HANSARD: Parliamentary Debate yesterday

Parliament of Zimbabwe

Wednesday, 14th October, 2020

The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.

PRAYERS

(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER

CUTTING DOWN OF TREES IN THE CAR PARK

THE HON. SPEAKER: I wish to inform the House that there will be an activity involving the cutting down of trees in the car park over the weekend. Hon. Members are therefore advised to remove their cars from the car park in order to facilitate this activity.

CHANGES TO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House of changes to Committee membership. The name of Hon. Memory Munochinzwa should reflect in place of Hon. Emma Muzondiwa. Consequently, Hon. Memory Munochinzwa will serve on the Portfolio Committees on Environment and Tourism as well as Health and Child Care.

APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS

THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have received notice of absence from the following:

The Hon. Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care, Hon. Dr. Chiwenga on official business at State House;

The Hon. Vice President, Hon. Mohadi on official business at State House;

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon. Ndlovu, away on official business;

The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Hon. M. Mutsvangwa, away on official business;

The Minister of Housing and Social Amenities, Hon. Garwe;

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Hon. Arch. Matiza;

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Matema;

The Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. E Moyo;

The Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, Hon. Haritatos; and

The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Chiduwa.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

*HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and good afternoon. For the benefit of the electorate, I would want to speak in Shona if you can indulge me Mr. Speaker Sir.

My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Hon. Minister, what is Government planning to do, particularly on the disbursement of agricultural inputs and finances to finance farmers. My question is what is Government planning to do in terms of capacitating farmers who are going to be embarking on Command Agriculture?

*THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon. Member asked a pertinent question. The issue is that Government has not disbursed funds for cotton farmers. Government has a Presidential Input Scheme that was launched last Friday in Chinhoyi that is targeted at 400 000 households. The households are expected to till at least a hectare. We are now at around 45% in terms of provision of inputs to different depots around the country.

Even though we are yet to pay cotton farmers, we still owe them around $1.5 billion which is expected to be cleared by the end of next week. However, my promise to farmers is that this should not deter them from cultivating their land. They must take advantage of the rainy season and collect their inputs from the different depots around the country. I thank you.

*HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my supplementary question is, some farmers were beneficiaries of the Command Agriculture and tilling more than a hectare of land. Are these farmers allowed to benefit from the Presidential Input Scheme? Some of these farmers are still expecting to receive their payments from COTCO. Does Government have any plans to support these farmers?

*HON. DR. MASUKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the pertinent question as it cuts across the different parts of the country.

Most of our beneficiaries are from vulnerable households. Mr. Speaker Sir, we made an announcement to the effect that those who expect to participate in cotton production should approach us. COTCO has over 17 tractors that are expected to benefit these farmers. I urge our farmers to go to different cotton depots so that they receive and sign their contracts. These inputs are not going to be given for free.

We have different schemes. We have the Presidential Scheme which targets the most vulnerable families. These households are given inputs for subsistence, however the rest of the farmers can approach our banks so that they receive support from these banks, for example, CBZ and COTTCO. We urge our farmers to approach COTTCO. I thank you.

HON. T. MLISWA: My point is that while I appreciate the good attendance of Cabinet Ministers which is historic in a long time, we love them very much and we would like them to keep coming but the social distancing honestly, I could not just look and you also travel a lot and meet a lot of people. We want you to keep coming here. It is important that they observe that.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, thank you and Chief Whip can you assist. I shall forgive Hon. Mliswa because he does not have eyes at the back of his head but on the second bench to my left you are also crowded, can you spread out.

*HON. NYAMUDEZA: My supplementary question to the Minister of Agriculture is; what happens to those who are vulnerable and are paid late, does it motivate them to produce cotton.

*HON. DR. MASUKA: I think the question that has been asked to say, if people delay getting paid does that encourage them? I say that is why the Government makes an effort to pay and intervenes. As for the current payments, as much as I know it is not yet more than five months overdue and will be rectified.

HON. MATANGIRA: My question goes to the Minister of Agriculture. As a country that has been reeling in hunger from the past, do we have a policy on agriculture?

THE MINISTER OF LANDS AGRICUTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): I thank the Hon. Member for the question that requires a one word answer, but I will take the liberty to try and explain the context. Yes, we have a very elaborate policy on ensuring that in the 2020/21 agricultural season, we lay a firm foundation for a food secure Zimbabwe and that policy is underpinned by the agriculture and food systems transformation strategy. Under it, we have about four pillars. The first one is the Agriculture Recovery Plan focusing on maize, wheat and soyabean. The second is the Livestock Growth Plan, the third is the Rural Horticulture Development Plan and fourth is the Irrigation Development. We have enablers around that including the mechanisation plan. So we have a robust and credible policy to underpin increased productivity in agriculture to assure this nation of food security going forward. Thank you.

HON. MATANGIRA: My supplementary is with the command agriculture that we have. Farmers get diesel to till the land, seed as well as fertilisers but the enabling cog for agriculture to take place is, you will need money to pay the labour, repairs and maintenance and there is the upkeep; children want to go to school. Why do we not have those enabling gears and cogs so that farmers will not sell their diesel to send their children to school? Repair and maintenance demands USD content because parts are being sold in USD and the commodity that we produce is paid in RTGS.

HON. DR. MASUKA: I thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question in which he suggests that the Government provides a more comprehensive package for farmers, especially those that are under the command scheme. It must be understood that the context in which the Government is providing this support is to assist farmers to ensure that they get back to their land, cognisant of the fact that they do sell their products to the GMB largely and paid in Z$. Those inputs that are critical and constitute about 75% of the requirements are provided by Government through a bank facility.

So we have migrated from giving these inputs directly to the farmers to weaning the farmers and retraining them to become entrepreneurs and that entrepreneurship must be seen by farmers developing a credible relationship with their financiers. The facility encourages farmers to go to a bank where they will be given upwards of 70% of their input requirements on that Government scheme. I therefore encourage farmers to negotiate with their financiers or bankers so that the additional requirements as highlighted by the member can be provided for. This is happening in other sectors including the tobacco sector, so it can be done in other sectors.

Regarding the USD availability of spares versus farmers getting their money paid in Zimbabwe dollars, I think that we have a very credible auction system that is happening now and farmers could access the USD requirement through that official platform. Once they develop these very credible relationships with their farmers they will probably be able to get financing for their various other needs including sending children to school. Thank you.

HON. TSUNGA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the original question was specific in regard to Government policy on agriculture and I am happy the Minister has made a spirited attempt to respond accordingly. My supplementary question relates to urban agriculture. We realise that now agriculture has also been urbanised to a very great extent. So, I would like to understand from the Minister what Government policy is regarding urban agriculture and whether there is a specific policy in that regard, noting that agriculture is also contributing in a big way to food security and nutrition.

HON. DR. MASUKA: I thank the Hon. Member for that question. Legal urban agriculture is covered under the general agriculture policy that I have spoken about. Farmers can access Pfumbvudza inputs if you are in an urban environment and you are doing legal urban agriculture. We will be rolling out the horticulture plan, there are components where we will be addressing household food nutrition and those farmers will also be able to access that.

HON. T. MLISWA: I want to thank the Minister for such detailed responses. However, the ‘99’ year Lease and the offer letters are not bankable. While you urge the farmers to create a relationship with their bankers, they have struggled and for a very long time, Government has known about this, hence there is the scheme to empower farmers because banks were not giving these farmers inputs. So, you still have the farmers suffering. That is why you see that most of the white farmers are leasing land because they are the only ones believed to be credible yet they do not have land. On the contrary, the majority of the people with offer letters and 99-Year leases are not beating that. What are you doing about it?

HON. DR. MASUKA: The negotiations between Government and the Bankers Association regarding bankability of 99-Year leases has been going on for the past 10 years and still they are not bankable. Whilst those discussions are going on Government has resolved to remodel and transform Agribank into a Land Bank and this will be happening in the next 5 months ahead of winter wheat production so that by the 31st of March, Agribank will now be an institution that does not consider a tenure document for one to access a loan but will consider the business plan. So, whether communal, resettlement, A1 or A2, they will be able to access that.

However, we are equally disappointed as Government that the negotiations with the bankers have taken this long. So we have taken the view that while those negotiations are proceeding, we will open this window which we think will be able to provide all Zimbabweans with an opportunity to access a bank.

May I also add that the negotiations relating to the 99 year leases are only for 18 000 Zimbabweans and yet we have more than two million farmers. This Bank that we are creating will be able to take 2 million farmers rather than the 18 000 A2 offer letters.

*HON. MLAMBO: My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. It is now 3 weeks since our children have been going to school where there are no teachers teaching. What is Government policy with regards to these industrial actions by teachers whilst parents have paid full school fees?

THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATOIN (HON. MATHEMA): Yes, the Hon. Member is correct that our children have been going back to school, they started in June for the ZIMSEC examinations. Again on the 14th September, they went for the Cambridge examination and again on the 28th for the Grade 7s, Form 4s and 6 examination preparations.

As we all know, there is an industrial action by some of the teachers but schools are open and we are doing the best we can through my colleague, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. My colleague is discussing through the normal channels with the employees for them to go back to work for those who are not at work. We are doing the best we can to negotiate with them so that they all go back to work and our children will find a good safe place at schools.

*HON. MLAMBO: How long does it takes for these negotiations that the Minister has referred to for the teachers to go back to school? Our form 4s, 6 and grade 7s did not have enough time to study and they are due for examinations in December. So, how long do you want to take as a Ministry to resolve this issue of teachers who are earning 30 USD so that they will also be able to send their own children to school?

HON. MATHEMA: Not all teachers are on strike. Those teachers that are not going to work know the channel, which is through the Minister Prof. Mavhima. As the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, I cannot be seen to be closing schools because some teachers are saying they are not going to work.

So, as far as the situation is concerned, the schools are open and the teacher – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Mliswa, it is either that you get the answer or you disown it. You are free to ask a supplementary question.

HON. MATHEMA: So as far as I am concerned, schools are open and those teachers who are not at work know the channels of how to negotiate with the relevant authority and that is the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Thank you very much.

HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Now that we have heard a long time of negotiations with teachers to give them a better income which I know is going to achieve results at some point, is it not going to be better at this stage that we employ some unemployed qualified teachers who are keen to go and help our kids?

HON. MATHEMA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank the Hon. Member for the question and indeed within the last week, we have employed 5300 new teachers and we will continue employing teachers so that every person who is trained as a teacher anywhere in Zimbabwe gets a job. After all, the Covid-19 environment demands that indeed we employ more teachers because of social distancing. In addition to that, we still need at least 3000 more schools in Zimbabwe. So every teacher who is not employed will be employed in our schools.

*HON. MANGORA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. You are saying you have employed new teachers but has anyone made follow up to see if teaching is going on. I am speaking as a parent and I know in schools there is the headmaster, deputy headmaster and receptionist. As Government, what measures do you have in place to check whether your newly employed teachers are doing their work? I thank you.

HON. MATHEMA: I thank the Hon. Member for the question. All schools have school heads, senior teachers and those teachers who have not gone on strike. Like I said earlier on, we are employing more teachers. So, as far as the Ministry is concerned, we do the best that we can to make sure that those children who are in school are taught. For the ears of this august House, the schools that we have – we are talking of all schools in this country. Not just public or Government schools, councils schools, but we are also talking of private, trust and mission schools and boarding schools. As far as I am concerned, those are all my schools as they are part of the education system in this country. There is no boarding school today which is not open, not a single is closed. So we have to look at the whole issue from that angle as well. Schools are open, some schools in fact do not have the difficulties that Hon. Members are citing here. Thank you very much.

THE HON. SPEAKER: We have had three supplementary questions already. It is very clear that the concerns of the Hon. Members impinge upon two ministries. Is the Hon. Minister of Public Service here? I think it will be very unfair to persist with Hon. Mathema because he is not the employer. Can we hear how far the Hon. Minister of Public Service has gone with the negotiations to ensure that the teachers go back to school?

THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. With regards to progress in the negotiations, the APEX Council which is the board that represents all civil servants unions and the government team have met twice so far. The Government offer was two-fold. There was a 40% increase in the salaries and also an extension of the US$75 COVID-19 allowance to the end of December this year.

There have been two sessions and in both cases, the APEX Council did not accept the Government offer. So the Government team went back to consult with the principals. That consultation is still taking place. We are hoping that there will be another round of negotiations next week. What we have said in a rather informal meeting that we had with teachers unions – it was the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education and I. It was not a negotiating meeting but more to understand fundamentally what the teachers issues are.

So, we have that understanding and the Government team is going to be appropriately instructed in the next round of negotiations. We made an appeal to the teachers that considering that there has been an extension of the COVID-19 allowance and there is a 40% increase, they should give negotiations a chance whilst they are attending to their duties. Hon. Speaker that is where the progress is.

Government has already given 40% plus an extension of the COVID allowance to December. We see a more substantial change in the package for teachers and for the civil servants, coming under the new budget that is already being considered. That is where we are Hon. Speaker. I thank you.

HON. BITI: Hon. Speaker Sir, I hope I am logged in. My supplementary question to the esteemed Minister is: given the fact that teachers are effectively earning 2000 RTGS, which is US$20 or US$30 from a time when they were earning US$500, I put it to the Minister that the simple solution for the Government is to simply restore the original salary of the teacher, pay them in US$ their original US$500 and I can assure the esteemed Minister that every single teacher will be back at work. I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.

HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Biti for that supplementary question and suggestion for US$520 or equivalent for teachers. Hon. Speaker, any remuneration of public servants takes place within the context of a macro-economic situation. The budget has to be there in order to meet the demands. We have urged moderation on the part of the unions because we clearly understand the macro-economic context in which we are operating.

We are also cognisant of the stabilization that seems to be taking hold now in the country. On that basis, we are saying to the teachers, given that the Government has already offered 40% and already extended the nostro-based $75, they should consider that offer, but continue to negotiate. Let both sides sincerely negotiate in ways that give consideration to the macro-economic situation in the country. I thank you Hon. Speaker.

HON. SIKHALA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think I am online. My supplementary will be split between the two ministers. I want to understand the reason why the Government asked for the opening of schools before solving the problems of teachers first. Mr. Speaker Sir, I wonder whether the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education knows the level of moral decadence that is currently prevailing in all boarding schools throughout the country where students are not going to school. What are they going to do with the current proliferation of moral decadence on the basis of absence of teachers at schools? What are the measures being taken by the Government to control the situation? Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. MATHEMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Schools in the first place Mr. Speaker Sir, were closed not because somebody sat down and decided to close schools. Schools were closed like everywhere else in the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, none of us created the COVID-19. Therefore, the strategies and operations of the Ministry and the whole Government indeed, depended a lot on the information on the ground as to what the effect of COVID-19 is. Therefore the opening of schools depended on what facts we had on the ground internationally and regionally as to whether it was safe for children to go to schools. We did not open schools when some teachers were already on strike. There was no teacher on strike before we opened schools. That is why we opened schools and we are doing it like any other country. Zimbabwe does not exists alone, it exist in the region and in the world. We did not instruct any teachers not to go to work. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

HON. SIKHALA: What I asked the Minister is: that question was, THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order – [HON. SIKHALA: What are the Government measures to control moral decadence currently happening in the schools. I want the answer on that one. We have got children at school.] – Hon. Sikhala, you address the Chair, do not have a duel here.

THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. My colleague indicated clearly that when the opening for the examination classes were done, we were in the middle of the negotiations and there was no indication at that particular point in time that there was going to be an industrial action on the part of teachers because negotiations were already under way and those negotiations are not yet conclusive. This is why I have indicated that the industrial action is premature because there is no stalemate that has been declared between the Apex Council and the Government team. So that industrial action is premature. We are to go into the third round of negotiations and that process should be given a chance. Meanwhile, in the interest of preserving the quality of education in the country, the teachers should be on duty as the negotiations take place.

HON. SIKHALA: What is Government doing on the moral decadence currently happening in our schools?

HON. MATHEMA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. At schools we do not expect any children or teachers to act or behave in an immoral way – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – all schools have school heads, the school administration is there, the inspectors are there. We will do everything we can to protect the children and I am ready if any Hon. Member has that evidence let them come to my office and show me and we will do the investigations. We will go out of our way to stop every criminal activity that may be taking place in schools. We are ready to listen to everybody, every parent, every guardian or community member; adult if you see any indecent activity by any child, please bring that information to my office. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. After the hon. Minister responded, we cannot have a point of order again

HON. T. MLISWA: I would like to make a recommendation.

THE HON. SPEAKER: that would be better – not a point of order.

HON. T. MLISWA: I think Hon. Members here will agree that inflation has been 700% and what is the basis of ….

THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you be connected and can you be brief please?

HON. T. MLISWA: This is an issue that Hon. Members will also identify with. The auction on is what is going on right now. What is going on right now? Why does not Government and it is important so that we do not come back with these problems just deal with the auction rate for every civil servant, Members of Parliament and everybody because it is about the buying power. It is not the percentage because we are on 700% inflation; 680% today. So how can you say 40% increment? It does not deal with the problem. The real problem is us making sure that everybody is paid at interbank and these problems will never happen again.

Members of Parliament have been lobbying for themselves for interbank. We also lobby for everybody in the civil service or in the country who was paid in US$ to go to interbank because this is what brings the buying power.

THE HON. SPEAKER: I would recommend that the Hon. two Ministers have some conversation with the Minister of Finance and see whether they can get some way forward from that recommendation by Hon. Mliswa.

*HON. R. MPOFU: My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs or alternatively the Leader of Government Business in the House. What is Government policy regarding the removal of illegal sanctions that were slapped against Zimbabwe by EU and other countries?

I am asking this because it has been a long time now since we were told that sanctions were going to be removed. When I look at this situation even though I am blind; we were given these sanctions illegally even without committing any sin. These sanctions are not only affecting one political party but the whole nation. I am emotional because this affects me. Some children are not even going to school. I wonder why we fail to unite as a nation against sanctions so that we would start bickering and arguing the removal of these illegal sanctions.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question and indeed those with good memory would appreciate that ever since sanctions were imposed on our country, the economic environment deteriorated and most of the problems that we have are because of sanctions.

Where an environment of shortages has been created – it is a very fertile environment for corruption. Those that brought sanctions are the ones that caused our country to be corrupt – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

We have done some research and we have noticed that in other countries, the actually legislate against individuals who meddle in foreign affairs – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – In America there is a man who was called Logan who went to sell out his country and misrepresent the interests of his country in France and they came up with the so called Logan Act or the Patriotic Act. We are in the process of looking at our criminal court to ensure that those who travel to other countries purporting to be representing the foreign interests of Zimbabwe will be dealt with by our criminal laws. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

+HON. R. MPOFU: I hope that there is no Zimbabwean who has white blood because we are gathered here because we love our country. If it was not for the liberation struggle, maybe we would not be having Hon. Members of this august House. I recall how we attained our independence. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

*THE HON. SPEAKER: You did not ask a question Hon. Member.

*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mashonganyika, are you connected?

HON. MASHONGANYIKA: No, I am not.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Where is your Ipad?

*HON. MASHONGANYIKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Health and Child Care. Hon. Minister, what is Government policy regarding the remuneration of nurses who are not reporting for duty and staying at home? I thank you. – [HON. SIKHALA: Iwe udzosere ZWL$6.8 million yaunonzi wakaba iwe! Haubiire nyika saizvozvo so!] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Sikhala.

*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE (HON. DR. MANGWIRO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and thank you Hon. Mashonganyika. The issue is that nurses and doctors have boards that represent them and engage Government to discuss their welfare. We sat down with these boards in the APEX Council; the monies that were agreed upon during these meetings can best be explained by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. The issue has been resolved Hon. Member. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

*THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Minister, the correct word is, zvakanaka.

HON. DR. MANGWIRO: Mr. Speaker, zvakanaka.

HON. MBONDIAH: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My supplementary question to the Minister of Health and Child Care is, why is it that there are salary negotiations from January to December? Why can they not deal with issue once and for all and give nurses and teachers their salaries in United States Dollars? Thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order! The Hon. Minister said that the issue has been resolved.

*HON. PETER MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Leader of Government Business in the absence of Hon. Garwe, the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities. Is it Government policy that our councils sell land for people to build their houses? After building their houses then councils eventually destroy people’s houses…

*THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, may you clarify where they would have built their houses?

HON. PETER MOYO: Thank you Hon. Speaker. The council sells residential stands to them, they pay the intrinsic land value and sign agreement of sales. After building their houses, they may have engaged in shortcuts but council has the responsibility to construct roads and water reticulation systems.

My question is; is it Government policy that people buy land from councils and build their houses then councils eventually destroy their houses? I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Is the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities in the House? Sorry, he tendered his apology.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I want to prefix my response by saying that our Constitution guarantees the right to shelter and also our laws do not allow self-help.

In other words, even if I steal from you Mr. Speaker, I cannot come and …

THE HON. SPEAKER: Is that a good example? – [Laughter.] –

HON. ZIYAMBI: Apologies, for today, you may indulge me Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Please proceed with the stealing.

HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you. You are not allowed to use self-help to ensure that you recover whatever I would have stolen from you. Why I am saying so is – every demolition must be backed by a court order and if there is no court order, it means that it is an illegal process. It should not have been done in the first place. I thank you.

*HON. PETER MOYO: I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for the good response even though our policy states that you need to demolish houses. I am sure that the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities was made the deputy chair and His Excellency the President often states that people are entitled to good and decent accommodation.

The issue is that even if you have a court order when you come to demolish a building, what image does that portray? This tarnishes the image of the Head of State yet there are people who are supposed to stop that from happening. I heard Hon. Mutsvangwa saying no house would be demolished even if there is a court order. We cannot allow our people to continue suffering and being taken advantage of by land barons. I do not think that this is a good thing even when there is a court order.

I want Hon. Garwe to issue a Ministerial Statement because courts are man-made. This should stop forthwith. Councils should stop people before they start building their houses. This is a gross injustice and should not be condoned.

HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member and will indulge the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities to issue a statement.

I must indicate that Mr. Speaker, Central Government does not control local authorities to the extent of sending them to demolish houses. In fact, we have stopped several evictions and demolitions because we felt that it was inhumane even where court orders were there. So I will indulge them so that they can engage Hon. Members of Parliament with a view of clarifying issues around land barons and related matters. I thank you.

HON. SIKHALA: Supplementary!

*THE HON. SPEAKER: I thought we were done.

HON. SIKHALA: My supplementary is very crucial Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary to the Hon. Minister is that there were demolitions on the greater Harare Metropolitan that took place last week especially in my own constituency in Chitungwiza, without a court order. Are citizens entitled to compensation where agencies of Government have engaged in unlawful acts? Thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: I thought my learned friend has got the answer. Advise the electorate to approach the courts and demand damages accordingly – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Order! Yes, that is better.

HON. MARKHAM: My supplementary on this is very simple. The Leader of the House has answered but could he ensure that we get a copy of the Justice Gender Report on all the shenanigans that have been going on in Harare Metropolitan. If that report is released to us, as Members of Parliament we could come up with informed decisions.

HON. ZIYAMBI: I have heard him and I will ensure that it is availed.

HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, my point of order relates to ministerial statements …

THE HON. SPEAKER: It is not a point of order then.

HON. NDEBELE: What should I call it if you may guide me?

THE HON. SPEAKER: Privilege! [Laughter] It is a request.

HON. NDEBELE: I seek your indulgence. Hon. Speaker, on the question of Ministerial Statements, with all due respect, I wish there could be a system of vetting Ministerial Statements for quality before they are brought into this House. We have been exposed many a times to very shoddy and mediocre statements. I thank you.

THE HON. SPEAKER: The quality of any Ministerial Statement is subjected to your dissection and through your interface you will improve that quality. Thank you.

*HON. ZEMURA: My question to the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology is; why is it that we hear and see indecent adverts on herbal medicines and other adverts that are not palatable on radio and television. Is it Government policy that obscene things are said on television and radio whilst we are sitting as families? Hon. Minister, may you explain because maybe we might be ashamed to listen to such things when it is policy. May the Minister clarify?

THE HON. SPEAKER: Your question is good, but please put it in writing identifying the particular programme which is obscene. I believe the Minister will respond to a written question.

HON. MAPHOSA: My question is directed to the Minister of Homes Affairs. What is Government policy on the use of teargas in public by the security officers?

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MADIRO): I want to thank the Hon. Member. The policy on the use of tear gas is basically operational in terms of controlling situations which require such application – [HON. SIKHALA: For example? Give us examples.] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Sikhala.

HON. MADIRO: The situational application of tear gas is an issue which is operational as the situation demands. In terms of policy, it is purely an issue which is determined by the police force who will be in control of the situation.

HON. MAPHOSA: My question emanates from images that we have seen, of tear gas being thrown in a bus full of children, nursing mothers and old people. What is the rationale Hon. Minister – yes I have heard your response, but what is the rationale of throwing teargas in a bus with all those people I have mentioned?

HON. MADIRO: I want to thank the Hon. Member for the

supplementary question. The issue you have referred to is under investigation and when everything has been done in terms of investigating the matter, then we can be able to give a statement here in the august House.

HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: My question is directed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement. What measures are being taken to ensure that there is peace and order in the resettlements that were established in the 1980s where the farmers are now fighting over boundaries and pastures due to increases in populations in those resettlement areas.

THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question relating to the resettlement areas established in the 1980s arising boundary disputes and what we are doing. Peace, order and maintenance thereof is the responsibility of my colleague Minister responsible for Home Affairs. I do urge those communities and the Hon. Member to approach the appropriate authorities who are equipped to deal with that.

However, if it is a land dispute, we do have offices throughout the country and those matters ought to be brought to the attention of the lands officers. We have now also established a rapid response lands inspectorate, so if such issues arise, please bring them very quickly to our attention so that we can attempt to resolve them so that people can stay amicably and get on with farming. I thank you.

HON. BITI: The real question behind the question is that why doesn’t the Government not ensure that there are no Land Disputes whether in the original resettled farms of the 80s, Model A1or A2 farms by ensuring that there are survey diagrammes and every farmer is issued with a title deed to bring land dispute to an end? When are you giving title deeds to resettled farmers on our land? I thank you.

HON. DR. MASUKA: That seems to be a slight deviation from what I had understood, that this was a dispute. So, a dispute arises out of perhaps interpretation or mis-interpretation of a boundary and that a title deed reduces disputes. I am not entirely convinced that that is the case.

However, should that be the case, we are in the process of getting resources. We are at an advanced stage of establishing a comprehensive and integrated agricultural information management system whose components will comprise an area and crop forecasting system, a land information management system, a water management system and a livestock identification and traceability system. So, when the budget comes I would urge the Members to support that.

THE HON. SPEAKER: The Hon. Biti, as a seasoned lawyer is aware of the tenure system in Zimbabwe, so we do not have to belabour that issue – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]- Order, order!

Please, let us interpret Section 76 of the Constitution properly.

HON. DR. MASUKA: The tenure system in the country is very well known for the various categories of agricultural land. Issuance of a title at this stage is not under consideration. I thank you -[HON. BITI: Inaudible interjection.]-

HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order! Hon. Biti has referred to the Hon. Minister Dr. Masuka as a boy.

THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Biti, withdraw your statement.

HON. BITI: I withdraw.

HON. CHINYANGANYA: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. What is Government policy on the recruitment of critical staff such as medical personnel vis-a-vis those in the police force and the defence forces? I thank you.

HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Hon. Speaker, that question should be directed differently. The NJNC that I superintend over deals with issues of civil servants. The remuneration of the security forces falls under Commissions that are not under my Ministry. So that is a question that I am not able to answer.

HON. CHINYANGANYA: Mr Speaker Sir, the import of my question is why is it that Government freezes critical positions for example nurses and teachers? Government will say vacancies cannot be filled yet the vacancies will be plenty. When it comes to the police and army, the recruitment timetable never ceases and there is money to pay the new recruits yet no money to pay new teachers and nurses though we are at peace in this country.

HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Hon. Speaker, I think just today in this House, the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education was indicating that they just recruited 5300 teachers and they have plans to recruit more teachers especially given the need for social distancing in schools. This is a matter that has been discussed in the COVID Taskforce and it is a matter that even His Excellency has indicated should be dealt with in terms of recruitment of teachers. Like I said, I cannot do the comparisons because the other sectors he is referring to are not under my purview. Thank you Hon. Speaker.

*HON. TOGAREPI: Mr Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. We have noticed that delivery of food which was being delivered to the people has since stopped. Distribution has started again, but is it something that will be ongoing until people have harvested. Can the Minister give an explanation on that.

THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Hon. Speaker. Yes we are going to be increasing the supplies to the Department of Social Development for purposes of assisting food insecure households. We have two products right now which are: mealie-meal and maize which we are distributing throughout the country. I am happy to say that the supply of maize is increasing. We have been assured by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture that GMB is going to make grains available in all parts of the country. So, the distribution under the Department of Social Development is going to improve and I am happy that the Hon. Member is acknowledging that they have seen the availability of some of that food being distributed.

We also want to assure the nation that our partners WFP is coming back to assist us in some of the districts in the country with food distribution. They work with contracted Non-Governmental Organisations in their own distribution. They are starting this month and will continue with that programme. Both Government and WFP are planning for supplies of food to food insecure households up to about April next year when the new harvest will come in. Thank you Hon. Speaker.

HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I must applaud Government for this initiative. Minister, the urban communities are also in dire need. Let me thank you and His Excellency for giving Norton constituency 30 tonnes of rice which was well distributed by all the councillors but we need more food. So, what are you doing to give more to the urban constituencies? It is a welcome programme which has assisted the people but we need more because the population of Norton is 100 000 and 30 tonnes was not adequate for 16 wards. When do we look forward to seeing another 30 tonnes or 60 tonnes finding its way to Norton which is urban and I talk about other urban areas too.

HON. PROF. MAVIMA: I think the 30 tonnes of rice that the Hon. Member is referring to would have been a special arrangement for Norton because we do not typically distribute food, grains, rice in urban areas. We have a programme for urban areas which is called cash for cereals where we give food insecure households some cash in order for them to buy basics like mealie-meal. That programme has now registered almost 50 000 households throughout the country. It was disturbed a little by the suspension of bulk payments through mobile money but I am glad to say that we have now started paying recipients under that programme and we are also paying the arrears where they did not get because of the problems we had with mobile money transfers. They are going to be paid for those months and that payment started with Net One last week and will continue with that programme. Thank you.

*HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is; firstly, I would like to thank the Government for continuously assisting the needy. The money that is needed to ferry food aid – Is the Government continuously paying that money because sometimes you find people charging exorbitant charges for the transportation of the food aid. What can be done so that the vulnerable benefit from this? I thank you.

HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Hon. Speaker, Cabinet made a decision in November of 2010 to say the food mitigation programme should pay the cost of transporting the food to the ward centre in every part of the country and the beneficiaries can use their own means from the ward centres to their homes. That is the situation that still remains. I am glad to say that recently, Treasury paid transport money and made sure that the demand for transporters to be paid in US$ would be made by making sure that whatever they are releasing is pegged at the interbank rate to cover the transport cost for the drought mitigation programme. So, we continue to pay for transport. Thank you Hon .Speaker.

HON. NYAMUDEZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. What is Government Policy regarding the construction of houses in wetlands?

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (HON. M. NDLOVU): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question he has asked. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Government Policy is clear that construction in wetlands is not allowed. I thank you.

HON. NYAMUDEZA: My supplementary question is; you said it is not allowed but at the moment, people are given stands on wetlands. When are you going to put a stop to that so that people will not be given some stands on wetlands?

HON. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is a very important question and I also like the concern that he is raising that people continue to be allocated stands in wetlands. Mr. Speaker Sir, unfortunately, from the Ministry of Environment’s perspective, we only intervene at the point when the holder of title will be about to construct.

I want to extend the same appeal, particularly to the local authorities to reconsider allocating stands on areas which are not wetlands because all these areas will not be granted permission by EMA. We now have a dilemma that someone has title but is not allowed to construct in a wetland because it is important to preserve these wetlands. The challenge is that they continue to be allocated land in areas which are not suitable for construction and when they apply for the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) at the level of EMA, those will not be granted. I thank you.

HON. MATANGIRA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. We want to applaud and thank the Minister for the Pfumvudza concept that our rural folk at least now have a chance of harvesting. What is Government policy on the transportation of the commodity from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to the rural wards? We find that the same people are now being made to pay US$3 per bag for transport to the respective recipient for Pfumvudza inputs. What is Government policy on the transportation of these commodities? Thank you.

THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Member for the question relating to applauding the Government for the Pfumvudza programme but also raising an issue relating to the transportation of maize from GMB depots to the beneficiaries. Treasury has recently released $118 million to facilitate the transportation of maize by GMB which of course should obviate the need for individual beneficiaries to folk out money to collectively transport their inputs. I hope that the message will be sent to the communities that the Government has availed the necessary resources to enable these inputs to be transported timeously. Thank you Mr. Speaker.

HON. MATANGIRA: My supplementary Mr. Speaker Sir is – can we then criminalise those who have extorted, shall I say money from the villagers to pay for the fertilizer, the seed as well as lime because today, this morning, we had a chief and a headman who came to our offices and said, I quote, (“zvirikumbofamba sei?”) – what is going on?, we said, the Government is paying. Can we criminalise it?

THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that additional information on this very concerning issue. Concerning as it is, perhaps it should have been brought directly to the attention of the relevant law enforcement authorities or to ourselves so that we would have dealt with it much earlier, but now that we have been made aware of this, we will expeditiously address the matter. If there are any such other happening in the various areas, please let us know so that the right things can be done.

HON. BITI: My question is directed to the esteemed Minister of Sport. The world of sport is opening up. We now see international sport coming up. If you go to South Africa, the South African Premier League is starting on the 24th of October, 2020 – in a week’s time.

Here in Zimbabwe we do not see evidence of the return of our sport or compliance with WHO guidelines. The entire football season for instance, is totally wasted. It is no longer possible to start the 2020 season in October of 2020.

Why has the Ministry failed to ensure that we follow WHO guidelines on bubbles where sport players are put in bubbles and allowed to play sport?

When will sport resume in compliance with WHO standards and in compliance with regional and international standards?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Biti, it is not in our policy that you pose two questions. I have seen that they are both related. I will allow the Minister to answer them.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH, SPORT,

ARTS AND RECREATION (HON. MACHAKARIKA): Thank you Hon. Member for a brilliant question. We are looking into the matter. I think by next week we will be in a position to respond to all the issues pertaining to our sports facilities. We have been affected by COVID by soon we will have the response to that.

HON. BITI: May the Hon. Minister provide a Ministerial Statement to answer in great detail the issue raised.

HON. MACHAKARIKA: I think by next week it will be ready for the House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, order!

Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 64.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): With your indulgence Hon. Speaker; we only have nine questions on the Order Paper and the Ministers are not around. May you allow the Minister of Industry and Commerce to give her Ministerial Statement on the sugar industry?

HON. B. DUBE: I object. I request that the question time be extended.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: We have already passed that stage.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

COMPENSATION TO FAMILIES OF VICTIMS KILLED BY WILD ANIMALS

2. HON. MADHUKU asked the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry to inform the House measures being taken by the Ministry to compensate:

(a) Families of victims killed by wild animals near conservancies due to human –wildlife conflict;

(b) Farmers whose cattle are being killed by animals near conservancies; and

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY (HON. M. NDLOVU): Mr. Speaker Sir, I need your guidance. The question asked by Hon. Madhuku is almost similar to the question asked by Hon. Gandawa. I had drafted one answer. I will go through both questions and then give the response which I have already submitted and it covers both questions.

Human wildlife conflicts have escalated because of changes in land use, reduced play base for carnivores, human settlement in wildlife areas, inadequate barriers to control wildlife movement and international restrictions on utilisation of some species that are in local abundance, just to mention a few.

Mr. Speaker Sir, in recent years of compensating farmers for wildlife, damages has gained in popularity among conservation groups and governments. Unfortunately, compensation schemes face challenges such as lack of sufficient funds, incompatible wildlife management regimes, fraudulent claims, bureaucratic inadequacies and the practical barriers that some less literate farmers from remote areas must overcome to produce a claim and valuation of compensation and verification processes.

There are many questions raised on how the issue of compensation can be handled. Firstly, who is going to pay compensation to the wildlife victim? In Zimbabwe, by law no one owns wildlife (res nullis). All wildlife producers have wildlife on their properties on a custodial basis.

The Government manages wildlife resources on behalf of its citizens and gives appropriate authority to rural districts, private farmers and other land owners to manage and utilise wildlife on their properties. Therefore, wildlife can change properties and custodianship especially where properties are not fenced and the animals are not branded like cattle. In countries like South Africa, wildlife farms are fenced as a prerequisite for one to be permitted to keep wild animals on the farms or range. In Zimbabwe, we have been trying to promote animal movements under two scenarios.

The first scenario is to promote the CAMPFIRE programme where animals move in and out between protected areas and communal lands.

The second scenario is, we have been promoting the Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) programme that allows wild animals to move between and among countries. Transfrontier Conservation Areas are composed of a mosaic of land use types including Government protected areas, communal land and private farms.

The other question Mr. Speaker Sir, is the sustainability of the compensation scheme. How is the scheme going to be funded? The third question is; how do you compensate for the loss of life due to wildlife attacks? This raises the issue of whether this should be compensation or we use different terms like amelioration or relief or support for the damage since human life is invaluable.

However, whilst the establishment of a support or relief fund might address some challenges of living with wildlife, it is not a solution to reducing poaching and illegal harvesting of wildlife resources. Strategies need and will be devised so that local communities are involved in the conservation of wildlife and derive tangible benefits.

My Ministry is still researching on the following points with regards to the relief fund:-

· consideration for setting up a support fund financed from the fiscus;

· defining institutions that will be involved in the support fund;

· developing standard operating procedures for the support fund;

· developing the criteria for damage valuation and assessment;

· developing a sustainable funding mechanism including that all wildlife producers need to pay a human-wildlife conflict levy that will go towards the support fund.

As I conclude Mr. Speaker Sir, I am pleased to inform the House that

following the approval by Cabinet, of the review of the CAMPFIRE programme, my Ministry is in the process of :-

a) crafting a Statutory Instrument which will have an effect of

further devolving the appropriate authority status to producer communities and this will increase community participation and benefits;

b) drafting the operational guidelines to ensure communities play a

more active role in conservation and putting systems that reduce chances of human-wildlife conflict. I thank you.

*HON. MADHUKU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for the response that he gave to the House, which is commendable and comprehensive.

However, I would like to raise a few points regarding what the Hon. Minister said, that they do not know who is supposed to pay compensation yet we are aware that there are people who receive benefits in different areas for running these conservatives, be it Government and private operators.

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Member, may you proceed to pose your question?

*HON. MADHUKU: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Hon. Minister on people who benefit from natural resources. These are the people who are supposed to pay compensation yet there is a model that should be followed. Life is valuable and cannot be bought. It does not mean that the cattle that they pay as compensation can replace lost lives but this is just a token.

We need to take a leaf from countries like Namibia and other countries where compensation is paid. Zimbabwe should research and emulate other countries. I thank you.

HON. M. NDLOVU: Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank the Hon. Member for the question, more of a comment rather. Mr. Speaker Sir, in my statement, I highlighted the challenge that it is very difficult to attach ownership of wildlife to an individual. Admittedly, we have people in the safari industry and national parks but who owns the animal that would have attacked a person? This is why among the issues we are considering, we believe that the best approach would be to have a fund which will be provided for through the fiscus so that there is a pool from all wildlife beneficiaries who will be making contributions and this fund will be utilised for the purposes of compensating or providing relief to families who would have experienced such attacks.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hon. Member highlights the Namibian model and I am happy that there is evidence that he has done some research. I would also want to ask him to study the developments within the Namibian model and the challenges that are being faced now, some of which I had already highlighted. being problems faced with the adequacy of financing. There are now claims that they are unable to meet because the model is not sustainable. This is why we are taking time to research on this so that we bring a model that we believe will be more sustainable and addressing the challenges that we are facing. I thank you.

HON. PETER MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I just want the Hon. Minister to acknowledge that currently in our country, we are valuing the life of an animal more than that of a person.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, this time is for questions not debating.

HON. PETER MOYO: What then is the Government doing to protect people more than the wildlife because biblically, the human being is more important than an animal.

HON. M. NDLOVU: Mr. Speaker, my whole response was about what Government is doing to protect people and address human – wildlife conflict. I want to believe that was adequately answered.

HON. NDUNA: In my other life, I lived close to Gonarezhou. Is there a way that the Minister can continue to cull wildlife because they have certainly outgrown the little wildlife area that there is in terms of numbers? Is there a way also because we have been going through this hurdle for a very long time, of actually disposing of our tusks that are humongous in terms of copious amounts which we have not been allowed to dispose for a very long time by CITES and other nations so that we can use that money in the fund for human/wildlife conflict. I am alive to the model in Namibia which is not sustainable but we have a lot of tusks. Is there a way that we can dispose of, seek international approval, dispose of our tusks and sink that into our funds and also cull our wildlife and then expeditiously, efficient and effectively compensate our people that would have been in wildlife/human conflict?

HON. M. NDLOVU: I want to thank the Hon. Member for the two questions. The first question relates to the consideration to cull as way of managing the population or protecting the habitants. The second question is on the options to sell our ivory stocks to then use it as the fund. Mr. Speaker, culling is under consideration. We last did it in 1988 but between then and now, as Government we have explored different strategies including the establishments of the TFCAs (transfrontiers conservation areas) which then allow the movement of wildlife across countries because we believe that as the SADC region, we have a unique opportunity to conserve wildlife pretty much for the whole world to come and view. However, the reality is that perhaps we would have outdone ourselves and the population is no longer sustainable in some of these areas. There are a number of options that we are looking at for consideration by Government, one of them being culling. Once that is approved as a policy direction, we will be updating the House.

On the issue of the disposal of our ivory Mr. Speaker, I did make a report to this House when I came from CITES and the reality is that it is becoming very difficult to lawfully dispose of our ivory, particularly given the current provisions within our CITES regulations. Firstly, we were receiving some returns from the sale of our wildlife. There were changes in our last CITES that we can only sell to acceptable and appropriate destinations. Effectively meaning that we can only sell within Africa yet most of our source markets were outside Africa.

With regards to the disposal of our ivory, we are currently under the statutes of CITES only allowed to sell for education purposes, not for commercial purposes. We did deposit what we call a reservation and that was our attempt to say with regards to our elephants we will not be bound by the provisions of the CITES statutes. I want to also highlight that this was a position taken by all SADC Member States and all SADC Member States deposited their reservations.

However, for us to be able to dispose, we would need the countries that are buying and they are only two that are certified by CITES and that is Japan and China, to have deposited the same reservations which unfortunately they did not. So we still have the same limitation that the countries that are certified to buy our ivory did not deposit reservations. That is the crisis we are facing. However, I must highlight as I conclude that we have begun a process which we want to lead as Zimbabwe. First, of consolidating the position from an African perspective as we build up to CITES in 2022. Our realisation is that Africa is divided in CITES and we want to make sure that a common position is established because after all, most of the big mammals are found in Africa. I thank you.

HON. NYAMUDEZA: The Hon. Minister mentioned something to say those areas are protected. It means that it is the animals which are protected. When will you consider fencing those areas, conservancies and national parks to minimise the movement of dangerous animals into the villages?

HON. M. NDLOVU: I want to start by highlighting that in my written response, I did highlight that there are different models between South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, in most areas the areas are not fenced because this is how communities are benefiting from the CAMPFIRE projects. The National Parks serves as the breeding ground for wildlife but when they move to communal areas, that is where the communities are able to benefit through hunting concessions under the CAMPFIRE model.

We are also reviewing our CAMPFIRE model to make sure that we give more power to communities. Where there are harmful wildlife species, they will be able to propose or recommend or even implement appropriate strategies including fencing. We are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, for instance in the Save Valley area to erect a fence that will be a barrier for wildlife. So, this is an area under consideration which at best, will be considered on a case by case basis.

It has worked so far for our communities that are benefiting from CAMPFIRE that have no barriers. For instance, our Hwange National Park has no fence and there are a number of communities from Tsholotsho right up to Plumtree who have benefited over time from the animals that will be moving from the National Parks because there is no hunting that is permitted in National Park.

POLICY ON FORESTRY COMPANIES WHICH HAVE NOT PLANTED TREES FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS

3. HON. CHIKUNI asked the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry to inform the House Government’s policy on forestry companies which have not planted trees for the past three years resulting in the establishment of human settlements in areas earmarked for reforestation.

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE, TOURISM AND HOSPITATILITY INDUSTRY (HON. M. NDLOVU): The Ministry is already seized with the matter through the Forestry Commission which is in the process of engaging relevant stakeholders on the promulgation of a Statutory Instrument on Exotic Plantation Forestry.

The second round of consultations were supposed to have taken place early this year but were delayed by other commitments initially on the part of the Timber Producers’ Federation but subsequently due to the series of national lockdowns from March, this has been delayed.

The issues of reforestation of clear veld forest plantations, deforestation of fire damaged areas or areas damaged by other disasters and management of temporarily unplanted areas TUP’s are covered under Section 7, 8 and 9 of the proposed Statutory Instrument requiring plantation owners to carry out reforestation within a period of 12 to 24 months or is subjected to a fine of not less than level 6.

Once the process of stakeholder consultations has been finalised and the Statutory Instrument promulgated, these measures will be implemented forthwith. I wish also to appeal to Members to strongly denounce illegal occupation of such plantation areas and where possible, inform law enforcement agencies of such developments. I thank you.

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

COMPENSATION TO COMMUNITIES IN HURUNGWE NORTH

1. HON. GANDAWA asked the Minister of Environment,

Climate, Tourism and Hospitality to explain measures being put in place to compensate communities in Nyamakate and Chinyudze areas of Hurungwe North, who are constantly losing livestock to wild animals.

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY (HON. M. NDLOVU): Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to thank Hon. Gandawa for the question. I would like to acknowledge that human wildlife conflicts in Zimbabwe are a significant challenge facing our communities sharing boundaries with protected areas and such communities have very limited livelihood and economic options at their disposal. In essence, the challenges in Nyamakate and Chinyudze are similar to other communities who live adjacent to rich wildlife areas and our responses to these challenges as a Ministry will be implemented at a national level.

Human wildlife conflicts are multi-faceted as they directly affect most of the agro-pastoral livelihood assets of the communal people. Some of the conflicts include; destruction of crops and property, people getting killed or maimed by dangerous animals and loss of livestock to predators. The costs that are borne by the communities living on the edge at interface with wildlife are insurmountable given the fact that such people rely almost entirely rely on subsistence crop farming and rearing livestock for their livelihoods.

Human wildlife conflicts have escalated because of changes in land use, reduced prey base for carnivores, human settlement in wildlife areas, in adequate barriers to control wildlife movements and international restrictions on utilisation of some species that are in local abundance to mention a few.

Mr. Speaker Sir, in recent years of compensating farmers for wildlife damages has gained in popularity among conservation groups and Governments. Unfortunately, compensation schemes face challenges such as lack of sufficient funds, incompatible wildlife management regimes, fraudulent claims, bureaucratic inadequacies and the practical barriers that some less literate farmers from remote areas must overcome to produce a claim and valuation of compensation and verification processes.

There are many questions raised on how the issue of compensation can be handled. Firstly, who is going to pay compensation to the wildlife victim? In Zimbabwe, by law no one owns wildlife (res nullius). All wildlife producers have wildlife on their properties on a custodial basis.

The Government manages wildlife resources on behalf of its citizens and gives appropriate authority to rural districts, private farmers and other landowners to manage and utilise wildlife on their properties. Therefore, wildlife can change properties and custodianship especially where properties are not fenced and the animals are not branded like cattle. In countries like South Africa, wildlife farms are fenced as a prerequisite for one to be permitted to keep wild animals on the farms or range. In Zimbabwe, we have been trying to promote animal movements under two scenarios.

The first scenario is to promote the CAMPFIRE programme where animals move in and out between protected areas and communal lands.

The other question Mr. Speaker Sir, is the sustainability of the compensation scheme. How is the scheme going to be funded? The third question is how do you compensate for the loss of life due to wildlife attacks? This raises the issue of whether this should be compensation or we use different terms like amelioration or relief or support for the damage – since human life is invaluable.

My ministry is still researching on the following points with regards to the relief fund:-

· consideration for setting up a support fund financed from the fiscus;

· defining institutions that will be involved in the support fund;

· developing standard operating procedures for the support fund;

· developing the criteria for damage valuation and assessment;

· developing a sustainable funding mechanism including that all wildlife producers need to pay a human-wildlife conflict levy that will go towards the support fund.

As I conclude Mr. Speaker Sir, I am pleased to inform the House that

following the approval by Cabinet of the review of the CAMPFIRE programme, my Ministry is in the process of :-

a) crafting a Statutory Instrument which will have an effect of

further devolving the appropriate authority status to producer communities and this will increase community participation and benefits;

b) drafting the operational guidelines to ensure communities play a

more active role in conservation and putting systems that reduce chances of human-wildlife conflict. I thank you.

MEASURES TO PROMOTE DOMESTIC TOURISM

4. HON. MASUKU asked the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry to inform the House the measures that the Ministry has put in place to promote domestic tourism in view of the fact that international tourist arrivals have been drastically reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (M. NDLOVU): Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me to thank Hon. E. Masuku for this very important and pertinent question. The emerging consensus really is that domestic tourism will provide the initial launch pad to recover the tourism industry which has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is need to support domestic tourism growth through promoting travel volumes and providing incentives. Incentives to visitors promote travelling and incentives to industry players help embracing of domestic tourism market as an important market for the sector to grow and cushion during periods of global recession. It is therefore, important to offer packages that attracted domestic tourism travel including a relook at pricing for the domestic market. On its part, Government has already waivered for a period of one year, the 15% VAT chargeable for domestic tourists and this will go a long way in incentivising this market. The private sector thus needs to complement this thrust by Government.

The launch of the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy by His Excellency, the President E.D Mnangagwa in Victoria Falls takes cognizant of the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on International Tourists arrivals globally and acknowledges that domestic tourism is the shock pad to such global pandemics. Therefore, various strategies which include leveraging on tourist assets operated by public institutions such as the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe to offer affordable and exiting products to the domestic market, competitive pricing structures, and support of the National Airline to boost domestic travel will be implemented.

Another area we are working closely with industry players including our parastatal the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority, is to develop innovative schemes such as ‘Travel now and pay later’. Government through the National Parks owns affordable lodges across the country in major attraction areas and these will be a starting point for these packages especially during the low season periods whilst also engaging private players within industry.

The Ministry, through its parastatal, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority will, in the next coming month, launch the Domestic Tourism Campaign ZIMbho (#vakatsha) which seeks to revive domestic travel in and around the country. Other various hash tags (#knowyourZimbabwe #visitZimbabwe) are also being carried out on the Tourism lookout show hosted by the ZTA where we profile various tourism destinations around the country to stimulate local travel.

We are also, as a Ministry, encouraging tour operators to come up with our packages that capture and suit the local market. Riding on the fact that people have been confined home for a period of about 7 months due to restricted traveling, we are hoping that the domestic travel will perform well as intercity travel resumes and indeed the last few weeks were impressive in terms of hotel and lodges occupancy in some areas.

Some of the key strategies being pursued include the promotion of schools tourism where we are working also with the Ministries of Education and the industry to come up with travel packages for schools. Whilst the purpose of travel will be mainly educational, it helps our young population to be afforded an opportunity to explore the tourist product and thereby boosting domestic tourism.

It is undoubted that Zimbabwe National Parks and other Government entities such as the National Museums and Monuments will play a leading role in the promotion of domestic tourism. Currently, Zimparks is on a major renovation drive of its facilities all around the country to improve standards. Besides Zimparks, we have the Museums and Monuments, though not directly under my Ministry, we are working hand in glove to ensure that they also provide packages for domestic tourists in their heritage facilities all around the country. Major Museums and Monuments across the country such as the Great Zimbabwe should see a major influx of domestic tourists post the pandemic. There is need to ensure affordable transport and accommodation and enhanced marketing which we are working to enhance through the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.

Prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, my Ministry had already started reviving Community Based Tourism Enterprises (CBTEs) which thrive around packaging and promoting our culture, norms and cuisines as tourist attractions. This preserves our culture and heritage whilst allowing communities to be producers of tourism products and earn a living out of tourism. I can tell you of KoMpisi Village in Victoria Falls where schools take their learners to see the traditional ways of doing things which are no longer used these days. We are reviving CBTEs throughout the country with international Cooperating Partners such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Revival of Local Festivals will also go a long way in promoting domestic tourism. My Ministry together with other stakeholders, has been promoting and reviving such festivals as the Boli Mhlangulen in Chiredzi, Intwasa in Bulawayo and the Nyami Nyami Festivals in Kariba among others. These mainly showcase and promote local cultures through music, dance and our local cuisine. As people travel for such festivals, it helps promote domestic tourism.

We are also promoting digital content creation so that we capture numerous tourist attractions and experiences throughout the country including those that are relatively unknown to communicate on various social media platforms and improve awareness of tourism products. As a Ministry, we want to also, with you as Members of Parliament, to develop tourist attractions in your constituencies so that we improve the level of domestic tourism which might not be known as we do the Victoria Falls for example.

Currently, we are in the process of deploying tourism officers from the Ministry to all provinces to champion this cause and also to promote tourism development throughout the country. I thank you

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE ON ISSUES FACED BY SUGAR CANE FARMERS

THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. KANHUTU-NZENZA): Mr. Speaker Sir, this is a response to questions raised by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce on issues faced by sugar cane farmers.

1.0 Overview/Introduction

1.1 The purpose of this address is to appraise you on pertinent and long standing issues affecting operations of sugar cane farmers in the southern low veld.

My Ministry of Industry and Commerce has been engaging with farmers association and the miller, with one of our latest meetings having happened only yesterday. The dialogue has been set on the sugar principles to amend the incumbent Act and to establish consensus resolving the outstanding issues within the sugar cane value chain.

Background

1.2 Mr. Speaker Sir, let me give you a back ground to the issue of sugar in Zimbabwe. Let me remind Members of Parliament that sugar is a very strategic product. It is so strategic that it is number three to tobacco, maize and sugar. Sugar is required for export; we are generating a lot of foreign currency from exportation of sugar. Sugar cane in Zimbabwe is grown under irrigation in the southern low veld that includes Triangle, Hippo Valley, Mkwasini, Mwenezi and Sabi Valley.

About 70% of Zimbabwe’s edible sugar crop is produced by Triangle and Hippo Valley Estate.

1.3 There are two sugar meals in Zimbabwe, the Hippo Valley Estates Limited and Triangle Limited of which Tongaat Hulett owns 50,3% in the Hippo Valley Estate.

1.4 There are a total of 1100 out grower farmers currently supplying their sugarcane to Tongaat Hulett. They have a combined hectrage of 17 052 hectares.

1.5 This is a sugar value chain which is extensive and creates strong linkages in the sugar cane industry.

2.0 Update on Recommendations by the Committee

2.1 Sugar Divisions of Proceeds (DOP)

2.1.1 Sugar cane farmers and Tongaat Hulett Miller, have a commercial relationship in the production, milling and marketing of sugar and share the revenue from sugar produced from cane supplied by farmers using a Division of Proceeds (DOP) ratio.

2.1.2 For period before 6th June 2014 payment to farmers had been 73.5% :26.5% in favour of farmers based on a DOP ratio that was determined by Price Water House (PWC) in 1999.

2.1.3 An interim DOP of 82.65% : 17.35% in favour of farmers was set on the 6th June 2014 by the Ministry.

2.14 The Interim DOP was a temporary arrangement pending an independent and objective review of the DOP by an independent consultant.

2.15 In 2014, Ernst and Young was engaged by Government to carry out the review process and on 23 November 2016, the Ministry directed that the EY computed DOP ratio of 77%:23% in favour of farmers be implemented pending a robust review which will take into account the inadequacies and recommendations raised by both parties.

2.16 This is the current DOP ratio being used by the sugar industry. The ongoing amendment of the Sugar Act will specify a pre-requisite of period review of the DOP in order to enable a fair operating environment for all players.

2.17 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has engaged the sugarcane out-grower farmers and the miller in order to come up with terms of reference and engagement to be used by the consultant to carry out DOP review process in the interim

2.18 Consequently, within the ongoing dialogue, all parties will agree on who will meet the cost of the next DOP review process. Suffice to mention that the previous exercise was financed by the Ministry.

2.2 Amendment Sugar Production Control Act of 1964

2.2.1 The Ministry has started the process of reviewing the Sugar Production Control Act [Chapter 18:19] of 1964. The draft principles were drafted and submitted to Cabinet for consideration.

The priority for the Ministry is to create a legal framework which takes into account the changes that have since ensued in the Sugar Industry since the Act’s establishment. The Act also seeks to address the longstanding issues which have been raised by the farmers.

Key areas which will be reviewed are the role of the Government in facilitating the negotiations of determining Division of Proceeds (DOP), period of reviewing DOP, who will bear the costs of reviewing DOP, membership and composition of the Zimbabwe Sugar Association (ZSA) Board, Sugar Industry Agreements among others.

2.3 Value Added Tax (VAT) on Milling Charges

2.3.1 The issue of VAT on milling charges between the farmer and the miller was taken to court for determination on who will pay the value added tax and has since been resolved. The court case was held in Masvingo High Court. The Ministry was advised by farmers’ representatives on 30 June 2020 that the matter was determined in their favour.

2.4 Milling Agreement

2.4.1 Since inception of production of sugar in Zimbabwe, there has not been an agreement among the concerned parties other than largely through mutual understanding. This issue is being handled and deliberated between the farmers and the millers.

2.4.2 However, once the Milling Agreement is conducted amongst the parties, the farmers are set to benefit from by-products such as molasses, ethanol and bagasse or optionally be remunerated. The purpose of the arrangement is to create an even playing field through bilateral agreement between the miller, Zimbabwe Sugar Sales (ZSS) and farmers.

2.4.3 These are some of the issues which the amendment of the Sugar Act will try to address.

2.5 Expansion of the Sugar Industry

2.5.1 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is in the process of drafting the Sugar Strategy which is targeted at growth and expansion, innovation, sustainability and moving the sugar sector up the economic value chain. Within this strategy, the Ministry is engaging Zimbabwe Investments Development Authority to facilitate new investment in the sugar industry.

2.5.2 The Ministry will facilitate importation of equipment and raw materials to be used in the sugar industry duty free in line with terms of Sections 140 and 141 of the Customs and Excise (General) Regulations.

2.6 Representation on Sugar Industry Boards

2.6.1 The Ministry is addressing the need of equal representation in the two boards, (Zimbabwe Sugar Association and the Zimbabwe Sugar Sales) by having sugarcane farmers and Tongaat Huletts through the amendment of the Sugar Production Control Act of 1964.

2.6.2 In addition, a member nominated by the Ministry should be incorporated in the two boards

2.7 Minimum Sugarcane Plots of 50ha

2.7.1 This issue has been referred to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement and within the strategic approach to the sector, the Ministry is taking an inter-ministerial approach to resolving this matter.

2.8 Rehabilitation of NRZ Wagons and Locomotives

2.8.1 This issue is being considered together with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development with a view of enabling refurbishment of NRZ wagons and locomotives.

2.9 Rehabilitation of Water Canals

2.9.1 The issue of rehabilitation of water canals by ZINWA was referred to Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement and deliberations are underway regarding the matter.

2.10 Weighbridge System

Weighbridges which weigh sugarcane supplied to the mills by farmers are owned and controlled by the two mills. In this regard, farmers feel that the system was not transparent.

Trade Measures office which is under my Ministry is empowered by law to assize all weighbridges and scales used in trade in the country once per annum. The exercise was carried out and Trade Measures managed to assize 14 weighbridges owned by Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe in July 2020 and certified that all of them were correct for use in trade.

3.0 Conclusion

3.1 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce remains committed to supporting the Sugar Industry and creating an enabling, fair, sustainable and innovative environment of operation for both the Farmers and Millers.

HON. TOGAREPI: Mr Speaker, I have been destabilised but

I really wanted to debate this.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I can guide you. You

can put your issues in numbers such as number one up to five.

HON. TOGAREPI: Okay, thank you. I would want the Minister to look at these issues and maybe respond to them. As far as I know, we have had these indigenous sugarcane producers for a long time now and they amount to 1700, you said. By now, if there was no unfair treatment to these farmers, is it not that they would have been in a position to produce enough sugarcane in Triangle or Tongaat Hullet would then produce sugar? I want to know whether in your view as the Ministry, are you seeing fair treatment to our farmers?

I also want to ask a question, who owns the land, the 29 000 where Tongaat Hullet is doing business? If it is the Government, why is the Government not rescuing its own people who are being short-changed?

I have information to the effect that the sugar that we produce in Zimbabwe subsidises Tongaat Hullet throughout the continent where they produce sugar. They make profit from the sugar they produce in Zimbabwe yet our farmers are still as poor and as a country, we still buy sugar at a very exorbitant price. Is Tongaat Hullet doing a good job for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe? Why is the Government not destroying the monopoly that is being taken advantage of by Tongaat Hullet through allowing other millers to come into that field and produce sugar so that our new farmers who came about through our good land reform programme can have a choice on where to mill and produce sugar without being taken advantage of? I thank you.

*HON. B. DUBE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My issue is that I am so shocked and amused with the approach that we are using. Are we not going to go back to the problems that other companies faced that fall within your Ministry, just like CAPS and ZISCO that ended up collapsing because of interference? Are we not risking Hon. Minister such that we will end up having problems of shortage of sugar if this is not addressed properly? My request therefore is that, is it not possible to deal with issues to improve the relationship of farmers and the miller without accusing or blaming a particular company? What I am afraid of is that we will end up having a problem of going back, resulting in the shortage of sugar. ZISCO Steel is there, minerals are there, we have the land and the worker, but we might end up with no sugar like before, a situation we once xperienced. Let the approach of the Ministry take a cue from past experiences so that we do not end up regretting.

The destruction of monopoly is very good because we should have a free market in the country. However, I do not think that this issue is…

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think you are now debating, you are now responding to what Hon. Togarepi was debating about. May you ask your questions; go straight to your question Hon. Member.

*HON. B. DUBE: Finally, I wanted to say, in all honesty, the issue of monopoly, may you explain to us what might have caused this monopoly? Is it on the legislative part or other players have not been supported by the Government? That will help us to know if it is the company or the Government that failed to deal with this issue of empowering other players in this field or who exactly is benefitting under such circumstances? Thank you Hon. Speaker.

HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The issue of weigh-bridges that the Hon. Minister alluded to is an issue that comes about because of overweight and it increases or reduces the longevity of either our rail or road infrastructure. My question to the Minister is; relating to the weigh-bridges, I am quite alive to the issue of ZINARA financing the establishment of weigh-bridges for the Vehicle Inspection Departments (VIDs). Is there no way that we can create weigh-bridges much along the same lines as those which are being supervised and operated by the VID; an example will be at Lion’s Den and at Limpopo River Bridge at our boarder post and our VID Depot so that there is no antagonism and suspicion between the millers, small scale and the large scale Tongaat Hullet.

The second one Hon. Speaker Sir, would be the archaic, moribund, rudimental and antiquated piece of legislation of 1961, much along the same lines like the Mines and Minerals Act of 1951. When do we expect that Hon. Minister, you can table this Act or a Bill amending and repealing that Act because the issue that I see Hon. Speaker is the lack of inclusion in that Act of 1961 of the small scale sugar producers and millers. At the time, the neo-colonialists and the colonialists were the ones tasked with production and economic development, much to the chagrin of the small to medium scale sugar producers.

The third one, the issue Hon. Speaker Sir, has been touched on in issues to do with the ownership of the macadamised hectorage of land by the Hon Chief Whip. However, I go on to add this, Mr. Speaker, I need clarity; I am alive to the issue of 26000 hectares having been taken from ZIMPLATS in the area where I come from in terms of resource extraction land platinum instruction and being given to Karo Resources by the Government. Do we expect that to ameliorate, to have that as an antidote and as a solution between or the impasse between the small scale sugar producers and the large scale that the Government is going to relinquish or take some of the land from Tongaat Hullet and seed it and supervise the production of sugar and make sure that the small scale farmers also become millers, use that land as a pedestal or platform for economic development so that we do not have a recurrence of such issues that have been borne by lack of economic emancipation and economic development. Those are the three issues Hon. Speaker Sir that the people of Chegutu West sent me to speak on their behalf.

HON. I. NYONI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Minister for the detailed report. However, I would like some clarity on just a number of issues.

I will start with the issue of VAT which, subject to some litigation which the Minister said was finally resolved in Masvingo. Was the VAT eventually paid and who paid it? We know sugar is sweet and we all enjoy it. When we buy sugar in the supermarkets, it is VAT free. It is a foodstuff. My observation, perhaps long term – if the VAT was paid, can the Ministry lobby for the removal of VAT on milling charges? That would go a long way in reducing the price of sugar so that it is affordable to the majority of citizens in our country.

The Minister mentioned that Tongaat owns 51% shares in the mills. Who owns the other 49%?

Still on the milling part, is there enough raw sugarcane that we really need some more sugar mills because if the capacity for the two sugar mills is enough for the sugarcane that is being produced by farmers at the moment – if you allow more new millers to set up, there will not be full utilisation.

On transport, according to the Minister; currently the sugarcane is being transported by trucks from the fields where it is grown, whereas if NRZ was capacitated, it would be cheaper to have the sugar transported by rail. It carries more volumes and it will reduce costs at the end of the day. What is the Ministry going to do to push for refurbishment of NRZ wagons and equipment that will be required to transport the cane?

Last but not least, the Minister mentioned that they grow sugarcane and mill it into sugar. They also market the final product – sugar, whereas the farmers are only involved in growing the cane. This is definitely a monopoly. What is the Ministry going to do to break up this monopoly?

I am not going to repeat what the other Hon. Members have said. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir

THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. DR. KANHUTU-NZENZA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I have about nine questions but some of them are similar so I will try and combine them.

Question number 1 was to do with sugar growers having unfair treatment and these farmers need support. I could not agree more and this is why we are engaged in dialogue. Regarding the land issue, Tongaat Hullet has 56% land while the farmers have 44%. As I mentioned before during my speech, I said the farmers are requesting for more than 10, 20 or 30 hectares of land. Again, this is a matter for dialogue that we will be having with the Ministry of Lands, together with the farmers because it feeds in very well into the economic empowerment model.

There was a question regarding sugarcane that we grow that it is subsidising globally some of the sugar industry. This is obviously a matter that is unfair and again it is a problem that needs to be addressed. *All these issues that I have brought here concerns the 1964 Act of the UDI era – Ian Smith’s time. It is long overdue for us to amend this Act.

Yesterday I presented in Cabinet the principles of amending this very colonial Act because once the principles go to Cabinet, then we follow the processes until it gets here. We are already on track in addressing this key issue of the 1964 Act.

*I do not know why we still have this Act but it does not matter.

We are now on track to address some of this…

HON. I. NYONI: On a point of order.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order, the Minister is responding to your questions.

HON. I. NYONI: Can the Minister use one language?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Sorry Hon. Members, the Minister is using both languages because there are Hon. Members who put questions in Shona and some in English. So the Minister is very right. Go ahead Hon. Minister.

HON. DR. KANHUTU-NZENZA: One of the questions that was asked in Shona where the Hon. Member said ‘varikuvhunduka zvakanyanya ne approach yedu’. The approach that he was referring to was saying that tine dambudziko rekuti we will end up in a situation ye CAPS and ZISCO. I am now pleased to say that our key strategic direction going towards vision 2030 is that we are looking at a strategy within the pharmaceutical industry, which means specifically looking at CAPS where we have 68% shareholding as Government.

Already during COVID 19, we have done remarkably well where we have used import substitution so much that we are locally producing the raw materials which we used to import. We are now producing tablets – paracetamol and vitamin C. If you go to CAPS right now, you will be surprised with what we are actually doing locally and that is our pharmaceutical strategy.

Talking about ZISCO, I am the Chairperson of the resuscitation of ZISCO. Already we have started. There is a new CEO of ZISCO today, we have a new board, the task force meets regularly and I present to Cabinet very regularly as an update of what is happening at ZISCO. As it is, we have got so much interest. You will be surprised how many investors out there are ready to come in and invest in ZISCO and resuscitate the whole steel industry for the down and up stream.

I am quite excited as Minister of Industry and Commerce that we are going to resuscitate ZISCO, tatove munzira but we are following due process hatichaita zviye zvekuti kuna investor anoti, ndinoda kuuya kuZISCO tombofara chaizvo. Mozoshaya kuti ayenda nekupi? Currently, we have investors who we are taking very seriously and we are working very closely with the Zimbabwe Development Association (ZIDA) and Mr. Munatsi. So everything is in process. We are not going backwards – we are actually going forward following the President’s vision that we must have a national vibrant steel production in this country – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

Regarding weighbridge, I could not agree more. We could get some lessons learnt from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development – so I will take that idea on board. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

Coming onto the issue regarding again land, that there are 26 000 hectares that if I understood correctly that have been taken by Tongaat Hulett but I thought I heard ZIMPLATS – right? – [HON. NDUNA: It was an example; they were taken from ZIMPLATS and given to Callow Resources because they were owned by Government. It is 26 000 hectares.] – That is a specific example where I do not have enough knowledge but however, it is an area that also requires my colleague the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement and we will certainly be addressing it together.

Another question regarding VAT, the request was – can this VAT not be removed. I could not agree more again, it is important that we focus on the consumer. I am pleased to say that we have already completed the Consumer Protection Act. The President is launching that Consumer Protection Act on 28th October this year. So we are moving in terms of making sure that products such as sugar which is a basic commodity is accessible and affordable to the consumer. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

Finally, it was to do with transport and as I mentioned before, we do need those NRZ wagons to be refurbished and to start working so that the farmer will be able to transport sugarcane to the miller. Again, we have already started discussions with the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.

There was an issue of completion finally – competition is important and regarding monopoly, I am also responsible for the Competition and Tariff Commission. We have a very strong and vibrant board and this is also a matter on our table. I thank you.

*HON. NYABANI: Hon. Speaker Sir, I want to enquire from the Hon. Minister in relation to the sugar issue. I heard the Hon. Minister talking about the consumer protection law. The issue is that sugar is just as important as mealie-meal – they are both essential to people.

My question therefore is; this issue of where sugar is manufactured, are there no companies that can be engaged to make sure that sugar is readily available to consumers? Can Government do something to ensure that sugar is readily available despite any situation?

*HON. PETER MOYO: Mr. Speaker Sir, I just want to thank the Hon. Minister for responding positively on this issue. I would want to find out from her whether it is not a deviation from the Government’s current position of trying to correct what was done by the Indigenous Act.

I also want to find out from the Hon. Minister whether it is not policy inconsistency when we are now dealing with these multi-national companies in our country. For example, Tongaat-Hulett, if we start acting as if we are interfering with their day to day running of the business – is it not a deviation from the current Government’s policy to say, we are not trying to pull down the person who is up there but trying to uplift the person who is down to the level where the person up there is? In this case I am saying, is it not Government policy to tell those big companies to assist the small people who are coming into business?

I would also want to agree with her – she is spot-on when she is talking about Caps Private Limited. They are doing fantastically well but Government should buy from Caps Private Limited than importing some of these products that Caps Pharmaceutical is manufacturing. I know for a fact Mr. Speaker Sir, that the Government owns 68% in Caps Holdings but there is a 55 or 56% Caps Private Limited that is owned by our pharmacies. My fear is that whenever the Government is going to come in …

*THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Member, you are now debating and no longer raising issues concerning your areas of clarification. The areas that you need to know more on please!

*HON. PETER MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker for guiding me on that one. I was trying to ask a question of whether it is not a deviation from the Government’s policy to promote the existing businesses that we already have and try to woe the outside world to come and invest in our country. Also, I would want the Hon. Minister to liaise with her counterpart, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development because I know that there is a umbilical code between the two. Is the Bulawayo-Chiredzi Road not also a priority to your ministry to augment what you are already doing? I thank you.

HON. S. SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for the opportunity that you have given me. Hon. Minister, just yesterday women were complaining about …

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are not connected Hon. Member, we cannot hear what you are saying.

HON. S. SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Minister, I heard you saying that there is a new board. Just yesterday, women parliamentarians were complaining about 50-50 gender balance. Is there 50-50 gender equity on the new ZISCO Steel Board?

*HON. MADHUKU: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to find out from the Minister, any possibility of the Government coming in to avail inputs to sugarcane farmers like is done for tobacco and cotton because this will help in terms of adequacy and timeliness of the inputs. I also want to find out from the Minister, any possibility of capacitation of the sugarcane farmers in terms of equipment such as tractors, disc harrows, ploughs and so on. I heard you talk about recommendations to increase farmers hectarage to something like 50 hectares. I am not sure whether this will lead to re-demarcations of existing plots and re-allocation or this will be taken on board on new allocations of land which may be expanded in terms of sugarcane production. May I also know of some of the things you have in terms of by-products of sugarcane like molasses? We have also heard that there are some spirits which are by-products from the milling process.

HON. C. MOYO: In the spirit of Zimbabwe is open for business, I heard the Hon. Minister saying she is going to come up with an Act. Has she also engaged Tongaat Hulett so that we do not frustrate investors which may result with no sugar production in the country?

HON. DR. KANHUTU-NZENZA: The first question was on consumers who need basic commodities like sugar, bread and mealie-meal. I cannot agree more so in terms of addressing the price of sugar especially as we approach the festive season. What we are doing is, we have price control inspectors from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce who monitor prices on a weekly basis. When the prices go up, we then engage the Retailers Association and we also engage Tongaat Hulett. Really, it is a question of continual dialogue.

It is true that we have some people who hoard these goods in anticipation of price increases or actually inflate prices towards Christmas. Our role is to ensure that there is accessibility and affordability of sugar to the consumer. We anticipate that we will have enough sugar during the festive season but we should continue having these discussions.

On the Indigenisation Act, we are working on the principles of empowerment and that is currently in consultation, but we have already gone to all the provinces and done consultations from the provincial level to district level, including the chiefs. So that is already in process and I will be taking it to the Senate very soon, maybe this week some of those empowerment principles and then eventually they will come here.

Regarding CAPS, the question was to do with why CAPs is not selling to Government. CAPS is already selling to Government through NatPharm and is also exporting within the region. However, there are issues at CAPS and one of them is to do with corporate governance structures. We have sent some names for vetting so that we have robust corporate governance and that there will be transparency and accountability at CAPS – [AN HON. MEMBER: Mozo sponsor team yedu yebhora.] – zvebhora pamwe tingazotanga futi.

Regarding the Bulawayo to Chiredzi road, thank you for that. I will be speaking to my colleague the Minister of Transport. There was a very pertinent question regarding gender representation at ZISCO. That is a very good question. We did send some names for vetting and I am still waiting for those names to be cleared but that is a matter that we take very seriously because in terms of corporate governance, we need diversity of skills and also gender representation.

With regard to inputs for sugarcane farmers, I want to take that concept or idea on board. I think the sugarcane farmers also need to have support in terms of inputs and capacitation of the farmers. With regard to re-allocation of land, again that is a subject that must be dealt with the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement.

There are some by-products of sugarcane which were mentioned, thus molasses, biogas and ethanol. Molasses is used to feed cattle, the biogas you get electricity from it and ethanol we are getting sanitisers and also fuel. These three products are subject to the current discussions that are happening between the farmer and the miller.

The other point which was raised was to do with monopoly. Monopoly falls under competition and tariff and I believe it will be addressed during the amendment of the Act. I believe those were the questions, thank you.

HON. S. SITHOLE: Minister, it is only Chiredzi which has good soils to plant sugarcane. Can you not find another area in Matabeleland region where we can plant sugarcane?

HON. C. MOYO: My question was not answered. In the spirit of Zimbabwe is open for business, I heard the Hon. Minister saying she is going to come up with an Act. Has she also engaged Tongaat Hulett so that we do not frustrate investors which may result with no sugar production in the country in the near future?

THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (HON. NZENZA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I have two questions that have been presented to me that where else can we grow sugar. I understand that we can grow sugar in Binga, Muzarabani. Again those are the areas that need to be explored. I think we can work very closely with the Ministry of Higher Education and they can do research and innovation.

The most recent question was that are you engaging Tongaat Hulett? I would say about two to three weeks ago we had a round table with Tongaat Hulett management together with the farmers associations. The farmers associations were represented by Captain Hwarare. We also had the chairman of the Sugar Cane Association, Mr. Muchadei Masunda. We had a very productive meeting and I would like to say that was my very first meeting where I meet Tongaat Hulett together with the Associations.

However, before that we visited Tongaat Hulett when the Hon. Vice President Chiwenga about six weeks ago went on a tour and we were hosted very well by Tongaat Hulett right on their farm. I did see, yes, there are tensions between Tongaat Hulett and the farmers but going forward we are promoting investment, we are open for business. The President is talking about re-engagement but at the same time we are also talking about fairness and empowerment to the farmer. So, it is a question of dialogue but ultimately it should be a win/win situation. I thank you.

MOTION

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

HON. TOGAREPI: I move that we stand over Notices of Motions on Today’s Order Paper Number 1 to 12 until Order Number 13 on Today’s Order Paper has been disposed off.

HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

MOTION

POLICY AND SELECTION CRITERIA OF BENEFICIARIES OF THE BEAM PROGRAMME

HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: I move the motion standing in my name that Noting that Section 75(1) (a) of the Constitution states that every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to a basic state-funded education, including adult basic education;

Applauding the Government of Zimbabwe for establishing the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) Programme in 2001 as a key component of the Enhanced Social Protection Programme (ESPP);

COGNISANT that the BEAM Programme is based on a policy framework designed to provide quality education to children and support to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in line with international agreements to which the Government of Zimbabwe is a signatory;

DISTURBED that the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Report (2019) revealed that an average of 61 percent of children were turned away from school in 2019 due to non-payment of tuition fees;

ALSO disturbed that the rate of school dropouts continues to rise amongst girls and the economically disadvantaged children resulting in early child pregnancies and child labour;

CONCERNED at the continuous disparity between policy and selection criteria of beneficiaries of the BEAM Programme by Community Selection Committees;

NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon:

a) Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to conduct awareness

Campaigns on the BEAM Manual targeting Community Selection Committees;

b) Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to effectively monitor implementation of the BEAM Programme, particularly the selection process to ensure that all eligible students benefit from the programme; and

c) Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to allocate adequate financial resources towards BEAM Programme in the 2021 National Budget in view of the increasing levels of vulnerability in the country and ultimately facilitate the progressive realisation of basic state-funded education.

HON. MUTAMBISI: I second.

HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The establishment of the Basic Education Assistance (BEAM) Programme by the Government of Zimbabwe in 2001 as a key component of the Enhanced social Protection Programme (ESPP) is a welcome development that is in line with Section 75(1)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which states that every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to a basic State-funded education including adult basic education.

Today, the BEAM should serve as a foot stool for the successful implementation of a progressive State-Funded education in Zimbabwe. However, the beneficiary selection process has been marred by irregularities and shortcomings that curtail the current thrust in our Primary and Secondary education system where we believe no child must be left behind.

In a case study in Binga district by Siyabombe Abednico in 2018, it was recorded that many Orphans and Vulnerable Children OVCs failed to go to school because of failure to address some irregularities in the selection process. Communities and their leadership denied involvement in the selection process which they said was a preserve of teachers and school administrators. Parents alleged that possible beneficiaries were rejected, children without birth certificates were turned away and out of school learners were not selected because the process was done in February and March when some possible beneficiaries had not registered in their respective schools.

Mr. Speaker Sir, in 2014, Francis Maushe, in the research about BEAM, revealed that the programme targeted orphans and vulnerable children, children in schools but failing to pay fees, school drop outs, children with records of failure to pay fees, the poverty status of the head of the household or the bread winner and assets of the household. Thus, as Florence Mutasa in 2015 put it, in her article entitled, ‘The future of Basic Education Assistance Module,’ all stakeholders must be involved in the BEAM selection process, that is school authorities, teachers, parents and the Government itself.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the 2016 community selection Committee comprised the local council, six selected community representatives, that is three male and three female, two learners, one girl and one girl from the Child Protection Committee, four ex-officio members, two school development Committee members, one guidance and counselling teacher from the Primary sector and one guidance and counselling teacher from the secondary school. From this composition, we may be tempted to believe that the selection process is good yet the following outcomes Mr. Speaker Sir has emerged;

1. Selection along partisan lines;

2. Beneficiaries coming first from members of the community selection Committees;

3. Dropping of existing beneficiaries and replacing them by new ones each year;

4. Transferring learners not being considered in their new schools.

5. Out of school children not being considered.

6. Cutting the numbers of deserving beneficiaries in one family.

7. Children with disabilities left out.

These challenges have resulted in high dropout rates because the really deserving learners do not benefit from the fund while those who can afford to pay are considered. In 2019 alone, 5 296 learners that is 2 342 male and 2 954 females dropped out of school because of financial constraints and 426 learners (238 males and 188 females) joined child labour. In my constituency of Bikita South in Nyahunda in particular, a 13 year old boy drowned while herding cattle in 2019 and it emerged that the boy was working to raise fees to enable him to go to form one in 2020. Mr. Speaker Sir, the BEAM allocation for 2019 was $25 million and it catered for 415 900 learners. In the 2020 Budget, Government targeted assistance to 1 million learners. Government also did a good job to clear BEAM arrears that had been outstanding for years. Both Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should monitor the effective utilisation of BEAM funds by checking who the beneficiaries are at school level. Efforts should be made to conduct hearings in the school communities instead of simply relying on statistics provided by schools. Awareness workshops should be conducted. Schools should adopt the notice board where names of BEAM beneficiaries are displayed for all to see. Although a module on BEAM has been sent to schools, it is vital that such a policy document is translated into action.

Mr. Speaker Sir, with proper selection of beneficiaries, the Government can go further to provide other basic necessities apart from fees, like stationery, uniforms and sanitary wear. This will help to improve attendance and performance at schools. John Ringson carried out a study among secondary schools and primary school learners, caregivers and community leaders in 2020 in Gutu District and applauded BEAM as a psychosocial support intervention. However, the researcher revealed that the efficiency of BEAM was marred by its failure to proportionately and holistically provide all the basic needs of the school going OVCs within rural communities.

Zimbabwe is currently facing such challenges as continuous dropouts, effects of Cyclone Idai and the devastating Covid-19. It follows that the level of vulnerability in our communities has increased. Hence the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should allocate adequate financial resources towards the BEAM programme in the 2021 National Budget to facilitate the progressive realisation of basic state funded education in Zimbabwe, at the same time, such resources must be directed to the most deserving beneficiaries.

*HON. MUTAMBISI: Thank you Mr Speaker. I also rise to add my voice to the motion raised by Hon. Sithole on BEAM. I want to start by thanking our Government for clearing all the outstanding BEAM payments in schools. My request is, Government should increase the number of beneficiaries because most of them are not going to school for lack of fees. The beneficiaries of BEAM are supposed to be child headed families, orphans and those living with disability but the problem is with the so called selecting committees who select beneficiaries of BEAM: they select with their relatives in mind and not look at the actual beneficiaries of BEAM as stated above. Our wish is for this process to be done transparently so that those who are supposed to benefit get selected. The selecting committee sometimes say let us take two children from each village but that is not the criteria that they are supposed to use but consider the need. There maybe more than two children who are in need of BEAM in one village than the other. Therefore what they are terming fairness can disadvantage some children who are supposed to benefit and they end up being school drop outs. It is our wish that the selecting committees do not look at what they think is being fair but look at the plight of those in their areas.

On another note, we also implore the social welfare officers to get out of their offices and go on the ground to check on the statistics they are given and also verify whether the said beneficiaries are in the categories supposed to benefit from BEAM. If they stay in their offices, they will not be able to see what is taking place at the grassroots. Our plea is for those involved with BEAM programmes to do awareness programmes for the benefit of the communities so that everyone is aware of who the beneficiary of BEAM is supposed to be.

BEAM caters for school fees only yet there are some children who are very good at sports such as hockey but they will not be able to take part in competitions if they have to travel because BEAM does not cater for such things but focuses on fees only. The beneficiary of BEAM also has challenges in buying uniforms because the money they are given is specifically for fees. So our plea is for social welfare to also take into consideration providing the basic necessities needed at school. If the number of BEAM beneficiaries is increased, we will have fewer dropouts in our country. Thank you Madam Speaker.

HON. MUNETSI: I want to add my voice. I first of all want to thank the Government for such an initiative. It shows that the Government is sensitive to people in this country. If the Government is able to identify people who need assistance, then we have a Government which is sensitive to the needs of the people, different from the previous Government which used the bottleneck system to elbow out other would be beneficiaries of education. I want to applaud the Government for that.

I was looking at the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), the Government is also sensitive to the fact that every individual in this country must have some form of education basic education to all. Even if you are an orphan, disabled or vulnerable, my Government wants everyone to have basic education and I applaud the Government for that – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Vulnerable people and orphaned children in this country enjoy the same benefits with rich people because of the sensitivity of the Government; they pay their fees so that they go to school like anyone else. I want to look at the selection process of BEAM, I believe it needs to be polished in some instances and the deserving people to be put under this programme. If it is done by a certain selective group of people, then it will not meet the needs that the Government wants. So, there must be a diverse Committee not only comprising of teachers at a school but also comprising of villagers and even the chiefs in the area because they know the needs of the people they live with.

I like the idea that records of children who fail to pay fees, those children are looked at and are also put under this programme of BEAM. I want to say BEAM must not be done on partisan lines, it is education for all. We are all Zimbabweans, no matter which party you come from, you remain a Zimbabwean and you must enjoy the benefits of the Government – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –This has been the clarion call – [Laughter.] – of the Government that BEAM to everybody across the divide.

Cutting beneficiaries, like has been said from one family, is something that should be considered. If a family is vulnerable, let all the children enjoy the Government’s initiative. I would be very disappointed personally if some children in one family are taken and others are left out. Why are they left out, for what reason if they are vulnerable? The idea of leaving out those kids and taking some kids with able bodied persons must be dealt with once and for, all and that must stop.

BEAM has a certain target that the Government wants to put across and that must be followed. I would implore the Government or us as Parliamentarians to formulate a policy to control the BEAM process, let it be policy. Let the process have certain stipulated measures. I would also support that policies together with BEAM, like sanitary wear for women be also put across so that it can assist like it is with BEAM. It is a good thing that the Government would do.

What I am going to say now might be a thorn in other people’s flesh, but I want to implore the Government to introduce a BEAM Levy for those in the working class, either it is one percent or what so that we can help the vulnerable. This is my thinking – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I also want to implore None Governmental Organisations (NGOs) if they can help to fund BEAM so that all the children in this country can get the basic education that the Government needs everyone to attain. I thank you.

*HON. PETER MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. When we were moving around the country consulting the public regarding BEAM, we noted that a number of children who were supposed to go to school did not have birth certificates. Some children who were talented in soccer – because it is not about academic education only but some are good at sporting activities. So we noted that these children were suffering. My desire is that such orphans must have their birth certificates processed without difficulties. They must be given birth certificates so that they go to school without facing any challenges. This is an urgent matter which needs attention.

I also want to support previous speakers that every resource should be channeled towards these vulnerable children so that they are able to go to school. I thank you.

HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to start with the provisions of our Standing Rules and Orders which implore the Executive to respond to motions, questions and any input that has originated in Parliament within 21 days. I implore the Executive through your office Hon. Speaker Sir, that if this motion can be responded to in the 21 days after we debate it here for the very first reason that speaks to and about the list of the beneficiaries of BEAM in the past five years, say from 2013 up to 2018 Mr. Speaker Sir, in the Eighth Parliament so that it can come out clearly that some of the beneficiaries of the BEAM programme have been children of well to do people taking advantage of our moribund and rudimentary way of dealing with modern day issues. They have been using what we call collusion, corruption and nepotism in terms of selection of BEAM beneficiaries.

As we have not been adhering to e-governance systems, I therefore implore that the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare brings in conjunction with the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education being to this House the BEAM beneficiaries from 2013 to date so that it can come out clearly what Hon. Members are debating here that some of the children who otherwise would have been benefiting from payment of fees by their well to do parents who are in the BEAM selection committees but who have impeded upon the progress of the real beneficiaries or those that are supposed to benefit through coordination, cooperation and networking. I have said the other CCN is corruption, collusion and nepotism. We want to replace it with the later.

Thirdly, I would ask that there be a database. We cannot continue to behave as though we are BBC – Born Before Computers. Computers started working ages ago including before 1934. We need to move with modern day trends. The issue of Sabhuku and the Chief and everybody having a mini database which is long hand and in the back of their mind – even if the brain can keep more than 6 million things or items, all it needs is a stimuli but let us forgive the brain if it forgets something. Let us adhere to the ethos and values of modern day trends of computerisation.

Let there be a data base everywhere that is actually laden with children that are less gifted in terms of attention; that are coming from child headed families; those that cannot afford anything so that it is on that basis that we select children that are supposed to go for BEAM because the issues of BEAM Select Committees; I am quite alive to the SDAs Committee and such like SDCs which incorporate diverse people from diverse origins including Councillors who want to see their children benefit from this BEAM initiative. It is my clarion call, fervent view and hope that we have a database which is computerised. The issue of computerisation cannot be overemphasised. We need to adhere to e-governance so that we are in sync with modern day trends.

As I conclude, the issue of birth certificates; I have come on this pedestal and platform time without number and called for a moratorium even 24 months or one year so that every child and adult who does not have a birth certificate can have either a birth certificate and identity document. If an adult does not have a birth certificate, it impedes upon the progress of the other generation. We owe it to posterity. We are living so that our children’s children can live in the future. If I do not have an identity document, let there be a moratorium that says no questions asked according to Section 35-38 of the Constitution that mandates that anybody that is born in Zimbabwe and has been resident for more than ten years is supposed to have an identity document that stipulates them as a citizen of this country.

I shudder to think that if we continue on the trajectory of not adhering to that Section of the Constitution, we certainly are going to have a lot of internally displaced people in this country. It impedes upon the ages, values, ethos and education of our children. We then take out the issue of constitutionalism in terms of primary education system for all that is enshrined in the Constitution and we tear it and throw it out of the window. A nation is viewed in the manner it upholds its own Constitution. Let me ask the Executive to uphold the Constitution by making sure that as long as we have not repealed that Section, let us have a moratorium and let everybody have a birth certificate now without any further ado or any other question so that the future of this nation which is in the hands of our children can be a future which is filled with hope with everybody well documented even if we have the birth and registration Act that speaks to and about the issuance of birth certificate six weeks after birth.

This is not being adhered to in totality because there are a lot of children that have been born for lack of good health care institutions at home in the rural areas and there is no way the mothers of those children can go to the urban set up to go and get birth certificates. It is for that reason if not for anything else that I call for the inclusion of our children – that is going to impede upon rape.

There are a lot of child marriages also that are occurring because we are looking at the stature of the child as opposed to the real forensic empirical supported evidence of age because they do not have any identity documents and any birth certificate in their name. I am hoping that I am saying this for the last time. This is our theatre of hope and I stand here on three roles; to seek to play oversight on the Executive; to represent the people of Chegutu West Constituency where the youths are numbering 6 724 and they request that at least they have some form of identity and the other role is of legislation – to make laws for the good order and governance of the people of Zimbabwe and those in general – Chegutu West in particular.

I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportune opportunity time to vociferously and effectively debate on this very good motion that has been presented by Hon. Sithole and I am hoping that the people of Chegutu West can benefit from this motion which I did not originate but have spoken to and about.

*HON. B. DUBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Sithole for raising this motion which is very important. I will rush to address the issue of corruption which includes partisan selection and nepotism. My urgent request is that the responsible Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should ensure that there is an audit of the beneficiaries of this BEAM programme under review as that would help us a lot.

What we request to be of urgency is for there to be prosecution of people who use dubious means to join or be selected into these programmes so that we set an example to all people who are in positions of authority and send a clear message that such behaviour is not tolerated. Those who benefited unlawfully from the programme should be prosecuted. Let us set an example even though we may not be able to do it countrywide, but let us select a few people who will set precedence. For example, people working in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development want to join using dubious means, they will learn a lesson from such a penalty.

In our lack of resources, we pool resources thinking that certain people should benefit. Education is very important because that is the only thing that can transform someone’s life. We are saying that a councillor or a Member of Parliament who benefited from BEAM or even a teacher, the biggest crime they committed was that they condemned a particular family that was supposed to benefit but instead they benefited themselves. They made people wallow in poverty as they benefited themselves. This is a crime against humanity that people are looting things that are meant to benefit certain individuals. They are actually aware that they not supposed to be part of the programme. The school fees that is paid is not much. In other situations, it was equivalent to USD$10.00.

Other families are failing to pay this amount but we have individuals who are looting that same amount that is meant to assist other individuals. The BEAM programme was meant for people who may have been affected by natural disasters such as Cyclone Idai. Especially in Manicaland, children were orphaned when their parents were swept away by the floods. Again, you have individuals who go and loot those same funds that are meant to assist these children. We should set precedence by prosecuting those people who benefited illegally.

Lastly, I would like to say that we may see the issue of corruption when we talk of millions of dollars. We need to deal with the mindset; people who steal money from BEAM are very dangerous. We will have challenges when we decide to appoint these people to positions of authority because they will be a problem for us in the future due to their corrupt tendencies. Those people who steal millions of dollars started stealing from programmes such as BEAM. This behaviour grows within people and when appointed to positions of authority they become a problem.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare from where the BEAM programme is being administered, we kindly urge the Hon. Minister to make sure that there is transparency within the programme. Those who are corrupt within the programme should be prosecuted so that we get rid of corruption. Where we need people to benefit instead it benefits others – that one should be blocked. I thank you.

HON. MADHUKU: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to add my voice to this very important motion that was tabled by Hon. Sithole.

I just want to address three issues Mr. Speaker Sir. Firstly, I also want to talk about the issue of the composition of the BEAM Section Committee which we have realised is marred by a lot of challenges that range from favouritism, nepotism, corruption and all the ills that defeat the purpose for which this scheme is set. It is very disheartening to note that some people try to defeat the purpose of the vision of the Government of Zimbabwe. When this BEAM scheme was set, Government was to meet Vision 2030. Besides, there is also the issue of meeting the requirements of SDG. 4, that talks about ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable quality education.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to address the issue of equality and equity. This BEAM scheme is not intended to address the issue of equality but the issue of equity given as per need and not just giving to everybody but one according to need. Also, there is the Education 2030 Agenda which is a global movement for all to ensure access to education. This also moves the fact that it is intended to achieve sustainable development in all States.

So I am here calling about a change of policy in the selection of the BEAM beneficiaries. I also think that the one thing that is lacking in this scheme is monitoring and evaluation of the whole scheme. I think that all the problems that we are having could have been lessened if there was monitoring and evaluation of the whole process. Mr. Speaker Sir, I hereby call upon the relevant Ministry to ensure that there is strict monitoring and evaluation of the process.

The second point Mr. Speaker Sir that I want to address is that from the definition given of BEAM – Basic Education Assistance Module. BEAM does not speak to school fees only by definition, so I want to thank the Hon. mover of this motion when he raised the critical issue that, let us not just look at the payment of school fees for these learners because it is a broad scheme. We should look at all the other areas needed by learners. There are various causes of school dropouts that have been alluded to. We are talking about pregnancy, those living with disabilities, some of our learners who miss lessons due to certain biological processes and here a case in mind is the provision of sanitary wear. So learners can miss school and fail to have access and end up being drop-outs due to some of these needs. We are calling upon the Ministry to ensure that whilst BEAM is paying school fees, let it broad based and meet all the other needs of the learners so they do not miss out from their education.

Lastly, I want to address the issue that there tends to be a discrepancy in the administration of this BEAM because the BEAM facility is provided by the Ministry of Public Service but the money is disbursed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education which has the learners. The learners are with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education but BEAM comes from the Minister of Public Service. So, I think there is great need here of these two ministries coming together because one Ministry cannot just release money, come up with the policies.

In the absence of these issues which I have talked about of monitoring and evaluation, the Ministry of Public Service do not know the problems or challenges which this scheme has. If it were possible, this money was supposed to be administered or the budget was supposed to be released to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for easy management and administration but be that as it may, we accept that the money comes from the Ministry of Public Service but administered in a different Ministry. These two ministries have to come together and ensure that they synchronies the whole process. When we are talking about the monitoring and evaluation process they have to do it together to eradicate some of these challenges we are talking about.

Mr. Speaker, I want to sincerely thank the mover of this motion and pray that it does not end here but the relevant ministries should come and hear our concerns in a view to addressing them because just debating here is another thing but the issue of trying to implement and eradicate the problems for the betterment of the education of our children is another thing. We call upon the relevant ministries to ensure that they look into the challenges we raised here so that we provide the best quality and equitable education, and have full access by all our learners.

*HON. DZUMA: I rise to also contribute to the motion raised by Hon. Sithole. I see it as an important Government initiative to assist those who are in need. It is good that Public Service is part of the programme so they can also assist these children by offering them employment. Their wish and dream was not to stop getting educated at a certain position but to proceed and achieve their dreams. I wish is that those who are into the selection of beneficiaries, may they be transparency and no corruption in their actions. Thank you.

*HON. TOGAREPI: It is my wish also to contribute to this debate. In Government’s efforts to assist those who are in need, we have bad apples within the good initiative that go on and steal from the good initiative that is being implemented by Government. There should always be an audit of this BEAM programme to make sure that the beneficiaries benefit. In order to ensure that even those who benefit unlawfully should be sentenced.

Even the teachers they should be disqualified as teachers and those who have put their relatives in these programmes should be arrested and not be allowed to work for Government again because those people are not considerate of those who are in need of the assistance. When other countries look at us, we are always on top because our Government priorities helping those in need.

Even today, when Government looks at those who are going to school, everyone should be assisting the Government to make sure that all the children attend school. It was my thinking that this BEAM programme, when we discuss the Budget, let us all stand up as Hon. Members to encourage the Minister of Finance to put more money into this programme. If we pay fees and buy the necessary things for these children, what will make them not go to school if they are given money for school fees? It is because they do not have money for other essentials like uniforms and so on. The children should feel at home and that they are part and parcel of other children because they have everything, besides fees they should have other essentials.

Hon. Sithole’s motion was very important where he mentioned that the BEAM programme should help all those in need. These children need encouragement for them to continue going to school. another issue is that in the communities that we live in, there are a lot of people from the religious circles and even politicians, chiefs, headmen and community leaders, all of them should know that at a certain school there are these children who are part of the BEAM programme. These children should be known by community leaders so that there is no corruption in the selection process with some selecting their own relatives.

The Government itself, as you know that our country is under sanctions, should have a number of these children on the BEAM programme. In the Budget that we are going to discuss, we should make sure that money goes towards this education issue to empower these people so that they become better people.

One of the most important things is that our wish as a country is that we should make sure that this money meant for BEAM, has it reached its destination. So, we are saying we should have a number of these children on the BEAM Programme.

The Budget issue that we discussed, we should make sure that money goes towards education to empower these children so that they become better people. One of the most important things is that our wish as a country is that the money allocated for BEAM should strictly be used for that specific reason.

Money allocated to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should be used explicitly for that reason so that we ensure that it reaches its intended destination. Whenever we put money into a particular project as passed in this august House, we need to have a monitoring and evaluation mechanism in order to ensure that it reaches the intended beneficiaries – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The BEAM Programme will define us as a people if we ensure that each and every child identified as a beneficiary to this education programme benefits. If we make a follow up and ensure that the intended beneficiaries have indeed benefited, we would know that as Parliament and Government, we would have had a job well done – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the debate do now adjourn.

HON. MUNETSI: I second.

Motion put and agreed to.

Debate to resume: Thursday, 15th October, 2020.

On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON. MUNETSI, the House adjourned at Eleven Minutes to Seven o’clock p.m.

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