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SENATE HANSARD 18 OCTOBER 2023 VOL 33 NO 8
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 18th October, 2023
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APPOINTMENT TO THE CHAIRPERSON’S PANEL
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the Senate that the following Hon. Senators have been nominated to serve in the Chairperson’s Panel:
Hon. Sen. Chief Mtshane Khumalo;
Hon. Sen. A. Dube;
and Hon. Sen. E. Kambizi;
APPOINTMENT TO THEMATIC COMMITTEES
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the Senate that the following Hon. Senators have been nominated to serve in the following Thematic Committees:
Gender and Development: Hon. Sen. Ndebele S (Chairperson); Hon. Sen. Chief Chikwaka; Hon. Sen. Chief Mtshane Khumalo; Hon. Sen. Chinyanga, B.; Hon. Sen. Fanuel, R.; Hon. Sen Kadungure, D.; Hon. Sen. Kambizi, E.; Hon. Sen. Katumba, M.; Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa, R.; Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa, N.; Hon. Sen. Ndlovu, Rittah; Hon. Sen. Ngwena, M.; Hon. Sen. Rungani, A.; Hon, Sen. Shiri, A.; Hon. Sen. Tome, V.; Hon. Sen. Wunganayi, T.;
HIV and AIDS: Hon. Sen. Tongogara, A. K. (Chairperson); Hon. Sen. Chakabuda, M.; Hon. Sen. Chief Khumalo, Hon. Sen. Chief Mapungwana; Hon. Sen. Chief Matsiwo; Hon. Sen. Chief Nyangazonke; Hon. Sen. Chief Nyamaropa; Hon. Sen. Chief Siansali; Hon. Sen. Dube, A.; Hon. Sen. Gwature, M.; Hon. Sen. Mohadi, T.; Hon. Sen. Ndlovu, M.; Hon. Sen. Nyathi, E.; Hon. Sen. Phuthi, M.; Hon. Sen. Zhou, I.; Hon. Sen. Hungwe, O.;
Sustainable Development Goals: (check chairperson) Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe; Hon. Sen. Chief Mapungwana; Hon. Sen. Chief Masendu; Hon. Sen. Chief Mathupula; Hon. Sen. Chief Siansali; Hon. Sen. Fanuel, R; Hon. Sen. Maondera, W; Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa, N; Hon. Sen. Muzenda ,T. V.; Hon. Sen. Ncube, M; Hon. Sen. Tome, V.; Hon. Sen. Zhou, I.;
Human Rights: Hon. Sen. Mavenyengwa, R. (Chairperson); Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira; Hon. Sen. Chief Chitanga; Hon. Sen. Chief Masendu, Hon. Sen. Chief Mathupula; Hon. Sen. Chief Ngezi; Hon. Sen. Gotora, J. C.; Hon. Sen. Magunje, T.; Hon. Sen. Makamba, J.; Hon. Sen. Moyo, S.; Hon. Sen. Mupfumira, P.; Hon. Sen. Muzenda, T. V.; Hon. Sen Shiri, A.; Hon. Sen. Timba, J.; Hon. Sen. Tsomondo, B.; Hon. Sen. Zindi, I.;
Peace and Security: Hon Sen. Zindi, I. (Chairperson); Hon. Sen. Chabuka, K.; Hon. Sen Chief Chireya; Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa; Hon. Sen. Chief Matsiwo; Hon. Sen. Chief Ngezi; Hon. Sen. Chief Ngungumbane; Hon. Sen. Chief Nyamaropa; Hon. Sen Chief Nyangazonke; Hon. Sen. Chinyanga, B.; Hon. Sen. Kambizi, E.; Hon. Sen. Magunje, T.; Hon. Sen. Maondera, W. R.; Hon. Sen. Ndlovu, Richard M.; Hon. Sen. Rungani, A.;
Indigenisation and Empowerment Hon. Sen. Moyo, S. (Chairperson); Hon. Sen. Bimha, M.; Hon. Sen. Chakabuda, M.; Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa; Hon. Sen. Chief Nechombo; Hon. Sen. Chief Nhema; Hon. Sen. Kadungure, D.; Hon. Sen. Makamba, J.; Hon. Sen. Matamisa, E.; Hon. Sen. Ncube, D. M.; Hon. Sen. Ndebele, S.; Hon. Sen. Timba, J.; Hon. Sen. Tongogara, A. K.; Hon. Sen. Wunganayi, T.; Hon. Sen. Zvidzai, S.;
Climate Change: Hon. Mupfumira, P. (Chairperson); Hon. Sen. Gotora, J. C.; Hon. Sen. Chabuka, K.; Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira; Hon. Sen. Chief Chitanga; Hon. Sen. Chitsamba, J.; Hon. Sen. Gwature, M.; Hon. Sen. Katumba, M.; Hon. Sen. Makamba, J.; Hon. Sen. Maluleke, O.; Hon. Sen. Matamisa, E.; Hon. Sen. Mohadi ,T.; Hon. Sen. Ncube, D. M.; Hon. Sen. Ndlovu, Rittah; Hon. Sen. Phuthi, M.; Hon. Sen. Tsomondo, B.
Indigenisation and Empowerment
Hon. Sen. Moyo (Chairperson), Hon. Sen. Bimha M., Hon. Sen. Chakabuda M., Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa, Hon. Sen. Chief Nechombo, Hon. Sen. Chief Chikwaka, Hon. Sen. Chief Chireya, Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe, Hon. Sen. Chief Nechombo, Hon. Sen. Chief Nhema, Hon. Sen. Chitsamba J., Hon. Sen. Hungwe O., Hon. Sen. Ndlovu M., Hon. Sen. Ngwenya M., Hon. Sen. Nyathi E., Hon. Sen. Rebecca F., Hon. Sen. Tongogara A., Hon. Sen. Zvidzai S..
I think these are the Committees.
CHANGES TO MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL STATUTORY BODIES
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I further have to inform the Senate that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders has revised the membership to international Parliamentary statutory bodies as follows:
African Parliamentary Union – Hon. T. Gezi, Hon. T. M. Karimazondo, Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe, Hon. S. Matsunga.
Inter Parliamentary Union – Chief Mutshane Khumalo, Hon. Sen. Muzenda, Hon. A. Maunganidze, Hon. J. Nyevera, Hon. T. Karikoga, Hon. G. Ostalos Siziba, and Hon. J. Tobaiwa.
OACPS EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and EU Africa Parliamentary Assembly – Hon. Gen. Rtd. Nyambuya, Hon. P. Moyo, Hon. Adv. Madzimbauto.
Pan African Parliament – Hon. Sen. Chief F. Z. Charumbira, Hon. P. Togarepi, Hon. Tafanana Zhou, Hon. E. Masuku and Hon. J. Hadebe.
SADC Parliamentary Forum – Hon. T. Nyabani, Hon. Mugomo, Hon. Sen. Chief Matsiwo and Hon. L. Karenyi.
Association of Senates Shoora and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World ASSECA – Hon. M. Bimha, Hon. P. Mupfumira, Hon. J. Z. Timba, Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Madam President, I move that Order Number 1 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2022
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for the year 2022.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Thank you Madam President for allowing me to say a few words on the motion that was brought to this House by the Hon. Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary affairs. Mr. President Sir, firstly, I would like to applaud the Commission for the job that they did during the period under review especially when we consider that the country was just recovering from a period under the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. President, the Commission had 253 cases that needed to be investigated during the same period and out of that, the Commission managed to investigate 157 case and 134 cases were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority. Due to limited resources during that time under review where resources were being diverted to cover COVID-19, I think in all honesty, the Commission did what any other commission would have done.
Mr. President, I also want to commend the Commission on the improvement on engagement between the Commission and the NPA that saw 72% conviction rate. For the cases that were referred to the NPA, at least 72% of them resulted in convictions. For example, I will talk of the former Secretary of Mines and Mining Development and the conviction of three senior officers from the Vehicle Inspection Department. These are high profile convictions and such convictions give confidence to our people.
Mr. President, the Commission also carried out awareness campaigns throughout the country, but mainly in six provinces. They carried out awareness campaigns totaling to 28 in rural areas and 16 in urban areas. That was quite a number, especially when you look at the limited resources the Commission had.
On the issue of decentralisation, it is not complete as yet, but the Commission is decentralising to provinces. As I speak, it has decentralised to six provinces although four are still outstanding. The aim is to have ZACC offices in all the provinces and if possible all the districts in the country to increase its visibility and reaction time to cases that would have been reported to ZACC.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Members, you are reminded to put your gadgets on silence or better still switch off your gadgets.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Mr. President, I was talking about decentralisation of ZACC offices. If we look at the cases that were reported by provinces, the numbers will tell a story. Harare alone where the head office is had 481, but if you look at other provinces that had not been decentralised, we will see that Mashonaland East had only eight cases, Matabeleland North, two cases and Matabeleland South, one case. It is not that cases were not there, but I think because it has not been decentralised to such areas, no wonder why the cases are quite limited, hence the need to accelerate the decentralisation process.
Mr. President, allow me to talk of the anti-corruption strategy. I will talk about three only and then I will give a comment at the end. One of the strategies is to increase public demand for transparency and accountability and rejection of corruption in Government offices, ministries, agencies and State owned enterprises. The second strategy is to ensure protection of whistleblowers and victims of corruption and to engage active participation in anti-corruption efforts by members of the public. Thirdly, recover assets and proceeds from corruption crimes, compensate damages afflicted on the State and corruption victim individuals and institutions inclusively.
If we look at these three strategies, Mr. President, it tells us that the Commission has an uphill task to make sure all these three strategies are carried out, hence I would like to make a few recommendations. Mr. President, there is need for the Commission to employ highly qualified and talented personnel to carry out this strategy.
When I went through the report, it also tells us that there are still a number of vacancies in the Commission that have not been filled. I feel that the Commission must engage the powers that be and be allowed to fill all the vacant posts so that work can go on properly
There is need for the Commission to speed up decentralisation of its offices down to the district so that its visibility is increased.
Mr. President, having pointed out these few things, I hope all Senators will agree with me, something is happening in the Commission that is worth talking about, especially when we look at the period under review where the Commission had to make-do with very little resources. I know we cannot end corruption abruptly, but at least we can reduce and get to a certain stage that is at least reasonable. On that note, Mr. President, I feel the report is worth adopting. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): Mr. President Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 19th October, 2023.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY FOR THE YEAR 2022
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the National Prosecuting Authority for the year 2022.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Minister of Justice for the report presented which covers our judiciary system or records, the process of how the dockets are processed through the prosecution system as the suspects await judgements. I wanted clarification because according to this report, there are 50 prosecutors that have since been trained in Manicaland and Masvingo only. Since in this country we have 10 provinces, what is going to happen to the rest of the provinces? Are there any plans to train prosecutors in the provinces? The reason being it is important that when someone is employed and they are told what they are expected to do, it is helpful and people tend to deliver better under such instructions.
The other thing Mr. President is, according to the report on Chapter 2, we need clarification when they say economic crimes, what do they mean because some of the crimes that are committed are not clearly stated?
The other thing is on Section 5, there is litigation on sexual offences. my opinion is, the Minister must explain clearly on this section because that has to do with a hot issue of rape in this country, gender based violence which applies to both women who are beaten by their men or the other way round. People continue suffering and they do not get remedy from that law. We need clarification because we have people who do not get remedy from this law. Anything that affects children also affects every parent in this country. Mr. President, with these few words, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to just add a few observations that I found in this report that was reported by the Minister of Justice on the National Prosecuting Authority. Mr. President, whenever we talk about NPA, we should put into consideration the issue of the budget. You will find that this Authority prepared its budget fully but unfortunately, the funding could not suffice for them to cover all the plans that they had. So, it becomes very difficult even to say this was not done or accomplished because they did not have the funding. Those who had a chance to look at their report found that according to the graphs that they had put on termly basis, they could not even cover any of their plans except that they carried over everything that they were doing. We hope that during the budget period, their outstanding plans will be catered for so they can be implemented to enable the Authority to carry out its duties.
The Authority also indicated the shortage of staff and said that many prosecutors had left the organisation and they do not know what transpired. They also talked about the trained personnel that was trained in Mutare and Masvingo. We would also want to know whether those 50 workers or trained staff were deployed to other provinces or not because the training venue might not matter a lot as long as they are covering all the provinces. Mr. President, I think with those few words, I would like to thank you.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE PROVINCE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 19th October, 2023.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. I am pleased to contribute to the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa. May I also, on the onset, appreciate the movers of the motion, Hon. Sen. Kambizi and Hon. Sen. Shiri. May I also, like other Senators who have spoken before me, congratulate the President for wining thunderously and emphatically in the elections. The people of Zimbabwe have spoken and all dissenting voices must shut up. The country needs to move forward.
It is quite pleasing Mr. President that during the elections, our President Cde. Mnangagwa crisscrossed the country from North to South and East to West preaching unity and development. He also was emphatic in terms of violence. These were some of the most free and peaceful elections which we have experienced in years and we must commend the people of Zimbabwe. Under the President, Dr. Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe will always remain a crucible of peace, unity and development as epitomised by the work which has been done by the Second Republic from 2017.
Mr. President, His Excellency Dr. Mnangagwa was able to articulate his views clearly in His SONA. He outlined that the first pillar of development is agriculture. Zimbabwe has always been an agro-based economy. Thanks to the efforts by the Second Republic, we are now food secure. This has been one of the greatest achievements of the Second Republic which must be celebrated. It is important to continue investing in agricultural research, irrigation, extension services and climate smart agricultural practices.
The effort to drill 35 000 boreholes in villages will go a long way in developing nutrition gardens and establishment of village agro-business units (VBUs). The Government has already set up a number of VBUs and also school business units SBUs throughout the country, I think well over a hundred now. These registered rural development enterprises are meant to boost economic activity and improved livelihoods in rural communities.
There are typically one hectare plots equipped with irrigation systems, green houses and other agricultural infrastructure where villagers produce agricultural products which are then sold to ready markets. The VBUs programmes were launched by His Excellency the President at Jinjika Village in Mangwe District, Matabeleland South in 2021. Like I have said Mr. President, these have now been replicated in many areas of the country and they actually number over a hundred.
The second pillar which underpins our economy is mining. This sector accounts for more than 60% foreign currency receipts annually and 13% of the GDP. In terms of mining, as pointed out by the President, we are now a 12 billion dollars economy compared to 2.8 billion dollars in 2017. Our country has serious potential in this area and is a hedge of many other countries.
The President also touched on devolution. Devolution funds are a game changer with the potential to propel development in marginalised areas. The funds have allowed local authorities to implement various projects in their areas of jurisdictions such as schools, clinics and dip tanks. I therefore call upon local authorities to have investment ready projects so that the received funds can be deployed to mitigate inflation. Mr. President, for the development to be effective, we need to quickly operationalise provincial councils and metropolitan councils so that they can superintend over these funds.
Let me now turn to the legislative agenda as outlined by His Excellency the President. I will touch on only two very important outstanding Bills which were carried over from the 9th Parliament. The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill and the Private Voluntary Organisation Bill. The 1931 Mines and Minerals Act is now archaic. There has been a lot of transformation in the mining sector which might actually be captured by the new Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill to be tabled in the 10th Parliament. Artisanal miners need to be properly regulated and empowered. Disputes in the mining sector tend to be cumbersome to resolve. There is conflict between agriculture and mining activities. I hope and pray that the amendment will simplify and properly interrogate the interdependent relationships between these two important pillars of our economy, mining and agriculture.
The PVO Amendment Bill is now long overdue Mr. President. During the recent elections, we witnessed some of the activities of certain NGOs and PVOs. As a country, we cannot accommodate those actions of theirs which are bent on sowing seeds of disunity within our country. They need to be regulated. We remain strongly anchored as a country to the values and ethos of the liberation struggle and we cannot just allow outsiders to come through the back door using PVOs.
In his Address, the President alluded to the much anticipated Climate Change Bill. To quote the President, he said: “the much anticipated Climate Change Bill seeking to regulate regional gasolations and facilitate the low carbon development technologies should be thoroughly debated towards strengthening funding mechanisms”. Let me put this into perspective Mr. President. Tropical Cyclone Idai hit Zimbabwe on the 15th and 17th March in 2019. The experience had never been seen or recorded in our living memory in Zimbabwe. These rains caused catastrophic damage in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts destroying livelihoods, homes, road networks, schools and water points. An estimated 600 000 people were affected and many lost their lives. This illustrates graphically, the impact of climate change caused by greenhouse gases.
The most anthropogenic greenhouse gases are methane and carbon dioxide. The effects of human caused global warming are happening now and are irreversible for people alive today and will worsen as long as humans add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere which envelope the earth and stop some along the way to go through. Global temperatures, Mr. President, rose by 1,1℃ from 1901 to 2020. These are a lot of gases; they might seem less, but they are a lot. Sea levels are rising by 3 mm per year. Unless we take mitigatory actions now, the earth will continue to warm and the effects will be too profound to contemplate.
We need to act now in terms of the usage of fossil fuels, burning coal in power stations, recovering on some of the emissions, the use of diesel engines and transforming or moving to the usage of electric vehicles. We have to take action now, not later because generations to come are going to be subjected to some catastrophic weather phenomena; extreme droughts, highly intensive rainfalls and cyclones like Idai. Climate change is real and is here, and we are responsible for this earth we live on.
Mr. President, I would like to touch on something which affects us all as Zimbabweans, sanctions. The issues of sanctions are debilitating to our country. The sanctions are against the UN Charter Article 41, which precisely says sanctions can only be decided by the UN Security Council, but in this case, they were unilaterally imposed by the Americans, U.K and the E.U. We should all stand together as Zimbabweans to condemn sanctions because they affect all of us.
As we develop going forward in the Second Republic, let us be unsettled by sanctions so that the agenda as set out by the President can be fulfilled. We are now ready to govern and all the Arms of the State are ready to move forward; the Legislature, Judiciary and the Executive. Arguments which have since arisen in terms of our other colleagues have been overtaken by events. Let us all get together and correlate so that we can move the President’s agenda and vision forward, and in the end, we can achieve Vision 2030. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 19th October, 2023.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA), the House adjourned at Seventeen Minutes past Three o’clock p.m.