Zimbabwe Parliament- What they said about the Belarus fire tender deal- Part 4

Zimbabwe legislators complained that Deputy Local Government Minister Marian Chombo was wasting their time as she was not answering any of their questions regarding the Belarus fire tender agreement.

The legislators from both the ruling party and the opposition have queried the deal and argue that the agreement is being imposed on local authorities who do not need the fire tenders in question.

Full debate:

HON. MUTSEYAMI: On a point of order. I hear what the Deputy Minister is telling us. I want to encourage the Deputy Minister to tell us what was asked and not answer as if we are joking. I know she has a lot of pressure because Hon. July Moyo could not come in person. If she cannot answer satisfactorily, I wish she could leave that to the Hon. Minister himself and we know that nothing was done today – [HON ZWIZWAI:  Varikunyepa.] –

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: May Hon. Zwizwai withdraw that statement.

HON. ZWIZWAI: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I abide by your ruling that I should withdraw that the Hon Deputy Minister is lying to the nation on behalf of Minister July Moyo on thievery issues and I duly withdraw. I thank you.

HON. CHOMBO: Hon. Banda raised the issue that the Town Clerk for Harare for requested for US$68 000 for fire tenders for Harare and why we did not just make sure that we provide that in cash, rather than going into these tenders. As I said before, we are operating within an environment that is not friendly to us due to sanctions. We cannot avail the US$68 000 at one time. We have to do it through the facilities that are availed to us through these kinds of arrangements.

HON. HWENDE: On a point of order. With all due respect, I think today has been a waste of time because all the questions that we have asked are not being answered to our satisfaction because clearly the Minister is not well equipped to answer these questions. We are tired of people that come here and use sanctions as an excuse

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, your point of order is out of order.

HON HWENDE: My point of order is that we cannot sit here and listen to lies about sanctions.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, your point of order is out of order.

HON. HWENDE: But you did not listen to my point.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: That is my ruling.

HON HWENDE: Havagone kuuya vachitaura kuti ma sanctions. Ma sanctions arikukanganisa papi?

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You do not have to argue with me.

Continued next page

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