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SENATE HANSARD 30 OCTOBER 2024 VOL 34 NO 09
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 30th October, 2024
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
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SERVICE
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to inform the Senate that there will be a Catholic Church Service tomorrow, 31st October, 2024 at 1200hrs in the Special Committee Room 1. All Members are invited and non- Catholic Members are also welcome.
SWITCHING OFF OF CELLPHONES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: May I remind you once again to put your gadgets on silent or better still switch them off so that we do not disturb the business of the House?
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me an opportunity to say a few words on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) that was delivered by His Excellency the President.
Overally, we want to thank the President for ably articulating Government’s processes and progress made despite the plethora of challenges. I would like to thank all Senators who have contributed to the motion.
One of the key issues which is affecting the country is the issue of the drought induced by El Nino. We want to thank Government for spearheading food deficit programmes for both urban and rural constituencies. We also applaud the issue which was highlighted by His Excellency about agro-businesses which will be established in the rural areas. It is hoped that the Government departments involved will expedite implementation of the agro-shops and that they will be equitably distributed throughout the country in all provinces and districts to ensure that the President’s vision is well realised.
The President also highlighted the issue of borehole drilling. This is a very noble project for the whole country as we are going through drought and some areas do not have sufficient water for irrigation purposes to ensure that we are food sufficient. However, the plea is that the implementing departments should ensure that it is equitably distributed to all the provinces. I remember an issue where one of the Hon. Members claimed that he had seven boreholes drilled in his constituency and yet in some of our constituencies, we have not realised that issue of borehole drilling, which is a life saving mechanism. We implore those who are implementing to ensure that it is done equitably and fairly for all the provinces.
On infrastructure development, this remains a key pillar to our economic growth. I think everything that we need, be it agriculture, roads, clinics and so forth, has to be done through equitable infrastructure development. Having gone through to Victoria Falls in particular; I hope that now some of the urgent issues have been taken care of. That road will be attended to. We are talking about increasing tourism – just from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls, it is a nightmare. We hope that when we are talking about infrastructure development, we are looking at some of the key issues like our main roads. Our main roads also facilitate business. Where there are no proper roads, it becomes expensive for the ordinary people to transport their produce or to visit. So far it has been stated that the main roads will be looked at. We have heard or read about some key roads in Midlands – I was privileged to be one of the team members who went to Midlands for Budget consultations. It was a nightmare travelling on some of the roads. It is pleasing to note that I had not read that some of the roads at Silobela and so forth are being attended to. This is what the President is talking about – infrastructure development being key to our economic growth.
It is also gratifying through the SONA that we are having more international players coming and participating, particularly in the telecommunication system. It actually makes communication easier, available and affordable for the ordinary people and we applaud Government for allowing international and other players to come and participate.
We look at the Ministry of Finance, there is an issue which His Excellency talked about – availing resources for acquisition of equipment and medicine for our Provincial, Central and District hospitals. We plead with the Ministry of Finance to look into this issue very seriously and urgently.
We know the issue of cancer now, we have little or non-cancer equipment. Cancer is one of the key causes of death in the country. We would want the Minister of Finance to take the issue of cancer very seriously. We know it has been talked about, a fund being made for cancer. I am sure all of us here have been affected individually or through family, by the menace which is brought about by cancer. Before, we used to think that cancer is for old people, elderly women and so forth. Now you find people as young as 12 years old or less are being affected by cancer and there is nothing to assist them because the equipment is not there. We need to make sure that the Ministry of Finance disburses funds. The President might talk about tele-consulting which he talked about, which is very good, meaning the President is looking at making sure that everyone even in the rural areas is able to get consultations or treatment through tele-consulting. Mr. President, for that to happen, the line Ministries must understand that without communication, it will not happen because this is supposed to be for the people in the rural areas. I refer to Kamhonde, one of the districts where I come from which I oversee. When there is no electricity, there is no network, there are no boosters. His Excellency has excellent ideas meant to leave no one behind but unless the Ministries involved also make sure that it is done, a very noble idea will come to naught. I really plead with the Minister of Finance to look at some of the issues which the President has talked about which need attention.
The issue of drugs, it is unfortunate I always refer to Prisons. I happened to visit through a social organisation which is called the Mental Institute or Mental Hospital at the Chikurubi Prisons where there are over 400 inmates. One of the nurses upon seeing me, recognised that whilst I had come with a church organisation, I was a Parliamentarian. She came crying saying they do not even have one single drug for these people. They are mentally challenged and they are living with the nurses and the Prison officers who are at risk because the people do not have any medicine which deals with a mentally challenged people. I am saying in the budget, I am not talking about Chikurubi only, most of the hospitals do not have adequate medicines. You will get a prescription to go and buy the medicine, maybe you do not even have the money to buy the medicine. So, what the President is talking about has to be taken seriously by the implementers to make sure that his vision is realised because if there are no medicines when there are 400 men in prison, being in prison does not mean you are not ordinary, you remain Zimbabwean and you are entitled to what you are supposed to be given and for all those men, no medicine at all. It is very stressing and I hope the Minister of Finance, when he is doing his budget, will ensure that what the President said in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) will be implemented. Otherwise the President will talk about the same issues in the next SONA, meaning we are letting the President down by not implementing what he would have requested and what he sees as the vision for Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe we want.
Listening also to the State of the Nation Address, I feel we as Parliament have not done justice to the first legislative agenda which was given in the first SONA at the opening of the Tenth Parliament. Of the 52 Bills proposed, only one was passed and enacted before the end of the first session. What do we feel as legislators? The Constitution that is before us enables us to make sure that in terms of Section 107, we must make and amend laws. Some key laws leave us subject to external sanctions. I will name one the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill which if not passed before 31 December, will create problems when International Air Transport Association (AITA) comes to audit next January. In the last SONA, his Excellency also talked about some Bills which were supposed to come before us. I will just mention two, the Wildlife Act, the amendment. I am happy at least it is somewhere in the papers, but we did not deliver what we were supposed to deliver in the first session. We also have the Climate Change Bill. We are having an interest in that, I have not seen it in the papers here. I know some work has been done but all I am saying is whilst we can say the Ministries are not pushing enough, we are the legislators, we should ensure through our committees, oversight role to the various Ministries. I am saying all of us are to blame because we are not exercising our oversight roles. We are supposed to push the Ministries which are under our oversight role to ensure that they do what has been asked by the President and the nation also. After listening to the President’s address, they expect us to deliver. We as Parliamentarians have failed the nation by not making sure that what His Excellency requested us to do has been done.
Mr. President, most of the issues have been discussed by other people. I will leave a chance for others to debate but I want to end up by thanking His Excellency, the President for assuming the Chairmanship of SADC and I want to thank the President and us as a country for executing the 44th SADC meeting so well that we have had positive comments from all over and even us as Parliamentarians, we are enjoying some of the benefits of the preparations for the SADC role. Now, I think being Chair of SADC, the world or the region expects more from us and I hope we all work hard to ensure that our leadership as Chair of SADC yields better results and builds cohesion between the neighbouring countries and other countries.
I want to thank and congratulate His Excellency in the first place and Zimbabwe as a whole for leading SADC through the Chairmanship of the President. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you very much Hon. Senator Mupfumira for that debate which you have just contributed. Allow me to make two comments. You have made a very good point about the importance of the legislature to pass the Bills which are normally read out by His Excellency the President, sadly on this particular issue, as Parliament we cannot take the lead in bringing the Bills to Parliament. It is the Executive which has to bring those Bills here and I think we made noises during the First session that the Executive is failing us. We cannot make any laws unless we have a Minister who stands there and reads out the Bill and we go through the process – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – I just want to make the record straight.
Secondly, Hon. Senator Mupfumira made a very valid and important point about the Civil Aviation Bill which, if we do not attend to by December, it will have serious consequences on our Aviation. I comment you Hon. Senator Mupfumira for that. I have just been told that on Saturday, this Bill was finally gazetted in the Extra Ordinary Government Gazette on Saturday and it is waiting to be presented to the National Assembly. Thank you for your alertness and pointing this out. It shows that you are doing some reading and you are up to the level required to be a law maker. Well done Hon. Senator Mupfumira - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. SEN. MLOTSHWA: Thank you Mr. President. After all the praises to Hon. Senator Mupfumira, I feel like taking a seat back but unfortunately, I had prepared for the debate.
Today I stand before you to respond to the recently delivered State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, the President. As we dissect the challenges facing our nation, it is imperative to acknowledge the persistent threats posed by the El Nino induced droughts that have long been familiar to our southern region. These droughts are not new. They are a harsh reality, we have lived through before yet time and again, we find ourselves unprepared for their consequences. The southern region should have been a prototype to the country on how we face drought challenges because our region is a dry region and we have no water. We should have been prepared and ensure the rest of the nation how we should preserve and harvest as much water as we can from the little that we get.
As representatives of the people, it is our duty to ensure that we are proactive rather than reactive. The farmers in our region work tirelessly, but they do so while burdened by lack of adequate infrastructure. The infrastructure development that we frequently read about in the newspapers remain largely theoretical for many of our communities. Where are the roads, irrigations system and support mechanisms to withstand the trials posed by nature?
As I speak, we have a water crisis in Bulawayo because we are never prepared. Lower Ncema has been decommissioned, Upper Ncema has been decommissioned, Umzingwane has been decommissioned, the only water body that we are left with is Mtshabezi and at Mtshabezi, there is no pipe system to take the water to Bulawayo. We should have been prepared for this El Nino.
We cannot sit idle and watch our fellow citizens, especially in rural areas suffer the repercussions of neglect and inaction. In the whole of Matabeleland, if we had enough dams, we could have been irrigating our own crops. As I left home on Sunday, my neighbour’s cattle had died and it is just a mess. Additionally, let us take a moment to reflect on the vast mineral wealth that our nation is blessed with. It is a tragic irony that while we are in a rich natural resource, these very blessings often lead to great strife rather than prosperity. Our minerals should be a source of strength that uplifts all Zimbabweans, yet reality is that they have become a catalyst to conflict and inequality. We must ask ourselves how is it possible that our Government is allowing substantial revenue to flow out of Zimbabwe without reinvesting it in our people and infrastructure.
Where I come from, we are endowed with minerals. In Matopo, Mangwe, Ngwizi or Gwanda South where there is lithium, we are creating very rich individuals, some of which we do not know yet, the communities are very poor. These minerals should be promoting the locals and making sure that we have enough infrastructure in our local area. The Government cannot let the people become rich when the country is poor.
Every dollar extracted from our land should contribute to the betterment of our society. The question remains, why we are not seeing more of equitable distribution of our nation’s wealth? Why are rich resources that lie beneath our feet not translating into tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans? We cannot allow our mineral wealth to be a source of division or a cause of despair. We need accountability and a commitment to harness these resources wisely and justly. As we move forward, I suggest that Government acknowledges the lessons of the past, let us hit the reset button and begin the long-awaited journey towards preparation, accountability and equitable distribution of resources. We must engage our communities, listen to their concerns and ensure that our policies not only address the symptoms of our challenges but also the root causes.
In conclusion, let us work together across party lines and with the guidance of our citizens to forge a future where natural wealth is a unifying force that propels us towards prosperity and to a future where no Zimbabwean is left behind. 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, 31st October, 2024.
MOTION
EQUIPPING OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS TO ENSURE COMMUNITIES PRACTICE, PRESERVE AND RESPECT CULTURAL PRACTICES
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the erosion of cultural and our traditional values by western influence.
Question again proposed.
∞HON. SEN. FANUEL: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to debate in Tonga. A white man and a black person are both human beings. What is making us black people follow the western culture leaving our traditional life is because when the whites came here, we went to work for them, giving respect even to the children of the whites. When we got civilised, we realised that we should follow our culture for us to live well within the universe.
In Binga, we have hot springs where our rainmaker Maalila could go to worship to the Hot Springs and when we go back home, the rains would fall. These days we are no longer doing rain making ceremonies, we have forgotten how the rain making process is done. There should be a designated day when people can go for rain making ceremony, when our chiefs will call everyone in our areas to attend this ceremony without going to the farms. If there is no water, people will die in hospitals, children will not go to school and cows are dying in the communities, hence there is need for this organised day for rain making ceremony.
All the dams that we are naming, such as Ncema and Shangani Dams, are still dry for some years now because we are not dedicating a single day for rain making ceremony as per our culture. Anyone who goes against that set law should be arrested. I therefore, encourage that we re-organise ourselves to re-affirm our tradition and culture because we are still following western culture, but now we should go back to our culture and people should know that. Chiefs were given powers to preside over the communities and assist in guiding these communities to live well.
In schools, it is stated that every child should learn his or her language from ECD to grade two, after which he or she can learn other languages like English to enable him to converse with other people. A situation where we have a teacher who cannot speak the learner’s language but is made to teach that child, is another way of misleading children in terms of their cultures because the teacher will just get into the class and start speaking in English with an ECD learner. The child literally learns nothing.
There is the issue of lesbianism and gayism, where people of the same sex are marrying each other, which is against our culture and laws of the country. We should not follow the western culture because these are things that are against our cultures as black people. We should follow our President who says each language should be taught at the area where it is spoken because it is different from each community. In other areas you say a young brother is the one who inherit chieftainship. In Binga, a nephew is the one who inherits the chieftainship. We should therefore, not assume that since what you know as someone from Harare, will be applicable in our area or start arguing that it should also work out similarly in our area. It would not because the areas are different, so as the culture and the language. I would like to thank Hon. Senator Wunganayi for bringing up this motion. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I did not hear anything. Clerks, will you ensure that interpreters are available because for me, I have wasted the input which was coming from Hon. Senator Fanuel. It is unfair on her and the rest of us.
*HON. GWATURE: Thank you Mr. President for giving the opportunity to add my voice on the motion that was raised by Hon. Senator Wunganayi. Indeed, there is a lot of difference between the past and now. There is a lot that we have lost, especially on the younger generation, particularly, drug and substance abuse, the way they are busing. In the past, younger people were not allowed to drink. They were observing the rules and laws but now those laws have since changed. They are now taking substances that intoxicate them, yet we expect them to be the leaders of tomorrow, that is why we call them using their totems.
When we use or board buses, in the past younger people would stand up to let the elderly sit but these days, they shut their ears using earphones and they will simply look at you without hearing anything. It is because they use those earphones to plug their ears. So, we are losing a lot in terms of culture. We are to blame because we are the ones who are causing the loss of some of the practices. When it comes to funerals, I remember when I was young and there was a funeral at the neighbours, we were locked up inside the house and they ensured that we would not go out. These days, young people or children are sent to fetch water and perform chores at a funeral. These days, young people or children are going to collect bodies from mortuaries, which was never heard of in the past. In the past, only the elderly would do that. These days our lives are different from what it used to be. We are the ones who are changing our culture. Zimbabwe was a much respected country. Even if you were to go to Mozambique, you would be respected, the moment you mention that you are from Zimbabwe, all nations knew that the people from Zimbabwe are cultured but right now, this country has lost a lot of respect.
On the roads, the way children are dressing. You would wonder whether that child lives with parents. Even young adults their dressing is pathetic. I think the laws must ensure that there is proper dress code in order to control young women and girl so that their bodies are not exposed. They end up accusing people of raping them but they forget that they are the ones who are luring men. You end up saying men are dating under aged girls but do you look at how they are dressed. There are a lot of body parts that appeal to men and those girls know that very much. They know that if they expose themselves, be it the chest or the legs, they seek to attract the attention of men. That is actually affecting our culture. It does not mean that if you put on a dress that is long enough to cover your knees, you are no longer a woman. If my head is covered, people question where I come from. We are really affected by this. I thank you.
∞HON. MUPANDE: Thank you for giving me this opportunity Mr. President. I am debating on climate change. We are the ones who are causing climate change because of breaking the traditional rules. Where I come from in Binga, on Thursday, you were not allowed to work in the fields so you would harvest in advance. If you were to go to harvest, be it water melons on the fields on Thursday, you would meet a baboon that would collect all the melons or crops that you would have harvested. That baboon, if you were to look back, you would find it looking at you and the baboon would ask you who gave you permission to harvest on Thursday. You would just shiver and not understand. Even if you tried to advance, you would still meet the baboon ahead of you. The question would still be posed, why you would have gone into the fields on Thursday. That is the reason why the young generation has lost respect because even us the mothers, we are just behaving anyhow.
That is why it is no longer raining and climate change is affecting us. If I were to meet the whites or clients trying to visit the hot springs, yes, the hot springs are there, the water is boiling but a young child would run to inform the Chief that we have clients visiting the hot springs. When they get there, they break the rules that they are supposed to observe but when it comes to the rain time, you would only observe the rains far away and not coming to you. The spirits will be angry with you because you would have invited clients or the whites to visit those sacred areas. This is because you would have broken those traditional or Tonga rules. In the, past younger people would respect the elderly but today younger children do not respect the elderly. They actually call you by name, to the extent of calling you Simon, what are you doing? You do not respect me. That shows disrespect, the elderly must be respected. If it is a male, you should refer to them as the father and the female as the mother. If there is no respect, it shows that the child is very uncouth.
The second thing, I come to the Binga Road. It has a lot of potholes and we are actually going to fish in those potholes. What we are waiting for is fish, yet that road is the one that is a source of income for us. They go to the Zambezi River for tourism, forests and other tourist attractions. That road is our source of livelihood and we are going to lose out a lot in terms of income. Now vehicles have to use the side roads because the road is in a very bad state. I thank you.
+HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Mr. President for the opportunity that you have given to me. My view on the culture issues that have been degraded is that people are now adopting western cultures. They are now looking down on our culture, despising it. There are a lot of things that have gone wrong in this country. This is a very special country endowed with resources and leaders who are able to lead. But now we are allowing some other laws that reverse matters related to our culture. We were raised up under this culture. I heard yesterday someone saying that they went to fight for the country. They fought for the country, they did not fight so that the western cultures are adopted here.
They fought that we should live in accordance with our values and cultures. It was never agreed after the war that there should be people who come here and destroy our culture. There will be another war more than the liberation struggle because people will be trying to reset their culture which has been destroyed by western influence. For example, in mines, gold was there because it was always there. But because of our culture, there were certain things that were done. No one feared to go into the mines, people would not die in those mines. But right now, because of violations that have led people who have more wealth, they would not have gained their wealth through the proper channels. You find that people go into the mine and put some charms there, it is not our culture. However, because of the way things are being done, it is a challenge.
I challenge the traditional leaders of this country because their leadership did not just come from nowhere. It is something that came far back. Our traditional leaders should go back to the basics of our elders. If there is a place which is not supposed to be entered into, the traditional leaders would be asked about that matter. Regardless of the richness of the people, the traditional leader would guide the person in accordance to our culture, how to organise things. Now they just come to the traditional leaders with papers. People are now usurping our wealth. I would like to remind our traditional leaders, it is okay they are now putting on suits when coming here to Parliament. They should be coming here putting on our traditional regalia so that we respect them. Now they are putting on suits, they do not have time to think of our traditions and culture. But you find that behind these traditional leaders, we have kraal heads who now give people stands close to the river. How can we keep the order? I want everyone to listen carefully. I hear some people alleging that they did not hear anything. I want everyone to hear what I am saying. On our culture, we should go back to the basics. There are many things that have been said and if you combine and mix everything, would we continue challenging our traditional leaders that they should go back to basics and address these matters?
If girls are not allowed to move around not properly dressed, why would a chief say to the girl not properly dressed come inside. Why are you doing that and what are you teaching us? As we are saying this, are you training the people? We are saying to kraal heads and traditional leaders, children are aborting and they are marrying each other because they are not being conscientised by their aunts and elders. Fathers are now abusing their children. That is wrong for a leader. Let us go back to the basics of our culture.
Yesterday but one, I passed through the Silobela Road. We expect that road to be rehabilitated so as to open tourism to us. There is an area that was reserved for people to do farming. There is a special farm which has been there since our childhood, but now people have gone there and they have started mining on that area. You wonder where they are taking the resources that they are mining. I am not the only one who passes through that road but there are three other chiefs who pass through there and I phone them. The way Silobela is structured, where will they put the detour when rehabilitating the roads since there are heaps of soil? If you look into it closely, there are Chinese involved, which means we do not know what is happening. For the increased good will of the people, the traditional leaders should get out of politics as it has destroyed our chiefs. If you are not a member of the chief’s party, will he give me mealie-meal? Now children are going into prostitution because they are being left behind. Traditional leaders should go back to the basics. The department of culture should stand on its feet and not on its hands and raise its head. We want our culture and norms back and attended to properly so that we all know how we should live. People are saying it is enough, meaning they have heard me and I will comply with that. Let me say once again - let us go back to our basics. For mining to yield something, there are rituals which were done led by the traditional leaders? So, it is important to go back to basics. I thank you.
*HON. SEN CHIEF BUNGU: Thank you Mr. President. Let me start by thanking Hon. Senator Wunganayi for his motion and those who are debating the motion. Honestly speaking, His Excellency chants the mantra nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. I am not sure if everyone understands the meaning of this mantra. Nobody was born to suffer in this country. Do they understand the meaning of the statement? We cannot just rush and celebrate something that we do not fully understand but what is important is for us to understand first. The same applies to this motion. The headache is not the problem but what is important is the root cause of the problem. A country without laws and culture cannot understand and follow the mantra, nyika inotongwa nevene vayo, yogonamatigwa nevene vayo, inorimirwa nevene vayo. Who are those being called the owners? It is us the chiefs. Now our youngsters have moved from the culture of their forefathers.
I feel pity that today we are aggrieved by our children but the elderly used to say just wait and ensure that you take note of the elderly’s sayings. Now, people are walking half naked, boys put on lots of pants that are dropped and fathers no longer respect their wives. Why is that so? People are misguided in our culture, ethics and identity. All those are being caused by how we moved from our culture and ethics. God created this country and we got a language and a way of living and behaving. As the elderly, we are now misguiding youngsters. A writer wrote a book titled, ‘Ziva Kwawakabva’ but all these things have gone to the dogs. Why? Simply because we are now imitating other people’s culture which we do not even know and we are starting from the current behaviour which has led us to be people who are actually nowhere. Even us, the custodians of culture; we are now misguided. We no longer know what we are doing. We no longer know how to control the nation.
I would like to thank the First Lady who is going nationwide, trying to teach people on what is that we have to do in our culture as the custodians of this culture. Let us go back to the drawing board. The old people who are in here all learnt and we grew up knowing the ethics of this country – be it Tonga, Ndebele, Korekore, Ndau or Maungwe, but all those people became people who grew up taking care of themselves. Right now, we no longer have ethics, we are lost in our ethics. We would like to thank Hon. Senator Wunganayi who brought this motion to say let us go back to the drawing board or where we came from. Only those things can make this country come back where we came from.
There is a phrase which says, ‘catch them young’ – where do we catch these youngsters? They are now living horrible ways of life. In the past, killing each other was unheard of. These days you cannot spend a day without hearing that a mother was murdered by her child because she declined sleeping with her child and the child attacked her. These youngsters simply take an axe or weapons and attack. We no longer have value for life.
We should know where we came from. Let us all go back to the drawing board so that we can take care of our country. Youngsters, you should understand what you are taught. There is an idiom which says, ‘muchadzoka’. I have a dog called Muchadzoka. When they come back, let us try to accommodate them as parents and people who know what is affecting these youngsters. What is the problem amongst the parents? When we grew up, we were assigned by adults or summoned to the shops and we would do that gladly though it was a distance like from here to Westgate. We never complained or argued. We just complied. We would be given another chore after this and we would proceed. After that we could then come and get our meal. These youngsters of today, if you send them somewhere, they would ask, do you not have your own children? If you cannot have your own children, go and adopt so that you can send them. This shows how much this country has gone wild.
Even if I take a whip to discipline my child, here in this august House; legislators agreed to have a law which says I should not beat my child or I face arrest. What are we doing as a nation if we make such laws that make these youngsters go against their elders? Children are now standing up and saying they have their rights.
At some homesteads, you see a girl child half naked. The father is busy reading a newspaper or he is on the cellphone and the mother also is on her cellphone; there is nobody who is looking after the children. When the uncle (father’s brother) visits, the mother says go and put on a wrapper or long dress because your uncle is here. What about the father that is around? This shows that we have failed as parents to control our children.
With this motion, let us all go back to the drawing board – for all the elderly or parents, we are simply pointing fingers to those children saying they are taking drugs. If we trace it back, it is us the elders who are giving children these toxic things. In our culture, we say, ‘ndomene haichemedzi’. We started all this. Let us feel the pain. Let us unite and go back to control our children so that they come back to our culture.
As Chiefs, we are no longer respected. If you say anything, they respond to you as if they are talking to a toddler. Where is our culture of respecting Chiefs and elders who are taken as the custodians of God’s word which will then be disseminated to the people for the country to remain in peace. Right now, the rain season is approaching. We need certain rituals so that rain comes in a very calm way such that it will not bring us sickness or any other problems to human lives. If we speak to such, they would say these old model people are so barbaric but we are simply trying to teach people to say God spoke to all those people who read his word. He was there yesterday, today and forever. All what he did with your parents, he will never change.
What is it that is making the whole country change? Today for me to visit your homestead Mr. President Sir, the first question which will be asked to me is, do you have an appointment to come to my house? Which culture is that? We used to note that you could visit, they could welcome us even if you stay there for four to five days, they could take you with enough respect. Right now if you spend two days, then those youngsters will start to play with those dirty feet on your trousers and if you are given a plate of food, the child will place it down for you to feel offended and then leave the place. Even if you ask the elders in that house, they would say that is his behavior.
We no longer have order as a country. We used to know that culture united families. Children used to visit their aunties having those few words of a little bit of coaching but for today Mr. President, if you go to a rural area right now at your age, they will simply say there comes a witch. There comes a wizard. Everybody who is white headed is a witch or a wizard. Whoever becomes old, they will simply say this is the person who is killing others. Those are the words which we are teaching our children and wives. The unity that we used to have as families is no longer there. Why? It is simply because we no longer follow our culture. I would like to support this motion which was raised by Hon. Senator Muzoda, it must not only be like a dog that sweats without one noticing it. Let, us all keep on maintaining our culture. I thank you.
HON. SEN. PHULU: Mr. President, I rise in support of the motion of cultural preservation. I think it is a very important motion that we should not ignore or sideline. In fact, it raises very important themes which could help us cutting across all the work that we do in this House. I have observed that in this House, many a times, we get excited by a lot of the pronouncements and international conventions and treaties that we embrace as minimum international standards. Sometimes we embrace a lot of practices and the things that actually harm us without realising it because our minds are shaped to accept that anything western is good for us.
We are shaped to reject anything that is ours as demonic and we know that sometimes we get that from many various books. One book in particular, we get that from the missionaries who had a mandate to teach us that western things are good but African dresses, African names and African forefathers are evil. We need to start to turn from that manner of thinking now that we are able to stand on our own feet. We are able to read, write, understand, articulate ourselves and we now own the institutions that articulate ideas such as Parliament. Perhaps we need to re-visit how we also approach these issues.
Before I proceed Mr. President, I noticed that we have referred to the motion of Hon. Senator Wunganayi and he himself sits here and accepts and forgets that he is Hon. Senator Muzoda and that is a breach of Rule 97 which says that an Hon. Member must be referred to as Hon. Senator, Mr. Ms. and then giving his surname not his first name. I think it is an oversight and I would like to invite those from the Journals to take note to correct that because I have seen it going on and on variously. He himself does not object. I would call upon him to object in future.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order! You mean Hon. Senator Wunganayi is not his surname?
HON. SEN. MUZODA: Sorry Mr. President Wunganayi and Muzoda are my surnames. My name is Tapfumaneyi.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Senator Phulu. Thank you for that clarification. He has two surnames.
HON. SEN. PHULU: I rise to support Hon. Senator Wunganayi regarding the urgent need to preserve and promote our cultural heritage in Zimbabwe. We are all deeply disturbed by the rapid demoralisation of our culture due to this overwhelming western influence that threatens to erode our values and norms that have defined us for generations. It is crucial to recognise that the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe already provides a robust framework to address these concerns Mr. President. Section 63 provides for a right to language and culture which obviously means that we need to pay more attention to our languages, our culture.
We now have mechanisms of compelling our institutions to put in place mechanisms to ensure that people can articulate things, speak in their language and also receive information in their language, even in this Parliament, I notice we have the headphones, we have provisions for the interpreters. We need to do better in that regard because our languages are what carries our cultural DNA, our cultural aspirations and so forth. Section 13, emphasises the right to participate in the cultural lives of our community and stresses the importance of cultural diversity. This constitutional provision lays the ground work for protecting and promoting our local cultures.
As it acknowledges the intrinsic value of our traditions and practices, it is not merely a call to action. It is a constitutional mandate and I think that the Hon. Senator Wunganayi was moving along this road in making this proposition. I am merely expressing it and in also technical terms and also pointing out to the House that there is a constitutional foundation for this motion that he has put forward.
Scholars have articulated the right to development as a fundamental human right that encompasses the ability of individuals and communities to participate in and benefit from their cultural heritage. In other words, the right to development also now recognises, in fact, it is how we conceive development which is an issue as Africans. We have been told what development means. If you get to a vast piece of land, if there is no building which has no modern building on it, there is no modern road on it and people do not speak English, then that place is under developed. So, we think that development means mimicking the shapes of westernisation. Sometimes we forget that a man wearing his traditional attire, eating traditionally and choosing to leave traditionally like those communities who are nomadic, the San, simple, as they are un-updated by modern contraptions, they are developed. Sometimes development means understanding yourself. Knowing who you are might mean that you are more developed than a person who has been told to merely parrot other people’s languages and cultures. That is development and we need to start to teach ourselves to understand development differently.
The right to development is integrally linked to cultural identity. It allows for the promotion of local cultures while emphasising the importance of respecting and valuing our traditions. We have a duty not just to preserve our culture but to ensure that it is flourishing as it is a corner stone of our national identity. The right to development empowers us to reclaim our narratives, ensuring that our stories, arts, music and customs are celebrated rather than diminished. By investing in cultural preservation and promotion we protect the very essence of who we are as Zimbabweans, allowing local cultures to thrive and evolve in their unique context.
I applaud the critical role that traditional leadership plays in safeguarding our cultural heritage. Traditional leaders as custodians of our customs and values must be adequately equipped and supported to fulfill this essential role. Government must spend a budget to ensure that they should be able to pursue any courses and seminars that will help them understand their role in this modern context. But also do the same in order to impart in their communities and teach Zimbabweans what they understand to be their role in this modern community and to articulate how they want to play their roles as traditional leaders in this context.
The Traditional Leaders Act and our legislation governing issues like land – local authorities must seriously embrace the roles that traditional leaders may play in order to assist. In fact, it already happens. I saw that if you look at the Act dealing with disaster management, they say one of the front lines of managing disaster is traditional leaders. So, we already know that they may be useful for us in various situations but we must not reduce them to certain instances that we pick and choose. We must find a broader and impactful role that we can conceptualise and legislate them into relevance and allow them to lead us in ensuring that we shape our cultural destination in this century. We need to give them the resources necessary to engage their communities actively in the practice, preservation and respect of our rich cultural heritage.
Furthermore, we must confront and counter the narratives propagated by some segments of our population that seek to demonise our cultural values as backwards and uncivilised. We need to do this in a sensitive way by respecting each other’s right to religion. Many a times we want to respect right to religion and limit it to the context of churches but we need to find a way to counter balance that with who we are so that we realise that inasmuch as we are Christians, we are Africans first and we have our cultural and traditional identity in our background. Whilst we might put certain religious practices, we must be careful not to unduly demonise wholesomely our civilisation and our cultures as backwards and uncivilised. Such attitudes do not only undermine our sense of identity but inflict psychological harm on our communities that have stood proud in their cultural expressions for centuries.
Instead, allowing these negative portrayals to gain tractions, we must champion the richness of our cultures presenting them as sources of strength, resilience and unity. There is a call to action in the motion presented by Hon. Senator Muzoda, which implores traditional leaders to conduct traditional and ancestral appeasement ceremonies without fail. I would submit that, that is sensible but we need to decide how we balance that with the fact that some are Christians, some are traditional and some are cultural. These are difficult things to achieve but that does not mean that we cannot have engagements on these issues.
This motion is not just about preservation, it is about revitalisation. It is about weaving our cultural heritage into the fabric of our everyday lives making it inseparable from our identities as Zimbabweans. We hope that our institutions such as superior courts particularly our Constitutional Court become alive to these issues in pronouncing certain decisions. I have seen for example in South Africa, I saw a recent court decision that they were talking about where they have said a man has a right to take his wife’s name. That is a decision of the superior court. It is an interesting yet controversial decision. I do not know what you will do faced with that question in our courts.
We are saying our Constitutional Court as an institution should become alive to values of its society in making its pronouncements. It is very interesting Mr. President. Even with our legislation – for example we have our Mining Act, which might come to this House one day, it says the minerals below the ground are more important than the meagre ones on the ground. That means that if you identify minerals in a community, you can take the blacks and throw them away and take the minerals. It is understandable why it was like that. The colonisers were exploitative. They wanted the gold in order to go and build London. We come in at Independence and took over the laws, we are still pushing the same narrative. The blacks on the ground and their cultures are less important and are of less value to us. That is why we can move them wholesale and throw them away and dig for the minerals.
We need to change that mindset even in this House. Whenever we come across a Bill or a law that proposes such a thing, we must question it intensely and find if there are no other ways of achieving the object of getting the money. We must never let money become more important than our values.
In conclusion, I urge this House to support the motion wholeheartedly. Let us harness the provisions inherent in our Constitution and the principles of the right to development to promote and preserve our local cultures in Zimbabwe. Together we can foster a society that is not only proud of its cultural heritage but also empowered to share it with the world.
HON. SEN. MUZODA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. RITTA NDLOVU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 30th October 2024.
On the motion of HON. SEN. GOTORA, seconded by HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA, the Senate adjourned at Ten Minutes Past Four O’clock, p.m.