• Version
• Download 52
• File Size 239 KB
• File Count 1
• Create Date October 13, 2013
• Last Updated November 13, 2021

SENATE HANSARD 15 OCTOBER 2013 VOL. 23 NO. 11

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Tuesday, 15^th October 2013

The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m

PRAYERS

(MADAM PRESIDENT in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY MADAM PRESIDENT

INVITATION TO A CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN AND

ENVIRONMENTAL DAY

     MADAM PRESIDENT:  I wish to inform hon. senators that the

Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa and Proudly

Zimbabwean Foundation are inviting all Members of Parliament to an Anglican Communion Cleanup Campaign and Environmental Day to be held at Avondale Shopping Centre in Harare on Saturday, 26^th October, 2013 from 0800 hours to 1630 hours.  His Excellency, the President, Comrade R. G. Mugabe will attend the event.  Senators who wish to attend should confirm with the Public Relations Department.

APPOINTMENT TO THE STANDING RULES AND ORDERS

COMMITTEE

MADAM PRESIDENT:  Section 151(1) of the Constitution

provides that Parliament must appoint a Committee to be known as the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders for purposes of supervising the Administration of Parliament, formulating Standing Orders, considering and deciding all matters concerning Parliament, and exercising any other functions that may be conferred or imposed on the

Committee by the Constitution or by Standing Orders or any other law.

Section 151(2) of the Constitution provides that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must consist of the Speaker and the President of the Senate and the following Members of Parliament: The Deputy Speaker; The Deputy President of the Senate; The Minister responsible for Finance and two other ministers appointed by the President; The Leader of Government Business in each House; The Leader of the Opposition in each House; The Chief Whips of all political parties represented in each House; The President of the National Council of Chiefs; Two Members who are not ministers or deputy ministers, one being a Senator appointed to the Committee by the President of the Senate and the other one being a Member of the National Assembly appointed by the Speaker.

In terms of Standing Order No. 14 of both the Senate and the National Assembly Standing Orders and the Provisions of Sections 151 of the Constitution, I therefore, inform the Senate that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders shall comprise the following:

Hon. Jacob Francis Mudenda, The Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairperson; Hon. Sen. Edna Madzongwe, President of the Senate and Deputy Chairperson; Hon. Mabel Memory Chinomona, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly; Hon. Sen. Chen Chenhamo

Chakezha Chimutengwende, Deputy President of the Senate; Hon

Patrick Chinamasa, Minister of Finance, Hon. Dr Sydney Sekeramayi, Minister of Defence; Hon. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Hon Sithembiso Gile Gladys Nyoni, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development; Hon. Thokozani Khupe, Leader of the

Opposition; Hon. J. M. Gumbo, ZANU PF Chief Whip; Hon. Innocent

Gonese, MDC-T Chief Whip and Hon. Jasmine Toffa, MDC Chief Whip.

Section 151 (2)(i) of the Constitution also states that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders shall also be comprised of eight members who are not ministers or deputy ministers, four being elected to the Committee by the Senate and four being elected by the National Assembly.  The membership of the Committee must reflect as nearly as possible, the political and gender composition of the combined Houses of Parliament.

We have now received eight names, six from ZANU PF and two from MDC-T as follows:

ZANU PF: Hon Sen. C. Tawengwa; Hon. Sen. M. Mutsvangwa,

Hon. Sen. T. A. Mathuthu and MDC-T: Hon Sen. S. Mlotshwa

The nominations comply with the requirements of Section 151(2) (i) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, I, therefore, declare them duly elected to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.  

INUAGURAL MEETING OF THE STANDING RULES AND

ORDERS COMMITTEE

MADAM PRESIDENT:  I also wish to inform the Senate that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders will have its inaugural meeting on Wednesday 16^th October, 2013 at 1100hrs, in Committee Room Number 4.  All committee members are expected to attend.

2013 PRE-BUDGET SEMINAR

MADAM PRESIDENT: I also wish to invite all members of the

8^th Parliament, to the 2013 Pre-Budget Seminar that will be held from the 31^st October, 2013 to 3^rd November, 2013 at the Elephant Hills Hotel, Victoria Falls.

The Seminar is an important annual Parliament activity meant to enhance the contribution by Members to the process of Budget formulation and prioritisation ahead of the presentation of the 2014, National Budget Statement and the passage by Parliament of the Finance and Appropriation Bills.

Departure for Victoria Falls will be on Thursday 31^st October,

2013. To ensure adequate preparations and logistical arrangements,

Senators are required to confirm their attendance with the Public Relations Department.  Officers from the department will be stationed at the Members Dinning Lounge from 1400hrs, starting from Wednesday 16^th October, 2013, to facilitate registration for the Seminar.

Confirmations close on Wednesday, 23^rd October 2013.  Only confirmed members will be catered for.

SWITCHING OFF OF CELLPHONES

MADAM PRESIDENT: Finally, may I remind hon. Senators to switch off your cellphones before commencement of business.

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS

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

Question again proposed.

SENATOR MUZENDA: Thank you Madam President, I also

want to add my congratulations to you, Madam President and to your

Deputy for being given the post.  I would like also to congratulate His Excellency, President Robert Mugabe, for articulating the agenda of the First Session of the Eighth Parliament.

Allow me, Madam President, to look at two issues which were in the Presidential Speech.  These are agriculture and infrastructure.  Agriculture is the backbone of our economy; therefore, it has to be given the highest priority so that food security is achieved.  Madam President, in order to address the issue of food security we need to mitigate against vagaries such as the weather.  However, we cannot continue to cite drought as a reason for non-performance of the agricultural sector.  We need to harness water from sources such as dams, rivers and underground water.

I wish to suggest a very simple and I think workable solution which we as a country can adopt.  Let me propose a very simple but effective solution.  I am aware that in Zimbabwe we have 1 958 wards but I will raise the wards so that the solution I wish to prefer would work.  Let us suppose the 2 000 wards  were encouraged to just plough 25 hectares of maize, supposing that Government would give 25 hectares and put those under irrigation, it will mean that 25 hectares times 2 000 hectares will give us about 50 000 hectares of irrigation.  50 000 hectares under irrigation, if we calculate further, would translate into about 350 000 to 500 000 tonnes of maize.  I am aware of that because the rains were inadequate last season, we have had to import 150 000 tonnes and my supposition, if we had put the suggested hectares under irrigation, we could have maybe avoided the importation of maize.

The other solution, Madam President, would be to seriously consider, I know this has been talked about many times before, but I think that as a country, subsidizing our agriculture.  We are aware that in Malawi, before the death of President Mutharika, they subsidized their agriculture and that year when they subsidized their agriculture, Malawi did very well.   Subsidies do work Madam President and we are importing maize from Zambia because the Zambian Government last year subsidised farmers that is why the farmers were able to harvest the much needed maize. So, I think our Government should seriously think along those lines. If we had  sought to subsidize our farmers, the 150 000 tonnage we are importing, if we had given our farmers $400 per ton for maize we would have saved $60 million which we are supposed to be getting so that the maize comes to Zimbabwe.

There is also need Madam President, to encourage the Government to let the farmers know the producer price before they start planting so it encourages farmers to plant maize. If people know producer prices ahead of time, they can decide what to plant and what not to plant.

Let me also look at the infrastructure Madam President. Infrastructure is very important for our economy now. We therefore, need to seriously look at our roads and rail system because we are anticipating that there is going to be a boom in the mining, and also in the manufacturing sectors. Therefore, we seriously need to engage our neighbour Mozambique, to look at the port infrastructure so that we use them.

Madam President, I come from Midlands, and right now you are aware that the Midlands Province did not have enough rainfall in the last season. There is serious starvation in some areas.  I am aware that there are mitigation factors which Government is trying to implement. But I think that there is need for those who are supposed to be looking at helping those who are in drought to seriously look at how well that is being implemented. I am looking at the harmonized social cash transfer. I am aware that each family is supposed to be given $10 to $25 per month, but that is very little. In addition to that, at the moment there are about three hundred thousand households which are in need of that, but to date, Government has only managed to give about 31 000 families.

So, there is really need to hasten that.

The other point I wanted to also share is that I think it is high time that communities were encouraged to at least plough according to their regions. For example, there are regions that will do very well if sorghum, millet and so forth were ploughed rather than maize. So I think that our Agritex people should teach our farmers about what to plough.

Madam President, I am also aware that in Midlands Province there are problems of water especially in Gweru and other cities. There are problems of water because of lack of capital. Government, the municipalities have not been able to get financial help because they cannot borrow from the banks because it is exorbitant to borrow from banks. Therefore, there is need for maybe municipalities to be helped in order to get cheaper money. There are also problems with some of our dams like Gwenoro Dam which is drying now and it is very difficult for the city to find other means for people to get water.

There is also a problem of population growth, as also people have been coming to cities in the hope that they would get jobs. This weighs heavily on the infrastructure like water and so forth; burst pipes are also a problem. In addition, to burst pipes the municipalities are not able to read meters properly because most of the meters are defunct and all that needs money.

Madam President, I would like to end here and hope that we as the Senate are going to push for legislation which is going to make sure that our country moves forward. Thank you very much.

MADAM PRESIDENT: Thank you Hon. Senator Muzenda.

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR LIASING ON

PSYCHOMOTOR ACTIVITIES IN EDUCATION (MR

HUNGWE): Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Wednesday, 16^th October, 2013.

MOTION

REPORT OF THE 62^ND SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE

COMMITTEE OF THE AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARY UNION     SENATOR MATHUTHU: I move the motion standing in my

name that this Senate takes note of the Report of the 62^nd Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) held in

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from 28 to 29 September, 2013.

SENATOR CHITAKA: I second.

SENATOR MATHUTHU: Thank you Madam President. The

President of the Senate and Vice Chairperson of the African

Parliamentary Union Executive Committee, Hon. Edna Madzongwe led a delegation that travelled to Abidjan, Republic of Cote d’Ivoire to attend the 62^nd Session of the Executive Committee of the African

Parliamentary Union (APU). The Session was held from the 28^th to 29^th

September, 2013 at the National Assembly of Cote d’Ivoire. Other delegates were as follows Hon. T. Mathuthu Member of Parliament, Hon. P. Chitaka Senator, Mr. J. Gandiwa Assistant Clerk of Parliament and Secretary of the delegation and advisor, Mrs. R Makoni Manager in the office of the President of the Senate and Mr E. Tivakudze Security to the President of the Senate.

20 out of 39 APU member countries attended the Session representing an attendance rate of 51.3%. These countries were Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’lvoire , Djibouti, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Mali,

Morocco, Niger, Nigeria Rwanda, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

2. The Opening Ceremony

Hon. Sako Sarah Fadiga, the 1^st Vice Speaker of the National

Assembly of Cote d’lvoire welcomed delegates on behalf of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Soro Kigbafori Guillaume.  She stressed the key role played by the APU in bringing people together and in expanding the Pan African Parliamentary movement of regional cooperation and integration, in order to achieve peace, solidarity, fraternity and harmonious development.  She highlighted the threat posed by terrorism, piracy, drug trafficking and cross border crimes to economic growth.

In officially opening the Session, the Acting Chairperson of the

Executive Committee of the APU, Hon. Edina Madzongwe, expressed appreciation to the authorities at the National Assembly of Cote d’lvoire, for hosting the 62^nd Session of the Executive Committee of the APU.

She thanked the country for the hospitality extended to delegates.  She further appreciated the work of the APU Secretariat in organising the Session and making excellent preparatory modalities.  Hon. Madzongwe raised concern on the terrorist attacks in Kenya. She condemned terrorism in all its forms and reaffirmed solidarity with affected countries.

Hon. Madzongwe applauded the return of constitutional rule and order to Mali and the recent election of Ibrahim Boubakar Keita as President of the Republic of Mali.  On one hand, she reiterated that APU was concerned with the unrest in Central Africa; on the other hand, APU was hopeful of the legislative elections to be held in Guinea as this would lead to stability in that country.  Hon Madzongwe underpinned the need to identify ways of expanding the APU.  It was further noted that there was need for member countries to contribute to debate as well as pay subscriptions timeously to avoid the accumulation of arrears.

3.0  Session Proceedings and Resolution

The Session deliberated on matters relating to the Secretary

General’s Report, implementation of decisions and recommendations of the Conference, consideration of 2012 Audited Management Account as other agenda items.  He explained the preparation for hosting the 62^nd Session of the Executive Committee, preparations for the 63^rd Session of the Executive Committee and the 36^th Conference that will be held in Libreville, Gabon from the 4^th to the 5^th of November 2013.  The Session will be followed by the 36^th Conference of the APU from the 7^th to the 8^th of November 2013.

The Secretary General also explained that at the Kigali meeting held in November 2012, at the suggestion of the Executive Committee, the 35^th Conference of Speakers resolved to set up an Ad hoc Committee to hold in-depth discussion on the obstacles to the development of the APU.  Member states were requested to send their contributions on the development of the Strategic Plan for the APU.  Out of the 39 member states, only four submitted their contributions, making it impossible for the Ad hoc Committee to meet.  Member countries were, therefore, requested to submit their inputs to the General Secretariat so that the process of coming up with a strategic plan is set in motion.

      4.0 Audited Management Account for the 2012 Financial Year

  The Secretary General presented the 2012 Annual Management

Account which was drawn up in conformity with the provisions of

Articles 15 and 16 of the Financial Rules of the African Parliamentary Union.  It was noted that out of the 39 National Groups, 21 had paid their contributions.  These were Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso,

Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana,

Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe.

The contributions settled for the year 2012 amounted to

US$769 814, representing a recovery rate of 64.29%.  Unsettled contributions for 2012 totaled US$410 197.  APU received US$25 000 as a donation from the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union.  Total receipts for 2012 were US$999 059, while total expenses were US$830 056.  This leaves a credit balance of US$169 003.  Working capital at the beginning of 2012 was US$611 911.  Therefore, working capital at the end of 2012 was reported as US$780 914.

Notwithstanding the positive financial position and report for APU, it is important to note that Zimbabwe is not a fully paid up member of the APU.  Out of its expected contribution of US$32 879,

Zimbabwe only paid US$14 555, leaving a negative variance of

US$18 324.  This means Zimbabwe paid 44.26% of its dues.  In light of the above, and noting that Hon. Senator Madzongwe is the Vice Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the APU, it is recommended

that:

 To protect the image of the country and integrity of the institution, Parliament of Zimbabwe must fully pay its contributions on time.

5.0 Auditors Report of the APU Management Account

Article 16 of the Statute states that the Executive Committee shall appoint two Auditors annually from its members to audit the accounts of the previous financial year.  The same article vests in the Executive Committee, the power to approve financial regulations.  In conformity with the provisions of Article 16 of the Financial Regulations, the Annual Management Account was audited.  It was observed that the collection rate for 2012 of 64.29% was superior to that recorded in 2011 (48.5%).

In conclusion, the auditors of the African Parliamentary Union noted that the operation of receipts and expenditure for the year 2012 had been properly reported in the Annual Management Account and was carried out in conformity with the statutory and budgetary provisions.

It is important to note that the auditing process, in the view of the delegation, complies with the statute of the APU.  However, it does not comply with international best practice in that the audit ought to be done by independent registered auditors.  The audit for APU, in line with its statute, was done by Members of Parliament, who are also members of the Executive Committee of the APU.  This creates a scenario whereby it may be perceived that the organisation is auditing itself.  This is not consistent with proffering an independent audit opinion and observation which is the hallmark of good corporate governance.  In this respect, it is recommended that:

 The account of the APU must be externally audited by an independent registered auditing firm in the host country.  This would require an amendment of Article 16 of the APU Rules of Procedure.

6.0 36th Conference of the APU

The Executive Committee adopted the draft agenda for the 36^th Conference.  The Executive Committee also adopted the draft agenda for the 63^rd Session of the Executive Committee.  It was resolved that the 63^rd Session of the Executive Committee and 36^th Conference of the APU will be held in Libreville, Gabon from the 4^th to the 5^th November, 2013 and the 7^th to the 8^th November, 2013 respectively.

The Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the APU resolved that the theme for the upcoming meeting at the conference in Libreville,

Gabon is, ‘The role of women in conflict resolution in Africa.’  Pursuant to provisions of Article 10 of the Statute, the Executive Committee appointed Equatorial Guinea and Gabon as rapporteurs for Committee 1 and Committee 2 respectively.

6.0 General Comment

There is need to review and revise the Statute and Rules of Procedure for APU to enhance clarity and style to make them consistent with other legal documents.

7.0 Conclusion

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the authorities and people of Cote D’Ivoire for successfully organizing the 62^nd Session of the Executive Committee of the APU.  The Zimbabwean delegation arrived home on the 1^st October, 2013.

SENATOR CHITAKA:  Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to second this motion, which has been ably presented by Hon. Senator Mathuthu.  Before I go into the contents of the report, I would like to thank you Madam President for affording me the opportunity to be part of this delegation, ‘zvinotendwawozve.’  I must also bring to the attention of this august Senate the fact that, not only did Madam President lead the Zimbabwe delegation, she also found herself as Chairperson of all the meetings.  She is the Vice President but the President of the APU Executive Committee was not available, so she ended up chairing all the meetings for the two days.  She did not just chair these committee meetings but she did it very ably and she made our country proud.

Members of this august Senate might take note of the fact that she is the only female head of Parliament represented in the APU.  It was gratifying and satisfying to receive accolades from other countries, especially those countries from the Arab and Moslem background where you might perceive them as having not so progressive policies on women advancement.  These were the countries that were in the forefront of commenting Senator Madzongwe for her able handling of the committee proceedings.  You made us proud Madam President.

Coming to the report, I will only touch on three issues.  The first issue, which might not be coming out very clearly in the report, is the fact that in the Kigali conference, an ad hoc committee was set up to mobilise and come up with a strategic plan for the APU, including how to expand its membership.  Zimbabwe was tasked with mobilising the Southern and Eastern African bloc.  That is an honour and I believe they will be meeting very soon to map the way forward.  Therefore, Zimbabwe is not just a passive participant; they are very active participants in this APU gathering.

Let me come to the two recommendations which I would like members to really take note of.  The first one is dues.  It actually does not look as bad as it is stated in the recommendations; Zimbabwe’s arrears are current arrears.  There are countries that have got four or five years arrears, so we are just asking our Government to clear current arrears but it is not as bad as it might look.  We are among the few countries that are up to date with subscriptions.  We were surprised because we expected ourselves to be behind in our subscriptions but I think efforts were made to bring them up to date.

The second recommendation is very important.  Let me read it to refresh hon. senators’ minds.  ‘The account of the APU must be externally audited by an independent registered auditing firm in the host country.  This would require an amendment of Article 16 of the APU Rules of Procedure.  The current process there is basically that APU appoints auditors from among its members.  Now you know in our case, we are very much at the forefront of transparency and accountability in terms of financial management, so this has the conflict that you are asking a body to audit itself.  Therefore, Zimbabwe is strongly recommending a change of the statute so that the auditing of the accounts is done by external bodies and not members auditing themselves.  It is a very important recommendation that we ask this august Senate to support so our President can take it forward.

Lastly but not least, I would like to commend the secretariat and support staff that accompanied the delegation.  We came back on the 1^st October, 2013 and a week later Johane Gandiwa had already produced the report.  This is something that we should commend.  I know of delegations that have gone and two years later some of the reports never came, so we must commend our secretariat, Johane Gandiwa, Mrs Roseline Makoni and Emmanuel Tivakudze for being so efficient.  They discharged their duties in a very professional manner.  We will not go into detail but we had one or two tough situations, very uncomfortable situations, but I can assure you and report to this Senate that this team of ours acted very professionally and I would like to thank them for their professionalism.  Finally, I wish you well when you attend the next conference, which is in Gabon.  Thank you.

SENATOR HLALO:  Thank you Madam President.  My

contribution to this matter is going to be on the issues I will be raising as I speak.  My first observation is the balance between the member countries which are fully paid up and those which are not, which is almost half.  I think on your next trip, encourage our African brothers and sisters to pay up so that we can be seen to be capable of looking after our own affairs, as we always say that we want to take charge of our affairs.  We say in Africa that Africa is for Africans, I think let it start with what we can do collectively and that is paying up.

I know Madam President that you will be able to conjure our African brothers and sisters to pay up.  When you look at the figures you are talking about - US$14 000, for a country to pay up so that the programme of the APU can go smoothly.  If Zimbabwe can succeed in getting that for a start, I think they need to be encouraged in a manner that will make them see the fruits of paying up.

The other issue, Madam President, I know it is very good for our senators to travel outside, so I would ask your good office to carry on picking senators to travel with you so that we can at least benchmark what we do here in Zimbabwe as opposed to only knowing what we do in the country.  It gives us a measure, as my colleague, Senator Chitaka was saying, when you look at Zimbabwe it is true that our literacy rate is very good and that it also shows that if we go to any platform, we are able to carry out duties assigned to us because of the education.  We should applaud that.

I also did not have the opportunity to thank you for the trip you afforded me.  In the last Parliament we were not given the opportunity to thank you.  Thank you.

*SENATOR CHIMBUDZI:  Thank you Madam President, I do

not have much to say but I felt I had to contribute to what is being debated in this Senate.  I want to thank Senator Mathuthu for this motion that has been seconded by Senator Chitaka.  I was deeply touched by the few things that were mentioned, especially that the delegation was being led by you Madam President.

We know you as a well respected woman who respects members

of the delegation.  I was thrilled by the fact that you chaired all the sessions that took place at the APU.  As a woman, I am proud of you.  What has made me proud is that there were 20 countries and as a woman you reflected good leadership that was appreciated by all the other countries around you. As women, we are proud that we chose a President of the Senate, who is able to carry out her duties.  This is what we need to emulate as your subordinates, so that when we are engaged in such business we should reflect the same.  We want to thank you, Madam President, that the work that you are engaged in, was not just for your own good but for the country of Zimbabwe as a whole.  We want to thank you together with your delegation.

Let me say that the good work that you did; you heard members of the delegation and you were able to work together and we are proud of you.  Even those people who do not know us where you went to were proud of us as a country because of the work that you performed.  I also want to thank Mr. Gandiwa for producing the report on time.  We need to thank such individuals when they perform their work diligently.  We want to thank Mr. Gandiwa for the report that he produced.  This shows that he is dedicated to duty and what we are talking about here is reflected in the report.  We want to thank you Madam President for the work that you did in representing the country and we hope that in Gabon, you will be able to perform your duties. I thank you.

*SENATOR MAKORE:  I want to thank you for the opportunity

that you have given me Madam President.  I thought it would be better for me to give a few words concerning the Committee that did us proud in Abidjan.  I want to thank the mover of the motion Hon Mathuthu.   The issue of unity that you mentioned, peace, solidarity and economic development is very important in Africa, especially where there is peace, because there is also development.  Peace is vital; in saying this Madam President, I realize that all war torn countries are facing challenges in reaching a status of peace.

Looking at countries such as Iraq, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Lybia; if we are to take a closer look at where they are today and where they used to be before the war, it becomes an issue to comprehend. This should be a lesson to Africa as a whole that if we have peace, and are united, it will lead to the development of countries in Africa.  I was thinking that it would have been good for us to boast in creating a United States of Africa (give me a round of applause).

I think this issue must be supported by everyone, we are being belittled in Africa but we have very important resources.  Countries in the West and others around depend on resources in Africa, hence we always want to talk a lot about colonialism forgetting that they are after our resources to enrich their countries.  If we create a United States of Africa and we create our own wealth in unity and good relations as

Africans, it would be good for us.  I want to say that your participation at the APU displayed that you have the capacity.   God loves this country because it has intelligent people.

I want to say that we have a field of intelligence in Africa, especially in our country Zimbabwe and we want peace.  You have never observed the people of Zimbabwe, they act as a family.  They are after development, whenever they get some money, go and have a look at where they build their homes and where they stay -they have good homes.  They want water that is easily accessible, construct good roads with the little money they have and they manage to send their children to school.

All their priorities are development based.  I want to say that it is important in Africa and that the time has come for us to reflect and see ourselves as complete and not to have low self esteem but to be more concerned about development, reflecting that we can challenge what people think of us, like what you did.  You chaired the session and was well esteemed and highly commended and some even wanted to bring gifts although I have not heard of the nature of the gifts.

What we appreciate is that whoever goes out there to represent Zimbabwe, the pride is on Zimbabwe as a whole.  This shows us that we are a unique people.  I want to thank you for going there and also the emphasis that you put on the need for peace as reflected in the way you condemned the Kenyan terrorist attack.  The women who were seated close to me whilst I was watching television on the Kenya attack; I think the person next to me was Mrs. Steven, I cannot remember.  I heard that she was touched and felt pity when she saw a heap of people lying prostrate and others ran away because of the bomb attacks that happened in Nairobi-Kenya.

Madam President, it is a sad scenario, imagine innocent people, in many cases, such attacks affect the innocent who want a peaceful living - it is painful.  I want to thank you for highlighting such an important issue in Africa.  We want Africa to progress and develop; we want

Africa to reach a stage of creating employment so that the children of

Africa can develop in what we are doing.  Payments might be a challenge but it is not the financial aspect alone that is important but also ideas that lead to progress.

Yes, money is important but what is also important is for us to go and propose agendas that emphasise economic development, peace and unity in Africa.  I want to thank you, if I continue adding to those words, it would be mere pep talk.  With these words, I thank you for listening as I debated.

         THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR LIAISING ON PSYCHOMOTOR ACTIVITIES IN EDUCATION: (SENATOR

HUNGWE):   I move that the debate do now adjourn.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Wednesday, 16^th October, 2013

         On the motion of   THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR LIAISING ON PSYCHOMOTOR ACTIVITIES IN EDUCATION,

the Senate adjourned at a Quarter to Four o’clock p.m.