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SENATE HANSARD 8 MAY 2013 VOL. 22 NO. 15
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 8th May, 2013.
The Senate met at Half-past Two
o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(MADAM PRESIDENT in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY MADAM PRESIDENT
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE
PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
MADAM PRESIDENT: I have to inform the Senate that I have received non-adverse reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on all the Statutory Instruments published in the Government Gazette during the months of November and December 2012.
VOTE FOR A WOMAN CAMPAIGN LAUNCH
MADAM PRESIDENT: I also have to inform the Senate that the
Women In Political Support Unit (WIPSU) is inviting all members of Parliament, both males and females to a launch of the „vote for a woman‟ campaign. Its publications will include the gender audit for the political parties‟ baseline study for Binga, Shurugwi, Makoni and
Hwedza on women‟s participation and the 2012 Annual Report. The launch will take place on Thursday, 9th May, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Harare from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. I know how supportive the male senators are and I am sure they will be there to support this worthwhile cause.
SWITCHING OFF OF CELL PHONES
MADAM PRESIDENT: May I please remind hon. senators to
put their cell phones on silent or switch them off.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HONOURABLE VICE
PRESIDENT JOHN LANDA NKOMO
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Tragic and Untimely Death of Hon. Vice President John Landa Nkomo.
Question again proposed.
SENATOR MAKAMURE: I rise to add my voice, although I did
not know the late Vice President, what I have heard from fellow
Senators, mainly what was said by the mover of the motion Hon. Senator Moyo, it shows the importance of the late Vice President. He was an important man to this country.
When I first knew of him, he was a Member of Parliament for the First Parliament of Zimbabwe up until the time of his death. The journey that he travelled is emulated, he was a man who worked on different tasks. He was tasked with different responsibilities and most of them were important portfolios like the one on Local Government and other portfolios. In the end, when we came up with the Government of National Unity, he was tasked with a very important task of reconciling the nation and healing; as a Minister of that portfolio. He was an important man. Why was he tasked with such an honerous portfolio; because of his expertise and experience in dealing with such important national issues together with the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo. He was also influential in coming up with the Unity Accord in 1987. Our President because of his wisdom, realised he was the only person to take that particular task of reconciliation.
We realise how important he was because after his death until now there has not been a replacement. Maybe his shoes are too difficult to fill he has proved that his acts are too difficult to follow such that there is no one who has replaced him in his Vice President capacity. The President can never have an able replacement who could be able to make sure that this country can be reconciled and be healed. Our President is wise, he was not just going to give anyone such an important responsibility. The truth is he was a very important man hence he has not been replaced in this position. Therefore, those who wish to follow in his footsteps should behave and humble themselves as the late Vice
President Nkomo. I thank you.
+SENATOR CHIEF NTABENI: Thank you Madam President
for giving me this opportunity. Today I will use Ndebele,...
MADAM PRESIDENT: I have asked the Hon. Senators to keep
quiet.
+ SENATOR CHIEF NTABENI: I thank you Madam
President, I want to add my voice on this motion that was raised by Hon.
Moyo on the late Vice President Nkomo. It is painful that the late Vice President has left us, some of us were so proud of his work. The work of a man that we will always wish to follow. Hon. Nkomo was one of the men who vowed to die for the country and chose to be friends with animals, friends of snakes and mosquitoes for he did not want to go back up until our nation had attained got its freedom.
The late John Nkomo and our President are the ones who have brought the freedom to the country; we salute the work of the late Hon. Nkomo. We say he is a hero; those who were cowards returned from the war but such men like Hon. Nkomo are heroes. I cannot really say a lot for a lot has been highlighted before. This man, we have realised he walked a very hard journey even when he came back to Zimbabwe, there were so many people who were trying to make squabbles but we realise that they were able to stand and restore unity to this country.
Even though there were some disagreements up until when we got to an Inclusive Government, we realise that the late Hon. John Nkomo was also part of the Inclusive Government. He is one man who was not supporting tribalism; he was one man whether you could take him to any other province, he would fit. I, myself cannot fit everywhere. If you take me to Midlands or Matabeleland I can fit but Hon. Nkomo was able to fit anywhere. We salute Hon. John Nkomo and we say rest in peace. I thank you.
*SENATOR CHIEF MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam
President. I would want to start by thanking Hon. Senator Khaya Moyo the mover of the motion on the untimely and tragic death of the late Vice President John Landa Nkomo. As a Chief, on behalf of the entire country, we have fond memories of his work. We are all aware of the good deeds that the late Nkomo did during his lifetime which has led us to what we are today. From the time when he was the Minister of Local Government, he did sterling work by recognising the importance of traditional leaders. It is because of the good work that he did that traditional leaders are now appreciated in Zimbabwe. If you look into countries like Kenya, there are no chiefs as of now, but the late Vice
President Nkomo saw it fit that we should maintain traditional leaders‟ institutions in Zimbabwe because it is part of our culture and it is the foundation of our society, because our society is found on chieftainship.
He humbled himself, a gallant freedom fighter who caused the attainment of independence in this country but he never wanted to blow his trumpet, he never wanted to beat his chest. Hence he realised that there was need for traditional leaders institutions to remain intact and that they should be held with respect. I would want to thank him for his work in that Ministry.
There was a time when he was a Minister of Labour, during his time most of the workers were jubilant. He realised that workers needed to be paid timeously, they needed sufficient wages to sustain themselves and above all their salaries should be able to ensure that workers live comfortably. I am mentioning this because these are the work that he did during his lifetime as a minister. He was also the Minister for Home Affairs, which we are all aware. He distinguished himself as a Minister for Home affairs and there was rule of law during his reign. We support him for the work that he did. He also went on to be a member of the organ on National Healing and Reconciliation. We are all aware that during that time, he came up with a slogan, „peace begins with you, peace begins with me, followed by you‟ and that all of us together will become peacekeepers. The world over, this was well-received and we were peaceful as a nation.
After the attainment of our independence, there was peace but what then happened was that, there was a time when people had to come together and give each other a chance to be able to play a part in terms of governance. I would like to believe that all of us are aware of the work that the late Vice President Nkomo did and was ably led by President Mugabe. I would like to say to this august Senate, in mourning, we should also celebrate the works that the late Vice President did. Above all I urge members to renew the vision of the late
Vice President Nkomo, the likes of Musarurwa and the late Tongogara. Are we able to look after this country as per their vision or we are now disorganised and self centred and losing the foundation which was laid during the liberation struggle?
We urge that there be peace. As the elections are being held, each and every one of us should not misbehave or insult others into violence but should recall the words of the late Vice President, which are being uttered by the President on a daily basis that, „peace begins with me.‟
We do not want to violate these sentiments until we get to the elections. As chiefs, we will ensure that there will be no violence and we are going to uphold the words of the late Vice President that there should be peace.
As leaders of this Senate, whether it is President Robert Mugabe, we all know the works that he has done up to the present time. We have the land, people are now living well, and we have dams in the communal lands because of his work. On the same note of peace, which was preached by the late Vice President Nkomo, we will support him. We all know the works of the Prime Minister whose deeds are quite good, we are aware of that. There should be peace. I am talking about the late Vice President Nkomo and the peace that he urged us to preserve. I am trying to say that no one should be assaulted because everyone knows of the good deeds that we do. I am talking about the peace that was being preached by the late Vice President Nkomo. I thank you.
SENATOR MLOTSHWA: Thank you very much Madam
President. May I also add my voice to the motion moved by Hon. Senator S.K Moyo in this Senate in honouring the departed leader. I really do not have much to say because in my life, I only interacted twice with the hon. Vice President Nkomo.
The first time that we talked to each other was in 2001. There was an occasion at our hospital where Spar was the sponsoring agent and I was invited to attend as secretary for the business community. From the programme, I was not aware that the late Hon. Vice President was coming. I thought that the local Member of Parliament then, Hon.
Lovemore Moyo, would be coming. I want to share this with you because I learnt something from the first and last time I spoke to him. At times, even if people are from opposition parties, you learn something from them and I learnt something from the departed leader.
I was in charge of organising the High Table. When the late Vice President arrived, I do not know how I reacted but and he noticed it. He was supposed to sit somewhere and the nurses came to tell me what I should have done in preparation and I said no, let him sit there. He proceeded and sat there. When we broke for lunch, he said to me in Ndebele „wena mntwana, uyazi ukhangeleka njengo muntu orude okumangalisayo.’ To translate that, he said, I seemed like a very rude person. However, from there we started talking over lunch. From the way he was handling things, it showed that he had been in it for a long time.
The second time that I met the late Vice President Nkomo was at the airport. I think it was during the time of the Inclusive Government in
2009 and he was not well. We sat there waiting for the plane to Bulawayo and he said, kunjani nkazana? I said ngiyaphila baba. He said, “I saw that you were contesting in 2008” and I said, yes. He said,
“she has now joined politics and she has left the business community.” I could see that he was following the events of the area. Anyway, all that I want to say to you colleagues is that, I realise that he did not stop there in 2001 when we met. In 2008 when he saw my name in the newspaper, he said, “oh, she has joined politics,” and he mentioned that to me. I would like to appreciate that Hon. Nkomo observed that point. I do not know about the rudeness, but he observed that I had acted in a disorderly manner and I had shown that I was not happy about something. I really want to appreciate all the works that I also have been reading about and listening to people talking about him, all the works that even Senators here were talking about, of the liberation struggle. We appreciate all the people that contributed to the liberation struggle and we also wish that they appreciate all those that are in the democratisation of the country because it is also very important. The wars have stages and you cannot stick to one stage for centuries, you have to go to a second level. We also appreciate the players that are in the second level of the country.
Madam President, with that little story of how I met Mr. Nkomo, the departed Vice President, I thank you very much.
THE GOVERNOR FOR MATABELELAND NORTH: I move
that the debate do now adjourn. Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 9th May, 2013.
On the motion of THE GOVERNOR FOR MATABELELAND
NORTH, the Senate adjourned at Three O’ clock p. m.