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SENATE HANSARD 18 August 2016 25-70

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Thursday, 18th August, 2016

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

PRAYERS

(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE

SENATE

CHANGES TO THEMATIC COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform

the Senate of changes to Committee membership. Hon. Sen.

Mutsvangwa will serve on the following two Thematic Committees: the One on Peace and Security and the other on Gender and Development.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE  THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to start by

thanking all the Ministers who have seen it duty bound to come to our Senate Chamber. Thank you for coming.

HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Madam President, for the opportunity. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, Hon. Eng. Matangaidze. Hon. Minister, may you inform this House on the progress the Ministry has made to date on the Disability Policy? I thank you.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): Thank

you Madam President. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for that very pertinent question. Right now, we are currently engaging the

Disability Associations with the intention of coming up and bringing to Cabinet the principles on the Disabilities Act. We realise that there are a lot of issues in the old Act which are not in sync with the constitutional provisions which we agreed on when we amended the Constitution. So, work is in progress I can even tell you that as late as four weeks ago, the Ministry’ staff were in Bulawayo engaging people living with disabilities. I thank you.

HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Madam President. My

question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. Minister, the experts are saying the imported used vehicles are causing pollution in Africa because of poor restrictions by the department like yours. I read recently that you had gone to Japan with a delegation to negotiate that used cars do come to Zimbabwe. I would like to know if in a delegation, do you take with you experts who will look into issues that will affect people by the importations?

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND

COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA): Thank you Madam President. The

question is very short and question is asking whether we take with us experts, which I would say yes we do. Thank you.

HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Maybe my question was too short. I wanted to know whether the aspect of pollution, when you go and negotiate for a deal when you know that the used cars are causing pollution in our countries, do you incorporate people that are experts so that you know the problems that are going to be brought by the deal that you are organising?

HON. MABUWA: I will just take the opportunity to clarify a number of things although she did not question them. Firstly, let me say that I am the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, not of Trade. That alone sets a different tone altogether. Industry and commerce means more than just trade. When I led a delegation to Japan, we were going for industry and commerce and not trade. The invitation for this delegation came from the Government of Japan, not only to Zimbabwe but to SADC countries. It has an annual event where Zimbabwe has previously participated and was visibly noticed because we had just followed the footsteps of His Excellency the President who had gone to Japan on a State visit.

The second issue is, all Member States of SADC had been requested to be accompanied by business persons. So, I had not gone to

Japan to look for deals to do with second hand vehicles. It was the whole gamut of both industry and commerce. The delegation comprised of 19 business people from small and medium enterprises as well as big manufacturing concerns. They had gone there to attract what we call Business to Business (B-B) discussions as the governments were exchanging their own in order for SADC to gain entrance into Japan in terms of both investment and the entire gamut of commerce.

Lastly, among the 19, the Business to Business delegation attracted the Japanese to deal in investment promotion, including dealing in commerce and it included those who attracted the Japanese in dealing with vehicles. If you go into detail about this Japanese – Zimbabwe deal on vehicles, it is not as you have put it Hon. Senator, to say that it is dealing in second hand vehicles. Yes, second hand vehicles are part of that deal but if you go deeper into that deal, it involves new vehicles and reconditioned vehicles where our own Zimbabwean technicians will go to Japan to learn how to assemble and recondition these vehicles here in

Zimbabwe, creating jobs.

Going exactly to the units that will come already assembled from Japan, we have a Motor Vehicle Policy within the Ministry. We do not even need to take the experts there to Japan but we need to conscientise the business people with whom we will be taking as they engage. So, everything is above board and they are in compliance with the Motor Vehicle Policy. If perhaps you want me to go into the Motor Vehicle Policy and what it says on emissions and pollutions, then that will take me a lot of time but be rest assured that everything is above board. I thank you.

*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: My question goes to the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement. What is Government policy on levies considering that when it started, levies on land resettlement were collected by councils but now you have taken over that revenue from the councils? How will they survive?

*THE MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL

RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MOMBESHORA): Thank Hon. Sen.

Manyeruke for that question because this is a situation which is vexing a lot of people. When land levy was first introduced, the development levy was paid to local authorities. It was also discovered that the council would levy according to the size of the land and yet these lands were controlled by the Minister of Lands.  What we have only changed is that the developmental levy is now taken by the Ministry which used to be taken by the Rural Development Councils. We had two persons who were confusing people as to who is supposed to be levying these taxes.

As a result, it was concluded that since the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement is responsible for distributing and evicting the defaulters, they should be in a position to collect the levies. The levy for A1 is $15 per family which has a field and is divided this way: $10 rentals and $5 development levy. In the A2 we have $5 per year: $3 rental and $2 development levy. As a result, the levies now being collected are going to the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement. When we have collected the funds, we give part of that money to the local authorities so that they can develop their areas.

We know of some local authorities who have said they are not receiving anything from the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement but we were simply following directives from Treasury that these local authorities should open bank accounts where these finances will be deposited. We had actually collected an amount nearing $1 million but we could not forward it to the local authorities because they did not have bank accounts. Now that they have these accounts, we are definitely channeling these funds to them. This was confusing the tenants because at one time we were approached by two if not three people, demanding tax levies from them but now it has been centralised. Thank you.

HON. SEN. MOHADI: On the same issue of levies particularly regarding the A2s, you find that we have an umbrella amount of $5 per hectare. Minister, according to ecological regions, we have people who are in A2s who have 200 ha of land whereas some have got conservancies which are more than 200 000 ha and A2s in region 5 for livestock whereby livestock is calculated at a rate of 1: 28. How do deal with such a situation?  I thank you.

HON. DR. MOMBESHORA: Thank you Madam President. Let

me thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi for asking that question because I have been asked this question almost everywhere.

We have these agro ecological regions which were mapped out at the time of colonization, but agriculture has evolved over these years and we actually find that you can be making much more money in those dry regions. I want to refer the Hon. Senator to the area where she comes from which is Beitbridge. We have got farmers who are engaged in wildlife and farmers who are engaged in citrus production, utilising water from Umzingwane River and Limpopo River – intensive agriculture and making millions of dollars.

After extensive discussions, we actually realised that the ratios that we are using today which you referred to of 1 beast to 28 hectares, we are wasting a lot of land. We should actually be reversing it and say 28 beasts per one hectare and it is very possible. There are now technologies where a unit which is about 8 metres by 3½ metres can produce green feed throughout the year on a daily basis to feed 150 beasts. I have gone to South Africa where I have seen these being produced. We want to encourage our farmers to adopt modern methods of farming and we are actually revisiting these maximum farm sizes which we had initially said in some of these semi arid regions they are as much as 2000 hectares as the minimum farm size.  We think we can down size these and give others land. That is where we are coming from and we are convinced that with good agricultural principles, you can utilise smaller land to produce quite a lot even in those areas which you are referring to.

When it comes to wildlife – wildlife exists in those areas and most of those farmers have not done much to change that environment. When you look at the cost which they get from those who do hunting – to hunt an elephant you can get a minimum of $72 000. When you look at the number of people who come and what they are charged per day, a minimum is $21 a day. A person would be charged $23 000. When you look at these earnings, it means those people have got the potential of making much more money than those who are doing crop production.

So, no one is disadvantaged. This is what we came up with and that is why we decided to put a blanket cover of $3 per hectare for A2, whether you have got 1000 hectares or not. For those who cannot afford to pay for their huge tracts of land, we are urging you to come to us to surrender the other pieces where you think you cannot manage so that we can give others land for production so that we can increase production.

*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: My supplementary question is that, since you are going to deposit the money into councils’ accounts countrywide, what about the chiefs who are the owners of the land?

What are you going to do to them?

*HON. DR. MOMBESHORA: What I can say is that, from all the discussions that we have held and what we have talked about, there was no amount allocated to the chiefs. Developmental projects are normally spearheaded by councils and that is why it was directed that these amounts be channeled to councils. At the moment, we are not very sure where chiefs come in when it comes to development of their areas.

If chiefs want to be allocated a certain portion of this amount, we urge them to use the channels which are there to air their grievances. For now the law says that it is the councils that look at developmental issues in rural areas.

*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development. What policies have you come up with to curb looting in parastatals? Recently there were reports indicating that millions of dollars were being siphoned from ZESA. I want to find out, what policies have you put in place so that you curb looting of resources?

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER

DEVELOPMENT (HON. SEN. MUZENDA): I would want to thank

the Hon. Senator for the question that she posed. As a Government we have put in place the Anti-Corruption Commission which has been mandated to look into corrupt activities. If a person engages in corrupt activities, there are law courts which handle these matters. You are quite aware that many things that come out of the media are just hearsay but as Government if there is evidence that corruption has taken place there are channels to follow and the law has to deal with that.

*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: You have said that some of the media reports are not true, but do you have committees that go out in full force to verify these reports?

*HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I think I have answered that question. Truly, if there is proof, yes, people are convicted but as a Ministry we are not the police and we cannot convict people based on rumours. If you are talking about our subsidiaries, they tell us that what is coming out of the media is not true. I thank you.

HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Thank you Madam President of the

Senate.  My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Dr. Dokora. Minister in recent times, we have heard parents complaining about being forced to buy uniforms with badges; an example is Christe Mambo High School where badges on the blazer, jersey and the other on the shirt for boys.  Is it your Ministry’s policy or is this something from local schools?  I thank you.

THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY

EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA):  Thank you Madam President

of the Senate and I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for raising that question.  I think the question of badges on school blazers is a matter for the schools.  Each school wants to pride itself and they sometimes even put a little motto below the badge as a sign of pride in what they do.

Some will even say excellence in all actions or truth, honesty and so on.  In terms of policy this is permissible; it is within the ambit of what schools are permitted to do.  I thank you.

SEN. HON. CHIPANGA:  Hon. Minister, would this then mean

that if a parent due to lack of money or capacity to buy all these items, decides not to buy these badges, will that be an offence leading to the child being punished and if that happens what will be the Ministry’s reaction?  I thank you.

HON. DR. DOKORA:  I understood the first question. I am trying to internalise the supplementary which appears to have informed the first question.  In our country today, we have institutions under the responsible authority of councils which are really another tier of

Government, so we could call them semi-Government - but they are

Government really.  We have those that we control directly, the Government schools and then we have Missions Schools under the responsible authority of mission churches; and then we have another category of schools in our country, that of private or trust schools.   Some of those trust or private schools are controlled by private companies, it could be mining companies and so on.  I am aware that in terms of institutional spread across our population, there are still huge gaps for provisioning of schools institutions which we have spoken to before and the kind of steps we are taking to achieve the balance.

So in a range of 4 or 5 different responsible authority types of schools, parents then elect to say I will send my child to a trust school.  If that is a little expensive, they elect to send their child to a Government or a local authority school or a mission school if they have particular preferences in terms of the ethics of bringing up children.  They can also send to a school manned by the Roman Catholics or some such church.

In answer to that question in fairness, the range is certainly available for parents to look at their pocket, consider the issues around the upbringing of their child and to try and create a fit for purpose choice.  I thank you.

+HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA:  My question is directed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce.  Minister, I want to know the progress made on the talks between Zimbabwe and South Africa about the import controls.  If there are any talks or any progress, may you please report to this Senate on the progress that has been made so far?  I thank you.

+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND

COMMERCE (HON. MABUWA):   Thank you Madam President of

the Senate for the question asked by the Senator in regards to the trade relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe.  On Zimbabwe and South Africa, you realize that they have relations that are called Bilateral Agreements that were signed in 1964.  Yes, we have had problems with the relations that we have when we agreed on the SADC protocol.  The SADC Protocol came with advantages and disadvantages that were in contrast to Bi-lateral Agreement.

Although they were not putting aside all the agreements that were made, Zimbabwe and South Africa for example - as Zimbabwe, we consider South Africa as the biggest trading country. We used to sell them our clothing materials that originate from our factories in Zimbabwe.  The SADC Trade Protocol has the rule of origin, for example the shirt that the Senator is putting, the Trade Protocol would want to know where you get the buttons and the thread that was used.  If the buttons and other materials that were used to come up with that shirt originated from Zimbabwe then the product will be considered as a Zimbabwean product.

We then said if you want to put aside the Bi-lateral Agreement, we would rather put aside everything that has to do with it, rather than picking other important issues or other issues that are highlighted from the Bi-lateral Agreement.   As Zimbabwe, we then agreed that we would rather go back to the Bi-lateral Agreement rather than picking some of the issues that are highlighted and leave the other issues.  There are certain codes that are used and import costs that are used.  There is a list that we were given by South Africa to check on certain issues that were now being too expensive when they are imported from South Africa.  We met with South Africa at technical level and at ministerial level every month.  This is also a sign that is indicating that we still have good relations.  We are also considering the Statutory Instrument No. 64. South Africa has indicated that we need to review on the Statutory Instrument and they were requesting that we review some of the issues that are highlighted from that Statutory Instrument.

They also highlighted that it is difficult for a country to say we originate all the things and we are not going to import.  We also asked them to look at our Statutory Instrument and not take some of the things that were highlighted from the Statutory Instrument.  We also agreed that after reviewing it as a nation, they should also highlight what they feel they are not comfortable with.  The Minister actually travelled to

South Africa and they agreed that the Minister from Zimbabwe will look at the list that was sent by South Africa and also South Africa will look at our Statutory Instrument so that at the end, we can still say South

Africa is our main trading partner.  They are also benefiting from us.

I will give an example that when you are going to a grinding mill using a donkey, as long as the donkey is not carrying that sack properly, you realise it will not get to the grinding mill.  I thank you.

+HON. SEN. BHEBHE:  Thank you Madam President.  My

question is directed to the Minister of Transport.  Hon. Minister, looking at our road from Bulawayo to Nkayi, only 40km to 45km was rehabilitated and we are approaching the rainy season.  I do not know if the Ministry has any preparations towards the rehabilitation of that road.

I thank you.

THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND

INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO): 

Thank you Madam President and through you, I want to thank Senator Bhebhe for that question.  Yes, it is true that the road between Bulawayo and Nkayi is in a very bad state.  I have travelled along it and we have identified those bad spots on the road.  We have started some work on it and still continue to work on it.  It is not only that road in the area but there are also other roads.

Our constraints, Madam President, you know the coming in into our coffers of the monies from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, they have not given us any money to attend to our roads so, we are relying mainly on the disbursements from ZINARA.  Also the disbursements from ZINARA are overstretched because we are looking at disbursements that are made to Rural District Councils who should actually be responsible for rehabilitating the roads, but because we realise that many roads in that district of Nkayi and many others are in a very bad state, we have decided to give them money to ensure that they attend to certain roads and as a Ministry, we also ask ZINARA to give us some funds which we direct at some of the roads in order to assist in attending to many roads in the area.  So, we were actually doing something about it.

I want to promise the Senator that we have not abandoned the project.  We will be coming to it.  The 40km, yes, but still the Rural District Council right now should also be receiving some funds.  If they have acquitted what we have already disbursed to them, we can complement each other through the Ministry, the local authority and also DDF.  The bottom answer to your question is that we are aware and we will be attending to the road as we have already started working on it.  I thank you.

HON. S. NCUBE:  Thank you Madam President.  I do not know whether I will pose my question to the right Ministry, the Deputy

Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, Minister Matangaidze.  Minister, when is Ekusileni Medical Centre going to be opened?  I thank you.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE):  Thank

you Senator Ncube for that question.  Just a brief background so that we are on the same ball path; Ekusileni Medical Centre belongs to NSSA and NSSA falls under my Ministry’s purview.  What had happened prior to it being dysfunctional was that we had contracted Phodiso through the Joshua Nqabuko Nkomo Trust to run the hospital.  That failed to kick off and so what the Ministry has now done, is repossession of Ekusileni Medical Centre through NSSA.

We have engaged the Ministry of Health and Child Care to look for partners to run that facility.  So that process – yes, was protracted initially to get Phodiso to release the keys to NSSA and for NSSA to now engage the Ministry of Health and Child Care to find somebody to operate the hospital. So that is the stage where we are at right now and there should be people with interest in running that facility.  We appreciate that it would really serve not just the Bulawayo Community, but the country as well if we get it running.  So, that is a priority area.  I thank you.

*HON. SEN. CHIMANIKIRE:  My question is directed to the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement. We want to know if there were any laws that were put in place or if there were any deadlines that if people who benefited from the land redistribution spend 10 years and do not occupy the land, then it will be repossessed because some have taken the land, but the places are still vacant up to now.  Some have relocated and you find that on that land, there are only workers like caretakers that are just looking after the place and are not engaging in viable farming because the owners of the land are not there.  So, if we look at those places, you find that in some areas there is no farming activities taking place.  My worry is whether there are people who are supervising, people are engaging in farming or whether the people are still interested?  Thank you Minister.

THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:  Before the

Minister responds maybe we need to remind each other again that we will get more out of the Ministers if we pose questions.  I understand why sometimes we need to explain before we pose a question, but then that eats into our question time.  So, may I please appeal to Hon.

Senators, as much as possible, to pose the question to the Minister. As you know, you can always bring up a supplementary question if you are not satisfied with the response.

*THE MINISTER OF LANDS AND RURAL

RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MOMBESHORA) Thank you

Madam President.  I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chimanikire for her question because we have come across it.  We have realised that there are so many farms which are not being used.  When land redistribution was done, there was no deadline set that if a person does not engage in farming at the stipulated time – because when we were given the land, we thought everyone had a passion.  I think, if I heard your question well, you are asking how we are seeing it as the Ministry, that some farms are not being used and others are being utilised on a small portion.

If you have heard us talking about the land audit, the land audit is there to help us as Government to have an account of how people have been resettled, how many have taken up the offer and how the land is being used.  We have figures which we are given by those who go out and supervise.  On A1, 98 to 100 percent are using their land productively and in A2, 45 to 50 percent are not being utilised.  However, what we are saying is that after the land audit, a lot of questions are going to be asked so that we have an overview of our land redistribution.  This will help the Government to plan.

Some of the things that are going to be looked into include how the land is being used, which is the percentage utilisation of the land.  The other thing that they are looking at is ‘take up’ because there are people who were given land and just gave up the land yet our records indicate that they are the occupants.  So, we want the land audit to help us on

that.

However, there are a lot of problems that hinder people from farming productively. So, we also want to find out the challenges that people are facing - is it money?  We know that when we took our land, that is when we were put under sanctions.  So, the Government was in a crisis when they wanted to help farmers.  Some of these farmers are not doing well, not by choice.  We know that the interest charges in our banks today are ranging from 20 to 35 percent and this has made it very difficult for farmers to continue and we cannot go and repossess that land from a person who had tried.  We also want to investigate that and find out the challenges.

Before the audit, as a Ministry, we have taken up plans to visit each and every farm which we have redistributed to farmers.  Firstly, we are looking at people whom we allocated land to investigate whether they are there.  We will not look what they are doing but find out whether they are there.  Secondly, we want to ascertain whether the infrastructure that was there like the boreholes are still intact so that we do not compensate things which are not there.  The people who removed property should compensate.  So, we have started with Mashonaland Central and teams have completed and we are looking at their report which they have submitted so that we plan ahead.

Today, we started training teams which will be going out; 10 teams are going to Mashonaland West whilst 10 teams are going to

Mashonaland East.  When they are through, they will bring their reports and we look at them.  What we know is that there are people who did not take up the land and we will repossess that land and redistribute it.  There are also people who took large acres of land beyond the maximum and we want to go and cut the land so that it is redistributed to other people.  So, we have it in mind to make things well, but what hinders our progress is lack of resources to go there.  If we had resources, we would have gone there.  We are doing it slowly but we will get there.

We will give you a full report.  Thank you so much.

*HON. SEN. MARAVA: Thank you Madam President.  I wanted

to ask this supplementary because it is very important.  Hon. Minister, what are you doing with multiple farm owners?  We know that those who have big farms, you are going to cut them, but those who are multiple farm owners, what are you doing?  Is there anything tangible that you have done so far?

*HON. DR. MOMBESHORA: Thank you Madam President.  I

also want to thank the Hon. Senator for your question.  The multiple farm owners, if we are seated, we do not know where they are, but if there are people who have that information, they should give it to us and we will visit them and look in our books and computers.  However, I know that those who have multiple farms, when they heard about this audit and that the Government was not happy, most of them went and changed ownership to their children and grand children.  This means that you can look at me as Hon. Mombeshora doing my farming activities on

Hon. Chimutengwende’s farm.

However, if you visit the records, you will find that Hon.

Chimutengwende will be the owner of the farm but we will be related.    To then go and confront people on such issues is very difficult because the law allows us to look for people who can help us or engage a manager. However, if you have information, provide it to us.  What we normally do is that if you supply us with names, some people who have a farm in Mashonaland East, may go and acquire another farm in Matebeleland.  So, in the database of Mashonaland East, that person will be recorded as having one farm, but if we are given the identification certificate of that person and we feed it into our computer, it will bring out all the details.  Some people lie and what we do these days is that if we come across the identification of that person, we visit the Registrar’s Office and ask for the name of that person.  We have realised that the names that are coming out of our records and the names at the

Registrar’s Office are different.  So, a person may be occupying the farm but would have used another name to acquire it.  However, we are saying that if we find out that you own two farms, we will take one and leave you with another, but it is very difficult to ascertain that and we need your help by supplying us with the information so that we do our job.  Thank you.

+HON. CHIEF GAMPU: Thank you Madam President.  My

question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.  We have seen that there are taxi wars which are very vicious in South Africa and we would not want to witness this in Zimbabwe.  However, in Bulawayo, we have Tshova Mubaiwa, Transit and BUPTA, these are associations of commuter taxis but the point is that Tshova Mubaiwa was introduced by the late Vice President Joshua

Nkomo to operate from Coudry Park but the council workers are now at war with them in Coudry Park and Luveve, denying them permits to operate, yet this is the place where they were established following the intervention of the Vice President Nkomo.

The residents of Luveve and Cowdry Park are in love with Tshova Mubaiwa and they like the service but we suspect that there was some form of corruption in Bulawayo.  So, how is Government going to intervene and create peace in the commuter taxes in Bulawayo?  I thank you.

THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND

INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):

Thank you Madam President.  I want to thank Senator Chief Gampu for that very important question but also very difficult for me to answer but I will try.  The Ministry of Transport is responsible only for issuing permits for using the routes that any applicant would have applied for.  As regarding transport within the cities like Bulawayo, the responsibility of the administration of transport within that metropolitan area falls under the Ministry of Local Government, therefore your question should be directed to the Minister of Local Government Public Works and National Housing, who administer Municipalities and they are responsible for transport arrangement within the cities.

My role and that of the Ministry is only to issue permits.  What happens in the city centres like Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Chinhoyi, Mutare, and Masvingo as far as congestion of Tshova Mubaiwa, Umushika shika and any other mode of transport is the responsibility of the Ministry of Local Government Public Works and National Housing.

I normally do not want to fail to answer induna but if it can be put in writing then the Ministry of Local Government can come and answer.  I thank you.

Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order Number

  HON. SEN. NCUBE: On a point of order.  I move that time for

Questions Without Notice be extended by Fifteen more minutes.

HON. SENATOR TAWENGWA: I second.

*HON. SEN. MAKORE: Thank you Madam President.  My

question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development.  These days we are receiving enough electricity, there is no load shedding.  So, may you please explain to the august House whether the service we are experiencing is due to the introduction of pre-paid metres or we are generating more electricity through the installation of new machines?  I thank you.

*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER

DEVELOPMENT (HON. T. MUZENDA):  Thank you Madam

President. I thank Hon. Senator Makore for this pertinent question showing gratitude towards the non-existence of load shedding.  On the use of prepaid metres – we are very grateful to the introduction of these pre-paid metres because people use the amount which they would have bought for and hence there is no wastage.  Not only that, we are importing electricity from ESCOM in South Africa especially in offpeak hours.  We are also importing electricity from Cahora Basa in Mozambique and this has helped a lot in alleviating the problem of electricity shortages.

The Hon. Senator talked about the Batoka Gorge, this is a long term plan which is in the pipeline and we hope that when these have been constructed and commissioned we will have enough electricity for domestic use and even export to other countries.  We may say we have sufficient electricity but this is due to the fact that our industry is operating at a very low level hence there is little requirement of electricity.

*HON. SENATOR MURWIRA: My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

What is Government policy regarding the illegal settlers in these areas.  The rainy season is just around the corner so what are you going to do regarding those people and I am looking at places like Chikomba which had been invaded by these illegal settlers?

*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT,

PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON.

CHINGOSHO):  Thank you Madam President.  Thank you very much for this question because this is a national problem because we have had people who are illegally resettling themselves.  Unfortunately, in some of these areas, they are settling in what is supposed to be the pastures for the locals.  I am sure if you had a look at today’s Herald it is giving a warning to these illegal settlers that the long arm of the law will soon be fighting them off that place.

We have also been advised by the Government that will set up a board which is going to investigate case by case, the problem of these illegal settlers, and they will be taken up to district  level. Tomorrow which is Friday the 19th, I will be holding a press conference in which I will be giving warning that dire consequences will be faced by those illegal settlers who are even crowding out the legal settlers  who were given land by the Ministry and even settling in the pastures.

We have said we are going to hold an awareness campaign using both electronic and print media for the next two weeks. We are giving these people a warning that they should move out of those places, because if they do not; we are going to evict them, and we are going to use our security personnel in moving them. We want this to be a warning to those who may want to indulge in this in future, because these people are destroying the environment and causing the siltation of our rivers and dams because of these illegal human settlements. Thank you for that question, and I have had a chance of explaining what we are doing as a Ministry.

*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. I am directing my question to the Hon. Vice President. We have noticed that when people are engaged in a demonstration we have the police exercising excessive force in controlling these demonstrators. My question is what is Government policy in dealing with such issues?

*THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF LUSCTICE,

LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.

MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam President for giving me an

opportunity to respond to this question. The role of the police is that they should not assault innocent people that are going about their daily chores without disturbing the peace. We should realise that a country has a police force which is used to maintain peace and order, and a country should also have a military force so that when the policemen feel that they have been overpowered by the people who could be working to disturb the peace - let me hasten to say the policemen of Zimbabwe are strictly forbidden to assault innocent people who are just sitting by going about minding their own business. I am appealing this Hon. Member to give me evidence that there were some innocent people who were assaulted whilst going on about their daily chores. – [HON.

SENATORS: Hear, hear.]-

HON. SEN. CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. My

question is directed the Hon. Vice President. What is Government policy    regarding the conduct of Ministers towards the Presidency, and I am asking this question in connection with the undressing of a Vice President, by a Minister. What is Government policy on that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF LUSCTICE,

LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.

MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam President. I thank the Hon. Senator for the question. Respect should not begin when you became a

Minister it must begin from home where you are brought up – [HON.

SENATORS: Yes, hear, hear.]- We should not sit down as a Government and say this must be respected and this must not be respected – [HON. SENATORS: Yes.]- Every Zimbabwean citizen from birth must be taught respect. I thank you. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear.

Hear.]-

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

POLICY REGARDING STREET CHILDREN WHO BEG FOR

MONEY ON ROADSIDES

  1. HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Public

Service, Labour and Social Services the Ministry’s Policy regarding children in the streets who beg on road sides with their parents.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR

AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): The

Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare considers a child who is living or working on the streets to be in an unsafe environment. The same applies to a child who is begging on the streets is deemed a child in need of care by the Children’s Act (5.06) of Zimbabwe. According to Section 2 (i) the child “who begs or, being a child, engages in street trading contrary to this Act or any other enactment” or 2 (j) “ who is being maintained in circumstances which are detrimental to his  or her welfare or interests.”

Government has set up Multi-Sectoral Taskforces for Children on the Streets at Local Authority level. The Task Forces are mandated to monitor the situation of the children on the streets.

The Harare Task force on Children Living and Working on the

Streets has observed a new trend in street begging in that of late, young mothers have been using children to beg at traffic lights and in the middle of busy streets. Some mothers also expose their children to the dangers of the streets as they sell wares on pavements or even run into the streets as they play. Another group is blind persons who use their children as guides as they beg on the street. Such actions by the parents are in contravention of the Children’s Act.

While the push factor into the street for the different groups is to raise money, children are in danger while escorting their parents to the streets. The law is clear that these children should play in the safety of their homes or should be in school.

With respect to children on the streets, the first option is their removal from the streets into places of safety. Between January 2015 and May 2016, The Harare Taskforce worked together to arrest 20 mothers for endangering over 40 children on the streets of Harare. The children were removed to places of safety. While the arrested mothers were given community service in 2015, of the six mothers arrested in

2016, three were found guilty of contravening the Children’s Act and were warned and discharged. The other three denied the charge and are still awaiting their court process.

Once children are safe within family environments, follow up support to link them with relevant support services in order to retain them in the families are provided. Some of the support includes:

  1. Free education through the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM).
  2. Free health through the Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO).
  • Specialist child protection services such as counseling and psycho-social support, and iv) Parenting skills to allow for children to be managed within the family and community.

The Government has also set up the Street Children Fund financed by both Government and Civil Society to fund organisations that offer care and rehabilitation services to children on the street. The funding facilitates the removal and rehabilitation of children from the streets and reunification with their families or foster care and institutionalisation. Some Civil Society Organisations offer free education to the children, so they do not fall behind with their education. Older children are offered vocational training in welding, carpentry, clothing design so that they are able to earn a decent living for themselves as they get older.

The children on the streets with their parents face various dangers and unmet rights and the Ministry is committed to help parents meet these children’s basic rights through social protection and child protection programmes. I thank you.

MINISTRY’S POLICY ON HOW CHURCHES SHOULD OPERATE

  1.   HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Public

Service,

Labour and Social Services to inform the House whether churches  understand the Ministry’s policy on how they should operate.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR 

AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE): The

Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services has no act or  policy that regulates how churches should operate. In fact, there are arms  under the church that can establish Private Voluntary Organisations and  can again expand to running children’s homes and old people’s homes  that have separate registration processes.

The Ministry implements the Private Voluntary Organisations Act

(Chapter 17:05). Section 2 (1) of the Act defines a Private Voluntary Organisation as anybody or associations of persons, corporate or incorporates or any institution, the objects of which include or are one or more of the following:

  1. The provision of all or any of the material, mental, physical or       social needs of persons or families;
  2. The rendering of charity to persons or families in distress;
  3. The prevention of social distress or destitution of persons or families;
  4. The provision of assistance in, or promotion of activities aimed at uplifting the standard of living of persons or families;
  5. The provision of funds for legal aid;
  6. The prevention of cruelty to or the promotion of the welfare of animals;
  7. Such other objects as may be prescribed;
  8. The collection of contributions for any of the foregoing; But do not include:
  9. Any institution or service maintained and controlled by the State or local authority; or Any religious body in respect of activities confined to religious

work; or

iii. Any trust established directly by any enactment or registered with       the High Court; or iv. Any educational trust approved by the Minister; or

  1. Anybody or association of persons, corporate or incorporate, the benefits from which are exclusively for its own members; or  vi. Any health institution registered under the Health Professions Act      (Chapter 27:19), in respect of activities for which it is required to           be registered under that Act, or vii. Anybody or association in respect of activities carried on for the      benefit of a hospital or nursing home which is approved by the        Minister; or  viii. Any political organisation in respect of work confined to political      activities; or  ix. The Zimbabwe Red Cross Society established by the Zimbabwe

Red Cross Society Act (Chapter 17:08) or

  1. Such other bodies, associations or institutions as may be prescribed.

HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I want to know from the Minister whether as Ministry since they do not regulate the conduct of the churches, do they not realise that the churches that do not have buildings churches, that go under the trees, you find that the whole bush has different churches which are splinter groups from the other main ones.

The issue of pollution, because they do not have toilets is affecting other people who have nothing to do with those churches. Do you not feel that you need to regulate where they should conduct their services in order to take care of our environment?

         HON. ENG. MATANGAIDZE: The two issues which come up

from the Hon. Senator’s question; a call for the Ministry to regulate freedom of association. That will be difficult from the perspective that the Constitution allows for freedom of association. The second issue you bring up Hon. Senator is on environmental pollution. I think the Ministry of Environment is well positioned to cover that through EMA and the relevant instruments which are there. I think we should go through the relevant Ministry. I thank you.

MEASURES IN PLACE TO INCREASE AWARENESS TO THE

PUBLIC ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVING ROAD SIGNS

  1. HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House on the measures in place to increase awareness to the public on the importance of observing road signs in the country.

        THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND 

INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):

Madam President, through the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, awareness campaigns are carried out in conjunction with the ZRP Press and Public Relations section.  The targeted road users include cyclists and pedestrians with special emphasis on set aside days on the Traffic

Safety Council of Zimbabwe calendar such as Pedestrian Safety Day,  Cyclist Safety Day and Public Service Vehicle day.

Madam President, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has joint programmes with the ZRP Traffic Training School as they educate the law enforcers on traffic laws including signs and signals. Defensive  driving courses are also run on a regular basis.  This is a driver improvement programme which covers a lot on road signs and signals.   A SADC Signage Committee chaired by the Traffic Safety Council of

Zimbabwe is running an educational programme whereby Statutory Instrument 41 of 2016 is being interpreted.

DISABLED PERSONS CROSSING ROADS

  1. HON. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Transport and

Infrastructural Development to explain how a disabled person can be identified by a driver when crossing the road?

        THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND 

INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GUMBO):  

Madam President, persons who are visually impaired use the road holding a white cane.  Drivers will give precedence to such people as required by international law.  The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has exhibited at Disability Expos where they share safety measures with the disabled.  Disabled persons, who may not be as fast as required when using the road, are taught to enhance visibility by wearing reflective materials together with any assistants that may accompany them.

Persons who are visually impaired use the road holding a white cane. Drivers will give precedence to such people as required by international law. The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has exhibited at Disability Expos where they share safety measures with the disabled. Disabled persons who may not be as fast as required when crossing or using the road are taught to enhance visibility by wearing reflective materials together with any assistance that may accompany them. I thank you.

POSITION REGARDING TEACHERS WHO LEFT FOR THE

DIASPORA BUT HAVE SINCE RETURNED

  1. HON. SEN. MOHADI asked the Minister of Primary and

Secondary Education, the Ministry’s position on teachers that once left the service for diaspora and have now returned.

THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA): Employment of teachers is

governed by Statutory Instrument 1 of 2000 (Public Service). Generally, persons that leave the service after giving adequate notice are accepted back on return provided they left with a clean record. Priority is given to those with Maths and Sciences and appointment will be subject to the availability of suitable vacancies.

The Public Service Commission issued a circular which bars those who would have resigned more than once from returning to the service and bars those who would have embezzled public funds or would have been involved in improper association with learners.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE SENATE

THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.

MNANGAGWA): I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 10 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 11 has been disposed of.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE SADC TRIBUNAL

    THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE,

LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.

MNANGAGWA): I move the motion standing in my name:

THAT WHEREAS Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that any international treaty which has been concluded or executed by, or under the authority of the President shall be subject to approval by Parliament;

AND WHEREAS the Protocol on the SADC Tribunal was adopted by the 34th Ordinary Session of the SADC Summit held in Victoria

Falls, Zimbabwe on 18 August 2014;

AND WHEREAS the entry into force of the said Protocol shall be conditional upon its ratification by the Member States in accordance with their constitutional procedures;

NOW THEREFORE in terms of Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid Protocol be and is hereby approved for ratification.

May I Madam President give background to this protocol. This SADC protocol is a result of the SADC Summit of Heads of State having declared the original tribunal of SADC null and void on the basis that the original protocol had allowed jurisdiction of citizens of member states to bring cases before the tribunal even in the cases where domestic remedies had not been exhausted or even where the highest court of a member state had ruled against a matter in its own jurisdiction. This was declared null and void as it impinged on the sovereignty of member states and on the supremacy of local or member states Supreme Courts.

The current protocol that has now been instituted and passed by the SADC Summit only allows breaches or disputes which arise between member states. Those are the disputes which have to be brought before the SADC Tribunal not where citizens breach their own contracts or transactions that such activities cannot come under the jurisdiction of a regional organisation like SADC except where member states themselves have a situation of dispute arising from commercial transactions, political relations or any other disputes which may arise between states then the SADC Tribunal will now have jurisdiction on such matters.

In terms of the protocol, it can only come into effect after at least two-thirds of the member states of SADC will have ratified the protocol or treaty. I am sure that every Senator is aware that we have about 15 member states of SADC who have approved this protocol but each member state has its own procedures to adopt or incorporate the protocol to be operative in their own domestic or municipal jurisdiction. In the case of Zimbabwe, it is necessary that this protocol must be ratified by the Parliament of Zimbabwe, that is, the National Assembly and the Senate.

I, therefore, present that this Senate approves the SADC protocol for ratification by Zimbabwe. I thank you.  

HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: Madam President of the Senate, I do not have debate as such but I would be grateful if the Hon. Vice President could explain to us why it would take two years for this to come before Senate?  In general, I have noticed that ratification of protocols take what I see as an inordinately long time before they come to the Houses.   I thank you Madam President of the Senate.

THE HON. VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF

JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON.

MNANGAGWA): Thank you Madam President of the Senate.  I am grateful for the question. Generally, we do not need kukandirana nyoka mhenyu but the issue is that

HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA:  That Shona missed me Sir.

HON. MNANGAGWA: There is no need for me to give blame to

another Minister, I will take responsibility.  What I am saying is that protocols or treaties, when they are concluded, fall under our foreign ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Once the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs has processed the protocol, then for purposes of piloting in Parliament it comes to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary

Affairs.  I am doing so because it has now come to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.  I thank you.

Madam President of the Senate, I therefore move:

THAT WHEREAS Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that any international treaty which has been concluded or executed by, or under the authority of the President shall be subject to approval by Parliament;

AND WHEREAS the Protocol on the SADC Tribunal was adopted by the 34th Ordinary Session of the SADC Summit held in Victoria

Falls, Zimbabwe on 18th August, 2014;

AND WHEREAS the entry into force of the said Protocol shall be conditional upon its ratification by the Member States in accordance with their constitutional procedures;

NOW, THEREFORE, in terms of Section 327(2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid Protocol be and is hereby approved for ratification.

Motion put and adopted.

MOTION

DETERIORATION IN THE ROADS AND RAILWAY

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alarming incidents of road carnage due to dilapidated infrastructure, obsolete vehicles and human error.

Question again proposed.

HON. SEN. MUSAKA:  Thank you Madam President of the

Senate.  I wish to wind up on my debate on this Motion.  Before I do so, I would like to thank all the Senators who contributed even those who had no chance to contribute, this topic was of interest to everybody, right across the divide of the Senate.  I thank Hon. Sen. Chipanga, for really giving an insight, depth and detail on what exactly the motion entails, that is anchored on a robust programme for road rehabilitation railway, air and road.  To make it clear the roads are there, the airline is there and the railway is there, except modernization, so I thank you Hon. Sen.

Chipanga.

I also thank Hon. Sen. Tawengwa for his insight and depth, I am grateful because of that debate as Hon. Sen. Tawengwa said.  I also noticed his observation, the commuter omnibus are no longer allowed to stop at the high school where one girl was killed.  I thank Hon. Sen.

Makore, Hon. Sen. Chimhini, Hon. Sen. Mumvuri, Hon. Sen. Maluleke,

Hon. Sen. Mawire, Hon. Sen. Machingaifa, Hon. Sen. Masuku and Hon. Sen. Timveos went further and gave statistics and detail; 456 accidents and of concern she gave in a lot of detail explaining what should be done on human error, inspection of vehicles and so forth.

So really, this was a well debated issue.  I also wish to thank Hon.

Sen. Goto, Hon. Sen. Bhobho, Hon. Sen. Makwarimba, Hon. Sen.

Chimbudzi, Hon. Sen. B. Sibanda.  Hon. Sen. B. Sibanda also added value to it.  There is an economic need on it to improve our roads.  Botswana is actually now constructing their road or they have already done so to go to Zambia.  So, we should act quickly.  I also wish to thank Hon. Sen. Gampu Sithole IV, he even suggested that let us develop the system where drivers are given merits and demerits and then if it is observed that you have exceeded or he is not obeying, he should have his licence cancelled.  I thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi and Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira even went further and actually suggested we are talking and talking and no action is being taken and he even suggested that let us one day sit together and see which Motions have been talked about for several times and not acted upon.

I also wish to thank Hon. Sen. Bhebhe, Hon. Sen. Komichi, Hon. Sen. Khumalo, Hon. Sen. Mashavakure, Hon. Sen. Chief Dandawa.  I thank all the Senators who supported my Motion and I am very grateful.  With those few remarks and acknowledgement, Mr. President, I move that my motion be adopted that this House:

CONCERNED at the alarming number of road carnage incidents on our roads which are as a result of dilapidated road infrastructure and obsolete motor vehicles coupled with human error due to flagrant breach of road regulations by unlicensed drivers;

FURTHER CONCERNED of the deterioration in the railway system in the country, a situation which is further compounded by the lack of efficient and economic air transportation system in the country;

ACKNOWLEDGING the need to establish a special budget or fund for upgrading an improving the transport system in the country;

NOW, THEREFORE, call upon Government to –

  • Embark on a robust modernisation infrastructure programme for roads, air and Railways which is user friendly and accommodative or goods, services and passengers at large, a situation which will eliminate road carnage substantially; and
  • Support the development of efficient and economic air transport as a matter of urgency.

Motion put and adopted.

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS

Second order read:  Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the

Presidential Speech.

*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA:  Thank you Mr. President

Sir, I would like to add my voice on this motion which was raised by Hon. Sen. Tavengwa regarding the Presidential Speech.

The President debated a lot of issues, but I am going to zoom in on two of those issues which were raised by His Excellency.  The first one is that His Excellency spoke strongly against corruption.  It has to stop forthwith and it has to be eradicated and uprooted and whosoever is indulging in this corruption should stop it.  His Excellency even said that the country is now in big problems because of corruption.  Whereever you go and want to get some services, there is some corruption and this becomes a national problem.  If it was my wish, I would ask members of this august House that as the leaders, we should hold our own campaigns in fighting corruption so that we can remove this cancer in the society and the best is, as Hon. Members, let us not be involved or indulge in corruption because it would be difficult for us to point fingers at others when we are involved in corruption, but I suggest that we live a straight forward life so that when people like us, like Hon. Maravanyika, people should be saying there goes an honest man who is against corruption.

The President also talked about agriculture and we have noticed that in the press, both print and electronic, there are a lot of discussions on development and agriculture, especially talking of command agriculture.  This can only take up and be successful if the inputs are brought to the farmers on time.  We also need to utilise the dams in our localities.  These have a lot of water and we need to utilise this water in irrigation programmes.

We have seen that the Government is now putting more emphasis on developing programmes of irrigation and in the command programme.  When the farmers have been selected and given the inputs, they should show progress, they should show bumper harvest and what we do not like to see is people in the high places taking all the inputs for themselves and denying those who are at the grassroots.  I am pleading with the Hon. Members that they should give guidance to people in their constituencies, especially those who have been resettled that if they are give these inputs, the implements, the fertilizer and the seed, they should use it for the right purposes and bring Zimbabwe to the bread basket status which it was.  We also pray for the President, that may the Lord give him eternal life.  Thank you.

HON. SEN. TAWENGWA:  Thank you Mr. President for allowing me and giving me this opportunity to wind up the debate on the motion in reply to the Presidential Speech presented to Parliament on 16th September 2015.  Allow me to convey my gratitude, my thankfulness and recognition to Hon. Masuku for seconding the motion and all Hon. Senators who contributed because it was several Senators who really contributed and if I were to mention name by name, I may eventually omit one or two.  So please, forgive me.

I am happy and elated, Mr. President, to note that most, if not all of the contributors were about nation building, raising concerns, raising the red flag when necessary, offering suggestions, applauding Government and demanding action because His Excellency had given us the road map; his vision which was a challenge to us as Legislators and Ministers.

The Hon. Retired General Nyambuya stated and I quote, ‘my prayer is that those who are charged with the task of bringing these Bills before Parliament do so with speed’.  I note that most of the Bills have been before us and were passed by this House and of course, concern remains on the realignment of laws to the Constitution.

Most of those who debated raised the issue of corruption which has become pandemic, really cancerous plague, spreading like the water hyacinth weed, they all said.  It did not matter from which side.  It was the whole House.  It was anticorruption.  One senator cited the example of the Beitbridge border post which he stated an average of 10 to 30 minutes to cross to the South African side, yet it takes two to eight hours on the Zimbabwean side and I wonder how the athlete Usain Bolt would feel.  He would crack his ribs, laughing if he thought that it only takes a few minutes to run that lap and hours on the other side.

The question is, is it the people who are manning these borders who are self serving as they are supposed to be offering an efficient service or this is how bribes arise, hence corruption by creating bottlenecks.  You create a bottleneck so that you are approached by somebody and jump a line.  That way, you are offering something to get ahead.  It is actually the mindset which is now with our people in Zimbabwe.  In Shona, they say, wakanda gonzo mudura  or gonzo rapinda mudura, the rodent in the granary.

Corruption is hardness of the heart, brutality, weakedness, decomposition, kuora kuyauku and impropriety.  The late National Hero, Eddison Zvobgo, once questioned where those people who were building houses which looked like hotels were getting their funding.  He was 100% right. Now, it is fashionable that people build ‘mini-

Monomotapas’ and mini- Mushandirapamwes’ and so on.  We applaud Government for its concerted efforts to address this scourge and hope that the National Code of Corporate Government Bill and the Anti Corruption Commission will bolster the fight against corruption.  We also note that the Office of the President and Cabinet is at the forefront of fighting corruption, which shows the President’s resolve to tackle corruption.

In his concluding remarks, His Excellency stated and I quote Mr.

President, “Let us channel our collective energies towards the development of our country guided by our Economic Blueprint, the ZIM ASSET.  This of course demands of us all to always cherish the crown values of peace, I repeat, the crown values, hard work and the unity of purpose, not corruption, hard work and the unity of purpose.  Corruption is not hard work” We are Zimbabweans first and foremost and therefore, let us shun tribalism or factionalism.  We should address the issues of

Zimbabwe holistically and enjoy the fruits of Zimbabwe as a nation.  As

Senators, let us remain focused on the development of the nation, not forgetting that we were elected to serve faithfully and listen to those we represent, for to hear is to obey.

Finally, Mr. President, let me applaud Government for its timely intervention by providing the much required food and supplementary feeding to those areas which were affected by drought to the vulnerable and to schools.  I also applaud Government for its various interventions in various sectors of the economy including the recently launched command agriculture, which if properly utilised by beneficiaries, will see us becoming semi-bread-basket of Africa in the near future.  However, in the mid-term or long-term, we will once again be the bread basket of Africa.

I also applaud the Government for the continued supply of power by ZESA, for which one member asked why it was happening.  This will boost production in industry and by farmers.  The establishment of the One Stop Shop Investment Centre should also be applauded for this will encourage the ease of doing business.  However, this is just to cite a few of the many things and various issues that Government has attended  and is attending to.  I would also like to thank the Almighty, the Creator, God, for the peace we currently enjoy in this country.  Allow me as well Mr. President, to salute His Excellency the President, Cde. R. G. Mugabe, the Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, for his love of Zimbabweans.  As such, he is working tirelessly to empower and ensure the betterment of our lives and living conditions.

Mr. President, allow me once again, to thank Senators for their contributions.  With that, I now move for the adoption of this motion.  I thank you.

Motion that a respectful address be presented to the President of

Zimbabwe as follows;

May it please you, Your Excellency, the President;

We, the Members of Parliament of Zimbabwe, desire to express our loyalty to Zimbabwe and beg leave to offer our respectful thanks for the speech, which you have been pleased to address to Parliament.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 2 to 7 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 8 has been disposed of.

HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

REPORT ON THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

SEMINAR HELD AT KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report on the Transformational Leadership Seminar held at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya.

Question again proposed.

HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Madam President.  I

would like to take this opportunity to wind up this motion, which created so much robust debate in this august House.  Mr. President, from the outset, as the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus, I would like to express my sincere gratitude from your offices to allow us to move this motion for the first time in the House.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following Members and many others who expressed advice and gave wonderful comments about this motion.  As the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus, we will take that advice very seriously.  Mr. President, it would be ungrateful for me not to mention the advice and suggestions which have added value to this motion.  Hon. Sen. Mohadi emphasised the issue of peace and security and women, so that women are champions of peace.  She also condemned gender stereotyping and advocated for equality in terms of equal leadership of men and women.  She talked about the challenges faced by women during campaigns, especially the fact that women have lesser resources than their male colleagues.

Hon. Sen. Chifamba emphasised on the issues of the girl child and child marriages and applauded Zimbabwe for adopting the legal age of marriage of 18.  There was so much vibrant debate on the dress code and discrimination.

Hon. Sen. Mumvuri emphasised the issue of principle of power, the importance of planning and being organised and also gender fairness in line with modern thinking.  We want to thank you Hon. Senator, it is important to look at gender fairness at all times.  He applauded women leadership noting that, he even went on to talk about the 90% of spirit mediums in this country that are women.  That shows how women are powerful and how good they are as leaders.  So, women can be wonderful leaders.

Hon. Senator Mapungwana stressed issues of women empowerment and unity once again.  Hon. Senator Chabuka emphasized the issue of women empowerment in leadership positions; she was actually commending these on-going capacity building workshops for women so that they can build confidence all the way through to our constituencies.

Hon. Senator Chief Musarurwa stressed out the importance of women urging them to be united, support each other rather than fighting.  Hon. Senator Mawire, I want to thank you. She emphasised the issues of women empowerment that if women are going to be leaders, if women are going to win in elections, they need to be empowered.  The issue of gender equality relating to the Budget was another issue she emphasised on.  Hon. Senator Mhlotswa emphasised on the issue of cultural diversity. She talked about dressing, decorum and also the need to manage cultural diversity.  She also mentioned the issue of regular women caucus meetings and I am glad this is an issue which has been taken up by the administration of Parliament. We hope that sooner or later, a day will be put aside where the women caucus can meet and digest all these issues.

Hon. Chief Chiduku emphasised on the issues of dress code and also talked about why always women parliamentary caucus go on their own and why not include the men and the chiefs.  He talked about including men in gender programmes and as women parliamentary caucus, we take that very seriously.  Hon. Senator Mashavakure emphasised on the issue of people living with disabilities so that their issues are also well articulated in these kinds of transformational leadership courses and also to include them in all modules. As women parliamentary caucus, we will certainly take that up very seriously.

Hon. Senator D.T Khumalo emphasised the issue of dress code once again, cultural diversity.  Hon. Senator Machingaifa, the issue of dress code was again a very important issue. The way we dress as ambassadors of Zimbabwe wherever we go will always bring pride to this country.

Hon. Senator Maluleke emphasised also on the issue of dress code and more on unity among women.  Hon. Senator Jadagu empasised the importance of women to love each other, to make sure that we support each other and to make sure that we vote for each other so that we have more women in leadership.

Hon. Sen. Buka emphasised the importance of these capacity building workshops and the importance of communication because as legislators, we represent people. We need to go down with what we learnt in our capacity buildings to make sure that we enhance our women even at grass root level.  We need to cascade all that information we learn through workshops.

This trip which we took to Kenya, we took 20 female Members of Parliament and it really gave us an opportunity to learn a lot. We are happy that we were able to share this with Hon. Members in this august

House.  It is only proper for me, on behalf of the Zimbabwe Women

Parliamentary Caucus to express our sincere gratitude to the

Government of Zimbabwe, to our Administration of Parliament for their support in making it possible.  We need more of these capacity building workshops so that at least we have more women, not just to be seen as a big number in Parliament but we want our women to be heard. Come

2018, we want more women in Parliament.

The recommendation which came throughout from those who contributed was that this kind of workshop, that is transformational leadership workshop, should be extended to all Members of Parliament, male and female.  I am glad we have already heard vibes that the Presiding officers and the Administration have taken note, especially after they listened to the interest which was shown in the debate of this report.  Mr. President, with that I now move that this report on Transformational leadership be adopted.

Motion that this House takes note of the report on the

Transformational Leadership Seminar held at Kenyatta University from 13 to 19 September 2015, in Nairobi Kenya. Motion put and adopted.

MOTION

ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE

HON. SEN. MASUKU: I move that the House do now adjourn.

HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.

THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT (HON. SEN. CHIEF

CHARUMBIRA): I have to say something about the date.  Hon.

Senators, I wish to explain that the Senate is adjourning to the 4th

October, 2016, while the National Assembly will return on the 6th September, 2016.  The Mid-term Fiscal policy that is to be presented by the Minister of Finance is only delivered in the National Assembly.  It is purely for this purpose that the National Assembly will meet and then immediately adjourn to the 4th of October.

Motion put and agreed to.

The Senate adjourned at Eleven Minutes to Five o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 4th October, 2016.

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