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SENATE HANSARD 24 NOVEMBER 2021 VOL 31 NO 15
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 24th November, 2021
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
LIGHTING CEREMONY IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the House that a Zoom link will be sent to your e-mails later today to follow proceedings of the lighting ceremony of Parliament of Zimbabwe virtually, in commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. The ceremony will be held at Parliament building today from 1800 hours to 1915 hours.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 2 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
CURBING GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AMONG COMMUNITIES
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the increase of gender based violence since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi on gender based violence.
Mr. President, annually, this issue is debated in this House as well as in the Lower House but the challenge that we have is that we have not seen any change. All measures that are being said to address this scourge seem not to be working for us. We know that the biggest challenge we have is that this issue involves our upbringing and our socialisation, that when a girl or boy child is born in a family, parents tend to think the boy child is the one who should be educated and the girl child should be relegated to household chores because eventually she will get married and enrich the family where she gets married to.
As a country, we need to raise awareness and ensure that we address the matter to bring this to an end. We need to work together with the partners and those in the field of fighting gender based violence against women and girls to ensure that we bring an end to GBV.
The other challenge we have is that we need to educate our girls as well as the women on how we can end these issues on GBV. If we raise awareness to the survivors and not the perpetrators, we will not be doing justice. So, I urge those who go on awareness campaigns on ending GBV to include both the men and boys so that we speak with one voice and this will help us to have a change of mindset, especially on the way the girl child is viewed.
Colonisation gave us that mindset where for me to go and get an identity document, I had to go with the child and the father to the Civil Registration Department. We also need to look at the survivors of GBV and to say if we do not involve the perpetrators, we will not be able to eradicate GBV. Mr. President, if that could be done I see this addressing the matter.
As the report was given, we were informed of the challenges that we are experiencing because of GBV. We also have our Constitution that has Sections 48, 51, 52 and 53 that were quoted. This matter can be eradicated through these provisions, but from my view Mr. President, the way we are addressing the matter, we do not seem to be using the right strategy. We need an inclusive approach including the perpetrators because if we do not do that, I do not see us making any progress. We need a change of mindset and realise as a country that when we talk of children, we are talking about both the girl child and the boy child. We should raise awareness that they should be given equal opportunities in whatever they want to do. If that happens, we will be able to eradicate gender based violence.
We were informed that there are different types of gender based violence – it is not only about physical violence but it can be psychological and emotional violence. If it is verbal abuse, one is affected emotionally -all that is violence. I also want to say we are talking about the women and girl children but we also know that there are men and boys who are also experiencing gender based violence and they are not being talked about. That is why I said that we need to have an inclusive approach to address these matters. The men have challenges in their homes but they cannot say anything about it because it is a blow on their ego. For that reason, men are facing challenges in their homes. Even the boy child in the schools that they attend, if they engage in a fight with a girl child, he cannot even talk about it when he gets home because it is embarrassing for a boy to be beaten by a girl.
I want to say that our strategy needs to be revisited. We need to ensure that we educate both the girl child and boy child, men and women, about gender based violence. If we do that, with the laws that have been put in place, the ZRP and Gender Commission will know exactly what to do. There will be clear guidelines on what to do. We need to take that strategy of inclusiveness to address the issue of GBV so that probably next year when we talk about 16 Days of Activism, we will be able to see a positive change in terms of eradication of GBV. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. M. R. DUBE: Mr. President, I feel pained as I address the issue of gender based violence because in the Bible, we are told that a man was created first, he was made to sleep then God extracted a rib to create a woman. You find a man having the guts to take a bayonet and cut the woman. I would like to say that those who abuse women and girls should be incarcerated for 50 years or more with no parole for such offenders. No matter if the Queen comes to Zimbabwe or there is an amnesty by His Excellency, people who behave like wild beasts should be incarcerated. They must not be released back into society because they are a menace. I am saying they should be incarcerated. They can be engaged to work towards the advancement of the economy of the country through extracting minerals.
I saw a young girl who was raped in Matobo. She was carrying a five litre container at Matobo Business Centre, and some people wanted to see what was happening. When I got into the shop, I asked what was happening, then that girl told me that she had been raped. She said that she had been to a police station but the police officer raped her also. I said how and she said please do not talk about it because they will kill me. Then I called Bulawayo Central Police and a police car came to the shopping centre whilst I was still there and that police officer was arrested. People are afraid of witnessing such events, whether it is a neighbour’s child or not but that child is yours. You are a parent also.
Mr. President, you find a woman being beaten up until she is disabled. I have a friend who suffered such abuse, then the husband drugged the woman until such a time she was sober and I was allowed to see the woman when she was feeling much better. When I confronted her, she said she fell on the staircase and broke her back but witnesses who saw the abuse happening testified that they saw the woman being beaten up. I would like to implore the State to prosecute such people. They must be arrested. It is not necessary to castrate such a person but they must be incarcerated because entertaining them is not good. They must be arrested. It is not necessary to castrate such a person but they must be incarcerated because entertaining them is not good for the nation. It is retrogressive. It is like someone who sees a green orange which is not ripe and decide to take it for consumption. I am saying women should stand up from Binga to Victoria Falls, Plumtree and Beitbridge. If we speak with one voice as women, I believe that this is going to work.
Our Government should engage Apostolic sects. Such sects are a problem Mr. President. You will find adults marrying off young girls. How can a young girl be a wife? How is that possible for such a young girl who maybe is in Grade 7? It is important that we engage such churches. My request is that His Excellency should flex his muscles so that this behaviour is stopped forthwith.
We do not want lawyers for murderers and rapists. It is important that such a person represents himself or herself in court. We need to be respected as women. We are equally people with rights. What some men are doing in Zimbabwe and the world over is not right. We are tired of being violated. I thank you Mr. President, but my heart is in pain. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President Sir for giving me the opportunity to speak regarding gender based violence. I would like to thank also Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi who introduced this motion and the seconder of the motion. I would like to thank them for introducing such a pertinent motion.
We have chiefs in this august House, chiefs who are there to represent people. We also have councillors. Mr. President, the issue of gender based violence on women is a very big issue. My niece is also a victim of gender based violence, although she was employed and well versed with the law. I went to the police and the perpetrator was discharged from his duties. The person was employed by the Ministry of Health and Child Care. There was also another victim in rural Chiredzi. The police told me that if I go to Harare or Chiredzi town, the issue would be resolved. The perpetrators did not receive enough punishment. They were only discharged from their duties, but there was no sort of a punishment which was given to them. The victims had children, both girls. One was in Grade 7 and the other one was in Form 1. A criminal is always a criminal. Young women or even older women are being abused by these criminals. Yesterday at the launch of the high table delegation of Gender Based Violence, there was a woman who gave her testimony. She was crying while telling her story about gender based violence. Those police officers who went to that function - both men and women police officers, must stand by the law and make sure that they execute their duties. Police officers must desist from abusing the victims. They must stand by the law and help the victims.
We are no longer sure about our safety since some of the police officers are now being involved in these illicit activities of abusing the victims of gender based violence. Mr. President, we wish the Ministers for the responsible ministries to be present when we are debating these important issues of gender based violence. Listening to someone talking is different from reading a report.
If you look at my complexion, I am dark. That is how my heart is when I am thinking of the issue of gender based violence. I also met another woman who was physically abused. The woman came to me and told me that she had been physically abused and did not know what to do. She considered that if she went to the police, her husband was going to be arrested. I ended up going to the hospital. The victim saw that she can be treated. At the hospital, I met one of my friends who was the Sister-In-Charge. That woman was treated and after treatment, I later on went to the police with the lady to report her issue but during the evening, the husband came to my house carrying weapons to beat me. I ended up calling the police to report the issue.
It is very painful to see how young women, children and minors are being abused. Even in churches, Government must intervene. There are some churches which practice gender based violence. I went to one church where there was a minor who was called mudzimai. They were not explaining properly to me the nature of the issue then I told them to explain the issue properly because I was going to report the issue to the police. Therefore, I am pleading with the Government to work with churches and even the traditional leaders in eradicating gender based violence.
Last week I was in Bikita. I took the opportunity to raise awareness against gender based violence on young women, women and minors. I also told them about the prison term for rape. Right now I am pleading with the Government to increase the prison term for rapists from 50 to 60 or 70 years so that a person can face a life sentence in prison. Let us not agree on 50 years, but let us agree on 70 years. Many people are destroying the future of our children. Some of them are listening to lies which they are being told by the traditional leaders. So they end up raping the minors in a bid to end their diseases like HIV. I also experienced the issue of gender based violence. When my mother gave birth to me, she passed on and I ended up growing at my grandfather’s homestead. In 1958, there was a police officer who was going around looking for kids to go to school but my father insisted that he wanted me to go to school the following year. I grew up in Chief Tsobane area; many people were discouraging young girls from going to school because they were of the opinion that they were going to become prostitutes. The school inspectors also encouraged parents to send their children to school before looking for jobs. The school inspectors encouraged the parents to send the girl child to school because most of them were doing well as compared to boys.
Mr. President, the perpetrators of gender based violence and rapists are nowadays close relatives like our young brothers, aunties and uncles. Those people can go to neighbours’ houses to abuse the victims. At another house, there was a grandfather who used to go to the room of the granddaughter to abuse her sexually. The grandmother used to hear the noise during the night whilst the granddaughter was crying but the issue was not resolved. It was resolved traditionally; it was not reported to the police. I heard the issue as the Hon. Member of that area and I reported the issue to the police. Right now the perpetrator is in jail. Let us not keep quiet on the issues of gender based violence, but let us report all the issues. As society, let us report all these issues so that the law takes its course.
Mr. President, men are being abused although the number is very low compared to women. I encourage the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Justice to take this issue to His Excellency the President. Most of us who are in the rural areas, like in cotton growing areas, there are many problems which women are facing. Many women are being killed, some of the minors are being abused. We are also near the border, many young girls are going to South Africa at a tender age and most of them are into child marriages.
Mr. President, we plead with you, we have suffered as women, may the law and the society intervene so that they help. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for bringing up this motion. I thank you. May God bless you because the issue of gender based violence needs every one’s intervention so that it can end?
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the gender based violence motion. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi who raised the motion. As women and girls, we are facing a lot of challenges; that is why there is that Shona adage which says, ‘chakafukidza dzimba matenga’, no one knows what happens behind closed doors. Right now, a lot of men are taking advantage of women just because women are weak, they do not have money and they face a lot of challenges. You find that most men who rape young girls are people who are related to that girl. You find that women who get married whilst they would have their daughters; the new husbands rape their step daughters and for the daughter to tell her mother, it becomes a problem because sometimes you find the mother protecting the rapist.
Mr. President, there is need for the prosecution of both men and women who protect rapists.. You find an old man who believes in a lot of things. When HIV and AIDS was first discovered, many men went to traditional healers and were told to abuse young girls so that they could be healed and they were not prosecuted but cases of rape were being reported. There are also some beliefs that if you want to succeed in life, you should abuse a young girl. For an old man to rape a ten-year old, it is an injustice. How do you feel when having sexual intercourse with a ten year old?
I would like to implore that there be sensitisation of both girls and boys pertaining to abuse; whatever form of abuse, for example touching of any part of the body should be reported. Young people should be taught from a tender age. The other issues is that in the past when a man and a woman got married, when they decided to part, it was necessary for them to follow our culture, gupuro and consulting aunties. There is a certain incident where a man did not sleep in his matrimonial home but he went to a girlfriend and there was confrontation between the man and the wife until the man told the wife that he was no longer interested in her then the woman stabbed the man. I am saying that if the man had approached a relative like the aunt to inform them that he was no longer interested in that woman, this was going to end in a better way. He took the smaller child like he was holding chicken. He ran outside holding that small child then he struck the child with a big log until the child died. I am saying that as Government, it is important that police officers are given motor bikes and cars so that they can attend to such cases. If police officers had attended to that scene, maybe one child was going to be saved.
It is important for women to be faithful in marriages because this leads to violence. This is also because there are some women who have extra marital affairs. I am saying that women should be faithful to their husbands. In political issues, you find women being sexually abused because of positions just because they want to be MPs or Councillors. You discover that a person who will be facilitating such positions is a man. Some men will propose to women to say first date me so that I give you that position. Government should regulate all political parties so that the quota system is applied, for instance, it may be in the National Assembly or Senate, because we end up suffering and some people end up contracting diseases like HIV and Aids. With those few words, I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi regarding gender based violence as we commemorate 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. This is an issue that we can talk about continuously but we need to come to a position where this issue can be resolved. I believe that gender based violence is a very critical issue in Zimbabwe. If in a household there is a woman and the girl child – that is quite a home because we know that a woman is a person who looks after her household.
At times you find that because of violence things do not flow. It is important for public education to be carried out so that people know and we need to understand that our biological make up is different and our psychological dispositions differ. There are some people who do not have conscience, who do not know that they are doing bad things. I believe that we need to retrace our footsteps so that we embrace our culture. In the past, there were men who used to work and some who were not working but cases of gender based violence were fewer. At the moment, looking at COVID-19 era, there was a lot of gender based violence towards women and girls.
The woman will be at home and the man might go out to hustle but you discover that when he comes with nothing and when confronted, people ended up fighting over resources. At the end of the day, a child is implicated in the misdeeds of the parents or the child might end up being a victim and this is really bad. In the past when parents visited, as young girls, we would take up responsibilities. Sometimes we would sleep in the same hut and we would do household chores but now this is not happening and people cannot trust relatives in this stage.
When we went to Musasa Project, we were touched. We saw vulnerable children who had suffered abuse. You would find young pregnant girls suffering from hunger and other biological challenges because they fell pregnant at a tender age. If you ask some of these girls what surname they would give their children, they would be stuck, and we saw this happening at Msasa Project. The question is how are we going to end this issue?
Of course, we support the education of people and public awareness but what is happening is not good. Let us trace our footsteps and embrace our culture, let us support our chiefs and traditional leaders. The law should take its course because in most cases, such gender based violence cases are laid off at different systems but you do not find perpetrators being incarcerated. You find perpetrators coming back into the society, some would not be discouraged from perpetuating domestic or gender based violence. So we expect our children to be tomorrow’s leaders.
I would like to thank the First Lady who is moving around with Nharirire Yegota Programme but we expect that awareness campaigns should continuously be found to be happening around the country because there is a lot of gender based violence throughout the country. This violence is being perpetrated against the girl child. A certain Hon. Senator said that we differ and our socialisation differs, but the issue is that the woman will be suffering and as a woman to report that this is what has happened to this child, especially if it is a relative, then that woman would live in fear. When she speaks up, you discover that there would be a lot of noise and fights in the family.
We want this issue to be finalised and this should end and for it to end, there should be public awareness. In our constituencies we need to speak with one voice as a nation and throughout the country we need to use one language and one voice so that this issue ends. We can continuously talk but we want it to be eradicated even throughout the traditional leadership system, our chiefs, our headmen and other people should also be seen to be taking part in fighting gender based violence.
Mr. President, I would also like to say that I support the motion that was brought by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi in this House. We support the law and we expect the law to take its course so that perpetrators of gender based violence are incarcerated. There is a lot of violence against boys, girls and women.
*HON. SEN. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to this motion. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi who moved this motion. Gender based violence is really affecting women in different areas. You find women being beaten up because they are not empowered with knowledge to stand on their own. There are a lot of crops like tobacco, there is livestock in rural areas which bring in money but you discover that despite the woman contributing, the husband will just pocket all the money. When the woman confronts the man, then she is beaten up.
Therefore, it is important for women to be educated and empowered so that they can stand on their own. This is a big problem and should not end in urban centres but this message should proliferate into the rural areas so that the victim friendly unit in police stations is also disseminating information instead of waiting for people to come to the victim friendly unit.
It is really touching that you find a police officer who is supposed to protect a victim but ends up raping the victim also. I am not sure whether there is law which says a male officer cannot attend to a female victim or vice versa. I thank you.
HON. SEN. BAIPAI: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this emotional motion of gender based violence. I grew up in such a set up where you would find abuse being perpetuated within the family. Even when getting married, you find that as an in-law, there is abuse from the mother-in-law, so, for you to leave your marriage yet your husband loves you was really painful. So, one would be patient and endure longsuffering.
Abuse is happening in different areas. In my constituency, there is a village head who abuses disabled children. I have a niece who is a daughter to my aunty; so the headman used to entice the disabled girl saying that he has a lot of projects. As a parent, I noticed what was happening and confronted the headman. However, the headman also has his own disabled daughter whom he impregnated. At the point of his daughter giving birth, there was no one to assist her and the baby died. The headman went on to impregnate another disabled child, so now I do not know what is happening whether this is because of rituals or juju. This case was reported to the police and the headman was arrested for rape. The daughter reported to the police that the father was abusing her by suckling her breasts despite being the biological father. This is quite painful. When I went to the rural areas, I was surprised to find that the headman was back in the community. He was back from the cells. I do not understand whether the police officers were paid or not. This is really painful because this is a person who is a menace to society.
I also have a niece who came back and was married but she had suffered for a long time. She eventually decided to leave because the husband was very abusive until he threatened to kill all the four and bury them secretly. This niece left until she went to live with someone for six months. The husband would take a cloth to strangle his daughter and these are real painful issues. This matter is a big issue in our locality.
(v)*HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me the opportunity to debate. I want to debate specifically looking at the women and girls on how to look after themselves. We need to educate our children to behave well. We need to educate both boys and girls instead of ascribing gender roles to girls and boys. This will demonstrate what will happen in future. We need to socialise them in such a way that they grow knowing that they can partake both duties as boys and girls.
When we were growing up and there was not enough money in the home, money would be channeled towards the education of boys instead of girls. Some cultures are contributing towards gender based violence. We need to look at what our children are wearing before leaving the homes. You find them wearing revealing clothes because there are some people who cannot behave themselves. It is not good for our daughters to go into public places without wearing decent clothes. This will affect them and their future. This is retrogressive and I am saying we need to observe how our children are clothing themselves. What they see on television should be restricted. Do they watch relevant material on television? As parents, we are there to restrict what they watch and how they live. They must not watch adult content.
There are some other cultures where you find children going to sleep overs. As parents, do we know what children do during sleep overs? Let us help our children so that, that culture of sleep overs is not practiced. There is also the practice of ferrying children in cars. Let us teach our children not to be given lifts by men when there is no woman in that car. What if that man turns on you and rapes you? Let us teach our children to be observant. Let us monitor what they do during the day at school and at different areas because at the end of the day, we will end up saying our children are misbehaving. As parents, let us take it upon ourselves to protect our children. The safety of our children is important.
Sometimes they might be going to school not wearing proper clothing. Let us empower them by giving them pocket money so that they cannot be abused. Some who are in Grade 7 might have reached puberty stage which might lead to some people abusing them. We need to see and observe what they are doing, and who is accompanying them.
There are cases of child marriages and sometimes these are encouraged by parents and churches. You find some children falling pregnant. When we went to Musasa Project, we saw this but as parents, let us learn to teach our children. As Members of Parliament, we were chosen to represent them. Let us find awareness programmes and projects so that our children can go to school. We say no to pregnancies. Our children should excel in education.
The other issue is that as parents, we allow people to give us monies. You find some girls getting married even before reaching 18 years yet the law prohibits that. All parents who allow that are destructive because they are destroying their own children. A lot of women are behind some of these cases because they protect abusers who are relatives within the family. You find a father or an uncle raping a young girl within the family but parents end up protecting rapists and abusers. We need to expose abusers and not protect them. We entertain such things because these are our relatives. We need to be serious with things like awareness campaigns. Let us tell our children how to protect themselves and if we do not do that, our children will be taught by radios and newspapers which we cannot control what they listen to. So let us sit down with our children. Let us teach them, educate them so that tomorrow they have information.
On the case regarding police officers, I would like to support the point that police officers are there to protect them. Imagine walking for 20km then a police officer turns on the victim and rapes the victim and a wrong statement is written. Let us make it a point that if it is a girl, whoever is accompanying her should be accompanied by a female police officer because this is happening.
There are some women who are abusing young boys. Sometimes you fear leaving a boy child with a housemaid because of what is happening. There are a lot of cases but gender based violence is really bad. So I thank the Hon. Senator for raising such a motion. Even coming to this august House, there are some who wear revealing clothes. Sometimes you wonder how and why. This is very important. We need to dress modestly. Let us protect our bodies which are important. We need to protect ourselves and we need to educate each other on how we can protect ourselves.
With these few words, Mr. President, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute towards this motion which was moved by Senator Chimbudzi. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate. Before speaking, I would like to express my condolences on the sad loss of our Senator and former Minister, Sen. Ambassador S. K. Moyo. I would like to say rest in peace and may God guide you.
I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for moving this quite crucial motion on gender based violence. Every year during this period we normally have the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. In most cases, this happens within the domestic sphere. Even in the public domain you find gender based violence happening, but I would like to say that we need to look at this. The previous speaker, Sen. Mupfumira, mentioned quite an important fact that as mothers when our children go out of the house, how do we see them?
I attended this other funeral and we saw a woman with a big body who was wearing indecent clothes. As black people, we need to teach each other and our children that as a woman you need to wear decent clothes. We have young boys who are indisciplined who when enticed with such dressing you find them following those who do not have decent clothes.
Of course in the past some say that people used to wear skimpy clothes which were revealing, but this was in the past. So I would like to say that what the First Lady is doing in moulding the nation to be a nation where boys and girls are well groomed is a good initiative. We thank her for that.
As women, we also contribute towards gender based violence. You might be told that this is not right then you go to the men and you confront him saying beat me up, beat me up and he will do that. I am not justifying violence. I am not saying that it is good but I am saying let us be responsible as women also because we are women. We have husbands, we have daughters-in-law, and we have sons. When you see your son beating his wife, you do not like that. So I am saying that there should be awareness. Let us educate the woman. The First Lady brought a very important initiative. Yes, that is the First Lady’s initiative. - However, as Members of Parliament, let us also go out to our constituents and teach them.
There are some women who are abusive. When you see them beating up their husbands, some people will say they are possessed. Let us teach each other that no, it is not right. The law that groomed us even in our ages, which teaches us that we must be subjective to men does not mean that when you are subjective to Mr. Hungwe then you are not of any value or use but you are important. This was done so that there is no gender based violence. The men should also know that the woman is my helper in my marriage.
There were a lot of touching words that were said here, like the beating up of women and you find a biological father killing his own children. That behaviour is not normal. This is the behaviour of a psychopath who should be incarcerated, who should be locked up for the rest of his life because he is like a wild animal that is a menace to society. In our Shona culture, there was quite good teaching which teaches that people should fear ngozi. When we were growing up we were taught that if you kill a fellow person then ngozi, the avenging spirit would affect your family. Now people do not fear the avenging spirit. When we were growing up we feared the avenging spirit. This was the teaching of our elders who were teaching us that violence should not happen in families.
The other issue is that there is a headman who is abusing disabled children. We have chiefs in this august House. When I heard this issue, I felt the headman should be traced. We want to know that headman because he is a menace to society. He is tarnishing the image of Zimbabwe. That person should be protected. We heard that he was arrested and he got out so we want to understand why he got out. A police officer who arrests a rapist and allows that person to go out should also be arrested. The police officer should also be arrested and incarcerated because he is an animal also.
Mr. President, this is an august House of senior citizens, we need to consider such issues, those who abuse young children, they should be arrested. It would be better for Government to set up a different facility for rapists and abusers so that when they are incarcerated in the same cells they will abuse each other. You find a person abusing a very young child. What is enticing in that young child? Some traditional healers are lying to people. The traditional healer and the perpetrators of abuse, both should be incarcerated because they are destroying the future of that child who has got potential to be a leader even of a nation. Even as we stand here, we are grown up, this august House is for elders, we want to handover the baton to young girls who are going to be Senators like Hon. Sen. Hungwe. Perpetrators of violence should be arrested, we do not want to see them roaming around the country.
Zimbabwe is a beautiful country which is endowed with everything including oil. I am saying that perpetrators should be incarcerated. I want to thank the Senator for having the vision of moving this important motion. Right now we have discovered some cases like the headman case. Let us go out and educate our people so that if they are abused they should go and report. Government should set up camps and sub offices in different areas which will be accessible to people who will be victims of abuse so that they are assisted as soon as possible. If you spend two days after being raped, once you bath then there is no evidence. Government should set up sub police stations nearby so that people do not walk for five to ten kilometers or more from where they stay.
Mr. President, I am saying that let us introspect and look at how we clothe ourselves. You find people wearing miniskirts which are revealing. This is not good. With this few words, I thank you.
+HON. SEN. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to contribute where we are lamenting the treatment of the girl child. Before we start lamenting, let us look at the girl child and how they are treated at home, they are not being treated the way that we used to dress when we were still young. They are no longer dressing properly and men have different feelings from us women. Let us start teaching our children how to dress. Even the way that we dress now, it is now different from the way that our parents dress, now they were what is called tights. These are things that are worn in other countries when going for exercises. But we find that our children now wear such things. There are brothers and fathers in our homes, let us blame ourselves first. Let us teach our children to dress the way we used to dress ourselves.
Mr. President we must feel sorry for these men because of the way our children dress. Men are not the same as us but if a man wears a short we do not feel anything but if a woman wears a short dress and a man looks at her, he starts getting those feelings. It is not their fault, that is how they were created. As a nation, we should teach these children how to dress or what time to get back home either from school or from anywhere else. When we were growing up, if you delayed getting home by few minutes, your mother would be by the gate, looking out to check where you are. That is how we were brought up. We were told to treat an elderly person as a father or a brother. Just like what was said, I think it is good that we go back to our own culture, especially when it comes to the girl child.
Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi brought a very good motion which touches on the grandchild and us as women. Men are raped as well, when people get drunk in the beer halls, you see them fondling men, what do you expect men to do. This happens to both sexes, let us go back to our culture, let us respect each other and let us dress properly. I thank you.
*HON SEN. MKHWEBU: Thank you Hon. President for affording me this opportunity to also air my views on this motion that was brought by Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi and seconded by Hon. Sen. Shumba. This is a very important motion on gender based violence on women and children. The abuse of children and women is very prevalent here in Zimbabwe. It is now like a song because this is something that is said almost on a daily basis. I stood to add my voice to this motion that the Government should take very strong steps so that we eradicate the abuse of women and children.
This abuse, if we were to go back, we no longer follow our tradition. It is no longer easy in this day and age to say that we will teach our children. It is now the other way round and it is them who are teaching us what to do. We can no longer control them because if you try to teach them, they will say you are thinking of your old times. I will tell you about what I witnessed these past few days. My Grade 3 grand child was playing with her neighbour and this neighbour’s child says ‘come let me show you what my mother and father do at night’. I wonder where that child got that from. The children are seeing such things on TV and they are learning a lot of things whilst they are still too young.
If you say to a child let me teach you what our custom is all about, it is no longer easy because this a Grade 1 and Grade 3 child and what do they know? If a child who is a bit older calls them and tells them about what happens between their mother and father during the sexual act, they will end up committing an offence, raping a child. It is now very difficult for our children and I do not know where these young children are learning all those things from.
Going back to how our children are dressing in front of their fathers, be it my grandchild who is a girl, a lot of speakers here have spoken on the issue of how these girl children and some of us are dressing up. We are no longer dressing up the way we used to long back. There is a lot of abuse on very young children and you wonder what really attracted them to rape a very young child. It is just simple abuse and it is just a bad thing that is happening in the country.
We need to pray very hard so that we get rid of this bad spirit that is prevailing in the country. I would also like to thank the First Lady, Mrs. Mnangagwa who is going about teaching people. Maybe this bad spirit will be driven away because she is going around teaching these young children. There is a lot of abuse on children and you hear of these rape cases from all over, about young children and women being abused. I am not talking about the elderly people but I am talking about the very young children, but some are saying it is because they will be operating mutis or they would have been following instruction from n’angas.
This abuse in the country is too much. That is why I am saying we need to pray hard for this bad spirit because from the women up to the young children, it is just too much. Women are being abused and we have seen it. At times you can really tell that this daughter-in-law of mine did not do anything wrong but the husband is always beating her up. You would have realised that she did not do anything wrong but they get beaten up for no reason and you wonder what really happened to the love that they used to have between themselves. They never go to report because of the love that they have. She would not go to report the husband because she loves him. You can tell that there is a very bad spirit that needs to be driven out, whether by prayer or by other means. We need to pray very hard for this bad spirit to go. Madam President, a lot has been said. I thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for bringing up such an important motion. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHUNDU: Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank the Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi who moved the Gender Based Violence motion. My desire is that it should be a 365 days practice not a 16 days event because we see abuse happening in our areas. The end result is that we do not see justice when criminal cases like that are raised. We do not know whether it is because police officers do not have transport. Some hide things like this and others need evidence. We experienced COVID-19 era in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was a good country but during the COVID era, the statistics of gender based violence became very high. You would find the man beating up a woman and a woman beating up a man because of being confined in that domestic arena not knowing that being confined did not promote violence. So awareness campaigns could not be held because we did not know what was happening in domestic homes. As chiefs, we look at these issues.
Regarding compensation, we have books that we use not as criminal cases, but we also refer these cases to the police for criminal proceedings. We have three stages of traditional leaders who are the local head. There is confusion between the village head and the headman. The correct position is that you are talking about a village head or a Sabhuku. The headman has a court and he attends to cases. A headman cannot do that if it is a chief’s court. So if such behaviour is being perpetuated by traditional leaders, as chiefs, if someone is a traditional leader we deal with such cases. There are chiefs who are above such village heads. Some village heads are not paid, there are village heads who were given positions by chiefs who are not known by Government, and these are people who are perpetuating petty and serious crimes.
I concur with Hon. Hungwe that such cases should be punitive enough so that they deter would-be offenders. We do not allow such errant behaviour, so I would like to say that gender based violence is spreading. Where I come from, we had a disabled girl who was abused by her brother and when the brother abused her, she could not communicate, she spoke using sign language. The good thing is that I am married to a woman who understands sign language. There are some people who communicate but who were not taught sign language; so she spoke to that disabled who communicated that she was abused.
The boy was 17 years, he sexually abused his sister then as a Chief, I engaged the village head on compensation basis then the father and the 17 year old boy admitted to the offence. We then processed the papers and took them to the police so that criminal proceedings could be instituted against the offender. So, a person who can communicate sign language was engaged but we were surprised that the perpetrator of that case came back into society.
It is so painful that a perpetrator of violence is found to have been released by police without being charged. We do not encourage violence, we do not encourage such behaviour but instead we encourage the incarceration of people who commit such crimes though of course there are technical issues that are found in courts which are not found in the chiefs’ court. For instance, when someone is arrested for 48 hours, they are given free bail, so these are higher courts which than the chiefs’ courts. We cannot challenge that but as this august House, for domestic and gender based violence to be eradicated, there must be serious awareness campaigns so that we unite and work together and that we understand how things are happening until justice prevails. This is a good thing. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MABIKA: Thank you Madam President, I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for moving this motion. This is an all encompassing motion which even affects the mental state of an abused person, whether the person has been abused physically or emotionally. I remember a certain woman who was talking to herself; she was not mentally stable. At a funeral, when asked to pray, she would pray about her husband. At times people would think that she was mentally disturbed but it was because of this abuse. This is quite a serious issue which should be addressed.
There is physical violence which is found in all genders, there are some men who are being physically abused by their wives, and you find them quiet because they are afraid of being beaten. This is violence; it is not encouraged whether it is from a man or from a woman.
There are forced marriages and I do not know whether it is a cultural issue where you find a daughter reporting that she is suffering violence but the parents encourage her to be patient and courageous in order to preserve the marriage. I do not know how we can help our children to protect them so that they do not end up dying or committing suicide because they lack the support system.
We have sexual harassment issues, the most painful thing is that it is only the man who can fall sick but the woman cannot. So this has to be relooked at. Violence sometimes is as a result of deprivation or lack of basics in the house. I believe that people should be empowered with projects; organisations should urge people to partake in projects. There should be employment amongst the people. Sometimes you find people engaging in violence because of hunger.
Regarding violence, sometimes we encourage violence without knowing. You will find some people saying that this is a Chihera and she is untouchable. Some would say that the Madubes are like that, but we need to carry out awareness campaigns so that we reduce gender based violence. Gender based violence is expensive because you would end up re-locating, going to the police, using different resources. So if possible, we should not encourage gender based violence, it should be stopped forthwith.
We have people who assist us with household chores like housemaids and garden boys. As parents, we need to encourage each other because these are the people who spend time with our children. Some children do not communicate after being abused. We need to look at this and educate each other so that we come up with a way forward so that we analyse deeply the impact of gender based violence in schools, households and communities so that we map a way forward.
We need to partner with civil society so that we eradicate and stop gender based violence. There should be interventions from community to national level and continuous monitoring by Government ministries and other stakeholders. Whatever has been agreed to should be implemented. Government should set aside a fund for GBV operations which would be there for such programmes because this is a big issue. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November 2021.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. S. MPOFU: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to add my views on the Presidential Speech. I would like to thank Hon Sen. Kambizi who brought the motion to this House. I would like to thank the President on what he said when he opened Parliament, especially on the topic of COVID-19 pandemic which has wrecked havoc not only in Zimbabwe but the world over. What I am happy about is that all the other countries are admiring Zimbabwe because we managed to control the disease unlike in other countries. We give credit to our President Cde. Mnangagwa for his vision.
When we look at the vaccines to prevent the disease, he went out of the country and over 2 million people were vaccinated. It is visible that the disease has not spread like what happened initially because as it is now, even school children are supposed to get vaccinated against this disease. School children who are in high school are also being attacked by this disease and because of that, they are now going to be vaccinated. The beauty of it is that these vaccines prevent this disease and we were getting those vaccines for free. People should be encouraged out there in the villages that they should also be vaccinated against this disease. This disease is a very painful one but some people are refusing to be vaccinated against it. These are the people who are going to spread the disease. Steps should be taken against such people. They should be forced to be vaccinated or they should stay at their homes so that they do not spread the disease to other people who were vaccinated against COVID-19.
Coming to the agriculture season of 2020/21, we notice that we had good rains last year. A lot of people got a bumper harvest and most of those who harvested were because of Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme which was brought by Government. People were encouraged to carry out this programme of Pfumvudza/Intwasa. This led to a lot of people harvesting a lot last year. Those same people have again been given seed for this year. A lot of people admired that and a lot of them have also joined this Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme. A lot of people do not have implements for farming. They have no tractors, even diesel is very expensive and a lot of people cannot afford to buy diesel. So people are being encouraged to carry out this Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme and during the rain season, it means that seed would already be underground and the plants will then grow because of the rains that would have fallen instead of people waiting for tractors or animal drawn ploughing.
At the moment, seed is very expensive and people are asking for Government to assist in making sure that the price of seed is not that expensive. People still need to buy extra seed. They want seed that they can afford instead of waiting for the seed that they get from the Government. They also need seed for small grains in case people do not get good rains. People should also be taught on climate change because now it is very difficult to predict when exactly they should start planting. People should learn that from the little rains that they get, they should start planting so that they can benefit from the wetness on the ground. People can harvest instead of them starving.
People want agricultural loans. Women also want to farm but they end up not farming because they have nowhere where they can get money. They cannot access the loans. Madam President, we had a lot of rains and our roads got damaged, but now there are funds for devolution. We need to look at the issue of taking funds from devolution that falls under our councils so that our councils maintain the roads. Our roads are bad.
You find that a lot of councils do not have the machinery for repairing roads but because of devolution funds, those funds are supposed to do the work that it is meant for. They should not take the money to pay their employees, but it should be used for what it is intended for.
We have been under sanctions for a very long time and those sanctions are causing havoc here in Zimbabwe. We know that we had a lot of factories in Zimbabwe and when sanctions were imposed, most of those factories failed to buy spares to continue with their businesses and because of that, a lot of factories especially in Bulawayo were closed. Because of sanctions, they had no money and they could not get loans from out of the country, but we are happy as a country because here in Zimbabwe, we are now speaking the same language that sanctions should be removed. We are happy that as Zimbabwe, we are now singing the same tune. Although we have different opinions, if we want to rebuild our country, we should sing from the same hymn book.
We have seen the projects that the Government has carried out. A lot of those projects are taking shape here in Zimbabwe. I am from Matabeleland North. We have Hwange Power Station. Units 7 and 8 are being repaired so that we do not run out of electricity. We have the Gwai-Shangani Dam. We were expecting that by the end of the year the dam would have been completed, however funds were diverted to other projects but the dam is going to be completed soon.
The President also spoke about water in Nyamandlovu; that is water that is supposed to assist Bulawayo because Bulawayo does not have enough water. The President went there and drilled a borehole for the villagers. The borehole is working and the people in village 4 in Nyamandlovu now have water; all thanks to the President and people are so grateful.
There is a hospital that was built a long time ago in Bulawayo. This was a hospital that was built by father Joshua Nkomo. The hospital has not been functional for 20 years but now the hospital is functional because of the President’s vision, that it is now the COVID-19 hospital.
These are some of the projects that we are so thankful for. The people should see that the New Dispensation can prove that they carried out such projects. Here we are talking about Matabeleland North, but other provinces can also show what the New Dispensation has done. Madam President, I can speak all day but with those few words, I thank you.
+HON. SEN. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to debate about what the President is doing throughout the country. The President spoke about farming, Pfumvudza/Intwasa, he said people should start ploughing instead of going around asking for food. I do notice that the President has given us some ideas that we should stand up on our own and start doing things. We have seen that the Pfumvudza is working.
Madam President, from my area, we are into animal husbandry. In Matabeleland, there is animal husbandry where people can get hides for making shoes. Bulawayo was a hub of industries and this was well known. Now we no longer have shoes and beautiful handbags because we are no longer looking after cattle. We are into cattle rearing and we also get glue from cattle hooves. Yes, people can do agricultural farming through the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme and we noticed that the President had been taking a begging bowl asking for food but now he will stop doing that.
Madam President, the President, Cabinet, MPs were vaccinated and we did not die. People can see that what the President was saying was very important. We realised that the First Lady is also assisting the President by taking initiatives to educate people throughout the country. We thank the First Lady and we thank the President for marrying such a visionary wife. The last speaker spoke about Ekusileni Hospital. Disabled children from the ages of one to 18 are being treated for free all because of the President. Thorngrove Hospital is now doing well; our President loves us and is always visiting us. The other President never used to visit us as much as this current President is doing. When he comes he gives us advice that you should do this and that but when it comes to money, women should be able to get funds from the bank. This should not be something that should be just said as a leap service but they should actually get the money so that they develop the country. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi who moved this motion. I believe that the President spoke about unity. If we are not united, then the results will not be good but uniting will be good for the nation. The President is seeing what is happening that in Parliament, people are united, there is no noise and there are no people who sing whilst he is giving speeches.
Looking at Pfumvudza which is a good initiative, last year a lot of people had a bumper harvest, whether they have livestock or not. On the same note, we see that in 2021, some already have inputs but others do not have. The request is that those who are stakeholders should expedite the distribution of inputs so that every farmer has inputs. Mr. President, the President enacted this programme so that there is food security. There are some people who are not trustworthy because we discovered that some people who are farming are not faithful with the inputs.
Looking at the road network in Zimbabwe, roads are being rehabilitated but we have a challenge especially in rural areas. It is important that roads are rehabilitated in rural areas because if they are not rehabilitated then this will affect transporters, for example the Kadoma to Sanyati Road, it is a busy road which is being used by cotton and grain transporters. There are some farms like matengenyika where some people got those farms long back after being trained. For example, I come from Shurugwi in Gamwa which is the home to our National Hero, Cde. Tongogara. From the main road, the tarred road to his homestead, you discover that the road is not in good condition.
As residents of Shurugwi, we request that the road be rehabilitated then we know that the late National Hero passed on the 26th. If possible may that day be honoured as a holiday – [HON. SENATORS; Hear, hear] – For instance, the Boxing Day could be changed to Josiah Tongogara Day where we remember our National Hero.
Looking at COVID-19, we thank the President who sourced for vaccinations so that the nation is protected. At first people were not confident but eventually they started getting vaccinations. Looking at a hospital, there is a big job that needs to be done because there are no medications in hospitals, people are suffering. The issue is that you go to a hospital to pay consultation fees so that you get a card then you just get a prescription yet you do not have money to buy from pharmacies which require US dollars, There are people who suffer from chronic illnesses like hypertension especially in general hospitals, there are no tablets. After buying your medication, you end up not taking medication and not taking it properly so that you conserve your medication. Some people end up stroking because they do not take their medication properly. So we request that Government should assist us with medication.
Going to mines, we have a lot of mines in Zimbabwe. If possible, those who are miners should be required to fill up the holes that they would have dug, especially for small scale miners like artisanal miners because this affects our livestock and other things which are found to be falling into such large pits. I thank you Madam President for allowing me to debate.
**HON. SEN. NYATHI: I would like to thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Kambizi. Let me start by thanking His Excellency for the good job that he is doing as a leader. What I understand is that the President is speaking about these issues and we know that some things are not going well. The people that are supposed to be discharging duties are not doing their jobs well. For instance, the issue regarding roads - let me appreciate the good job that is being done but what I am requesting is that the whole of Zimbabwe should look at the roads that have been rehabilitated, then it will be beautiful.
There are issues regarding mines. For example, mines at Hwange are not accessible and there are dumpers which are using conventional roads. You know that dumpers are not supposed to use the same roads that are being used by motor cars because they destroy our roads. It is important that we look at this. Let me also look at mines in Hwange. There is a mine which has been closed. I do not know what is happening and how it happened that such a company like Makomo was shut down. This should be brought into the public domain so that we understand what is happening.
We can also look at the bigger road like the road to Binga – it is not good. That is why you find a lot of things happening on that road because there are no bridges. Since 1980, there has never been a bridge along that road except the Siyachilaba Bridge. That Siyachilaba Bridge is not in good condition and it needs to be fixed. That bridge is not in good condition and when it rains, buses end up detouring. That bridge has no pillars.
Even when something happens like an accident, there is nothing to protect the motorist because it is a narrow bridge. This project is an ongoing project because the President said that bridges should be looked at and other projects. We know that these days when people carry passengers, they just speed with no regard for the safety of passengers. So, whatever happens there is nothing that can be done but there are no sign posts. For people who are new in these roads who do not know whether there are cattle or there are signs or anything, this is not seen but we need to adhere to what the President is saying.
When the President tells us to rehabilitate our roads, let us do that. Zimbabwe belongs to all of us and we want it to be beautiful. When we are being told by the President to work on our roads, let us do that. Even this august House, we need to play our oversight role to determine whether things are being implemented as planned by His Excellency. When we come to this august House, you find Ministers do not attend to this House and so who is going to assist us to look at these things? We need to look at these issues Madam President.
I would like to thank and appreciate the good work that is being done on the roads because we use these roads everyday using our cars. If the road is not in good condition, then tyres are found to be repaired now and again. For the few words that I have said, I would like to thank you and I would like to urge Hon. Members to adhere to what the President is saying. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November, 2021.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE VIRTUAL 49TH PLENARY ASSEMBLY SESSION OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY FORUM
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the 49th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum held virtually from 25th to 27th June 2021.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November, 2021
MOTION
CONSTRUCTION, UPGRADING AND REHABILITATION OF THE ROAD NETWORK IN THE COUNTRY
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the importance of a sound road network.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MABIKA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MPOFU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November, 2021.
MOTION
ENACTMENT OF LAWS THAT CULMINATE IN DETERRENT SENTENCES BEING METED OUT TO CULPRITS FOUND COMMITTING CRIMES THAT DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the grave and rapid environmental damage.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Chirongoma. The motion is very important to us as Government and the nation concerning our environment. Our environmental issues are important issues which require us as a nation to conserve our environment and to look after it well.
The abuse of our environment for example, when you look at rivers which could provide water until the next rain season, you will discover that these rivers do not have enough water now because people are disregarding the sustainability of such rivers. People are carrying out different activities like stream bank cultivation where you find soil being washed away into the rivers.
As a nation, we are blessed because we have a good environment but we are not practicing the sustainable use of our environment. We have living organisms which require water, we have people and animals but you will find that people are just mining everywhere. Some are just digging everywhere; we find wild animals and domestic animals falling into water. People are no longer doing what is required; they do not fill up the pits that they dig. As this august House, we need to understand that the environment is for us all. We have a responsibility towards the environment; we need to work together with the Ministry so that we conserve our environment.
For people who just cause veld fires which are dangerous and which are costing lives, they must be given stiffer penalties. This is not good because we are destroying livelihoods, livestock, and wild animals.
So, I would like to support this motion and say that every district and every constituency has Government offices. Even the Ministry of Environment’s offices are found in every district, so we need to have awareness campaigns in support of the Ministry. There is need for monitoring because without monitoring, environmental issues continue to deteriorate which is affecting us as a nation. We are endowed with a good environment with animals and everything.
As Hon. Senators, we need to work with the leadership in different constituencies. Our village heads are supposed to work with the Ministry of Environment in every district so that we work together as a nation. This important issue regarding the environment needs us to work together as a nation so that our environment is looked after well in order to have peace in our nation.
I would like to request that the Ministry of Mines should be regulated so that people do not just mine everywhere. Some people just mine without any regard for the environment. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November, 2021.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. REJOICE TIMIRE
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely death of Hon. Sen. Rejoice Timire.
Question again proposed:
*HON. SEN. GWESHE: I would like to debate and talk about Hon. Sen. Timire who was my friend. She was not aligned to any political side. We would sit as women and do a round table scheme. Hon. Sen. Timire was a very astute person who was also punctual with her payments. When she fell ill, I sent her a message via WhatsApp to strengthen her, saying that she would get over COVID just as I did. That particular message had only one tick and the next thing I was told that Hon. Sen. Timire had passed on.
Hon. Sen. Timire wherever we travelled, some people were testifying that she was a good person and she was doing good things. When I was told that Hon. Sen. Timire had passed on, I was really affected. It pained me. Relatives and friends of the late Senator were told to look for someone who was close to her – her young sisters called me and they asked me to accompany them to the bank to sign for some monies. I was told that her husband was in hospital and was not aware that his wife had passed on. We withdrew the money for the funeral and everything went well.
I would like to say, may her soul rest in peace. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November, 2021.
MOTIONENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION THAT UPHOLDS THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF CHILDREN ACCOMPANYING INCARCERATED MOTHERS IN PRISONS
Ninth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on challenges faced by children of incarcerated mothers.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 25th November, 2021.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MATHUTHU seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA, the Senate adjourned at Nineteen Minutes past Five o’clock p.m.