- Version
- Download 43
- File Size 204 KB
- File Count 1
- Create Date February 13, 2015
- Last Updated November 13, 2021
SENATE HANSARD 17 February 2015 24-18
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 17th February, 2015
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT
CAPACITY BUILDING SEMINARS
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I would like to remind the Senate that Parliament will resume a series of seminars that are meant to capacitate Members of Parliament in the conduct of Committee business. In this regard, members of the Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment are invited to attend the capacity building seminar that will be convened in the Senate chamber on Wednesday, 18th February 2015, at 0900 hours. All Committee members are expected to attend.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR LIAISING ON PSYCHOMOTOR ACTIVITIES IN EDUCATION (MR.
HUNGWE): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th February, 2015.
MOTION
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO THE PRESIDENT OF
ZIMBABWE AS THE NEW AU CHAIRPERSON
SENATOR MATHUTHU: I move the motion standing in my
name that, a congratulatory message be presented to the President of
Zimbabwe and Chairperson of the African Union as follows:-
May it please you, your Excellency the President, we, the Members of Parliament of Zimbabwe express our gratitude and congratulate you on your elevation to the helm of the African Union as the Chairperson;
RECOGNISING your consistency in your resolve to pulverize machinations of colonialism and imperialism in Africa;
NOTING your unflinching desire to have a united front of African
States against all forces of negation;
COGNISANT of your resolute stand that Zimbabwe will never be a colony again, your ascendancy to the position of chairmanship serves as an indication of the impeccable confidence that the continent places on your illustrious leadership qualities.
NOW THEREFORE, this House resolves to:
- Convey its appreciation and good wishes to a statesman par excellence.
- Wish your Excellency many more years of distinguished service to Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole.
- Commend your Excellency on remaining focused on the cause of emancipating humankind from shackles of oppression.
SENATOR MUMVURI: I second.
+SENATOR MATHUTHU: Thank Mr. President. I stand up to congratulate our President, His Excellency, Cde. Mugabe for being chosen to be the Chairperson of the African Union (AU). I have come to realise that he got this seat at a time when SADC had also chosen him to be the Chairperson of SADC.
It is not usual in Africa to have one leader holding two such important seats of such calibre at the same time. For that reason, I would like to give him a round of applause and also give a round of applause to all the leaders in Africa who have realised that as one of the available people who started being in governance in Africa and he was one of the people present when the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) was formed. He was also there as part of the leadership of the frontline states and he led us as the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe before he became
President.
Mr. President of the Senate, I would like to say that it has been realised that the pioneering leadership in Africa should be given the recognition and seats that they deserve in Africa. There are attributes of the character of the President that I have noticed and that I want to speak about. His Excellency, if not in doubt on anything, stands by his views to the end. We know that he spoke a lot about our former colonial countries, countries of the West. They need to agree that they mistreated the black people during colonialism. When His Excellency, the President wants to engage the West, he can do it the Zimbabwean way. He is never forced to follow anyone else’s views. In my own view, His
Excellency the President is someone who believes that Africa belongs to Africans. People of Africa, in their different tribes and races and if you are part of the Africans, Africa is yours.
He does not care whether people agree with him or not and that there are other people who want to associate with the presidents of the West. He involves everyone as sons of the soil who have a right to be in Africa. His Excellency is someone who, when he has a view, does not retract. He does not change his views because of where he is. He stands by what he believes in as long as he believes that he is correct. His Excellency is an example of what happens with computers - what you see is what you get. It is the same because what you hear about him, is what he wants. He believes that black people should partake of Africa’s riches to develop Africa, especially environmentally and also in mining.
He believes that black people should own their riches and does not believe that these should be taken away from them as what happened during the colonial era when their belongings were taken away from them. His Excellency president Mugabe believes that the people of Africa themselves can unite and resolve their conflicts on their own without any help. He believes that we do not need to invite anyone who is not from Africa to come and help us unite. He knows that there are people who will come with different intentions and it reminds us of what happened in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Djibouti. It was just because of interventions which came from other countries and they have never been at peace.
Mr. President, there is no one who does not know President Robert
Mugabe’s history in liberating this country. He was part of the liberation struggle and had a difficult time with the white people. It was good that God kept him and he became part of those who survived and came back home. He manages to talk about that story openly because he speaks about something that he really knows. He knows a lot about unity and if Africa has any problem, he can easily speak to the people of the West, if there is need for unity.
His Excellency, the President has spoken about the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its dishonesty. They are dishonesty in that they are choosy when it comes to who to bring to that court. He spoke about Hon. Kenyatta, the Kenyan President questioning him on why he went to the ICC and a week after he said that, one who was a leader at the ICC known as Luis Moreno Ocampo said that, the war in Kenya and the issue that Kenyatta and Rulo should not partake in the presidential race was planned by diplomats from the West. If such a leader agrees to that, it means that His Excellency was telling the truth. His Excellency said that, if this court is true to its mandate, then it needs to bring George Bush and the one who was once a Prime Minister in England, Tony Blair to the ICC, to stand before it and be answerable to the crimes they committed, especially when they engaged in war with Iraq. It is believed that he hid weapons to destroy the whole world but after the war, it was found that, that was not the truth.
His Excellency believes that the children of Africa are intelligent and have the ability to do their own jobs without any disturbances if they were to unite together as one so as to develop Africa as a whole. Mr. President, His Excellency, the President believes that if you wish to develop a nation, like the Land Reform Programme, there is need to go forward so that the black person can also develop. He has no doubt on that issue. He supports anyone who wants land, such that they are given land because they are sons of the soil.
His Excellency, the President is against gays and lesbians. He does not believe that a man should marry another man or a woman to marry another woman. If a man is to marry another man, there is no pregnancy. This is against nature. There are other nationals who support such issues that have been brought by the West because they want donor funds. His Excellency, the President said that such money is dirty and it is against God’s will. He believes that African people need to be proud of themselves, as people who are wonderfully made by God and were given the same rights, to live in this world and to do the same jobs and develop their nations. The President of Uganda Hon. Museveni and President of Gambia, Hon. Yahya Jammeh have also tried to speak against gayism, an idea that was brought about by the West. They have been criticized by other nations for such. They were looked down upon and comments like, ‘he is a black person’ or ‘he is proud of himself’ were leveled against them. His Excellency, the President is happy.
Even in this country there are people from different countries. If you go to different places like Mutare, Nyanga or Victoria Falls, you see people from different nations walking around freely without any kind of violence against them. It is different from what happens in other countries. We hear that foreigners are being murdered in other countries but we have never heard of that in Zimbabwe. That is why I am saying that, he is a leader par excellence. We know that people from different nations prefer to marry people from Zimbabwe because we are a peaceful nation. They are happy to mix and mingle with us in different situations without any problems. However, if you listen to news from different media, in different countries, people do not say any good about Zimbabwe. They always say bad things about this country.
As I conclude Mr. President, His Excellency, the President was the leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Frontline States and now he is the Chairman of SADC, a seat that he is holding at the same time as being the Chairman of the African Union. Today, His Excellency has been entrusted to lead Africa and the trust that he has got from people and other Presidents reveals that we are also supposed to be proud as
Zimbabweans that we have such a leader. His Excellency is a leader who encourages that the liberation of Africa did not end from gaining our freedom as different African countries from colonial bondage. However, after gaining our independence, there is need to own some of the riches. When you become rich, that is when you can say I am free. This was revealed when we gained our freedom and they started such programmes as indigenisation.
Lastly, His Excellency has wisdom to lead Africa. I have no doubt that this task he has been given, he will handle it in a proper way to the end. In a way, that exceeds expectations from other leaders in Africa. Right now, I ask that this august Senate congratulates His Excellency, together with me because we have a leader par excellence. We have to congratulate him because he is a leader who supports his country and
Africa. He therefore, develops not only Zimbabwe but the whole of
Africa. He encourages that Africa may unite, have love and be patient.
At times we fight on issues that we could discuss among ourselves.
With these few words, I say congratulations Hon. President! Congratulations Ngwena! May the good Lord help you as you partake this task you have been given by Africa. I thank you.
SENATOR MUMVURI: Thank you Mr. President. I rise to support the motion which was moved by Senator Mathuthu. She has spoken at length about the characteristics of the new Chairman of the African Union, who is the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, President R.G. Mugabe. The characteristics which the former speaker has spelt out are numerous and befitting indeed of such a person. The characteristics are an embodiment of an ideal leader whom we have in the person of His Excellency, Cde. R.G. Mugabe.
For him to assume the Chairmanship of African Union is not an accident at all. He has earned such an elevation from what has been said by the previous speaker. In short Mr. President, our President deserves to lead the African Union. To my knowledge, he has the vision to lead this Union to greater prosperity and for the benefit of Africa as a continent. The President, I remember well, is the only sitting Head of State who was present when this organisation formally known as Organisation of African Unity was formed way back in 1963. So that is not mean achievement, he has come far with this organisation.
His experience in dealing with the Union’s issues is a marvel to watch and read about, so we should not be left out as Zimbabweans to emulate our President who has been elevated. However Mr. President, we celebrate his elevation and ascendancy to this chairmanship but there are still things which are restricting the President from operating freely. I want to mention here the EU bloc sanctions. For reasons best known to them, the EU bloc imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe way back in 2002. These sanctions have remained in force since then but recently, they have been gradually and partially lifted to encourage some reform between the EU and Zimbabwe.
However, our President and the First Lady, Dr. G. Mugabe are still on the list of sanctions when everybody else has been removed from that sanctions’ list. By this embargo on his travel ban, the President as the
Chair, will be restricted to carry out his duties freely and I want to quote here a quotation which was given by an EU bloc spokesperson by the name Catherine Ray and she says, “the ban will be lifted when he is travelling under his AU chairmanship capacity only”. So that is double standards, we do not accept that and we are appealing that the restriction be removed in total on the President and First Lady [HON. SENATORS:
Hear, hear.]-
In this vein, I want to welcome Minister Chinamasa’s appeal for unconditional lifting of sanctions on the first family. At a recent occasion of signing a $270 million aid deal in Harare with the EU bloc,
Hon. Chinamasa criticised the EU bloc’s position and appealed for the lifting of the total embargo on the President and his wife. Deals and dialogue of such nature should be done between equals and surely, we will not be equals at all until our President is completely removed from the alleged illegal sanctions.
Surely Mr. President, in all fairness, President Mugabe who is now
Chairman of the continental body and who is also the Regional
Chairman of SADC deserves due respect in that capacity. As Senate, we want to congratulate the President for assuming the chairmanship but at the same time, appeal that we become equals with our trading partners who have imposed sanctions on the President. With those few words, I want to support what the mover has said and I wish to see a fruitful debate towards the adoption of this motion. Thank you.
* SENATOR CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: I rise to add my voice in support of the motion which has been raised by Senator Mathuthu seconded by Senator Mumvuri and I am the third one. If she had not brought the motion, I was going to bring it because it is a good motion and when I came, I even confronted her asking why she brought my motion because it is a very good motion. This is a historic thing on this nation and Africa as a whole. We should say it frankly; a good thing is a good thing despite who has done it. If we want to build our nation, we should do that even if we hail from different political affiliations. If any of us does a good thing, we should be united and sing one song that this is good and a great thing for Africa. That is the main thing that I have stood up for.
We know that in Africa we have 53 countries. Our President who is one of the 53 presidents was chosen to chair all the presidents like the way we are seated right now; President Mugabe will be there in front chairing. We should all be proud because of that because if you are not proud of that, we will ask you where you come from and what your I.D says you come from. If it says Charumbira, we should confront your parents to find out whether you really do come from that area. It is a very good thing that we have been uplifted as Zimbabweans out of the 53 countries.
There are doctors in other countries who are Presidents but they have seen it fit that this position be given to President Mugabe. Besides that, we know that our President is the Chairperson of SADC and they bestowed this on him knowingly that he is also Chairperson of SADC. This means that they know he is a man who is capable and has the ability to lead us. So, let us unite because this is a blessing. I know some of us aspire to be presidents, you can be a president locally but to AU you will not reach there. So it will be recorded in history that we once got there through President Mugabe because not all Presidents will get there.
Let us all be happy and celebrate this achievement. We should ask why it is that President Mugabe has been bestowed with this position. Firstly, I think we should ask why President Mugabe was bestowed this chairmanship. Firstly, Africa is a continent which is loved by many people. There is poor development. You can go to Benin, Mali, anywhere, you will find that the continent is dead, but other continents are rising up. There are wars in Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, everywhere, what is wrong with us? If you look at our health delivery system, it is not functioning in Africa, even our sanitation.
The President of the World Bank, after seeing that from the first century into this millennium, produced a report in 2000, you can go and search on the internet. The title of the report is disheartening to the black people because it reads; ‘Can Africa claim the 21st Century?’ This means that we are really underdeveloped. Talk of sport - soccer and so on, we are lagging behind. In the 21st century, why can we not grow as Africa? Because of this poverty, there is need for a man of spine, it is not for everyone. That is why President Mugabe was chosen because he was the man amongst men. He knows that the poverty of Africa is backdated years back. We know that Africa is the one which has all the wealth; all minerals are in Africa, even water.
However, our people do not have clean drinking water. There are no seas, most of the African countries are landlocked. We are so wealthy in Africa as a continent but we do not know where the wealth is going. We do not know how it is being used. That is why they have chosen President Mugabe, it is because of his history. It is not that, now that he is there, we should go and read and come up with a degree. This is all about his struggles and commitment to the African call. He is the only one who is capable of tackling that.
We attend workshops outside Zimbabwe and many people out there are asking why they also do not have a president like President Mugabe when it comes to land grab. They say that their presidents are not as strong as our president. They think that by electing President Mugabe to the Chairmanship of the African Union (AU), other presidents will be able to copy the Zimbabwean experience. As we know that there is an imbalance in the distribution of wealth, those countries which are wealthy, like Japan do not have anything. It is only because they are white, even if you go to Britain, we are far ahead of them when it comes to wealth, but we rush to stay there. There is someone who needs to tell those nations the truth because they are the ones who are causing our poverty. Many presidents are timid because they cannot face the leaders of those nations. When many leaders go and stay there, they sell their countries.
All these people know that President Mugabe is not a sell-out. There are presidents who are afraid of whites but President Mugabe is not like that. Because of that, the people of Africa have said, Africa with its poverty and challenges, we need an African who was born in Africa, who knows the African plight and will tackle the challenges. That man can only be President Mugabe. We do not have to look at politics. It does not have anything to do with that. We are very lucky because we have people from different parties, we should go and hold rallies with our people and tell them that we should rejoice because of our President. Even if you invite me, as long as you are congratulating our President, I will attend those rallies because great honour has been bestowed on us as Zimbabweans. Even those people who imposed sanctions on our leaders, if they are now imposing sanctions on the
Chairman of the AU, it even means that you will not get into heaven. How can you impose sanctions on a person who is liked and loved by the whole continent? I would like to thank those who raised this motion and I think we are going to unite on this issue. Thank you.
*SENATOR CHIEF NEMBIRE: Thank you Mr. President. I stand to add my voice to this motion which was raised by Hon. Senator Mathuthu and supported by Hon. Senator Mumvuri. Firstly, I would like to congratulate His Excellency, our President for attaining the
Chairmanship of AU ahead of all the countries.
I think this is a time that we should think deeply that as a nation, if we look at the alphabet, it ends with Z, which is the last. However, now Zimbabwe is number one. This means that Zimbabwe is now number one out of the 53 countries. I would like to talk about three things. If you look at Africa, there is a lot of poverty as already alluded to by Hon. Senator Chief Charumbira. However, we have so many minerals and animals. We are also very intelligent. Many of our resources are going out and we are getting finished products from our raw materials. This needs someone who is very intelligent so that we can harness our wealth and we can come up with beneficiation for our minerals. This will ensure that people from Africa will not suffer, they should enjoy their inheritance. Hon. Senator Charumbira has said that many people are afraid to say that the other nations are stealing from us but our President is a bold man, he will just say it point blank. He calls a spade a spade because he has Africa at heart.
We have so many diseases in Africa - in Sierra Leone and Liberia, like ebola, which has affected so many people and up to now there is no medication. We want people who are intelligent and can engage so that that disease will not eradicate the whole race. The other thing pertains to the wealth which is in Africa. Most of the wealth is being exploited by the people in the West because they want our diamonds, timber and our animals here. So, they cause disharmony amongst the people and then people fight each other. Such things need people who are clever and intelligent who can engage others to come up with plans. I would like to thank those who have raised this motion that they have to encourage our President that he should go ahead and also the ancestors should give him support. I would like to thank you.
+SEANATOR MASUKU: Thank you Hon. President of the
Senate. I would like to second this important motion that has been brought into this Senate by Hon. Senator Mathuthu and seconded by Hon. Senator Mumvuri. I would also like to support those who have spoken before me.
I would like to congratulate His Excellency President R. G. Mugabe. I also congratulate the whole nation because this seat, though it was given to President, it is the President of Zimbabwe. Hon. President of the Senate, if the President of Zimbabwe fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe it was their intention that the liberation of Zimbabwe will be the liberation of Africa. Therefore, the fact that he has become the Chairman it is no doubt that when he is still in that office he will do a good job, because he intends to fight and liberate Africa. Africa was not fully liberated because the issues of Africa were still with colonialists. We realise that even in Zimbabwe our riches, mainly the land, were still in the hands of the colonialists until when there came a time when the President said that we did not fight for these buildings but we fought for the land. He therefore, declared that land should go back to its rightful owners.
At the moment the President of the country has realised that the minerals that are being mined are being exported and used to develop the countries of the west. They had used our riches in Africa even in developing weapons to destroy and kill us. Therefore, the President said that even the mines should go back to their rightful owners again. I therefore, hope that all countries in Africa have seen what happened in
Zimbabwe and the fact that they have chosen the President of Zimbabwe to be the Chainman of African Union. It means that they are satisfied that there is a lot that he is dedicated to do in order to develop the livelihood of everyone in Africa as he has done in Zimbabwe.
For that reason hon. President of the Senate, I look forward to that
His Excellency whilst he is still the Chairman of SADC and also the Chairman of the AU - this is not an easy task, for that task to be made easy there is need for his nation to fully support him. There is need that his nation uplifts him the way that the whole of Africa has uplifted him. I expect that peace prevails in Zimbabwe by the way that His Excellency worked hard for unity and peace to prevail in this country. He had talks with Dr. Nkomo and there has been peace that is enjoyed by each and everyone.
Different countries in Africa where war is still prevailing have to learn from our example. They need to learn from him on having unity and peace. It is my wish that in all countries where there is still no peace they will learn from the current Chairman. There is a speaker who spoke before me Hon. Senator Chief Charumbira he said that it is not according to education. I was checking on whether I should say and how I should refer to the person on the seat of the President of Senate. Hon. President, I was saying that Senator Chief Charumbira mentioned before that it is not according to the educational levels. However it is about the intentions that one has and the character one has as well as the life, the livelihood in his own country. I therefore, say that it is not an easy task to His Excellency Hon. R. G. Mugabe. With those few words that I am using to second this motion I hope that the respect that has been given Zimbabwe when the President of Zimbabwe was chosen to be the Chairman. We need to be together, respect one another as we do such that when he is in such an office no one would be pointing fingers at him referring to what is happening in his own country.
However, when he is holding that office they should always refer to the development that is happening in his own nation. We need to admire what is happening here in Zimbabwe those who are not yet like us should admire us. I would like to congratulate His Excellency and I say that I hope that God will help him and also be with him in his life such that even though countries of the West tried to disturb and stop him from being the chairman, he has become the chairperson. I therefore say congratulations Hon. R. G. Mugabe and congratulations to Zimbabwe.
Thank you.
*SENATOR MAWIRE: Thank you for affording me this time to add a few words on the motion being debated. I would like to thank the mover and seconder of this motion. We were not aware of the happenings and as senators; we are very happy that you brought this motion for debate. As has been alluded to by the speakers before me, out of 53 countries, our President was chosen to chair the whole continent. If we were at Borrowdale race course it would be like a horse which comes first. So, I really want to congratulate our President.
We might not want to face the truth but our President makes us proud. When things were really tight and sanctions were imposed upon this country, he emerged a strong man. He went and faced Britain and America. He did not go there timidly but went there on behalf of his country. He did not look at which party or family but he stood for the whole nation. We really want to thank our President because as Zimbabweans we are very clever and we know that he is a real father, through the lessons he taught us from way back. Starting from his history when he was in prison during the colonial era, he was very intelligent. Even in jail, where he was being tortured, he did not leave the children of Zimbabwe alone but he was with them.
Looking at the struggle, he also stood his ground to the extent that the whites had to call him for a meeting. He was not someone who sold out on the country or the nation. The President makes us proud at all times. Even when he was given travel bans and was not supposed to go to the West, he would still go there and speak his mind on behalf of
Africa. He told them that Africa is for Africans and the countries in the West are theirs. We do not envy them but they should continue with their business while we continue with our own business. He really shows that he is a brave man unlike some other people.
Even if we look at the wars that were fought in Africa, he is mentioned among the greatest statesmen, the likes of Kwame Nkrumah and Nyerere. I wish all of us would debate with one voice and not look at personalities. The problem that we have in Zimbabwe is that we do not look at the good that the person has done, as alluded to by Chief Charumbira. He gave us a very good lesson on unity, which will move our country forward. If you just look at your political party and not at the people of Zimbabwe or the people of Africa, it means that you are not a good person. You need someone to tell you to love your country or your nation. I think God should intervene if we have people like that because he is the one who gave us a President like Cde. R.G.Mugabe.
He loves the people in his country and those in the continent of Africa. They chose him because they learnt a lot from him. Even if you look at the question of land, he comes first. Even when it comes to minerals, he always talks about them. He always speaks his mind freely. What else would we want?
For the President to be given sanctions by the whole world, it means that he is a great leader. It shows his bravery. Even amongst whites, he speaks his mind and tells them off. He tells them that they are colonialists and oppressors. For him to be made Chairman of the AU is an honour. I think the others could not match him because they are afraid to stand up for their people.
Let me say congratulations to Zimbabwe. Even if you look at the issues of peace, he is the only President whose people are living peacefully. He is ruling his people fairly. He has been able to maintain peace within his country. If he was not a strong father, this country would have gone to the dogs. So, what else would you want? As the Upper House, Gushungo we want to congratulate you. We are proud of you. We know there are some who do not like you but we are still congratulating you as the Senate. I thank you.
*SENATOR CHIEF MUSARURWA: I have risen to also
support the motion. Firstly, I would like to congratulate our President for being chosen to chair the AU by other Presidents. They saw that it was befitting that for now, the AU be chaired by a person with Africa at heart. Africans who stand for the truth. If it were my own thinking and doing, the British, Americans and their friends, I think they should realise that no matter how difficult you make things to be for
Zimbabweans or Africans and even if they oppress us with sanctions that they are imposing on us, it has no impact because we are resilient and we will stand for and protect our country.
It is clear now that our President is very courageous and brave. Although sanctions were imposed on him as all the others were removed from the sanctions list, they left the First Family on the list. They thought that probably he would sell the country because he will be alone but he was very resilient and he said he would remain on the list alone just like Moses who was instructed that he should lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan and as he was travelling towards
Canaan, he faced a lot of challenges because some of the children of Israel had to die because of the diseases and wars but he did not retract. He went forward.
Those who read the Bible are aware of that, like Senator Hungwe who really articulates Bible stories. That was during the time of Moses but Moses did not reteat. He went forward and led the children of Israel into Canaan and the same applies to our President. He is like Moses because he does not retreat. He is a true leader, a true Pan Africanist and he does not go back. He does not retract on what he had decided to do. As the Upper House, the Senate, we should debate this motion whole heartedly and show that as Senators, we support our President.
We support our President even if they make our lives difficult. One of these years, I said if it were possible, this House or even as chiefs, if we can go there because we are the owners of the land, if we can go to Britain and tell the Queen that even if you make life difficult for our people or President Mugabe, we have taken our land. It will never go back and Zimbabwe will never be a colony again because we know that chiefs, from time immemorial, were known as the owners of the land and the country. So even if they make life difficult for our people, we are there, we will stand and we will never go back. We will support the people especially the things that he does like when he goes to be inaugurated as the Chair, which means the whole of Africa is now in the hands of Zimbabwe through our President Robert G. Mugabe. This is something that really makes us proud.
Even as we are affiliated to different political parties, I think on this motion which concerns Zimbabwe, we should be united and talk with one voice to show that as Zimbabweans, we are united. If we look at all the other countries in Africa for example, Uganda, because when people are not united, wars will take precedence. There are so many wars which were taking place but because of the courageous nature of our President Mugabe, in Zimbabwe you cannot do what you want especially when it comes to war. You will find that you will not get the chance because he is a principled man. He does not change.
The whole world, there is no leader who has ever denounced the bombing of Iraq but President Mugabe denounced it and said the Americans and the British were not doing the right thing. He was not afraid that probably the following day Zimbabwe would be attacked. He stood and when Gaddaffi was bombed in Libya, it was only President
Mugabe who stood up and faced the British, telling them that they were doing the wrong thing. It was only our President. Even today, he talks about it even before he was chosen to be the Chairman of the African Union (AU) and SADC. He would stand and call a spade a spade. So that is British and Americans’ ways of doing things and if we are not intelligent as Zimbabweans we will end up despising our leader. We should support our President who is very principled and who does not go back.
I cannot say all because I want to leave room for others but I want to say congratulations Gushungo, go forward and we know that you are our Munhumutapa, you are our Moses and you should remain like that. Backwards never and may many more years be granted to you. We know that your birthday is approaching very soon on the 21st of February and we are celebrating with you, that actually, you are getting younger and we look forward that you will leave for many more years. May the Lord keep on looking after you because you love Zimbabwe, you love Africa and you love even the whole world because even if you travel to these other countries, even places like Britain, the British people admire you and wish if they had a leader like President Mugabe, their countries would be at peace. If you see your country causing mayhem in other countries, it means there is no peace.
So I am speaking strongly to the British and the Americans that these sanctions are nothing to the children of Zimbabwe. It is nothing to the African continent because even if things are difficult, Zimbabweans are known for hard working. In Zimbabwe, we have never come across a grave which is there as a result of hunger. Yes people can say they are hungry when we have droughts but they do not die because of hunger. They will eat wild fruits like hacha, matunduru, matamba and people have lived because of the leadership of President Mugabe. Thank you Mr. President for according me this time and let me leave it so that others would also add their voices to this motion. We want you to debate whole heartedly all of us, despite your party. We want you to support our President who loves us and that is why you are Senators here. If he was not here in Zimbabwe, the idea of Senate would was only for the whites, not for blacks. It was only whites who were called senators whilst blacks were oppressed. Our President is very resilient, he was troubled but he never let down his idea of elevating the black people. I want to urge members of this Senate to say our congratulatory messages whole heartedly. I thank you.
*SENATOR MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Mr. President for
affording me this opportunity to add my voice on this motion which was moved by Senator Mathuthu and seconded by Senator Mumvuri. They touched on a lot of issues, on the work that our President did, as the leader of Government and Commander-in-Chief, Cde. R.G. Mugabe. The work that he did is very important. I want to say, well done to those who moved this motion; you have done it in time.
Our President travelled and he came back with a title. He did not pick it up, but it is given to hard workers. It is given to those who are suitable. As Zimbabweans, the unity that we show; the truth that we live in, gives him strength whenever he goes anywhere. When he is representing Zimbabwe, when he looks back, he sees that we are supporting him. Mr. President, His Excellency, the President is like the sun which shines on the whole of Africa. He is like a weed, even if Zambezi is full, it does not break. It can only bend. Even if things are very difficult, he stands for this country.
When other African leaders like Malawi were against homosexuality and they jailed the people who engaged in homosexuality, when they were threatened that the aid was going to be withdrawn, they released those people. In Zimbabwe, through our President, we still say no to homosexuality. They use sanctions as their main weapon if one goes against their will. They think that if they withdraw their aid, people will dance according to their tune.
Zimbabweans refused to do that through our President. Now, they want to lure us. When they realised that he was appointed Chairman of African Union, they said that the sanctions would not affect him as long as he is travelling as AU Chairman. We are saying that, they should be removed totally on the First Family. If they do that, they would have done well to Zimbabwe.
There was a certain story that happened outside the country. There was a man who had a band called Queen. He was gay and he became rich, but his father lived in squalid conditions. He wanted to build a house for his father but the father refused it saying the money was dirty so he did not need it. He stayed in the same conditions as he had before. That is exactly what is happening to us, that we do not take dirty money because we are poor.
I would like to say to our President -congratulations! Gushungo, I say congratulations! You have been given more responsibility. The more years you have, the more responsibilities and more work. That is why we saw the President of Zambia who was elected recently. Coming to Zimbabwe so that he would get advice from President Mugabe because he has all the leadership history. I think since he is Chairman of AU, if Gaddafi was alive, he was going to be happy as well. Thank you.
*SENATOR CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President. I would
want to thank Senator Mathuthu and the seconder Senator Mumvuri for moving such an important motion. I will just say a few words because most of the things have been said. I would like to congratulate our President, Cde. R.G. Mugabe for being elected the Chairman of SADC as well as the AU. If we look at his history of the struggle for independence, he is a leader who really went through thick and thin. If he was not a true leader, he could have sold out but he said that he would remain a prisoner because he wanted to see this country free from colonial rule.
We want to thank the President when it comes to peace. When he was elevated to this chairmanship, we know that he is going to bring peace in the whole of Africa by removing all the fears that grappled other leaders so that they will have peace. Let me say that we are blessed because we are at peace. The whole of SADC is peaceful through our President, R. G. Mugabe. If there is war, there would be no development. Even if when we were under sanctions, our country did not come to a standstill. We know that even if they removed the sanctions partially, they left the First Family under sanctions. They thought probably he would have a second thought but he is not going to change.
I also want to thank Dr. Grace Mugabe because she is the only First Lady whom I have seen among other first ladies who brought development in Mazowe. There is no first lady who has brought such development of building an orphanage in Mazowe. We want to thank her for that. That is why she is being persecuted because of her good deeds. She is the First Lady who is not afraid. She built an orphanage at Mazowe which is helping our orphans to go to school. We know that there are these other First Ladies, who do not have that, instead they wait for things to happen. Our First Lady shows us through her deeds that she is a mother. We know that she does all this because of the President.
She really supports our President. We want to thank her for that.
Because of this chairmanship, we know that SADC is going to develop.
We know that these sanctions have caused other nations to be colonized by the enemy but when we were under sanctions, our
President thought of other ways. That is when he brought the Look East Policy and we now have our friends in the East. So we know that our country is going forward even if they thought that it would affect the army and police. They thought that the people of Zimbabwe would arise against their President but we did not do that. Instead, our President looked for new friends from the East. So, we want to thank him for the wisdom and intelligence that he was given.
We want to thank him even through the sanctions, that our education, our literacy rate is very high. Our education is rated highly. I was very happy when our ‘O’ Level results came out, the girl child was 74% and the boys 64%. You will not even think that we are under sanctions. Our country is defended and we will fight for it. We want to love our country just as our President. Even if things are difficult, we will go forward as long as we remain united as the people of Zimbabwe. If we move as one family, we will move forward even when we are facing all those challenges. Our army is doing a great job and our education is rising high.
Again, we want to thank the First Lady, Dr. G. Mugabe. We know that she was not feeling well but we pray that the Lord will heal her and that she will bring new things and development to our country. We wish her a long and good life. We know that as Senate, when we are in our
Thematic Committees, we will have a chance to go there as Peace and Security Committee because it is part of the AU. I think we will be given an opportunity to go and learn about the peace and security at the AU because our President is now the Chair. We believe that our President is going to give us that opportunity. Thank you.
SENATOR. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
- MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th February, 2015.
On the motion of SENATOR MATHUTHU, seconded by SENATOR MUMVURI, the Senate adjourned at Five Minutes past
Four o’ clock p.m.