NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 02 FEBRUARY 2016 VOL 42 NO 29
Hansard

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 02 FEBRUARY 2016 VOL 42 NO 29

Police chief Augustine Chihuri
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
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PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Tuesday, 2nd February, 2016

 

PRAYERS

(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER

SWEARING IN OF A NEW MEMBER

THE HON. SPEAKER: On the 23rd December, 2015, Parliament received communication from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the election of Hon. Killian Sibanda, member of ZANU PF party as a Member of the National Assembly representing Nkulumane Constituency with effect from the 20th December, 2015.

Section 128(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that before a Member of Parliament takes his or her seat in Parliament, the member must take the Oath of a Member of Parliament in the form set out in the 3rd Schedule. Section 128(2) states that the oath must be taken before the Clerk of Parliament.

The hon. member there, standing near the pillar, please may you sit down.

NEW MEMBER SWORN

HON. KILLIAN SIBANDA subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the Law and took his seat – [HON. MEMBERS:Hear, hear.] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Order! Hon. members on my left please.

HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. We were discussing that this is a new year and we need to start things also in a very good way. We have not greeted you officially Hon. Speaker, this is the discussion that we were having to say, we need to greet our Speaker officially. I just want to take the lead and say, ngatiisei mawoko kuna Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

LAUNCH OF THE ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Mackenzie. I have a few other announcements to make. I thank you for the greetings and I reciprocate and welcome you to this our sitting.

The first announcement is that I have to inform the House that the Hon. Chief Justice is inviting hon. Members of Parliament to the launch of the Anti-corruption Campaign to be jointly hosted by all stakeholders in the administration in Zimbabwe on Friday, 5th February, 2016 at 0900hrs at the Harare Magistrates Court. If as many Members of Parliament can attend, that will be appreciated.

INVITATION TO THE INAUGURAL PROVINCIAL INTER-FAITH DAY

THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that the Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province is inviting all Members of Parliament to an Inaugural Provincial Inter-Faith Day, at the City Sport Centre, where prayers for peace and prosperity for the Harare Metropolitan Province will be conducted on Saturday, 6th February, 2016, starting at 0800 a.m.

ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE

THE HON. SPEAKER: Further, I also wish to inform the House that I have received an Adverse Report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Bill.

NON-ADVERSE REPORTS FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE

THE HON. SPEAKER: Further to that, I have to inform the House that I have received non-adverse reports on the following:

  • All Statutory Instruments published in the Government Gazette during the month of December, 2015.
  • All General Notices published in the Government Gazette during the month of December, 2015.
  • The Zimbabwe National Defence University Bill and
  • The General Laws Amendment Bill.

VACANCY IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

THE HON. SPEAKER: I would also like to inform the House that, on 20th January, 2016, I was notified by the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) Party that with effect from 1st December, 2015, Mr. Criswell Mutematsaka ceased to be a member of ZANU PF Party.

Accordingly, Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe applies and it provides as follows. “The seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he/she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President of the Senate as the case may be has declared that the member has ceased to belong to it.”

The necessary administrative measures have been taken to inform His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the existence of vacancy in line with Section 39 (1) of the Electoral Act Chapter 213 as amended.

INVITATION TO A ROMAN CATHOLIC RECEPTION

THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that the Roman Catholic Church is inviting all Hon. Members who are catholics to a reception to be held today, 2nd February, 2016 at the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Africa Synod House, corner Fourth Street and Selous Avenue, starting at 1700 hours. The reception is being organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. All Hon. Members who belong to the Catholic Church are urged to attend. Those members wishing to attend the reception please give your names to Hon. Majome, before 1530 this afternoon.

MATTER OF PRIVILEGE

HON. CHAMISA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My notice of motion has to do with Standing Order Number 68 (d), which is basically an issue to do with matters relating to a question of privilege. I am raising this Hon. Speaker Sir, particularly concerned that we have seen an increase in the number of Members of Parliament that are being expelled. I know some may not understand what I am saying but it is very important in the context of national interest and also public interest.

You may be aware that each time we have an MP who is suspended or expelled; correspondingly, we have to go to an election. That election costs a lot of money and that money which is being spend is actually wasted money in the context of bonuses that have not been paid [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]- Civil servants that have not been paid. It is very important because this is a matter of privilege in the context of an MP who is seated there.   I tell you Mr. Speaker Sir, most of our MPs right now are no longer able to transact the business that they were elected to do because they are so afraid. They tell us nicodemously and secretly that we are in trouble.

This is a serious matter of national concern. I am saying it is a serious matter of national concern on three aspects. Firstly, the cost factor, particularly when we look at our economy and the performance of our budget. The second one has to do with the stability of this House. The stability of our politics, that clause was never intended in the Constitution to cause undue suffering and hardships to the country, to the individual MPs and to the constituents. We are perpetually talking about politics, literally leaving and absconding the responsibility to talk about development. Now, when we are in elections perpetually, these virtuous cycles of politics are affecting the virtual cycles of development. This is going to affect the country.

The third point which is very important is that we still have unfinished business of reforms to do with elections. We cannot continue to have people who come here masquerading as representatives of the people when they are in fact elected under murky, nebulous and foggy circumstances, where elections have not been held in a manner that is credible and legitimate. These are issues that are supposed to be debated on a point of privilege Hon. Speaker [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.].

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! I hear the point of order and privilege raised by Hon. Chamisa. If we read very carefully Section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution, there is no way this august House or Parliament in general can stop the activities of certain political parties who have representatives elected on their ticket to either cease to be members because of circumstances pertaining to their own political parties. This august House cannot intervene. So, I would urge Hon. Chamisa to secretly and nicodemously speak to his party – [Laugher] – to hold the galloping of these terminations of office by the party and perhaps, he could also influence other parties to act in a similar manner to stop. The reasons given by Hon. Chamisa are credible but unfortunately, are directed to a wrong platform as it were, but I accept the reasons given.

HON. CHAMISA: Hon. Speaker, thank you very much. I know the Standing Orders do not allow us to say anything after the ruling of the Speaker, but just to clarify that from a point of law, Section 129:1(k) gives powers to the Standing Rules and Orders Committee to then devise a mechanism that does not create floodgates when political parties approach the Speaker and Parliament to try and invoke that section. In that case, we still have as Parliament, the power to exercise certain jurisdiction and this is where Hon. Speaker Sir, if you agree with me, you may need to exercise your mind. I know being an advocate you may appreciate this point. We cannot just allow a carte-blanche open check approach of victimising Members of Parliament on the basis of parochial and flimsy interests, that have nothing to do with national interests. Factionalism should not be allowed to be legislated. Factionalism should not bear and give fruits in Parliament. Let it end in parties but not in this House – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – [HON. ZWIZWAI: And you can see Mr. Speaker the beneficiaries are silent.] – [Laughter] – [HON.ZWIZWAI: They are saying ramba uchibaya Chamisa … – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.].

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Right, I only wish that the Speaker of Parliament when so elected will become the leader of the various political parties but that is not the case. What can happen if you are not happy with Section 129:1(k), you then have to follow the due process of amending that section so that there is comfort zone for all that may be affected in the future. So, the ball is in your hands in terms of proposed amendment to Section 129:1(k) – [AN HON. MEMBERS: Let us amend izvozvi …] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order.

MOTION

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS

First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the

Presidential Speech.

Question again proposed.

HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity to associate my name with this motion as well as the voice of the people of Magwegwe. Mr. Speaker, I may not have your attention but let me begin by welcoming you to your own House. Let me also add another feather to your cap that is rarely recognised. The fact that when you are in that Chair, you make it easy for new Members of Parliament, like myself to stand up and debate. It is the manner that you steer debate that encourages me to stand up at times and speak in this House. I know you understand matters of absolute privilege that come with one being a Member of Parliament. It is that absolute privilege Mr. Speaker Sir that I wish to take full advantage of. In moving this motion I intend to utilise hefty chunks of that absolute privilege as a Member of Parliament.

          Hon. Speaker, I have not spoken in this House for quite a while but before this House went on recess, Matebeleland lost two academics, two iconic sons of Bulawayo and very important people in the service of Zimbabwe. We lost an academic in the person of Dr. Lawton Hikwa, soon to be followed by Prof. Lindela Ndlovu both of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). Over and above their duties in this institution, they had other national duties that they carried in a superb manner. I know Dr. Hikwa served in various capacities and he was also a member of the Media Commission. Let me thank His Excellency for appointing these two giant academics from Bulawayo. I also wish to extend to the Vice President of the Opposition who is a relative of Lawton Hikwa, my sincere condolences and those of my Constituency for the passing on of Lawton Hikwa. May their souls rest in peace – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

Hon. Speaker, the issue of how Professor Lindela Ndlovu was haunted and frustrated by agents of this Government is an issue for another day but it only serves to illustrate the love lost between this Government and the people of Matebeleland. I always think that this Government does not love us Hon. Speaker. I am saying this because a whole minister of Cabinet was sent at one point to South Africa to go and negotiate for the illegal stay of the people of Matebeleland in South Africa. The Government of South Africa was invited to flout its own immigration laws. Our people are living in South Africa, their law is if you work in South for five years, you must be granted a residents permit but this government sent a whole minister to negotiate that our people become illegal squatters. It is a fact that most Zimbabweans that live in South Africa are from Matabeleland. Some were frustrated as way back as 30 years ago and do not even have identity papers granted by this Government – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – a number of our people. This is exactly what I meant that when you are in the Chair I am able to debate what I want.

I am speaking on issues from Magwegwe ….

HON. ZIYAMBI: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. My point of order relates to the manner in which the hon. member is debating. Our Constitution does not allow hate speech – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – the import of what he is saying is that there is tribalism in Zimbabwe. He is insinuating that people from the Southern region are the only ones who are in South Africa and that is inciting hatred within our people. So, this august House cannot be used to promote hate speech – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]. I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Member, perhaps if you could be more factual so that you do not raise emotive issues as we debate.

HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I will continue with my speech but I realise that at the mention of old bones, it is old women that get concerned. Hon. Speaker when I stand before this House all the time, it must be remembered that I am a messenger; I am merely amplifying the voice of the people of Magwegwe because we cannot all be in Parliament. Unfortunately being a messenger Mr. Speaker Sir, has to be understood that at times the message that I am sent to run with may be unpalatable to some.

However it is my duty to this House; unbreakable commitment to the people of Magwegwe to express just what they have sent me to come and do – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – I would like to thank the President and his good lady for coming to this House to deliver the Presidential Speech. It is not my intention Hon. Speaker to insult this House by mentioning the politics or economics of the wrong speech that was given initially but I believe as the Opposition, we made our position clear on that error or omission. The job was on all of us Mr. Speaker, when a wrong speech was issued. I find it even more perturbing that after the delivery of that speech, an Hon. Member moved a motion that we debate that speech.

Hon. Speaker, what I am trying to drive home is that there are certain Hon. Members here, that live for the moment, I do not do that, I will never do that again – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – so, in terms of Parliamentary traditions, since the wrong speech was obliterated from all Parliamentary records, it means anything relating to or incidental to, or connected therewith, was accordingly obliterated from Parliamentary records. What it means therefore, Mr. Speaker, is that there is no mover for this motion, I am the mover as well, so I will take as much time as I wish….

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, I want to bring the Hon. Member back to the rails of procedure and what transpired here. In terms of our procedure, we received the corrected speech here, it was tabled accordingly. When that speech was tabled, there was no opposition to the tabling of the correct speech. So, it is unnecessary and out of order for the Hon. Member to refer to a matter that was procedurally attended to in this House without any opposition at all. I ask the Hon. Member to move and debate on the speech that was tabled as corrected by the Hon. Vice President Mnangagwa.

HON. NDEBELE: I take counsel from the Hon. learned Speaker. Thank you. Hon. Speaker, every time I get home, I am at pains to explain to my daughter why I am not a Minister because some things may be good and not good for her, but this question keeps cropping up. Every time she wants to know and the answer that I have given her, as I have seen things play out in this House, is that in order to be a minister in this country my daughter, you just have to do something funny and you are appointed – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] -. I know Hon. Speaker you always chastise us to say…

HON MUDEREDZWA: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. I am at pains again to correct the Hon. Member who was on the floor. Again, if he can read the Constitution of Zimbabwe it will reveal to him how the appointing authority appoints ministers and that privilege remains the privilege of the appointing authority. I would want the Hon. Member to kindly respect that and not go into the pedantics of trying to go outside the Presidential debate please.

HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I felt the urge to share some of the conversations that go on between myself and my daughter. Let me go into the import of that statement. I am fully aware as a Member of Parliament that a ministerial appointment does not make one infallible neither does it translate to the fact that they immediately become the domain of all intelligence. The point I was trying to bring across is that in articulating matters, members of the Executive need to speak from the same dashboard. They need to articulate the same issues regarding how we wish to take our country forward. It is a matter of collective responsibility, I think, when you are in Cabinet.

Hon. Speaker, when we look at the President’s Speech, a lot of it is centred on boosting economic recovery, but my understanding from what I have observed during question and answer sessions in this House is that his lieutenants may not be economically literate and at this particular moment, Zimbabwe requires stewards that understand the nuts and bolts of how economies run. For instance, Mr. Speaker, if you read the Auditor General’s report, it is littered from page one right up to the end with people stealing from this very Government and the stealing goes on under the very nose and the watch of our ministers. If people are stealing in this manner, what it means is that our ministers do not understand the nuts and bolts of how economies work.

It is the truth. People are stealing from the public purse and one is tempted – Hon. Speaker, you always encourage us to go back to school, one is tempted to advise the University of Zimbabwe to craft some financial literacy courses specifically for our ministers because they leave these things to so called technocrats who are permanent secretaries. The same permanent secretaries who were sitting on those boards that were milking our economy – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

HON. HOLDER: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. Hon. Ndebele, I do not even know what he is talking about or which speech he is debating. I am lost. I need him to guide us. Which debate is he debating on – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. What Hon. Ndebele is saying is factual. You must read the Auditor-General’s report. I mentioned when we were at the Victoria Falls Pre-budget Seminar that we as Parliament must analyse the Auditor-General’s reports. It does not reflect well in terms of the financial house keeping in our various ministries and measures are being taken to address what is contained in these reports. We cannot sweep under the carpet things that are not right – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

Order, order. May I urge members of this august House to read the Auditor-General’s reports very carefully. They are put in your pigeon holes. Please read them so that we can take corrective action.

HON. HOLDER: Mr. Speaker…

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Holder, I have not recognised you and you cannot speak after the Chair’s ruling.

HON. NDEBELE: I agree absolutely with the President on his position with regards to corruption. I implore the Executive to overhaul the system totally in order to deal with the culture of corruption. I thought at some point His Excellency would appoint an Anti-corruption Ministry and my thinking was that such a Ministry will save a much better and more urgent purpose than the Ministry of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities in Education. Like you always say Mr. Speaker, we do not rule but I am taking the privilege to delegate upwards. Maybe in future we could get such a Ministry. Mr. Speaker Sir, I have one question for you…

[Time Limit]

HON. MUTSEYAMI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise to move that Hon. Ndebele’s time be extended so that he finishes his debate, bearing in mind that he had a lot of interjections disturbing his speech.

HON. MATUKE: I rise to object Mr. Speaker Sir because the Hon. Member was out of track for quite some time. So, I think we should give a chance to other Hon. Members to debate.

*HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on the Presidential Speech. My colleague has made a presentation but he has not finished debating, so I am going to complete whatever he has said. When this speech we are debating was tabled, the wrong one was put aside and the second one which was put by the Vice President Hon. Mnangagwa, the President was not there. Therefore, we have to forget about the one which was not the correct one.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the President discussed irrigation and measures for saving people from starvation from the drought. We talk of areas like Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland where there is a lot of starvation. As of now we have people in those areas who are sleeping without any food. There is a lot of starvation and this is causing a lot of pain. What pains more is that Government seems to be neglecting these people because some of them are going for four days without eating anything. All they do is drink salted water and then if anything they have some grass soup and that is what the children feed on. The adults are really going hungry.

We are an independent country and we have been independent for 35 years and we know that starvation will always come into a country. It is up to the Government to take remedial measures and feed these people. When we look at what is happening now, people are starving but Government seems to be very slow in reacting and giving these starving people some food. As we discuss these things today I still have to come across some measures which have been taken so that food is transported where people can access it – such as taking it to nearer depots where it can easily be distributed.

What is happening is that we are starving and it seems we are going to 2017 on hunger. Does Government have enough money to buy food for feeding these people, yet it is having problems in paying salaries for civil servants who have not received their bonuses and even the pensioners who still have to be paid? We are saying what will Government do in order for it to alleviate all these problems, more-so if it is failing to pay its workers and pensioners. Will it have enough money to spare and buy food for the people who are starving?

We could save money by removing the Hon Vice President Mphoko from the hotel and the money so saved could be used in buying food for the starving Zimbabweans. We do agree that Zimbabwe is in an economic meltdown and we are very much aware of it but people are starving and we are told that there is no money to buy the food. As Members of Parliament we need to work hard…

HON. MANDIPAKA: On a point of order. I stand guided. If my memory serves me right the Hon. Member who is debating now, I think he is debating on the Presidential Speech for the second time. I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Member did not debate on the Presidential Speech. So you can proceed Hon. Mutseyami.

*HON. MUTSEYAMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker for letting me continue with my discussion. I was saying this Parliament has a lot of Members of Parliament and we have problems which we face as Members of Parliament. Generally, each one of us as a Member of Parliament has a vehicle which he or she uses as a means of moving from point A to point B but the type of cars given to us were not the cars we were expecting but we are able to move.

We are told there is no money but my main concern is that people should be fed and yet we are told that there is no money. We are saying each Member of Parliament has a vehicle and Ministers are saying there is no money. If you have a new Minister, within a short period of appointment, that Minister is given money so that he buys a very big car and this is over and above the Mercedes Benz which he has. The Ministers who will have been removed from their offices will also take their official cars and buy them at book value but this new Minister, not only does he receive a new car, he is also given accommodation and domestic workers who are paid by the State. This member will also move from his own personal and private residence to Government residence. Is that a reflection of a country which has no money?

The President also talked about war veterans and he said he has introduced a Ministry of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees and we gladly accepted that ministry. These war veterans are the people who worked hard and sacrificed their lives for this country including my father John Salani Dhliwayo Mutseyami, he died a Major in the Army, he was a war veteran not a fake veteran but a genuine one. When we are saying we have no money, look at the war veterans; we are saying people are paid at the end of the month but what I know is that the war veterans have not received their January allowances and we are in February and still they have not been paid anything. These war veterans have families who look up to them. They should be paying fees for their children. We have some war veterans who are of ill health, they are sick and they are supposed to receive treatment in hospital but some of them owe these hospitals lots of monies. They also owe learning institutions monies for fees and we wish these people to be paid so that they can pay the monies that they owe these institutions.

When Ministers fall sick, they go out of the country where they receive treatment and we say the country has no money. The war veterans go to Government hospitals and they cannot afford the private practitioners who charge lots of monies for treatment. The war veterans cannot receive monies due to them and their salaries are behind by two months, how does a war veteran survive?

Mr. Speaker Sir, the Government should give priority to war veterans for the sacrifices which they took in liberating Zimbabwe so that they can live a normal life, take care and pay fees for their families. These war veterans are only taken into consideration when we are going for the elections. That is when they are paraded as a way of show off but when it comes to their needs, they are ignored. I am debating this looking at the Presidential Speech. The people who liberated this country, the war veterans will die and the time they die they will be paupers. Just this past weekend, I attended a funeral of one Gibson Chimhini a war veteran. When he died, the Government failed in all the things which he should have received. When he was ill, he needed treatment, medication and I would have expected this war veteran who went to the war a long time back and was trained in Yugoslavia and Russia to have received such. To my surprise, he was not given a military parade to honour this gallant son of Zimbabwe. They could have come to show the last respect for this war veteran but he was ignored. All his works were not taken into account. One would have expected that when a war veteran is being buried, mourners should have been taken care of but unfortunately, in the case of this war veteran, people were eating cabbages and vegetables, no meat and yet he should have been respected. So, Government failed in paying for his treatment and paying for his funeral.

Government also talked about the green fuel which is coming from Chisumbanje and we have cane fields in that area also. The farmer is Billy Rautenbach who works together with the Government. In that programme, Government gets 10% and Billy Rautenbach gets 90%. I remember from 2000, ZANU PF came up with a policy, land to the people and we are the people they were talking about, the black indigenous who were supposed to benefit from that. As I speak about Billy Rautenbach, one white person and I am talking about the farms which were farmed by the Ndau people and these were confisticated from them. This was their livelihood and they are being given to one white man Rautenbach. Their fields and land were forcibly confiscated from them because we had armed uniformed police who were chasing these people of the Ndau tribe and 42 thousand hectares of land was taken from them and the indigenous were asked to go away. We are paying lip service to the indigenisation of land.

These people who were farming in these areas used to grow cotton and maize in the 1980s but some 35 years later, these people are being deprived of their land. They are being encouraged to work for this one white man as cane cutters and as cane crushers and this white man is working together with the Government. The people of the Ndau origin are in problems, they are crammed in small pieces of land that is given to them.

His Excellency also discussed corruption in his speech. Regarding corruption, let me look at the aspects which were taken by His Excellency. We know we have established an Anti-Corruption Commission because His Excellency has seen that there are some loopholes and some weaknesses which need to be curbed. We know the former Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Hon. Chombo; when he was going through his divorce process with his first wife Miriam, we were told that he had lots of residential stands in almost every local authority and township in this country. He has commercial, residential and industrial stands. Hon. members, even if we are Mr. Moneybags, can you afford to buy all those pieces of land in every town? My feeling is that the President was not supposed to talk about anti-corruption but this person was supposed to be arrested and taken to solitary confinement and made to confess where he got all the monies to buy all those properties.

Mr. Speaker Sir, we have a project which was launched. When we were working on our inter-metropolitan roads from Plumtree and going to other big cities. We praised whosoever constructed these roads, and we commended that this was a very good road replacing a road that had been constructed earlier. This road was constructed during the period of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). To my surprise, this new road which we had hailed which we said was the best of the roads is now full of potholes, bath tub holes and at times mountains and poor construction, poor workmanship and I think we need to look at it. This is a sign of corruption. I am wrapping up my speech because I have received a signal that my time is up, I have to conclude my speech.

Let me now talk of the education sector. The education system in Zimbabwe – we now have teachers in our schools who are given little money. It pains me to see that that is what we are paying these teachers and yet they are doing such a great service. Teachers are highly respected; even in the past, they were the people who were on the upper echelons of society in our communities but the current situation is that even the school children they are teaching now know that teachers are receiving very little money and the deductions too. Teachers have not been paid their bonuses also.

We are demeaning and belittling our teachers. We have Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers who work with little ones from 0700 to 1200 but even when we have inspectors coming in, the teachers show dedication and yet these teachers are forced to stay at school from 0700 to 1700 hours. The problem that we have is that we now have ad hoc inspections by these inspectors. If the teacher goes because the children have gone home, he is removed from the pay sheet. What we need to do is to work out the modus operandi in such a way that these teachers involve themselves in other activities in order to make more money as soon as the children finish school at midday. This will enable the teacher to live a better life. We are oppressing our teachers.

I also hear that teachers are now going to be given the incentive that if a lot of children in their classes pass; we should note that the performance of teachers is not the only determining factor on the success of the children. Let us talk of Chiendambuya, Uzumba and Kuwadzana schools. Children from these schools are coming from different backgrounds and environments. If we take a seven year old child who learns at Sakubva, Zimunya, Checheche and Mbare and ask them the same question, they will give you different answers confidently because of their background and culture. That is why we are saying, it is not fair if children fail that the teacher has his salary, incentive or allowance removed.

We need to look at the background of these children and where they are coming from because some of them are forced to go and work in the fields by their parents to augment the family income and these children have to assist their parents. I think Government should look at the reason why children are failing and not punish these teachers because it is not the teacher’s fault but the environment in which the child operates.

Can you imagine recalling a teacher who has gone on holiday overseas in Britain and say he should come and present himself. Mr. Speaker, thank you for the time you have given me. I would also want to thank the people of Msikavanhu who elected me. Thank you for the President of this country. We ask him to go and talk to his officials who are able to feed the people who are starving. Our cattle are dying because of this hunger. This has resulted in these beasts being sold at a price as low as US$20. Can you imagine this amount for a beast. We need these farmers and these cattle. This Government has no money to support these people. They should go and ask for assistance from the international community. They can be given maize, bulgur and other food stuffs for the starving people.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. There is a Ford Ranger which is white in colour, registration ADL 9350 blocking other vehicles. Please may the owner remove it.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER

INVITATION TO A SOLIDARITY MARCH

THE HON. SPEAKER: There is going to be a solidarity march tomorrow organised by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development. This is to acknowledge and celebrate the decision of the Constitutional Court that bans early child marriages. The solidarity march begins at Africa Unity Square starting at 0900 a.m tomorrow.

*HON. MATUKE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution on the Presidential Speech. It was a factual speech.

Before I make my contribution, I would like to thank hon. members from the opposition especially Hon. Mutseyami and Hon. Ndebele. According to our African culture especially the Karangas of Masvingo, when we have the ancestral spirits coming in, they will come upon the members of the family and not outsiders. Hon. Mutseyami’s father was a war veteran who participated in the war of liberation until the war ended. He passed on after independence. Hon. Ndebele’s father was one of the Ministers in the 1980s. What is happening is, their parents – like I have given the example of ancestral spirits, they are coming upon their children and showing them what should be done. The fathers are saying to their children, please follow our path. From what they are saying, they are a mouthpiece of ZANU PF yet they belong to MDC. We thank them for their contributions. We know that spiritually, they are taking the stance of our party but they belong to the other party.

In his speech, the President discussed the power outages in this country. At the moment, we no longer have the blackout we used to have. The situation has improved. The President also promised that come 2018, we will have enough electricity in the country. Load shedding will be minimal.

The President also said that nobody will die of hunger in Zimbabwe. Right round the country, we can see lorries loaded with food stuffs going to different parts of the country and people are being fed. Yes, I do agree that they may not be enough but we take it that as time goes on, we will all be able to get our equal shares of these food stuffs.

Let me turn to irrigation schemes regarding the climate change. In his speech, the President said that he wanted us to have more irrigation schemes so that people may sustain their farming activities because the rainfall pattern is now distorted, this is very important, especially in my drought stricken constituency where 90% of the people will suffer starvation. Therefore, we welcome His Excellency’s suggestion that we construct irrigation infrastructure in these areas.

We cannot develop Zimbabwe by hailing insults and derogatory remarks at each other. We need to speak with one voice and aim at developing Zimbabwe.

I note that my predecessors do not seem to be contributing towards development but all they are doing is denouncing the development projects that have been undertaken by the Government. Nobody supports corruption, the President also denounced corruption in this country and we support the Government’s stance that, whoever is found guilty, through the Audit Report, should face the wrath of the law.

On the issue pertaining to the roads, we were very happy when the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development stated that the Beit Bridge to Chirundu road is going to be reconstructed and resurfaced. He was just reaffirming His Excellency’s statement on the road infrastructure as many lives have been lost along this road because it is narrow and busy. His Excellency also spoke about this road and we have been informed that tenders have been put up and will soon be awarded to companies to construct the road.

We also want to thank the President that when we look at our minerals, we should talk about beneficiation and value addition instead of raw materials because when we are exporting, not only do we export wealth but jobs for our people and thus impoverishing our nation. When we do beneficiation and value addition, we will be creating wealth for our country.

The President also spoke about the Ministry of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, former Political Detainees and Restrictees whose main responsibility is to take care of the welfare of war veterans. He is aware of the hardships that they endured since he was one of them and he remembers his colleagues after their achievements. We thank His Excellency for his foresight because he loves his country. I thank you.

*HON. MUKWENA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for according me this opportunity to add my voice to the Presidential Speech. Our President is a well organised man and we are all aware of the fact that Zimbabwe is there because of our leader. I am not convinced that he can deceive us after leading us through the Second Chimurenga war.

He led us as a nation when we attained our Independence in 1980; in 1983 that was when we first experienced economic war where there were white saboteurs who introduced sanctions. The President did his best to fight the enemies to the extent when ESAP (the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme) was introduced. Our enemies, from the west, pretended to help us but left us hanging.

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to say that those members on your left side probably have forgotten the ‘stay away’ that they advocated for, together with their President Tsvangirai. That was when they destroyed our country’s economy by supporting the sanctions that were imposed by the whites. – [SOME HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] – Our

President is a very good leader …

HON. CHIBAYA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much, the hon. member is making reference to our party president, Dr. Morgan Richard Tsvangirai who is not a member of this august House and is not in a position to defend himself.

The hon. member is out of order and has to retract that statement.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order! There is no point of order, he is only making reference. You may proceed hon. member.

HON. MUKWENA: The President gave us a way forward as a nation when he spoke about irrigation schemes. As a nation, we note the recent climate changes; this should help this august House to put our minds together in constructing dams and erecting boreholes. In the same vein, if we work as a nation, we will go a long way.

We spoke about hunger, we can say the Government and the President have failed but no he has not. I was born on 3rdMarch, 1958 and have never encountered a heat wave. We only heard about it from India and Pakistan, that is where we learnt about heat waves. In our African culture, we grew up knowing that clouds would rise from the east and we would receive our first rains after three days. I support the President.

The President also addressed the issue of mining and energy. Yes, there are plans on mines in Darwendale and plans to have energy from Hwange, meaning that the President is supporting the nation.

I will now touch on the issue of indigenisation; our indigenisation programme is moving forward. The only impediment in the indigenisation programme is because we are not united as a House. I will cite the war veterans as an example. Probably, most people are not aware of how the second struggle came about. I do not know if anyone was forced to join the liberation struggle but I went willingly. After the liberation struggle, we stayed for many years, there was no opportunity for us to raise our voice so that we could be recognised because we had gone voluntarily. As we live, a study was carried out that at least we should be granted pensions. If you look in this House, you will find that what is happening now should have happened long back. I do not know why it is being raised now. We were given pensions; our pension is not different from other Government workers. I do not know what people want to give us or where they want to place us, because from 1999, I do not know why they were not aware of it when they formed their party MDC.

We cannot force anyone because we know the condition of our economy. This House is the custodian, not the people out there or the Executive but it all comes back to Parliament. I thank the President so much for he has put a plan for the war veterans. We are only getting challenges from those on the grassroots. There is the War Veterans Act, under the War Veterans Department. If a war veteran dies, the people in the ward are the ones who should take it up until it gets to the national level. We cannot blame the nation when they were not given the information. If a war veteran dies, he/she is given US$500.00 for buying food and a coffin. If you look at the money, it is enough to cover those expenses.

Furthermore, soldiers will go to the funeral to exercise necessary last respects of a war veteran. I do not know what went wrong in that case. The problem is with the people who are supposed to disseminate information upwards.

Coming back Mr. Speaker, I think we should win because our economy is performing well. Hon. Members on my left, I plead with them that they should be the first ones to say out a figure which should be given to the war veterans if they are serious. I am going to visit Chipinge South, Chisumbanje. If you look on the map, before independence, Chisumbanje was labelled State land. I know Chisumbanje as State land before independence. We all know that ARDA is a State land. So, I do not know the people they are referring to who could not get into the land reform because the headman or the villagers are aware that they are illegal settlers on that land. So, we cannot fight our Government. We cannot blame our Government when it comes to State land.       When it comes to schools, there is nothing that we can do in our education sector because of the state of economy which was caused by stay aways. Thank you.

*HON. MAHOKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity and even protecting my name. I would like to add my voice on the Presidential Speech, on that eloquently delivered mission. The speech delivered by His Excellency is very excellent and it is up to an individual who has the choice of understanding and giving his own interpretation on the speech. This also happens in religion whereby people pick particular verses in the Bible and live according to whatever they want.

As we look at the Presidential Speech, we see that it was a developmental speech. I will dwell on what pleased me and this is the issue of war veterans as enunciated by His Excellency. We thank His Excellency for introducing a war veterans Ministry because he had seen that war veterans had problems, especially in their welfare. War collaborators also had problems because we did not have a Ministry which was responsible for their welfare. We thank His Excellency for such a foresight.

The previous speaker talked about what happens to war veterans. Hon. Members, please be aware of this, when a war veteran dies, they should follow the channels to give the information to the relevant officials so that the proper assigned assistance is given to the war veteran. There is some assistance which is supposed to be given to these war veterans, but there are processes and channels which should be followed. A letter is written to the province, the province takes that letter to the national level. That is the state where we have the status board bestowed upon that war veteran because we heard that these war veterans are wrongly buried because information is not passed on properly so that these war veterans can be buried with the status they deserve.

We are elected into this House; we have the powers and the mandate from the people. We are here because of the war veterans. We should give these war veterans proper information. They should be aware of what their Member of Parliament is doing for their welfare. Therefore, fellow Members of Parliament, be aware of the channels which should be followed when a war veteran passes on.

We also heard people talking about monies regarding the war veterans. I am a war veteran and we were paid our monies and this month we are going to receive our monies, we know the dates. I plead with you, if you are not a war veteran, do not talk of something you do not know. I am a war veteran and I am aware of all the circumstances and privileges which are due to them. We have people who speak with a forked tongue. They seem to love war veterans, yet the contrary is true. Let me tell you the pay day of the war veterans. The war veterans will be paid on 5th February, 2016. Please, Member of Parliament be a true representative. Do not publish falsehoods.

The previous speaker also said there is very little money in the country and this does not only affect war veterans …

+ HON. D. S.SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I stood up to say we are all Hon. Members and address each other by saying Hon. Member and we do not say you, you. I am asking the Hon. Member to use parliamentary language when she is debating.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I am not quite familiar with Ndebele but what I have heard is haana kuti iwewe in termsyekunongedzera munhu but it was in the middle of speech and there is nothing wrong with that.

HON. D. S. SIBANDA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker, I will speak in English for your benefit. The only person who debated talking about war veterans is Hon. Mutseyami and therefore, it is unparliamentary for the Hon. Member to refer to another Hon. Member saying iwewe. What I am asking for as the Deputy Chief Whip is for the Hon. Member to withdraw iwewe and address another Hon. Member as an Hon. Member. Thank you –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: In Shona, the way she expressed using that honorific, it was used in general and referring to ‘you’ and not belittling an Hon. Member as you understand it. Iwewe is just ‘you’ in general.

* HON. MAHOKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I will continue on the issue of pay days for Government workers. Yes, the salaries for Government workers are very little and my suggestion is that deductions be made on the salaries of Members of Parliament. The monies so deducted should be added to the salaries of civil servants because these Members of Parliament also have privileges which they enjoy. I think in these problematic times, we need to share the burden by getting the deductions from Members of Parliament and distribute them to the civil servants. All the civil servants are receiving peanuts and I think [HON. MEMBERS:Inaudible interjections.] – …

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order at the back there. If you do not agree with what is being said, your turn will come and I will give you the chance to debate. Please, let us hear the Hon. Member in silence.

*HON. MAHOKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for protecting me. I will now talk about health workers. We have nurses in Karoi who are working very hard but the problem they face is that there are no medical supplies and equipment to use for treating patients. We realise that when funds are distributed in the health sector, more money is given to urban health institutions and rural health institutions are given peanuts. I think this unequal distribution is very unfair for the health workers. We need to have an equal distribution for these medical supplies. We should also be cognisant of the fact that in urban areas we have a lot of health institutions, some of which are private. Also, the people in urban areas can work to these health institutions unlike in the rural areas where people have to be transported and part with a lot of money in the process.

The President talked about corruption. He said corruption was bad and is a cancer. An Hon. Member also talked about corruption and monies which were abused, and said Hon. Chombo did abuse certain funds. Now that he has this evidence that Hon. Chombo stole so much money to buy such properties, we therefore ask him to go to the powers that be and lead to the arrest of Hon. Chombo so that we have what is going to be seen as an example. We are a parliament of action because we are saying if we have an individual who has houses all over the country, and we have a witness to this effect, this individual is encouraged to go to the police and lead to the arrest and trial so that these funds are given back to the State.

Let me now turn to irrigation which was included in the Presidential Speech. Irrigation schemes are of a great help to all the people in the country. I get surprised by some of the Hon. Members who instead of indulging in constructive speech make remarks which are very adverse, yet they could be part of that problem. When the economy of the country sunk, it was during the time of the Government of National Unity (GNU), that is when the economy of the country was destroyed beyond redemption and also the sanctions were called for by the people from the opposition, MDC. During that period, the members of this party were also supporting corruption because they were saying it was one of the ways of getting these sanctions but it has been seen that these are the people who were letting us down. Hence, at the re-election the electorate supported ZANU PF and not the people who let them down.

With the end of the GNU period, ZANU PF is now doing it singlehandedly and they need to look for money to support developmental projects in this country. On the other hand, MDC went and called for sanctions which are destroying the economy of the country and lives of the people of Zimbabwe. When the MDC asked for these sanctions, they thought the sanctions were going to be targeted sanctions aimed at ZANU PF people only and then the MDC would develop. However, the sanctions hit everyone and I am glad that the electorate was able to see that the people who were on the wrong side were the MDC and the only organised party is ZANU PF. Hence, ZANU PF is making a clean sweep in all the elections which are being held.

Turning to irrigation which was stated by His Excellency, in my constituency we have already started implementing these irrigation projects because they are a way of fighting poverty and starvation. The hunger facing the country at the moment is caused by climatic change. For your own information, most of our national granaries in this country are full with food. Hon. Speaker, if there is a constituency which has no food, it means that particular Member of Parliament is not working for the people but is selfish. The method which is used in distributing the grain is that each family is given a bag of 50kgs, this maize in not given to put into granaries but it is for eating during that month.

Mr. Speaker, as Members of Parliament, we need to make follow up methods and ways of assisting our constituencies. We need to source for food from other areas where we can get food and support our people. We need to support these irrigation projects because they are very important in fighting starvation and the climate change. We need to utilise fully the mechanisation equipment which was brought into this country.

We are also appealing to the Government that more dams be constructed in our constituencies especially in areas like Hurungwe, we receive some reasonable rainfall. If we harness water and these dams are put in areas which have more rainfall, we can use this water for irrigation purposes and other developmental projects. We heard the previous speaker talking about the removal of people. I really enjoyed that and also very happy when I heard that an Hon. Member who is elected by the electorate that when he comes into this august House he talks bad of his country and Ministers who were elected on their merit, some of them are doctors and the President is very developmental and progressive.

The President was very careful in selecting these Ministers because of their academic prowess and ability to implement developmental projects. We also want to thank the Ministers for the progress they are bringing into the country. There was an issue of redistribution of land and removal of the Ndau people making way for Rautenbach to farm 42 000 hectares so that the country can get oil. I thank Hon. Mutseyami for giving me this valid information. When we talk about land redistribution, this is one of the best ideas taken by the Government of Zimbabwe.

Whenever you go out of the country, you hear other people from those countries, praising President Robert for the Land Redistribution programme which he undertook. Even when you go to Britain where there is Blair, we have people who praise our President for the Land Redistribution programme.   We have members who are younger than the President but the President is so intelligent than nobody can stand up to him. Even when he was in African leadership, he was a beacon of development, a beacon of justice and therefore Land Redistribution is a worthwhile exercise which should be taken up.

Therefore, if you have evidence that in your area you have a white man who is doing well, who is able to live with other people in peace, that white man will be able to retain whatever fields he has. Therefore, people in that area should tell us who that white man is and he will not be taken out of that land.

[Time Limit]

          *HON. MANDIPAKA: Let me thank Hon. Mahoka for that speech because she is so eloquently done. I move for the extension of her time.

HON. SARUWAKA: Mr. Speaker, let us allow other Hon. Members to debate. I object for the extension.

*HON. CHIBAYA: Let me start by congratulating you Mr. Speaker; because of your leadership we were able to get into the New Year in peace. May the good Lord give you long life? I also say congratulations to all Members of Parliament who were able to get into 2016 to come and represent the electorate who elected them.

Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me start by teaching on the roles and functions of Parliament. The first role of Parliament is to make laws for the country. The second role is to represent the electorate who elected us. The third role is oversight. I am starting my speech by making this explanation because not all of us are aware of the roles and functions of Parliament and Parliamentarians. We are debating the Presidential Speech and when we are debating the Presidential Speech, please let us stick to what the President said. The President talked about the realignment of the existing laws with the new Constitution. In other words, we had the laws which were there in the past and which do not go according to the new Constitution. These have to be realigned to fit the current situation.

I will give an example of the Urban Councils Act. The existing law runs contrary to the new Constitution. I will talk of particular sectors, for example the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing is using this law to eject members of councils in this country and this is out of sync with the existing law which I have just given. It is a law which is being abused by the Minister of Local Government. I know that most of our Members of Parliament will agree with me that the biggest sanction we have in Zimbabwe is corruption which is letting the country down. We look at a situation whereby as MPs who love their President yet we disagree on the way the country is developing and someone denying that the country is not developing because of corruption, it means that MP who is not blaming corruption is fighting the President because the President said that corruption is a cancer. Therefore, if you do not agree with the statement that corruption is destroying the country, I wonder where you are coming from and who you are representing.

We have received a report from the Auditor-General and it is pointing out at individual ministries which have abused those funds, which have indulged in corruption. What we should be discussing is how the culprits should be punished. Any one figure pointed in this report should face the wrath of the law because at the moment, no one has been arrested as yet. We had reports on PSMAS, people like Cuthbert Dube. We have Minister Parirenyatwa who was paid US$100 000 and no arrest was made. So, I am saying with all those examples, as a country, are we developing our country or being retrogressive.

Hon. Speaker, there was a suggestion which was put across, that we set up an ad hoc committee which was to investigate corruption. We were told that as Members of Parliament we were not allowed to hold an ad hoc committee but Section 119(1) to (3) says as Parliament, we are allowed to oversee, as part of our role, Government ministries and we need to investigate the goings on in those ministries because of the powers vested in us of oversight.

I will now turn to the poor civil servant regarding the bonus. For the past 30 years, Government employees had been receiving their bonuses and after such a period, the bonus is now a right which should be received because this person will be expecting that bonus and even budget knowing that this money will be coming. Also, we have noticed that civil servants are receiving peanuts for salaries. I really sympathise with them and wonder how they are managing to live under such circumstances.

Mr. Speaker Sir, when we go to our constituencies we have ward officers who are usually referred to as youth officers. At times they range from 11 to 15 officers in each constituency. These youth officers have no particular role which they play in the development of the country and I am saying if we fire all these youth officers, the money so saved would be able to pay the bonuses for the civil servants.

We attended our Pre-budget Seminar in Victoria Falls and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development also discussed the youth officers and said we should do away with these youth officers and most of the Members of Parliament were for this idea. They supported this idea with the exception of those MPs who were sleeping. What I am saying is what was stated by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development- [HON, MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

We know that in this august House we have no age limit hence some of the Hon. Members in this august House will be dozing off and as a result it would seem they will be hearing some of these things for the first time. We should pay civil servants and get this money from retrenching these youth officers.

Turning to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Zimbabwe needs FDI which is funding from outside countries, but unfortunately, no foreign investor can come into a country which is not politically stable. No foreign investor can come into a country which has violence, a country which abuses its citizens. Therefore, no foreign investor may come into this country. Let me explain further. We were told that we were supposed to be given money and our credit was supposed to be wiped off but there was a condition to it and that is we should state where Dzamara went to. He just disappeared or vanished into thin air – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Mr. Speaker Sir, it is mind boggling that an individual like Dzamara can just disappear into thin air in such a country. What we are saying is, no foreign direct investor may want to invest in such a country.

HON. MANDIPAKA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I respect the Hon. Member who is having the floor but I think we have just been discussing these issues where we want to improve our economy and there is no way, Hon. Speaker, that Foreign Direct Investment would come in a country where a member who sits in Parliament says there are murderers in this country. I think he has to correct his ways – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order please. Order at the back. Hon. Chibaya, let us hold our debate in a manner which does not ridicule anybody. I believe in this House, we only have presiding officers who should be respected. Hon. Chibaya, I am asking you to make a withdrawal of the word vagabonds. Please withdraw that term.

*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The problem we have is that people are not listening to the contribution being made by a member – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

HON. TSHUMA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No, you may not call for another point of order. Order, please take your seat. May you resume your seat I am still talking. I have asked Hon. Chibaya to withdraw the derogatory term which he used, talking of vagabonds and killers. May you also withdraw the word “bhinya”.

*HON. CHIBAYA: I want to withdraw the statement that no foreign investor will come and invest in a country which is full of murderers and killers.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Chibaya, may you please withdraw your statement which you talked about the bad Government.

*HON. CHIBAYA: I did not say that the Government is murderous but I am talking of people with their monies. I said no foreign investor may come to this country and invest where we have people who are murderers and killers.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Chibaya, I do not think that I am asking a lot from you just to withdraw that statement. I have given you a chance to debate but if you do not withdraw that statement, then you might as well sit down.

*HON. CHIBAYA: Let me take this opportunity to withdraw the word “bhinya” but I want to proceed by saying in this country our Zimbabwe…

HON. MANDIPAKA: On a point of order. We respect your chair. The Hon. Member in my view insulted his own country in this august House. So he should withdraw and state that this country is not comprised of murderers as he has earlier on indicated because that alone will deter foreign direct investment. I think he needs to withdraw that statement.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I have made a ruling that he has withdrawn. May you proceed with your speech?

*HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you for protecting my rights and privileges. I will try to wind up my speech in the remaining five minutes. In this country, especially during the election period, the people of Zimbabwe were promised that 2 million jobs were going to be created. Unfortunately, after the elections, almost an equal number of jobs were lost and my point is that Government seems to have lost direction after promising people 2 million jobs – 2 million jobs are lost…

*HON. MUPFUMI: On a point of order. My point of order is that if an Hon. Member in this august House is saying Zimbabwe has lost direction, he is saying an inappropriate speech especially for a Zimbabwean and a Member of Parliament.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, I plead with you let, us be serious in our business in developing our country and the constituencies which we are representing. In this august House, if you do not agree with what has been said by previous speakers, you will be given your time to make your contributions.

*HON. CHIBAYA: Mr. Speaker Sir, my five minutes have been taken over by Hon. Mupfumi but the economy of this country has shown that the Government led by ZANU PF is not able to take the country to greater heights. I am pleading with the President and his Government to resign. I thank you.

*HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on the Presidential Speech. I will also touch on the Ten Point Plan Mr. Speaker.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! May you resume your seat. I am informed that you already debated on this Presidential Speech. I may not give you another chance.

*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I want to debate on the Presidential Speech but before I do that, I would want this House to thank the President in the manner that he conducted business as the Chair of African Union and especially the speech that he gave in Morocco when he encouraged Africa that they should not be given direction by the Europeans. I also want to thank him for his determination and courage in showing that Africa belongs to African people and that they should not be intimidated by anyone representing the whites.

Coming back home –[AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections]-.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order! Who said rubbish? [AN HON: MEMBER: NdiChibaya]. May you please withdraw?

*HON. CHIBAYA: I withdraw Mr. Speaker Sir.

*HON. MUPFUMI: The President talked about unity in Zimbabwe. He always talks about unity, unity and unity but I see some Hon. Members in here who represent MDC-T saying that this country has chased away the Ndebele speaking people into South Africa. Looking into that, we see that the hate speech which is always talked about by the President is not being spearheaded because such things should not be talked about by the Members of Parliament.

          HON. MUTSEYAMI. On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.

          THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

          HON. MUTSEYAMI: It is prudent for the hon. member to be advised that he has to speak in one language not in 10 languages as a procedure of this Parliament.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Hon Mutseyami, it is for the Speaker to say that.

*HON. MUPFUMI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. We know that when the truth is being said, sellouts do not want that to happen. Our President, His Excellency, when referring to corruption…

*HON. MUTSEYAMI. On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.

          *THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

          *HON. MUTSEYAMI: My point of order is that Hon. Mupfumi should withdraw that Hon. Mutseyami is a sellout. Do I sell tomatoes? What is he saying?

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. members I think we should be mature and stick to business. Most of your point of orders are not meaningful, let us do business.

*HON. MUPFUMI: In his speech, the President talked about corruption. If you look at corruption, where it is found, it is in the councils, it is prevalent there. In those councils that is where we find the members of the MDC, their aim is to remove the Government illegally. If we look at the report that was tabled in Mutare which is 100% MDC Councillors, the auditor’s report said that the councillors took home close to US$1 700 000.00. Those corrupt activities are the ones which are being vindicated by the members from the opposition. Our President gave us the ten points which we should follow to go forward as a nation.

Our country can only go forward if all the people know what they do. We come to Parliament for the betterment of our country but we find that there are people who do not say the correct things. We come from different constituencies and provinces. They are problems there, we do not have water, people are hungry, and those are the things that we must talk about in Parliament so that our country will go further.

We see the people denigrating what the President has said. For things to go well, we expect that when a person comes to Parliament, you are a mature person who is representing the people that voted for you. You must talk of things that make the economy grow. I think we should act as mature people for the betterment of our country.

Coming to corruption, we have a road that comes from Plumtree to Mutare. That road has not been done properly. If we look at that road – a Commission must be set up. ZINARA constructed that road in collaboration with G5 but G5 took all the money and went away and now ZINARA was left with a debt. The people that did not do their work properly took the money. That is why I am saying a Commission must be put in place expediently.

The President also talked about irrigation. Our country has many dams. We should continue to do irrigation schemes that are funded by Government so that people grow food so that we have food in our country. We are aware that we have a shortage of transport in this country. The President also talked about our transport system, we should get rid of commuter omnibuses. If you go to other countries, you see that they have removed commuter omnibuses from urban areas, they are only conventional buses. I think we should have transport that can ferry people to and from work. Looking at our civil servants, their transportation is not proper. For workers to come to work in time, they should have good and adequate transport, we must have enough transport to ferry our civil servants. With these few words, I want to thank you Mr. Speaker.

HON. RUNGANI: Hon. Speaker Sir. I move that the debate do now adjourn.

HON. D. SIBANDA: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2016.

On the motion of HON. RUNGANI seconded by HON. D. SIBANDA, the House adjourned at Sixteen Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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