MP says if you misbehave in Chipinge we do not throw stones at you but bananas and guavas

Chipinge Central Member of Parliament Raymore Machingura says his constituency is endowed with so many fruits that if you misbehave people do not throw stones at you but fruits like bananas and guavas.

It was therefore essential to set up companies that can can the fruits or process some of them such as baobabs into medicines.

In his contribution to the President’s Speech, Machungura said Chipinge had a lot of natural resources and could benefit from the government’s new drive to attract investors.

“As people of Chipinge, we believe that we are going to benefit from this process because Chipinge has a lot of natural resources; that is where we get some baobab. We also have some people who believe that the baobab is medicinal. We may get some people who may be able to tap this natural resource into some medicinal projects,” he said.

“When you come to Chipinge and you misbehave; we do not throw stones at you but instead, we use fruits such as bananas and guavas. We believe that if we can have companies like Cairns to come to my constituency, they will open up canning factories.

“We also (have) cashew nuts, these are very popular in the market. If you can get some business people coming into the country, they will benefit. We usually sell these nuts in their shells and these are bought mainly by the Chinese. We are reliably informed that the nut is used in preparing different types of food. The shell is used in the manufacturing of furniture. Hence we are looking forward to get investors who are going to be involved in beneficiation and value addition.

“Chipinge has avocado pears and many other fruits which are growing wild in the forest. We also have some natural fruits, indigenous and the exotic, these are plenty in the country. What is needed with the avocado nuts is value addition, they simply have to be packed in containers and exported. Avocado pears can also be used in the manufacturing of oil, edible and cosmetic oil. We are very grateful for that.”

Full contribution:

*MR. MACHINGURA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution to the Presidential Speech. The President talked about aligning of laws with the new Constitution. This is a development which we have been waiting for, for quite some time because the Constitution is home grown unlike the Lancaster House Constitution which was imposed on us. This shows that the people of Zimbabwe put their heads together intelligently and charted the way they want to be ruled in the country. As a result, it is appropriate that all the existing laws which do not seem to align with the needs of the people of Zimbabwe be realigned with the Constitution and we are very grateful for that.

His Excellency also talked about attracting investors and charting ways of attracting new businesses. As people of Chipinge, we believe that we are going to benefit from this process because Chipinge has a lot of natural resources; that is where we get some baobab. We also have some people who believe that the baobab is medicinal. We may get some people who may be able to tap this natural resource into some medicinal projects.

Mr. Speaker, when you come to Chipinge and you misbehave; we do not throw stones at you but instead, we use fruits such as bananas and guavas. We believe that if we can have companies like Cairns to come to my constituency, they will open up canning factories. We also believe in cashew nuts, these are very popular in the market. If you can get some business people coming into the country, they will benefit. We usually sell these nuts in their shells and these are bought mainly by the Chinese. We are reliably informed that the nut is used in preparing different types of food. The shell is used in the manufacturing of furniture. Hence we are looking forward to get investors who are going to be involved in beneficiation and value addition.

Chipinge has avocado pears and many other fruits which are growing wild in the forest. We also have some natural fruits, indigenous and the exotic, these are plenty in the country. What is needed with the avocado nuts is value addition, they simply have to be packed in containers and exported. Avocado pears can also be used in the manufacturing of oil, edible and cosmetic oil. We are very grateful for that.

Mr. Speaker Sir, we need to change the procurement systems in the country because this is very essential. We have had that you have a company like NetOne which was complaining saying it is beaten on the market by companies such as Econet and Telecel because NetOne has to go through a rigorous process in following the tender procedures and yet these privately owned companies, like Telecel and Econet simply sail through without bureaucracy in procurement.

We also believe in that our local authorities should, also benefit from the procurement policy so that if they want to buy some goods and services, they will not go through the rigorous procurement process. We also look at the ways which should be used in protecting the workers. We have big companies in our areas such as Tanganda Tea Company, Ross Common and South Downs. These companies took advantage of the ruling which was made on the 17th July, 2015, whereby workers were fired on three months’ notice. When people have been laid off, their minds are idle and an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. So, if we align our labour laws, workers will be protected and they will be working hard.

The President talked about land. We have realised that when land is being redistributed, we have people who have been put into the A2 farms, when the farm has been turned into the A2. These people are driven out of their land. In Chipinge Central, we have people who are staying wherever they want and they are in great difficulties. Therefore, we are looking forward to getting results from the land audits so that these poor people in Chipinge may have land allocated to them. We also encourage the people who have benefited from the land reform, to use it profitably so that the country will have more food and thus, fulfill our ZIM ASSET mandate.

The President talked about ICT. I will debate on this issue looking at rural schools. We are happy because in our rural schools, we now have computers and learners can now access the ICT knowledge. Therefore, we wish if ICT development could really encourage our youngsters and make them creative so that they can easily access the internet and the Wi-Fi. When they are working on research work, they can easily access information from all the other areas and enhance their learning in their academic circles.

I will end up my debate on the War Veterans Bill. This has the intention of uniting the war veterans with the war collaborators. We have realised that the war collaborators have not been compensated financially. They are not benefitting from their contribution to the war of liberation. We hope that when this Bill is introduced in the House, we are going to support it in such a way that war collaborators will also benefit from the sweat of their endeavours. I thank you.

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