Nineteenth State of the Nation Address by President Mugabe

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[align=center]Full text of Nineteenth State of the Nation Address by
President Mugabe.

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Let us espouse values of honesty, diligence

Full text of Nineteenth State of the Nation Address by President
Mugabe.

Once again it gives me great pleasure to present the State of the
Nation address to this August House. This address is set against a
background of varied developments that have shaped events in the
country this year. These include the challenges that confront us and
manifest themselves in our present socio-economic environment.

The under-performance of the economy we are now turning around is
largely a product of the illegal overt and covert sanctions imposed on
us, by Britain and her allies, as punishment for daring to reclaim our
land. We nevertheless derive comfort from knowing that the transient
challenges we face have propelled us to the apogee of resilience and
self-reliance, and awakened us in much ingenuity and pragmatism that
have contributed to the home-grown programmes aimed at rejuvenating our
economy.

The National Economic Development Priority Programme is one such
example. On the basis of these developments and the policy gains
deriving from our Look East Policy, the economy is on the recovery
path. Once more, I wish to pay tribute to our people for their
resilience, and to all our Look East development partners for their
sterling display of solidarity at the time of our greatest need.

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

I am gratified that this address comes just after the recent
inauguration of the long-awaited 99-year leases. This development
constitutes an important milestone in the evolution of our agrarian
reform as it gives security of tenure, which we hope, in turn, will
leverage more resources into the development of the agriculture sector.
It is time we stressed that real emancipation lies not just in the
possession of resources but in their effective utilisation. In this
regard, I would like to call on all beneficiaries of the Land Reform
Programme, as well as other critical stakeholders in the production
chain, to work assiduously for the realisation of our quest for maximum
productivity in our all-important agricultural sector.
Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The 2005/6 agricultural season was a much better one than the previous
season, thanks to the good rains. As a result, the majority of our
people this year were generally self-sufficient in relation to their
staple food although imports were still needed to ensure greater food
security up to the middle of next year. For this current season, we are
better prepared in regard to our input requirements, tillage services
and related logistical support. The conclusion of a US$180 million loan
agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and CMEC of China for the
supply of agriculture inputs, such as fertilizer, agrochemical and
machinery further boosted our preparations.

A target of 55 000 hectares has been earmarked for tobacco production
in the 2006/7 season, representing a 38 percent increase on last
season's figure of 40 000 hectares.
A total of 300 000 hectares have been set aside for the production of
the strategic maize grain reserves during the 2006/7 summer season.
This programme, which is being implemented under Operation Maguta/Inala
and an Agribank facility, in collaboration with the District
Development Fund, will target A1, communal and the old resettlement
farmers.
A2 farmers will continue to access funding from the Reserve Bank's
Agricultural Sector Enhancement Productivity Facility, commercial banks
and other contract schemes. Allied to this work is a programme, which
is projected to localise the commercial manufacture of vaccines against
animal diseases. The project is being developed at the University of
Zimbabwe and will certainly assist in the recovery of the national
herd.

The country and, indeed, the whole region, have become increasingly
susceptible to the phenomenon of drought. To minimise the impact of
unfavourable weather conditions, Government continues to invest in
irrigation projects under the Accelerated Irrigation Development
Programme. The Department of Irrigation received $438 505 000 under the
Public Sector Investment Programme and a further $185 million under the
supplementary budget during the period under review. A total of 3 500
hectares of irritable land was rehabilitated, while an additional 3 786
hectares were cleared for the construction of irrigation projects.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

As already stated above, it was in response to current economic
challenges that the National Economic Development Priority Programme
was evolved. It is a short-term economic turnaround initiative built on
close collaboration between Government and the private sector. The
programme, which prioritises implementation of quick response and high
sectoral impact projects, is the major launch pad for the various
current turnaround programmes.

In order to enhance exporter viability and consequently boost foreign
currency inflows, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has raised the levels of
foreign currency retained by exporters to 75 percent of their proceeds,
to afford them a long-term planning horizon, while creating a vibrant
inter-bank foreign exchange trading market. To improve gold production,
the producer price was raised from $4 900 to $16 000 per gramme. In
addition, gold producers now retain 70 percent of their output in
foreign currency, while a 15 percent Foreign Currency Account Retention
Facility for the tobacco industry will be introduced in April 2007. The
current efforts to curb leakages of gold and precious minerals will
continue.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir.

Government recently launched the National Export Strategy as the
fulcrum of the country's industrialisation drive. A critical
component of this strategy is the enhancement of foreign currency
generation and retention by emphasising value addition and import
substitution. A Value Addition Fund has thus been created under the
auspices of the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe to finance
related projects. At least twenty manufacturing companies with a
potential to realise significant quick-wins in terms of foreign
currency generation, savings and employment creation have been
identified under the Import Substitution Programme.

A total of $3,15 million was disbursed under the Distressed Companies
Fund to 22 entities in the engineering, fertilizer, pharmaceutical,
textile, mining and construction sectors. This intervention was
projected to increase capacity utilisation by an average of 30 percent,
create a total of 4 216 jobs as well as generate up to US$38,2 million
in foreign currency. In addition, the Toll Manufacturing Programme is
being pursued with a view to increasing capacity utilisation in the
sector.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

It is pleasing to note that the tourism sector continues its upward
trend, with the latest statistics showing a 33 percent increase on last
year's tourist arrivals during the same period. This development
bears testimony to our country's well-known status as an attractive
and safe tourism destination, in spite of the sounds of gloom and doom,
nay, the sounds of impotent fury, peddled by hostile sections of the
media.

To further consolidate our status, a programme to upgrade and decongest
our premier border posts at Beitbridge and Chirundu is underway. In a
related development, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is in the
process of upgrading the Harare, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Victoria
Falls airports.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The process of consolidating the management of regional transfrontier
conservancy areas continues to gather pace. Following the establishment
of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a Memorandum of Understanding
of the establishment of the Shashi Limpopo Transfrontier Area involving
Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana was signed.
The establishment of the Kavango/Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation
Area involving Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia is also in the
offing. To facilitate tourism in the transfrontier national parks, the
Department of Immigration is currently constructing the Mapungubwe and
Chikwalakwala border posts, while the Zimbabwe Defence Force is
clearing the Sango to Crook's Corner minefield.

Road Network Access Fees were introduced this year at the border posts,
in order to complement Government funding of the country's road
network. The fees are collected by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority on
behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. This project is
generating a lot of revenue both in local and foreign currency and is
being expanded to allow for the collection of toll fees at the
peripheries of major cities and towns. In this regard, toll gates are
currently being constructed at the Beitbridge and Chirundu border
posts, and along the Harare-Gweru highway and the Harare-Masvingo
highway.

Government has gazetted the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicle
drivers) Regulations of 2006, in response to the increase in the number
of fatal road accidents. All public service vehicle drivers and goods
vehicles will be required to undergo a re-testing exercise after a
period of five years from the date of issue of a public service
driver's licence.
Furthermore, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has developed a new
training programme for heavy goods vehicle drivers and public service
vehicle drivers in order to reduce the appalling levels of accidents
involving these vehicles.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir.

Significant headway has been made in terms of trade and investment
promotion within the context of the look East Policy. Numerous
institutional, business, trade and investment linkages have been forged
with friendly countries in the spirit of South-South Co-operation.
These developments received a further boost from my recent trips to the
China-Africa Summit and to Iran, where a number of bilateral
co-operation agreements were concluded.
Joint venture mining projects have been agreed with several Chinese
companies, while there are advanced plans to open a minerals marketing
office in the city of Shanghai, China. In light of these developments,
Trade Promotion Officers have already been posted to China, India and
Indonesia, while a similar posting will be made to Malaysia in the near
future.
In the energy and power sector, Government has already approved several
Power Sector Investment Projects aimed at improving poor supply. These
projects include investments in new power stations, expansion of
existing generation capacity as well as refurbishment of plants and
equipment. To this end, the process of approving identified investors
is at an advanced stage.

Progress has also been made in regard to the National Bio-diesel
Feedstock production Programme, with over 300 farmers contracted by
Noczim for the production of Bio-diesel, which should contribute up to
10 percent of national fuel requirements by the year 2010.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The role of telecommunications as both driver and catalyst of modern
economic competitiveness is universally acclaimed. In consonance with
this, measures to boost the country's telecommunications
infrastructure are being implemented. Net-One has now extended its
network coverage to rural, farming and mining areas, and growth points
and tourist resorts, while Tel-One is installing phase one of the Code
Division Multiple Access \Wireless Local Loop equipment in Harare.
Phases two and three to cover both rural and other urban areas shall
commence next year.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

Indigenisation and the economic empowerment of our people remain the
cornerstone of our socio-economic development. To this end, Government
is in the process of finalising the National Indigenisation and
Empowerment Bill to underpin this thrust, while amendment of the Mines
and Minerals Act to facilitate participation by locals in the mining
sector is at an advanced stage.

Government has also relocated 34 860 Small and Medium Enterprises to
permanent and temporary business premises, while the first phase of the
construction of artisans factory hives in Harare and vendor marts
throughout the country has been completed under Operation
Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle.

With respect to housing development, a total of $1,2 billion was this
year provided to local authorities under the Public Sector Investment
Programme towards construction of water and sewerage infrastructure for
phase one of Operation Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle. To date, 45 000 stands
have been allocated under Phase II of the programme, where private
developers, employers, housing co-operatives and individual
beneficiaries are expected to participate in housing development. The
Rural Housing and Social Amenities Policy is now in place, while a
Rural Housing Fund has also been established to facilitate housing
development in the rural areas on a cost recovery basis.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

Sustainable utilisation and management of the environment is critical
for the long-term development of any economy. To this end, Government
has launched the National Fire Protection Strategy in the country's
provinces to promote integrated veld fire management, while the
Forestry Commission has embarked on a nation-wide awareness campaign to
curb the rampant illegal harvesting of hardwood timber in commercial
and resettlement areas.

It is noteworthy that the country is witnessing rampant destruction of
forests and land through uncontrolled veld fires and illegal panning. I
would like to urge the police, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism
and local authorities to move swiftly in stemming this wanton
destruction of the environment. I wish to note here the police
operation code named "Chikorokoza Chapera/No illegal panning" and to
commend the police for their noble initiative.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The health sector continues to face several challenges, which include
the shortage of essential drugs and critical equipment as well as the
unending brain drain. To curb the exodus of medical staff, plans are
underway to re-introduce the cadetship programme, while graduates will
be bonded to the service of the State for a period equal to the period
of their education and training.

Some 300 primary care nurses have been deployed to rural health centres
throughout the country. The ongoing refurbishment of central hospitals
is expected to be complete by the end of this year and will facilitate
provision of a full range of services by the hospitals, thus bringing
relief to patients.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir.

A critical mass of appropriate human resource skills is necessary if
sustained economic growth is to occur. However, the outward flight of
professionals to other countries in the region and abroad has become a
major drawback to the country's otherwise internationally renowned
human resource development programme. To arrest this trend, Government,
in liaison with other stakeholders, is formulating strategies to
develop, attract and retain critical skills for both the public and
private sectors. A retention package for critical health professionals
is now in place, while a recommendation to hire retirees is already
being implemented.

A professionals-cum-intellectual "Homelink" desk that will, among other
things, identify and recruit Zimbabwean experts in the Diaspora to come
and contribute to national development, is being set up under the
auspices of the National Economic Development Priority Programme.

Tremendous headway has also been made in exploiting training
opportunities in such countries as Japan, India, Malaysia and China. Of
particular interest is the recent offer by China to train Zimbabweans
in critical shortage areas such as agriculture, mining, energy and
power development, environment and tourism as well as transport and
communications.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

In the education sector, Government has continued to expand and
strengthen the provision of basic education, with special focus on
early childhood development. The programme to foster and promote
computer literacy through provision of computers to schools continued
in earnest.

In pursuance of the goal for inclusive education, the development of
Volume II of the Sign Language Dictionary is now in the final stages.
This year also witnessed the successful amendment of the Education Act,
which seeks to keep education accessible to the majority of the people.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

Government remains acutely concerned over high unemployment rates among
the youth. For this reason, a Youth Development Fund has been
established under the auspices of the Infrastructure Development Bank
of Zimbabwe to enable the youths to access financial resources for
income generating projects.

Other funding arrangements have been made through the Reserve bank of
Zimbabwe with such financial institutions as Sedco, Commercial Bank of
Zimbabwe, Agribank, Genesis Investment Bank and First Bank. I wish also
to commend the Zimbabwe Youth Council for successfully hosting the
first ever Southern Africa Youth Festival and to applaud the selection
of Zimbabwe as the first Chairperson of the Bureau of the African Union
Ministers of the Youth, with a special mandate to drive implementation
of the African Union Charter on the youth for the next 2 years.

The provision of social protection to people with disabilities has been
an unabating challenge for quite some time. However, Government has
since established the Disability Loan Revolving Fund through which
people with disabilities are being assisted to start self-help
projects. To alleviate the plight of older persons, Government, in
consultation with relevant stakeholders, has come up with a draft Older
Persons Bill that aims to address social protection and care for older
persons in a more comprehensive manner.
Government, through NSSA, continues to avail high and medium density
stands and houses to alleviate the plight of workers throughout the
country. To afford the workers some respite, Government reviewed the
non-taxable income bracket upward from the erstwhile $20 000 to the
current $100 000.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

My Government has made huge strides in addressing gender imbalances in
the context of both national laws and multilateral conventions.
Following the adoption of the National Gender Policy, an implementation
strategy and action plan for the policy has now been formulated for the
co-ordination of gender mainstreaming in all sectors as well as to
provide a framework for monitoring and evaluating progress.

Following concern over the high incidence of cases of domestic
violence, the Domestic Violence Bill, to help contain this contemptible
occurrence, was tabled before Parliament. However, while the legal
instrument is a necessary remedial measure, we should as a society also
emphasise adherence to good family and social values as the ultimate
antidote to domestic violence.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir.

Government is aware that civil servants are some of the workers worst
affected by inflation owing to their relatively low levels of
remuneration. Accordingly, their salaries and allowances were reviewed
in January and May 2006 to cushion them against inflation. Further, in
May, teachers and lecturers in the education sector were also elevated
by one grade while the rural allowance was increased from 10 to 15
percent. In addition, government has put in place non-pecuniary
benefits for civil servants in the form of the Civil Service Housing
Fund and Vehicle Purchase Scheme.

Government also expects its employees to reciprocate this overture
through committed performance. To this end, the Results-Based
Management Programme is being introduced throughout the Public Service.
The objective of the system is to maximise delivery on Government
policies and programmes through enhanced implementation, monitoring,
evaluation and instilling greater accountability.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir.

Our justice delivery system needs to evolve in tandem with
socio-economic trends for it to efficiently and effectively discharge
its mandate. In pursuance of this objective, steps have been taken to
enhance the system by, inter alia, decentralising and increasing the
Labour Court establishment, and setting up Small Claims and Commercial
Crimes Courts.

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The scourge of corruption continues to rear its ugly head, manifested
through the abuse of poor and unfair business practices, and the
amassing of ill-gotten wealth by those entrusted with offices in
public, private and civic sectors. Government will not relent in its
efforts to weed out such bad apples in our midst no matter how highly
placed or well connected they may happen to be.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The security agencies continue to do the Nation proud by discharging
their constitutional role of safeguarding the sovereignty, territorial
integrity and national interests of our country with honour and
distinction in keeping with their tradition of participating in SADC,
African Union and United Nations peace-support initiatives.

Locally, they continue to play a critical role in the context of
Military Assistance to Civil Authority as exemplified by their
participation in Operations Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle, and Maguta/Inala,
to mention just a few. The Nation is indeed proud of them.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The country continues to enjoy peace and tranquillity despite attempts
by some misguided elements to fuel anarchy under the guise of freedom
of expression and association. While the country respects and affords
everyone the right of assembly and association, the use of such
platforms as tools to advance the British-inspired regime change agenda
cannot be tolerated. Our law enforcement agents will continue thwart
such ill-conceived manoeuvres.

Madam President, Mr Speaker Sir,

As a country we remain resolute in our commitment to the achievement of
a fair, just and secure international environment, where all countries,
both great and small, are accorded respect and equality. In that
regard, we remain steadfast in our call for the reform of the United
Nations, especially the Security Council, to render it more democratic
and transparent.

Of essence is the need to check the impulsive tendencies of a unipolar
world where those who wield power and wealth are inclined to ride
roughshod over established international practices under the fallacy
that might is right. We note, however, that the voice of reason is
becoming louder and clearer in its chastisement of such gross abuses.
In conclusion, I wish to appeal to Zimbabweans from all walks of life
to retain in ourselves the sense of enterprise, ingenuity and
self-belief as we pursue the goals of our economic turnaround
programme.

Let us espouse the values of honesty and diligence, knowing that our
destiny is in our hands. Let us desist from ivory tower theorising, and
better still, from being long on critique, but short on prescription.
Let us pool together our diverse talents, expertise and resource
endowments for the realisation of our cherished destiny.

I wish to applaud the approach taken by our churches to foster nation
building through constructive dialogue. May we borrow a leaf from such
wisdom and avoid the tendency of self-destruction. Indeed, let us build
on the spirit of multi-stakeholder co-operation that underpins the
implementation of the National Economic Development Priority Programme
as we work towards a more prosperous Zimbabwe under-pinned by national
unity.

I wish you all a Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year!

Ngilifisela Ikhisimusi enhle!

Ivai neKisimisi yakanaka!

I thank you.