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SENATE HANSARD 18 OCTOBER 2022 VOL 31 NO 75
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 18th October, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE
PRE-BUDGET SEMINAR
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the House that the pre-budget seminar will be conducted from Friday 21st October to Monday 24th October 2022 at the Harare International Conference Centre. Hon. Senators who require accommodation will be accommodated at the Rainbow Towers and New Ambassador Hotel starting from the evening of Thursday, 20th October 2022. The Programme for the Seminar is being forwarded to Hon. Senators for their information.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 and 2 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
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. WATSON KHUPE
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on the passing on of the late Member of the Senate, Hon. Sen. Khupe.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Madam President, the death of Hon. Sen. Khupe was a big blow to us as a House and a Committee – especially the Gender Thematic Committee. Madam President, there are some people who are born with a good heart, Hon. Sen. Khupe is one of them. He was a lovable man who loved everyone. He was very empathetic towards people and he would always volunteer to help people. What I am saying was said by the majority of the people who went to pay their last respect when he died.
Everyone was giving glowing testimonies of the good deeds that the Late Hon. Sen. Khupe did in this country. We have lost a good man, I do not know if God is going to raise a suitable replacement in his mould.
He was development oriented, a patriot and above all, a man of the people who was very humble despite him being an oracle. I was deeply touched by his untimely death and I believe I am not the only one who suffered this loss. I rest in the fortitude that whatever it is we need in this country is also what God likes. I wish God would grant his soul eternal peace and let him rest in his bosom.
*HON. SEN. GWESHE: Madam President, I am also one of the people that were deeply hurt by the sudden departure of the late Hon. Sen. Khupe. I worked with him in the Sustainable Development Goals Committee. He used to perform his duty with diligence; I am not saying this because of it being a taboo to speak evil about a deceased person. Hon. Sen. Khupe deserves all the accolades that we are placing on him.
We once to traveled with him and our bus could not pass through but despite the odds being heavily stacked against him, he was able to reach the destination and we duly discharged our duties. He was a very knowledgeable person who was always willing to share his knowledge with others. He was a man of the people; I witnessed this by the multitude that came to mourn him.
Lastly, I would want the Almighty God to grant him eternal peace, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 19th October, 2022.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE 7TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIANS NETWORK ON DEVELOPMENT EVALUATION HELD IN MOROCCO
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation of the 7th Annual General Meeting on the African Parliamentarians Network on Development Evaluation.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th October, 2022.
MOTION
FOURTH REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON PEACE AND SECURITY ON THE BENCHMARKING VISIT TO THE PARLIAMENT OF RWANDA
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Fourth Report of the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security on the benchmarking visit to the Parliament of Rwanda.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. G. MOYO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 18th October, 2022.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF COUNTER TERRORISM HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE HELD IN ITALY
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Delegation to the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism High Level Conference on Parliamentary Support to victims of terrorism.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President for affording me the opportunity to add a few words on the motion on the report that was moved by Hon. Sen. Dr. Parirenyatwa, that victims of terrorism be supported. In this report, there are several countries including Egypt, Spain, Kenya and Italy, which means that terrorism is now a global menace, hence there is need to look for ways to ensure that those who are victims of terrorism be supported from their governments through parliamentarians who should come up with laws that should be enacted to ensure that such victims can be assisted and the modus operandi of assisting them.
The victims of terrorism among other things, suffer from lack of shelter, food, medication and their children do not go to school; the problems are too numerous to mention. Mr. President, at the moment, they are urging that there be ways to look for methods to support terrorism but I consider that we should look at the cause and when all this is done, we must put our hands together to look for a way to support victims of terrorism. What can they do to ensure that they put an end to terrorism because putting eradication to terrorism will be the solution?
We may enact laws that people should be given food and assisted but once terrorism is not stopped, the terrorists will continue perpetrating acts of terrorism such as bombing. When I saw this report, I observed that European countries are the causative agency of terrorism. They are the main sponsors of terrorism. I also observed that European countries and other developed countries have planes and they simply go and bomb these unfortunate victims. Others are attacked to an extent that they flee their countries and become refugees. People leave their homes and become refugees in other countries; they will just take with them a few belongings. The reason why countries terrorise other countries is that they are after their minerals. The other reason is that the terrorising countries will be against the elected Government and would want regime change. So they end up committing acts of terrorism.
Mr. President, the Italian President, the GH Chamber of Deputies succinctly summed it up by saying in their country there was terrorism but the victims to date are still suffering and they have not yet healed from this scary experience. It will take them a lot of time to become settled and it is a bit difficult. They also talked about the bombing of Nigeria and it shows that these developed countries do as they please. He also spoke against the war that is taking place in Ukraine. They are conducting this war because if they do that, the rest of the world will suffer because they are super powers and they cannot be bothered by that.
Mr. President, I would like to welcome the recommendations that were made by the Zimbabwean delegation that went to Rome. They observed that indeed, it is true that we may not have any acts of terrorism in Zimbabwe that are bombing our country. It was observed that there is a problem nearby on our neighbour’s doorstep at Cabo Delgado in Mozambique. They also urged the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the Ministry of Defence and War Veterans and the Ministry of Home Affairs are properly funded so that there is sufficient security in our areas so that if there are any insurgencies, they will find us ready for them and ready to protect ourselves.
When I observed the issue of the war Mr. President, I also observed that it is important. A stitch in time saves nine. It is better to prevent war than to have war because we will have a lot of casualties, loss of property and other things. The victims may not have sufficient support due to lack of funding. We have witnessed the difficulties that we faced when we had the Chimanimani disaster. Too many requirements were needed to assist our people in Chimanimani and as a country we were unable to carry this burden. Fortunately, we had other well-wishers who came to assist us so that our people could not be hard hit by the effects of the disaster. If it were possible Mr. President, our borders should not be porous. They should be properly and well defended. That would be good for us as a country.
Most of the time the people that are at the border areas are affected by such insurgencies and as a country we may not be able to assist all of them because of terrorism. The effects of the terrorists will be devastating because they are heartless people. They are just out to inflict pain on us hence they will bomb other people’s countries and cause people to suffer.
Mr. President, I would want to thank you for the opportunity that you have granted me to add a few words on such an important report that talks about the welfare of the victims of terrorism. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Mr. President Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 19th October, 2022.
MOTION
PROVISION OF FUNDS FOR COMPLETION OF DAM CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need for government to provide adequate funds for the completion of dam projects.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mabika who raised such a pertinent motion. The issue of climate change has brought about hardships in countries. Let us take an example of Zimbabwe’s rainfall pattern year in and year out. There was a time when we got good rains last year but it was just for a short period. Dams were field to the brim by the rains that fell last year but in terms of our harvest, Matabeleland, Masvingo, Manicaland and Midlands did not have good harvest because of a short rainfall season. Hence it leads one to be unable to plan their farming season. This is a global trend and at times we experience floods and then normal rains and it alternates globally. This phenomenon is now a problem globally. This is unlike what used to happen in the past. We would first receive rains around 15th November up until April the following year and people would do the farming and have good harvest. If there be drought, yes it would happen but we would use the signs of mazhanje tree. When the tree had many fruits, it would show that there would be hunger and they would take measures to ensure that we get good harvests.
The motion by Hon. Sen. Mabika urges the Government to have a change of tact so that if it was to rain for three to four weeks and they will not be more rain, there should be water harvesting through dams. The more dams we have in Zimbabwe -, the better for us. It is important that every province has several dams so that when it rains, all the water is captured. If it is going to be a short season, we will still have our dams full of water and we will benefit. Once we have water bodies filled with water, we will have a lot of irrigation schemes that can then sustain our country. We should not just rely on rainfall.
When the Committee on Peace and Security went around seeing the effects of the drought, every area we visited, we went to the GMB and we were told because of the irrigation scheme, they were able to harvest 10 tonnes. In Matopo, they had about 40 tonnes because of the irrigation. What it then means is that wherever there are irrigation schemes,, people were happy with their harvest because they were good. In areas where there are no irrigation schemes, such as Chivi, there was zero delivery of maize. A lot of places experienced poor rain season and produced 2 – 3 tonnes, and there was no bright future for the residents of those areas.
It is important that we have dams in this country and I need not emphasise the point. The large part of the Government’s budget should support the construction of dams so that every year we are able to count say five dams per season. It is a plan that the Government should take seriously into consideration so that going forward, we may not know what might happen to our weather pattern due to climate change. All these years, I have experienced hardships but it looks like this year it is going to be much more difficult. Thank you Hon. Mabika for such a good motion. She has a good vision and I urge Government to support it through deeds and the disbursements of funds by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Climate Change so that our tomorrow might be brighter and we may have food security. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MBOWA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to add my voice to this important motion that was brought by Hon. Sen. Mabika that was urging the Government to seriously consider the construction of additional dams so that we may alleviate our hardships with regards to water. It is an important motion to the nation. In my appreciation and support of the previous speakers that supported this particular motion that indeed and in truth, Zimbabwe was once the breadbasket of Southern Africa. Because of climate change, we can no longer plan or estimate; whereas in the past, we had defined seasons. These days we are not able to plan in terms of the rain season because the rain patterns have changed in terms of the onset and end of the rain season.
We want to support what Hon. Mabika said that the dams would help us in ensuring that the farmers and our crops are sustainable so that we can go back to our title of being the breadbasket of Southern Africa. Very few farmers who have water bodies are producing potatoes and water melons from market gardens shows that this is also aiding economic development of this country. The more dams we have in different regions will assist in people having irrigation schemes so that throughout the year, such crops are readily available and by so doing, we will have kicked out hunger. There is economic development of that particular area and the nation at large.
The Government should, through its budget, place priority on dam construction. As a Committee, we went to Mahenye and we found them very busy using the small dam in that area where wild animals and people were drawing water from the same dam. Three people had died due to wildlife and human conflict. There should be dams set aside for wild animals and those for the people. If there are water reservoirs and water bodies that can store the water, if it rains for a week for example, then the people and animals will not be in conflict in terms of drinking water.
Animals are also moving from their sanctuaries to drink water from people’s dams. Elephants and lions are not becoming common in places where people are settled as they will be looking for water. This motion is important and Government needs to look into it very seriously. This should be incorporated in the budget so that we have water bodies or dams. More so, this also helps in moisture content. The water table will be improved because of these water bodies.
Our water table is now very low. We had some people that were looking for water and their 200-metre water rig was unable to get water. They eventually got water at 260 metres which means the water table has now deteriorated. It has gone down. I fully support this motion that was brought by Hon. Sen. Mabika and Government should look into it seriously, containing water for animals and people for a long time which is unlike the case with boreholes. This will enable the people within the environs of the water body to live a good life.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 19th October, 2022.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA, the Senate adjourned at Eleven Minutes past Three o’clock p.m.