What do I leave for Hon. Members and you Mr. Speaker? What are the things that I hold so dear that I hope will be carried forward? I leave the women that have been provided for in the Constitutional Amendment (No. 2). At least I know that whatever happens, there will be 50 young women in 2023 that will be sitting in this House. I hope Mr. Speaker, that the mature women in the House will be able to hold their hands, will be able to carry them through and that the men in this House who I have also seen evolve and become more respectful and are even speaking about sanitary wear, I hope that when they see these young women coming, those young women will get the same support that some of us got when we came into this House. Yes, we were heckled perhaps a bit more but I am expecting that what I have seen change in the men that are in this House will create a more facilitative and more comfortable space for the young women that will come to this House.
What still tugs me is education Mr. Speaker. The past three years that I have been Chairperson of this Portfolio Committee, I carry that with me. I hope that this House does not stop the agitation around education for our people. I carry with me a prayer that the Government of Zimbabwe finds the space in which to engage with the teachers because I think the teachers hold the key to this country. So I hope and pray that as I walk out of this House, teachers and their children will be one of the priorities that we have here.
I have also learnt, as I began to work in education, the importance of inclusiveness particularly for people with disabilities. So I carry with me a hope that this whole environment and the new Parliament will become disability friendly. To ensure that happens, you will remember Mr. Speaker, I brought to this House and had asked that we begin to have an oath that is in braille because I think what we do sends a message on our inclusiveness. I realise that it has taken a bit of time for Parliament to do so. So I proceeded, as my go away gift, to do braille oath, both the affirmation and the oath and I leave it in this House in case we have somebody who cannot see, who has a disability can then use that in memory of me and what this House has meant to me.
Lastly Mr. Speaker, It would not be me if I do not give something big to the House. One of the things that I pushed for was the baby room. I have gone and I have looked at the baby room and I see that for the girls that will come, they may not have a space for the babies to sleep, so I bought this. It is called a Moses basket. So for the first baby that comes to the House, they will have a place to sleep and I hope the Women’s Caucus will be able to accept this gift and put it in the baby’s house and that it will find its space in the new Parliament building.
Mr. Speaker, this becomes my good-bye. I do not want to cry, but yes, I will miss all of you because you have made me become who I am. I thank you Mr. Speaker. – [(v)AN HON. MEMBER: Ufambe mushe muni’nina.] –
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