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SENATE HANSARD 28 JULY 2021 VOL 30 NO 53
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 28th July, 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
SWITCHING OFF OF CELLPHONES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon.
Senators are reminded once again to put their cellphones on silence or better switch them off.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON.
- MUSWERE): Mr. President, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 4 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 5 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
COMMITTEE STAGE
CYBER AND DATA PROTECTION BILL [H. B. 18A, 2019]
Fifth Order read: Committee Stage: Cyber and Data Protection Bill
[H. B. 18A, 2019].
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 38 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
CYBER AND DATA PROTECTION BILL [H. B. 18A, 2019]
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON.
- MUSWERE): Mr. President, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. President, I
move that we revert to Order of the Day No. 1.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE CRIMINAL LAW (CODIFICATION AND
REFORM) (STANDARD SCALE OF FINES) NOTICE 2021
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President. I move the motion in my name that;
WHEREAS subsections (5) and (6) of Section 280 of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23], provide that if the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs wishes to give effect to a Statutory Instrument to replace the First Schedule (“Standard
Scale of Fines”) to that Act (by reason of a change in the purchasingpower of money or for any other reason), he must lay the drafty statutory instrument before Parliament, and that the statutory instrument shall not come into force unless approved by resolution of Parliament;
AND WHEREAS the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs has, in terms of Subsection (5) of the said Section 280, made the
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) (Standard Scale of Fines)
Notice, 2021, on the 21st July, 2021;
AND WHEREAS the said statutory instrument was, in accordance with Subsection (5) of the said Section 280, laid before Parliament on the 21st July, 2021;
NOW, THEREFORE, this House resolves that the said statutory instrument be and is hereby approved. I so move Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION ON NATIONAL INQUIRY ON ACCESS TO
DOCUMENTATION IN ZIMBABWE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President Sir. I rise that this House takes note of the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Commission Report on National Inquiry on Access to Documentation in Zimbabwe which I am presenting to this House in terms of Section 244 (2) of the Constitution. I so present Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. President,
this is a constitutional requirement that we table and should Hon. Members believe that there are issues in the report that they wish to debate in future, they can still bring them forward. Now that we have satisfied the requirement, I move that this motion be removed from the
Order Paper. I thank you.
Motion; With leave, withdrawn.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
FOR THE YEAR 2020
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President Sir. I rise that this House takes note of the Report of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for the year 2020, presented to this House of Parliament in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr.
President Sir. Again, this is a report that is presented in terms of the provisions of the Constitution for Hon. Members to note and if they identify any issues even in future, they can still bring them forward. In that vein, I move that, now that we have satisfied the requirement, I move that the motion be withdrawn from the Order Paper. I thank you.
Motion; With leave, withdrawn.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. President
Sir, I move that Orders of the Day, Nos. 4 to 7 be stood over until Order of the Day, No. 8 has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
STRENGTHENING THE HEALTH DELIVERY SYSTEM TO
ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President. I seek your permission to defer my motion to next week because there are some corrections to be made on the motion.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 2nd August, 2021.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE JOINT THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS ON THE PROVISION OF
QUALITY EDUCATION, SANITISATION AND HYGIENE
MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS
HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Mr. President Sir. I
move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 2nd August, 2021.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMITTEE ON HIV AND
AIDS ON THE STUDY VISIT TO UGANDA ON HIV AND AIDS
MANAGEMENT AND FINANCING
HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 2nd August, 2021.
MOTION
HONOUR IN RESPECT OF MBUYA NEHANDA’S STATUE IN
THE CITY OF HARARE
HON. SEN. MABIKA: Thank you Mr. President. First of all, I
want to thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi for the motion. I would like to thank the New Dispensation for recognising Mbuya Nehanda by erecting this magnificent statue. Mbuya Nehanda deserves the recognition because she is the best known popular symbol of resistance to colonial rule. She played a major role in mobilising the whole nation to resist colonial occupation. Mbuya Nehanda used a religious authority to mobilise the masses against the Europeans while at the same time she worked well with Madzimambo who would link us to our ancestors, something that our Government has carried over in doing, working with Madzimambo for a peaceful Zimbabwe.
Mbuya Nehanda fiercely fought colonial occupation. Her participation and contribution through her spiritual leadership which she had exhibited led us to our freedom and independence, which has among many allowed us to be Parliamentarians today. Mbuya Nehanda’s contribution, commitment and sacrifice borders around our heritage and preservation of our culture. She is an epitome of our culture. Mbuya Nehanda showed and proved that the girl child must not be looked down upon, the girl child must be given a chance and that the girl child can transform society.
Mr. President Sir, very soon Zimbabwe will commemorate Heroes Day. As we remember our heroes and heroines, their suffering, commitment and sacrifices must be cherished. They endured a lot of suffering in order to free this country. They were murdered gruesomely by the former colonial masters. Their killings were horrendous. When the British colonised Zimbabwe, the local people’s land, cattle, mines, et cetera were expropriated. People were forced to work for the English Pioneer Settlers under very harsh conditions. In less than six years, the people declared war on the settlers and this took the British by surprise because they had always considered us docile and coward.
According to the settlers, it was because of the bad influence of the
“mhondoros or masvikiros” whom they referred to as witch doctors. That is when they decided to target spirit mediums for murder. Nehanda was falsely accused of murdering the Native Commissioner of Mazowe,
- Poland. Mbuya Nehanda’s murder trial was the shortest in history to find her guilty and sentence her to death. The British High Commissioner based in South Africa by then was quick to dispatch a letter to have Mbuya Nehanda executed immediately. Part of the instruction read, “the Queen against Nehanda in custody under sentence of death for murder. I do hereby duly authorize and approve the execution of the said sentence upon the said Nehanda.” Judge Water Meyer immediately wrote to the Sheriff of the territory of Rhodesia. He said, “His Excellency, the High Commissioner has duly authorized and approved of the said sentence of death upon the said Nehanda on Wednesday, 27 April 1898 between hours of six and ten in the afternoon. She shall be hanged by the neck until she be dead at such place of execution.” Kurwadzisa kwakadaro kwekuti munhu anonzi ngaangoturikwa kusvika azofa ega.
Mbuya Nehanda’s fight had very clear objectives, which are the right of indigenous people to govern or misgovern their own affairs as Kwame Nkrumah puts it, to uplift the living standards of present and future generations. Those who died defending these two causes and those who are still living defending the same and not violate the principle of pain, endurance and struggle should forever be honoured by keeping the glowing fire of the spirit of patriotism which was ignited by our iconic leader. The struggle continues in fighting for better living standards, taking into account our children and many generations after
Mbuya Nehanda gave up her life for our freedom. The only way we can celebrate their sacrifice is by living our lives in ways that do not compromise the objectives they died for. In honour of Mbuya Nehanda and other heroines, we must fight for the protection and defence of what is good for our people and not just ourselves and our immediate families. We must understand the principle of revolution. There was a cause for the liberation struggle. It is only those who want us to move back to servitude under neo-colonial arrangements who should clearly be understood as such. We have common interests as Zimbabweans. Let our contradictions be over on how to achieve these common interests more than the pursuant preservation of power for parallel agendas which run contrary to the objectives of the struggle for independence. Heroes and heroines will always serve national interests until death. Mr.
President, traitors always work against national interests. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to support this motion moved by Hon. Sen. Kambizi. The Hon Sen. moved a very important motion for us as a country that we seem to have not remembered in a very long time. Let me say, Mbuya Nehanda was a brave woman who was harassed by the whites who wanted her to surrender her country, because she was a brave woman, that did not happen. She preferred to die for the country. If it was these days, especially during these times of COVID and hunger, if you are offered large sums of money to sell out your country, for some of us who may not be brave, we would surrender our country because
we do not know its importance. We would like to thank Mbuya Nehanda of Chihera totem, Shava, Mufakose for fighting for us in this country. I would like to also take note that her promise that ‘my bones will rise’ has indeed come to fulfillment, evidenced by the rising of freedom fighters who went outside the country, including Mozambique to liberate this country. That was the promise by Mbuya Nehanda a long time ago but I would like to say, indeed, it was fulfilled. Let me say, Whites are very ruthless. If they have an agenda in any country; if they have an ambition, especially to take wealth, they can use anything, be it power or any method to harass someone, just like what they did to Mbuya Nehanda.
My view is, since we are a liberated nation; as we follow the footsteps of Mbuya Nehanda, our Government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, should include in the syllabus the history of Mbuya Nehanda and other important heroes and heroines of this country. That will make many people in this country appreciate the participation of those heroes of this country and understand them so that they know the history of Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi and other heroes or our ancestors. That will help us very much, instead of what has been happening in the past where our examinations were based on curriculum that include David Livingstone, yet it was irrelevant because we do not see its benefit in this country. If we learn about our own ancestors such as Mbuya Nehanda and others, we see their relevance in our country and that will help us. For example, Mbuya Nehanda declared that ‘my bones will rise’. Indeed that is what happened.
I would like to really appreciate the New Dispensation for erecting
Mbuya Nehanda’s statue. We saw many people from around Zimbabwe supporting that and a lot of them rushing to take pictures of the statue. That is what showed their support and indeed that is what the Government should do. As people of Zimbabwe, we really appreciate what Mbuya Nehanda did and she is an exemplary leader. I hope we will have the courage to defend our country, defend the policies of this country and defend anything else that is progressing in this country because Mbuya Nehanda fought for a good cause to set a very good example for us, especially women.
Therefore, we are supposed to be women who love their country and support all the good things in this country. We appreciate that it is because of Mbuya Nehanda that we are where we are today. If she had not said ‘my bones will rise’, by now it is possible that perhaps we would still be fighting for our independence from colonial rule. So I would like to appreciate that through those words, the country was liberated and as a country, we are now supposed to work to unite our people, families, love our country and fight the sanctions against Zimbabwe. We should do that together because Mbuya Nehanda is against these sanctions. I would like to really thank Mbuya Charwe, for liberating this country.
I come from Mashonaland Central Province; her spirit is rising from Mazowe. I would like to thank the Government for taking care of her whilst she is in Mazowe. I would also like to appreciate, on behalf of Senators, a job well done by Mbuya Nehanda. Thank you Mr.
President.
*HON. SEN. FEMAI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity at such an opportune moment when we are debating on a very great heroine in this country. I heard many people saying Mbuya Nehanda was very brave, even more than other men. Even myself, I would not be equated to Mbuya Nehanda’s courage, but I would like to say for this to have a great impact, Mbuya Nehanda is a spirit. That statue that was erected there represents a human being but I propose that there should be a connection between the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda and the spirit of the human being represented by that statue.
So I hereby request that the name of the spirit medium should also be said in order to appreciate that there was a human being who was the spirit medium who was possessed by Mbuya Nehanda’s spirit. We should also be able to know who was possessed by Mbuya Nehanda’s spirit, so that we know the history because when she resisted the colonial rule of the British, she was not possessed. She was in Human form and she resisted that in human form, not as a spirit. So that courageous woman must also be promoted and it must be known who she is. That very spirit medium who is said to be in Mazowe by the former speaker; that spirit is on someone else today as we speak. So we should be able to follow and trace the people who were possessed by Mbuya Nehanda’s spirit.
When we read the Bible, there are people like John the Baptist, who were preachers of God’s word but God was speaking through those people, just like what Mbuya Nehanda does. We indeed praise John the Baptist who was spoken about in the Bible every day because he was the bearer of God’s word who is a spirit. I kindly request that there should be a connection between the human being who was possessed by the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda and the spirit medium, the human being. Even the relatives of the spirit medium will also feel appreciated.
I would like to thank the New Dispensation, this is history that has happened now. It should always happen just like we used to do on
Rhodes and Founders Day, going for holidays. People used to die in high numbers during those holidays. The whites would die in numbers.
As we move towards commemoration of Mbuya Nehanda’s Day, people must be given a holiday on that day. I say it is historic because this was started by the New Dispensation to honour Mbuya Nehanda, to erect a statue of Mbuya Nehanda in respect of our ancestral spirits. Even during
Mbuya Nehanda’s time, if you heard about the words that were spoken, those are the days when one could worship and clap hands under a tree and you would receive sadza that you ate and get satisfied. That shows that they were possessed by spirits from high above. Those spirits resisted any evil doing. So we should appreciate and remember that. Who knows, maybe one day if you worship under a tree, you can still receive sadza with chicken and get satisfied. Maybe those things can come back because we have seen some of the things coming back. I would like to thank the New Dispensation very much. May the New Dispensation increase its involvement in culture so that this country can develop?
This country cannot develop properly if we do not respect our ancestral spirits and if we do not believe in them. There is no place or country that does not have ancestral spirits. Even those countries that are oppressing us right now have ancestral spirits. Sometimes they have occasions to commemorate their ancestral spirits. When I grew up in the farms, the whites used to do that. They would hold events or celebrations in commemoration of their ancestral spirits. If they have a special intention, they would put up carcasses of pigs whilst they cut, roast it and eat yet here in Zimbabwe, we prefer to commemorate
English or American events at the expense of our own cultural events. We should celebrate our own cultural events that are in tandem with our ancestral spirits. There are diamonds that were discovered. If we were to use detectors here, we can discover gold. Gold is everywhere in Zimbabwe and it comes from the spirit medium which is Mbuya Nehanda. That shows that indeed, if we give respect to our ancestral spirits, more will be revealed to us and we will get a lot in terms of economic development. We will stop quarrelling and fighting because we would have gotten enough. Now we quarrel and fight because someone has four buses whilst I do not have. There are a lot of minerals underground that we get from our spirit mediums such as Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi and Chaminuka.
I would like to thank very much the Government. May the
Government move on to research on what happened to Chaminuka because this country is said to belong to Chaminuka. So a statue in his commemoration must be erected to show that he was the owner of this country.
Before I sit down Mr. President, I would like to remind this august
House that Mbuya Nehanda died but she said ‘my bones will rise’, that includes heroes like Tongogara and there are many of them who fought in the liberation struggle. Some of them are in here and they have to be honoured whilst they are still alive. Their names and pictures must be displayed. We should not wait for them to die like what has happened to Mbuya Nehanda. We now know, let us honour living heroes. Let us write about them and that number should go up. Let us trace that from
Mbuya Nehanda up to date to show us those heroes. That person would be happy to be reminded of the heroics that person did whilst they are alive. If God waited for the death of Jesus Christ for his word to be preached, that word might not have raised people. We should also honour living heroes. If there is a day dedicated for Mbuya Nehanda, let us also have living heroes being cited. Both living and dead heroes must be recognised. Morgan Femai is also a hero because some people may not know that I am a hero. It would be good for people to know. With those few words, I would like to thank you very much Mr. President. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President Sir for according me this opportunity to add my few words. Allow me to first thank the mover of this motion and the seconder. Let me say a few words about Mbuya Nehanda. As Zimbabweans, we are aware that there is a history of what happened. The whites had their own history. In Zimbabwe, we would like to first thank the Second Dispensation for honouring Mbuya Nehanda in broad daylight – our hero has been honoured.
As black people, we all have our different chieftainships in our regions. Our fathers and forefathers used to say, do not be as coward as a woman but now we see that it was an insult. They thought that a woman was an example of cowardice but Mbuya Nehanda was a brave woman. If we look at our children who went to fight the war of liberation; if we go back to the words of Mbuya Nehanda that ‘my bones will rise,’ it is the history that she was talking about. When the struggle started, the heroes at the Heroes Acre were the ones who brought about independence. The spirit of this land was leading them. It was the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi which was leading them. This means that their spirit came back.
The whites were very cunning; they would come here hiding behind the gospel. They wanted to bring down the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda. We all know about Mashayamombe, Chaminuka and other heroes like Chingaira; their heads were taken away to Britain and the skulls were preserved as trophies like the ones we have in this House.
How can they take our fathers and put them in their museums and say that this is Chingaira? That is very painful to the people of Zimbabwe.
We want to thank our spirit medium who said that ‘my bones will rise’ – our chiefs were taken hostage but we are saying, let those skulls be returned to our country. We have our way of interring our own. During war time, people would sing about Mbuya Nehanda – they would celebrate the war. They would know that something would rise. If an eagle rises, then they would know what it means. Usually it would be a sign showing the direction the war had taken. This means that we have the spiritual world.
There are a lot of sacred things where most of the chiefs that we have here come from. That is our African rituals. In our provinces, we have our spiritual and sacred things. We are happy because now we are towards the Heroes Day where we remember our heroes and our independence. It is a very important day in our country Zimbabwe. We encourage that it goes on and be recognised.
When Mbuya Nehanda heard that she was about to be hanged, they wanted to pray for her and dedicate her spirit. Sekuru Kaguvi agreed and he was baptised and killed but Mbuya Nehanda refused. That courage should be upheld. We also want our history to be re-written because it is not complete. It should cascade to provinces. There is a lot that happened and we are happy that some of the roads have been named after our heroes. It is the history that our children should always remember.
We also encourage the chieftainship that we have in the rural areas to keep on leading us in our customs as people. If there is an avenging spirit in each and every home, people will perish. If a good thing was being done at a particular place, it will continue. The spiritual world is there and there is also Christianity. We believe in these two. We thank all Zimbabweans for celebrating Mbuya Nehanda but there are people who distort our history. I think you have seen social media going ablaze with news that Mbuya Nehanda’s statue that was put in town had been destroyed. I am happy about the motion on cyber security that was in this House because people are destroying our good history. We are still here believing and we know the history of the struggle should be rectified.
Our leaders who worked in this country, for example in all the provinces – those who were leading in the struggle, the list should be documented so that the next generation will start from there. Our
President of the Senate and Deputy President were in the struggle. The Deputy President was in the army and now he is leading in Parliament together with the Hon. President of Senate. That history should be cascaded to the provinces. It would help our country.
What pains me when I am alone is that when I was growing up, in
Josiah Tongogara Street, there was a tree where it was alleged that Mbuya Nehanda was executed on. We used to show our children that tree but one day we just woke up and heard that the tree had been cut down. If the person who cut down this tree is known, it should be documented that they cut down the tree. What he or she did is taboo.
Why was the tree there? We are the custodians of that history and our culture. In the rural areas where we come from, every tribe has a history. The person who cut that tree did a taboo.
Allow me to finish by thanking Ambuya Nehanda - Before I thank you, when I was growing up, our mothers and their grandmothers were not taken as important people. They would work hard in their lives and even the lives of other people but they were not recognised until independence. Today, we have young women and grandmothers who stand their ground. Mr. President, some people worked more than those who are being recognised. I was very happy – I once talked about it in this House that our history was distorted. I grew up with the white people – When I went to Chivi Magistrate Court to wed, What they used to write was just that Joseph has wedded with Martha.
I want to keep on thanking the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda which upholds our women. We know that women are also intelligent. It is because of the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda which has uplifted the lives of women. Thank you.
(v)HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President. I also want to thank the mover and seconder of this motion. Let me add my voice on this motion. The main thing that I want to debate on is that if she had not stood her ground, we would not be what we are. We really uphold her and we see her importance. She should be remembered because she did a lot for Zimbabwe. I do not have much to say but I stood up to thank Mbuya Nehanda. Our children should learn from her courage, so that history should be documented.
As children of Zimbabwe, we should know where we come from.
If the next generation comes, it means they would keep on learning. Also, other women who participated in the liberation war should be recognised. If Mbuya Nehanda was afraid, she would not have done much. I want to thank her for the good work which she did. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. MATIIRIRA: Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank the mover and the seconder of this motion. This motion is very important to us as Zimbabwe. It is true that the history of Mbuya
Nehanda is painful, the way she died. She gave her life for Zimbabwe to be independent. This gives us pain and sorrow because her death was a painful one, but her desire was that she was dying for her country, Zimbabwe. We all know the history of Mbuya Nehanda; In torture, she said yes, I am dying but my bones are going to rise and for sure we witnessed that.
We have live and dead heroes who followed the history of Mbuya Nehanda Nyakasikana who was full of courage and knowledge that the way I am suffering is for the people of Zimbabwe to be free. For sure, the country was liberated, her spirit did not die, her spirit is in us as people of Zimbabwe. I do not have much Mr. President but what I want to say is we should support this motion.
I also want to thank our President and his New Dispensation that they put the statue of Mbuya Nehanda in the midst of the capital of Zimbabwe so that all people will see that she is the first woman for Zimbabwe. We want to thank His Excellency the President and this would help our children who did not know the history. They would ask when they see the statue that is this Mbuya Nehanda the woman who was sung by the freedom fighters. What we need is love and courage. She was as courageous as a man. What I want to ask to the nation of Zimbabwe especially to us women is that, may the Lord help us so that the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda dwells in us so that we have the courage to resolve the problems of Zimbabwe because we know that musha mukadzi. We must have love and unity so that our country Zimbabwe is
settled.
Finally, I would want to thank Hon. Kambizi for raising this motion because it brings memories on where we came from and where we are going and that spirit of Mbuya Nehanda should live in us so that we remain united as children of Zimbabwe. I do not have much Mr.
President but I want to ask the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda to rest in peace.
With these few words, I say thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President. I
want to thank you for according me this opportunity and I want to add a few words on this very important motion which was raised by Hon. Sen. Kambizi and all the others who have supported it by bringing back our custom which distinguishes us as the children of Zimbabwe. If we can recognise the works which were done by Mbuya Nehanda Nyakasikana when her spirit came out to speak through Nyamhuta whose statue was
Nyamhuta was the medium of Nyakasikana Nehanda.
Mr. President, there are a lot of people who misrepresent our African culture especially the white people. When they came, they knew the secrets and they denigrated it and fought it because they saw that it would take us far as Zimbabweans and as Africans. Nyakasikana, when she came on Nyamhuta, she was recognised with the entire chieftainship which we can talk about as Africans, it has the history of Mbuya Nehanda. This means that in our culture, we respect the girl child. You can count one or two where they have a hero as a boy.
Let me give you an example: In the history we have Chief Mutoko who took the chieftainship from Makate but history tells us what Mutoko did to take the land. He used her girl child Japa to go and attract the King. There is something that the girl child does to attract men. Japa was taken by Makate, that you should study this person and see where he gets his power from. So, she discovered that there was no cock that crows. She went back and would come up with a way of going back to his father to tell him that in the Makate homestead, there is no cock.
So, she was given a cock to take to the land of Makate so that the cock would crow but she was skillful. She went and dropped the cock in the chicken run in the midst of the night and the cock crowed. That is how he was defeated. When these whites came, they knew about that and they denigrated it. They went into the schools and said that a girl child is supposed to stay home and get married. Long back, we used to respect the girl child. Look at what Mutota did when he did not have salt. He knew that salt was found from lower Zambezi behind Mavhuradonha. He went with his children but Nyabezo did not follow what he was told by Mutota because he was not supposed to be seen by people.
So when he was in the mountain, that is when he was shown the land where salt was found from. Mutota said, ‘I cannot get there because I was not supposed to see the land’ and so, who was able to take up so that the girl would not be in trouble? The girl child Nyamhuta was the one who came to their rescue. It was done long back but now we cannot do it. It was said that her brother had to marry her – so incest was done so that the land would be saved and the man was called Ganyamatope because they had done taboo, but the land was saved and her land called Tumunyutusere is there in Dande because of that. It is in respect of the girl child. They have erected the statue of Nyamita. When we go to Mosi-oa-Tunya, we will see David Livingstone for ages. People are being lied to that he was the first one to discover Mosi-oa-Tunya and they called it Victoria Falls. There were people living there. Ngezi people were staying there, the Tonga people stayed there, they would see the place and would fish in the river. They came up with their history. They took advantage because our tradition was oral from generation to generation.
People say that we were not learned but let me give you an example Mr. President. Long back when we were telling stories in order for children not to sleep, they would contribute by saying “dzepfunde”
so that they would be alert and would not sleep. This shows that we had teachings that we would give to our children. The girls would learn from the women. Nyamita did a great thing.
Mr. President, let me give you another example. Mbuya Nehanda escaped many courts by the white people. Chief Chinhamora Hwata looked after Nehanda in a pit in Mazowe. She would run to Kaguvi. Kaguvi was my son. Mbuya Nehanda had a spring in Caledonia which is called Chinofema because it breathes. We will ask the Government to look after it as heritage so that people would know the places to frequent. There is a spring in Caledonia which breathes and that is where Mbuya Nehanda would bath and drink water.
Kaguvi, Mashonganyika and Zhanda were beheaded by the whites. The whites discovered that this girl was the spirit medium who would give counsel about the war. The girl child does not stop on anything, she does not talk too much. If a girl child is raped by a brother, to protect the image of her family, she will try and give responsibility to someone else. The child would grow and would be given a totem which is not his. The spirit of Nyakasikana was on the girl child because they can keep secrets.
If you go to Mozambique where there is war right now, in the morning you can find napkins on the line, which shows that there are women there. Today, we pay cows as bride price for our wives because we respect them. When the whites come, they think that women are being oppressed but the real oppressor is the white person.
We are happy Mr. President because of the statue of Mbuya Nehanda. Even in the war, we would sing about Mbuya Nehanda, that my bones would rise, interpreting the prophecy that had been articulated by Chaminuka who was a prophet in our land. Chaminuka was not a king but he was a prophet who would communicate to the kings what would happen. He said that the white settlers would come and we should not listen to them. The whites tried to talk to him but he refused.
When Mbuya Nehanda was tried in the courts, she stood her ground that the whites should not give orders. There are certain laws that we adopted from the whites which I think should be removed.
When they were beheading Nehanda, where were those laws? When they were saying you shall not kill, why did they kill her? Mr. President, we are pained even up to this day to see that the whites do not want to release our land to the black people. They say we are not good farmers and we cannot look after the land. When they came, the land was not degraded, it was intact. It was a land flowing with milk and honey.
Mr. President, we want to thank the New Dispensation for the good work that they did. Even if it is still at the periphery, everything has a start and we should finish it so that we take Mbuya Nehanda’s skull, Chiwashira and Kaguvi. We hear their skulls are in the museums outside the country. They should come back and we should keep those skulls in our shrines. We have a place where we put our heroes so that our children can learn about the heroes who have liberated our country.
Mr. President, I am not going to say much, since many issues have been raised. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi for coming up with this motion so that we debate about our heroes and heroines who died for the liberation of this country. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 29th July, 2021.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN.
CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): We are advised that in view of the curfew, we need to adjourn in time for both staff and Members of Parliament to get to places of residence or lodgings for the night in time. So, if we start debate now, we will go beyond 4:30, so we would rather adjourn now, but I am advised that Hon. Sen. Muzenda would like to wind up her motion.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that Orders of the Day,
Numbers 12 to 16 be stood over, until Order of the Day, Number 17 has been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE 2021 VIRTUAL HEARINGS AT THE UNITED
NATIONS ON FIGHTING CORRUPTION TO RESTORE TRUST IN
GOVERNMENT AND IMPROVE DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS
Seventeenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the 2021 Virtual Parliamentary Hearing in the United Nations.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. President Sir. I am very pleased that this motion was debated vigorously. We all agreed that corruption has become a cancer in this country and us as Hon. Members, not only the leadership, need to introspect and see that we adhere to the rules and regulations of the country. We should strive to heed seriously what we have discussed in this House. I therefore, move that the motion that this House takes note of the Report of the 2021 Virtual Parliamentary Hearing on the United Nations under the theme, “Fighting
Corruption to Restore Trust in Government and Improve Development
Prospects,” be withdrawn from the Order Paper.
Motionput and agreed to.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI, the House adjourned at Twenty Seven
Minutes past Four o’clock.