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SENATE HANSARD 1 MARCH 2023 VOL 32 NO 19
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 1st March, 2023
The Senate met at Half-Past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that Orders of the Day Numbers 1 and 2 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day Number 3 has been disposed of.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR THE 7TH MAY 2022 BY-ELECTION
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 7th May 2022 By-Elections.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my views on the motion by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. It is a very good motion which seeks to unite us as Zimbabweans. Before we commence our campaigns, the President himself should summon leaders of all political parties and tell them very strongly that a country is build by its own people. Sometimes it is as if we only hear that mantra from the media or somewhere but the President himself is always saying we must unite because the citizens are the ones that have a duty of building this country.
The President must summon the leaders of all political parties and emphasise that point. If there are any of them who are deviant, he has the right to disqualify them. That can assist us because people do things deliberately and wantonly whilst the citizens are suffering. The people who die from political violence are citizens of this country. It is very important that the President should tell them face to face and warn them that whoever sends hooligans to attack any party supporters should be disqualified because they have defied the President.
I know that we are there as opposition politicians but let me say when I am here, I listen to what the sitting President says. It must not be continuous chaos. We must listen to the sitting President. He is not talking behind the scenes but openly saying let us unite as citizens and refrain from political violence and intimidation. That must include all candidates. If your candidate is involved in violence, as a leader, you should bar that candidate from contesting. The President must come strongly to enforce that so that we build our country as Zimbabweans. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 2nd March 2023.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to add my views on this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mpofu. I would like to debate on three issues, the first one is on agriculture. Agriculture is very good particularly the Pfumvudza/Intwasa that led to a bumper harvest compared to previous years. I really would like to applaud His Excellency the President, indeed it was a very good programme. I noticed that this year people got their inputs very late. Some of the people got their fertilizer very late; people must receive their inputs in time.
Secondly, cotton farmers last year had very good yields but some of the farmers were not happy because they were expecting money from cotton. Some companies paid cotton farmers using groceries, so Government should intervene because that discouraged farmers. How can they be paid in groceries when they were expecting some cash? This must be looked into.
We have large scale commercial farmers on the way to Chinhoyi, some of them hire tractors and other implements that they pay in US dollars. After harvesting, when they are not taking their crops to Grain Marketing Board, they are paid in local currency instead of US dollars. So, some of them prefer to sell their crops on the parallel market. When they get paid in RTGS, they then are supposed to retrieve or buy US dollars on the parallel market. This also encourages parallel market activities because they are supposed to then buy inputs using US dollars. Farmers must be paid using a currency that is accepted everywhere.
With regards to roads, most roads have dilapidated especially in rural areas. Most roads in the rural areas just need to be upgraded using graders, so we are encouraging the Government to look into that. In the urban areas, it is now difficult to navigate because the roads are severely damaged.
We must unite as Zimbabweans for that progress to be attained. Some of the roads that we see being repaired, we realise that the top layers peel off easily and grass grows on those roads, which means they were poorly done. The road from Shurugwi to Masvingo along Chachacha, you cannot use that road; there are a lot of potholes. As soon as you get to Masvingo sign post, the roads are very good and so you wonder what the difference is. It seems like it is a different country all together. Other areas have very poor roads whilst Masvingo has better roads. So, if they are waiting to tar those roads, they must simply grade them.
With regards to BEAM, I understand more than two million children benefited. That is very good because the disadvantaged children then get access to attend school. There are questions though because in some schools, children access BEAM funds while in other schools, this fund is not offered to the disadvantaged children. What is happening? I think there is corruption or people are engaging in corrupt activities. Some schools get full payments from January to December whilst in other schools, the funds are disbursed may be for just half a year; then the school demands payment from parents.
With regards to mines, although this can be worked upon, mining activities are destroying roads and causing environmental degradation. There are a lot of illegal mining activities that cause a menace to the environment. Mining is also attracting young boys who drop out of school as early as Grade 5 to engage in illegal mining activities. That should be rectified and industries must open so that illegal mining activities may be reduced.
Parents must teach children the goodness of being educated so that they will not rush to drop out of school because they want to find quick money. The other issue is of gold smuggling. Stiffer laws must be imposed on those found with illegal gold. It is very difficult to arrest the perpetrators but measures must be taken. All stakeholders must put more effort in curbing gold smuggling. With those few words, I thank you Mr. Chairman.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Here, there is Temporary President, there is no Chairman. Chairperson is only referred to at Committee Stage. Thank you Hon. Sen. Chisorochengwe, maybe it is because you might not be very conversant in English.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 2nd March, 2023.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Mr. President. I move that Order of the Day, No. 5 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMMES FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the sustainable management of waste.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 2nd March, 2023.
MOTION
PROTECTION OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on measures to combat human trafficking.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 2nd March, 2023.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 145TH ASSEMBLY OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION AND RELATED MEETINGS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the 145th Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union and Related Meetings held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 2nd March, 2023.
MOTION
CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE AND RECRUITMENT OF ECD TEACHERS
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the challenges affecting early child learning.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: I would like to thank Sen. Mabika who brought up this good motion. It is important for children to attain education. I remember as we were growing up, we used to be told that you can only go to school when you are a bit grown up. The measurement would be to touch your ear with your arm across the head. That means you have grown up and the disadvantage is that you have missed a good opportunity of learning some other things that you will find difficult to acquire the skills because of your age now. That disadvantaged the blacks for us to be able to attain and acquire certain skills because of going to school at an older age.
It is very important for a younger child to learn new things according to their level of brain or thinking because they do not have or think about a lot of things that may make them lose focus. They have an almost 90% focus on education as long as they get enough food. That is the right age for them to learn, compared to older people who may be easily distracted by other things.
So since we realised later that education might be attained at an earlier age, we need to support the education system with everything in terms of syllabus. Let us also insure that we panel beat it to their age so that they attain relevant skills that may assist them in the development of the country in future. If you look at other countries, for example when I was in Form 4, I was taught by an expatriate teacher from Romania. He used biology notes from Grade 4 notes from Romania. He used to say those are the books that we are using at O’level in Zimbabwe while in Romania the level was for Grade 4.
I was really disturbed by that. So what it means is that a Grade 4 child in Romania thinks better than me while I was in Form 4. So it is very important because we missed educational growth at our age. So I really implore the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and Government to avail all the necessary resources especially at preschool or ECD. Look at how young children are capable of using IT or cell phones. Even without formal education, they are able to maneuver and navigate their way. That shows that their brains are capable.
I really applaud the motion raised by Sen. Mabika. We really need to support the education of our children because they are the future. A country’s success depends on original thinking because when they grow up, they resort to copy and paste. So early learning should be supported financially. Mr. President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President. I also would like to support the motion brought into this House by Hon. Sen. Mabika on early childhood learning. Indeed, it is very clear that early learning for children, ECD A and ECD B is very important. We used to call it Sub A and Sub B then we would proceed to Standard 1.
I remember during those days when we used to go to school, Mr. President, our level of thinking was very low as compared to the present day child who is in ECD A or B. If you go, you will be told the names of their teacher and they will speak to you in fluent English. They are able to read very well. We used to count from 1 to 10 but today they can count up to 50 or 100 even before they formally start school. So that shows that potential should be tapped into these young children so that they are nurtured. All the folk stories that they are able to recite is amazing. These days they are very focused on education. Recently, I was complaining; a brand new car was written by my grandchild 1, 2, 3, 4. So it is written 8 in front. It is 4+4. They show that level of education.
I am also of the belief that giving them education at a tender age is very important. I remember debating in this House that if an arrested woman with a young child goes to jail, that child does not get access to the exposure that those who are not in prison get. These days they are able to navigate their way on the roads because they get education early. I encourage that education must be enforced and people should be encouraged to take their children early to school. I believe even education on drug abuse should be imparted at such an early age and I believe that will give us a better future generation.
I would like to support the notion that at that early age, children should be taught against abusing drugs because at an early age, they report easily whatever they see or whatever they come across innocently. They can report on whatever they see and after you have taught them that such things are bad, they will come back to report if they see those things. So, indeed that effort should be supported and encouraged. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. C. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mabika for moving this very important motion on challenges faced by early childhood learning. Firstly, I would like to bring our view as Senators in saying ECD pupils have not yet been taken seriously. From where I come from, school infrastructure is not there yet, that is the appropriate infrastructure for these learners. Many ECD classrooms especially may be from Matabeleland Province, most of the classrooms are still under renovation or they are still under pole/dagger and thatch form.
Due to the incessant rains, most of them are falling. In most cases, when children are young, we give them the impression that school is not important because the classrooms that they are using on daily basis are not appropriate for learning purposes. My plea is that those responsible for the education sector should look at it from a psychological view as to how important it is to make sure that we provide good classrooms for these kids. For example, there is a school that is under construction in Nkayi North, Ward 6 at Thobani Village. When I got there, I found villagers cutting down trees so as to provide roof for a particular classroom after the first classroom they were using was damaged. As such, you ask yourself, as a country, as a Ministry responsible for education; are we prepared to see our kids learn appropriately under such conditions?
The second issue, when children are in ECD, between three to seven years, this is where they capture most of the things that are to do with their experiences. This is the time where they are exposed to unfavourable conditions, such as the conditions that they are learning under. Young learners at that particular time need to learn using their mother language which will make them easy to understand certain things. Right now, there are teachers who are facing difficulties speaking to these children because of language barriers. We would like the Government to look at such issues because if you look at the Grade Seven results, which we continue to indicate that they are bad in these particular areas, what is contributing to this is the poor foundation that we put those learners under.
This is a critical issue that we need to look into. Therefore, it is my plea that early childhood learning is taken seriously because it has results as children continue to learn. Even teachers teaching ECDs should not be place holders, where they spend most of their time playing but they should be teachers who are taught to teach ECD learners. This will help us if, as a country, we are indeed serious about seeing good progress from our learners. If you are to look at learners from other countries, you will realise that when they get to their primary schools, they are showing great development but as Zimbabwe, our major challenge is that in most cases, we try to teach our children English, which in most cases is not the language that they use in their homes. When they are taught their mother language from home and when they get to school, they are taught English, it creates problems in children’s minds. Therefore, my plea is that those responsible for education should see to it that what we are doing is giving us the positive results that we are anticipating not to just realise it through the failure of our Grade Seven learners. This is due to the fact that our foundation is very bad.
HON. SEN. MABIKA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 2nd March, 2023.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. MATHUTHU, the Senate adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Three o’clock p.m.