Why Zimbabweans are poor- Khupe

HON. DR. KHUPE:  Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.  First of all, I would like to thank you for affording me this opportunity to move the motion which is before us.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to begin by emphasising that Domestic Resource Mobilisation is a process whereby countries are supposed to raise and spend their own resources to provide for their citizens.  It is also a long term trajectory towards sustainable development.

When Sustainable Development Goals were established in 2015, it was realised that support from Development Partners was never going to be enough, hence the reason why countries were encouraged to step up their efforts in raising domestic resources to cater for five key SDGs, which are education, health, roads, electricity and water.

Mr. Speaker Sir, domestic resource mobilisation does not only provide countries with resources in order to alleviate poverty and give people a better life but it also helps countries to move out of donor dependence.

Mr. Speaker Sir, development is the ability of a country to satisfy the needs of the people using its own resources.  The needs being food, shelter, health, education, water and sanitation among others.  It is therefore critical for countries to make sure that they raise and spend their own resources in providing for these needs.

Domestic resource mobilisation is also key for economic growth and poverty eradication.  It is also key in providing resources to clear our debts.  As Zimbabwe, we are sitting on a debt of about US$10 billion.  Mr. Speaker Sir, it is clear that we might not be able to clear that debt any time soon.  At the same time, we might leave a debt burden to our great grand children.  This is pointing to the importance of mobilising resources domestically.

Zimbabwe is a very rich country which is endowed with enormous mineral resources such as gold, diamond, platinum, gold and coal-bed methane gas among the 60 minerals we have in this country.  The sad reality though is that there is absolutely nothing to show that we have such mineral resources as the majority of Zimbabweans are living in abject poverty.

Lupane District, one area which has one such mineral resource out of the 60 which remains untapped. It is a district which is surrounded by a sea of poverty whilst at the same time, it has got this lucrative mineral resource coal-bed methane gas. This project has seen a lot of ribbon cutting events to kick start it. This mineral resource is worth billions of dollars and has a potential of generating thousands of jobs in line with NDS 1 which anticipates creating at least 760 000 formal jobs in five years.

This project has been on the cards for a long time now and was granted a National Project Status in 2007 and the sad reality is that up to now, 14 years later, nothing has come out except for talk only. It is high time Government moves away from what I call NATO: ‘No Action but Talk Only’. According to findings, Zimbabwe’s gas reserves are estimated to be more than those of other countries in the region. It is estimated that Zimbabwe has more than 40 trillion Cubic Feet of potentially recoverable gas in Lupane-Lubimbi area. This is a clear indication that we are sitting on billions of dollars.

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