#CAB3: What's in it for Bulawayo?

HON. NYATHI: Thank you Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to add my voice on CAB3. I represent the people of Lobengula Magwegwe Constituency. The people of the Lobengula Magwegwe Constituency would like to air their concerns regarding CAB 3 as follows. They say they do not have a problem with Parliament electing a President. However, their issue is the manner in which this procedure will be carried out. They ask if there will be guarantees that the President who will be elected by Parliament will be accountable, like what we see happening in South Africa, where the President comes and joins parliamentarians and answers questions. Since I came to Parliament in 2023, I have never had an opportunity to ask anything directly to the President. We would want a situation where we are able to interact directly with the President on matters that affect the citizens. It is not proper for our chiefs to be involved in politics. The reason being, if a chief has to compete, for example, with me, Tendayi Nyati, in an election, it erodes the chief's dignity. It erodes the office of a chief's dignity because there are a lot of events and insults that are held during a campaign period. This would place the chiefs in a very difficult position. So, according to them, the chiefs must maintain their leadership roles, grievance and problem-solving roles within the communities and leave politics to politicians, just like the judges and other public office bearers. Let me talk about the Gender Commission. Abolishing the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission reduces the independent oversight architecture. We must leave the Gender Commission as it is. We must not make any changes in that regard. This is what they have said. Let me go to the other concerns that they raised. They have raised concerns about what will happen with the projects, which we think the Second Republic is set to achieve. They asked me a question, which I could not answer. They said that about a decade ago, the Mutare-Plumtree Road was meant to be dualised. That road has not been dualised; it was just resurfaced. This is over 10 years now. In addition, they are asking whether anything will be done on that road within the two-year extension. They are also asking about the land degradation. Is there going to be a halt to the rampant mining in the country within these two years? Will these two years see beneficiation of minerals by Zimbabweans? Will these two years show a difference in the schools, particularly in Matabeleland and Bulawayo, where there are no roofs in some schools, where there are no benches and desks in some schools? They are worried, Madam Speaker. They are very worried that if CAB3 does not address these problems, then it is not worth supporting. They want to see real change in the communities. Furthermore, they appreciate the work and efforts, which have been done by His Excellency President Mnangagwa. The bone of contention is that Matabeleland as a region is still crying; it is still left out. If you go to Matabeleland North, Hwange is the oldest mine, over 120 years old but there is nothing to show in Matabeleland North. The only two items we can talk about are the lithium mine and the Beitbridge Border Post. The road from Beitbridge to Bulawayo is pathetic. They ask if CAB3 is going to address this and if it is going to rehabilitate the road between Bulawayo and Beitbridge, which is a gateway to Zambia, DRC, Malawi and other countries. Madam Speaker, coming from Bulawayo, we have problems with water. I am sure the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs will attest to this because for the past few years we have been going to Bulawayo for our budget processes in November. The Gwayi-Shangani Dam has been talked about for a long, long time. They want to know what is in it for the people of Bulawayo as far as water reticulation is concerned. Will this see the completion of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam? Will this see the glass block dam being constructed? Or will these two years come and go without anything tangible being seen in Bulawayo? Let me talk about the industries in Bulawayo. They want to know what this Government will do with regard to resuscitating industries in Bulawayo. They want to know what this Government will do in as far as capacitating entrepreneurs in Bulawayo is concerned. We see in other areas Government doing projects for the youth and young ladies. I will not mention the names, but we see them all over the show. Projects are happening elsewhere, but hardly anything is happening in Bulawayo. If you go to Bulawayo now, you will hardly see any construction in the CBD, let alone painting happening. People of Bulawayo want to know what is in it for CAB3. What is in it as far as rebuilding the country?