Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday First Lady Grace Mugabe was not donating but handing over equipment acquired by the government from Brazil but was at pains to explain why she was doing so when she is not a member of the government.
“I do not want to be impolite because if I become impolite, I would ask the Hon. Member to collect his school fees but because I do not like to be impolite, I would say that I have corrected the word donation – it is different from handing over. The equipment was handed over by the First Lady,” Mnangagwa said in response to a question by Chitungwiza North legislator Godfrey Sithole who wanted to know whether the equipment Grace was “donating” was not part of the $98 billion inputs loan from Brazil and why The First Lady was “donating” it when she is not a government official.
“I would want to explain the misunderstanding the Hon. Member has. We have equipment which we have acquired from Brazil in three phases. Part of phase 1 equipment arrived, but not all of it under phase 1 has arrived but the equipment that arrived has been allocated to the provinces. Each province has been allocated eight minimum irrigation schemes,” Mnangagwa said.
“So, each province will receive equipment for irrigation, tractors and other accessory equipment. What is happening is that the First Lady is not donating but handing over….equipment which has been delivered to particular people so that this equipment is going to be identified irrigation equipment by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.”
When pressed by Kuwadzana East Member of Parliament Nelson Chamisa to explain why The First Lady was “donating” the equipment when she is not a government official, Mnangagwa said: “It is very clear. We had the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and the First Lady. After the First Lady had done her political work, she did Government work and handed over… this irrigation equipment as allocated by the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe which is a ZANU-PF Government.”
Q & A:
HON. SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Vice, President and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Mnangagwa. It is based on recent reports that the Secretary for the Women’s League in ZANU PF has been engaging in philanthropic activities in which she was actually donating agricultural inputs to various places within the country. I would want the Hon. Vice President to assure the nation and confirm to us that these agricultural inputs have no direct relationship with the loan that we got from Brazil, the US$98billion.
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. MNANGAGWA): Hon. Speaker, I would want to explain the misunderstanding the Hon. Member has. We have equipment which we have acquired from Brazil in three phases. Part of phase 1 equipment arrived, but not all of it under phase 1 has arrived but the equipment that arrived has been allocated to the provinces. Each province has been allocated eight minimum irrigation schemes. So, each province will receive equipment for irrigation, tractors and other accessory equipment. What is happening is that the First Lady is not donating but handing over [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – equipment which has been delivered to particular people so that this equipment is going to be identified irrigation equipment by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. It does not matter, the tractor will plough, whether it has been handed over by him or by her – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. SITHOLE: Thank you. My supplementary question is; I would want the Hon. Vice President to actually explain to the House and the nation at large that in which capacity does the Secretary for Women’s League donates Government inputs, since she is not a Government official.
HON. MNANGAGWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not want to be impolite because if I become impolite, I would ask the Hon. Member to collect his school fees but because I do not like to be impolite, I would say that I have corrected the word donation – it is different from handing over. The equipment was handed over by the First Lady – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. CHAMISA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. CHAMISA: My point of order to the Hon. Vice President is to do with the clarification. It is a point of clarification. Is he insinuating that Government….
HON. SPEAKER: Is it a point of order or point of clarification?
HON. CHAMISA: It is a point of order to give a genesis. The Standing Rules and Orders provides for this.
HON. SPEAKER: Yes, but not clarification.
HON. CHAMISA: But through a point of order, I am then seeking a clarification.
HON. SPEAKER: Point of order, can you please proceed with the point of order.
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much. Hon. Vice President and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, can you elucidate and clarify to the nation and to us…
HON. SPEAKER: What is the point of order?
HON. CHAMISA: That is what I am getting at.
HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. We agreed and reminded each other that the point of order must refer to Standing Rules and Orders. So, can the hon. member be so directed?
HON. CHAMISA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. In terms of our Standing Rules and Orders that speak to issues of accountability of Vice Presidents and Ministers, I want to hear from the Hon. Vice President how a Secretary for Women’s Affairs adorned in party regalia is handing over Government resources at a party meeting? When is the Secretary for Women’s Affairs visiting the MDC to do the same?
HON. E. MNANGAGWA: It is very clear. We had the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and the First Lady. After the First Lady had done her political work, she did Government work and handed over… – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]… this irrigation equipment as allocated by the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe which is a ZANU PF Government.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. I think discipline requires that if a question has been asked, get the answer and if you do not agree with the answer, you can ask another supplementary question. So, if you are going to behave like this I will not entertain another supplementary question.
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