The complete debate on why Zimbabwe MPs opposed the National Competitiveness Commission Bill

We are in a mess as we speak and surely, the time has come for us to prioritise the problems bedeviling this country than dealing with the Commissions and Bills that will not resolve the bread and butter issues affecting the people. Madam Speaker, after the consultations with the people, which consultations did not have people that participated, what the Minister is doing is that he has asked us what the time is and when we tell him that the time is 9.00 o’clock, what he wants to tell us is that the time is 0900 hours. It does not work that way, never does, never will and never has.

He goes further to say the report from the Portfolio Committee where it said this NICC is going to survive on loans and gifts. We are as good as a mother who is at home and has put a pot of water on the stove and then discovers that there is no mealie-meal. She then goes to the next door to borrow mealie-meal. You do not even have enough mealie-meal to make porridge. You only have water, and that is what he has. Why is he changing the current Bill that has been there for nine years? We already have the NIPC, what is wrong with it? What he is doing is that we have this building that we have constructed and have been using all along and failed to renovate so that it sustains what we are looking for. What the Minister wants to do now is to destroy that building or leave it empty for nature to take its course and reconstruct exactly the same building.

This time what he does is that he wants to put a flat screen TV, change the curtains and have the state or art furniture, robbing Peter to pay Paul. Madam Speaker, the other issue, which is the same issue that needs to be dealt with by the NICC was covered in the Kadoma Declaration. All we need to do is to revisit our Kadoma Declaration and start implementing. We have done a lot of talking but no action. The time has come that we should stop reinventing the wheel. We have the blue prints that have solutions to these problems that we are facing. All what we do is stop putting the blue prints that we would have written in order to solve our problems in File 13. Take those blue prints and implement them. I thank you Madam Chair.

*HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I start by thanking the Minister for the motion which you have raised. In this instance, there is nothing that we have to be grateful for the Minister. My mother used to tell me not to indulge in something that is taboo. There has been a combination of bad performance by both the Minister and the Committee Chair. – [HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections.]-

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members.

*HON. MARIDADI: You are talking about the Shona term makunakuna, which talks of something which is taboo and usually related to sexual relationships between relatives, like mother and daughter.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Please talk using the language which we understand because you may end up insulting.

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