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SENATE HANSARD 21 March 2017 26-40
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 21st March, 2017
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
BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM AT PARLIAMENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I would like to
remind the House that our security officers will be registering Senators for the biometric registration system this week from today to the 23rd of March, 2017. They will the stationed in the Senate Lobby from 1430 hours every sitting day until adjournment on Thursday. Hon. Senators are urged to register on the system which will go live on the 3rd of April,
- Details of the system have been placed in the pigeon holes.
WORKSHOP ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS OF
PARLIAMENT
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: I wish to remind
all Hon. Senators that they are invited to a workshop to consider the code of conduct for Members of Parliament and the Privileges,
Immunity and Powers of Parliament Act to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017 at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) at 0830 hours.
*HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: On a point of order. My point
of order is, since these security personnel will be registering during our working time, will that not disturb the business of the day? I would suggest that they should look for an alternative time to avoid clash of interest.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: That is a good
suggestion but let us note that they will be in the Senate lobby and we can take turns to go there. We will look into it.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that Order of the Day, Number 1 on the Order Paper be stood over until all the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
PRESIDENT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the
State of the Nation Address.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: Thank you Madam President. I wish to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Sen. Chipanga and the seconder. I just wish to express my grateful thanks to the President for the views he expressed in his Speech. He touched on many various issues in his Speech but I only wish to zero in on agriculture and the issue of corruption.
Indeed Madam President, all of us in Zimbabwe – at least the majority totally agree with him on his disagreement or dislike of corruption. All efforts are being made to curb corruption. The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has even issued us with a ticket to say, against corruption together – act; that should any one of us see anyone behaving or trying to display tendencies that can be construed as corruption, ring the bell, that is the phone number given on the card to report the incident. All these are efforts to really curb corruption. I know some of my colleagues may say this is what is only just being said but indeed, something is being done. Those who are corrupt should be reported to the police for investigations. Should there be evidence of corruption on arrest should be and taken to court for prosecution.
On agriculture Madam President, it is evident I think what has been happening year in and year out – us being a talk show in the region and in the world that we were importing maize, our staple food from neighbouring countries like Zambia, Malawi and it was not pleasing. Government came up with a policy of financing. With the introduction of command agriculture, we hope and believe that we are going to get a bumper harvest this year. It may not be a bumper harvest but we will have enough to eat. This will trigger revival of industries of beef production, poultry, cooking oil, et cetera. With those few words, Madam President, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. BUKA: Thank you Madam President. I rise to contribute on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Chipanga and in support of the statement raised by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Hon. R. G. Mugabe. When the President delivered his speech last year, we were importing maize from other countries and I wrote some Government documents which showed that we imported a million tonnes of maize. Some of this grain was imported by the Government and the other part was imported by grain millers and Non
Governmental Organisations because we were facing starvation.
I am glad that whilst I am making my contribution on this debate, we have stopped the programme of importing grain from other countries but what is coming in is grain which had already been ordered. We were spending millions of dollars on importing maize from other countries. That money is now going to be used to develop our country by reconstructing roads which have been destroyed by the rains. The money will also be used to rehabilitate hospitals.
It is pleasing to note that nobody died of starvation. Zimbabwe has embarked on command agriculture. Farmers have been given all the necessary inputs for the programme to be a success. I may not have the statistics on the harvest but judging from the statement made by VP Mphoko and the Minister of Agriculture, they are saying we are going to have a bumper harvest and even some surplus to export. I thank the President for such a vision. It is very promising.
I have noticed that every Zimbabwean who has a piece of land, be it in the urban or rural areas, we are growing maize. This shows that the Command Agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme have been successful.
Our farmers had problems in accessing funds from the banks and if ever they had that money, it had high interest that farmers would suffer losses but now, all these were given to them free of charge. I am hoping that this programme continue to be an annual event. We are very pleased because we have had a lot of rain. Our traditional leaders led the rain making ceremonies and our religious leaders prayed and God blessed us with a lot of rain.
I would like to thank His Excellency because when he spoke of food security, he also supported the cotton growing programme. I come from Gokwe, a cotton growing area. Farmers had given up on cotton because of the low prices but His Excellency then gave the inputs to the cotton farmers which include fertilizers, seed and pesticides. We are also going to have a bumper harvest. The Minister of Agricuture forsees a harvest which is 100% of what we have been cultivating in previous years and we are happy because there is progress. Even the farmers who had talked of giving up on growing cotton have said they are so happy because they are looking forward to a bumper harvest.
What is going to happen is that this Command Agriculture, Presidential Input Scheme and other agricultural support systems are not meant for our own consumption but we know that Zimbabwe has an agro-based economy and that means that our industry is going to create employment for a lot of people.
We should not continue exporting raw cotton but we need to process it and export, for example some cotton. Cotton is a labour intensive crop because of the pesticides and other things. Therefore, we have to benefit by value addition on the cotton. I also hope that when we come to the next season, we definitely see the positive results of these agricultural stances taken by the Government.
The President also talked about the introduction of a women’s bank. For five years, the country has been talking about establishing a women’s bank and now that His Excellency has taken this programme up, definitely it is going to be a reality. May I inform this august House that we are not the only ones clamouring for the women’s bank but we have countries like Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda who have already launched this women’s bank progamme and they are benefiting from it. I believe that Zimbabwe as a country of educated people should join this band wagon and establish this women’s bank.
As we know, homes are made by women. Men can only build a house but a home is founded by the woman. Everybody will be content because whenever women get money they do not spend the money recklessly like men. Women will put that money to good use in the home. They can pay school fees or buy food. When men get some money, they marry, open unnecessary businesses or buy alcohol.
I believe that when the bank is established, women will be entrepreneurs opening up businesses and banks. I am so happy that even the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr. Mangudya also talked about this women’s bank when he said that we realised that most of the banks which are in the country leave a lot to be desired especially in the support of women. To quantify that, women are given 10% of the money disbursed and yet on the contrary, the population of Zimbabwe shows that 52% is made up of women. So, why should they be given 10% of the money disbursed by the banks and give 90% to the men who are not as many as women?
Women should be given a chance to be entrepreneurs. We find this clause in the Constitution of Zimbabwe where we are told of the upholding of women in their productive programmes. When they are given financial support, definitely the country will develop and lives will improve. As women of Zimbabwe, we are really grateful to have this support, which is very important.
My last contribution is that the President spoke against domestic violence. There are increasing cases of domestic violence. What is mesmerizing is the rise. I remember reading an article in the newspaper and there was this man who was left in the care of a four year old boy. This boy was left alone at home and decided to move to a safer place in the neighbourhood. He went to his uncle’s homestead. When the father came back and saw the child was away, he took the child and beat him to death. There was also a story of a father who used a 7.5 kilogram battery to hit a child on the head and the child died. There was also another story of a man who killed his wife and cut her into pieces; he fed the flesh to the dogs. I am surprised. What has happened to the people of Zimbabwe? We were talking about some of things being taboo and sacred. Why is it that we are having all these taboos?
To add on to that, it is not only men who are violent but we have some women who are also tormenting, torturing and violating their men. I am saying, as the people of Zimbabwe, including the churches let us speak against domestic violence. Let us inculcate the values of care and love in the home. We believe if somebody has been involved in domestic violence and they are taken to court, justice should be meted out so that it can be a lesson to other people. In our culture, we believe that if somebody murders another person, the whole clan would put up payment in the form of some beasts to placate the family who has lost their relative. I think we need to look at that and consider it. People should value other people’s lives.
I am appealing to our traditional leaders and religious leaders to preach the gospel of peace and reconciliation. This is because peace begins with me, peace begins with you and peace begins with all of us. Also, as the extended family, we need to ask for the services of the uncles and aunts because these are the people who used to create peace in the homes whenever there were problems. I am begging mothers, women that even if you are involved in domestic violence with your husband, please do not move out of the home leaving your children because the man will go and marry another wife. The stepmother will be so cruel. They are the ones who are plucking out the eyes of these children, pouring boiling water and oil on them. We need to take care of our children. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to make my contributions on the joint sitting addressed by His Excellency. I thank Hon. Sen. Chipanga for introducing this motion. When we look at what was stated by His
Excellency, he talked like a mature international Statesman. I was very pleased to hear His. Excellency talking about agriculture. We know Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy and when the economy is running, everybody will be content.
When we look at cotton farming, the industry had gone down because cotton was no longer doing well. As of now, the President supported cotton producers and the farmers are very pleased. When we look at cotton, we can extract oil from the cotton. We used to import cooking oil but as of now, we are going to get our own oil from the cotton seed. We are creating jobs because Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy. I thank His Excellency for such foresight and for the developmental Speech he gave.
When we look at agriculture again, we look at Command agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme. We have people who are suffering because they were affected by the cyclone induced floods. These people are going to be fed from grains which are grown in
Zimbabwe. We are not going to import grain to feed our people. This shows that our President had foresight. We are going to have a healthy and developmental life.
His Excellency spoke against corruption. Corruption has to be nipped in the bud and has to be destroyed. Corruption has to be annihilated because it has no development and is disruptive. We need to put our heads together and fight this corruption. I am supporting His Excellency for that Speech. Once again, Hon. Chipanga thank you very much for bringing in this motion.
+HON. SEN. CHIEF MTSHANE: Thank you Madam President
for giving me this opportunity to add a few words on what was said by His Excellency, the President, Cde R.G. Mugabe. The President talked about help received by Government towards drought. He further stated about other programmes in the country that include protecting vulnerable children from hunger, especially those in the communal areas. Madam President, all this is indicative of the fact that
Government is working with development partners to help those who are in need. This year it is quite clear that wherever you go – whether from here to Bulawayo, Murewa, Mutare or Kariba, you find that people will harvest more than enough this year under the Command agriculture programme.
Even those who are not in this programme will realise enough to feed their families. If we get enough food, it will be quite clear that a lot of money which was being used to buy food from other countries will be used for other programmes in the country. We believe the monies will be used properly without any corrupt tendencies. We have had enough rains to have enough food. We do not want to go back and suffer. The money shall be used on other programmes or projects in this country.
With those few words I thank you Madam President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MEDIA, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICE (HON. SEN. MATHUTHU): I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. NYAMBUYA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS TO PROTECT DOMESTIC ANIMALS HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move the motion standing in my name
that this House:-
DISTURBED by the persistent problems posed by stray dogs and
other domestic animals to their surrounding neighbourhood and communities countrywide;
COGNISANT that all animals are protected under the laws of the country;
CONCERNED that owners of such stray animals denigrate on their responsibilities to look after them, thereby bestowing the onus to do so on other members of the community;
INCENSED by the fact that some people have suffered from bites inflicted on them by rabid dogs and have faced challenges in getting proper medication while others have been involved in fatal accidents caused by such animals;
NOW THEREFORE, calls upon the Local Authorities and the
Society for Prevention of cruelty to Animals to:
- Enforce laws that do not only protect the stray animals but also safeguard the lives of people.
- Prosecute owners of stray animals and also ensure that proper facilities are constructed for the safe custody of such animals.
HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: I second.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I stand to move a motion concerning stray animal mostly dogs. Stray animals have become a problem in our country. It is very important that we realise that all animals whether domestic or wild have rights that we need to observe. I grew up knowing that responsible authorities like local authorities and the SPCA would capture stray animals and help protect their rights.
It is disheartening to note that we the human beings are responsible for the stray animals which have caused a lot of accidents that have led to loss of lives on our roads. I would like to believe that these animals wherever they come from are coming from a home if they are domestic, which leaves us with the responsibility to protect their rights as their owners.
I want to talk mostly about dogs which have caused deaths through accidents and the spreading of rabies. People are being bitten by stray dogs which are rabid in our country where we are facing problems in providing drugs to cure the disease. The same stray dogs are being hit by vehicles on the roads, causing accidents in some instances and if left lying there, can cause air pollution.
It is very important that dog owners take full responsibility of their dogs and observe their rights. One cannot purchase a dog just to leave it loiter around the streets. I call upon the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate, local authorities and the SPCA to enforce the laws that protect these dogs and other stray animals so that we save lives of our people and the animals.
It has been made very clear that if one owns an animal of any type, he should never let it loiter around the streets without any care. It should be a crime to own a dog or any other animal without proper infrastructure or facilities or capabilities to take good care of them. Our Constitution gives citizens the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well being. Save animal and human life. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Madam President. I
greet you in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on a motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire and seconded by me.
We are talking about the problem which is rampant in this country of Zimbabwe. This is in regard to stray animals. These animals belong to individuals and some of them are even registered in the name of individuals who are supposed to be taking care of them. This issue has been discussed for quite a long time and I remember when I was growing up, even before I became a Senator, I remember there is an Hon. Member of that time, the late Hon. Sydney Malunga who was being chauffer driven. His chauffer tried to avoid hitting a stray dog and in the process he lost control of the car and Hon Sydney Malunga died.
This is very sad indeed.
I am saying those people who have homes near the roads; if they have cattle or dogs they should take some measures to protect these animals. What we know is that some of these dogs stay outside and they act as security when thieves or undesirable people come, the owners will come out and defend their property. Unfortunately, these owners are not prepared to take care of their dogs and they stray onto the streets and motorists in trying to avoid running over these dogs end up involved in accidents.
When I was growing up there was an organisation called SPCA which would move around local authorities and they would collect these dogs. At times if they saw there was a skinny dog with wounds on it, the owner of that dog would be prosecuted because it was seen as cruelty to that animal. What we know is that if a pet is well taken care of, it will never go out of the yard because it will be content. I have realised on my way to Harare from my constituency in Mashonaland West, some farm owners are now fencing off their farms so that animals do not move into the roads.
The other big problem that we have is that of stray dogs. If we look at the issue of veld fires, these are caused by people who have dogs but do not take good care of them. Some of these dogs which are straying have rabbis and if they are to attack anyone, that person will be infected with rabbis. Treatment for the rabbis or vaccination is very expensive. Therefore, we are pleading with the people of Zimbabwe to take care of their domestic animals or pets. If you want to own a pet, please take care of it properly. Fence off your perimeter, homes, fields and cattle pens so that animals do not stray.
At some other time when I went to Gokwe, in my area in winter, people do not look after their cattle but just let them roam in the veld. The people of Gokwe were saying they do not practice that system of letting these cattle stray into the wild because they lived near Kwekwe and other growth points. So, people would steal their animals and sell them to the butcheries for slaughter. I am therefore saying, if these animals are not taken care of by the people, they may die of natural causes and rot in the wild. What happens when the rain comes is that the carcass which is rotting will have the remains swept into the rivers and we end up drinking dirty and infectious water. What worries me is that we are no longer seeing the SPCA personnel scouting for these stray animals. Is it because of the sanctions that SPCA no longer has personnel? What is really happening because SPCA would do a great job of scouting for these stray and tormented animals, and punish the offenders?
Madam President, this is quite a sympathetic and pathetic situation. I am begging the traditional leaders to be aware of that. I advise the traditional leaders to send their messengers to move around the villages examining these animals. If there is an owner who has skinny and wounded animals, it means this person should be taken to the chief’s court to pay a fine because if you have a pet or animal, you should take care of it properly. If you cannot take care of your pet, please do not keep pets because they will end up straying onto the roads and lead to death and injuries of human beings and property.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Madam President for this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire seconded by Hon. Sen.
Machingaifa. This is quite a painful issue Madam President especially were people do not take care of their pets. When somebody has been attacked by stray dogs, the person injured is treated for rabbis and the owner is left to go scot free. My belief is that the owner of the dog which has attacked a person should be fined and prosecuted because the person who has been attacked is not going to be compensated in any way.
I remember one day when I had gone for a funeral within the neighbourhood, they were lots of dogs which came out of that area.
There were about 20 dogs which came running intending to attack me. The smaller ones were enticing the big dogs to come and attack me but I thank the Lord because I was very calm and courageous. I stood still and started crying for mercy. Some of them even jumped at me and put their legs on my shoulder. On the following day, the same dogs attacked another man and he had to flee and climb a tree. That is how he was saved. Therefore, the owners of such dogs should be prosecuted.
Even the owners of dogs, cattle and donkeys which stray onto the roads and cause accidents, should be brought to book. In trying to avoid accidents we end up losing lives and properties destroyed. What is now happening is that people no longer own up if their animal has strayed into the road and caused an accident. When a dog or cow has been involved in an accident, the animals will rot by the road side because the owners do not want to own up. We are now calling for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to think twice and start moving around the homesteads, locations and townships looking for these stray dogs. If this was caused by sanctions, I hope there is going to be a way of circumventing this problem because these stray animals cause accidents, people have lost lives and properties have been lost. Fellow Zimbabweans, if ever you should own a pet or animal, please take care of it. You are the one who sourced for that pet or animal. That animal did not come to you and say I want comfort but you looked for it.
Therefore, be prepared to take care of it.
Let me talk about the dogs. The dogs will come into your yard which you have cleaned and they spoil it. They can even go into your garden and urinate on your vegetables. I once had a problem with my neighbour sometime back because her dog came and dug up my onions. This creates animosity between neighbours who are supposed to be living in harmony. This dog is so funny because it can go and dig up even the sweet potatoes or potatoes and even when you are planting your maize, it will go after the seeds that you will have planted. Therefore, I am pleading with you fellow Zimbabweans that if you want to keep a dog or any other animals, please look after them. Who is supposed to take care of them if you are failing them?
At times, this causes stock theft because if you leave these animals straying there is going to be some stock theft. I remember when we were growing up in Wedza, Negomo area, some herd of cattle were ran down by a bus. The owner of those beasts instead of people sympathising with him, he was taken before the courts and tried. When he was found guilty, he had to pay a fine for letting the cattle stray. I believe the main reason why this happens in rural areas is because we have emasculated our traditional leaders. In the past, somebody would really look after his beasts because he knew that if his cattle should stray into other people’s fields or into the roads. He will pay a beast to compensate the loss. We are therefore saying, traditional leaders must be empowered to prosecute people who let their animals stray. So, because of these animals, chiefs have to be empowered because if you let your cattle stray into another’s garden or field, they would go for trial before the village head court or the chief’s court. This has to be taken up so that the chiefs be
empowered and also the SPCA should be financed so that they can take care of these animals.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MUSARURWA. Thank you Mr. President
Sir. I am going to add my voice onto the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire, seconded by Hon. Sen. Machingaifa. The few words that I want to add are that it is very true that stray dogs are all over the place. Even in the townships or in locations where we live, we have lots of stray dogs. At times you wonder whether these dogs belong to some people or they are just like street kids who are now living in the streets with no owner. I wonder whether the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals SPCA still exists.
I am urging the Government to look at this problem in supporting the Veterinary Department so that we take care of these stray animals. One of the previous speakers has also said traditional leaders should be empowered to go and examine these animals in the rural areas. If anybody is found guilty, they should be taken to court and pay a fine.
We are also urging the Members of Parliament in the areas in which you are operating from, whenever you see that there are people who are illtreating their dogs, please talk about the protection of these animals especially in areas where you are addressing rallies. Take part in fighting the neglect of these animals.
Whosoever may have brought their dogs to your gatherings, they should take them back. I believe we may be over burdening the chiefs because by prosecuting these people who let their animals stray, we may spend a lot of precious time doing just that, hence, my call and plea to you Members of Parliament to talk about the care of these animals to people who will have attended your rallies so that we do not have any stray animals.
We also have the department of Veterinary Services. The Veterinary Department should craft laws on dealing with stray cattle. In the past, the roads were fenced on the sides and the aim of these fences was to protect these animals from straying into the roads, but this fence has been removed. Therefore, I am pleading with the authorities that be to re-erect these fences to protect these stray animals. Once again, I am begging politicians to include this issue on your agendas at these meetings so that we protect these animals. There is need to sensitise those people who will have brought their animals to your gatherings. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on this important motion raised by Hon. Sen. Mawire, seconded by Hon. Sen. Machiangaifa. This motion is very constructive. We have a lot of people who have died in accidents which were caused by these stray animals hence the debate in this House. Some few days ago, there was a pack of dogs which were so many. They attacked a certain lady. This woman called onto to her husband to come and be inspected. When she went for treatment, the husband was told that he had to fork out some US$600 to get the treatment to fight this rabies.
They went to the clinic and they were given some aspirin tablets. What happened was that before this woman died, she was barking like a dog. She left behind young children and properties. This was caused by these dogs. What really worried me was that the owner of this pack of dogs was left to go scot free because nothing was done to him. He was not even prosecuted. In my Constituency, we do not have much stray dogs because we have lions which devour them. We have problems with the donkeys. As stubborn as a donkey, even when the car is coming, the donkey will just turn and see whatever will be happening without moving out of the road.
We have the youngsters who will be driving these cars and playing their music in full blast and even the buses, and so because there is much noise, they end up getting involved in these accidents and people dying and prosperities are destroyed. We need to have a communal care for these stray animals. We noticed that even in rural areas, we also have a volume of traffic because kombis are now plying those routes. In my area, there was an accident caused by the dogs. The road had dogs and donkeys on the other side. The driver of the kombi tried to stop his bus but a wheel fell off and the bus overturned, and people died.
Some of these people were buried in my area. In my case, we buried one woman who was in the neighbourhood. This woman who died was a widow. The husband had died long back. The breadwinner has died and we now have orphans. I thank Hon. Senator Mawire for this motion and this should be a reminder to us that if you have pets and these animals, let us take care of them. Accidents have happened at night because these animals stray on the road.
We have a neighbour who had donkeys and these donkeys would go into the fields and feed on the crops. One of the people who had suffered because of these donkeys menace, a cruel young man took hold of those donkeys and tied up their mouths and all those donkeys spent a whole week without eating. What surprised people is that when the donkeys had died, the man started talking and yet, the person did not look for the donkeys until a week or two had lapsed. It seemed that this person really had no care because if he was taking care of his donkeys, he would have realised that the donkeys are not at home and looked for them. May be he could have untied the mouths which had been tied by this wire. I am pleading with the people, if you have your animals and pets, please take care of them. Hon. Sen. Mawire, thank you very much for bringing up this motion because we have these stray animals causing havoc in other people’s properties. Dogs also devour people’s chickens and goats. The donkeys and cows stray into people’s fields and we end up asking traditional leaders to go and check the extent of damage caused by these animals before the owners are prosecuted. When the traditional leaders try people and find them guilty, they become angry because they will have failed to come to terms with what would have happened. We then go on to call the Agritex officers to go and assess the damage to the fields or somebody’s crops and the owners of the stray animals will then be asked to pay accordingly. That is why I am saying this is an important motion. Thank you Sir.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Let me start by saying that this is a very important motion. The stray animals we are talking about are our property which we acquire and take care of. I remember my father used to have a lot of problems with our neighbours because he had a lot of goats. The goats would get into people’s kitchens and when being chased out, they would carry baskets with them because the horns would have hooked into the baskets. Some of the goats would get into the house and if there were buckets full of water, they would splash the water all over the place when being chased out. My father used to be told off because people used to say that when you are enjoying your goat meat we will not be there, so you have to take care of your goats.
At times people come to attend meetings with their dogs. These dogs cause havoc as they start to intimidate or even attack people. So, I am calling for Government to make it mandatory for owners of these animals to register these animals and pay tax for each animal that they have. This will lead to the cutting down of the number of pets that people have as they will not be able to pay the tax for these animals. These stray animals have destroyed friendships and relationships. When you look at the people with such dogs, they will have named them Susan or John and yet they do not take care of their Susan and John. They only think of these animals when they want to use them as beasts of burden and under normal circumstances they just let them go astray. So, I am pleading with Government to craft a law which will enforce people to pay tax for every animal that they have.
I remember that in my area, we had a man who would go to the grinding mill with two bags of mealie-meal. He had 19 dogs that he kept, so the other bag would be for the dogs while the other one would be for his family. One just wonders why someone would want to keep 19 dogs which he does not even use to pay lobola or take to the market for sale. That is why some of these dogs would attack passers-by who came close to his homestead and he ended up compensating the person who would have been attacked by the dogs, tearing their clothes and property in the process. That is why I keep saying that if you want to keep 25 or 30 dogs, you should be forced to pay tax for each one of them. I do not think it would be fair if we were to ask our chiefs to look after the stray animals in our areas. So, the best thing to do is enact a law which will make people pay taxes for their animals.
You also notice that dogs become so excitable when they get into newly ploughed fields because they roll themselves in the fields thereby destroying the plants that will be germinating or growing. The effect is that you will suffer as this impacts negatively on the hard work and inputs you will have invested into the field. Thank you Hon. Sen Mawire for bringing up this motion because we are so careless and yet we are the people responsible for these stray animals, which end up destroying other people’s properties that they would have worked very hard for in order to feed their families.
At one time we had a neighbour who had a visitor who was her son-in-law. The mother-in-law killed a chicken for her visitor and unfortunately for them, when they were not looking, a neighbour’s dog came and ate all the cooked chicken. When they were about to have their meal, there was no relish to give to the visitors. That is why I am saying we need to charge higher taxes for these pests and stray animals and any animals that we own.
HON. SEN. MAWIRE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
ALIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS BY
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC)
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on alignment of the Electoral Act to the Constitution.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
SADC MODEL LAW ON ERADICATING EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the SADC
Model Law on eradicating early Child Marriages.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MARAVA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLEDGE
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on advocating for unequivocal support for the National School Pledge by all Members of Parliament.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
MOTION
MEASURES TO CURB VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY POLITICAL
PARTIES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on violence that had become a socio-political way of life among the people of Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Mr. President for
giving me this opportunity to add a few words to the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Sibanda.
I think the problem with our country is that we have more or less socialised into violence for almost the past 200 years. I think that is an issue which needs to be taken charge of and addressed. We can decide to pick and choose the spot from which we want to look at the issue of violence. My argument is that we have been subjected to an almost institutionalised programme of violence, both explicit and implicit for the last 200 years as I said. I will give the long example.
In 1831, a breakaway force of Zwangendaba’s Nguni invaders killed the Rozvi king Chirutsamhuru by skinning him alive. For the next ten or so years, there was a lot of havoc, chaos or anarchy in the country exemplified by the fact that the Rozvis were not able to install another king until the Ndebele came under Mzilikazi in November 1841. That again perpetuated the system of violence up to 1890. When the whites came, they further strengthened the life of violence in their own way.
We can give an example of hundreds if not thousands of people who were shot by Whites at Lalapanzi, Gokomere, Zvamagwiro,
Filabusi and many other places. The Whites were of the view that you could only rule over an African by exerting a certain kind or amount of pressure. They did that in many ways including forced labour which later on was called Chibharo, destocking exercise which included cutting off the tails of cattle and a number of laws which were passed. These included the Land Apportionment Act in 1931, the Native Urban Areas Accomodation Act – 1946 and the Land Husbandry Act – 1951.
The good thing is, some of the whites who participated in this explicit and implicit violence were missionaries by descent, for instance the premier of Southern Rhodesia who was there from about 1927 to
1933; Howard Moffat was actually a grandson of the great missionary
Robert Moffat who built Inyati Mission in 1859 and was the son of John
Smith Moffat who built Hope Fountain Mission in 1869. That same Moffat, the grandson Howard was still alive in 1945/46 and 1951 when other hostile laws to Africans were passed to suppress blacks.
We can go back to 1893 after the Ndebele kingdom was quashed by the whites and the whites created a reserve called Gwayi-Shangani reserve for the Ndebeles. They were not inventing land, they were not creating a new piece of area. They were simply forcing people to go to live amongst the people who had not even asked for visitors from the white Government but they claimed to have been creating a reserve as if there was nobody in that area.
In 1896, if you read our history which was written by very good whites not wise; the other time I said white historians and the Hansard people said wise historians – I was saying white historians. They tell us that among the complaints that were made by the Ndebele people in 1896, they were not worried about white policemen but were worried about black policemen especially those who were not Ndebele speaking. They really looked down upon them. They were not happy that they were in authority above the Ndebeles. At the same time, the Kalangas or Vakaranga thought that the uprising was actually a chance to drive out both the white settlers and the Ndebeles who had come in 1841. They had an expression which said, ‘bhunu halibhudha bhotoko lobhudhawo’ which meant that both the whites and the Ndebeles had to go far away. The bhotokos or mapotoko actually the Ndebele in Kalanga, they were supposed to go back at the same time. That is one of the reasons why the southern entries were left open so that the Ndebele would go back south, the whites would also go back south where they had come from.
What am I trying to say? I am saying that we have a long history of violence in the form of intolerance or scorn for each other, physical violence, sometimes legal as I cited in the Land Apportionment Act and other Acts. The list goes on. What I really think is that this motion should help us to find a way of doing away with this legacy of violence which has been with us for as I said, almost 200 years since 1831. We need to be a people who can live tolerantly of each other, especially leaders in this august House who do not whip up emotions and sentiments against other people. When people stand up to say that for instance, they are surprised to find certain language speakers in the middle of a certain city which they believe should be speaking some other language – I find that to be a bit morally and logically distasteful because this is a country in which you can travel and you can be in any part of the country and be able to speak the language of your choice. So, people should not be surprised that they find a Kalanga speaker in Manicaland or a Shona speaker in the middle of Bulawayo. I think that is wrong, especially as I said for Hon. Members of Parliament to come and peddle some of these emotive issues in Parliament. It is bad because there are people out there who read and listen to what we say.
About a month or two ago, we read of a certain mayor in South Africa who really made a lot of noise about foreigners. Within a few weeks, xenophobic attacks broke out against Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Somalis and so forth. I think as leaders, people should be careful of what they say, they should take stock of whatever they say. It is good, sometimes you become famous because you say you represent a region but in the long term, it does not serve the country well and the region well. We have to be mature politicians.
I can give another example of what happened last week when we were in Bindura conducting public hearings on the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill. The Chairman was trying to tell some people to keep quiet and they were saying “Iwe ndizvo zvaunoita kuParliament tinokuona paTV.” What we do here, they see you on TV, they read the Hansard and they know what you are saying and you are simply whipping up emotions to incite people against each other, to prove to some people that you are actually representing their tribal angle. I think that is dishonourable for an Hon. Member. We should encourage our political parties to take a stand against any violence, whether historical or created now.
I think it is not good enough for us as Members of Parliament to drive people in a certain direction in which we might antagonize them against each other. Whether they come from Harare, Seke, Chiweshe, et cetera, people are people of Zimbabwe and should be freed to be wherever. As Members of Parliament, let us not incite antagonism amongst our people.
One thing for sure that a lot of people have mistaken is the colonially given names of provinces, which we adopted after independence. When we talk about Mashonaland, we also forget that there are Tonga people under Chief Mola and maybe Musambakaruma in Mashonaland West. Those are not Shona but the area is called Mashonaland. We can go to other places and do the same. I think we should remove the tribal names of provinces because people begin to believe that because whites called us Mashonaland or Matabeleland, the area belongs to Shonas or Ndebeles. That is not correct. Where are the
Kalangas, the Tongas, the Vendas and the Shangani – [HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - I think it is wrong. Thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. MAWIRE: Thank you Mr. President. I am going to make my contribution on this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Sibanda. It is very true that the problem of violence is big. When they were introducing the motion, the mover talked of two types of violence. The first one is the domestic violence and we also have people fighting in drinking places. You get some people who kill each other by stabbing or clubbing each other. This is quite a problem in a country where we have the President who is talking over and again that people should solve their problems and misunderstandings amicably. Talking of peace, we talked about some of the issues when we were debating on the
President’s address to the nation, especially when Hon. Buka talked about domestic violence where we have the husbands, wives and children involved in murderous acts.
We know children have their rights. They should live in a peaceful country and grow to be responsible adults. As parents, we are now leading our cattle astray and we are destroying their lives because of some trivial cases. The child would have grown up to be a leader or even a Member of Parliament but as parents we disregard that and destroy innocent lives. In the past, we had a culture which was to preserve life and that is why one of us talked about empowering our traditional leaders so that they can have the same powers they used to have.
In the past, whosoever hit a woman would be taken to the traditional leader’s court, be prosecuted and pay a fine. To make matters worse, if you murdered anybody, there would be communal punishment because members of your family would contribute towards the fine of compensating the family of the deceased. I do not know why our police are now emasculated. They no longer do their duties as should be the norm. Yet in the past we know that we had a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. If you killed, you were also supposed to be killed.
My sentiments and feelings are that people now know that if they murder somebody, they just go to prison and come back. They will not be sentenced to death and yet some of them, when they indulge in domestic violence or murder, there will come a time when His
Excellency would pardon them and they will come out of prison. Therefore, they are so happy. Some also want the social welfare which is extended in the prisons; they have three meals a day, they are taken care of and some even attain certificates and diplomas whilst they are in prison. We are now saying this should be changed.
I remember when we were at war, there is a song which we used to sing. We encouraged freedom fighters to take care of people whom they would have captured, that they should not torture or persecute them.
Again, we have now changed the law and said we should not practice
the Mosaic Law – a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye or kill whosoever has murdered somebody. This is encouraging people to kill because they know that they will not be killed but will simply go to prison.
Let me now turn to political violence. Political parties should be taught how to create peace amongst people who have different opinions with them. I remember some other year, I am not able to tell the time but I only remember the incident which happened between 2008 and 2010. We had some political leaders who were encouraging their supporters to beat up their opponents and you can imagine, you are a leader and people are looking up to you and you are encouraging these people. What happened is that they would be encouraging these youngsters to go and beat up people and we had some people who unashamedly took advantage of beating people who are innocent. They simply fight because they have been encouraged by their political leaders. People would be serving the political party leaders. His Excellency, Cde R. G. Mugabe and his ZANU PF and Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T, people start fighting burning each other other’s property and I am pleading with the political leadership that we should create peace.
Hon. Sen. Mashavakure has encouraged people to avoid hate speech. We had one leader who was talking about people who had settled themselves wherever they wanted. He said they are just growing up like mushroom. I am saying to any leader of any political party, they should preach peace. What we know is that Zimbabwe practices democracy and the Constitution allows us to have many political parties.
This means we have to agree to disagree on our political differences. Why can we not that this is what is in the Constitution? We need to follow the steps taken by our leaders, the late Joshua Nkomo and Cde R. G. Mugabe. They created peace and unity so that there is peace and harmony in Zimbabwe.
As political leaders, why do we not follow the example of our leaders who said peace to the people of Zimbabwe, peace to the children of Zimbabwe, peace to mwana weropa? Why are we burning each other? Why are we stoning each other? When we look at the majority of these violent cases, some of these people are not sent by anybody to fight anybody but it is because of trivial cases which may have happened in the past like some women fighting over a boyfriend or men fighting over a girlfriend. We end up saying it is political violence when in actual fact it is not. We are not going to condone any source of violence.
Violence is violence. Let us live in peace and harmony and share love.
We need to go to areas where the men would meet in their own areas and talk to the youngsters about peace in the home and the responsibilities of a father. We are noticing that some of our youngsters, especially young men get married without getting any lessons on fatherhood. As we were growing up, we realise there was a time when the young men were taken by the elders in the community to be taught about fatherhood. The same was happening to the girls. They would be taken into the kitchen or some other fora by the elderly ladies and they would be taught about motherhood. I have this feeling that this is lacking in our modern day homes. That is why our youngsters fail to solve their problems amicably and then they end up fighting.
We now have counsellors in churches and these counsellors solve problems between feuding families or people who misunderstand. I am calling for political parties to establish the post of counsellors so that they create peace and harmony amongst the religious folk because if you leave it in the hands of traditional leaders alone, we could be overburdening them. I thank you for giving me the chance to make my contribution.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHISUNGA: Thank you very much Mr.
President for affording me this opportunity to contribute towards this most fearful debate which has been going on for quite some time. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Sibanda for raising this motion. The reason why I said it has been very fearful, it is because of the way Senators treat each other, especially on issues raised. As a House there are times when we seem not to be tolerant to each other. I want to thank the previous two speakers namely Hon. Sen. Mawire and Hon. Sen.
Mashavakure, they have debated in a manner which forced me to stand up and add my voice to this motion.
At times it complicates the chiefs lives to debate a certain motion because of the connotations associated with such a motion. For instance, this motion had a lot to do with violence and a lot of practical examples were being raised from both political parties and it complicated our lives that if ever you try to stand up and raise some issues you will be aligned to this or that political party. It is our desire as traditional leaders who are neutral to stand up and tell the country that it is not good to tolerate violence. Why am I saying so? Our President has for a very long time been denouncing violent acts.
It if you go to the Constitution on Chapter 1, Section 6 (1) “the following languages namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga,
Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe”. According to the Constitution this is recognition of the existence of our diverse characters, understanding and comprehension of issues. It is a recognition of how people think. Each language tells me how these people think and perceive issues. I want to congratulate Hon. Sen. Mashavakure for encouraging Members to debate positively because the nation will be watching. The nation listens to our contributions. From what we contribute in this House, tells our nation the way to go.
I want to say it out today that violence manifests itself from all political parties. Last week in Chipinge there were violent activities which occurred. Those had nothing to do with MDC but it was intra party violence. We have had cases as well in the MDC where you have had intra party violent activities. When we stand up to denounce violence we are not saying ZANU PF stop the violence, MDC stop the violence, we are simply saying as traditional leaders for our nation and the sake of our young people who are growing up and are tomorrow’s leaders, I think we should be tolerant of each other because we are different. We think differently and we should be perceived differently hence the issue of tolerance.
If we do not tolerate each other, we end up like the Malemas in South Africa where you end up fist fighting, which is undesirable. For example, as traditional leaders we preside over different tribes. We preside over Ndebeles, Kalangas, Vendas, Korekores and all these other tribes. All these people look up to the wise leadership of chiefs for them to continue enjoying their rights. As such, may I encourage Hon. Members to be positive when we make contributions so that you do not perpetrate emotional violence towards chiefs. Several times you say things and we keep quiet, but to tell the truth you will be perpetrating violence on us because there are times when we stand up trying to say this, people say ha-a ha-a. That is being violent towards others. Most of the times we prefer to keep quiet because if I say something, it therefore means I am aligned to this political party.
I think from what Hon. Sibanda and from the historical background given by various speakers, it shows that the violence being debated sometimes has nothing to do with this political party or that one but has to do with us as Zimbabweans. We do not have to perpetrate violence on each other. We have had scenes in schools where school children perpetrate violence on each other or a parent perpetrating violence on his or her children. We should be debating those cases for the benefit of our nation so that we have a violent free country.
If we do not have violence in our country, development will take place and take its course. If we do not have violence, it means we are united and if we are united, truly speaking we will be like the Rozvi people who almost built a tower in Rusape, on Tikwiri mountain because they were united and almost reached the moon. I think it is important for us to be united knowing that we are different. We think differently, we came from different backgrounds and as such, we must tolerate each other. Thank you very much.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: Thank you Mr. President for according me this opportunity to add my voice on this motion which was raised by Hon. Sen. Sibanda and seconded by Hon. Sen. Ncube. I want to thank you for this motion which was brought to this House. It is a very good motion which gives us an opportunity to look at how we can build our nation. Violence causes our country not to function well because if you were beaten, is very painful.
I want to start by the violence which is found in our homes. I come from Zvishavane and one day when I was going to Mberengwa, I passed through illegal gold panners and saw 10 and 12 year olds gold panning with their paraphernalia. This was during school days and I asked myself what was happening because illegal panning is not easy, and that is where violence is rampant and very common. There are a lot of illegal gold panners in Zvishavane and we find that a lot of violence is perpetrated there. I want to articulate that as a nation, what can we do so that children do not go and work whilst they are still young.
I also want to look at our farms where I came across young girls working. You find them carrying heavy loads and you wonder what time they go to school. So, we should look at whether our children are going to school or they are now drop-outs because of lack of funds. What can the Government do for these children to go to school so that they will work when they are ready and mature? That is another form of violence.
I also came across a married woman. She is married to a man who has a girl child from a previous marriage of about 10 years old. This man goes out to do illegal panning leaving this woman with this 10 year old. This girl is now a slave to this woman. The last time when I sent some police officers to arrest them, the child slept outside but when the husband is around she is treated like a queen.
I have come across violence even on WhatsApp where a man kills his wife and children, and finally they hang themselves. I do not know what they will be thinking. So, it means that as a Government, we have a lot of things to do for us to bring to light what is really happening in the lives of our people and how they are surviving.
I also want to look at what really causes violence. You find that many people engage in violence because they are lazy. You can pass through your neighbour’s field and notice that she is doing very well tilling the fields and you are pained by that. So, most of the time even when we come to politics, if you really look closely you find that people who are violent during election time are the Members of Parliament who do not stay within the constituency. They stay here in Harare and when it is almost time for elections, they go back and want to force people to do what they want. So, most violent people are lazy because if you represent people well and meet with them every time, I do not think there will be any reason to be violent because you will have worked with them already.
Also, focusing on chiefs - if chiefs become involved in politics, yes we can get instructions from another person but you find that because we stay together we know each other in our villages. So, I was actually thinking that our chiefs can help and do a good job if they could sit down with the people in their areas, and also educate them on the negative effects of violence. They should tell them do not want to see violence during elections and people should campaign peacefully. I was surprised yesterday when I was reading from the internet that there is an Hon. Member from Masvingo who has threatened chiefs. I think there is a by-election going on there and this Hon. Member was saying chiefs should campaign on behalf of the ruling party because it is the Government of the day. It is the one that gave them cars and also inputs. So, chiefs should know which side their bread is buttered because they received those things and they should campaign for the ruling party. The Hon. Senator said if you do not do that, you will see for yourself. I was really shocked that even the chiefs are now being threatened but we are their subjects and we want them to settle our problems.
I want to tell you the truth. I went to Zambia. I am a member of the Universal Peace Federation. I was shocked to see the chiefs that I came across. The Zambian chiefs drive 4 by 4s and travel with their policemen. Right now if it was a Zambian Parliament, the policemen for the chiefs would be sitting behind them. The bottom line is that chiefs are respected. They are looked after by their country. They have their own independence. They rule without favouring any political party and no one can threaten them.
I have found that in Zimbabwe it is very easy to threaten anyone. So Hon. Members, we should look at this issue together with one spirit and honesty so that we build our nation. If you come to me for my vote and you threaten me, I can be afraid and vote for you but you are in power because of threatening people, how do you feel? You might be here but on development, the people will just say do whatever you want but we will not participate. A good nation is a result of people who are free and do their things out of love and freedom.
If I go wrong, I am convicted because of my crime. If we do all our things in love, I will tell you that our nation has everything. It has gas in Lupane, diamonds, platinum and a lot of resources. If we had love, we could sit down together and give each other ideas on what we can do with the gas. Even with the diamonds in Chiadzwa or the minerals in the Midlands area, all the Zimbabweans together would live well. If you look closely in Zimbabwe, you will find that after the elections in 2018, in 2019 we have already started to campaign for the next five years. Is that a country where we do not have time to talk about development?
We are always campaigning and threatening each other as
Zimbabweans.
Everyone is aware that when it is time for elections, it is time for threats and for being beaten. Also houses will be burnt in areas where we stay. Is that a good country that we can develop? I think it is us who sent people. An example was given by Hon. Mashavakure that we travelled with the Peace and Security Committee and you would find that this person has been sent. This is because after they have disturbed the programme, they would ask for the opinion of the people who would have sent them. Are we building our nation? I think we should ask ourselves.
This country was the breadbasket of Africa and this country flows with milk and honey, but the problem is that we are always campaigning. We do not look at each other as Zimbabweans. I am afraid to be seen talking to Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi, laughing together and asking how things are in her constituency. You are doing a lot of projects, can you help us how you are doing it. Our rivers are flooded, what can we do now in order to build our nation as Zimbabweans?
If you beat your neighbour, you can be happy that you were not directly involved because you would have sent the youths. You are using other people’s children, especially those who are disadvantaged by just buying beer for them. After drinking the beer, the country will not develop - it will remain stagnant. So, when it comes to violence, I am really pleading that we should look at 2018 and we beat the record and demonstrate that Zimbabwe is a peaceful country, has united people. Even if we belong to different parties, first and foremost is that we are Zimbabweans.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT
OF THE SENATE
VISITORS IN THE SENATE GALLERY
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE (HON.
CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): I wish to recognise the presence of the Members of the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Friendship Association from the Parliament of France. The two members are Mr. M. G. Chevroria and Mr. M. René Roquete. You are welcome and please take your seats. +HON. SEN. JUBA: Thank you Mr. President for granting me
this opportunity to say just a few things. I do not know what we can do so that we can be united and pray so that everything may be smooth. I was at home during the weekend. On Saturday a child stepped on her step mother and the child disappeared into the bush. So the issue of violence does not matter whether it is a child of an adult, everyone is attacking the other. I do not know where this has come from.
When we were growing up, it was very surprising to hear that someone has killed another person. I went to a funeral and left my daughters at home. There was a young man who entered into the girls’ bedroom. He fondled a girl’s breast. The girl who was married to this young man approached me and requested me to withdraw the case. I called the father of the young man. I did not know that the young man stayed with the step mother. I told the father that I have daughters and these are youths. Why did your son come from that far to frustrate my daughters? I requested the Presiding Officer to remonstrate the young man that daughters are children just like him.
Thereafter, the son child did not make a repeat of that. He is now so good. Sometimes it will be out of lack of love. The stepmother has nothing to do with that. We also have a wrong habit as women. When we have a child and you are divorced, you leave the children there. That child survives without a mother. It is good for one to leave the child with its grandmother when you are divorced not even your brother’s wife. Let us put our heads together as Zimbabweans, love each other and pray to our God that these wishes obtaining are the worst; it is not good at all.
A twenty-five year old girl killed her fifty year old husband and left a child sitting on blood to make a report to the police that a girl had taken her husband yet she had killed her husband. When police went to the scene of the accident, they realised that it was murder. This girl was just rolling on the blood.
Our bodies are the temple of God. We are made from the image of the Lord but we are no longer able to remonstrate our children. When I grew up, my grandparents could not fight infront of me or get angry to each other but now, the devil is causing all these problems. The fathers kill their children for eggs. Would you murder a child for eggs? This is not good at all. You are afraid to say to a child this is wrong because the child might attack you with a weapon. With these words, Mr. President, I thank you.
HON. SEN. B. SIBANDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GOTO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MASUKU, seconded by HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI, the Senate adjourned at Twenty-Six Minutes to
Five o’clock p.m.