Ministry of Transport cuts phone bill from $1.9 million to $649 a month after audit

Madam Speaker, I cannot avoid speaking about the reason why I moved to debate in this motion.  On our Order Paper, we have order number 41, that is a motion that is pending before this House, pertaining to the use of monies by ZINARA.  I want to implore upon this House to finally resolve and to avoid us the shame that Hon. Maridadi was referring to, that our descendents will spit on our graves if they ask us, ‘what we were doing when we were sitting in that Parliament and being entertained by endless reports of pilferages’, that we actually take action.  It would not be necessary to move motions to ensure that monies be taken back to local authorities.  Like even Hon. Cross has mentioned that the municipalities of Harare and Bulawayo, just as an example, are not receiving monies for the repairing of roads.

Madam Speaker, in the Constituency that I represent in Harare West, I was just speaking in Good Hope there.  If we were to go to Good Hope suburb you would be forgiven to think you are in some rural outpost in God knows where.  The residents are extremely upset, they are extremely angry.  They are having to get money out of their pockets to repair roads and yet we hear that ZINARA, in this particular report, misappropriates money, not by the pick or by the shovel, but by whole earth movers and yet the roads in our localities are gone.

Just on Friday or so, Madam Speaker, I read with sadness, the report that a headmaster from a school in Kwekwe lost his life coming from a teacher’s union meeting in Kariba when the car they were travelling in tried to avoid a pot hole, rolled and the school head was killed.  I want us, as we debate this motion and the pilfering of monies that are for roads, to remember that the cost of financial impropriatory, the cost of stealing money from taxpayers in this way results in lives being lost, apart from the Lion King Bus, but the numbers of Zimbabweans who have lost their lives perishing on the roads – is what this US$65 million prejudice costs.

Madam Speaker I want to urge that Hon. Members do resolve and unite in order to make sure that we assist the Portfolio Committee that has exposed this to indeed, take measures for once for heads to roll.  As I indicated, Madam Speaker, especially where we are told that the Permanent Secretary who was in that Ministry showed total lack of remorse and seemed to think that it is particularly okay.  I do not blame him because surely, if he can be in charge of pilfering and actually supervise over the missing of funds and not hold account, I am sure he is in his right senses to actually act like it does not matter because he has actually been promoted.  I would believe that a transfer to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development is a promotion.

It has not mattered so far, but Madam Speaker, let this House put an end to this and draw a line and have consequences visiting upon people.  Let us not continue to be numb about these issues.   Madam Speaker, I therefore end my debate by exhorting Hon. Members to indeed, finally resolve to take strident and action, as well as the Anti Corruption Commission.  What does it do, why do we have an Anti-Corruption Commission when this is corruption of the highest order?  It has become the order of the day and there are very wide powers that the Anti-Corruption Commission has to stop this kind of behavior. The next public official who flouts Government tender procedures or expenditure procedures must know that Parliament will not tolerate it and that we have better discipline.  I thank you Madam Speaker.

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