The Norton MP Temba Mliswa has said the country’s farms cannot produce until sanctions are removed. He was arguing in parliament with the Ministry Of Agriculture narrating his view of what is needed to be done first.

 “Why can you not suspend this issue of production because the war veterans went to the struggle and it is an issue which is sensitive.  

“We are under sanctions, we cannot produce, the Government must march against sanctions until they are removed, then Zimbabwe will be able to produce.  

“Why are you expecting someone to produce when we have sanctions?”

Below is part of the transcript from the debate on the 17th February, 2021.

HON. T. MLISWA:  On a point of order.
THE HON: SPEAKER:  Is it a point of order really, nobody has spoken.
HON. T. MLISWA:  It is you who was speaking, so how do I come in.  It is to do with section 107, exactly what you are talking about.
THE HON. SPEAKER:  It is a point of clarification.
HON. T. MLISWA:  I stand guided by you.  Mr. Speaker Sir, it is on the announcement of the Ministers who have been constantly absent but what is important as we conduct our duty, is to send a clear message to the Executive that they have work to do. Already they know there is COVID and there are many issues which are affecting people.  Parliament has done what it can in ensuring that social distancing is observed to accommodate the Ministers.
As you can see, today is their day and Members are present.  I do not know what other excuse they have other than disrespecting this House and yourself as Chair.  On numerous occasions they just do not attend.  What Members of the Cabinet and Executive must understand  is, even if you are not asked a question, you being in this House, you learn from other line ministries.  Wednesday and Thursday are for that, so do not think that you just come here to answer questions but you also come to learn and understand because some of these issues we talk about affect your Ministry too and you being here, you are able to grasp certain issues which make us a better nation at the end of the day.  Line ministries are able to then function properly. 
So it is important that lessons be given to the Executive that Wednesday – I see some of you come here, they are not asked questions but also listen to what other Ministers are responding to which affects you.  So it is important Mr. Speaker Sir, to conduct a workshop with the Members of the Executive to understand that coming to Parliament is a mandate that they have.  Just as they attend Cabinet meetings at the end of the day, it is equally important for them to be here on Wednesday and Thursday and discharge their duties in a manner which is professional.  I will certainly not hesitate in following the rules of this House to ensure that those who are not here answer accordingly because it is becoming a circus.  They really do not respect this House and it is about time Mr. Speaker Sir, you allow me to take the necessary measures of holding any of them in contempt so that they can learn.  Parliament should have a stick coated with salt to discipline absconding Ministers so that they do their work.  Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER:  Thank you very much Hon. Mliswa.  Some of those Ministers who are not here are connecting virtually.  I think what we need to do Hon. Mliswa, is to actually indicate that they should be here in the House and not to connect virtually, but my calculation is that the Hon. Ministers are present; the Clerk is showing me. But, we need to write to them that they should be here in person accordingly.  Thank you very much.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. T. MOYO:  My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.  In his absence, I will direct the question to the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.  My question is that in view of the decline in the pass rate of Grade 7 district examinations for 2020 which saw a decline from 46.9% in 2019 to 27.1% in 2020, what is Government policy towards the students and schools that performed dismally in the Grade 7 examinations?  Should they proceed to Form 1 or should they be given a chance to rewrite the examinations and what happens to the schools that performed 0% during the Grade 7 examinations?  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
          THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to sincerely thank the Hon. Member for such a pertinent question. 
          Yes, indeed, the pass rate that we witnessed this time around is very worrisome in any language.  The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is seized with the matter.  They are actually investigating to find out exactly what transpired and a decision will be made – it is indeed worrisome Mr. Speaker Sir.  I thank you.
          (V)HON. T. MOYO:  What remedial policies will be taken towards those schools, particularly in Matabeleland region that obtained 0%?  What action is going to be taken by the Government on those schools – particularly the teachers who did not perform well, whose students failed dismally?  I thank you.
          THE HON. SPEAKER:  That aspect Hon. Minister.
          HON. KAZEMBE:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, as I mentioned earlier that Government is equally worried and disturbed – investigations are on going to establish the reasons why this happened and that will then inform decisions going forward.  I thank you Mr. Speaker.

HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Speaker, my supplementary question is the contract for the Command farmer is between Mliswa and Agro-yield.  So, where does Government come in because Government only has land, they do not give the inputs.  So can the Minister tell us where Government comes in when my contract is with the bank?  If I abuse the inputs it is me who pays the bank not the Government. Government has moved from Command Agriculture where it used to run to now a commercial point where it is the bank which enters into a contract with the farmer, so the abuse of inputs, Government cannot stop it because if I get those inputs and sell them, it is me the person who is contracted with the bank who pays.  So I would like to know where Government comes in, in terms of abuse of inputs when I signed the contract with Agro-yield because I will tell Government that I did not sign the contract with you.
                   HON. DR. MASUKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I thank the Hon. Member for the question.  Government has everything to do with Command or as it is now called the National Enhanced Productivity Scheme (NEPS).  Government provides the guarantee to CBZ that enables CBZ to on lend to farmers.  If a farmer fails to pay, Government still must honour the guarantee.  So, it is in Government’s interest to ensure that every input taken is utilised for the intended purpose.
                   In terms of the tripartite agreement, Government has also the responsibility to monitor the utilisation of those inputs.  So our Agritex teams and the Command team are out in the field to ensure that the inputs are utilised for the intended purposes.  So, why Government gives this guarantee is that we enhance production.  So we have the players’ roles and obligations clearly spelt out, so it is in Government’s interest to ensure that any input abuser is brought to book.  I thank you.

HON. T. MLISWA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  Minister, can you tell us the estimated tonnage of maize since we are expecting a bumper harvest?  What are you doing to ensure that the roads are fixed in these rural areas?  With the heavy dump we had, the roads damaged, logistically most trucks will not go anywhere.  Minister, why can the producer price not be announced before we plant?
HON. DR. MASUKA:  Mr. Speaker Sir, let me start with the last aspect of question regarding pricing.  We have already announced the pre-planting price for maize and it is out there.  The aspect of the estimated volume, I indicated earlier Mr. Speaker Sir that we have the first round of crops and livestock assessment underway and we expect the results by the end of the month.  This is the footing and pacing method.  We are also getting assistance for the first time to do a satellite aided area assessment. However, using the proxy of 2017 which was a very good year, we estimate that we will get somewhere in the region of 2.3 million to 2.5 million metric tonnes and perhaps more, because of the Pfumvudza approach.
Regarding roads Mr. Speaker Sir, the nation will have been informed that a state of disaster has been declared for the roads, which means that there would be a very rapid mobilisation of resources.  We heard that $400 million equivalent of US dollars will be mobilised to ensure that we attend to the roads and we think that this will go a long way in ensuring that the roads are navigable so that we can collect all the grain that needs to be collected.  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. 

HON. T. MLISWA: Mr Speaker Sir, the production history that the Minister seeks, firstly the land audit has not been done and there have been fights on land which affect productivity. Second, Zimbabwe has been faced with sanctions, how does he expect people to produce when the Government knows that we are under sanctions?  Do sanctions not affect the farmer too?  How will the farmers produce when they have equally been hit by sanctions?  The land audits are not out and there are many disputes on these farms.  

We seem to be going ahead of what is supposed to happen first.  There is no report of the land audit or report of the multiple farm ownership but we are rushing to produce when the environment is not conducive for us to produce.  Why can you not suspend this issue of production because the war veterans went to the struggle and it is an issue which is sensitive.  We are under sanctions, we cannot produce, the Government must march against sanctions until they are removed, then Zimbabwe will be able to produce.  Why are you expecting someone to produce when we have sanctions?
          THE HON. SPEAKER: Can we desist from – [HON. BITI: Inaudible interjections.] – order Hon. Biti.  Can we desist from making some wild emotional statements? Hon. T. Mliswa is one of the most successful farmers and the most productive under the same conditions that he is querying now, that appears to be a contradiction on the situation on the land.

          THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. A. MASUKA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the member has clearly misunderstood the intention of the production returns.  The production returns Mr. Speaker Sir are part of our vision 2030. The national development strategy and the agriculture and food systems transformation strategy to achieve vision 2030 with agriculture at the epicenter of that.  To transform agriculture, we need to understand what is happening on farms so therefore the returns have sections that solicit….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Unmute your gadget Hon. Member.
HON. DR. A. MASUKA: The member misunderstood the purpose of getting the production returns.  The returns are part of the agriculture and food systems transformation strategy feeding into the national development strategy and through it to vision 2030 to transform the nation for vision 2030, the 70% of our population, 11 million people predominantly in rural areas, A1, and resettlement.  We need to understand the circumstances that they are in through these productions returns. So there is a section where we write what we are producing.  There is a section in this form where we ask about constraints production.  We envisage that the 18 thousand A2 farmers would be transformed to become business women and businessmen through structured interventions as a result of the feedback that we get from them.  We envisage that the 360 000 A1 farmers will be transformed into SMEs through the structured feedback that we get from them so that together they can become business people and be mainstreamed into agriculture as a journey towards 2030.  I thank you.
          THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Minister the aspect of land audit, is it ongoing – is the report going to be submitted soon?
          THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. A. MASUKA): Mr. Speaker Sir, the land audit is being undertaken by the Zimbabwe Lands Commission. Resources permitting, they will be able to complete that audit in various phases.  We have done the first phase where we have done 57 000 units and we expect that they will go into the second phase where they will look at 78 000 units and in due course they will be able to complete that. As the results come in, because they are based on sampled districts and provinces, we will be able to utilise that information to improve our farming. I thank you.

HON. T. MLISWA:  My supplementary Mr. Speaker Sir is still guided by the WHO regulations.  The Minister just alluded to the fact that a team went to Dubai and one went to China.  So when they are training where do they train and what are the protocols to be observed when they are training because if you see what is happening world over the crowd is not allowed.  Tennis for example is two people playing, an umpire – four.  So even in terms of WHO regulations it is 30 people who the number must not exceed.  I do not really understand, players are tested equally but we are sending them outside to contest.  So how do we expect them to do well when they are not training adequately and effectively because winning medals is about training hard so it is either we ban sports until things are better because it is kind of contradictory at the end of the day.  We are sending teams out to compete so how are they training, what are the regulations when they are training?  So an understanding needs to be done but the crowd must not be there.
In soccer the most you get are 26 people on the field and the players are equally tested before they go on the field.  Just like we are in Parliament today we were tested to be in Parliament so what stops that and we are probably more than all the players in soccer.  So there needs to be clarity in terms of that adhering to the WHO regulations.
THE HON. SPEAKER:  My understanding was that the previous response by the Hon. Minister was that she is engaging with the authorities to make sure that the sports does take place under bubble.  So allow the Hon. Minister to investigate the matter and come up with modalities accordingly – [HON. BITI:  Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Biti there is no voice competition between yourself and myself.  Thank you.

On the motion of THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. KAZEMBE), the House adjourned at Sixteen Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.