+HON. SEN. MKWEBU: I want to applaud the Minister for this very important Bill which he has brought to the House. I support the Bill and we are looking forward to it because all along only the urbanites with properties in town were being favoured in terms of loans. I support this Bill because a lot of people in the rural areas, people with livestock, who are farmers can use what they have as security to access loans from the financial sectors so as to be able to source fertilizers. Minister, I applaud you for this Bill which is very broad and catering for all Zimbabweans so that they can access loans from the banks. Thank you for your vision.
+HON. SEN. KHUMALO: I did not know that I would be speaking. A lot of people who spoke before me aired their views concerning women. Thank you Hon. Minister Chinamasa for bringing this Bill. We remember women, particularly widows and the disabled, some of them even have cars as well as livestock but they could not do anything. I was requested by some other women last week to request that they be allowed to pay for their houses cheaply after the death of their husbands. The Minister should also help so that they can get collateral for their houses. Now there is a new way for them to get collateral and that means a lot to me. Even people in rural areas can now be considered for collateral because they have their livestock which they will bring as collateral so as to access loans to expand their farming operations. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: I want to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill to this House. All these years especially in the rural areas we were facing challenges that you could have your beautiful house at the township but the house was considered as valueless because you could not use it as collateral. You could own a lot of cattle but they were not accepted because they were not immovable property, but now I think if this Bill is passed, it will be easy for us in the rural areas.
I also want to add that what is left now is for our banks that were used to the old system that if you did not have immovable property you were not credit worthy. These banks are going to be compelled by this law to accept the wealth that I have at my homestead or in my rural areas so that I will be able to get a loan to start a business. It has been said before that if we do that, it will be easy for us to start our businesses which will enable us to export. Our economy is agro based and if we are able to get loans, we will be able to farm and export our products so that our economy will grow. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. TIMVEOS: I rise to thank the Minister for bringing in this important Bill. I want clarification on that fact that our country is full of informal businesses, does this Bill include furniture items such as sofas to be used as collateral? Most informal traders have houses that have a lot of furniture but when they want to borrow, they are denied credit. Like what the Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus has said, surely if you include furniture as collateral, many women will benefit and the informal sector will be happy. On everything that you have said concerning this Bill, I want to commend you very much. I thank you.
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