Mr. Speaker Sir, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe said that the significance of the First Session of the Ninth Parliament was that it was his first time to speak to us as Head of State and President of Zimbabwe. Secondly, this historic event ushered Zimbabwe into a new epoch of lasting peace, unity of purpose rather than myopic, unproductive political agendas. The success and development of this nation is dependent on what we do in this House supported by masses in urban and rural areas and also those in Government and the private sector.
is ExcHellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe’s address came and I quote, “at the dawn of the Second Republic,” end of quote. Mr. Speaker Sir, John. F. Kennedy, the 36th President of the United States of America said, and I quote, “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly erasing old barriers, quickly building new structures.” These were the words that were spoken by the 36th President of the United States, Mr. John F. Kennedy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, when his Excellency the President urged us as Members of Parliament to always act in national interest and preach the gospel of peace, love, harmony, tolerance and hard, honest work, his views resonated with those of J. F. Kennedy.
As we stand united by our vision to be a middle class income economy by 2030, we stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will alter the way we live, work and relate to one another, in scale, scope and complexity. This is the fourth industrial revolution.
Mr. Speaker, the First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanise production. The Second Industrial Revolution used electric power to create mass production. The Third Industrial Revolution used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century, Zimbabwe should not lag behind.
Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President emphasised that agriculture remains a key sector in the resuscitation and growth of our economy. When I went through the 2017 Annual Report of the Lands Commission, I noted that the Commission faced challenges of inadequate funding and was seriously constrained by lack of mobility. I do hope that these shortcomings will be addressed in order to bring finality and sanity to the land reform in our great country so farmers can concentrate on increasing production. Agriculture is pivotal to our national economic recovery programme.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in Chegutu East Constituency, we will forever remain indebted to His Excellency the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde Dambudzo Mnangagwa for the ground breaking ceremony he presided on the 24th July this year, heralding the beginning of mining by Karo Mining Holdings, an international platinum mining giant at Chirundazi, Msinami, Chegutu East Constituency. The investment will directly create 15 000 jobs and indirectly 75 000. In other words, 90 000 people stand to benefit.
This therefore means that in Chegutu East Constituency, we are now the direct beneficiaries of two platinum mining companies, namely Zimplats and Karo Mining Holdings. His Excellency the President is a man of action. Those of us who worked with him during the armed liberation struggle and after independence can testify.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in 2013, I had the opportunity to work with him as he gave on the sport guidance in the construction of the ZANU PF Midlands province 6.5 million dollar Convention Centre – and accomplished the task in a record time of three months. This is the character of the man.
I thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate on a motion whose content will guide us in all our future deliberations.
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