I have to say this as we end this Parliament that one arm of the State is not firing, that is the Executive. Unfortunately, the prerogative lies with the President. They are responsible for the policy. They are responsible for execution and we are responsible for making the laws. We have done our bit in making the laws with limited resources while they have got more resources than we have. This House passes a Budget for them to have two cars while we have one. This House passes that they have everything while we have nothing so that they can discharge their duty properly but they have failed.
We cannot end this Parliament by not talking about how the Executive has been sleeping on duty and how they have let the President down. All they are good at is going to Official Openings together. They go to State banquets, they do not miss them. They like their food and wine but they do not want to come to Parliament and respond to issues of national interest. Madam Speaker, this is something which has let the SONA become a non-event because they are not participating where they should participate. Boxes must be ticked and not only that, Parliament too has allowed them to get away with murder. This is an institution which is governed by its rules and those rules must be used. They must not be used when people feel they must be personal, raise a point of order on a Privileges Committee for Hon. Mliswa and others for a bribe attempt. That is the only thing, but in terms of contempt on the cases which are there, they have not done that. I am also disappointed that the Speaker’s Panel has not exercised its power in ensuring that people are active when it comes to work.
Let me also go to the Parliament itself, which is a beautiful Parliament. I am not worried who built it but at what cost? We are all celebrating how great the Parliament is, but at what cost? There is nothing that is beautiful that comes for free. There is no grant that is given for free. You now know that when they give it for free, they are taking Manhize which is worth USD153 million. Could we not have mined our resources and make that money to build our own? To us, let us not be excited about sitting in a Parliament which comes with a cost. There is no-one who will ever give you anything for free. In Shona they say, itsitsi dzei kubvisa mwana wemvana madzihwa? Inini munondiziva kuti handina kuroora, mukaona ndakubvisa mwana wemvana madzihwa, chii chandirikutsvaga? Ndakudaka mai vacho. Saka hazviuye mahara – [HON. MATHE: Inaudible interjection.] – Madam Speaker, the Hon. Member is being generous as my big sister by saying, ‘kana tabva panapa ndichakuratidza mukadzi wekuroora’. So I am waiting for that.
Madam Speaker, all these things are at a cost. You see the influx of foreigners coming in, they are not coming for nothing, yet they say Zimbabwe is not bad. So what bad publicity can we say we are encountering when they keep coming? Go on the Air Link which comes from South Africa at 06.30 you will see more white people than black. What are they coming to do? On the way back, you see more white people than black but those are the very same white people that are not saying good things about Zimbabwe. They are the same ones who are going about telling their friends ‘do not come to Zimbabwe’ because they are making money. They do not want others to come here.
Jump on the Air Link, why is it 06.30 in the morning and arriving at 08.00. It is because they go straight to the office and why is it that it leaves at 06.30 again back? It is because they finish work at 4, so they go and board and come back. There is a secret to it and it is never empty, it is always full. That tells you the resources that we have. To me, it is important that we bring the Indigenisation Act back. That is where I am going to. For a very long time, people did not understand. One thing that you cannot take away from the former late President, R. G. Mugabe is, he could see further than we did. He understood the mentality of white people and foreigners. He was in it for a long time. He was an accomplished Statesman, he was an accomplished historian, educated who was pro-black and believed the resources are for his people.
Continued next page
(349 VIEWS)
0 Comments