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SENATE HANSARD 8 MAY 2024 VOL 33 NO 44
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 8th May, 2024
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Good afternoon Hon. Members. I have to inform the Senate of the appointment of the following Hon. Senators to the following Thematic Committees:
- Sen. K. Phulu to serve on the Thematic Committees on Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals;
- Sen. S. Tshabangu to serve on the Thematic Committee on Climate Change;
- Sen. C. Ndlovu to serve on the Thematic Committees on Indigenisation and Empowerment and Human Rights;
- Sen. L. Mlilo to serve on the Thematic Committees on HIV/AIDS and Gender and Development;
- Sen. L. Sibanda to serve on the Thematic Committees on Climate Change and Indigenisation and Empowerment;
- Sen. S. Kadondo to serve on the Thematic Committees on HIV/AIDS and Indigenisation and Empowerment;
- Sen. S. Chapfudza to serve on the Thematic Committees on Peace and Security and Gender and Development;
- Sen. M. Mdhluri to serve on the Thematic Committees on Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change; and
- Sen. Mpande to serve on the Thematic Committees on Peace and Security and Gender and Development.
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also have to inform the Senate that I have received non-adverse reports on Statutory Instrument Numbers 34, 35, 36, 37 (a), 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53 and 54 which were gazetted during the month of March, 2024.
ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Furthermore, I have to inform the House that I have received adverse reports for Statutory Instrument Numbers 17, 18, 23 and 24 gazetted during the month of February, 2024 and additionally, Statutory Instrument Numbers 31, 32, 33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 52 gazetted during the month of March, 2024.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 6 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
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL PEACE AND
RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2023
Seventh order read: Adjourned debate on the motion of the report on Peace and Reconciliation Commission for the year 2023.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ON THE 2023 HARMONISED ELECTIONS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the 2023 harmonised elections.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate on the Report of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for 2023 harmonised elections. My debate will be mainly focused on the report, what is contained in the report and nothing else.
The election report which was brought by ZEC according to Section 241 of the Constitution which mandates that ZEC, after an election, is supposed to produce a report and also supported by Section 323 of the Constitution that any Commission that is set each and every year before the end of March, should produce a report to the Parliament.
The report is an important document, especially this one of ZEC which is supported by Section 241 because many people will be having questions on how it transpired during the election period and the post-election period. So when a report like this comes, it will be answering those questions. Therefore, I would like to applaud ZEC for giving a report or presenting a report timeously.
However, in my applauding of the ZEC Report, I applaud it partly. When I look at the report, there are areas that I could say ZEC did its job quite well, but in some areas when I was checking the report, there is need to relook at how they did some of the things.
ZEC gave a section in the report titled acronyms where they were explaining the abbreviations which they were using in the report. It is like ZEC was saying you should have this in mind when you are going through the report and not just concluding on your own. For example, if you look at the acronyms, there is where it is written ZACC. For all of us, if we come across ZACC, in our conclusions we can just say Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission, but if you look into the report ZACC stands for Zimbabwe Amalgamated Council of Churches. There is also where it is written ZANU PF, standing for Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front.
So, when we are going through the report, we should have this in mind that whatever abbreviation that you find inside the report, you should just not conclude on your own, but you should go back to the acronyms section and check what it really stands for like the examples I have alluded to.
Furthermore, on page 10 in the report, there is a pie chart, ZEC was just giving out the values of ZEC to us that is inclusive, transparent, independent, team work, impartiality and integrity. These are some of the values that ZEC gives to us that bears these values. When we move to table 5.5, there are some statistics of registered voters, we got 6 623 511 of which men who registered to vote were 3 069 450 as compared to women who are 3 554 061. We noticed that there are a lot of women who got registered as voters in comparison to men.
There is a section where they put presidential candidates, we got 11 and out of 11, there is only one woman. It is surprising that a lot of women registered to vote, but they are not aspiring to lead this country whilst we are preaching of gender balance and it was an open ticket that they could also compete as an independent candidate.
Therefore, I would like to urge women to participate in these events, especially if we are noticing that the statistics are favouring them, so the probability that if a woman stands as a candidate, she can win is so high though I encourage my fellow Hon. Senators to preach this gospel that women should participate to take these national positions.
Furthermore, in the National Assembly, we got 636 registered candidates, and of those 636, only 70 were female. In my opinion, females are like male chauvinists, they believe in the superiority of men because we are just seeing that they are plenty on the registration, but on the part of leading, they shy away. This means that they believe in leadership of men more than theirs.
On page 34 of the report, ZEC recorded deaths. We have got deaths there. Five people died before the election and there was a postponement of those elections. Those who died before the elections, may their souls rest in peace. When I checked on this report, they were all male. Maybe participating in election brings death and that is why women are shying away from participating. Maybe if death was an organisation, we could summon it to Parliament and ask it to do gender balance.
On page 39, I would like to applaud ZEC, it did a very good job. It was so transparent. It gives a list of all the things that were used to conduct the elections, from fuel, ballot papers, the amount of litres of diesel, the solar lamps which were used. It was so transparent and clear standing to its obligation that it is transparent as seen from that pie chart that I talked about where they are saying they are impartial, exercise integrity and transparency. The transparency was shown on page 39 when it was just recording everything that they used and the quantities. I think we need to applaud ZEC for that.
Again, the personnel that they employed, it was around 132 958 people. Of those, females were 76 584 compared to men who were 56 374. I would also like to urge ZEC that next time when they are conducting elections, they should also include gender balance to make it maybe 50/50 men and females so that it would balance.
On page 38, fig 9.2 there is a map there, ‘National Assembly results’. On that map, Mr. President, you can hardly see anything. This is the crucial part of National Assembly results. We want to see the pattern, how it happened, but you can hardly see on that map. Even the key, you cannot see it. It is so microscopic, you cannot see, but this is so important because the nation wants to see the distribution. There are just yellow and green colours but we do not know what they mean.
Another thing that is so disheartening is that ZEC did not include ZANU PF in the report. We are saying ZANU PF is the winning party. We only see the term ZANU PF in the acronym section. When you move through this report, you will come across ZANU PF in the acronym section and you will know that it stands for the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front, but if you check in the report, you will not see where it is written ZANU PF. I do not know how they drafted such an important document and excluded the winning party. So it is of concern why it does not include the winning party in the report whilst after every election, we want to know the winner. We want to know where he comes from.
Even if you look at the Presidential candidates, they are just names. It is Nelson, Emmerson but these people are not vetted, they are not given to their parties. If you give a person who has just come, he does not know which party Emmerson belongs to, which party Nelson belongs to, where does this lady belong to. So, I think it should be contained in the report.
So ZEC should write a supporting affidavit correcting this error because on page 58 again, we have got the distribution of Presidential votes. It is just written ‘the distribution of Presidential votes’ but if you look inside, you see nothing on that map. We are talking of a Commission which comprises of almost nine Commissioners who took an oath that they would do their work in a diligent manner but if you look at this, can we say it is done in a diligent manner when the winning party is not even included in the report? When you look closely at it, CCC also is not included. Why do I say so? Some might say no, you are now starting to lie. No, I am not lying. I said the acronym section gives us the definition to the abbreviations which are being used. When you go to the acronym section where it is written CCC, it is Citizens for Coalition for Change, of which the party I belong to is not Citizens for Coalition for Change, it is Citizens Coalition for Change.
If you look and check in the dictionary, the prefix in Citizens for Coalition, we are saying in the party we are together but when they put ‘for’ between our togetherness, it means we are not together but we are trying to move to be together so that we could reach change, which means in doing that, ZEC was distorting the party’s name. It is like they have made an error of commission, omission or it is an error of principle. We do not know. That ZEC knows, but if we take that as an error, it means that the document does not include the two main parties in this report.
If you look at what Mr. James said - hear me well there, not Mr. James Makamba, Mr. James in the Bible. Mr. James in the Bible talks of a stick which can pin the whole forest and he talks of a small object which can contaminate the whole body, and here by just including ‘for’ between the Citizens and say ‘for Coalition’, they have distorted everything. It is no longer our party. So, I think ZEC should be very diligent when it is producing a report.
If we look at how judges operate, if you cannot put your things in order, they can discard your case without looking at the merits. I expect that the Chairperson of ZEC is a judge, she could look into things very closely and eliminate all these errors than just bringing a thing which is distorted like it is.
Mr. President, I would say if it is possible, ZEC should write a following affidavit correcting the error and acknowledging that they made an error so that we could accept this report, especially on the maps. There is nothing that is seen there. If you try to stretch your eyes and you are tested with a tonometer, you will be found wanting. You will be recommended glasses there and then because you could have done an impossible job.
Thank you, Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to discuss on this issue.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Senator Chapfudza for your very analytical debate, and obviously you read the reports with an eagle’s eye.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
PLIGHT OF CHILDREN ON THE STREETS
Nineth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the plight of children on the streets.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President Sir, for the opportunity that you have given me to contribute on the motion moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara on children found on the streets. These are vulnerable children. Firstly, when we speak of street children, there is an issue that should be addressed. Why are they in the streets in the first place, requesting for food? We also realise that some of the children would be having their parents with them sitting at a distance. Some would not be having their parents. This matter is across the country. It is unfortunate that we see these children in the streets requesting for food in this rich country. We also have other children in other provinces who are being conscientised that they should not go around begging for food. They want to teach them to work and not beg for food.
If this continues, our country will be in serious problems. It is unfortunate for our Government – I realise that before independence, what is occurring was not happening before. Our parents did not have enough resources, but there were laws that stopped the children from begging. After independence, we destroyed those laws. By then, I was young, but I know what was happening. We thought that since the country had gained independence, we were going to enjoy ourselves. When I look back, I realise that the Government failed on certain things. I have listened to Hon. Senators; they are of the view that there should be a law that allows for children to be apprehended and removed from the streets.
Last week when I was on my way to Bulawayo at Ingutsheni Psychiatric hospital, I realised that 60% of the inmates are male. These particular individuals are there because they are poor. Why did this happen to these people? We should examine that. We have our traditional leaders here; they can help us on how to remove these children from the streets. They know where we are going wrong. We have business individuals who have access to resources, they were blessed by the Lord, I believe. Why do these people who have resources not have that empathy and feel pity for these street children and extend a helping hand?
Our people are poor, that is the reason why children end up living in the streets. If we come here every month without realising anything for our stomachs, we will end up being street kids. If you are hungry, you can do anything or eat anything you find. I have not read of individuals who have donated to the Ingutsheni Institution. Some of these street kids who beg, at times even want to enter into the vehicle in order to be given something. That is a sign of hunger.
Therefore, those people with resources should assist these street kids. There are some who say we should have a law to cause the arrest of these street kids. What has that individual done with the resources with which he was supposed to help street kids? All these people are on the street because of poverty, they need our assistance. Why is it not that those well-resourced people help these street kids to also have a normal life? We have realised that in other countries, those children who do not have parents or who roam around the streets, benefit from their own Government. Even orphans from the war, why cannot the Government have an envelop where on a monthly basis, money is disbursed to the poor in this country? Our country is endowed with resources. We should utilise what we have and help these street children. We have men like Joshua Nkomo and Josiah Tongogara, where ever they are lying, they should be turning in their graves when they see these children in poverty. We should realise that their present situation is caused by poverty. I thank you.
^^HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion. This is a very important motion, especially looking at us as women who are mothers. Firstly, we need to know who is referred to as street kids and why they are referred to as street kids. These kids that we refer to as street kids today are our kids and they are referred to as children of the poor. It is not true, even though others are saying they do not have parents. These are our children who have parents somewhere. We however, end up abusing some of them not realising that it is because their parents failed somewhere. If we look at them as they roam around the streets, we realise that their parents will be seated by the roadside and they send these children to ask for money so that they can get a living from there.
Today, we realise that these children do not go school. They just spend their time on the streets whilst their peers are at school. It is critical for us to make sure that these children attend school. Still on the issue, the children’s health issues are not well taken care of because they have no one to take them to healthcare facilities. Should we continue to look at this issue whilst things are going on like this? At the end of the day, these children do not have any ambitions in life. I remember one of the days as I was walking around, someone said, talk to these children. I approached them and said, I have work that you guys can do, so can I go with you? They did not agree to what I was saying and they started insulting me because they are used to getting adequate food on the streets and do not see any benefit in working for themselves.
Growing up long back, there were no street kids but today we have so many of them on the streets. This means that as parents, we have a duty, especially as parliamentarians here to help these children to move out of the streets. Let me thank our First Lady who is encouraging and doing this duty on her on, seeing how best these children can be supported. What I am asking for is for us to assist her in ensuring that the children get better lives. This is where our tomorrow’s presidents and doctors come from. We cannot get a better future from these children if they continue to roam around the streets without any education and good health. Therefore, my plea is that we all get involved in the proper upbringing of our children and ensure that one’s child is yours.
One other issue is that no one knows where the children sleep and they misbehave. Most of them are involved in drug abuse, that is glue and mutoriro. So, they do not have a future and as parents in this august House, what are we doing pertaining to this issue?
In conclusion, it is critical to have rehabilitation centres although we know that if some of them are taken to these centres, they have got a tendency to run away, but we need to make sure that even if they run away, we try and get them rehabilitated in some way because we love them, they are our children. It is the legacy that we can leave to them in saying we took them out of the streets and made them better people. However, there are few rehabilitation centres, if only there could be a way of making sure that these two are also cascaded to other districts around the country so that wherever there are, they find a centre to go to. In such a way, they will be monitored even by their parents, but right now, we are not achieving any results because if they run away from the rehabilitation centres, no one follows up to have them retained. The other issue is that school drop-outs should be sent back to school and study through either correspondence or they go back as fully fledged students.
Another issue regarding these street kids especially those under government schemes like BEAM are the ones that drop out in numbers and once they are out of school, they roam the streets in search of quick money. If they need quick money, they have nowhere else to get it from besides from the streets. Let this bother us as parents and find lasting solutions to the problems of street kids. Let us help the First Lady who has a motherly heart of wanting to see these children live better lives. We thank her because there are some who have been rehabilitated. They can now be farmers and engage in projects that uplift them.
Hon. Members, let us assist these children and not to assist them on the streets, hear me well there, but provide them with help away from the streets. If you give them a blanket or a dollar from the street, you have not assisted them but fueled their street life activities
Hon. Deputy President of Senate, think of a situation where your child does not have bathing water, not attending school nor any health facility. Upon falling sick, you give them a dollar right on the street? What will they use it for apart from buying mutoriro or glue? I am grateful for this motion brought to this house by Hon. Sen. Tongogara because it obliges us to ensure that we assist them by not giving them money as they remain on the streets. With these few but many words Mr. President, thank you and a great day to you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENTOF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Senator Mohadi, even though I was not able to comprehend anything. Apparently, the relevant interpreter is off today for this language and the one who relieves him is in the National Assembly. It is quite clear that we are not attracting interpreters. Perhaps one of the reasons is the conditions of service which we are offering. We must do better than we are doing so that debates become meaningful in this House. I believe over 70% of the people in this House did not capture what was debated, and that is sad really for debates and for proper exchange of ideas and debate in a democratic society. We are going to ensure that administration rectifies this very unfortunate situation.
*HON. MAKAMBA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the
opportunity to debate the motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. I want to focus on the words which were uttered by Senator Moyo who was really passionate. I am disappointed because I wanted to debate in Chikorekore, so I might fail to communicate as people might not understand me.
I suggest that there must be interpreters for all languages and this will help us. Hon. Sen. Moyo indeed showed concern regarding the plight of street kids and he proffered suggestions. He also spoke about what he is doing in Matebeleland. I thought Hon. Sen. Moyo was going to share his ideas regarding what can be done so that we can copy and apply this in other provinces. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Mr. President for the opportunity
to share a few words in this important motion which was moved by Hon. Senator Tongogara regarding children who live on the streets. Indeed, as a nation, we know that a child is a minor who is below the age of 18. These children include boys and girls, the disabled, those coming from poor families and even those from rich families. Street kids have a touching plight.
As parents, we see them along our streets in different cities. Some of the children run away from their homes preferring to live on the streets maybe because they cannot stay in their homes because of abuse and they cannot go and live with other relatives. I am looking at children from broken homes. Sometimes these are homes experiencing Gender-Based Violence or domestic violence.
In other instances, they come from poor families where they do not have anything to eat so they prefer going to the streets. Some are deviants or children who cannot be groomed to behave well. So regarding the issue of street kids, I am quite pained because I was approached by one journalist saying Senator, are you aware that there is a disabled child who sometimes is being used by people old enough to be the child’s parent, pushing the wheelchair so that they raise money. This is happening. You find children being abused that way in Harare and in different weather conditions.
Children are just children. They cannot refuse and are being used as a way of begging for the benefit of adults. This does not benefit them. You find people using children to raise money. It is quite touching, especially for the people with disability whom we find that some parents or relatives are taking children to the streets and introducing them to drugs, and they start abusing drugs and even using children for criminal activities. When law enforcement agents come, you find some saying this is a parent of a disabled child and they let go.
So children are being taught wrong values because a lot is happening in our streets. This is what they are seeing as they are growing up. A child indeed is a person whom we need to protect. We need to fight for them. As Members of Parliament, we need to do things in the best interest of the child. We have a Ministry of Social Welfare which has the social protection department and when we debate the National Budget, we allocate a large chunk of money towards that so that the department caters for people with disabilities and that a number of programmes are run for the benefit of children.
However, in terms of BEAM, we had the opportunity of consulting the public and some were complaining that the children of people with disabilities are not covered by BEAM yet they are disadvantaged children. There are some children who are desperate to an extent of ending up going into the streets for begging. Government programmes like BEAM in most cases do not benefit the intended beneficiaries.
Therefore, the issue is that as a nation, our social workers were going to developed countries for greener pastures. We did not have many people in the streets, particularly looking at the issues of drugs and other challenges faced by children. In the past, children were molded in a responsible manner and parents could engage children, even social workers are no longer enough for those who want to adopt children. The process is cumbersome, it takes time, there is an assessment which is done and those who do the assessment are just a few.
Sometimes these children do not have parents, because in children’s homes, there are a lot of issues which happen there. There are also quite a few children’s homes, that is why a law was enacted discouraging the institutionalisation of children’s homes so that children can have foster families to experience family life. Children coming from children’s homes were refusing to go to school because they were being discriminated against. Those who were coming from children’s homes at 18 were told to leave because they were above the required age.
In the past, there was a case of a child who committed suicide and this child was living in the streets. The issue of rehabilitation centres, indeed it is important to have rehabilitation centres. There must be empowerment of children so that they have income generating projects. We can take these children from the streets but they go back. People feel pity for them and they give them something, of which we do not encourage that but at times you find that there is dire need for a child with disability who may not have water, food and clothing. So, it is important to have proper foster homes and children’s homes where children can be looked after.
Looking at vocational training centres, I went to Matabeleland North and I met a lot of people with disabilities who were saying there is no vocational training centre. So, it is important to have vocational training centres in all provinces. There must be areas where the vulnerable children are kept. I have noted that as a nation, the First Lady is doing a good job. She is uplifting the vulnerable, the street children with disabilities and this is a job which is demanding and needs commitment. So as leaders, we need to work towards transforming those who are vulnerable. We need to value their lives so that as Members of Parliament, , we need to assist those in need, especially children in every constituency. We can say they are our tomorrow’s leaders but we find them in streets being abused in different forms and ways. Indeed, we will be neglecting our children and this will turn against us in the future because those who are in the streets are so desperate that they can even pilfer food, they can even take away your food. For us who are a bit old, it is difficult because you fear that they will take the food away from you.
Zimbabwe is a peaceful country compared to other countries, but because of drugs and other illicit substances, you find that our children who live in the streets are behaving like animals. Churches are assisting Government. Organisations are working with Government to uplift their lives, so as Senators, we need to work with Government so that our children’s lives are improved. It is painful to note and hear a child saying that it is better to live in the streets than to see the mother being beaten by the father. Gender-based violence is affecting a lot of children. Some mothers prefer to live in the streets than to be abused at home.
So, there are a lot of factors which are pushing children to the streets. As leaders, we need to come up with strategies which would curb this and we need to work with Government so that our children are assisted. Those who are poor should benefit from Government programmes.
Therefore, I want to thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara for moving this important motion. It is our responsibility collectively to make sure our children move away from the streets. It is a bad image which visitors see when they come to our cities and see children with disabilities begging in the streets. Our Ministry of Social Welfare should help in assessing whether there can be reunion of children who have parents but live in the streets, because if we leave them in the streets, you would find that some would grow up in the streets and they lose a lot. Therefore, as Members of Parliament, it is our responsibility to make sure that those who are in the streets are assisted so that they live better lives because the streets do not have children. The children are ours. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. KATUMBA: Thank you Madam President. I believe that a lot has been said and I agree the issue of street kids is quite touching. Like what was said by a previous speaker, there are different reasons which push our children to the streets. It is because of the problems they face that you find some going to the streets.
Looking at the streets, what they eat is not healthy because they just eat everything which is thrown away. Health wise, they are at risk because they do not have ablution facilities. They defecate along the streets, which is not good for hygiene.
I have a testimony of a child in our streets who was adopted by someone after being interviewed. That child was taken to school right through to university and I saw that child testifying after qualifying as a doctor, which means there are some children with genuine reasons who need assistance to move away from the streets and to have a better future. There are some who cannot be rehabilitated or who cannot be taken to homes because they are used to street life. Some are violent; some use knives. I saw a street kid harassing a woman with a knife. Sometimes we fear going out with our wigs because they can take them away. You find young girls being sexually abused. Some men take advantage of them because they say they are cheaper to pay. They abuse them and dump them in the streets.
Like what was said by a previous speaker, it is important that these children are empowered through income generating projects. The Social Welfare Department should also ensure that children go to school. Some might move to the streets because of a stepmother and because of abuse. It is important that Government intervenes so that children are rehabilitated depending on the reason. Some might be reunited with their families. Therefore, as a nation, it is important for us to assist street kids so that they have good livelihoods and also live in harmony with others. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. R. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. I want to add my voice to what has been said by my fellow Senators. I want to thank Hon. Senator Tongogara for moving this important motion.
We have a number of groups of children who live in the streets. Some who live in the streets, some who go to town to play with other children. Some of them are young children. These are minors and adolescents. You will find young children in the streets. Some live with their parents, their mothers, some with their grandparents and some live in child headed households. Some live as children because their parents are in the diaspora. You would find that some of these children are being influenced through peer pressure. Some are learning through social learning because they do not have anyone to parent them.
I remember at one point when I did not know what to do because when you engage these children, you find that they have attitudes like those of old women, what do you want to do? They cannot be taught, but it is our responsibility to work together. Where we stay, we have a number of children. There are a number of houses where child headed families are found and you cannot discipline these children. You cannot admonish them. I will give an example of where I stay. The mother moved away and left her children with their grandmother. The grandmother is not responsible enough. She is a bit old. There is a child who was in Form 1 and the stepfather impregnated the young girl. He was arrested and he was given bail, but then he left for South Africa.
After relocating to South Africa, the child’s mother moved from that house. After moving, the mother travelled to Mashonaland. The funny thing is that despite the abuse that was done upon her child, she relocated to South Africa to stay with her husband who had abused her child and her child had given birth to another child.
So that old woman came to me. She approached me and told me that it is surprising that my daughter has gone back to her husband who is in South Africa who molested and sexually abused her daughter. So I said let us see what she is going to do. This young girl does not sleep at home. She does not listen to her grandmother. Sometimes they just pass by my yard. They say please do not look at us. These young girls are now getting wild. I am saying this because it is not their fault, but it is the parent’s fault. As a parent, leaving young children for South Africa, neglecting them because they do not have food, they will experience peer pressure and will not have anyone to parent them. So they end up falling into temptations.
My view is that child-headed households should be considered and the Government should have a database of child-headed households. Where we stay, we have reported several times to our police stations and you would find that the same police officers end up living in those houses. At times you will get confused as to what should be done. You would find young boys who are coming to prey on the vulnerable young girls. You would see that some of them drop out of school at grade seven. It would be better if they go through to form four. Some opt to live in the streets because of the circumstances around where they live because they are children alone.
I believe that those who live in the streets should be interviewed to determine their reasons for living in the streets so that they are graded. Some live in the streets because they are desperate and others live in the streets because they are being naughty and do not listen to their parents. I saw a young child by Monomotapa Hotel and I asked where he was coming from. He responded with an attitude that he was coming from Epworth. I was trying to ascertain whether the child would be having someone who needs some assistance. This shows that we may not be able to control this. What we need are laws which will ensure that children are taken off the streets and be rehabilitated.
If they are interviewed and it is ascertained that they are leaving their homes because of poverty, there must be centres where they can be housed. I remember in Bulawayo, there is Thembisa Children’s Home. Some were left by their parents because they were naughty but they were taught vocational skills so that they can look after themselves. We have a challenge of naughty children. I believe with the current laws, it will be quite difficult to apply them because nowadays children do not listen even to their parents. There are also parents who do not want their children to be admonished by other parents. When we were growing up, you could be beaten up by a parent from next door if they saw you doing something which was unbecoming.
Now, there is the legal age of majority which is empowering our children and we applaud that as parents. However, let us go back to the drawing board and determine what should be done so that we can assist our young children because they are now disobedient. I thank you Hon. Sen. Tongogara for moving that pertinent motion.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HARARE METROPOLITAN (HON. SEN. TAWENGWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
ENACTMENT OF A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUNCTIONALITY OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to enact enabling law for the functionality of the Provincial Government tier of Government.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. R. NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
ENACTEMENT OF STRINGENT LAWS TO ADDRESS THE
PLIGHT OF WIDOWS
Eleventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the plight of Zimbabwean widows, who are routinely being evicted from their houses by relatives.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
PROGRAMME ON CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE
Twelfth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the effects of
climate change.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President for giving the opportunity to share my views regarding this motion, which is quite important and affects the people of Zimbabwe. It is clear that this challenge is not only unique to Zimbabwe, but it is a global challenge. In Zimbabwe, if we look at the causes of climate variations. One of the causes is that we are failing to look after our environment. We have a challenge because the fire season has been announced where you find veld fires. Our forests are being burnt – our flora and fauna is being burnt and this is affecting the population of trees through cutting down of trees too and the wanton destruction of forests.
Where I stay, you find men carrying axes looking for trees to chop. You find that the trees being cut are the ones that took so many years to grow. People take three to four days to cut a tree which would have grown through generations. This is one of the causes of global warming. Those who just mine gold without licences or due diligence or do it nicodemously and do not cover the pits that they dig is a hazard because such pits when the rains fall, they fill up with water and our animals end up drowning. This is affecting a lot of things. You find that sometimes water is just flowing – there is no control and the water is not following through the natural process. This is one of the reasons and as a nation, we should see what we can do so that people are sensitized. The biggest challenge is that people are ignorant – they do not have adequate knowledge.
I want to encourage the Minister of Environment – who is the responsible authority and has a task in preserving and conserving our environment. Our chiefs and traditional leaders should be taught because we do not just look forward to the Ministry of Environment to do that job on its own. The Ministry should centre on printing pamphlets or books to educate the public. However, what is happening in rural areas is quite disappointing. We have chiefs who live with communities and they are teaching people. When I was growing up, we were taught that chiefs are custodians of culture. We need to educate even churches because they are responsible for inculcating culture and moral values. You find that churches are always filled up. It is important to engage churches through the Ministry of Environment.
Engaging churches even after conducting church services would be beneficial. It will help in educating people about how to protect their environment. This works because last week there was a meeting at our church and the publicity team of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe came and educated people on what ZiG is and what it stands for. They had posters and information which described the notes, coins and the whole family of the currency and the exchange rate. This indeed helps because when people hear such information from reliable sources or people who work in that office, they concentrate or pay attention. Environmental issues would permeate into communities and this will benefit chiefs, headmen and village heads. We know that climate change indeed can be mitigated in our communities because this is a global challenge.
I would like to thank Hon. Senator Mohadi for moving this motion which was quite pertinent. It is evident that this year is a year of drought, rains were not sufficient. If we teach people, they will know that what is being said is true because no one had a good harvest because climate change is real and it is with us. It is affecting our livelihoods – we end up not harvesting properly. When climate change affects people, sometimes it brings floods that displace people and also destroy people’s houses and livelihoods. Some will be affected by drought and will not have enough food. The Ministry of Environment should come up with strategies of teaching people so that information can reach communities. Regarding climate change, you will find that it brings negative effects and having such information will help our people about what climate change means. I thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAKAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
STRATEGIES TO MOBILISE RESOURCES FOR THE
NATIONAL CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
Thirteenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
National Clean-Up Campaign.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
ROAD SAFETY DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON
Fourteenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
successive road accidents on consecutive days in the month of November, 2023 countrywide.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. PHUTHI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fifteenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA, the House adjourned at Seventeen Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.