the 11^th of July 2021, at the invitation of his counterpart, Hon. Dr.

Professor Mustafa Şentop, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic Turkey. The visit is part of the Parliament of Zimbabwe’s advancement of the engagement and re-engagement policy aimed at deepening the ties between the two sisterly Legislatures   through

Parliamentary Diplomacy.

Zimbabwe, which seeks to wade into the 4th Industrial Revolution under the mantra, “Zimbabwe is open for business,” looks forward to opening up investment opportunities with the Republic of Turkey through the auspices of Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.  This is part of the many engagements that we seek to make with many countries that are progressive and we want to be part of this exiting rapid transformation and growth journey that Zimbabwe has decided to take.

The Hon. Speaker’s delegation comprised of the following Members and Staff Parliament:-

• Webster Kotiwani Shamu, Member of Parliament and

Chairperson for the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and

International Trade and Chair of the Zimbabwe- Turkey Inter-

Parliamentary Friendship Association;

• Joshua Kurt Sacco; Member of Parliament and Deputy Chair of the Friendship Association;
• Priscilla Moyo; Member of Parliament and Secretary General of the Association;
• Lindiwe Maphosa; Member of Parliament and Treasurer of the Association;
• Charles Moyo; Member of Parliament and Committee

Member of the Association;

• Frank Mike Nyamahowa; Director in the Hon. Speaker’s

Office;

• Martha Mushandinga, Principal Executive Assistant to the

Hon. Speaker;

• Cleophas Gwakwara, Principal External Relations Officer; and
• Robert Sibanda, Staff in Hon. Speaker’s Office.

Hon. Speaker Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, was also accompanied on this visit by the Resident Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Turkey, H.E. Mr. Alfred Mutiwazuka.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I will not go into detail regarding the blow by blow engagement and meetings that took place since I am tabling the comprehensive report for the record.  Added to this Mr. Speaker Sir, each member of our delegation will give their own experience of the observations they made on this groundbreaking journey.

BILATERAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE TWO

PRESIDING OFFICERS AT GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN

ANKARA, REPUBLIC OF TURKEY- HON. DR. PROF. SENTOP

AND HON. ADVOCATE JACOB FRANCIS NZWIDAMILIMO

MUDENDA

Mr. Speaker Sir, the two Honourable Speakers held detailed bilateral discussions at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey where they pledged to deepen relations between the two Legislative Assemblies. Hon. Dr.  Prof. Sentop noted that the opening of

Zimbabwe’s Embassy in Turkey was a landmark event in the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries. He further observed that the number of African Embassies in Turkey has increased from 10 in 2008 to the current 37, clearly indicating the ever-growing ties between Turkey and the African Continent.

The Hon. Speaker Mudenda thanked his counterpart for the warm hospitality extended to his delegation since their arrival in Turkey and pledged Zimbabwe’s desire to learn from the economic development model adopted by the country which rapidly transformed the country from a less developed economy to a highly industrialized one within 20 years.

The Presiding Officers observed that whilst their meeting was a milestone in strengthening bilateral relations, unfortunately the volume of trade between the two countries was very low, hence the need to promote trade and investment opportunities through such high-level visits. They urged the two sides to redouble their efforts towards diversifying the socio-political and economic cooperation between the two countries regardless of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, the following pragmatic recommendations were made towards  strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries:-

In order to achieve the mandate of enhancing both Inter- Parliamentary Cooperation and bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Turkey, there is need for the two institutions to work proactively to ensure that the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Turkey which was signed in October 2018 is ratified by both sides. Furthermore, all other outstanding MOUs and Agreements should also be signed and ratified.

There are vast opportunities for cooperation in various sectors, including Defence and Security sector. Turkey welcomed Zimbabwe’s anticipated participation at the forthcoming IDEF 2021, 15th

International Industry Fair to be held in İstanbul, Turkey from 17 to 20

August 2021.

The Government of Turkey has provided scholarships for

Zimbabwean students to study in Turkey over the years. To date, over 200 students have already graduated. Due to diplomatic bilateral interventions, and here I want to personally thank you Hon. Speaker for your input, the number of students studying in Turkey has been increased from 20 to 65 per annum.

Mr. Speaker Sir, Hon. Dr. Professor Mustafa Şentop accepted Hon.

Speaker Adv. J. Mudenda’s invitation to visit Zimbabwe at a mutually agreeable date this year.  The visit will be preceded by that of the members of the Zimbabwe Turkey Inter-Parliamentary Friendship

Association who are expected to travel to Zimbabwe ahead of the

Turkish Speaker of Parliament.

MEETING OF THE ZIMBABWE-TURKEY

INTERPARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATION LED

BY THE CHAIRPERSONS OF THE ENTITY: HON WEBSTER

KOTIWANI SHAMU AND HON HACI TURAN

The meeting agreed to put in place the modalities for interaction, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to define the scope of mutual cooperation between the two sides. In essence, the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Associations are the mechanisms that contribute to develop relations and cooperation between two

Parliaments. The Zimbabwe-Turkey Friendship Association should be at the forefront in forging close relations and cooperation between the two Parliaments.

The Parliament of Turkey has a robust arrangement whereby a

Member of Parliament is supported by three members of staff who are paid for by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. This arrangement greatly enhances the capacity for research work for the Hon. Members of Parliament. There is a Centre for Research at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey which further augments research work for the Members of Parliament. The two Parliaments can leverage on how the capacity and efficacy of Members of Parliament can be improved in this regard.

There is need for a robust and pragmatic effort to ensure that opportunities for cooperation are enhanced. The areas of mutual interest are outlined below:

There is need to vigorously pursue the commencement of the

Turkish Airlines to service the route to Harare and the Victoria Falls. Added to this, the Government of Zimbabwe has taken proactive measures to vaccinate the entire population of the Victoria Falls and opened the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFSE). Turkey can participate in this bourse, a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (“ZSE”) established to kick start the Offshore Financial Services Centre (OFSC) earmarked for the special economic zone in Victoria Falls City.

The Republic of Turkey should take advantage of this economic zone.

In improving the trade relations between Zimbabwe and Turkey, prompt action is required to assess the status of traction regarding proposed agreements between Zimbabwe and Turkey. More importantly, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a top Turkish construction company, Yapi Merkezi, on collaboration in the rehabilitation and modernisation of Zimbabwe railway infrastructure should be pursued urgently.

Zimbabwe should put in place areas of business cooperation in preparation for the impending Turkish delegations to Zimbabwe. The business opportunities should include areas such as tea and coffee production, construction, agro- business, automotive production, tyre manufacturing industry, irrigation equipment and many others related to the infrastructural development.

Both parties agreed to promote a culture of transparency, honest and forthrightness to achieve economic growth.

Zimbabwe is endowed with natural resources, including mineral wealth, hence the need for both sides to tap into these low- hanging

fruits.

It was impressed upon the meeting that Zimbabwe has a policy that allows investors to take their profits and dividends without constraints from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). Their investments, including repatriation of funds will not be affected since

Turkey is not a signatory to OFAC which is the Office of Foreign Assets Control which administers and enforces economic sanctions programmes primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers.

Zimbabwe should continue leveraging on humanitarian and development aid activities being made by the Republic of Turkey. These activities are done in almost every corner of the continent with the assistance of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, the General Directorate of Turkish Red Crescent and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

The meeting agreed to enhance mutual cooperation between the two Parliaments through taking part in competitive activities such as ball games and other sporting activities.

OUTCOMES ON THE INTERACTION AT ZIMBABWE’S MISSION IN ANKARA

The Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe in the Republic of Turkey was  opened in October 2019 with H.E. Alfred Mutiwazuka as the first resident Ambassador.  From the outset, it is encouraging to note that the infrastructure for the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Turkey to fulfil its mandate of promoting and projecting the country’s economic diplomacy is being adequately financed.

The enthusiastic Embassy team is working hard to represent and project Zimbabwe’s visibility in Turkey through an active website, the dissemination of economic opportunities to both Zimbabwean and Turkish business people and mandatory studies of the Turkish language for all Officers. There is need to bolster the Mission’s trade section in order to fully implement the economic thrust as envisaged by the growing ties between the two countries.  We should therefore continue to support the team in Turkey which is working hard to ensure that investment does come down to Zimbabwe.

If you will allow me, Mr. Speaker Sir, to speak in Shona. When we went to the Embassy we were invited for dinner at the Ambassador’s place of residence.  We were caught by surprise because one of the members of staff’s wife gave birth to a baby on the same day when we were there.  When we asked what they would name the baby, he said the baby is going to be given the name Jacob Mudenda.

When we were there, Hon. Sacco stood up after the discussion then he said Hon. Speaker we were not seeing the name Zvidamilimo before.  We only knew Jacob Francis Mudenda, but in the past year we now see that name, what does it mean?  He then said there is a big story here.  He said that before he was born, his grandfather said the child is supposed to be called Zvidamilimo.  Now we asked what does it mean and he said it means an energetic person who likes to work hard.

Upon registering the name at the Registrar’s Office, the officers there said that this name is very long, may you remove the name.  Just write Jacob Francis Mudenda.  Even at the Catholic Church, the Catholics also said the same thing.  Now his grandfather would come even during his sleep asking where the name is and he finally said that I am going to go and register the name at the Registrar General’s Office.  It had to take us a flight to Turkey for us to know this whole story.  He also went on to explain other issues, but I will not address the issues

here.

Now going back to my report, the Ambassador reiterated the need to ratify the already signed MOU on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The Mission in Ankara needs to facilitate business opportunities in Zimbabwe as expressed by potential investors in construction, rail rehabilitation and fertilizer manufacturing areas.

The following areas were identified as requiring urgent attention:

• The need for improvement in communication between the Mission, Head Office and other relevant ministries, departments and institutions; and the
• Need to ramp up all institutions that are mandated to provide the necessary overtures for business opportunities in Zimbabwe to put across solid proposals for engagement with business people in

Turkey. These entities include the Confederation of Zimbabwe

Industries (CZI), Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency

(ZIDA), ZIMTRADE and the ZNCC.

It was proposed that the:

• Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation signed in October 2018, be ratified to activate the regular engagements between the two countries.
• Concept of Zimbabwean Ambassadors’ Annual Conference be enhanced as a convenient platform for Heads of Missions to table the business opportunities under their domain, share experiences and exchange ideas.
• It was proposed that the diaspora should be harnessed for them to fully participate in the socio- political and economic activities of

Zimbabwe.

• There is need to expedite the establishment of a Government owned Chancery and Residence in Turkey through a land swap arrangement.

It was proposed that privately sponsored students intending to study in the region should be fully resourced to ensure that they are not forced into unethical behaviour due to financial constraints.  The media should be roped in to create this awareness on the dangers of accepting dubious scholarships. There is need to regulate and provide due scrutiny to scholarship offers made in Zimbabwe by private entities.

OUTCOMES ON THE INTERACTION IN THE BURSA

PROVINCE WITH THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR IN

BURSA

During the visit to the City of Bursa, the delegation was received by the Governor Münir Karaloğlu who is the most Senior State official responsible for both National Government and State Affairs in the Province.

The Governor outlined the investment opportunities abound between Turkey and Zimbabwe. In response, the Hon. Speaker Mudenda appreciated the rapid economic growth made by the Republic of Turkey, especially in the thriving automotive and innovative industrial technology sectors.

The Hon. Speaker Mudenda proposed the idea of twinning the City of Bursa with a city in Zimbabwe.

The main advantage of the Turkey’s developmental base is its cosmopolitanism, embracing both Christianity and Islamic faith. This has created a strong foundation for ecumencal development.

The meeting agreed on broadening the scope in students studying in Turkey through embracing many more academic and professional disciplines.

OUTCOMES ON THE MEETING WITH THE ZIMBABWE

–TURKEY BUSINESS COUNCIL

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) signed an Agreement in 2016 to set up the Turkey – CZI Business Council.

During the meeting with the members of the board led by Deputy

Chair, Mr. Hifsi Soydemir, both parties pledged to ensure that the

Business Council becomes an active entity in both countries. The Hon. Speaker, Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda underscored the need for the council to be active in Zimbabwe through facilitating knowledge and technology transfer that should drive industry, development and investment.

The meeting again urged Turkey to take advantage of the African

Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to consolidate investment in Zimbabwe and Africa. The free trade area has the potential market of 1.2 billion people and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of above US$ 3

trillion.

The Hon. Speaker Mudenda assured the Business Council of

Zimbabwe’s commitment to respect property rights as envisaged in the country’s Constitution.

Investment opportunities are plentiful in the provision of housing units in Zimbabwe and the need to capacitate industrial parks that have been established in the country through the Ministry of Higher and

Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development.

There is need to consolidate the proposal to twin and establish a

Memorandum of Understanding between the Necmettin Erbakan

University in Konya and the Chinhoyi University of Technology. The Necmettin University has already embedded this proposal in its 2021 to 2025 Internationalisation Strategy.

Furthermore, there is need to explore the twinning of the City of Chinhoyi with the City of Konya. The meeting concluded by highlighting that the development of a country is anchored on investment in solid partnerships between the public and private sectors.   

RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD

Parliament of Zimbabwe should commence in earnest, the preparations for receiving the delegation from Turkey on a reciprocal bilateral visit during the final quarter of 2021.

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International

Trade to immediately pursue investment opportunities in provinces such as Bursa and Konya and set out the modalities for a twinning arrangements with cities and provinces in Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe- Turkey Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Association to immediately request  the Counsel to Parliament to provide a legal framework for the interface with their Turkish counterparts.

Parliament of Zimbabwe to ensure that the envisaged capacity – building programme between the Portfolio Committee on Foreign

Affairs and International Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and

International Trade includes briefs from all relevant stakeholders such as

ZIDA, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, ZimTrade and the Industrial Development Corporation  (IDC) on the state of play regarding investment opportunities in Zimbabwe. There is an urgent need to table the Report on ZIDA and its operational activities, including the provision of the much needed investment friendly environment.

There is need for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to clearly spell out the modalities through which investors can repatriate their profits by supplying this information to the relevant Portfolio Committees at

Parliament and Zimbabwe Missions abroad.

Zimbabwe to keep a critical eye and participate in Trade Fairs to be held in Turkey. This effort should be reciprocated by the Turkish side. All-stakeholder participation to such Fairs and Missions should be made, roping in legislators in the Portfolio Committees in Foreign Affairs, Higher and Tertiary Education and Industry and Commerce, Government Officials and Business people.

The Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to carry out an exchange programme to appreciate how higher education can contribute to economic development as implemented in Turkey. The same bilateral arrangements should obtain for the Portfolio Committees on Industry and Commerce and the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Above all, Zimbabwe should critically look at the Turkish note – book on the adoption of an economic model based on import substitution which has seen the economy growing  at an annual rate of 5 per cent to achieve a GDP of US$851.10 Billion. This has been achieved through vibrancy in important sectors such as energy, transport and health.

There is need for urgency to tap into the following areas in which Turkey has established a strong footprint: - Automotive Industry,

Energy Sector, Agrofoods Industry, Cotton  and Textiles Industries and Construction, Fertilizer and Chemical Manufacturing Industries as well as the documentation and preservation of cultural heritage sites. Zimbabwe needs to establish a model in the fold of the DEIK (Turkish Business Council) to spearhead business opportunities in the country.

The Zimbabwe Business Council must urgently reciprocate the visit to Zimbabwe by the Turkish Business Council and collect the donations given by the Turkish Business Council. Relevant Portfolio

Committees to participate during the Ambassador’s retreat to ensure that all issues related to investment opportunities are explored and maximised.

Ministry of Tourism to entice Turkish Airlines to service the

Harare and Victoria Falls route, including charter flights.

The Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade should collate books on Zimbabwe, including Zimbabwe literature to be donated to the Turkish Presidential Library through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The Parliament Sports Club to commence preparations for possible matches with their counterparts in promotion of Sport Diplomacy under the ambit of the

Zimbabwe – Turkey Friendship Association.

CONCLUSION

There is increased potential for economic opportunities with Turkey in areas such as tourism, mining, construction, industry and education. Turkey pledges to undertake bilateral trade and economic cooperation on a win-win basis.

Turkey’s development espouses the dignity of hard work and integrity to achieve a rapid economic development. In short, Zimbabwe can leverage its development on Turkey’s model of achieving rapid economic growth through sheer hard work, discipline and patriotic fervour.

The Hon. Professor Mustapha Sentop has accepted Hon. Jacob

Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda’s invitation for a reciprocal visit to Zimbabwe. Members of the Zimbabwe- Turkey Inter-Parliamentary

Friendship Association are expected to travel to Zimbabwe ahead of the Turkish Speaker of Parliament. The landmark reciprocal visit will be a watershed event at the legislative and national level. I thank you.

^(v)HON. PRISCILLA MOYO: I would like to second the motion

tabled by Hon. Shamu on the bilaterial visit to Turkey with the Hon. Speaker. I was privileged to be part of this very significant high level visit to Turkey by your delegation. Just by sight of the development work in Turks, one is bound to feel the edge to replicate this in Zimbabwe. My take is to give a simple but game changing intervention by the Turks to economic development.

The focus is tourism Mr. Speaker Sir. Tourism in Turkey is focused largely on a variety of sea side resorts, the sea. At its height in 2019 Turkey attracted around 51 million foreign tourists. We can leverage to our advantage post COVID-19 to bring home a huge number of tourists to Zimbabwe. The Turks have devised their every bit history to ensure that it becomes part of their heritage, their tombs and historical homes where the Sultans lived. We have our own very deep and pointed historical sites of equal measure and importance. The Great Zimbabwe, the Matopos, the Eastern Highlands, we are home to the mighty Victoria Falls whose splendor is unmatched worldwide.

We just need to think outside the box and bring these low hanging fruits into our basket. Our own Heroes Acre is just to make sure that every tourist gets an appreciation of where our heroes are interred. The intertwining of economic development and cultural blend full of deep agriculture, vast road network and immense construction works is key. The dizzying effect that we are feeling Hon Members, even during this COVID-19 pandemic should be the way to go.

I am referring to the work being done on the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway, for example. This should herald the beginning of greater things to come as we move towards the revamping of our roads to show you how we should go about the work and where we should be in future. We are known for being resilient Mr. Speaker. We are known for hard work, we just need to work towards building the economy and bring it back to its glory days and pushing it harder to the necessary boundary.

We visited the nation’s building as part of the presidential complex. I think the Hon. Chair has mentioned about this building and has ties with other social structures such as the nation’s congress centre and exhibition hall underlying its significance within the complex. The complex maintains its integrity by bringing together official and social venues and creating unity with, not only the architectural and aesthetic harmony of the building; but also the landscape, gardens, courtyards and squares. The library covers 125 000m² and has a sitting capacity of approximately 5.5. The collection comprises two billion printed books and approximately two billion periodicals of 12 500 printed journals.

Hon. Speaker, in our own way, we can leverage on that.

What should we do Hon. Members, our Chairperson Hon. Shamu has put in place 17 or so action points coming out of the bilateral visit.

We need to follow up on these.  Be it tourism; ‘Hon. Minister, where are we on our tourism, be it ZIDA where are we coming from and where are we going with attracting new investments?  Be it technology and innovation, ‘Hon. Prof. Murwira, are you engaging your counterparts in Turkey on how they are doing businesses? Only then can we take advantage of our situation to spur this God given jewel to its Vision 2030 Mr. Speaker Sir.  I thank you for giving me this opportunity to second this very important bilateral visit report.  I thank you.

HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.  May I commend Hon. Shamu for his report seconded by Hon. Priscilla Moyo on the bilateral relationships which were led by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Advocate Mudenda.  I want to zero in on these trips as benchmark for a lot of reasons and from an economic point of view.  However, I am glad that Parliament is being used as that avenue to also augment the economic growth of the country more-so with our role of oversight.

What I would like to see is the implementation aspect which for a very long time has not been done by many ministries that have gone outside.  I am alive to the fact that you led a delegation to Abu Dhabi and that resulted in some good fruits in terms of Qatar coming through and that is the sort of results that we need, save to say Parliament itself, in the role of oversight, must then follow through.

I want to bring you to probably what was the last presentation by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the late Gen. S.B Moyo, to which I had asked a question that - can you list the foreign direct investments which have come into the country and what has become of them?  He did it diligently, explained the figures and the question was for the various portfolio committees to follow through to say in industry, you have got the Chinese factory, for example in

Norton.

I recall that the investment was 50 million. Being a legislator in that constituency; I then went to the Rural District Council because there is a 5% development levy which is paid.  Of the 15 million USD which is the investment and at national status, the amount of money   was 17

000 RTGS. I exercised my role as a legislator to understand where the 5% development levy had gone to.   It was 17 000 RTGS which was approved by the C.E.O of the Chegutu Rural District Council on unknown grounds - he could not explain.  As a result, he was suspended.

So, if we as Parliamentarians do not then follow up in terms of the figures and what has come into the country, we tend to be excited by Memorandum of Agreements yet nothing comes through.  The GDP itself must be able to relate to the foreign direct investment that has come in not on paper but in terms of action itself. I am glad that the portfolio committees involved were Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Industry and Commerce as well.

Like Hon. Shamu has said, we recall a concerted effort from these committees to follow through.  Mr. Speaker, you have been at this several times and today again, I rose to say that we are powerless but you still gave hope and said “but you have got the power in terms of the Constitution”.  What is failing each portfolio committee to follow up on the figures given by the late Hon. Gen. S.B Moyo in terms of the foreign direct investment which had never been done before?  Why is it that these deals are not going through? Is it as a result of corruption, inertia, yet we have headlines on these agreements that we are yet to see a headline in terms of the results?  That is the reason why it is very difficult to marry the inflation going down and interest going down to the lives people are living.  The two do not speak the same; great news is that inflation has gone down but still people are suffering.  How do you reconcile the two? It becomes a question we constantly ask the Minister of Finance that well done for these figures but on the ground it is not reflecting.

The other issue is, I am glad that we are heading to Europe, it is better to deal with the Europeans than the Chinese with the current experience.  To me, we need to be very clear to protect our country and ensure that our people are first class citizens, their welfare is taken care of from a labour perspective to an environmental perspective and with the way things are going right now, we have investors coming in, for example, the Chinese who do not care about the labour conditions, who do not care about the environment.  What will this country be left with at the end of the day?  The Europeans, if it is a way of reengagement from a business point of view, are more honourable than the East and it is important. History tells us and if you look at the transactions that were done with the Europeans, with the British, they stick to their word and they have a way of ensuring that they are able to stand for what they have promised the people. So departing to go to Europe is the way to go as far as I am concerned.

The issues that excited me about your trip were what Hon. Shamu spoke about – energy, transport and health…

HON. TOGAREPI:  On a point of order Hon. Speaker!  Mr.

Speaker, I think, with all due respect to Hon. Mliswa, targeting a specific country is wrong.  If an individual from any country has erred or made a mistake in his doing business with our people, let us talk about that specific person, but singling out a specific country as doing bad business with us is forgetting what some of these countries have done for us which is very bad.  We are all happy here because of what the Chinese have done for us, we have all been vaccinated.  Who gave us the vaccines?  We should not forget these things because of one

Chinese person who may have transgressed or did something wrong.  Let us talk about that specific individual or company but blanket blame will not put us in a good light as a country.  I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER:  I think Hon. Mliswa, you are so

directed.  Let us deal with individual companies rather than the nation or State.

HON. T. MLISWA:  Mr. Speaker Sir, I stand guided.  I will talk about Sunny Yi Feng Pvt. Ltd, the tiles company in Norton and I am grateful for the vaccines that the Chinese brought.  I also hope that it is in return of the good investment that they have received from the country – it is ‘scratch my back and I scratch yours’ and I think that they have gotten more than we have.  If we had done our own resources, we would clearly have our own vaccines here with the resources leaving this country being used properly and so forth but that is debate for another day that I will be moving in terms of the Chinese colonising Africa.  I hope that you will accept it when the time comes Mr. Speaker

Sir, seconded by Hon. Ndebele at the time of it.  Thank you.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to also relate to the issue of benchmarking.  What really does benchmarking mean Mr. Speaker Sir?  We have had portfolio committees visiting various countries, especially the Public

Accounts Committee, for example, going to Kenya and looking at how Hon. Members there are taken care of; how they operate and so forth.  Sadly Mr. Speaker Sir, they seem to have just become holidays because nothing from that benchmarking visit has ever been done yet.  Already in the Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Mpariwa who is here and I think Hon. Dube was here; we have an issue that is before you when they went to Zambia to look at how the Public Accounts Committee was working.  They saw three sub-committees to be effective …

THE HON. SPEAKER:  They saw what?  I beg your pardon.

HON. T. MLISWA:  They realised that the Public Accounts Committee in Zambia has got three sub-committees and we have been, maybe it has not come to your attention.  We have been pushing for those three sub-committees as a result of them going to Zambia and seeing how effective it was, but we have only been allowed two which really does not allow us to achieve what we need to achieve.

What I am trying to say here is that when we go for benchmarking visits, we need to be able to follow and do what is good that makes them successful or else there is aptly no need.  We need to start the process, we might not be there but it is important for us to start the process and learn from what the Turks are doing and so forth.  To me, one of the benchmarking issues that I picked from this debate, from Hon. Shamu’s submission is energy, transport and health.  When I listened to this, I said but that is exactly what the country is about.  There is no point planning on a great economy when we have no energy.  First is energy then infrastructure follows then you have health coming in as a result of energy being able to propel the industry.  So with that, what are we saying in terms of priority?  We need to be a country that is stable, that learns from others how they have done it well and it does not stop us from coming up with a priority list but again reviewing it from time to time.

The issue that we face is, you then come in with such a great idea and I hope that the Ministry of Energy and Power Development seizes on this opportunity and timing is important, gets notes from Hon. Shamu and Hon. Sacco, the Chairperson of the Industry and Commerce Portfolio Committee on what it is about energy.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I am trying to say that we need to just go beyond the call of duty and be able to sit down and strategise and say what did we learn?  Engage the Turkish Embassy here to give us a model of how their energy sector has done well and without us doing that, that trip was a waste of time and a waste of money.

So I am hoping that the various Portfolio Committees will seize on this opportunity immediately – they do not have to be told this by the Speaker.  The fact that we are debating about it, I hope that it is in their ears and when they next meet on the Committee meetings, they then are able to come up with a resolution to say, what can we do and what can we learn?  That does then not stop the Committee on Energy and Power Development from now going to Turkey  for benchmarking and familiarisation to see why their energy is so successful; not only that, the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development  must also follow suite and see why their transport system is excellent?

Hon. Shamu spoke about the discipline.  In that discipline, it is important that there is no country, there is no economy that can grow without discipline at the end of the day.  He said something that was interesting and him being a former journalist, no, no, him being a seasoned journalist in the struggle, he coined it well and said that they were giving way.  They were not stopping, they were giving way but traffic kept on coming and they were giving way as a result of respect.  Right outside your Parliament where there is directive in terms of the signs for people to give way, they do not give way.  It has become the most dangerous point but yet we do not have people respecting that, which is in black and white, yet these people are able to do that.  So it is therefore important for us to do that.

Then finally is health, how can you grow a nation when they are not healthy?  How can you grow an economy when the people are not healthy?  This is important when we talk about health and we then touch on agriculture, tourism and all that. It is only now when you realise that when the white farmers had chalets …

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Order, order, Hon. Member, you have

five minutes to go!

HON. T. MLISWA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker.  When the white farmers had finished their farming season, they would go away and that going away was to go and release stress so that they are healthy for the next season.  Tourism is also one big factor which I did not hear Hon.

Shamu talking about in terms of Turkey.  I saw those beautiful pictures, Mr. Speaker you looked wonderful there and everybody there looked good. I was like, are we in the same National Assembly because you all looked gorgeous. I wish I was there. There was only an independent member missing but next time, please do take me with you because Mr. Speaker Sir, you looked good in a nice suit. I know the Turkish are good at suits. I do not know if you bought that one there but everybody was well dressed. I am sure on your arrival you were given a set of suits each

...

THE HON. SPEAKER: We take that as a joke.

HON. T. MLISWA: Yes, Mr. Speaker. That is also another

industry that the Turkish are known for in terms of the textile. It is a big industry and we have the cotton here. I am hoping that Hon. Sacco is able to get them to invest in the cotton. We can grow and give it to them for a good dollar rather than us being exploited in that regard. We have seen that the cotton situation seems to be improving, though not implemented in terms of the $3, 2 billion which was released to the farmers but they can only keep growing it and we have got these areas.

If the pricing is good, I would want to see an agriculture concern talking to the Turkish to see how best we can help them.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to lastly say that I liked the fact of history that the library has got eighteen lifts. Wow, four million books and I say to myself this is a country which will never lose itself because that is the greatest asset that any country has which is history. To me, we need to follow suit. I was happy to hear that we should as well send our books, Zimbabwean books to that library.  At least what is important in terms of growing the economy Mr. Speaker is that Israel is powerful because of the Jews outside Israel, not the Jews in Israel. If you see it - the Jews outside Israel invest more, so if you are able to also replicate that in all the countries we have an embassy where we are able to put our books.

I also wanted to hear what our own embassy has in terms of the history of this country from an economic point of view. I suppose that is for another day but it is also important because that is the stop, the centre of us finding out more about a country are the embassies. I want to thank you Mr. Speaker for once again leading and indeed your grandfather did prophesy that you are a hardworking man. We give you a lot of problems but we are inspired by what you are doing.

I can see that the trips that you are leading seem to be bearing fruit.

May you just make sure that they are implemented, especially this Parliament because you also do not want Members of Parliament to be known to be travelling. The Speaker is opening the doors for you but you are not then implementing what happens. We will end up being like the other side of the Executive. May we see implementation coming and reports on what has become of that, whether once in three months, quarterly? Reviewing and reporting is critical for us to know that this is where we are as a result of that trip. Thank you Mr. Speaker, I appreciate.

HON. DR. KHUPE: First of all I would like to thank Hon. Shamu, the mover of the motion and Hon. Moyo the seconder. I would also like to thank the Hon. Speaker of Parliament who led this delegation to Turkey. Like Hon. Mliswa said, benchmarking visits are very important and as a Parliament, let us do more of these benchmarking visits but the bottom line is; after these benchmarking visits, what is more critical is for us to come back and implement what we will have learnt from those countries.

Madam Speaker, development is not rocket science. Development is about copying and discovering from other countries. So, as we do these benchmarking visits, we are going to those countries to discover what they did in making sure that they built their strong economies. We are going to those countries to copy from them so that as we come back, we replicate what those countries are doing. I visited Turkey with my son and what I saw there was amazing. The road network is something else. The manufacturing industry more importantly and when I saw their manufacturing industry, I thought of Bulawayo which used to be called Kontuthu Ziyathunqa . 

The reason why Bulawayo was called Kontuthu Zinyathunqa is because industry was operating 24/7. They were producing and exporting. If we look at Cotton Printers, National Blankets were producing blankets and exporting to other countries. GND Shoes, our leather was the best. Merlin Towels, Cold Storage Commission and our beef was number one, first grade beef. You talk of cotton and tobacco, first grade. These are some of the things that we must learn from other countries when we visit those countries.

Like I said, our manufacturing sector used to contribute about 40% towards foreign currency inflows but what is happening right now? We are a supermarket of other countries. I think we must reverse that and we must reverse that through these benchmarking visits because we are going to these other countries and we are envying what they are doing. We are saying you are doing a wonderful job but why do we not come back and do exactly what they are doing, which is exactly what Hon. Mliswa said to say, when we come back let us implement.

We must come back into this House - recommend and we must make sure that those recommendations are followed through to ensure that something is happening. I went to Indonesia with the Speaker, I think it was in 2015. When we got there they said we have been talking to you to say we want your beef because your beef is first grade but up to now nothing has come out. The Minister then was Minister Made of Agriculture, can you imagine. But up to now, Zimbabwe is not exporting beef to Indonesia yet they are waiting for our beef. Why are we not doing that? We have got plenty of cattle or cows, why are we not exporting?

The reason why I stood up is to emphasise the point of implementing what we see in other countries. It is for us to make sure that we implement what we discover from other countries. Last week we were talking about our mineral resources which are God-given. Why do we not learn from other countries? The Speaker visited Dubai and I said last week that Dubai used to be a desert but look at where Dubai is. This is what we are supposed to be learning from other countries to say this place was a desert but look at where they are. Botswana, our neighbour used to be a desert. I remember the Minister of Foreign Affairs then who is now the Speaker of Parliament saying I first drank a coke in  Zimbabwe when we were still a desert but look at where we are right now and look at where you are right now.

Madam Speaker, Zimbabwe used to be the envy of the whole world. Everybody was looking upon Zimbabwe. Let us get Zimbabwe back to where it was and we can only do that by implementing what we learn from all these visits. I would like to conclude by saying, let us do more of these benchmarking visits as a Parliament but the bottom line is - let us come back and replicate what we will have seen. Let us come back and implement what we will have seen from other countries, that is the only way we can develop as a country and Zimbabwe can become that breadbasket of Africa once more. That is the only way Zimbabwe can become that jewel of Africa once more. I thank you.

HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, it was until I heard your

voice that I realised it was you. I did not realise that beautiful hairstyle on you. It is only your voice that made me realise it is you. Oh, that is a beautiful hairstyle Madam Speaker. It is only the voice that made me recognise you.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. T. Mliswa.

HON. DR. MASHAKADA: Thank you Madam Speaker for this

opportunity. I also rise to support this motion on the report of the visit to Turkey by a delegation led by our Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Adv. J. Mudenda.  I want to first start by thanking Hon. Shamu for ably presenting the report. He gave us a very vivid picture of the visit to this important country and I also want to thank Hon. Priscilla Moyo for seconding the motion.

Madam Speaker, what this report paints to us in this august House is the growing importance of economic diplomacy, the growing importance of foreign economic relations between and among countries. What this delegation has done is afurther step in the engagement and reengagement effort of the country. We must commend the delegation that went to Turkey for upping the game of engagement and re-engagement.  What this visit also demonstrates Madam Speaker, is the importance of how we target our embassies.  Some embassies are not necessary. I think Zimbabwe must look at the geo-political strategic significance of each country before we open embassies.  Turkey is one of the countries where a good decision was made to open an embassy because Turkey is an influential global player.  If you look at the location of Turkey, it is strategically located in the Middle East. All the gas that comes from Russia to Europe is supplied through Turkey.  Turkey hosts all the pipelines of gas from Russia to Europe and Turkey is also close to the

Mediterranean Sea. So it is a very vital country in that region. Under His Excellency the President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has managed to leapfrog from being a poor country to a highly developed country as we talk today.

Madam Speaker, 20 years ago, Turkey was just like Zimbabwe and 20 years ago is not quite a long time back but look at the leapfrogging and the development that Turkey has made in just 20 years.  It is a country which we can do business with, it is a country that we can trade with and a country which can invest in Zimbabwe and lead us somewhere.  The GDP of Turkey is about almost 800 billion. It is approximating a trillion now and their per-capita income is 32 000 dollars per person.  It is a country which we can copy from in terms of investment and trade.  When I look at opportunities of investment that we can lure Turkey into Zimbabwe for doing business, I have got the transport sector which Hon. T. Mliswa has already highlighted.  In my case, I see vast opportunities in partnership between Turkish Airlines and Air Zimbabwe.  Among one of the best airlines in the world is the Turkish Airline.  I was privileged to take a flight in the Turkish Airline; you cannot compare it with any other airline.  It is in the same league with Lufthansa, Emirates and even Qatar.  It is a well sought after airline and it has got more connectivity to global routes.

Since Air Zimbabwe is struggling, let us partner the Turkish

Airlines like other airlines have done. If you look at the Kenyan Airways, they have partnered with KLM, Netherlands; they have got a vibrant partnership with the Kenyan Airlines.  So, Air Zimbabwe can also partner the Turkish Airline and grow our airline business, an opportunity which we can run with in terms of investment relations.

The other sector is infrastructure and especially construction. Turkey is famous for very good construction companies on construction of projects.  Where you partner a Turkish company into construction, you realise that your infrastructure will last for a long period. If you look at Senegal, just as a good example in Africa, people might underestimate the capabilities of Turkey in construction.  If you have happened to visit Dakar, they have built a new airport and it is one of the best in Africa that was built by Turkey and a highway linking Dakar airport to the city centre is a modern highway built by Turkey.  If you look at that infrastructure, it is solid; it is the best so to speak.  So, Turkey is very good in infrastructural projects. It can build hotels, dams, roads and other important infrastructures.  So, let us open our infrastructural sector to the Turkish companies so that we can have long lasting infrastructural development projects.

The third area is of course clothing and textiles which goes without saying.  Our business people especially women, cross border traders have been making various trips to Ankara to buy clothes, suits and all sorts of textiles to sell in this country and they have got quality garments and quality textiles. So, we can actually copy that and build our supply chain.  We have got the cotton sector as I have heard somebody talking about. We can strengthen our supply chains and revitalise our clothing and textile industries, if we do trade and cooperation with Turkey.

The other area is of course the defence and security industries.

Turkey is a highly developed country in terms of military capability.

Where Turkey lies, it is surrounded by very strong belligerent countries. There is Syria on its border, there is Iran, and these are countries that are ever fighting.  Of late, Turkey is now almost a super power in that region in terms of its military equipment.  Our Zimbabwe National Army can get help through training or even through acquisition of equipment to modernise our army and its equipment and Turkey can be a very important partner.

By the way, when we talk of economic diplomacy, we neither look East, West, North or South.  Let us take care of our permanent interest as a country and I think in the geo-politics of the Middle- East, Turkey is one such country that we can cooperate with in terms of trade, investment and economic cooperation. Having said that, it is one thing to lure Turkish investors and another to make sure that we are ready as a country to do business with Turkey.  I think we are not ready to do business as a country and we are not ready to seize the opportunities that

Turkey can provide.  Remember, Turkey is not just looking at

Zimbabwe alone, it is looking at Zambia, Malawi, it is looking at Mozambique and South Africa, but what is our attraction as a country in terms of receiving investment?  Our ease of doing business still leaves a lot to be desired.  Investors are complaining that it is still taking three months to get an investment licence.  We talk of one-stop-shop investment but that is just talk.  We are not acting.  Dr. Khupe has said we must implement what we talk.  It is still difficult for investors to set up shop in Zimbabwe, let alone to repatriate profits.  Our dividend policy is too cumbersome, our capital regulations are still difficult and our taxation regime is still difficult.  If an investor comes, he has got problems with electricity, water and so on.  So we must improve our ease of doing business and make sure that our regulatory environment is investor friendly so that when we invite the Turkish investors, we are ready to actually do business with them.

So I thought this report was very fantastic and I should also support it.  Thank you Zimbabwean delegation led by the Speaker and thank you Hon. Shamu and Hon. Moyo for moving the motion.  I thank you.

         HON. TOGAREPI:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  I also want to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Shamu, the seconder Hon. Moyo and the delegation that went to Turkey on this very important visit.

When you look at it initially, it looked like it was just Parliament visiting another Parliament, looking at its procedures and looking at how Parliament operates, but I saw it turned into looking at real issues that affect the two countries that build the economies of both Turkey and Zimbabwe, their relationship that dates back even to the liberation struggle.  Turkey was one of the first countries to cut its relations with the former Rhodesian Government in order to enforce majority rule.  So Turkey has always been our friend for a long time and it supported us when we needed it most.

Turkey, from my point of view, is a very good example of a country that was a disadvantaged nation which has developed and grown rapidly to become an economic power where Zimbabwe can also copy and work with such a country as a partner to develop its infrastructure, develop its economy to revive some of the infrastructure that we used to have either by retooling some of the manufacturing industries that we already have because if you look at Turkey, if you ask Zimbabweans today, they will tell you that they know Turkey more so around the suits, clothing that comes from Turkey.  Many of our women and other business people go to Turkey to buy clothing that they will come and sell here.  It is known here, but Turkey like Zimbabwe, did not have

such types of industry.  So maybe Turkey has overtaken some in the international community because they have modernised how they are producing to make their clothing very cheap and attractive to markets which we can also copy and maybe bring in new investment in the production of clothing.  So to me, Turkey is a very good example of a yardstick that we can follow and develop our country.

I would like to thank this delegation.  They went there as

Parliamentarians and to me, it is like the people of Zimbabwe went there to see how the Turkish people and the society is developing.  The Members of Parliament who went there are representatives of the people of Zimbabwe.  So it is like the people of Zimbabwe went to Turkey in my view and so what they are bringing back and their recommendations to Government and other interested parties it is like the people of Zimbabwe went there and they are now saying what we saw in Turkey is very critical for our country, can you take that and implement it in our own economy, in our day to day activities so that we further develop our people.

From my observation, one thing that we also see when we talk about economic development of Zimbabwe, for 20 years, some may say Turkey was an in a disadvantaged position but in 10 years, they have changed this position.  They have developed very fast.  So for 10 years, we can see fortunes changing and those who have an economic eye will tell you that we are moving very fast as a country in terms of economic development.  If we can keep that momentum, if we can keep such relations with people like the Turkish and other economies that are developing very fast who have also developed their economies from this disadvantaged position, we can be somewhere.  We can talk of the Chinese.  They were not that good.  If you look at 1980, I am told we were even better than them in terms of standard of living, in terms of infrastructure and so forth, but they were so focused in saying after a certain period, we have to achieve so much and when you ask the Chinese, they have always reached their targets because they were so focused.

So with what we have learned in Turkey from the report that we received here today it is possible that if we are focused as a people, if we follow our economic development blueprints as we craft them, we can still achieve everything that Turkey has achieved.  There is no difficulty in achieving this. What is only needed is to be focused to lead us in following our own blueprint and for me, Zimbabwe is moving very fast I would like to say.  If you see the infrastructure that is developing, yes, it is not being developed by people like Turkey or any other country outside.  It is developed by our own people.  We are living within our means and for me if that is all going to support our economic development, I see us in 20 years in a better position. The best thing that we are doing now is to create such relations with countries that have already made it from the same conditions or  same position that we have as a country and now we have made headway in development.

I would like to thank the Speaker and his delegation that they went there to discuss on a bilateral Parliamentary relationship but they also needed other things which in my view helped them understand how the Turkish were running their situation.  They wrote it in the report and I think the Minister of Industry and Commerce here in Zimbabwe and the

Minister of Finance and Economic Development should also look at that report and take a leaf out of what the Turkish have done to improve their situation.

Madam Speaker, countries like Turkey have the same challenges that we have.  Like what my colleague said, Turkey is surrounded by very hostile countries.  There are fundamentalists there and they always fight.  They are also involved in the fight that was going on in Syria today, but what is critical in such circumstances is that you have to keep your eye on the ball.  The issue for Zimbabwe is economic development.  We already have a strategy for 2030 which is to increase the incomes of our people.  When we get to 2030, we aim as a country to go to middle income.  I think that is fantastic and if you look at the economic development of countries like Turkey, Asia, Malaysia and the Chinese, Singapore and so forth - it was all built on such types of strategies.  I think what our government is doing today is following the footsteps of such countries.

So, I would recommend that MPs, including this delegation go to many other countries and see what those people are doing and then come with the same report and share it with the people of Zimbabwe and government so that we all borrow from what other others are doing and then we move forward to achieve our dreams.  Our dream is to see economic development in Zimbabwe. We do not have to reinvent the wheel but we move forward and achieve our dreams.  Our dream is to see economic development in Zimbabwe.  We can only get there by seeing what others are doing.

We cannot start inventing the computer but we just buy the computer and start using it.  So economic development is possible and with the effort by our government and effort of all the people of Zimbabwe because the other issue is where you see people of Zimbabwe having a culture of waiting and seeing or just observing other people doing something, every person has to contribute to production.  When you go to Turkey, Malaysia or China everyone is busy working.

So if you are in the farming industry, are you really producing?  If you are in any factory like the transport industry and you have been given the responsibility to do something or if in Parliament, do you come and represent the people that sent you here?  Are you doing something or debating and coming up with motions in Parliament that will trigger activities in Ministries?  If everyone is doing something that is positive, then we will be able to develop our country.

If we still have people who complain and do not want to see Zimbabwe prosper but always see bad things and do not want to contribute to production, who is going to produce for you?  Let everyone have a culture of wanting to develop our country.  We have a clear vision pronounced by His Excellency for 2030.  How many of us are participating in that vision and are contributing to the said vision or some will wait to see whether this vision will be achieved.  If you do not participate, it means you are pulling everyone down because we are going to be producing to feed you.

Madam Speaker Ma’am, this is a critical report that needs to be looked at.  I hope our Ministers will look at this report and any other visits of this nature can also be presented in the same manner this report has been presented so that we can take what we can use to develop our country. I thank you.

^(v)HON. R. R. NYATHI: Please allow me to add my voice to the motion that was moved by Hon. Shamu and seconded by Hon. P Moyo.

Basically we were looking at the bilateral agreement with Turkey.   I have learnt a lot of things from that report.  Firstly, I learnt that every report that comes to Parliament is asking us as Parliamentarians what we are doing after hearing the report.  In the discourse or discharge of the duties, what is it that people are doing correct or wrong?  I was very impressed and I want to note some key points that were of interest to me from the report.  Hon. Shamu talked about the welfare of MPs.  Mps are given three support staff that are paid by Parliament.  This makes the work of an MP much easier.  I do understand we cannot compare ourselves with Turkey because of our economic situation.

One Hon. Member has already said that if we look at us 20 years ago we were better than we are now.  So, the question is why is it that we are not the best?  We may talk about sanctions and other challenges but Turkey is also engulfed in a lot of challenges but people there are resilient.  They said to themselves by the end of this year we must achieve this and that.  They are so focused so much that if their

Ministers do not achieve their goals, either they resign or they are fired.

This is what is lacking in Zimbabwe.  We have got people who are sitting in offices and they are getting paid yet they are not doing anything to improve our economy.

Hon. Shamu also spoke about MPs being given some researchers which is very important because when MPs come to Parliament they do not understand how certain things are done but the researcher adds value to Parliament and the country.  Their debates are constructive so much that when we send our people out there, we are sending them to go and learn then come and implement what will have been learnt.  I have been listening to Hon. Mliswa several times.  He has been complaining about the welfare of MPs and at first when I heard him talking wondered what he was talking about but I have also seen that there is somehow a natural lacking of some kind.  There are MPs that get into Parliament and they walk out of Parliament without receiving the relevant benefits that are accorded to them by Parliament.

I want to give an example – I bought a Toyota land cruiser from

Faramatsi using the finances that I got from Parliament.  Its value was $341000 and it was supposed to come with some accessories like the bull bar etcetera, they cannot provide such things.  Anytime my car bumps into another car I need the car but then I need to come to Parliament to make follow up.  There is nobody at work following up and service providers are always complaining of non payment.  Surely priority must be given to payments so people are able to perform their duty well.  Hon Speaker Ma’am, I want to challenge MPs,  I want to challenge every Portfolio Committees that as we listen to this report, we must be able to say in my Portfolio Committee, what is it that we can take away from this report that I can feed in to my Portfolio Committee? As I improve the Portfolio Committee, I must also improve the necessary Ministry and I am helping the Ministry to achieve and realise their key result area. As a result, when we talk about the economy, we are now saying in this very report that we have gotten from Turkey, if all our Portfolio Committees were able to siphon something from it, it means by the end of year, we will have a great improvement in terms of our economy and implementation of our development strategy.          In terms of the mandate that we were given in our own constituencies to represent our people, eventually we get a broader picture that we will also be representing the nation when we come to Parliament. It means that we must be able to grow our economy and

GDP and also be able to have a favourable balance of payment. Why am I saying so? When the Hon Speaker had a delegation to Turkey, what it meant was that what can we market to Turkey and what can Turkey also market to our country. When we are able to give out more things than what they can get, it means that we will have a favourable balance of payment which is what we are supposed to siphon on every report that is supposed to come to Parliament. Our biggest problem why our economy is not growing is that Zimbabwe is full of educated people. We take a lot of time planning and yet our control systems are very poor. I think this is why we must develop a strategy in Zimbabwe so that whatever we put to plan, we achieve.

As I was looking at Turkey, I also realised that Turkey is a country which can also offer something that is very unique. I realised that they are very specialised in hair transplant or surgery. If one is bald-headed and feels that he is no longer looking handsome, you can go to Turkey and they can do an operation and you can be able to have your hair growing again.

May I conclude Madam Speaker by saying that I want to thank our Speaker Hon Mudenda for taking our parliamentarians to Turkey and I also want to thank Hon Shamu for a very good presentation that he has given to us, which is an eye opener to individuals in Parliament and also as Portfolio Committees as to how we should implement what we have learnt from this report in order to grow the economy of Zimbabwe. I thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to air my views on this very important motion that has been raised by Hon Shamu.

HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity of speaking to the report that has been presented by Hon Shamu and seconded by Hon Moyo. Let me begin by thanking the Speaker, Hon. Mudenda for leading the delegation to Turkey. I was just laughing and I said oh, that delegation lacked some of the Chief Whips. Unfortunately, you are not the one who is now in the Chair, I could have said it when he was there. I think it could have actually enriched the delegation. In future, we need to consider your Chief Whips as part of the delegations because we matter too. Madam Speaker, that was on a lighter note.

When Hon. Shamu presented, he mentioned about personnel or staffers that are attached to Members of Parliament in Turkey and I looked for similarities in terms of our own Parliament here. For one to be effective, efficient and to be visible because you end up being called a missing Member of Parliament if you do not have adequate staff or resources around you. The issue of having offices for Members of Parliament is key because you cannot have personnel which is not located anywhere.  An address for a Member of Parliament does not have to be Parliament of Zimbabwe but in the constituencies where you represent the people so that when you do constituency clinic, you are visible enough and people know where to access their Member of

Parliament.

When you have personnel in an office, those people receive issues like seeking guidance from the Member of Parliament, be it legal or acquisition of birth certificates. I happen to be a Member of Parliament for a constituency that had members of the community who could not access birth certificates and national identity cards easily because they were from Mozambique or Malawi. So, without personnel or a residential address where one has to be accessed not necessarily your personal house does not paint a good picture.  There should be a place where Parliament is responsible in terms of the rates and electricity with proper equipment, where members of the community can also access the ICT and WiFi so that the Members of Parliament are not punished for offences that they have not committed. What do I mean, kungonzi havaonekwi hativazive kwavanowanikwa. The rate of turnover will continue to increase because the community will not be satisfied by the performance of their own Member of Parliament, not because they are lazy but because Parliament is not playing its own part. I thought that is very important Madam Speaker.

Secondly, conditions of service for Members of Parliament need to be improved so that they also perform. I saw the picture of Members of Parliament from Turkey, they were shining and happy. We could shine around you only when our conditions of service are improved. You cannot improve our conditions of service without even touching the staffers that are around you in Parliament because human resources play a key role in terms of improving the performance of another human being. I thought I should actually point on that because leaving when a benchmark visit has reflected on it and made a recommendation would actually be a missing link.

Ministers responsible in terms of the delegation that went to Turkey, need also to respond in terms of what was observed, what are the missing links and what can we implement so that we improve because I believe that I am one of the most travelled chairpersons of Committees during my tenure as a Chairperson, I went to Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.  The non-implementation has been adequately covered by Hon. Mliswa and others.  I think it is disappointing because the work of the Members of Parliament, like you said in the points of privileges, let us not term this House as a talk show. I think we need to implement whatever has been recommended.

I want to thank Hon. Shamu for this report, I had not intended to contribute but I found it that I do not touch on what touches my heart in my other life; I would not have done justice to this particular report.  So, I hope and trust that we will be able to adopt the recommendations and for Ministers to respond to the recommendations and implement.  I thank you

*HON. DUTIRO: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me the opportunity to contribute to this report which was presented by Hon. Shamu regarding their visit to Turkey led by the Hon. Speaker, in their quest to cement the relationship between Zimbabwe and Turkey.

Let me start by appreciating the fact that they did a good thing in engaging countries which view Zimbabwe positively. These are countries which are different from those countries that do not want to work with Zimbabwe like our erstwhile western countries.   In view of that, such trips like the Turkey trip should be replicated in other countries in our quest to build bilateral relations which will culminate in foreign direct investments coming from different nations for posterity.

I would also like to highlight the fact that we heard Hon. Shamu during the presentation of his report mentioning that after deliberations, the delegation went to the Ambassador’s house where they had Sadza and chicken.  In our culture, chickens are not just slaughtered for everyone but for important guests in the traditional set up.  This implies that the delegation gave a comprehensive report to the Ambassador meaning that the rest was left in the Ambassador’s hands.

Furthermore, every Embassy should be given the task to engage in bilateral discussions whilst at the same time being empowered with resources so that they can discharge their duties with fortitude.  This is meant to instill confidence in foreign investors who are interested in investing in Zimbabwe.  Every Embassy should be given a target and key result areas which should be achieved within reasonable time lines.

The biggest challenge in Zimbabwe is technology.  What can we do as a nation to address technological challenges?  Who can bring technology into the country? There are two possibilities.  We heard that there are a lot of books in Turkey; we have a lot of Zimbabweans who resides in Turkey and in other countries in the diaspora.  We have Zimbabweans who are based in the Diaspora but who benefited from the education system of Zimbabwe.  Now, they are educating their own children in foreign countries.  Therefore, we want Government to engage Zimbabweans in the Diaspora so that they can come and invest back home and bring different technological innovations into the

country because we have enough cotton in the country.  What we lack is the technical know-how and the machinery for different manufacturing

projects.

The most important thing is the local banking sector.  Because of the new dispensation, the international community is now gaining confidence in our banking sector which will culminate in foreign direct investment in different projects in the country.  If possible, Government should not close embassies of countries which see Zimbabwe in positive light.  I thank you.

^(v)HON. L. MAPHOSA:  Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute and add my voice to the report that was presented by Hon. Shamu who is also our Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, seconded by Hon. Moyo.  Having been part of the delegation, I will try to pick on some of the things that were left out though a lot has been said Madam Speaker Ma’am.  Of note, I would like to just say that it was an experience for me as a young parliamentarian and as a first timer to have joined the Speaker of

Parliament Hon. Adv. Jacob F. N. Mudenda and the delegation that went to Turkey.  Of interest also was the fact that I turned 40 years on 4^th July and that happened when I was travelling to Turkey.  The interesting part was that the Hon. Speaker led the delegation in singing a ‘happy birthday’ for me.  So for that, it will remain a very important aspect and treasure that I will take.

Hon. Speaker Ma’am, let me go to the issues that have not been touched on especially the issue of expectation.  The portfolio Chairperson, as Hon. Mliswa has rightfully said, it is upon us that we pre conceive and speak to our committees and make sure that we drive on those to make our relations with Turkey a success.

As the Chairperson of Higher Education, I took the time to make inroads on my Committee and that of our counterparts in Turkey.  As you have already heard that we had only 20 students that were being given scholarships by the Turkish Government.  After our resident

Ambassador was assigned to Turkey, we had 35 more students annually.  For us it has raised a point that the Turkish Government actually spoke about how they would want more students coming to Turkey to study in various programmes.

As a Committee we saw it fit that before that can happen, we must have an exchange programme to go and see how Turkey has managed to let their education fit into the economic growth of Turkey.  We also took it upon ourselves that we will have to go with parastatals like ZIMCHE so that they ascertain the quality of education that is being offered by Turkey.

Also of note was the issue that was raised by the Ambassador, that  prospective students see advertisements where it will be stated that, we will be offering accommodation and everything else and when parents then send their children, there is something else.  It was highlighted mostly in Cyprus which is near Turkey where we have about 27 students being arrested there for various crimes ranging from drug trafficking and prostitution.  So Madame Speaker Ma’am, who would take these scholarships at face value to please first go through the right authorities to ascertain that these scholarships are indeed authentic because we have our children going to be even sex slaves because of these scholarships.

Madam Speaker Ma’am, a lot has been said but allow me to talk about the state of our embassies and Ambassadors.  I have been a member of the Foreign Affairs Portfolio Committee since the inception of this Ninth Parliament.  We have always heard Ambassadors and foreign diplomats lamenting on their way of life and remuneration having taken time to reach them.  Let me applaud our Minister of Finance and

Economic Development and our Government that when we got to Turkey this time around, the Ambassador was in good spirits and thanked the Committee for the efforts that it put because currently they are fully paid and everything is in order.  I would also want to thank our former Chairperson for pushing this to come to pass.  I remember in Bulawayo during the Post Budget Seminar, he actually had to post pictures of one Ambassador in tattered shoes with a car that looked more of a scrapper.  So I would want to thank our Hon. Minister for a job well done.

Madam Speaker Ma’am, I would also want to talk about the

MOUs that have to be signed and ratified and domesticated.  It is very important for us to go through these and make sure that the relevant authorities start working with Turkey through the signing, ratification and domestication of these MOUs.  Madam Speaker, of note and of importance to me, was how the Turks looked at us as Africans and more so as Zimbabweans.  They did not look at us as second class citizens but looked at us as a continent or as a country that can give something in return to what they would be offering.  For me, that was a very important point that I took home that even when we start talking about business, exchange programmes or mining, they know that they are approaching a Government that has a people with their own thinking and way of doing things.  I really like that because some countries think that when they are developed, the other countries are underdogs or have to beg for anything that they have to be given, but in this instance Hon.

Speaker Ma’am, it will be two countries at par discussing on how they can further the relationships and engagements going forward.

Madam Speaker Ma’am, I will not go into a lot of things because they have been said, save to say that I was surprised when Hon. Mliswa did not show his excitement and enthusiasm about the Sports Club having been given a leaf to say let us do sports diplomacy where we have to exchange visits and do our sporting activities.  Turkey is a free country where sport is also taken as more important as economic issues and as a Parliament queen who plays netball, I cannot wait for the Zimbabwean parliamentary teams – both netball and soccer to go and showcase what we are made of.

Lastly Madam Speaker Ma’am, I would want to talk about the

COVID-19 and vaccination issues.  Turkey is one of the countries

Madam Speaker Ma’am that has scaled its vaccination programmes; almost half of its population has been vaccinated.  This allows for activities to return to normal.  We saw people socialising as normal as you can think, we saw birthday parties being held, weddings being conducted  because at least a quarter or herd of immunity would have been reached.  So I urge our people of Zimbabwe to take the vaccination, the effort that is being done by Government on the vaccination issue to make sure that a lot of people are vaccinated, thereby encouraging the opening of things and we return to normal.

Having said that Hon. Speaker Ma’am, I rest my case.

^(v)HON. DR. LABODE:  Hon. Shamu has already debated!

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  He is adjourning the debate

Hon. Labode.  Remember we have to adjourn by Five o’clock p.m. –

[^(v)HON. DR. LABODE:  Madam Speaker, sorry!] -

HON. SHAMU:  Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this

opportunity to thank Members of Parliament for their contributions.

May I, on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament of Zimbabwe, Hon. Adv. Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda was the leader of our delegation and indeed members of the parliamentary delegation who accompanied him and I take this opportunity to thank all Members of Parliament who have given their contributions which I have no doubt …

^(v)HON. S. BANDA:  On a point of order Madam Speaker Ma’am.  Thank you so much, is Hon. Shamu closing the debate or not even the seconder Hon. Charles Moyo has not debated?  We also want to debate, so I hope that he is just adjourning to another day instead of winding up.

I thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible

interjections.] – The seconder Hon. Charles Moyo has not debated, so that would be odd.  He was online and raised his hand to debate – he has not debated.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Banda, the seconder of

the motion was given time to second but he did not show up.  Hon. Shamu has every right to windup the motion so we are giving him a chance to do so.  Hon. Shamu, you may proceed. 

         HON. SHAMU:  Thank you Madam Speaker, like I was saying, I would like to thank Hon. Members for their very wise and well thought out contributions that have indeed added value to this motion on the Bilateral Visit to Turkey.  I hope Madam Speaker that we will take the suggestions made and ensure that our Portfolio Committee will contribute to the various ministries that have a role to play within the context of this report in terms of ensuring that the matrix for implementation are indeed realised.

Madam Speaker, may I now move for the adoption of this report.  I thank you.

Motion with leave, adopted.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE  

HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the rest of the Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 27 has been disposed of.

HON. MPARIWA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

REPEAL OF THE VAGRANCY ACT [CHAPTER 10: 25]  Twenty-seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to repeal the Vagrancy Act.

Question again proposed.

HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.

HON. MPARIWA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Wednesday, 28^th July, 2021

On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON.

MPARIWA, the House adjourned at Eight Minutes past Five o’clock p.m.