- Version
- Download 5
- File Size 279.83 KB
- File Count 1
- Create Date March 5, 2025
- Last Updated March 5, 2025
SENATE HANSARD 05 MARCH 2025 VOL 34 NO 31
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 5th March, 2025
The Senate met at Half–past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
SWITCHING OFF OF CELL PHONES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform Hon. Senators to put their gadgets on silence or better still, switch them off.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE GENDER COMMISSION FOR THE PERIOD 2023
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission for the period 2023.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 6th March, 2025.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Second order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAKAMBA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 6th March, 2025.
MOTION
LEGALISATION OF TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY
HON. SEN. CHINYANGA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House;
NOTING with grave concern the alarming rate of unsafe and illegal abortions occurring across Zimbabwe, often putting the lives of women and young girls at risk;
RECOGNISING that the criminalisation of abortion has not deterred the practice, but has instead driven this practice underground resulting in the unnecessary loss of life;
ACKNOWLEDGING that access to safe, legal abortion services is a fundamental reproductive right to young girls and women;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon the Ministry of Health and Child Care to:
(a) enact legislation that provides for appropriate safeguard and allows or legalises the termination of pregnancy during the first trimester of pregnancy in cases of unwanted pregnancy; and
(b) ensure that access to abortion services is available nationwide.
HON. SEN. RUNGANI: I second.
HON. SEN. CHINYANGA: Thank you Mr. President for awarding me the opportunity to stand before you today to open a critical debate on an issue that is not only a matter of law but also a matter of life and death for thousands of women and girls in Zimbabwe. The topic before us is the urgent need for the modernisation of our laws on abortion, specifically the reform of the Termination of Pregnancy Act [Chapter 15:10], a statute that has remained largely unchanged since the enactment in 1977.
Hon. Senators, realities facing women and girls in Zimbabwe today demand that we approach this issue with urgency, compassion and commitment to justice. The current law permits abortion only under three narrow circumstances; when the mother's life is at risk, when the foetus has severe abnormalities or when the pregnancy results from rape or incest. While these provisions were a step forward at the time of enactment, they are grossly inadequate in addressing the reproductive health challenges to our era. Let me be clear, this debate is not about promoting abortion. It is about saving lives, safeguarding public health and upholding the constitutional and human rights of women.
Our restrictive laws have forced women into clandestine and unsafe procedures with devastating consequences. The statistics paint a grim picture. Over 70,000 legal abortions are performed in Zimbabwe each year. 16% of maternal deaths are directly attributed to unsafe abortion with adolescent girls disproportionately affected. In 2014 alone, over 2,000 young girls aged 17 to 25 sought post-abortion care at Harare Hospital. The World Health Organisation estimates that between 4.7% and 13.2% of maternal death globally result from unsafe abortion - a crisis that can be prevented through legal and medical reform. These are not just numbers, these are real women and girls, mothers, daughters, sisters who are suffering, often in silence because they lack access to safe reproductive health.
Our Constitution enshrines fundamental rights that our abortion laws currently violate. Section 52 guarantees the right to bodily and psychological integrity, including reproductive rights. Section 76 guarantees the rights to health care, including reproductive health care services.
Furthermore, Zimbabwe is a signatory to international conventions, including the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, which calls for the removal of restrictive abortion laws. By failing to modernise our laws, we are not only violating our own Constitution but also standing strong on our international commitments to uphold the rights and dignity of women.
Mr. President, restrictive abortion laws disproportionately harm the most vulnerable groups in our society, namely the poor women, rural women, adolescent girls, who cannot afford to travel to jurisdictions where abortion is legal and safe. The broader socio-economic implications are profound.
Recognising a woman's right to make decisions about her body is fundamental to gender equality and human dignity.
Legalising abortion reduces maternal mortality by ensuring procedures are performed in safe and regulated environments.
When women can plan their families, they have greater opportunities to pursue education and careers contributing to national development.
Legal barriers reinforce inequality, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged women who lack access to proper medical services.
Hon. Senators, Zimbabwe can learn from two standout examples of countries that have successfully reformed their abortion laws to prioritise women's health and rights. In South Africa, the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act 1996 significantly reduced maternal death from unsafe abortion by legalising abortion on broader grounds. The law allows abortion on request up to 12 weeks and under broader consent thereafter, leading to better health outcomes for women.
Rwanda, recognising the dire consequences of unsafe
abortion, reformed its laws in 2018, expanding legal grounds for abortion and ensuring medical professionals with greater discretion to provide safe services. This reform has significantly improved access to reproductive, healthcare while reducing maternal deaths.
Mr. President, it is imperative that we take action. I urge this House to consider the following reforms:
Expand access to safe abortion.
Expand access to safe abortion - amend the Termination of Pregnancy Act to allow abortion where the physical or mental health of the women is at risk, in cases of rape, within marriage and other circumstances that recognise the realities of women's lives.
Protect adolescent girls - ensure young women have access to comprehensive family planning services, education of reproductive health and confidential healthcare services without unnecessary legal barriers.
Align with international standards - bring our laws in line with CEDAW and other international human rights frameworks to protect women's and dignity.
Strengthen public health infrastructure - Invest in reproductive health clinics, training for medical professionals and public awareness campaign to provide women with accurate information and safe options.
Engage stakeholders - Conduct national consultations with legal, medical, and human rights experts, as well as community leaders and women's rights organisations to ensure a balanced and inclusive legal framework.
As I sum up, this debate is not about ideology, it is about evidence, justice and human dignity. We cannot allow outdated laws to continue endangering the lives of women and girls. We must act with courage and conviction to reform our legal framework and bring Zimbabwe into alignment with best practices that prioritise human rights and public health. Let us arise above decisive debates and work towards a policy that ensures that no women or girls in Zimbabwe is forced to risk a life due to legal constraints.
Let us uphold our duty as legislators to protect the vulnerable, uphold our Constitution and fulfill our international obligations. I now open the floor for debate and urge all Hon. Senators to engage in this discussion with honest empathy and steadfast commitment to the health, dignity and the rights of all Zimbabweans. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Just one small piece of advice, in future please, you do not open the floor for debate. It is my job. It is me who opens the floor for debate. I am still the President here.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
POSTPONEMENT OF WORKSHOP ON THE IPEC BILL
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senators, the workshop which was supposed to unpack the IPEC Bill, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow has been postponed to a later date to be advised. Any inconveniences are sincerely regretted.
*HON. SEN. RUNGANI: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to support the motion tabled by Hon. Sen. Chinyanga talking about preserving the health of our family members and children, especially if they realise that the pregnancy they have may not be worth keeping.
I would like to say it is a very sad thing to realise that young girls are impregnated. These days it is very common as some of them are impregnated by their fathers and the pregnancy is kept. What do you call that child? We are encouraging that this House comes up with a law to allow the termination of unwanted pregnancies that are very difficult to tolerate. Mr. President, when such a calamity occurs, the pregnancy must be allowed to be terminated but we need to go and conscientise people to understand the law because of the stereotype. Some people find it very difficult to express themselves if they are impregnated by someone they do not love and then end up giving birth to that unwanted child.
Our people need to be educated because it is very difficult to keep my grandfather or uncle's child after being raped. If he rapes me or someone who is straightforward easily falls pregnant through a single encounter, there are a lot of sad things happening out there. Sometimes it can be young boys or even old people. They end up destroying young people's lives. This is because of ignorance of the law. Sometimes when people do not know, they live with that suffering. Such laws must be enacted to ensure that people live happily. If a child or a young lady is raped, it is a matter of life and death.
We should come up with laws to ensure that we solve such complicated problems. There are some countries that have their laws. We are not saying young ladies should take advantage of this law to easily fall pregnant and then resort to termination or abortion. When we were young girls, we used to fear and respect men. We were not of loose morals. You would not follow a man who just swings keys by the window.
We should teach our children because once they face this problem, it becomes difficult for them. Such a problem must be solved. What sort of child will he or she become? Even the mother will not be happy at all. So we are saying, let us come up with laws that will respect our culture. I should be able to live with a child that I love, not an unwanted one. You read in the press a lot of unbelievable stories.
We saw very young girls from Binga who were impregnated in the same home. If they were taught and if one girl would speak openly, they would open up but they are continuously raped and threatened using weapons such as knives. We should teach them in all the rural areas where we live or in schools. Let us come up with laws that empower young ladies or girls who may be impregnated to be able to terminate the pregnancy. A law must be enacted and awareness campaigns must be held.
Abortion should be done safely. These days, abortions are conducted privately by doctors. Even if you are to die, it cannot be reported. There are some doctors, be it in the high-density suburbs or in some of the major hospitals, who conduct illegal abortions. Sometimes these girls resort to using traditional herbs in the rural areas whereby the foetus ends up rotting in the womb. So, our girls must be taught good cultures and manners. I thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. SIBANDA: Thank you Mr. President Sir. I also want to thank the Hon. Senator who tabled this motion. Mr. President, the issue that has been discussed on abortion, on unwanted pregnancies, is an issue that can be a shocking issue to the community. What I know is that there is a reason why one would want to do that. It is a painful experience if you carry an unwanted pregnancy.
I know we are a Christian nation. We also have our chiefs. I humble myself before the chiefs who are present in this House. I know that when we leave this House, people will be pointing fingers at us but as a woman, I know that most of the time an unwanted pregnancy is a challenge to ladies. Mr. President of the Senate, when we take into consideration countries such as South Africa, you know that it is legal for them to do abortion but in our country, we have not legalised that. We realise that there are so many people who have carried unwanted pregnancies, some of them at a very young age and others because of rape.
We realise that even as a couple, we can say that one has been raped, for example if you had not agreed to have intimacy with your husband, at the end of the day, one can have an unwanted pregnancy. You end up having a child that was not planned and there is nothing that you can do because we do not have such a law.
There are so many women who have died because of trying to abort in an illegal way, which is not safe. At the end of the day, they lose their lives. I remember when we were growing up, there were so many girls, children and ladies who passed on while trying to abort using mefloquine and norolon tablets. If only by then our country had legalised abortion based on the conditions on how one would have fallen pregnant, for example, if one fell pregnant due to rape or other circumstances, then we could allow those people to terminate the pregnancy legally. Mr. President of the Senate, I know this might come as an embarrassment if someone was raped and out of rape, you then fall pregnant. At the end of the day, one would be called ‘first knock’, meaning that you fell pregnant the moment you were intimate.
If we take into consideration that most people who are very naughty, some of them is because of the way they were brought up. If I give an example of the background of one of the South African citizens, you realise he or she was not brought up well. He or she was born out of an unwanted pregnancy and even the parents failed to raise that child properly. You also realise that most of the murderers, some of them are because of the background and they do not know their origins. Furthermore, they do not know where they are coming from, all because of unwanted pregnancies like in the case of rape.
If someone is impregnated out of rape or such conditions, I move that such pregnancies be terminated legally. As a country, we can speak using one voice to say, if someone has been impregnated out of their wish, what we need to do is to agree that such pregnancies should be terminated. I will give an example of one lady who was raped but I have forgotten her name. She was attacked by murderers and was raped. When that lady went to report at the police station and tried to take up the issue to them, it dragged for a long time and even in the courts, they knew that the lady was pregnant due to rape.
The issue prolonged for a very long time and every day they were being told different stories up until that lady got to an advanced stage. When the doctor was supposed to work on the issue of terminating the pregnancy, he advised that it was already late to terminate that pregnancy. It is painful to women and if you look at your child, it gives you memories that your child was born out of rape.
My wish is to look at this issue and speak using one voice because most of the times, it brings bad memories, especially to women. When we look at how we have been taught and when we read around, you realise that when white people marry each other or when the boy brings an adopted child as the daughter-in-law, they will give them advice that yes, you can go ahead and marry but you are not supposed to have kids. The reason being, they do not know the background of the child, so they discourage them based on that.
Having a child with someone who does not know their background, you might have a child who will not behave well. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MBOHWA: Thank you Mr. President of the Senate for giving me this opportunity to also add my voice on this motion raised by Senator Chinyanga on legal abortion to rape victims. We are debating on this motion with a very painful heart and with a bleeding heart because we never expected that in this country, we would stand up and debate or support something that we grew up considering as witchcraft and talking about abortion but I am one of the people who used to say as long as I am alive, I will never stand up on my feet to support such a thing. Let us face reality, the law for legal abortion has always been there in Zimbabwe but its existence was very explicit. If you are raped, you should be allowed to abort legally but if you go to court, there are a lot of cases which involve women.
If I recall, there was a woman in Borrowdale who was attacked by robbers and impregnated. She reported but there was evidence that indeed showed that it was rape. The challenge is that the law failed to protect that woman. She approached the court and police many a times. The doctor said there was nothing they could do until the verdict was out yet there was clear evidence that the woman was clearly injured.
The verdict came a month before she delivered. I live with my chief and we face such problems. What do you call that child? You do not even know where the clan of that child is. It is as good as hosting a goblin in your tummy. Can you then live with that, chief? As time goes on, they forget that you were raped. So that becomes a curse on you.
We are talking about Anna Machaya who died. If the law had protected her, she would not have died because she carried a pregnancy that was clear to everyone to see but the child died while everyone was watching. A child has a special place in the tummy. Imagine a child who is nine years old giving birth. Yes, the child gave birth but the damage that was done in her tummy, in her internal organs was severe. I heard that the anus and the vagina tore and ended up becoming one part and now all the excretions just came out all at once.
I hereby kindly request, Mr. President that if there is clear evidence that a person is raped, let us come up with a one-stop-centre. The court, the police and the clinic representing for that because those are the cases that are on the rise. These days those cases are at 60%. Even if we say we come up with such a court, it means they cannot solve all those cases because of the rise of such cases.
We put a law that marriage should be 18 years. If a man realises that he has impregnated a girl before she becomes 18, they go into the backyards to try abortions. Men are trying to run away from these cases of impregnating girls below 18 so they are resorting to these unscrupulous means, even the girls and women themselves are resorting to that.
Yes, indeed, we have a culture that we need to preserve but it is causing all these problems. Indeed, because of a generational gap, we are the ones who imported other cultures from the West. Now they cannot understand or follow our cultures. Now they can watch all those people on television. If you were to meet a grade seven child, they can teach you everything about pornography. They may think that it is good not knowing what it is all about. They resort to trying to experiment. I heard that at 12 years boy can impregnate a girl. Two kids impregnating each other when the male is 14 years old. I used to think that maybe only at 18 years, a boy can impregnate but these days at 12 years. We are in serious trouble. The problem is not of the children’s making. We are responsible for that. We adopted cultures that we thought are more modern and hence, they are emulating all those things.
So we kindly request, as women, if there is clear evidence that the child has been raped, instead of trying to follow all the legal proceedings or bureaucracies, let us quickly resort to legal abortion. What can that child do? If there has been incest that has resulted in pregnancy, what can they call the offspring? In the past such offsprings would be killed because it was never allowed, it was taboo. So what can we say? What are we supposed to be saying? Can we wait for such things to result in children being born? We are not saying children should find it easy to abort. That is not the intention. Such pregnancies where it is clear that it can be dangerous, either to the mother or the child, even a small young girl impregnated by a very old man, why should that child be kept?
We beg you Mr. President, we know our culture and even religion. Anyone raped by robbers or relatives or any pregnancy that may be a danger to the mother, as long as there is evidence, abortion should be legalised. If a girl child discovers that she was impregnated by her brother, they go to Mbare for those illegal abortions because they have nothing to do.
Senate Chiefs, we are not saying let us discard our cultures. Let us imagine if this happens closer to home, if it is your child raped by a robber, what are you going to do? You will resort to those illegal abortions because you cannot tolerate as your grandchild, a child conceived out of rape from a robber. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. KATUMBA: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank Sen. Chinyanga for the motion. It is a very sad and touching motion, especially to us women. Mr. President, there are a lot of things happening out there. Adding on to what the previous speakers said, if you look at some of the children that we see on the streets suffering, it is because the mother was raped and the mother feels they cannot take care of that child. The child ends up becoming a street kid simply because the mother was raped and not prepared.
In schools, girl children are raped. Sometimes girls walk through bushes and may be raped by robbers. They are impregnated and drop out of school but that would not have been the plan for that child or the parents. Just like what other members alluded to earlier, we need to give those children and rape victims rights. It was not intentional. They need to go on with their lives according to their wishes. You find children discarded, be it in toilets or in bushes. For some, it is intentional but for others, it is because of rape. Sometimes they tie that pregnancy for nine months because they are afraid of opening up that they were raped. After giving birth, they dump the child. Why do we not allow them to abort before it leads to suffering of the child? I saw incestuous rape cases with my own eyes at a police station.
A girl was reporting that she was raped by her father’s brother and the police harassed her, yet she was a victim of that rape. If the law was effective and operating properly, perhaps such a child would be able to abort because they had been raped by their father. We see vagabonds raping them on the streets. We also see them suffering when they are children. She is not able to take care of herself and on top of that, she is given a child to look after. We are saying the law must be effective to those who have been raped because it is very sad. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator who brought this important issue. I would like to add on a few words on this issue. It is a very important issue because when we look at it, you realise that there are two cases and it is either you may lose a life or the stillborn may lose life. If we look at the law on legal abortion, there are clear circumstances that may be seen and accepted by Government. We realise that Government should expedite dealing on such cases in order for the victim to get a solution but if we realise that if that abortion is easy to get, it may also be abused.
There may be situations whereby a lady may fall pregnant but because the parents will know that, that person is not rich enough, they end up pressurising their daughter to find someone else and deny the owner of the pregnancy. If there are clear circumstances, let us ensure that it can be legalised but if there are just two people going to a doctor, the law must not allow it that easy. It must be in such a way that processes are followed.
Let us also encourage that our women and girl children follow other procedures to prevent pregnancies if they are unplanned. Sometimes when these cases are investigated, they confess that it is because of a wrong choice, yet in the beginning, they will have agreed. We end up terminating pregnancies or other good offspring. If my mother had considered that my father is poor, I would not have been here and consider that my mother does not want that pregnancy. If anyone abuses that, they must be arrested. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ZINDI: Thank you Mr. President…
Hon. Senator Nyathi having passed between the Chair and the Hon. Member speaking.
THE HON DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order!
HON. SEN. ZINDI: Thank you Mr. President. I also rise to support the motion moved by Hon. Senator Chinyanga, with the full support that this issue is long overdue for us as a country and as Government to have come up with a law that allows or legalises abortion. I am saying so because according to Derrick Matsengarwodzi’s write-up of 2024, it clearly states that the Termination of Pregnancy Act was enacted in 1977. That was before Zimbabwe was born. For us to carry on with that kind of a law which was enacted by the Rhodesians for their various interests, which to some extent, I want to take it that way, we were the labour force for the Rhodesians on their farms. This is supported by some cases that we have read in the media that some white farmers used to lock up parents in order to manufacture babies for them to continue to have labour force and generations on their farms.
For that reason, we do not know, perhaps that is why they had to enact such kind of a law. I am of the opinion that we should legalise abortion. I would further propose that it should not only be limited to victims of rape but it should be a right to each one who so feels as a woman that I cannot carry full pregnancy of this particular pregnancy. Whoever would have impregnated that person for a reason or another, it is between that woman as an individual who knows why she has got to terminate that pregnancy. I believe that it should be a right to every woman, whether raped or not. As long as I have decided that I should not carry that pregnancy, it is my right. A woman has her reasons why she would not want to carry that pregnancy.
It is not a decision that should be made on my behalf as a woman because she is the one who is on the receiving end and knows her reasons. I also fully support victims of rape that they should terminate pregnancy, inasmuch as we all agree with all those who have already contributed to this motion that we should allow or legalise abortion, I think we have all the evidence, as alluded to earlier on by other speakers about those who have carried pregnancies to full term, babies which they would not like to nurture in their homes.
Mr. President, in regards to sex education particularly to young girls, it should also involve boys as well. It takes two to tango. I cannot make a baby on my own as a woman or as a girl. Boys should also be educated. We should also have radio programmes dedicated to sexual health and reproduction, what should be done once raped and being a victim.
Mr. President, not only girls are being raped here. We also have boys who are raped. It is just that boys do not carry pregnancies but girls, the result is the pregnancy which everyone else will see as a victim of rape. It should involve both genders in terms of sexual reproductive health programmes. Let us have television programmes dedicated with clearly stated goals of what we intend to achieve to try and make the vulnerable groups understand exactly what is involved.
I also want to support what Hon. Senator Mbohwa has suggested, that we should have a one-stop shop. Immediately, I walk in to report to the police, everyone who is supposed to be involved in the whole process of resolving that matter is to be involved under one roof for the expedience of concluding such cases. We have had experiences, we read about people or victims of rape having to reach full term and the court then having to stop abortion because the baby would have already arrived at a full term to be delivered. Hence, you raise an individual whom you do not desire. We all desire to have children in our homes. If it is somebody as a result of rape, it is not desirous to raise such a human being. This is why we also end up seeing vagrants on our streets and those vagrants also ending up being rapists as well.
Therefore, we are reading cases of such incidences. In conclusion, we need whoever is responsible for enacting this law, to come to the House through you Mr. President, to respond to this motion on issues that have been demonstrated and shown by Hon. Senators who have spoken earlier than me. It is a serious matter that requires the responsible authority in terms of enacting that law or changing or repealing the 1977 law enacted by Rhodesians and aligning with the current societal status that we are faced with today. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Senator Zindi. The responsible Ministry for the motion that is being debated is the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
HON. SEN. PHULU: Thank you Mr. President. It is my pleasure to debate such an important motion. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator Chinyanga and the seconder of this motion, Hon. Senator Rungani, for bringing it in a timely manner. I will demonstrate that this motion is one which raises issues that need to be attended to urgently.
Mr. President, I could not tell you the reasons why this motion has been brought better than the way that the Hon. Senators who have spoken before me have done. They have given concrete examples that terrible things have happened and which should invoke our inquisitiveness. Each and everyone here, you know some people are pro-abortion, some are anti-abortion and I will demonstrate that this is not the issue. The issue is that all of us who are coming from different corners or different ends or the opposing sides, should look at the disaster which is being raised here.
I will point to the case that has been cited by Hon. Members who have debated. That case is called the ‘Mildred Mapingure Case’. Mildred Mapingure has been in the press. She has been to the courts and what happened is that on the 4th of April 2006, she was attacked as has been said, by robbers in her home. Mr. President, she immediately went to the police and requested to be taken to a medical practitioner. So she went to a police station. One would assume she made a report and requested to be taken to a medical practitioner. This is a victim who had been violated, abused and traumatised and she knew her rights. She knew that if this happened, she would have to go to the police.
Then from the police, she requested to be taken to a doctor. She requested to be given a prophylaxis, the medicine or the dose that should be applied within 72 hours of intercourse which would have prevented the pregnancy altogether. When she got there, the medical practitioner said, ‘I can only attend to your request if you bring a police officer’. So she had to go back to the police station. When she got there, she was told that the police officer was not there and had gone. He will probably be back after some weeks. She went back to the doctor and the doctor insisted that he would not do anything. She went to the police and the police referred her to the prosecutor. The prosecutor also gave wrong advice, says no, you have to wait for this case to go through and for this person to be convicted first, then you can come back.
Something which actually does not make sense, given that you have 72 hours, there is a small time frame to deal with this. So, the court went on and on; this happened in April. In May, she was confirmed to be pregnant and eventually she went through all the procedures. She went to the magistrates who refused to give the certificates because of this whole big misunderstanding that was there between professionals. This was a misunderstanding by people who are trained, police officers are trained in this, the doctors are trained in this, the prosecutors and the lawyers are trained. All of them failed her, the whole system failed her and the whole country failed her. I would like to say, we as Senate, we are red-handed and are dripping with blood, we failed her.
The reason why this happened is because there is an Act of Parliament in place. Our Constitution, perhaps let me start in Section 48. Section 48, the one I want is the right to life. It says everyone has the right to life. As part of that, in Subsection 3, it says an Act of Parliament must protect the lives of unborn children and that Act must provide that pregnancy may be terminated only in accordance with the law.
So, in Zimbabwe, the fact that we cannot terminate pregnancy does not arise. The Constitution says pregnancy may be terminated, but it has to be in accordance with the law. That is why we have that law. Remember our Constitution is a 2013 Constitution Mr. President. The law we have commenced on the 1st of January 1978. The Constitution is of 2013. The people of Zimbabwe have said, this is our regime that we would like to run, put a law to make sure that the unborn children are safe.
In Section 52, it also says it protects the women. It says everyone has a right, it is called the right to personal security. Every person has a right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right and then subject to other provisions of this Constitution, meaning the right to life, to make decisions concerning reproduction. So, that protects women. Do I want to keep this baby? Our law has then made these provisions, which is now why I want to zero in on the Act itself. I must just point out that it is a 1978 Act. I was born in 1976 Mr. President.
It is a 1978 law. I was two years old when that law was made. How do we expect that law to apply properly today? That is why I say as Parliament, we are culpable in Mapingure's ordeal. Why, after all this time, had we not updated that law somehow? We continue to be culpable for all those people who find themselves in her shoes. This is because as we speak today, it is happening to some lady, to some young lady or some woman somewhere. She is going to have a baby who is a product of rape or some other sexual offence.
If we do not move quickly to amend this, to make it more egregious to the courts in our country, there is a recent judgement. Women in law in Southern Africa and others, this has the Minister of Health and Child Care. The Minister of Health is the Minister responsible for that particular Act which I am going to zero in on. It has already made a finding that this law needs to be aligned to the Constitution. In many instances, it does not align to the Constitution. I will give you examples. For example, the Termination of Pregnancy Act.
When we use the terminology, I would like to invite my fellow Senators. Let us not say abortion. We are not moving for abortion. We are moving for termination of pregnancy. The Act provides for termination of pregnancy. That is the proper terminology. The Termination of Pregnancy Act says, it defines and here I am simply demonstrating that it is old. It needs to be aligned to the Constitution urgently. It defines unlawful intercourse to mean rape. And it is important because we all agree that when there is unlawful intercourse, women should be allowed responsibly, at the right time, to terminate.
However, it says unlawful intercourse means rape. Then it says other than rape within a marriage. And yet, if you go to the criminal procedure, The Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, the Criminal Code, we have since changed that position.
In another Act, to say rape now includes, if I force my wife, it is rape because there are many instances where people no longer live together in the same house. They are literally separated. One day, the man goes home and rapes her. Then you say, no, that is your wife. The law has changed. So, this Act is now actually at odds with another piece of legislation. This was the subject matter in this case that I am talking about. The court has already found that there is a problem. It urgently needs to be aligned. Sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship, is another one where this termination would be allowed, except for those people who practice cultural practices who are named in the Act. It does not include other forms of unlawful intercourse.
Let me give you an example, Mr. President. A person may be impregnated as a result of say, for instance, indecent assault or any other form of assault. There are many other crimes which are in the criminal court which have not been included here. So, if I take a syringe without raping you and impregnate you or forcibly insert a placenta, then you cannot abort and you cannot terminate. This Act really needs to be looked at and to be aligned. We submit Mr. President, that we need to move very quickly in order to bring it in alignment.
In fact, at some point during the currency of this motion, I am going to speak to the mover and the seconder and others and I am going to move to amend the motion. To reflect in this way, it is a value addition. This is because paragraph (a) says to enact legislation that provides for appropriate standards. However, we must reflect that there already is the Termination of Pregnancy Act which needs to be aligned. It is either we align that one or we repeal it and enact a new one altogether. So, I will not be removing anything but will just do value addition. I am sure the Minister is waiting for this opportunity because in court, this Act has been set aside and he cannot afford to wait without a law in place to deal with these issues. So, I am sure he will be the first one to come and offer the necessary amendments.
One of the issues in the Act is that the procedure is too difficult and tedious in that you have to report, take it to the magistrate and there are so many formalities located in different places. They all do not know what to do. The procedures needs to be streamlined. We should not criminalise the doctors who need to do emergency evacuations. The reason why this doctor in Mapingure did not want to act was because he was afraid of being arrested since there are so many penalties. Everybody is watching and he cannot do what he obviously ought to have done. The court of course censured that doctor seriously but there are so many things in that Act that made him afraid to act. These are some of the things we need to look at in detail. I am sure when the Minister comes and the Bill is finally presented, we will go into the details that need to be streamlined. I cannot do so now because there is no time. But certainly, I would like to urge Hon. Members from across the aisle, the Hon. Senator Chief Charumbira, Hon. Senator Chief Siansali and all the chiefs, to look at this matter which is affecting their people. We think adding your weight to this debate will help us as we move because it is a sensitive topic.
There is no sensitive topic we can have without our Hon. Chiefs helping us here by telling us how we can streamline this Act so that it is in accord with what everyone believes to be our culture and what we stand for. I urge Hon. Members to debate this motion fully and put my weight behind the call for the Minister to come and listen to this debate and address the House giving a way forward. Let this debate not degenerate into an abortion, anti-abortion or pro-abortion debate. It is about what we should do with the laws that we have now which are allowed by our Constitution and what we can do to prevent this continuing disaster that we see on a daily basis. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. MUNZVERENGI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to support the motion raised by Hon. Senator Chinyanga. I would like to first of all say that once a child is born and is about six months old, she gets a doll for a toy and already shows the inborn motherhood as at that tender age, she starts caring for her doll. Currently, we are losing a lot of women because of rape. They are ashamed to tell people they were raped and at times take drastic action which will result in them losing their lives. They can also look for private ways to terminate the pregnancy and at times the procedure does not go well and they die before revealing the source of where they got the medicine from. The rape may be perpetrated by a relative and even if the girl later gets married, she remains emotionally unsettled and that is when you see someone’s health deteriorating because of many thoughts going on in her head. She may think people know and scornfully laugh at her. Sometimes they even commit suicide for fear of what the community will say. We also see babies being dumped because they are born when the mother is not prepared and the man has rejected her and refused his responsibility. Mostly these will be unplanned pregnancies and that is how we see many children on the streets.
These are issues that are causing trauma to the girl child. When this law is reviewed and amended, the issue of having a one-stop-shop is very important because if all the people dealing with the issues of rape are stationed at one place, then the girl or woman is easily assisted by all concerned departments. The police and counsellors will be there doing their job to ease the mind of the affected person and make them feel protected from such harassment. One Hon. Senator referred to post-profilaxis exposure treatment meant to prevent pregnancy that can emanate from the rape. These days even fathers are lusting after their daughters and if a woman is raped by an uncle or a father, that is incest. This spirit is very bad.
Therefore, that is why we are supporting the enactment of this law to protect women as well as those who are married. Sometimes there may be protection orders, a woman may be raped by that man even if there is a peace order because they are not living in harmony. So, when this law is enacted, let us not forget that this country needs police, soldiers and nurses.
We want children but for anyone who may also open up that the pregnancy may not be unwanted, people are interviewed on why they end up deciding that they no longer want the pregnancy. Experts may concur that indeed the pregnancy should be terminated. Let us have clear procedures and come up with laws that encompass all the cases and circumstances that may be applicable to ensure that the law works effectively in its importance. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I wish to thank Hon. Senator Chinyanga for bringing forth this motion for debate in this House. Mr. President, standing here, I am standing between a very hard place and a very difficult position regarding this particular issue.
All the same, I feel that I should be able to ventilate this issue as I see it and perhaps as should be seen by the majority of Zimbabweans, particularly women who find themselves in difficult situations after getting a pregnancy which they do not want.
Mr. President, as Hon. Senator Phulu articulated, we have got a law in place and as I listened carefully to the majority of people who debated, it appeared to me that the feeling was that we do not have a law that allows termination of unwanted and unsuitable pregnancies. The law is there, enacted by - yes, the Rhodesians but we do not necessarily have to throw away everything that we find in our history on account of historical facts. Sometimes we just have to look at things and the value and pay no attention to the origins of matters on our tables.
Mr. President, according to the Termination of Pregnancies Act of 1977, termination of pregnancies is allowed under certain circumstances and conditions. Certainly, if the pregnancy arises from incest, the law allows that. It is incest. So, kana baba vakamuka shavi vakabata mwana, it is incest. If a brother does the same to a sister, it is incest. This colonial law allows that in such circumstances, termination is allowable. It is lawful.
Mr. President, the same law, I think it is section four of that law which says, if there are indications that the foetus that is in the stomach may have defects arising, leading to possibilities of difficulties at birth, that too is a situation where termination of a pregnancy is allowed. If there is a high risk that the pregnant mother might be in danger, if her health does not support the full carriage of the baby to full term, then under those circumstances, it is lawful to terminate. So, we have got a law.
The argument could be that it is too restrictive and then as a team, we have to say, how can we relax it so that it includes other matters that were not foreseen in 1977, that it can deal with new exigencies that arise post the enactment of that law so many years ago. In that respect, then I will not quarrel. My quarrel is concerning people who want to have their cake and eat it too because I think there are many other ways of making sure that you do not, in the first place, have that cake.
I understand Mr. President, that Zimbabwe has got a very high level of maternal deaths, some of them arising from all different situations but let me tell you a story about diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and the result that you get from ill diagnosis of a situation. A man says they are playing a game and they talk to each other. They say, you know fleas, they can take instructions. Let me show you. Then he asked the flea to jump. It jumps and he asked the flea to jump. It jumps again. The fifth time he tries to ask the flea to jump, it fails to jump and the conclusion is that fleas cannot jump more than five times.
However, what was happening, if there was a clear diagnosis, each time it jumped, it broke a leg. So, it broke five legs and was left with one. Once it has got one leg, it cannot jump. That is the correct diagnosis.
So here, we are saying let us open, let us get women an open check so that if for some reason they are three months pregnant and they have got a quarrel with their husband, the anger is expressed by removing the pregnancy so that if for some reason one day their moods are not right, then just go to the next facility and terminate the pregnancy. If this is what we are asking for, then we are asking for a Zimbabwe that has lost its ubuntu. A Zimbabwe that is immoral, a Zimbabwe that does not respect the sanctity of life, at what stage do we say we are now killing?
Mr. President, Zimbabwe is a country of very decent men and women. In Zimbabwe, the number of safe abortions is about one in every four abortions and you have got about nine in a thousand unsafe abortions compared to East Africa, where you have got something like 34 in every 1,000 pregnancies lead to unsafe abortions. It is a disaster. We are beginning to talk about a disaster. Here we are still very safe. I honestly do not think that we should just open the gates and cause unwanted killing of innocent unborn children.
As I was debating, as I was looking at some facts, there is also a danger of terminating a critical asset for the nation. You do not know who is inside there. Inside there could be President ED. Inside there could be Morgan Tsvangirai. Inside there could be Cecil Zvidzai. Leave him there to live his life. There could be Solani there. There could be you, Mr. President. There could be Hon. Senator Mbohwa there. We want these people to contribute productively to Zimbabwe. Lo and behold, if they decided to just terminate Hon. Senator Mbohwa, please, this Senate would just be completely dull and different. Happily, the Lord did not allow and we have got her here.
Nelson Mandela was an unwanted child and he is one of the most famous. Just imagine if the laws, the traditional laws, then allowed termination of pregnancies, there would not be any Mandela to talk about. Eleanor Roosevelt was an unwanted child. Imagine, just imagine all that. The havoc, the loss the world would have had. Steve Jobs was an unwanted child. Moses was an unwanted child - in the Bible, yes, unwanted. Look at the impact of these people on the dynamics of the world.
I therefore implore this House to move cautiously. Let us move with a lot of caution. Let us not move too fast around this because it could be a disaster – [AN HON. SENATOR: Zvakwana.] – I am going to conclude. My brother, I am a very disciplined guy. I am concluding just now with a verse in the Bible; Exodus 21 verse 22 – “And the Lord said, if two men are fighting and in the process you hurt a woman who is carrying a baby and she miscarries, that man should be punished severely”. This speaks about the value of an unborn child. I know this could arise from other influences.
*I am a Zion and we will not accept killing of people. I thank
you.
∞HON. SEN. MPANDE: Thank you for giving me this opportunity for me to add my voice debating on this issue that affects us as women. It is so sad that as women, if you lose a child after falling pregnant from a rape case or impregnated while at school and your daughter goes to an older woman or the grandmother and seeks for termination of that pregnancy because they are afraid of being embarrassed; we are losing a lot of such girl children who try to terminate those pregnancies.
We are losing a lot of girls from that rape. Sometimes they are given as little as a dollar and then they are embarrassed as a result of that pregnancy because she feels that she was raped by everyone and everyone knows about it. It is also embarrassing for the grandmother to take care of that child who does not have a legitimate father. It is so sad and you see a person who dies. I saw my grandchildren from my sister.
That girl was impregnated by a teacher in Kamativi. She approached her grandmother to terminate the pregnancy. She died in Bulawayo at Mpilo. We were so sad because she was very intelligent and she was very good at school. It is so sad Mr. President, that you lose a daughter who was very intelligent. It is so difficult for us as parents.
Some of the men actually resort to juju and are asked to sleep with their daughters. Then what becomes of that child? It is very sad and very bad. If you choose to use such juju, choose another option that does not require you to sleep with your daughter. I thank you, Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. PASIPAMIRE (CHIEF NGEZI): Thank you, Mr. President for giving me this opportunity. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator who brought up this motion. I would like to reveal another side of this story. Recently we debated on the termination of death sentence.
Now we are coming up with ways of killing again that we condemned. I think we should consider this carefully. If we agreed that killing is not good, what about these circumstances? If it is about a raped person, why do we not then allow the police and the doctors to ensure that it is legitimate; the termination becomes legitimate? If we are not careful, even the living ones will end up being killed because the people that are crying foul on this issue are women. They are accusing men of being raped, even being accused of raping mentally unstable women. This also happens to mentally unstable men being raped but those stories are not discussed. Yes indeed, as women, when you cry foul, you easily get attention but look closely to what you are resorting to doing. Is it good? The spirit of killing must be looked at closely. If you terminate a pregnancy, it is as good as killing, just like how we condemned the death sentence.
Mr. President, let us look closely if we come up with this law before we embrace it. Let us not finish people before they are born. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHINYANGA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. RUNGANI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 6th March, 2025.
MOTION
PROTECTION OF GENDER RIGHTS AND PENALTIES TO OFFENDERS FLOUTING GENDER LAWS
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the protection of gender rights.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA: I second Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 6th March, 2025.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ENQUIRY INTO THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Thematic Committee on Climate Change on the enquiry into the impact of Climate Change on Human-Wildlife Conflict induced by Climate Change in 2024.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. PHUTI: Thank you Mr. President, for affording me this opportunity to add my voice on the debate that was tabled by Hon. Senator Mupfumira.
Mr. President, first and foremost, I want to thank the Thematic Committee on Climate Change that taught me what climate change is. I used to think climate change is all about clouds or rainy season but being a Member of this Committee, I am now knowledgeable on what climate change means.
Mr. President Sir, I want to add what causes the human and wildlife conflict. So many Members who contributed before me have already said some of the points that I wanted to add. I want to add on the issue of hunting down wildlife. Way back, we used to hunt them and you would not be arrested, for example, for killing an impala or a hare. Our grandfathers used to have a specific time or it was known that in such a family, they eat meat every day but because of the new Act, you realise that during hunting times, what our grandfathers used to do was, if they come across a dangerous wildlife, they would kill it. You realise because of change of the laws, now it is not allowed to kill even a dangerous animal.
I also want to add my voice to the fact that, for example, when they were hunting impala, they would only kill the male one and leave the female one. Nowadays, anyone will kill any of those impalas, whether male or female. In our Ndebele culture, you realise that there are so many children who are born nowadays who do not even know what a hare is. For them to know that species, they have to go to Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage.
Also, why we get to hear of cases of wildlife and human conflict is because of us as human beings causing veld fires. If there are veld fires, you realise that wild animals will leave where they are staying and come closer to where human beings are staying. This includes even the dangerous wildlife.
Also, the issue of siltation in our dams, you realise that now you can come across a crocodile anywhere. For example, last week some people came across a crocodile that was not inside the dam where we know them to be staying. We have cases whereby crocodiles come even to people's houses where there are swimming pools. A crocodile is known to be always in water. It however, pains me Mr. President Sir, that our Zimbabwean law protects a crocodile more than a human being. In areas such as Lupane and Hwange, we hardly have a case of conflict between wildlife and human beings. For example, in such areas, once you kill such an animal, as a crocodile, you are arrested. Last year, when we were touring as a Committee, what I saw - yes Mr. President, it is a law that we should not kill wildlife but you realise that such an Act does not protect even the animals. For instance, we have too many elephants as compared to human beings in our country.
Elephants do not have sufficient grazing areas. They end up grazing vegetables in people's gardens. There is need, therefore Mr. President, for the Government to come up with Acts that protect human beings. We end up having cases whereby elephants end up dying because of hunger. For example, in Victoria Falls, there were people who were claiming that where they fetch water, there are elephants that come to that area to drink water. Bulawayo to Victoria Falls Road is in a bad state, you realise that this is caused by elephants as well. People including students who reside in those areas are always attacked by elephants. They no longer live in peace.
However, you realise that there is nothing and no effort is being taken by Government to avoid such. When I asked how many elephants are there in Hwange National Park, I was told that the park is supposed to have close to 40 000 elephants that can be kept there. As of now, they say they have more than 45 000. You realise that an elephant is one animal that continuously grazes. An elephant is one animal that is very dangerous, especially during its menstruation period and it does not want to be disturbed when it is moving around.
Another request that I want to put across, especially to our Government is that, if only they could put a fence around the roads so that we avoid this issue of elephants and human conflict. My request is that if only the Government could reduce the number of elephants that we have as a country.
In addition, people are requesting that we should find a way of reducing the number of elephants that we have, somewhere close to Zambia and Botswana but because of shortage of the grazing areas, they come back again to Zimbabwe. Another point that I want to add is the reason why we end up having wildlife coming to where people are is because we no longer have specific grazing areas. Way back, we used to have areas that were kept for grazing. No one would walk across there but now you realise that anyone can go and build in these grazing areas, that is what causes human-wildlife conflict. We have taken grazing areas and changed them to be our homesteads.
I heard one of the Hon. Members saying baboons and monkeys are now living together with the humans, it is not good to stay close to where baboons and monkeys are because they destroy our fields. Whilst on the matter of grazing lands, we realise that those who are into mining, they even peg in grazing areas. Most of this wildlife species want areas where there is peace and where they feel protected. Most of the time, we are mining in those areas and we intimidate them. Hence, the reason why we end up having that conflict. Mining activities also affect the grazing areas. At the end of the day, we have animals coming to where people reside. Mr. President of the Senate, these are the few words that I wanted to contribute in this motion. I thank you.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 6th March, 2025.
MOTION
OVERHAUL OF DILAPIDATED STADIA
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the deplorable sports infrastructure in the country.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MDHLURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 6th March, 2025.
On the motion of HON. SEN. GOTOTA, seconded by HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA, the Senate adjourned at Twenty-Two Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.