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SENATE HANSARD 21 June 2016 25-59
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 21st June, 2016
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE
DEATH OF MRS. CLEOPATRA JANI
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to advise
Hon. Senators that Parliament lost one of its officers Mrs. Cleopatra Jani who was P.A. to Mr. Samu. May I please ask the House to rise and give a moment of silence.
All Hon. Senators observed a minute of silence.
CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP ON SDGs
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I have to inform
the Senate that there will be a Capacity Building Workshop for the
Thematic Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from
23rd to 26th June 2016, at Amber Hotel in Mutare. All Chairpersons of Portfolio and Thematic Committees and Whips for Parties are invited. The buses will leave Parliament Building at 1300 hours on Thursday, 23rd
June, 2016.
INVITATION TO A CATHOLIC SERVICE
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I also wish to
inform the Senate that there will be Catholic Service tomorrow the 22nd June, 2016 at 1200 in the Senate Chamber. All Hon. Senators are invited.
Non-Catholic Members are welcome.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT ON THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
SEMINAR HELD AT KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: I move the motion standing in my
name that;
This House takes note of the report on the Transformational Leadership Seminar held at Kenyatta University held from 13th to 19th
September, 2015, in Nairobi Kenya.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Madam President. I am actually happy as a Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus to move this report. Through the support we have from Parliament and the Development Partners the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary
Caucus underwent training in Transformative and Inclusive Leadership at Kenyatta University in Kenya from 13th to 19th September, 2015. The training was funded by UN Women under their Gender Peace and
Security (GPS) Project, a five year initiative running from December 2012 – January 2017. The objective of the training programme is to support efforts of the Government of Zimbabwe and other partners on strengthening capacities to respond to gender, peace and security concerns in Zimbabwe. The programme is also aimed on focusing women’s participation at all levels of peace and security and policy making.
1.2 Madam President, as you know, the number of women in our Parliament has gone up from the last Parliament where we had only 55 women Members of Parliament to the current position where we have 123 women Members of Parliament. We are so grateful that we got this opportunity. The delegation was composed of twenty (20) members from the Zimbabwe Women's Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) and this is why we are quite happy that we managed to take a very big group because our intention is to make sure that all the female Members of Parliament have got an opportunity to go through such training. The Members who managed to go on this training were Hon Mangwende, Hon Jenia
Manyeruke, Hon Maidei Mpala, Hon Lucia Chitura, Hon Molly Mkandla,
Hon Lillian Zemura, Hon Tambudzani Mohadi, Hon Melania Mahiya,
Hon. Goodlucky Kwaramba, Hon Angeline Chipato, Hon Keresencia
Chabuka, Hon Maragret Matienga, Hon Teti Banda, Hon Concilia
Chinanzvavana, Hon Jane Chifamba, Hon Fanny Chirisa, Hon Siphiwe Ncube, Hon Jane Watson and Hon Jasmine Toffa. The delegation was headed by Chairperson of the ZWPC Hon. Monica Mutsvangwa. Three members of the secretariat accompanied the delegation, Mr Nesbert Samu (Parliamentary Programmes Coordinator), Ms Farai Hondonga (Secretary to the ZWPC) and Ms Linda Manyemba (Principal Public Relations
Officer).
2.0 Opening remarks
Training commenced on Monday 14 September 2016 with welcome remarks from Professor Saudi Swale who highlighted that the same programme had been held with Somalia, South Sudan and Tanzania and that training was meant to enhance leadership skills that will be useful to Zimbabwe and beyond.
2.1 The UN Women Regional Advisor of Peace and Governance,
Mrs J Odera
In her remarks, she informed members that UN Women was a firm advocate in women leadership and had realised the need to empower women for political leadership. She emphasised on the need to overcome some negative narratives on women such as the narrative “Aaaaah! women are their own enemies”. Members were urged to look at the positives and build on them. The Israeli motto which is known as the
DNA, meaning “Develop, Nature and Accelerate” was encouraged. Ms D
Nhengu from the UN Women Zimbabwe Country Office, Programmes
Officer on Peace and Governance also gave remarks and noted the historical challenges Zimbabwe has experienced and the importance of the workshop in meeting regional and global initiatives on gender equality. The Chairperson of the ZWPC also gave remarks highlighting the great strides Zimbabwe had made in terms of Women representation in Parliament from 18- 34% as well as gains obtained in the new Constitution.
2.2 Remarks by the Regional Director UN Women, Ms Christine Musisi
Ms Musisi gave remarks during the course of the training highlighting that Africa was the largest growing continent. She gave statistics noting that the growth rate in Africa was at 5% higher than the global average of 3%. In terms of mineral resources, Africa was said to have 30% of the world’s reserves but is not benefiting from them and in terms of arable land, Africa has 60% yet the continent experiences hunger. The reason for this deficit was cited in the leadership hence the need for transformation. A call was made for a change in the way we act and make decisions.
3.0 Transformational leadership training modules covered 3.1 Leadership and leadership styles
Ms Njoki Muhoho, the facilitator, defined leadership in terms of being able to influence, to have followers and doing the right things. Differentiation was given between a manager and a leader. Theories of leadership were also analysed such as the Traits theory which has to do with one’s personality, the Great Events theory which implies someone rising as a leader in crisis and bringing out leadership qualities and lastly the Transformational leadership theory. This theory explains that people can learn leadership skills.
The facilitator noted that in life, there are different groups of people, the introverts and the extroverts, the sensors and the intuitive, the thinkers and the feelers, the judgers and the perceivers and every person belonged to either of the highlighted two groups. In concluding her presentation, she highlighted that there is no right or wrong personality in life.
3.2 Transformative Leadership
Professor Catherine Ndungo took the participants through transformative leadership where she noted 5 types of leadership styles, namely, the Engaging, the Autocratic, the Democratic, the Laisse faire and the Narcissistic leadership. Types of leaders were also discussed who included the autocratic, entrepreneurial, motivational, inspirational and directional leaders. Transformational leadership was defined as, a leadership style focussed on revolutionary change in organisations through a commitment to the organisation’s vision.
4.0 Gender and leadership
This was also part of the course where key gender concepts were discussed as well as the triple roles of women that affect their participation in governance.
The need to have tools of assessment for self examination was emphasised such as the 360 degrees cycle and Johari’s Window. Indicators of women empowerment were also discussed as self-worth, self-confidence and self-reliance, solidarity voice and action with likeminded people to determine rights, economic independence, influence over decisions and freedom from abuse or exploitation.
The training was characterised by group work where members applied the various skills acquired during training to practice at the end of each day.
4.1 Transformed mind sets for leadership.
Transformed minds for transformed leadership was also discussed and the butterfly scenario of transformation was given. Attitude was noted as the main pillar affecting one’s way of thinking. Mindset was highlighted as having implications in both politics and governance. Members were advised to be good politicians who are open minded and not open mouthed, transparent, accountable and should utilise reason always as a tool. Participants were reminded that in politics, one does not need to work hard but to work SMART. Challenge was made for politicians to engage in SWOT and PESTLE analysis as leaders.
4.2 Gender and Governance.
The reason for understanding gender and governance were given as the need for equal participation and recognition of their right to speak and be heard. This was noted as a means of transformation. Decisions made were noted as having a huge impact on the ways in which women and men lead their lives. Governance decisions were noted as shaping how public resources are allocated and whether services take into account both women's and men's needs and interests. Good governance was encouraged and the results were listed as poverty reduction, equality, democracy, corruption free societies, promotion of social justice and gender equality and further realization of the rights of all citizens, accountability, transparency and inclusivity. Enabling more women to participate in governance will lead to gender responsive governance institutions and processes, with stronger systems of accountability and honouring international commitments such as CEDAW.
5.0 Gender mainstreaming in electoral processes
Merits of mainstreaming women's roles in electoral processes were noted as strengthening democracy, better observance of human rights, creation of equity and equality and providing transformative leadership. Members were also challenged to rope in professionals into politics as well as those from religious sects. The roles of political parties were discussed as governing, conducting oversight and representative. Challenges on institutionalizing affirmative action were also discussed which included, rooted patriarchal ideology, structures that have often supported the status quo, misinformation, misinterpretation of issues and lack of proactive and progressive strategies involving younger men, adult men and young women. The term gender equality was discussed and realized that the term was now changing from gender equality to gender fairness / justice.
5.1 Conflict Resolution
Training in conflict resolution was done by Dr Francis Onditi. It was brief with emphasis on cognitive and affective conflict. Cognitive conflict was defined as, disagreement about ideas and approaches and affective conflict being personal antagonism fuelled by differences of opinion and destructive to group performance and cohesion. Members were urged to avoid affective but focus more on cognitive conflict. Challenge was made to think outside and inside the box as the box provides the frame work for one to become a reflective leader.
5.2 Resource mobilization and financing in election campaigns
Mr B Nyukuri presented on resource mobilization and financing in election campaigns in which mobilisation constituted human resources, financial resources, material resources and technical resources. All the above resources were noted as key in an election campaign. He further presented on the 10 principles of power. Principles were defined as higher than goals and are derived from values. The principles were listed as, keeping sight of the end, collaboration, servant leadership, the quest to learn, charting one’s cause, principle of reinvention, focus, taking the initiative, fighting for a good cause and principle of being a change agent.
5.3 Members were challenged to have a vision which was defined as a dream but not just any dream but one that summarises one’s intentions and is driven by passion to keep one focused. A leader without a vision was noted as useless and having no value of life. Leaders were also challenged to have a purpose, a reason for living and existence which will enable one to live a legacy.
5.4 Self-assessment and self-discovery
Towards the end of the training, members were requested to do action plans and guided by the tool of self discovery known as the 5”Ws” and “H” of self discovery, that is, why, when, where, who, what and how.
Other tools given for self-discovery were, the Johari's window, Edward
De'Bornos six hats and Goalman 's five discoveries.
6.0 Leadership and communication
Members were also taken through a session on communication which was noted as an indispensable leadership discipline.
Communication was tamed as a double edged sword which could be used to build or destroy oneself and has to be effectively utilised to avoid significant self- inflicted harm. Emphasis was on the fact that the power of communication must be strategic, deliberate, thought through, key messages well directed, target audience noted, using relevant and efficient channels with clearly spelt out M & E for it to deliver.
6.1 Non-verbal communication discussedincluded facial expressions, intonations and gestures which this makes up what is known as body language and amounts to 93% of communication. Members were urged to ensure that they are not misunderstood as a result of their nonverbal communication. The need to connect with the people was emphasized and also to get feedback and to adopt the mood of the environment, damage control was noted as necessary but advice was given that if one is not effective it would be best to retreat and restrategize.Advice was also given on public speaking, firstly the need to ask who you are to the people, the source of information, the information you are passing, relevance of the message to the target group and the feedback you are getting.
6.2 Lastly, members were trained in strategic planning and why they need it at both individual and political party level. Emphasis was on having a focal point to drive the planning purpose which must be inclusive in terms of regional representation, age, gender, religion as inclusivity creates ownership (nothing for us without us). In conclusion she highlighted that strategic plans should have monitoring mechanisms and continuous evaluation.
7.0 Closing ceremony
7.1 In closing the training session, His Excellency the Zimbabwe
Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Kellebet Nkomani was invited to officiate.
7.2 The Regional Advisor on Peace and Governance Mrs Odeira gave remarks challenging members to implement the skills they had acquired during the training in their work as leaders. The Vice Chancellor reiterated the same message and emphasized on results and a follow up that will be done by ACTIL. He also challenged members to change their mindset and become transformative leaders and lead Africa’s growth as a continent.
7.3 Remarks from His Excellency, the Zimbabwe Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Kellebet Nkomani
His Excellency the Zimbabwe Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Kellebet Nkomani in his remarks gave a country brief on Kenya in terms of its size, GDP, growth rate, population , exports and its cordial relations with Zimbabwe. He urged members to embrace the knowledge acquired for the growth of not only Zimbabwe but Africa as a continent. His Excellence, the Ambassador, applauded women for their participation in governance in Zimbabwe and their outstanding performance as illustrated in the
Constitution in 2013 with regard to the 50/50 representation. He however challenged members to ensure that aspirations in the Constitution are translated into action. The Ambassador noted that after training, the key responsibility is to develop clear mechanisms of implementation and achieving this can be done through cross party platforms with common agenda items. He encouraged women to be more aggressive and to encourage young women and the girl child to take up politics as careers. In conclusion, he reminded MPs that as trail blazers, they should not fail both current and future generations.
7.4 Members were awarded certificates of participation at the end of the training.
8.0 Recommendations
- To set up a committee to establish implementation mechanisms to ensure members trained become pioneers of transformational leadership.
- Training to be extended to all members of the ZWPC and also other male MPs.
- Engage more men in issues pertaining to Gender justice.
- Members to develop action plans as transformative leaders.
- A follow up to be made to monitor implementation by ACTIL.
It is important to continue developing action plans as transformative leaders. Madam President, I thank you for listening to the report of this study group.
+HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Madam President for giving me
this opportunity to second the motion which was tabled by the Hon. Sen. Mutsvangwa who is the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus who was also the leader of the delegation that attended the seminar on leadership.
I want to thank the time that has been afforded to me, she has said a lot I have been following her report. Her report touches on a lot of issues, I will just add on some of the issues that if only as women we are those kind of women who want change and are aspiring to have those high leadership positions we could implement all the things we have been taught here. I know we will get this record from our Hansard and most people will read it and also implement it as well. She indicated that the main reason why as women we fail to hold those high leadership potions is the fact that as women we fail to show love to each other, we pull each other down and we are the same people who put men into those leadership positions. All that is not Zimbabwean but it is throughout the world. It was also dealt with at large that as women we are actually enemies to each other. Madam Chairperson touched on a lot of things and she stated that we could desist from the old age system that take women as housewives only, for bearing children as a national duty. Are women not allowed to assume those high positions, they are not supposed to be abused for when a women is abused, how then do they stand in front of the public requesting that they vote for her to assume a certain position? When a woman goes to stand in front of the public whilst she slept on a hungry stomach and she was beaten up day before, it brings her confidence down. If you know things are not going well you lose all your confidence for you would not be sure whether people will be seeing your swollen face because you were beaten up.
We are so lucky because our Constitution gave us as women an opportunity to come into Parliament for the next coming ten years. What we were looking forward as a nation is that when women have been uplifted to such positions like being Members of Parliament, they should then work hard and not retrogress. They should continue working hard.
Being on leadership position, she can be uplifted from being a member of Parliament and assume a position of being an Ambassador, President of the State or CEO. There are so many leadership positions that can be assumed by women instead of being subordinates only.
However, where women can get such opportunities, they should motivate themselves. When people elect and put you in a leadership position, there are expectations that they are looking forward to. You cannot improve the lives of the people you lead if you cannot improve yourselves. If you follow the Hansard in which the report will appear, the report is broader than what the Chairperson has presented here. The report can be photocopied so that people can read on their own, as it appeared.
We expect that if the ten years that is stated in the Constitution lapse, women should come back. Many of the women who are in this august House came through the quota system. We look forward to have constituencies that we can lead and also to compete with men. When they have the constituencies that they lead plus the 60 that come through the proportional representation, this will increase the number of women Parliamentarians. We do not want to be coming in as Members of Parliament through quota system only because it brings down our confidence and makes us fail to assume the leadership positions. When you are doing your job, you will be working cautiously for you fear that once you do something wrong you will not be given another opportunity to come back again.
We are looking forward to seeing women in leadership carrying themselves with confidence. There are a number of things that were enumerated such as the way we dress. A red hat is significant because it shows that you have problems; this is what we were taught. If you are putting on a red hat, particularly when you are going to address people, it shows that you have problems. So, we should be careful about those things. In America, they put on red ties and they are significant in a particular way. When we are dressing knowing we will address the public, we should know the type of dressing for that occasion. The red hat has problems in that you are a person with problems. A blue hat gives you authority if you are going to chair a meeting. A black hat helps you look at all bad points of the decision and look at it cautiously and defensively. It highlights the weak points in a plan. We learnt that a yellow hat makes you a positive person. These are things that we learnt.
When you put on attire that you are not comfortable in, or as a lady when you put on a tight dress, it is not easy to stand infront of people. You also fail to have authority because you will be busy with your dress instead of concentrating on what you are delivering on. You are only thinking of what people would be saying about your dressing. It is important therefore for women that when you are going out to address people, especially when you want to be put into leadership positions, you should know how to carry yourself around and also how to sit. When you are leader, people look at the way you move, communicate with people and the way you laugh. You should therefore know that if you are a woman, you should carry yourself properly.
We were given an example of the former President of Malawi, Mrs. Joyce Banda. If you are a leader, you should know how to lead, where you stay up to your family level so that your family supports you as well. People from outside can support you also. Charity begins at home; you first get support within the family. When Joyce Banda was the President, after the passing on of the country’s President then, there appeared a picture of a house in the rural areas. It was a mud and pole hut thatched with grass. The thatch was not good and was in need of repairs. Her mother was seated down and Joyce Banda was there visiting her mother. What does this picture teach you? We discussed that picture and debated it. We were surprised that a house belonging to the mother of a country President can be like that. Joyce Banda was not seated on a chair but she was seated down and her bodyguard was standing next to her. All this shows that she was not a proper leader. People then indicated that maybe that is why she could not even get another term. There are a lot of things in life that we should take care of through the way we interact.
For you to be a leader, to retain power and to be re-elected, what should you do? We learnt a lot of things that develop us as women, so that when we go in front of people, we should know how to put on the attire. Another example that was given was that there was a woman who wanted to be a Member of Parliament in Kenya. It is said that she would move around campaigning and she had a lot of people following her but it is said that her father in-law was not happy with her campaign. The father in-law decided to cut short this issue, he tried to persuade her not to stand as a Member of Parliament. Since she had so many supporters, she decided to stand disregarding the opinion of her father in-law and viewed the opinion of her father in laws as a way of wanting to suppress her.
Mr. President, we are talking of a country like Kenya. This happened in Kenya; it means throughout the world, women are being suppressed. The woman refused to be suppressed and the father in-law decided to curtail her campaign. He decided de-campaign her with others talking malice about her so that she would not be successful. In short, that is suppression of women. Culture sometimes suppresses women. We should change such cultures why should women only stay in the kitchen. Mr. President, that woman regardless of her support, did not make it. The facilitators said that she had enough support to have gone to Parliament.
They actually enumerated a lot of things that in Kenya, even the woman’s attire is important. If you are going to the rural areas, you should dress like the people in the rural areas not like the way people dress in town. You should put on decent clothes with your zambias and the likes so that you do not expose yourself unnecessarily.
Mr. President, others will mention some of these things, so I will leave it like that. As women, you have heard the report and what we learnt. Let us take that and use it in support of other women so that we would come back and lead the people as expected by them. What is important is communication within our parties. If at all there is a woman candidate, there should be another person from the other party who is a woman to contest as well. As long as there is a woman who is contesting and wins the election this will help in increasing the number of women in Parliament. With those few words, I thank you.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this report on Transformation which took place in Kenya. As an Hon. Member who also attended this workshop, to me it was an eye opener because there were a lot of things that we went through. Mr. President, the mover of this report talked about peace and security. You find that when they talk about peace and security, charity begins at home. As women, we should always be speaking about peace and the security of your home starts at your home. You must protect your home so that when you are elected into leadership, you should also be able to protect the nation.
Mr. President, as other Hon. Senators have alluded to about the gender equality, we are not talking about gender referring to women. We are talking about equal leadership of men and women. We should be together by all means. We should avoid stereotypes whereby men are said to be superior to women and by all means, we should work at par.
Mr. President, it was also encouraged that women Parliamentarians should not look down upon themselves. As a result, they should also have quality contributions. They have to research; it is not a matter of just standing up and talking. You should have facts; you should research on your subject matter so that you have quality debates.
Mr. President, we should be very careful because when we are here, we are people who are looked down upon as women; most of the time they are assessing us. They want to know whether we are making meaningful contributions. A man can say anything but he is not taken seriously because he is always right – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – but as for women, once you say a word, it will be analysed to find out whether you have said a meaningful thing. We have to work against
that.
So, results have to show that we are on it and we want it so that we encourage the region, continent and the world at large, that we have the skills to lead not to be chosen by men whenever they want to pursue their own agendas. The previous speaker talked about good governance.
What is it about good governance, why should it be included whenever women are being trained? It is about transparency, inclusivity and nonpartisan if ever we want to have good governance.
Mr. President, the issue of the Convention of CEDAW which talks about the fundamental rights of women was also taken into consideration because we ought to know our rights as women. We are just living people. We have the right to life, shelter and right to many other things but we have to be ourselves; we have to fight for ourselves. No one will ever come and say there is a woman who is seated there or there is a Senator who is seated there apart from working together as women.
Mr. President, another issue that was touched on was during the campaigns in political parties. You find that women lack resources to campaign. We are also our own enemies because we do not want other women to be with us. We want those who have had the chance of being chosen, they do not want other women to be with them. For instance, you will find that we have the women quota, especially in the National Assembly and we have those women who have constituencies, it is now a wrangle among women, hating each other saying that those women on the quota system do not have constituencies. They also cannot visit a constituency before getting permission from the one with a constituency – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – by doing that, do you think we will ever come to the 50:50 percent that we are looking for, if we hate each other as women? Mr. President, it was through these lessons that we learnt all these things.
Another thing that we learnt was about the work plans. As Parliamentarians today, as we go back to our constituencies, we do not even have plans for our constituencies. You just go there so that people see you, without any written plan or in your heard. We should always have plans on what we are going to do about our constituencies, how we are going to do it and who is going to assist us. If we do not have those plans, we cannot even look for anyone to assist us in the constituencies because we will not know what we want to do and at what time. So, we have to work hard on our work plans. Why should we have work plans?
We have to monitor our activities in the constituencies and evaluate them so that we can have corrective measures wherever possible and have a way forward.
As women, we are known to be people who stay in the kitchen. Yes, we allow that, I do not know whether it was made so by God for us to be in the kitchens. However, we have to take a leadership role and we have to plan for everything that we want to do because we cannot plan everything from the kitchen. You will find that the work that is done by a woman in the kitchen is not recorded anywhere. Women do a lot of work, they are the ones who plough and do all the agricultural work and reproductive work but it is not on record anywhere and it is not known. Even in our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there is nothing, there is zero percentage of the work that is done by women – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – and who should raise that or blow the whistle? It is us as women who should do that. Mr. President, I can say a lot, but I just want to leave a few items for those who attended the workshop.
Lastly, I want to talk about the dress code. It is not only in the communal areas where we have to dress accordingly. Even here in Parliament, the dress code says we have to dress properly; look dignified and respectable. You will find that even in this country, we used to do a lot of workshops on the Parliamentarian dress code. However we are not talking about it anymore. Everyone just think that whatever they put on is correct to them. Remember, you are not only leading yourself or your family, you are also leading the people outside there and you should think about what they will say about you when you are not properly dressed in Parliament. Those who have been in Parliament know exactly what they should put on but it is not being followed. Think about it and correct yourselves so that you will be good leaders. Mr. President, I would like to urge those who worked tirelessly for this workshop to take place that the work continues so that we will be respectable women of tomorrow. There is a lot to be learned and there are a lot of things that we should transform so that we become good leaders of tomorrow. With these few words Mr.
President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President for affording
me this opportunity to add my voice. I also want to thank our
Chairperson whom we travelled with to Kenya because the tri was an eye opener. I also want to thank the whole delegation that went there. When I arrived in Kenya, there were a lot of things that they talked about which are happening in Zimbabwe especially on the girl-child. Zimbabwe is ahead when it comes to the girl-child issues– [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – even if there are things which we aere not doing properly, we are still ahead.
In Kenya, they say that if a girl child reaches puberty age, they are handed over to a husband. I was hurt when I heard that some eight-year old children would go out and play house and then they would come back and be given a home so that they live with a husband. However, they are now rectifying that. If a boy reaches the age of puberty, he is given a wife. During the day, they play as children and in the evening they meet as husband and wife. I think as Zimbabwe, we are doing it right because our legal age of marriage is 18 years. The women in Kenya are struggling to get to that age so that they protect the girl child to allow them to get married when they are mature.
There is a girl in Kenya who is an activist and is making strides even though it is very difficult. The other thing that I learnt is that women have problems when we want to attain high positions. I have realised that there are people who canvass for positions and it is happening. A man influences other women so that they would spoil the chances of ascension to high position by other women. This issue diminishes our chances to attain high positions as women, this is what is happening. Let us uplift each other as women. Let the woman get a position and learn even though they may not be perfect in the first place.
We should desist from getting into relationships with men who will be contesting against a fellow woman because he will weaken you by giving you all you might be craving for. This does not mean that he loves you, but he will be having an agenda to weaken you so that his objectives can be realised. I was so touched by that issue. This is frequently happening in our country, men should leave us to achieve our goals – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – we should know that when approaching people, we should have full knowledge of who we are, who are we talking to and what are we doing? This is because there are different ways that we address ourselves to different age groups, some of which may not be appropriate for old age groups. We should humble ourselves. An argument is also an important aspect in dialogue because you get to know my views and if we do not engage in arguments, you will never be able to hear them.
There are certain debates that we engage in here such that we end up arguing and yet we get to know the views of each other. From within your thoughts, you may end up knowing that despite the argument, the view of others were up to scratch. It is therefore healthy to engage in arguments, there is nothing wrong with that. What we do here as we share our opinions is a very good thing as we sometimes realise that the opinions of others are ahead of ours, but I may not be humble enough to accept it then.
We saw an image of a mother who was suckling a goat alongside with her baby. We queried the decision of this mother to act in such a strange way, then we realised that this woman was strong and full of love because she is looking after the goats and the child as well. It is like you are looking after a child who is not yours – a step child, the way you handle a step child can be different from the way you handle your own child but as a woman, you should be well balanced. You should not show any favouritism.
We were also taught that when we get into these positions, we should sit down with our families and agree so that when nomination time comes, you have the support of your spouse because you would have used all the resources at the family’s disposal. If ever one is using the family’s resources, there is need to agree on the amount of money that goes towards campaign and what remains in the family household. We also learnt a lot of things like when I am addressing people, I should take into consideration my dress code. The way I present myself to people, be it in rural or urban areas is very important. We were also taught that we should be humble and show humility to the people that we address so that we do not lose respect as women.
I want to thank the people of Zimbabwe because they recognise widows and single mothers. In Kenya, they are fighting that because they do not want single women to lead but in here, we have a lot of single women and our voices are being heard. I am saying that we should continue like that as Zimbabweans without discrimination on the grounds of marital status. Probably I was divorced or widowed by circumstances beyond my control and as you know here in Zimbabwe, we have more women than men and all the eligible men cannot marry all the women.
So, we should be accepted as we are. I would like to thank you Mr
President for these few words.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I want to thank the mover and seconder
of this motion. You will agree with me that this is a debate with a difference and we want to welcome it. I, personally, was very touched by it and we must debate it openly as what they have already given. Me being the first male to debate on it, I want to congratulate the mover although she brought it too late. The course was attended in 2015 and I do not know why it is being brought now. All the same, let me get along with the debate.
Mr President, the seminar which they attended was just more than a seminar. They were taught what to do and what not to do as women. It was a women’s caucus forum and it focused on such. Some of the lectures from what they have said centred on their deportment in the public domain as leaders among their male counterparts and that is a welcome development. The exercise, as I said, was more than a seminar because they managed to cover several modules in one week. Normally, this exercise takes a year or two and at the end they are assessed whether they have understood or not but they managed to go through this training in one week.
The concepts such as gender fairness which they were taught are in line with modern thinking and should be embraced by all of us to build better relationships between men and women. They talked about principles of power which enable us to be fair to our followers whenever we are in positions of authority and that is good. The principles and leaderships styles which they were taught to me are applicable anywhere in the world. The knowledge of these enables them to represent us well whenever they go outside the country as this nation’s ambassadors on foreign assignments if they go out.
Senator Mohadi spoke about planning and I want to add as well to planning that there must be organisation all the time. Be organised in the leadership styles and in whatever we do. Organisation is very important. However, this exposure which the women got should not be a once off event. It was too short. It has to be a continuous process in one way or the other. What I am advocating for is that what they learnt there, must also be passed on to the others here and then replicated.
This should also translate to their ability to impart information in their respective constituencies when they go back home. More importantly, to debate with confidence and zeal in this august Senate. This should be the beginning of such a robust debate spearheaded by these women. Such an event is always a welcome development and as I said, it should be an ongoing process for it to be a fruitful exercise. I want to thank you for your kind attention.
HON. SEN. MAPUNGWANA: I would like to thank the mover and the seconder of this motion on women empowerment. Knowledge indicates that the era for machoism is over. That is to say from AD1 to 2012 normally those were the years for machoism but as from 2013 according to David Arch, it is the era for feminism which means women, if given positions to lead, we lead because nature and cosmos at the same time will actually help them. Probably, that is why you find that for the first time in America, there is going to be a woman president, Hilary
Clinton. It is because America might know about the esoteric knowledge. I have always wondered why it is that in Zimbabwe 90% of spirit mediums are women. I have always asked myself why spirit mediums normally visit women. It is because of how God created women. Women are kind, they have passion and they can lead. If God could reverse nature and say, this season all men must be pregnant – Mr. President, I think we will quickly fast track the abortion Act as men. It is on a light note but I would like to thank the understanding in this House that as long as women are united, they can achieve something.
When God created man, it was Adam. Adam was lonely, so God created Eve. Suppose God created Eve first, was he going to create Adam? The answer might be no, why, because you will find that if a woman’s husband dies, the woman takes a long time to remarry and in some instances they never remarry. However, if a man’s wife dies, within six months that man will have remarried. So, it means men cannot live alone unlike women. That is nature and that is how God created it and it cannot be reversed.
I will urge women in this House to work together and put aside political differences if they want this country to develop. If women were given positions – say in Zimbabwe, our Anti-Corruption Commission is composed of women only, most probably the corruption might be less because men spearhead such things. It is unfortunate I am a man, but I have to say it. One has to take the devil’s advocacy. I do not know how we can do it, to unite all women in Zimbabwe, apart from political affiliation, to try and develop Zimbabwe sincerely. Zimbabwe is a rich country and all it needs is good management, with women in better positions. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. SEN CHABUKA: I rise to also support this motion. I would like to thank the mover Senator Mutsvangwa and the seconder Senator Ncube as well as the secretariat that accompanied us. They captured accurately everything that happened there. A lot of things have been said but I just want to highlight that this is a good motion which has uplifted us as women. We received a lot of panel beating from the meeting. We were enlightened and reminded not to have the “pull her down syndrome” but to support each other as women. I think there was a time when we heard people from Kenya saying that people in Zimbabwe are very good because in Kenya, if an MP is elected, they are never seen anywhere until they want to be voted for again. When we told them that we visit our constituencies even without the resources as women, we still visit our constituencies, they told us that in Kenya, MPs behave like bosses and they are unapproachable, yet they are supposed to represent the people. They should go back to the people and hear their concerns. Then sit down, discuss, analyse and map the way forward.
We were also told that men use women as ladders when they want to go up. They step on our shoulders to enable them to get whatever they want at the top. We should get rid of that set-up and uplift one another as women. We should stop depending on men but the men should see what we want as women. When women say something, men should support them and empower them. Women know exactly what they want. I remember last time when Senator Makone was appointed the Minister of Home Affairs, we were happy because she was the first woman into that position. Many a time, women are deputies but we were told that we should not allow ourselves to be second class citizens. We should be given high positions and we should not demean each other in Parliament. When one woman says something which we do not agree with, we should not degrade them in front of other MPs.
I am very happy with this motion and the lessons that we learnt.
Many a times we hold workshops where we are told that we should be confident as women. We should not worry about what people will say because if we do that men will undermine us because they think there are certain things which we cannot do. Often times women are used as girl friends to get a position from another woman. So, I am very happy with the empowerment that we got-to continue moving forward as leaders.
Thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Mr. President. I also stood up to add a few words to this pertinent motion. Our women went to see and learn from other countries and came back enlightened. I saw it befitting that I should leave this House with a few words of encouragement to the women and give them the highest honour because of their importance. We can look down upon them but we will be lost when we do that. A chief is born by a woman after nine months. The mother will be uncomfortable when the unborn chief is troubling her but she will soldier on. They give birth to Ministers, Presidents and the wise people like President Mugabe, all that comes from mothers, hence the honour that should be bestowed upon mothers.
When we talk of gender, I heard Hon. Sen. Mutsvangwa making reference to gender equality. Yes, we can say we are equal but mothers are very important and as people who are well versed in our culture, we know that mothers are very important. In our Shona culture, one can be at loggerheads with one’s father and there will be no avenging spirits but that is not so with mothers. So mothers are very important, that is why I stood in support of this motion as a father and chief.
I remember this issue of women being debated in Zimbabwe. We held a lot of fora so that you attain your current status and we were wholly behind you. The problem that you have as women is that you do not love each other. You must show each other genuine love to the extent that when a woman stands up and you also want that portfolio, you do not fight but stand united and support each other. During elections, when a man and woman are gunning for the same post, you will find that women will vote for the man in large numbers. So who will support you when you do such things? We are saying that you should be united as women even those who are in polygamous unions should be united… - [HON.
SENATORS: Inaudible interjections.] - Already you are displaying jealousy against each other and not against the man because you will try to fight the other woman. That is very bad, you should be united and stand as one.
You are the same women who are marrying off young girls. You should be united and come up with one thing. With these few words, be united and love one another as we love you.
HON. SEN. MUTSVANGWA: Yes, Mr. President, an interesting
debate for sure. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
LEVELS OF CORRUPTION IN THE COUNTRY
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on monitoring the
Executive performance in dealing with reported cases of corruption.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
DETERIORATION IN THE ROADS AND RAILWAY
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
Fourth 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. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President for giving me
this opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I want to thank Hon. Sen.
Musaka, the mover of this motion and Hon. Sen. Mumvuri, the seconder.
Mr. President, horrific accidents make headlines every day in Zimbabwe. This year in early May, 31 people perished and it was declared a national disaster. In another incident in early April, I think 15 people died and it was also declared a national disaster. This shows that, in Zimbabwe, we are facing a huge problem on our roads. Further statistics that were availed by the police early this year indicate that
Zimbabwe’s roads have become a death trap with an average of 2 000 people dying each year. Since 2006, road accidents have increased from at least a thousand to now over 2 000 people dying every year.
The number of unlicensed motorists has also increased. When I was researching on this motion, I discovered that since 2010, unlicensed motorists were about 4 356 and in 2015 when the statistics were last up dated, the number is well over 44 000. These issues really need to be looked at. This only shows how rampant corruption is in the issuance of licences and this is very serious.
Also issues to do with human error are rampant, last year during the festive season 93.4% of accidents were due to human error. Mistakes such as speeding, misjudgment, overtaking, following to close to other cars, maybe fatigue, drinking and driving actually caused quite a lot of fatalities on our roads. So, we need to look closely on how we can help as Government to stop all these fatalities.
Also, there are a lot of road signs that are not showing properly. For example, give way and stop signs do not really show. That makes more human errors on the roads. So, we need to look at our signs and see how we can improve. The Government needs to look for funding to make sure that we improvise on our road signs so that we avoid all these accidents that are happening.
Mr. President, we also need to improve on vehicle inspections. There are a lot of unworthy vehicles moving on the roads. If you travel during the night, many motorists know that the police are few in the night and most of the cars that you see do not have lights. This really needs to be looked at because accidents have taken a lot of lives and we need to do something as a country. Zimbabwe needs a wide range of co-operative efforts if the country is to end road traffic accidents. All stakeholders and even passengers themselves, I am sure they have rights. In the end, it is them that die when the driver is speeding. For example, if you see that a driver is speeding you should tell him to reduce speed. There should be awareness campaigns to let passengers know that they have rights to tell drivers to reduce speed or to stop them from driving when they are drunk.
Mr. President, I thought that this motion was critical and I decided to add my voice on the motion. The Government needs money to improve our roads. We know that the railway system is not working at the moment. Workers are complaining because they are not getting paid. If the railway line was in order, maybe there would be few trucks on the roads. I have noticed that in South Africa, truck drivers use their own roads while the small vehicles drive on the other side, which actually helps. It is unlike our highways. I travelled on Masvingo road, coming here on Monday. Believe me Mr. President, something must be done on that road. I know every Hon. Member who stood before me has spoken about the Masvingo road and nothing seems to be happening there. The road is bad. It has got bumps, twists and turns and it needs to be taken care of.
As for the Air Zimbabwe, as said by the Hon. Member who moved this motion, definitely Air Zimbabwe needs to be improved. We need more airlines to move. I do not know if it is true but I saw an advertisement that said Air Zimbabwe would start travelling to London. I think that would be something exciting and would make us improve on our airline. It is time that the Government looks for money to improve our highways because the Zimbabwean community is crying. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE FIRST AFRO-ARAB
LEGISLATORS AND BUSINESS SUMMIT
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First AfroArab Legislators and Business Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1st to 2nd August, 2015.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS CENTRED ON
DEVOLUTION OF POWER
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the call for Government to implement the devolution of power as provided for in the
Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. NCUBE: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
MOTION
RESCUSCITATION OF THE ZAMBEZI WATER PROJECT
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the resuscitation of the Zambezi Water Project.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON. SEN.
MOHADI, the Senate adjourned at Twenty Minutes past Four O’clock p.m.