Full Text: Grace Mugabe has no power to stop investigation into Jonathan Moyo – Mliswa
Norton independent MP Temba Mliswa told Parliament that First Lady Grace Mugabe does not have the Executive Power to stop an investigation into claims that Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo embezzled funds from the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZimDef).
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) completed a docket against Moyo who they want prosecuted for heading the looting of more than $400, 000 that it says was diverted to personal use. But after Moyo was arrested and released, it appears Grace Mugabe blocked the investigation.
Mliswa said “with due respect, Hon. Vice Mnangagwa was very clear when he responded to an issue which happening at rally. He said it is a ZANU PF issue, it is non-Executive, but when the First Lady is interfering into the work of the Executive then we are asking – what Executive powers has she got to stop an investigation on Jonathan Moyo? If I go through my Constitution, I do not see the Executive powers of the First Lady. I see the Executive powers of the President.”
Below is Mliswa’s first contribution to the Fifth session of the 8th Parliament of Zimbabwe
HON. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, first of all, let me say a very good afternoon to you. Secondly, let me equally congratulate Hon. Dr. Khupe. It would be amiss for an independent candidate not to also append their signature to such a welcome move. I also want to say in line with the Speaker, we wish the President of the MDC-T a speedy recovery.
I think that is quite sincere. I think he has been a true democrat for this country and it is only befitting that speedy recovery happens. Equally, the Hon. Vice President Mnangagwa and head of Government Business, we read through the interfaces and listened to the President having to narrate on the ordeal that he went through. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Madam Speaker, I want to begin by agreeing with Hon. Mandipaka on the aspect that the President truly acquitted himself in terms of being here in the House, which he has done very well, but I also want to look at his speech in the First Session of the Eight Parliament – from his previous speeches to the recent one. There was a second, a third and a fourth and this is the fifth.
When I decided to go through everything, I still have not read anywhere where from the first session speech there has been any improvement in terms of the economy of the country. I see that it was left out and as such, it is really what makes this country move forward.
While we enjoy the peace through the defence forces of this country, peace without economic transformation is not peace. In fact, where the economy is so tough, that very same peace can turn into unknown issues because hunger by its nature – when people are starving and are not doing well, they are likely to respond to that. So, I want to really emphasise on what it is that has been achieved. It is pretty clear that – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members on my left, could you please try and lower your voices.
HON. MLISWA: It is pretty clear that the ZIMASSET, the economic blue print, is now not being talked about. Neither have they come up with anything to replace ZIMASSET. It is not talked about and there is nothing to replace it. So, which economic path are we on?
So ZIMASSET, in terms of it ensuring that the economy comes in, there is a 10 Point Plan again, which came through to try and convince the electorate that ZIMASSET was operational. The 10 Point Plan again, nothing has happened. I would have loved hearing the President responding to ZIMASSET. I would have loved the President to respond to the 10 – Point Plan – how effective has it been in addressing the issues that he set up.
Up to day, and I say this over and over again, the Executive’s expenditure is way too high despite the Executive, especially the Cabinet Ministers, not being able to discharge their duties professionally. Parliament, I must commend, despite us being underfunded, we still have managed to come to Parliament.
We are going into elections and the CDF is not there and many of my colleagues that I am looking at are likely not to come back, not because they have not worked, but because there are no resources. The CDF of $50 000 will go a long way in ensuring that people, even the very same ZIMASSET document is supported because if I am given $50 000 and I dig a borehole or build a school, it is within ZIMASSET.
So, even as Members of Parliament, I am sad to say that while some of us are fortunate enough to have a bit more resources than others, but the aspect of resources must not be the one that puts a person into power. It must be the policies that the Government of the day has. So, in terms of the CDF, it is in a mess. We have not seen that. This is the final session.
They have promised people what they will do because of the blue print document which is there, the manifesto and the policies which were there. They now cannot go back to the people because the people are saying they are lying.
With all this publicity people think we were given the CDF. We have not been given the CDF. So, I would have liked the President to ensure that Members of Parliament are equally capacitated because Members of Parliament who are capacitated are able to do more for the country and so forth.
I am going through the legislative agenda. I see that out of the 206 pieces of legislation identified as requiring alignment to the Constitution, only 30 remain outstanding. That is misleading, totally misleading. We have got 455 that need to be aligned. Out of the 455, we have not even done 50. This is serious. We have not done 50, so what are we doing? So, I do not know who misinformed the President. It was well worded that out of the 206 pieces of legislation identified, what about the 455? There are some which certainly were supposed to come which are of fundamental importance.
You have got the provincial governments which must be there. It is in the Constitution. Whether we like it or not, the Constitution says that there must be provincial councils in place. It is not there. You talk about not having resources, so why in the first place did we even have a Constitution with that when we do not have resources.
So to me, it shows that we have failed. We have failed the people of Zimbabwe by not having to deliver from a constitutional point of view because all of us here have the mandate to respect the Constitution and to ensure that the Constitution moves on. We are seen wanting.
Elections were held, people used resources for them to be there and they are still waiting for the Constitution to work. That is not happening. How will people have faith in the Constitution? When they were told to go and be elected, they were elected but they are still waiting for offices up to now. Another election is coming and nothing has been done in this Parliament to address that. Whether to amend it or not, nothing has been done. It is still there. So to me, when you do not respect your own Constitution, then you do not respect the will of the people and if you do not respect the will of the people, then there is anarchy. It builds from that when we do not respect the Constitution and I think constitutionalism is important.
You have got the aspect of the police as well, in terms of the human rights governance which must be there. I personally was involved in the elections in Hurungwe West, where the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission was very clear in saying that the police in this country and many others, must undergo training before elections.
This addresses that very need because whether you like it or not, without addressing that, people will complain that the elections were not free, fair and credible because a certain section of the Constitution was not aligned. So to me, it is very important that as we are pushing towards that, this is done. We cannot pick what we want and say this we have done and so forth.
We also have the one on the public officer’s accountability. As Parliament, as you know Madam Speaker, we are leading in ensuring that there is a lifestyle audit on us. That is okay but what about the public officers, the Ministers, the President and the Vice Presidents.
Everyone must go through this because you cannot talk about the public officers not coming and telling us what they have before they are in power. No wonder why this corruption goes unabated because all they do is plunder and nothing else. When you plunder and know there is somebody watching you, you are likely to stop because you know they are going to ask me what I have.
Right now, we must be able to know that when I got into Parliament or as a Minister I had three cars, after that I have got four cars emanating from a, b, c, d. We cannot ask our Ministers about that. The public officers cannot be asked about that. So, here is a loophole for people to just plunder, especially where the Ministers have the power to appoint the boards. These boards are being appointed just to plunder. Whenever one is going according to what the Minister wants, the board is fired.
Parliament, we have oversight but we do not have powers like the South African Parliament has to scrutinise and appoint these parastatal heads. I want to thank the President for having recognised what Parliament did in saying, we cannot have Madam Mildred Chari being taken out and bring in Ndudzo, yet she clearly was doing her job in exposing.
So, if you look at the exposure that she has done, the President must be briefed by the Auditor General in terms of how Government has been functioning. That is the only way the President can fire his Ministers. This Ministry’s performance is like this, but there is no framework that is used.
The Auditor General’s reports and recommendations are critical in terms of doing that and I think if as Parliament we push for those recommendations, Parliament will go a long way in achieving a lot. There will be more credibility for us than anything else.
I want to really thank all Members of Parliament for having pushed that. That showed that we were one when it came to corruption; that showed we were serving people. I would like to applaud that and that spirit must continue, especially Members from ZANU PF. I really saw Mbuya Nehanda rising on that one, that manga magarirwa musi uya muchitaurira vakuru venyu kuti aiwa zvamurikuita handizvo. Rambai muchizviita, musingasarudze faction aiwa. Rovai chokwadi sechokwadi.
On the Land Developers’ Bill – Madam Speaker, I am in an urban constituency, which whether you like it or not, I have to say this. This Government, which is a ZANU PF Government, is the godfather of the land barons. There has never been any other Government since 1980, except the Government of National Unity (GNU). They must deal with land barons. Failure to deal with land barons, you are losing elections.
People have no title deeds; their money is fleeced left, right and centre. To me, the reason why the Land Developers’ Bill is coming is admittedly ZANU PF admitting that we cannot deal with land barons. I am emotional because I am in Norton and I am seeing Kingsdale, Galloway, ZAHA, and these companies which are there, and absolutely people without title deeds who have brought their properties 20 years ago, fully paid for.
The land barons are coming again saying no, you have to pay VAT but 20 years ago there was no VAT. So, how are we waking up just one day and things have changed? One family, the father passes on who bought the land, the mother is kicked out with the kids and they re-sale that to somebody else – that cannot happen.
It is happening because without title, you have no ownership. In the rural areas, people must have title. This is the way we should go. Title brings ownership and there is no intellectual property rights, imperative investors coming into our country. They want to know what you have. Even in terms of the land reform, the failure in the land reform; as long as you have taken State land, there must be title; they must be privatised so that they have title.
The reason why the banks are not giving money is because they are saying there is no title. Everybody agrees that the land reform happened but give people title so that when they fail to pay back, the bank is able to sell that farm or repossess it and recover their money.
You cannot nationalise land. Kenya has privatised land, Mozambique is privatising land and why cannot Zimbabwe privatise land? All what we want is production at the end of the day. To me, it is critical that this Land Developers Bill is certainly looked into but without us naming certain big people, we are wasting our time.
I really implore with my heart because the people in Norton belong to ZANU PF, MDC and so forth. They are suffering because there are certain heavy weights that you cannot name in your caucuses. I implore the Chief Whip from the ruling party to come hard on Ministers and so forth, they are accountable to you at the end of the day. Whatever name they have, if you want you can even invite me to your caucus and I will give you the names of the people.
It is pretty clear that when Minister Chombo was Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, he presided over this. So, for the first time, whether he differs with Minister Kasukuwere or not in terms of the land barons, he is a small boy. I repeat, Hon. Kasukuwere as Minister cannot deal with this issue because it has to be dealt with by Hon. Minister Chombo who was the Minister of Local Government for a long time.
If you look back and I talk about the evidence in Norton, all these land barons in Norton were born during his tenure. And; being born during his tenure, how can you then investigate him when he is now the Minister of Home of Affairs? These policemen will go to him and say, chef I have come for you – this is the corruption which I speak emotionally that is killing this country.
There are people sitting in these offices letting the President down. They are busy parcelling land to the people, even to the First Family because they want to be in power yet people are suffering. We shall not hesitate as this Parliament to name and shame and this Land Developers’ Bill is incomplete without the Hon. Minister Chombo being investigated as the Minister who was in charge of this.
By the time Hon. Kasukuwere came into this Ministry, there was no more land. Land had been finished. I speak on behalf of the people of Norton who have cried, even ZANU PF people who have cried about this. To me, it is critical that we name and shame in this last Session so that we are known to be true Members of Parliament who stood for people. We cannot have a nation which has people without title deeds. That does not work, so this certainly means that…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I think you are left with very few minutes.
HON. MLISWA: Again on corruption, once all this is happening, I totally agree with Hon. Mandipaka in terms of corruption, there is no political will on the governing party to deal with corruption. We now have a situation where, with due respect, I respect the First Family and the First Lady but the First Lady cannot interfere into the duties of the Executive. She cannot stop …
HON. MARIDADI: I move that we increase the Hon. Member’s time so that he can talk and finish his debate. Thank you.
HON. MUNENGAMI: I second.
HON. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, with due respect, Hon. Vice Mnangagwa was very clear when he responded to an issue which happening at rally. He said it is a ZANU PF issue, it is non-Executive, but when the First Lady is interfering into the work of the Executive then we are asking – what Executive powers has she got to stop an investigation on Jonathan Moyo? – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – If I go through my Constitution, I do not see the Executive powers of the First Lady. I see the Executive powers of the President.
For me, corruption is no big deal, we will not deal with it because the First Family itself is not willing to deal with corrupt issues. The President comes here all the time in Parliament – zero tolerance on corruption. The level of corruption when he talked about it was at 30% but now it is at 120%. It is even irreversible. So, what is he going to explain to the nation about that? Parliament has many a times stood up and pointed out the US$15 billion which went missing and nothing has been said about it.
Now, we have issues where we have got shortage of foreign currency in the country which the President was supposed to talk on, we see luxurious cars being bought and it is there I the public. A US$45 million rand house is being bought when hospitals do not have medicines or ambulances; when children do not have schools and so forth. Where are we going at the end of the day? The aspect of forex is critical – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. You are making a lot of voice. ADI-8920, a Ford Ranger and silver in colour is blocking others. Hon. Member, can you proceed – [HON. MARIDADI: Nyatsorova pana First Lady, patsokodzere.] –
HON. MLISWA: If any of you are on tweeter, face book or on any social media – two Rolls Royce worth $5.4 million have been bought. We need to be sensitive to the plight of the Zimbabwean people
– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members. You will get your own chance to speak – [AN HON. MEMBERS: Tirikurwadziwa.] –
HON. MLISWA: We need to be sensitive to the plight of the Zimbabwean people and no matter how much money you have, there is a time when you must buy a good car and there is a time when you must not buy a good car and bear with the public. What do the people say about such expenditure? All the foreign currency which is being preserved is going into extra spending, on extravagant things.
[Hon. Maridadi having handed a bottle of water to Hon. Mliswa.]
Thank you Hon. Maridadi. If the water had come from that side, I would have doubted but it is alright that it has come from you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Let me just close by saying that it is important that we really have the plight of the people of Zimbabwe and in our expenditure, we cannot be extravagant at this point in time when there is even no foreign currency to do anything.
The Command Agriculture has been excellent but that must be complemented by industry taking off. Without industry, we still have not gotten to where we are supposed to get to. Thank you very much Madam Speaker. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
