Buhera South Member of Parliament said Renewal Team leader and former Finance Minister Tendai Biti was equally to blame for the present economic crisis and likened him to a rapist who deflowers a girl then goes around degrading her because she is no longer a virgin.
“Please understand me, I am not saying Hon. Biti is a rapist but it is just a figurative speech that states that he was also responsible for the damage to the country and its economy, yet he is now blaming somebody for that,” Chinotimba said.
He was contributing to the debate on Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s mid-term fiscal policy statement. Biti brushed off the statement as feja-feja economics, insisting that people should eat what they kill.
Chinotimba said it was important for legislators to unite because they would never achieve anything if there was a tug-of-war all the time.
“We will never achieve the desired results if we are in a tug-of-war and speaking in different tongues. We are supposed to be talking in unison, we are representatives of the people and when we spent our time bickering, the people we represent are suffering. We are better off than the people in our constituencies because we are receiving some allowances as Members of Parliament but when we look at the people out there, the factories and business are closing down and people are not benefiting anything. As a result, let us speak with one voice, let us speak in unison and we will go to Britain, America and ask these countries to remove the sanctions.
“I have very high respect for Hon. Biti and I am sure if you were to send Hon. Biti and Hon. Chinotimba, we will gladly go together and you will be assured that we will succeed with Hon. Biti having that aura and stance. He left his party since he is aware of the problems which were within that party and he is now on a renewal path, crafting new ways which are going to create wealth for Zimbabweans,” Chinotimba said.
Full contribution:
*MR. CHINOTIMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for affording me the honour to make my contribution on the motion that was made by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development regarding the budget. I am very happy because I heard contributions in this House by people who just debate and leave the House before we respond to their contributions. I would have been very happy to make my contributions if Hon. Biti was in this august House as he would have been listening.
He talked about issues which really touched me. I am not blaming his whole contribution but I would have wanted to respond in his presence on some of the contributions he made. What really touched me is that, he said that from 2008 until 2013 just after elections, he said there were about 800 companies that had shut down. He made it appear as if those companies closed down because of the after effects of the elections. The truth is that I may liken Hon. Biti to a rapist who deflowers a girl and then go about degrading that woman saying that the woman is no longer a virgin and yet he was responsible for deflowering the girl.
Please understand me, I am not saying Hon. Biti is a rapist but it is just a figurative speech that states that he was also responsible for the damage to the country and its economy, yet he is now blaming somebody for that. All we know is that Hon. Biti is the one who was responsible for crafting the ZIDERA and the other hon. lady you called shabini, shabini, there, who also made a contribution during the crafting of ZIDERA which is punishing the economic strand of the country and leading to our financial growth. Now that he is a leader of a new political party, The Renewal Team¡, he is now talking about unity in the reconstruction of our country and yet he should be talking about the mistakes which he saw which were being perpetrated by the leader whom he deserted.
We had an honourable who made a contribution who said we should refrain from partisan politics, put our hands together as members of ZANU PF or MDC and pave together a way of building our country. If we do not put our hands together, how are we going to build our country? When the members of the MDC were making contributions, they were appearing as if when they move out of Government, the coffers were full of money which was then abused by the current Minister yet what we know is that when MDC was in the Government of National Unity (GNU), they helped in the acquisition of these debts. We are also told that some of the money was stolen and abused because rumours have it that, at the former Prime Minister¡¦s house, there were stacks of cash which were discovered in that house.
So we have to be factual in our debates Mr. Speaker, I need protection.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Oder, order in the House.
*MR. CHINOTIMBA: I will now talk about agriculture, it is a very important task and every one of us feeds on whatever will be produced from agriculture and we should feed on what we grow in this country. When we are talking of farms and agriculture we need to act in unison, remember I proposed that every one of us in Zimbabwe should have a field if not a farm. How can the Minister even give people the land, if we are not proposing that we work together as people of Zimbabwe?
We will never achieve the desired results if we are in a tug-of-war and speaking in different tongues. We are supposed to be talking in unison, we are representatives of the people and when we spent our time bickering, the people we represent are suffering. We are better off than the people in our constituencies because we are receiving some allowances as Members of Parliament but when we look at the people out there, the factories and business are closing down and people are not benefiting anything. As a result, let us speak with one voice, let us speak in unison and we will go to Britain, America and ask these countries to remove the sanctions.
I have a very high respect for Hon. Biti and I am sure if you were to send Hon. Biti and Hon. Chinotimba, we will gladly go together and you will be assured that we will succeed with Hon. Biti having that aura and stance. He left his party since he is aware of the problems which were within that party and he is now on a renewal path, crafting new ways which are going to create wealth for Zimbabweans.
There is a lady hon. member, who made contributions on the issue of sanitary wear and we all have wives at home. Women are asking for us to support them and therefore, they are asking for a reprieve on sanitary wear. Let us remove the duty on this sanitary wear. I am also pleading with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development that he should support Hon. Misihairabwi Mushonga in removing duty from the sanitary wear. If our women are enjoying whatever is being debated it means we will also enjoy ourselves in the homes. If your wife is sad about a certain condition of her life it means you will not also be happy.
Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga should also know that, that is not the only thing which should be removed duty, but she should also call for the removal of sanctions. When these sanctions were called for and implemented, she was part of that team and as a result, she should call for the removal of them.
I would like to say thank you to the Minister for the Mid-Term Policy Review which he brought to this House. My advice to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development; I am sorry because the Minister is not paying attention to me ¡V Mr. Speaker will say, Hon. Chinotimba, address the Chair – but I am addressing the Minister because he is supposed to respond to what I am saying. Yes, the Minister has said a lot of good things in the Budget, but in his Budget he forgot to include the payment of war veterans because to date the war veterans have not received schools fees for their children. We have always wondered what mistake we made as war veterans. We prefer a situation whereby the Minister of Finance pays out the school fees in bits and pieces so that the burden on the war veterans is lessened. At the moment the war veterans who made us to be part of this august House, who have also made us even to form new parties such as Mavambo, Dawn Kusile or the Renewal Team of the MDC-T. It is the war veterans who created this atmosphere which led to the creation of these parties and independence of belonging to any party which you want.
Therefore, let us show our form of gratitude to the war veterans by giving them what is due especially schools fees for their children. I am also proposing that there should be a Ministry of War Veterans which will look after the welfare of the war veterans so that during the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy, the war veterans will be allocated some funds. Mr. Speaker Sir, the war veterans were not included in the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review Statement, so that they can carry out their duties such as agriculture. At times the war veterans have financial challenges, so Minister, may you allocate funds to war veterans.
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